Come, run with me!

My half marathon is this Saturday!  I'm ready!  I'm excited!
Since good music makes a race so much better, I make a playlist for each race I run.  Gotta switch it up, ya know?  That way I have something to look forward to other than running for 13.1 miles...

Here's my latest:
"Empire State of Mind" - Jay-Z
"Machinehead" -Bush (I like to keep it real with old school)
"Grenade" -Bruno Mars
"Viva la Vida" -Coldplay
"Cooler than Me" -Mike Posner
"OMG" -Usher
"Tonight" -Enrique
"The Distance" -Cake
"Donde Estas" -Chenoa (sooo random, but I love a spanish song thrown in the mix)
"1979" -Smashing Pumpkins
"What You Waiting For" -Gwen Stefani
"Falling Slowly" -Kris Allen
"Time to Dance" -Panic! At the Disco
"Drop the Phone" -Shy Child
"Gonna Fly Now (Rocky Theme Song)" -Bill Conti
"Cute Without the 'E'" -Taking Back Sunday
"Bitter Sweet Symphony" -The Verve
"Comfort Eagle" -Cake
"Pressure to Come" -Shy Child
"Blow" - Ke$ha

Alright, I might throw in a couple Bright Eyes, Cartel, Something Corporate and/or the Format songs, but I need a little more. I'll be running for a long time.  Suggestions?  Tell me, What's on your running playlist?

My Everyday

Day 25 - A picture of your day

My day starts around 7 or 7:30.
Most days I: 
get kids breakfast
give Suz a bath
give Suz a bottle
head to the gym
come home and CLEAN
(for a couple hours)
some days I teach piano
some days I grocery shop
some days I go to playgroups
some days I go to the park
some days I run errands
some days I make things
some days I stay home and read
Jared comes home around 5:30. usually.
We make and eat dinner.
We talk.
We usually go for a walk.
Then at 7:30, Noah goes through the bedtime routine.
Then Suzy.
All while Jared is doing homework.
(He will FINALLY graduate in August!)
And then I get some me time.
to read
play the piano
journal
blog
or go to bed early.
And then I wake up and do it again.
Luckily (most days) I love it.

Corn Flakes?

Day 24 - A picture of something you wish you could change

I wish I could change all the flaky people in the world!!!

Read this.

Day 23 - A picture of your favorite book

First of all, what a hard thing- to narrow down to one book.  Favorite fiction book? Non fiction? Biography? Classic? Young Adult?  There is no way that I could choose just one!

So, I'll chose the last one that I finished, which I also LOVED, LOVED, LOVED!  If you have not read it, you def should.

I've done it before and I'll do it again.  If you are not on goodreads.com, do it!  Then we can give each other book recommendations and you can have an organized way to see what books you've read, loved, hated, want to read, etc etc.  Maybe that's not your thing, but I really love it.

Simplicity

Why is it that as adults, we try to make things complicated?  I do it all of the time!  I appreciate little children for their constant reminder to keep things simple.
For example:  Storytime tonight.  Noah decided that he wanted to tell me a story.  This was the first time he's ever made up his own story to tell me and I was excited to hear what he would say. 
"Once upon a time, there was a girl named Dora.  And her friend, Noah.  They went to a field.  They went to Target.  Then they came home.  The End!"
I LOVED his story.
And for a great talk on the subject, I recommend reading or re-reading Elder Uchdorf's talk "Of Things That Matter Most" found here.

Cooking

Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at

I've come a long way, but I'm not quite there yet.

Update

I know I got really good at blogging for about two weeks.  What happened?  You may be wondering.  This challenge:
Day 21 - A picture of something you wish you could forget
What a dumb thing!  If I wished I could forget it, why would I post it as to remember it longer? 
Ok, so maybe that's not the only thing keeping me from blogging.
Noah got MONO (what little kid gets mono, really?)  In fact, I was so surprised by it, that I took him to 2 different doctors for different opinions (just in case the mono spot test was somehow wrong).  Both doctors gave me the same diagnosis.  In case you are wondering if your child has mono, the MAIN symptom is VERY SWOLLEN LYMPH NODES.  I'm talking golf ball size in your neck.  Here is a picture of Noah before he got diagnosed.  I was just thinking he was getting a little chubby!  Poor kid.  I should've known.  He doesn't even look well at all! 

Suzy is doing great! No illness.  Thank goodness.
And...WHERE DID THIS RED HAIR COME FROM?!?! (I know you are thinking WHAT HAIR, but look closely!) (Apparentley I do have a red-headed great grandma on my mom's side & an auburn grandma on my dad's.  MORE PROOF that Suzy has my genes!  (those are not to be found in Noah)

As for Jared, he is a running fool!  He is training for a marathon next month, so on Saturdays he and his brother run ridiculous mileage.  Last Saturday it was 20 miles.  This Saturday, it is 23.  In fact, the half marathon that we are both running next month (not together, he will beat me by like an hour!) he says is his "easy day."  Gag me, right? :)

And me- like I sorta mentioned, I've been running a lot too, but not quite as high mileage as Jared.  I have NO. DESIRE. WHATSOEVER to do a marathon.  Never have.  But I could run half's all day long.  Perfect length!  So, I will.  2 next month.

