-ragtard renard.

how do you sum up the craziest36 hours of life ever lived?
i sent matt a text this morning and asked if i was crazy for missing ragnar so much already.
he replied:
"no. last night i couldn't sleep so i drank a red bull, rubbed hot garbage all over me and went and sat in my truck".

that's about it.

the ragnar relay was the most difficult challenge i've ever participated in -yet- it's not the long stretches of running through the pitch black desert or impossible climbs along the broken shoulders of an old arizona highway that i'll remember most about this experience.

forget about all the running when i have things like cussing out my 17 year old teammate or pooping in the middle of a very busy and crowded parking lot at 2 am to reminisce about. i know i'm gross but i never thought i'd reach the lows i did. i guess it takes a total lack of electrolytes, sleep, food, hope and a car full of guys (and probably a mild case of TSS) to bring out the worst in me.

my team was the best.
and after this experience i would take a bullet for them.
or at least given them my last blessed banana.
we laughed with each other, we cheered for each other, we hung in there for each individual's breakdowns and we smelled each other's body odor in a closed vehicle for HOURS.

ragnar and bonding goes together as naturally as eating liberty fries and shitting the american flag.

never been happier. enjoy my slide show.

"Pinko Show"

Create a free slideshow with Pinko!

ps- i'm pretty sure tss can be cured or held at bay when you wipe with windex wipes.
because sometimes, that's all that's available.
and you've pretty much given up on life anyway.

-that just happened

does this make me an official mommy blogger?
a post with pictures of my baby destroying my make up.
i should make a sweet comment about what a cute little monkey he is.
but instead- i'll just insult myself.
what a sonofabitch.

dear ade,

i'm sorry that you're upset because i put your 13 minutes of fun to an end with a startling gasp and harsh scrub . i'm also sorry that the make up won't wash out completely and you'll probably live the next couple weeks of your life with a red eye brow and medium beige tinted hair.

i still think you're freaking rad.

love,
mom

10. on a scale of 1-10

perfect weekend.
like- stick the landing- perfect.
1.)brooks and brandon went on their little man outing on friday night.
one 3rd of the evening involved a movie about a princess and a frog.
two 3rds of the evening involved building back up testosterone lost in viewing previously mentioned movie by going to an.......arcade. (gasp) brandon said brooks ran from game to game until he settled on the one where you shoot spiders and dragonflies with a friendly looking gun. i turn my head to this violent behavior.
arcades are full of motherless children that will eventually turn into the donkeyboys of treasure island.

2.)however- game on. because when the boys are away (and ade's in bed) momma plays.

i FINALLY watched "the graduate".

1967. dustin hoffman. simon and garfunkle. cinematic glory.

i've never been more inspired to take pictures in my life.
i loved everything about that movie which is good because it only took me 42 years to get around to seeing it.

3.) we got a sitter to go on our favorite kind of date. we bargain hunted in the basement of Last Chance for 3 hours in the middle of the day. you can have your fancy restaurants and romantic strolls. lew and i find love while trying on japanese sneakers and tory burch skirts. (just me in the skirts of course) we held hands in the car and talked about motivation and technique needed to navigate that addictive hell hole. we hi-5'd each other for the finds we did manage to smuggle home.
ahhhhh love.

4.) we ate at baja fresh

5.) i got to watch ANOTHER movie by myself. in bed. listening to the rain.
"lost in translation". i'm going to japan this year. i'm not joking.

6.) found some photo/collage opp's:

7.) took this picture of my sweet little brooks in his jammies on sunday morning:
(dont worry. i looked at this picture before church and after throwing up in my mouth, went for a little more edited version- to lew's dismay)
and....
8.) accidentally got this one of my crazy little ade:
the end.

- sideways smiley face

if He can overlook my short shorts and let me in to heaven,
here's what i shall be feasting upon-

curry turkey sandwich from The Farm.
when it really boils down to it, there's only 2 other things that can compete with the glory of this sandwich:
strawberried peanut butter m&m's and
pumpkin bread pudding from The Mission

and it's not just because EVERYTHING tastes, feels and looks better at The Farm.
i ate the other half of this sandy when i got home and it was equally amazeballs.
here's my nth blog about my favorite place on the planet.

ader. 99% of his life is spent pantsless.
put really, we'd hate to compete with the crocs.

brooksy.
happy to be throwing grapefruit at the chickens and have peach pie for lunch.

this place just gets better with every visit.
and so do my excuses to wear cut offs in gorgeous 75 degree winter weather.
i'm just a slurpee and snack bag of fire cheetos away from a nascar convention.
click here for an old post about the same place with a smaller brooks

-catch me if you can

today we went to the park.
while i was sitting on a bench, watching my boys play, a streak of pure bliss ran across my field of vision.
it was a 10 year old girl with sweaty snarled hair, black flats and her sundress hiked up around her waist.
she was sprinting as hard and fast as she could.
the best part of this scene was not the shock of getting flashed by her black undies but the look of complete excitement, thrill and happiness smeared all over her face.

