ROCK ON!

I am so freakin' excited to be apart of Splore for the next 2 months!!! Splore is an awesome non-profit organization that specializes in outdoor adventures like rock climbing, snow shoeing, rafting  etc. for children/people with disabilities. Last week, I completed my training on Autism Spectrum Disorders and received my belay certification inorder to start the ROCK ON! program. Basically, I will be mentoring a child with Autism and their siblings and taking them rock climbing at Momentum. The main goal for rock climbing is for the children to learn experiences of overcoming real or perceived fears through increased confidence and physical fitness. Not to mention, that it is a great way to learn better communication skills and to build trust with others. I seriously can't wait to be able to learn and grow from these children. I am sure they will be teaching me more than I will be teaching them! 

DITCH THE WORKOUT!!

As many of you already know, I am a lover of ZUMBA! I have been apart of this dance craze for  2 1/2 years and I am in total love with it still. In the meantime of not having a gym membership for the last  year with our moving of houses, I was taking classes here and there at different facilities but I have now recently joined at TAC and have resumed by ZUMBA workouts! While there is so much to explain about ZUMBA, (the latin style dance moves of reggaeton, salsa, merengue and hip-hop, the targeted body sculpting moves using the toning sticks, the thumping international beats of loud music to get your heart beat up and blast the calories away, the friendly workout for all types and shapes, the invigorating party-like atmosphere of dancing), I will just give you a quick summary of what I think its all about...

* shaking the 'junk in your trunk' in front of a mirror and other peeps for 1 hour

* twisting and contorting your body in 'sexy' ways that are foreign to you

* hooting and hollering, or 'panting', like a chimp to try and keep the energy up

* 'easy to follow' moves of Latin Americans with rhythm that us white folks attempt here in America

* a form of 'dance' that one does believing they are actually good dancers when in fact they are horrible

* an excuse to get 'down and dirty' in spandex

I will forever be a fan of ZUMBA and I encourage those who haven't tried it yet to do so. It is so much fun and you don't even need to know how to dance. You just need to know how to let loose and have fun! Give it a try - 

WKND FUN!

This weekend was a busy jam packed few days full of fun, family and friends!

While Sweets was enjoying the super sunny and warm weather of St. George doing this...

joe. sweets.

  on Friday with his friends (scott, grant, sam, bryan not pictured) getting a couple pars and eagles (yay), I was here doing this...

one of two birthday cakes for the special occasion

dad with some (not all) of his grandkids

birthday boy

celebrating my Dad's Birthday (march 4th) with my family! We ate Mandarin takeout from Bountiful and Andrew and Angie were nice enough to host the Party for all of us. My Dad is the best Dad in the world and has been the greatest example to me. He is caring, loving, selfless, funny, giving, patient, charitable, intelligent and my Dad! Happy Birthday Pops! Love you!

Then on Saturday while Sweets was doing this...

view from promontory tower

one of the models of city creek

working (pooey) showing Promontory the new high rise urban living downtown at City Creek all day, I was doing this...

kerstin. sian. brooke. sara. lyndsey. me.

mama to be

with my friends! I through a baby shower for Sian with the help of Kerstin for all of us wives! (Wives, meaning the wives of our husbands high school group.) It was so fun! We ate Orange Rolls, Cheese and Sausage Strata, Fruit and Dip, Sherbet Punch and instead of games we did a project of making decal onesies for Sian to take home. It was great to see everyone and catch up while celebrating the upcoming birth of baby boy William Riley Davidson!

Finally, and no picture to display sorry, Sweets and I had to chaperone the tri-stake young singles dance at our stake center Saturday night. WOWZERS! We are so glad that we never have to experience that awkward stage of life again. We walked the dance floor and people watched. It was surprisingly fun but not on my list of things to do again! When Sunday came around, we slept the day away after church due to the time change. It was a doozy. We did take a break from napping to take a scenic drive and eat dinner. But then it was back to napping! 

UTAH SNOW!

This is what Sweets and I were driving in Monday night trying to get to our house! We could not believe just how much snow was falling and how wet the snow was. It was definitely a slick drive but we loved every minute of it. 

Tuesday morning we woke up to this massive pile of white! 

YAY! 

The snow literally blanketed the valley!

Happily, Sweets set his alarm super early so he and T could play with the "beast" in the snow. After snow blowing our driveway, Sweets made the rounds to the other houses on the street and did all the walks. What a trooper and a lover of his "manly" toys!

Seriously, look at the teeth on this Beast! It certainly does mean business! 

And of course, after running up and down all morning long with dad, T decided it was nap time. He made himself a comfy bed in the snow and laid down! He is such a funny dog... 

WOWZA!

This is pretty much the word of choice when it comes to this breakfast that I have been making lately. Sweets has been requesting this everyday for the past 2 weeks! Usually I get sick of foods fast, but not this one. I just LOVE it and it is super HEALTHY! Plus, it has been keeping us FULL all morning! 

win. win. win.

