Summer update and such.......

I've been so busy keeping up on my weight loss blog, that this one has gone neglected.
Summer has been crazy busy with having all three boys home, all day long, every day!
Now, we're down to 19 days till school starts again. I love my boys, but I must say that I'm really looking forward to school starting!!! lol It's not getting rid of them, but to have structure and routine back in our lives. They always do best under those circumstances. I just hope and pray it's a good school year. Last year was crazy and my nerves were shot by the end of the school year!
They've been out almost 2 months now, so it's definitely time! :)

Not too much else has changed. We've been back and forth to Nashville a few times. Including one 11 day stint! Erik's parents put Alex in some beginner tennis lessons and Aidan and Connor went to an all day camp at a gymnasium and had a blast. :) When they weren't at those, they were in the pool. I got a nice little sort of vacation out of it too. :)

The last blog I wrote was about Grampy's toe/foot. That drama is still going on. He's had a partial amputation and things are still not great. I guess he's got an appointment this coming Monday and they will determine then if they will send him up to some specialists in SLC who have equipment & technique not available in St. George that might save the rest of his foot. Mandy just told me this and I am questioning WHY they didn't do this 2 months ago??? UGH!!!! When Mom got cancer they didn't say, "Oh we can fix you here!" No, they sent her up to the Hunstman Cancer Center where she could be treated by the best. I just worry that the doctors there gambled with it all a little too long and it may be too little too late. *sigh* But, he's doing okay considering and his spirits are pretty good.

Speaking of Mom......It's rapidly approaching 2 years since we lost her. On one hand, I can't believe it's been that long. On the other, it feels like forever. I still think about her all the time and miss her so much every day. So much has happened in the past 2 years that I wish I could share with her. Connor, my baby, is about to enter kindergarten. I'm so sad that he doesn't get to call Grandma and tell her all about going to school like Alex and Aidan did. Though we lived so many miles apart, she was always a huge presence in their lives.
I hope that she's around and can see them growing and changing and see the crazy things they say and do. Does she know Connor is obsessed with doing cartwheels, especially one handed cartwheels....and that he's REALLY good at it?? He was cartwheeling the other day while holding a nectarine in one hand. :) Does she see our happiness and our struggles and everything that I so wish that I could talk to her about? I hope so. Great, I've gone and made myself cry. I just miss her so so much. I hope that she can see the amazing job Erik and I are doing losing weight. I know that she was very concerned with our weight issues and when she was battling her health issues....first diabetes and then cancer, she begged me to do something so that I could prevent it from happening to me. I hope she knows that I've lost 55 pounds and Erik 76 and is smiling down on us. :)
Wow, I really didn't mean to turn into such a Debbie Downer in this blog! But, sometimes that's just life. I'll try to do better at keeping this blog up to date!

Life just really sucks sometimes.......

Grandpa was dx'd with Type 2 Diabetes years and years ago. He has never taken it seriously or taken care of himself. Over the years, it has caused several different issues with his heath.....but now, it's the worst ever. He apparently injured his toe not too long ago. Didn't know or didn't realize how bad it actually was. So, a couple of weeks ago, he had part of his big toe amputated. :( It's not healing well. Mandy sent me a picture of it and it's really really bad. :( He had an appointment with a vascular surgeon yesterday and there is basically no blood flow to his foot and his foot is pretty much dead and rotting. *BAWL* My poor Grampy. He is likely going to end up with his foot amputated. :( Yes, this is partially his fault for not taking care of himself properly.....BUT....he has been trying to care for both him and Grandma since her stroke almost 14 years ago and he put himself at the bottom of the totem pole most of the time to care for her. WHY can't he catch a flipping break?????? It is so freaking unfair. I am so sad and scared for him. All I can do is pray. I can't help but wonder if things wouldn't have gotten to this point for him if Mom was still alive. She is their one child who was *always* there for them and helping care for them. Even when she was dog sick, in the midst of chemo and radiation and everything else, she *still* was there for them. She is probably so sad at what's happening to him and I hope that she is somehow able to be a comfort to him from the other side. Things like this make her being gone so much harder. :( I also feel totally useless. I have all the time in the world that I could care for them and am so willing to do so.....but I'm 2000 miles away. It kills me. Oh please Heavenly Father, watch over Grampy and help him get well and heal properly.

