YEAR OF THE RABIT!

My little China doll

Rita out did herself once again. We celebrated Chinese New Year on Sunday to bring in the new year with good fortune, health, and wealth.

 Layla's background is such that we happened to be chosen as possible adoptive parents based on our profile which happened to mention that we celebrated this awesome holiday. (totally random and confusing - i know!) Buca's birth grandfather was born in Hong Kong and thus her heritage is rich in Chinese culture. We celebrated this holiday thanks to kday's sister who had lived in China for a few years.... so long story short it's a tradition that we must keep up! Without the tradition, we wouldn't have Layla!

Mega awesome decor and food

Could this decor get any more radical!?

Rita does an outstanding job setting the table and feeding us

I'm a Rooster, Layla's an Ox, and Kday's a Ram

Our Chinese fortunes are read (I have an awesome story about this for you later!)

Hello... it wouldn't be Chinese New Year without Chinese BINGO!

Saucy!

TO HEALTH, WELTH, AND HAPPINESS!
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR 2011!!!!

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!

Becky and her darling folks

Friday was spent rubbing elbows with many influential women at the Grand America Hotel. I was super honored to be invited as a guest to attend the Wasatch Woman of the Year award ceremony. I was delighted to be a part of such a memorable moment and opportunity to cheer for such a deserving winner. All the women that were being honored were selfless, beautiful, strong, tender, brave, and celebrated role models. But of all the esteemed women up for the award... my friend Becky was most deserving.

Despite being a little star struck when I realized I was looking right into Marie Osmonds eyes, I pulled myself together and cried through the entire ceremony. Including the part when Becky was announced the winner at which point I quickly used up the 1 1/2 tissues that were lent to me.
I came home feeling so fortunate to be friends with such a remarkable woman.
How lucky am I?

Corena (of the MOST AMAZING yoga studio ever) Becky (of the MOST AMAZING friend ever)

And s.day

And fyi... we're officially signed up for the SLC half marathon. Yikes!

FOLLOW ME.....

SAME POSTS

SAME PEOPLE

SAME DREAMS

NEW NAME

NEW LOCATION

finding sday.blogspot.com


***** If you are having troubles updating your RSS feed or finding the new location PLEASE leave a comment. My intention is to not lose any readers in this change :)*****

MOVING BOXES

Usually I like moving, I love to box things up, de-junk, organized and label every single think in my life. But THIS MOVE is stressing me out a bit. I'd hate to lose any readers -- so I'd LOVE for those of you who are reading to leave me a comment to let me know you've made the move successfully with me! Thanks see you MONDAY with a big fat CONGRATS to a special person I know!

FINDING SDAY

SDAY RUNNING is now FINDING SDAY.
Please follow me on my new journey.

PLEASE update you RSS feed to the new webpage:

findingsday.blogspot.com

No new posts will be displayed here. All future posts will be on the new site.

Over the next few weeks I'll be transferring links to old from this site over to FINDING S.DAY

There will be links to:

KIT

MAMA MOMENTS

BUCA'S STORY

INTIBTG

HOPE

FAVORITES

FLOC

So your favorite posts won't be lost forever!

Click HERE

It's new... and will continue to be improved!

ONCE YOU FIND THE NEW SITE. PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT SO I KNOW YOU'VE FOUND ME!

FORECAST

I mentioned on my last post about setting my intention for 1/2 marathon. "I decided this race marked another beginning to a huge step foreword in my life."

If you've been with this blog for a while you know that during 2007 & 2008 I lost 70 lbs. With the unbelievable support and skills of Becky Crowther*, I was able to lose the weight the good old fashioned way. I transformed my life from unhealthy couch potato who with no idea of what healthy/unhealthy food was - to - a healthy and active person who is more aware of the contents entering her mouth. I learned to count calories, make healthy food choices, listen to my hunger scale, and stop to plan my meals and portions. I slowly began to trust food again. The weight slowly but surely melted off and I began having the energy to walk. Walking turned to jogging and that turned to running.

