Friends in High Places

I officially have the most amazing friends ever. I knew I did in Utah, but I have them in ND too. Friends I can count on to help me with anything and everything. Well tonight I needed help. All my dancers (73 of them) were performing at a big dance show. I had to be out on the stage making sure they knew what they were doing. So Carla and Anna sat back in the locker room (a tiny little locker room I might add) with around 73 sweaty, nervous, hyper girls and organized them into groups and got them out to the stage at just the right time. I don't know what I would have done without them tonight. Thank You ladies! You are life savers. Cheers!

Name Change

The dogs name is now Rusty. We'll see how long that lasts.

New Addition

Then kids have been wanting a little brother or sister. Unfortunately for them, measures have been taken to prevent that event from taking place in our home. So, we have decided to adopt.


Presenting:
Oliver

He's a 3 month old St. Charles Spaniel. Won't get much bigger than he is now. He's house broken, mellow and cute as can be. What more can you ask for in a dog? I'm sure I'll be full of complaints about him in a day or two, but for now he is the apple of the Muir Family eye!

Mama's Day Out

You will never believe what I found yesterday. Hills in North Dakota. Not mountains, there most definitely aren't mountains around here, but hills big enough for 2 chair lifts and some snow skiing!

Whoa! Look at the size of that mountain!

I've actually heard of this so called skiing in North Dakota thing a few times, but decided I really had to check it out. A friend told me that compared to where I come from it will feel like bunny hills, but I was undaunted. Fresh snow (even if it was mostly man made,) hills, sun, skis, and exercise sounded like Christmas to me. So I called on my dear and brave friends Anna and Carla and we piled in the car at 6:00 AM and drove the 2 1/2 hours to Huff Hills Ski Area about 25 miles south of Bismark/Mandan.































A little back ground on Carla and Anna. Carla was born and raised in Carrington, ND. She has never seen a mountain before in her life. Before she met me, she didn't do many outdoor sports or activities. She likes to be outside, but I think I opened a Pandora's Box of outdoor possibilities. Before she met me she didn't love going out on the water. Now we are part of an annual canoe race. Before she met me she didn't know anything about skiing, but yesterday she hopped in the car and went to check it out anyway. I give her a lot of grief, but honestly, she is really brave. As we were nearing the Ski Area (I want to say Ski Resort, but that is over-doing it a bit) she started to get very nervous. She was freaking out about the size of the "mountains" and Anna and I were laughing and telling her that those aren't mountains. Now Anna is from San Diego, CA and has seen a little more of the world. She has also been skiing before, but only once and it was like 12 years ago. Do I have brave friends or what? Carla was nervous/excited all week as we planned this. She wanted to go buy boots to wear with her ski's, but I explained to her that there are special boots, called ski boots, that you rent with your ski's. It was all very foreign to her.































Anyway, we stopped at a gas station on our way and bought energy drinks and goofy sun glasses because we felt like teenagers getting out from mom's yolk and we wanted to act silly and stupid like teenagers getting out from mom's yolk.
























We had a great time. We hit the bunny hill first, for a little warm up, and then Anna and I braved the lift. Carla stuck to the Bunny Hill and the ski school for a couple hours. I quickly found out that in the language of North Dakota skiers, Black Diamond translates to hard Green or very easy Blue. Regardless of the hill size and difficulty, I had the best day. It was warm. By North Dakota winter standards it was down right hot! High of 47, no wind, and lots of sun. From the top of the hill you could see for miles down the Missouri River. Breath taking. It wasn't too long before Carla joined us on the real hills and we just had a blast. Lots of laughs. I'm quite sure the two of them have some sore muscles today. I was expecting some, but so far I'm feeling great. The only time I fell was before I even put my boots or ski's on. I was walking down some outside stairs in my tennis shoes and fell down them. Seriously, I skied like (almost) a pro but I can't walk.































I wish I had more pictures to share, but I didn't want to carry my big old camera all day. Carla had a smaller camera, so if she e-mails me those pics, I'll post them.































One more thing. Please note my super cute ski outfit. My awesome husband was in Bismark on Friday and decided I needed something new for my outing. I felt like "One Hot Mama". In order to get enough use out of that outfit to make it worthwhile (it was not cheap) I'll have to start skiing every weekend. Ryan and I are taking the kids next Saturday. I can't wait!

Here we are refueling at Jonny Corinos before our long drive home.

Anna's in the green hat and Carla's in the black.

I think our server was a little weired out by us.

