Training

I did a half marathon a couple of weeks ago. I trained for it for four months. I would spend 4-6 hours a week running to prepare. I also would spend 1-2 hours lifting weights each week. I probably spent close to 120 hours of training during the four months. That would be five entire days of training for something that takes less than three hours to accomplish, for something that really doesn't matter. I was thinking about how much time I spend a day preparing to live with my Heavenly Father again. I spend AT MOST ten minutes a day reading my scriptures and praying. I don't do much more than that, especially since we had Kate. In those four months, I probably only "trained" for about half a day spiritually. It is so sad that think that I am willing to spend so much time training for something that does not matter to my eternal life, but I do struggle sometimes spending 10 minutes a day preparing me spiritually!! Isn't that why we are here? To prepare ourselves spiritually!! I definitely am going to do more. I need to remember what truly matters. I'm so grateful for the gospel and the testimony I have. I need to do more so I don't digress. I need to do more so I can return with honor. Lastly, I need to do more so I can help my sweet, sweet family return as well.

Tender Mercies!

One day I hope to be a stay at home mom. I am so jealous of all the moms out there that get to raise their own children. I know it is hard work but is something that I want one day. The Lord really has helped me with this trial in my life. He has helped me to accept that I won't be at home for awhile and has made me appreciate my time with Kate even more! I struggled really hard going back to work after my maternity leave. Kate rolled over the week before I went back to work. I was so excited to be the first to see it. She went a few weeks without rolling over again. I know that the Lord gave me that to help me through the first little while of being back at work. It would have killed me to pick up Kate from the babysitter to hear that she rolled over. I was given another tender mercy today! I have to go back to work tomorrow. I have been dreading it for a little while. Don't get me wrong; I do enjoy my job. I love teaching kids, and the kids love to hear about Baby Kate. I just would prefer to be home with my little, precious girl! Anyway, I got to see Kate crawl today. It was so fun to see her finally figure it out and succeed. What a tender, sweet moment for me!! I'm so grateful for the tender mercies that the Lord has given to me. I'm so grateful to have Kate in my life! Lastly, I'm grateful for my husband and for the love that he has for Kate and me. I love watching him interact with Kate. Anyway, you should try and find the tender mercies that the Lord gives you. It will help you to stay positive in this trying life!

Missing my mom!

Today I went to visit a friend who is like a second mom to me. She started talking about my mom so of course my thoughts were turned towards her for the rest of the night. I decided that it will be therapeutic for me to write about a couple of things that I loved doing with my mom.
1-I am a lover of sweets because of my mom. My mom was always super excited to have leftover dessert for breakfast, yes it was always her idea. My mom and I could split an entire package of cookies in one sitting and we did it often. When I got married, I left the leftover m&m's at my mom's house. She would put them in the freezer and eat a cup full every morning. There was A LOT leftover and she ate them all in one week. When I came home from my honeymoon, they were gone! Lol.
2- I loved doing our girls' night when Bob would go out of town. We both loved zucchini and would make that for dinner every night that he was out of town. We would watch chick flicks and eat homemade popcorn with an entire cube of butter in it! I miss hanging out with her! I think that is why I am still struggling with her loss. I would hang out with her and now don't have a female member of my family that is close to just hang out with.
3- The last thing I'm going to mention is one of my fondest memories of her. My mom would act like a 20 year old friend when you would talk to her about boys. She would get super gitty and would always give me advice. Her best advice was to never eat spaghetti on a date; I'm a super messy eater! When Jordan would pick me up (before they met), my mom would run into the computer room and spy on us. She would do the same thing when he dropped me off. She was so funny when it came to boys. I miss staying up super late at night talking about how my dates went!
If you are reading this and your mom is still alive, cherish her! You never know how long you have with her!! She loves you so much. She wants the best for you. She loves talking to you! Remember that everything she does comes from love. I understand that so much now that I'm a mom. I want the best for Kate and hope to be super close with her. She will probably be annoyed with some things I do and will be embarrassed by me at times, but I hope that she will always cherish our relationship!!!

Magical Mondays: 2/3 of the way there!!

Why are Mondays so magical? Anytime someone starts a goal (especially one we really don't want to do or one that will take some hard work), we start it on a Monday. I decided to start three of my goals today but was only successful with two of them. I was proud of doing at least the two because holidays are normally out of the question for starting goals! I went for a run/ walk (sorry Ruthanne) today. I want to exercise five to six times a week. I got up at five today to do my eight mile run; thanks Jordan for getting up with Kate last night so I wouldn't talk myself out of running. Then during Kate's morning nap, I read my scriptures. It was great to be reminded that we are indebted to the Lord, yet He still gives us blessings. All He really asks of us is to keep His commandments. Why then do I struggle sometimes? That really isn't hard and it makes me so much happier! I love the gospel so much and am grateful for the testimony that I have. I will continue to try and do better every day. I will also use the Atonement daily. I want to have a strong relationship with Heavenly Father, that I don't go a day without talking to Him! My third goal was to eat healthy. It lasted until ten, which is when I finally ate breakfast. Lol. It was almost healthy. I had oatmeal and then decided I had to throw some chocolate chips in there. It wasn't even that good but it was a must. If I decide to not eat healthy that day, I MUST eat everything that is unhealthy! I really need to change my mentality and be ok with eating a sweet here and there instead of binge eating all the time. Needless to say, the day got worse and worse with eating unhealthy. It ended with Lauren buying me a dirty Dr. Pepper and a cookie; thanks Lauren!! Well, tomorrow is a new day. I will not wait for another magical Monday to restart my goals. We will see how it goes. Hopefully I can do all three tomorrow!

A crazy Keller confession

     There are many reasons why I like the idea of starting a blog. Most of the reasons are because I feel like this blog will help me with my goals and stop my bad habits!!
Bad habit #1: I am trying to lose my baby weight still. I gained a whopping 80 pounds!!! I liked having the excuse "I'm pregnant" and I used it to its fullest! It took me three months to get motivated to lose the weight. I almost decided to be fat for the rest of my life. It is different when you only have 5, 10, or even 30 pounds to lose. Eighty is daunting and almost doesn't seem worth it! I did really good for about two months with dieting and exercising. Then I plateaued. For three weeks I continued to work hard and didn't lose any weight. I started getting stressed with not losing weight and with work, so I gave up! I have gained back five pounds of pure fat and people are starting to give me the "are you pregnant" look again. I'm hoping to do a "fitness Friday" post almost every week to talk about what workouts I tried for the week, how they went, and how my weight loss journey is going.
Bad habit #2 (I promise the rest of my bad habits won't be as long so I don't bore you, who ever you are): I've never been into journaling. I think I started a journal in junior high for  about a week and haven't touched it since. I'm hoping that this will count as a journal and that I can post almost every Sunday on how things are going with the crazy Keller family.
Bad habit #3 (no worries, this is the last one that I am going to admit to): I sometimes struggle with the "Sunday School answers": reading scriptures, praying, etc. I know that doing those things really make a difference in how I act and in how I feel. I want Kate to grow up in a home where doing those things are important and are done as a family. I plan to include how God's hands have been in our life for that week. For me to accomplish this, I will have to be doing those Sunday School answers and I will have to ponder every day so I can notice those tender mercies! I feel this will help my family grow and gain a stronger testimony.
     Well that is it for my confessions. Hopefully this blog will help me overcome my bad habits and start good ones instead! Thanks Lauren for suggesting this!