My new therapist

So the first night the treadmill was all set up, I snuck out to go see Sex and the City instead of working out. The next morning, Shane told me he should have lit a match to the $800 we took from our savings to pay for the treadmill. So, maybe I wasn't as gung ho as I had promised when I begged for it, but I have turned a corner. I have been running in the morning for the past week and half, and haven't missed a day yet. I am getting up earlier, and can't believe I am actually doing it. I am feeling LOADS better than I have in a long time. No exhaustion after work, no dying in the middle of the afternoon, sleeping better, and my favorite perk - I am happier. It is like the treadmill sucks all of my fear, anger, problems and spits back out confidence, clarity and smiles. I am pounding away my problems on my little Nordic Track. So cheesy, but true. So, all the experts are right. Exercise and diet really do work:)

Obsession Realized

Okay, so I don't say thank you to George W. very often, but my economic stimulus is funding a highly anticipated trip to the Four Seasons in Scottsdale.  Booked everything last night and can't even wait to go.  I am envisioning the chilled towels, fruit kebabs, private cabanas, room service, the Scottsdale Mall, Sprinkles, Scrapbooks, Etc. (SQUEAL!)  I forced Amanda to go with me, so it is going to be such a fun trip.  The money probably would have made more sense to actually go where it is needed in the country (schools, teachers salaries, food banks) but hopefully my jaunt will offer a tiny upswing to the economy.  Promise to post pics:)

Happy Birthday Amanda!

One of my favorite friend's birthday was this week.  My favorites about Amanda:

1.  Love, love being around her.  She is kind of quiet sometimes, but it is kind of like those quiet times where it isn't weird if no one is saying anything.  But then, we can chatter away for hours. I watched the Today Show this morning, and one friend was describing a favorite characteristic of another friend as feeding her ego.  That is what she does for me.  I always feel happier after I have been around her or talked to her.

2. She is so talented and creative.  The stuff she comes up with just blows me away.

3. She is a cute Mom to her kids.  I love her kids almost as much as her.  She is just a real Mom that isn't pretentious or acts like her kids are the best things ever on the planet.  They are pretty awesome, but it is nice there is no competitiveness between our kids.  We can talk about their little failures and problems and it is okay.

4. She is just plain nice.  To everyone.  Even when I want to be gossipy and mean, she always can see the good in everyone. 

5.  She is an awesome cook!  I so owe her for all the meals she has made for me and my family.  You know that someone really cares about you when they serve you--she always does this for me. 

Happy Birthday Amanda!  Love ya!

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda

I have been neglectful of my blogging lately, and am feeling guilty. I saw a great idea on another blog to quickly catch up and get back to speed on blogging. A top ten list of everything that has happened I should have posted. Here goes!

1. National Law Enforcement Week was a few weeks ago. Hopefully none of you had the chance to thank a police officer! Shane was presented an award by Sandy City for his help with an apprehension last year with Pete as well as two awards from West Valley for his fab work with them. One of his awards was just for - how can I say this nice - existing? He had tons of apprehensions, stops, and just plain awesome work. I am so proud of him and how seriously he takes what he does. He rocks at it--congrats babe!

2. We took a cue from our neighbors and cleaned out all of our bark out of our flower beds and replaced it with faux bark. It is actually recycled old tires that are dyed to look like bark. The advantages are that it is heavy and doesn't blow away or get discolored like actually bark. Shane worked like a dog to clean out all of our old stuff and haul in the new stuff. It looks so great!

3. We are three weeks or so and counting to getting our new police dog. Pete is soon going to have the luxury of retiring (hopefully out to a kennel in Herriman), and we are getting a baby bloodhound puppy. Shane was asked a few months ago to run this new dog. West Valley has never had a bloodhound before, so this will be a new experience for everyone. The only change? It will be an inside dog. I am slightly stressing as I have visions of destruction everywhere, but I am really trying to have a good attitude. Shane assures me I will love it to no end--I hope he is right!

4. Work is getting busier - finally! It has been eerily quiet the last few months, and I was getting kind of worried. I have never been quite that slow in the last seven years I have been recruiting, and I started getting all paranoid about the economy's effect on healthcare, etc. etc. Anyway, thank heavens it has majorly picked up! I guess I can always count on people getting older, having babies, and getting in accidents and will need the hospital. Sad, but somehow reassuring to my work stability!

5. We had a fun family reunion today with my side of the family. Mack amazingly guessed the exact number of Tootsie Rolls in a jar, and walked away with that prize! We also had an auction where Mack won a fishy bank, I walked away with some of my Aunt Norma's amazing bread, and a loaf of Great Harvest Pumpkin and Chocolate Chip. It was fun to see everyone again and relax in the warm summer day. Sigh - summer is definitely here!

5. Have any of you been watching So You Think You Can Dance? Another happy obsession that makes me grateful for summer TV season. Early faves? I have to go with Chelsie Hightower as she is a Utah girl, but I can't wait to see the others perform. If you are not tuning it--I would highly recommend it! Wednesdays on Fox.

6. I found a few great albums for download. If you are in the mood for great music you can chill to at work, around the house, or popping it in your car, I would highly recommend Priscilla Ahn, Jaymay, and the new Jon Foreman Summer EP. Happy music for sure.

7. I can cross one of my obsessions off the list! Shane relented and agreed to a treadmill purchase. We picked up a Nordic Track I had been drooling over at Costco, and set it up in our basement. I have really been enjoying it. It has been a huge wake up call to how out of shape I am, but has definitely helped perk up my mood. I have been eyeing some outrageously expensive pants from the J Crew catalog, so am dreaming about losing some inches and cutely fitting into them. Maybe by the time that happens, they will be on clearance!

