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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

My new calling


I got called to be in nursery on Sunday! I was able to start serving that day and it was actually really fun! It was exhausting - I was so tired when I got home but it was a lot of fun! Unfortunately for Jake's parents & my parents, I think this means we are going to wait a little bit before we start our family... I am sure having our own kids is different than having nursery kids but it is still making me realize I want to wait just a little bit longer before we start having our rugrats. It is going to be a very good experience though, I am really excited!!!

Monday, January 30, 2012

The best medicine

Not going to lie or sugar coat it - the past two weeks I have been so negative and sad and just depressed. Beebaw being sick and then passing away and then the funeral was so much harder on me than I thought it would be. Grandpa's pass away - it's expected. And he was 83 - he had a really good, long, healthy life. And it still kicked my butt. To help myself cope, I have done a few different things and they all REALLY worked so I wanted to blog about them to help myself remember ways to kick depression in the future!!

1. Service I can't count the number of times I have heard that serving others will help relieve your own worries and basically make your troubles seem insignificant. Well, I put it to the test and it works. The weekend before last, Jake & I got home from saying goodbye to my Beebaw and it had been snowing {it was gorgeous - the valley was blanketed in white} so we decided to shovel the driveway. Well Jake shoveled the driveway and I sat and watched. When he was about halfway through the driveway, he leaned over, picked up a big snowball and threw it - hard - at my face. AT MY FACE! What a boy! So I couldn't let that be ok - I ran over to the grass and rolled some snow up to throw at him and turned just as he unloaded the shovel full of snow on my back. I was soaked but we kept throwing snow at each other - me using my hands and him using the shovel until I was too wet and cold to keep going and I surrendered. After we finished our drive way, we went and did our neighbors driveway too. That was really fun - I was holding a big bucket of salt and pretending I was feeding birds as I threw it out to melt

My studly husband shoveling in his shorts
Afterwards, we went to get ice cream at Simply Icecream in The Ranches - so delicious. I'll admit - ice cream in January when you are covered in snow is a little different but hey its what we wanted so it's what we got! 


"The Savior taught His disciples 'For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life for my sakem the same shall save it' {Luke 9:24}. I believe the Savior is telling us that unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to tohers grow and flourish - and in effect save their lives." - Thomas S. Monson

2. Gratitude Yesterday, I heard an awesome quote in Sacrament Meeting about gratitude. I have been trying to find it online and I can't find it, but its something along the lines of: "If you woke up tomorrow and all you had was what you had mentioned you were grateful for in your evening prayer tonight, would you feel you had properly thanked your Heavenly Father for all that you had been given?" Like I mentioned in the first post, I had a day last week when I was feeling pretty low & I decided to get our my gratitude journal and write in it. OH did that help! It really helped me realize that even though I am going through something really hard right now, I still have a lot to be grateful for.

3. Family This has made me realize, more than ever before, how awesome my family is. I have the most amazing sisters ever. There is just something very comforting about being with my sisters and crying and mourning over the same loss. My mom came to the viewing, the funeral and to say good bye to him both in the ICU and at his home before he passed away. And he isn't her father in law anymore! And she still came! My in laws came to the viewing - when they had met him once, for ten seconds, at my wedding. And they still came. My dad was so gracious and grateful for all the time spent with him. I got to see so many cousins, aunts & uncles. And Jake. Oh I don't know how I would have done this without Jake. He has been my rock and has been such a comfort to me. I am so lucky to have him in my life. He is the BEST husband a girl could ask for. I know everyone thinks they have the best husband, but I think I really do have the best - he rocks my socks off! Haha.

