Saturday, December 31, 2011

Twelve weeks...


I officially  have TWELVE weeks to get this body back (only I want it even better!).  
Time to get serious.  I want to WIN!

Friday, December 30, 2011

Things I love

We all have things we love, things we use everyday, things that we would be miserable without right?  Here are a few of my favorite things.

Arbonne skin care

I swear this is the ONLY stuff that has every done any good for my skin.  I have tried everything you can think of and I always come back to my Arbonne.  Even though its pricey, its worth every penny.  Keeps me clear, and my skin looking and feeling fresh and young!  I love this anti-aging line!


Victoria Secret Lip gloss

I swear I have about 6 tubes of this stuff in different colors.  I am obsessed.



Victoria Secrets Boyfriend style sweat pants

My favorite pair of sweats, wish I had one in every color.



T-Shirts

I am a total T-Shirt and jeans kind of girl (or a T-Shirt and sweat pants kind of girl)  I would rather be in my comfy clothes than dressed up any day!  I love my Victoria Secret T's!  I have quite a few of them and they are perfect with yoga pants, jeans or sweats!


I think I see a trend, ha ha!  I am slightly obsessed with Victoria Secret!

What are some of your favorite things?

I am looking for a new perfume, what are some good ones I must try?  
I don't like anything too fruity, I prefer a more woodsy scent!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

And then there were three...

A continuation of In the beginning...

So there we were, in El Paso, Texas... far away from everything we had ever known.  Alone.  Well we had each other.  On the weekends anyway.  My husband was still in training so he could only come home for the weekend but had to live in base quarters during the week.

It was mid August.  I was about 7 months along when I arrived in Texas (go ahead do the math... yes we did things a little backwards!).  My mother in law and I flew out and my father in law and two sister in laws drove the U-Haul and we all met there.  We arrived just in time to pick up BJay for the weekend :)  I remember being a ball of NERVES.  I mean last time he had seen me I was still skinny.  I wasn't even showing yet when he left, I was so nervous to see him.  I remember telling my father in law that it was okay if he got a little lost.. and to take his sweet time.  LOL.  The funniest thing was when I did see him, he had gained more weight than me!  I almost didn't recognize him.  He I think had gained about 18 pounds.... I had only gained about 8 at that point!  So funny.  He looked great, better than ever and it was right then and there that I remember feeling like that was where I was supposed to be.

We spent the weekend moving into our apartment.  His family left to go home on Sunday and  he left to go back to the base.  I was all alone.  And scared.  No, terrified.  Monday I started having some pretty severe back pain.  It started early in the day while I was at the grocery store.  By evening I couldn't even hardly breathe.  I took bath after bath after bath to try and get comfortable.  I finally called my mother in law and she said that I needed to go to the hospital.  I didn't even know where I was, let alone where a hospital was.  I ended up calling an ambulance.  I started throwing up on the ride to the hospital.  I had a fever, and a really bad kidney infection which put me into pre-mature labor.  I spent an entire week at the hospital.  They put me on meds to stop labor, and wouldn't let me go home until I didn't have a fever for at least 24 hours.  BJay was able to come and spend some time with me.  That is how my very first week being in a new place went.

Great start huh?

Everything worked out fine though.  Peyton was born on October 15, 2000 a healthy beautiful baby boy with a head full of dark hair!  Love at first sight.  We were parents.  Holy crap.  I honestly wish I could say that it was wedded bliss from day one.  It wasn't.  Is it ever?  It was hard.  It's STILL hard.  The ARMY life in my eyes made it even harder.  I really wanted to like it.  I TRIED to like it.  I admire those who can make it a lifestyle and I know a lot of people who really do enjoy it.  Although we met some pretty great people, that I still call friends to this day we were also bombarded with some of the strangest people I have ever met.  In. My. Life.  We got some pretty... ummm.... bizarre requests from other couples.  It was all just a bit much for my naive mind.  When it was time to either re-enlist or get out... I pretty much told my husband that if he chose the first, I was GONE.  Two deployments, and three and half years was ENOUGH for me.  It was just two weeks shy of his release date that I gave birth to the most beautiful baby girl I had ever laid my eyes on.  Pajha was born on October 10, 2003.  A head full of dark hair and a smashed little nose (from being so low for so long, I believe) her little nose eventually straightened out!  Who knew you could experience love at first sight TWICE.

We. Were. Free.  It was scary though.  Here we were with two young children, and no income.  We moved back to Utah for a few months so that BJay could find work.  It seemed like forever but it was only about 4 months later he found a job.  But... we would be moving.... again...

to be continued.....

Friday, December 23, 2011

Short and sweet!

I am so glad that you guys liked my last post.  It was fun to write.  I can't wait to continue on with the story.  I will try to have it up early next week!

