brrrr

16??? Seriously. Winter is here, and I'm freezing my booty off.

Spending Freeze

google image via pinterest

Almost a year ago, friend Aubry decided to tackle The Project (basically stop shopping and a few other rules). She was inspired by another fellow blogger Elizabeth . I've been thinking about it ever since. A single working girl really has no accountability for her money. My money is my money, and I can do whatever I want with it. Problem is I kind of have no idea (other than transfers to savings and paying bills) what I do with it. One of my new year's resolutions is to spend less money. What better way to spend less, than do a spending freeze. Luckily I have a few other girls joining me on the January spending freeze. We're following the same rules as Aubry (straight from her blog) and Elizabeth's The Project.

things i can't buy:

clothing

accessories

jewelry

shoes

purses

magazines

cds

dvds

craft supplies

fast food

home furnishings

"non-essential" fun beauty expenses

frou frou coffee shop coffee, which i'll equate to diet coke.

what i can buy:

a good haircut

makeup

a meal at a lovely restaurant with family and friends

frou frou coffee shop coffee with friends {meaning, no solo drink runs} which, still.... i'll equate to diet coke.

classes {enrichment classes offered at local craft emporiums or community colleges}

gym

gifts for family and friends

charitable contributions to organizations we {i} currently support

For now the spending freeze goes until January 31. We'll get together at the end of the month and discuss. Feel free to check in on me.

2012 and some goals

photo credit-google images

I'll about making goals whenever, but I do love the chance to reflect on the past year and look forward to the future. I set one big goal in 2011. It would push me to do something really hard but be very achievable at the same time. Before making it half way through I got hurt, and my goal was over. I was very disappointed. Although I set other goals throughout the year, 2011 feels like the year of disappointment for me. That being said, I am really looking forward to 2012. It's exciting to think of what might happen this year. Here are my goals/resolutions for the coming year.

resume clean eating (including no sugar January)
take more risks
be more creative
focus on my relationship with God
spend less money (starting with January spending freeze)

1 week into the new year, I feel pretty good about my goals. Did you set goals/resolutions? What are they?
   

The Best and Worst of 2011

I had great intentions to get this post done right as the year ended, but then...i got the stomach flu, returned to the land of the working after a month of surgical/holiday leave, caught a little cold, and basically got my booty kicked by life. I'm slowly returning to the land of the living.

2011 was a lot of things. It was emotional, disappointing, depressing, exciting, fun, inspiring, and memorable all at the same time. A week into the new year, here is my look back at 2011.

biggest accomplishment-finishing the Utah Valley marathon (even though I started struggling in the first mile)

biggest regret/dumbest thing I've ever done-running Wasatch Back majorly injured

biggest disappointment-not being able to complete my goal of the Grand Slam or run at all the rest of the year

favorite memories-experiencing Disneyland with Karlee and the rest of my family

 highlight of the summer-lots of friends coming to town

most miraculous-getting on an already full for the year surgery schedule

best family pictures...ever (sad we're missing the BILs)

cutest/favorite kids-I seriously can't get enough of these 2

most fried food- local Missouri fair

best sewing project-matchy matchy skirts

best bridal shower-on the boat. bachelorette weekend for co-worker Mikael was equally fun

longest trip-tour de east coast (dc, philly, nyc)

biggest purchase-new car

a dream come true-guest crafting at friend Tonya's mommy craft day

favorite quote/motto of the year

"we must be willing to let go of the life we have planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us"

2011 was definitely not the year I had planned, but when are things ever the way we plan?!? Although I'm not even a little bit sad to see it go, 2011 was a year of learning and growth for me. It wasn't my favorite year, but even with disappointments and unmet expectations, I am very blessed.

I'm linking up with one of my favorite random blogs I read

Next up...looking ahead to 2012. How was your year? Did you do a 2011 recap?

life on crutches

WARNING...this post got turned longer than i expected



this picture is ridiculous for so many reasons, but it's also the only picture i have of myself on crutches

i was never one of those people that always wanted to have crutches. i never thought it looked cool or fun. now i know why. even though being on crutches really could have been so much worse, it turned out to be a pretty interesting unintentional social experiment.

i heard a lot of mixed things about how long i would be on crutches from 2-6 weeks. at my pre-op appointment with the physical therapist he told me up to 4 weeks so i pretty much planned for 4 weeks. depending on what happened during surgery, there was a possibility of only 50% weight bearing on my right hip/leg. i basically expected the worst. i was terrified i wouldn't be able to get around my house, and stairs seemed like a living nightmare. all the anxiety was the main reason i spent the night in the hospital (a decision i had to make before even getting out of my hospital bed).

i was really lucky in that i could bear weight as tolerated from the beginning. from the first time i got out of bed, i realized crutches wouldn't be as terrible as i feared. i practiced the stairs in the hospital with the PT before going home, and it was much more do-able than i thought.

