Turkey Day

I have never done a Thanksgiving dinner, and this year I seized the chance.
I spent way to long watching shows on how to cook the perfect Turkey.
Garage sale/estate sale shopped until I found the prefect table decor.
And dressed up for the big day.
 I decided to do this holiday for myself, and it was totally worth it, Z and I had a great time getting everything ready.
The turkey turned out sooooo good, juicy, beautiful, and tasty! And me and my little Z looked good.
Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures before we ate, only afterwards.... so sad. But this was Wednesday. And on actual Thanksgiving day we headed up to Chicago so visit my mom.

So after one day of stuffing ourselves we packed up the leftovers and did it all over again in Chicago. We had a great visit with my mom and her mission companion Sister Robison. Sorry I didnt rotate this.

We decided we didn't want anything bad enough to get up at midnight, so we just headed out in the morning of black Friday and what do you know all the things we wanted were still around. I may have taken a little toy dog from someone else's cart but they obviously didn't want it as they were not watching their cart for as long as I was... but seriously, I really wanted this little barking dog for Z and the only one i could find was in a shopping cart that was all hidden behind some boxes... it was really random. So I did what any mother on black Friday would do and looked around, didn't see anyone and took it. Sorry other mom but your cart had been abandoned for at least 20 min, that is my justification. And now, Z can bark and walk her dog all day and I don't have to buy food or touch a real dog!!
We had a great time with my mom and it was awesome to see her as a missionary! We even did a contact together.

Table Referb

I've needed a table in my kitchen because there is a really weird awkward space...so I decided to make it a little project out of this table I got off Craigslist. I love the antique look but it is so pricey to buy it new, and it is pretty simple to do yourself. I stained the legs, and then antiqued the top and chairs.

The before...

The after...

The ripped shirt...?

I came home one day and saw this...

I asked Cory what had happened and he claimed that when he got her up from her nap he found her just like this...? haha

Now, has anyone else had this happen? After laughing for like 10 minutes I knew there had to be more to this story. Finally like 2 days later Cory did say the shirt was ripped, just not all the way, he gave it a little tug to see how it could have ripped so easily and the rest ripped. 

So the verdict is still out...how did she do it? And was she alone? She has some mad skills but this one is still blowing my mind!

13.1

The Nashville 1/2 Marathon

"I run for the party"-by the Hard Rock Cafe

So after doing my Insanity DVD's I felt like I wanted to do something more and get in even better shape before we have another baby. So what better than to run?! It sounded like a good idea at the time, so this summer I set the goal and signed up for the Nashville 1/2 marathon in November. 

So I did a 10 week running program to prepare, and I really had a great time doing it. 

The magic mile is 7...I have always jogged on and off. But I had never ran more than 6 miles and couldn't say I loved every second of it. Well that changed for me, fortunately...because I went way more than 6 miles! The long run that I went 7 miles was a life changer, seriously. I finally was able to pass the point of wanting to stop at a gas station and buy a snickers and get a ride home, I got into this awesome rhythm and felt wonderful, it was awesome. From that point on I really looked forward to my long Saturday runs. And I did it at the most beautiful time of year for Illinois. 

Por ejemplo...

this was from my first 13.5 mile run...views like this make it worth it!

So Nashville is 3 hours from where we live. And the day before the race I was so nervous the whole day was a horrible and I woke up every hour the night before...wow I wasnt prepared for my nerves to be so wound up! I woke up yelling "we missed it" at one point thinking I had missed the race, I was a wreck. Thankfully the  day of the weather was great, we made it in time, and all went well. I did forget my headphones = no music. And I left one of my energy GU packets in my jacket so I had to use a different flavor and brand during the race = little bit of vomit...other than that it really was a great run.

Stats: 2:04, avg 9:33 min/miles

I wanted to do it under 2 hours but I did not anticipate the amount of hills, so I ran it the same as my training pace. But for my first one I was really happy with it.

The rest of the trip...

 A little BBQ from the Famous Daves

 The Gran Ole Opry House

Thanks Nashville for the fun weekend!

Z baby is the big 1

The 1st Birthday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cant believe our little girl is already 1 year old! It seems like the year has flown by, yet so much has happened. I have never observed life so closely. It has been amazing seeing the miraculous growth that occurs in a baby's life and what they learn in such a short period of time. We have been so blessed with an amazing little girl, she has brought us more joy, love, and laughter than we imagined. 
She is obsessed with horses right now, I'm not sure why because she hates all animals when she sees them...? But this was the cake of her choosing, and I had fun trying to figure out how to Martha Stewart this thing.

This was her little birthday party with her grandparents, unfortunately our house is pretty small and her birthday was on a bad weekend so we kept it a small family affair. But she can know that I made her cake and her outfit for her very special day, and man did she have fun!! She did not however like the cake, she is a chocolate fan (must be my daughter) so the cake was only annoying her because it got her hands dirty and she just wanted the ice cream to follow. haha

This girl knows the understanding of good presents, she loves ripping that paper and finding what is possibly inside! She had a blast!

IM STAYIN ALIVE...AH AH AH

 

I feel like I've been born again!! I have been without a computer since the summer, we'll actually for like a year because my computer before was slower than a dead dog. So I treated myself with a  cybermonday Mac...thank you thank you!! I kinda feel bad how excited I am, I almost wanted to put it by my bed. The fact that I can actually upload a photo in under 5 minutes is blowing my mind. Don't get me wrong, I had my husbands but lets not forget he studies until the late hours of the night so by the time I get it...blogging is not happening, not much was happening.
AHHHHHH......I feel a huge sigh of relief
And I apologize for all the posts I'm about to catch up on...but here goes!