Me A-Z

I never do these type of things .... but this one seems easy!!

A. Age: 31
 

B. Bed size: Queen - shared with a hubby & 2 dogs
 

C. Chore you hate: folding & putting away laundry

 

D. Dogs: 2 - Zoe (rescue - nuf said) Reese (lab)  

E. Essential start to your day: checking all public social apps I have (on the toilet) TMI-?  sorry  

F. Favorite color: Pink 

G. Gold or Silver: Silver

H. Height: 5'7"

 

I. Instruments you play: I don't ....

 

J. Job Title: Admin Assistant. Wife. Mom. Sister.

K. Kids: Brody - 3 yrs old
 

L. Live: IL

M. Married: 2006

N. Nicknames: ummmm ..... IDK

O. Overnight hospital stays: just when I had Brody 
 

P. Pet peeve:  not putting dirty dishes in the dishwasher .... the dishwasher is a perfect place to hide the grossness of dirty dishes! 

Q. Quote:   "Someday I won't be able to, but today is not that day" I need to tell myself that every time I don't want to run!

R. Righty or Lefty: Righty.

S. Siblings: 1 sister
 

T. Time you wake up:  my goal is 4:45a, but sometimes most times its 5:45a 
 

U. University attended: Community College .... pretty sure is isn't an University

 

V. Vegetables you dislike: peas, green beans

 

W. What makes you run late: ADD and OCD .... I always think I have time to do just one more thing .....

X. X-rays you've had: teeth
 

Y. Yummy food: Olive Garden Salad and Bread Sticks

 

Z. Zoo animal favorite: The Lions & Monkey's

 

2012 Resolutions _ Recap

Whelp ... it's that time again - resolutions .... (enter haunting music) Let's see how I did on my 2012 Resolutions ....

Resolution: Run the whole thing:  I sign up and participate in about 5 races every year and besides the Santa Hustle a few weeks back, I haven't ran the whole race since the Halloween 10k in October 2010!!  This year....I'm going to run the whole race - every race!

6-month check up: So far so good....I ran the whole 5 mile St Patty's Day run 2 min faster than my goal....next up Susan G Koman (haven't ran that whole course since....um....2008), then the Color Run in August, then the Halloween 10k, THEN.....the HALF in October

Conclusion:  I ran the whole SGK and the Color Run.  I didn't register for the Halloween 10k .... but I ran the whole 13.1 in October right at my goal of 2h 30m!

Resolution: Pre Brody Weight: I'm a big slacker....I'm the first to admit it-I really don't like to exercise and still like to snack and eat shitty like I did when I was 17!!! But, this year I'm going to get down or below the weight I was when I got pregnant with Brody.  Just for the record....that's 10 + or - pounds.

6-month check up: Work in progress....Matt and I joined Weight Watchers online on May 8th (um almost a month) and I've only lost 4 lbs...NOT because WW doesn't work, because I cheat ALL.THE.TIME. Still working on it....I have another 6 months!  =)
Conclusion: Hellz Bellz ... this is a fail!  I'm a WW drop out .... I manged to keep those 4 lbs off (BFD) BUT .... January 2nd 2013 I'm going to do the Advocare 24-Challeage - the shit is already ordered!!  It's a mini investment and I'll be doing it with a great group of girls!!

Resolution: Better Mother and Wife: I really hate to confess this (its not even Friday) but sometimes I act like Kate Gosslin.  I freak out over messes and when things don't go as planned, so this year I'm really REALLY going to try to be a little calmer.  This by far is going to be the hardest one for me!

6-month check up: Still Kate Gosslin....sorry people in my life! 

Conclusion: UGH .... I think I'm getting better, but still have my moments ... and my moments can last for hours - DAYS - a while!  LOL

Resolution: Baby #2: I'm going to THINK about getting off the pill (FYI: it'll probably be way later in 2012...like probably November-ish).

6-month check up: The way Mr Broster has been acting lately this will happen closer to December 31st at 11:59p until I THINK about it. I can roll over resolutions, right!?!?

