Working my butt off....

LITERALLY.  Or at least that's what I'm hoping to do.  I've always said how I can't stand when people facebook about exercising all the time, or how they fit into their size 4's.  I do however, enjoying hearing about an accomplishment like a race or something similar.  Now I'm going against everything I've said and BLOGGING about something that has become important to me.  Getting healthy.  I figure it's time.  I'm about to turn 28, thinking about having a third child, and basically just sick of feeling disgusting in my appearance, health and let's face it, emotionally.

It all started with a guy in Eagle Mountain who decided to get fat for 6 months and then try and lose it in 6 months.  Ridiculous, right?  I can honestly tell you that I would NEVER do it.  He said that he was a part time personal trainer who has always been fit, loves exercise, and wanted to know what his clients feel so he can better understand the "struggle".  If you have ever had to lose a substantial amount of weight you know exactly what I mean by struggle.  Anyway, I thought this guy sounded like an idiot and it was kind of one of those train wreck moments where you can't look away.  I was reading all of his blogs, etc. and realized I had just heard of him as he was about to enter the get fit again stage.  The more I read, the more I was inspired by him and I was ready to join with him on his journey.  "Remember, remember the 5th of November", was what everyone following him kept saying.  That was the big day.  And about a week after I'd heard of him, it came.  If you are interest in learning more about Drew and his FIT2FAT2FIT journey you can click here.

So the day came and I was ready for it.  I had tried and not stuck with things so many times in the past year, but something felt so different this time.  I felt like he had sacrificed his health for me and I didn't want to let him down.  The first week went off without a hitch and the best part?  He said we weren't exercising for a whole month!  What could be better? 

And here we are 4 months later...did I keep sticking with it?  Sure did!  I will admit that I don't follow his meal plans anymore, or even his exercise, I completely do my own thing, but he helped me find what worked for me.  The best part about all of it?  It wasn't some gym I had to join, or program I had to pay for.  It was just some guy who wanted to understand what so many people struggle with everyday.  I now know what my body needs to eat to feel fueled and I enjoy healthy food.  I completely gave up pop, diet or otherwise, I've only had 2 sodas in the past 4 months and I feel really good about giving it up.  I exercise...a lot.  It's kind of a new obsession and I finally found time when I realized that I didn't have to get ready for the day the moment I got out of bed.  Sometimes we don't get dressed until the afternoon around here, but let's face it...when you're not going anywhere and just exercising and cleaning house...who gives?  I'm happy to say that I turn 28 in a week and am now 34 lbs lighter than I would have been had I not done something.  I can do real push-ups, not the wimpy girly kind, and I feel strong and amazing. I can run more than a minute without feeling extremely short of breath.  I'm still in shock when I put a shirt on and realize that it used to be skin tight and now it's not.  I love that I fit in cuter jeans again, and it sounds silly, but even my shoes fit better!  I still have a long way to go and doubt I will ever be bragging about fitting into a size 4, but I'm learning to love me for me, no matter what size I wear.  And the number one benefit?  My kids are healthier.  They like healthy food and we are more active together.  I want to start them out knowing how to do this right so they don't spend their 20's trying to figure it out.

I've been putting off this post for a long time for my reasons stated at the beginning, but the last 4 weeks have been kind of a plateau for me and I wanted to recognize that I've done something well.  I'm proud of myself and need to remember that more when the going gets rough.  Thanks for reading and feel free to add "the hate of people blogging about their weightloss" to your own list of annoyances :)

Gavinisms x3

Gav: Mom! Mom! I know how to spell UFO! It's U  F  O! I can read it mom!
Me: You guys....why is there do much bath water on this floor?!?!
Gav: Mom, we were playing bathtub Hawaii.
His latest obsession is Super Mario on the wii. We were trying to beat a castle and I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do so I said I was going to google it. Gavin said, "Mom, are you going to mario.com?" How did he know what .com is???

My kids are so cute when they....

ARE ASLEEP! I was looking at pictures on my phone today and had to laugh at how many there were of them asleep!  Some are quite a bit older than others (Max hasn't had a binky for abey out 2 months now and that Toy Story shirt Gavin is wearing in the first picture would probably fit Max now....) but these were too cute!  Love these boys, awake or asleep :)


Yes, he fell asleep on the stairs.....







Maybe we forgot which way to lay on the bed?




First nap in his big boy bed!




How cute is this?




Yes he is asleep in a laundry basket!  He was pretending it was a sleeping bag and he was camping....




He fell asleep just sitting on the floor!




