My New Years Non-Resolutions

Ahhh goody New Years. I really don't like the idea of New Years resolutions.What do you want to change about yourself because obviously your not perfect or even good enough. I'm not against improving myself, but I try to do it everyday. I don't want to promise myself something and then give up mid February. I think I'm a generally fab person. And I have been working on improving both my outer and inner self. I joined the gym in August which is fantastic and I have been improving my mediation skills. I have made a concerted effort to be nicer to people, should I have waited until January first to do all these things? I could have spent the last half of the year just waiting it out, but I would still be 40 pounds heavier, and probably a bit more depressed. I guess I see resolutions as kind of pointless.
Things I am grateful for this year.....
This year I have developed a growing appreciation for good friends, blogger and non. After some turbulent times with a few friends, I have grown to appreciate all my friends a little more. Patia and Justin thank you for helping me through a rough year. I have also reconnected with friends from high school which is really nice. I don't remember a lot of things from high school, with my mom being sick, and my dad being a bad person I have blocked a lot out. What I do remember a lot of the time are feelings. For instance I don't remember half the stuff that Erin does but I remember how hard it was to win her over, and how much I loved her then and now.
Taking time to have fun with the kids. When I was in school I never had extra time to be with the boys. I was always studying, or cleaning. I am so glad I have had this year to spend with them and watch them grow. Taking time for more hikes, sledding, out of town adventures, and just day to day life with them.
That Enoch has a good job. Thank goodness Enoch isn't a car salesman or a banker. I am glad he has a boss that cares, and I am grateful that I have a husband with a strong work ethic, that is willing to sacrifice a lot of things to make sure the kids and I are happy.
I am thankful for Enoch. Married for almost thirteen years with only one or two fights a year, I think we're doing pretty good.
I am grateful for the gym and the gym staff. It gives me an oasis for an hour or two a day. A little peace in my otherwise busy life. I am especially Thankful for Lani, who works me hard but always tells me how proud she is of me. Linda who always tells me how great I look. Erin who makes Pilate's fun. And Shelby and Sherri who always have a smile to share.
I am grateful to Patia for being my friend and work out partner without her I would have never joined the gym in the first place.
I am also grateful for family. For a lot of years I didn't talk to anyone in my family aside from my brother. My Grandma and I reconnected a few years ago, and I am so glad we did. I am now in contact with my entire maternal family. It's nice to have people to talk to that know where I came from and where I have been. People that knew my Mom before she was sick. I am so glad to have them all back in my life.
A few more things I am grateful for; all the political candiates that chose to come to Missoula, going to the NIN concert, beautiful snow, a summer full of fun, the farmers market, and living in Missoula.

A little spoiled, a lot pampered

This post is a total shout out and thank you to an awesome friend, that was kind enough to get me a great birthday present!! I said before my b-day that I didn't want any gifts, the economy being shit, I would rather spend time with my super cool friends than have gifts.
I did however receive a gift certificate for a pedicure. I have feet issues, I generally don't like feet and like my feet even less. I feel like their fat and ugly and gross. So Patia knowing that I hate my feet got me a pedicure. So I went today to have it done. It was at the gym so I had seen the lady that does them around and taken her water aerobics class a few times. She was fantastic!! First I got to sit in this really great massaging vibrating, warming chair.I put my feet into the whirlpool foot tub and it was so soothing. I wont go through all the details but it was fantastic! I feel so relaxed and now I have pretty purple toenails! I may even do pilates barefoot tonight instead of in socks. I think I will totally go back and have it done again, maybe frequently if I can afford it.

THANK YOU PATIA!!!!!

What I Should be Doing Instead of Blogging

Nothing like waiting until Christmas Eve to do all the stuff that should have been done weeks ago.
Today I need too:
Finish Sewing 2 1/2 out of the 4 aprons for the kids
Do my Christmas Cards
Help the kids paint ornaments for the grandparents
Bake and give it holiday cookies
Wrap and assemble the kids gifts
Call my Aunt
Call my Grandma
Call my Brother
Call my Best Friend
Charge my camera battery
Charge my phone
Make sure the Ham is defrosted

So I need to work on all of this. I am feeling under the weather, but I did make it to the gym today before they closed.And as soon as I am done with that I'm going to get cracking on the rest of this stuff.
Merry Christmas!!

