She was such a stunning bride!
Virginia Reception!
2 months ago
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Sara's Wedding
Last month I had the opportunity to fly to Spokane to attend one of my best and oldest friend's wedding. Sara and Don are a beautiful couple. I'm so happy for them. I FORGOT TO BRING MY CAMERA on this trip!!!! What's wrong with me!??? But she just e-mailed me some pictures of it today so I'm super excited to be able to document it on the blog! Thank you, Sara! And thank you for the wonderful evening you provided for us all to enjoy your day. I wish you both happiness and romance for always and forever!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Top 10 Reasons Why This Weekend (including today) Was Awesome
1) For starters, today the sun was shining AND the sky was all blue. First time I've seen this combination since... October... I think.
2) Todd and I went to the temple for Date Night this weekend. That always leaves me feeling uplifted. I felt like I was able to have a quiet mind for the first time in weeks. It's been so difficult lately to slow down or think straight. But I finally felt a moment's peace there.
3) I visited a wonderful friend in Weiser this weekend. I always leave Lorrie's with an extra spring in my step. She has a gift for making people feel very loved.
4) Todd took Brielle and Ashton to see a cartoon at the movie theater while Lainey and I went to a nearby pond to feed the ducks. It was precious time to spend, one-on-one with her, and we both enjoyed the fresh air and good company immensely. There were actually a slew of several sorts of birds there. We fed ducks, geese, and seagulls. Lainey especially loved running toward the seagulls whenever they'd settle on the shore because they'd scatter off in flight from her in such an amusing flutter.
5) I went to the Stake Relief Society Broadcast this weekend. Yet another uplifting event. Three talks were given. All three felt inspired just for little 'ol me. I love how the spirit can make everyone in the room feel that way. Lunch was served afterwards and it was great to visit with friends. AND eat home made Gluten- Free Chicken Noodle Soup. Who knew that would taste so good!
6) A few friends of mine have come to use our gym recently and I've been guiding them in some quick metabolic conditioning exercises. I'm no personal trainer and I make that VERY clear. But I share what I've learned, share my equipment, and encourage them. I'm seeing some good friends of mine make fast improvements! Outside of the joys of my own family, few things make me feel as fulfilled as helping women feel stronger. Something about it makes me indescribably happy.
7) I went visiting teaching this morning. The kids had a blast playing with the other kids and I had a great visit with friends.
8) A friend called today saying she made way too much dinner. She starts cooking dinner really early in the day as she cooks every bit of it from scratch. She asked if I'd "take some off her hands". She would not take "No, you keep it for left-overs" for an answer. AND she is a fabulous cook. So of course, after arguably vague persuasion, I folded like a lawn chair. Apparently she "accidently" does this quite often for people. I think that's about the coolest thing I've ever heard of. And our family LOVED being the recipients of her sweet service. Man, this world is full of awesome people!
9) Our kids have been doing workouts at home in our gym. It blows me away how strong kids are! And especially for their size- They're so little! Brielle jumped about half her height today! And Ashton, though he got a little distracted before he could try much higher, did still do some nice jumps.
10) I saw my first itty bitty weed on our property (first of this year) this weekend! Yes, that sounds like a terrible thing to get excited about, but it means warmer brighter days are swiftly approaching. And I'm actually very eager to work our own dirt as a family. I almost took a picture of the little green guy, but that DID seem a little too cynical. :-) But it was my first sign of Spring.
Spring is my favorite season. Its symbolism is just so happy. New life. New beginnings. Starting fresh. Clean. Brighter and brighter mornings. (No, I'm not a fan of Daylight Savings. I have 3 small children, are you kidding!??) Warmer and warmer days. More energy. More hope.
Being completely honest, I do not like New Year's Resolutions. I think it's silly to make goals just for the sake of making goals. I think goals should be made where there is a need and a desire for them. At least I think a need and a desire would yield to more success with goals. But if one was to make goals every year at the same time of year, for the sake of making goals... I think it should be in the Spring. I think more people would follow through with them before February and March sucked the life out of their ambition.
