Peanut Butter & Jelly

Dear Peanut Butter:


You are 29 today! I can't believe how fast time has gone!

I remember meeting you for the first time in the Bentonville High school cafeteria. You had on the Eddie Bauer shirt that reminds me of a napkin. You were the new kid in school and I really just didn't have time for you. OH how things change. Fast forward 1 year and 1 broken heart later and who was there? The cutie in the napkin shirt.

I remember working at the bank in the supercenter and you were a CSM and every time you would walk by I would watch you.

May 21, 1999 I went to a graduation party and you had a curfew. I got a call on my way to the party from you asking me if I would be your girlfriend. Since you were just about the sweetest thing I didn't even hesitate.

We both thought it was going to be a summer crush.. over and done, but one year later May 20, 2000 it was our own graduation and you were going to Harding & I was staying here we decided we should just see where it goes. Over 11 years later it is still going pretty well.

God knew when he brought us together what he was doing.

You helped me to be the Christian woman that I am today. You challenged my faith and helped me to grow and be a better person.

You balance me. The things I stress about are the things you laugh about.

You are so generous. You truly live the turn the other cheek lifestyle. When I hold the grudge and want to wash my hands of things you are there with your giving heart.

I love how insanely excited you get about Christmas & how as long as it is for Christmas I can break the budget.

You challenge me to try new things. From trying spicy food to running to camping and learning to golf.

You brag about me when I am not around. It feels so good to have people come up to me and tell me how highly you speak of me when I am not around.

You will indulge my crazy ideas.. like painting a chair bright red or even when I want to camp in the backyard.

You know how anal I am about things and you will usually allow the neurotic to come out is small doses. You then reel me in when they are taking over me!

You love to spend time with me.

You have fabulous hair and beautiful eyes.

You are the spiritual leader and are my accountability partner.

We are both on the same page of our lives. We are content with just the 2 of us, ready for Europe, then children.

When you don't think I am watching I love how cute you are with the dog. I can only imagine what a great father you will be.

You can't stay mad at me. Whether I am hitting cars or just infuriating you, you are only angry for about 15-20 minutes.

Your competitive nature.

I am so proud of you working full time and getting your masters.. with a 3.85 GPA

I love that you refer to my student loans as OUR loans

I love how honest you are...most of the time!

I love that you have just as big of a sweet tooth as I do!
I never could have imagined how my life was going to end up, but I am so thank that I have shared 11 years of it with you. I hope you have a wonderful birthday!

I love you very much!
Love-Jelly


I hope everyone has a fabulous thanksgiving! The Carlson Clan will be at the Turkey Trot and then watching lots and lots of football!

Silhouette Machine Giveaway with a wknd wrap up!

I am not going to lie I am glad last week is over. It was a very long and exhausting week & weekend! Tuesday I got tickets to a charity event in Fayetteville so me and megs spent the evening at the Celebrity Chefs auction. It was fun. I always have fun with megs.. she is my spontaneous friend. But I didn't get home until late and bed even later.. so starts the vicious cycle of my week! Then Wednesday I got a text from Tammy stating that my auction items were in a state of confusion and I needed to come quick.. Not as life threatening as I make it sound, but this was a pretty big deal to me.


I should explain that Tammy,Terri (the other girl that helped me with the auction) and I spent a good 3 hours pairing items together and getting baskets set up on paper so the night we got all the stuff we would be quick and efficient. Disclaimer...I love volunteers and I know that they are giving of their time and have great intentions and with out them things wouldn't get done. Having said that I will say it was very overwhelming to walk in to the building on Wednesday and to see the chaos. Terri spent Tues. working with everyone getting the baskets in order. Telling everyone please group the items according to the lists that we had printed out & if any basket is done to please leave it alone. Well when I came in Wednesday I was told, "The list is gone.. and we aren't using it." Now if I hadn't spent 3 hours the week before organizing everything and giving it a home then I may not have been as upset as I was. So we ended up doing triple work.. Terri making things on Tuesday night, Volunteers changing everything on Wednesday, and then me changing everything back on Wednesday night.
 
 
Friday I left work & went straight to the Embassy to work on decor for the auction room.
Here are some pictures of the room.

