Cabin Fun With My New And Old BFF

Last weekend Chris and I had the wonderful pleasure of having Jodi, my life long friend, and her adorable daughter Ariana up to the cabin.  We were up there from Friday night to Sunday afternoon.  What a great weekend it was too.  We did pine cone racing, decorated sugar cookies, hiking, fossil hunting, and a little bit of relaxing.  I am so grateful to have Jodi in my life.  We have litterally been friends since the day we were born.  Almost 27 years, and still counting.  And I know that I can always pick up where I left off with her.  It is a very low maintenance relationship.  It's perfect.  She also keeps me grounded and reminds me what it's like to have a true friend.  I am so happy that her daughter, Ariana, loves me too.  She is my new BFF.  She gave me the other half of her Best Friends necklace.  So our best friend status is official.  Now Jodi needs to find a new bestie.  OR we can still be friends and just not let Airi know.  I could go into all kinds of detail about every second that we were there, but I think that I will let the pictures speak for themselves.  I sure do love that blonde girl and her super cute daughter.  BF for life!!

It's official!

Airi and Jodi decorating their sugar cookies.

Maralee taking us on a hiking adventure.

We did a lot of pine cone racing.

Chris and Airiana pine cone racing.

Airiana is smashing up rocks to try and find some fossils.

Jodi was really good at the fossil game.  She found a ton right away.

Loading the trebuchet.  It was fun to see that thing in action.

He is my favorite person.

We loved pine cone racing just as much as Airiana.  Yes, we become children we are together.

The End Is In Sight

Yesterday, I had an appointment with my orthodontist.  I thought it was going to be just like every other appointment.  I would go in, he would make a few adjustments, and then I would schedule an appointment for 4 weeks later and do the same thing at the next appointment.  But yesterday was different.  Yesterday was special.  Yesterday was the day that I scheduled the day for removal of this 2 year commitment.  June 19 is the day!!  I was hoping to have them off by my birthday (which is June 11), but I can handle having it as a late birthday present.  I immediately made a countdown in my phone.  I will be able to know down to the second when I will get them off.  As of right now I have, 2 months 20 hours and 24 minutes.

I have 2 appointments set up for that day.  9:00 in the morning is the big deal one.  The time that they come off.  Then I have an appointment 4:00 that afternoon to get fitted for my retainers.  I will have a permanent one put in on the bottom, and I will be super cool and have the old school metal one for the top.  He said that normally they do the clear ones ( the ones that look like mouth guards), but with my treatment and all of the work that has been done, I need the metal one.  I am not super jazzed about that, but I will do whatever I need to do, and wear whatever I need to wear in order for my teeth to stay perfect.

I don't know what I am going to do without them.  They are part of my identity now.  I don't really notice that they are there anymore.  I am no longer annoyed that I have them.  I have accepted that I have adult braces.  And those will eventually give me beautiful and perfect teeth.  I haven't really thought about the day that they would come off.  Now that it has been brought to my attention, and there is a date set that is fast approaching, I can't wait!!  I can't wait to see what I look like with straight, beautiful, white teeth.

It's hard to believe that my teeth looked as bad as they did before. . .

1 month before they were put on.  We were zip lining in Costa Rica.

And as of a couple of weeks ago, they look like this. . . 

Taken a couple of weeks ago.

And in 8 weeks, there will be a picture of me braces free!  I can't wait for that day!!  Only 8 weeks to go.  Seeing as I have had them on for 2 years already, 2 months 20 hours and 16 minutes doesn't seem so bad.

Refund Baby!

This will be a short post.  But we were so excited that I couldn't help, but share.

We decided to bite the bullet and did our taxes yesterday.  Normally tax time is a pretty rough time for our house.  Since Chris owns his own business, taxes are rough because of self employment tax.  We always end up owing money, and not a small amount.  The more money we make in a year, the higher amount of taxes we pay in April.  Sometimes it's hard to hope that we make a lot of money that year.  But like everyone, we like making money.  Given this information, we always go into tax season with a pretty negative attitude. Anyway, we sat down and did them yesterday, and for the first time ever since being married we are getting a refund back!!!!  Not from federal, only from the state, and it's not a ton.  But still, money is money.  We are pretty excited about it.  Yesterday was a good day in the Gardner house.  Too bad it's not good news every April, but we'll take at least one.

New Job, But Not Really

As most of you know, the practice I was working at closed in October.  That was tough.  I had only been there for 3 1/2 months, so it was all still new.  The doctor called me in November and said that he may have another job lined up for me with the doctor that wanted to buy his practice.  He said that he would give the new doctor my information so he could get in touch with me.  Well, November, December, and January had passed and still no phone call.  And then in early February I got a call from Dr. Mendenhall asking me if I was still interested in working for him.  At this point I was torn.  I had gotten used to the "Stay at home wife" gig and was loving it!  So to start working again was going to be a tough decision.  Especially since I lost my last job with a start up practice.  But I decided to meet up with him and see what kind of vibe I would get from him.

