Girls and Mustaches

Look at them. Two ordinary people with a crazy idea for a store called The Mustache Goods & Wears in Fayetteville, AR. That picture was taken when they opened in April 2011. Since that time, they've spread the love of Mustaches all over Fayetteville and the UofA, and opened a second location in Bentonville, AR. That's my brother, Brian, and sister in law, Ashley. I guess you could call me one proud sister. If you're near either of their stores, then stop in an say hello. My brother and Ash run the Fayetteville store and Ash's parents run the Bentonville store. You can also check out their website or follow them on Facebook.

When the store opened, we had two girls and soon found out that we had a third girl on the way. Girls and mustaches. How would that work out? Well, slowly but surely mustaches started taking over our house and we loved it! Can you find the mustache in each of these pictures...

Lou and Bailey in the window on our first trip to the store

Lou

Bailey

Me

Pinky

Parker

The back of our Race for the Cure shirts

Dada & Parker

Uncle Brian and his nieces

4th of July

Warrior Dash team

Dada was inspired to grow this for Movember (and beyond)

Girls and mustaches? Absolutely!

3 Years Old!

Three years ago today, we welcomed our second daughter into the family. We are so blessed to be her parents. Anberlyn Gale Morrison, better known as Lou, is such a bundle of fireworks. This girl keeps us on our toes, questions everything, and has a mind of her own. She pushes our buttons, tests the limits, and gives the best slobbery wet kisses. We sure do love her!

One Year!

Two Years!

Three Years!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET LOU!

WE SUPER DUPER LOVE YOU!

What Makes A Runner?

If we're friends on Facebook then you know that I run. I would even guess that you think that I enjoy running because I post about it. Would you like to know a little secret about me? I hate to run. Hate it. I play soccer; therefore, I'm a sprinter. In games, we have to run quick sprints to get to the ball, but we don't run long distance. I hate running long distance. Hate is a strong word, but I'm using it so that you'll know exactly what I'm trying to say.

In October 2012, I decided to make a change in my health. Besides weight lifting and Boot Camp, I knew that running needed to be one of my exercises to help me reach my goals. So, I started running. I hated it. I ran by myself at night after the kids had gone to bed. I ran hard. I ran out of breath quickly. My feet hurt. I told myself with each step how hard running was and that I should quit. But I didn't quit.

Over the past 3 1/2 months, I've learned how to run. I've gone from hating to run to disliking to run. Hey, it's a step. I would say that I might even be on the verge of saying that I "like" to run. Whoa. Me. Like to run? Who am I?!

I've learned that running isn't easy, but it's doable. Anyone can run. Even you. You know who you are:

• The person sitting on the couch complaining about how hard it is to run.
• The person who says my knees hurt when I run.
• The person who says that they'll start tomorrow.
• I was that person.

I also learned that running is 100% what the above picture says. Every run for me is a battle against the voice in my head that's telling me to quit. That voice tells me to start walking at the next street sign, it tells me that my knees are starting to feel weak, it talks over the Christian music I'm listening to and tries to convince me that I need to walk.

I decided a few weeks ago to stop listening to that voice. Mainly because I started running with a buddy and we talk along the way so that voice didn't have time to speak up. Then, last Thursday, my running buddy and I could not run together. I was a little discouraged because that meant that I would be running with someone else. Me and the voice. You know what happened that night? I started out intending to run 2 miles. The voice talked over my Christian music and told me to run 1 mile. I heard the voice, but I chose to sing (quietly) the music that I was listening to. I felt empowered. I ran. I ran 3.1 miles. I ran a 5k. Whoa!

I broke through a personal wall that night. I broke through self doubt. I broke through my fear of running long distance. I won the battle inside my head. I know that I will never look at running the same again, and if you need encouragement to start your running journey, then I'm here for you. I will be the encouraging voice inside your head that believes in you, so just ask me.

Isaiah 40:29 - "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak."

Saving Big Bills

I know that this post is a little late, but I promise that it will be educational to those of you who want need to save money. We spent $625 on Christmas gifts in 2012. If we had paid full retail for those gifts then we would have spent $1,758. Holy Moly! That's a savings of $1,133!

