Christmas Rocks!

Christmas was so much fun this year! Well, ok. It's fun every year. But with 3 toddlers of my own, my brother's kids and my sister's new baby, it was just awesomely chaotic and full of good times all around. :)

It wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be getting the kids to sleep after Santa came. Bridger, of course, was up late. But even he fell asleep around 10. I let him help me put out the presents I let the kids get each other.

Normally, I wake up around 3 or 4 on my own Christmas Day. As kids, my older brother would always wake me up and we'd go sit by the tree and just stare. LOL! This year, 6am rolled around and I woke up to the sound of my sister waking the kids up! Gah! That's MY job! I was kind of sad by that, but there's always next year. We stayed upstairs for a few minutes and the kids went through their stockings. I put a 2lb weight in each of them, so we can all workout together at home. I also got them each a yoga mat, so they can workout with me when I do the yoga DVDs I got myself. :)

Then it was off to the downstairs Christmas. CHAOS! And lots of fun, of course. There was a good size pile of presents, how could there NOT be with as many of us in that house as there are? lol

Bridger LOVED his longboard. Hunter immediately changed into his firefighter and police dressups and Alayna went nuts over the big horse toy she got. :) They all went upstairs to the playroom later and played their new games they got on their Leapster forever!

Mom made our traditional breakfast of crepes and had all the best fixin's set out for them. Jellies, pudding, cream cheese, powdered sugar..... MMMMMMM! She made baked French toast and eggs too. And my older brother got tamales, just like Dad always had. I LOVE Christmas traditions!

I'll post pictures later.

Here Comes Santa Clause!

Well it's Christmas Eve, and it's been a great day! I got most of the presents wrapped last night, but had to quit when I ran out of wrapping paper. Talk about not being prepared! lol. Hunter started waking up in the middle of that, and I about panicked because he was still in my bed. Dodged that bullet! We woke up and watched cartoons in my bed until a reasonable hour to go down and eat breakfast. Then the kids played while I cleaned. And cleaned. And cleaned some more. Then we went to Josh's house and picked up Bridger's Christmas present. His awesome longboard that Josh made! It looks so good! I still need to get wheels for it though. :) I forgot I had to do that.

At 4ish, the kids opened their Christmas Eve present. Their new PJs. I wanted to have their ornament for the year for them to open today, but by the time I could get an ornament, I couldn't find any that I wanted for the kids this year. :( I'll just have to get 2 next year. :) Then we made our pizza and the kids played air hockey. I LOVE that we have an air hockey table at this house! :) Then we watched The Dark Crystal. Hunter fell asleep! NOOO! Too early AND Santa was coming over to visit! For once, I was trying to make him stay awake instead of getting him to sleep on Christmas Eve. How backwards is that? ;)

Then Santa came and gave each of the kids a little bag with treats and a small present in it for the kids. My parents put those together. How awesome is that? He told them to look out the window and watch for his sleigh. He drove by with his window open while the kids were looking the other way and rang his bells loudly. The kids went nuts! "Santa" is a family friend that does colonial re-enacting with my parents. That was so much fun! After he left, we got his plate of cookies ready for when he "comes back" after the kids are asleep. And now we're all laying in my bed watching Christmas movies until the kids fall asleep.

I LOVE Christmas! :)

Another Year Over...

As I sat in church today, listening to the humbling music of our incredible ward choir and the carefully chosen words of the speakers, and as I teared up watching my two oldest children walking up the isle hand in hand to sing Silent Night with the rest of the primary and the choir, several thoughts came to mind. And the more I thought, the more humbled and determined I became.

The first thought that came to me was how many Christmases I have had. 25. How many of those Christmases have I spent being in service to those around me? And I don't count the buying of gifts for kids or other people or even making cookies for the neighbors. How much time have I spent in true service of my fellow man? With no thought of gain or reward? Not nearly enough. How many Christmases have I wasted being stressed about money and the possible lack of presents for my kids and friends? As I really listened to the words of each Christmas song that was sung, both in Sacrament and in primary, it hit me harder. Maybe it's having kids of my own now that makes me see things from a different perspective. To truly imagine how it must have been in that stable, knowing what that child was meant to grow up and be. It's not like I have never heard the story of Christmas. I know what Christmas is truly about. What hit me today is that I haven't been living it as well as I should and can.

