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.

More Updates

So while I realize that it's Tuesday and I should've posted yesterday, but I didn't and I'm pretty sure that I'll live.  So here we go.
As of yesterday I'm down 2 lbs for the week.  I was hoping for 3 but I'll be happy with 2.  This last 9 lbs has been the slowest to come off.  On Christmas Eve I was down 29 lbs, and as of yesterday I'm down 39lbs.  So it has taken me a little over 7 wks to lose those 10 lbs.  That's a long time considering most months I was averaging 9 lbs a month.  So yes I'm a little frustrated, but I knew that once school started and my schedule changed things might slow down.  And added to that I only did my water aerobics class once each for the last 2 weeks.  I have found that I am really missing that class, it has been a great stress reliever for me.  I just hoping that I can fit it in once this week too and then maybe next week I can get back on track.  My weight-lifting class on the other hand is going good, I am loving doing the weights again.  It is such a great feeling to push and pull heavy weights and see what my body is capable of.
On the kiddo's front it has been up and down.  The kids are both busy with school and homework.  Near the end of last week Miss Magoo was complaining of a sore throat and was doing a LOT of coughing especially at night.  And while at first her coughing wasn't keeping her up, just lucky me.  By Thursday night it was waking her up too.  So Friday after a busy running around day I got her into the Dr's.  Good thing too, she tested positive for Strep.  Poor kid.  By Saturday she was back to her happy bouncy self.  We even went to the BSU men's bball game.  The main reason for going was the BSU was honoring all the students that achieved a gpa of 3.50 or higher. Before the game they had a reception where there was pizza and they handed out certificates for those who made the list. Then during the half-time portion of the men's game all of us who made the list got to walk out on the court and wave to those in the crowd.  It was a little geeky feeling on one hand, but also cool feeling too.  I mean I worked HARD for my grades, and I'm proud of that.  The kids got a kick out of seeing their momma on the court waving up at them. I want my kids to know that college is important and that I'm doing all this hard work for them too.  And in the long run (hopefully not too long) all this hard work it going to pay off for all of us.

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.

More Numbers and Updates

So I missed updating my numbers yesterday, oh well is was a crazy day.  I started my new semester last Tuesday, and WOW this is going to be a busy busy semester.  All of my classes started with a bang, and their off with no slowing down in sight.  That's okay I'm sure that I will survive at least I hope I do. 
Okay on to the numbers.  Sad to say that I only lost 1 lb this past week.  But I'm okay with it.  I got almost no time with the treadmill because of school starting and trying to work back into my schedule.  Last semester I was able to walk on the treadmill for 20 to 30 minutes every morning.  I would get the kids on the bus for their school, do my walking, then head home and get ready for my school and be on campus for 9:40 class.  This semester I have a 9:15 class 2 days a week so no walking those mornings, and the other three mornings seem to be hard to get on the treadmill too.  I've decided that I'm still going to try and get it in.  One good thing about my new schedule is my weight-lifting class.  I started the actual lifting last Thursday, and was somewhat sore for the next couple days.  I did more lifting today, and I don't feel as sore, so I'm hoping tomorrow isn't too bad.  Anyway, in a nut shell life is crazy and looks to remain that way for the next few months at least.

In other news, Miss Magoo turned 7 last week and we celebrated with a trip to Red Robin and a birthday party.  This was the first time she has had a birthday day and it was very exciting, and even better we all survived it. 

PJ will be turning 10 next week and his dad will be taking care of his birthday party for me.  He and a couple of his friends will be going bowling so that should be a fun time for them.

BYU's Living Legends is performing here Friday night.  I am so excited to take the kids.  I remember going and seeing the Young Ambassadors perform whenever they came to town growing up.  It's exciting to pass this on to my kids.

Totals so far: 33lbs lost, 15 inches (total) lost. 

Today I am Thankful for...

I remember doing this a couple of years ago*, or maybe I'm just remembering that I wanted to do this. Whatever, anyway since it is November (really how did it get to be November already??) and seeing as we will be celebrating Thanks Giving in s few short weeks, I wanted to get my thankfulness wheels going.
So I'm going to try and post something everyday that I am thankful for. Don't hold me to the everyday post, as things are getting crazy busy with school right now. But I am going to try.
So today, Nov. 1, 2010 I am thankful for Pell Grants and Student Loans. Yes I realize that is a odd thing to be thankful for. But I am getting ready to register for my classes for next semester (tomorrow in fact, keep your fingers crossed that I get the classes I want/need). But today I found out that the student loan I applied for came through. I am taking an intersession class this Christmas break. It's a session between the two regular semesters. The session is 3 wks long, that is they cram 15 wks of class down into 3 wks of class, now won't that be fun!
So today I am grateful that I am able to get not only Pell Grants (cause who doesn't like free money to pay for school!!!) but also for student loans to make up the difference.

* Erika, I'm pretty sure I got this idea from you a few years back, so THANKS!

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.