Going to Hawaii

Nope, not me, or my family.  But a lot of people I know have been going.  Let's see, three of my friends went and I had a brother and his wife go too.  They all were all so stoked and their excitement was palpable.  I haven't been jealous by any means, I've been truly happy for them that they've had the chance to go.  One day my husband and I will go to Hawaii and hopefully at some point we will be able to take the kids too.  I have a sister in law that took her whole family, I always thought that would be really fun.  Hawaii, I feel, is one of the best vacation spots.  I hear a lot of the things there are incredibly expensive.  Makes sense though, going somewhere that's a huge tourist area and all the prices are through the roof.  People go for the experience and are willing to pay more for it I guess.  

Another fun trip I want to take, is one to Ireland.  There’s something about that place that I fell in love with a long time ago.  I think I was in 9^th grade maybe?  Anyway, our class was drawing names of places we would “pretend” to visit and the place I drew out was Ireland.  At the time, I didn’t know a thing about the country.  But then I came to love it as I saw pictures and all the beautiful castles.  I doubt there are as many people who go to Ireland compared to Hawaii, but it’s always been on my list of great vacation spots.  It would cost more money, having to fly further away, but it would definitely be money well spent!  We may not be able to go anytime soon but one day we will and I look forward to it.

Need some extra motivation

I haven't felt very motivated lately.  It's not that I'm sitting around being lazy day in and day out.  No, I'm still incredibly busy and have things that need to be done on a daily basis.  It's just I haven't had the motivation to do a lot of it.  Does that make sense?  I do them, but I'm not overly excited or passionate about doing them.  That probably explains it better.  I don't know what my deal is, a bit of a slump I guess.  I wonder if it's my job?  The environment I work in, sometimes has really negative patients.  The ones that zap all the positive out of you.  Maybe that's why I'm having a hard time being excited about things?  I'm trying not to bring work home with me.  Sometimes I feel like talking about a rough day helps but I think forgetting about it all together lately, has helped more.  I've also been trying to incorporate some "me time" into the day to help me get back on track.  I got some new books for Mother's Day that I've been enjoying and of course I run to help with stress. Both have been beneficial. Oh, and more sleep has helped too.  I've also noticed that having my days planned out instead of just "winging it" helps keep me more upbeat because I know what needs to be done and I'm ready for it.  These little changes have helped and I'm noticing my slump go away. 

Going really well

Guess what?  I'm training for a 10k.  I haven't run this much, well, ever.  In the past I have trained for a 5k and was running 3 days a week but I haven't run much the past 2 years.  Now, I'm running 4 days a week and about 12 miles each week.  It feels really good to be so active and I've noticed some changes.  I've lost about an inch all around and I've dropped down two pant sizes.  I can't remember the last time I wore this size, it's been maybe 5 years?  Anyway, it feels really good and I know it will only get better.  This week our long run will be 4 miles and next week 5 miles.  So excited!  Today we decided to do a little cross training and run up and down stairs.  Holy cow that was tough.  You'd think running three miles nonstop would make it easier but it was really tough.  We did it though and then later we ran 3 miles.  And we didn't die. :)  I think cross training is good so I need to keep doing other things.  I've been thinking about doing yoga so maybe a cheap yoga mat is in the near future.  I have the Insanity dvd's I might start up again too.  More weight is going to fall off as I keep this up and keep up with eating healthier!  Pretty exciting!!

New glasses

I admit, when we need new sunglasses, which is often, we buy cheap from the store.  Maybe that's why we go through them so quickly, they're too cheap?  But you get what you can afford right?  So one of my pairs got really scratched, not sure how but they did.  So I found a cute pair that was cheap and bought them.  I brought them home and cleaned the lens and then found 2 tiny scratches.  I should return them but they were the only ones I liked so I'm going to keep them.  Yeah, I know that may sound strange but they are so cute!  Maybe I should look into getting some better sunglasses like maybe a pair of Ray Bans.  Are there ones you would recommend? 

Seriously?

