The ridiculous things I do with my "spare" time

Tonight I decided that it was time I updated this thing for a few reasons. The first reason is that I never told you how the fitness challenge ended up. Well, I got 2nd place. If my brothers were here they would remind me that 2nd place is the first loser. But I am going to stay on the positive side and point out that I lost about 10 pounds and that's not bad. The tricky part is keeping it off now that I have not been making working out a priority . . . oops! But I'm actually doing ok. I haven't gained much back. Life is super hectic this week, but I admit that I have been craving Zumba, so that is a good sign. I just wish I would crave Zumba as often as I crave sweets.

The second reason I feel I should update is the very same reason this week is so busy. I am planning a theme party. And if you know me, then you know that nothing gets me excited like a theme party - especially a theme party that involves costumes.

"What, pray tell, is the theme for this amazing theme party?" you ask. Get ready . . . it's a . . .

DOWNTON DINNER PARTY

Now you can't tell me you're not completely excited/jealous that I'm hosting a Downton Dinner party. I mean, the show is so enchanting. I love the characters, but I admit that possibly my favorite part is just watching it for the home and the period clothing. (Though I also just love hearing the language and the rules of manners, etc) I guess that makes me materialistic. I hate to think I'm materialistic, so let's just say that I enjoy it as a visual feast. The style, the textures, the colors, and lines. It's just so elegant.

Speaking of elegant, my mom bought a camelback couch from Ethan Allen that had been there for years for about $200 and had it recovered. I got to help pick out the fabric ($15/yd! from a discount fabric place) while I was visiting home.

Here is the before pic:

The original fabric was pretty hideous. But here is the "after" pic:

Mom was smart to switch from three separate cushions to one long one. It is so much more sleek. Also, isn't that fabric great? You can't really appreciate the color with this picture, but the pattern is what I like to refer to as "Downton sexy". It's officially a new adjective, didn't you know? Anyway, I love it. I wish it were here so I could have it at my party.

Now for a quick teaser about the party before I head to bed - I will be serving hors d'oeuvres as well as a five course meal (ok, so it's more like 4 1/2, but if you're ok with ice cream being a separate course from dessert, then we'll say 5 and call it good). Truth be told, I was originally a little nervous about making all this food (I don't exactly cook all that often), until I realized I could do one entire course in the crockpot and another one the day before. Then I calmed down. I can do this. I better be able to do this. My cooking skillz will be on display and I wouldn't want to disappoint anyone, if you know what I mean (You don't know what I mean, do you? It's ok. I gotta keep some of my personal life personal, right?) Anyway, I will post the menu and pictures after the party so you can all be jealous of my over-the-top tendencies that subsequently lead to parties where, though I may lose some hair (nbd, though because have you seen how thick my hair is?) and a whole lot of sleep while planning, the details allow you to live in a different time if even just for a little while.

Ok, goodnight!

Blegch

Today I am having one of those "will I EVER get married?" days. So the question is should I drown my sorrows in Downton Abbey or Pinterest?

Oh wait. I know. Both.

Thank You 2012!

I am here to report on how my fitness challenge is coming along. Well . . . it's awesome. I continue to ROCK it! In fact, I lost 4.8 lbs in the first week! WHAT? I know, right? Crazy, but in a crazy awesome kind of way. The truth is that I have never tried to get in shape by really eating right while ALSO exercising this much. I'm pretty sure I've never counted calories before this either. And it is all so easy with the app I downloaded for free to my smartphone. The app is called "My Fitness Pal" and I love it. I can record my weight, what I eat, how much I exercise and it tells me how many calories I have left in the day. It's awesome. Anyway, I highly recommend it.

