Have you ever wanted to...

Have you ever wanted to:

• Be a fly on a wall in someone's house (or life) that you think has a really great family, because you want to find out how to do the great things they do?
• Home school your kids just to have the freedom to go and explore the world like a child again (and for so many, many other reasons), but you have a hard time wanting to take your kids out of a pretty darn good public school (as far as public schools go)(and you also lack the confidence in teaching your own kids)?
  
• Throw almost everything out of your house and start all over again, with a more simplistic approach?
• Paint almost every room in your house and add a back-splash and a chair rail, all in a six month period while pregnant?
• Take a month long road trip with four kids, not including your husband?
• Completely get rid of your TV? (No more movies again... unless you watch them on the computer)
  
• Get rid of your Wii after only 4 1/2 months of owning it?
• Rent a big motor-home and tour the country with your kids?
• Completely change your family's way of eating? (go from eating out occasionally to cooking only from scratch and go from occasional junk food to no sugar, no processed junk, etc... you get the idea)
• Work really hard at living frugally so you can pay off your house in a few short years?
• Run a marathon while pregnant but you are so tired all of the time, so it is hard to find the time to run when you should?
• Take a spontaneous, fun trip with just your husband? Maybe a cruise? Maybe surprising your spouse with it?
• Throw away almost all of your kids toys while they weren't around? (Ya, I'm crazy. And a mean mom.)
• To be in four or more places at once?
  
• Pack up and move, to have a new adventure in a new place?
• Have a lot of money, so you could secretly help a bunch of people in need?
• Live out in the country with a lot of land for you and your kids to explore and have a mini farm? (But still close enough to a decent sized city, so you don't go insane).
• Be way more organized but don't know where to begin?
• Spend hours and hours uninterrupted, blogging, sewing, photo organizing, etc., etc., ??
• Go on a sisters trip without any kids? (That may happen someday - if I EVER stop having kids - ha!)
  

Well, I have. I've wanted to do all of those at one time or another (or maybe all right now... kidding - sorta). Some of them are more thoughts or dreams, some of them can become a reality. I just wanted to share some of my random thoughts from my head lately. There are many more that I just can't think of right now, because I have a pregnancy brain right now. (I love that excuse. And I really, really believe it! It is so true, especially this fifth time.)

What are some things you have "wanted to do"?

Random Confessions...

I don't know why I am choosing to share these. But, I think somehow I will feel better by getting this off my chest.

What I am like lately:

• I have been a horrible mom and I know it. (The second part is what makes it hardest. I'd rather not know. At least it would be easier to live with myself...) I can't believe I just admitted that. Out loud.
  
• I have an incredible sweet tooth. The cravings are getting worse, even though I know I should be training for a marathon. (Uh oh!) Any advice? One thing that might help is hiding the chocolate chip buckets from myself. (Is that really possible?)
  
• I waste time on the computer everyday. (I wish it was not such a magnet. I feel like checking my google reader is like some people's tv. It helps me unwind. But then I just feel like a bad mom and wife. And my house is getting messier. Hmm...)
• I already messed up on my one-and-only-New-Year's-Resolution. (It would be better if I just got back on track with it, rather than just completely giving up. But for some reason there is not as much of a strong desire, because I already messed up. {Maybe it's Satan working hard against me}) Does anyone else understand this?
  
• I can't keep my house clean and I have lost control of my kids chores and after school routine. (I actually have no desire to get them to do their chores. I have a desire to have a clean house. I clean the house while they're at school. The house gets messed up within 30 seconds of them walking in the house from school. I let them play for awhile. I tell them it's time to do chores. It doesn't happen. I don't push it, because I'm busy and don't have the energy either. I also don't like the way I feel when I am fighting with them about it. So, I'd opt for letting it go. But, that is really not in anyone's best interest that I do that.)
  
• I'm lazy. (Isn't that obvious from reading the list so far.)
• I am getting so many white hairs on my head and I'm only 30!! I know, I'm blonde. But I can totally see them!! What the...? I know why people my age color their hair...
  
• I am so lost in what I am supposed to be doing with my calling. I am getting some things. But, I wish I had someone to hold my hand while I do every little thing (even on the computer. I so stink at doing things on the computer).
• I'm jealous of my husband. He gets to go on a skiing trip for four days in Park City. I want to have 4 days totally alone. (What would I actually do? There is too much to do. Maybe I need like 4 YEARS to myself.) Does anyone else ever get jealous of their husband? I also am very happy for him. It's mixed emotions I'm feeling. For sure.
  

