Top of Utah

This has been an exhausting summer.  I have done nothing it seems but run.  Literally.  Up at 5:30, out the door by 6, running 4, 6, 9, 13 miles, 3-4 times per week.  I didn't think it would be so tiring, but it was.  I also wasn't sure it would be worth it.  The thought of not meeting the goal (and flushing a $50 registration fee down the toilet) kept me going.  No one wants to not meet their goals, right?

Sat. August 27, I woke up at 4:30, loaded a bus sometime after 5, crossed the start line about 7.  I ran for 13.1 miles and finished in 2 hours 11 minutes and 38 seconds. 

Were all the hours and sore muscles worth it?  Absolutely.

Diary of a Sometimes-Seamstress

I've been on a little bit of a hunt for a modest, cute, age appropriate (read: not for grandma or my babysitter) dress for church.  It has to be long enough.  It has to have a high enough neckline (ok-and backline) to stand alone or use minimal help from some sort of layering tee.  It has to be cute.  It must be a dress (not a skirt-not that I don't love my skirts). And mostly it has to be affordable.  My results turned up..........nada.  Nothing. Zilch. Oh-I've found plenty of cute, modest dresses.  But they're too rich for my blood (budget-whatever). 

My mom passed on her can-do attitude, and my sewing skills have improved immenseley over the last several years.  So, why not?  I'll try my hand at sewing myself a cute dress!

Today is day one. Here's what I've accomplished so far:

Pattern? Check.
Cute fabric (on sale even)? Check.
Mom and friend on speed dial for help? check and check.

After picking out my pattern from my stash, I loaded up 3 cute girlies and headed to Hobby Lobby.  It wasn't my first choice because their cute fabrics are well-known.  I didn't really want a "Hobby Lobby" dress.  Fortune was with me, though, and I found exactly what I wanted and for 30% off.  There was exactly the amount I needed left on the bolt.  Sweet.   After laundering my 4 yards of undescribed cotton, I set out to do my least favorite part.  The cutting.  Ummm...yeah.  There were a lot of pieces.  Which was okay.  Then I looked closer.  Several pieces needed to be cut out 4 times.  One piece 8 times.  Phew.  Little break.  Ok.  Back to business.  Pattern cut, pinned, and fabric cut.  (all 1 million pieces) The left side of the bodice took me 10 minutes to sew together correctly.  The right side took 10 seconds.  :p  I feel like I accomplished a lot on it already. 

My goal is to have it finished in time to wear it to church the Sunday after General Conference. Assuming it turns out well, that's when I'll reveal it here as well. That gives me about 2 weeks.  Plenty of time to take it slow and do a good job.  Wish me luck!

Ouch

There I was.  Sitting reverently during the sacrament yesterday, minding my own business, when suddenly I was overwhelmed with powerful, crippling feelings of inadequacy and tears.  What?!  Where did that come from?? I mean, there have been a few trials the last few months, but mostly just lots of happiness and feeling good. 

Doubts about all my talents and abilities were suddenly at the forefront of my thoughts.  Jealousy of my amazing friends and their talents soon followed.  The things I do and areas I excel in were instantly not good enough and would never quite measure up.  My mind is not sharp enough, my home is not clean enough, my voice isn't good enough and on and on and on.

Whatever turmoil was boiling under the surface, no way was I letting it out where everyone else could see it.  I had to figure out where this was coming from and get it in check quickly.  First things first.  Stop the tears.  Easier said than done, especially when you have Grandma Marchant's tear ducts working against you.  ;)  Deep breath in.  Exhale slowly.  (Thank you Pilates and yoga!)  I was up extra late and I did have slightly tender ears from standing in front of 4 massive speakers while listening to a friend's band play Saturday night.  Maybe I am just extra tired.  More deep breaths.  Ok.  Tears are in check. 

Now what's up with this whole not feeling good enough thing?  (More deep breaths)  I found myself reciting lessons learned inYoung Women and as early as primary.  I am a child of God.  He loves me.  Repeat.  He doesn't mind my shortcomings as long as I am working towards improving them.  That's what He is there for.  Repeat again.  Slowly my thoughts returned to normal and I could move on to listen to the speakers.

This whole experience left  a deep impression on me though and I thought about it all day yesterday.  Satan was working on me this much I understood.  That was a scary realization.  Not wanting to have that happen again, I decided it was time for a little more goal setting.  Since most of what I was feeling failure in where talents (versus spiritual preparation or homemaking skills), that was where the goal setting would begin. 

