Tocanos and Sunday at the park

 



 

Tocanos for dinner with Aziz and Elise to continue Aziz's birthday festivities.  You get a coupon for a free meal on your birthday so we just had to go help Aziz use it. :)  

 

 

Nice sunny day at the Provo Riverwoods!

I didn't get meat but I was still able to get the grilled
pineapple and veggies with the salad bar.  Love.



Typical toddler plate

 

 

 

Yesterday evening we went to my parents house to visit.  We played Settlers of Catan and grilled some hot dogs.  We also went to the park to throw a Frisbee and let Mabel play.  She couldn't do a lot because the playground was so hot but she threw a fit when we left anyway.  Good thing she's so cute.

 



Date Night at the Ballpark

We had Brittany and Brady over for dinner last night and then we went to the Bees game in Salt Lake.  I made Red and White lasagna with garlic bread and green beans and Brit and Brady brought an Oreo ice cream pie.  YUM.
Then we dropped a sleeping Mabel off at my parents and we were off! 

It wouldn't be a baseball game with out Eric's Coke!

Friends!

Best seats ever!  9th row behind home plate.  Thanks, Jess!

Eric and I on a real date!

 

Bees won it 4-2!  We had a great time! 
When we got back to my parents, we found out Mabel never woke up from her nap!  She slept from 4PM yesterday to 7AM today.  I hope this means she will be in a really good mood today.

Thursday night we went up the canyon and roasted marshmallows and hot dogs with Aziz and Elise (Eric's sister and her fiance) for Aziz's birthday.  That was the first time I've been up the canyon this year and I was LOVING it.  So was Mabel!  She loves throwing things into water and she makes me a bit nervous but we watch her.  I forgot to take pictures but I thought I would mention it since it was so fun!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Jackson, WY 2013

My parents and my sister, Kim, both have a time share condo the week before Memorial Day in Jackson Hole. It's located in Wilson which is just about 10 minutes Northwest of Jackson.  We have been going just about every year since I was a little girl and I LOVE it!  It is always such a nice relaxing trip!  Here is a summary:

Wednesday:
Drive, drive, drive 5 hours.  Mabel did pretty great!  It helps to have a portable DVD player.  Arrived at 8 PM, went to the park behind the condo.  Got ready for bed and watched Star Trek with my parents.  We got the upstairs bedroom and our own bathroom till Shannon and Matt came up on Friday.

Thursday:
Got up with my sister and my mom and we walked a bit (I didn't do much because I have an IT band injury) then we went to the gym and I did some physical therapy for my IT band and some upper body weights.  Eric lifted over 500lbs on the leg press.  3 sets of 10 reps.  He couldn't walk very well the rest of the trip. :)   Then we went to town!  Literally.  We went to eat at the Merry Piglets restaurant in Jackson and then shopping a bit.   I also got Mabel a cute Jackson T-Shirt to pass on the T-shirt tradition.  I didn't get myself a hoodie or T-shirt this year because I just have so many! 

Then we went back to the condo and I did a puzzle for the first time in years!  It was 500 pieces and not easy but I really enjoyed it.  Mabel helped too.  The night ended with some time the hot tub.  Thanks to my parents for watching Mabel so we could both enjoy it!


Friday:

Foam rolled my poor legs and then we went to the park again for Mabel.  That girl loves to be outside!  We waited for Matt, Shannon and Paul then we all (Mom and Dad, Paul, Kim and Adam and their 5 kids, Shannon, Matt, Eric, Mabel and I) drove to Teton National Park to Jenny Lake.  We took a 5 minute ferry across the lake and then hiked up to a water fall and then hiked back to the car.  It was about 3 miles but took us about 3 hours.  It was a challenge with Mabel and my injury but it sure was fun!   I love being outside and with my family.



Trail around Jenny Lake and up to Cascade Water Fall.  (Yes, I have starbursts in my pocket.)

 Friday night, we went to the Bar J Wranglers chuck wagon show.  That is always so fun!  It's a little cheesy but some of the talent is amazing.  My favorite act was "Rawhide."  It kind of reminds me of the possum place they stop at in A Goofy Movie.

