Dear Santa,

Just so you know, I'd be thrilled (and completely shocked because I realize these are extravagant items) if I saw either one of these things under my Christmas tree this year. Love, Diana

Dooney & Bourke's medium Chiara Bag in plum or black

Pottery Barn's Andover Cabinet

Quote of the Day

Carter wakes up grumpy, whether it's in the morning or after an occasional afternoon nap, about half the time. I can all but guarantee a happy Carter on Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday mornings only because it's the only mornings Marc is home when he wakes up. Other than that, he's usually a grump grump grump. Today, I was showering when he woke up. I heard him run and I mean run into my room and scream, Mom, it SNOWED!!! Is it Christmas? He was thrilled with the cold, wet stuff on the ground. He wasn't even phased after I told him it wasn't Christmas for two more months. For some reason, he loves snow. Me, not so much, though my blue puffer coat makes the cold quite a bit more manageable.

100% guilt free snacking. . .

At least for me, but as I was searching for this picture some article said bad things about the ingredients. Hello! It's a genuine treat, who cares!?! These are a dieting (or at least health conscious) chocolate lover's dream come true. One pack satisfies a chocolate craving without ruining your calorie count. Some days, if I need sweets after both lunch and dinner, I eat two.

your mission, should you choose to accept. . .

I'm taking the beauty test in the November issue of O magazine. One of the questions is to pick 5 characteristics from this list that you think most accurately describe you. It says that our greatest strengths are often invisible to us (I'm so so so hard on myself so this is especially true for me) so we can and should get feedback from those who know us well. If you know me well, or even well enough, help me out in the comments!

smart, knowledgeable, honest, excellent writer, funny, empathetic, great parent, excellent cook, caring, gentle, musical, in excellent shape, strict, capable, watchful, entertaining, great friend, high achiever at work, artistic, excellent hostess, confident, inventive, organized, powerful, humble, reliable, outgoing, excellent caretaker, rational, conventional, personable, giver, authentic, unconventional, dependent, neat, breadwinner, holder of high standards, good-looking, politically active, easygoing, moral, rich, sexy, passionate, supportive, athletic, stylish, wise, famous, loyal, unflappable, independent, leader, content, inspiring, spontaneous

My Super Hero

If you've been around Carter recently you'd know that he is OBSESSED with Spiderman. From the time he wakes up in the morning until the time he goes to bed he is flying his Spiderman(s) around from wall to wall, shooting his own webs, teaching Anderson to shoot webs and make the corresponding noise, or since we mistakenly let him watch the movies, quoting lines as he fights his Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Sandman, or Venom against any one of his five Spidermans. He's sometimes doing all of this while wearing his Halloween costume seen here.

Today, for his quiet time, he watched Spiderman in my bed. I got a few things done, then snuggled him as the movie finished. I went to make dinner as the movie ended and left Carter to take a rest as he seemed sleepy. Not a moment after I got downstairs to the kitchen, I heard a thud upstairs. I ran to my room and found Carter on the floor next to my bed crying. When I asked him what happened he said he'd jumped off the bed and landed on his chest and that his chest and his bum hurt. I opened his shirt and found a red circle above his heart--an indent from the button on his shirt pocket. I couldn't help but start laughing as he continued to cry--it doesn't take a genius to figure out what was going through his head as he jumped off of my bed belly-flop style. He thought he could be Spiderman.

Childhood Wonders

Carter has recently discovered one of the wonders of childhood--if we are in the car when it's dark he excitedly talks about how the stars or the moon are following us. I remember watching the moon follow me as I rode in the back seat as a child.

