Life's Little Letters

Dear Checkbook,
Thanks for having a larger surplus after paying all the bills. I really appreciate it.

Dear Summer,
It was a great time we all had, but did you have to spend all my money?

Dear Husband,
Thanks for introducing me to Temple Run. I am so addicted and live to beat my previous high score. Also, thanks for being handsome. So incredibly handsome.

Dear myfitnesspal app,
Thanks for reminding me just how many calories I can eat a day, and letting me know just how much I can lose if I keep eating that way.

Dear Treadmill,
I hate you. But I also kinda love you.

Dear Abby,
Why are you so freaking adorable, yet becoming so mischievous? Sometimes you make it so hard to tell you no.

Dear Pretty Little Liars,
Why did you have to end making me want more, but there is no season 3 on Netflix yet?

Dear Netflix,
You better get season 3 of Pretty Little Liars soon, or I'm not paying my next bill.
-A

Sunglasses & Me

When it comes to sunglasses, I have rotten luck. It seems I can't keep a pair for longer than a few months lately. It all started with these beauties.

I LOVED these glasses. I had them for years. They were comfortable, the perfect shade, and not to mention cute. But then they broke. I was devastated, but I knew they had a good run. So I went on the search of trying to find new ones.

I then found these cute little glasses with a bow on them from Kohls. $8. I liked them. Not as much as my previous pair, but I thought they were cute.

They lasted about a week and broke. Frustrating right? I was pregnant at the time and I may or may not have had a tizzy when that happened. (I specifically remember having a bad day that day that you can read about here, and that didn't help)

After hearing my glasses broke, Kari bought me some super cute $5 glasses at Taylorsville Dayzz that I had for many months. I loved them, but soon everytime I got to my car the ear piece would be off and the screw missing. I had to search old sunglasses for screws til finally I ran out, and it just got ridiculous.

Then I found a pair I loved just as much as the previous. They had style, they had class. I vowed to not let them go the way of my previous glasses. And they were $20 bucks, so I wanted to be extra careful.

Well guess what. They are gone too. Here is the story. One Saturday, we all went on a long walk. Naturally, I wore my glasses. When we got home, we decided to nap. I took my glasses off and just put them on my windshield of my car. Pure lazy I know, but I knew we were going to Subway soon and then heading to a movie, so I figured I'd remember them.

Well Sam didn't know they were on the outside of the car, and I forgot to remind him. We decided he would get Subway and we would eat at home.  He left, turned a corner, and my glasses flew off the windshield. Like a hero, he pulled over and jumped out of the car to get them. It was like a movie. He waited for cars to pass so he could go out and get them. The cars were missing them. He thought he could save them. Then came a truck. Before my sweet husband could get them, the truck smashed my cute glasses to smithereens. And so ended keeping them safe. He let me down easy. Well actually when he called I thought he got into an accident, so I was quite relieved it was my glasses smashed, not him. But I was still sad. He felt bad but he tried his best. What a great guy right?

Well now I am in these glasses.

Nope. Not naked.

They were $1 at the dollar store. They aren't super cute. They are kinda boring actually. Not my favorite at all. But I obviously can't keep a pair to save me, so I might as well save money. Chances are in another few months I'll need new ones anyway. In fact, fun story. About a week after I got them, I went with my sister to Herriman lake. I dove in the water with my glasses on and came out with them off. Thank goodness for Bree who saved them.

I tell ya, my first ones breaking must have cursed me. Just like the Defense Against The Dark Arts job never being filled for very long, my glasses will never be with me for long either.

Such is life in this fallen sphere.

The Dealio of Life, According To My Phone

Life lately has been lameish, but we have had a few fun things happen. And not to mention some cute Abby things along the way.

 Life has been showing off to daddy how I can braid my hair, with Abby peaking over my shoulder. (seriously, a big deal that I finally learned how to braid people). Abby's poor little legs with her year shots, fast asleep with her baby, and playing in water at City Creek mall.

 Life has been going to Ashtens reception and seeing friends I haven't seen forever. It's been Sunday mornings when mommy and daddy are too tired to get out of bed, but Abby wants to play. It's been Abby hiding her binkies in the cereal cupboard and throwing her bibs all over the room.

 It's been learning how to feed her self with a spoon, getting messy eating Lasagna after my great uncle Stan's funeral, waving goodbye to me as I leave to work, and visiting Rush Valley.

Life has been car troubles (flat tire in Lola, Stella out of commission) falling asleep with her other baby (that she is afraid of) while I clean, being winged off the bottle (as you can tell, milk from a sippy just isn't her cup of tea) and pulling the MANY weeds in our yard. (yard work was at the bottom of our priority list this summer. Now we are paying for it.)

Until next time.

Weekend

Hope you enjoy your weekend. I'm sure we will, especially with Abby to keep us entertained.

Happy Weekend!

Music Monday: Samlin's top 5

It's been a few months since I have done a Music Monday, so to make up for that, I am going to post mine and Sam's top 5 songs. I know. You're excited. So am I.

Samlins Top Five Love Songs

This is the song that was playing in my car when I finally admitted to Sam that I loved him. It was the perfect song, on the perfect starry night.

This song Sam learned how to play on his guitar because we both really loved it and he sent it to me as a video message. I listened to it often when he was on his mission.

