We got sealed!

It's official! Alan and I finally got sealed on Saturday. It has been quite the ordeal since we got engaged. Since Alan has been sealed in the temple before it was a long process to get a clearance for us to get sealed. We were only engaged for 8 weeks making it too hard to get a clearance that fast. But, good things come to those who wait. It was such a wonderful experience because we have been wanting this for so long and if finally came!
I was fortunate enough to have one of the apostles perform the sealing. Elder Christofferson was college roommates with my Dad 40 years ago which gave it more meaning. It was so neat just sitting there listening to him. He is such a spiritual man. Alan would kill me for posting this but he was really emotional which meant so much to me. He is not one to get emotional about much so it meant that much more to me. It was such a sweet experience and I feel grateful to be sealed to him for time and all eternity.
I wanted to take pictures to remember this special day. My brother Bradon took these for me. Other people took more pictures but this is what I have so far. More to come.

Carlton's new haircut

I just wanted to thank all of you who have been so supportive during this difficult time in Carlton's life. Many of you have asked me how he's doing so I thought I would update you all. The cancer is gone! We are so thrilled and we feel so lucky! He is finishing out his treatment of radiation just to be safe. He has lost a lot of his hair as you can see in the video. I couldn't believe how much he lost just within a few days. It breaks my heart to see him so sick but I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel and can't wait for him to be himself again. My brother Bradon made this video and thought I'd share it with you.
P.s. Carlton was such a great sport letting his niece and nephews help shave his head. Carlton you are more brave than I could ever be! :)

Like Father, Like Son

Alan and I were headed to a Christmas Party Saturday night.

Brynnly: "Well guys, I need to got get pretty for my party."

Justin: " But you already are!"

Awe! I love this kid! He's just like his father that way. Always so full of compliments and so sincere.

At our Christmas party.

With my girls Heather and Rachel. I love you girls!

How amazing is this dress?!!!

My cousin Katelyn got married today. I just had to post about it because I'm in love with her dress! Don't you think it is amazing?! She pulled it off perfect. Congrats to Katelyn! We are happy for you!

Me and my sister Annalisa after the sealing. Awe! :)

Work out you can do at home.

I know some people that don't work out because they don't have a gym membership. What a lame excuse people! ;) I also know of some people who don't work out because they feel if they can't put in 110% effort whats the point? So they sit on the couch with their McDonald's and watch reruns of Biggest Loser wishing they had that kind of time to work out. ;) If you are busy busy busy and don't have a lot to time to work out then just do 10 minutes 3 or 4 times a day. That makes a big difference at the end of the day. Do a bunch of push ups, then do a bunch of ab work, then do a bunch of lunges, etc... You get my point. If you are watching a TV show, work out during commercials. So now you have NO excuse for not working out. ;)
Here is a work out you can do at home. It does require more than 10 minutes. This is a work out for anyone who doesn't have a gym membership and doesn't have much equipment at home. If you want to do this workout and only have 20 minutes just do one set. Better than nothing. All you need is a resistance band. If you have Dumbells, great! If not, no worries. Just use the band and that is great too! This is a circuit train which means do one set of one exercise and move to next without stopping. When you finish, rest for a minute and do it again. Depending on your fitness level and time you would do it 1-3 times total. Circuit train is great if you are in a time crunch but it's also great because you are burning more calories. Your heart rate is elevated longer which means you are burning more calories and will blast fat fast! Ok enough talking! Here it is:

