MFT: Birthday Edition!

That's right. I just had a birthday. I'm one year away from my next kid being born to someone of "advanced maternal age" (if you can do that math, 10 points for you). My birthday was last week and my sweet husband and baby boy made it a special day - more about that in another post but part of my birthday gift from him was FOUR bags of Badass Coffee. If you are ever near one of their locations (which apparently are in a lot of places besides Hawaii where I first encountered them) do yourself a favor and go get a cup of Hula Pie coffee. Or really any of their coffee. I got 2 bags of Hula Pie, one of North Shore Pineapple (really good!) and another of a coconut flavor that we haven't tried yet. I'm quite excited about this! Seriously, if you're near one, go there. I just discovered they're all over Florida and am praying there's one somewhere near where we are going for vacation this summer!

I'm linking up with Abby at graduate "extraordinaire" for MFT! Happy Monday everyone!

MFT: Swings!

Look! I'm on time! (Wait, it's still Monday, right?)

I'm linking up with Abby at graduate "extraordinaire" for My Favorite Things!

This week, my favorite thing is the weather. Oh my word, I have been LOVING it. I'll tell you, running is MUCH nicer in 80 degree weather than in EIGHT degree weather. And we get to go for walks after work, we've gotten to do a BUNCH of much needed maintenance in our flower beds, and tonight (after making a much dreaded trip to the grocery store) we walked to the park where Milo got to swing for the very first time!

Well, he sat in my lap and we both swung (swang? swinged?) because I'm still a new mom and a germophobe and there was no way on earth I was putting him in one of those infant swings w/out wiping it down (or maybe running it through an autoclave) and I really didn't have the option of doing either of those things so he sat in my lap. This kid LOVES to be outside. He is just so relaxed when we're outdoors. And I really can't say that I blame him - the warmer temperatures, the nice breeze we've been having (well, the nice breeze with gusts up to 40 mph anyway), and all the blooming flowers and trees...I'm relaxed too! We are trying to take full advantage of this awesome spring weather before summer gets here (probably sometime next week). Gotta love Oklahoma weather!

Happy Monday to you all!

MFT: Late Again!

So, it's Tuesday and I'm just now linking up with Abby for MFT. Raise your hand if you're surprised...yeah, me either. Down to business.

I cannot even believe I'm about to write this but...running. It's one of my favorite things! When Milo was just three months old, my cousin asked me if I wanted to train for the Memorial half marathon. I said "sure, it's something I've wanted to do", thinking "Oh, maybe in a week or so we'll start jogging or something"....clearly I wasn't thinking. My cousin is not one to mess around. Within two hours, in my inbox, I had a Google calendar link to a training plan that started AT 6:30 A.M. THE NEXT DAY!!!! I told Nathan I was pretty sure I'd just gotten in over my head but whatever, we'll give this a whirl.

Now, let me just say here that I had not done a lick of exercise since Milo had been born and before he was born the only exercise I was doing was walking my feet to the bone around our neighborhood trying to GET HIM OUT! So, we started the next morning using the Couch to 5k program (C25K). Fast forward to last weekend. There was a point to point, (supposedly) mostly downhill/flat half marathon in Ardmore. We decided to do that one as a "training run" since we were supposed to have a training run of that length on that weekend anyway, and it was a smaller race to get one under my belt since this was all new to me. And you know what? I FINISHED!!!! And I enjoyed it!

My cousin has been injured for a few weeks but I talked my sweet running buddy Jenny into going with me and we had a great time! In spite of the 20 MPH HEADWIND FOR 12.5 OF 13.1 MILES (I blame that for my slow time). We took it easy, we jogged, we chatted, we joked about the wind and how it should DEFINITELY make our race count for more than 13.1 miles because it sure made it feel like more, and we ran into that stadium and across the finish line and it was one of the best feelings I've ever had!

Point is, I actually do enjoy running (I sure hope anyway otherwise I'm just plain crazy!). It has become one of my favorite things, and I miss it when I don't run for a few days. I'm not some superstar athlete, that's for sure, and I'm not running to beat anyone or set any records, I'm just doing it because by golly less than a year ago I had a 30 hour labor and had a baby and now I have run a half marathon and I'm doing another in a few weeks and I think I'm pretty awesome, even if I am slow! :) Also, for a while, I've had this secret goal to run all the way around Lake Hefner...and I achieved that goal on one of my training runs!!! Plus, I've lost a couple of pounds, which I'm certainly not going to complain about. I've also gotten to spend quality time with my cousin on our runs, and get to be better friends with someone I've known for YEARS (Jenny) on training runs. These two girls have kept me going when I didn't think I could go another step, and they made me laugh while I did it! So really, what's not to enjoy!

So, I know this is WAY longer than it should be, but there it is. And now, some pictures from the event:

Jenny and me before the event - this was around 6 a.m., just before we got on a SCHOOL BUS to get driven out to the starting line.

This is just before some guy (a volunteer with the race) tells us "great job girls, almost there, just enter the stadium and ONE LAP AROUND THE TRACK". WHAT??? We didn't sign up for one lap around the track...I want a refund!!!

Here we are making our "victory lap". I believe this was the point where I was asking Jenny "do I NEED one of those shiny blankets?" and she was daring me to take one (it was humid and in the 70s). I did not. But I should have.

