Am I Babbling?

No, you're not seeing this wrong, it really is me posting 2 days in a row. Shocking, right?!  I have a lot of random things and since it's not Thursday and time for Stuff and Things, I will just write a bulleted babbling post for your enjoyment...

• Life has been busy lately. So, so busy.  We've had a record number of visitors this month and it's not slowing down anytime soon. My dear friend from Omaha is coming this weekend and I couldn't be more excited to see her and catch up (and have wine nights!).  The weekend after that Brian's grandparents are coming to visit! And then we go to Nebraska and then Minnesota for a wedding. The weekend after that is my 10k. The following weekend my besties from Minnesota are visiting and the following weekend Brian's parents are coming! Whew!
• I'm still training for my 10k. I did an almost 5 mile run last week and I somehow tweaked my ankle. Nothing is more frustrating to me than training for a race, committing to the time and dedication it takes to train, only to get hurt.  SO frustrating!  So I took a week off icing and resting my bum ankle and finally ran this morning. I've been following a training program and today was a 25 minute steady jog. It was brutal. My ankle still doesn't feel 100% yet but it does feel a lot better so there is that. I'd been running for 45-50 minutes straight no problems and this little 25 minute run wore me out. It's crazy how fast you can "lose it if you don't use it." 

At least it was a pretty sunrise view against the mountains!

• And although life has been crazy with visitors, training for a 10k, preschool, key spouse stuff for the squadron, and just being a mama and wife, I've been itching for more.  Call me crazy. I love staying at home with my babies and wouldn't trade it for any job in the world. But I haven't worked in over 4 years and I just have this itch to make some of my own money for frivolous spending (hello Target!), vacations (hello all of the places in Colorado I want to see and the California vacation I want to take!), and to put some in the savings account (hello not fun but needs to be done).  The other day I posted on our neighborhood's website (it's called NextDoor and it's pretty neat) if anyone knew of any stay at home opportunities. I didn't want a scam, I didn't want a telemarketing job. I was interested to see what people would say back. A lot of them suggested starting a daycare. I mean nice idea and practical, but I love my children and they are MORE than enough for me.  I got a ton of people suggesting I sell everything under the sun including acne medication, bedazzled shirts, bags, everything. But one thing tipped my interest.  A sweet girl messaged me about doTERRA. I've been really interested in essential oils and didn't know anyone who sold but was wanting to try them. I know that cold/flu/stomach bug season is just around the corner and I swear we're in the doctor's office pretty constantly during those months probably exposing ourselves to who knows what. I knew that I would love to try some natural home remedies first before having to first call up the doctor. So I met with her and was intrigued at all of the benefits essential oils have for everyone, even babies. She gave me a couple samples and I was pretty blown away. I had a horrible headache and instead of popping the usual ibuprofen, I rubbed some peppermint oil on my temples and lo and behold after a little while, my headache was gone.  I'll be getting my kit in the next couple of days and can't wait to try all of the oils.  So needless to say, although I said I would NEVER do direct sales, I'm starting a venture with doTERRA. I figure worse case scenario is I paid for my oils and that's it. I am not a salesperson, I am not going to jam doTERRA down your throats but I am about educating people on the different options out there. So if you're interested at all, in the oils or possibly selling doTERRA, message me, email me! I'm learning more and more each day about it and it's pretty interesting stuff. And if you're feeling really motivated, here's my website.

• And because that's not enough, I started making some wreaths too. I just had the crafting bug the past couple weeks and have made some wreaths for some ladies in Colorado Springs via a Facebook group. Nothing fancy and I'm not charging much for them, it's just been a fun little venture.

One of the simple wreaths I made for a family.

• This week could also be titled 'shoe week' in this house because we got more shoes.  I ordered some Toms off of Zulily when they had that awesome sale the other week and they came already!

Layla and her new sparkly Toms. I told her to pose and this is what she gave me. Work it, girl. Work that blank stare.

And my new, first pair of Toms! Happy early birthday to me! :)

So that's what's been going on!  I may keep doing this 'wake up early and run and be productive' thing. I've gotten a lot done and it's only 8 and the kids aren't even awake yet! Have a wonderful Wednesday! :)

Their 1st Anniversary

A year ago Brian's brother, Danny, married Dana and it was a beautiful, wonderful day.

And Brady danced his arse off.

For their first anniversary this past weekend they took a trip to see us!  I tried to make it as special as possible for them with champagne and flower petals in their room (I of course forgot to take pictures) and put a "1st Anniversary Suite" sign on their door. Because I am a nerd.

They got in really early Thursday morning so Layla got some Aunt Dana snuggles in while I brought Brady to preschool.

