Every single morning. That’s hemp meal (superfood!) on top.

Pronounced kwal-y. Ok, I know I spelled it wrong, I was like 4 years old. I think there’s a pic of me as an infant where Qualie is bigger than I am. I will keep this guy around forever. Plus, matching beach towel? How awesome was my mom? #1980s

This was Saturday night. Key Lime pie, too. Hey, it’s all about balance. Delicious balance. Back to eggs, meat and nuts today.

These boys are my everything. Including the shirtless human in the background.

I love Banana Republic.

Leah and the boys are in town this weekend. I realized recently that Leah hadn’t yet met some of the most important people in my life and that they had kids too… and then I combined my love of Play-Doh and parties and seemed pretty logical to me to get us all together, get a few truckloads of Play-Doh and have some fun. Cucpakes and mojitos, oh my! So glad everyone got to meet my bright, shining Leah and hope Jonah feels better soon; he was running a fever last night. We’ll have to do that again soon; next time in the new place!

New rimless glasses. Much more subtle than my black Pradas.

Jessica takes some of the most amazing photographs. It’s so nice to see such amazing shots, especially when I feel really far away.

Jessica and crew were taking care of Fisher and Drake this weekend while Aubrey and Kevin were in Mexico. Click here to see all the shots.

If you know me really well, you know how happy this makes me.

I swear. He loves stalking Spencer out in the fields, planning his attack…

Seriously, I have one dog and one cat/human/dog/thing. Oh, Jack.

Yesterday was a blast. Karine, Donny, Amanda, Colby, Tim, Michael and I ran the 2013 Spartan Sprint. 4.7 mi, 15+ obstacles, and a few cuts and scrapes.

I was a bit psyched out for it Friday night; the videos online are a little intimidating and I haven’t really been training very much. However, the adrenaline did it’s job and I was pretty happy with my performance. We weren’t going for any specific time; we’d wait at an obstacle if anyone in our team was behind or needed to rest a bit.

We stayed dry and mud-free for 80% of the race. Mud came into play towards the end with a rope climb and some mud hills. But at the very end, when the finish line was in sight, all hell broke loose. 70 yards of mud under barbed wire; time to army crawl. Plus, it was about 42 degrees outside and some dude was spraying everyone with a water hose. The first video below is us right after that, as we climb the last wall and run over the fire.

Photo Opp:

It was great to race with everyone; I’m ready to get back into this stuff more often. It was rewarding and a lot of fun.

I love my window at work.

Beautiful morning. Chilly but not cold. I love Arizona.

Wow. This is so old! My first job at Brooklyn Cafe had a big party the newspaper covered. Leah is so good about saving stuff like this. Thanks for sending, Leah.

You have no idea how much I miss these little guys. So freaking cute.

First self-pic of 2013. Trying to think positive things! Took this one for Terry and send it to him last week when he was gone. So good to have him home. I’m on day #2 with the flu. Send love.

So, I’ve been meaning to post these for a while. I figured it’s been at least a week or so since I’ve blogged pics of the boys being lazy.

As a side note, my domain was approved for Twitter cards today, so previews and thumbnails render in Twitter clients. Super awesome!

Yes, my friends, it happened. Mini, 32GB, AT&T. It’s pretty much everything I thought it’d be.

I caught them spending some time together. Jack wants everyone to believe he hates Spencer, but secretly he can’t imagine life without him.

A trip to Orlando, my fav cologne, TempurPedic pillow, a picture frame, some $$ and some yum yums. Thanks everyone!

A very lucky turtle this year…

The Official caption of this picture is “Why you shouldn’t give developers anything to do other than code”. Food was meh. Drink ordering was hilarious. Joyous Sage Yule, Y’all!

Look! Twinsies!

Good one! Fisher is warming up to him!

Had a fabulous brunch today at Cafe Zulu – it’s right in the terminal of Scottsdale Airport with a view of the runway and the mountains. The food was delicious, too. Looking forward to going back.

Here’s Spencer enjoying a little Alanis Morissette.

Terry’s mom is absolutely adorable.

Do not microwave
to heat – put in toaster oven
or regular oven
or ju$t eat

Got some new buddies to keep me company.

LOL. First real tree Terry and I have had in about 10 years. First one in AZ, that’s for sure. It smells amazing. Decorations to come. Tree and lights up. Blessed yule, y’all.

Pro snuggler.

Kristen is moving to San Francisco next week. Got to say goodbye yesterday for lunch.

Oh, Jack.

A combined birthday celebration for Jackson and Spencer. My boys are all grown up; grey hair and all!

Today, Morgan and I put up the Christmas tree at work and listened to holiday music. Yay!

Omg I can’t wait!

A hot air balloon landed practically right outside my bedroom window yesterday.