How did we do it you ask? Well, it was VERY difficult. So, follow along closely and take very detailed notes ... we paid attention to the store sales, store emails, and we used coupons. Yup, that's it. Simple as can be!

Most of us know that retailers have great deals between Thanksgiving and Christmas so we just kept an eye on what sales our target stores were having. We also got on the email list of our target stores so that we could take advantage of the coupons that they send out. Trust me, they send out a LOT of coupons during the holidays. We noticed that quite a few of our coupons needed to be used the weekend of Dec 8th-9th so we asked my parents to watch the girls for a few hours so that we could take care of business. We did 95% of our shopping in four hours on Dec 8th. That's only 17 days before Christmas, but that's just how things worked out this year. We usually start around October, but we just weren't seeing great deals until closer to Christmas time so we waited it out. I'll be honest, the wait stressed me out because I like to be wrapping presents by then, but it all worked out for the best.


2013 - This year we are already doing things differently. I've noticed through emails that I get from my favorite coupon site and from the knowledge of friends, that a lot of stores clearance out items in January. I assume it's stuff that they loaded up on, but didn't sell over the holidays. So, I made a list and a budget for everyone that we will buy a birthday or Christmas present for this year and I've already started shopping. This is definitely a record for me ... multiple gifts already purchased in the month of January?! Sweet! And by shopping, I mean that I simply check out the clearance aisles of the stores I'm already going to. I'm not making special trips.

I guess my biggest piece of advice would be to make a list of who you want to buy for, set a budget for that gift, stick to that budget, and look for deals throughout the year. Don't buy something just because it's a great deal. Have someone in mind for that gift or don't buy it ... unless it's just ridiculously cheap. I'm excited to see how much we will save this year. Good luck!

Hebrews 13:5 - "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have"

Just A Little Off The Top

Last week Bailey, our 4 1/2 year old, was in her room taking a nap. Let me rephrase that. Last week Bailey was in her room and she was suppose to be taking a nap. Ok, lets face it, the girl just doesn't nap anymore, but at least she plays quietly for some down time. After quiet time, she came out and told me that she had "something in her room that she didn't want in there" so I asked her to bring it to me. This is what she puts in my lap...

Yes, my friends, that is a GIGANTIC hair ball. If you're needing some comparison, that ice cream scoop and strawberry are life size. She spent her quiet time, and apparently some time the day before, cutting her hair. She cut a LOT of it off the sides and near the bangs. The only reason she didn't cut any off the back was because, and I quote, "I couldn't reach the back." Notice the pink? That is the hair that she cut off of a stuffed animal.

We took this as an opportunity to remind her that she doesn't cut her own hair. Did you catch that? Remind her. This is the second time she's cut her hair, but the last time wasn't nearly as drastic. Needless to say, we didn't know the scissors were in her room, and she now has no access to them. She is allowed to "check them out," but they have to be returned to the super high cabinet when she's done.

I have to be honest, when I saw the hairball I was shocked, but I also found it very funny. It was probably only funny because we can almost hide the cuts so that no one notices. She has had a few people ask if she got a haircut, which also makes me laugh. Because that's what life is all about. Taking opportunities to teach lessons and laughing along the way.

The below picture may not look too bad to most of you, but I'm putting it in here to remind me (years from now) of how much hair she actually cut off. I tried to pull some of the shorter pieces to the front. Goodness!

Proverbs 24:32 - "I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw"

Entertaining Angels

Parker LOVES bath time! She loves to splash around and play with the bath toys. Tonight, while holding a small ball, she looked past me at the corner of the bathroom and held out the ball. Lately, she's been holding out objects that she wants us to take from her so I didn't think much about what she was doing. Until, she did it again. And again. Then she held out the ball and started babbling and smiling. She did this about 5-6 times, and every time she looked at the same spot in the bathroom and held the ball out.

I had heard, sometime in my past, that babies (and pets) can see angels. I chose to believe this because it makes sense that they would see what that the rest of us are to busy to see or maybe even to believe in. As a Christian, I don't believe in ghosts, but I do believe in angels. I believe that we are surrounded by angels that watch over us and protect us.