Yule, Winter Solstice

Tonight I had the opportunity to celebrate winter solstice, or yule with a Wiccan Coven here in town. The High Priest is a friend I made at school a few years ago, named Raven. We are casual friends, but I have always felt very accepted and comfortable with him. Like I may have known him in another time. In it's a small world category he is the entire reason I met Justin. He and Justin are friends and Raven recommended Justin's Buddhism class so fervently I had to sign up. Long story short I hitched a ride with Justin and Julie because I hate driving at night.
I had been to Ravens house once before but hadn't looked around. When you go in it's like a visual overload. A million visits would all offer something new and fascinating to look at. It was crowded, and filled with fun. There was wine, lots of wine. The mood was very merry and light.
The time came for the ceremony, we all went into the ceremony room, which is quite small. There was a lot of chanting, and reciting, all of which based on elemental, astrological, or mythical happenings. It was very interesting, and no more bizarre then reciting scriptures or going to a born again revival. There was a creation of energy and a centering of all that energy. At one point in the ceremony the candle was passed around, and each person had to say what they hoped for themselves in the next year. I said patience and love, two things I know I need to work on. Patience and love for those close to me and also for all other sentient beings. In the last year I have worked on being nicer to everyone I meet, and with a few exceptions that has gone rather well, so now on to patience and love while continuing to be friendly and nice.
Afterwords there was more wine, a vegetarian feast and more small talk. It was fun but ran rather late. Getting me home right around 2 a.m.
Now there is a fresh 6 inches of snow on the ground, and I am blogging and listening to my Enoch and Magnus breathe in their sleep.

Sledding!!

The Boys and I Pre-Sledding
Ok so my sleds warning sticker said we needed competent adult super vision, but I figured I could handle it.

Why I don't get Hangovers.....

Usually I stick to a very basic no hangover plan that always works for me...
First I try to match water to each drink, that way I stay balanced,
Second I stay up until i feel the effects of my drinking wearing off
Third have a coke, or coffee something with caffeine
Fourth do some sort of physical activity, get oxygen into the blood stream
Fifth go to bed

Last night I did steps three and four and I feel like I got ran over by a mac truck today. Lesson learned stick to the tried and true plan.


My birthday party last night was AWESOME. It was an in and out of several friends. Enoch, Patia, Jodi, the kids and I went on a scavenger hunt. Which Patia, Jodi, Bo and Rory totally kicked our butts at.



Then we came home for Alpines, and tom and Jerry's. Then my personal trainer Lani came by with her husband, and my friend Alycia, her boyfriend and her little baby came over. The crowd thinned a little then Ray, Justin and Julie arrived. We started playing poker. It was Enoch, Justin, Julie, Mac, Ray and myself. By this time I had had my fair share of the libations. Mac went out first so he and Alycia packed up the adorable baby Avery and headed home. So then it was time for serious poker. I went all in on a flush queen high (it's a great hand) and got put out by Justin with a flush ace high!!!!! So that sucked!! It eneded up being a shoot out between Enoch and Justin. Justin kicked Enochs butt and ending up winning the $30 pot.

All in All it was great I would like to say thanks to all my friends! I had a blast!! Love you guys near and far!

Have a Merry Montana Christmas

this is from Bo's Christmas concert Merry Christmas!

The Weather Outside is Frightful

Weather Alert !

Current Conditions -9°F Clear Apparent -9°F Wind N/0 mph Dew Point -14°F Visibility 10 mi Humidity 76% Barometer 30.12 in 12/16/2008 09:53 AM Hour by hour forecast 12:00PM 1:00PM 2:00PM 3:00PM 4:00PM 5:00PM 6:00PM -6° Partly Cloudy -2° Partly Cloudy 4° Partly Cloudy 6° Partly Cloudy 8° Partly Cloudy 10° Partly Cloudy 18° Partly Cloudy

Rorys Christmas Concert

Rory's Christmas concert, Rory's the one who looks bored and is not singing.

It Snowed!!

My Sister Started A Blog

Okay so she's not really my sister but she should have been. My dear Erin has started a blog check it out!! I was going to post a pic but all the ones I have I look really bad in. So I selfishly refrain from posting a photo.

Where the Heck is the Snow??