4. Quotes I have found so many awesome quotes - here are a few more: "You write down in your little black book, that in the Gospel of Jesus Christ you have help, and you have it on both sides of the veil. And you must never forget that one thing. When disappointment and discouragement strike, and they will, you remember and never forget, that if your eyes could be opened you would see horses and chariots of fire as far as the eye could see, riding at wreckless speed to come to your protection. They will always be there, these armies of heaven, in defense of Abraham's seed." - Jeffrey R. Holland

"Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more. He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understand, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain." - Richard G. Scott

I am glad I found so many awesome things to help me feel better. Yay for feeling back to my old self!!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Update on my Beebaw

So just to get this down and make it somewhat more real in my mind, my Beebaw {my dad's dad} passed away on Sunday, January 22. They took him off the life support on Saturday and because of how stable he remained, they were able to transport him to his home where he passed away the following day. I went over to his house Saturday after getting some lunch with my family and spent most of the day there, visiting with cousins, aunts & uncles I haven't seen in way too long. We shared a lot of stories and started looking through some pictures.

It was really hard. Seeing him, in his house, but knowing he wasn't there mentally. He didn't look like him at all. But it was so nice gettign to see my cousins again, and seeing all my uncles. Like I said, it has been way too long since I have seen everyone together. The funeral is on Thursday, viewing is tomorrow.

I took it really hard Sunday & yesterday, but I am doing a lot better today. Just taking it one day at a time, and really making myself realize that no one expects me to handle this without being upset. Especially me. It's ok for me to miss him, and to be sad. Yesterday, I took the day off of work and pretty much just moped all day. Towards the end of the day though, I decided to write in my gratitude journal and I am so glad I did. It really helped me realize that things don't suck in my life - its just one hard thing that I need to get over. I still have lots to be grateful for. I am grateful that I got to say goodbye to him while he was still alive, even though he couldn't respond. And I am SO grateful that my work has been so understand with letting me take time off. Like I said, lots to be grateful for :)

A TNT Fuse

My sister Lauryl {aka Popper} is doing competitive cheerleading this year at TNT. She is a fuse - thats the name of her team. And she just had her first competition!! It was at Cottonwood High School on January 14. Here are some of the highlights!!

The Special Event - a local handicapped cheerleading squad! They did so awesome!
Fuse getting ready to go on!
Look how uniform they are - perfectly timed and together!
Popper is the front "squatter" on the left
Their awesome pyramid!
Brynne gave her a huge hug afterwards!
Brynne, Mom & I watching the competition!
Me & Brynnie
My gorgeous madre & me!
Jeannene & her friend Jackson
The famous Popper all decked out, complete with her purple glitter make up!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Not my proudest moment

Last Sunday {January 8} my mom called to tell me that my Grandpa {Poppa} was in the hospital because he had a heart attack. I usually try not to cry over health stuff until we know how serious it is but I lost all control and was crying pretty bad. We found out it wasn't really had a heart attack and was kidney stones with a combination of a urinary tract infection. My mom decided to go out to California {where Poppa lives} with my step dad and be with my grandpa during the surgery and doctor consultations. That's why my sister Popper was staying with us. After we found out that my grandpa was going to be ok and that he wasn't dying, I felt relieved and then got a really strong impression that I needed to visit my Grandpa that lives here in Utah - my grandpa "Beebaw". He is my dad's dad and lives in Orem. It seemed like a good idea but with working 6 days a week, my schedule is a little insane right now so I figured I would make time next month to go see him.

This past Tuesday, I got a text from Brynne {my sister} and my mom while I was at work saying that Beebaw was in the hospital but they didn't know why or what was wrong. I called my Aunt Shauna to see what the problem was and how bad it was and found out that he had some flu/pneumonia like symptons and they were testing to see if it was Sepsis. If it was sepsis, he most likely wouldn't make it through the night. The ICU wasn't allowing any visitors so I couldn't go see him. I came home from work and was a wreck - I felt so bad that I hadn't gone to see him when I got the feeling I needed to. No news came that night, and by the next morning he was still in the ICU but he was still alive so I took that as he was getting better. I went to work but mentioned what was going on to my supervisor in case I needed some time off. I got a call from Brynne later that night letting me know she had gone to see him and that if I wanted to go see him, I should hurry and do it soon.