Thursday, I went into work for a work lunch get together.  I walked in the door and saw all of our gym equipment in the halls and in other rooms.  I was definitely surprised.  I found my boss and asked what was going on and she said our floor was getting waxed.  Ok.  So we had our lunch and afterwards, I was talking to my boss and getting ready to leave and then a thought came to me.  For the last year, I have heard from a lot of people at my workplace that our gym needed to be painted.  At one time we even had approval to do it but no did anything about it.  So I thought why not paint it now?  Everything is out of the way and if we got everyone to help, it wouldn't take long.  So my boss went to her boss and he said sure.  We then went and picked out wall colors and got that approved.  We asked all of our coworkers if they could help and everyone said yes.  Friday rolled around and it was time to start.  3 people showed up.  Me, my boss, and a student who didn't even have to be there.  The student stayed with us for four hours and my boss and I kept at it for another 4.5 hours.  Saturday we went back and painted for 12 hours.  Just the three of us again.  Sunday we spent a few more hours.  Total: 25.5 hours of us painting.  Ridiculous!  There were other people who could have helped but chose not too.  It would have gone so much quicker if everyone had helped.  I am so tired and sore I could cry.  But our gym looks fantastic and it feels good that I could be a part of it.  So that's a plus!  It's been a crazy 3 day though!

Technology age

I remember playing the game Oregon Trail in elementary school.  It was my favorite game and every time we had a chance to go to the computer lab and play, that's what I picked.  At that time it was a rare chance to get on the computers which made it very exciting when we did.  But now, there's a computer everywhere you go.  There are computers in people's pockets in the form of a cell phone.  Who knew we'd get to this point?  With so much technology, it's hard to keep up with it all.  I came across web to print solutions at eoncode.com and I had no idea what it was.  I'm sure it's very useful and people use it, but I wasn't even sure what it was.  That's not the only thing, there's a bunch of things I don't know about when it comes to technology.  Thankfully my husband knows quite a bit so between the two of us, we don't do too bad.  We even play Oregon Trail once in awhile. :)

So many places to see

One thing we're going to do different this summer is that we want to go on a lot of family hikes.  There are SO many great places to hike around where we live.  Not to mention hiking is great exercise for the family and it's a lot of fun.  We've only gone on three hikes so far but they were a blast and the kids loved them.  Sometimes we invite friends to go with us and that's been neat too.  Being married to a geologist definitely has its perks when we go hiking.  He can tell us about the rocks and the land and knows why things are they way they are.  Geologists get to see so many different places and they learn some really neat things about our planet.  It's pretty cool listening to my husband talk about things.  He really puts things you don't think about into perspective and in a way that makes you excited to learn about it.  Sure there are a lot of things he hasn't learned.  For instance, I don't think he knows a lot about krugerrand but he could tell you a few places where you might find specks of gold.  He pretty amazing.  Our family is very blessed to have him!

Active is good!

This year my husband and I have changed our schedules to be more active ourselves and with our children.  More outings to the park, more hikes, more biking, more walks and so on.  We are loving it and the kids are loving it.  My husband and I have signed up to run a few races this year which is helping to improve our health and keeps us motivated to stick with it.  I did seriously consider doing a bike race that's coming up but I think I'm not going to do that anymore because I want to stay focused on running.  But my husband did our bikes and the kid's bikes all ready for summer.  We should probably get bicycle covers for our bikes, to keep them more protected from the elements.  Maybe then my hubby wouldn't have to do so much to get them ready.  Something we will have to look into.  I think we'll have plenty of biking adventures anyway, we have good bikes.  Just a matter of getting the kids all learning how to ride them!

Getting easier

I've been running more and more and it's been great.  I've never been a fast runner, my runs are more like an easy jog which is fun enough for me.  I've found a new running buddy and she's fantastic to go out running with.  Actually, we may have another girl that wants to run with us.  She did once already and wants to going again so that will be fun.  We've worked up to running 3 miles and up to 12 miles a week and I've set up schedules to work us up to being able to run a 10k and a half marathon without stopping.  Pretty darn stoked about that!  Running has really improved my health.  I've had more energy and I'm slimming down faster this way than with any other form of exercise I've done.  It feels really good to be putting my health first.  I cannot wait until my next run day and knowing I can run for a long time without stopping.  Feels pretty darn fantastic!

