Resolutions, Schemsolutions

I love the idea of the new year, and starting fresh. I'm always mulling ideas of things I want to work on, and it is fun to think that I can actually change something that I need to. However, let's be honest....how many people actually change anything? Is it really possible to change?? The optimist in me says that it is, so once again I came up with 3 things that I want to focus on for the next 12 weeks. I even started the Monday before New Years, just so I could have a complete week under my belt (am I neurotic or what?!). I decided to follow my friend Sara's lead, in using a 12 week calendar. The calendar is based on the idea that you cross off each day that you stick to the goals, thus creating a chain - that you won't want to break. It really does work. The goals I've decided to work on are these:

1. Exercise everyday (except Sunday)
2. Journal everything I eat (make myself accountable)
3. Read my scriptures and have meaningful, daily prayer

I've been doing these things for a week, and so far I have realized that it is no wonder I haven't been losing any weight with what I've been eating. Seriously, I've got to clean it up a lot. I think I've been living under the idea that if I don't write it down, I didn't really eat it - but my rear end shows that I did! Wow. I've also realized that if I wait until after 9 p.m. to read my scriptures, my eyes can read the words, but my brain doesn't comprehend them. In addition, my prayers are far from meaningful. This leads to my next quest, which is to figure out a time and place where I can fit it all in. I know I need to, and I truly want to. I don't want to just read & pray because I should, so I cram it into a few rushed minutes just to cross it off the chart. I figure if the desire is there, and I keep searching, I will figure out what works for me, right now in my situation. It will come.

School starts again tomorrow. I will hopefully get some pics of the kids and our holiday happenings on here before next Christmas. We had a great time, and did a lot of fun things together. Those great memories were sandwiched in between Kathryn breaking her leg, our kitchen pipes breaking, and the stomach flu. Fun times.

I'M BACK!!!!

So, after making this blog private for a while, I've decided to start blogging again in an effort to keep in touch with the millions of friends that are out there, dying to know about me....ha. In reality, there are only a few (and that's all I need!:), and I will do my best to keep this updated regularly. Look for some updated pictures soon. I am looking forward to having some downtime during Christmas and working on stuff like this (and organizing cupboards, cleaning under my bed, etc...). Love you all!

Countdown...

Just 18 days until the new book in the Twilight series is released!! I read the first 3 back to back, and about half way through the third book I had fallen out of love with the storyline (possibly due to sleep deprivation), but by the end I was excited for the next one. Marty has read them all twice, and I think he might even be looking forward to the new one more than I am! I love children's literature, and am an avid reader (so if you ever need a recommendation for your kids...). While I would argue that these books are for older teens (my 6th grade girls were ALL reading them), I haven't looked forward to a new release in a while. Well, not since the Sisters Grimm series, but those truly are childrens books. :)

So, who will be reading with me?? Do you love the books, or hate them? Inquiring minds want to know!

A Changing of the Blogs

So, I haven't posted anything new lately, and it is partly due to not knowing what kind of blog I want this to be. When I decided to start a blog, I thought it would be fun to keep my family and friends current on all the things happening in my family. However, as I have been contemplating on what to include in it, I feel like I'm kind of in a dilemma. It seems like this blog could turn into somewhat of a "Christmas card" of sorts - meaning, I only include all of the good things, and it becomes a forum for you seeing all of the wonderful things our "perfect" family does. Those of you who know me, know that I'm not exactly like that. It isn't that I'm a pessimist, because I really am not. However, I also like to look at life as realistically as possible. I love my family dearly, but we're far from perfect. And I LOVE it that way. The mainstream idea of perfection to me is boring and overrated. Actually, my favorite definition of perfection is "being content in the present moment." I can't remember where I got that, but it is something I actively work on. I think often times, we are always looking for the next best thing - never truly being present or content with what we have. My life is not Disneyland, but I like it most days. My husband, who I just celebrated 12 years with, is a great guy who I love dearly, but we do work on having a good marriage. We're both human, and there have been days (and frankly, months) where we have struggled. And that is okay. The first few years of my marriage was perfect in my mind, and then life hit, and I had to deal with that too. I don't think there is anything wrong with putting both sides of life out there - as long as at the end of the day, I can say that I am 100% committed to making this work (and he is too). I feel the same way about life in general. My life isn't perfect, and while I could use some extra $$ (who couldn't), I am actively working at trying to enjoy it (and learn from it) no matter what it brings. I don't want to be one of those women who spend their lives trying to seem perfect, while they are miserable inside. You know who they are, the ones who everyone might even look up to, but once you get to know them, you see that they're unhappy with themselves and their marriages. What a crappy way to live. On the other hand, there are probably women out there that do have a wonderful marriage the majority of the time, and to that I say, congratulations! I think I fall into that category most days too. However, life will come, and it WILL get harder. It's what we're here for.

