Random Wednesday

Guess who's all signed up for The Color Run / Nashville? {me} Oh yeah!  It's March 30th and I'm super excited to run with my pals, it's on like donkey kong, I can't wait!!!!!! I'm into videos right now, watch this and I promise you'll smile so big and die to run!

For you Nashville fans, Deacon (Charles Esten) played The Bluebird (the real one) last night and I was dying to go.  Mr. C had an early morning though so I took one for the team and missed out. Maybe next time! He's so talented.

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Latest JCrew purchase....Painter boatneck button tee in multistripe. I love it. FYI it seems to run small, I normally wear an XS in their shirts but had to size up.  I think it will be cute in the spring with white jeans and a cute scarf.

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I'm loving my Lilly planner this year! I had an Erin Condren last year and it was really nice but too bulky for me, I didn't use aaaaall those extra pages. This one is perfect.

Gap is still giving clothes away. I got some of their supersoft tees the other day for $5.  Yes $5.  I throw them on in the spring with jeans and a scarf, go stock up. You're welcome:)

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I'm loving my Nike watch, it helps so much with my pace, how did I live without it?? Mr. C surprised me with it on my birthday. I know, some girls like diamonds but this girl wanted a GPS watch. It's pretty fantastic.

This was the bible verse on my phone the other day and it made me laugh, delivered via the verse-a-day app.

It also pleases the parents.  Please children, please:)

Speaking of children, here are my little men carefully selecting gelato flavors last Saturday night.

I love it so much, these boys {sigh} so precious.  Serious cuteness.

Happy Wednesday friends!  If possible please send me some sunshine, we've had 5 days of rain and I'm over it! Linking with Shanna's random Wednesday:

some goal setting

I don't do resolutions but I have set some goals for myself this year that I'm hoping to accomplish. I don't stress about this stuff, I just keep the fire lit to stay busy and productive and happy and remind myself to smile. Here they are:)

Complete the Chicago marathon.  I was originally planning on the Marine Corps Marathon but instead am going to run Chicago (crossing my fingers I get in) in October.  I'm going to train properly and be ready.  I can do this! Friends that have run it, please share your tips, you inspire me:)

Continue running races and staying fit

Eat healthy and fresh as much as possible

Finish decorating my master bedroom and redo the master bath. Oh how I would love to accomplish this one.  Soothing neutrals I'm thinking.  Who are we kidding, I'll change my mind again next week.

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Continue to read a lot.  I finished 20 books last year and want to do even better this year.

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Read the Bible.  I'd really like to make it happen this year.  It's a little overwhelming but I think if I break it up I can do it.

Remember birthdays and be better about getting gifts to friends *on time*. I'm terrible with this, vowing to do better this year.

Learn French

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Be a more patient mom  
This is actually my number 1.  Not going to lie, my sweet angels can really try my patience sometimes.  I'm going to be better about this in 2013.

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Try at least one new recipe each week. This might be a stretch but I'm going to try.

Have more of my own prints framed (including some gallery wraps) and print photos for family albums / get them up to date.  I realized recently just how important this is to me.



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Polish my photography skills

Put the finishing touches on decorating our living room and dining room

RELAX and don't sweat the small stuff:)

And that's all she wrote.  Doable I think and enough to keep me busy? Yes!
Happy weekend friends! Thanks for reading:)

Random Wednesday

My favorite running song of the moment is an oldie but goodie: Bryan Adams Summer of '69.  The boys love this song (should I admit that?)!

Favorite non alcoholic beverage: Grown up Soda Extra Dry Ginger Ale from Fresh Market.  It is so carbonated that I cannot get enough.  It saved me while I was pregnant and deathly ill and I still love it. Drink it from a wine glass and it's even better.

I had a packet of these fuzzy grip infant hangers and discovered they are wonderful way to hang my 37 pairs of jeans (why do I never have anything to wear?).  My jeans don't slip back and forth and they are nice and neat looking.

I forgot to show you the fabulous birthday dessert I enjoyed from Watermark restaurant in the Gulch.  So delicious, a gooey butter cake with spiced pear compote and a dash of frozen chocolate.  The chef of this restaurant (Bob Waggoner) is pretty decorated and quite amazing in my humble opinion. Amazing drinks, desserts, cheeses, and wines (fabulous entrees too although we only indulged in dessert/cheese/wine). Can't wait to go back.

P.S. Did I mention I did a Sake bomb on my birthday (first one ever?) I'd love the share the youtube video of that but my husband has asked me to refrain;) Ha! It was fun.  Except that I was hungover the next day.  But then I ran into Brad Paisley at the toy store and instantly felt better.  :)

Anyone addicted to Homeland?  We are.

If you liked 24 you'll love this show.  It isn't pretty, but like I said, it's very addictive.  We watched 3 in a row last night!

How's that for random? Happily linking with my pal Shanna's amazing blog;) Happy Wednesday!

