Productive

Poor Matt! He was so sick this weekend that he took 3 2+ hour long naps both days. It was time well spent though - he was feeling better this morning when we left for work. His need for sleep meant lots of time for me to just get some things done.

Firstly - Friday afternoon we got word that Matt was promoted at Amazon. In his first week. I was so excited and proud of him that we opened a bottle of champagne that I got from work, and had huge steaming bowls of Vietnamese Pho soups. We were asleep by 9pm Friday night!

I of course cannot sleep in so I was up by 7 on Saturday. No long run for us - instead I just tackled chores and grocery shopping. It turns out that when I don't have Matt with me, I can go a little overboard with the coupons. I bought 10 boxes of cereal - because they were a dollar each! I missed him, and his accountability...

We did a Redbox movie and had soup and panini's for dinner. It hit the spot. ;)

Sunday Matt was showing signs of improvement, but still exhausted. So he took multiple naps while I did a ton of housework - which is a total blast for me! I also got sucked into more couponing thanks to Albertson's doublers in the Sunday paper...

I tried to go on a run alone but it is just not the same without my running partner!

I pre-made our meals for the week on Sunday afternoon and wrapped up loose ends and felt, as we crawled into bed Sunday night, that it had been a wonderfully productive weekend.

Now who is excited that next weekend is a three-day-er???!

Happy Monday all!

Running a Household Remotely

I am a planner. I have meal plans, running schedules, to-do lists for the house and yard, grocery & coupon lists, bill schedules and budget spreadsheets that I maintain.

Call me a nerd, I love being organized. So, I keep a slim 3-ring binder that I tote with me in a backpack to work along with my purse and lunchbox. In it are sections for each of the things I plan, and when I have down time at work I update this binder. It struck me how it is like I am running a household remotely - all the planning that goes into being prepared for our work weeks, ministry responsibilities, finances, health, and home care is planned when I am not at home. A modern reality, I suppose - but I do have fun with it.

For meal planning, I get inspiration from a variety of web sites - here is what Matt and I had for breakfast:Image from "Real Simple"
Oh was this good! We substituted whole wheat English muffins and used slices of Provolone cheese. This hit the spot after a half hour on the treadmill...

I grew up with my mom home with us four young kiddos and my older sister off at college. I watched her in constant motion: canning, cleaning, cooking, disciplining the boys, baking, gardening, and the occasional dance in the kitchen. Dad was on the road a lot and she did a lot of work herself. I think I picked up on making the most out of time from her...

I am really enjoying married life, and this part being a special surprise. I like cooking for more than myself, running with a partner, and having Matt's help with the big stuff like the yard and car repair. We feel really blessed!

So I suppose I found a system that works, as nerdy as it looks. (I am having a blast!)

Happy Wednesday, all!

Happy!

I haven't posted in a week?! I know that there were times that I wanted to write but just too busy. It feels so weird to do a blog post without quality photos. I miss my fancy camera. (Hoping to get it fixed before fall colors emerge...)

I do live for the weekends. We rented "Date Night" and laughed our rears off. Goodness that is a great movie! It was great to just hang out with my honey.

Anyhoo - it has been a busy week with house projects and getting ready for Matt's new schedule. We had a great relaxing weekend together, and got in a 10 mile run this morning. Whew!
My folks dropped in for a random visit this afternoon as they were camping nearby!It was SO wonderful having coffee with mom, dad, and Matt out on the deck.
Matt has an 8-5 schedule the next three weeks, and then it will be 5:45am to 2:45pm, daily. (Pray for us!)

Honestly, I am excited about it. We will be getting up earlier than normal, but it will mean Matt will have some time to study before I come home and get him all distracted. I am loving packing two lunches at night now :)

So, kind of a quiet August as we gear up for all the changes coming. I feel hopeful and happy. Really blessed, actually.

I hope you all had a great week and weekend!

Ah, Bliss

We had the best weekend. Relaxation, a run, rest, house projects, fun with friends, good weather, even some yard work! Amazing.

Friday night Matt and I cuddled up to the new DVD release, "The Bounty Hunter" and made a trip to Home Depot to make a new makeshift desk for his office. With school starting next Monday, I wanted him to have lots of desk space. So, we took a slab of melamine wood and put it on top of two filing cabinets spaced apart. Instant desk! (I will post pictures tomorrow...)

Saturday we set out for an hour long run first thing in the morning. It had been 2 1/2 weeks since I had run since being sick and traveling. We had to do some walking breaks here and there but finished feeling really good. Matt had a class during the day so while he was away I filed, shredded, and dusted stuff in the office. FUN!