Pee Wee Wrestling

Well, it's that time of year again, when the girls get to summon their wits and wrestle with the big boys. Well, not really. They don't have to wrestle boys. Apparently they let girls and boys wrestle in the past and the girls were winning (and the crowds were cheering) and it must have ruined some boys self-esteem! I don't mind keeping it separated, boys can be inappropriate. Not all of them, but it only takes one. So anyway, Rylee stepped up and joined the world of wrestling this year. She won her first match and lost her second which makes for second place in her weight class. Brooklyn had a more difficult time this year. There were 4 girls in her weight class and she was at least 15 lbs smaller than the next one up. That doesn't stop her though. Her first match was really hard. Sweat poring, out of breath, summoning every ounce of strength...and she won. This was great news, until her bestest friend also won her match and it was time to pare the 2 against each other. Bailey comes from a long line of wrestlers (well I don't really know that, but her dad was quite the wrestling star in his day) and while Brookie put up a good fight, she was pinned. She was very excited and proud of Bailey and no friendships were hurt in the process. Talk about two good kids. Well, that should make for a second place for Brooklyn and she was very proud of 2nd. She worked hard and did a great job. But then the first girls he wrestled dropped out. Don't know if she was physically hurt or had a bit of a bruised ego, but whatever happened, she was not going to wrestle for 3rd and 4th place. The other girl in their weight class still needed one more match and so coach asked Brookie if she would do it. Of course she agreed, she's a people pleaser and doesn't want to disappoint, but the poor kid was pooped and was pinned pretty quick. She was very disappointed. She tried really hard not to cry, but sometimes those darn tears just do what they want. She was proud of Cedar (the girl who beat her) but she was so disappointed. If the other girl hadn't dropped out, Brookie had won 2nd place fair and square, but because of the turn of events, she went home with 3rd. She was a good sport and congratulated Ceder on a job well done and walked out of the gym with her head held high.

Seeing your kids face disappointments like that is heart wrenching. I didn't want her to cry because I didn't want people to think she was being a poor sport. I knew she wasn't, she was just feeling let down because she had earned that 2nd place originally. At the same time my heart was aching with hurt for my child, it was also swelling with pride as she congratulated Cedar and did her best to be a good sport. I was also so proud of Bailey, Brookies friend. She was so upset for Brooklyn and tried to give her 1st place ribbon to her. Brooklyn said no, of course, but it was another moment to be proud. Not only is Brooklyn shaping up to be a wonderful young woman, but she also knows how to choose friends with the same kind of values. I have to thank Anna and Wade for raising such wonderful kids. They have taught their girls to be good people and good friends. Brookie needed that.

Anyway, all is well now. I think I watched my child grow before my eyes. What a painful and awesome experience. I'm fearfully looking forward to the many life lessons to come.

Most of the pictures are of Brooklyn and Bailey. They were so funny. How often do you see wrestlers grinning and laughing as they face off. Cute stuff.

Eclipse

I have a very nice tripod. Really, I do. Tonight there is a great eclipse. Ryan is out of town and I cannot get ahold of him. My tripod was last used for some hunting expedition. These pictures were take by me, laying on the ice, trying to hold as still as possible in -15 degrees plus wind. A tripod would be nice right now. These pictures would be nice had I had a tripod.

These I like to call 'Eclipse in Motion'. I really want my tripod!!!

Tribute to Chandra

Today, by bestest friend called me with a problem and I was...well, lets just say, less than inspirational. Actually, I was down right crabby. I feel bad about this because I can't remember a time when I have called her in need of a pick-me-up and she hasn't delivered. So, as an apology for my crabbiness this morning, here are some of the many reasons why I love Chandra:

• She's a giver. Probably to a fault, but it sure has benefitted me! What kind of friend can you drop your kids off at 3:30 AM on you way to work? What kind of friend would offer to help you finantially, legally, emotionally, physically, and any other kind of way possible? Only Chandra. She honestly would do just about ANYthing for anyone.
• She's funny. And I don't just mean quirky (although she is), or goofy (although she is), but gut busting, laugh so hard you cry and pee your pants kind of funny. And I have done both in her presence! I think I only pee'd my pants once, but the tears are a regular occurance. She's has great comedic timing. She has mastered the art of sarcasm. If you've ever seen her interpretaton of "Michael Flatley ~ Riverdance" then you can appreciate her physical comedy as well. She is quick on her feet with her funniness, and she also plots and schemes more funniness.
• She's smart. And always striving to increase her intelligence. She likes logic puzzles and history, art museums and historical by-ways. She finds people like Anderson Cooper sexy because he is intelligent and cultured. She loves to talk on the phone for hours discussing the troubles of the world and what we can do about them. And I don't mean 'We' as in the human race, but 'we' as in she and I. She once thought it was a great idea to have a word-of-the-day club to increase our vocabulary. She highligts the words she doesn't know when she's reading, then looks up the definition and writes it in the empty space on the same page (comes in handy when you borrow books from her.)
• She thinks Barnes and Noble is a good girls night out. And with her, it is. That is just one of the many places where she has made me laugh so hard I cry.
• She's opinionated. And you don't usually have to dig too hard to find out what her opinion is...and why. Just ask any of the servers that have served her "less than par" food (as Missy and I hide our face and hope there isn't spit in our food.)
• She's classy and laid back at the same time. She can fit in at a 5 star restraunt or chill with the bikers at any old bar & grill. She will play football with her boys in high heels. She will wear outfits consisting of jeans from Target, a top from Anthropology, payless shoes and designer perfume. She is the coolest.
• She has great taste in music. At any given time you could find her listening to Michael Buble, Tom Petty, Incubus, Mozart, Joss Stone, Michael Jackson, C & C Music Factory, Black Eyed Peas...etc. Seriously, it could be anything.
• She is the BEST mom. All of the above qualities (and more) go into her mothering, as well as her friendship skills. And it shows in her amazing boys.
• She is driven. When Chandra decides to do something, watch out. You will never find a harder worker that Chandra on a mission. Once, she stayed at work for over 24 straight hours trying to decrease the pile in the ever-growing inbox.

Anyway... there is so much more, but alas, at some point I have to quit blogging and take care of my children. I'll just end with this. I have many "best friends". Honestly, I don't know how I got so lucky, but somehow, Chandra is the bestest. She manages to bring out the best in me. Even when I have decided to hide any possible good stuff. I like myself better when I'm with Chandra. We live too far apart to actually be with each other much right now, but our daily phone calls are a life-line. Whenever there are days when we don't connect - it feels like weeks. With Chandra I can be just who I am at this moment, just how I'm feeling right now. I'm never expected to be anything more that who I am right now. Thank You - Thank You - Thank You - for that.

What is wrong with spell check? I cannot get it to work and I desperatly need it!!!

A bit of this and a little of that...

This is a favorite past time at our house when the snow finally falls. It's not deep enough yet to warrent back flips, but soon. Actually, this is the first time Rylee was brave enough to take the plunge at all. She's been a bit timid about snow diving until now.

Here's the story of our (long) weekend. I had planned to take half a day off on Thurday, but ended up with half the day off on Wednesday due to storm day. So Ryan heartily agreed to taking Thursday off and spending it with his children (and with his gun and some coyotes.)

Rylee danced at the Varsity Basketball game Thursday night and then it was home to bed. Happy Valentines Day! Next morning, Rylee headed out for "vacation" with a friend. She went to Grand Forks overnight with her bestest friend Madi. All week she was counting the days until her "vacation". Not sure if it was vacation from us or what, but she was very excited to get out of town without us. They went shopping and to a Hockey Game, then stayed the night at a hotel with a great pool. She came home completly exhausted, but had a great time. Friday saw Ryan and I back at work and Brooklyn spent the day with her friend Bailey. I went to get my hair cut and came home with a beautiful up-do. Kelly (girl who does my hair) had a color appointment cancel right after me, so she asked if she could play with my hair. Well, I've never been one to say no to the soothing feeling of somebody running their fingers through my hair, so even though I was wearing sweats and no make-up. Even though my big plans for the evening were to baby-sit a friends kids, rent a movie and veg on the couch, I left the salon looking ready for prom. Picture is of the back only as I really didn't have any make-up on and so, it is only the hair that looks pretty. Hoodie sweatshirt really compliments it, don't you think?

Anyway, the weekend was just any normal weekend, but longer. Snowed Thursday and Friday. Rained and melted a lot of the snow Saturday, and now it's absolutly gorgeous today. It's only 10:30 and already 30 degrees. Don't worry, high tomorrow is supposed to be 3, so we'll be back to complaining about the weather.

Oh..heres a cute picture of Rylee and Logan, my friends little boy. Bailey, Amber and Logan stayed the night Friday night while mom and dad went to Fargo for some shopping and dating. A little Valentines weekend for the two of them. They have the best kids. So well mannered and fun. We went bowling and little Logan would set the ball on the ground and kicked it down the lane. It took about 5 minutes to reach the pins, but he never failed to knock down at least 8. He's 4. He loves Rylee. Friday night he kept asking for her. He was so excited when she got home from Grand Forks. Here they are watching a movie, but Logan was too tired to see the end.

