erica danielle

Favorites this week: 1. We spent some time in the gym at the Y and all 3 kids had fun with the basketballs. It was a good reminder that open gym is always a good idea.  2. We had a wayyyy too packed day on Sunday and as I am one who is mildly introverted, when Sten said I could have a couple hours to read at a coffee shop I was out the door in RECORD time. It was just what I needed to reset before our next round of people time. 3. Baby Sybil came over to play with Sigge. What is cuter than 1 baby? 2! 4. Before dinner club last night sten and I used a 2 year old gift card at The Velveteen. It was so cozy, sipping our cocktails and enjoying one on one time!  Tonight we have our volunteer appreciation for Midcurrent at Belle Vinez. Looking forward to spending the evening with a room full of my favorite people!  xo. edc. 

1. Olle singing Jesus Loves Me to Sigge 2. “Try Me” samples at coffee shops 3. How if an assignment at school says “My Name______” Lucy writes: “is Lucy” 4. When Sten says: go for a run 5. Sigge giving kisses 6. Olle’s confidence in his basketball skills and his good looks 7. Decaf coffee after dinner 8. When you spray your windshield with wiper fluid and it’s crystal clear for about a minute 9. Thinking about summer 10. Watching my kids have fun with other kids 11. When Olle comes down stairs in the morning and says: “how’d you sweep mom?” 12. A fast mile on the pavement 13. Climbing into a bed with freshly washed sheets 14. An extremely uplifting text from a friend that makes you stop in your tracks 15. The way Sigge dances when we put “sunflower” on the speaker 16. Lucy’s insistence on matching her shirt with her patch, earrings and hair accessories 17. Finding chapstick in a pocket before throwing it in the washing machine 18. A glass of wine while cooking dinner ...

Any day we get to spend with Olive and Amos feels like hitting the jackpot! So when all the kids had this Friday off we took advantage and had a sleepover and spent the whole day together. We went to the Mall of America, went sledding played at the snowy park and played a lot of LEGO friends. It was sad to say goodbye and when I got home from dropping them off Olle said: I wish we could have 100 sleepovers. He was already missing Amos. Side note— Lucy recently learned how to “edit” pictures. So you may see some really edited photos in future posts. 😉 What a joy to have these 2 in our lives. xo. edc.

I had a goal of 33 miles this week and I fell very short. I am blaming it on the fact that I spent a lot of my workout time at Lighthouse Yoga. My free week has now ended so I will be swapping the heated studio, chandeliers, and calming ambiance for the crowded, loud, kind of smelly Y. Back to my humble roots. 😂 I enjoyed every class I took, they challenged me mentally and physically and I hope someday to go back! Runs// Sunday: 4 miles 6:59 avg Monday: 5am boot camp, 2.5 miles (this was the day I ran out of gas 😒) 8:13 avg, 5:30 yoga sculpt.... phew! Tuesday: OFF Wednesday: 7.10 miles 7:32 avg Thursday: 6am yoga sculpt 3.12 miles 8:06 avg Friday: power yoga heated at 105! It felt amazing! Saturday: 9 miles 7:04 avg. Total= 25.7 miles Favorite run = I felt strong on that 9 miler, I was hoping to get under 7 for my average, but started out a little too slow and couldn’t close the gap. This week: I’m going to give myself some grace and do whatever my body feels. What I ...

Where did this week go?????? I spent it realizing I’m doing too much— and anytime you have a lot going on time seems to go even faster than it does normally. Here are some favorites from the week: 1// My free week at Lighthouse Yoga. It’s been so amazing to go to heated yoga and get the best workouts in the world. 2// I ran out of gas on Monday. Luckily we were in a sunny safe spot and Sten was able to come rescue us. I cleaned all the trash out of the car and recognized that if I don’t have enough time to stop for gas, I’m probably doing too much.  This is my oops face. 3// spa day at MOPS 4// Arlich’s over for dinner where the kids played and we got to talk to friends :) 2/20 for dinner guests this year! 5// Sten sometimes brings me home a decaf refill when he works at coffee shops. It is the smallest gesture, but means a lot to me.  6// I tried the Preto Pesto recipe in the run fast, cook fast eat slow recipe book and it is a WINNER!  7// Thursday—...

