lately...

I should probably keep this updated...

There isn't a lot going on in our lives per say but we are crazy busy all the time! Jason got some more students and is working more now, so that is really great! This will get him closer to his 1,000 hours and a new, steady job! Unfortunately, it also gets us closer to indefinitely moving away and that I cannot even think about right now!!! I took team lead and am working till 2 everyday now, which has been okay for me but hard on the boys. It is right in the middle of naptime for Kingston and he refuses, for the most part, to take a nap at the gym! Occasionally one of the girls can get him to fall asleep but even then he wakes up about 45 minutes later. He also had croup this past week, which meant not working hardly at all! The biggest thing about my new schedule is... I work til 2 come home and put kingston down for a nap and then get ashton and myself some lunch. By the time all this is accomplished, I have to get dressed for working out at 4 and get home at 6, to make dinner and do a little cleaning, put the boys to bed, and try to settle in for homework. The only problem is after all that running around, I sit and basically wanna just pass out. I try to read my homework and end up falling asleep. School is definitely taking the biggest hit out of all the things in my life right now. And, to make it worse, I have 4 classes that are fairly difficult( for me at least). I am taking Math 1010 (you all know how terrible I am at Math), Political Science (i'm not even registered to vote and could care less about politics, so you can imagine how that class is going), Sociology (this involves a ton of reading, which I struggle with staying awake on), and Psychology (this is one I could enjoy if it wasn't on the backburner- it doesn't have more than 2 deadlines the whole semester, so i literally have not even looked at the book yet!). I'm extremely bummed about school lately. I was so glad I made it through last semester and I was looking forward to another challenging, but easy enough for me semester. Unfortunately, i just took on too much. My timing with team lead, 4 classes, and my LOVE of zumba is just very off! Jason says I need to sacrifice my workouts for school, but in reality, I can't do homework when the kids are awake anyways, so what is the point? Plus, I feel like an entirely different person when i workout! I feel healthy, less stressed, and have a clearer head than the days I miss workouts! I CANNOT sacrifice or I'll go insane!!!

Now that I've rambled away, I must say that I love my life. I really do! I am a complainer at heart but I love my kids, I love my husband and how much he does for me, I love my job, I love my friends, and I love the opportunities I am given in this life!

Personalities...

So, Ashton has become obsessed with Trio blocks! And, Jason kinda has too... lol. They are really fun for kids his age because they are easier to build with and there are so many creative things to make. Ashton got some for his birthday and then we kept finding them on sale, so he has hundreds of them and he will play with them for hours on end if we'd let him! I recommend them to everyone with kids age 3-5 or even maybe older and you can even get them for gifts for nieces and nephews or something. Seriously, they will be loved by anyone! Having said that, Ashton has also started a chore chart. He is required to clean his room every day and any toys he has out in the front room. He then gets a sticker each day and once he gets to 5 stickers, he can choose to go out for ice cream or save until he gets 10 and go buy a new toy. He is adapting well to this system, but it is hard for us to adapt. Our schedules are super hectic and we don't seem to be home long enough for him to even clean, so then he misses out and gets really sad. He also went to the bank with me the other day and we set him up a savings account. They do it a really fun way where they let the kids come in with a deposit slip and hand them their money for their special account and all that jazz... Ashton is so excited to earn money to put in the bank! He is my sweet boy and I can't picture him any older or less innocent! I love him to death!
My little Kingers has started doing more things. He now waves when you say "hi", puts his hand to his ear (like a cell phone) when you say "hello", and claps when you say "yay". He also recently started shaking his head when you say "no". It is so adorable but I can tell it will be a problem causing thing. He is very defiant. You tell him "no" and he shakes his head, smiles, and does it again. Yay for us, huh?! He is also beginning (yes,already) to pick up the bad habits of the playroom. The other morning, he walked up to another baby about his size and hit him in the face! (not hard, more like a brush against the face) but I scolded him and said "no" and of course, as I said, he smiled and did it again. The poor little guy had never been to the gym until that day and started bawling and didn't calm down until his mom came! Dang King! He is only 1 and already making kids cry. And, lets not go into how he always pulls Ashton's hair and makes him cry too! Luckily for Ashton, we buzzed their heads! He is going to be a handful for sure! But, he is also super sweet and cuddly (especially to his mommy)! And, with all this, I am still baby hungry! Hopefully we can get something set up and start trying in a few months or I'm gonna go crazy! Anyhow, Jay and I are starting up a new semester of online classes today and are not so thrilled, so wish us luck! That's life in a nutshell for us lately!!! xoxo

Life gets wild sometimes!

