What makes me happy

What is better than a list ?

How about a list of 25 happy things!  

These are the top 25 things that make me happy:

 

1 and 2. My husband and my daughter

 

These two make me more happy than I ever knew possible.

3.  Waking up naturally, without an alarm.

4.  A clean house!

5. Laying by the pool.

6. Turkey sandwiches from Subway with lettuce, tomato, onion, and a little light mayo

7. Running!  (yes, it makes me happy)

8. Getting a pedicure/manicure

9. Getting a massage

10. Going to the movies

11. Spending time with family

12. Playing cards (or any board game)

13. Eating cupcakes

14. Watching fireworks

15. Going out dancing

16. Travelling

17. Going to the symphony

18. Going to South Carolina football games

19. Date night

20. Making s'mores

21. Scrapbooking

22. Spending the day with Elizabeth

23. Yellow cake with chocolate icing

24. Watching Legally Blonde or The Blind Side

25. Burning scented candles

What makes you happy?

Sunday night Brain dump

People seemed to enjoy my Brain dump from last week, so I thought I would do another one this week.

1. I have never seen Breaking Bad.  From everything I have seen on social media this week, I am missing out.  Maybe it will become our next Netflix show.  We have only three episodes left of The X Files. 

2. Elizabeth loves Minnnie Mouse.  Ben and I have never shown her anything that is Minnie Mouse related (TV, toys, etc.).  She has totally picked this up from her friends at the babysitter's house.

We told the grandparents about her new love of Minnie Mouse and Nana sent her a Minnie Mouse costume.  She loves wearing the Minnie Mouse ears and calls them her hat.


3. I discovered last week that my neighbor is a wine importer.  He dropped off the most wonderful bottle of wine.  If you have a chance- go pick this bottle up.

4.  I love Japanese food!  Chicken fried rice is my favorite.  I would eat Hibachi meals every single day if I could.  However, it is very expensive to eat Hibachi everyday and probably not the best for my arteries, so Ben has come up with a home made chicken fried rice.  I was craving it, and Ben very thoughtfully made it for us tonight.

5. The weather has been so wonderful this weekend.  We really enjoyed Clarendon Day yesterday after the race and today we played outside and took a nice long walk.  I love that Fall is here and the leaves are changing. and the weather is still warm in the afternoons.

Have a great week!

Clarendon Day 10K Race

Today we got up and drove over to Clarendon for the 10K Clarendon Day race.  I had never run a 10K race and so I was super excited for my first one.  After the race there is a huge festival in Clarendon that lasts all day.

The race started in Clarendon but ended in Courthouse, so I was about 1.5 miles from Ben and Elizabeth when I finished the race.  The cool part- the race provided metro cards for all the runners to metro back to the start.

Before the race.

We got there a little early.

We weren't sure about parking, so we wanted to make 

sure we had time to park and get to the race.

Elizabeth and I before the race.

Yep, that's a Gamecock dress she has on!

After the race, I found my family!

I used my Endomondo app for the race because I wanted to see each mile time.  I was told this was a fast course, and it is so true!  I ran faster than I have ever before and I am super pleased with my time.

According to my phone, I ran:

Mile 1- 8:48 - 8:48
Mile 2- 9:19 - 18:07
Mile 3- 9:43 - 27:50
Mile 4- 10:06- 37:56
Mile 5- 9:43 - 47:39
Mile 6- 10:13- 57:52

So according to my chip time, I ran 6.2 miles in 1:01:55.
However, according to my phone, I ran 6.45 miles in 1:02:17

I saw 6.45 miles and I was like, "what the..." so I asked other runners around me and they said their phone apps said the same thing.  So I guess my 10K turned into  a 10K + 0.2 miles.

Anyways... I had a blast running, we saw lots of friends, and enjoyed the morning in Clarendon.

I also want to give a shout-out to my sister, Anna, that ran a 2/5 marathon today.  She came in 2nd place in her age group.  I am so proud of her!  I love you Anna!

