Friday, February 27, 2009

My February Muse

The kids were about to come out of their skin yesterday and so we went to the playground and of course, I brought the camera along with my NEW sparkly "nifty 50" lens. It is a fixed length 50mm lens that people love for doing portraits because it has a short depth of field, it makes everything go out of focus behind your subject.
I am really excited to experiment since it is my first "extra" lens that I have splurged on and it makes me see the value of buying more lenses to take fun pictures and helping you to think more creatively. I can see how this might become a dangerous hobby.

Lucy was very excited about taking pictures and complied by hamming in up for me. Take a look.







The Biggest Loser



Although I haven't been posting about working out very much lately, I have been keeping up the routine four-five times a week and so have Matt and Ben. The benefit? None of our clothes fit the same.
The detriment? All of us are incredibly vain right now.

Just kidding. But seriously.
Just kidding. No really.

Anyway. I was at the Y the other night trying to squeeze in a last minute workout before The Biggest Loser came on because, well I feel disgusting if I just sit there and eat cookies and watch that show without working out. So I went to the gym while the DVR was getting a workout and Matt was putting the kids in the bed.

I arrived and the place was dead, but there was a small group running on the treadmills and I like running next to others so I joined them. Next to me was a guy who had been obviously running for a little while-he had worked up quite a lather at a pretty stiff pace. I jumped on the treadmill and my ipod cooperated in playing some very fun music and soon I was matching his pace.

My ipod then changed songs and I picked up the pace. The guy next to me adjusted his pace to match mine and this went on for about 18 minutes until we were running 7 minute miles. It was fun because he was matching me and we both knew it, but we never said anything about it. But WE were CRUISING. I mean, I was feeling good.

That all ended when I accidently hit the emergency stop rope magnet and my treadmill immediately came to a halt.

My sudden change in pace threw the guy next to me off so badly that he actually flew off the back of the treadmill into the elliptical machines, then the bikes and he was reeling in the fitlinxx staging area shaking his head.
It was hilarious! But more hilarious? How badly I felt. I actually apologized for ruining our workouts and then I proceeded to push my treadmill to the limit for the next 15 minutes and ruin us. I managed to pass the USC Women's Soccer 2-mile test for the first time since college. Two miles in under 14 minutes.
I was feeling pretty dang good about myself. I want to thank Bret Michaels and the rest of the boys from Poison for Unskinny Bop that helped push me through the final two minutes.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Something About This Made Me Feel Young

I have heard about this noise that supposedly only people under 25 can hear and some stores in malls are using it as a deterrent noise for teenagers and their ilk to keep them away *cough* Thomas Kincaide Store *cough* as if they needed a noise.

But I thought I would try to listen to it and lo and behold, I can hear it. Yay for young ears!

Can you hear it?
Train Horn

Created by Train Horn

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The Oscars

I don't know how many of you watched the Oscars. I kind of had to "sneak" the Oscars in because we watched The Amazing Race and Matt hates award shows.

But I watched the red carpet and the last hour, which is when all the good stuff happens anyway.

Then I read the blogs which make fun of what the celebrities wore to the Oscars and I laughed outright at www.gofugyourself.com which is a blog that makes fun of celebrities and what they wear everyday. I hesitate to post it simply because of the name of the blog, but well...it's not MY blog, dadgummit.

But this post. This post about Kate Winslet and Reese Witherspoon is genius: Gofugyourself.celebuzzcom You will have to scroll UP to read the article.

Mama's Got A Brand New Bag


Yep.
After posting that if I could do anything without failing I would jump into photography...we decided to at least explore that by getting a more serious camera for me.

It is still an entry level DSLR, but it is a MAJOR step up from my last camera and I am oh-so-in love. And I am in love with having bought a 50mm lens to go along with the lens kit that goes along with it.

I can't wait to use it a ton. Get ready for photography gifts people!
In the meantime, here are some pictures of the kids that I snapped this morning:



Yep that's me. I look like I turn 31 next week don't I? Time for some eye cream.
Is it too late for sunscreen?





