Thursday, December 18, 2008

Blonde Moments

I was headed out to start my car about 20 minutes before time to go home from work, and I asked a co-worker if she would like me to start her car for her, of course she handed over her keys and told me where she was parked. I started my car and then headed around to the other side of the building, and put the key in the door, it didn't turn, but I opened the door anyway and had a fleeting thought of, "hmmm, guess she forgot to lock her door." So then I am trying and trying...and trying and trying...to get the key in the ignition and finally gave up. I went in and said, "Frances, I can't get your keys in the ignition!" Well...we finally figured out that I had gotten into the wrong car; which explains alot of things. Maybe you had to be there, but it was pretty funny and definitely a time when I felt very blonde!

But as I always say...at least blondes have an excuse!

My next blonde moment story is a little more embarassing. So there is a truck driver who hauls frequently into Kalispell and almost always brings a load to Bitney's furniture; Jesse and I have a good friend named Lance who's dad owns Bitney's and Lance is working there and next in line to take the business over...so this driver apparently heard from Lance that he had a friend who worked at Watkins and Shepard and to keep an eye out for me. This driver also happens to be one of the loudest most obnoxious guys ever - but he is very nice and very funny. He quickly makes friends with everyone in the office and he always has a new Lance story for me...or he calls Lance from his cell phone and makes me get on the phone and say, "This is Barry's new secretary, just wanting to let you know that he's bringing in a load of Stanton this afternoon." Lance fell for it the first time, but of course it's getting kind of old now. Well anyway...one night I had a dream that this driver brought Lance into the office to say hi to me. Wierd, I know. Anyway, the next morning when he comes into the office I was not careful with my choice of words and said to the driver, "Hey! You were in my dream last night!" He hugged me and said, "Woo-hoo, really? That's awesome!" And then proceeded to yell at the top of his lungs, "Hey everyone, did you hear that? Brenda's dreaming about me at night!" He also told the CFO downstairs, one of the guys in the shop, and one of the dispatchers - I fear I will never live this down. So here I go telling everyone else about it on my blog- but why not share a laugh over it...I mean the damage is already done.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Blether Blether and Blatha-bee, Blatha-bo

I just want to say before I go to bed, "blether blether" - that has been the most commonly used phrase by Paige and I have it stuck in my head all of the time. Seriously, you know how you can pick up phrases from people and use them without realizing it? Well..I actually realize it, but I think I picked up "blether blether" from Paige - today at work, for example, I was stirring my hot chocolate and hazlenut creamer into my coffee and while I'm standing there doing that I was saying to myself, "blether blether..." Again, I said it to myself when I was trying to make sense of a rate sheet I received from a vendor, the page looked like nothing but a bunch of numbers and all I could think was, "blether blether..." And yet again, there is a lady at work who drives me nuts, I can hardly be nice to her, and when she is blabbing away alllll daaaay long, whenever I hear her voice I say to myself, "blether blether, blether blether." It calms me and diverts my attention away from that annoying background noise. So you see, Paige's babble is not nonsense babble, adults can use it too!

The other words she uses that I love so much are blatha-bee, blatha bo -- which we have recorded of her reading a book like that, we'll get it uploaded soon hopefully - she adds emphasis on different syllabals and it is hilarious. I find myself also using this phrase from time to time...when I was digging through a file for some papers and looking for an invoice number and amount, I would go from page to page and say to myself, blatha-bee, blatha-bo, blatha-blathabee...and ah-ha, I found the invoice.

Maybe that is just my way of taking a little piece of her with me whenever I'm not around her - that and the shrine of pictures on my desk :)

Ummmm...just heard a dog woofing, sounded like it is in our house. What? Must be hanging around outside the window or door. Either way, I'm getting the baseball bat and heading to bed. I just finished my last web-cam presentation for my public speaking class - woo-hoo!!! Last day of classes is on Wednesday and I get a break until January 1st! I don't even have to express my excitement, but if you really want me too....I could. It might be fun and refreshing.... Oh yeah, I was going to bed. Last Thursday night I stayed up late doing homework, essay questions yuck, and then decided to stay up later and read some blogs, oops - I could hardly stay awake at work. In fact, I had to fill in for the receptionist and answer phones for an hour and I literally fell asleep once and the phone ringing jolted me back to life. Oops. So yeah, lesson learned, I'm going to bed...uh 15 minutes earlier than last Thursday.

