hello my name is julie

2012.

2012-01-05T14:15:00.000-08:00

...2012 new years baby loot.

january is a great time for reflecting and a perfect time for planning. i just finished looking over my goals for 2011 and am happy to say that i have accomplished several of them and am working still on a few of them.

a few lessons from 2011(some old and some new):
stand for something, keep your word... and forgive!...if things don't feel right fix them...it’s perfectly okay to quit wasting time trying to help people who don't appreciate it or want it..surround myself with the right influences in my life...there is no shame in taking a break..but eliminate the negative distractions....and most importantly: love more!

and some goals:
for starters, maybe i'll try to keep up on this blog a little better? maybe not ;)...i'm thrilled to say that i accomplished my 1000 miles in a year running goal- and just barely! i think this year i'll just keep on running as much as i can and want with no number to reach. however i do plan to sign up for as many races as possible and run 2 half marathons (that's kind of like a full, right?)...say NO more often, take more breaks, have more fun, do more cool stuff (like camping, hiking and playing in general), worry less, especially about what others may think (that's one of my biggest goals)....i plan to send more handwritten notes & make a scrapbook of all cards and letters and pictures i have received... (my aunt and uncle keep a really neat little album filled with all of the wedding announcements, christmas pictures, baby announcements, graduation pictures, etc. that they receive. such a shame to just throw them all out and such a cool way to keep them. i've got stacks and need to get them in a place like that.).. do some traveling of course- hopefully to san fransico, the olympic rain forest, to visit friends and family... start a new tradition or two.. really just enjoy life where it is right now more- and not be so rushed. i found this picture and love it. kind of my motto for this year. i think it would look lovely on my wall. cheers to 2012!

christmas time is here.

2011-12-23T00:37:00.000-08:00

we love christmas break. i seriously don't think i have ever been so mellow and peaceful about christmas season in all of my adult life. i wish there was more time, but i've really tried to let the things go that i can't get too. i've been loving all of the family time, over indulgence of food and decorating with the kids. we have had some super chilly weather but hardly any snow...which i can't say bothers me (...ok, maybe a little on christmas eve/day would be just about right..?) i believe at this time last year we had already been snowboarding.

honestly, it's pretty sad to admit but i rarely pull my camera at home lately (..actually for a long while now. i had a little burn out...and the phone cameras are so handy and convenient!) but this week i have really been trying to break the habit and i remember how enjoyable it is to document life.

merv and cody aren't fans of the camera but lola is always a sport. although there isn't much snow, lola still thinks it's pretty great to dress up in her too-small-hot-pink-snowsuit backwards.

i fell in love with some garland i saw and convinced my mom to help me whip this up this christmasy version on her sewing machine:

..some of the newest additions to the christmas decor, this cute vintage angel:

..and this awesome canvas painted santa that my sweet sister surprised me with. he's really big and i love him:

..also, this south american(?) nativity that i scored at a thrift shop:

...and this advent calendar...which we never actually got around to using. it's meant to have christmas activities and service project ideas written on each one to coincide with the 24 days. next year we'll be all over that. ;)

...of course a few additions to the ever expanding nutcracker collection. i love finding vintage ones the best.

lola can't get enough of the tree. she rearranges the lights ribbons and ornaments daily.. and nightly...

a few new ornament additions: love this stuffed scandinavian horse i got from my aunt julie this summer at the reunion, mostly for sentimental reasons:

...this handsome nautical nutcracker:

...and this glass squirrel:

i've been using this old dish as nicknack holder forever and decided this year that it is my favorite christmas candle holder:

one of my favorite things has been all of the unexpected visitors, plates and plates of treats...

...and christmas cards. especially this last week- i think we've been getting 3 or 4 a day and i LOVE it!! i think its about time i make another card holder because this ones been bursting at the seams and we have to tape them to the wall.

tonight my mom and sisters and i were all able to spend some quality time together. it's the first time we've been together since corinne moved back to utah. it was heavenly. i am so thankful that all of my siblings will be here during the next little while. i love them.

life these days.

2011-12-21T00:49:00.000-08:00

1. poor little blog has taken a back seat to real life...which has been pretty action packed with plenty of life & lessons learned. i keep a real life personal journal, but i've missed jotting things down here.

2. i think i'll be going into the new year with a different list of goals, ideas and ambitions than i have in the past, or maybe the way i go about persuing life in general... but that's a whole different post and i'll save it for new years. my favorite. really it is, writing wise at least. i love writing out a fresh new outlook on the year.

3. speaking of goals...i'm super stoked that im so close to reaching my running goal this year but i really need to lay off the late night snacking. it's true the older you get the harder you have to work and the crappier your feel when you decide its a good idea to eat loads of sodium at midnight.

4. we love christmas around here. and it's the best when you have a 2 year old that thinks every decorated house is like the first she's ever seen... " ... OOOHHH, it's SOOOOOO perty!!... SOOOOOO perty!!.... SOOOOOO perty!!..." over and over past every house. i can't get enough. merv and i like to take her around just to listen to her get excited. cody doesn't think its quite as cute.

5. i tried set up my schedule in advance to be able to take some time off around the holidays and let some things go a little. i wanted to be able concentrate on all of the life i have been missing. it has been just what i needed. crafting it up with the kids, christmas shopping with the fam, baking and eating tons of holiday junk food, and checking out all kinds of holiday goodness in general. i'm super looking forward to the next couple of weeks.

6. i need to figure out a better bedtime routine. this late night pinterest phone app nonsense is getting pretty ridiculous. however i'm in love with instagram! if you have an iphone, get it! so cute and fun.

7. it's pretty awesome when your 9 year old gets a puberty lesson at school and decides its a good idea to share it with his neighborhood friends... gah....

5. november came and went... but not without the birth of a new niece! we are all in love with sweet little kaiana jade. this phone snap shot was right after she was born. she's even cuter now. ;)

october.

2011-11-03T15:13:00.000-07:00

fall has been pretty full for us:

-mostly editing and trying my best to catch up on all of the weddings and photoshoots from the last couple of months.

-plenty of pumpkin patch trips.

-several attempts at baking pumpkin recipes. most were not so pretty. (is there a secret to making the perfect -cream cheese pumpkin roll?) but the kids loved it anyway.

-cody asks on a pretty regular basis if he can go visit chickens at aunt arah's...or grandma edie's, or aunt kami's... he is sure that they would make a great pet.

-if it was up to lola, she would dress up every day and night. she was made for halloween and dressing up. she insists on putting a dress over the top of whatever she is wearing, and sometimes wings too.

-i finally took some pictures with lola for the wall. it is nearly impossible to get the child to sit still, so we just played in the back yard.

north cascade highway

2011-11-03T14:51:00.000-07:00

earlier this fall, we decided to take a last minute weekend trip around the north cascade highway loop. the weather was practically roasting when we left spokane and while driving through the columbia river area, but by the time we got over to see the infamous turquoise lakes it was over cast and drizzly. We still managed to have a pretty great time and stopped for a few hikes. the happy creek trail is perfect if you have kidlets.

hello long lost friend.

2011-09-27T22:58:00.000-07:00

what the crap! is it really almost october??? a few thoughts and photos from lately:

1. it seems that my life has been filled too full lately with work related stuff. so full that i had a nightmare last night that my kids were all grown up all of the sudden and i had missed out on all of the important events in their lives... sad! i do love being able to make a career and work from home... and it is all a part of our master plan, but have to figure out a way to balance it all. (and i can't even think about the things in my house that have gone unattended for far too long...)

5. i know i've said it before but its true: kids seriously make life worth while. we took lola and cody to the fair and we could not get over how cute lola was. she was in love with every single animal. it was also pretty sweet when cody decided to use his ride tickets to take lola on the kiddie train. sometimes he actually does love her.

6. lola's favorites right now are: thomas the train, princess shoes and taking about 45 baths a day with naked barbies and horses. in a swimsuit preferably.

3. cody thinks 4th grade is pretty alright. i can't believe how much harder the homework is but we really like his teacher.

3. cody still has absolutely no interest in anything to do with a halloween costume. lola would be happy to have one of every costume though. especially the princess and tutu costumes. she was going nuts as we browsed the halloween isles at value village.

4. i was able to pick the brains of some of my photographer idols recently, heather & john from one love photo. i've been fascinated with them for years... the style they shoot and the fact that they still use film. it was like meeting santa claus for me. such down to earth and genuinely cool people. i had to pinch myself a few times.

5. actually looking forward to fall this year and maybe taking a fall trip over to leavenworth and wenatchee...?

2011 erickson reunion.

2011-09-07T01:11:00.000-07:00

this summer has been incredibly busy to say the least. hence the reason i haven't posted about this family reunion we had at the end of july. there is so much i could say about it, but i'll some it up with a few things that stick out and a massive amount of photos:

*130ish releatives!
*bonfires and fireworks are still my favorite part of the beach.
*smurf blue hoodies and tshirts stand out.
*i wish i had decided to stay up with the cousins and chat until 3am that one night. sounds like i missed out. :(
*the goonies house doesn't at all look like it does in the movie.
*i have more in common with some of my cousins than i realized.
*hooray! there is now a goodwill in astoria.
*i wish merv could have come for longer than 36 hours.
*planning a reunion is worth the effort.

