Goals by Numbers : April

Play 1000 songs on the piano

I played 96!

Read 12 new books

Alright, I'm gonna count Anne of Green Gables because I finished it on like May 2nd or something. 

So 1 new book- which by the way, this might be my favorite book ever. It has brought so much joy! I LOVE this book. I have never laughed so much...I would constantly laugh out loud and Clay would be like, "What's so funny?" and I'd quote it and he would just roll his eyes and say, "Hun, that's not funny"...but trust me, it was hilarious.

Make 52 new recipes

Okay I totally did awesome on this one. I made 6 new recipes! I made these:

Balsamic Glazed Steak Rolls

Buffalo Chicken wraps

Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

Parmesan Garlic Quinoa

Orange Sesame Stir-fry

Blackened Chicken & Cilantro

  Balsamic Steak Rolls

I have to say that I really liked all of them. EXCEPT the Parmesan Garlic Quinoa. Can I tell you something? Pinterest can really be such a joke. I pinned this and someone had written with the pin, "You will never eat mac n cheese again!" I thought, wow...that'd be awesome...we love us some mac n cheese! Let me shed some light on this recipe- it in NO WAY resembles mac n cheese. Like...literally- there is NOT EVEN A COMPARISON. It was pretty much not good and Clay couldn't even handle one bite. Lame. But the rest were fantastic!

Have 12 memorable dates with Clay

We had one very memorable date where we went to Jurassic Park 3D! It was pretty exciting. 

 

I have to laugh because Clay and I barely ever shell out the big bucks for the big theater, we usually just wait for the bluray to come out and we watch it at home...but both of us just really wanted to see Jurassic Park in 3d so we decided, what the heck lets do it. It was super fun!

Read Genesis through 2 Kings of the Old testament

I finished Genesis! Meaning I read 30 chapters! Good for me. Can I tell you? The bible is CRAZY. There are so many stories of women being barren and then having their handmaids get pregnant instead and then them getting pregnant later and then each other getting jealous or whatever. Lots of craziness happening. But I have to say, Joseph in Egypt, that story is so awesome. I just love it. I LOVE how strong Joseph is and I think he is awesome. On to Exodus! 

RUNNING TOTALS:

236 songs played on the piano

3 new books read

19 new recipes made

2 memorable dates with Clay

Genesis read

I have to say, I am so proud of my progress in April! Hoping to make great strides in May as well. Till next time!

Gym rambling

I joined a gym. For any of you who are familiar with Idaho Falls, I joined Apple Athletic Club! I went to my first class tonight called PowerCut and LET ME TELL YOU- wowee I almost died. But in a good way. I was happy to be feeling that way. In the middle of the workout it donned on me that I was doing it, an hour long intense weights and cardio combo workout and I was DOING IT! Yeah, I had 2 pound weights (vs the billions of pounds everyone else had) and my step thing had only one riser thing on it and I did quit earlier than she told us to some of the time, but you know what? I was so proud of myself for what I did! And my muscles are all shakin...but in the good way where I know they were worked good. At one point I was seriously laughing out loud (no one could hear me...I don't think...cause the music was so loud) cause I thought that my muscles were possibly killing me. Let me just give you a mental image. There is a step, you lay on the ground and put your legs on the step. Then you put the bar with weights on the ends of it on your hips, then you thrust your hips in the air over and over and over. This may not sound like much, but THIS was what had me laughing out loud. Cause when she said things like "Yeah! Doesn't that feel great!" I just laughed cause it felt like my lower body was on fire.

Tomorrow is Kangoo! I will tell you how that one goes. But it involves wearing shoes like this:

So that'll be interesting. My friend Angie said that it was more cardio than Zumba, so it should be great!

Clay also joined a gym, not the same one! ha ha. He decided to join one that his friend from work goes to so that they could go together and help motivate each other. I like that idea cause I don't think Clay would be going to Kangoo and yoga and zumba and such with me. He probably would do PowerCut- there were quite a few men in there! But the others not so much. So this works out great.

I chose a great week to join the gym because on Saturday I was doing yard work and realized that I did probably two hours of squats from putting leaves in bags. I am so sore! That's okay though. I'm just that much more proud of myself for going to the gym today when my legs are already so sore.

Overall I am a very happy girl right now. I feel like Clay and I are in a good place and I just feel so grateful for everything I have. Especially the gospel. Lately I have just been reminded how blessed I am to have it and how much joy and peace it brings me! I am a blessed woman. I also have such amazing family. I was born into the best family ever and married into the next best! I'm not just saying that either. I couldn't ask for better family all around. Life is good and I expect it to just get better.

Well I will be blogging within the next few days about my progress in April for my goals by numbers and let me tell you- I did great this month!

