Boot Camp

When I started in my new department at work, the girls on my team (actually, we are all girls--it's crazy) had just signed up for Boot Camp. We have a gym at work that I joined and if you go twice a week, it's free! Anyway, Boot Camp costs a little extra but it's only a month and it was twice a week. The first week we went, they had us measured, weighed, and had us run a timed mile. I did okay on my mile but definitely wanted to improve but my measurements. Oh man. What a wake up call!

A little background...

Over the past year and a half I have gained a lot of weight...this is hard to admit. But, my last 2 semesters of school being newly married, working 30 hrs. and taking 17-19 credits kicked my butt. We didn't go to the gym often and went out to ice cream waaaaay too much. And, I am not one of those girls that can just eat whatever and burn it naturally --no way. I look at food and gain weight. This is no excuse, it was all my fault, but the reality was that it wasn't a priority. {There is my confession}

So I set New Year resolutions and have failed so far, but I still like that I set them. My activity and diet has increased immensely and I haven't gained, but just maintained. I recently lost 10 lbs (since June) but I couldn't really tell. Things fit fine, but I didn't go down a size, and I just continued diet and exercise. I have set a lot of goals and I'm going down in weight gradually but it's very, very slow and very, very frustrating.

Back to my story....

I was excited for boot camp because I knew it would be a physical challenge. It wasn't suppose to be competitive and we were suppose to do it as a group but in the end, all the girls bailed except for me and another girl. We challenged each other and on our off days would work out together and it was great! I learned a lot of new exercises and dusted the dust off my inner athlete and have LOVED working out!

In a months time, I saw GREAT results...

• Original Mile: 10:10 New Mile: 9:25
• Lost an additional 7lbs
• Lost 3 inches in my waist
• Lost 1/2 inch in my arms
• Lost 1% body fat
• Lost NOTHING in my legs (This was no surprised. Those are a project.)

Pretty great, huh? I wish my weight loss was more but I was very happy with the results. AND, in addition to the boot camp, the President of the company issued a challenge of no sugar, soda or meals over 600 calories and 5 days of exercise. You can have 1 free day but I don't really do the free day so that has helped a lot. 

I have cut my carbs, majorly, and I don't have desserts (well, sugar-free fudgesicle's) and then I eat the majority of my carbs and heavy foods early in the day and have a really lite dinner. It's been hard, but I have been consistent and I am starting to feel a change and it is awesome! 

I am still planning on continuing 3 days of heavy circuit training and then cardio on the other days (5-6 days/week). I hate at home work outs so I just go to the company gym or I have a membership at another gym. I get a lot of my workouts from my Pinterest. Yes, I am one of those people! I pin the workouts and I ACTUALLY do them. I plan out my workouts before I go to the gym and they are really, really great. Check out my fitness board if you are interested. 

Well, it just feels good to get it out there and to be even more accountable. The end.

Oh, and a little humor for those of you who are really skinny and don't have to work out and don't understand this post at all...

Source: 24.media.tumblr.com via Mallory on Pinterest

Source: i9.photobucket.com via Mallory on Pinterest

Source: someecards.com via Mallory on Pinterest

The Vlogs

This is Nephi. Once in a while I post something. Today I'm posting our most recent vlogs from YouTube. You can subscribe to the YouTube channel if you want. Enjoy.

Our House is Warm

This weekend we had our house warming party. It turned out really well but I am glad it is over!

The invitation I made and mailed out to our guests. 

I had all of last week to prepare and I waited to do the grocery shopping, cleaning, organizing, and cleaning on Saturday. I did a little on Friday but I did most on Saturday and just about died!

I made this checklist in Excel to help me remember everything. This does not make me OCD, just organized. :) 

Friday I did a little cleaning and tested out our new vacuum. That is a whole other story...note to self, never buy a needed item last minute like that again because you will end up spending too much money impulsively out of desperation. BUT, I do LOVE the vacuum and I look forward to using it often because it is amazing.

Saturday morning I woke up later than planned, ran to the gym and the grocery store and then got home at noon. I figured I had enough time to clean and cook considering I had like 6 hours---all the time in the world, right? NOT.

Luckily my mother-in-law came over and helped me cook and clean. She was the BIGGEST lifesaver, ever! Seriously I could have not pulled it off without her. We cooked and cleaned dishes together and then I ran upstairs to clean and organize and she dusted, swept and mopped my whole kitchen! I was shocked! I just asked her to dust but by the time I came down an hour later she had done it all. I was so relieved! If she wouldn't have done that I would have not gotten everything done in time. THANK YOU CONNIE!!!!

So I finished my room, 3 bathrooms, vacuumed the stairs and all floors, and organized our crazy 2nd bedroom in like 1 hour. (AKA-I threw everything in the closet.) I will be finishing that room up this week...esh.

I ran downstairs, literally sweating, and threw in some loads of laundry and cooked a few more things and while they were baking did some last minute crafts. I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to do along the wall of the stairs. It's a small space but the walls looked weird with nothing on them. I know what I truly WANTED to do, but I didn't want to spend that much money. My original idea that I had and bought all the supplies for ended up not working the way I planned so I improvised. It turned out AWESOME and I can't wait to show you the pics. I did that in like 30 minutes and quickly hung it on the wall and then got back to cooking.

Nephi got home and I had him do a few things and then Neal and Angie came over to help. I had them do stuff but I still had other things to do!  It was 6:45 and it started at 7 but I still had things to do. I figured people wouldn't show up until 7:30 so I thought I was fine--nope. Some family showed up at 7 and so I was still in my gym clothes all gross and VERY sweaty. *Yeah, I sweat in my own home.* I didn't even get to make name cards for all the food! Bummer :(

At 7:15 I put them in charge and I ran upstairs to take the shortest shower in record history. Literally I was showered, dressed, make-up and hair done, by about 7:30. I was still sweating because I was rushed but I ran down stairs and more people were there but everything looked great and I am so thankful Neal and Angie came to help. Again, couldn't have done it without them either. I have great family.

