83 and going strong!

I have a woman in my life named Goose. Actually it is Pauline Weggeland Johonson, and she is my grandma (mom's mom). When my oldest sister was born Goose decided that she did not want to be called grandma because that made her sound old so she decided on Goose and never looked back. I love the name because it fits her so much. She turned 83 last week and she is still as stylish, classy, and lovely as ever. We celebrated her birthday with a lucheon at my sister Adrien's house and it was perfect. Getting Goose and her three daughters together plus all us grand daughers is always an entertaining event. We love you Goose, you are so generous and loving and I cherish having you in my life everyday!

 My sister Bekah and I decided we are spending too much time together when we showed up with our girls dressed identical and we had not even talked that morning! ha ha



Working Mommy

***Disclaimer*** This is a very personal topic and everyone has their own opinion on it. I am writing this post becasue this is my journal and I have really learned something about myself as a mother in the last couple months and want to document it.

I love my job! I get to do something I am passionate about and love. And then on top of that I get to share it with other people. I feel blessed and lucky. After Blakely was born I was able to go back teaching quite soon and it worked for me to do so. It was my little time away, time for me. Becasue I had never worked in the fitness industry full time I didn't know what I was getting myself in to. And as my career took off my schedule got more and more full to the point where I was teaching over 12 classes a week. While that seems like not that many hours, with the prep work and the toll it took on my body it was a lot. Because it all came on so fast and I am not good at saying no I took on a lot. Before we moved from Calgary to Utah I was teaching a ton. Because I loved it so much I didn't realize how beat down I was getting and how this was affecting me as a mom. When we moved to Utah I decided to take the summer off and that is when I realized how much of a toll it really was taking on me. I had a huge wake up call that I was both physically and mentally exhausted and therefore I was not being the best mom I was capable of being. I suddenly had the energy and patience to deal with my very high maintenance child. I was more up for going out and about and taking her to do fun things and most of all I loved the quality and quantity time we were having. I am not saying that I didn't want to work anymore but I realized that I (Emily, I am not saying this about anyone else) had a limit and I needed to be careful not to push that limit. I have returned to teaching again and have found a balance. Once again things have taken off for me and my career and opportunities keep falling in my lap, but this time I have been able to say no and to only take on what I know is best for me and my family.

I am now teaching Zumba 3-4 times a week at a great gym called Skills Fitness and also am back to teaching dance to little kids. I am teaching a Jazz class to 6-7 year olds at an amazing facility called Creative Arts Academy. With this schedule I can pursue my career yet have time for my family and also pursue other passions I have such as running.

I look up to those mothers out there that have to do it all. I am lucky I get to scale back when I feel like it is too much. I honestly don't know how they do it and will always admire that dedication.

These photos are from a huge Zumba Event I team taught at the University of Utah. We had over 200 people and it was so much fun!!!

  Brittany and I (team teachers)

 Our back up dancers

 Some of the crowd after

 In action

Strike a pose!!!

Conference Weekend in Sunny St. G

All I can say with this post is thank you mom and dad!!! Thank you for buying a house next to the beautiful red rocks of St. George. Thank you for the pool with the killer waterslide and diving board. Thank you for the sport court and the bunk house. But most of all thank you for providing a place where all the grandkids can get together and cause havoc and make memories that will last a lifetime. My greatest memories come from holidays in St. George with my cousins and I am so lucky to know Blakely will have the same thing!



5 Years...now thats a good start!

Hank and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary on September 21st, 2011. How we spent the day is pretty indicative of how our lives are right now. But I know that times change so fast and before we know it we will be on to our next adventure.

On the day of our annivesary Hank left for work at 7:00a.m. we both had super busy days and I returned home from a big Zumba event I was doing at 10:30p.m. Most days that is how our lives are he leaves for work at 7:30, grabs some dinner at 5:00p.m. is out the door for school by 5:30p.m. and then returns home from school anywhere between 10:30 and 11:30p.m. Why they are long days and sometimes lonely I am so lucky that I have a husband who works so hard to pursue his dreams to suppport me and our family. I look up to him so much for what he is doing. I know he is exhausted but keeps a smile on his face always. I feel so lucky to have married my best friend and could never have imagined how truly great he would be to me and what an incredible father he is to Miss B. 5 years of marriage flew by so fast. I can't wait to see where the next 5 years takes us!

Phone Dump

Ok so I am recomitting today to start blogging again!!! I know I have been MIA lately and I regret that becasue I write this blog for a journal and we have been having so much fun and Blakely is growing like crazy and is hilarious. I will feel so sad if I don't capture that on here to print off for my books so I have to step it up. I of course love your comments too :)

Since the summer started I have taken most photos on my phone because my camera got packed away and I was lazy, but I have so many cute funny photos that really have no rhyme or reason...so here is my phone dump so that I can get back on track!!!

 Kate's Justin Bieber B day Party

 Falling asleep in the highchair

Hank's Demolished Car

Cooking with Mommy in her fav pj's!!!

 Lagoon Boats with Cousin Allie!

 Lagoon Day

 Swimming with Crew

 Nerd Alert

 Dahl's Visit: Alpine Slide

Dahl's Visit: Temple Square

My New Ride...I feel like a real mom now!

Graham's Ligtening Mcqueen Party

This is how we do slides!

5 year anniversary present. I got spoiled!

General Relief Society Meeting with Mom and Sisters

Cousin Love

Canning Peaches, yes I am so domestic, ha ha!

OK now we got that off our chests we can move on to more detailed posts!

Twinkle twinkle

Miss Blakely loves to get her sing on! I have been wanting to capture her singing all her songs but she gets a little camera shy. I finally got her to sing a little for my phone, she has bed head and it isn't the best, she gets a little distracted because she loves to see herself on the phone....but I think it is just adorable. She will sing songs word for word. Sometimes Hank and I just look at each other in amazement because we didn't even know she knew a song and she will sing the whole thing!

Getting Settled

Well we did it!!! We finally moved into our own house here in Utah. It is a little rough around the edges but we are slowly and surely putting our little touches into it and it feels like home! I love the floorplan and I love the yard, so the little things like ugly paint colors and railings can change with time. Hank started school this week so he leaves at 7:30a.m. and gets home at 10:00p.m. so needless to say all projects will be put on hold for longs weekends and Christmas Break! Now that we have our computer set up I can be a lot more regular on this blog unlike this summer where I completely neglected it, but don't we all. We are too busy having fun outside, blogging is for cold winters.

Here are a few pics of some projects we have been working on!

P.S. To all my Calgary peeps, I miss you like crazy! Please come visit! I have red back doors and a swing in my playroom, come on I know it is tempting!