Monday, July 30, 2012

Sweaty Men in Tight Pants

...smacking butts and chasing balls. 

It's FOOTBALL season! (Well, almost.)


There's the hubby while in college. He's the quintessential sports fanatic.  I like to call him a "professional sports fan" as he's managed to make a career out of his love of sweaty men throwing around various kinds of balls. (Football, basketball, volleyball, baseball--he loves it all.)

And while I love him so much, I have yet to adopt this deep passion of his.

Football practices begin this Thursday. It makes me shutter a bit inside because I become husband-less with the passing of summer season into f(ootb)all season.

It's time for me to buck up and make some cookie dough so I can watch more sports in support of Mr. B! I'm so glad that he's one of the lucky ones who actually gets to work a job doing something he loves. And he's SO good at it too! Knock 'um dead, babe!

Monday, July 23, 2012

The Green Smoothie Thing

 My mom has really gotten on a health kick lately, and I've wanted to be more healthy for a long time so it's only influenced me all the more to make some changes in my diet and exercise. If you haven't seen the movies Forks over Knives and Fat and Nearly Dead, my mother said they changed her life.

If there is one thing I've learned during my first year of marriage, it's that nagging doesn't encourage change, it only causes frustration. If you really want to enforce change in the lifestyle of your marriage, you have to focus on the aspects you have control over.

Let me explain. My dear, sweet husband doesn't always watch what he eats or how often he eats out. But I learned that if I have a meal ready or at least in process when he gets home, he won't suggest we  eat out and he'll eat whatever I put in front of him. So what a great opportunity to solve the extra spending and unhealthful eating from restaurants and junk food by simply preparing a cheaper and more healthful meal! Something I have complete control over without nagging. And not only do we avoid the contention of me potentially picking at his habits, but he's so much happier to walk into the aroma of a home-cooked meal.

But tasty, low calorie dinners are not easy! So to take my new diet to the next level, I'm trying out the green smoothie crazy.

Bananas, strawberries, and kale. 


Sure is green.

It really didn't taste too bad. The bananas and strawberries definitely took over the flavor, but the kale didn't smooth up too well, and the flakes were very noticeable in the texture. 

I'm sure I didn't drink enough, because I was still STARVING. I'm obviously addicted to the act of eating, so I'm not sure I"m ready for a 10 smoothie fast (which is what I wanted to try), but even adding a few more fruits and veggie in the diet could be a really good thing.

I'll keep you posted on whether or not I keep this going.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

What a Beautiful Concert!

Pioneer Day went magnificently well!

Watch all of my hard work on the ASL version of the concert here!

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Why Are People So Bad?

We saw the new Batman movie today. It was good.

But I couldn't stop myself from looking down the row and around the theater and at the subtle outlined glow of the exit door and think of the shooting.

I'm teaching the 12-13 year old girls in my church tomorrow about avoiding temptation. Each of their faces travelled through my thoughts one at a time, and I felt helpless as a teacher, leader, and friend to truly help them avoid all of the evils that seem to constantly surround and suffocate us. I thought of my family and my future children.

How do we protect our loved ones from such a wicked and perverse world?

As I watched all of the dark scenes in the movie and thought of all the terrible things in the world, I made myself sick. I know I can't save the world, but I felt so hopeless, so helpless to even save my little group of girls who are struggling.

All I can do is keep trying--trying to keep myself unspotted from the world, and trying to stand as a shield for as many around me as I possibly can.

God bless the families of this violent crime and the many others that happen daily.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Pioneer Day Concert

Work has been crazy lately!

We're gearing up for this year's Pioneer Day Concert, and with so many songs, translation has a lot of work ahead of them.

For those of you who don't know, I'm an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter and translator supervisor for the LDS church. So that means I'm responsible for the entire ASL version of this production.

I'm really excited for this show. The ASL translations are looking good, and if we can just survive the craziness over the next week, we just might pull this thing off.

Friday, July 6, 2012

I'm {Not} Dying

Mr. B took me to the doctor. Looks like I'm gonna be okay.

I still have a nasty bruise on my knee, and the doctor said no more running for a month, but he also said there shouldn't be any permanent damage.

It's going to be hard to get back into things after I take such a long break. But hopefully everything does heal up well, and there will be no more worries.

Monday, July 2, 2012

I'm a Worrier

At the end of last week I hurt my knee. I’m still not quite sure how it all happened. I think it was a combination of substantially increasing my daily running length and playing a rough game of King of the Bed with Mr. B. (He shows no mercy!)
Regardless of the exact “how” at this point, all that I can think of now is that it hurts and deep bruises have appeared down the side of my knee.
I’m a worrier by nature, and this case is no different. My mind quickly jumped to all worst-case scenarios. And while searching about potential causes online, following one link to another, I’d concluded I have cancer and will die soon.
I know: rash. But in my moment of pain it seemed so plausible!
I sent my husband a panicked text, “What if I have cancer?”
“You don’t have cancer.”
“Maybe."
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Stop worrying.”
I guess that’s the end of that; according to my husband, no cancer.
I’m sure he’s right, but I’m still worried about what permanent damage I may have caused my knee!
Until we can get in to see a doctor I’ve become close friends with ice and ibuprofen, and no more monkeys playing King of the Bed!