...twenty-six point two...

i've always wanted to run a marathon...and have been hoping to run the st. george this upcoming fall. even though the thought of it is overwhelming to me...i figured having 9 months to train and get ready for it would be nice. until yesterday when my sister heather called and told me she had signed up for the first annual utah valley marathon! "sounds great! sign me up!" i say, "when is it?" she then told me it's april 12...that means eleven weeks away! are we crazy? we may be...but we figure since we're training for the moab half marathon that's on march 8th, why not just keep on training while we're in running shape & just go for it!? it'll be a goal worth working towards! we're excited! and there's a great perk...we're guaranteed to get a medal as long as we finish within six hours!! i think we can do it! i think we can...i think we can...i think we can...

wish me luck...i'll need it!

...remembering him...

...Friday's Favorites...

it may seem weird, but one of my new favorite household cleaning products is simply vinegar. i've heard before that it's a good cleaner, but i've never put it to use...until this last week when i was bound and determined to get all the hard water spots off of my dishes. i mentioned my dilemma to a lady who told me to soak them in vinegar water...so i did it & seriously it was a night and day difference! i was actually thinking about getting all new dishes because i thought they were all ruined from the terrible hard water we have. i'm so excited though...it feels like i have brand new everything! if you go here ...you'll find all sorts of other things that vinegar can do around your house...very good to know!

...my camera...

some of you have wanted to know what camera i got...it's the nikon D40x. i got the kit that they're selling at costco right now...it comes with an extra zoom lens, a case, & some really good tutorial dvds. so far so good!

...learning the ropes...

i got a new camera for christmas & have been having so much fun playing around with it & learning the ropes of basic photography & photoshop. i know that i'm no expert by any means, but i'm excited to learn & hopefully capture better pictures of my little family. thanks to my good friend andrea...i'm slowly but surely improving!

:)

...Friday's Favorites...

so i get bored of my lip glosses really easy...i like to switch them out regularly even if i haven't used up all of my current one. something about getting a brand new thing of lip gloss is very exciting to me...and my current favorite is MAC's Viva Glam V...and it may just remain my favorite for a very long time. The MAC girl told me that it's one of those colors that looks good on most anyone & has been one of their best sellers...so if you're in search for a new lip gloss, keep this one in mind...you shouldn't be disappointed!

...bug monster...

As most of you know, Zac is not the best eater. I constantly am trying to get the boy to eat food...I mean he's 3 years old and weighs like 27 pounds...so of course I would like to see him pack on a few pounds!

Well, I'm very excited because I think we've found a way to get him to eat all of his food and more (for now that is). He's really into pretend play right now...and for some weird reason he likes to do just the opposite of what I want him to do. So we now have "Zac the Bug Monster" living with us...and all of the food on his plate is not food...but bugs! All I have to say is "Bug Monster, you better not eat anymore of those bugs, that is disgusting! Please don't do it, please don't!" And next thing you know, Zac is making a run for his food eating it as fast as his little mouth can handle. It's great...hopefully it'll keep working for a while! :)

...Friday's Favorites...

jjlkj;j

If you like to decorate, I'm sure you have a stack of Pottery Barn catalogs somewhere in your house for inspiration & ideas to incorporate into your own house. I am one of those people... and to be exact I have twelve of their catalogs sitting in my little basket at the moment. They're obviously very fun to look through...and I'm looking forward to the day when my house will look something like the rooms portrayed in them!

Continuing with the favorites...Pottery Barn has an entire segment on their website full of decorating & design techniques as well as entertaining ideas. It even has a list of all the paint colors they use throughout their magazines and tells you where you can find the paint. There's also a place under "tools" called "planning your space" where it walks you through step-by-step on how to decorate a room start-to-finish. There's a ton of great, useful information! I love it...and think you might too!! :)

You can click here to see what I'm talking about!!

...crazy faces in boise...

I say "Smile Zac!"...and this happens:


"No, I want a smiley face! Say cheese!"...


"Zac, that's a crazy face! Now pleeeeaaasssseeee, just one smile....real quick!"...

"Oh my....you are funny! And you are sooo good at doing all sorts of faces...but now let's just smile ONE time, and then we'll be done!"....

"Alright, never mind you crazy kid! I don't need a smiley face..." I start putting my camera away, and Zac changes his mind, so finally...5 shots later...I get this:

...Friday's Favorites...

I don't know about you, but sometimes these cold winter days can get long & it can be hard to find things to keep Zac entertained inside. I was watching Studio 5 yesterday & they showed this little science experiment that turned out to be fun & very exciting to watch. You'll have to try it if you're in a crunch for something fun to do. Here's what you'll need:

...an empty plastic bottle...
...1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide...
...squirt of liquid dish soap...
...3-4 drops food coloring...
...1 tsp. yeast dissolved in 2 Tbsp. warm water...

So what you want to do is put the hydrogen peroxide, dish soap, & food coloring in the bottle. In a separate bowl or cup or whatever, mix the yeast and water together. Once the yeast is somewhat dissolved, pour it into the bottle & be prepared to watch the magic happen!! :)

Also...probably one of my favorite magazines/websites for ideas on fun things to do with your kids year round is FamilyFun. It's been one of my favorite idea sources for things to do with kids for years...if you haven't already been to their website, go there by clicking here.

I came across another site that had a few things that looked fun too...you can visit that site by clicking here.