Winter Formal 2010

Nicole and her buddy Laynie went to Winter Formal this year. We took them and their dates repelling at Coon Bluff and made breakfast outside for them. It was so much fun. Even better that Garrett agreed to go and repel even though he was a little (alot) nervous about it. But Grandpa is a great teacher. He can talk anyone over a cliff. Huh? Plus, it didnt hurt that Nicole was so beautiful and so fun to help get ready for her date. Plus, her hair turned out awesome if I do say so myself....

Halloween......

This year for Hallloween we threw all caution to the wind and didnt do any chores. Yes, no chores at all. We carved pumpkins and ate Pirates (seafood) and decorated the house. It was awesome. I loved it. Im totally behind in getting ready for the holidays but my kids like me. I figure thats what really counts. Now onto more holidays and more not being caught up but alas, all is well in the Despain household. For now.

Prayers...

Tonight our little, super spiritual Kenna Rose was saying her prayers. I thought this was funny. Here's how it went:

Kenna: Dear Heavenly Father, please bless daddy while he's gone. Please bless grandma and grandpa that they will come home safely from their mission. And please bless Jessica who is out on a date with a new boy, that she won't get dumped. Amen.

I guess that shows great love. Or great awareness for her sister's love life. Or great sympathy. Maybe all of thee above....You be the judge. I think Jessica is pretty lucky to have a sister like her.

Teenager Land....Ugh....

Eleven years ago Jeff and I got married and I think I've done pretty good at rallying with the teenagers. But it never fails to suprise me when the big teenage monster sticks its ugly head out and cackles like a banshie. (if you want to know what a banshie is go rent darbie o gill and the little people.) Last night I told the girls we would go get new shoes for school. So they did their homework and showered and got dressed to go look at shoes as soon as their dad got home. Just before we left Garrett came in from mowing and asked the girls why they were dressed.

Heres the conversation:

Garrett: why are you dressed in school clothes, you just showered?
GIrls: Mom said she would take us shoe shopping.
GArrett: Oh really, well just because she said that doesnt mean you're going.
GIrls: Why? mom said she would.
Garrett: Well, you probably arent going, you know mom. Because you know how mom is.....

I came around the corner to a very suprised 12 year old son and asked why he said that? Do I not deliver? Are you constantly disappointed? Is your life a wreck?

Garrett: NO.

Mom: I guess you're making my bed for a week, huh?

GArrett: Yep. Pretty much.

Hence the teenage monster, sticking its ugly head out and growling at me, and I popped it in its eye (metaphorically speaking). Get back ugly monster! Give me back my kid! The one that used to think I was awesome......

I stink at scootering.........

Yes folks, I stink at scootering. Today I got fed up and mopped the kitchen. Right after Kenna, who I had asked to mop, slid into me after she decided to run on the wet floor she had begun to mop. She bonked her head and things were over. So, I am sick to death of asking my kids and sweet hubby to do everything for me. So I mopped. From the scooter. It took a while, but it was worth it. I can do anything if my floor is clean.

So Jeff and I went to a movie today.. Its been like a month since we went on a date and it was extremely overdue. My cousin agreed to meet me at the theatre since I had accidentally left my phone at her house. She came to deliver it. I was explaining to her from the scooter how I had mopped.

A nice couple then stopped and asked if I was alright. I guess I get a little annimated when I am explaining things. They thought I was having a seizure from my scooter. GREAT. I assured them I was ok and then the nice man asked me if he could valet park my scooter. Nice. Thanks anyway. What a day. You should see me ride that sucker. I am getting pretty good. Esp. if its downhill........

My day ended with something wonderful.. My sweet sister in law Ann brought me Ding Dongs. Have I told you how I adore them? I do. I ate two. So did three of my girls. We figure that two ding dongs are one serving. Since the box sayes so....

Foot Stuff.....

Yesterday I went to the Dr. and had my first check up since my foot surgery. Basically it was a Bunyanectomy. I am certain I did not spell that right. But anyway, things are good. I had to give up the pain pills five days after the surgery because they were making me carsick all day. SO , I dealing with the pain and taking Ibuprofen instead. I have a scooter intsead of crutches and people say to me the few times I have been out of the house, "Oh, that looks fun!" Funny, it really isn't. The kids have been patient and so willing to help mom out. But I know they are tired of me bossing them around. Two more weeks of the scooter and then I can put pressure on it. I think I am more excited about taking a real shower. Bathing out of a bowl of warm water stinks. Praise to my ancestors who bathed on the trail when they could. Here are a few pictures. Hope they're not too gross for you all. Love to everyone. Sorry for not blogging sooner.

Apparently I loaded these in the wrong order. You get the picture though....