P.S. Maybe tomorrow I will tell you about my recent blonde moments.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Paige at 19 months

We had Paige's 18 month appointment on Tuesday - a month late - bad mommy!

She's weighing in at a hefty 20 lbs. I forgot how long she is, but I don't think the measurement was accurate because she sure was a squirmy little critter.

We love our new doctor - and Paige really liked her, so that is great.


Paige is still not really talking, but she repeats words back to me like "Turtle" - there is a turtle at daycare, "Nemo" - she got a Finding Nemo sticker from the doctor, "Alligator" - there is a stuffed animal alligator at daycare. They sound like "tata," "mo," and "lalagurgle" - Some say not to worry about her vocab development and that soon she'll be talking non-stop and we'll want her to shut-up - I can't imagine! One of my most favorite things in the world is to listen to the cute and funny things that kids say.


Anyway...here is our little miss...pardon the background, yes we hang dry some laundry in the living room, and yes our coat closet is so stuffed full of stuff that we can't close the door - and most of the time our coats don't make it into the closet - it's waaaay too much work to hang them on a hanger! Let's see what else is in the background? Hmmm...looks like the bib ended up on the couch, along with some folded laundry. Hey at least there is proof that I do laundry. I actually love to do laundry - it's the only household chore I like. Ok so ignoring the background, Paige sure looks cute in black and pink polka dots! :)

Friday, November 28, 2008

Pat myself on the back

I would like to give myself some public praise - that I have gone an entire month without buying new clothes for Paige - not one single thing! That is an enormous accomplishment for me and our family's budget.
I was convinced for awhile that I had a problem, so I had to prove to myself that I could overcome it without SA (shopoholics anonymous) meetings and intervention.

Speaking about shopping - I am curious how the sales numbers will add up for this years christmas season. Montana will probably still do ok, but some other states will be interesting. I am surprised that Bush didn't try to heroically squeeze out one more stimulus check to everyone to boost holiday sales. ha-ha. Adios dude. Those stimulus checks were the stupidest idea ever - seriously, they barely boosted our GDP enough to make a difference for one quarter. Anyway, I hate our tax system - I know the new won't be great, but the old one had worse consequences - I liked Ron Paul's idea about taxes. Do away with the IRS. If I thought he had a chance to win I would have voted for him. Anyway - besides taxes, I think our new President will do a fine job and I'm glad he won. I wrote up a posting quite awhile ago about the presidential election, but decided not to post it because I know that most of my readers for some reason or another didn't like Obama. I also went off on a few tangents and probably would surprise a few people. Regardless, I hate politics because some people let it get in the way of personal feelings about each other and I just didn't want to go there. I guess I have gone there now - but I'm not going to post my old write-up because it would be silly now - I mean it'd be like posting Happy Thanksgiving 3 weeks after the day. But put it this way, I'm glad that we have a President who is willing to ask questions to all the right people, surrounds himself with diversity, and is passionate about hope and will use hope to lead the people instead of fear. The other option was a President who had nothing to brag about except for his heroic military years, which there is something to be said for, but does not even come close to making him good President material. Oops there I go again...

Something to stimulate my brain

So, it's Friday after thanksgiving - I ate entirely too much turkey; and of course turkey makes you tired! I have a confession to make...Becky had invited us over to their side of the mountains to join in on what sounded like a very fun thanksgiving weekend but I told a white lie that I "asked and my boss wouldn't let me have Friday off." Well the truth is, that she had made an announcement that she would not be able to give anyone time off around the holidays - so I was too scared to ask for Friday off. I mean really, it was basically like her telling me that I couldn't have the day off, right? Well come to find out, the entire office was closed today anyway! Oops! Sorry Becky for kinda lying to you :( By the time I found out that I did have Friday off, we had already made plans to have Thanksgiving dinner with Jesse's grandma in Butte at some of her family's house. So we just made a quick day trip over and then I was excited thinking about how much I could get done being home for three days! Well...my house is kinda clean, but not as clean as I'd like - I got tired of cleaning. I still have not gotten half down my list of other things to do. Now that Paige is napping I am trying to work on homework, but that turkey I ate yesterday is still making tired and I can't focus on anything! So I thought I'd do a little blog posting to stimulate my brain and wake up a little. Although I apologize that it was probably completely boring for you to read! I think I will update the page a little. Time to delete the St Judes sponsorship list below - those of you donated, thanks again on behalf of St Judes and don't forget to write it off for 2008taxes..some of you might need all the tax breaks you can get! Anyway - I am replacing that list with a new list - of all of my favorite things/products that we use. I have been thankful before for recommended products from friends or family and thought I'd share a few of my favorite things.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

