14er! 19th Anniversary!

For Chris and my 19th wedding Anniversary, Chris wanted to go camping in Colorado. After last year, he had his sights set on hiking Mt. Elbert (Redemption!). So we set out for Twin Lakes, CO and Lake View Campground on Saturday, August 25. We arrived around 4, pitched a tent, set up camp, and I was asleep. Not kidding. I felt like I was drugged.

Sunday we woke and decided it was a good day for a little hike around Twin Lakes. Not having researched the lakes or the trails, I just went along with Chris and his plans. The lakes are just down the hill from our campground. Looking at the lakes it looked like maybe 6 miles around one lake. Okay, let's do it.

Oh boy was I wrong. First of all, we were not on the trail system, so we were weaving in and out of all the little lake fingers. Once we found the trail it was much easier. Okay, it was a little easier. Over 11 miles! later, we made it back to the car. Ugh. That was one hell of a hike! We were exhausted, hungry and sunburned. That is one way to get acclimated.

So Lakeview Campground is at 9500 feet, so elevation sickness can (and will) occur. Last year, Chris and I both woke up at night short of breath. This year we did not have that problem at all. Sunday night, again, I was so tired I could hardly swallow my dinner. I was asleep about 6pm. Chris thought I was a total bore. I awoke at midnight with dizziness, nausea, headache followed by vomiting, in a tent with rain outside. It was ugly. I said to Chris numerous times, I am not hiking tomorrow. Our plan for Monday was to summit Mt. Massive, Colorado's second highest peak.

Monday morning came to a chilly yet sunny start. Chris says, "Looks like a beautiful day for a hike. Do you feel better?" So I pulled it together and we set out for Mt. Massive, arriving at the LONG trail head just before 8am. This is a long hike. We hiked Mt. Massive Southwest Slopes route. It is to be 7.25 miles from the top of the high clearance 4 wheel drive section which we could not drive up. Thinking it was maybe 9-10 miles from where we parked. It was long. We hiked from 8am-5pm. It was beautiful. The summit was, ugh, okay. I was expected more. It was just a couple piles of rocks in my opinion. Gorgeous views though. Tough hike. I felt a little nauseated towards the top but was able to pull through. We lost the trail a few times and scrambled more than we needed to. And, it was a little windy. Some girls were turning back because of the wind. We were happy we were able to summit! My First 14er!

Tuesday, our actual anniversary, we spent relaxing. It was so nice. The campground had cleared out, so Chris and I were all alone! I heated up some water and took a bath, shaving my legs. It was wonderful! It was a great way to spend our day. Chris wanted to be hiking Mt. Elbert, but this was a much better way to spend our day in the end.

Wednesday Chris and I set out to hike Mt. Elbert, Colorado's highest peak, via black cloud, Southest Ridge (the toughest route to summit of Mt. Elbert).  Round trip this route is to be 11 miles, 5300 feet in elevation gain. We hiked much of this trail last year when I got such elevation sickness we had to turn back. I will always get sick. Period. But it is the amount of sickness that is the issue. I was able to pull through the sickness this time too. The elevation sickness is similar to that sickness I get when running marathons or half marathons. I get dizzy, nauseous, headaches, vomiting. I never vomited while hiking but had all the other symptoms. Last year it was awful. This year, I ate and drank more to try and hold off the symptoms and took a lot of breaks. I liked this route but it was VERY TOUGH! The ridgeline was insane! You get to the top of the mountain and see the hour plus hiking of the ridgeline and think you are going to die (okay, I thought I was going to die). Chris thought the ridge line was the best part of the hike. It was beautiful for sure. The views from Summit were absolutely amazing! Gorgeous!! But others hiked up in 3 hours from other routes totally making me jealous. I knew we had a long way to hike down. I believe we started at 5am and finished at 4-4:30pm. LONG DAY! But, worth it. We bagged 2 14ers in 3 days! Yipee. Chris now has 5 14ers under his belt, Longs, Grays, Torreys, Massive, and Elbert! He tried Capitol but was not ready for that yet!

Wednesday we relaxed again, ate a lot, and enjoyed quiet camp without people. SO NICE!! Thursday we closed out camp and set out for Aspen via Independence Pass. It is beautiful but the road is creepy. We got to Aspen, got some food, and snatched a hard to find parking spot in front of hotel , We like our hotel, but the rooms appear to be getting smaller.

Thursday we shopped around Aspen, getting frozen yogurt and eating sandwiches and shopping. It is a fun town. We watched dogs at the dog park and watched them set up for the Labor Day volleyball tournament. Friday, Chris and I got up early and caught a bus. Yes, a bus. The buses are free in Aspen. We took the bus to Aspen Crossfit! While Chris got his workout in, I ran 6 miles on the gorgeous trails of Aspen. I was planning on just resting the rest of the trip after all of our hiking, but I was happy to be able to run on these trails. Beautiful! After working out, we went back into Aspen for more frozen yogurt, pizza and more pizza. Yes, we got pizza twice. We wanted to try it all! We tried New York Pizza and Taster's Pizza, liking Taster's Pizza best. (but New York was a reheated slice, so who knows how it is fresh). We worked out a lot, so had to eat a lot! Chris and I relaxed, watched more volleyball and walked around Aspen. It was a fun trip.

We enjoy our annual anniversary trips. Next year is our big 20th Wedding Anniversary. We are still trying to come up with a good trip for that. Maybe we will camp and climb a 14er, who knows?!?! :)

Whole30 4th Time

So I am a week into my 4th Whole30, 3rd one this year. I can say right now, after this time I am done with Whole30 for a while.

After my second Whole30 finishing in March, 2018, and third Whole30 finishing in May, 2018, I have pretty much stayed Whole30 for most things, adding in treats. I ate things like nut thins and frozen yogurt, then onto chocolate chip cookies and pizza. I stayed pretty true to whole30 until I didn't.

