New Years Eve with My Butterfly Girls

I was able to get together with my Butterfly Girls for New Years Eve and we had a blast. The girls spent most of the evening in the kitchen chatting and our poor husbands and kids got stuck downstairs playing the Wii all night. I'm sure they had a miserable time. :-( Sure sounded like it from all the laughter we could hear.

Me and the ladies!


My Janis


The Johnson Fam


The Sanders Fam


We exchanged Christmas gifts and I gotta give a huge shout out to Janis who bought me the most awesome gift ever! Bob Nelson's HBO comedy hour special "Nelson Schmelson". The girls used to watch that show almost religiously in high school and I am such a HUGE fan! So perfect, Janis - you totally rule!

White Christmas

This is the beautiful scene we woke up to Christmas morning. There is nothing better than a white Christmas.




Poor Hiro has to try and walk through that! It's past his shoulders!



Possible surprise for unsuspecting visitors! That is just above the steps to our front door. Eek!

Certifiably Insane

I don't know what got in to me. (I blame my good friend Liz and my "uncle" John.) Liz ran a marathon a few years ago and wouldn't stop talking about how great it was and how EVERYONE should do it at some point. So every year I say I'm going to start training and every year I end up putting it off. Or I get to that 1.5 mile wall and just don't get past it. Well, John was telling me at Thanksgiving about the Canyonlands Half Marathon in Moab in March and how he was registering to race and encouraged me to join him. I thought to myself, "This is what you need - a deadline! You need a race date to get you over that wall!" I registered. And darn it all! I was selected. Am I insane, or what? When I saw that email that said "Canyonlands Half Marathon Lottery Acceptance" I literally wanted to bang my head against the wall.
Well ... it's done. It's paid for - I might as well do it. Heaven help me!

Madison Anne's Blessing

Justin and I were very fortunate to go to California for Madison's blessing the first week of December. This was our first opportunity to meet her and hold her - I fell in love with her immediately. She is adorable and beautiful and precious and sweet and I didn't want to leave her. And Brayden is such a big boy, now! That kid can rock, too! What a little headbanger - he's such a stud! It was also great to see the Schambecks again. We've been able to spend a few holidays and special occasions with them now and they are such great people and so welcoming to us outsiders. It was not easy to go home after only a few short days with them. I miss them.

My Big Bro





Mikey's Family


Proud Papa



The Schambeck Clan

Such a Doll

CONSOLED BY COLDPLAY

Saturday was a day of highs and lows. After the BYU loss we needed something to lift our spirits and the Coldplay concert was just the thing to do it. Coldplay is awesome .... the concert was awesome. I had a great time. It was so worth it! I am so glad we were able to go. I've been a huge fan of Coldplay since I first heard them. And I've seen them perform several times so I knew they could put on a great show. WOW! I love concerts! I think they're so overpriced, but the energy level of the crowd - the excitement of a live performance. Those things are so hard to put a price tag on.
For those of you with your sound turned on. For your listening enjoyment .....

The Season is Over

Well, the 2008 college football season is over for BYU. It was a bittersweet year. We still finished in the top 25 and that is definitely worth something. We killed UCLA and that was very exciting! But we had two crucial losses. It's one thing to play hard, execute well, and lose to a better team. It's another thing to beat yourself. (Hold on, Ute fans! I'm not saying that Utah or TCU are not great teams, because they were. I'm just saying that I'd like to see how it would have turned out if we'd brought our A game.)
I learned this year what it is to be an emotional fan. I have gotten into football like never before. Felt the passion and excitement for the game like never before. And for the fist time felt truly disappointed and defeated from the losses.
I still haven't decided if being a passionate fan is a positive thing or not. But I guess I have like 10 months to contemplate, right?

No Annoying Fans, One Great Hit, and Great Officiating

Well, Saturday was another BYU football game. We stayed in our own seats this time for most of the game, but did sneak down two rows eventually to the slightly roomier seats with Justin's parents. The "unbelievable" annoying fan was not there this game - thank goodness! The game was enjoyable. It's always a bit more exciting when it's a close game (although nothing will ever hold a candle to the orgasmic UCLA game - yeah, that's right! I said orgasmic!) But it is still frustrating when it shouldn't be a close game; when we should have no problem at all taking that team out. Justin and I had great seats for that amazing hit by two BYU players on one UNLV player. Anyone who saw the game knows EXACTLY what hit I'm talking about. We could hear the crunch of the pads from our seats and it was sickening!
I also have to say that the officiating was the best that we've seen all year. Especially the referee - he was AWESOME! (It was great to see you, Land!)