Sorry if this list seems so negative. I'm fine, really. I just know there is room for improvement. Maybe someday I'll share a list of improvements that I've made. Ha... Ya, we'll see.

I'm still debating with myself about whether or not I should really post this. It's weird. Or rather, I'm weird. I know that.

Have a great day! Thanks for being my friend despite my weirdness. :-)

Kids Rock Marathon

Okay... Well. I just was in the middle of this big, long post about our whole kids rock marathon experience when Firefox crashed and I hadn't save a thing on my post. Lost it all. So... I think I'll just bullet-point the highlights of the weekend.

• Friday night expo was fun. in conjunction with the rock n' roll arizona marathon
  
• We rode the light rail to down town and back. kids first time.
• We made it back really late from the expo. late to pick up our babysitter. late to the activity at our church. :-(
• I signed up to run the Rock n' Roll Seattle Marathon on June 26th, 2010 (first marathon for me!) and my husband signed up for the R 'n' R Seattle 1/2 marathon (first 1/2 for him)!
• The kids ran the whole mile and had tons of fun!
• There were like 4,000 kids participating, from K-6th grade.
• We went out to In 'n' Out Burger on the way home. (yeah, good, healthy example. uh huh.)
• happy that my kids had a good experience with a running event for them
• (I almost forgot) At the expo we were on the escalator and the guy behind us was Gene DeFronzo. He's an elderly man who's ran more than 400 marathons. Amazing. My husband recognized him from watching some videos about him online. What an inspiration. I think that's what pushed my husband to register for a half marathon a few minutes later! ;-)
  

If he can do it (400+ times), I can. Right?! Now I just have to figure out how I am going to train and get my body ready for the marathon in June. Any advice??

High fives. It's so nice to see a familiar face when you're on the course.

I was lucky enough to get to run with my 1st grade daughter.

High fives close to the finish line.

Goals Report

Were you wondering how I did with my "goals" last week?? Probably not. I just figured I'd report anyway.

There were eight. I think I did better than if I had not made those goals and posted them, but I still didn't accomplish everything. I felt pretty good about how I was doing until I looked at my list again. :-P

1. The first one was eating healthy. Um, I tried. Sorta. Okay... I didn't give it a 100% honest effort. Bummer!
2. Make new schedule and stick to it. Grr... I really wanted to do that. But, I had a hard time because I was trying so hard to stick to #5. I always ran out of time to do things when my kids got in bed and before I needed to go to bed and coming up with a schedule was one of those things.
3. Be a nice mommy. Hmmm.... well, I really tried. My kids would beg to differ. Let's just say, there's still room for improvement and above all I need to learn patience and meekness. (Some answers for disciplining would help too.)
4. Start the Christmas Quilt. Yay! This one I can honestly say yes! I have cut almost all of the squares for it and now I just have to figure out some further measurements before I can start sewing the front. I hope to do some of that this week. Woo hoo!
5. Get a good night's sleep every night. I did alright with this one. (As long as you think going to bed by 10pm and getting up @ 4:30am is a good night's sleep.) I didn't get other things done though because for some reason we had things going on in the evenings as a family and my kids were always going to bed late (9:30pm - shudder)! Then I would crawl into bed shortly after.
6. Get my laundry all the way done. Those of you who know me well, know that was a huge deal and I was in for it when I made that goal. I hate when I do that to myself. I make a goal that seems possible, but is not realistic. Okay. I guess it could be realistic. And, I did get A WHOLE LOT of it done. I actually stayed on top of folding it when it came out of the dryer too! That is a major accomplishment in and of itself. It usually just piles up for a few days until someone in our family (or all of us together) gets around to folding it. I actually gave my 8-year-old a job of folding a load of laundry each day and getting paid for it. It worked. That was helpful. I was happy with how much progress I made, but I have to be honest. I still had a few loads to do by the end of the week. Then I was too tired and sore on Saturday to finish those up.
7. Have for self-control and discipline. Well reading the results from my goals, you wouldn't think I had practiced more self-control and discipline.... But I really felt like I had stepped it up from the "normal" for me. I think even if you don't completely accomplish the goals you set, if you try you're still using more discipline than normal. Right?? {please say yes}
8. Exercise everyday. I did do this. Some days it was a pretty lame effort and no one else in the world would count it as exercise, but I did at least some situps (crunches) or some squats everyday that I wasn't running (but not nearly the amount I was doing over the summer when I was doing the 100 pushups, 200 squats, and 200 situps challenges). I should start those again. Hmmm... Anyone with me??

