I'm a Mormon

In the past, I haven't talked a ton about my faith on my blog... not sure why that is because my faith is a HUGE part of my life!  Anyway, last spring, I created a profile out on Mormon.org... I recently updated it and thought I would share a link to my profile here!  It just talks a little about my faith and what I believe.  The website has a lot of other resources, so if you have questions and want to poke around, that's a great place to do so.  Of course, I am always willing to talk to anyone with questions too!

Biggest Loser Challenge: Week 3

Week 2 proved the fitness challenges are definitely easier for me than the nutrition challenges!  It wasn't a piece of cake by any means, but I managed to make it through all 1000 push-ups, 1000 sit-ups, and 1000 lunges by Friday (leaving me the weekend push-up/sit-up/lunge free!).  Here's what we're working on this week:

Week 3 Challenge:

Eat 6 small meals a day

No caffeinated or carbonated beverages

This one shouldn't be too difficult for me.  I rarely drink soda, so I've got the no caffeinated or carbonated beverages part in the bag.  And I already usually eat 5 meals a day, so the only thing about adding a 6th meal is being careful not to go too high on my caloric intake.

Dressed in White

Today was a special day for my family.  My soon-to-be sister-in-law Rachel was baptized!  Over the last few months, Matt and I have had the privilege of hosting Rachel and my brother BJ in our home to meet with the missionaries and learn about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It was truly a joy to watch as Rachel's testimony of the Church grew (and it strengthened my testimony too!)  There were a couple missionary discussions when the Spirit was so strong, there was no denying the truthfulness of the Gospel.  I will always treasure these experiences.

And I will always remember the way I felt today as I watched my brother baptize Rachel.  It was a sweet, beautiful, ceremony.  Rachel looked so happy... and we were all so happy for her.  I know her decision to be baptized will bless her life and the life of her family.

One more picture from last weekend... my family was in Salt Lake for BJ's robotics competition.  I loved this picture of Beki and BJ with their sweethearts.

I look forward to the day when I will be in the temple with my entire family!!

Opryland

I spent five days this last week in Nashville, Tennessee for my annual PeopleSoft Higher Education Users Group conference.  Well, specifically I spent five days in the Gaylord Opryland hotel.  I stayed in this same hotel six years ago for the same conference, and let me tell you, it is the biggest hotel I've ever stayed in.  It's like four hotels plus a convention center in one.  No joke.  I'm talking a hotel with a dozen different places to eat, shops, waterfalls, a spa, etc. inside the hotel.  You can literally get lost in the place.  Thank goodness I received a map of the hotel when I checked in.  I carried it with me at all times :-)

Here are a few more shots of inside the hotel...

Cool glass sculpture in the hotel lobby

Inside the hotel at night...

Don't be fooled - it's all inside

Probably the highlight of my trip (besides the sessions of course!) was the vendor reception I attended Monday evening at the Grand Ole Opry!  Maybe partly because I actually left the hotel for a couple hours :-) We even got to walk around back stage and see all the dressing rooms, etc.  Very cool!  Now if only i had actually attended a show while I was there... next time!

Camille and Me - heading into the Grand Ole Opry

Eating a fried pickle!

Camille, Dwight, Me - standing at the guitar bar!

A look into one of the dressing rooms

Blake Shelton

I'm a little behind in my blogging, so forgive me for posting this out of order.  For Jen's birthday this year, I got us both tickets to the Blake Shelton concert.  It was opened by Dia Frampton (former contestant on The Voice) and Justin Moore.  All three of them were excellent!  I had never heard of Dia Frampton before, but I loved her voice and plan on buying some of her music.  My favorite songs that Blake played were the ones he played with just his acoustic guitar - love that sound!  Oh, and we had awesome seats... it was a great night!!

And here's a video of Dia Frampton in case you haven't heard her before!

Almost Home

I am sitting in the Denver Airport waiting to board the plane for the final leg of my trip home.  It's been a long day.  I was up early for the final few sessions of my conference, and then had to check out of my hotel by noon.  Once I had checked out, I didn't really have anything I could do (there wasn't really much within walking distance of the hotel), so I had this brilliant idea that I would just head to the airport and just watch a movie on my laptop or do some work while I waited for my flight to leave.

Unfortunately, my plan backfired a bit.  When I was checking in at the kiosk, I got a message that you aren't allowed to check in more than 4 hours before departure.  I still had 6 hours until my flight was scheduled to leave.  So I hung out near the front of the airport for two hours until I could check my bags.  Then another four hours once I passed through security.  Oh, and there was no free wi-fi.  Seriously????  I was happy to see a Redbox in the terminal so I was able to watch a movie I hadn't seen before.  Needless to say, I'm tired and I can't wait to be back in Boise!  I will post about the highlights of my trip tomorrow.

SwitchFlops

Have you ever seen Shark Tank?  I really enjoy this show, and have it on my Season Pass Manager on my TiVo.  It makes me wish I could come up with an idea that would be worthy of investment from a shark.  Last year I saw a Shark Tank episode that featured shoes with interchangeable straps.  I just googled it and found the website - it's called Onesole.  I kind of see this as the shoe equivalent of the Miche Bag.  Basically you purchase one sole, and you can switch out the bands to match your outfit.

The Onesole was touted as the perfect shoe for traveling.  I agree.  I'm currently on a business trip in Nashville, and I brought with me five different pairs of shoes.  Now if I had had the Onesole, I would still have had to bring multiple pair of shoes, but it would have reduced this number to three (still need my casual canvas shoes, my tennis shoes for the gym, and then the one pair of dress shoes to wear with my "conference attire").  So basically, I think Onesole is a great idea... but I don't love the shoe itself.

