A Friday "Cheer Up" Post

I’ve been in a hard-core slump this week for some reason, and I’ve totally felt like that limp wind-up doll from that Pristiq commercial. I was even sitting at my desk yesterday bent forward, head on my wristrest, looking just like that doll {I was stretching my back, not imitating the doll.}.

From Google Image Search

Basically, I’m just having a hard time getting my heart to catch up with my head. I know I have SO much to be happy and thankful for, but the sadness in my heart is often paralyzing, and then I feel like a schmuck for having a wonderful life but still feeling sad when there are so many others dealing with things that are so much worse. I’m sure it will shake off and pass soon, but for now this is what I live with.

It’s also been such a heavy, sad and confusing newsweek - my heart and thoughts go out to everyone affected in every which way and in every place this week. What a reminder that life is so fragile and precious; nothing is guaranteed – not our safety, not our freedom {scary thought!}.

From Pinterest

 In light of this, and because it’s Friday and the “end is in sight” for this week, I’ve composed a list of things that make me happy:

1.       Hearing my husband and son play together while I cook and/or clean up dinner.

2.       Making dinners that my boys actually like {a rarity in our house – a cook, I am not!}.

3.       Warm, perfect spring days filled with bright green leaves, fresh-cut-grass smell, and endless Carolina-blue skies and sunshine.  It’s hard to be down with such perfection surrounding you!

4.     Admiring my cleaned-out flower beds and the flowers that Valentino and I planted together last weekend.

5.       The intense happiness and excitement Valentino gets from taking packages to the Post Office. I’m currently selling a lot of stuff on ebay, which means we make weekly trips – he loves every second of it {probably because right now, his favorite thing to do is play “delivery man”}.

6.       Iced coffee! I’m going to make Pioneer Woman’s recipe this weekend. I made it last year {or the year before?} and I think I remember it turning out decent… I’m going to give it a whirl again, to save some $ and time in the mornings.

7.       Super sore muscles. I’ve been getting out there more – running, lifting, and doing workouts in our “gym” {aka: garage}. My hamstrings and hips are still worked over from a killer leg workout I did on Wednesday night (thanks Fitnessista! )… I’ve also cut out the nighttime snacking and I’ve been super conscientious about what I eat. A few pounds down, many more to go! By the way, I will be treating myself to a hair chop-off once I reach a certain goal. I’m really over having this super-long hair and I desperately want my hair {okay, and BODY!} to look like this:

Pinterest via johannarogersrff.blogspot.com

 

8.       Valentino’s Rainbow Tea – the preschool is putting on a little “show” for us today {the kids will be singing songs about springtime and the colors of the rainbow, then they are serving rainbow-themed refreshments afterwards}. Valentino has a small speaking part, and he is totally geeked about it. He and I assembled rainbow fruit skewers {strawberries, cantaloupe, pineapple, green grapes, blueberries, red grapes} to share with the kids and their parents.

"Mom, we're like real chefs putting these together for people to eat!"
{Idea via Pinterest - OF COURSE!}

 

Side note: If you’ve seen “This is 40,” do you have the urge to say “fruits” like the Indian doctor all the time, too? I pretty much can’t say “fruit” without wanting to say it his way… I’m a nut.

9.       Lunchtime walks {minus the silkworms}. Bright, refreshing moments for me during long, seemingly never-ending days.

 

Here's to a restorative, happy, and relaxing weekend! Please take your time, Monday.

Today I am thankful.

Things I’m thankful for lately:

1.       Warmer weather – hallelujah! Although, as mentioned in my previous post, I am not *physically* ready for it yet! It is nice to get out in the mornings for a run, or at lunchtime for a walk. I’ve been trying to be outside as much as possible. I’m pretty sure I was sick so much this past winter from the lack of sun and fresh air {not to mention the stress!}.

2.       An amazing husband who is also a stellar dad – he’s always been great with Valentino, but lately I’ve been very pre-occupied with side projects in the evening, so he’s been keeping the boy occupied with bike rides, bike tricks in the street, and other fun projects. Even when the man is exhausted after his very physically-demanding job, he gets out there with our son. My heart is so full of love when I hear them together J

3.      Being mostly done with vehicle maintenance that has been looming for the past few months… I hated knowing that we needed new tires {so. much. $$!!) and some other normal maintenance things. Car maintenance is an annoying necessity, and I’m glad to have the big $ stuff done and off my mind. Plus, my new tires are snazzy! Big thanks to the aforementioned super-husband for spending one of his days off getting most of this done!

4.       New paint in my kitchen! The transformation is pretty amazing, and I’m so glad it’s {almost} done. The original, builder-white paint was filthy and BLAH. Pictures and details soon!