She told me that he was in a coma. And no one had mentioned that to me. And he did have sepsis. She told me he looked horrible - lots of tubes going into him and he had a ventilator in his mouth. I got home from work, changed my clothes and grabbed Jake and we went down to the hospital. And I lost it as soon as we got into the waiting room and saw my mom and Jeannene & Lauryl. I calmed down and went back with Jeannene to see him and lost it all over again. It was horrible. I squeezed his hand and walked out and then went back in with Popper and asked the nurse about some of the things he was hooked into and why he wasn't awake, etc. After that we left the hospital to get some dinner and tried to act normal without being morbid.

I just feel like this is all a dream. I'm at work - its about 12:30 on Saturday and they just took him off the life support. And I am at work. I feel horrible that I am not at the hospital but I don't like asking for time off unless it is really justified. We are short handed at the bank anyway and this would be a burden on my co workers. But I am missing his final moments here on earth. The past few days, I have felt very comforted and very at peace that he will be in a better place soon with Grammy {my Grandma that passed away in 1996} and Nana Jean {his second wife who passed away in 2010 I believe}. I just miss him already and I feel SO sick that I didn't go see him when I had the prompting to. I'm sure I'll blog about this in a few more days after we know more but it is looking like he won't make it through the day.

Thank heavens for the Gospel, and for the knowledge I have that my family is sealed together. I know that I will see him again. And I know that he is going to have so much to talk about with our Savior when he is met at the gates. I just wish he didn't have to go yet. He has a great grandchild on the way - his first {Kyle & Eliza are expecting} and he won't get to meet in this life. But he will be in a better place, free of pain and sorrow and with our Savior. And he can send all of his future great grandkids down with a kiss <3

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Tired of waiting for XY&Z

I have always had this mind set that when X, Y or Z happens, I will start to really care about having "fashion sense". I, like so many other women in today's society, look at movies and TV commercials and watch TV shows and see how women are portrayed - particularly mom's. It seems they always have perfect hair, perfect make up, time for absolutely everything, are a perfect cook, and wear totally fashionable outfits every minute of the day - sometimes complete with super insanely tall shoes. I have always thought "someday, when I am a mom, I am going to be like that - I want my kids to think I am a good mom, but also a cool mom and I want friends to think I dress and look cute {whether they want to admit it or not :P}" I guess I just don't want people to think I am a slobby mom or wife, or that I never get ready or care about how I look.

As of a few weeks ago, I would only get "ready" on days that I work - if I was staying home, I would just stay in my PJ's, complete with my messy AWESOME hair and no make up or jewelry. When I am a mom, I want to be a stay at home mom and therefore I won't really be going anywhere so if I keep doing things the way I am, that means I wouldn't be getting ready. Except Sundays or if I am going somewhere. And I know myself well enough to know that if I don't have the habit now, I won't magically wake up with it someday.

So I decided to start working on that now - getting ready everyday, learning more ways to do my hair {since that is something I figured I would magically learn once I'm a mom}, not wearing the same outfits each week, and just pretty much establishing my own style of clothes, jewelry & shoes I like to wear that are cute and stylish that I feel comfortable in. I don't want to feel "fake" or like I am not being me - that's the opposite of what I want!

I am still doing my "knock off" of weight watchers and I still really like it - I am eating what I want, but I am realizing just how bad for me some of my choices were and making different choices as a result! I have discovered how much I like making smoothies with fruit and orange juice - my own Jamba Juice pretty much! And I got our second bedroom all set up to start doing Turbo Jam in - moved all the furniture out, plugged in the spare TV and got it in the corner on an entertainment center so I will have plenty of room for punching & kicking and just getting my Turbo on!! And I started learning how to do my hair.

I have been trying to grow it for a while, not necessarily because I wanted it at a certain length but because I really liked how it looked as it grew. I think I am going to keep growing it but we will see how I like it as it grows. My main problem as I grow it has been back combing or "ratting" - I can't ever seem to get it the way I want it. So Tuesday night, I watched probably 10 different YouTube videos on backcombing and watched 10 or so different girls back combed their own hair so I could see what it was that I was doing so different. I learned a few things and tried it out the next day...

