Monday, August 13, 2012
School's in Session!!
So school has started and even though it's hotter than it has been all summer, I'm relaxing a little bit.....too much in fact. With our schedule switched around and 5 more music students on my plate I only hit the gym twice last week. Better than nothing, but lots of room for improvement. I'm full of legitimate excuses. For example, today I have to stay home most of the day to wait for a plumber to replace my water heater. I don't even have a time-frame yet to work with to know when he'll be here. All I know is that my yoga class is at 10am and I'm certain I'll be stuck at home. Excuses, excuses. So I need to make sure that I get there tonight if it comes to that. Afternoons are no good because the gym will only watch kids until 1pm during the day. After school I teach piano until 4:30 and then it's on to dinner, homework, clean-up, family time and bedtime at 7:30. So what does all this mean for me? It means that I get to cowboy up and make sure that whatever I do, I get there. My first priority is my family and so I will not sacrifice my service to them in order to get some treadmill time. So my plan is to go after the kids are in bed. I know that plans change, and it's quite possible that something else could come up and force me to change my plans again. However, it's easier to deviate from a set plan than to come up with plans on the spot. So if adversity steps in my way, I'll be able to sidestep it a little easier. So here's to new schedules, prioiritizing and rearranging life so that we can fit everything in! (including our thighs into those jeans :)
Monday, May 14, 2012
HIlls conquered, Mountains ahead
I have had some pretty big changes in my life since November. The biggest of all is that I've become the Primary President in a brand new ward. So not only did my presidency and I get to start a new journey of service together, but we also had the challenge of organizing our Primary from a group of strangers!! We were a part of a 3 ward combination. Part of 3 different wards were used to make up one new ward. It's a lot of work to start from scratch, but it's even more difficult when you don't know very many of the members. We're plugging along and feeling the many blessings of our service though. It's highly rewarding!!
Another wonderful change in my life is that I've finally reached my goal of getting up in the 5 AM hour. This is thanks mostly to my chickens and the fact that I need to get them fed in order to keep the peace in the neighborhood. They are my alarm clock and I'm really enjoying having this morning time to myself. They generally wake me between 5:15 and 5:30 and it will keep getting earlier and earlier with the sunrise. Some days I wake up just before they start cackling, but the most important part is that I DON'T go back to bed after I feed and water them. I then continue on to water the gardens and potted plants, read scriptures and pray, work on the computer and enjoy Facebook in the quiet. Then at 6:15 my family all gets up for family prayer before Aaron leaves for work. We started this is December and have loved the peace and light that it brings into our home. The kids always go back to sleep for another 45 minutes or so and we definately feel a difference in our home. One morning Aaron had to go into work extra early and left before I was even awake. The kids and I had family prayer together, but it still felt off. I'm grateful for that. I don't want it to be a normal practice to have a partial-family prayer.
The gardening is going well. I have a dresser garden over by the chicken fence and then I started 3 plots in the yard with a 4th to be complete at the end of this month. I have zucchini, carrots, lettuce, cilantro, parsley, nasturtium, yellow squash, green beans, bell peppers, cantaloupe, corn, and potatoes that have sprouted and are doing well. I'm so excited for the rest to grow!! I love gardening! There is something so satisfying about picking your own food that you have cared for and eating it up. The only things we've been able to eat so far are the lettuce and herbs, but it's so gratifying. I am so blessed that the Lord has prepared a way for me to be able to accomplish these things. Had I not started changing myself last year, I probably wouldn't be interested in gardening yet. I'm so glad that I took the opportunity to learn and make changes to my family diet and lifestyle in the last 12 months. Had I not taken care of those important steps, I'd probably be a basket case in my new calling. But all is well and wonderful.
As for working out, it's been sporatic since I received my new calling but I've actually lost another pound in the process. I love riding my bike. I never knew how much I loved it!! I could go for miles and enjoy the wind on my face without a care. I've been walking every now and then with my friend Lindy, but she's had some health issues recently and so we're not as consistent as we used to be. I'm getting ready to sign up for the YMCA again and can't wait. I really love the yoga and Zumba classes. I'm so excited for the summer to come so that I can enjoy watching my kids climb the rockwall and my littles go to the kids dance/aerobics class. I love it!