The other thought that came to me is that my life is not my own. My world does not belong to me. Everything I am, I owe to my Father in Heaven. I was put on this Earth to serve others. It tells me that in my patriarchal blessing. I was given my personality as a gift, to attract those who need help, to make friends to all those around me, to help them find their own spirit. To forget myself and my problems. My Father will not leave me comfortless in time of need. He never has. My own problems will work themselves out. They always do. I owe my very existence to something much greater. My goal for this coming year is to forget myself, and live in service to those around me. To keep patience and kindness in my voice and my actions. To live each moment as it comes, and not take any of them for granted. For moments are fleeting and are gone as fast as they come. My goal is to teach my kids these things that I have come to realize. To instill in them the desire to serve others. To teach them patience and kindness. They are already far beyond me in these areas. My hope is to help them transition from the innocence of childhood into the perils of adulthood with their strength and faith in tact. I want them to grow up knowing that service of others brings far more joy than wordly aspirations.

Another goal is to increase my temple attendance. I can only do baptisms, since I haven't gone through the temple, but there's plenty of work to be done there. :) I can't let other things get in the way of that, as I have the last few months. My goal is to be able to go through the temple this year. I have to prove to my bishop that I am ready for that. I know I can do that this year.

A line in one of the songs we sang in primary today really stuck out to me. "Have faith, have hope, live like His Son. Help others on their way." It's so simple, isn't it? That's all we're really asked to do, when you get down to the bare basics of it all. It all gets so complicated and lost sometimes, in the chaos of adulthood responsibilities and all the different roles we play in this life. But if we strip it all down to what we're asked to do to return to Heaven to live with our Father, forever in peace, it's to have faith in this life, in this world, and that it's all for a purpose. To have hope to return there. And to help others come to this realization and to help them in their need. That's not hard at all. What makes it hard is where our priorities lay.

The true enormity of the Atonement, the sacrifice that was made for me has really come to light for me in a way that it never has before. It was not simply just a one shot deal for us. I have been given so many chances to get it right. And will still be given chance after chance, for I am human and extremely faulty in my striving to live as I should. But by the grace of God, I am strengthened and challenged to better myself, to try harder next time. To learn the lessons I am here to learn. To feel humility as I lean on my Savior and accept His help. Maybe it's that humility I'm finally feeling, deep within my soul, that's making it all so clear to me today. I wanted to write this all down, so that others know what I have learned about myself, and so that if I ever feel myself start to forget or go back to old ways, I can read this and remind myself who I have come to learn I am. I have accepted the Savior's help, and used his sacrifice over and over, without ever fully realizing what it is I am doing. Without ever fully being humbled to the core, to let the pride out and let myself be filled with the pure love of my Father. That is who I truly want to be. Someone who doesn't say things in anger. I want to return to being a child of God, to let go of the world, and what the world has taught me. I read this story the other day, and it has truly stuck with me.

The Room

By Brian Keith Moore

In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in the room. There were no distinguishing features save for the one wall covered with small index card files. They were like the ones in libraries that list titles by author or subject in alphabetical order. But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and right to left as far as the eye could see, had very different headings.

As I walked up to the wall of files,the first to catch my attention was one that read, "People I Have Liked." I opened it and began flipping through the cards. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized the names written on each one. And then, without being told, I knew exactly where I was.

This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalog system for my entire life. The actions of my every moment, big and small, were written in a detail my memory couldn't match. A sense of wonder and curiosity, mixed with horror, stirred within me as I began randomly opening files and exploring their content. Some brought joy and sweet memories, others a sense of shame and regret so intense that I would look over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching.

A file named "Friends" was next to one marked "Friends I have betrayed". The titles ranged from common, everyday things to the not-so-common-"Books I Have Read", "Lies I Have Told", "Comfort I Have Given", "Jokes I Have Laughed At". Some were almost hilarious in their exactness: "Things I Have Yelled At My Brothers and Sisters." Others I couldn't laugh at: "Things I Have Done in Anger", "Things I Have Muttered Under My Breath at My Parents". I never ceased to be surprised by the contents. Often there were many more cards than I expected. Sometimes less than I had hoped.

