Do it.

I wanted to make this post really interesting cause I haven't posted in a while. I knew I'd need some good photos to entertain those weary of reading big blobs of words. After doing a quick search of my old photos, this is what I found:


Yes, this is me on the right while serving a mission for the LDS church in Brazil sometime in 2005 (I think...). And that is a chicken foot about to enter my mouth. It entered, I chewed, swallowed, and vowed to never do it again. :)

Moral of the story and a lesson taught me by my dear friend, Holly, "If nothing else, do it for the memory!"

Amen, Holly. Amen.

30 by 30

I turned 27 today. I think I'm getting used to this old thing. I thought 26 was hard cause it was edging a little too far into the "late twenties" for my taste. It also doesn't help that my husband is younger than I. But, I think I'm beginning to finally accept the inevitable and just move on. 

So in honor of my birthday and accepting oldness, I've created a list of 30 things I will do before I'm 30. Here goes (not order specific):

1. Compete in at least one triathlon a year

2. Take a photography class

3. Master Photoshop

4. Become a professional photographer

5. Buy a house

6. Grow a garden

7. Get a six-pack (abs)

8. Successfully endure my husband's deployment

9. Home school (? - still up for debate)

10. Start a business (possibly, but not necessarily, related to #4)

11. Be a good church-goer (always have a temple recommend)

12. Master the art of entertaining (with no stress)

13. Read more (join a local book club)

14. Take fun family vacations

15. Go horseback riding (I love it and never do it)

16. Pick up a new hobby

17. Sew something for my baby girl (this is a challenge, friends)

18. Learn some home decorating skills

19. Build up a significant food storage (more than just MREs)

20. Go to the temple monthly

21. Family Home Evening weekly

22. Scripture study daily

23. Remember family and friend's birthdays

24. Send b-day cards (now THAT'S getting my act together!)

25. Start writing in a journal at least monthly (gotta start slow, here)

26. Keep up my blogs!!

27. Learn to love laundry and dishes (hmmm...)

28. Start cutting coupons (I love saving money)

29. Remember not to prioritize myself out of the picture

30. Have fun!

OK, that's a good start! Here's to being young! 

It's getting HOT in here!

From some of the comments made on my earlier posts, I felt a need to really clarify why I'm here and what this blog is all about. Maybe I'm taking a different angle since the blog's birth, but I'd like to think this is what I intended all along. 

First of all, girls don't sweat. Don't you hate it when people (MEN) actually think that? Or even some girls themselves claim they don't really sweat? But that's when you need to examine the REALLY in the sentence and determine its worth. So, girls don't sweat, except when we do. A lot. That's the truth, am I wrong? I think not. 

Continuing...  What makes us sweat? Me? Running. Biking. My two-year-old. Cooking. Standing with my pregnant body. Etc. A LOT of things make me sweat. What makes you sweat? Biking? Gardening? Baking? Writing? Whatever it is, it's exciting and it means you are OUT there being happy and productive (I'm pretty sure those two words go hand in hand for me). 

So this blog is dedicated to motivating you (and ME) not to be afraid of a little sweat. I happen to love running and biking. But there's certainly NOTHING wrong with you if you don't. Just cause your big thing is baking a MEAN chocolate chip cookie doesn't make you unwelcome to this site. No, ma'am. Welcome one, welcome all. (And you can bet I'd be more than happy to eat that mean chocolate chip cookie any day.)

So, girls (and a few straggling boys out there), let's get motivated together! Let's do something and get down and get dirty. Don't be afraid to sweat in your nice clothes. It's worth it. What's a little sweat stain got on you? 

Cause c'mon, everyone knows girls don't sweat, except when we do. A lot.  

The Unveiling

Keep your pants on. I'm not going to let all that anticipation go for naught! My post last night had to be short and sweet cause I have a life and it keeps me busy. :) (Even if that life does entail watching 2 hours of HGTV every night...)

So here is the illustrious and much coveted prize won by the lucky Jacque:

These stay-put headbands have yet to do me wrong. Thank you, Bonnie, for first introducing me to the wonders of a headband with built-in traction. Who knew my head was so slippery (or pointy, but I prefer to think of it as slippery)? And what better a prize than one to keep hair out of your sweat? Very appropriate, if I dare say. 

So enjoy, Jacque! And continue coveting, the rest of you (you can buy them for a couple bucks at Wal-Mart if you're really diggin' it). 

And the winner is....

Jacque!!! 

Congratulations, Jacque, on your cheap running accessory! I will have it in the mail by tomorrow! Good luck on your upcoming 5k! I think it's awesome that you are so active and healthy even as a grandma! What a great example to the rest of us! Have fun and enjoy your prize! 

Holy cow, I'm back!

So, let's just call that a L O N G hiatus. I know, totally lame and NOT motivating at all. Fortunately, I have the best excuse I could think of (and it's actually true!). 

I'm PREGO! That's right, folks, there's a bun in the oven. Right now I am about 6 months along and doing just fine. But believe me, it was a rough road I traveled to get here. Uncharacteristic of my first pregnancy, this pregnancy left me bed-ridden and crying for aid (or a bowl of Cheerios since that was about the only thing I could stomach for a good 10 weeks). I was even hospitalized once after an extremely difficult encounter with the stomach bug. Needless to say, the going got tough but the tough got going -  ie. I'm still here. Just to prove it, here's photographic evidence:

So now that I'm FINALLY back to what feels much like myself, I'm ready to get this baby rollin'! (Not the literal baby, the blog baby, that is). 

As an incentive to get people to actually read what I'm writing, to get ME to make frequent updates and just to be cool like all the other bloggers out there, I'm going to have a drawing to win a prize. The prize will be something beautiful - ie. a very cheap running accessory (I already know what it is and I use it all the time). 

Here are the rules to enter this awesome drawing: 

1. You MUST follow my blog. (see that little box on the sidebar that says, Follow? Well, follow.)

2. You MUST make a comment on this post. I love comments. They make me happy. So go ahead, make me happy. 

Then once I have all the comments and followers in, I will randomly draw a name and send them a cheap running accessory! I know you're excited. 

Good luck! 

(By the way, deadline is Thursday, April 30th at 9:00 p.m. EST)

A whole lotta nothin'

What's this post about? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I'm afraid that's all I've got, friends. You can keep reading if you'd like, but I'm really telling the truth here. Nothing productive will come from this post. I'm not going to tell you how to lose 20 lbs on some amazing diet plan in just three weeks by eating cold spaghetti three meals a day or how to tone those abs in just five minutes a day. Nope. That's just not happening today. You can check your Facebook ads for those gems. But really, I've got nothing for you today. I was just sick of the fact that I haven't posted in so long. That's all. I'm done. Bye.