Biggest Loser = 2nd weigh-in

So Monday night was my first weigh-in. Before I tell you about the weigh-in, let me tell you about my week. IT WAS TOUGH!!!! Monday after my first weigh-in I went to a Zumba class - LoVeD it! Tuesday was my rest day, Wednesday was Step! Holy Moly did it KiCk mY BuTT! My knees hurt but I felt great afterwards. I think that was my 3rd time attending that class and I know the moves well enough that I can push for more cardio, great workout! Thursday I took advantage of the treadmill downstairs and cranked my music for an hour with an incline of 8 and speed set at 3.5. My legs felt like they were going to fall off! Friday I made it to the gym after work for 35 minutes on the elliptical and 30 minutes of weight training. Saturday was back to Zumba, YEAh! and Sunday was back at home to watch The Help, while walking my fat off on the treadmill.

I made a lot of changes to my diet this week, maintained 1200 calories every day, didn't eat out once, and (I proudly admit) not 1 diet Dr. Pepper! I tried a lot of healthy alternatives to my normal recipes and couldn't help but smile when my husband told me that the enchiladas were better than any restaurant he'd been to! I am really enjoying the food thing and finding it easier to get in to! I tried and tried to stay off the scale at home this week, but twice I failed. I was pleasantly surprised to see a 5 pound loss on my home scales! However, when I went to the weight-in I came up with a 3 pound loss. I admit, I was disappointed after how hard I had worked this week but I decided pretty quickly that I will NOT get discouraged, that is 3 pounds I will never have to worry about again if I continue with this lifestyle. This week I will try harder and hopefully see some bigger numbers!

In class on Moday we talked about the importance of food journaling and menu plans. Luckily those were 2 things I had already started but I did get some great hand-outs. Let me know if you'd like copies and I'll find a way to get them to you!

Bigest Loser

One of my New Year's resolutions is to lose 70 pound before the holidays. I joined the gym last October and have been kind of hit and miss since I joined. I decided I needed a serious jump start into my weight loss to help keep me motivated ~ so I'm competing in a Biggest Loser contest through my gym. It started last night, I just had my first weigh in (Ouch) and my before picture taken. We talked a lot about nutrition and learning to substitute certain things that are really high in fat or calories. I know I need to make some big changes - but I never thought about the little things that really add up, so I guess I'm making small changes too!

The contest will go for 8 weeks, each week prizes will be given to the person with the highest weight loss percentage, and the grand prize winner will receive $1000. Now, don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to win the money; but my main goals are to develop healthy habits, feel better overall, and learn as much as I can about nutrition and exercise. I've decided to bring you all in on this journey because (A) I know I need the support and (B) I may be able to pass along information I've learned that can help someone else in their journey.

To help keep me motivated I am going to post some "before" pictures. In 8 weeks I will post some "after" pictures. Hopefully we will be able to start to see a difference!

12 Resolutions for 2012

1 - I will NOT stress the small stuff
2 - I will StOp and EnJoY when my boys want to PLAY
3 - If I don't have enough money - I don't need it. That will be my motto for 2012!
4 - 70 pounds before the next HoLiDAy season
5 - Do 1 thing for myself - EVERY DAY!
6 - Be the example at home, AND everywhere I go
7 - Give back to those who helped me through last year
8 - Be a better FRIEND
9 - FInD ways to show Rick ~ Ryker ~ Karsen how much I LOVE them, EVERY DAY!
10 - Finish 70 Credits at school (GULP)
11 - Build a stronger testimony
12 - Be a BeTTeR neighbor

Twas the Night Before Christmas

I know I've talked a lot about my Mom lately, but this is my blog....do deal with it! LOL! Growing up I think I remember more about Christmas Eve then Christmas Day. There was food on the table all day long then at night we would have a big dinner, play games, sing Christmas Carols, read the Nativity story, and open 1 present. Then when all the festivities were done all of us kids would "sleep" in one room. After a night of giggling, fighting and anticipating the next day, we would get up bright and early to tear through presents.

Even when money was scarce my Mom managed to put on an amazing Christmas with more then we ever needed! As we got older and more people were welcomed into our family, she never slowed down - Christmas was amazing!

This year I found myself trying to live up to that and keep some of my family traditions while creating new ones that are unique to me and my family. I think it was still a lot like my Mom's but I loved every minute of it. On Christmas Eve I cleaned the house then took Ryker grocery shopping with me. We decided on ham, potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie. While we were there we picked up a little Christmas tree and headed up to the cemetery. It was so pretty to look around and see all the flowers, lights and trees on the graves and know that there were others who were missing their loved ones, just trying to find a way to keep them with them during the holidays.

I spent the rest of the day preparing dinner - it turned out great and I enjoyed spending that one on one time with my family. After dinner we opened 1 present - Christmas jammies! I wish I would have had my camera near by - the boys looked so cute! We read the Nativity Story, put out cookies and Coke for Santa then got the boys to bed. Rick and I ate the cookies but Rick really didn't want to drink Coke that late at night so I found an empty can and put it by the plate. I was shocked in the morning when Ryker ran right past the presents to the cookie plate and yelled "Mom, Santa ate all his cookies and he drank his CocaCola!"

After that it was all a blur of wrapping paper, toys and shrieks of excitement. Once that died down it was time to put everything together and test it out. What a fun weekend! The holidays were hard this year but I also felt so blessed to be with my extended family and my little family! Now I am for sure ready for 2012! Bring it one!