The sheer volume of the life I had lived overwhelmed me. Could it be possible that I had time in my 17 years to write each of these thousands or millions of cards? But each card confirmed the truth. Each card was written in my own handwriting. Each card was signed with my signature. When I pulled out the file marked "Songs I Have Listened To", I realized the files grew to contain their contents. The cards were packed tightly, and yet after two or three yards, I hadn't found the end of the file. I shut it, shamed, not so much by the quality of music, but more by the vast amount of time I knew that file represented.

When I came to the file marked "LustfulThoughts"; I felt a chill run through my body. I pulled the file out only an inch, not willing to test its size, and drew out a card. I shuddered at its detailed content. I felt sick to think such a moment had been recorded.

A feeling of humiliation and anger ran through my body. One thought dominated my mind: "No one must ever see these cards! No one must ever see this room! I have to destroy them!" In an insane frenzy, I yanked the file out. Its size didn't matter now. I had to empty it and burn the cards. But as I took the file at one end and began pounding it on the floor, I could not dislodge a single card. I became desperate and pulled out a card, only to find it as strong as steel when I tried to tear it. Defeated and utterly helpless, I returned the file to its slot. Leaning my forehead against the wall, I let out a long, self-pitying sigh.

That was when I saw it. The file bore "People I Have Shared the Gospel With". The handle was brighter than those around it, newer, almost unused. I pulled on its handle and a small box not more than 3 inches long fell into my hands. I could count the cards it contained on one hand. And then the tears came. I began to weep. Sobs so deep that the hurt started in my stomach and shook through me. I fell on my knees and cried. I cried out of shame, from the overwhelming shame of it all. The rows of file shelves swirled in my tear-filled eyes. No one must ever, ever know of this room. I must lock it up and hide the key.

Then as I looked up through my tears, I saw Him enter the room. No, please not Him. Not here. Anyone but Jesus. I watched helplessly as He began to open the files and read the cards. I couldn't bear to watch His response. The few times I looked at His face I saw such sadness that it tore at my heart. He seemed to intuitively go to the worst boxes. Why did he have to read every one?

Finally, He turned and looked at me from across the room. He looked at me with pity in His eyes. But this was a pity that didn't anger me. I dropped my head, covered my face with my hands and began to cry again. He walked over and put his arm around me. He could have said so many things. But He didn't say a word. He just cried with me.

Then He got up and walked back to the wall of files. Starting at one end of the room, He took out a file, and, one by one began to sign His name over mine on each card. "No!" I shouted, rushing to Him. All I could find to say was "No, no", as I pulled the card from Him. His name shouldn't be on these cards. But there it was, written in red so rich, so dark, so alive. The name of Jesus covered mine. It was written in blood.

He gently took the card back. He smiled a sad smile and began to sign the cards. I don't think I'll ever understand how He did it so quickly, but the next instant it seemed I heard Him close the last file and walk back to my side. He placed His hand on my shoulder and said, "It is finished." I stood up, and He led me out of the room. There was no lock on the door. There were
still cards to be written.

How many cards do I have that He's had to sign his name to, over my own signature?

I will never be perfect, but I can definitely try harder. There is so much hurt and bad feeling to always let go of. I feel I have done a pretty good job of letting go of a lot. Obviously there are still things yet to let go of to help me become who I want to be. I feel that will be easier as long as I continue to move in the right direction, to hold to the rod and follow the narrow path that will lead me home. All things are possible with faith and hope.

Delayed Trip Report

I've been meaning to write down all about our trip to Texas. Now seems as good a time as any....a month later! :)

I can not even express how nervous I was to be flying solo with all three kids! I don't even take them to the movies by myself, and here I was about to take them 30,000 feet in the air. I'd talked to them for months, trying to kind of prep them as much as I could for it. It seemed to have worked. We got to the airport and everyone was so helpful! I had the 3 kids, one big rolling suitcase, one little one, my purse, the kids' backpack of activities, 2 booster seats and a car seat. That was intense! A lady at the security checkpoint opened the ropes and let us into an empty lane and we got to skip the whole line entirely! Alayna told her that she was very nice, and that made the lady smile. lol!