For Heather...and anyone else who cares

Heather, I'm so glad you are interested in our little life :) I love to read your blog...I spend more time blog hopping than coming up with things for my own! My other excuse is I have been up late too many nights working on homework. Here is the update since Halloween - Paige started in daycare. It is called Mother Goose and Gander and there are sooo many kids. It is actually a Child Development Center so she gets to learn how to read good too (what is that line from the movie Zoolander?) haha. She loves it, she loves the kids and it has been great so far.

My classes are going well. Right now they are Presentation Speaking and International Economics. Econ is a great class to be in right now, we have some great topics to discuss and I feel very smart now. Presentation Speaking is interesting - we have to give our presentations or speeches to a webcam and then upload it to i-Tunes. This online learning environment is great - it is not as hard to give a speech to your computer as it is to get up in front of a whole bunch of people! haha.

More on Paige - she bites me when she's mad...but no one else (except for her teddy bears)! Question for Moms - What do I do? Here is what I have done - snipped her in the mouth and set her on the floor. Then it's like we are in a fight and it seems childish on my part.
Other than that she is a doll and so much fun - the other day I was reading a book to her called "Go Dogs Go" and I get really animated when I say that because it is fun...and she now tries to say it..."do dah dooo." And because I am so fun when I read it, we read it all the time. :)
What else...oh, her grandparents bought her a baby and a stroller which she loves to play with soooo much. The stroller has a bottom compartment, much like real strollers do...and she has a smaller baby that she puts in there - he never comes out. I wonder if she remembers how Kenna rode in the stroller, and Jarris rode below. (See pictures below in previous post from when we were with Luke and Tammia in Chicago).

My blogging thoughts of late - politics, racism, and "my favorite things"
I'm nervous to post anything about politics or racism, but feel I need to to get it off my chest. Should I do it?

"My favorite things" will be coming soon.

Oh, and P.S. to Heather and her blog voters- I LOVE music on blogs. Why did so many people respond that they don't like music? Music always adds emotion and feeling, doesn't it?

One more P.S. - To Ellen and Quiana - I finally went through my two big pink tubs of shoes and counted them; I have 41 pairs of shoes and I just remembered that I forgot to include three pairs of boots. Do I win? I'm not proud - how ridiculous is that? 44 pairs! Actually, most of them have been in my closet for a few years. I decided to get rid of some and could only part with 3 pairs. What's a girl to do?

Friday, October 31, 2008

Chicago

I was a dork and brought our camera but left our film-card at home when we went to Chicago...so we don't have very many pictures of Chicago :( But that's ok, we have enough to remind us of the trip; and of course, pictures rarely do justice anyways, at least when I am the photographer.
When we first arrived in Chicago our train was two hours late and we didn't really know where we were going; I knew that public transportation went everywhere so I figured we would get 12 miles north to our hotel somehow! :) We need to learn how to pack light - you should have seen my parents and us 3 going down 2 city blocks (which are much longer than Kalispell blocks) with all of our luggage. I think I heard the statement, "Brenda, next time you decide to run a marathon...." a few times from more than one person. We finally arrived at the metra station to take the city train up to Melrose Park where our Days Inn was. Ok, so when booking the rooms I thought...Days Inn...can't be bad - Melrose Park, sounds kinda pretty. WRONG! How was I to know, I was just trying to avoid paying hundreds for a room when the trip was already way out of our college budget!
Anyway - we finally got to our hotel and fell asleep before hitting our pillows. The next day was spent getting back downtown and finding our way to the Fitness Expo which was ok if you had money to spend on running clothes and other stuff. No free goodies like a real expo should be! We finally met up with Luke and Tammia, Kenna and Jarris downtown for lunch and some strolling around; Dan and Elaine enjoyed a leisure drive through Chicago traffic (that was dripping with sarcasm) and met up with us before we all went up the John Hancock Tower. We were EXTREMELY grateful for L&T who have navigated Chicago before. Obviously it was fun to spend time with everyone. Paige thoroughly enjoyed sharing Kenna's stroller and toys with her and walking her around.
I didn't get to shop...and we didn't get to do as much sightseeing and tourist stuff that Chicago has to offer - but that just means we have to go back someday...and NOT for another marathon... I have promised.
I'd like to go at Christmas I hear the city is gorgeous and one of the museums has a three story christmas tree!






