Getting there....

Nice, Katy was loving' this frog at the aquarium....but was HATING everything else. Poor thing, screamed like a girl the whole time! And my playgroup was wondering why I didn't but a season pass? Ha. I like the Aquarum but not that much! Note to self: I need a flash. Love my camera for sure and it's low light shooting capabilities but not great for kidos moving at 100 miles an hour!

Next up....create. That is my new word for 2011. Well I have 2 (more on that later) but one of my words to "live" by is CREATE. So what better way than to make a crib quilt variation on Katy's? For a cousins shower. It's amazing how DIFFERENT something can turn out just by what materials you choose. I love sewing and am in love with this particular project. It's turning out quite nice, thanks!

Lastly I LOVE photography. It's my favorite. I actually have been quite lazy about updating my photoblog lately. I guess I am trying to simplify things around here. I figured I can just post some of my favorite shots from my last shoots here on Team Beardshall. Hey... one less thing to update! And I was a lot more busy last year than I thought. I by no means am promoting myself here, because in all honestly I want to keep things simple with photography (not to say that I don't want to have some shoots to look forward to). I just don't want my love of photography to take me away too much from my loves here at Team Beardshall!

Anywho......

Love is all you need when you have a family this cute! I know this is not my normal style editing but I love how this turned out! You can just tell how much they love each other here!

Robyn graduated from the U and needed a picture for the wall! I love how this one turned out!

And honestly do I even need to say anything here? This is my FAVORITE little guy ever. I LOVE cake smash shoots! Look at that face....oh and is that tie to die for? Watch out ladies....I am saving him for Katy!

Success!

I guess I can't forget about the 21 day challenge! So we are at day 16 here. How are you doing? I am doing pretty well. Actually really well. Oh and I did have a Cadbury Egg on Sunday! It was heavenly! I get pretty focused on things and have a hard time doing too much at once. So this month I have really been focused on eating better. I haven't really been so great at my running schedule. I think that will be next months 21 day challenge...a good simple work out schedule. Anywho, I am happy to say that just by changing my diet I have lost about 4 pounds. Ok 3.7 but I am totally rounding up. I could care less about weight. I just know that I need to get healthy. It just goes to show how CRAPPY I was really eating. One more week to go and I think I could keep this up for a while now!

NEVER. NEVER. GIVE UP!

Change is worth it. The things that are of the most worth are not easy. They come with a price. And you have to decide if you want it badly enough.

Dig deep. deep down to your toes & muster up all of the strength, courage, & POWER you can!

& I promise you...it will be worth it.

Through this process of change....you are growing wings.

But, what you do with those wings is totally up to you. After the 21 days...you can use your wings, or just sit around...

In the end...you will be the one to make that choice.

But, I believe in you....& know you will be able to spread your wings & fly! as the NEW YOU!

treats anyone?

I guess it's not the best idea to go ahead and make yourself treats when you are trying to avoid them! But that is exactly what we did! Since Brit and I don't live too close together, we try to get together as much as possible. I guess in a way it's a good excuse to do something out of the ordinary. Today was no exception, although I am not sure it was the best idea for me!

Mom cleaned out her cupboards and found all her old sucker making stuff. Brit and I split it all and have been talking about making suckers ever since. I just had to swing by my favorite place orson GYGI! We'll we needed some flavors. We got Key Lime, Root Beer and Watermelon.

Resist the SUGAR Amy......

Pretty simple process all in all....just a bit time consuming.

Suckers:

1- Set up your molds. We put wax paper under ours which, surprisingly, worked out great. Hit them with a bit of pam.

2- Combine 2 C sugar, 2/3 C light corn syrup and 3/4 cup water.

3- Heat on stove until sugar dissolves, then bring to a boil.

4- When candy thermometer reaches 260 degrees add your food coloring. Don't worry about stirring it because the bubbling will incorporate all the color.

5- When temp reaches 300 degrees take off the stove.

6- When mixture stops boiling, add your flavor and stir

7- Pour in molds

8- ENJOY....unless you are not eating treats!

Britney took the first batch pouring duties. Wow she did so much better than me. Mine were so sad looking...if I wasn't overfilling them I was under filling them! Too much or too little! Yummmmm, watermelon! I am wiping the drool!

