Running thur life... a Yogurt Genius!!!!

As previous stated I love Chobani Yogurt!!!

It is my little ray of sunshine at 5 am.

I am very picky about my favors.

I was talking to my husband one day about this.

I stated that the Pomegranate is the best hands down!!!

So at work one day he was talking to one of his co-workers who is getting on the Chobani train.

He told his co-worker,  "You should try the pomegranate, my wife says it is the best." 

So last week my husband came home and told me that his co-worked has declared me:

"A YOGURT GENIUS"

Pomegranate really is the best!!!

Running thru life.. Happy Wedding Day

As I walked into the hospital this morning patients and workers were by the TVs. 

My patient that I deliveried yesterday was also up

The doctors were crowed around the tv

... all watching the same thing.

The Royal Wedding! 

I too peaked a look...

It made me think about all the weddings we have been to. 

Weddings are such an exciting event. 

My husband and I have been blessed to be a part of so many weddings over the years together. 

Each wedding we have been to I have a found memory of. 

So today for those who are married or who are getting married... Happy Wedding Day!!!

It is important to remember how wonderful it is to find your life mate....

Running thru life.... A Running Must

I am in love... that is with my Nike Running Shorts!!!

I have now tried a couple different brands thru the years 

but I have to say I love Nike the best!!!

I have two pairs that I previously bought (1 from three years ago and 1 from one year ago)

and to my suprise for Easter I recieved another pair as a gift!  

What an awesome gift!!!

So you might ask- why do I like them so much?

1) They are super comfortable!! 

2) They are made of light quick drying material

3) They have a little pocket so I can store my running gel or jelly beans

4) They hold up amazingly.  My pair I bough three years ago is still in good condition!

5) The are relatively inexpensive- I do not think I paid more than $20 for either pair.  I refused to pay money for expensive running clothes (the exception to this is running bras- it is worth paying for this!)

6) They fit me - I am short and running short often tend to be long on me but these I find to be perfect..

Happy Running

Running thru life... An update

To update everyone...

Our patio is done!!!

I will be placing pictures once I get everything done.

I planted a little Monday and last night. 

Overall, I am very happy with the finished product.  While we were hauling dirt to fill in the two areas that I wanted left open for flower beds- two neighbors from the deck near our house said "Hey that looks great!."  I also have had three people stop and ask if they can look at it as they are thinking of doing something similar.  They all said they really liked it... so that is a good sign.

However, the process was not fun. 

To make a long story short. 

Monday they came to install the patio.  The men showed up at 10 am and spoke NO ENGLISH.

Good thing I know a very little spanish. 

I showed them to the back and they go started leveling everything off. 

They knocked on the door 2 hours later to show me the layout before the concrete was poured. 

The was a problem- they made it all one level.  When I had met with the Owner who gave me the estimate, he explained to me that they would need to have the patio comprised of two levels with a step because of the slope in our backyard.  If we did not do this it would not meet code and we could have some issues when we sell the house.  So in my limited spanish I am trying to explain this to the men.  Finally, I just called the company and talked with the owner.  The owner got on the phone and explained that there need to be two levels with a step.  THANK YOU!!! So they layed the concrete and stamped it.  They left about 4:30 and said they would be back on Tuesday to powerwash and seal it.

Tuesday

I get home at 5 pm - patio is not done.

I call and the women in the office explains I will be the first one tomorrow.

Wednesday

Joe gets home at 3pm before he goes to class- still not done

I call and the women in the office explains there was a mix up and it will be done first thing Thursday.

Thursday

Joe comes home at lunch (because at this point we are pissed and do not believe a word they say). 

It is not done.

I call the office and speak with the same women.  She appologizes and say it will be done tomorrow.

This is when my bitch switch flips on.  "I would like to speak with the owner, you have cleared our check so this job needs to be done."  Once I mentioned $$ she stated the owner would call me back.

10 minutes later the owner calls me back and explains there has been a mix up and he appologizes.  He says that Friday is suppose to rain all day so they will not be able to come then.  And then his next words exactly were "But we will get you done Saturday or Sunday weather permitting, No later than Sunday I promise."  He gave me his direct cell phone number and asked me to call if I had any more concerns. 

