Halling Go To Alaska

Can you believe that we've already made it through January? Four full weeks of 2010 have passed.  And here are my pictures to prove it! January 24 The last light bulb finally blew out in our ugly retro chandelier. This is the replacement.  It is not the most beautiful fixture, but it is 150% better than the old one. January 25 Sass laid out her ski clothes anatomically the night before. (This is too cute! There is even the hat and scarf!) January 26 Can you say blizzard?  Sass is in front. Smarty Pants is right behind her. January 27 This may not seem very interesting, but if you know me -  the fact that you can see the top of the desk at all is pretty miraculous! January 28 Can you read the sweet note Sass left for me? "I wanted to thank you for being such a good mother by filling up the coco contianer!" (I have a sealed metal container that I keep powdered cocoa in. I use it in my coffee.  Costco only has the single serving packets, so I have to open a bunch of packets

Last night and most of today I spent at church with T in a retreat for RCIA.  Have you ever been to a retreat?  The only kinds I have been to are church retreats.  Today we likened them to a shortened version of basic training without the exercise; lack of sleep, tears, strength coming out that you didn't know you had, realizations about yourself. Background info: I've been thinking lately about where my state of mind has been lately.  If you follow me on twitter you know the last week has been insane and I was pretty much a stressed out wreck.  But in looking back at the last couple of months I have realized that my heart is happy.  If you checked out my Happiness  post from earlier in the week #10 states that "I am so very happy to be who I am." I had a major emotional issue last September.  One that rocked me to my core.  I was questioning a friendship that I thought was solid.  I was open and honest and I caused a lot of pain in searching for truth, both my own an

Colors All A Blur Check out Beth's You Capture carnival and see what others colors were captured this week.

As I got to finally sit down and spend a little time with the laptop catching up on twitter and blogs for the first time really since the middle of last week, I realized that Melissa tagged me and gave me this little gem. You see this last week or so I have been trying my darndest and struggling to appreciate the good in my life and not let the drudgery get me down.  So I think I need this - desperately. As always, there are instructions: 1. Copy the image and display it on your blog. 2. List 10 things that make you happy. 3. Try to do at least one of them today. 4. Pass on the award to 10 bloggers who brighten your day. So here I go.   I am happy that Sass, my 7yo, enjoys skiing so much that even with cold temps and blowing snow she wanted to go back out on the slopes after lunch by herself for a couple more runs.  I am happy that I live near the mountains so my girls can grow up skiing.  I'm happy that I have a job and I work at home so I can spend the good and the bad days with

Didn't I just write one of these Monday posts?  Oh yeah. I think I did it last Tuesday.  (And shh, I'm technically writing this Sunday night. Don't tell!) I'm planning on finding last minute supplies for rosary making on Monday rather than on Tuesday an hour before CCD.  I'm planning on working as much as I can given my time constraints and sleep requirements. I'm planning on running 3 days this week (I  might get one in on Sunday, but don't hold your breath.) I'm planning on doing week 3 of hundredpushups.com   I'm planning on remembering this " A-Ha " post. I will need to with T traveling 2 days this week and my parents leaving town on Tuesday for two weeks. I'm planning on enjoying the RCIA retreat Friday night through Saturday evening with T. So what are your plans?  

January 17 My cat Pumpkin. She does not always look this angry. January 18 That's a lot of lines in case you were wondering. I haven't done close to 1000 lines in a day in probably a year. January 19 Two of the three rings I wear every day. January 20 The Boyd's Bear statue that my mom gave us after SmartyPants was born. January 21 The "lifesaver" at the pool. (taken during Sass' swim lesson) January 22 "Proof that the girls don't put things away." Otherwise titled "Proof that mom didn't yell at them to put their stuff away" January 23 What I spent my weekend doing. It was quite fruitful.  29 pages to be exact.

