New Blog is up and running.... sort of

I am a little heavy hearted leaving this blog.  It's been a part of my life for so long.  I have so much on here that I want to take with me :)

After working for a week trying to build a website that I purchased and failing, calling customer service, realizing that what I purchased was not going to do what I wanted it to do, they recommended I use wordpress.  So.....

drum roll please....

Introducing my new blog

BikiniBodMama

I am still working on it, it is still in a very very basic stage so please don't judge me on its first appearance.  It needs some work.  I literally picked a template, posted a blog, and told you about it.  I just wanted to get it up so that I could end the stuff that was going on over here and apologize if anyone has been redirected to some sites that they weren't wanting to go to!  I don't know what is happening!

Moving on.....

I wanted to post a quick update.  I have not been forgetting about my blog.  In fact quite the opposite.  I have actually been working on a new one.  I am leaving blogger, I have been getting SO MUCH SPAM lately that I have decided it was time to buy my own site so I have been busy trying to get it up and running.  I promise that I have a TON to say about my busy month of compeitions and I am working hard to get it up and running and hopefully by tonight I can at least have it up ;)

I will keep you posted....

Hopefully I haven't lost you all!

ALLMAX Video

So fun, I just found this from the ALLMAX Sponsorship Contest I did at the Arnold, thought I'd share. I will be posting about my California competition soon, promise. I am just waiting for my feedback from the judges!

Arnold Classic

WHERE HAVE I BEEN?  Well let me just tell you how crazy that last week has turned out to be.  So just to back it up a week or two.. I found out about a sponsorship that ALLMAX was doing on facebook a few weeks ago.  I knew the deadline was Feb 24th and I knew that I needed to email my bio and a few photos in by then so I had plenty of time.  Well... on Feb 21 I remembered and realized that I was running out of time, so I quickly wrote up my bio and attached a few of my favorite photos and sent it off.  The next day I got an email from them saying something along the lines of "if you are picked can you be in Ohio on March 1st to compete for the sponsorship".  Say what?  So after a few phone calls just to make sure that if there is that one in a million chance I am chosen I am in fact able to be in Ohio that day.  No sweat because I will not be chosen.  I went on with my weekend as usual.  Didn't really mention this to anyone because honestly what are the odds of me getting picked.

Monday came and almost went.  I didn't get an email.  Or did I?  I checked for the millionth time.  Nope.  Then I checked my spam folder.  There it was....

Congratulations! You have been selected as one of 10 finalists in the ALLMAX Bikini Challenge set to take place this Friday, March 1^st,  at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, OH.

Incredible.  I couldn't believe it.  What an absolute honor.  The official announcement for ALLMAX can be found on their website here.  So last week was spent booking flights, hotels and prepping for a competition that I wasn't planning for but what a great experience it was.  AND to top it off I got to go to the Arnold Festival.  Never imagined that would ever be something I would get to attend.  I have had so much fun.  Tonight is my last night here in Ohio, I head home tomorrow morning.  I am anxious to get back home to my kids and my last week of prep before my competition in California next weekend but this experience has been amazing.  Arnold himself actually walked right past us (well him and about 30 of his very own bodyguards) and a billion photographers.  We also saw Matt Hughs, and my husband met and got his picture taken with Jamal Lewis (he was very excited).  I met a blogger that I love Kari Keenan from  Figure Girl World which was so fun, she is gorgeous!

Okay so now on to the Contest itself.  It was fun, I didn't win :(  Bummer.  I did however make the top 4.  They didn't actually place us.  They just called out the top 4, did a final comparison round and then picked their final winner from that round.  It was just an honor to have been picked to be here to begin with.  The girl who won was Meaghan Terzis (the beautiful blonde).  Congrats to her, she was stunning!  Anyway, here are some photos from the day (some of them are blurry), and I guess my 1 week out progress to Cali where I plan to KILL it :)

Back to the grind I go.  One week out and ready to rock it in Cali next week.  I cannot wait to hit the stage, and be warm.  Ohio is even colder than SLC.  Brrrrr.... 

