STORY OF MY LIFE

i just keep tripping, stumbling and falling

over my own two feet

in places i'm not sure why or what was in my way.

the awkwardness takes over my mind and

i begin to walk faster

but i can't power walk fast enough to escape the humiliation.

i trip.

i stumble.

i fall. harder.

i struggle with strength and determination.

someone help me, but

the noisy laughing of these people to my face scape off my last bit of hope.

those who fall need to get up.

with my last remaining moments

i shall write a story, a name, a face.

my story.

my name.

my face.

avoiding monster-like shadows

i continue to walk sure footed past my fears

glancing behind as i leave footprints that i am not alone.

remember to get yourself back up.

learn from your mistakes and be strong

for i know that i am capable of anything.

(If you couldn't tell already by reading above, I am not a writer, but I just felt the urge to write something a little out of the ordinary.)

My sweet husband reminds me daily (which is how often this occurs) that he doesn't know anybody else who trips, stumbles or falls as much as I do; and he knows a lot of people! It happened again last night as we were running errands. We stepped out of a business door onto the sidewalk and within a few steps I was catching myself from face planting. As we both looked behind me to see what I had fallen over...there was a big fat nothing! That's is when he proceeded to laugh at me and make fun. I can't help but laugh with him as a supporting wife!

x0xo

and all that DIRTY DASHING!

MIKE + EMILY + SARA + JULES + WESTON =

TEAM PINK!

we ran uphill in mud

rolled and hurdled over hay bails

crawled through tubes

climbed muddy walls

jumped through tires

sloshed in the swamp

slid down the slip-n-slide

and swam in the mud pit

Weston was awesome to race this DD twice! He raced with us in the AM and then was off to ROUND 2 at 4 with his peeps! What a stud to take one (or two) for the team.

Weston and his crew

Man he is sexy when he is dirty...

HERE I COME...

The Dirty Dash-

In Midway-

Tomorrow Morning-

I think I am going to be sick...

TOTAL GLEEKS!

we are glee fans, and big ones at that!

the empty void in our lives has now been filled.

we counted down the days until the season 2 opener premiered last night.

it was amazing and

the songs were fantastic.

yes, it was hilarious and

yes, we will forever be "total gleeks"

YOU KNOW YOU ARE ... WHEN YOU ... !

Think about this question and answer it honestly. Today my answer is...

you know you are FAT when you RIP your fat jeans!

This summer I had the unfortunate pleasure of lugging around from top to bottom (literally) mass amounts of LB's! Why this is I have no idea. Apparently they thought it would be a fun trick on me if we all hung out together everyday, all day, throughout shorts and swimsuit weather. Did I mention the LB's were uninvited? Yeppers!

I thought that I had been working out pretty consistently the past few weeks. I have had PT twice a week and on the other days I have either been running, doing the elliptical or dancing. I also have spent lots of time calculating my daily eating habits and limiting my caloric intake to 1053. However, as I awoke from my delicious sleep to step on the scale, my heart sank! I hadn't lost ANY pounds! Not ONE single pound!

Perla, my dear friend and PT, advised me that I would gain a little LB's at first before I would lose some. How this happens I have no idea. As I depressingly went to get dressed, slipping my legs into my fat jeans, I heard a rip! UHGGG! I fell to the floor in tears looking at the huge hole in the pants that my booty had made.

In my weak state laying on the floor, I rolled over to my knees and said a little prayer for comfort, understanding, help, advice, and offered words of gratitude for my trials and the lessons that make me a stronger and better person. I was determined that this was not the end of the road for me. The battle was not yet lost! I vowed that I would put in double the effort until my body could train no more, and then triple the effort and train even harder!

I will show my skinny jeans that I am worthy of them and that I deserve to wear them! My new goal is November 21st!

REUNION

Where does the time go?

This week has been so crazy with work, design, early morning meetings, family and activities that Weston and I barley even had time sleep. We were so exhausted by Friday night that we slept in Saturday morning until 10! Yes that is right...10 O'CLOCK AM! It was an amazing sleep and very much needed. We have not slept in that late for months and it probably won't return for a few months more. By the time we finally dragged ourselves from our comfy bed, went running and mowed the lawn, got cleaned up and ran errands, we barely made it up to Midway for The Barnes Reunion at 2!

It was so fun to see my cousins and spend time with my mom's side. I loved catching up with everyone and seeing their cute families. The weather was perfect and we had such a blast playing games, visiting and sharing fun memories. It has been years since we have all been together for an official reunion and even longer for some who have been living out of state. We spent the day swimming in the pool, riding horses, BBQing, swinging, playing dodgeball, going on Ranger rides and having hula-hoop contests. Needless to say, the fun never stopped!

