Results

 It's so great to finally see some results here! When a person begins to exercise, they shouldn't feel upset if they don't see instant results. Normally, fat burns before the pounds start coming off, if that makes any sense. Well, I've been complimented on how I look a little thinner, and I was happy to step on the scale this morning to see I'm a few pounds lighter. It'll be quite a process to lose this weight, but I'm not giving up. A few pounds for now is good enough for me!

Speaking of, I was reading an article in some health magazine the other day, and it talked about how to burn more fat and lose more weight just by walking. But it wasn't talking about the "headphones and speeding" type. The walking they were mentioning is called Meditation Walking. Now, this doesn't mean closing your eyes and humming to yourself, or anything silly looking like that. It focuses on...well, meditating. Focus on your breathing, enjoy the scenery around you, focus on how you walk instead of just walking. For more info, it explains here: What is Walking Meditation? When I go to the gym, I usually stick on my MP3 player and listen to music. Although there are televisions and a built-in radio, it's nice having my own music. Besides, being in an air-conditioned gym, there's really not much else to see or experience. When I go for walks outside, I always take my camera, I never wear my headphones, and I enjoy seeing everything, feeling the wind in my hair or sun beat down on me...even the smell outside,  and my breathing. Boy does it make walking much more fun! Every now and then I'll stop and snap a few photos. And I walk at a pretty decent pace, it's not like I frolic or sing on my way (though that would be quite funny).

Anyway, I know I've mentioned this lake thing a lot, it just feels good to be blocks away from something like this. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love our apartment and location. I don't want Gary to think I only walk there so I can dream of living there. I walk there because it gives me motivation, seeing everything and meeting a lot of friendly people. I saw the cutest thing not only yesterday, but today as well. So, a few more pictures.

I walked to the end of the lake today, so here's a back view:

 

 Just a gorgeous house I came across:

Saw a bunch of these cute little guys: (notice the little guy in the background)

 

A diving goose:

 More geese:

Fish fountain:

I had a couple of videos, but they're nothing but ducks and turtles swimming :)

  Anyway, I'm going to have a bit of lunch, then I have some errands to run. Have a great day everyone!

Our Weekend

(Bridgeport Lake)

 First of all, I want to say how glad I am these heatwaves are finally gone. I don't remember these heatwaves last year; we got cold pretty early. I'm very pleased the weather is finally cool again, and will stay this way! Now I can believe October is nearby. We're supposed to be getting lots of rain next week too, so yay again! Let the showers begin.

The weekend went pretty well. As you know, Gary and I drove to Bakersfield Friday night for Britney's reception. It was good to see her, and she looked very beautiful. I was a little tired that night, so I didn't go around and socialize with people like I could have. We didn't want to stay too long anyway, because we had to drive to Taft that night. But I did say hi to a few people, then we went on our way. We had a wonderful time in Taft visiting Gary's parents. We watched a small handful of movies, and I really enjoyed my time over there. Sometimes it feels more like home there instead of here in our apartment and busy city, you know? So, we came home Saturday night, and spent the rest of the night together.

Sunday was great as well. Since next week is General Conference, we had our Fast Sunday yesterday, and my lovely husband went up and bore his testimony. I had many, many compliments afterward revolving around it. He did such a fantastic job, and I love hearing him bear his testimony. Although I did feel tired during church, I was glad we stuck it out. Sunday School, we had a lesson about our Pioneers, and how the Lord blesses us and "rescues" us from trials. It was excellent. Then, in Relief Society, we had a great lesson about Heavenly Father comforting us through our trials. It was very spiritual like Sunday School. After church, I practiced with the choir, then Gary and I met together with other members of the Activities Committee, and we discussed plans for our Halloween Party. It will be fun!

I also saw Josh and Megan's article in the V2 newsletter (Valencia 2nd ward, or V2). Soo cute! There was also a short little article about Gary and I, but the newsletter a few weeks from now will have a full section for us. A few weeks, because that's when we'll be back to our regular schedule in the ward. We have General Conference this Sunday, then Stake Conference the week after. I'll show it to you when it's printed :)

Anyway, as you can tell, I've been tired. My medicine is almost ready for a refill, but I'm going to interrupt with a visit to the doctor so she can recheck my levels and see if they've changed, causing my fatigue. Otherwise, I feel fine. I only have a few things to do today. The apartment had its "weekend mess", which I spent cleaning up this morning, and I'm currently doing laundry. But I just need to turn in the rent check, exercise, and make sure I talk to maintenance while turning in the check. Our smoke alarms were freaking out due to the battery being low again, and I think they've been changed like 2-3 times now. So Gary and I had to disconnect both of them so we could sleep. It's time I mention it to maintenance to fix it.

Well, time to continue on the laundry and have some sort of breakfast. I'm also going to walk to the lake again since the weather is good. Bye!

Learning

(The Guatemala City Temple)

     Although I may not be the biggest fan when it comes to school, I still love to learn! Last night, I attended enrichment night. I'm very glad I did as well. My fatigue has been returning lately, so I'll have to speak with my doctor when my prescription runs out, and see if my levels have changed (which is common).

