If we were having coffee together…

If we were having coffee together, I’d be telling you that I had a dentist appointment at 6:30 this morning, and because the Universe likes to laugh at me (and torture me), Amelia woke up at 4:45!  I also HATE going to the dentist, and was informed that I’ll be going back. A lot.  Ugh.  I have no idea how I’m still functioning right now.  Maybe it’s because it’s 70* and beautiful out, and I’m solar powered!

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that I’m feeling kind of loopy from getting up so early, and I’m not even sure how I’m going to make it until 6:30 tonight when Casey gets home.  Thank goodness for naps! I’m pretty sure I’ll crash soon, which will result in an afternoon trip to Starbucks.

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that I’ve been making the most delicious meals lately.  We’ve been going to the farmers markets on Saturday mornings and Tuesday afternoons to pick up fresh fruit and veggies.  I absolutely LOVE being able to cook our meals with farm fresh produce, it just tastes better and my body feels better too!  It feels so good to have the time to cook for my family now that I’m on break!  Since it’s been hot lately, I haven’t wanted to use the oven (our house is hotter than the devil’s buttcrack in the summer!). My plan for dinner was spaghetti and salad, so I put a few chicken breasts in the crockpot.  After about 4 hours, I shredded them and added a bunch of fresh squash, zucchini, and broccoli and a jar of marinara and let it cook on low for another few hours!  It was so delicious, and we got about 3 meals out of it. Speaking of delicious food!  I just got done eating an amazing salad.  I used mixed greens and spinach, and put carrots, radishes, cucumber, avocado, beans, and balsamic on it!  But, if we were having coffee together, I would have shared it with you and you’d already know how amazing it tasted!  I also just made some baked tofu marinated in BBQ sauce and sweet potato fries for Amelia when she wakes up from her nap!

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that I’m getting married in 30 days!  Dude.  DUDE.  We have almost everything checked off of our “to-d0” list, and I’m so pleased with how well all of the planning has gone for us.  If this is a sign of how well Casey and I will work together in our marriage, it’s going to be a great ride.  We tackle tasks and “to-do” lists like a boss!

Yes, I have a countdown app on my phone. I couldn’t help myself!

If we were having coffee together, I would tell you that I’m finally starting to crash from being up so damn early today, and since I’ve prepared meals for Amelia, swept and mopped, did the dishes, and ate my lunch…I should probably go lay down before she wakes up.  Once she’s up, we’re off to do our weekly run to Target.  Because you know how much Amelia likes to stand up in the cart and greet the passers by! hahaha She’s cray cray.

Have a fun afternoon, friends!

Because I can’t put up a post without sharing this happy face!

Finding balance in my new role, and the funny things my kid does

My beautiful baby…who isn’t really a baby anymore!

 

Wow, I just realized that it’s been a long time since I’ve blogged!  Since the end of the school year, I’ve been settling into my new routine as a full time stay at home mom, as well as continuing to plan our wedding (33 days! EEEKKK!), and keep our house clean and functioning.  When I was in school full time, I was only gone and away from Amelia for two days a week, but with school and homework on my mind 24/7 I feel like I wasn’t able to give her all of the attention that she needed.  Now, it’s pretty much all about Amelia, all the time.  It’s exhausting, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I knew coming into my summer break, that staying home and taking care of Amelia full time would be challenging and exhausting at times, but we have been having so much fun!  Also, if anyone tells you that being a stay at home mom is easy, they either have someone helping them 24/7, or their lying.  I’d be inclined to say it’s the latter, because no matter how you look at it, taking care of a toddler, full time by yourself, is a lot of work!

Now, I’ve also been working at finding time for myself as well, because I am the kind of person that can’t give to others if I don’t have time to decompress and breathe.  Ten hours a day of taking care of a baby/toddler solo can really wear me down, so I try to maximize my time when I can, because alone time is such an important factor in my life.  I kind of had that during the two 10 hour days each week that I was at school, but it wasn’t relaxing so I wasn’t feeling the personal fulfillment that I really needed.

It took me about two weeks to really get into a routine with Amelia.  Now that she’s older, we can’t just sit around the house all day like we did last summer when she was a newborn.  And thank God for that, that nearly killed me!  Those of you who know me, know that I don’t adjust well to sitting around, I never have, and neither does Amelia.  So, in my quest to find fun things to fill up our days, here’s a little timeline of what we’ve been doing for the past two weeks!

Tuesday and Thursday: In the morning we go to the YMCA and I work out for an hour and a half and put Amelia in the daycare so she can play.  I’m really thankful for the daycare at the Y, because this gives me two days during the weekday to not be on baby duty, wedding planning duty, house cleaning duty, bill paying duty….you get where I’m going with this.  I get on the treadmill and run hard and zone out for 40 minutes, and then lift heavy things for the rest of my alone time.  It pretty much rules…and Amelia being in the daycare guarantees at least a two hour nap, which also rules!  Because during her nap I can accomplish other said duties that I can’t do when she’s awake.

