Berry Picking

While mowing the lawn last Saturday(an early Father's Day gift for my allergy prone hubby), I came across the most wonderful surprise.  The entire back right side of our house is filled with Raspberry bushes.  Originally, we had thought that they were rose bushes as they had thorns and basically looked like they were getting ready to bloom.  Imagine my surprise to find tons of bright red raspberries ready to be picked. 

I remember going camping as a child and somehow, my parents always found raspberries for us to pick.  I think that I have a picture of my sister and I around ages 6 & 7, with our scraggly blonde hair in our face, peeking out from behind the raspberry bush.  Ah, memories.  I think that for kids, picking raspberries is almost magical in a way.  The moment I went inside to tell the kids what I had discovered, they were squealing with delight and rushing out of the sliding glass door to bound down the stairs and get a peek at the tiny red berries that they knew they would soon pick. 

We have been picking berries every day since Saturday.  If this picture is any indication, this is only 1 bowl out of three that were filled to the top this morning with ripe red raspberries.  It is so much fun to be able to have this little ritual every morning.  The kids truly enjoy picking and munching on our own home grown goodness.

The kids have learned which ones are ready to be picked and which ones we need to leave until tomorrow.  They have also learned to be very careful as there are "poke's" on the branches.  I have been poked numerous times helping them pick off some of the berries...but it is all worth it in the end.  We even had the chance to spy a little green tree frog hanging out in the berries.  He momentarily captured all of the kids' attention, until they realized that pursuing him meant gettting A LOT of "pokes."

Today, I am thankful for the simple things in life.  The things that capture our imagination, hold our attention, and bring us joy to brighten up our day.                                                               

The rules of this award are as follows:
1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the award & place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Share 10 things about yourself.
5. Nominate 10 of your favorite bloggers for the award.
6. Post links to the blogs you nominate.



Thank you very much to my new blogger friend Our Happy Married Life, for nominating me for this fun award. Amy is the beautiful wife of Paul, a guy I knew growing up and with whom I have recently reconnected. I have learned a lot about Amy and Paul through her website and enjoy reading it each day. Thanks again Amy for all of your help with my own blog and for keeping me coming back for more. I hope to one day actually meet you.

10 Things About Me:

1. I am always up for trying something new.  Whether it is an event, a ride, a new food or a sport;  I will pretty much do anything at least once.  Most of the time I end up loving my "new" thing so much that I do it again and again.  Exception: I will NOT skydive or bungee jump. Ever.

2. I love to sing.  It was always a dream of mine to sing in a band.  Unfortunately, I was never able to fulfill this dream for one reason or another.  Now, I sing anywhere and everywhere.  I have a karoke machine that I use to belt it out(usually when AI is on)to my kids, who of course think I am a rockstar mommy!  I tried out for American Idol two years ago.  It was a fabulous experience, but just not "meant to be."  I have sung in Weddings, at Funerals, and also at special celebrations when asked.  It is a passion of mine and I feel blessed that I have been able to be a part of someone's special day.

3.  I am an avid reader.  I love to read fictional novels.  My favorite authors are Jodi Picoult, Stephenie Meyer, Dean Koontz, Nicholas Sparks and James Patterson.  I loved the Twilight Series, Harry Potter, Alex Cross novels, Murder Mysteries and Love stories.  I read every day.  If I were creative enough, I would love to write a novel of my own...although, I have no idea what it would  be about and who has the time right?

4.  I find joy in working out.  It is my single most effective energy booster and mood changer.  Going to the gym or doing something active every day has helped me keep a level head, feel great and lower my stress level.  I recently signed up to do a Triathlon and I am loving the experience of training for it.  I feel strong and in shape.  I am proud of myself at what I have already accomplished.  I believe that setting a good example by being fit, working out and doing something active will benefit my children greatly. 

5. I love musical theatre.  Wicked was, by far, one of my favorite theatre productions of all time.  After watching it, I wished that I had done something like that in high school or college.  I hope to expose my kids to a lot of theatre and who knows, maybe one of them will get the bug and then I will get to see them doing musicals(which would be the best).

6.  Reconnecting with people from my past through facebook is one of my very favorite things.  I have re-connected with a lot of people whom I lost touch with over the years.  I have also become friends with people who I was never friends with in High School and I love that people grow up and change and it is fun to get to know someone now, as a mature adult vs. who they were(and I was)back in High School.

