The Pyrex Museum

Yesterday we happened upon the Pyrex Museum downtown in Bremerton. I was in Heaven! I thought it was so adorable. My mom thought I was such a dork but she was cute about it and took a picture of me in all of the Pyrex glory.

Sidenote: When I get ready every day I think my bangs are cute. And then I see a picture of them. Kind of upsetting....oh well.

All a Haze

That's what this summer has been, just a big '0l haze. This year has been so busy for us and this summer did not slow down one bit. Now it's almost (ok pretty much) over! Where did it go?!! So sad to think about....

We normally head over to my parents house for dinner on Sunday nights. They were gone this weekend camping so Jake and I stayed home with the kids and had dinner and just relaxed. We were trying to think of the last time (let alone Sunday) that the four of us just hung out at the house with NOTHING to do, no place to go, no deadline to meet. We couldn't remember the last time, honest. It felt so great. We have been stretched so thin lately and today was just plain therapeutic :)

Yesterday Jake told me to stop scheduling myself for so many things and to slow down a bit. I think I've been doing so much I kinda forgot how to just stop and think. I'm going to practice it this week and just hang at the house and spend time with the kids. Maybe have a couple of play dates and go into town once or twice but that's it for me! I am so thankful for down time and for Sundays especially. With all that's been going on (and life in general) Sundays are always the best day of the week. I don't know how the rest of the world goes 24/7.

24/6 is hard enough. T.G.I.S!!!!!!

Shizzam

I try not to brag but shoot, I ran a half marathon last weekend. It took me 2 hours and 45 minutes. For those of you wondering, that's a little on the slow side. BUT I never walked....not once. I ran the whole thing. At one point I was behind two girls doing a speed walk and I wasn't passing them....haha. About two weeks before the race I got a nasty little cold mixed with allergies so I didn't run much. The farthest I had ever run before the race was a little over 8 miles where I'd run a mile and walk a quarter. I went over the night before with my friend Riitta (Who is twenty years older than me and ran it twenty minutes faster....ROCKSTAR!) We went to the expo, checked into our hotel, went out to dinner (to a pasta place of course) then went back to try and get some sleep before the big day. The pictures and videos pretty much speak for themselves. There were 27,000 runners. Around 17,000 were half runners and 12,000 of those were women. Jake came out Saturday morning and surprised me at 5 miles with the boys and a sign that read,"Kids at the finish, enjoy your peace and quiet!" Needless to say he got lots of comments on that one.

At the Health Expo:

Thanks, we're gonna need it:

Walking to the start, cars could only get within about

a mile or two and you had to walk from there:

Standing in the HoneyBucket line:

Hittin' up the buckets before we hopped in the start corals:

Getting closer, Coral #26:

All those people.....By the time we actually hop in line the

first coral has been running for atleast 30 minutes:

Finally crossing the start somewhere around 51 minutes:

(The peeps in front of us think I'm psycho when I yell, haha)

Seward Park, the pretty part of the run:

Potty break: (Took a good 10-12 minutes)

The last stretch

11mi mark:

Hobbling through the finish line:

(Warning--a little shaky, you might get sick watching it)

My shirt said: "I run so I can eat cupcakes"

Apparently the guy using my camera couldn't see the viewfinder...

Proud finishers:

Now that it's been a few days, I just might think about doing another one :)

First time for me making a goal like this and seeing it through! I kinda like the whole goal making/accomplishing idea.

So.....

.....where did I leave off?

Well my sister, Paige, told me today that I'm not a blogger anymore. Well I guess that's true if the said blogger's hiatus has been since *ahem* March.

Holy crap.

Here are my excuses.....or.....reasons:

-I'm lazy

-I wasn't even fb updating so....give me a break.

-I've been training for a race people!!! (well as a tiny update I didn't run for a month after that 5k, but I'm proud to say that as of today I'm up to 8 miles. So suck it.)