It was a long night. we had over 180 auction items that had to be set up. Including a crib that had to be put together. Around 9 the staff from the Embassy came in to hang our records from the ceiling. Well by 10 they had to leave and the records weren't done, but they assured us they would get to them Saturday. You know that wasn't good enough for us. So after the staff left I hear this.. BEEP..BEEP..BEEP and I look out in to the hall to see 2 of the volunteers driving the scissor lift down the hallway in to our ambassador room. I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. So for the next 30 minutes they finished hanging the records. While we took stock of the seating arrangements.

The razorback lounge was in the auction room, problem was there was only 1 couch and a 32" tv. HUMMM.. this could be a problem. So after talking it through we all kind of decided people were going to be pretty frustrated with the lack of seats & crowding around the 1 tv. So we decided we for sure needed more chairs. Where could we get them? Steal Borrow them from the Embassy of course! So at about 11pm we were going up and down the hall swopping the orange chairs that were used throughout the facility. PS. They are not the lightest thing incase you want to try to steal them. We then figured we should have coffee table for people to set their drinks on or prop their feet up on. Where could we get those?? Borrow them from the Embassy of course. So me thinking I am big stuff I run out to the hall way very eager to make my point with visuals, I try to lift the table. HOLY COW. Yeah.. they are granite. PS. Granite is even heavier than the orange chairs. So we scoured the place and found the bell carts and helped ourselves to them to get the job done. I think you can see them in one of the pictures above



Kelly & I were 60/70's, The necessary's were 50's and the Wilson's went 80's. We could not have picked a better group for the event! Alexia came over and helped me out with my hair and I swear between my Bouffant hair and Christy's Cindy Lauper hair there is a hole in the ozone above 1800 SW sequoia. I used some hot rollers and some Aquanet, but it still didn't make it through the night!


I won a contest at COL & got a fancy limo to pick us up and take us home for the night. Jason our driver was there at 6pm. Kelly & Alexis love Christmas so we asked Jason to stop by the Square where they were doing the lighting on the square. Unfortunately the weren't lit yet, but we tried.

Aaron & Christy

Alexis& HSC

Groovy

no words.. but oh how I love you!

Malt shop?

Chocolate or Vanilla?

It really was so much fun and I am so glad that our friends were there! They made the night for sure! So on our way home we asked Jason to drive by the square again. The lights were on so he graciously stopped for us to get a picture!

yeah to jason!

We decided Alexia was missing all the fun.. so the boys went and woke her up.

Aaron & Callaway love to dance to NKOTB.

Silhouette Machine Giveaway

I got an email from aunt Jamima and she told me about this FABULOUS give away!! It is for the Silhouette. that I would probably give my pinkie toe for-cause lets be honest here people do you really need your pinkie toe? I mean what is it good for? Not to say that this is a small sacrifice on my part! I will look quite funny in my sandals in the summer, but you have to do what you have to do in order to get a Silhouette! Or you could just take the time to enter this give-a-way. I will be honest though I had a moral debate on if I should share this or not. Since Santa Claus is watching me though I figure I will tell you all about it!! JWOW has one of these and it is kind of fabulous and every time I look at stuff now I think about how easy it would be to make if I had one! SO go enter. If you win.. share!

PS. My AARP bound hottie is turning 29 on Wednesday. 29!!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean wow! I am considering trading him in for a newer model!

OH my SHUTTERFLY!

Christmas is getting so close! 38 days away! Which means I need to get to sewing, AND Decorating. I was blog stalking the other day and I came across a girl that was promoting shutterfly & there Christmas cards. Have yall ever used Shutterfly? I use them all the time to upload my digital pictures and then to have them mailed to me is super cheap and so easy! Well this year I saw some of the FABULOUS designs. One of the reasons I like them so much is because they let you have a good 4 images on your card. For me this is a huge plus since I can never pick one picture and when Kelly & I got our pictures taken this year we didn't have the dog & yall know how I am about the dog! Last year was so hard I had two different designs. I needed more that the quantity would allow me so I figure I will just do 2 different orders with 2 different pictures. Well this proved to cause me some heartache since I was then faced with the dilemma of which card I send!! So quite a few people ended up with 2 cards. This year my plan is to use Shutterfly and get a collage of shots and go with ONE card. Here are the ones I am loving right now!



Christmas cards they look like this..