I had an overwhelming feeling that Parker was seeing something that I couldn't see, and I truly believe that she was entertaining an angel. Maybe it was her guardian angel or a family member that had passed on. I'll never know, but it was pretty awesome to watch her. She was so happy, and so willing to play. It was such a sweet moment that I won't soon forget.

Luke 4:10 - "For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully"

The New Me - Month Three

Three months ago, on Oct 13th, I decided to make a change. You can read about my month one progress here, and my month two progress here.

I can't believe that it's been three months already. I came across the above saying in week one and I've never forgotten it. After two people telling me that I looked good last week, I fully believe that it does take 12 weeks for "the rest of the world to notice." And, what a good feeling it was (and extremely motivating) for others to recognize my hard work.

On January 1st, my Boot Camp instructor challenged us to come up with three SMART goals for 2013, and a plan of attack to reach those goals. That stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. I thought about this for a few days and here are the goals that I came up with:

1. To lose the last of my baby weight and get down to what I weighed before getting pregnant with my first child (I had three kids in 3 1/2 years).
2. To run (key word is RUN) the 15K in the Tulsa Run with my husband this Fall.
3. To get back the 6 pack abs that I had pre baby.

• Do I think that reaching these goals will be easy? No, but I'm willing to put in the work to make sure that I do reach all three of them.
• Do I believe that I can reach these goals? Yes, because I'm stronger than I think I am. And if no one has ever told you - You are stronger than you think you are also. You can do anything that you set your mind to.

Workout Routine / Accountability: For month three, I committed to weights on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I ran on Tuesday and Thursday. I either ran or lifted weights on Sat, whichever I choose to do on that particular day. I played soccer on Sunday's. Half way through the month, my best friend and I challenged each other to do a minimum of 25 push ups and 50 crunches each night. It's great to have someone to hold you accountable to reach your goals ... remember my #3 goal up there?! I NEED to be doing some crunches! We will also start running together on these cold winter nights. Brrr!

Month two was a little rough for me considering I got the stomach bug and couldn't eat for 4 days, and this month held its challenges as well. I had sinus surgery and could not work out at all during the third week of this month, or run/play soccer for weeks 3 and 4. However, I did not let those events knock me off track. I rested when necessary and then got right back into my routine when I was able to do so.

Day 63: Lifted weights

Day 64: Walked with my family for 3 hours at the Christmas Train with my 10 month old strapped to my front in a baby carrier. Talk about a leg and back workout!

Day 65: Soccer

Day 66: Weights

Day 68: Boot Camp. Ran 1 mile

Day 70: Boot Camp

Day 72: Walked 4 hours while Christmas shopping. Sometimes real life "workouts" can be just as hard as anything else. :)

Day 73: Boot Camp

Day 75: Took my Boot Camp Fitness Test final at home. I improved in every area that I had taken the test in at the beginning of the month. I plan to retake this test once I'm fully healed from my sinus surgery and can finally breathe! Here are my results:

• Beginning
• 1 mile run: 9 min 41 seconds
• Held the plank position: 1 min 2 seconds
• Held wall sit: 1 min 4 seconds
• Push ups in 1 minute: 33
• Burpee's in 1 minute: 21
• Ending
• 1 mile run: 8 min 53 seconds (Personal Best!)
• Held plank position: 1 min 17 seconds
• Held wall sit: 1 min 27 seconds
• Push ups in 1 minute: 41
• Burpee's in 1 minute: 24

Day 77: Sinus Surgery

Day 80: Last day of 2012. One of our Boot Camp challenges for December was to not drink any sugary drinks. I thought that this would be easy considering that I don't drink pop or sweet tea, but three days into the month I REALLY wanted a Pumpkin Spice Latte from QT. I'm happy to say that I went the whole month with zero sugary drinks!

Day 81: Still resting from surgery. My best friend and I agreed to the push up/crunches challenge mentioned above. She started tonight. I'll start when I'm healed.

Day 83: One week follow up with sinus doctor. I got the ok to start Boot Camp next week - one week earlier than expected! I still can't run or play soccer for another week.

