Family Pictures 2012

We got our family pictures taken recently & I absolutely LOVE them. Seriously, I think they turned out UHmazing! If you are looking for a great photographer with reasonable prices, I HIGHLY recommend Jaelyn of Complexions Photography. Seriously, love her. This is the first time we have had pictures taken of just us since our engagement pictures. That was 3 1/2 years ago! We have had a few snaps here & there when our parents got family pictures taken, but none where the whole session was devoted to just us. I ended up having to reschedule our session because my hair was having difficulties and it ended up a little shorter than I had wanted. And I was INCREDIBLY stressed about pictures. I was over thinking it though - it's pictures taken of where we are at right now in our lives. I am SO glad we had them done!! Ok enough talking - let's get to the pictures. Enjoy!!

Probably the best one of the 3 of us - Max REALLY didn't want to cooperate

One of my favorites!

Same one as above, just horizontal

LOVE this one!

My other favorite!

Jaelyn also took some individual pictures of each of us. There are a LOT more of me though - she wanted to take lots of "after" pictures for me! Here are a few of them - I don't want to post them ALL haha!

And of course, I had to get a few of my AMAZINGLY handsome hubby. He isn't a huge fan of getting pictures taken but he was a good sport. Thanks love!!

Can't wait to get them all up in our house!! I am thinking of doing a big picture collage. As soon as it's all done and up, I will be sure to post it!! Yay for having new family pictures taken!

Published

So I have this "instafriend" named Zach Bohannon. He's pretty much awesome - seriously. He's lost over 100 pounds, the healthy way and is SO motivating & posts such awesome stuff on Instagram. He & his wife are losing weight together. Seriously, love these two. Check out their blog by going here. So he posted about me on Instagram {I talked about this in this post} and Dana from DietsinReview.com found me through his Instragram post and asked if she could do an interview with me for their website. UM YES!!!

Not gonna lie, when I read the email I thought it was spam for a second until I read Zach's story, since I know that's true!

We did the interview on Tuesday December 11 while I was on my lunch break. I called her, and she asked me questions about my journey, what foods I eat, about my before, stuff like that. It was awesome that somoene wanted to hear those things, but it was SUPER awesome for me to realize how many aspects of my life have changed. I really am a different person now. That's so crazy for me to think about! And saying out loud how things have changed was very therapeutic for me.

After my interview - I was freaking out!

Seriously, SO excited!

It took around 2 weeks before I got published. Dana emailed me on Facebook to tell me that she would be publishing it on December 19 but I didn't see the email until after I got on DietsinReview.com and saw my face!!

Took this screenshot a few days later, but you get the idea. THAT'S ME ON A WEBSITE!!!

I took a screenshot of it and posted to Instagram and Facebook. And the encouragement I got back was overwhelming...

Zach posted it on Instragram!!

The caption part of Zach's post. Seriously, SO flattered!!

My mom posted it to Facebook!

As did Jake... I LOVE when Jake posts stuff or talks about how proud he is of me. Makes me feel all warm & fuzzy :)

Brynne posted it on Facebook too! This made me cry - hearing her say how proud she is of me is AMAZING. Second only to Jake, she's my favorite person to hear it from :)  

Nicole Duclos Turner, who danced with Brynne on Drill, wrote me this email on Facebook. Seriously made my day!! People keep telling me how much I motivate them, but the emails I get from them is what motivates me! Circle of life baby!

Seriously, I am so overwhelmed and flattered by all of the support and positive reinforcements I have got from people. It is still kinda sinking in that I really did lose 125. The article says 135, but I am at 125 right now. BUT STILL. I really did those things! I did something epic enough that someone wanted to write an article about me. That is an AMAZINGLY awesome feeling. And I REALLY hope I don't sound vain or conceited. I am seriously in shock. This is SO cool. I feel like I'm in an awesome dream, except this is my real life now!!

That's me!!!

I printed out a copy of the article to save. I want to frame it haha but I don't want to hang it in my house - that's REALLY vain. Maybe I will print another one and put it downstairs in my workout room. Either way, my first {hopefully of many} article about my success has been published!!

Becoming Certified

Well, I did it. After 6 months of falling head over heels in love with all things Turbo, I have become a Turbo Kick Instructor. Last Saturday {December 15} the Uh-MAZING Shukria Stewart certified me and 13 other people to go out and bring Turbo to the world. Ok just to Utah. But still. It was epic.

The day before the certification, I was talking to Brynne {who is also a certified instructor} about how I was going to be REALLY tired for the 8 hour certification the next day. We had a Christmas party that night for Jake's work and it was really fun but we ended up getting home around 11. That is LATE for me people. I go to bed REALLY early since I usually get up on the early side to work out. Brynne just kept telling me that it would be worth it and that my body would have enough adrenaline to make it through the day. She was right. I didn't get too tired during the training, but when I got home I CRASHED on the couch haha. There were only at a few spots during the training where I could feel myself getting tired, but I used all the Chalene Johnson sport psychology I know and talked myself out of thinking I was tired. Worked, just like it always does.