Four planes

I don't talk about my kids a ton on here.  Even though they are pretty dang awesome!  I think I am pretty blessed if I do say so myself (and I do!).  There is a story that I just have to share, mainly because it was HILARIOUS.  So a little background first.  My kids are polar opposites.  My son (the oldest) is 12.  He is reserved, routined (I see that isn't a word, its giving me the squiggly red line but its a word in my mind so I am leaving it), stubborn (dare I say), matter of fact, a bit quiet, neat and tidy, and very VERY literal.  My daughter on the other hand, who is 9 is extremely (EXTREMELY) outgoing, which for this reserved mama can be a bit uncomfortable at times ;),  bubbly, a bit (ahem) untidy, she is your fly by the seat of her pants kind of girl, very spontaneous, though she has a temper if you tick her off (TRUST me), she is very easy going and pleasant, happy and eager to please.

See what I mean?  POLAR opposites.  They couldn't be more different if they tried. But they are great friends, and they truly get along well.  Opposites attract?

Anyway, back to my story.  Its about my son.  I was at parent/teacher conferences a few weeks ago and his teacher and I were talking about how literal he can be.  He and Pajha were sitting there listening to us visit.  His teacher just adores him.  She reminds me of Pajha actually. which is maybe why they are so great together.  Anyway, she got side tracked and said to me "Oh my gosh... I had no idea you guys used to live in Cyprus... that is amazing!  How did you guys get there!?!"

Peyton looks at her... and says in his matter of fact voice "well... we took like FOUR planes.  It was EXHAUSTING!"

We both just kind of sat there for a few seconds looking at him, waiting to see if he was joking.  Nope.  No joking going on there.  He was dead serious.  We both just started laughing.  He looked at us confused, and said "what?!?  We did... it took forever!" that did it.  We were DYING.

I still giggle every time I think about it.  However my sweet literal 12 year old taught me a valuable lesson that day.

When I wonder how I got here.  This moment.  Whatever moment it may be in life.  I took four planes. :)  Love my kids!

Thank you!

First off, thank you all SO much for the support.  You have NO idea how much it means to me to know that I have support in the blog world :)  I love hearing from you guys!  Thanks so much!!!

Its crunch time.  THREE weeks out.  I am so excited.  As always at this point I start getting nervous.  I start doubting myself just a bit.  The "what if's" start nagging at me.  Truth is, all I can do is my best.  I know that I have lost a bit of muscle, which may or may not be a good thing.  I'm just not sure anymore.  I think with this sport you just never really know what the judges want and it differs from state to state... actually it differs from show to show.  I have been looking at recent results and I am feeling a bit anxious about how I am coming in.  Gah!  Not much I can do at this point unfortunately.

I will do some progress pics next weekend at two weeks out.

Here is what I am most excited for, besides the fact that I am competing my best friend Teresa is coming with me... we are making it a mini girls trip :)  We are staying until late Sunday night so that we can spend all day Sunday (hopefully it will be warm) at the beach relaxing.  We very rarely get any alone time without 5 kids (her 3, and my 2) tagging along so this is just going to be amazing.... I am so excited.  PLUS... she will get to meet some of my Cali friends and I cannot wait to see them as well!

Change of plans....

I'm not a very spontaneous person.  In fact, I am quite the opposite.  I like routines.  I like plans.  I do not like things getting in the way of said routines, or plans.  A couple of weeks ago I decided that I needed to get my body fat tested.  I have in the past had it checked at the gym using the pinch method when I was prepping for shows and in high school (years ago, we won't get into exactly how many year ago this was) I had it done a more effective way and I believe it was on the pretty low end back then for a female (in the 18-20 % range).  Anyway my friend and co worker Janetha has been trying to convince me to go to the University and get the Bodpod test done for a while now.  I have been terrified of this.  I don't weigh myself regularly.  I don't really like knowing my numbers.  It scares me but I do know that I have lost a bit of weight over the last few months and though it might be a good reference point so I went.  I was pretty surprised.  Pleasantly surprised actually.  I am glad I went and glad to have an idea as to where my body is right now.  Time to buckle down!

