Challenge Five–Happiness Is…

Prepare yourself for a marathon of pictures.

June 2, 2010…the day our lives changed forever.

Welcome, baby Addison!

Some of the women most important to me…Vicky Geisler, my sister, Kasey, my mom, baby Addison and I at a winery.  Where else?  New Braunfels!

Speaking of New Braunfels, I could not have a post about happiness without including the Comal River Floating somehow.  (We took Addison on the river when she was about 6 weeks old!  This is as far as she made it though.)

My awesome, wonderful, fabulous, family.  With the best parents!

Addison LOVES her pap!

Running brings me happiness.  Not while I am in the middle of a long run, necessarily, but at least when it is finished, for sure.

Having great running partners and support!

This is Addison just after she tasted ice cream for the first time!

My first ‘child,’ Layla.  She could play in the sprinkler all day, if we let her!

Here I am, laying out by the pool, watching Jimmy and Addison swim! 

SNO CONES!

Last, but certainly not least…vacations.  This particular picture is from Maui, but really, any beach will do!

Believe it or not, I actually decided to delete a ton of pictures from here.  Just because Addison is in a photo doesn’t mean it needs to be shown on my happiness blog.  While this has been one of the hardest years I have ever gone through, I love that girl to pieces.  Nobody ever told me how difficult it would be, even with the most joyful, cutest, friendliest baby around.   She truly bring me happiness.  I love to see my parents, sister and Jimmy interact, love on and spoil that princess!

What makes YOU happy??

Challenge Four–What are You Listening To?

I am constantly changing the radio in my car. Addison tends to get a little…um…needy while we drive around town, but as long as I am singing, she is happy. Seriously. I will sing along to any song that is on and she begins to bop her head and clap her hands. She’s awesome. If nothing is on, I will sing “Jesus Loves the Little Children,” “Jesus Loves Me,” or “Rise and Shine.” Gosh, I love that girl.

Anyway…I have 12 presets in my car. The first three are country stations, followed by our Christian station, 104.1 (similar to KISS FM in Arlington) and then Sunny 99.1 (think KVIL in Arlington ~ I’m that cool.)

The next 6 presets are all set to stations in New Braunfels. Which reminds me, we need to make a trip asap.

I hate listening to commercials, but I also hate listening to the DJs talk on the Christian station. I mean, really, stop telling me how much you don’t play commercials and actually play a song.

My IPod is full of awesome people like Dr. Jean, Mr. Al, and (I hate to say it, Chelsea) Raffi. All thanks to my kindergarten kiddos.

I have a ton of playlists titled “Run Fast",” Marathon Mix,” or “Run, Run, Run.” The Black Eyed Peas, Pink, Brittney Spears, Katie Perry and Lady Gaga all have several tracks on each of those lists.

While sitting by the pool, I could listen to Kenny all day.

Chesney, that is. Not Kenny G (I don’t want you to be confused with the Sunny 99.1/KVIL reference earlier. Kenny Chesney has a song called, “The Life.” Download it. You won’t be sorry. I LOVE it!

What are YOU listening to?

Challenge Three–These are a Few of My Favorite Things.

Here is what dictionary.com has to say about the word favorite…

fa-vor-ite

1. a person or thing regarded with special favor or preference

2. a thing popular with the public.

In this case, I suppose I am the public, so, in no particular order, here are a few of my favorite things…

Sharpie Markers.  I love these and have them floating all around my classroom.  I can never have too many.  Look at all the colors!  These are a teacher’s dream.

Spray Butter.  I discovered this while living in the dorms in college and didn’t want to use a knife to butter my toast.  (Lazy?  Yep.)  I should buy stock in spray butter because I use it on everything.  Seriously, everything.  What’s not to love?  Zero calories!

Diet Dr. Pepper with Vanilla from Sonic.  I could probably buy a new pair of running shoes with the amount of money I spend at Sonic, especially in the summer.  I cringe if I have to buy the drink anytime other than their Happy Hour. 