The afternoons are kind of up in the air, and it really depends on Amelia’s mood, and the weather.  Sometimes we go over to our friends house so Amelia can play with her bff Elise (and I can hang out with her mama Rachel), and sometimes they come to our house to play.  There’s a park within walking distance of both of our houses so if time permits, we will take the girls to play at the park.  The swings are Amelia’s favorite!  She also likes pushing her stroller around instead of playing with the toys, which is kind of funny….I just roll with it.

Amelia and her BFF Elise at Amelia’s bday party. This picture melts my heart!

Monday and Wednesday:  This week we started a morning swim class at the Y!  Rachel and Elise are in the class too, which makes it so much more fun!  Yesterday was our first class, and in true Amelia fashion she had the biggest, derpiest smile on her face the entire time. And she kept trying to swim away from me!  She really was out of control!  I was surprised considering that it was her first time in a pool.  Elise on the other hand, wasn’t so sure, but, I think she had a good time!  This is a 4 week class and we get to go every M/W, so it’ll be a good way to fill up our mornings, and wear Amelia out.  See where I’m going here with these morning activities?  Play Amelia hard in the morning, she’ll come home and take an epic nap, and I get some time to myself to clean, blog, and relax!  Yesterday she was so whooped from her first swim class that she slept for 3 hours!

In the afternoons, it’s more of the same.  We may go play with our friends Rachel and Elise, or we’ll go run errands.  Amelia also has another baby friend named Juniper that we like to go play with!  Her mom, has been a friend of mine and Casey’s for a long time, and it’s so great that she has a little one almost the same age as Amelia (her and her partner also have older kids as well, and Amelia really likes them)! They really like each other a lot, so it’s fun to go visit.  My friend lives across the street from a big park here in Tacoma, so last week we went over to join her and her family for a picnic!  It was wonderful to sit in the grass on blankets, eat snacks, and watch the kids play.

Pogo sticks, sunshine, and babies. At the park with our friends last week!

When we run errands in the afternoons, it’s most likely that we are going to Target to pick something up, or we will walk to the grocery store to pick something up for dinner.  I love that there’s a grocery store across the street, because then I can’t justify driving and that forces us to get out and get a little exercise!  Sometimes we make a detour and hit the park on the way home so Amelia can swing, and if I’m in need of an afternoon pick me up we stop at Starbucks for an iced coffee before we hit the park.  Yes I’m addicted to coffee, yes I know it’s expensive, and yes I’m okay with it!  Sometimes it’s the only thing that I get during the day that’s a treat, so I think it’s justified!  Anyways, back to Target……there really is a reason that I’m rambling on about our afternoon errand runs!  Amelia loves the carts at Target!  It’s pretty hilarious, because she refuses to sit in them properly, and will only stand up facing out.  Again…..It makes her happy, so I just roll with it.  So, I have to strap her in and hold onto the back of her pants while she smiles and points at everyone as we walk by.  This kid!  She’s so funny!

They see me rollin’…..they hatin’….

Friday’s:   This is kind of a free day for us.  By the end of the week, I’m exhausted so we just kind of play it by ear.  Sometimes in the morning we will go to “toddler gym” at the Y with Rachel and Elise….we actually do this throughout the week, but since our mornings are filling up now, it may just be on Fridays.  Who knows!  The girls love it.  It’s basically an open gym area with lots of toys and crazy kids running around.  It’s pretty overwhelming and chaotic, but the kids have fun.  I’ve had my fair share of little bullies at toddler gym this week, and have wanted to ring a few parents necks, but I need to keep my aggression and Mama Bear-ness at bay, so I just take Amelia away from the mean kids and we play on.

Elise pushing Amelia around at Toddler Gym. See a theme here? I do! Love these kids!

 

Anyways…..so, yeah, that’s a look into my life as stay at home mom and some of the things that I do to keep us busy and entertained.  Damn, I’m exhausted!  But, it really is a lot of fun!  Some days I just want a minute to myself and I get frustrated if I’m really tired, or Amelia has woken up a lot during the night.  But, then I sit back and reflect on how full and wonderful our lives are.  Not a lot of moms get the opportunity to stay home with their kids like I do.  I get to watch my baby grow and learn during some of the most important stages of her life, and I feel so blessed, and so fortunate!  Yes it’s hard!!!  Yes, I’m tired and need a break sometimes!!!  Yes, I could do without Amelia needing to be attached to me 24/7.  I could use some space to myself, and time to make a cup of coffee in the morning!  But, at the end of the day , it’s worth it.  I love my little bug, I love my family (and friends), and I love my life!  As I see it, from here on out, it’s only going to get better…..and I can’t wait!

