bummer.

My email is down...again!  My ftp is also down and so I can't post pictures here on my blog or send/receive emails.  

If you've written to me in the last 24 hours please keep trying until it gets through to me.  (I'm working on a temporary email address.)

I'm so sorry.  I'm doing everything I can to remedy the problem.  Thanks so much for you patience.

Love Affair Workshop.

When I'm on a trip I'm always in the dark as to what my weight is doing while I'm gone unless I can find a scale the first morning that I'm there.

This time...I was in the dark.  I didn't get to a scale the first morning that I was at Love Affair so I was completely unsure about whether or not my weight was fluctuating.

I tried to eat half of what I ordered or share my plate with someone else.  Anything that you order at a restaurant is at least 2 servings worth of food.  I also passed on dessert as much as possible and when I ordered dessert I shared it with someone else or only ate 1/2 of it.

I also got up every morning and went to the sweat room at the W Hotel and then sat by the pool to write in my journal and meditate. 

I've gotten to the point where I have to have this routine in the morning.  It's not something that I try to fit in or that feels like a drugery...I really want it and notice a difference in my day when I don't get to have that personal time to start the day. 

Well...it paid off.  I am down a pound even though I was around all kinds of delicious food and a crazy schedule.  I'm thrilled!

I've now lost 15 pounds.  Just one day at a time...one healthy decision at a time.

How is your healthy life coming along?  What one healthy decision did you make this week?

healthy. LIFE.

my wedding picture.

On my last post in the comments Rebekah Westover said she had to see a wedding picture of Mike and I.  Sooo...here it is (thanks to Mike for scanning it and sending it to me here in San Diego).

Remember, I got married almost 15 years ago....

love. LIFE.

first kiss.

It was 15 years ago yesterday, November 11th, that Mike and I had our first kiss together.  It's hard to believe that the time has gone so quickly and at the same time I can hardly remember my life or a memory with out him in it.  What a wonderful life!

We were both going to college at BYU.  I had just come home from a mission and so had he.  I was serious about getting a degree and studying and becoming the 'A' student I had never been (I've always LOVED learning but school is not the way my brain works...).  I had decided that I didn't want to date much.  I wanted to find an awesome thing to study and become really accomplished. 

Well...I ended up getting asked out all of the time...way more than I did when I was a freshman and I was going out a lot and also getting some really good grades.  Things were going really well...except for this one guy that every girl in my building seemed to love to hang out with.  He'd come over to my apartment a few times and I had totally been rude to him...hoping he would get the hint.  He didn't, and I'm so glad.

One day I made dinner for a whole bunch of friends and at the last minute invited Mike over.  He was the only one who stayed to help with the dishes and I was hooked.  We started spending all kinds of time talking and going everywhere together but I had no idea I wanted to spend ALL of my life with him.  I thought he was a great friend and he was wonderful to talk to about real things.

I finally got a clue and and we've been together ever since.

Mike has been such a gift to me in so many ways. He is giving, thoughtful, kind, and encouraging.  He's amazing at seeing problems from a grounded perspective and he's understanding when I'm feeling overwhelmed.  He always wants to know how he can help.  He gives me his time, his listening ear, his thoughtful words, his heart, and so much more. 

There will never be enough words to say how much I love him or ways to show how blessed I am to have him in my life.  More than I really know, he does things for me that I don't see...and I feel like I never say well enough what his love has done to me.  It's given me strength when I thought I didn't have any left, given be sight when I was blinded, and hope when I was down, and joy that makes me feel as though I may burst at the seams.

Every year for Christmas we try to give each other a gift of meaning...something from our heart.  A few years ago Mike made me this book, "A Life of Love"...and it's seen a lot of love (as you can see from the cover).  It's one of the kids' favorite books and definitely one of my favorite books.  I love the stick people and the sweet simplicity of the text and the ideas.  There is so much of Mike...of us...in this book.

I am so lucky.  And like Miss Carrie Underwood says,  "Some hearts just get lucky sometimes..."

Happy first-kiss-aversary, Mike....

love. LIFE.

the old lady.

I got to be at Keri and Keith's wedding two years ago and they still like to kiss just as much as they ever did.  I LOVE hanging out with Keri and Keith.  They are so relaxed about each other, so kind to each other, and just have a really wonderful time together.

I was so excited when they got in touch with me about doing a little shoot with them when I came into town a couple of weeks ago.  They told me that they had a new addition to their family...the old lady. 

The Old Lady is a 1963 BMW motorcycle.  It's got a great vintage look and it's just huge...and HEAVY.  They wanted to make sure to capture the fun they are having with this awesome new ride.  I was envious of Keri getting to ride on the back of it and near the end of the shoot I got the chance to grab a couple of rides on the back with the wind whipping through my hair.  (Side note:  I've been completely against my husband getting a motorcycle.  I keep telling him his not allowed to leave me while we've got 4 kids to take care of...so that, of course, means we are not getting a motorcycle.  I told Keri and Keith after getting the chance to ride The Old Lady my husband would probably be calling them up to say thank you! It was super stinkin' fun!)

As you can see The Old Lady has made herself right at home with Keri and Keith.  (I love the Audrey Hepburn look of Keri's scarf around her head...)  We had so much fun trying to get the perfect shot of them in the street  We even went to a really cool cemetary.  We went back to the place that we visited the day that Keri and Keith got married for old times sake.  The yellow building looks like a place you may stop fo a little bite of something while you're motoring around Italy so it fit perfectly. 

I love the shot of them riding on the motorsycle in black and white near the end!  I think it looks like they are riding through France or something.

Thanks, Keri and Keith for letting me meet The Old Lady...

fun. LIFE.