Still Kickin'

Wow it has almost been a year since I last posted.  I would say that I felt guilty about it, but I kinda sorta don't. 
Life has it's way of moving along whether you want to move or not.  And my life this last year has been a whole lot of crazy. 

Let's see in the health department I've made so huge strides in some parts and little steps in others.  I took most of the summer off from actively trying to lose weight.  I more or less just maintained my weight, which I know was a huge accomplishment in itself, so that made me happy.  I picked back up where I had left off in August with another weight-lifting class at school.  And I added a little running to my program.  A friend told me about a running program called C25K, couch to 5k.  And I decided to try it.  I have never been a runner, in fact before I started the program I had never even run a full mile without a whole lot of walking in between the little bit of running.  So I was a little hesitant that I could finish the program, but I decided to try and see where it went.  I finished the program and for the first time in my life I ran not only 1 mile but 2 full miles.  I was thrilled, and so proud of myself for doing it.  I wish that I could say I love to run now, but I can't and I'm good with that.  I am still trying to keep up with the running and would like to slowly push my running time, currently 30 mins, to 45 or 50 minutes.  And then I would like to increase my speed.  I really do want to be able to run a 5k, just to say that I've done it.   In November I hit my 50 lb weight loss mark.  I actually hit it while in Utah for Thanksgiving, surprising even me! 

School wise, well that's had it's ups and downs too.  I finished Spring '11 with decent grades, not as great a GPA as I had hoped for, but I passed all my classes and was ready to move on.  I was a hard semester in that I really overloaded myself with classes.  Summer I took 3 classes and was again glad when it ended.  Fall'11 semester just about did me in.  I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown, but I made it through.  I failed my first class ever (calculus) and that was really hard for me mentally and emotionally.  But I'm moving on and will retake calculus this summer all by itself so I can really focus on it.  At the very beginning of this semester (spring '12) I met with my academic counselor and we decided that if I pushed my graduation date from Dec'12 to May'13 it would be a better path for me.  That means that not only will I graduate with the 150 hours I need to sit for the CPA, I will also graduate with a minor in internal audit.

The kids are alive and well.  They too have kept me busy.  Miss Magoo turned 8 in January and was baptised.  It was a wonderful day and a post all it's own.  PJ turned 11 last week and has moved from being a cub scout to an 11-yr old scout.  He decided somewhat last minute that he wanted to earn his arrow of light award.  And after much scrambling. hard work, and tears on both our parts he finished the day before his 11th birthday.

So while that short clip doesn't even come close to describing out last year, there it is the shortened and very much condensed version of 2011.  My hope is to be more consistent with posting, more for myself to keep track of all the ups and downs of our life.

Whinny Me

So school has been extra hard this semester, and in reality it will only keep on getting harder. Which makes me what to hide under a rock.  And I keep thinking it's not fair, I liked it so much better when I understood exactly what the instructor was talking about. But now they are talking about things I only kinda understand or don't get at all.  And I'm not liking that so much.  This morning while my Econ professor was trying to explain to several of us who didn't get it (see it's not just me) about how to calculate the yield to maturity on a bond it finally clicked, again.  I'm not here to learn the easy stuff or re-learn the stuff I already know, I'm here to learn the hard stuff and learn new things.  That's what is making me a better student and a better person.  I know that I didn't pick a fluff major ( but really at this point any major would have it's challenges), there is a lot of hard stuff that I am going to have to learn over the next year and 1/2ish.  And most of it is going to have me doing way more stretching and growing than I want too.  But I know it's for my own good.  That in the long run it will be for my benefit and the benefit of my children. So here's to growing and stretching and learning new things about life and about me.