-Jake's screen printing business is in FULL swing and I'm a little involved in that

-the decclo website is seriously almost done (but how many times do you want to hear that....really....)

-I was on the committee for planning a relief society retreat that happened last week. The committee happened to consist of me and two of my closest friends. You can probably guess that the planning meetings typically went a little longer than expected.

-I got a new calling at church, it keeps me kinda busy. (Primary pres.)

-a couple of weeks ago we stayed with some family friends 5 children (and we brought our two along with us) for 4 days. THAT was crazy.

-we've been experimenting with creating a front yard....pics to come

-I've been getting crafty and it has involved lots of time shopping at Goodwill, St Vins and old lady estate sales.....pics to come on that also.

Do I really need to think of more excuses? Please forgive me and continue to read. I will try not to disappoint for at least a couple more months.

Funny story today: You know when you're in a store and someone comes over the intercom and announces in "that tone" that parents need to keep their children with them and you wonder who would let their child run around and cause trouble enough for an employee to make that announcement? That neglectful parent was me. I really didn't think that playing a ginormous horn type of thing would cause so much trouble. He wasn't breaking anything was he? Sheesh.

On your marks....

Post race pic with Jack

I did it. I did the 5k. Now I have to bump up the mileage? Don't know if I'm ready for that but I sure had a lot of fun running in my first ever 5k race this last weekend. I went with friends Tiffani, Angela and Nina. We all did well and felt great for doing it. I was worried about the weather (which turned out to be beautiful) and about running hills (since I train mainly at home on a treadmill). There was no clock for the race but I think I ran it somewhere between 26-29 minutes, probably more like 27-28. Then they announced top finishers in each age division, and would you guess what? I finished third in the 20-24 age division and got a water bottle! My sweet hubbs kept the boys entertained and I had a really good time. It wasn't very far, but it was an accomplishment for me. I need to go get myself signed up for a 8k or 10k now. (Don't know how in the world I'll ever get to 13 miles for the half marathon in June.....)

Running the last 1/4 mile...Is it just me or do I look freakishly long in this pic?

My boys, patiently waiting.

Crux

We have been really busy lately. And I mean REALLY busy. As most of you know we decided last summer to venture off on our own and start a clothing company (Decclo). In the beginning of August we contracted the company Dogstar to create our website. With hardly any communication from them to us on what the heck was going on, they finally quit on us in October. They had subcontracted a portion of the project to a company in Maryland called Acadia Creative so when Dogstar quit Acadia fulfilled their contracted portion of the project, and chose not to take on the remaining items Dogstar had contracted. Our original goal was to be up and running by the holidays but we had obviously missed that mark by this point. Well, we were stuck and running out of a budget fast. That was a long story short right there, FYI. So as we went developer shopping once again it was suggested to us to go overseas. We found Classic Informatics over in India and they started from where we had left off and have been a dream to work with. This project is bigger than we were/are capable of and the guys over at CI have been awesome to work with. So now, 8 months later, we are planning on launching the site early April.

It's a blessing in disguise that this has been a slower process than we had hoped for many reasons. One thing we hoped to do was to eventually sell our product wholesale to retailers. In order to make this cost effective we thought we'd look into printing our own shirts. Once Jake started researching this option we dove head first and made the decision to print our own stuff and since we'd have all the equipment we might as well open a screen printing shop in Bremerton. This shop will be called Crux Branded Apparel and Screen Printing. We just finalized on a space over in East Bremerton this last week and Jake has started some small renovations while we wait for the mass of equipment we purchased to arrive. Turns out that the time we open doors at Crux will be about the same time we launch the Decclo website. I am also working part-time for Jake's dad and we are managing to make this all work right now. There is no way any of this would be possible without the help from our both sets of parents. They have all made a huge contribution toward our dream, cliche I know but there really is no other way to put it, with their time, energy and financial contribution. Aren't families the greatest? We are so lucky to live by ours.

