i am trying to lose weight

is this a good place to talk about this/announce it? why not? everyone says the key to successful weight loss is that you are open about it and have a good support system. who better to support me than the people who care enough about my life to read our blog?

why am i trying to lose weight? well.... because i'm overweight. not obese, yet, but overweight definitely. how do i know this? well other than the fact that my bmi says so when i calculate it, i don't feel good in my own body. i am self conscious because my clothing is not flattering anymore and i always picture myself as my smaller self and then when i realize i'm not that, i get sad. 

here is my weight history: i don't really have one! i have been a size eight for as long as i can remember. i honestly believe i went from a girls 16 in 7th grade to a size 8 in 8th grade and have never looked back. as a matter of fact i know this to be at least slightly true because i just got rid of clothing from 8th grade that still fit, it just had to go! i am still a size 8, after i squeeze into all of my clothing! not only do i not have a desire to move up to the double digit sizes (it's not right for my height/body type) but i cannot afford it!

one of my major motivators: the fact that sometime in 2011, i want to try to get pregnant. is this tmi again? maybe. oh well. if you gain at least 30ish pounds while you're pregnant, that means i would be approaching 200 pounds!!! i am only 5' 5"!!! this is not a good thought and i know if i don't take control of all of it now, it will be impossible later.

so here is how to sum up the why: i don't feel good in my body, to keep my current wardrobe, and to be healthy and in control of my weight before i decide to bring life into this world.

so how am i doing it? counting points with weight watchers. i am doing it all online/on my phone. i hope i can stick with it! i'm also trying to get more active. this is a hard goal for me. i am not athletic at all! i have really bad knees which prohibit me from doing a lot of exercises. and it's not something i find to be enjoyable. that's why it's a goal!

so everyone, i will keep you posted on my progress. my goal is to lose 25 pounds by april. that 6 months away. can i do it? yes. will i do it? you will have to follow me on this journey to find out!

something spiritual for the sabbath no. 2

here goes my new weekly tradition! although today i am reporting from matt's computer, mine internally exploded!!! (i guess...) here is what i saw when i opened my computer up today

i know this isn't the best picture but you get the just. i know this has nothing to do with today's topic, i just had to share.

now for the good stuff. today's topic: fasting. the what, when, and why.

what is fasting? fasting is denying yourself food and water for a set amount of time. typically in the LDS faith, we fast for 24 hours at a time, which is essentially 2 meals. if you eat lunch on saturday, you would skip dinner that night and breakfast sunday morning then eat lunch on sunday after church. a proper fast begins and ends with prayer and includes a donation to the church in the amount of the 2 meals you skipped called a fast offering. this goes to help those less fortunate in our area.

when do we fast? in our church, we fast at least one sunday a month. typically, the first sunday of the month. this month was one of the exception months. we fasted on the first sunday, typical, but we also fasted this sunday to be october's fast, because next week we have a special meeting that is church-wide called general conference. (more on that next week, i'm already predicting it will be the bulk of my post next sunday) on these sundays that the whole church fasts we also have a special service which we call fast and testimony meeting. this is where no one is actually assigned to speak during the service. people get up and bear their testimony of the restored gospel as the spirit moves them too. it is usually a wonderful meeting where the spirit is especially strong. it is so nice to hear the testimonies of friends and ward family members.

why do we fast? we fast for some sort of spiritual reason. perhaps you have a particularly troubling issue that you would like extra help with. maybe you are feeling weak in some area of your testimony and faith and need to feel a confirmation of the truthfulness of that principle. or maybe you are fasting to just to show gratitude to the Lord for all of the millions of blessings in your life. no matter what, you fast with a purpose, otherwise you are just starving yourself. in your opening prayer of your fast, you make it known to the Lord what that purpose is. fasting is a chance to  actually feel sacrifice, to submit yourself to the Lord physically. the blessings you can receive from a fast are endless and very real. here are some personal stories of how fasting has helped me.

when i was a mia maid (14-15 year old girls group) we fasted as a class for two girls who were less active (not coming a lot). you can fast as a group too, by the way. i wrote in my journal that night that i had fasted for that, this was in october. we kept contacting them frequently, visiting, sending letters, calling, etc. not much happened. then in the following february, the girls showed up! and they never stopped coming. now, 7 years later, they are still active members of the church. it wasn't until after all that happened and i was rereading my journal that i remembered all of those efforts began with a fast.