Weight Loss Blog

I started a new blog specifically for Erik and I and our weight loss journey. :) I can blog about it here too, but if I ever decide to share it publicly.....meaning apart from family and friends.....then I don't want all the extra personal stuff about the kids,etc. written in with everything diet that I don't care if I share with strangers. Here's the link!!! http://erikandjodishrinking.blogspot.com/

The Last Supper.......

Mine, that is. Medifast will be delivered some time today and my weight loss journey begins tomorrow. So, now, I'm trying to decide what I want to eat tonight that will be a no no tomorrow. lol Pitiful, isn't it? I don't think I'll have any major sweet cravings. That should be covered with the Medifast foods....which have puddings, brownies, shakes, etc. My biggest cravings will be for rice and potatoes....maybe even a little bit for pasta. I'd like to maybe go to Wasabi, I think. Their rice is the best part of the meal! :) So, I guess I need to get the scale out and dust it off to chart my progress (and Erik's). Also take some "before" pics of us as well. I am really excited to get this thing started!!! :)

AMAZING NIGHT!!!!

Erik and I went to see Celtic Woman last night. It was absolutely AMAZING!!!
Erik got home from work and quickly changed his clothes and the babysitter arrived right on time. We drove to Knoxville and figured out where we were going and got to the Coliseum to discover a huge line. Seeing that, we decided that we needed to park and go to will call to get our tickets right away. So, we're walking up to the line and are starting to think that we are in the wrong place. Tons of college age kids.....dressed like, um....not nice.....and crazy hair and piercings, etc. and we're like are these people really here to see Celtic Woman???? So, we get up to the will call office and discover that there are actually two events going on at the civic center and that yes, we were on the wrong side of the building. lol The kids we were seeing were in line for the Three Days Grace concert. lol That made MUCH more sense. So, we got our tickets......but were then kind of stuck there due to paid parking. We hadn't had dinner. Crap. So, we asked if they had concessions there and they said yes, so we were like okay a hot dog is better than nothing. WRONG. Their concessions were extremely limited. So, we had a dinner of coke, sun chips, goobers and cracker jacks. BLECH!!! Ruth's Chris just down the street was calling my name and this is what I got! lol Oh well! The rest of the evening was just amazing. The music was incredible and they've got such great energy. Especially the "fiddler" Mairead. She is awesome! :) Fiddling while dancing and jumping around....I could only wish for that kind of coordination! lol A couple of songs made me think of Mom and got the tears flowing. I was really glad we'd moved to an empty row of seats (across the aisle from our ticketed seats) so that I wasn't sitting next to a total stranger in those moments. ;) Mom would have loved it, for sure! :) It was a great night....so glad we got to go! :)

This is the song that sent me over the edge....You'll need to stop/pause my playlist music to hear it! :)

Sunday, a day of rest? Not so much......

In my opinion. It seems like Sundays are as crazy and hectic a day sometimes as any other day. We wake up in the morning and it's a mad rush to get everyone up, fed and ready for Church. Sometimes, there are meetings before Church leaving one parent behind to take care of it all at home. Sometimes, we don't arrive in such happy hearted, spiritual feeling moods. ;) Then we spend three hours at Church. Sometimes we have meetings AFTER Church. Today, we were bombarded with a surprise Scout meeting......right when I was worn out from 2 hours of Sunbeams and ready to go home and REST. We had a nice, leisurely afternoon. Took a nice drive a few miles up the road to Frozen Head State Park. Enjoyed nature and the sunshine. Then, had to head back because Erik had to meet with the rest of the EQ Presidency to go visit a new family in the ward. He left over 2 hours ago. It's almost 9pm. I really hope they've not intruded on this family for 2 hours. I don't know if they had additional business to discuss. But, come on....this is ridiculous. There shouldn't be soooooo many meetings on Sundays and there definitely shouldn't be anything keeping the guys away from their families this late in the evening. I've now had family prayer and put the kids to bed without their Daddy. UGH. I know these things need to be done and I guess the thinking is people have so many other things going on during the week, which is true. But, sometimes, even doing Church business seems to go against the Sabbath being a day of rest.

