A Winner!

Sorry, I didn't get this up yesterday, I hate when you have to wait even longer to find out if you have won something! So, I won't make you wait any longer. Out of 31 entries the magical random.org selected.....#12!

Zaneta said...

I follow my memories on twitter

Congrats Zaneta! You are going to love it! Here is my latest creation that I made for Halloween...

Remember if you weren't lucky enough to win, you won't come out of this a total LOSER! Just go to MyMemories.com and when checking out, use code

STMMMS92027

This will get you $10 off MyMemories Suite v2 (making it only $30) and $10 off any thing from the store (including digital scrapbooking kits or books!) I really do whole heartedly recommend this program. I have had so much fun using it, and can't wait to do more!

I will be back later today with our Run Wild experience!

What do you say?

There are moments that arise in life that leave us speechless. Either we have no words, or don't know which are the right ones. I feel like that has been happening to me a lot lately. I have a friend going through a hard time and I just never know what to say to her. Nothing that comes from my lips can fix it, but I want her to know I am there for her, or lift her spirits in some way, console, I don't know. But my lack of speeching skills when it counts was really put to the test this week. My little sister lost her best friend. What do you say? A once vibrant 21 year old is suddenly taken from this world by a heart attack, and I had no words. Her friend has the type of personality that makes it impossible to ever imagine her dead; so smiley, so full of life. To her full credit, my sister has taken this loss with all the grace of some one much older and wiser. She is not angry, she knows there is a plan, but she is sad to not have her friend anymore. I have been lucky to not have ever lost anyone close to me, and in any matter, we both grieve so differently. I don't want to be alone when I get bad news, she like time alone to reflect. So, I don't know what moves are the right ones.

When life leaves you speechless, what do you do?

And on a happier note, don't forget to enter my giveaway here! It's almost over and I am saddened by the few entries. This program is great and anyone can use it!

An Apple a Day!

Saturday was Onalaska’s annual Apple Harvest Festival which we have made into a family tradition. It is a new event and very small, but our boys can’t really handle much more than they had, so it works out great. I am writing this spell binding recap at the dentist’s office while Peyton is knocked out and getting 6 cavities taken care of (I know bad Momma!) so if it is a little scattered, that’s why.

 

 In case you don’t want to read the whole post, I will do a quick summary that pinpoints the day’s highlights. Let’s start with the bad, to get it out of the way…

 

 The Bad- 

• Jesse did not repeat as the Apple 8k champ.
•  We only made it one of our two miles in the walk.
•  I locked Riley in the car (super scary.)
•  We have more dinky candy (including the ever puzzling dubba bubba gum) then we know what to do with. 

The Good-

• Jesse got 1st in his age group and 3rd overall.
• I made it 1 mile with all 3 kids, and none of them ended up in the mill pond.
•  I got Riley out of the car unharmed.
• The boys, especially Peyton seemed to enjoy the parade.
• No one got ran over in the parade, though my nephew really tried!
• We won a dinner to a local restaurant that we got to use that evening at our gym’s parent’s night out.

 

Well, that really does sum it up, but there are definitely some gaps to fill in. The best place to start would be the beginning…

 

The Race-
I always love waking the kids up for a race day, ok it can be a pain and that was totally sarcastic, but this time P was already awake, so it wasn’t too busy or hectic. Jesse was sure the race started at 8, so we aimed to be there by 7:40. Well, we were there by 7:40, but the race didn’t start till 8:30! Trying to keep 3 kids happy while waiting in the misty rain is no easy task. Peyton kept wanting to take off and Brady was tired of being in the stroller, even Riley wasn’t happy in the pack because I wasn’t moving. A looooong time later, after we had greeted all the racers we knew, it was time to head to the start line.

