Following through with a tag.

About 10 people have tagged me on Facebook to post 25 random things about me. 25 is a lot of things to say about yourself... not that I typically have a hard time talking about myself! But anyway, here's what I posted on Facebook.

1. I hate cleaning. This is why I don’t like to host parties at my house.
2. Another reason why I don’t like to host parties is because I am notorious for picking very inconvenient times for parties (at least, that is what I tell myself when only 2 people show up for my parties).
3. I never met a craft I didn’t like. Though I don’t do them all or collect them all, I like ‘em all!
4. I not so secretly believe that the reason why I only have sons is because no daughter would want to compete with the drama queen in me. This drama queen has been tamed a bit over time, but she makes a grand appearance every now and then.
5. I like working out more than I ever thought I would. I’m actually REALLY excited about my first triathlon in April, even though it’s really going to hurt!
6. My main goal for this triathlon is to beat my sister-in-law’s VERY respectable time from when she ran the race 2 years ago. It is ON, Amy!
7. I’ve recently lost about 30 pounds and still have a good 10+ to go to reach my goal.
8. I’ve basically cut a lot of delicious things out of my diet. I don’t miss cheese very much, but I REALLY miss peanut butter.
9. DVR has saved my marriage. My husband watches a LOT of sports. I will never not have one again.
10. Speaking of marriage, I think marriage is easier than motherhood. Probably because I picked a really good guy, who must be pretty easy to please! I’m actually very blessed in both departments! I adore my 3 little boys.
11. In my opinion, the transition from 2 to 3 kids is WAY harder than the transition from 1 to 2.
12. My husband and I kissed before our first date. We became “true aggies” together. I know, I’m a hussy.
13. I hate the “r” sound. It haunts me every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. It’s very hard to teach to young children. Rrrrrrrrrrrrrreally harrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd
14. The magazines that come to my house say a lot about us. They include, The Ensign, Speech-Language Hearing Services in the Schools, Triathlete, Fusion (Glenn Beck), and Stampin’ Success. I admit I never read the speech ones.
15. I hated to read as a kid, but I love it now. There is so much out there that I want and need to read.
16. I’m one of those Mormons that drinks Diet Coke. If I can’t eat peanut butter anymore, you better believe I’m gonna have a Diet Coke when I want it. Many think this is a total hypocrisy, and I don’t care. The day they take my temple recommend away from me for drinking Coke, I’ll quit drinking it, but until then…
17. I am unable to have a normal conversation with children. I’m always analyzing their language or articulation skills… it’s a curse. I figure I’d tell you this just to make me seem intimidating when I’m near your kids!
18. I have NO patience in helping my son get faster at his math facts. I lose it in minutes. These are not good moments for me.
19. For as “smart” as I was in school, I’m extra dippy when it comes to many common sense things. Take for instance when I drove 20 minutes today to go swimming at the gym and totally forgot my swim bag. Grrrrr.
20. I lose my keys almost daily. (see #19)
21. I am a member of two large families that I am very proud of. I was born the fifth child of eight, and married the oldest of seven. So, I have 5 sisters, 2 brothers, 6 sisters-in-law, 10 brothers-in law, 11 nephews, and 12 nieces (with another on the way). Don’t even get me started on the cousins… it’s taken me 10 years to finally feel like I know everyone!
22. I’m a glass half-full kind of gal and don’t like worrying about things I can’t control… I guess except for the government. I’m really worried about that right now.
23. I love attending conferences and learning more about my interests. I also thoroughly loved being a student and still consider myself one. Last year, I attended conferences or conventions for all my major “things”; church, stamping, and speech therapy.
24. I’ve been a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator for almost 7 years. I keep telling myself that I’ll quit when it stops being fun… so far, that hasn’t happened yet.
25. I met my husband in the USU jazz choir. I love that I married a singer. I sing a lot, he sings a lot, we sing together a lot, and our children sing a LOT! Enough that we have a rule of "no singing at the table" in our house!

If you want to do this, go for it. If not, more power to ya!

Book club was a bit... lacking

Last week I went to our ward's book club after a 3-4 month hiatus from it. Back in the fall when I was taking forever to read "Gone with the Wind," I just didn't get around to reading the books they had picked. Well, I read MOST of one of them, but didn't realize what day they were meeting to discuss it and then I missed it. Then for the next book, "The Hiding Place," despite multiple attempts, I could never get my hands on a copy of the book. It's still on my "to read" list. This month, we were to read "Little Women," and since I'd read it about a year ago, I didn't bother reading it again and lent my copy to another gal.

