Our First Year

Lee and I got a little apartment in Orem. We call it our ghetto place. We were one of the few white people in the area. We had lots of fun there though. A funny memory we have is getting locked out of our apartment one night after doing a late night Wendy's run. It was funny to watch Lee break into our place at midnight. Luckily, we were able to get back in. A few highlights from our first year are:

• I got to trade in my jeep for a Toyota Tundra, for my bday. I loved that truck so much, I miss it!


• We bought our first house in December of '04.


• We got our first dog, Niner.


• I got pregnant with Tyra in Feb. of '05

We didn't do much to celebrate our first anniversary, because I was sick with my pregnancy. We just went to dinner and a movie, but it was fabulous!

The Honeymoon

Lee and I had a great honeymoon. Lee's dad planned and paid for our honeymoon. We were so very grateful for that. He gave us an itinerary and we were on our way. We left on a Monday and came back on Friday. Our first night we camped at Lake Medicine in the La Sal Mountains. I remember I was so scared that night because Lee would tell me stories about when he would camp there as a kid and bears would come into the campground. I am scared of bears. I couldn't sleep at all that night because every little sound I heard I thought it was a bear. Good times! Lol. The next night we spent at a bed and breakfast in the La Sal mountains that a friend of Lee's family owns. Then we went on to Silverton, CO. We rode the train from Durango to Silverton. It was my first train ride. When we got to Silverton, we spent the day walking around discovering the town. We stayed in this old fashioned hotel. We finally got hungry around 8:00 pm at night, only to find out that the entire town shuts down at like 6:00 pm. All the restaurants were closed, even the one in the hotel. And this hotel didn't have vending machines or anything. We were starving. We still laugh about this night to this day. We went to bed early, just so that morning would come sooner so that we could eat. Lol. The next day we ate, walked around Silverton a little more and took the train back to Durango. We stayed in Durango that night in a KOA cabin. The next day we headed for Moab. We stayed the night at a hotel. We headed back home the next day. Remembering all these things is so hard. I don't remember much about our honeymoon at all. I know that we had fun, and being together was wonderful, and that is all that really matters! :)

Too Fat for Fifteen

I love the show Too Fat for Fifteen. The kids on the show are incredible. I especially love Tanisha, she is so inspiring! On the other hand though, the parents of these teens bother me. They send their child away to this "fat camp" because they know that their child is overweight and wants to help them get healthy, right? My question is, why don't the parents support their child while they are on this journey of getting healthy? On the show the kids get to go home every once in a while for a weekend or so. While the kids are at home, the parents are either complaining about the healthy food, or won't eat healthy food, or provide unhealthy food for the rest of the family and that child is supposed to figure out what to eat on their own. Really??? I imagine these camps are very expensive, and if you are sending your child away to one in order to help them get to a healthy goal weight, why won't they support the child in this? Why can't the parents educate themselves on healthier eating, and be a STRONG support system. Show the child that you are here for him/her. It just doesn't make sense to me. It really bothers me. Here is an example of an episode I was watching today: Scotty went home for a weekend. His parents were doing a fundraiser to help pay for Scotty to continue going to this "fat camp". They were doing an auction and providing food. Here's the catch, the food they are providing is pulled pork bbq sandwiches, hot dogs, potato salad, chips. Not one thing on this menu is healthy. If you were trying to send your son to a place to get healthy and want people to take you seriously about it, wouldn't you provide healthy food? Also, she provided Scotty with "healthier" hot dogs. Well, as most people know, when there is temptation around, and no one watching you, its pretty easy to give in to the temptation. Scotty's mom isn't educated in healthy eating, I believe. I think she needs to educate herself, because she is making a fool out of herself in this show. I honestly cannot stand her. Everytime Scotty gets to go home, he comes back to the camp gaining weight. I had to get this out of my head and written down. I really love this show, but I really can't stand most of the parents on the show. Thanks for letting me vent out my frustrations!

Insanity-Phase 2

OUCH!!!! I have started the second phase of insanity, and "ouch" is all I can say! I am so sore!! The workouts are hard and fast, and I am using muscles that apparently I haven't used in a while because they are sore. When I did the first four weeks of Insanity, I was never sore. The workouts were hard, but afterwards I had energy throughout the day and I felt fine. I am in my second day of the second phase and I can hardly walk because my bum hurts, and I could barely lift my arms to do my hair and make-up because they hurt. Everything hurts. Its a good hurt, don't get me wrong, but I am definitely feeling the workout this go around. I do still have lots of energy to get me through the day, which is a must-need to chase around Paisley and Tyra. All I can say is Insanity is definitely my workout program of choice from now on. I have never experienced this type of workout, but I am loving every minute of it!! I just hope I can move my body tomorrow so I can continue this workout!!

