Happy Birthday, Holly!!

Today we celebrated our little big sister's birthday. No, that wasn't a typo. I always call Holly my little "big" sister since she's taller than me. :)

Here are 10 things we love about Holly.

1) Holly is such a hard worker! She always has several jobs--whether it be teaching or working at Marsh, she is always tutoring and/or babysitting on her "time off." She makes me look pretty lazy! :)


2) Holly loves to exercise and stay healthy. She is always trying some crazy new workout regime, but is consistent in that she is always wanting to do something. Just as in her job, she puts 100% of herself into her workouts.

3) Holly has run 3 marathons--including the Boston Marathon, which she qualified for by running 26.2 miles in 3 hours and 35 minutes or something crazy like that. She rocks.

4) Holly loves kids...and they love her! Of course our kids are crazy about their Aunt Hawa, but even the kids she babysits for or used to teach just adore her.

5) Holly once snuck into the sacristy at my grandparents' church and helped herself to some Communion hosts, before she had even gone through First Communion. Now that I think about it, I'm surprised she didn't get ahold of the wine...

6) Holly loves to help other people--especially her friends and family. I don't know how many times she has come to help us stain our decks, paint rooms in our houses, watch our kids, get water out of our basements--oh, wait--that was just my basement. (Thanks, Holly!)

7) Holly loves to cook and bake. Over the past several years, she has acquired quite an extensive recipe collection. She is constantly searching for and finding new recipes and trying them out on the family. Of course we're happy to reap the benefits of that one! :)

8) Holly spent the first half of her life with straight hair. She got a perm when she was 13 or 14 and the curl just never went away. Now THAT's a permanent perm! :)

9) Holly is a loyal friend/sister. She has always been there to help me through rough patches in my life, and is always there to listen to me or give advice. I also say she is loyal because she is very defensive of her family and would do anything for any one of us. Well, except maybe Joel. Ha!

10) Holly loves to laugh and to make other people laugh. We are always quoting our favorite lines from "Airplane" and can laugh about the same line over and over again. ("A hospital? What is it?" "It's a large building with doctors who treat patients. But that's not important right now.") She has great one-liners and will even laugh at herself--which is just too cute.

The sisters at one of my baby showers.

Holly and Kelly on vacation.

Holly with Baby Clare.

Reese and Ryan with Aunt Holly at a wedding in 2007.

We love you, Holland!

Done with Week 1!

Today was my first weigh-in with the Sisterhood, and I lost 4 pounds! Although there is a little part of me that thinks I could have done better, I am pretty happy with my week. I worked out everyday and ate fairly well. I decided that week one I wanted to focus on getting my workouts in and making healthy food choices. I tried to eat an appropriate number of calories, but there was one night when I was still hungry and had a bowl of cereal (it was Raisin Bran, so that's not too bad, right?). Keith and I also had a date night for the first time in a while. We went to Bonefish Grill and I ordered fish with a glass of wine. We also split ice cream later. I know I ate more than I should have, but it's not like we get date nights that often!

This week I'm going to continue to focus on my workouts, which have included Shredding every day as well as another form of cardio most days. This past Saturday I did not Shred since we took an hour-and-a-half-long hike, did yardwork during naptime (lots of digging!), and I cleaned the house from top to bottom later that afternoon. There was just no way I could Shred! I did my video first thing this morning for the first time. I've been doing it during naptime or right after the girls go to bed, but I wanted to see how I felt doing it in the morning. The girls even joined me for the warm-up, then went back to reading their books:

My second goal for the week is to only eat one serving per day of whatever I'm eating. For example, I'm guilty of eating something and wanting another helping that I don't need. So in order to help balance out my diet and allow room for healthier foods, I'm only going to have one serving per food per day. So even though I'd love that second serving of pretzels, I will have to pass. And if that serving of casserole doesn't fill me up, then I will need to load up on the broccoli.

Hopefully I will continue to see results!

Are you Shredding?

Those of you who know me know that for the past year and a half I've dealt with back pain, back surgery, and rehab from the surgery. With two small children to care for it has not been an easy road. The past two months I have felt awesome, but at the back of my mind I've had this worry that I am going to do something to hurt myself again. I know with time I will get over it (and hopefully won't hurt myself), but for now everything is still fresh in my mind.

So, I've decided to do something about it.

For the past year and a half I've had pain, but I've also had excuses: my back hurts, I'm too tired, I should really rest, I have two little kids who drain my energy (not to mention I need to catch up on my shows, and waste an hour on the computer, and so on). The list of excuses is endless. Now don't get me wrong- I have exercised, but not regularly and not at the intensity that I would like.

Before kids I was a very active person, working out most days and planning exercise into my weekend activities. When we lived in Rhode Island one of my favorite things to do was head down to Beavertail, hike on the rocks, then chill out with a good book. In the summers I would hit the gym for 90 minutes before heading to the beach. I know, life was rough, huh?

Beavertail

When we moved back to Indiana I was so busy settling into our new house that I didn't make time for exercise. When our daughters came along fairly close together it was difficult to find time to workout, except for late at night. Again, though, it was never a regular activity.

But...things have changed.

I've decided that this is my year. The year I get my body back. The year I get strong. The year I build my ab strength so I won't have to worry about hurting my back as much. It is my year, I tell you.