Also, can we talk about how good I feel lately? And how skinny I feel? This is a new thing for me: feeling skinny in the winter time. Sure I've felt like this during the summer, but not during the winter. Probably because I make some excuse about not being able to exercise because it's cold out. Nowadays I've got my Zumba dvd workouts for the days when it's too late or too cold to go out. When it's not that bad, I walk up in the foothills near my house. Seriously, I feel fantastic. I have so much energy and I'm loving life. And when you have this much energy, you also can't help but be happy (the endorphins help with that too). And I really love being happy. I have found that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being over 30, in fact, I feel like I get more out of life now than I did in my twenties.

Ok, that is all. I told you my writing would be bad now that I'm back. I simply don't have the time to rewrite and edit this over and over till it sounds good. For now this blog is truly a web log.

Later!

Day 2

It's day 2 of my fitness challenge and I am ROCKIN' it! Two perfect days in a row. It helps that i don't even like soda (one of the contraband items). AND I was super lucky to come home to a dinner prepared by my sister-in-law (you're the best, Candice!) that was sugar-free, yummy, and very few calories. Pan seared chicken with apples and walnuts. It's from the Flat Belly Diet Cookbook. Click here for the link.

Witty phrase about New Year's Resolutions

Oh Heyyy, Blog.

Sooooooooo, as promised I have been a terrible blogger. I know it's been forever. Will you ever forgive me? I hope so. Now I will grace you with a terribly written blog post because my skills are really rusty and I don't have a lot of time to edit this tonight.

It's a new year and of course all of us are working on our resolutions/goals/ideal body weight, etc. and I am no exception. This year, though, I really think I'm going to make it. My goal(s) come in the form of a fitness challenge that lasts 12 weeks. Yes, 3 months. But aren't New Year's resolutions supposed to be for the whole year? Maybe, but I'm only worrying about the first 3 months. The rest of the year? We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

I started said "fitness challenge" today and it's nice and organized with a nifty spreadsheet that my darling friend, Jessica, sent me. (Yes, it's measurable, which all good goals should be.) So today I started doing things like exercising 30 minutes a day (I actually did 50) and reading a chapter in the Book of Mormon a day (for your spiritual fitness) and not doing things like eating dessert or eating anything after 7:30. And I have to say I really think I can do this. Of course one of the extra goals this week is to write in your journal/or blog. Yes! I am only writing tonight out of duty. To, in fact, get a point in a contest. Did I mention it's a contest? I am sending (I swear I'm going to get to a post office box tomorrow, Jess) a $20 check in the hopes that I can it back along with everyone else's $20. But as a friend mentioned, you win even if you don't come in first place and that is what I'm counting on. Losing a pound a week is nice, but I am most excited at the prospect of having better habits.

Why am I telling you all this? A few reasons: for one, it's on my mind a lot because I have all these new rules I have to remember. Secondly, this is my blog and I can talk about whatever I want on here, right? But most importantly, now that I've told you all, I am even more accountable. And that's a good thing . . . I think.

I'm gonna be sick . . . (just kidding; I'm not)

Can I talk to you for a sec? It'll just be a minute.

Do you ever feel like you're on a roller coaster and you can't get off? Once when I was a kid we went to this place called Hoffman's Playland. We used to go there on our way home from Lake George, NY. Anyway, it was a really small amusement park thing and they had a very small roller coaster but it made very sharp turns to make up for the fact that it was small and it went around 3 times. I went on it once. I have no idea how old I was, maybe 9? Anyway, I freaked out so much that they actually had to stop it to let me off before that last time around. I kind of feel like that right now. "This is freaking me out. I'm not ready for this. I need to get off and get my feet on the ground."

How does life change this quickly anyway? I mean, what is up with that? It's like with my new job. I got a phone call about it on a Monday, had the interview on Wednesday, and had the job by Friday. I went from being a starving-artist-slash-part-time-stay-at-home-aunt to having the perfect job for me and it just came to me. Weird.

