November

Better get me in a blog post for November before the day is over in a couple hours. This month flew by. I don't even know where it went. I don't even know what happened during part of it... just school and work is mostly what I do these days. I had a cold the first part of the month and a cough for most of the month. The cough is pretty much mostly gone now, thank goodness! I am so ready for this semester to be done! Just 2 more weeks from now and I will be ALL done! I will make a new post after it's done about how I did, but right now it's pretty crazy... and I'm only taking 2 classes! Jeff's grandma passed away a couple weeks ago and her funeral was a week ago from yesterday. It was sad but it was a really good funeral service. Jeff and I had a 4-day weekend for Thanksgiving. We had my family over to our place on Thanksgiving Day and it was the first time ever that Jeff and I cooked a turkey and it turned out pretty good! The break from school and work was a much needed break, but it went by so fast that I wish I had more of a break already. In a few weeks, though, we'll have two 3-day weekends in a row with Christmas and New Year's. I can't wait! Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to everyone!

Tired Week!

I've been tired this week! I haven't been getting very much sleep so far this week. I work full-time, I take a couple classes, among other things I'm busy with. And I might be coming down with a cold. :( Being sick is no fun! Despite being really tired, I think I might have aced another math test. :) I really, really like this teacher, even though she goes kind of fast in the "lectures" she does (most of my notes look like chicken scratch) and she assigns a ton of homework, which takes me a long time to do sometimes. But her tests are SO much easier than the homework and she hands out a review before each test and goes over the review right before the test on test day, so the information is fresh in my memory. She's teaching the next highest math class next semester and Jeff still needs that class, so we decided we'd take that one together. It'll be the ONLY class we'll be able to take together because our majors are so different (he's in Elementary Education and I'm in Accounting).

Anyway, I am writing this post from my very own laptop! A couple weeks ago, Jeff's sister was shopping for a laptop since the one she had was 5 years old. Jeff and I went with her when she went to buy one from Best Buy. She got a Dell laptop with a pink cover. The past little while, I've thought about getting a laptop of my very own to use mainly in future classes I take. And I think the color of the cover sold me... PINK! We went back to Best Buy a couple days after Jeff's sister bought the last one they had in the store, so we had them order one in and we picked it up a week later (last Saturday). I now have my very own laptop that is a girl laptop. :D It'll be fun having my very own laptop.

No Less, No More

The past month or so, I really haven't been trying to lose weight, like I did earlier this year and this past summer. I just eat almost whatever I want now. I've weighed myself maybe twice this past month and haven't gained a pound. That makes me happy that I don't have to lose pounds I've already lost. Jeff has told me before something that's called a "set point" weight... a weight which your body maintains. I lost about 25 pounds a couple years ago for the cruise we went on with Jeff's family. After the cruise, I ate very horribly and gained it all back, plus 5 more pounds. I hated being the weight I was when I gained it all back. So the beginning of this year, I weighed myself and made a New Year's resolution to lose that weight again. It's been a slow process (because I still like food!), but I've been about to lose about 20 pounds so far this year. 10 more pounds and I will be at the weight I was on the cruise. I'd love to lose that before the end of the year, but we'll see if that happens or not (maybe 5 pounds will be good enough). Then next year, I'll make a new New Year's resolution to lose a little more. I would like to be around 130 pounds, so I still have a little ways to go still. :) Anyway, I'm wondering how I am maintaining my current weight. I haven't exercised regularly for over a month and I just eat whatever. I'm wondering if it was all the exercise I did over the summer... over 100 miles of running/walking on the treadmill between May 31 and the end of August. I wish I had time to run/walk more these days, but I'm so busy with work and school and I still need my sleep!

I'm hoping this post will motivate me to lose at least 5 more pounds before the year is over. We'll see .... :)

Only Post for September

I should probably get in a quick post before the month is over (so I can have at least one post per month). Life has been crazy! Good, but crazy! School started the end of August. I'm taking a math class (Intermediate Algebra) and a computer class (learning about computers and different programs on computers and stuff). I've taken 3 tests in math so far, making 100, 98, and 100. We get to drop 2 out of 8 tests for the semester, so I'm doing very well so far! In my computer class, they said if we're in the school of business (which I am with my accounting major), we need at least 80% on every test. I was so nervous getting ready for the first test which we took this past Monday. But I studied as much as I could (I probably could have done a little better, though) and I made a 91.8%. I was so relieved and so happy that I did that well on it!

