April Events

It's been a while since I updated, so I figured I better blog before I get too far behind.  Not that any thing super blog worthy has happened, but still.

Some April Highlights :

I got to hang out with my sister and niece, Marzia, this past weekend.  We took a walk down the Provo Canyon Trail and visited.  She is such a cutie and getting so big!!! I don't see her often, and my sister didn't want me posting these pictures on facebook (crazy husband drama) but he doesn't check my blog, so I am posting them here!

 At the beginning of the month I got together with some zumba friends that I hadn't seen for a while.  We went to Ruby River for Dinner, then visited and took some pics.

Ana, me, Karen, Mary

 We have taken advantage of this sunny weather and played outside whenever possible. Some activities we've recently done are: hiking, taking Yuki to the park almost daily, biking, golfing, etc .  Dan and the boys also busted out their RC monster trucks and had some fun racing those around.  We love spring!!!

Pics of our shenanigans:

Getting his car ready to race

Hiking Big Springs Hollow: Follow the leader

Enjoying the sunshine on  our hike

Yuki exploring the noises she was hearing from the bushes.  She looks like a fox in this pic!

Another April Event: Dan and I ran in a 5k with my family April 20th .  It wasn't anything competitive, but it was still fun to do and I have to to give props to my mom for doing it!  She is over 50 now and has lost over 40 pounds in the last few months! She looks amazing!  Here's a before and after pic:

Before, and after at the race

We had a nice date night and ate at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse (for the life of me I can never say that name right.  I always want to say Ruth AND Chris'...it just makes grammatical sense!!!) courtesy of a gift-card I won at the Home Expo back in March.  Anyways, we had a $100 gift-card to put towards our meal, and still paid $51 bones out of pocket.  We both enjoyed some yummy steak and shrimp, potatoes, and asparagus.  Delicious meal, but very expensive!

This month I have been working really hard to meet my fitness goals, and it's paying off!  I wanted to be benching 95 and squatting 185 by June 1st as part of our 90 day challenge, and good news: I will have met both those goals before June!!! I can get 95 up 2x, and am currently squatting 175.  I'm pretty sure I will surpass my goals by June 1st which feels awesome!  I've also been helping some friends get started with a weight loss and weight training routine, which has been fun, but also challenging! Dan helps me figure out a good routine for them though!

That's April in a randomly organized nutshell!  Thanks for reading :)

"Dry Canyon" Hike

We went on a hike this afternoon after church to spend some time together and enjoy the sunshine.  It was a bit windier than we expected though! We came across a mutilated deer leg (from that point on I was certain we were being stalked by a cougar that was going to jump out of the bushes and attack at any second...I was even going through certain defensive moves in my mind lol).  Fortunately, we had no such encounter. The view at the top of one on the peaks was amazing! There is something about being on top of a mountain peak looking down on everything below you that is so exhilarating!  This is a trail we are definitely going to do again in the spring when everything is in bloom!

90 Day Challenge

The Jensen crew started a 90 day health/fitness challenge on March 1st.  Dan came up with the idea.  He is working on becoming a personal trainer through NASM.  He is studying to take the test, and trying out the things he is learning/reading about in real life.  Bridgette, Brent, Whitney, Chris, Sue, Dan and I are all doing the challenge together!  We all have different goals and reasons for why we are doing it.  Some want to lose weight, some want to build muscle, but we all want to be more fit and healthy!

We all got together March 1st and talked one on one with Dan about our fitness goals, and where we want to be in 90 days.  He came up with a plan for each person to help them meet their goals.  We had a starting weigh in that night; the final weigh in will be June 1st.

Diet is key, so Dan sat down with everyone and told them about myfitnesspal (we have been using it for a while now, and it was vital in our weight loss!)  Because we are all friends we can see each other's food diaries, and workout diaries.  It really makes you feel accountable and want to push yourself!

It is awesome to see his family be as committed as they are.  They have all been very diligent with myfitness pal, and have been working out each day, and many of them whose goal is to lose weight have started off strong, losing 6-7 lbs a week!

On top of individual workouts, each Saturday we have been meeting at Payson High football field and doing bleacher drills and different HIIT drills.  We start out with a warm up lap around the field.  We do multiple sets of lunges, hops, one legged hops, sprints, and other drills up the bleachers.  Then Dan switches it up each week with various high intensity cardio drills such as windsprints, jump-rope, ladders, gassers, burpees, etc.  nothing makes me feel like I have earned each calorie burnt like these drills.  I feel so accomplished when I am completely fatigued and spent at the end!

My personal goals are:

*I would like to lose about 7 more pounds. I am currently at 119 (I got down to 116 on our cruise).  My original goal weight was 115, but having been at 116 I still didn't quite look the way I want to, so my new goal weight is 112.  Most of that weight will come from my thighs.  This is definitely my stubborn area.  For some woman it's their abs, but for me it has always been my thighs.  I have built up a lot of muscle in my legs, and it's pretty solid, but it doesn't show as much as I would like because of the extra lbs still there.