Friday

Rain

Saturday

Rain in the morning- beautiful in the afternoon.  Patio still not done

Sunday

BEAUTIFUL.  Patio still not done by 10 am.  At this point I am furious and I have Joe call.  Joe calls at 10 am and leaves a message.  I call at 10:30 with another message, and Joe calls again at 11.  He calls us back at 11:30 and says he totally forgot "Sunday" was Easter and he gave his men the day.  At this point Joe get pissed and tells him that we are pissed and that if it is not done by Monday we are going to have to issue a complant and get the Better Business Beaure involved.  URRRRRR

Monday- I got home at 4pm and it was done.

PRAISE the lord!!!

Now I am working on getting items planted and making it a nice area. 

Running thru life... making the most of my days off

Every now and then because of my schedule I have a day off during the week- which Rocks!!

My hubby and I often joke that I work harder on my days off than he does when he is at work. 
For instance, a couple of Mondays ago I got up at 8:30 am and did not take a shower or sit down until 4:30 pm.   CRAZY you might think?

My days off have become my "do everything days" so I can enjoy the weekends. 
It makes sense since most of my friends and family are at work. 
I often use this day to do errands, clean the house, pay bills, run, etc. 
It is amazing how efficient I can be when I am home by myself and also the stores are empty for shopping. 

So, just to humor myself- I wrote down everything I did and how much time it took.

0830 Woke up and made the bed
0830-0845  Fed Clemson and Cleaned up the kitchen
0845-0915  Cleaned 3 guest bathrooms.
0930   Left the house to run errands.  Stop by Red Box to get a movie to run to.
1000-1040 Costco
1040-1100 Unloaded the car and put stuff away
1100-1115 Took Clemson for a quick walk and play time
1115-1315 Ran 13.1 miles
1315-1330 Stretched
1330-1345 Moved all the planters to the deck for the spring/Quickly cleaned out the garage with the blower.
1345-1445 Quick trip to REI (needed more hydration packets) and got Car Washed
1500- 1530  Returned home to check mail- paid bills, contacted our auto insurance for a car problem and blogged a little
1530-1600  Finished the Laundry started from the previous night
1600- Talked to my brother, made a quick flower arrangement with the roses I purchased at Costco - followed by a shower and a quick walk with Clemson
1700 Dinner time.

CRAZY!!!!! Just thinking about it makes my head spin. 
But it makes me so happy when I think about what I will not have to do this week or this weekend coming up.  What do you during the week to help you enjoy your weekend?

Running thru life... Flowers are a must

While I have been awaiting the finish of our patio so I can start planting in our backyard and start organizing, I decided to work on planting on our deck and in the front of our house.

(FYI the patio is still not done- if it is not done by the time I get home today- I might lose it! 

However, the owner promised me it would be... but that is also what he said about Saturday and Sunday. 

Anyway- deep cleansing breathe!)

So I headed to Merrifield and Home Depot. 

To be honest I never not have much luck at home depot.  But it is a good place to get basics and filler plants.

Merrifield I love- even though it is some times a little bit more expensive I find the flowers last longer and are tend to be more healthy. 

So here are some additions to our deck.

Lovely hanging plant.

I purchased this at home depot.  Was on special. 

Couple small little plants. 

All purchased at Merrifield. 

The pot that has nothing in it is where I planted basil and mint seeds.  We will see if anything shows up. 

If not I might have to just buy a actually basil plant.  We already have two mint plants. 

My husband and I got thru A LOT of mint during the summer making mojitos!!!

For the deck I tried to find plants that do well in the sun or part sun.  Our deck gets a decent amount of sun.

For our frontyard I only purchased flowers/plants that were full sun.  Our front yard get some much sun that even the full sun plants sometimes have a hard time.  However, thanks to the recommendation from a consultant at Merrifield Last year we had sucess

A picture from last year of our front yard- planted all the same flowers this year however, we have an additional hydrangea thanks to one of our neighbors. 

Overall our deck and front yard are done and I am happy with that. 

The next project will be getting the backyard ready once the patio is done. 

Happy Planting....

Running thru life... a search for a new Patio Set

Our backyard is almost done- the installers should be finishing TODAY assuming weather permits. 

Now I am left with the tasK of finding a patio set. 

I started by making some qualifications.

So here they are

1) Has to include a love seat and two chairs

2) Has to be the wicker that weathers well.

3) Dark wood. 

4) Budget....  (I set a rough one in my head)

5) Must include the cushions that cover the whole seat. 

I started looking in the stores and on line.

What do you think? 

Option1

 Option 2

 Option 3

 Option 4

Any opinions? 
Happy Easter and if you are not religious... Happy Sunday no work day!!!!