Employment Changes

It's been an interesting couple of weeks. I'm thinking that I'm in denial about the situation. Or maybe I really am just fine with everything. Maybe I just knew it was time for a change.

I am, of course, talking about our recent increase in bills (thanks to another vehicle, and the new baby bills), the Hubby being laid off, and our moving back into my parents basement. So, between looking for a new job and packing for the move I haven't had time to panic. Maybe that's a good thing. I think it helped me stay out of my Hubby's way while he searched for new employment.

Of which, we are truly blessed to have him be offered a job. It will definitely be an adjustment, but I think it will all be okay. I hope it will all be okay.

Going Green Confessions

I'm all about going green. I would rather pay my bills online. I would rather get all my coupons online. I obviously like to keep up with friends and family online. However, when it comes to shopping, I don't really like to do it online. My sweet Hubby thinks I'm a little funny because he would rather do it online.

I want to go to the store, touch, feel, and smell what I'm buying. And then I want the instant gratification of bringing whatever I just spent money on home. I want it right now! (This is the brat in me) Then to add to it. I would rather spend hours looking at catalogs than staring at my computer screen.

So, here is my Going Green Confession. I get catalogs and LOVE them. I LOVE junk mail too. (my advertising Hubby thinks this is crazy too) I want to read the adds. See the specials and I want it in my hands. Not on my computer screen. It's just not the same joy when it's glowing at me.

I guess, if anyone knows of an easy, cheap way to recycle my catalogs here in Utah, that information would be greatly appreciated. Then maybe I won't feel too terrible about my obsession.

Family Stay-ca-tion Day 2: This Is The Place Heritage Park

Our stay-ca-tion Day #2 started out with us driving up to This is The Place. We got up there by 9:30 am. The park hours are 9-5; however, you do NOT need to be there by 9 am. None of the building tours or activities open until 10 am. (They do not mention this on the website)

Monument just outside the visitor center.
We got there and immediately rode the train around the whole park. Sweet Pea LOVED the train. It was nice to see everything in the park so we could figure out what we wanted to do first. We got off the train back at the front gate and walked up main street. We stopped at one of the houses to take a look and noticed that in the backyard they were doing some chores and playing some games.
Sweet Pea got to scrub some laundry and then go hang it up. She thought it was pretty fun.
She also got to race these wooden bears up the wall with string. (I didn't get a picture) And my pregnant self decided that I could do the stilts.

See, this fat Mamma can get up on stilts WITH a backpack on.

We walked farther up the road and found the craft center. Sweet Pea got to color a boat, a paddle to match, a pin-wheel, and got a coloring book. They only had felt pens, so she learned all about how easy they write and all about the lids. Her favorite part was putting the lids back on the felt pens. (I love that she holds her pen correctly. She is so observant.)
We walked up the street and saw the Mountain Man. He was kind of funny and a lot interesting, but could talk your ear off. The ONLY person in the park who could. NO ONE else seemed to want to tell us anything. They just spent their time talking to the other workers at their station. It was pretty annoying.

We saw the Barber Shop. Maybe would have been cooler if he told us anything. Everywhere we went they would say, "let us know if you have any questions." How am I supposed to have any questions when it just looks like old stuff to me. I don't know if there is anything cool about it. JUST TELL ME!

We went around the corner to the Leather Shop (?). They gave us a piece of leather that we could take outside and pound little prints into. It was fun for Sweet Pea to pretend to use the hammer and she LOVED telling us what the prints were. I did all the pounding. It's harder than it looks. Here they gave us the leather like we should know what to do with it. I just looked at the guy strangely and said, "what am I supposed to do with it?" I was really disappointed with the workers at the park.


There was a little skit they put on later in the morning. They arrested the man selling his fake tonics. It was fun. Sweet Pea kept her attention on what was going on really well. But the gun shots were NOT fun for her.

There was a mini town that we didn't have time to go to. (walking around this park took longer than I thought it would) We also didn't get to see the tour of the cabins. I would really like to do both of those. OH, and the quilt exhibit. I didn't get to see that. Sad day. But it didn't open until the afternoon. (nap time)

The most information we received about pioneers and other things about the park was from the tour of Brigham Young's Farm House and the train ride at the beginning of the day. Brigham Young's house tour is interesting, but NOT for kids. The older couple doing the tour tended to talk a whole lot and the kids don't care. A little too long. We had to cut our tour short and leave the group. Make sure that you ride the train more than once. Make sure you have a different conductor than the first time. You will get different information. That was nice.