i vividly remember when elizabeth smart was kidnapped. she was also a member of the church and she was the same age as me. even though so lived in utah and i lived in kentucky and i had never met her, i felt really sad and affected by her kidnapping, so i decided to fast for her. (you can fast anytime you want to, it doesn't just have to be once a month and on any certain day) i have a feeling many many other people were fasting for her too. she was eventually found and i know that my prayers had a little part in that.

last month was not a good or happy month from me. i was really really down about my job situation and spent a lot of nights feeling really sorry for myself. nothing could shake it off of me. so i decided that on this months fast sunday, i would fast simply for peace. that was my whole prayer. i cannot even explain to you the difference in this month from last. my family has commented on it and i feel a little better every day about my current situation. it's not like i still don't have bad days and i still don't pray every day for something better to come my way, but i have received peace.

these are just a few stories. the point of them is to bear testimony to you all reading all of this that i really do know the power of the fast is real! if you've never tried it, do it! have faith in the Lord that he will bless you for your faith, cause he will. 

gearing up for Christmas

yes. in september. don't judge.

the thing is, i really like buying people nice gifts. my soul sister lauren says it's cause i'm materialistic and i like to receive gifts so much. while, i do enjoy a nice present, i must disagree with the materialistic thing. i just like for me and those around me to have nice things! is that such a crime?

so here is how, more than three months in advance, i am already preparing.

1. i have started buying my service christmas gifts. at church, we have the opportunity to buy specific gifts for needy families in our area. there are four families my ward is responsible for so i took four items to buy, all dresses. i took them early and i took dresses specifically because i am avid shopper. this does not mean that i am avid buyer. i check particular places at least once a week for their sales. target for example. i look at target at least twice a week because they have a 75% off rack. sometimes, there are AMAZING things on that rack, and i buy stuff. more often, there are not and i don't buy things. it's very hit or miss. but to find those amazing things, you must look often. well, i looked today and found the cutest modest dress for an 11 year old in her size and i bought it. 1 down 3 to go.

2. i bought my sisters Christmas gift. this is entering into unmarked territory. i have never purchased a Christmas gift for a family member this far in advance. let me just say, i am proud of myself. i cannot give to many details but i will tell you this much: i COULD NOT pass this up. not that it won't be there closer to Christmas but why wait? seriously the most perfect gift from here. they were however in no way on sale (and no, they won't go on sale) so now matt and i have 1 down, cause this gift will definitely be from the both of us.

3. i bought all the ribbon i'm going to use to wrap my gifts. again, i am a major sucker for a sale. i went to carolina pottery and there was all this beautiful ribbon in huge quantities for $2 a spool. i couldn't pass it up. now i'm on the hunt for beautiful and Christmassy gold wrapping paper because the ribbon is a spool of deep pink and deep purple. let me know if you find any at a good price!

4. i am handing out Christmas recital music to all of my students this week and next. this means i have been playing a lot of Christmas songs on the piano and of course, singing along. this is more out of necessity than desire. i want each of them to play 2 songs, 1 spiritual and 1 fun, and i expect them to memorize them so in order for those to be realistic expectations of 5-12 year olds, they need time. i'm really excited about it though. it's going to be an excellent evening! (more details to come)

hopefully i keep this trend of being proactive up! it's not only exciting now but it will be really exciting when i avoid all the craziness that is december shopping. now... if i could only think of what to get matt early i could get that gift out of the way.... got any ideas for an awesome Christmas gift for a husband? let me know!

something spiritual for the sabbath

i want to try something new. i would like to post something every sunday that is spiritual. maybe it will be a reflection on what happened at church. maybe something matt or i have read recently that is provoking. maybe just an onslaught of thoughts. regardless, faith, religion, and our relationship to our Heavenly Father is the central part of our life and marriage. it's sometimes a scary thing to talk about. so this is where i want to start, in an open and safe place. take it or leave it, but i hope you take it. if for no other reason, just to learn a little more about us and perhaps to gain a better understanding of "mormons".

todays topic: callings. magnifying them and what they are. so here are the facts.
1. in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (from here on out referred to as the LDS church) we do not have any paid ministry.
2. due to this, everyone in the church offers service.
3. we do not pick where or how we serve.
4. we are called, literally, by our bishop (the man in charge of our congregation), to do something. he has prayed and received inspiration as to what it is that we should be doing. so really, we are called of God through our bishop.