I have always considered myself a "jack-of-all, master of none" when it comes to my hobbies.  Being able to do one thing exceptionally well would be such an awesome achievement for me.  I laid out 2 or 3 things I've been wanting to work more on and learn more about.  I've picked one of those to work on heavily for the next three months.  That's not enough time to make me an expert in any area, but I feel it's a reasonable amount of time to decide if it's an area I could master.

The goals I set in January are coming along nicely.  Making it to the temple 2x a month in tax season is already proving to be difficult, but going at least once per month is definitely doable.  Working out has become a top priority.  I've been having fun and am feeling really good which was the whole objective anyway.  I'm happy with 3 times a week.  I've been able to squeeze in a 4th workout and sometimes even a 5th, but it's nice to not have the extra pressure of needing those numbers to meet my goals.  I'm ready to take on this new goal which I will name shortly, but not until I've gotten some other things in place to help me out.

Hopefully it will be a long time before I feel like that again.  I do recognize that it has spurred me on to action though and for that I'm grateful.

Little Tidbits

And I'm immediately thinking pineapple! 

I'm already off topic. :)

Anyway.......We've been working on our basement for...um...2.5 years now.  A huge part of the hold up is deciding what to do with the ceiling in the craft/laundry room.  It's a mess of all kinds of pipes and wires, most of which aren't tucked up neatly between the beams.  Shudder...My mom eventually volunteered my handy man dad to come put up a suspended ceiling for me (thereby clearing up clutter from her house since he had the supplies laying around).  We also had to wire a light in.  There was an existing feature in the laundry portion of the room, but my craft area was a dark corner.  Lots of time hanging with my dad and a week later:

Ta-da!  We have light!  And a ceiling.  Wahoo!!There's still a bit to be done, like sheet rocking one wall, taping and mudding another wall, painting, adding a door to the bathroom and flooring throughout.  It'll get done.  Eventually.

I also (partly in thanks to my wonderful new lighting) finished my first goal of the year.  I finished scrapbooking our Disneyland trip (from 07).  The goal was to have it finished before this coming weekend (as in the 22-23 of Jan) before my big scrapbooking crop that I'm attending.  Honestly, I'm done with 07. I just need to get a few holiday pictures out of the way and that year will finally be history.

Last, but not least.  The kids talked us into a game or two of Uno attack the other night.  After the first round Sophie had the hang of it enough (with help) that I could have my own hand. We were all having a lovely time.  Then I looked over at my darling baby girl and nudged Jeff.  We broke out in hysterical laughter.  Sophie was holding her hand with the cards fanned out between her toes!  The big and second toe to be exact.  Jeff grabbed the camera and we caught this for posterity.  Love it!

The Year of 30

I am a huge fan of goal setting and love the idea of New Year's resolutions. This year is a special year for me and will therefore have some slightly loftier goals than normal with a lot more hardwork put into them.  This is the year I turn 30.  Many of my friends have already hit this major birthday and I am inspired by their general wonderfulness to go at 30 head on and embrace, even celebrate it.  So-for the next 12 months, I will be continually setting goals (and reaching them) to make the next decade better then the last.

First things first-we'll take care of the surface cleaning.  I am going to have a very active year starting with my goal of working out 3x a week this month.  Trimming down a little would be nice, but is not the ultimate goal here.  The summer of 08 was my most physically fit period of my entire life.  I looked pretty good if I do say so myself.  But more importantly-I FELT the best I've ever felt.  I had abundant energy.  I had confidence and I was happy.  That is what working out is all about. 

Next-Getting to the temple is proving hard for me.  Maybe I'm intimidated by calling a babysitter for this.  Maybe I'm lazy.  Either way it needs to change.  The goal? My temple attendance in 2010 is going to be the best it's ever been since having kids.  My goal right now is 2x a month-once with Jeff and once to do initiatory work with my temple buddy.  (Melissa-we need to plan a time!!)

I'm still working on my list, so if you have any great ideas to share for celebrating 30, pass it on.  The list will get longer as I get more involved in this.  I can't wait!

(My spell check is gone-so excuse any misspellings please.)

Holiday Goals

Well. It's time. The holidays are upon us.