I started shredding three days ago. If you are looking for a good, quick (27 minutes), cheap ($9) exercise video, then you need to get this one. It is hard, but awesome. I finally feel strong again- after only three days! I know it is just the beginning, but it is a start. I've also joined the Sisterhood and am really excited about it. I know that experiencing my journey to better health with others out there is probably what will motivate me the most.

I've started, I'm shredding, and I can't wait to see how quickly my jeans shrink! Stay tuned...

I need this!

I have seen this advertised on TV and at first thought it was really dorky- a blanket with sleeves!?! However, since my computer is saying it is -8 outside right now I am no longer thinking this is a dorky product. It is a very useful product- you can even walk around with it on! Plus, it comes with a handy book light for FREE. I think I need to order one.....

Best Job Ever?

I was perusing Yahoo! tonight and came across this article on the best job in the world. For 6 months, you live on an island in Australia and basically sell it to tourists- all for a salary equivalent to $100,000 US dollars. Not too bad, huh? Now I'm not the type of person who loves to rough it so this may not be the best job for me, but considering the length of employment and the salary I could probably learn to deal with it.

Ever since I was 7 I wanted to be a teacher- it was my "best job ever." After teaching for 9 years I still have fond memories, but the longer I'm away from it the more I think I may be called to do something different when it is time to go back to work. It may be education-related, or may be completely unrelated. Here are some recent thoughts I've had:

1. A preschool teacher (2-yr-olds). This would be once my babies are bigger, and I wish they were babies again. The upside? No conferences. The downside? More poop.

2. The Director of Education Scheduling at Clowes Memorial Hall. This is not the official title, but I read about this job recently in the paper. Basically you'd be in charge of scheduling shows for school-aged children, and doing the research behind the standards taught in the shows. I think. It sounds kind of cool, though!

3. Start my own business. Right now I have no idea what that would be.

4. Go back to school. I don't know what for, though.

Luckily I (think I) have plenty of time to figure out what to do from here since I'm not planning on going back to work anytime soon. Right now my best job is being a wife and mother, but if I had to pick an actual paying job I don't know what my best job would be. What would YOUR best job be? Maybe you can give me inspiration. :)

10 Things

Yesterday my oldest (but NOT old) sister celebrated her birthday. I cannot begin to express how grateful and blessed I am to be best friends with my 2 sisters. Not only are they the people I can call at any time of day or night (and have!), but they are truly amazing. I thought I would list a few (okay...ten) things about Kelly that you may or may not know.

1. Kelly loves to be busy. I think all of us girls are this way. Don't get me wrong....we love our nights on the couch watching TV. But at any given time you can be sure we probably have at least 46 projects in the making.

2. Kelly loves music. Growing up, Kristy and I would always sing while she played the piano. I have great memories of the music from the piano filling our whole house. And it also was quite convenient when we would play church. (Plus, I got to eat more bread and drink more "wine" while she was playing the Communion song).

3. Kelly is an amazing teacher. Although she no longer teaches at a school, she teaches her daughters each and every day. I tend to think "once a teacher, always a teacher" - at least the good ones. And to me, Kelly will always be a teacher.

4. Kelly is very loyal. As a friend, as a sister, as a wife, as a daughter....she is very committed to those she loves.

5. Kelly is a Handy Manny. She has always been the one to put furniture together (successfully), decorate beautifully, and to re-do every single room in her house. :-) She get it from her mama.

6. Kelly has black hair. Just kidding. But she hates it when I say that.

7. Kelly is very sensitive. I am, too, and I see it as a very positive thing. She is very moved by the things that she sees that might not phase others.

8. Kelly is one of the best mothers I know. She is patient, kind, caring, and nurturing, yet she also has so much FUN with her girls. She truly was born to be a mother, as was Kristy.

9. Kelly loves to help others. I can be the first to attest to this. There have been a couple times when Kelly has received a phone call from me in the middle of the night - one of those times when Grace was only a few months old. And you know what? Kelly got out of bed to help me. (*Waves to Keith* - thank you, too, Keith!) I will never, EVER forget her generosity on that night, or the generosity she continues to show to all of her loved ones.

10. Kelly loves, and is very loved. With her back surgery last weekend, you could not believe how many friends and family members (esp. a gorgeous younger sister....*thanks, Kristy!*) were there to help in whatever way they could. I think we all know that Kelly would have done the same, if not more, for any of us.

These are just a few things about Kelly that make me proud to call her my sister and my best friend.

We love you, Kel!

Mi casa es su casa

So I've officially been in my house for 6 weeks (well, 4 with my heat being broken the past 2 weeks). I thought I'd let you peek inside - you know, in a completely non-stalkerish way. I don't have pictures of the upstairs yet, but here is the downstairs and outside...

La cucina.

Dining Room

I'm working on furniture, although the hydrangea plant in the corner is lovely.

Living Room


Back of the house

I really wanted a decent sized backyard, which was hard to find in my price range. But this yard is actually pretty big - big enough to have all those wild, raging parties, you know. It had NO PLANTS whatsoever (unless you include over 342 types of weeds), so I had those two trees planted and - if you can squint - I planted the 4 dogwood bushes back there.

Now...this was my first attempt in ever planting something other than flowers. It was fairly cold that day (maybe 50 degrees and cloudy), and the shovel wouldn't break ground. So I found this tool in my garage....

...and used it to plant 5 1/2 bushes. I'm sure it was a hilarious sight to see. Thanks to my dad who so graciously planted the 1 1/2 I had left. :-)