When country comes to town!

 Shantell got us free tickets to see JoDee Messina tonight at the Salt Lake County Fair.  Now I'll admit that despite considering myself somewhat of a country girl at heart, I have not kept up on the latest country music, but JoDee Messina became big when I was country through and through.  Confession time:  one summer in between semesters at college, I had one day where I watched 12 hours straight of CMT (Country Music Television).  Yep, don't judge.

I wanted to get much closer to the stage.  I like to see people's faces.  JoDee sure was an engaging entertainer.  She told stories of what was going on in her life that inspired songs.  She told jokes.  She danced around on the stage and was full of energy.  I LOVED IT!!

Her opening act's name was Dylan Scott.  Never heard of him.  Only thing I could tell from our seats was that he had nice arms.  After he performed, he went out to a table and took pictures and signed autographs with as many people as wanted to.  I didn't feel like standing in the line but wanted to try to sneak a picture of him.  At this point it was dark and all the pictures were blurry and had people in the way.  This drunk lady next to me kept saying, "you want a picture of him?  Here, give me your phone and I'll take it for you."  I politely declined and said that it was ok.  She persisted 3-4 times and each time I declined.  She said, "why are you girls being so stubborn?"  Let's be honest.  We've all had experiences when some intoxicated tries to take a picture for us.  Either we are blurry or our heads gets cut off.  Plus, she was so persistent that it was suspicious and I didn't want her to run off with my phone.  LOL

Finally, she gave up on me and went for Shantell's phone.  Shantell wasn't as defensive as I was and let her take her phone.  This lady just goes walking up in front of everyone and starts snapping pictures.  When one of the security guards turned to her, she simply gave him a drunken hug with her left hand and snapped a photo with her right hand.  Amused, I asked the younger girl standing next to me if that was her mom.  She said, "no, that's my aunt.  She helps manage Dylan."  We laughed as I said, "well that explains why she is so persistent."  But she came back with an amazing picture of this hottie....

Can I get a WOWZA!!!!  I'll take an order of him please!


We also wanted to get a photo of the persistent manager.  What a great publicist.  She is the blonde on the left.

Such a fun night full of music I love!  JoDee Messina was fantastic!  And her opener was very easy on the eyes.

40 lbs in 12 months

Alright y'all.  Since I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who reads this blog, I am going to brag a bit about some weight loss progress.  This is my blog and I'll brag if I want to. I have always considered myself on the chub side.  Insecure at it's finest.  Even in high school when I played 3 sports, rode my bike everywhere, and was extremely active, I had some baby fat that just didn't want to go away.  Now before you get all excited and think my next sentence will contain the words, "and it all fell off," I'll stop you and say that I still have my fair share of "baby fat" or "big boned" or whatever excuse of a phrase the world inserts.

So now back to my younger years.  Man was I insecure.  Still am, but that's besides the point.  Who else mastered the shirt change in gym class when you would pull your arms out of your original shirt, insert them into your gym shirt, and then quick as a ninja whip the gym shirt over your head while the original shirt fell to the floor?  If they could give a black belt in that, I would be the sensei!  

I competed 1 year of track in college.  I have never been so in shape.  To this day, one of the best compliments I have received about my body was when my roommate said to me, "you have really nice arms."  I could tell she was genuine, and as a thrower in track, weights was a big part of my daily workout.  Even then, I was so insecure.  I also played on the university's club volleyball team. I remember the first match we had and I had to wear spandex shorts.  I was scared to death to be seen in public.  I played volleyball in high school, but I was from small town Nephi and only the bigger schools wore spandex shorts.  We just wore shorter gym shorts.  My roommates had a hay day with the fact that I was so scared.  They took this picture as they kept coaxing me into posing sexy.  I won't post the sexy pic, but I'll post the following pic.  

You'll have to excuse the photo of a photo.  This was way before social media and Facebook, so it's a picture from my college scrapbook.  Not sure why I have orange antennas coming out of my head, though.  Who else was always told the following quote but never thought you'd believe it?