1- Do 20 push ups (yes you can do girl push ups BUT do as many regular as you can. If you can't do girl push ups because you haven't workout in so long, start by doing them against the wall and work your way to regular push ups.)
2- Seated back row with a resistance band 20 reps- Sit on the floor and wrap the band around your feet. Start with the band on the front of your feet and wrap it around at the balls of your feet. Sit up start and pull the band squeezing your shoulder blades together. Sit up so your back is flat. Have the band wrapped up enough times around your feet so when you pull there is resistance. Keep your elbows in close. Band should be even on both sides. I hope that makes sense. If not, let me know. I'll try to explain it better. Oh also, keep your knees slightly bent through the whole move.
3-Shoulder press with resistance band 20 reps. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart standing on the middle/center part of the band. Keep knees slightly bent. Stand up straight and have your arms out to the side with your elbows bent to a 90 degree angle. Now just do a shoulder press bringing your arms straight above your head and then lower back to a 90 degree angle. Can't do both arms together? No problem. Do one arm at a time giving yourself a little more give with the band so its not as hard.
4-Lunges 20 each leg- Just do a stationary lunge 20 times and switch legs. Make sure and come down so your knees are at a 90 degree angle and keep your upper body straight and aligned with your hips. Don't lean forward. Keep the weight in the heel of the foot not the ball. Too easy with out weight? Try doing more of a split squat. Put your back leg on a chair or bench and do the same movement. Do 20 reps and then 20 pulses.
5- Bicep curls with band 20 reps- Same position as shoulder press but arms are down to your side. Extend your elbows and keep them in close by your hips. Bring arms up just past a 90 degree angle. Don't come all the way because you are relaxing the muscle. Then come all the way back down extending elbows. Not enough resistance? Wrap band around your hands until there is.
6- Dips 10-20 reps. This can be a hard one so work up to 20. Just make sure you keep your back straight and close to the bench or chair or whatever you are using. Keep elbows close to your back and come down so your elbows come to a 90 degree angle. If its too hard keep your knees bent to a 90 degree angle as well but keep the weight on your triceps and not your legs.
7- Pelvic thrust (one of my fav's!) 20 reps each leg. Lay down so your glutes are right close to a step. Just use your stairs. Dig your right heel into the first step with your left leg straight up in the air. Arms are out to the side. Lift your torso up so your hips are straight up digging your heel in the step. Can't do 20? Do as many as you can working up to 20. Still too hard? Do both legs at the same time. Right and left heel digging in to step.
8- Wall sits. Work up to 1 minute. Squat, leaning against the wall. Squat down to a 90 degree angle. Keep the weight in your heels and make sure your knees stay behind your toes. Keep your back flat against the wall. Hold it as long as you can.
9- Planks. Oh my fav! Otherwise known as forearm bridges. Lay down on your stomach. Now balance on your forearms. They should be in a 90 degree angle. Come up on your toes so your body is flat and you are balancing on your forearms and toes. Keep your back flat. Don't sink down and keep your neck neutral. Keep your core tight.Hold this as long as you can! Might only be 20 seconds. Every time you do this add a few seconds. You will be able to do up to 4 minutes eventually if you keep at it. This is an amazing workout for your abs and lower back for all you ladies out there who have kids and have lost those muscles. This is also an amazing move for your upper body. Every muscle.

If you don't have time to do this whole thing do as much as you can. Like I said before, something is better than nothing.
Want to take it up a notch? After every 2 exercises add in some sort of interval. This is great to burn more calories and for those of you who need more of a challenge. Here are some interval ideas. You will do this a total of 4 times in one circuit train so do something different each time:
1- Jump rope for one minute
2- Jumping jacks for 1 min.
3- Plyo jump up and down on a step. Use your stairs and with both feet at once jump up on the step and down. 1 min.
4- Just stand in the same spot and jump as high as you can come down in a squat and jump up and down. 1 min.
5- Lunge, squat and leap forward. Then lunge on the other leg, squat and leap forward for 1 min.
6- Mountain climb. In push up position bring your right knee into your chest then extend it back to starting position. Now do it with your left knee. Now go fast like you are climbing a mountain fast for 1 min.
7- I call this speed skating move. Jump laterally to the right so your left leg kind of comes behind your right leg. Right leg is bent. Now bend over to the right and touch your left hand to your right foot. Now repeat to the other side. Go fast for 1 minute.
I hope I make sense in this post. I hope it is helpful to any of you wanting to work out but don't have a gym membership and not sure what to do with little equipment at home. Do this work out 2-3 times in a week. The other 2 or 3 days do your cardio for 20-40 minutes. Whatever you have time for. Do any kind of cardio that gets your heart rate up for that amount of time. Even if you only have 10 minutes. Run up and down the stairs, jump rope, go walk around the block, anything.
Please let me know if you do decide to do this work out and have questions with it. Good luck! :)

Our Thanksgiving Day

We had such a memorable Thanksgiving this year. I spent 29 years of my life single and went from that to being a wife and part time mom. I've never been this happy and have so much to be grateful for.
My day was busy and started at 5:30 am. I went to the gym with 2 of my friends. We worked out hard for 2 hours. It was an amazing work out. I felt like I was on happy pills because I was so excited for the day and was proud of myself for waking up so early to work out. I hurried home, showered and Justin and I were off to the airport. We helped deliver pies to crew members who had to work that day. Justin got such a special treat after that. He got to tour a plane and even sit in the captain seat and 'pretend' to turn on the plane. He had such a great time and was a bit overwhelmed with excitement. He turned to me after about 10 minutes and asked if we could go. He talked about it the whole way home and wanted to call Alan's mom and his mom. It was a pretty fun morning.