Happy Spring everyone.
2) Todd and I went to the temple for Date Night this weekend. That always leaves me feeling uplifted. I felt like I was able to have a quiet mind for the first time in weeks. It's been so difficult lately to slow down or think straight. But I finally felt a moment's peace there.
3) I visited a wonderful friend in Weiser this weekend. I always leave Lorrie's with an extra spring in my step. She has a gift for making people feel very loved.
4) Todd took Brielle and Ashton to see a cartoon at the movie theater while Lainey and I went to a nearby pond to feed the ducks. It was precious time to spend, one-on-one with her, and we both enjoyed the fresh air and good company immensely. There were actually a slew of several sorts of birds there. We fed ducks, geese, and seagulls. Lainey especially loved running toward the seagulls whenever they'd settle on the shore because they'd scatter off in flight from her in such an amusing flutter.
5) I went to the Stake Relief Society Broadcast this weekend. Yet another uplifting event. Three talks were given. All three felt inspired just for little 'ol me. I love how the spirit can make everyone in the room feel that way. Lunch was served afterwards and it was great to visit with friends. AND eat home made Gluten- Free Chicken Noodle Soup. Who knew that would taste so good!
6) A few friends of mine have come to use our gym recently and I've been guiding them in some quick metabolic conditioning exercises. I'm no personal trainer and I make that VERY clear. But I share what I've learned, share my equipment, and encourage them. I'm seeing some good friends of mine make fast improvements! Outside of the joys of my own family, few things make me feel as fulfilled as helping women feel stronger. Something about it makes me indescribably happy.
7) I went visiting teaching this morning. The kids had a blast playing with the other kids and I had a great visit with friends.
8) A friend called today saying she made way too much dinner. She starts cooking dinner really early in the day as she cooks every bit of it from scratch. She asked if I'd "take some off her hands". She would not take "No, you keep it for left-overs" for an answer. AND she is a fabulous cook. So of course, after arguably vague persuasion, I folded like a lawn chair. Apparently she "accidently" does this quite often for people. I think that's about the coolest thing I've ever heard of. And our family LOVED being the recipients of her sweet service. Man, this world is full of awesome people!
9) Our kids have been doing workouts at home in our gym. It blows me away how strong kids are! And especially for their size- They're so little! Brielle jumped about half her height today! And Ashton, though he got a little distracted before he could try much higher, did still do some nice jumps.
10) I saw my first itty bitty weed on our property (first of this year) this weekend! Yes, that sounds like a terrible thing to get excited about, but it means warmer brighter days are swiftly approaching. And I'm actually very eager to work our own dirt as a family. I almost took a picture of the little green guy, but that DID seem a little too cynical. :-) But it was my first sign of Spring.
Spring is my favorite season. Its symbolism is just so happy. New life. New beginnings. Starting fresh. Clean. Brighter and brighter mornings. (No, I'm not a fan of Daylight Savings. I have 3 small children, are you kidding!??) Warmer and warmer days. More energy. More hope.
Being completely honest, I do not like New Year's Resolutions. I think it's silly to make goals just for the sake of making goals. I think goals should be made where there is a need and a desire for them. At least I think a need and a desire would yield to more success with goals. But if one was to make goals every year at the same time of year, for the sake of making goals... I think it should be in the Spring. I think more people would follow through with them before February and March sucked the life out of their ambition.
Happy Spring everyone.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Katrina's Baby Shower
Last night, Amber and I threw our sister-in-law, Katrina, a baby shower! She has a little boy, Camden (Lainey's age), and is now having her first baby girl! She's due in 4 weeks and look how fabulous she looks!!! That is about the cutest outfit I've ever seen- maternity or otherwise!
These were the invitations that Amber and I made.
