The Arslains

Friday, July 24, 2009

Thursday, July 16, 2009

The Truelove

Found this and just loved it. From a poem by David Whyte:

There is a faith in loving fiercely

the one who is rightfully yours,

especially if you have

waited years and especially

if part of you never believed

you could deserve this

loved and beckoning hand

held out to you this way.

I am thinking of faith now...

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

One of my favorite people in the world turned 15 today. She is beautiful, talented and is so loving. She makes me laugh and smile and Chris and I love her so much. The best part, she is our niece so I get her to myself whenever I want. :) She is also a great sister to the awesome Millie Mollie and amazing cousin to the lovely and beautiful Sarah. Tonight we went out to dinner with the whole family and then opened presents with ice cream and cake. I love birthdays!

She loves the movie Heathers so I found this shirt for her

Such a beautiful 15 year old!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

LA Marathon 5K

On May 25th I accomplished a goal which was to run a 5K. I have long been able to run 3.2 miles but to actually participate in a group run is something I have always wanted to do. Why not start with one of the most famous? So on Memorial day we got up at 6am to run. I was really nervous because due to an illness I had not run for a month. I pretty much was ready to walk the entire thing. Our good friend Jim (and real marathon runner) was there to support which was so nice of him. It was awesome watching the real marathon start (26.2 miles) and then get together with our group. Pete Carrol from USC was even running with us. All of that energy really got me going and in the first mile I made the decision to run the whole thing no matter what. And I did! I finished in 40.2 min which is a sad time but I still ran it. Nothing makes you feel better or more healthy than accomplishing a task like that. We also were able to see the winner Wesley Korir from Kenya and first place female Tatiana Pretrova from Russia.

The fastest of the group start at the front and then the crazies followHe ran barefoot. Nancho came after.

She needed a sports bra. And why white gloves? Hmmmm"The One" also decided to joinThen all of the people really came. There were so many it made me dizzy and feel like I was in a world catastrophe movie Jim & Chris were ready to run!

Right before our race started

Look at us go! It was a lot of fun running through downtown

I got Chris dusting me at the finish line

The best part was the medal!

Then we were off to see the winners of the big run. The most amazing thing were the guys who came in who had disabilities. There were such an inspiration.

I love how this guy's colors pop

Here is the winner of the LA Marathon. AMAZING. Pretty cool to be brought in by a police barricade

Just Because

Charlotte and Leo are the cutest and sweetest and brighten up my day. These two rescued LA ghetto kitties act like they are brother and sister. I love it!

It seems like it is always a good time to nap for them

This is Leo with his blanket.

Happy Birthday Sister!

On May 3rd Katie turned the big 2-5. I cannot believe that my sister is 25 because that makes me 26. Four years closer to 30. Dang. To properly celebrate the occasion Chris and I drove to San Juan Capistrano for a birthday lunch. But first there were presents!!! I spoiled her AGAIN. Isn't that what sisters are for? I am so lucky to have her and cannot imagine my life without her. We can laugh for hours and always get the inside jokes. She is my best friend.

The awesome gifts she got me. I love the bowl!

Pretty 25 year old!

Her awesome birthday dessert

Katie & Chris

xoxo c&a

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Olivia Katherine Steele

Join me in welcoming the lovely Olivia Kathering Steele who was born at 10:56 pm April 10th, 2009 (one day shy of me!). She weighed 9 pounds, 11 ounces and measured 20 inches long. On Easter Sunday Chris and I were able to see the little lovebug and I did not want to share! Charlotte is getting so big and it is just amazing that there is another little girl that I get to love and watch grow.

Krysten looked amazing after just having given birth!

Look at those toes!

I love this picture

Congratulations Steele family! We love you!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

MEIMEY TURNS 26

So I am having to go way back because I have been severly slacking on my blog. I'm going to start with my birthday which was April 9th. The husband pulled out all the stops with arranging for my parents to come in, throwing me a party and all in all just being amazing. Unfortunately my birthday got off to a rough start when every single person in CA decided to go to Disneyland for my birthday. I could not handle the chaos, we decided to ditch our plans and find something else fun to do. Except every place we went was closed. We tried the Angel's game. Except they tragically lost one of the pitchers. So we went to the wax museum. CLOSED. The only thing that worked out was Starbucks. Then magically we had the answer - MEDIEVAL TIMES!!! None of us had ever been, you eat with your hands and drink beer. The food there is actually great (I would go back) and the show was a lot of fun. Thankfully my family made my tragic birthday work. Then to make it even more awesome Chad and Tracey flew in that Saturday for my Kickball party at the park. We had a great turnout, Chris did an amazing job pulling it all together and all of my favorite people were there. Not a bad way to start 26.