Day 84: Push ups 30, Crunches 60

Day 86: Boot Camp. I survived, but it was tough after having surgery and not exercising at all for a week.

Day 87: Push ups 35, Crunches 60

Day 88: Boot Camp. Walked 1.5 miles. Push ups: 30, Crunches 100

Day 90: Boot Camp

Day 91: A group of the Boot Camp girls were meeting this morning to run, but since I still haven't been running, I decided to do 50 burpee's instead. I've never done more than 20 something at a time so I knew that this would push me out of my comfort zone. I ended up doing 55! My 4 year old even did the first 10 with me. What a great motivator she is!

Day 92: Soccer. Three Month Down!


Month Three Results:

• I'm down 14 pounds from when I started!
• I've lost a total of 5 3/4" in three months with 4 1/4 of those inches being in my problem areas (aka hips and waist).
• In month four I've committed to attend Boot Camp on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I will also run on Tuesday, Thursday, and more than likely Saturday. I play soccer on Sunday.
• I'm excited to continue this journey ... this lifestyle change ... this new way of life.
• I hesitate to show you these pictures because they are not my final result, but I do want you to see how far I've come in three months by eating right and exercising. These results do NOT happen overnight, no matter what gimmick the media is trying to sell you. Gulp. Here we go:

Day One (Oct 13, 2012):

Day 92 (Jan 13, 2013):

Day One (Oct 13, 2012):

Day 92 (Jan 13, 2013):

I'm very happy that I took these pictures and my measurements because it's easy to do all the work and then convince yourself that nothing has changed when you're standing in front of the mirror. It's nice to visually see the change. These pictures also help me to locate the areas that I still need to work on.

Like I said before, I've given myself 6 months to be get back in the shape that I want to be in so I'll update you again at the end of month four.


1 Corinthians 9:24 - "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize."

Counting Our Blessings in 2013

In early December, I saw a post on Facebook of a jar filled with little post it notes. The message above the jar said "In January, why not start the year with an empty jar and fill it with notes about good things that happen. Then on New Year's Eve, empty it, and see what awesome things happened that year."

I thought this was a great idea, but I quickly forgot about it ... until yesterday. I'm a fan of Elliot Roofing on Facebook and they were giving away a limited amount of 2 free movie tickets if you simply shared their Facebook page on your wall. Why not!? Free advertising for them and 2 free movie tickets for me. I won a set of tickets for doing something so easy!

((Side note: If you live in the Tulsa area, then I highly recommend that you Like their page. You can do so here. In December, I won a $100 Amex gift card and yesterday, I won 2 free movie tickets. They are also running a new promotion now - You can share their page on your wall every day of this month for a chance to win 2 movie tickets and dinner on them. If they get to 1100 likes by the end of the month then they will draw a winner from all of the names that shared their page. The more times you share the more chances you have to win.))

Let me get back on track. After winning the tickets yesterday, I was reminded of the "Blessing Jar" that I saw on Facebook so I started our jar. Ok, so I don't have a jar, but this pitcher will do until I get a jar. I also shared this idea with a friend and her family is going to do this as well. My goal is to fill this jar so full that we have to find something bigger to hold all of our blessings in.



Here is what is in our jar so far (yes, I dated them):

• 1/3/13 - Won 2 free movie tickets from Elliott Roofing
• 1/4/13 - #1: A get well card that was secretly dropped off in my mailbox from the girls that I work out with.
• 1/4/13 - #2: I kid you not, as I'm typing this I get a text from the friend that I shared this story with saying that she had just left something in my mailbox. I look and it's a mason jar full of coupons for baby wipes. Woohoo! I now have my jar, coupons, and a second blessing for the day!

Malachi 3:10 - "...see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it." --- This verse confirms for me that we will eventually need something much larger than a mason jar to store all of the blessings that will be poured over our family in 2013. Bring it on!


I hope that this will encourage you to start a "Blessing Jar" of your own.

2012: A Year In Review

I'm dubbing 2012, the Year of Medicine. It seems like we spent more time and money on medical issues last year than we ever could have anticipated. With God's grace, and Saint Francis allowing us to pay off our bills, we were medically debt free by Dec 31st. Woohoo!


