MONDAY!

Playdate = great models!

Todays Images... well atleast for the morning...

First time I got to play with the kids in the indoor light for it is way too cold outside today! Tell me what you think?

The beginning.....

I have several people to thank for this post.... Thank you to Jeff for buying (or allowing me to buy) my new Canon T3i! Thank you to Amy Young for inspiring me to know that with this wonderful camera my pics can be AWESOME. Thank you to Jane Ammon for teaching me how to use my camera and prove to me that I am smarter than my camera. Thank you to Reed and Cindy Young for buying me this class taught my Jane for Christmas and Thank you to my family for allowing me to bug the heck out of you while I try to remember what I was taught and practice on them!

Today I took a class with Jane Ammon from Jane Ammon Photographer!! I went into this class knowing one word... fstop. I did not really know what that meant but I knew what it did when I changed the number. Now I know words like aperture, fstop, shutter speed, lighting tricks and so much more!

I am going to blog my pics so I can see the progression of what I learn. I definitely like to take pics outside more, but I can not wait until tomorrow to take the kids outside! YEAH... here are a few from today and note that I have not taken the photo editing class yet that Amy and Harland bought me for xmas... so that too should help with these pics!

Very Productive 4 Days....

We have had a few very productive days here at theYoung household. Friday started at 8am with replacing all doors on our upper level with new 6 panel doors and frames as well as molding. Jeff and his Dad really rocked this project out and did a great job! (NOW TO PAINT... blahhh) Then put up new baseboard in hallways and more then caulked. (more paint...blahhh). Last night he was having so much fun with the caulk gun that he re caulked our kitchen counter top and around sink. In order to do that we had to remove all of the CRAP on the counter! AMAZING... I was so happy that the counter was cleared off and cleaned that I was getting more excited! Of course the whole mess was on the dining room table, but it was not on the kitchen counter. (Don't mind the other counter... that I am still working on! LOL) Today he decided to paint one drawer that has been brown since my uncle made me a new one over a year ago. And then touched up some peeling cabinets with paint to make it look a little better, for now. He also took away part of our cabinet next to the fridge so we could push it back further into the wall. It stuck out a bit before. It looks much better, just have to fix the molding above it.

We are debating big changes to the kitchen and decided to start to just do some research and see what kind of money we will need for all that we want to do. We will try to do this in baby steps, but that is not easy when doing a kitchen. So today we picked out the flooring we want. LOVE IT. See this is the hard part, you pick out stuff, love it, can imagine it in your home and you want it NOW! While we were at the flooring store I picked out a flooring for my basement that I HAVE TO HAVE NOW! We have some issues in the basement with cat pee. I have one cat that is a pain in my ass. I need to rip out my carpets really bad. But don't want to do any thing crazy down there just yet. I found something that will be just what we need for right now! And I think I can afford that one RIGHT NOW! YEAH!

So now we go on to pick out a refrigerator and stove. Then the bigger stuff like windows and sliding doors and counter tops. This whole process is stressing us both out but we will figure it out some how. The part where we start ripping down walls and such will be the really tough part, but it will be so cool when it is done!

Christmas Lists 2011

Nikki:

Great Wolf Lodge (Poconos) Gift Cards
New Potholders
Weight Watchers Cookbook
Keurig Elite Brewing System (hot chocolate, teas, hot apple cider and starbucks coffee)
Movie Theatre Gift Cert. (Finally I can take the kids to the movies by myself!!!)
Canon Rebel 18 or 20 megapixel
Photoshop Elements 10
Ticket Master Gift cards... we like to go to the circus every year and would like to do another show this year
Movie Passes


Jeff:


ALL OF THE KIDS HAVE WISH LISTS AT TOYS R US. BUt THERE ARE SOME ADDITIONAL THINGS THAT ARE NOT AT TRU

Madison:
Ipod Touch
American Girl anything
movie passes

Savannah:
American Girl Anything
movie passes

Tyler:
Indoor Swing: (THis could be a gift for all the kids to share!)http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=5817&cmSource=Search
Movie passes
Home Depot build builders workshop

IN IT TO END IT!!

Being that I have not really talked to too many of you about my awesome weekend in NYC doing the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer I wanted to tell my story here!....

So way back in May my friend, Denise, asked me if I wanted to do this with her during a weight watcher meeting. My initial reaction was.. NO, you are crazy! How the hell am I going to train for that with 3 kids at home!!

As time went on I head that 3 of my local friends with kids (one with 4) was going to do this walk as well. Denise drug me to a meeting at the Somerville Library to learn more about it. At the end of this meeting I was not convinced. I was more scared about the physical element of training for a 40 mile walk. TIME?? Where the hell was I going to find it?? Then the $1800 I had to raise. I know myself and figured, what ever... I would register and flush $40.00 registration fee down the drain when I decided to not do it.

Then the reality set in ... I wanted to do it! I wanted the challenge. I wanted the excuse to get out of the house to go for a walk. I did not have any emotional attachment to Breast Cancer. I initially was in it for my Dad who I lost to Pancreatic Cancer a year prior. The more I trained I realized I was in it for ME and my girls and YOURS! I do not want my kids to have to deal with this disease! So I am hoping the little I could do might help.