 

Painting is dangerous business!
{He was headed out with Super Daddy to ride bikes}

 

Review: Annie Louise Wilkerson, MD Nature Preserve in Raleigh

This family {myself in particular} really enjoys getting out and doing things on the weekend. We try to experience everything that we can - mostly free festivals, inexpensive family outings, and whatever else we can find that entertains us as well as Valentino. I'm going to incorporate a few "reviews" of things that we do.

This past weekend the weather was absolutely, positively GORGEOUS. No humidity, slight breeze, mid-70s. Simply amazing for early June in NC {I told my co-workers that it compared to a nice July day in Buffalo, NY - the only nice thing about B'lo}. On our bike rides, we've passed by Wilkerson Nature Preserve many times, and in keeping with our vow to be healthy and teach healthy behavior to our son, we thought Saturday would be a good day to check it out and take a hike. We had a GREAT time! Valentino loves hiking, and the amenities at this park are perfect for kids!

First, we popped our heads into the Welcome Center to grab a map. As Vic grabbed one and got the low-down on the best trail to take, Valentino and I perused the bookshelves that were full of "nature" items perfect for a kid to explore - molds of animal prints/teeth/eggs/poop, fossils, books, and diagrams. Then, Marty {who, as it turns out, is the manager of the park} informed us that they had trail packs that we can check out. The kid-sized trail packs were donated by REI and contained a bug box, magnifying glass, compass, maps, guides, a journal, and binoculars, and Marty also had a large net that we could use. Valentino's eyes were huge as he was being handed all this stuff - he couldn't wait to get going!

Valentino modeling his pack and net

I'm a sucker for little kids in backpacks!

After applying copious amounts of bug spray {there were "watch for ticks" signs everywhere}, we took off on the "Hidden Rocks" trail. It took us through the woods, past some huge boulders:

Vic and Valentino on top of the "Hidden Rocks"

In all, the hike was just about 1.5 miles, which was plenty for Valentino. I highly recommend long pants - we pulled several ticks off our legs {thankfully, none had latched on} - or lots of bug spray w/DEET and vigilant awareness of what's on your legs.

Ranger Valentino, scoping out the route

We will definitely be returning to the park for future hikes! The easy terrain, relatively "short" paths, and amenities from the Welcome Center make this an absolute must-do for any family who enjoys the outdoors! I can't recommend this park enough!

COST: Free

BRING: Bug spray, water, snacks/picnic {there's a picnic shelter}, camera, kite if it's windy {although they have some to borrow as well}, well-behaved dog
Annie Louise Wilkerson, MD Nature Preserve is located at 11408 Raven Ridge Road, Raleigh, NC 27614

Friday Love!

Four things I'm loving this week:

1. Strawberry pickin' season is here! Strawberries are my favorite fruit, and NC strawberries are some of the best berries I've ever had! If it doesn't rain tomorrow, I'm hoping to head out the fields and pick a bucket full. I've pinned several strawberry-based recipes, and I'm planning on freezing berries to use in smoothies and w/yogurt. YUM!

2. Planting season is also here! Well, it has been for a couple weeks now... but I'm planning on getting in on it this weekend. I have a flat of impatiens that need to be planted out front, and I'm contemplating planting some vegetables in containers. Valentino also has the planting bug - he asked me to clean out one of his yogurt cups last week so that he could plant a flower in it! Then we picked out a packet of yellow zinnia seeds to plant in it. I love that he's so interested in such a wide array of things. Vic and I are also planning on adding some edging to our front garden bed, which should be an fun task. Not.

3.  IKEA inspirations. I have a deep aching to go to IKEA. It killed me last weekend that we were within an hour drive of IKEA, but we couldn't go {no space to bring anything home - boo!}. I have been pining over some shelving and a new entertainment center solution to spruce up a very empty wall in our living room. I'm hoping that we can go to the Charlotte IKEA soon... it's only a 2.5 hour drive {ha}. Until then, I will keep preparing a mental list of things I want to buy...

4. A new found interest in saving money. In my last post, I stated that my coffee habit was costing too much $. I'm embarrassed at the amount of money that I've spent on coffee when it could be going towards something more useful and fun, like our upcoming vacation or our savings fund. I feel the same way when we eat out (which we do a lot). Like I said, I plan on cutting out the coffee and soda, and planning/cooking meals at home more often. Why waste money on silly things? I also want to seek out online coupons more, and try to shop our local supermarket sales when they have good specials {like Harris Teeter's double coupon sale this past week - they doubled coupons up to $1.98!}.

Speaking of spending money, I actually purchased a few clothing items for myself yesterday - a dress, cardigan, tank, and a shirt, all for less than $45 {thanks, Target!}. I also picked up a cute throw pillow for our couch {$10} and some $1 mother's day cards {score!}. I LOVE Target {don't we all?!}, and I feel that I was frugal with my purchases - everything was on sale, and each was something that was *somewhat* needed.

4 mile run {43:19} last night, and a 7 mile run scheduled for tomorrow. Last night I also started my mypublisher photo books! So easy and fun, and I can't wait to see the finished product!