We ended up getting to our gate about an hour early. The kids loved watching the planes coming and going. I was watching them thinking, I hope we're not in one of those little ones! Aaaannnd...we ended up being on the little one. Go figure. It wasn't too bad though, I guess. Amazingly enough, I got the kids boarded, seated and settled on the plane without incident. WHEW! That was my next biggest worry. Being the passenger on the plane with kids that everyone is mad at. The kids were so good though, I didn't have to worry at all. They were so excited for take off!

It wasn't a bad flight. 2.5 hours or so. It went quickly. The kids got all kinds of stocked up on cookies and juices. There was a lady that sat in front of us that got a kick out of all of them. She kept turning around and talking to them and tickling Bridger's toes. He thought she was hysterical.

Landing was a bit rough. It was very turbulent. I was way freaked out, (but still secretly loving it too) but the kids got the biggest kick out of it. They said, "This is just like driving!" The lady in front chuckled at that one! Once we stepped out of the plane, the San Antonio heat and humidity hit hard! Holy cow, that was a shock to the system. As we walked out of the terminal, Alayna said, "Hey, this is where we just were!" There was a group of flight attendants and a pilot that heard her and they just cracked up.

We found my cousin without too much incident. She drove us to her apartment in San Marcos and we hung out there for a little bit. The kids played with her puppy, Mingo. Then she drove us to the B&B that my uncle Phillip worked for, doing massages. The cabin we stayed in was so cool! There were paths that wound through a ton of cages full of turkeys, chickens, pigs, peacocks, llamas and goats. There was a big, wooded pen that came right up to the cabin that was full of llamas and goats. The kids were dying! We fed the llamas grass while we waited for my uncle to get there. A long piece of grass got stuck in one of the llama's noses, and he kept trying to sneeze it out. It finally did, and went straight into his mouth and he quickly ate it. EW!

When Phillip got there, we decided to go out to eat. They took us to this great Mexican place. Can't remember what it was called. Phillip was impressed by the kids, who ate the salsa that he wouldn't touch. I didn't think it was all that hot myself, but Phillip said he couldn't handle it. I was shocked! And a bit proud of me and the kids, let's be honest. lol! ;) After dinner, we went to my grandpa's sister's house down the street. She gave the kids otter pops and a stuffed animal frog that they found there. Random. I met my dad's cousin too. Then we went back to the B&B and called it a night.

I can't remember much about the order of the next few days. Phillip drove us around San Antonio and San Marcos and New Braunfels a lot, showing us all the places he and my dad went to as kids. The watering hole they fished at, the same one my grandpa hunted and fished at as a boy. That was in Martindale, where the house that my grandpa was born in still stands. We went to the malt shop and ate lunch where my grandpa always took them. He showed me their schools, and told me stories about all the shenanigans they got themselves into. We went to the wetlands at the Aquarena center. It had been an amusement park years before they converted it into the wetlands center for the university to research biology. When it had been an amusement park, my grandpa would take the family there for outings. There's a picture of my grandpa, kneeling in the grass with my dad, Phillip, and my other uncles David and Michael that was taken there. Phillip took a picture in almost the same spot. That was really cool!

Phillip also showed us the land that he's trying to secure to start his health spa. He wants it to be one of those retreat type places that people go to for a week to cleanse. He wants an organic farm, to make his own aromatherapy things, have a veggie café, and have a fitness center. How awesome would that be?

On Monday, my aunt Martha drove us to Sea World! For YEARS, I wanted to be a killer whale trainer there. LOL! We got there right as the park opened. We walked through a few of the exhibit things first, then went to the Sea Lion show. A walrus did crunches. Which really put things in perspective for me. I mean, if a Walrus can do a crunch, anyone can. We got there late, so we weren't anywhere near the splash zone. The kids REALLY wanted to get splashed. I did too! Then we went to the Shamu show. Made me want to abandon graphic design and go train whales. It'll never happen, but I thought about it! :) Then we went to the dolphin show, and FINALLY got into the splash zone. AND DIDN'T GET SPLASHED! Tragic! It was an incredible show though. The trainers did all kinds of acrobatic tricks and jumped from WAY clear high into the tank. It was absolutely stunning! We decided to take off after that, it was just so hot! We were all dying!

