Arise and Shine Forth

Each year, the Young Women in our ward get to enjoy a program called New Beginnings. It is a night where the theme for the year is highlighted and all of the happenings of the Young Women are highlighted. The theme this year is "Arise and Shine Forth...that thy light may be a standard to all the nations -D&C115:5." My friend Patti came up with a fun idea. She thought a morning talk show theme would go well with the Arise and Shine Forth theme. She and my other friend, Jan were the talk show hosts. They interviewed two of our super busy, talented, athletic, musically gifted Laurels(16-18 yr. old age group). They asked the girls how they were able to do it all(school, seminary, sports, time with friends, church, band, family activities) and still be able to find the time to work/complete their Personal Progress goals.


They also interviewed Amanda to talk about Personal Progress Boot Camp and all that the girls have achieved this year. They interviewed the Stake YW's President to talk about upcoming activities. There was a special musical number by the YW. They sang Arise and Shine Forth, a beautiful song by Jenny Phillips. One of our Beehives(12-13 yr. old age group), Sydnie put together a slide show(that counted as one of her Personal Progress goals), set to music. It was all of our activities over the last year. It was fun to look back on all of our Wednesday night activities and other outings.


There was an awesome audience give away. All of the girls received a music CD and their very own Arise and Shine, hot chocolate mug.

It just wouldn't be an activity/fabulous morning show without treats. My friend, Sheri made homemade cinnamon rolls and I made the homemade hot chocolate that we served to the girls in their new Arise and Shine mugs. My friend, Amanda created all of the graphics/fun fonts for the mugs/banner/treat sticks.


I feel so lucky to be able to serve in the Young Women's program. The girls that we work with are amazing young women who are kind, thoughtful, creative, talented, beautiful(on the inside and out), and so very sweet.

Just as equally beautiful and talented are the leaders that I get to serve with! What an AMAZING group of ladies. I love each and every ONE of them. They are very generous with their time and talents. It makes the YW's program in our ward over the top FUN!

I took Tanner to his monthly(actually it is every 3 weeks) appointment with Dr. F.. Tanner gets his hopes up before each and every appointment, hoping that it will FINALLY be the day that the cast comes off for good. He has had it taken off, just for x-rays and then a new one is put right back on. On the way over to his appointment, I was trying to keep the mood light, not knowing whether the cast would be coming off for good or not. I encouraged Tanner to pick a new cast color, one he hadn't had before. The nurse cut the cast off for him and sent us down for x-rays.



When Dr. F. walked into the room, he put the new x-rays up to the light and said "good news!" I have never seen Tanner perk up so fast. Dr. F let us know that the small bone(Tibia) was completely healed and that the big bone(Fibula)was well on it's way to being totally healed. He then told Tanner that he would not be putting a cast back on. Instead, we were to go next door to be fitted for a walking boot. HOORAY!!!!!!! The 1st ting tanner mentioned was taking a shower again. Lets just say that we didn't see him for 45 minutes once we got home :-).

Eleven

Today we celebrate Carter! He is officially 11 years old. Today is his GOLDEN birthday. 11 years old on the 11th day of March. FUN! Where did the time go? I remember the day I gave birth to this sweet boy. He had a full head of jet black hair. I quickly called him my little Monchichi. He has brought us so much love and joy over the years. We are happy to call him our son. His birthday fell on a Sunday this year. While it might not be the most exciting day for an 11 year old boy, with church to attend, we did make it all about him. He was up at the crack of dawn(5:00 am) begging to open presents. I told him that it wasn't Christmas and he needed to go back to bed for a few more hours. He did, begrudgingly. Once it was a decent hour, he was up and ready to par-tay. When he woke up(in the daylight hours), he found his door wrapped and decorated with small trinkets/candy. Dad made cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then the unwrapping of the presents began.

















We surprised Carter with an ipod touch. It has been on his list for about 2 years now. Instead of having a friend birthday party this year, we caved and bought him his ipod touch. I didn't want him to be disappointed with just one gift(he not knowing what it was). So, I wrapped his ipod in different sized boxes(about 10 times over). It was fun watching him open his present(s). He laughed a little harder as he unwrapped another box and another layer of paper.




They sang to him and the other birthdays this week in Primary(children's meeting at church). Our friend Gerald was able to capture the crazy birthday attire that accompanied that birthday song.


