HELP ME, PLEASE!

I need ideas. The new year is fast approaching and I need some help. Those who have known me for a long time are aware that each year I give up one type of food (just for the year; I start eating it again the next year). This tradition started when I was in high school and all my Catholic friends were giving something up for Lent. I decided to join in and gave up chocolate, and then I decided to just keep going until the end of the year. Thus the tradition was born. I love doing it because it reminds me that I have self-control.

I've been doing this for so many years that I'm running out of ideas though. So far, I've given up: chocolate, soda, candy, chips, ice cream, peanuts, donuts, cookies, yeast breads with 100% white flour (I was really running out of ideas!), M&M's... Can't remember every single one, but that's most of them.

So I need some ideas. It has to be something that is unhealthy and also a food that I would miss (i.e. I'd have a hard time giving it up). So not something like pork rinds since I don't like pork. Also, it can't be overly inconvenient to give it up--like sugar--I'd never be able to eat anything made outside my house...

Anyway, help me out, people!

Been Doing a Little Bit o' Yoga

I've always wanted to get into yoga. Really get into it. Especially after having Micah for a roommate. She is so centered, so healthy, so strong. Back in those days, I was always training for a marathon or triathlon, and one can only dedicate so much time to working out. I was already doing two workouts most days... Ah, the excuses! I did some prenatal yoga while I was pregnant with Squeak, but not often enough to really feel like I was getting into it.

So there's a new yoga studio nearby, and they were offering one week of free yoga. After about a month, D and I were able to figure out a time when he could be here almost every day so I could go for my free week. So I started going. WOW!! I was hooked after one class. I felt so energized! I felt such a connection between my body and my spirit. I felt so alive. I came home and D said, "Wow, what happened to you there?"

Sumits Yoga is a hot yoga studio. It's awesome! The room gets heated to between 102 and 105 degrees. It's like working out in a sauna. You're able to stretch more deeply because of the heat. They also use great music as part of the routine--very loud and with a strong beat during some parts, and more slow and meditative at other parts. I especially enjoyed the warrior sequence. I wholeheartedly recommend giving it a try.

Squeak had a blast posing with me after I got home.

If you practice yoga, you'll notice that my warrior 1 and warrior 2 are kind of sloppy. Yeah, I've got some work to do!

All I want for Christmas is a 9-inch Zipper

This Mother's Day special is a bit old, but if you haven't seen it, you'll love it. "I'm not a woman anymore...I'm a mom!"

My Favorite Little People

Squeak has become quite maternal with her job as big sis!


The jury's still out about those eyes...


And that baby tub--Squeak thinks it's so fun to take a bath in it because it belongs to Pip.


Wrestling in the crib--it's the funnest part of bedtime!


Squeak was never in love with the Exersaucer as a baby--she got bored within a few minutes. But now she puts herself in it. I love how she's trying to spoon feed Pip from the Exersaucer.


Every day we thank the Lord for our fun, happy kids. They are such a delight! I'm grateful for the things I'm able to learn from them. Hopefully I can teach them a little something too.

"A little more of this, a little less of this..."

OUR awesome friend Travis sent this warning to D. He is such a wonderful friend to BOTH OF US. We laughed and laughed and laughed. It takes a few minutes to load, but it's a great one.

Para que sepan, I'm not a fan of diamond jewelry. Actually, one of my favorite gifts from D was a set of dumbbells. Just to make this fun, what is the least romantic gift you've received? My former boss told us he gave his wife a bathroom scale as part of the 12 days of Christmas--see if you can beat that!

Celebrating Physical Fitness

One of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions is to celebrate physical fitness. For many years, I ran the International Thanksgiving 4-mile race (not sure how it got to be "international" in Orem, Utah, but that's what it's called). We decided to do one of the local hikes here in Phoenix this year, Squaw Peak. Loved it! We were especially grateful for our new hiking boots and the mostly-overcast day.

Our munchkins loved the ride

There's D with his 50-pound pack (about 30 pounds of Squeak, 10 pounds of backpack, and 10 pounds of water and other hiking essentials). My pack was only about 20 pounds.

It was a nice, challenging hike--kind of like doing a continuous stairmaster (1200 feet of climbing in 1.2 miles).

