Quickie Chick

I've been doing my best to lose weight and get healthier, since October of last year, when I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes; it scared me to think I was that close to having diabetes. So my mind flipped a switch and I have been doing my best to be healthier. I noticed that around that time that I haven't been able to eat as much as I used to, which is great!

I have found that eating less food--not necessarily health food, but food that is better for me, eating at home more, and just moving around a little more works for me.

One of the things that I do to move around some more is to check out Quickie Chick's exercise videos on YouTube  There are quick exercises, called Daily 100s or Quickie Workout in bed, that you can do at home for just a couple of minutes a day; I do my best to do a few of them each day so that I am at least moving a little more. She also has some healthier food videos that sound interesting, but that I haven't tried yet. Some of the videos are hilarious to watch, because she is just so peppy, perky, and smiley, that when she is doing something that seems weird, it makes me laugh. Particularly this one:

I think that doing those quick exercises, coupled with riding the exercise bike & taking a walk around the neighborhood with the family at night, is what is helping me lose weight. I am so grateful for these videos and the fact that my family is supportive of me and are willing to join me on the night walks & be my guinea pigs for some of the recipes I have wanted to try.

Schoolio, yo!

Not sure why, but that popped into my head when I thought about writing a post about school.

So far this year, I am having a great school year. I am now on my second semester this year, which unfortunately  runs through the end of July. But, I am only taking one class this semester so that I can have some kind of a break. And that class is... drumroll please...

Money Management.

For the most part, I am able to cruise through this class because I seem to have a brain for money and can manage it pretty well. For the most part. It's just that I seem to already know most of the stuff I am learning because of a class that I had last year--I just wish that my counselor had said something or that I could have taken a test at registration time that says that I pretty much know what is going to be taught and I can just have a credit for it. But, I understand that there are some things that I don't know that I am getting a benefit out of taking a class.

Luckily, I am at the mid-point of this class and I am set in my schedule. Bad news, though. I have to do schoolwork while my family goes on vacation to Utah in the first week of July to visit my Grandpa. Which means that I either have to work ahead a week the week before--minus discussion boards-- or have an Internet connection available wherever I am so that I can work on it while in Utah. I am hoping to just do a combination of the two.

So by the time the year 2013 rolls around, I should have my Associate's Degree. If everything I outlined for my advisor goes according to plan. Woo-hoo!

My Confessions

I know I'm not Catholic, but I feel I must confess.

I am a bad blogger.

I used to cheat when playing Guess Who?.

I have lost 20-25 pounds in about 6-8 months.

Okay, so the last one isn't really a confession; and I guess neither is the first. But they are facts that I have come to realize in the last couple of months. I suck at posting, I mean nearly a year between posts--yikes! I did start one after vacation last year and it is saved, but since I have no idea what I was going to say, I'm probably not going to post it.

My weight loss makes me happy and I hope to continue to lose weight until I get to the point where I am super healthy and happy with my body. Since losing about 20-25 pounds, I have had to buy new pants, as I lost most of my weight around my butt apparently. I've gone down 2 pants sizes, yippee!! Now, I just need to get this stupid gut gone. But I have plans for that. And they include my new buddy, the Omron Pocket Pedometer.

It is a neat little toy that can count my steps while in my pocket or purse. Which means I don't need to clip it to my waistband and have it dig into my stomach while I'm sitting or pop off when I stand up. It can also store up to 41 days worth of data. I really love this piece of technology. I even convinced my parents to get one, as they also like to keep track of their steps--especially my dad, as he is doing a health program thing at work where he needs to walk 10,000 steps per day. He only got his this last week, as it was his birthday present from me.

Enough about the pedometer, I know. Next post, school in the summertime!

Six Months Isn't That Long, Right?

Especially for a blog, right? Riiiight. Anyways..

A lot has happened in the last 6 months.

Still doing school through BYU-Idaho online with the Pathway Program. Having fun, making friends, learning, and getting good grades.

I have had two incredibly sad days. January 9th and May 30th.