 

Recipe is as follows but not limited to:

2-3 organic eggs scrambled with chopped spinach over medium heat with a drizzle of EVOO

line inside 1/2 whole wheat pita pocket with 2 tbs basil or pesto spread (or both)

stuff the eggs inside and enjoy a side cup of fruit 

SO FAR SO GOOD

As you already know, my March Monthly Goal is to do yoga 4-5 times a week! 

So far, I have been doing a great job and its thanks to this DVD.

I wasn't feeling well last week and couldn't leave me house to go to yoga classes at the studio and then I was out of town over the weekend, so this 40 minute Yoga Meltdown DVD has been my life savor. 

I popped it in the player last week and did this practice at home (which was great because I did have to stop a few times due impart to dizziness), and then I took it with me on my trip and did it with my SIL. 

This week I feel much better and have been loving the way I feel after this workout. Yes WORKOUT! (Apparently there are different kinds of yoga: relaxing, stretching, breathing, sweating etc and I just happen to have the kick-your-butt kind of yoga!) I am so glad I choose this as my goal and look forward to trying other versions of the practice this month.  

MOTTO:

THE BIGGEST UPSET!

If Sweets were sitting next to me (and thankfully he is not) he would be rolling his eyes at me saying "here you go again". And he is totally right! Here I go again!  

This big boy, rather a huggable teddy bear in my opinion, was eliminated last night and I am SO mad!!! 

SERIOUSLY MAD!!!

Bob could not have said it any other way when he described just how bad Arthur needs to be on the show, for that was why the show was created. He said that aside from The Biggest Loser being a game, it is also a helping tool for those who are knocking on Heaven's door just as Arthur is. 

"IT IS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH!!!

HE NEEDS TO BE HERE!!!

And just because he is not in an alliance with some people, he will be sent home when he is the only ONE that actually needs to be here! It's Bull Shhh." (quote from bob)

I could not agree more and I was screaming at the TV when this all went down and almost chucked the remote across the room. Clearly, sleep didn't help me because as I type, I am getting all upset. I really don't like to blame people, but I have to blame Sarah from the Black team for screwing up the order when she was already on the Red team knowing that Arthur was going home and the entire Red team for shoving him under the bus because he was "new" to their team and not part of their "family"! Who freakin' cares at this point. 

Save his life! 

I get it though. Really I do. It is a game. It is a contest. 

But this is Arthur! The largest contestant EVER to be on The Biggest Loser and someone who truly needs to be on the show. 

I am now on strike against this show and will boycott the remainder of the season!

(i really apologize for those lives that i offended just now while reading this, but this is how I feel and i think its really stupid it came to this. ;) )

MY HOW TO!

So I was lost at the start of January with thoughts of fear for not being able to complete my goals, and although I did, the fear came back at the start of February and its back now at the start of March. Normally, I am the type of person that gives it my all at first, then slowly gets bored and somewhere toward the end just stops doing it completely. But, I have to say, I have kicked butt so far this year with completely my goals and I hope this rockin' mindset lasts until December! I will say though, that it hasn't been easy. I have felt overwhelmed at times thinking:

'how do I do this? how do I complete all these goals, do them well and finish them on time?'

but, I did a little research on the Internet awhile back and found some key points that I could do to help me stay on track with my goals and finish them! Oh, and it also helps rid me of stress and anxiety that I too often get with this sort of thing.

1- I wrote all of my goals down on a piece of paper in order of time consumption. For instance, books that are longer take more time than going to the temple so I put the book ahead on the list. For some, importance may be key in goal attainment (which obviously the temple would be first) but I am better at running on time schedules. I know I can fit the temple in some time during the month but I know I can't finish the 400 page book during the last 2 days of the month.   

2- I wrote the top 3 things down on a separate piece of paper to help me remember what I have to do to stay focused on each individual goal. I wrote things like, drink plenty of water (to keep me hydrated and focused so as to not be thirsty for D.P.) and limit technology (so I would have more time to read my books) etc.

3- I posted the goals in different spots around the house, at my work and set reminders on my ical on my phone to keep my in tune with what I am trying to accomplish. If I see it, and read it, or hear it or whatever often enough, then I will constantly be in check with the goals. I need to be reminded or I am likely to forget about them and give up. 

If any of you are like me, I sure hope this helps you as much as it has helped me!

OH HAPPY DAYS!

March is my favorite month of the year for a lot of reasons. One of which is because my birthday is in March and it is literally the most important day of the year! OK, so second most important day next to my wedding day with my Sweets, but it's pretty important indeed. Not only is it starting off with sunshine on the first day, which I am totally excited about, but I'm pretty sure I will see rainbows, blue sky, flowers and green lush pastures for the sheep this month too. I think March is going to be a happy month and full of lots of great happy things. 

My Monthly March Goal, is to attend yoga classes 4-5 days a week!

I have done yoga just a few times and took one semester of yoga in school years ago, so other than that, I am a newbie at yoga! I keep hearing amazing things about yoga and the rebalance of life that it has, and that is just what I am needing right now. I get Seasonal Affective Disorder around this time and every year my birthday month is the hardest month to get through. I am trying to change my attitude about it this year and look for all the good and happy things in the month and I am convinced that yoga will be the saving grace for me. I am excited to see how to take back control and feel good about my life!