Thanksgiving Day Run for a Cause

I lot to run. So does my husband and my daughter often tags along as we participate in numerous races each year. My husband even has a blog about his races (http://jonathondelf.blogspot.com/). Our favorites are the races that raise money for a good cause. A few years ago, we started the tradition of running a race on Thanksgiving Day with our family, who either particpates or cheers us on. I figure I can eat that extra portion of dessert if I get a run in before the big meal:)

This year, we spent Thanksgiving in Faribault, Minnesota with my family. Mt husband and I participated in the IRIS (Infants Remembered in Silence) Turkey Trot 5k Run. (http://www.irisremembers.com/) and this was one of the most emotional runs we've participated in as this is a cause that is close to our hearts. IRIS honors the babies that were never born or that died very young and provides a resource for parents and families to help them cope with that loss.  My grandma, aunt and mom (which means I have siblings I have never met) have all lost babies and we have close friends that had babies they never got to meet as well. We had signs and tags made in their honor and had a prayer for all of those affected before the start of the race.

My brother and I with the sign for our brother who was stillborn.

Each of the leaves has a name of a baby that was being honored.

I ran/walked the race with my cousin and it was the first time we had every ran a race together. We went for a practice run a few weeks ago!

Here's the crew! A special thanks to my mom for watching Bundle so we could do this race!

What's a race without Superfans?! My aunt and cousin stood out in the cold to cheer us on! LOVE!

My husband, dressed as Santa finished 5th overall

There were angel ornaments that were given away and I took a few to give to those people I care about that have lost babies.

Not to make light of a very serious event, but I look for excuses to be goofy and a Thanksgiving Day run was a great excuse to break out my turkey hats. I didn't realize until later that day my hat was on backwards:)

~Angela

My Little Girl's First Snow!

We got snow last weekend and it stayed! Not much of it, but enough to bundle up our little girl and take her out to experience it for the first time!

She really wanted to touch the snow, but when she did was surprised at how cold it was!  "Hand! Hand! Cold!"

Our little Bundle liked the sled

Daddy pulling Bundle

Mommy pulling bundle. This picture makes me look really fast!

~Angela

Thankful for so many things

Thanksgiving is a perfect time to focus on all that I am thankful for. I started a tradition with my family when I was in high school of writing in the Book of Giving Thanks each Thanksgiving. Whomever I happen to be lucky enought celebrate Thanksgiving with gets to write in the book. This year, it will be my family as we will be celebrating with them.

I am thankful for way more than the 15 things on this list, but I do have other things to do today. 

I am Thankful for:

1. My husband, who provides for our family, is a partner in this life and the best Daddy I could have ever wanted for our little girl. He respects me, and has earned the respect of those who work for him as he is caring, compassionate, generous and giving. He keeps me centered and makes me a better person. He is fun and spontaneous a great listener and a great hugger. He is my biggest supporter and my rock. I thank God every day that he brought us together.

2. My little Bundle for who I cannot imagine life without. Nothing prepared me for the love I have for her and being a mom has been the most fun, rewarding job I have ever had, hands down. Her hugs, giggles and songs fill my heart with a joy that is like nothing I have ever experienced.

3. My mom, who is a great friend and great parent. She has taught me more by example in the last few years than I could ever learn in a lifetime. Her dignity, grace and positive outlook for life are something of envy. She has overcome obstacles and celebrated life's greatest joys, always with a smile and a kind word. Putting others before herself is second nature to her and she has taught me the value of family, the importance of helping others and makes time with her special. I've seen an even more beautiful side of my mom now that she is a grandmother.

4. My brother is the hardest working person I have ever met. He is also the most generous. He is the person who would (and has) give his last dollar to someone because they probably needed it more than he. Each year for Christmas he donates money to St. Judes (my favorite charity) as part of my Christmas gift. If that doesn't say something about his character, I don't know what does. He is fun, he is smart, he is the best uncle to my little girl and their bond is untouchable. He is also hilarious. My brother is one of the main reasons I want to have another child- as much as my little girl completes our family, I cannot imagine life without my brother (and friend) by my side. Sibling relationships are like no other relationship and I want my little girl to experience that too.

5. My girlfriends, whom there are too many to list. I have friends scattered all over the country. Some I talk to more than others, but each one of my friends is important to me. I have the friends that I can call in the middle of the night because I need something (I don't do this often) and the friends who will listen, the friends who will laugh with me and cry with me and have fun with me. I have friends who have children that are now friends with my little girl and I have friends who probably never will have children. I love them all the same. I have friends that I see often and I have friends that I rarely see, but email often. I treasure these friendships SO much. I feel so undeserving of most of my friends, that I appreciate they still love me, despite my flaws.