    

     Anyway, I really enjoyed the lessons. We had four different speakers, each a woman in the relief society, talked about the different kinds of learning. Lifelong, Spiritual, Service, and Friendship (through each other).


   Sister DeLaney, who seriously knows everything, spoke about lifelong learning. She has a lot of education, has taken many classes, and has been involved in many many things. She has her Masters, although the topic didn't revolve specifically around school itself. Just being curious in general and having a desire to learn was the idea. If there's a class, or a new hobby we're interested in, we should learn. If we don't enjoy the class we're taking, or realize it's not for us, that's okay! I love how she mentioned we're not children and our parents aren't telling us to stick with the class. It's okay to switch and try something new. She also mentioned how she loves reading, and learning for that. I've been in the same situation. I love reading adventure books...although fiction, there are always so many facts about history, science, etc. For example, the book I'm currently reading is about an adventurer who is in search of St. Paul's tomb, yet comes across belongings of Claudius (around the time of the eruption of Vesuvius), and realizes there may be a Gospel written by Christ himself. Although that part is fiction, there's SO many facts in history about the Roman Empire, times around the age of Claudius and Christ, etc. So I research those on my own out of curiousity, to learn more. This was a great lesson.

 Sister Christofferson spoke about Spiritual learning, which is always one of the best ways to learn. Reading the scriptures, the Ensign, and other church material. She mentioned how sometimes, when she has "mom brain", she'll pick up the children's version of the Book of Mormon,  and read that instead, since it's filled with pictures and she's able to see what she's reading...which helps her learn better. There are so many different methods of learning the Gospel. I love how Megan said she color codes specific topics when reading the scriptures, which gives her a better understanding, and she's able to look back and focus on specific things. Another sister said she's kept a scripture journal since the age of 16, and writes out how she feels about specific scriptures, sometimes pictures included (when done on the computer)...that way, when she looks back, she can see how she felt at the time, and how she feels now about it. All these wonderful ideas to learn spiritually; it's very important, in our busy lives, to find the time to learn...whether it be a few minutes in the car, waiting to pick up the kids, early in the morning, or just having Family Home Evening. There's infinite knowledge out there, and I always learn something new.

 Sister Larson spoke on the topic of service, and what we can do in our community to help. Cook a meal for the homeless shelter, volunteer at an animal shelter, visit a senior living area, be involved in your childrens' school(s); run for electives in the schools, etc. SO many things we can do to be involved in the community. We learn so much from service. I love what Elder Steven E. Snow said: "My grandfather taught me at an early age, 'The public service we render is the rent we pay for our place on earth'". Isn't that wonderful? Our families will be strengthened, we'll gain culteral, health, environmental, political, etc knowledge. Our leadership skills will be strengthened, as well as our communication skills. A sister spoke of her experience visiting a loved one in an old folks' home, and how during conversation, other seniors slowly began migrating toward her, so they could be involved as well...it just showed how lonely they were and how nobody regularly visited them.  President Hinkley said, "No man can be a true Latter-day Saint who is unneighborly, who does not reach out to assist and help others. It is inherent in the very nature of the gospel that we do so. My brothers and sisters, we cannot live unto ourselves".

And last, but not least, Sister Peterson spoke about learning through each other. We did a little activity where she'd ask a specific question, and we'd answer who we thought would match what was asked. For example, "I need help organizing my belongings. Who do I call?". I think it's so important we look to each other as brothers and sisters, and use our talents and skills to help one another. We all each have something we could use, and we shouldn't be afraid to step up and use those skills to help others.  Also, don't be afraid to ask for help when needed. I think it's so important we make friends in our ward, and with our neighbors. There are many things which can be learned by doing this, and many things we are able to teach others. Our friendships will strengthen, and the example we leave behind will bring blessings upon us.

I'm so grateful for our Relief Society and this Gospel. So, I hope this wasn't too long for you to read, and I hope you all learned something :)

See some of you tomorrow!

Sick Weekend, DMV Monday

The weekend was okay. Gary and I had originally planned to visit Taft on Saturday, but as you know, we didn't. Instead, we spent the day together. We ran a few errands, had a delicious dinner, and settled down to watch some movies.

 Saturday night was interesting, though. I had been suffering a bit of insomnia. I woke several times in the night, once running to the bathroom from an upset stomach. I felt very achy and sick the next morning, yet I couldn't fall back to sleep...some reason my body was saying no, although I was deprived of it. So I curled up on the couch and missed church.  We'll be there next Sunday though. I always hate missing church. The RS lessons are always wonderful, and I just love our British Sunday School teacher :) . He's very good at it!

Anyway, my dreams have been getting crazier every night (I mean, last night was about being at the cabin, although it didn't look like the cabin, and pictures on the wall were coming to life; even Jazmine ticked off a bear who was once a statue, and ended up coming after us). Those are for another time, though.

