There are beautiful people all around me!

I did a few photo sessions recently and since You Capture is all about PEOPLE, I'm sharing some of my favorites. I hope they make you smile.  I know they did so for me. 

And yes, this photography thing is Super-dee-Duperdy fun. :)

My friend J's kids... 

How adorable and gorgeous are they?!?!?

And my friend M and her beautiful family...

This pose was actually my friend's idea and I LOVE it! 

And my friend C who is pregnant with her third boy!  (her other two are really awesome so I'm sure it will be juuuuust fine!) 

What a bunch of beautiful PEOPLE, right? 

Over the bayou and through the woods to the zoo we go...

Some photos I took during our outing to the zoo last week...

The photo above would be perfect with a family in the center wouldn't it?  I can't stop looking for great places to take pictures of people since I started doing so. :-)

Just a few seconds after I took this photo this Llama sneezed in my friend's face.  No lie.  She handled it really well.  I probably would have cried.

I am in awe of this enormous live oak tree at our local zoo.  I have been since our first visit...

The white tiger looks like she wanted out.  Or wanted to eat some small children. Or both. Thank goodness for very thick glass. Oh but isn't she gorgeous?

No zoo trip post would be complete without a pic of our troop of monkeys, right?

I have to say I find it interesting that my kids have been to some type of zoo so many times in their life.  Going to the zoo used to be an extra special treat for us when I was a kid.  Part of a vacation or something. Now it's just like a place to go for a play date.

Is that how it is for you?  Do you have a zoo near your that your frequently visit or is it still a treat? 




P.S. Did you see that I was featured at Scary Mommy's place yesterday?  SO exciting!!  You can read my post "Toddlerish" HERE. 

Please, Won't You Run Along With Me?

I take off and my feet pound the pavement, one after the other.

I hear the familiar music in my ears and say "run, Elaine, just run."

I go and I go, feeling my breath and the air in my lungs.

I feel the sweat begin to bead on my forehead.

My ankle aches with each stride but not bad enough to make me stop.

I am strong.

I can do this.

And then I remember how there was a time when I could NOT do this.

When running even ONE minute was an absurd thought in my head.

I would most certainly never make it to an entire mile!

How could I?

"I am NOT a runner", I would think to myself.

But I changed my mind.

Somewhere, along the way I changed it.

I changed my heart and soul too

And now?

Well, I AM a Runner and I CAN and WILL do this.

But not without you all pushing me and supporting me.

So MUCH of this running journey is mental and your supportive words in the past have helped me more than you all know.

So, I'm asking you now to add a comment to this post if you want to run along with me.

Pick a number from 1 to 13 and tell me which mile you want me to dedicate to you and your support for me.  And of course there can be multiple people on the same mile.  I hope everyone reading this will choose one. If you don't want to comment but we are friends on FB, you can tell me there as well!

I wouldn't be able to do this without the support of my family and friends and that also means you all.

Sunday, December 4th is the race.  I'm resting somewhat this week but preparing mentally and I want to know who is "going" with me.

I can't wait to have you along with me. :-D

And thank you, THANK YOU all so much for helping me run the race.

Truly.


*this post was inspired by my friend Katie who recently ran her first 5K, thanks Katie. :)

Also, Sharing My Awesome with my friend Jen at Momma Made it Look Easy!

Dusting off the blog & Miss Elaine-ous Monday

This is probably absolutely THE longest break I've taken from blogging since like 2009.  Or 2008.

It's the truth, Ruth.

Kinda sad, huh?

It's sort of funny the stages one goes through when deciding/needing/taking said break.

First is the "Ah man, I totally need a break from my blog and twitter and FB!  I'm gonna do it!"

The second stage is "I'm taking a break, I'm really doing it, I can totally do this (meanwhile asking yourself "where's my phone?" and thinking,  "Quick I can tweet this!")

Third stage is turning off your computer all the way and accepting that a break is a REALLY good thing.

Stage four is "Oh my Gawd, I haven't posted in DAYS this means NO ONE is looking at my blog or reading it because the same thing has been there FOREVER and Oh NO! they are going to forget about me and no one is going to remember 'The Miss Elaine-ous Life', WHATHAVEIDONE?!?!?!?!?!?"

And, stage five is....

"Guess I need to get on the ole blog and do a post."  *dusts off lap top*

Seriously, the break was awesome, and much needed.

Although my waistline might disagree.

I call this the "Piefecta" :-)

Amazingly enough I still manged to run 10 miles for my training on Saturday, although my legs almost felt like they were going to fall off when I was done.  Probably because I was carrying the extra weight of a "food baby" with me. Ahem.

We had a great time with our friends while they were here and the kids all acted just like siblings.  I'm sure you can imagine what that means...

The two dark-headed ones are not mine.  As if you couldn't guess... 

italics p.s. I super puffy heart this photo

But of course life must resume back to "normal" (whatever that means) so let's give Monday a big ole wet kiss on the face!  Whadaya say? Won't you join me?

It's Miss-Elaine-ous Monday once again!

Remember, ANY "miss elaine-ous" post will do, something from your archives or something brand new! :) 

Do you have a post that meant a lot to you but wasn't read by as many folks as you'd hoped? Or one that has great pictures and you want more people to see them? Or do you just have one that you really want to share!?

I'll also choose a random post from those who link up to feature on The Miss Elaine-ous Life Facebook page (please "Like" if you have not already) so even more folks will see a new post every week! Grab the button and link up!  And please visit some of the other linkers as well...






