A Dad and his Daughters

We have had the opportunity lately to see both of Dennis' daughters. This is a challenge since Marlene lives in Colorado and Tasha lives in Cedar City. Marlene was in town for a funeral and although we only saw her for less than 24 hours it was great! We also made it down to Cedar City to see Tasha, after a few months of not being able to make our monthly trip to Southern Utah. Dennis loves nothing more than seeing his girls!

Marlene got to go to church with us. She loved to see all our her friends from when she was here for the summer.



And Tasha stayed with us at our hotel and watched the Jazz game with Dennis. Finally a girl who will watch sporting events with him!

I Did It! Lifetime Membership

I know I have blogged recently about reaching my goal weight and the 50 pound mark. But today I have made yet another step in my weight loss journey. Tonight I received my Lifetime Membership status and am at a 53.2 pound total weight loss. This is a HUGE milestone with the Weight Watchers program. With lifetime status you no longer have to pay a membership fee..woohoo! You only have to weigh in once a month...this would be cool, but I am still going to go every week. The class is only 30 min and I really benefit from it and checking in at the scale. The best part of achieving this status means I have reached my goal weight and maintained it for 6 weeks. This alone is a challenge. But, I was smart enough to reach my goal weight the week after Thanksgiving. Thus giving me the opportunity to maintain through the holidays! This was a huge challenge, but I did it!

Now, I just have to maintain it for life, but I know I can do it. I said before that the best part was reaching my goal and maintaining it. But that is not true. I would not be where I am today without the love and support of my mom, my sisters Lisa and Hayley, Dennis, and Peggy (my other weight watchers buddy who says I am her inspiration). My Mom and Lisa weren't able to make it to Weight Watchers tonight because of school commitments. P.S. they are both lifetime members. At the end of the class they gave me my award. They held up a beautiful bouqet of roses and said that even though my mom couldn't be there that she wanted me to know that she was proud of me and was there in spirit. My mom has been my rock. She has gone with me to Weight Watchers every week for 1 year. When I didn't want to do it anymore (which was pretty much every time I gained) she would not let me quit. Whenever I had a bad week, I would call Lisa for my pep-talk. She would always tell me how far I had come and that I was going to do better the next week. Hayley always cheered me on and was always there when I needed someone to commiserate with. And Dennis always told me that he loved me no matter what. But that I looked way hotter now! Thanks babe! I love you so much and couldn't have done it without you.



We always did "net weight" at Weight Watchers. We took "the teams" gains and losses and added it together. If we came out with any weight loss we looked at it as we all lost! This wasn't a "legal" weight watchers way, but it sure made us feel better those weeks we didn't quite lose what we wanted to.

Weight loss has been a huge challenge but worth every minute. Not only do I look better, but I feel amazing! Some have asked for before and after pictures. Those are to come. Thank you to everyone who supported me along the way. I could not have done it without you.

New Years and an Apostolic Blessing

I really need to get back on the ball. I am only now getting to posting about New Years. For New Years Eve we celebrated with Mom, Dad, Dennis, Myself, Lisa, and Bryan. The grandkids were here to but they went to bed about 7 pm so they don't count. We decided to play Phase 10. This game has a special place in our heart. We played it just about every night when we went to Cancun in June of 2006. After Cancun Lisa affectionately called it "Skip Lisa." So it was really fun to play it together as a family again.



While we were playing cards we put on the cable oldies music channel. The challenge was to try to guess either the artist or the song name. Let's just say that Lisa was a fierce competitor, but I won that game. Mom was the all out winner of Phase 10 though. Good job Mom! I asked Lisa to take a picture with me and this is the hairstyle she decided to go with.



At 11:50 we woke my dad up and poured the sparkling cider. You have to toast the new year with something bubbly. Since we don't drink champagne, Apple Cider was the next logical choice.



It was so nice to ring in the new year with some of the people I love most.



The Sunday after New Years was fast Sunday. I hadn't been feeling well and went in to church feeling tired and overall less than thrilled to be there. I sat down and looked on the stand. Sitting there was none other than Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.



His daughter lives in our ward and he and his wife were babysitting for the weekend. What an honor to have an apostle in our presence and the spirit was definitely felt there. I think it was one of the most spiritual fast and testimony meetings I have ever been to. After everyone had a chance to bear their testimony he got up and spoke to us. It was amazing! He concluded with an apostolic blessing for us for the new year. It really was the best way to start the new year. I could not have asked for more. So here's to a great 2009!

Don't Speak

You may wonder why I am blogging at 8:40 am on a Thursday. Especially since I should be at work and don't have internet access at work. Well, the reason is a wonderful little thing called Laryngitis. Yup, I cannot speak. I went to work this morning at 7 since I am the only one there for the first hour. Luckily I only had 13 calls. Whew! Once the other receptionist got there they decided to send me home. I am headed to the doctor in a few minutes. Typically Laryngitis is a viral infection, but because I have been sick it may be due to a bacterial infection. I guess we will find out. But for future reference it sucks to have Laryngitis when your job is to answer phones.