6. The family that I married into. I am lucky to have a second family that loves me as much as I love them. I could not have married someone who did not value his family. Although we struggle to make time for both of our families at holidays, we are blessed to have this problem. Not only do we both have a family, we LIKE both of them!

7. My extended family...my grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins. I'm lucky to say that I am related to all of them. We love, laugh, give and create memories together. I really cannot do justice to how lucky I am to have these people in my life. They are there to help and there to celebrate and there to support each other. All. the. time.

8. My health. This is something I often take for granted, which I should not.

9. My house, which felt like home before we ever moved in. Our home is not only a shelter, but a place to create memories, raise a family and a reflection of us! We have lived here for just under 2 years and I cannot imagine being anywhere else.

10. My passion for life. This means that I am never bored, I appreciate the little things and start each day on a postive note. (this does NOT mean that I spring out of bed each morning)

11. Time to myself. My husband and I make an effort to create time to do the things we each enjoy. Alone. Sometimes I just need that hour to go for a run, read a book, take a bath, blog... It refreshes me and for that I am thankful.

12. My job. In a job climate that is tougher than ever, I am thankful that I have a job and enjoy what I do, I enjoy who I work with and even more important, I do not take work home with me.

13. Water. This is my drink of choice and there are people all over this world who do not have this luxury.

14. My smartphone. As much as I hate to put an item on the list, it is true. I am thankful for my phone. I am thankful for the time I used my GPS feature to get out of a rough neighborhood when I was lost while traveling for work. I am thankful for the convenience of email and calling on the go as aways to stay better connected than every before. I am thankful for the convenience of my phone.

15. My ability to laugh at myself. This has saved a lot of tears and allowed me to look at the more positive angle of tough days, embarassing moments and struggles.


Nothing brightens my day or humbles me more than focusing on all the blessings I have. I don't feel that I deserve most of these blessings in life...

~Angela

Snow!

It feels more like the holiday season now that the snow is on the ground. What a beautiful view from our house!

We had a surprise visitor who left us a snow angel! Love it!!! Jon discovered it this evening outside our front door!

...we think we know who it was from the tracks in the snow:)

Even Mr. Frosty looks better surrounded by snow!

~Angela

O Christmas Tree

We were determined not to use the Target gift cards we had received as wedding gifts on needs like cleaning supplies and toilet paper, and wanted to purchase a wedding gift  together that we would be able to enjoy for many years. We found a great deal on a pre-lit artificial (obviously) 9.5 foot Christmas tree and that was the wedding gift we chose. I love the tree. Sometimes the pre-lit trees don’t have a lot of lights on them, but this one does. This tree is in our living room and since our home is so open, can be seen as we prepare meals and sit down to eat supper. We love our tree.

On our first wedding anniversary, Jmy husband and I started the tradition of decorating our home for the holidays. With a new tree, a new home and new traditions together as a couple, we were eager to start, so November 12^th seemed like a perfect date to do so. We enjoy slowing down and being  together at home on our anniversary. Plus, we get to enjoy the decorations a bit longer! The last couple of years, my mother-in-law and father-in-law have come to help us. They also babysit so my husband and I can get out on a date and they get special time with our little girl too. Everybody wins!

Bundle and Nana

Papa, Angela & Nana

I have always wanted Christmas lights on the outside of my home and our house was designed with this in mind with the outlets under the eaves. So, for the first year, we have them!! My husband and his dad worked on this project and I love it!

Bundle worked on untangling our lights (ok, this is a joke!)

I really do love Christmas, so I'll be blogging about this for awhile!

~Angela

Getting Ready for the Holidays/Homemade Gift Ideas

We decorated our house this weekend and I LOVE how everything looks. I'll blog more about that later, but for now, I thought I would post a few ideas of homemade gifts since I have gotten a lot of emails asking what I am making. I am still not revealing the gifts I am making for others in case they check the blog, so I thought I would hilight some of my favorite homemade gifts I have received from others.

This is the quilt my coworkers made for me before I had my baby. The tree theme fits into the room perfectly!

My mom gave me this as a wedding shower gift and although the container itself is not homemade, she wrote a poem about each of the words painted on the drawers and placed them in each drawer. Each poem was wrapped and tied with beautiful ribbons and charms. It was extremely thoughtful! I copied this idea for my friend Jen's wedding- the best ideas are meant to be shared after all:) I use the container every day as it houses cotton balls, Q-tips and makeup.

My husband is always one to get creative and the following gifts are all from him:

I got the basket with all of the shapes in them for Valentine's Day one year. He painted all of the shapes and each one symbolizes something that is an important part of our relationship. Then he put them in a basket for a fun presentation. These are in our master bathroom.

Each year for Christmas, Jonathon makes me a calendar with photographs of the previous year. Each month reflects what we were doing last year during that same month. He makes this on http://www.walgreens.com/  since that it where all of our photos are stored and oragnized by date. It also has friends and family members' anniversaries and birthdays listed on it. I hang it up on work and it is truly the gift that gives all year long. Each month I get excited to flip to see the new pictures and take another trip down memory lane.