So I guess this explains to our friends why we haven't been around much, to my readers who haven't had a whole lot to read other than boring running times and to the kids at church why we haven't had a party for them lately :) We are excited for this and it has been the best ride! We are learning so much about business, well Jake already knows a lot. I'm learning a lot more than I ever expected or thought I'd want to learn. Turns out I really like it and I think I have a niche for it. We've got a lot of interested prospects for the screen printing side of all this and our list keeps on growing. This summer will probably be full of late nights at the shop and hot busy days fulfilling orders. Keep your fingers crossed that Jake's efforts of this last year will pay off for him soon!!! We got bills to pay, lol.

TODAY'S TRAINING:

5K 26:51

The Spring it Forward 5k race is only two days away!!

Lesson Learned

This week we applied for a credit card for the company and couldn't get one. Apparently we had too many lines of credit opened. We were a little perplexed by this and maybe we're just dumb but we found out something we didn't know about credit. Normally I wouldn't be so open about sharing this somewhat private information on the world wide web....but I'm hoping this helps someone else out:

Jake went online to a credit bureau company (Experian or something like that??) and looked up our report for free to figure out what the problem was. What we found out was that most of our credit lines that are open are school loans. No biggie. But there were a few on there that shouldn't have been and stopped us from being approved even though our credit score is well into the 700s (the highest is an 850, they don't typically exceed 825). One example of an open credit line that shouldn't have been there was from Gordon's Jewelers (my engagement ring). When Jake bought it, he paid for it in full that day. This account should have been closed 5 years ago. In fact, all of our open accounts were and are in good standing! These companies like to keep the account open for ten years. What we didn't know was that you must call these companies and close the account yourself. Otherwise they stay open. Since we have closed those accounts everything is all better. Another thing we learned is that you can go to optoutprescreen.com and get yourself off of the lists that send you credit card offers. They send those to after they've checked your score. Get off of those lists!!! They aren't good to be on!! It cuts your score down, no fault of your own and it's a tragic waste of money and paper. Just wanted to share that in case we weren't the only uneducated when it comes to that stuff. Hope it helps someone!!

TODAY'S TRAINING:

5K 29:00

(I'd like to run the Spring it Forward 5k in 25:00 or less.....10 days from now)

Love Notes

Dear Febreze,
How genius were you guys when you hooked up with Bissel to make good smelling vacuum bags? Kuddos to you, thanks for making my house smell good better.

Dear Breyers,
I think you should make your limited edition strawberry cheesecake ice cream a permanent flavor. It would permanently be in my home. It doesn't even have chocolate in it and it is to DIE for. Thank you ice cream scientists for making such a scrumptious flavor.

Those tortillas from Costco that you cook at home,
I'm officially converted and could probably be considered a binge eater after this week.

Dear El Nino,
Thanks for stopping by this month. You are welcome any year you want to stop by. Every 5 years just isn't often enough.

Dear Jillian Michaels,
Although sometimes I think you're uber cheesy, you pump me up. Thanks for kicking my butt the days I'm on the treadmill. That's probably the reason you're rollin' in the benjamins with your job.

TODAY'S TRAINING

5k 27:48

(taking a four day break was not ideal)

This week in pictures:

Jake on a hike with friends Scott and Nate

Roasting weenies at G&G Frys

Playing at G&G Frys

Learning the advantages of being a boy at G&G Frys

Sharing Candy

My stamp project

Experimenting with records

My $2 Goodwill shoes!

The end.

Reality Check

Today I ran outside. And it sucked. And it was freeezing. And I didn't like it.

Looks like I'm gonna have to figure out how to suck it up.

TODAY'S TRAINING:

Couple of miles? Not sure how long?

Ears frozen, Check!

