get moving…

January 10, 20115 Comments

It’s Monday!

Usually I don’t like Monday, but today it feels like a good day. I think in 2011 I am going to give Monday a chance to show her stuff.

I am going to try to have a regular “get moving…it’s Monday!” post because as most of us know it is hard to get moving on Monday!

Here is my motivation to get moving…

In September I RAN my first 5K race. It was the Portland Race for the Cure. I ran this race for my mom, who is a breast cancer survivor, and all the other women that have battled, are battling, or will battle this disease. I ended up being one of the top individual fundraisers for the Portland Race for the Cure! I also ran my first 5K in under 30 minutes!

In December I ran my second 5K. It was the Jingle Bell Run for the Arthritis Foundation. As some of you know, my husband was diagnosed with arthritis at the age of 18, but most of you would not know this because he never complains about the daily pain that he deals with. The morning was cold, but I also ran this one in under 30 minutes. This is your forewarning, in 2011 I will be fundraising for the Arthritis Foundation.

In March I am running my first 8K. This race is for ME! I will be running in the Shamrock Run here in Portland. I have officially started training for this run in addition to my regular Stroller Strides classes. I will keep you updated in “get moving…it’s Monday” posts.

home is…motivation to get moving!

the little guy said…

January 9, 20113 Comments

This morning I am letting Ryan sleep in (he does the same for me A LOT).

the little guy on a Sunday morning

When I saw the little guy get out of bed on the video monitor I went upstairs to get him so he did not wake up his Poppa. By the time I got up there he was already on the bed with Ryan. So, I asked him to come to me so we could go downstairs. Here is how our conversation went.

“Please come here so you can go downstairs with Mommy.”

He came to me and we started down the stairs.

As I carried him down the stairs he said, “Why?”

I was about to say, “So we can let Poppa sleep in, ” and…

"hot chocolate milk"

… the little guy said, “Because I am a lucky boy! Because you love me so much!”

home is…spending an early Sunday morning with the little guy.

and it hit…

January 8, 20113 Comments

Inspiration, that is.

It was easy today.

There is a blog that I have followed for a few months now. A momma in Florida, who is also an excellent photographer, writes this blog. I always look forward to her posts.

So, please visit her blog. Read the birth story of her 2nd born, Nella. I cried. Hard. It hit me. The true emotion that she was able to share was amazing to me.

When I think I am having a hard day I think of Kelle and her beautiful daughters, who are close to the same ages of my children.

I don’t know this woman personally, but I wish I did.

This woman inspires me.

Please read her latest post and if you can donate $5, please do.

Pay it forward for Nella’s Rockstars!

home is…accepting and including individuals with Down syndrome (really, ANYBODY, for that matter).

timing is everything

January 7, 20118 Comments

Now that this post a day 2011 is here, and I have accepted the challenge, I am wondering how I will accomplish it.

How do I blog EVERYDAY?

Is it better to blog first thing in the morning before the kids get up and the chaos begins?

Or, should I wait until the end of the day when I have a lot on my mind to write about, but little energy to actually do it?

OR, should I just write whenever I get the chance to like I have been doing?

There are positives and negatives to all of the above.

What would you do?

what do you do…

January 6, 201111 Comments

…with all of the holiday cards that you receive?

Over the years I have kept them in baskets during the holidays and then put the photo cards in a notebook/photo album after the 1st of the year. I hated the thought of throwing out (or even recycling) the cards that our friends and family put a big effort in to sending to us every year! My aunt had (and hopefully still has) photo albums filled with all of the cards they had received over the years and I used to love looking through them on Christmas day when we celebrated at their house with our family.

During the month of December I displayed our cards on the bulletin board in the playroom that normally holds the artwork from the kiddos. It was nice to look up at friends and family from near and far while we spent time in this room over the month of December. Our Christmas morning was shared with all of you as the tree was also in the playroom and this is where we spent our Christmas morning opening gifts.

I plan to get those photos into an album…eventually. I still have all of last years cards in a drawer waiting to be put in the 2009 album!

By the way, don’t we have some good looking friends and family?!

Do you display your holiday cards? If so, how? And, do you hold on to them after the holidays, or toss (recycle) them?

home is…having all of your friends and family with you for the holidays…even if it is just their photo!

i’m posting everyday in 2011

January 5, 20118 Comments

Well, the folks at WordPress have put up a challenge for 2011.

And, I am accepting it.

Well, I’m accepting it a bit late, but better late than never.

So, as of today, I am going to post everyday in 2011.

