Friday Favorites and Happy V-Day (YOU ARE NOT ALONE)!

I didn’t sleep in but the kids did and I did something even better than sleeping in, I READ IN THE MORNING.  It felt so so nice.  Andrew picked up donuts for us and I had a warm apple fritter that tasted like heaven and then we got the kids to school and Josse and Emilee came over for a run.  12 miles @ 8:12 average in the sunshine.

Skye went down for her nap and we had my current favorite lunch—> Turkey pesto sandwich from Great Harvest and PB Moo’d from Jamba Juice.  We ate while watching tv in the middle of the day and that just felt amazing.

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The kids came home and we opened presents.

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Then we drove up to Cheesecake Factory and I had the Chicken Madeira.

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And my absolute favorite… strawberry shortcake.  When we are eating with kids we order dessert when our meals arrive and give the waiter our credit card.  We know we have a limited amount of time before they start going crazy so we try to pack it in quickly ha:)

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Turns out Skye is a huge fan of cheesecake.

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Let’s go over a few of my favorite things right now!

*Candice gave me the Breathe Pullover Hoodie for my bday and I want to live in it.  It’s the softest fabric, breathable, flexible, has thumbholes and pockets, it’s such a cute color (and tons to choose from) and perfect for this time of year.  I love GapFit items a lot.

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*Andrew knows my love for fanny packs run deep so he got me this smaller one that is better for just going around town.  I don’t need a diaper bag anymore but usually I’m carrying Skye or holding hands with kids in parking lots etc so it’s nice to have the things I need with me but handsfree.

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*These little sorting cups for Skye!  The pack comes with 6 cups and 60 bears and it keeps Skye very entertained and it’s helping her to sort, match and count (to 3:).

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*Kristi told me about this book and I bought it right away. I am a few chapters in and completely hooked.  It is about Becky Wade and her year of running around the world in 9 different countries and 3,504 miles.  She shares about all of the things she learned from these different cultures and training styles and so far I’m loving it.  I’ll share more thoughts when I’m all done but if you need a running book right now, this is a great one to pick up!

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*An amazing reminder from rawbeautytalks!

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Happy Valentines Day!

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(Picture from Lizzy:)

I really hope that if you are feeling lonely today that you know you are not alone in feeling that way.  I’ve had some pretty terrible Valentines Day’s in the past… and I didn’t start loving this holiday until I really saw the day for what I believe it truly is about—> the love we feel for every relationship in our lives.  Whether that be your classmates, your family, your friends that feel like family, your significant other, your coworkers, your internet friends, your church group, your community and most importantly, yourself.

I loved this post from Dr. Julie Hanks and her explanation (here) for each of these self-care tips.  We hear about self-care often and I think it’s easy to just think of it as something simple or small but I think there is so much more!  I hope you can take some time today to strengthen your relationship with yourself too!

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Have a great day and if you need someone to email with, I’M HERE!

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What are your plans this weekend?

Would you rather receive flowers or chocolate?

What are you reading right now?

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29 comments

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Happy belated birthday Janae! It looks like you had such a perfect day! I mean, you seriously can’t beat sandwiches and TV in the middle of the day. :) (Also, saw the Resident on your list, I am LOVING this season! It’s so good!!). Mmm I think I would rather receive chocolate. I’m picky about my flowers and like to pick them out myself haha. Happy valentines day!

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Oh thank you so so much! Right? I just love being lazy in the middle of the day haha… it felt so right! Andrew loves that show and now you are making me want to watch it! I hope you have some amazing chocolate and I’m with you on the flowers ha. Have a beautiful day! Thanks Mollie!

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I love love love your thoughts on Valentine’s Day–it’s one of my favorite holidays, and I’ve never been in a relationship for it! I love celebrating all the people I love in my life, from my family to my friends to my coworkers. And my dog.

Not many weekend plans–have been sick for days so just planning on resting! Have a GREAT Valentine’s Day!

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Oh Kristin! Thank you for sharing this and enjoy every second (I’m really hoping you start feeling 100% asap… so sorry you have been sick)! Thanks friend!

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Happy Valentines Day.
We are making eachother Valentine. We have every year since 2001. Kept every.single.one.

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Oh I love that so so much! Erica, that is so sweet and what an amazing tradition! Enjoy this beautiful day and I’m grateful for your friendship!

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A. Happy Valentine’s Day! B. Love the breathe line from Gap. Always a fan of their softness, and price. C. The quote about loving your body is so thought provoking this morning. Sometimes your body is the enemy, and does try to kill you. Breast Cancer. I’m trying to like my body right now and treat it with respect (healthy diet, exercise) even though it wasn’t very nice to me. I think that even when our body seems like the enemy, we need to love it (thinking out loud here – been a rough week.) D. I have a suggestion: the cute picture of Skye with the love, or all 3 of your kiddos, print them, frame them, put them in your Valentines day box decorations. My kiddos are teenagers now, and each holiday I have a photo of them that’s holiday specific that I have framed as part of the decor. And not all my photos are the ‘good ones’ but they’re the ones that sure do bring a smile to my face (when they’re yelling at me because I woke them up to go to school.) Random. Just a thought :)

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Wow. I can’t even imagine what you are going through. I didn’t even think about that. I want to give you a big hug right now. Please keep me updated with how you are doing.

Oh I love that idea, I’m totally going to do it. Thank you for sharing… what a fun idea. I hope you have a great day!