This one will be short and sweet.  I just wanted to hop on here and quickly say MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of my friends.  I hope you all enjoy this time with your families and loved ones.  I feel so blessed and thankful for my blog friends!  Your comments are always so much fun to read.  I appreciate that!

Enjoy your weekend.  Today I am dragging my husband to a Christmas luncheon at work.  Because I just started this week I wasn't sure if it was appropriate for me to go or not.  I am really liking it so far and everyone has been really nice and inviting so I thought what the heck, might as well, its an ugly sweater luncheon.  Luckily my friend had just gone to an ugly sweater party so she had sweaters we could use.  Mine is pretty ugly.  Shoulder pads and everything :)  I am excited to see what everyone is wearing!

Be back next week!  Happy Holidays!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

In the beginning....

I don't think I have ever written a post about "us"... how we came to be, where we have been, what we have been through... this will probably be split up into a few posts just so I can cover it all, plus now that I am working I find blogging time is very difficult to find.  As it is this one took me a week to write!  But it just might be fun!  You can get to know me a little more!

A little about "us"...

We met on a blind date.  Its true.  We were so young and to be honest finding a boyfriend was the LAST thing on my mind.   I was only 19 (almost 20) when we met.  My roommate at the time was dating my husbands brother.  They met at a club while I was out of town and when I came back thought it would be fun to set us up. We went to a movie.  I can't recall what movie it was to be honest.  I thought he was HOT, and way out of my league.  I pretty much walked away from that date thinking that would be the last.   It wasn't.  Obviously.  I really didn't feel like I had the time, or desire to invest in a relationship.  I was working full time from 7-4 and going to beauty college from 5-10pm Monday through Friday.  I had been in a serious relationship the year before that left me feeling unsure about guys in general and well... smothered for lack of a better word.    We started hanging out quite a bit.  He would come over with his brother to our apartment and be there when I got home from school a few times a week.  Eventually my roomie and his brother ended their relationship.  I was sure that would be the end of our "hanging" out too.  Obviously it wasn't.  Here is why we worked... I didn't have his number, he didn't have mine.

Sounds crazy right?

It kind of was... but I NEEDED that sort of crazy, that non-smothering out of the ordinary thing.  I spent 3 years with someone who called me a million times a day, had to know where I was every second, bought me flowers weekly (or more often depending on the type of fight we had), left notes on my car, cards after cards after cards after CARDS, all in all he had me on a pedastool.  Sounds pretty great right?  It was... at first, but it got to be too much.  I really wasn't allowed to be myself.  I couldn't spend time with my friends or he would get mad, I couldn't do the things that most high school girls SHOULD be doing.  He actually would call my friends when they paged me (gads, how OLD am I?) and tell them to never call me again.  But he could do whatever he wanted.  And he did.  It took me over a year to get up the courage to really get out of that relationship.  He had a way of making me feel guilty whenever I tried to end things so I would stay.  I don't want to take anything away from that experience though.  I am sure it was a completely different experience for him.  I learned a lot about myself and we went through some things that most people don't have to go through. I will always cherish the lessons I learned for they made me who I am today.

So yes, the fact that he never called me was a total turn on.  I actually remember the first time he ever called me.  We had probably been dating for a few months.  I was at work, and he called to say hi and see how my day was going.  It was SO weird.  But it was sweet, and I really appreciated it, AND I remember it because it meant a lot to me.  I am sure at some point months into our dating we swapped numbers but to be honest I really don't have any other memories of phone conversations.  Just the one.  We started dating in July 1999 and were married on May 4th, 2000.  Short and sweet!  On May 10, 2000 (yes 6 days later) my husband left for basic training.  He had joined the ARMY.  I dropped out of Beauty school (Beauty school drop out....), quit my job and a few months later I was on my way to join him in El Paso, Texas.  I had never left Utah.  Never even wanted to.  I was terrified, pregnant and felt very very alone.  It was a rough first year (more like 10 ha ha ha) of marriage.  It was then that I think I started to develop anxiety issues.  I would have the worst nightmares.  Looking back, moving out of Utah was the best thing we ever did but it sure was scary at the time.....

to be continued....

I am trying to find some pictures from "those" days.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Jello legs and a new car....

This week has been crazy.  My husband has taken all of his vacation time.  Enough said :)

Workouts have been AMAZING.  I was doing Jamie Eason's 12 week trainer and starting at phase one, but as I started thinking about it I thought since I will be starting competition prep in a few weeks anyway I wanted to bump it up a notch and go straight to phase 2.  I know that people may not agree with this but to be honest I just wanted to push myself a little more.  I already have a lot of muscle, I wanted more intensity.  I was bored on the first weeks workouts.  I didn't feel like I was pushing myself.  Now?  HOLY heck is it intense.  I am LOVING it.  I can't walk still... two days after leg day and during my leg workout I almost met the floor a few times due to my legs giving out on me but it felt oh so good!