Katrina is super popular and well-loved! We had at least 30 people in attendance.
She is such a beautiful mother.
I had a really enjoyable time. Everyone pitched in tons to set up and take down, make refreshments (Amber and Tina made a sinfully delicious chocolate cake.), and provide games. I was excited to get to put our new home to the test for its first party. It seemed to go well! Thanks, everyone for your help. And, Katrina, we love you and wish you a speedy arrival of your new baby girl!
Goodbye, Andrea :(
In our CrossFit class, we had the awesome fortune of having a visitor, Andrea, join us for a few months. She was staying with her mom until her husband's release from Afghanistan serving in the military. As of this week, they now live in Virginia.
Andrea, aside from being super cool and SO nice, is a 4-year seasoned CrossFit athlete. She is SO strong. I couldn't believe the weight she was putting up in these workouts. It was inspiring to train with her. We'll miss you, Andrea!
(Andrea, Me, Marni)
(I'm always ridiculously red in the face after a workout.)
Marni and I are excited for the weekend after next to attend a CrossFit Level 1 Certification Course coming to Boise- so we can learn learn LEARN!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
What is CrossFit?
CrossFit is something I stumbled across in the latter half of last year. As I've said in earlier posts, my old next door neighbor is a CrossFit instructor who used to train out of a local gym until he turned his garage into a gym and started training from there. I knew he was a trainer of some sort and would see people run from his garage, down my street, past my house, and occasionally run that loop intermittently. I used to wonder why in the world people would pay him money to run on HIS pavement instead of their own! Then I found out what they were actually doing and that he actually trained CrossFit.
I received a free CrossFit workout coupon at a local race I ran last year and when Dean, my neighbor, personally invited me to use it, I figured I had nothing to lose. I did lose, pant sizes, that is. I only lost 2 pounds, but I dropped 3 pant sizes in 5 weeks! I knew I was building lean strong muscle because my ability to do things like push-ups and pull-ups increased rapidly. I had to quickly re-evaluate my diet so I would stop shrinking, but be able to do the work outs. The work outs were SHORT. But they were intense. We lifted weight/ran/did body weight exercises in intervals as fast as we could without jeopardising form. It was FUN. The environment was a garage, yet it was anything but dreary and dull. Nothing but energizing, encouraging, intense, and fun. In short, I was smitten with CrossFit.
The majority of CrossFit's workouts are generally set up to complete a certain amount of rounds of certain tasks for time, or to do those tasks for a set amount of time and see how many rounds you can do in that time. (Glycolytic conditioning) Both create the need for speed. Then, the more weight you can manage while holding the correct form, the more intense the work out becomes. I love the element of racing. Not to compete with others, but with myself. Just like in triathlons. There's no chance I'd ever win a triathlon, but I love to race against myself and my own expectations in each race. In CrossFit, you race against your time from when you last did that workout. You record your times or rounds accomplished with the date.
The workouts are different from day to day. Some workouts are repeated after several months, some in over a year. Using constantly varied workouts not only promotes muscle confusion, but as CrossFit intends, it prepares the athlete for the unknown or unknowable. They can be conditioned to do whatever life requires and do it well. Where a marathon winner or an olympic weightlifting champion are specialized in their sport, CrossFit specializes in NOT specializing. They perscribe a broad, general, and inclusive fitness using constantly varied, functional movements at a high intensity.
Again, the workouts are not repeated often. But when they are, you go back and find the time to race against it. It's a way of challenging yourself to always be better and better and break your last record. It's a way of measuring fitness that I really really like. Elite athletes do compete with each other by recording and comparing their times on CrossFit's website.
I thought I'd give the "encyclopedia" version of what CrossFit is:
CrossFit is a brand of strength and conditioning. It is considered a sport- the "sport of fitness". CrossFit combines weightlifting, cardio (running/rowing/biking, etc.), and gymnastics. It trains for proficiency in each of ten fitness domains: cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy. It defines fitness as increased work capacity across broad time (varying lengths of time doing exercise) and modal domains (a wide variety of tasks/exercises). Its program achieves this by provoking neurological and hormonal adaptations across all metabolic pathways.
