Prom 2014

Will's junior prom was this past Saturday. Initially I wasn't sure he was going to go (date drama)(yeah, boys sometimes have drama too) but I'm so glad he did. He ended up going with one of his friends and they had a great time! Here are some pictures!

This was Will's first time to wear a tux and I though he looked SO nice and SO grown up. I know I'm partial but he's one handsome kid!

Here he is with some of his good friends (the girls! ha!)

 But don't be deceived. The group he and his date went with was HUGE!

So huge, in fact, that they rented a PARTY BUS to take them to prom. 

The bus actually took them to dinner in Denver first. I suppose they could have had dinner in Colorado Springs but they needed to get their money's worth out of that sweet ride. 

The funniest part of the evening was when his date opened his boutonniere and discovered it was actually a wrist corsage! Oops. We pinned it on anyway and he said it stayed on all night.

I'm so glad he went and even more glad he had fun! 

Six on Saturday

Oh wow...it's been awhile since I've checked in here, hasn't it? Here's what I've been up to.

1. My mom came to visit over Easter. It was fun having her here for a week! We got to do some fun things with her and she got to experience the craziness of our schedules! Last Saturday morning, she treated the girls and I to the Easter Tea at Glen Eyrie. It was wonderful!

2. Our Easter was very nice! Guess what? NO snow this year. I don't think it's snowed on Easter in a few years now. That makes me happy. My mom took some pictures for us after church--these are a couple of my favorites. 

On Easter afternoon, we went to see the movie God's Not Dead which seemed to fit the theme of the day. Have you seen it? I thought it was good! 

3. A few days before Easter, this cutie got about six inches of her hair chopped off. Her new hair cut is adorable...and I think it makes her look older. *sniff sniff*

4. My doorbell rang one day this week and I answered it to find a fun surprise from my boss--flowers for Administrative Assistant's  Day (or Secretaries day or whatever it's called). Regardless of what the day is called, it was a sweet treat and they look beautiful on my kitchen table. Fresh flowers make me happy.

5. Know what else makes me happy? A Saturday with very little on the docket. It's almost noon and I'm still in my pjs! I do have somewhere to be later but only for about an hour and then it's back home and (hopefully) back in my pjs. Days like this are so nice. And so few and far between.

6. We have four more weeks of school! FOUR! I am super excited about that. Summer is my favorite season and I'm envisioning long days at the pool and have my sights set on a few 14ers. More than anything I'm ready for a break from the daily routine. Four weeks...I think I can, I think I can.

Happy Saturday, friends. 

SMP = 4.15.14

SMP = Seven Minute Post

Know what today is? Besides Tax Day? It's haircut day for ME! I'm so excited. I can go about eight weeks between cuts but it's been more like twelve. I'm gray and shaggy and my roots are looking rough. I am sooooooooo excited about my appointment today.

John and Abbey set their alarms to get up and see the blood moon last night. Not me. I'm a huge fan of sleep. John said it was beautiful. I betcha I can find some pics online today. :)

See this girl? She won 2nd place in "Interpretation of Poetry" at her speech/forensics tournament last Saturday. I am SO proud of her. Her poet-dad was even prouder.

And see this snow? We woke up to several inches yesterday morning. I'm so over it. More snow (non accumulating) is expected this week. But we're also expecting some nice days too. Spring in Colorado is just nuts. I'm grateful that the forecast for Easter looks to be nice. 

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Hope your day is great!

April Currents

Current Read: I'm still reading Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist and it is SO good. Oh my gosh, her Blueberry Crisp is amazing. I've made it three times in three weeks and am thinking about making it for breakfast in the morning. I'm also reading this Bread and Wine book. So funny...

Current Playlist: Chris Tomlin, Jared Anderson, Matt Redman, New Life Worship, and Passion. So basically a worship mix.

Current Color(s): Lime green. And anything else that feels springy. 

Current Drink: I just discovered the white chocolate mocha from Starbucks last week. Oh dear me, it's delicious.

Current Food: I'm hooked on this specific Greek yogurt with this specific granola on top, because I'm not picky or anything. So good. Most dairy bothers my stomach but thank goodness I can handle this yogurt!

Current Favorite Favorite: The leopard flats I bought last fall. I dug them out from the back of my closet when our weather finally warmed up enough to wear them last week. They are so fun...and so comfy...and they go with everything!