My skin care routine

Throughout the years, I have had many conversations about skin care/ the best ways to protect your skin/ myths of skin care/ and what really works best.

From all of those conversations I have learned one thing that is tried and true.  Do what works best for you and your skin.

I have been a Clinique "girl" since I was 14.  I have used almost the same routine on my face everyday since my mom took me to the Clinique counter in Macy's 17 years ago.  I have added a few things and updated a few things, but overall it is the same.

I start off with Clinique rinse off foaming cleanser.

After the rinse-off foaming cleanser, I use the 3-step skin care process.

I use the soap first, then the clarifying lotion, and the the dramatically different moisturizer.

After that, I apply the 'All About Eyes'

 

I started using this when I was 27.  I love it!

It gets rid of puffiness and I feel like it has kept the wrinkles away. :)

On days I know I am going to be outside, I always apply sunscreen before my make-up.

I LOVE this sunscreen!  It doesn't feel heavy or oily.

And last, but not least.  Chap Stick.  Tried and true and old school.

I love all of these products (and no, this is not a sponsored post).

What are your skin care products that you can't live without?

A day in the life of...

Today I am doing "A day in the life of " blog post about my daily routine.  All of the photos capturing my day are from my phone or Ben's phone. 

My alarm goes off every weekday at 6:15am.  I hit snooze until 6:25am.  I get up and shower and get dressed and then I make the bed.

I don't like leaving the house or starting my day until our bed is made.

After the bed is made, I dry and straighten my hair.  I love my Chi Straightener and I use it every day.

After I am ready, I get Elizabeth up and dressed.  She has been sleeping in recently and so I have been getting her up around 7:20am during the week.

Once I drop her off at Mrs. Vicki's house, I drive to work.  I eat breakfast along the way and then when I get to work I am ready to start my day.

 This is my office.

My students spent the day running the mile. 

This was my view of work today.

After work, I was supposed to go to the gym.  However, my right leg has been really sore so I came home and iced my leg before I went to pick-up Elizabeth from Mrs. Vicki's house.

Once I picked Elizabeth up, we played and played until dinner time.  Below is the aftermath of us playing before dinner.

Dinner time!  We had homemade lasagna.  It was so yummy!

 

After dinner, I did some laundry for Ben and then played some more with Elizabeth.  We had so much fun playing in her tunnel that Uncle Adam and Aunt Brigette gave her.

 Ben's laundry

Elizabeth has gone to bed and Ben and I are now enjoying our evening together.  Hope you are having a great Monday!

Sunday night Brain dump

I've had several thoughts mulling over in my head this weekend, so I thought it would be a good time for a brain dump.

1.  I think I might be changing my mind on what my favorite time of year is.  I usually say Summer is my favorite time of year, but lately I feel it moving to Fall.  I am in love with the weather, football season, candles that smell like pumpkins, apples, or spice.  I love going to the pumpkin patch, eating fresh apple pie, and the leaves changing colors.  I love buying Halloween candy, picking a costume for Elizabeth, decorating our house with scarecrows and pumpkins, and getting Ben pumpkin rolls.

Just look at all those colors!

Elizabeth, Halloween 2012

2. I love eating outside!  We have been having dinner outside on the deck whenever the weather is nice.  It is just soooo relaxing to eat outside.  No matter what kind of day I have had, eating dinner outside is instantly relaxing.  Does anyone else feel this way?

3. We have several shows that we have watched for several years: The Soup, NCIS, Bones, Castle, Covert Affairs, Psych, Royal Pains, and my new favorite- Graceland.  But... Ben wants us to try some new shows this fall and I have no idea what is coming out.  I've seen commercials for a show with Robin Williams and one with Seth Green.  We watch a lot of Netflix and we DVR everything so I don't see a lot of commercials to know what is coming out.  Does anyone have any recommendations?