We have been playing in the sandbox a lot in anticipation of our beach trip coming up next month. The kids don't know about it yet, but Matt and I are hoping for 80 degree days that are probably not possible. But one can always hope.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Everybody is so Amazing and Nobody's Happy

I just saw this video and thought it was at once really insightful and a great rant on intergenerational nonsense.

Enjoy!

Oh What A Night

Last night we were about four minutes from starting Young Life club when a high school girl came into the house with blood around her mouth and told us that she and one of her friends had been in a car accident near the house.

Matt and Ben took off running to the scene and found the boy that had been driving her car; plowed straight into a tree, halfway out of her car and was cussing like a sailor.

A third boy had also run down to the house to get help and he was shaken up but fine.

It was a crazy night mostly because hardly any of the kids really knew what was going on for about 30 minutes and were just playing pool, fooseball or ping pong. While we had fire trucks, ambulances and police cars coming the scene along with parents calling cell phones and their close friends out on the driveway trying to figure out what happened and if they were okay.

The boy driving the car had to go into surgery for his back overnight and we are still waiting to hear about the girl. She was complaining of some abdominal pain.

After the kids got loaded up by the emergency personnel, all of the kids in the club knew that something had happened...but in CLASSIC high school fashion the rumors were flying and they were hilarious.

A girl actually said to me, "I heard it was a gang fight. They were throwing signs and they were throwing punches. It got out of hand and then they wrecked!"

How is that even possible?
Oh high school.

It was incredible that two of our leaders got to ride with the hurt kids to the hospital and wait with them until their parents got there and were there until after midnight loving on them and praying with them. It was a place of privilege.

"Healthy people don't need a doctor; those who are sick do. I've come to call sinners, not people who think they have God's approval." Mark 2:17

Friday, February 20, 2009

TGIF

It has been quite the week around here as I am guessing you have surmised since I have not been updating the blog.

It is Friday and I have developed an eye twitch from the week that I have just experienced.

Asher has decided that exploding into tears and throwing fits in public is a good idea so I don't really know how to handle that. But I have new resolve thanks to a trip to Ikea that opened in Charlotte on Wednesday.

I had to get away from Asheville, from Asher, from Lucy, from my house and go be with my two girlfriends and breathe in Swedish furniture, coo at kitchens and salivate at cinnamon rolls and meatballs. In that order. It had to happen or something bad was going to happen.

The best part of the week though has been chronicled at Margarita's blog. It is why I love Thursday nights at my house. Click here to check it out go ahead. But please...watch ALL of the videos. It really comes together in a fantastic way in the end.
You'll like it. It will only waste five and half minutes of your time. But the joy will last you into the weekend.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

One that was worth winning


"I think that you are doing a squat wrong."

"I don't think that you know what you are talking about."

"What?! I played college soccer for four years and lifted weights every day alongside people that trained for the NFL! I am pretty sure that I know EXACTLY how to correctly do a squat. You are the one who is looking on the internet to find our how to lift weights."

"Yeah, well girl muscles are different than boy muscles."

"What?"

"You're a girl."

"Did you just call me a girl?"

This conversation led to an hour long argument about weight lifting. Seriously. Afterwards, we had to go ask Ben if he was going to tell people that he lived with the stupidest people on the planet.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

This blog just made me laugh

It's called "This is why your fat" and it has picture of food that is disgusting look but probably tastes fantastic.
I personally love the Oreo picture.
Check it out.

www.thisiswhyyourfat.com

Doing Research

I was doing research for a client of mine and I ended up on the rabbit trail that is YouTube and I started watching commercials for cycling and the Tour De France. You may hate this event, but you have LOVE the commercials because they are so hilarious. They marry everything you might love about advertising because they tend to speak to the universal since cycling is not especially loved in the US, they are pretty quirky but at the same time very patriotic when they use Lance Armstrong as the spokesman.
Watch them. Love them. Sorry if you hate the Tour. I am a little angry we are not going this summer since Lance and Floyd Landis are returning this summer. It is going to be quite the battle. Get ready people! Only five months!

This one made me cry and got me started...I can't wait until Asher can ride a big boy bike.


This just got me fired up for the race-Notice-hardly ANY voice over and the same music.


