list

I Have

Posted on October 26, 2011 Written by Tonya

I am 39 years old and I have:

1. Jumped out of an airplane (tandem).

2. Been on a safari in Kenya.

3. Climbed a pyramid in Egypt.

4. Gone to the airport to meet friends and family when they’ve had layovers.

5. Lent money to someone and never expected it back.

6. Drank milk out of the carton.

7. Taken Lucas to Disneyland by myself. TWICE!

8. Lived in a perpetual state of missing someone.

9. Walked across the Golden Gate Bridge.

3-Day Walk, San Francisco - October, 2010

10. Fell in love with the Eiffel Tower the very first time I saw it. I was 10 and have been blessed to have seen five more times.

11. Been voted “Best Groomed” in high school. What am I a dog?

12. Earned an Outstanding Customer Service award.

13. Delivered a child with no drugs. By choice.

14. Cried myself to sleep.

15. Seen the Dave Matthews Band in concert two dozen times.

I heart DMB!

16. Been to a movie by myself.

18. Thrown a surprise party.

19. Been in three car accidents. All my fault.

Accident #3, 2008

20. Gotten ooey gooey weak in the knees when my husband smiles at me.

21. Stayed up WAY past my bedtime. Nightly.

22. Three tattoos.

This post was written for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop, Prompt 1.) Last week we wrote about what we have never done… (Check out my I Never list here.) this week write a list of 22 things you HAVE done. (inspired by Sellabit Mom)

When I Don’t Have The Words

Posted on October 2, 2011 Written by Tonya

I love quotes! I have a 483 page Word document on my computer full of quotes that I have collected over the years. Sometimes my words are not enough and that’s when I turn to what others can say better, often more articulately and definitely more concisely.

To select only 10 to share with you is a difficult task, but here they are:

Always be a first rate version of yourself, and not a second rate version of someone else. – Judy Garland

Image courtesy of Pinterest. Click image for source.

With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy? – Oscar Wilde

Image courtesy of Pinterest. Click image for source.

Any life, no matter how long and complex it may be, is made up of a single moment – the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is. – Jorge Luis Borges

Image courtesy of Pinterest. Click image for source.

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. – Elizabeth Stone

: Image courtesy of Pinterest. Click image for source.

How people treat you is their karma, how you react to it is yours. – Wayne Dyer

Image courtesy of Pinterest. Click image for source.

The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself. – Anna Quindlen

This post was inspired by Stasha’s Monday Listicles, a linky right up my alley! This week’s topic: 10 Things Quotable was chosen by Bits of Bee.

Lucas Today

Posted on September 5, 2011 Written by Tonya

Every month I used to share a list of all of Lucas’ milestones, but I haven’t complied one in a while. Every day Lucas shows me another wonderful side to his personality. His likes and dislikes are as complex as yours and mine. He’s amazing.

Here is what I know and appreciate about my son today:

Lucas doesn’t have to be the center of attention. He is much happier being left alone to do his own thing. He’s a true observer, curious and quiet, taking in his surroundings, unless he’s the only child around and then, all bets are off!

Lucas is very loving IF and when the mood strikes him. He enjoys giving “pat-pats”, especially to babies and stuffed animals and nothing melts my heart more than hearing him say, “Mommy, come up here” when he wants to be picked up.

Lucas loves blueberry bagels, blueberry scones, blueberry waffles, blueberry yogurt, blueberry cereal bars and blueberry muffins, but will NOT eat a blueberry.

Lucas loves water in all forms; he lives for bath time, swimming pools, playing with his water table in the back yard, charging fearlessly for the ocean and diving into fountains.

Lucas loves sitting in his “special” chair to watch TV, singing the “ABC’s” no matter where we are, throwing dirt, meticulously removing wrappers from crayons and dancing. You should see his “hotel dance”.

Lucas’ favorite past time I would have say is playing with his Thomas & Friends trains and is ability to identify each one is astounding.

Lucas’ favorite color is yellow, favorite movie is Cars, favorite meal is macaroni and cheese, favorite dessert is M&M’s, favorite book is Where The Wild Things Are and smiles brighter than the sun when he plays with Play-Doh.

Lucas loves older children and if they give him the time of day, he will follow them around like a little lost puppy dog and talk about them for weeks.

Lucas pretty much refuses to pose for the camera and with nearly 6000 photos of him in iPhoto, I suppose I don’t blame him.

Lucas will ask for his lovey first and then “Mommy” if he hurts himself or bonks into something. I’m not happy with this, but I understand.

Lucas will march over to his lime green time out chair when asked. Shocking, I know!

Lucas isn’t a fan of meat. Occasionally we can get him to eat turkey and only recently (as of last week) has he started enjoying hot dogs.

Lucas is afraid of four things:

Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage ride at Disneyland.
A creepy red mask at a Mexican restaurant we used to like to frequent.
Loud fire alarms like the one that went off repeatedly at our hotel in Hawaii on our first night of vacation.
Roller coaster rides.

As you can imagine, this list could go on and on and on, but I’ll ~~spare you~~ keep some things to myself. Lucas appears to be a typical two year old, but he is my two year old.