Ta ta!

New Prints

So Makayla, my sister-in-law, just started her own hair practice in a salon and needed some decorations. She asked me if I would make her some prints using some quotes she liked. I came up with the above! I have never done one like the last one- and she showed me one that looked like that, but she didn't like all the quotes in it. So I just copy-catted the style and did her quotes and some others, and I LOVE it! In fact, Clay and I like it much better than the one I was inspired by! So I'm pretty proud of that one. Anywho, I am adding these to the free prints tab if you want to download them for yourself!

PS- I am still freaking OBSESSING with the Les Mis soundtrack. Seriously, any chance I get- I listen to it. It's just my favorite. So full of emotion. I pretty much listen to the whole thing at least once a day.

Goals by numbers: March

Play 1000 songs on the piano
35 songs played

Read 12 new books
1 book read. "Eat that Frog!" It was pretty good! I already am doing a lot of the things it suggests, but it's always good to refresh and get some new perspective. I am motivated more than ever and it emphasizes making lists a LOT. I love lists! Incase you haven't figured that out yet!

Make 52 new recipes
1 new recipe- Pesto Chicken- YUMMY!!!!

Have 12 memorable dates with Clay
None I feel that are up to this category's expectations....soon soon.

Read Genesis through 2 Kings of the Old testament
Another embarrassing month. I am on Genesis 20...meaning I read TWO CHAPTERS this month! Oh boy. 

RUNNING TOTALS:
140 songs on piano
2 new books
13 new recipes
1 memorable date with Clay
Genesis 1-19 read


Not the best month, but not the worst.


In other news- Clay surprised me with the Les Mis soundtrack for my bday (just one of my great gifts!), and I. AM. OBSESSED.


And I'm pretty sure it's impossible to listen to this soundtrack without BLASTING it. Gives me chills everytime.

Time Out For Women 2013

So I went to TOFW (time out for women) with Patty, Denise, Cheryl, Susan, and Becky. That is my mother-in-law, her three sisters, and one of her sister's friends. 

Me, Patty, Cheryl, Denise, Susan, Becky

I have to admit something to you. I was a bit nervous for this weekend. Last year I was kind of in a darker place in my life where I was feeling like I had it REALLY bad. I kind of feel like I was hangin on by a thread and so when I went to TOFW I literally came home and BAWLED. In a bad way. Not in an uplifted way, but in a way that made me feel like my life was never getting better. I mean, I got over it...but it wasn't the most uplifting experience for me at the time. 

I thought I'd give it another try this year because Patty invited me and well I will tell you- I AM SO GLAD I WENT! This year was FAR AND AWAY so much better than last year and I left feeling so so uplifted. So uplifted I went to work on Monday and told my co-workers all about it! I have to write some of my feelings because I don't want to forget this particular one.

The last speaker was amazing to say the least. She had cancer as a baby and had to have radiation. Apparently the radiation she had as a baby then caused her cancer again in her adult years, causing her to have five surgeries in five months in order to simply survive. Through her treatment she lost her eyesight, and had an entire eye removed. She had to have a bunch of tissue and things removed from her face and it left her blind, quite different looking, and depressed. Well...she didn't let it keep her down. First off, she found humor in it and was able to joke about her blindness and her fake eye.

Secondly, she was able to heal through the atonement. She talked about it in a way I hadn't quite connected with until now. She said that for the longest time she was so dark, so sad, so depressed because she was always thinking about who she was, and how she could be who she was before the cancer again. But there came a time when she realized she would never be that woman again. It was time to offer her old, broken heart to the Lord, and by doing so he then gave her a new heart to move on with. She said that THAT is the power of the atonement, to give Christ our broken hearts so that he can give us new ones that we can move on with. She said that she will never be the woman she once was, but she can be a new woman and have a wonderful life still if she lets herself move on, and accept this new heart. 

I love that. It relates so well for me because I feel like I have been stuck a lot the past few years in, "When will I get my old life back", when will I feel like me again, when will it be normal again. The truth is, my old life "before Lyme", is just that. My old life. I wont see it again. And that is okay. I can move on, build a new life that is still good, even better possibly, WITH Lyme. My life will never be the same, and I accept that. Every person has limits, every person has heart aches, it's what we do with them that matters. I am sick of wondering when I will get my life back, or when I will be able to "start" my life, or when things will be normal. None of those things are realities and it doesn't even have to be depressing. Think of the life ahead of me! So much good things in store. Another speaker there said, "Never say WHY ME? Always say WHAT NOW?" I have definitely asked myself Why ME?!?! So many times. No more. We ALL have storms. Even if I got cured of Lyme forever, I'd still get another storm. I feel like the trial has nothing to do with me, but I have everything to do with the "What now" part. What will I do now? Trials are always a crossroads. What direction will I let this trial take me in my life? Sometimes we can pick the wrong direction and get lost for a while...but I know if we look to the right source for direction (scriptures, prayer), we can always find our way back to the right path. 