7.  I am terrified of scary movies.  I think the last scary movie I allowed myself to see was "The Ring" and it freaked me out so badly that I screamed at the top of my lungs at work when someone simply walked into the restroom as I was walking out of a stall.  Lame, I know.  I even managed to psych myself out READING about "Paranormal Activity" in a magazine.  That is definitely one movie that I will NEVER see.

8.  I love Mexican Food.  Bring on the refried beans, queso, enchilada's, chips, guac and margaritas baby!!!

9.  My kids are my very favorite people in this world.  I love them dearly and I am so glad that they chose me to be their mom.  Plus, they have to listen to everything I say which is completely awesome(even if they don't always choose to listen)right?

10.  I cherish my friends for who they are, for who they have become, for what they bring into my life and for the many wonderful experiences that I have been fortunate enough to share with them and go through with them.  My besties out there...you know who you are....I love you all!

Here are my nominations(less than 10 because I am new and I am unsure of who to nominate):

1. Koshire Girls: A real life friend of mine whom I adore.  Our children have been friends since our first borns were 8 months old.  We were pregnant together, our girls dance together and we see each other frequently.  She is great at taking pictures, scrapbooking, and anything artsy crafty.

2. 3 in the afternoon: Another RL friend of mine.  She is the "original" blogger of our mommy group.  We all kind of jumped on the bandwagon after she started her awesome blog.  Thanks Jodi for getting us all into blogging!

3. 2Boyzand2Girlz: Another RL friend of mine from our mommy group.  She has two beautiful children, is an AMAZING artist(check out her blog for details)and shares my love of Edward Cullen and all things Twilight related.

4. Brittany's Blog: A beautiful woman I met through my college roomate Melissa.  She is all things amazing.  A singer, a model/actress, a wonderful mother to two beautiful children, a runner, and a downright hilarious person that I am fortunate to have met before.  She is the girl that all of us other girls would love to hate but you just can't because she is so wonderful.

5. Aiden's Journey:  A RL friend of mine whom I truly believe is the strongest, smartest and most sincere person I have ever met.  She has three handsome boys who are amazing in their own ways.  Her youngest son suffers from a seizure disorder and her blog is about their blessed life and the challenges they have faced since Aiden's diagnosis. 

6. Team Auge: Another RL friend of mine.  She has FIVE children under age 5!  She recently gave birth to triplets!  They joined older brothers Charlie and Tommy in March.  She has a lot on her plate but somehow she manages to look beautiful, act calm and collected, and still show up places on time!  I aspire to be that on the ball!

7. Noemi Photography: A RL friend whom I met through our daughters' preschool class.  Her daughter Adriah and my Avery are two parts of "The A Team."  She is a talented photographer who's spirit and joy never cease to amaze me.  She has three wonderful children and a love for the Lord that radiates in all that she does.

8. The Morelli Mafia: Traci is a RL acquaintance whose brother used to date my best friend.  I got to visit her and her oldest child in the hospital when he was born.  We have found that we share a lot of mutual friends via six degrees of separation.  She has two handsome little boys and she is a great blogger.

My First 5K

Last Sunday, I ran my very first 5K at Grand Old Day in St. Paul, MN. I had a fabulous time and have a new sense of appreciation for all of those people who regularly run races. Running a 5K is TOUGH! At least for me it was.

I was fortunate enough to be a part of a team. My friend Maria asked me to join her team which included her boyfriend Mike aka "Captain Blackstrap", his friend Scott(pictured above), his other friend Chad(not in the picture) and our mutual friend Sam who is on the far left. Our collective team name was "Blackstrap Molasses." Hence, the black clothing that in hindsight probably wasn't the best idea as running the last mile and a half with the sun blazing on your black clothing only adds to the discomfort that you are definitely feeling at that point in time. But, it all came together and honestly, we wouldn't have lived up to the name wearing any other color but Black.