Must be Santa, Santa Claus

If you've been reading my blog then you'll remember the post I wrote in November called "My Christmas Story". If not, go back and read it so you'll understand just how great this night was for me and my family.

The Wednesday before Christmas I took the day off work, baked a ham, made a cheese ball, pumpkin pie and readied my house for pure chaos! For the most part all my siblings are local, but Jared is currently working in Colorado and Misty lives in Twin Falls, ID. Somehow it all worked out and everyone was able to be here for our family Christmas party. Everyone was there and all the kids were running around crazy, until.....the doorbell rang! Ryker was the lucky one that got to open the door to Santa Claus!


Each of the kids got a present from Santa .... their ornaments from Grandma. Ryker got one that looked like a golf bag since he LOVES golfing with Daddy.


Karsen got his Baby's First Christmas ornament, of course! He didn't really care about the present, but he really liked Santa's beard!


I am so thankful for Santa and Mrs Claus! They are such a blessing to each of us and I can't find the words to express just how much they mean to me!


My sweet sister-in-law Emma snuck a gift for each family into Santa's bag. I can't look at this ornament without getting choked up. I was with my Mom when this picture was taken and it has come to mean so much to me and my siblings. I am so thankful for Emma's thoughtfulness and love for my Mom.

While the night was a lot of fun, I speak for myself when I say this, but I felt like someone was missing. When we sat down to sing Christmas Carols all the kids started singing Silent Night and I cried like a baby. I know my Mom loved that song and LOVED hearing her grandkids sing. I hope she heard it and knows that she created an amazing legacy.

O Little Town of ......Las Vegas?

I have been with Stevens-Henager College for almost 3 years now. A couple times a year they give the Admissions team a free trip to Vegas. They put us up at the Monte Carlo, free airfare, 3 meals a day, and more snack food and soda then I typically consume in a month. All they ask in return is that we stay awake for 9 hours each day and learn new things. I was a little surprised that they planned our latest trip in December but, what are you gonna do? I did a little strip sight seeing, buffet eating and spending time with friends. I'll admit ....I was a little pathetic this time. I was in my room by 9 each night for a little study time and then tried to catch up on about 4 years of restless nights!

Bellagio Christmas room

Yes, I know I look 10 months pregnant - I'm not! Look back here when I post my New Year's resolutions!

I don't care if you like Chocolate of not....That looks AMAZING!

No, I didn't meet the Jabbawakeze - it was a skit we did for training. Too bad 2 other campus' had the same idea!

This is the Ogden Admissions Team!

No Place Like Home for the Holidays!

There is no place better than Utah during the holidays! So many fun family activities! Here is just a little of what we got to do in December as a family. Since it was especially cold this year, Karsen stayed home with Rick and Ryker and I got a lot of quality time. I tried to remember to take pictures at each event but, sadly, missed out on a few. Here are a couple highlights:


This year when I pulled out my ornaments to decorate the tree I noticed that there were several I didn't recognize. For the life of me, I couldn't remember them! Until finally I got to a couple that I remembered giving my Mom in Christmas' past. She must have somehow snuck them in with my other ornaments. It meant so much to me that I left my tree a little more bare this year with just lights, ornaments and the star. I loved my tree this year!


I have been slowly collecting each piece of this nativity set with the help of my Mom. She gave me most of it for Christmas last year. I love this set and wanna get the last couple pieces so next year it can be complete.

For the last 6 years I have been building my Christmas Village. Each year I add on a new building. I'm thinking that in the next couple years I'll have to find a new spot for it.

I got to escape on one of my days off from work and take my niece Lily to the movies for her Birthday. We saw Arthur Christmas, ate pizza and candy and I loved getting to spend some one on one time with her. I think I'll make this my new tradition for the nieces and nephews birthdays, I love spending time with family!

There is a park in Ogden that turns into Christmas Village the day after Thanksgiving. It was a little too cold to walk around so we went and saw Santa then rode the train around the block and called it good.

This is Ryker on the train, I love his "smiley" face!


Karsen is now 8 months old, says Mamma and scoots EVERYWHERE! He is still so happy and playful, loves to cuddle and is pretty dang spoiled!

Ryker was sagging his pants and looked like a little gangster. I told him to show me a peace sign and he did this - I guess he's a little OG!

This month I also took the boys to our ward Christmas breakfast, went on a horse carriage ride through the lights at Willard Bay, made a yummy Christmas Eve dinner and spend a lot of quality time with my family. Believe it or not, I'm still not caught up with the month of December so keep checking back, I'm getting there!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

For the last 3 years I have been fortunate enough to watch Ryker sing with his classmates from Operation Happy Kids in their annual Christmas program. At 1 he stood in front of his other classmates and just smiled since he couldn't pronounce half the words. At 2 he sang as loud as possible then ran back to his Mamma as soon as it was over. At 3 - my heart swelled a little - he sat protectively by his little brother and sang every word clearly. Karsen just looked happy to be sitting next to his best buddy and loved listening to the other kids sing.



I know it's hard to see, but yes that's Karsen, trying to get the antlers off his head.


Ryker just giggled when Karsen tried to take off Santa's beard. My little trouble makers!


Karsen loved seeing Santa, but liked the paper even more!


Like I said, he loved the paper.


Ryker had his own present but was happier to clean up Karsen's paper and let him play with his toy. He is such an incredible big brother!