This Whole30 is to prepare me for a big hiking trip Chris and I are taking this month. Although yesterday was the 3 week mark, I feel about the same. I hate all the food I am eating, though. I can no longer eat veggies for the most part after my second Whole30 (I ate so many that thinking about making them makes me gag). I eat zucchini and sweet potatoes now. I am trying to follow the FODMAP diet too so that my body is not so messed up all the time. It is harder to follow because I can not have riced cauliflower or watermelon, both which were my favorites.

This time I usually eat an egg white and mixed fruit with coffee (if I am not working) for breakfast, a hard boiled egg with honeydew/blueberries/strawberries mix for lunch, and a variety of things for dinner usually including a salad with protein of some sort. It has been difficult considering it is summer to keep this up with my kids on the go all the time, but I have made it work. I have weighed myself, and I have lost 1 pound. I really wanted to lose like 5 pounds, so eating this way has not been worth it in that respect. I gave up the fun and weigh the same I always do? Ugh.

So, after our trip, I will go back to just my regular mostly healthy eating. If I need to watch my intake, I will just do that. But I do not believe I will be doing another Whole30 for a while. I need more energy to keep up with my kids, work and husband! :)

First Day of School 2018

August 14, 2018 marked the first day of school for Alivia (into Papio South 9th grade), Addison (into PMS 7th) and Asher (the last remaining Austin in Elementary in 5th).

Alivia had been a nervous wreck in the weeks leading up to the start of high school. High School here is a much bigger deal. By that I mean BIG, as in she may have 500 students in her class alone (I don't know the exact number of students though). Compared to the 40 some students I graduated with, it is big. After the first freshman only half day, Alivia had more confidence. Fingers crossed that she will have a great Freshman year. She is out for cross country now, running up to 11 miles so far. I still can't get over how she is in high school!

Addison started middle school, 7th grade, yesterday, too. She was very nervous as well. After her half day, she felt like she would like it. She knew very few people in her classes. I am just hoping she has lunch with someone she knows. Yesterday and today she carpooled with her friend Halle so they could walk together into school in the morning. That seemed to help Addison get going. Addison is very shy so this will be an interesting year to see how she does. Addison is also going to give cross country a try. We shall see.

Lastly, Asher is in the 5th Grade, having Mrs. Johnson, who both Addi and Alivia had in the 5th grade as their teachers. Asher was VERY disappointed that he was not in class with his friend Michael. Asher can be a little dramatic about such things and got VERY MOODY when he found this information out. Next time, I will not tell Asher his teacher assignment or his classmates and just let him find out on his own. After the first day, he was better about everything. He was disappointed about Michael still, but he really needs to find more friends.

And Chris and I survived day 1 too, carpooling between 3 schools and soccer. Right now, Alivia has carpool with Katy. But that is short term. Addi really does not have carpool lined up. And, I take Asher. I will do more of the picking up of Addi and Asher, Chris will pick up Alivia after cross country. But with 3 kids, 3 sports, 2 working parents, this is about to get really complicated. Wish us luck!

The Lake 2018

We usually get to the Lake (Lake of the Ozarks that is) for the entire month of July. Our life has changed so much now that Alivia is going into High School! Alivia did not want to miss running club, so we stayed just shy of 2 weeks, planning on returning for a weekend. Then, life happened, the weather was bad, and we never got back to the wonderful lake. We are sad about that, but lucky we have our 2018 Lake memories.

We (Alivia, Addison, Asher, Addison's friend Sidney and I) left for the lake on July 3. We got there in time to swim, tube and for Liv and Asher to water ski before the busy 4th of July. We went out on the water and watched the fireworks until a few of us were sea sick (the boat was rocky this year!). Grandpa Bill and Grandma Bet host a great 4th of July!

Per our usual, the days are spend in the water. I get up early and run and sometimes do my weights too before everyone gets up. My morning runs opt me an opportunity to sea all the lake wildlife and get my ass in top shape as running there is a total workout with the crazy hills! UGH. The kids get up and want Grandma and Grandpa's breakfast of eggs, bacon and cinnamon toast. Then, we head down to the water for tubing, water skiing, swimming, etc. (I swim to the buoy 8 times at least a day. This is a big challenge for me as I am not a good swimmer). We visited Grandma's Candy twice this year and the outlets once. The outlets do not impress us anymore because the outlets near us seem better.

The last couple years the kids have invited friends. This year Sidney was with us the entire time. On July 10, Chris came down to spend a few days with us and help celebrate Addison's birthday and brought Alivia's friend Reina.

Alivia and Asher got real good on water skiing, both going over the wake for the first time this year. Reina even got up on skiis for the first time. She got over the wake too, but struggled to get back over. Chris skied showing he still has the moves. I tried to ski, practically knocking myself out when I hit big waves (I slammed into the water so hard that I saw stars).

We had a fabulous time! We love the lake!

Happy 12th Birthday Addison!

Oh Lord, I have not been good about Blogging. If I ever get around to making a 2018 photo book, I am not going to know what to say!
Anyway, In July, among ONE friend, Addison turned 12. You see, in June she invited 2 (other) friends to her birthday party. Neither came or could come sadly. Addison was crushed. Luckily her BFF from Texas FLEW to Omaha to spend 2 weeks with us at the Lake. Sidney basically swam through shark invested waters so Addison could have a Happy Birthday! What a friend.
At the Lake, we skied, swam, tubed, went on a boat ride, went to Grandma's Candy at the Lake, and ate all of Addison's favorite foods (steak, mashed potatoes, corn, and chocolate cake). Addison did not believe we were paying much attention to her on her birthday saying we were treating it like just another day. Humm...I thought it was pretty damn special!. :) I will have to try harder next year I guess.

Addison, as usual, answered her annual birthday questions.