I was jittery. I was literally shaking in my boots because this was my first race and I had no idea what to expect. I almost felt like throwing up at one point in time...yes, this is pretty melodramatic, but it is exactly where I had worked myself up to. My hands were shaking and my mind was spinning so much so that I couldn't even get my timing chip on my shoe properly. I had to ask Maria to do it for me(more on chips later). I also got a Grand Old Day on the Go T-shirt. If anyone has ever been to the Midwests' largest one day festival, you know that you pretty much have to park blocks and blocks away from Grand because of the amount of people who show up to participate in the fun. Well, we parked far away. So, I get handed this T-Shirt and I said, "Can you just hold this until after the race." The girl smiled and said, "Sorry, no. We pretty much tear the booth down as soon as you all start running. You could find a place to stash it or go put it in your car." ::blank stare:: Thinking to myself: Okay, so you are telling me that I have to figure out what to do with my t-shirt, that I PAID for, 10 minutes before the race is going to start because I obviously will not make it back to my car before the start of the race and I feel like I am going to puke and O.M.G!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ::deep breath:: I consult with my fellow racers who tell me to either stick it in the back of my shorts(um, no thank you) or stash it. I decide to go behind the building where we were waiting and stash it. The building was for some type of landscaping/garden center store and they had palette's of fertilizer and soil. I decided that stashing my shirt there would be a great idea as long as the palettes were not going to be moved(I prayed about this one). As I bent down to shove my shirt into a palette, there were at least 4 other shirts hidden there...LOL...So, I put my paperwork on top of MY shirt and hoped that people would be honest and not swipe my shirt in lieu of their poor size purchase(if they made that mistake in the first place, but that is exactly what I was thinking).

The kid race was literally right before our race. It was amazing to see these tiny tikes running their little booty's off. Some of those kids were in it to win it...while others were there for fun. You could definitely tell these a part. The crowd cheered them on and it was just wonderful to see how many parents are getting their kids involved in running at such early ages. What a great way to role model for your kids and set them up for healthy futures. Maria and I talked about possibly having my kids try it out next year. It was a privilege to watch.

Now, it was our turn to line up for the race. My adrenaline started flowing profusely. I was psyched. The said, "Runners Ready?" I grabbed Maria's hand because I needed to be sure she was listening as she was talking to some runners she knew who were behind us. I was so ready to run! The horn sounded and we were off. Immediately I shot across the starting line and I was running in a crowd of people. I saw Mike, Chad and Scott bolt way up ahead of me and I had totally expected that. I soon lost track of them and I had no idea where Maria and Sam were. It was literally a sea of people all around me and I was so aware of myself, my breathing, and where I was running that I had no more brain power for where anyone else was anymore. They could have been in front of me, next to me, or behind me and I would not have been any wiser.

I realized about 1/2 mile in that I was obviously running at a faster pace than normal because I had to work extremely hard to get my breathing under control. I was paying attention to all of the booths on the side of the road when I spied someone I knew. April(Cousin of my brother in law) and her daughter Aly were on the side of the road and it gave me a little boost as I yelled out "Hey April!" to her and she saw me and yelled back to me. My husband and kids were not at the race and after seeing April it really made me realize how important it is to have "supporters" there for you. They keep you going and really help you do the best you can in a race. After seeing April I am sure I kicked up my pace a notch or two and now I had her and Aly to look forward to towards the end of the race where I would need their cheers for sure.

I soon came upon Captain Blackstrap and his trusty friend Chad, running perfectly in sync rocking their i-pods. They were surprised to see me and then they cheered me on as I pulled ahead of them. It should be mentioned that Captain Blackstrap has a bum ankle and almost did not participate in the race. It was fun to be able to find them in the crowd and have a little chit chat as well. It was again very motivating to know people as you are running.

By this point, I was fatigued. I kept thinking to myself, where is the turn around? I was straining my eyes to see the end which seemed to be no where in sight. OMG, what had I gotten myself into? The idea of slowing down or even ::gasp:: walking was horrific to me so I kept chugging along. When I saw the lead runner passing me I was so thankful...the turn around was about 2 blocks away. I then saw Scotty who yelled out to me, "You are doing awesome Amber!" So I yelled back "Thanks Rock On!" I grabbed some water at the turn around and walked. Slammed my water and threw the cup in the garbage and got back to running. I saw Sam and then I saw Maria. I yelled out to both of them to keep on going buddies! Again...another energy boost. Never underestimate the power of people you love and care about being around you while you are doing something challenging.

