Deep in the Heart of Texas

We're headed to Dallas this weekend.
Sans children!

We plan to:
-sleep past 5am
-go to the temple
-eat In n Out Burger
-go furniture shopping
-IKEA
-hit the outlets
-eat a lot of good food.

I'm really looking forward to a couple days alone with my guy.
He's good company, be jealous.

It takes a good friend to love your children the way you do.
A BIG shout out to Kasey. You serve unconditionally, and I love that about you.
And not just because I often happen to be the recipient of said service.
Thanks for keeping my brood this weekend.
You're the best.

Let the weekend begin!

Currently Feeling:

relieved

nervous

excited

hungry...no, make that starving. I am always always starving. My appetite is voracious.

nauseous

sweaty

and most importantly, ready! ...I think.

Goals:

1) Finish.

2) Have Fun.

I Will:

-run a casual pace

-have a good time

-stop to go potty when I need to

-not wear a speedo (grossness!)

-sing along with my ipod as loud as I want when a good jam comes on. No, I don't care that you can hear me. Yes, I know that I sound bad. Feel free to pass me or turn your music up :)

-get the free 2 minute massage

-enjoy every minute.

-not worry about or pay attention to my time. Don't ask me about it, because I really don't care. I ran my last race for time. Ask me about that one, I'll talk your ear off.

-bask in excellent company, I love these girls and this whole weekend will be a blast!

-run side by side to the finish with my bestie.

-cross the finish line with a smile

-be lucky to be smothered in (sweaty) hugs from my kids and husband.

I cannot believe that about a year and a half ago, I put my 5 week old baby in his little swing, put on a 7 year old pair of sneakers, got on my treadmill, and ran one measly mile. It took 22 minutes.

Tomorrow, I'm going to run 26 and a half miles.

If I survive, it will be proof that ANYone can run a marathon.

Yes. Even you.

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." -John Bingham

We will return to our regular scheduled blogging after the weekend.

Away

We're off for a little anniversary getaway in one of our favorite places:

Too many posts about our fun to follow. The girls are staying with friends and probably won't want to come back to living with us after the weekend is done, and I'm sure K will hack the blog and let you know what she and our Little Man are up to. Happy weekend!

"Where Do I Go From Here?"

Aaron had a 2nd week of paternity leave from work, so we took a road trip across Kansas to Denver, Colorado.

We thought 12 hrs in the car with 3 kids would be disastrous, but they did GREAT! A portable dvd player, color wonder markers, some 99 cent stretchy frogs, a baggie of polly pockets and a few of our favorite cds did their magic. We really enjoyed our time in the car together.

We visited:
-my parents, who are serving as LDS missionaries in Denver

-My brother, Scott, his wife Kristie

-several of my cousins live in the Denver area, and two of them had babies around the same time I did. We all got together to celebrate the blessing of Baby Jack (left). He is one month older than Corbin. Sophia (right) is 2 weeks younger than Corbin (middle).

My sister, HolleeAnn flew out to see us and join the party! (did you and I really not take any photos together? I guess one of us was always the one behind the camera!)

We Enjoyed:
-Marshmallow stars and Fireworks
-Playing with the endless supply of presents from the pink suitcase (thanks, Auntie!)
-Pet Goldfish
-Swimming
-Carebears and the Brain Quiz game on Auntie HolleeAnn's Nintendo DS...and I hope to hold the high score of 1167 for awhile.
-getting to know Lacey
-the sand park by Grandma and Pumpkin's house

We went to:
-The Children's Discovery Museum
-The Denver Zoo
-The Littleton Historical Museum
-The Rockies Game

We Ate:
-Homemade granola (recipe coming soon!)
-Penne Rosa from Noodles & Company
-spinach & honeydew smoothies from Dad's vitamix-totally weird, but the kids loved them!
-Culvers!!!
-zucchini from our garden-we took 2 bags full to share and still came home to the motherload
-Spitz...HolleeAnn you were right-BEST sunflower seeds EVAH!
-too many cherries (so stinky, who knew?)

Many posts to come, but I didn't want time to slip by and not post SOMEthing to document our fun week together.

Spider Rats

Imagine it is 3:30 in the morning. You lie asleep in bed exhausted after a weekend away from home, and a 17 hour drive from Lordsberg, New Mexico to your home in California. Your mom, sister and two nieces are so exhausted from the drive that they decide to stay the night with you, because it is just so late and they still have another two hours of driving to do. Suddenly, the bed creaks. You open your tired eyes to see your sister STANDING ON THE BED totally freaking out.

HolleeAnn: MEG! What are you doing? Get down, you're going to fall.

Meg: Aaaauggghhhh! Aaaaauugggh!

HolleeAnn: MEG! Look at me!

Meg: AUUUUGGHHHHhhhh!

HolleeAnn: MEGAN. GET DOWN... MEG! You're standing on the freaking bed. What's the matter with you?! Get down.

Meg: What WAS that?! It's over there...by the wall!

HolleeAnn: Meg there is nothing there. JUST LIE DOWN. You're going to break your neck.

Meg: (shudders) I feel like it's on me still....it just came right out of the wall.

HolleeAnn: Just get down before you fall. Do you even realize you are standing?

Meg: They're like Spider-Rats or something...it's over there. by the wall.

HolleeAnn: MEGAN YOU'RE SLEEPING! there is nothing there. I promise. GET DOWN. GO TO SLEEP.

Then I wake up...

Yep. I'm standing on my sisters bed. teetering over her head.
Where am I? How did I get here? Where are my children?...most importantly....where is that freaky rat thing with the spider legs that I dreamed was coming through the air vents?

Meg: ok THIS is what happens when you give me regular Dr. Pepper late at night. I just need some sleep.

Since I regularly share my sleepytime conversations with Aaron, I thought it was only fair that just this once, I would give a little insight to what it's like for him to share a bed with me. Apparently, I also recently yelled at him to "take the missile out of our refrigerator before leaving for work in the morning". You know, just like every wife does. Along with "bye honey, have a good day", "lock the door when you leave", and "don't forget it's trash day".

By the way, HolleeAnn, we really need to take some new pictures together. That one is like 2 and 1/2 years old...