Twins' Genders!!

After what seemed like forever, we finally got to my 20-week ultrasound! I was so nervous we would get in to do the ultrasound and the twins wouldn't cooperate. I didn't know how I could walk away from the Dr.'s office not knowing what my children were. Luckily enough, they did cooperate!! We had to wait for almost a half hour before the ultrasound room was available for us, and that was probably one of the longest waiting periods of my life! Following are the pictures of our babies: see if you can tell what they are!! ;)

Baby A is a.........BOY!! :) It was almost an instant when we were able to tell what he was. Seems the boys are always the easiest to tell!




Baby B is a........GIRL!!! She was a little harder to discover which gender she was, but she finally cooperated so we could tell.


We are so excited for these two little babies!! I was hoping for a boy/girl pair ever since we found out we were having twins, and I'm so excited that's how it worked out. :) Now I can have a little girl to dress up and make cute things for, and Andrew will have his manly little boy to play sports with and do what boys do. What a great way to start our family! From now on my appointments are all going to consist of ultrasounds, keeping a close eye on the twins to make sure they continue developing correctly. They are both currently over a pound in weight, which is above average for their age at this point. I feel so grateful to have had a healthy pregnancy and healthy babies to this point, and pray it continues to be so! The following picture is the day before my ultrasound, just over 21 weeks.

Senses

Our eyes were made to see, our nose to smell, our hands to feel, our tongue to taste, and our ears to hear God's creations and witness his love for us. All five senses, equally important, cannot compare to the joy I feel being able to hear and see. My last dr. appointment gave me a chance to utilize two of my senses to witness the sound of my babies' heartbeats and see their growing bodies on the ultrasound screen. What an amazing witness of Heavenly Father's love for me, for all his children! He has entrusted Andrew and I with two of his precious children to raise as our own on this earth, and the enormity of that responsibility is enough to terrify me some days, but mostly gives me peace.
                As the tech was moving the ultrasound thing (don't know what it is called!) around, I got to see my two children again, and see how much they have grown within the last four weeks. I saw tiny fingers attached to tiny hands, the spine and heads of both, and even had one little guy "wave" at me (though if you ask Andrew, he is "flexing" in the picture). The next moment was one I will never forget: the strong *thump* *thump* of each heartbeat, signifying that both are growing healthy so far, and letting me know they were still there. I am so grateful and so excited to become a parent to these two precious children!

12 Weeks!!

What's the significance of entering my 12th week? It means that the morning sickness is supposed to start going way between the 12th-14th week!!! :) Yes, very exciting, because I hate the feeling of having to throw up at the most random times. Now, before you all start feeling bad for me, don't. I have been extremely lucky in my morning sickness adventure thus far, especially considering twins tend to make women feel double the sickness. I haven't been constantly sick for weeks on end, I usually just have a few days where I feel horrible, then a few days of feeling great. It's been quite the adjustment to feeling sick all the time, but it's all worth it! The moment I saw my babies on the ultrasound screen all the sickness and miserable times of the pregnancy were far from my mind. All I felt was the joy of seeing the two little lives we created moving around on the screen before me. Looking forward to the next few months as our Sour Patches grow! (Sour Patches is the new nickname my babies got at work due to the picture of Baby A looking like a sour patch kid :) ).

FINALLY!

I have been waiting for awhile to do this, and finally feel I'm far enough along to share the good news: Andrew and I are expecting TWINS in April!! I don't know the exact due date, considering twins come earlier than a normal pregnancy, and I was too distracted at my appt. to ask my doctor. :) The original date was April 15th, but that was when we thought we had one baby! A normal twin pregnancy is about 36 weeks, but they tend to come early even then. So it's looking like the end of March beginning of April is when they will come. Right now I'm entering my tenth week, so just in my third month. As soon as I get the ultrasound picture saved as a JPEG format I'll load them up here. The pictures are so cute! Baby A was showing off and moving around, even wiggling it's little arm/leg nubs around. :) Baby B was content to stay where it was at and let Baby A do the showing off. I can already tell which parent they will each be like. There is a great picture of Baby A: it looks JUST like a Sour Patch Kids (like the ones on the commercials!), and I love it! We love our little babies and we can't wait to meet them! We won't find out the genders until around November, but Andrew is convinced it is a boy/girl mix. We're very excited for this next step in our lives, and even more excited we're having twins!!

