50 Little Things

(source)

1. For the most part, I like the card better than the gift.  Especially if the card is homemade and has a note written in it.
2.  Sometimes I am startled by the fact that my kids are almost grown up.  I'm not sure why this catches me off-guard every now and then, but it does.
3.  I love driving.
4.  I have dreams about skipping college classes.
5. I also have dreams where I can't remember what day my class meets or where it's located.
6.  I graduated from college a million years ago.
7.  I hardly ever skipped a college class.
8.  I bought some Christmas gift tags at Sam's Club a couple of weeks ago.
9.  I hate the fact that Sam's Club put their Christmas stuff out 3 weeks before Halloween.
10. I just know that if I waited until a "normal" time to buy those cute gift tags, they would have been gone.
11. I have to boil 8 boxes of pasta today.
12.  After tonight, my swim team goes from 47 girls to 13.
13.  I am not very good with endings.
14.  When I posted #13 on Twitter, someone I don't know replied, "There is a beautiful beginning too!"
15.  While I agree (in theory) with the stranger's reply, I don't think it applies to missing my JV swimmer girls.
16.  Girl's swim season is my favorite time of year.
17.  This has been my favorite girls swim season, ever.
18.  I make it my goal to make Jack laugh as he's leaving the car in front of his school each morning.
19.  I sometimes do this by embarrassing him.
20.  Jack does not believe that I could deadlift him.
21.  My one rep maximum for deadlifting is 230 pounds.
22.  My coach thinks that I could deadlift 300 pounds.
23.  Jack is not even close to 300 pounds.
24.  When I was in second grade, I was the jump rope champion.
25.  I did 284 jumps in a row before I messed up.
26.  On Friday, I had to do 270 jump rope jumps in the middle of my workout.
27.  It about killed me.
28.  Second grade was a million years ago.
29.  I am doing a women's Bible study at church.  We are reading Beth Moore's "So Long Insecurity."
30.  I am completely positive that each and every woman in my group is there for a reason.  Including me.
31.  I just finished reading "Winter's Bone".
32.  I read it because it was recommended in my Oprah magazine.
33.  Oprah loves to recommend sad, sad books.
34.  Winter's Bone was a sad, sad book.
35.  I just Googled "Winter's Bone" and discovered it has already been made into a movie starring Jennifer Lawrence.
36. I love Jennifer Lawrence, but I do not want to watch that movie.
37.  I can guarantee you that it's a sad, sad movie.
38.  I love going to movies.
39.  I feel kind of stuck at 39.
40.  Buster is having a crazy dream right now.
41.  Maybe he is dreaming about missing a college final.
42.  His paws are going crazy.
43.  I'm sure that when I am having my "I-have-a-final-today-in-a-class-I've-skipped-all-semester-and-I-can't-even -remember-where-the-class-meets" dream, I'm probably twitching and whimpering, too.
44.  Speaking of college, my beloved Illini lost to Michigan State this past weekend.
45.  We now hold the record for "Longest Conference Losing Streak."
46.  I can't think of a worse record to hold.
47.  Speaking of losing record, I am about to make my yearly bet with my obnoxious Packer fan friend, Karen.
48.  I'm ever-hopeful that this year I will win.
49.  Jay Cutler is out with a groin injury.
50.  You better believe I will be taking that into account before the wager is made.  : )

XO,

Vicki

Around Here

Hey There Friends!

My mom told me she is missing finding a little "Whimsy" in her inbox everyday.  So, in honor of my biggest fan (Hi Mom!), here is a recap of just some of the things that have been keeping me away from blogging lately (in no specific order).  The picture above is from the Homecoming dance.  I thought Emily and Greg looked so cute together! I love Greg's bow tie!

Maddie, Jack, and I snuck over to Madison a couple of weeks ago to see Denise and Isabella.  We ate at our favorite magical place, Ella's.

Then we rode the carousel.  Can you spot Jack behind Isabella?

Maddie rode it, too!  Weeee!

Emily and Maddie had a full week leading up to the big Homecoming game, and my favorite theme day was "Jersey Day".  They both wore Bears jerseys which went over about as well as you can imagine up here in Packerland.  : )

The team built a float for the big Homecoming parade.  I passed out 8 pounds of candy along the route.  I'm not going to lie, throwing candy to little kids makes me feel like a rock star.  They get so excited!  : )

Maddie built a float with the drama department.  It was awesome.  They promoted their production, "Into the Woods" which was last weekend.  It was such a good show!

