My Hodge Podge Apology...

Hey Ladies! 

Please accept my deepest, sincerest, most heart-felt apology... wait, lesbihonest... I'm sorry for sucking balls lately with ye ole blog!  Work has my mind working overtime and I just can't produce anything blog worthy or funny or even mean at this point!  But I love y'all and I miss this! 

I'll be back on the bandwagon soon!  But for now a little more Hodge Podge catch up!  You know you kind of love it...

Weekend Rewind
The long holiday weekend was nice, but it also drove me a bit bonkers.  One because 24 hours straight with my husband and children is enough to drive anyone off the cliff, and two because I had so much work to do I could never relax and enjoy the so called "down time".  Feel sorry for me yet?  No...me either!

This is what I managed to snap of Norah on Thanksgiving...blurry and not looking was the intention theme...

Jack Hunting with The Husband on the iPhone...

You bet your ass this really happened...

A nice sunny, selfie...

Bean had her 9 month Well Baby Visit on Friday - 20 pounds 11.5 ounces and 28 inches long!
She also continues to have a LARGE head...WTF, Doc?

Jack Slept Hunted

But woke up for the fun part!  Papa's Monster Buck - according to Jack the deer was a "Big Bastard"... Yes, I'm serious...

Now this...this killed me!

It then turned into this... but I'm happy to report it is all now nicely organized in the laundry room!

Tuesday Truths
After 4 days of stuffing my face I'm actually happy to report that I weighed in yesterday the same as the prior week!  I call this a success, considering Forced Family Day Thanksgiving makes everyone food coma crazy!

Starting Poundage - 179.4

Week 6 Poundage - 175.2

Total Poundage Lost - 4.2

SWW


Today I'm saying SO WHAT if...

• I have an online shopping problem...
• Most of the clothing I purchase online is too damn small... a Bitch can dream, right?
• Jack says "Big Bastard" and "Hell Yeah"... I didn't say it, don't blame me!
• I just had the Ex-Live In-College Boyfriend show up at my office door!  I didn't invite him, I didn't ask to be stalked!
• I've been drinking more Dt. Dr. Pepper than H2O the past week...
• I've become an even slower runner in the past month...I'm still running jogging!
• Every time Jack says "It's Funny" when he does something bad I want to punch his lights out!

POTM
Well Pile On The Miles is almost at it's end and well I blew balls!  My goal was 50 miles and I only managed 12.7 this month.  FML... I blame it on the hhhiiippp-hhiiipp-hiip (read that like the J Foxx song "Alcohol" - it's funnier like that)!

There you have it... my life this past week!  Miss you all! xoxo

Hodge Podge...

Hey Girls Hey!  This is going to be a Hodge Podge of information, so follow along and don't get your panties all twisted... and scroll all the way down for this week's Tuesday Truths - it's there!

Weekend Rewind - I went to Tulsa to meet up with some of my new favorite IRL friends, that also happen to blog!  I'm sure some most of you have already seen pictures on Holly and Aly's blogs, but I tried to pick some that they didn't post!

Headin' Out...these assholes didn't know how to use an ATM machine...

Group pic (minus Aly) before going to dinner!

This girl, Molly, is one of my new favorite people!  She is so fun, but needs to eat a few cookies!

Holly's Lemon Teeth... she may or may not have been pretty happy by this point!

Aly's impersonation of me...

and Molly's... I don't think I do these things?!

We found a girl that thought the "Leggings as Pants" idea was a good one...it wasn't!  Panty Lines!

And a cute, end of the night Bathroom Shot!  I love this one!

All in all the trip was great!  It was so nice to finally meet the people I called my "friends" in real life and they were everything I thought they would be!  I'm so excited for Blissdom to see them again!

 

Mean Muggin Monday is now in full effect!  Post your mean mugs on Instagram with the hashtag #meanmugginmonday (no g on the end of muggin).

 

The girls seem to think I mean mug all the time, but I keep telling them that's my normal look!  :-)  Yesterday I really was pissed because I forgot about an 8am meeting until my reminder went off at 7:45 and I was still at home getting dressed!  Oops!

 



My first #meanmugginmonday shot!

Pile On The Miles - Let's face it, I suck!  I didn't run at all last week.  Work is crazy busy and I really thought it'd be good to rest my hip.  So I'm still at 6.2 miles for the entire month!  That's so sad!  I'm still debating whether to run a 5K Thanksgiving morning or not, but I do have my next "official" run scheduled for Decemeber 1st in Wichita with Julie.  It's the Jingle Bell Run and it's a 4 miler - odd distance, but whatever! 

