Thursday, October 30, 2008

start spreadin' the news...i'm leavin' today...

Okay, I actually leave tomorrow, but I'm pretty excited! My flight leaves bright and early...I'll be at the airport long before it's light outside (thanks, Sarah!). My bags are (nearly) packed...with coats, scarves and gloves that I have been dying to use for nearly two years now. My iPod is synced with my new "nyc marathon" playlist. Runner's World issues are in my carry on. And today I logged my 296th mile for training. I think I'm ready for 26.2!



After the race, I'm going to be a completely nerdy tourist with Julia and Morgan for two days - times square, China town (canal street!), little Italy, MoMa, statue of liberty, rockefeller plaza, ground zero, manhattan temple, statue of liberty, empire state building, wall street, greenwich village, Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, the list goes on...

Three cheers to my friend, Morgan, for letting us crash at her place in the city. Three cheers to all of my wonderful friends who are watching Leah while I'm away and Ryan is at work. I have the best friends...I always have...I've been very blessed that way. And three cheers for Ryan for being willing to be a daddy-mama for a weekend. I'll bring ya back somethin' good. :)

Monday, October 27, 2008

par-tay

My wonderful mother's group had a party for all of our little kids last Friday. We had a blast taking pictures of all of the kids, eating chili to our heart's content and watching kids 7 weeks-23 months trick or treat. Yah, right! We tried. Forgive my giant baby in the front row of the group picture. The large costume doesn't help the fact that she should really be standing with the other 1+ year olds in the back. Cross your fingers for next year. I'm just happy she could crawl in this chick costume we purchased last year on clearance. :)
The chick:
The group:The favors:The loot:
Happy Halloween!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

this post is not for the faint of heart...

Just wanted to give a little re-cap of my weekend. It's long, and no pictures are invovled in this post, but I think in the end, you'll thank me for that.

Saturday started out great. We went with some friends to the Half Moon Bay pumpkin festival in...Half Moon Bay. Leah was all dressed and ready to go in her halloween costume (pictures of that to come). Due to miscommunication, some of our friends didn't leave until later and we never met up. Also, the main reason we wanted to go to the festival was to go to a pumpkin patch. Buuuuuut...the pumpkins are all at patches on the 94 leading to the actual festival...not at the festival. This I didn't know...so we walked through downtown Half Moon Bay and perused many overpriced crafts and art with three kids in strollers. Not the place to bring a stroller. There was a costume contest at 10 that we missed...and a parade at noon, but we didn't last that long. Oh well, we'll know better next year. We're skipping the festival and going straight to the pumpkin patches.

After the festival, we drove up highway 1 (beautiful, yes, but i was sleeping along with Leah). We stopped at Baker Beach, just west of the Golden Gate Bridge to get our family pictures taken by the one and only Julia Wade. Visions of the perfect family shot, all members smiling and looking beauitmous with the Golden Gate shimmering in the background were thrown right out the window as Leah decided hitting, slapping, pinching, biting and SCREAMING were all better ideas. At the end of the shoot, we let her crawl on the sand while Ryan and I got some shots taken...she was happy as a clam. I could have strangled her. I didn't, but I could have. Hopefully Julia's newfound photoshopping skills will come in handy??? Again, pictures to come.

After the photo shoot, I was planning to go shopping in the city with Julia and go and get our race packets for the Nike Women's Half Marathon. Yay for the Nike Women's Half Marathon. I hadn't eaten anything all day...or had anything to drink for that matter (not a good idea the day before running 13.1 miles). So, I decided to steal Leah's applesauce (come on, I knew Ryan wasn't going to feed it to her while driving and they were going home!). Then I had some water. I didn't feel so well. I went to the restroom on the beach and then got into Julia's lovely, clean rental car. I didn't feel so well. I let my stomach settle for a few minutes and then off we went. A few minutes out, I really didn't feel so well. So much that I undid my seatbelt, rolled down the window and lost all that sparkling water I had just drank. Lovely. For those of you who know me, you know that I can count on ONE hand the number of times I have thrown up. Food poisoning last year, anethesia when Leah was born...and before that? I was seven. Yes, seven years old. And yet, I did. The good thing about throwing up is that it does make you feel better. And it did...until we got to the parking garage. I got out of the car and I didn't feel so well. I leaned against a post and lost all that applesauce. Lovely.

Poor Julia. She says, "At least I'm one of those people who doesn't want to throw up when watching other people throw up." And then she said, "Do you want a breath mint?"

Um, yes please.

Off we went to the Nike Women's expo. I really was feeling better. And, there was nothing left in my stomach, so I shouldn't throw up again, right? I should have learned from the aforementioned anesthesia incident...I don't need anything in my stomach. We went to H&M and I had to step outside. Luckily, the fresh air calmed my stomach. Then we stopped by Burger King and I got a Sprite (haven't had one of those since China!), and it really did calm my stomach. Then we went to Forever 21...and I had to step outside. Fresh air did the trick again. However, if you know this Forever 21, you know it's three stories high and you can't get out super quickly. So, on the third floor, as we were checking out (with some darling new dresses, coats and necklaces in tow), I needed to step outside. I crouched by the elevators while Julia held my things in line...and things turned out okay. We went to the Nike store...and things were still good. Yay, Sprite! Then we headed home...and I didn't feel so well. I lost the Sprite all over third and mission...or somewhere nearby. ALL of it. My stomach would not stop until it was gone. I think passersby thought I was heavily drinking at 3pm. On our way home Julia got pulled over for talking on her cell phone while driving (against the law in CA), only she wasn't and Officer Garcia could see that by looking at her cell phone call log. When I got home, I lost whatever else was left in my stomach in the kitchen sink. Poor Ryan. He is one of those people who does want to throw up when looking at someone else throw up. He quietly took Leah to the other room. :)

Ryan hadn't eaten all day either, so he went to In'n'Out. I really felt like a shake and I was starving from having had nothing to eat all day. The shake was good...and it settled...and STAYED settled! Then I had half of a baked potato and went to bed.