Aim

Happy Mother's Day

I had the most wonderful Mother's Day. My sweet hubby made me breakfast in bed (After he convinced Kenna to let me sleep in a little and not make me her famous shake that consists of milk, fruit, and oats.) Then we got ready for church and we made it on time! taDA! Then when my little girls suddenly had to go to the bathroom during sacrament meeting and it was time for the primary to sing, Jeff ran to the bathroom and hauled the girls out as the primary began to sing. The girls ran up to the stand while the primary was singing. They were embarassed but great sports. It meant so much to me. I really loved Mother's Day this year. I am so ready for school to be over. I love my kids home and happy with me. I am home so rarely lately that it thrills me to be able to stay home and just be with them. I have great plans after school gets out.

1. Get through Girls Camp

2. Get through foot surgery

3. Enjoy time at home watching The Twilight Marathon.

4. Being wheelchaired into theatres for the summer with my kids

(I stink at crutches and I figure it won't hurt the kids to push a little) Work those muschles!

Love to you all.......

Happy Day to women everywhere. Especially the women that teach my kids at school and at church.

Love you all. Can't do it without you.

AMY

This week...

I just thought I would give you a run down on my week. Life is insane here. I find myself eating more doughnuts than I should and exercising less and less. But, I am serving. Serving in my ward, neighborhood, and my family. Serving brings blessings. Who needs a skinny butt when you can have blessings of hapiness. I always try to tell my kids, when you are having a hard day and feeling down on yourself, go serve someone else. That seems to be the solution to alot of selfish depression in my opinion. Jeff is taking Garrett to father and sons tonight. He has horrible back pain and is going to suffer through it and camp for the night. We are so glad we have a boy to take camping. The girls and I are off for a girls night. Dinner and bow making. Maybe a little Pride and Prejudice after.

Here is a poem:

When the day is long and hard

And life seems much too fast

Just remember all is well

You could be living in the past.

Good thing we arent on the trail

sleeping in a dirty shirt,

Bathing in the nearby stream

and Pooping in the dirt.

We could be eating flour and water

searching for buffalo chips

or praying we wont be scalped or

eaten by wild um..........

I dont know, you finish it.

I would love to hear your ideas.

Kelsey C.

Happy Anniversary!!!!

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways....

Tonight Jeff brought home flowers for me. I figured it was because I had been a little stressed out with work and kids and stuff. How nice, I thought, to bring me flowers for no reason. What a great hubby!

Then, Jeff sayes, "Happy Anniversary Honey". I thought, Oh MY GOSH!!! It is our anniversary tomorrow! I totally forgot. How sad, to forget the one most momentous occasion in our lives. The day we began this journey. Does that tell you how I can definately have too many irons in the fire. Such is my lot. I can't believe I forgot. Good thing he loves me. I would do it all over again. That's for sure.

Especially for the honeymoon......

Ok, things are fine.......

There is a strong possibility that I have over reacted just a bit. You know when you're angry and Satan makes everything a little worse than it should be, I guess I have a tendancy to freak out a little. Just ask my kids. There is nothing horrible going on. Just normal teenage and post-teen stupidity. Please don't call and ask whats going on. Im over it and I am most definately not angry at the Lord. Still strong in the gospel.
Amy

Painted Nails

Tonights post is somewhat different. Today my sweet little sister offered to paint my toes and finger nails. Let me tell you, I never paint my nails. I am not at all good at it. So I took her up on the offer and picked a dark sparkly color, not sure if I would like it. Tada! I loved it. I suddenly had the desire to actually do my hair. I was feeling pretty frumpy this morning and It was amazing how a few little short painted nails changed my desire to spend a little more time on myself. So, my advice to anyone who is feeling less than fantastic. (Which pretty much sums up alot of mormon women.) Paint your nails. OR have someone do it for you. It is amazing what a difference this little thing will do for you. I feel very girlie and trendy even at 10 oclock this evening. I am enjoying watching my pretty fingers type. I know it sounds silly. But it did the trick.

Nauvoo!!!!

We made it to Nauvoo people. And we didn't give Jeff's parents a heart attack by suprising them. We love it here. The weather is freezing and rainy but we are having so much fun. Love to you all. Plus, I am getting homework done for my class! Ta DA!!

Somewhere in Nebraska

Tonight I am giving a little update as to our trip. We are on our way to Nauvoo Illinois. We are of course driving. We left little Marysa home as she doesn't like to travel long distances. We are having fun. Lots of time spent in the car. Nine hours the first day and nine hours today. They are being good sports. Aside from Kenna wanting a souveneir everywhere we go and driving through blizzards, we are enjoying the different scenery. Today I saw a sign for The Pony Express orginal Station. So, we took a little detour and Jeff made the kids get out of the car so I could take a photo. I loved it. They froze. It was snowing of course. SO FUN!!! I will update more. I did find a workout room at our last hotel. 30 minutes was all I could do. So not much weight loss on this trip, but lots of eating! FUN FUN FUN. Ok, The blog isnt letting me upload pictures, So i will try again later. We were talking earlier about if Jeff's mom would be upset that we didn't bring Rysa to visit, but Nicole assured all of us that her grandma wouldn't even notice because she loves Nicole so very much. Thanks Nicole.