Another big excitement in our lives is that we are able to finally take our kids to Disneyland on our own. We've used some of our tax return money to fund this trip and are so elated to be going on our own purse and scrip!! Our kids have no idea that we'll be leaving 2 weeks from today for the beach in Oceanside, and then onto to Disneyland and California Adventure for 4 days. I still can't believe it's going to happen. We've been planning it for about 8 months, so when we were able to book the trip it didn't really seem real. But now we've been counting down the days and can't wait to see the looks on our kids faces when we put them in the car and get on our way. They won't know what to do with the excitement!! We've decided that we're just going to surprise them with a trip to the beach. We'll wake them up Monday morning and tell them that we have a surprise beach trip planned for them. They know how expensive Disneyland is and we've never had the means to do anything like that. We also love going to the beach as a family and so this will be a great surprise in itself. They'll be completely content and we'll be secretly bursting to tell them that there's more. But to then drive to a hotel and wake them up the next morning with another surprise will be absolutely fantastic!! I can't wait!
Well, I'll see you on the flipside of this wonderful trip. With May being so busy, I'm signing off until I've had some R & R. See you in June!
Another wonderful change in my life is that I've finally reached my goal of getting up in the 5 AM hour. This is thanks mostly to my chickens and the fact that I need to get them fed in order to keep the peace in the neighborhood. They are my alarm clock and I'm really enjoying having this morning time to myself. They generally wake me between 5:15 and 5:30 and it will keep getting earlier and earlier with the sunrise. Some days I wake up just before they start cackling, but the most important part is that I DON'T go back to bed after I feed and water them. I then continue on to water the gardens and potted plants, read scriptures and pray, work on the computer and enjoy Facebook in the quiet. Then at 6:15 my family all gets up for family prayer before Aaron leaves for work. We started this is December and have loved the peace and light that it brings into our home. The kids always go back to sleep for another 45 minutes or so and we definately feel a difference in our home. One morning Aaron had to go into work extra early and left before I was even awake. The kids and I had family prayer together, but it still felt off. I'm grateful for that. I don't want it to be a normal practice to have a partial-family prayer.
The gardening is going well. I have a dresser garden over by the chicken fence and then I started 3 plots in the yard with a 4th to be complete at the end of this month. I have zucchini, carrots, lettuce, cilantro, parsley, nasturtium, yellow squash, green beans, bell peppers, cantaloupe, corn, and potatoes that have sprouted and are doing well. I'm so excited for the rest to grow!! I love gardening! There is something so satisfying about picking your own food that you have cared for and eating it up. The only things we've been able to eat so far are the lettuce and herbs, but it's so gratifying. I am so blessed that the Lord has prepared a way for me to be able to accomplish these things. Had I not started changing myself last year, I probably wouldn't be interested in gardening yet. I'm so glad that I took the opportunity to learn and make changes to my family diet and lifestyle in the last 12 months. Had I not taken care of those important steps, I'd probably be a basket case in my new calling. But all is well and wonderful.
As for working out, it's been sporatic since I received my new calling but I've actually lost another pound in the process. I love riding my bike. I never knew how much I loved it!! I could go for miles and enjoy the wind on my face without a care. I've been walking every now and then with my friend Lindy, but she's had some health issues recently and so we're not as consistent as we used to be. I'm getting ready to sign up for the YMCA again and can't wait. I really love the yoga and Zumba classes. I'm so excited for the summer to come so that I can enjoy watching my kids climb the rockwall and my littles go to the kids dance/aerobics class. I love it!
Another big excitement in our lives is that we are able to finally take our kids to Disneyland on our own. We've used some of our tax return money to fund this trip and are so elated to be going on our own purse and scrip!! Our kids have no idea that we'll be leaving 2 weeks from today for the beach in Oceanside, and then onto to Disneyland and California Adventure for 4 days. I still can't believe it's going to happen. We've been planning it for about 8 months, so when we were able to book the trip it didn't really seem real. But now we've been counting down the days and can't wait to see the looks on our kids faces when we put them in the car and get on our way. They won't know what to do with the excitement!! We've decided that we're just going to surprise them with a trip to the beach. We'll wake them up Monday morning and tell them that we have a surprise beach trip planned for them. They know how expensive Disneyland is and we've never had the means to do anything like that. We also love going to the beach as a family and so this will be a great surprise in itself. They'll be completely content and we'll be secretly bursting to tell them that there's more. But to then drive to a hotel and wake them up the next morning with another surprise will be absolutely fantastic!! I can't wait!
Well, I'll see you on the flipside of this wonderful trip. With May being so busy, I'm signing off until I've had some R & R. See you in June!
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