20 seconds later, i understood her expression when 3 boys came chasing after her sporting looks of frustration and defeat on their faces.

i instantly loved that girl.
"go girl go!!"
"keep running!"

even if they did eventually catch her, her attitude and energy would make her victorious.
she knew, and they knew, she was the winner.

and that got me to thinking (uh oh).

what's happened to me?
i've let this year kick me in the face.
the lawsuits, the house floods, the friend drama, the diabetic episodes, the stressing about my body, the need to be a perfect mom,

my inability to be satisfied with what i
create,
do,
say,
think.

my inability to be satisfied with me.

i've been the chaser, exhausted and defeated.

i'm taking the lead in my life again and reminding the "issues" that although i'm well aware of them and figuring out how to deal with them, they'll never overtake me.
i'm not running away from them, i'm just giving them a good chase.
and i'm going to have a helluva good time doing it.

blah. how's that for an emotional unload?
cheers.


i did manage to snap one shot of her with my camera phone.
here she is, hiding from the chasers.
just look at that face.......

-valentine's night.

and at the end of the day, when the babies are tired and the sun has gone to bed, we have each other.
and love.
i'm such a lucky gal.

-oh ade

we've found the one downfall with having uber long eyelashes.
sometimes, when you're riding home from church eating a sucker, they get stuck to your cheek.

we were laughing so hard, i nearly wrecked the car.
hope your vday was extra sticky.

-happy valentine's day

nothing says happy valentine's day like a festive sweaty running partner.
especially one that shows up on your front step at 6am, with no shirt on, and runs to jump in bed with your husband.
tis the season.

thera told him he looked gay.
she's quite the wordsmith.

-a happy arizona lewis

pinch me.
i've been to heaven.

let's add it up shall we:
phoenix art museum
+ 650 creative interior designers
+ models with personality
+ covering the event with only about 5 other photographers
+ a night of feeling inspired and excited

it was perfection.

for more pictures and an explanation of the amazingness click here

-really?

i just found these pictures that pris took of me sometime late summer in 2007.
i'm officially growing my hair back out.
and demanding a monthly facial.
how could i age so much in just 2 and a half years?!?!!
what the what?
i don't even have anything clever or interesting to say.

-fotos

it's time to focus.
i've put it off for waaaay too long.
i need to get my photo website up and get a little more organized.
anyone have any suggestions for templates?

baby brother dave needed to beef up his portfolio.
i needed more practice in the studio.
jose needed an overdose of mccain humor.
last night was about meeting needs.
when i get a second, i'll put the rest of dave's session on my photoblog.
for now, enjoy yet another collage.

ps- this is Jose. he's kinda amazeballs.
he's waaaay more professional than i am.
click here to see for yourself.
ps- he'll laugh at most of your jokes. and tell you you're stupid for not knowing how to work your own camera.

-daydreaming..........................

...................just an idea of what i've been longing to do. again. soon please.

-true like forever

i met the wyatts last week.
they're having a baby.
but that's not the cool thing about them.
the coolest thing about becky and cameron is how much they like each other.
novel concept right?
a married couple that doesn't just love each other but also like each other?!
so rad.

brandon's been taking me on dates lately, without the boys.
and guess what i've found-
i like him.
he laughs at all of my inappropriate jokes and doesn't mind if i burp on our way to the car.
(i sound like a 14 year old boy.)
i decided to tell him i liked him and he knew it was a bigger compliment than the usual "love you".
here's to us this february and our state of being madly in like with each other.

and here's to the wyatts- for their amazing chemistry and their female baby producing skills.
(how do they do it!!??)

for more pictures click here

-BINGO

the bingo party this year was 1 part bingo, 3 parts photo booth and 17 parts food.
those 21 parts equal good times and plenty of tamale farts. (yooooou're welcome).
not much else to say about that.
enjoy the photo strips of some of my very favorite people:




ps- brandon just walked in here, looked at the pictures, and asked: "is the background suppose to camouflage the people?"

pps- i said yes. and then punched myself in the liver.