i only had to use the crutches for 2 1/2 weeks, and the last little bit i didn't have to use them around the house. expecting the worst made me pleasantly surprised when things were tons better than the worst. it was very interesting though. i generally hate asking for help and really dreaded that part of having surgery. luckily i had the help i needed and got back my independence pretty quickly. 

besides physical therapy, the first place i went by myself with the crutches was the mall. i was shocked by how many people stared at me. i didn't really care but wasn't expecting that at all. a few people, mostly kids, asked why i had crutches or what happened. many people opened doors for me and went out of their way to help, but i was pretty surprised how many times a door was shut less than 5 seconds before i went in or out. i know it's a crazy time of year and people probably didn't really think, but it still really surprised me.

even though it was only a short 2 1/2 weeks, i have a new understanding and perspective. i hope this helps me be a little more compassionate with the children and families i work with. i also hope it helps me recognize when people need a little extra help, and i really hope i never shut the door in the face of someone that could really use the door held open.

New Years Eve 2011

In general I LOVE holidays, but it's no secret that NYE is not my favorite. Combine that with the stomach flu, and I was less than excited this year. Kim and Mark invited a few of us over for a low key fondue party. It was pretty fun, but NYE 2011 did = partying with the marrieds and coming home at 10:00. I sat on my couch to ring in the new year. Stay tuned for a look back at 2011 and sneak peek at 2012.

I die a little every time someone posts an instagram pic. Why is it exclusive to apple? Aubry found this app that's comparable. I had to use it right away.

More Christmas Fun

This year's presents included a beauty kit for Karlee. Both kids love it. I've had my hair done many many times since Sunday. Tonight everyone else was playing the Wii, and I was at the kitchen table. Karson came over and pulled me to the living room and wanted me to sit down. As soon as I sat down, he started doing my hair. It was the cutest thing ever. Karlee got in on the fun too.

Merry Christmas

It's Chelsea's off year from being at our family's for Christmas which basically means I go to Vegas and spend the holiday with them there. Christmas really is so much more fun with kids.

We had some last minute shopping to do on Christmas Eve before coming home to have our traditional chili dinner and looking at lights. We all opened our Christmas pajamas from my mom.

the kids left carrots for the reindeer and cookies for santa

the kids loved opening presents and i loved watching them

without knowing it karlee, chelsea, and i all got toms. i'm obsessed with karlee's little toms. so cute!

karlee was all about the opening this year

karson so excited to play

My mom wanted us all to have new Christmas church clothes since it was on Sunday this year. I kind of had a bad attitude about it being on Sunday (terrible I know. Isn't Christ the whole point of this holiday?), but I actually really loved it. I loved doing the traditional Christmas morning things (presents/breakfast) and then going to church in the afternoon to remind us of the real reason we celebrate. I always love music and really enjoyed the Christmas program. After church we came home to take a few pictures in our Christmas clothes.

It's definitely sad not being at home with the rest of the family for Christmas, but I really love spending the holidays in Vegas. The kids are at such a fun age. If we can't be all together, being there is definitely a good option.

30+2

Another too close to Christmas crappy December birthday. The celebrations started with dinner at Salt City Burger with friends on birthday eve.eveI spent most of yesterday going to physical therapy and running Christmas errands. Roommate Suzie and I ate at Tucanos for dinner. I even got a little Christmas cheer with the Gateway tree. I got some great gifts...all of which I'm dying to use. I came to Vegas today and opened family gifts and went to dinner at Red Robin. Wow! That was a lot of eating/fun celebrating.

rommate Suzie brought home balloons 

looking at Gateway tree while waiting for dinner
the tree changed colors and i loved it
roommate Carrie gave me this cake pops pan. can't wait to use it.
presents from Chelsea and Ashley
Karlee helping me with presents

Christmas Quiz

This has been a weird holiday season for me. I've been stuck in the house much of the month, and I got most of my shopping done early. It hasn't exactly felt like Christmas. Abby over at Diligent Joy posted this fun little Christmas Quiz, and it gave me a little holiday spirit.

if this quiz doesn't get me in the holiday spirit, maybe i need to find this awesome charm bracelet

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? mostly neither. egg nog is yuck, and although I like hot chocolate I prefer not to drink my calories.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? under the tree/all over the room

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? white lights but sometimes I really like the wacky tacky colored lights on the other people's houses

4. Do you hang mistletoe? seems like someone in the house does every year

5. When do you put your decorations up? as soon as possible and leave up as long as possible until jan.1

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? my mom's cheeseball...maybe???

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? all the kids lining up in order to see what santa brought

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? santa still comes to my house

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? pjs on christmas eve...always...even still. everything else next morning

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? someone else seems to do that job every year. i did see the most beautiful gold and maroon tree today.

11. Snow! Love it or dread it? DREAD/HATE

12. Can you ice skate? haven't been since i was a freshman in college so probably not

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? my family is pretty spoiled at christmas so i probably have a favorite for each year. last year my mom surprised me with a clarisonic. def my fav from last year.

14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? spending time with family (something i don't get to do very often)

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? peppermint ice cream (is that a lame answer???)