I got up at 5am to drive to San Francisco and had one of the best running days of my LIFE. I powered up all the hills and felt GREAT (and this course has a lot of hills!). Unfortunately, Kaylynn and I somehow lost Liz and Julia (who were just behind us) a few times...so we pulled off the road to wait for them. The last time we did this only to find that Liz was using the facilities while Julia ran on ahead. We didn't see her and thought she bonked clear back on the course and we were all super worried. After at least 10 minutes, Liz said for us to run on and she would find Julia. I finished the last mile and a half of the race faster than any other part...i seriously was sprinting at the end and had tons of energy! It turns out, Julia did run on and didn't see us waiting on the side of the road, so she finished alone...not knowing we were waiting for her! Oops! Glad everyone is okay and finished well. I'm taking 15 minutes off my official time due to waiting and I feel perfectly fine about it. :) Julia, did you know I came in just 2 minutes after you?? We were close that whole time!! All throughout the race I kept saying, "I might be tired, but I DEFINITELY feel better than yesterday."

What a weekend.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

the whole fam-damily...

Since all of my siblings were together this weekend, we got all gussied up to look our bestest and take some family pictures. Looking goooooood, Maren...the cousins...

the kinnersleys...
and the kinnersleys...
the laytons...
the marshalls...
the whole gang...sans mom and richard...the siblings...yup - definitley the shortest...And an accidental picture that I LOVE...

L.A. weekend getaway

We went to southern California to rendezvous with my siblings this past weekend. It was the first time all of us AND our spouses AND our children were all together at once in more than a year.


Leah was relatively (okay, really) pleasant on the drive down. It was bedtime, so she slept for about three hours...and hummed with the bumps on the road for the other 3 1/2.

Leah spent the majority of her weekend kissing dogs...(through the screen...still grosses me out...)...and chasing cats...she was in HEAVEN.On Friday, Heather and I went on a 10 mile run. It was Heather's longest run to date...and she was a rock star. Absolutely ready for a half marathon at any time. :)

My sister-in-law's mom was nice enough to let us take over her house/yard for an afternoon and evening to watch the BYU game (gooooo cougars!) and have a yummy barbeque. And, if you're curious, when we ask Leah was a cougar says, she puts her hands up in the air and cheers while we say, "rah, rah, rah-rah-rah."We lounged around and texted our baby friends... We hung out and looked cool at the pool...on aunt kelli's pregnant belly...
We played hide and seek with cousin Wesley...These two were nearly inseparable. Leah LOVES her cousin, Arianne. And Arianne loved teaching Leah new things...like how to do an Irish jig. Wesley was also more than helpful trying to teach Leah (5 months his junior) how to walk. In exchange, Leah is going to teach him how to talk. We took some family pictures (post to come), and ate some delicious homemade scones (mom's recipe!!)...and then we drove home. I just couldn't resist comparing this photo with one last October on this same drive. Hasn't changed a bit has she!? :) I think her feet are just about the only thing that haven't grown. Still wearin' those size 6 month shoes.








and i said to myself, "self. great day!"

And a great day it was. Thanks to EVERYONE who made my birthday so wonderful! Highlights included:
Awesome blast-from-the-past songs on the radio including (but not limited to): I Swear - All 4 One (anyone else's first slow dance?), Greatest Love of All - Whitney Houston (ahh, good times singing karaoke with the cousins), As Long as You Love Me - Backstreet Boys (way better than N*Sync), Always Be My Baby - Mariah Carey.
A pedicure, pomegranate smoothie and errand-running while Lindsey watched Leah.
Ryan coming home "early" from work. 6:00 - I'll take it!
Ryan doing the dishes after dinner!...including wiping the fridge and cabinets after Leah's lasagna escapade.
Lunch at Macaroni Grill with the WONDERFUL Kristen and Lindsey (and kids). Imagine three adults and four kids at a nice restaurant. We survived...but only because of birthday cake and ice cream and crayon drawing on the table. I have two words: Penne. Rustica.


And this is how Leah fared. This has basically been my life for about a month now. Any suggestions?
A delicious birthday banana cream pie complete with 26+1 birthday candles (used from birthday last year and leah's numero uno this year). Creative, yes?
A very messy Leah...naked...with a bib and lasagna.
A very happy Leah (wow!) waiting for daddy to be done with work.
A very happy Maren with tickets to...wait for it, wait for it...the NUTCRACKER this December by the San Francisco Ballet Co. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Thanks to everyone who called, sent cards/gifts and commented. You truly made my day.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

happy birthday to me...

happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy biiiirthday to me-eeee,
happy birthday to me.

can you tell i love my birthday?! :)

i need at least 27 comments to celebrate my 27 years.

Monday, October 6, 2008

curlier curls

Leah got her very first haircut last Monday! Lindsey did a great job...and we only went through two Otter Pops. :)
Before: so shaggy!duringmmm...red tongue...she's licking her chin for leftovers!!after: so much curlier!! Thanks, Linds!

toot toot...

go me!

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