Goals Update

Okay, so I thought I'd update everyone on how my goals are going. Yes, I know it's only halfway through January, but I'm pumped about knocking these suckers out!

Goal 1 - Finish P90X. I haven't started this yet, but as planned. I will be starting P90X in two weeks, so be prepared for the swear words that will be coming from that post...

Goal 2 - Half Marathon. I also haven't started this, as planned. I intend to start my training about the time I finish P90X, if not sooner.

Goal 3 - Lose 10 pounds. I'm doing really good on this! Okay, so I've pretty much been sucking the past few days. I got down to 138.7 by Wednesday this last week, and then went on our quarterly managers retreat. On the bright side, I think I kept my weight loss to the smallest amount ever on these retreats, but I did gain 1.3 pounds. I weighed in this morning at 140, so I am just a little way past the halfway point. If I stay motivated, I think I can hit this goal by the end of January. At that point, I just need to keep it down until we (hopefully) go on our cruise in March.

Goal 4 - Finish the Old Testament. I haven't picked up on that yet. I'm still working on finishing the Book of Mormon, and will start this goal at that point.

Goal 5 - Read 12 books, with at least 6 being non-fiction. I have started this goal. I'm currently reading Wizard's First Rule, which is obviously a fiction (fantasy) book. I want to have this finished by January 25th so I can return it to my coworker. My next read is a non-fiction book, Boys Should Be Boys.

Resolution 1 - Build an unbreakable habit of prayer and scripture study. I am doing much better on my scripture study, but not so great (okay, honestly, no improvement at all) on prayer.

Resolution 2 - Cultivate friendships. I really hope those in my ward didn't take my initial post as a pity-party or fishing for friendships, but regardless of their inference on my intent, I feel like more of an effort has been made by the women in my ward to reach out to me, and I appreciate it!!! I have also been trying to make an effort to accept those invitations and be someone that others would want to be around. Tonight I went to a girls night out with about 15 other women, and had a BLAST!!! It was such a good time, and I look forward to the next one.

Resolution 3 - Love being a mom. While I haven't yet gained any insight on how to keep my kids occupied all day (especially when it's cold outside and we can't play at parks or go swimming), I am seriously loving being around my kids and anxious for the time that I can spend all day long with them! Only another week and a half left!

D is giggling in the dark while I'm typing this. Silly kid. I should probably turn off the computer so he can sleep...

What are you thankful for? Part Deux

This is my gratitude list, part deux (I don't know why I'm writing that in French, since I don't speak it...and no, it's not Folie a Deux, though that's pretty awesome...okay, REALLY awesome). On a side note, why do I ramble so much in my blog posts? Do I ramble this much when I talk? Anyone? *Crickets*

Okay, back to my gratitude list. As a summary of list 1:

• My parents.
• My husband.
• The LDS temples.
• Baskin Robbins Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream.
• Dave Ramsey.
• My job.
• My kids.
• Prayer.
• Extended family.
• My sisters, Beez and Rinz.
• My many nieces' and nephews' birth mothers.

And now, continuing on...

1. My in-laws--how many people can really say this? Me, because my in-laws rock! When I got married, I got a whole bunch of in-laws at once. In B1's family, you couldn't really separate "immediate" family from "extended," because it was pretty much the same thing (no, not in an in-bred sort of way). Some of B1's best friends growing up were his cousins, and their family did reunions every year--his grandpa's family on down did a 3 day reunion, and his great-great grandpa's family on down did a one day reunion. Holy cow! But anyway, I was quickly introduced to B1's 4 millions cousins, aunts, uncles, and 2nd cousins once removed. While they are all great, the part I really want to brag about is B1's sisters, their husbands, their kids, and my mother- and father-in-law. B1's sisters really took me in when B1 and I started dating. They even told B1 at one point that if he ever decided to break up with me, he would be kicked out of the family and I would take their place. That was comforting, since at times it seemed like our relationship was at a standstill. But, that's another post for another time. I feel sometimes like we're the slacker siblings, since we don't make as much effort as we ought to to hang out with them. But, CH, know that we think about you guys often, just not at times you're available. :) And CB, we would hang out all the time if you lived closer. Okay, that's a lie, as clearly we don't hang out with CH because we're too busy...well, more so because CH is too busy. :) [Wow, the rambling is getting really bad...] So, not only our my in-laws on B1's side awesome, but my in-laws on my side are awesome too! K, Poos, Heyhey, and JoJo are riots!!! They make us laugh all the time, and I can't help feel like our family wasn't really complete until they came in. I thought we were always the coolest family, but now I know we are definitely the coolest family because we've grown in the coolness factor exponentially.
2. Our neighbor J-no-nickame, because he gave us smoked turkey. He smoked it himself, and oh...my...GOSH, it was the most amazing thing ever. He agreed to smoke us a turkey if we bought all the supplies. Unfortunately, we ran out of money in our budget in November, so we haven't had it yet, which means I've gone waaaay to long without it. I feel like Barney Gumble when he won a lifetime supply of Duff Beer--"Just hook it to my veeeeeins!" If I could have a steady IV of smoked turkey, but in a way that I could actually taste it, I would so do it. Mmm....turkey...*drooling*
3. People at work who consider leaving but don't. You know who you are.
4. My bestest friends ever, BHC and LHF. These two girls got me through insanity in high school, stupidity in college (and the reverse of those two as well), and life as an "adult." Some say they made their lifelong friends in college--I'm lucky enough to have made mine 4 years earlier.
5. Good books. I was a huge book nerd as a young kid, and it's coming back with the discovery of Brandon Sanderson. I'm not even sure how many books I've read this year, but it's a lot, and it's sooo much fun. Yay for GoodReads.com and good friends who give me recommendations for amazing books!
6. [I am so ashamed to admit this, but...]Utah volleyball, without which I would have had no life (but more time) for the last four years.
7. And, of course, the bestest school ever, BYU. Go Cougars!
8. Sleep, which brings me to the close of this post...so sleepy....