Addison's 12th Birthday Questions:
1. Favorite Color: purple
2. Toy:Trampoline
3: fruit: Raspberries
4. TV show: Anne with an E ???
5. Thing to eat for lunch: Spaghetti
6. Outfit:  Purple Nike outfit I got for my birthday
7. game: Old Maid (we were at the lake lol)
8. snack: cheesy pretzels
9. animal: Dog
10. song: My Wish
11. book:  The Underneath
12 best friend: Sidney 
13. cereal: Chocolate Cheerios (but as I type this, she won't eat these anymore).
14. favorite thing to do outside:  Swing and jump on the trampoline
15. drink: Lemonade
16. Holiday: Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night: Stuffed animals
18. Favorite thing to eat for breakfast: Pancakes and bacon
19. Birthday dinner: Steak and mashed potatoes with either chocolate or red velvet cake (we had one of each at her 2 parties0.
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A farmer! She needs to work on this one!

Hard to believe Addison will be going to the Jr. High in less than 10 days! She wants to go out for cross country. For a non runner, this should be interesting. We shall see. Addison is the creative one in the family, always taking up knew art projects

Happy Birthday Addison! We love you!

Happy 14th Birthday, Alivia!

In May, while we were in route to the Amazing Captiva Island in Florida, Alivia turned 14. She celebrated with the Grandparents before we left, then celebrating later (much later) with 2 friends at home. Alivia has grown into quite the young lady. She is beautiful, kind, hard working, honest, dedicated (she got up early every morning to make it to running club at the high school for cross country at 7am, only missing 8 days! to go to the Lake and one because we were not home from Captiva), and is a teenager all the way. She likes to sleep, opting to do that in the afternoon since she gets up early to run. She is taking many honors courses in high school this year, selecting to challenge herself. She is going out for cross country, getting better and better every day (but those girls on her team are FAST!). The high school is HUGE, so check in day was a little overwhelming, but I think she is looking forward to starting and getting used to classes.

Alivia made her annual favorite list and has plans in place for her future. It is fun to see how she has grown up over the years.

Birthday Questions answered by a 14 year old Alivia.
1. Favorite  color:  blue
2. Favorite Toy:  ipad, iPhone or hayday
3. Favorite Fruit:  strawberries
4. Favorite TV show: Fixer upper or Naked and Afraid (we were in Captiva so had cable!)
5. Favorite thing to eat for lunch:  turkey sandwich
6. Favorite Outfit:   gray running shirt and nike shorts
7. Favorite Game:   apples to apples or UNO
8. Favorite Snack:   goldfish crackers
9. Favorite Animal:   dog
10. Favorite song:   Champion
11. Favorite Book:    A Mango Shape Space
12. Best Friend:  Katy B
13. Favorite Cereal:  Special K
14. Favorite thing to do outside:  Run or jump on the trampoline
15. Favorite drink:  lemonade
16. Favorite Holiday:  Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?  Dog
18. Favorite thing to eat for breakfast? yogurt n fruit
19. What do you want to eat for your birthday dinner?  McCalisters
20. What do you want to be when you grow up?  Physical Therapist.

Happy Birthday to Alivia. Many more to come...

Whole30 Take 2

On my last whole30, I said I would never do it again (see June 2017). I do recall hating it, and hating it a lot. I am not even sure why I decided to do whole30 again this time. For one, I have been eating more cookies than vegetables and decided I needed a reset. And, since I am not running for the most part due to a nagging stress fracture, now was a better time to reset!

I started on 1/28 and hope to go through March 1, so more than a 30 day whole30. Last time I did whole30, I was attempting to do so while running 7 miles a day. This time, I have been walking for the most part and doing my BBG cross training. I am finding my energy much better this time and less depleted. Now, a couple weeks in, I ran 5 miles today and did not feel half bad. I ran slow, none the less, due to running in snow in zaktraks and babying my leg, but I ran. I am able to complete my BBG workouts.

Pros:
I am not sure I can come up with any right now. My energy is just okay. Oh and my face may be clearing up. But as I type this, I have a fever blisters that have taken over my lips.

Cons:
I think I have actually gained weight...but I have not weighed myself.
My stomach is usually upset from noon on. If I work overnight, I go to the bathroom 10-12 times. NOT KIDDING. I had a stuck gas bubble or something the other night that caused me to collapse to the floor in pain. I actually thought something was going to explode. All this from eating healthy? Seriously?!?! I have GI symptoms like no other. I do not recall this from last time. Last time I felt emaciated. This time I know what I can eat for the most part.

Last time I refused to bake because I just wanted to eat it. This time I have made bars, cookies and chex mix without issue. I like baking, so I hate to give it up. And, I was able to bake without licking the beater. Amazing! I just tried not to smell the cookies.

I am hopeful I will be able to re introduce the food properly this time. I am hopeful in the end of my 30 plus days that I will feel better. Here is to hoping. Because right now I feel like crap and really want a cookie.

Florida 2018

The last 2 winters my parents have gone to Florida. Last year I visited in January, so this year I repeated that. I love visiting my parents, the break of winter, the break from my crazy job, etc. Last year I went alone. This year I decided I was going to take 1 kid along with me. I decided to bring Addison with me.

It was a difficult decision. Should I bring Alivia before she goes into high school, Addison before she goes into middle school, or Asher before it is awkward that he has to share a bed with his mom for a week.

I selected Addison. :)

Addison was thrilled to come along. We got on the plane in freezing Omaha to land in Florida, where it was not that much warmer honestly. They had freeze warnings while we were there. It did not stop Addison from jumping in the water, making sand castles, burying her Grandpa in the sand, digging deep holes and finding shells. We also drove down to the Everglades and saw some alligators on an air boat tour. That was very fun. That was the high light of our trip. Addison balanced our time between the beach and the pool, even when I thought I would die from freezing to death. (Really, I am not kidding).