I became team leader again at my work almost a month ago. I've been enjoying it (on the most part) so far and still enjoy the flexible hours with my job so I can go to school.

It's been 11 years ago today since I entered the MTC (Missionary Training Center) to train in becoming a good missionary for my church. If I had the time, I'd find and scan a photo taken of me in the Carson Valley area in Nevada (an area a little south of Carson City, which is a little south of Reno) during winter with snow on the ground. That one was probably my best picture of me from my mission. Maybe I'll find it sometime and scan it to put on here. But it's crazy that it's been 11 years! I'm getting old!!!

Well, one more long day of work with an evening class, then a shorter work day on Friday, then the weekend! I look forward to each and every weekend and especially looking forward to this weekend with General Conference!

I'm a slacker!

I haven't used the treadmill since my birthday 2 weeks and 1 day ago. I guess I needed a break. And I won't be doing a 5k in a couple months, either. I know, I know... I'm a SLACKER!!! School just started this past week and I'm taking a couple classes, along with my full-time job. But... I did a Turbo Jam workout this morning. I haven't used Turbo Jam since I started using the treadmill in early June. Maybe I can run a 5k with my sister next 4th of July (which is the Freedom Run, I think). We'll see what happens.

10 miles in 2 days

Wow, my legs are tired and sore! After being gone camping a week, then taking most of the next week off from the treadmill, I have a little bit of catching up to do if I'm going to hit 200 miles for my work thingy by Labor Day. Can I do it? We'll see. But here are my times for today and yesterday's 5K and 5 mile times on the treadmill.

5K (3.1 miles)

Yesterday - 48:07
Today - 44:36

5 miles

Yesterday - 77:59
Today - 77:22

A little bit of an improvement for the 5 miles, but I was happy with the 5K time. I don't think I want to try to improve that tomorrow (I may just go 3 or 4 miles tomorrow). Today was really hard and I got tired a lot. Better not push myself too much.

I'm thinking (just thinking) about running a 5K with my sister Rebecca later this month. I'm not sure I want to do that one since it's still summer and I hate the heat. There's one on October 30 that I will probably definitely go for with Rebecca. Better keep it up on the treadmill, even after Labor Day! :-)

New Look

I need to change the look of my blog every once in a while... also gives me an excuse to post a blog entry since I don't as often as I used to. I can't believe how my blog posts are becoming fewer and far between. In 2008, I made 88 posts, last year I made 36, and this is the 20th post this year so far. Maybe it's 'cause our lives are kinda boring since all we do is work and go to school and play on our computers or play outdoors in our spare time. Anyway, I kinda like this new look for my blog, so I'll probably keep it for a while.

I can't believe how fast the summer has gone by so far! It's already August 1st! I kinda like the summer to fly by, though, because I'm not a big fan of the heat. My favorite seasons are spring and fall and I wish they lasted longer here in Utah. Oh well.

There's 12 more days till my birthday. This year, it's on Friday the 13th. It's cool to have a birthday on Friday the 13th every 6 years because of the day being superstitious to some people. I don't think it's superstitious, though... nothing bad ever happens to me, although I hope I didn't just jinx myself. :-) I haven't decided yet if I'll work four 10-hour days that week or just work as much as I feel like and use less than a day of vacation hours. But I think I will take that day off... 'cause who wants to work on their birthday?

Camping

I am not a very big fan of camping... at least for several days. But all last week, we were up in the mountains with Jeff's family and a lot of his extended family. We were up there for exactly one week, but I was ready to come home after 5 days. I just hate feeling dirty, but I'm grateful for Jeff's parents letting me use their little shower in their 5th wheel camper. I also hate the bugs, especially those big pine beetles that are very harmless except for the heart attacks they give me. One day, there was one on my shoe and I let out a girly scream. The good things about going camping was that I had a whole week off work (and only used 32 vacation hours because we had Friday off for Pioneer Day, which was technically on Saturday), we were up in the mountains away from the rat race of where we live and work, and I got to catch up a little bit on my sleep, which was way nice. I think I got about 9-10 hours of sleep most nights.