January

• The 1st day of the year landed me in the hospital. I was 9 months pregnant with Parker and she was blocking one of my kidneys. Full story here.
• Our sweet Lou turned 2 years old!
• Our master bath remodel was completed.

February

• Parker was born! Full story here.
• She had some breathing issues at birth so her doctor ran a few extra tests to make sure she was ok. Full story here.
• By 4 weeks, Parker had bad reflux so we went to the hospital to run some GI tests. Full story here.

March

• At 5 weeks, Parker got the flu and we had to spend 3 days in the hospital. Full story here.
• Greg was promoted from the warehouse to an office job at the place he had worked the past 6 years. His had to take off his first day on the new job because Parker was still in the hospital. Thankfully, they were understanding.
• Greg also had to take off his fourth day on the new job to take care of Parker and me because she gave me the flu. Yuck!
• The thought of buying a larger house was creeping into our minds so we started looking at new houses once everyone was well.

April

• I met with an ENT for allergy testing. I had already had 3-4 sinus infections since January and I was tired of being sick. All the tests came back negative and I was diagnosed with Non-Allergic Rhinitis. Basically, it means that I can have allergy like symptoms any time of the year just like people with allergies. Lovely.
• We bought a new house!
• We put our old house on the market. You read that right ... we now owned two homes. Yikes!

May

• Parker was baptized at church.
• I had more doctor visits about my sinuses.
• Greg and I celebrated 10 years of marriage!
• We moved into our new house!

June

• We ran the Warrior Dash exactly 4 months to the day of me having Parker. It's a 5k race in the middle of nowhere on rough terrain with lots of obstacles. It was a blast!
• Our sweet Bailey turned 4 years old!
• I had to go to the ER after getting a giant plank of wood stuck under my fingernail at work. Ok, it wasn't a giant plank, but it sure felt like one. What's one more medical bill at this point?!
• We sold our old house!

July

• Greg had surgery.
• Bailey and Lou started their first swim lessons at my parents house with some of our good friends.
• We closed on our old house. We are officially back to only paying one mortgage. Yay!

August

• I had a rib fractured during one of our coed soccer games, and yet another trip to the ER. Full story here.
• We ran the Conquer the Gauntlet race with some great friends. Full story here.
• We were blessed to custom make me a 10 year anniversary ring. Full story here.

September

• The kitchen remodel at our new house was completed.
• We walked in the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure with my mom and friends. My mom is a 19 year breast cancer survivor and we have participated in this race the past 9 years. Full story here.
• After meeting with a new ENT (a friend who had recently moved back here from Little Rock), I took a month of antibiotics and a week of steroids to try to clear up my sinuses. It didn't help.

October

• We took the girls on vacation to Eureka Springs. Full story here.
• I started a new journey of eating right and exercising. I also started an all female Boot camp class which I love. Full story here.
• I had a CT scan of my sinuses and found out that surgery (although not mandatory) would definitely help me breathe better. Decisions, decisions.
• Greg and I decided to schedule my sinus surgery for Dec 28th. We've already met our deductible at this point so why not.

November

• Lou decided on her own to start using the potty. Awesome! She hasn't mastered pooping in the potty yet, but we'll take what we can get.
• My parents took Greg and I, and the the big girls to see Mary Poppins at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. It was awesome!
• Bailey and Lou got haircuts, which may not seem that significant until we realized that this was Lou's first haircut. She was almost 3 years old and just getting her first cut. Oops!

December

• My parents went with us to the Christmas Train in Dry Gulch, USA. We all had a good time, and we ran into quite a few friends out there!
• I had a second CT scan done on my sinuses to prepare for surgery.
• We ended the year with my sinus surgery on Dec 28th.

Like I said before, 2012 is the Year of Medicine for the Morrison family. While looking back, I realize just how blessed we are. We had some tough times, but we pulled through. I had tears in my eyes as I reread the story of Parker getting the flu because now she is walking around our house as healthy as can be and getting into everything. I'll say it again, we are blessed!

Thank you for sharing another wonderful year with us. 2013 ... here we come!


Proverbs 3:6 - "in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."