meet amy wang + a photo challenge

here is today's piece of "no-mom talk monday" random bit of trivia.

wang is my nickname.  well, "amy wang" is my nickname.  the nickname was actually given to me by some of sam's friends from high school before we were even officially dating & it's stuck ever since.  sam calls me "amy wang", "wang", or "wang sue" at least two or three times a day.  we have friends that definitely call me "wang" more than "amy".  i won't go into too many boring details about the specifics of how this name came about, but it does involve me looking asian.  no, seriously.  i've been asked by at least four different people under different circumstances if i was part asian.  no, seriously.

in fact, the most notable time was when sam was visiting me at my parent's & he was playing basketball with a group of guys i had gone to high school with.  one of them, whom i didn't know very well, came up to me & said, "are you kim nishimoto's sister?"  i said, "kim nishimoto??  no!  she's japanese!!"

thus, the nickname.  but, for the record... i'm not asian.  and now you know.

if you feel like letting the world know a little more about you that doesn't involve your mom-hat, hit the badge above & link up with courtney's no mom-talk monday.

now for the paper mama's photo challenge
this week's challenge is "black & white."

meet dominoe.  best. dog. ever.  when we had to put dominoe down two years ago, i had had him as my dog longer in my life than not.  meaning, i got him as a puppy when i was twelve, & he lived to be thirteen.  thirteen years of my life were spent loving & caring for this guy.

he was my 4H dog for four years.  he went to college with me.  he was adopted by sam & came with me in my new home when i got married.  but then he got old, he got weak, & he got to where life was harder for him than it should have to be.  so we had to say goodbye.

this picture was taken about a month before we put dominoe down.  it's pretty obvious that right up to his last day, despite all his aches & pains, he was a super happy dog.  i still miss this guy.

but i figure, what better subject for a black & white photo than my favorite black & white spotted little guy?

if ya feel like playin' along with your own black & white photo, hit the badge above & link up!



if ya feel like showin' us a little love, hit the badge & vote. we love ya for it!

photo challenge & tonight's random laugh

in case you were all wondering, the crock pot chili turned out alright.  it was just "alright" because turns out today was sunny & not rainy at all.  who wants to eat chili on a day like that?  you win some you lose some.

so i'm entering a picture into this week's paper mama photo challenge.  sorry the clarity isn't up to par on this one, it was taken with photobooth on the imac so i had to enlarge it a bit.  this week's theme is "me & mama."

this is one of my favorite pics of me & my little man.  it was taken when he was only two months old, & already you can tell he's super embarrassed by mom smooches.  ya better get used to it kid!

to see more pictures of cute babies & their mamas, check out the paper mama's site here:



time for some randomness.

my sister brought this blog to my attention.  it narrates the lives of the people that are living in your catalogs, & it's aptly named "catalog living."  here's a taste:

it made me laugh anyway... but i'm into that sort of thing, ie: things that are random & funny.

and now for some bloggity related business

first off, i would like to direct your attention to my updated "blog love" page.  some of my links weren't working & the buttons were all unorganized & my ocd nature was not ok with that.  seriously, the hairs on the back of my neck would rise every time i went to that eyesore of a page.  well don't worry friends, it's fixed.

if i missed your blog, let me know! i'd love to put you up.  it's a work in progress, fo sho.

and lastly, i couldn't get enough of p-ray in his new skeleton pj's with his zebra friend so i made a seasonal halloween button out of it.  feel free to grab it in all its festive glory!

copy & paste me:

<a href="http://www.agoodlifeblog.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i55.tinypic.com/2emlg1e.jpg" border="0" /></a>

he'd like that.  go on... do it for the baby.



know what i'd like?  a vote! two clicks & you're done.  click. click. wasn't that easy?

photo challenges

the paper mama photo challenge - "a hint of color"

this is one of my faves.  how can someone look so innocent while being so mischievous? 

check out all the other entries here:

a sort fairytale photo challenge - "snoozing"

after a long day of playing at the beach {read: being held & having his feet dangled in the cool water}, the little man needed a good snooze.  

more entries here:

like what you see here? support the cause by voting!

photo challenges

this week i'm entering a couple pictures into a couple photo challenges.

first, the photo challenge over at the paper mama's blog is themed "brown" this week.  here's my entry:

parker's only a month old here & already has his "rawr" face down.  the kid's a natural.

click on the badge to see all the other super cute brown themed entries!

second, the theme for TMMAPC this week is to pick our favorite pic.  i l-o-v-e this picture of parker & his best buddy sock monkey.  i can only try to imagine what joke p-ray must have just told sock monkey to get such a big laugh out of himself, & such a look of disgust from sock monkey.

see everyone else's favorite shots here:

& lastly, i am super excited about getting the third best photo in last week's paper mama photo challenge, as well as a top five "favorite" pick nod, too.  go us!

we got some nifty award badges that are now proudly displayed on my sidebar.  woot woot.

"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 ;)