Phillip drove us into San Antonio again the next day and showed us downtown San Antonio. The Alamo, the riverwalk. We didn't really get out, it was more of a driving tour, but he did have me jump out at the alamo to take pictures while he drove around the block. We'd been there once before, with dad when he brought us 10 years before. It was so surreal to be there without him. It's still surreal to be anywhere without him!

When we got back to Martha's house from that drive, my cousin Carina wanted to take us to the San Marcos river to swim before we left for Amarillo. It was so gorgeous there! There was a restraunt that sat above the river, and a huge waterfall that came down around the restraunt and into one end of the river. It was really shallow in that area, it only came up to my waist at the highest spot. My cousin Deana showed Alayna how to swim, and she thought she was all kinds of cool after that! Deana held Bridger so his tummy was in the water and he was flapping his arms and legs around thinking he was swimming. He kept telling Deana to let him go, he could DO it! Haha! Too cute. We stayed there for a while, then went back to Martha's house to shower and get ready for our long overnight drive.

We left about 10:00pm. The kids fell asleep fairly quickly. Uncle Phillip talked and talked (definitely what he does best!). The whole trip he talked to me about my dad and him growing up. The stigmas attached to growing up Mexican, and how that affected who they were as people. My dad never talked about stories from when they were growing up. I feel like I don't know a big part of who he was. But hearing the stories from Phillip helped fill a lot of gaps for me.

Anyway. I stayed awake for a while, I think it was about 1am when I finally drifted off. I'd wake up every half hour or so. I woke up and stayed awake about 7am, just as the sun was rising. The fields, barns and silos were illuminated by the pure golden light that the sun was casting down. It was stunning! I looked over at my uncle, who looks so much like my dad, and it took me back to a few months before my dad died. It was Christmas morning, and he picked me up from work at LDS hospital, I had to work the whole night before. We drove down to Payson together to pick up my siblings from my mom's house to go back to Farmington so we could celebrate Christmas together. As we drove, the sun came up over the mountains and it was incredible. I looked over at my dad and said "Awwww, we just made a memory!" I said it jokingly, but I hold on to that memory dearly now.

We got to Amarillo, and went to my aunt Martha's mom's house for breakfast. She's a sweet, wonderful lady! After that we went to my Grandma's house, but the door was locked and she didn't answer. We went over to the hotel my Grandpa got for us and Phillip dozed. Then we went back to Grandma's and got there just as Grandpa did. We hung out together for a while that day. My Grandpa has been putting together our family history for me and he showed me a lot of pictures of my grandparents and great grandparents. That was SO cool to see. I was always told that we were Mexican, Italian and Native American. But no one knew what tribe or anything. My Grandpa thinks that we came from the Apache Indians. I can't remember the last name of my great great grandpa, but that's where it comes from. And we're not Italian. We're Sicilian. :) I can't wait until he gets it all typed up and copies of the pictures made to send to us! Grandpa took us to Ihop. He takes my uncle James there a lot to get him out of the house. (James has MS.) All the waitresses there knew him, and he wanted to show off his granddaughter and great grandkids. lol! That was fun. Then Grandpa took us over to James' apartment so we could say hi to him. I hadn't seen him in 10 years. He's changed a lot. It was a shock to the system at first, but he's the same old James. It was so good to see him. Uncle Michael didn't say a whole lot while we were there. But he was so tired and sick from dialysis that he probably wasn't feeling up to a whole lot.

The next day we were all hanging out at Grandma's house and we heard the news that Michael Jackson had died. What the!? Phillip was so weirded out by that! lol. He's emailed me since, and he's STILL weirded out by it. haha!