<center><a href="http://www.misselaineouslife.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff437/elainea1/MissElaine-ousMonday_edited-2.jpg"/></ "/></a></center>
If you do not post the button, please still link back to my blog, even if you just put a little blurb at the end of you post such as "It's Monday and I'm being "Miss Elaine-ous" over at The Miss Elaine-ous Life!" - Thanks!! Oh and extra bonus points to anyone who puts a tweet out there, that would be awesome too!

Still "Miss Elaine-ous"...

Our good friends are coming in from Texas for Thanksgiving.  They arrive Tuesday evening.  They have two boys, ages 8 and 3.  It's going to be a crazy, fun, loud 5 days.

I ran 9 miles on Saturday morning in about an hour and 35 minutes (woot!)  I ran from my house to a shopping center that has one of the best breakfast joints in town.  Just FYI:  BAD idea to put the half-way point of a long run within the bacon/egg/french toast wafting area of one of the best breakfast joints in town.

We bought a new sectional for the living room and rearranged some other furniture in the room and I absolutely love it now.  We are already fighting over who gets to sit in the corner "spot" on the sectional. And when I say "we" I mean ALL of us, including the 2-year old!  ;)

I cannot WAIT for the meal on Thursday.  Oh and the pie.  Pie is so awesome.

Last Tuesday we went to the local science museum with some friends to see the Dinosaur exhibit they currently have on display.  K loved it, especially this one room with a scene of what many of the smaller creatures back then may have looked like.  She walked around the entire time saying "Dat is coooool!" Wish I had taken a video!

I took some maternity photos for a friend this weekend and I got some nice shots.  She's very photogenic and we included her adorable boys in some of the pics as well, so it was just a beauty-fest.  Plus, we took them right in her neighbor's gorgeous backyard.  I just love that. :-)

While I'm typing this there is football on my t.v.  I think I've left it on because my husband is at work (again) and it kinda makes me feel like he is still her if football is on.

I LOVE Siri on my new phone and just the voice recognition stuff in general.  I can "text" and "tweet" just by talking.  It is SO awesome.  And Siri can find phone numbers lickity-split.  She's cool like that.

I'm going to have a really hard time choosing a Christmas card design this year.  There are SO many cute ones our there, OHMYGOSH!

And now, just a few things I am Thankful for....

My beautiful family, both immediate and extended.

Food on our table.

Healthy children.

Good friends.

This space and all the wonderful people I know and have met because of it. :-)

Christmas card pic outtake... one of MANY...

I hope you all have a blessed and yummy holiday with those you love and cherish.

p.s. You can still enter my giveaway HERE.

p.p.s. No Miss Elaine-ous Monday today, I'm taking a little blogging break this week...

xo,

Rock Your Recipes! A Giveaway!

I rip a lot of recipes out of magazines and I print many off of the internet as well.  I haven't used an actual cookbook in AGES.

ENTER: The Recipe Rock.

Cute, huh?  That little ball is a magnet.

When I got mine I decided to give it THE most challenging type of recipe to hold - the flimsy magazine page.  And it did the job!

It also holds small note cards...

And of course a printed half page or full page recipe. Or your kids' spelling list or your favorite photo of your kids.  The possibilities are truly endless... :)

Plus, it's only about 2 inches tall so it takes up hardly ANY room in your kitchen. This baby is going to help me SAIL through my holiday cooking, I tell ya!

Just another great item in which I ask myself  "why didn't I think of that?"

So, you wanna win one?  Surely you also have printed or torn out recipes hanging around that you need to put on The Recipe Rock.  I know it's true.

Just leave a comment telling me one of your favorite holiday foods and I'll pick a random winner from those.


p.s. you're welcome for the recipes, that salmon is to die for! ;)


Giveaway closes Tuesday, November 22 at midnight. U.S entries only please.






*I was provided one recipe rock to sample and they've offered to send another one to one lucky reader.  All opinions are my own.

This or That

Back in May I met Deb at a little, local blogger get-together.  She's a really sweet and fun-loving person and she takes amazing photographs.

I was SO excited to see that she started this carnival called This or That Thursday some weeks ago, and knew that I would love to link up.

Not only does it inspire me to get out and take pictures but I'm also in so much admiration of her abilities and want to be like her when I grow up. :-)

Thanks for the inspiration Deb and for hosting This or That every week!


It has been unseasonably warm here this week.  I wore a sleeveless shirt and a skirt out and about today.  And the mosquitoes are in full force IN MID NOVEMBER.

My children spent the afternoon driving cars, flying planes and writing and reading their own comic books.  And I took pictures with my new camera.

Life is good.

Albeit a tad WARM for my taste the week before Thanksgiving...

wishing they made these shoes in my size... 

yes, his shirt is FILTHY, you can thank pre-school

His comic book was called "Don't De so Stupid".  Oh my.  Although he has a point there... 

My First Family Photoshoot

So last week I put myself out there and offered to take photographs for some of my local friends and their families.  The response was more than I could have hoped (YAY!) and on Sunday I got together with my first guinea pigs family and I am happy to report that it went pretty well.

My friend Tiffany also has two boys and a girl, close to the ages of my kids, so it was extra interesting to have them as my first experience with a family shoot.  Now, I have an idea of how we really are when we have our photos taken! HA!

Anyway, thanks Tiffany.  You have a beautiful family, inside and out.

Thanks for taking a chance on me....

Here are some of my favorites....

I could have totally posted more. :)