So then I found these and fell in love with them it would be so easy to just put all of our stuff in a photobook. I use to scrapbook. USE TO being the operative word here. I don't have time. None! I am just now to when we got Callaway... 3 years ago!!! We have done a bunch since then! So I look at these books and think of it as a total problem solver! It would be great gifts for people with kids.. I some how don't think that my in-laws would want a book of the "gran-dog"

What do yall normally do for Christmas cards?

Also, decorating... How do we feel about putting the tree up before Thanksgiving?


Kelly wanted to put both of them up last week and I was able to deter him for a little bit longer, and please don't get me wrong. I love Christmas, But I love my fall decor. So I want it to be up and prominent for as long as possible! I did see this older lady at Hobby Lobby the other day and she had a picture from Pottery Barns catalog and was imitating the whole table set up from Hobby Lobby. The total cost at Hob Lob $65 bucks. The total cost at PB $185. GEEZ!

So moral of the story. Try to re-create whenever possible.

Merry Christmas Cindy Loo hoo!

This weekend Ali threw Jason a surprise party for his 30th birthday. It was Caddy Shack style and a lot of fun. Allison, Amy, Kristi & I met to discuss details a couple of times and Allison went above and beyond for a birthday party.


Here are some of the pictures..
 

Kristi, Ali, Me & Amy

Kelly trying to get the dance party started...

After the party we stopped by HCS & Alexis' house to check on Alexis. Good news, the prayers are working on her mom please keep them up. Anyway while we were there we were talking about the crazies and the end of our streets who have not only have lights up but the whole penguin snow village up and inflated. HSC is the grinch and Alexis is the complete opposite serving as Cindy Loo Hoo. She and Kelly have a common thread with their love for the holiday season.


Saturday we were supposed to run, but it was cold and kelly was bound and determined that we were going to get Christmas lights. So we headed to Lowe's and Home Depot and got close to 6 boxes of led lights. We originally were going to do the whole trade in you old lights at home depot, but Lowe's had a really good deal going on so it made more sense economically to get them from Lowe's and keep our old ones.

Next we had to head to cheap thrills since the sexy 70's outfit I got Kelly was a little to snug in the polyester pants, plus they were to short. So we headed to fville.

We did find him an even better outfit, but of course when we got there Kelly decided he needed a matching jacket and maybe some platform shoes.. I finally had to drag him out.

After that it was around 3 and we were both getting hungry since we had missed lunch so we took Kelly to Grub's to have his first Grubs burger. He was very impressed. We decided we should just split something since it was 3:30 by the time we sat down to eat, so we had the Banana Fire burger and it didn't disappoint.

We stopped by Sam's and walmart and on our way home from those Kelly mentioned we still had a ton of lights left.

K- "Wouldn't it be funny if we put them on Marcus' house."

Me- thinking through the logistics of how in the world we would be able to do that? they would hear it wouldn't they? "Yes that would be hilarous.. but how could we do it?"

K- "They went to the game didn't they?"

Me- "PERFECT!!!"

Me- "You know he is going to be soooo annoyed."

K-"Alexis we like it though right.. I mean she loves Christmas right?"

Me- "oh yeah I think she will think it is funny.. HCS will be super annoyed though."

K-"oh, ok good."

So we drive one street over to casa de carlson, grab the ladder and we were ready. 35 minutes later and we had a Christmas Masterpiece!

Since it was only 6:30 we decided to leave them unplugged until at least 1/2 time so we didn't waste their electricity.


I even text Alexis to see if they were still at the game. Around 9ish Kelly went to turn the lights on.

So then.. we wait.

By like 10 Kelly was antsy and wanting to know why we hadn't had a call yet. So he does a drive by. He barrels in to the house.. "THEY AREN"T HOME YET!!!

I MEAN THEY HAVE A PREGNANT GIRL SURELY THEY NEED TO GET HER HOME!!"

I start laughing and remind him that Alexis is not your average pregnant girl and doesn't use the pregnancy as an excuse.

So we wait.. for almost another hour.. until I get a text from Alexis..

"Sooo our house has Christmas lights on it"...

I then send her this picture of our hard work!

Needless to say HSC was not the biggest fan of our little joke. I wanted to remind him it could be much worse we could have done tacky lights that didn't match!