By the time we got home, we were exhausted! Again! So I repeat the question...

Where does the time go?

KICK-OFF TO FALL

We started this years Fall season with the Utah v Pitt football game!

Although both teams didn't play very well, we still managed to pull off a great win!

It was so fun to get together as family and friends to tailgate, cheer and celebrate football!

Then it was off to ring in Labor Day with both of our families in Sun Valley!

The weekend comprised of:

The wagon day parade, shopping, movies, antique car show, redfish lake and games!

Lastly, Fall season would cease to exist without the infamous Lotoja race!

Weston and his brother and friends biked the 206 miles for an 11 hour victory!

Books Devoured!

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.

~ Joseph Addison ~

August came and went without me.

I was happily consumed by the written word cuddled up with my kindle in bed.

I had expectations from the start and was rewarded by the ending with profit.

Here are a few books that kept me from reality this past August:

A Particular Sadness of Lemon cake

The Heretic's Daughter

The Poisonwood Bible

Push Not the River

Baked Spaghetti with fresh Basil and Smoked Mozzarella

I made this super easy meal Saturday night for my sweets and pops. They devoured it, and so I thought I would share it will all of you. It is easy to make and doesn't require any ingredients that you shouldn't already have in your pantry (minus the heavy cream). Let me know your thoughts if any of you make this...

Preheat oven to 350

3/4 pound spaghetti noodles

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion chopped

3-4 teaspoons garlic minced

4 roma tomatoes diced

1 can fire-roasted tomatoes

1 cup heavy cream

2 teaspoons oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons pepper

20 fresh basil leaves

2 cups mozzarella

1 large squash sliced

1 large zucchini

(most likely in the winter I will add ground turkey instead of the squash and zucchini)

Cook noodles as per directions until almost done (DO NOT COOK THOROUGHLY)

Over medium heat on stove, saute onions until tender. Add garlic for 1-2 minutes. Add veggies (or meat). Combine roma tomatoes and fire-roasted tomatoes in saucepan and until it simmers. Add heavy cream until it simmer. Mix in spices.

Oil 9x9 or 7x11 pan. Put spaghetti noodles on bottom (will cook more in the oven), add the sauce, place fresh basil leaves on top to cover and sprinkle the cheese to cover everything. Place in oven for about 15 minutes(give or take).

-enjoy

CANDY BOWL

This is the candy bowl at my work for all of the employees, clients and business partners to enjoy. They periodically throughout the day come up to the front foyer, pause at my desk, grab a candy and make small talk with me. It is so fun to watch people fight for a conversation relative to the both of us just so they can have a piece of candy.

Are people embarrassed at grabbing a treat?

Do they think I will judge them for wanting a small square of chocolate?

Is their pride hurt for enjoying useless calories?

The employees come over to my desk and just take a piece of candy with a swift grab and leave. It is almost as if they are rushing back to their desk for a very important phone call that I did not send into their office because no one called. They do not talk to me or make eye contact with me. No random questions to justify their actions but instead they hold their head up high with pride as they snack on that candy from the bowl.

Then you have the clients that come in and grab a candy as they ask for whomever they are meeting. Usually, I have them take a seat and wait until they are ready to be seen and without fail, in the meantime, they always sneak back up to my desk and take another piece. The hand motion of getting a chocolate and unwrapping it is almost always followed by statements like:

"Oh I am just SOOOO hungry"

"These are my favorite candies."

(and my personal favorite, whispered with a stooped head holding up the candy to my eye level)

"I am just going to grab another. I am sorry."

Lastly, our business partners strangely make their way down the hall and to my desk, suspiciously looking at me and then the candy bowl and back to me asking me all sorts of questions. Questions I believe they already know the answers to but they just would rather have me fill up the conversation time so they keep their mouth busy eating a delectable piece of sugar and not look so guilty. They stand there for moments at a time pushing the conversation into further awkwardness to alleviate their red-handed pleasure of only wanting candy and not really caring about me but trying to seem polite.

WHY?WHY?WHY?

Trust me, I am not judging them. I don't care what they eat throughout the day. I am not counting their calories or finding them rude if they don't talk to me. Chances are, I have had more candy than they have. They just need to own it! For those of you who know what I am talking about, isn't it great? I just love watching and deciphering their facial expressions as they approach my desk. For those who have no idea, you are missing out! Truly!