Different Week New Numbers

So the last two weeks like every week since I started back to school were crazy.  I think I'm getting used to my new normal, craziness.  Last was good for the most part.  Only lost 1lb last week, not thrilled but it was a loss not a gain so that's good.  This week though I feel like I'm getting back into my grove that I had going before Christmas.  Today the scale showed that I was down 3 lbs.!  That's the kind of numbers that I like to see. I wasn't able to get on the treadmill as much as I wanted last week but I still walked a total of 8 miles, so not bad.
In other news:
Friday Jan. 28th I took the kids to see the Living Legends, it was so fabulous!!  Both the kids loved it, even if before hand they both were a little whinny about having to go.  The performers were incredible, if you have a chance to see them I highly recommend it.
Saturday Jan. 29th I took the kids to see the BSU women's basketball team play.  We lost, everyone was very sad, but it was a ton of fun.  Again both kids weren't so sure about going, but once we were there they couldn't sit still in their seats.  The crowd was sadly rather small so the kids had a lot of room to dance around to the music.  They both made it on the big screen 4 times each, which made their night.  Part way through the game Miss Magoo leans over to ask me where the "women" were.  I pointed to the court and said there they where.  She was a little offended and told me that "those were teenagers" and reminded me that I had promised to take her to a "women's" basketball game.  So we had a little talk about how women's and girl's basketball teams were really  the same thing, just different names.
Earlier in the day on Saturday I had taken the kids to BSU for their Engineering Day.  It was crazy busy.  There where demonstrations, exhibits, and hands-projects around every corner.  The kids got to build with keva blocks, helped to make a balloon replica of some kind of molecule or other, try and build a earthquake proof house, ride a hoover craft, made a miniature catapult and finally made a spool car.  All in all it was a great weekend, and it took me all week to recover from it.
Last week was just more school, kids at the dad's and me trying to catch my breath and get ready to start this week and do it all over.

Totals so far:   37lbs

On another side note  Miss Magoo and I went and saw Tangled Saturday while her brother had his birthday party.  Loved loved loved the movie, this is one we will be buying when it comes out!!

Checking In

So it's 17 days into the new year, and so far so good.  I finished my little 3 wk class, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be in some ways and in other ways it seriously tried to kick my butt.  But I prevailed, and while I didn't quite get the grade I was hoping for (I got a B-)  I'm still happy with the results.  So now on to my regular semester which starts tomorrow, and I'm already stressing.  I'm taking four upper division classes along with another math class ( 2 down, 2 to go).  And just for fun, just because I totally want too I'm taking a weight-lifting class.  I took one last spring semester and loved it.  And while I didn't actually lose any weight, I lost 3% of my bmi.  I wasn't surprised that I didn't lose any weight that semester, in fact I think the only reason I didn't gain weight was because of the class.  That was a pretty emotional semester for me.  Anywhoo, I'm super excited to be doing the weight-lifting class again, I found out I can repeat the class like 8 times before I can't take it anymore, yea me! 
So these past 17 days I have been doing so good on my goals.  In fact last week and the week before I've gotten in 6 to 7 days a week or walking.  Normally I don't walk on Sunday, but these last two Sundays have been stressful/emotional days so I decided to try and walk it off.  In addition to the walking I have also gotten in 2 days a week of my water aerobic class at the Y.  I am feeling so good.  Today which is my weigh in day saw a loss of 4 lbs from last week.  4 lbs I tell you!!  That made for a very happy me this morning. 
So I think that I've found a new little motivator for me.  See there is a very special someone (who from this point forward shall be forever referred to as Mr. DA)  that has been stressing me out to the point I can't sleep, or sometimes even think straight. And I really needed my sleep these last few weeks, and of course over the next semester I'll need my sleep even more.  So my new plan is whenever I start to get stressed out or overwhelmed with life, if at all possible I go walk it off.  Last week alone I walked 17+miles on the treadmill.  I'm a genius!  Not only do I take my stress out on the treadmill, but I'm losing weight and looking great (so my mom tells me) in the process.   

So my totals so far:  32lbs lost, 2 pant sizes, and lots of inches (I'll have the #'s next time)
* I actually started this weight-loss journey back at the end of Sept. but I'm just now sharing.

Oh and on a totally unrelated note I just discovered Paul Cardall's music, wishing I had heard of him forever ago, his music is my new go to when I need to feel some peace. I also use it for my kids bedtime music and they love it too!  Seriously click on the link and listen!! 

New Year, new goals, sorta

So it's a New Year. I general do not make resolutions. In years past when I have, I've failed miserably. But last year I had a break through! I actually made and kept two goals for myself ALL YEAR LONG! This was a huge accomplishment for me. The two goals I set were to not eat fast food, and no drinking soda pop. At first I just wanted to see if I could go a month or two with out those things. But as I got farther into the year, the longer I wanted to make it. It wasn't originally meant to last the whole year, but I did it anyway. It feels so good to know that I did it!! Yay me!