Even though I was on a journey with the hopes of taking 100 paces foreword... I first needed to take 50 paces foreword in my journey toward the finding myself, inside and out. It's taken me 2 more years to settle into that change and get used to the new person I found. Well, the time has come and I'm on the hunt again. I've found the "healthy" person inside. But now it's time to find the "super healthy" person I've been looking for my entire life. I know she's inside and dying to get out. Another 50 paces foreword on a new and different journey and who knows what I could find. It's gonna be awesome.

This race reminded me that I can do hard things, I can face fears, and I can be a better person every time I put my mind to it.

So if you haven't caught the gist of my new blog theme.... Then you're slow. And you'll just have to wait to see it tomorrow. Yes people - It's here.

*If you'd like info on my dietitian - email me and I'd be happy to share her with you!

FORECAST & FINDINGS

I mentioned on my last post about setting my intention for 1/2 marathon. "I decided this race marked another beginning to a huge step foreword in my life."

If you've been with this blog for a while you know that during 2007 & 2008 I lost 70 lbs. With the unbelievable support and skills of Becky Crowther*, I was able to lose the weight the good old fashioned way. I transformed my life from unhealthy couch potato who with no idea of what healthy/unhealthy food was - to - a healthy and active person who is more aware of the contents entering her mouth. I learned to count calories, make healthy food choices, listen to my hunger scale, and stop to plan my meals and portions. I slowly began to trust food again. The weight slowly but surely melted off and I began having the energy to walk. Walking turned to jogging and that turned to running.

Even though I was on a journey with the hopes of taking 100 paces foreword... I first needed to take 50 paces foreword in my journey toward the finding myself, inside and out. It's taken me 2 more years to settle into that change and get used to the new person I found. Well, the time has come and I'm on the hunt again. I've found the "healthy" person inside. But now it's time to find the "super healthy" person I've been looking for my entire life. I know she's inside and dying to get out. Another 50 paces foreword on a new and different journey and who knows what I could find. It's gonna be awesome.

This race reminded me that I can do hard things, I can face fears, and I can be a better person every time I put my mind to it.

So if you haven't caught the gist of my new blog theme.... Then you're slow. And you'll just have to wait to see it tomorrow. Yes people - It's here.

*If you'd like info on my dietitian - email me and I'd be happy to share her with you! 

ADDICTED TO LOVE

Wowza here it is. Finally. Have I been putting if off because it's too overwhelming to try to explain all the emotions that went into this race? You betcha.
The freezing cold running. The early buzz of the alarm clock. The endless laps on the track. The fear of leading Becky astray.... it was all worth it. Best 13.1 miles of my life.

The morning of the race, after I forced myself to eat a toasted egg sandwich and a few sips of Gat0rade, I lay in bed trying to fall back asleep. My mind was racing with a jumbled mess of thoughts "Do I know the coarse well enough not to get us lost?" "Will I be too slow for Becky?" "Will we finish without any major obstacles or will we have to walk the last 4 miles?" Finally I dragged my jittery body out of bed and went to look in the mirror. I needed to figure out why I was racing today. I decided this race marked another beginning to a huge step foreword in my life. (more on that tomorrow.) I returned to the bed, knelt down and prayed. I asked God "to allow me to be the eyes Becky needed today and for our legs to carry us to the finish." It's go time.

We started with a pace that we both thought would be manageable to maintain and we absolutely did. We ran 45 sec/min mile faster than I had planned and we kept that tempo through mile 9. We nonchalantly said, "Gosh, I thought this was going to be a little harder!"  By mile 11 we were eating our words as our legs began to turn to sludge. Then mile 12 hit and we decided to pick up the pace and rock it out the last mile. We excitedly approached the finish line and when I witnessed the sweetest act of love. I glanced over as Becky's husband hurdled the barricade and jumped in the race next to his wife. The most endearing look of pure excitement, joy and pride for his wife consumed his face. He was so happy to see her finish that race he could hardly contain himself. It was totally rewarding to be a part of that.