Lucky day

Today was a great busy day. I was not looking forward to it because Jack had a well baby check up and I knew he'd have to get some shots. I didn't know, however, that there would be 4. I made Jake come with me to be the one who sat with him and held him down because I've always been the one to do it and it just felt like it was time for him to have a go at it. And what happens?!.....Jack takes it like a champ. Typical.

Along with that good news, we went to DQ then ate our icecream at the park (It was a BEAUtiful day!) AND I made a stop by Goodwill and found a cute pair of shoes that looked like they were pretty much new and they were also half off!!! They're the ones that old guys wear on sailboats.... I hope that I can pull them off cause they're not typical shoes. But I like them a lot so who cares :)

TODAY'S TRAINING:

5 MI. 47:21

(and it was haaarrd!)

Hey! I didn't sign up for this part!

It seems like recently, a good part of my day is spent cleaning up pee or puke. Cooper has relapsed a little on the potty training and has wet the bed and himself multiple times in the last two weeks. Jack has some sort of reflux problem or a possible lactose problem and has been vomiting, more than normal. Tonight Jake and I were on our way to Lowes and heard Jack start gagging in the back. Then he was hurling, and hurling. It seemed endless for a second! We pulled over to help him out and it was just EVERYWHERE! We were right by a fitness club so Jake ran in to ask for some paper towels. We stripped Jack down in the rain and tried to wipe the gobs of goo out of his carseat before the 10 minute ride home with all the windows cracked. Let me be the first to tell you that I have a pretty strong stomach for that kind of thing and I gagged a couple of times.

Oh the joys of being a parent :)

TODAY'S TRAINING:

2 MI. RUN

16:28

My personality test results

Super interesting! My friend Laura did this and I got curious so here's my results:

ESFJ-

Extraverted 78% very expressed extravert

Sensing 12% slightly expressed sensing personality

Feeling 62% distinctively expressed feeling personality

Judging 1% slightly expressed judging personality

Providers take it upon themselves to insure the health and welfare of those in their care, but they are also the most sociable of all the Guardians, and thus are the great nurturers of social institutions such as schools, churches, social clubs, and civic groups. Providers are very likely more than ten percent of the population, and this is fortunate for the rest of us, because friendly social service is a key to their nature. Wherever they go, Providers happily give their time and energy to make sure that the needs of others are met, and that social functions are a success.

Highly cooperative themselves, Providers are skilled in maintaining teamwork among their helpers, and are also tireless in their attention to the details of furnishing goods and services. They make excellent chairpersons in charge of dances, banquets, class reunions, charity fund-raisers, and the like. They are without peer as masters of ceremonies, able to speak publicly with ease and confidence. And they are outstanding hosts or hostesses, knowing everyone by name, and seemingly aware of what everyone's been doing. Providers love to entertain, and are always concerned about the needs of their guests, wanting to make sure that all are involved and provided for.

Friendly, outgoing, neighborly - in a word, Providers are gregarious, so much so that they can become restless when isolated from people. They love to talk with others, and will often strike up a conversation with strangers and chat pleasantly about any topic that comes to mind. Friendships matter a great deal to Providers, and their conversations with friends often touch on good times from years past. Family traditions are also sacred to them, and they carefully observe birthdays and anniversaries. In addition, Providers show a delightful fascination with news of their friends and neighbors. If we wish to know what's been going on in the local community, school, or church, they're happy to fill us in on all the details.

Providers are extremely sensitive to the feelings of others, which makes them perhaps the most sympathetic of all the types, but which also leaves them somewhat self-conscious, that is, highly sensitive to what others think of them. Loving and affectionate themselves, they need to be loved in return. In fact, Providers can be crushed by personal criticism, and are happiest when given ample appreciation both for themselves personally and for the tireless service they give to others.

What's your personality? Go HERE to find out!

No Turning Back

It's official. I signed up for the race today!! And I'm so darn savvy I found a coupon for $10 off registration. Yay me! I spent a while going through the Seattle Rock n' Roll website and saw lots of cool stuff. It got me even more pumped. Anyone up for a 5k with me? I want to run this one on March 6 (it's a Saturday!) I want to sign up by this weekend and I want a buddy (or buddies!).