CrossFit athletes train as a group in a class-like setting. Classes at affiliated gyms typically include a warm-up, stretching, a skill development segment, and a high-intensity workout that on averages lasts 5 to 20 minutes. They run, row, jump rope, climb rope, carry odd objects, move large loads quickly over long distances, use power lifting and Olympic weightlifting techniques. Among their equipments used are dumbbells, gymnastics rings, pull-up bars, kettle bells, sleds, plyometric boxes, over-sized tires, and medicine balls. They use many body weight exercises such as pull ups, push ups, sit ups, squats, burpees, etc. CrossFit emphasizes the importance of functional movements and exercises- doing things that mimic something we do in daily life. These movements are natural, safe, effective, and efficient. ie: lifting something overhead (push press), sitting down to a sofa/toilet and standing up from it (squat), bending over to pick something up off the floor (dead lift).
CrossFit is used in nearly 2,000 gyms worldwide and by many fire departments, law enforcement agencies, and military organizations.
These are a couple of my favorite CrossFit videos:
So that's CrossFit. I've gotten a little bit of slack for it because I'm already a small person. No, I'm not trying to lose weight. No, I'm not a body builder. CrossFit cares very little about either of those things. They are all about having ultimate fitness by being able to DO great things. Today's society tends to think exercise is for people who need to lose weight, or people who are obsessed with their muscles being huge. I met my weight and size goals a while ago. So why would I still be exercising? Because it's supposed to be a life-long lifestyle. And to me, strenth is a journey not a destination. My size isn't changing, but I'm getting stronger. More and more every day. I don't want to just complete a triathlon, I want to really put my all into it and BE an athlete.
One of the things I really like about CrossFit is that it doesn't try to make women conform to a mold of what society says women "should" look like. Today's media would have every woman feel pressure to look one way- even at the expense of true health. And typically that's very thin and not very muscular. But we all have unique bodies.
Women in CrossFit break the mold of trying to look like woman are pressured to look. They accept their body how it is built. And appreciate what their body is capable of achieving in terms of performance. It's very refreshing to walk into a gym environment where everyone's body is acceptable. They're just trying to DO something more than they did the time before.
Inevitably, CrossFit will make a person lean. CrossFit workouts are metabolicly affective such that they continue burning calories, not just during the workout, but for up to 48 hours afterward. Someone wanting to get lean from CrossFit will get lean. And most women doing CrossFit get to a healthy kind of lean. But that is not the primary objective for being there.
Anyway, if anyone thinks this is something they would be interested in, go to crossfit.com, and look up an affiliate instructor in your area. CrossFit is modified for all ages and fitness levels. If you can't do a single pull-up or push-up, they modify them for you. It's always simply about getting better and better each time. It's a blast and you'll love it.
I received a free CrossFit workout coupon at a local race I ran last year and when Dean, my neighbor, personally invited me to use it, I figured I had nothing to lose. I did lose, pant sizes, that is. I only lost 2 pounds, but I dropped 3 pant sizes in 5 weeks! I knew I was building lean strong muscle because my ability to do things like push-ups and pull-ups increased rapidly. I had to quickly re-evaluate my diet so I would stop shrinking, but be able to do the work outs. The work outs were SHORT. But they were intense. We lifted weight/ran/did body weight exercises in intervals as fast as we could without jeopardising form. It was FUN. The environment was a garage, yet it was anything but dreary and dull. Nothing but energizing, encouraging, intense, and fun. In short, I was smitten with CrossFit.