I'm apparently getting older than I thought, because I now have a 4 year old! Ashton celebrated his birthday on Dec 10th and it seems insane that he is really that old (and about half my height lol).
And, then there's Kingston... My little 1 year old. He celebrated his birthday on Dec 6th. This has also flown by extremely fast. Where did the last year go?!? And, him and his brother couldn't be more opposite! I love that they are so different! (and hate it sometimes). Ashton has always been fairly quiet, very non-aggressive, just a little sweetheart from day one. Kingston has been our roller-coaster child. He has been cranky, loud, out of control, and lately showing aggressive tendencies at work (hair pulling, grabbing at other baby's faces, etc)! He's only 1! We're definitely going to have trouble with that boy! But, he can also be super cuddly, insanely cute (with those adorable blue eyes and huge smile), and so much fun! I love my boys to death! They are so opposite, but play so well together and tie our family together perfectly! They are definitely the icing on my cake!

So, now that I've poured my heart out about my little angels, let's get more serious and whiny lol. Things have been a bit hectic lately. I went a couple weeks with one contact, thus a constant headache making me super cranky. We also have been having a problem with our water pump in our car. So, sometimes the temperature sky-rockets, and sometimes the heater chooses not to work. Yay! NOT! Also, finals have been creeping up this week and last week. Our computer crashed last week, making finals quite difficult, considering I am an online student. Luckily, we were able to get a new computer and I made it work somehow. Now, I only have one final left (history) and the entire thing is extra credit, so even if I choose not to do it, I will pass the class. I did my Math final today and probably failed it or got a very low grade. It's seriously a foreign language to me... I studied, got frustrated, tried to study more, gave up, took the final, now wish I'd not given up on studying. But, oh well- what's done is done I guess! Jay turned in like 7 resumes to different places... hopefully something comes up, but also it would be pretty sad if it did, seeing as how we would undoubtedly have to move. He applied at places like Chicago, New York, Saudi Arabia, Alaska, etc- everywhere but Utah, because there aren't any flight jobs here. Nice career choice but also sucky. I've gotten fairly comfortable here in the last 4 1/2 years and I don't want to leave! So, we are keeping our heads high and our spirits strong to get through life lately and it'll pay off hopefully!

Big changes in life...

Well the horrible has hit... Jason's couple of students he had have now run out of money, meaning he is out of work for the most part. UGH! Although a baby would have been a really great thing to add to our family right now, we are not going to try anytime soon. Thank you money problems!!! So, after much deliberation, I have decided to officially submit my candidacy for Team Lead position at work (again). I was Team Lead there for about a year and a few months just before I got pregnant with Kingston. I honestly don't mind the job at all. It puts me in a position of authority and I already know how to do all the necessary paperwork, scheduling, etc that go along with it. So, I think this will be a good thing. The hours will be great. I am currently working about 10 hours a week and this will put me at 32 hours a week. It will be hard to get back into that many hours, especially having another kid this go around, but I am excited to make more money. We're talking quadrupling my income. It still won't make up for Jason's but it will help a lot! So, I just have to wait until Tiffany says "yes" or "no" to it. She is conducting "interviews" in a week or two and, so far, I am the only one interested, so we'll see! Hopefully nobody else goes for it and it can be an easy process! Ah, the joys of life and money! One day we will dig out of our financial rut and be making big money- you know, when Jay hits 2,000 or 3,000 flight hours and can be an AirMed pilot (this is his goal). However, he is sitting at just under 900 hours right now, so it'll be a few years. Until then, we will hang on by our thread and keep deliberating when to expand our family. The only problem is that a month ago, I was anti-anymore kids. Now, I'm crazy baby hungry. A few months from now, I may turn the tables again and we may not ever have anymore. We'll see... if anyone reads this, I love you for it! I know I'm fairly boring and complain a lot, but I appreciate people who listen to me. xoxo Christy

faces...

Um, I looked in the mirror doing zumba today and realized I make a weird face while dancing. And, I have an annoying habit of chewing my gum while dancing or just letting my mouth hang out wide open lol. I wonder what everyone else thinks of it?!? For some reason, I get embarrassed and instead of smiling or trying to hide myself, I put on this strange face... there aren't even words to describe what it looks like. It's just weird!