Jesse, Cody, and Cody's dad (Ron)

Racer Brady

Racer Peyton

Jesse had already sized up the competition, and another asst. track coach, and former cross country star was there. He knew his chances of winning were gone, but he hoped to keep Cody in his sights. By the time they yelled go (yep, super official) the rain had stopped and my boys were ready to take off. When we heard the word, Jesse took off in one direction and the kids and I headed the other. Peyton immediately fell behind and it wasn’t long before we were pulling up the rear solo. I decided not to push it, and just tried to enjoy a walk with the kids, knowing we would probably just do a lap around the mill pond and then call it good so I could see Jesse finish. Somehow, I managed to keep P from throwing rocks in the lake and from going over the edge of the trail. Even Brady seemed to enjoy himself when we went down hills. Finally, Peyton just sat on the tire cover and rode the last half mile like that. We made it back to the finish in about 25 mins which meant over 10 min of waiting for Jesse. It didn’t take long for the kiddos to get restless and I could no longer contain them so we went back to the car and I let them play around in there while Riley and I went to the finish to try and catch Jesse, but we missed him.

 

He had run a great race, and said the weather was perfect and the course was better than last year. Cody did end up beating him, as did another older man, but no girls! Actually, he was only about 30 sec back from Cody and finished in 36:51 a more than 4 min pr from last year! That alone made him very happy, and he seemed quite pleased with himself (my big headed, big haired man).

 

Post Race Craziness-
The boys were not going to make it to the awards and prizes, so I decided to leave Jesse behind and take the boys over to my parent’s house. Since it is like 1 min away, I let the boys sit by me and on my lap (mistake #1) and when we arrived at the house, I didn’t check to see what they had done to the car when they were in there alone (mistake #2.) I had taken them in and was going back to get Riley, I closed the front door to pass by it and reached for her door, when I was met with resistance. Panic over came me quickly, after I checked all the doors and was met with the same response. I could physically see both sets of keys inside the car and we have no spares, so I knew I was not unlocking these doors. I made some panicked phone calls and finally came to conclusion that I was going to have to break a window to get in. With hammer in hand, I went for the tiny one in the back, and after several tries (I didn’t want to cover her in glass, so I was trying to hit it as lightly as possible, it’s not because I am a wimp, which may be true) my tiny hammer went through.

 

She had been crying for a while, and I felt so bad that during all this, she couldn’t even see or hear me. With fresh tears on my cheeks, I took her inside and tried to calm us both down. Soon, I was back to myself and I don’t think she will remember a thing! But it was scary nonetheless. Jesse saw the broken glass and had a flash back to when our car got broken into by the Arena in Spokane and thought someone had broken into our car again. He was much happier to find out it was just me! Then he shared the good news about the dinner gift certificate. It worked out perfectly because we had already planned on eating there that night!

 

Parade-
We got the boys fed and Brady strapped into a different stroller and headed up the alley to our main street, well basically the only street in Onalaska, to watch the parade. I picked us out the same spot as last year, near the start of the parade. It works great, because the candy throwers always dole out too much in the beginning, but just like last year, none of the kids got the concept of stocking up on the candy. They would just grab a few and then were done. All of us parents had to do a lot of coaching and pointing! We ended up with quite the haul, which Jesse has already made a good dent in. Since Brady was contained we didn’t have any runners, but my nephew did keep trying to go into the road to TOUCH the classic cars. After that, we took them quickly through the petting zoo (nothing really held their attention) and to get some caramel corn. By then, we were all exhausted and ready to head home. But it was a good morning all in all. I think it will be a fun family tradition!

 

Ready for candy!

TTT The inquisitive edition!

1. I have been anxiously awaiting the mass amounts of hormones to leave my body so I could dive into the world of Hunger Games. The buzz around them is great, but I just can't handle that much death in my more delicate state. On Thursday last week, I finally picked up the last one and have been lost in their world ever since. Yesterday, I finally finished the last one and am still in a Hunger Games daze. I really shouldn't be allowed to read, because once I start a book, I have to finish it, like right then. My poor husband has been missing a wife the last few days, but he has taken it very well, even doing the dishes I had neglected to do! As for a review, I really liked the first two, and felt horribly disappointed by the third. Isn't that always the way! Now I am looking forward to the movies, because I was never able to fully picture what this world looked like.