THE NIGHT BEFORE:

On Friday night we stayed in the Sheridan in NYC. Was fun to see the city from the 21st floor. Avon had a room set up for people that had to check in , buy stuff, get their free fundraising gifts, hand in money... etc. We went to see what it was all about. We were already checked in (Thank god.. that was a mess!.. a well organized mess!) We needed to pick up our Kodak Flip Video cameras that we won and baseball hats. Then on the way out there were reps from other companies including Avon that gave us free products including waterbottles. Avon gave us a bunch, but in the pack was a "blister blocker" stick. I did pre buy this thinking that I would not need it.. but hey they gave it to us! So I was going to use it!

After we did all of the Avon stuff we headed out to the restaurant across the street for a good carb overload. Then back to bed! This was not a good nights sleep for all we worried about was when we had to wake up. Denise was up at 3am. I did not wake until 4:40ish I think!

SATURDAY MORNING: WALKED 26.2 miles in 10 hours

It was a brisk cold morning in NYC. We got on the bus and headed to Chelsea Piers! We had a light breakfast, coffee and admired the sea of pink! There were so many fun things to see. From the outfits that people made to the costumes and the spirit. Opening ceremonies were mainly 4 people with testimonies. Holy TEARS! This was a great way to make us realize really why we were there! We are helping so many people that we will never know. So we began our trek out at 7am .... over the Brooklyn bridge, back over a train bridge and somehow ended at Randell's Island. We finished the 29.2 miles... barely! We laughed, cried, walked ssslllloooowww, and FAST. We sat and rested, drank a ton and trudged through. There was not really a minute that I thought I wanted to bail!

When we FINALLY... and I say FINALLY because right at the almost breaking point someone said to us... "YOU ARE ALMOST THERE! Just over the foot bridge and you are there!!!" In the moment we were so excited.. we were ALMOST there! So we crossed the bridge and could not see pink tents anywhere! If it was not so far back I would have killed that lady! It was really another 2 miles from where we saw her. They really took us to the far end of the island. We were pissed and tired and cranky!! All I wanted was to go to bed... but we could not yet!

When we got to camp we had to set up our tent (but a boyscout did it for us!), get our luggage, set up our beds, eat dinner, take a shower, and call our families to let them know we were still alive! BLAHH... I figured if I can just get through this I am golden! I was freezing and had forgotten my towel and the thought of walking to the Avon tent to buy these things was such a chore! But I did it!

I forgot that I mentioned the blister blocker before... well, it works! I used it several times and NO BLISTERS!! Denise on the other had did not and was not so lucky!

We were in bed by I think 8pm. I could not move! I tossed and turned all night long. Never slept!! I was not wide awake, but I heard everything and snoring from tents next to me! My hips hurt so I tossed all night! But some how I woke up and was ready to face the next day.

SUNDAY: WALKED 13.1 miles in 5 hours

Everyone had the same waddle. Kind of like we rode a horse for many hours! We had to walk across the park to brush our teeth, get dressed in a sleeping bag, repack, take down the tent, eat breakfast, go to the bathroom and fill our water bottles all to do it again! 13.1 miles today!

We were a bit slower today!! We stopped for icecream! YEAH! We did not have to be back before 3:00 so we figured we could take our time. We made it back before 1!! We were greeted by Denise's husband and daughter. Then we waited for the closing ceremony! This is the ceremony that changed my life forever. They have all of the survivors a different color shirt then walkers and they were allowed to march in to the front of the ceremony. I really noticed that most of the people these were my age. Not OVER 40 like we are told by dr's to get mammograms. This really affected me and realized that I am here for ME and my girls and yours! BUT ME! Just when we think we are too young for this we are NOT!

I am so proud of what I did, both physically and fundraising. I could not have done it with out the amazing support of my family and friends! I had received so many phone calls, text messages and emails that kept me going and smiling. THANK YOU!

One of my favorite personal highlights of my weekend came from my Cousin Clem! He is a helicopter pilot in NYC. He was flying in the sky while I went over the Brooklyn Bridge, text me all the way over! He sent his copter (not flown by him at the time) over my head! SO AWESOME!!! Then while I was at Randell's Island almost dead.. he flew over, circled 3 times, flew off and then text me some aerial pictures! Last by not least he did the same for closing ceremonies! He told me he would be there to cheer me on, but I had no idea he would be over my head! I loved it!!! Thank you Clemmie!

Here are some pictures from the weekend, know I took a picture of EVERY mile marker! I will spare you those pictures! Again, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! And I think I want to do it again next year! My friend, Linda, who is a professional Susan G Komen 3 day walker told me I would do it every year from that day forward and I did not believe her. I still did not believe her until this week. She is right ..... I will be there again next year! Who wants to walk with me next year??? Thinking about other cities, but I think for my families sake I need to stay in NYC for another year or so!

I am trying to upload more pics, but having a hard time... more to come!

Birthday Requests from the Prince and Princess

As many of you have asked I am posting some of the kids wishes. Know that they like everything, so you might see something better. These are just a few of the many requests:

Savannah:
Tangled Castle
Tangled Movie
Sequence for Kids Game
Play things to put in a purse... keys, make-up, etc!
Anything to catch and collect bugs. They have a net and a butterfly house, but magnifying glass, bug box, etc...

Tyler:
Anything Super Hero (Spiderman and Captain America are the newest favorites)
Airplanes, Helicopters, police cars... the bigger the better..with in reason!)
Matchbox Sky Busters (Runway)
Nano or hex bugs (extra batteries) and their nano habitats
Mighty bean case
colorforms
pool toys... he loves to throw stuff in the pool (fishing might be fun?? )
Playmobile

And Like I said, this is just a sample. Please NO COLORED BUBBLES!