Anyway so for this year I'm going to make some rather generic goals, ones I'm sure millions of others have made. And you know what I'm good with that.

My goals are:

Eat healthy/Lose weight/Exercise 3-5 days a week (see I'm giving myself a little room there) Those all kind of go together, so they are technically one goal.

Be a better mom.

Make the deans list each semester.

BE HAPPY!! (that one's in all caps, because I really mean it this time)

Start looking ahead, instead of looking back

Things I've Learned in The Last Four Months

Well I started back to school Jan. 19th. And since then I've learned ALOT, and most of it wasn't in the classroom. Though I learned a lot there too.

First a few things I learned in the classroom:

-I could never be a college professor, props to those who can, but it's not in me. In fact I'm pretty sure, no positive, that teaching period isn't in me.

-How did I ever make it through high school without reading Macbeth. When I mentioned in my Eng lit class that I'd never read it you'd have thought I'd grown a third eye the way everyone looked at me. Oh well, I've read it now and I think I got most of it and I did enjoy reading it.

-I like doing math, it was fun for me for the first time in for like ever. I hated math in high school, I did 2 first semesters of algebra and dropped it both times because I was failing it. But now I'm getting it, I like it, it makes so much sense to me. And here's hoping that I still feel that way through the next 4 or 5 math classes that I have to take before I graduate.

-That not all college professors, teachers, instructors (I get confused as what to call some of them) are not created equal. I had an awesome Eng & Math teacher, I loved the energy of my weight-lifting instructor. And while my econ teacher had some great stories, and did a good job teaching me econ, it was hard to follow his train of thought sometimes. Oh and the assistant for my 3 ITM classes ROCKED. Grace got me through those 3, 8 wks classes and saved my rear-end more than a few times. So now I'm worried, did I just get lucky with my professors the first time around or can I get a repeat for next semester??

And then there are the things I learned just walking around campus and watching other students.

-Before you wear that really cute skirt or shorts out in public do us all a favor and bend over in front of a mirror so you can see what you are showing all of us. Believe me it ain't pretty, no one should be exposed to that.

-Men should not under any circumstance wear capris, it's just shouldn't be done, EVER!

-Guys should never wear scary deep-v-neck-shirts that are paper thin looking, it's just creepy in a really bad way.

-No matter how cute you think it looks, wearing sweats with anything written across your rear-end is tacky, and we'll leave it at that.

-The bump-it is alive and thriving. I think in my econ class alone I counted over 2 dozen girls that had suspicions looking bumps on their heads. And my theory is that some girls may believe that the bigger the bump on their head the smart they are, but again it's just a theory.

-Apparently if you wear a perky little bow in your hair you are intitled to giggle obnoxiously at everything your boyfriend says even when it makes absolutely no sense at all. But you must have a hair bow in every color to match every possible color of shirt you own, and you must wear a bow every-single-freaking-day.

-I hope that man-purses never become popular.

-Wearing a bra is never opptional. And please do not wear anything see-through if you do decide to go to go bra-less.

These are just a few of my observations of my time spent on campus. I'm sure that come August when I go back I'll have even more.

Happy News

I got some very exciting news today in the mail. I've been accepted to Boise State University, and I start in Janurary. In 1995 I graduated with an Associates from Ricks College (now BYU-I). And I haven't been in a classroom as a student since. It's a little nerve-racking. I'm not only a soon-to-be single mother but now I'm going to be a student also. WOW!! That's a lot to have on my plate.
I'm very excited about going back to school. I've wanted to go back for years. And while I thought it would be a few more years before I'd be going back to finish up my education, life changes and I've learned to roll with it.
So that's my new exciting life changing news. Check back with me by the end of Jan. I may not be so very excited by then.

Glumpiness

Is it okay to admit that I'm feeling glumpy? You know a cross between gloomy and grumpy. It's really the best way to describe how I feel right now. What to do, which way do I choose to go? How much choice do I really have? So many questions, so few answers. I hate that part, I want answers. Even though I know that some questions will go unanswered well for the rest of my life, I still want answers. I want to know that life will have a happy ending, but I'm scared that my happy ending has passed, that it's too late for that. Will I forever be searching for it, never to find it?