Feelin' like a brat

Ever have those days when you just want to give in to that inner two year old self and stomp your feet and scream? That's me today. lol I'm really tired this morning for some reason and I'm sure that's lending to my crankiness. Got a wild hair this morning and decided we should go somewhere fun and different this weekend and have fun.....Atlanta was the plan. Thinking we could hit up the aquarium or some other ATL attraction and of course, my beloved......IKEA. Aidan doesn't have a soccer game this weekend and it's the only weekend (though we missed it last weekend) from the beginning of March through the end of May, that he doesn't have a game. So, I'm thinking it would be perfect. I call Erik and he is totally on board....even suggesting we drive down tonight and get a hotel room. THEN.......he remembers that Alex has a merit badge thingamajigger for Boy Scouts this weekend. ACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The ONE weekend Aidan doesn't have a game and nothing else is going on THIS has to be going on. Really, it is optional. But, it is also Alex's first opportunity to do something with the Boy Scouts. It's very very frustrating having something for one person going on completely stops the rest of the family from doing something. So, I guess we'll hang around the house and maybe make it in to Turkey Creek or something. *sigh* Since Erik doesn't have any vacation time any time soon, the weekends are ALL we have to do fun stuff as a family and there always seems to be something holding that up too. We've been to Nashville several times.....but I'm really wanting to do something different for a change.

Going to see Celtic Woman In Concert!!!

I'm sooooooo excited!!!! I LOVE Celtic Woman and the other day, I was folding laundry when a commercial came on saying that they are coming to Knoxville next week. I was like, "OOOH OOOH OOOH!!!!" and the next thing I know, I'm being handed a printed confirmation of tickets Erik purchased for us!!!! :) He also rounded up a babysitter last night, so I guess we're really going. :) Yay!!! I may get a little emotional as Mom loved them so much too. Wish she could come with us too.....maybe she will! :)
Now to decide what to wear...... :)

Rescheduled......

Got a call this morning that Connor's preschool has been rescheduled for the second time this week. He only goes 2 days a week. I have really loved that this program was in effect in our ward and that we've had the opportunity to take advantage of it....but it's sometimes a little frustrating too. Last Thursday, it was canceled completely.....and she had rescheduled one day either the previous week or the week before that (can't remember now) and I wasn't informed and drove all the way over there to discover that no one was home. So, now, it's just feeling like we're in a bit of a bad pattern. I get that people get sick and I appreciate not having the germs brought to our house.....but this wouldn't happen in a regular preschool. We didn't have much choice in preschools here. There are only a couple that aren't actually day cares with a supposed preschool curriculum....and they had wait lists that were a mile long when we moved here. So no chance of getting in really. Leaving Shining Stars Preschool is the one big regret I have about leaving Rio Rancho. It is such a great program and it was so cool that Connor had actually gotten one of the very coveted spots. Barring snow days, it never would have been canceled. Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad that we've had this preschooling option available to us.....but it's disappointing to Connor when school that he looks so forward to is canceled and it puts a wrench in my plans too. Oh well....got a nice thunderstorm going on outside and it's nice just being lazy and staying in my jammies and watching the storm too. ;)

The difference 2 days makes!

The forest behind us just keeps getting greener and greener and DARKER. I took the pics below two mornings ago. Look at the pics of the forest in that post....then check out these I just took. Crazy, isn't it???

Spring time in Tennessee!!!

I have to say.....I have been LOVING spring time here in Tennessee!!! :) After 4 years of living in the barren desert, it is awesome to see the Earth coming back to life after a long, cold winter. :) We've had a little bit of allergies, but really not too bad. The juniper pollen in New Mexico used to absolutely kill Erik and Connor. So, in comparison, it's not been bad....especially considering there are so many more things blooming here that could get to them. A couple of weeks ago, I took pictures of the daffodils along the roadway as we were driving in to Knoxville. I had noticed that they were all over the neighborhood (including our yard!) but then realized they are growing like wild flowers EVERYWHERE. It's so beautiful to look at! Then, we were gone this past weekend and came home to see our yard in bloom! Not having been here before, we had no idea what our yard would look like. After having been admiring the other yards in the neighborhood, I'm happy to see we have some of our own right here in our yard! :) Here's some pics of the daffodils on the road way and our yard! :)

Fabulous Weekend!!!

