New Year - New Goals!

2012 was a truly wonderful year.

So much to be thankful for, so many memories made and events celebrated.

But I must say I'm excited for what's ahead now that its 2013!

Do Stuff as a Family

After working all week long I often think we would enjoy a weekend at home.  My thought is that way I can clean as I get a spare second here and there.  Truth is we all get stir crazy FAST and the kids end up making messes which just means more cleanup.  I am going to search for free kids activities on the weekends or even just going to visit family for a couple hours.  I think this will make for much happier kids (and parents!).

Lose those last 15 pounds - and KEEP em off

What is a new year without a new weight loss goal?  I was so ready to get this one going after all the holiday sweets and treats!  I feel like this is going to be the year for this goal!!!

Run 4 Races

I started running last year and fell in love.  With the snow and cold weather I had lost all motivation and the thought of running on a treadmill everyday did NOT sound fun.  But I am re-energized now with a whole bunch of interval treadmill workouts and am anxious for the weather to warm up!  On my list for sure this year are: the Bix and the QC Marathon (half or full?! Yikes, will determine that at a later date!).  Mike wants to start running a bit, too... so many a 5K and 10K in there?

Be MORE Creative

My husband would say that I do this plenty... but there's always room for more crafts and fun projects!  I love being creative and Pinterest has only added to it!  The problem with Pinterest is that I post WAY too many projects and don't give myself time to do them.  My goal is to complete ONE per month (and blog about it!) - totally do-able right?

Oh, and I also want to expand my offerings on Etsy.  I had 5 sales last year with barely anything out there and no marketing - so who knows what could happen?!

Blog

The purpose of my blog was to talk about my family and our day-to-day life.  Short and simple: I have not done well!  Granted a one year old and a two year old keep me (well, US) a little busy ;)

I plan to do a weekly update, even its just to recap an event from the week or a funny story about something a little one said.  Those are the things we need to remember, right?  Of course I still love to bake and craft, so some of those things may pop up as well!

Here's to 2013!! :)

Bragging Rights

Remember that one time I had a blog?  

And then life got INSANELY busy and I had to put it on the back burner?

Well.... before I give an update of the craziness that has been the past couple months - I'm popping in to do a little bit of bragging about my amazing, wonderful, incredible family :)

Mike

My husband started this crazy diet about 10 weeks ago.  Anyone that knows Mike probably wouldn’t consider him overweight, but he admittedly put on a few pounds of "baby weight" during my two pregancies that didn't seem to go away once the babies were here.  Anyways, back to this crazy diet.  For 3 weeks straight he ate ONLY: Eggs, cheese, meat, lettuce and green veggies (broccoli, green beans, brussel sprouts, etc).  That’s IT.  No breads, sugar, fruit, seasoning, DRESSING…. YIKES!  He lost 15 pounds in 3 weeks.  And since then he has altered his diet to minimize carbs and sugar (I try not to tempt him too much – as my diet IS carbs and sugar!), still eating mostly meats, cheeses, eggs, and veggies.  After 10 weeks hes down nearly 25 pounds!!!!  I told him he's going to melt away and he better slow down because he's making me look bad!  But really, I'm so proud of him.  So cool that he stuck with this and has had amazing results!

Mariah

what can I say about this non-stop talking 29 month old?!  She amazes us everyday, but the top of our lists right now is her potty training skills.  She has been FULLY 100% potty trained for about 3 months.  That means #1 and #2 – on the potty – ALL THE TIME.  And now she can do it all by herself – yep, getting on the (normal – not the training) potty, wiping, flushing, putting her pants back on, etc.  She doesn’t even want our help anymore.   We often catch her running down the hallway saying "I'M PEEING!" and then into the bathroom, shuts the door behind her, and shes out a few minutes later for us to help with washing hands and then she's all ready to play again!  I hope this wasn't TMI, but really this is a big step in a toddler's life and her mommy (and daddy, too!) is VERY proud!

Madden

Even though this babbling 9 month old doesn’t always sleep through the night, he is the sweetest, most laid-back little guy I could ever hope for.  Now that he is mobile (crawling and coasting) he is getting into EVERYTHING – from his sisters toys, to my purse, to dad's shoes.  My biggest bragging point with this kid is his ability to eat.  HE LOVES FOOD.   Oatmeal, fruits and veggies, dry cereal – he loves it all.  I think he may set a record for the fastest jar of baby food consumed.  I find it SO hard to believe that he's already to the point of eating soft table foods.  How did my baby boy grow up so fast?!

Lori

I need to brag a little bit about my awesome sister.  Did you know she graduated from college less than 16 months ago and in a little over a year she has gone from Trainee, to Management Assistant, to Assistant Manager, to Branch Manager, to DUAL Branch Manager with Enterprise Rent-A-Car?!  I don’t think my congratulations even begin to express how PROUD I am of her.  I always knew she would be successful, but she has totally found her niche with Enterprise and is destroying every record in her path.  LORI IS AMAZING!  I can't wait to see what she accomplishes in the future!

A post on our BUSY, CRAZY summer is soon to follow.  I just HAD to do a little bragging first about some very special people!

My First Road Race

In grade school having to run the mile was the WORST THING EVER.


How could I POSSIBLY run a mile?!  7 LAPS AROUND THE ISLAND at St. Paul's - that was SOOOO much to run!  I absolutely dreaded it and was lucky if I finished under 15 minutes!


Besides those terrible days I would avoid running at all cost (hence why my high school sports included swimming and tennis).


I dabbled in running a little bit a few years ago - back when I was trying to get in shape for my wedding.  Unfortunately that hobby died immediately after the big day!


After having 2 kids in 2 years I was desperate to get active.  My cousin Sara mentioned signing up to run the Bix and I thought it would be the perfect motivation to be sure I stayed focused.  The Bix is a 7 mile race here in the Quad Cities - and not what you'd consider an easy run.  Big hills and winding streets. Might as well set a big goal, right?!

Well, this past weekend was the race.  I had been running as much as I could - about 12 miles a week.

My goal was to average 10 minute miles - or 70 minutes.


I am happy to report that:


a) I survived!
b) I beat my goal (just barely)!  My official time was 1 hour, 9 minutes, 43 seconds


The best thing is that I've actually started to LOVE running (who would have thought?!).  So I'm setting my goals even higher and contemplating a half marathon next!  Yikes!!!!!