8. Mack won a Principal's Pride award at school. We get to go on Monday to his school for a little mini-awards ceremony. I am so proud of him - he is really working hard! He is out of school soon. Can't wait to make another candy bar poster Amanda!

9. The Chick-Fil-A close to me is finally done! I think I have been at least a few times a week since they opened. I love their chargrilled chicken sandwich with the wheat bun and Diet Dr Pepper. So yummy!

10. Shane and Mack went on a Father/Sons campout last weekend. I guess it was muddy, wet and more muddy, but they had a great time roasting marshmallows and doing some male bonding. I was loving having the night off! I worked late, and met Amanda and her cute mom and sister for dinner and shopping. It was soooo nice. Thanks babe for taking Mack--I know he loved it:)

11. The Southwest Ding! widget is a new favorite. It bugged Shane super bad the first couple days as it would go off very loudly during the day while he was snoozing, but I have disabled the audio, and am really enjoying it. I am still on my kick (sorry Shane) to go stay in Scottsdale sometime this summer, so I am constantly checking to see how cheap I can get down there. I think I may have almost convinced Shane to split our economic stimulus check straight down the middle, and splurge on a very mini vacay down south.

Tagged by Amber

I really have been meaning to blog about Mother's Day and all the incredible Mom's in my life and all the May girls in my family who have had birthdays (Kaela, Shelley, Mom Karla, Isabelle), but have settled on doing a tag instead. Love all you women!!

Joys:
Like my friend Amber who tagged me-- my joys are obviously my hubby, kids, family, but there are several other things worth mentioning..

1. Really great, high thread count sheets that have been frozen by central air. Ahhh...
2. A quiet house where I can watch my TiVo'd shows in peace with no "What is this?!?!" from Shane
3. My home computer where I can blog, email, download and destress
4. Trips to the library and/or Barnes and Noble if I have extra cash
5. Rainy nights where you can hear it just pouring outside--loved last night:)

Fears:
1. Failure
2. Cancer/bad health
3. Mack never getting motivated

Goals:
Lose weight, eat healthier, be more spiritual, put more money in my 401(k). Just have to figure out a way to get motivated to do all this stuff:)

Current Obsessions:
1. Getting the treadmill and Pilates bench I saw at Costco
2.Weeding my insane yard
3.Staying at the Four Seasons in Scottsdale
4.Rotisserie chicken
5. Getting a maid and/or gardener

Random Facts:
1. I am loving my office right now. There is this little sweet bird feeder someone put out on a tree right outside my window, and I finally set up my water fountain. We are moving locations in January, and I am fearing cubicle hell.

2. I love shopping and getting great deals. The mall is like a little sanctuary for me sometimes.

3. I love buying paper and other assorted crafting supplies, but most of the time they just sit unused.

Nothing Bundt Cakes

I had to share my latest find.  It is this little cake shop across the street from South Towne Mall. The store is just the cutest, and the cake is to die for yummy.  Not only that, they wrap it all up in this posh little cake box that is just so fancy.  I am a sucker for packaging and really great treats. Now only if I could get this excited about a treadmill....

Spring Break Part Two

Mack and I celebrated his last week of Spring Break with a trip to Mesa, Arizona to visit my family, shop, and relax. Here were the highlights:
My Grandma and Grandpa moved down to Mesa almost two years ago. So sad when they moved, so it was great to be able to spend some time with them. G&G were soo nice and took Mack all day Friday while I was away at my convention. They spoiled him with a movie, swimming and a HUGE sucker. He had so much fun with them. Grandma and I also spent Sunday afternoon looking at old photographs from when she was little and talking about all the fun memories we have shared over the years. Mack even got treated to a haircut by my Grandpa! Such a special time. Grandma--I love you so much:) Thanks for EVERYTHING!!!!

One of the original purposes of the trip was to go to the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Mesa. I have gone to this convention the last few years, and just love it. It is one of my favorite ways to recharge my creative batteries. I took a handful of super fun classes, and shopped at the amazing vendor fair they sponsor every year. Got tons of cute Bazzill paper for super cheap, and stocked up on a bunch of Heidi Swapp stuff (my favorite!). I drug my aunt to the Scrapbooks Etc. as well in Mesa. A must if you are ever down that way.

My aunt and I also hit one of the best malls ever in Scottsdale. It had a smattering of stores that are completely out of reach (Carolina Herrera, Tod's, Louis Vuitton) but are sooo fun to walk through along with some personal favorites (a three story Banana, two story abercrombie kids and a huge Gap). We hit a bunch and then relaxed at the Kona Grill afterwards. We then drove around Scottsdale for a while and took in all the sights.

Another fun highlight was going to church with my Grandma and seeing my cousin who is on his mission in Mesa. I haven't seen him in almost two years, and spied him when we went into Sacrament Meeting. He came to talk to us for just a second--he is just so cute. I am excited for him to come home. We also were able to hear a great speaker that had just come home from his mission in Montreal. He spoke a bit of French, and entertained us with a few stories of life in Montreal. I sort of have come to the realization that with the dollar exchanging so horribly, I probably won't be able to go to anywhere cool and foreign for a very, very long time, so it was fun to live vicariously through his stories. He also did this very cool object lesson with a Rubix Cube. He talked about how little pieces of the priesthood became confounded, and had the bishop mix up the Rubix Cube for about three minutes while he talked. He then talked about how the priesthood was restored, and put the cube back together while talking. Holy cow--impressive. It was the best(and most entertaining) talk I have heard in a very long time.

My last best memory was just all the fun time I got to spend with Mack. It was so nice to just hang out with him and talk. We played our DS's, went to bed early, and chattered away about his little life. Loved it:) Can't wait for next year.