10 years

2011-08-04T00:10:00.000-07:00

(photo taken a few weekends ago on one of our very-rare-these-days date nites.)

while driving home tonight i was reflecting on how both quickly/slowly this 10 year milestone has passed. there have been some major ups and some major downs, heaven knows i have not been the best wife...but we keep trucking along because it is worth it. 100%. just this past week i was able to listen to someone share the story of how merv & i met with someone else. it was cute listening in and i was glad it was my story to be told.

several times over the years we have daydreamed of where we would go to spend our 10 year anniversary: it had to be somewhere so epic and amazing... well, life has put us in a place where that won't happen this year- too many other trips, kids, bad planning, weddings to shoot and merv in the thick of school- but *hopefully* next.. if everything pans out the way we would like. so this year there will be no fireworks, or strolls along the beach, or jets to secluded islands. in fact, merv will be sharing a power point presentation with his peers, and i'll likely be editing photos (unless i can convince my sisters that we should redbox 'soul surfer' and have a girls date nite... merv says it looks cornball.) its not a big deal, and hopefully we can squeeze in a date next week. we don’t exchange gifts anyway (we gave that up a long time ago, because it felt forced and not necessary). i know he loves me.

a few things i've learned along the journey this far:
-things rarely go as you had planned. so it's necessary to stop and breathe along the way and be ready to take a detour or alternate route altogether.
-movies on the couch are really a pretty great date. some of the best we've ever had...next to late night star gazing.
-its a good idea to find a hobby you both enjoy, but also important to maintain your own personal hobbies and not expect the other person to love them as much as you do.
-men and women communicate very, very differently.
-its worth shaving your legs every day.
-late night drives are always a good idea.
-the kids will be grown and gone soon. savor them... however, it's not worth taking kids out to eat for a family date until they are old enough to order for themselves or maybe even older, so might as well just order a pizza and go to the park instead.
-training and running a half marathon is a huge bonding experience. really.
-it's best to always be honest and tell the truth. it eventually comes out anyway. no matter how big or small the issue. even if its just to tell your wife that her stroganof sucks. otherwise you'll be stuck eating it forever.

last year about this time, merv and i started a year long combined project. it came to an end last week. i'm still debating whether i will share it here or not. but it was quite gratifying to stick to it and complete it together.
happy anniversary, merv. i love you immensely. even when i don't say it or show it.

ragnar relay northwest passage 2011

2011-07-26T03:31:00.000-07:00

(It's super late, and I should be packing for my trip to Seaside, but I have to write about this before it escapes my mind. And I apologize in advance for the cheese factor. It really was incredible though.)

Holy cow, if your into running at all- do your self a favor and consider running the Ragnar Relay Series. The race is close to 200 mile stretch split up over 400ish teams of 12 runners, Starting at the Canadian border and ending on Whidbey Island. I can't describe in words just how awesome this experience was for me. I am a convert for life. When I first set foot in the van, I knew only my sister in law Becca but by the time we crossed the finish line, I felt like I had made life long friends....I ended up running 4 legs of the race when one of our team members was injured. I think I estimated i ran around 19 miles or so. I've never run that many miles in such a short amount of time in my life. All the running mixed with lack of sleep made me so delirious and exhausted that by the time I laid my head down, I slept for 12 hours straight.The last time that happened I think I was about 12.

....and It just so happened to land on my 32nd birthday! Happy birthday to me. It was maybe the best birthday I've ever had in my life. shhhhhh, don't tell my husband. I actually found another runner who was also celebrating her birthday. ha! (Is it just me or is it super cool to meet other people with your same birthday?)
start line:

waiting for 1st exchange.. cheering sqaud in back.

most of our team:

some other super rad team who had the coolest costumes and theme of the whole race" lord of the ragnar".

waiting to start our night time runs...

its our birthdays: 22 and 32

cheering on our runner!

nothing says leap worthy like a 5am run through some small random town in washington.

lamest team name of all time:"will run for chocolate". i didn't pick it, but i've already decided what i want to be called next year and its a secret.

foggy run

the lines for the bathrooms were always insane!!

just about to cross the finsish line with the team.

some how she actually managed to get chocolate all over her team shirt.

the end.

4th of july/cody is 9!

2011-07-06T17:47:00.000-07:00

this year cody asked if his birthday could be separate from the 4th of july. it's a little tricky when it lands on the 2nd of july, but we did our best and had a smallish family bbq to celebrate complete with super awesome cupcakes courtesy of aunt arah and the worlds ugliest pinata, courtesy of walmart...merv: "soooo, what am i suppose to hang it from? we don't have any trees that will work." me: "i don't know, maybe just hold it from a long stick??" nice. and in a side note: oreo cookie snack packs do not make a good pinata stuffer. they turn into cookie crumbs after being beat to pieces. oops.

our holiday weekend was cram packed with relatives visiting, a trip to the lake, grand coulee dam laser show (....and a stop for a picnic a long the way in davenport and letting the kids play on that super old school playground equipment...no wonder they don't make that stuff any more...), riverfront park fireworks (complete with all the white trash in spokane) & a drive to indian res. firework stand to stock up with all the best stuff for traditional beach display for seaside trip in a few weeks. fun start to summer.

falls great falls.

2011-06-28T23:23:00.000-07:00

merv and i were able to take a long weekend trip down to hood river/multanomah area of the columbia gorge a few weekends ago. we've driven by the area a million times and its gorgeous even from the highway, but if you get the chance, i recommend actually stopping and checking out some of the hidden waterfalls and hikes. most of them are literally just a few miles off of the highway. it was beautiful the entire weekend and we even learned a few new things about one another.

this was when we realized the full water bottle just fell in the water far below. thankfully it was only a 4ish mile hike.

have you heard of this new trend? planking? me either. google it or look it up on you tube.

such beautiful, clean water and green everywhere.

its very hard to tell from the photos because it was so bright out, but all of the white in the photo below is water running off the cliff. you can kind of tell how huge the water fall was by looking at how small merv looks. and he's pretty huge. really though, it was amazing. the falls are all really full this year sue to massive amounts of rain.

this is merv and i relaxing with a little kite surfing after the hike. its pretty popular along the gorge...and we're pretty professional at it. ha! but some day i think i might be brave enough to try it out.

wicked.

2011-06-28T22:45:00.000-07:00

my sweet sister arah surprised me with a ticket to wicked for mothers day. it was so fun. she got enough people to buy tickets that they were able to get a great group rate. we had a huge group. the last time i saw a live show was phantom with kera. we were both pregnant. i was much fatter and hungrier and remember getting really excited about the snacks during intermission. so this time i brought along plenty to share. they were a hit with the group.

next time i'll remember to wear my witch get up. it was pretty cool to see a huge hoard of witches all dressed up after the show. :) these lovely ones were nice enough to let me get a shot with them.

"...the good times are killing me..."

2011-06-01T00:36:00.000-07:00

(....we've seen modest mouse live- 2 times, and they have been so rad both times. that double drummer thing is hard to beat! especially when your married to a drummer.....nice to see them perform in teeny tiny spokane... at a small venue. ;) hence the title...)

the last couple weeks...

we been living it up on fishlake trail lately.
finally the darn weather has chilled out. kind of. running outside is a lot more exciting than a treadmill... however, all of this rain has brought my very unattended yard to life... tonight lola and i meandered around checking out all of the happenings. spokane is a great place to grow succulents i have discovered. every year at the end of the season, i toss out the flower baskets, dirt and all, into the flower beds before putting them in the shed.. and over the years i've accumulated a few patched of succulents around the yard front he flower baskets. i love them. and lola loves to pick them. thankfully they are hearty

these strawberries came back on their own:

..and cody planted these tomatoes.

lilacs are finally blooming.

i found this birdhouse at an estate sale about 5 years ago and had merv hang it in this tree.... and every year a bird family moves in.

raspberries are going nuts.

we have 3 different type of cherry trees in our yard. they were in really bad shape when we moved here. really overgrown and ugly. 2 of them probably still are? i do know that our neighbors were sure to let us know that we pruned them all wrong.. oh well. but one of them is a beautiful bing cherry tree. after years of pruning and shaping, we think it may actually produce edible cherries this year. i love watching it in the evenings. it reminds me of my grandpa brownies yard. don't mind the foot tall dandelions. they are winning the fight this year. lola loves to pick them.

..the previously mentioned yard was neglected this year because we were hard at work on moving cody into his own room, aka, my old ebay office. if you never had the privilege of witnessing this site, you missed out. i really do wish i had at least taken a snap shot of it. it was a site to see. even though time after time, my dear friends, sisters, mom... all helped me organize toss and snap it into shape time and again over the past 6 years, it never was organized. just piles of vintage clothes, shoes, handbags, taxes, paper work, crap from the thrift shop i couldn't live with out but had no place to put, bills, yard sale garb and who knows what else. i'll admit, it looked like an episode of hoarders. i actually mentioned to merv at one point,"holy crap!

should i be on hoarders?" ", mervs response, "ummm....maybe....?".. yikes! the first step is admitting, right? after a complete overhaul and mounds of crap to the dump and goodwill and donating the cute vintage stuff to friends, ( i actually was emotionally attached to some of it...) i now have a small, manageable pile of things worth keeping in nice & clean functional totes and baskets. the relief was so worth it. the rest is in the garage for my neighbors to look at every time we open the garage door. the hideous poo brown desk & shelves that merv wanted to toss? ...we kept for cody to use. just repainted white and added new hardware.
merv loved doing that project for me. actually he did, once it finally came to fruition and he saw it. ;)

..i finally caved and accepted my friends pinterest invitation. good grief. like i need another thing to be addicted too? super duper fun. especially late at night. in bed. from the phone. gah... i'm turning into a stereotype. its given me a ton of motivation though, to change a few things in my house/life etc.

..last thing: brian and becca came over this weekend with the girls. it was so fun. they went to wicked with us, bowling, pizza, a few bbqs, fishlake runs with becca, board games ( my personal fav). such good times. more about all that later...

may randomness.

2011-05-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

my thoughts and life are flying faster than i can keep up.. a few things:

1.this movie is so awesome that it makes me want to go visit brazil even more than i did before. need to work on that passport.

2. between the weddings, races, campouts, ragnar, a few weekend getaways, birthdays, anniversary and a family reunion- my summer is just about as jam packed as can be. i like it like that.