(come to find out later... everyone was worried about us because we were so "slow." But Becky and I were super proud of our time and beat our goal.)

Just a few of the best advantages of running with Becky is the constant conversation companion, total trust and belief in one another, and all the extra cheers we would get because she's so awesome. I think every person who passed us took her courage as an inspiration to find gratitude in their bodies. I hope it made them surprisingly aware of what a gift it is to be able to run. It is a gift I've come to find total joy in. I can't believe I'm so lucky to be her guide runner. I love it.

So despite the fact that we came in much slower than our fans expected... I think we're addicted. We'll see you at the SLC 1/2 Marathon this April. Just look for the two awesome chicks tied together, running, and smiling.




Mucho gratitudo goes out to my one and only MR KDAY and his side kick BUCA. Becky's family, Mr. Messell and his entourage, the super sign makers - my big brother and his fabu- fam, and the R.Nells for their warmth and hospitality!

BANKED

It's coming people...
The race recap and more ---
Today - It will be here.
I just gotta run to the bank and hopefully prevent some mega overdrafts first.
Yikes.

13.1

Here goes nothin! Heading down the road to sunny southern Utah. Some MUCHO needed sun, R&R, and.... oh ya - to run my butt off. I'm too short on time to explain my excitement on racing with Becky. You'll catch the DL on that later. I'm honored. Simple as that.

I'm battling the beginning of a cold- Zicam, Cold Eeez, and OJ are my treatment plan. Otherwise, wish me sweet loads of luck cuz I'm gonna need it. I'd love to update you on my new blog asap... however, I need a break. So see you with race recap, pics and a swiggity sweet face lifted blog on Monday - or Tuesday. We'll see.
Peace Out

"Run like you stole something."

MONKEY SEE MONKEY DO

I love this little monkey on my back.

Remember this totally rad commercial:



That's me and Buca baby. Other than the fact that she's teething and a little cranky and unpredictable this week, I quite enjoy taking her everywhere with me. She slows me down a little. And that's a good thing. Walking hand in hand into the store helps me be in the moment - rather than throwing her on my hip and rushing through my list of things to do.

We went snowshoeing with some of her buddies last weekend and then just Buca and I took off for our own little adventure. We may have ended up hiking way further than I had planned - but we had fun together. Her chattering little voice always behind me as we trekked along.

She's talking like crazy these days and will repeat almost any word I say. It's hilarious to load her up with random comments that she'll repeat.

SUPER RAD

because a post isn't a post without a picture

A super rad change is coming to the face of this little nook you call your favorite blog. 

It's going to be amazing....

How do I know?

Cuz Kday is the man on the job.

.......

Think - 

Fresh

Hip

New

Clean

Fabulous

For now you'll have to hold your horses and wait because I have things to do.

Bank - grocery store - Relief Society visits - vet appointments for the no good cat....

etc.

So get fired up cuz you're about to be re-routed to the dimension of "total awesomeness"

THE RACE IS ON---

Did it- 10 miles on Thursday

Felt like I was running for days and days

Saturday is the 1/2 marathon. 

I'm a lot nervous but even more....

I'm honored that Becky will let me be her eyes. 

We're gonna rock this race.

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And the weight loss race is on as well. 

In doing some research and visiting with Dr S. - we've concluded that weight loss will only help the fertility situation. 

It's GO time if I want to try fertility tx's again.

I've started the Co-Op again and it's time to get mega serious about counting calories

It might get as crazy as to hop on the crazy crash diet bandwagon.

Whatever. 

It must be done. 

I'm going to need ALL THE CHEERLEADING I CAN GET people! 

That means you. 

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And by the way... could there ever be a cuter pair of baby shoes ever invented?

I'm obsessed with these shoes - I plan Layla's outfits around them

Really.

PUDDING PACK

Running brings a smile to Kashi too

So.... the title of this blog is reminding me that I'm here to share about my running.

I guess I should talk about that...

Seeing that my first 1/2 marathon EVER is in less than 2 weeks. 

