{inspired} you are strong

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I’ve been inspired by some recent posts about running from some of my favorite bloggers out there…

Meg wrote about running her first half marathon.

Nici wrote a guest post over at  Kelle’s blog about battling an eating disorder and running.

Maggie wrote about her relationship with running.

In addition, a local momma who used to push me to my limits in her Stroller Strides classes wrote about her experience at the Boston Marathon and shared her story with her facebook friends…she was right near the finish line as the bombs went off…and, luckily, is home safe.

my running story

The past two springs were tough on my health for one reason or another, so my exercise and running routines got set on the back burner.

I found plenty of other things to fill my time (thrifting, etsy, decorating our home, sewing, creating)…and my belly. Almost 10 pounds heavier, I’ve decided it’s time to get back into shape.

So, I’ve started running again.

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When I can, I run a quick route down to the park with Odyssey. He loves it. I love it. And, it does both of us a lot of good.

This week I had missed my runs with Odyssey with kids being home from school sick, and Ryan out of town. The weather today was much too beautiful to run on a treadmill indoors, but I was itching to go for a run.

Not just itching, CRAVING it.

I NEEDED to go for a run.

I thought about Nici’s post and I pulled the BOB dualie out of the back of the car (where it’s been riding around for months) and pumped up the tires.

Lorelai hopped in and off we went!

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Long story short, I ran farther and longer than I have in a LONG time.

An older woman running the older direction said, “Wow! You are strong!”

And, I crossed paths with another momma friend, who is also a runner, and has put together a fundraising race in the very park we were running in…go check out the foundation website and the race facebook page…and sign up to run with me (I will be running the 10K).

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I run because I like to.

It feels good physically (when I run…maybe not so much afterwards).

It feels good emotionally.

I can do it alone.

I can share it with friends.

I can share it with my dog.

I can share it with my little girl.

And, it doesn’t hurt to hear people say, “Wow! You are strong!”

my very first running inspiration

You know who it is?

My sister.

She was always faster than me.

A better athlete than me.

It was like she didn’t even have to try and she learned to do hard things…like back flips.

She never took gymnastics.

When we were in college she worked at a running shoe store.

She ran 1/2 marathons before I had any idea what a 1/2 marathon was.

She ran in the snow.

She ran in the rain.

She ran to places in Boulder I didn’t know existed!

I had no interest in running.

She asked me to go, but I rarely did.

One of these days, I hope that my sister and I can run a race together.

I’m not into running for more than 1 hour at a time, so I like 10k’s, but I might run a 1/2 marathon if she would run one with me!

and a winner…

Thank you all so much for leaving a comment. So fun to read what you would or would not change. Seems that most of us were happy with our special day! Life is good!

The winner of the $50 minted.com credit is tara (@etsetara)!

Please send me an e-mail at homeis{at}stephanytaddeo{dot}com so I can get you your prize!

home is…running inspiration.

wouldn’t change a thing…maybe

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My husband and I are way past the newlywed phase.

This October we will have been married 13 years.

If I had it to do all over again I wouldn’t change a lot, but the options for personalization and making your wedding YOURS are truly endless.

Just a quick search on Pinterest will give you all kinds of DIY wedding ideas, tutorials, and inspiring photos.

When we were planning our wedding I thought we were stepping waaaay out of the box by sending our save the date as a newsletter with stories about how we met, etc, our rehearsal dinner invitations on post cards, and {gasp} square wedding invites!

For instance, have you visited Minted, yet?

They have some of the most amazing invites designed by independent designers.

I might have chosen something like this…

or this…

or this…

or, maybe this…

No matter what, there is definitely more to choose from!

Not only does Minted.com offer beautiful invites, but you can also view customer- and designer-created inspiration boards.

For weddings…

Northwest Media Photography by Jenny, see more Minted.com

Northwest Media Photography board by Jenny. See more Minted.com

…babies…

Nesting Bird by fatfatin, see more baby shower invitations on Minted

Nesting Bird board by fatfatin. See more baby shower invitations on Minted

…home…


…and holidays.

Holiday Card by Lauren, see more Minted

Holiday Card board by Lauren. See more Minted


In fact, we ordered our Christmas cards from Minted last year!

And, wouldn’t you know it, we sent out a post card!

how about a giveaway?

Minted would like to give one of you $50 towards a Minted purchase!