Oh..and here's the girls snow man and snow cave. Rylee refused to be in the pictures because the "stupid snow man's stupid eyes won't stay on his stupid face!" Stomp, Stomp, Stomp into the house and on to her bed where she fell asleep reading. I believe she is still recovering from her "vacation." By the way, stupid is not a word we use in our family and the excessive use of it most definatly calls for a nap. Good Night.

Snow Day

This is a picture of the kids pretending to climb Everest.

They see shows about it on the Discovery Channel.

So they each have an "ice pick" and rope and they

are slowly making their way to the top.

No real ice picks were used, so don't go calling child protective services.

Plastic Pirate swords are the "ice picks" of choice in the Muir household.

North Dakota

When it's winter in North Dakota,

And gentle breezes blow,

About seventy miles an hour,

And it's fifty-two below.

You can tell you're in North Dakota

Cause the snow's up to your butt,

And you take a breath of winter air

And your nose holes both freeze shut.

The winter here is wonderful

So I guess I'll hang around

I could never leave North Dakota

Cause I'm frozen to the ground.

That poem was e-mailed to me by a friend today, and fitting it is. School closed at 1:30 due to weather. Heavy snow and wind. A lot of people complain about that, but I love it. Not necessarily the cold, but no school. I know I'm not in school anymore, but I have that same excited feeling I used to when I was in school and it was closed for some reason. It's almost like Christmas. So I picked the kids up and took the rest of the day off work. I figure if the weather is too bad for school then it has to be too bad for a work out. Right? So, not only is school out early today, but we were scheduled not to have school tomorrow and Friday. Yeah! 4 and 1/2 days off school. I love it!

The picture above was taken yesterday, before this crazy weather hit. What looks like a hill that the kids are playing on is actually a snow drift over the hedge in our yard. Doesn't look too huge in the picture, but it's taller than I am. And before today we didn't even have very much snow. Just lots of wind pushing the snow between mine and my neighbors yard. To get an idea of the height of that drift, the hedge that is showing is actually shoulder height on me.

Last weekend, my friend Anna and I were going to drive to Jamestown to take the kids swimming at the Y. It was sunny, but Very cold and VERY windy. We only got about 2 miles out of Carrington before we turned around and came back home. The visability was so bad due to blowing snow that we couldn't see the front of her van. Puts new meaning to the term "biting wind."

Anyway, you know you are getting old when the most exciting thing you have to blog about is weather! On that note, I think I'll go take a nap.

Saw the movie last night. I could totally relate. Ellen Page did such a great job of portraying a girl caught having to make decisions she's probably way too young to have to make. The movie was a comedy, and it was very funny, but I, of course, cried. More than once. Maybe it's because I remember how it felt to be in that situation. One scene, the dreaded "tell the parents" scene shows her dad saying, "I thought you were the kind of girl who knew when to say when." Juno responds with, "I don't really know what kind of girl I am."


See, that's the problem. I remember everyone being so shocked when it was announced that I was pregnant. "Nicole's not that kind of girl" but apparently I was, whatever that means. "She's way too young for this" wrong again! Then there was the "What are you going to do?" How was I supposed to know what I was going to do. Looking back on that time in my life it feels like it was a dream. Was there really a time when I wasn't excited about having my baby? When I actually prayed for a miscarrage? When I was so embarrassed to admit that I was not the "kind of girl" everyone thought I was? The answer is yes. There was a time when I would have given anything to change my "situation." I was so lost and scared. I knew that Ryan was by my side, but really, he didn't have to stay. As far as I knew, I was in this alone. Everyone can act supportive all they want, but it was my body that was changing in ways I wasn't ready to deal with. It was me who would forever be deemed the "unwed mother" or the "pregnant teenager". It was me who was stared at scornfully in the grocery stores. Me whom people would look at my left hand and when they didn't see a ring, shake their heads with dissapointment. Not just people who thought they knew what kind of girl I was, but complete strangers.


Well, I'm very lucky. I somehow found managed to fake my way around adulthood until I actually felt like an adult. Ok...Somethimes I still don't feel like an adult, but whatever. I'm also very lucky that Ryan and I have the family and friends we have. I rememer when I was delivering Brookyn hearing my mom outside crying. I remember Debbie teaching me how to bathe a baby. I remember my dad comming home from work several times a week with diapers, or clothes or some kind of treat. When Ryan and I didn't have a pot to pee in, we were lucky enough to have a great many houses to show up at for meals. Help getting new tires and car seats. Help babysitting so that we could try to make enough of a living to support ourselves. Not to mention the fact that we had such an amazingly resilient child. That girl has taken care of me more times that I want to admit.