SOOOO, I got there with fading memories of the book in mind, but with a willingingness and limited ability to discuss characters and general plot. Three other gals were there. One was almost finished with the book, one hadn't read it, and the other only read half (somehow her copy was only the first part up to where the dad gets home from the war). Needless to say, the discussion was not good, considering I had the most to say! We ended up talking about Gone with the Wind almost as much as we did Little Women. Seriously. Ah well.

I ended up picking the book for next month and I hope it gets here in the mail quickly. We're going to be reading "These is my Words" by Nancy E. Turner. Here's hoping it's as good as my friend says it is, because I have to lead the discussion!

Just to blather on some more about books, I finished reading Jane Austen's "Persuasion" and am now halfway through "Emma." I loved Persuasion and gave it a glowing 4 stars. I am also enjoying Emma, but I do have to say, it's a bit slower than I would prefer! Sometimes the length of some conversations makes me open my eyes wide in annoyance. Still, it's Jane... I love her!

Because I feel like it. (edited to add picture)

Edited to add the picture (and some self-deprecating comments) I mentioned earlier.

I feel like blogging today, but I don't really have anything organized to talk about! So be prepared for some randomness!

I slept in today. I was supposed to go swim at the gym, but since I didn't already have an appointment for Charlie in the playroom, I just went back to bed after getting the boys off to school. Charlie was awake and watching 'Cars' in my room, and I just kept sleeping. Every once in a while, Charlie would crawl up on the bed to give me hugs and a kiss on the cheek. It was so cute. Finally, at about 10:00, Charlie kept saying 'breakfast' in his inarticulate way and holding out his arm saying, 'mon,' (come on). I felt like a TOTAL slacker, but I guess my body was just really tired. I don't normally actually fall back asleep when I jump back into bed, but I guess I have been working out more and I got to bed really late last night. I must admit, it was a great morning!

My bestest buddy friend, Emily, had her baby boy yesterday via c-section and I went to see her and baby Quinn this afternoon. What a CUTE baby... not alien looking or anything! I'm so glad he's finally here, even though Emily's wishes for a natural VBAC delivery didn't come to pass. I'm glad that even though I can't hold my new little nephew, at least I can hold Quinn for that occasional "baby fix." I'm also excited that Em and I will be able to workout together again soon, even though babies make workout schedules near impossible. Maybe on an occasional Saturday with our hubby's watching the kids we can sneak in a run or something.

(This picture makes me think... hmmm, need to figure out something to do with my hair! I have reached and passed the point of "growing-it-out pains" and need to do something about it, quick!)

I spent some time this weekend reading some blog posts about people's secrets. It was very interesting and disturbing at the same time. I'm not good with secrets, so don't tell me yours! I can't really keep my own! While reading all these anonymous secrets, I would think about what I would post, but I just felt no desire to participate. Some people posted some pretty serious secrets, and others would post things like, "I secretly think fat people are disgusting" or some other judgment/prejudice they hold. Of course I have inner thoughts and judgements that I wouldn't want to share with people (out of fear of being rude, ignorant & bigoted), but I don't consider those secrets... I guess I consider it immaturity and am grateful for internal filters that keep me from saying lots of things out loud.

I guess that's all I can think of for this blog post! Maybe next time I feel this way, I'll just do one of the tags I've seen others do and save you from the randomness that was today's offering!

P.S. my hands are SOOOOOOOOOOO cold!!! Do your hands get cold while on the computer? I need my brother to invent a handwarming mouse and keyboard for me!! Get on that, would ya, Spence? Any other suggestions?

Things I've learned this week.

Here's a list of some things I learned (or was reminded of) this week:

FIRST: (and hardest) The first time you find enough evidence and suspicion of child abuse to actually turn a family in to DCFS is rough. It makes your stomach hurt as you ask questions that the child can't/won't answer because he "forgot" (and then clearly lies about) how he got that huge bruise on his arm shaped like a huge hand. I didn't have to make the call myself, but I was the first to notice it and then got others involved.

SECOND: I would rather have all three of my kids sick than my husband. Nuff sed.

THIRD: I hate being so far away from my family when there is a new little nephew to meet for the first time. Alisha had her baby 6 weeks early, and he weighed in at 3 lbs 13 oz. Thankfully, he's doing remarkably well. This is the same size Paul was when he was born premature. Anyway, I want to go see them so bad and it stinks that I won't be able to for a while. Congrats on the arrival of little Marcus, Lishka! Hope he gets to come home VERY soon!

