Happy Blogiversary to Me

3 years ago today I started this blog...I had just graduated from BYU and was living in Provo, UT at the time. And I seriously can't believe it's been 3 years already. So, if you wanna know what I was doing 3 years ago..hit up my archives.

K - so I know you keep checking my blog to see if I put up my China/Thailand pictures yet...They are coming. I promise. I took like 1,000 pictures (yeah, that's not really an exageration)...so it takes forever to go through and pick the best ones to post. But I'll post them soon enough! In the meantime...enjoy this one...

(Yes, that's a scorption and Yes, I really did eat one (stinger and all) ...and No, it actually didn't taste that bad).

For My Dear Friend

I came home from my vacation only to find out some very sad news. Some of you know my dear friend Emily who I first met at BYU when we were roommates. She is one of my best friends who I care deeply for and this past weekend, she was informed with the devastating news that her husband had passed away. John went missing on Friday and it was on Monday that his body was discovered. You can read more information at the website set up for him http://helpfindjohn.info/



Emily and John would have celebrated their first anniversary this July. My dear Emily is 4 months pregnant right now and can use all the support she can get. A trust fund has been set up in John's name for his wife Emily and their unborn child. Some of you that know Emily have asked if there is anything you can do. If you can make any kind of contribution to this fund for Emily, it will mean so much. Emily is the type of person that will do anything for her friends and family. She is one of the most caring people I know and now it is our turn to show her the support and the love that she so deserves and needs. Details on how to contribute to the fund are also found on the website http://helpfindjohn.info/

Having such a dear friend go through something so devastating really helps put things into perspective. I am so grateful for the hope the gospel provides in situations like this and the peace it will bring to John's family and friends. He will be greatly missed by so many.

Oh..by the way..

Remember how I mentioned I was doing a biggest loser competition with some friends?

Well.....

I won!

(In case you were wondering.....We all pitched in $20...so I won a grand total of $180...lucky me. I'll be spending it in China. :)

Check This Out...

Yep....Those used to fit me. Needless to say....I am in need of a new wardrobe! Shopping, anyone? :)

Before-After

So, I've had a few people ask me for before/after pictures of myself from training for the past 4 1/2 months. I wasn't going to post them, because it's almost embarassing to put up these old pictures of myself. I really can't believe I used to look like that. But it also feels great to look at all the changes I've made. So here are some pictures...

The before picture was taken in October up in Boston. This was right before I started losing weight. The after picture was taken today right before I went to the gym. :)



Here are some of my face.. The before picture is from Joni's wedding last summer. And the after picture is from my recent trip to Florida a couple of weeks ago.






I've lost a total of about 60 pounds in the last 5 months. I find myself looking in the mirror a lot more than I used to. I still get surprised when I see myself and find myself thinking, "is that really me?".. It's a good feeling. I feel so healthy and so great! And I'm damn proud of myself.

Only 9 more days before I'm running on the great wall of China! And I couldn't be more excited!!!

Wicked x3

Joni and Brock were in town this weekend...and of course Joni wanted to see wicked!! And I never pass up an excuse to go to broadway...



So...Joni, Brock, Reid and I met up in Manhattan for some dinner and then went to Gershwin Theather to see Wicked. It was only my 3rd time seeing it! And I still loved it. :)

Oh...and how could I not put this picture of Reid up. He was out cold the whole way to NYC..I'm surprised no drool fell out of his wide open mouth. :)

Rock Band!

Can you tell I was getting really into it? I look a little possessed. uh..yeah...anyway, it's a WAY fun game. :)

Da Beach and Nawlin's

A couple of weeks ago, I flew to New Orleans and met up with Heather and Nicole who flew in from Utah for a little vacation getaway with just the girls.... I arrived in New Orleans first and had a few hours to kill before Heather and Nicole got there so I drove into the city and walked around the French Quarter for a bit.

Then I picked up the girls at the airport and we started our small road trip to Pensacola, Fl to see Emily! It's only about a 3 hour a drive or so through parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and of course Florida. 4 states within 3 hours...not bad.

The next day the four of us went to Destin Beach in Florida. It was gorgeous. The sand, the water, the sun..everything was perfect.

I am so addicted to the sun and beach! I can't get enough of it. I kept thinking while I was there that I need to move somewhere warmer and live on the beach. I can't freakin' wait for the beaches in Thailand (only 3 more weeks!!).

After lying on the beach all day.... we went to the outlet mall near by and went shopping! Which was so much fun. I finally bought a few clothes that fit me. Then we grabbed dinner and headed back to Emily's.