June 3, 2014 – Amelia’s first birthday

My little girl is growing up

Hi guys!  Hope you’re having a happy Tuesday. 🙂  So far, so good around here!

Amelia and I did something new today, and I just have to share!  As Amelia is getting older she’s starting to get pretty bored with staying at home, and to be honest I don’t blame her, I get bored here too!!  Want an example of just how bored she gets?  She likes to follow me everywhere I go when we’re at home, and this morning she was in the bathroom with me while I was brushing my teeth and getting ready.  I look over and there she is, standing next to the toilet, figuring out that she can flush it on her own!  Then, as she pushes the handle down to flush the toilet, I turn around to go get her, and she quickly stuffs a wad of toilet paper in her mouth!  Oy. The new game this week is seeing how much of the toilet paper roll she can unravel before I can stop her.  Hahaha  She’s pretty funny sometimes!!

Busted!!!

 

Anyways, this is why I need to get both of out of the house so we an burn off some of this extra energy and have a little fun!  Amelia loves playing with other kids and most of my girlfriends either have kids or are nanny’s, so we try to go on play dates on a pretty regular basis (when she’s not sick of course).  For those of you that have kids, you know that these play dates are an important component to a mom’s sanity!  So today, we went and met up with some of my girlfriends and their little’s at this place called Frog N’ Kiwi Cafe (they don’t have a website, but just click on the link and check out their Facebook page).

We had only been there once before when Amelia was about 4 months old, and at that point she was just laying around not doing much.  Since she’s finally over her cold(s), I figured now was as good a time as ever to arrange a play date with all of my friends and their kids!  Frog N’ Kiwi is awesome guys, and Amelia had so much fun!  It has a cafe so that you can get coffee, tea, pastries, etc and and attached play area.  It’s locked and you can’t get a code unless you pay to go in, or buy something, so it’s safe for the kids.

For those of you who know us, you know that Amelia definitely has a case of the “mommy’s”, and it’s rare that she detaches herself from me when we go somewhere.  The minute we got there, I sat her down and she was off and running…well, more like crawling but you get the point!  I was so proud of my little girl, who is growing up so fast.  She saw other kids playing and went over to where they were and just watched and absorbed all that was going on.

That’s Amelia in the yellow shirt, just hanging out and playing independently!

Double fisting the toys!

 

One of my friends that came has a son (Levi) that’s a day younger than Amelia, and it was really fun to watch them play!  For the most part she just did her own thing and ate whatever toys looked delicious at the time (you know….cause she’s a baby, and that’s what they do).  But, occasionally she played with Levi or came over to me for a quick cuddle or a snack before she went back to playing!

Oh Heyyyyyyyy! Amelia and her little friend Levi!

 

The kids played hard for two and a half hours before we all decided it was time to go.  It really was a great day, and I’m so happy that I got a chance to spend time with my friends, and watch Amelia play and thrive in her own little environment.  Now she’s fast asleep, and for another 30 minutes or so I get to sit and enjoy the quiet time, and reflect on what a great day this has been.  It’s these moments, and these days that remind me how lucky I truly am.  I’m surrounded by wonderful women who make up a great support system and love me and my daughter very much.  We’re blessed enough to have opportunities to go do fun things like we did today.  Amelia gets to learn more about the world around her, and I get to watch my little baby grow into a little girl.

Amelia and her “Auntie” Tory (I’m so thankful for her!!)

 

I could tell that Amelia was happy today because she crawled over to me, gave me a huge hug and a huge wet kiss.  Some days, that’s all I need to make me feel happy and whole.

And my sweet angel sleeps…

Hope you all have had a good of a day as I have!

 

QOTD:  Have any of you been to play places like Frog N’ Kiwi?  If so, link their website in the comments and share with other parents out there.  We’re always looking for cool places to take our kids!! 🙂

 

Hitting the Reset Button

Am I the only one that wakes up on a Monday morning with an overwhelming urge to hit the reset button?  To try and un-do all that was done over the weekend in an attempt to restore order to my life and body?  When I woke up this morning I felt like I needed not only a mental but a physical cleanse.  I just wanted to be kinder to my body and to my mind, and to feel better.  This weekend I drank a little more alcohol than I should have, ate more sugar than I should have, and was in a bad mood almost the entire time.  I am a firm believer that what you put into your body has a direct effect on your mind and your mood.  So, it only makes sense that after an over indulgent weekend filled with sugar, complex carbohydrates, and negativity, I woke up this morning feeling and intense need for change.  I should add that my bad mood perpetuated this bad behavior, which in turn put me in an even worse mood.  So it’s definitely a revolving circle of self abuse.  I used to be so diligent about taking care of myself.  I would eat well always, make time for exercise, get plenty of sleep, and be sure to set aside time for working on my mental health and personal happiness.  Now that I’m a mom, a full time student, and the person in my house who is in charge of making sure that my family is fed and taken care of, I feel like something has to be sacrificed.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my life, but all of this extra stuff hasn’t left me any time for myself and this is becoming an issue for me.  I am a person who needs to feel balance in all aspects of my life in order to feel well and be well.