Emily, Maddie, and I went to an Illini game at Soldier's Field with Tom and Tommy.  It was a complete blast!

It was Tommy's first college football game.  I got to dress him up in Illini wear.  He was the cutest fan in the stands!

We hosted an Invite and we won!  In fact, we have won every single meet this season.  We haven't lost a dual meet since Emily's freshman year.  Yup.

Emily dressed up as Ariel for the team Halloween party.  Yes, she is wearing a seashell bra and a little headband tiara.

I have been plugging away at Crossfit and loving it.  Here's a very flattering picture of me flipping tires.  Yes, I am that tough.  : )

Just for fun, I decided that the entire team (50 girls) needed to wear tutus to last weekend's Spirit Invite.  So I cut enough tulle for 50 skirts.  Crazy.

And that's just a few highlights.  Life is full, but good.  I am grateful.

Thanks for stopping by, even through the lean months.  Swim season ends in a few weeks, and then (maybe?) I'll be able to get back to regular posting.

XO,

Vicki

Words to Live By

XO,

Vicki

Words to Live By

 XO,

Vicki

Five For Friday + More Farmer's Market Photos!

Hi Friends!

It's Friday again--my favorite!!  This week has been the best kind of busy--Maddie and I snuck down to Chicago on Monday to see the Arctic Monkeys in concert at the Riviera.  It was so much fun to make that happen for her.  She just kept saying, "I don't know what I did to deserve this!"  It was the best.  I know for a fact that my parents would have never even considered pulling me out of school to drive 3 1/2 hours to see my favorite band, which is precisely why I did it.  (Just kidding, Mom and Dad--you were awesome parents even though you didn't let me see Grease or go to rollerskating parties).  It helps to have super-smart kids who can afford to miss a school day every now and then.  

Speaking of super-smart kids, this week we found out that Emily was named a National Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalist.  The school announced it on Wednesday, but we actually found out last weekend when Northwestern sent her a congratulations message.  I try so hard to not live vicariously through my kids, but I'm not going to lie, I keep getting congratulations messages about it, and IT IS SO FUN!!!  : )

How awesome are these photos from last week's farmer's market?!?  The colors were out-of-this-world at each and every stand.  I always wonder what those farmers think when I whip out my camera and take photos of their produce.

 Ready for some fun links from this week?  Here you go!
 1.  At the risk of being that blogger who always shares a link to the same blog, I'm going to go ahead and share another one from Glennon.  This one is on why social media can be a dangerous thing.  It really made me think.  It also reaffirmed my desire to be friends with her.  I love everything that woman writes.  She just seems incredibly cool, you know?

 2.  I love cauliflower.  Isn't it gorgeous?!?  Speaking of gorgeous, I love this cake.  I want to make those cake toppers.

3.  This weekend I am going to pack away my summer mantle and start decorating for fall.  This Pinterest board full of fall goodness is the perfect inspiration.

4.  Last Friday I had a rough time at CrossFit.  It was the first time I was unable to finish a workout, and I ended up crying.  On Tuesday, these arrived in the mail.  I put one on the inside of my left wrist.  I see it every time I workout. It helps.  Maddie is also sporting one on the inside of her left wrist.  She said it makes her happy all day long.  Words are powerful.

 5.  This ridiculously cute balloon garland makes me want to throw a party (what doesn't?!?).  But seriously,  I really need to throw a party...soon!


Have a fabulous, wonderful weekend, friends!

XO,

Vicki

Words to Live By

XO,

Vicki

Five for Friday

Hellloooo!

It's Friday--yahoo!  I'm so glad the weekend is here!  Tonight we're going to watch Emily march at the football game.  Is there anything that screams "Fall is HERE!" more than Friday night high school football games?!?

Here's a few things that caught my eye this week.  Enjoy!

1.  I love a good wreath, and I'm thrilled that it's finally time to switch over to the wreath I made last year.  Looking for a fall wreath idea of your own?  Here's a great post with  10 fantastic ideas.

2. I loved this post Glennon wrote about 9/11

3.  And this post one of my swimmers sent me.

4.  I kinda sorta love this banner.  I may have to throw a party just so I can hang a giant "Hooray" banner.  Maybe Emily's graduation party?!?

5. I really, really want to eat this.

I hope you all have a lovely early fall weekend!

XO,

Vicki