When I was 11, I took a babysitting course through the American Red Cross. They taught us CPR…but thankfully, I never had to use it. That was 14 years ago. I thought it was time to brush up my knowledge, and C’s near-choking on a piece of pizza this year really gave me the push I needed.
I wanted to take a class before Baby Deuce arrived to refresh my memory on child and infant CPR as well as adult CPR. I did it! I took a class on Saturday morning and now I’m officially refreshed. 
In the fall, I joined a local chapter of MOPS: Mothers of Preschoolers. We meet a couple times each month at a local church. While I hang out with the other moms, C gets to play with other kids his age. I have to admit, it’s a nice little sanity break for me to have about an hour and a half away from my child *ahem* with other adults. I’m still getting to know the other women – it’s hard to get to know each other very well when we only see each other twice per month! – but I’ll certainly be going back each year (they meet September-April).
Now I can cross another item off of my 30 Before 30 list!
I just realized that I can cross another item off of my 30 Before 30 list!
We visited Disney World in January, and it was our first time there. It was so much fun and, while it was difficult to be there with a toddler, I’m so glad we went as a family. Even though C won’t remember his trip there, we have some really cool pictures for him. Hooray for crossing off #12 on the list!
Giving mama a kiss at Animal Kingdom.
Meeting Lightning McQueen and Mater at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Playing the drums in Africa at Animal Kingdom.
Love this face. Pure joy while coming down this slide.
Ready to take a dip in the pool!
Waiting in line for the Winnie the Pooh ride at Magic Kingdom.
In the past year, I’ve made awesome connections with some really amazing women in the blogosphere. One of my 30 Before 30 goals was to meet one of them in person.
I met a fellow Mamavation Sista back in August. I had just pledged to the Mamavation Sistahood and realized that Rachel (@rachhabs, To Hab & To Hold) lives about 2 hours from me, and only about 40 minutes from my parents. We met up for lunch with our kids, and I knew right away that the woman was flippin’ awesome.
Since then, we’ve met up for a kid-free lunch, chatted on the phone, and have had countless text, Twitter and Facebook conversations. This weekend, we did a 5k together. I honestly can’t believe that I’ve known her for less than a year. I think there’s only a handful of people that you meet in a lifetime that you can totally click with and, in my life, Rach is one of them.
The woman is hilarious. She has three super cute, sweet children and a husband that shares the same name as mine. I mean, that’s pretty cool, right? 
She’s also a major inspiration. Since becoming a Mamavation Mom in August and going through two campaigns, she has lost 70 pounds. SEVENTY. I’ve asked her to be my workout coach after I have Baby Deuce!
Rach, thank you for being awesome. Thank you for being part of my life. I love your face!
I can cross off #28 on my 30 Before 30 list!
I went on a girls’ trip last weekend with my friend, Rachel, to Door County, WI. We had an awesome time, despite the chilly weather that neither of us expected.
Our first stop was the White Gull Inn, renowned for their Cherry Stuffed French Toast. It was so delicious that I forgot to take a picture of it until after I’d demolished it.
Cherry Stuffed French Toast = Heavenly
The White Gull Inn, Fish Creek
We drove to several different orchards, some of which had apple picking. It was so cold and windy that we opted to just browse the stores instead.
Wood Orchard Market, Egg Harbor
Lautenbach’s Orchard Country Winery, Fish Creek
The fall colors were stunning, and I only wish I had brought warmer clothes so that we could have enjoyed the outdoors a little more!
View of Lake Michigan from Ephraim
Gorgeous fall colors along the road in Fish Creek
One of our indoor activities we had planned was an art studio where you could paint your own pottery. Unfortunately, the pieces had to be picked up the following day in the late afternoon and that didn’t work with our schedule. Instead, we stopped at an art gallery down the road that had an awesome outdoor sculpture garden.
Sculpture Garden, Edgewood Orchard Galleries, Fish Creek
We asked an elderly man to take our picture at the galleries. I had to laugh when I overheard him say to his wife, quite loudly, “Did you see the chest on that one?!” Thankfully, he was referring to a sculpture…
Edgewood Orchard Galleries, Fish Creek
What would a girls’ weekend be without a little gambling?! We stopped at the casino, and I only brought in my ID and a $20 bill. Very good behavior for a person with a compulsive personality, if you ask me. I was down $18.99, but then I won $2 so I cashed out at $3.01. I consider it a success!
Oneida Casino, Green Bay
And, naturally, we had to give ourselves facials. And eat. And be silly.
Facial-icious!
Rachel’s Taco 12 Pack
Rachel warmed up her apple wine in the coffee maker!
Here’s one final gem:
This pillow was very phallic!
Our weekend was a great, fun little break from life and we hope to make it an annual event! Thanks for a memorable weekend, Rachel!
I’m really excited about getting back into jogging again. At about this time last year, I started training for a 5k that I completed in October. My goal at that time was to finish in under 45 minutes, and I believe I came in at about 42 minutes. That was the last time I jogged until last week.
I was finally inspired to start using our jogging stroller for jogging. After taking 3-4 mile walks pretty regularly, I decided to start running for about half of that distance. It’s been working really well, and I’ve been loving it! Unfortunately, my favorite pair of running shoes finally got too worn out and starting rubbing on my heel too much. I got a small blister on my heel and threw that pair out. Then I wore my second-favorite pair, which I was using indoors on our elliptical, but those gave me massive blisters yesterday, too! When I took them off, I realized that they, too, were very worn.
Now I have a HUGE blister on each of my heels. Eeek. I’m headed to a running store today, upon the suggestion of some fellow blogging lovelies, and am hoping to find shoes that will work very well with my stride.
I’m starting to think that my 30 Before 30 goal of running a 10K is very attainable!
“This post is sponsored and hosted by Mamavation – a community dedicated to obesity prevention & weight loss for women and I’m writing this to be entered into a giveaway.”
Well, folks, last week I turned 25! Happy Birthday to me! There were several things on my 25 Before 25 list that I didn’t complete. I’m determined to complete everything on this new 30 Before 30 list, especially since I have 5 years to finish this one instead of eight months like my previous list!
What things are on your list?
Kristin’s 30 Before 30 List of Fabulousness