We were trained in Round 52. It is a SUPER fun round, I really like it. 51 is my favorite of all the round I have learned, but 52 is sneaking up for a close second. We did a full workout half way through the training of Round 52 and Brynne, Sabrina & another previously certified Turbo Kick Instructor came to do it with us. Can I just say that I LOVE working out with Brynne? Having her teach is AWESOME, but getting to do it next to her, with both of us focused on the workout and not trying to que, was just AMAZING. I absolutely LOVED it. I found out the day before the training that she is no longer teaching at XSI in Lehi - they canceled all the classes. ALL of them. What kind of gym does that?! I cancelled my membership as a result. Anyway, I knew I wouldn't get to work out with her again for a while so I really pushed myself and it was AMAZING! I was INSANELY sweaty haha. I love when I get a good sweat like that though - I have had WAY too many fall off the wagon days lately & that helped me remember to focus on improving my health, not just the scale. I don't feel good when I eat junk, especially tons of it, but Turbo makes me feel awesome - even if for a while I am not breathing ;)

Right before our workout. I bought a new workout outfit specifically for the training and was wearing my black & hot pink nikes, so I matched my shirt!

Me & Shukria at the very end of the day. Exhausted & sweaty to say the least!!

She had the funnest TurboWear clothes on all day. I just might need to invest in some of it haha

At one point during the workout, Brynne & I slap the floor. I smacked it too hard and jammed my thumb - the one on the right in the picture was swollen & turning a little bit blue. I couldn't feel it most of the day haha. But hey, I ROCKED that part of the workout!

After the workout, I drove home from Spanish Fork & stopped for Cafe Rio. Gotta love Cafe Rio on a night when you just can't handle the thought of making dinner! I put the music for Round 51 in my CD player in my car {old school, I know! It's like the 2nd time I have ever used that CD player} and ROCKED out the whole way home to the music from 51. Seriously, that Turbo Round is AMAZINGLY fun.

Marked it off my Crazy Cool List!

 Now I just need to find somewhere to teach it at! I found a place in Saratoga Springs, right next to my work, where I could teach but it would end up costing me money and that isn't smart haha. So I am just patiently waiting to find somewhere to teach at. And in the mean time, I can continue to get in BETTER shape so that I can queue well, work on my form & technique so that I am a good example of how to do the moves, and get more muscle definition so that I can have that motivational physique like Chalene, Jenelle, Shukria, Brynne & all the other awesome Turbo Peeps I look up to!!! But I am OFFICIALLY a certified a Turbo Instructor!! WOOT!!!!

A whole lot better...

Well folks, I am feeling a WHOLE lot better. It took me a few days but I realized that part or most of the reason I was so moody & not feeling like myself was because I have been really stressed. All great things - my calling, Jake's calling, my job, Jake's job, family & trying to keep both sides happy with how often we see them, stuff with my Beachbody business, workouts & trying to bust through my plateau, Christmas, etc. Just have a ton on my plate and I realized over the weekend that it's time to "trim the fat" and REALLY prioritize. Jake is my number 1 priority. And because we have all these other things going on, it's making it so that I have been treating him AWFUL and that's the last thing I want.

So I am minimizing Christmas and trying to make it as easy and pain free as possible on myself. I got a lot of shopping done last weekend while Jake was at work {he worked over time Friday night} and that has made me feel a LOT better. There are presents under our tree now - finally! We ran out of tape though, so the wrapping has come to a brief hault. As soon as I have more tape, I plan to finish the wrapping so that I can have my guest bedroom back haha. We still have no idea who's house we are going to when. That is a HUGE cause of my stress. Both families want us all day both days and that isn't fair {obviously} so Jake & I need to figure out who gets us when and we just haven't finalized the plan because our parents keep changing plans. Good times right? Can't wait until we have kids and a legitimate excuse to stay home on Christmas morning so that this drama can work itself out!

I am also seriously cutting back on Beachbody stuff. Yes, I am still a Beachbody coach. But I am not pursuing it like I was. If someone approaches me, then I will be all over helping them. I am not going to seek out people to talk to though. And I think that's what Beachbody wants you to do - to kinda wait for them to come to you. I just felt like I needed to find them and sell everything to everyone in a short amount of time and it was really burning me out. I'm wishy-washy on this - one minute I want to tone it back and the next I feel like I can handle it. I guess we'll see how the next few weeks go. I am getting certified as a Turbo Instructor this weekend and after that I will be able to teach Turbo. That means that I will get a paycheck for working out. Not a paycheck for working out and then selling the workout to someone else {like with Beachbody}. I am SO excited for that! Nervous and scared out of my mind, yes. But excited! I am planning to really mix up my workout routine so that I can get in better shape so that I can talk during Turbo {giving cues and such}. Either way, Turbo is my soulmate workout and I am happy I found it and that I will have the chance to help other people along their fitness journey, both through teaching & as a Beachbody Coach.

