Beautiful Boarding Day!

-2/13/08- Kurt and I were able to use our free lift tickets again to go snowboarding at Snow Valley! I couldn't have asked for a better board day! It was so warm and beautiful...no jackets req'd! That's my kind of snowboarding day. I hate it when I have to be so bundled up, I feel like I can't breathe. We had a ton of fun this time, just enjoying eachothers company and the beautiful day.

Snow in Beaumont, CA

CRAZY!! Valentines morning the snow came falling down here in Beaumont! What's so funny is that it was so warm the day before! Kurt and I had gone snowboarding just the day before and we didn't even need jackets it was so nice and hot. The next morning BAM down comes the big ol flakes! We went out for breakfast at IHop when the flurries were starting once we got home the flakes were huge and definitely coming down! The following day....nice and sunny again. This weather is crazy!

My Nieces First Birthday

Saturday we headed up to my parents house for a birthday celebration! It was nice to be up there and spend time with my nieces! They are getting so big! Ava and Alaina just love eachother!! They kept on hugging over and over again. It was Courtneys first birthday shindig and she just loved her cake! She is such a cute little thing!

Alaina's Gimme More

So Britneys Gimme More song is Alaina's absolute fave! She will NOT dance to anything elses, in the car at least. Kurt was the one who discovered it. He always tells me it's her song! Aaaahhh Geez! Here's a video of Alaina rocking out to it in the car. Please excuse the unedited beginning....

Magics In The Makeup

Kurts always asking me, "Why do you wear makeup? You don't need it." He is always telling me how pretty I am when I feel horrible. And when I actually put the effort in like for a date night he doesn't say anything, it's sort of funny how men work. So I sort of had a Clueless movie moment ("I don't rely on mirrors so I always take polaroids"). I decided I'd take a true no makeup pic and see what it looked like. It's not awful but for me I am just not one of those comfortable in their own skin girls. I HAVE to wear makeup, yes ladies even to the gym! I know....pathetic huh?! I just feel so much better when it's on. I can only not wear makeup if I'm definitely staying home and not going anywhere! Not even to the store. LOL!! I put the title of this post because I am also reminded of the No Doubt song magics in the makeup. Kudos to all you women who so boldly go out into the world with what God gave you and not a morsel more! And Kudos to inventors of makeup everywhere...LOL! (p.s. Like the pore strip? ha ha ha!)

Exam Completed!!

Thank the Heavens above, my exam wait is finally over and done with! I went to the Los Angeles Athletic Club yesterday morning and spent the entire day reviewing and testing. Holy Cow! Longest day of my life! I left my house at 7 am and got home at 9 pm. I was a little nervous about the drive, I'm really uneasy about driving to places on my own that I've never been before. I had the gps thing but once I got in to the LA district of tiny streets everywhere and builidings stacked on buildings even the gps was having a hard time keeping up. So I went in circles a couple times and just decided I'd trust my own judgement and park in this one structure close to the address bracket I needed and walk from there to find the club. Thankfully the van that pulled next to me in the parking area had two women who were wearing workout attire and I asked if they knew where the club was, they were going to the same place! Yesss! Thank you....what a relief! So I got there safe and sound, and didn't have to walk through the scary LA ghetto of downtown alone.

Now I figured there would be a decent amount of people at this thing but there were at least 100 people. It was crowded and loud! We got right down to it and the nerves were definitely setting in. The morning started with review of our study guides and reading comprehension, then we moved onto what was required in the day, and review of all that we would need to show them during our exams. My nerves settled when I realized that the practical wouldn't be as difficult as I had imagined. It was fun all in all, but sooooo very long. I got to a point where I was just thinking can we do this already and stop the review! Aaaahhh! The facility was not providing food or drinks so we had to pack ourselves snacks and food. I had packed a good amount but man was I starving by the time I left there. I had only packed one bottle of water so very thirsty too!

When it came time for the exams, we started with the practical which is the physical exam. We were split into groups of about 25-30 and each group had 3 judges. They started music and we had to display a proper warm up (including rhythmic limbering, static stretches, movement rehearsal, etc.) then they had us display a bell curve cardio workout (gradual increase of hrt rt to a steady intermed to advance workout) w/ a variety of movements, then a cool down. Next they called out muscle groupings such as chest and upper back, we had to display at least 2 strength training exercises and a stretch for each muscle that was called upon. Then it came time for the individual evaluation in which we had to teach the group an exercise and show them the variations for beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Their were so many people doing the exam at one time it was impossible to hear what most people were saying! I told myself when I go up there I'm going to make sure I am nice and loud (bring that Shillig voice out...LOL). So they call my number 54...aahhh shoot! It's do or die time! In a clear loud voice I say, "Hi everyone my name is Amy and we'll be learning a tricep press, so we can get those sexy arms and wear those strapless dresses." (yes I know...strapless?? It was for the sake of the group) I then began cueing what to do, how to do it, and body alignment. I showed the variations, kept them laughing, and it went great! I feel super confident that I did well in that category. I made a promise to myself that even though I will be incredibly nervous and shaking on the inside I am going to sound like a pro and make everyone think I am super confident.