New Job!

I love how things work out in ways I never expect! Andrew and I moved back to Rexburg last saturday in order for Andrew to start his Area Director duties for RecSports. I have known for awhile that I needed to find a job when we got back up here, but nothing was really working out. A developmental agency in Rigby never returned my emails/calls about job openings, and I did not want to go back to the job I had while in Idaho Falls. The commute wore me out some days and it was a lot of traveling/gas expenses. The other day I was to the point where I was about to call them and see if they had an opening: I needed a job fast! I had a feeling to wait, and this is what happened:

A month and a half ago I called an agency in Rexburg called Upper Valley Options to see if they had an DT (developmental therapist) jobs open. They only had IBI open, for which I'm not yet qualified for. When we got back up here to school, I felt I should try again. I called, and they didn't have DT openings, but encouraged me to come pick up an application anyway and they would keep it on file. I went in on Monday to pick one up, and they said they were hiring for a DS (developmental specialist). I took the application back in the same afternoon, waited a day, and got a call on Wednesday to come in and talk about the position. I was offered the position of Adult Developmental Specialist! Being a DS was something I thought about occasionally, but never actually was going to pursue. This job is perfect for me, and us, right now! It's in Rexburg, a five minute drive from our apartment, I start at $12 an hour, and never work more than a 40 hour week! It has worked out so easily I know the Lord had a hand in it and was looking out for me. Upper Valley Options has such an amazing facility (from what I've seen of it so far), and they seem like good people to work with. I have to study and take an exam to certify, and then I'll be trained to be a DS. I'm very excited about this opportunity to increase my knowledge and skills in the developmental therapy field, and look forward to when I start! I even get an office and a computer. :)

Summer is over? WHAT?!

Okay, so summer is not really over, but when you have two and a half weeks till you move to the land of snow (a.k.a Rexburg) then it feels like summer is over. Our summer has gone by so fast! It's hard to believe we are moving soon, and hard to believe Andrew is graduating in TWO SEMESTERS!!!! :) An update on how we are doing:
     Andrew has been working hard cutting hay, baling hay, and whatever jobs come up in between. It's been an up and down summer with his hours, but we managed. :) There have been some late nights followed with early work in the morning, and it's hard for me to have him gone so much. There was a time I saw him a total of one waking hour over a four day period. Talk about difficult!! It's been a bittersweet summer, knowing that this is most possibly his last summer with McIntyres. As with any college graduate, you hope to have a "grown up" job within your major. Hopefully Andrew will be able to find a job next summer. McIntyre Farms have been such an amazing job for Andrew, and such a big help since we've been married. They are an amazing family to work for, and they have grown to be our friends as well as employers.
    I have been working with Community Partnerships of Idaho, a developmental disability agency for children, teens, and adults. I had the opportunity to be the teen group leader, which consisted of developing calenders for the group, carrying out the activities, and ensuring quality therapy is happening on a consistent basis. I have made some wonderful friends among my colleagues, and am sad to be leaving such a fantastic company! I've also been trying to get into better shape by exercising more and trying to eat better. I have been going on a 5, sometimes 5.5, mile bike ride every morning the last three or four weeks. It's starting to work and I'm seeing my "problem area" start to decrease. :) Hopefully it will continue!!
     We will be moving to Rexburg around the 21st, into a one bedroom apartment. Sounds small, but after living with 7 other people in a small house for four months, it will be wonderful to be in our own place!!! We're excited to start the last leg of our college journey, and look forward to being grownups!!! :)

First Fishing Trip

I went on my first actual fishing trip yesterday with Andrew, my father-in-law Toby, and brother-in-law Jeremy. We live just above the Snake river so we just hooked the boat up and went down to the draw. I have never really fished before (held a fishing pole, but didn't do much with it) so this trip was fun! Andrew taught me how to cast the line, and once I actually got a bite (which surprised me so bad I started screaming) Toby guided me in hooking the fish and staying with it to reel it in. It was a fighter and my arm hurt after holding onto the pole for so long. It was a nice size bass (or so I was told, I don't know what is good or not), and shortly after I caught another one! It was a great experience, and Andrew is estatic I enjoyed myself. Now he can justify buying fishing licenses for both of us, and our own poles. That might have to wait a bit,
but it definetly was a fun day!