We ended up having about 25 guests. I planned for 40 but I was happy that we had so many come and support. There were a few people who didn't come that upset me. I didn't ask for RSVP's but really, I expect too much out of people so I always get let down. Oh well.

Here are a few pics that I took with my phone. Since the house is all clean, I plan on taking legit pictures this week and having a post done soon with the tour. I am going to change our blog a little bit to have more features and our home will be one of the new features. I am excited.

Here is some of our family in the family room. Nephi's uncles are so savvy and turned our pilot light off in our fireplace. Whew! That will save us money on our electricity bill AND not make our house so warm.

Nephi eating some snacks. I made these awesome dips that I will blog about later. They were a HUGE hit and will be a must for all our parties in the future. 

The desserts! This photo was taken about an hour after the party had started so people already dove into the treats but I think we had a pretty good variety. Thank you Pinterest for inspiring our how food spread. I could not have done it without Pinterest!

More desserts!

The drinks and candy table. We had water with lemon, limeade, and then this other drink that is amazing. It's white grape juice and fresca. It was a huge hit! I even put some whole fresh apricots in there for appeal and it ended up adding some great flavoring as well. This will be a new staple for all our parties. 

The party went very well and our house is officially "warmed" by our friends and family. Maybe that is why I hardly slept last night because I was so hot? Probably.

Moved In...Check.

Last week we moved into our new place in Idaho Falls. We cannot say enough about how much we love the new place. The move actually wasn't that bad either. We had plenty of people there to help and I even created a color-code system so everyone would know where to place the boxes. We are so grateful for all that helped!

1 trailer, 2 trucks, 1 SUV, and 1 Jeep. We have a lot of stuff.

Our new place! Unit A: 2 floors, 2 rooms, 2.5 bath, laundry room, decent storage, huge kitchen WITH dishwasher. We are in heaven compared to our basement. 

Our kitchen before.

Our kitchen after. Like?? I had to do some improvising because there are fewer cabinets so I set the table all fancy and I really like it. Just need a few final touches and this room will be done. I think it may be the easiest one of all... 

Now what? Here is my internal [now external] to do list:

• Kitchen
• Table Cloth for table
• Arrange glassware
• Hang hooks
• Buy bins for cans in pantry
• Get new rug and matching towels
• Hang decor
• Guest Bathroom
• Towels
• Living Room
• Get rid of decor! Too crowded...
• Hang photos
• Paint and get new knobs for bookshelf 
• Arrange furniture
• Sign up for Netflix! (This may be the first on my list...)
• 2nd Bathroom
• Towels
• Shower curtain rod
• Shower curtain
• 2nd Bedroom
• UNPACK! (It looks like a train wreck) 
• Desk for Mac 
• Chair for desk 
• Wash bedding 
• Master Bedroom
• Decorate! 
• New lamps
• Decor for shelf? (We have vaulted ceilings and a shelf at the top. I have no idea what to put up there that is low maintenance cleaning...)
• Organize closet
• Shelving for shoes...lots of shoes...
• Put away winter clothes. Hopefully won't need those for the next few months.
• SEARCH PINTEREST FOR WAYS TO FILL MY EMPTY WALLS! Any suggestions or ideas you love? 
• Master Bathroom
• Hang decor
• Organize
• Buy shower caddy
• Find alternative for no medicine cabinet...
• Get new electric toothbrushes! That will be purchased with the tax return money. 

Okay, looks like we have a lot to do...dang. My goal is to have a house warming party in May! We'll see if that happens...

Seriously, any suggestions on decor or ways to fill walls? Leave a comment with a link to an idea you like! I need some advice ladies...and gentlemen :) 

To Ombre Or Not...

Ever heard of Ombre? Me either. Not until Pinterest, of course.
Want to hear a funny story?

Over the past few months I have been getting major compliments on my hair because of this "ombre" look that I am pulling off. Little does everyone know....

My ombre, via LAZINESS. 

How did this happen? Well, I had dyed my whole head a solid golden brown November 2011.

It's kind of fun, huh? I really liked it, but once the roots came it, they came fast and so I touched up once and then said the next time I would go solid again. (PS-This hair style literally eliminated the "Where are you from? Mexico?" comments that I received often at BYU-I. Who do people think they are to ask me whatever the heck they want? I actually looked more Caucasian with this hair style. My goodness.)

Moving on...when I got in town to get, you know, married, I had to dye it. We dyed it a solid dark brown which of course looked black. It's a curse and a blessing. Sometimes I love my hair dark and other times I don't. So for the wedding, my hair looked fairly close to my natural hair color.

Only about 2 months later, it started fading, fast. It started out as nasty looking roots (hence wearing a pony-tail every.day.) and then faded into this ombre. The husband loves it, so it grew on me. It's only been the last few months, almost a year later, that I have been getting major compliments. Don't get me wrong, it's great. I am "in style" without having to dish the out big bucks to get it done but I feel conflicted on whether to keep it.

Ombre is in style, right?

Source: thebeautygirl.com via Carey on Pinterest

Source: greenweddingshoes.com via Anna on Pinterest

Source: thebeautydepartment.com via Brooke on Pinterest

Source: coolspotters.com via Meg on Pinterest

So, now what? I need help.



Do I grow is out and then cut it off and get to my natural color? (This would take 2 years.) 


Keep it and color it once it looks really awkward.


Dye a solid brown.


Dye a solid deep red? (The husband doesn't love this idea.) 






TONS OF OPTIONS! See my hair board on Pinterest to see what I like and then help me.