resolving

so what is a new year without some resolutions?  i mean really.  i love the start of a new year because it's totally a chance to start afresh & anew.  even though january 1st is really no different than december 31st, it is in my head.  it's like monday... only bigger.

so what am i resolving to do this year?  what are some of my goals for 2k11?  well... here are a few:

•  i'm totally doing p365 this year.  i got myself a decent camera & i'm gonna use it.  i'm gonna get better at it & i'm gonna find something to take a picture of at least once a day. 

•  i want to unleash my inner fashionista.  i've felt so inspired by lots of other bloggers out there who rock such cute styles, & i'm ready to dump the daily t-shirt & hoodie look. and try new things.  headbands, bows, leggings... all things i LOVE on other people, but haven't dared try.  this is my year.

•  i want to ride the seattle to portland in july.  this is a 205 mile bike ride from downtown seattle to downtown portland.  i have a strong love affair with my bike, but it was horribly neglected last summer.  i'm gonna make it up to her {yes, my bike is a her.  her name is tess}.

•  it's time to get back in shape.  like, for reals.  i'm at my pre-prego weight but the bod aint the same.  it's time to take my work outs seriously & find ways to work out in-between stroller strides days.  it's gotta happen.

•  continue to blog lots.  blogging is an amazing creative outlet for me when folding laundry & putting away dishes don't quite cut it.  it's important to me & i'm sticking with it.

•  and of course, spend lots & lots of time with these two.  they're my favorites.


you're pretty high up there with my favorites when you vote for us.  and i love ya for it. 

hawaii. worth giving up cookies for?

 ***my face is superimposed via photoshop.  if you couldn't tell, i laugh at you. and i think we should be best friends.***

i am officially counting down to our maui trip in t minus two & a half months, & part of this countdown includes thinking about how i should be watching what i eat a bit more.  a swimsuit in january doesn't bode well with my usual holiday gluttony.

these thoughts include stuff like, "ya know, maybe i shouldn't make four-dozen cookies for the third time in two weeks"  or, "late night DQ blizzard run?  we should probably go on a late night fruit-stand run instead."  i think about it, & then i laugh at how ridiculous i sound.  because who wants fruit when you can have an oreo cookie jar blizzard?  and who wants to eat healthy around the holidays?

i have been doing pretty good with the work outs.  stroller strides is getting me out of the house & making me sweat three times a week, & i'm liking it.  but when i come home & throw down a couple chocolate-chip pumpkin cookies, i may as well of been sitting on the couch eating bon-bons the whole time.

and when i say a couple, i mean, a-couple-every-time-i-walk-into-the-kitchen.

now here's my problem.  i don't want to stop eating this crap.  i like eating junk.  i love baking seasonal goodies, & i love going to get ice cream with my family.  it's fun.  i know that my work outs cancel out some of it, but seriously?  i don't want to put sam & myself on the fast track to diabetes.  i need to be healthier.  i need to set a precedence that will not lead parker into a life of childhood obesity.

so.  i'm a gonna be better.  i have got to break this sugar addiction, & i've got to do it for the right reasons.  my motto in life has always been, "everything in moderation.  including moderation."  i've gotta return to this.  sure, ice cream on the weekend should be fine.  because? a lifetime without ice cream isn't a life i want to live.  but ice cream on friday, ice cream & birthday cake saturday afternoon, a batch of cookies saturday night, repeat on sunday... isn't good.

i resolve to limit myself to one cookie after a meal, & indulge in a real dessert one day on the weekend.  starting.  right.  now.  

and bonus?  maybe i'll look alright in a swimsuit come january.  and maybe i won't have to superimpose my head onto girls with better bodies than me.  maybe.

this has been no-mom-talk-monday.  hit the badge & link up at "live beautiful" with your post that leaves the kiddie-talk out.  moms are people too!



maybe you could vote for me?  we're only thirty votes from the top ten now.  amazeballs.

a night at safeco & a workout resolution

ah man.  birthday weekend is over, our visitors have left, & it's back to reality.

on saturday my two nephews alex & ben flew up from utah to hang out & go to the m's vs. red sox game last night.  oh, & to celebrate my & sam's birthdays too, of course.

the game was a blast.  alex & ben both got two baseballs during batting practice & had them signed by terry francona, the red sox manager... pretty cool.

then, during the game, some drunk red sox fan in the front row {we were only 7 rows back} decided it was a good idea to reach over the barrier & grab a ball that was still in play which results in automatic ejection from the ball park.  his loss was our gain.  the four of us jumped all over that & took his seats!  hellllllloooo front row seats at safeco!  it was good times.

clearly parker was beside himself with excitement.

aaahhh, safeco. even though your mariners are horrible, you are still my happy place.