Tasty Tuesday: Pioneer Woman's Spicy Pop Pulled Pork

Image via FoodNetwork.com : Recipe via The Pioneer Woman

We cook pork BBQ a lot and are always on the lookout for a new recipe.  Mr. C tried this one recently and it was wonderful, wonderful I tell you.  It's The Pioneer Woman's Spicy Pop Pulled Pork, find the recipe here.  Adding soda to pork isn't new to us, we first tried it with Val's root beer pulled pork (which is also delicious;).  I love the sweetness that 'pop' adds and the chipotle peppers in this recipe add some zing. We like spicy!  The recipe is ridiculously easy but we made 2 changes:  used pork tenderloins instead of pork butt since they have *way* less fat and used a crock pot--worked wonderfully!

Highly recommend making this if you're a bbq fan!

Laundry room redo: before and after

Happy Monday!  I am so excited to share a room redo with you.  Getting some of my rooms *complete* is a goal for 2013 and I'm off to a good start. Let's hope I can keep up the mojo.

I have a nice big laundry room that has been an eye sore for 2 years.  I spend a LOT of time in this room and decided it needed to be a more inviting little space.  I cannot get laundry washed and put away fast enough to keep it tidy and desperately needed some shelves and storage.  Mr. C came to the rescue!  He is quite the carpenter when he needs to be and built a lovely set of shelves for me, as well as a hidden shelf under the counter that will hold 5 laundry baskets!

Before: (I know, don't judge, I live with 3 boys.)

After!

I tried to use what I had so the color scheme just sort of evolved.  I already had Sherwin Williams Comfort Gray paint, Alabaster white paint (cabinets and shelves), and the navy blue bins (Target).  I happened to find a rug at TJ Maxx with those colors that helped tie things together.  The only real expense was the wood for the shelves that Mr. C built.

The process:

• Painted the grody yellowish cabinets Alabaster white by Sherwin Williams
• Painted the walls Comfort Gray by Sherwin Williams
• Used my favorite Lowe's drop cloths to make skirts for the tables to hide storage
• New rug from TJ Maxx
• New hardware from Hobby Lobby
• Re-did a faux Roman Shade that was once in my kitchen

Done! So happy with it.  On to the next project!

2012 in the rearview

2012, you were good to the C's!  Here are a few highlights.

2012 was the year I:

Developed amazing friendships, old and new, that will last a lifetime:)

Read 20 books.  A few stand out in my mind;)

Grew closer to God.

Fell in love with running and got fit (YEAH!)

Finished my first half marathon.

Embraced my inner fashionista.

Ate a ton of fried pickles.

Said out loud that I want to be a photographer.

Won a couple photo contests.

Built sandcastles.

Vacationed in Destin.

Decorated several rooms three times and never finished a single one. Ha!

Ate ice cream with my favorite boys.

Said goodbye for now to my precious Aunt Polly.

Learned a few lessons.

Faced my fear and rode the Cyclops.  Alone.  (Thank you wimpy family:) JK!

And made tons of memories with these guys.

And this hottie.

Thank you friends for stopping by and reading:)  It means a lot to me!  I wish you health and happiness in 2013!

Great news!

I told you recently about the potential catastrophe that occurred when my external hard drive froze and my pictures, *ALL* of my life's pictures (Christmases, wedding, babies, birthdays, everything), were possibly lost.  Well I have great news to share!!!! The company that we found in California (God bless you smart computer savvy Californians) saved 90 percent of my pictures.  Forty two thousand and something to be exact!  May I highly, oh so highly, recommend Drive Savers to you if you are ever foolish like me and don't back up your favorite family photos. Thank you Drive Savers!!!!!!  Thank you thank you thank you! Thank you!  I'll be spending LOTS of time in the coming weeks saving my pictures to online backups and burning CD's!

Next, just a couple random thoughts for ya.

Gap is giving clothes away friends, giving them away.  Please go now.

Mint skinnies, $70 marked down to $18. Beautiful.

I've been dreaming of mint capris ever since I saw this on Pinterest.

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Adorable plaid ruffle shirt, to feed my plaid ruffle addiction.  On sale for less than $20.

I also stopped by Lululemon, which my mother hysterically refers to as Lemon Lime.  They are NOT having a sale (HA!) but I used my giftcard and bought the Run for your Life capris.  THEY ARE FABULOUS! I.love.them. I love the seam down the back-middle leg and they are a wonderful, shiny, soft smooth fabric. I cheap it on tops but for pants, I like the good stuff.  I'll be needing another pair;) Thank you Grace (and company!) for the gift card:)

Also picked up this adorbs running shirt from GapFit (thanks Lansing and company!)  While I'm typically happy to run in Old Navy compression tops, I must say, this one feels like butter.  I loooove it.  I got it in deep purple because I sweat like a man but they have beautiful happy bright colors.

Go shopping friends--good for the soul:)