Leah's Favorite Things

I watched the series finale.
I don’t get it.
Please explain the smoke monster.

However, I can’t be too mad at you…
you brought all the couples back together…
and you gave us Fringe.
We can talk about that one at the next series finale

An excuse for not blogging.
I was in Tucson, AZ!
I was, I was!

I went to Mary’s wedding.
You might remember her from this post.
About 12 years ago my family lived in Arizona.
We lived there for 10 years.
And in about 3rd grade I met Mary and we have been friends ever since.
Long distance friends for the most part…but friends nonetheless.
Anyhow, last Friday I flew to Tucson, got a rental car and stayed at a super nice hotel.
ALL BY MYSELF.
I had to be all adult like and do things on my own.
And let me just tell ya…it isn’t as fun as it sounds
No, no…things went just fine.
Besides the fact that the trip lasted all of 5 minutes and I didn’t get to enjoy the amazing pool or visit with other friends that I haven’t seen in ages.

But…back to the hotel.

It was Starr Pass JW Marriott Resort and Spa.
If you go to that link you will see a way better picture of it…cause I only brought my small point and shoot camera and my pictures don’t do it justice.
It was HUGE.
And had a spa, and a huge gift shop, and multiple restaurants and a Starbucks.
 
You can’t see it from any of the main roads.
So get off the interstate and drive back into the hills and it kind of leaps out at you.
And has a beautiful fancy pool.
With those cute tent things.
Lots of outdoor seating for lounging and eating and enjoying the warm weather.
Oh yeah…it was in the high 80’s and low 90’s the whole time.
On Saturday…I got into my car to go pick Mary up and had to put my sunglasses on and turn on the AC.
It was 6:30am.
I am such a sissy Washingtonian now.
But I loved every second of the warmth.
Except when the hot car seats were burning my booty

Thanks you sweet friend who hooked me up with this hotel.
You will go nameless as I don’t know if it’s ok to share your identity in reference to hotel hookups.
But you know who you are and you know that we have go to go back here together!

As lovely as the hotel was…that is obviously not why I was in Tucson.
This is why I was in Tucson.

Love these boys!
 
They are so sweet.
And that little one…he is such a character.
During the reception he got the microphone and announced that he was going to perform an “Irish dance” for everyone and needed a volunteer.
Then proceeded to pick his little girl cousin as his volunteer and did some cute little jig around the dance floor with her.
I still don’t know how I ended up leaving AZ without bringing those two home with me.

Me and the beautiful bride.
What a happy day for her.
Mary…thanks for having me and I’m sorry my hair ruined this picture.
Really…what’s up with my hair people?

Today is my littlest sisters 18th birthday!
Time to bust out the “back in the day” pictures.

Meg and I getting to hold our new baby sister.

My love for babies started with those two munchkins.
And even to this day…when I hold a baby…their little shirt rides up.
Every stinking time.

Gotta love the neon pink shorts…and even tho you cant tell…I was wearing a Simpsons t-shirt.
I wasn’t allowed to watch The Simpsons.
But somehow I snagged myself a t-shirt.
And what about those hair cuts?
My dad took us to get our hair cut while my mom was in the hospital with baby Gabby.
Based on that picture I’m not sure G approved.

Gabby was a cute baby… but there were days when she was nothing more than a hot mess.
Exhibit A
 
However, she pulls off a red and polka dot bathing suit better than anyone I know.
 
Don’t let those cute eyes fool you…she definitely had a mullet.
 
Poor Malachi.
G? Why are you scalping the poor cat?
And what on earth were you two doing to Mark?
 
I loved that dog.
He was the best dog we ever had.
He was humiliated at times…but that’s what happens when you live with three little girls.
She has come a long way tho.
She is a dancer.
A world traveler.
and a college student.
However…no matter what…
she will always be my little 8 year old sister having her birthday party in the garage.
For some odd reason this picture is burned into my brain.
And when I think of Gabby it flashes in my head.

Gretta I love you!
You are sweet and kind and a daughter of God.
I hope you have a great day today.
And please…PLEASE…pretty please…don’t get a tattoo today.

Happy Birthday!!
Love your Biggest sister.

