November by the Numbers

Oh my! I can't believe we are on the brink of the Christmas season! WOW! This will be the 11 month documented, by the numbers style. I love looking back at our month and jotting it down with numbers. Here is what we have been up to this month.

ONE a. One is for the 1st place title at Fitness MD for the November assessments. I lost 17 lbs. in the 6 wks. between assessments.
ONE b. book read(Lethal).
ONE c. minute and 26 seconds shaved off of my timed 1.5 mile run at Fitness MD.
TWO weddings/receptions attended/celebrated this month(Chris and Megan & Ashley & Brady). We are so happy for both couples.
THREE new Christmas Albums purchased(Michael Bubble, GLEE 2 and Justin Bieber)
THREE.ONE miles run during the Turkey Trot.
FOUR new songs purchased from itunes(Run and Come on get Higher by Sugarland and Matt Nathanson, We found Love by Rihanna and Fighter by Christina Aguilera).
FIVE days of Fall Vacation were enjoyed(John even had the week off)
EIGHT layouts completed.
EIGHT B. Tanner scored %100 on eight math tests that were taken in a 2 day period...so proud of him.
TEN blog posts recorded for the month of November.
ELEVEN months documented By The Numbers style.
FOURTEEN goals scored by Tanner during his league season(soccer). He was feeling very lucky since #14 is his jersey #.
SEVENTEEN family members celebrate Thanksgiving together.
TWENTY SEVEN Fit Club classes were attended at Fitness MD. I did a few double days this month.
FORTY EIGHT hour escape for John and I to San Diego.
SEVENTY SIX lbs. GONE!!!!
THREE HUNDRED,FORTY THIRD place is where I came in for the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot(Out of 997 runners).

Thanksgiving 2011

After our turkey trotting, we headed up to Yuba City to spend Thanksgiving with John's side of the .family We enjoyed a yummy meal, board/card games, football games, a Wii Just Dance competition and Christmas music on the car ride home. I am very thankful for my family and for the blessings that they are in my life.






















For the record, Carter was the Just Dance champion...that boy has got some moves. I have till the end of the month to cross another New Years goal off of my list. Lets just say that I should be busting a move on the Wii while Carter is at school to get MY moves perfected.

checking it off the list

At the start of the New Year{2011}, our family spent some time writing down some goals(both personal and family)for the new year. I casually wrote down "RUN my first 5k." I had no idea how I was going to accomplish this task since I was not a runner and for the simple fact that I didn't really have any desire to become one:-). Carter wrote down the very same goal for himself and so we decided that the Roseville Turkey Trot was the designated place for our very 1st 5k.

So on Thanksgiving morning, we headed over to the Turkey Trot with our family in tow. They came out to cheer us on. This is Carter and I before the race and before the rain started.

We met up with my some friends, Debby and Renae. It was Debby's 1st 5k, too! Renae was running the 10k.














Here we are (Carter, Deb and I)right before the race started. We are excited and ready to go. This is when it began to rain.




















John and the boys walked down a ways so they could cheer us on and snap some photos as we started. Carter took off and I was a little bit behind him...only 11 minutes, but who's counting :-)? There were so many people, we had to maneuver our way through the crowd to set our own paces.

















The only goal I had for myself was to finish the race without stopping. I wanted to run the entire 3.1 miles without stopping. I am happy to report that I achieved my goal. As I was nearing the finish line, there were little groups of people waiting for others. As they stood there, they cheered everyone who ran by, on. I got very emotional and a little choked up/teary eyed. This was such a BIG deal for me. One more major check mark for my life to-do list.

At the actual finish line, there stood my little family waiting for me.
Here are photos of Carter and I crossing the finish line...at different times of course. Mr. long legs had a very good run. I am so proud of him.




















Carter has already asked(several times) if we can run another 5k...like now. I am still soaking this one in. I am pretty sure we will be running another race in the near future. As for right now. I am happy to have checked this one off of the list.

G.N.O.

I was able to catch the newest Twilight movie with some girlfriends. No, I didn't see it at midnight on the opening day. In my 37th year of life, I have decided that I enjoy my sleep more than I ever have before. Seeing it at 7 pm, the following day was perfectly fine with me.


















Out of all of the Twilight movies, this one is my favorite. I think they must have had an increase in their budget compared to the 1st movie. This movie was the raciest by far. Lets just say that my boys will not be seeing this one when it is released on DVD. I really liked how certain things that were described in the book came to life on the big screen(I won't spoil anything for anyone). It was fun to escape and relax with the girls tonight!

how fun is that?

So I got home from the library with my boys to find this cute cupcake pinata sitting on my porch! There was a card sitting with the pinata and I instantly recognized the handwriting. There was a note on the envelope that read Happy Birthday...Happy Friend Day...Happy Thanksgiving. How fun is that? Then the note told me to gently shake my pinata over carpet so things wouldn't break. The boys had so much fun helping me get to the items in my pinata. I told them we had to eat our way to the good stuff because it WAS a cupcake!
