Top 10 Best Things About Going To Disneyland Without Children

Posted on August 28, 2011 Written by Tonya

1. No diaper bag to pack.

2. No maneuvering a stroller throughout the park.

3. Not having to ride It’s a Small World, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, King Arthur’s Carrousel, Mad Tea Party, or anything else that’s slow and safe and clearly made for people under three feet tall.

4. Not having to stand in ridiculously long lines to meet Mickey, Minnie, Goofy or any other character.

5. No over-priced souvenirs to purchase.

6. No temper tantrums, melt downs or crying fits due to heat, hunger, lack of patience, sweet treats or exhaustion.

7. Staying way after dark.

8. Other moms that have a Disneyland Passport!

9. Feeling 15 again, as I my laugh with glee on Tower of Terror, Space Mountain, California Screamin’ and Indian Jones Adventure.

10. Capturing pictures like this:

This post was inspired by Stasha’s Monday Listicles, a linky right up my alley!

How To Be The Best Blogger In The World

Posted on August 20, 2011 Written by Tonya

I’ve been blogging for almost two years and in that time I’ve learned a couple of things about how to be a good blogger.

There is a method to this madness, an unspoken etiquette that bloggers follow and some very important dos and don’ts.

For those of you feeling super ambitious, follow these tips and you may be crowned: The Best Blogger in the World! Please try to refrain from eye rolling until the end.

1. Write an informative, insightful, witty, fantastic post every. single. day., complete with links to others and professional photographs to illustrate your points.

2. Publish your fantastic post at midnight on the dot, if you live on the east coast and 9:00 PM, if you live on the west coast.

3. Promote your fantastic post on Twitter (multiple times throughout the day), Facebook, (which includes your blog fan page, your personal Facebook page, the Studio+ 30 and 5 Minutes for Mom pages and any other Facebook pages that will allow you to, Stumble your fantastic post and add a teaser to BlogFrog (or other favorite community site) and join multiple memes/linkies and/or blog hops that apply, even if it’s stretch. It’s called multi-tasking, people. Oh, and driving traffic to your site.

4. Reply to each and every comment your fantastic post receives. Bonus points if you do this within minutes of receiving the comment.

5. Follow every single person that follows you, whether it be on your blog or Twitter and engage. Hourly. Read their posts, comment on them and promote them.

Ugh.

Clearly, I’m kidding! There is NO WAY in hell anyone could do all this. Even with an extra 24 hours in their day. Though the “blogger guidelines” are unspoken, it sometimes feels like you have to be in people’s faces all the time just to keep up. It gets to be too much sometimes, doesn’t it? It does for me.

Truly, my only advice is this: write from the heart, be true to who you are and do your best to encourage, support and learn from others.

That’s it. Simple, right?

Blogging shouldn’t feel like a chore. It shouldn’t cause you angst or pressure of any kind and the minute it’s not fun anymore, you should take a step back and reevaluate why you do it in the first place. Why do you blog? I hope it’s not to be the best blogger in the world.

By the way, I did post this on the Facebook pages mentioned above and will Tweet it in hopes of RTs all day. I will try my best to respond to all of you IF you comment, I’m sorry if I don’t already follow you and I would have included a photo but I couldn’t get my son to cooperate. No, he’s not relevant to the subject matter, but he sure is cute. 🙂

Lesson Plans

Posted on August 17, 2011 Written by Tonya

My son has already taught me so much in his short 26 months on earth; lessons I didn’t even realize I had learned until after the fact, some I desperately needed to learn and many I’m still struggling to embrace. I know my teacher has only just begun and there is much more wisdom to be gained, but in 26 months, here’s what I’ve learned so far:

Play, dance, sing, run, eat – essentially, do everything with abandon!
Find pleasure in the small things. There is wonder all around us, whether it’s an ant moving along the sidewalk, a water fountain, an orange tree, a song I’ve heard a hundred times or literally stopping to smell the roses.
Playtime and imagination are necessary for survival. Laundry, dishes and errands can wait, being silly cannot.
Love. As boundless as I think my love for Lucas is, it grows each and every day surprising and touching me in ways I never thought possible.
Roll with the punches, go with the flow and realize that plans change. Toddler time is different that real time and that’s okay. I’m learning to plan accordingly.
Laugh more. Some words and sounds (typically of the bodily function variety) are funny.
Patience is most definitely a virtue. This is one of those teachings I struggle with. Daily!
Connection is key. Sitting down and communicating with others helps to see things from a different perspective and lets you know they care.
Time flies when you’re having fun. Toddlers are only toddlers for a short period of time and every single moment should be appreciated.
Every now and then, a time-out is in order. Breaks are good. Counting to 10, breathing deeply and full bodied Cabernets aren’t bad either!

What is your child teaching you?

This post was written for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop,

Prompt 4.) 10 Lessons your child could teach you.

Cravings

Posted on August 14, 2011 Written by Tonya

Since I was 17, I’ve lived in a perpetual state of missing someone or something.

Topping my list has always has been my parents.