Thursday, October 23, 2008

Marathon Experience

Going to the Chicago Marathon was a great experience. I'm proud that I finished, especially in such extreme conditions of 84 degrees! I finished in 4 hours and 33 minutes, which is a time I am happy about. The winners, which are the elite marathon runners of the world, ran it in half the time. I finished about 13,000 out of 45,000 who started. At mile 7 I saw a person holding a sign that said, "Release your inner-Kenyan!" I was feeling really good and picked up my pace...at mile 12 I was bummed because I thought I was at least at mile 15...and my legs and hips started screaming. I also had not gotten to see my family yet, who came to cheer me on, and I was realizing that it probably would not happen. I was not running by myself on Lower Valley Road; I was a tiny little person weaving between runners of all sizes, and I did not know which side of the road they (Jesse, Paige, Dad, Mom, Dan, Elaine, Angela, Travis, Luke, Tammia, Kenna and Jarris) would be on. You would think that I would spot them from a mile away, but everyone had that many fans. By mile 17 I was wishing that I had my phone so that I could call them...and I was wishing that I had never signed up for this! And then I saw a sign that some random guy was holding up that said, "Remember your reasons..." and I was slightly re-inspired. Another half mile and I saw another sign that said, "Just think, No more training!" It gave me something to look forward to. Mile 18 came along and I was running pretty slow, unable to stop and walk for two reasons (1) my legs would stiffen up and I wouldn't be able to restart running, and (2) What if I saw my family and they saw me walking???
Shuffling along I was amazingly still passing people, and I came up behind a man running in a banana costume. I was distracted for awhile by every single person cheering, "Go banana-man!" Dang, I wish I was wearing a costume like that...uh...no, actually not...too hot. Thankfully, there were many people with hoses on the sidelines spraying water for us to run through. Mile 19 came along and I started to realize that the end was getting near, and that I had actually ran 20 miles before, so why was I struggling? I pep-talked myself and took some bigger and faster strides. At mile 19, another aid station (aid stations were every two miles and provided water and gatorade), they were handing out bananas! I was getting hungry, yummy! You should have seen the banana peels on the road. It reminded me of my favorite blonde joke: What did the blonde say when she saw a banana peel? Oh no, I'm going to slip and fall again!... I kept running (I never fell).... After mile 20 I remembered that someone once told me that although a marathon is 26 miles long, you have only reached half-way at mile 20. Ugh. The last six miles became a running daze for me - part heat exhaustion and delirium, tears because I STILL had not seen my family, and agony because my knees and hips hurt really really bad. I wanted to ask other people if their legs were hurting too. Then I remembered all of the people who donated money to St Judes (Childrens Hospital for Children with cancer) on behalf of me running the marathon, and was quickly reminded to not feel sorry for myself. At least I was healthy and could run! I remembered what one of my friends had told me when I was getting tired of training - "Do it for the kids." I kept running. I saw a person holding a sign that said Almost There! and I decided that the faster I could run, the faster it would be over with. I couldn't run much faster, but I eventually finished. I thought I would be one of those people who ran across the finish line with my arms in the air and a big smile of my face. I ran through the finish line and a volunteer practically had to catch me from staggering forward, he gave me two ice bags and a cold wet towel for my sweaty head. Oh and there were more bananas, a table piled high with all the bananas in the world! Amazingly, Jesse saw me through the fence and we met up after meandering through the crowd. I said something like "that was the stupidest thing I have ever done," I started crying and he said, "Brenda, are you ok? Brenda, you need to settle down before I take you to see the rest of your family, or they will be very disturbed!" So we worked on getting me settled down and then we found the rest of the gang. Paige and Tammia started helping me stretch, my dad came over from visiting with strangers and Dan, Angela and Travis were taking naps in the shade. Everyone else stood by. At least they were there when I was done! I may have otherwise joined the marathon after-party...yuck - drinking beer after running? Some of those people still had energy to party after the run? I couldn't imagine.