After 5 weeks away from running due to a stress fracture, I tried running the beach. It did not work for me. So most days I got up early to WALK the beach. One morning I even got lucky and spotted a dolphin!

Addison enjoyed the trip as much as I did. Grandma and Grandpa probably wore out from our visit. Addison loved all the snacks Grandma bought her too. She may just be a little spoiled.

I am hoping my parents make a return trip to Florida again next year because I want to visit!

Happy 2018!

Happy 2018!!

Christmas was like a blur! We celebrated Christmas with Chris' parents the Saturday before Christmas. Christmas Eve we just hung out at home. NEXT YEAR we are going to Mass Christmas Eve. We don't do anything on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is very busy. I just do not like the crowds with Christmas Eve Mass. We shall see I guess.

Christmas morning we got up and went to 7:30 Mass. Yuck. It was too early for me. Yuck. Did I say yuck. Then we came home and opened presents. Alivia's big gift this year was a Garmin 230 running watch. Addison's big gift was Coco, the dog we adopted from Dolly's rescue in Lincoln. Believe me, this is a gift that will keep giving for years!! Asher's big gift came in the form of a gift between my parents and us, a Razor Motorcycle. He will probably outgrow this soon, but he loves it for now! I sold my kidney and got Chris an iPhone 8 plus.

So on the motorcycle. I luckily ordered it early. I had it send to my parents because I was unsure how I would hide it. It arrived and it was pink. Seriously, Walmart sent a pink one!! I then had it shipped to the store. I met my Dad in Iowa, picked up the pink one and exchanged them. I was very mad. Walmart could care less.

Next, the iPhone 8 plus. It gets worse. I video Chris' reaction to the phone. It was not the reaction I was going for. First of all, the phone is $845 with tax, so it is not a small ticket item. I got it because Chris can not longer see his old iPhone. (I don't care and will stick with my old iPhone. And, I am super cheap and don't want to spend any more money on a phone!). Anyhoo...Chris opened the phone to find a silver iPhone 8, not the plus and not in the grey I ordered. SERIOUSLY WALMART!! Of course, the 8 is $100 cheaper than the Plus. Of course. Chris goes to get a refund and they give him a stupid gift card. So, we have to buy from Walmart AGAIN. 2 days later, he gets another silver iPhone 8. How stupid can Walmart be? And, how are they exactly staying in business?!?! Chris goes to the store, they insist the gift card is the only way to go but to call 1-800- WALMART and ask. He does so, they say take it up with the store. He goes back to the store and talks to the manager. He says he puts it back on our card. It has been nearly a week...and still no $845 refund. I am beginning to think they just took my $845!!! Now I am super mad!! No phone, no $845. Chris said it can take up to 2 weeks. Seriously, they have had my money since December 12. I do believe that is long enough.

I have learned. I will not shopped at Walmart EVER AGAIN!

But, we did have a Merry Christmas. :)

For New Years Eve, the kids invited friends, we played games, watched a movie and did the saran wrap ball game. It was fun. We got to use Asher's new popcorn popper too. Mmmm.

Happy New Year!! Now...probably should make some new year's goals.

Merry Christmas from the Austin Family 2017!

Merry Christmas!

It has been yet another busy year for us!

Chris has been a working fool this year. Okay, he works every year, but this year was exceptionally chaotic. He left Nelnet to take a contract position at ProKarma in May. Having worked as a contracter for 3 years myself, I kinda pushed him into it. Chris liked the contract position, but decided to take a position at InEight, a close partner of Kiewet, in Omaha. I was happy he found a place in Omaha he could be happy with. He is a lead UX designer for him working closely with a fair sized team, many of which are located in India. He told me at first that he may have to travel to India, but has been able to do his work with them remotely luckily. Chris continues to set his alarm for 4 something AM almost daily to hit crossfit Papio. He loves it! He also completed his SECOND 1/2 marathon this fall with a killer time!

Alivia is now a big old teenager at 13 and in the 8th grade at Papillion Middle School. Alivia is active in many things. She loves to run and ran track last spring and cross country again this fall. She did pretty well in cross country and really loves the sport. She keeps up her running with me on weekends and is in running club at school. Alivia ran her first half marathon this fall in Omaha. Chris, Alivia and I all finished together. It was a fun moment for her. When she is not running, she is still out for soccer on the Papillion Soccer Club. She has become a little more aggressive this year, which has been fun to watch. She now likes to score goals! Alivia remains quite particular with her homework, often working ahead when she can. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her close friends, playing soccer in the backyard with Asher, or taking long bike rides.

Addison is now 11 years old and in the 6th Grade at Bell. Addison is quite busy now adays teaching herself musical instruments. She is currently working on playing the ukulele. She gets on YouTube and teaches herself! She plays the guitar that way too. She does, however, take piano lessons and is quite a good piano player. It amazing us how quickly she can pick it up! Addison is very thoughtful, often making clay works or paintings for family for gifts. Thanks to Addison, we did have to recarpet the upstairs, though. No more paint in her room now. :) Addison's friend, Sidney, moved away this year, which has been hard on Addi as she transitions to the mean girl stage of middle school. Gees, girls are brutal. We are hoping it gets easier for her soon. Addi loves dogs, too, and we will get to that later.

Asher is now 10 years old and in the 4th grade at Bell. Asher plays a lot of soccer, now at the Papillion soccer club, too. We hope this is his last soccer club. I tell you, these soccer clubs around here are crazy! Asher is always on the go, rarely sitting still. He likes to jump on the trampoline, play basketball, or play soccer in the backyard with his friends. He always loves Netflix!

