The Biggest Loser: Hansen Edition

Before Christmas, Tim and I were over at my Mom and Dad's house with my brother Eric and my sister-in-law Karen.  We were sitting around talking and my Mom asked us if we would be interested in doing a Biggest Loser challenge.  My Dad said he even had a prize.

Tim and I talked about it and decided we were in.  We would both like to lose some poundage and thought this might be a fun way to do it.  Then, we found out the prize.

My Dad is giving the winning couple 2 free airline ticket vouchers.  I don't remember how much they're worth, but 2 free airline tickets.  We're definitely in!

Yesterday was the initial weigh in.  We all (except for Tim because he's been sick) met at Eric and Karen's house and weighed in. Tim and I were the "smallest" couple...not my much.  We will weigh in again in 2 weeks on January 14.  Then, we will continue to weigh in every 2 weeks.  The couple who loses the highest percentage of weight wins the airline tickets. 

Here's hoping it's us because we could really use a vacation.  I will say this though...I would rather just lose the weight, regardless of whether we win or not.  I'm ready to get moving on this challenge!

FHE Treat

Yes, I did start a Biggest Loser competition today and yes, I've been craving something sweet all day.  I've been thinking about how I can make a "healthy" cookie and here's what I came up with...oatmeal pumpkin chocolate chips.  Then, I found the recipe.


Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick cooking rolled oats, uncooked
1 teaspoon baking Soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

 

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease baking sheets. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; set aside. Beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, mix. Alternate additions of dry ingredients and pumpkin, mixing well after each addition. Stir in chocolate pieces. For each cookie, drop 1/4 cup of dough onto prepared baking sheet. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until firm and lightly browned.

**I made smaller cookies and baked them for 12 minutes.  We like soft cookies at our house...no dunkers.  

Oh and in an effort to be control our intake, I only made one batch and froze the rest of the dough.  I'm pretty sure we don't need 5 dozen of any kind of cookies sitting around.  I also realize that these cookies are not healthy, but hey...they do have a vegetable in them. 

Happy New Year: Goals for 2012

For about a week now, I've been thinking about what goals I want to set for myself this year.  I looked back over my goals from 2011 and even evaluated them to see how well I did and I didn't do so hot.  I've been thinking that maybe I should work on some 3 month goals and then move forward so that I don't lose steam and so that I feel a sense of accomplishment sooner.  I've debated on what exactly I want to work on this year.  Tim and I have discussed some things we want to work on.  In spite of all of this thinking, I still don't have a final list, but I'm hoping that maybe if I list a few things here now, that I'll have some more concrete ideas come into my head.  So, here goes...

1.  Lose 40+ lbs.

My family is doing a Biggest Loser contest and we started today.  I'll post more about that tomorrow.  I'm hoping that will kick the weight loss off to a good start and get me motivated.  Tim and I are starting P90X next week to go along with that, so I think we have a good plan in place to see some results.  So, I think I'll see how the next 3 months go with P90X and the Biggest Loser and then I'll go from there and re-evaluate how this goal is going.

2.  Temple Attendance

Last night, Tim and I were talking about goals and he mentioned that maybe we ought to set a goal to attend as many temples in Utah as we can this year.  We have several temples pretty close to us so I think this is doable.  We just need to make the effort to plan instead of just saying, "hey, we should try to go to the temple this week."

3.  PR at the 1/2 IM distance.

Yes, this has been a goal of mine for the past few years and I haven't done much about it.  I've already looked at races this year and I'm planning on registering for the Bear Lake Brawl 1/2 Ironman in September.  I feel like that race will give me time to get a headstart on the weight loss and start my training when I can actually train outside.  Tim is on board for this goal and I'm hoping that my summer will allow me to really train the way I would like to in order to achieve this goal.

4. Learn to mountain bike.

Tim loves to mountain bike and he's pretty good at it.  I on the other hand can climb like a champ and will climb all day long on my mountain bike.  The problem for me is going downhill.  It scares me and I don't like it at all.  So, I told Tim the other night that I would like to learn to mountain bike.  I won't be able to start on this goal until the spring and summer, so I'm going to keep it off the radar until then, but I did want to write it down so that I can remember.

Those are the goals I have for myself so far.  I really do think that if I focus on shorter goals, like 3 month goals that I might actually feel better about my accomplishments and feel like I'm making progress instead of having them sit out there, sort of forgotten.

Happy New Year!

May 2012 be even better than 2011!