3.my sisters and i have been doing a rotating babysitting schedule. it is so wonderful on the weeks when it works out for us all! this is how it works: one day during the week each of us takes turns watching all 3 toddlers: sarah, chloe & lola. it sounds nuts, and it really is- we have one day of sheer chaos!! ...but then, 2 days of a brake to work on things we need to get done. heaven sent.... and helps us all avoid burnout! some day i'll get brave and do a photoshoot of the 3 of them together, but for now... circa 2009..

4.this kid is super hilarious! ...and impossible to get a picture of. we snapped these on the way to pick cody up from school a couple of weeks ago. she was dying over the lady bug that landed on her top. oh man, her facial expressions...

5. are you a fan of suljan stevens? have you heard the song chicago? i love it, and if you need some running motivation... i love this version of the song. the lyrics? a little questionable. so maybe i wouldn't play it while driving the kids to soccer practice. i really love most everything they of theirs that i play when i'm looking for good running music.

i get to read. in bed.

2011-05-18T23:53:00.000-07:00

lola is officially 100% moved into her own room! finally. her junk and toys and clothes have been in her own room for awhile but now her bed and all- she is officially weaned from our room! our room is once again completely ours. it took a little work and she tried to drag her things back to our room, but we did it. this is a big deal because she turned 2 in february. some people are ok with breastfeeding until their kids start kindergarten, or all sleeping together and having the "family bed", which i have always been completely against. i can't stand sleeping with my kids in my bed. cuddling is one thing but actually sleeping? and getting any real rest?? with kids??? i do love my kids but good grief...and one of my favorite relaxing-type things to do is read in bed and have some tea. (merv always chews me out out about it because he says i leave cups of unfinished tea lying all over the house.) but i rarely got to do this with a kid sleeping in my room...anyway, the point of all of this is that i once again get to read in bed at night. with tea if i want. and that makes me pretty happy.

...lola is pretty much obsessed with these jelly shoes. they look just like her cousin brinley's jelly shoes which she is also obsessed with

bloomsday.

2011-05-11T23:02:00.000-07:00

most years we have a big bloomsday crew, but this year it was just merv and i (my cousin heather was going to run with me but ran with some slow pokes a few groups back ;) and merv ran in the corporate cup so it was just my lonesome at the starting line party. merv kicked my butt as usual. but i still cut some time off my last best time. his was 56? minutes and mine was 66minutes

...at breakfast in the ugly finisher shirts.

the end.

i do it bright and smart.

2011-05-06T18:15:00.000-07:00

cody came home today with my special mothers day poem that he created. nothing like a dose of humility from your own kid. ha! happy early mothers day to me.

here it is, typos and all:

Everyday, anywhere, anyhow my mom is kind.
My mom is not too strict, my mom loves me and every one same.
Never not helpful, very wonderful.

She does it bright and smart,
Clean and healthy, cool and humble,
With me and my sister

I know she gets mad when I don't eat healthy.
And gets mad in the summer breeze
when i don't do my yard work.

My mom nags me to play with my sister
But she's such a sicker with her junk food in tomato soup bowls
Digging into the imagination dirt with her spoons.

My mom is mean sometimes
But my heart forces me to love her with my brain.

love, cody.

photo from 2006ish?

easter/horses.

2011-04-29T00:46:00.000-07:00

-easter weekend was peaceful and mellow and the nicest weekend we have had all year.
- the citrus bunny rolls my mom made were heavenly.(not sure if this is the right recipe or not)
-not only did the kids hunt easter eggs, but we also celebrated brinleys 8th birthday.
-lola took an extra long nap so i was able to ride the horses with cody and merv got on a horse ride for the first time in many, many, many years.
-lola runs on turbo speed only. she is all life-all the time.

whidbey island half marathon.

2011-04-26T01:55:00.000-07:00

at the end of our redwood trip, merv met me in seattle and we headed to whidby island for the half marathon that weekend. i had been looking forward to running one of these for a long time and i was so happy merv agreed to do it with me. i ended up just doing the half instead of the full for 2 reason: 1. because i never could get enough training time in for a full. a good friend warned that it was better to be safe then sorry. (though the thought of running it anyway and possibly loosing a toenail, massive blisters and blowing my knee out all sounded appealing...) and 2. it was my first time running in a marathon. the longest race i've done before this was 7 1/2 miles. i still have plans to run a full someday though. anyone interested?

running just half turned out to be a good decision: the marathon itself was one of the roughest weather wise in its 10 year stint. cold, cold temperatures along with brutal coastal headwinds pretty much the entire time added nearly 20 minutes to the past average overall finish times. merv had hardly trained and still came in a good mile ahead of me. i finished around 2:05 and his was about 1:54 or something. i now have an even huger (is that a word??) respect for the ironman nut jobs.

one thing i would change: i was completely exhausted by the time i made it to seattle even before we ran. if i had realized that the marathon landed during spring break when i signed up, i think i'm pretty sure i would have looked for a different one to run. training on hotel treadmills at 11pm that whole previous week was pretty rough. that along with not getting tons of sleep. i was completely drained for days after. then running it and literally jumping in the car and driving 6 hour home to get cody to school the next day....uggggg.

oh! ...and the disgusting motel we almost had to sleep in. oh my word. i can not adequately describe it. i wish i would have looked on their website prior to booking. and the website actually shows their finest rooms. ours wasn't quite so nice. it literally had dark,dirty plywood walls, a concave mattress, one single lamp and it REEKED of smoke. the "kitchenette" looked like it came straight out of a beat up 1975 winnebago. really. i wish i had taken a photo or 2. along with the scary looking permanent tenants living in the room next door. we for real thought we would be better off sleeping in the back of the car. i have no idea why the marathon site listed this place under lodging... thank goodness for last minute cancellations at one of the others.

we stole these from the website which was charging $15 for digital copies. if they were cool pictures, i might consider paying that ridiculous price. instead these will work.

i'm waiting for the phone call any day now from a runners magazine asking if they can publish these. such nice form. i look like i'm about to puke. i was not too fond of the slick wet grass finish line area. it was a little tricky trying to sprint across it without slipping.

doesn't merv look frozen here? he was. all that sweat instantly freezing to your body feels great. he really didn't want me to share these, but they are the only few we took and it might help him understand the importance of plentiful photo taking. :) cody said something really funny when he saw these metals. "what!! you guys won actual medals??! wow! ...wait, did everyone win medals? oh, um...that's still pretty good mom. just not as good."

still, we were both pretty stoked that at least a half marathon is off of the bucket list.

redwoods and coast!

2011-04-18T00:03:00.000-07:00

this year arah & i took the kidlets to visit the redwoods in northern california. becca and the girls met us down there and we made our way back up 101 along the coastline to seattle.

i've been up and down the oregon and northern californa coastline a ton but still managed to discover some new things. it helps that arah and the crew were more than willing to stop all along the way and check out everything. including a grocery store i worked at over 10 years ago in eugene. it has changed a lot. we got all kinds of lucky the couple of days we decided to check out the forests, the weather was warm and sunny! kind of rare for this time of year. i love those trees now even more now than i did before. i think age and perspective have something to do with it. those redwood trees- they really are super huge and mind blowing. note: if you've never seen the jedadiah smith forest, go for the drive down howland hill road, crescent city's best kept secret. a 6 mile stretch of dirt road where you literally reach out and touch the massive trees, along with tons of trails and pulls of too get closer looks. a quote that describes it well: ".. it's just about the least intrusive road you can imagine, so much so that at times you'd almost forget you were on a road if it weren't for the fact that you're driving."

cody said his favorite part was getting to buy his own little redwood tree that he planted in uncle brians yard. we were pretty sure the climate in spokane wouldnt be right for it. and uncle brian won't mind when it takes over his yard when it reaches maturity in 700 years or so.

we checked out a few lighthouses. one in particular, cape blanco we got to climb to the top of. i swear the place was straight out of the movie shutter island. not sure if it was due to the fact that there was a raging storm taking place or what. but it was eerie and unforgettable.

just a handful of pictures: ;)

i live a good life. i'm so thankful cody enjoys seeing this stuff with me and that my family and i are close enough to tolerate each other for that length of time. ;)

running tips.

2011-03-24T15:28:00.000-07:00

i am no pro- far from it, but i have learned a few helpful tips over the years. my 2 cents:

get the right shoes! find out if your an under-pronator or an over-pronator or normal... and it really really helps to buy at least a half size bigger than you normally wear in work out shoes.
cotton socks=blisters. no cotton! especially not socks. (the people at the shoe store might try to convince you to buy their 12 dollar pair, but you can find the same poly blends at tjmaxx and even walmart for like 5 times less. just check the label for no cotton.)
no cotton tshirts=chapped armpits. seriously. microfiber is great.
headbands keep my eyes from burning. i'm a big time sweatball when i run.
pepper spray if you run by yourself. locally, you can get a cute pink canister at the white elephant.
music is my life line. a few current favorites:
miike snow, especially burial & animal
passion pit: sleepyhead
the xx: islands

(2008 bloomsday, & why does a guy like that always show up in the picture?)

blue & gold cub scout banquet idea.

2011-03-03T23:50:00.000-08:00

in case you cared, i was in charge of some of the blue and gold banquet cub scout stuff. im only writing about this because it was hard to come up with some boyish crafty decorations. hopefully this helps someone else! this is a great idea if you are looking for one: wanted posters! my sister found the idea somewhere online. the boys thought these were the coolest thing ever to make and to get to take home for their rooms after the banquet. we worked on them a few weeks before the night...so hard to keep the attention span of a group of boys. underneath is the motto and "wanted to be an eagle scout" along with their names. we used 1/2 sheets of poster board. i took their photos mug shot style and then had them printed in sepia to look old west like and then let them go to town with some brown ink pads to distress them some. then hung them down the wall on a rope with clothespins and trimmed out with handkerchiefs to display them during the banquet. easy as pie.

if you want to go all out with the western theme, have the leaders dress in pearls snap western shirts and use handkerchiefs on the table. we were completely ok going the super easy route and just used candy bars re-wrapped in the scout logo & tied to balloons as centerpieces that the boys (and their siblings) got to take. the best part was that everything goes home and you don't have a ton of clean-up

little goobs.

i love my parents.