You need a whole day to go through the park with kids. We will have to go back to see some of the things we missed.

We finished our stay-ca-tion day #2 with my Hubby's soccer game. It was blasted hot, but we went out to cheer for Daddy anyway. Sweet Pea with her books:
And snacks, bubbles, toys, water, and not enough to keep her entertained for 2 hours. I will have to come up with some other ideas before the next game.

My wonderful Hubby:

A Pregnant Mother's Biggest Fear

I have decided that Pregnancy is no time to have a toddler around. Let me explain. I always wanted to have kids that ate healthy foods of all sorts and were the ones that were screaming and yelling in the supermarket for the asparagus. However, with pregnancy those dreams get tossed out the window.

Unless I got no cravings through my whole pregnancy, this is NOT possible. When all I want to eat is french fries, potatoe chips, burgers, pies, and cake, there is just no possible way to teach my Sweet Pea to like anything but what I'm eating. I mean, when I crave Wendy's and my Hubby walks in with the bag, she knows exactly what is inside. And she screams and yells for the french fries before I even get the bag opened.

Then I have visions of my child being 18 and on Biggest Loser. Of course, with me by her side. Her blaming me for all her obesity and the many other emotional problems that come along with it.

Is there any light at the end of this fat encrusted tunnel?

Friday Confessional

I do exhaustingly comfess:

• I love Christmas
• which means that I am filling my 10 month old full of carols and Christmas movies.
• yeah, I know. She shouldn't be watching so much television and neither should I
• BUT I just can't help it at Christmas.
  
• I don't want to miss one of my favorite shows. (The American Christmas Carol, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, Prancer, Once Magic Christmas, The Muppet Christmas Carol, etc.)
  
• there are just so many.
• my house is still not unpacked from our move 4 weeks ago. (I blame the carpets and the walls)
• I have done NO Christmas shopping.
• I'm not one that has all the Christmas shopping done by June,
• BUT I usually have it don't by this week.
• UH-OH!
• Good thing we are leaving for vacation in a week.
  
• Crap!
• My tree is up.
• I get points for that, Right?
• I'm not enjoying my Christmas as much as I would like to be
• We haven't done any of the things we normally do at Christmas time
• Bake, visit Temple Square, see The Forgotten Carols, walk around the neighborhood to see all the lights. (you put yours up right?)
• The year has gone by so quickly and the Christmas season is no exception.

How has your Christmas been so far?

Friday Confessional with Glamazon

I sleepily confess:

• my Sweet Pea is NOT sleeping through the night
• I HATE teething
• keep in mind, this is teething along with Mama Sickness
• UGH!
• I let her scream for 2.5 hours last night before I finally gave in and put her in bed with us
• which means
• I got NO sleep
• losing weight is non-existent in my house
• this frustrates me more than anything
• all I want is to fit into my clothes again
• is that really too much to ask?
• speaking of too much to ask for,
• a clean house
• one that is simple, clean,
  
• matching furniture,
• smells good,
• cleans itself.
• Wouldn't that be nice?
• A house to clean itself
• Magic
• I think the cold weather is getting to me
• There isn't enough sunshine
• Maybe it's just the basement apartment
• I'm so glad it's Friday
• Friday means,
• help for the next 2 days.
• Halleluia
  

Friday Confessional

I do proudly confess:

• I'm addicted to Food Network
• I love it!
• the Challenges especially

• who knew you could make cakes that were over 4 feet tall?
• I secretly pretend to be a master chef in my own kitchen
• playing with this seasoning and that seasoning
• it all tastes good in the end (most of the time)
• what am I talking about?
• I AM a Master Chef in my own kitchen
• no pretending here
• it's been a struggle to find my favorite recipes in dairy free
• finding substitutes for all of the milk ingredients
• really hard
• I'm still looking for a bunch of them
• if you know of any, could you help me out?
• Thanks

Link up, it's fun

Friday Confessional

• this is the first summer that I'm glad to see go.
• I cleaned my bathroom for the first time since I moved in
• I would rather sell everything in my house than clean it
• want any of my stuff?
• I took my 6 month old out into the terrible rain storm yesterday
• And
• She LOVED it!!
  