Now... I was planning on competing March 30th here in Utah, but as time is ticking (or not ticking) I am feeling like I am just ready... I started looking into some other shows and have decided that I am going to do a show in 4 weeks :)  March 9th! NPC Musclecontest 2013 here I come.  This has come up for a few different reasons.  One reason (not gonna lie) is because I'm freezing my butt off here (literally).  I am craving warmth, and something familiar, and honestly... I really miss California.  Plus its my favorite competition.  Its my favorite because it was my very first competition EVER back in 2009, and then it was one year later in 2010 that I came back and took the over all win for Figure and got my sword.  And if those aren't good enough reasons for you... I'm just ready you guys.  I'm leaning out faster than expected, and I am ready to kill it.  I have my suit (which is gorgeous!), I have my new heels, I have all the tanner I need.  The only thing missing is a plane ticket, someone to paint me and someone to stop me!

So.. what the heck am I waiting for???  California... here I come!

4 weeks out!  Whoop!

I'm still competing March 30th here in Utah too... I want all the stage time I can get this year in preparation for USA's (in hopes that I can get the nerves to go this year).

Memory Monday

I hope these are as fun for you as they are for me :)  I am loving looking back and reading some of my old posts from years ago about my crazy kids.  This one was my daughters school trip to the zoo.  She is a riot!  

Pajha's School trip

July 31, 2008

Last Friday was Pajha's school trip to the zoo. I thought it would be fun to tag along with Peyton to get us both out of the house and get pictures of her friends and teachers. We had a great time! Peyton was the camera man and I have to admit he got a lot of fun pictures (and at least 50 self portraits of himself making all kinds of crazy faces). Above is Pajha and her best friend Julie. She is going to miss her so much when we leave. Julie came here speaking no English, and no Greek (she is from Poland) and now speaks both fluently. Amazing!Pajha's teacher, Mrs Lucia! I adore this woman. She has become such a great friend of mine and she is a wonderful teacher. Julie jumped up just in time to make it in the picture, so cute! Mrs. Lucia was Peyton's teacher first so she has known my kids since we arrived. It is hard to imagine not seeing her every morning and afternoon. Pajha adores her and keeps telling her that we are taking her with us back to America. She keeps asking if we have a suitcase we can squeeze her in. I wish we could. We love her to bits!Me having so much fun! He he!My little Princess and Julie playing on the slide!Awww... can you feel the love? I had to pull teeth to get them to stand together!Once Pajha's class all left we decided to stick around a bit longer. It was really hot and the kids found some sprinklers going and thought it would be a great idea to run through them. I thought what the heck... have fun! And they did!

Crazy kids!Here is Peyton, deciding it would be much more fun shirtless!

So of course, Pajha had to do the same!

The funniest part of the day was when Julie came up to me and said "give me a kiss!" so I did... well apparently she ran over to Pajha and said "your mom kissed me!". I was sitting there talking to Lucia when over comes a very angry Pajha. She stood there with her hands on her hips, tapping her foot and glaring at me! Lucia and I both started laughing and then she began to yell at me and lecture me for kissing her friend. It went something like this. "How dare you? How could you do that to me? Don't you want me anymore?" to which I replied "Pajha, what are you talking about what did I do?" well then she let me have it, "You kissed my best friend. Why would you do that to me? You're breaking my heart. I just don't understand. She's my best friend." (by this point Lucia and I are in hysterics). So I had to explain to her that it is okay for mommie's to give kisses to other kids, that doesn't mean that we don't love our own kids and that she will always be my very own little Princess. I told her to come give me a hug and a kiss so reluctantly she did then she said to me; "You have to promise me you will never do that again? Do you understand?". Understood! Sheesh! She is a jealous little one!

Shine...

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.  We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?  Actually, who are you NOT to be?   You are a child of God.  Your playing small does not serve the world.  There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.  We are all meant to shine, as children do.  We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.  It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.  And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

-Marianne Williamson

This quote was given to me a couple of months ago by a co worker.  He passed it around to all of us girls and it has been constantly in my head ever since.  How powerful is this message?  I absolutely love it and had to share it.

Memory Monday

Another post from my old blog.  My kids were 4 1/2 and 7 1/2 at the time.  I really miss moments like this.  I am SO glad I have this blog to reflect on.

Seventeen things...
May 10, 2008

This afternoon Sunnie and I took our kids to the playplace for some fun time. They had a lot of fun, of course but I have decided that I absolutely HATE those stupid little vending machines that have toys in them. First of all, they are expensive, and secondly the kids always know what they WANT to get but since they never get that thing they end up crying over what they DID get. Today was no different. Peyton wanted one of those sticky hands, but ended up getting a sticky butterfly. Pajha wanted a fairy tattoo but ended up getting some scary monster looking thing. Which she was actually "okay" with. So we are in the car driving home and that is when Peyton saw what she got from the machine.... this is when I just sat back and listened and here is what I heard...