Conclusion: I'm still on the pill .... here's my issue - I would get off the pill when the clock strikes midnight on the 31st, but it won't go with my plan .... my plan is to get pregnant in July so I'll have the baby in March/April - that way ..... I'll have a springtime baby and 6-7 months in between to plan birthday parties AND might be able to plan it just right to reveal the sex at Christmas next year ..... 

Resolution: Potty Training: well, duh.....yes I'm already this, but Mr. Brody isn't!  He will be in 2012 though!

6-month check up: We have the peeing down pretty good....but the poops - ugh, I'm running out of underwears blc I throw them away instead of washing them.  It's easier to just cut the underwear off then pull them down then wash their leg - OK I'll stop there, I'm grossing myself out.

Conclusion: 100% potty training (bring on the balloons and streamers!!!) everyone told me it would just "click" with them and by god it did!!  He went once at school and it's been smooth sailing ever since!! We still wear pull ups for naps and nighttime, but the Dr. said over night potty training could take 7 years to conquer - and I'm A-Ok with that!!

Resolution: J.O.B.: My goal is to find another job that I absolutely love - like when I was at WCG (if that is possible)

6-month check up: SUCCESS: Oh the relieve of having a job I love again.  I'm working at World Wide Technology in Westport and couldn't be happier.  It wasn't an easy road...I interviewed 4 times with 6 different people all while still working for the Prada's. I sit in the lovely 270 traffic for about 45-60 mins everyday, but it's totally worth being in a healthy work environment again. 
Conclusion: I'm still over the moon happy at my job .... I LOVE everything about it - the people I work with, the guys I support, the culture of the company - it's all so great!!!

Stay tuned for 2013 resolutions ....

Santa Pictures_2012

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we went to Trish Catio's house for Santa Pictures (becuase she knows him .... ) We left there and I told Matt we are so lucky to have 2 local Santa's that do such an amazing job!!! 

You can tell Brody was a little nervous ... playing with his sleeve

 

"I want Avengers and a bow and arrow"

Apparently Santa NEVER shares his hat

Booties

Let's chat about Booties .....

I'm not talking about these .....

...... I'm talking about these

I scored a pair (not the pair above) on Black Friday from Sears for $16, but haven't worn them yet because I don't know how .... here's what I've tried and why it hasn't worked - maybe it would have, but I'm not sure!!

tights and sweater dress - my tights don't have feet in them so part of my ankle showed ..... should I pull the tights down into the booties or is the peek-a-boo ankle OK?

skinny jeans ...... my jeans aren't very skinny around the ankle so they bunch with the booties - is bunching OK or should I tuck them into the booties .... tucking seems weird to me .....

Please teach me how to wear my good deal!!

3 year old pictures

On Sunday November 4th we went to Bee Tree Park and had Kara with Bright Shot Photography take Brody's 3 year old pictures ..... we wanted to get some pictures with Grandpa so the rest of my family joined us for some shots.  This was the day where Brody decided to be 110% all boy and not cooperate.  I think at one point I said to Matt (on the edge of tears) "I think we should just get another puppy instead of having another baby .... I can't do this" .... but of course I knew that Kara would some how get some great shots and she did!!  Below are the proofs - enjoy! 

                                http://brightshot.instaproofs.com/enterEvent.php?id=716215

password is Blind2012 (case sensitive)

Happy 29th Birthday!!

I'm going to dedicate today's post to this birthday girl .... my sister Emily!!

29 years ago she stole my thunder came into my life!  We are 2 1/2 years apart so I don't remember too much about her when she was a baby ...... 

.... but I do remember playing and fighting with her a lot with her and always being close!

We, of course, were each other maid/matron of honors in our weddings.

She was there when Brody was born and is his godmother .....

I'm extremely proud of all of her fitness accomplishments!!

We've had our ups and downs and still do, but nothing will ever change that she's my little sister and love her very much!!

