Live Healthy Iowa-The 100 Day Challenge

So tomorrow begins the Live Healthy Iowa-I00 day challenge!  I am on a team of eight.  Each week we track our minutes and what not. Mostly, it is just an excuse to set goals and to exercise and develop healthy habits.  Tonight I got together with Amber and we set some goals that we want to achieve.  Here are my weekly goals.  I am planning to update this every week so I can track how I am doing with my goals.  Wish me luck.  Week One begins tomorrow.

Week One Goals:
1.  Drink More Water-At least 48 ounces a day.  I am terrible at drinking water.  I drink tons of coffee and I need to make sure I am staying hydrated.

2.  Eat Breakfast Everyday

3.  Run for at least 15 of my 45 minutes treadmill workouts 3 times a week and do 2 yoga sessions a week.

Christmas 2010-My Mom's Family

okay, this is my last Christmas posting.  Next year I will have to do better at taking pictures of all of our Christmas Celebrations! 

We spent Christmas Day with my mom's family.  There was a great turnout and we got to spend time with some family that we don't see very often.  That is what the holidays are all about!  That night we spent the night at my parents. 

My Cousin's little Girl!

My cousin Jake working hard on his homeade

Christmas Ornament for his girlfriend.

The finished products!

Family Pictures

We are looking forward to a very happy 2011!!!!!

Christmas 2010-My Dad's Family

Well I am still try to get updated on our holiday celebrations.  On December 18th, we celebrated Christmas with my dad's family!  We had a great time seeing family and catching up with what has been going on in everyone's lives.  This year we played bingo, ate food of course enjoyed the annual Christmas sing-a-long. In 2010, the family welcomed Esme Ruth, Kari and Thomas's baby girl. 2011 sounds like there is a lot to look forward to with all the babies on the way. Congratulations to the parents to be!   Here are some pictures of the celebration! 

Aunt Darcy and Grandma June leading the Christmas Carol Sing-a-long

Aunt Gay with her Grandson Chase

Aunt Julie and my cousin Dawn

My cousin Malisa with her two children Griffen and Aspen

Dawn with her husband Randy and daughter Shaylee

Proud parents to be:  Sherry and Ryan

Me and John with Grandma June

Me and Nicole

John and Derick having a good ole time

Allie cuddling up with her Unlce John

New Orleans and the Gulf Coast

In mid-December John and I took a vacation to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. We had a great time in New Orleans walking around and checking out the area. Here are a few pics from our sightseeing.

In front of the Mississippi River

St. Louis Cathedral-Built in 1720, one of the oldest Catholic Cathedrals in the country.

John and his new lady.

Looks like I got a new guy too.  Gotta love the bow.

The infamous Bourbon Street.  I can tell you I would not want to be here on Mardi Gras.

Oak Alley Plantation-we couldn't believe how big the oak trees were. 

Finally, we made it to the beach.  Not too many people out as it was only in the 60's. 

Birthday Thanks!

This past week I celebrated another birtday!  My actual birthday I had a large group at work so I wasn't up for much celebrating that night.  John took me out to LaCaretta's the local mexican restaurant for some jumbo margarits and guacamole.  mmm that was good.  Last night we went to Brandi and Todd's to celbrate with John's family.  Thank you to them for everything they did.  i got my favorite pizza (canadian bacon and pineapple) and they even got my my favorite dessert from my favorite restraurant.  Creme Brulee from the Cafe.  oh it was soooo good!  Here is a pic of me and the girls wearing our "birthday glasses"  Next week we get to celbrate their birthday!  Thank you everyone for making my birthday special! 

The Important Things

Life is short. We all know that. But what matters are the decisions you make knowing that life is short. John and I are about to make a major decision, mostly because of me. I want to make changes in my life so that I can focus on more of the "important things." One of those "important things" is spending time with my family. It is amazing every time that I am around any of our three nieces how much they have changed. Whether it has been two weeks or two months. I want to be around them more so I don't miss one of those changes, that I don't have to to hear about it as though it happened in the past. I want to be around them while they are still in that "phase". I want time so that we can play with them and have fun, spending a saturday afternoon together or having a sleepover.

What is a family? I have been told these past few years that once John and I have a family, I won't want to work as much so I better work more now so that I won't have to when I have a family. I believe I already to have a family. John and I have moms and dads, sisters and brothers, nieces, grandmas, aunts, uncles, and cousins. And we have each other. We have a family and I want to be able to spend more tie with my family NOW. The day will come when not all of the members of our family will be there and I don't want to miss a minute of the time when they are here.

The important things also include our friends and thier families both in MN and Iowa as well as friends that we have throughout the country, and soon to be across the ocean. We are so blessed to have such amazing people in thier lives and I am looking forward to creating more memories with them. Change can be tough but not when it means spending more time on the "important things".

Last Day

Today is a very important day for someone very important in my life. Today is my mom's last chemo treatment!! The past few months has been a battle but the battle is almost over! This time around was a lot tougher than the last but she has shown how strong of a women she truly is and if she can go through this again, she can handle anything. I hope that when I face adversity I hope that I have as much strength as she has. Yay mom! You are almost done! We have been counting down this day since the day you were diagnosed.



There is someone else who should be celebrating today and that is my dad. His life too has also been turned upside down and I know it has not been easy for him. How could it be to see the woman you love going through this again.

We love you both and you are an example to us all!