Someecards Meme--So Funny!

I found this meme on Get a Grip Mom! and I thought it was hilarious! What you do is pick five cards from Someecards.com that describe your life in unflattering ways. The e-cards there are HILARIOUS! (Some are very insulting and shocking, but they made me laugh nonetheless!)

Here are the ones I picked out:


Yes, sometimes I feel like I am going a wee bit crazy being the mom of two rambunctious (albeit lovely) kiddos!We never do things as a family, and sometimes I just want to scream "We are going to spend some nice, quality family time together and you are all going to like it!!!"

Sadly, I am old enough to be able to share with my children the joyful (NOT) memories of dial-up internet! Apparently, I am also old enough to remember when saying NOT! was cool...


Sometimes I feel like my husband and I go long periods of time only saying how much we care by text..better than nothing isn't it?

And my personal favorite:

Need I say more???

So go on, find some hilariously entertaining e-cards that you can relate to and post them on your blog. Good times!

Survey Fun!

Below is a little survey about me! Read and enjoy!

SHRED it Up Baby!

My good friend recommended a work-out DVD to me yesterday that she has been using, and she loves it. It is called "30 Day Shred" by Jillian Michaels, the trainer from The Biggest Loser. What I like about this is that each exercise session is only 30 minutes (can I squeeze in 30 minutes, God, I hope so!) and she said that it KICKS YOUR ASS! That is what I am looking for--a work-out that makes me sweat but goes by quickly so I don't get to the point where I am too tired and start thinking about all the other things I need to do. It also uses circuit training, which I know from my experience as a certified personal trainer is actually the most effective and quickest way to work out to lose weight. It alternates between weight training, cardio and ab work--3 minutes of each one, with very little recovery time. I figure if I can get myself to do this, maybe, just maybe, I can start to shake off this lazy ass feeling I have from the lack of exercise in my life.

Here's one review from Amazon.com:

Excellent :-), March 13, 2008

By	Little Miss Cutey (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This is a really good workout. It's geared a little more to advanced exercisers, but the choreography is fairly basic and you will definitely feel this the next day. There are three workouts that combine toning and aerobics together which are about a half an hour each. This way, you're burning fat and toning muscles at the same time. It's a little challenging, but fun and effective. The first workout is the easiest of the three and from there it gets more challenging. The most challenging workout is tough like she shows on The Biggest Loser (i.e., traveling push-ups and tough jumps, etc.). It's a good idea if you're intermediate to begin either at the start or middle and stick to that for a while and then move on. Each workout uses toning, kickboxing and ab work.

I found this really good to do. It's absolutely a good idea to not go too quickly with it and begin at the lower of the three levels even if you do it only a couple of times - you can always advance as soon as you're ready for your next workout. She may not be the best cuer, but she is certainly encouraging and motivating. This is fun and I highly recommend it. I've only done it twice so far since it's so new, but I can still feel my muscles thanking me. This is great.

So I ordered it today from Amazon, it was only $10.99, which I thought was a pretty good deal so I am all amped up to get started. Hopefully I will receive it by the end of the week and I will have something to report to you guys soon on how I feel about it. I am ALWAYS looking for new things to keep me interested in working out, and I personally love to hear from others on how they feel about products, so I am going to pass my experience along to you.

Check it out, and if you decide to try it, let me know and we can share our experiences together!

Sisterhood of the Traveling Minivans

Well, last night I finally got out with my girlfriends for a night out (Hallelujah!). It was a much needed escape from working, taking care of the kids and being socially isolated in cartoon land. The margaritas were flowing, and we had awesome conversation over quesadillas and enchiladas. I always forget how much I love hanging out with other women that can relate to the things that I deal with every day. We all have kids. We all have husbands. We all have problems. There is just something so refreshing about having a conversation with another woman and her saying "Yes! I know exactly what you mean," or "Something like that happened to me just last week." It is as if you can just let out a sigh of relief and know that you truly aren't alone, and no, you are not going crazy (well, you are, but in a completely normal way).

Topics of conversation ranged from buying houses, the terrible economy, jobs, our husbands, our kids, and best of all, funny stories and reminiscants of times passed. We all went to high school together, so we could swap stories that began with statements like "Do you remember that kid so-and-so?" or "Remember that time...?" It was FUN. I felt myself relax, let go and be filled with the warm feeling you get in your heart when you are surrounded by friends. And for a brief, shining moment I was able to pretend that I was a young, hip woman with a social life and a group of equally hip and beautiful friends a la Sex and the City. By the way, my friends ARE hip and beautiful, but instead of going home to tiny apartments in Manhattan, they all go home to their husbands and children in the suburbs.

