Tuesday Introductions…

I know, I know, ‘Tuesday Introductions’ is not really a thing. I made it up. Clever, huh?

But, now that you’re here and I have your attention, I wanted to introduce myself. I realized that I’ve had this blog for about 4 years already and I’ve never done an introduction post. Of course, you can always go to “My Story” page to read about why I started It’s a Messy Life and a bit about me, but do you really know someone off their about page? So, here goes!

5 Random Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Me

1. I’m obsessed with La Croix sparkling waters. I don’t drink soda, so when plain water starts to get boring, this is my go-to! I especially love the grapefruit flavor! Have you tried them? What’s your favorite?

2. If I had a pet, I’d want a mini pig!!! With a husband, 2 kids, running a business, a blog, and everything else in life, there’s just no time for a pet. So, for now I just get my mini pig fix on Instagram! Anyone else follow @mybestfriendhank

3. I don’t like Starbucks, but I collect their You Are Here coffee mugs! I don’t particularly hate Starbucks, I just think there are lots of better coffee options available. Given the choice between Starbucks or a local coffee shop, the local coffee shop wins every time. But, everywhere we go has a Starbucks, so I always get a mug to commemorate where we’ve been! Does this make me a hypocrite?

3. I’m a professional wedding photographer. It’s the best “job” ever! You can check out my work here: http://www.theemerics.com/ and if you’re looking for a wedding photographer, I’m your girl!

5. I was born in Texas! But, I don’t own cowboy boots or listen to country music. We moved to Maryland when I was 10, so that part didn’t get ingrained in me. I do say Ya’ll a lot, though!

Ok, so there you have it. A little more info on who I am and what I like to do besides running and blogging! I’d love to hear more about you! Feel free to introduce yourself in the comments and give me a random fact about you. XO

Summer Bucket List 2017: In Review

Summer has come and gone and we’re finally out of the triple digit temperatures here in Las Vegas! Kids have been in school for a month and our days are packed and busy again. Anyone else out there ready for a break already?!?

I thought I’d go back and relive a little bit of our summer fun! As you all know, we’ve been putting together a summer bucket list for years now, but I think this year’s was a little too ambitious and it’s no surprise we didn’t get to do everything on the list. Some things we didn’t do together as a family, such as the grandparents taking the kiddos to Dave & Buster’s while we were away in Napa and Jason taking the kiddos to the drive in movies while I had book club. Diego got to go to Wet N Wild water park with some friends and I took Elysse to Gravady Trampoline Park last weekend with her friend. Sure we didn’t get a chance to try rolled ice cream, but we did enjoy plenty of ice cream this summer, including the famous Salt n Straw in Portland! YUMmmm! Although we didn’t get to visit Zion National Park, we did visit Sand Hollow Sate Park in Utah.

We’ll have to try to get to doing some ice skating this winter, try to get a camping trip in this spring, even if it’s close to home in Mount Charleston, and Spring Mountain Ranch Super Summer Theater will be back on the list for summer 2018!

Hope your summer was fun and that you got to spend time together as a family and make some messy memories together!! XO

Summer Bucket List 2017

This year Elysse is in a new elementary school and Diego started middle school and both are traditional 9-month schools. Before that they both were in a year-round school that had 3- week track breaks throughout the year. To say they are excited for this summer break is a bit of an understatement. With being in the middle of buying a new house and moving, I’ll admit last summer was kinda lame. We kept our list small and simple! This year we decided to go all out!!! Since I’m scheduled to run 17 races in 2017 (YIKES!!) the kids thought it’d be fun to keep the same theme going for our family summer bucket list. I think this may be our biggest and most ambitious summer bucket list to date! So, without further ado, here is our epic summer bucket list for 2017:

Each year we always find a fun way to display our list so we don’t forget what our plans are! Plus, it’s so much fun to see all the fun we’ve had and all the fun activities we still have to do. This year we wrote each activity on a note card and hung them along our dining room wall. We then plan on taking a photo with our fuji instax camera and trade it out for the note card as we do each activity. We hope that by Labor Day, we’ll have zero note cards and a wall full of fun photos of our summer adventures!

What fun activities and adventures do you have planned for this summer? If your stumped, get your family together and work on your own family summer bucket list this weekend! I promise it will make this summer one to remember. Check out my blog post HERE for tips on how to create your own list and follow the links there for some inspiration from our past summer bucket lists too!

2016 Goals: Reclaim

While we still have a few days left in January, I thought I’d finally share my goals and plans for this new year. On January 1st a good friend of mine held a Vision Board Party. We talked about what worked and what didn’t for 2015. We discussed our goals and dreams for 2016 and then put together our vision boards to go along with these goals. Mine is hanging in my office, so I can see it everyday and not lose focus of what I intend on working on for this year.