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I think you are making me have an obsession with hoodies! Every time I see one I think “I DO NOT need another hoodie!” ;)
So much good stuff today! I’m so glad you had such a great birthday! Now you can just continue the celebration into the weekend.
Really loving your nails lately…LOVE that color!
Is it weird that I want that bear/cup sorting toy? I feel like I need that in my life.
My weekend plans are running and celebrating my birthday (it was in December!) with some girlfriends. I had to cancel our previous plans early last month.

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Haha you are welcome… you can never have too many hoodies! I agree, I’ll just keep celebrating through the weekend. Oh no, I totally didn’t see at the salon. Next time I am there I will find it and post it! Hahah it’s because sorting things feels really fun:) . Have the best time celebrating with your friends and I am so glad you guys are able to get together. Happy happy birthday (a little bit late:). Thanks Elizabeth!

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I love your thoughts on Valentine’s day! Thanks for sharing :) I’ve never been in a relationship on this day, and I’m spending the weekend looking at venues for my sister’s wedding! Looking forward to celebrating the day with her (she is so in love its adorable).
I would definitely chose flowers! They make me so happy, especially in the winter when my apartment is all cold and sad. But I never buy them for myself (I have NO problem buying myself chocolate haha).
I just finished reading The Immortalists, and it is SO good!! Highly recommend!!
https://www.amazon.ca/Immortalists-Chloe-Benjamin/dp/0735213186

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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Oh that is so sweet that you two will be able to do that together. Have the best time ever and I keep me updated on it all! Hahaha it’s a lot easier to buy chocolate for myself too. Send me your address and I want to send you some flowers, it makes all of the difference in the winter. Can’t wait to check it out! Thanks Rachel!

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Definitely chocolate over flowers! Would you mind telling me what size the Gap pullover hoodie is that you have on? I am the same build as you (although I think you are much taller!) and I would like one or two of these with the same type of fit around the middle as yours. Thank you!

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I hope you have some amazing chocolate today! I have a size small! I hope you love it too! Have the best weekend!

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Lots of running (for me) and cycling (for Les) this weekend. Hopefully a trip to the North Shore tomorrow. We’re having our Valentine’s date on Monday night because we couldn’t get reservations. I’m good with that because I want a nice steak and my stomach doesn’t do well running the morning after steak ;)

Flowers or chocolate? Both, please!

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North Shore:) . Wave to my old school, BYU H:) . Enjoy your running this week, steak on Monday and I hope you get both chocolate and flowers!

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I really enjoyed Run the World too and am currently reading Born to Run. If you didn’t know, Lindsey Hein had Becky Wade on her podcast talking about her book (it’s an older episode), so you should go back and listen after you’ve read the book :)

Happy Belated Birthday and Happy Valentine’s Day!!

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Oh I haven’t listened to that one! I can’t wait. Thank you friend and I hope you have a really great weekend!

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I went back and looked and it’s episode 121 :)

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Thank you!!!!!

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As a rule, I have never really celebrated Valentine’s day, either when I was single, or now that I have been with my significant other for some time.

Current book I am reading is called “Us Against You,” the sequel to “Beartown” which was a stunner of a book I thought.

Flowers because I buy chocolates for myself all the time haha. Although my other half doesn’t really believe in flowers, so I buy those for myself too.

We have an upcoming long weekend…so I will be sleeping in, biking, running (maybe) and seeing if I got into the race lottery.

Happy belated Birthday Janae! You have such a great family :).

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I need to check out Beartown! Glad you are loving them! Thank you so much and I really hope you got into the race lottery!!

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Did you ever read The Sports Gene? I commented on that book awhile back. One of the best running / sports book I have ever read! You will really enjoy it.

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Just ordered it! THANKS KELLY, I can’t wait to read it!

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I am working this weekendddd :(

I really like having fresh flowers in the kitchen, especially in the winter. But chocolate is pretty great too so that is a tough call. If it is the chocolate covered almonds from Costco them I might have to go with chocolate. I can’t control myself with those!

I am reading The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison. I am about halfway through and so far so good!

I am glad you got to eat delicious food on your birthday! Have a great weekend!!

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Hi Janae! Happy birthday weekend start and happy Valentines day! Thank you for always taking the time to remind us we aren’t alone, I love the community your blog creates. For instance I asked you to post about a month ago about tips for bad periods and I tried some of them and this month was so so much better! For me personally the big one was reducing dairy but the tip that stuck with me was not giving up and finding a way to live with my body because debilitating pain is not normal (several people said this). So thank you again to everyone and happy Valentines too, love you all!

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I’m currently reading The Read Aloud Family before bed, and listening to The Extra Mile by Pam Reid while I run (Its one of my fave running books and I’ve read it about once a year for the last 10 years haha!) I have 11 miles on dock for tomorrow, so lots of good book listening time!

Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com

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I’ve been reading your blog daily for the past few months, and this is my first comment. Thank you for always being a reminder to be at peace with myself, with my current training progress (or perceived lack-thereof), and for being a great example of a mom and friend. Sometimes I need to hear that from a stranger, especially when most people posting about it on social media don’t seem to fully believe in what they are stating. Happy belated!

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Charlotte, I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to write this comment to me. It means a lot to me. I’m cheering for you, you are doing an amazing job! Keep me updated on how you are doing!

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