Which Princess Are You?

So, I am Esmerelda... who are you?

SpringBreak 2008

So last week was spring break for us. We decided to go to a family favorite spot. It all started years ago, when my parents used to take us to a condo in Northern Idaho, a little town called Blanchard, north of Couer D'Alene.... anyway, we used to go every year and over the past few years we have gone back a few times. It is such a fun place.
Our friends Cory and Sonja Hansen and their 3 girls, Gabby, Maddy and Lily, went with. We had a great weekend and did so many fun things. The condo has a mini golf course, a playground, a big rec center with a pool and hot tub, game room, racketball, wallyball, excercise room, basketball, tennis... you name it.
We were a little sad to leave TriCities since we heard it was supposed to get up to 84 degrees on Sunday, but it was so worth it. The weather was beautiful up there. It was in the 70's. The kids all got a little sunburned, we thought it would be cold. We swam, played racketball, Kyson and I played some basketball, we all played tennis and went minigolfing. Oh yea, did I say tetherball? When was the last time you played that? (I think I was the tetherball champ...) At night we put the kids to bed and left them with Gabby while the adults went up and played some wallyball and hot tubbed. I gotta admit, Cory and Sonja beat Jacob and I at wallyball. Seriously? I'm not sure where that came from. Me loose at anything like volleyball? It just doesn't happen. I was not happy about that. As you all know, I HATE LOSING!
Sonja and I took our bikes out for a ride, about 20 miles, it was so BEAUTIFUL there! Its so much more fun to ride with there is something besides tumbleweeds to look at:) Then Jacob and Cory went out for a ride. Then we did more of everything.
It was so much fun. I think everyone had a great time. I know we sure love it there.

Check out my Slide Show!

Does it get better than this?!

Ok, so I gotta tell you... I love TECHNOLOGY! I love my XM Satellite Radio. Does anyone else have this? Its almost as awesome as the DVR for the Satellite TV.

So, when a great song comes on the xm radio, I can push a button and it tells me the name and artist of the song thats playing. Some of them, you can even save your favorite songs and when it comes on ANY station, it will beep so you can switch to that song. How great is that???!!! Anyway, so check out my new playlist. Alot of the songs have been on there for a while because I just love listening to them. But, have you heard this Leona Lewis song, Bleeding Love! AAH! Love it! Then today I heard one by Plumb, In My Arms, another great song! (I've never even heard of Plumb...) How about Abra Moore, Family Affair? I'm sure you've all heard Fergie's new song, Finally.

Anyway, what I love even more than the xm, if you can believe it, is that then I can come home to my little laptop and go to my playlist and download these songs, for free, onto my blog and listen to them as much as my little heart desires. OH! Did I mention I love technology! We've sure come along way from creating our mix tapes and trying to get the song recorded on a tape that you called the radio station to request, just so you could record it and listen to it!

One other thing, a friend introduced me to www.pandora.com, which is a cool site too. You can put in a favorite song and it will create a playlist of similar songs for you to listen to, also, for free! Could things get any better?

Tagged, again! Its a new one though!

Ok, I’ve been tagged again, but it’s a little bit different. I actually like the tags lately because I haven’t really had anything to write about, so they have come at a good time.
This one is to write about 7 things about you that are different, weird or random. So here goes…

1. I am the healthiest overweight person EVER! I have always struggled with being overweight… I love to work out and do it all of the time. I had a trainer last year who said that I had the strongest legs of anyone he trained. I lift a lot of weight when I lift and I can out lift any girl I’ve ever met. I snowboard, wakeboard and water ski. I play basketball (I can outshoot my husband, and most guys, I bet). I play volleyball, racket ball and tennis whenever I get the chance. I can bike a 100 miles, jog 5 miles, scuba dive, do pushups and I can throw a football pretty darn good for a girl. :) I do all of this and still struggle with being overweight. Most people that do these kinds of things are not overweight. This has been my biggest challenge in life.

