All the Latest Haps (Really Hip Slang Word for "Happenings")

A typical day for Brock and Carolyn these days? Wake up, work, eat, sleep, repeat. Again and again.

Luckily there are a few exceptions. 

Here are some pictures from a few delightfully non-typical days we've had recently.

My mom and me at...a hockey game?Yes! My parents came to visit us a few weeks ago! It was so fun to see them, and I felt so grown up hosting my parents ay my own apartment. We went to a Phoenix Coyotes hockey game one night which was surprisingly really entertaining. Even my mom got into it. 

(She is notorious in our family for reading Harry Potter III during a Mariner's game once, so obviously this is a big deal.) I got into it too. So into it apparently, that I forgot to relieve my dad from camera duty and get a picture with him in it. Sorry Dad.

Whenever the Coyotes scored, everyone would howl. So of course, being the super fan I am, I joined in enthusiastically.  Unfortunately Brock informed me that I was howling all wrong. Apparently a howl is more of a one syllable ordeal. I was doing more of a two syllable "A-WOO" sort of thing.

 Note to Mom: Mom, before you get offended that I cropped you out of this picture, I think you should know that this was the shot in which your face looked like it had an extra bone in it. Or some weird plastic surgery situation going on. I personally think you looked great but rather than risk your retaliation on your blog (you have some incriminating pictures of me) I figured I'd rather be safe than sorry. Love you! :)

 

 Last weekend we went over to this cute little town in the middle of nowhere called Fountain Hills. There is this pretty (man made, of course) lake with a huge 300 foot fountain in the middle. Unfortunately the fountain was turned off before we could get a picture, so just imagine a huge beautiful fountain behind us.(At first, Brock told me the fountain was natural and I believed him for like 20 minutes. I was in the middle of a rant about Old Faithful being overrated when he finally interrupted me with the truth.)

 See, isn't this place pretty? And the weather was perfect. A nice breezy 70 degrees all afternoon. Not bad for November. Maybe I can get used to this Arizona weather thing after all... I really need to work on some new poses for my solo pictures. I've just about reached my "one hand on the hip" quota.

After the fake lake, we went to a real lake called Saguaro Lake. It was even prettier. But we had to leave before we got many pictures because this weird man and his son (both with huge guts and ponytails) kept giving us traveling tips and I got sick of nodding and fake laughing.

 

 The weekend before last, we went up to St. George for a quick weekend trip and hiked Angel's Landing up in Zions with Brock's family. This bunch of troopers made it all the way up to the top despite our lack of legit hiking apparel and the impending blizzard. Well, maybe it wasn't a blizzard. But it was definitely snowing.

 This background could be straight from Lord of the Rings, no? The misty mountains of Middle Earth... If only I were wearing my elf robes, or maybe a Gollum loincloth... I swear, since we've moved to the city, I am more enchanted with beautiful scenery than ever. I will never take fall leaves for granted again, I swear! 

Doesn't this tree stump look just like a baby bear? We all seriously thought it was a wood carving someone had ditched beside the trail. 

Jenn (Brock's mom) doing an "Angel Pose" on Angel's Landing. This is actually an action shot from a whole wing flapping cliff side routine.

A Wasted Wish. Thanks a Lot, Pinterest.

I purposefully waited up all evening tonight so I could make a wish at 11:11, 11/11/11.

(Note: I missed the AM occurrence due to my reluctant and very awkward participation in a break dancing contest at our company's Veterans Day Barbecue this morning. My fierce competition consisted of 4 black 13 year olds, most armed with converse high tops/hoodies, an impressive collection of "moves" and absolutely no inhibitions. Yes, I believe this situation deserves a blog post of its own.)

Since Brock fell asleep at around 9:00, I had a few hours to kill before the magic moment arrived. What better way to waste time than to poke around on the ever-addicting Pinterest, right? 

Wrong. I was so mesmerized by Pinterest's captivating array of whimsical craft ideas, dogs/babies in costumes, calorie dense recipes, work out tips and Jennifer Aniston's hair that I completely missed the magic moment.

At exactly 11:12 I looked up at the clock. What? Are you kidding me? I missed the greatest wishing opportunity of this lifetime all because I was too engrossed in a tutorial on making your own pore cleansing strips out of gelatin.

Well shoot, there goes my Range Rover, 25 inch waist, seasonally replenishing J Crew wardrobe and jaw dropping breakdance skills. (The latter was a new addition to my wishlist as of this morning.)

On the plus side, I'm quite excited to purchase some plain gelatin tomorrow. Good bye and good riddance, blackheads.

Seriously, this is the kind of thing I've been wasting my time on tonight:

Haha. (Sheepish laughter.) I can't help it. It is a little funny... Or maybe I just need to go to bed.

Finally... Some Honesty

Maybe it's a biological response to the recent arrival of cooler fall weather, or the enabling effects of its accompanying bulky sweaters/stretchy leggings but my body seems to be hanging on to every single calorie I ingest these days.

Okay so I didn't exactly avoid the recent influx in the Halloween candy supply at our office. And yes, my hot chocolate consumption has drastically increased lately. But still, for how faithful I've been to my spin bike, you'd think those calories would be negated by now!

Anyway, while engaging in some embarrassing google searches that may or may not have contained the words "Victoria's Secret model" and "diet" I came across this recent article.


 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/07/victorias-secret-angel-diet_n_1079315.html

Let's all just take a moment to applaud this wonderful, saintly vixen of a woman for actually being honest about what it actually requires to look like she does.

I am sick to death of models insisting that they achieve their stunning physiques by "eating a handful of nuts and raisins for a snack", or  "going to pilates class twice a week". Then there's my personal favorite- "I stay active by chasing my kids around!" Give me a break, ladies.

That's why I was thrilled to read this article. Because what Adriana puts herself through pre-fashion show?

I absolutely could. not. do.

And I am fine with that. Why? Because I'm sick of eating a small handful of trail mix, doing a couple laps around the living room with a small child then looking down, puzzled at my still present cottage cheese adorned thighs, wondering what is wrong with me. What am I missing!? Should I be throwing up while chasing around the kids? And how is Giselle's trail mix different than mine? (Answer- because it's laced with nicotine and able to be inhaled via cigarette.) It's quite demoralizing. But with this refreshing new light shed on Adriana's workout, I have assured myself that if I really wanted to look like her, I could. All I'd have to do is work out twice a day for three straight months, drink a small creek's worth of water, and only ingest food in liquid form.

I just don't want to.

For now I'm okay with 30 minutes on my trusty Schwin spin bike. Followed by a costco sized bag of trail mix. Dang it.