2010 Goals... Gotta write them down right?

So Ashley and I had the idea to write down some goals for 2010.  I think we did a good job of writing down obtainable yet difficult goals that would definitely benefit us assuming we hit them.  So these are our goals and you can feel free to help us obtain them through reminders, motivation, or whatever else you can/want to offer.

Jason:

Health:

1. Get back down 175 lbs


2. Get back to a 32 Waist


3. With Gym Membership - Bench my weight (assuming we do end up getting a gym membership.  Not for sure yet.)


4. Run 5 miles


5. Finish 60 days of "Insanity"

Financial:

1. Be Debt Free this year


2. Earn a raise


3. Build full emergency fund

Faith:

1. Read one scripture oriented book


2. Say morning prayers each morning

Mind:

1. Read 10 books


2. Read one actual book (not CD)

Ashley's Goals:

Health:

1. Get back down to 115 lbs


2. Get Mental and Physical health in check


3. Fit into pre-pregnancy clothes


4. Run 5 miles

Financial:

Be Debt Free this year




1. Finish and sell (or give as baby gifts) all baby carrier covers


2. Build full emergency fund

Faith:

1. Read one scripture oriented book


2. Say morning prayers each morning

Other:

1. Finish sewing projects (Seth's curtains, our curtains, mending)


2. Do spring cleaning

So there you go.  We have some lofty goals that we will have to work very hard and focus on to obtain.  I'm currently 197 lbs...  Not my heaviest weight ever but not far from it.  I would love to get back down to my high school weight that was around 160, but I think 175 is more realistic and I haven't been that weight since the earlier parts of my mission which was around 2002-2003.  A few years back, 2005 or 2006, I spent the summer running and was running about 5-6 miles a few times a week.  I ended up getting plantar fasciitis which is micro tears in the plantar fascia, the ligament that connects your achilles to your heel to the ball of your foot.  So now that it is all but healed, I would like to push for this again.

I've never been a reader so to say I would read 10 books in a year will be a big stretch for me.  Especially if I have to read the physical book.  Also, we have been really focused lately on getting out of debt before we buy a house.  So we are going to work on getting out of debt and building a fully funded emergency fund by the end of the year so that we can start looking at houses and saving up a down payment for a house for next year.  Can I tell you how nice it is to pay off debts?  Not just to pay the minimum, but to see the debts go away permanently.  It's a beautiful thing to not have a car payment and it's wonderful to see those student loans melt away.

I think the hardest one for me to complete will be the 60 days of Insanity.  It's a workout program like P90x or Tae Boe, but it is extremely intense.  We'll see if my body can hold up under the workouts, but I think this is what will help me to get to my desired weight.  This and a good diet will get me there and both will be difficult to keep up.  We shall see.  I might even gives updates on the blog as I go through it on the program and whether it is working or not.

K...  That's our goals for 2010.

Updates

(Jason) So I decided that our blog needed some updates.  We have been extremely busy with life and we haven't posted in months.  Here are some updates on our life:

1. Seth is now 15 months old.


2. 2 Weeks vacation for Christmas in Wyoming was a ton of fun


3. Working for Adobe is a great thing.  They have awesome benfits and have really taken good care of us.


4. Ashley is now 26 and is more beautiful than ever.


5. I just earned 5 more bonus points for my previous comment.


6. Ashley will start tending two kids from the neighborhood 4 times a week starting today.


7. We have been following Dave Ramsey's financial dieting and have paid off about 60% of our debt during last year!! (It's tight sometimes)


8. We expect to be out of debt this time next year (Except for the house which we hope to buy next year)!!!!


9. I plan to start an exercise program called Insanity this next week.  We'll see if I can shed some weight doing it.  More like, We'll see if I can keep doing it... I'll shed the weight if I stick to it.


10. Ashley and I are closer, happier, and more talkative than ever.  We love each other and I am so happy we have what we have.

Well, I hope that helps catch you up a little.  Let us know if there is anything that you would like us to update you on.

Banana Bandit

So I gave Seth some banana chunks for breakfast and he ate them really well for a while. Unfortunately he thought he was done before I thought he should be done, so I left him in the high chair and told him to keep eating. I was eating my bowl of cereal and when I looked over, he was hiding the chunks of the banana in the seat of the high chair. He looked incredibly guilty when I caught him, then he laughed. I think he knew exactly what he was doing...

Seth has really grown in the last month!

Seth in his jumparoo. He loves this thing. I just thought this photo was adorable. Now on to more important events that have taken place over the last month...







These are pictures of the Denver, Colorado Temple. We were there to watch my brother and his wife get sealed to the three kids he just adopted. (He was married in the temple so his son is already sealed to them.) It was wonderful to be there and watch such a historic event in their family. It was like deja vu from when my brothers and I were sealed to our parents, even down to the screaming baby! :) We had such a good time and the spirit was really strong. (Notice all the babies in the first photo aren't looking at the camera at all! Lol!)





We went to Casa Bonita afterward for dinner and had to try this hat on Seth, of course!


















Another one that I just thought was adorable.
















Grandpa Case came to visit and finally met Seth! Yay! It was wonderful to have him here to break up my monotonous days. We had family meals on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday while he was here and it was good to get to see all of the family. We don't get together often enough. When Grandpa left, he cried at having to say goodbye to my sweet little guy and it was really a touching moment. Now the goal is to get Grandma Case over this way to meet Seth!