So, in an effort to purge my life of the things that I don’t want anymore here’s what I plan to do:

* Be good to my body! – Get the refined sugars out of my diet and stop relying on them to enhance my mood and help me feel better.  I used to love having fruit as a treat or desert, but now I find myself always reaching for a cookie, or chocolate, etc.  Sugar is addictive and all this does is leave me feeling like I need more.

* Cut back on alcohol! – Get back to just having a glass of wine or two on the weekends, and that’s it.  Same thing with sugar, after one glass of wine, I feel like I want or need another.  Usually that’s not a good idea.

* Start running and lifting again! – This used to be something that was a priority in my life, and pretty much defined me.  Fitness was my career.  I had a my own spot in the weight room and the gym and everyone knew who I was.  But, being sick with my daughter on and off over the past 5 months, and having a very busy schedule with school and being a new mom has really put a halt to my ability to exercise, and in turn has made me very lazy.  I used to go out and run a minimum of 5 miles, 4 times a week as well as find time for strength training.  Now, I’m lucky if I get out for a walk a few times a week.  I miss that part of myself.  With that said, I’m living a new life now and don’t have the the time or the energy to go to the gym and work out for an hour and a half each day, so I’m going to adapt my workouts to fit in with my new life!

I’m really excited for these new changes that I’m about to implement in my life!  This is just in time for summer, and my wedding in July!  Eeeeekkk!!!  I want to go into all of this feeling healthy, happy, and whole!  I also want to stay accountable to myself and all of you, so I’m going to be using my blog as a way to document my healthy eats and exercise like I used to do when I first started writing.  I’m really hopeful about this new journey, and I’m happy that you can all take it with me!!

To kick things off, when I got home from school The Boy (as I have affectionately called him since we started dating) took over baby duty so I could get a run in!  I ran 3.4 miles around the neighborhood in about 35 minutes!  I had some pretty steep hills and a few walking breaks on the way back, but overall I feel great and am happy with my run.  It’s been almost 2 months since I laced up my shoes and got out there, and I’m still riding the runners high!!

When I got home, Amelia was napping so I got cleaned up and started prepping dinner.  When she woke up it was time to eat, and we were all starving!!  I didn’t take any pics of dinner tonight because I was eager to get the food on the table, but The Boy and I had baked chicken (that he prepared while I was gone!), mashed sweet potatoes, and kale salad with avocado and carrots.  It was delicious!!!  Amelia (my 11 month old daughter who still has no teeth!) had little pieces of chicken, avocado, sweet potato, pasta, and watermelon!  She seemed to like the dinner just as much as we did…this kid has an appetite!

So, I’d have to say that I successfully hit the reset button today, and I’m feeling pretty good about it!  I’ll include some pics of my delicious eats and my beautiful runs the next time I give you all an update.  Until then…..here’s a pic of our beautiful daughter last week on her first trip to the zoo!

Cheers!

Dayna 🙂

Lest We Forget

It was 7 years ago today, that my mom decided to leave this world, to leave me with many questions and few answers.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  Going to her house to check up on her because she wasn’t answering my calls.  Knocking, and knocking, and knocking……no answer.

We had always been close, as I was her only daughter and only family member.  For most of our lives, we were all we had.  Life with mom had always been a challenge, as she was fighting a battle with mental illness, that she was having a difficult time winning.  Despite the closeness, our relationship was strained.  She needed and demanded more from me that I was able to give at times.  I was a wife, a caregiver to my mom, a full time student, and full time employee.  She hated my husband (at that time), and had a hard time dealing with the relationship that I was in (as did a lot of people, although I didn’t see it at the time).  She had seen him as the one who stole me away from her, and that caused her to “need” me even more.  I was being pulled in so many different directions towards the end of her life, at times I didn’t know what to do.  When my mom was hurting, or dealing with tough stuff in her life, I was always the one that she turned to, the one that had to bear the burden of her problems and her pain.  No child should ever have to go through that.  But, I didn’t mind, she was my mom.  We were part of each other, together we were one, and I would always be there if she needed me.  This started as early as I can remember….mom leaning on me for emotional support.  We fought a lot.  She would make me so mad sometimes!  She would say the meanest things to me…”I hate you”, “you’re a horrible person”, “you’re a bitch!”, “how are you my daughter?”, “I feel sorry for the man you marry someday, he’s going to have his hands full”.  That one stung the most, and still does to this day.  But the hurt, the pain, and the burden that she put on me does not outweigh the love and the bond, and the happiness that we shared.  We loved each other so much.  I never understood that love, and how deep it could be, and how it could exist until my daughter was born.  The love that we shared is something that just IS.  It’s a part of you, and it takes over the pain of the hurtful words.  Her words came from her own pain, they had nothing to do with me.  I loved her to the moon and back a thousand times.  I knew she needed me, so I was a willing recipient of her mental and sometimes physical abuse.  She disowned me more times than I can count, and then took me back in.  It was the textbook abusive relationship.  Cause as much hurt as you can, and then come crawling back for forgiveness.  I loved her, so I always came back.  I would never turn my back on my mom.