This song is our 2nd summer of marriage song. It reminds us of being downtown, driving along with our windows down. 

This is one of our favorites. Just because it's cute. And it makes us happy.

Lastly, this is our ultimate song. I still remember when Sam had me listen to it one day as I climbed into  the car. He said this is how he felt about me. It became more and more meaningful as I listened to it constantly while he was on his mission. My only regret is not dancing to it at our wedding for our first dance. What was I thinking? 

RIP Tony Sly. Thanks for the song.

Update: The First Week

So the first week of my August challenge went pretty good, but I wasn't perfect. I did eat some chick-fil-a one day, but stayed withing my calorie intake with in which I felt really good about, and pizza another day. I also have been working out pretty good. (if only working out were enough, i'd be thin.)

Too bad this thing doesn't work though.

Then I'd never lift a finger and still have washboard abs.

When I first started this challenge, I wanted to be absolutely perfect this month. The first time I wasn't, I considered myself a failure, already in the first week. But then I realized something. This challenge isn't about being perfect, it's about changing my lifestyle. Lifestyle changes don't happen in a week. What would I do after this month? Snarf down tons of fast food and gain it all back? No. This month is to get me started, to prove to myself that I CAN eat out less, that I CAN drink less coke, that I CAN work out hard. If I fail one day, I jump right back up and start over the next.

As far as the benefits I've seen: I've lost two pounds already, and today I slipped into some Capri's that I haven't worn since the summer BEFORE Abby was born! I felt so good! They are still a touch tight, but I was so excited I wore them today anyway. Last time I tried to put them on, they wouldn't even go past my bum. Now I can do them up! Granted, not all that happened in a week, but it sure helped my self-esteem.

Please don't mind the messy background. This is our junk room we STILL need to put together.

Lets see if I can keep this up!

We're in Trouble

Abby has learned to throw fits.

Which, by the way, I find hilarious. (for now)

She also learned how to open the 'no no' cupboards.

The bag of toys/treats I now have to take to church for her only keeps her occupied for 10 min increments.

She continues to rip pages out of scriptures if I don't catch her soon enough.

As soon as the dishwasher is open to load, she speed-crawls over and attempts to take out all the utensils.

And she loves to ruin my nicely folded piles of clothes.

I cannot get enough of her.

Saturday

This weekend was fun for the most part. (minus the part where Stella, my college car, bit the dust) But Saturday was particularly fun.

We woke up early-ish and got ourselves ready to go to the farmers market. We went quite a bit when we lived downtown, but have not been since. So after we picked up our Bountiful Basket (awesome by the way) we headed downtown and enjoyed buying treats and people watching.

After the farmers market we were quite tired from our early morning (late night before) so we all came home and zonked out for about 2 hours. It was much needed. After we woke up, we quickly cleaned the house while Abby got into trouble.

As you can see, she decided to sneak herself some treats.

That evening, we had Subway for dinner,  (coupon AND healthy) got Abby ready for bed, and headed over to the drive in theater to see Batman and Avengers. Two fantastic movies. I'll have to see Batman again though. I had a hard time hearing it at first, but I loved it!

Abby did really well at the drive in. She had trouble falling asleep and cried out a few times but other then that it was nice to see a movie and not worry about a sitter.  Of course when we got home the stink decided she was wide awake and kept us up for a while. Oh well. It was totally worth it.

31 Day Challenge.

You have heard me mention before how much I love July right? Well my hate for August is as strong as my love for July. I HATE August. I call it the January of summer. It comes after all sorts of summer celebrations and then boom, your back to normal stinking life again. And not only does August not have any sort of holiday in it to look forward to, but it is hot and muggy and sticky, and I don't do August heat well.

So, I've made a plan to help make August more interesting/fun. (or will I be making it even more death?) me and Sam (but mostly me) are doing a 31 days of healthy challenge.

Really, Its not just about making August an easier month to get through, it's for me. I'm tired of not feeling good about myself. I'm tired of the baby weight I still have to lose a whole YEAR later. I am tired of spending money on food because I don't have anything delicious or interesting to make. (or even that I'm too lazy to make dinner.) I'm tired of working my butt off, then eating it right back on.

31 Days of Healthy goals:

• Cook healthier every night. Mostly skinny meals, but even just cooking at home vs. going out will save a load of calories. (and money!)
• NO eating out, but if we do it has to be healthy. If we go to a restaurant with our friends, weight watchers menu here I come. 
• Exercise at least 5X a week. Honestly, this goal I've basically gotten down thanks to my womens aerobics class I go to in my ward.
• Only one coke a week. I still need at least one coke, which will be hard. I LOVE coke, so this is a huge sacrifice. And I won't drink diet instead. It doesn't taste nearly as good to me.
• Sundays are my 'free' days. I can have my dessert and eat it too. 
• Drink more water, at least 32oz a day
• More fruits and veggies.

To help me with some of these goals, I've ordered me a bountiful basket, bought a whole ton of healthy food, (wheat pasta included. Sam isn't thrilled) and pinned a lot of skinny meals on pinterest. 

To help me stay motivated, I will be blogging/facebooking/tweeting my progress. And sharing the yummy meals I have found too!

I really hope this 31 day challenge is just what I need to kick-start being healthier.