Monday, December 31, 2018

2018: A Year in Review


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2018 was a year of travel and adventure. Together we went on 8 trips with two of them to Sydney, Australia and twice to San Diego. I took the girls to Legoland. Last year, Scott asked me where I saw our family in 10 years and I said, "Traveling. I want to see us traveling." So this year when opportunity presented itself, we leapt at the chance. Instead of giving material goods to each other as gifts, we gave adventure. For Christmas, we gave each other a trip to Disneyland. It was a better gift than legos or baby dolls could ever be. I learned how to pack a smaller suitcase, about the magic of packing cubes and how to navigate TSA lines with children. We figured out if it was cheaper to drive and park at the airport or grab an Uber ride. The kids became more flexible. They tried new foods and did new things. They learned how to use all the features on their Kindles. I traveled a few times with just the girls and we learned how to best work together when there was only one adult in charge. 

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2018 also was a year of construction. We started remodeling our basement in March and finished up in August. It was loud, dirty and disruptive. However, it was all worth it. I learned a lot about construction and project management. We now have an amazing space and I’m working to decorate it. Our new sectional comes at the end of January and there may have been a massive IKEA trip to outfit the space. The kids are excited for room to roam, especially in the dark days of winter. 

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I kept reading and consumed 47 books. I went through spurts of reading a book a day to going weeks without picking up a novel. I attempted to read two classics and made it halfway through them. Moby Dick is taking forever and Ishmael uses too many words to describe anything. I attempted to read the Bible but lost stream halfway through the year. 

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I wrote a lot, went on a press trip to Vancouver and explored my curiosity. I took a break from work writing and dove into personal essays along with writing workshops. I just explored writing and where it could go. I have a feeling I'll be doing more of that in the coming year. 

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Photo by Kelsey Moll

2018 was a year of personal acceptance for me. In February, I accepted my body shape and then began taking a medication to help me shed some of my excess body. I lost over 30 pounds. I worked out over 267 times and loved about 220 of those workouts. I ate amazing food because it was amazing. I grew into me. I accepted me for me. 

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Photo by Kelsey Moll

There was fear in 2018 too. Fear of failure. Fear of death. Fear of disease. I went to the eye doctor in early December because I had been having some vision issues when driving to the gym in the early morning. I had decided, I was getting older and it was time for glasses. I never envisioned double vision was a serious health concern. I had even seen my regular doctor the week before and hadn’t mentioned it because I truly believed, I just had aging eyes. The double vision lead to massive testing and a ban on driving for awhile. I had an MRI where I made sure to take the Xanax that was offered. I took all my yoga lessons and breathed while chanted, “I do hard things. I crush hard things” and I counted when the tech told me I had two minutes of testing and three more minutes and that it wouldn’t be much longer. I swallowed my fear as I waited to hear back on blood work for for myasthenia gravitas, a disease which affects both humans and canines, one which steals your muscles abilities to function and means you can not exercise. My blood work came back clean. I felt joy release in my heart. After the MRI, my doctor called and I breathlessly answered the phone. She started by saying, You do not have cancer. You do not have MS. I sighed. She then said, however you do have a pituitary adenoma which is a benign tumor in the pituitary gland. I meet with a Neuro Endocrinologist soon where we’ll discuss how to treat it. I’m also getting glasses with a special prism to enable me to drive without double vision. I’m looking forward to seeing one of everything soon because while seeing double is interesting, it is confusing. 

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While waiting to hear back on my blood work, I was so worried about having to give up exercise. It is something I love to do. It is something I feel honored to have the ability to do. My body can move. My body can stretch. My body is strong. My body is not perfect but I love what my body can do. And I’ve never been more grateful than I am today for everything I have in my life from a wonderful family to a body that can move and an ability to explore and find adventure.

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Wednesday, December 26, 2018

2018 Goal Check-In

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I worked hard to accomplish quite a lot of my goals this year. While I didn't finish all 18, I did make a huge dent. As I work to finalize my 19 in 2019 goals, there are some 2018 goals, I'm planning to carry over into the new year. Without further discussion, here is how I did on my goals this year! 

