A Little Trip that Gets Us Excited

We get excited about trips to the library! It's been a month or so, since our last one. Cheyenne was thrilled when I told her I'd get her a library card. When she gets older, I hope she is this excited to read on her own. My niece has the summer off, so she was also excited to get her hands on some books. I'm sure hours of TV and Internet gets old after awhile.

It's not a successful trip to the public library if I don't score a cookbook and a running book.
While I was browsing, I stumbled across Exploring Ft. Worth with Children.

Without me even saying anything Cheyenne picked out several books for Dakota. She is so thoughtful.

Rookie mistake, we forgot to take a book bag.
Interesting fact: I can check out 75 books at one time from my library! If I plan on doing that I will need a bigger stroller.

This is Me Leaning In

I recently read, Sheryl Sandberg's book Lean In: Women, Work & The Will to Lead. As you guys know, this year I launched my video and photography business -- so this book spoke volumes to me. When I started reading it, I wanted to highlight EVERY SINGLE WORD! I found myself reading along and literally nodding my head. Literally!

Here is the author in her own words....

When I started reading this book, Trey and I were driving to Selma. Every now and then I would read him passages. He jokingly called me a sexist....I think he meant feminist. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book.

!!!!!! I have two girls and this makes me want to encourage them and tell them that they can do anything they want to!!!!!

Whether your choice is to stay at home with your children, to volunteer, work part-time, work full-time...whatever it is ---- You/me/us/we need to accept these choices and know that they are the best.

When I've attended the NABShow conferences, the majority of people there are men. Women are not the majority in my industry. So, the quote below stood out to me. Often, I feel like men who are in the position to mentor would rather not mentor a women for reasons like -- image (what will other people think of the context of the relationship) and/or familiarity (male comradery). I am fortunate to have a male mentor who at every opportunity has shared his knowledge about technical video work to business experience. What I also learned from this book is that a mentor is not someone who has to invest hours upon hours dedicated to you, they are someone who you can go to for sound advice. They are not your therapist that you have to check-in with every week!

The chapter titled Make Your Partner a Real Partner was my favorite.
Trey has really stepped up this year to help me with the girls and help out around the house. As my calendar has filled up with work, he has helped to accommodate my off-beat "new to our family" work schedule. We're not perfect and some weeks are more hectic than others, but he has helped out tremendously and taken a great deal off stress off my plate. Thank you, Trey for helping to empower me.

Sandberg asked one question that stood out above the rest....
What would you do if you weren't afraid?????
Think about that.....Chew on it.

Spreading My Love, Equally

I think parents, who have more than one child, can relate to this post.

One thing I want to do is make sure both of my girls feel loved. I don't want them to feel like one of them gets more attention than the other. This is something that, at times, I over think. I'll tell one of them, I love you and then I feel like, I MUST IMMEDIATELY TELL THE OTHER ONE TOO! I even catch Trey doing this too. It's not a bad thing, it's just us as parents, doing our best to make our kids feel loved and not feeling overlooked.

Even taking photos and capturing video of the girls, at times, I feel guilty. Dakota is 2 months and I know I haven't shot nearly as many video clips of her, as I did with Chey and that bothers me! I want Dakota to look back and see that she was admired and loved, just the same. I don't want to use the excuse that I have less time ---- but really -- how time consuming is it to grab a camera and hit record?

Friends, Parents, I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.

With that being said, here are several video clips of Dakota and Chey.
I like how Dakota is talking while Chey is reading.

What's Her Name?

How I Prepare for the Work Week

My MacBook Pro is being encrypted by OIT, so I've been without a laptop for 24 hours. Thank goodness for other wi-fi devices. No telling when I'll get it back. I use it for the majority of my post-production work, so I really need it! Plus, I have precious photos of my girls on there.

This is my first full week, back at work.
I'm still tweaking my routine, but I think I'm on the right track.

Here are a few things I do to make home life easier during the work week:
I did some of the same things when we were a family of three, but I feel like I've had to step up my game a notch, since having Dakota.
- Monday, I make sure every room in the house is clean and I wash every single load of laundry -- that means folding it, hanging it, everything. Before I  had Dakota, I would do laundry mid-week, but now I really want to avoid that.
 - On the weekends, I go grocery shopping and I budget/pay bills for the week
- Monday, I pack lunches for the week. Salads, veggies, fruits, and cheese...They seem to store well in containers for five days. I even pack my breakfast for the week. Hard boiled eggs and bananas are my new go to breakfast. It's portable and easy to eat at my desk. However, I wish boiled eggs didn't stink so much.
- Tuesday thru Thursday, I try to make dinner that is fast and easy. Lettuce wraps, sandwiches, Taco Salad, breakfast for dinner, Pizza Subs, Salads etc....
- I put all items like backpacks, camera gear, non-perishable food, sweaters -- basically any item that needs to go to work, I put it right by the door - so I won't forget it.