So far I am doing good on my 5K training.
Today was the second time I ran 1.5 miles this week.
My legs ache.
Every inch of them…and I almost talked myself out of going today.
But I went with the intention of walking 1.5 miles and ran.

But let me just tell you what ticked me off today.
After I did my run I went to the dark room.
Yeah…my gym has a dark work out room.
It’s for all us people that don’t want to be seen as we work out
Anyhow…I went downstairs to the workout room…did my core exercises and then moved on to my arms.
There are two machines I use for my arms right now.
I did my pulling reps on one machine and then moved on to the pushing machine.
After my first set I noticed the guy on the machine next to me finish his rep and then just stand next to my machine waiting.
It was a little awkward but ok…if you wanna stand there and wait that’s fine.
So I start my second set.
And I usually do a five second break between each set.
After my second set…during my five second break the guys asks me if I can get off the machine so that he can get on and finish his set.

Really?
You’ve been standing there…do you really think I’m only going to do two sets?
I understand that I’m only pushing 30 lbs vs your 145 lbs…but come on…why are your arms more important than mine?
And why do you think it’s ok to hog TWO of the machines.
GRRRR.

Yes…I hoped off and even offered to wipe the machine down for him.
I busied myself with a leg strengthening exercise and then came back to finish my last 3 sets.
And guess what?
The guys was over at another machine.
Even though I was irritated I at least gave him the benefit of the doubt…thinking maybe he was in a hurry or something.
Nope…just thought it was okay to interrupt me so he could do his exercise in order.
News flash buddy…you go to a gym with lots of people…sometimes you will need to wait your turn or switch things up a little so as not to be annoying to others.

All I’m saying is he better never get in my way while I’m doing lunges!

That was a long blog break.
But I think I might be back in the groove

Do you guys watch LOST?
Did anyone else cry last week about the whole Sun and Jen thing?
I’m ready for tonight’s episode.
Love that show.

Esther and I are running a 5K.
Um…yeah.
I’m scared.
But I’m up to 2 miles now.
I had to push through those last few minutes tho.
I just kept telling myself “you can do it”… “Jesus endured the cross…so you can at least do these last 2 minutes”
Then I finished and my favorite Jay-Z song came on the radio.
Two days later I went back and could hardly make myself run 1.5 miles.
However, Esther sent me a training schedule…and I think having structure will help.

How was your Mothers Day?
I took my Mom to Salish Lodge for Mothers Day Brunch.
 
And we had to take twenty million shots before we could get one with both our heads and the waterfall.
And of course we get the shot and well lets just say it isn’t my best angle
Mom looks cute tho and it was Mothers Day so I guess it isn’t all about me.
Love you Mom…hope you had fun.

Anyone watch Real Housewives of New Jersey.
New Jersey is so the best season.
Table flipping, Grandma Wrinkles, the right way to make pasta sauce.
Cracks me up.
Although, last nights episode left me thinking they are probably just as crazy as the rest of the housewives.
Your surprised I’m sure.

Switching thoughts totally…
do you guys know about Jesus Culture?
Amber turned me onto them.
I could very well be the last person on earth to know about them but I love them now.
Feel free to rock out to a couple of my favorites!

Hey guys…I’m back!
I was in France!

Just kidding.
I wasn’t…
and I’m sorry for telling you a story.
I’ve just been putting off blogging.
Wanna know why?
Cause I didn’t want to go through the hassle of downloading the pictures off my camera memory cards.
You feel my pain right?
I blame it on my husband.
He hooked me up with Eye-Fi and I got spoiled.
Now it needs to be re-downloaded onto my laptop so that I don’t have to do it manually.
Life is pretty rough around here
Doing things manually and all.

In other news…
I went on a date last week.
With another man.
A much younger man.

I thought the reptile zoo would be a good first date.

Ends up he was much more interested in another woman than he was in me.

Her name was Cruisette.

And he was somewhat obsessed with her.
I guess with a name like that I never even had a chance
He really liked the ridges in her shell.

I was partial to Cruiser.
He was much more mellow and look at those sweet eyes.

And then we ended our date with pie.

All in all it went well.
We talked about deep things like monster trucks, him crashing my car into buildings and Lady Gaga.
I’ll let you know how the next date goes

And…a special thanks to his Mama for trusting me with him!