Saying Good-bye

to my birthday month!

April went out with a big spring snowstorm...we had 4 inches here this morning. It was gone by noon, but what a way to say good-bye to the amazing month of April, my personal favorite month of the year!

Now, I can get about the business of enjoying being 40!

Here we go...

The Chief and I signed up for a Weight Loss Challenge! Tonight was the weigh-in and the official start is on Monday! I'm excited he is going to do it with me! We will go to a class each week with personal trainers, who push you to the extreme! It should be good for both of us! We both need to focus on being healthier and looking at ways to be more active. The challenge is right across the street from our neighborhood and we can go there to work out in addition to the weekly class!

So, here we go...12 weeks...or 84 days! Here is to us doing this together!

Words of Wisdom

The Chief and I went to the adult session of our Stake Conference on Saturday night. I've come to learn that it is definitely one of the greatest spiritual feast meetings that I attend in the year. Maybe it has something to do with there being no children, thus no distractions there, but I don't think it is just that. I just think it is geared exactly toward me and where I am in my life.

The theme was Strengthening our Families. We were reminded of the importance of having family prayer, family scripture study, family home evenings, and regular temple attendance. They also introduced the idea of holding family interviews, where the parents meet monthly with each child and discuss serious things, set goals and reaffirm our love for them. After the meeting, since we already had a sitter, The Chief and I decided to head to Marble Slab Creamery to finish our glorious evening with a favorite treat: Ice Cream! There we talked about what we heard and both of us were excited about family interviews. We thought it would be a great way to give the kids our 2 on 1 attention, which is rare in this family.

Sunday morning, we presented the idea to the kids and they LOVED it. They did not want to wait to start, and so we agreed to conduct our first family interviews that afternoon. It was really neat. I loved hearing my sons' ideas and suggestions and their personal goals. It really touched my heart! Setheroo wants to learn to ride his bike without training wheels! Isn't that so sweet to hear from a 4 year old. I mean, of course, we knew he wanted to do that, but to hear him say those words and that is what his little heart wants, we were floored! We wrote down all the goals and we are going to work toward them. The Cheif and I even set some goals too.

So, I'm glad I went to the meeting and for the wisdom I gained!

Our family goes Birdwatching

My oldest, McKay, had a science project to complete, which included going out and observing 8 different kinds of birds (this was the fun part of the assignment, the rest was a nightmare). Since the week had been crazy, McKay had not been able to go find 8 different birds, so we decided to head out as a family. We drove over to the Daybreak Lake, where we were able to find a flock of seagulls. The boys practiced being quiet so not to scare them away. McKay enjoyed checking them out with the binoculars. Since, only one lone duck and the seagulls were there, we then went to a park where I knew there were a lot of trees, and I hoped that there were a lot of birds there too. We were in luck. We found some awesome birds to watch and listen to as they communicated with one another. The two younger boys enjoyed the inviting hill that called to them to roll down it! I couldn't call them back because that was one of my favorite activities to do when I was a kid when I would go to my Grandma B's house.

So, here are some of the photos of some of the birds we saw. Who knew there were so many cool birds in our neck of the woods?

And here is my birdwatching boy, looking like a real field researcher. I unfortunately didn't get any photos of the hill rolling boys...

It's almost date night!

The Chief and I have been married 12.5 years. One of the things that has really helped our marriage is to have regular dates. We haven't been great at this through the years, especially when the boys were really young, but for the past year, we've made a real effort to try to go out at least 3 of the 4 weeks of the month. We'll do "typical" dates like dinner and a movie, or even more typical for us...we'll go shopping for the house...such as a new washer or paint or a new shower showerhead. Never shopping for shoes, jewelry, or clothes...neither of us love doing that so it would be more of a chore than a date! Other things we like doing are going bowling, or to see a play or a concert!

I really look forward to when we have a date planned! And we have one set for tomorrow night! We've got the sitter arranged, and the plans set...dinner at Market Street Grill (with a nice GC from a client) and then shopping for a dishwasher (tax return is going to come in handy!) and I'm really looking forward to spending some 1 on 1 time with the Chief.

The boys look forward to date night too because they love the sitters we arrange and have a fun time playing non-stop while we are gone. So, it's really a win-win all the way around!

In the meantime, I still need to finish some chores around the house. Finally finished the laundry and 5 of the 6 loads are all put away...one more to go. Off to clean the bathrooms while I reward my boys with a redbox movie!

Sunshine and bike rides

One thing I love about April is typically the warmer weather and longer days of sunshine! It isn't hot, but perfectly warm (most of the time anyway!) It means that my children want to be outside, and I get to spend time outside too! The kids were outside until 8:30 tonight, which incidently is their bedtime typically!

I got to go on a bike ride yesterday with my new birthday bike! It was awesome! It has been too long since I've ridden a bike. My 40 year commitment to myself is to get back to biking this year. As a kid, even into my 20's, I really enjoyed riding. I'm not a mountain bike kinda girl. I just love to be outside, with the wind blowing my hair. It really is the formula for the perfect kind of day!

So, if you haven't ridden a bike lately...maybe you should give it a try. And if you live close by, maybe you can give me a call and we can go together!