Bangs or No Bangs? That is the question... Molly seems to think I need to cut bangs (I think it's because she has bangs and wants a Bang Friend - not to be confused with a Friend to Bang)...  I posted this to my Home Girl last night and the concensus seems to be No Bangs.  Any good Bang supporters?

The 2 No Bang pictures are from the last couple months,
2 Bang pictures are from September 2008 after my wedding...

Tuesday Truths - I'm still feeling really good after my hormone injections last week!  And even better about the weight I've lost!  Down another 2.2 pounds this week (Thursday-Tuesday)!  What!? What!?

Starting Poundage - 179.4

Week 5 Poundage - 175.2

Total Poundage Lost - 4.2

Thanksgiving Linkup - Last, but not least!  I'm linking up with Holly for a Thanksgiving cheer!  Well, my video isn't really cheery, but hey it can't all be sunshine and flowers (or whatever that saying is)!

 

If you want to play along, hit the button below - that will take you to Holly's blog where you can get the deets!  You're welcome!

 

 

Until next time, Hookers!  Peace!

Weekend Rewind...

Monday, Monday, Monday....  Oooooohhhhh.... Nope, that sucks!  Totally doesn't have the same ring to it that Friday does!

Work is batshit again this week, so let's make this a quickie!!

I can't remember for the life of me what we did Friday night...so I'm assuming a movie that wasn't very good!  :-)  Let's just skip ahead...

Saturday I had my second Turkey Trot 5K back home in C-Town (Chanute, KS).  I was meeting up with my girls Jayci and Chelse!  This was Chelse's first 5K and she rocked it!  She couldn't have made me (and Jayci) more proud!  Chelse set the pace and she didn't walk ONE step of the whole 3.1 miles!  She did awesome!

Fueling up on the way over! For some reason, people think this is a naughty picture!? Still haven't figured that one out... ;-)

Me, Chelse and Jayci Pre-Race

Post Race - Really wish I would have pulled my hair down...

After the race we went and had breakfast at the dirtiest, greasiest place in town - you know the kind of place I'm talking about!  Then I went and saw my bestie Jenny and then stopped by my friend Taryn's house to see her little baby girl!  Then it was back home to F-Town (Frontenac, KS) for vaccuming, laundry and a shower!  Then I got the call(s) and text - The Husband had shot (with a bow) a Big Buck!  It was already dark out and he was headed back to his parent's house to grab Jack and then head back out to track the deer (using like the blood or whatever).  Jack was SO excited!  Chris said he was outside waiting on the porch before he even got to the house!  He asked a million questions and told me his "Daddy got a Monster Buck!"  I love that little boy!

Jack and Daddy's Buck

The Husband and The Monster Buck...

Sunday was like every other Sunday - Girl's Day!  The Husband and Jack headed back over to Columbus to take The Monster Buck to the Taxidermist.  Yes, The Husband mounts every.single.buck he shoots.  I'm just thankful that they aren't in my living room anymore (they were at our old house) and all animal mounts are now donning the walls of his office! 

 

Norah had some lunch...

I cleaned and organized my closet - too bad half of this shit doesn't fit...

And Norah made messes.... all.day.long

 Lame weekend, huh?  I thought so...

However in the exciting news arena.... This girl is going to Tulsa for the Route 66 Marathon!  Hell no, I ain't running, but Mama L is running the half marathon and I am crashing Holly, Aly, and Keyona's party!  What!?  What!?  We have family pictures first thing Saturday monring, then I'm headed to T-Town - I was hoping to make it in time to see Mama speak, but I think that's at 1pm and there is no way I'll make it!  Sad face... But I'm super excited to go and meet some of these women I call my "friends"!!!

Anyone else going to be in Tulsa this weekend?!  Hit me up!!

I'm pretty much sucking ass so far in the POTM challenge.  The hip issue has really set me back, but I'm happy to report that it seems I've turned the corner to recovery!  The race Saturday started off a little rough, but my hip seemed to losen up once we got going!  I saw the Dr again this morning and he gave me the OK to run Tomorrow and Thursday and come back to see him on Friday to evaluate how the hip held up!  I don't have my next run until December 1st in Wichita - it's a 4 miler, but I really was hoping to get in on a Thanksgiving Day 5K Trail Run - so we shall see!  I've never done a trail run, I've heard they are much harder than a street race... Anyone have experience?