Celina let me borrow a mug this past week when I was in Irvine. Poetically it was a “Black Lab” mug. Love it.

Just me and the pups tonight. And these sweet potato fries. And a beer. And a movie. And maybe a hot candlelit bad. #theend

So amazing out today.

http://twitter.com/blu_vision/status/267388072839233536

Had an amazing piece of salmon from Pita Jungle today at work. Hands down my favorite restaurant.

He’s finally given up all hope…

I’m going to miss you like crazy. “May God bless you in your travels, in your conquests and queries.” -AM

Helped Germaine and Deana get moved into their new place in Scottsdale. This was Dani and I in the Element on our way…

I’m a lunatic! #borntoknit

http://twitter.com/adamthwaite/status/260042564143570944

Fisher starting down the dark path… Terry would be so proud.

I won!!! Hanging out at Deana’s today.

Yay! My insides!

And they missed one of my doctors orders for an injection, so I get to do it all over again on Monday. Uf!

Jessica took some absolutely perfect shots of Aubs and the boys. My heart is aching right now…

I have… the…. most… amazing friends… ever. Period. Amen. Thank you, Leah.

This. Is. Living.

Free beauty.

Well, after about 7 years of working together, I finally got to meet my friend Celina from the Irvine, CA office. Terry and I had a great time last night. We took her out to TKs Urban Grill at Scottsdale Quarter and then had lattes at Press Coffee.

Sent Fish a card in the mail with a picture of him and me on the front… thanks for the video, Aubs.

iMovie. Go:

Hey, booger.

On Friday, Justine’s last day at Sage, Terry, Justine, Bridgitte, Janet, Brent and I went our for lunch at True Foods Kitchen.

I asked the waitress to surprise me on my order (it’s my new thing I Do) and got a yummy mushroom pizza; something I would have never ordered myself. Also got surprised with a little flour-less chocolate cake treat at the end, along with a really nice card from Bridgitte. Thanks, everyone.

PS: Still not ready/willing to process that Justine’s actually gone. Hmph.

Pretty happy about this.

My normal view at work of Camelback mountain is now blocked by scaffolding and this hottie. He’s good at staring.

For my birthday on Thursday, Terry gifted me a voucher for a trip back to Orlando to spend some time with family. He knows how much they mean to me and how much I miss them and it was an amazing, touching, generous gift. Given that so much is going to be changing at work and how busy it’ll be for the next quarter, on top of it being uncertain mom is going to be living there, I cashed it in the very next day and spent the weekend with them.

I worked it out with Kevin to have the visit be a complete surprise: Aubrey and mom had no idea. I left Phoenix on Friday morning and, including the time change, I got into Orlando at 4:15 and Kevin picked me up curbside. There weren’t any solid plans crafted for the surprise. Since this was pretty close to the normal time he’d be coming home from the office, he suggested that he just stay back in the truck and send me to the front door to come in and they’ll just think it was him when they hear the key turn. Worked perfectly. I had to wiggle the key a little bit to get it to turn and Fisher heard me and must have said something to Aubrey… “Daddy’s home!” she said to him. I swung the door open and conveniently they were both in the living room as I announced “it’s not daddy!” She immediately recognized my voice and stood up, jaw dropped, eyes wide open as she started a string of about 10-15 repetitious “oh my god”s and “what are you doing here”s?

Sarah, one of her best friends, had gone into labor earlier on Friday so that was immediately the focal point of the evening after the shock of my presence had waned. She took a quick trip over there to see how the laboring at home was going and then met Kevin, the boys, and I at Dubstread for dinner. Mom was still working late and as we ate we planned that the surprising her with my presence would be an easy one: immediately after dinner Aubrey would be going to the hospital to deliver baby Brett and we’d invite Grammy over to their house to help Kevin put the kids to bed in Aubrey’s absence. Aubrey left for the hospital and Kevin, the boys and I went home to start baths and wait for Grammy.

Mom conveniently texted when she was leaving to come over and I was able to hide behind thin little wall by the kitchen that was in direct view of the front door for the surprise. When I heard her trademark knock, I ran for it. I gave it about 10-15 seconds for Fisher to have a moment to run and greet her just like normal. As soon as they finished hugging and she had stood back up, I peeped head out at the absolute perfect time. She was floored. After a pretty crappy day at work and emotions high already, she just threw her face in her hands at started to cry before I could even walk over there. “I gotcha!”, I snickered as she pulled me close for a long embrace. Mission accomplished.

We all waited up until about 1:30 am for Aubrey to get home from the hospital to hear about Sarah’s delivery and baby Brett’s journey here. Sarah did great and mom and baby were well.