TODAY'S TRAINING:

4 MI. RUN

36:41

100

Well sorry to tell ya but this post is going to be about running.

For the first time in my entire life I ran 4 miles in less than 40 minutes. It's a run like tonight that makes me feel like maybe I'll be able to one day run 13 miles. Tomorrow morning... probably not so much. My hips, knees and ankles are going to need a LOT more strengthening. My joints are so sore the day after I run. I think I might need some new running shoes pretty soon. I don't love the way my current ones feel, plus they're getting kind of old.....

And I might need to do some underwear testing for the big day to eliminate as much "riding up" as I can. No one wants to see me pullin' that out for 13 miles that's for sure.

To sum it up, most days I gripe about having to get a run in. Today I kinda wanted to. (could the addiction be kicking in? That would be nice!) Right now at this moment I'm excited for all of this!!!!

TODAY'S TRAINING:

4 MI. RUN

37:44

(Not bad for a 100th post!!!...Cheers!)

Day Off

Today was a day off of work for me and I must say, it's been a long time since I've been HOME all day long! Nothing spectacular happened. I went through all the boys clothes and switched hand-me-down sizes for Jack and put the clothes Cooper has grown out of in the hand-me-down bucket. Sounds simple, but let me be the first to tell you it takes forever. First of all, all the laundry has to be clean! When does that ever happen? Then you sort and empty and fold and fill. So I spent a lot of my morning doing that and found lots of cute clothes I forgot we had! PLUS I found a shoe that went missing basically right after Grandma Fry bought the pair for Cooper a little while back. It must have been tossed in there last time we did the size change....HURRAH! That's always fun right? And because these bins were in a storage closet at our place, of course I had to empty out the whole thing and re-organize. Some visiting teachers came to see me and we had a great time. I baked bread to go with the lasagna I made and I ran.....all before 6 o'clock. OH, And the boys were good and fun and happy all the while. Pretty darn good day.

TODAY'S TRAINING:

4 MI. JOG

41:22

Sickos beware....

I have just changed the way a comment is left on MY blog. Recently, there have been weird sick people leaving pornographic links and I'm getting ticked about it. COME ON!!!!!!! Do I look like someone who wants that as a comment?! Do yourself a favor and MOVE ON to somewhere else. You should be ashamed of yourself for putting that on ANY type of FAMILY blog (or anyone's you don't know personally). And by the way, if you're thinking that it is enticing to either me OR my husband, you are very wrong. Do it again and I'll track you down.

GET-A-LIFE.

Tiring Week

It's been a long week for us! We launched the Vote Decclo blog, I worked a few days, we've been trying to exercise, Jake has had bball games, I helped with youth stake volleyball and we've been house hunting again.

We want to be able to buy a house in time for the tax credit. Our budget is only so much and that gives us TONS of not so great options. It's amazing what little $200,000 will buy these days. We've been looking for a place that is in atleast an OK area, has 3 bedrooms, a good enough yard for little kids, and possibly a shop or garage for the screen-printing stuff. Let me just tell you it's been mad. Not to mention we've had some serious grumpy moments over here at our house. Lots of mixed emotions about everything I guess. So needless to say the weekend is looking good to us right now even though we'll probably be driving around a lot looking at places.

I know that what happens.....happens. I have full trust in the Lord that we'll end up where he wants us to be, whether that be somewhere new or right here in our current setting. I just hope I can keep the patience! (or be better at being patient for that matter)

On a side note, I had the day off today so I wanted to get my run on before tonight since we're having a bunch of youth over tonight. I just ran last night so this morning was hard and there were kids distracting me. Looks like the evening might be the best time after all!