On to some fun facts:

• she used to suck her thumb and had to wear a sock on it at bedtime
• we used to play church and ride our bikes up to Handee Mart to get these to use as the host
• we shared a room our whole life
• she has her Bach Degree from Hickey and everytime she does or says something dumb I always say "there goes that Hickey college down the drain"
• when she used to work at Stumpf Homes she sounded like a robot when she answered the phone
• when her and Brian first got together she wrote "Brain's Birthday" on her calendar .... we sometimes call him brain for shits and giggles
• in High School she dyed her hair black and no box color would fix it .... mom made her get her hair stripped before she would pay for one Senior Picture

Halloween_2012

Ever since Cassie posted this I wanted to get ahold of some old Halloween pics of Emma and I .... well I didn't do a lot of digging (hence why there are only 4 of them), but here you go ....

Our Halloween celebration started last Friday with Truck or Treat at our Church / Brody's Day Care.

Then on Sunday we Trick or Treated at our family's houses in Red Bud and Sparta.

We continued the holiday with carving our pumpkins on Monday.  Matt carved his a few weeks ago and entered it into a Ducks Unlimited Contest .... he got Honorable Mention, but it was no where near the winner's design! 

Halloween is apparently a big deal at my work .... around 10:30 everyone got into costume and paraded around it was GREAT!!

Ahhhh, finally Halloween Night!!  We started off great "trick or treat" the Hulk would say .... followed by "thank you".  Then just like that he was done .... it was to the point where we would go up to houses and they would ask him if he wanted candy and he would say "no".  We were home by 7:30p which was fine, because he got way too much candy and still had a great time.

*FAIL*

I've had some *FAIL* moments lately .....

13.1 Sticker:
After my first half I thought "I'm going to be original and get a 13.1 sticker that no one has" so I googled 13.1 stickers and about a million popped up!  I chose this one in clear ... thinking this is really cute, different and it'll look like it's painted on!! The Sunday after the race, my nap and multiple pain meds I went to the car wash to wash my car so I could put that sticker on .... just to realize the print was too light on my tint. *FAIL*.  So, when I was at Big River Running to get my new shoes I picked another sticker up ... it was a round black one .... I wasn't thrilled, because I wanted a girly color, but I got it anyways. Since I still wasn't happy, I ordered yet another one on Amazon - it was pink and clear and it wasn't like one I see all the time! Well it came yesterday and even tho Matt told me "it's not going to show up on the tint" I went outside anyways in the the freezing cold I backed my car in the driveway and tried to take the clear one off - it won't come off - *FAIL*  to be continued .... I'm gonna get that clear one off and the clear pink one WILL show up!!

Brody's Bedding:
Poor Meagan and Jenny I've been going back and forth and back and forth over the new bedding for Brody's new room.  I picked this out right away, but check out the price tag!  $156 for a twin cover and sham .... not even a bed skirt!  I'm not going to even go into all the other ideas I had over this room .... so, Friday Matt helped me chose - "get the bedding" his email read.  So I did ... and that also came yesterday (it was like Christmas at my house) and I looked at the box (it was small).  Its only a twin I told myself .... (still small for a puffy comforter I thought).  I opened tore the box open it was folded pretty tight.  I opened the pillow sham (cute), then I started unfolding the comforter (or so I thought) then I noticed it had cute buttons on one end .... THEN I remembered reading "cover" in the description *FAIL* .... well S.O.B. .... now I need one of these (I mean I guess, right)!!

Pumpkin Seeds:
We finally carved our pumpkins last night .... I spent more time picking out all the seeds so I could roast them!  So I dried them out seasoning them with some dry ranch and seasoning salt and put them in the oven on about 300 degrees for 30 mins .... the timer went off and I took them off to give them a little shake shake and they didn't move .... I forgot to spray the pan *FAIL*.  So, I scraped them off and tossed them with some olive oil .... they ended up turning out delish!!!

So I don't feel like a total *FAIL*ure .... why don't you share some of your own *FAIL* moments (and don't say you don't have them ..... because we all do - some just more than others)

Marathonfoto

I wish these suckers weren't so pricy ..... those Marathonfoto people were everywhere!!



*1st* Half Marathon

Whelp .... I did it  (!!!) I ran my 1st Half Marathon and right at my goal time!!
Official Time of 2:30:52 and here's how the rest of it broke down:

5K - 35:10

10K - 1:09:31

10MI - 1:53:41

Pace - 11:31

Overall I was .... 6172 out of 9362

In my Division I was .... 737 out of 1132

By Gender I was ..... 3510 out of 6043

Not too shabby if I do say so myself .... those 13.1 miles was an end to a very long weekend!! 

let's rewind .... shall we?