Chicago Marathon 2008

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Sunday, October 5, 2008

Paige and Luke

Paige Kaylin Hedeen and Luke Parker Nelson - were born 5 days apart!
I captured a cute little meeting between the two of them at the fall festival. Paige was apparently a little to forward and aggressive for poor Mr Luke.


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Fall Festival 2008

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Thursday, October 2, 2008

Two babies in one day!

Two handsome little boys came into the world today - see the Baby Watch 2008 list! I can't put pictures on here yet, it just wouldn't be right to have them on my blog before the parent's have pictures on their own blog! :)

Also - I have started a Baby Watch list for 2009. I have a few people on it, but I'm not sure of dates - please help me if anyone knows... and this time I KNOW for a complete fact that I am not starting any rumors - uh, at least I'm pretty sure.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Fall Festival - A few pictures



We had so much fun at the fall festival. It is getting late so I'll just post one or two pictures for now --- this way you can come back for more later! How exciting is that for you?

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Paige-isms

Is that we should call them...Paige-isms? I don't like that title, help me think of a better one! I decided it is time to start documenting Paige as she changes and grows everyday. Like other people have said, it will be great to look back on this (as long as the internet is around!). I also will have to update the baby book at some point...

Little Miss Paige (17 months):

***She opens a book and says 'read, read read..." only it sounds like "ree,ree,ree,ree,ree"

***When daddy is tickling mommy she hits daddy and says 'don't'...only it sounds like "dough"

***Babbles constantly all of the time; we're not sure what she is saying, but she is a little chatter box and her voice is soooooooo cute!

***Grandpa sounds like "apa," Grandma sounds different from time to time, "eema, auma"...Daddy is "daddy or daddo," and Mommy is "mommy, mama, mam, or mom." She also said Amanda last week - Aunt Amanda came around the corner of the building, Paige pointed at her and said, "Ahdah."

***Paige LOVES to chew gum (any flavor) and chews it like such a big person, it's hilarious. She is also good about bringing it to us when she is done with it. We haven't found gum randomly stuck anywhere...yet!

***Paige also enjoys shopping at the stores and helps me push the cart - sometimes it takes twenty minutes to get down an aisle. She likes to stop and shop - she will stand there with her hands on her hips and search the shelves just like she is shopping for something. When she see's clothes on a hanger or folded on a table she will check them out like she is trying to decide if she should buy it or not. Hmmm...where did she learn that?

Ok before this gets too long...I better stop!
(I'm thinking this might need to be titled mommy's brag book) haha.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Life in a Nutshell