A Review of my 2011 Goals

Since it's the last day of 2011, it's time to do a self-check on how my goals went this year.  I'm a little apprehensive about doing this, because to be totally honest, I think that I really didn't do that great on my goals.  I guess that's just life and new year's resolutions and the good news is that I have next year so...  here goes. 

To see my post about my goals for 2011, see HERE.

1.  Read the scriptures daily.

This is the goal that I completed this year.  Maybe I should just pick one for next year.  :)  I read my scriptures every day this year.  I read the Book of Mormon 3 times.  I read all of the General Conference talks several times.  I read the New Testament, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. 

Reading my scriptures daily brought so many blessings into my life.  I feel like I had the spirit with me more regularly and more noticeably.  I was able to learn more and strengthen my testimony.  I was also able to connect the words of our modern-day prophets with the writings of past prophets.  I was also able to set an example for the young women in our ward, as well as my family.  This has definitely become a habit and I plan on keeping it up.

2.  Attend the temple twice a month.

I started the year off doing great with my temple attendance.  I think, if I remember correctly, that I was able to get to the temple twice a month up until June.  Then, summer happened, trips happened, the temple closed for cleaning, and I didn't make it a high enough priority.  This is definitely something I need to do a better job at and will definitely be one of my goals for next year.

3.  Lose 20+ pounds by eating healthy and working out and/or training regularly.

This SO didn't happen.  I worked out pretty diligently in January, then got sick and it was a battle throughout the year to get into a routine.  I ran pretty regularly in August.  I worked out sporadically throughout the fall.  I absolutely have got to GET IT TOGETHER and get my workouts in.  I'm hoping a new family challenge will help me to kick it in gear here in January, as well as some other goals I'm working on for 2012.

4.  Write daily.

I thought I would do a better job at this goal than I actually did.  I think I just need to do a better job of prioritizing my day and being a little bit more productive so that I feel ok about taking the time to write and work on my own goals.  I have done better with this lately, but only because I've been making it a priority and adding it to my "to do" list.

5.  Develop a new skill or talent.

Honestly, I had forgotten about this goal.  Ooops...I guess that's sort of the point of re-evaluating progress.  However, I think this is another goal that I've been working on and successful at.  I learned to crochet this summer.  I haven't done it much since then and I absolutely need to keep working on it, but I did learn.  I also joined the ward choir and was able to work on my singing...not that I have a nice voice at all, but I did work on it.  The working on singing led to getting my keyboard out and playing the piano, so I will have to check this goal off as one that I definitely completed.

6.  PR at the 1/2 Ironman distance. I'm leaning towards the Bear Lake Brawl in August.

I don't even know what to say about this goal.  It's on my list of goals for 2012.  Last year just got super insane over the summer and I didn't take the time to train.  In fact, my races last year pretty much sucked.  I didn't finish Little Red Riding Hood.  I'm not even sure what I signed up for and am not coming up with any races that I did at all last year.

That has to change.  I LOVE racing and I really need to make sure that I'm doing races because it's part of who I am.  I will say that I have been working on my race schedule for 2012.  Tim is on board with my doing a 1/2IM, so we'll see how that goes.

So, there's my self-evaluation.  I'm thinking that maybe I should just pick 3 goals for next year, so maybe I should pace myself and not have so many things to be working on at once.  I'll write more tomorrow about my goals for 2012, but I'm thinking it will definitely be better. 

The Magic of Christmas

Early in December, my parents donated money to the Fraternal Order of Police to help them with their "Shop with a Cop" program and with their donation, they were given several tickets to a magic show called "The Magic of Christmas."  It was on Thursday and since we had the kids, we decided to take them. 

My parents got their early enough to sit right on the front row, so the kids, along with John and Kate, and Cole got to sit right up close and personal with the magician.  It was a fun way to spend an evening...with many laughs.

Because we were right in the front, we got to participate.  The magician needed a shoe, so Eric's size 13 Doc Martens got to play the part.  

 The magician's wife (ie. the assistant) wore lots of really short dresses and even got to float.

One guy got to participate in the chop your head off illusion.  

The magician put his wife in a box and pushed a bunch of swords through it.

The funniest part of that trick was the outfit his wife was wearing.  Her boobs were falling out of the bottom which cause much laughter in our section, probably everyone else too.  My dad said that maybe she needs a bigger size.  I tried to get a picture, but it didn't turn out to great.  I guess you'll just have to take my word for it.