& now that all the birthday cakes (or birthday cinnamon rolls & cookies, rather) are eaten it's time to get serious.  isn't that kinda what i promised last week?  well this week i mean it.

i'm getting serious, & now you're all invited to join me.

i'm not going this alone anymore.  i'm teaming up with lindsey from linkie lueville to start a workout/fitness/get-healthy-again blog hop.  we're going to report every week on our fitness/health goals & have a mclinky for other bloggers to join in.  we can link up to our weekly posts & help support each other & keep each other accountable.

sound good?

now all we need is a fancy name to call this blog hop & a badge & we'll be official.  any suggestions?  but we're kicking it off informally this week & encourage anyone & everyone who wants to join in to sign up below!

do it. do it. do it.

so, a report on my last week.  i worked out three times.  barely.  two runs & a walk/hike.  does that even count as a workout?  this, from someone who used to work out 7-10 hours a week, barely gets in 3 hours this last week.  ah well, you gotta start somewhere. 

& this week, i resolve to do the same, & then a little more.  three cardio work outs & two strength training workouts.  yup... upping the ante.  look out.

now it's your turn... don't be scurrred, sign up!






i'm still accepting votes as a late birthday present :)

"i'll be better starting monday" - week 1

well, it's monday.  time to start being better.  what am i talking about?

getting. back. in. shape.  deep sigh.

ever since i wrote this post, about how getting back in shape was starting to feel like work, i lost some motivation.  sure, vacations/bbq's/a-baby-who-started-to-sleep-a-lot-better (read: didn't wake me up for my 5:30 am pump/rpm classes) & then a baby-who-started-to-sleep-worse (read: "4 month wakeful") all played a part in my lost motivation.

but when i see that, i just see excuses.
& now i'm done with excuses.

i've managed to get out every now & then & run with the jogging stroller, but nothing consistent.  thanks to awesome seattle weather {sarcastic font}, the ability to do this is going to become even less consistent.

pre-parker, going a week without working out would have been unheard of.  unheard of.

i can honestly not remember when my last work out was.  two weeks ago?  sad, sad, sad.
so now i'm vowing to change that.  i'm setting some goals.  no more excuses.

here goes.

-- i WILL work out at least 3x this week, for at least 30 minutes.  gotta start somewhere.

& that's it for today.  see how easy that was?  why set a whole bunch of crazy unrealistic expectations only to fail right here in front of the whole blogosphere?

i'll report back next monday.

in the meantime, how do you other mommas out there fit in your fitness?  what works for you?  do you feel guilty leaving your little ones with dad after his day of work & heading to the gym? 

sam does not make me feel guilty in the least bit.  in fact, he accommodates me in any way he can to get me to the gym because he knows how important it is to my sanity.  it's just that the last thing i want to do when he comes home from being gone all day is leave him.  i want to stay home & enjoy my little family!

i took this picture three weeks before i found out i was pregnant.  i was training for an olympic distance triathlon at the time & had just come in from a 30 mile bike ride.

i still remember how good i felt that day, but it feels like forever ago.  i. miss. it.

& in case you're wondering what is even going on in this picture, i was trying to show my sister my highlights.  my hair was like, dark dark dark before this.  i know, random.