2. Along with that, I eat very healthy. We do not eat Dairy products in our home, to the dismay of my friends and the missionaries when we have brownies or cookies… ;) I use only whole wheat flour and we rarely eat meat. I only bake "goodies" when we have a get together. My kids get mini rice cakes in place of chips. I do not let them eat much sugar or junk food. None of my kids have ever had baby food out of a jar. I’ve always made my own baby food… And none of my kids have ever been on antibiotics or had an ear infection. Which I think is because of the whole no dairy thing...You get the idea…

3. I do not immunize my children. I have very strong beliefs about the medical field, I wont get started...which has led to some pretty intense conversations with my in laws.

4. If I have another baby I will have it and home! I love being pregnant. I feel great. I don’t get sick, I take better care of myself. I exercise up to the day before I give birth. I’d love to be pregnant all the time. Crazy, huh?

5. I get really upset when I feel like people don’t like me or are upset at me. One of my friends did a post about this last week and it really hit home with me. I try to be such a good friend, and I feel like I would do anything for my friends. I know that everyone doesn’t have to like me, I may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but knowing that in my head and not letting myself be affected by what other people think of me is still so hard. I’m not sure why I get so upset about it but I am really sensitive to what others think of me. I really value my friends and the relationships I have with those that are my “true” friends. Those people that really “know” me and I “know” them. And I am so grateful that they like me for who I am as a person. I love when people can let down the facades we all have and just be themselves.

6. I really struggle with being a mom. I love my children so much! Having said that, why is it so hard to be a mom? Why do I get frustrated and feel so worn out by the end of the day? I look at some of my friends and I admire what great moms they are and wish I could be as good of a mom as they are. I wish I didn’t get frustrated so much with my children. I know I spend too much time cleaning and doing "things" and not enough time playing with them. I want to be everything that they need and I want them to always know how much they mean to me. One of my favorite things is to play music really loud and have dance parties with them. They love, I love it... I need to do those kinds of things more often...

7. I love to feel pretty! I love to fix my hair, put make up on, put on some jewelry and lip gloss. To wear my new pair of designer “hot” jeans and my super cute Jessica Simpson heels and carry my pink purse. So often I do not feel good about myself, and I wish I could always feel like I do when I go out and get all done up. It makes me feel good about myself, which I struggle with a lot. I am not really the confident person that I think I portray to others. I know that person is inside of me, but sometimes, most of the time, I bury that person. My goal for this year is to bring out that person more often. I need to get rid of the other person, who is too hard on herself and who doesn’t appreciate all of the great qualities that I know I have.

Ok… So I am tagging…. Karen, (my latest blogger buddy), Dawn, Stacia, Tiffany, Kareen and anyone else who want to be “IT!” I’d love to read about you and your weird things….

Tag!

You're feeling: Great! I excercised and cleaned my house today!
To your left: Kitchen
On your mind: Going to Hawaii in a couple of weeks!!!YEA!!!
Last meal included: Protein Shake
You sometimes find it hard to: Clean bathrooms
The weather: Beautiful and Sunny and best of all... NOT WINDY! WooHoo
Something you have a collection of: Weight loss books
A smell that cheers you up: the smell of dryer sheets that comes out the dryer vent when you're dtying clothes
A smell that can ruin your mood: Tuna, UCK! It smells up the whole house!
How long since you last shaved: A couple of days
The current state of your hair: Mid-day ponytail
The largest item on your desk/workspace (not computer): Stack of bills to pay :)
Your skill with chopsticks: Not so good, last week I tried teaching the kids, we ended up just sticking the stick in the chicken and had much better results.
Which section you head for first in a bookstore: Children's
...and after that?: Novels, suspense.... anything, I love to read!
Something you're craving: Szchwan Asparagus from PF Changs! Love it!
Your general thoughts on the presidential race: Ugh...What happened to Romney???
How many times have you been hospitalized this year: None
Favorite place to go for a quiet moment: Laying outside in the sun with a book
You've always secretly thought you'd be a good: Picking songs for American Idol contestants to sing... whoever does that sucks!
Something that freaks you out a little: Scuba Diving in water around Washington, its so murky you can't see anything.
Something you've eaten too much of lately: Girl Scout Cookies
You have never: Been to Hawaii
You never want to: Outlive my kids
The funnest thing you've done: Skydiving or the 300 foot skycoaster!

I'm tagging: Anyone who wants to participate :)