2011-03-02T16:00:00.000-08:00

mervs been working out of town a lot lately. we mostly see hime on sunday, sometimes saturday. i do everything i can to make the time go by faster and i have major sympathy for single moms(and dads!). we spent some time at my parents last night. we were hanging out in the kitchen chatting and my dad started telling me the story of how he met and proposed to my mom. he's been trying to recollect it for his journal. it's such a cute story. especially, when my mom is on the sideline giving her version of what really happened. this led to my mom and i digging out her wedding gown (which was hand made by my grandma dot and looks like the old gunne sax style dress), me playing dress up, and telling her i'd love to inherit it and then looking through their wedding scrapbook. (the real type of scrap book... complete with real scraps.) this is my all time favorite photo of them. their engagement photo taken by my dads best friend bob calkins. i'm getting one made to hang in my house.

i think they've been married 36 years this july. they are my number one example of how a good, strong, committed marriage works, flaws and all. they remind my why its best to always work things out. no matter what. and they are the most generous people with their time and the resources they have, that i know. when we first got married merv said something to me that has always stuck, "your parents serve their children endlessly." it is so true. in fact, my dad is cutting out bird houses for me as i type this, for a cub scout project i asked him about just this morning. and my mom will never bat an eye if you need a last minute babysitter, or just a break and an ear to vent in.

...

2011-03-02T15:58:00.000-08:00

this has been an odd few weeks. maybe its because mother nature still thinks its the dead of winter with this ridiculous negative degree blizzard condition weather we've been having... or maybe its because i got the worst case of food poisoning of all time and was sicker than a dog for a week... or maybe because mervs been pretty much living in another town working for the past month.... or maybe its because cody doesn't like me that much anymore. do all kids go through that phase? he seriously thinks i'm a moron and he always tries to correct me. i feel like we butt-heads big time. i tell myself its just a phase that will pass. arggg.

oh man, this totally sounds like a big fat whine fest. it's really not so bad. actually the sun came out today and it was really lovely. almost like it was actually march 3 instead of december 3. super looking forward to spring break. arah and i have planned out some fun things to do with the kids and will wrap up our trip in seattle where merv is meeting me and we'll head over to whidbey island for our marathon.

cute photo of cody protecting lola from the dangerous birthday pie flames. this is totally cody:

this is cute cody when he still liked me:

this is his hilarious octopus project for school:

lola joon is 2.

2011-02-18T08:34:00.000-08:00

hard to believe your 2 today! we love you so much, even though your terrible twos are in full force. favorite activities lately are: climbing onto the kitchen counter and dumping out spices, throwing my makeup in the toilet and dumping elmers glue all over your head. we try to keep everything out of reach and locked away but your a sneaky little squirt. thank goodness your so generous with your kisses and cuddles. cody says to celebrate your birthday we're going to ihop to for pancakes.

....

2011-02-11T15:09:00.000-08:00

i love finding old gems. i think i'll have this printed for the wall.

hard to believe that this little bay girl will be 2 in a week!

30 years apart.

2011-02-04T19:46:00.000-08:00

and dang mom, that is one ratty basket... are those bread ties i see holding it together...?

life lately.

2011-02-03T03:15:00.000-08:00

1. somehow i agreed to help plan a family reunion again and the gold & blue cubscout banquet... all in the same week. i challenge everyone to do them both at some time in their life- but not necessarily at the same time. along with coaching their kids soccer team and running a marathon...challenges are good for humans. otherwise we get too wrapped up in out own minuscule lives to understand the importance of helping others....stepping outside of out comfort zones is crucial to growing.

2. the oregon coast family reunion trip has grown into a much larger monster that originally anticipated. its pretty exciting really, to think about seeing some old cousins. long overdue. many i haven't seen since the last one we had around 8 years ago. and my plan is to kick all of their competitive butts in the little 5k race that's planned.

3. the other day i heard a song and decided i want to learn how to play it on the guitar and sing it to my kids and merv, a song that actually made me teary eyed...i would say the name of the song, but maybe its not relevant.

4. because I work from home, it's often hard to separate work and family and I keep finding that when I am working I feel guilty for neglecting my family, and when I am spending time with my family I feel guilty for neglecting my work. i really struggle with this a lot. the cure all(most): i make sure that I get out of the house and do lots of fun things every week. including plenty of time at the Y for swimming and running, lots of family drives, movie/snuggle time on the couch and a little fro yo earth... the other cure: visits and phone calls from dear friends/family. i love hearing from friends and family.

2008 soccer team?

lola @ the park.

2011-01-30T21:22:00.001-08:00

5k get together.

2011-01-24T22:27:00.000-08:00

dear cousins,
jordan and i are planning a cousin get together. we're thinking a long weekend with a 5k erickson race included. maybe end of july or early august? or late spring???

we will be getting together either way, but think it would be fun to turn it into a yearly event of some kind.

\\ thoughts?

thinking.

2011-01-19T14:08:00.000-08:00

i do my best thinking on a drive, by myself. the other night i went out and watched the planes land and take off. there is a great place to park not too far from my house and this rock is a good lookout perch. i usually don't have my good camera but just so happened to this day... after looking at these, i maybe shouldn't even be sharing them. it might ruin the coolness of this spot for me. probably not.

we've been doing some serious life reviewing lately... like plans for the next 5 year: if we want to stay in our house or buy a more functional one, work goals etc. you see, our house has a crazy, totally nonfunctional for a family of 4 set up. our main living is done upstairs, with the extra rooms downstairs. cody finally decided that he wanted to have a room downstairs after we convinced him that it would mean lola could no longer terrorize his living space and demolish his precious lego creation. lola gets his old room and we get to stay put.

settled then. the other night i went nuts and cleaned out my entire office downstairs which will be codys room. it was really funny going through that old office stuff. some of it had been packed away since it was moved in there almost 6 years ago. a lot of it went directly into the goodwill pile. it feels really nice to do some serious purging. if anyone needs some junk, i've got a garage full of it. also, how long do you save taxes? i have 10 years of it in a tote. i'm thinking that's sufficient.

our plans are to start some remodeling down there pronto and to get rid of the remaining swingers club setup that once existed...seriously, our house came with a swingers bar in the downstairs when we bought it. complete with an indoor hot tub, 11 foot lava rock backdrop (including moss), full bar with mirrored wall...ya. i really wish we would have taken pictures of it before we ripped it all out. it was pretty sweet all trimmed out in poo brown trim and cork liner. i know most people must be wondering why we would ever get rid of it. we could've thrown some pretty great parties if we wanted to.

also, i've been having the weirdest dreams lately. the kind of vivid dreaming you do when pregnant (at least i do). but i'm not pregnant. this morning i woke up thinking, " where the heck did that come from??" and then i called merv at work and told him to be extra safe today and kissed my kids. i need to get a what-does-it-mean-dream-interpretation book i suppose.

family photos.

2011-01-13T03:11:00.000-08:00

Cody and i have been working on a genealogy project so we've been sifting through hoards of photos trying to collect our family portraits from his lifetime. it's been pretty fun really.... and a little scary looking back at some of the outfits i choose to wear which will not be posted at this time.. yikes! who ever decided those really, really wide legged denim capri things were ever flattering or attractive? and would someone please remind me for the love that its not a great idea to chop my hair short while pregnant or just after having a baby?

aww love birds circa 2001... actually, at this phase i don't even think we really knew each other...

then baby #1 cody in 2002. i'm kind of amazed that the only brand-new-member-to-the-family shots taken in the hospital were both so lousy. i'm happy i have them though.

and our first family posed photo in 2003. thats some nice hair.

and in 2004..."quick...just act serious."

and a creepy winter time shot in 2005? i realized after examining this photo on my wall that had already been mailed out in xmas cards, that one of the buttons on my top was undone

... fall time in 2006. i bet you can't tell how thrilled merv was this day. he always love a family photo days. it might have something to do with the fact that i'm probably pretty lame and demanding when we're trying to take them.

summer photos in 2007. cody hadn't even started kindergarten yet. this was a fun day and we were all so darn happy.

late fall of 2008 and 5 months preggo with lola joon....

along came baby number 2 in feb 2009 . i swear merv didn't have a beer belly.

i had to post this... look at cute funny bald lola and her furrowed bald brows

summer photos in 2009....

...space people in 2009. this pictures reminds me of standing on the moon or something. we love it the best. after another rough time at trying to get the fam to cooperate for some photos on a super duper windy day, we had just about given up when my sister snapped this one. we love it. lola was in the bag because there was no place to put her while arah was taking a few of just merv and i.

and finally the most recent in summer 2010. i'm not sure what possessed me to dress like betty crocker..? maybe its just the flower I'm not in love with.

my mom has his fun wall in her basement of all of my 70's-80's and 90's family photos growing up. We love to go down all look at them and make fun of each other and laugh and see how much we've changed.

this one is a fav. i like how my dad set the shoot up in the back yard but left the extension cord hanging on the fence. ;)

plans & goals.