Good stuff.

My husband got me an early Christmas present yesterday.  We have been talking about trading our Jeep in for a while now.  Yesterday we went to look around and ended up coming home Jeep-less, and with a Chevy Equinox.  Its a beauty!  Fully loaded (Monday they are adding DVD player for the kids and tow package for the husband).  I am feeling pretty darn spoiled.  :)

I have a post that I have been working on all week, it is taking longer than I thought but I hope it will be interesting anyway.  I start work on Monday (training).  Sweet.  I am looking forward to working again!

Be back soon with more!  I will finish that post before the weekend is over.

Happy Friday!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Friends....

First things first.  Thank you all SO very much for your sweet words concerning my last post.  I really appreciate the kind words and the way some of you really got me laughing.  Blog friends are the best.  Truth is, as much as I shouldn't let things like that get to me I do.  I take it as a direct attack on my parenting skills and gosh dang it I think I have two pretty amazing kids so to think that someone has unkind things to say about one of them REALLY hurts me.  Like really really bad.  BUT... it is what it is. Not everyone is going to like me (I am assuming that these comments are more of an attack on me than my little 8 year old) and that is OK.  Don't like me, but DO NOT talk about my kids.  'Nuff said :)  Moving on....

This weekend turned out to be pretty great!  It was super busy but great.  I found out that one of my really good friends that I met in California was doing a road trip and would be in Salt Lake City for one night.  STOKED.  I love my Cali friends (I love ALL my friends).  We met up early Saturday morning at the gym... where else?  That is where I met her in Cali why should Utah be any different?  We had a really great shoulder workout.  I am super sore from it actually.  After that we got ready and went out for breakfast!  It was SO great to see her and catch up on life.



I honestly LOVE my friends so much.  Its funny because growing up I never thought of myself as a "lots of friends" kind of girl.  I always had one best friend and a few others that I would hang out with too but really only ONE close friend.  My how things have changed.  I think as we get older we start to value things more, or maybe we just see things differently.  I guess I never realized how much I needed my friends, or how important their role was in my life until I got married and moved away from the only life I ever knew, I was just inspired for a post... it will come later this week!  Back to my weekend.  After spending time with my friend I came home and grabbed my daughter and we headed to the MIL's house to spend the day baking goodies with my two sister in laws and mother in law for our neighbor treats.  We made A LOT of cookies, rice krispie treats, and truffles, and left with an awesome variety of goodies to give to all of our amazing neighbors.  It was pretty fun.  Wish I had pictures of that.  Shoot!

Once we were home we assembled all our goody plates and as a family went and passed them around.  It was really fun, something that we all enjoyed.  Then... I got to go SHOPPING all alone.  I had this 20% off coupon for Kohl's that was expiring on Sunday and I need new work clothes (more on that soon too I promise) so my hubby sent me away on a shopping spree. Whoop!  Hope you all had a great weekend, and thanks again for being such great blog friends!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Meh...

I haven't really been in a blogging "mood" lately.  I actually have been quite a grump.  Blame it on TOM or the fact that I am constantly freezing to death which in itself makes me not a fun one to be around.  What can I say?  I need to be warm.  At all times.

This week has been pretty busy.  I started the 12 week Trainer this week (supposed to start last week but due to the unpredictable weather and no power it didn't happen).  So far, so good.  I am liking the weight training.  I have missed it.  I am however still doing a couple cardio sessions (Bodycombat) because I love it and it keeps me sane.  Sometimes you just need to go kick the airs butt.

Yesterday I was asked to join my daughters class on a field trip to see the Nutcracker.  I jumped at the chance because I knew it would be the only way I would ever get to see it.  It was.... interesting to say the least.  As I walked into the classroom I was immediately approached by one of the students who went on to tell me all the "lovely" things her mom says about my daughter.  I was shocked that someone who really doesn't know us at all would say such horrible UGLY things about an 8 year old little girl.  I tried to brush it off but I have to admit it is still eating at me.  In fact I cried off and on all day just thinking about it.  I know I shouldn't let what other people say get to me but it does. Especially because it isn't true, and because I would never put thoughts like that in my child's mind about one of her friends.  So after that... I tried to get back into the spirit of the Nutcracker.  I have to admit... it was rough!  What was even more rough was trying to keep a mature straight face while all around me I could hear the little kids giggling about the fact that the two lead men were in WHITE tights that literally left NOTHING to the imagination.

