3 Years Down Eternity to Go!

I think I use that title for all my anniversary related posts, but whatever. This last Friday was Tim and my 3 wedding anniversary(pitiful applause) yes yes thank you. While 3 years is pretty nothing compared to 50 years (Gma and Gpa Harward) or 70 years (yeah I know of a couple that has been married that long) I'm still going to congratulate myself on a job well done. To celebrate we farmed out the kids and went down to St. George to get away from all the crappy weather yuck:p. It was nice and warm and we had a lovely hotel and we went to the Tuachan morning Craftsman Market and spent some money, all the while I was thinking about my two little girls at home and Penny with Mike and Emily wondering if they were going to be ok, secretly hoping that they weren't, but to my disappointment they were fine, if not better than when we are home.(eyeroll) It was nice to have a little break but I was glad to have my kids back and to be able to come home. On the way home Tim mentioned how he would move down to St. George if he could get the clearance to work from home. I'd be okay with that, but I'm pretty sure he would get really tired of driving 10 hours just to eat dinner at one of our parents houses.:) I have some pictures of some of the stuff we got to see down at the Tuachan and the temple down there, but I'll put them up later, cause I have a crying baby in the other room. I love you babe, thanks for putting up with me, and I apologize in advance for any stress I may cause you throughout the years to come. Love you!!!!!:*

* The best part of going on vacation without the kids is getting to come home to them.

I think I'm going to try *GASP* diet and exercise

I got these off ksl.com I think I'm going to try them.


Day 1
Breakfast: Oatmeal, half a cup of berries and a glass of almond milk.

Lunch: Half of a pita sandwich with lean turkey lunch meat, spinach, tomatoes and mustard, a side of carrots and hummus.

Dinner: Baked salmon flavored with lemon juice, salt and pepper, fresh sauteed green beans and a side of brown rice.

Day 2
Breakfast: Three egg-white omelet filled with spinach, tomatoes and onions with a side of melon.

Lunch: Tomato basil soup with a side green salad.

Dinner: Lean chicken breast seasoned with your choice of herbs or marinade with a sweet potato and fruit salad on the side.

Day 3
Breakfast: Avocado pear smoothie sweetened with honey and half of an English muffin.

Lunch: Crisp tofu, red pepper, green beans and cabbage sauteed in a stir fry with sesame sauce.

Dinner: Halibut with a side of barley risotto and peas.

Day 4
Breakfast: Whole grain toast topped with goat cheese and raspberries.

Lunch: Turkey roll-up with light cream cheese and tomatoes with a side of veggie chips and a pear.

Dinner: Black bean burrito with caramelized onions, mushrooms and mango salsa on a whole wheat tortilla with one cup of tortilla soup.

Day 5
Breakfast: Whole-wheat pancakes topped with applesauce.

Lunch: Large spinach salad with hard-boiled egg and light honey mustard dressing.

Dinner: Pork chops with a side of mashed cauliflower and baked cinnamon apples.

Day 6
Breakfast: An oat bran muffin with a side of strawberries.

Lunch: Chili with chicken, green chiles and white beans.

Dinner: Falafel in a pita with a side of cous cous and green salad.

Day 7
Breakfast: Greek yogurt parfait with honey, oats and berries.

Lunch: Portabello mushroom burger with a side of sweet potato fries.

Dinner: One California roll with one cup of edamame and one cup of miso soup.

Other
Snacks: Carrot sticks or red pepper slices and hummus, a handful of almonds, an apple with one tablespoon of peanut butter, Greek yogurt with berries, baked chips with salsa, beet or kale chips or fruit salad.

Super foods to include in your meal: red tomatoes, black beans, spinach, almonds, Swiss chard, mushrooms, kale, avocado, salmon, flax seed, Greek yogurt, pumpkin seeds, oats, grapefruit, carrots and broccoli.

Low-calorie seasonings and flavors: cinnamon, honey, Stevia all-natural sweetener, agave nectar, mustard, basil, sage, thyme, coconut oil, olive oil, garlic, ginger, saffron and red chiles.

And for when I feel like eating a little unhealthy:
The Rule of 3 - doing three different exercises every day - is a great way to mix things up and make sure you're not bored while you get the exercise your body needs.

Here are three easy things to do at home to get you started:

Choose a Pilates move to do each day
You don't even need a mat. Joseph Pilates designed his exercises so that people could do them from home. A quick online search will reveal detailed instructions on how to perform each pose.

Wall Roll Down is a great one that many people like that will get you started on your core.