After I teased it, before I tamed it down
Afterwards! I even got daring and did something different with my bangs!
I went through my closet and started mixing and matching different things I haven't worn before too - the green vest pictured above I have had for several months and only wore it once! And for my birthday present, I ordered a few new clothing items online that should be here within the next few days!

The next day, I back combed it again and it got big...
And turned out really cute - AGAIN. 2 good hair days in a row! WAHOO!!
I also started doing my make up differently, but I am using less make up than I was before. Usually when I do my make up differently, I end up wearing lots more make up than I was before but not this time! Happy joy for not feeling like a "cake face" - that's a Lizzy word :) And I really like how I feel when I look in the mirror. It's nice looking in the mirror and actually liking the reflection, rather than being ok with it or not liking it at all. I like making self changes and feeling like I am becoming a better person. Yay for self improvement :)

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Based on a children's book

When I was younger, my mom would always read me this book on days when I was really whiny - it's called "Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day".


If you have not read this book, I highly recommend that you do - it's very fun and helps make things not seem quite so bad. This past Thursday, I got to live my very own version of this book! It's funny to look back at now, but at the time it sure didn't seem very funny!!

So the day started out normal, maybe even great - had a good day at work, had an awesome hair day, and got home from work and decided I didn't want to make dinner. I asked Jake if it would be ok if we ordered Cafe Rio, and of course he said yes - we love Cafe Rio. My sister Popper has been staying with us, so I asked her what she wanted, ordered it over the phone and then she went with me to go get the food.

On the way down, I suddenly realized the semi in front of us had slammed on their brakes. I slammed on my brakes and switched lanes to avoid hitting the back of the truck. Now, I need to mention I was in Jake's Mazda 3 - if I wrecked that thing he might be more worried about the car than me. And I am only kind of kidding - he loves his Mazda. So back to nearly rear ending a semi. I was able to make it into the other lane and realized why he had slammed on his brakes - another semi had jack knifed in the middle of the highway and was blocking all 4 lanes of traffic. So we waited for him to get out of the way, which took a few minutes but was good because I got to catch my breath and slow my heart from beating out of my chest and we continued our drive.

I did a transfer on my iPhone from our savings to our checking to pay for the food and realized the transfer didn't work, even though it said it had been completed. I tried it again, and same thing - I get a confirmation that it worked but the money didn't move. I went to an ATM and tried to withdraw the money directly from savings and apparently my ATM card isn't set up for savings withdrawals - just checking. So I am sitting in the parking lot of Cafe Rio trying to figure out how I am going to pay for the dang food when we drove all the way to AF to get it! I called Jake and had him pull up the bank account on a computer to do the transfer. He tried it and same thing - it said it worked, but the money didn't move. We talked about how we were going to fix this, since the bank was closed and the customer service department is not available after 6 PM - there was no one I could talk to to fix it! Then all of the sudden Jake realized that the transfer worked, 3 different times. Gotta love technology!! So we get off the phone and I go inside to pick up the food and then...

My card declined. I absolutely hate it when my card declines - it is the most embarressing thing ever. And I knew there was money because the transfer had finally worked. So she tried it a few times, and it kept declining and I was getting ready to be hysterical and freak out so I called Jake and had him log into the online banking again to make sure the transfer had really worked. The money was there - so we tried the card one more time. Same thing - decline. So she ended up getting a managers approval to let us take the food and pay the next day {apparently we order in that often that they trust enough that we won't steal money!!} and we left. I was so embarresed - I wanted to pay for the food, not take it! I was pretty much holding back tears the whole drive home. My sister and I get home, she set all the now cold food out and I went to get Jake so that we could eat. He wakes up and goes to wash his hands in the spare bathroom and THEN...