Ahhhhhhh, so peaceful!




Trying to get comfy in those darn carseats!



Accomplishment

I've been waiting for this for a REALLY long time and I'm so excited to say that I have earned my Personal Progress award!  This feels like a huge accomplishment to me, and I apologize if it sounds like I am bragging. 

When I was of Young Woman age, I did not earn my medallion.  They changed the program my last year in Young Women's and I was told that none of my work would transfer, I would need to complete the new program.  Let me tell you something about me...I'm stubborn.  I figured there was no way I could complete the whole program in a year and that was that.  Instead of looking into maybe the leaders misunderstood how it worked for those of us in my situation, I just said forget it.  I realize that I should feel bad about it and ashamed of my attitude, but I don't.  That's not how I live my life.  In fact, the one and only time I ever really felt guilty about it was when Keith told me one of the first questions his mom asked about me before I met her was whether or not I earned my YW medallion.

Flash forward to now and the past 2 years of my life serving in the YW program.  I am so impressed with these young girls and their faith and dedication to the gospel.  They are truly amazing and such an example to me.  I want nothing more than to be an example to them.  They were huge motivatiors in my accomplishing this goal.  Not to mention, I have younger sisters who I feel I need to set an example for.  One of our cute girls texted me a couple of weeks ago and asked how close I was because we had previously discussed not wanting to stand up in Sacrament meeting alone when we received our awards.  As luck would have it, we were both at about the same place and set a goal to finish together.  I'm so glad she motivated me to finally finish!  I'm so proud of her for her dedication and for being a good example to me as well as the other young women.

For those not familiar with the program, there are 8 values and you need to complete 6 experiences from each value (it's a little different for leaders because they thankfully count our service in the program!).  These experiences range from some simple reading and journal, to some that take 2-3 weeks.  Then after you have completed the required experiences you must do a 10 hr project of their choice for each value. The exception is the project for Virtue, which is to read the Book of Mormon.  It's definitely a lot of work to complete all of this, but I really feel the program does help you to better yourself in so many ways.  I loved that I read the Book of Mormon and I had a personal goal to read it in 30 days.  I did it in 28 and was pretty proud :)  My very favorite project that I did was to memorize "The Living Christ".   If you are not familiar with it, just click on that link and read it. (And check out how long it is!)  I love it and love that I know it.  It helps me to recite it in so many different situations.  If you ever see me and are curious if I really know it or not...just ask me to repeat it!  No one ever asks (because why would they know that I know it?!) But I feel pretty cool that I can say it all word for word, so you should just ask me to :) It's cooler to say it aloud instead of in my head.

I'm very happy that I have completed the program and so glad that I have the opportunity to help our young women do the same.

Maxisms

Playing with 2 Mater cars.  One hits the other one.
Max: "Ouch, Mater! 1, 2 TIMEOUT, Mater!  TIMEOUT!"

Gavinisms

I'm sorry I always post these, but I just don't ever want to forget them! 

Gavin got out 5 pieces of bread for me to make his sandwich.  I said to him, "Gav, there is no way you'll eat all of these."

He replied, "Dagum right I will."

Thank you, Mater.

A real blog....

Hi.  My name is Janelle.  And I used to blog.  In fact, I used to really enjoy it!  I've been trying to find the desire somewhere inside me to blog lately and it just hasn't been there.  I get in these ruts or moods and have a hard time clawing my way out.  Recently I've been more annoyed with facebook and sick of hearing every little detail of some people's lives.  Yes, I'm sure a bit of that is jealousy because I'm sure we all try and put our best foot forward on there. I don't want to be that to someone else and so I toned things down a bit.  Really, my blog shouldn't matter because if you're reading this, I'm guessing it's because you want to and not because you are being forced too.  Unless you are my mother, she has to.  I'm pretty sure there is some unwritten rule in the universe that your mother MUST read your blog OR ELSE. :)

We have had an enjoyable end of the year here at the Smith home.  It was definitely BUSY, but this year also felt like the holidays were more organized and I felt less frazzled.   I had my shopping done early, there wasn't a lot of rushing around and we even made a little bit of time to do things together, just the four of us.  I feel like that doesn't happen very often.  It may be easier when the kids are older and there is more to do, or that may be harder, but in any case I really enjoyed this December.  

To kick it off, I attended our Taste Testers annual White Elephant exchange.  It was hilarious as usual!  This year we included an ugly sweater party with it which was very fun.  I wish I would have thought to take a picture of each sweater..they were so hilarious!