As I mentioned in my Year in Review post, 2015 was full of ups and downs and we went through a lot. A lot of my plans and goals for last year ended up being put on hold and on the back burner. Well, here we are in 2016 and I am ready to RECLAIM those goals and take on some new ones. I intend on taking on 2016 with lots more determination and hard work than ever before.

A big running goal to start the year has been to run the LA Marathon. Training for this race has really been kicking my butt and it’s taken up a lot of my time. It has definitely been a challenge. I actually have my last long run of 21 miles on Monday and then I taper for the race, which is on Feb. 14. I’m super nervous and excited about meeting this goal! 26.2 miles here I come.

I’ve got lots of business goals and plans that I am working on and have started to put in place. I’ll be working on rebranding my photography business, which means new marketing materials, updated portfolio, etc. Fun Times for sure to reclaim my business and get back on track! I need to make money to pay for all my races 😉

A personal goal I have for myself is to focus more on my style. I work from home, I workout, and that’s most of my week. I never have anything to wear when it’s time to go out for a nice dinner or anywhere else that’s not they gym, really! Shopping is a chore for me. I really do not enjoy it at all. So, my goal for 2016 is to figure out a way to enjoy shopping for clothes and shoes that are not fitness related. I have no problem spending $100+ on running shoes. $12 for a pair of Injingi socks, no problem! My favorite running bra is about $60. Now ask me to spend more than $30 on a top and I hesitate! This is gonna be a tough one, but i think it’s important for me to find some balance in this aspect of my life and to reclaim my fashion sense!

Lastly, now that both of my kiddos are in full-day school (YAY!!!!) I have a lot more time to focus. This has been a blessing and a challenge. Time management has never been my strongest attribute, so I fully intend on working on that this year. Since I mostly work from home, I’m putting together a schedule for myself so I can have ample time to reclaim all the pieces that make up my days: motherhood, housekeeping, workflow, and fitness.

How about you? What are your goals for 2016? Is there anything you’re looking forward to?

Back-to-School Realities and Getting Organized

Monday morning was super chaotic in my house. It was the first day of school and we seriously need to work on our morning routine. There were lost glasses, pouty faces, rushing to make lunches, rushing to make breakfast. Then me begging my child to eat said breakfast. There were brand new shorts that didn’t fit. And of course, we had to fit in the obligatory back-to-school picture before walking out the door. That in it of itself was kind of a disaster too.

This was the best I could get. Not too bad, huh? You can clearly see who isn't excited to start school again... — This was the best I could get. Not too bad, huh? You can clearly see who isn’t excited to start school again…

By the time I dropped them off and watched them get on the bus, I was a little exhausted. I walked into my quiet house and took a deep breath in and out. I joked on Instagram that I would be having a mimosa on the first day of school, but sadly it didn’t happen. My fantasy life looks way better than the real thing. With no mimosa in hand, I walked around my house and took it all in. The dirty dishes in the sink, the crumbs under the table, the dusty lamp shade (heck the dusty everything!), the piles of laundry that needed to be washed. I walked into my office and realized I never got around to making it my oasis of creativity. It still looks like a storage closet with a computer in the corner. Soon panic ensued. I had no idea where to begin. I was overwhelmed by it all. How did it get so bad? When did this happen? How can I fix it? So, I did what anyone else would do, I procrastinated and got on facebook. Bad idea. I soon saw photos of adorable kids with adorable chalkboard signs of the grades they were going to start and what they wanted to be when they grew up. I saw photos of pretty back-to-school healthy breakfasts. Photos of kids in classrooms, which meant parents drove their kids to school and walked in with them. How sweet! I barely walked mine to the bus stop. Yup, facebook was a bad idea, so I quickly stopped procrastinating and decided to get some work done. But soon my mind began to wander and again I got overwhelmed with the thoughts in my head of all the things I needed to do and all the things I wanted to do. I have goals, people. But, without a clear plan those goals won’t be met.

I’d been looking forward to uninterrupted work days for so long! But, now that the time has come, I am completely unprepared. So, I decided to start with a list. Of course, I would start with a list or two or three. First, I wrote down all the big things I want to accomplish by the end of the year. Then I wrote down all the things I needed to do and finish this week for work. I intend on creating a weekly list of goals and deadlines every Sunday night, so that I can be ready to tackle the week. I am now currently in the process of working out a daily schedule/routine so that I am not just spinning my wheels and getting nowhere. I don’t have all the answers and I’m definitely not an organizational queen, but I will be working hard to find some balance and get things in order. I am looking forward to being productive and I’m determined to get things done (insert fist pump here!)

Who’s with me? Anyone else have some big plans to get organized and productive now that the kids are in school? I’d love to hear your ideas! What’s worked for you and what hasn’t. I’ll be sharing tips here too periodically. I’ll let ya know what’s worked and what hasn’t and hope it helps you too! XO