He came out and asked Popper {my sister} if the water had been working for her {since that was the bathroom she was using to get ready for school}. She said yep, she has been using it all week with no problems. Jake tries to turn on the shower, the sink and flush the toilet - nothing. So he goes in the kitchen and turns on the tap - nothing. No water. Anywhere in the house. So now I am really freaking out and Jake won't eat anything because he wants to see what the problem is. Finally he sat down to eat and we hurried and scarfed our food down and then I called a few people from our ward that lived in the same development but not the same street - they all had water and suggested maybe our pipes were frozen. It didn't seem to be cold enough - we have definitely had colder days so we kept thinking that wasn't the problem. I called the emergency utility hotline and left a message letting them know our water wasn't working and that we just wanted to make sure nothing was wrong with our utilities account. We pay the bill every month, early, but we pay it through online banking so I was worried maybe the check got lost in the mail. But the lights were still on, so they couldn't have turned our utilities off. Then we were worried that maybe they had turned the water off for the street and just not told us {or that they knocked to tell us and Jake was asleep and didn't hear it}. The guy from the city called us back and said he would come take a look at it. Jake went down to the basement a few times where the water line was and tried turning it off and on - no pressure or sound was coming through at all. The guy from the city came and used a blow torch thing on the pipes in our man hole in the drive way. He said he didn't know what the problem was and then left. And then the water came back on. So apparently the pipes must have froze - we still don't know what happened. But the water came back on - happy joy.

I went to the kitchen to throw away the Cafe Rio containers and realized I had stepped in something wet... I looked down at my sock and it was covered with green chunky stuff - Max had thrown up. On the carpet. And I stepped in. At this point I don't know how I didn't start crying. I think I may have screamed a little bit though - like a mad scream, not a scared scream. Jake looked at it and kinda laughed. It was funny I'll admit but at the time it was NOT funny. I took my socks off, put them in the dirty clothes and cleaned up the floor.

I stood up to put the washcloths in the sink and decided to get the nail grinder for Max's nails because he was chewing them pretty bad and his "quick" was showing on a few of his nails. I got the drummel - which is brand new, with brand new batteries - and it wouldn't turn on. Because the brand new batteries were dead. Of course. So I threw away these dang brand new C batteries which aren't cheap but hey whatever thats how my day is going and then I walk back into the living room and STEPPED IN MORE DOG BARF!!!!!! He had thrown up by the door too, and apparently I hadn't seen it before and stepped in with my bare feet. I cleaned it up, cleaned off my feet, and then I went to bed - I had enough for one day.

And that is the story of Ashley and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

It's been a while...

It has been QUITE a while since I last bore my testimony in Sacrament Meeting but I changed that today! I missed church last week and as it was the 1st, I assumed last week was Fast and Testimony meeting. Imagine my surprise to arrive today and find out it is actually today!

I debated in my seat for a while if I really wanted to bear my testimony or not and was sure by the time they blessed the Sacrament that I should bear my testimony. I said a quick prayer that I would know what to say and that I wouldn't trip on the way up to the podium {I chose to wear some of my taller heels today and I was sitting in the VERY back}. The Testimony portion of the meeting started and I stayed in my seat, listening to the testimonies of those around me and trying to figure out what I would say in my testimony.

And then, I realized I was walking up to the podium. I must have really heard the Spirit inside because I got up and started walking without realizing it. I reached the podium without tripping {SIGH OF RELIEF!} and sat down to wait my turn. The only thing I knew I wanted to say was to introduce myself. When it was my turn, I walked up and introduced our family and said we had moved into the ward at the end of July. And then the Spirit took over.

I spoke about the Cherokee house {click here to read about that} and how I had really wanted that house and was almost bitter it hadn't worked out and that I now realized it hadn't worked out because we needed to be in this ward, at this time. I also talked about how much I love our Bishopric, how grateful I am for the Atonement and for so many temples nearby, and how much I love my amazing husband and our families. I closed my testimony and returned to my seat and really started to think about what I had said.