The beautiful Snake River! It definetly has its dangerous qualities, but in the hands of an able boatman (my father-in-law) it was so fun!

Remember?

Remember when I posted about not moving into a house of our own? How we didn't know why we felt the way we did? I'm starting to realize the blessing of not having rent to pay this summer. Our car has had so many different things come up this summer that had we been paying rent, we would have depleted our finances quickly. The problems haven't been serious, just various routine maintenance that happened to all happen in the same summer. We have put about 45,000 miles on the car since getting it in December of 2008. To start off with, our alignment was off causing our tires to wear down faster. I had two flat tires within about two weeks of each other. We were lucky enough to find a good deal on some great tires, so that is taken care off, and almost completely paid for. Last week my air conditioner fan switch stopped working, except on the highest setting, so I need to get that fixed soon. Yesterday at work I was about to leave and pick up my client, and my car wouldn't start. The battery was dead (although I knew that was coming up since last November) and I just got a new one this morning. In other words, what we would have been paying in rent has gone into car maintenance. I feel so grateful it wasn't anything worse! It is still such a great car, and we're so grateful to have it.

We have also been able to save so much more money than we have been able to in the past. We are about to pay off a credit card, and it feels soooooo good to finally be almost rid of it!! My testimony has grown so much this summer, especially about learning to recognize promptings and following through with them. You never know what may happen, or why things need to happen the way they do.

Project Time!

I have a highly talented brother who has built different things out of wood. For Christmas last year he made me, my sister, and his wife a magnetic bulletin board with a wood frame. He left it unpainted so I could paint it how I want. Well, due to my impatient nature (the reason I don't do many crafts) I started painting it the next day. Long story short, it was ugly and I DID NOT like it. It was a barn red color with a golden yellow underneath it. Now, seven months later, I finally got around to redoing it. I absolutely LOVE it! The painting is finished, but the decorating is not. Those pictures will come later on. Enjoy!

I used antique white and lavender! :)

I don't have pictures of it like it was before. I thought I did, but I can't find them. This is the antique white base. After this process I put crackle on top of it.

From the side.

The finished product!! I plan on putting "Bell" at the top, and some clothespins at the bottom to hang our bills, mail, etc. I am so excited, and it looks so much better than before!!

HOME!!!

Three words: I'M GOING HOME! Three is my lucky number today:

I'm working with three people tomorrow at work.

We are swimming for three hours

I will drive home for three hours.

I will spend three full days at home.

I only work three days of work next week.

I love my family, and love going home to visit. Especially when it is Father's Day and I get to spend the day with my Dad. How awesome is this weekend going to be?! TRIPLE AWESOME! :)

Jump Creek Falls

Andrew and I don't get a lot of time together, so when we get to do something like this it makes it that much more special. On Sunday evening we drove to a canyon about 20 miles from my in-law's house. It is called Jump Creek Canyon, and it has a beautiful waterfall in it. It is a beautiful walk to it, and the weather was perfect! It was so peaceful to walk hand-in-hand (when we could) with Andrew and enjoy the time we had together. The following are some pictures that I took!

 The scenery was beautiful! Except for being on guard for poison ivy it was quite pleasant!

 We found it! It was truly a peaceful, serene place to walk/hike to. Hopefully we get to go back soon!

Boring boring boring

I will admit: I'm a blog stalker. I find a blog, I read it, and I feel jealous because of how cute other blogs are. It always seems that they have much more exciting, interesting, note-worthy things to type. Mostly about their children, new jobs, school, etc. I love reading about others' lives: especially when I read something that inspires and provokes new thoughts. Does my blog do this? Pretty sure not. Maybe every onc in awhile, but for the most part, we have a boring life.

Andrew works all day, comes home, eats, plays on his computer, watches tv, and we go to sleep. I work 1-5 everyday, at a job I love, come home, eat, spend time with Andrew, and go to sleep. No children, no pregnancy to announce, no amazing dream job, new house, or anything. Just work, work, work all day long in order to go back to school.

