Brushing Teeth is Like Exercise--Am I a kid or a grown-up?

I exercised regularly in high school, but in college, I got out of the habit.  I would exercise on and off but not regularly and not intensely.  If I did exercise intensely or regularly it would only be to lose 10 pounds and then I would get lazy again.

For the past 4 years, I have been pretty regular in my exercise.  The past 2 years I have consistently met my running goals and weightloss goals.  There have been periods of time though I have skipped workouts.  This past week it happened to me.  I got less sleep, felt fatigued and unmotivated.  After a several days in a row without intense exercise, I did 3 workouts today and feel fabulous.  It amazes me what at least 30 minutes of getting my heart rate to peak does for me emotionally and physically.  The exercise-induced high makes me smile for hours after and infuses me with energy that carries on for over 24 hours.  I also sleep much better.

I want to compare this need for exercise to our need for brushing our teeth.  As an adult, we all want to brush our teeth first thing in the morning and we can’t sleep with dirty teeth.   We love the feeling of clean teeth and we recognize the benefits of preventative care over time.

 Kids have to be reminded to brush their teeth morning and night.  They don’t even seem to notice the layers building up on the enamel until each tooth is wearing a tiny little sweater made of plague.  Some second graders have confessed that they even take the time to turn on the bathroom faucet and make sounds that come with teeth brushing, but without letting the brush touch the mouth.  Parents hear the sounds of dental hygiene, so they believe the child is obeying and the dental bills will stay low.  All the while the little cherub is deceiving the gullible grown-up.

Why can kids bear to wear tooth sweaters?

Why can I bear to go several days between workouts?

I CAN’T!  It doesn’t feel good and if I don’t make time for exercise every day NOW, then I will have to make time for illness later.

Kids will be kids, but I am a grown-up and I expect more of myself.

The "Love You" Student

I love my husband so completely that my face muscles ache from smiling too much when I think of him for more than 3 minutes at a time.  So, I'm here ready to go up to bed with the words "Love You" on my eyelids.  I'm thinking back about a year.  Last September, as I was falling in love with David, he was still dating other ladies.  One, in particular, made me a bit competitive.   She was 5 years younger than me with no children AND she was a college student.  She was not in any of David's physics classes, but she was a student nonetheless so obviously the scene from Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Arc) kept popping into my head.

This college student attended Professor Indiana Jones's Archaeology 101 class in 1936. As one of Jones's female admirers at Marshall College, she expressed her sentiment by writing "LOVE YOU" across her eyelids. During Doctor Jones' lecture, the student flashed the words at him when their eyes momentarily met, causing the teacher to lose his focus and speech to stammer when the bell rang to indicate the end of the class, and the student exited with her peers.

So anyway, a year later, I still think of this scene from the movie.  He has assured me that if I ever take one of his classes, I may not love him as much as I do now.  He's pretty tough and doesn't have the female admirers that my imagination has given him.  Physics would not be my choice of class to take.  I finally confessed to him that I only knew that vectors have direction and magnitude because I have watched Despicable Me a few times and the young skinny villain names himself Vector and defines the term.

Biking is the hardest part for me.

Summer Photos and Fall Greetings

Fall Greetings from a dining room table for 9 in Idaho!!!


My girls and I are doing well here at our new home with our new family.  School has been in session for us for the past 3 weeks and David starts teaching again at the university tomorrow.  He'll still be the stay - at - home parent, but will teach college classes while Kamryn is at her afternoon kindergarten class.  He's home with her and with his youngest (18 months) during the morning and lunch time.  He's also home when Kamryn and Emerson get home from school.  He has been such a blessing for them both.  I am still the recipient of the greatest blessings of David in my life, although I think my girls would argue with me on that.


Here's a bunch of photos from summer time that I never made time to blog about.

 Our Day-After-the-Wedding hike to my childhood favorite waterfall with the family.

Under the falls

 Riding scooters on the wooden sidewalks in Jackson WY.

 Our youngest daughters danced with the Indonesian hand clapping dancers during the International Festival.

 Climbing trees is always a summer activity for my little monkeys.

 Enjoying the Botanical Gardens on campus near our house.

 Swimming lessons for the 4 middle kids.

 Camping and Fishing with Daddy David

 Spulunking in the Minnetonka Cave with my parents.  We spotted this moose bottom feeding at a nearby pond.  This is on the border of Idaho and Utah.

 On the Mountain Summit between Idaho and Wyoming.

Jackson WY.
We're excited for fall.  We plan on a week long visit to Utah the first week in October and then to harvest the pumpkins and sell them before Halloween.


I have a sprint triathalon on October 27th on campus. In November I'll complete the Lazyman Ironman.  I'll have the whole entire month to complete 26 miles of running, 112 miles of biking and 2.7 miles of swimming.   It will all be tracked in the Fitness Gym on campus and I should be able to finish in less than 2 weeks.

My big triathalon is December 1st.  So all my fall training will go towards this big day!!  I'm excited!  I can get all of my training done before work and after my girls go to bed except on Saturdays for 3 hours and Wednesday nights for 1 hour of strength training.  One of the thousands of reasons that I love being married to David is that I get a Spouse card to use all the university exercise facilities, classes and pool for FREE!!  I didn't even know this when he proposed last year.  Happy Fall to You ALL!!

I started this journey blog 2 years ago as a divorced woman with 2 kids. We had recently returned from living overseas and were adjusting to American life with great close friends and cousins. I entered the dating world to find a high-quality everyday daddy for my girls. I found someone so much more! I love David more than I ever imagined I could love a man. He is my miracle! We walk this cobblestone path together with 7 young ones nearby. It is fabulously bumpy and unexpectedly wonderful.

Blending these families

I had two of David's kids stay with me last week while he spent some time with his youngest in New Mexico. I drove his kids back up to Idaho with mine and we met up with his two oldest who had been at summer camp. The next day, David returned home and I was ready to head back to Utah with my kids. David suggested that Kamryn just stay with him for the week. She was thrilled!! Her preschool year has ended and she gets bored with Emerson and me at school everyday. Kamryn is having a great time with her step siblings and new neighbor friends. David is only out of the house 2 hours each day as opposed to my 8 hours. She really adores him and the time and attention that he gives to all of our kids. Emerson is quite homesick for Kamryn. I miss her too, but I'm happy that she's so happy in Idaho. In other news, we are getting married next Friday!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited. This engagement has been the perfect amount of time (7 months), but it's exciting to finally plan and prepare for the day and the details. We're getting married in the Salt Lake Temple with very few guests. Originally, I wanted to elope. I imagined just me and David and maybe our parents there with us. Our children, however, had BIG plans for wedding parties and fancy clothes. I was not on board with all that, but we really needed the kids to buy in to the blended family and they were so excited. Luckily, my mom stepped in during the month of February to start planning with the kids. I started getting excited in May and decided to let my mom design a wedding dress. It's gorgeous! She was prayerful as she created this unique dress. She merged 4 patterns and some of her own design to make me into a bride. Our guest list has gotten a little longer and the kids keep getting more excited.

The Miracle Muffin Experiments

You may have heard of the one minute muffin recipe. If not, just google it. My first attempt was not too yummy. Actually it was kinda gross. I forgot to add stevia. With some help from my mini kitchen scientist--we've had success!! Kamryn just gobbled up a gluten-free, sugar-free, high protien "brownie" and she is picky. Tomorrow morning I'll try an apple-cinnamon version. 9 grams of protein, 4 grams of carbohydrate(all fiber) and all in less than 2 minutes!!