Saturday: 

I went on a jog with my mom, dad, Shannon and Matt.   I hated not being able to go with the furthest group but I don't want to risk further injury.  Then we got back, had a yummy breakfast of bacon and eggs, played Settlers of Catan and then played tennis!  We love tennis but we are not super good at it.  We played doubles and switched up hitting it with my mom and watching Mabel.   Lunch/Dinner was in the Grand Teton National Park on Jackson Lake at the Signal Mountain Lodge.  Mabel missed that.  She was asleep on two chairs, but I did get her a book for a souvenir.  I was just thrilled she took a good nap!  Then back to town where I got $20 of candy including a chocolate frog and fudge.

 

I also got a new watch.  So excited about this watch!  We ended the night up in our room watching America's Funniest Home videos and laughing till we cried.



Sunday found us back on the road home.  We made some great memories!

"A bit of a challenge, just a bit" -Jillian

Hello, hello!  So I always have lofty health and fitness goals that I never reach for various reasons but I stumbled across this website on My Fitness Pal about people who do the 30 Day Shred workout DVD by Jillian Michaels. I have this DVD and I've used it a few times but I've never been super consistent. Anyway, this website at www.30dsresults.com has before and after pictures submitted by people who have actually done it consistently for 30 days.  I have decided I'm going to be one of those people! 

So how to stick to this goal?  Well, I'm going to get a sticker chart make a chart where I can cross of the numbers and it will be super cute functional and get me motivated!  I love checking things off.  :)Also, I'm posting this here so all of my 5 readers can help me stay on track. Or, at least I will be embarrassed if I don't do it.

Cute, huh?  Days 10 and 20 are blue because those are the days I move on to the next level.

I will also be doing other workouts and continuing my core and lower body training exercises to help my running.  I will be tracking my food and cutting out almost all processed foods and staying under 1400 net calories a day.   It's going to take me 5 weeks because I will be taking Sundays off.  Stay tuned for my before and after pics!

Running Tips Learned the Annoying Way

I went on a jog while on vacation in Jackson Hole last week (post on that coming soon) and it reminded me of the list I've been meaning to make.   

Ahem.

Things to remember for running:

1.  If you are dehydrated, you will get a side ache.  Always drink lots of water.
2.  You need to eat a little something before you go.  String cheese is good or a small glass of almond milk works for me.
3.  Go potty first.  Seriously.  Even if you don't think you need to.
4.  Make sure you strength train and stretch your lower body (warm) to avoid IT band injury. *curse*
5.  It's more fun to run with a buddy.  Someone slower if you want to feel good about yourself and someone faster if you want a challenge and to feel bad about slowing them down.
6.  Charge your iPod.  Running with out one and alone is so B.O.R.I.N.G.
7.  If you are going to explore new areas, you are going to get lost and it takes 20 minutes longer to get home.   "I will just go this way and I can just cut back on the next street over."  Nope, nothing comes back this way for about a mile. 
8.  It's okay to walk.  Nobody is judging you for walking.  And if they are, they are mean and not your problem so walk if you need to. 
9. Don't forget your sunglasses.  Oh it's cloudy, I won't need them. The sun will come out and it will be blinding and annoying.  Unless it's 9PM, bring your sunglasses
10.  Pin your hair back securely. Nothing is a frustrating as sucking in your hair or  having bangs in your eyes the whole time.
11.  Wear sunblock unless it's 9 PM.  You don't want wrinkles or sunburns!
12.  If you eat crap, you will feel like crap. 
13.  Running wherever you want is so liberating.  Do it more often!


*disclaimer: these are not expert recommendations, only my own lessons I've learned the hard/annoying way.

You got any of your own suggests for me?