One of Jeff's cousins bought a motorhome for really cheap and we've been talking about maybe looking for one. It would be super nice for when we went camping. But would we use it any other time? We'll have to decide.

It was hard going back to work on Monday. But we're now back in the grind. Maybe I'll take work off on my birthday in a couple weeks, which is on Friday the 13th this year. I'll have to decide if I want to work a shorter day or just take the whole day off.

I also got back on the treadmill today after a couple weeks of not using it. I need to keep at it. I might sign up for one or two 5k's coming up next month and in October and run them with my sister Rebecca, but I haven't decided for sure yet.

No More Leg Pain

It's about 2:30 a.m. and I'm not too tired. I fell asleep in the early afternoon and didn't wake up till evening and had about a 6-hour nap, I think one of the longest naps I've had in a long time. I was just THAT tired! Anyway, as of my last post, I am now into running/walking on the treadmill, probably even more than before. I took a break from the treadmill for about a week to rest my legs and since then, they really haven't hurt at all. I'm guessing they were hurting because I hadn't used those muscles and then I sort of pushed myself too hard and they got hurt. I'm sometimes doing more than I was before and they don't hurt now. :-) Soon after I woke up from my nap, I ran/walked 4 miles and I jogged half of it (in intervals, of course). I love the feeling of stretching my hamstrings and calf muscles before and after exercising on the treadmill. It feels SO good!

In one week, we'll be going camping for about a week up in the mountains. I'm not the biggest fan of camping (maybe 'cause I hate feeling dirty), but this year I'm looking forward to it more than usual, maybe because I really need a break from work and I need to catch up on my sleep. Just one more week of work left before we get out of this "Happy Valley" rat race!

Leg Pain

At my work for the past few years they have what's called Backstage 100 (like the Wasatch 100 here in Utah) where we add up miles if we run or walk, ride a bike, swim, or lose weight. Running/walking we count 1 mile for each mile, biking we count 1 mile for every 3 miles, swimming we count 3 miles for every 1 mile, and losing weight we count 5 miles for every pound lost. In the past, it started on the 4th of July and lasted until Labor Day, but this year it started earlier on Memorial Day and ends on Labor Day. I was doing really good on the walking/running part (on our treadmill) for the first couple weeks, but then about 1 1/2 weeks ago, I guess I pushed myself a little too hard and my inner legs a couple inches below my knee cap started hurting. I figured I just got sore from running too much, so the few days after, I just did some speed walking. But my legs continued to hurt, so I decided to take a break and just lose some pounds to count miles. I've lost about 5 pounds so far this month, but I'm slacking a little bit now (I'm just glad I haven't gained those 5 pounds back). My legs still hurt and have been taking Advil every once in a while and I bought some Icy Hot yesterday which helps ease the pain a little bit. Basically, my left leg hurts the worst and it hurts when I lift it or lower it while it's bent (like going up and down the stairs). It doesn't really hurt when I lift my leg when it's straight. I THINK my legs might be starting to feel better (I hope!), but I just need to give it time. I want to start running (even speed walking!) again, but don't want to until I don't hurt anymore. Then I'll start out really slow and work my way up. I was even starting to like running!

I am done with Farmers Market (selling my jewelry). I went this past Saturday with my dad and brother and only sold $9. I just don't make enough there to make it worth spending over half my Saturday away from home. I am going to try the Pleasant Grove Promenade starting in July on Thursday evenings with Jeff's mom and sister (his sister was saying the least she made there last year was $40... I'd take $40!). Then there's some craft thing at Thanksgiving Point that my dad and brother might do in August and September that I might do with them. I'll be going to those ones just to try to get rid of my stuff because I think I'm done making jewelry. There's just too many people who make jewelry and I can't compete with them all. It was fun while it lasted, though. I might even be able to make something for myself that I would actually wear.

In other news, my sister Rebecca and I applied for a couple temporary scanning technician positions that would be in London, from mid-July till about Labor Day. We thought it would be really fun to go there, and since Rebecca works in the scanning department and has been on a couple on-site trips before (in the states), we thought we might have a really good chance to go. We had our interviews last Thursday and I was incredibly nervous (like I always am in job interviews). There were almost a dozen applicants and a couple other people were chosen to go. I wanted to go, but another part of me didn't want to leave Jeff for over a month. So I would have been fine with the outcome either way. So I get to stay in Utah, and near the end of next month is Jeff's family (and some extended family) camping trip. Even though camping isn't on top of my list of things to do, it'll still be nice to get away from this mad house rat race we live in to go up into the mountains for a week. I can't wait!

