Randomness...

-I thought things were going to start slowing down a bit once January came. As you can see by my blog negligence that hasn't quite happened yet.
Randy has been busy working on the basement. He has completed the framing and has moved on to electrical work. Things are moving quick. My brother Aaron has offered to come help with some of the plumbing this weekend so we can at least get the bedrooms sheet rocked. I have been working on Primary projects and getting the house back in order.

-I have decided to quit disregarding my body and health. I have let myself slide into a carcass I am not fond of. I don’t feel good or healthy. So if you are around me PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don’t feed the bear. My goal is to get myself back into shape by July. So if you see me a nice shove of motivation would be helpful. I have been watching the new season of Biggest Loser and have bawled through both episodes. I needed that extra push to get the ball rolling. My biggest hurdle is food. I don’t eat because I am sad or depressed. There is nothing Jillian could drag out of my past. I eat because it tastes good. I love social eating; I love snacking, and tasting. There is not a food I won’t try. I love the way food smells, tastes and even feels after I swallow. It is my addiction. It doesn’t help that I love to cook. While I am cooking breakfast I start obsessing over what I am going to make for lunch and dinner. Too bad food is not something I can quit cold turkey. I do have to eat in order to live. I need to learn self control. It is going to be hard, food is my crack cocaine. But I am determined.

- Claire has changed a lot in the last few weeks. Her toddlerhood is slipping so fast. She will surprise me with a whole sentence with words I have never heard her say before. It takes me a second to respond to her because I am trying to recover from the shock. She is a sponge. She picks up on everything. She also gets INTO everything. It takes me about 5 minutes to apply makeup. Not Claire she can get into my drawer dump out the contents and transform into a beautiful drag queen in 10 seconds flat. I feel like a walk behind her all day picking up her trail of disarray. I have given up on keeping her room organized. She has also turned into quite the little mother. I love to watch her play with her dolls. It really amazes me that little girls pick up on motherhood with very little guidance.



-Brad is such a good little helper around the house. He is so good about helping with chores and helping with his little sister. He also loves to be right at Randy’s side with the basement work. We had parent teacher conference this week. Academically he is above average. He is an eager learner and picks up on things really quick. We just need to work on keeping him focused. He has so much energy and restless fidgetiness. Even when I am quietly reading to him he can’t sit still. I don’t know if he is bored or just needs an outlet for all that liveliness. There is never a dull moment with him.




- Now that work has slowed down a bit I have had a little more time to bargain hunt and price match. For those of you who know me well, know that I can’t stand paying full price for anything. Over the summer I lost a bit of that motivation. I found some great food deals this week so I stocked up our pantry. It felt good. The more money I save on groceries the more money we have to finish the yard and basement. Every penny counts. It is worth the effort.

-With the New Year we switched to the 9-noon church schedule. I am in heaven. We have had the 1-4PM schedule for a long time. It is so nice to be done with everything early. We are now able to go to SLC on Sundays for my mom’s monthly Birthday Dinner. I had a lot of fun on Sunday. I have missed hanging out with my parents and siblings. We laughed a lot and the cousins were all so crazy excited. The noise level was over the top. And of course the food was to die for. Steven directed the kiddos in a nice round of dog pile, rocks, burrito blankets, blanket swing, and leg wrestling. He is going to make a fantastic dad one day. My kids love it. They even got Uncle Eric to play steam roller.



- This last weekend was the girl’s trip. It started with my mom and some girlfriends from my ward growing up. It has now escalated into quite the group. We usually go to Lava Hot Springs but they decided to crash in Logan this year. We stayed in a Hotel, went shopping, ate out for every meal, lounged and played games all weekend. It was a nice refreshing getaway. Thank you Randy for keeping the kids. I brought my camera and didn’t take a single picture. I was much too busy relaxing and shopping. I stole these pictures from Annie’s blog. I seriously love these incredible women. These are the girls I grew up with, girls that have become my sisters, and girls that I absolutely love to be around. I hope this tradition lasts forever!!!






Life is good. I am always grateful for January for fresh starts and the simple quietness after the holidays.