Just a few more...

... just because Nacho looks so good in his new coat.

Nacho catching snowballs

Wrestling with Kobi

And doing his modeling gig on the side

More snow!

So much for the 3-5 inches of snow we were MAYBE going to get this weekend... try 10! Luckily Nacho got a snazzy new coat for Christmas that kept him much warmer this weekend than it did last time we got snow.


Our crazy neighbors wanted to go on a walk first thing yesterday morning when the snow was coming down in full force "before it got too deep." So the pups got to play in the blizzard for a little while before all the people got too cold and wet and made everyone come inside.



Today though, it was PERFECT to enjoy the super soft, powdery snow. Living in the middle of nowhere, we have a few options for big fields around the house for Nacho to run in. To say he l.o.v.e.d. it is a little bit of an understatement.

Being from the south, we both still love the snow. Most people around us (lots of New Yorkers) are already annoyed by it all. The only thing that would have made it better is if it came one day later and I got out of work tomorrow. I haven't heard yet, but my guess is that they'll have all day today to clear the roads and tomorrow will be business as usual. bummer. We are going to live up today's snow day by staying in our pajamas and hanging out on the couch.

Dana's Weekend

Last weekend we went to Blowing Rock, NC to celebrate Dana B (B for "biscuit," that is) one last time before her big day. My sister Brooke found an AWESOME house in Chetola, right in the middle of the adorable town of Blowing Rock, just outside of Boone.


It was the perfect mix of fun and relaxation. Friday night we stayed in and played Apples to Apples (which I am convinced is only a fun game if you have a fun group... and this was definitely a fun group), and Saturday afternoon we went tubing at Sugar Mountain (this is me getting everyone's release forms in order. I was very on top of things and in charge, as you can tell... or this MIGHT have been a staged picture...)

Saturday evening we had a fun little shower for Dana and then went out and heard an AWESOME classic rock cover band. I pretty much wanted Dana to hire them for her wedding on the spot.

(I almost cropped this picture, but I wanted everyone to see the killer antler chandelier in the kitchen.)

Since it was MLK weekend, we got to stay overnight Sunday too. We slept in, ate lots of food, watched Pretty Woman, and played more games. It was pretty much my ideal weekend.

Here's to Dana!! Only t- 4 weeks til she becomes Mrs. Bradford Hedgepeth!!! love you sister.

A new musical interest

If you haven't heard, I have a new obsession with Ben Folds**. I liked Ben Folds Five, but didn't really hear much of his solo stuff unless it was on the radio (everyone has probably heard Brick). PLEASE take a minute to watch his brilliant musicianship (I really had posted like 8 videos, and I realized it was a bit of overkill. If you get hooked like I did, check out some videos from his MySpace gig on youtube).


HERE (Forgive his physical abuse of the piano... but he makes great music while he does it.)

and HERE

**Ben Folds is not a Christian... so please don't be surprised or offended by his secular lyrics. As brilliant as he is, he could sometimes be more creative with his use of words. But I have recently learned/been reminded that ALL people are made in God's image. Therefore, although Ben Folds isn't actively using his gifts to bring intentional glory to the Lord, the Lord's glory and creativity and blessings on his creatures is still evident because Ben Folds still reflects aspects of his Creator.

In Remembrance

This post is in remembrance of Colin and Elisa Roberts.

... not that they're dead or anything. They just moved to Honduras for a couple years.

But although I remember them almost every day, I have been thinking a lot about the fact that today and the next six months or so will really not be the same without them as our neighbors.

You see, for the past three years, Colin and Elisa have been our American Idol partners. Not that I even like that show or anything...

Nonetheless, the four of us were faithful viewers, voters, and critics. We dropped our jaws at Adam Lambert; we critiqued Jordin Sparks; we cringed at David Archuletta's cheesiness; we cried with Melinda Doolittle; we tried to beat box like Blake Lewis; we rocked out with David Cook. We have many many memories with the Roberts from our three years in St. Louis, many of which we captured on camera...

Haloween 2008, Murder in Flunkytown dinner

Elisa's Posch Spice haircut that we all wanted...

Church retreats...

Badmitton (Almost) Champions

... Colin TRYING to teach me songs on the guitar, the wedding where Elisa encouraged us to be the loudes... I mean FUNNEST table at the reception, and the list goes on.