The pinata was loaded with fun, girly things. The color theme was my favorite...RED. Most of the items in there were red. I loved it all. There was nail polish, gum, a notebook, cookies(choc. chip), a gift card for the movies, fun necklaces, lip gloss, movie tickets and fun socks(polka dot & argyle).

















This seriously made me so happy and put the biggest smile on my face! Thank you for sharing your Happy with me, Miss Mer!

say what?

Upon Brody's return from preschool, this is how our conversation went.

Me: How was school today?
Brody: Good.
Me: What did you do today?
Brody: I rode bikes and played with Johnny. Johnny was spider-man.
Me: Who were you?
Brody: Justin Bieber.
Me: Say what??? All while trying to hide my giggling.

I love Brody and his 4 year old little self. He makes me smile and giggle...alot.









p.s. Never in a million years would I have ever imagined that I would be posting about Justin Bieber on our family blog.

San Diego {2011}

When we got word that John's best friend (Chris) was finally tying the knot,we knew we wouldn't miss his big day for anything. John and I hit the road at 3:45 am Saturday morning to ensure that we would make it to San Diego in time for their sealing in the San Diego Temple. I had never been to San Diego before. It was love at 1st sight for me. We stayed in Del Mar, right by Solana Beach. It was gorgeous, even in the rain.

Right as we were heading into the temple for their sealing, it started to rain. Boo that! When the bride and groom came out, it was pouring rain and the wind had picked up. It didn't dampen any ones spirits or Chris and Megan's love. The sealing was beautiful and the bride and groom looked wonderful. We are so happy for Chris and Megan.

















After the sealing, we attended a hosted dinner at the Chart House. This restaurant was right on the shore. They had huge lights shining on the water. You could see the waves crashing in on the shore. It was awesome. We loved visiting with the Tates and the Yeamans. It has been way too long and we vowed to not let that much time pass before our next visit.















John and I headed back to the San Diego Temple so we could check it out in the sunshine. It was a beautiful morning...night and day from the evening before. I have a new favorite Temple. The San Diego Temple is absolutely breath taking...it looks like a castle. Who wouldn't wan to be married there?






The Tates hosted a breakfast at Chris's house on Sunday morning. It was so nice to have a few more hours to visit with friends before we hit the road to head home. John and Scott took Chris' M5 for a test drive...they both want new cars-haha. The boys had fun checking out all of the toys in the garage :-). Some things will never change.







We can't wait to head back to san Diego...with the boys in tow!

life

With Halloween being a thing of the past, I am feeling the hustle and bustle of the upcoming holidays. I feel like I spend most days doing a ton of this...
















RUNNING around.

I am not ignoring my blog. I am just having a hard time finding the time to slow down. The boys are happy and super busy. Can we say "School, soccer, scouts and homework!" John has a job. We are are always VERY grateful for that. I am just trying to stay two steps ahead of the boys, at all times :-). I continue to make time for Fit Club at Fitness MD. I am running/sprinting (intervals) from home 5 days a week. Life is good. Life is fun. Life is busy. Life is moving faster than my legs can run on most days.

for a GREAT cause

As most of us know, our schools are loosing the important funding that they need to keep our schools up and running. The important, inspiring programs for our children are being cut and it really makes me so sad.

My cute friend, Kristina is trying to help her nieces school. Kelsie (her niece) is part of a rocket club(how cool is that?) at her school. They could really use some extra funding to keep this program up and running. Please see Kristina'a blog post here. Clorox is giving a grant away to the school who generates the most votes. Kristina is asking that we help with the votes. To sweeten the pot, if you leave Kristina a comment, for each day that you vote for Kelsie's school, you have the chance to win a predesigned blog/personalized banner from Kristina. Let me just tell you that Kristina is the one who designed my fun blog :-). What are you waiting for? Go vote now. Please tell her that I sent you :-).

October by the numbers

ZERO pieces of Halloween candy consumed by me. Now my kids...that is another story.

TWO new songs downloaded...slow music month for me.(Let it Rain by Daivd Nail and These are My People by Rodney Atkins).

THREE a. books read (The Forgotten Garden, Happy Chaos and The Short 2nd Life of Bree Tanner).

THREE b.miles run by me(w/out stopping)...first time EVER.

FOUR Halloweeen costumes.

SIX pumpkins purchased and carved.

EIGHT layouts completed.

FOURTEEN soccer games.

FIFTEEN seconds shaved off of my timed 1.5 mile run at Fitness MD.

EIGHTEEN blog posts.

TWENTY ONE days of Fit Club at Fitness MD(didn't miss a workout).

THIRTY SEVEN candles on my birthday cake this month.

SIXTY a. lbs. shed...buh bye!

SIXTY b. dollar check from Grandma to celebrate those missing lbs..

SIXTY EIGHT lbs. GONE!!!

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY miles logged(walking and lots of running intervals this month).