I seriously hope he has only been on his bike.


"I am a HUMAN CANON BALLER not a doctor"


The most kick-a** ad that makes you want to I don't know what...


And I am pretty sure we are going to recommend that our client "Kill the Coward Within"

Total Sucker

I was doing grocery shopping today with the kids and I realized what a sucker I am for marketing as I placed the Barilla Piccolini in my cart.



I mean "It's miniature AND it's Barilla." What kind of tagline is that? How did that work on me? I have no idea.

But you know what? My kids love this stuff.
And I think it is really cute too. I have a problem.

Monday, February 9, 2009

My Doll Baby


Lucy has been turning on the two year old charms lately in the most fantastic ways.

Last week, we were driving around town running errands at sunset and she just up and noticed how pretty it was-ON HER OWN. She just said, "Look mommy! The pretty colors!"

Be still my heart.

On Saturday, we were getting ready to go play in the park and it was really nice out and I was putting on my Chaco sandals that my girlfriend Natalie has as well. And Lucy said, "Are you wearing Natalie's shoes?" But in an adorable two year old voice that sounded like "Wear Natalie's shoes?" with a very high pitch to it.

I love this for so many reasons.
1. I haven't worn my Chaco's in months. Maybe since September or October. Neither has Natalie. But Lucy knew that Natalie had these shoes.

2. Lucy noticed my SHOES. Hello. Someone NOTICED ME IN MY HOUSE. It's like a miracle that I am becoming a person worth noticing again. And not just that she noticed me. But my shoes. Only a little girl would do that.

3. I was wearing my Chaco's in February because it was 78 degrees in February. The Lord knew that I was about to lose my mind with all of the snow days and nonsense that this winter has brought. I am so ready for Spring that I am about to snap.

Of course all of this changed on Sunday when Lucy peed in her underwear and so Matt was letting her run around the porch without anything on under her dress. She was crawling into my lap when she pooped right onto the floor next to my chair.

Thank goodness she did not poop on me or I might have thrown up right onto my child.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Random 25 Things

There is the thing going around on Facebook that is a list of 25 Random things about you. It took me so long to write it, that I must use it on my blog too.

1. I always thought I was laid back, but I am finding out that I am a bit more tightly wound than I thought. For example, I never want anyone to think that I am unorganized. So I will do almost anything to STAY organized so that I won’t be found out.

2. You will never see me wear tennis shoes with jeans. I consider this to be “mom gear” and I have hated this look since middle school. I never wear tennis shoes except while exercising. If you see me wearing tennis shoes, do me a favor and don’t point it out because you can be sure that I am plenty aware of it already and I am only wearing them out of necessity. Like, I forgot to pack another pair of shoes in my gym bag. That is the only scenario that I can see myself wearing tennis shoes with jeans.

3. I have a problem eating around people. Especially when it is quiet. If you are a loud or a sloppy eater…I am not going to be a happy person around you. I also have a problem with people that chew gum loudly, or just chew Big Red or any other cinnamon flavored gum around me. God is attempting to stretch me in this area because I can hear my son eating no matter where I am in my house at all times. How can I break him of this habit gently?

4. I cannot go to sleep without reading at night. It doesn’t matter if it is a book, Pottery Barn or Reader’s Digest. I just have to read something to settle myself down. But I do love to read and would rather spend a better part of the day curled up with a good book. It doesn’t matter what type of book, but I struggle with anything that has to do with “Christian growth” which is unusual I guess since I am a Christian and I like to “grow” but anything that has to do with that and is popular tends to grate on my nerves and makes me crazy. I like books with great stories, not books that tell me how much I am blowing it all the time.

5. I love watching TV. Almost all of it. My kids do too. On my DVR right now is The West Wing, The Biggest Loser, Friday Night Lights, The Office, 30 Rock, ER, Grey’s Anatomy, Saturday Night Live, Antiques Roadshow, Go Diego Go, The Wiggles, LazyTown, Max and Ruby, Backyardigans and Dora the Explorer, the South Carolina/Florida basketball game. Still to come this year, the Amazing Race. It is a power struggle daily to get to watch what we want to.