Money savers!

Summer is almost here!  Which means the kids are almost done with school and vacations are around the corner!  I think my husband and I are more excited about school being out than the kids lol but they are pretty excited.  We have a few family reunions coming up that we’re really looking forward to.  One, we’ll be tenting and the other we’ll be staying in a cabin.  Thankfully both of those are relatively close so we can drive and not have to fly.  Can we say money saver??  I think yes!  But I have a lot of friends and coworkers that are going on trips farther away and they do have to fly which means they will probably have to rent a car too.  The good thing about that is there are a lot of places you can get a thrifty rental car and not have it hurt the budget.  

For us, saving money is huge because it usually means whether we can go on a vacation or not.  I imagine that’s the case for most people.  So this year I am so stoked that we can go on two vacations!  We are also planning a few camping trips and hikes.  I love to use my Dutch ovens whenever I can because the food is so yummy so I particularly love that part of camping!  We don’t go really far (did I mention I like to save money? lol) but we don’t mind.  There are so many fun places to go within an hour or two of our home that we have nothing to complain about.  Seriously, I cannot wait for this summer!

There's someone for everything

People are creative, really creative.  There seems to be something for everything and someone for everything.  Have you noticed that?  If you have a questions, all you have to do is look it up and you'll find someone has probably asked it and people have responded to it.  Think of a gadget that would help make your life easier?  I bet you could find something similar online that someone else came up with.  Need to find someone who can help organize your messy closet?  I'm sure there's someone somewhere who would willingly do it for you.  Need a CPA?  Take a look at www.carsonthorncpa.com and you'll find one.  Need a dog walker?  You'll find one.  Need someone to get rid of your gophers, you will find someone.  Seriously, there's something or someone for everything it seems. 

Little motivation

I haven't had much motivation to blog recently.  I have been busy with a few projects and my family which means my blogs have been on the back burner.  I'm not apologizing for not blogging, I like where my priorities are.  My kids are growing so fast and I enjoy spending as much time with them as I can.  My work schedule has picked up and I'm running more to improve my health.  So with it all, I am pretty busy.  Some days I feel like I accomplish a lot and other days, not much at all.  But overall, if there's any time left in my day, I will read a good book and go to bed a little early rather than spend a few minutes blogging.  It's been a nice reprieve, not feeling like I have to be glued to my computer.  I feel like I'm actually home-home rather than being at home but in the cyber world.  And I like that. :)

Music is in the air

I'm not that big into musicals.  I lime music, I even like the movie The Sound of Music.  But I don't like musicals.  Does that make sense?  When I watch a show, I want to watch a show.  Not watch a show and feel like I'm listening to the radio.  But I keep hearing about all these musicals that are really good.  I have friends that are shocked that I haven't seen a handful of them.  Les Miserables to name one.  Shocking, I know. I really do like music and I like different kind of instruments.  I just feel there is a time and a place to listen to music and instruments.  If you got a mandolin at guitar center and invited me over to listen to you play, I'd have no problem.  If you invited me to go watch someone play a mandolin during a 3 hour play, I'd more than likely decline.  Sorry, musicals just aren't my thing.  Maybe I haven't watch enough to know what I'm missing??  What do you think?

Tools

My husband likes to buy tools.  Granted he doesn't do it often because we don't have a lot of money to buy them but it's fun to see how excited he gets when he does.  Me on the other hand, I think there are plenty of practical tools, tools you need on hand at all times, and then tools that are fun to use for projects.  I couldn't tell you the names of half of my husband's tools but I know the important ones.  Flathead screwdriver, Phillips screwdriver, hammer, nail, mallet, drill. Ok, so maybe that's it lol.  If he asked me to get him a cap screw I would be very confused.  A what??  Yeah, he would start chuckling.  Hey, he knows all about that stuff so I don't feel like I need to know it all too.  Makes sense right? ;)

Voice lessons?