 

So again this week, I'm only logging the 3.1 miles from my 5K which brings my total to 6.2 - which sucks!  Like sucks bad, my goal is 50 miles... 

However, I have a plan!  If my hip seems to do well this week then I'm going to start next week with my 10K Training!  Whoop! Whoop!  I want to do this awesome 10K the end of January - it's called the Groundhog Run and it's in these "caves" but in the middle of Kansas City!  I have a friend that's done it a couple times and she says it's really fun!  I'm stoked!  And I'm trying to talk Julie (you know, my cool BFF) to do it with me!  Who else wants to join?!?

Alright, Hookstars!  That's all I got... I know I was kind of lame today...sorry!  This might be a bad week, but don't forget about me if I go MIA!  My Home Girl, Instagram will proably be the best way to stalk keep up with me this week!  Follow me @darci_spear

Weekend Rewind...

Goooooooood Monday Morning, Hookstars! 

Haha, I crack my own shit up!  I saw on Instagram, aka my Home Girl, that someone said Hookstars, probably Mama L (that lady is the bomb), and I'm obsessed!  It's so funny and unexpected, especially when you say it to women at the office... yes, I'm THAT girl - sue me!

Guess who's rockin' the Celebrity status today?  Me, duh!  Holly is pimpin' out my LGCs today over on her blog!  I feel so special...and I may, or may not, have paid sponsored her blog so she'd have to be my friend!  And by pure coincidence I happen to be rockin' the LGCs today myself!  See... Now go check me out over at Holly's!

If you are new here, thanks for stopping by!  I love a good audience, so leave me a note and I'll come visit you too!  All my contact info is up on on the left hand side of the blog - you can stalk me in all sorts of ways - The Blog, FaceBook, Instagram, Pinterest or Email Me!  I'm an email whore, I love it!  It's my preferred method of communication fo sho!

Now, on with your reguarly scheduled programming...

Gosh, the weekend was a whirl wind, total WHIRL WIND and I'm exhausted!  I'm going to let the pictures do most of the talking today (yeah, right)...enjoy!

• First things first, can we please talk about Miranda Lambert for a minute!?  Technically, this didn't happen on the weekend, it was whatever night the CMAs were on last week, but I fell in LOVE with her!  I've always liked Blake on The Voice, but Miranda is now officially my Girl Crush.  She is gorgeous and a "real" woman - curves and all! xoxo

• Friday night was packed.  We took a quick road trip to Joplin to Academy - do you have those where you live? - I love that store!  And it's a place the whole family can go, I shop for workout clothes and The Husband shops for hunting crap!  Win-Win!  Although, Jack must have found some crack in the bathroom at Academy because he was actin' a fool when we got home!

That is a gun AND a glow stick in his unders...

Wrestling on Crack might be a good bad idea...but we are signed up and going to give it a go!

• Saturday was jammed packed.  I ran my first of two Turkey Trots, then the Children had Santa Pictures, then we had a wedding reception and damn Daylight Savings to top it all off.

I didn't improve my 5K time, in fact was 4 seconds slower than my last run, but it was COLD and my Hip hurt...
Feel sorry for me?  Me neither, "Buck up Sista!"

Santa Picture Outfits for The Children - they are Bad Asses!

Not really thrilled to drive 1.5 hours to a reception, add being DD on top of it and yes, it Blew Balls...

• Sunday was a lazy day for Norah Bean and I - the boys were off hunting.  Although Bean did not understand the "we get an extra hour" of sleep thing and we were up before 7am.  Nothing much was accomplished other than playing, laundry and the oh-so-fun trip to Wally World.  Oh, and I got registered for the Jingle Bell Run with my Bestie Julie - you don't know Julie?  Go here and you will instantly love her!

Norah has officially grown out of the Bumbo...When they can crawl out of it, it's time to retire...

My little Hippy Chick.  Jack made her that necklace/headband at daycare - too cute, huh?

Update - I forgot to post about POTM.  The first week was a short one, only 3 days and I only managed to log my 3.2 miles from my 5K Saturday!  My goal for the month is 50 so I better get my ass a jigglin' movin'...

 That's my weekend!  How bout you?  Fun stories to tell?!?!

Look Out, Dallas...

This Momma is headed to BlissDom!  What!?  What!?

I kept hearing about BlissDom from Holly, Kassie, Mama Laughlin, Aly, and Keyona and never really knew what it was and still don't really know all the deets, but I do know that it's a Women's Blogger Type Conference - sounds cool, right?!?!