& now, in unrelated things...

i think sam is coming around to the idea of getting this family a dslr of some sorts.  i'm leaning towards the nikon d90, but i hear really really good things about canon dslrs too.  it kinda sounds like it's six one way, half a dozen the other but i'm gonna do some research.

for all you shutter bugs out there, what do you recommend?  please give me your two cents.

in the meantime, i continue to lust after pictures taken by my sister & her nikon d90.  so much that i'm even entering one in a photo contest over at the paper mama's blog this week!  the theme is "excitement".

does it get much more exciting than this?

i submit that it does not.

you can check out all the other entries here: 



oh yeah, & guess what?  we've drawn a winner for our p-ray poster giveaway!  i am so excited to post results tomorrow.  but for now, this little girl needs her beauty sleep.

i have a big work out waiting for me in the morning.



hey, even though our giveaway is over, your votes still count ;)

vacation changes a girl

i think i need to go to vacation rehab. i'm going through withdrawals.

while on vacation, i got used to a few things. daily fast food, daily dessert, daily sleeping in, & daily grandma-watching-the-baby-while-i-go-to-the-gym. vacation was good.

and last weekend the party continued. i co-hosted a baby shower with way too many delicious foods & then we went down to portland to hang with sam's family for the weekend. more fast foods & desserts ensued.

i'm spent.

i pulled one of those, "ok. starting MONDAY i'm gonna be better." monday came & i did better. i had a great workout & ate pretty dang clean.

today is day #2 & i really want a blizzard. does it count as cheating if you get one on the way home from the gym?

parker swims

the hotel we stayed at this last weekend in portland had a salt water swimming pool. we swim-suited parker up & let him get his feet wet. he knew something wasn't quite right at first & hunkered down in sam's shoulder. but just like most new things parker tries out, they usually all end the same way.

he falls asleep.


i was more than happy to sit poolside with my bundled up & tuckered out little swimmer.

An Anniversary & a New Year!

Happy 4 Years to Us!!

Wow, time flies. I'm sure I'm the first person to say that, no? Sam and I just celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary and I can't believe it's been that long.

FOUR years ago, this was us:
Sometimes that feels like just yesterday, and sometimes it feels like a million years ago. Funny how that works.

We celebrated by spending the weekend in Seattle and splurging on a pretty posh hotel suite in the Hyatt. We spent our days shopping, eating, working out, and relaxing. It was PERFECT.

(mmmm, dessert at Cheesecake Factory... I love you Oreo Mudslide Cheesecake!!!)

Sam is truly my best friend in the whole world and I am so blessed to have married such a great guy. We have SO much fun together and are so excited to take the next step in our lives and become parents!!

WELCOME 2010!!

So like most of you (unless you live under a rock or by the Chinese calendar) we rang in the New Year Thursday night. Actually we rocked in the New Year. Yup, some serious Rock Band was played that night which was pretty good times. Come midnight, the sparkling cider was broken out, the countdown was yelled out, and Happy New Year chaos ensued. There was yelling, kissing, picture taking, noise maker noise making, etc.


I had to mention that we broke out the "Sparkling Cider" cuz I'm pretty sure my mom's not convinced Sam's not drunk in these pictures. I think he's just drunk on the New Year's spirit.

So I've been wracking my brain for what sort of resolutions I could make this year. It's the first year where I can honestly say I'm going to GAIN weight and not make some sort of fitness goal. I already go to the gym 3-4x a week and try to eat a pretty healthy diet so any real fitness training/weight loss goals are gonna have to wait til Baby N is born, and believe me, there will be some goals made following his arrival.

Until then, I found this list of New Year's Resolutions that got me thinking outside the box:

• I will no longer waste my time reliving the past, instead I will spend it worrying about the future.
  
• I will not bore my boss by with the same excuse for taking leave. I will think of some more excuses.
• I will do less laundry and use more deodorant.
  
• I will avoid taking a bath whenever possible and conserve more water.
• I will stop sending e-mail, AIM, Facebook Comments, and be on the phone at the same time with the same person.
  
• I will spend less than one hour a day on the Internet. This, of course, will be hard to estimate since I'm not a clock watcher.
• I will cut my hair.
  
• I will grow my hair.
  
• I will stop considering other people's feelings when they so obviously don't consider mine - if that unwashed fellow sits next to me again, I'll tell him he stinks!

Anyone making some resolutions out there you'd like to share?

Goodbye Summer... Hello Fall!!