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2018 Goals
  1. Workout 218 times in 2018 - I worked out a total of 267 times in 218 and I loved it! 
  2. Go Skiing - I went skiing a few times in January while the girls did ski lessons and it was great. I'm not sure if we will go again this winter as honestly it is kinda a pain to get up to the mountain and get all the gear and the expense is huge! 
  3. Complete "The Artist's Way" - I worked with a great group to accomplish this goal early in the year. I didn't do it perfectly but I go it done and really enjoyed the process. 
  4. Learn Hand Lettering - I sorta did this but lost my passion for it. I learned I like looking at hand lettering but not doing it myself. 
  5. Paint the Bathroom - This is not going to get done in 2018 but I'm on target to get it done in 2019! 
  6. Find a picture for the oval frame in my bedroom - I quickly got this done in early 2018. 
  7. Replace the sad Rhododendron plant with a Dwarf Japanese Maple (or another plant) - I replaced this plant in September and am hoping the maple took root. 
  8. Build (or buy) a trellis for my vegetable garden - I have a shiny new trellis. 
  9. Buy a new dishwasher - This got done but it was a mess! Such a mess! 
  10. Embrace Minimalism by doing the Minimalist Game for an entire month - I did this and LOVED it. I need to do it again. 
  11. Reduce our food bill and food waste - I feel like I worked hard on this and got better. I didn't set a measurable goal so I can't say if I really did it. 
  12. Read War and Peace, Moby Dick, A Tale of Two Cities and The Grapes of Wrath - I got about halfway through both A Tale of Two Cities and Moby Dick. 
  13. Read the Bible - I got about a 1/4 of the way through the Bible. 
  14. Knit Nanoo - I started this shawl and had problems with the instructions and then got distracted so I'm still working on this goal!  
  15. Knit 12 hats for charity - I did this and donated my hats to Mary's Place. 
  16. Repeat Goal: Complete TKGA Master Knitting Level I - I decided to let this goal go. My heart isn't into it. 
  17. Repeat Goal: Finish my Miter Square Blanket - I am so close to being done with this blanket! I have about 5 squares to go! 
  18. Repeat Goal: Catch up on my yearly photo books of the girls - I did not do this but have plans to seriously work on this in early 2019.
Saturday, December 15, 2018

Week in Review 12.14.18


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What a week, man! What a week! We are in the countdown to Christmas and while I feel pretty ahead of the game, there is so much wrapping to be done. So much wrapping. 


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Exercise


I had another great week in the exercise department. Exercise is really my happy place. I made it to two boot camps, two barre3 classes and three City Cycle rides. I'm 51 rides into my 100 City Cycle ride goal and pumped! I did a charity ride at City Cycle this morning which was awesome fun! 



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Food

I made the most delicious Apple Cinnamon Muffins from a mix provided by Acme and had a delicious lunch at The Fig and Judge downtown. It was a wild, windy ride into downtown but the lunch was totally worth it. 

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The Girls

Maggie's preschool class went ice skating and I joined them for an afternoon of fun. My legs were wobbly and aching by the end of it. I am not a good ice skater but it was Maggie's extremely happy place! She was grinning with the biggest smile I've seen in a long time and keeps asking to go back. 

Molly had a fun week with her regular school duties and after school activities. She is becoming such a strong swimmer and we are working hard on developing her reading skills. 


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Other Goings On

It would have been my Dad's 69th birthday on Monday so Maggie, my Mom and I visited his niche. We left some flowers and Maggie said she enjoyed visiting him. Molly was mad she wasn't able to come along. 

I also finished knitting my 12th hat for charity today. I'm pretty sure I found a place to donate them and have some back-up ideas if they don't work out. Warm hats in winter are sure to be appreciated by someone. 
Saturday, December 08, 2018

Week in Review 12.8.18


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Whoa! A bit of time has passed since I last posted and a lot has happened! We went to Australia and it was amazing. I'm working on a post about it. We came home and I was tired, so tired. We jumped back into our routine and almost all of us have colds now. We're powering through while tackling Holiday shopping, birthday planning and more!  

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Exercise

I've been killing it in the exercise department. I got in three boot camps, one barre3 class and three City Cycle rides. I'm 48 rides into my 100 City Cycle ride goal. Today I burned the most calories I have ever burned in a cycling class (560) and it was AMAZING!