My Wall

My apologies to those of you who follow both of my blogs because I will on occasion post the same thing on both blogs.

I have this wall - Maybe we all have our walls. I've hit my wall twice in my life. The first time was when I was 27 and I stepped on the scale one morning and saw ZZZ lbs. For my height and body type - ZZZ lbs is 5 lbs from clinically overweight. I made the decision right then and there to make some changes in my life. And for the first time EVER I seriously dieted and I lost 25 lbs. I worked out a little, but not really hard, my main focus was on my diet. The weight came off in about 6 months and once it was off - I went back to my same lifestyle. I was very fortunate in that I didn't put it all back on, at least not immediately. The second time I hit my wall was this past March. I had gone from a size X to a size Y and I needed to move up to size Z. I stepped on the scale one morning and I saw ZZZ lbs AGAIN! ZZZ lbs is evidently my wall. My do not pass go, do not collect $200, go directly to unhappy. I had two choices - go out a buy a new wardrobe or lose weight. I had two choices - given in and accept that this was me or get to work. I didn't want to spend money on a new wardrobe of even bigger clothes. But I also wasn't ready to just give in and be completely unhappy with myself, my health, and my body. The difference between this wall and the last one? I didn't want to simply lose weight – I wanted to get healthy, I wanted to get active. I’ve never been athletic and I asked myself why not? Because I never wanted to work for it. (My cross country experience being a perfect example of this.) Now I want to work for it. Now I’m willing to work for it. I didn’t want to just lose weight – I wanted to make a major transformation.
Not only am I down more than 15 lbs and 2 sizes, but just as important - I'm in the best shape of my life. And I'm not even finished yet.

Shout Out - Hubby Tag

Thanks Lyndee for tagging me. I can always count on you! I do like this one because I get to talk about my favorite person – my cute hubby. I always tell Justin to check out my blog because I gave him a “shout out”. Well, baby, this is a serious shout out!


Where did you meet?
At work. We both worked for Convergys and we were in the same training class.

How long did you date before you were married?
We met on December 11, 2000. Our first date was Valentine’s Day 2001. And we were engaged exactly one year after our first date. We were married in September 2002. So about a year and 7 months.


How long have you been married?
Right now? 6 years, 3 weeks, 4 days

What is your favorite feature of his?
The first thing I noticed about him was his broad shoulders and his height. I am very attracted to guys who are built like football players. I love his big broad shoulders, his height, his great mouth, his blue eyes, and his contagious laugh.

What is your favorite quality of his?
He might be surprised to hear this, but his sense of humor. He is hilarious! He’s also amazing with kids. I love to watch him interact with our nieces and nephews – they absolutely adore him.

Does he have a nickname for you?
Oh, sure – lots. Babe and Baby are the most often used.

What is his favorite color?
Green

What is his favorite food?
:-) Just about anything. He is not a picky eater like me. Some of our favorite restaurants are Baja Cantina, Asian Star, Olive Garden, Iggy's.

What is his favorite sport?
Justin loves all sports. He just loves competition of about any kind. Some of his favorites are football, softball, and golf.

When and where was your first kiss?
It was January 25, 2001 on our lunch break at work in one of our cars - I can’t remember which and I think it was in the back seat ;-) What? It's much easier to cuddle and make-out back there.

What is your favorite thing to do as a couple?
PG answer? BYU football games, watch TV and movies, travel.


Do you have any children?
Just Hiro. But he's awesome


Does he have a hidden talent?
His amazing ability to make anyone feel at ease with him. He is just great with people. But more important – he is great with me. He has the ability to make me feel confident, beautiful, and secure like no one else ever has.

How old is he?
32 years

Who said “I love you first”
I did, but I didn’t mean to. I was certainly thinking it, but I wanted the moment to be just perfect when I first professed my love for him. And at the theatre in the middle of Miss Congeniality was not the perfect moment. I blurted it out and then immediately covered my mouth in surprise.

What is his favorite type of music?
Justin has an amazing voice! He is very musically talented. (I just wanted to throw that in.) His taste in music is very diverse because of his appreciation for music. He likes just about everything except Country and Jazz. Probably more pop, rock, r&b, and alternative than anything else.