I had a little career change of my own in 2017, but mine did not turn out as well as Chris' did. I left Noll in May after 3 years to take a float position with CHI. I did this because I only wanted to float in one place, at Lasting Hope Recovery Center.  I loved working in one building, figuring out where everything was, and getting to know my co workers. Well, that was short lived. In November, they started floating me all over the CHI Hospitals again, just as I had done with Noll. So, I switched jobs just to be doing the same thing. The job does offer me the flexibility to select my own schedule. So, that may be hard to beat. We shall see what 2018 brings. When not working, I am just sitting on my arse at home (LOL!!). I work 2 to 3 12.5 hour night shifts a week and find little free time between running the kids to 2 schools, laundry, grocery shopping and house cleaning. But when I am not doing all that fun stuff, I still run and do BBG for strength training.

For Christmas this year, Addison only asked for a dog. We kept telling her, we already have a dog, Pippa, our Papillon. Addison said she wanted a lab, a dog she could play fetch with. After much encouragement, I caved. We adopted Coco on 12-9. Coco is a Lab, Doberman mix. She is playful like a lab but a guard dog like a doberman. We have A LOT of training ahead of us. Addi is usually the one who knows what she wants. I just hope she knows that she is going to be helping out with Coco.:)

We continued the Austin Adventures in 2017. I took a quick trip to visit my parents in Florida last January. I love Florida, especially in the winter. So this year, I am visiting my parents again, but I am bringing Addison with me. We are both looking forward to that! Over spring break last year, we took a trip to see the Grand Canyon, Sedona and Vegas. The trip was pretty but the kids were sick the entire time. I am pretty sure they will never visit the Grand Canyon again. We also took our annual trip to the Lake of the Ozarks. Chris brought friends for each kid this year over the 4th of July. That was crazy. I am not sure we will do that again, either. :). And Chris has been trying to get me to do things out of the box, like see scary movies and go camping kinda stuff. So for our anniversary, we slept in a tent and tried to hike a 14er in Colorado. I did not make it. I got elevation sickness and had to turn back. But, I am looking forward to going back and trying again. We loved visiting Aspen, too. We are already planning some fun trips in 2018.

From our family to yours, we wish you health and happiness in 2018!

Love,
Chris, Krista, Alivia, Addison, Asher, Pippa and Coco

Introducing Coco!

 

Girl Drama

Middle school is so hard. I mean the mean girls. We have found the boys to not be much better, either!

Addison is in the 6th grade. Officially, she is still in Elementary. But, she is in portables, her classrooms are separated from the school, the bell rings and they have to go to different teachers for different classes, so they are a work in progress middle school. And, the kids act like middle schoolers.

Let's be frank, Addi has some mean girls in her class. Honestly, I do not know how Addi behaves when I am not there. I only see what I see when I visit. And when I visit, these mean girls can not even fake being nice. They walk by and GIVE ME DIRTY LOOKS. Seriously. I can not even avoid the middle school girl drama.

And it is not just the girls, either. Asher had a very good friend that entered the 6th grade this year. This friend went many places with us and spent a lot of time here. He now refuses to speak to Asher. It is like he will fall off the cool planet if he speaks to a 4th grader or maybe just to Asher. I say good morning to him some mornings while walking to school and the kid looks down at his phone pretending not to hear me. I am surprised every morning he makes it to school without hitting a pole because he walks with his head in his phone, oblivious to his surroundings. Thankfully, I will not let my kids have a phone until they can prove to me they will not stare at it 24/7. And this child is the poster child for why my kids do not have phones. And, he is in fact, a mean boy now. How you can go to being my kids best friend to not speaking overnight without an explanation is insane to me.

Every day, Addi has a new story to tell about these girls doing things, bickering, bullying, leaving each other out, and just being plain hurtful. For example, I ate lunch with Addi on Asher's birthday a couple weeks ago. Addi picked a girl who is routinely picked on by others and Addi calls her a friend. When she did not select another girl to lunch, this girl went up to Addi and said, "Friends pick their friends to eat lunch with them Addi," and walked away. The very next day, this same girl had her mom visit for lunch and clearly intentionally, selected another friend to have lunch with her. So obviously the rule only applies when Addi does not invite her. Same said girl dropped the meanest look at me today. I really wanted to walk up to her and say something but I did not. I am not her parent, thankfully. I can only teach Addi to be kind to all the girls, and I hope she is. I like that she selects a girl who is maybe being picked on in school. Addi does not care if she is popular. Because let's face it, popular girls generally are not the most successful in life. So, popularity should not matter.

This is what matters.

Be kind. Be nice. Be thoughtful.

"Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you."

The Golden Rule really should be taught in middle school.

From SAHM to Working Mom

Since the kids all started school (several years ago now as Asher is in the 4th grade!), I have progressively been working more and more. This summer, Chris had a little comment that caught me off guard, something about me not working. In all fairness, I do not work much in the summer. I work my requirement of 24 hours a month then ride off to the Lake to enjoy summer with the kids. In the winter, I was working part time, or 2 12.5 hour shifts a week.

Well, this year, having taken a new job working directly with CHI (BIG mistake), I have been working closer to 3 12hr shifts per week. YIKES! Initially, I liked my job working at one CHI facility. I was just working in ONE building, so I always knew where I was going but just did not know what unit until an hour before my shift started. Then, out of the blue, they decided to have me float all over the city and into Iowa like I was doing before with Noll. Funny, they totally lied to get me hired (actually, not funny at all!). I would have never taken the job to do the same exact thing as I was doing elsewhere. I have not worked in the building I was hired to work in since before Thanksgiving. That, I hate.

I liked my job when I was just floating in one building. I kinda felt like I knew what the hay I was doing. So, since I liked it, I signed up for more shifts. I started doing one week a month pulling 3 shifts. Then I increased it to 2-3 a month. Now, I am scheduled for 4 weeks in a row full time.