So, this brings me back to my original question: What kind of blog do I want this to be? I think I've realized that I don't want it to solely be all about my kids and their daily adventures. I think it is going to be a hodgepodge of sorts....a little about my family, a little about my upcoming career (?!), and a little about my fitness journey. For those of you who don't know, I lost 50 pounds several years ago, and I've decided to finally kick it into gear and lose the last 25 (and starting a new job in conjunction with this should be interesting). Finally, this blog will be about my random thoughts about anything and everything, which may or may not be the least bit interesting to the rest of you out in blogville. I guess this means that my blog isn't going to be so much a "family" blog anymore as my own blog. Read at your own risk. :)

I'm not one of them, am I?

Teachers are a funny breed (I can say that because I am one). I have spent the last two weeks at a history conference, with teachers from both elementary and secondary schools. This conference is part of the Teaching American History grant, which means not only do we get to hear a lot of interesting speakers, but we get a ton of free books/materials to use in our class. I found this conference not only fascinating, but filled with mucho chances for me to observe my fellow educators. When they first started handing out the free grub, I noticed that some of the teachers about mauled others to be the first to get their hands on it. The lady heading it up kept reminding us that there was enough for everyone, but I guess the notion of something being free brought out the hoarder in some. At first I found this midly entertaining. However, as the conference went on and the free stuff continued, some teachers started taking more than their share. It always seemed to be the same people, and I began to be annoyed. At times we had to choose between certain books, and the "little hoarders" made sure they got exactly what they wanted (even if it meant they were butting in line to do it!). There was an entire table of them who strategically sat nearest to the place where the free grub was, and then one tall man would take enough for him and all of his friends....leaving the rest of us to choose from the stuff we didn't exactly want. Throughout it all, I was a little baffled by what was happening, and then I began to feel the competition too. When the leaders would announce the book choices, I found myself doing what I could to get what I wanted. I WAS BECOMING ONE OF THEM! I've always been to happy to get a freebie, but I think I got a little out of control, and I had to reel myself in. Crazy times.

I'm still here!

So, I'm sure it looks like this blog is something I have started, only to slack off on. However, the truth of the matter is that I have been sick for the past two weeks, and have been ordered to take it easy. My mom is in town, trying to keep me down, but I have discovered two things:

1. I hate laying around. It is one thing to have an occaisional "lazy day", but being forced to do nothing really stinks.
2. I hate being too busy. In the midst of all of this, I have been attending some conferences that I had already committed to, and it drives me nuts not to have the time (or energy) to do the things I WANT to do.

The good news is, I am starting to feel better. Thank goodness my mom will be around for a few more days. My mom is the best, even if she does put everything away in the wrong place. I know that I've given her a few gray hairs lately, but I don't know what I would do without her.

McKensie Meets Her Idols

McKensie is a huge soccer buff (she's one serious goalie girl!), and she was able to attend BYU soccer camp this year. For the last few years, Erika Woodburry has been the goalie on the womens team at BYU, and McKensie is her #1 fan. We have pictures, she has printed off articles about her, etc...basically she is one sheet shy of being a obsessed with her. Well, Erika graduated this year and Aleena (sp?) is now the head goalie, which just gives Kensie one more person to worship when it comes to soccer. Little did McKensie realize that they would BOTH be there through the entire camp this year! I'm sure they thought she was a stalker, as she brought them cookies, asked for tips, and probably spent more time picking their brain for goalie tips than anyone else there. When McKensie told Erika everything she knew about her, I'm sure she was a little surprised, but they were both kind enough to spend extra time with her and teach her a lot. She's VERY excited because next year she will be old enough to attend goalie camp overnight. I don't know if I'm ready for that or not, but McKensie is counting down the days until camp next year!

On another note, I've been sick all week, and it is getting in the way of my training for my 1/2 marathon in August. I HATE being sick! The docs put me on a couple of different meds today that will hopefully get me better in time for a good old run on Monday. I never thought I'd say that I miss my runs, but I MISS MY RUNS!