To enter, answer one of the following questions as a comment:

If you could change one thing about your wedding what would it be?

or

If you are dreaming about, or planning a wedding, what is one of the must haves for your special day?

 

Deadline is Wednesday, May 1st at 9pm Pacific.

Winner will be announced on Thursday, May 2nd!

home is…time flies when you’re having fun.

pfabulous photography

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We had a family photo mini session on Sunday evening with a local portland momma and fabulous photographer, Jenn, of Pfaus Photography.

We met through Instagram, and when I saw that she was doing mini-sessions I signed up.

We have not had professional family photos taken in three years, so it was time.

Here are a few preview photos…

home is…pfamily photos.

cock-a-doodle-do at four in the afternoon

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Just checkin’ in.

During the winter months I want everything cozy and warm, but it was starting to feel heavy and cluttered.

So, I’ve been rearranging.

Spring cleaning.

Lightening things up a bit.

I’ll share it all with you soon.

For now, a few photos from {m}iphone…

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He’s getting used to the empty space in his mouth and alreay has another loose tooth.

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She  has such a fun personality. Singing, dressing up, making up stories.

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Put this back up on the chalkboard in the family room…it is kind of “dog themed”.

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A few of my favorite things found a nice spot in a vintage crate on the wall in our kitchen.

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Lorelai is writing her name at school.

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A jar full of little people in the playroom.

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We have ants. The kids are both mesmerized and terrified by them. They will hold snakes, walk up to big dogs, feed goats, but ants…it might have something to do with the ants that were all over me at the refuge over spring break.

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The last of the camellia are blooming and falling to the ground. There’s a big mess to clean up. I wish they lasted longer.

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She let me put a braid in her hair. I love it when her hair is out of her face.

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It was a nice morning to share my coffee with Odyssey. Then it got windy and rainy. Then sunny. Then rainy. Then sunny, again.

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Trader Joe’s had bunches of ten daffodils for $1.29. I bought 5 bunches. They brighten up the craft table.

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Mail makes me happy. This afternoon we pulled into the garage just as the mail man stopped. I got an unexpected package from an instagram friend. Homemade jam and this beautiful granny square garland. I absolutely LOVE it!

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This oldy, but goody dowloaded with my other photos. I decided to share it because everybody else is sharing photos of their newly hatched chicks. I want chickens, but Ryan isn’t so keen on the idea. Maybe next year. For now, I’ll visit other peoples chickens and be happy that our neighbors have a rooster that wakes us up every morning…and all day long.

He’s cock-a-doodle-dooing now…it’s 4pm.

I would like to read up about raising chickens and I know there are a lot of you out there who know about it, so if you have some good recommendations please let me know!

home is…just chicken in on a Wednesday afternoon. {get it?!}

 

nana’s visit

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Ryan’s mom came to visit us for the last half of the kids spring break.

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The weather was amazing, so we played outside a lot.

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The Easter Bunny left eggs outside for the kids.

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We took a walk at the wildlife refuge.

nanas visit 4.1And took the dogs to the dog park.

Then she had to go back to snowy upstate New York.

She told us today that the spring bulbs are just starting to poke through the ground.

home is…sharing our favorite places with nana.

 

{hello friday} 4.5.2013

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Just a quick hello to you on this Friday afternoon.

This weekend I will recap our Spring Break visit with Ryan’s mom.

Until then, here a few photos from the week from {m}iphone.

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This little lady landed on my chair when we were sitting outside enjoying our beautiful spring break weather.

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Odyssey and I have started sharing coffee outside when it is warm and dry enough.

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We also shared a great run down to the river on Wednesday morning. I can’t wait to do it again!

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Lorelai has figured out that she can do just about anything her brother can do and has started to write her name, ride a bike, run after the dogs on our walks, and make her own puddles to splash in when it is not raining.

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Her brother taught her how to climb this pallet to talk to the boys next door.

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She also loves to paint and draw.

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This was her drawing and imitation of a butterfly.

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The wild cherry tree that hangs over our yard from our neighbors yard is full of white flowers.

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Yesterday, after enjoying a cozy rainy afternoon in front of the fire, the kids yelled, “Mom! It’s sunny and it’s snowing!”

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We went outside to dance in the snow and enjoy the brief sunbreak.

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The kids also go dive bombed by a hummingbird when they were up on their pallet perch looking into the neighbors yard.