TOFW was awesome. So many good speakers. Good music. Loved it. I've been thinking about it all week since I went. I figured I'd better share :)

25 in 25

Happy Birthday to ME! I love birthdays. I think mostly because I LOVE presents and I LOVE cheesecake. And I get both today! And I love saying to Clay, "But it's my birrrrthday...." with a pouty face and then he HAS to do whatever I'm asking :)

Anwho, today will be a great day. But what this post is about is my 25th year as Danielle. I have seen on a few blogs people will make lists of things they want to do before their next birthday. The list has the same amount of things as the years you turned. So, for me, I am making a list of 25 things I am going to do before I turn 26! YIKES! 26....that sounds old...haha! No worries, I'm still 25 for a whole year :) So without further ado, here is my list of 25 things I am going to do while I'm 25:

1. Ride my bike around the river
2. Do yoga everyday for a month
3. Go on a zipline
4. Float Mack's inn river
5. Go with Clay on the motorcycle to Mesa Falls
6. Grow a garden
7. Read a Jane Austen book
8. Make a blog book for each year that I've been blogging
9. Travel somewhere I've never been before
10. Have a friend over for brunch on one of my days off
11. Go to temple once a week for a month
12. Reupholster another chair
13. Paint another painting
14. Make a new quilt
15. Have a get together for Halloween time
16. Have a get together for Christmas time
17. Write a song
18. Have no sugar/treats from my birthday to Clay's
19. Plant flowers in our front yard and keep them alive
20. Go for a walk everyday for a month
21. Go rock climbing
22. Redecorate above the piano
23. Redecorate hallway
24. Give my neighbors and friends a Christmas gift
25. Write a book about my Lyme experience

Whoa nelly! So a lot of these are actually FEARS! Gardening, inviting people over, write a song, rock climbing, write a BOOK- these are actually all pretty big fears/anxieties of mine. A lot are just fun things too. But, I am determined! I think most of these will just be so fun, some will be growing experiences, some really hard- but I am determined to have the best year of my life so far. And I'm excited! I do really well with lists. The ones that I have set for like, "do X for a month" I'll just do one of those at a time. I'll probably talk more in detail about some of these later, but these are all things I've wanted to try for some time...so it will be great. And this is very much in line with my new determination to start DOING. Yay! I'm so excited. Happy Birthday to me and have a good day!

These are the exciting things in my life

 You have NO idea how happy Clay is that he can ride his bike. On another note, you have NO idea how bummed out he gets when there is a chance of rain or snow (yep, still getting snowfalls here and there). It's still much too cold for me to ride on the back of that thing...but give us a few weeks and I'm sure it'll be fine. I really am glad he got it cause he seriously is just SO happy every time he rides it.

 It's official. I HATE PITTING DATES. Oh my heck! Sam's Club will randomly sell these bags of pitted dates and I always stock up but I guess I didn't get back intime to restock my supply because the bags were GONE and all they had were these ones with the pits in them! Talk about a pain and a HALF! I mean, it's fine. Whatever. But really, I prefer my pits to be pitted for me, thank you very much.

I suppose it's worth it. My finished product- date balls (really homemade lara bars, or as Clay likes to call them, little turd balls...eyeyeyeye....). Have I talked about these before? I have no idea. The only ingredients are dates, almonds, and cocoa. They have saved me with my "no sweets" deal. Gives me enough to not give in to real treats :)

 

I have been slowly slowly slowly organizing my sewing room and the most recent organization is mini-bolts made out of cardboard. YAY! I actually went through my fabric and am giving away like...2 garbage sacks full of fabric I figure I will never use again. That's something to brag about, seriously. It's hard to get rid of fabric when you have a little devil Danielle in the back of your head saying, "But you might need that down the road for some project you haven't even thought of yet and then regret it!" NO MORE! I only kept fabrics that I could see actual projects in and I am only going to buy fabrics if it's for a project. This is great progress for me. Hopefully someday that room will be fully organized. I am convinced it will be by the end of April. That's my goal anyway. 

In other news, I went shopping with Patty and Makayla for my birthday and I am SO excited because I am getting some CA-UTE clothes!

I can't believe it's only Wednesday. Feels like tomorrow should be Friday. Deary me. Well, like I said, these are the most exciting things of my life right now. I am having a hard time doing too much stuff outside of work right now because my brain gets pretty dead tired by this time of tax season. Only a bit to go and I couldn't be happier. 

Till next time!