On January 9th, we had to take Suzy to the vet. We ended up putting her to sleep because she was in so much pain with the arthritis she had in her hips. She couldn't get up on her own anymore and would often go to the bathroom wherever she was laying. This was really a sad day for me. I was crying the entire day and for days afterwards. I still cry sometimes when I think of her too much. She was my baby and she was the reason that I came to love dogs. Before her, I was terrified of even the smallest puppy, like our first dog, Alex; we had him for 2 months before getting Suzy. So just imagine a 9 year old jumping on furniture to get away from a tiny puppy. Anyway, she was my baby girl and I loved her so much.

On May 30th, Alex passed away at 11:30-45ish at night. He had an enlarged heart, but was on meds for it. We thought we would have him for at least another 6 months to a year. Earlier during the day, he had been acting a little wierd, but we thought it was his trick knee. At 11:20, Mom came into my room and said that Alex was having a seizure and we were taking him to the Emergency Vet that is 1/2 a mile away. We were all able to say good-bye to him before we left for the vet. On the way there, during the 5 minute trip, he died in his favorite spot--my dad's arms. His heart apparently just gave out. He was such a sweetheart. He loved everybody and if you ever met him, you would have loved him too. Earlier that afternoon, Preston Amy and Chloe were visiting for our weekly Sunday dinner. Chloe would usually slap at or pull on Alex to pet him. But that day, she was petting him so softly and sweetly. It was interesting to see that; and looking back we think she somehow knew and was trying to be nice to him.

They were both 13 years old. My dad found a chart that more accurately converts dog to human years. In dog years they were in their 80s. They had a great life with us and I know they will be waiting, with Monty, in Heaven for us to arrive.

Moving past my sadness.

In March, I got sick for 3 weeks. No idea what I had. I just know that I had fever, chills, achiness, and wanted to sleep all day long. Even the doctor had no idea what it was.

The first weekend in April, our whole family drove to Yuma to visit Quentin for his birthday. We rented a Suburban; that was one awesome car! It was really nice and had room for all of us tall Fosters. Haha. We drove the three hours to Yuma, saw Quentin, took him out to dinner, and then took him back to the hotel we were staying at to open presents. We also brought him back to the hotel the next morning before we left so that he could go swimming with the boys.

As we were leaving, I noticed a little twinge in my back. The next day, Sunday, I was fine. Same for Monday. Then Tuesday happened. Could. Not. Move. I pulled a muscle or something and had the hardest time trying to sleep, eat, and go potty. It was impossible to walk and to get comfortable sleeping. After about a week of ibuprofin and rest, I went to the doctor and they had me get x-rays and gave me some light painrelievers. After resting for another week and taking meds, I was fine. Haven't hurt since. (Knock on wood!)

In May, I mostly did school work and watched my sweet niece, Chloe. Then in the middle of the month, we found out Mom's youngest brother and his family were going to San Diego on vacation in June. They decided to make a pitstop and visit us. They have never been to our house in the 18 years we've lived here. They spent Saturday afternoon through Monday morning with us. It was great having them here. We got to take them to the Temple on Sunday and take a few pictures. They are such a fun family of 8!

This last month, I have been school-crazy. I got to stress out over a topic for English, learn some more from the Family Proclamation in Family Foundations, and use one of my favorite quotes ever in a paper. The quote by the way is from Legally Blonde: "Exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy, happy people don't shoot their husbands. They just don't." Hahahahaha!

After I am done with classes for the summer on July 22, our family (Mom, Dad, Me, and Colin) will be going to Utah for vacation. We are going to see my 84 year old grandpa for a few days. Then Mom and Dad will be going to a Family History/Geneology Conference at BYU. Colin & I will hang out at the hotel and maybe hang out around BYU while they are off learning more about Family History. Then we will spend more time with Grandpa in Salt Lake, and see more family throughout the state. All in 2 weeks. And we're driving up there.

This has been a ridiculously long post, but better long than nothing, right?

Hopefully I will be better at this the rest of the year!

Light Rail Adventure

OK, I kinda forgot that on Wednesday, December 3, Mom & I were in an accident. Before I go any further, we are fine.


