Hello, my name is Juli. (Hello, Juli) and I'm a blog neglector.

Yes, it's true. I frequently ignore my blog in favor of other more "exciting" pursuits: laundry, cleaning up after Caleb (who is obsessed with water - not a good thing), nursing sick children, a Love and Logic parenting class, soccer practice, recycling (trying to make myself sound respectable now), running (and taking a nap later), reading, and (under my breath) watching TV.

Yes, I admit it, I watch television. This is kind of a new thing for us. After 12 plus years of marriage, we finally got cable last year. It has been very entertaining and very distracting. I have to say that in general, my children seem less creative than they were in our public television years. There were a couple of things we just couldn't get on the two stations that came in. The first is Biggest Loser. I love Biggest Loser. As someone who struggles to maintain my weight (lost 50 lbs, still checking in to WW once a month), I love the inspiration it gives me to see other people succeed in their efforts. This season is awesome. There are a couple of teams that Shon and I just LOVE. Dane and Blaine, and Sione and Filipe. They were such hard workers and just nice guys who were family oriented. I was not surprised to see Filipe's wedding picture in front of the Salt Lake Temple, and after Blaine went home to AZ for the birth of his fourth child I was not at all surprised to learn that both teams are LDS. Read here about it. I think many of the teams this season have shown moral character.

Alright, I admit that I've been in the middle of a Jane Austen book binge. Pride and Prejudice rocks, but Persuasion is my favorite. I even read a couple of sequels. Mr. Darcy's Diary was interesting, as was Mr. Knightly's Diary. I also read The Independance of Mary Bennet. Don't bother! That was poorly written and junk. I confess I stopped reading and skimmed the last three quarters of the book. The new BBC films of all 6 books have been very good. I even liked Northanger Abbey (shock)!

Typing with child on lap. Here he is on my lap again.

I am taking a Love and Logic parenting class. I love it. I read the book "Parenting with Love and Logic" after my first two children were born. It was so helpful. I absolutely recommend it to anyone with children, but especially young, strong-willed children. The biggest thing I have learned is to stop giving warnings, be firm, be loving, be consistent, and be sincere. The website http://www.loveandlogic.com/ has been very helpful. Seriously.

I'm still running. I have a couple of marathons planned for the future. The City of Los Angeles is on Memorial Day weekend. We'll be in LA that week. I wasn't planning on doing it, but I heard that people were skipping it because they changed it from Sunday to Monday this year. Thank you. Do you know how hard it is to find a marathon that's not on Sunday? They have my support. Unfortunately, I have to train for this one by myself. I am really excited though. It's a big marathon (20,000 people!) with pace groups and entertainment and the whole shebang.

Shon and I celebrated Valentines Day this year by participating in the Mount Taylor winter quadrathlon (cycle, run, ski, snow shoe up a mountain and then back down again). It was awesome. It was hard. I love my husband. He rocks. When our cross-country skier couldn't make it, he volunteered to change from cyclist to skier. Cycling is his speciality. He had never cross-country skied before. A couple of Saturdays in Colorado and he was set. He can do anything. I did the run. That was the longest 10 miles of my life, but I was so glad I did it. It was hard (I already said that). We had fun and came back with an awesome T-shirt (very important).

And it's Friday Night, which is Family game night at our house. Cranium Family Edition and Moose in the House are favorites. Gotta go.