Holy Crap. 

Becky and I have been running.

I've been running way way less than I should have been. 

I'm a little scared but tomorrow will be pudding.

As in, "the proof is in the pudding."

10 mile run tomorrow. 

Farthest I've ever run before in my life.... at one time. 

5 bucks says my gut looks like pudding

and my legs will feel like it.

Here goes nothin!

P.S: I totally ran Becky into a wall while running indoor at the track the other day. 

Sorry Becky!

XOXO

Don't know what it is lately, but Layla has been giving me random hugs. Without warning she'll spontaneously stop whatever it is she's doing and she'll come find my leg. She prefers my left leg it seams... to wrap her arms around and hug onto. The squeeze and eye contact only lasts a moment and then she scuttles off to finish playing. It happened about 20 times yesterday and it was fantastic every time I found that little brunette bob at my knees. Fantastic I tell you!

NOT SO SERIOUS SERIOUS

Wow! those are clean cupboards!

YOWZA today was one of those not so serious - serious cleaning days. In an act to counteract my Manic Mondays - I always try to schedule the following Monday to be a less hectic one. And I never fail to wake up to a disastrous house on Mondays, no matter how clean the condition of the house on Saturday night.

Holy Smokes! Those are clean floors!

But I LOVE my Cleaning Mondays. I LIVE for them really. Today however was a pitiful excuse for one. Not because the house didn't get squeaky clean.... because it did. Rather, because I doddled along all day. What normally takes me 2 -3 hours of elbow grease, I spent almost 12 hours humming and hawing around.

Yikesee! That's a clean shirt!

I'd wash the baseboards in a few rooms, then check my email. I washed the dishes and before wiping the counters and cupboards I played in the snow with Laya. Then I folded 2 or 3 shirts before checking my email again. Change the sheets... then lay on the bathroom floor staring at the ceiling while Layla takes her third bath of the day. See the pattern yet? Ridiculous I tell you! But kinda fun in my own freaky way.

Besides, I was so excited to use my new antibacterial cleaning spray that I had to hurry and clean the entire house just so I could use up the last few drops of my prior cleaner. Ahhhh, now I'm ready for the next mess to arrive. Gosh I might just have to put that on the To Do list so I can try it out sooner rather than later. SHIZZAM!.

Have a Tershizzle Tuesday!

And P.S.... DON'T LET THE BRAIN FREEZE GET YA DOWN

THAT WAS AWESOME

Remember how this happened on January 11th last year?

Court Adoption Finalization

Then remember how this happened next?

That was awesome. 

I think it's taken almost a full year for me to realize the AWESOME-NESS of it all. 

I freaking love my life.

SUPER BUG

CAN YOU GUESS WHERE WE ARE?

My little Lady Bug has caught another round of the Super Bug. Luckily we were able to procure a speedy treatment with no overnight stay in the hospital. Three doctors, two nurses, and four hours in the ER later...  and we're home with a sleepy baby. We were fortunate enough to have caught the bug earlier in the process and avoid the need to cut into the sores. The treatment plan - another round of icky sicky antibiotics that cause a little tummy ache, 3 warm baths a day, 1 of which is a bleach bath, and some nasal ointment for all three of us 2 times a day for a few weeks.
I'm uber bugged that this is back - No worries, Layla is fine and dandy happy despite being  irritated by all the bathing going on! But I feel bad that her little body can't fight this nasty bug. I asked the doctors to tell us how we can avoid this or to explain what I'm doing wrong--- they said it's almost impossible to prevent. Primary Children's Hospital sees 10-11 kids a week because of this bug. They said we're doing all the right things, we had our entire house sterilized for heaven's sake! Her immune system is just susceptible to this specific bug and because almost everyone in the community is a carrier - it's tricky to explain and tricky to get rid of.

210

I figured it all out and just in the nick of time. Thursday morning as I sat at the computer editing my final draft of my final letter. I realized the fear of letting go was because I wasn't quite sure what I was letting go of. I also felt like letting go and moving on, meant forgetting.