At 17, I went to boarding school for my senior year of high school and never lived under the same roof as them again. I missed them (and my sister) tremendously, but relished in “being on my own” for the first time.

After high school, there was college and still many miles between me and my family. We would spend time together during the holidays and throughout the summer, but I never had enough time with them.

My parents died in 2007 and I think about them and wish they were here every single day. I doubt that longing will never go away.

I missed school after I graduated. Both high school and college. I enjoyed school. I was good at it, especially the social aspect. Go figure!

Even though she’s only an hour away, I miss my sister.

I miss friends that I wish lived next door, in particular my oldest and dearest, friend Sophie.

Lucas met Sophie in New Caledonia in April, 2010.

Since becoming a mother, my desires are simpler, in no particular order here’s what’s missing from my life these days:

1. Sleep. In particular, sleeping in.

2. Grab and gos. The ability to go anywhere without a huge production, whether that means, packing snacks, diapers, struggling to put on someone’s shoes or booking a sitter. I miss the days of just grabbing my purse and going.

3. Living guilt free. I’ve learned guilt comes with the mom territory in many forms and there is no escape…. am I spending enough time with him, is he watching too much TV, am I exposing him to the right activities for his age, how can I get more vegetables into his diet, etc., etc., etc.?

4. Watching TV. Whatever I want, whenever I want.

5. My own name. All I hear any more is “Mommy!”. And “no!”.

6. Did I mention sleep?

7. The sounds of silence. See #5.

8. Yoga. I am going to get back to a regular practice if it kills me. I joined a yoga studio four months ago and have only taken two classes.

9. Going to the bathroom. Alone.

10. Dinner. Easting at home is rushed, eating out is rushed. I miss long, leisurely dinners that were several courses long and lasted longer than an hour.

This post was inspired by Stasha’s Monday Listicles, a linky right up my alley! This week’s topic is 10 I Miss.

Aloha!

Posted on August 8, 2011 Written by Tonya

I’m back from vacation, home from BlogHer ’11, my mind is reeling and my heart is full. Oh, and I have a brand new blog design!

Over the next few days, I’ll be working with my amazing design and WordPress team (Kristi and Ashley and anyone else willing to help me!!) to work through the bugs and improve navigation, so please bear with me. I am so excited to be on WordPress, but know that it is going to take some time to learn a new platform.

Before I share my BlogHer ’11 experience, I want to share some highlights from our trip to Hawaii.

Our time in Maui was a lot of fun, but to be honest, a week is a long time to be away from home. Particularly with a toddler. Lucas did great on the flights there and back, but by Day 4 was starting to get ornery and talking about all of his favorite things back home, including his favorite babysitter. Gulp!

Here’s my high/low list, starting with the good stuff first!

The whole reason for our trip was to attend our friends Aaron and Paige’s wedding and it was absolutely beautiful! Two of only 40 guests, it was truly a pleasure to witness. On the beach. At sunset. Sigh…
Paige is a friend of Todd’s from college, so I got the opportunity to meet/make some new friends.
The bluest blues, greenest greens and warmest sunshine.

The view from our hotel room. Sigh!

Todd and I went snorkeling, one of our favorite things to do and saw beautiful fish and a turtle and then back in our hotel room, a large group of dolphins swimming right outside our window.

Yes, I am a huge dork!

The bride and groom arranged for a morning yoga class on the beach that was amazing and reminded me how much I miss practicing.

Beach Yoga Bliss.

After much hesitation, I finally jumped off this cliff! I have never felt so old in my life, not to mention terrified.

Black Rock at Sheraton Maui.

Now for the not so great:

Even though we ordered a crib for our room, Lucas at 34″ would have nothing to do with it. He’s been in a “big boy bed” for four months, so I couldn’t blame him. On the other hand, he had to sleep somewhere and that ended up being right between Mommy and Daddy. None of us were used to this and therefore none of us slept very well the entire trip. Think arms in your face and swift kicks to your back.
We lost Lucas’ lovey somewhere between checking into our hotel and getting settled into our room. Luckily after searching everywhere and calling lost and found, it was recovered. NOTE TO SELF: Next trip, pack two, just in case!
A fire alarm woke us on our first night scaring Lucas half to death. I have never seen him so frightened. He was shaking and holding on to me tighter than anyone ever has and it took him a long time to get back to sleep. Lucas brought up the loud noise the rest of the trip. Poor buddy.
While on a boat ride and taking a self-roid family photo, Todd accidentally dropped his iPhone into the Pacific Ocean. He barely skipped a beat, where as if that had happened to me, I would have been crying like a baby! It’s situations like this that reinforce what a good match we are.
And speaking of photos, on Day 4 of our trip we discovered that 80+ photos had vanished from our camera. I’m still sick over this. I did my best to make up for it over the course of the rest of our trip, only to find out that all of the new photos disappeared too. Ugh!

The good outweighed the bad and for that I am grateful.

Directly from Hawaii I headed to San Diego for BlogHer ’11. I’m still in the process of decompressing, unpacking, reconnecting with my family and laundry, but promise to share my thoughts on one of the best weekends ever soon!

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