But most of my favorite memories with the Roberts are of Tuesday nights in their living room, drinking coffee, eating gluten-free dessert, doing puzzles, and watching American Idol.

Colin and Elisa - les extrañamos ustedes muchisimos! Will you be watching Honduran Idol tonight? oh, and I have more pictures of you guys somewhere... but I can't find them on this computer. Maybe I will save them for another post. Love and miss you.

Announcement

No. I'm not pregnant.

This post is slightly ironic. I was going to write this, and then I read this post from my friend Elizabeth. Sorry E, but it seems I have broken your new cardinal rule.

My announcement is that I THINK going to sign up for a 10K. I know this is no big deal at all for most of you, but I haven't run a 10K - official or unofficial - since high school. And it's in just 2.5 months.... aaaannnd let's remember that I haven't worked out since October (not counting my two times since the new year). But I think having something like this will give me a reason to stay motivated and consistent. Consistency is my big downfall when it comes to exercising. Anyway, I got an email today from the Richmond Clemson Club saying that they are having a Clemson team doing the race with a "tailgate" afterward. So I think I'm signing up for the Ukrop Monument Avenue 10K in Richmond (**Anyone here in King George who wants to run it too - I would LOVE a partner!).

The irony of posting this just after E's post is that tonight when I got home from work I decided to go for a run, just to see how badly in shape I really am and how long I could go. But it is cold outside (not as cold as St. Louis these days - see's Broo's post - but about 30 or 35 degrees). So I got geared up with black shiny spandex-y long johns under my running shorts. And a long john shirt with a long sleeve tshirt and a hat and gloves and a bright orange reflective vest. These long johns are actually called "cuddle duds" They are Audrey Woita's favorite. I believe she recommended them to me :-) They are the pants that match this shirt, and you'll see at Target.com that they are out of stock. They're obviously quite popular (probably because Audrey Woita wears them). But I am 100% positive that I looked ridiculous and stupid running in the cold, in the dark with my black spandex and bright orange construction vest. But I was warm enough and people could see me.

I have til the end of the month to decide if I want to sign up.

"Christmas, Christmas time was here..."

Okay, so that's not exactly how the Chipmunks sing it, but close enough. We had a great Christmas, which we spent in Charlotte and got to see both families. We stayed with Schub's parents, but my sisters live closeby and my parents came up as well. It was so fun to see and hang out with everyone, including my brother-in-law Mike's family. Here are a few highlights.

On Christmas Eve we went to church with Brooke and Mike and my parents and then went to an awesome dinner at Red Rocks. We gave the boys their presents that night since they would be in bed by the time we were over there on Christmas night.

Here is Schub with Steve, one of his very best friends from high school (they obviously like each other). Traditionally he spent Christmas Eve with Steve's family, but when I came along Schub graciously rearranged his schedule a little. We got to see Steve and his adorable family on Christmas Day. (I did get a normal picture of them together, but this one is much cuter, don't you think?)

We spent Christmas afternoon/evening in Cherryville (pronounced Cher-vul, for those of you NOT from Cherryville) and had an awesome BBQ dinner in "the building," which is basically a fellowship hall that sits behind Schub's two uncle's houses who live beside each other. It was built specifically for family gatherings (you need a place like this when you come from a family of 12 kids like Schub's mom does).


On Christmas night we went to Brooke's house to have Christmas with my family.

Here are all the men in our family. It started with ONE. Just Dad. We now have one man for every woman :-) *sidenote... I don't have a picture of Mom here because for some reason all the ones we took with her with my camera came out super blurry. Sorry Mom.

Schub loved his new Nerf gun that I got him. just kidding...

After Charlotte we went to Summerville to visit my best friend from high school, Amber, who had had a horrible incident with her pregnancy and had just been moved from ICU. We had a really wonderful visit with her on Sunday night and then stopped by to see her again on Monday morning before we headed to....

West Virginia, Mountain Mama. Below is a picture of me with the Mountain Mama. Just kidding. It's just Jeannie. But she is pregnant and soon she'll be a WV Mountain Mama :-)

Hunter and Schub. They love each other and they have matching beards.

Also, Nacho made a friend in WV. This is Hunter and Jeannie's dog Stuckey (named after Chansi Stuckey, the Clemson football player). I would call it a "Bromance," but I heard on the radio the other day that that word is "so last decade" and cannot be used in 2010. But you can see for yourself how much they liked each other. Nacho, the ever-frowning dog, even has a slight smile on his face as he snuggles with Stuckey.


