Thankful Thursday

Today is one of those days I'm thankful it's over. But, rather than let the frustrations of it get to me there are things I'm truly thankful for!

-Hats, for Sky...it was crazy hat day at school, and for me because I waited way to long for a hair cut and I can't stand to look at it, or try to do anything with it right now.

-That Sky ran over to kiss me in the middle of her hat shoot!

-Grocery shopping solo with my Starbucks in hand!

-For dog's and kiddo's that pile on Daddy for cuddles, and little piggies on doggy heads!

-That Birchbox is so creative with their address labels. I tend to think of it as being comfortable...with who I am, how I look, what I do and don't have, my life in general, what I can and can't change. Which I suppose is also considered confidence.

-For goggles. They made all the difference in swim class!

-That we were able to go out to Sushi tonight. It was a fiasco all the way around thank's to our little spaz monkey, but I'm thankful we have the means to dine out with her and have food adventures now and then. Normally she's pretty great dinning out...tonight was very odd and very frustrating.

-For the life we have going on for us. It's not always perfect or fun or pretty. But, it's ours and I love it, we love it as a family.

What are you thankful for today?

Box Troll Milk

This post won't make much sense if you have not seen the movie Box Trolls. It's Sky's current favorite which means anytime we give her movie time she asks for Box Trolls. It's ok though because we like it almost as much as she does.

One of the things I love about being gone an evening or two a week is the fun/adventures Mark and Sky have together. A few nights ago they came up with Sky's Box Troll name and costume. For those that haven't seen the movie, they wear boxes like clothing and each troll's name is based on the type of box (what items were packaged in the box) they have on. For example Fish, Shoes, Hat and there is a picture of the product on each box so you know who is who. 

Apparently Sky really likes Milk!

I needed to practice my phone photography class lessons and thought this would be a fun opportunity to get some cute pics of our little Box Troll. The above photo is a good example of framing your subject, but she is dead center of the photo (which is a no, no...and there are branches star-bursting out of her head which is another no, no...but I still love the photo)! I'll just say that practicing photo class in the woods adds a whole bunch of difficulty!

She picked out Milk all on her own, and then the two of them proceeded to build her box. 

It's a whole lot easier to point out what's wrong with picture than whats right. I cut her foot off and ignored the rule of thirds yet again. But that smile! 

We got a few funny looks from people who have clearly not seen Box Trolls, but Sky had a blast and didn't want to leave. When I told her I was done taking pics (over 80 of them...deleted down to 46 or something like that) she was not happy. "But Mommy I just need you to take my picture...I'm a box troll".

In the movie when they get scared or need to hide they withdraw into their box a lot like turtles in their shell. Sky kept trying to shrink down into her box and hide from me.

And, when they are happy they beat on their boxes, like an ape or Tarzan, she was happy a lot during the shoot. She fell a lot too, so the box took a beating, but I'm thinking by Halloween we will have a truly awesome nearly perfect Box Troll costume for her!

No big deal....just a little Box Troll wondering off into the woods.

They actually live in the sewer under the city, but since I don't have access to the underground sewer we opted for an outdoor adventure instead. Although, it would be fun to do a shoot downtown with Mark and his pro camera, and get some more industrial type pics! Family adventure time I think! 

Happy Sunny Friday - Totally Random Post!

It has felt like a long week, maybe because it's Mark first full week back to work in a long time. Plus, I'm back to Jamberry work with parties etc, so have less down time. I'm fine with that, just need to get back into the swing of it.

Getting back into the swing of running too! Still taking it slow and easy, but getting it done and my body is not hating me too much for it.

Photo Credit: Matt P.

First Tuesday Night group run of the year! Such a great group of runners, and nice people. I had new routes for the group to enjoy. It's sort of nice route planning and not thinking about if it's stroller friendly or not. Opens up the options a lot!

I mapped out the training plan for Santa Barbara Half and I'm a little scared. It's a different plan than we've done before and includes track time, speed work, and adding an extra run every week. It's just a lot to look at all 12 weeks at one time. Once we start the middle of next month I'll take it one run at a time and not think about all the miles I need to find time for.