So... I am feeling pretty meh this week... been better... been worse.  Feeling a little down in the dumps but I am sure that has more to do with TOM than anything else.  Next week will be better.

OH... way good news though... I found a part time job.  I am actually REALLY excited about it.  I think that I will be really happy there, it has a great vibe to it!  More on that later!

Hope you all are having a great week.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Windy....

What a crazy couple of days it has been!

On the radio Wednesday they kept saying that there was a storm coming, 70 mph winds to be expected that evening and into Thursday morning.  I had NO idea what that would bring to this area, or our home for that matter.  My husband and I both were up listening to the craziness that was going on outside that night.  Finally at 6 am we just decided to get up.  This is what we found.




Our awning covering our back porch... GONE... ripped apart... destroyed.  Since it was garbage day everyone put out their cans... well... they were no longer where they were supposed to be.  Cans were everywhere.  Trash was everywhere.  We were the lucky ones though.  As the winds kept howling we turned on the news to hear about all the devastation that was occurring all around us.  I obviously didn't have a clue what the neighborhood experienced at this point.  Semi trucks had been knocked over, winds reaching up to 102 mph.  Power was out in several cities, mine included.  We lost power at 8 am, and didn't get it again until around 5 am the following morning.  School was cancelled so I decided to get the kids out of the house.  I knew it was going to be getting colder and there really was only so much you could do without power and my house was as clean as it could get ;)  I called my mom who lives about 30 minutes away to see how her house held up.  She said "Storm?  What storm?  It is beautiful here!"  Done.  We were out the door in 5 minutes to hang out at my mom's house.  She was right.  No wind, and sunshine.  So crazy.  On the way to her house we drove around the neighborhood to see what damage had been done.  I honestly couldn't believe my eyes.  This is a couple of examples of the damage.  We lost about 25 trees in our area alone.  THANK GOODNESS no injuries or deaths have been reported.  What a blessing.


Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Sick Turkeys

What is worse than a sick husband?

Tell me... I bet you can't think of anything can you?  CAN YOU?  I sure can't.

I love my husband more than anything but man alive when he gets sick it wipes me out!

I did my whining on the blog about how sick my daughter and I got a couple of weeks ago with the nasty stomach flu.  I am not sure if I followed it up with the horrible sore throats, congestion, aching body that the kids and I got a few days after the flu.  I am pretty sure that I did mention that my darling husband happened to be out of town while all of this was going on.  Caught up?  Well... the husband came home from his business trip... and despite all of my praying, pleading, and begging... he got the sore throat, stuffy/runny nose, aching body, that we had already had.  UGH!  Those of you who don't have a husband... know this... when they get sick they are worse than the kids.  Those of you who do have a husband PLEASE tell me you know what I am talking about.  He is the biggest baby (again love you) EVER.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  Ours was really good.  That morning I went to BodyCombat at the gym, they had a special 90 minute class.  We spent Thanksgiving day at my sisters house with half of my family.  The other half spent it at my mom's.  It wasn't supposed to be that way.  My mom just had knee surgery a couple of weeks prior so no one wanted her to have to cook, or entertain people for that matter. Well... apparently that isn't what happened.  My mom ended up having to cook and entertain anyways.  Not too happy about that but what can ya do?  We had a great time anyway, ate yummy food, had some delicious pies (my contributions were a Sour cream lemon pie, and Pumpkin Cheesecake), and played Just Dance 3 on the Wii with the kids.  Lots of laughs and fun times, as it always is when I am with my family.

Sunday we had Thanksgiving with my husbands side of the family.  More great food, and games to follow.  I feel like I did pretty good about my eating over the holiday.  I don't feel that I over indulged or went off the deep end at all.  Back to the gym Monday morning for two BodyCombat classes, and weights!  Heck ya!  Had to burn some extra calories ;)

I wish we had made our own Turkey so that we had a bunch leftover for sandwiches and stuff.  Next year for sure!

This week I started Jamie Eason's 12 week trainer.  I am not following it to a "T".... the diet I have is a little different so I am sticking with that for now and I am not cutting out my cardio completely the first four weeks because really I don't want to add muscle mass.  I will start prep for competitions right after Christmas so I don't want to burn out.  I will re-evaluate at that point and see what I need to do for comp prep and might start the whole trainer over again.  Who knows.  It feels good to be back in the weight room though.  I have not done weights in a long time (months).  I am SO SO SORE!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Two, zero, one, two...

Twenty Twelve.
Two thousand twelve.
However you want to word it, I have a feeling it will be a great year for me.
I can feel it in my bones ;)

Friday my husband and I spent the entire morning doing yard work together.  We raked up at least 10 bags of leaves, and drove them all to the landfill.  We spent our entire morning and into the afternoon in the car together which is sometimes where I feel we have our best chats.  That and in bed at night.  We got to talking about me and furthering my education, also about working and what my plans are for competing.  I thought that I would share those plans with you.