Rare snow covers New Orleans, other areas... what the heck!! I saw six snowflakes last week, maybe a few more but we haven't had any snow stick. I'm having a hard time beliving it's December. I love winter and snow and it's a little depressing to look outside and see dirt and brown grass. I long for the gleam of the first real snow. I know the rest of the state has seen snow, it's kinda of weird that we don't have any.

This picture is from last spring.

NIN in Missoula

First let me give a shout out to Justin and Julie thanks for babysitting!!!!
When I heard Nine Inch Nails was coming to Missoula I was thrilled. A band that Enoch and I both love! The first time I heard NIN was also the first time I met Enoch. He had just bought Downward Spiral, and we were in my brothers truck. I was blown away. Prior to this I had listened to basically The Beatles, and country because that's all there was in Walla Walla when I was in High School.
Fast forward to tonight.... We got in line about 6:15 and it was a brisk 40 degrees which is much warmer than it usually is in December in Montana. I was wearing my favorite fuck me boots, a cute plaid skirt and a skull t-shirt, I was looking super foxy.

Doors opened a little after 7 we went in and got really really close to the front. Then we waited, and waited a little more. A little after 8 the opening act(I use the word act loosely) came out. The Bug was a DJ and some lady that yelled a lot in a heavy Jamaican accent about fucking. I picture prisoners in Guantanamo breaking after listening to the "music" that The Bug played. So that ended after thirty minutes of torture, then we waited, and waited. While we waited we got to hear some emo kids talk about shaving and how manly they were. I'm guessing they probably we toddlers when Pretty Hate Machine came out.
Finally NIN took the stage! The crowd went nuts and turned into a giant mash pit. Enoch and I were thrown around like rag dolls, and we're not feather weights. We moved back to the tamer edge of the crowd. The show was amazing!! The lights were amazing. Trent Reznor was awesome, he is so packed up, which I had never realized.I always think of him on how appears in the Closer video.

They played a lot of their heavier stuff, but they also played a lot of their instrumental easy going stuff.For most of the show I stood next to a girl I could only describe as Goth Barbie, tomorrow I'm sure she turns back into Malibu Barbie. She and her girl friend we're practically doing it, why pay for porn when you can watch it at concert. NIN finished with my favorite song "Head Like a Whole" which is one of their first big songs.
Then they came out for an encore, more lights they played Hurt which is another really awesome song!





The only song that they didn't play that I really wanted to hear was Hersey. It's awesome. Which I couldn't find a video for but here are the lyrics.

"Heresy"

He sewed his eyes shut because he is afraid to see
He tries to tell me what I put inside of me
He's got the answers to ease my curiosity
He dreamed a god up and called it Christianity
Your god is dead and no one cares
If there is a hell I'll see you there
He flexed his muscles to keep his flock of sheep in line
He made a virus that would kill off all the swine
His perfect kingdom of killing, suffering and pain
Demands devotion atrocities done in his name
Your god is dead and no one cares
Drowning in his own hypocrisy
And if there is a hell I'll see you there
Burning with your god in humility
Will you die for this?
Trent Reznor NIN

all my pics and videos are up on my flickr account so check it out.

DDR Night at our House

I didn't make it to the gym today so I decided the kids and I would play DDR so of course here's some video.
Magnus

Thor


Rory


Bo


Me

Magnus

Look at me Look at me!!

*********Update**********
Novembers Fitlinx Results








I ranked number 12out of some 900 in the whole gym!! Pretty exciting! The rank is awarded by how much cardio you do and how many pounds you lift. then they do some magical equation and figure it out!!

Rank Username Home Facility FitPoints
1 Facility User The Women's Club 20,551
2 Facility User The Women's Club 16,275
3 Facility User The Women's Club 14,488
4 Facility User The Women's Club 12,953
5 kyobst The Women's Club 12,951
8 Facility User The Women's Club 10,350
9 leahye The Women's Club 9,575
10 cwinkler The Women's Club 9,554
11 aftonr The Women's Club 9,521
12 gojengo The Women's Club 9,284
13 Facility User The Women's Club 9,212
14 Facility User The Women's Club 9,083
15 Facility User The Women's Club 8,605
16 Facility User The Women's Club 8,598
17 JulieWard The Women's Club 8,422