I'm finding myself completely in love with the song "So Obvious" by Runner Runner. I know it's totally a radio hit, but let's face it, I'm a music person- whether it's super popular or completely underground- so I LOVE IT! It makes me think of Jay and how much I love him! I just wanted to spotlight my wonderful husband today! Jay and I knew each other in high school down in little old Manti. We didn't speak a single word to each other then, but he claims he thought I was hot...lol. I graduated in 2004 and was working at Western Wats call center in Ephraim as a supervisor. Jason started working there in 2005 and we talked a little bit. Then, I started taking guitar lessons from his little brother, who is very musically talented. They didn't last long, because I am musically UN talented(yes, I'm aware that is not perfect grammar). So, I suppose I felt some sort of entitlement to be able to start talking to Jay and ended up hanging out with him. Now, at this time, I was going through a divorce and Jay had a sort-of girlfriend...yes, we were bad! So, Jay broke off things with his "friend" and I kept trying to rush my divorce so we could just be together. We made things more official on Halloween and it's been 5 years since then. Jay is my rock! He is the best dad in the world, he puts up with my nasty mood swings, and he works harder than anyone I know. Jay has been a helicopter pilot/flight instructor for 2 years now and is so dedicated to his career! It's feast or famine right now, but his hard work will pay off very well in about a year. Once he hits 1,000 flight hours, he has his eye on two jobs. 1.) Las Vegas doing Grand Canyon tours... yes, we'd pick up and move. 2.) Saudi Arabia working 6 weeks on/6 weeks off flying the big "birds" for I think an oil company... sadly, we would not pick up and move. I would live somewhere of my choice and Jay would come back every 6 weeks to see us! Kind of crappy but it's very good money and we could take nice vacations every 6 weeks! HECK YES! lol. So, anyhow, I'm very proud of my amazing husband and all that he's accomplished! He's come a long way from the still in high school, has a pregnant girlfriend, and had no plans for the future... he is very responsible and the perfect man! Jason has changed me in so many ways and I love him to the end of the earth and back!
On another note, we put up our tree and although Christmas will be slim this year, I am very excited about the Holiday season- more so than other years! I love the lights, the music, and hot chocolate with marshmallows!
And, then there's my cute little Kingers... He has recently gotten into babbling on the phone. He carries my phone around everywhere he goes and holds it up and babbles. He also likes to have the music turned on- although it is very old stuff on my phone- and he dances and laughs. He is such a cute boy. His smile is priceless and he has such an innocent, unconditional love for all of us that we just die for! Ashton is the same way, but he is starting to reach a stage in his life where he recognizes mean kids at work and says he doesn't like them and stuff. He has always been so good to turn the other cheek, but lately he is fighting back and it breaks my heart when he gets in trouble. He is my big sweetheart though for sure and I love him so much!

Golds Gym and Zumba!

I have decided to do 2 posts in one day! Crazy, maybe? I don't really know how this blogging works anyways, so I'll make my own rules... I feel a need to spotlight my favorite hobby~working out~

Yes, that's a strange hobby to call my favorite, but I have fallen in love with the gym! Up until after I had Ashton, I didn't workout a day in my life-aside from PE in school- and I didn't really need to. Now, I'm not trying to brag or anything, but I just didn't. After my little angel was born, I started working out like once a week or something. That is where I got the idea to work at the gym. I needed somewhere to work where I could take my then 1 year old boy and Golds Gym playroom offered that! YAY! I have worked there 3 years now and couldn't be happier.

However that is beside the point! My point here is that since I've had Kingston, I have grown to LOVE working out! At Golds they offer the most amazing classes! I have literally developed an obsession with zumba and pilates is quickly turning into one as well! It started with 4 weeks after my little Kingers came along... I began going to a Power Pump class about twice a week and decided to try my hand at this whole zumba thing... Honestly, I wasn't all too impressed with my first experience, due to being in the wrong frame of mind and feeling absolutely ridiculous! However, I decided to give it another try and went into it making sure to stay serious and try to get some good cardio in! I fell in love! I literally was hooked! I began going to about 4 classes a week along with my 2 power pumps. At one point, I became obsessed with working out, to the point of doing 2-3 classes a day. I tried pump, zumba, spin(which is amazing but kicks my trash so hard I just can't bring myself to do it anymore), and sometimes just ran for the fun of it. I would go to 6am spin, 5:45pm pump, and 8:15pm zumba almost every single day.

Well, you can imagine this became a little bit much! I felt like I was turning into a crazy person that couldn't even focus on my kids or husband! So, I toned it down a notch and started working out once a day-sometimes twice. This is where I changed my workout times and became obsessed (yes, I admit) with Allison's zumba classes! I love her energy and choreography and the fact that I can keep up with her, rather than fall a little behind like I was doing before. And, she is SO nice to everyone in class! Knows you by name, takes a second to chit chat with you, etc. She is the most amazing zumba instructor! So, from zumba came pilates. She teaches pilates too so I thought "if she is this great here, I need to try pilates". And, I fell in love with it the 1st time I tried it! It kicked my butt, yes, however it was an amazing feeling when I left!

My typical day includes a zumba class, or a mix of zumba and pilates. I have also recently gotten into R.I.P.P.E.D which is a "one stop body shop" and is AMAZING! I only wish they had more than one class a week for it!

To sum up this huge post, I would just like to tell you that I love working out! I love the feeling I get dancing around or crunching my core so hard I can barely breathe! I LOVE ZUMBA! I LOVE PILATES and I LOVE GOLDS GYM for making them possible for me! On the downside, if I really choose to have another baby, there goes all my hard work LOL! xoxo