It was recently announced that Utah would hold 4 NPC competitions in 2012.  That is SUPER exciting to me.  The NPC card is so expensive and only good for one year so having the opportunity to compete more justifies the $100 for the card.  In California I was fortunate to pretty much be able to pick a month, any month and no doubt there would be a show.  So far there will be a show in March, June, October and the fourth has not been decided announced.

That brings me to my 2012 goals.  I want to compete in March and June here in Utah, get some more stage practice in and go to USA's in Vegas in July.  I want to see how I do in Bikini.  I learned when I went to USA's for Figure that I was way too small and would have to put on some more size, so I am hoping that with Bikini I can do a little better!  The girls at Nationals usually  have a bit more muscle than at the local shows (bonus for me), so we will see what happens.  I am hoping I can take one of these local events first.  I want it all baby!  ha ha ha!  I am going to spend the next couple of months focusing posing, practicing, coming up with my own "signature" routine, getting comfortable with the bikini poses so that I can just rock the heck out of the stage.  I am really excited.  Looking forward to 2012.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

THANKFUL

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

I am thankful for SO many things, not just today but everyday.  I am blessed with an amazing husband, two incredible children, a beautiful home to call our own, friends... oh my friends are just the most amazing friends in the entire world, the most wonderful family, I am just the luckiest lady alive!

I hope you all enjoy your day with loved ones.

This is one of the FEW Thanksgiving's we have spent with our immediate family because we have been away for so long, I am looking forward to spending the day at my sisters house with my family.  We will celebrate Thanksgiving with the in laws on Sunday.  What a great week.

Now I better get this bootay to the gym, they are having a "special" Body combat class for NINETY minutes that I would be crazy to miss.  Have to burn some extra calories so I can eat more food :)

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Photo Shoot....

Here are some of the pictures that were taken backstage at the NGA competition.  I have never done anything like this before, it was so fun!







My favorite photo was missing from the CD :(  I ended up ordering all of them anyway so when I get the rest of them I might post more!  This came at a great time, its my reminder of what I need to start working towards AGAIN ;)  MY little jump start (after Thanksgiving of course ha ha ha).

Friday, November 18, 2011

Lists....

Have you made you Christmas lists?

Here are a few things that I would not be disappointed if they made their way under my tree....

Kitchenaid stand mixer.  I want one.  So bad.

I would also be thrilled with a bread machine.  I am not picky on the brand ;)

Gift cards are always great!


We could really use some new pans too!

Funny how most of my list is cooking/kitchen related.  I feel like now that I eat "cleaner" I spend a lot more time in my kitchen.  Prepping food, baking rather than buying goodies, etc... 

I told my husband that getting me a new mixer is WAY different than the sham-wow he got me (HIM) a couple of years ago.  I won't be mad this time because it is something I actually want.  Ha ha ha!

What is the worst gift you have ever received?  The best? 

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

What the heck have I been doing?

I haven't talked a lot (or at all) about fitness... or what I have been up to for a while.  Mostly just because its pretty boring.  Same old thing.  Since I am not prepping for a show I feel like what I do at the gym is just not worthy.  That is silly, of course it is.  I am still working hard, and TRYING to watch what I eat.  I still have goals, and a passion for what I do so here is a little update.

I am still trying to force my way back into the weight room.  I pretty much gave up lifting a few weeks before my comp because I didn't want to come in too "muscular" and it has been really hard to make myself start them up again, even though I love lifting and prefer it over cardio any day.  I have been trying to maintain my 4-5 (sometimes 6) days a week workout schedule and for the most part I have nailed it.  Last week I missed a couple of days because we were sick and Monday my son called me just as I was walking in to the gym to come pick him up from school (thirty minutes after dropping him off) so I didn't get my workout in.  Tuesday I tried to talk myself out of going.  I had a list of all the other things I should do, but I told myself to shut the crap up and went anyway.  I did HIIT for about 20 minutes and the eliptical for another 20.  No weights.  Wasn't in the mood dude.  Today I went to Bodycombat. Tomorrow and Saturday I will go to Combat and Friday I will do HIIT of some sort.

