My favorite day of Teacher Appreciation Week.............





day four:  flowers.








:)

home is where your mom is....

My family in Utah is really good about putting flowers on my mom & grandpa's graves. I'm sure thankful for that.

And I was thankful too for the chance Jesse, the girls, and I had to bring them our own flowers and spend some time.

We brought daisies for my grandpa, and white hydrangeas for my mom. :)
































It was sooooo cold that day! It felt much colder than when we were in the snow, even. The girls were sweet to me though and smiled for a picture.

I tried to get more than one picture and they all ran to the car, crying.





I followed right behind them because I was freezing.





Jesse was the last man standing.

























The girls loved the little note cards at the flower shop. They wanted to take one for all their friends and everybody they know and send them like postcards, but when I explained their purpose, they settled on 1 simple one for the task at hand:

















The floral shop had tons of cute little gifts and knick-knacks, most of them geared towards mother's day since it was coming up. So I got myself a little souvenir in remembrance of my mommy:















Happy mother's day to my mom,

my wonderful Nana,

and all the other mothers in my life.

I haven't encountered one yet that hasn't been an example & inspiration to me!

FAQ

#1 question I get asked (almost daily) nowadays: have you lost weight?




Somedays that makes me smile and feel like I conquored life's biggest & most important challenge (cause that's how people act when they ask it).



And other days all I hear when people ask that is "Wow not too long ago you were really, really huge! It's really a miracle that you're close to an acceptable size now!" (which I realize may be a true statement but, nevertheless, still doesn't feel pleasant to hear).



The answer is yes, since September 28 of last year I've lost a total of 68 pounds.





#2 question that always follows is: how did you do it?




I usually try to walk away before people can ask me that, because I don't know how to answer it. Because when the weight started coming off, it wassn't even intentional....but people don't understand that, and since they're not being paid to be my therapist and listen to all my woes, I usually just say "Hm? Oh, you know....I exercised. Ate less. Whatever.".



I could say what I really did, what works for me and what doesn't, but I'm not qualified in the least to give any advice on the subject, and talking about it at any length makes me feel uncomfortable.




I did exercise, that part's true. I didn't make any goals, I just started running because nothing else I tried would clear my head and give me peace.

I started walking at first, but my mind still wandered.

So I picked up the pace and still every time I do it, for about a mile all I can think about is how uncomfortable I am, how I'd rather be sitting on the couch, or how silly I must look in my workout clothes.





But then I reach a point where ALL I can focus on is the music in my ears and my breath. And that was what I needed all along, and why I keep doing it. It's still not ever really enjoyable when I start, but for some reason the discomfort of it and feeling totally exhausted at the end of 3 miles feels GOOD. So I keep on doing it.

I am thankful I found a hobby that makes me feel good. And I'm thankful I've avoided injury while running in these hazardous things:

These ugly things have got to be close to 4 years old.....maybe more. That's OLD...especially for running shoes. One of the laces broke in half and then frayed, and so to even tie them into a bow is kind of a challenge. Actually it's impossible. Also, they're technically men's shoes. So they probably don't fit the way a running shoe is supposed to fit, but they're comfy and they get the job done. I'm on the hunt for new running shoes, and I can't wait to lace up shoes that are more comfortable, increase my speed, and keep me injury-free.

Aside from my beat-up shoes, the other things that have kept me moving are:

Music. I can NOT run without my ipod. I can walk, but I find it SO much harder to pick up the pace and run when I'm not listening to something. It has to be the right music too. I have different playlists for when I'm in the gym and for when I'm running. My favorites for either playlist are the kind of songs that I could never ever listen to in the car when I'm with the girls. So they're like a guilty pleasure:

Another big motivating force: Arissa Ronell, Mariah Grace, Mallory Mae. I like the feeling that I get when they watch me make healthy choices. I like how every once in awhile they join in on doing pilates with me on the living room floor. And watching Arissa dance and do her crazy flips reminds me of what I used to be capable of (well I was never capable of doing the stuff she does, even when I was her age, but I was more flexible & active at least).

So that's that.....wayyyyy more than anyone ever wanted to know about me & my issues!!

:o)

Somebody suggested I scrapbook some before and after photos....but when I went to look for some, I realized that I've pretty much avoided photos both before AND after I lost a few pounds. :) Plus for some reason I don't really like the idea of photo comparisons like that. It would make me feel like I was less-than okay before.

I am working hard to base my attitude about weight on what attitude I want my girls to have.