We left that evening to start for home. Grandma didn't want me to go. I wish I could have stayed with them longer! I miss them so much! But, it was getting late so we had to take off. We made it to Cheyenne but 6am and had breakfast at a truck stop. Then we went to the hotel Phillip got and he took a nap while I took the kids out. I found a map thingy in the hotel office and saw that there was a botanical garden. So I got directions and we went out exploring. We got to the gardens and lucky us, it was FREE! We like free. ;) It was gorgeous too. There was a wetlands pond, and a peace garden with fountains and a rose garden with a swinging bench that you could sit down and enjoy the gorgeous view. It was fantastic! After that we went to the mall so I could get a car charger for my phone. I thought I left my charger in Texas. (We go home and I found it in my suitcase. LOL. Totally like me, right?) We ate lunch and walked around a while. They had a great play place that the kids would NOT leave. So I sat and chilled while they wore themselves out. :)

We went back to the hotel, where Phillip was napping. He decided he wanted to take off again, so we left again. There were a LOT of rainstorms between Cheyenne and Rock Springs. I was a bit nervous, I'm not gonna lie. :) It was pretty intense. We made it to Rock Springs at about 5. And stopped for dinner. I haven't been to Rock Springs since I left it 7 years ago after my first semester of college. Interesting memories in that place. It was a little weird being back there. We didn't stay long, just long enough to eat. :) It was still raining hard as we made our way through the rest of Wyoming. And it was raining even harder as we made our way into Park City. But we made it home by 10:00 that night. It was good to be home, but I was missing my Texas family. :( Phillip stayed the night and hung out for a while the next day. But then he left to continue his trip to Washington.

It was a really awesome and really hard trip for me. It brought a LOT of memories back about my dad. Which is good. But man, I miss that guy!

Sunday Outing

So, after thinking we'd be stuck inside all day, what with the thunderstorms and all, I finally made the executive decision to brave the elements and get us out of the house. Cuz we were all pretty much going stir crazy!

I had no plan though! I love winging it!

We got into the car, piled the kids' bikes into the back and headed out. We ended up heading towards Bridal Veil Falls. The kids and I love it there! As we approached the turn for the falls, I saw the turnoff for Squaw Peak. I've never taken the kids there, and thought that they would LOVE the view. So we made our way up the mountain. I've never driven up there myself, I've always been the passenger. So it was a little nerve racking. But I stuck it out. I'm terrified of heights! lol! As soon as the kids got out of the car, they were so excited that they could see the WHOLE city! It was so fun seeing them so excited at the view! I was so glad to have brought them there. Of course, they were nervous about being so high up. And they would not let me take pictures with them, thinking I was going to let them fall. Sadness!

I did manage to sneak a few in though!

After that we went up to Bridal Veil and the kids rode their bikes along the trail to the falls. It has rained so much the last couple weeks that the river was so high and moving so fast! It was incredible! Alayna had a hard time pedaling up the hills, so Hunter would either stand behind her pushing her up or in front, pulling on the handlebar trying to help get her up the hill. It was adorable! She kept pushing on, because she really wanted to see the waterfall. We are not quitters in this family! :)

All in all, it was such a great time! I love that we're getting out more as a family! It's a lot easier now that the kids are a little older and not tiny babies! lol

I completed my first open water swim. In a wetsuit! I fit into one! hahaha! I was nervous about that. ;) It was incredible though! It had been stormy all day, so we weren't sure that we were going to go out and swim. (We being my tri team.) But the storm cleared just in time for us to head out to Lindon Beach. It was absolutely stunning out there! The cloud formations were simple incredible! Big, white puffy clouds mixed with low, rolling, dark clouds. The sun was shining behind a few clouds and sun rays were bursting out from behind them. The light was pure golden and made everything it touched glow. Over to the east, in front of the mountains was a full, bright, double rainbow! The tall grasses framed the lake and it was just picturesque!