The reality of the situation - Layla's Angel has taught me yet another lesson. She's mastered the art of loving, remembering the past, but focusing on the present and future. 

I needed a place to tuck away the past - not to forget it or to hide it - but a safe place to shelve it. My fear has been guiding me. I was afraid that if I didn't talk about it, replay it over and over, read the letters, and hold onto every single part of the process... that I would forget about it or somehow be ungrateful for it. I think it's kind of how people feel afraid of being happy after a person in their life dies. I've been afraid to be a mom without giving all credit to someone else. (This is another reason why it is my belief that LDSFS does a disservice to adoptive couples by not offering pre and post placement counseling services.) 

So I printed off every letter ever sent between birth families and us, I gathered letters from the beginning and the end. Photo's are organized and saved on a thumb drive. And I took a little trip with Lady down to our safety deposit box #210. My brain was waiting for me to get everything organized so it could tell my heart is was OK to let go. So as I put those memories in that black box and locked the door, I reminded myself that I'm not forgetting, I'm not ungrateful, I'm not hiding it.... I'm just putting it in a safe place and living in the NOW.

I think Layla's Angel is actually looking foreword to moving on in life more than I have been. For her the adoption was a hard experience - so it's only natural to want to put it in the past. For me it was the most miraculous experience ever - so of coarse I'd want to hang onto it. But life is NOW and that's where I'll be if you need to find me. 

 

ALL IS WELL

Don't fret my pets.
I know things have been a little heavy around here.
hang tight after one more post and we'll liven it up a bit.
eh!?

8GHTEEN MONTHS

January 11 last year Buca legally became Layla.

In two days her birth families will become a part of our past.

For two more days they are a part of our present.

I'm struggling big time to let birth-mom go.

Why? 

Who knows. 

This process doesn't come with an instruction manual.

(which I LOVE to read... really I do. Lame)

Kday and I wrote our goodbye letters to Birth-mom and Birth-father tonight. 

It's now 2:24 am. 

Why can't I let her go?

I need to sit with this--- I have 48 hours to figure it out.

Tick Tock...

YIN

I sit here at 7:13 am after waking at 5:00 am to go to yoga, less than 12 hours after attending my last yoga class. What can I say? I'm hooked. My legs are quivering with fatigue beneath me even though I'm sitting down to type. After an almost 9 mile run with Becky yesterday my body was retaliating with stiff sore muscles. And as a Manic Monday ensued I chose to seek solace in Yin Yoga.

Here's what's to be said about the totally awesome YIN YOGA:
Yin Yoga is a series of held postures of stillness for promoting release, clearing energetic blockages, and enhancing circulation. The gentle but consistent stimulation to the connective tissues encourages long-term health and flexibility of the joints, recharges the energetic system of the body and naturally draws the mind inward into a relaxed, meditative state. Many people find that a Yin Yoga practice has transformative effects on body and mind. The gentle but consistent stimulation to the connective tissues encourages long-term health and flexibility of the joints, recharges the energetic system of the body and naturally draws the mind inward into a relaxed, meditative state


I love the challenge that Yin Yoga brings me. My natural instinct is to plow through struggles and to force my way toward an outcome. Yin always reminds me that I must surrender into the pose in order to further my stretch. Forcing a deeper pose will only create a trail of damage and I won't have the strength to tolerate the forced pose. But in the beginning of the pose at the very first point that I find resistance and limitation - If I relax and surrender without judgement and frustration for not being flexible enough to deepen the pose.... THEN I am able to further my flexibility and comfort as I breath and allow a softening. 
I'm loving yoga and the lessons it has to offer. I'm telling you - THIS PLACE - isn't like other Yoga studio's or classes you find at the local gym. This is a beautiful studio where everyone is welcomed and accepted and encouraged. It's a place for personal growth, not just  a place to sweat. Try it out unlimited for two weeks for $15.00 if you want to see for yourself. It's AH-Mazing.