Okay now, that was a bit much for a goal report. Sorry. I actually meant to post something else and just have my report at the top (as a little blurb). Ha ha! I am quite a rambler, aren't I?

Oh, and I have a blog (the Lazy Organizer) that I totally love. I found it awhile ago (her link is in my side bar as well), but haven't had as much time to read her past posts until more recently. I adore this woman. I think I'd like to be her, a few years in my future. I think in her past, she was like I am now. Did that make any sense?? Well, check out her blog if you'd like. She's really interesting and well, you may not agree or want to be like her, or put her on a pedestal the way I do, but you may still find her life intriguing and at least interesting. Hopefully.

Oh, and I made two different batches of zucchini bread last week. One was regular and one was chocolate zucchini bread (with chocolate chips as well), and my kids still don't know that it had zucchini in it. I had a few zucchini from my garden that I was able to harvest (the first! Yipee!), and I hope to post about that soon. My garden is going crazy and I want to show you! It's so fun!

For now, I'd better get back to being a mom.

Have a great Monday (evening... now).

Run from the Sun 1/2 marathon

I'm not in love with this picture of me... but I wanted one of me with my race shirt, bib, and medallion on.

This is quite a long post. I don't expect you to be interested in it at all. I wrote the long version for me. Kind of a journal entry, so to speak.
But here are the highlights for everyone else:

• Expo was smaller than I expected. Food was a little lame. (But it was their first year doing this race. You're thinking, 'Take it easy on them!' , aren't you?)
  
• I beat my 2:20 goal by 10 minutes!
• I got sick the night before the race and gargled w/ salt water. It helped. I was okay for the race.
• My wonderful family was there to cheer me on!
• My kids loved the kids party and junk food that was provided
• I got a free massage! (only my legs. I'll take what I can get.)
• It was cloudy and rained for a bit.
• It was a fun race and fun family event.
  

Now, to skip the long version, scroll down. There are pictures at the end of this boring, long post. :-) The pictures are more interesting. (I think)

The long version:
The Run from the Sun event was fun, today! The expo was last night and I hate to sound ungrateful, but I expected more. More booths, more freebies, more food! There was a free pasta dinner provided by BJ's (okay, really I paid for the race, so... ya know. I guess it really was pretty nice of them, though). I guess I just expected a little more from BJ's. I was a little disappointed because it was rotini with spaghetti sauce, a caesar salad, and a little crust of garlic bread. I could have easily made it at home. I also went away still hungry. (Grant and I went on our date after this and we ended up going through the drive through at Panda Express, for rice, right before we went home.)

Last night I started feeling really sick with a sore throat, headache, and stuffy nose. Man, that scared me! I was so worried about how I would feel while running. I had some vitamin C and throat lozenges before jumping in bed. Throughout the night it got worse. I woke up at 2:30am and gargled with salt water a few times. Yuck! I've never tried that before. {I TOTALLY SWEAR IT WORKED!} My throat felt quite a bit better immediately. I then took Umcka cold medicine. That helped too! When I woke up at 5:30 to get ready, my throat felt a bit better. I gargled with salt water again. Took more Umcka, then put some Ricola's in my pouch for the race.

I was feeling only a bit sick by the time we started the race. I wished I had taken some Tylenol right before the race, because I had a headache for the first half of the race.

This race I only stopped once at a water station to grab a sip of some electrolyte drink. I was so grateful to have my water bottle belt (I know... I had that on my Christmas wish list... I'll probably still wrap it and put it under the tree when it gets to be a day or so before Christmas. Just to remind me that it was for Christmas). I think that helped me with my time and helped me not lose momentum (or whatever... you know what I mean).

I was getting really tired and sore by the 1oth mile. I had to make it into a mental game at this point. Really I was breathing fine and not too exhausted. Just my legs were tired and telling me to stop. I told them to keep going. I even felt like I was going faster at that point. I may not have been going faster but it just seemed like that because I was starting to pass quite a few people in the last three miles. That was really enjoyable. Such a motivation, for sure! At abut the half way point I came up on a guy that I could never really seem to pass. After awhile I decided to just keep up with him. I did that until about the last mile, when he started going much faster and I lost sight of him when we got to the stadium at the finish line.