We marked out where we were going to swim to, and I was completely nervous! It was so far! They told me, since it was my first time in the open water that maybe I should just swim back and forth in the bay. I considered it, but being me, I had to prove I could do it. So we took off. The mud at the bottom was so squishy! I don't even want to think about all the stuff I was walking through! The water wasn't too cold. A LOT better than I thought it would be. Until I bent my knees and let the water come up to my shoulders. Once it started seeping through the zipper in the back of my wetsuit, it felt COLD! But it didn't last long. Yay for climatizing! I attempted to swim with my face in the water. But it was so murky I couldn't see where I was going. So I stuck with keeping my head out of the water. The closer we got to the buoy we were heading towards, the further it seemed to drift! But we eventually made it! Now for the swim back! There were two other women who were doing their first open water swim too. One of them started having an anxiety attack! But she made it to the buoy. Once there, though, she was having a really hard time breathing and just wanted to get out of the water. So Kyle, the owner of SBR Sports (the triathlon gear store that's sponsoring my team) and McKenzie (one of the women who started the team) helped her get back to the water. The current had picked up and was helping push us towards the shore. That was nice! :) A huge pelican was flying overhead. I'd never seen a pelican like that before! At least outside of Tracy Aviary or the zoo! lol. Another bird was floating in the water and squaking at us. It was probably mad we scared the fish away. haha!

Eventually we made it back to shore. McKenzie and Kyle estimated that it was about 1200 meters that we had just swam. I have never swam that far before! I was so excited!!! I just wish I had brought my camera to take a picture of how the lake looked. It really was just amazing. Especially considering it was yucky Utah Lake! ;)

Random Saturdays!

So last night Raleigh took Hunter to my ward's Father/Son camp out. He brought Hunter home early this morning, cause he had clients scheduled at the gym. But they cancelled, so he and I went and worked out. We did the 50 reps of everything again. I thought he was gonna have a coronary! haha! :) Or that I just really wasn't working hard, cause man! The sounds coming out of that man! :D Then we went swimming. I set a goal of 16 laps. We did 8. Raleigh got a cramp. :*( And he had to go. But I ran into a girl I went to high school with. Turns out she trained with Raleigh too, and also wants to be a trainer. Elle was there in the pool too. She and I are going to meet up on Monday and work out together. Yay for gym buddies! :)

After we left the gym, before we hit the freeway, I heard on the radio that there was a free festival at Utah Lake. So I decided that sounded like a lot more fun than going home. So we went down and checked that out. It was pretty fun! The kids got a hot dog and we played duck shoot and had a boat race. They turned a couple of rain gutters into the race course and had a little boat inside and the kids made the boats go by blowing at them through a straw. There was a fish pond and Hunter COVERED me in the stickers that he got from that. Then we stood in line for over half an hour so the kids could have their face painted. Alayna is a kitty, Hunter is a puppy and Bridger got a little koala bear on his cheek. I'll post pictures in a bit.

Bridger would NOT let me put him down, so holy cow! My shoulders and back HURT after the whole day!

But I beat Raleigh at swimming, so life is happy. muahahahaha!

And some from a photoshoot that Raleigh did. :) Yay for having friends who take pictures!

H


Here's a couple pics from a photoshoot my friend Leslie did.

June 4th

Oh man, last night was HORRIBLE! And yet, amusing at the same time. Bridger and Hunter fell asleep in my bed, with me squished in about a foot of space inbetween. Good thing I'm smaller! haha! At about 4 in the morning, I woke to a loud crash. Bridger had rolled right off the bed. I wait a minute, hoping in my half asleep state that maybe he'd crawl back into bed himself. Not so much! I leaned over and he was just sitting there, looking around like "what happened?!" It took over an hour to get him back to sleep. I can wake up at 5 just fine. But to wake up at 4 is just TOO MUCH! So I decided the gym could wait until after work today and went back to sleep hoping to stay that way until 7.

Not so much.

Alayna comes walking into the room at 6, wanting to go downstairs and see who else was awake. For the love! So I resigned myself to getting up anyway. Still didn't go to the gym until after work.

I realized today though I probably need to add calories to my diet. lol! Being generous in my counting of the calories, I only got to about 1100-1200. I'm thinking I should probably be at about 1400-1600 with the amount I exercise. But I'm not hungry in between meals, so maybe I'm fine. It's a fine line, I think.

Tomorrow will be fun!

Oh man i hurt!

So, to continue on writing updates.... 10 minutes later! lol!

On Monday, I worked with my trainer Raleigh. Coolest guy ever! He'll kick your butt for sure! I tell him he kicks my glutes. hahaha! Gym humor. :) He had me do 50 reps of each main muscle group. Biceps, triceps, abs, shoulders, thighs, and calves. Holy cow and for the love! It's Wednesday, and I'm just barely starting to feel not sore from that! Probably didn't help that I ran Sunday night and Monday before we jumped into the 50 reps. It hurt good!

