The Wall

That title is a little deceiving! I am actually referring to the rock wall that we have in our house. I forgot to blog about my accomplishment the other day. I know, I know, I brag too much but this is MY blog! Anyway, my lack of upper body strength is embarrassing to say the least. Even though we have lived here since November, I had never previously made it to the top until the other night. Ross and I were climbing and it just happened. I was so excited I made Ross go get the boys out of bed so they could see me. They ran right up, gave me hugs and told me how great I did. It was a proud moment for the weakling.

Heartbreak For A Friend

I received an e-mail from a dear friend of mine a couple of days ago. Her name is Helene. She lives in France. We have been friends since my sophmore year in high school. She has been here to visit numerous times and I have been to visit her a couple of times. We have seen each other through a lot of things in life. She has been in a relationship since right after high school, which has been like 16 years. They have a child together. He is a really good guy. I was happy to see them together.
She told me that they split up. They are selling their house and she has moved into an apartment with her little boy. They weren't fighting or anything, they just stopped loving each other. At any rate, her life seems to be in shambles. She is completely lost. I can't imagine starting over after that long.
It breaks my heart. It seems like everyone is falling apart anymore.

Road Trip

My peeps and I (Megan and Nicole) took a road trip last weekend to St. George to hook up with our lost peep (Krista). We left Thursday the 13th and stayed until Saturday the 15th. We stayed in our house down there. We had WAY too much fun.
We went to Las Vegas to the outlet mall on Friday to go shopping. And Friday night we enlightened Megan and Nicole on the fine art of waxing your eyebrows. (See Nicole for incriminating pictures). We stayed up way too late every night and of course we ate more than we should have. It was the best time ever.
I am so grateful for these amazing women in my life. They lift me up, inspire me to be better, make me laugh til I cry and cry til I laugh. Besides my 4 boys, they are the best relationships I have in life.

The last day has been pretty hard on me. One of my young women from my old ward has chosen to live a pretty crazy life. Since she was about 15, she has become a drug addict. Not just recreational, I am talking hard-core. She got pregnant last year (unsure who the father is) and dropped out of high school. She has been in and out of rehab for a while and it never seems to stick. She admitted that when she was first pregnant, she took a lot of drugs trying to abort the baby. Supposedly, she got her head straight and decided to give the baby up for adoption to a good family. My friend, her sister, called me yesterday to tell me that she had the baby. They found drugs in her system so DCFS was coming to take the baby. I don't know what this means for the family that wanted to adopt her and I don't know if the baby is going to have problems or not. My guess is that she will.
I also found out about another of my young women. She has always been kind of strange and I always just wrote it off as her needing attention. I think just about everyone did. Around December or so, she just disappeared. Her mom said she moved out and didn't know where she had gone. Saturday, it came out in the paper that her step-dad has been arrested on sexual abuse charges. It gave the details without telling her name but it all lines up. And it all lines up with all the weird things that have gone on with her over the years. It all makes me so sick. I have not been able to think of anything else.
There is a lot of ugliness in this world that drags us all down at times. Despite all of it though, my faith in Christ is stronger than ever. I still see his hand in my life and the world around me daily. It helps to ease the pain and the hurt that we all go through, whether for ourselves or on behalf of those we love. I choose to let my hope and faith live on.
I will pray for these girls. That they may be restored to happiness and all that is right.

Tagged!

OK Krista, this is for you!

*What is his full name? Ross John Walker
*How long have you been married? 12 1/2 years
*How long did you date? 9 months
*Who eats more sweets? we are 100% equal!
*Who said I love you first? Me. Fo' sho'
*How old is he? 34
*Who is taller? Ross
*Who is smarter? Definitely Ross!
*Who can sing better? Again - I am going to go with me but he tries hard!
*Who does the laundry? Only me
*Who pays the bills? Only him
*Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does.
*Who mows the lawn? He refuses to let me do it even though I want to sometimes.
*Who cooks dinner? Me. He has been banned from cooking.
*Who is more stubborn? Me (with head hung low)
*Who kissed who first? He says it was him, I say me and we all know I am always right......
*Who asked who out? I asked him
*Who has more siblings? I have 3 sisters, he has 1 brother and 2 sisters
*Who wears the pants? We both do though I like to pretend it's mostly me!

I tag Kerrie, Tracy, Laura S. and Megan. (come on Meg, you know you want to!)

The Coolest Gadget

I forgot to post about something that Ross surprised me with a couple of days ago. I have been wanting to get a heart rate monitor. They really help you when training for something like, oh, say a marathon. Anyway, he bought me one secretly and surprised me with it. I used it today for the first time. It was so cool. You type in what your maximum heart rate should be and then it record how close you get and for how long you sustain it. Then it tells you how many calories you burned. It does much more than this but it would just take too long. Just know that it is very, very cool. Thanks honey!

No One Told Me This Was Gonna Hurt

I am so freaking sore! All over! This workout schedule I am on is killing me. Just when i feel like I can move again, the next level comes and it's all over with.

I have to admit though, I feel about a thousand times better when I am working out. Not just physically; my attitude is so much better too.

Here comes a pat on the back for me. You know you see yourself everyday so you never feel like you are noticing any change but I measured myself at the start and again a couple of days ago. I have lost 3-31/2 inches on every part of my body. My clothes are starting to fit a little differently too.

That makes it all worth it.