Everyday Epiphanies

Today I...

• woke up a little later, 633 am to be exact, and fed my kids cereal instead. But made them their favorite spam musubi for lunch!
• went with a touch of brown and a hint of gold for the eyes :)
• kissed my hubby softly and let him sleep in before I left for work.
• wore my gym clothes to work, (struttin my stuff) despite it being 27 degrees on the way to work.
• danced around in the store before it opened and even did my ab crunches! 
• had a visit from Keri and her girls and Dulce!
• watched Lil Edyn go pee-pee in the potty :) Did I mention I saw this little girl come out of her mommy?
• brainstorming and prepping for National Scrapbook Day! Tonya's got a LOT planned!
• met with a potential wedding client, talked, and she HIRED US!! Woot!!!  Woot!! We are so rockin' weddings this summer!
• This song was finally available at iTunes!
• Hubby surprised me by picking up my favorite granolas for my oatmeal and yogurt at Snow City and Jams! How Thoughtful!
• planning Izzy's birthday, she wants a Littlest Pet Shop Party! Yeah, that's easy to find here in AK, with like only 2 party stores!  OY! Crunch time, (thanks Keri for all those links)!
• Just heard that darn volcano exploded again at 4 pm Tuesday.. it better not cancel my Spin Class tomorrow.. I'm-ma-have-to kick some serious butt!
• have been on facebook 10 15 25 45 times.. So it's slightly addicting, especially when Cathy Z has a live feed on her thoughts on American Idol :)
• took a little nap after getting home from work.. it was nice and refreshing!
• have a band-aid on my thumb.. which makes it so hard to text btw!
• am not cooking dinner, leftovers for tonight, which add an extra meal for the week, sweet!
• am adding to my To-Do List for tomorrow, my day off. 
• have been spoiled by Alaska's longer daylight, the kids are in school till 4, they played out till 8 pm, and went to bed at 9pm!  Hmm.. do I have kids?
• watched American Idol.. and still rooting for Adam.. but Kris gave me chills :) Hawtness!
• went to the gym and ran the track with the hubby after the kids went to bed :)
• am thankful for family and my girlfriends.

A Great Start To The Week...

My Monday started out quite relaxing.  I got the kids off to school, got home, and debated whether to take a quick nap or keep going.  My day starts at 6 am and by then I've usually got breakfast going, the laundry started, and the daily vacuuming already done! So by 9 am, I was exhausted.  But I stayed up and decided to enjoy my quiet Monday to do something creative. I added more layouts to my 2005 album and gathered all my photos for March.  So I'm ready to scrap March 2009 now that it's practically over.

Today was my first time at Turbo Kick Class!  And I see why they added that extra "turbo" in this class!  I enjoyed it and I was able to channel my inner "Pussycat Doll" while breaking out into a sweat!  I admit it took some repetive moves to finally get it, but I enjoyed doing it. Most of all, I enjoyed the music that was blaring through the speakers!  And the best part.. my hubby joined us for this work out!  I have to say, watching him do some of the moves made me chuckle in between moves :)  Aww.. he's so cute :) It was a great work out and I can't wait to again on Saturday!

I head to work tomorrow and meet up with a potential client for another wedding :) Have a great Tuesday!

Status Update!

Every time I sign on to facebook, (which mind you is a lot of times because I can access it from anywhere!) I think of this video that Lynne had posted on her facebook a while ago.. What would happen if Facebook was in Reality..

Simply Hilarious.. I love when he says "Status Update!"
Since being on Facebook I have connected to many people.. most of which from my past and from my hometown. It is so uncanny to see all these people grown up with families of their own then I find myself intrigued by their lives that I could stay on that thing for an hour or so just combing through photos of them and constantly reading their Status Update!  Then I had this conversation with an old friend who just found his way on Facebook.. about how funny it is that he enjoys checking everyone's status updates and wonders if he's a stalker :) LOL! I reply and say, are you kidding, I'm constantly changing my update by the hour :)

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This weekend, the ashes from Mt. Redoubt finally came our way.  We were out and about and noticed ash falling from the sky.  The clouds were hovering with an odd grey haze.. next thing we know, the ashes fell and luckily my husband likes to be equipped, we had our masks in hand and made our way home. Not without getting some things from the commissary!  This unexpected ash fall has canceled my husband's TDY trip this month, but it looks like he will get on the next round of classes.

