My Speedy Gonzales

This past weekend, the Shoefam headed to Myrtle Beach to watch Brett run in a half-marathon. It was quite the fun little outing for us. 

 Sister-in-law got comfy at mile 4

 The police escort coming!

 The top 4 dudes

 Team Shoe!

 There he is! We're totally screaming at and probably embarrassing him in this pic ;)

 Sis- and Mom-in-law

 Coming back at mile 9, making amazing time!

 Look at that hottie. He's mine.

Finished before we could make it to the finish line. Congrats, honey! ♥

 The proud fam

Random, but there were tiger cubs there and an elephant too

We were home by Saturday afternoon, in time to have a snowball fight in our backyard. Growing up in Hawaii, I think I'm at a slight disadvantage--I ended up covered in slushy snow and with frozen hands. 

I just want to mention that my little Happiness Project via Gretchen Rubin is NOT going as planned. It got a little derailed in January and I haven't been able to pick up the slack since then. I'm still trying though! February's challenge is to Remember Love by making Husband's happiness a top priority. This means:

• Quit nagging: try not to assign tasks and instead perhaps do them myself
• Don't expect praise or appreciation: when I do things for myself and not to be patted on the back, I get more satisfaction out of it and zero resentment
• Fight right: I have a bad temper. I'm learning to walk away when I get heated and come back to (a) apologize and (b) talk it through. This is kind of a big deal in my book.
• No dumping: B and I are around each other 24/7 and pretty much just each other. We're buddies, so sometimes it's way too easy to vent to each other about ev-er-y-thing. But this may just transfer the burden to him and vice versa. Not doing it anymore if I can help it. From now on only positive moods and feelings will be shared and passed between us.
• Give proofs of love: it's the little things--funny notes, texts, or emails throughout the day, picking up his favorite gum when I'm out running errands, hugging him extra long and tighter and unexpectedly.
  [Side note, learned from the book: A six-second hug is the "minimum time necessary to promote the flow of oxytocin and serotonin, mood-boosting chemicals that promote bonding." (p. 45) Therefore, hug it out whenever you can, count to six, and feel the tension melt away.]

Let me tell you since we're all friends here and I'm going to be brutally honest: the first four are way ambitious! I definitely have to try harder. 

I have been able to keep some January goals: like putting aside 15 minutes a night to pick up and prepare for the next day. And we've been going to bed as early as 8:30 and ohmygoodness it feels awesome! I wake up between 5:00 and 6:00 in the morning feeling great! At 6:30, I turn on the morning news, Husband slowly wakes up and we're both happy, well-rested go-getters :) Very recommended, this early bedtime thing. Who knew?!

I hope you have an awesome week and thank you for reading!