I hope my girls focus on health and how it feels to run and jump and be strong and happy......not on weight.

I hope they never count calories.

I hope they never feel like they have to exercise 'x' times a week or else they've "failed" or been "bad".

I hope they never ever establish a magic number on the scale, which they feel makes them acceptable if they're below it, and scared to death of being over it.

I hope if they ever get to a point where they decide they need to lose some weight, that they don't feel like they'll only be okay once they do lose it.

And I figure if I want those things for them, it's possible that someone might want the same for me and if nothing else: I can want it for myself.

party time!

We went to a super fun birthday party to celebrate our good friend CALEB's 5th birthday:

Mallory was gone for several minutes and came back with what seemed like an endless amount of tickets:

Apparently she hit the lotto of the ticket games and won 1000 tickets.

Not once, but twice!

It was amazing.

Then, right before we left I saw a cute stuffed armadillo in the prize area that I wanted.

For 500 tickets.

So I bought some more tokens and Arissa and I played 20 or so games of basketball until we had enough tickets to redeem the little guy:

I was so happy. :)

And the girls were happy to celebrate with their sweet little friend & couldn't have had a more wonderful time:

On Saturday, Arissa went to a 6-hour birthday party.

While she was at that, Grandma took M&M to the beach!

Then on Sunday we traded places.

M&M went to a Luau birthday party:

And while they were doing that, Arissa & I hit the beach:

It was SUCH a perfect day.

It was warm, but there was a light cloud-cover so the sun wasn't beating down on us. The clouds covered up only the beach....there was a very distinct beginning and end to them. You step on the boardwalk, it was sunny. Step onto the sand, cloudy. :o)

Arissa did her best to make a sandcastle, even though neither of us had the foresight to bring a bucket or shovel or anything of the sort.

The water was soooo cold but we did go in just a little bit.

We found shells, and watched all the people. I laid on our towel and soaked up the sun....which I haven't done since I was probably 19! It was so nice.

Then Arissa kicked up some sand right by my face and I spent the next 15 minutes trying to get it all out of my mouth. :o)

She thought it was pretty funny.

Such a fun time, and a beautiful day.

For me, relaxing at the beach (just laying there listening to the waves) is as rejuvinating as a 3-hour nap.

Not to underestimate the power of a 3-hour nap, cause I do love those too!

everything looks better with glitter

I saw a template for a paper Eiffel Tower online and I said oo oo OO I wanna make that!

So I got some cardstock, the template, some mod podge, and a whole lotta glitter, and went to town:

Isn't she pretty??

I put it on display on my bookshelf...next to what is I guess becoming my Eiffel Tower 'collection'.

(The other big one I picked up on sale, the little tiny one I got in Paris, and it's all next to the photo of me at the top of the tower in 1997):

M&M wanted to make one too....but I had a feeling they were more interested in the glitter than in the Eiffel Tower itself. So we got out some wood cut-outs I had picked up at JoAnn's months ago....slathered on some mod podge and glittered the heck out of them.

Everything looks better with glitter.

Including our kitchen table and our fingertips and clothes. :o)

working on....

This past week I've been soooo busy at work.

Nothing to do with my actual job though. :o)

I've been working on a project for my Grandma:

I'm typing up the memoir that my Grandpa wrote (he died in 2000, a month before Arissa was born).

I've spent every spare second (before work, on my breaks, on my lunch...) working on this thing, and I've been having so much fun (even though my hands ache after 30 minutes of straight typing).

It's fun because it's like a history lesson...about how things were in 1919, how the Great Depression affected my Grandpa and his family, and about WWII as well. But mostly it's fun because as I type it up, I can hear my Grandpa's sweet voice---but not in the delusional-hearing-voices kind of way. I mean in the way he's written it, I can remember the way he used to talk, which I've forgotten. I do wish though that I could have been working on it while he was still alive, because there's a lot of things I would like to ask him follow-up questions about, or things I would like to have him explain further. But something is better than nothing.

And the best part is reading about how he met my Grandma and how they got together. I just love it. I've told my Grandma that if she leaves me nothing else when she dies, the one thing I do want is the box of letters she has that my Grandpa wrote to her from world war II. I asked her once to let me see them but she said they were private, and that I could look at them all I want when she's dead and gone and I can't tease or make fun of her. How cute is that.

This is me and my sweet Grandpa...and a super big loaf of bread. Don't know the story behind that. :o)

Dear Lord,

Why couldn't you have made me a few inches shorter so I could have worn these and not felt like a giant? And a little more wealthy so I could afford them?