Current Addiction: I am addicted to the sushi from my local supermarket. It's so yummy...and inexpensive. I've been picking up a roll almost every time I go to the store lately. Addicted.

Current Wish List: I can't believe I can't think of anything right now. I usually have a wish list a mile long.

Current Need: A new washing machine. Ours is not going to make it much longer.

Current Triumph: Lately it's been pretty clear to me what to say yes to...and what to say no to...that feels like a big triumph to me!

Current Annoyance: Cold, snowy weather. I'm ready for summer!

Current Mood: Relaxed. I love Sunday afternoons.

Current Blessing(s): I'm really feeling grateful for my marriage and my family. Some friends of mine are going through some r--o-u-g-h stuff right now and it helps put my blessings in perspective.

Current Outfit: A Patagonia fleece top I've had since probably 1996 and paisley pajama pants. Don't judge. It's a lazy Sunday afternoon and it's snowing here. 

Current Excitement: A new season of Mad Men begins tonight!

Current Project(s): I've been working on a website for my Beachbody business. If you want to jump over there and take a peek I'd LOVE it. I hope to add some more content soon so if you want to bookmark it and come back that would be even better!!!

Current plans for the day: Well, today is almost over but my plan is to eat dinner soon. I made chili since it's snowing and it's probably the last time we'll have it for awhile. After dinner I need to get things in order for tomorrow (do you prep on Sunday evenings for the week ahead?) and then I'm retiring to my warm, comfy bed to watch Mad Men. 

Saturday Stuff + Pictures

Good morning, blog people.

I'm enjoying a slow(ish) Saturday morning despite being up earlier than I wanted to be. I'd hoped to sleep in a bit but two of our kids had to be at school events pretty early so there was no sleeping in for me! That's okay though. I drank my first cup of coffee in bed (bliss!) and John made me pancakes so I kind of eased into the morning which is a nice change of pace from our weekdays.

On tap today: I need to make a huge grocery + Costco trip. Abbey has a speech tournament and we are going to watch her event later this morning. I'm so proud of her. I also need to give my house some attention. My mom is coming this week and I need to get things shaped up around here. I also need to finish getting my kids' Easter clothes rounded up. I'm close....but finding dresses for teenage girls is challenging for me!

Here are some random pics from my week. Keyword = random.

Ummmmmm, yeah, that's the bruise from my fainting episode. It actually looks even worse today. I don't think I'll be going sleeveless for Easter. 

One of Sarah's friends changed her phone to auto-correct the word "fine" to "hannah montana" for April Fools. I guess because our phones are both linked to the my iTunes account the change affected my phone too! Oh. My. Gosh. It has been driving me CRAZY! Every single time I typed the word "fine" it changed it to HANNAH MONTANTA and I didn't know why it was doing that until Sarah's friend confessed this week. It's pretty funny.

I saw some Big Horn sheep at Glen Eyrie this week. There is a herd that lives on the property and I see them there almost every time I go. I was SO hoping they'd be out and was SO happy that they were. It seriously made my day! Aren't they fascinating?

Glen Eyrie is such a beautiful property. It's sooooooo tranquil. My time there was perfect.

Happy Saturday, everyone!

PowerICE Review

From time to time I get requests to review products on my blog and my typical answer is "no thanks" or "sorry, that's not my thing" but when the nice folks at PowerICE asked me to review their frozen hydration bars I said YES! I was drawn to the fact that they're a Colorado-based company and I'm a sucker for anything resembling a popsicle. 

PowerICE is a sport hydration bar that you freeze and eat. Think pop-ice for people who work out. It's full of electrolytes and can be eaten pre-workout, during, or post-workout. PowerICE sent me a box of Orange Blast and Lime Kicker and Pomegranate-Raspberry Rip to try. 

The one thing I didn't anticipate was having to share them with my husband and son.

 Here's what John had to say:

"PowerICE bars were a great alternative to drinking a big glass of water post-run. They taste great, like a frozen sport drink but without being overly sweet. Eating something frozen causes you to slow down a little instead of just chugging a post-run drink. It helped me with the cool down effect."

Will, my sorta-picky seventeen year old loved them and ate more than his fair share! He said they were "a great way to refuel and cool down after running."

I thought they tasted great. I'm not a fan of all the ingredients in most sports drinks so PowerICE was a pleasant surprise. The bars were light and filling without being syrupy sweet and without the long list of unpronounceable ingredients (see full ingredient list here). And like I said, I'm a sucker for anything resembling a popsicle. Lime Kicker was my favorite flavor.