Hopefully it's apparent by now how important sports have always been to me.  They were my escape whenever life got hard.  Whenever I felt like I was inadequate in all aspects of my life, I always felt confident while playing sports.  I may not have been the superstar on all the teams I played on, but I could hold my own against any opponent placed in front of me.  As goes the story for everyone in life, as I got older, I got more out of shape.  I still play on a Thursday night basketball league, but I had gotten so out of shape, that I would actually hope the other team would forfeit so we didn't have to play.  Never in my life have I not wanted to play sports.  When I lived in Provo, we had a sports court and a sand volleyball court right outside my apartment.  Every chance I got, I was outside playing something with someone.  I didn't even care who.  On a court, I could become friends with anyone...or enemies, if they were beating me. ;)  Just kidding, I'm very competitive but surprisingly pleasant as an opponent.  

It was a wake up call for me when I got to the point of not wanting to play out of embarrassment that I couldn't make it up and down the court like I wanted to.  I started to diet.  I know, I know, it's not a diet it's a lifestyle change.  Call it what you will, it doesn't change the reality that you're dieting.  I started to limit my fatty foods and carbs and ate more vegetables and lean protein.  As I started to lose weight, people would ask me, "what are you doing?  Tell me how you are losing weight?"  As I would share with them my meals (basically the food pyramid), I could see the lack of allure in their eyes.  It's funny how we always expect something magical and life changing, when really it's all about consistent healthy choices.  It's been about a year now, and it has been a roller coaster.  I have my fair share of cheats.  I'm not where I wanted to be when I started eating healthier, but I'm still very happy and feel very blessed where I am at.  The first week I started eating healthier, I played nearly the whole basketball game and scored over 20 points.  My teammates jokingly asked, "Wow, what did you put in your wheaties?"  With a big grin on my face, I replied, "It's cuz I'm dieting."

Now I will be the first to admit, I'm not a fitness pep talker, and I don't want this to come across that way.  There are a million people you can follow on every social media site if you want a motivational speech.  I am simply sharing my progress for my own sake.  Still battling those insecurities, if you will.

So here is the moment of magic......12 months and 40 pounds later:

The picture on the left was at my Sister's birthday party in May 2013.  The picture on the right is at the same sister's birthday party in 2014.  Don't mind that one-eye-Ry is covering some fat and I'm wearing the most slimming color, the difference is still very noticeable.  Here's to a lifetime of dieting...or healthy eating...or a lifestyle change...whatever you want to call it.  I'm grateful to be where I'm at!

The most important "like" is my own

I will be the first to admit that I absolutely love social media.  I'm an addict.  I'm addicted to Instagram, FaceBook, Snapchat, and anything else I let myself start on.  I have always known I have an addictive personality, which is why I limit what I start.

I have been thinking a lot about how much I depend on them to feel connected to people or to feel good about my life.  It's almost like I gauge my self worth based on how many "likes" I get.  Every time I do something I consider semi-fun, I post it, as if to show the world that I actually have a life.  And I do have a life.  I have a great life, but I want to go back to a time when I didn't need other people to also know and "like" my life.  I kid myself into thinking that I post so much on social media so I can have some sort of history of my life for my kids and future generations, and honestly, that's why I started on Facebook.  I have never been good at journaling, even on my mission, where I had some of the most sacred and amazing experiences and personal growth.  I have always loved pictures, and I pride myself on the fact that despite not writing in my journal on my mission much, I finished my mission scrapbook.  Pictures have always been easier for me to document.

I don't like how much I rely on social media.  I don't like what it's become for me.  I enjoy seeing other people's stuff and memories, so I will continue to frequent the sites.  I like commenting on people's pictures.  I like seeing what they have been up to, but I can't continue to care so much about whether people like my stuff.  

I have decided to find a happy  medium.  I will still document my life for people to follow, but I will do it more through my blog.  I will not advertise that I added a new post like I used to.  I want to get back to why I started social media in the first place:  to document my life for my future posterity.  So that is what I am doing.  Back to basics.  More posts to come.  There may not be anyone who reads this, but I will have it for me.