Last week I tried out several classes at the gym (Spin, Step, Kickboxing) and enjoyed all of them! I can't wait to start all over again!

Well for now, I'm stuck reading this, so as my posts get shorter and fewer in between, this is why :) And not to mention, I've started a new tv show, Battlestar Galactica.  Hubby just bought the first few series on iTunes and he's sucked me in with him! (I know, I'm a total geek)

Simplify 05

I've had this post in draft for a while.. great time to post it, being so "tired" from being at work till 3pm and then took a step class after.. *yawn*  I don't even think I'll make it past 10:30! 

"Who Begins Too Much Accomplishes Little." - German Proverb

The next chapter in the book talks about being aware of your surroundings, your habits, and once recognized, take heed of the unbalance in your life that could be due to all you do in one day, and create a more balanced life by seeing what needs to be simplified.  Seems complicating, but it's quite simple. It begins with simple steps.  One of which is to focus.  Focus on your priorities.

Here's a few pointers to think about:

Record your three goals, post them on sticky notes in a visible place that you look at everyday. (For me that would be my laptop).

1.  Create More.
2.  Exercise Regularly.
3.  Enjoy more time with family and friends.

Once you've written your goals, commit to taking real action steps toward them everyday. As you do this, consider what you are learning about your life.  Have you discovered that things can be eliminated to create more time for your goals. 

A final exercise to help you focus on your goals, is to first realize what obstacles are in your way.  Much like your never ending To Do Lists, let's do quite the opposite, let's do a What I Did Today List.  This exercise will heighten your awareness of how many things you do in one day and how long it takes you to do them. Reviewing this list will help you schedule more effectively, stay focused, and realize that you do much more than you think.

Think about this as you start your new week, you will be surprised at how you will see how you can find time for the things you tell yourself you never have time to do.  I used to tell myself, I can never find the time to exercise, with 3 kids, 2 jobs, and a husband who is on shift work... but once I got my priorities in order. I found the time to fit it in.  Life, it's a constant balancing act :)

Scraps.

Remember when "scrap" booking was about using your scraps?  Yeah, I need to keep reminding myself of that when I go to work cause I always feel like I need the latest and greatest!  But I remember scrapping when I was 13, I used to cut old magazines out (Bop, Big Bopper, Tiger Beat...), or used the brochures from the places we visited, and basically used what I already had. 

Back to the basics.. at least that's what I keep telling myself.  I've been doing a lot of "mulit-photo" or collage type layouts.. that I was dying to do a one photo layout and just used the sraps in my "box of scraps"..  I even saved the tea bag covers and a starbucks cup holder.  I also save myself the trouble of trying to use a paper trimmer.. (never needed it when I was 13 right?)  and just hand cut everything.. Nothing is straight, nothing is proportional.. and that's okay.. !

Then I felt the need to get messy and paint!

Enjoy your Thursday. I try out a new class at the gym tomorrow, Step, then Friday, Kickboxing :)

Daily Tid-Bits 3/24

• This is my FAVORITE COMMERCIAL.. (Paula you need to watch it.. I think of you, "The Sprinkler, Throw Away the Key..")
• The difference between men and women, well between my hubby and I. I love him dearly but on our days off together, I try my hardest to pretend he's not there sometimes.  I notice I get so much more done when he's not home :) And when he is home, all of a sudden I become incapable of getting my own bottle of water or doing anything else for that matter.

• Women: While upstairs you see a basket of laundry ready to go downstairs, on our way down, we will carry it downstairs.  Multi-task, right?

• Men: On his way downstairs, he will overlook the laundry that needs to be brought downstairs, not once, twice, maybe three times! One thing at a time.