THIRD & a half: I think the baby-delivery days of my sisters and close friends will be just a little bit hard for the next couple of years. Not VERY hard (of course I'll be super excited for them), but just a little feeling of "oh, I just wanted one more shot at that!" Maybe I'll get one, and then again, probably not, which is also okay.

FOURTH: I can now swim a mile... but it takes a long time (around 45 minutes or so). I also learned it's easy to lose track of what lap you're on once you get up past 25 laps.

FIFTH: Running is harder on your body than biking or swimming. I was SO sore on Thursday after running on Wed. night.

SIXTH: These last 15 lbs are going to be exponentially harder to lose than the first 25ish were. I'm afraid a plateau is in my future. I'm going to have to be more strict on the dieting plan, keeping very close count of points, and trying new healthier foods to get me past it. I did lose .4 of a pound last Thursday, but that ain't much.

SEVENTH: Magic erasers do clean off soap scum from your shower walls pretty well, but you still have to scrub pretty hard when your shower is as yucky as mine.

EIGHTH: DS games are easy to lose. We're already down 2. Better check the couches.

NINTH: The new Stampin' Up! catalog was delivered to my house this week and I am in TROUBLE!!!!

TENTH: Life is good.

I made it to 25 and beyond!

Just a little weight loss report. Sorry if these are getting old!

It's been 3 weeks since my last weight watchers meeting and I've been itching to see how I did on the scale. Over Thanksgiving, I gained 2 lbs in that one week, so I was a little nervous about how I would do over 3 holidays (Christmas, birthday, new years) in 3 weeks. Thankfully, I've had most of a week to get back into my routine, so I'm sure that's helped... and I've been exercising a lot this week. I'm happy to report that I lost 2.4 lbs over the 3 week holiday, which brings my total up to 27! Dieting isn't fun (especially during party after party... after party, etc.!), but I gotta say, it's very rewarding to see some results when you actually follow one. Thanks for all the support, y'all!

My plans for this year.

editing to add that I've thought of a #8 plan... I'm going to get contacts this year. I'd go for lasik, but that's more money! I'm just tired of the glasses. I want my face back. I'm tired of them fogging up when I open the dishwasher. I'm also tired of them falling down when I'm exercising. Time for something new.

All week, I've been thinking about the whole new years resolution thing. The last couple of years I've rebelled and haven't set any. I thought to myself, "why set a goal that I know I won't accomplish?" I was done with the guilt! This year, I'm still rebelling on setting the goals, but not for the same reason. I guess I already feel like I've been making some really good changes for myself, at least in a couple areas, and I want to be able to focus on that success rather than pile on more self-improvement projects that will just overwhelm me (and lead to more guilt).

So, instead of posting my resolutions (since I'm not making any), I'll post what I'm already planning on doing this year.

1. I fully intend to reach my Weight Watchers goal and perhaps even go beyond, but not too far. I've got another 15 lbs to go. I teasingly told Paul's family that my prediction for 2009 was that I would replace Melanie as the skinniest sister in the family... and then they can check me into an eating disorders clinic to treat my anorexia! That's what it would take for me to be skinnier than Melanie! She's gorgeous, and I'm happy to let her carry that banner on her own!

2. I'm going to grow my hair long again. (I know, big plans!!!) I think this will be more convenient for all the training and swimming I'll be doing in the summer. Since I've been married, I've only grown it out when I was pregnant, and then shortly after delivery, I chop it off. I'm ready for another haircut right now, but I'm going to stick it out for another month or so until I'll have some length to work with for a new style.

3. I'm going to do this triathlon in April, and I'll be ready for it. I may even do a few more during the summer depending on if I overcome my hesitance to swim in a pond with fish poo. A wetsuit would be required for this to happen, and so far, I've spent enough!

4. I'm going to keep reading good literature, which has replaced a lot of the TV watching I used to do. I still have my favorite shows, but I've been able to let a lot of it go. Right now I'm reading Jane Austen's Persuasion. I like it! I started reading again about 5 years ago and have SO MUCH TO READ!

5. We're going to finish paying off our debt and achieve a fully funded emergency fund. We've already been working on the debt payoff, and the emergency fund is the next step. We'll be able to do it this year as long as we're not stupid. Yeah, shut up, I know I just bought a bike!

6. Charlie will be potty trained before 2010. This is a plan, but one I realize may or may not happen. Here's hoping he'll be more ready than Andy was when he turned 3!

7. Because of #6, we will be putting in the bathroom downstairs this year. It will happen, even if it makes #5 a little harder.

There are other things that I'd like to work toward, but I think I'll stop here. Now that I've got this all published, it will be nice to see how it all panned out next January. Good luck with all your plans/goals and happy 2009!

I smell like a pool!

