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.