• I'm falling in love with Edward Twilight all over again.. We got the DVD over the weekend and I've seen it three four times already!  To my surprise, my boys enjoyed it too.. in fact, I caught my oldest reading New Moon the other day because he wanted to know what happens next!  I said.. all the answer to your questions are in those books in my room!

• Still feeling good.. keeping up with my workout and eating right. I can't wait for Alaska to warm up so I'm not freezing when I walk out with my gym clothes!

• Hubby leaves on Friday.

• I can't wait to go to another Spin Class on Wednesday!

• I almost cried today when Isabel insisted to catch the bus to school.  I drove the car to their bus stop (a few steps outside our home) and watched them load up on my way to work this morning.

• Today (Tuesday) was the first time in a LONG time I worked for 9 hours straight! Oddly enough, I enjoyed it. Just doing other things, getting out of the house, no chores to look at, and feeling inspired.  Too bad when I was to tired to create when I got home :)

• Gonna miss Ms. Paula when she goes to Thailand.. :( 

• Note to self, maybe hit a tanning salon, after I saw Erica return from her cruise today, I'm feeling quite ashy!!!

• Keri is SCRAPBOOKING.. Yes, I do believe in miracles :)

• Fell in love with Baby Ellie!

• So get this, I'm adding a wedding for June 19 & 20, back to back, crazy? Crazy Fun! 

• Oh I had a running list in my head on Monday.. now it's all gone.. now all I can hear is Linkin Park
• 
  

  
  Leave Out All the Rest - Linkin Park

My Latest Crave.

It takes a little longer to cook than those instant oatmeals... but worth the texture and that whole oat taste :)  But the granolas make this oatmeal heaven for me! I get them fresh from Snow City!

The volcano here is still exploding!  In fact, there was another burst as of 7:41 pm this evening.  Luckily the winds are blowing the ashes up North and Anchorage is dodging it for the most part!  Good news for us, not so much for the guys up North.

Monday is my night of Television, (Chuck, Heroes, 24, and The Secret Life of An American Teenager).. so I will leave this short and sweet. Off to a full day of work tomorrow.  Have a great Tuesday!

Ashes, ashes...

we all fall down.... 

all I can say, it's about time Mt. Redoubt.  I spent every waking hour checking this status since February! And it's finally EXPLODED!!! (see that code RED). 

So of course.. of course.. I was NOT ready for it! The ONE day, I didn't feel like going to the commissary.  The one day I said, oh I'll pick up some milk, oj, and eggs tomorrow after I drop the kids to school, the one day I was NOT prepared.. IT HAPPENS.. go figure!

Thanks to the live feed of Facebook:

I found it that it indeed exploded.  Ah, what would I do without facebook! So the hubby and I got in our car and headed out to Carrs, the only store opened at 11:30 pm!  And it was no surprise, everyone else was also there! 

So it's 1:22 am... way past my bedtime, but all this excitement is keeping me up, and the suspense of the expected ash fall is killing me!  And the only thing I'm wondering is:  can I still make it to my 11 am SPIN class?

I'm sure my Facebook Status will keep you updated :)

We Survived..

Makes for a great read and laugh: HERE.

Enjoy your weekend!

Behind The Scenes (again).

What a relaxing Thursday.. Oh my goodness.. I did... ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! That pretty much sums up my day.  I guess you gotta have one of those days, huh? I did enjoy a nice lunch with the hubby of salad and sandwich with a cup of tea. Then with one hour to spare, we rushed over to Sports Authority where I picked more sporty outfits. I can't seem to resist getting a new sports bra or new leggings. I spent the rest of the afternoon at the gym with my girlfriend Stephanie. It was nice to go with a girlfriend, cause my hubby usually does his own thing.  This way we could talk while on the bike or walk and chit chat.  We decided to document our journey to a healthier us and start a new blog to keep track of our daily ups and downs and quest to a better "us."

I got some "fun" photos of Paula and I at our shoot the other day.. thanks to Steph! It's the Behind the Scenes of what goes on during our gigs. :) And yes it was freezing that day.. just in the teens!  Yikes!