The majority of CrossFit's workouts are generally set up to complete a certain amount of rounds of certain tasks for time, or to do those tasks for a set amount of time and see how many rounds you can do in that time. (Glycolytic conditioning) Both create the need for speed. Then, the more weight you can manage while holding the correct form, the more intense the work out becomes. I love the element of racing. Not to compete with others, but with myself. Just like in triathlons. There's no chance I'd ever win a triathlon, but I love to race against myself and my own expectations in each race. In CrossFit, you race against your time from when you last did that workout. You record your times or rounds accomplished with the date.
The workouts are different from day to day. Some workouts are repeated after several months, some in over a year. Using constantly varied workouts not only promotes muscle confusion, but as CrossFit intends, it prepares the athlete for the unknown or unknowable. They can be conditioned to do whatever life requires and do it well. Where a marathon winner or an olympic weightlifting champion are specialized in their sport, CrossFit specializes in NOT specializing. They perscribe a broad, general, and inclusive fitness using constantly varied, functional movements at a high intensity.
Again, the workouts are not repeated often. But when they are, you go back and find the time to race against it. It's a way of challenging yourself to always be better and better and break your last record. It's a way of measuring fitness that I really really like. Elite athletes do compete with each other by recording and comparing their times on CrossFit's website.
I thought I'd give the "encyclopedia" version of what CrossFit is:
CrossFit is a brand of strength and conditioning. It is considered a sport- the "sport of fitness". CrossFit combines weightlifting, cardio (running/rowing/biking, etc.), and gymnastics. It trains for proficiency in each of ten fitness domains: cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy. It defines fitness as increased work capacity across broad time (varying lengths of time doing exercise) and modal domains (a wide variety of tasks/exercises). Its program achieves this by provoking neurological and hormonal adaptations across all metabolic pathways.
CrossFit athletes train as a group in a class-like setting. Classes at affiliated gyms typically include a warm-up, stretching, a skill development segment, and a high-intensity workout that on averages lasts 5 to 20 minutes. They run, row, jump rope, climb rope, carry odd objects, move large loads quickly over long distances, use power lifting and Olympic weightlifting techniques. Among their equipments used are dumbbells, gymnastics rings, pull-up bars, kettle bells, sleds, plyometric boxes, over-sized tires, and medicine balls. They use many body weight exercises such as pull ups, push ups, sit ups, squats, burpees, etc. CrossFit emphasizes the importance of functional movements and exercises- doing things that mimic something we do in daily life. These movements are natural, safe, effective, and efficient. ie: lifting something overhead (push press), sitting down to a sofa/toilet and standing up from it (squat), bending over to pick something up off the floor (dead lift).
CrossFit is used in nearly 2,000 gyms worldwide and by many fire departments, law enforcement agencies, and military organizations.
These are a couple of my favorite CrossFit videos:
This is an Adidas commercial with my favorite male and female CrossFit athletes;
Chris Spealler and Heather Bergeron.
So that's CrossFit. I've gotten a little bit of slack for it because I'm already a small person. No, I'm not trying to lose weight. No, I'm not a body builder. CrossFit cares very little about either of those things. They are all about having ultimate fitness by being able to DO great things. Today's society tends to think exercise is for people who need to lose weight, or people who are obsessed with their muscles being huge. I met my weight and size goals a while ago. So why would I still be exercising? Because it's supposed to be a life-long lifestyle. And to me, strenth is a journey not a destination. My size isn't changing, but I'm getting stronger. More and more every day. I don't want to just complete a triathlon, I want to really put my all into it and BE an athlete.
One of the things I really like about CrossFit is that it doesn't try to make women conform to a mold of what society says women "should" look like. Today's media would have every woman feel pressure to look one way- even at the expense of true health. And typically that's very thin and not very muscular. But we all have unique bodies.
Women in CrossFit break the mold of trying to look like woman are pressured to look. They accept their body how it is built. And appreciate what their body is capable of achieving in terms of performance. It's very refreshing to walk into a gym environment where everyone's body is acceptable. They're just trying to DO something more than they did the time before.