Looking forward to a lovely weekend!

Friday Love!

Although I despise and cringe and shutter when I hear (or read) "Happy Friday!" I feel it necessary to say "Happy Friday before Easter!" (somehow, "Happy Good Friday" just doesn't seem right - I secretly want to post this someecard that I saw today, but it is highly inappropriate!).

Everyone's always giving three or five reasons why they love something. Well, my favorite and lucky number is 4, so I bring you my top FOUR favorite things this week!

1. Coming to terms with renting. We've gone back and forth since our lease contract expired last February (we're now month-to-month). Our rental now is affordable and in a wondeful area, but our neighborhood is, well... interesting. It can get a little wild at times, and it's not always pleasant. However, the rental market in Raleigh is so tight and competitive - as soon as a rental is listed, it's snatched right up. Plus, rent is going up. This is due to 2 facts: a. Raleigh is the 5th fastest growing metro area in the country b. with lending rules tightened, people can't/aren't buying homes as much as they used to and they end up renting instead. We've come to terms with the fact that, until we are able to buy a house, we'll be staying put and saving up. This has been good for me, as I now wish to make our little home as comfortable and ours as possible.
2. Springtime is here, which means more activities! Egg hunt last weekend. Birthday party and Easter this weekend. Cycling will be in full effect in no time. Soon there will be strawberry and blueberry picking, trips to the beach/MD/MI, and SUMMER! I absolutely love April-November in NC! I've started compiling our "Summer 2012 List" (of things we want to do over the summer) and I'm getting so excited!
3. My Grandma. My Grandma and I have always been close. I spent a ton of time with her when I was younger, and she and I have always kept in touch since I've become an adult. She has been the most constant person in my life, and we have a deep connection and bond. I'm always amazed at how she immediately knows if something's wrong, just by the tone of my voice. Now that I have my own child, she has been an amazing Great Grandma too! Valentino calls her several times a week, and she happily chatters with him about his day and all kinds of other silly things (sometimes I feel bad because he's being a little pest to her on the phone, but she insists that she just loves hearing his voice). She frequently sends him cards and small gifts in the mail, which is always ecstatic to receive - just yesterday she sent him a box stuffed with books and fun Easter things, including a sweet little Easter bunny that he slept with last night :-) Even though they haven't seen each other since he was 2 (which I'm sure he doesn't remember) they too have an amazing bond already. It really makes feel so blessed to have her in our lives.
4. My awesome husband and son. Valentino practically begged Vic to buzz his hair on Monday, and I finally gave in. I just didn't want to let go of my baby's beautiful blonde locks. Once the buzz was complete, Vic and I just stared (and continue to stare even now) at our beautiful son. With the mop of hair gone, we can see all his features so clearly and we are both amazed by his perfect skin and features. He is one good looking boy! It makes me feel so proud to know that the two of us have created and molded this child who is so beautiful inside and out, and I am so excited to someday hopefully create another sweet little being with Vic. We may have our differences, but in the end, we are a great team and we balance each other wonderfully.

And as a bonus, you get my FOUR goals for the rest of April. I plan to re-cap on 5/1, to fill you in on my progress.

1. Lose at least 5lbs. Enough said. Summer is so close (since it basically starts in early May here in NC), and I'm in no shape to be seen in anything put long sleeves and jeans. Fudge.That brings me to #2...
2. Keep to the 1/2 marathon training schedule. This week was a bust. 5 miles on Saturday, 3.5 miles on Tuesday. The rest of the days? Couldn't get myself out of bed (except Thursday - I had all intentions of going to the gym, but Valentino got me up at 4 and I fell asleep in his bed until 6). SO embarassing and shameful. However, I have been doing more pushups and arm exercises at home (and my arms feel it bigtime), so there has been some improvement in my work. But not much, nor enough. Tomorrow calls for another 5 miles. I WILL be out there pounding the pavement, you can count on that.
3. Add money to savings. We have so many things that we want (like a bike rack/hitch for the car so that we can haul our bikes) and so many places we want to go this summer (MI trip in June, beach weekends, trip to the mountains), so it's really important that we start socking away some cash to make these things possible.
4. Get stuff DONE. Procrastination is my middle name, so I'm resolving to actually take care of things. First on the list - meal and budget planning. For meals, I want to create a theme for each day (pasta, mexican, grill, etc...), and then get groups of recipes for each theme and rotate them out. For the budget, I'm going to take some advice from this lady, who has a family of six that lives on $28,000/year! AMAZING and so inspiring! If they can do it on so little, I'm sure we can figure out ways to shave our spending. I also need to get my front end fixed, which I screwed up by having a stupid accident in February (where I re-ended someone.. time to kiss $500 goodbye!). I know getting these things done and off the "to-do" list will make me feel so much better.

Happy Easter!