Christmas

I want to write but I don't know where to start... so Merry belated Christmas!

We hosted our first annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party! A few friends came over we had lots of yummy appetizers then went bowling.  We were a sight for sore eyes that's for dang sure. I was only able to snap a few photos so here's what you get.. pretty huh?

It's my family's "off" year so we did our dinner and gift exchange on the 22nd which also happens to be my dad's birthday AND since Jen was in town they decided to bless Cambry that night as well.  It was one heck of a par-tay.  My mom got my sisters and I each a sewing machine and sewing classes, I never thought  I'd actually be excited about a sewing machine but I totally am! I decided to home make most of my gifts this year, ya know, try to be crafty. Key word.. try. I made these frames and stuff for my sister and her husband and then for my brother and his wife, I made a cake stand out of a plate and a candle stick. I'm pleased with how they both turned out. Buuut, my patience with crafts is short, so I'm just happy I finished.

  We spent the 23rd with my Dad's side of the family as we do every year. Then Christmas Eve my family had their annual bowling tournament. I somehow landed myself in the losers bracket the first game with a score of 80 and Riley moved over to the winners bracket. The second game I dominated the losers bracket and came in third over all, the top three were within one pin of each other; Dad: 133 Riley:132 Shar:131 it's always a good time.

We went and spent the night at Riley's parents house, woke up had a great Christmas breakfast and did presents with his family.  We get spoiled every year; she got us a carpet cleaner which we were in desperate need of. So yeah, I'm also weirdly excited about a carpet cleaner. So much so, that I've already cleaned pretty much all the carpet on our main floor.  Of course the baby also got spoiled with little gadgets, I can only imagine how spoiled the kid will be when it actually gets here... (yes the baby is still an "it")

It was a great holiday; the lack of snow did put a minor damper on things and I'm still not on top of my game so I wasn't up for much shopping and stuff, but I am DONE complaining. Tomorrow we get to go hear the little heartbeat again! Tomorrow can't come fast enough and next month we'll find out the sex. 4 weeks and counting... what will it be??

Babies All Around!

Awe, I love the holidays.  The pretty lights, family parties, cute decorations, shopping... just all of it.

It makes me happy.

Which is important in the midst of baby making me ill. I'm just barely out of my first trimester and things were looking up for a few days but then they went right back to not feeling well. People lied to me when they said week 12 was the "magic week" nu uh the magic didn't work.

Here are few things that baby doesn't like so far @ week 14:
-Dairy (any type) which cut down immensly on a lot of the food I like
- Hot chocolate
- Pickles or peppers; unfortunately this one took me a few times to figure out, and boy to they burn on the way back up
- Riding in cars
- Mornings
- Afternoons
- Nights
- Riley's breath... sorry babe
- Orange Juice

and more that I just can't think of right now. But all of it is worth it.

On a much, much brighter note, at our last Dr. apt we were able to hear the heartbeat. Probably one of the most amazing things I've ever heard. It sounded like a little train chuggin along, and it put a connection between everything and I wish I could hear it every day... music to my ears.  I haven't really had any cravings and I've lost 10 lbs (not on purpose) but I am starting to get a little belly.. other than that, things are moving right along. I'm greatful everyday for what I have, and try not to complain because I know there are those who have it way worse. I'll take my trials any day over the trials of others. I hope that doesn't curse me..

Congrats as well to my sister Shellie. We are both preggo with our first kid, she's one month ahead of me and they just found out they are having a boy! Very exciting.

First Comes Love, Second Comes Marriage....

First comes Love..

Second comes Marriage..

Then comes baby in a baby carriage!

Thats right, there's a little bean growing in my tummy. Actually, it's more the size of a small shrimp by now..  I'm about 10 weeks along and still feeling yucky, tired, and nauseated.  I throw up @ least once a day and I'm narrowing foods that I can just keep down.  Everyone tells me it gets better after the first trimester and I'm hoping they are right.

I sort of figured I was pregnant @ bootcamp, but didn't want to know for sure until I got home so Riley and I could find out together... and so I didn't have an excuse to go easy on my workouts just yet.  The night I got home I couldn't wait any longer, I took a test and prayed that it would come out positive. My prayers were answered :-)

For about the first 8 weeks every once in a while out of the blue Riley would just look at me and go:

 "Your pregnant..." 

I would reply: "um... yup" 

"there's something inside you"

"yup... weird huh?"

"Oh man, I better sit down"

It's fun to see how excited/nervous he is. We both are so excited to start our family..

The long journey has begun..

Boot Camp

I'm finally in my final stages of school! All I have to do is finish my extern hours and I'm DONE! Wahoo!

In order to take the national test for Personal Fitness Training I had to go to Vegas, complete a week long bootcamp and take the test while down there.  It was fun but I'm glad it's over :-)  I met a lot of amazing, smart, talented people, and learned things that I'll never forget and be able to implement into my training.

The human body fascinates me, I love helping people and have a passion for fitness, that is why I chose to do what I do.  I don't see a large person and judge them, I see their body as a canvas. There is usually a deeper reason for excess weight gain, and I want to help identify those weaknesses, and turn them into strengths.  I plan to work with all demographics from kids to athletes to the elderly, and what I love about this profession is that I can still work, but be there for my family.. Lets just say I'm really excited to get started.