All in all, we had a great Christmas break. It was quite hard to go back to work yesterday. Also, Steve (pictured above) told us that we only blog about our dog. So another goal in 2010 is to blog about a few things other than Nacho. We shall see.

Here's to twenty-ten.

differences

Last night while I was doing my Slim in 6 workout I started getting just a little worn out/tired/sore/out of breath/nauseated, so I called down to Schub for a glass of water (I think it was something like "I'm going to PUKE. I need water NOW!").

S: What are you doing?

Me: Just taking a quick break.

S: But it's still going. I can hear it. Didn't you pause it?

Obviously, I should not have let it keep running while I took my break. I should have paused it, taken my quick break, and then started it again so I could do the ENTIRE thing. I should not have let the dvd keep going while I took a break and watched them work out and then jumped back in a minute later.

Obviously.

Jumping on the Bandwagon...

I've never really been big on making New Year's resolutions. You know, because you never keep them. I tend to just try out resolutions on and off all year long. This year my resolution started in about July (when Dana got engaged) and I was supposed to be done by the end of February. I wanted to be in pretty good shape by the time Dana gets married on February 27th, 2010 (officially pronounced "twenty-ten"). I traveled a good bit during the month of July, I did okay with it during the month of August, and I even kept up with it a LITTLE after I started my job in September. But I tell you what, when October came and it got a little chillier and a little darker a little earlier and daylight savings time came, it was all over. So basically I haven't worked out since October.

Flash forward to January 1, 2010 and I have about eight weeks til Dana's wedding. January 1st always seems like the perfect time to start over with a resolution. Also, eight weeks is PLENTY of time for Debbie Sieber's Slim in 6. That's right. SIX weeks. Now, I'm no dummy. I know this progam doesn't completely work in six weeks. I know because I also used this in college and I never got "Slim in 6." But I did always enjoy the workout. There are actually 3 different workouts on the DVDs. They of course start from the easiest and go to the hardest. The smart thing to do when you haven't worked out for over 2 months would be to start out easy. However yesterday when it was time to start my Slim in 6, I could only find the third, hardest one, "Ramp it up." No worries, I told myself... How hard could it be?

There are several reasons I like these workouts*:

1. Debbie supposedly used to be overweight. She'll even show you pictures of herself. And her little helpers in the background are supposedly real-life products of Slim in 6. So it should work, right? (oh yes, combined with diet supplements and Beach Body meals for only $19.99/month)
2. It's mostly muscle work/strength training. But she does it so fast that you actually do get a good cardio workout too. I feel like I'm getting both in, although I'm not sure cardio is actually the intent. That's just what kind of shape I'm in.
3. She says motivating things like "This is really targeting your midsection," or "You can feel the pounds just melting away with this one," or "Just picture what your glutes will look like after you do this for six weeks!"
4. There are 11 little buttons down the right side of the screen, and there are two timers going - one counting down the section you are on, and one counting down the overall workout. Every time you finish a section, a button goes away and the countdown starts over for the next section. So you feel like you can see that you're accomplishing something.
5. She also says that you can take a break whenever you need to and not to push yourself too hard.

So take breaks I did. I usually kept up with her on the first 15 lunges with one leg and then she would open her mouth and I assumed she would say "Great job! Time to switch legs!" But that's when she would say "Only 10 more!" and I opted not to do the last 10. Or when we were on the floor doing abs, we were going at a nice steady pace to the beat of the music when Debbie suddenly says "double time!" Instead of double timing it, I would just put my head down and let my sweat soak into the carpet.

But I finished it. "Ramp it up" is an hour long workout, and I did MOSTLY the whole thing and haven't worked out since October. Honestly, that wasn't too smart because now I am unable to do it again today because I am so incredibly sore. Instead I'm sitting here eating chocolates from Christmas. But believe you me, I will be in good shape for Dana's wedding. My goal is to not have much that arm flab stuff that tends to hang over a strapless dress. And I'm telling you all this because my Real Simple magazine this month said that if you make your resolutions public, you're more likely to keep them. So wish my luck, friends. I'm going to need it.

*I actually really do like this workout. If you are looking for an at-home workout, I would really recommend it. Hopefully I'll keep it up during these months where it's cold/windy/snowy to run outside.