Oh and we did not realize that the root beer flavor was actually colored. So we put this awesome neon blue all over in there and when we added the flavor it turned into a beautiful poop brown color!!!! And on our last batch we decided to for green, the key lime was not colored so we wanted a light subtle green color and they totally came out kind of a weird yellow!!! Maybe it was me or maybe it was those crazy neon colors but we sucked in the color department!

I snagged this cute sucker mold there too. I thought it would be fun for valentines day. Gage and TJ were making me laugh so hard!

I love this one how Brynn is trying to hold up her Mickey Mouse sucker like the lips she saw TJ and Gage doing! It was sheer maddness over there I tell ya....Brit was watching her cute niece Marin and nephew Will too. The more the merry!

Ha, Brit was making me laugh so hard with her lips!

I was going for the pucker up and kiss me face, but I guess you cant really make a lips sucker pucker up! Oh the sucker touched my lips briefly and it was heavenly!!!! Ahhhh, sugar!

Katy was on cloud 9! Please excuse the crazy hair....it has sucker in it!

After we ate our suckers, we toasted over some milk and had a yummy dinner!

I must admit that I didn't have a sucker....but I did try some of the left over *bits* is what I was calling them. Is that cheating??? I am feelin' pretty bad about it now, but kind of not as bad as I should be feelin'...should that make me feel bad??? :)

After the kidos went to bed, Katy helped Brit and I make these CUTE coffee filter flower garlands for Valentines! I know it's not until next month but there is love in the air over here at Team Beardshall!

day five.

Is it clicking?

Are you getting into the groove of things?

About this time...it's time to ask yourself:

Am I making the most of every minute? every day? every week?

And I say:

SEIZE EVERY OPPORTUNITY

to become your best self.

This is it. The days are whizzin' by no matter what. And we are on day FIVE!

Celebrate your successes. Learn from your mistakes.

And either way...you are becoming your best self!

5 days down.....16 to go!!!! Carpe diem!!!!

hair cut?

Katy's snowman makes me happy. His hair just keeps on growing, quite a lot actually! Do you think we should give him a hair cut???

day four.

How are you doing?

How are you feeling?

Are you still with us?

You may still be on fire. Feeling the JOY. Feeling the PEACE. Sprinkling MAGIC.

or

You may be struggling. Stop.

be patient. be calm.

imagine your best self.

follow your heart.

&

be you.

Be your best self.

Do what it takes to be your best YOU!

and...most importantly...be grateful for your strengths, blessings & your life.

You have been blessed with so many things. We all have.

& when we stop & have an attitude of gratitude.

it gives us HOPE.

How is Day 4 going for ya'll? I can't believe that it is only day four! Does it seem like it's been longer than that? Well we are still going strong. I actually went running last night and felt great. My knee is great. And I have to be honest it was very refreshing to just RUN and not have to worry about playing catch up on all those treats I ate during the day. I remember I basically ran so I could eat what I wanted (which was a lot crappier than I gave myself credit for), but it's nice to run just to run....and not for anything else!

Scripture reading is great and treats are ok. It will be interesting to see what my free day entails. Will I go NUTS or not? At this point I am just treating it as that, a free day. So I guess I can have whatever I want. I was informed that Smiths is carrying the carmel Cadbury eggs....which I don't love, but hey my other beauts are on the way!!!!

Oh and just in case you were wondering....we totally drove up and went to Smith and Edwards on New Years Eve. Since Steve picked up an alcohol shift that night at 10:00 and we couldn't go skiing we decided that this would be a good option!

It's a beautiful mix of the army navy store, DI, sportsman warehouse and a dollar store....ALL in one! I have heard rave reviews about their penny candy. I was not so impressed it was more like 10 cent candy, but hey it was my last ditch effort for treats so I got some bottlecaps....love those!

We ate a late lunch and didn't get home until about 8:00....so we ate dinner and hung out until Steve had to leave. Then Katy and I read a million books and sang about every song I could muster up. She then informed me that we needed to call everyone and wish them a happy new year...at 10:00pm! We had a great low key night. I bummed around on the computer and then watched Letters to Juliet. Cute chick flick....Steve would have HATED it. A bit cheesy in parts but very cute none the less!

