"Tri" not to suck!

This awesomely athletic, mother-of-four friend from our ward posted this on her FB wall. She did a triathlon on Labor Day and said she saw this on a t-shirt at her first tri ever and stuck with her. Funny little "saying" and although not overly motivational, sometimes it does come to just that, not sucking! Lol! :)
So here I am: a very very very beginner pre-tri athlete (should I even call myself that??) stuck in a rut with my (tri) training. Having so much stuff going on (adoption training and school-start), I didn't make to the gym last week. In fact, last Saturday was my first time to swim in almost two weeks. Yes, seriously! Although I really want to do this event, with having met my weight loss goal, it just seems harder and harder to get motivated and get working hard. (I guess that's why I really signed up for this in the first place: to set a new goal, to get myself to go one tiny step further past my weight loss thing.) Some pep talk from my trainer got me back on track though.(Thank you very much!) If I am not going to train hard and prepare for this, I will be dissapointed with myself. He couldn't be more right. Keep in mind, we're talking about somebody who was dissappointed for not being in the top 20 finishers for the Boot Camp event (never wrote about this and now you know WHY! lol :-)) And I prepared pretty well for that one.
(We've been very fortunate to get these member loyalty rewards at our club Lifetime Fitness and I've been putting them to good use getting a couple of additional personal training sessions for FREE, yeay!)

So a couple of days back, although not in swimming, I broke a personal record with my interval (see the little green captions on the picture.) It makes me happy and gives me the boost that I need to keep going at it.

Because like with everything else in life, it is about doing better or doing more than you did yesterday, and not doing better or more than somebody else did/does.  (And I DO have to SPELL ALL THIS OUT IN MY HEAD over and over again almost every time I see someone taller or slimmer running like there is no tomorrow on that treadmill.) And I also have to remember that we're always supposed to do the best that WE CAN with what WE HAVE. In this case, for me that's a 142 lb body on a 5' 2" frame and with a genetically high heart rate, but with lots of will power or maybe just STUBBORNESS! :))

(This was going to be a very quick short post but can't stop now...!)

One final word: this realization, knowledge, resiliance, and whatever else it is, came ONE DAY AT A TIME. One day at a time of profuse sweating, pain, and tears, one day at a time of strict dieting (of saying no to things once I used to love), one day at a time of prayers and work, and then more work and prayers.

House Rules

I heard many families have a set of these but never seriously considered coming up with our own, until I came across a form in the foster-to-adopt paperwork pile that is asking just that! I thought these are basic things, things we try to do every day. So why write them down? But guess what? We may not always make a conscious and deliberate effort to try, or we may forget, or whatever else gets in the way and it leaves us thinking that we might or could have had a better day IF ONLY....!

I see these as a subset of the commandaments, in a way. And it probably helps to break it down a bit in smaller bits and pieces that we can hopefully remember more easily when we're in the middle of life.

So yesterday while we were driving back from swim lesson, I started brainstorming with Ella what those rules could look like. Here they are:
(I left the first one she came up at the top of the list, as I thought it was cute!)

House Rules


1. No mud tracking into the house.
2. No yelling at each other.
3. No using mean words or name calling.

4. Treat others nicely (family, friends, neighbors, and anyone you meet.)

5. No talking to strangers unless we are together and someone talks to mommy or daddy first.


6. No taking any presents from strangers.


7. No going with anyone other than mommy and daddy.

8. Share your day (“happies” and “sads”) with your family.

9. Always tell the truth no matter how hard it is.

10. Have family prayer every morning and every night.


11. Say your own prayers at least once, before going to bed.


12. In family and personal prayers try to remember to tell Heavenly Father about your day, what you liked or didn’t like about it.

13. Read your scriptures, or an Ensign or Friend magazine article every day.

14. Always do your work/homework/chores before watching TV or playing.


15 Always do your best at home, at school, and at work.

16. Be active, get some exercise every day.

17. Try to eat healthy every day: always make sure your plate has pretty colors on it (from fruits, veggies, grains, and meat.)

I'm sure we'll add or adapt/adjust as time goes by but these are a good start. :)
 
Next, I would love us to start thinking of a family motto. I love  these designs...! 

For the soul

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). The most encouraging words ever uttered by the Savior Himself...

This is straight from the Sept Ensign issue:

Finding Peace in Troubled Times

Elder Per G. Malm

Second Quorum of the Seventy

In downtown Gothenburg, Sweden, there is a broad boulevard with beautiful trees on each side. One day I saw a hole in the trunk of one of the huge trees, so I curiously looked inside and saw that the tree was completely hollow.

I was surprised that the tree could still stand. So I looked up and saw a wide steel belt mounted around the upper part of the trunk. Attached to the belt were several steel wires, and they in turn were fastened and anchored to nearby buildings. From a distance it looked like the other trees; it was only when looking inside that one could detect that it was hollow instead of having a solid, strong trunk. In time, the tree could not be saved and had to be taken down.