That afternoon we went to my sisters house for the day. It was one of my favorite Thanksgiving yet. We sat around, ate, joked and talked about the things we were grateful for this year.

Carlton was a sport. He tried to eat as much as he could but got sick from it. He laid on the couch and although he felt sick he still interacted with us and had a good time.

It's official, my sister is a dork! What is up with these glasses?! Love ya sis! ;)


Here is where the kids ate. Isn't Justin so dang cute?! I think it's funny how different kids are than adults. It's such a chore for them to eat. Justin kept asking me "how many more bits to I have to eat?" You never hear an adult asking that.

I love this picture. This was after we ate. We were sitting around talking about what we were grateful for. I just had to take a picture. Awe!

If you haven't spent time with my family you don't know how crazy we can be. I don't know how my parents raised 7 kids who are all hyper. As we were cleaning the kitchen Annalisa put some Cold Play on and we danced around.

This one is my favorite! I just love my dad. He's so funny!

Annalisa had us write what we were grateful for and put in on this

wreath.

What I'm grateful for this year:

1- Being married to Alan. He really is such a wonderful husband. He is perfect for me. He loves me for me and encourages me to do the things I want to do. He overlooks my faults and is always complimenting me on the things he loves about me. I am lucky!

2- Justin. He has been such a great sport with his situation. He had such a hard time with his dad being married at first but little by little our relationship is growing. He was so sweet this week. We got to see him from Wednesday through Saturday night. We bonded so well. He has such a big heart and is really a great kid. He's setting the bar high for the kids Alan and I have.

3- Carlton. I am so grateful that Carlton will make a full recovery. I am also grateful that he was in a car accident months ago. I know it was the Lords way of blessing him. If that car accident hadn't happened, his tumor wouldn't have been found and who knows what would have happened. I am grateful he is going through this trial because we have seen such a change in him for the better. This boy is not emotional at all and for the first time in a long time he cried on Thanksgiving. He told us how grateful he was for us. It was such a touching moment to see him so humble and so grateful. We feel so blessed for technology these days to cure him.

4- My family. I LOVE my family more than anything. They mean so much to me. We are so close and would do anything for each other. I am grateful for all of them.

5- Knowing the Lord has blessed me with all I have right now. I have felt his hand in my life blessing me and guiding me.

6- I feel grateful for a beautiful home, car and so many other things despite the way the economy has been.

I could go on and on and keep being cheesy but I'll stop here. I love this time of year and have much to be grateful for. I am now getting really excited for Christmas! Now if I could only get Alan to get our tree up! :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! -Tips to help you not gain weight this holiday

I love Thanksgiving! It is one of my absolute favorite Holidays. It's so fun to sit around and eat delicious food, hang out and just be together with family. Plus it gets me so excited for Christmas. I just love holidays and traditions.
I also love to eat and eat on this day. Haha! I'm sure most of us do! So I wanted to post a few tricks I have that help with this problem.
1- Work out that day. Get it in some how even if you are super busy that day. It's really important to do it this day above any other day since we eat too much. Don't just do Cardio either. Lift! Cardio is good but you only burn calories for at most 4 hours after. Lifting will burn calories up to 4 days after! I either like to lift legs that day or full body. Do a circuit train and burn tons of calories!
2- Eat smaller portions more often. The good thing about this is you can eat your favorite foods a couple of times that day. Not stuff it all in in one meal and be sick!
3- Don't eat your pie alone. It will spike your blood sugar levels. You don't want that. Eat your meal. 3 hours later have some pie with a little protein. Have a little turkey and then eat some pie.
4- Don't skip breakfast because you are 'saving your calories'. What this does is make you store every last calorie of Thanksgiving dinner as fat because your body will think you are starving yourself. Get up, eat breakfast and eat every 3 hours. :)

Summary: Burn some calories by lifting that day and eat every 3 hours.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and happy eating!