As far as my nutrition is concerned I have started a new meal plan.  I met Todd a few years ago when I was first thinking of competing.  He was the first person to tell me that if I wanted to compete I would have to gain about 15 lbs.  I wanted to kick him where it counts.  I refrained.  I trained with him for a few months and then we moved to California.  We kept in touch, he kept up with my competing and since we are now living in Utah again I have been able to see him on his own journey to compete!  We both competed in the NGA show in September.  I have been able to talk with him a lot about nutrition. I have talked with him about how frustrating it is that even though I seem to eat pretty clean most of the time my body holds on to everything and I can't seem to get to where I want to be, where I used to be.  Before competing.  He created a meal plan, that is designed just for me to help get my hormones under control.  He believes that a hormonal imbalance could be to blame for my frustrations with my weight.  I couldn't agree more.  He is really incredible and I would recommend him to anyone.  Guy knows his stuff!  Plus, he is super funny and easy to talk to.  Click here for more information!

Along with my new meal plan, I am also thinking of doing Jamie Eason's 12 week trainer.  I have seen and heard nothing but great stuff about it.  Friends of mine have had SHOCKING results.  My only worry is that I really can't afford to put on much more muscle for Bikini.  I think I will do it, and see what happens and afterwards I can figure out what I need to do for comp prep which will begin in late December.  Whoop!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Not quite like I planned...

Story of my life.

First TOM has to show up, throwing me all out of whack and then this.....

I went to bed Thursday night with a plan for Friday.  Gym, cleaning, a little baking, babysitting and woke up Friday morning to another story.  Around 5 am my stomach was in knots.  I felt a little "off" but I managed to sleep a little longer.  At 7 my daughter was complaining that her stomach was hurting too.  She started the puking a few minutes later and didn't stop until Friday evening.  I on the other hand never puked, just felt like I was on the verge of doing so.  I even ran to the toilet multiple times ready to do so.  Every time I stood up, the room spun.  I was weak and dizzy and my stomach was a mess.  We both wound up in my bed, ALL DAY LONG.  I kid you not I slept off and on the entire day and so did Pajha.  I think I spent a total of 2 hours out of my bed.  That was little bits here and there throughout the day.  Pajha was sound asleep for the night at 8 and I was shortly after that. 

I am SO thankful for Peyton.  When I need him to be my big helper HE IS!  He is pretty independent anyway, but Friday he was AMAZING.  He made himself all three meals and never complained to me that he was bored or needed me.  He checked in on Pajha and I throughout the day to see if we were okay and needed anything.  He cleaned up after himself, and just let us sleep.  I feel really guilty that he was basically alone all day (my husband OF COURSE is out of town) and I apologized to him over and over and he would just say "its okay mom, I know you don't feel good".  What a kid!

So, after literally spending 24 hours IN BED and mostly sleeping the entire time we were in said bed I woke up at 3 am on Saturday morning and STILL felt a little queezy so I was nervous that Saturday was going to be another "sick day".  Thank GOODNESS Pajha and I woke up around 8 am feeling SO much better.  We got up, showered, finally ate some breakfast (our meals Friday consisted of a piece or two of bread, and a few sips of water) and we were on our way to my sisters house for a day of crafting.  Little did I know that it would literally take an entire day.  This is what I have been trying to tell my crafty sisters.  I just don't have it.  I mean, yes... I left with some DANG cute stuff, I didn't finish all of my projects and I was there until MIDNIGHT so I ended up having to leave one (the cutest one by far just wait until you see it) behind for my sister to finish for me.  Shoot.  ha ha ha  Here is what I did finish (with a little help!)


My Thanksgiving blocks... the coolest part about these is I turn them over, rearrange a little and get this....


 Love these so much.  


My little block Christmas Tree... I can make the blocks messy or straight, so fun!


My little snowman family... how cute are these?  Yes... the Daddy and the child are still missing arms... I am waiting for some twigs to dry since it snowed last night and I could only find enough dry twigs to finish the mom :)


I just love them.  I think they turned out really cute!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Good, bad... and ugly!

I am not really sure what I want to write about (which explains the lack of posts the last few days).  I have a lot on my mind, but not a lot that I really feel like writing about.  Make sense?

This week has been good, bad and ugly.

The Good:
I had a date with my husband.  FINALLY.  Funny thing living here in Utah we really expected to be able to date each other for the first time really in our entire marriage.  I mean, we have never lived close to family AKA babysitters.  I thought for sure that coming here weekly date nights would be easy.  NOT. THE. CASE.  Finding a babysitter is just as hard.  Everyone is so busy, its nearly impossible.  So when we do sucker someone in to watching the kids we take it!  Last night we went to the Puscifer concert.  My husband is a HUGE fan of Maynard.  I actually enjoyed the concert.  It was not as wild as I was expecting it to be.  In fact, it was very calm, and I loved the opening band.

The Bad:
Mentally, I don't feel great.  I will just leave it at that.  I started a new meal plan this week though so I am hoping that I can get this body back in the shape I want it in.  Those shapes do not include... circle, square or triangle.