Cleaning House

Well I guess now that my kids know I can publicly announce ... We are moving... I know big surprise to most of you. I think all 4 people that read this 3 already knew that we were moving. We aren't making a huge move. Currently we live in Caldwell, and we are moving about 30 minutes away to Boise, YEAH!! I am actually very excited about the move, there are a ton of positives and very little negatives. We will be way closer to Mr. Man's work, his parents, and shopping. Right now Mr. Man has about a 45 minute commute to work, I know way to long, big pain in the behind. We are hoping to find a place to rent within 5 to 15 minutes of his work, how awesome would that be, awesome let me tell you!!! We won't be actually making the move until the end of July so we have some time until the big day. We want to be moved and settled before the kids start back to school at the end of August.
I decided to go ahead and register Miss Magoo for kindergarten here just in case something changes at the last minute and she needs to go to kindergarten here. And after we got her registered I was even more happy to be moving. They are changing things for the kindergartens this year. They are doing full day kindergarten, but the kids won't go to school 5 days a week. They will be on one of two schedules Tuesday & Thursday, or Weds. & Friday and ever other Monday. Craziness, insanity I tell you, what are they thinking??? They are thinking that by having the kindergartens on this schedule they are saving money on busing the kids to school. Anyway one more reason to be happy to be moving.
The last time we moved (from Utah to Idaho) we were moving with Mr. Man's job, and it was lovely. They had packers come in and pack everything, and then a day later they had movers come in and load everything into their HUGE truck. Then 3 days later we met them in Idaho and they unloaded all our stuff and even put our beds together and out furniture where we wanted it. I was spoiled and it was fantastic. The only down side to them doing all that was I didn't get to do the de-cluttering that normally goes on when I pack for a move. So this time I'm starting early. Yesterday I went through all the totes in my garage and was ruthless. I whittled my 12 totes down to 9. I have 4 huge bags for DI and 3 empty totes sitting in my family room waiting. I've decided that there are lots of things in my house that we won't need for the next few months so they can be packed early. I am actually excited about the chance to de-clutter and de-junk my house. Nothing is safe, nothing will be spared, if it's broken, not played with, unused it will be gone! If it's unworn, outgrown, or just plain not necessary it's GONE. Whoopee, watch out house here I come.

Why oh why oh why...

Why is it that the minute I get on the phone my attention is needed asap by one if not both of my kids. They could have been playing happily together or seperatly for the last 30 minutes ( hey it does happen once in a blue moon). But the minute I say hello they are glued to my side until I hang up.

How is it that my son can remember every little thing he thinks I've ever "promised " him, but can never remember to flush and wash after he uses the bathroom?

Or that when his sister gets to do something fun while he's at school life isn't FAIR, but if he gets to do something fun at school and she gets upset, oh well he's in school and that's life??

Why is it the Mr. Man can never remember to put the seat down but can remember the stats to any football game ever played in the history of football, as well as all the names of those plays??

And why is it that my children seem to go deaf when I ask them to pick something up, but if I were to whisper "ice cream or candy" from my bedroom with the door shut they come running?

Could someone please explain it to me, I'm a little lost here...

Life

Sometimes it feels like life is a seagull crapping on you. Today it feels like it hit me square in the eye.