It was a little corny for a magic show, but we had fun.  I should mention that the poor magician had his trailer with all of his magic tricks stolen last week, so he did great improvising.  There were also some technical difficulties with the music that were super frustrating for him.  But, we did have fun and I guess the FOP did so great with their fundraiser they were able to help 20 more kids than they were planning on. 

What a Great Dad!

When Rylan started middle school this fall, apparently a girl in one of his classes started calling him "Mustache Man."  He mentioned this several times to us and we asked him if he was ready to start shaving and he kept telling us no.  However, Santa brought him a razor and shaving cream in his stocking which apparently triggered the question "Dad, will you teach me to shave?" on Christmas night.

Because Tim is such a great dad, he said, "Yes" and down they went into the kids bathroom.  I followed right behind with the camera because I figured this was probably blog-worthy.

I have to admit I was very surprised at how well Tim did the "teaching to shave" lesson.  I wouldn't have done such a great job.

First, he let Ry play with the shaving cream. 

He also showed Ry how to use the razor by leaving the guard on and "shaving" his arm hair.  I kind of freaked out because I absolutely didn't want Tim to shave off his arm hair.

Then, he had Ry shave a section of his arm hair to get a feel for the amount of pressure you need to use.

Next, he had Ry put the shaving cream on his face.

 Then, he had Ry "shave" his mustache with the guard on the razor.

 Finally, it was time for the actual shaving!

This involved much laughter and many funny faces!

Then Tim did the finishing touches.  I guess that means that Ry is on his way to becoming a man.  He did have fun and told us that he's planning on shaving every time he comes to our house.

Mostly, I was just impressed at what a great job Tim did teaching him.  I would never have thought to use all of those different steps and to have him practice .  What a great Dad he is!

Christmas with the Elwoods

I was going to post this yesterday, but I had a MEAN case of food poisoning, involving issues at both ends of my food chain, so instead of blogging, I spent much time lying in bed or worshiping the toilet.  Definitely not how I planned to spend Tim's day off or the day after Christmas.

However, Christmas this year was awesome.  Tim and I spent Christmas Eve with my parents, and brothers and their families.  We ate appetizers and played games and I watched the Sound of Music with Cole.

Christmas morning, I woke up early, like I always do and got ready for church.  Because I sang in the choir this year, I had to be their early.  Unfortunately, that also meant that Tim got to come to church and sit by himself.  I love having Christmas on Sunday.  I love being able to start the day off feeling the spirit and really focusing on the true meaning of Christmas.  The program at church this year was fantastic and it definitely set the tone for the rest of the day.

After church, Tim and I headed over to my parents with Kona to have gingerbread waffles.  We love them but they are SO rich that I'm glad we have them only once a year...except that Tim and I made them for the kids yesterday too.  We got to watch Cole play with his new kitchen that my parents made for him.  He loved it and when Karen asked him how much he said, "46."  I have no idea what that means, but it was cute.

We came home and I sort of took a nap while Tim played a game on the Xbox.  The kids arrived around 2pm and we had Christmas at our house.

Kona even got to join in the fun and opened some presents and even shredded a box...his favorite thing to do!

Rylan LOVED his Pittsburgh Steelers tshirt!  In fact, I'm pretty sure he's been wearing it since he put it on Sunday afternoon.  I'm really hoping I can talk him into taking it off today so I can wash it.

Tim got a couple of new hoodies, a tool bag, a flashlight, and a few other things.  The only thing I was able to surprise him with this year was the 12 days of Christmas.

The demon dog made a few appearances.

Kyra got a new snowboard and some snowboard boots so she's all set for snowboarding this season...if we ever get some snow.

I got some super duper huge cookie sheets (Tim wants me to bake more...), as well as some other baking stuff, Sister Dalton's new book, and my personal favorite, a pair of super cute cowboy boots.  I don't have a picture of the boots yet, but I love them!  Tim said that we're turning into "cow" people, but I have no idea what that means.

After presents, we headed back to my parents for dinner.  My Dad made a delicious stuffed pork tenderloin and we had salad and baked potatoes and it was so fun.  Then we played games and it was time to go home. 

We decided to watch "A Christmas Story" and that went pretty well.  I ate some leftover 7 layer dip (hence the food poisoning) while Tim and the kids had candy and popcorn.  Apparently, I should have skipped the dip and eaten the candy.

Anyways, we had a WONDERFUL Christmas and I'm sad that it's all over.  I guess now it's time to move on to the next thing!