New Activities

So, two new exciting things that I've started/will start doing soon:

1. I've joined a quilting group. We meet each month, and learn how to make a new quilt block, and then have all month to complete that block. So far, I've only made half of one block, but I'll try to post a picture once I complete it. And, if you interested in seeing what my finished quilt may look like, check out this page. My quilt is the one named "Chloe." (I haven't decided yet whether I'll do the small size or the large size.)

2. I also joined a 12 week Healthy Habit Challenge group with some friends. Basically, we all paid $20 to join and the winner gets a $200 prize at the end. You can earn up to four points a day by doing the following things:

-get 7 hours of sleep
-eat healthy (no treats or junk food)
-35 minutes of vigorous exercise
-work on your personal goal (mine is going to be 20 minutes of scripture study per day)

I'm pretty excited for the challenge. I'm already pretty good about exercising daily and getting enough sleep. Turning down desserts and treats will be the biggest challenge, but the $200 prize is a big motivator for me. I'll keep you updated on my progress!

Kick'n it DC style

We have had a crazy few weeks, let me tell you. The most exciting thing to happen was our 3rd set of visitors to our humble New Jersey home. Lured by promises of NJ corn, homecooking, and general sightseeing wonder, my parents agreed to come out over the weekend and spend some time with us (well, mostly Laura, but since I was around...)

We did the standard touristy things that you would probably expect. For example, we got horribly lost after picking up my parents in DC. And when I say lost, I mean we would have been dead in the water except that my father brought his GPS, which gently lifted us from the quagmire of DC with patient directions and the inevitable "recalculating" after every time I missed a turn. Since this happened about every other turn, it came to be a comforting sound, reassuring me that, while the scenery of DC was changing, my refusal to trust the GPS was not. We cruised the metro, went to all the monuments, got a tour of the Capitol and White house (my great uncle-in-law is a senator from Utah, which facilitated the whole trip), etc, etc. A few pictures:

I hung out with Michelle:

Witnessed some parental love:


And did all of the other touristy-type things:


So, that was day one and two of the trip. Day three was a quick jump up to NYC for the standard sightseeing stuff again. We went up the Rockefeller tower for some awesome zero visibility views, took the ferry, ate in little Italy, bought cheap stuff in Chinatown, and saw Wicked:

The next day was rest day (thankfully). Monday we hit up the waterfalls in the Delaware water gap. As always, they were amazing, but I will only give you a taste with one picture:


Well, maybe one more, though it is hard to top the last one:


And, before you ask, no, I don't know the name of the nice man standing behind us.

The last day we pretty much just hung out and talked, and then dropped them off. Here are a few things I learned from this trip:

1. Having parents come and visit YOU and stay in your house for the first time is scary and fun.
2. Parents who play Wii tennis not only look cool (and pretty funny), but are cool
3. Families are the most important social unit in the world
4. My parents are the coolest

Thanks for coming, mom and dad! We love you!