So all in all a way laid back and kind of lazy night...sorry for "ditching" some of my buddies. I was not very organized this day because, as you can see, it was a bit of a random/fly by the seat of your pants kind of day! For sure I am IN next year!

Hope you had a great new years!

Oh and can I just end with the fact that I am getting pretty excited for VALENTINES DAY! My sister showed me this link for a homemade heart wreath!!!! Can't wait to make one!

Phillip

How's it going guys? Wow this is a lot harder than I thought. It's funny I was reading the comments and Sheena reminded me that I may think it's hard now but that my world will be turned upside down in March when those delicious bites of sugar inducing coma come out...the Cadbury Egg!!!!! Not the little ones in the bag but the biggies with the yummy goo in the middle, yup those ones! Wow I am ashamed to actually be saying this but I think if I were guessing (and I am probably not giving myself enough credit) I probably ate about 80!!!! of those last year! What??? It probably didn't help when Steve got me a case of 48 for Valentines day!

The funny thing is I really do struggle with treats. I was talking with some friends of mine about my new years resolutions today and we got on the subject of my *egg* obsession. They said that I am totally Phillip from the Saturday Night Live skit. Do you remember this one?

Click here to see the full video. In it, Mike Myers is hypoglycemic and hyperactive, a hyper hypo! Here is my favorite line:

"One time....my moms car ran out of gas. So she gave me a Snickers bar and a can of Coke. I towed the car home. 7 miles. When we got home I was tired!!!"

I think when I am done with this little venture I may be tired from not eating candy! Today was hard but we made it through.

I figure I wouldn't have to work out so hard next year if I eat a little better. Ok for the amount of running I did you would think that I would be ripped! Nope still have the muffin top, thanks to the eggs (wiping the drool)....

Speaking of running here is a little update on that whole situation. Remember when I ran the Halloween half marathon and I totally jacked up my knees? Yeah....I am just barley starting to run again. Wow I am really out of shape. It's amazing what 2 months will do to ya!

Any who, I seriously tried to run several times. Every time I was feeling better I would go run 5 miles and I would be right back where I started. I finally listened to Steve and made myself an appt with an orthopedic doctor.

They ran the whole gammet on my knee and concluded that I just had a severe case of runners knee. I was so relieved because I thought I was going to have to have surgery with everything that I was reading. *Steve always says I am so dramatic when it comes to medical stuff. But hey when I thought having a baby was going to be like a 12 on the pain scale and it was more like a 6, or like with my knee I was convinced that I was having surgery and I just needed to go to PT....it makes everything better to expect the worse in regards to medical stuff!*

I was referred to an AWESOME physical therapist Joel Nuttal over at TOSH. He really helped me a ton and geared some exercises for me. He also said with the amount of miles I am running that I am going to have to replace my shoes about every 3 months. He had me run on the treadmill. Actually I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I actually have a fairly decent running form when I run above 9 minutes a mile, anything below that I get a bit lazy and don't pick up my feet in the back which can lead to knee problems. Oops, I have been running a bit slower lately about 10-11 minute miles for more distance.

But hey I had a pretty good year. I ran....

St. George 5 K

Winter Series 30K

Salt Lake Running Company 5 K

Ogden half marathon

My Stake 5 K

5 Mile Steeple Chase

Wasatch Back Relay

Dirty Dash

South Jordan Marathon Relay

Provo River half marathon AND

the Halloween half marathon.

I guess you can tell by my torn and tattered shoes I wore all year long!

Since we are talking about new years resolutions and I am sure that getting in shape or being more healthy is a goal that will be pretty common....here are some things to remember if you want to run, or start a running program:

1) If you find a brand of shoes that you like it doesn't really matter how much you spend on them. Per the PT I saw said going and having a store analyze how you run and then buy 100+ dollar shoes doesn't make a difference. I would say that myself and a good chunk of runners I know like Acsics. I got my new pair on sale at the Sports Chalet in West Jordan for $35.00 and they are awesome!

2) Start small. If you can only run for 10 minutes, great. Just increase that 10% every week until you are where you want to be....so the next week run for 11 minutes.