• Peyton: "Pajha, will you please trade me? Look how cool this Butterfly sticky thing is... you love butterflies (which she REALLY does)"
• Pajha: "I don't think so Peyton... I really want my tattoo... and it is your isponibility (responsibility) to get the right kind of toy"
• Peyton: "Oh Come on Pajha... PLEASE? I will do anything you want!"
• Pajha: "Like jump off a building?"
• Peyton: "I can't jump off a building Pajha, I would die... but I will jump off something else"
• Pajha: "Okay, like a bed then. So you will jump off the bed okay?"
• Peyton: "Okay"
• Pajha: "But that isn't all, you will have to do a billion things"
• Peyton: "Pajha, I can't even count to a billion"
• Pajha: "Okay.... then seventeen things"
• Peyton: "Fine... I will do seventeen things, and then you will trade me?"
• Pajha: "yes"
• Peyton: "okay so what else do I have to do besides jump off the bed?"
• Pajha: "Well... you have to clean my room, and I want you to wash my hair and brush it. I think you could clean the windows too"
• Peyton: "Clean the windows? Pajha, that is moms job (oh really....) you can't make me do mom's jobs or she won't have anything to do (poor mom)"
• Pajha: "Okay fine, you also have to make my bed, and wash my floors, and you have to draw me a picture of a beautiful butterfly"
• Peyton: "okay, fine and after I do all those things you will give me the tattoo right?"
• Pajha: "Yes, Peyton. You know what? I kindof feel like your step-mother or something"

It was really funny and I was having a hard time keeping my laughter hidden. This conversation went on for the entire 20 minute drive home. Needless to say we got home and realized that there were two tattoos on the paper and they decided that they would just each get one. That is when Peyton said "guess I don't have to do those seventeen things for you!" Guess not!!!

8 weeks out

As promised... a few progress photos!  My daughter (the most disgusted photographer around) took them for me.. totally against her will but nonetheless here they are.  I feel like I am making some good progress.  With 8 weeks left I am hoping to lean out my legs a bit more, and really tighten those glutes baby!  Oh and get a really nice tan ;)

Ice Ice baby!

What a crazy week, the weather has been so strange.  Today it literally rained ice.  I cannot get over how slick the roads, sidewalks, and driveways were today.  I had an ice skating rink in my front yard.  I tried to shovel it up and after 30 minutes my arms were tired and I hadn't make much progress so I gave up for the night.  It is crazy.  My kids said that they just stood on the sidewalks and slid all the way home.  So scary!

In other news I was honored to receive this email earlier in the week:

Congratulations! We've selected My Fitness Journey as a winner of eCollegeFinder's Top Health & Fitness Blogs Award! Your blog stood out amongst stiff competition and is now featured on our site as a recommended health & fitness resource for our readers.

Such a surprise and with some fellow bloggers that I know and adore!  So honored to be on that list!  To see the full list and find some great reads go here! 

FITNESS.... as of right now I am still planning on competing on March 30th!  Time is flying by.  Things are going well.  I haven't been taking progress pics yet but I promise to start that at about 8 weeks out (which is coming right up).  Posing... I practice ALL the time just not in my heels.  I have some friends that I plan to start practicing with so that will become more frequent.  I am also planning on a new suit for this show and I am really excited about that.  

DIET.... I am pretty much sticking to what I followed for the last show.  My proteins are mainly fish, egg whites and chicken.  I really don't do a lot with protein powder anymore.  I have a ton of salads (love tons of veggies), basically anything that will help keep me feeling full and satisfied ;)  I also have incorporated my favorite bread that I told you about from the Julian bakery, this is the Amazing Sourdough, it is low calorie and low carb.  I am totally OBSESSED with it.  It is honestly GOOD.  It doesn't taste like cardboard.  I swear to you I panic when I get low on it.  I order... a lot...  :) They are in no way paying me to say this either.  This truly is my opinion and my opinion only.  Just thought I'd throw that in there!  

 source

Anyway, that is just a quick little update.  I haven't done one about my show plans for a while so I felt like I needed to do that.  I will get some progress pics up soon, in the next week or two.  Time to get serious.  I am ready to kill it.  