Anyway, I loved the scene in the movie when she tells her parents. We had to go through that scene 3 times. And I think it got harder each time. Each of our parents handled the initial shock differantly, but with no less love. Harder still was adimiting it to our Grandparents, but there again, we were met only with love. I remember my Grandpa Kimball saying to me how lucky I was to be the one to make him a Great Grandpa. At a time when I was feeling lower than dirt, he did what he could to make me see how loved I really was. Everyone did. My Grandma Baker said, "I don't know whether to congratulate or yell at you. I feel like I should yell, but there is a part of me that is excited for a baby." Grandma Melb never showed any shock or anything. At least not to us. To us we felt as we always felt in her presence. Welcome, loved and unjudged. I remember a conversation with my Aunt Susan about whether I would nurse or not. She just asked matter of factly like there was nothing wrong with my "situation" which was nice. Aunt Danette had a long talk with me about how amazing it is to be a mom...and she's right.


Well, I don't really know where I'm going with this post. That movie just flooded me with memories. Memories of dissapointment, pain and joy. And the movie did such a great job at finding the humor. Anyway, it is rated R..and it should be. There are definatly some R rated comedy. But the underlying story really hit close to home. I give it 3 thumbs up!


P.S. I don't know what the deal is with Spell Check...but it's not working. Forgive me!

http://www.slashfilm.com/2007/09/14/juno-movie-trailer/

You are what you eat!

A friend of mine sent me this interesting article. Thought I'd share. I love stuff like this! Thanks Laura.

You are what you eat, so eat well. A stupendous insight of civilizations past has now been confirmed by today's investigative, nutritional sciences. They have shown that what was once called 'The Doctrine of Signatures' was astoundingly correct. It now contends that every whole food has a pattern that resembles a body organ or physiological function and that this pattern acts as a signal or sign as to the benefit the food provides the eater. Here is just a short list of examples of Whole Food Signatures.

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye...and science shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.



A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart is red and has four chambers. All of the research shows tomatoes are indeed pure heart and blood food.



Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows that grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.



A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds are on the nut just like the neo-cortex. We now know that walnuts help develop over 3 dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.



Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.



Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet the body pulls it from the bones, making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.



Eggplant, Avocadoes and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats 1 avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? .... It takes exactly 9 months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit.



Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the motility of male sperm and increase the numbers of sperm aswell to overcome male sterility.



Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.



Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries.



Grapefruits, Oranges, and other citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.



Onions look like body cells. Today's research shows that onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes.

I hate to think what Jello is supposed to be! Or cottage cheese! Gross!!!

Go Patriots

I'm not a HUGE football watcher, but I do love a good game. And I've always liked the Patriots. Besides, with cute Tom Brady on the field who wouldn't want to watch? We're having friends to our house so everything is clean and tidy. The table is heavy with food and we are awaiting kick-off. Oh yeah...that lighter me I was talking about earlier, gonna have to wait till after the Super Bowl.

How to lose 10 pounds in 10 days, or something like that!

So I get asked quite frequently how to lose 10 lbs. Most of us don't have a huge amount of weight to lose, just 5-15 that hangs on to the thighs for dear life. I decided to blog about this today, because I myself have 10 lbs to lose. Before May if at all possible. (As I write this I am eating a chocolate cookie. This is an example of what not to do!) So here are my best tips for losing the last 10.

1. Take your workouts to the next level. For some, this means "Start working out." For others this means graduate from walking on a treadmil at 3.5 with no incline to increasing the incline or increasing the speed. The idea is, your heartrate has to go up. And it has to stay up for a minimum of 20 minutes. How high should your heart rate be? Well here's the formula. 220 - your age = your maximum heart rate. Now multiply that by .8 and that is the number you want to aim for for 20-60 minutes. (Here's mine. 220-29=191. 191x.8= 152.8)




2. Diet. Not the nasty 4 letter word that means starve yourselve in some way or another. But just diet. The daily consumption of vitamins and minerals. I will add "in moderation." When you fill up on fruits and veggies, there is not much room left for sugar and chocolate. Ha! That's what I'm trying to tell myself. The real deal is, mind over matter. You want to lose, you have to give up or at least cut back on the bad stuff. No more chocolate cookies! I myself cannot go 1 whole day with out some sort of treat or another. So, rather than give it up all together, I try the moderation thing. 100 calorie packs are a life saver for me.




3. Drink Water. Drink Water. Drink Water. No soda. No soda. No soda. Americans consume 80% of their daily calories in their drinks. Thats insane! Drink water!




4. Catch some zzz's. This is a vital issue. Sleep is when the body rejuvenates and repairs. If you are not sleeping well, I can just about guarantee you won't lose weight.



5. Strength train. I went into this in an earlier blog. It's vital.

Thats it for now. Hopefully a lighter me will be visiting you all soon!