Discouraging ....

So I've been to the Farmers Market in Provo with my dad and brother twice so far (the past 2 Saturdays). I've been able to sell a little bit ($19 the first Saturday and $15 this past Saturday), but the discouraging part is that all I sell are pendants (with leather or ribbon cord necklaces I bought to go with them)... no necklaces, bracelets, or earrings. So I've been a little bit discouraged and feel like quitting making jewelry. At least I don't have very much material (not like my mother-in-law, who has tons and tons of stuff!) so that I don't feel like I'm too far in the hole. But my mother-in-law wanted to see if jewelry watch bands would sell because she sells those pretty well, so she gave me a little bit of stuff to make a few. If they do sell, I'll probably just sell watch bands and pendants (and other stuff only if people wanted it). If the watch bands don't sell, I think I will definitely quit because I don't want to sell just pendants. From the couple times going to the Farmers Market, there are just so many people that make jewelry that I can't compete with them all. I wouldn't have been able to sell my stuff there if it wasn't for my dad who makes and chip-carves jewelry and earring boxes. :-) Another reason I wouldn't mind quitting is I want my Saturdays back! Anyway, enough venting ....

Stars on Ice - May 26 in Salt Lake City, UT

Jeff and I went to the Smucker's Stars on Ice last night. I got the tickets a couple months ago and decided to click on best available for seating and get the most expensive tickets. We were on the floor in the front row! I was excited about that! Okay, let's get this picture out of the way, but here I am before it started ....



See the folded up chairs along the right side of the picture? We were in these seats, like 5 feet away from the ice!



A couple more pictures of the ice before the show started ....




I tried taking pictures (with no flash, of course) of some of the skaters. I tried taking a picture of one of the pairs skaters and another of another skater, but they both ended up really blurry, so I decided, "Ah forget it, I just want to enjoy the show rather than trying to get good pictures."

Jeff and I also went to a Stars on Ice in Salt Lake I'm guessing about 4 years ago. One of my favorites there was Michelle Kwan, but she's not in Stars on Ice anymore. We got tickets this year because we wanted to see our favorite skater, Evan Lysacek, who won Olympic gold earlier this year. Yesterday morning I checked online and he wasn't going to be at the Salt Lake City stop. Jeff and I were very disappointed, but I tried to keep my chin up and kept saying that we'll still have fun because there were other good skaters that were going to be there. And we did have fun! Even Jeff, who's not as big into figure skating as I am, had a lot of fun and thought it was really cool and awesome that we were so close! :-) We bought a couple autographed photos they were selling (along with a program and a T-shirt). So instead of pictures I could have taken, I have these, and I scanned them and they're posted below. The first one is of the whole cast. I was able to see them all except Evan Lysacek in person, although he was in Stars on Ice 4 years ago, but we didn't know him as well. Several of these skaters were in the Olympics as early as 1992. Some of them have won Olympics medals.



Then I wanted one of Evan, so here it is .... :-)



The reason Evan wasn't at the Salt Lake City stop is because he was among the top 3 finalists in the show Dancing with the Stars that he got invited to before the Olympics, I believe. I've never seen Dancing with the Stars before, so when I heard Evan was going to be on it, I wanted to watch it, and it definitely was exciting to watch, especially the last few weeks! Over the last couple months, he was in California for Dancing with the Stars Sundays-Tuesdays and then toured with Stars on Ice Wednesdays-Saturdays. So I was sure he was going to be in Salt Lake, but the top 3 finalists had to be in New York Wednesday morning (after the winner was announced Tuesday night) for interviews on Good Morning America and Regis & Kelly. I guess if he wasn't one of the 3 finalists, he would have been in Salt Lake, but I'm happy he made it as far as he did. I was rooting for him and I voted for him and he ended up 2nd. Jeff and I really like him because of the attitude and class he has. After the winners were announced, Evan said, "They deserved it, they worked so hard and inspired all the other couples in the competition." The Russian skater who came in 2nd behind Evan at the Olympics should learn from him. :-) So if Evan is in Stars on Ice next year, we're definitely going again, hopefully front row seats again!

