Fun FHE

So here's a little break for you from some of my deeper thoughts. Our three oldest boys got Razor scooters for Christmas, but haven't been able to play much with them due to the snow and cold weather. In fact, they've been watching TV and playing computer games and haven't been outside hardly at all since the snow from the last storm turned icy and crunchy. So tonight for Family Home Evening we took their scooters and their roller blades and headed to Classic Skating, our local roller rink. Skates, blades, scooters, and even strollers are all allowed on the rink, and Family Night is $10 per family, up to six people. It's a bargain, even though we also had to rent adult skates and a little three-wheeled Spiderman scooter for Dallin. (That will be a purchase in the near future, I'm sure. He loved it.) My goal was to get the kids to exercise a little, burn some energy, maybe even wear themselves out. Well they got some exercise, but I'm the one who's worn out. It was fun and felt good though. I wish I could find more fun and easy ways like that to work a little exercise into my life. Maybe we'll just have to go to the roller rink for FHE more often.

Life Lately

Recent thoughts and happenings, in no particular order.

* There is nothing I absolutely have to get done today. Which means there are a lot of things I should be doing with my "open" day. If a day like this would just coincide with a decision about which project to tackle and the motivation to tackle it, I would be set!

* I was looking for a baby picture of Ryan to use in our Primary class last Sunday. As I dug through boxes of photos looking for the right envelope, the burden of 20+ years of unorganized photos just sitting in boxes weighed heavily on me. I tried to get into scrapbooking once, but I have yet to figure out how to take the time out of living life now to catch up on documenting the life I've already lived. Maybe when the kids are grown....

* I had a couple of lousy days last week--life looked kind of blah and I couldn't put my finger on why. Hormones maybe. But I got through those two days and things are looking up again. I can deal with a down day every once in awhile, as long as they don't go on and on. I just feel bad for my family when I'm having one of those days...nobody likes a grumpy mommy, including mommy.

* The day that life started looking better again, I experienced my first ever migraine headache. Lovely. I have no idea what triggered it. I just know I'll be happy if I can avoid any more of those, and I feel bad for anyone who experiences them frequently. My eyes started doing freaky things and then I couldn't think straight, and then my head started pounding right behind my left eye. Advil didn't touch it. I finally called Jeff and he took off from work early to rescue me. I'm so glad he has that kind of flexibility with his job most of the time. He took care of the kids and made dinner while I went to bed. (He's been making dinner often lately. I love having a husband who enjoys cooking!) When I got up a couple hours later, I was fine, so I think I headed off the worst of it. Whew.

* I got a new pair of shoes last week, which I really needed. They weren't cheap, but they were super comfortable and my mom paid for half of them as a birthday present, so I was happy. Then Jeff told me they look like grandma shoes. Grrrr. I thought they were cute enough. Oh well. They are still comfortable, and I'm not taking them back. But I don't know whether I'm more frustrated at him for criticizing my choice, or more annoyed at myself for not knowing what looks good and what doesn't. My fashion sense is right up there with my interior decorating skills--mediocre. Grrrr.

* I've been exercising on a regular basis for the first time since last May. It feels good to get back to the gym. I've been feeling really out of shape--soft and weak and tired. We got a great deal on a family pass to the rec center through Jeff's employer, so I've been lifting weights and doing the elliptical machine on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have to pay extra to put Jared and Dallin in the childcare room, but they enjoy it and I'm grateful for the option. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I've been doing yoga with Deni Preston on the Total Body Workout program on BYUTV. In January the show was moved to 5 a.m. MT, which does NOT work for me, but I found out I can stream it anytime I want on byu.tv. I've been easing back into it, but looking forward to upping the intensity as I go.

* My little sister went in the MTC last week. I got to go with my parents to put her in. It was neat to be in the MTC again. There's just a spirit about that place that I don't think most missionaries really recognize. I'm more excited for Joy than anything, so I didn't cry much, but when we sang "Called to Serve" for the opening hymn I couldn't hold the tears back for a few minutes. The orientation meeting is about the same as it's been since I was a missionary, just a few different jokes. The movie is getting a little dated though. I think the clothes sister missionaries wear now are both more comfortable and sharper-looking than the ones I wore, and the luggage is tons better--just more convenient and better built. It will be fun to write to a missionary on a regular basis again, and I love hearing my boys pray for "Aunt Joy and Cousin Rex on their missions."

* I should devote a blog to President Hinckley , and maybe I will later, but I was surprised and saddened by his death. I guess it's just that I thought the Energizer bunny would run down before President Hinckley did. But I am glad he didn't have to linger here in bad health. I know he wouldn't have wanted that. I am grateful for his spirit, his wisdom, his humor, his optimism, his encouragement, and his counsel. I will miss him, but I am grateful that Heavenly Father has provided for prophetic succession, so that we will always have a prophet to guide us in these latter-days. What a blessing.

* Because of President Hinckley's death and funeral, my trip to Las Vegas this weekend with my mom and sister and sister-in-law is off. We were going to Timeout for Women, which is now postponed until September. I'm bummed because I was really looking forward to a girls' weekend out of the snow. Oh well. Grandma and Poppa are going to babysit and let Jeff and I have a date night on Friday instead. It doesn't meet quite the same needs that the trip to Vegas would have, but it will still be nice.

Hobby #2--Yoga

Another hobby that I spend some time on is yoga. I was first introduced to it by my sweet friend, Patricia, four or five years ago when we lived in Cincinnati. She did a class on it for homemaking meeting at church once and shattered some of my preconceptions that it was a weird Eastern religion thing with chanting and all that. (Originally I'm sure it was just that, but Westerners have adapted it and many practice the physical aspects--Hatha yoga--simply as a form of exercise.) My interest was piqued, but when I checked out some classes they were more than our student budget could handle, so I didn't pursue it.

Then last spring my friend Stacie, a sister in our current ward, needed to do ten hours of volunteer yoga instruction to get her certification to teach it at a local health club. She offered to do a beginning yoga class twice a week as an Enrichment Activity. I jumped at the chance and I've really enjoyed it. She's kept going long beyond her ten hours, which has been a great service. In return, we've been lucky enough to be her guinea pigs as she's learned new things and practiced them on us before teaching them at the gym. In addition to yoga we've done some Tai Chi and some Pilates, but I still like yoga the best. I've tried to figure out how to describe what kind of yoga she teaches. She often calls it "yoga-flow," but as near as I can tell it is equivalent to Power Yoga and is encompassed by vinyasa yoga and Ashtanga yoga, which are more general terms. I enjoy the sun salutations and balance poses most, and I struggle most with the warrior poses.

I still need to find a way to work some cardiovascular activities into my life, but yoga has been great for flexibility, strength, relaxation and stress relief. I did it all through my pregnancy with Dallin, and although there were a few positions I couldn't do as I got bigger, I really believe it made for an easier pregnancy this time around. I also think one of the keys to aging gracefully, besides a good attitude, is staying active. My Grandpa Seegmiller started doing yoga several years ago and still does today as an 86-year-old. I hope I'm still doing it when I'm 86 too!