• I really enjoy making those hair flowers
• do you think I could sell them?
• What did you think about the ones I made.
• I probably needed better pictures
• I crochet, quilt, make bags, and hair flower clippies
• I should probably do a give away
• YES?
• NO?
• I have owned a magic bullet for 7 months and never even pulled it out of the box
• I don't have plans for the weekend
• Isn't it wonderful to have nothing sometimes?
• Now that my confessional is becoming a one-sided conversation
• I'll stop.

Go link up. Join in the confessions. Please leave me a comment letting me know you posted too. I want to come see. Thanks

The Fixer-Upper Fixed

I finished my work in saving my favorite blanket. The BEFORE pictures are HERE.

I did move to using a sewing machine to put the patches on, instead of hand-stitching them. (I don't know what I was thinking. I was on the edge of the big blanket, my machine would work great)


The largest block that was fraying all over.


A little triangle of lost hope, renewed.

120 Mile Challenge: Week #3

It's been a great week.

I did 12.73 Miles this week.

This makes my total miles 25.27 out of 120.

I have been running a little bit too.

Sorry so short. Sweet Pea has been throwing up all evening. Hope your goals are going well. Have a great day.

120 Mile Challenge: Week #2

Another week has come and gone. This week I pounded out 9.31 miles. Almost 10 miles a week, which is what I need to reach my 120 mile goal for the summer.

I'm still going strong with the walking, but the ability to see the light at the end of the tunnel is getting dimmer.

Past:

I was a size 10-12 for the first time since my sophomore year in high school. My legs had decided to cooperate with me and begin to slim down for the first time in my life. (this is a genetic trait that I was sure if I worked hard enough it would go away; it started to) I was eating healthy foods, and not really craving anything junky. I was feeling great. Running. Cross training. Lifting. Feeling really good about my body.

Now:

I'm a size 18. The largest I've ever been. My body wants to run, but I walk. It is getting easier to run. I did on Saturday. (part of my walk; only about .5 a mile) I need to lift. My baby is growing faster than my body can keep up. I have to step that up. My legs are flabby cottage cheese. My tummy has a huge tire around it. It's a lob-sided tire. None of my clothes fit. Not even my fat clothes.

Do you really gain 6-8 sizes EVERY time you have a baby?

Can walking really help with weightloss? I would normally be the person who said, "yes, it does. Any extra exercise you can to will help." At this point, it's hard to believe. I need to seriously keep track to see if it really does help.

12.54/120 Miles

120 Mile Challenge:Week #1

I am going to report to you every week as well as HERE. You get all the crazy descriptions of my weight loss week.

WEEK #1:

This challenge started on Tuesday June 1st. And with all the stress of cranky Sweet Pea and moving madness I totally forgot to start on the first. However, I did venture out on the 2nd and 3rd. On Wednesday I went down to my Junior High track (oh the memories) and planned to walk a mile. I just couldn't help myself, I HAD to run. I ran a whole 600 meters!!

AND IT DID NOT HURT!!!

(For those of you who don't know that's one and a half times around a regular track, or just over a quarter of a mile) I did finish the rest of the mile.

Oh the Joy, the Bliss. I love running.

My total miles for this week(the week runs Friday to Thursday):

3.23 miles out of 120

I CHALLENGE YOU!

At 4 Nuts in A Nutshell, Cat is putting on a challenge to peal ourselves out of our butt-formed computer chairs and improve our health. I'm joining in and hope you will too.

Don't worry it's not that many miles. Only 1.5 miles 6 days a week.

OR

1.8 miles 5 days a week.

easy-shmeezy. Just walk or run it. You probably do close to that anyway. Get the whole family involved. You could make it a game. Go for a hike up the mountains. Go for a stroll along the beach. Just walk around your neighborhood. Train for your next race. Whatever it is, this will help improve your life. I promise.

Hope to hear your updates on 4 Nuts in a Nutshell.

Confession Friday!!

I drowsily confess:

• it's been a long day already
• and it's only noon
• the little one has had goopy eyes all week
• AND not sleeping through the night
• If only she had started out this way
• then I wouldn't feel so destroyed.
• Apparently kids get goopy eyes and sleep less when they are teething
• let me check. . .
  