I feel like I have to be on top of all the above items or my entire week will fall apart. I hate coming home from work and seeing a dirty house, I hate doing laundry during the week, I hate spending a lot of time in the kitchen making dinner, I hate having to prep lunches every night, I hate having to worry about paying bills when I come home, I hate it when I'm late to work because I had to cook breakfast, BUT I LOVE spending time in the evenings with my family -- that's why I have to do everything on my days off. It makes my work week sail.

Do you have any tips or tricks to gear you up for a busy week?

My 2011 Reading Project

At the beginning of the year, I mentioned I wanted to read at least 15 books this year. Currently, I've read 6 books out of 15. Back in February, I was reading thru books, like they were magazines and then suddenly stopped. I don't know why, but I plan to hop back to it.

Here are a few highlights from several books I've read.

Organize Your Life:
After reading this book, it motivated me to prioritize my time better. In fact, it jump started my reading. I managed my calendar better, I even managed it by the hour and I penciled in (modern translation: typed) when I would read and guess, what I READ, often. Maybe I should go back to this method.

Room: 
This story is told from the perspective of a 5 year old boy. His mother and him are held captive, in a shed. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves non-fiction and a good story.

Sloppy Firsts: 

Because we all need that guilty pleasure. I found mine. I've always been a fan of non-fiction adolescent novels. This story is told in journal and letter format. I like that type of writing method. I'm also glad I picked up this book because it's a SERIES! Yay! I'm about to start on the third book. 

Mile Markers: 
This is what I'm currently reading. I like how the author is a mother of (I think) 3 kids. She works, writes and runs. She sounds like a super mom to me. I run, race, and blog but I only have one child and sometimes it's exhausting.

So, I have a few more books I need to read. HOMEWORK. What should I be reading? C'mon bookworms, I know you've got something for me. =)

Grapes & Books

Grapes, gotta love how you can grab a handful and eat them on the go.


In other news, I recently joined GoodReads.com. I read frequently in high school and college, mainly classic literature, but now I find it difficult to lose myself in a good book. So, I've made a goal to read 15 books this year. Some of you read 15 books in one month. Oh, well...I probably run more than you, so there.

Recently, I finished one book (born to run), so now I'm on to the next one. Hopefully, all this reading will increase my IQ or at least give me more interesting things to talk about other than reality TV. We can only hope. I'll update you on my progress and some of my reads along the way. If you are on GoodReads.com look me up!

The BookWorm Always Finds the Good Books

This afternoon, Cheyenne and I ventured to our local library. We naturally gravitated to our own interests. Her -- Dora and me -- running. We had only been there maybe 5 minutes and she found a Dora book. I walked out with a running book called Born to Run. I'm only a few chapters in, but so far it has me fired up about running...Hmm, like I need any more fuel for that fire.

Well, I have the week off and I really don't know what to do with all this free time. Typically, at the end/beginning of each year I take the time to deep clean and organize the house. Today, I started with the pantry. Tomorrow, I think I'm going to tackle the living areas...entry way, hallway, living room. Or maybe I should just focus on the kitchen. I'll figure it out.

Dora-Dora the Explorer!

Dora shirt, Dora shoes, Dora books and Dora TV! I think Cheyenne likes DEE-AH! Trey did some work today, at a bookstore and while he was there he bought her a lot of Dora books. That was very thoughtful of him. Cheyenne's face lit-up when he gave them to her.

Dora Crocs!

This weekend, we got her this shirt and the entire time we were in the store she kept holding the shirt up and saying DEE-AH! DEE-AH!

Expand Your Definition of Fun

I'm really on top of Christmas shopping this year. I found two gifts for Trey that are already wrapped and under the Christmas tree. I keep reminding him and if he listens to me carefully, he can decode my message and hear what I'm really saying, "Where is my gift?"


So, to save Trey the time and energy, I found an affordable gift or stocking stuffer he could get me. And if he decides to put it in my stocking he won't even have to wrap it...see, I'm thinking of him too. This is the book I would like: The Runner's Rule Book by Mark Remy. Here is an example of what the book is like---


Rule 1.2
Expand your Definition of Fun
-Waking up at 5:30 am to run 10 miles

Here is another one:
Rule 2.32
DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO FINISH AHEAD OF A COSTUMED RUNNER
-Because being outkicked by Elmo is too much to bear.

Funny right? or maybe it's just funny and interesting to me? Okay, I need to download some new music for my running playlist. Linda gave me some good ideas, but if you have any artist or songs...please share.

What I've Been Reading

I've been busy reading pregnancy books from the library. Here are just a handful of books I've managed to read in the last few weeks.

Out of all the books, this is by far my favorite.


This book was a dull read, but I can't deny it was full of helpful information.


I laughed so much reading Belly Laughs. Trey even read a few pages.


This is what I'm currently reading. Not all of the advice is very practical for me, but I can take bits and pieces of the information and apply it to my life.