Summer Fun

Carter had lots of fun today playing in his pool and mowing the yard. We were out there for 2 hours! This kid sure loves to be outside. We bought the pool today and he was so excited. I picked out a couple different pools at first but kept Carter kept saying no. Then when I showed him this pool he shouted Yes! (he's not spoiled at all). The rest of the time we were in the store, anyone we passed, Carter would say, "Hi, my pool" while pointing at his new pool. He is definitely a water baby!!

We're back...

Sean and I just got back on Sunday from our week long cruise to the Mexican Riviera. It was the most relaxing vacation ever and very much needed. We were very lucky to have my sister Wendy and her family watch Carter for us. You can read about their experience with Carter here. I cried when I dropped Carter off at Wendy's. I cried on the cruise ship at the sight of the first two year old I saw--but when I saw a two year old the next day throwing a fit and the parents not knowing what to do, I smiled to myself as I lay on the lounge chair reading my book! Wendy forgot to mention on her blog that she practically had Carter potty trained by the time we came home!! Once before we left he asked to go potty on his own--took off his diaper, and actually went pee. I thought it was just a fluke. Well, apparently not! This last week he asked several times to go potty and even said he had to go "poops" and did it on the toilet. I couldn't believe it when I heard it. But sure enough when we went to pick up Carter--he said "poops" we went to the bathroom and he did his business. Then later he peed on the sliding glass door before I had his diaper back on so I'm not sure he's there yet but he's made some huge progress this week! Here are some of my favorite pics from our trip. The pictures are in reverse order of our trip--but get over it...I am still recovering from being gone and am very tired!! I didn't feel like taking the time to change it around. 

We had a very talented person cleaning our room--each night we were surprised with a new towel creation. This was our favorite! Not quite sure what it is though?
Our last night on the cruise--beautiful sunset.
Cabo San Lucas---our favorite stop on the cruise.

Sean parasailing in Mazatlan.


In Mazatlan--this is the restaurant with the awesome beans!!
The Carnival Pride baby! Highlights of the trip: laying out, going to the sauna each morning, taking some cycling classes, laying out on the beach, laughing at people in the Karoke Bar, the lobster dinner, the beans at the restaurant in Mazatlan, getting a massage on the ship, watching Sean touch the hand rail with a sign that clearly said "Don't touch, Wet Paint!" and then seeing the very next guy do the same thing!, hearing, "Oh Sorry Sir!" when the guy who came into clean our room saw Sean naked!!!, all you can eat ice cream cones, taking naps during the middle of the day, and spending time with Sean. 
On our first stop in Puerta Vallarta we went on an excursion to a private island for snorkeling, kyaking, lunch on the beach and fun with the monkeys and parrots.

Checking Out our room
Our First day on the cruise

More Rocky Point Pictures

Rocky Point Triathlon Race Report

below: about to start the swim top right: running towards the finish line middle: before the race trying to calm down my nerves--I'm in the middle of the group of people smiling. I did it! This was my fourth triathlon but I found myself very nervous a few days before the race and the intensity of this feeling only grew as I found myself walking into the ocean Saturday morning to start the swim. Would I be able to swim in the open water? I had only been training in a pool. Would I have to stop and take a break during the swim?The recent reports of shark attacks in triathlons had me wondering why I had signed up to do this. Before I started I prayed that I wouldn't be bitten by a shark, stung by a jellyfish, or stung by a stingray (after the race they announced that out of the 900+ people who participated--5 had been stung by a stingray. Luckily I wasn't one of them). I didn't have to stop during the swim and felt good about how I did. I made my way up the sand hill to the bikes and headed off on the trail. I felt really good--averaging a pace that was faster than during my training. At mile 7, I felt something hit my leg, I looked down and saw that my water bottle holder was coming off. I grabbed the bottle before it fell, took one last chug and chucked it to the side of the road. I was coming to a downhill section that had a huge speed bump on it that I had to slow down for. There was no way I could hit the brakes with the water bottle in my hand too. I finished the biking (so I thought!) and dismounted as I saw the girl in front of me dismount. Big mistake---I was not quite to the point where I should have dismounted. It would've taken too long to get back on my bike, clip my shoes in, and get going again, so I just grabbed my bike and started running. Now it was time for the run. And boy was it hard--lots of hills. But I had my GPS watch (this was the first time I was able to use this in a race) and I had it set to show me what my pace was. I wanted to stay below a 9 minute mile. I did just that. I slowed down a little on the uphills but was able to make up for that going down. The last part of the race was in the sand to cross the finish line. I pushed as hard as I could but felt like I couldn't move in the sand. I was so happy when I finished and felt great. My goal was to be under 2 hours (I really thought I was going to get messed up by swimming in the ocean). I was ecstatic when I saw my time was 1:15:45. Not only was I way under the 2 hours but this was also a PR for me from my last tri where I got 1:19:43. I shaved off 4 minutes!! Not only that, later I found out I got 4th place in my age bracket (out of 42). Very excited. Then I found out that the person who got 3rd place only beat me by 11 seconds!! Can you believe that!?! 11 seconds! I'll get her next year...now onto the next triathlon: July 12th in Sierra Vista, AZ.