Other ideas that I did not take pictures of (because they are no longer here to photograph!) are food gifts. Our friend and neighbor, Jeff makes us homemade bread and we LOVE it. What a  treat that is! My grandma gives me homemade strawberry jam and canned pears; I've gotten salsa and homemade pickles from my aunt and uncle; and I have coworkers who share jams and cupcakes. Since I rarely take the time to make any of these myself, I truly enjoy the fruits of their labor!

These are just a handful of ideas that I thought I would pass along to get you started making your own gifts, if you decide to do so!

Anniversary Traditions

Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. It is a treat for us to slow down and stay home, so we started the tradition of doing just that the first year we celebrated our anniversary. Traditions are something we both love so it continues. I put my wedding dress on (when else am I going to wear it?!) and we dance to our wedding song "I Swear" by John Michael Montgomery. This was the first of many songs Jon has sung to me over the years and it brings back those memories each time. It's simple and fun and something we both enjoy. Never mind the fact that my wedding dress didn't quite zip all the way this year...it's keeping that traditon that matters:)

Here are a few pictures from our wedding day on 11.12.05:

We'll spend the remainder of of the weekend decorating our home for the holidays.

~Angela

The Perfect Fit

When we worked with a stager to sell our previous home, she said to us "People often make the mistake of placing items they belong wherever they will fit, rather than finding something perfect for the space." It was true for us- we have cool stuff and want to display it; however, displayed poorly does not do it justice. Now that we have been in our new home for close to two years, we are finally making some headway on decorating. The first thing we did was put out photos of our family and friends as those were the first thing to go when we were staging our house to sell it. Today we (ok, my husband did all of it; I played with our little girl while he worked) put some finishing touches on our walls and I love how much more it makes our house a home! And since we will be decorating our home for Christmas this weekend, we can focus on that now that some of these other projects are done!

While on a trip to Michigan a few months ago with my mother-in-law and father-in-law, I found this great sign at  one of the stops along the way-the Old Library in Hayward. Since I can be quoted as saying what is written on the sign, I knew we needed it and it is a great keepsake from that awesome trip:

After measuring and measuring and looking through thousands of our photos to see what we wanted to frame, we (again, meaning my husband) laid out the plan:

We finally found some great frames that have a plastic in place of glass (safer in case they fall and break since the frames are very low to the ground)  from a catalog I saw advertised in a magazine (http://www.pictureframes.com/). Below if the finished product!

I also found a great, sturdy basket for all my heart shaped rocks that I have been collecting. I may store them outside this spring, but for now, they have a home indoors. I have been on a hunt for the perfect way to display them for awhile. I found this at Ella & Eve (https://www.facebook.com/ellaandeve), a store that has recently moved to the Eau Claire mall and is owned by a friend of mine's sister. I like supporting small businesses when I can so this made it an even better find!

I am also one who is always looking at a clock and needing to know the time, so I was in search of a large clock for above the couch. I found this one at Target (http://www.target.com/):

I saved branches from being burned a few months ago. They were cut off of my neighbor's willow tree he wanted to get rid of them, but I saw a way to reuse them. Always one to incorporate nature into my home, I saved them and they were in my garage for months until I found the perfect vase to house them. I searched for awhile to find one that would be tall enough and sturdy enough not to tip over and low and behold, Target came through for me again! They are in my craft room:

 Jon also hung the shelf in my craft room so I can display (big surprise here) more photos!!   The room is a bit of a disaster as I am currently in the process of making Christmas gifts for everyone on our list:

I also think by searching for the perfect items, we have saved money as there is a lot of thought that goes into each purchase. In an effort to always simplify my life, I only want things that I truly love in my home that have a distinct purpose.

~Angela

My Grandma

After my grandpa passed away when I was 10, my brother and I started spending a week or two in the summer with my grandma. These are memories I cherish and the time we have spent together has been so special to me.  When we first started visiting, it was all about being spoiled by my grandma. Most of my other cousins lived in the same town as my grandma so they got to see her more often. This was OUR time. Of course, we still spent most of the time with my cousins anyway. We went to the go-car track, played cards, and had water fights and bonfires. We went fishing and paddleboating and swimming at the lake. We ate junk fook and stayed up late. We also loaded up the Winebago RV and prayed it made it all the way to Valleyfair. When all of her grandkids were tired and ready to go homne, my grandma was the one saying to us "One More Time!!" as she wanted to go on the rollercoaster again.  She was and still is the FUN grandma. She also taught me how to do laundry and also how to make homemade bread and strawberry jam.