There's nothing like having your TV break to help kick the TV addiction! Well, almost anyway. Luckily, The Office and Grey's Anatomy do episodes on line so Marc and I don't have to go completely without. Carter on the other hand hasn't watched a single cartoon in 5 days and he only watches one movie/day on our portable DVD player. Since last Wednesday, I've organized/cleaned out Marc's and my clothes, organized the garage, we've adjusted all of the blinds in our windows, and gone to bed every night with a clean kitchen. Whew. We might actually start knocking things off our house project list with the marathon over and no TV. Not having a TV has also allowed us to do two things we've been meaning to do for a while now: cancel our cable to save money (following the counsel of the prophets) and move our computer to a central location--it's going into our little TV nook next to our fire place (also following the counsel of the prophets). I consider our TV breaking a blessing in disguise actually!

my 26.2 mile playlist

Sk8er Boi/Avril Lavigne
I Will Buy You a New Life/Everclear
Father of Mine/Everclear
My Happy Ending/Avril Lavigne
Speed/Montgomery Gentry
I'll Stand By You/Carrie Underwood
The Old Apartment/BNL
Since U Been Gone/Kelly Clarkson
Iris/Goo Goo Dolls
Motorcycle Drive By/Third Eye Blind
Men In Black/Will Smith
All I Wanna Do/Sheryl Crow
Always/Bon Jovi
Bed of Roses/Bon Jovi
Better In Time/Fiona Lewis
Billie Jean/Michael Jackson
Boston/Augustana?
Break Your Heart/BNL
Clumsy/Fergie
Don't Stand So Close to Me/The Police
Ever the Same/Rob Thomas
Ex-Girlfriend/No Doubt
Gangsta's Paradise/Coolio
I Will Survive/Gloria Gaynor
Hella Good/No Doubt
High Enough/Damn Yankees
How to Save a Life/The Fray
How Your Love Makes Me Feel/Diamond Rio
Hurts So Good/John Mellencamp
I Run for Life/Melissa Ethridge
I Wanna Dance with Somebody/Whitney Houston
I'll Be Missing You/Puff Daddy
I'll Be There For You/Bon Jovi
I'll Stand By You/Carrie Underwood
I'm Only Me When I'm with You/Taylor Swift
In A Little While/U2
Independent Woman/Destiny's Child
It's All Been Done/BNL
Jack and Diane/John Mellencamp
Just a Girl/No Doubt
Just Another Day in Paradise/Phil Vasser
Just Like Heaven/The Cure
Little Wonders/Rob Thomas
Livin' On A Prayer/Bon Jovi
Lose Yourself/Eminem
Love is a Battlefield/Pat Benetar
Love Song/Sara Bareilles
Name/Goo Goo Dolls
Never There/Cake
Our Song/Taylor Swift
Over It/Katherine McPhee
Picture To Burn/Taylor Swift
Pieces of Me/Ashlee Simpson
Rest Stop/Matchbox 20
Simple Kind of Life/No Doubt
Since U Been Gone/Kelly Clarkson
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night/Bon Jovi
Spiderwebs/No Doubt
Stay/Lisa Loeb
Stop and Stare/One Republic
Streetcorner Symphony/Rob Thomas
Stuck in a Moment/U2
Survivor/Destiny's Child
Take Me Home Tonight/Eddie Money
The Boy is Mine/Brandy & Monica
The Distance/Cake
I'll Be There For You/The Rembrandts
There's Your Trouble/Dixie Chicks

if you ask me why i am still running. . .I RUN FOR LIFE!

3:30 am alarm goes off. get ready. force feed myself oatmeal. bleh.

4:45 am meet family. board bus. ride to the top of the canyon

5:30 am rain begins. put on garbage bag to keep dry. stand around fires at the start line to stay warm.

6:45ish gun goes off. start running.

run. eat. potty break. repeat.

11:20ish cross the finish line.

It rained the whole time. There was a head wind, too. There were lots and lots of hills. I ran the whole time and the miles really seemed to fly by. I finished in 4:34:43. Then, the rain stopped. And it was so fun, I'm going to do it again!

1 Day 17 Hours 52 Minutes

Until the gun goes off and I start running. My in-laws got to town last night to watch the boys and we leave for St. George in about 2 hours. I am overwhelmed by the support and encouragement from all my friends--old and new. Thank you! I'll let you know how it goes next week!