We ended his day with dinner and birthday cake. We hope his 11th year of life is filled with laughter and happiness! Happy Birthday, Carter.

Moms Gone Tired 2012

Our annual scrapbook weekend was given an official name/title this year by Denise. Moms Gone Tired. If you know Denise, you know that she is all about the nick names/titles :-). We had 8 of us on the trip this year. We missed Michelle. She is expecting Baby #5 and wasn't feeling up to the weekend. Hopefully she will make it next year with that new baby in tow...Michelle :-)???

It was a gorgeous weekend at Dillon Beach! Here are a few of the highlights.

Our beach house. There was a last minute switch of houses. Denise did a great job picking a new house on the fly. This house had a ton of windows which made fro great lighting.



Scrapbooking. The main reason this specific get away was organized. We haul our tables and chairs and move the furniture when we get there. We had lots of space this year and spent hours creating.
































The view. Absolutely amazing! Debby and I had gone out on a walk an hour before sunset. One of the guys working on the house next door told us to make sure we watched for the Green Flash when the sun set that evening. We quickly did a power walk so we could make it back in time for the Green Flash. We grabbed the other girls and headed out the door. Eve was convinced it was a hoax :-). she thought that same guy was the green Flash and was going to drop his drawers and show us his green underwear -ha! We lined up on the curb and watched to sun set. There was not a Green Flash of any type but the view was amazing.





Gift Exchange. One of our yearly traditions is to bring a little gift for each friend. It can be ANYTHING! Your favorite candy. Lotion. Scrapbooking goodies...whatever! I made a CD of every ones favorite songs and Pretzel Hugs. I used my friend Brandi's/Pinterst idea for my wrapping this year :-).

































Movies and Music. The house that we rented had a projection TV. It was awesome! We watched a ton of movies. We scored the jackpot when we realized that someone had left their Adele LIVE DVD. It was amazing. We watched and sang along as we scrapped.


It wouldn't be a complete beach trip with these girlfriends without a little photo shoot before heading home. I am so thankful for a wonderful circle of friends. We talked about how we all come from different walks of life(families, religion, experiences, etc...) and how fun it is to be together. We have some amazing, heart to heart, and hilarious conversations. I am already looking forward to next year.

February by the Numbers

Oh boy! I am so behind on blog posts. Instead of trying to catch up, I thought I would start today and move forward. Before I do that, I wanted to record our February by the Numbers. They are some of my favorite posts to look back on, a quick glimpse of our family comings/goings/milestones.

ZERO books read by me(totally bums me out).
TWO different casts for Tanner(goodbye full leg cast, hello short cast).
THREE a. blog posts for the month...so sad!
THREE b. basketball parties celebrating awesome seasons.
FOUR a. layouts created...slow scrappin' month for me.
FOUR b. weeks of Fit Club classes under John's belt. Go, John, GO!
FIVE miles were run without stopping. First time ever(did this twice this month)!
EIGHT minute mile...fastest time ever!
Eleven a. friends get together to celebrate my 100 lb. weight loss...surprise style. Still makes me cry, I am blessed with amazing, thoughtful friends!
ELEVEN b. new songs downloaded. I bought the latest Blake Shelton album. Loving it!
TWELVE basketball games played by the boys(Carter,Garrett and Brody).
EIGHTEEN the # of candles on our niece, Sasha's birthday cake. It was fun to celebrate that milestone with her.
SIXTEEN family members go to the movies for my Mom's birthday!FUN!
TWENTY FIVE Fit Club classes were attended...couple of double days in there!
THIRTY FOUR years of marriage for my parents...thankful for their example.
FORTY NINE(RS) lose their shot at the Super Bowl...bummer.
SIXTY ONE candles on my Mama's birthday cake this year.
ONE HUNDRED lbs. gone from my body as of this month...HUGE goal checked off of the list.
ONE HUNDRED TWENTY miles logged(lots of running this month).