Yesterday we ran 8. Kelly hasn't been running as much since school is taking up a very large part of his time. I have been almost closet training. Not that it was a secret, just more of the fact that I could see him just springing it on me that he wanted to do a race and me not being ready. Also I just didn't make it completely public how much I was running. When I left one of mine runs are the garmin and he saw the pace he decided that he was no longer letting me run alone. So yesterday we laced up the shoes and headed to the Bentonville trail. There is 2 pretty big hills along the trail and for the mile leading up to the hill I could just feel the weight pressing on me I once read that running is 20% physical and 80% mental.. Let me tell you I agree. Because just thinking about running up that hill made me want to quit. I finished though and the time wasn't the worst. It was right at a 9 minute pace. No, not my best, but it will do. It did help me to realize that i need to do more hill training on my runs!

*did you know that less than 1/2 percent of the US population has ran a marathon as of 2009.*

run like your pregnant?

When I first started running, my mom told me she was worried about me jostling my ovaries and other internal parts around... She is not the only one. When I went in for a Dr. appointment one time the Dr. told me that running wasn't good for your body. So, while I was reading the September Runners World (yes I am behind.. I've been a little busy) and it talked about the two women running through their pregnancy it got me wondering.. If people tell you running is so hard on you when you are not pregnant.. imagine what they say when they see the preggo girls booking it down the street at sub 6 minute miles!

I also want to say... I DON'T have baby fever by writing this. I do think I caught my running bug again.

Mainly I just think these women are hard core and pretty darn impressive so they get a post.

First thing is, I am 28. More than likely I will not be ready for a bebe until I am 30. We are going to Europe next year and we will be ready after that. One thing that worries me is how everyone acts like if I wait until I am 30 I might as well be waiting until I am 100. I always get the, "well what if you have problems?" This has worried me many times until Kelly & I talked about it. He very calmly told me that if the Lord doesn't want me to have kids at 30, what makes me think he will want me to have them at 28?

Plus... This chica really wants to visit Italy before I do anything else!

Anyway.. Kara is 32 (Marathon time 2:25) and Paula is 36 (Marathon time 2:15). They are both having kids. Yeah! I feel better!

Next they have an insane training plan...

Pre pregnancy:

"logging about 100 miles a week and maintaining a 5:40-permile pace over 26.2 miles is simply part of the job"

I can not even run one mile at 5:40 let alone 26.2! They still work out 2 times a day.

 Paula talks about how she runs in an antigravity chamber and some days she would set the chamber to 128 lbs and be able to run 8 miles at a 4:50 per mile pace. Then she said other days with out the chamber she was only running 7:30 miles.

Her 1st trimester she went from 100 miles a week to 50 miles per week in the 2nd trimester she was back up to about 80 & in the 3rd she was somewhere in between.

KARA GOUCHER: "Because this is my first pregnancy, I didn't know what to expect. During my first trimester, I felt tired and nauseous, but usually 10 minutes into a run, I'd feel better. By the fifth month, I felt great—I was able to train twice a day and lift weights three days a week. But priorities definitely have shifted. Training isn't about staying fit as much as staying sane."

 PAULA RADCLIFFE: It's hard when people say, "Are you sure you're doing the right thing? What if you're shaking that baby to death?" That worried me the first time. I'm more relaxed this time. I mean, obviously I still do all of the checks to make sure that all of the kicks are still there in the right places and that I'm eating right. I don't regret anything I did through my pregnancy with Isla [her 3-year-old daughter]. She came out perfect, so hopefully the same thing will happen again.

How do you think being active influences pregnancy, childbirth, and recovery?
PR: Being fit definitely helps. Even if you have a complicated pregnancy, the fact that you're fit is still going to help your body handle that situation. And I think that being fit through labor helps. The mental techniques you know from getting through races help to keep the concentration and stay focused. You come back stronger because you're happier, because you have a child that you love and cherish, and it's something you really wanted in your life. You probably become a little bit more focused as well, because your priorities are sharpened. And the time away from intense training means that you come back more refreshed. There is a flip side, though, because you are so used to being in tune with your body, and having this body that responds so well to what you ask it to do. You can't do that during pregnancy. You feel frumpy and fat. You kind of have this anxiety because you know you have to put on a certain amount of weight and hit the target so the baby is healthy, but it's hard to get fat and to go through that.
Paula, how did the pain of labor compare to racing?