So why do I keep blogging? Well, whenever I get around to it, once a month ;). I do it because maybe one day I will have some kind of exciting news, or some kind of experience that will help someone else one day. Maybe one day....

Change of Plans

Once in a while you make a plan. A plan you believe is solid, a plan you believe is fantastic, a plan you hope will work out. After a few days of excitement of the change and feeling life is going the way it should, BOOM! It completely changes in one night, and you're left wondering, "What now?!" Experiences such as these completely test your faith in Christ and the knowledge that He has of our needs/wants, and what is best for us.

Recently Andrew and I found a house to live in: ideal location, perfect rent price, and the fact it would be "our place." I was ecstatic! We traveled to Rupert for the weekend, came back stoked to move in the next day. By events completely out of my control, we didn't move ANYTHING the next day. We did clean, but blame the wind for not moving anything (the wind was blowing too hard and sand/dirt was EVERYWHERE!).  

As usually happens in such cases, night fell and all of a sudden, things started to not feel right. I worried. I justified our decision. I QUESTIONED our decision. How can moving NOT be the right decision? There are nine of us living in my in-law's house, and we have an opportunity to make it easier on everyone (not that it's all that bad really), but it just felt sooo wrong. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep for awhile, until Andrew and I prayed about the decision we had made. No answer came right away, so eventually we fell asleep.

Next morning, I go about doing things as if we were moving. I packed up the car and got in to go to the house. I couldn't even start my car. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of.....well, I don't know how to describe it. Fear? Anxiety? This apparently was our answer. As I got out of the car and went to talk to my mother-in-law (amazing woman that she is!), peace replaced the fear. Turns out, Andrew felt the same way. He was more at peace with staying where we were at, instead of moving. So, here we are.

Will we ever move? I don't know. Am I sad about not moving? Yes, but not as much as I would have thought. What do I learn from this? Only this: Heavenly Father is aware of me, my family, and our situation. My faith and testimony have grown so much in such a short time, because of the faith Andrew and I had to follow the promptings we received. I don't know if we'll ever know the true reason why we didn't move, but I am grateful for a being who is all-knowing, and loves me enough to watch over me. I am truly thankful for Andrew being such a man that he can express his thoughts/feelings, and can talk things over and come to a decision together. Trust in those feelings you have, and don't be afraid of following them. You will be blessed. 

SUCCESS!

Yes, my adoring fans, we have a house to live in! It is a two bedroom, two bathroom small double wide home. Not glamorous by any means, but I'm so excited to move in on Monday! It also has a piano being stored in it for the time being, so guess who gets to play the piano EVERYDAY! :) Yes, I am stoked to have found a house, and it was such a great blessing to find. It's within easy distance of Andrew's work and the fields he cuts, and his parents house. It's still within his family's ward, which will be super nice (9am church!!). It's also a very low rent, which is doubly exciting for us. Life is going great! :)

Apology

To those who know me well:

I apologize for putting green tractors on my blog....I tried to find red ones, but it didn't work. This is the only tractor background I could find. One day, I shall create my own and make it a beautiful Case International red, but for now, bear with me as we see John Deere green. ;)

Homedale Fun

Andrew and I thoroughly enjoy being back in Homedale! We are living with his family for the time being, until we're able to find a place of our own for the summer. It's slightly crowded, what with nine people living here, but it has actually been really nice! We've been so blessed to have Andrew's family so willing to help us out, and we've enjoyed being here so far. We are on the lookout for our own place however, it will be nice to be in our own place again.