*I would like to be able to see more definition with my muscles, specifically my legs and abs.  I am pretty impressed with my progress thus far.  I never thought I could get to where I am at now, but I know I can accomplish a lot more and look the way I want to. A way for me to measure this is by setting specific goals about the amount of weight I would like to lift come June 1st.  There are a couple of exercises I would specifically like to set goals for--bench and squats.

*Currently I bench 80 lbs about 6 times, 3 sets. By June 1st I would like to bench at least 95. Squatting I can do 155 now, so by June 1st I would like to be at 185. I would also like to be able to do pull-ups and dips with out assistance.  I am so close already!!!

Weightlifting for me has become a passion. I will admit, I love feeling like a badass.  I love when I get compliments on my correct form or the amount of weight I'm lifting. It's addicting. I love that I am helping (if in tiny, tiny way) to change the stereotype about girls and lifting. I love that it is something Dan and I can do together. Mostly, I love the way I feel about myself.

90 days is enough time to make some big changes if you really want to.  I encourage all of you to set some goals for yourself and work towards them! They may seem unreachable at first, but give it all you got and you will surprise yourself ;)

Pic taken today

Basketball Champs

Dan's basketball team, On Track, won the Nebo basketball tournament last night. It was intense.  There were some pretty rough fouls because both teams were playing very aggressively.  It was a fight to the end, but they ended up winning.  I don't remember the exact score, but our team won by about 20 pts I believe!  They had so many fans come out to support them, so the energy from the crowd also made it really fun and exciting! 

Dan said he enjoyed this season because he was not huffing and puffing 2 minutes into the game like last year lol.  He played great defense all year long, and had multiple games where he scored over 20 points. 

Here are the guys after the game with their new t-shirts :)

Champs

And the only pic I got of Dan that wasn't completely blurry

Kelee's Wedding Day

My little sister Kelee got married last Friday.  She doesn't seem near old enough to get married...she's only 19 years old.  Oh wait, I was 19 when I got married too...hmm. 

She was a gorgeous bride.   She had her hair and makeup professionally done by a friend of Alan's family.  She wore my dress, and it fit her beautifully!  Her colors were different shade of teal, yellow, and browns.

As she walked down the aisle and the ceremony started you could tell she was super nervous, but once she and Alan said "I do" and grabbed hands and exchanged rings she instantly looked the happiest I have ever seen her.  She had a glow about her the rest of the night.  I hadn't met Alan's family before that night, but they are very kind people, and very welcoming of her into their family.  Dan had fun talking to Alan's parents about Japan (their ancestors are from Japan and both the mom dad, and all their sons served missions there; Dan also served there ).  Alan's mom also has two sisters that live in Hilo Honolulu where Jake is currently serving his mission. Small world we live in.

It was a pretty intense day for me for many reasons which I won't get into, but throughout the day I kept thinking about how lucky I am to have Dan as my husband for all eternity.  I know Kelee is very happy to have found her "prince charming", and I hope Kelee and Alan can make it to the temple soon and be sealed for eternity as well.

The wedding ceremony, luncheon, and reception were all held at the same location--Belle Vista in Lindon.  Everything was decorated beautifully. The luncheon was delicious.  Alan's brother in law owns a catering company, so they catered the wedding lucheon and reception. We had top sirloin, asparagus, mashed potatoes, chicken marsala, and a salad.  At her reception she had a crepe bar.  I ate one to many for sure because they were so dang good!!!  Alan's sister has a photography business, so she took all the professional pictures throughout the day, and I am sure she took a lot better ones than mine, but below are some pics I snapped throughout the day.

Photo collage of the day

Quality Time

Dan and I spend a lot of time together.  Heck, we work together, we basically spend every minute together, but that doesn't mean we spend quality time together. 

 

Work has been a little more hectic than usual for the past two months because our company recently bought another storage facility.  So Dan and I have been working at the new facility while our bosses are still in the process of hiring another set of managers. We realized one night that all we really do these days is work and go to the gym together.  We couldn't remember the last actual date we had been on!  So Dan told me he was going to plan a date for Saturday night after work. 

 

We went ice skating, which we hadn't done in years!  It was soooooo much fun.  We talked about fun things, reminisced about memories of us dating, and just enjoyed each other's company.  I loved holding his hand while skating round and round.  It was so refreshing to be out on a date with my hubby!!!

 

There was a BYU hockey game, so we watched the first 40 minutes of the game.  It was pretty pathetic on BYU's part. When we left BYU was down 0-6...but it was fun to do something we hadn't done in years.  We used to watch UVU hockey a lot back in the day, and even though BYU was less than impressive we had fun watching the fights that broke out! That is one thing you can always count on in hockey-- regardless of how many goals they score, there are bound to be some good fights!

 We realized just how important it is to make time to spend with each other outside of the usual routine. Quality, not Quantity!

 

It's my turn to plan the next date night, and I have such a fun idea...stay tuned :)

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2012

Another Christmas come and gone. 

I know I am a few weeks late, but it still feels like just yesterday.  It's crazy that it's already 2013!!!