Friday :

I had all good intentions of going to Aldi's for the first time on Friday until around 3:00 when my boss was like "wanna go to the game tonight?" now .... I'm not the biggest Cardinal fan out there,  but my sister is and I told Matt that if I was offered playoff tickets I was going to take them and take Emily since she has been so great training with me and he was fine with that.  So I immediately messaged Emily .... she was pumped and ready to go ..... there's no need for a reminder of how that game ended.

Saturday:

The plan was Expo to pick up our race packets and shopping ..... well due to the late night we were both super tired.  We went to the expo and it was so neat!  There were a ton of booths advertising for upcoming runs ... one of them are in VEGAS.AT NIGHT.ON THE STRIP (who's in?) so Elvis and some show girl was there ..... I think this was the Elivs high on drugs get up .... he was a mess! LOL

After the Expo we headed to the Mill's .... I'm not sure why I even go out there - I never have any luck.  We hit up Chili's and headed home!  I was beat, but I didn't nap.  Matt went hunting in the afternoon so while Brody's was napping I started organizing the spare bed room to make room for Brody's new room.  I was a bear .... It was combination of pure exhaustion, nerves and frustration and I took it out on everyone in my way (oops).  My alarm was set for 5am and when Matt went to set his for 6a he was like "my phone just told me it was only 7 hours away .... why aren't you in bed?!??!" I went to bed shortly after that and didn't move until my alarm went off at 5am. 

Sunday (RACE DAY):

My 10 week training had came to an end .... all 136 miles / 26.23 hours had came down to this day!!  I was terrified!!  A million things kept going through my head .... what if I don't do it in 2:30 like I want to - will I be pissed at myself?  what if I walk .... I SOOO don't want to walk one bit!!! why did I eat like a pig all week .... will that affect my run?  Sister 2 and the other RB Runners picked me up at 5:30a .... no turning back now!!

One of my biggest concerns was that Matt, Mom, Brian and Brody wouldn't make it to the stops along the way and they wouldn't take enough pictures .... but Matt was a rock star and navigated the group around 3 times!! 

Brody held his signs and even gave high fives to everyone!!

Once we hit 13 miles I knew the end was near so I grabbed Emma's hand and we hauled ass to the finish line!!  It was the best feeling in the world!!  We passed Kelly, Mom, Matt and Brody on the way cheering us on!! 

So here's the good, bad and ugly .....

good

I didn't walk once

I finished in my goal time

bad

I wanted to walk

The hills sucks and the weather was a bit warm

ugly

My hip flexor bothered me on Saturday and it flaired back up during the run

I got a pretty bad blister (again)

My shoes were too tight and I could barely walk afterwards

My car flair doesn't show up on my car ..... boo

would I do it again .... well YES and actually I am in February in Disney! 

We never got a picture of the back of our shirts but it said ....

"Don't cry because it's over; Smile because it happened" - Dr Seuss

Brody is 3!!

Ahhh, yesterday couldn't have went more perfect!!  The food was great, the cake was amazing and the weather oh the weather ........ it was fabulous!!!  Brody's 3rd birthday party was exactly as I planned it!  Matt was a huge help and I only had one little fit! =)  The best conversation of the day went like this (during my tiny fit):
Matt: well if you weren't so particular it wouldn't be a big deal
Me: I'm not particular, I just want it to be perfect as possible

HA!

On to the vomit of pictures .....

Brody's pants were wet when he woke up and he didn't want to put any on afterwards so he didn't ...

He went outside in this get up too ... bahaha

A HUGE thank you to Jackie and her Cricut!!

He was having a BLAST helping me ... don't let that finger fool you!

"thanks for stoppin' by treat bags"

My favorite table of the day!

My mother in law got the cake from Gordon's Cakes in Sparta...amazing!!!

Lots of play time & presents galore!!!

The Dirt Bike!!

Some body was partied out ...... 

Thank you everyone for everything!!  We're so blessed to have such a wonderful family!!  I'm sooo looking forward to the terrible terrific threes!!