I had won a prize online from KMLE 108 and had to go down to the station to get it. The station is at Roosevelt & Central in Phoenix. No way was I driving down there. So Mom and I decided to take the LightRail because there is a stop right by the station.

We were riding along, having fun looking at Arizona as it went by. The train would make these wierd screechy noises when we were pulling into a station and it freaked us out the first time we heard it; after that we were like, "OK. We're just stopping." Well, when we were between the 24th Street & Washington stop and the 12th Street & Washington stop, we started to hear the screechy noise and noticed that we were braking. Only problem was we were nowhere near either stop. Then the braking was more like a sudden halt and there was a scraping noise.


We had hit a big van.


Then the van got dragged along until it hit a pole and everything stopped.

When everything stopped moving, we looked out the window on the other side of the train from where we were sitting and saw the van wrapped around the pole. Then we noticed the gasoline smell. That is when I started to get scared. Everyone was gathering around the doors trying to see what was going on and quite a few people were on their phones calling 911 or loved ones. When we noticed the gas smell and saw some smoke, we all decided to open the doors with the emergency latch and get the heck outta there! Mom & I had also noticed that some guy had climbed into the van and was trying to get the driver out safely.


We walked about 50-75 feet away to this little parking place. When we saw that the smoke was not from a fire, but from fire extinguishers that people had grabbed to spray over the gas, we breathed a sigh of relief. And then everyone whipped out their phones to take pictures; including me. I took all these pictures with my new BlackBerry that I won in another contest on the T-Mobile website. It takes some great pictures.




About a minute or two after we collided, we heard the sirens coming.

Everyone who wanted to be, was checked out and the police started taking pictures of the accident. We also noticed that the police were pulling out their own phones to take pictures. It was kinda funny to see.


About 30 minutes later, after the police had contacted another train to pick us up, we all walked down to 18th Street and Jefferson to wait for the train. When the train stopped in the middle of the road and about 30-40 people were getting on, the people already on the train started asking questions. We were able to show a few people around us the pictures from my phone and tell them what happened & why they were re-directed.


Mom & I ended up getting off a couple of stops later and switching trains to get back to the Sycamore & Main park & ride. The KMLE station was closing at 5, and it was about 4:50 by the time we got on the second train. I emailed the station and explained what happened. They were nice and just mailed my gift certificate to me.


It ended up being this 3-4 hour roundtrip because of the accident and the redirecting of the trains. It was a crazy day.


Luckily, nobody was seriously injured. The driver of the van was knocked out for a few minutes after the accident happened and the driver of the train hurt his ankle from braking so hard. And because the accident happened where the trains start taking two tracks-one for each direction-they were able to redirect train traffic. Mom & I were saying it was lucky it happened there and not where it was trains running both ways on the same street. Otherwise hundreds of people would have been stuck for much longer.


This webpage has a video of the accident and more details, too.


Suffice it to say, I won't be riding the LightRail for awhile.

Happy Birthday!!

Been busy the last couple months with school, family, feeling yucky, etc. etc. And this is going to be a loooooong post.

Anyways, I am doing good in school. I just have to take a final this week and I am done for the semester! Yay! I have made some great friends in the Pathway program and look forward to seeing them again next semester.

The last week or so, I have been laughing my head off at some videos that Jorge Garcia (he plays Hurley on Lost) posted on his blog. He lives with his girlfriend in Hawaii--where they shoot Lost--and apparently they had a bit of a rat problem a month or two ago. They took videos and it was hilarious! He put them all in one post and you should totally watch them. Too too funny!

Last month we had a couple of parties to celebrate Chloe's birthday and another one for Colin's. We had so much fun with Chloe's Foster Family party; we had kind of forgotten to feed her at dinner time and so when we gave her the special piece of cake we made for her, she was ready to dig in! She made a very nice, big, chocolaty mess! It was quite funny.

Just a week or two before Colin's birthday, his desktop computer got so infected with spyware that it just wasn't worth trying to fix. For his birthday, my parents got him a Mac Mini and he was absolutely thrilled. It was kinda funny seeing his face when he opened that one!