Lip Gloss.  I have several of these all over the place.  I don’t wear real lip stick.  I prefer Cover Girl Wet Slicks Fruit Spritzer lip gloss in Fig Splash.

Eye Makeup Remover.  This is the best I have found!  You have to buy the oil free though.  I have bought the other kind (with the pink lid) and it leaves me with blurry eyes for the rest of the night.  The oil free works great and is only $3.50.

Google Reader.  One of the best inventions.  To think, I used to waste so much time clicking on each of the blogs I read individually.  Ha!  If I never comment on your blog, its because I probably read it using Google Reader on my phone. 

My Elliptical Machine.  This is what we bought with most of our wedding money.  I pretty much use it every morning before work and I love, love, love it! 

Experia Running Socks.  Or as I refer to them, “Magic Socks.”  These are a must for anyone who is a runner!  I won’t even run a 5K without these protecting my feet.  Even though they run $11-$14 a pair, I have to say, they are worth every penny.

People Magazine AND Princess Kate.  Oh how I love People Magazine!  I just wish it wasn’t so expensive.  $4 a week is a lot of money.  Thankfully, my gym gets the subscription.  I read it there.  I am obsessed with Princess Kate.  Is there anyone classier or more gorgeous???  Next month, she is doing her North America ‘tour’ and will be in LA.  What are the chances she will be in the airport during our layover to Maui?  I better have my camera ready.

What are your favorite things??

Challenge Two–Spill Your Purse.

I am not much of a purse person.  Having a fancy, expensive purse has never really made sense to me.  I prefer a something small to hold the ‘essentials'.’  Although, I haven’t carried anything small since Addison was born.  Recently, I have bought a couple super cute big bags from Charming Charlie, but then Addison may spill, drool or wipe snot on it.

So, here is what I am currently toting my stuff around in for the summer…

Lovely, right?  Maybe not, but it is practical for me.  The backpack aspect makes it much easier to balance with a baby in the other arm.  (I realize backpack purses were only cool in 7th grade and I don’t care.)

Upon spilling everything out, here is what I found…

Addison’s bag was first.  I’ll get to that in a minute.  My wallet, cell phone, a baby spoon, Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt gift card (we may or may not have just made a trip there), lip gloss, a hair tie, a pen, my running watch and glasses.Thrilling, right?  This bag is easy for me to just head to the grocery store or the gym.

Here is Addison’s bag.  I have a super cute diaper bag that I really like, but turns out I’m not much for carrying around a ton of baby stuff.  What’s the point?  I bought this bag from a 31 vendor at school.  I love their stuff!  And this is perfect for us.  Inside, I have a few diapers, a bottle, and her dinner of yogurt, sweet potatoes, black beans and apple sauce.  (She had dinner at Villa Sport tonight.)  It is super easy to pull out and hand over to the sitter at church nursery or  at the gym.  Plus, this fits in my oh-so-stylish Adidas backpack perfectly.

Man, I am afraid this blogging challenge may make me realize I need to jazz up my life a bit.  Can you say bor-ing??

See you tomorrow!

Challenge One - Behind the Blog.

So…Things you don’t know about me…I was hoping to keep in line with other’s blogs by having Jimmy come up with his list of ‘Things you Don’t Know About Kelley,’ but he is working like a mad man these days.  When he gets home from work, we will head to the gym.  By the time we get home, and put baby down, it will be much too late and he won’t be in the mood to be clever.  So, here I am…Addison is napping and I can finally lay around and do nothing, which is how summer is supposed to be, right??

1.  Our bed has to be made everyday.  Seriously.  It doesn’t matter if I get up at 5am or get out of bed at noon (the last time that happened was in 2009).  I am pretty sure it drives Jimmy crazy, but he plays along and helps occasionally.

2.  I feel a pressure to keep things clean, orderly and in their place.  Who knows where this came from.  Jimmy has never complained if things are messy, in fact, he prefers it that way.  Ha.  I have to make sure the counters are wiped down and the kitchen is clean.