I went to MOPS yesterday morning and it was “spa day”. This meant there were massages and beauticians and yoga and a quiet room. I showed up for the quiet room. I sat and journaled and prayed. I am doing too much and have to take some things off my plate. I feel overwhelmed and not as joyful doing the things that I LIKE to do. I recognized that I have fears with letting things go: mostly letting people down, and letting myself down. Here I sat for almost an hour.  How do people say no? I am awful at it, and then I come crumbling down.... hard. It's like I've just worked so diligently to dig a huge hole, and then I realize I'm stuck in it. Hopefully this week I can work on doing less. I'm ready to not feel as if I'm stuck in a hole :) I can't believe it's Wednesday already. I will get a run in, go to Lunch Bunch, and then read at Lucy's school. My biggest "to-do" is holding Sigge. Here's hoping I can say no, xo. edc.

It was not a very exciting running week. I ran 30 miles between 3 runs... so not a ton to report. I did go to body pump 2x this week and heated yoga sculpt. I’m enjoying keeping my weeks flexible with classes, it makes my running days feel earned and rewarding. RUNS// Sunday: off Monday: 4 miles on the crapiest treadmill in the hottest workout room at great wolf lodge. I’ve never sweat so much. I’m not even sure what pace I was at. It was such an old treadmill but I think I finished in 30 mins. Tuesday: body pump Wednesday: 6.5 miles outside 8:04 pace. Thursday: body pump Friday: 20.20 miles. My watch was all messed up. But I think I averaged around an 8:20 pace. Saturday: I had every intention of going for a run, but then got asked to go to yoga sculpt at the new studio in town. It was seriously one of the most difficult things I’ve done. My clothes were DRENCHED and my face was red for a solid hour after I got home. I give the class 2 thumbs up. TOTAL MILES// 30.7 Next we...

Obviously my favorite thing this week was our family getaway. But some other favorites include: 1// Lucy’s creativity. On Saturday morning Lucy made puppets and put on a puppet show for Sigge and me. We even got pretend popcorn. This girl never ceases to amaze me. 2// Olle turned 4 1/2 and we celebrated with 1/2 a cake and 4 1/2 candles. He felt very special and loves being THAT much bigger. 3// Post-bath Sigge is so cute! He couldn’t figure out who was in the mirror! It was the best! 4// New cookbooks! I got 4 new cookbooks from the library this week and have been loving the recipes. 5// currently “reading” listening to Talking To Strangers and it is fascinating to me. It’s basically consuming my every thought. We are supposed to get hit with a large amount of snow today....  Happy Friday! xo. edc

I can’t fathom what I’ll feel like one month from today when I wake up with a one year old. I don’t want to think about it— so instead I’ll just enjoy my last month of having a baby. 11 MONTHS! This guy loves mom, sweet potatoes, paper, opening things, and water. He’s good at crawling, fake crying and whining, clapping his hands, shaking his head and eating.  He can climb up steps, and can walk if you’re holding his hands. He hates getting in his car seat, getting his diaper changed and getting dressed. He also does not like when Lucy gets too close to him. It sends him into an automatic freak out. He can make us all want to pull out our hair and then nearly simultaneously send us into a love so deep we can’t even describe it. Lucy often says, uggggg, I just love him so much!! (To which Sten and I look at each other and say—“we know”). One more month of loving our Sigge “baby”. You better believe I’ll be soaking in every minute. xo. edc.

The excitement and anticipation was killing us!! We couldn’t wait for our night away! We asked the kids this Christmas if they’d rather have presents or a night at a hotel and they picked hotel! So we found a groupon for great wolf lodge on a Sunday night and added a trip to the mall of America and we had the best time. The kids were ecstatic about the bunk beds in the hotel room and were so brave going down all the slides! I think their favorite part tho was the MOA, we rode a couple rides and spent a lot of time at LEGOland. Sten and I both agreed the best part for us was just being able to say yes to things. Yes to rides, yes to fries yes to another slide down the water slide. It was a really really fun 24 hours! It went by so fast. xo. edc.