I am not entirely sure what I was thinking. Now that I am floating all over the place, I no longer like my job. For example, tonight I am working. It is 4 pm. I have no idea where I will be working. I do not know what hospital, what state, or what unit. Nice, right? Nope. Not nice. I am constantly trying to rush out the door, calling to see where I am rushing to. I arrive to the unit, usually dumped with an admission waiting (because float staff get dumped on often), do my job knowing that it is different in every unit I work in. Management keeps saying, "It is the same everywhere." But that is not the case. Some units use one set of admit forms while other places do not use them. Some units chart some things while other units do not. Keeping it all straight gives me a giant headache.

So now I am left with the question. Should I keep working FT, PT or just do my minimum of 24 hours a month while I look for other employment? For one, I do not like working for someone who lies to get me employed, and then changes my job description so often I am not even sure what I am doing anymore. 

And, working FT, is very complicated. I do not sleep more than 4 hours between shifts. So, 12.5 hour shifts get quite long on no sleep. By the third night, I just stop talking to my family because I need to save energy and I am a total witch. After the third night, I get up, work out, pick up the kids, and return to bed. I am a hot mess!! I do not know how full time moms do it. I told Chris when I got pregnant with Asher, I AM NOT WORKING ANYMORE. I know my limits, and working FT and being any kind of mom is not possible for me. I just get too overwhelmed.

I am scheduled to work until Christmas break. Then, I am not sure. This float nurse is on the look out for a new home. It may just be home. :)

Asher's 10th Birthday!

On Wednesday, Asher turned 10 years old! Hard to believe that the "baby" of the family is 10! Gees! Where does the time go?


A couple weeks ago, Asher celebrated with his close friends with a sleepover movie party. We went to see the movie "Wonder" before the boys crashed in a tent in the basement. It was not as bad as I thought. Maybe working the night before and being exhausted without sleep helped me just not to hear them. :) They were actually pretty well behaved. We had pizza, cake, ice cream and donuts for breakfast. After filling the up with junk food, we sent them home. HA!


Asher's 10th Birthday Questions:
1. Favorite Color:Blue
2. Toy: Nerf Guns
3: fruit: Strawberries
4. TV show: Would be Kickin It, but Netflix pulled it, so "Flash"
5. Thing to eat for lunch: Which Wich  Turkey Sandwich
6. Outfit: Anything Nike or Under Armour
7. game: Soccer
8. snack: Popcorn
9. animal: Rattlesnake
10. song:Castle on the Hill Ed Sheeran
11. book:  Diary of the Wimpy Kid
12 best friend: Toss up between Michael and Peyton
13. cereal: Cocoa Krispies
14. favorite thing to do outside:  Play soccer or basketball
15. drink: Rootbeer
16. Holiday: Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night: He shouldn't, but he does take his ipad to bed with him! Asher says his 2 snakes.
18. Favorite thing to eat for breakfast: Daddy's full breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and hashbrowns.
19. Birthday dinner: Baked chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, fruit, and chocolate pudding cake
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A home builder...??


Asher is our dare devil, soccer loving, active boy. When he is not running around with his endless energy and odd sense of humor or yelling Mom, you can find him watching Netflix. For his birthday, he got his room redone, soccer themed. We wanted the walls Dorian Gray, got him a new desk, lamp, chair, posters and he was good to go. He will get more for Christmas to make his room complete.


Happy Birthday Asher!

18th Wedding Anniversary

In August, Chris and I celebrated 18 years of marital bliss (lol). We went to dinner, of course, but that is not enough for me. Ha. So, Chris decided to take me camping. Not glamping, camping...you know, in a tent. I have NEVER spent the night in a tent except at a birthday party as a kid (and it was freezing and I hated it).

We went to Colorado, 1 hour from Aspen, and spent 2 nights in a tent near Twin Lakes. Chris had this big goal to hike Mt. Elbert. Well, first, he forgot to acclimate. Kinda important. We got to the campground on Friday, attempted to hike Mount Elbert the next morning after suffering from shortness of breath during the night due to the elevation (and freezing half to death because it was in the 30s!). We hiked 7 hours in all, nearly reaching the top, before my body gave out. I was dizzy, nauseated, had edema, and thought I was going to die. Seriously, I had no idea how I was going to get down the mountain. Oh, and get this, 10 minutes into my hike, the hiking shoes I had borrowed from my mom fell apart one by one. First the left sole started to fall off, then the right, then they both completely fell off leaving my in slippers to hike a mountain. Insanity. NEVER AGAIN. I am super cheap but I will be buying hiking shoes before my next trip with Chris. :)

Sunday, after our Saturday of fun, we tore down our camp and took the scenic drive to Aspen. It was beautiful. Aspen was beautiful too. We had an amazing breakfast at Aspen Over Easy (you have to try the fresh juice!),  yummy frozen yogurt and then the best pizza ever at Taster's Pizza (I would go back for the pizza alone!). We stayed at a really nice hotel that felt mom and pop like. (Hotel Durant).  Overall, we loved Aspen, just wished we could have been there longer than one night. Monday morning (Labor Day), we flew out of bed to go on a quick 4 mile run. It was freezing, completely dark (clearly Aspen does not believe in street lights) and many odd males wondering the dark streets alone. I was so thankful Chris decided to get a few miles in with me.

We had an amazing quick weekend getaway. The worst part...the stupid drive (see, I did not say getting elevation sickness!), and the best part was all of Aspen. Seriously, if I had a million or 2 dollars, I would buy a condo in Aspen.

Until next year...

August in Review

We are nearly into mid September and I am just getting around to August. Oops.

August flew by! Seriously. 

We finished up our summer fun by getting in as many activities as possible. We got a few pool estimates and still can not decide if we want to put our money into an inground pool. Chris and I celebrated 18!! years of marriage. And, my favorite part, Chris and I started weekly date nights. Seriously, I look forward to them every week. And my least favorite, I went back to work. Ugh. I enjoyed working very little so much. All good things have to come to an end.