Happy weekend eve, ya’ll!

home is…spring in the pacific northwest.

{in the garden} april

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The saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers,” right?

in the garden

Well, the showers started today after beautiful warm weather at the end of March and the first few days of April.

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And, we already have some flowers.

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Tulips.in the garden 37

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Daffodils.

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Mint.

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Fiddleheads.

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Hydrangea.

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Daisies.

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And, strawberries.

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The back yard is beginning to come alive, too.

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Raspberry and blueberry bushes are beginning to get their foliage.

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The ground is sprinkled with wild cherry blossom petals.

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My makeshift potting bench from our old picnic table.

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Tilted pots inspired by Pinterest.

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Pansies around the fire pit.

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This is what the kids were doing when I was taking photos.

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home is…new growth.

{milestones} a visit from the tooth fairy

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Reece has been working on a loose tooth for a few weeks now.

hanging by a thread

Last week it started hanging by a thread.

I was sure that the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy would bump into eachother at our house on Saturday night.

Once the tooth was really wiggly, Reece didn’t want it to fall out.

Yesterday, on his way in from the car after he was picked up from school, he pulled the tooth out.

He came inside, excited, but also a little sad.

it's out

He didn’t want to pull his tooth out.

I had ordered some adorable tooth pillows from a local Portland mom who has a fabulous etsy shop…go check it out!

tooth pillow and note

We made a tiny little envelope to put his tooth in and put it in the little pocket for the Tooth Fairy.

fairy dust

This morning, we found that she left a tiny little note, one dollar, and some fairy dust on Reece’s pillow.

We got ready for school as usual and, as I do every Wednesday morning, I asked Reece what he would like to take for sharing.

I thought for sure that he would want to take his pillow with the fairy dust and note to school for sharing, but he ran upstairs crying and said he didn’t want to go to school.

After finally getting the kids into the car and on our way to school, I asked Reece why he was so upset.

He told me that he really didn’t want to lose his tooth.

He didn’t want to share what he got from the tooth fairy.

He didn’t want to talk about it at school.

He wanted me to tell his teacher and ask her not to mention it.

So, I did.

It’s almost like he is mourning the loss of his tooth.

He is such a sensitive kid sometimes.

I love that about him.

home is…mourning the loss of a tooth.

staycation

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It’s spring break, and spring is officially here in the Pacific Northwest.

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A lazy morning felt good. We had no plans for the day.

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Eventually we got ourselves moving and…

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Spun spiderwebs of yarn around the house that eventually turned themselves into laser beam security systems for playing spy.

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Lorelai took off riding her bike over the weekend…pedaling by herself. So, while I spent 40 minutes cleaning up the yarn, the kids rode circles around the garage making up all sorts of racing/going to the store/going to school games.

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We took a drive to pick up the newest addition to my latest collection addiction…vintage typewriters.

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I got some happy mail from and instagram friend…there is a special corner of our home filled with special things from friends all over the country who I have never met.

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We colored eggs…for the first time this week…I have a feeling we will be eating lots of egg salad.

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The kids watched a movie after picking out flowers and making cards for their favorite neighbor who celebrates a birthday today.

The best thing…without any grand plans or extraordinary adventures Reece has already declared this “the best day of spring break ever”.

It doesn’t take much more than spending time with them to make them happy.

home is…a staycation.

{hello friday} 3.22.2013

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As I sat down to write this at my kitchen counter I heard a loud thump and saw something falling out of a tree in my periferal vision out my kitchen window.

It happens all the time, but this was LOUD.

I went to the back door and did not see any large branches, but upon further inspection saw a squirrel hunched down under our table.

He seriously had to drop about 30-40 feet out of the trees.

I opened the door to try to sneak out to get Odyssey, but the squirrel came to and ran over to a tree and over the fence.

Man talk about getting back up after taking a big fall.

Anyway…

We are officially on Spring Break around here.

What does that mean?

Not much, just that the kids are out of school.

We’ll probably be doing a lot of the same things we did this week…

cleaning up messes…

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i call her cinderlola now.

two little monkeys…

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they listen to skidamarink on repeat and keep jumping.

i would like to LAY around…

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but we will probably need to add the P back in PLAY.

boxes are magical…

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but probably won’t get us through the week.

mom will need to do…

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some thrifting to keep my sanity.

without kids…

because Nana is coming to visit.

home is…spring break.