Here are a few pictures I got online of Evan and of Evan and his professional dance partner Anna Trebunskaya ....



A couple cute pictures of Evan & Anna ....




A picture of them dancing one of their dances ....



I have 3 favorite dances of theirs that were posted on YouTube. I will even rate them .... :-) Enjoy!

3. Viennese Waltz - the 'redemption' dance during the last week

2. Argentine Tango - the first perfect score of the season :-)

1. Paso Doble

4.0 GPA

I checked online and my grades for this past semester are posted... all A's and 4.0 GPA! :-) I am very happy about that. I never knew I was that smart! I didn't apply myself like I should have in high school and in college when I got my associate's... I think my college GPA from before was around 3.2 something. So I'm starting my second round of college well. :-)

In jewelry news, there's this blog that somehow found my blog. That blog is called Blog Giveaways. Suddenly I was getting all these entries for my giveaway from people I didn't know and I looked on my feed of where people were coming from and a lot of them were coming from that website, so I went there and I was among several blog websites having giveaways (I'm among the several on their first post on May 4). I have no idea how they found my site, but I'm glad they did. I like lots of entries! :-) I'm excited for my first giveaway to end and find out who won. I will use the "True Random Number Generator" on the main page of RANDOM.ORG, which my sister Melissa told me about. Whatever number comes up out of however many numbers of entries I receive, that will be the winner.

I got off work a little earlier than usual today to go with my mother-in-law up to Salt Lake City to a display store, which has different things to display stuff... I think there are things to display other things besides jewelry. I was looking forward to this little trip this week and I'm excited with what I got, which is all very nice-looking and will display my jewelry very nicely! I got a bracelet stand (with 3 levels to put my bracelets on), an earring rack that you can turn, a tray to lay all my pendants in, and 3 little stands to display a few of my necklaces. I also got a few other little things.

In other news, I am super excited to go to Stars on Ice in Salt Lake this month on the 26th. I decided to pay good money for our tickets, so we should have pretty good seats. :-) So I've been on a little bit of a happy high with some good things happening. Now if only I can get more sleep so I'm not so tired ....

May Giveaway for My Jewelry

I am going to start doing giveaways for my jewelry for at least a few months to see if I can get more people to look at my jewelry website and buy from me. The link is on the right. Feel free to enter and let your family/friends know so they can enter as well! I changed a setting for that website that allows anyone to post a comment. Who doesn't like getting something for free? :-) We'll see how these giveaways do, but if they aren't working very well after a few months, I will probably stop doing them.

DONE!!!

I just took my last final this evening! I can't believe I made it through my first semester back to school in over 10 years!! And I think I'll do it with a 4.0 GPA, too! The only class I'm worried about is Business Communications because the final was a little hard for me, but after figuring out what I needed on the final to still get an A, I think I will get an A. If I figured it out correctly, I need about 50% (maybe even a little less) on the final to still have an A. :-) I will know my grades for sure next week on Thursday. I am really happy how well I did, even though sometimes it was hard. I think one of the hardest things was my 8-page research paper in Business Communications. But I just did the best I could and I got it back this evening and and got full credit! :-) The research paper is 10% of the final grade (and the final is only 8%). The teacher even wants me to email my paper to her so she can use in future classes. I'm surprised I did that well on it. :-) Jeff says I'm smarter than I give myself credit for... and maybe I am (in some things).

Jeff is all done with his Intro to Education class and thinks he'll get an A in that. After slacking a little bit in his online meteorology class the beginning of this semester, he's been working hard at catching up and he has assignments in one more chapter to do before Thursday, then a final test he'll take on Thursday, then he has till Monday to do as much extra credit assignments as he can.

Jeff and I decided not to take any classes this summer to save up money. We'll be working very hard this summer to clean and organize our place... it needs it super bad! We really need to de-junk, too (DI, here we come!). I can't wait to get more organized! Then Jeff will start taking more credit hours starting this fall (and I'll take one or two classes, depending on how much we can afford).

This Saturday, I will post my first of my monthly giveaways for my jewelry blog (link to it is on the right). When I post it, be sure to enter and be sure to tell all your friends and family, so they can enter and you can get more entries. :-) It'll be fun!

