Give me a kiss

How can I complain about a thing when I have this?

video-2009-07-30-19-34-58

shootin' some b-ball outside of the school

Good form!



"Ohp! Rayder's turn"

Embarking

To anyone who reads this blog, it should be no surprise that I have struggled with my weight for exactly 7 years now. Okay, actually I've struggled with it my entire life, but in hindsight, I declare that it doesn't really count as a struggle when you're a size 6. Sorry. I detailed what happened to cause my weight gain in this post a while back. The past year, I have finally been able to get my endocrine system in check - at least in check enough that my weight loss efforts actually have the possibility to bring RESULTS.

Last year I lost 55 lbs, gained some back during the holidays (like an idiot), and have lost a bit more since then. Uber yay. Except that I've been thinking, my long term goal, Sexy Beeyotch, still seems pretty far into the distant future. In fact, I can't even see it on the horizon just yet. That can be discouraging at times, so I decided I needed to distract myself with something along the way ("oooh! shiny!!!"). So I signed up to run a 5k. I KNOW. What the CRAP. WAS. I. THINKING?

Too late to turn back now, I already paid my money. Nevermind that I've never ran a day in my life. I don't even like playing sports. I have a specific training program I'm following to develop a running base and prep myself for my race. This requires an amazing amount of trust, an emotion not native to my kind. Trust that this program really will get me ready to run withint 6-8 weeks as it promises. Because seriously? This week it's telling me to run 2 minutes at a time and walk 5 minutes in between? And 30 seconds in to the running spurts, I'm fumbling around with my phone's running application wondering if the freaking thing has somehow stopped working because I SWEAR IT'S ALREAY BEEN LIKE 6 MINUTES AND IT WAS SUPPOSED TO TELL ME TO WALK 4 MINUTES AGO AND I'M SERIOUSLY ABOUT TO DIE, LIKE LITERALLY HYPERVENELATE-AND-THEN-MY-HEART-WILL-STOP-BEATING DIIIIE.

Trust. Just don't think about the fact that your race is weeks away. Trust the training program.

So anyway, the purpose of this whole story is that, as extra motivation to myself, I am detailing my entire grueling training experience at KENNARUNS.BLOGSPOT.COM. This blog is my accountability system. So come on over and offer my chunky butt some words of encouragement. Or, I'll even take heckling and criticism because either way, it's still attention, and I'm very much like Lindsay Lohan in that respect. Amen.

Isn't he a little young for this?

My son's fingernails grow so fast, it seems like we're clipping them every third day - and that frequency is slightly on the side of neglect. He hates having them clipped, so we invented a game called "POP!" about a year ago, and that has helped us all survive grooming time much more happily.

So the other day, I picked him up from spending the day at his Nana's house and his nails had been cut. Steve and I inspected her fine work, wondering how she got such a close cut. That was a week ago, and I just realized last night that I hadn't cut his nails in a while, so I checked them and sure enough, they're perfectly manicured.

Tonight after bathtime, we were cuddling up to a movie and I looked over at Carter and he was biting his nails! Drool dripping down his bare belly, and a handful of fingernails in his other hand. Turns out he's been biting off his toenails too.

What... the... crap.

He's barely two. Is this normal???

My first try at bribery

"If you stand there real still and look at mommy without your hands in your face and laugh and say "cheese," you can have an M&M"

"A red oned?" (everything ends with a "D" nowadays)

"Yes! A red one if you want!"

"CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZ!!!!!!!!!"

Love is a many splendored thing.

Some wedding announcements I recently designed.
I chose the most delicious matte-coated paper with spot UV coating on just the green letters to give them a glossy pop.
They mailed them in long black envelopes with green and white mailing labels.
Perfect for a bride who thrives on marching to her own drum-beat.
Three cheers for uniqueness and individuality.

Oh, and I took the photos, too.

The most boring meme you've ever read.

Emma tagged me because she thinks I say funny things.

6 names you go by:
1. McKenna
2. Kenna
3. Ken
4. Hon
5. Mama
6. Honey (by my son, nonetheless)

3 things you are wearing right now:
1. Wedding ring
2. Sweater that I'm going to wear to my sister's wedding.
3. Yellow shirt that is so cute and I wish I dared to wear it outside the house but my arms are still too chubby.

3 things you want very badly at the moment :
1. A housekeeper
2. An allergy-free head
3. Pedicure

2 things you did last night:
1. Pruned my tomatoes
2. Watched Forever Strong

3 people you last talked to on the phone:
Steve, husband; Megan, sister; Natasha, best friend and poodle. Totally a poodle.

things you are going to do tomorrow:
Wake up cured of the swine flu.
The laundry I am supposed to be doing tonight.

3 of your favorite beverages
1. Ice, ice, ice cold water. Filtered, please.
2. Umm...
3. Medifast Flavor Infusors that you mix into water - basically flavored green tea.

Sorry Emma, apparently I'm not that funny today.

i can haiku 2

i'm so distracted
with a bouquet of flowers
except just one thing

instead of flowers
chocolate covered strawberries
perfectly ripe, rich

so hard to believe
seven years gone by so fast
here's to many more

He takes his hobbies seriously

If Carter isn't meticulously "parking" cars in a row down the entire hallway, he's driving them around making engine noises (including sound effects for gear changes and squeaky breaks).