An Announcement

Just wanted everyone to know that I know that I'm a lazy blogger. And my kids don't like me sitting at a computer, so I try to avoid doing it when they're awake. And I've been using their naptime for other important things (although if you asked me what I've gotten done in the past month, I'm not sure I could tell you...)

Tagged: Six things that Make me Weird

Yeah, yeah, according to Ash, it's actually supposed to be "Six Quirks" but let's face it, we're all just dying to know how weird everyone else is. So, when my friend with OCD informed me that she'd tagged me, I thought (and even said aloud), "I don't really have any quirks..." and D was quick to exclaim, "The toilet paper roll--you always want it on a certain way!" OK, I have never told him how to put the toilet paper on; I guess he just picked up on the fact that I do like it a certain way. Whatever... Anyway, so after my initial denial, I realized, "Wait! I have lots of quirks! I am so weird that I have trouble seeing eye-to-eye with almost everyone!!" So here I am, in all of my weirdness:

1. I like the toilet paper roll with the end coming over the top, not under. The reason for this is very logical--if you use a one-handed-quick-rip to rip off a piece, it comes right off. When the toilet paper roll has the end coming underneath, you try and do a clean rip, and it causes the roll to unravel, thus making you use two hands to hold and rip, and then you have to re-roll the part that unraveled. What a waste of time!!

2. I like to sleep with covers over part of my body (mostly just my trunk), but I hate having my feet covered and prefer my arms out too. This is true whether it's 60 degrees or 80 degrees in my house. I also have the habit of putting a shirt or other soft piece of clothing over my eyes to block out any light, but I can't use those sleeping masks--they're too tight!

3. I choose a different path because I want to, not because I have to. That's right, I would use cloth diapers even if someone offered to buy my kids a lifetime supply of disposables. Natural birth was my choice--I paid out of pocket for my HypnoBirthing class because I wanted NO EPIDURAL for my births, even though insurance covered epidurals 100%. I carry my baby on my back (or front) because I love doing it (and my baby loves it too!). I make my own baby food because that ensures that he gets exactly what I put in it--pure food! No TV in our house because that's our preference. The unique path I have chosen might seem strange to most people, but it has been very rewarding to our family.

4. I don't like to cook. At all. But I make all our bread (sometimes D helps with that) and yogurt and pretty much everything else from scratch. WHY? Well, I look at the myriad of ingredients in processed (store-bought) foods and I think, "That can't be good." I also have trouble finding anything from the store that doesn't have either MSG or high-fructose corn syrup. Seriously, start reading labels and you'll see what I mean. At the moment, I'm totally unmotivated to cook anything, although I did make eight loaves of bread last night.

5. I can't stand having stuff on my kitchen floor. I go barefoot inside, so if there's anything on the floor, especially the kitchen floor, it really bugs me. I have to sweep it right away if I feel little particles on my feet.

6. I'm constantly editing things in my mind--whether it's a magazine or newspaper or book or website or blog, I am always finding little grammatical and spelling errors. They just "jump right off the page." This is no surprise to former co-workers. It's what I was trained to do. I also can't bear to write anything without re-reading and revising. Even a quick email. Or a blog post. I think I've already revised this one three times.


Who better to tag than anyone who has lived with me?? So I tag my family members and any former roommates, including mission companions.

Our Boy

What a prince!

Hiking in New England

We went on this beautiful hike in Connecticut. Not really, but our friends who took us said it reminded them of Connecticut in the fall. It was the Preston Valley Trail in Logan, UT. I loved the colors and picked up lots of leaves to press. We thought these photos would make lovely family Christmas photos, but if I'm not organized enough to send anything out, here we are!

Pip look so pensive in this shot!

We packed the kids on our backs and Squeak's backpack broke in two places on the way up. The first time D was able to rig a quick fix, but the second time we had to switch to the mei tai which I had luckily brought along.

I love the dribble on Pip's chin in this photo

This one shows the telltale Rocky Mountains in the background. What an awesome hike! I realized how out of shape I am as I was huffing and puffing up the mountain. We'd like to hike the Grand Canyon next summer--I better get my act together!