Day 2 in Florida...After my 11 mile run in the morning....Emily's husband, John, invited us to the base (where he is doing his Air Force training) to see one of the planes he flies. We got to get in and he showed us what all the little gadgets were and how things worked.

It was pretty cool. I have always thought that it would be fun to learn how to fly...so I was intrigued with how everything works. I think the jet was a T-34 or something like that. Thanks again John!

After the base we went to a nearby river to go.... Canoeing. So - I guess I hadn't been canoeing since I was like 12. Oh...and Emily and Nicole were nice enough to put me and Heather together who weren't all that familiar with the ways of a canoe. It took us (me) a little while to figure out how to make the canoe go the direction we wanted it to. So I wasn't all that comfortable sitting in this thing at first. Especially since Emily told me that there are alligators in that water.

Once I accepted the fact that the canoe probably wasn't going to flip over...and I got the hang of the whole stirring thing...It was a lot of fun.

After canoeing, we headed to Pensacola Beach... We got there kinda late in the day so we just hung out and watched the sunset.

It was gorgeous. The water was surprisingly really warm so I wish it had been a little earlier in the day cause I would have definitely gotten in.

Seriously...I need more beach in my life. Maybe I should move to California. The thought has definitely crossed my mind more than once that's for sure.

After the beach we went to Hemingways...a restaurant on the beach..for dinner. It was really good. I ate a little too much (hence my post below). But it was worth it!

It was a perfect couple of days in Florida! Emily was such a great tour guide and hostess! Saturday...we all (including Emily)...headed back to New Orleans to hang out for the day.

We stopped at all the border crossings and took pictures. This is the one at the Alabama border.

This is the French Quarter in New Orleans. Such a great city. It has so much character...at least this part of town. It's a very different city that's for sure. But I really enjoyed it. They have a bunch of shops, markets, and street entertainers all over the French Quarter. We walked around the shops, got some Gumbo, and took in the sights. It was great.

We walked up to Bourbon street which is where the fun of Mardi Gras always takes place....and we ended up walking right into a Pirate Parade. There were SO many people dressed up as pirates...It was crazy!

They were handing out Mardi Gras beads and just walking down the street with their floats...and they were singing. My personal favorite was when a group came rolling by on a horse carriage singing "What would you do with a drunken pirate" and then some pirate lady stumbled out of the carriage and fell on her face.. They were most definitely a bunch of drunk pirates!

And I, of course, had to get my picture taken with a couple of them. (PS..note the beads around my neck...they were NOT earned. They were given freely).

The next day Heather, Nicole and I headed to the airport way early in the morning and flew home. It was a short trip...but SO worth it! I had such a good time. It was so relaxing and so needed.

Putting It to the Test..

Do any of you watch the TV show "The Biggest Loser"? I absolutely love that show. I couldn't believe how much Ali (the most recent winner) lost over the course of the show. It's incredible the transformations that they go through.

And I've always watched in amazement at the amount of pounds they lose on a weekly basis. Like the last week they were on the BL ranch...Ali went from 146 lbs to 135 lbs and lost 11 lbs in 1 week. I couldn't believe it. And I've always wondered just how realistic losing that much weight really is. What does it take to do something like that?

For those of you that don't know...I joined with some friends from church in a "Biggest Loser" competition. There is a group of about 10 of us that started at the very end of January to do this. So we meet up each week and weigh in...our own little version of the show.

It's actually been a lot of fun and I look forward to getting together for the weigh-ins and talking about our weeks and just hanging out. It's also been a really great help in motivating me to keep on track with all the training I've been doing for this 1/2 marathon coming up.

Last week....after not having such a great weigh-in (thanks to vacation)...I decided I would put the BL numbers to the test and made a goal to drop 12 pounds in 1 week. Insane? maybe. But it couldn't hurt to try.

And I would just like to report that I weighed in at 11.5 lbs lighter this week. So..I was just .5 pounds off from my goal. I don't think anyone really thought I'd be able to do it. So, it felt really good to step on that scale today.

And no - I did not starve myself!! But it took a lot of work. I was working out anywhere from 2 to 3 hours a day. I would run in the mornings and go the gym in the evenings. I ran a total of 27 miles over the course of the week, hit up the elliptical almost every day and also did weight training. As far as food went...I decided for that week that I was going to stick to protein and vegetables only. No carbs....except for my oatmeal that I eat for breakfast every day.

Let's just say I'm happy the week is over. Not that I'm going to be sitting around this week...but I'm looking forward to eating fruit again and maybe getting a little more rest than I did last week.

So...if I can lose 11.5 lbs in one week....even with having a job and other responsibilities....I can see how those on the BL, who do nothing but work out all day long, can pull such high numbers all the time.