If you already read my blog I hope you will encourage me with comments, likes, and passing my posts on to others if and when you find them interesting.

(You can also “like” Home is what you make it on Facebook and share my blog with your Facebook friends!)

It’s going to be tough, but it’s also going to be fun and inspiring…and that’s what this blog is all about!

home is…challenging yourself.

five years

January 3, 20115 Comments

Five years ago today we moved to Portland.

We drove our extended cab pickup loaded with our five fuzzy faces (3 black labs and two cats) towing our malibu (loaded with fragiles) from Denver to Boise (actually, Mountain Home) through high winds in Wyoming and a blizzard in Eastern Idaho. We stayed with some dear friends for the night and drove the rest of the way through snow in Eastern Oregon, and a driving rain and darkness through the Gorge. Only to hit rush hour traffic on 217 on the way to our rental house on Bull Mountain. We stayed with friends in the exact neighborhood where we have ended up…and met the moving van on the morning of January 3rd, 2006….probably the only DRY day in that record setting wettest January in Portland. Welcome to Oregon!

A lot has happened in those five years.

I found a wonderful job (that I miss a lot).

We started seeing a marriage counselor (money well spent, people…and housecleaners).

We decided to start a family.

We started to explore our new home state and the surrounding region.

Our little guy joined our family.

Not more than a week later, after we had been planning to move to Boise with a Xerox transfer, Ryan left Xerox (after 10+ years) and started a new career in medical sales.

I joined a mom’s group through the hospital and have made some amazing momma friends (we still have our playgroup of 15 moms…and a lot of kids)!

I made the hardest decision I have made in my life (even though I knew it was the one I would make all along) to stop working and stay at home full-time with our little guy.

We bought a house (which I love, but it also needs a bit of TLC).

I started exercising on a regular basis for the first time in years with Stroller Strides (which deserves a post of it’s own once a week because I don’t know what I would do without the exercise and great group of mommas)!

We traveled to Colorado, Idaho, New York and Maui with the little guy.

I (we) suffered a miscarriage.

We got pregnant again!

We said goodbye to our beautiful cat, Miss Murphy the Boss Lady.

I got a new car.

Our precious baby girl joined our family (and quickly became the new boss lady when she decided to come 3 weeks early and mess with all my planning).

We said goodbye to another one of our four legged fuzzy faces…Grand River Medicine Oak (who I will someday be able to write about…until then she is my little black angel).

We took our first trips as a family of four to Seattle, Bend, and Pacific City.

Ryan started another new job in a different specialty of medical sales.

And, we have celebrated 1st birthdays (2nd and 3rd for the little guy); had many visits from grandparents, sisters (and their husbands), friends (not enough of you, so come visit us); made new friends; and made it through the ups and downs of life in new city…and life in general.

home is…calling Portland home.

2010 in review

January 2, 2011Leave a comment

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

Healthy blog!

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,400 times in 2010. That’s about 3 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 68 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 90 posts. There were 383 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 461mb. That’s about 1 pictures per day.

The busiest day of the year was October 13th with 61 views. The most popular post that day was {wordless wednesday} mud puddles.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, twitter.com, themomblogs.com, stephanytaddeo.com, and blog.effortless-style.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for playroom solutions family room, playroom storage, space birthday party blog pictures, “grand river” + puppy + “mike gould” + idaho, and moo cow nursery.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

{wordless wednesday} mud puddles October 2010
1 comment

colton+cadence September 2010

interior design September 2010

about September 2010

impromptu food adventure… September 2010

NYE for the 3-1/2 year old crowd

December 31, 20103 Comments

Today we hosted a New Years Eve Playgroup at our home.

the girls playing with the kitchen stuff

It included a countdown and bubbly toast at 12 (noon). The kids crowded into our kitchen for the sparkling cider toast with their own little plastic wine glasses. I wish I had grabbed the camera for that moment (and taken photos of their own personalized glasses before the mess).

the boys playing with cars

Baby girl cried if she was not right next to me or in my arms for almost the entire 3 hours, but she looked adorable.

baby girl in her party dress

Have you ever tried to explain the concept of a New Year to a 3-1/2 year old? Especially an exhausted 3-1/2 year old who woke up too early and had to share all his toys?

the little guy never takes naps...he was wiped out

The little guy wonders where the old year will go, and why we need a new year. I told him that we get to have a new Christmas, new Halloween (with a new costume), new birthdays, new visits from grandparents, and new adventures. He seems pretty pleased with all the old stuff from 2010. I am looking forward to a new year, but I am thankful for what was in 2010.