As I was knocking, and knocking and knocking….and the dog was barking, I started to panic.  I thought back to the previous evening when I was with my mom.  She was in the deepest, darkest place that I had ever seen her in.  She was gone…..her eyes looked black and all I could see was darkness.  She had just moved into her new apartment 4 weeks ago and hadn’t even started unpacking.  She wouldn’t even give me a key, which should have been a red flag.  I had always had free reign of every place that she had lived.  She was planning something that I didn’t even see coming.  That evening, the night before her death, she kept asking me to save her…to help her.  I was the only one.  She didn’t want to spend another day on this earth, she told me that she wanted to die and I was the only one that could save her. That’s quite the burden to put on your child.  I didn’t even know how to react.  My mom had a tendency to “cry wolf” in the past, and I didn’t know if I should take her seriously or not, and to be honest, I was exhausted and tired of her stories.  This time she was telling the truth and I didn’t see it for what it was.  I could have saved her and I didn’t.  I stayed with her for about an hour, just holding her and telling her that we were going to be okay, and that I would be back tomorrow to help her unpack.  It would be a good day because we would be together.  She kept asking me to stay just another 30 minutes, and I couldn’t.  I was exhausted, had to be at work at 5am, and just needed to go home.  I should have stayed.  Damn it, I should have stayed! But I didn’t.  I kissed her on her forehead, told her I loved her and that I would be back tomorrow, and I went home.  That was the last time I saw my mom.  I should have stayed.

After realizing that my mom was not going to answer the door, and starting to panic, my husband (at the time) and I decided that we should call the police.  I called and told them that I knew my mom was home, but she wasn’t answering the door, and that I was in fear for her life.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  The police, firetrucks, and ambulance came.  The went to my moms door, and with the help of the apartment manager, they went in.  They wouldn’t let me come with them, and I remember being so mad.  This is MY MOM’S house!  I AM my mom’s protector!  I demanded that they let me in and they would not.  I went flying up the stairs towards her apartment door only to be pulled away by the police officer and the firefighter…. “Ma’am, we can’t let you in.  We highly recommend that you don’t enter this apartment.”  Then, the news that I had been dreading, and so afraid to hear.  My mom was dead.  Laying on the floor in her living room surrounded by a plethora of empty pill bottles.  My mind flashed back to the night before.  “Baby, I don’t want to live anymore, but you’re the only one that can save me, please don’t leave…”  I left, and now she was dead.  I was numb.  I yelled, I punched, I cried, and I sat silent….for a very long time.

So 7 years later, her I am.  Still mourning her death, still feeling as much pain as I did that fateful night on May 1st, 2007.  This is the first time that I’ve chosen to write and share my feelings about that night…the night my mom lost her battle with mental illness and left me forever.  She didn’t even leave a note.  Forever without a mom.  Forever alone.  Forever empty.  Forever sad.

Now that I have a daughter of my own, I understand the love that we shared.  I vow to always love my daughter as much as my mom loved me, but to NEVER burden her like my mom burdened me.  I never want my daughter to feel the kind of pain that I did and still do.  They say that time heals all wounds, but I’m not so sure.

Mom – I love you more than my words can express.  My heart is heavy without you here.  All I can do now is carry on your memory and your legacy. I’ll tell your granddaughter about how special you are, and how much you love her even though you’re not with us anymore. I will show her your pictures and tell her stories about your love. So, today is about you mom, today (and everyday) I will honor your memory. I hope you found the peace you were looking for, as I continue to search for mine. RIP

I love you mom

Happy Saturday!

Happy Saturday everyone!

