Happy belated birthday, Ali and Wyatt!

Here are this week’s words:

1. Ruminate: to chew again or over and over.
2. Salient: prominent or conspicuous.
3. Salubrious: favorable to or promoting health; healthful.
4. Scintilla: a minute particle; spark; trace.
5. Sedulous: diligent in application or attention; persevering; assiduous.

In the post Healthy Update, I mentioned that as I’m losing weight, I’m going to reward myself each time I reach a major benchmark.  I had set my benchmark to every 25 lbs.  However, as I’ve been living my new lifestyle, I’ve noticed that when I tell people I’ve lost 20 lbs (or when I was almost at 20 lbs), they’d be way impressed because 20 lbs is a big deal!  Sure, 25 lbs is more, but I started thinking that 20 lbs is a major accomplishment and I should reward myself for sticking to this lifestyle change as diligently as I have been for the last 21 weeks!  So, I’ve decided to reset my major benchmarks to every 20 lbs rather than every 25 lbs.

As of last week, because I forgot to weigh in this week, I’ve lost 21.6 lbs! Corey suggested I get a new bike for my first benchmark because it’ll help me reach my other benchmarks.  I liked the idea a lot since my old bike’s completely out of commission. So, today after work, we went bike shopping!

At the first store, I found a couple of bikes I really liked, one in particular.  But, I wanted to keep my options open, so we went to a second store.  As I was trying out a bike at the second store, I biffed it big time. Usually, I mount bicycles on the left side.  I put my left foot on the pedal and then swing my right foot over as I get the bike going.  Sounds simple enough, right?  Not this time. My right foot got caught on something and I flew forward, landing face first.  Luckily, the bike didn’t suffer any damage because I decided later I didn’t like it as much.  I wasn’t so lucky, though.  I scraped my right shin, my left knee, both palms, my right arm, my right hand, and by tomorrow, I’m going to have a fat lip, a bruise on my shin, and a lot of body aches. I would’ve scratched my face, too, but my sunglasses saved me.  Unfortunately, one of the lenses got scratched in the process, but better the lens than my face.

The humorous thing about this situation is that I had just got done telling Corey I didn’t need a helmet. And, after I biffed it, I told Corey a helmet wouldn’t have saved me, so I still didn’t need one. He rolled his eyes and said, “You were hurt as bad as you were and you weren’t even going anywhere yet.  Imagine if you had actually been moving.  A helmet is just a good idea and I’m not letting you ride around without one.”

We went back to the first store and bought the bike I liked.  I did get a helmet and I got a bike lock too.  I was so excited to get my bike that I decided to ride it the 3.1 miles home.

From now on, I’m going to try to ride my bike to the library each time I go.  It’s about the same distance as the bike shop.  I figure if I do that, I’ll get my exercise while going somewhere I go all the time.

Happy birthday, Becky and Angie!

I’m in the process of fixing the pictures on my blog.  What do I mean by fixing?  Well, I’ve never used thumbnails.  I always just load the full image, resize it for the post, and link it so you can see the larger version. By the way, in case you didn’t know, you can click almost every picture to see a larger version.

You may have noticed that some pages/posts take a while to load depending on the number of pictures on that post/page.  So, I’ve decided to go through all my old posts and make the pictures thumbnails and still link them to the larger version.  Hopefully, this will help my blog load faster for those of you who don’t have a high-speed Internet connection.  (This is going to take a while, though, as I’ve only completed 7 out of 65 pages. So, please bear with me.)

Anyway, as I’m doing this, I’m having the chance to read some of my old posts.  I forgot about some of them and how much I enjoyed writing them.  I also know I have some new “lurkers/readers” that may have missed out on some really good posts.  So, I thought I’d link to my five favorite posts.

1. My First Blog Entry: Of course this one had to make the list.  It’s my first post.  And, I talked about all of my theories for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  They were all correct, I might add.
2. 101 Facts About Me and Ode to LeAnn: Basically, in these two posts, you’ll learn almost everything you’ve ever wanted to know about me!
3. President Gordon B. Hinckley: My thoughts on President Hinckley at the time of his passing.
4. SLTA Fun: This group of women means so much to me! I’m so glad they’re my friends and I’m so glad I get to spend time with them almost every month.  They bring so much happiness in my life and this is just one example of the fun we have together.  (You should read all the posts in the SLTA category, so you can read about the Stephenie Meyer signings we went to, our trip to Forks, all our fun parties, etc.)
5. The New Crib: For those of you who didn’t know we moved or even bought a place, here’s the skinny on our new crib.

I feel like my groove has been thrown off.  I’m so tired! All I want to do is sleep, but I’m sick of sleeping.  (I never thought I’d hear myself say that.)  And, I feel like I haven’t had a decent night of sleep since last Tuesday.  And, now, I feel like I’m getting sick because I’ve burned the candle at both ends for too long.

As I stated in the post My Take on Daylight Saving Time, time changes and I don’t mix very well.  However, I figured going to Las Vegas wasn’t going to be a problem since I was gaining an hour rather than losing one.  I also didn’t think I’d get used to Las Vegas time since I was only going to be there for five days.  If I’d been able to keep to my Utah sleep schedule, just on Las Vegas time like I did while I was in Kona, the time change wouldn’t have affected me.  But, I had no choice this time around because I was usually up around 6:00 am and didn’t get to sleep until after midnight because of all the setup and administering we had to do at the conference.