This is me being sad. At the moment I was being sad because I was about to send my niece off on an airplane back to Utah after a super fun extended weekend visit. I thought this picture was appropriate though since I am also sad to say goodbye to all the fun we had this summer!

We did SO much this summer!! Obviously I was just too busy doing all these things since I got absolutely NO blogging in. Maybe that will change. Big fat "maybe". Some of the things we did this summer are:

• My mom and dad came to visit for a whopping 10 days! It was SO fun and super nice to have them here for so long.
• Went to Boise for my sister Shelley's first Ironman 70.3.
• Did my first sprint triathlon.
• Sam played Hoopfest in Spokane.
• My niece Jessica came to visit for a long weekend (pictured above).
• I went to a week of Girl's Camp to be a YCL leader! Yay!
• Had a visit from Sam's brother Kasey & his family.
• I got my first black eye... from my husband! (Don't worry, it's not what it sounds like... it was merely an innocent jetskiing accident!)
• Hung out w/ Sam's other brother Brad in Seattle & his family.
• Had a long weekend visit from my sister Shelley and her family.
• Had two of my nieces and a nephew here for a quick visit.
• Went to the Long Beach Kite Festival w/ Sam's parents and sister & her husband.

And that about sums it up. It was insane here at the Hotel Nielson. Seriously. At one point we had housed 15 people over the course of 1 week. But we love it... wouldn't want it any other way!

Ok, so this blog really hasn't had any point other than just the fact I'm going to start blogging more regularly (seriously!) and making shorter posts. It doesn't have to be a novel! Don't I say that every time?

This week we have a LOT going on... it's Labor Day weekend and we're meeting up w/ Jodi & Jason in the 'Couve to do some river rafting (pray for good weather!), then it's my B-day on Friday!! Yay! Then Saturday is the Cougar game in Seattle, then Sunday is Sam's THIRTIETH B-day!! Woot woot! Whodda thought he'd make it this long huh?

Welp, this is me signing off and saying g'night until next time! There will be a next time, much sooner than this last time was... I promise!!

You Say It's Your Birthday...

It's my Birthday too!!!

Isn't that a song? From like, the 80's or something? I think I remember it from the movie "Sixteen Candles" where the red-headed kid sings it to the girl when he finds out it's her birthday... so anyways, that's what I was going for there.

(**Update** My sister Heidi informed me that this is in fact a Beatles song. Ok, not exactly the 80's. My bad. Hey, it's before my time! And since I was born in the 80's, is anything earlier than that really worth remembering anyways??)

Well folks, it is my birthday. Yup, #26. And let me tell ya, this one has been better than the last. I don't know why but #25 was tough. That whole, "Quarter-Life-Crisis" thing. 26 feels good. I think I'll stay here a while, or maybe I'll just start counting down. How does that sound?

At 25 I was all like, sad about being 5 years from 30 with no kids and no permanent job. Now I'm comfortably in a permanent job that I really enjoy and I know kids will come sometime before 50. Haha, that was a joke. They'll come before 40.

This birthday has been really fun... Sam has really gone out of his way to remind me repeatedly that I'm a birthday girl and I think he finally understands that this day means something to me. So that's been fun. He's even staying home from basketball tonight to hang out with me at the mall! Woohoo! I've gotten lots of texts and phone calls and emails from you guys remembering my birthday... but then again, I suppose it's not that hard to remember when I share it with the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, right? Well, at least I can say I'm memorable.

So, here's to another year... hoping that this one is every bit as good as the last. Some things I'm looking forward to about year #26 of my life:

• Going to Australia in November
• Celebrating my 3rd year of marriage
• Running my 1st 10K
• Buying a bike and competing in a duathlon
• Riding the Seattle to Portland bike ride
• Make it another year of remembering all my nieces'/nephews'/sisters'/mom's & dad's birthdays with cards in the mail
• Finishing the "Twilight" series and seeing the movie in November
• Become a better blogger so I can make a "Blog Book" (check it out here: Blog Book)
• Learning how to kyak at Boston Harbor
• Going clam digging at Ocean Shores
  
• And many more things that I can't even think of right now!

Thanks again everyone for remembering my special day and making it extra special for me to live another year!