The need to VENT!

I need to vent! Maybe if I get some of my frustrations out in black and white, I will be able to let this go and move on.
My brother-in-law was to get married this saturday, he emailed us and gave us the info for a Holiday Inn Express for all the "wedding party" to make reservations at. So I looked it up online and made reservations, using the "special" code he gave us. This was a month ago. We get our credit card bill and the hotel has already charged us, I thought sometimes this is normal, we have been charged a fee in advance before, but this was the whole $220 bucks for 2 nights.

This last week we found out the wedding is off. No, this is a good thing. It did not sound healthy from the beginning. Anyway, I call to cancel, and they tell me they can not refund a penny!!!!!!! I am fuming still and it has been 3 days. When I went online it pulled up a list of rooms under this "special" code and I just clicked on the cheapest one. Who wouldn't??? Appearently this wasn't part of the whole "special wedding party" (so why wasn't this mentioned?) this was an advance purchase price. Are you kidding me?!?! How in their "honorable" company policy can they expect people to pay for a hotel room and as the "general manager" said "take a risk" at paying for it a full month in advance!

The wedding was called off, not our doing, but I think the least this lousy hotel can do is give us our money back. They won't even give us a credit to use towards another of their hotels! I wouldn't even care if they charged us a fee of some sort for canceling, but for heavens sake give us our money back.

Either way, we are not paying. I am disputing the charge on my card and if that doesn't work my brother-in-law is paying. We are still heading out to Idaho and Utah and I am doing everything in my power to stay away from Holiday Inn! They better watch out if I ever stay in one again. They might end up missing a few items!!!!!!!!!!!! GGRRRRR!!!!!!!

The End!!!

My final testing for kickboxing is done! I am excited to sleep in a little this next week! Here are my stats:
lost 3 inches in my stomach
lost 2 1/2 inches in my lower waist/bottom area
lost 2 inches in my thighs
lost 2 inches in my chest
gained 3/4 inch in my arms, but there is no jiggle and it is more muscle now
and lost 9 pounds
push-ups - going from, I believe, 13 to 57 in a minute
sit-ups- going from 9 to 32 in a minute
sit and reach 19 to 21
and I did worse on my mile 12:15 to 13:26.

I have been sick since thursday and I missed friday, which is the only day I have ever missed.
I am pleased with my results and I feel healthier, well not right now, because my throat is killing me, I ache and I am starving but I can't eat anything because it hurts so bad. Anyway, it was fun but I am glad that it is over. I am ready for a little change. Hopefully I can continue to workout in our basement. So here is to 10 weeks of working out!!!

Singing!!!

My kids have all been singers. Megan and Sarah especially. They love the Cars movie soundtrack and for christmas Megan got a karaoke player and just recently we found the cd for the Cars movie, so this is the kids singing and dancing to it. I wish you could hear Sarah more but she knows this song well and will actually sing along to it! So cute!

Megan and her wonderful teacher at the end of her kindergarten year! Thank you for being a wonderful teacher!!!

Sarah finally doing "kissy lips".

Sarah taking a little nap.

Joseph having fun swinging.

Pictures from lately

We set up our tent recently in our backyard, Brent, Megan and Joseph were going to sleep in it. Joseph was to scared by the time night came, but Megan was fine, and don't ask Brent about how he slept. (or I should say didn't sleep!) I still had to get up early so I didn't sleep out there and there was no way Sarah was sleeping out there. So this is Sarah and Joseph after they discovered the little vent whole at the bottom. We just got our tent at Christmas so this is the first time being used!

Megan, Sarah and Joseph in the tent. Sarah does "kissy lips", she wouldn't do it for this one but Megan and Joseph did.

A little dark, but this is after a baseball game last week.

weeks down - 9, weeks to go - 1 ?!

I can't believe I have been doing this kickboxing for 9 weeks! I just finished week 9 this morning and I have next week left. I get my after pictures taken thursday and my final testing is Saturday. I definitely can feel a difference and see a difference. I feel healthier and stronger. They have a maintenance course that I could sign up for and keep doing, but I am not going to. I am planning on doing things at home. Instead of getting up at 4:40am I am going to allow myself to sleep in until about 5:00 or 5:30am and get up and exercise then. Brent and I used to get up at 5:30 each morning before we had kids and now that I have been getting up so darn early, I think it will be easier to get up and workout here. Anyway, I am debating whether or not to post my before and after pictures. It might depend on how much of a difference I see. What do you think, Post it and show the world or keep it to myself? I am pretty white and I still have a nice belly, but that's me for now. My friends I grew up with used to call me bug zapper or such fun names because I was so white and could never tan, so the pictures wouldn't surprise them! Anyway, I will certainly post my final measurements and test time, it is the picture that has me worried. So let me know what you think.

Callings

I have lived in Iowa now for almost 10 years. Can you believe it!?!? Over these ten years I have had many callings in church. Ward missionary, baptismal clothing coordinator, enrichment committee, enrichment leader, nursery worker, 1st counselor in Relief Society, Primary secretary, and 1st counselor in Primary.
I believe all callings help you in your next calling. When I moved here I was just out of Young Womens and had never been to Relief Society, so it was good to be a ward missionary. I was able to get to know investigators and get to know the people in the ward.
Enrichment gave me responsibility. Nursery gave me a glimpse of chaos! (only having Megan by then) Relief Society counselor, I more fully interacted with the women in our ward.
Then 5 years ago I was put in Primary. I had always said "Don't put me in primary, I wouldn't know what to do." Learning from Karin opened my eyes that primary was fun and the kids were so darn cute! I didn't have to teach very often, which was just fine with me. I am one of those millions out there that hate to get up in front of a crowd. Then working with Toni as 1st couns., I got even more involved with teaching the kids and getting to know them more. Teaching once or twice a month and working with teachers has really been fun.
Now is the time of year when our ward gets a whole bunch of people that move in and move out. Unfortunately, our beloved Bishop is one that is moving. :( So naturally with many changes coming I have felt something was going to change for me, too. The Bishop called me on a thursday morning and asked to come by and speak with us that night. My suspicions were right, he extended a calling. Primary President.
I have to be honest, I was very excited. I was nervous about being out of primary since I have been in so long, but I was ready for anything. I really love the children in our ward and I really have gotten use to getting up and teaching, still nervous every now and then, mostly when I look at the teachers! Sometimes I feel stressed but mostly I feel very blessed and almost a little guilty about being given this wonderful opportunity to remain in such a fulfilling calling.

So I have to say, looking back on all the callings I have had, I truly feel they have all helped me get to a point where Heavenly Father trusts me to be a leader to help teach these children the gospel and be a support to teachers. I have a very wonderful presidency alongside me that I believe with all of us working together we can do wonderful things.
Many more callings are yet to come, but for now....I am happily blessed! :)