Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Today was a lazy Sunday afternoon, as lazy as a person with a 3 year old and a 1 year old can be. The fun began after Maya and Teancum woke up from their afternoon naps. We took a little stroll around the block and ran into a Benjamin. He was long boarding home from the soccer field and he offered Maya a ride, like a true Prince Charming.

When we got home, Ben put the long board on the grass and it was time for Teancum to have a go:

He's a pro already! Maya then started to make us an amazing meal of grass, which ultimately became enchiladas with rice, spaghetti, and hot dogs, followed by cookies and cupcakes of course.

Bonk!

You can't see Maya's cute face in any of these so here is one from Saturday:







I love these two and they have brought so much joy into our home over the passed few days! Can't wait to keep experiencing them every minute until Jake and Celestial come home!

Birthday

This last Friday was my 21st birthday! How did it go you ask? Well, it was one of my most bizarre birthdays...actually I kept forgetting it even was my birthday! ha. This is what happened. I woke up in the morning at 7??? who does that? Got up, and my cute mama made me sausage sandwiches me gusta! Then she sadly informed me that she had to go take care of my Grandma, because her regular care giver was sick. So i spent my birthday alone...until about 1 o'clock when i picked up two children, Maya and Teancum are Phill's niece and nephew and they are staying with me while their mommy and daddy are in the Philippines. Having them on my Birthday was so fun, but it made me totally forget that it was even my birthday because i was crazy busy with them. It was worth it though. Besides that weird beginning/middle, it ended amazingly.  Everyone was home for cake and ice cream and since Teancum's 1st Birthday was the day before mine we made it a double party and let him join in on the cupcake fun!

Of course Maya had a lot of fun too! This made up for the bitter disappointment that were my presents...to Maya, not me i loved my presents! ha. She was really excited to help me open presents, but was severely disappointed to find out that grown up presents are not quite as fun as little girl presents. But she was a trooper and helped me open all of them!

My parents always treat me waaaay more than i deserve. And this year took the cake. While opening my presents i came upon a shoe box...no surprise there i picked them out myself and was expecting to find them. So Maya and i opened the shoe box and i was telling here that there were sandals in there! then i move around the paper...uh....where are the sandals? Then it happened, i caught a glimpse of that iconic blue box tied with a white ribbon....TIFFANY'S!!!! After visiting the new City Creek Tiffany's & Co. i was bound and determined to own something from there and i didn't care what! So i had my mind set on this adorable silver band with a Tiffany Blue center, i had just been saving my pennies to get it. I opened the box...i pulled out the bag, i reached in, and there it was a giant CHECK off my bucket list! A ring from Tiffany's. I love it!

Telling Maya it's shoes...you can tell she's disappointed. haha.

Clearly i'm very excited...i can't even control how my face looks. haha.

Explaining it to Maya, She was less than amused, but i could not me more so;)

These are the sandals i thought i was opening when i got my ring:

Even my own feet gross me out, so i do not know why i am posting a picture of them.... i apologize. haha All in all despite a rocky beginning and middle, my birthday ended with a Big Bang (literally i watched the Big Bang theory at the end, because Kaitlin bought me the third season she's great.) Phill sent me "flowers" which was adorable, they were pictures he had taken of flowers along the way with little notes on the back of each, cute stuff.

Thank you to everyone who made my Birthday special.

21???

Ah, the time has come...this is my last week of being 20. Now let the rapid decay into my elderly years begin...it's all down hill from here. Kidding. Obviously i know I am still in my prime, but 21 seems a LOT older than 20, just sayin. As tradition has thus been held up, the week of one of my friend's 21st birthday we hold a Margarita Night, because for most people 21 means you get to go out and get wasted legally, but for us mormons the only thing we get to do when we turn 21 is hop on down to the DMV for a wild license renewal party. woot. Anyways, we work with what we've got and typically we replace tequila with a little extra lime juice to make us feel more hard core ;) As you may have guessed it was my margarita night this round and we made a killer batch of beverages!

The recipe is:
fresh cut strawberries
1/4 cup of lime juice
1/2 cup of orange juice
2 Tablespoons of sugar
ice

put it in a blender and wah-la Margarita ville ;)

As always when it comes to my cute friends we pretty much talk nonstop from beginning to end and we had tons of fun catching up! So i guess here is to a year of being 21. 

Little Victories.

Who ever gets sick of the constant pressure to lose weight? Every one raise your hand, because i know you agree. Now, don't get me wrong, I am all for being healthy and fit, but there are times when the pressure gets ridiculous.  As I've been slowly making my way into a healthier lifestyle i have often felt so discouraged by how long it takes to change 20 years of bad habits. And to be honest, there will be habits that never change, I'm always going to love and eat chocolate when i want! fact. Just last week Celestial Brandley (Phill's sister-in-law) recruited me into a program called Fit in Six, it's a point system type competition, I was so gung-ho to do it the day it began, and then...out came the Easter candy and a few pre-final break downs and my week of healthy eating was shot to he....ck. This is the thing to remember about changing your lifestyle, you have to take babysteps or you WILL relapse!

Some people can get off stuff cold turkey and be a-okay, but between us normal people it takes a bullet proof safe to keep me away from the things i love to eat. 

My, oh so wise philosophy, is simply don't deprive yourself of things you love! Moderation of course, blah blah blah, but if you quit eating sweets or whatever your Achilles is chances are you'll binge later.

There is a thing in psychology called "Self-Fulfilling Prophecy" essentially it means if you imagine yourself doing something or being something, most likely it will happen. For example, at the beginning of my Fit in Six challenge i said to myself you are going to sabotage yourself, because you hate it when people tell you what not to eat...and i did totally sabotage myself. haha. Luckily for me i can just laugh it off, because i just don't care. The key to all this weight loss get fit madness is that you have to feel good about yourself no matter what.