Well, in my hotel in Nashville, I found something similar, but in a style that I do like... Lindsay Phillips!  She has a couple different products - Snap Shoes and SwitchFlops.  At the end of last summer, both pair of my "dressier" black flip flops broke, so I needed to buy something to replace these anyway.  The minute I tried on the SwitchFlops, I knew I loved them - there is memory foam in the shoe and they are sooo comfy (and I knew they would be a relief for my sore feet from all the walking I have been doing in my heels).  I went with the Breanna Wedge Heel and bought a couple different straps that I think will match most of my outfits.

I am excited that I found these, especially at the beginning of sandal season!  I might need to buy a couple more straps to round out my collection, but I've already more than maxed out my budgeted spending money for the month :-)

Easter Egg Hunt

My mom had a Easter egg hunt with her daycare today, and Kylee got to join in the fun!  Here are a couple cute pictures of Kylee enjoying her spoils.  Can't wait to celebrate Easter with her this year :-)  I've been making plans for weeks!

Pineapple Slicer with Wedger

I'm excited to pick up my Bountiful Basket on Saturday... not only did I order a regular basket, but I also ordered a whole box of pineapple.  Mmmmmm, I love fresh pineapple!  So I'm thinking I might need this cool pineapple slicer/wedger - it would sure make prepping the pineapple much faster, easier, and less messy!

Biggest Loser Challenge: Week 2

Well, I survived the first week of our Biggest Loser challenge... and let me tell you, it was rough.  There were several times that I wanted to eat treats and didn't.  Yea for me :-)  And yea for 5 other members of my 8-person team - we won the first week's challenge!!!

Here's what's up this next week:

Week 2 Challenge:

1000 push-ups

1000 sit-ups

1000 lunges

It's going to be a lot of work to get to 1000, but definitely easier for me to accomplish than the nutrition challenge last week!  My plan is to do at least 150 of each exercise a day... I started today with 50 when I woke up this morning, 50 when I got home, and 50 just now before I'm headed to bed.  Hopefully spreading it out like this will make it so I don't get too sore!

What I Didn't Eat Today

The 2012 Biggest Loser competition started at Fitness 19 last night... so that means for the next 12 weeks I need to be strict about my diet and exercise.  I have a goal that I think is pretty obtainable if I put my mind toward it and really work toward it.

The good thing is, since June (when last year's competition ended), I have maintained my weight (for the most part) within just a couple pounds.  Except for the last couple weeks when I accidentally started eating lots of extra sweets knowing I would be limited for the next 12 weeks.

One thing that's different this year as compared to last year is that there is a big team component.  Each week, in addition to individual weigh-ins, calculations of % weight lost, and food journals, there is a new "team" challenge.  I don't know the specific penalties if people don't follow the challenge, but it's something along the lines of we "gain" a pound if we lose the weekly challenge.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a little pretty competitive, so the team aspect of the challenge is really good for me.  Not only do I want to reach my own goals, but I don't want to let my team down.  Well, I don't want them to let me down... I know that I will do what I need to do to "win" the challenge.

So I thought I would post our weekly challenge, in case any one of my three readers would like to play along :-)

Week 1 Challenge:

No sugar

No white food (bread, rice, potatoes, etc.)

No carbs after 6 pm

As a point of clarification, fruit is okay and isn't considered sugar or carbs.

With that in mind, here's a picture of what I didn't eat at lunch today.  We had a special luncheon at work today honoring years of service to Boise State.  I could only eat about half my meal... didn't touch the dessert or the mashed potatoes (even though I really wanted to)!

Preview

I had a Groupon for Canvas On Demand that was set to expire on March 11th.  I knew my wedding pictures wouldn't be ready yet, but my photographer emailed one picture so my Groupon wouldn't go to waste.

Happy 30th Jen!

I met Jen on Sunday, March 9th, 2008.  I remember the day vividly.  It was my first Sunday back in the Singles Ward... and I was scared to death.  Who would I sit with?  Who would I talk to?  How was I going to make friends with other single people?  Would people judge me for being divorced? I remember wanting to walk out of the buliding the second I arrived.  My heart was racing and my palms were sweaty.  You would think it was my first time stepping into a church building.  Or that I was going to an important interview.  Or something much more than just my weekly routine of attending sacrament meeting.

I only stayed for sacrament meeting because I was heading out that afternoon for a conference for work... but that was long enough for the Relief Society President of the time (Jen!) to introduce herself to me.  I didn't know it that day, but Jen and I would quickly become friends.  And not just friends, but close friends.  One of my best friends.  I can't believe we've known each other for four years now!  Over these past four years, Jen has been my traveling buddy, concert partner, relationship confidant, and much, much more.  She helped me make some tough life transitions.  She has been a "consistent" friend and has been there for me through my ups and downs.  I truly consider myself blessed to have Jen in my life and look forward to many more years of friendship!

Andrea and me at Goodwood - check out the gigantic menus!

Well, yesterday was Jen's 30th birthday!  I thought of several different "options" for how we might celebrate (sorry Jen - the plans we made a couple years ago to go to Italy didn't pan out... you can blame Matt!).  I finally decided on dinner with friends at Goodwood (one of Jen's favorite restaurants), pinterest desserts (in case you didn't know, we both love pinterest!), followed by a movie at Jared's house (Jen loves watching movies, and Jared has the perfect set-up).  Nothing elaborate, pretty low key, but hopefully it is what Jen would have picked if she planned it herself (well, second to that Italy trip of course).  Anyway, happy birthday Jen!  I hope this year is full of happiness and other good things.  Love you!

Thin Mint Truffles

Layered chocolate chip cookie, oreo, brownie dessert