I don’t think I’ve ever felt this exhausted from a business trip before.  When I came home from Manhattan I was tired, but that was because I had to be up at 1:00 am Utah time to catch my 4:00 am Utah time flight.  But, after I slept on the plane and took a nap when I got home, I was fine.  I have slept almost all morning each day since I’ve been home from Las Vegas and I still don’t feel rested.

I did go to work yesterday, but only for four hours and I only went because I had to turn in a project.  I couldn’t get up this morning, so I decided to stay home from work today, especially since I have this horrible cough that isn’t helping me get a good night’s, or morning’s ( ), rest.

I’ve been trying to do some things around the house today, so I’m not being too lazy.  I’ve noticed that if I don’t get up and do something, I’ll just wallow in my laziness and not make myself be active.  No matter what, I’m going to work for the full day tomorrow because I need to get over this.  Maybe, that’s just what I need to do.  Just get up, even if I’m extremely tired and don’t want to.  We’ll see how it works out.

If you have any advice for me on how to get over extreme jet lag, even if I only crossed one time zone and my flight was only an hour long, I’d greatly appreciate it!

Happy birthday, LeAnn and Christopher!

Since I didn’t get a chance to post any words of the week for the last two weeks, I’m going to post fifteen words instead of five this week.  Here are this week’s words:

1. Recondite: beyond ordinary knowledge or understanding; esoteric.
2. Recrudescent: growing raw, sore, or painful again.
3. Redoubtable: that is to be feared; formidable.
4. Refractory: hard or impossible to manage; stubbornly disobedient.
5. Regale: to entertain lavishly or agreeably; delight.
6. Regicide: the killing of a king. (This reminds me of fratricide from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.)
7. Repast: a quantity of food taken or provided for one occasion of eating.
8. Repine: to be fretfully discontented; fret; complain.
9. Reprobate: (of God) to reject (a person), as for sin; exclude from the number of the elect or from salvation.
10. Repudiate: to cast off or disown.
11. Requite: to make repayment or return for (service, benefits, etc.).
12. Restive: impatient of control, restraint, or delay, as persons; restless; uneasy.
13. Retinue: a body of retainers in attendance upon an important personage; suite.
14. Ribald: vulgar or indecent in speech, language, etc.; coarsely mocking, abusive, or irreverent; scurrilous.
15. Risible: causing or capable of causing laughter; laughable; ludicrous.

Happy belated birthday, Carlee!

Yesterday, I was going to go to another signing for Shannon Hale, but I was so worn out that I didn’t end up going.  I was a little disappointed, but I know I’ll have another opportunity.

Missing the signing turned out to be a good thing, though.  Becky, my sister, and her family wanted to come down to try our frozen yogurt.  And, since it was my niece’s birthday, they decided to go to Olive Garden and invited Corey and me to come along.  Unfortunately, Corey had to work at Froyo yesterday, so only I could go.  The dinner was really good and I enjoyed spending some time with everyone.

After dinner, we went to Froyo.  Everyone really enjoyed the frozen yogurt, especially Aubree, my great-niece.  Kelsey, my niece, was trying to get Aubree’s attention, but she was too engrossed in her frozen yogurt.  After a minute, she exclaimed, “This is so good.” And, when we had our picture taken, Aubree was really upset because we took her away from her “ice cream.”

While I was taking pictures, I was able to get Sophie, my great-niece, to smile.  She’s so cute!

Happy belated birthday, Cassie! Happy birthday, Jeremy!

Like I said in the post Traveling, the thing I was looking forward to the most while I was in Las Vegas was seeing my good friends Alice, Cindy, Jamie, and Jen.  Jen used to work with me and was in my ward for a couple of years.  Then, she and her family moved away after Christian graduated.  I taught seminars with both Alice and Jamie and I spent a day and a half with Cindy while we were both in Kona.  I feel like they’re my moms away from my mom.  They’re so sweet and I love them like my own family.  I’ve enjoyed getting to know them over the last six years.  Anyway, it was so good to see all of them.  I wish it could be more often.

Unfortunately, I never have all that much time to spend with them because we’re always so busy with the conference or other work things.  This time around, however, I was able to spend some time with Jen on Wednesday night.  Some of my co-workers talked Erin and me into playing a game of bingo, so I invited Jen to come along.  It was a lot of fun and it only cost $5.  None of us won anything, even though I was only four away from winning the blackout round. We also witnessed someone win $11,867. It was pretty cool!

When I decided to play, I thought it would just be like playing a game for entertainment.  But, I realized later that it’s gambling through and through.  About 2,500 people had to lose $5 for that guy to win his prize.  The only reason I don’t feel more guilty than I do is that I was able to spend some time with Jen.

Anyway, I had a good time in Las Vegas, but I’m super glad to be home.  I missed Corey and the kitties a lot and I’m so tired and worn out.  I feel like sleeping for the entire weekend.