What do you admire most about him?
His confidence. He doesn’t seem to be intimidated or afraid of anything.

"Unbelievable!"

Justin and I sat with his parents for the New Mexico game on Saturday. We're only 3 rows behind them so it isn't like their seats are much better, but they are right on the front row and that makes it easier to get in and out if you need to run to the concession stands or the restroom. They also have that lovely railing you can put your feet on to kick back and relax while enjoying the game. And the people who sit next to them aren’t usually using all their seats so we can spread out a bit. Those little luxuries, we discovered, are not worth it! We had the most obnoxious fan behind us. He was part fan, part commentator, part coach, part pessimist. This guy NEVER shut up! Every single play that was run he’d comment on. How many yards they’d picked up, who carried the ball, what down it now was, how many yards we still had to go – you get the picture. He’d also throw out little statistics about the players. Commentator.
Every play we ran was wrong. On offense if we ran, he thought we should have passed, if we passed, he thought we should have ran. On defense someone always missed a block or wasn’t covering their man like they should have. “Unbelievable!” He wouldn’t stop saying that. “Who’s covering the quarterback? Unbelievable!” Coach.
We held Wyoming to 3 points and we managed to score 21, but the way this guy was talking you would have thought that BYU was the dumbest and worst team in college football, that our offense couldn’t score, and that our defense was worthless. They just couldn’t seem to do anything right. Pessimist.
But I couldn’t help wondering – is he even really a fan?
Next home game – if this guy is there – I’ll stay in my own seats even if the “better” seats are available. Unbelievable!

Change in Vocabulary

Ok, I want to clarify on my previous post. No, it's not just about the weight. It IS about being healthy. It's also about being happy with myself. Do I think I need to lose weight? No. Seven months ago when I was near "clinically overweight"? Maybe. And I lost it. Nowadays I may say that I need to lose weight and it isn't about the actual weight it's about being tone. I could never lose another pound and be perfectly happy as long as I continue to get tighter and firmer. But also, even if THAT NEVER happened. I could accept that and be happy as long as I knew I was strong, healthy, and in the best physical condition I was capable of.
I know that when people hear, "I want to lose weight" they equate that to "I'm fat". Because of this I need to make a change. I need to make a change in my vocabulary. I need to stop using phrases like "lose weight" or the word "fat" (not that I use it often). And I need to start using words like healthy, fitness, tone, active, endurance, and strength.
To those of you who have offered and continue to offer me support - thank you!

Why Can't I Be Incredible?

How much would I have to weigh or how big would I have to get before I can say I'm trying to lose weight and people would be supportive and say "good for you" instead of "you don't need to lose weight"? Am I expected to get to clinically overweight, socially overweight, obese, or morbidly obese? I do know from personal experience that if you're simply approaching clinically overweight you can't expect any support from others. But why is that?
I'm all for loving yourself no matter what size, shape, or weight you are. But why should I have to settle? What if I'm not happy with sitting on the fence of overweigtness? (if I may be so bold as to make up a word here.) Why should I be fine with a weight that is still within "healthy" (albeit JUST barely) when my lifestyle isn't healthy and my diet isn't healthy - I've just been fortunate thus far with my metabolism and my genetics? I don't think I should wait until my metabolism is no longer in my favor to make a decision to change and actually get a little support.
Justin has always been amazing anytime I've decided to "lose weight" by telling me that he thinks I'm beautiful, but that he understands that it's about what I think - that it's important for me to be happy with my body. (BTW - Thanks, Baby, you are wonderful and I love you very much!)
My doctor told me I have an 80% chance of developing diabetes in my lifetime. Do I sit around and wait to see if I’m just lucky enough for that 20%? Do I wait until I’m pre-diabetic or diabetic to start taking control of my health? At what point is it acceptable for me to decide that I’m going to do everything I possibly can to avoid that 80%?
When I've told people I’m trying to lose weight, or I’m trying to make better food choices, or I’m going to the gym everyday they often say, “You don’t need to do that.” “You don’t need to lose weight.” “You can eat this.” “You’re ok.” “You look fine.” What is their purpose to saying those things? Are they just trying to be polite? Do they say that because they think I want to hear that? They certainly aren’t doing me any favors and they come off as very discouraging. Why don't they want me to be the best that I can possibly be? Why should I settle for ok? Why should I settle for fine? Why shouldn't I be amazing? Why can't I be incredible?