Are you reading any good books or have any recommendations for another good one to get lost in?

2. Speaking of lost, that is how I have been feeling at the gym. Maybe confused is a better word. Mostly it revolves around my Zumba class. I really like it, and I do work up a decent sweat, but I work up a much bigger one when I just do cardio on my own. My time at the gym is very limited because of Riley and I don't know if from a weight loss stand point I am serving myself best by doing the class. MWF I am doing the water aerobics and really love it. I feel like it is toning me back up and repairing me a bit. Plus I get in some water running afterwards, so I don't want to give that up. That leaves T & TH Zumba nights.

So to Zumba or not to Zumba, that really is the question I am asking! What do you think, give it up and sweat it up on my own?

3. This weekend is my hometown's (Onalaska) Apple Harvest Fest, complete with a parade and...a race! Jesse won last year (it is a 5 mile run) and he is hoping to repeat. I am planning on doing the 2 mile walk with all 3 kids, crazy right! I wish I had a double jogger now, but a single will have to do. It is fun to take part in this festival, which is only a few years old, but growing every year. Which begs the question...

Does your hometown have something similar you like to take part of every year?

Ok, I am done grilling you. BUT, don't forget to enter my awesome giveaway HERE. I really do think this program would be any runner's best friend if you are interested in preserving the memories!

Wordless Wednesday (As IF!)

Ok, this will be mostly wordless I swear. It is easier to share the great day we had at the Autism Walk in photos anyways. All you really need to know, is that I loved every minute of it! It was great to feel like a part of a community rather than just a single being out on a ledge by myself! Peyton also had a fabulous time. He walked the whole two miles and loved that we were all wearing shirts with his name on them. Enjoy the photos!

 Team Super Peyton

Brady can find sand anywhere!

The kids were quite enammored with these big balls!

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY for the MyMemories Suite here! Giveaway ends on Sunday the 9th.

I'm back with a GIVEAWAY!

Oh heavens, it was a crazy week! Illness, a weekend in Morton, emergency trips to the dentist, it was enough to make my head spin, too much to post obviously, so I thought I would start out the week with a GIVEAWAY, to say I'm sorry!

Now, it has been a long time since I have done a giveaway, and so I wanted my first one back to be really impressive and something I am in love with! Well, I really only have one hobby, besides running of course, and that is scrapbooking. I heart taking photos that may not be "wall" worthy and making a creative display out of them to make sure I always remember that day or moment. They have to be visually interesting and full of life! Unfortunately, my life has been a little too full the past few years to get any real scrapbooking done. I haven't done a single page for Brady, and he's 2! Now I feel like I am so far behind, I can't possibly catch up. But, who should come to my rescue but a company called MyMemories.

One of their reps, Liz, asked if I would be interested in trying out their digital software and doing a giveaway. Um , hello, heck yes! I downloaded it (super easy) and quickly got to work. I am not computer savy, but it didn't take long to figure out how to get started. They have layouts you can use, and more you can download. Some are free and other's cost, but I wanted to try a hand at making my own. I have really wanted to make something for Riley's room that has pictures from her first days of life that looked a little scrapbooky, but was polished enough I could hang it in her room. This is what I created...

I then saved it as a jpeg and had Costco print a 12x12 picture for me, framed it and now it looks great in her room.

My other big project I was trying to work on for over a year, was a way to make race day memories for Jesse and I incorporating our bibs. Nothing I had done yet was coming out the way I wanted, and they were taking a very long time. Again, MyMemories Suite came to the rescue. In no time I had played around and created this...

That is actually a picture of his bib that I used for the background!

My plan is to print out (again as a photo) the ones from big races, and make a collage of them in big poster frames to display. I also want to make something from each race and then at the end of the year make a book of them (which this company does). I just think it will be such a great keepsake, and an awesome way to quickly look back at your races and show off pictures to your friends!