Home Stretch!

I am now down to my last week of my first semester back to school in over 10 years, and I think I'm gonna survive it. :-) My lecture series class (my Friday class) has been over for a couple weeks now... I just need to type up a couple really short papers (like one page... really easy!) and email them to my teacher by Friday evening. Tomorrow is my math class, which will be a review for the final. That final will be next Monday. Then tonight in my Business Communications class, we had a review for that final, which will be next Tuesday. Then I'll be done! Home stretch!!! I know I'll get A's in my lecture series class and my math class. My lowest math test so far has been a 95 and our lowest test score gets dropped. :) My Business Communications grade will depend on how well I do on the 8-page research paper I turned in tonight and the big final. I will know my final grades on May 6, so be prepared for a post about it that day. :-)

3 classes was a little bit of a challenge while working fulltime. So next fall, I'll probably only take 1 or 2 classes depending on how much tuition is for Jeff. I decided not to do anymore loans for me and just pay as we go (for both of us). Re-applying for loans each year is a pain, so I don't want to deal with that anymore. My work has a tuition reimbursement program, so that should help some. We're going to focus on getting Jeff done with school as quick as we can (as quick as we can with him working fulltime as well).

I'm taking this summer off to hopefully save up some money by getting my little jewelry hobby/business going... doing the Promenade in Pleasant Grove with Jeff's mom and sister on Thursday evenings this summer, then hopefully my dad can get into the Provo Farmer's Market which will be on Saturdays. He'll sell his hobby and he said I could sell my stuff with him (if he gets in). Then I'll also start doing monthly giveaways on my jewelry blog (see post below). I am very excited about that!

Monthly Jewelry Giveaways

I have been excited lately to start having monthly giveaways for my jewelry. My classes will end near the end of this month and so I will have more time to make jewelry. I want to get into it more, and I hope these giveaways will help a little. To check out my jewelry blog, click here or click the link on the right side of this page.

Our New "Toys"

Everyone needs to get a "toy" or two every once in a while, right? See previous post of how my parents helped buy a "toy" for Ryan & Rebecca and John & Melissa. We decided to go to RC Willey's and the salesman was really good and told us all about their TV's and what the difference between LCD and plasma was. We decided on a 54-inch flat-screen plasma TV. And the salesman was so good, we even bought a stand to put it on (we needed one anyway) and a Blu-Ray player (which even plays DVD's in better quality). Those three things are all shown in the 2nd and 3rd pictures below. The 2nd picture I took last night. The 3rd picture I took today. Yes, we need to clean the mess from moving TV's and furniture around. This 1st picture is after we moved the entertainment center we had in the living room (and now it's in our bedroom). So that's where over half of kitty's balls went! :-) The balls somehow got behind the entertainment center and underneath it in the back (there's no way they could get underneath on the sides or front). We thought it was funny, so we took a picture of it. And don't worry, we picked up and vacuumed all the dead leaves from a dead plant we had. :-)

Day Off

It's spring break at Utah Valley University (since Wednesday), so I decided to work four 10-hour days and have today off. Monday and Tuesday were very long, going into work earlier than usual and then a class in the evening. Wednesday and Thursday were long days at work, but at least I didn't have class (I don't have class on Thursdays anyway). It was a long 4 days, but now I have today off. It felt nice to sleep in. I want to get some of my homework done today, but I'm a little slow getting it started. I hate writing papers (even one-page letters for my Business Communications class). I'm hoping to get some homework done today so I have less to do tomorrow.

We're going to the temple this evening with Ryan & Rebecca. Tomorrow we're hoping to go shopping with my parents for a really nice big flat-screen TV. They decided to buy a really nice present for all their kids. They bought Ryan & Rebecca a Clavinova (I think that's what it's called?... a keyboard-piano thing). Ryan & Rebecca spent some out of their own pocket since it was more than what my parents helped them with. John & Melissa got a little camcorder. We've decided to get a big TV and possibly spend more than what my parents are helping with so we can get a bigger and nicer one. We'll see how much more we spend. I hate spending money but it's sometimes nice getting "toys". :-)

Me? A Math Whiz?

