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 If you follow me on twitter, you may have noticed that I did a bit of a crazy thing yesterday. I drove to my local running store (a great resource for runners, if you live in Davis County, UT or are headed up this way, check out Striders) and turned in my registration form (and paid) for my first ever Half Marathon! Yep, crazy, but I am super excited!
With this looming in the near future (the race is May 31st, you can find info on how to join me here by clicking on Memorial Day 2010) and the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay in June, I decided to post a new widget here on the blog. Over there in the left column you will see the Daily Mile widget. You can see what I am doing to get ready for these big races by peeking at this widget. It will list my most recent workout, a list of total miles (since I started using their site, which was yesterday) and you can click to see more of my training runs.
It is that day of the week that I love and dread at the same time. I am always conflicted when it comes to Mondays. I go between relief that I get a fresh start to a new week and disappointment that the freedom of the weekend is over.
I love that Monday brings a fresh week. I haven’t fallen short of my goals for the week yet. I can set new goals and rededicate myself to being better. I can rededicate myself to being a better wife, mother and woman. It is a day for re-evaluation and reflection as well as looking to the future. Here are my goals for the week:
-Run at least 4 days this week
-Wash lots of dirty socks (and more laundry too, but it always seems to be socks that nobody can find)
-Read with my kids more
-Stay caught up with dishes (honesty with 5 kids this is a huge challenge)
I think I will stop there for now…I want to be better at everything, but if I try to tackle too much at once, I will experience much less success than if I try a little at a time.
But Monday also brings to a close the freedom of the weekend. Sure, responsibilities don’t end when the weekend rolls around, but work and school cease to command our time and focus. I can sleep in (sorta…8:30 is about as late as I get now days, but I LOVE when I get to sleep that late), work in a long run (I ran 7 miles this past Saturday with some of my neighbors, it was great!), spend quality time together as a family, work in the yard (we finally tore down the swing set that was slowly falling apart and got about halfway through assembling the new one the kids got for Christmas), and even occasionally enjoy a night out with my hubby (We enjoyed and evening at the Temple then out to dinner at Red Lobster this Saturday while the kids had fun spending time with Grandma and Grandpa). I also love the opportunity to recharge spiritually by attending church on Sundays. It is so nice to refocus. But Monday brings that all to an end…it is back to the structured, scheduled days of school, work, dance, scouts……
Here’s to a great week ahead! How do YOU feel about Mondays?
About a year ago I made a wonderful discovery: The Running Skirt. There is just something about running in a skirt that makes you feel so tough and feminine at the same time. Most running skirts come with attached briefs or compression shorts, so you really aren’t running free  I was lucky enough to find one running skirt at Target last year (by Champion) and it has been my running bottoms of choice ever since! Here I am running last years Ragnar sporting my running skirt (please ignore the fact that I look awful..this was the end of a very tiring 6 mile leg…my 3rd and last leg of Ragnar after getting no sleep): I recently acquired my 2nd running skirt. I was shopping at Old Navy with my mom and we were looking for a way to spend her $10 credit. I made my way to their fitness clothing section and found this cutie in black handing on the wall:
I love that it is made of a mesh like fabric, reminiscent of gym shorts, but oh so much cuter. This is a great skirt for everyday training.
There are two online companies that sell performance running skirts that I am anxious to try. SkirtSports.com (who hosts 5K races called Skirt Chasers that I really hope will come to a city near me sometime in the future!) and Runningskirts.com (seriously, aren’t these plaid skirts adorable?). Both offer higher end running skirts designed for performance, and I am hoping to purchase one from at least one of these companies before this year’s Ragnar Race. Wouldn’t it be fun to have a different skirt for each leg of the race? Something cute and fun to keep me running when I want to give in and walk.
The minute I saw the Pawparazzi pets online I knew that they were a product my oldest daughter would love. Knowing that it would be a good match for both my kids and for my readers, I approached the people behind Pawparazzi (Noodle Head) and asked if they would be interested in a review/giveaway here on Sticky Fingerprints. The first thing I have to say about this company is that they are incredibly generous! My daughter was sent Indy, the Day at the Spa dress up set, and the leopard print dog bed for review.
To say that my daughter loved it is an understatement. I think this photo tells you how she feels about Indy:
At ten years old, she is in that in between phase, not quite ready to give up toys, but also starting to move on to clothes, earrings and all of the fun of the tween years. Pawparazzi pets are great for her age, as they can be cute sitting on a dresser and are also perfectly ready for playtime fun.
My thoug hts: What impressed me most about the product was the quality. There are a few pet/purse combo products available in the market right now, but none of them compare in quality to the Pawparazzi pets. I was amazed at the softness of Indy’s fur and I love that each pet has it’s own personality (or should I say “purse”-onality..LOL) and a little punch out bio card on the back of the box. Indy is a famous author. The little magazine that comes in the package with the pet is also very cute. It has great photographs of young, happy girls (I appreciate that the girls are all modestly dressed like young girls…many products in the past have had girls growing up way too fast!)playing with their pets and each pet has a bio page, letting us get to know all of the Pawparazzi pets.
Areas for improvement: The only thing I noticed was that, although Indy is a boy, there aren’t any dress up outfits for him. A sport themed set that would work for boy or girl (basket ball or baseball maybe) would be great solution. 
Want to know a little funny? The biggest fan of Indy in our house is my little 2 year old boy. He has decided that Indy is his “doggie” and my daughter is lucky to get any playtime.
Buy It:
Pawaparazzi Pets are available for purchase on their website. You can also search for stores nearby that carry Pawparazzi Pets. These would make a great gifts!
Win It:
Did I mention above how generous Pawparazzi has been? One Sticky Fingerprints reader is going to win their choice of Daisy, Indy, Lexi, Misty, Roxy or Toby Pawparazzi Pet AND their choice of Day at the Spa, Winter Holiday, Dream Birthday or Flower Fairy Celebrity Dress Up Set! US entries only please.
How to Enter:
1. MANDATORY ENTRY (must be done for your bonus entries to count)- Head to the Pawparazzi website and tell me your favorite pet and WHY?
Bonus Entries:
2. Follow Pawparazzi on Twitter and leave a comment with your twitter ID
3. Follow me on Twitter and leave a comment with your twitter ID
4. Follow this blog through Google Friend Connect
5. Blog about this giveaway and leave a link to your post in the comments
All entries must be received by 11:59 PM MST on March 15th. Winner will be chosen at random and be contacted via email (as well as posted here on the blog). Winner will then have 72 hours to respond with contact information or a new winner will be selected.
I received product samples in order to facilitate a review. No additional compensation was received, monetary or otherwise. The opinion expressed above is 100% my own.
What happened to my baby? He isn’t a baby anymore, that’s for sure!
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Welcome! Welcome to Sticky Fingerprints! As a mom to five active, young children, sticky fingerprints are simply a given: on walls, on windows, on faces, on my heart. Each day our children leave thier fingerprints on our lives (and walls, of course). May we learn to embrace the joys of parenthood and try not to get caught up in the difficulties. ( read more...) PR OK ! Do you have a product or service that you would like to see highlighted on this blog? Please email me with the details at reviewsbychris@gmail.com.
Thank You ! Thank you to Online-Sweepstakes.com, Momgiveaways.com and Prizey.net for allowing me to post my giveaways on their sites.
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