Beautiful January

Five years ago today, Rowdy and I were sealed in the Jordan River Temple.  It was kind of an overcast, freezing day outside, but we were warmed on the inside by the beautiful celebration.

Six days ago, our lovely daughter and a wonderful young man were sealed in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple.  It was a sunny, not-so-freezing day.  It was the most beautiful, testimony-strengthening, instructive sealing I have ever attended.  The Jo-Jo's love and consideration for each other was evident, and I have no doubt that they will continue to grow in love and strength as a couple.

Don't ever fall asleep on Grandma's couch when there is a My Little Pony and a puckish aunt nearby.

Just too handsome to be the father of the bride.

Well, maybe these two got some of his looks and fashion sense.

The happy couple at dinner on the eve of their wedding.  They did not seem the least bit anxious, just excited to get on with their life together.

Torturing a little brother is a good way to get over the sting of the MLP episode.

Three sharp-looking Bricco men on wedding day.

Lezlie, Terry and their children.  I love Tory's jacket and boots.

"Did the picture turn out okay?"  "Yes!  Looks great!"  Uh, yeah.  I'm glad that the official photographer got this shot.

Me and my guys.

A boy's best friend is his grandma.

Me, my SILs and MIL.

First kiss outdoors as a married couple.

Yahoo!  (Man, it's bright out here!)

That dress was just perfect for her.

Winter wonderland.

Linda and Katie dropped by to say hi.

And so did Jenny and Jan-Erik.  I love my Felt Sisters!

Channelling My Inner Rocker Chick

One of the fun things about visiting my in-laws is the jam sessions that take place at least every other night.  Terry is an accomplished musician, as is Tyler, and when all of the in-laws are around, they are very generous about pulling in anyone who wants to join the band.  My nephew, Jaiden, is studying the drums, and he gets great teaching from Uncle Tyler.  I just don't have the four-limb coordination to do well on the drums, but I gave the bass a try at this jam after Jo-Jo's wedding dinner.

That's Jamie on the drums.  He's pretty good, too.

Tyler giving me some pointers.

Doing Things Differently

Last night, I came home from a planning meeting, and I just wanted to vent.  My husband, however, shut that down immediately (how annoying is that?).  Then he went away for a bit, leaving me to be tearful and even more irritated.  When he returned, we had a calm conversation.

He said that he has observed over the past six years that I try to solve problems by "doing more", but that usually leads to more frustration because I'm just butting my head against the wall.  Maybe I should try doing things differently, not more intensely. 

Of course, he's right.  As annoying as it is not to be able to just vent, it really is better to do something constructive that isn't going to make me feel even more upset and won't solve the underlying problem.

In my considering what I'm going to do differently,one thing I have decided is that I can put a little bit of time in and get ahead of the curve with my particular duties.  I've spent the last six months letting myself feel overwhelmed by what seems to be the enormity of this particular job on top of my day job and everything else that I want or need to do.  I'm good at being completely inert or using lots of non-essential busywork disguised as planning to put off directly confronting a task. 

There are more things that I can and will do differently.  If it is appropriate, I will share any successes I have in the future.

Dreaming

R and I are planning our summer trip.  We're thinking of driving around Southern Norway, then going to a MotoGP race in Spain, then spending 3-4 days in Israel.  Can we get all of that in?  I hope so!

Do You Know the Muffin Man?

Julie McA.shared with me how her workplace does a thing called The Muffinman.  It's like an Ironman, but you have seven consecutive days to complete the challenge.  Here's the basic rundown:


1.  Pick your own 7 day consecutive period.  (They had a deadline of October 1 last year.)
2.  During  your designated 7 day period, run 26.2 miles, bike 112 miles, and swim 2.4  miles.  Split it up however you want over the 7 days.  (If necessary, you can  hike, walk, use an elliptical machine, or find some other appropriate  substitution for the 26.2 mile run, as long as it equals ambulating 26.2 miles).
3.  If you are a whiny crybaby and you  just don't like to swim, you have to do it anyway.  Yes, you can wear water wings.
4.  Log your own miles.  And remember, lying gnaws at your soul.
5.  Bask in your muffinman glory.

The woman who organized the challenge designed t-shirts, plus they had a party afterwards. 

I am not saying that I will make and distribute t-shirts, host a party or give special prizes for people who complete the challenge in three days.  But I do think that The Muffinman is something I want to try.  Anybody else want in?  I don't know...maybe I could be persuaded to give prizes or t-shirts or something if enough people are interested.  I could call you and say, "(Your name here), YOU are a MUFFINMAN!"


Now, to choose my Muffinman week.

Lists

I like lists.  I like quantifying things, cataloging things, checking things off.  Sometimes, it's just making the list for the sake of just making the list, like when I make a grocery list and then leave it on the kitchen counter.

A few of the lists rattling around in my head right now:

1)  packing list for Utah--I will need wedding festivity clothes, temple clothes, clothes to run in, snowboarding clothes, a swimsuit for the hot tub, and things to keep me relatively warm and dry in the Utah weather.  This will take at least two suitcases, meaning $100 in bag fees.  We will be there for over a week, so no getting around it.

2)  grocery list--things to get me through the next week.  I have been doing Weight Watchers for two weeks.   The goal is not only to lose a little bit of weight, but to make a change in the choices I make.  It's going fine.  Two pounds down so far.

3)  workout lists--training for the half, as well as swimming and cycling.  Stay tuned for the "Muffin Man" challenge.  Also, I have to figure out how to use all of the Groupon I purchased for Pure Barre.  What is that, you ask?  It's Pilates in Hell, basically.  I thought that I would be all over it, but it turns out that my lower abdominal and iliopsoas muscles are very weak, and you use those a lot in this class.  So I want to keep going to get stronger, but once my Groupon is used up, I'm going to have to reassess.  What I definitely want to do is go back to Fun Pole classes.  Those are tons of fun and good for the abs and hip flexors.

4)  spiritual development lists--Personal Progress for the YW for me and the girls, scripture study plans, YW planning, going to the temple for inspiration....So much to do!

Welcome, 2012!

2012 Young Women's Theme.  It's a good personal theme, too.

Man, 2011 was a long year.  Didn't it feel more like three years?  It seems like that long since I went to Vancouver and Whistler with my sister, Karen.  It seems like more than that long since Rowdy busted out with fistulas. 

This year will be better.  This month alone will bring lots of family time with the Bricco side as we get together to celebrate Jordan and Josh's wedding.  Rowdy is getting a little better every day, and I expect that will continue for the rest of the year.  Keiler will be going on a mission in the next few months.  Max will...well, we're hoping Max achieves great things this year, too.

What about me?  Well, I do have some spiritual, physical and professional goals.  I have signed up for the Salt Lake Half Marathon, April 21st, and I'm sure that I'll do the Rock 'n' Roll Tri again.  I am going to keep working to magnify my Young Women's calling.  I hope to be able to take some education leave from work and get some good CMEs in. 

And really, really, I want to go on a great trip abroad with Rowdstar.  We've been skunked as far as our plans so far, but we WILL make it work.