I'm excited to have a race to focus on though, and help me work through the pain issues rather than talk myself into not running as easily as I have been.

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Thank goodness we are both feeling so much better and it was sunny out today, because Sky was going stir crazy! We decided to spend some time playing at the park to burn off some of that energy.

Always climbing, and once she's up at the top she's all over the place. She can't/wont just sit up there nice and safe, but is hanging over the edge saying she's going to jump so I can catch her. I sort of hate that fake rock, but she loves it.

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I'm stuck in an outfit rut! I seriously have worn this exact outfit almost every day this week. If no one I know sees me in it, then I can just keep wearing it right?!

I do love that the hat/scarf/finger-less gloves pared with long sleeves and boots means I'm warm enough without a jacket for our mild winter temps. Makes being on the go easier when I'm not dealing with a puffy jacket!

I need to switch it up though...thankfully I stopped myself and put something different on today.

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Sky's new favorite thing is cuddling on the floor with Bishop. She just wants to be under the blankets next to him all the time. I love how much she loves him, and how tolerant he is of her.

First dog, first kiddo...they have a strong bond.

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Anyone have watch advice for me? My Garmin Forerunner 10 losses my run data after every single run. I power off and back on, and do factory resets every time I run, and it's still doing it. Works just fine during the run, but as soon as I hit save it's gone. I'm ready to consider a different watch option. I'll have to save for a bit, so have time to do my homework. I'm a little unsure about getting another Garmin though. The old New Balance GPS watch I had never had a single issue, I only sold it because I won this Garmin in a drawing and trusted the name a bit too much apparently. It's only 3 years old, which doesn't seem old, but it never has worked great and has lost data periodically, but never like it is now. 

Customer Service has not been great. It always ends with them telling me "well that's not normal and it shouldn't do that, just keep trying to get it to work". Because that's helpful. I don't care to go back to using my phone/runkeeper. I just don't like running with my phone...it's too big. 

I've been looking at the Forerunner 220 wondering if an upgraded version of the very basic forerunner that I have would be worth it. I like the coaching and training plan options with the 220, but don't want to spend the $$ if it's going to have the same issues. Anyone out there have the 220? Or other suggestions?

Thankful Thursday

Things I'm thankful for today:

-Life. Plain and simple waking up each and every day.

-One dog thats old and lays still and cuddles with Sky and one dog that is young and full of energy and runs her into the ground. It's the perfect balance.

-Birchbox is doing a daily challenge and one of them was managing your email situation/on line time. I'm pretty good about putting the laptop away when I'm not using it, but the suggestion I got that I loved the most was silence your phone. Just silence it, then you don't feel compelled to check it every time it makes a sound. You know what...it works! I don't know what the heck is going on in the internet world, but I'm enjoying my days on my terms. I check my phone/emails/FB etc when I want to and have time, not when it beeps at me. I'm also continuing my unsubscribe mission with my email. Anything over 15 or 20 a day is too many!

-Hats. I just don't feel like doing my hair right now. It's too long and my bangs are getting stuck in my eyelashes and poking me in the eye all the time. It's totally my fault I waited too long to get in, but I have a cut scheduled, but until then hats are my best friend!

-I don't know why it took me/us so long to think of this, but those hanging baskets are amazing! Fruit and veggie bowels are now off the counter and wine station, and I am happy, happy, happy. Totally reminds me of my Grandma Jean, in the old red house she had a hanging basket of fruit so this made me smile. It also made me feel a bit old, but whatever works with the space we have is worth it!

-Speaking of the wine station...I'm always thankful when we have a bottle of wine to open!

-A fun new gold shimmer sweater that looks really great with my new boots! I guess I didn't feel like smiling for this pic, but I was loving this outfit!

 -Operation add color to our home step one. I got Happy Handmade Home with tons of cute DIY ideas, and some recipes even! Armed with both A Beautiful Mess books for inspiration, and step by step directions I'll be adding fun new elements around the house!

Ignore the crap in the background...if I had cleaned it up she would have been out of the box and the moment gone. She was trying to tip it over.

