Sunday, April 26, 2009

So much to blog about, so little time!!

So It's been about 3 weeks since my last blog, but it feels like forever, because there has been so much going on. And to be honest I just haven't felt like blogging. So as most of you probably know I am a pretty private person as far as any kind of personal struggle, I am not usually one for sharing, but I have been having such a hard time that I figured this might be therapeutic. You ready for some honesty and whining? Here it is :) I have been having a pretty rough couple of months. I have been dealing with lots of personal issues that have left me physically and emotionally exhausted. It's been an ongoing battle and I am usually not one to wallow in anything, so it is hard for me not to feel better already! I am doing better than I was a month ago, which is REALLY great, but most days I still feel like I am barely keeping my head above water. There are some days where just getting out of bed and breathing in and out seems insurmountable. Have you ever felt that way? I feel like every time I make progress something drags me back through the mud. I am SUPER grateful however for the peace and love that I feel deep in my soul. I feel like the holy ghost and the power of the priesthood has kept me in decent shape. If I didn't have so much faith in the Savior and so much love for my husband and my girls I don't know how I would get by. I have never been more grateful for my family and for my testimony as I have been lately. I have been trying to stay service oriented and focused on the important things in life and less on myself and my problems, but sometimes I am so exhausted. However, I know that the Lord is blessing me in my efforts and I know that he is aware of me. I am sure that He is hoping that I will learn some patience. I know that He will heal me emotionally and physically from my burdens, I am just not sure how long its gonna take and I am so not good at waiting!!
Anyway, something that I CAN change is my weight! I am realizing how judgemental I used to be, in my mind, of people who struggled with weight now that I am one of those people. It has been hard for me to work out due to said exhaustion and to be honest, depression and low self esteem lately, but I am re-committing myself to work out. I used to love working out and if I didn't do it everyday I couldn't sleep at night. My body loved it, needed it, and it made me feel good. Now I am more out of shape and heavier than I have ever been. Here are my stats, I have decided not to be embarrassed of my weight anymore, this is where I am and I AM going to get better and not feel hopeless about it! I currently weigh 145lbs, I know that I'll probably never get back down to my old under 120 weight, but my goal is to weigh at most 125. I feel like that is a healthy and physically fit range for me to be in. It's hard because back in the day I had friends to work out with and facility access and dance and other activities to keep me physically active and my endurance factor was great, so working out felt good. Now, I don't really have any local friends and I am SO out of shape that working out is actually hard work! So doing it is a factor of me making myself do it with no outside motivation, and having 2 sweet girls constantly interrupting! But I know that it is worth it and I will feel better once I truly commit. That is why I am putting this on here, so that I am officially accountable!
Anyway, enough whining, if you read all that you are a true friend! Now on to the pictures and videos (you know that's the only reason you actually read this :)
Easter Pics, we had a GREAT Easter





Isabel and her adorable cousin Eve, Eve is just 6 weeks younger than Izzie

Egg hunting at Nana's!



Our ward did an Easter picnic which I was in charge of, I didn't get many pictures unfortunately, but we did a pinata (Janeal can you send that pic of Lily hitting the pinata?) and an Easter Egg hunt for the kids and barbecued a LOT of hamburgers and hot dogs. The primary and Young women's helped out alot with this activity and they really saved my life! We have a great ward. This is Brother Brady the counselor over my committee, he did the cooking of the meat (which was SO generous of him). And Lisa made him an awesome durag out of a reusable shopping bag!

As a thank you to brother brady the activities committee made him a personalized grillmaster apron and gave him some sunscreen! While I was at it I decided to make an apron for my sweet husband, since in his words I have been at times "crust-i-licious", and he has put up with it so well. Seriosuly, he really is my BFF and I love him an immeasurable amount. Anyway, here is how it turned out.

My birthday came and went pretty uneventfully. I got to see my sister and my mom, they came down for Andrea's ultrasound which happened to be on my birthday. My sister is currently being a surrogate mother and only has a few weeks left. She is carrying triplets! so my mom drove her down. She is staying here for the next few weeks since she will deliver here in the valley. It was really good to see them and I resolved some of the family issues that have been causing me serious stress. My fam is so crazy and dramatic I sometimes wonder what it would be like to have a normal family! (for example my sister Emily got married in Vegas last month on a whim and it was no big deal at all, something has to be WAY bigger than that to make a wave in my family pool! I literally haven't even talked to my other siblings about it, I am sure that they know and I talk to them at least weekly, it just isn't a big D). Anyway, my mom brought me a gift and my sister got me flowers and my AWESOME visiting teachers Sara and Dianna got me something too! It was a nice day. My mom made me a cake :)

Reading to Lily before bed

I got together with some of my girl friends from college at the end of March for lunch, it was SO good to see them, they are a great bunch!

Lily and Tonya, my friend Kristy's baby playing in the backyard. This is the only pic I have with them both in it, but I am SURE that my great friend Elisa is going to email me with hers soon :)Lily loved Tonya SO much, this is over a month ago and she still asks everyday if Tonya is going to come over and share with her! I feel bad because she doesn't interact with other kids much, but she really loved Tonya!
Izzie's about to fall asleep face

This sweet girl really is my sunshine baby, everybody should have one

Below are a BUNCH of videos, Isabel being her sweet self, playing peek-a-boo with Lily, Easter Egg hunting, and singing songs before bedtime. Sorry to overwhelm you, enjoy!