By midnight, I was exhausted (it being about two hours past my bedtime and all), and we were all ready to go abandon the surreal experience of actually being out at night without our husbands and kids and return to "real life." As we headed back to our minivans, a wave of sadness came over me. I felt like I didn't know when I would see them all again, because of our busy schedules and crazy life circumstances. I made sure to say that we shouldn't wait so long next time to do it again. Everyone agreed, but we also all knew that it was out of our control and we would just have to anxiously anticipate the next time we could sneak out.

Spending time with my girlfriends injects me with a rejuvenation of youth, and reminds me of who I was before I became a wife and mother. I need that. But most importantly, it makes me appreciate the life that I have, because when I come home and climb into bed next to my dear hubby, the kids sleeping soundly upstairs, I realize that I missed them. I think there is no greater gift than being shown what you should be apppreciating. So for all these reasons, I thank my girlfriends--for being wonderful women and moms, for showing me a good time, and for giving me a chance to miss my wonderful life. Now I will commence missing them, until I am blessed with seeing them again.

My Favorite of the Week

Every Saturday I am going to post my favorite thing that I came across in my adventures in the blogosphere that week. This week, my favorite thing was this picture that someone had found and posted on their blog. I should have made note of the blog I found it on, and I will promise to give credit where credit is due in the future.

Check it out:
Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Tales of a Sports Widow

My husband is watching his first football game since the Super Bowl tonight, a pre-season game between the New England Patriots (rah, rah, sis-boom-bah) and the Baltimore Ravens. I am what you would call a "sports widow," the wife of a man that loves, with a passion (no, seriously A PASSION) almost all sports. Baseball, football, basketball...thank God we don't watch golf; I would possibly have to get a lobotomy. Early on in our relationship, I realized that if I really, truly loved this man that I would have to watch my fair share of sports on television. This was a MAJOR culture shock for me. Let me just give you some background: I was the cheerleader that had NO IDEA what was going on in the game because I had never watched an entire game in my life. I was the music loving, earthy crunchy theater major that had NO clue what an RBI was, or how many points were scored by free-throws. I avoided watching sports like the plague, and I lived in blissful ignorance about who was in the playoffs , Super Bowl or World Series each year. I probably couldn't name any current players, never mind what teams they played for or their stats. Now I know ALL that stuff--and more. I took one for the team, cuddled up to my honey on the couch and watched...and watched...and watched.

In the early years, I loved how my husband went on and on about on base percentage, yards rushed and penalty shots. He would talk about sports like an old friend or lover, one he knew so well but that always continued to surprise, disappoint or fascinate him. I figured that if he loved it so much, that I could love it as well. I was partially correct. You see, I liked watching with him and interacting by asking questions and was so proud of myself for learning. I felt like a young, eager student with a crush on my teacher, always yearning to please with what I had absorbed. Before I knew it, I was actually understanding what I watching, and it was pretty entertaining. Then came Tom Brady ( do I have to say more ladies?) and the Patriots winning the Super Bowl (again and again) after years of sub-par performance--of course that was exciting. Then the RED SOX (yes, the Red Sox, with their curse of the Bambino, Bill Buckner and Grady Little's faith in Pedro Martinez) won the World Series after 86 years. Who wouldn't get excited about that? That was actually the year we got married, and I looked at it as a divine sign that we were good luck for the sporting universe and we were meant to be together.

Don't get me wrong, I was pretty excited when the Celtics won the playoffs this year, but over the past couple of years, I have begun to notice the abundance of other programs and movies on television that we could be watching instead of sports. And now that I know all the players and how each sport works, I have nothing to talk about with my husband during the games. The romance that once existed in our mutual love of sports has faded, and now I find myself sitting there wishing that we could be watching a documentary, a movie, sitcom, or even a PBS special. I think I am a "moderate" sports lover. I would like to watch one or two games a week and call it a day. For my husband, it is like another job. But then something came along that solved this problem and set the world right again:

Blogging.

Now, while my husband watches his beloved players on the field, court or diamond, I am writing, commenting, visiting other blogs, and working on my blog design. I realized that I had tried to borrow, or adopt if you will, my husband's passion. But really, I needed to find my own. We don't have to like all the same things, although it is nice to share some interests. But just because my husband wants to devote so much time watching variations of men throwing, hitting or kicking balls doesn't mean that I have to. I can choose to share in that time when I feel like it, and the rest of the time I can be pouring my heart out into my laptop. The most important thing that we will always BOTH be passionate about is our love for each other-- and that's never out of season.