Spent a great weekend in Franklin. Started the drive Thursday evening when Erik got home from work. I had everything ready to go and he literally drove up, went potty, locked the door and we were off! Love it when things work out so smoothly! The ride was decent...except for about a 13 mile stretch that we were stuck in bad traffic and moving at a snail's pace because they were re-striping the freeway. WTH were they thinking on a holiday weekend! It took us an hour to get from that point to the exit at Cookeville, where we stopped for dinner. All in all, it put us about 2 hours behind schedule.

Friday, Debi and I went out and I bought new sandals, then she treated me to a pedicure for my birthday!!! HEAVEN!!!! :) We mostly chilled the rest of the day and colored boiled eggs with the kids.

Saturday, Erik and I were able to get our BY OURSELVES (woohoo!!!!) and do Easter shopping and go to lunch! It's been so long since we've been out really alone together, it was awesome! That afternoon Erik took the boys to a movie and I ran errands with Paul & Debi. We met up later with Erik & the boys and Caity & Maddi and went to dinner at Logan's for my birthday. :) That ended with me being embarrassed with the announcement of my birthday and having the entire restaurant giving me a birthday "YEEHAW!!!" lol She did tell everyone I was turning 21 though. HAHAHA Don't I wish! We got home and Erik and Paul hid the eggs around the yard and then the kids went on an Easter Egg Hunt. He worked Sunday, so it worked better to do it that way so he could be there. After we put the kids to bed, we put the baskets together and then I fell asleep as we were watching The Ten Commandments.

Sunday morning, Erik got out of bed and was getting dressed to go downstairs. I thought to myself "AWESOME!!! I get to sleep in for my birthday!!!" Then Erik said, "Jodi, we've got to go downstairs." Oh yeah. The kids were ready to see what the Easter Bunny had filled their baskets with. Crud. lol So, I had to wake up AND watch other people get gifts. Birthdays and Easter for adults kinda stink. lol Then we got cleaned up and gathered our stuff to go home.
It was obvious an Easter dinner wasn't in the plans there.....Paul was at work and Debi is on the Medifast diet that we're going to start soon, so she wouldn't be eating anything. So, we left so that we could get home and do something for my birthday. I refused to cook an Easter feast on my birthday.....and we'd have had to go to the store to get everything....so we ended up at Wasabi for dinner. lol I have *NEVER* eaten out on Easter before and it felt a little like A Christmas Story when they ended up at a Chinese restaurant for Christmas dinner. HAHAHA
It was really slow there AND we ended up with the BEST chef!!! He is HILARIOUS and so entertaining as he cooks. :) He really took his time too, because there wasn't really much else for him to hurry for. Erik even got in on the fun. :)

Then we came back home and put in some solar lights along the sidewalk in front of the house and had some cheesecake with strawberries for my birthday cake. :) While we were gone, our yard absolutely BLOOMED!!! I need to go outside and take some pics so that I can post them here! :) Was an AWESOME weekend!!! :)

Oh my achin' hands!!!

Alex needed to help the Primary Presidency with preparations for an activity as one of the requirements to earn his religious knot for Cub Scouts (last thing he needed for it!). So, they asked him to put together SIXTY of these little Easter Favor handouts for the activity Friday evening.....which he will not be attending because we will be in Nashville! lol I helped him of course.....because they just wouldn't look as nice and would have taken FOREVER for him to finish, had he done it alone. So, he filled all 60 eggs with candy while I cut out each strip of card stock and then we put them all together, together. Between cutting 60 strips, punching 120 holes (to tie the ribbon through), and tying and curling ribbon....my hands are aching!!! I must be getting old! lol
At least it's done now!

Tonight is pack meeting and Alex will be awarded his Webelo and his Arrow of Light awards! :) Can't believe my baby is crossing over the bridge into Boy Scouts tonight!!! *SNIFF* Not sure if he'll get his religious knot tonight or not. Not sure if that's been mentioned to the Cub Master as well. We'll see. But, he's done the requirements for all three now! :) Will post pictures tomorrow!!! :)
Here's a couple pics of the things we made today. :)

Need motivation!!!!