3) Per my PT it is better to run a short distance at a faster pace than a longer distance at a slower pace. He said that even for beginner runners he doesn't like to have women run slower than 9 minutes per mile and guys about 8:30 minute mile. That is pretty fast for me even so if you can't keep that pace just walk more inbetween.

4) Have fun!

Like I said I think I am going to take it easier this year in regards to racing, but that would be a great place to start. Sign up for a 5 K so you have a goal.

So we are now on Day 3. Honestly, it's harder than I thought it would be but we are still going strong! Keep up the good work....

What? This is harder than I thought?

You may start fighting against it...you may start rationalizing & saying:

Ahh..I don't have time for this.

or

I just can't do this.

If you have felt that...or even fallen off the wagon...it's not the first time someone has at day three.

Don't worry.

Pick yourself back up. Dust yourself off. & recommit!

FIGHT FOR IT. NOT AGAINST IT.

You've got to fight for it....If you don't, who will? It comes from inside you.

Deep down. And YOU are the one choosing to make the change.

Remember YOU are the one choosing to make the change. I am the one that can resist eating 80 Cadbury eggs, and only have one or two on my free days!!!! Fingers crossed, we'll cross that bridge when we get there!

See ya tomorrow.....

Baby Steps

Okay peeps, how are we doin? Remember baby steps, K?

How am I doing? Well......

Scripture reading has been great.

I think I am actually going through withdrawals from treats today! I am shaking! It's so weird to stop myself from popping something sweet into my mouth. I guess it was worse than we all thought.

Lastly, pop. Defiantly harder than I thought but doing ok. Wanted a *gasp* diet coke after I finished my lunch today! Ahhhhh!

19 days to go!

Here is some motivation for you, enjoy!

Here is the link to Day 2

day two.

We are doing it.

baby steps.

This is the key.

Building.

gradually.

Nothing that is worth it comes overnight. That's just not how things work. We tend to get caught up in the 'immediate gratification'. But, in order to see the success to what is really worth it...

WE MUST PAY THE PRICE.

day by day. step by step...not overnight.

And as we pay the price, work hard & believe in ourselves we'll arrive at Day 21 amazed at what we've accomplished. And we did it gradually!

Today, choose to pay the price to be your best self.

21 Day Challenge

I have been super inspired by some pretty great creative blogs lately. I have been particularly inspired by Rhonna Designs blog. She is SUPER creative and a part of House of 3, which is beyond amazing in regards to digital downloads and design for digital scrapbooking and such. Seeing that it's the first of the year and *gulp* new years resolutions are in full swing, let's join in shall we?

What is the 21 Day Challenge? They say that it takes 21 days to make or break a habit. SO What do you want to change, what do you want to create, what do you want to make a habit? She has a super cute kit that you can purchase if you want to go all out and get really crafty.

You can find Day 1 link HERE

I am defiantly not claiming this as my own....it's fab though. I will be posting some snippets from her blog here to keep you motivated. I love that she has tons of quotes and inspirations from LDS general presidency members and authorities.

What are we going to change here? Well I know starting small is the key, but Steve says I am a wuss so I have a few things that I will be working on. I figure I can add some more in 21 days after we see how this experiment goes!

1) NO SODA POP: I always claim that I hate diet coke and that I don't drink pop too much but I do. I am totally claiming that this is Steve's fault *wink*. But I think that dang gross diet coke is growing on me. I think it would be realistic for me to give it up all together! Oh and I LOVE coke

2) FREE DAY TREATS: Ok so let's face it I have NO will power when it comes to treats. I fell like Buddy on Elf in regards to the 4 food groups....Candy, Candy Canes, Candy Corns and Syrup! If there is sugar in it I LOVE it!!!! So to keep things in check I am going to have Sunday be my free day for treats. All things sugar are welcome on Sunday. I know that it's a day of rest but I am going to make it a full fledged working day when it comes to treats. Ok hopefully I don't eat a bag of cookies every Sunday......but I figure it's a place to start! At least I can't drive to the store and buy candy on Sunday, right?