Who wants bacon?! We are the proud owners of Chuck Norris, a Hampshire pig, who is to serve as our bacon, sausage, and every other pig product you can think of! :) Andrew's parents, his brother's family, us, and his uncle's family all bought pigs to raise up and butcher in the fall for some nice meat. They are growing quickly and lllooooovvveeee to be petted and scratched. They run up to anybody who comes near their pen and will stand there, waiting to be pet. It's quite hilarious actually! It'll be easier leading them into the trailer when it comes fall time. :D

 I have found that Andrew and I are able to have more fun together now than while in Rexburg. For one, I'm not stressed about work and gone all day, and Andrew is not stressed with school, RecSports, and being gone a lot. He's gone for work now, but I am able to go see him when he's driving his swather, and we have been able to spend more quality time together. Such as, riding the old trike at his parents house, breaking it in the process! :)

Andrew took an archery class this past semester, so he pulled out his Dad's bow to shoot some arrows and keep his skills fresh. His older brother joined him later with his bow, and it was fun to see them shooting at the turkey target!

I will try to keep up with pictures, instead of just words. I love looking at others' blogs full of pictures and interesting stories, so I will try to be more interesting!! :)

Grrr.....

I hate packing.

I hate cleaning like a crazy person at the last minute (guess I should do it earlier huh?).

Oh, and I dislike having to find a place to live for the summer.

Total frustration.......BUT, I do have a wonderful husband who is a fast, yet efficient, cleaner who did all the cleaning jobs I normally space and forget to do. I love Andrew so much, he's such a caring guy who knows what needs to be done and gets it done quick. Wish I had that ability......

Top Ten Things I'm Grafeful For

These are not in order from "greatest" to "least", because obviously anything involving my husband is going to make the top of the list. They are written in the order they either happened, or when they popped in my head. :) Life is meant to be enjoyed, and the simple things make it beautiful!

1. My bike-Andrew and I went on a bike ride for an hour today, it was glorious!

2. Free Jamba Juice when I get a strike in bowling while laying flat on the floor

3. The internet and the wii-so my family and I can race Mario Kart even when we're in two different towns

4. My nephews Garrett and Shay- who say the cutest things and make me laugh hysterically

5. My niece Alyza-just because she's adorable and I can't wait to hold her again!

6. My brothers and my sister (and sisters-in-law) who make life fun and interesting

7. My husband-who did the dishes, cleaned the apartment, AND made dinner for our guests
that came over last night: how awesome is that?!

8. Spring break-so that I can house hunt and see my family

9. Speaker phone-so I can talk and joke with my brothers while racing on Mario Kart

10. My comfy bed-to which I am now going! :)

4 weeks, 5 days

Yes, the time has come once again for the countdown until we move away from Rexburg for the summer! I'm so excited to move back to Homedale and be able to have summer again. :D

In light of the short time span, it's time once again to look for housing. I'm not as nervous about it as I was last year, primarily because we have two wards keeping an eye out for us. We were hoping the house we rented last year would still be available, and up until a couple weeks ago it was! However, the missionaries are now living there, so it's no longer available for us. At least it was the missionaries right? We don't feel as bad knowing it's them. :) Anyway, here's a shout out to anyone living in the Nampa/Caldwell/Homedale/Marsing area: we're looking for summer housing, so if you know of anything, let us know!

It's going to be such a great summer! My brother-in-law and his family just moved from Pocatello to that area, and they are in the process of looking for a house. Hopefully they'll find something before we move, otherwise my in-laws' house is going to be quite crowded! I'm excited to have the whole immediate Bell family living near each other, I think it will be pretty awesome! Lots of exciting things are coming up this summer and I am having a hard time being patient. I have trips to Washington and Utah already planned out, for my aunt/uncle's sealing, and my dearest cousin is getting married as well!! So very excited, and feel so blessed to have so many things to look forward to!

P.S. I've lost about 5 pounds within the last week and a half. My plan is working! WOOHOO!!

Update

Whew, one week past!! Here's a quick update of how last week went:

Started off going to the gym at night with Clerissa and Becky, doing the elliptical for 1/2 hour. We decided to go to the "Abs that Rock" class, which about did us in! It was quite the work out, but totally worth it! The next day I was insanely sore, but we decided we still would go to the gym, despite our soreness. So, we go do the elliptical again, and lo and behold! it made me feel slightly less sore. :) Friday I missed a night, because I was just so tired from the whole week, and my husband was home early for the first time in awhile, so I decided to spend time with him. Saturday I surprised myself by actually going to the gym! I usually don't on weekends. :) Did the elliptical for half hour, felt fantastic, and had a great rest of my saturday.

