move over Paula Dean

So a few weeks ago we showed Sloan how to make scrambled eggs, pancakes and sausage on the griddle. She made her own dinner a few days in a row using her new found cooking skills and its amazing how she will eat dinner WITHOUT complaining when she makes it! So we've been encouraging her to make her own meals or cook for us with supervision. Seems to be working out nicely!

With that being said, you know that feeling you get while you're asleep and you feel as though someone is watching you, you wake up to find a 7 year old with a freshly prepared breakfast for you in hand standing 3 inches from your face "wondering if you're awake or not".? Well, sweet Sloan took it upon herself to make Kevin and I breakfast in bed. She had gotten up (had to of been around 7am) cracked, beat and scrambled eggs, made pancakes from a box, and cooked sausage and bacon on the griddle, put her creation on plates and served us breakfast in bed.

Today she made a Huffine favorite "the hobo" which is scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon (and or sausage, we just didn't have any sausage) and cheese all mixed together. Quite yummy! Last week she made a chocolate cream pie with me, although I really didn't do too much other than get the sugar out of the cabinet for her. I have such fond memories of "helping" my mom and dad in the kitchen, baking and licking the bowl. With any luck she will too!

my crazy is about to fall out....

So in T minus 4 days I will be a full time student again, nurse, mommy, and wife. YIKES. I do love a busy week and I'm bound to get what I ask for. I saw my sister today and she said something that I'm going to have to repeat to myself over and over...one day at a time. Maybe that will be my mantra. Kevin is very supportive and Sloan is probably more excited than I am. She found out I was taking Pre-calculus and decided she will be my tutor because math "is my favorite subject and I'm really good in it". Which is really true, she is good in math but her math only has consisted of addition and subtraction of double numbers, counting by 1's, 2's, 5's and 10's and some fractions. So, maybe I'll find a supplemental tutor elsewhere? Kevin is hoping that in my *free time* I'll have time to find a cute little sorority and "pledge". hmmmm...probably not, actually all his friends are really hoping this happens due to their perpetual singleness. So ironically I am not taking a Spanish class this semester for many reasons, first....it wasn't available (apparently I enrolled late-shocker), and secondly the first 2 cl assess I need to take that are considered "basics" are M-F for an hour, which does NOT work with my work schedule or Kevin's for that matter. To make a long story short....hopefully summer 1 and summer 2 will be when I'll get to take these....which will then open up the magical portal into my degree plan. My ultimate goal by the way is to be bilingual.

So the classes I am enrolled in for this semester (which are required for my degree plan) are Classical Mythology, pre-calculus, American literature, and earth science. I also have to take the mandatory chapel class. So all in all a total of 12 hours plus chapel. I have gotten my books. I am very excited about the mythology and American literature. The required reading books piqued my interest, so I have that going for me. I cringed when I opened the math book, well, honestly, my eyes filled with tears. Kaleb is already on my speed dial and a system has been initiated for questions and a calculator is on its way (hopefully). Kaleb seems a bit nervous for me and offered a prayer for me when I said this " calculus doesn't involve graphs does it". Apparently, it does. My calculator I got as a freebie is unworthy anymore, I need more buttons.

So books, check...all school supplies bought. I went on a "dry" run today on Baylor's campus to kind of see where my classess are in respect to the next and the next, you know to see how far / close everything will be. I have only found 2 of my class buildings, some poor stranger is going to be bothered come Monday. Also, I saw that a cold front is expected with rain on Monday-perfect. Why not. I'm obviously very nervous! I told Kevin my biggest fear is that I'm going to be the one in class no one wants to be partners with due to the constant disheveled look/I just worked 36 hours in a row look/ I may or may not be in the right room look. I'll let you know how my first week goes hopefully before the semester is finished!

one small step....

So....yes I am alive. NO exuse whatsoever on the whole blogging situation but here I go again, or at least a good solid attempt.

I wanted to share some news.....

I am now enrolled at Baylor University. YEAH! I decided I wanted to go back to school a while ago and with the support of Kevin I FINALLY got all my paperwork in. (nothing like procrastinating) It is very humbling this whole application process. I hate failing, at anything...scrabble, games, being a good mom/wife/nurse/friend, etc.... so the thought of putting myself out there at the risk of failing again was a challenge. So, anyways, my goal is to get a bachelor of arts degree in Spanish. Since working as a nurse I see a HUGE need in this department. At any given time I know and expect to be taking care of someone who speaks limited english and how am I supposed to effectively communicate with my patient if I can't even ask them basic questions such as "where does it hurt", "tell me more"....(for the record I have mastered some very important questions in spanish)

So my goal is to learn and to be fluent in spanish so that I can be the best nurse I can be, have more opprotunities ahead of me, and hopefully take this home to Kevin and Sloan. Also, noone will see this little white girl who is fluent in spanish coming at them....I'll take em all by surprise.

