Moore Minutes

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Real Men wear pink, send flowers, AND do Tough Mudder RACES

Race day is coming!

My husband is a sweetHEART. He wins my smiles with his charms whenever he surprises me with happy flowers (my favorite!) like these beauties...

Or even better, these paper origami flowers! He surprised me with a dozen red paper roses on Valentine's Day this year. He said he wanted to give me flowers that lasted as long as his love {aww} ;) He made them and even made the stems too! Super cool.

But don't let this guy fool you.
He is not all velvet,
he is 95% caveman.

Ever since we were teenagers, I've always liked calling him Chris-Foot-Through-the-Floor-Moore because he has always been as cool and as strong as hell-O. I love that about my main squeeze!

I'm all about tough guys.

Big. Strong. No cry babies.

bodyguards.

Full on, old fashioned, testosterone filled PROTECTORS.

Chris is preparing to race a Tough Mudder race this summer! The Tough Mudder race is a perfect symbol of physical "toughness". Regular street marathons are SO yesterday, fast forward to TODAY. Athletic challenges have been amped up to deeper levels of insanity!

Watch this video with all the info!

Here is the description of the mudder race, directly from their website:

"Tough Mudder events are hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle courses designed by
 British Special Forces to test your all around strength, stamina, 
mental grit, and camaraderie.  With the most innovative courses, half a 
million inspiring participants, and more than $2 million dollars raised 
for the Wounded Warrior Project, Tough Mudder is the premier adventure 
challenge series in the world." 

image source

..."probably the toughest event 

on the planet." 

The obstacles include fire, ice, mud, and electricity!

(photos below from ToughMudder.com)

My cousin and her family are flying down for the race! Josh, my cousin's husband is a hardcore fitness MACHINE! He is racing with Chris. I'm so excited to watch them race! The boys are excited to have time with their cousins too. I've shared about their sweet family before on my blog HERE and ironically, that visit involved MUD too...

muddy cousins!

Chris suffered an injury a few weeks ago, preventing him to fully train as planned so pretty please pray for him as he prepares to race because he isn't in his tip top shape. I'm still super excited to watch him tackle this challenge! There is nothing more attractive to me than watching someone push themselves mentally and physically! A strong mind is empowering and a capable body is freeing.

Strength is truly a beautiful thing.

I will post again AFTER the race and include plenty of photos. Hopefully there will be no images of blood or bones, just mud and sweat. I love my crazy guy and am so proud of everything he does!

*The government makes me say that I was compensated for this post however all thoughts and opinions are my own and always will be!

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This post is linked to: Under the Table & Dreamin, Nifty Thrifty, Seasonal Sundays, Met Monday, Making the World Cuter, Tuesday Tutorials and Tips, HOMEWORK: Be Inspired, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy, Tip Junkie, Get Your Craft On, DIY Design, Works for Me Wednesday, Blue Cricket Design, Organize and Decorate Everything, Celebrations at Home,Transformation Thursday, House of H, Tablescape Thursday, Show off Your Stuff, Strut Your Stuff, 36th Ave Show and Share Day, Foodie Friday, Frugal Friday, I'm Lovin It, Tickled Pink, Friday Flair, Design Dazzle, Be Different Act Normal, Funky Junk Interiors, Weekend Wrap Up DIY by Design

Monday, May 7, 2012

Skip the restaurant...a Creative Mother's Day out with flowers and brunch!

**First of all! Don't forget I have a giveaway from Better Homes & Gardens right now for a $50 gift certificate for FRESH FLOWERS at FTD.com!
Click HERE to easily put your name in for the win.**

Mother's Day is super sweet because it includes the pretty month of May, bright new sunshine, happy flowers, and a focus on one of humankind's most intimate and close-knit relationships. Mamas are the cement in the foundation of families-- Mamas secure the best things in life and ensure that their families are fully nurtured and ready to face the world.

I mentioned last week that I received a beautiful bundle of flowers from Better Homes & Garden to help spread the news of their fresh flower collection at FTD.com. I am still loving these flowers and I wanted to share ways for you to bring bouquets of flowers into your life to color your days.

Flowers get delivered to a lot of mother's doorsteps in May. Fresh cut flowers are timelessly appropriate for any home because they instantly deliver a peek of joy, a sense of calm, the pleasure of beauty, and little smiles. Any random, normal room becomes beautiful when fresh flowers grace the table.

If you receive a bundle of flower pretties, here are some happy places to use them:

- in the obvious center of your table to make everyday meals a beautiful experience.

- on your bedside nightstand to add peace and calm to the master bedroom, a sanctuary from the rush of life.

- by your bathtub to create a fresh, clean feel to your spa-like bathroom.

- hang them by a basket on the backdoor as a fun reminder to step outside to see more nature

- don't be bashful. Take flowers OUT of the arrangement and set them individually on the tea saucer when you have company.

- set your bouquet right on your kitchen counter next to your cutting board to create a cheerful cooking space.

Next, be creative with how you celebrate your Mom on Mother's Day...

It's a fun idea to get creative with the flowers you GIVE on Mother's Day! If you live near your Mom, instead of sending flowers to her doorstep, take the flowers to a special location and spend some quality time together! This beats lunch at Applebees any day.

My Mom and I get a lot of special dates together. I've shared some of them here: like this cooking class and also a handful of knitting classes. This post was just a styled, inspirational shoot, however, my Mom and I get to enjoy a lot of special times out together and that is what propelled me to share these ideas! We have so enjoyed every minute of celebrating Mother's Day all year long.

To make a Mama's Day to remember treat your Mom to something unique and pack the flowers along! Make it simple but special. Pack up some homemade goodness, a handful of fresh flowers and meet at a special spot.

For this brunch menu I baked stacked cinnamon rolls (and a loaf), and jars of fruit, served with pink lemonade.

This delicious smelling bread was from one of my favorites: Joy the Baker.

Baking homemade bread is a treasured activity. It's a simple combination of loving hands and fresh ingredients served to our families.

For this bread I was able to use my Microplane nutmeg grater for FRESH ground nutmeg...diVINE.

I'm also a big Penzy's Spice fan so I used a little bit of vanilla sugar instead of regular.

Ready to rise!

The next bit of loveliness on the menu was a simple medley of fresh fruit.

Blackberries, strawberries, pink grapefruit, mango, and avocado!

And of course, beverages that are PRETTY and that match are an easy way to make your setting pop.

To transport easily, food in jars in the magic solution.

Fruit baskets...

Individually wrapped stacked cinnamon rolls...

On {almost} unbreakable wood plates with small napkin sets...

And you're ready to go to LOCATION to celebrate Mother's Day!

The charming knitting store that my mom and I have taken classes at is at a quaint place downtown, Tangle.

I love, love it there! With artistic storefronts like these, there is everything to adore!

In the center of the long downtown shaped store is a nook for crafters to move their needles. ;)

A plate for daughter, and plate for Mom.

What's better than creating, chatting, and chowing down on homemade goodness?

Nom, nom, nom

A charming place to create, coupled with the company of your best friend is truly the perfect day out!

So, put your creative on and run make a Mama's Day memory to tuck into you heart for always. Because moments are precious and time doesn't wait. You can spend your day with your Mom at a cooking class, a gardening class, a knitting, quilting, or sewing class, a photography class, painting class, more, more, more. The ideas only stop when you do. For me, the minutes I've spent in this style with my Mom are some of my most treasured. We are going on a hike this Sunday for Mother's Day because that is one of my Mom's favorite things to do. And who knows...maybe I'll strap a bouquet of fresh flowers on my backpack...because I like it that way.

Happy Mama's Day to all the women

who make this little world shine!