The way back was much much worse than the way up. Now, all of the good smells that I enjoyed on my way to the turn around were making me nauseous. I actually sprinted by the greek food stand as the smell of the normally delicious Gyro's were making me want to hurl. I started to think that this race was some sort of horrific torture race and why did I choose to subject myself to it. Perspective people! I kept telling myself one foot in front of the other. When I felt like slowing down, I allowed myself to unless it was by a particularly offensive food stand at which point I again would sprint by and hold my breath. I literally thought I was going to fall over or pass out or most likely both along with vomit. I just had to get to the end. As I hit the 1/4 mile left mark(assuming this in my mind)April and Aly were there and they were already yelling out for me, "Way to go Amber!" It was just what I needed. I got my last wind and finished the race strong. I had no idea what my time was as I felt ill and was gasping for breath as I put my foot forward for a volunteer to cut off my timing chip. Scotty was there and gave me a huge high five. He also handed me some water which I guzzled down while looking for a place to sit because I thought I was going to pass out.

I watched Maria come bolting across the finish line. She has this amazing ability to "kick it up" the last 1/4 mile and she sprints like a cheetah and I am not kidding you. She put her foot forward to get her timing chip cut off and IT WAS NO LONGER ON HER SHOE! She was pissed. I felt terrible for her but did not know what to do. How in the world did the freaking chip come off of her shoe. This would be like getting DQ'd on some stupid technicality in our TRI. What a bummer. The only good part was that she had seen her time when she crossed the finish line. Sam came running in right behind her and then we waited for the rest of our blackstrap crew.

After having two banana's, some granola and three cups of water I finally felt AMAZING. April and Aly had walked down to talk with me and congratulate me on finishing the race. It was pretty neat. I also got to finally see my time. I ran my very first 5K in 27:06!!! I was so proud of myself because I normally run at about 10 min/mile.

The 5K was definitely an experience. I am glad that I ran it and that I had good people to run it with me. I feel more confident than ever that running is HARD and that there is nothing easy about a 5K. A marathoner told one of our teammates that running 5K's are harder than marathon's because if you want a good time, you have to sprint virtually the entire 3 miles...AGREE! The most important thing that I walked away with(besides really sore quads)is that having people there to support you is priceless. It is literally all you need to do good, feel good and keep on chugging. Cheers to all of you runners out there who do races like this and a big thank you to my teammates and all of you supporters out there who cheered us all on!

The Twilight Saga

I am a bit of a Twi-hard. I hopped on the bandwagon pretty much the moment I started hearing about the "amazing books by Stephanie Meyer." I happened to be going on a trip to Colorado to visit my girlfriend Kelly and so I picked up the first book. I had no time to read during our visit, but she had the second book New Moon and let me take it with me. While waiting for my flight back to Minneapolis, it was delayed and so I started to read. By the time I actually got onto my flight (2 hours late) I was over half way through the book. It was THAT good. I think I nodded a hello to the person sitting next to me and that was about it because the town of Forks and its inhabitants had me hook, line and sinker.

After finishing Twilight I dove right into New Moon. The romance of Twilight is definitely NOT present in this book so as I was reading it it was kind of a real downer of a book. Don't get me wrong, in hindsight this book is completely relevant and necessary to develop the strong bond between Jacob and Bella, but at the time I was a bit let down. Friends who had read it and were now on to the third installment(Eclipse) told me to have faith and I will most definitely be surprised. Which of course I was after reading Eclipse and the final book Breaking Dawn which basically comes full circle.

I do not believe that there has ever been a series of books that has captured my attention the way this series has. Sure, I was all about Christopher Pike books as a pre-teen and I owned hundreds of them, but the way that these books are written reach something deep inside that I think that most of us can relate to or aspire to on some type of level.

I have watched the movie Twilight many times. It never gets old. I could probably watch it three times a day and enjoy every bloody, creepy, edge of your seat moment. When New Moon was about to come out, I decided to re-read the book. It had been over a year since I finished the books and I felt like I wanted to be on the same page(pun intended). The movie was so similar to the book that I could finish lines of characters in the movie. I loved the movie and the day it came out we got it. The second movie had a much larger budget and a different director. The movie was definitely filmed better...but the story was still the same. It had a huge cliff hanger moment but it was basically a filler movie. So, when I hear people gripe about how the movie "sucked" I simply shake my head and say that in the scheme of the 4 book saga, the second book sucked, but again it was neccessary. Not to mention, two of those people who didn't like the movie also have not read the books(my point exactly).

