It's Wednesday.

This is how I'm feeling...

tired.

oh so tired.

there's a dog that is keeping me up.

he belongs to us.

I could seriously use one of these at work.

1 down, 9 more to go...

A friend of mine and her sister had the goal (and completed it) to hike up to the "Y" 10 times this summer. Each Wednesday morning they'd hike it.

Wow! I've never been more impressed, and more inspired.

So, what is there to do with this inspiration? Do the same thing myself. If they could do it, so could I. Plus I'd never hiked the "Y" before in my life. Now is as good a time as any, right? What a great planned, weekly activity where I can have fun, and burn some major calories, while my calves are a-burnin'!

I talked with my YW on Wednesday night and told them how I had been so inspired and felt like it was my turn to do something good for myself...but I couldn't do it alone.

They jumped at the idea of going each Saturday morning, dark and early at 6am. We all made a pact that we would hike that dang mountain 10 times. Our last would be at the end of October. Man, oh man, there is no getting out of this now.

So, I drove up the street to the church at 5:55am to find 3 of our YW girls standing outside, waiting for me with their backpacks. Wow! This is really going to happen, I thought.

We drove down to Provo. I kept staring at that "Y" from the distance realizing I was about to conquer something I've never done. I'm sure this isn't a hard thing to do for most people...but I'm not most people. I've got a lot of junk-in-the-trunk...everywhere for that matter. I'm NOT a hiker. I don't like hiking, especially when it's all uphill and steep.

We got there, and made our way up that mountain. Holy crud! I had to take breaks after every 10 feet it seemed. It was hard, but I'm excited to get better at it; go up without stopping, and feeling like i'm going to die.

Thank you Karen and Joni for being so amazing and inspiring!

Here we are about to head on up the Mountain to that "Y" you can see above.

Me and Mercedi sitting on the "Y". WOOHOO!

1st hike down...9 more to go! Yeah baby!

8-9-10

It was a good birthday. Full of events!

-We got our cute little Max.

-Had dinner at the parents with mom's home-made cheesecake as the birthday cake for me and Conn (my youngest brother who has a birthday just a week before me - we always combine the family birthdays together; it's fun!)

-Had a pinata - lots 'o fun!

-Went out to lunch with my fellow managers

-Went our to lunch with my supervisors, and bosses.

-Ryan took me to Rodizio, YUMM!

-Younger brother Sean took me to lunch with his cute girlfriend.

-Got a great little camera

-Got to chill and relax on my Birthday.

It was a wonderful birthday! 33 is going to be great!!

Introducing...Lucius Maximus

Yes, Ryan and I are one of those couples that take endless video footage and pictures of their dog. Can you blame us? Look how cute he is!!!

It's true...

...as it says on my blog title, they really do call me SHADDEN.

See!!!...

My sister Caiti sent me a birthday gift, and unbeknown-st to her she wrote it this way. I love it, it cracks me up!!

Thanks again for the awesome gift Caiti. I love jewelry!!!

Falsies

I bought some of these last night and wore them for the first time today.


Ryan says I look like Tammy Faye, a co-worker says they look great. Should I be one of those girls who wears falsies??

I have a friend who wore them everyday, and would swear to us that they were real, even when we could see the glue, and when we could see them starting to come off...silly girl.

If this becomes the norm for me, I will tell you they are falsies fir shir!

How do they look? (the second picture makes me laugh so hard. Note to self, don't put your camera at wide angle setting when trying to get in close...you'll look alien!)

The Hadden Happenings...

This past week has been full of excitement, fun, frustration, and family. Lexus came into town last week, and we made sure we made her week as eventful as possible so that this 13 year old girl wouldn't get bored...haha...didn't quite work, but we had fun nontheless. We also added a new member of the family! :)

We enjoyed Ryan's mom coming for a visit for a few days as well, while Lexus was here. It's always nice having her around. We love you Jane! The first night we went to dinner, and then headed to the movies to watch "Dispicable Me". Awesome movie!!

The day after she got here we immediately got ready for a photoshoot; something I do each year with her. We shopped at Old Navy and she picked out an outfit, and then we headed out. I love how they turned out! You can see more of them here.



Ryan and I had been on the search for a new family car. At first we were looking for a truck, something I could haul my photography equipment and props in, then the idea for an SUV came up. While I was working Ryan brought this pretty one to work for a test drive. Love was in the air from the moment I saw it. Isn't she a beaut?!...and it's OURS!

Just had to throw this one in because this guy is HOT!

Drivers side view

The car sales guy riding in the back.

View from the back

Ryan also surprised me one day last week with a little camera. The last time I had one was on my mission, and it was a film camera. I've had big camera's for the last few years, so it's nice to have a little one as well that I can take in my purse. Thank you Ryan!

Taking the first shot...Lexus was tired of camera's at this point.

Lexus and I went to Girls camp last Wednesday-Friday. Man, the last time I was at Girls Camp was when I was in Young Women's myself...many years ago. I wasn't used to camping, especially in a tent, but it was fun. Our theme was "Got Courage?" A great theme for our youth these days. The girls learned about Courage to stand alone, and many other great lessons. I think they learned a lot, as did I. It was a cool few days, despite the heat and sunburn...ouch.

We sure do love Lexus and are so glad she got to spend a week with us!!