We had a bit of a rough night last night.  Casey (my fiancee’) and I are currently in the process of sleep training our daughter, which means that the nights are a little unpredictable right now. Amelia used to sleep through the night, but once she started going to daycare two days a week (when she turned 6 months old), having a cold became a constant in our house.  With that came a serious derailment of her good sleeping patterns, and a break in my sanity as well.  So, here we are.  Over our fourth cold (which lasted over a month), and back to trying to get Amelia to sleeping through the night.  For the first time we have been successful in establishing a bedtime routine and have been able to get her down to bed at 8:30 every night for the past week, but last night we decided it was a good time to start night weaning her in hopes that she could put herself back to sleep and then start sleeping through the night.  Well, after letting her cry for almost an hour and a half, and going in once to console her, we threw in the towel and went into rescue her.  She didn’t wake up again after that though, which was definitely a change from the waking every two hours that she’s been doing for the past month or so.  We’ll give it another go tonight and hopefully we’ll be more successful.  Any other moms out there that have experienced this?  Do you have any pointers for us?

Anyways, moving on….there’s been a 29 question survey going around the blogworld lately, and the last one I read was from this lovely lady.  I’ve love all of the ones that I’ve read so far, so I thought it would be fun to do one of my own!

1. What are you wearing?

A gray Lululemon zip up hoodie, a brown tee shirt, blue jeans, and warm fuzzy socks

2. Ever been in love?

Yes!

3. Ever had a terrible breakup?

Yes, more like a divorce though.

4. How tall are you?

5’3″

5. How much do you weigh?

128lbs

6. Any tattoos?

Yes, 4

7. Any piercings?

Just my ears now but I used to have my tongue and belly button pierced as well

8. Favorite song?

It’s a tie between Jack Johnson’s Better Together, and Christina Perry’s A Thousand Years. I’m a sucker for love songs, what can I say?

9. Quality you look for in a partner?

Loyalty, honesty, and humor!

10. Favorite quote?

“If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you.”

~ Winnie The Pooh

11. Favorite actor?

That’s tough, I don’t think I have one actually!

12. Loud music, or soft?

Soft music for sure.  Loud noises make me anxious

13. Where do you go when you’re sad?

To the waterfront for a walk or a run.  The water always calms me.

14. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?

Usually an hour if I’m trying to get myself and Amelia out of the house.

15. Ever been in a physical fight?

In 6th grade.  It was stupid. haha

16. Turn on?

Being polite…opening doors, pulling out chairs, being a gentleman

17. Turn off?

Nail biting!  Oh man I hate nail biting!!  Oh, and I absolutely can’t stand to hear someone chewing or eating their food.  Bleh!!

18. Fears?

Losing the ones that I love the most.

19. Last thing that made you cry?

Being about 4 weeks into a really bad cold that the three of us had, on top of being severely sleep deprived, and finding out that meds I was prescribed for my sinus infection were the same ones that my daughter (who I’m still nursing) is severely allergic to.  That kind of sent me over the edge.

20. Last time you said you loved someone?

This morning

21. Meaning behind your youtube name?

I don’t have one

22. The relationship between you and the person you last texted?

She’s my stepmom

23. Favorite food?

Oh that’s tough! Too many to choose from.

24. Place you want to visit?

San Diego, so we can see my family.

25. Do you have a crush?

Yes!

26. Last time you kissed someone?

A few minutes ago when I put Amelia down for her nap.

27. Last time you were insulted?

Oh, that happens a lot….haha

28. Favorite piece of jewelry?

My engagement ring!

29. Who should answer these questions next?

Anybody reading this!  You can answer some of the questions in the comments, or if you have a blog answer them there and link your blog in the comments!

Okay, enough playing for me.  I’m off to go sit at the coffee shop and write a paper while my little bug sleeps.

Have a great weekend everyone!!! 🙂

 

 

 

It’s been 5 years….but I’ve decided to give it another go!

Five years ago I started this blog, and for whatever reason I stopped blogging.  My business was booming, there were big changes happening in my life (that ultimately led me to where I am now), and I just couldn’t find the time or energy that I needed to dedicate to daily or weekly blogging.  Well, after a long hiatus I’m back and ready to start writing about my life again.  In the time that I’ve been gone, I got a divorce, left the home that I worked so hard to build, fell very ill and was in the hospital, met (and fell in love with) a man that is better and kinder than anyone I have ever known, became a full time student at UWT, had a beautiful baby girl (in June), lost my dad to the wretched cancer, and am now preparing to get married this summer to someone that I love more than I ever knew was possible (well besides my daughter of course…I love the hell out of that kid!).

Me and Amelia on her birthday (June 3, 2013)

 

Me and Amelia (now 10 months old!)

So yeah, a lot has happened!  I closed my personal training business so that I could go back to school full time.  I miss it a lot more than I thought I would, but that part of my life was coming to a close and it was time for me to move forward.  I don’t run as much as I used to, and I definitely don’t run marathons anymore.  The last one nearly killed me and now I just stick to smaller distances.  I have been running a little bit here and there since my daughter was born, but dang, I had NO idea how much my life would change once she was here.  All for the better of course, but “me” time has fallen by the wayside and any alone time I do have is dedicated to homework!  And research papers…..lots and lots of research papers!