It is 6a.m. and I have a few minutes before I need to get ready for work. I am trying to get back into getting up around 5 or 5:15...I used to get up that early and workout, but since we've moved down to Missoula I am lucky if I get up by 6:45. I have decided that it would be best to get up early again and spend an hour studying and doing homework every morning to free up time in the evening to play with Paige. She just hates it when we're both doing homework and not playing with her (so do we!).
Jesse is snoring so loud this morning anyways, that I couldn't stand to lay in bed any longer, so here I am. Jesse never snores, but he got slammed with a nasty cold yesterday and it apparently is making him snore. I can hear him all the way down here. I'm lucky that he's not a usual snorer because I don't know if I could get use to it. I had a friend in Portland who stayed at my house a few times and she snored soooo loud I didn't sleep at all, and spent the entire night plugging my ears.
Otherwise, life is great! Jesse is taking 15 credits at the University and is studying all of the time. One of his classes is Anatomy and Physiology, and it is the 'tough' class designed for pre-med students, so he has his work cut out for him. His advisor told him that even 'A' students have a hard time pulling a 'B' in the class. Yikes. But, so far so good, he's enjoying the class. He also met up with the strength and conditioning coaches for the Griz teams and will be working with them (sort of an internship) four days a week for a few hours. This is perfect experience because it will help him make sure that it really is what he wants to do for a career. He is also training a few clients in the early a.m. a few days a week.
I am working M-F 8-5 at Watkins & Shepard trucking in the office. I am basically paying company bills. I was hoping for a job that was related more to acccounting, but this is ok for now. I was given a project (a bookkeeping nightmare) when I started so at least I have a 'challenge.' The office is interesting, not exactly a classy place to work - much different than a banking job. I am still working on my degree through online classes through Baker College. I take two classes at a time that are 6 weeks long, and then jump immediately into another session of two classes...except for this short 'fall' vacation (until the 25th), I never get a break. It is an accelerated learning style so I have homework at least every other day and I have to participate in the class discussion board 5 out of 7 days of the week. It's not easy, but it's fun, and when I'm done I'll finally have my accounting degree. Best part is, it's flexible and I don't have to go to a classroom. My next two classes will be managerial accounting and advanced business law. After that I have International economics and public speaking (we use webcam).
Training for the marathon has become a time-consuming task that I still kinda enjoy, but not really. I'm pretty sure the event will be worth it, but the training involved has been a burden. I can't wait to be done with it and get back into my old workout routines that only take 45 minutes to an hour. I have to run 20 this weekend, and then taper down until the marathon on the 12th.
Paige continues to grow and change everyday. We have so much fun with her. I'm sure that everyone's kids do the same things she is doing, but when it's your own child it's just so amazing, right? :) My new favorites: little fits, telling secrets, tickling, poking belly buttons, and spinning circles. If I am in the kitchen making dinner and she wants up and I don't pick her up, she first runs to the back wall of the kitchen and cries to the wall, then she runs into the living room and leans over the couch and cries. She'll stop crying to look up at me and make sure I am paying attention, and then go back to crying on the couch..this continues until she apparently feels better. A few times she has ended up laying on the floor crying, but I don't think she has dramatically thrown herself onto the floor yet - that's coming soon I'm sure. **We taught her how to tell secrets. At first she just put her face by your ear and didn't make a sound, now she whispers (not really saying anything, just shpsh shpsh shsaw. G & G will love to have them tell her secrets this weekend when we go visit. **Ticking and poking belly buttons, pretty self explanatory.**Spinning cirlces, getting dizzy, to the point of almost falling over, and her eyes look all wild and excited. Fun stuff.
Shower time. Shift into high gear for the day. But it's Friday!!

Paige got some glasses....





Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Monday, September 15, 2008

Thanks for the Cinnamon Rolls Grandma Braaten!

The rolls were long gone...and Paige was still licking the plate...yum-yum!




Saturday, August 30, 2008

Family Pictures

Thanks to Logan and Elisa's photography we finally got a family picture taken. Grandma Charlee requested one months and months ago. Let us know which one you want a copy of...if you want one...also specify the size - 4 x 6, 5 x 7, 8 x 10, 11 x 14, poster? Anyone for a poster? haha. You'll get a 5 x 7 in case you are wondering what size of frame to buy for it. We prefer that you use a black frame or a dark espresso frame :)







Wednesday, August 20, 2008

The Braaten Reunion Text

This was supposed to be posted at the same time as the pictures and video:

This last weekend we had a very fun reunion. We camped Thursday through Saturday at Holland Lake. It has been at least 3 or 4 years since we've all been together! Unforunately, Dan and Elaine couldn't make it, and either could Steve, Jeanne, Kristel and her new husband Conley, and David...but everyone else was there. It was so much fun to have the great-grandkids all together, meeting some of them for the first time. We ate delicious Farm To Market hot dogs, roasted mallows and made s'mores, swam in the lake, went for boat rides in my dad's boat, went tubing, wakeboarding and waterskiing, had a canoe-relay race (men against women), hiked into a waterfall, went off the rope-swing, golfed, had a baby-shower for Elissa, looked at G&G's old photo albums...

Hey Braaten Reunion Go-ers....just for fun...
What was the highlight of the reunion for YOU?