Sic 'em bears!

On to the next one....

So, betcha thought I was in a ditch somewhere since I haven't blogged in such a long time. :) Well, here I am and ready to share some recent activities and future ones as well. First of all, this summer has been (so far) very relaxing and fun! Sloan has spent 10 days with my parents while Kevin was in California. He was a part of his friends wedding in Visalia, then off to San Fran to see one of his college buddies and got to go see Alcatraz, go to a San Diego baseball game, eat at some fresh sea food joints, visit Amoeba records, and lots more!

Sloan and I are migrating north to Colorado next week for a week to see family and my cousin J'Lyn Chapman http://chinatown.usa.blogspot.com get hitched! I am very excited to go to Colorado for the following reasons:

1. see family
2. get the hell out of this Texas heat
3. whitewater rafting
4. the smells of Colorado, the sights...everything just about

Kevin will not be joining us, however I'll be sure to keep him updated on how much cooler it is up there, if not at least less humid. While Kevin was in Cali, he was telling me he was wearing his fleece during the day and how chilly it was near the bay, all the while I'm dying in Texas where its 100+ with 80% humidity- and no rain. payback baby.

One of my new goals is to participate in a race each month. So far I've done the Xterra race which was a 5k trail run, came 3rd in my age group and 11th overall for women and did my personal best at that time with at 12:36 min/mile. In June I did a 10k in a small town approximately 1.5 hours away Dublin, Texas where my PR stands at 10:21min/mile. I think it took me around 1 hour and 4 min to complete the 6 miles.

So whats next you ask?? Well, the day after my sister Kenda's wedding markandkenda.com is the TriWaco. If you're wondering if I've ever done one - the answer is emphatically NO. Kenda and her fiance Mark challenged and encouraged me to participate and so before I knew it, I signed up online and I'm not going to let $75 go down the drain. So I've been "training" for this triathlon for the past 2 months. I've really enjoyed 66% of the training, the running and biking...the swimming is not coming so easy. Unfortunately, this is the first event in the triathlon...so if you're coming to the race (and I would be honored if you did) NO, I am not having a seizure, this is just what I look like when I swim. If I make it out of the water, please cheer because I'm gonna need it! ALSO some others that are racing with me are my brothers Keegan and Kaleb and my most favorite cousin Heather! The best part of the race is the fact that lots of family will be present to cheer us on!

I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. My only goal for this race is to make it across the finish line outside of an ambulance. My standards are high.

Feelin' the love

Not that I don't feel loved the other 364 days of the year, but I was overwhelmed yesterday on Mothers Day. I am so lucky to be Sloan's mom! She is caring, compassionate, funny, creative, onery, independent, passionate, loving, and cute as hell! She made me a book, here are some questions that were asked and her answers:

1. what are mothers for-"to take care of me"
2. how do you help your mother?- "clean the car and help her do the dishes" (this is true she does love to load that dishwasher)
3. if you had $100 what would you buy your mother? -"cake and earrings" (i do have an abnormal love for cake)

then she wrote me a letter, the waterworks were on full force

"Dear Mom,
You are the best in the whole wide world. Thank you for taking care of me, for helping me with homework, for cooking me dinner, for buying clothes for me, for taking me to school, for giving me hugs and kisses. You are the greatest mom ever.
Love, Sloan"

Little does she know that 90% of that list is required by the state of Texas, but of course I am not going to tell her that!

The last page is a "diploma" for being the best mom ever. Its so funny to me that she feels this way because I am constantly thinking in my head, "kristen you've got to get yourself together", or "is this what other moms are doing", or "please let this just be a phase", "just keep swimming, just keep swimming", "its gotta get better". But for just a brief second in time all these thoughts went on pause and a sigh of relief went through my body. She has no clue that I'm thinking this, chalk one up for me!

All in all, I had the best mothers day ever! Breakfast in bed, dinner made, all my wants and needs met! So thank you to Kevin and Sloan for making Mothers Day wonderful and so very special!