Here we go...

We are just about to leave for my triathlon in Rocky Point, Mexico tomorrow. I am sad that Marlee and Spencer aren't doing it with me but hopefully we'll do the next one together. Am I nervous? Yes, I have trained as well as I can with my schedule but I don't feel like I have trained enough. Sooo here we go...

Bag Tag

My friend Em tagged me with this cute Bag Tag. I finally found some time to do it! Here are the rules:
1. Show your purse
2. Show all the contents of your purse (no cleaning out first)

Well I actually have 2 bags, one for work and one for Carter. Since my work purse is the one that has my wallet in it at the moment I chose to show it.

Here's my work purse. I love it! Sean got it for me for my birthday last year. Before this I had an UGLY shoulder strap computer bag that was ripping at the seams. This looks like a purse but is also my computer bag! So here's what I have in it: (starting on the bottom left)

1. chargers for ear piece and phone
2. cd's with work materials on them for clients
3. carrying case with chapstick, lipstick, blemish control, and Burt's Bees Champagne colored Lip shimmer (love it!!)
4. gum
5. pen, pencil, highlighter
6. Atlas--I do lots of driving!
7. laptop charger
8. wallet
9. Family picture holder with pics of the fam (obviously)
10. Manilla folders (one for receipts, one for each client I am working with)
11. PLATO notepad
12. Jump Drive (my entire work life is on this thing--would be lost without it--if my laptop crashed)
13. Laptop (see note above---I would be lost without this thing)
14. business card holder
15. name tag (and yet even though I wear this throughout the training lots of people still call me Jennifer. weird.)
16. wireless ear piece for phone
17. phone car charger
18. ear piece for phone (non-wireless...in case my wireless one isn't charged, duh!)
19. Blackberry--well I just noticed this didn't make it in my picture somehow. But it was in there too--and again this is something else I would be lost without! I don't know how we ever lived without cell phones and without getting emails on your phone!!


Ok now I tag Kim C, Katie, and Marlee.

How a man cleans up...

If you haven't seen this yet-get ready to laugh. This is Sean and his twin brother Brandon.

Buzz lightyear

Or Buzz Carter! Here's what happened this week when I went to work and Carter stayed home with Dad. I took this picture of Carter today. I was working from home and had to do some conference calls and virtual training sessions all morning. Carter was getting pretty bored of watching movies and crunching crackers on the ground while I was working (that was a nice surprise when I turned around from my computer!). My friend Nikki offered to come over and take him to the park until Sean got home. I told Carter this is what he was going to do. He got the stroller and sat in it by the front day waiting for Nikki to get here! He kept saying, "Nikki, park" over and over. Somehow I think he missed something because when she got here and he realized I wasn't going too, he lost it. He wouldn't let go of me. So we went to plan B. I took my laptop out back and did my calls/training while Carter played and blew bubbles. Luckily Dad came home soon after and I could lock myself back up in my office for the rest of the day.

Some good grub

I found these recipes on KraftFoods and made them for dinner today. They were so easy and DELISH! 

Easy Creamy Baked Asparagus

1 lb. fresh asparagus spears, trimmed
1/4 cup KRAFT Peppercorn Ranch Dressing
2 Tbsp. KRAFT Shredded Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup coarsely crushed RITZ Cheese Crackers (about 12 crackers)
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Cook asparagus in simmering water in large skillet 2 to 3 min. or until bright green, but still crisp; drain.

TOSS asparagus with dressing in 1-1/2- to 2-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese and cracker crumbs.

BAKE 10 to 15 min. or cheese is lightly browned and mixture is heated through

Honey Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin

1 pork tenderloin (1 lb.)
1/4 cup KRAFT CATALINA Dressing, divided
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1 Tbsp. honey
PREHEAT oven to 425ºF. Brush meat with 2 Tbsp. of the dressing. Mix dry ingredients; rub onto meat. Place in baking pan. Mix remaining 2 Tbsp. dressing and honey; set aside.

BAKE 15 min.; brush with dressing mixture. Bake an additional 10 min. or until cooked through (160ºF).