Memory Monday...

I can't promise this will be a consistent Monday theme but for today I'm just going to go with it and see what happens. Yesterday my kids and I were on my old family blog reminiscing, and we got reading back quite a few years and some of the posts had us tearing up a bit but others had us laughing hysterically! Most of you probably don't know anything about this old blog of mine and probably never read it but I began it years ago when we moved overseas as a way to keep our family "in touch" with our life since we were so far away. There is some pretty funny stuff on there from when my kids were really little. Every Monday I am going to try and post an old story from my old blog. I think it will be fun for you to get to know me better and for me to remember some really great things that I may have forgotten about over the years!  This one in particular had us laughing our butts off! Never a dull moment.


Saturday September 27, 2008

Weeeeeeeee

I have a story but in order to tell it right I have to back up a bit..... when we got our dog we decided that it would be best to mat train her. We chose this way because we got a puppy a couple of years ago and he was poisoned. Unfortunately, a lot of people around us don't really care for dogs. Long story short, we thought it would be best to keep her inside as much as possible. So we get these potty mats from the vet. Most of the time (when I am home) I will leave the back door open and she usually goes outside anyway. Her mat is very rarely used. Until recently. I have noticed more and more lately that I have had to change it every day as opposed to every few days. Hmmm... that is strange because I am almost always home and I see her going outside most of the time. The mat has been soaked through, completely..... very wierd. This afternoon I was sitting on the computer when Pajha came running over to me "MOMMY, MOMMY... Peyton is peeing on Nikki's mat".... "WHAT?????????????? ARE YOU KIDDING ME???????" sure enough it was true. HE has been the one weeing on the mat, not the dog. I was soooooo mad. I just couldn't understand why he would even THINK to do that. Especially when there is a toliet not even 2 feet away. UGH! So I made HIM clean it up, and mop the floor (because we know that no boy or MAN can aim properly and he had gotten it all over the wall and beside the mat). KIDS! As of right now, I don't find any humor in this situation. It reminded me of the time when he was about 3, he did his business (think #2) on the floor and told me that Shrek did it... and it wasn't even MY floor, it was my sisters floor. Maybe it will be funny another day. Right now I am just MAD!

For the record... its been a few years and I think it's pretty dang funny ;)

Two Thousand Thirteen

Happy New Year!

I don't do resolutions.  I never really have.  I am more of a make little goals all throughout the year kind of girl so the new year comes and goes for me.  One thing is for sure though, I am looking forward to putting 2012 behind me.  It has been a rough year for me.  It has also been a good year in many ways.  I started my job at the very end of 2011 (literally the last week) so really I started one year ago, which is where I met these two lovely ladies...

Wouldn't trade that (or them) for the world.  We took a trip to St. George, and had a girls trip to Park City, spent plenty of time at the gym together, played in mud, got chased by Zombies, and have laughed and cried together.  This year I turned 29 (again),  however my son turned 12 and my daughter turned 9... making me realize that I can't exactly keep claiming to be 29 anymore, I might actually have to be my real age (gasp!), also making me realize that next year (uh... I mean THIS year) I will have a teenager which scares the crap out of me.  I stepped on stage for the 11th time in my life in 2012 taking 3rd place.  I hung out with this girl as much as possible... 

My Bestie, she is a working mama like me, only she has 3 kids.  Our favorite thing to do is go to Applebee's and share a Blondie.  Only problem is half the time I am on a competition diet ;)  We do our best to see each other as often as we can, which is not often enough.  I love her to death, she has been there for me through EVERYTHING and has been the best friend a girl could ask for.  I don't know what I would do without her in my life.  I really don't.

In 2012 we also celebrated 12 years of marriage by being sealed for all time and eternity together in the Bountiful Temple.  Here are a few pictures of our special day and some family and friends that were there.

Although there were plenty of good times, there were also plenty of difficult times, too many tests, and I am ready to put 2012 behind me and hoping for a great New year!  Here's to 2013!

Ringing it in with my bestie and her munchkins!

waiting... and waiting... and waiting until midnight...

Ten... nine... eight... seven... six... five... 

four... three... two... one...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!