Today was even more...fun (insert sarcasm here). Okay, so I had a DMV appointment this morning to renew my car registration. It never came in the mail like it was supposed to do, so I had assumed they mailed it to our old address. When I arrived at the DMV, I realized there was absolutely no parking spots. I had to park 2 blocks down. Not very exciting. Luckily I had left early, so I walked into the building a few minutes early.

Anyway, I walked up when my number was quickly called, and I told the lady about the situation. She looks at my information, then tells me the registration was sent in the middle of June, to our new address. Well, clearly we didn't receive it. Because of all of this, including not paying a month in advance, there's giant fees slapped on. I wasn't pleased. Originally I was supposed to be paying about $93, and in the end my total was $161. So I paid. Yeah. But to add on to this fun, I was told to get a smog first; I haven't done that in years. So I grabbed the papers, called Gary and left a message, then headed home. I wanted to let Gary know before making any decisions. I honestly thought he wasn't going to be happy about it all, but since I'm blessed with a wonderful man, he told me he wasn't upset, then said, "That's what savings are for". So, I went on my way and paid another $68 for the smog. A bit pricey, I know. But the customer service was excellent, and it took maybe 5 minutes.

 While at home, the building alarms have gone off, so I stood outside with Dexter to see what was going on. It lasted for a good while, but they stopped so I assumed it to be a test. I then received a text from Gary, asking me to make his favorite meal today since his day has been pretty long; poor guy.

Anyway, time to clean up this place and wait for my husband to come home.

Ending with some pictures for you:

Lake:
View from somewhere on someone's porch:

A little seating area



Just some more

Lunch time anyone?

Okay, that's all.

PS- I hate Blogger's new updated thing. It sucks. Really, it's terrible. I can't drag the pictures where I want them to go, so it took like 10 minutes just to get them here. Really, they are bad. And what's up with scrolling down a mile before you can see comments??

Dreams

 First of all, I am so tired for some reason. I have been these past few days, more tired than usual.

 We didn't go to Taft today after all. Gary slept a little later than he had planned, and it would have been a bit too much to leave late. We'll be there next week for sure, though.

 So, we spent the day together instead. We only did a little bit of browsing and shopping today, and watched a movie. For dinner, we had tomato and basil chicken pre-marinated (we bought it at Trader Joes), cheesy garlic potatoes, and little beef and Parmesan bites as a side. We also had delicious sushi earlier (we love sushi).

 After a full dinner, we went swimming for a bit, then headed to the grocery store where we bought some meat to grill for tomorrow (tradition for us to grill on Sundays).

 Now, as for my topic here. I had the strangest of dreams last night, and it was probably due to Carla's blog. Anyway, it was about babies. For some reason, I had met up with an old friend from elementary school (we're no longer friends, it's been years), who had a baby. I was over there all the time playing with the baby. There was also this other baby, but I wasn't sure who it belonged to, and I knew it wasn't mine.  So, I come home from that friend's house, to find out Chloe, our rat, had a bunch of pups (baby rats of course, unless you're in Europe where they say kittens). I was trying to figure out how in the world that happened. To continue my dream, Devonn, Carla, and the boys came over, as well as my parents, to visit. It didn't look like our apartment, but it was. While the boys were playing on the couch, Carla announced she was pregnant with a baby girl. I got all excited and woke up. Silly dreams.

Anywho, time for bed. Goodnight all.

New Location

So, this is our new blog and location. I switched, mostly because it's easier for family to find us when they see "Pollocks" instead of "Mrsemilee". Besides, I was dealing with weird stalkerish things as well. Gary can also contribute if he's up to it.

As soon as Gary DOES get up this morning, we're going to Panera Bread, then heading out to Taft. You see, Britney's wedding reception is this Friday, and we were planning on coming down (still planning), and staying in Bakersfield for the night, then going to Taft Saturday morning. Well, Gary misunderstood, and told his dad we were going to Taft today, so when he called last night asking if we were still coming to visit, we said yes. So we'll be in Taft today, and next week as well. I really love visiting his family; their home is so cozy and I just love being there.

Gary had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. Nothing bad of course, he just needed his tetnaus shot updated, and a few other things checked out. So far he's been healthy with no call backs, which makes me happy. We're both focusing on losing weight and eating better anyway. In fact, yesterday, I attempted to make his favorite calzones (we're eating better, but I promised him I'd still make him calzones once a week), but I had forgotten yeast, so most of them fell apart and only one survived. Well, I had a bad recipe anyway, so Gary said he didn't like the way it tasted, and tossed it out. There went dinner. But we headed over to Pavilions, and went to their fresh deli section and purchased bread bowls with our pick of soup. We also got a pineapple, which I chopped up when we got home.

Another thing we did, is we purchased a smaller television for the bedroom...just so we can watch movies and things. We hooked up the cable, and realized we get every channel, which is excellent. I don't really watch it unless I'm folding laundry or we're in bed watching something together, but it's nice to be in there.

Well, that's all for now. Later!