REMOVE meat from oven; cover with foil. Let stand 5 min. before slicing.

Us

Finally got these pictures from my friend Nikki. My battery died on my camera at the wedding so I couldn't take any pictures. 

Gotta love state testing week

Twice a year students in AZ in grades 3-12 take the AIMS test. In high school you have to pass this test to graduate. So it's a pretty big deal. AIMS is this week. Which means, a week off for me! Schools are so wrapped up with testing right now they don't want me at their schools and they definitely don't want to talk to me. So I have been working from my home office the whole week. It has been so nice to be home and get things done. So far I have:

*cleaned baseboards

*cleaned windows/blinds

*painted/organized cabinets in laundry room

*sanded & stained the picnic table

*organize master closet

*organized Carter's room

*cleaned out the fridge

*cleaned out the filing cabinet and office desk

*crashed on my bike in my driveway! (very embarassing--and what does my sweet husband do? grabs Carter and the camera to come and see!)*bought a new car (it's a 2007 Hyundai Sonata--we traded in our truck for the car--yea to saving gas money!)

Today I took Carter to gymnastics class at Aunt Katie's house. He loves it. I feel bad because I have been working every Thursday so I have not been able to take him, so today was definitely a fun treat. Then we stayed and played with the cousins for a couple of hours. It feels great to have had such a productive week before I get back into the swing of things with work next week.

A plug for Lexmark

Yesterday our printer stopped working. I printed something on Saturday--no problem. Sean tried to print something on Sunday-wouldn't work. Paper jams every time. We bought it from Best Buy 3 months ago. I called them and they said there was nothing they could do. Of course. So I called Lexmark--ready to fight for my printer. I was literally shocked. The support guy asked me a few troubelshooting questions, none of which worked. He then asked for my address so they can send me a new one in 3-5 days. What?!? Are you serious? He then asked me to do a survey, of course I will, I am getting a printer replaced for free. How was the call on a scale of 1-5 he asks, a 1o of course! This is seriously unreal. I was really expecting to have to buy a new printer after only 3 months. Thanks Lexmark, I knew true Customer Service still existed out there somewhere!


P.S. This was my 100th Post! What a good post to be the 100th!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Carter-sauce!

Carter loved his new basketball hoop that he got for his birthday. He also loved wearing Mom's shirt all day. He went to my drawer, picked out this shirt and wanted to wear it. I was cracking up all day. I don't think his dad thought it was that funny though!!

Birthday Party

We had a last minute Birthday Party for Carter today at Bounce U. Then we came home for donuts and fruit. It was a lot of fun. Thanks to all who came. Here are some of the pictures from Bounce U. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of everyone--but a good time was had by all! All of his Forsberg cousins were able to come (except for Carley and Tyler), our neighbor's daughter Abby, our friends Matt & Kim and their two girls, Clarke from church, and Nikki & Jeremy came with their God-daughter Holly. Thanks again for the fun time everyone!!

A New Look

I spent some time tonight (I know I have a very exciting weekend night life!-this was after getting out of the hot tub if that makes my life sound any better!) trying to figure out how to change things up a bit. Here's the final product. If only I could think of something creative for my blog title instead of "Sean, Jessica, and Carter" any ideas?

Why my Heart Melts...

From Trash to Treasure...

We received these benches from some friends about 3 years ago. They have been in need of some work. Today I gave them their long awaited TLC and I am very happy with the outcome. I'm so glad I finally took the time to do this and get this project off my to do list!! This is a before picture of the little bench.
This is an after picture of the little bench.
This is a before picture of the big bench.
This is the after picture of the big bench.

Word Cloud

I got this from Cami's blog. It's pretty cool. It goes through your blog and pulls together the most commonly used words. The words that are the biggest are used the most. i think it's pretty fun to see the theme of your blog. You can make one too by clicking here. Let me know if you make one so I can check it out!!

Our Easter Eggstravaganza

On Saturday our city hall put on a Spring Fling so we headed over there after our ward party. It was very fun. They had singing and dancing, a petting zoo, train rides, pony rides and lost of booths to look at. Carter LOVED the pony rides. He has ridden a horse before and was taught how to tell the horse to go faster. While on the pony ride he started clicking his mouth (telling the horse to go faster) but the lady in charge did not like that and asked him to stop telling the horse to go faster!!


Here we are at our ward Easter Egg Hunt.

Carter loved the cars, slippers, and bubbles that he found in his Easter basket.
Here we are before church.


Carter loved coloring the eggs.

Last of all, we had a nice dinner, Easter lesson, and egg hunt with all the cousins at Nana and Grandad's house. All the kids had so much fun finding the eggs.