New Beginnings

Well this week is the start of a few new things! I'll share all about them in just a minute.

Aubri gets so cold in our apartment that while we were
watching a movie, she put on her winter coat and a scarf!
I had to document that!!

Some proud accomplishments in the gym have been unfolding! Last week I went multiple days and was able to do 30-45 minutes on the elliptical followed by 15-20 minutes of swimming. Just accomplishing that is wonderful but then you add in the miracle that I didn't hurt massively the next day...makes this whole gym thing amazing! I love working out and I'm glad I've been able to lately. It helps relieve stress and tension and just feels good for all of me, my spirit, my body, my mind!

Last Saturday I used one of my Christmas presents. It came from Kayci and Preston! They paid for a 90 minute foot-zoning session for me. It was so cool! If you didn't know, there are zones in your feet that coorespond directly with different areas of your body. By massaging your feet and using essential oils you can stimulate different areas of your body. It can release tension, improve circulation, detox your body (clear out toxins),  give relaxation or energy, strengthen your immunce system, stablize emotions, among other things. I felt very refreshed afterwards and was actually quite surprised by the results and what I learned. As she was massaging my feet, certain areas that were extremely sensative cooresponded directly to pain I've been having in specific parts of my body. We worked the area of my neck pretty well and over the past 5 days, the pain in my neck has dereased significantly. I've decided that I'd like to continue to go but it'll have to wait a few weeks.



I started this week off by having a few friends over for a wonderful Sunday dinner. Aubri and I made lasagna and lemon squares and also cooked some ciabatta bread and asparagus. It turned out really delicious! We played games afterwards, chatted, and listened to Seth play guitar.



On Monday I had two friends from work over for one of their birthday's, Henry Kley. The Sunday night dinner had originally been a birthday dinner for him but he forgot about the Super Bowl...lame but we had a good time with out him. Grant and Henry Kley came over and we ate his birthday cake late. I had great intentions for his cake but a migraine hit and it took energy and time away from the cake. At least it still tasted good. It was a two layer chocolate cake with a strawberry filling. Happy 24th Birthday Henry Kley!!

Scary roads! I was going about
20 mph on the freeway!

Tuesday brought on whole new level of stress and preparation for my PHR Certification exam in May. I'm taking a prep course from a lady named Francis Humes. She is one of the best and has a 90% pass rate. It is every Tuesday night from 5:30-9:30! This Tuesday it decided to be nasty as I had to drive to the Larry H. Miller SLCC campus. But I made it safely to the building I needed to be in. During this first class we met each other, discussed the process to sign up for the exam, what to expect on the exam, created study groups, and took a pre-test. I failed, a big fat F! 31/68 a literal, very low, sad F! But so did most of the class. I have tons to study and practice and learn and I have to just take it one day at a time.

Watching Abduction with Aubri when I
should have been studying...oops!

Wednesday I started something new and exciting....a drawing/watercolor class!! It is at the Petersen Art Center in Sugarhouse. I had to put down a little more money than I was planning on supplies (and still didn't even get all of the colors of paint I was supposed to) but I can invest more gradually. These are real watercolors...not like those water color palets you buy at walmart! haha I like the class because everyone works on their own thing at their own speed. The teacher had me start out by practicing a few techniques. I blended colors to make other colors-learned which are complimentary next to each other, which are good to blend, and which colors make an ugly brownish-blackish color when you mix them. Then I practiced making colors less or more intense (dark red vs. light red or black vs. white). It was really interesting! Next week, I'm supposed to bring a picture of my own with either a lot of sky or water to start. I will start my first official, real watercolor project. I'll have some pictures next time!

Today I'm going to catch up on everything from this week. I'm going to make it to the gym! I'm going to study like crazy! It will be a crazy day but it will be great :) I have some fun things planned over the next few weeks and I will keep you updated on my exciting life!