This just in. . .

Hell has FROZEN over! My husband said that he wants to watch Weekend Sports Update on Sunday!

You may now return to regularly scheduled program.

Can you beat Coach Pete?

For the last month I have been training for the Beat Coach Pete 5k. For those of you who don't know, a 5k is 3.1 miles. True, 3.1 miles may not sound like a lot (compared to a marathon or half marathon) but for someone who hasn't run in a LLOONNNGG time, 3 miles is a lot.

I some how convinced my friends Audra and Melanie to run with me too. And Nic, not wanting the girls to have all the fun decided to join us. Audra and I have have been working out and running together. We put in long hours to get here. . .unlike Nic, who would just run once a week and still be fine (that's what happens when in your previous life you were a cross-country athlete). For a while we didn't think I'd be able to run because my knee was giving me problems (swelling up really bad, pain moving, bruising) but I was just sure to ice it every time we finished running and my loving husband would massage Icy Hot into my knee (no matter how bad it hurt).

Well, the BIG day was today. We all got to the BSU Rec Center at 8 am. The race didn't start until 9:30, but we wanted to be sure early and not feel rushed. Take time just to soak everything in. Both Audra and I felt sick, Nic said it was pre-race jitters and that it happens to everyone. . .we didn't understand why we would get jitters. . .we didn't care about winning, we only cared about finishing!


(Melanie, Audra and I waiting for the race to start)


While we were waiting, I totally turned into a groupie and had to take a picture with some local DJ's. Nic made fun of me for saying about them being there. Especially KeKe Love. In my opinion that guys is pretty much AWESOME! Last year, to help make everyone aware about child abuse month, he stayed LIVE on the radio for 175 hours. All to bring awareness to child abuse. Well, this year he is doing it again. Accept this year he will be running 7 marathons in 7 DAYS!! Seven days, can you believe it? And he only has three weeks to train (he starts running on the 19th). Go KeKe!! Melanie, Audra and I started the race together, near the back before the strollers. We didn't want to get all run over by everyone sprinting off as soon as they said go. It was perfect the spot for us. We were able to set our own pace and pass everyone that sprinted out before us (and lost steam). We all did pretty good. Audra and I were able to take some time off our runs (Audra took off four and I took off three minutes), she finished at 32 mins and i finished at 33:50. . .I did loose some time because of my knee. I started with my knee brace on, but I ended up taking it off. . .though my knee was bothering me, the brace felt too constricting. . .no biggie. Although we all endured a lot of pain, the most important thing is that we finished!

Only one of us beat Coach Pete. Can you guess who????

Audra, Melanie and I all got a shirt that says: "I'll Beat Pete Next Year" and you can bet we will!

Now, time to get ready for the Y not Tri. . .but only after I go to the Dr to have my knee looked at, per the orders of Nic, Mama Audra, Melanie, my mama, Nic's mom. . . .you get the idea.

We want YOU!

As many of you know, Nic and I are getting ready to begin the adoption process. We are finishing up our adoption profile, getting pass along cards ready, and getting ready to submit our paperwork next month.

Some people have asked us questions regarding adoption, so we decided to create a little question and answer session on our Journey to Parenthood blog. No question is off limits. You can either submit it on this blog (via the comments section) or you can email the questions to: ward_family_2005@hotmail.com with the subject line of "Adoption." We can't wait to hear from you guys!

Happiness is. . .

"Happiness is a matter of how you feel INSIDE rather than things that are happening OUTSIDE."

I was looking at my Windows Live profile and this was a quote that I had included. I don't even remember putting it there, nor do I remember where it came from. All I do know is that it's something I really needed right now.

Many moons ago I used to be an EXTREMELY happy person. Always smiling. I mean, people would dare me NOT to smile and I couldn't do it. But as life happened and disappointments came, my happiness level slowly started getting smaller and smaller. I started dwelling on things that really didn't matter and things I couldn't control.

Not don't misunderstand me. I'm not walking around in this big cloud of doom and gloom, but I know that I am not the person that I once was. And that makes me sad. I think sometimes in life we fall into the "I'll be happy when. . ." type of thinking and we can't think that way. We have to be able to maintain a positive attitude no matter what life hands us and accept things for what they are.

I would encourage all of us to change our way of thinking and be HAPPY.

(p.s. I know this is more of a "personal" blog then what's going on with the Ward Clan, but I don't know how many people read my personal blog and I wanted everyone to hear this)

Long over due. . .

And the answer is B) $54.47. Here is the proof:

And this is how much we saved total:

Pretty awesome, huh?! When I saw that over-all savings, I was totally pumped! The only thing we've completely eaten has been the banquet meals pot pies. I definitely recommend coupon clipping and taking advantage of in store rewards to any one. Go us!!

The person that answered it correctly, Amanda. Way to go girl! I give you an air high five-yeah!

What do you think?

With the times being what they are and trying to save money for adoption and IVF we have been trying to save money where we can, especially when it comes to food. Our friend Jenni suggested we check out Pinching Your Pennies. It's about coupon clipping and using in-store deals. We've thought about coupon clipping before, but we figured it would be too much work especially since we don't get the sunday paper. After today though, I think I'm a believer. Here's a picture of everything we got at Albertsons:


Here is a list of everything that we got:
2 dozen eggs
7 Banquest Frozen Entrees
2 Banquet Frozen Dinners
12 Banquet Pot Pies
2 One pound bags of shrimp
1 Five pound bag of sugar
2 52 Fl oz of Welches Aqua Juice
2 Boxes Nabisco Saltines
3 Jello puddings
3 Jello Gelatins
2 boxes of Jello single servings
6 cans of Tomato Soup
4 boxes of Cereal
7 pounds of variety cut pork

My question to you: How much did we pay?
A) $100.89
B) $54.47
C) $35.67
D) $75.36

I'll give you the answer next week. Stay tuned!

The day we celebrate our love. . .

This is what I got for Valentine's Day:

Nic was gone for a couple of days, so on Valentine's Day morning I went and picked him up at the airport. I was sooooooo happy to see him. I hate it when he's gone the bed-the bed is colder, I can't sleep and I get scared in our big house. We went to the grocery store to get some things for Valentine's Day dinner and then went to Shopko, which is a store that I think I have under appreciated the last six and a half years that I've been in Boise. After that, we went home just to cuddle and enjoy each other's company. Gosh! I really miss my hubby when he's gone.


After laying around for a few hours, Nic went out to get me one final Valentine's Day gift (well, two-roses and the newbook by Sheri L. Dew (man I love her!). We were going to go out for dinner at Texas Road House (our Bishop and his wife he given me a gift card for baby-sitting there SEVEN kids) but Nic and I decided to save it for another day. Instead, I made Cesar salad, shrimp scampi, garlic bread and baked spaghetti. I was going to make individual sized cakes, but after everything else I didn't have the energy :(

After dinner we watched this movie. And while I totally LOVED Michael Cera in this movie, I was a little disappointed. Nick and Norah's playlist (aka soundtrack) is one that I think I can get into but the movie was kind'a slow and all kind of rambled. It had some funny parts ("It's not a cab my friend. I promise."), but it was okay. Overall it was a great Valentine's Day and I'm so glad Nic was able to be home and spend it with me.



p.s. If any of you guys want the super yummy recipes, let me know and I'll email them to you.