My Week in Photos

This past week, my weekly training was right on target, but my long run was not as long as I wanted it to be. I'm hoping to have a better long run weekend, coming up. Thursday, I added cross training to my schedule. In addition to running, I rode a few miles on the bike and 3 miles on rowing machine.

My Week in Photos the late edition:
Last week, was ladies night out. My sister, Natasha won this handmade wreath. It was a door prize drawing. Instead of taking it and hanging it at her apartment, she let me borrow it. It's sooo massive.

I took "my  famous" banana pudding to share with the ladies. We had leftovers. Tasha help me buckle it in the car. We wanted to make sure it got home, safe to Trey. Sad thing is, he never got any -- we ate it before he could eat the leftovers. Sorry. I made him another batch this week, so he would stop crying.

Chey in the kitchen, while I was meal prepping for the week.

Grocery shopping with the girls.

We are getting so close to Halloween. We thought it was time to bust out Halloween clothes that Nana got us.

I Want to Keep Everything, Dripping Bacon & Getting Use to the Mess

Do I have to return these Le Tote items????? I love everything they sent me. I'll send my tote back tomorrow and wait in anticipation for my next one. I kind of want to add dresses to "my le tote closet" --- which is basically a wish list, but I'm not sure the length on the dresses. They'd have to be work appropriate, ya know? This girl is not going to the club.

I have fallen behind on my week in photos blog post, so let me just throw them at you, right now. Let's start with the good stuff. Bacon? No, dripping Bacon.
Typical Monday meal prepping stuff...

throw in some choclate and this is what I call a balanced meal

My grocery store started carrying this! I'm super excited to make kale chips and I don't have to wash or chop anything. Easy-peasy.

Giving her fruit popsicles are such a mess (this pic, she looks clean, but fast forward 5 minutes later and mess!), but she loves them - so I just need to get use to the fact that things will be messy for a while, until she gets older and learns how to feed herself.
Crammed in the back of the focus with 2 pretty girls

Play-time at the mall with mrs. amanda! Today, she took the kids to see Turbo and next week they are going to the aquarium. I'd say Mrs. Amanda is pretty cool.

My Week in Photos

Goodbye Kicks
When I like a brand or in this case a specific shoe line, I kind of go overboard. Yeah, I'm the kind of person who finds a perfect fitting shirt and buys three of them, in different colors.

Well, these shoes served me well, but it was finally time to say goodbye. They've officially been replaced.

Gas Prices, We See You
In the past few weeks, gas prices have steadily increased, like we wouldn't notice. We notice!!!!!
In related news, this makes me feel better (see the picture below) about replacing my SUV with a fuel efficient vehicle. However, my in town gas mileage is more like 24-32 mpg. Makes me wonder about the in town mpg, I was getting on the ELEMENT.

For the First Time, Since I Started Working --
...Dakota woke up in the middle of the night. Well, first I should back track and mention she went to bed at her typical 8:30-9 pm bedtime, but then she woke up to eat around 10 pm. I thought that was odd and THEN she woke up again at 1 am. Trey heard her crying so he walked to the nursery and then brought her to our room. I fed her, in bed and we both dozed off. I wan't sure if I was in for a rough night, with a fussy baby, so I put her in the pack in play right next to the bed. But nothing, she was fine and slept the rest of the night. I even got up at my normal time, to run.

This picture was taken early this week.  I can get all paparazzi with my camera, but 1 am photo taking is a little too much, even for me. 

There's a Little Truth, Behind Every E-Card
This is my thought process, right here.
I plan on running some miles over this weekend. I'm not sure how far I want to go. At this point, I like not being committed to a specific distance, that way I can bail early, if I need to.

I Have a Problem with This....

But first cute baby stuff

Good News:
The baby jogger fits in the Focus.
The Bad New:
I'm not sure I can get it out.
I'm kidding, kind of....I managed to shove the jogger in the trunk, but it took some choice words and lots of sweat. I need to practice or see if it's possible to take the front wheel off or something, but I'm not sure if this jogger has that option. Suggestions are welcome. If this stroller won't work with this vehicle, I think I might cry. 
Today, the girls and I ventured out of the house. This was my first outing, driving them around. We went shopping for a few essentials and then met Trey for lunch.

If you are ever in the Hudson Oaks area, you've got to try Big Burger. It's a great place to eat. I recommend the chef salad or the bunless bacon burger.

Dakota did great, while we were out. She actually stayed snuggled under a blanket while in her carseat and slept the entire time, so nobody got to see her cute outfit. So, I had to take a photo of her pink ruffly polka dotted cuteness. The world must see...Haha! And there is my baby trying to eat her hand. I promise, I feed her.

One more photo of her feet, just because they are adorable.
P.S. Last night was a good night. Feeding/Changing Times: 11 pm, 4:30 am, and 7:15 am. Not bad for a baby less than 2 weeks old. Not bad at all!
 

New Car Smell: I Got A Ford Focus

Something I always use to say, "I'm going to drive the ELEMENT until the wheels fall off." I meant it too, however Trey and I have been talking about getting a new vehicle for about a year. Everything seemed to be directing my mind to purchase a new vehicle, despite my overwhelming commitment to my ride for life, ELEMENT. Oh, and it doesn't hurt that Trey is the king of persuasion.

So, I went from this SUV, which gets 23 miles to the gallon, (highway)....

To the Ford Focus, which gets 40 miles to the gallon (highway)...
4 days a week, I commute to work and my estimated gas savings will be approximately $100 a month.

Originally, I had my eyes set on the Ford Fiesta and I actually test drove one about a month ago. It's a great car! Ultimately, we decided to go with the Focus because it's slightly bigger and the price difference wasn't a huge step-up. The Focus model we got is called an SEL.

A nice perk is the Ford Sync Touch Screen. YES, my nerdy-side is overjoyed! I can't wait until I have time to play with it. Yesterday, I worked a full day and went straight to the dealership and didn't leave until 9:45 pm, so I have't had any time to play with my new toy.

The drive this morning was interesting. It's going to take some time to get use to driving a car again. For over six years, I've been perched up high driving an SUV, now I feel like a low-rider in this compact car. Another thing I need to get use to is a car payment. It's been almost 4 years since Trey and I have had to make one. We're hoping to pay this baby off early, just like we did with the ELEMENT.