2011-01-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

we rang in the new year ( and moms birthday) in high style with bbq steaks and our own private negative degree weather fireworks show. thanks to my sister for letting us use her house and my other sister for all of the fun goodies and photos. the new years baby even came once again and filled our shoe with treats... (long time erickson family tradition...) but forgot until the last minute so mine only had a cliff bar and a half empty bottle of water.

i am believer that you are more productive if you write down your goals and make lists. it works for me. i love crossing things off and looking back on them. must be some overfloww form all of those family nights when dad would crack out steven covey and the brand new notebooks for each of us to use to write our goals down in: long term and short term. i'm sure he's glad it stuck.

i looked over last years resolutions. i'm happy to say that i accomplished at least a few( ... ~~taking cody and lola grand canyon~~...) and here are a few that i'm aiming to accomplish in the year twenty-leven(that sounds a little strange.):

*find a better balance in my life between time spent between family/ business/me/social life. i over fill my days & over schedule leaving me feeling stressed and anxious too often.

*turn off the computer and phone more often...(inspiration found here. )

*spend more time with my husband. take a much needed trip alone. finally. please? ummm... i do belive a 10 year anniversary is on the horizon.

*take kids to olympic rainforest. it was a toss up last year for spring break and grand canyon won.

*quit being judgmental. humility goes a long way.

*have more faith/less cynicism. be more grateful.

*cry less, laugh more, speak calm & meditate. (corny but big goal for me.)

*continue learning to hula hoop and playing guitar better.

*read books. the paper back kind.

*plant an above ground garden. any great tips?

*play more guitar.

*go to bed earlier.

*photog. business overhaul. excited about business getting a long over due revamp...more details soon.

*close down my ebay shop forever.

*run run run run!

*run a marathon. 1/2 would be good. (whidbey island in april...)

*do the seattle ragner relay in july!! with becca!! on my very own birthday!!

speaking of, a few ipod running songs lately:
katie melua :just like heaven
killers: smile like you mean it
lady tron: ghosts
aya peard: rain song (led zeppelin cover)
its hard to believe that most people don't mention the original rain song when talking about zeppelin's best songs. this is definitely in my top led zeppelin songs of all time...brings me to another place and time. ;)

"we're all busy. whether you're a student, a business owner, a full time employee or a mom we're ALL busy. we all have only 24 hours in each day and options for time management. stop making excuses and set an amount of time (no matter how small) each day to work on your goal." i truly wish i could remember where i read this. it was recently and i saved a bad link.... :(

good luck to me.

2010 recap.

2010-12-31T01:52:00.000-08:00

loved this quote i read. sums up my feelings perfectly:

"I like to refer to this week between Christmas and New Year as ‘Crimbo Limbo Week.’ It’s a strange old time where lots of people aren’t working and the majority of the population sit in front of bad telly, stuffing their faces with left over turkey and Christmas chocolate. Time slooows down and no one knows what day of the week it is. Oh and everyone gets sick… or is that just me?"

one thing i do love to do the week before new years is work on goals and reflect on the past. i am not as organized as i have been in the past years but it always fun to do a little yearly lookback for perspective. it's amazing to reflect on the past year and think about all that has happened. honestly, 2010 was kind of hard year for me (but i'll keep this on the more positive side...) and i'm incredibly thankful that i get to start a fresh new year in just a few days. cheers to the new years! (or is it year?)

my best memories were: the gearhart family reunion, grand canyon and page arizona trip with my sister arah, my first triathlon, our 1st, 8th, 31st and 36th birthdays, hiking mount spokane, fish lake trail runs at dusk (miss them..now with the foot of snow), sprinklers and popsicles, swimming in lakes pools, rafting the river with merv, canoeing, bike rides, watching lola learn to walk and snowboarding with cody, somehow becoming a den leader in cubscouts, attending more weddings than i ever have in my life where i was taking more pictures than i ever have in my life, watching merv grow the longest facial hair i have ever seen him with, growing our first crop of raspberries, crying on my mamas shoulder (maybe not a highlight but major bonding...), running a few races (and beating my best bloomsday time!), tricking dozens of visitors in our house into believe a painting in the kitchen was of of mervs make believe aunt pearl for months before selling it on ebay for a surprising large sum of money, camping near cle elum with brian and becca, celebrating our 9th anniversary, the 3rd grade snail project, dabbling in geocaching a little with my brother, picking gobs of fresh veggies and collecting dozens of eggs from grandma edie's garden, and spending countless hours playing in grandpa jim's yard, a few memorable 2 am chats when you can talk about anything everything… unfiltered, receiving a super sentimental quilt for christmas, spending more time with my oldest sister corinne and her children than i have in years, slumber parties with the cousins, stepping back into the land of funny toddler antics and not so funny potty training, seeing my cousins!!, watching my baby sister get married & seeing my dad get to be with many of his brothers (he really loves them and rarely gets to see so many of them at once), several trips to seattle to visit my brother and sister in law.... can't wait to see what 2011 has in store. some of the more favorite pictures of our year for proof:

christmas in a nutshell.

2010-12-29T00:50:00.000-08:00

food, snowboarding, board games, cards, movies, home made cinnamon rolls, home made fudge, ugly christmas sweaters, quilts, movies...and more food.

christmas vacation.

2010-12-21T01:07:00.000-08:00

**i was planning to stay awake to watch the lunar eclipse tonight by my lonesome..(merv got called to work out of town this week last minute, but they'll be back wednesday night....) it's happening in our sky around 130 am, but its looking a little bleak at the moment. super, super cloudy. so in leu: another late night blog post a coming... i'm not sure what it is about the urge to blog random thoughts around midnight...

**so i had this ridiculous idea to start a detox this week. ive been feeling kind of like ive gained a ton and sluglike. it's one i've done before and its a quick 7 day deal...but i figured i'd cheat a little but try to stick to it until christmas eve.. then i read a friends blog. quote: during christmas "do not diet" . thanks friend, for changing my mind. that was a real dumb idea. i'll wait until at least after new years get togethers and feasts.

**my running goal was passed this year so i decided to shoot for 700 miles instead... ya right. we calculated it out last night and unless i run at least 5 miles a day until dec 31, no cigar... i'll aim higher next year for sure.

** i attempted very hard to get a nice christmas timer shot. you know, the crappy ones taken off of the arm of your sofa the week of christmas?

me: "keep your nice clothes on for just a few minutes when we get home... i need to get a few family shots in front of the tree."

2 hours later..

me:"nuts!! i forgot!! kids could you please try to look your nicest in whats left of your nice clothes with food down the front?" ( merv in slippers... and me without a nice sweater and in lolas hat)

cody: "my tooooooth huuuuuurts too much for pictures!!"

lola: "look mama! i bring you broken ornamanets!

...and i kept my pony in all day!"

take one:

take two:

so nice... i especially love the gangly lights hanging off the bottom tree. the ones lola has ripped off and drug around the house all season. but we all look so darn happy.

**something so special about having christmas on a saturday this year: cody is out of school for the whole week before (...i may be a weirdo here, but i love having my family all in one spot...) it's like christmas all week!! ...really enjoyed spending time with my sister and her family sunday night for dinner/breakfast.. you know when you have pancakes for dinner at ihop?? you can't beat class and great food. great start to the holiday. we have plans to hopefully go snowboarding, eat, play games, make fattening bread and treats, go to winter solstice event at neighbors, make ornaments, finish gift wrapping... speaking of...

**i discovered tonight while i was wrapping gifts that besides the fact that i really hate wrapping gifts, i tend to pick the ugliest wrapping paper in creation. i like it though. i'm just drawn to the ugly stuff.... so i guess its more like pretty/ugly?

**this video is super cute. we really like this song. i watched this with lola and cody tonight. we all loved it. so beautiful.

...and these tags are just plane rad:

peace!!

...

2010-12-10T00:13:00.000-08:00

random holiday photos... lola has the worst hair and looks a little like rainbow bright here, but we love her. she was not digging santa clause. she took one look and said, " uuuuuh, no thanks but i'll take a candy cane." Our main goal for the riverpark square was to collect a few names off the tree of sharing and get some hot chocolate, which we did.

yes, that is a bottle my 22 month old is drinking. but its filled with water, don't judge....we've had a really rough shot with the weaning process. however the christmas decor is finally up. thanks sister for your help! i seriously considered 86ing it this year. lola has already destroyed a few of my treasures...:(

hello december.

2010-12-02T00:34:00.000-08:00

we had the perfect thanksgiving weekend straight out of the movies with the snow and all: food, my favorite people, board games, pie, watching merv play a show, more food, peeling out in the snow, movies, sleeping and more food. my friend kristina even managed to talk me into a thanksgiving day aerobics class since the 5k turkey trot i was planning to do seemed a little ridiculous with all of the snow coming down. it was super fun and i will definitely be making it a tradition. our family gets larger every year and it was so nice to have all of my siblings together and nice for kami and gus to host since they have the most room. i was lousy at taking many photos but thankfully other people grabbed my camera and helped snap a few. it seems like im missing half of the family in these photos...hmmm. i think some people like to evade the camera. the snow was beautiful and after it was over i think we ended up with around 2 feet or something. a little unusual this early in the year....

my sisters and mom love to do the black friday sales. i think looking through the newspaper ads thanksgiving day might actually be more fun than the 3am ping part. some years i go and some i dont. this year we all went. the females anyway. we started out at old navy at midnight. the lines to pay were beyond nuts and i seriously don't think a2hour wait was worth it for the whopping $5.49 i spent on a tshirt for cody and a few pair of socks... target and fred meyer were much better hauls. and merv was awesome for letting me sleep in all day when i finally
made it home at 830am.

i really need to crack out the christmas decor and maybe make one of these. it seems the holiday creative streak has passed me by this year. i haven't made or bought any additions to my decorations but this seems to be inspiring:

Lolas really loving the toilet lately, not so much using it. but playing near it. sick. i'm washing it constantly. i bought her a potty seat and she pushed the stool up to it and hangs out. she is so funny. lately she's been saying,"oh my gosh!" after anything remotely exciting.

on a completely random note... this list is awesome. it cracks me up. I'm guilty of a few....

wow, so this may be the worst blog post i have ever written. absolutely no rhyme or reason. holy crap.

thankful.