Two of my kids had to sing with other kids today.  They weren't too bad but I realized they don't have much direction when it comes to how to sing.  I am not a great singer but I'm not a bad singer (at least I hope not lol!).  I can stay in tune and I can hear when someone sings off key thanks to my days in school when I took band class.  So I gave a few tips to my kids on staying on key but that's about the end of my musical talent. We have a keyboard that I can use to help the kids but I don't use it that much.  A shop korg x50 would definitely be a fun upgrade but for now I am ok with what we have.  I've considered putting the kids in voice lessons but I don't remember how much it costs.  I should look into that and maybe this summer they can participate.  I think they would love it. :)

New car, or two

Job hunting has turned into one of my least favorite activities.  My husband is going on ten months of trying to find a job and still no luck.  Not even a single interview.  It's a frustrating process.  He's decided he will keep applying for jobs but will also apply for graduate school.  We can't search for a job for years so it's the only thing to do right now.  Luckily we haven't passed the graduate school deadlines so he's trying to cram in all the paperwork and get it done in time.  I still hope he finds a job but at least we have a back up plan.  Schooling isn't the worse thing to happen.  It will be good for my husband and it's something he's wanted, to go to graduate school.  It would mean me working a little longer and probably pushing off buying a house a little longer.  But, I've decided those things are ok.  We can still be happy with what we do have.  I am learning to be content with where we are now.  We are pretty blessed and we have a great family.  That alone is pretty darn amazing. :)

Trying to do better

Ever just want to make things better?  I do, especially with my job right now.  I don't like how things are going and the negativity I hear and see.  Drama and I aren't friends.  So what have I done?  Nothing.  I keep thinking things will get better, something will change.  People say they want things to be better but nothing is changing.  Nothing.  So me sitting and doing nothing isn't helping.  So here I am, wanting to do something.  So, I spoke with my boss about some ideas I had and she said "we could try them" but she really didn't think they would work.  She wants to fire people.  I think that isn't the answer.  I think we can help our current employees become better.  Better employees mean a better business and a better reputation of our company in the committee.  Getting some print catalogs about how well our employees work together makes a huge impact.  I know company's type that up but how often is it actually true?  I just want to help.  Maybe I'm in over my head.  Maybe nothing will change.  But no one else is trying, so we wouldn't be any worse off right?  Worth a try...

Rollercoaster weather

I haven't blogged in over a month but with good reason.  We have been busier than usual and we've been sick.  One person gets sick, we all get sick. Which means we're sick for weeks. :P  Now, my husband is sick again.  Gah!  This year has been the worst!  I really do think its because it's been so cold.  It goes from the 30's down to 0 then up again then down below zero. The fluctuating is keeping people indoors more and therefore everyone is getting really sick.  I hate being sick.  I don't mind the cold but the length of the cold weather is starting to wear on me.  I should look into kneipp products and some home remedies to ward this stuff off, whatever it is. I hope when the weather does clear up it sticks a little while.  The back and forth takes it toll, you can't even adjust. :P

I have had it

I wanted to sleep in this morning but things had to be done so I did them.  I wanted to take a bath later this afternoon but ended up holding a sick child.  I took an accidental nap in the late afternoon and by my husband's recollection, I snored pretty loud.  Not surprising, I am almost totally exhausted.  The nap was nice except I woke up with my head in a fog and a head ache coming on.  I really could use a long shoulder massage to loosen things up.  Due to the nap, I didn't get to the store to look for an outfit for this weekend.  I have a song I'm performing with friends and I don't have an outfit.  I was supposed to get some papers over to a friend too, and I didn't get that done either.  I was going to work on my performance too and make cookies today.  Didn't get to either of those.  My husband and I had plans to go out for dinner, even had a sitter lined up but had to cancel because we needed to take our child to the dr.  I tried to get some things done on my computer earlier so I could have some time to take that bath I've wanted all day long but we're trying to get the baby used to sleeping in her crib at night.  I spent over an hour trying to get her to go down, no such luck.  My husband and I got into an argument, which was my fault, so now I'm even more crabby because I came across badly and didn't mean to.  We resolved things and right now I'm totally ready to go to bed but I still have a handful of things to do.  This week has been super crazy and completely depressing. Some weeks aren't very fun.  Happy birthday to me.

