The one about the wedding

My sister, Jodi, got married this weekend. (May 20th, to be precise). I figured my parents had 4 kids in 8 years... and married them all off in a little over 4 years. I'm not sure why I was figuring that.

The day threatened to be rainy and windy, and although it did both, it wasn't too bad. I thought it was a fairly low-key event, no big reception, just the ceremony at 3 pm (more to come on that

later) and a dinner at 7 pm. My sister and mom were told by her photographer and the event planner at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building that there was no way they would be ready to eat

at 6. There was, so we had extra time to entertain small children, but everything ended up

working out.

I barely managed to get a shot of the couple as they left the temple, and a few shots of my kids. I should have handed my camera over to someone who wasn't trying to entertain two kids, but hopefully I can steal a few shots from the professional. My cousin, Annie, who is pretty dang close to a professional, did get some good shots as well.

Because this is MY blog, and not my sisters, I'll add our little drama before the sealing.

Big Matt (my brother) and Jenny (his wife) came to our house to watch the kids. We figured a few extra minutes of Hyrum's nap could only be useful later in the evening. I had it in my head all week that we needed to be at the temple at 3:00 and the ceremony started at 3:30. So we took our time leaving the house. and, when Justin got a phone call from work as we were walking in, I thought we had PLENTY of time, so he took it (what a mistake that turned out to be). I even watched a friend of hers run into to temple, all out of breath, thinking she was going to be too late, and I thought -why is she in such a rush, we have 10 minutes before we should even be in the waiting room.

I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this.

Justin finally got off the phone, and since this is a private blog now, I'll share part of that story as well. The short version is, he was offered a new job (within his current company) that came with a promotion, raise, travel, managing employees -everything he has been looking for AND it was remote, which meant he would still work from home most of the time. The official offer came 3 hours before the sealing, and he accepted.

The phone call was to take back the offer. ????? I know, we're a little confused. It could be worse, because he already had received a more modest salary increase and promotion in his current

position, but that only slightly lessened the blow.

Back to the temple, I hand them my temple recommend no problem. Justin hands the wor

ker his, problem. Our Stake office didn't enter in his new recommend into the computer. I left Justin at the front desk as they tried desperately to reach our Stake President. Still not thinking we were late, I just wanted to visit with my family before. I get to the waiting room -and no one was there. I seriously thought -weird, I wasn't thinking we'd be the first ones there. I sat there for a minute or two, and finally went and asked the temple worker. That's when I found out I was very late, so I ran up to the second floor, and rushed in the room. Without Justin. They were waiting for us, so they hadn't brought Jodi and Trevor in, and I figured Justin would be right

behind me.

Jodi and Trevor finally came in, still no Justin. He did finally sneak in after the sealer had begun speaking, but made it for the important part. And, because I had the time wrong, Matt and Jenny missed the temple pictures, which I feel bad about. And, my kids, but oh well. We did get a few before the dinner.

I think everything turned out just as she had hoped. It was a really nice dinner with a lot of cute little details that she worked really hard on. The cutest one was the photo booth, with Annie taking funny shots of everyone (instead of signing a guest book) as they came in.

Zumba and Spinning

So... with family pictures and a wedding all in the same week (next week), I've had ample motivation to try and lose some of that baby weight. And, if I'm lucky, the weight that crept on even before babies.

5 weeks of just tracking what I eat and getting ready for a 5K, and another 5 weeks of really strict calorie restrictions (along with walking at the park or mall with the kids), I'm happy to say I've lost 32 pounds since March 1st.

Now, I'm trying to ease myself back to a normal diet (think daily calories above 1,000), so I'm bumping up the exercise. Over the years I have learned a little something about losing weight and my body (seriously, just how often can one person lose almost 50 pounds?). I need exercise. Not simply riding a recumbent bike or walking around a park with a stroller -but serious, sweaty, heart rate near 200 beats per minute, exercise. Yes, I can't eat like a pig and work out like crazy and expect to lose, but I think most people it might be 70% diet and 30% exercise, but I don't think that's how my body works. For me... it's at least 50/50... if not leaning a little more towards the exercise.

I don't mind it all that much -because thankfully, I enjoy going to the gym. I like pushing myself and exercising using different methods, classes, and machines. However, as the number of children increase, the time I have to exercise decreases. Which is probably why I'm technically lower than I was when I got pregnant with Kate... but still have at least 20 more pounds to lose to get to where I was when I got married. (And even after that, I'm sure I'm a few inches from where I was when I got married -the joys of pregnancy and childbirth I suppose).

So... this month I'm focusing on exercise. A friend of mine recently became a certified Zumba instructor and did a class for Young Womens last month. Thank goodness for that class, because I went to a 'real' class last night. Let me tell you, this was a very authentic Zumba class -meaning it was taught by a latin guy (Camilo Jimenez) who REALLY enjoyed his Zumba.

These were my observations.

There were about 4 different types of people there. 1- the little skinny girls right up next to the mirrors -trying to see what they look like at a club, and they dressed accordingly. Seriously ladies, I know it's Zumba -which is essentially aerobics with dance moves, but you could put SOME clothes on. And maybe pull your hair back in a pony tail -that's just nasty.

2-I'm pretty sure the teenage boys were there to try and learn how to dance at the next junior high stomp. And yes, I just said stomp.

3- Most were like me. Different levels of fitness levels, different levels of coordination (I'm on the LOW end of that spectrum) but there to get a good work out and have some fun doing it.

4-And the MOST embarrassing by far -the 40 year olds that were shamelessly flirting and at times throwing themselves towards our little latin lover. Yes, many moves are slightly (or highly) suggestive, and could be seen in the middle of a club floor (or even a bedroom), but you're just embarrassing yourself ladies.

That was last night. I went back to the gym that I went to when we lived in our apartment in Holiday -which is where I used to take a spinning class a couple times a week. I really loved the instructor, and I noticed she is STILL teaching Tuesday and Thursday mornings. So, at 5:20 I woke up and went back to the gym.

To be honest, this is more up my alley. People who take spinning classes dress accordingly, don't wear make up, pull their hair up, and are there to work. There are no mirrors, the lights are usually turned down really low or even off, and you don't have to have any coordination above the level necessary to NOT fall off the bike. Which, is more like my level. Heart rate gets up to 180 almost immediately and hovers around 190-200 the entire 55 minutes -which for me, means serious calories lost. Just what I needed.

Now all I need is a nap!