Also, I've been attacked by ALLERGIES.  Springtime in Arkansas is beautiful!  But the pollen will make you crazy.  I need me some Jen Young and her NAET wonders.
 And because everyone else has a picture up on this update, I felt like I should too.  

I will be back to the blogging challenge tomorrow.  See you then!

Mom Chore Chart

I've been wanting to get more organized lately and today I decided to stop wanting and start doing!  So, I came up with a Chore Chart for myself.  I've printed it out, laminated it, and hung it on the fridge.  Now I can use a dry erase marker and cross off the things I've done.  Best Benefit:  When I am done doing my list for the day, I AM DONE.  I can read!  I can relax! I can play with my kids guilt free!  I'm so excited, I can't wait to start cleaning!!! (Did I just say that?)

If you want to make your own chart, feel free to copy and paste the below to a word document and then change the chores to suit you!

If you have any cleaning or organization tips/links to blogs, let me know! I am always interested in being more efficient at home (aka making more time for myself)!

Daily Tasks         

Make Beds

Load/Run/Empty Dishwasher

Sweep Kitchen & Entry Way

Clean Kitchen Sink

Clear/Wipe Counters

Plan/Make Dinner

Wipe out Bathroom Sinks

Empty Trash

Monday                            Clean Bathrooms

                                    Change Beds & Wash Sheets

                                    2 Loads of Laundry

Tuesday                           Mop Floors

                                    2 Loads of Laundry

Wednesday                    Vacuum House

                                    Dust

Thursday                        Change & Wash Towels

                                    Tidy Bedrooms & Playroom

Friday                               Clean Office

                                    _________________________________

Saturday                         _________________________________

                                    _________________________________

Sunday                            Plan Meals for Upcoming Week

                                    Make Shopping List

                                    Paint Nails

Les Miserables

Day 20 - A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel

  

Even better, here is a picture of somewhere I WILL travel to at the end of this year!  Have to see Les Mis at Queen's Theatre in London.  It's on my bucket list.  SOOO excited to check it off the list in 2011!!!

Dear Washington

Day 19 - A picture and a letter

Dear Washington DC,
I miss you.  I've moved on in life, but I love thinking back to the time that I spent with you.  The time we had was really magical to me.  I fell in love (long distance) with my A-MAAAA-ZING husband, made great friends, traveled a lot, went dancing (miss that), went running by the White House, shopped at Trader Joes, went out to eat lots at cool, interesting places, and generally REALLY enjoyed my everyday life!
I can't wait to visit you again sometime soon, although I know it will never be just the same.  Thanks for the memories.
Love,
Court

A very hard post to post

Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity

I like this blogging challenge b/c it is making me think about things.  When I read today's post, I honestly had no idea what to post about.  I even asked my husband what my biggest insecurity was and he first told me to post a blank white square b/c he said I was perfect (cue awws here).  Then, he told me to post a picture with 18 kids b/c he knows I am AFRAID to have lots of kids.

So, I've thought all morning as I have been cleaning and doing laundry, what is my biggest insecurity?  And I was reminded of this good old mormonad.

I can relate to everyone in that picture, the ones looking at the book, completely oblivious to anyone else, the one turning to look at the girl by herself, and the girl who is completely insecure.

When I was little, I was about as nerdy as they come.  That didn't even begin to change until about 8th grade, when I lost my 80's bangs, huge circle glasses, and leggings.  I clearly remember sitting in a history class on the first day of 8th grade and a boy that I knew sitting in front of me, turning around and introducing himself.  I wanted to scream, "Hello!  Don't you remember me?  We were in 3 of the same classes last year!"  but instead I took it as a compliment and let him figure it out on his own.

While on the outside, I have outgrown my uber nerdy days, a piece of that has stayed with me.  I don't know when the day will come that I stop caring about what everyone else thinks about me.  I HATE that I care.  And that, friends, is my biggest insecurity.  Fitting in.

Suzy Kaye

Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently

AZ trip

Anyone wonder where I have been?
Well, we just got back from Arizona for a nice vacation/friend's wedding.
The blogging challenge will resume tomorrow.

But for today, I wanted to recap the trip.  It was nice having a break from everyday life and not having kids.  Don't get me wrong, I love being with them.  But the break sure was nice!

Trip Summary:

Went on the trip with these lovely people:  April and Tommy. (Tommy and Jared have been best friends since they were little.)

Stayed with these people:  Sumer and Tyler (Sumer was one of my best friends in high school and Tyler was a good friend too!)

We went to these people's wedding:  (Ryan and Anne.  Ryan was one of Jared's best friend's growing up.)

We got to get all dressed up.

We ate yummy Venezuelan food.

We met up with mission buddies at Oreganos (LOVED this!)

Jared and I ran 9 and then 4 miles together in the beautiful 70 degree weather. (Jared is running a half and full marathon next month, I'm running two halfs.)  (This pic is from back in the day, I didn't take a pic of us running in Arizona!)

We had a GREAT time!  In fact, we got the traveling bug while we were there.  So, we came home and booked tickets to Europe, naturally. Ha ha.  We are flying into London and leaving Madrid 2 weeks later.  Can't wait!!!