I missed yesterday. I couldn't drag myself into the gym. Forget drag, I could barely stand! It paid off today though, for measurements! It's totally addicting, once you really start seeing the weight and inches come off, and feeling the muscle tone building! Today I swam 16 laps this morning and another 12 this afternoon. I couldn't face the weights today. I just couldn't do it! My arms would hate me for life if I had! lol!

People keep asking me how I keep from cheating. It's simple, really. I simply made up my mind that I wasn't going to eat things that are unhealthy. Maybe when I reach my goal and I'm just working to maintain I'll eat more things like that on cheat days. But I made up my mind that getting in shape was what I wanted, and NEEDED to do. Once that clicked, it's easy saying no to treats and all things junk food. I don't drink soda or even juice, and haven't since the first of the year. There's just too much sugar in most juices.

Anyway. That's been what I've worked on this week.

Training

Ok. I'm gonna start posting more of my training stuff on this blog. Track my progress online! lol :)

Today I got measured. Haven't done that since May. I can't remember my exact numbers, I'll try and get them tomorrow. But I believe, if my quick, at a glance math is correct, I've gone done 6-7" and 15 pounds since May 1!

I changed up my diet since then. For a while I couldn't get past a certain point with my weight. I kept yo-yoing between a few pounds there. So I doubled my exercise, taking it from 1/2 hour 6 days a week to 1 hour 6 days a week in the mornings and 1.5 hours 3 times a week after work. (The kids LOVE going to the gym playroom, so I use that as a good excuse to get my butt back in the gym. :) My exercise routine consists of a half hour running on the treadmil. Doing intervals of 2 minutes slow, 3 minutes fast. Then I do 10 minutes each working on legs, core and arms. 3 sets of 10-12 reps on each area. Then I finish off with a half hour swim. I try to get between 14 & 18 laps.

I completely changed my meal plan. A friend at work started this "Kristi Approved" diet. I did the first 2 weeks on it and dropped 9 lbs! In 2 weeks! It was awesome! I couldn't afford to get the groceries for the 3rd week, which is this current week. So I'm improvising with what I have on hand, but following the same basic principle. 5 small meals spaced 2-2.5 hours apart. So this week I've done a protein shake in the morning when I wake up at 5. Then when I'm done at the gym I'll have either a bowl of oatmeal or 2 egg whites and 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of salsa on a wheat low carb tortilla. For lunch I have brown rice, steamed veggies and a gardenburger. Plain, no bun or condiments. It tastes good with the brown rice! :) I know, I'm weird. For a snack I have either a string cheese and a fruit or a South Beach Diet meal replacement bar thingy. (Like my technical terms? haha!)

So that's what I've been doing to kick my butt into shape! (Other than round!) Hopefully I can remember to post updates here for anyone that cares to follow. :)

Have a great day!!!!!! Make it good!

Oi Vey!

It's been a crazy week for sure! We finally got everything unpacked at home. Well, okay. My dad got everything unpacked. hahaha! I attempted to help, but kids kept stealing my attention. Work has been wild and vastly unpredictable, but it's still fun, so woo hoo!

Bridger's 2nd birthday party is on Saturday, and I'm way excited for it. I didn't do anything for hi birthday when he turned 1, so I feel really bad about that. It'll be fun to see the friends coming down for it!

I'm getting my trip to Texas all planned out, and I'm so excited to go! The kids can't wait to ride an airplane!!! I can't wait to see my Grandpa, Grandma, uncles and cousins!!! It's gonna be a blast!

And I've got nothing else for today. It's been so chaotic, and yet nothing is really happening. What a strange combination....

Whoa

Ok, so it's been a while. :) Between Christmas and moving and all things crazy, computer has been the last thing on my brain.

We're in our new house now. It's awesome and huge and incredible far away from work now! We're in Highland. Woo Hoo! Closer to Salt Lake and all things fun. haha. The kids LOVE having their own playroom and beds and bedroom. And I LOVE having my own room again and feeling like a grown up. :) : ) : ) I'm really looking forward to decorating!!!