Stand tall against a wall, and keeping your body against the wall, walk your feet out about eight inches from the wall. Pull your stomach in. Keep your shoulders down and away from your ears, chest open, and raise your arms over your head. Keep your arms up by your ears as you slowly roll your spine down and away from the wall, vertebrae by vertebrae. Keep your abs pulled in as you work slowly, peeling the spine away from the wall. Relax your head and neck. Roll down as far as you can stretch while keeping your hips against the wall. Keeping your arms in the same place, roll up slowly paying close attention while you use your stomach muscles to move your body up. Keep rolling up, replacing your vertebrae against the wall one by one as you go. Finish in an upright position with your arms up and hands clasped together

Choose an exercise DVD or video game to which you can relate
"Jillian Michaels: The Complete Workout for Beginner" and "The Michael Jackson Experience" for the Wii are two excellent workouts to put on your TV and computer

The Michael's workout burns an estimated 370-460 while using 3- to 5-pound dumbbells and a resistance band. (97 minutes; $24.95 for a two-DVD set; jillianmichaels.com). Do as much of it as you have time for.

The Jackson workout is a product of the 80s and 90s, and I find it a pleasure to work out and dance to Michael Jackson's hits, and even one song - Smooth Criminal - gets my heart rate up so quickly I have to take a break between each song. You can do a few songs here and there throughout the day which is good for your overall fitness and heart rate.

Squats
Squats are my least favorite exercise to do anywhere- even at home, but boy, are the results worth it.

First, place a chair just behind you and stand in front of it with feet about hip- or shoulder-width apart. Then tighten your abs as you bend your knees and slowly and squat towards the chair. Keep your knees behind your toes and sit down on the chair for a few seconds. Squeeze in your glutes and hamstrings to lift up out of the chair and begin extending the legs. Stand back up fully and repeat this at least 10 times.

You may be asking yourself if such a short, simple routine will do anything but make it hard to walk up and down stairs the next day. The answer is: Yes. Especially if you do it consistently.

By incorporating the Rule of 3 you'll soon be in the wonderful habit of taking care of your body and toning up while losing weight. Google, YouTube, Livestrong.com, and many other sites have so much information on daily workouts that you can choose three new exercises to try at home every day and never do the same thing twice, if you don't want to.

Mother's Day 2011

So today is Mother's Day and I'm a bad daughter and didn't even do anything for my mother or my mother in law, so... we're just going to talk about them and how great Mom's are. So, because I spent a pretty huge majority of my life with my mom I'll start with her. My mom was born in February on the 5th(I think ;)) and married my dad in August in the Jordan River Temple after she sent him on a mission to Canada. My mom can do so many things, She can sew anything, cook anything, grow a huge garden, share everything, teach anyone, and love everyone. My mom taught me how to be not only how to be a good mom, but how to love the people around me, how to stand up for the little guy, how to keep your mouth shut when you should, how to keep it under control when everyone around me is losing that control. My mom tried to teach me piano but I quit and she was okay with that. She let me follow silly ideas during school that I eventually gave up, but she was okay with that even though it took her time, and her money. She taught me how to love and support my husband when money is tight, and how to take care of my family at the same time. She taught how to follow and love my Father in Heaven who has given me so much through her. She gave me life and I could never say enough about how great she has made it for me. I Love you Mom.

Aaaaaand okay let me calm down enough so I can see the screen....
okay, Now it's Julie's turn. Julie I haven't known for very long just going 9 years this July, but so far she's been pretty great. She raised a wonderful son who got the lucky chance to fall in love with and get married to for time and all eternity which by happenstance means that I am also tied to their family for time and all eternity which I really couldn't ask for anyone better to be around. I watch go through things with her family with grace and dignity and I see her work VERY hard so her children have not only what they need but a lot of what they want. I see her want to take care of her children even if it means she has to put herself in a bad position, I see that she is willing to do anything for her family. I see her go through trials and tough events with her mother and sisters, feeling helpless, but knowing it's for the best she still does it. I know that she is given these experiences because our Heavenly Father knew she weather them. I see her open her home and her arms to those in need. I am in awe of her ability to work so hard physically, mentally and spiritually to keep her family on the right track. I see her love her children not because she tells them but because she's so willing to drop everything and help them. I'm sorry to say that all I have for her today is my love and appreciation for her and everything that she does and for her raising my wonderful husband to become the man I love so much. I love her too and I hope she knows that.
Of course I cannot say enough about my two beautiful children who I have the honor of being a mother to. Riley who will get me back in line as soon as I think about getting out of it. And my BB (Baby Bridget) whose smile makes me think angels cried when she left heaven cause she's so beautiful. (I know, gay but come on she's toats adorb and no one can deny it!p.s. 'toats adorb' means totally adorable.)

I actually have a lot of people who I am grateful for their maternal influences. I have Janet Fredrickson who was a second mom to as I grew up and she raised my best friend, I have Mihoko Armitstead who has taken us as her family and treats us that way, I have my Grandmothers who I love dearly but I don't see nearly enough. I have my older sisters who are such great examples to me of love and faith. And there are so many more, I really can't list them all. To all the mom's, grandmother's, aunt's, sisters, wives, sister-in-laws, teachers, thank you for everything that you do even if you're not medically defined as a 'mother' if you help in anyway, you're a mother. Happy Mother's Day everyone!