Saturday, April 4, 2009

In Honor of General Conference this Weekend...

I haven't posted in a while and I have had LOTS of drama and busy-ness and am overwhelmed, but I thought I'd post this new trick of Lily's. Our internet has been really shotty the past week, so I won't post the other videos and pics, but know that A LOT of pics and video are coming this next week, when I get a sec!


We are trying to teach her all the 12 too :)

Thursday, March 5, 2009

What the February??!!

Yep, February is here and gone ALREADY! Holy Cow!




Once again I find myself overwhelmed by the fact that I have not blogged in a while and I need to play catch-up! Once I get behind, I just keep putting it off because it seems like so much work, so to the one or two of you that care I apologize for not updating!

Here are some pictures from the first week of Febuary, we tried to get a pic of all 4 of us, but Lily was a MEGA beast that day and would have none of it! Which is crazy because she normally LOVES to smile for the camera!




The second week of Feb I was sicker than a dog (what does that mean do you think? Seriously, I wonder where that comes from). Anyway, it was horrible because Izzie isn't a very good sleeper at all and when you aren't getting ANY sleep it is SO hard to get better. So I was pretty miserable, here is a huge shout out to my blessed mother-in-law (who doesn't acually read this, but that is beside the point) who took Lily to play at her house a couple of days so I could rest when Izzie would. I have the best MIL ever!
The 3rd weekend of Febuary we went to Thatcher for my Grandpa's 83rd birthday. Here is my Grandpapa and GG with Isabel.


I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Grandparents SSOOOOO much. They have had as much impact as anyone I know on shaping who I am. My grandpa was pretty much it as far as male influences in my life growing up and he truly is my favorite person next to Matt and my girls. It is hard to watch as he gets older and his physical and mental state wears with age. My grandma is the strongest person I know, but I still worry about her. I can't imagine what it will be like as Matt and I get older and need to take care of each other. It is alot to deal with. Anyway, it was good to see them, it is ALWAYS good to see them. I respect them more than anyone I know. I miss them SO much and if it were up to me I would move back to Thatcher just to be near them. AND THAT'S THE TRUTH!

While we were in Thatcher we decided to have a birthday party for Lily since her birthday is 3 days after grandpa's and Matt would be back at work on her actual birthday. We had a great time! It was so good to get my family and friends together,


and although it was a little windy and the park, it was perfect for flying the kite that Matt got for Lily.



Mange and I even liked it :)

My mom of course made Lily a great cake! It is a lady bug since Lily's nickname is LilyBug (and we call Isabel IzzieBee)

It didn't just LOOK good, it tasted pretty good too!This is one of my BFF's Cindy and her husband Joe and their son JJ, later this afternoon she went into labor (with a little magic juju from me) and the next day she gave birth to a beautiful little girl named Sophie Tatiana :)
This is mama savage and Sophie!


This is Matt teaching our nephew Braxton some guitar chords at a family party we had for our nephew Colton's 1st birthday the last week of February.Here are some videos of the girls this week!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

busy bees

Well, we certainly have been a busy bunch this past week or two! Last weekend we had my step-sister Lauren's wedding, which I still don't have a picture of and consequently my mom, hank and my other step-sis beth all stayed here, we also blessed Izzie in church and had a party for her, and Matt and I went to see Lion King (AMAZING-it's like magic) Sat night for our early valentines date. Those are all the big things that we have done (I think) and of course there are a million little things! I am sick right now and miserable so this post is going to be short, otherwise I would tell you all about everything. Here is the cliffnotes. I love my families. BIG TIME. I am grateful for the temple. Lion King was awesome, Matt and I both sprinked in the first number when all the animals came out, it is so magnificent. Although I wasn't crazy about the simba's, the rest of the cast was great and the show was wonderful, even though we are both super sleep deprived. Izzie's blessing was wonderful. There were so many guys standing in her circle, I didn't count but probably like 10 or something. I am so grateful that my girls have such a loving, supportive, wonderful group of worthy priesthood holding men in their lives. I grew up without a lot of adult male influence, really just my grandpa and it is so good to see my girls abundantly blessed with something that I really feel I missed out on growing up. So yea! for that :) So it Valentines and I am sick, but my wonderful husband made me a funny homemade card and brought me strawberry whipped cream pancakes in bed. He even made me a "J" shaped pancake like my mom did growing up. it was wonderful. I love him. Big Ones! Anyway, here is a bunch of pics and a video I love.


This is Lily watching "dora the explorer" at the end they always sing a "We did it" song and Lily loves to run around yelling "I did it" and dancing. This is actually a mild version of her song and dance, but the only one we have managed to capture. My favorite part is when she realizes Matt is taping halfway through.




Izzie Pics

Lily in the sandbox (our backyard's greatest asset!)

Going to Lion King

Beth and Izzie

Blessing Day Pics

Charlie Picking Oranges with Lily in the backyard