Then a week or two ago, I was trying to take a video with my camera of Chloe dancing to some music. She has this uncontrollable, almost Pavlovian, response to dance whenever she hears music. Some songs that have a great beat make it easier for her to dance to; like the Law & Order theme song and Beyonce's Single Ladies. Anyway, about a minute into recording, the video started getting blurry. I tried keeping the camera absolutely still, but that wasn't the problem. My camera just died on me after almost 3 years. I REALLY loved that camera and was upset about it breaking. It would cost more to fix the lens than to just buy a new camera. So, I am gonna have to start saving my pennies.

Also, a few years ago, I noticed that my TV is started to go wonky. The picture is getting larger than the TV screen. It has been bugging me ever since. Especially when I am watching a baseball game-I can't see the score because the TV cuts it off or two characters on TV are having a conversation several feet apart-all I see is the space between them. It is incredibly annoying and drives me up the wall!

Yesterday, my family and I celebrated my birthday, because on my actual birthday about half the family has some plans they can't really get out of. We went to Black Angus for lunch and had some delicious food. Then, as our family does every Saturday for almost a year or two, we went to PetSmart to see the dogs that Valley of the Sun Dog Rescue brings over for people to check out for possible adoptions. There were many cute dogs and Chloe, who LOVES dogs, was having a ball. She was squealing in delight any time a dog would even look at her. Preston & Amy have been talking for months about maybe getting a playmate for Charlie, so that when they leave him alone all day, he won't be bored. They ended up finding a terrier mix at the adoption thing and fell in love. They were not intending on getting any dogs that day, but when it's meant to be, you can't help it. The little dog they got looks just like Charlie and even acts like him. It is so funny. They love being around each other and playing and running all over the house. Chloe loves the dog, a girl they named Claire (Amy's favorite couple on Lost was Charlie & Claire...) and Claire loves Chloe. She will lick her face and run up to her and let Chloe pet her; unlike Charlie who is scared to death of Chloe. I ended up babysitting Chloe last night while Preston & Amy went to a work Christmas party.

Wow, I got really off track there. So after Preston & Amy adopted Claire, we came back to our house for presents & cake. Mom & Dad got a chocolate cake from Costco and I got some great presents. Colin gave me the first season of Scrubs, Preston & Amy got me this cute bronze piggy bank that I saw at Target months ago, and Mom & Dad got me the first season of Ugly Betty. I also got $10 in 2 dollar bills from Grandpa Johnson; the last time I will be getting those from him (he does have like 25 grandchildren, so he put a rule into effect a few years ago that when you turn 21, you no longer get money; just a card.) So, I was really shocked to get money this year. Apparently last year the birthday cards got lost in the mail, so he sent another set of cards. I am the only one in the family that got the money after 21 since this rule was put in place.

Oh, yeah. Mom & Dad also got me another present. A brand new 22-inch flat screen television! YAYAYAY! Now, when I watch TV, I can actually see the whole picture & I LOVE IT!

I am looking forward to actually turning 22 tomorrow and Christmas coming up. Since Chloe is old enough to open her presents, it should be way more fun this year. Last year, she slept through the whole thing.

I wish that I had some pictures to put up, but I have no clue which ones or what cards they are on. I might find some later this week after my final when I actually have time to search and post. So that was what I have been up to in the last couple of months and days.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Amazing Race

Some of you have probably seen The Amazing Race on tv. It is one of my FAVORITE shows and Mom & I watch it every season since like the 3rd season (it's now on season 15!).

The Stake Young Single Adults planned an event that took place tonight based on that show. The leaders split everyone into groups of 5, also they were taking pictures throughout the whole thing. I was in the only all-girl group. In order to get our clues at each location, we had to find the leaders that had on hats.


So first off our groups had to either solve a Sudoku puzzle or make 5 baskets. At first my group tried the Sudoku thing while 2 of our group tried the basketballs, since there were only 4 basketballs & like 7 groups. After we figured out that it was pick one, we ditched Sudoku and made our 5 shots. However, we were the 2nd to last team to leave the stake center.