Inevitably, CrossFit will make a person lean. CrossFit workouts are metabolicly affective such that they continue burning calories, not just during the workout, but for up to 48 hours afterward. Someone wanting to get lean from CrossFit will get lean. And most women doing CrossFit get to a healthy kind of lean. But that is not the primary objective for being there.
Anyway, if anyone thinks this is something they would be interested in, go to crossfit.com, and look up an affiliate instructor in your area. CrossFit is modified for all ages and fitness levels. If you can't do a single pull-up or push-up, they modify them for you. It's always simply about getting better and better each time. It's a blast and you'll love it.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Pics of the House
I finally got some pictures of the house! I've been asked a lot what happened to the picture updates. Thanks for being patient with me for not posting any progress or end result pics of the house for quite a while. My camera battery died at one point, couldn't find the charger for a long time. Then I kept forgetting to bring the camera to the house because I had gotten out of the habit when it was no good to me! I hate to presume that anyone out there would even care to see my house, but I've been asked about it a number of times so I know I need to just do it! I finally buckled down and decorated (still nothing hanging on the walls, though) and took some pictures. My mother-in-law and 2 sister-in-laws that live in the area came over for a "help me decorate" party one afternoon and we knocked a lot of things out. Especially book shelves. There are a lot of built-in shelves in this house and I'm used to having NO shelves. So I needed a little help brainstorming how to fill them up.
Before the "tour" I wanted to toot our builder's horn a bit. Our builder was phenomenal. He did such a good job of bringing about the home we intended. He is a very good friend of ours and we were so impressed that he never played the "friend card" to slack off or figure he didn't have to be as professional. He had awesome communication, always did what he said he'd do, showed up when he said he would, etc. He was always on top of the budget, finished EARLY (not just on time), had very impressive quality finish workers and sub contractors, he just blew us away and we already had high expectations from his impressive reputation. We'd walk into carpet stores and lighting stores and plumbing stores and they'd all take the time to rave over what an amazing builder we had - with HIGH HIGH integrity. It was such a low-stress build. We just heard for years that building was so stressful! By the end, we were feeling pretty thrilled we chose our friend to build our home. It was a lot of fun. A lot of work, but tons of fun. Anyway, here are the pics:
Before the "tour" I wanted to toot our builder's horn a bit. Our builder was phenomenal. He did such a good job of bringing about the home we intended. He is a very good friend of ours and we were so impressed that he never played the "friend card" to slack off or figure he didn't have to be as professional. He had awesome communication, always did what he said he'd do, showed up when he said he would, etc. He was always on top of the budget, finished EARLY (not just on time), had very impressive quality finish workers and sub contractors, he just blew us away and we already had high expectations from his impressive reputation. We'd walk into carpet stores and lighting stores and plumbing stores and they'd all take the time to rave over what an amazing builder we had - with HIGH HIGH integrity. It was such a low-stress build. We just heard for years that building was so stressful! By the end, we were feeling pretty thrilled we chose our friend to build our home. It was a lot of fun. A lot of work, but tons of fun. Anyway, here are the pics:
Living Room
Hearth
I've had a few people ask what the wood floors are. If anyone was wondering, it's Asian Walnut (Acacia).
I love all things linear. And bright. We did white tongue groove
on the ceiling in the living room and dining room.
Entry
Dining Room
The stairs.
Kitchen
The fridge- covered in cabinet panel so we don't have to deal with fingerprints.
Same with the dish washer below.
View from the kitchen to the living areas.
The island
The Powder Room
Master Bedroom, still not fully unpacked here and nothing hung on the walls...
Master Bathroom vanity
Master tub
Master shower
Shower floor tile
So there's the tour for anyone far away. I haven't gotten pictures of every room, we'll get to it eventually, but the kids' rooms, for instance need painted and set up and stuff. The bonus room is a disaster of toys. I guess it probably always will be so I might as well snap it as is.
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