Alivia started 8th grade at PMS (yes, that is what they call it), while Addison is in her last year of Elementary (6th grade) and Asher is in the 4th grade. So far so good. Addison had to say good-bye to her BFF Sidney. I cried my eyes out for her. It was so sad.

Chris and I ended the month with dinner for our anniversary. We are loving our new found date nights. It has forced me to go buy clothes other than running gear and the scrubs I wear to work. I know, crazy. I have found a new found love for shopping for...ME!!

The end. Now onto September. About time now that it is September 12!

Addison's 11th Birthday

Birthday Questions answered by a 11 year old Addison
1. Favorite  color: Purple
2. Favorite Toy: Pottery Wheel
3. Favorite Fruit: peaches
4. Favorite TV show: America's got Talent 
5. Favorite thing to eat for lunch: Coby Jack and Salami sandwich
6. Favorite Outfit:  Red, white and blue Nike capris and tshirt outfit.
7. Favorite Game:  Clue
8. Favorite Snack:  Animal Crackers
9. Favorite Animal:  Dog
10. Favorite song:  The House that Built me
11. Favorite Book:  Arf
12. Best Friend: Sidney
13. Favorite Cereal: Cocoa Puffs
14. Favorite thing to do outside: Go on Jumpy water slide
15. Favorite drink:  Mello Yellow
16. Favorite Holiday: Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?  Bean Bag
18. Favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cinnamon toast and cereal
19. What do you want to eat for your birthday dinner? Hot Dogs, Mashed Potatoes, Corn.
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Not sure now.

Addison selected to celebrate her birthday at the lake with her friend Sidney instead of having a party...so that is just what she did. 8 Fun filled days at the lake. The girls never had an argument. They were super sweet the entire time. It was amazing.

Addi is a dog lover, art lover, who spends a lot of time in her room. She is amazingly good at the piano, and we rarely have to remind her to practice. It is refreshing. She may not like sports of any kind, but she will walk the dog whenever asked. She dreams of getting a Labrador retriever. Addi loves to sport Nike or Under Armour capri pants instead of shorts but will wear shorts with much encouragement. Addi is a strong willed girl but is very sweet.

Although fun to see Addison grow up...so sad to say good-bye to our baby girl.

The Lake 2017

Since we took our family vacation over spring break, it gave us more freedom to get to the lake as a family. Chris got to join us this year!!

Addi, Asher, Addi's friend Sidney, and I drove to the lake on Thursday, June 29 staying through Friday, July 7. Addi did not want a birthday party with a bunch of friends this year, she just wanted her friend Sidney to go to the lake with us. Done. Chris and Alivia joined us with Alivia's friend Katy and Asher's friend Conner July 1-5 (Alivia stayed until July 7 with me though). Talk about craziness! 6 kids at the lake is crazy!! The food, the chaos! WE WILL NOT DO THAT AGAIN!!!

The kids enjoyed tubing on Grandma's latest toy, a 3 person jet ski he bought from his neighbor that moved away. It is very nice. It was super nice to be able to pull the kids on the tube behind it, too. Chris brought a nice 3 person tube from Costco. The kids had a blast on that, too. Gotta have a new toy every year. I swear next year I will get a platform. Really, I mean it (Well, unless Chris puts a pool in our backyard...then never mind).

Conner and Katy tried water sking, Alivia skied again while Asher skied and got up for a short while. Hopefully he will ski again on our next trip later this month.

Chris got out the canoe and we all took peaceful canoe rides with him. Chris and my Dad got up at 5:30 daily to chase the sunrise on the jet skis. Chris got some fun GoPro footage of those rides, too. We did a little boating to see the big houses on the lake. The kids ate us out of the house. Grandma was a pro at serving them I tell you. Grandma and Grandpa left Thursday and I was not as efficiant without them, that is for sure!

We took all 6 kids to the candy store. Chris bought candy and souvineers for all over them. Addi, Sidney and I went to the outlets and did a little back to school shopping. Those girls like shopping way more than I do!!

We had an amazing time. Sadly, both Addison and Asher's friends will probably move away this year (milatary). It was fun for the kids to spend quality time with their friends before they move.

My Mom and Dad are amazing hosts. Thank you!! We love the lake. We missed it the second we left.

We will be back...sooner than later. I am thinking next week!

Whole30: After

Well, Chris and I successfully finished our whole30 on June 30. Chris did not weigh himself before, during or after...so who knows?!?! I did not weigh myself in the end because I was out of town but lost 4 pounds perviously. I am sure I am back to my normal weight now. :)

So day 1 off of whole30 I stuck to the whole 30. Then Chris joined me at the lake bringing snacks. I had the chips I bought from Costco 2 days in a row. I did not notice any side effects per say...but did notice better energy on my runs the next day (keep in mind I was not eating much in the way of carbs at this point due to not tolerating sweet potatoes or acorn squash). The third day I ate Costco Chocolate Chip cookies. OMG these were so good. So I ate whole30 all day and had 2 cookies for dessert at dinner. I, again, did not notice any side effects, but went to bed shortly after eating them. The next morning, my stomach was sore during my run. I can not have gluten and it was obvious. Since then, I have had the same pop chips every day and had a chocolate chip larabar. Yesterday I was whole30 except the larabar. I realize I do not need the chips, I just love them. :) Unfortunately, we have 3 LARGE Costco sized bags of them at home and the kids do not like them. Chris, there are chips for you!

Chris and I both agreed that the whole30 was like food prison. We were less happy in the same bubble of foods we could eat. Having kids and eating like that is pretty difficult, in my opinion. With that said, I will try to eat mostly whole30, maybe 80/20 or better. So far I have been eating whole30 with one new thing added in daily. Today's chocolate chip larabar tasted like heaven. It tasted amazing. My chipotle chicken salad (where the chicken was the only non compliant thing) last night was amazing. I have not had pizza yet as I am dreading the side effects. But, I have gotten to not enjoy pizza anymore anyway for that reason.