The Ugly:
My TOM decided to show its ugly face for the first time in MONTHS.  It has not been pretty.  At. All.  I have been so bloated, so emotional, and honestly I wish it would go away and never come back again.  I know, probably TMI but that is my week folks.

I am looking forward to this weekend.  I have my hands full of kids literally all week, babysitting almost every day for someone in the family (ahem... your next suckers). Saturday I am looking forward to getting my craft on with my sisters.  All day long.  Much needed fun time.  I will post about our crafts later this weekend.  I am anxious to get some Christmas stuff made for my house.

Now if you will excuse me... I have decided that today I am going to go tanning.  I hardly ever go and when I do I cover my face with a towel but something about this 30 degree weather has my dying to go lay in a warm bed...............

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Bath-tism

We have had such a fabulous weekend.  My daughter was Baptized on Saturday.  All week she has been saying "I can't wait until my Bath-tism!"  Ha ha ha.. she is crazy!  Those in my family who did come all went to my in laws house for dinner afterwards.  We had Chili, Broccoli & Cheese soup, cookies, I made these, bread sticks, rolls, jello salad... it was YUMMY!  My Chili (well my good friend Michelle's recipe) was a big hit.  So big in fact that there was none left and my husband made me make it again today for dinner!

Michelle's Best Darn Chili ever....

1 lb extra lean ground Turkey
1 lb lean spicy ground turkey sausage (I squeezed it out of the casing)
1 can Chili beans, undrained
1 can Kidney beans, undrained
1 can black beans, drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1 package Chili seasoning
Optional:
Medium onion, diced
Jalepeno, diced

I omitted the optional items this time around.  Not everyone likes that extra kick like me :)  Throw it all in the crock pot and cook on low for 4-6 hours.  Devour.  Its that good.

We got hit with our first snow fall over the weekend too.  I have to admit, waking up to a white world is a beautiful thing.  Walking out into it... not so much.  It is COLD.  Its going to be a really long winter for us.  Its been way too long since we have had to deal with an ENTIRE winter.  Not. Looking. Forward. To. It.

In other news, I had a job interview on Friday, and I have another tomorrow.  I am excited about both of them, they each have their pro's and con's like anything else but I am really really hoping that I get the one tomorrow.  I will tell you more about it when I know more!


Pajha in her new dress!


Getting ready to head to the church


Pajha and Daddy!


Our little princess!


Look at his face.  Seriously.  My husband is a nut!


So proud of her.  She is such a beautiful little girl inside and out. 

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

The Greats!

Sooooo... Halloween is FINALLY over.  Boy am I glad although now we have TWO huge bowls full of candy that the kids got from trick or treating.  It hasn't been easy to stay out of it.  In fact it has been down right hard.  I finally put the bowls up in a cupboard out of sight.  

Last week (besides all the Halloween stuff) we had a really great week.  Remember them?  Aren't they the CUTEST?  As my son says "They are such a cute happy little couple!" HA ha!


I was SO jealous that my husband got to visit with them a few weeks ago in Cali.  Well... turns out they missed me SO much that they drove all the way down here just to see me ;)  Okay... not really... but they did come for a visit.  We had a great time with them.  They are extending their stay a bit so that they can be here for my daughters Baptism on Saturday, Whoop!  


Great Grandpa and the kids!


HEY... matching jackets... too funny!


They took us bowling!  


When else do you get to throw a ball inside?


And wear THE COOLEST shoes?


My happy girl!


The Greats and the kids!  Love them so much!

Monday, October 31, 2011

This is Halloween...

I don't remember Halloween lasting so long when I was a kid.  It was ONE day.  Parade at school, trick or treating.  Done.  My how things have changed.


His actual costume is Ghost Face from Scream however at a couple of our events this week masks weren't allowed so we improvised and painted his face.  I think it turned out pretty cool!


My creepy little man!


Here is my little Vampire.....


Although after being in her costume the majority of last week we thought she resembled Elvira, minus the insane amounts of cleavage!


"Boo" at the Zoo was a blast.  Trick or treating all while checking out some pretty sweet animals with your cousins?  The. Best.


Peyton refused to look at the camera because he didn't have his mask on.  Silly boy!



Trying to get a picture of 4 kids all looking at the camera when there is so much going on around you... nearly impossible.  


Better.


When Pajha got sick of the wig (which by the way went from looking awesome to looking like a matted ball of black fake hair) she let Daddy wear it.  Sexy.


And what would Halloween be without Spiderman?  Now that Peyton is finally "over it" its fun to see my sweet little nephew Zayne taking over that role!