TODAY'S TRAINING:

3 MI. WALK/RUN

32:34

shavin' time

TODAY'S TRAINING:

4 MI. WALK/RUN

43:54

(That's 5 minutes!)

Mental Note

Remind me NEVER to break that vow I made last week about not missing more than one day. Today was HARD! But I totally needed it......

TODAY'S TRAINING:

4 MI. WALK & RUN

49:14

Cute story

Well yesterday was my day off from training, ha. I have vowed to not go two days in a row without a run/walk.

In other news (since there obviously is more to my life than this lofty goal of mine) I have a cute little story from work yesterday. I was sitting at the reception desk and a young family was sitting in the waiting room: Dad, mom and 5ish year old daughter. Mom and Dad were reading magazines and the daughter was rummaging around through the kids books and made her way to the little table with a bible, a book of mormon and some LDS pass along cards. She picked up a card with a picture of Jesus on it and showed it to her parents and said, "Look! It's Jesus!" Her parents had these stunned faces as her mom basically was like, "Yeah, it is! Good job!....I'm surprised you know that!" And her dad was joking about how the daughter found Jesus in a dentist's office.....

I wanted so badly for her parents to talk to her more about it but they went right back to their magazines. It was too bad but my heart was full at that moment watching her stare at the picture for a few more long seconds before she put it back and I left for the day.

I am always amazed at the keen recognition of the Spirit that children have. They are so sensitive to it without even knowing it. It's no wonder we are instructed to become more childlike!

TODAY'S TRAINING:

2 MI. WALK/2 MI. RUN!!!

50:49

Whew!

Well 3 days down.....and how many to go???

TODAY'S TRAINING:

4 MI. WALK 57:37

Training

I am still working on a schedule for training for the half. It is six months away and the legit schedule I was given is only about three months total and........drumroll, starts at 3 miles. Cha-right. I can't run 3 miles right now so I will have to work up to that in the next month and a half or so.

That's what I'm ironing out right now.

After a busy day at work and having friends over for dinner, I decided I had to work out at 9:30pm. Glad I did it though.

TODAY'S TRAINING:

4 MI. WALK--58:42

(it can only get better from here!)

Silly Jake

Jake- I want to go get something.

Rachel- What do you want to get?

Jake- Well it's not in line with this new half marathon thing.

Rachel- What do you want to get?

Jake- Icecream.

Rachel- Jake, being able to run a half marathon and eating icecream have absolutely nothing to do with each other. Let's go.

Let it be known that although my goal is to run this thing in a short 6 months from now, I will be eating icecream all along the way. And anything else my little heart desires for that matter. Quality of life my friend, quality of life.

Ok fine, I'll start.....

There is this tiny off in the distance goal that I have to run a half-marathon.

That's it. I haven't planned it out. I know of races coming up this year, just like every other year. That's the problem. They come every year so if I miss out this year it's kinda like, Oh well, maybe next time. But this year is an important one because currently I'm not pregnant and I don't plan on it anytime in 2010. My kiddos are getting easier to take care of.....well that's not true but you know what I mean. I have a lot of drive to do a lot of things this year but for some reason exercise and running just isn't kicking in for me. We have an awesome treadmill and we've even taped a picture of Dara Torres on it cause let's face it, she's a total fitness bombshell babe. Jake wouldn't mind looking a little more like her either. I like working out. It just takes time. It's hard for me to wake up before my kids do because, well I'm tired. I'd love to get the workout done in the morning because heaven knows there's no way I will get it done at night when all I want to do is relax. Listen to me, I sound like a lazy bum. I'll admit it, I kinda am but in my defense, I have kids. It's no excuse but it sure is a good reason.

So in order to be held more accountable for this very desirable but hardly attainable goal of mine, you will be hearing about my progress. And I would like to run the Seattle Rock and Roll half marathon on June 26th. If I register before 2/28 it's only $85. So I'll take the next month or so to try and get myself started. Pump me up! I need it! And if anyone else wants to jump on the bandwagon do it with me! It'd be fun......well, once we finish it will be :)

For starters, today Jake and I along with the kiddos took a nice brisk 4 mile walk. Watch out Dara....