Our next clue was to go to someone's house. Our driver, Amber, & two other members of our team, Amanda and Candace, had NO idea where to go. Luckily, Anna & I knew the streets in our stake center and we figured out where to go. When we got to the house, we had to ring the doorbell and do the chicken dance. The lady who answered took our pictures while we were dancing. We were then given the next clue.

Which led us to Chuck E. Cheese. I was able to figure it out quickly and we were on our way. We weren't that far behind the pack. When we got there, we had Amanda & Candace run in to find out what we had to do. Apparently we had to score a certain amount of points on skeeball. If you didn't score all the points, then we had to wait 5 minutes before getting our clue. I am pretty sure that nobody made the points. We ended up waiting 5 minutes and got our clue, which led us to Border's at the mall.

Our driver, Amber, was really good at taking directions that we were giving her because she admitted she had no idea where things were. We got to the bookstore in 2nd place! We had to find our leaders to get the next clue. Luckily, I saw Sister Steele and we just followed her to the meeting spot in the cafe. Other teams were asking people they saw in hats if they were with us, but ended up not finding them for awhile.

Amber just drove around the parking lot while the rest of the team went inside. Our clue at the bookstore was either count the books in a section or find a book with the words Amazing and Race in it and show it to the Steeles. The words didn't have to be on the same page. So, after looking for a couple of minutes in the sports section, very smart Anna suggested we find the dictionary! So after getting the dictionary and getting our clue, we ran outside and got back in the truck to go to our next location, Krispy Kreme.

Every member of the team had to go into Krispy Kreme and put on paper hats. We got our picture taken and then one person in the team had to feed everyone else on the team a donut. The people being fed couldn't use their hands. Our team was the first ones at Krispy Kreme and the leaders there weren't ready for us; they didn't think we would get there so quickly! So after they were done getting the donuts, we had Amber feed us the donuts. She fed Candace first and while she was trying to do that, Brother Reed was constantly stopping us to get good pictures. Our team was like, "We're in a race, here!" So when Amber went to feed me next, I was telling her to just stuff it all in. And these donuts were not even the fresh, hot, glazed donuts. No, these were filled donuts. After taking two bites, Amber finally just stuffed the donut in my mouth. I got chocolate icing and custard filling all over my face at that point. When we were finishing all the other teams started coming in.

We ran to the truck and started going, but all of a sudden another team was outside too! We are pretty sure they cheated during the donut thing. They blocked our way in the parking lot and along the freeway. We were on our way to the last location, the 48th Street church building.

At the light on Southern & Higley, the two cars were waiting for the turn light to turn green. We were all shocked when the other team's driver started to go into the intersection just before the light turned green! We parked very haphazardly in the parking lot and ran into the building. I actually slipped on the grass at this point, I think my knee might be bruised, but I was ok. We ran into the building and got our card signed & timestamped by the final leader. We ended up in 1st place!

So, because of us being smart and fast, we were able to go from 6th place in the beginning to 1st! It was crazy, but so much fun! When we went to get the provided water from the jug, our entire teams' hands were shaking! We all had so much adrenaline and sugar going through us that we were very hyped up!

We had such a blast! You would never think of how intense the competition will be until you are experiencing it.

Once everyone was back at the church building, including the people who took pictures, Brother Ashley took all the memory cards and put together a slide show. We all calmed down and were drinking water & (other teams) having ice cream sundaes. Our team decided that we were too hyped up to eat more sugar. After the last memory card came in, we all sat down and laughed at all the pictures that were taken.

I am hoping to get a copy of the pictures and I will post them on my Facebook and in another post.

Just gotta say it one more time: The Amazing Race tonight was CRAZY FUN!!!

Been Awhile...

I guess that since it has been almost 2 months since I blogged, I should try to do better.

One thing I want to mention is that there is a great contest going on here. If I knew how to do this, or had the required materials, I would be making these for myself all the time! I love them and I think that you will to! Go check it out!!

I started my 2 Institute classes two weeks ago. Book of Mormon and Teachings of the Living Prophets. So far, I am really enjoying them.