Picture courtesy: Country Living magazine

I thought I'd take a minute and write down some goals I have for myself and my family this season (along with some we've started working on). I would love it if you feel the desire to share your goals for the season as well.



1. Think of something new each day to be grateful for and write it down. Do this through Thanksgiving day.



2. Continue to purchase thoughtful, but budget conscious presents for loved ones.



3. In December, think of things each day to celebrate and post them where each family member can see.



4. Spend a good portion of time teaching children about Christ, the true meaning of Christmas, and the joy we receive by giving and serving others.



5. Sit down and plan festive things to do with kids while off track and as a family.



6. Take time to be quiet and enjoy the beauty of the season-the lights, the music, the snow, the feelings.



7. Continue the tradition of the "Mary and Joseph" dinner on Christmas Eve.



I'm sure I will add more as the season progresses and as you readers share what you will be doing and have been doing. For now, this is a pretty all encompassing list.

Update-Just thought of one more-

8. Take lots of pictures at Thanksgiving. I never have any pictures from this great holiday.

Lyndsi Update

I love my Lyndsi-girl. Tomorrow is her last day of 1st grade. She's frequently reminding me that it means next year she will be baptized. Sniff....(Where does the time go??) She is a delight to have around. We're on year-round school here. (If you're not familiar with that, it means we go to school through out the year and about every 9 weeks we get a 3 week break.) This whole school year, I've been the looking forward to off-track time, and she on the other hand has dreaded it. Lyndsi has such a strong passion for learning and a great love for her teacher and her school friends. This has got to be such a great generation coming up. I've had some of her school friends over and they are darling, sweet girls. Lyndsi also has a passion for dance. She has loved her class this last year and you couldn't wipe the grin off her face after a performance if you tried. She's recently discovered her book appetite. I'm not sure what really whet it, but it's in full gear now. She's been reading all the "fairy" books (from the rainbow -and like-fairy series), Junie B. Jones and is currently reading Black Beauty. That one surprised me a bit, but she is loving it. Lyndsi is also extremely helpful at home. Some days I expect probably too much of her, but she doesn't complain much and gets the job done. She loves to help her brother learn to write and her sister get dressed and go to the potty. She's discovering her future best friend in her little sister. They will sit and play Polly Pockets or Littlest Pet Shops for hours at a time. And have I mentioned this girl is getting braver by the minute? My little monkey who was terrified of Disneyland, zip lines and rope swings like Jane of the Jungle (ya know-Tarzan's main squeeze). She's starting to climb like a monkey and ride her bike everywhere. And last night-she got her ears pierced. Didn't even flinch. No tears. Afterwards she told me she almost backed out but the told herself, "No-it's not going to hurt!" I love that she was able to reach her goal of getting her ears pierced and overcome her fear of the pain. For the record, she said it didn't hurt a bit and her ears are more beautiful than before. She's not perfect, but she is a GOOD kid and I'm glad she's mine.

Can I just say...

..That I'm grateful to have been taught to be kind and thoughtful and to not judge others?? I may not be good at these things all the time, but I think people in general don't deserve the lashings they get. I was checking out some books by Jon and Kate (of Jon and Kate plus 8 fame) on Amazon and reading the reviews (1st mistake right there). There were some HORRIBLE accusations and mean things said. I just couldn't believe people would a) say such mean things about people they've never personally met and b) apparently have no interest in their show/life anyway. Think what you will about that show, the Duggars, the Bachelor, religious groups, colleges, celebrities, etc, etc. etc. But lets follow some sound Disney advice, "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin at all." (Thumper's father hit it right on the head with that one.) If we all were just a tad nicer, the world would be a different, better place. Challenge: be a nicer, kinder person today and watch to see how it affects (or effects? never did get that one) those around you and how you feel about yourself.

The New Year

I love the start of a new year. I feel so refreshed and rejuvenated after Christmas. I also love goal setting and since the days of Young Women's are behind me, New Years has become my time to make and plan out goals for the year. My goals for 2009 are:

1. Go the entire year credit-card-less. (the sub goal here-pay for vacation and Christmas with cash)
2. Train for and run a 10k
3. Study the scriptures more, with an emphasis on Isaiah.
4. Continue last year's goal of organizing my home.
5. Increase my temple attendance.

Sadly, I don't remember my goals from last year other than the famous "lose the last 10 pounds." I am happy to report I did lose close to that.