Pacing myself was hard. I knew I should start out slow so I wouldn't get worn out too early and end up slowing down during the second half. I didn't pay much attention to the time until I realized I was at the 4-mile marker. I looked at my watch and it had been 40 minutes exactly. I was excited at the prospect of finishing with a 10-minute-mile. I know that's slow for most people. But for me, it's something I have to work hard for (at this point in my running career). I had originally made a goal of finishing in 2 hours and 20 minutes. When I saw myself running a 10-minute-mile mid-way through the race, I changed my goal to 2 hours and 10 minutes, with always trying go faster, to try and beat that goal too.

I thought there were advantages and disadvantages to running a 1/2 marathon that is a two loop course. By the time I got around the first loop, I was tired and didn't know if I could finish the whole thing. I also thought it was hard when I was running the 2nd lap and I would see things for the 2nd time but remembering how much farther I still had to go. It was helpful when I was getting to the last few miles and I would see things repeating and it felt like I was so close. Kind of weird...

It was a fun race. A flat course. I passed the temple twice (that was fun). It rained a bit. My kids had fun. They loved the kids party and junk food. I loved the massage after the race. I was happy with my finish. Not too many participants, not too few. I ALMOST got hit by a car, twice. I bought two new pairs of running shoes ($50 each - Road Runner Sports was there selling all shoes for $50). We got lots of free stuff. Great volunteers. Fairly well organized (besides the fact that they didn't have a place to keep your purses and bags). All in all - Very fun time!

My sweet husband cooked a very yummy Pad Thai dinner for me tonight. I was in heaven!

I wasn't with my family when they were driving to the race, but they snapped this nice picture on the way. Are there really two rainbows?? Isn't it beautiful?

My awesome kids waited for me at the corner where we started our second lap of the race. That was such a great motivator, to see them there, cheering me on! I am so grateful for them!

I believe this is me right before I saw my family at the start of the second lap.

My kids, enjoying very non-healthy snacks at the event. (Why are they feeding our kids junk? Aren't they supposed to be promoting health??)

My kids had a blast at the kids events. They had bounce houses, bracelet making, face painting, junk food, etc. (They were going to participate in the Family Fun Run, but I had just finished my race and ... it just didn't work out.)

Minutes after I finished... drinking a protein enhanced chocolate milk. It looks my kids enjoyed these, as well!

I liked this photo because it's my awesome, supportive husband, my messy-faced (red licorice) baby, and the gray, cloudy sky!

This little guy was so cute. He just came up to me and hugged my legs, looking up and smiling at me. He said, "Hi, Mom. I love you." Then, we lost him for a few minutes. What a scary feeling! After we found him again, we moved the GPS tracker from my water belt pouch, into his shorts pocket! When we lost him (that first time), I also was separated from my friend whom I went with and whom I run with a few times a week. I never ended up finding her again and therefore have no pictures of us together at the race. :-(

Getting ready to leave the race.

It was a good race, good event! I hope they do it again next year!

Goals for the week

Really quick. I went to Blissfest. It was fun. Beautiful stuff there! I wish I had had more time to spend browsing through all the booths. I was there too late to see Stephanie Nielson :-(. I spent some time at Heather Bailey's booth but didn't actually meet her. She was there (actually mostly at another booth) but she was always talking to people and I just didn't have the guts to interrupt or "wait in line". Plus I didn't know what I would say... "Ummm.... I love your stuff!" ??? I also forgot my camera. :-( I really would have loved to take pictures of everything! Oh well! Also, all along Main street in downtown Mesa there were booths set up and some of the streets were closed off for events. It was very cool. I wondered how often they do this and if it had anything to do with Domestic Bliss and Blissfest.


Okay, so onto my goals for this week.

• Eat healthy (to prepare for my 1/2 marathon on Saturday) (any advice on how to eat healthy? It doesn't come naturally to me)
  
• Make a new schedule and stick to it (I am in desperate need of a schedule for my family and myself, so I can make it through the Holidays - and life in general. Things need to get done, ya know!?)
• Be a nice mommy (I've been crazy lately and my kids deserve better)
• Start on the Christmas quilt
• Get a good night's sleep every night (the schedule thing should help, as long as I stick to it)
• Get my laundry all the way done (100%! - It's pathetic. It's been awhile since it's been 100% done)
• Have more self control and discipline (that could be a whole other post! Ha!)
• Exercise EVERYDAY (either run or strength train. something. but taking it easy, so I'm not worn out for Saturday.)
  

Wish me luck.

Do you make weekly goals like that? Or are you just way more "together" than I am? What are your goals??