To be better

Lately I have been thinking of ways to do better for myself, Sloan, Kevin, etc...
Its easy to get so wrapped in the day to day living, ignoring that little voice or neglecting your inner self. I am a huge believer in that if you take care of yourself, the changes and good things will trickle down to other aspects of your life and in turn make those things, the important things in your life (Sloan, Kevin, Family, work) better! However, I've really never applied it to my life. Why? oh who knows.... I've noticed that I have a hard time doing for myself without this weight of guilt or asking myself "do I deserve this"? I am working hard to retrain my mind, my inner self to just say "YES, you do"! Not to excess of course, but to the little things that don't even cost money, more like time. For example, I went to yoga this morning then for a wonderful run in the sun, nice cool breeze. To many, this might seem like a no-brainer but for me, it's an exercise for the soul. Not only to better me physically but mentally, emotionally.

So, how am I challenging myself to do better? I have a little helper, she is meeting with me (so far) once a month, but with weekly "check ins" and helping me come up with a work out plan, how to incorporate creative workout sessions with my work / life schedule and motivates me to meet my goals. Small steps of course. Its not all about the physical workouts, but also (for example) dressing outside my "box". For those who know me well, and see me on a regular basis, you are familiar with my wardrobe. Grey! I love it, its cozy, and very practical. It matches everything! In very small steps I am trying to add perhaps jewelry, embellishments....I got a very cute top at Kohl's this weekend that I wore out on a date with Kevin. It was grey, HOWEVER it did have some embellishments. Picture somewhere on here. I wore it with some dark jeans and some Vera Wang ballet flats. I even wore some makeup....look out world, here I come. I must admit, I did feel very pretty and we had fun just spending time with each other.

I will continue to share some of my journey...some parts are harder than others, but I am willing and able to take on the challenge to change, after all, it is for the better!

new favorite things

I love reading about what others favorite things are, it's like a sneak peak into their diary but with permission! Here are some of my recent favorites. All is well here in Waco, today was such a gorgeous day outside, windows were rolled down and coffee was enjoyed on a porch swing!

So here we go, in no random order!

1. TK100 North Face Fleece-1/2 zip pullover, I take it everywhere I go. Its great for chilly restaurants, theaters or just to lounge in at the house. Its 55$, one of the best investments I've made. With each wash, it gets softer and softer. Made in Philippines-for J'lyn

2. Bag Balm- I read about this product in a fashion magazine and Jessica Alba just couldn't live without it, and if she can't....neither can I. It can be found at your local drug emporium for roughly 6$. A little goes a LONG WAY. I use it on my lips, cuticles, feet and elbows. The smell is ok, but the moisturizing that occurs definitely outweighs the medicinal odor. Made in New Hampshire

3. Smart wool socks- talk about cozy, you'll never go back to cotton again. These socks not only give your dogs a nice gentle but firm hug all day long, but are super cute as well. They range from 14$-28$ depending on style. I know that sounds pricey but, well worth it! I'm pretty sure they are made down under

4. Camellia flower- never heard of this flower before reading a MUST READ,

The Elegance of the Hedgehog. It plays a small role in the book and I googled what this flower looked like and fell in love with its beauty. I might have to go to Lowes and see if they carry them, or at least the seeds.

5. Apron skirt from Old Navy in the color of "flax". There are an assortment of colors, but this one is most natural and pretty much matches everything! I wore it today actually with a baby blue shirt from American Apparel and a beige cardigan from The Gap with sanuks. I felt very comfortable and cute! Retails for $24.50 but will probably go on sale soon!

6. etsy.com- a great place to shop for unique, one of a kind hand made items. Lots of items from jewelry, photography, hair accessories (my favorite place to go), and more! Take a few minutes to explore and support the little guys!

7. The Elegance of the Hedgehog- I mentioned it above, one of the best books I have read in a long time. Its a fast read and guaranteed an assortment of emotions. It costs 14$ at Target or your local bookstore. I promise you'll love it!

8. Americano- On the mornings that I go to Starbucks before work for a special treat I always get the Americano. A venti Americano to be exact. For those who don't know what this is, its only espresso and water, that is it. Simple, raw, and delicious. No cream, no sugar just pure bliss. This drink takes control of so many senses...from the feel of the warm liquid hitting my mouth and my hands around the warm cup, to the taste of smooth, rich coffee and the smell of heaven. I dare you to try one!