2010-11-22T13:48:00.000-08:00

being that it is thanksgiving week, i was contemplating the things i am grateful for... i came up with a small list in no particular order.

old photo from last fall: i haven't been great at taking photos of my own family lately.

.merv cody and lola
.and i'm thankful when none of them have to go school/work! i love eating dinner together, and watching movies on the couch, playing go fish and just being together
.all of my brothers sister and in laws
...and i am thankful to my brothers and sisters for having children and for being good aunts and uncles to my own children
(...it really is true that my family contains my very favorite people. for real. i love these people.)
.good honest friends/people
.the military
.being american
.teachers
.the mailman. he visits several times a week just to haul away mounds of packages from my doorstep.
...am i the only one who thinks its absurd that we still receive mail? i am so thankful or that.
.surprise hand written notes. so rare. i keep everyone and always have.
.the garbage man
.humor
.forgiveness
.the grand canyon
.the ocean
.netflix
.tea
.the innocence of children
.my moms homemade pizza. mmmm.
.my legs that can walk and run!
.my hands too
.my health
.a sunday afternoon drive with the family
.homemade bread and jam
.dishwashers & microwaves ( i haven't had either for months...)
.when i am actually able to see a movie in the theater
.road trips
.pikabu bistro
.good conversation
.my eyelash curler
.ipod
.the y
.the sun
.the moon
.food. especially spicy food
.campfire chats & smores
.having a decent memory
.mix CD’s as gifts

friday night.

2010-11-13T00:37:00.000-08:00

what do you do on a friday night, when your husbands been out of town all week? ( ...and won't be back until saturday...boo.)
make lemon poppy seed muffins with cody and joonbug, chat with sisters on phone, watch lola play house and put her baby to pretend bed (so cute!), watch tom and jerry with kids, edit photos from mound of sessions, catch up on ebay shipping, drink tea, listen to christmas music on pandora and browse the internet for christmas gifts. all while doing loads of laundry that hasn't been touched all week. i've discovered i really love buying christmas gifts online...kids in bed, shopping at midnight in your pajamas. perfect. etsy is great for homemade cuteness and amazon is awesome for books, music, video game junk, urban outfitters is good for weird white-elephanty-type things and ebay is pretty great for anything else. sometimes.

i love this stuff:
lola surely needs one of these. or 5:

lola would also love these cute nesting dolls i think:

merv gets this tiger on a bike shirt:

and my brother jared would like this biking zombie t shirt:

this coffee table book for merv also. the best.

...and cody has decided he just wants a kitten ever since we came home from seattle last weekend. brian and becca have cats to keep the mice off of their property and cody fell in love with their new kitten. we're just not pet people.

especially not kittens that grow up and turn into cats.

but i think he'll maybe take one of these instead ( if i can find one that's not 5 million dollars....bummed i missed the skiswap. great place to buy boards for growing kids who outgrow them so quick.)

olivia kamille.

2010-11-11T00:45:00.000-08:00

today would be the 3rd birthday of my sweet niece olivia kamille. i remember getting the call the night that my sister was in labor. i raced over to pick up brinley... i think it was around midnight or so. my dad said, "come quick!!" she lived just short of 2 hours and i'm so thankful i was able to meet her and hold her at sacred heart hospital. that hospital holds a special place in my heart. i met my future husband there at the birth of my niece in 2000, saw 3 of my other nieces born there over the next several years, delivered my own 2 children there in 2002 and 2009 and watched my grandma take her last breath there in 2005. it was kind of neat that grandma was on the same floor (9th floor) as the old maternity ward before they remodeled and turned it into hospice.

olivia's short life made a huge impact on a lot of people. her sister sarah turned 2 on monday. their birthdays are so close together. just over a year apart. cody, lola and i were honored to go plant flower bulbs up at kamilles gravesite to celebrate both of the birthdays. we did our best to buy the ones that claimed to be deer-proof. i'm curious to see which ones the deer don't eat. i've never been good at helping people deal with grief, i mostly try to help with other things in their life that need tending to- helping with kids, cooking a meal, cleaning, laundry. but as far as talking to them i feel like i don't know the right words to say. i express emotion far better in writing than when i talk. and that's still not very well. hopefully they understand that they are loved and thought of often.

timer shots.

2010-11-08T12:19:00.000-08:00

we took a super spontaneous trip over to seattle this weekend. it was fun and much needed little break. i cracked out the camera for these 2 lousy timer photos and a few of my brother and sister in laws house that was recently painted to show the parents. the dogs obviously wanted to be included. this is what we look like when we roll out of bed, throw on some clothes to drive home. (also, please remind me that my forehead is much too huge for those elastic headbands and they should only be worn for running.)

also, read this awesome article this morning about photography. good perspective.

six feet under and horses.

2010-11-04T01:36:00.000-07:00

cody loves to go out to visit aunt kami's house. she has neat things: horses & chickens (the foxes keep getting into her chickens!), 4 wheelers, dune buggies and a jeep, video games, dirt, bonfires.... when he was little, i couldn't get him to touch a horse but now he loves riding them. lola loves horsies too! she's practically a pro rider now. we just throw her on and she gallops around the field. haha. can you imagine? but she does love riding with kami. she freaks when its time to get off. ill have to post some photos of them soon. in the meantime here are some from when we went to yellowstone ages ago when kami was working at a dude ranch ( i think?). it was the first time cody really got to hang out with a horse. he wanted nothing to do with it and would rather watch brinley ride. he turned 4 on that trip.

i can't get over the series finale of six feet under. especially the last 5 or 10 minutes of it. amazing. i can't get it off my mind. i know this series is old news: i think the 5 seasons ran from like 2000-2005 or something but having netflix sure makes it convenient to que up a series that grabs your interest and watch it straight through in a just a few weeks or days or whatever your schedule allows. six feet under has been our late night ritual for a couple of months now. but mervs been out of town this week and i couldn't cant wait to finish off the last few episodes. now i can hardly wait for him to get back so i can watch them again with him. so full of great one liners too.

i'm almost sad its done and over. isnt that pathetic? but, everyone says dexter is great too. the main character from six feet under is in it so i'm interested already but i don't know how it could possibly compete. i already said that i'm not responsible for the grossness of this show but the fact is: most of the junk on regular non-hbo tv is way grosser, just a different kind of gross. i can't stand most tv. that's one of the big reasons we canceled it. i would way rather watch a series like this than most of the reality crap, desperate housewives, dancing with the stars on mars, the view, oprah, etc. that stuff is shallow, nasty and ridiculous, just in my opinion of course. no offense if you like it. obviously most people do or it wouldn't be so popular, right? man, i sound like a hag these days. in other news...

i'm practicing for a longer race and learning to pace myself. sometimes mellow music is good for that. along with some breathing tricks merv taught me. i'm digging these songs right now.
radiohead: reckoner (LOVE! how can you go wrong with radio head?)
florence + the machine: lungs ( the drums...)
sia: breathe me (the series finale of 6ft under reminded me why this is one of my fav songs of all times.)
bat for lashes: daniel (super pretty... reminds me of that movie labyrinth)

happy halloween.

2010-10-31T00:29:00.000-07:00

we dressed as the eyeballs again, super last minute. lola hated her horse suit so she became a ballerina.

no costume for boda boy this year... boo. first boy i've ever met that doesn't dig dressing up.

...

2010-10-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

..and my self pity debbie downer moment is over. thank goodness. good to reflect on life, but on to the next thing now.

i've discovered a great lame mood cure all is service for others. any kind really will do. just helping someone other than yourself will change your attitude completely. seriously works. that was my big plan for the week: if anyone needed my help i wouldn't say no. there were plenty of opportunities all week long. this afternoon i watched a friends 3 kids (ages 4, 3, and 9 month old and my own 2 kidlets) i have huge respect for mothers of large families. i don't know how they do it. not that i minded watching them at all. i was happy to... just juggling the infant with a jealous lola was tricky.

trying to prepare for 3 or 4 halloween parties coming up and still no costume...i was planning the zombie family theme. but everyone in my family said no. one year i'll actually prepare ahead of time to be medusa before all the toy snakes sell out for my wig. maybe i'll be a set of eyeballs again with merv. lola can wear her horse suit and cody, well he doesn't dress up anyway.

fav running music this week:
everythings magic: angels and airwaves
joy ride: the killers

....and hooray! my baby sister is pregnant!

love always wins.

2010-10-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

this past month or so has been a big fat emotional roller coaster... mostly on the downward slope, and hopefully more of the upward slope from now on....how many times can you fall on your face? really? i've been feeling unconfident in the things i say and do.

i keep trying to remember the personal goals i've given myself and constantly try to work on them: to be a good, true and honest friend,sister wife, mom, to try my best not to gossip or speak unkindly of others, to compliment at least 3 people or so a day and take a compliment politely when its given, and when i makes mistake to pick myself up brush off and try again, even if it seems i'm taking 3 steps forward and 2 steps back.

i feel like a looser for a lot of reasons, but today for example a smallish one: i missed codys "writing celebration" at school. it was kind of a big deal to him. "mom, where were you? we had the writing celebration today!!?" ugggg. i could have cried i felt so bad. i promised him frozen yogurt to make up for my lameness and to help patch up his broken heart.

i'm trying my best not to let this blog turn into a big sad story. but sometimes thats real life right? and whats the purpose of this thing anyway? i've always kept a private journal. i've recently considered making this thing private. i might be letting a little too much of myself out there... hmmm, i'll have to think about that some more.

ps. i was looking for a particular photo, which i didn't find (does anyone have tips on ways to organize 428 million photos??) but i did find these cute ones instead.

i forgot she was so fat and small at one time not too long ago.

and this photo of cody, he was 2 here. close to lola's age now.

this photo reminds me of a funny story, gramma lana is always canning something and this day she was canning tomatoes. when i went into her living room to check on him cody said he was helping gramma to can tomatoes.
.

i just love this one, red eyes and all. sweet babies.

octoberness.