Well... maybe for the first half of Elementary Algebra. I had a mid-term test yesterday and I feel I did really well on it (maybe even aced it... one can only hope!). We've had 4 regular tests in the class so far and I've had the highest grade on all of them so far. My test scores have been 96, 100, 99, and 100. The teacher takes the 3rd highest test score and makes that 100% (so for the first test, I got a 96 out of 93, I think). My grade so far in the math class (not counting the mid-term) is 104.2%. :-D We'll see how I do in math in the last half of the semester. In high school and college over 10 years ago, math was never my best subject.

I just got a grade update in my Business Communications class this evening. We've done about half the total assignments, and so far my grade is 100.35% in that class. I was very pleasantly surprised by that because some of the assignments are quite difficult and I haven't gotten perfect scores on most assignments. But she has done a few little extra credit things which is why my grade is so high. Since I started this class, I told myself I'd be happy with at least a B. I'll still be happy with that because the harder stuff is yet to come, especially an 8-page research paper I have to write (ugh!).

And just so I don't leave my other class out, I'm making 100% in my lecture series class. Half the grade is based on attendance and the mid-term journal we had to turn in almost 2 weeks ago, I got full credit on (the teacher said she didn't have time to read 60 papers, so she just looked to see that we did it and that we didn't use bullets since she told us not to).

So... wow! I have at least 100% in all my classes so far, but I don't expect them all to stay that high as the rest of the semester will be harder in Math and Business Communications.

February Post

Here's my post for February (the last day of the month). I've been so busy with work and school, I haven't had much time to blog. School is going okay, but it's just gonna get harder... starting now. I had a stressful weekend of homework, but I was able to finish everything by yesterday late afternoon or early evening and was able to relax a little last night and today. And I'm only a math whiz through the first half of elementary algebra. I've been able to get the highest scores on the first 3 tests and with the curve, I currently have 104.5%. But we have another test tomorrow and this chapter is a little harder for me, but I still hope I do okay. Math was never my best subject.

I've had a goal this year of losing 5 lbs. a month and so far, it's been a success! I've lost 10 lbs. since Jan. 1! I plan to keep the weight off this time (unlike after our cruise over a year ago, I gained some weight after losing some for the cruise). If I keep at my goal of 5 lbs. a month, I'll hit my target the end of October. I can't wait! :-)

I am excited for March! That means warmer weather (I hope!). I think Utah's winters are too long! I love love love 50 and 60 degree weather! It's perfect! 70's are good, too, but start to get a little warm. So I like 50's and 60's.

Anyway, I'm off to bed to try to get enough sleep for tomorrow's test!

One Year Ago

Last year at this time, we were on our cruise. A year ago today was our last full day on the ship. You can go to my posts from early last year to see pictures if you haven't seen any, or you can go to my Facebook profile and see pictures there. It was sad when that vacation came to an end. That cruise was my favorite vacation ever and look forward to when we can go on another one (although not sure when that will be, but we definitely will go on another one).

Anyway, I started catching a cold on Thursday, felt pretty sick Friday evening, felt better yesterday, but I'm pretty sick today. I'm hoping with all the liquids (mostly orange juice) I'm drinking and soup that I'll have a little later today, that I'll feel well enough tomorrow to go to work and then I have my first math test tomorrow evening. Being sick is no fun!

Being sick also made me not do one of my New Year's resolutions last week. I didn't have the energy Saturday morning to exercise, so I didn't get my 3 times in for the week. But I think I can make an exception if I'm sick. I'm thinking I'll drop that resolution, though... some weeks it's hard to get in 3 times of exercising, especially if I'm too busy and I need the sleep. I'm definitely keeping the resolution of sleeping at least 7 hours a night for at least 5 times a week. We'll see what happens, though. I still have several other resolutions I'm still doing well with.

Sometimes You Just Need a Day Off

And that's exactly what I had today... a day off. Since today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day (or Human Rights Day as it says in my math schedule we got in class), I don't have class tonight. I was just going to go to work and then come home and work on my memo I have to write for my Business Communications class. But over the weekend, my back has been bothering me, so I decided to take the day off work, too. I worked on my memo and am now relieved that I have all my reading and homework done for Business Communications. Since we only meet once a week, we get quite a bit of reading and homework. I really needed the day off today. Day off's are nice! :-)

So Far So Good

All of my New Year's resolutions are still going good and it's over a week into the new year! I am slowly feeling better (physically and spiritually) by cutting out on sweets and desserts, getting more sleep, exercising more, and reading my scriptures every day (and I will be going to the temple next Saturday).