We went to the Air Force Academy and showed them Brian's squadron. We squeezed Uncle Danny in a glider.

Layla was that he was stuck. Well, we all kind of were.

Brady's preschool had a family picnic so we all got to join Brady at preschool. He was THRILLED to have them there!!

We went home for naps and I finished cooking some yummy pork tenderloin for dinner.

After dinner Brian had a flag football game so they went to that while I went to my Academy Spouse's Club meeting. Which included bingo. Heck ya!

Some of the ladies from the squadron are also in the club so it was fun! And we were all winners too!

After all of that excitement we hired a sitter so we could go enjoy some local breweries.

After we got home we enjoyed some 1st anniversary cake

And a very competitive game of spoons. Gosh we're exciting.  We ended up staying up until after 2 am though.

The next morning we all slept in and then we headed to Garden of the Gods. Where I took zero pictures, what?!  I wasn't feeling so hot from our previous night  Someone needed to take the kids home for naptime so I stepped up to the plate while they went on to Cave of the Winds.

That night we went to dinner at our favorite place, Colorado Mountain Brewery

And called it a night pretty early.

Saturday we headed to the Castle Rock Outlet Mall. I couldn't find Brady in the Under Armour store but that's because he was pretending to be a mannequin. He got some laughs and a whole lots of stares. This kid, he's one of a kind.

The kids each got new shoes at the Nike Outlet (Layla's are little kid Shocks!) and they both wear them the second they get out of bed until the second they turn in for the night. Who knew new shoes would be such a hit?

We ended our visit with a walk around the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver and with dinner at Mellow Mushroom. We're so, so glad they were able to visit and can't wait to seem them again soon!  Poor Brady loves having everyone visit but gets so, so emotional when everyone leaves. Wish we didn't have to say so many goodbyes. :(  

I hope to actually blog about something other than just our weekends this week! Shocking! ;)

Have a great week!

A Busy Thomas/Brewery/BBQ/Mountain Kind of Weekend

Obviously our busy weekend did me in because it's Wednesday and I'm just posting about it.  Oh well, such is life.  

Friday morning was cold. Sooo very cold. The house was 58 degrees when I woke up. But I refused to turn on the heat so we cuddled up in sweats, near the fireplace, and drank hot cocoa.

That evening I did another run. And it was a sweltering 39 degrees out. Definitely my coldest run and it took my breath away how cold it was! But my race is late October so chances are pretty good it will be this cold! Brrr I'm so not ready for winter yet!!

 Brady's godmother, Laura, knows how much both kids like Thomas the Train and loved our Day Out with Thomas we did in Alabama, so for both of their birthdays she bought them tickets to the Day Out with Thomas in Golden, Colorado.

 We got up bright and early and headed up to Golden. Brady was super, super excited!

Layla's got the attitude of a 15 year old (and not a morning person) but she was excited too.

It was beautiful! Golden is a town just outside of Denver nestled against the mountains and it's a pretty neat town.

Oh my gosh it's Thomas, it's Thomas!! Seeing how excited all of the kids there were to see Thomas just cracked me up.  Brian wishes he had invented Thomas. We'd be wealthy, wealthy people.

And no Thomas ride is complete without a petting zoo. Things that make you say hmmmmm.

The kids had a great time! Thomas, you did it again!

Aaaand if you know anything about Colorado...you know that Golden, Colorado is not also the home to a railroad museum...but also Coors Brewery!

We weren't going to stop but the line was pretty short....so it was probably a sign we should just stop....right?

The tour is now self-guided which was PERFECT for taking a tired 4 and 2 year old through. 

They got to have their first ever root beers

And we got to have some fresh brews...at 10:30 in the morning...yay for being good parents!

Coors coolest gangsters.

Saturday night we hosted bbq at our house. We opened it up to Brian's whole squadron and we had about 26 people come!  It was our first big bash at our house and it was a lot of fun! Doesn't hurt that it was a beautiful fall day too!

That's the only picture I got during the bbq

We also brought out the fire pit and had a good old fashioned fire.

And because our weekend wasn't busy enough already, Brian and our friend Bobby (who we know from high school that lives near Denver) got up at 3 am, drove to Buena Vista, and hiked a 14'er (a mountain taller than 14,000 ft).  Needless to say, he was exhausted Sunday afternoon and night!

Sunday night we had a Miss America party at a friends house. We basically just wore our pjs, ate yummy food, and watched the Miss America pageant. 

So that was our weekend! It was busy busy but so much fun! Looks like our next couple weekends are going to be every bit of busy too but I wouldn't change it for a thing!