Saturday, June 7, 2008

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!!!

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

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.


Saturday, May 31, 2008

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.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

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! :)

Saturday, May 10, 2008

6 weeks down and Mother's Day already?

I am officially done with 6 weeks of kickboxing and I have 4 more. I can not believe that it has gone by so quickly. I have definitely seen improvements and I feel healthier. Joseph told me yesterday that I looked thinner and almost like the pictures before I was married! I thanked him and then said I still have a long ways to go but someday...... I am still 4 sizes away to get there. My friend asked me the other day if I am going to be sad to be done with this and I think I will be. I definitly will not miss getting up a quarter to 5 in the morning but I will miss going there. Hopefully I can keep up with something at home or join a gym. I have learned a lot about different exercise moves and how to keep moving and the right form for doing excersice and more about nutrition and I think all this will help me to keep it up, at least until I get pregnant and get sick again. Who knows maybe I won't get sick (this is wishful thinking!) (this is not an announcement yet but hopefully will be in the next 4-5 months.)

The kids are doing great and keeping me plenty busy. Megan is excited for summer and better weather and having a break from school. She loves school but sometimes going 5 days a week from 9-4 is a little much and I think she wishes she could just stay home sometimes. She still loves to do crafts and likes to color or glue or make rockets lately. She has done so good in kindergarten this year. We are so proud of her!

Joseph is still learning like crazy and being a boy. He is always trying to pick on Sarah. He doesn't know how to play with her just yet so he is constantl putting either his hands or feet on her and that drives her crazy. He has 3 more times at preschool and next year he goes 3 days a week to preschool. I am afraid he will be bored out of his mind. Megan has taught him much of what she has learned and so he knows the entire alphabet and sounds of the letters and is starting to put them together. The same for numbers, he can count to 100. He just turned 4 in April!! What am I going to do with him!?!

Sarah is growing and growing. She loves to go on walks and be outside. She is talking a lot and always singing. She handed me a yogurt container last night and said as clear as day "open it".
She really is saying new words every day and Megan and Joseph are always trying to get her to say new things. She just adores them so most of the time will cooperate. We feel like she is still a bit wobbly in the walking department but that will improve with time. She is constantly taking out the hair clips I put in her hair. Her hair is long enough right now that is goes right in front of her eyes down to her nose, so I try to get it out of the way and she just pulls them right out! She is a stinker.

My kids are so wonderful and I love them so much. With tomorrow being Mother's Day, Brent took them out shopping today to get me something. I was thinking that just being their mom and looking at their beautiful faces and being able to give them hugs and kisses is the best present ever!!! I love you Megan, Joseph and Sarah!!!

I also want to wish my mom and Brent's mom a very wonderful Mother's Day!!! We wouldn't be where we are today without great mothers like you two.