Make the Most of it

Yesterday, I was at my friend Brittany's house.  We were just visiting and refereeing our kids when she talked about her camping trip she was going on with her family to the sand dunes that evening.  I looked at her and said "That is bad timing.  It's supposed to rain."  She grimaced and then said "well, at least it won't be dusty."  To which I replied "just muddy." 
Then she said something that surprised me (though, knowing her, it shouldn't have), she said "Well, we'll make the most of it."  I'm sure she did and I'm sure she had lots of fun.  She gives everything she has in every situation and then rolls with it.
I keep thinking about that little, common phrase.  It was like a revelation to me.  "We'll make the most of it."  Just because something doesn't go completely as planned, we can still adjust and have a good time.  It's all about attitude.  I never thought of my self as someone with a bad attitude but I think when I get disappointed about something I had high hopes for, I take it badly. 
Like last night, I had tickets from work to see Star Trek: Into Darkness and we got a babysitter and everything so Eric and I could have a real date.  I took a nap before hand so I wouldn't be tired and when I woke up, the movie had started 10 minutes ago.  I ran into the office yelling at Eric that we were late and "why didn't you wake me up???"  Turns out, Mabel had switched his time on his computer so he was on Pacific instead of Mountain and he had no idea.
The whole way to the movie I was irrational and angry.  Eric took my hand and asked if we wanted to do or see something else so we would still have a good date night.  I took my hand away and seethed.  I wanted to see that movie and I would!  We missed a lot of it but we were still able to understand most (GREAT MOVIE!) and ended up having a good time because my husband was so great.  We did work it out after the movie was over and I apologized. 
I share my nasty flaw only to illustrate my point. After we worked it out, Brit's words came back to me.  "We'll make the most of it."   I completely missed an opportunity to laugh about it and enjoy the time with my husband regardless.   Dates are not something we get to do a lot and I ruined a lot of it for both of us.

I really hope I can learn from the simple phrase and take it to heart in all of my endeavors and relationships.  I want to make the most of my job, marriage, motherhood, vacations, evenings, days when I don't get enough sleep, I don't have as much time to plan as I was hoping, or things don't go as planned.  Life happens and things change.  If we can't adapt and have a good time regardless, we are going to miss too much. 

To the future!

At Neptune Park in SS. Giant rope jungle gym!

 

The picture has nothing to do with this post but isn't she so cute??  This morning Mabel woke up at 4 AM.  This is a problem.   Eric was still awake at 4 AM and I was getting up for work so she thought it must be time to get up!  Eric then fell asleep and I left the house.  Before I left I got Mabel some milk and turned on Kung Fu Panda with a blanket.  Hopefully she went back to sleep. 

I'm getting so tired of our work schedules being exactly opposite from each other but I am grateful that Mabel doesn't have to go to day care.  Sometimes I wonder if it would be better if she was at day care for a few hours in the morning so Eric could get some sleep and Mabel could have more attention in the mornings.  I just don't know if i want to pay for it and I've worked at a day care so I know what goes on... 

Eric and I have been brainstorming ways that I could be stay-at-home.  It usually just comes home to paying off debt or Eric finding a job that pays more.  We are so hesitant to have Eric leave Datawise though because they treat us so well!  Eric is worried that he might not be able to progress much more and it might be smarter to get a job with a company where there is more room to move up.  He is so great at his job so we are leaning more towards me moving up and making more to pay off debt faster. 

I'm now a back up receptionist so I'm hoping I can become a full time receptionist or what I really want to do is become an Admistrative Assitant (big wig assistant or department assistant).  I've found out I'm really good at it and I enjoy it.  I know it's strange to asspire to be a receptionist in the world of careers but I think it would be perfect for me and it is not as easy as you would think! 

I'm also hoping to finish my bachlor's degree with BYU.  They have on online program for people like me to finish their bachlor's in generals online so I could do it at home.  I would just have to pass statstics.  I've failed that class TWICE so I'm scared.  But, I can be reimbursed tution from Wellpoint now that they have bought 1800CONTACTS. 

Last night Eric gave our FHE lesson and we read about the brother of Jared.  They (the Jaredites) sat on the beach for 4 years before he prayed to find out what to do.  Then God chastised him for 3 hours for not praying to him sooner to find out what they should do next before telling him to constuct the boats.  That would be pretty humbling!  So we are going to learn from the brother of Jared and pray our guts out so we can figure out how to proceed.  That is something we haven't been as good with in our marriage that we want to change. 

Side note: Eric loves learning about the brother of Jared because he is the brother of A Jared and he is also "a large and mighty man."  I think it's pretty cute. :)

So we will keep on keeping on and "cry unto the lord" for future direction!