New Years

Today marks the last day of 2011. Last year went by remarkable fast, probably like most years do but now I really am starting to realize it. In 2012 I will have a kindergarten, that statement seems ridicious. I barely feel old enough to have children yet I will have a 5 year old.
I rarily ever make New Years Resolutions, it just seems like they are too easy to break. Rather I like to make goals for myself, to keep myself motivated, and to hold myself accountable. So my goals for this year are.....

• Move up a wave or 2 or 3 at the Birkie.
• Finish my first triathlon.
• Register for the 2013 Ironman Wisconsin (this is dependent on how well I enjoy the triathlons I have planned for this summer. And whether or not I can afford the $600 something registration fees)

I think all of these are pretty simple to do as long as I stay focused and motivated. I feel much more mentally prepared these days than I have in the past so we'll see how it goes. One day at a time.

I did go for a 1.15 hr rollerski today which actually felt surprisingly great, even though it's been at least 10 years since my last rollerski. It was tough but good. I think I'm just going to have to admit to myself that I will be skiing for at least a few weeks on man made 2 km loops. UGH!

I skied at Elm Creek on the 26th with a friend and it actually was really great snow. There were a ton of people on the 2.5 km loop but it wasn't too noticable. We ended up going 5 or 6 times (we lost track.) So I'm hoping that January 1, 2012 will bring lots of SNOW!

I'm also hoping the new year will bring babies for those that need and want them, smile for those that are lacking smiles, new friendships and lots of good cheer.

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

lack of snow= grinchy tap

Not much to report, we have ZERO snow which is beyond depressing. How can it be Christmas without snow? It just doesn't seem right. And for those of you that are enjoying this, you know who you are, move south and leave me and my winter ALONE! Ok, only joking, a little. But seriously even Texas of all places has snow. Ridiciously!
So I've been running approximately 3 or 4 days a week around 3-5 miles. Not fantastic but it's impossible to find time. No excuses right! Next week I have a few dates to go out XC skiing, on man-made snow, probably about a zillion times around a 1 km loop, yippee!
I signed up to ski the 50 km Pepsi Challenge in Biwabik on Jan 21 which means it's time to stop whining and just get out and ski, or at least roller ski. Only 2 months till the Birkie! Pray for snow people! PLEASE!!!
We will once again be heading to my grandparents farm in Wisconsin for Christmas this year. I'm really excited, we are first stopping in Madison on Friday to go to the Badger Basketball game. I'm so excited!! Tony has never been to one of there games and it's been 5+ years for me. The girls will also be attending, we'll see how that goes.
I'm so excited for Tony and the girls to open there presents. I love getting presents for people. It warms my heart.
I'll have more to report once Christmas is over.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
LOVE TO YOU ALL!

Not a good week

Well last week was no good for me, I didn't get outside once for a run and I didn't go any strength either. Oops. But I did enjoy myself a little too much a our Badger Big Ten Title game party which left me exhausted for days. This week will be better! Now if only we'd get some snow so I could start skiing at night instead of running in the cold in the morning.

Family Time

We had a wonderful 4 day Thankgiving together. There was a LOT of family time, which was exhausting for all of us. I was hoping that we'd just spend Thanksgiving Day with the extended family but we ended up spending Thursday-Saturday with them, but for good reasons. Tony's aunt, uncle, and cousin were in town from California and we hadn't seen them in 3 years I think. The girls got very little sleep but they had a blast hanging out with all the cousins (second cousins?) It was so great getting to spend some quality time with all Tony's cousins, we usually only see them a couple times a year.

Now if only I could replicate that with my cousins, it's been YEARS (I'm talking lots of years) since I've seen a lot of them.

Anyways here's some pictures from our crazy weekend. 

Girls busy coloring.

Tony's cousins.

The girls were really exhausted at this point, not really interested in more pictures.

Can you find the real cat?

Hilarious picture of Brynn.

In the picture frame is Tonys aunt's 3 boys sitting on that exact same horse over 19 years ago.

Madison's new favorite Amanda.

The whole gang (minus a few) at our house for the Badger football game.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. 

Thanksgiving

I am thankful for her,

and for her,

and ESPECIALLY for him,

and lets not forget about my first baby,

And I will forever and ever be grateful for my wonderful parents, they truly are the best, I hear so many stories of not getting along with your parents when you were teenagers but I can honestly say I never had those problems. They were and still are my biggest fans. They went to EVER single one of my cross country running races my senior year and I will never ever forget that, or will really ever be able to repay them for that.
I wish we lived closer together, not a day goes by that I don't miss them.

And I'm thankful for my homebrew club, which once again I can thank my parents for, my dad homebrewed when I was a kid so I decided to buy Tony a homebrew kit for this birthday. And the rest is basically history. I love planning events, and trying new beers, and learning new things, and meeting the Twin Cities homebrew community. It's a great niche of people.

I am thankful for a lot of other things and people that have passed through my life. Don't think for a second that I don't think about you. I feel like I am forever in debt for so many different things, people, and places in my life.

Anyways, I wish you all a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
Eat, Drink, and be Merry. Because really, is there any other way to be?!

Happy 2, Brynn!

My baby is 2!

Brynn is funny, and sassy, and insanely stubborn, but that smile.... it kills me. I can be so frustrated with her one minute and then she gives me that heartbreaking smile and I melt. She's ridiculous, I don't really have a better way to describe her personality. If you've met her you know. I can't wait to see how her personality grows.

 

Brynn and Madison now are sharing a bed, pretty much because Brynn refuses to sleep anywhere but with her sister. Brynn has went from the best sleeper around (sleeping for 8 hours straight starting at 2 months,) to a horrible sleeper. Once she's asleep she's does just fine, maybe getting up once a night. But it can take sometimes 2+ hours to get her to actually go to bed, and stay in bed. It's exhausting.

Her birthday was a blast though, she had a lot of fun playing with all her little buddies and opening presents and eating cake. Today she was running around the house singing, "Happy to You!"

She's a damn cute kid!

 

Thank you to all her Aunts and Uncles for this GINORMOUS dog!!

fail.

I failed on the running/roller skiing part this weekend but I ROCKED as a mom!!
Next week we'll continue to up the miles and the strength. There's snow on the ground which makes me PUMPED for ski season!!!