Time to Trim the Bushes (*wink, *wink)

As I sit here watching my 2-year-old play with a cardboard strip of paper (gotta love toddlers), I am overwhelmingly aware of the fact that I need to take some control of my life and do some things for myself. My eyebrows are now getting so thick that I truly believe that they are beginning to affect my ability to see. I did shave my legs the other day (I think...), but God knows when the last time was that I "trimmed the bushes" if you know what I mean. I am lucky if I get a shower every other day, and the time is spent frantically trying to wash my face, hair and body before my daughter notices that I'm gone and comes in to play in the toilet. My toenails have remnants of pink polish that my daughter and I did a couple of weeks ago, but my heels are hard and crusty and reminiscent of someone's grandma who asks you to rub lotion on her feet. I have not given up entirely on myself, have I? I don't think I could handle it if I gave in now at 28 years old and said "what the hell?" and stopped doing things for myself. But where is the time? When am I supposed to do all this primping and preening?

I get up in the morning, take care of the kids, do some work, take care of the kids, do some blogging, take care of the kids, clean the house, take care of the kids, go food shopping, take care of the kids, etc., etc., you get the idea. When I do get out of the house, I am usually doing something for my children, buying them something or doing something with my husband in preparation for moving into our new house. When do I squeeze in some "me" time?

Every mother struggles with this. Not only is it the lack of time, but there is the guilt factor as well. As a mother, my life is riddled with guilt. If I take time and money to go do something for myself, I feel bad. I feel like I should have spent that time and money with my kids, or doing something for the house. How much do we, as mothers, need to sacrifice before we feel like we are doing enough? And is it important for us to have interests and activities for ourselves?

The answer is HELL YES! If we don't take the time to cater to ourselves and take care of our individuality outside of motherhood, we are not going to be the best mothers we can be. A happy, well taken care of mother is a good mother, in my opinion. We may feel that it is selfish or frivolous, but really, why are we less important than everyone else? I love being a mother, but I am not going to pigeonhole myself so that that is all I am. I define myself, and I am not ready to let go of my "me-ness." I need to make more of an effort to try to do things that I like, to take care of myself and my hygiene (everyone around me will benefit from that as well) and to cater to the intellectual and emotional needs of myself as a woman.

So this week I am going to find time to have my eyebrows waxed, I will shave my legs, trim the bushes and go out with some girlfriends for some talk that (at least part of the time) does not involve potty training or time outs. I owe it to myself--and my children--to be the best mother and ME I can be.

Nikon All Terrain Binocular Promo!

Are you a hunter or know someone who is? Personally, my husband and father-in-law both grew up hunting, so although I don't do it myself, I can appreciate the passion for it. Well, if you love it too, or know someone who does, you'll want to go check out Nikon All Terrain Binoculars! They have an incredible selection of hunting optics, such as binoculars, riflescopes, rangefinders, fieldscopes, and spotting scopes. They blend the latest technology with great materials and quality craftsmanship to create the best optic equipment for hunting on the market.

Now here's the great part. Nikon All Terrain Binocular is having a promotion right now where you can get a $50 or $25 gift card for Nikon Progear, where you can find all the other high quality gear that you need for hunting, when you buy a pair of binoculars. You can get a $50 gift card if you buy a pair of Monarch ATB binoculars, or a $25 gift card if you buy a pair of Trailblazer ATB, Action Extreme ATB or Prostaff binoculars. So go get your Free ATB Pro Gear!

Sometimes don't you just feel like you could scream??

Top Ten Reasons I Have a Muffin Top

OK, so I fell off the diet wagon--HARD. Luckily, my ass is so fat that it broke my fall and it barely hurt at all. But, it did get me thinking of all the reasons why I just can't seem to lose these extra pounds that are clinging to me for dear life. So I have come up with a list--The Top Ten Reasons I Have a Muffin Top. (For those of you that don't know what a muffin top is, put on a pair of jeans that are too tight and top it off with a spandex shirt and you will quickly learn what it is.)