THIS IS A GREAT SHOW!!!

4. I have been trying to cut back on Diet Coke.  During the summer break I got really bad and was drinking three a day opening three a day.  I wouldn't really drink all 12 ounces of three diet cokes, but I was opening them and when they were warm or flat, I wouldn't drink anymore (usually 4-6 ounces).  Well now I'm down to two diet cokes a day.  I am trying to get to one a day and then none.  But... I so enjoy a good Diet Coke.  As my father-in-law says about coffee, I say about Diet Coke: "It is the elixir of life". 

5. I miss being in Columbia during college football season.  I miss being in Columbia on Game day.  I miss being on the field during Game day.  But I don't miss all of the long hours that go along with being an athletic trainer.  So yes, I miss being in Columbia during football season and especially on Game day.  I have been watching most of our games and have had fun doing so.  But boy, I miss Williams Brice.  Go Gamecocks!

Tailgating with my favorite people last year.

Happy Sunday!

Thirsty Thursday

Thirsty Thursday is back!!!

I gave up drinking for the last few weeks before the race.  

And now we are trying a new cocktail to kick-off our Fall Thirsty Thursday.

It's called American Pie

To make it, you will need:

1/3 of a can of Sprite

1/2 ounce Blue Curacao

1 tsp. Grenadine

1/3 glass of Sweet and Sour Mix

2 ounces of Vodka

Over ice

Nineteen Months

Dear Elizabeth,

Today you are 19 months old!  Oh my gosh!!!

You are 19-months-old!

You have so much personality and we love watching you change every day.  You love to get tickled on your neck (under your chin) and think that is the best. thing. ever. You love to wear sunglasses, hair bows, and shoes - you are obsessing over shoes.  You have become quite the accessory queen and love playing dress up with necklaces and bracelets.

In the past month you have done A LOT!

You started going to a new babysitter (Ms. Vicki) and you love to go and play with the other kids.  You started going when I went back to work and it has been an easy transition for you.  Ms. Vicki keeps four other kids and all of you have a blast playing, and singing, and dancing together.

For Labor Day we went to Virginia Beach for a vacation and I ran in a half marathon.  You were very nervous about the beach at the beginning, but by the end of the weekend you were running up to the water and playing in the sand.

You had your first major illness.  You have been on antibiotics for the past 12 days fighting a bacterial infection.  You had to get an IV of antibiotics the first day with your 102.8 fever and white blood cell counts over 21,000 (that's really high).  The second day you got two shots of antibiotics and for the past 10 days we have been giving you oral antibiotics.  Thankfully, your last day of antibiotics is today and you have been feeling great for the past week.  We are so happy you feel better!

Last weekend we had a girl's weekend because Dad went away for a Dude's weekend.  We went to the park, the gym, Chick-Fil-A, and played around the house.  It was so fun having a girl's weekend in with you.

You wear a size three diaper.  You wear 18-month clothes and size 4 shoes.  You eat three meals a day and one afternoon snack.  You absolutely LOVE milk and want to drink it all the time.  You LOVE animals- especially cats and dogs.

You are talking all the time and your vocabulary is expanding everyday.  You are also very polite.  You say please and thank-you all the time.  Some of your new words: hat, Minnie (Mouse), chair, and cheerio.  Some words you say all the time: Please, thank-you, eat, milk, paci, hi, bye-bye, more, all-done, momma/mommy, TV, woof-woof, and meow meow, night-night. 

Here are some pictures of your adventures in the last month:

Selfie!

 Another selfie.

 Accessorize.

Love eating dinner outside!

Playing at the beach.

Beach on the first night in Virginia Beach.

 At the Half Marathon.

Playing around the house.

 Pajama party.

 Playing with the hose.

Playing at the park...

 Tickle time with Dad!

We are so proud of you sweet girl.  We love you so much.  Stay Sweet!

Love,

Mom and Dad