And here we are crossing the finish line. That lady standing on the track just ahead of us might have been my favorite volunteer at the event (all of them were fantastic though). She was cheering us ALL the way across the line and telling us (and everyone) how great we did. And this was more than three hours into the deal - I can promise you she had to be tired but she still had a smile!

And last, but not least, Jenny and I just after finishing, Jenny w/her cinnamon roll, and me wondering where my husband went with my two bottles of water, my banana, and my king sized Payday.

MFT: Spring!

It's Monday and that means time for MFT - I'm linking up with Abby!

(And did you notice, I'm on time this week?)

Usually in February our daffodils come up. We didn't plant them, they were just a nice surprise left for us by some previous owner of this house. But as long as they last, I cut a few each week and put them in an old star milk bottle on our mantle or on the table. It makes me happy just to see them sitting there - so cheerful!

MFT: Ken's Pizza

Sadly, we have already trashed our boxes and I cannot find a picture online. Whatev. Point is, Ken's Pizza is one of my favorite things. And we had it for dinner on Monday. So this totally counts as my MFT post for Monday, even though today is Tuesday. Someday I will have it together enough to actually do this post on Monday!

If you have a Mazzio's near you, you can get a Ken's pizza "for a limited time". Mazzio's actually started out as Ken's. We had a Ken's in Durant growing up and used to eat there NEARLY every Sunday. We were on a first name basis with two of the long-time waitresses (Vicki and Carol) and we always ordered the same thing: two thin-crust sausage, a thin-crust supreme, a super salad w/thousand island dressing for mom. Sadly, our Ken's closed a few years ago and we've been mourning it ever since. There are still a few of them around (Eufala, Sapulpa, Hutchinson, KS) but nothing close to us. So imagine my delight to find out that Mazzio's was running this deal! We've ordered it three times now and when we ordered last night I made Nathan get two just so we'd have leftovers. Cold Ken's pizza - breakfast of champions!

That's pretty much it. Ken's pizza rocks. Go get some.

I'm linking up with Abby for MFT!

MFT: International Edition

Forgot to say - I'm linking up with Abby @ graduate "extraordinaire"!

I know, I know. I'm late again. Whatever. Milo is teething so yesterday I did pretty much nothing other than hold him and try to keep his mind off of his teeth.

This week's favorite thing comes to you from sunny Guatemala! Well, sort of. I'm not in Guatemala. Neither is this item, at least not any more. My parents just went on a medical mission trip to that country and of course they brought back goodies for the kids and grandkids. One of the things my sisters and I got were these awesome beaded bracelets!

I love it because it's pretty sturdy and it seriously will match ANYTHING. I love that I can accessorize without thinking. Wearing cute things like this makes me feel like I at least put a little effort into getting ready - makes up for days like yesterday when I never get out of my pjs and don't even shower. Ugh.

P.S. Does anyone else think that photo is awkward? How do you take a picture of your wrist w/out it looking awkward because clearly I don't have a clue!

MFT: Easter Edition

I'm linking up with Abby at "graduate extraordinaire" for My Favorite Things Monday!

First of all, I know I'm a day early with this but if I'm not early, I'll be late. :) Second, I know it's not Easter yet but bear with me. Every year, I can't wait for Valentine's Day to be over with. Even though I'm married and Nathan always does something sweet, the end of Valentine's Day means.....it's CADBURY EGG season!!!! This is beyond exciting to me. So much so that on the day after Valentine's Day this year when Nathan and I went on our date night, we went by Walgreen's on the way home to see if they had the Cadburys out yet and I nearly tackled a clerk and forced them to open a case of these delectable treats because they were just getting around to putting out the Easter candy. Slackers!

See? There's one hiding in my purse...

So get out there and enjoy some sugary goodness while it lasts. And as my Grandpa, the late great Joe Clay would say (regardless of what holiday it actually was), "Happy Easter Eggs"!

My Favorite Things Monday

Disclaimer: While I am linking up with Abby for My Favorite Things, this is also a very obvious opportunity for pictures of my cute kid. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I went back to work today. After being snowed in from Tuesday until Saturday last week. And I love my job so going back to the office was fun, and rewarding. BUT. My FAVORITE thing is coming home to this face:

I mean really, walking in the house and seeing him get excited because he knows is Mama is home was MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE thing today!

My Favorite Things Monday (A Day Late)

I'm joining up with Abby over at graduate "extraordinaire" for a new thing - My Favorite Things Monday. You can read about it here.

My first entry is actually a day late but better late than never, right? :) My favorite thing about yesterday was that early in the day N got an e-mail saying that his company would be closed today due to impending bad weather. (Now, I need to say right here that we get a lot of "impending bad weather" that never actually comes to fruition. But lemme tell ya, this time they were not joking. I'll take and post some pics of the damage later but suffice it to say that right now we've got around 8 inches of snow, sustained winds of 30 mph, gusts up to more than 40 mph, and a wind chill that's below zero with blowing snow and no visibility.)

Back to my favorite thing though - that e-mail meant that we get a snow day with the Daddy! It's Milo's first snow and, as you can see below, he's mesmerized. Maybe in a couple of days it'll get warm enough that we can get out and get some pics of him in it but definitely not today or tomorrow (when the high is projected to be 13*). So today we are hunkered down trying to stay warm and just enjoying an unexpected day all together!

One other note. My sister already has some pics up over on her blog - they've got more snow there than we do here (she lives about an hour and a half away). It's impressive. Also, if you're needing a giggle (or a full out belly laugh) read through some of her other posts - she's a riot!