Dream Job

Yesterday Jake asked me what my dream job would be. It could be anything, anywhere, I would be totally qualified, etc. I thought about it for a sec and came up with some hot shot editor or someone like that working at a big magazine in NYC. Is that completely shallow of me? I think I've been watching too many movies and reading too many books with main characters holding these oh so glamorous and dramatic jobs. There's something a bit appealing about the hectic rush, short deadlines, trendy shoes, weekend getaways, workaholism, riding the subway from my penthouse apartment over looking central park, screaming bosses, witchy backstabbing co-workers and a super hott mail guy or something. Ha :)

Jake is reading this over my shoulder and just asked if this was my fantasy. "I can do mail," he says. HA!

Anyway. I'm glad I don't have that option. I love my job. I love being a momma and wifey. I love living in a smallish town close to a biggish city. I love the slow, lazy days that grace us ever so often and the freedom to go out and explore together without being tied down by 'the man'. I'm pretty sure I actually have my dream job right now :)

Sweet Baby Jack

One year ago my sweetest Jack was born.

Holy fastest year of my life.

Anyways, although it was a super fast year, we sure didn't miss a second watching our little babe grow. Jack has been such a joy in our lives. He cuddles, even when he isn't sick. That boy could be held all day long and he'd be okay. When we first brought him home we had a super cold spell with the weather so I used that as an excuse to have him sleep in my bed with me and crank the heat up in our room. He stayed in our room for about 4 months (I think?) then it was time to put him in with Cooper. That's about how long it took for Cooper to be ok with the idea of having Jack around permanently.

How could you not be okay with a face like that?!

Our plan was to have them close so they'd be buddies. It's finally starting to be that way! They are starting to play together a lot. And even though Cooper picks on Jack non-stop, Jack just follows him everywhere and watches his every move. I love my two boys :)

Jack will eat anything you put in front of him. He is a bottomless pit. He can recognize the clanking of silverware on a plate and will come crawling faster than you can get the first bite in. I don't know that I've gone once without sharing a meal with Jack as long as he's nearby. Because of this, his nickname is "Chancho".

The helmet made his cheeks that much chubbier.

We love our Jack and his cute little face. He's a pleaser and likes to make us laugh. He is a very observant little boy so we must watch ourselves now that he's picking up all sorts of tricks.

Black icing on a first birthday cake: One of the best ideas I've ever had.

We thank our lucky stars and our Father in Heaven everyday for this special boy and hope for more boys like him and Cooper in the future.

2010

It's officially here and I am super duper excited. I have a feeling about twenty-ten. Along with many others I want to make a list. Not all of them are probably super realistic but they are most definitely possible. I feel like I need to bring in the second century of my life with a bang this year and I will do that by living like I've never lived before. I want to do new things, play more games, see new places, meet new people, etc.

My list, which will of course be a continuing work:

1. Go to Mt. Rainier and hike around

2. Go to a sunny warm sandy beach

3. Write atleast every other day on my blog

4. Bake bread more often

5. Take the kids to the Seattle Zoo

6. Take the kids camping

7. Take a road trip...maybe to California?

8. Plan meals

9. Read the Book of Mormon, maybe twice.

10. Learn to play the piano again

11. Be able to watch icky dental procedures without getting knots in my stomach

12. Write letters to my grandparents

13. Go to a Sounders game. I want to see what all the fuss is about :)

14. Take the kayak out a couple times

15. Teach Cooper lots of things like letters, numbers, colors, sounds, shapes, etc.

16. Be more patient and kind

17. Plant flowers

18. Exercise and be in shape

19. Run a half-marathon, or maybe just start out with a 10K (baby steps)

20.

21.

22.

To be continued...