3) DAILY SCRIPTURE STUDY: Let's be honest, or should I say let me be honest...this is something that I can always improve on. I am going to read at least 2 pages of scripture a night, should I feel inclined to read more I will. So since you can never read the Book of Mormon too many times, lets give that one a go again.

(Steve has some goals too.... write in your journal every day, and the push ups....here is a good link if you want to do the push up challenge)

Here is your inspiration to keep going this day one (from Rhonna's blog herself):

This is it!

day

no. ONE.

Take a deep breath.

Today is the day to:

ACT THE WAY YOU FEEL, FEEL THE WAY YOU ACT.

This means you need to:

envision how you want to feel on day 21.

act that way each day during your journey.

you will see the change.

So there is your motivation to get you going. Let's do it. My progress day one.....scripture reading was enlightening, no soda pop even though Steve bought a Pepsi Throwback that he still had in the fridge *YUM*, and I didn't eat a whole bag of cookies since it's my free day (smart to have my free day be the first day I started!), I did indulge myself in 3 squares (I've been known to eat a whole bar in one sitting!) of my FAVORITE chocolate.....Lindt dark chocolate with a hit of sea salt. Excuse me while I wipe my drool! Ouch, this challenge could be a tough one!

Good luck....anyone want to join me??? What are you going to change???

Best of 2010

This year's awards ceremony is brought to you by Team Beardshall and our generous sponsors! There were many best of's this year her are just a few:

Best Moab Moment

Best Down and Dirty Moment

Best Cheesy Grin

Best Hair goes to Katy, and poop story!

Best Trampoline Moment

Best Daddy Daughter Moment

Best Pull of the Road Picture

Steve's choice Best Picture of Katy

Best Mickey Mouse Party

Best Broken Leg goes to Katy

Actually it goes to Heidi, but I didn't have a cute picture like Katy's!

Best Way to Eat Dirt

Best GQ moment goes to Davis at the rope swing!

Best Kiss goes to me and a fish....sorry Steve!

Best "Flipping" off the camera moment....oops!

Thank you for sharing these moments with us and for reading our blog! 2010 was a great year, we are looking forward to many more "best of's" here for 2011!

XO

Team Beardshall.....2010 signing off!

Merry Christmas

Christmas was a LOT of fun this year. Katy was way into everything....except SANTA! When I woke her up that morning I told her that Santa had come and left lots of presents, she wouldn't get out of bed. I finally had to tell her that Santa didn't come to convince her to come downstairs. Funny that I had to wake her up, wow she gets that from Steve for sure....I was always up at the crack of dawn!

Santa did not disappoint this year. She got books (above) thank you TJ max!

And her piggy bank. After Thanksgiving we thought it would be fun to ask her what she wanted for Christmas. She came back with "piggy bank"! What??? Not sure where that came from but it has been a great addition for sure. Lately she wants to stay in her PJs when it's time to get dressed, but when you tell her that you will give her a penny to feed "mamma pig" as she calls her, those PJs go flying! It's great!

Thought these princess dolls would be a hit, another black friday find, and they are but not as much as I had hoped. Maybe she'll get into them a bit more as the year progresses.

She had fun opening her stocking....

Her favorite gift was probably her last gift of play food. If anything she does cook for her dolls quite a bit. She is always making "soup".

Steve did a great job on my Christmas Eve jammies......Christmas Story! My favorite!!!! These were in the mens section and they are knit. I don't think knit is a good choice when it comes to men so I am going to support them!

I am lame and didn't take any pics at the Beardshalls but we headed over there in the morning to open more gifts...Joanne picked out some great shoes for Katy! Then we headed to moms house for Turkey Dinner. Brit and Brynn got her this cute outfit and mom got the girls matching fairy costumes! She even got some more shoes over there!

Britney brought Just Dance for them for Christmas and decided to bring it up to try it out. What a funny game. TJ did a great job!

Katy and Brynn had fun "dancing" too! After this if you can believe it we headed to Grandma and Grandpa Beardshalls for some more goodies and fun! It was a LONG day but SO much fun!

I am SO grateful for my knowledge of the Savior and for the sacrifices he made for us, and although it's really fun to get caught up in the glitz and glam of the season I am grateful that we can celebrate his birth! Merry Christmas!