I think about the Cherokee house a lot. Like too much. Every now and then, I go so far as to imagine how we would have decorated it. It had more wall space in some rooms than our house does and that is the main thing I would concentrate on - all that extra space in the living and family rooms. And the kitchen had an island which means more counter space. As you can tell, I really remember the layout and floor plan of a house we looked at twice. A year ago. Twice. Whenever I start to wonder what if, I always make myself focus on things I love about our house - that it is a rambler, it's a few hundred sq ft bigger than the other, our house such nice cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms, the amazing master bath, etc. Usually that works and I stop wishing we had got the other house.

So back to my testimony today. I never had felt before that we needed to be in this ward so badly. I got an answer to my own "unasked" question while bearing my testimony to those who I apparently needed to have in my life! As I sat pondering that and continue to think about it, I am truly grateful for the answer I got. We don't always learn why the Lord has things to work out the way they do, but I have been given an answer that helps me understand the reason {or part of the reason} the Lord wanted us in this house.

I truly do love our ward and am so grateful for the chance we have to be a part of it. I have felt so welcomed and truly love being here. And I truly, truly love our home. I love coming home to its warmth, both literally and figuratively. I love how easily the Spirit can be felt in our home. Our home is truly a Heaven on earth for Jake, Max and me and this all occurred to me because I chose to follow the promptings of the Spirit and bear my testimony :)

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Updates from my not so eventful week

Compared to how hectic December was, this week has seemed boring! In reality though, it has been a busy week - just not anything super blog worthy. I am temporarily working 6 days a week until Tessa's replacement {Jessica} is trained and ready to be on her own. She starts on January 17 :) In the mean time though, it has been different working 6 days a week compared to my usual 3. It hasn't been anywhere near as hard as I thought it would be - I am actually kinda enjoying seeing everyone I work with everyday. The down side is by the time I get home, I am SO tired and want to just relax and take it easy. Not so great of an idea haha.

Luckily the house hasn't got super messy this week - Jake & I are pretty easy to clean up after. Max makes a mess of his toys all the time but it's really quick and easy to pick up 15 dog toys and throw them all in a basket. The main problem for me is laundry. I don't like to do laundry {ever} and coming home from work to laundry needing to be done isn't my favorite thing so I have just ignored the laundry all week - also not so great of an idea. Now I have to do laundry on my Saturday when I get home from work today :( But there are some good NFL playoff games today so I can watch a game while I put away clothes :)

As far as working towards my New Years Resolutions, I am doing pretty good! On Thursday of this week I went with my mom & Brynne to do an endowment session at Mt. Timpanogos Temple - that was my first endowment session at that temple! And oh my gosh it's beautiful - I loved it. So now I have done an endowment session at Provo & Timp, which are the only Utah County temples so I am "halfway" done with that goal! Now just to do the Salt Lake County temples. 51 more weeks to go before the year is over - I think I will end up completing that goal :)

Because I am working 6 days a week, that means extra money, which means more money towards our emergency fund! Yay for working towards that goal! At the rate we are going, we could have it done by summer time but we are wanting to do some other fun things this year too, like go on a vacation or two and buy a truck or a 4 wheeler {or both} so we are just hoping to have our fully funded emergency fund by the end of the year!

I am doing really good on keeping my Jeep clean! Granted, its been a week, but I haven't been eating anything in it that could crumbs everywhere, and I have been taking everything {my coat, purse, water bottles, containers from lunch, etc} in the house with me at the end of each day! It's actually kinda relaxing at the end of the day to get in my car after work and see that it's clean - I am very relaxed by things being clean haha.