We started giving Seth rice cereal before bed. This is his first time trying it and it didn't go as bad as I thought it would! He's an expert at it now. We have tried some baby food too and found out
1) he hates bananas. He pulls a really cute bitter beer face when you give them to him.
2) sweet potatoes plug him up.
3) prunes do an excellent job of undoing what the sweet potatoes did. (I won't post those pictures in case we have anyone with a weak stomach watching, but I did take pictures; it was that bad!)

His latest thing is "dadadadadadadadada" and not one "ma" in the whole bunch. Lol! He can roll from his stomach to his back whenever he wants now and has rolled from his back to his stomach a couple of times, but he doesn't do it on purpose yet. It's usually when there's a toy just out of reach that he stretches for, but when he flips over he can't see the toy anymore, so he automatically flips back on to his backside. It's pretty funny to watch.


Yep, I dyed my hair red again last night. This is what it looks like this morning. (Thanks Jason for the excellent dye job!)

Seth's First Bath

Recovery Room Video

Hey, here is a video of our recovery room and stuff...

Saturday at the latest

So I don't know what to write, but it's been a while and this may be my last chance to blog before the baby gets here. After that, I will definitely have something to say. ;) Everything is set up and ready to go for baby. I'm actually quite proud of Jason and me for being on top of things and having everything ready to go. I remember reading something around 35 weeks that was talking about painting the nursery. My only thought was, "I can't even bend over without flames running up my esophagus. How would you paint a whole nursery now?" I was grateful to have it all done and ready to go. I finished the quilt I was making for little Seth. That was a good day. And I am more than half way done with the curtains for the nursery. I was really behind on house work and getting this place clean enough for a newborn, but thanks to my mom and my little sister, Alyssa, things are caught up now. That was the part I was afraid wouldn’t happen, and it’s possibly the most important part. My problem is that I can’t bend, reach, climb, stretch, lift, or move quickly. Try doing house work without doing any of those things.

I just keep thinking that next time I’m pregnant, I will have a little one running around. I don’t know how anything will get done at that point. I’m sure I’ll figure it out but it’s given me a new respect for moms. Pregnancy is one of those things you really can’t understand until you experience it. My dad said he had been pregnant seven times and I corrected him and said he had been the partner of a pregnant woman seven times. He more or less said it was the same thing and I realized how much he didn’t know about being pregnant at that time. I’ve been around pregnant women before. It’s definitely not the same.

I went to the doctor today and found out that he is leaving for a two week vacation next week. So my options were to get induced before he left or have a different doctor if Seth came after next Wednesday. What I’m hoping is that I just go in to labor in the next few days, which is definitely a possibility. If not, I’ll be induced on Saturday whenever the hospital calls and says they’re ready for me. Though I didn’t want to go that route, it has its pluses. Hopefully it just happens naturally. Wish me luck!

July 4th

So I have to say the 4th of July Weekend was awesome. Not only did I get a three day weekend but I got to spend it with my wife (Ashley) and her little sis (Alyssa). It was great. We acquired tickets for the stadium of fire for Alyssa's birthday and Christmas presents. She loves Miley Cyrus. Her mom drove her to Utah under the pretenses that she was just going to Bed Bath and Beyond in Utah and then decided to come visit Ashley and I. Al had no clue at all what was going on and just went with it.

After I got home Ash said, "I think we should let her in on the plans..." Al was like, what plans? Kathy (Ash and Al's mom) asked Alyssa to go get the stuff out of the trunk. Al came back with armfuls of clothing. She asked, "Why are all of my clothes in the trunk?" We all started laughing and I hung an envelope of sorts over her head. (Then proceeded to do some weird Rasmussen ritual that says, 'Heavy heavy hang over thy poor head. What would you do with a (you then hit then with the gift on the head) bonk on the head?' Weird... I know) She took the envelope and opened it. Ashley said this was her birthday and Christmas gift all in one. She started reading and was like, "Oh... Cool...". Then she went into what looked like a moment of deep thought... And then she squealed really loudly. :) She figured out that three tickets to the Stadium of Fire actually meant three tickets to see Miley Cyrus! She started flipping out. It was awesome.

Stadium of fire was great. Miley was ok but that's not why I wanted to go. I wanted to see Blue Man Group. I'll tell you what... I really want to go to concert that is just them. They were very entertaining. The opening show with the dancers was fun too. They had 1300 girls all dressed the same and they came out on half of the football field and lined up. They had all kinds of different sports equipment. They ended up acting out every summer olympic event in their routine. It was great. There were several parts where I was like, "sweet!" It was really fun. The unfurling of the flag and the paraschute jumpers were great. It was just all-together fun. I definitely feel like the money was well spent. If someone really cool comes next year, then I think Ash and I may try to go again. Maybe they'll bring Rascal Flatts or something. I'd definitely be at that.

So we had a great weekend going to Stadium of fire, playing games, and watching Lost. We taught Al how to play Settlers of Catan while getting her addicted to season one of Lost. We're all so into it. It's a great show! The only thing that would make it better is if they got rid of the random girls dressed in bikinis. I know I know... It's on an island so I should expect it, but it is still annoying since it has nothing to do with the plot. To say the least... We really like Lost so far.

Life is grand. The baby is growing very well, Ashley is great and I'm doing well also. We got all of the walls in the baby's room stripped and washed. We bought paint and are going to start painting soon. Yay!