With the announcement of Eclipse to hit the theatres on June 30th, I immediately started re-reading the book. Eclipse is the third book and it is large and very involved. There are a lot of things going on in the book and I found myself re-reading paragraphs trying to make sure that I have all the facts down. I adored this book. It brings everything and everyone together to fight a common enemy. I also got invited to a friends house for an evening of The Twilight Saga. We are going to watch both movies back to back, have some popcorn and chit chat about the movie. I was elated to get the invite and I simply cannot wait for Saturday! As dorky as this sounds, it's true.

I was reading in my EW magazine last week and came across a delightful piece of information. Stephenie Meyer has written a book that is kind of a companion piece or spin off of Eclipse. It is called "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner." Bree is one of Victoria's newborn vampires who along with Riley were created by Victoria to seek revenge on Bella. You can read the book online for free at breetanner.com. Little things like this, along with the trailers for the movie get me so excited that I can hardly stand it.

So, who out there is a fan of Twilight? What was your favorite book out of the series? Is anyone as nuts about these books as I am? Let me know! See you on June 30th at the theatres!

Running, Biking, Open Water Swimming

My training for the triathlon has officially begun. First timers are sent a big packet with training tips and hints and a complete 12 week workout regimine to get you prepped for the big day. I am a by the book type of person so it was my full intention to look at what each day said and do exactly that workout. Well, it turns out that doing things so by the book isn't always possible for a variety of reasons. Last week I was supposed to swim 500 yards. I waited until Chadd got home so that I could head to the gym to swim. I got there close to 8pm. I changed into my suit, walked into the pool area only to be assaulted by a HUGE sign that said, "Pool closed due to lightening." UGH! Foiled by the weather all day long.

One of my TRI partners and I have been meeting pretty regularly to do "Brick" training. We usually do a bike ride immediately followed by a run. Our distances and times have varied as have our course choices. I feel like we have done a good job of training on all types of terrain(the funniest being Hyland Park in Bloomington where we were greeted by a barrage of squirrels and wild turkeys that had us squealing every block or so). Bricks are not even on the training guide until our 8th week of training. I am not sure if it is a good thing that we are doing them or not, but I sure do feel strong after biking 6 miles and running 2. I was looking at the overall guide and I think that it is set up for someone who has never worked out a day in their life before this. For instance, day three's workout was "Run for 10 minutes" Really? Really??? I run longer than that when I am NOT training for a triathlon. I was originally concerned with "over training." I have read everywhere that you need to be careful not to over train as it is more detrimental to you than under training would be. So, I have decided that as long as I am feeling good, getting in workouts and nothing on me hurts I must be doing okay as far as training the right amount goes.

This past weekend for Memorial Day we went camping with a group of our neighbors. I was concerned that I would not get in any workouts and scheduled a brick with my girlfriend the day after we got home. I took my bike along just in case and what do you know? I got to train all three sports over the weekend. I ran on trails at Father Hennipen State Park, I rode a bike with my neighbor Jodie, and I got to swim in Lake Mille Lacs (64 degrees) with the neighbors kids because what adult in their right mind would swim in that freezing water without a wetsuit...Yep ME! One of the kids is on the swim team and she was helping me with technique. Another of the adults has done Tri's before and was a swimmer so he gave me a few tips on my technique as well. I found myself focusing so much on technique that I couldn't get my breathing or counting right so I was drowning myself in the process but my freestyle has definitely gotten better.

There are six of us doing the TRI together for the first time. We were recently tying to come up with a team name and we were working with the letters in our first names which worked out to spell JAMMER. So, now we are tying to figure out something else to go with it to make it funky and unique. If you have a suggestion, please let me know!

I signed up for the 5K at Grand Old Day which is this Sunday. I am very nervous about a 5K...which is kind of funny because it is only 3 miles but it is what it is. I have never been in a race before and I am freaking out. I am glad that I will be doing it with friends that I know otherwise I would really be freaking out.

So far I am really enjoying my training. I was secretly jealous when my neighbor told me he got a new TRI bike and then he told me the price....lets just say my mountain bike will suit me just fine :)
I am looking forward to our first long bike ride of our training which we are doing tonight. We are going to run the actual course from Nokomis. It should be fun and I am very interested to see how I will feel after a 15 mile bike ride. Lets go JAMMERS!