 You might also notice that you can barely see me behind Carlie's Cindy Lou Who bow and the "Mona Lesha" painting behind us.  Yep, that was my contribution :)


We also visited Temple Square to see the lights.  Gavin was so excited about it and wanted to take pictures so he brought my little camera.  He only took a couple and then decided the rest of the night to be fascinated by the fountains.  I feel like we just ran around looking at water the whole night!

Enjoying the water!

I really wanted to take pictures of the lights, but there were a lot of people and the kids just wanted to go crazy!

I wish someone would have told me how dumb I look in hats...I apparently thought it looked better than my messy hair....

We had our annual Smith Family cousin party and we went to see Arthur Christmas.  The theater only had one other family there and I'm sure they were annoyed that they were in a movie with 21 kids and some adults LOL.  I spent the majority of the movie out playing in the lobby with Max and his cousin Aly.  It was actually quite enjoyable...they were so funny!

Next on the list was the Smith Family adult party...my favorite Smith party of the year!  As previously mentioned, there are 21 grandkids so it's RARE that I get to just visit with the adults.  I always look forward to this, even though it's only the 3rd year of this tradition.  We played lots of fun games, ate good food and had our white elephant exchange.  Lots of laughs and I ended up with a lot of pictures like this....

She was quite the poser.....

I like to pretend that MaryAnn is looking at me with loving adoration in this picture....

My mom had her party on the 23rd this year instead of on Christmas because some of the guys had to work Christmas night.  I actually really enjoyed the not running around on Christmas day and it felt like it made this night more relaxed because the kids maybe weren't quite as nuts.  Ok, they probably were just as nuts I just wasn't as stressed maybe?  The food was super yummy and there were a few gifts and the main one was Mom and Al are taking us all to Disneyland in March!  The kids are very excited  We leave on my birthday and so Gavin keeps asking me how long until my birthday...not sure who is counting down more, me or him!

We really were trying to get a picture!

And finally something halfway decent!

All the grandkids....

I like this picture with my siblings although it wasn't very easy to get :)

Mom mom always decorates her tree so beautifully!

Just playing with my new camera lens :)

My grandparents always have their Christmas party on Christmas Eve.  We have lots of yummy food (prime rib this year!) and it's tradition to do a pinata.  This year it was....wait for it....a walmart store!  I know, silly, but we have a big joke in our family about "Walmart Pride" with gang signs and all, so it fit nicely this year :)  My grandparents spend all year collecting stuff for this pinata and make it super fun for all of the kids.  I think it's incredibly nice of them to do this.

We took some pictures on Christmas Eve with the kids and our Elf, Elvis....(he's hiding in the tree).  We loved having an Elf and the boys still talk non stop about him.  Quick side note...Elvis flies to Santa every night to tell him if the kids were naughty or nice. He comes back each morning in a new spot and Christmas Eve is his last night here.  Well, on Christmas morning Keith asked Gavin to get him something and Gavin was being a stinker about it.  Keith told him that he needed to shape up and Gavin replied, "Elvis isn't here anymore Dad, I don't have to be good anymore!"  Boy that lasted long....  In any case the kids enjoyed opening their gifts despite poor Maxy being sick.  He was a trooper, but I think any kid would be when presents abound!

ELVIS

Can you find Elvis???

Santa had Elvis take some pictures of him putting out presents.  He took pictures with the new kid Cameras the kids got...They were AMAZED!

He sure was excited about this easel!

Little do they know it's just clothes in there hahahaha

And it's not Christmas without Blue Bear!  He got a present that Gavin so thoughfully wrapped for him.  Gavin was actually REALLY cute and wrapped up some random toys for Max without me knowing.  It had his Max's name on it and everything and I had no idea he had done it!  How cute!

We also took a trip to Moroni to visit Alan's family and a trip to Dad's to have yummy homemade pizza and do our present exchange.  Sometimes I get tired of being the picture taker so my camera didn't grace us with it's presence those nights :)

New Year's Eve we always plan to go to Keith's parents because it's his dad's birthday.  I wanted to do something nice for it so I decided to make him a cake...I love how it turned out!  Usually lots of us are there, but this year most of the night was just us and his parents.  I was totally ok with that because I selfishly like when I get time with just them :)  Scott and Heather and the girls came to ring in the New Year with us and then it was get home and get the kids in bed!  Luckily church was changing from 9 am to 11 am the following day!

I was really kinda proud of my fish!

And now it's a New Year and time to make new memories!  We have a lot to look forward to this year and lot to be thankful for. Hope your end of the year was as great as ours!