Just as a young tree grows bit by bit into a sturdy tree, so we can grow step by step in our capacity to be solid and filled from the inside out, in contrast to the hollow tree. It is through the healing Atonement of Jesus Christ that we may have the strength to stand tall and strong and to have our souls be filled—with light, understanding, joy, and love.

Faith in Jesus Christ and following His teachings give us a firm hope, and this hope becomes a solid anchor to our souls. We can become steadfast and immovable. We can have lasting inner peace; we can enter into the rest of the Lord. Only if we turn away from light and truth will a hollow feeling of emptiness, like the tree’s, occupy the innermost chambers of our souls.

Let us focus on those things that will sustain a lasting peace of mind and heart. Then our confidence will “wax strong in the presence of God” (D&C 121:45). The promise to enter into the rest of the Lord, to receive the gift of peace, is far from a temporary, worldly satisfaction. It is indeed a heavenly gift: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). He has the power to heal and strengthen the soul. He is Jesus Christ.

In a World of Tribulation

“The Savior [spoke] to His disciples as He faced His Crucifixion and as they faced fear, disarray, and persecution. In His last collective counsel to them in mortality, He said: ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world’ (John 16:33).

“So, in a world of tribulation, let’s remember our faith. … And let’s live life more fully, with more boldness and courage than at any other time.

“Christ has overcome the world and made a path for us.”

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “This, the Greatest of All Dispensations,” Liahona, July 2007, 20; Ensign, July 2007, 54.

How can we find peace and hope in troubled times?

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles helps answer this question in “This, the Greatest of All Dispensations” (Liahona, July 2007, 18; Ensign, July 2007, 53).

1. “Live as faithfully as we possibly can. … We must not be paralyzed just because [of events] ahead of us somewhere.”


2. “Never let fear and the father of fear (Satan himself) divert us from our faith and faithful living.”

3. “Be faithful. God is in charge. He knows your name and He knows your need.” (this one rings so true to my heart.)

Consider searching the scriptures for verses on hope, peace, and faith in Jesus Christ.
“Great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them:

“Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel” (Matthew 15:30–31).

(Sight Restored, by J. Kirk Richards)

Another article I like on this same topic is at http://lds.org/ensign/2010/03/learning-through-lifes-trials?lang=eng

Good reminders on how to brace our trials or adversities, be them current of future....

A labor free weekend

This long weekend I feel like we indeed rested from our labors! And boy, did that feel good?!!

Swimming, rock climbing, zPizza, shopping, and visiting friends were the only "tasks" on our to-do list. Well, Hrishi had to deal with fixing the sprinkler system but once that got done, it was a smooth ride.

On Saturday, since it was Ganesh Chaturti, a dear Hindu family festival, Hrishi made delicious modaks, which are like little rice dumplings filled with yummy grated coconut, poppy seeds, and sweetened with jaggery (whole cane sugar.) It is usually served with warm ghee (clarified butter) but for obvious reasons (Ella's food allergies and my diet), only he enjoyed the dish with the traditional ghee topping! :)

Finally Ella got to do some rockclimbing after a long time. She loved it and didn't seem to have gotten rusty or anything. Love this picture where she and Hrishi are climbing at the same time:

We had our friends, the Fernandes, with us this time. Their oldest son who is one year younger than Ella was super excited to try. Ella was playing "instructor" carefully giving him climbing directions :)

The younger one was happily cheering and posing for pictures:

After rock climbing, we went next door to zPizza and enjoyed our favorite: chicken bbq with tomatoes, corn, red onion, and vegan cheese.

I love this one:

And can't really tell you how happy and grateful I am that there this one pizzeria that we can go to!!

After lunch we stopped by "Builder Bear" and got a Lamb! :) (She earned this for obedience and for putting up with a TB shot we had to have done for her for our adoption paperwork.) "Happy" is an understatement:

(Take note of its outfit: mandatory long pants and long sleeve shirt/hoodie!

(For some reason, Ella loves long pants and long sleeves one her stuffed animals AND  herself! Lol!) :)

Sunday was nice, went to church, then did some grilling with friends.

Today went to the park and just hang out together:

(tire swing= BIG favorite!)

("Super girl"!!!)

And after the park and my workout, we had to say good-bye to daddy for a week... (Darn, he has to travel again this week!! :( :(  We then got ready for Ella's swim lesson. She did great although today she started with a new instructor. I'm really proud of her for being so dilligent and working so hard! (Inspite of waking up at 6:20 this morning thinking it's a school day and not being able to go back to sleep, and not napping this afternoon, she still gave it her 100%.  This on top of the instructor change. Moreover, when the 30 mins of class were up, she came out and ran to the other end of the pool (where there were no classes) to practise for a few more minutes! Well, if that's not dedication, I don't know what is?! Lol :)

And I naively thought that she's going to be wiped out after such a full day and just fall asleep in the car on the way home! Oh, I was wrong! She played Angry Birds on my phone and when we got home put this beautiful drawing up on her easel! How can she do all this when I was ready to throw in the towel at 3ish today after my workout????!!!!