Blessings

I am so blessed!

Today, I woke up at 4 a.m. feeling pretty yucky. I have been coughing and I felt something sitting in my chest. I was exhausted, yet struggled to sleep. I wished I could stay home and under the covers, but I knew that was not an option that I would like in the long run. Tuesdays are my long day...work at job #1 from 8-4:20, then drive to job #2 and work there from 5-9, except tonight it was til 9:45. I never felt less yucky, and in fact, I felt more yucky most of the morning, but I still was able to do my job, and run my groups and see my clients, and talk with my honey and my children.

And then I was able to drive home in my van, that starts up as soon as I turn the key, and enter into my warm, comfortable, albeit completely messy home, where love is.

When I got to job #2 tonight, one of my favorite people in the world was there to share a presentation on his 2 weeks in Haiti. He shared some photos and some stories. My eyes filled with tears to hear the faithfulness of the people there. The patience and the gratitude of these people who have nothing in the physical sense. Yet, they smile, they share, they love. They thank their God, and they look for ways to help themselves and others.

Despite living in poverty, living in a devasted country, with so few resources, they still sing the Lord's praises. Complaints are seldom heard.

They are an example to me, this is how I want to be. I want it to be enough, that I awake, that I have my family, that I have opportunities, that I have my freedom, and I have so many luxuries.

I am blessed. I hope I'll never ever forget how blessed I am.

It's my day...the big 4-0!

I have to post on my birthday, right? I was a women of leisure today! I took the day off from work. I did still have to drive carpool this morning, and then there were still 2 loads of laundry to fold, so I did that too, but then I took some leisure...I started with dying my hair...gotta officially hide the grays now! Then I took a hot shower. While there, I noticed that the bathroom could use a nice cleaning, so I interupted my life of leisure to clean the master bath, but then, went back to celebrating...I went to the library...one of my favorite places...love the smell of books! Unfortunately, they were having story time there and so my typically quiet library was overrun with toddlers who weren't exactly listening to the story and their mommies who were enjoying a social hour. Then, moved on, to picking up my bestest friend, Shauna. Together, we went to see the Last Song. Did not know I would be crying in this film, so if you are going to go see it, take a few kleenix! Then we went to Archibald's Restaurant for lunch! Boy, was that yummy. I hadn't been there for 15 plus years and I wonder why I haven't gone there more frequently. Afterward, I dropped Shauna home and came home to encourage McKay and Noah to do their reading and piano practicing while I took calls from my friends and family sending their birthday wishes.

Then the Chief arrived home and took us all out to Cafe Rio (YUM, YUM, YUM) for dinner and then we went to the Sweet Tooth Fairy, which is a new bakery in town. I learned about it from Nie Nie at nieniedialogues.blogspot.com. If you haven't heard of Stephenie and her blog, I highly recommend reading her story, and her blog. It is so inspiring. And her vaNIElla cupcake named after her was so delicious and the perfect thing to end this special day of mine.

And I've even included a photo to mark the occasion!

Happy 40th Birthday to me!

A post and pics from Easter in Denver are coming soon, but first back to my last few hours of leisure before regularly scheduled life returns tomorrow!

Our Family Trip in Laramie, WY

The fam and I are spending the night in Laramie, Wyoming. This is one of those unplanned events that may or may not be a subject of reminiscing in years to come. See, we were on the way from SLC to Denver via Interstate 80. The day began with 4 inches of snow at our home, so a little later start...time to give the road crews a chance to work. And for the most part, the roads were just wet. We made it to Evanston...no prob....still wet roads...then to Rock Springs, and it began snowing harder and blowing but the roads were just wet...kept going. We stopped at a Podunk little gas station because my bladder just couldn't hold the diet coke a mile longer and while there the guys told us that I-80 was closed from Laramie to Cheyene. I accused these strangers of playing an April Fool's Day joke on me, but they showed me on the internet...they were telling the truth. We kept going, in order to get to Laramie and the roads were dry and there was even some blue peeking through the clouds in the sky, but sure thing...I-80 was closed for a major snowstorm.

We booked a room at the Hampton Inn and went to Walmart and bought swimsuits for the 5 of us. We tried to see a movie but there theater here only plays 5 shows and there was only 1 appropriate for kids and my boys had seen it the previous weekend and I had no desire to see it. So, we did the next best thing...we went swimming and in the hot tub at the hotel's indoor pool. And we had fun together. Even though this was NOT what we had planned or wanted.

Funny how life somehow brings you moments of Joy, not always in the way you planned.

So, now, the 3 kiddos are settled in on one of the queen beds, and the Chief is already asleep too. I'm remembering once again that I wished I remembered to bring a flashlight on my trips, so I could read by the light for a bit. My mom always does that. And I always wish I did that. But I haven't gotten to that point of actually doing it.

Anyhow, just learned that I-80 is open again, although it still looks pretty snow packed. It looks like all the semi's that were overtaking the local Walmart parking lot are making their way Eastward. Hopefully, after a good night's sleep, we too will make our way Eastward, and then South with the end destination at my oldest friend's place. We'll get there somehow, Jules and Lee! And this trip will be one we talk about for ages.