There she is!

Niece #12! Isn't she bright-eyed and adorable?! Can't wait to see her! Her name is Hope Ruth.

January is so _______ .

You fill in the blank. January is so...... what?! I don't know. Even though its my birth month, there's never much going on. The weather and snow are no longer exciting and beautiful. It starts to toy with you by having days like today that are 45 degrees and then dropping to the 20's again tomorrow... with more snow. There's no fun holidays (except afore mentioned birthday). There's no parties. Its just.... blah. So here's my update to keep you entertained until something more fun and exciting comes up.

• The builder and our HOA have been using a 3rd party engineering firm to decide what to do about our homes. We're at a stand still while Horton decides just how much money this is going to cost. The least expensive solution goes something like this: entire first floor concrete, moldings, base cabinets, etc removed. Fix foundation issue. Re-pour concrete. Install new floorings, baseboards and base cabinets. Please do tell me, DR Horton, where is all my stuff going while you do this? Where am I supposed to live? Is this going into your cost assessment? In the meantime, its not something I can worry about since there's nothing I can do.
• Yep- still doing the 4:30 a.m. thing with the gym. Still enjoying it. Gotta eat some more protein, cut back on bread- wow. Any ideas for how to make cottage cheese tasty?
• Second semester starts tomorrow, student teacher comes the end of February. Hello summer!
• New niece from Herc, born on 1/11/11. True story lol Her name is Hope Ruth. So pretty. Pictures at some point.

Its thrilling, isn't it? :)

This is what I do...

at 5:00 A.M.! Its true. I'm 100% so far. I hate going after school because the lacrosse and track teams are there. So I decided that before was my other option. Its non-negotiable time. Getting up at 4:30 to be there at 5:00 hasn't been as bad as I thought. The first day was the toughest. I walk in with a few meatheads, some grannies and one or two other girls like myself. They leave the lights low so its fairly soothing. I'm quite enjoying myself! I've got a long way to go but yay for me! Being a little better :)

We have work to do

How do I miss President Hinckley?! He was always so kind, as all prophets are. I love President Monson, don't get me wrong. I just grew up and into my testimony with President Hinckley. As I've been thinking about resolutions and the new year, I always hate to go big and have delusions of grandeur. Never happens. I remembered this talk by President Hinckley. Ok, maybe I didn't remember the entire talk, but I focused on his gentle reminder to "be a little better." No one improves or becomes great because they do amazing things all at once. No one declines or suddenly becomes mean spirited because of one bad incident. Its the little things that add up to better things. So I've tried to remind myself each day this week to just be a little better somehow. Even if that means just being a little nicer to myself and not criticizing and analyzing every small thing I should have done better. I have work to do and I can't do it if I'm being too hard on myself or too hard on others. I can't do it if I'm speaking critically or harshly. I can't do it if I'm not healthy or spending my time unwisely. There you have it- my resolution- to Be a Little Better.