So I Blew It

Funny how in life things are going great and everything is working out just fine, and them WHAM it hits you up side the head. Well that's kinda like what happened to me. I was doing great getting my thankful posts written, I had so many other things on my list to write about. Life was good (or atleast my blogging life was going good). Then one saturday I was out running errands with my kids, getting their pictures taken, having practice for the ward primary program, taking them to see their dad at his work, etc. And by the end of the day I was dying, I kid you not DYING. At first I thought it was just a sinus headache or something, but no it was so much more. The next morning I realized that I wasn't going to make it through 3 hours of church. So I called one of the counselers in the primary presidency and asked if they could cover my class, no problem she said and she meant it ( I love when people say that and really mean it). So while I went to church, I just couldn't not go and see my kids do their parts, I sat with Mr. Man and his mom & brother who both came to watch the kids. The entire primary did a fabulous job, my two were cute they did their parts and sang their songs so well. My class was very cute they all tried to sit still and most did a good job of it. Afterwards me and the kids went home for some quiet time for them, nap time for me. And Mr. Man went back to work to finish up somethings that needed to be done. By Tuesday I thought maybe I would survive, but no there was more. Wednesday I woke up with a hacking cough and not much in the way of a voice. Mr. Man's nephew was getting married that Friday, which we both missed, me because I was sick and didn't want to hack through the whole sealing and Mr. Man missed because he was the only manager for the day so he couldn't leave then. But we both made it to the reception, where I sat and watched my kids dance and have a great time. The bride looked gorgous, the groom very handsome and the cutest little flower girl looked like a princess. (did I mention that Miss Magoo was a flower girl?)
By last Monday I knew that I would make it, life was starting to settle down, or atleast I was feeling better Mr. Man on the other hand was just starting to come down with something similar to what I'd had. But after I started coming out of my fog I realized me house was barely hanging in there. I spent the next couple of days before Thanksgiving trying to restore order to my house and finish getting better. We spent Thanksgiving day at Mr. Man's bother's house, with my inlaws, we all had a nice time.
During all of the craziness I acutally started my Christmas shopping and I'm now almost done, YEAH! These next few weeks are the busiest time of year for Mr. Man at work and to top it off he'll be gone on business all next week ( we have a super loud alarm and a very very scary huge dog in case any crazys are reading). So I knew that if I wanted to have any chance to get my shopping all done I'd have to start earlier than I've done in years past. I'm going to try and get a list put up of the rest of my thankfulness stuff, dang it I worked hard on that list and I want to share it.
But until then, I hope that everyone had a very happy Thansgiving, and that no one gets too stressed out while trying to get ready for Christmas.

Facebook, I Curse You

Facebook has sucked me in. And it's all Erika's fault, if only she had really admitted to how evil it was. After reading about facebook on her blog I thought, "why not, sounds like fun". But no, I've been sucked in. Now I'm obsessed with it. I can't wait to check in every morning when I log online. Who has sent me a message, or invited me to be their friend? Why hasn't anyone invited me to be their friend, or sent me a message today? Am I not good enough anymore? Why hasn't that person accepted me as a friend, didn't what we went through in high school together mean anything? Okay so we haven't talked in like 14 yrs, but hey we were tight at one point, so why the snubb now??? It's killing me. Now not only can I be rejected in real life, someone can reject me through my computer. Facebook anonymous anyone??

**just to be clear I do have friends on facebook, ok not a crazy amount of them and most are my nieces and newphews, but I do have friends, just to be clear**

What a Glorious Life I Lead

For the last few years I've had a odd sleep pattern. Mr. Man works for a delivery company and has to be there somewhat early (or atleast early in my book). Most mornings he gets up at 4 am, though he has been known to get up as early as 3am if there is something extra going on at work. And while him getting up that early wouldn't be a big deal for some people, it's a huge deal in our house. You see Mr. Man is a DEEP sleeper, I mean deep. (Once, several years ago when I worked full-time and he had to get up while I was at work he slept through an alarm going off full volume on the pillow next to his head for an hour.) If I allowed him to set the alarm for himself he'd wake up the whole family, giving me heart palpitations in the process, and I'm so not willing to deal with my 4 & 7 yr old at that time of the morning. So we have worked out a deal of sorts that for the most part works. I set the alarm on my cell phone ( I can't stand loud alarms waking me up) then I wake him up, once I know he's up and going I try and go back to sleep. Some mornings it works, but most mornings I end up staying awake until it's my turn to get up. I've tried the whole "let him be late for work thing a couple of times and then he'll wake up on time" nope it doesn't work.
Well last Friday the most glorious thing happened! He was moved to the PM shift!!! Hallelujah!! He now doesn't have to leave for work until 11am. And the best part he will actually work a shorter day. When he worked the am shift he'd leave between 4:30 & 5 am and not get home some days till 8pm or later (long days for both of us). There were some weeks that the kids could go for a couple of days without seeing their dad. He'd leave before they were up and get home after they were in bed, life sucked! But with this new shift he'll be done between 7:30 and 8:30pm every night. And while he still won't be here to help put the kids to bed, the best part is that he'll be here every morning to help get the kids up and PJ off to school. Except for Saturdays, he still has to go in very early and cover the whole day, but that's another post. And on the mornings that I don't have to get up early, he's going to get PJ off to school for me and I get to sleep in until 8!!!! As I said, my life has just gotten glorious!

Just One of Those Days

This is what my day is beginning to feel like, how is your day going?

Can't wait for the weekend.