3.  Jimmy and I don’t share a bathroom.  I protested to this when we first got married, but his response was, “Believe me, we will need our space.”  Oh my, is he right.  I love having the whole bathroom to myself and he doesn’t mind using the smaller, guest bathroom.  If I walk by his and see it all crazy and boyish (see #2), I just close the door.

4.  I’m not really sure what I am doing with this whole ‘parenting’ thing.  I had all these wonderful dreams about how I would raise my daughter, but when it comes down to it, we are just trying to have fun and soak up everyday together.  You know the saying, “Everything changes when you have a baby.”  It could not hold more truth.  (That could be another post in itself).

5.  I have not always been a teacher.  I graduated with a degree in PR, then got my certification to teach.  I only had one interview for a teaching position, at the school I am working at now and I LOVE MY JOB!  (Most days!)

6.  I am crazy about schedules and being on time.  I really feel anxiety if we are about to be late somewhere.  Even if things aren’t really planned, being behind my time schedule drives me nuts.

7.  I can’t cook.  I never learned how and recipes with more than 5 ingredients scare me.  I have recently started to use my crockpot because Jimmy pressured me into it.  Lately, I think wrapping sweet potatoes in foil and putting them in the crockpot for 8 hours is equivalent to a gourmet meal.

8.  I never pay full price for anything.  I find something I want, do research on all websites, look for coupons, deals and discounts, until I am sure I have found the lowest price available.  We have gotten awesome deals on vacations, running shoes,

9.  I live for our vacations.  I love planning, researching and booking trips, then looking forward to them all year!!  (We have an upcoming trip to Maui!!!)

10.  I love how passionate Jimmy is in planning for our future.  He is so wonderful with this Dave Ramsey stuff and is getting us on a plan to pay off our house in record time.  (That is, if I can stop planning trips to the beach!)  We don’t drive fancy pants cars or eat at the nicest restaurants every weekend, but we have everything we need or want.

There you have it!  10 Things You Didn’t Know About Me!

Blogging Challenge…

I love the blogging world.  Although it may not appear so at time because I can go weeks without a post, I really enjoy posting and stalking catching up on old friends’ (and new friends’) lives.

Without the wonders of the blog, how would I know Chelsea is pregnant and will find out if it’s a he or she in just a few weeks?  How would I know that Debbie’s son, Jake just took swim lessons?  Or that Brittany is staying home, juggling summer days with three kiddos??  (Mind you, I have not actually seen these girls in about 10 years!  Yep, its been that long since we graduated.  What??) 

Anyway…Chelsea and a few friends of hers have started a blogging challenge for the week.  I am planning/hoping to/going to take part in their challenge to give me something to do everyday, besides chase around a buys one year old!

I’d LOVE it if the three of you that read this blog did, too!  Here are the daily challenges:

Day 1: Behind the Blogger- Things you might not know about us
Day 2: Spill Your Purse- What's inside (No cleaning it out the night before either)
Day 3: These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things                            Day 4: What Do You Listen To In The Car?
Day 5: Happiness Is... (Using a picture or pictures)

Awesome!  Let me know if you are accepting the challenge and stay tuned for my posts!

Happy Birthday, Addison!

We finally had Addison’s official birthday celebration!

After coordinating schedules and planning when people would be in town, we booked a pool, here in The Woodlands.

Her invitation said, “Its Time for Some Flip Flop Fun…Addison is Turning One!”

I was so thrilled when I found this cake and smash cake!

We were very happy the Geislers were able to make it to her party!

I wish Addison wasn’t so annoyed to take this picture…haha!

We tried our best to get some family pictures, but all Addison wanted to do was swim!

We were wasting her pool time with picture taking!

Jimmy’s mom was even able to make it to the party!

I invited some students from my class as well!  My students heard me talk about “baby” Addison all year long!

How much longer can I call her “baby?”

Aunt Kasey came for the fun, too!

Of course, Addison LOVED her cake!

Again, she is irritated that I wanted a few more pictures…look at the clenched fists!

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to baby Addison’s first birthday party!  She had a great time!  We love you all!