D-Land Quiz from Rants From Mommyland (with a few changes cause I don't go to DisneyWorld)

1. YES or NO: I enjoy hemorrhaging money.

2. YES or NO: My kids think it’s awesome when sunblock melts into their eyes and they get to whine in pain.

3. YES or NO: Waiting in line for several hours is an excellent opportunity to practice meditation and deep breathing.

4. YES or NO: I like to eat all my meals off of plastic cafeteria trays.

5. YES or NO: Failing that, I feel that $50 per person is reasonable for food that is the culinary equivalent of that served at some of the nicer institutional settings in Southern California.

6. YES or NO: I live for those moments when all our hard work and sacrifice have paid off and our children stare at us with large eyes filled with... unmitigated lust for Disney-themed merchandise.

7. YES or NO: I have no problem with the fact that animatronic creatures often veer from cute to terrifying with no notice.


(Yes, you will see Princesses. And they will be MAGNIFICENT.)
8. YES or NO: Nothing is more important to me than riding Space Mountain about a million times. I will tell my four year old to man up, stop crying and get back on that roller coaster because that’s what good moms do.

9. YES or NO: Whenever I am asked the question: “Hot enough for ya?” I always respond by saying: “No. It is never EVER hot enough for me.”

10. YES or NO: When I see an adult person being paid to dress as a Disney character with a ginormous head, I squeal. But I do so silently, on the inside.

11. YES or NO: Walking between 9-14 miles per day in a sub-tropical climate is actually very good for you.

12. YES or NO: I believe in magic.

13. YES or NO: I am prepared for sporadic moments of horrifying ingratitude and brattiness from my children.

14. YES or NO: I am prepared for frequent moments when there are bursting with how happy they are and how much fun they’re having.

15. YES or NO: A vacation should leave you relaxed (due to total physical exhaustion), broke, sunburned, mildly dehydrated and with the complete adoration of your children.

You're done! That wasn't hard, was it? For every YES, give yourself ONE point. Count up your score:

0-5: You should never go to Disneyland. Ever. Or DisneyWorld. Maybe avoid Disney altogether. You should also probably teach your kids about Disney what Lydia has taught hers about Chuck E. Cheese: “Kids, I am sorry to tell you that mommies and daddies are not allowed at Disneyland. Only Grandmas and babysitters.”



 5-10: You probably think you’re not ready. But you might be. Consider your next move carefully. Drop a hint to your spouse and offspring. If your husband looks at you as if you have just suggested optional castration without anesthesia, table the discussion until next year. If not, spend several hundred hours researching your vacation on-line. Imagine how happy it will make your kids and think fondly of the memories you’ll be making. Pretend you think it’s ironic that someone as cool as you is even contemplating this. THEN JUST DO IT. Then vomit several times when you realize your children will have to forgo a year of college because of how much money you just spent.

10-15: Dude. You know you’ve already been to Disneyland like 50 times. And if you answered yes to all 15 questions then you should just move to California and get yourself a job walking around sweating your ass off, dressed as a cartoon character and telling people to have a magical day. If you fall into this range and you’ve never been to Disneyland - take your Auntie Lydia’s advice and go to your happy place.


for more mommy rants got to . TRUST ME They know exactly what you're dealing with.

I Miss the Magnificent Justo!

This morning I opened my email knowing that today was Justin's p-day and would be able to write to us. He hasn't really written me a full blown letter in a while, but I still get a joke of the week. This week's joke was:

How many Edwards does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
None! Because he doesn't exsist! If he did, he wouldn't do it anyway.

I laughed and cried when I read this partly because it was funny and partly because I miss him a lot. When I say a lot I mean A LOT. Justin has always been the source of pure joy in our family because of his impeccable comedic timing, off the cuff retort ability and the relentless whistling (serious, the kid could whistle like no body's business). I'm sure he shares jokes with other people, but the way he just wants to make you smile, makes it all his own. He wrote a paper letter to Tim and I and his joke in that one was:

"A piece of string walked into a bar and the bartender said, 'We don't serve your kind here.' so the string went back outside ruffled his hair and twisted and turned then walked back into the bar. The bartender asked 'Aren't you that guy from just a second ago?' The piece of string shrugged and said 'Nope, frayed knot.' "

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I still laugh every time I think about it. I laughed pretty hard when I got the letter, Tim didn't think it was THAT funny but still pretty funny right? When he was a kid he was always a good source of entertainment and wowed the crowds with his magic acts as "The Magnificent Justo" with our uncle Frank as his side kick. He could disappear, "okay everybody you'll need to close your eyes for 3 seconds..." he could inflict severe pain, "It'll be like sitting on your keys..." but most importantly he could melt your heart with his "magic". We love you J Happy birthday on the 15th this month!



(Yes I just barely made this picture, and yes those are supposed to be fireworks)

Ohhh Dear! Seriously We All Need to Be Like Him

Double Dream Feet