-That she's easily entertained...Sky in a box. Anyone seen The Box Trolls? Just wait until you see the project she did with daddy the other night. She's in a very "No pictures Mommy" stage right now, so it's tricky. But, I'm working on the right setting and bribery method to get some great pics of their project! In the meantime watch the movie...it's a good one!

-There was a suggestion on our team page yesterday to do Jamberry work at Starbucks, or any other public location that people tend to linger and has foot traffic. It's good exposure and you never know when someone walking past is going to want to know about the awesomeness they see going on.

Well I wasted no time putting that suggestion to use. I was going to work all morning while Sky was at school anyway, so packed it up and took it to Starbucks. No one stopped and talked, it was actually a bunch of older men in there...I was the only female, so not great for marketing. But, it was great for getting me out of the house and not trying to multitask by doing laundry while working. I put my phone on silent, and focused on getting stuff done and following up with customers. I came up with a few new ideas as well, so it was time well spent. And, I'm excited to have an "office" to go to now! :)

-Blues music. I'm not feeling blue at all, but I'm sure digging The Blues right now.

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What are you thankful for today?

Back to Regular Life

This week eases us back into our "normal" schedule with Sky going back to school, and next week we add in swimming again, which means getting up and out of the house (putting myself together) every day of the week. It actually makes Friday feel like Friday and the weekends feel like more of a weekend, and that's kind of nice.

One of the things about being a stay at home mom is there isn't much difference between Mon-Fri and the weekend. The days tend to be much the same with no weekend to look forward to for a break. Not complaining, because I love this life and the choice to stay home that was made, but it was one of those things I didn't foresee and didn't really know how to change. Being a stay at home mom doesn't mean I don't want my weekend (we need breaks/down time too!) and a change in pace.

Now that Sky's in school and has weekly activities and appointments the weekends once again feel like weekends. We can lounge in pj's or whatever. I don't get a break from my Mommy duties, but at least it's a change in schedule with less going on (ideally), and breaks up the sameness of the days.

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Some random life stuff...

    My up and at em outfit for yesterday. Love the zipper detail on this top! 

I'm taking a phone photography class right now and am now painfully aware of the things that are wrong in most of the pics I take. But, here's the deal with outfit photos. There are only two full length mirrors in this house and neither one is in my room/closet. So I have a choice of a messy kiddo room (which means the bed railing is always going to be running through my head...phone photo class no, no), or I use the one in Mark's office and catch the clutter of that room in the background. Background clutter is also a no, no from the class, but you know what...this is real life and while I'm trying really hard to make sure my photos are beautiful it's not always going to happen. So railing through the head it is. 

Yesterday was massage day and I prefer comfy outfits for massage and chiropractor days. Both appointments leave me sore and feeling worn out after. So I usually go with Athleta leggings from the City Pant collection and a shirt or sweater of some sort. I have started pairing with boots rather than running shoes though, so it looks a bit more put together for running errands before or after. I was feeling super lazy yesterday and put a hat on rather than wash and style my hair. I love hats...they hide messy dirty hair, and no make-up really well. Plus I really need a haircut...bangs are way too long and in my eyes, but a hat fixes that!

Sky was all about being a cowgirl princess with a sward yesterday. She mixed together Toy Story, Princess Sophia, and How To Train Your Dragon and was running all through the house waving her sword around like crazy. The phone photo class encourages us to practice the principles and techniques it's teaching us, but I tell you an active 3 year old is not the best test subject. I'm also realizing that in order to have uncluttered backgrounds I would have to spend a whole lot more time picking up after, and cleaning up after dogs and kiddo. :-/ Sometimes less than perfect is worth it though to capture the moment/silliness that's going on. 

Our little Steelers Fan! 

 We were both still dealing with a cold and not feeling great, so were happy to snuggle and watch football!