Saturday morning Kevin, they boys and I went to the Winter Park Farmers Market and saw Linda and Karen and got some veggies, kettle corn, and flowers for Sarah. Later that afternoon, Grammy and I took the boys to the Orlando Science Center. Had a blast and so did I. That place is huge now. I remember it being a simple single story building and now it’s a sprawling complex with a new 6 story building with 4x the exhibits. So much for the boys to see, interact with and learn about. Fisher was so happy – it was an amazing afternoon. Later that evening, Kevin made an amazing steak salad; that dude knows what he’s doing in the kitchen. I always leave visits with Aubrey and Kevin inspired to try new things in the kitchen.

Sunday morning, Aubrey, mom and I woke up early and headed out to my first Barre3 class. Her good friend Amanda owns the studio. Barre3 is a mixture of ballet, Pilates and yoga; really, really cool. My legs were on FIRE and I learned some really awesome floor exercises for my buns and core. I really hope the studio grows and flourishes – it’s a beautiful studio and an amazing discipline. I’m so happy mom and Aubrey have it to share with each other. We came home and made scrambled eggs, bacon and cinnamon rolls. Fisher did such a good job frosting the rolls and beating the eggs.

Later that afternoon we booked 3 back-to-back haircut appointments with Raul – he’s been the boy’s barber their whole lives and even cuts my cousin’s hair; keepin’ it in the family. It’s significantly shorter than I usually cut it but I’m very happy with it. Afterwards we did a little shopping and came home for the evening. Kevin made a seafood soup for dinner. I was openly and candidly verbal about my hesitation with the plans. I’m okay with seafood in general, but usually only by themselves; those frutte d’marre concoctions I’ve seen out at restaurants usually look disgusting and smell worse. However, I have a lot of faith in Kevin in the kitchen and realize the sentiment was 99% fear-based so went with it. It was amazing. Mahi-mahi, shrimp, scallops, lobster base (guys boiled down) and a tomato sauce. I had 2 (and a half) bowls.

Mom went back to her condo for the evening and Monday morning Aubrey, the boys and I went over there for breakfast before she had to go to work. It’s amazing to me that scrambled eggs can vary so. They tasted exactly, e-x-a-c-t-l-y like I remember from growing up. Scrambled eggs have never tasted so good. The plan at that point was to use their season’s passes and spend a few hours at Sea World before I needed to be taken to the airport. We made a quick pit stop at the Apple Store to replace her broken iPhone 4 with a 4S. After a long discussion, I convinced her to steer clear of the iPhone 5 until scuff-gate and batter issues were cleared up with whatever model is coming after this one. Once we got it in hands, I was more interested in playing Apple-dork-brother and getting it all setup for her and getting Ghost Armor put on. We aborted plans for Sea World and grabbed some lunch at the mall and headed back to her place to play techie and wash the unneeded sunblock off so I didn’t stink on the plane.

The trip was amazing. And it was exactly what I needed. I have the most loving, beautiful family and the trip was exactly what I needed. Batteries recharged. I miss them already. Love you guys.

Well, yesterday was pretty awesome. It went by way too fast. Terry made me the traditional freshly baked Cinnamon Rolls with a slice of birthday cake with the “3” and “0” candles on top. Gee thanks, Terry, I needed to be reminded of that first thing in the morning.

After a cinnamon roll and a cup of coffee, he brought in cards and presents that he’d been (very successfully) hiding from me over the past few weeks. In no particular order, here’s what my friends and family so graciously showered upon me:

• Libby: A very cute card with a sticker on the back of a little guy with glasses on. I can actually picture her looking over a sheet of stickers and thinking to herself how appropriate the little blue guy with black glasses is. She’s beyond adorable and the card was very sweet. Love you, Libby.
• Leah: I wasn’t expecting anything. Neither was Terry. He nor I had any idea who this box from Amazon.com was from. On Leah’s last visit several weeks ago to Arizona, she and I took a visit to Michael’s and I was looking for one of those kid activity sets where you get a loom and bands to make your own colorful potholders. They didn’t have anything. So, I open the first flap of the box and see the picture of the potholder and loops and immediately close the box back and start sobbing, snotting and drooling all over the cardboard box. It’s simple gestures like that that mean so much to me – that show me she’s paying attention and that I matter to her. She knows truly how dorky I am and how bad I want to enjoy a quiet evening at home with a glass of wine making own pot holder.
• Mom: This was a three-staged gift. There were clear instructions on the order in which to open each and the request to have her on the phone when I opened them. I got her on the phone and started with a manila envelope. Inside was a full page magazine article of a Q&A style interview with Alanis Morissette. She told me to read it and I started to quick read it – it’s wasn’t exactly short, but she chimed in with “out loud, silly!”. The article covered her recent life developments, being married, having a baby, releasing a new record and starting out on a tour. The questions covered how each of those components were working with one another and how that differed from her experience with the 1995 thrust into stardom from Jagged Little Pill and what she does to maintain her sanity. Amongst carving out “mandatory” time with her baby and date nights with her husband, the one thing she never leaves for tour without is her Barefoot Dreams blanket. “It’s the softest thing in the world”. It clicked at that moment. I was pretty sure what was in the next box; and I was right. As if Leah’s present hadn’t already had me in a hyper-emotional, sloppy-sobby state, I b.r.o.k.e. down bawling when I opened the blanket and experienced just how soft it was. Alanis wasn’t joking. It’s mysteriously soft and comforting. It means the world to me that she had been that thoughtful and knows how much it means to me to know that I’ll be able to snuggle up with Terry under the blanket and know that it’s a common bond I now get to share with Alanis. #3 was a touching card that kept the tears coming (enough already, people!) with some birthday spending money. Her thoughtfulness and generosity was humbling beyond measure.
• Terry: Terry actually had already given me a present. About two months ago, I realized how I was starving creatively. Years ago I had sold my old keyboard when we were downsizing when moving out of the house and into an apartment. I used to spend hours on my keyboard with my CD’s or iPod listening to favorite artists (ok, mostly Alanis) and playing along. I’ll give myself credit for having a good ear – I can’t read music very well at all, so I just ‘feel’ it out. I realized I was starving for that creative outlet back in my life and we went to a Best Buy in Tempe that had a huge music department. I found a MIDI Controller that was exactly what I had in mind. A MIDI Controller is like a keyboard, but you have to connect it to a computer to play/record – there’s no onboard speakers; it’s meant to control a program like Garage Band. I couldn’t justify the expense and after spending 45 minutes in there, we walked out to the parking lot empty handed, only to have Terry wisk me back in there and buy it for me as an early birthday present. It’s been great to have that back in my life and great timing with the new Alanis material to learn.
  He handed me a card, and when I opened it, inside was simply written: Trip to Orlando to see Family. Okay, who needs extra convincing I started crying again? He knows me too well and he knows how much I miss my mom and sister and my nephews and what good it would do for me to see them. I’m actually writing this blog on the airplane right now. Long story short, but with Justine leaving Sage next week, Boot Camp coming up and holiday craziness coming up – this is the best weekend for it to happen or it won’t happen for months. Janet, my boss, green lit the idea to take a last-minute trip and it’s booked and best of all, Kevin and I are working together to surprise Mom and Aubrey. They both have no clue I’m on my way to see them for the weekend. Can’t wait

The rest of the day was great. Justine had a gorgeous bouquet of flowers waiting on me along with chocolates and an iTunes gift card. Got a lot done in the morning at the office and then the whole team went out on a lunch to Pita Jungle: a hybrid birthday lunch for me and a bon-voyage lunch for Justine. I love my work family so much and it was great to spend some time with them and we all took a moment to share favorite memories of Justine and did our best to make sure she knew how much we’re going to miss her – not only professionally but personally; she might not have realized what an impact she’s had on all of us. I managed not to cry, but I was definitely a little misty.

Afterwards, we had some yummy cake Kristin brought in and then did a really fun project for Sage SalesLogix Boot Camp, but I’m not going to share that here for now – it’s a bit of a surprise and there’ll be a video I can post up here about it closer or after the event. Had a blast and laughed a ton.

Once I got home and got cleaned up from our project (I was a mess! Oh, the suspsnse!) Terry and I were free to have the evening to ourselves which is exactly what I wanted. We had intentions of going out to a nice dinner alone, but that just didn’t feel right somehow and taking a peek at the yoga calendar, there was a 5:30 hot Vinyasa class with Julie Blew at Life Power…. Perfect. Even though I haven’t taken a ton of her classes, she’s got a very special presence and energy that I just eat up and she manages to fill my cup every class I take with her; plus, I hadn’t managed to attend one of her classes since Terry and I got back to AZ. The class was great, even with having to modify some poses and navigate around the wrist pain, it was a great class and I ended up in a huge puddle of sweat and had one of the best Savasanas ever. I felt full. I felt amazing. I felt loved. I felt alive.

As a side note – I’ve had a chance recently to reconnect with my Big Brother: Scott. Not a biological brother, but from the Big Brothers / Big Sisters of America program. He was a mentor to me growing up and we lost touch 15ish years ago. I found him on Facebook recently and we’ve been catching up. He sent me a picture, below, of us back from 1993. Looking forward to reconnecting with him more.

To each of you – thank you. Thanks for putting up with my constant tears, my quirks, my temper, my hyper-sensitivity, my need for control and for taking all the bad that comes with the good. I have the most loving, giving, thoughtful, amazing friends and family in the world and the only wish I have in my heart right now is that I make you feel even fractionally as amazing as you make me feel.

Namaste.