I am so happy that it's Friday, but at the same time, I'm not.  I'm happy it's Friday because I am going to  scrapbooking marathon weekend that starts tonight.  I get to look at pictures of my adorable children but not have to listen to the whining!  I get to have adult conversation, and here's the key. It will be uninterrupted adult conversation. I'm not happy it's Friday because I have work that will need to be done over the weekend for the paying job.  I also have to figure out how to tie a dang knot on a rosary so the beads don't fall off.  (I'm having my CCD kids make their own rosaries.  I think it will mean a bit more if they make them with their own little hands.) My parents are going out of town next Tuesday for two weeks!  What am I going to do with my kids? They need some Gramma and Poppy time! And on top if it T will be gone for 7 of those 14 days.  So after this weekend I'm looking at a lot of time juggling. And I just looked at the

Jade's question this week is if I could have a different life for just one day what would it be? I have often thought of this question, usually in the midst of whining children and housecleaning staring me in the face.  My answer is actually quite similar to Jade's.  Although I don't have a particular place in mind, I would like it to be somewhere warm, but not warm enough to make me sweat.  Somewhere quiet where I can hear myself think.  Somewhere filled with nature.  I think of mountains with a river.  Sort of like being at the top of the Continental Divide in Colorado.  I want beautiful sunrises and sunsets to watch and enjoy the changing colors.  I want time to read, time to write, time to just be.  But one thing that would be necessary even though I'm not surrounded by people and busy-ness?  I want good food prepared and to have it show up when it's time to eat. My day in another life would be to enjoy my senses to the fullest: sights, scents, tastes.

This week's challenge from Beth was a little hard.  It's been a crazy week.  And I was busy trying to make sure I took pictures every day to post on my weekly post of pictures from the previous week that I forgot what the challenge was.  So this evening after getting done with work I took a stroll through the office/school room. This is sand art courtesy of Sass. She made it when she was just barely 3 at preschool. Her teacher was a saint.  She had eight 2-3-year-olds in the class at the time.  They actually colored the sand with chalk and slowly filled the bottles.  They were given to us parents for Christmas that year.  This is a reminder to me of what little ones are capable of if given the opportunity and proper direction.  The amazing thing to me is that Sass never mentioned this surprise. This isn't the best picture, but it is a collection of dust catchers, aka knick-knacks. Most of these came from T's mom.  We sort of inherited them after she passed away.  They a

And good lawd it feels like it.  The 3/5 of the family that was gone for the weekend is now back.  And it's like they never left.  So, I'm going to put on my optimistic, happy hat and make this list. I am planning on taking deep breaths so as to not raise my voice anymore  with the kids.   I am planning on not going insane with adding Sweet Pea's vision therapy to my schedule this Thursday. I am planning on getting my runs in despite how crazy busy this week is going to be. I am planning on drinking more water.  No specific goal, but more than I have been. I am planning on taking the kids skiing tomorrow.  I'm hoping the weather isn't too blustery and snowy so they can have a good lesson. I am planning on looking at my board package BEFORE the weekend. I am planning on doing my best to not be overwhelmed after my relaxing weekend of being a single mother to one. Do you have a plan this week?

January 10 Sweet Pea bowling for the very first time. January 11 This is an old sign in town. My hometown has grown up so much in the past 20 years. Signs like this help me to remember life before it was busy. January 12 This is a SOOC shot of dawn from my porch. And because I can. Here is shot #2 from the 12th. We had some awesome clouds this week. This was taken from a different part of town. January 13 My gymnast strapped to the bar at practice. January 14 I know there's a lot of scenery, but I love being able to take a decent picture of the every day stuff that catches my eye.  And this tree with the backdrop of the mountains? Beautiful to me. January 15 I am so proud to be a part of Team In Training. Team Shrinking Jeans is a T eam who will E ndure and A chieve and it M atters to us. January 16 Sweet Pea and I painted pottery on our Mommy & Me weekend.