Next it was time for the written (100 q & A's), all in all I think I did pretty well. Too bad I don't get my results for 4-6 weeks. Whatever happens, happens. And if I didn't pass then we'll just try, try again! I am just grateful the main wait is over! I was so beat when I got home, cardio training and studying all day long puts quite a strain on the body and mind. I could barely keep my eyes open on the drive back and my head was going to explode at any given second! I hit the sack and zonked out, probably the best sleep I've ever had.

Snowboarding!

YESSS!! Finally Kurt & I were able to snowboard together! We went this morning to Snow Valley and we had so much fun! Thank goodness for our cousin Shay, she told us about this lift ticket deal that is going on at Ralphs. All you have to do is buy either 10 vitamin waters or smart waters and you get a coupon for a free lift ticket to Snow Valley (which is up by Big Bear). Our worry with the lift tickets was that it's only for a weekday, and that it will be hard for us to go not having family around and our reg babysitter is still in school. Well it worked out great because we had picked up kurts mom from the airport sunday morning, and she had stayed over for us to be able to go. So the kids got to spend time with their grandma while Kurt & I went snowboarding. It was my first time to Snow Valley, and Kurt had been there a really long time ago w/ his grandma. So it was sort of a new experience for us both. It was pretty cold and snowed off and on while we were there. But so much fun to get some mtn time in and nice because the park wasn't so crowded like big bear and summit get. A quick pic before we head outMe on the ski lift My HOT husband driving us to the slopes Ready to hit the slopes The night before while we were getting our stuff ready I realized that my snowboard pants that I own I had bought right after I had Alaina, so I tried them on and they were huge. Too bad snowboard pants are so expensive!! So we just sewed the adjust straps as far as they could go to sort of hem them and keep them from falling off of me! LOL!! Kurt and I had so much fun spending the day together, doing something that we both love! It was so nice to not even have to worry about our babies because we knew they were in capable hands. Emmitt and Alaina had a great time hanging and playing with Grandma.

Camera Lovin

We love to play with the camera around here! Especially Emmitt and I! Since Kurt is home I decided to get a pic with him in and then we just got a little out of hand from there! LOL!! Here are some pics from our camera playtime!Alaina and Mom
Emmitt just HAD to stick his big ol melon in on this one! LOL!! I couldn't stop laughing after I saw this pic!

And now for the ever consistent....I swear this is Emmitts favorite game. (Doing different poses for the camera) This time he told me what to do....what a HAM! LOL!The kiss poseHe says like this.."Hiii-Yaaa!""Make a silly face Mommy"

Family Walk

Today was a nice lazy day for us. Kurt was home for the day so we just hung out and played with the kids. Here are a few pics from our family walk around the neighborhood. We wanted to go to the park but by the time we were through with our walk we were all frozen!
We made cookies after we got home, and Emmitt was my little sous chef! He loves helping me cook! This is a pic of Alaina being our little "taste tester".

Elliana's Visit

So this week we had Kurts little sister Elliana come visit while Lark was up in Utah helping out Jake and Caroline. It was nice to be able to spend some time w/ her! I picked her up in Valencia Monday. Kurt and I had talked about how we wanted to take her to Disneyland for her birthday and since her birthday isn't too far off we decided we'd do it while she was staying w/ us. The day that we were going to surprise her and go, I wasn't feeling too well and Alaina was grumpy from teething. So Kurt just took her alone and told her he wanted her to come to work with him. She had no idea that he had planned a trip to Disneyland! They had so much fun together! They went to both parks and went on pretty much every ride! It was Elli's first trip to Disneyland and they made the most of it! When they got there some guy had a dream fastpass badge that he just gave to them for free. It had all the rides that have a fastpass capability on it so they could jump ahead on all of them! Talk about lucky! Elli got some minnie silver ears and a princess diary. We were glad to be able to have her do something fun while she was with us!Elli about to go on Indiana JonesA quick pic w/ Snow WhiteOutside California Adventure, what a cute picture!
Poor Elli got sick while she was staying here, we're not quite sure if it was the flu or food poisoning. But she felt awful and was throwing up. We took her to meet up with Bill last night at the LA temple so she could go home and get some rest. We hope she's feeling better and we're glad that she was able to come and spend time with us! Emmitt especially loved her visiting they had a great time playing together!Alaina trying on Elliana's minnie ears