As for the no eating sugar (straight candy sugar, cookies, etc.) I did MUCH better than expected! The school I work at always has treats, etc. in the teacher's lounge, so this week was a challenge. Plus the little kids all like to give me candy :) However, I stuck to my goal, and proved I could do it! Because I had upheld this and surprised myself, I was able to eat the amazing cookies yesterday that my wonderful visiting teacher made me! I had no guilt eating them, because I had been "sugar free" all week. :) Victory feels great, and I am starting to see slight changes in my weight, and overall general health. Hopefully this week will go the same, or much better! Thanks to Andrew for his non-failing support, and for inspiring me with the no sugar thing in the first place. Thanks to Clerissa and Becky for sticking with me and putting up with my slowness in getting changed in the locker room. :) LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

I hate thinking of a title...

Throughout all my English classes-career, you think I'd learn to think of a title....but apparently I didn't learn. A title is supposed to "catch your reader's attention"...well....if you're attention isn't caught, that's not my problem. :)

So, new goals! 1) Go to the gym at least three times a week (hopefully this will turn into more, but I can't hope for more than three at least). I have work out buddies-Clerissa and Becky-so hopefully this will be more helpful! Plus, if I want to see Andrew before 9 three nights a week, I have to go the Hart, which is where the equipment happens to be :D. 2) Eat less sugar. The little things add up I've noticed..... 3) Plan out dinner ahead of time and actually MAKE the dinner. Hopefully this will help us eat more stable meals and not quick, grab-n-go foods. 4) Give myself credit-I'm taking positive steps towards the ultimate goal I want to reach! (This wisdom came from my amazing sis-in-law this weekend: she told me to give myself some credit, because I am working towards my ultimate goal. It really made me think that I'm my own worst enemy, and I've been too hard on myself lately. Thanks Annie!!!)

So, there you have it. I think I'll start doing a weekly update on how I'm doing. I won't bore you with the day by day stuff. So, bear with me on this journey! Oh, and this won't be the only stuff I blog about, so don't worry. :)

Frustrated...

I'm pretty sure I have at least two posts named "frustrated". However, I couldn't come up with another word, and frankly, I didn't want to think that hard. Life is full of ups and downs, and right now it's kind of in a down.

I always prided myself on not being the girl in high school who was obsessed with my weight. I never worried about what I looked like, or how much weight I gained, etc. I was completely confident in what I looked like. Throughout college, my metabolism sky rocketed, due mainly to walking everywhere I think, and I basically was tall, skinny, and eating anything and everything. How awesome is that?! I never had to watch what I ate, and never purposefully exercised, like going to the gym or anything. Well, things have changed considerably since then.

Since getting married, I've put on more weight than I ever thought possible. It's bad when you watch The Biggest Loser and some of the contestants weight less than you. Honestly, if I was short, I would be in big trouble. The fact I'm 6 foot hides how much I've gained. This has been really rough on me, and Andrew too, cause he has to deal with my tears all the time. HOW DO I GET RID OF ALL THIS?! This is the frustrating part: is it due to lack of exercise/eating habits (MOST likely), lack of taking the thyroid pill I was on for awhile, or my birth control pill? Whatever the reason, it's FRUSTRATING and I want to change it......but I don't know how. Okay, okay, I do know: change eating habits, exercise daily, etc. Problem is, I barely manage to make dinner a couple times a week, I don't know how to eat "healthy" and I try doing the gym thing....but it's difficult when I get home at 6:30 every night. I know, excuses, excuses, but I can't help myself. I'm in a 'down" remember? :) Sorry for ranting and raving about all this, but I feel much relieved that someone out there is reading this, and probably has empathy for me. It could be a lot worse, and I'm thankful it's not, but this is definetly a trial to me. If anyone has any tips, advice, or comfort to offer, please share! :) Thanks for listening....reading.....understanding......

New Haircut

Okay, so it's not an entirely new, swanky do. It's basically the same as I've cut my hair the last few years, but the last time I got it cut....well.....it didn't turn out so well. The past eight months I have dealt the best I can with it, but never went and got it fixed....UNTIL NOW!!! :) It feels wonderful and light again!! :) No more boring up do's everyday!!!

