Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!! Gorgeous!!

General Conference Sunday

We had such a great day yesterday. Slept in forever, watched the first session of conference with no interruptions. We were worried for a minute because the doofuses that put up our satellite DISH put it in the wrong spot, so every time the wind blows, a tree gets in the way. So we listened to the radio and put the TV on mute. Jackie Chan lip syncing and all. After that session ended, we hurried and had some lunch and went up the canyon to a place called Cherry Springs. Of course, we forgot the camera. Sorry. Use your imaginations: incredible leaves, little creek, over-hanging boughs of wonder. :-) It was just wonderful. Family togetherness, nature, good spirit, what more could you ask for? Glorious. Came home, watched the last session (this conference seems extra good this time). I think it's so cool that with all the economic turmoil, etc. that we've had lately, there was no "We told you so!", no extra emphasis on being prepared, more than is ever mentioned. Either we know it, or we don't. Either we're out of debt and solvent....or we're not. Any questions, people?? We had our traditional Conference Feast: roast chicken, carrot-potatoes and gravy, homemade rolls, cranberry salad and acorn squash. Allie's little tummy was stretched tight. We all helped clean up and put the girls to bed early. It turns out that when Julie can sleep as long as she needs to, she needs 12 hours of sleep! This is my 6 year old! Since we get up at 6 a.m., I figured a 6:30 bedtime was not out of the borders of reason.

General Conference Saturday

Today was a good day. I slept until 7:21 a.m. (unheard of! I get up at 5:30 on weekdays, about 6:30 on weekends) and suddenly woke up realizing I was supposed to be doing our Biggest Loser Weekly Challenge at Curves. At 7:45. I got up, got dressed, and left. Pretty fun. Didn't get back till almost 9:30. Ate breakfast (you've got to try this: fresh peaches cut up on mini wheats, fiber 1, yogurt and milk. Sometimes I put blueberries on too. De-lish.), raced into the shower just in time to hear the first speaker for General Conference. President Monson announced 4 new temples, including one in Rome! I don't know why, that just sounds so cool. Major headquarters for the Catholic Church, joined by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I love it. We have a family tradition that every October conference we get out our WONDERFUL 72-hour backpacks that my mom put together for all the members of her family (what is it, 19 grandkids, 4 kids, 4 kids' spouses, 1 grandmother and her and my dad!) for Christmas one year. Of COURSE, the food it contains needs to be rotated every year, so we have ready-made snacks while we're watching. I think Allie chewed and spit out 15 pieces of gum. Grant had 3 or 4 juice boxes and then wondered why his stomach hurt. I was grateful that the only "junk food" in there was Jolly Ranchers candies, which don't appeal as much as they used to. Good to have when you need it, but I don't want to know there's something accessible in a backpack that would alleviate the day-to-day craving. You know? Then we had crepes for lunch with whipped cream, blueberries and cherries. After General Conference, Session 2 (REALLY GOOD-Elder Christofferson and Elder Bednar) Rob took the boys out for their traditional "boy's night out" to eat, then Priesthood Session, while I took the girls out (we figure we get a night out too...the boys get 2 of these per year, and Caroline and I will go again for Young Women's Conference). After the boys ate, Rob dropped off Grant and left again. We're going to get out our Halloween/Fall decorations finally. Clean house means I can think of something else besides AAAAGH!! I can't stand the clutter!! Guess I'll go for a walk. Love, Amy

New Goals

I guess I'm taking a couple days off from finishing my project. Just turns out that way. I'd better get going or it will end up in my closet for another 3 years!
For those of you who don't know this already, I am doing "The Biggest Loser" with a group of my new friends here in Pocatello. We meet every Wednesday to get weighed. We lose points for eating junk food. We get points for drinking enough water, no eating after a certain time (7 pm for me...I would like it earlier, but Rob gets home too late and we really ought to eat all together...), and the biggie, EXERCISE. Which sounds like a real drag. But actually, it's been so much fun! Every week we have a different challenge, which gets us more points. We get points for weight lost, inches lost and body fat % lost. A couple of weeks ago I actually ran a 5K! Ok, so I walked a lot too. Shin splints. But I ran! A 5K! I've been doing these abdominal exercises and have mended the relationship with that quadrant of my body! in other words, I can suck it in, and it stays there longer than 5 seconds! Goodbye chubby buddy! I've been doing pushups (up to 25 at a time on a good day!) and reverse arm presses (anyone? what the heck are those really called??) and my "Relief Society Jiggle" is giving up the ghost. Wandering off looking for more tolerant pastures. Or something. After the bout with Grave's Disease last year I had absolutely no upper arm or thigh muscles. Someone stole them in the middle of the night and they were missing in action. They have been retrieved from the garbage can from whence they were tossed and I keep getting surprised that I can feel something there. DON'T MESS WITH THE WIFEY! YEAH! So the big challenge in addition to our regular weekly challenge is to get 50 points this week and lose at least 1 lb. I haven't done a whole lb. for a couple of weeks now and 50 points is a lot. Rob's so impressed that I'm actually doing this. Sometimes I don't get a chance to do my pushups all day, and I've done them at 10 pm. Husband impressed = 20 point. No, just kidding. But it makes me happy. :-) Wish me luck. I'm going to have to walk up my huge steep hill TWICE a day this week. I'll let you all know how it goes. Love, Amy