So done

Today, the rest of our Christmas decorations came down.  I am so grateful to have that all done!  My husband did the majority of it which was really nice.  I helped put away the tree decorations and take off lights but that was about it, he did the rest.  Minus the lights on the house, everything is down, finally.  See, we ended up pulling out all the decorations before Thanksgiving, which we've never done before.  So it's felt like everything had been up f.o.r.e.v.e.r.  I was beyond ready to take things down but we haven't really had the time.  Hopefully soon we'll be able to take down our lights outside too.  I would hate to have something happen to them.  We don't have brown christmas lights but the multicolored LED lights.  My husband works so hard to make our home light up so pretty and he excels at it every year.  I worry when he's on the roof but love when he finishes!  I love Christmastime but I'm ready to move on from it.

Going for a swim

I would love to go for a swim right now.  I am not a great swimmer or even a good swimmer.  But the thought of being in water right now sounds very relaxing.  Bobbing around, using a noodle to do some bicycle kicks, swimming a few laps.  Yep, sounds pretty good.  Well, the pool would have to have nice, warm water.  I know that there are rheem heat pumps that heat up pools and spas, so whatever pool I went to, better have a good heat pump because I don't like swimming in cold water.  I don't expect scalding hot water like in a hot tub, but warm and comfortable so I'm not shaking.  Pool temperatures change so much and that's frustrating.  But I imagine it's hard to maintain a specific temperature all day long every day. 

Maybe a small one

I'm wondering if we should get a little trophy display case for the kids.  Do you have one for your kids?  My kids don't actually have a ton of trophies, just little ones from the variety of sports they've been in.  You know the kind, the ones they give to everyone just for participating.  I think it's really nice and it's fun to display their accomplishments, even little ones.  The last activity they were in they didn't receive a trophy but medals instead.  The kids were stoked!  I admit the medals were kind of cool. They weren't the cheapo ones you buy like at Wal-Mart, they actually had some weight to them.  I thought it was a nice change.  Medals can go in a trophy case too.  We don't have one now but maybe later.  The kids are content to have theirs displayed on their dresser for now.

Maybe it's the rice

So we've started the baby on solids, starting with rice cereal.  Isn't that what most babies start on?  It's pretty bland and one that is least likely to cause a reaction in your child.  Or so I've heard.  Anyway, we've started that and at first, the baby loved it.  Acted as though it had been part of our routine the whole time.  I was pleasantly surprised!  We did that for about a week and then the spitting up started and the random wailing.  What happened?  I wasn't sure if it was the rice or maybe I was giving too much or the little sips of water had caused an upset stomach.  Poor baby!  So we went from two feedings down to one and for another week and now we've started into veggies.  There is less spitting up but still the occasional, random crying.  Maybe she's still sick?  She's had this little cough but not fever.  Maybe it's more a bug than the food?  Gah!  Trying to figure these things out sometimes as a parent is really hard! 

Need to liven up the day

My day has been not what I thought it would be.  It hasn't been a bad day, my family has tried to make it a good one.  I have been stressed about a lot of things lately and I feel like at any moment I'm going to crumble, but I keep hanging in there.  Because that's what I do.  I don't say that to brag but I say that because that's what I am used to, hanging in there.  Times get tough and you don't give up, you hang on until you regain your footing.  Today wasn't a bad day and it may not have gone the way I expected, but that happens and that's ok.  Maybe a affordable epiphone 1984 ex at Musicians friend could have livened things up.   I think having a sick child with an ear infection however, livened things up enough lol.  Tomorrow will be better. :)

Ready to go...almost

I am excited thinking about going camping with my family as the weather warms up.  Even though we have a new addition, I'm pretty sure our tent will fit us all.  We don't have any of the Big Agnes tents but just one we bought from Wal-Mart.  I think it's an Ozark??  Anyway, it works great and is bigger than others we've had in the past.  The kids love it and love going camping.  My favorite part is that we're all in the outdoors, enjoying nature, and eating out of Dutch ovens. Getting away from the city, computers, TV, radio, everything really helps bring you back to what really matters.  Time with family without distractions.  Even though there's plenty of snow outside right now and below zero temperatures, I know it won't last forever and things will warm up!  Can't wait!!