Speaking of helping others, I have had the most AMAZING opportunity come up! My "instafriend" Zach Bohannan (click here to see his blog) has a TRULY inspirational story - he has lost over 100 pounds himself and is getting SO toned and is right at the end of his losing journey. He featured ME on his instagram - posted one of my before & afters and told everyone to go follow me. And they listened - I got around 60 new followers on Instagram that day. 60! CRAZY right?! I was so honored and flattered that he would post that about me! And THEN a writer for DietsinReview.com contacted me through my facebook page {link is on my Instagram} and told me they recently wrote a story on Zach and wanted to do one on me too! SOMEONE IS WRITING A STORY ABOUT ME!! My interview is today at 2 PM via phone call. I am nervous, not going to lie - I have no idea what to expect or what to say but hopefully it all flows and just comes to me haha. I feel so blessed that I have the chance to share my story and influence others to change their health so that we can end the trend of obesity!

I have also relieved some stress about my health & nutrition & plateau. I ordered a book called "Eat Clean Diet - Recharged" that was referred to me by an AMAZING girl on Facebook who has ALSO lost a ton of weight - 136 pounds to be exact. Went from a size 20 to a size 2. So it IS possible to get that small!! That gave me a LOT of hope! I am SO excited to read this book and see what changes I can make to further clean up my diet. And starting December 25, I am doing ChaLean Extreme again - phase 2. This time with weights. Yep, Santa is bringing me weights! Makes me SO excited for Christmas knowing that something I want is under the tree and I know it's there. I keep telling myself it's ok to just start using them now but that isn't true. I gotta wait. That's hard about Christmas - waiting. But worth it! I can't wait to see Jake's reaction to his main gift - it's gonna be awesome. He has NO idea what I got him!!

AND Jake spoke in Sacrament Meeting in church this past Sunday! I almost forgot to tell you!!! His topic was on personal growth - basically Brother Woodward {2nd Counselor in the Bishopric- we just love him!} wanted Jake to share his story on how he has come back to the church after being inactive for most of his life. Jake was so nervous, and the morning of his talk I think he seriously contemplated calling in sick to church but he went and he did GREAT and shared his testimony about missionary work at the end. That was my favorite part - he said something along the lines of how "he has a testimony of missionary work because of his brother going on a mission. Even though his brother isn't here, Clint has been a really good missionary to Jake". It was great - I was SO proud of him!! He said afterwards that he had been shaking but you couldn't tell - he was looking down quite a bit but that's my shy guy for ya. First talk EVER and he ROCKED it. Babe, I am so proud of you!!

Just know I AM feeling better emotionally. That last post was me super moody and I was like that for the past 2 ish weeks and now I'm back and chipper as ever :) Oh and side note - things are looking great with my platelette count! Been off prednisone for almost 2 weeks and my blood count is staying high so we are crossing our fingers for no surgery! That means, if all stays well, we get to start trying for a baby within the next few months!!

Beginning of the Christmas Season...

It's that marvelous time of year again! And yet it doesn't feel like it AT ALL. Maybe that's because I have only had hot chocolate twice this whole fall/winter. Hardly any sweets. And we have NO SNOW! I know people don't like snow. I'm not a huge fan, unless it's December. Then YES I want snow and LOTS of it. I am about to the point I want to pray for a blizzard. Or maybe it's from working full time and how busy that makes me. Or our callings. Or all of the above. Either way, I feel like my life is a whirl wind right now and oh my gosh Christmas is in less than 3 weeks and I am SO not prepared!

I have decorated though! And as of today, I am about 2/3 of the way done with my Christmas shopping. Slowly starting to try to get more into the Christmas spirit. I need to find a way to take some time & enjoy the season, rather than letting it rush by.

Anyway, enough whining {Can you tell I am not feeling as chipper as usual??}. Here are some pictures of our house all decorated for Christmas!

New craft I did this year - got it at Craft Wood Cutouts the day after Thanksgiving! LOVE how it turned out!!

Our wreath. Want to replace it but haven't found anything I want to make yet!

Our tree with our new "topper" - got it at the dollar store!! Bam!!

The ledge! The "Joy" is also new this year, got it at the same time of Crafty Wood Cutouts. LOVE how it turned out as well!

Stockings hung above the fireplace with our countdown, nativity scene & the amazing wreath Cassie made for me last year.

Plan is to get presents wrapped and under the tree this weekend! That should help me feel more like it's time for Christmas, and get something off of my To Do list so I can have one less thing to stress about. Gotta love stress and how abundant it is this time of year!!