2010-10-21T01:43:00.000-07:00

...some random pictures throughout the month.
cousins played all day. cody loved it. i love when i told them to act like goofs brinley made those funny things with her fingers behind cody... bug ears? so brinley.

he seriously looks like a huge kid to me here.

lola was trying super hard to get someone to play with her. but she's at the age where she just drives the big kids nuts.

"hey guys, look here. a super cool... pumpkin bucket?? anyone?"

i think brinley is doing witchcraftery in the yard in this one. and good grief, could they drag any more toys out?

more witchcraftery. this awesome cape has been around since jasmine was her size and she'll be turning 17 in a month... its been a wild success. i cant believe i still let them use it for dress up. its super old and worth a fortune.

"look ma, a nat!" (...and whats up with the swarms of nats lately??)

"guess ill just play soccer by myself then."

"ya, a few more toys and soccer cones in the yard should do the trick. then mom can leave them up and drive the neighbors nuts all week."

skating in the grass is safest.

annual greenbluff trip to get pumpkins. (courtesy of sister)

sad julie, i just found out today that my friend is selling this greenbluff propety (the gorgeous property in this photo...) :(

super random, but just discovered amongst the others : lola loves to chill in this thing. she fights over it with the cousins. its getting to the point that it hardly supports her. but she insists.

..so i guess that about about sums up this really poorly organized and unedited and post.

can you find our house?

2010-10-15T00:04:00.000-07:00

..i bought some hummus dip the other day at huckleberries and i kid you not, it tasted exactly like hot dogs. sick! why buy hot dogs when you can by hot dog spread. mental note: pass on the 3.99 special on smoked hummus. especially when your trying to entertain guests....

..i dearly love my sister, and im so thankful we can handle each other enough to deal with a successful ((& very busy))business together. thankful that she looks past my shortcomings.
..is it just me or are people on they're cell phone 24/7. what did we do before cell phones?? did we talk to people for real? another friend made a comment about this and i couldn't agree more. i love it when i'm having a conversation with someone and they start texting in front of you. or browsing the internet on their phone. it took me a while to even come around to the idea of getting a cell phone.
...i've passed my 500 mile mark running. my goal was 500 for the year. running is a big stress reliever for me and i guess i've had a lot of motivation to run this year. i'll be happy when we glide into 2011(!) 2010 can go down in flames with 2007.
and in case you gave a crap...running tunes of the minute:
**anything by passion pit: especially- moths wings, to kingdoms come, dream (another cover song but super rad!! perfect for running!! at like 6.5 mph...)
**mgmt: kids
**the republic tigers: buildings and mountains (also perfect 6.5-7 mph running beat)
**iron & wine: boy with a coin, house by the sea (not a huge fan of their popular stuff...)
snap shots from our recent (and rare) date night. my sister and i did an engagement photo shoot here recently. i loved it and took merv back to see the sites. if you can find our house, you win a milliondy dollaros.
...speaking of date nights, have you seen six feet under yet?? it's a little (or a lot) disgusting and vulgar. but addicting! better to be addicted to a series than crack, right? and dwight schrute is in it! not as dwight schrute of course, but as the real dude, and maybe even a better character... can't wait to start dexter. im an idiot and qued up disc 4 before disc 3 of season 4 on netflix.... uggg. the wait! we've been waiting all non mail delivery holiday weekend for the right disk! we don't watch tv much but this is our midnight guilty pleasure.

i love my family.

2010-10-10T16:19:00.000-07:00

we had such a great weekend...our house was packed. waffles with everyone saturday morning and then last night we had everyone over for girls vs guys trivial pursuit night, (...even though the girls always suck and loose.) as i was looking around the table, i realized all of my siblings and their spouses there, with the exception of my brother who was at work. it made me very happy. maybe not my neighbors though. we tend to get pretty loud. especially with 8 million children running amok.

time with my family is refreshing and even though it can be tremendously overwhelming it is so worth it to have a large family. i loved having 6 kids in our family growing up. i love them all individually and i've always made it a priority to maintain a personal relationship with every one of them. my childhood memories would not be complete without my siblings. i would probably only remember parts of my it if it weren’t for my sisters & brothers. maybe its due to the fact that my mom had all 6 of us within 8 years that we are still so close. anyway, im glad we love each other enough to spend so much time together.

happy lola.

2010-10-07T23:13:00.000-07:00

"Are you a princess? I said & she said I'm much more than a princess, but you don't have a name for it yet here on earth. " --Brian Andreas

neighbors.

2010-10-05T23:48:00.000-07:00

my baby likes to escape on a regular (pretty much daily) basis to the neighbors yard. she knows exactly where they keep the much cooler rides stored.

cody comes home, runs in and asks to play at troys. come to find out they've been working on this awesome masterpiece. legos are the best.

thanks for entertaining my kids, neighbors.

umm.... do i suck at life?

2010-10-01T21:26:00.000-07:00

i suppose everyone feels a bit of self doubt every now and then right? i think its a healthy way of reflecting on ourselves. am i doing the best i can for myself? no... am i making all the right choices? no...am i a good mom/wife/sister/friend/daughter? errrr not always. i feel like something is always missing in my life lately. what, im not quite sure. i try to fill the void with stuff. sometimes the wrong stuff. it drives merv crazy that i am always gogogogogogo!!! to the point of burning out and bringing on more stress.

take running for example(must be the theme of the month....) i'd rather shove a hardcore workout in to 1/2 hour of running my guts out than dally around the gym or do an hour long video. i don't have enough time for an hour. (although slowing it down a notch and adding in some pilates again would do me some serious favors.)

me: "LETS ALL GO DOWN TO FISH LAKE TRAIL AND RUN AND RIDE BIKES!!!!"
him:"can't we just hang out here at the home we work hard to pay for? i like it here. its my favorite place to be."
me: "i work here all the time, i need a break!!! lets go for a drive, get a treat, go visit someone..." (sometimes when i'm in my house i can't relax because i feel like i have to take care of something, anything!)
him: i think you need to go for a run alone and i'll chill here with the kids.... (said with love and compassion... of course ;)

the longer we're together, the more we understand what works and doesn't for us and each other.
i'm glad he sees that i need a tiny break from life once on awhile. i love him. and i love the life i have. its just a constant growing and changing and evolveing experience. sometimes i feel like im reverting backward instead of moving forward. lately i've really been trying to let things fall where they are suppose to instead of forcing them. it seems to be working.

*photo: blast from the past.. maybe 4 years ago? after a very tumultuous time in our marriage. i cut my hair really short right after this. its hard to tell in the phots, but it was really long and shaggy and actually a really hideous haircut. i think it was a form of me trying to rid that part of myself when i told the girl to chop it off.... i love this picture.

...

2010-09-23T23:07:00.000-07:00

tonight we collected seeds for cody's school project. we cut open just about every piece of produce in the fridge, dug up plants and made a monster mess. lola helped a lot. it was a huge disaster to clean up. i had scouts to get ready for, cooking dinner, and editing and shipping and laundry along with tons of other unnecessary junk i clutter my life with. along with the kirby salesman showing up mixed in. i sent the kids to chill with a movie out so i didn't kill anyone. they looked so cute. i'm glad they still love each other. life has been throwing me A LOT of curve balls lately so it’s important i stay centered and not completely loose it. i feel like i may tend to take on too much. as things are whirling around me, i am doing my best to get all of my work done, stay committed to the obligations already on my calendar, try to create a few memories along the way and not get too overwhelmed. running helps. its personal therapy.

a friend told me about a marathon coming up in spokane in about 3 weeks. there is option for a 10k, 1/2 and full. im shooting for the 1/2. the problem is, it's a super hilly course and i hear those are tricky for 1/2 and full marathon lengths. i've been trying to ramp on the running but seem to consistently stick to the same lengths and times. this is good motivation to push a little harder. since i've been feeling a little stagnant with running i mixed it up and reintroduced myself to an old friend, the rowing machine. it worked. it kicked my butt. my legs and shoulders hurt

i'm liking these songs for the workout ipod:
*ready to start by arcade fire
*stop me by mark ronson. (i'm a huge fan so i usually hate covers of depeche mode or the smiths, but this was pretty refreshing version.)
*so rich so pretty by mickey avalon (sick.. i think i'd be pretty embarrassed if i lost my ipod. it has some really dumb crap on it. i swear this is a head phones/run only song)
*black river killer by blitzen trapper (really digging this lately. reminds me of old classic rock.)

pre halloween.

2010-09-23T22:42:00.000-07:00

cody has no desire to dress up as anything for halloween. he hates dressing up and he always has. i've tried tricking him a few times. one year i bought skeleton bones jammies from the gap but he figured it out and refused to put them on, ever. last year, for the first time, he actually expressed some interest. he wanted to be the star wars character oni wan kenobi. i was hoping i could convince him to wear it again so lola could be yoda. she really wants to be baby yoda. or maybe baby princess laia.

i, on the other hand love halloween. i like to trick or treat and deck out the house more than anyone in my family. must have inherited it from my mom.

fall junk.

