What a Difference a Day Makes

April 17th is a day that has particularly special meaning to me.  It is my wonderful mother's birthday.  It is also the day that I met Blair for the first time.  It was my mom's 50th birthday, and I wanted to take her out to a special dinner, or have a celebratory glass of wine with her.  She politely declined my offers.  She knew that my dear friend Allison (or "my Allison" as my mom calls her) had a guy she wanted me to meet.  She also knew that I was planning on skipping a happy hour where I would meet this guy to celebrate her birthday with her.  My mom would have no parts of this, so he pretended that she didn't feel up to celebrating.  This is one of millions of selfless acts my mom has done for me over the course of my life. 

I traded my night out with my mom for a quick birthday hug and kiss, and off I went to meet up with Allison and Krista at happy hour.  A few minutes later, in walked a very tired, stressed, but incredibly sweet Blair Hoyt. 

I write this post as Mrs. Blair Hoyt, so incredibly thankful for the insight of Allison and Krista, the kindness of my mother, and the overwhelming blessing that is my marriage to Blair. 

Ironically, today is also the birthday of Mr. Illia,who spoke at our wedding. 

What a difference a day makes! 

Happy Birthday Mom, Mr. Illia, Blair's Uncle Bill, and Aunt Grace---how's that for a family lineup!

Blogging Shout Outs!

Thanks to my dear friends, I have not only learned to blog, but I now have tons of great new sources for all types of inspiration!  So, I thought I would throw a big thank you to my dear friend Melody for all of her advice on running!  Check out her blog Will Run for Margaritas! 

Another big congrats to Vinyasa Mama for being a source on Little Green Notebook today!  Her endless design talent and wonderful approach to motherhood makes her blog oh so cool!

So proud of my amazing friends and family!

Creepy Neighbors

You always hear about them- the creepy neighbors.  The ones that never seem to be home, yet you hear suspicious activity coming from their place late at night.  Sure, I've had my share of creepy neighbors in the past...I just didn't expect that Blair and I would BE the creepy neighbors.  We both work a lot (ok, he works a lot, but I run a lot of errands), so we are often gone from 5:30 am until around 7:00 pm. Our neighbors have often commented that we are like ghosts- Step #1 in becoming a creepy neighbors. 

Then there's the late-night mystery noises.  Here is where we seal the deal.  Our patio construction lasted until 10:45 pm on Sunday evening!  Don't get me wrong, I appreciate their hardwork, but that was a little absurd.  And then Monday night, I came home late from work and found Blair mowing the lawn...in the dark. 

He asked me if I thought that our neighbors think we were weird.  To which I replied, "Yes, honey. I'm sure they do."

Oh Baby, Baby!

I can't imagine a more perfect weekend than this!  Blair and I had dinner with my parents, brother, and Blair's parents.  It was so much fun!  We are so blessed to have such wonderful parents and in-laws that we not only get along with, but truly love being around.  Fortunately, we have a great time when we are all together, and I can't imagine feeling more love than when we spend time with our combined families.  We are so looking forward to the next time all of Blair siblings and their beautiful babies are in town again.

And speaking of babies...we had a wonderful time hosting a baby shower for Charlie and Ashley today.  The patio is still under construction, so we ended up celebrating inside, but it was still a beautiful day to spend with our amazing friends, and their ridiculously cute little boys! We are beyond excited to meet the newest little man!  We are going to spoil him rotten...payback will surely be awful someday, but for now, we will happily give them all of the candy and toys we can find!

Baby Cooper and his Mama

Little Liam- big brother to be!

Proud Mommy and Daddy!

And these fine fellows!

What in the world?!?

Man Alive!  Things certainly have been shaken up this week, haven't they?

Pia got voted off of American Idol? I'm not proud of the fact that we watch the show regularly.  I say "we" but I'm pretty sure Blair is just being nice and let's me take over the TV for a little bit. And Iggy Pop...yikes!  Remind me to hold my tongue if I ever think about making fun of my Dad's dance moves again, at least he keeps his shirt on! Come on Fox Network, kids watch that show!

A run away snake started a viral twitter account and now has a book deal?  Seriously? I'm actual jealous of a snake? Hmm...

And perhaps the weirdest of all, I have actually become somewhat obsessed with running.  Maybe I have been reading I Run Like a Girl too frequently (thank you Mel for the inspiration).  I have been working out in the mornings before work since I started my new job.  I am very fortunate to have a gym attached to my office.  A few weeks ago I decided to really start hitting the treadmill.  Starting last week, I upped my mileage to 6 miles, and I was successful in completing my 6 mile runs three times this week, with an elliptical workout in between.  I NEVER thought I would say this, but I am already looking forward to my next run.  No worries though, I promise to never blog about how "I forgot to eat today! No really, I did!" I let many important things slip my memory, but eating has never been one of them. 

Speaking of which, I think it's approaching cookie o'clock. Better get on that. 

Cheers!