Updates...

Gary had his tonsils out a few weekends ago. I thought he would be layed up for a few weeks but he has actually done quite well and bounced back pretty fast. He isn't one to sit around not doing anything. And, try telling him he can't eat his favorite food. He got sick of yogurt, pudding, protein drinks and cottage cheese pretty fast.

We decided to put our townhouse up for sale. It's time to tap into the housing market before it all starts going up again. After looking at many existing houses, we are leaning towards building our own house. Scary huh? I'm nervous about it but also so excited to be able to pick out the design of a house. We are looking into the options of using Symphony homes or an independent builder. I guess whomever gives us the best price. Finding a lot is an issue too. There are many in West Kaysville for sale (it's beautiful in Kaysville) but I know we both would like to stay in Farmington, Centerville or Bountiful if possible. Lots are just so dang expensive. If you know of any...give us a holler.

Gary is busy studying for part 3 of his CIA (certified internal auditing) test. It's just extra certification to have and always good for credentials if he ever wants to look for a new job. He already passed the first 2 tests but studying takes months and dedication. He is so smart though. I'm just working away at Primary's getting geared up for the horrible RSV/Swine Flu outbreak that is supposed to hit any day. Hopefully I make it through the year without catching anything. The joys of being a nurse.

Besides looking at houses, lots and design centers, Gary and I have been to the last 2 home BYU games. I love going to see my boys in blue play...as frustrating as they can be sometimes. Gary doesn't love the games as much as I do but he is an awesome husband and has let me drag him to the games. He is excited for my dad to get home from his work trip so my dad can go to the games with me and he can be off the hook. He likes staying home to watch games so he can flip to the other games when one gets boring. And let's face it, not many people love crowds and traffic.

That's us in a nutshell right now. I head to New York the end of October with Gary's mom, sister's, aunt's and cousin for a girls trip. Gary heads out on his international trip the beginning of November and I will meet him in Australia the middle of November to play and explore. I can't WAIT!!!

A passion or a sickness?

I believe I have what some people call...a sickness. I blame it all on my dad because of course the blame has to be put somewhere. What am I talking about? It's just a little thing called BYU football. Yes, that's right, BYU football. I am a junkie, obsessed, maniac, insane, bipolar person during football season. I would call myself BYU's #1 fan in all aspects of the word. I won't lie, I have cried when they have won the big games and I have cried when they lost the worst games. Sick, right? I know. I bleed blue in a big time way! I'm sure if the BYU team knew about me, I would get front row seats in the elite section of the football stadium or even my own box seats for being the most invested fan ever in the history of BYU football. I have gone to most home and many away games in my young, short life. I plan on being one of those older retired folks who have nothing better to do but follow their beloved team around the country to play. It would be a dream come true! (Not sure my husband will go for that!)

a SuMmEr DeLiGhT

I always have the problem of buying a lot of fruit, fresh fruit...thinking if I have it at my house, we'll eat it. The apples usually get eaten but that's about it. I was throwing rotten fruit out like no other. Until...my brother and sister-in-law gave me the perfect solution. I now freeze all the fruit that looks like it is starting to go bad. Then, whenever I feel like a healthy treat, I pull out the frozen fruit and make a smoothie out of it. I love trying different fruit blended with each other. Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, peaches, blackberries, banana's. I throw some vanilla in the fruit smoothies and then 1/3 of a can of some kind of frozen concentrate. Frozen pineapple juice, orange juice, Orange-Pineapple-Banana blend or Strawberry-Orange-Banana are some of the few I love. No sugar needed! Delicious! I also make it even more healthy and throw fresh spinach in my smoothies. You can't taste it and it's so good for you! Thanks Taylor and Annie for the great idea!!!

Favorite summer activity

Awe, cute

One thing a good boat has to have...a heater! Yes, a heater...especially for those early morning ski runs

Gary wake-surfing


Nice rooster tail babe!

Me, trying to lay it down


Gary loves wake-boarding

Gary and I have a good friend who owns an awesome Malibu boat. We have been fortunate enough to go out and spend some days and early mornings on the lake. I will go with anyone, anywhere, anytime. I will drop whatever I am doing to go! I'm such a water/sun girl. My two most favorite things in the world? Waterskiing and watching BYU sports, especially football. But we'll save that for another blog.

We got to go out this last weekend to beautiful East Canyon lake. It was awesome water in the morning. Nothing better than skiing on glass. Gary is the all-around guy in the water. He loves to do it all and is very natural and good. Me? I stick to waterskiing. I've had a few concussions wake-boarding so I stay away. But I love even a ride on the boat. Thanks Curtie for taking us out!

A camping we will go...

My family doesn't camp. Just ask any of us. Okay, okay, Taylor might...once in a while...but as for the rest of us, we don't do it. We don't like to get dirty or smelling like campfire. We like sleeping in our own beds. We like having flushing toilets and running water. We don't like bugs. So, we just don't camp. We don't own camping equipment. But, I got married to a man who loves the outdoors, camping, and the smell of campfire. So I consented and last weekend, we went camping with our friends.

My premonition was not to go. The weather report said thunderstorms and a low of 37 degrees at night. It rained the day we left and then on our drive to the Uintas. But I tried to be a "happy camper" and went along. We finally found a campsite and we quickly set up our tents because the sky was darkening quickly. No sooner as we finished did it start hailing on us. Great. I'm already freezing. Luckily I found some mittens in my coat I had brought. I had also talked my husband into buying and bringing an umbrella for our night out...because I had checked the weather.