I can remember my grandma saying eventually the thrill of me visiting will wear off and once I got into high school I would be too cool to visit. I wasn't. Instead, I was able to drive my brother and I ourselves as we packed up our stuff for our annual week in the summer with Grams.

Then I can remember my grandma saying that once I was in college and working I would be too busy to visit her. I wasn't. Instead I took vacation from my jobs and planned my trip around breaks from school.

When I became engaged to be married, my grandma said to me, you are probably not going to visit anymore now that you will have a husband at home. I still did. He understood. After all, the first time Jon met my grandma I asked her what she thought of him because if she did not approve, I would have had to reconsider marrying him. Thankfully, he passed the test. Jon knows how special she is to me. Anyone who knows me well, does.

Fast forward a few years later when we decide to have children and my grandma says to me, I suppose you will not visit anymore after you have a baby. You will be even busier then. I still did; I just brought my little bundle with me while I was still on maternity leave. It was our first road trip together- just the two of us. It is important to me that my daughter spend time with her Great Grandma, with whom she was named after (my grandma, mom, daughter and I all share the middle name of Marie).

Grams & my daughter on a visit while on maternity leave

4 generations: Grams, me, and my mom with my little girl

I just got back from a long weekend with my grandma. She now realizes that I will be visiting every year. My trips have become a bit shorter; no longer the 2 week trips my brother and I took when we were younger. After all, my huabnd missed our little girl if she is gone for too long. And instead of being spoiled rotten by my grandma, she just spoils us with love and I try to help her out around the house and still do laundry. (I think the reason I don't mind laundry to this day is because I have fond memories of learning with her for the first time.) We play cards and she shares memories of her life growing up. We laugh and talk and enjoy each other's company.

Grams & I this past weekend in a giant leaf pile at her house

I have moved around a lot so my Grandma's house seems more like home than any other house or town I have lived in. She is one of the first people I want to call when I have exciting news and will listen to me when I am hurting or frustrated. She is giving and has a heart of gold. She is fun! She has been there for all my important moments: from winning the award for travelling the farthest to visit for Grandparent's Day to graduations and birthdays. She was there on my 21st birthday doing shots with us and visited my daughter right after she was born. She was there to cheer me on when I ran my first and only marathon and is waiting at the finish line each year when I skate the Northshore Inline Marathon.

I have always hoped for my daughter to have such a bond with her grandparents.

My little girl is lucky because she already does.

~Angela

Memories

I love my memories. They shape who I am. They're a gift that no one can take from me and one that I treasure.

My mom shared an article with me about a man who had amnesia and has no previous memory. How sad. It made me appreciate all the memories I have. Of course I all remember life's defining moments- my graduations from high school and college, numerous vacations, our wedding day, (and seeing my husband for the first time that day at the end of the aisle...it still makes me giddy!!), giving birth to my beautiful baby girl and those precious first moments with this little person that was made with love and was (still is!) so, so wanted. But there are all those other memories too... the lesser important moments that are a part of my history, like toting my little brother around in our two seater tricycle, and riding my bike for the first time. Stretching our arms around this giant tree near our house with my mom and brother as in the photo below:

Of course my youngest memories are with my family who are still a huge part of my life. "Sledding" down my grandma's stairs with my cousin on mattresses, sleeping in my grandma's camper and being scared even though we were 10 feet from the house, the squishinesh of my grandpa's thumb because he got it stuck in an elevator, going to museums with my mom and having Reading Corners. Then there was the time my brother and I went swimming in a ditch of melted snow with our snowsuits on and pulled each other in the wagon behind our bikes. There were the times we got each other in trouble and the time we stuck by and defended each other.

 Jump ahead several years and life gets more complex - There are the practical jokes, the first dates, running a 5:25 minute mile and breaking the school record then losing focus and not being close to that again, being the "new kid", learning what it is like to lose someone close to you and how to pick yourself up and move on, the awkward adolscent years, the laughter, the tears, the dificult decisions I've made about jobs (never easy), love (I think everyone should experience breaking up with someone and being dumped as both are achingly painful) and friendships...

And now that I am a parent, my litthe girl gives me gifts every day whether a cuddle, a smile or something new that she learned. As she learns more and more each day, I can barely keep up. 

All of my memories are gifts that come to me when something I do or see serves as a reminder and the memories come flooding back.  I don't want to forget anything and love to reminisce.  This is why I scrapbook and journal. As much as I think I will remember everything, the reality is that is impossible as EVERY DAY will be a memory and you just never know what each day holds.

~Angela

Beautiful Juxtapositions

I love it when the ocean's waves are crashing, as they do in a fierce storm, yet it is a beautiful, sunny day. I also love when you can see the moon when the sun is out, like yesterday. And I was noticing that even though it is early November and we have our pumpkins out, a warm fall (what a gift!!!) also leaves my flowers in full bloom! Pumpkins and summer flowers at the same time- I love it!

~Angela