2010-09-20T23:29:00.000-07:00

lola loves her tutu.. we picked a few of these up at the thrift shop for like .49 a piece. nothing beats the awesome selection during halloween. they save the best dress up junk for halloween time at the thrift store, you know. she wouldn't even let me take it off to put her in the jogger stroller for a run this evening. so she buckled up with a tutu on.

speaking of halloween. i think i kind of hate fall. not really i guess. i like the coziness, and i love halloween but its just a weird time of year for me. yesterday i made chili and cornbread...strictly reserved for fall/winter seasons. it's a great comfort food. maybe i made it to comfort the glum feelings i have been having. but a great way to snap out of a funk: helping my newlywed sister get her love nest ready for her husband who returned home today from deployment....they've been married like 6 months but have only spent about 2 weeks of it together.

merv and i are selling the house and living in this thing while we travel the country. just kidding. but isn't it cute? arah and i came across it on a flea market adventure over in idaho a few weekends ago. i really wanted to bring it home. we brought home arrowheads and old pez dispensers instead.

went to cody's back to school night at school. his teacher is super. i think she is probably my favorite of his teachers so far which is hard to be. they've all been great. i loved my 3rd grade teacher!!! we know hardly anyone in the class but i really dig her. she will be good for him.

fall randomenss.

2010-09-15T23:56:00.000-07:00

good grief. where the crap does time go? seriously.

...my dear, sweet cousin shevaun came up for a visit and we chatted like long lost friends. or sisters. i haven't seen her in YEARS. we shopped at thrift shops, ate sick greasy food, played beauty shop and stayed up chatting and catching up until way late on the last night that she was here. when she told me she would leaving the next morning, i tried to convince her to stay just one more night. but her husband had already reserved a night at the marriot in portland (on her way to sacramento) so no cigar... i guess i'll just have to plan that trip out to hawaii after all where she will be living with her sweet family fo 3 years. so we snapped a few for the record.

...i love seychelles shoes and frye boots. if anyone has an extra wad of cash to spare, ill take these.

...merv and i have been working on a top secret project which i am not at liberty to disclose or i will be shot on the spot. but i am proud to say it was his idea and it seriously beats the crap out of therapy.

...anyone know of a good runners race in southern utah or along the west coast?? next summerish would be proffered.

running notes.

2010-09-14T13:56:00.000-07:00

this guy is great if your into running. i'm seriously considering changing my diet around a bit because of him. the older i get the more i realize how important it is. i can't get away eating like crap so much these days. and that stinks. i haven't always had a terrible diet, but i surly love carbs. merv and i use to sit down late at night to watch a movie and end up eating a box of cereal together. as long as i stayed very active i didn't gain the weight. not the case these days. it seems that just running isn't enough anymore. something about turning 30 i suppose.

running songs of the minute:

mew: special
herb alberts tijuana brass band: south of the border (super awesome lyric free version so you can sing along with your own words.)
red hot chili peppers: slow cheetah
bob: magic

lola joon @19 months.

2010-09-14T13:17:00.000-07:00

*your favorite thing to do is RUN everywhere. for real.
*which causes you to trip and run into things. you usually have a bruise or two.
*you love-love-love cody.
*you also love eating black beans the most. about 15 at a time is good. with your own spoon. or fork.
*you sleep like a good girl every night. we're about to put you in a big girl bed and work on the potty.
*you like to call yourself a good girl when you do something you think was worthy:"good-gew"...and pat your chest.
* your still bigger than your older cousins so we usually pass the hand me downs up.
* to you, all animals are called doggies and all fruit are called apples.
* your hair is one of a kind. we try to keep clips and tiny ponies in but they don't last long. your sporting a pretty great mohawk/mullet.... doesn't grow so much on the sides.
* your the best so we wont trade you in .

i've been really bad and taking a lot of photos for you lately but these are pretty much sum you up.

3rd grade.

2010-09-02T23:50:00.000-07:00

he posed like this on his very own. and the duck lips? i can't get the kid to stand still for a picture to save my life.

first day of 3rd grade for our handsome boy. he was a rockstar and did awesome. i'd be lying if i said i didn't tear up a tiny bit on the drive to school while chatting with him and trying to boost his confidence (more for me than him i think). i just love him so darn much. it's not always easy being the youngest boy in class. or the cutest. but he loves his new teacher mrs. stewart. doesn't that just sound like the perfect 3rd grade teacher? i remember my 3rd grade teacher. mrs womack. she was the most beautiful teacher i ever had. i loved her. i even sent her a wedding invitiation. ;)

k.1.2...

2010-08-31T22:23:00.000-07:00

today is the thirty-first day of august. it’s been pouring rain outside: the first spokane has seen in a while. and it was maybe like 59degrees today. the summer is over. :( school officially starts thursday, no confirmed friends in cody's class yet ....but pig out in the park starts tomorrow and the fair next weekend. the start of the fall season has begun.

school times.

2010-08-26T00:35:00.000-07:00

i can't believe school starts next week... next week! yuck! i always hated the first day , week, month of school....all of those hours away. everyday....i understand the need, but i live for unstructured summer. i plan to squeeze in some fun times with the fam before cody has to go back: a few more swims, ice cream, silverwood etc. i've been trying to make it sound way more exciting to go back than it really is, to get him excited...isn't really working.

we went to pick out school supplies (the only thing i ever liked about back to school..) and i showed him all of the new back packs. "ummm, mine is still good mom. i don't want a new one." he's starting 3rd grade and has had the same backpack since kindergarten. such a practical boy, unlike his mother.

lola will be bummed when he's not around all of the time to watch cartoons, chase, bother, pester, and read with. he's been reading to her a lot. the other day i overheard their convo. something like this:

cody:"jooney-bug, i know what your saying even when no one else does."

lola:"coooodeeeee"

cody:"do you want me to teach you how to talk?"

lola:"coooodeeeeeee"

cody:"ok baby."

completely unrelated, i'm addicted to the 6 feet under drama series, about the family run funeral home...? super vulgar and raunchy i know. i sometimes turn it on when i'm up late at night working and the kidlets are in bed.

medical lake kiwanis triathlon.

2010-08-04T01:40:00.000-07:00

kami was the one that convinced me that we were going to do the triathlon that i had convinced her to sign up with me for months ago. i honestly didn't think she was going to be back in town from her military stuff so when we texted at 10 the night before, i was a little surprised. we woke up the next morning to rain and thunderstormy weather (in july?) and when we got to the lake where it started, i was actually a little afraid for my life to get in and swim during the storm. but we did it, unprepared and all. next time i'll be bringing a better bike and a much better swim/triathlon outfit set up. this picture is really hideous, i don't take beautiful photos after a triathlon, a race or giving birth (yikes!!) some women do. i don't get it? do they hire makeup artists to show up or what? maybe i need to start doing that, but something about throwing my bike helmet over a wet head, riding 10 miles, then letting the sweat and grossness air dry to it makes me look awesome.

i finished with 1:24. not so bad.

thanks kami for the good times!

9 years and going strong.

2010-08-04T01:27:00.000-07:00

(photo taken on recent raft trip.)

every year on august 4th we celebrate our anniversary. this year marks number 9.

the entire family and babysitting population is headed over to hiawatha trail to celebrate it without us... boo hoo hoo. so instead this year will be spent planning on the amazing exotic romantical way that we spend our 10th...and maybe pizza night with the kids.

i came across this article awhile ago and thoroughly believe everything that it says. after sticking through thick and thin, i love merv more now than i ever have before. it may seem long but i promise it is well worth the read- married or not!

how to stay married for life:
1.If you are not ready to get married, then don't get married! Think long and hard before taking the plunge because it is a lifelong commitment which requires behavioral changes. You must start your marriage with a commitment to make it last, and you must be aware of the fact that certain behaviors such as flirting with the opposite sex are no longer appropriate under any situation.

2.Certain behaviors such as going out to night clubs are inappropriate for married couples. These social situations serve only one purpose: to meet members of the opposite sex. If you don't think you can live without the night life then married life may not be for you.

3. It is inappropriate for a married man or women to have a friend of the opposite sex. Your husband or wife is now your best friend, and all other members of the opposite sex should be downgraded to acquaintances. Do not put yourself in a position to be alone with someone of the opposite sex, even if it is as innocent as a lunch date.

4.You must share a life philosophy and life goals. Do you agree about having children and how they should be raised? What about religion? Are you working toward a financial milestone such as buying a house?

5.There is no room for privacy in a marriage, you must share everything. Your spouse should be free to examine your cell phone at will. Married couples should share a common email address, and not have private email accounts. If there is no getting around a private email address or voice mail, then your spouse should have access to your password.

6.Share your finances and don't argue about money. All accounts should be joint, and there is no such thing as his money or her money. When you're married, its community property, and you must learn to communicate about your finances.

7.Your spouse is an extension of you and deserves respect. He or she should be elevated by you at every opportunity. Their honor should be defended vigorously against attacks, even if it means standing up to your mother! It must be clear to everyone, especially your spouse, that you render your full support to your spouse in every situation.

8.Personal matters between you and your spouse to include finances do not concern other people. When you enter a marriage you must keep private matters private.

9.Tell your spouse how much you adore him or her frequently. This is the most important advice that I can give.

summertime awesomeness.

2010-08-02T21:30:00.001-07:00

this summer my number one goal was to play with my kids as much as possible. the older i get, the older they get. i am glad to say that they will remember more that we went swimming, bike riding, mountain climbing, raspberry picking, egg gathering, road tripping, journal book making, sand castle building, camping, bug collecting, birthday partying, cousin visiting, movie going, pizza night eating, trouble making, video game playing (minimal but really, mario bros. is pretty fun), canoeing, and drawing, than sitting at home watching me work. at least for this summer... although i have had to sacrifice by staying up until insanely late hours working to make it possible. well worth it.

...and someone needs to teach gpa merv that you dont eat cupcakes with a fork. also, i just realized how awesome his cosby sweater is. we love gpa merv.
on a side note, if we have another boy, im voting to name him axel. middle name rose. no really! (not about the rose part...) the other day at the park a dad called to his little boy, "hey axel!" it was cute and the boy was cute. i like it at least for now.