PR: The pain of labor is more intense. But I found that it was just not comparable. When you run a marathon, your body is working with you and you've trained and prepared for it. With labor, for me, my body seemed to be working against me. But you handle it because you're in shape and because you have that mental outlook of getting through training or a marathon.KG: My husband was tossing around the idea of a natural, at-home birth, so he rented this video, The Business of Being Born, and it had the exact opposite effect that he was hoping for. I'm open-minded. I definitely want to deliver in the hospital, and I want the option of the epidural. But I'm in denial about the whole birthing process still

Notice the running skirt..

Oh how I heart the running skirt.



Have you experienced any uncomfortable moments on runs? Bladder issues?PR: I think we had one nightmare run, didn't we?KG: I've had a few.PR: Kara and I were in Portland on this long run, and I just had to keep stopping. You have to just listen to your body. You can't ignore it. Some days I feel really uncomfortable. And if I stop and get down on all fours just to kind of move the baby, suddenly running will be a lot more comfortable.KG: I'm sure all the people in my neighborhood have seen me pop a squat. It just comes and there's nothing I can do. At first I was horrified. But then my husband's like, "Just laugh about it."

Emotional Basket Case.. yep there is a group for it on Facebook...

So I wrote the post for the last entry on MONDAY. then today I realize.. I never posted my Monday musings!


Today is going to be a ranting of sorts so please forgive me.

This week has been a really tough week. I think I am on estrogen over load! I have not cried this much in quite possibly years!

It started off bad when I got in a minor fender bender at the beginning of the week. To make matters worse it was with my BIL who has a case of the OCD and it is heightened when it comes to his car. When Kelly found out about the car he was soo angry and told me that however much it cost it was coming out of my girls weekend trip. This caused me to break down. Now, I get that actions have consequences, but at the same time I have been looking forward to this trip for such a long time. Then BIL took his car for estimates.. he took it to 3 and they were all around 1k mine was over 600. UGH! I had a full on break down as I was driving down the road on my way back from the body shop. Not only did it break my heart about the girls trip, but also that is a whole lot of money to me... I feel like that is a whole lot of money to anyone, but is a big ole student loan payment for me!


I find someone that is a friend of a friend that runs a shop who is approved by our insurance, he told me he could fix mine not through insurance for 400, but BIL was still 1k so we decide to just file a claim.
 
There are a few other things I have going on right now and as much as I would like to share the whole story I am just not able to write about it at the moment. I am just very stressed and having a hard time with things. I continue to repeat Proverbs 3:3 & 3:5-6 and I know that God has a plan for me and my life, but sometimes it really is hard to muddle through and see the big picture. Then I think maybe I am not meant to see the big picture. I am supposed to just walk by faith. Today at work a co-worker was talking about a special she had seen on tv. It was about the writers of tv shows. The writer said that when she started writing the story line she already knew what the series finally was going to be. Do you think that is what our lives are supposed to be like? God has the script and the cast already lined up and knows what the series finally is before he even starts? I am choosing to go with this thought, some how it brings me some comfort.

The hubs is really stressed right now. Which makes me really stressed. Last night he told me I make his life harder. This crushed me. I tried really hard not to cry. Really hard. I bit my lip and walked in to the closet and sat down and cried. Yes it is a random place, but my MIL uses that as her place and I figure she has things figured out pretty well I will follow this example. So I sat there and cried and prayed.
 
I know that sometimes a comment like this would have just rolled right off, but after the week I have had it didn't it hurt and I spent a good 45 minutes crying in the closet. With that being said when you are saying prayers.. any sent my way would be appreciated.




To lighten to mood after my ranting...... And while we are getting personal I noticed these things about myself today:

1. I feel guilty if I use paper towels over the hand dryer. Some days I just want to reach for a paper towel, but the little voice in my head tells me to, "save a tree use a paper towel"

2. I pick out my underwear and socks. To the point that I will dig through the drawers and put pairs back if I'm not "feelin it"

3. I kiss Callaway good bye and tell him I love him when I leave the house

4. I don't know how to take compliments. A guy at work told me he saw my picture in Citiscapes for Komen and then in something else for Make-A-Wish and I didn't know how to say thank you for some reason.

5. Sometimes if I really like the shoes I have on for the day I get sassy. Today they are patent leather & a shade of red-which should equate to a good day right?