:o(

what I'm loving right now:

I'm trying to give up soda. I might as well be trying to give up speaking, or laughing. That's how hard it is for me. I haven't officially said "as of NOW, no more at all", cause I've tried that before and by noon the headache comes on, I get irritable, and I buy a big gulp. But I realize that if I quit drinking it, and it alone, I would probably lose 15-20 pounds. I know this cause I did it before. And also because I don't usually enjoy soda by itself, I like to be eating at the same time. So no soda, less (and different) eating. So I'm trying to ease into it.

And this Arrowhead sparkling water is fabulous. When I bought it, all they had was Raspberry-Lime, which kind of made me gag. But it tastes really delicious. And of course it's got the fizzies, just like my beloved soda. It's not at all the same, but it's something.

And then this: I read this book when Oprah originally announced it as part of her book club....must have been in 1998 or 1999. After the Oscar's on Sunday, I picked it up again and finished it in 2 days. It's SUCH a good book! Although, after reading it this time, I feel like maybe I shouldn't have been reading it when I was only 18/19 years old....it's pretty explicit. But it's such a good story, and such GREAT writing. I just love it. It's translated from German, and when I read stuff that's been translated I always wonder about the translator...how to me they deserve as much acclaim as the author. I know from just trying to translate things I read in french.....it's really really difficult to a) determine what the writer MEANT when they were writing, and b) to make it sound nice in English.

I don't know if I'm up for seeing the movie The Reader though....although I'm tempted after watching the Oscar's, and because I love love LOVE Kate Winslet. But I don't think I'm up for all that nudity. Plus, as was evident with Confessions of a Shopaholic, the book IS always better than the movie so maybe I should just leave it at that! :O)

Disney....Injury....School Pics

Last week I got an email from my friend saying she had won tickets to DISNEY ON ICE and would I like to bring the girls and go with her...my answer: ARE YOU KIDDING???? We are ALL about Disney On Ice....but now that are girls are of the ticket-requiring age, we don't go to those kind of shows often if at all because it's like $100 for the 5 of us to go. So I was giddy with excitment and managed to not even tell the girls about it until the very day of the show. Needless to say, THEY LOVED IT:


Our group (minus me)...thank you CULA for inviting us!!!!:

Through the eyes of a child:

The one photo of the actual show that didn't come out horribly blurry:


A few weeks ago I got to work and saw an email from Mallory's preschool, reminding parents about picture day...which was that very day. I, being at work and a long trolley ride away from home couldn't do anything about it, so I called Jesse frantically and tried to instruct him over the phone on what to dress Mallory in and what to do with her hair. These are her proofs:


And this is my latest adventure.....I fell in our yard in the dark, hyperextended (I don't know if that's the right word but that's the one I like to use cause it sure feels like what happened to me!) my right arm so badly I couldn't move it, scratched and bruised my leg in 3 places, and impaled my hand with the fence which I tried to grab onto. It was bad. I screamed....of course, and Jesse thought it was my usual "hee hee, I'm being silly" scream, when actually it was a "help me I think my arm is being ripped off and I'm going to die" scream. I just laid on the grass and cried! I really thought my arm muscle must have been ripped to shreds and I'd forever be in a sling. I went to the dr and got some RX meds, and today my hand looks much better and I have more use of my arm, although I still can't lift it. Such drama!

what a lovely way to start the day!

I am NOT a coffee drinker. And no, that's not just because I'm Mormon (as people always assume), it's more because I hate the taste of coffee. I love the smell of it brewing, but the taste does nothing for me.

However! I have a wicked sore throat this morning.....the kind that makes me dread the next time I'll have to swallow because it hurts so bad. So I wanted something soothing....I had a bite of ice cream this morning, I thought maybe I could numb the pain but that didn't work (although Rocky Road is a great incentive to get up out of bed!). So as I got off the trolley this morning, I walked into Starbucks cause I thought maybe something warm would soothe my throat. I was going to get a Chai Tea Latte, which is the only thing at Starbuck's I've found that I can handle, when I remembered it's Automn now so they have their seasonal Pumpkin Spice Latte! So I got one of those, forgot to ask for Soy milk but I did ask to hold the whipped cream. $4 later, I no longer cringe with pain every time I swallow (although it still hurts a little), and I feel all warm and cozy and ready for a forecasted rainy weekend, Oktoberfest, hopefully lots of knitting & reading, and maybe a fun Automn craft w/ my girls!!

mmmm...