Sunday, April 15, 2012

Lose It!


I have struggled with my weight my whole life. It is a very personal and sensitive issue that I have had to deal with. I have tried so many different diets that always seem to result in me gaining all the weight back and then some.


The best results have come from holding myself accountable and keeping track of everything I ate. I have done this on and off for the past two years. Although I haven't lost a significant amount of weight, I have lost and kept it off.

About a month ago my dad discovered this great App called Lose It! After putting in your height, weight, goal weight, and weekly weight loss goal, it calculates how much calories you can consume in a day and how long it will take to reach your goal weight. It has a huge database of different foods to choose from to help keep track of your daily calories.

I love it!

And you can add friends! Of course you can't see their weight, but it shows how much calories they ate that day, any weight they lost or gained, and you can comment on their progress. It really helps to keep me accountable when I know I have friends and family watching my progress.

My initial goal was to just put EVERYTHING I ate and drank (even if I ate horribly bad). I feel like I now have that down and now my goal is to stick to my allotted calories for the day.

I started working out last week and not only do I feel better, but when I add that to my activity for the day, it actually gives me more calories to eat! SCORE!

I really want this to be a part of the rest of my life. I want to be able to do whatever I want whenever I want and not be held back because of my weight. I want to feel like a beautiful bride and wife, when that time comes. I want to be a good example to my children someday and be able to run and play with them.

I know losing weight will be something I will have to fight for every day, for the rest of my life. I just hope I won't give up the fight this time.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

WE ARE YOUNG

Emily's Favorite Things:
- Roadtrips
- Great music (specifically, anything coming from the mouth of Nate Ruess)
- Good friends

What happens when all of those things are combined? BEST. WEEKEND. EVER!!!

As you know, I am a huge fan of the band fun. My love of them began when the lead singer of my all time favorite band, The Format, broke off and started another band called fun. His voice is so distinct and his music and lyrics are so unique.

When they announced their tour dates, Kelsey and I were disappointed to find that the closest show was in Tucson, but being the loyal fans we are, we bought tickets right away and decided to make a trip out of it. Our goal was to convince our friends that they were the best band ever and get them to come. And we did!












The show was so good and entertaining. It went by way too fast.



The highlight of the night was after the show when we stuck around behind their bus, hoping to get a glimpse of the band. Not only did we see them, but they came over to us and talked to us and took pictures! I was in heaven!
Nate Ruess!!!









I'm still bitter that I am the one taking the picture instead of being in it




EMILY AND JACK



ANDREW




My Life

February 15: Moved-Out


Kelsey and I made the BIG move, out of the parents house and into our own two bedroom apartment













I love having my own place



February 21: Mom's Birthday
Just wanted to give a shout out to one of my favorite people. She has been working hard and losing weight! She is looking so good and she has more energy than me!





(She looks good here, but she has lost even more weight since)



March 9-12: Camping
I love spending time with my crazy family











March 22: Hunger Games


I was looking forward to seeing this movie the day I finished the book and it did not disappoint


March 23: fun.
So great it deserves its own post. COMING SOON

Friday, February 24, 2012

fun. FUN. fun.

Last night some of my siblings and I went to Zia Records in Chandler, where my favorite band, fun. was doing an acoustic show and a signing, to promote their newest album Some Nights.
It was such a great experience! They put on a great show. It was very up close and personal.





After the show we were one of the first people in line to meet Nate Ruess and the rest of the band. They were very personable and great to talk to.






The main composer and singer of fun. - Nate Ruess




My favorite part was when Nate dedicated a song to his grandma and she came out to listen to it. They both got emotional and teary eyed. So tender.



It made me even more excited to see them in March. My sister and I are going with some good friends to see them in Tucson. It is going to be an epic girls weekend full of FUN!

Kelsey, right before meeting her idol

Friday, February 10, 2012

Can You Say CRAZY???

Life has been...well...a bit on the busy side, to put it lightly.