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? reading the christmas story out of the bible, going to look at lights, coming home to open pajamas (is that too many answers?)

17. What tops your tree? nothing this year

18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? giving...the perfect gift

19. Candy canes: yuck or yummy? on the fence with this question. i think i eat them because they are there.

20. Favorite Christmas show? the holiday

21. Saddest Christmas song? christmas shoes...worst song ever

22. What is your favorite Christmas song? o holy night or anything david archuleta or justin beiber (for real)

who wants to play along? it's kind of fun to see everyone's answers. if you do, go to abby's blog and link your blog.

the surgical story

Drew was my little buddy the couple of days I was at his house. He was fascinated with the crutches and ice pump.

surgery = no contacts, no makeup, no jewelry

My other post about having surgery was mostly to prevent people from freaking out because they didn't know. I still got a little of that but nothing too bad. Here's the rest of the long story....

After the Ogden marathon back in May, my hip was bugging me. Since I had the Utah Valley marathon 3 weeks later I went to physical therapy a few times. It seemed to be getting a lot better so I ran Utah Valley (mistake #1). Looking back, my 45 minutes off my normal finishing time should have been a big clue that I was injured, but no. I ran Wasatch Back (mistake #2) the next weekend. By the end of that, my hip was killing me, and I couldn't walk. I spent the rest of the summer going to physical therapy 3x/week. I was gradually getting a little better. At least that's what I thought.

By the end of the summer, I hit a big plateau in therapy and still couldn't walk with a normal gait. I finally went to see a sports medicine doctor. After a x-rays and a MRI, they found a tear in the cartilage of my hip. I tried 6 weeks of swimming only and a steroid shot, and still I wasn't better. Before even seeing the doctor for the final time I decided to have surgery. I was pretty sick of not being able to do what I wanted to do, and surgery seemed like the only solution.

I made a couple of appointments with different surgeons and found out I would have to wait until March to have surgery. I was so done with the waiting game by that point. I started calling around and found another surgeon that did arthroscopic surgery. I had a consultation with him and felt really comfortable with him and his experience. He was booked for the year but opened another surgery day for December 2. Within a couple of hours of leaving his office, I scheduled surgery for a week and a half later.  It's really crazy how things work out. I was really upset and stressed about not getting into the other surgeon for so long, but it turned out to be a huge blessing. I'm so happy I went with Dr. West. He dedicated 1/3 of this year to studying this exact procedure to be the most effective and efficient. His dedication made me feel very comfortable with him.

Michelle took me to the hospital. They took me straight back to pre-op, and I was ready to go pretty quickly. I was about to walk down (ya walk down) to the OR when some equipment broke. I ended up waiting/staring at the wall for the next hour before they were ready. I walked down to the OR, got on the bed, and that's all I remember. The next thing I knew I woke up in the PACU. I was SO nervous about going home (to Michelle's house). I was pretty stressed about getting around with crutches. I had the nicest nurse. She suggested I spend the night and even came to my room to talk to me for a bit. Michelle came to check on me and visit for a while. A few hours later, the night nurse came in, and I knew her. I was so happy to know my nurse. It really helped relieve some of the anxiety. By the time I got out of bed and moved around a little, I realized the crutches would be ok.

I spent the night in the hospital. Dy picked me up the next day and took me to Michelle's for the next several days. I was hooked up to an ice pump for the next week, but other than that I did really well. I have been able to move around really well, and I haven't been in pain at all. Being on crutches hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought although it has been very interesting (more on that later). I am healing really well and expect to be completely back to normal soon. It's weird to say lucky when talking about surgery, but I really do feel like one lucky girl.

generation gap dinner

In celebration of 25 years and many many miles of running, some of the first members of the running group hosted a dinner this fall. They had shirts from every St. George marathon. They posted favorite running memories and stories of how everyone came to the group. I found out I am 9 generations from an original member. It's pretty cool to see how the group has grown the past 25 years. I have missed my running friends so much, and it was great to spend the evening with many of them.

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cookie swap

who has the best cookie recipe? if you want to know, head over to http://justlikemarypoppins.blogspot.com/2011/12/cookie-recipe-swap.html and participate in aubry's cookie swap. give your favorite recipe and get everyone else's favorite recipes in return. seems like a win-win to me.

now ya know

Remember my promise to write my running story earlier this year?!?! Well, I started it, got injured, and had to stop running. I still promise to post it hopefully in 10-12 weeks when I'm fully recovered from the hip surgery I had today. Some people know and some people don't. How do you bring that up in conversation? So, for everyone that wants to kill me for not telling them, now ya know. Surgery went well, and so far I am doing great.

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9/11 memorial

words + cell phone pictures are not sufficient. seeing the 9/11 memorial in nyc was like nothing i've ever experienced. it was beautiful, huge, and so incredibly peaceful. right in the middle of nyc this site of such horrific tragedy has been completely transformed. the running water was so calming to me. as I walked around, i realized not one person (including an unborn child) is forgotten. i really could have stayed there all night. i hope this memorial provides the same peace to others with much more personal connections.

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