i currently hold two callings.
1: organist
2: 12-13 year old sunday school teacher

matt is currently the second counselor in the young mens, which means he is the leader of the 12-13 year old boys.

magnifying our callings, or performing your calling to the best of your ability and in the way the Lord wants you to, is a topic that has particularly been on matt's mind lately. he is such a busy man. he is a grad assistant for the carolina bands, which requires a lot. he is a full time grad student, which requires a lot. he is preparing for a conducting recital, which requires a lot. but above all of this, lately, he has felt the urgency and desire to magnify his calling. he has come to a true realization of the importance and impact he has in these young men's lives. he understands that this is the time you get them or you loose them. he puts in time everyday for these boys. it may be praying for them. it may be preparing a lesson. but everyday they are on his mind. he told me tonight, when he got home from a leadership training meeting at church, that he feels like he is being tugged in two very different directions. one side is school work and the world. there is a lot of pressure on him at school and the level of expectation on him this year is drastically higher than it was in his first year as a masters student. everyone wants to know where he wants to go in his career. the other thing pulling the other way is the church and his calling. and although to so many, they could never understand, that is the side he wants to go with and try to follow. it doesn't give us many earthy rewards in the eyes of man, but the blessings and eternal rewards are unmeasurable and incomparable to anything a career could provide us with.

i'm inspired by matt's dedication. i know that it's all a balancing act. we must learn do what is necessary to survive in this short time we have on earth while giving all we can to the Lord. it doesn't mean we give up everything. it means we must find a way in everything we do to serve the Lord.

i know these thoughts may appear a little random. like i said in the beginning, it's hard to talk about these things. they seem so personal and while they are, they are meant to be shared. they need to be shared. i hope someone learns something or is inspired in some way from reading this. i know it helps me to be better just to get it all down in words.

totally terrific thursday

this past thursday was a great day. work was work and im pretty matt would agree, school was school. it was after all of that that it became terrific.

it all started on my drive from work to teach my thursday piano lesson. the radio station i listen to (99.3) had been advertising that they were giving away ben folds tickets wednesday-friday. i really wanted to win. i have seen ben folds live once before and would love to see him again. so the thing was you had to answer a trivia question to win. the question was "what's ben's brother's name who was in some bands in raleigh?" well, i had no idea. but i was at a red light. and i have an iphone. so i looked it up! i called and i won!! (his name is chuck for all of you wondering) so now katie and i are going to see ben folds live in charlotte on november 20. we are both so pumped!!

then i went and taught my piano lesson. it was a great lesson. i have been struggling to get through to mckayla on reading music and i feel like we had a major break through thursday. progress!!! her mom gave me a wonderful dinner and then i headed out. well, matt and i had a date planned for the night to go see the sc philharmonic play a concert. i was not appropriately dressed and i did not have time to go home. so, i stopped at the only place i pass on my way to campus from their house, wal-mart! i got a super cute dress for only $13 and shoes to go with it for only $7. i'm not a frequent wal-mart clothing buyer (as in this is my first thing since of my freshman year of college) but i really love this new outfit! and it looked nice and fit! i changed in the car (i know... so classy!) and headed to pick matt up.

matt looked super nice. he had brought a nice outfit with him to school to change into before the concert. i brought him dinner and a diet coke and we headed to the concert. when we got into the koger center, a man saw us getting in line to buy tickets and said" here, i have an extra ticket, you all can have it." wow! i was a $36 ticket too! we were planning to buy the $12 tickets, for the second balcony. these were on the first floor row p, pretty good. so we went up to see if we could get another ticket near that one. there was and because matt is still a student, it was only $14 so we got to hear an amazing concert for only $14!

after the concert, we went out for dessert. we went to nonas in the vista because matt had never been there. we walked there it was such perfect and clear weather out. that is one nice thing about columbia, its pretty walkable. we shared a flaming dessert. pineapple caramel over pound cake and french vanilla ice cream. it was so good!!! truly the perfect way to top off the evening.

i really love dates. we dont go on them often enough frankly because we dont have time to do it often enough. i'm so glad we got to go on that one though and i can't wait for katie and me to go on a date in november to the concert!

wonderful weekend

wow. we had a such a great weekend. my parents came in on friday and my wonderful dad fixed the brakes on my car (for a $200 savings!). we had a great evening with them. matt then had to get up at the beautiful time of 5:45am saturday to be at marching band practice by 7am (he had to pick someone up and be there early). my parents and i woke up soon after and headed to bi-lo to prepare for our tailgating extravaganza! after purchasing way too much food, we headed to williams-brice to tailgate! we had a such a great time. many friends stopped by and ate with us. we played games and walked around to all of the booths. it was a great time.