100

It is official! 100 is my new favorite number! Are you asking yourself, "why 100?" I am happy, proud, floored, ecstatic to announce that I have lost 100 lbs.. Can you believe that? I am still having a hard time wrapping my mind around it. 100 lbs.!!! When I wrote that goal down, a little over a year ago, that number almost seemed unattainable. I wasn't sure how I was going to do it but I knew that I had the determination and drive to attempt it. Honestly, I was a little unsure of my lofty goal. Just a little over a year later, I am there. There have been MANY heart to heart talks with John about what I wanted to accomplish. There have been MANY "you can do this" statements from John. There have been MANY early mornings spent at Fitness MD. There have been MANY afternoons spent at Fitness MD. There have been MANY friends cheering me on. There have been MANY Weight Watchers meeting attended. There have been MANY Weight Watcher Points Plus counted. There have been MANY habits kicked to the curb. There have been MANY new,healthy habits formed. There have been MANY miles logged (outdoors and) on my treadmill. There have been MANY tears shed. There have been MANY smiles due to triumphs/victories on that darn scale. There have been MANY weekly weight goals set by David at Fitness MD. There have been MANY people who have cheered me on! To you, I say thank you for the bottom of my heart. It has been quite the journey. A journey I am so glad I decided to take. Not only am I 100 lbs. lighter but I feel great!

Today was the day I officially stepped on the scale and hit that 100 lb. loss! It was exciting and very satisfying. The Weight Watcher leaders were excited for me and made a big deal about it. I was even called to the front of the room so the rest of the members/group could ask questions about my journey. I spent about 15 minutes in front of the group, sharing my story and answering their questions! And seriously, had I known they were going to do that to me, I would have dressed a tad bit cuter-ha! I went in my workout clothes.

This is my cute WW leader, Jan! She has been so positive and so wonderful! She has cheered me on each week. It has meant the world to me.



When I got home from my weigh in, this is what greeted me in our garage. As soon as I had texted John telling him that I had nailed my 100 lb. loss, without me knowing, he ran to the party store and purchased supplies to decorate the wall in our garage. As soon as I saw it, I bawled.




















Not only did he decorate the garage, I walked into the kitchen to find this. So fun!



I am so thankful to have John in my life. He has been so supportive and his love unconditional! I am so thankful to have that in my best friend, my partner in crime.

Now that I have hit my 100 lb. weight loss goal, friends and family are asking "now what?" Well, I have a few more lbs. that I want to lose and their are a few goals that are related to the gym that I want to kick some trash on. I can't wait to see what 2012 holds for me!

sneaky friends

My friend Amanda and I have been talking about treating ourselves to a pedicure and dinner at Pluto's. Amanda and I workout every morning together & thought we would do this for every 5-10 lbs. that we lost. Well, we have been talking about this since the early Fall(2011) and have lost (several) 10 lbs. (over& over since then). We finally narrowed down a day and time to treat ourselves. Amanda picked me up and we headed to Island Nails. We enjoyed fabulous pedicures. You know the ones...where they dip your feet in the paraffin wax and rub hot rocks on your legs. It was heavenly!



After an hour of getting our feet pampered, we headed to Pluto's for dinner. Amanda and I walked into Pluto's and got into line to order our salads. As soon as we stood in line, I heard lots of clapping and cheering. I turned towards the dining area to see what all the commotion was about and started to recognize lots of familiar faces...sweet faces of some of my very favorite people in the world. It took a minute for me to register what was going on. My friends had been a little sneaky and had gathered together to help me celebrate my weight loss. It was such a BIG surprise and sooooooo unexpected. They had beautiful flowers and colorful balloons waiting for me. I received hugs from each and every one of them with lots of congratulations. I totally lost it and started to cry.









I was so overwhelmed(in a good way) and floored that they were able to pull this surprise off. After the hugs, they had me sit down and open a fun basket of goodies. This basket was filled with exercise items. There was a new water bottle, new sweat towels, rubber bands for my hair, Fiber One bars, Vitamin Water, a bunch of bananas, and a Fitness MD tank top with a note from the Fitness MD crew. It was so thoughtful and so much fun to open. Then they had me open the card. There was a HUGE list of names of friends who had contributed. Inside that card were two, $100 Visa cards with a note that read: "this is to buy some new, girly clothes for yourself." Oh my goodness! How fun is that?


















































I felt so loved and spoiled. I am very thankful for each one of those girlfriends. They have cheered me on from day one and helped me believe that I could do it and succeed! I feel very blessed to be surrounded by such amazing ladies who have BIG hearts. I am VERY lucky to call each one of them MY friend...sneaky or not :-)!