If he's not doing that, he's orchestrating car accidents with his various ramps and train track pieces. When they collide, he says, "OHHHH! Train trash!" or "OOOHHHH! Car trash!" (trash = crash).

If he's not crashing cars, he's talking about dump trucks, tractors, and train tracks, asking for Nascar while pointing to the TV, or reading books about excavators and helicopters.

If he's not doing any of the above, it's because he's eating or sleeping (with a HotWheels car clenched in his fist under the blanket, no doubt).

And the first thing he says each morning is, "Hi Momma! Trains?"

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Two

Happy birthday, baby.

K & M

Yay! My sister Meg is getting married to an amazing guy. I took their pictures yesterday, and here is a video! It's late, so I won't elaborate.

Click to watch!

Mind-blowing.

I love watching TED Talks. They're so thought provoking, and I'm pretty much addicted to them. But this one, you have got to see. A year ago, this idea would have seemed so incredibly futuristic to me. Like something out of a sci-fi movie. But all the super smart interfaces on phones lately make what you're about to see feel almost within reach. So get a load of this...

Boom!

I took a much needed day off today. My first real personal day from work in almost exactly 2 years if you don't count one or two sick days and the regular work holidays. Steve already had the day scheduled off because our babysitter had the day off, so it just seemed like a good time to take a break. We took Carter to the Living Planet Aquarium. I was a little worried he'd be too young, but he had just as much fun as we hoped he would. The entire time he was either a giggly, bouncy mess, or completely enthralled. He hasn't stopped talking about the eels since.



This boy had no problem reaching his hand in the water to pet a stingray, but when a huge turtle behind the glass came a little too close to his face, he jumped into my arms. Funny boy.



My favorite part of the entire day was when a huge grouper swam right past Carter's face and he squealed, "Ooooh hoo hoo hoo! [think Tigger laugh] Lookitduh biiiig fish! BOOM!"

Austin & Alissa

My brother is getting married in May, and I had the privilege of taking their engagement photos this evening. It was so cold, I couldn’t feel my fingers! I was wearing two coats and poor Alissa had short sleeves on. It was still fun. Here are a few of my favorites, and then a (poor quality) video of the rest. Check out Alissa’s cute foot tattoo in the first one, I love it!

I love you guys!













CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO

Comforting Chicken Pot Pie (feat. Photographer Dani Vest)

I got this most fabulous recipe from one of my e-BFFs, Dani. I have since wowed many men with it (my own man, and to the chagrin of the other mens' wives. Ha!) (Totally kidding) (Well, kidding about the snotty "chagrin" part, not about the "wow" part)

I have made a few "personalizations" to Dani's original recipe, and have been meaning to post it for a while, but I think pictures are important on recipe posts, and that's been the main hold up. I'm too lazy to make the recipe tonight just so that I can get some good pictures, so I hope she won't mind that I'm borrowing her pictures for this post.  I promise if you follow the recipe, yours will turn out looking just as beautiful as these pics!

Ingredients

2 pie crusts
3 chicken breasts (or you can buy a rotisserie chicken at the grocery and shred it up)
5 new potatoes (the red kind)
2 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 lb. bacon
1 bag frozen peas and carrots - thawed
1 sweet onion - diced
butter
egg

1. Heat oven to 450

2. Chop the entire package of bacon into one-inch chunks. Add to a frying pan and cook until crispy. Move cooked bacon to a paper towel. Dispose of the grease, but don't wash the pan!

3.Wash and dice the potatoes (don't skin them!) Throw them into a pot of boiling water and add a chicken bullion cube (or not, if you're watching your sodium)

4. At the same time, put the chicken breast into another pot of boiling water.

5. While those are cooking, grab a pie dish (the biggest one you can get your hands on, this pie is huge!) and put the bottom crust in. Bake it in the oven for 8-10 minutes or just until it's golden brown. This prevents a soggy-bottom pie. When you pull it out, turn the oven down to 400.



6. Add a bunch of butter to your post-bacon frying pan. Like, a lot. Half a cube (this is where the man-pleasing comes into play) Dice the onion and saute it in the butter. When they become somewhat translucent, take them off the heat and set them aside.

7. By now your chicken and potatoes are done. Potatoes are done when they break apart when you stick a fork in them and twist. Strain the potatoes. Shred the chicken into bite-sized chunks. (I use two enormous forks. It's kind of a workout, but don't worry about losing too much weight, because remember all that butter? Yeah.)

8. Get the biggest mixing bowl you own. Combine the chicken, potatoes, peas & corn (just throw them in there frozen, they'll thaw within a few seconds with all that other hot stuff), onions, bacon and the Cream of Chicken soup cans. Use a big rubber spatula or wooden spoon to stir it all up (be patient. go slow or you'll make a huge mess)

9. Spoon the entire mixture into the pie.



10. Add the top pie crust and trim, slice, and accessorize the top to your liking ;) (At least a few slits in the top to allow steam to release while baking)

11. Whisk one egg with a fork and brush it over the top. (This is more for presentation than taste. It's what'll give your crust that Betty Crocker glow)



12. Bake 40 minutes on top rack.



Seriously?

Seriously.