The finished product:

Tomorrow we're off to work/school but luckily it's a short week! (Short also means that it'll be even more packed!) Oh well, life is good!

First Parent Orientation

Or how we used to call it where I come from: "prima sedinta cu parintii!" :) This fall brought a lot of "firsts" with it, the biggest one being kindergarten. I, probably like any other first-time-first-kid-in-kindergarten parent or mother, have been full of excitement, anxiety, anticipation, and hope. I dilligently got on the classroom website the first day of school, attentively eye-scanned all the information out there, checked every day afterwards for any new information, and I just looked forward to the first parent orientation with the teacher on Thursday night. So I went and I'm so happy to know that Ella has a wonderful teacher. Ms. Brininstool knows her stuff and she will show these kids a great time this their first year of school. The curriculum looks great, lots of hands-on classroom activities, frield trips, magazines, book clubs, technology, all in all, tons of great learning opportunities. It makes me even more excited to know what's in store for this year! Speaking of technology, last night I got to use a smart board for the VERY FIRST TIME in my life!!! And it was pretty cool! The teacher let us play with it recognizing that of course the vast majority in our generation did not get to interact with one of these while going to school or even now, well into our adulthood. (There is talk that they would make these a common-place thing at the office, but I haven't seen any yet.)

I signed up to volunteer in the classroom and for the PTA, as time permits. I'm one of the room reps (or parents, how some call it) and I really look forward to helping in any way I can because I know it'll make it a bit easier on the teacher, kids, and most importantly, I know it makes my sweet bunny happy to know mommy is there and involved, and that she may even get to see her once-in-a-while at school. 

Now on to some pictures as they make the day/blog/book brighter and happier!

These are from the "color homework" Ella had every day of this past week. They wore a designated color every day and their homework was to draw or bring cut-outs with the color of the day. Fun stuff!

She made the white stars (on the white), cherrie-in-a-heart & Jonathan apple (on the red), coconut tree and green flower (on the green), and cat & moon (on the purple.)

And finally, while I was at the parent orientation night, Ella was at ballet with daddy and brought this home:

Yup, that's right-- auditions for the Nutcracker.

They let 5-7 year-olds audition so I asked Ella: "Hey babe, do you want to do it? You could be in a play, on the stage just like the big ballerinas!" After a quick moment of thinking, a bit of a "ummm...", she exploded back and said with a big grin on her face: "On the stage? In the spotlights? Wearing a tutu and a nice costume, make-up and bun???" And then I knew she was in! She wanted to try-out. I told her there's no guarantee she'd make it but it'd worth a try. And I saw a bit of myself in her, that bit that gets into things that sometimes may be (too) hard or signs-up for what seems (too) much, or just says "yes" when the there's a chance to do something challenging but fun!

I guess we'll have to wait and see how it goes, but it'll be fun though just to try-out.

(I love my baby!)

I confess...

Yes: I am in love! This morning I was able to carve 30 mins off of my work day to drive down to school and attend a library volunteer meeting. [Luckily we're stragetically located (office-school-home, all within a 10-15 min drive and I love it, but I digresss.)] I went there to find out how/when I could come in and help with library business. And while I was taking mental notes of all the information this wonderful librarian was giving us, I was also peaking out in the hallways for my sweetheart! I was really hoping to see her.

You see, it just so happened that the library meeting started at around 10:30 right when they were going to lunch (I briefly saw her in the cafeteria too! :-)) and I knew they were done with lunch at 11. Well, when 11 came around I watched even more intensely and lo and behold I did see her walking back to her classroom. I followed her with my eyes before she realized someone was watching her and turned her head! Her face lit up, just like mine, and she gave me the sweetest little wave and smile!!!  I giggled to myself and thanked my lucky stars once again that I AM A MOTHER and THAT I AM HER MOTHER!

I love you baby!

And here's to you all mothers out there who love to "stalk" your children at school!!!! :)

CPR/AED training

I wish they made this a requirement for everyone outside of the medical field. Not only for those wanting to become foster care or adoptive parents, or for those with children period, but really for everyone. CPR and First Aid are indeed life skills. We did the training and got certified with American Red Cross on Wednesday. The certification is good for two years after which you go back for a review/renewal. It was hard work, let me tell you... but I'm so glad we did it. Although being in an life and death situation or emergency can be really scary, it's even scarier not to know what to do or how to help someone.

After putting our manequins together, we took a couple of snapshots just to capture the moment. (I know, very silly of us! Not sure it was ok to take pictures, hence the "sneaky" smile on Hrishi's face!! See instructor lady in the back!:))

My wrists were so sore after about 10-15 minutes of practising CPR compressions. You are to administer 5 cycles of 30 compressions + 2 breaths each in 2 minutes and do it right.

It was also really neat to learn how to use an AED (automated external defibrillator) and then put the whole cycle of first aid and CPR together. Along with feeling a bit like the guys in the famous "E.R" series (COOL, that is! :-)), I gained an increased appreciation for the EMS and other emergency personnel who are first in the line of response.