The Engagement/Wedding

I wrote about how we met, our dating period, and now on to the engagement and wedding. In February (not on Valentine's Day) of 2004 is when Lee proposed to me. He took me for a ride and we ended up at the Provo Temple (remember this is where we went that first Sunday that we met). We walked around talking about that first day. Lee then told me that while we were here that first day, he knew that I was going to be his wife. Then, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! Of course I started to cry and I said YES! We were engaged for 6 months. I tried really hard not to be a "Bridezilla". And for the most part, I really don't think I was. I really wasn't into details at the time. I just wanted something simple, but looked nice. My mom made the centerpieces and some of the flower arrangements, and planned most of the wedding. She is amazing! We were married July 10, 2004, in the Mount Timpanogas Temple. I honestly don't remember a whole lot from that day. It seemed to have all happened so fast. I remember that it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day (I chose to be married in the summer, my favorite season) We were sealed in the morning, took photographs around the temple afterwards, had our luncheon at Los Hermanos in Lindon, and had the reception that night in Payson. The wedding colors were black, red and pink. My bridesmaids were my sister, Shantel, and my roomies Heidi, and Linzee. The groomsmen were my brother, Scott, and Lee's brother Mike. A lot of people came out to celebrate with us, which was wonderful and touching. One of my favorite memories from that day was at my reception. My job at that time was working at the Day Training program for Danville Services. I was touched that many of the individuals that I worked with were able to come to my reception. It meant so much to me!! One of them even sang to Lee and I as she came through the line. It was awesome!! That night we stayed at the Somewhere Inn Time bed and breakfast in Lindon. We opened the wedding gifts the next day at my parent's house. And there you have it folks, our engagement and wedding!

The "Dating" period....

After that first Sunday, Lee and I spent every day together. Our first "real date" was the following Friday. We went to a Chinese Restaurant, and then we went to the movies and saw Finding Nemo. After spending that first week together, we knew that we were "the ones". We dated for 9 months. We had a lot of fun during this time getting to know each other. Things that I learned about Lee, that I still find funny to this day, is that he was the only fourth grader in his class, he and his family found interesting ways to stayed entertained living in such a small town. We also enjoyed going on walks in the park, where one time he sang to me, and it was so funny and cute. A day we both remember! I also learned that Lee cannot drive in the city. I got anxiety whenever he would drive, so I did most of the driving. :) (Actually, I still do most of the driving) One memorable date that we will never forget happened in June of 2003. We went down to the Manti Pageant. On the way down, Lee got pulled over for speeding. After the pageant, we were going to go through Gunnison to head back instead of getting stuck in the traffic through Manti and Nephi. We got half way to Gunnison and ran out of gas. It was late at night, and our cell phones didn't work where we were. A car pulled over and offered to take us back to Manti to get some gas and bring us back to our car. On the way we found out the the men that pulled us over were a little tipsy. I was scared to death. They also looked a little rough. We got to Manti and back to the car safely (I was praying the entire time). I had to drive my car back to Manti to fill it up. As, I pulled into the gas station, I got a ticket for speeding. By this time is was 1:00 am on Friday morning. We both had work that day. It was quite the day. We enjoyed dating for those 9 months and getting to know each other.

AND THE WINNER IS....

I know its the moment you have all been waiting for........ The winner of the 12 week contest is Marshall!!!! Marshall's weight gaining story goes like this: He met, fell in love with and married a beautiful woman who knows how to cook, I mean she really knows how to cook. You should check out her recipes on her blog that she posts, YUMMY! He also started going to school full time while working full time doing the grave yard shift, and he did this for two years straight!! Definitely no time for working out. He knew he needed to get into shape and lose the weight. I announced on facebook that I was going to do this contest, and Marshall wrote me and told me he wanted to do this. He already had planned his workouts, and meals to eat, he just needed that extra motivation, and someone to check in on him weekly (I am sure my weekly e-mails got annoying!). For the 12 weeks of the contest Marshall did P90X. He ate healthy meals (which his wife cooks, she also wanting to eat more healthy and provide healthy meals for their family), he also hit some plateaus along the way, where he figured out the exact amount of calories that he needed to take in, stayed on track and every week he lost weight. Starting weight: 209 Ending weight: 187! He lost a total of 22 pounds, 10.5% of his body weight. He also lost 7 inches of fat off of his body! So incredible!! Marshall is also the only person I know that has fully completed P90X. His next project is to take on Insanity (YAY!) I am so proud of him! I also am proud of the other contestants who participated. One contestant is doing her first triathalon today! I am so proud of her for it, and I know that she will do a great job!! I can't wait to hear from her later today! I want to thank everyone for participating. I am glad to have gotten to know each person, and build friendships out of this! Thanks everyone!!