Other news, we are still doing well here in good ol' Rexburg. Andrew is excelling in all of his classes, and staying really busy with RecSports. It gets to be difficult on some days, but I'm trying to do my best and be supportive. I am just working away at my job, and enjoying it most days. There are some challenging moments, but most of the time it is very rewarding. Everyday I become more excited to move back home for the summer! Both of my cousins (Megan and Kody) are in the Boise area, so hopefully we'll be able to have some fun times!!

Yeehaw!

Yup, two days in a row......I'm awesome. So what if I didn't go the whole 30 minutes (I had the wrong machine, I wasn't used to it) ? I went two days in a row, and that COUNTS! :)

Whew!!!

I finally did it.....I made it BACK to the gym after a week!!! Only this time I had something extra special happen: my husband came with me! :) It felt GREAT to get out and do something active for once, and it was fun to go with Andrew. I did much better this time around than last: I bumped up the amount of calories I burned and I increased how "far" I went on the elliptical. I usually listen to my ipod while I exercise, but tonight I watched an intriguing show called "Cake Boss" on the TLC channel. It made me miss cable..... ;) Hopefully I'll be able to continue this pattern the next few days to complete the week! It should help that Andrew will be on campus at night the next few days with games starting. Wish me luck!

Another piece of news: after about a year of not having it, I'm finally about to get health insurance!! Much to the discouragement of my mother I haven't gotten any since I graduated. We just didn't have the funds to get it, and it was never a concern for us yet. However, the time felt right to finally look into it, and we found a great plan for me, for relatively cheap (I say me because Andrew has school insurance). I just have a couple more things to fill out and then I"ll apply!! :)

Decisions

Well, from the apparent lack of posts between Jan. 11 and now, I did not go to the gym everyday like I was planning on. I had a staff meeting one night, Andrew's birthday another, and just plain didn't want to go the other times. :) Oh well, I'll try again this week.


Today has been a wonderful Sabbath. Relief Society was just plain awesome: the lesson really hit home with me and helped me remember things I have learned in the past and helped me to bring those back to the surface to help me now. Andrew and I also have made progress in some decisions that were kinda up in the air and things we needed to start talking about. I feel like we are starting to come up on top of things, and I don't feel as weighed down as I have been the last few weeks. It's just another testimony to me of the power of prayer, faith, and knowing that there is someone always aware of us and our needs, and always looking out for us.

First day...

Whew! Just got back from my first day at the gym....and before you get any ideas about some amazing workout I'm doing, stop. I only do the elliptical, but it's work out enough for me!!! I was on it for a half hour, which is actually quite amazing for me. Last year Andrew and I started going, but for the first few times I could only handle it for about 15 minutes, and that was tough. Tonight I went for a full 30 minutes and burned 280 calories!! (Is that good? Somebody tell me please.....) As amazing as it felt, I am now walking funny much to the amusement of my husband. Now it's off to the shower and bed!!! :)

Accomplishments

Ever notice when you feel the most accomplished?

For me, it's not after I have completed a marathon or won a big award (come on, like I could run a marathon anyway). I feel the most accomplished when I complete the goals I set for myself that involve the small, yet important, things. Most of these goals lie in the form of personal health (losing weight), and small, housewifely duties that will help me be a better wife to my husband.

It started out with Andrew wanting to get out and do something last night. After much deliberating, we went to the pool with a couple friends. What an exhilirating feeling to get out and actually be active!!! I've been meaning to go to the gym every day to exercise, but it hadn't happened yet. After having made the first step, I am excited to start this week off and do my best to stick to the schedule I have made for myself. :)

It went further today by having a desire to make some cookies for Andrew (and myself of course!) After cookies and a walk around the nature park, I decided to make some potato soup for dinner one of these nights. It grew into making meatballs for yet another dinner this week. :) After an hour or so of cooking, I have dinner for about 2-3 days this week.

All this boils down to is the simple fact that I feel accomplished when I achieve goals for personal health, and become a better wifey to my husband. I have been sadly lacking in both areas, and I have an amazing husband who doesn't complain. :) Hooray for me! I'm on the right track, and I'll update about my progress frequently.