I'm a professional. Ina few things...including synchronized driving.

Okay....So yesterday the GREATest thing happened.

This guy from my church Rex and his family and I both loaded our cars that were next to each other at the same time. 

I turned on my car and I wanted to back out and get HOME. Because today was my eat a sweet day and I had some sweets to eat at home. Ummm....I may or may not have stolen some Carmelo candy bars out of the Primary closet that are teacher birthday gifts  and ate them in the hall of the church. Don 't give me that look. I'll pay them back! And I still came in under my calories for the day. I'm a professional sweet eater you know!

Anyway. I wanted to go. So he started to back out and I was backing out....and I was watching him my review mirror...

AND I KID YOU NOT!!!!!!!

We were like synchronized swimmers only in cars. It was the most beautiful car thing I have ever seen. I JUMPED out of my car and made him roll down his window. "DID YOU SEE THAT?" And I told them the synchronized swimmers thing. He and his family all started busting up....Because they knew EXACTLY what I was talking about. It was awesome.

Have I mentioned lately aside form stealing Carmelos out of the church cupboard that I am in two support health groups (one a competition) about eating right and exercising and I have been getting a few pounds off again. My thought is always Slow and Steady. I don't love the slow part but for me sometimes that is what it takes to be consistent. I am learning from the depth of my soul that when I am gaining weight and not in control and binging my depression level SOARS and I am in complete despair. I have to remember that. It makes me feel terrible. So I continue to work. There is a trainer in town who is my FB friend and he saw one of my FB status about constantly healthy eating being annoying. He told me 

"Don't you dare stop!! You can do this...Be Awesome...Every Day!

I put it on my vision board. It felt good. Remember, I am words of affirmation. Thanks, friend!

Hey! I still have Christmas FUN to show.

I LOVE this picture of my BIL Danny and his two oldest daughters. They were all just standing here and their arms well all around each other. It was so sweet.  

Don't even ask me why....But all I want to do when family comes to visit is play CLUE. It actually annoys and frustrates me to death but I can't not play it! I even have googled how to win. 

Not that helpful.

Uncle Dave is my most fun annoying competitor. I can't figure out his techniques! I'm starting to realize he is just acting like he knows something to annoy me. 

I love when Justiney girl comes home.

The good thing about one of you bestie buddies dating you BIL is now she is at all the family parties!

Karate kid, psychology learning's and gnome gardens

SERIOUSLY ARGGG!!!! I hate it when I can't blog!

I am so so so so so so so busy. So so so so so busy.

Saturday I finally had a Saturday off work. Got caught up on some little things and some home work and had a really cool hour with Nathan

Nathan has been taking Karate from a man in our neighborhood and church family. We are so blessed to be around great people and he said he would let Nathan barter work for Karate lessons. I just drop Nathan off and I have not really paid much attention to what is going on. But yesterday he had to test to get his yellow belt. I came to watch. It was AWESOME.

It was almost poetic looking when they were doing their "moves". He took the test with another man and they did a lot of it in unison and it was a little bit beautiful!

Then the teacher said they were going to spar and he had Nathan and the man go get helmets and gloves and he talked to them about how they were going to spar. 

"Whoah, What?" Oh no they are not! My kid is not fighting with that man! (Even though Nathan was a tiny bit taller) I asked the teacher if I wanted to watch????!!!!

So they sparred. And they kicked each other and hit each other! And it was exciting and scary! And Nathan loved it!

Pictures aren't very good. I need to start carrying my camera!

Here is the sparring!

I want to send a thanks out to his teacher for letting Nathan come and barter. And thanks for forgiving us any time the bartering seems a little lopsided. 

And here he is getting his yellow belt! It was neat. 

I have so much cool stuff to tell you about this class I am taking. I might just share some every now and then since it is a lot. But it is a class on the different psychologies between Eastern and Western people. It has been so so interesting!!!!!

There is so much stuff I didn't know that I didn't know I didn't know!!!!!!!!

Here is one interesting thing to get you started....

Sometimes we as American's think are ideas are the right ideas. But we are the youngest country! We may think other countries are weird! But Mexico and Peru and South America are more similar then we are. So maybe we are the "weird" ones. 

A lot of research done is unreliable. Because....the people chosen for the research are often middle upper class, white, female, more educated, and more self aware. 

In the Eastern world they think it is nuts to marry someone your parents advise you not to. Westerners make movies on it and get exited that we have done what we wanted to and gone against our parents and married who we loved. Easterners think it's nuts to go against your parent who are older and wiser and have lived life longer. 

Interesting, huh!?