A little background information for you all.  Dr. Mendenhall bought the space that the previous doctor had, but did not keep the name.  So it is basically the same exact job and location I was at before.  It is just under a new name and with a new doctor.

To make a long story a little bit shorter, I had a really good feeling when I met with him.  He has a good head on his shoulders and knows that overhead needs to be low in order for a new business to make it.  He offered me a job, and asked if I would basically be in charge of the office.  I told him that I would be happy to work for him and could start as soon as he needed me.  I got 2 good recommendations from other doctors that I have worked for previously.  So shout out to them!  Thank you so much Dr. Gubler and Dr. McKell.  I don't know that I would have gotten this job with out you!  I started the end of February, so I have been at the new job for about a month now.  Precision Vision has been a wonderful place to work.  I really really like my job.  I haven't like a job this much since I first started at Timpanogos Vision Center.  It's a really good fit.  There are 2 employees (me and another kid) and 1 doctor.  It is small, but great.  We have only had a soft opening so far, but plan on doing a grand opening in a few weeks.  We want to get everything set up and ready to go before we plan our big party.  I have most been pricing frames, and getting all of the frame boards organized.  And I just started organizing all of the drawers and cupboards.  Things will be great here.  I have a good feeling about it.  I feel appreciated and taken seriously.  Which is a nice change to have at a job.  I know that I am going to be here for a long time.  I will keep you updated on how things are going as more time passes.

Thanks for reading friends!

Project of the Unemployed

2 posts in 2 days?  Things are starting to get interesting here I guess.  Not really.  I just happened to make curtains yesterday.

I bought the fabric at IKEA.  If you haven't thought about or didn't know you could get fabric there, I highly recommend it.  They have AMAZING fabric to choose from.  I got enough to make curtains for our sliding glass door.  The curtains we had before were fine.  And Chris and I actually both really liked them.  But now that the new fabric is up, I can't imagine why we put up with the other curtains for so long.  The new ones brighten up the room, and they make our walls look more green.  (Which is the color they really are.)  Anyway, they turned out perfect.  I had some help from my wonderful mother-in-law.  And I am happy that she was and is so willing to help me.

I LOVE THEM!!!!

I am so happy with them.  Even this morning I just stood next to our table and stared at them.  They look much better in the space, and they are much more us.  They match our house much better.  I guess we just love green, yellow, and white together.

It's a good color combination.

I has been almost a year since we moved in and I thought that it would be nice to get our house a birthday present.  Chris thinks I'm crazy for it, but I like to do weird things like that.  The curtains are a good birthday present.  But we also have another super fun, Pinterest inspired thing in the works.  Stay tuned for more!

Yes, We're Still Alive

I saw that my last post was done over 2 months ago.  That's a long time.  I guess there hasn't been anything super note worthy that has happened.  I mean we have had Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years, but nothing super exciting happened with those.  Just the normal family things.

Chris and I are doing well.  I am still jobless, but lets be honest, I love it!  Being able to cook and clean and find fun projects on Pinterest is the best.  If a job came along that I couldn't pass up, I would take it.  But I am not actively looking for a job anymore.  Chris is plugging away with clients, and landed a few more good ones.  We are thrilled about that.  He is also spending a lot of his free time on his truck.  All of the engine work is done (minus the placement of the air filter) and the front end is back on.  That is a pretty big milestone.  All that's left is body work/paint and the inside.  Mostly cosmetic things.  I am proud of him for doing something so hard, but so amazing.

Other than that we are pretty boring.  (Boring isn't always such a bad thing though.)  We are coming up on a year of being in our house.  Where does the time go?  It feels like we moved in only a few months ago.

If anything new/fun/exciting happens to us, I will make sure to update you all.  As for right now, we are just happy to be spending time together even if our life seems boring. 

The 15 Days Are Over

Disclaimer:  There are before and after pictures of me in this post.  Please don't judge me too harshly.

Well, I did it.  The 15 days are now over and I can say that the experience was a success.  I made sure to keep a log of my weight, food, and workout activity.  If you are struggling to lose some unwanted and unnecessary weight, this could work for you.  But only if you have the determination and drive to stick with it.  It's not fun, and it was a little harder than I expected it to be, but it was so worth it.  As I have mentioned before, I have already lost 50 pounds in the last 2 years.  During the 2 years, I have made it my personal goal to get back to my pre-wedding weight.  And because I worked really hard over these last 2 weeks, I was able to accomplish that goal.  After 2 long years, I have finally lost all of the weight I have set out to lose.