School is going good so far, I guess. I've only been to 2 out of my 3 classes. My math class won't be too bad, but my lecture series class will be a little harder than I thought. Attendance is half our grade so I need to be to every class. We listen to different speakers (recorded on DVD) about different business issues and we have to write 2 "journals" (one turned in at mid-term time and the other turned in at final time) and also have to write another paper, too. Hopefully it's not so bad. I'm just not good at writing papers. The good thing about that class is that as a class, we were given a choice of going to class every Friday for 50 minutes or every other Friday for twice as long and most of the class chose every other Friday. That will free up half of my Fridays. :-) I probably won't usually have a class on Fridays, but there were only 2 or 3 of these classes and this was the best time to fit around my work schedule. My first Business Communications class is on Tuesday, so we'll see how that class goes (the one I'm most worried about).

This Is It!

Yep! Tomorrow is my first day of classes! Yikes! I think the closer it gets, the more nervous I get. But I think I'll be okay and I'm still a little excited. Tomorrow evening is my Introductory Algebra class. I took a math placement test (back in October, I think) and was barely into the range to take Intermediate Algebra (after staying up late the night before having my hubby help me with a few algebra concepts). I felt I needed more of a refresher so I'm taking the class just below, and this summer I will take Intermediate Algebra. The class that will worry me the most is Business Communications. I read that I'll have to do a research paper. I really hate those! Hopefully I'll do okay in that class. The other class is a Executive Lecture Series class (taking it for my degree), which is a 1-credit hour class and we listen to different speakers, I think. Should be interesting.

Well, I best be getting to bed to keep one of my New Year's resolutions (after I read my scriptures... another resolution of mine).

2010!

Wow, 2010 already?!?!? Where does the time go? 10 years ago when it turned 2000, I was on my mission in Nevada and was in Minden and Gardnerville (about half an hour or so south of Carson City). I have made several New Year's resolutions, which I made easily attainable, and I'm hoping to stick to them all this year. I suppose I will list them now below ....


1. Go to the temple at least once a month.

2. Go to church every Sunday unless I'm deathly ill. This past year, especially lately, I would stay home if I was just feeling a little bit icky. And last Sunday I stayed home because I was extremely sore from playing the Wii and I could hardly move, but maybe I could have gone and just move slowly.

3. Read scriptures every single day. I haven't done very well in that department.

4. Exercise with my Turbo Jam videos 3 times a week. Any exercise I get from Wii will be extra. :-)

5. Get at least 7 hours of sleep at least 5 times a week (I say 5 times because there might be a couple nights I might have to stay up a little later doing homework or something).

6. No eating candy or desserts, but I can eat a little every 5 lbs. I lose (and no, I'm not gonna say how much I have to lose, but I do have a target weight I want to get to and hoping to get to that by the end of the year).

7. No buying unhealthy snacks at work.

8. Eat out only once a month... but can be more if we go with family (need to save money in that department!).


Well, those are my resolutions and so far I'm keeping all of them! It was so hard not to have some pie after yesterday's dinner at my hubby's parents. But when I lose 5 lbs. I can have a little candy/dessert. And yes, we got ourselves a Wii the day after Christmas after we played John and Melissa's Wii on Christmas night. We played bowling, then I played some tennis at their place. The next evening after we got it, I played lots more tennis and the next couple days, I could hardly move. I was so sore!

Christmas was fun. Jeff made me breakfast and then we opened each other's presents. Then we went to open presents with his parents and sister, then to his grandparent's house for a little bit, then to my family's for the rest of the evening. We ate a big meal in the late afternoon, then opened presents (after I fell asleep).

New Year's Eve was fun as well. We had Jeff's parents and sister come over and they all played our Wii (they all thought it was fun) and then a board game called Imaginiff that Ryan and Rebecca gave us.

I am also sad this month. Christmas and New Year's is over and there's nothing fun to look forward to. Last year at this time, we were getting excited to go on our cruise (the ship departed Jan. 18). We very much want to go on another one.