I am just blah this morning. Have no drive to get up and do the things I need to do. Would rather just laze around and do nothing but what I *want* to do. lol At least we have a nice, long weekend to look forward to. It's Easter this Sunday AND my birthday!!!! We will drive to Nashville when Erik gets off work on Thursday and spend the weekend at his parents' house. I hope that he's been on top of arranging childcare with his Mom or sister or both. That is the ONE thing that I have really said that I wanted and that was the provision for us spending my birthday weekend there....that we'd be able to go OUT without the kids. We've not had a date since we moved here.....I guess really since HE moved here. Which means last JULY!!!! Holy cow. Didn't realize it had been quite that long, but it has. The last few times that we've been at his parents' house we've pretty much just stayed AT the house and done a bunch of nothing. Actually, I have gone out with Debi & Caity.....but not with Erik. I told him that it was up to him to get that worked out for us because I shouldn't have to arrange things for my own birthday. lol So, I hope he has. I'll be really disappointed otherwise.
On a bright note.....the weather is supposed to be just about PERFECT this weekend!!!! I'll be sooooooooo HAPPY to have a nice sunny weekend!!! :) I guess I should dig out my capris and see if my sandals are in decent condition or if I need new ones and maybe get a pedi! Haven't had a pedi since the weekend Dad got married in October and it's an absolute MUST when wearing sandals. I don't like looking at people's ugly feet.....so I'm sure they'd not want to look at mine being ugly either. lol Yay for SPRING!!!!!! :)

Going on a new diet soon........

So, with part of our federal refund, Erik and I are going to start up on the Medifast Diet www.medifast1.com/index.aspx . We're waiting for the refund, because it's NOT a cheap diet but it will be (financially) sustainable once we first get started. Erik's parents are doing this and having great success with it so far. They started because apparently everyone in their ward are absolutely melting away on it. We both NEED to do something about our weight. I like the idea of this diet because doctors have been putting patients on it for over 25 years and it works and it's a "no brainer" diet. You eat 5 of their food items a day and then one "lean and green" meal.....which is essentially a South Beach type meal. I would really love to become one of their success stories. Can't wait to get our refund and get going....would be fabulous if I could shed a bunch before summer is upon us. :)

Doing my patriotic duties for the day.......

We FINALLY got our taxes completed last night. We kept thinking that we were going to need someone else to do them for us, but then I got to thinking that we really didn't have that much out of the norm and Turbotax would walk us through it. So, I picked up the software at Walmart yesterday and we got 'er done. Erik also completed the taxes for his Dad for the few months that he was alive last year. I kind of think it's silly to have to file for a deceased person. At least there's a small refund coming and we don't have to pay in for him. It was a bit emotional for Erik...as has been all the business end of his Dad's death. If there is ever a reason to never (if you can help it) have an only child, leaving them alone to deal with your stuff in the end is it. It's a heavy burden on one child. Though I guess at least it's all cut and dry and there was no bickering to deal with.
So, ours are filed electronically.....except for the state of New Mexico (will be happy to not have state tax to deal with next year!). We'll wait to pay them with the federal refund.....and I'm about to go to the post office to mail off Roger's, along with our census form. Got hate mail from the Govt. yesterday reminding us that our response to the U.S. Census Bureau is required by law. ;)
I love this country, but am absolutely sickened by how intrusive the government is becoming and watching our freedoms slowly eroding away. *sigh*
So, taxes done. Census, done. They've gotten enough from me today! ;)

Soccer Season Has Begun!!!

Aidan had his first soccer game on Saturday!!! He was so excited and it was cool because Grammy & Papa Wilson and Maddi were over here from Franklin and got to watch him play too! :) He got right in on the action, I was really impressed with how well he played, considering he's never played on a team before! His team ended up winning 6-2 and Aidan actually scored the 5th goal for his team. :) When the ball hit the net, he stood there for a few seconds like, "Did I really just do that???" then started jumping up and down and did a little "touchdown" dance. lol So funny! Wish my battery hadn't been dead on the camcorder! He really loves soccer so far, we'll see if he wants to do it again in the fall. :)









Toward the end of the game, a bald eagle was flying overhead!!! It was so cool to see and unfortunately by the time I got my camera ready, it was flying away. You can still kind of see it in the picture though! :)

My Inner Teenager.....