Right now I'm planning to drive with Keyona and we may or may not be sharing a room with Kassie and Leigh Ann - I so hope for a slumber party with these gals!  Aly, Holly and Mama L are bunking up sisterwives style so it should be an AWESOME girls weekend and a little bit of blog inspiration as well! 

And I'm trying to talk one of my friends in real life, Chelse, to join us too!  If you want Chelse to come as much as I do head on over to her blog and tell her about it!  :-)

This is the conversation I had with the Husband about it last night...
Me:  So you got that invite for March, right?  I'm going to Dallas...
Husband:  Yeah, I saw that.  What was it called? 
Me:  BlissDom... it's like a women's blogger conference thing...
Husband:  Who are you going with?
Me:  Oh there are a bunch of girls going that I'm blogger "friends" with...
Husband:  So you don't know any of them in real life? 
Me:  No, I've never met them in person...
Husband:  Just don't get murdered!  Are they normal?  What if one is a serial killer?  What if they want to eat your organs?  Or sell you as a sex slave?
Me:  Don't be dumb, no one is a serial killing, cannibal, sex slave dealer (I mean I'm pretty sure everyone is "normal")!  I'll be fine!
Husband:  Oh, ok.  Well are they hot?

MEN!  Typical man response!  Haha!

So that's that!  I'm going to the Big D!  Any one else want to join in the fun or is already planning to go to BlissDom?  If you want to know more about BlissDom click here.

Say My Name

I'm linking up over at Running on Empty.  Today's link up is about what your blog name means... Well, I used to have a "family" blog that was all about my pregnancies and kids.  The first name was "True Life We Are Having A Baby" then it was "True Life We Are Having a Boy" then it was "Chris - Darci - Jack" then it was "Chris - Darci - Jack - Norah" and it is currently "Life As I Know It."  Haha!  No wonder I wanted a fresh start and a new blog!  StronglyFeminine started as a blog where I could focus on just ME...we as women tend to lose a bit of ourselves when we get married and especially when we have kids.  Finding ME TIME is almost impossible, so I wanted some ME SPACE and StronglyFeminine was born!  I always wanted a cute, catchy, witty blog name like SkinnerRunner, Analyze This, Skinny and Delicious, etc. etc. etc.  I was scanning the Ruffles With Love shop on Etsy (thanks Mama Laughlin) and there it was on one of Vanessa's tanks - Strongly Feminine...I thought it was perfect to describe me and the blog!  I'm about the girliest girl you'll ever meet, but I'm strong - strong in body, mind, soul and personality!  So there you have it ladies, what you'd all been wondering for oh so long!
 

 

POTM

In other important news today is November 1st and you know what that means?! POTM starts TODAY!  Did you sign up?  I committed to 50 miles - doable I think for sure!  I am having a hip issue and have been to the chiropractor twice already this week to get adjusted.  I'm icing and stretching and BioFreezing my ass off (literally) in hopes that it gets better before it gets worse!  So far it hasn't stopped me from running, but it definitely is a pain in the ass (again, literally)!

 

Upcoming Races

I have my first of 2 Turkey Trot 5K's this Saturday - 11/3/12 here in Pittsburg for the YMCA.

The second Turkey Trot is next Saturday - 11/10/12 back home in Chanute.

Then I don't have any races lined up until 12/1/12 in Wichita (Jingle Bell Run - everyone dresses up in Christmas garb, I'm pretty stoked about that) with one of my bestest bestie's in the whole world, Julie! 

Meet Julie

I love this girl!  Julie has been my PIC (Partner in Crime) since she moved to Chanute our freshman year of high school.  I remember thinking, who is the weird new girl with her initials on her LL Bean back pack?  We (meaning the "cool" kids) didn't even carry back packs...haha - oh high school, how I don't miss you one bit!  But soon, soon Julie's funny, outgoing, crazy, dance like a stripper personality had me hooked and we were attached at the hip from that point on and could be found reguarly dancing on randomn cars stopped at red lights or fire hydrants on Main Street...I'm serious!  We were dancing fools!  And guess what?  Julie is getting married in April - finally!  Girl we are almost 30!  Here is a conversation from today discussing her bachlorette party...

Here is Julie and I at my Bachelorette Party back in 2008!  She is so cute!

On a more serious note, Julie is also Norah's godmother! 

There is a rare glimpse of the Husband in the background in the picture on the right!

 

Wow, did I really just go completely ADD on this post or what?!  Haha!  You girls love it!