You can't take care of a body you don't love, so love the skin you are in my friends! Even after I've lost a few pounds i still feel the same most days, incredibly insecure...but I have been looking at it all wrong, i have been looking at how far i "need" to go instead of how far I've come. Fit in Six is a fun little program, and I'll keep doing it just to occupy my time and make achieving a healthy lifestyle a little easier.  But i will not feel bad if i have an off day, why? because i am human and i want to enjoy life, especially the sweeter things in life. ya know what i mean;) So here is to being confident in your own skin and doing things for yourself and not for the approval of others! Celebrate the little victories, here is an example of one of my victories that i didn't realize i had won until i put this together:

Left is me in 2010, and Right is me as i am today. I lost weight without depriving myself! to me that is a victory all around;) And i didn't do it for anyone else, just for me.

This post isn't to make anyone feel bad, but to show what a completely average person, with a sweets problem,  like myself can do. It's possible. And being healthy doesn't mean giving up everything you enjoy,to me it's just adding to those things knowledge and control resulting in a happier body and a happier you!



Easter Crazies

Of all the holidays we celebrate Easter has to be the most confusing. Supposedly a bunny hides eggs, uses baskets, and depending on the interpretation you are getting defecates jelly beans. who. came. up. with. this. stuff? All in all it makes for some lively times, so i am not opposed to this Peter Cottontail. This year Easter was an adventure we had dinner with my family, Grandma, and my cousin Karen and her family. Ethan, Derrick, and Lia are three of my most favorite kiddos eva they made Easter a blast, just look at them how could they not!?!

This is Ethan, second grade wonder showing off his sidewalk-chalk masterpiece
his Easter bunny came down with an illness, but later he said, "The Easter Bunny is resurrected"
Thank heavens!

This is Derrick, he turns six tomorrow! He is probably the craziest of the 3,
but that is debatable. He is sporting a chocolate frosting tongue. Yummy.

Here we have Miss Lia Nora about to be 3 going on 14 she is brilliant!
In this picture Miss Chocolate Fancy face is being harassed by,
"Monka Mike" which directly translated = Uncle Mike

I love these little Easter Crazies! We did a way with a few of our normal Easter traditions this year, but one still kept going. Cupcakes! For as long as i remember we would always make special cupcakes for my Grandpa Low when Easter rolled around and even though he has passed away, we still make them, and i love it! Here are a few we made this year:

But of course Easter isn't really about some crazy bunny. It's about our Savior Jesus Christ who came forth from the dead a resurrected being, securing for all eternity a way for eternal life of all people.  the other day, through Mormon.org Phill posted an answer to the question, "What is Christ to me?" I seriously loved it so much, here is what he said:

"He is Every hope, dream, want, and need, I have. He is my Redeemer, meaning no matter how bad I mess up (which trust me I do a lot), He is always there to help me find the light. He chooses to love me endlessly. To be ...my friend when I'm in need. To remove the fear of this mortal life and replace it with enduring faith. He blesses me with strength far beyond my own, so that I may overcome the challenges and trials in my life.
 I wasn't always this way, a believer. It took me searching my soul and trusting my Father in Heaven, to answer my prayer that He is there and loves me. And by knowing this, I know He sent His son. To Atone for the world, so that by Jesus we might have the opportunity to live with Him some day.
I'm so thankful for the wonderful peace I have in my life, which comes from the Savior, like endless flowing water. He said" I am the Way, the Truth, and the Light!" I know this to be true and I love the Savior with all my heart."

If anyone knows Phill the way I do, or as well as I do, this will just melt your heart into a puddle of unexplainable joy. I love him so much! And I echo what he said.

Christ is the reason for all goodness, he suffered more than anyone who has ever lived or will live for us.  I love to think, if Jesus Christ had to come down to earth to atone for my sins alone, he would have. That kind of love, and perfection can only be found in one place, through our brother and redeemer Jesus the Christ. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." He is joy, He is Risen!

I hope you all had a fabulous Easter Sunday!!!!

Conference!

This weekend was General Conference, but that is just stating the obvious.  I love conference weekend, it's so great to be completely immersed in the Gospel for an entire weekend! I had the awesome opportunity to go to the Conference Center for the Saturday Afternoon session with none other than my friend Shanda and her family! We had an amazing time and it was so much fun to hear the MTC choir sing, because i really like missionaries;) haha. well...just one missionary really, who fun fact only has 8 months left today!!! Okay back on track, so i went to conference, it was a beautiful day in Salt Lake City and it's always amazing to see how many people pack that conference center! The Gospel is amazing!!!

it was so windy!!!
 a little math equation for you wind+dresses= unintentional immodesty

in the "nosebleed section" haha dont' worry we still felt special;)

After Conference on Saturday I joined the Brandley/Steele women for a girl's night out. We had tons of fun, i sure do love that family! We went to the Greenery and then headed back to the Brandley's to play games....which we did, until 2:30 in the morning. One thing you have to be prepared for when entering any Brandley or Steele gathering, you will play games, and it will end in blood sweat and tears. haha. Kami, Alisha, and I got a little weird with the camera as the night went on...these really shouldn't be shared, but if you've got it flaunt it right?;)

cheeese!!!

where. to. begin. Kamila said Llama...
apparently this is what i would look like if i were a llama?

We've got the crazy eyes!!!

This photo is like an optical illusion...
it looks like Alisha is kissing me, she is not. just to clear the air;)

I hope you all had a great conference weekend!!!! And that you enjoyed my self-destructive streak of posting horrible photos. haha.

Oh...we also put Teancum in the giant mailbox in front of Rainbow Gardens...
Alisha's idea, she's going to be a great mother, yes indeed :)