After trying PowerICE bars I've decided they're going to be my new go-to for post-workout hydration! 

Now, if I could just find a way to keep them frozen and carry them with me when I hike this summer. Can you even imagine how great they would taste at the top of a 14er? 

Thank you, PowerICE for letting us try your product. The LifeAt7000Feet family members are fans!

*I received a box of PowerICE bars in exchange for my review. 

Booby-Trapped

I have a funny story to share. My hope is you can LAUGH with me.

After I left Glen Eyrie yesterday, I grabbed some lunch and headed to a diagnostic center in Co Springs. I had my yearly mammogram last week and they called me back for "additional views" of my right breast. It's not uncommon to get called back and I wasn't nervous or concerned at this point because this isn't my first rodeo, people. 

Let me just interject here for my family and friends that are easily swayed by fear and worry that I'm more than fine. They got the views they needed and everything is normal. 

So....

I got called back to the imaging room, got changed, and before the smashing began the technician showed me the images from last week and what they wanted to get a better look at. She showed me two areas of concern. I agreed with her that they did indeed look concerning. I'd just eaten lunch and honestly, all that stuff makes me squeamish and I started to feel nauseous.

She got me positioned in the machine and snapped a couple of pics. As we readied for the third image, I started feeling VERY nauseous. Right after she got me all set up and stepped away to take the image, I said to myself: I'm going to faint.

AND I DID.

I FAINTED. 

WHILE I WAS STILL IN THE BOOBY TRAP!
(I crack myself up).

I came to after a few seconds while staring up at some strange lady I didn't immediately recognize. I was horrified. Not to mention fully exposed from the waist up. Awkward.

She was so kind in the moments that followed. She let me lay there on the cold, concrete floor which felt surprisingly great since I was sweaty and clammy. Yeah, the germaphobe in me lost that battle. Another tech came in and brought me a cold wash cloth for my head and after a few minutes they worked together to get my last two images, one never leaving my side.

Surprisingly I didn't hit my head when I fell but my arm hit the corner of the machine and I have a pretty nasty scrape and bruise on my tricep (or my flab)(ummm, let's go with tricep). I also have a decent abrasion on my breast, a purple knot on my knee and my thigh, and a stiff neck.

I wasn't nervous at all going in but I think I got nervous when she started showing me things and expressing concern. Like I said, I'm squeamish.

Thank goodness the "things" they were concerned about have been there for years...and haven't changed...and have already been viewed via ultrasound...and are just fluid-filled cysts. I am soooooo grateful.

I had to sit there in all of my humiliation for a good 30 minutes before they'd let me leave to drive home. And the tech made me promise to call her when I arrived home safely.

Ladies! It doesn't get much worse than this, does it? If nothing else I hope you'll think of me and LAUGH when you go for your yearly mammo. I'm laughing today despite being crazy sore. And I'm desperately hoping that was an isolated incident never ever ever to be repeated.

SMP 4.8.14

SMP = Seven Minute Post

Good morning! I'm so grateful the sun is shining here this morning. Yesterday we woke up to snow (my affection for the white stuff is really waning) but it was a short burst and thankfully gave way to blue skies pretty quickly. Colorado weather is quite schizophrenic this time of year.

I'm headed out soon for a personal retreat. I reserved the prayer room at Glen Eyrie and am going to spend the morning there. I'm taking my journal, my iPod, my Bible, and possibly my hiking shoes. I'm very much looking forward to a few hours alone in a quiet, tranquil setting. My heart needs this!

I'd love to stay there all day but life beckons--appointments, carpools, meals, and activities for a family of five. I'm grateful for a free morning to steal away.

Alive and Well.

Well, hello, o' blog o' mine.

It's been awhile.

I've received several messages lately noting my absence here and asking if I'm okay. Yes, I'm alive and well. One friend asked if I gave up social media for Lent. No, not for Lent. I gave it up for me as part of that "getting healthy" thing that God has been calling me to. Social media is definitely a noisy (and UNhealthy) place for me, but I've come to realize that blogging feels different. This is a quiet(er) space and I've kind of missed it.

So...how about I jump right back in with a couple of pictures?

John and Abbey celebrated their same-birthday a week or so ago. Abbey had a cooking party and chose to make ALL desserts. Of course.

 I thought John's apron choice was hilarious.

That's all I've got for today...but I'll be back soon.

Peace out, peeps!