1. My kids all still call me Mommy. Actually, Parker usually calls me Momma which I LOVE. I remember using “mom” as a dagger when I was younger and while I’m sure I have some of those (dreadful) days ahead of me I’m truly enjoying my Mommy days while they last!

2. I quit Mountain Dew in APRIL and I’m still going strong! I have orange soda sometimes but it’s rare. Mostly it’s iced tea now. I feel like this is some massive milestone that no one is aware of! When you see me wearing a banner and a crown one day you’ll know I made it to a year and am making sure the world knows!

3. When I quit soda I started running more. In April and May I ran about 3-4 times per week. June was more like twice a week and July down to once (that’s when it was 100+ degrees for weeks on end). August has been better and I’m determined to make September even better. About mid-summer when I was slowing down in my running (with no soda and more running I didn’t see much change in my body AT ALL and got pretty darn discouraged and since that time coincided with the heat wave I all but stopped working out) Chris started running. He started by doing a 5K with his team and never looked back. Saturday morning he woke up and decided to try to run a half marathon FOR FUN just to see if he could do it. Well he did! 13.4 miles! I still can’t hit three damn miles! He’s now working towards a full marathon in October! As frustrated as I am at myself for struggling so much I am SO proud of him!

4. We are incredibly blessed to have some really amazing friends and I love that we continue to grow those relationships as we work to live in community with one another. Sunday night the kids were at my parents so we met some friends out for dinner and then went back to their house for THIS game (seriously, BEST GAME EVER!). It was after midnight when we finally called it quits but quickly made plans to head over there yesterday right after my morning session! Three more hours of game playing while the kids all had a blast together… the BEST way to spend a Monday! THANKS DUNNS! We have had the best weekend and are dreaming of the tie-breaking game!

5. Thankful that a client forgave me when I was unusually harsh in an email response to her this weekend. I took the brunt of some unhappy work issues out on her I think. I apologized and she forgave me right away. I LOVE my clients!

6. As much fun as I’ve had with my kiddos the last four days I am very ready to hit the ground running today and crank through some work while they’re all at school! Hoping to get about 200 photos edited before 3pm… think I can do it?

7. Thankful for my mom who can give me a recipe and ingredients for an amazing dinner while I’m walking into the grocery store with no plan and ALL from her memory! We will be eating good tonight! Round steak, oven roasted brussel sprouts, potatoes (recipe found HERE) and french bread with a dump cake for dessert! Dump cake is a favorite here b/c it’s egg free and SO good! Take a 9×13 pan and DUMP in a can of crushed pineapple, then a can of cherry pie filling and on top scatter a box of yellow cake mix. Melt a stick of butter and drizzle on top… follow the cake mix baking instructions (I usually let mine cook longer so the top gets really crispy). It’s SO good plain or with a scoop of ice cream on top!

8. We’re having a special dinner because today we’re celebrating 8 years of marriage! Chris surprised me in bed this morning with a donut and I found my favorite sugar cookie next to my lunch (last night’s leftovers) in the fridge. I’m surprising him with a really good dinner. WHY IN THE HELL he thinks the way to my heart is with with baked goods I don’t know b/c that donut is sitting on the counter still calling to me and it’s taking everything I have in me not to gobble it down! I purposely put on my sports bra and SPANDEX this morning so I would be sure to fit in a run and there’s just something wrong about eating a donut in spandex! HA! But you’ll notice I haven’t thrown the poor thing away…

9. EIGHT years feels like a lot. Even though most of our friends are past the 15 year mark or even the 20 year mark. The first seven years of our marriage was so chock full of trails and tribulations we never really experienced that “honeymoon phase” like most people. The last year of our marriage? Way more awesome! For our ten year anniversary we’re praying we can save up for a trip back to Spokane! We’re just dying to see old friends and revisit all of our favorite places. It will be neat to see a city I hold so dear to my heart with more mature eyes. For C’s gift tonight I’m going to show him the little stash of cash I’ve started for this trip!

10. Loving that I get to make a living doing what I love. We’re barely getting by some months but it’s ok. Chris and I love our jobs, we love our little house and we LOVE our kids. Eight years in and I couldn’t ask for anything more!

Happy Tuesday!