But since I have a job...and I like to have time to relax and rest...My goal this week is no where near last weeks... :)

Friday Night Fun

So..What did I do Friday night?....

That's right friends...I played miniature golf (aka: "Mini-Putt" as we called it growing up). I was trying to remember the last time I had played...and I couldn't. It was SO much fun. I think I will have to do it again sometime...sooner than later.

My Office

I had my new camera with me at work...so decided to take a picture of the place I sometimes have to spend too much time at. If not at a client...the exciting life of an accountant all takes place here...

I've had an office for 2 years now (I was only subjected to the cubicles for my first year here)... and I still haven't put any pictures up or anything. And it's still a mess from when I first carried in all my files. But it does have a pretty cool dartboard and nerf basketball net...both of which you can't see in this pictures.

Knicks

The good thing about having guy friends is they like sports...which means they like basketball...which means..I get to go to a lot of games. It's been great having Mckay around cause he's usually the initiator of getting us together for such this as this...


Mckay got some free tickets from work for a Knicks game. They were pretty close to the court which was great..like 15th row or something. Now granted...the knicks are not that great of a team...but it was still fun.


Of course Miss Jennah was also there. We ended up sitting next to rapper Fat Joe's uncle...who also ended up being really good friends with Mike Bibby on the Altanta Hawks (who the Knicks were playing that night). Fat Joe's uncle was hitting on Jennah the whole night..but she didn't mind cause he was going to introduce her to Bibby after the game..
Which he kept his promise on. We all got guest passes and were able to stick around after the game and wait with all the other friends of players for the Hawks to come out and say Hi after the game. Jennah got her pic taken with her new friend Bibby.

I was also super excited about the half time show at the game. Any of you ever watch "America's got Talent"?? Well...if you did...did you ever see the talent act with the lady that would change dresses super fast?? They called their act "Quick Change" i think... Anyway - that was the half time show! It was so good. It's even more amazing watching it in person!

I love Joshua's face in this picture.

Anyway... It was yet another fun night of basketball and friends. Sometimes you just gotta love my life... :)

Utah Trip 2

A few weeks ago I made the trip back to Utah for yet another recruiting event...But it worked out great cause there was lots going on in Utah I wanted to be around for...My parents were going to be there...Dave & Kim were coming down from Idaho for Conference...and one of my really good friends was getting married. So - thanks to work, I was able to fly to Utah (for free) and get to see a bunch of people that I really wanted to see.




Mom and Dad were in town because Dave was graduating from BYU-I the following week and they wanted to see conference so they came out a little early.


And Dave and Kim drove down from Idaho to hang out with us for the weekend. It was fun to see them again. Dave is in the process of finding a job...so who knows where they will end up in the next few months.


A week before I went to Utah, I got a text from my good friend Wes who served in the same mission as me telling me he was getting married. I called him to congratulate him which was when I found out they were getting married a week later!!! How people throw a wedding together that fast is beyond me! (It was a really nice wedding too). Anyway he was happy to hear that I was going to be in town the same weekend! It worked out perfectly!

After the reception I drove over to my mission reunion just in time to see 2 of my favorite people..my mission president and his wife. I just love them.

Then on Saturday...with the luck of finding an extra ticket for myself - all of us went to General Conference for the Saturday morning session.

It was a fantastic weekend! Next trip to Utah will be in June...for Brian's wedding!!

Just me, the boyz...and the Celtics.

On Friday as soon as we all could get out of our fantastic jobs...Reid, Josh, Mckay and I headed up to Boston to see the Celtics play the New Orleans Hornets...

We made it up to Boston...checked in to our hotel and made our way over to the Garden... Where we climbed to basically the very top of it to get to our seats. The Celtics are way good this year...tickets are pretty much always sold out... So Mckay bought them on ebay (i think). Kinda expensive..but it was worth it.

Just me and my boys...gotta love 'em. (Nice face Reid!)

We were so excited to be there.. Well - I look excited to be there. Joshua kinda looks in shock..but I think he was just getting sick of my camera in his face. He really was excited to be there too, I promise.

The Celtics beat the Hornets.....It was a good game and a lot of fun to watch. After the game we (eventually) got something to eat and went back to the hotel. Saturday....it was too cold for us wimps to really do much in Boston...so we slept in, ate lunch at the Quincy Market..and then headed back to CT (where I took a nice nap because I did not get much sleep in Boston)!!

It was a lot of fun....but who wouldn't have fun hanging out with these fantastic guys and watching basketball all at the same time!?!?! I got a little camera happy.....Here are some of the pics...