WOOO!

so I'm not going to take up too much time tonight because I have other things to do... but, just wanted to let you all know...

this is Kayla happy and home from the gym...

I'VE LOST 8 POUNDS!!!! =) 

my "pounds destroyed" jar is filling up and I'm feeling so great! It's amazing. My confidence has soared as I've tackled something so difficult for me and stuck with it. Reaping the rewards from this has been so sweet. Oh, and remember when I bought myself those shorts for summer? Well the part I didn't include is I bought one size that fit comfortably, and the other in the next size down. Those smaller shorts now fit perfectly. it's great. I'm kicking butt. The best part about this whole thing, is it's something that I've been in on with Heavenly Father. Sound strange? Well, it started with a workout poster that quoted the scripture which, to paraphrase, says you can do anything with God. I thought about that and loved the application of that scripture to working out. God wants us to take care of our bodies so why wouldn't he help me take on this challenge for a body makeover/lifestyle change?? So I started praying about it and did you notice I was also focusing on scripture study this whole time? I completely, 100% believe that is what has made the difference this time for me in trying to get back in shape.

Heavenly Father is wonderful. He's been here for me the whole way so far and while I've worked on my 11 weeks left of summer, I've felt his love, encouragement and inspiration so many times. He's helped me push myself and bless me for my efforts. I am so filled with joy right now.

And while we're talking about my "11 weeks of summer"... I feel like I've grown a lot in the past several weeks and become a stronger person. I've felt more like myself than I have in a while, as the stress of school and work and life changes had taken a bit of a toll on me. While I haven't been blogging as regularly in the past couple of weeks I have had a lot on my mind but I'll summarize with this:

     Progression is an essential part of living- truly living at least. There is a bliss that comes from success and growth that cannot be attained from other sources. I'm well known among those who know me well though, to take on more than I can chew- regularly. As I'm coming up on my final year as an undergrad, I've spent a lot of time planning, career studying, test prepping, scheduling, and thinking way way WAY too much. I have some big decisions coming up soon and I finally realized that sometimes, we need to not worry so much about where we are going, but focus in on where we stand. 

Before planning my work as a counselor, my time as a mommy, my vacations for some time in the future, I should come back to my life as a student and a wife and just enjoy it. Life will come when it comes. In the meantime, why not just sit back, enjoy the ride and get to the good stuff one day at a time :) so I won't be posting a new goal every week for the rest of the summer. I'm going to focus on the little lovelies, keep you posted on my journey for weight loss... forget planning. we'll play it by ear and see where we go from there.

<3 K

life.

( I wrote this a couple of weeks ago... sorry it's just getting posted now!)

Hey guys! so again this week, I've had a lot going on and instead of turning to new goals to turn to, I've just decided to keep working on my goal from last week. I figured this is ok because technically I was shooting to do more than one thing every day. I'm proud to say though that I'm still staying on track with them though so yay! They are well on their way to becoming habits! I did miss my workout monday but that was ONLY because Steven let my workout clothes sit in the wash for a couple of days... and then when I re did the load, he forgot to put them into the dryer while I was at work... and we had company coming later that night. but, I got back on it last night ANDDDDDD, after my workout, I weighed myself and realized I have dropped 6 pounds :) Now granted, I think our scale at home is off, and that hasn't all been lost in this last week. But it has been lost since I first started trying to watch my diet and gradually ease into working out again. I smiled the whole way home from the gym. I already had 1 marble in my jar from my efforts last week but throwing in an additional 5 was so satisfying :) i may be getting a little addicted.
Not only am I getting into the whole exercise thing, but I've been faithfully reading my scriptures every day which always makes such a difference (especially when it's how you start your day). I feel like I've been a lot more in tune with what Heavenly Father wants for me right now as I've had a lot of questions on my mind regarding the not too far future. I've also felt more receptive to the blessings he lays before me on a daily basis and that has been such a sweet reminder of his love for us as well as a needed dose of perspective in this crazy life.
Truly though, life is good guys. It really is so much about growth. It doesn't matter who you are, what your background is, or what you believe, if you are not progressing in this life, what else is there? I understand the idea that we're here to live it up, and we should! But what kind of a life is it if you leave this world no better than you came into it? Having left no imprint on individuals you've spent your time with?
That being said, Steven and I have really been trying to be extra thoughtful of each other recently. Partially because we forget sometimes that we're supposed to be doing that always :) also though, because we are coming up on our 1 year anniversary!! and this week in particular is Steven's birthday so lots to celebrate! I'm so excited because I got him something he's been saying for months that he wanted. He has no idea what I picked out for him though and it's driving him a little nuts as he can't stand the suspense of surprises :) it's great. We were also planning on seeing the new batman movie but unfortunately we couldn't get good tickets until next week. I have the 24th off though for Pioneer Day so I reserved tickets at the imax theatre at matinee price- heck yeah!
For those of you who are not familiar with Pioneer Day, it's a state wide holiday in Utah that we hold to celebrate our pioneer heritage and their trek across the country back in the day. It's a wonderful thing. I'll enjoy my day off :)

hope you all are having a wonderful week! any fun plans for the weekend?? Or for Pioneer Day, if you celebrate it?