I have a lot of goals for my near future that I will be working toward…running on a regular basis so I can start feeling like myself again, eating cleaner and drinking less, journaling more so that I can get my thoughts out of my head and onto “paper”, working on being a better mom and partner, and enjoying every moment that is given to me.  My hopes are to get back to my roots, back to where I was a few years ago so that I can feel good and feel like myself again.  I’m hoping that this blog, and the writing that I’ll be doing here can help motivate me to achieve these goals.  Accountability is key, right!?

So, now you have a little update into the changes in my life since I’ve been gone.  My hopes are to use this blog as a place to reflect on my days and the things that are on my mind, and also share the awesome things that are going on in my life.  Like….planning my wedding this summer!

I get to marry this guy! I’m a pretty lucky girl.

I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to post, but I’m happy to be back and to be journaling about my life again!  Be back soon!

 

Sick Leave

Hey guys, sorry that I haven’t posted my recap yet.  I’ve been sick and have been confined to the couch with the remote and my blankey.  I woke up the night before last with this “bug” that has hit me like a ton of bricks which = no work, no running :(, no blogging, and lots of sleeping.

Hopefully I’ll have a post up in the next few days, with a video that my hubby put together last night!

I’m going back to bed.

Dayna 🙂

I caught a case of lazy ass.

Okay, maybe not lazy ass….more like my body decided that I needed a day to lay around and recover from the week.

After I got done training this morning, the plan was to come home get changed, eat my pre-run snack, snag up the hubby and head out.

The weather sucked today.  It wasn’t raining, but it was cloudy and gloomy.

58* F

This is what it looked like today, minus the big yellow thing in the sky.

It was the kind of day where you just want to cuddle up on the couch with a blanket, the kitties, and some good blogs.

I was feeling super, super tired and fatigued this morning and when I got home the challenge of running 17 miles seemed almost impossible due to the way I was feeling.  So, I said “eff-it, I’m going tomorrow”,put on my sweats and decided to take a rest day.  This is what I did.

Recycled picture

Took a much needed nap after chatting on FB with the cuz for a while and catching up on my blog reading.

When the hubby came home from doing whatever it was that he was out doing, I decided to go to my favorite little health foods store and get us some lunchy.

I wasn’t planning on blogging today so I didn’t take a pic of the food I got.  DOH! (note to self: start taking pics of food anyways so your posts aren’t so lame)

I got a gynormous salad from the organic salad bar as usual.  Nomnomnom!  On my plate I had:

• Spinach
• red and yellow peppers
• carrots
• mushrooms
• beets (my fav!)
• roasted tofu
• peas
• corn
• kidney and black beans
• yummy chicken curry on the side
• pita chips

Marlene's Salad Bar (this pic does it no justice)

This salad was freakin delicious!!!  I ate it 4 hours ago and I’m still full!  That says a lot for me since I’m pretty much always hungry.

I got the hubby a ham and turkey sammich on wheat bread with lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles (on the side), and swiss cheese.  He’s not a huge fan of the health food store and thinks that the food I eat has no taste, but he loved this sammich!  That made me happy.  🙂  Oh, and I got him a slice of carrot cake too.  I may or may not have had a few bites, and it may or may have not been the best carrot cake I have ever had!!

After our nummy lunch I decided to get off my lazy ass up and do some chores around the house.

I am now back to my regularly scheduled lazyness and loving it!  The hubbs and I are about to watch a movie and just enjoy our Saturday night.

I have a meeting at the studio tomorrow morning, and then we’re going to head out so I can do my run and hubby can join me on his bike.  I’m so excited that he’s going with me…good times for us!  Woohoo!

The forecast for tomorrow looks a lot more promising than today, which is why I didn’t mind pushing my run back one more day. (I’m a poet and didn’t know it.)

54* F

Even though it’s supposed to be colder today than yesterday (due to the lack of cloud cover), the sunshine always gives me an extra boost of energy.  Getting to sleep in tomorrow morning isn’t a bad thing either. 😉

Well, I’m off to watch the movie with the hubs. Wish me luck on my 17 miles tomorrow….that number is really daunting.  Having him there with me will definitely keep me focused though.  I’ll be posting a recap as soon as I can peel myself off of the couch tomorrow night.

Have a great Saturday night!!

Dayna 🙂

A fast week and an awesome prize!

Hey bloggies!  Happy Friday!!

