Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween!

So in case you didn't know I work in the childcare at Mountainside Fitness! I love my job! It has its up and downs but the kids are my favorite! You can bet how excited I was to see them dressed up in their cute Halloween costumes! Well continuing the tradition I bought candy to hand out to the kids as they left today.  As a last minute thing I decided to get some pretzels (they were shaped like pumpkins and bats) and some teddy grahams for the younger ones who may not want the chocolate and sweets!  So I have my basket mixed with my goodies and could you believe that most of the parents refused the candy for their kids and insisted that they have the pretzels and teddy grams (although you may be thinking well it is a gym...) I was appalled!  It's HALLOWEEN for goodness sacks! Let your kids have some Candy! What is this world coming too! I mean everyone is so ridiculously set on being in shape, having the perfect body, and insisting that your children to the same! Well I am all for feeding your kids healthy things, and not letting them have candy on a regular basis, but this is Halloween! Let your kids have some Candy! Man o man i just wanted to say this one little piece wont hurt.  Of course you are going to manage their intake tonight because they will get loads, but making them refuse 1 piece at the gym! Ridiculous! So you parents out there! Please let your kids have some candy tonight! For me!  

Which leads me to another point! Why is society today so focused on appearance, again I believe in being healthy and managing your food and sweet intake.  But come on spending all of your time at the gym is really unnecessary! and getting ready to go to the gym to work out is even more unnecessary! I see people in full on make-up at the gym! Come on it is just going to sweat off! I wish people were not so into their appearances.  I feel like today's society is obsessed with their appearance, I mean I guess one would have to be if their role models are those fake people that you see on TV and magazines, what makes me so sad is that people fail to realize that they are just that Fake! They are airbrushed and photoshopped and put in the right camera angles so that you can see their "best side".  It just depresses me that society is going where it is.  Be who you are! That is who god made you to be! Believe in yourself! Know you are beautiful! Everyone is!  And you are much more real than those fake people in the media!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Called to Serve

wow, i have not updated this in a while! I promise to be better! I love these things! They help keep everyone informed!

Well this week has been a very emotional one! We took Chris to the MTC on Wednesday.  That is quite an experience! He is serving in the Hungary Budapest mission and is so excited! Anyway, we flew up there on Monday night.  We got in real late and didn't make it to my grandmas house until like 11:30.  The next day was filled with visitors.  You see my Grandma lives in a small town in Utah, Howell is the name, and it is comprised of mostly related people.  So four of her five sisters live there, along with some of their children and so forth.  The house was filled with a steady stream of family members all day long, people wanting to say their goodbyes and good lucks.  It was great but exhausting as well.  Then the next day, was THE day.  We all woke up and showered and were out of the house by 8:30am.  There was much anticipation and hesitation as we made the drive up to Provo.  Chris was very ready, but the rest of us had mixed feelings.  This is something that we have grown up with our whole life.  We knew it was probably going to happen.  And it is something that we are so proud of him for.  But still, how were we going to say goodbye, for 2 years!?  It was tough.  Walking into the MTC (missionary training center) was so cool!  It was an experience i will never forget.  Seeing all those anxious missionaries and their family members, the spirit was so strong and we just knew we were in the right place.  My mom and I held up remarkably well, we didn't cry through the whole thing like we imagined.   There were tears at the beginning,  I will never be able to make it through "Called to Serve" anymore without crying through it.  It is such a great song, and experiencing it in the MTC is like nothing I have ever imagined.  Then we made it through the rest.  Until the very end... the goodbyes.  The president of the MTC said that it would be easier if we acted like it was a bandaid, the faster you do it the less it hurts.  And Chris took that to heart.  We all start crying, Mom, Dad, Chris, Skyler, it was insane and he hugged us all and then left, in a split second he was gone.  But you know what, we are at peace with it.  There is just something about knowing that he is out serving the Lord, that makes it a little bit easier.  Don't get me wrong we still miss him like crazy, and life won't be the same without his crazy sarcastic comments, he was always the one that kept us laughing.  But I know that he will be great! I know that the people of Hungary will love him as much as we do! He is definitely doing a great work.  We are so proud of him! And the MTC is something that I hope everyone gets to experience in their lifetime, it is just so awesome!