# 10. I was going for a J-Lo booty and just went too far...

# 9. Watching FitTv doesn't actually burn calories...

# 8. Whenever I have free time, I choose to take a shower over exercising...

# 7. Although it makes me sweat profusely, paying bills is not actually exercise...

# 6. I feel it necessary to finish the uneaten food on my children's plates, because in this economy, who am I to waste food??

# 5. I spend all day sitting around with my feet up eating bon-bons (HA! Yeah right!)

# 4. I love Ben and Jerry's. 'Nuff said.

# 3. I spend so much time in front of my computer that the radioactive waves coming off the device are mutating my genetics in such a way that makes it impossible for me to lose weight...

# 2. I don't want my husband to feel insecure that I will leave him if I get a rockin' bod...

And the # 1 reason I have a muffin top--

BLOGGING DOES NOT COUNT AS EXERCISE!!!

Beefaroni for Breakfast

I gave my daughter BEEFARONI for breakfast this morning. Yes, I know it's gross. This is one of many things that I thought I would never, EVER do--feed my daughter disgusting processed non-breakfast food for breakfast just because she won't eat anything else. This is added to feeding her McDonald's more than once a week, ignoring when she eats her boogers and giving her candy just to make her be quiet. Don't get me wrong--before you call DSS you should know that these are not regular occurrences around our household, but sometimes you just can't take another whine, squeal or tug and you GIVE IN. I rationalized the beefaroni incident by telling myself that I would rather her eat something crappy and non-breakfasty for breakfast than nothing at all. But really, the 10 minute conversation that preceded it was the real reason. Here is how it went:

MOMMY: What would you like for breakfast baby girl?

BABY GIRL: Ummmm...BEEFARONI!

MOMMY: (Making a silly, scrunched up face) Noooo, that's not for breakfast silly!

BABY GIRL: Yes, breakfast! BEEFARONI! (The reason beefaroni is always in capitals is because it is always said five times louder than everything else.)

MOMMY: How about...waffles?

BABY GIRL: BEEFARONI!

MOMMY: Cereal?

BABY GIRL: BEEFARONI!

MOMMY: I can make yummy eggs...

BABY GIRL: BEEFARONI!

MOMMY: How about toast?

BABY GIRL: Nope. No toast. BEE--FA--RO--NEEEE!

MOMMY: (Sighing) Beefaroni is not for breakfast baby.

BABY GIRL: Toaster waffles are for breakfast?

MOMMY: Yes! Yes! You want toaster waffles?

BABY GIRL: No--BEEFARONI. (This was topped off by the sweetest squinty-eyed smile that you have ever seen, as if she knew she was too cute to be said no to.)

This is when I hung my head in defeat and said that yes, I would make her beefaroni for breakfast. I had to be very careful though, because her brother wasn't up yet and if he had walked in while she was eating beefaroni for breakfast, I would have gotten a barrage of complaints that I never made him macaroni and cheese or tacos for breakfast (which are both things he has requested before). Luckily, she ate her beefaroni happily and when her brother came downstairs, all the evidence was destroyed. The only things that remained were her satisfied grin and my shame from my lack of conviction.

Heritage Web Solutions Helps to Clean Up!

The following article spotlights the efforts of Heritage Web Solutions to make their community a better place. Employees really pitched in to help clean up an area of Provo, Utah:

Heritage Internet Technologies’ Good Works Committee is pleased to announce that we have teamed up with the Parks and Recreation department for the city of Provo, Utah in an effort to maintain the Moon River section of the Provo River Trail System.

The committee held their first cleanup event on September 24th 2008. We were pleased to see a large number of employees, as well as their families and friends, attend. Everyone was in good spirits, and had a great time as they dug in and brought this trail back to its original beauty.
The cleanup project included graffiti removal in the two tunnel portions of the trail section, vandalism repair, as well as litter and debris removal along the trail.

The HIT Good Works Committee conducts bi-weekly checks of the trail to ensure that it is being properly maintained. We will also be holding cleanup events once a month with our next event scheduled for October 29th 2008. We are looking forward to having as great of a turnout as we were able to have last month.

Heritage Internet Technologies has always been eager to find ways to give back to our surrounding community. We are very excited to join forces with the Provo City Parks and Recreation department to help maintain this beautiful trail system.

We would like to thank everyone involved in this cleanup project. We are proud to have such a generous group of employees, willing to dedicate their time to bettering our community.

I am really impressed that these employees would spend their free time volunteering for such an effort. It really shows you what we can do to help our community and fellow citizens when we put our minds to it. I hope this group of people can be an example for us to try to make an effort the next time something needs to be done!