How’s your week been?  Mine has been pretty good besides a few speed bumps here and there.  Like, stepping on my clients glasses and crushing them on Wednesday morning, and making a few scheduling errors.  No biggie though, I’ve since recovered.  🙂

I’ve had some pretty fantastic runs this week.  Last week I was super fatigued and tired, and  I could really feel it in my runs.  After using the process of elimination to try and figure out why I was feeling so crappy, I looked at my marathon training plan and saw that I was coming off of two really high mileage weeks.  My body was telling me that I needed a break and really needed to slow down and rest.  Thank goodness that my long run was “only” 11 miles last Saturday.

Here’s the training plan that I’m doing, which was color coded and dated by my cousin so that I can stay on track.

I'm already in week 10 of my marathon training!!

After taking last weekend to rest, after running my 11 miles of course, I feel so much better and it really showed in my runs this week!

I set a PR on every run that I did this week and can’t believe how strong I feel and felt afterwards!  It’s such a great feeling to know that all of my hard work is paying off!!  I’ve got this marathon locked down and I’m gonna rock that shit!

Here are my stats for this weeks runs:

Tuesday: 4 miles

Mile 1: 8:26

Mile 2: 8:22

Mile 3: 8:44

Mile 3: 8:17

Total:  33:53

Wednesday: 8 miles (usually on my runs longer than 5 miles I average between a 9:15 and 9:30 pace, my average on this run was 9:08!)

Mile 1: 8:45

Mile 2: 9:05

Mile 3: 9:13

Mile 4: 8:57

Mile 5: 9:08

Mile 6: 8:56

Mile 7: 9:09

Mile 8: 8:58

Total: 1:12:19 (fastest “long” run yet!)

Wednesday: 4 miles (these are usually a pretty slow run for me because I am tired from the higher mileage of the day before, but I rocked this one and beat Tuesday’s time!)

Mile 1:  8:20

Mile 2: 8:23

Mile 3: 8:40

Mile 4: 8:09 (wholy crap!! that was a fast ass mile!)

Total: 33:39!!

I’m having a little bit of a dilemma with yesterday’s run though, and I’m not really sure if I should count it as a PR.  The reason is because I ran a route near my house and got stopped at two really long traffic lights.  Like, I had to wait for almost 5 minutes at one of them.  I feel like that was a pretty good amount of time to recover and regain my energy and maybe that’s why I was able to beat my previous time even though I was pretty tired.

So, what do you guys think?  Should it count even though I had two small breaks due to being stuck in traffic?   What do you do in these situations?

Today, I’m not running obviously since it’s a rest day.  My rest days are active though, and after I’m done with this afternoon’s clients I’m going to go to the gym for a good and intense CrossFit workout so that I can get my strength training in.

So, I mention in my title…I got an awesome prize this week!

The owner of the studio where I work has such a big heart, and treats me so well!  There are only 3 trainers there (including me), so Kristi and I spend a lot of time there working together with our clients.  She sees me like the daughter that she never had, so she is always surprising me with little gifts and treats or prizes as she calls them.  She is always wearing such cute work out clothes and has matching shoes and jewelery for every outfit, I try to do the same because there is no reason that you can’t look cute even if you’re in workout clothes all day long.

She has a client that makes jewelery, and since I wear a lot of pink and black she surprised me with these!

Black!

Pink!

How freakin cute are these earrings!

She also knows that I’m training for my marathon, and how passionate I am about running.  She’s not a runner, but fully supports my efforts and is always bragging about my to her clients and asking me for advice to give her girls that run.

She was shopping the other day and happened to stumble upon this awesome Adidas running jacket and bought it for me!  Running jackets (and clothes for that matter) are NOT cheap, and when I saw this I was literally jumping up and down with excitement.  I can wear it for work and for my runs when it gets a little colder this fall and winter.

Love it!

So Comfy!

The coolest thing about this jacket…and the main reason that Kristi bought it for me, is this label on the upper left hand corner…

Boston Marathon!

Kristi got this for me because she knows how dedicated I am to my running and knows that someday I hope to run in the Boston Marathon! How awesome is that!?

Not only is this jacket super cute, but it has a mesh lining on the inside, and pockets on the sides and the back so that I can carry my key, gu, etc.  The Adidas stripes are also bright yellow and reflective so I will be more visable to cars when running (another reason that Kristi got me this jacket).  I can’t wait to wear it on a run…it just hasn’t been cold enough yet so I’ve been wearing it to work.  AWESOME!!

Well, I’m going to go get ready to train my afternoon clients and then hit the gym for my workout.

I have my first 17 mile run tomorrow and the hubby is going to go with me and ride his bike so that I don’t get too bored and have a good supply of fuel and water.

Look for a recap of my run and our adventure, as it should be up some time this weekend.

Have an awesome weekend ladies!!!

Dayna 🙂