So here is how our week went down.  I have more stuff to share but that will be for another post.  Gotta spread them out.  Wednesday we had our Primary Halloween Carnival.  The kids got all dressed up, played games and came home with quite a bit of candy.  Friday was the Halloween Parade at the school, and later that evening we went over to the local market, they were having a trunk or treat outside, and activities inside for the kids.  Again, we came home with way too much candy.  Saturday we went to the Zoo with some of my sisters.  The kids had a blast.  Trick or treating once again we came home with WAY too much candy.  Do you see a pattern here?  And tonight of course being that it is actually Halloween we will yet again go trick or treating and likely come home with more candy than I even want in my house.  UGH!  

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Yo-yo... Fro-yo... Nuts?

Today was a really fun, MUCH needed day.  I got up early and hit the gym.  Mostly just to get it out of the way so that I wouldn't feel bad for not making it.  It wasn't because I wanted to.  It was one of those mornings.  I did a short cardio circuit and then I did a back/bicep circuit.  Took me about an hour total.  Done.  I came home, had some breakfast (an egg sandwich) and got my stinky self showered.  I met up with a few girls that I met competing for lunch.  We went to Cafe Rio (I had salad, no tortilla, no rice, no guac, no tortilla strips just lettuce, chicken, black beans, and pico).  Super good.  What was better though was the company.

You see I have a confession to make.  Remember that post about not really having those post show blues?  How I was feeling pretty dang good?  Yeah.  I lied.  I didn't mean to though.  I am not one to lie.  It just hit me this week. Totally out of nowhere.  It sucks though.  I am feeling really "down" like a yo-yo.  One minute happy the next I want to cry.  It is SO hard to go from the stage body... to this body... just try to imagine ;)  Anyway, I am working through it and trying to stay positive.  I know what I need to change (STOP EATING).  I can do this.

Back to lunch.  These women are AMAZING.  I feel like through competing I have just met some of the most amazing people in the world.  I feel so blessed.  Its great to have that support.  Someone to talk to that knows what you are going through, what you are feeling inside because lets face it, competitors are crazy... coo coo... totally freaking nuts.  We are!  You know it, I know it.  Its just nice to know we aren't completely alone in our madness.  I could sit and vent to my husband, my non competitor friends or my family for days but they really can't understand.  They can't put themselves in my shoes.  We need that support.

I had some frozen yogurt for a snack (it was a dang good snack too) and dinner was a chicken salad with Light Greek dressing.  I also had some carbmaster yogurt and a few other nibbles on things throughout my day.  Its time to get my meal plan into action.  Time for some consistency again.  Time for a plan!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Ingredient overload...

Does anyone (but me) get really discouraged by a recipe that has like a billion ingredients.  It overwhelms me.  I like the recipes that are simple, few ingredients, and it helps if I have HEARD of the ingredients.   I can't even tell you how many times I find something that I will just die if I don't make... until I see the ingredients list and then all motivation is gone.  Poof!  Anyone else have this problem?

Peyton had a friend sleep over last night, so Pajha and I had a mommy/daughter movie night.  We picked a movie off of Netflix, popped some popcorn and sat down to watch it and I kid you not within ten minutes I was out like a light.  Slept through the whole thing.  This is PROOF for my husband that I don't only fall asleep to his shows.  ;)  For the past few weeks every time I sit down to watch TV with my hubby I pass out.  He likes to say that I only stay awake if it is something I pick.  Not true.  I just fall asleep every time I sit down.  The trick for me is to keep moving, keep busy.

I am really looking forward to tomorrow.  Back on our routine.  I love having the kids off school, getting to sleep in and all that jazz but honestly I really just love my routine.  Getting up early, out the door early, gym done with early.  I love it.  I need it.  I sat down with my friend over the weekend and we came up with a plan.  A gym/meal plan with a couple of small goals to work towards.  I need to get back on track and so far... it isn't going so well.  I am looking forward to starting with a clean slate tomorrow.  I hope you all had a great weekend.  I am hitting the sack early tonight.  Sleepy!

Friday, October 21, 2011

Pumpkin!

Since we spent the day at my sisters house yesterday we brought her son back home with us, he is just 6 weeks younger than Pajha.  They were dying to have a sleepover so I figured why not?  They had a blast and were up wayyyyy too late for their own good.  I was woken up this morning to my sweet nephew flicking my ear.  Ha.  Little stinker.  My sister planned to come out and pick him up so we made it a craft day.  She brought the crafts and her two daughters and the four of us crafted.  We made these adorable pumpkins.  My very first fall decor in my house.  Go me!


My sister (left) and my nieces getting their craft on


Our cute pumpkins, mine is on the far right!


My silly nieces hiding in the pumpkin patch!


The cutest little pumpkin around.  My Great niece Chloie!


My pumpkin's new home, maybe I should craft more often!

What a great day.  Now if I could get rid of this headache I have had for oh... a week straight everything would be perfect, ugh!  Happy Friday!