In 15 days I lost a total of 7.2 pounds.  (That's a grand total of almost 60 pounds since I started losing weight.)  My BMI went down 1.1 points.  And I lost a total of 6 inches from various body parts.  I am going to add in my journal to this post so if someone is interested in how I accomplished it you can see it all here.  There will also be pictures of before and after as well.  Just from over the 2 weeks.  I don't have a before before picture.  Although, I wish I did.  I am a little nervous and on the fence about doing this.  I still don't have the body that I would like, and no, it's not perfect.  So please don't judge me.  I definitely don't look like a model or a super skinny person, but the change that has happened with my body is crazy.  And I am trying this new thing of loving my new self and being proud of what I have accomplished.  So I am going to swallow my fear, and post pictures of my body for the world to see.  Oh boy.  Here goes nothing.

15 Day Challenge

Before:

After:

DAY 1

Weight: 142.4

BMI: 22.9

Hips: 42.0

Thighs: 24.0

Waist: 30.5

Throughout the process I took cold showers, wrote in my journal, always tried to get 8hrs of sleep, and only drinking water and nothing else. Good sleep was even more important than food.

During the 2 weeks, no salt, no dressing, and no sugar 

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and slices of apple
Lunch: Chicken salad.  I made my own dressing with garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and Mrs. Dash.
Dinner: Baked chicken thigh and raw vegetables.  Tonight I had cauliflower and cabbage.

WORKOUT:
Planks - 90 secs
Turkish Get Ups - 4 on each side (10lb dumbbell)
Goblet squats - 12x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Triple crushers 10x3 (12.5lb dumbbell)
Double, clean, squat, press 10x3 (12.5lb dumbbell)
Kettlebell swings (12.5lbs dumbbell)- First set 50 swings, then 20, then 20
No cardio

Every day I timed myself how long the workouts took and tried to do it faster and faster. The first time took me 30 minutes.

DAY 2

Weight: 142.0

BMI: 22.9

Breakfast: Cucumber sandwich
Lunch: Chicken thigh and carrots.
Dinner: 3 hard boiled eggs and raw vegetables.  Tonight I had broccoli, carrots, and cabbage.

Snack: Cucumber sandwich

WORKOUT:
Planks - 90 secs
Turkish Get Ups - 4 on each side (10lb dumbbell)
Goblet squats - 12x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Triple crushers 10x3 (12.5lb dumbbell)
Double, clean, squat, press 10x3 (12.5lb dumbbell)
Kettlebell swings (12.5lbs dumbbell)- First set 50 swings, then 20, then 20
No cardio

DAY 3

Weight: 141.2

BMI: 22.8

Breakfast: Woke up late for church, so I didn’t have any time to eat breakfast.
Lunch: Tomato and avocado salad
Dinner: Roast beef and vegetables.  Tonight I had butternut squash, mushrooms, onions, and asparagus.

Snack: Cucumber sandwich

Since it was Sunday, I made it a rest day.

DAY 4

Weight:139.4

BMI: 22.5

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and celery
Lunch: Pork salad with cucumbers.
Dinner: Grilled chicken and veggies.  Tonight I had butternut squash, onion, carrots, and cabbage.

Snack: Cucumber sandwich

WORKOUT:
Planks - 90 secs
Turkish Get Ups - 4 on each side (10lb dumbbell)
Goblet squats - 12x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Triple crushers 10x3 (12.5lb dumbbell)
Double, clean, squat, press 10x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Kettlebell swings (12.5lbs dumbbell)- First set 50 swings, then 20, then 20
No cardio

DAY 5

Weight: 139.4

BMI: 22.5

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and celery
Lunch: Pork salad with cucumbers, carrots, broccoli, and celery.
Dinner: Blitzen with mushroom and asparagus sauce.  Butternut squash, pineapple, and raspberries.  (I had dinner at my in-laws tonight.  I didn’t want to tell them about my diet, because I didn’t want them to cater the meal to me.  I just ate a lot of things that I could, and only a small portion of the things that are not on this diet plan.)

Snack: Cucumber sandwich

WORKOUT:
Planks - 90 secs
Turkish Get Ups - 4 on each side (10lb dumbbell)
Goblet squats - 12x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Triple crushers 10x3 (12.5lb dumbbell)
Double, clean, squat, press 10x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Kettlebell swings (12.5lbs dumbbell)- First set 50 swings, then 20, then 20

DAY 6

Weight: 138.6

BMI: 22.4

Breakfast: I felt sick this morning so I didn’t have breakfast.
Lunch: Grilled chicken and butternut squash.
Dinner: What Chris and I call bean dip and a chicken thigh.