Also, I have been accepted into the BYU-I Pathway Program that is taking place at Red Mountain Institute as a pilot program. I am excited about this, as I will be getting my college degree and still be able to stay home (ie. not freeze to death if I went to BYU-I) & be with my family and friends. It is also a heck of a lot cheaper than even the community colleges around Mesa, which my parents appreciate! It is all online, so there is no need for textbooks; my classmates and I will be meeting once a week at the Institute building for class activities and support. I can't wait!

I have been hanging out with Amy & Chloe during the day sometimes. I love being with them and seeing Chloe grow. She is just too dang cute!

My present for Miles' 1st birthday is almost finished and I can't wait to see how he reacts.

I think that is all for now. When my Pathway class starts this week, I will let you all know how it is going.

One Artist Meme

I saw this on Colin's Facebook. I decided to try it and I had fun doing it. It was a little hard, because there were some songs that would be good on one of the other questions! Try it if you dare...

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Pass it on to 15 people (or not) and include me. Try not to repeat a song title. It's harder than you think.

Pick Your Artist: Taylor Swift
Are you male or female: Mary’s Song (Oh My My My)
Describe yourself: Fearless
How do you feel about yourself: A Perfectly Good Heart
Describe your current boy/girl situation: I Heart ?
Describe where you currently live: A Place In This World
If you could go anywhere you wanted to go: The Outside
Your favorite form of transportation: White Horse
Your best friend(s) is(are): Stay Beautiful
Your favorite color is: Change
Favorite time of day: Silent Night
If your life were a TV show, what would it be called: Forever & Always
What is life to you: Love Story
What is the best advice you have to give: Breathe
If you could change your name, what would it be: Tim McGraw
Thought for the Day: Our Song
How I would like to die: Crazier
My soul's present condition: Tell Me Why

My First Concert Ever Recap

Thursday night, I went to my first concert. And it was AWESOME!!!!

(Taylor performing Tim McGraw on a rotating stage in the middle of the floor)

Back in February, I got an e-mail notification announcing Taylor Swift's concert dates. She was coming to the Valley. I was thrilled. Tickets went on sale at the end of the month. I went online and looked, I couldn't afford it at the time. So, I didn't buy any tickets. I was disappointed that one of my favorite artists of all time was going to be so close and I wouldn't get to see her. It would be just like the a couple of years ago when she was opening for Rascal Flatts.

Then on Tuesday, as I was heading into work, the radio announced the most amazing thing for me. Jobing.com arena was releasing more tickets for Taylor Swift's concert that night at 5:00. At 4:30, my laptop was on the website and ready to purchase 2 tickets. I had nobody to go with me, but I would find someone.

I bought my tickets at 5. At 5:07, I realized that Colin was graduating the same night as the concert. I couldn't return the tickets. I felt awful. Colin gave me grief about it, but we later learned that he could only get 2 tickets for graduation anyway, so it all worked out.

I texted Melissa a little after I bought the tickets/realized about graduation. She replied that she would love to go. Yay!

Now, I just had to wait until Thursday, drive to Glendale, and see the concert.

It was so much fun. It was sprinkling when we got the arena, so we had to walk a little ways in the drizzle. We got to our seats and found out that they were pretty dang good.

(View from our seats, Our Seats--very comfy)

We had missed one of the opening acts, Gloriana, and a couple of Kellie Pickler's songs. But we heard a lot of good songs from Kellie before the break, when they were setting up for Taylor.

(Kellie Pickler)

Taylor came on and the concert was amazing. They had an amazing set, videos, and costumes. The songs were great, the crowd was crazy. At one point, I had to sit back in my seat because the vibrations from the speakers/bass was so intense.

(Starting the show. Taylor In the middle, dancers) (Taylor playing piano & performing You're Not Sorry)

(Taylor performing The Way I Loved You) (Taylor appeared in the middle of the crowd)

Needless to say, next time Taylor comes to AZ, I am buying my tickets the first chance I get!

(Taylor & her awesome sparkly guitar)

Thanks Melissa for driving and going with me. I had the best time!

(Melissa & Me in our seats. My shirt was still wet from the drizzle outside.)