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Food

I popped into Costco for a few things on Thursday and left with a packed cart. We were pretty low in some of our standard items so we are now completely stocked and never need to go to the store ever again, ever. 


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I've also been busy baking for the girl's birthday party. I made three dozen cupcakes on Friday with Maggie and am going to make all the frosting today with Molly. So far they look really good! I'm making them out of my favorite and really good cookbook (above). 

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The Girls

For Molly's birthday we gave her a skateboard. Last Sunday, Scott and her went to pick it out. She is so excited about it. We also gave her lessons which we'll schedule for her in January. 

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Maggie has been crushing her speech activities which is making me so happy. It's a long drive to her place on Fridays and I need her to work at speech so she can "graduate". 

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Other Goings On

I'm working at slowing down this holiday season. I decided not to do our usual activity advent calendar and just let things flow. I started Christmas shopping early and am mostly done. It helps that we are not doing gifts for the girls this year and are instead going on a trip. I'll be back soon with a post about our latest trip to Australia! 
Sunday, November 11, 2018

Week in Review 11.10.18

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Photo credit: Kelsey Moll
www.kelseymoll.com



It is amazing how preparing for a trip can literally take up one's entire week. I've spent the week getting things together for our trip to Sydney and we are finally ready to go! The entire family is super excited about our adventure. 

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Exercise

I kicked some butt this week in the exercise department! I am 40 rides into my 100 City Cycle ride goal. I got in two boot camps, one barre3 class and four City Cycle rides.


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Food

This week's menus were focused on clearing out the pantry. We were helped with this project by a food drive with Molly's school. We also went shopping with the money from Molly's Give allowance jar to stock up on extra food. She was quite adamant that we donate cheerios to the food drive so I made sure those were on the list. 

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The Girls

The girls spent the week going to school and packing for the trip. They were ready to go on Friday! 


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Other Goings On

We got our photos back from our photographer, Kelsey Moll and I love them! I quickly jumped onto the Kodak Moments site and ordered our Holiday Cards so they will be ready to be sent when we get back from our trip. Here are a few of my favorite shots!


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Tuesday, November 06, 2018

2019 WCCPBA Nominees

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We are a true lover of books in this family so when Molly's school librarian sent home a list of the 2019 WCCPBA Nominees, we quickly got reading! 

Here is a list of all the books! Give yourself the challenge of reading all of them! 

Alfie: The Turtle That Disappeared

Alfie: The Turtle That Disappeared
Author and Illustrator: Thyra Heder

 






The Bad Seed 
Author: Jory John Illustrator: Pete Oswald








Charlotte the Scientist Is Squished 
Author: Camille Andros
Illustrator: Brianne Farley







Giant Pants
Author and Illustrator: Mark Fearing  







Great, Now We've Got 
Barbarians!
Author: Jason Carter Eaton
Illustrator: Mark Fearing






The Great Pasta Escape  
Author: Miranda Paul
Illustrator: Javier Joaquin 






Ice Boy 
Author and Illustrator:  David Ezra Stein





Jabari Jumps 
Author and Illustrator:  Gaia Cornwall







The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors 
Author:  Drew Daywalt
Illustrator:
 Adam Rex  





Life on Mars
Author and Illustrator:  Jon Agee  






Lost and Found Cat: The True Story of Kunkush's Incredible Journey 
Author: Doug Kuntz and Amy Shrodes
Illustrator: Sue Cornelison 




My Awesome Summer by P. Mantis 
Author and Illustrator: Paul Meisel
Publisher: Holiday House





One Proud Penny  
Author: Randy Siegel
Illustrator: 
Serge Bloch 












Poor Louie 
Author and Illustrator: Tony Fucile






Rules of the House
Author: Mac Barnett
Illustrator: Matt Myers






Sergeant Reckless: The True Story of the Little Horse that Became a Hero
Author: Patricia McCormick
Illustrator: Iacopo Bruno



Shawn Loves Sharks 
Author: Curtis Manley
Illustrator: Tracy Subisak  




Wanted! Ralfy Rabbit, Book Burglar 
Author and Illustrator: Emily MacKenzie  





Woodpecker Wants a Waffle  
Author and Illustrator: Steve Breen 






You Don't Want a Unicorn 
Author: Ame Dyckman
Illustrator: Liz Climo 






 
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