Today my life flip flopped big time. And all in a matter of hours. I'm not going to go into details because it involves other people. What I will say is that some of it threw me for a complete loop and some didn't. I mean if I had stood back at what was slowly unfolding, I probably would have seen it coming (especially because I'm really good at that with movie plots most of the time). The thing is that it's not like my job where it was easy to know how to feel about it. Instead I'm a ball of nerves and emotions that I don't have time to sort out because we're gearing up for the third time around this ride and I'm just really not sure I want to stay on. The last two go arounds seemed fun at first, but ended up being doozies and I'm thinking I might need a break.

Ok, that's it. I just needed to vent and you were the only one up at this hour. Thanks a bunch! Here's to hoping that I'll be able to get some sleep. Also I apologize that I'm rambling. It's late.

Mormon Lexicon: Some of the basics

Here it is: the beginning of the long - awaited (I know you've been waiting) Mormon Lexicon! And you thought I forgot . . .

I decided to put together this dictionary of sorts to put you in the loop. This will explain some of the terms I am bound to use while telling a story (as I am a Mormon that has experiences with other Mormons especially now that I live in Utah where they're - I mean we're - everywhere). The fact of the matter is that this will take a number of posts to fully explain. I thought I'd give it to you in smaller chunks so it would be easier for you to swallow (we wouldn't want anyone choking, now would we?) So don't be surprised to see additional installments in the future. I would like to say up front, that though I will poke some fun at our lingo and weird cultural stuff, I believe in the doctrine very strongly. Tone in the written word is sometimes difficult to make out, so I will say right now that unless I specifically indicate, I am not being sarcastic. Most of these jokes will be the kind that are said with a small chuckle. Included in this first edition will be some of the basics of organization and Sunday meetings in our church. Enjoy!

Mormon: 1. Mormon was a prophet in the ancient Americas who abridged the writings of not one, but two ancient civilizations and put them into a record that later became known as The Book of Mormon. It was named after him, because he did a whole lot of the work. Better give credit where credit is due! (Note: Joseph Smith didn't write The Book of Mormon. It was already written . . . in another language . . . that no one knew how to read. This is why God called Joseph Smith to translate it by the power of God.)

2. A nickname for a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. People started calling us Mormons because we read The Book of Mormon. By the way, we don't mind being called Mormons, but we don't really like our church being called "the Mormon church" because it makes people think we worship Mormon instead of Jesus Christ.

LDS or Latter-day Saint: another nickname for a Mormon. The term, "latter-day saint" does not suggest that the members of our church have achieved sainthood (not even close!). We point to the way the term "saint" is used in the New Testament to refer to members of the early Christian church. Basically we are members of Jesus Christ's church in later days.

ward: a congregation of Mormons in a geographic area. A ward is like a family. Sometimes it's a little crazy, but we love and support each other. In some areas there are specialized wards like singles wards, deaf wards, Spanish wards, Tongan wards, etc. These specialized wards are not created to exclude people, instead they are formed when the leadership finds that the specialization better meets the needs of those ward members especially when it comes to language. Wards are usually split when they get too big. A smaller group is better than a larger one because it is easier to know everyone and their needs. It also gives more people the opportunity to hold callings.

calling: the job/responsibility that you do/have in the church. All worthy members of our church get to help out by serving in a calling. A calling is not paid work; it is service. There are numerous callings in a ward and you can even get a calling that has you serving at the stake, regional, or general level. Callings range from Bishop to Sunday School teacher to greeter to librarian to Prophet. The key is that each calling is important. And though there are different callings with different levels of responsibility, you don't get "promoted". You may go from being in charge of a lot of stuff to teaching 5 year-olds and it is not a demotion. We believe that the call comes through inspiration aka God is choosing what you are doing right now. And because there are so many things to do and you usually don't stay in a calling forever, you have the chance to learn . . . a LOT. I recently taught a Sunday School class entitled "Marriage and Family Relations" to other young, single members of my ward. I loved it. I learned so much while preparing my lessons and from the comments I got from those who attended my class. What a great way to have a positive outlook on something that has so long eluded me! The Lord sure knows what he is doing.

