Check That Off the List

Lists rule my life. Groceries, chores, tasks, to do items, etc. I have lists scribbled on sticky notes scattered across my desk at work and lists that pop up when I open my email. I have lists of random items and things to get at the store on my fridge, chores to complete in my planner and a myriad of other things to do written on random envelops and pieces of junk mail all over my dinner table.

In my world the list reigns supreme. I am pretty sure I inherited this from my mother. My need to organize my grocery list by department and food type; my need to organize my chore lists by length of time required to complete the task and the items’ importance. My sister says I am crazy but I love lists! Without such lists I would never get anything productive done.

I love the sense of satisfaction I get when I can cross something off—often time I find myself adding chores that I had not anticipated on tackling to my list just so I can cross them off—it feels that good. And at the end of the day, when I look at all the completed tasks I feel so good about myself and I am proud of how productive I was.

The one downside to list making—often time the list becomes too long or intensive to actually complete the tasks with the given time. For instance—every Saturday I get up and make a list of things to do that day. I have learned it is important to be as specific as possible—the more specific the easier the tasks seem and the more items to cross off.

Here was my list for Saturday: clean bathroom, change shower curtain, change sheets, wash darks, wash whites, wash towels, fold laundry, put away laundry, wipe kitchen counters, sweep kitchen, mop kitchen, dust living room, vacuum, go grocery shopping, clean out fridge, clean lamp shades…

See what I mean? Most of these items are not big but that’s not the whole list. Anyway—I am proud to say for the first time in—as long as I can remember—I crossed every item off my list. I even added and crossed off some additional items like: sort clothes for DI, organized closet and dresser drawers, shred old bills and statements, and reorganize the file box.

Unfortunately, there is already another long list in the making but that doesn’t bother me; I can’t wait to start crossing things off that one too!

Ahh.. That Feels Good

Today marks a momentous occasion—I am student loan free!! What a wonderful feeling of relief and freedom!

I have no idea how Tyler and I have managed to get my loans paid off so early—I am only in the 11^th month of repayment. But somehow, miraculously, we have been able to pay all our bills and a little something extra toward the loans and still break even—what a blessing!

We still have all of Tyler's student loans but I won’t think about that today (I will think about that tomorrow). Right now I just want to enjoy this little victory—things have been really tight and stressful lately—this little high is just what I needed. I don’t know if I will ever stop worrying about how we are going to ‘make it’ but this does instill some confidence in me that if we buckle down and stay focused we will be just fine, and just fine is okay with me.

The Sweetest Thing

Tyler and I took a whirlwind trip this past weekend—we flew out to Cali to hear my brother give his farewell talk and to be there with him and my family as he was set apart as a full time missionary for the LDS church. Eric will be serving in the Chile Concepción mission. He reports to the MTC tomorrow and will be gone for two years—my heart is aching.

I have always been very proud of my baby brother—all of us have—but I was never so proud of him than I was on Sunday as I sat with my husband, mom, gramma, and sisters listening to him speak. Suddenly I understood why the Lord calls 19 year old boys to serve and teach the gospel. I sat there and it occurred to me that Eric was no longer a baby or a goofy, moody, teenager—no, he had become a polished, refined young man.

Since it was Father’s Day Eric spoke about his Dad and his Heavenly Father. It was a touching and well planned address. As Eric spoke I watched my Dad seated on the stand and thought ‘what better Father’s Day gift could he have gotten?’ What a compliment to my Dad and Mom to have raised such an amazing kid.

And so now comes the hard part—the goodbyes—how do you say goodbye for two whole years? I am sure some heart ache will be involved and a lot of crying—my family is genetically incapable of not crying. It is a bittersweet feeling—so much happiness and sadness at the same time.

Eric, we are so proud of you and love you so much! You will be in all of our thoughts and prayers.

Elder Kuykendall, there is no doubt in my mind that you will be an amazing missionary!

Oh Summer Where Have You Gone?

I love the summer. I have endured months of snow and cold and anxiously waited for the best season of the year.

Now that it’s finally here, it seems as if something is missing. Perhaps it is that Tyler is in his 10^th consecutive month of school—with 6 months still to go. Perhaps it is that I will not be going home for a visit this year. Or maybe it’s because the weather is still confused about which month it is—I really don’t know.

Whatever it is, I am sad to say, instead of my days being packed to the bursting point with fun activities in the warm sun I find the days slowly creeping by, one day just as boring as the last.

This is going to be a long, strange summer. There is something different this year—don’t know quite what it is yet. All I can do is just continuing hoping and praying that the real summer will start soon. I dream of summers past—no responsibilities, nothing to do but lay out and soak up the sun. Will summer ever be like that again?

Warning: May cause slight discomfort, pain, swelling, or redness

Two months have come and gone since my last post so here’s what you have missed in that time: Uh…well…hmm…

Yep, I’ve got nothing. Sometimes I am utterly astounded by how boring our lives are—every week is exactly like the last.

So yesterday, in an effort to break away from my normal routine, I tried something new. Instead of just running my standard 40 minutes at the gym and calling it good, I tried out a class. I have never attempted a class at the gym before for fear that I would not be able to keep up, feel stupid, and mostly because I knew I would look like an idiot—I experienced all this and more.

I attended an hour long power pump class—it’s like weight lifting/resistance training set to music kind of like aerobics—which, ps I will never try—defiantly not coordinated enough to do that! I awkwardly watched each of the class members as they prepared for the class collecting weights, dumbbells, mats, aerobic steps and exercise balls and I did the same.

Within the first 10 minutes of class I knew I was in trouble—I was so exhausted from the warm up my legs had ceased to function properly. I pooped out on the 4 reps of 20 legs lifts after the first rep, made it three-quarters of the way through the lunges, and half way through squats—and that was without the weights! By the time we moved on to the upper body my legs were ready to give out. Balancing on a ball we worked our abs, backs, arms and upper body, I had such a hard time balancing on ball (because my legs no longer had feeling) that I had to wimp out and sit on the aerobic step to complete the arms portion of the class.

The last 10 minutes of the class was dedicated to just abs and that’s when I gave up. My arms, legs, and back could no longer support my weight; I not could risk EVERY single muscle in my body being so sore I wouldn’t be able to climb out of bed in the morning—wise choice. Even so, Man, am I sore today! The simply act of just sitting at my desk puts enough pressure on my buttocks and hip to make them cramp up—ouch!

So will I ever go back? Probably—I like the challenge. It’s a good thing, though, the next class isn’t until Tuesday, that should give me enough to recover before I embark on my next “What was I thinking??! I look like idiot! I can’t keep up! Never have I felt this much pain!!” Adventure.