And MOST importantly - I am doing really good on eating healthy so far! Unfortunately, that isn't my problem. My problem is STICKING with eating healthy. I can do any diet/eating plan for a week or even two but after that I start to get sick of it and crave other things. The big test for me will be to see if I can do this for longer than a week or two! I have done Weight Watchers on and off the past few years and it seemed to work pretty good for me, but I just got really tired of paying for it! I am way too cheap to pay $20 ish a month just for the use of a website to tell me the nutritional value of absolutely everything I could ever imagine eating. Ok so it is worth it but I still didn't want to pay it. AND THEN I found an app for my iPhone called iTrack Bites.

It is JUST like Weight Watchers except there are no monthly fees - you just buy the app and then use it! It is $1.99 to buy it - SO worth it compared to how expensive Weight Watchers can be. It doesn't know name brands or the names of restaurants, so you mostly need to use the points calculator it has to figure out the points value but that is ok with me! I also have a Restaurant App that tells me the nutritional value of food at restaurants so I just figure out what I want at a restaurant, use that app to figure out the nutrition and plug it into the iTrackBites calculator and TA-DA I have my points value for what I want to eat! I have eaten a LOT better this week compared to how I was eating before {during the holidays} and realized just how much sugar I was eating - I had a hard time the first few days with not having any sugar. I have been eating lots more fruits and vegetables {they are pretty much all zero points!} and more healthy snacks, like yogurt and cheesesticks rather than a bag of popcorn or leftover cookies from our neighbors. I also have realized how bad I was at eating in portions. I knew I was pretty bad at it, but now I am realizing just how bad and how much I was eating before is WAY more than I should be.

I feel good this week - I don't feel like I have been depriving myself of anything I wanted to eat. If I want to eat something, then I eat it. For the most part though, I decide I want to eat something, figure out the points and then change my mind. Last night, I really wanted some ice cream though so we went to JCW's {OH I LOVE THAT PLACE!} and I got a kids hamburger meal and a mini peanut butter shake. Pretty much a lot of points, but I wanted to eat it, I was accountable for it and tracked my points for the day. Afterwards, I felt like I had satisfied my sweet tooth and was ready to get back on track and eat healthy the remainder of the week. Like I said earlier though, I am really good at doing something for a week or two. It's doing it for longer that is a challenge for me. I really want to stick with this though - Jake & I will hopefully be starting our family within the next year or two and I want to make my body healthy so that I can handle pregnancy. That has been my goal in the back of my mind for a while but now that we are getting closer to starting our family I really need to make my health a higher priority. I am going to take it one week at a time though, and this week I rocked it!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

2012 Resolutions

I know I posted goals before, but they were more life goals so I am going to list my goals to accomplish in 2012! There are quite a few of them - I will start with goals that are measurable:

1. Finish fencing our backyard {and hopefully get another puppy!}
2. Go on {or book} a cruise
3. Finish our fully funded emergency fund {6 months of expenses in savings}
4. Get back to the same size jeans I was wearing while Jake & I were first dating {that is 2 pant sizes away from where I currently am}
5. Participate in an endowment session in every Salt Lake and Utah county temple
6. Plant a tree in our yard
7. Participate in a 5K

I was wanting to only have goals that are measurable and will have a finish line but there are a few habits I am trying to form that aren't measurable so here are those:

8. Keep my Jeep clean, especially on the inside {vacuum regularly}
9. Work on being a better "housewife" - work on my cooking, become better at keeping the house clean and organized, etc.
10. Focus on taking life one day at a time and not getting stressed/upset about things that I can't control

The fence and the tree will be happening in the spring. I got the Turbo Jam DVD's for Christmas from Brynne and Blake and I KNOW that will help me reach my goal of losing 2 pant sizes. I just need to consistently work out and really watch what I eat {I have a horrible sweet tooth}. As soon as I find a 5K that I can participate in with Max, I will register for it. My mom and I plan to do an endowment session together every Thursday so that should really help me accomplish my goal to do a session in every temple in Utah and Salt Lake counties. We are making really good progress towards funding our emergency fund but it's hard to leave the money alone - I want to spend it on things for the house!! Hopefully we will keep making good progress though!!

As any of my resolutions are accomplished, I will make sure to blog about it :)