thoughts

Today my mind was wandering a lot. On a good note I passed my exam and can call myself now a personal trainer. I am proud and happy and exited and can`t wait to see where this journey leads me to..hopefully many good things.

Then my mind starting going off...thinking off my dad whose birthday it is today and who would have turned 65 years today.

And I kept wondering what he would have said to me had he known what I achieved today. He would have been happy and excited for me and I wished he could see me now. The last time we were together I was almost 40 pounds heavier and fitness was no word in my vocabulary. Now almost 3 years later my life has changed and I wished he would still be around to see it.

I wished he would still be around to see so many more things: my kids growing up so fast, the state I am living in now, 2 new grandtwins in the family...all good things.

Maybe he smiles down on us from up there and cheers us on. At least that`s something I`d like to believe in.

Happy birthday Papa!
Love you forever!

Tell someone you love him today!
XXXOOO
N

New friends

We have 2 new friends in the house, 2 new members of the family.

Let me introduce you to Cinnamon Sugar Peanut and Optimus Prime :)

Can you guess who named whom?

Terribly neglected!

This poor blog has been terribly neglected by me. I always used to enjoy writing and updating it, but my life has just been out of control and it seems I am lost and cannot keep up with anything. I don`t feel good with it. I don`t like the feeling I am always running behind something, trying to catch up...etc. etc.
I feel overwhelmed and it seems my to do list is growing and growing and nothing gets done.

So instead of a to do list I created a Goal list for 2011 and 2012 (short term and long term) and amongst many other things the most important one is SIMPLIFY MY LIFE!! Just writing it down makes me feel better.
I am going to simplify my life and I am going to stick with it. I realized that I just cannot do everything and I cannot be everywhere. Life will go on even without me being there.
There I said it. Even though I have a hard time with that, because I just like to be a part of many things, I came to realize it`s not possible.
So far so good.
Now I still need to figure out how and I can simplify my life and what gets left behind.
But I`ll get there and I feel good writing it down.
And thats all that matters for now.



Good night world!
XXOO
N


The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.
Hans Hofmann

2nd grade here we come!

Today starts a new school year, today is the first day of 2nd grade! I can`t believe how time flies. Just 2 years ago we arrived here in AZ and she started Kindergarten. So small and so little..and now I have 2nd grader who is very much looking forward to her new year!

In her own words: Mommy I am excited, but also a bit nervous!!

Well so was her Mommy...but all went well and here are some shots from this morning.


Little brother is excited too

New backpack and new lunchpack

The classroom

Here`s to a good school year with lots and lots of fun.

Can`t wait to hear all the details when I pick her up in a bit.

Nina

XXXOOO

I am back

Yes thats right, I am finally back!
I get so sidetracked sometimes and so many things are going on that I forget to update my blog.

So lets see what all happened.
May and June were 2 very busy months with Mother`s Day, last day of school, my 38th birthday, our 10th year wedding anniversary and Naiyas 7th birthday and party.
I am definitely good with bday parties for a while especially with the organization of it.

We spent most June at the pool and waterpark since Naiya was on summerbreak and thats just what my kids love to do. A few weeks of art camp and then our beautiful vacation to Strawberry!
Oh how much I heart this place!
Hiking, fishing, swimming in the streams, just being outdoors and being with my family. As always time went by way too fast and I got very sad returning back home.
Of course once you are back in the day to day routine with loads of laundry and a house to take care of it`s all good..lol.

So now we are on our very last week of summerbreak before my lil girl will start 2nd grade.
Kind of sad.We didn`t get to do all the things we wanted to. But definitely had some nice summer memories and still have whole August to enjoy before fall creeps up.

My lil man will start Pre-K in August and then it is only one more year before he goes to school.

Time is so precious so make sure you make the most of it.Before you know the kids are grown.

June 21 was another very special day in our lives. My 2 beautiful twin nieces Raha and Leni were born. Congrats to my brother and his girlfriend.
We are blessesd to welcome those 2 precious angels to our family.

On another note I started to become a personal trainer.Yay for me. It`s a lot to study, but I hope I can be done by end of September.

Night night for now.Quick update for today.Pictures to follow :)

Nina
XXXOOO

Happy Easter Weekend

Hope you all had a great and sunny Easter Weekend and the Easter Bunny was good to you!
We had a lot of fun.

Saturday started with an Easterfest at the local park where Calan`s class was performing 2 songs.

I can`t describe how proud I was of my lil man standing on the stage and singing his little heart out. He did soo good and Mommy for sure shed some tears.

The fun continued with about 10 bounce houses and an Easter egg hunt.


Sunday morning the kids managed to sleep until 7am before they stood in front of our bed ready to look for eggs. And they already had spotted some.
So it was time to get up and after a strong cup of coffee the kids got the ok to start looking.

Apparently my kids had been VERY good because they were lots and lots of eggs...

Here are some pics of them in the backyard and at the Botanical Garden.

All in all a great weekend and most important it was magic time for the kids. Oh to be a kid again and just believe....

Hope it was magic for you too!

Nina

XXXOOO

My first half marathon

I know it`s been a while and I meant to write this post WAY earlier, but life gets in the way and the day never has enough hours. Art least not mine.

So I finished my FIRSS half marathon a few weeks ago.
13.1 miles, all running, YEAH baby!!!

What an incredible experience, I felt so emotional, overwhelmed with feelings when I crossed the finish line.
It was hard, very hard and even though there were moments when I felt like fainting right there and then, something inside of me kept me going, that very competitive part of me and it carried me over the OH SO WONDERFUL FINISH LINE!

And now? I am hooked. Yes I am addicted. I guess I am a runner now! Love it!

Next run? 10K Cinquo de Mayo Run :)

Gotta keep moving!

XXXOOO

Nina