The hail stopped and the rain came. Pouring rain. Rain that was putting out our campfire...the only thing keeping us warm. The few of us that had umbrella's had to stand over the fire so the rain wouldn't put our fire out. That caused a TON of smoke and the smoke inhalation was intoxicating. Our lungs were burning. We couldn't see. It was cold, make that FREEZING. I didn't even get to have a S'more (I love these!!) because my fingers were numb and we didn't have much of a fire. Good thing Gary had brought our BBQ grill to cook some hamburger and hot dogs.

I was wet all over and Gary and I decided to call it a night. We went to our tent and mud got everywhere. Then I had to go to the bathroom...in the rain...with no outhouse. Jeez. After getting settled and putting our 5-6 layers on us, we settled in for the night. I was COLD. I ended up putting my extra pair of sweat pants OVER MY HEAD to keep some heat in. Ya, it was awful. I had a restless night and woke up to a flat air mattress. When I finally had the courage to get out from the covers and go out to get some breakfast, I was numb. Everything was frozen! We had pancakes with frozen butter and syrup. My husband informed me that his watch said it was 42 degrees that morning. Sweet.

Breakfast was just about over and I wanted to get out of there...fast. More dark clouds coming in. I begged Gary to take our tent down and to leave. We did but as we were cleaning up, SNOW. SNOW! SNOW!!! I HATE SNOW! In the middle of August? Really? Depressing. We finally got cleaned up and left. I couldn't have been happier. I was wet and chilled to the bone. For those of you who know me, I don't do well with cold.

Moral of the story, doubt I will be going camping for a long...long...LONG time. The one positive? The Uinta's are gorgeous!!! Wish we could have hiked them in warm weather...

Right before snuggling down in our many layers of bed covering. Trying to look happy.

Me putting on my happy face

The tarp covering our firewood to attempt to keep it dry

Gary grilling up some burgers and "Mexican" hot dogs

The hail that plagued our campsite

The crew, trying to keep warm by the fire

Me with my sweatpants over my head, just waking up. Don't know why I am smiling

The pretty Uintas. You can't tell but it is snowing pretty hard in this picture

Um, ya. This is Gary chewing charcoal. For those of you who aren't smart enough to know, chewing charcoal actually cleans your teeth. Who knew?

Just before leaving for home. Can't you see I'm estactic?

So about 3 weeks ago I was at the gym minding my own business. I had my ipod on and was using some arm machine when a lady gym trainer came up to me and wanted to talk. I stopped my exercise, took my earphones out and geared myself up for the pitch I knew I was about to hear.

The trainer: "Have you ever had a trainer before?"

Me: "Um, no."

The trainer: "Did you know that with your gym membership, you can meet with a trainer for a free hour? They talk to you about your goals, talk about what a trainer does and will work you out for 30 minutes, all for FREE!!!"

Me, thinking in my head, how do I say no and get out of this? I know it's going to be a sales pitch and as much as I have always wanted to have a rock-hard body, trainers are SO EXPENSIVE! This is what came out of my mouth, "Okay, sure. That sounds great."

Well, it's now 3 weeks later and guess what I have? A trainer!!! I was a sucker for the sales pitch. And secretly, I have always wanted a trainer. I'm not sure if it was the promise of a 6-pack in 9-12 weeks or what but I start my workout this Monday. Let me explain for all of those that are rolling their eyes and saying, she doesn't need to lose weight or, why do you need to pay someone to get you in shape?

Being married is great! I love it...but I don't love the 10 pounds I put on in 6 months. I have been the same weight for about 6-7 years now. I don't know how I stayed so stable because I wasn't a big gym member. Even when I did get my membership 3 years ago, I only made it to the gym about 2 times a week and I that was purely because I felt more guilty NOT to go. I would do a little cardio and lift some weight here and there. But I had no real game plan.

Well, I find it very important to feel good about myself. And if I don't love the 10 pounds I put on that went straight to my waist, hips and thighs, I don't feel good about myself. I'm not trying to lose a ton of weight but I do want to get back to my pre-wedding size and tone my body up. I don't want to "let myself go" now that I'm married. I think it's important to stay healthy and fit and since I don't play soccer or softball anymore, I need the gym in my life.

So my cute husband consented to me getting a trainer if that's what I felt I needed to do to get in shape. I talked my friend into going in on this trainer with me. We get 6 sessions a month for 4 months. We are splitting the pay which will help a ton. The first three times we met with our new trainer, he talked nutrition with us.

Nutrition. Now that's a sore subject. I have never had to diet or cut back on greasy or sugary food. My metabolism is pretty good so that's my excuse for being able to eat whatever I want. Somehow marriage...or maybe the birth control...changed all that. After keeping a 4-day food journal, our trainer told us we need to eat less ice cream, treats, and carbs and more protein, fruits and vegetables. YUCK!!! How fun is that anyway? Who wants to be told what they can and can't eat? I'm struggling with the nutrition part. I guess if I want to eat Olive Garden's salad and Alfredo sauce whenever I want to, I should!!! But I guess nutrition and getting in shape go hand in hand so I must try. I won't enjoy it though!!!

I WILL enjoy starting an intense workout Monday and can't wait to see the inner tube around my tummy start to slide off. I had a big talk with our trainer though and told him he had better kick our butt and not let any of our whining that we're sore or hurting keep him from pushing us. I may change my mind in a few weeks though. Wish me luck!!!

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