When Paul notified me the other day that the triathlon I'm planning on doing is only 15 weeks away, it opened my eyes a little. While driving home from Denver last weekend, Paul told me he thinks that I need to be getting in 3 swims a week, 2 bikes, and 2 runs to be ready for this thing. I, of course, argued with him saying, "I'm not trying to win the race, I just want to finish it with a little grace!" But to humor him (and myself), I've scheduled 3 swims into my week... and therefore, I've smelled like chlorine for the last 3 days. It's a good thing I don't color my hair yet!

So I swam on Monday morning and this morning (Wednesday) and I'm happy to report, that suddenly, swimming is easier than it was 2 weeks ago. I think I finally just decided to relax. Up until this week, the longest I could go without stopping for a long breath, was 3 lengths of the pool (it's not a big pool). But this Monday on my own, I was able to swim for 15 minutes straight! Then, today after warming up, I swam another 15 minutes (20 lengths of the pool or 500 yards), rested a little, then swam another 14 lengths. The race I'll be doing ends with the equivalent of that 14 lengths.

I don't know what happened overnight, but I'm very relieved that I can actually DO what will be required of me, at least where the swim is concerned. Now I just need to figure out how well I'll be able to do it when I'm absolutely exhausted after running a 5K and biking 10 miles. I'm still worried about the biking. One week with my bike has not yet improved the sore rump situation! I'll just have to fight through it, I guess! We've got a trainer that allows us to ride our bikes inside, but I'm already itching to ride it on the road again... but with all this snow, it may be a while. I'm actually really excited about the whole thing. Much more than I ever thought I would be.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Forever ago, when I was a senior in high school, the choir I was in went on a retreat to Glenwood Springs over Christmas break. When we were walking around outside, a TOTALLY drunk guy just kept yelling "HAPPY NEW YEAR" in slushy, slurry, drunk speech. Every time new years comes around, I want to yell it out like this, but usually don't.

ANYWAY, we spent "new year week" this year in Denver with my family. We drove over on Tuesday the 30th, getting there at 7:00ish PM. It was a pretty decent drive over, but the last 1.5 hours took FOREVER due to the skier traffic. That drive can be brutal, but the recent DS purchase was good for our boys. Surprisingly, they didn't play it ALL 8 hours, but it and the DVD player kept them occupied well enough.

Paul and I went shopping at Kohl's for some new birthday clothes on the 31st. I am happy to report that I was able to reach my goal of fitting into size 12 pants by Christmas!!!! YAY!!!! I had been wearing my baggy slacks and jeans for months now and hated getting dressed everyday. Before Thanksgiving I was tempted to buy some size 14 pants just to get through, but I'm glad I stuck it out til my annual birthday shopping spree (no wonder I never have good clothes for summer time; I only shop in the winter!). My overly generous mom had given me some money to spend and since Paul didn't get me a present on my birthday in preparation for this shopping trip, I ended up being able to restock my closet with pants that actually fit now! I wasn't able to find any cute shirts, but did find some cute jackets to wear. I now look forward to getting dressed in the morning!

Here's a funny/stupid story that happened while we were shopping though. I had already tried on a bunch of clothes that just weren't working out, so I put those back and found a second stack to try on. Paul came into the dressing room with me so I wouldn't have to keep walking out there to show him. As we were walking in, some random voice speaks up saying, "this is a ladies dressing room, please leave" but since it was a stupid request and nobody willing to actually come talk to us about it, I ignored it... twice. I guess this girl got so annoyed that Paul didn't leave, she got a Kohl's employee to come and kick him out. She said he couldn't be in there and when I asked her where we could go so we could both be in a dressing room, she said in a snotty voice, "we don't have coed dressing rooms, m'am." I was sooooooo mad. When I went to fill out a complaint card, the cashier that I told the story to pulled some idiotic fact out of her butt that "it's a law." "why isn't it posted anywhere?" "the law actually doesn't require that we post it." Whatever. At the next store we went to, we asked a lady there if there's a law in Colorado saying that a man can't be in a dressing room, and she said there wasn't. I'm still irritated at those STUPID Kohl's workers!