Saturday night was date nite part two - we watched "Our Wedding" which was hilarious (we love Redbox. $1.25 for a DVD rental!) and then made the mistake to do a Walmart run at 10pm at night. That is a time to see the worst parenting on the planet. Strung out/tired kids that should be in their beds and not a shopping cart... oh things like that really frustrate me.

Sunday we went to church and then a fun potluck at a local park afterwards. Mmmm BBQ! We have some great friends here in Tri-Cities...

We took a nap all afternoon once home and then tackled some house projects. A little lawn work (yard waste pickup day today!) and some office work. I felt like we had such a great weekend as it was so balanced, and not too overloaded. Matt even did the grocery shopping this morning for us to free up our evening yesterday. (I love that guy...)

I am really excited for this week - we are so grateful for Matt's new job starting Friday and school on Monday. It will be a huge change for us, but a welcome one.

I hope you all had great weekends!

More Montana Favorites

My computer got a virus and the hard drive had to be wiped clean. So, I finally snagged some of the Montana photos from Matt's :)
My niece Daisy took this one of us at the Park's West Entrance near Lake MacDonald.
Matt took this picture of a gorge at the end of our crazy Siyeh Pass Hike.
At the summit of Siyeh Pass - before the hail deluge.
Sliding down one of the Glaciers....
Us with Mt. Reynolds in the background - I climbed that mountain in 1999 with my aunt and uncle. What a memory!

I am all recovered from my cold, so to celebrate Matt and I are going to set out for a simple run tomorrow morning. I am excited to get back out there!

I hope you all have a great weekend :)

Favorite Moment in Montana

I have a ton more photos to upload eventually :)

The sickies are subsiding, I am on the mend, woooo! Have a great day, all!

Sickity Sick

Accchhhooo!

I've been down and out sick with a nasty cold since Thursday night. My computer got a virus too, funny how that works!

It sounds like many of us that weathered the crazy storm on Siyeh Pass last Monday have colds now. At least I am not alone :)

The Whole Hiking Story can be found on my mom's blog HERE. (Enjoy!)

So... I will be M.I.A for awhile, but I do get to read the blogs via Google Reader, just not able to comment as of yet...

Happy Monday, everyone!

Answered Prayer!

Matt got THE JOB. He called me at work to tell me and I burst into tears in front of everyone!

We are overjoyed. He starts August 20th and are going out to dinner tonight to celebrate!!

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers this past year as he searched. WHAT A JOURNEY!!

(I hope to be back visiting blogs soon - so little time this week!)

:)

Big Sky Country

Drive out to MT:
* Iced coffees in the car
* Eating at a Subway in the middle of nowhere
* M&Ms on road trips
* Beautiful country scenery
* A huge cow in the middle of nowhere
* Flathead Lake
Arrival in Big Sky Country:
* Swinging on a hammock together
* Adirondack chairs
* Cute toddler cheeks
* New babies
* Baby Dan-Dan (smile, playing, crawling, making bear & cow sounds)
* Uncle Franks practical jokes with the air horn, fart machine, and cane
* Millet pancakes and raspberry-plum sauce
* Family time in the morning
* Apgar & Lake McDonald
* Swimming together in Apgar in freezing water
* Lake MacDonald Lodge, a refuge from a crazy thunderstorm
* the fireplace at the Lodge keeping us warm
* Rahmat running into the lake and drawing a crowd, as lightning bolted overhead...
Craziest Hike of My Life:
* Beautiful trail hike up to Siyeh Pass
* Getting to pee in the woods :)
* M&Ms on the trail
* new & matching boots
* a deer 8 ft away
* ground squirrels
* sliding on a snow bank (on purpose)
* Matt and I eating out of both ends of a ginormous sandwich at the same time
* holding hands on the trail
* scenic views
* memories of old hikes & places
* coming together in the face of adversity - a freakish hailstorm, poor rain gear, four hours up a mountain...
* Humoring the lack of rain gear and being frozen by making crazy sounds to keep bears awaay
* more beautiful scenery
* a snow field that looked like a rabbit
* a black bear from very far away
* NOT seeing a black bear up close :)
* the gorge at the end of the hike
* the drive to an open restaurant that would serve a table of 10
* memories of St Mary Lodge & Resort...
* Rockin Robin and Soup and Bread at Johnson's cafe (best coffee ever at 9pm!)
* exhausted sleep after being awake for 20 hours...
* a hot shower
Our Last Day:
* seeing old places, and Granddaddy's house
* seeing a good friend and her adorable daughter
* hooked up burritos at Qdoba, a Chipotle-like experience...
* fun drive together
* more beautiful scenery
* huckleberry soda
* holding hands at St Regis and just looking around
* A/C in our car
* coming home...and getting to sleep in a bed again where we won't get awoken by mom with her way-to-early-in-the-morning coffee time

I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.

To be continued...