For me...it was the start of the canoe relay race when my mom (Bonnie) and Janette went down and only made it half way around Jesse (he was our turning point in the middle of the lake) and couldn't get themselves turned back towards shore and were headed across the lake...it was so funny! I laughed so hard I was crying. It was just hilarious because from where we were it just looked like they decided to divert from the course and go for some leisure paddle elsewhere. They actually had to get to the side shore, get out and turn the boat around, manually point it in the right direction to finally come back. I think the men lapped us twice. And here we thought that they would really get us off to a good start!

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Another Blog to Check out!

Jesse has created a fitness blog with workouts, health and fitness tips and more. Check it out! He'll be updating it quite frequently with new ideas, great tips, and even some videos.

I have created a link on this site...or you can click on this, or type in the URL:
http://www.hedeenfitness.blogspot.com/

Join the fitness revolution!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Phew!

Done with another session of classes. Just finished two finance classes that were pretty fun. I had to do a huge analysis project about two publicly traded companies and calculate financial ratios for three years (using income statements, balance sheets, and stock information). I feel very smart that I completed it and didn't feel totally lost when I was doing it.

Tomorrow I start into two new classes for another six week session. The two classes are Cultural Diversity and Human Relations which is a psychology class...guess I missed out on those two 'generals' before. I'll be glad to get them out of the way. I definitely have lots of PE credits from playing basketball...and I took a hip-hop dance class...and a piano class...those were the fun days of college. haha. Seriously, though, they do require classes like that!


I just mapped out my seven mile run for the morning. We live at the base of the south hills of Missoula and I decided I really need to run somewhere different than down 39th and Higgins. So I'm going to run straight up the hill, across the hill and back down, making a seven mile circle back to my house. That'll get the legs burning.

Fitting running into the schedule has been tough - but I'm always glad when I go...and I HAVE to do it or I won't be able to finish the marathon, so...14 miles on Saturday. I ran the Missoula Half Marathon a couple weekends ago and was very pleased with how I felt, and with my time. I ran with Carla, who I worked with at GB in Kalispell, and her sister - both Chicago marathon veterans. I'll be running with Carla this year in Chicago...her sister will be way ahead as she is trying to get a Boston Marathon qualifying time.


My job is getting better. At first I did not enjoy it and found it not to be what I was expecting it to be. Luckily, my supervisor just asked me to move into a different position and tackle a huge monster project. I won't get into the details - but let's just say that it's a challenge that I'm excited about. My work days are so busy, and there are big rewards ahead. I told the girls at GBCI before I moved, that I was going to take on a new persona at my new job as the "Quiet girl" They all laughed and took bets on how long it would last. Well...two people today told me that I was the quietest person that's ever worked in the office! I was glad to hear that for two reasons: 1) It means that I CAN go without telling stores and blabbing... and 2) It means that I am working hard and getting stuff done. The reason I have such a huge monster project is probably because the person who's position I moved into is no longer there because she DID talk too much and work too little. Best part is (about the new position) that I don't have to deal with the truck drivers. If they were all as nice and gentlemanly as Uncle Ed it'd be alright, but they're not! Enough about the job.


Jesse starts school on the 22nd of August and is looking forward to it. He has a jam-packed schedule and will be very busy. For now, Paige and him are hanging out in the day and they're just the best little buddies. He's been working at Gold's gym but will probably not even be able to do that when school starts - then he'll focus on school and training a few clients in the evenings.


Paige is sweet and fun as ever. She gives us kisses all the time. She loves all of our neighborkids. We live in a great kid-friendly neigborhood. Some very nice kids. One girl calls Paige "pay-pay," and Jesse told her one day, "Anytime the silver car is out there you can come knock on the door because that means that Brenda and Paige are home." She knocks on the door everyday! She's sweet though, so it's ok. Paige stands on the sidewalk and yells at the kids until they come running over and shower her with attention.


Enough writing - here is a picture of our place. Come see us sometime - we can go shopping!


Monday, July 28, 2008

Here it is...

Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. *Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.* Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I love sneezing.
2. I can NOT keep a plant or flower alive even when I really try :(
3. Now that I work at a trucking company I look at trucks to see if I recognize the drivers' name. I remember when I used to think it was so funny that my dad always checked out the U-haul's as they drove by.
4. I haven't had a piece of white bread in YEARS!
5. We live within one minute walking distance to Safeway and WalMart - it's great!
6. My favorite candy is the purple bag of skittles, and candy canes at christmas. Oh yeah, and cinnamon bears.
7. I finally started drinking coffee - only as a form of office etiquette :) and weekend shopping fun. I fill the cup about half coffee and half water, then mix in a packet of sugar-free hot chocolate and some sugar-free vanilla or white chocolate creamer. (Sugar-free is the trick to keep it from being too sweet).

Jesse's 7....
1. I'm not really that wierd.
2. I keep my thoughts to myself, mostly. Especially when they're just ideas that haven't happened yet.
3. I really like blueberries and cream protein shakes.
4. I am a much better cook than my wife. (She says so).
5. I can eat the exact same thing every meal everyday for weeks on end.
6. I used to trick my brother into making me sandwiches everyday by telling him that I would time him to see how "fast" he could do it...I never counted...and he still made them.
7. I can clap.....with one hand!


Paige's 7... (this was the most fun)
1. I say "uh-oh" and THEN throw something on the ground.
2. I like to empty sock and underwear drawers...and it's really fun to pull paired socks apart.
3. I haven't spit-up for months!
4. I can still wear 6 month size clothing, even though I'm more than twice that age!
5. I poop about three times a day.
6. I make my parents look alike...I really bring this family together nicely.
7. I have a huge shoe collection - and at this point I can only fit into four of them.

We tag.....
Grandpa and Grandma Braaten http://www.daleandbonniebraaten.blogspot.com/
Dan and Elaine Parsons http://deparsons.blogspot.com/
Danelle Parsons http://danelleparsons.blogspot.com/
Becky Nachtigal http://bbnachtigal.blogspot.com/
Tom and Jo Clark http://tomandjoandco.blogspot.com/
Alison Harris http://hugsfromus.blogspot.com/
Heather Thompson - oh wait nobody knows what your blogspot is!

Friday, June 20, 2008

Killing Time

I have a few minutes left, I'm waiting for the spin cycle to finish on this load of laundry...and it's midnight and I NEED to go to bed!!! I'm just doing a quick post to pass the time....
I have some great pictures I'd like to post sometime, but I can't find the USB cord for our camera. Maybe we'll find it. Oh, the spin cycle is done. Good night!

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Week 1 Marathon Training

1 Week down - 17 to go! This week I ran a 2mile sprint interval on Tuesday, 5 miles on Wednesday, 3 on Thursday and 8 today (saturday)! Two accomplishments in one week: Before Wednesday I had never run more than 4 miles...before today I had never run more than 5 miles. It really wasn't bad at all either. Beautiful warm sunny morning and I wasn't tired because I slept in a little (8:00). I do need to invest in some new shoes though, these ones are over a year old and I wore them when I was pregnant, so they are really broken down! I'm looking forward to my cross-training workout tomorrow - maybe my mom and I will go on a bike ride together.
I did a full-body weight training workout yesterday morning, and hadn't done one for a week or two, so my muscles were pretty sore.

Now I need to get off of here and get to work on my homework. I'm just finishing up my last week of my marketing class and my business communications class. Each 'session' is six weeks long and then I start a new session immediately of two new classes. So next week I start with two new classes. It goes by fast but can be pretty time consuming. I usually work on homework during my 1 hour lunch break everyday and then have to spend a little time each night and some time Saturday and Sunday. I should have my accounting degree finished by early next fall.

Paige and I are probably going to tag along this afternoon with Jesse while he either golfs 9 holes or just hits some balls at the driving range. It will be a nice afternoon out in the sun for father's day weekend celebration.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

More Heather 30th Birthday Pictures

These 3 girls, Maya, Beth and Sienna were taking such great care of Paige they almost put her to sleep in the wheelbarrow ride. Such sweet friends we have!
Such a baby...
Grandpa stole someone's classy chair and picnic blanket.
Some real cowgirls and cowboys...
"I would NEVER be caught dead wearing a square-dancing skirt...." Heather @ Age 29
Papa T giving classic wheelbarrow rides...


There was this stinky redneck guy....