Monday, May 26, 2014

Loser

I really had high hopes for the #100happydays project.

It isn't that I don't take photos everyday. I do. Tons of photos. But the steps in between taking them and posting them to the blog, describing them, blah blah blah. Sometimes it's all too much ;)

As you can imagine, a lot has happened since I posted last. That was April 14. I could post the 41 photos (1 photo for each day as per the #100happydays project) but I know that would bore you. There are some good ones though.

Ok, since I can't resist sharing photos, here are the highlights of the past 41 days. Between these and the ones in the post below this one, I'm at day 52. More than half-way through #100happydays!

April 19, 2014




Easter egg coloring. First time the girls colored eggs!

April 20, 2014




Brenna loved hunting for Easter eggs. But her shoes being on the wrong feet really weirds me out.

April 25, 2014




Girls night out to see Chelsea Handler. Hilariously disgusting. Love Chelsea.

April 28, 2014




The girls and I went to the Flower Fields with friends. The flowers were pretty but this was far more beautiful a sight!



Me and my girls!

May 2, 2014




First splashing of the summer!

May 3, 2014




First Padres game for all of us and first MLB baseball game for the girls. They played the Diamondbacks and put up a good fight in the last inning, but ultimately lost. Can't wait for our next game!

May 5, 2014




These girls are hilarious. Ellen sang "Timber" by Pitbull, while Brenna danced in a Hawaiian-inspired Wonder Woman outfit. Constant laughter with these two.

May 9, 2014




Mother's Day tea at the girls' preschool. They were grumpy about going because it was on a day they don't normally go to school. But it was still sweet, despite the grump.

May 10, 2014




Goal race for my 5K, 10K and Half Marathon runners. They worked so hard for 12 weeks and this was their celebration race! They did so well and I cried all morning as they finished :)

May 14, 2014




Almost a dozen different wild fires burned throughout San Diego County, one of which started a couple of miles from our house. This was a picture taken from our front yard of the fire that became known as Cocos Fire and San Marcos fire. We were evacuated from our neighborhood for 2 days and 2 nights. It was terrifying and I hope we never have to experience that again. I know it's a reality living here. The east coast has hurricanes and blizzards. The midwest has tornadoes. We have fires. It's not really a reality I like but need to come to terms with it.

May 21, 2014




School was a really big factor in getting us back to normal after the fires. Keller usually doesn't look forward to going to school but he did the week after we were evacuated. I think he needed to get back into the swing of things and feel safe and normal as much as we did. His class had been working on poetry for a couple of weeks and they were supposed to have a little poetry presentation for parents the Friday we were evacuated. It was rescheduled for this day. His teacher treated the "Poetry Cafe" as an old 60s-style beatnik coffee house where people would have poetry readings, people wore all black and audience snapped their fingers instead of clapped. Here's my cool cat reading his poem.



In the meantime, Keller decorated a poster thanking the firefighters for keeping us safe. After school, we drove up to the firehouse in our neighborhood and hung up the poster on the fence across the street. His poster says, "Firefighters you rock!"

May 25, 2014




Our new Memorial Day weekend tradition! We ran the kids races of the Vista Strawberry Festival. John and Keller did the 1-mile race and the girls and I ran the 1/4 mile race. This was the girls' first race they actually ran and weren't in the stroller. It was TONS of fun and Brenna has already asked to do another race :) I'm a proud mama, to say the least.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Happy

I recently came across the #100happydays project. I know I'm a little late to the game, but it's never too late to try to be happier. The gist of the project is this: you submit a photo to your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or other social media feed with the tag #100happydays. The photo is supposed to represent something that made you happy that day. It can be anything. The creators of the challenge believe the more you take notice of the things that make you happy, the happier you'll be. Sounds like common sense, right? Well, oftentimes we think we're too busy to stop and and take notice of the random beauty of our lives. And taking part in this project will force you to do so. Supposedly you can receive a photo book of your 100 photos to remind you of what made you happy but I'm not entirely sure how that works.

I'll be posting my photos through my Twitter account. You can follow along daily. I'll also post them here in weekly blogs.

Without further ado, here are the first 10 days of my #100happydays. The subject matter shouldn't be surprising :)

Day 1
4/5/14

I completed my first West Coast/Mountain ultra marathon: the Oriflamme 50K. It was probably the hardest race I've ever done. We started in the mountains, about 5000 elevation. It was sleeting at the start. We descended through the Oriflamme Canyon into the Borrego desert, about 10 miles, and then ran about 5 miles out and back. Then we ascended back into the canyon and up to the mountains. Elevation gain of about 4700 feet. It was rocky and insane but so very much fun.

Day 2
4/6/14

The half-way point for the 11-mile run for my half marathon group was the Dog Beach in Del Mar. It's pretty much impossible not to be happy when at Dog Beach.

Day 3
4/7/14


We were supposed to go out and do lots of things on this Monday but we stayed in and cuddled instead :)

Day 4
4/8/14


Keller had just woken up and came downstairs to start his day. Yogi was laying on the floor next to him. It was just a simple moment, but really sweet to see my boy and his dog.

Day 5
4/9/14



The girls absolutely love taking pictures of themselves and then looking at them. I can't say I blame them. They're pretty cute :)

Day 6
4/10/14



There were a couple of things that made me happy today. Granted there are several things that make me happy and I'm only supposed to choose one. But I couldn't choose today. I had the best strawberries with my breakfast. They're from my CSA, Be Wish Ranch. Really. THE best strawberries.


This is an empty bag of Marcona almonds from Trader Joe's. A happier picture would have been a full, unopened bag but they don't last long around me. This is such a yummy snack. I am so glad my BFF Lynne introduced them to me.

Day 7
4/11/14



A couple of friends told me about this mom and pop health food store in Oceanside, Cream of the Crop. I knew it would be good, but I'm really excited to have found this gem. I would much rather support a small grocer than the big guys like Whole Foods. The prices are more reasonable and they're a local, small business. Win-win for everyone.

Day 8
4/12/14


Just a silly Saturday morning with the family :) The look on Brenna's face as she watches John swing Ellen is just priceless to me.



Had to have two photos today. We went to Native Foods Cafe to try their avocado crunch wrap with sweet potato fries. It was yummy goodness and worthy of a #100happydays.

Day 9
4/13/14



There are a bunch of photos for today. Some girlfriends and I had a total spa day. It was amazing. I have never done this before and figured we deserved a treat and a day to spend together and relax. We went to La Costa resort and they treated us like queens. Really, a day I won't soon forget. Great day with great friends.


Our beautiful lunch table.



Cheers! Delicious bellinis!

Day 10
4/14/14


When we found out we were having girls, a friend of mine said I'd spend all my money on hair ties. I didn't really know what she meant and I certainly didn't believe her. Well, 3 years later and we're spending all our money on hair ties. Here, Brenna is using them as her bracelets.


I just had to include this photo of the girls adoring a snail in the driveway. They thought it was so cute. It kind of was.