Admid my mid-life crisis, I have decided to become a hiker.

The funny thing about this is that I am totally serious. I haven't always wanted to spend time in the mountains. As a child, my family had a cabin in Midway, Utah. We spent so many summers at that cabin. I liked it, but they were Utah summers. Dry. Weedy. And, frankly, not fun to run out and play. To "hike" meant following the road as far as I wanted to (or until I got scared) then turning around and heading back. My hikes were more like walks. However, my brothers were always hiking. Once as a teenager, I went hiking with my brother who decided to head STRAIGHT up the mountain instead of finding a trail to follow. WHAT THE HECK! Who does that? Anyway, I have never really loved hiking. It just wasn't for me. Plus, I'm a whimp when it comes to being alone in nature. What about the bears, cougars/mountain lions, snakes, poison ivy, creepy guys waiting for me to walk past so they can murder me and throw me off the cliff (legit fear). But I want to change that. Seeing my friends and family find peace in nature has made me somewhat envious. I have become addicted to noise and technology in an unhealthy way. My mind and eyes have to be "on" constantly; on the computer or on my phone.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I want to change. I want to find peace in my surroundings and in nature. I want to go someplace where I can't be "ON". And, I want to write about it. Consider this my open, online journal that anyone can read if you want. This is the start (hopefully) of the change I want to make in my life. To be come more centered, happy and peaceful. Plus, my trainer says that hiking is the very best cardio workout and burns the most fat - so there's that.

A lesson for me about me…

Dear Jennie,

How are you doing on your Year of Me? I know that you get down pretty easily and that you often have a lot of stress on your plate. You worry about your kids and grand-kids. You worry about your aging mother, your injured brother, your working-too-hard husband, and your stupid weight issues. You have not had an easy life, but, you really haven’t had a bad life, have you? You have two parents who love you. You have a few siblings who love you, too. You have loads of nieces and nephews and cousins who adore you (How can they not? You are most certainly the coolest aunt in the history of the world!). You have a loving and wonderful husband who would do anything for you. And, you have the truthfulness of the Gospel. You pretty much have it all. No, seriously, you really have it all. You may have not lived a conventional life, but those are boring anyway. You are destined for greatness! You have an incredible power when you pray. {Remember that time you prayed for rain and got a tornado?} Anyway, you have a talent of praying. You understand the scriptures fairly well. You love everyone and can get along with almost everyone. You are really smart! You just need to apply yourself a little more.

 
The other day you gave someone some advice about success. You said “90% of our accomplishments in life is menta. If we get past the fear of failure and success, we become capable of changing not just ourselves for good, but also the world.” Take your own advice. Don’t be scared to fail. And don’t be scared to succeed. YOU GOT THIS! You are a rockstar. Now, go out and prove it!

The Year of ME!!!

ITS ALL ABOUT ME!!!

So I have declared this the year of ME. What does this mean? I am going to stop putting myself in other places and keep myself at home (or with family). I am focusing on what I need physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I am going to stop being so busy that I don't have time to serve or share my mad ninja skills with my neighbors and friends. My husband doesn't believe I can do it. Not that he doesn't have faith in me, but usually after every major event I host/help/work at I promise myself never to do it again - and I always do. But not this year!

I have already started somewhat by developing the 4S' diet. Its not really a diet as much as it is a challenge. Starting on January 1st, I am abstaining from Sugar, Soda, Seconds, and Starches - for a year.  Aside from a hard day once in a while, it hasn't been too bad to maintain. I have dropped 14lbs so far and feel really good. I don't miss sugar as much as I thought I would. :)

Next, I am giving up my community theater work for the year. I love doing it, but it has seemed to take up too much of my time. I am focusing on whats good, better or best and tho this volunteer work is good, its not better or best.

Finally, I am going to work on cultivating other talents/gifts. I am going to finish all my crafting projects. I am going to practice my guitar and ukulele more. I am going to write a lot more and I am going to run a lot more.

So there you have it. That's the project for the year so far. As I say in my mirror every morning... "Go get 'em, tiger!"

Peace out!

Conference Weekend!

This weekend was amazing! 

I got to meet Whitley Weeks for the first time. She is our new little grand-baby girl! She is soo stinkin' cute. LOVE HER! 

 Whitley Anne Weeks and Grandma Jennie

 So majestic...like a lion on the savannah...

 Our last session of conference...he slept first...woke up...then I slept.

Overcoming the weak...

So I have always considered myself a strong person. As in, I can lift a lot and carry more than I should and so on, but when it comes to inner strength, I am super weak. 

Weak-minded, weak-willed, weak-hearted.  

I think the best way to improve on the weakness is to practice being 

strong-minded, strong-willed and strong-hearted.

From my previous post, you saw that I was doing my own personal 30-day challenge. I have started out pretty weak. I had a good breakfast...yesterday.  Today, starting now, I will not cheat in my nutrition. I will not miss my workouts at Crossfit and I will en devour to endure, nay, thrive in this challenge. 

As my trainer would say..."It's all in your mind"

One valuable aspect of this challenge that I am missing the boat is meditation. I know its important for our mental and physical make-up. So I vow to add a ten minute meditation into each day. 

Now to find the perfect meditation spot.... :)

Nutrition Challenge

Recently, at my gym, we completed a 9 week nutrition challenge. The goal: follow a meal plan/diet for 9 weeks, set a goal for how often to attend the gym, and set a fitness goal you would like to accomplish. 

I chose the Zone Diet. I made the condition that I could eat out once every two weeks and that I would go to the gym 4 days a week. 

I set a goal of completing the beginning workout which was 10-30-50 pullups, situps and lunges for time, three minutes faster than intially. 

My results: 

22 lbs lost

18 inches lost

nutrition goal, kept

gym attendance, done

and my final workout: 

30 seconds faster, but in the first workout, my "50" lunges were cut to 30 because I was struggling so much. The final workout I did 50 lunges 30 seconds faster!

Because this was a gym-wide challenge, there was quite a bit of money in the pot. Though I didn't win, I did find out that I was one of six finalists. Made. My. Day. 

I just want you all to know that I am starting my own 30 day challenge. I am sticking with the Zone Diet. I am attending the gym three days a week, and my milestone workout will be  10 rounds of 200 Meter Run, 5 Overhead squats (45#), and 5 Wall Walks.  

If you want to know my workouts, checkout CrossfitSouthtown.com.  I am telling you, this stuff is fun! Also, a big shout out to the owner/trainer of Crossfit Southtown for always being so supportive: Thanks, Shellece!

His Grace is all the difference.

Last week in Young Women's, our class learned about Grace. The teacher shared this talk by Brad Wilcox, who so clearly put into perspective the principle of Grace. How grateful I am to the Lord for His pure love and for his wanting me to do good and to choose to change to become more like Him. I love the Lord and hope to one day, return to live with Him.