Field drills with Tommy BK

Plyometrics

Kettlebells

FUNdamentals

yes we are playing with balloons... and we liked it.

Zumba

The red head was the first woman body builder.. we ran into her @ Gold's Gym I wish you could see her arms. They are massive.

Thursday night they let us go early so we could explore Vegas. I had been there before (a lot) but most hadn't so we got a limo and explored the strip. 

 Jacee and Diana

When you spend all day every day together for a year, you get to be pretty good friends.
 I love these girls.

The Jersey boys. They lived up to the stereotype.. L.O.U.D

My school buddies Jacee, Diana, Paul and Adam

Good experience, glad to be done and ready to start the next phase!

 From the lyrics of my new favorite Kelly Clarkson song: "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger"

Labor Day

This post is a little late, but my summer is not complete until our annual Uintah trip.  A week of fresh mountain air, awesome company and delicious food, need I say more?

  Riley and Kaycee playin' in the sand

About 4 years ago we hiked Balde Mountain and every year since we've been saying we'll do it again... and it never happened.  Until this year! Everybody said they wanted to, but wussed out when it came down to it, so it was just my dad me and Riley. So basically we know who the real rockstars are right?

My awesome family that has kept this tradition going for 23 years-ish. Many more to come!

And Stretch..

Last Satruday I was asked to help out at the Utah Half Iron Man race with South Valley Gym.  After a

•  1.2 mi. swim

• 56 mi. bike

• 13.1 mi. run

 the participants came to us to get stretched, massaged and talk to a physician. 

Some other trainers and I did the stretching. (Cause I'm pretty sure they wouldn't really enjoy it if I massaged them)

 It was a long, hot day but I loved every minute of it...

despite the nastyness of sweaty men that I had to touch. 

 

You get the idea.  They laid down, told me what was hurting and I tried to fix it...

Someday maybe I'll do an Iron Man..... yeah maybe not. But these people are awesome, some of them were racing the clock, others just wanted to finish.  Either way they are my hero's.

Lake Powell Birthdays

Lake Powell take two! If it weren't for this dang thing called work I might be ok just living there.

It also happened to mark another special event.... MY BIRTHDAY! I turned the ripe old age of 23, I know I'm an old fart.

I can't talk about the trip without mentioning the ride down. It was eventful to say the least. I'll just start @ the beginnning...

1. One lane traffic and construction in Spanish Fork Canyon where we overheated, due to the very heavy load and steep hills.  It took us about 2-ish hours to get to Price

2. A trailer tire blew just outside Price. It was changed in about 2 minutes (of course.. Hiatt boys).

Sandy and Noel went back to get a new tire which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because...

3. The radiator(? I'll probably get in trouble if I'm wrong) blew automatic transmission fluid EVERY WHERE somewhere on a highway in the middle of no where.  Cory who was also pulling his boat, was able to hook up the broken down truck and boat to his boat, and pull us to a good spot to pull over.

 Here's where the blessing comes; only one person was able to get service on their cell phone, we got a hold of Sandy and Noel to tell them to bring supplies to fix the leak. They were just far enough behind us to stop at a gas station and get the stuff before they too entered the desert.

When they got there it was fixed in no time and we were back on the road!





For my B-Day Riley surprised me with a sweet Transformers cake and party hats! I had no idea he did any of this and and was not expecting it.  It made me happy, he knows me well.

The rest of the trip was just awesome. I absolutely LOVE that family (but don't tell them I said that..)

Kaylee figured out the art of splashing Riley on the tube... and thoroughly enjoyed it!

Riley and Olivia

This one's funny... a solar powered raft dragging a wave runner. Each day it moved a little further and the people on board just chilled.

Kids cliff jumping

Riley and I jumping... It's higher than it looks, I swear.

YAY!! We get to fix something!

Finally he sleeps!

Riley's Final Jump

TIMBERRR

The previous owners of our house were a little obsessed with trees and shrubbery. The whole backyard is surrounded by bushes and trees which is great for privacy, but it was a little too much. We had a whole big corner of our yard that was just consumed with bushes, random little trees, big plants and one HUGE pine tree; it literally was a mini forest.  Basically we got tired having to rake up pine cones all the time, and we figured that we would like to be able to actually use that corner of our yard for something and give us a little more functional space.

We had always planned on tearing that out eventually, but of course one day Riley was out looking at the pine tree and decided he could climb to the top of it and cut it down limb by limb.. so that is what he did.  It was a little nerve racking for me to watch. but if he had his mind set on it I knew there was no way I could stop him anyway.  Long story short he was successful and the pine tree is history. That was just the beginning, we borrowed his dad's mini-ex and went to town.

My family came over that Saturday and helped us clear out all of the decorative rock, wood, bricks, bushes, you name it... we had it.  It was a long, hot day but now all we have to do is decide what to do with all of our new free space!

We're thinking either trampoline and swing set, or fire pit and sitting area.... hmmmm what to do, what to do?

Cooking Light

If you like pumpkin, you'll love this cake.  I saw this recipe on www.cookinglight.com and had to try it. It's a great site if you're looking for healthier recipes to try.  They take recipes and re-do them to make them less calories and somewhat more healthy. I won't say this is really healthy by any means, but compared to other desserts it is, and not to mention its delicious, moist and pretty.

Here's the link if you want to indulge
Pumpkin Pie Cake