<3 K

Catching up!

So I realized today that last weeks post never actually got published... so it's late and I never did the 2nd post for that week that I promised. but that's because we moved, and I had way too much to do haha. anyways, we are loving the space in our new apartment, truly, it is great! we still have some things to be put away but overall, things are going pretty good.  AND even with all the craziness of last week I still managed to stay on top of my goal for the week (for the most part) which was to wake up at least 2 hours before having to actually be anywhere. While waking up early isn't exactly fun, I would make sure to get to bed at a decent time and then having that extra time in the morning was SO nice. I had time to eat breakfast, maybe tidy up some things, and have plenty of time to get ready for work and get there early! it was great.

I've checked on the goal for this week but at this point in time I didn't think it was really that important haha. I think it had to do with cleaning a particular part of the apartment every day so that I would stay on top of cleaning easily. Since we are still in the process of unpacking though, it didn't seem to be the right time for that goal. While I hadn't written this down anywhere, I mentally decided that this week I wanted to read my scriptures for half an hour in the morning, say prayers right after, and then get in at least a 1/2 hour workout for the day. that combination of accomplishments was what I wanted to get done each day for this week. On Monday I woke up late so I packed my workout clothes and headed to the gym when I got off work.

 BEST IDEA EVER

 I went to the gym after work again yesterday and I decided this is the absolute best time for me to work out. It does not require me to wake up any earlier, I come home for the night in a great mood and totally energized to either get stuff done at home or do something fun with Steven, and I can enjoy the rest of the evening guilt free because I have everything important done for the day. Also, tracking how much calories I burn right after work has set me up to not want to eat junk all night which is when I typically am tempted by fast food dinners, desserts after a long day, and mindless munching in front of the TV. I'm SO stoked about doing this and so far this week has been great. I've met my goal every day so far and we're halfway through the week. I will have sexy abs by graduation dang it! I finally feel like I have made a break through in my efforts to be healthier and I feel like this is something that I can easily stick to and I'm just so freaking excited to watch my body change as I go through this. I'm going to take a before picture asap but I'm not going to post it until I have an awesome after pic to stick next to it haha- sorry!

I also saw this cool idea on pinterest that I'm totally going to do. You have one jar with marbles representing every pound you want to lose and a second jar to add marbles to for every pound you have lost. What a simple way to visually see where you're at in your weight loss goals! and who wouldn't want to stick a marble from your fat jar to your skinny jar??

pounds destroyed- love it! haha

How do you guys find is the best way to stay motivated when you set goals for yourself?

Here's to being a better you!

<3 K

Week 4

Happy Monday morning bloggers! Life is crazy. Last week we had a tournament for our Orem frisbee league so we had two games on Thursday and 3 games on Saturday. Let me tell ya, by the Saturday afternoon, I was absolutely exhausted. I had a blister the size of a quarter on one of my ankles, I have a bruise on my foot where I got stamped on with someone else's cleats, and my body ached from sore muscles and sunburns. Wowza. We won 2/3 games on Saturday and that final win was sooooo satisfying. with that all said, I am glad to be taking a break from frisbee. I do want to stay in shape though and keep practiced up because I've pretty much decided to play with the BYU girls team in the fall- woo hoo!

After our tourney Saturday we ate lots of food and hung out with some of our good friends. Then Sunday afternoon Steven's parents came to town so we ate lunch together and they dropped off some more boxes for us to use for packing. Steven's dad has an interview today in SLC so we're keeping them in our prayers! Then last night we met with some other friends of ours for ice cream and games. It was great.

As you can tell though, we have been procrastinating with the move. We are so excited but we kept trying to convince ourselves that packing wouldn't take long... yeah. sure. As of this morning, the bedroom was mostly packed, the bathroom is packed, and the kitchen is empty except for what's in our fridge. Most of the things in our closets are already in storage bins or boxes so really, we're mostly done. We'll pack up the truck tonight, clean the place, sleep on the floor, and move first thing in the morning! Boo yah!

After everything is dropped off at our new place, Steven and I are planning to go with his parents to the Manti temple which I'm super excited for because I've never been inside! Then come the festivities for the 4th. I'm starting the morning off bright and early running a 5K with a friend. She signed up and wanted a running buddy. I have never done one before so I thought, heck, why not?? After that wakes me up, Steven and I are meeting with some friends for a birthday breakfast (how cool would it be getting fireworks every year on your birthday?!). after that we'll probably unpack, eat yummy summer foods, and end the night with fireworks. yes, that sounds like a good way to spend the holiday :)

Do you guys have any fun 4th of July traditions? Steven's family wasn't huge on holidays but my family loved them and I'd love to get some fun traditions going for our own little family!

<3 K

P.S. I didn't forget about this week's goal, but with so much going on over this weekend I'll wait to post on that until later this week.