I am lovingly dubbing this week: treadmill week as I did ALL of my runs inside on the treadmill. Sten was traveling and the one day it would have worked to go outside it was 35 mph winds so that really wasn’t happening. I’m weird. I don’t mind the treadmill. Would I rather be in San Diego running along the water per the pictures Sten lovingly sent me this week: yes! But living in Wisconsin, with 3 kids has given me an appreciation for the ways I still can get a solid run in. And a grateful heart that the YMCA provides 2 hours of childcare. Runs this week// Sunday: biked 7miles Monday: boot camp/ 5 miles 8:04 pace Tuesday: 6.2 miles 8:13 pace Wednesday: 4 miles 7:24 pace Thursday: body pump Friday: 13.1 miles first 6 miles at 7:50, increasing speed each mile ending mile 13 at 6:30 for an avg pace of 7:24 Saturday: 4 miles at a 7:47 pace. Total for the week: hit my goal of 30 miles! 32.3 to be exact. Hoping to hit 30 again this week. Favorite run: my half marathon on ...

I filled my days with a lot of things I love this week. Here are some favorites: It was BEAUTIFUL on Saturday or Sunday, I can’t remember.... but we went for a family walk and Sigge squealed with delight as his siblings ran ahead of him and made him laugh. There are MANY times when their love is WAYYYY too much, but for the times when it’s just right there’s nothing sweeter. Ashley and I took these 3 four year olds sledding and it was SOOOO fast. The hill was basically ice, and Olle and LT set a new record at the hill😳 Sweet Olle LOOOOVES when the heat is on. This is where you’ll find him as soon as he hears the furnace kick on. Curled up in a little ball. My FAVORITE thing lately is hearing him and Lucy call to the other: “The heaters on!! Come on!” And they snuggle under a blanket together.  This sweet sweet moment at bedtime. Holding a sleeping Sigge is my very favorite way to end the night. His calm heavy body completely content.... I will for sure miss these...

First Monday of the year. Now that’s something. Went to boot camp this morning and I’m certain I’ll be sore tomorrow. I’m planning to wash all sheets — per my NYR, get rid of a bag of stuff — also per my NYR and lastly feel generally productive enough this morning so I can take a nap while Olle is at school today. This little guy and his teeth!!!!!!! They just kill me.  xo. edc.  

I’m excited to begin documenting a bit more of my running. I’ve decided to start small and do a recap on Sunday’s of my runs that week. I’m hoping it will be a nice way to review my progress and keep me motivated to reaching my full potential. RUNS// Sunday: 3.1 on the treadmill at 8:45 pace (first run after being sick for 8 days) Monday: 4.1 outside in the snow! 7:51 pace Tuesday: 3.1 8:29 pace Wednesday: 20.20 8:53 pace Thursday: body pump Friday: 6.2 with Ashley 8:41 pace and HITT class with Jessica Saturday:4.1 on the treadmill at 7:03 pace with a .5 % incline (didn’t know this was a thing until recently) TOTAL MILES FOR THE WEEK:40.8 I increased my miles and my activity level really quickly after having done nothing for a solid week and a half. But I feel good, strong and healthy, so I’m shooting for 30 miles this week. Favorite run this week: although I LOVED the 20 miler, I have to say my fav was the snowy run on Monday. I think mostly bc it was my first run outsid...

Since we are finally healthy over here this was a good week. Some favs: 1// a very snowy run I was soaked when I got home because I was literally running in a whiteout but it felt so good to finally be outside after being cooped up for so long! 2// the NYE balloon 🎈 drop at church! Lots of cotton candy and lots of fun!  3// some afternoon artwork. The kids got new paints for Christmas, so we busted them out.  4// a fresh chalkboard at Anytime Fitness.  5// did snap a pic but had a pizza party with friends last night. Multiple kids running around and a full house re-ignited my desire to have people over for dinner more often.  I started this morning with Ashley running 6.2 miles, and we have nothing planned for this evening so it’s going to be a goooooood day.  xo.edc.