I love her Ray Mansfield Sock Monkey! Best birthday gift ever! I just realized it totally looks like sock monkey Ray is grabbing himself...one of those details I'll have to pay attention to now that I'm taking a class and should have perfect pics from here on out. :)

Even though they lost their playoff game Sky still randomly marches through the house saying "Here we go Steelers, here we go"! My job here is done. ;-)

I just have to get this off my chest...to the person who accused me of brainwashing my child into being a Steelers fan (complete strange felt like they could say something they should have kept to themselves) do you really think that your child is any more or less brainwashed just because they are a Hawks fan?! Just because it's the home team that makes what you do ok, but what I do not ok? Mind you all I did was put her in a Steelers dress that SHE picked out for herself. Yes, I'm a Steelers fan and chances are Sky will be to, it's hard not to be given a family member played for them. But, what this stranger doesn't have a clue about is that I actually don't care what team Sky's a fan of, as long as she's a FOOTBALL fan. And, don't even get me started on the fact that there are kids in the world being brainwashed into thinking and doing horrible things to others, so really you want to accuse me of brainwashing my child?

Since the Steelers are out of it I'm looking forward to watching playoff games and SB without really caring what happens. I have preferences of course, but no emotion or stress watching the games, because my team is not involved. Now all I hope for are good, clean, close games with no controversial calls/plays. No blowouts....blowouts are boring.

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Any other football fans out there? Is your team still in it?

How To Survive When Mommy and Munchkin are Sick

Whatever this cold is it sure is dragging on and on. Sky has been sick for two weeks, and I've been sick for about a week now. The worst part is the cough. It's killing my back, seriously have a rib out because of it. 

The really messed up thing about kiddo's being sick is they don't know how to be sick very well. Sky still needs an energy burn, and to get out of the house. Normally it's fine and I'm happy to take her to the park and explore trails to keep her away from the masses, but when I'm sick and don't feel like doing much other than staying in pj's and laying on the couch it's not fun for anyone. Why can't she just lay around with me all day?! 

So, I suck it up, put on real clothes and get the girl out and about for a few hours. 

She knew I wasn't feeling great and decided cake pops would make it all better. She specifically asked if we could go in and sit down. Getting out of the car and going in is a real treat for her. I probably shouldn't have shared our germs with Starbucks, but I did find a table away from everyone and we didn't stay long. 

Super thankful to have awesome new clothes to slip into when I need a quick "real" outfit to leave the house in. My style is mostly athletic as daily wear, but I'm stepping it up and adding boots, or ballet flats (not running shoes), and adding accessories to make it more of a real outfit. I have to say Athleta, and my Dad, are making it super easy to pull a put together, yet casual and comfy look. I have added some nicer tops and jeans as well to the wardrobe, but when I'm sick that's just too much to deal with! 

We stayed home sick for NYE just the three of us. I'm ok with that though. It makes it a little more special for Mark and I to spend the anniversary of the day we met together! Jan 1, 2010...15 years later and still happy and having fun on this amazing adventure!

 How I partied NYE...was in bed before midnight and didn't have any champagne. :(

 Thank Goodness friends gave us some fun games for Christmas so we had family game night and movies instead of partying in the new year. Sky was over the top excited about the Doc McStuffins Operation game!

She doesn't exactly get the point...she likes making is buzz.

I made missing champagne at midnight by making sparkling poinsettia's for breakfast New Years Day, and cooking breakfast for us.

I knew New Years Day was going to be spent watching college football all day long...always has been my favorite day of the year!....so Sky and I bundled up and went to the park to burn some energy before the football fest started. Don't let the sun fool you...it was cold, really cold!

 This view never gets old!

I'm taking advantage of her small burst of energy, and my small windows of feeling like being active enough to get out of the house, to make sure we don't go stir crazy. It's tough though because the melt down factor is sky hi when Sky's had enough. So, it's quick, close to home excursions and then back home to rest and recover.

Thank goodness for movies, football, hide and seek with all the lights off, operation, her new bed that still offers hours of play time, and Mark's zombie dice game. Oh, and wine...mostly for Mark dealing with two sick ladies in the house. We are getting through this, and I'm so ready for school and swimming to start back up next week. Ready for a regular schedule again! 

I hope everyone's New Year is off to a great start!