• YUP,
• Definitely teething.
• I am cutting out chocolate for a month
• doesn't that mean I can replace my chocolate intake with everything else
• (like the beautimous Carrot Cake that my Hubby brought back from the office)
• it came from Harmons.
• OHHHH
  
• SOOO
• GOOD
• I still dream about exercise though
• Is that my subconscious telling me that I should stop beating on my body?
• I declared yesterday "Pajama Day"
• today just might be "Pajama Day #2"
• I use WIC
• I had an appointment today
• I HATE it when they talk to me like I'm an
  
• ill-educated,
• lazy
• mom
  
• who doesn't properly take care of my child
• My Sweet Pea is Very well taken care of, thank you very much.
• Just ask my Hubby.
• (He just might feel a little neglected since Sweet Pea arrived)
  

Confess, confess, ConFeSs

I do proudly confess:

• Although you may have cute kids, I have the MosT AdoRabLe Sweet Pea alive.
• I could spend all day kissing those cheeks
• I really do

• I ate chocolate chip cookies tonight while pumping
• Did I mention that I have the BeSt Hubby around?
• He does the night shift while I pump.
• This is so I'm not up for two hours.
• He's so wonderful

• I really need sleep right now but i just don't want to put my little one down
• I don't remember what a clean house looks like
• Secretly I hope your house is a disaster as well
• I guess that it's not a secret any more
• Maybe I could pack up the little one and run away.
• Then I couldn't see the eye sore I have in my home
• As much as I love the adorable baby stage,
• I truly wish I could have popped out a toddler
• they can at least tell me why they are screaming
• and can move themselves around
• I know I shouldn't wish for this but I do
• I guess God will give what I've got coming soon enough.

The Itch

I've got it again.

It is lingering far too long.

It seems to be spreading.

I'm becoming red.

Antsy

Unable to contain myself.

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I NEED TO MOVE! I NEED A NEW PLACE. We have officially outgrown our apartment. AND there are no more things I can sell, throw out or donate. Anyone know of a place?

Confession Friday

I do solemnly whisper:

• I just found the setting in my blog that makes it so I can do COLORS
• change my font
• change size easier
• do cool things with my pics
• and I'm completely Stoked!
• Let me just tell you how excited I am that my 2 month old has 2 teeth that are showing their pearly whiteness
• still nursing
• still have HUGE sores on the breasteses
• and am terrified that her teeth will catch and tear the nipple off
• I love my book   (Eat, Pray, Love)
• I wish I could read all day long
• my next book:  Blind side or Wicked? or Invictus?
  
• I have a hard time remembering to eat.
• I know that it sounds stupid
• But I do
• I might get to watch Rugby tonight

• I get to play games tonight
• I have laundry and dishes still
• not doing them right now
• I should be
• I want Spring SOOOO bad
• It was a cruel April Fool's joke to get snow in April
• RUDE!!
• I dream about running.
• All the time
• It's all I want to do
• I don't like my Hubby's Calling
• I LOve cooking
• I Hate to try and figure out what I'm going to make
• I love Baking
• If I could live off of cake, cookies and pies I would
• Although I Love Salads.
• I could be a Rabbit
• I guess you could say that I love ruffage
• hehehehehehe

Confessions

I, Phannie, do shout from the Mountain Top:



I put Heavy Whipping Cream over top of my Vanilla Ice-cream. (don't judge me; it's AWESOME!)

I dream about Bob and Jillian. (Biggest Loser) They are yelling at me as I struggle to run up this HUGE, VERY STEEP hill.

I may or may not have wrapped my Sweet Pea up last night in her poopy blanket. (apparently I was THAT asleep)

I LOVE country music. Especially Brad Paisley. (My Hubby is winning the battle for my affections by his beautiful long eye-lashes)

I enjoy playing in the mud.



I like to skinny dip. (I may or may not have done this on a trip with a class from BYU-I)

Speaking of our class, we SPOONED too!


It was SO Freezing.

I believe I was more fun when I wasn't married. I'm kind of a stressed, over protective, worry wort now.
I blame RESPONSIBILITIES.

GOLD!!

Yeah Canada Hockey Teams! Both the Mens and Womens Hockey Teams won Gold at this years Olympic Games.

GO CANADA!!

Baby Boy Blankie

Just a little something I finished this morning. It's blue, zig-zag, and extremely soft. What's not to like?



OH, this is a crocheted blanket. Just in case you wanted to know. (Although I can knit, I don't know how to knit a blanket, just scarfs.)