Currently I am:
- In class Monday - Friday for a total of 25 hours a week
- Trying to find time for transcribing, homework, and practicing my steno
- Working 30+ hours a week
- Moving (which includes doing MANY projects Kelsey and I have found on Pinterest)
- Adjusting to the new church calling, 2nd Counselor in the Relief Society

And I have the added bonus of dealing with gallbladder attacks 1-2 times a week. I will most likely be having surgery to get that pain in my side out in the next month, if I can find the time :/

Although I do feel a bit overwhelmed, I feel blessed to be able to get everything done and have the energy to go all day.

I am also so grateful to be able to go to school with my family everyday. It seems like when one of us is feeling down or overwhelmed, someone else is feeling good and positive and is able to give us the motivation we need. My dad is currently the positive one and he has helped me and many others in our Scoping class, which is a very difficult class.

I know things will slow down a bit once I get moving out of the way. I am trying to enjoy the experience, though, of Kelsey and I getting our own place. It has been fun searching for apartments together, buying and making things for the new place, and planning all the fun things we'll do when we're on our own. I am so excited to have my baby sister as a roommate!

When things slow down I will be sure to post some pics of all the cute projects we've been working on!

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Pinterest!

I have a new love!


Pinterest! It has changed my life


What is Pinterest?
I'm glad you asked.
Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard.
Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.
Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.


Basically...




For Christmas this year I made all my gifts for my friends from ideas I got from Pinterest






I found an adorable quote from Audrey Hepburn and I searched and searched until I found the perfect printable for it




I absolutely love this quote, it makes me so happy every time I read it.




So here is the original idea I got from Pinterest....


And here's how mine turned out...






And there I am in the reflection



I got a frame from Wal-Mart and sanded it, then painted the frame white. I tried sanding it again to make it more rustic looking but chunks of paint were coming off and it didn't look so good, so I decided to leave it the way it was. I also added ribbon to the backing of the frame so it could be hung on a wall. I really liked the way it turned out. I downloaded the quote from this cute blog It Works For Bobbi and printed it on 8x10 photo paper.



My other creation was this little beauty that I made my friend from Alaska and my sister, they both seemed to love it!






Unfortanely, I can't find it on Pinterest or the blog I stole the idea from. That's the downside of Pinterest, if you see something you like it is so hard to find again unless you PIN it. So always PIN it!


But basically the necklace consisted of cutting out thousands of little circles and hot glueing them to felt


I am so glad I discovered this great new site!


Kelsey and I are moving out in March and we already have a board full of ideas for decrations, recipes, cleaning and organizing tips, all for the new place!


I'll keep you posted

Sunday, January 8, 2012


I know, I know, I haven't been updating my blog! I am not a big blogger, so I am not going to make any promises this year to update more. My life is just not that intetesting, and that's okay with me :)



I am excited about the new year! I love new beginnings! I know I am able to make changes and make goals any time of the year, but I think the beginging of a new year is such a good time to reflect on the previous year and think about what I accomplished and did well, and also what I would have changed. We can't change the past, but we can learn from it and make improvements as we go.



Accomplishments of 2011:

-Lost 30 pounds

-Read the Book of Mormon

-Got my (Limited) Temple Recomend

-Got my Scoping Certificate

-Passed out of RTR 102 (a class I had to take 4 times!)

-Can write 140 words per minute


Goals for 2012:

-Lose 50 pounds

-Move out of my parents house

-Get a job as a Scopist

-Work-out for 30-minutes, three times a week

-Practice my typing 10 hours a week

-Study my scriptures 15 minutes a day

-Go to the Temple once a month

-Go to the beach (just because it makes me so happy)

I have these goals written in my journal and next to each goal I have a plan of how I am going to accomplish each one. I know I may have to adjust the goals as the year goes on, and make different plans of accomplishing them, but I am going to make these goals a priorty in my life.






HAPPY NEW YEAR!