WORKOUT:
Planks - 90 secs
Turkish Get Ups - 4 on each side (12.5lb dumbbell)
Goblet squats - 12x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Triple crushers 10x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Double, clean, squat, press 10x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Kettlebell swings (12.5lbs dumbbell)- Trying to do all 90 at once now.  I haven’t been able to yet, but I am getting close.

DAY 7

Weight: 138.6

BMI: 22.4

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and celery.
Lunch: Cucumber sandwich.
Dinner: Pork roast and roasted veggies

WORKOUT:
Planks - 90 secs
Turkish Get Ups - 4 on each side (12.5lb dumbbell)
Goblet squats - 12x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Triple crushers 10x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Double, clean, squat, press 10x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Kettlebell swings (12.5lbs dumbbell)- Trying to do all 90 at once now.  I haven’t been able to yet, but I am getting close.

DAY 8

Weight: 138.6

BMI: 22.4

Breakfast: Chris slept on the couch, so I didn’t want to wake him up by making breakfast.
Lunch: My mom came to visit, and I didn’t want to eat out.
Dinner: My mom took us to the Mongolian Grill for Chris’ birthday dinner.  Pork, chicken, and veggies.

WORKOUT:
Planks - 90 secs
Turkish Get Ups - 4 on each side (12.5lb dumbbell)
Goblet squats - 12x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Triple crushers 10x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Double, clean, squat, press 10x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Kettlebell swings (12.5lbs dumbbell)- Trying to do all 90 at once now.  I haven’t been able to yet, but I am getting close.

DAY 9

Weight: 138.2

BMI: 22.3

Breakfast: Chris slept on the couch, so I didn’t want to wake him up by making breakfast.
Lunch: Tomato and avocado salad with grilled chicken.
Dinner: Broccoli, mushroom, and onion frittata.

WORKOUT:

Stairs – Ran the stairs 4 times x4
Planks - 90 secs
Turkish Get Ups - 4 on each side (12.5lb dumbbell)
Goblet squats - 12x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Triple crushers 10x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Double, clean, squat, press 10x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Kettlebell swings (12.5lbs dumbbell)- Trying to do all 90 at once now.  I haven’t been able to yet, but I am getting close.

DAY 10

Weight: 138.2

BMI: 22.3

Breakfast: Leftover broccoli, mushroom, and onion frittata.
Lunch: Tomato and avocado salad with grilled chicken.
Dinner: Hawaiian haystacks with no dressing and very little rice.

Since it was Sunday, I made it a rest day.

DAY 11

Started my period today, so I am not going to weigh in until it is done.

Breakfast: Felt sick, so I didn’t have breakfast.
Lunch: Cucumber sandwich.
Dinner: Pork Roast and butternut squash.

WORKOUT:

AM Stationary Bike – 20 minutes

PM Stairs – Ran the stairs 4 times x4

DAY 12

Didn’t weigh in.

Breakfast: Felt sick, so I didn’t have breakfast.
Lunch: Mother-in-law took us to lunch, so I did the best that I could given the circumstances. 1 beef taco.

Dinner: Tuesday nights we have dinner at the in-laws.  So again, I did the best that I could given the circumstances.  4 mushroom ravioli, 2 meatballs, and a giant salad.

WORKOUT:

AM Stationary Bike – 20 minutes

PM Stairs – Ran the stairs 4 times x4

DAY 13

Weight: 138.2

BMI: 22.3

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs.
Lunch: 2 cups of homemade granola.

Dinner: Roasted veggies.  Cabbage, broccoli, butternut squash, carrots, mushrooms, and onions.

WORKOUT:

AM Stationary Bike – 20 minutes

Stairs – Ran the stairs 4 times x4

PM Planks - 90 secs
Turkish Get Ups - 4 on each side (12.5lb dumbbell)
Goblet squats - 12x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Triple crushers 10x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Double, clean, squat, press 10x3 (15lb dumbbell)
Kettlebell swings (12.5lbs dumbbell)- Trying to do all 90 at once now.  I haven’t been able to yet, but I am getting close.

DAY 14

Weight: 137.0

BMI: 22.1

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs.
Lunch: Was baby sitting a friend’s kids so I didn’t get a lunch in.

Dinner: 2 cups of homemade granola.

WORKOUT:

AM Stationary Bike – 20 minutes

Stairs – Ran the stairs 4 times x4

Plank 90 sec

DAY 15

Weight: 135.4

BMI: 21.9

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs.
Lunch: 2 cups of homemade granola.

Dinner: Hard boiled eggs.

WORKOUT:

AM Stationary Bike – 20 minutes

Stairs – Ran the stairs 4 times x4

Plank 90 sec

DAY 16

Final weigh in:

Weight: 135.2

BMI: 21.8

Waist: 28.5

Hips: 41.0

Thighs: 22.5