You guys....Sometimes when I look at Pinterest I can't breath I get so excited. I was in a craft store the other day and they had this DARLING gnome garden (I don't like fairy's...(shiver)) paraphernalia. I mean SO CUTE. So when I get a good coupon I go in and buy a little gnome or mushroom or something. When I checked out ALL the stuff on Pinterest you can make for this garden that I don't even have or time to make...I get super excited. Maybe in the summer I will. It is good to have something to look forward to. Even if it is odd. 

But LOOK!!!!!!!

And oh my goodness....There are so many hand made things you can do yourself. I had to quit looking it was so exciting. Go see, guys.

Have you guys discovered the beauty of a rice bag?

Hi. 

I haven't blogged much as you can tell. 

The first two weeks of school I almost died. 

I was in a bit of non stop panic mode. I literally couldn't breath comfortably every time I thought about school. The load was too too much. Literally. I didn't know how I would literally find the time to get it all done even if I devoted all my time to it. I had so much anxiety and panic and honest despair in my heart. I cannot reduce my credits. It isn't reasonable because of some other non important to talk about issues. But I had too much work. 

One day my friend Lyndi was probably inspired to call me. She volunteered her husband, my friend, (I have talked about him before, he gave Bo a scholarship for jujitsu a long time ago) Jared, to help me with my math. 

The night before Lyndi called I opened up my math and it was reading and answering questions. It should have been easy but my brain FREAKED and I couldn't do it and I was so overwhelmed and freaked. You have to work with this statistics program maybe comparable to excel in a way only for statistics, it was just too much for me. 

So when Lyndi called I cried and had a little break down. I am grateful she called and I could talk it out a bit. I love her. That night I drove to their house and held their chickens and hung out with their little family and their sweet spirited home and Jared basically walked me through all my math, which looking back I can see I made it much harder then need be. They gave me some homework (Jared is getting his DOCTORATE and Lyndi is my back in school buddy also) advice and I went home a few hours later. 

The next day, I could breathe again. And things started to get easier and the school expectations leveled out and I was okay after that. Only getting five hours a sleep each night, but okay.

Today I went to talk to my professor. The beauty of going to a religious college is you can talk to them about stuff like....religion! lol. Go figure. We had a nice heart to heart that I might share another day.  

He told me that since last semester from this semester (I had him last semester) he could see that I was different. He said it was like my light had gone out. He was going to talk to me about what was going on but hadn't. I told him I had been in complete panic and an overwhelmed state. Complete. I cried and told him how 2 days a week I had to be at school by 8 in the morning and didn't get home until after 6 and that I never wanted a career and I just wanted to be home. I'm such a crier! Dang. 

But I told him I was okay now. Interesting how others see things in you that you don't realize. I asked my dad to come over after school one day a week and my mom to take the kids home another day a week. So I think they aren't too neglected. 

I am taking the most fascinating psychology class on culture. I have to blog about that as well. It has twisted my brain it has been so interesting.

Alright...see you later.

oh, BTW.... Kate makes me warm up a rice bag for her feet every night! Little stink. I actually warm one up for me before bed each night also. I keeps me so warm and toasty. Case you care. 

shall I have my panic attack now? or after? Cause it's trying to escape.

Oh my goodness gracious. My stress level just went THROUGH the roof. 

I hope it is just the normal first day of school trauma but my work load is enormous. I'm scared. I have to get organized.

I have a lot of pressure right now in other personal ways as well. I almost had an anxiety attack late last night.

Thankfully for about four days now I have NOT been eating my stress away though. I saw some "after" pictures of me on New Years and I was horrified to see my weight coming back.

I joined a little competition with my very competitive friends who will KILL me if I let them down. Honest. They scare me. But I am excited because if I stick to it (and I have to or my scary friends will KILL me) I will be back to where I was in the beginning. It is 8 weeks. The challenge for me will be the 45 minutes of exercise 5 days a week. That will be hard for me.

 I swear the scale says I gained 20 pounds.

But it looks like so much more to me!

I'm horrified. And it SUCKS. But it is the plagued of over weight people I think. It's a constant battle.

But I am ready to fight again. And I am glad all the holiday celebrating is over. Sheesh. Stupid appetizers. 

So the competition is things like eat 5 fruits or vegetables, drink your water, exercise...things like that and you get points for doing it. I am feeling very positive and so I am just going to try to stay in that mind set. 

We had the best little after Christmas celebrations. Constant fun with family. And it has become so convenient that my buddy Becki is dating my cute brother in law. 

So now I get to see her at family stuff. We love her. I am going to try to blog a tiny bit with highlights here and there of our fun. 

So here are a few high lights. 

We are totally BFF's with Santa. He is awesome. 

Okay, that's enough highlights for now. 

P.S. I love my big boys. They sat on Santa's lap just for me. Love them.