Is so excited today!!! New Moon comes out on DVD at MIDNIGHT tonight!!! Oh yeah....I'll be one of those crazy almost 34 year old women at the store in the middle of the night with all the teeny boppers buying my copy. lol It's okay.....I know I'm in good company with all the other women around my age doing the exact same thing. ;) Wish Jenny was here, she would totally be there with me. lol She will probably be doing the same thing tonight. Think I should rub it in to her that my midnight is 3 hours before hers and that I could actually buy mine, come home and watch it....before it's midnight for her? hahaha Funny to think about it that way. :) This is the highlight and will have to keep me going till Eclipse is in theaters on June 30th. Oh yeah.....I'm a Twihard. ;)

11 years ago today.......

My oldest "baby" Alex was born and I became a Mommy. :) It is insane to think that it's been that long and that we've only got 2 years to go till we have a teenager on our hands. *shudder* ;) Alex is still in Nashville and I'm sad to be apart from him on his special day. Can't wait till he comes home tomorrow morning!!! After Aidan's soccer game in the morning, we'll spend the rest of the day having a belated birthday celebration. :) He wants to go bowling and to Wasabi for dinner. Wasabi is our favorite restaurant, a Japanese Steakhouse. YUMMY!!!!
In 11 years, Alex has grown into such a handsome, smart and fun kid......who is almost as tall as me!!! I love him so much and am very blessed to be his Mommy. :)

First time away from home......

It's spring break here right now. Caity and Maddi came to visit us last weekend and on a whim, we sent Alex back to Grandma & Papa Wilson's house with them for the rest of the week. He turns 11 on Friday (which he will not be home for :( ) and this is his first time away from home for so long. He's having a great time and I'm sure it's harder on me than it's been on him! ;) He does have our extra cell phone with him and he's been texting or calling several times a day, so at least I know that he misses us and it's reassuring for both of us. I miss him and am sad about not being with him for his birthday. But, Grandma & Papa will bring him back home on Saturday morning and we'll celebrate his birthday then. :)

42nd Anniversary

Today is Mom and Dad's 42nd anniversary. It's hard to believe that two years ago, we were all together in St. George celebrating their 40th anniversary. What great memories we all have of that weekend. I am so glad that we threw the party for them, who knew Mom would be gone just a few months later and that would be some of the last and happiest memories we created with her. Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad. :)

42 years ago.......










Two years ago.......

Wow......I'm a terrible blogger!!!

Really, I am. It's been more than six months since my last blog and so much has happened since then. Not long before my last blog, Erik had taken a job at Y12 in Oak Ridge, TN and moved out there while the boys and I stayed behind in NM to sell our home. Dad remarried in early October to a wonderful lady named Sherry. The weekend of the wedding while I was getting a pedi with Sherry and my sisters, our agent called with an offer on the house. That was October 9th.....everything moved incredibly quickly and we closed on the sell of the house and headed to Tennessee on October 28th. Yes, 19 days later!!!! It was insane. We dropped the boys at Erik's parent's house in Franklin (just outside of Nashville) and arrived in town to move in on Halloween day. Thank Heaven for his parents, we never could have handled moving in and trick or treating all on the same day! lol My Dad flew out here to help us move in, though it was three weeks post his new marriage. We were very thankful for his help! That night, I was awakened with a very exciting phone call.....my older sister was in labor! Got a call a few hours later that my baby nephew, Wyatt, had been born! :)
It's been a busy time here in TN getting settled in, the holidays, school stuff, etc. etc. After school today, the boys will be on spring break and I think we're ALL ready for the break! lol We really like it here in TN. It's definitely a different lifestyle than anywhere that we've lived. Having lived the past 8+ years in WA and NM where we were a minority being LDS.....but still in the midst of a good size LDS population, to being smack in the middle of the "Bible Belt" has been interesting. lol There are literally 5 LDS kids in Alex's middle school, including him. Probably close to the same for Aidan's school. There are more kids than that in the ward....just spread to different schools.
Spring finally seems to be in the air after an unusually cold and snowy winter here. I can't wait for the leaves to start appearing on the trees and have lots of nice, warm, sunny days. :)

That's life in a nutshell for the past 7 months! Will try to do better in keeping things up to date! :)