I am really excited to do books through them. I have done Costco and Shutterfly ones, but these will be much more personalized and full of things you just can't do with those other programs. My next big project is to make a book from the Autism Walk. I want to do one every year, then, down the road, I can show my boys all the years we have done and I am hoping it will be a great keepsake for them! I might also do one of each year of their life. I just think they are so much cooler than regular photo albums. My head is just overflowing with ideas!

The other fun thing to do is make a jazzy version of a photo you want to display. Here is a quick example I did of a YGG pic.

Again, just print it in whatever size you want, frame, and voila, instant fun memory!

I really am super excited to keep using this scrapbook software. Really the possibilities are endless. They even do calendars, which will be great presents for those people in my life that already have everything! Now, what you all probably want to know about is pricing. Well, the software, is actually only $40! And with the coupon code I have to save $10, it is only $30. But even at 40, to me, it is a great bargain. To just get the basics for scrapbooking costs WAY more than that and even if you printed off individual pages and put them into a scrapbook, the cost per page is still a lot less. The prices of the books and calendars seems to be about the same as Shutterfly and others, so no problem there either. Actually, the only negative I have found so far, is the lack of odds and ends embellishments. They have most any kind of brad, button, stitching, ribbon, and such you could want, but not a lot of activity specific ones. Again, I haven't explored too much, so there may be a way to download more, or use stuff you already have, but you could also print off a page and then add embellishment and stickers just the way you would on a normal page, thus getting the look you want and adding some dimension to it as well.

On to the giveaway, how do you win this great scrapbook software? Just follow the steps below, leaving a separate comment for each. If you just can't wait to see if you win, you can download your own software now and use this code STMMMS92027 to save $10 on it, plus save $10 on any order from MyMemories.com store (like on a book). The giveaway will end Sunday Oct. 9th at midnight! Good luck!

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I Went Girl! (YGG Recap)

As always, an event this BIG and AWESOME is best retold in pictures!

I wasn't running this year, I simply wanted to be race support! So Riley and I left from the walk and met up with Stacie and Kim. The plan was expo, dinner, then slumber party! It almost went that way...

Me, Stacie, Kim, and Kerrie (little man sticking out does belong to Kerrie!) Yes, Riley is in the stroller. The expo wasn't huge, but Running Skirts was there and I may have purchased my first one!

This is where we detoured! We had a few hours to kill and I knew of a 'killer' cupcake shop called Hello, Cupcake! so we stopped in to eat dessert first!

Don't know what they're doing!

Another small detour...when Cougs play on Huskies ground, things can get dangerous!

Said Coug and Husky at Spaghetti Factory for dinner.

Self portrait of Riley and I before the food came.

And the other side of the table, Stacie and Carla.

All of us, post meal!

The Slumber Party was great! This was the part I needed the most. Just the girls hangin out and chattin. Of course, toe beautification was also done! Which toes belong to whom?

As course support, I made a few signs. This is for Kerrie's sub-2 attempt, (which she crushed!)

Mel doesn't sweat, she sparkles!

I was so glad Alma decided to come and cheer with me! It really made the experience that much more fun. Plus, I had someone to get lost with! Here she is with Kim and Riley.

Kerrie with her coach Mel!

Me and some lady who wanted a photo with me! I must be a celebrity! Oh wait, it was the other way around!

Mel and Stacie

Team Will Run for Ice Cream

Me with some of the team-Jamie, Stacie, Julie, Jill, Kerrie, and Mel. A lot of people who saw this sign were excited for ice cream at the end, oops!

Mother/Daughter 10kers!

It's like where's waldo! Kerrie and Tall Mom are in there!

This would have been a great pic of Stacie, but this lady stepped right in front of her!

Can you see Kadie?

Most of us, post race, cold and wet, ready to head to The Rock for warm food!

My baby got held by an Internet celebrity! At least it is an upgrade from Tila Tequila!