6. When I was growing up, it used to make me crazy that my dad always had to get a workout in EVERY SINGLE DAY. I felt like we never did any of the fun things that my friends families did because Dad had to go to gym. Now, I do the same thing. I feel like a crazy person if I don’t get a run or some sort of workout in nearly every day. I can miss a day or two, but not three. When I played soccer, I could go for weeks without working out, but now I just can’t make it through the week without working out.

7. I played soccer in college. It’s not a random fact. The random fact is that Matt didn’t really love that I played soccer. I am pretty sure that he would have loved it if I had been a sorority girl with A D Pi. I shaved my head my sophomore year, I bulked up my junior year and I could run under a six minute mile by my senior year. But Matt fell in love with me anyway. You know what that is called? God is in charge and not us. You can’t make someone fall in love with you. Matt was the best for me and I was the best for him. I loved playing soccer and I have no idea why God gave me the ability and dedication to be able to play at South Carolina. Except maybe to meet Matt Sloan and to have to the life that I have. I love that part of my story more than anything.

8. I was born in Las Vegas: then I moved to Woodbridge, VA, Kansas City, KS, Berlin, Germany, Seoul, South Korea, Fairfax, VA, Carlisle, PA, Staten Island, NY, Columbia, SC, and now Asheville, NC. My dad was in the Army. By far, I have loved living in Asheville the best of all places. It is home to me. I have lived here twice as long as I have lived anywhere else in my life. So of course this feels like home. My best memories growing up were in Berlin because it felt like such a different place and time. We lived there while the Berlin Wall was still up and we knew that our dad was there to defend against Communism and the Cold War. It was crazy. I still have some pretty crazy dreams from where my imagination took me while I was a child living miles away from soldiers that were ready to shoot anyone running towards freedom.

9. I lived in New York City for four years; while I was a high school student but I have never been to the top of the Empire State building. Same thing goes for Statue of Liberty. You never do touristy things when you live in a touristy city.

10. Since I did live in New York City, I found that I love eating Jewish food. Potato Knishes, bagels with lox, Matzo ball soup. Everytime I go the grocery store and I see the “Jewish section” I look longingly at the food, but I know that I am too much of a Goy to do anything good with those ingredients and so I move on sadly.

11. I have only knowingly broken one bone. I say knowingly, because I am sure that I have broken several toes and my nose in soccer injuries. But I broke my elbow on the last day of preseason my Junior year of college. I don’t know who to thank for that inury, Jessica Freas or Coach Sue Kelly. Freas is the one who threw me. But coach Kelly is one who decided it was a good idea to play “Combat” on the last day of preseason. It was awesome to be 20 years old and have a Gamecock cast like a nine-year old boy. That sucked.

12. My sister and I talk every single day. Sometimes several times a day. I am not sure when this started. I think about the time when we started having kids. She lives in New Jersey and I love her quirks and perspective on life since they are simulataneously similar and very different than mine. We can be both very good for each other and VERY BAD depending on the circumstances.

13. I have a life-dream to go to France during the Tour De France and follow the Tour for a few weeks. I am really sad that this is not going to be the year since Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis are going to be back. I have watched this event for years and I love it. I look forward to it all year round. My dream location is to camp out a few days prior to the Alp D’Huiz stage and party with the locals on the side of the road and run alongside the riders as they go by. I will do this one day. I can’t wait.

14. If I could do something without failing I would be a photographer. I would not be afraid to buy the equipment and would jump full force into the field.

15. I have to have my pillows to go to sleep. One, is my cool pillow (not a Chillow). This pillow never gets hot. It stays at just the right temperature all night long. It is a down pillow that I have had since I can’t remember when. My boyfriend in college tried to have my give it to him as a sign of how much I loved him. I gave him the pillow when I left for college. The first time I saw him; I got the pillow back. I didn’t love him that much. I also have a rice bag that I drape across my eyes to go to sleep every night. I love the weight of the rice and how it blocks out all the light in the room. Once, on a trip; we left the pillows at home in a packing oversight. We had Becca Short Eby and Anne Marie Anderson OVERNIGHT the pillows to us. Yes, it was worth it. I had the worst night sleep of my life and I was horribly embarrassed by the fit that I threw when I realized that I left my pillows at home. If my house was on fire, I would rescue my kids, my pillows, my computer. In that order.