We spent Christmas Eve with the Jensen's at the family party.  It was down in West Mtn this year.  Because of the distance between houses out there and the weather we didn't go caroling for the first time ever, but we did play some intense games of Bingo.  The coveted prize was a karaoke machine. I stole it a couple times, but it kept getting stolen right back.  In the end Dan and I walked away with a Monopoly game and some Christmas wash clothes--can never have too many of those!  The grand kids put on the nativity play, and then we got a visit from Ol' St. Nick himself.   After dinner and cleanup the boys started a game of elimination, and I decided to jump in for a few rounds.  We had a lot of fun visiting and catching up with all the family!

Our Bingo White Elephant Gifts

Chey, Bridge, and Brent playing Bingo

Chris and Whit playing Bingo

The cousins acting out the nativity, a yearly tradition

Santa brought us a Cinemark gift Card!

Dan going in for a lay up

Jensen kids with Santa

 Christmas morning came and for the first year ever we slept in until 9 o'clock.  Usually I am up by 6 or 7, but this year I figured the presents weren't going anywhere, so we enjoyed our sleep!  We spoiled each other as usual.  Dan got me a new phone, Samsung Galaxy 3, a purse, perfume (VS Seduction, yummy!), workout gear, and mtn biking shorts, snowboarding pants, and other stuff.  I love my new phone! My old phone had a cracked screen for about 6 months that I was just dealing with.  It was an "Under Armour" Christmas for Dan.  He got a hoodie, gym shorts, tank top, tee shirt--all under armour.  He also got new tennis shoes, a new watch, and a scheels gift card, among other things.


Due to the picture crisis with blogger I decided to make collages :)

Dan's gifts

Sav's gifts

Yuki got a toy duck for Christmas, and she hasn't put it down since. She loves it.

We spent the rest of the day in West Mtn.  We went sledding with Chey, Whit and Chris at Peteetneet.  We were amazed that it wasn't that crowded when we got there, and we had plenty of room to sled and have fun.  Well, that "room" only lasted for about 30 minutes when the whole town of Payson decided to join us, so we left because the people next to us were flying down the hill with no regard for anyone else around them, and we didn't want anyone to get hurt.   We also played lot of games including spoons and scattergories.  I way overindulged on Christmas candy/treats.  I gave myself the day off from healthy eating--   Lots of tootsie rolls, Hershey's kisses, and Reese's throughout the day, but it was worth it!!  The next couple days I just worked extra hard at the gym, and it's like it never even happened lol.

Spoons!

Present from Lorin and Sue.  I got a cute purse, Dan got some hunting stuff and tools

Sledding!

"Ready to Pop!" Jessie's Baby Shower

I successfully finished my first party/event post Pinterest!

See, before I joined Pinterest  I was happy just inviting some people over, baking some treats, and that was it.  After Pinterest, I can no longer look at parties/events the same.  After seeing so much creativity and inspiration, I really wanted to go all out and make it cute and special for Jessie.  I started browsing for baby shower ideas--I loved the theme "ready to pop" and just rolled with it.

The decorations were pretty easy to make, at least easier than I would have though by just looking at them.  I made the pom poms (courtesy of the Martha Stewart tutorial found on Pinterest) out of tissue paper and floral wire.   The banner was my favorite part of the decor, and super easy because I already had all the scrap book paper, and clothespins.  I found the party favor card by searching for "popcorn" on google images.  It was black and white, so I changed the colors in Picassa and added the text. 

The treats had to go along with the "Pop" theme, so cake pops were obvious.  It was my first time making them, and they were sort of a nightmare.  They were so time consuming and messy, but they still turned out tasting yummy, so it was worth all the hassle!  The Cinnamon Roll popcorn was super easy, and by far the crowd favorite.  I got told it tasted so "gourmet." The mini poppy seed muffins were from a box, but still tasted good.  Mary made the rice crispy treats and the punch.

We played a game where there were 6 different baby foods with lable ripped off.  We passed them around and everyone tried to guess the flavor.  Some (like carrots) were obvious, and others (like Chicken and broth) were not so obvious.  We also had some scrap booking materials out for anyone who wanted to make a page for Jessie to put in a scrapbook we gave her.

I am pretty proud of how everything turned out, and I am so grateful to all who helped out and came out to support Jessie!!!  Here are some pics of the fun:

The food table

Yes, I realized after the fact that I spelled Cinnamon wrong...Please don't judge me.  I graduated from Payson High, ok?!

Mary made the Rice Crispy treats.  The slogan worked with the theme!

Cake pops

I love how the pom poms turned out.  I was nervous before I got them hung that they wouldn't be "full" enough, but they looked great.

The party favors.

Jessie with her friends from high school

Jessie's friends playing the "Guess the flavor" with baby food

Twitchell side playing the guessing game

She scored, and got a bunch of cute outfits, diapers, a baby swing, lots of blankets, etc!

My Grandma Malan and Aunt Laurie with Jessie

Mary, my co-hoster, and Jessie and me

Due in about a month, and looking great!