here is a picture from tailgating. the girl in the middle, shelley, is one of my best friends and is a bride-to-be. this is a picture of all of her bridesmaids except for one. one is a georgia fan, but we let it slide.

after tailgating we went to the game, me and my parents. this is not a joke, we sat in the top left corner. i don't mean near it i mean my dad was seat 1 row 39 in the upper left section. it was way up there but it was nice and breezy and relatively cool. made for a nice and comfortable way to watch the cocks kill the bulldogs. gosh that game was amazing!! so much fun! but i was careful not to scream too much, since i sang at church on sunday with my friend dacia.

after the game, my cousins came down from fort mill. aaron and lani have the sweetest little baby, nora. we all fought to hold her. she was so good and loved everyone!! aaron warned matt to watch it, cause they're contagious. here are some shots of matt with sweet nora.

too cute! sunday, of course, was a wonderful day. i really just love the sabbath. i sang, prayed, and played in sacrament! matt did a lot for young mens so he wasn't home much but, it's worth it. we ate a wonderful dinner, made by yours truly, with katie and her friend. i just can't tell you how much i loved this weekend!

the puppies

meet fergye

meet porkchop

tell me they aren't the cutest things you have ever seen. i dare you. if you do, you will be a liar... and we all know where liars go. and if you don't know the you should read 2 nephi 9:34. they are imperial shih tzus. they turned 10 weeks old today. they both weigh 1 pound 13 ounces as of their vet visit yesterday and they won't get any bigger than 5 or 6 pounds. they are truly the sweetest puppies ever.

they are litter mates and the only two in their litter, i'm so glad they didn't have to be separated. my mom's first cousin breeds them and when we went down to alabama for my great-grandmothers funeral, we came home with these little guys as a gift. porkchop was a gift to katie and fergye to me and matt but now they both live with us, which is definitely for the best since i'm pretty sure they would be uber sad without each other. during the day, when we aren't home, we keep them in a baby play pin. they run around and play and love it!

the amazing thing about them is that they have such different personalities. fergye is definitely the dominant one, although matt says she is just the louder one. she is also such a drama queen. if you even come close to her with something she isn't interested in, she screams bloody murder. she is timid to try new things but if she sees her brother do it, she is right behind. she really is a sweety and definitely a moma's girl. porkcho, on the other hand, is much calmer and over all sweeter. he loves to hide under the recliner and behind the couch and is fairly adventurous. he is real easy going.

some of their favorite things are strings (especially matt's shoelaces), battling each other (which is when fergye is her loudest), destroying paper, licking matt's ears, and following me around (specifically and always when i go to the bathroom).

they have brought a lot of joy into our home and our family in just the 4 weeks we have had them. we love them so so much!

is it really already september?

time really does fly. i'm excited that it's september though. here are a few reasons why:

1. the weather gets a little cooler. in case you aren't familiar with the summer climate of columbia, sc allow me to inform you, it's hot, humid, and all around miserable. september brings that cool breeze that all of us have been literally dying for. this week, we took the puppies on their first "walk" (we went a total of 14 houses and they just turned circles the bulk of the time) at 6:30am and our house temperature felt hot when we came back from the 15 minutes they survived outside. i love that.

2. college football. recently, in an effort to save money, we got rid of cable. college football is the only reason we hesitated to do it. thankfully, matt gets to go to all of the carolina games and the ones i don't get to go to, i have plenty of friends who do still have cable. i am so proud of my alma mater and our opening game thursday night. i wish i could have been in williams brice. i know it was awesome! here is a picture of matt at the game. no idea what he was doing or thinking. GO COCKS!

3. you can start thinking about the holidays. i know, i know, stores having their christmas decorations out already is truly out of control but i like that now is the time you can make the holiday plans and start thinking of christmas gift ideas and what kind of card i'm going to make this year (because i AM sending out cards this year and i AM going to make them). i just like the planning and anticipation that begins now for the upcoming months.

this time of the year just brings back the best memories for me. this is when marching band really gets going, and that makes me excited. this is when you can start visiting orchards and farms. this is long sleeved t-shirts with shorts weather (one of my favorite outfit combos). it's just the beginning of the craziness that will be the remaining few months of the year. it's just a great time.