16. The greatest place to play soccer in America is at the Graveyard at the University of South Carolina.

17. I like starting and finishing projects. I don’t like to leave things half-finished. It makes me feel frustrated and unaccomplished. I am a driven person and so usually once I start something, I see it through to completion. Usually this is an asset, sometimes this can work against me because I can get tunnel vision and am unable to focus on anything else until I am done with my projects.

18. I took Russian in college because I cheated on the French placement exam and ended up placing in French 300. Lesson learned. Don’t cheat on placement exams.

19. If I don’t write things down, I tend to forget them. It’s nothing personal. My kids have eaten my brain and so have the Wiggles. I can’t concentrate well anymore.

20. My family had a trait that we call “The Hurricane”. We spaz out and make a mess around us when we are in public…usually with food. I have knocked over so many food displays at events, I can’t really talk about it. Except to say, as a child at camp...we had to come up with nicknames and the best I could do was "Whitewave."

21. One of my oldest friends Robin and I fell in love one summer at Young Life camp. We were “friends” but then we were in a cabin together and stayed up late every night laughing at the most ridiculous things to the point that high school girls were asking us to be quiet so that they could go to sleep. . We have been great friends ever since. I asked her move to Asheville because I didn’t want her to live in Columbia and me in Asheville. I am so glad that she agreed. I count on sitting on the beach with her as a 60 year old laughing my head off at her and with her.

22. One of the sweetest places on the earth during a rainstorm is my grandmother’s house, in the purple room playing spades with my cousins on a summer afternoon.

23. I met Mayor Giuliani my senior year of high school. I worked as a reporter for our “Teen Section” and they had all of the senior reporters do a story on the mayor. We got to meet and lunch with the mayor for a couple of hours. He was a really nice POLITICIAN. It sounds so jeef to say “Teen Section” reporter, but I had to write an article several times a month and it taught me more about the news business than any class that I ever took. It also helped me to become the women’s Sports Information Director at UNCA because I knew how to write articles and how to edit copy. It has taken me places.

24. My mom’s cousin was on the run from the DEA for 16 years. He was wanted for involvement in some kind of drug smuggling ring around the time I was born. He was captured when I was 16. My family had a code name that they used when discussing him. He was called, “Cochise” His real name? Michael. The amount of time he served? Nine months. He ran for 16 years to only have to serve nine months.

25. I was named “Class Individualist” by my senior class. I sure wanted that to be true and I think that I have carved out my own path that NO ONE else could have or would have taken. But I don’t think that this is exactly what they meant. I dressed like a clown on a daily basis in high school just because. It probably should have been someone else’s award who was much cooler AND actually more original than me. But I made such a scene with my wardrobe, I guess they had no choice. Now, I dress in all of those clothes that I wore in high school as costumes for Young Life and we laugh-A LOT at me and my past.

Monday, February 2, 2009

If This is Gonna Be That Kind Of Party...

Last night Matt and I hosted a Super Bowl Party for the Young Life leaders in Asheville and we ended up with about 50-60 people in our house. It was crazy! People were everywhere!

The way to do it though is definitely have a Chili Cookoff so that other people bring the main course-which is what we did. And then we won the Cookoff AGAIN this year. Thanks to our amazing Chili Recipe!

And what else did our Chili produce?
Hannah Williams who was due with her first child February 16 was sitting on our living room floor eating chili when her water broke.

Yep. In the middle of the party.
On our floor.
But, she wasn't quite sure if that was what happened or if she spilled a drink or something, so all of the 20-something leaders started cleaning it up like the nice people they are. And as soon as there was a confirmation that yes, it was in fact AMNIOTIC FLUID people started backing away.

Talk about funny!
So Baby Anna Lewis was born at 6 this morning and in my mind that counters whatever Pawxatuny Phil says and so there is now only four more weeks of winter. The amniotic fluid on my living room floor says so.