We spent the evening at my sister, Shelyce's house. It was just a few of us (my parents, Nicki, us, Shelyce's family and Alisha and her husband), so it was actually pretty quiet! We all ate plenty of goodies and then played cards. I love playing cards with my family. Andy and Canon spent the entire evening playing a plethora of video games with their cousins. Charlie spent some time doing this:

He loves watching the movie, "Cars." Even though it was later than usual, he was being really cute. Once he saw we were taking pictures, he came over to us to see the camera. I got a cute pic taken with him here:

We spent the night at Shelyce's so we could put the kids to bed. Charlie went down early, but we let the boys stay up til 12:00. They went down without any incident and then Paul and I played a bunch of Guitar Hero Aerosmith! We're actually fans of the band and had a good time unlocking more of the songs for Shelyce to play later! We finally made it to bed at about 1:00 and thankfully were able to sleep in until 9:45, thanks to Shelyce. She wakes up early anyway, so she got Charlie up and let us sleep more. She's an angel!

We got ready for the day and then all of us went to help my sister, Megan, move apartments. She was living in this small apartment in the top floor of a house, so it wasn't easy moving, but there were a LOT of helpers there to make the work light. After that, we went and bought me a road bike... have I mentioned how SPOILED I've been lately?! I'm really excited about my new bike! The triathlon I've committed to doing is in 15 weeks, so I gotta get crackin! We spent the rest of the night reading and watching the latest Indiana Jones movie. If you haven't seen this yet, DON'T. It is SOOOOOOOO STUPID!!!!!!!!!!!

The next morning, Paul and I did a workout together with him running and me riding my new wheels! Unfortunately, my parents live in the worst neighborhood possible for a beginner cyclist! I didn't ever get too far ahead of Paul because of all the hills. We did some running up the hill right after we got back to my parents and I could hardly walk the rest of the day. That night, we went to my brother, Spencer's house (yes, I have a lot of siblings!) to hang out with them and Megan and Chris. We had a YUMMY dinner and then played more games while Paul and Spencer watched the Utes win the Sugar Bowl. We're not Ute fans, but it was great to see them hand it to Alabama. We had a great time with them and wish we could see them more often. Every time we see Jen, she asks us when we're going to move to Denver. Sadly, I don't see it happening any time soon :(.

We ended leaving earlier than planned the next day (Saturday) because of an incoming storm. Thankfully, we didn't hit any serious weather and made it home in just over 7 hours with Charlie sleeping most of the way! It's always hard to leave a fun visit home with my family... especially when it's a short trip. I had such a great time seeing my siblings. I'm really bummed we didn't get to see Scott's wife, Robbie, and their girls (Scott and William were there to help with Megan's move). We also didn't get to spend time with my oldest sister, Camille, during this Christmas season, but that's because they actually live close enough to visit, but far enough that it never happens. In case you guys read this post, just know that we love you ALL so much!

Thanks for a fun week everyone! LOVE YOU!!!!!!

My Birthday

My birthday was a week ago, but there's been a lot going on, so I've neglected blogging about it and many other things! I had a great birthday this year. We were here in Utah (half the time we're still over in Colorado on my birthday), and I found out a few weeks previous that my friend, Jen, and I share the same birthday! She was turning 30 and I turned 32. We have a group of girlfriends that like to go to lunch together on occasion, so we figured a dual birthday was a good excuse for a girls lunch out (a GLO, vs a GNO!). I played the birthday card on my sisters-in-law for some free babysitting (you can only play that card once a year... live it up!), so thankfully I didn't have to juggle any of my own children at the restaurant! Since we'd given such late notice, not everyone was able to make it, but those of us who could had a good time together. We went to Costa Vida, because I LOVE their sweet pork salad. I really could eat it everyday. Jen and I are both on Weight Watchers, so we shared one! We also had to eat it slowly due to holding babies and such, so we even both ended up full! It got a little noisy with 3 tired babies fussing a bit, but I cherish being able to spend time with my girlfriends. I love my friends in our ward! Thanks for a fun birthday lunch ladies!!!

I spent the afternoon doing laundry and folding clothes. I had to get things ready for our trip to Denver the next day. The boys just played around and helped clean up their rooms and the TV room so it wouldn't be a total disaster while we were gone. Paul's younger brother, Preston, gave us the gift of free babysitting for Christmas this year, so we cashed in that chip for our date that evening. I love free babysitting... Thanks Pres (and Amy and Megan and Mom for the afternoon)!

Paul took me to Tucano's for dinner. I love this place, but it's horrid while dieting. Each year, you get a free meal during your birthday month, so we eat there twice a year... in August and December. They bring around all this delicious meat and you can have as much as you want! I actually did pretty well, not gorging myself or anything, but I'm sure I went over my points for the day. After dinner, we drove down to the mall to see what movies were playing. We ended up seeing "Bedtime Stories" with Adam Sandler in it, because it was starting right away and we wouldn't have to wait. It was a great show, and clean to boot!

So, that was my birthday! It was a great year being 31, and I'm sure 32 won't be much different!