bishop: the bishop is the ecclesiastical leader of the ward, kind of like a pastor. The father of the ward family, if you will. He is actually responsible for everyone within his ward's boundaries whether they are a member of our church or not. Our church has a lay ministry meaning that the bishop is not paid. He has a regular day job to support his family (oh yeah and celibacy is not promoted in our faith. Family is the most important thing for everyone). A bishop may be a lawyer, accountant, garbageman, artist, etc. to pay the bills and then spend 20 hours a week fulfilling his duties as bishop. Bishops really do work so hard. My dad was the bishop for a while and it was tiring work. The good news is that this calling is not forever. Usually a bishop serves for about 5 years. After that, someone else is called.

bishopric: a group of men including the bishop, his two counselors, the executive secretary and clerks. The other members beside the bishop help him do his job. Yay for teamwork!

branch: a branch is like a ward, but smaller.

branch president: the branch president does everything a bishop does, he's just called a branch president because he's over a branch instead of a ward.

stake: a larger geographical area that includes usually about 7-10 wards. The term comes from the analogy used in the Old Testament that the House of Israel was like a tent with stakes spread out.

stake president: a priesthood leader that presides over a stake. Like a bishop, he has two counselors an executive secretary and clerks to help him do his job. The stake president also works really hard and spends a lot of hours on his calling. This is actually what my dad is now. This calling isn't forever either, but the average stake president serves for about 10 years. My dad isn't quite half way there yet. You can do it, Dad! (As you can see, you really don't hope and dream for leadership positions, they take a lot of time and often those who are called feel inadequate for the job, but whom the Lord calls, he qualifies. Each opportunity to serve brings faith building experiences as you rely upon the Lord to help you figure out how to do the job right.)

stake center: the building dedicated to holding stake events. It also serves as a meeting house for at least one ward.

3 hour block: our Sunday meetings last for three hours. I know what you're thinking, "THREE HOURS?!?! Are these people crazy?" But the truth is that it is broken up into three meetings: Sacrament Meeting, Sunday School and the last hour one is either in Priesthood, Relief Society, Young Womens, or Primary (all of these groups will be discussed in later posts.)

Sacrament Meeting: the worship service where all the congregation meets together. The meeting starts with a welcome, then a hymn sung by the congregation and a prayer offered by a member of the congregation who has been asked beforehand. After the prayer, business is conducted (if there is any) and then another hymn is sung to prepare for the sacrament. Sacrament hymns are usually solemn and reverent and the words speak of Jesus Christ and how he suffered for our sins. The most important part of Sacrament Meeting is the sacrament. The sacrament is when bread and water are blessed and passed to the congregation. It is much like the eucharist or communion in other faiths. The bread and water are symbols of Christ's flesh and blood as he explained during the last supper. The sacramental prayer reminds us of the covenants (promises with God) we made when we were baptized. After the sacrament, talks are given by 2 or three members of the congregation who were asked beforehand (usually you get at least a week to prepare unless your dad is the bishop and the person scheduled can't do it for some reason or another). There is usually a rest hymn in between talks which is a chance to stand up and stretch your legs (sometimes). In my current ward, we stand up for the rest hymn EVERY week, which I hadn't experienced before. The meeting closes with another hymn and a closing prayer. Yes, we sing a lot. Which I really don't mind even though I have a terrible voice. The hymns are so beautiful and are so much a part of me, that I love to hear them. Besides, usually there are a lot of people in the ward that have beautiful voices, so I get to hear them sing over my voice.

the church vs. The Church: 1. the actual structure or building where services and activities are held i.e.: "will you be at the church tonight?"

2. short for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints i.e.: "How members of The Church are there worldwide?"

Well that's it for now, please. If any of this confuses you or if you would like to put in a request (you've heard a Mormon say something that didn't make any sense to you) leave a comment or shoot me an email.