Happy Halloween!

Forgive my lack of posts... I've been busy and out of town and... well, not much going on to speak of, until the last week or two. I'll post pictures of my trip later, and of Halloween costumes and parties. But for now... These are pictures of one place my mom and I visited, and I think it's appropriate for Halloween!

This is the Mesa, AZ cemetery. I have ancestors buried there, and mom and I went to find them while we were in Arizona. But - it's a cemetery, and it's Halloween today, so - enjoy!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Halloween Nerd

Wait, no - not a nerd, an enthusiast. I get really enthusiastic about decorating for Halloween - particularly at work. I've been helping put on the Halloween party here at work for... I think this will be my 6th year. It is SO MUCH FUN. All for the kids, but - who doesn't turn into a kid on Halloween?

Anyway, this year we're having a decorating contest, to see who can make their desk/area/office look the best for Halloween. I heard that one of the floors our firm occupies is going to deck out their entire floor as Candy Land. Not to be outdone, I (along with a few friends) have enlisted several people to help decorate our floor in a graveyard theme, muahahaha!!

I stole the picture from my sister Marianne... I believe it was taken at the cemetery that inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula. Is that right, Mar?

Oh, our floor is SO going to win this contest. I went to Halloween U.S.A. on my lunch hour and got a bunch of stuff to use. This is going to be AWESOME.

HHMMM... maybe I AM a nerd.

T.V. Junkie

I guess I ought to be more specific. I am an NCIS junkie. When I was dog/house-sitting a few months ago, I watched a lot of television, because there wasn't much else to do. I came across a show I knew my parents liked to watch, so I decided to sit and watch an episode or two.

I was hooked.


I'm sorry, but Mark Harmon is... dreamy. He plays brooding, ornery Agent Gibbs well, and the chemistry the whole cast has is just awesome. You can't help but develop a crush on McGee, want to be buds with Abby the Girlie-Goth, wish you were tough like Ziva, want to give Ducky a hug, and want to slap Tony in the face. I just love it.

Anyway, on to more important things... such as OCTOBER!!! Fall leaves, football, Oktoberfest, hoodies, pumpkins, and HALLOWEEN. I've been listening to my Halloween mix on my iPod (which you are getting a taste of right now, if your sound is turned up!) and I love it. I think I might actually have to use my down comforter tonight - it's chilly in my room!!

A few weeks ago, I went camping with Steve, Shawn, Kate, Mar, Jesse, and Addie. We went down to Zion's for the weekend, and it was SO pretty! Kinda warm, but gorgeous down there. The boys hiked the Subway, and us girls took it easy and hung around camp, drove into town, and went on a little "hike" (more like a nature walk) to Weeping Rock. Other than a bit of rain we got on Saturday night, it was pretty much perfect!



Addie is such a good camper. Good thing, because she'll grow up doing it a lot!


Such a ham.

Anyhow, I know you probably can't tell really well from the picture of me above, but as of today, I've lost 23 pounds. I feel better, sleep better, and my clothes fit better... they're even getting too big! Emily A., I will probably need more pictures soon! *wink wink*

Happy October, everyone!

Well THAT Can't be Right...

First of all, thanks everyone, for your positive reinforcement! You don't know what it means to me, to know that I have "cheerleaders" of sorts, rooting for me. :)

When the lab results came back from my most recent round of blood work, I was told that my thyroid wasn't functioning properly, and that I needed a mild medication for that. (Great - ANOTHER medication to go with my bad cholesterol medication.) So I am currently treating bad cholesterol and a mildly dysfunctional thyroid. Lovely. Well, at least I know why I've gained a bunch of weight during the past 6 months. But it's time to get rid of it.

I mentioned in my last post that I was going to do something about it, and go on a strict diet. Well, I wasn't kidding. I'll tell you more about how I'm doing it in a later post, but let me just say that the weight is starting to come off, FINALLY. As a matter of fact, I stepped on the scale on Monday or Tuesday, and saw the number and thought, "Wait, THAT can't be right." So I tried two or three times, but yep - it registered a 12-13 pound loss. That's right, I said loss. Don't worry, I'm still eating and going for walks, I'm not starving myself, or letting my muscles get flabby.

So far, I feel a lot better, my clothes are getting baggier, and I still have energy (except when I sit in front of a computer all day, which is... oh yeah, EVERY day). Like I said, I'll explain more later about the program I'm doing, but in the meantime, I'm learning a ton! I discovered that I tend to retain a lot of water - probably because of my love of soda and salty Mexican food. So, if anyone else out there has that same issue... here's a remedy.

Health Tip: Drinking hot/warm lemon water helps rid your body of excess water weight. Real lemon juice is a natural diuretic and combining it with warm water helps it get through your system faster. Sounds crazy - getting rid of water with water? But it works! :)

Never Challenge Satan to a Duel

*SIGH* I can't believe it's September. I really look forward to fall, but - for some reason, I'm having a hard time letting go of summer this year! Ah, well -- I will embrace the coming season change, and get ready for the leaves to change color, hoodies, football, and - HALLOWEEN! That's always cause for celebration!

At the beginning of the summer, I was feeling pretty good about myself. I was keeping busy with work, and I was actively working out, and I was loving working at the temple on Saturday mornings. I felt like I was in a good place, mentally and spiritually - invincible, almost. Like nothing could touch me. I was driving home from the temple one Saturday morning, feeling particularly untouchable, when I said to myself, "Nothing can bring me down now; do your worst, Satan, you can't touch me!"

I don't know what made me say it in my mind. Who would think something like that? WHY would they think that? I don't know - pride, I guess. (Huh... I guess he COULD get to me.) In any case, I was thinking that he couldn't touch me spiritually, because I felt so strong. But I failed to be specific in my dare, and boy did I ever learn a lesson! Satan certainly has his ways of getting to you. I may still be spiritually strong, but since that day, my self esteem has gone steadily down, while my weight has been creeping up, up, up - in spite of doctor's visits and all the exercise that I like to do. Whatever discipline I had physically has been faltering, and I know that if I don't do something, I'm going to crash and burn - and, judging from the number on the scale, it would be a heavy and fiery crash!

So, with the help of my sisters, I decided to visit a diet & nutrition clinic, get some tips, and start an extremely rigid diet and exercise program. It's going to be hard - no more Coke with lime! - but it's going to be healthier for me overall. I made a goal to run another half-marathon next summer (I'm insane, I know), but I can do it. I'm going to get my weight and health under control. I'm going to stop eating donuts...


...and start eating more apples. :)

(AND stop challenging the devil.)