My winter.  Well I have to say that my winter has been odd this year.  For one, we got a big snow storm before Christmas and there is still snow lingering in my front yard.  That never happens.  Part of the reason is because we then had a month of not getting above freezing, which is totally atypical for these parts.  And then once it warmed up, there was no sun.  It finally peaked out yesterday for the first time in I don't know how long.  It has been warm enough that it has been raining.  Did you know I live in Nevada?  We don't see much rain around these parts.  But here is a little glimpse of what winter has been like in the past week in Northern Nevada. The gray, cloudiness was the status quo for way too long.  But I like the contrast in these two pictures. These were taken in the parking lot of Target. I love the lighting in this one. Well I love the mountains too! One of the many beautiful tree-lined streets in town. Okay, yes I boosted the color in this one, but that ra

So I guess I'm feeling spunky this evening because that's not exactly what Jade had in mind, but I thought that would be a fun a title.  And when you find out what my "smell" is, the title will seem appropriate.  And I wasn't sure until I started pondering what smell really took me back in time. There are two different colognes that trigger certain memories from high school.  I hate that I love Preferred Stock cologne.  It is such a drug store cologne, but it reminds me of my first boyfriend, and it smelled so damn good on him.   Obession  reminds me of T in high school - before he thought I was cool enough to date.  (*wink wink*, T)  Yes, I will admit to owning my own bottle of both of these just so I could get a whiff when I was missing them (at different stages in my life, of course!) But the one smell that takes me back as far as toddlerhood is the smell of tobacco.  That may sound like a weird scent to have nostalgia about, but my dad smoked a pipe until I

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. I'm a date late and probably a lot of dollars short.  So, because Tiffany went ahead and did her planning post and linked to me, I suppose I should play along with my own game. I'm planning on doing all the work in my que whether or not I want to.  (Dang kids using up all our money!) I plan on running 3 days this week.  (I've already done one.) I'm starting this plan of working up to 100 push-ups consecutively.  They will be done on my run days.   I plan on getting the kids to all their activities on time and be happy about doing it. I plan on enjoying myself thoroughly at Bunco Wednesday night - before I come home and work for 3-4 hours (ugh).   I plan on getting Sass ready to go to Boise this weekend with T.  (I don't get to go. T decided Sunday to go. I can't take the time off of work on such short notice. Suck.) I think that's a good list since today is Tuesday.  Anyone else?

There are days when I go to church and hear something.  I mean really hear something that hits me right.there.   You know what I'm talking about, right?  Maybe you don't hear it at church.  Maybe you hear it from a friend or reading a blog or from a family member.  But where ever you hear it, you just stop and go WOW.   Well I had one of those moments this morning.  Currently we have a seminarian in our parish. A seminarian is someone who is in the learning process of becoming a priest.  This is essentially his "intern" year.  So anyway, he gave the sermon today.  The words he spoke were "we all sin because of something broken inside of us" You may say, well yeah.  Duh.  Sin is bad, so if you are sinning then obviously something isn't right.  I thought back to what I find to be one of my biggest faults.  My short temper with my family.  It's not that I'm always yelling (although there are certainly days it feels that way), it's that I get ann

I'm going to take a little leniency with this first one.  Since the year started on a Friday there will be 2 extra pictures in this first "week" of 2010. Jan 1, 2010 My friend's cat hiding about 2 feet up in her fake Christmas tree. January 2, 2010 The funky tile behind the faucet in my bathroom. One of the many quirks of my old house. January 3, 2010 Lobster bisque - made courtesy of my brother. (Love having a chef in the family!) January 4, 2010 The start of school after the holidays. January 5, 2010 Enjoying water from my CamelBak after her first ski lesson. January 6, 2010 My new boots that Tiffany found for me. January 7, 2010 Do you see the face? (Yes, the last potato in the house was sprouting.) January 8, 2010 Pumpkin the cat wanting to eat Sweet Pea's nest w/feather bird. (It was her creation in preschool for "N" week.) January 9, 2010 Sass on the trampoline.