Both Chris and I have stuck with our eggs for breakfast. Lunch I started eating romaine lettuce wraps with no sugar added turkey from Costco (called plainville turkey slices I believe). Just turkey wrapped in lettuce with salt and pepper and mustard. I started eating this in the last days of whole30 and have continued to eat these wraps. I like them! Great thing to take to lunch at work, too. Dinner is usually whole 30 compliant, too.

Overall, I would recommend whole30. But it is VERY STRICT and probably has a poor success rate. Chris failed on several occasions and should have started over (but he would have just quit and not started over so we let his slip up slide).

Wanna try Whole30? I wanna hear what you think!

Whole30: Final week!

OMG we are inches so close to the end of our final Whole30 we can taste it. ;)

Already, I am starting to prep for our upcoming vacation and stocking up on non whole30 items. Not like we are going to go crazy...but I did buy some pop chip type things at Costco that I want to try. Honestly, I really do not know what I will do differently. I am a very habitual eater. Very. I like to eat the same things over and over once I find something I like. Whole30 has led me to find new favorites to eat over and over. :) My new thing...LEMON LARABARS! They are great to eat at work when I have very little time to eat. They are to die for!

Breakfast: I am sticking with my egg whites, watermelon and coffee. I do not care what people say, watermelon is the bomb. It is mostly water...so I am not giving it up. I balance it with other fruits like my mix of strawberries and blueberries.

Lunch: I keep lunch simple with canned salmon (not as gross as it sounds but not the best either), vegetables and fruit. If I am very lazy I have more egg whites. They are full of protein so a great addition. And, after 4 years of eating them, I am still not sick of them.

Dinner: Shrimp, chicken of some sort or salmon. I am very bored with dinner. I do love my grilled sweet potatoes for dinner. I have decided I can not stomach acorn squash. I believe it messes me up. I have eaten it a few times and got very bloated and uncomfortable. NOT WORTH IT!

Snacks: Larabars. I have tried to eliminate the morning snack. BUT, I just can't. I run at 5am, eat breakfast before 7am so I am hungry by 10. Sometimes I cross train, too, after running and after breakfast. Honestly, I would be better off having almonds or something over a larabar. But, I like my larabars.

This week I leave on vacation on Thursday. Chris will meet me on the 1st. I am sad we can not celebrate together. I am hoping. I will not be probably taking a complete after weight, either. Honestly, I do not think I lost any weight. I may have to start with, then I gained it back as I figured out what to eat. I do not think eating on vacation will be too bad since we are staying at my parents lake home, cooking our own food, etc.

On day 24...the end is near.

Benefits:
Energy is steadily getting better.
Skin is better

Cons:
No tiger blood yet.
Still feel like I am missing something
Date nights are not the same when we cook our meals at home

 Day 26!
I can see the end...we are almost there!
Tiger blood may be near. I ran with my running mate this morning with paces in the 7:20s and I did not die. There were strikes of lightening chasing us mind you, so perhaps that was it??? Anyway, I felt much better. I did feel like I was dying trying to do my BBG Leg workout later, but whatever. I will take running and not falling apart at this point.

That was the good news. Bad news...the sweet potatoes and the acorn squash are killing me. So I googled it. Neither are good for IBS which I have. Excellent. Seriously, I feel like death after eating them. It does not take long either and my stomach is in so much pain I can not move. I had a potato before the pool last week and looked pregnant at the pool (nice right?!). I usually eat them at night, but who wants to feel like that at night either? Sadly, I can not be eating them. I have a couple left that Asher will help me finish off. Then it is back to the other vegetables that are not as carb filled. Sad day for this runner girl.

I weighed myself today because I will be working tomorrow night (so will not weigh Wednesday for sure), and I leave Thursday to the lake. Our last day is Friday so I should weigh Saturday. I am not taking a scale to the lake. So...this is it. Looks like I lost 4 pounds. I guess I had that to lose. Honestly, this is my "heavy" part of the month, too. I am shocked actually. It will not take me long to gain that back though. Honestly, I can not tell. My clothes pretty much fit the same. I must have lost 2 pounds per breast. I am sure I lost the weight in the first couple weeks and just maintained it the last 2 weeks because I am eating A LOT!

Favorite food now: Lemon Larabars!! OMG YUM! I will be eating them at work while watching my peers eat cookies and pizza. I am not kidding. These are amazing and a must try. Again, Larabars are discouraged on the whole30...But they are better than eating, I don't know, A COOKIE!! I eat my protein, veggie first THEN my Larabar. I don't care because they are amazing.

Today we ate out for the first time since June 4. I wanted to take the kids out to lunch to see Chris, where he works now, etc. We ate at McAlister's Deli. Chris and I both got Garden Salads. I left starving. It was not worth my craving to eat out. I came home, ate some watermelon and a half of lemon larabar. I need chicken. :)

Nough said. Just a few more days. We can do this!!

Day 29

Quick post bc I am off to the LAKE!! So excited!
 Down to just a couple of days.

Benefits:
Leaner body
Don't have to count calories (I don't do this anyway)
Eat healthy
Clearer skin (Except during hormonal periods like now...seems worse!!).

Cons:
Feel sad a lot
Date nights are not the same
Social situations can be a nightmare
LOTS of cooking and cleaning up!!
Lots of shopping

Overall, I am happy we did the whole30. I would not, however, do it again. Seriously, the first 20 some days were that bad. If I was not working out or running it would have been much easier. BUT, I do work out and run. Therefore, no I would not do it again. I would encourage others to give it a go if they need to clean up their diets and hope to lose some weight. My diet was not THAT bad before and I did not have weight to lose but I am part of a team (and Chris' diet needed a refresher!). I will update when we are DONE! YEAH!! Not sure what is next...but I am looking forward to it!!