Week whatever...

Alrighty my friends, I will be honest with you. I took two weeks off from exercising. I got frustrated and tired with how long this is taking me. Jeff said my back is thinner. He is truly wonderful. But after six weeks of exercising and just my back is thinner. I was so iritated to day I ate two doughnuts. Yes, two. I didn't really feel as good as I thought I would. Sick. I know, I just need to keep going. School is great. A little overwhelming. Lots of homework and projects to do. Finding time for the kids seems to be the challenge. Work, church, and college are now my life. My family is fantastic, and trying to be patient. Time to get back in the groove. Vacation is over. I started to Aide a Kindergarten class at school for extra money. Trying not to loose my mind. Is the money really worth it you ask? Not really sure anymore. But, onward and upward my friends. I will cook and clean and read my scriptures and serve in the church. I planned a little fun lesson this sunday for my Beehives with chips and salsa at my house and found out this morning its fast sunday this sunday because Stake Conference is next week. I thought about all the ways I could still have the treats and finally am giving up. No treats. Bummer. The church is true after all. Even without the chips and salsa. Although its easier to ask the girls to start reading their scriptures with rootbeer and salsa, don't you think?

Here's a picture of me and the girls hiking. We took a little hike up Usery Pass last weekend, just a spur of the moment thing. I needed a little air.

Week three!

Its week three my fit friends! Its getting a little easier but harder to be motivated too. Five days a week is harder than I thought it would be. I am doing my video twice and the treadmill once a week with an incline of 10. Then, I run once a week (actually I run, walk it for three miles) and then do the video one more time. Burn it up almost killed me. Soda seems to standing at my weight loss door laughing at me. Grinning like he knows me better then I know myself. Ok, I love it. I admit it. Hello, my name is Amy and I am an addict. Diet Dr. Pepper is the Devil. How about one a day? One can. I am even willing to cut back to medium size at happy hour instead of route 44. I believe a medium will still fit in my sparkly cup. Yes, I have a special cup. And I love it. It's like a prom dress for your pop....I guess we know I certainly have issues. But I'm happier!

Burn it up!!!!

Well, I am officially sore! I have been at this for two weeks now. I thought I could stand the next level of my video. I was wrong. It is entitled, Burn it UP! Start it up was first, then Ramp it up, and now Burn it up! Yikes! I tried Burn it up for the first time tonight thinking that I could totally do it, but it royally kicked my butt! I only got through the first 40 minutes of it and colapsed on the floor. I honestly couldn't breathe! Oh man am I in trouble. Just the thought of doing that one again makes me not want to work out. Yes, I want to be healthier, (and lets just say it, SKINNIER) but yuck! It was so hard. Maybe I am not ready for Burn it up. I'll just keep Ramping it up for now. We shall see. I am so motivated though. It took me a while to want to exercise, but I now don't want to go backwards. Better to keep moving forward. I almost bought a scale today, but decided not to. Its not how much I weigh, but what size my pants are. Right? Love to you all! And to all a skinnier waist!

It's getting easier!-Sort of....

Still no "before" pictures folks. But, I am finding that it may be getting a little more addicting. I am now on week two of said exercise regiment. I can now do several sets of pushups that I could not do at all before I started. I can also do several sets of sit-ups! I am actually excited about what the future holds for my new self. Tell you what, I will take pictures of my arms. Then you can tell me if you think its working. I hate my flabby wings. I am sore in all the right places, and love it! Whooppeee! Still, I have to remind myself not to over eat. This is a small part of why I weigh as much as I do. I am happy to report that I am now only drinking one pop a day. More water. Not ALOT of water, but definately more.

EEEWWWW, my arm is gross.

New Year, New Resolutions!

Ok, Happy New Year! And why is it happy? Because we can all start over and begin anew. Ive thought about all the things I want to change. Here is my list:
1. Excercise-lots of it. Need to loose 40 lbs and get diabetes under control.
2. Stop cussing. I don't cuss alot, but some is too much, right?
3. Give up soda. Ok, we all know that is not going to happen. But it's on the list because I wanted everyone to know I do actually think about it. I just get a little sad when I think too much about it.
4. Family Home Evening every week. President Monson, don't worry, we are on our way.
5. Learn to quilt. I hate my quilts in my living room. I want cute ones that look like the Pottery Barn.
6. Grow a garden.

Ladies, I am so going to do all these things. The weight one is the most important (second is cussing). But, I do need moral support. The chubby year is over. I'm very excited for the skinny years ahead. "Slim in Six" is my new best friend. And its hard. So far, Ive worked out four days this week. I really want to do five or six. No more flappy arms. Say Sianara chubbyville! I guess youre supposed to take pictures of yourself before you start working out so you can see the difference, but I don't even like looking at myself in the shower. Much less for all to see.