It's Worth It!

Halfway through January, it is crazy how days can seem so slow yet time passes so quickly overall.

Well, I have signed up for an month of art classes, we'll see if I can improve my drawing skills. I'm excited for that! I was working on a sailboat this week and I can do it but I think if I have some professional direction on some of the basics of drawing again, I could be so much better!

The past week, I found out that I used up all of my PT visits through insurance. So I'm now on this home excerise regimend. It is just not as effective but I'm going to push through and do what I can. I'm going to the gym to swim and try to get some elliptical and bike workouts in. My friend, Nate, just showed me some stretches he does every morning. He's been pain free for 2 years just from doing these stretches. He was actually able to run a 1/2 marathon! So I'm going to start tonight and see if there is any improvement. I would love to run and hike and play again!

I've officially begun my studying for my human resources certification. There is a huge test in May that I'll be taking. As I've been taking time for studying, I wonder how I did this all day, every day, for most of my entire life!! After an hour of diligent studying my brain and body try to tell me that I've done enough and I need to relax now. It is going to take a little while to get back into the study mode, I once lived in. I'm hoping it'll kick in soon because I am a little behind on my study schedule already. Soon enough, I guess.

Last Saturday, Aubri and I went to the Bountiful temple to do baptisms. It was beautiful and the first time either of us had done baptisms there. Everything went smoothly and it was a visit we both needed! A great relief to just step away from the world and feel some peace. I also started Temple Prep on Sunday evening, which was fantastic.

I've started to play piano officially for the ward choir. We're starting off with the "Homeward Bound" song. It is beautiful! BUT it is a 4-handed piece. I'm supposed to be playing with a guy in the ward but he wasn't able to come to the practice this last Sunday. I'm thinking he better be here this Sunday because we're supposed to sing in Sacrament Meeting the next week. Him not being there brough a little stress to me but I'm doing okay now. If that song isn't ready we'll be singing "Abide with me" which is a hymn so I'm perfectly confident in playing that hymn. This kid who has been playing will be getting married in March and I guess I'm just taking over for him. I love playing so I'm excited.

I also had a couple of game nights this week. Wednesday night, I went and hung out with Adam. We got pizza and he introduced me to a few things. First, Sherlock. The TV show is on Netflix and I really enjoyed it! Second, playing Tetrus against someone! I've only played against myself before and didn't think I was too bad. But with Adam playing against me, I caused our games to lack in the length department. I felt bad but it was still fun. The last thing he introduced me to was, Street Fighter. It is a video game that I was skeptical about but it was a lot of fun. I wouldn't play all the time but a night here and there is just fine. We enjoyed ourselves for the evening. Then on Thursday night, we had our new friends, Nate and Seth, along with Henry Kley over to play games. We had a ball!

I found a quote that I liked and thought I'd share it. I believe it is for weight loss but if you substitute "body" for "mind," "spirit," etc. I think it can be applied to any goal you are trying to acheive:

"It will hurt. It will take time. It will require dedication. It will require willpower. You will need to make healthy decisions. It requires sacrifice. You will need to push your body to its max. There will be temptation. But, I promise you, when you reach your goal, it's worth it."

Welcome 2014

Well it is 2014 another year to take steps to be a better person as well as screw up and try again and again.

The past couple of months I've begun to draw and paint a little. My painting is just water colors and it is usually just a stress relief tool-they never look good but I don't really care. My drawings have actually been better than I had ever expected when I took on the task of developing a new talent. Here are two that I've done.






 Drawing has been really fun. I'm sticking to landscapes and buildings and such-no people or animals at this moment in time. I think those will be a ways down the road.If you have ideas of what else I should draw, I'd love any suggestions! One of my goals for this year is to learn one new technique per month and try to get two sketches done per month.






In December, I took a trip to St. George to visit my dear friend, Franchesca. We went to a house to see their Christmas lights. You tuned your radio to a certain station and then the lights flashed to the music. It was one of the coolest things ever. We ended up staying there for close to 45 min and then came again the next night to show Mamma Rosie as well; there were about 9 songs that they played through. 

A favorite pass time in St. George is going up to some red rocks and exploring. There are great views and fun climbing. We found this really cool old "house" there was an old firepit built into the far wall. I had some fun in there. There was a large rock that looked like a snake-so of course I had to have a picture of it "eating" me.



Some other St. George adventures included going to the Tuacahn Theater and watched a live nativity put on by a local ward there. It was a nice little presentation. We also went to the St. George Temple. We did baptisms. The first attempt failed-it was a very long wait. So we went to the movie Frozen (LOVED IT!!) and then went back to the temple. We went right in and it was a fantastic experience. Mamma Rosie treated us to the most amazing donuts at a place called the Fractured Prune. You get to create your own custom donut or you can pick from their specialty donuts. I had one that had a cherry glaze with coconut and chocolate chips on top. I can't remember the name but it was divine! St. George was a success!



Over Christmas we had a fun "Grandpa and Grandkids Movie Night" we watched  Dispicable Me 2. It was pretty good and we enjoyed ourselves for the evening. The rest of Christmas was fun hanging out with the family and eating lots of yummy food.






I brought in the New Year with Adam (he's the one I went to Savior of the World with from the last post). We watched Netflix and ate Cafe Rio. We also youtubed Dubai's new year celebration. It was pretty dang impressive. You should watch this clip it was just amazing.



On New Year's day, I slept in and then went and hung out with Chante'. We went and saw Frozen again (still love it :)), enjoyed a lovely breakfast lunch at Denny's, and then wandered around Quilted Bear for a long time! We read some awesome quote boards, took great pictures and were definitely ready to go before we finished looking at everything.

 

The next day my amazing friend, Matthew, moved to SLC. I helped him move in and then we hung out and chatted. I'm so excited to have him down here now. We'll have some great adventures soon, I'm sure! Since then, I've had my roommates slowly come home from the break, played some games, did a little more drawing, made way too many goals to actually accomplish, and relaxed while watching a new favorite show, Chuck.

Here's to more frequent blog posts for 2014 and to accomplishing all and more than what we want to this year!

At Tuacahn for live Nativity