Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Learning to Balance

Just got the latest letter from Tucker today. You can read it on his mission blog, here.

On our list to do this summer?  Camping.  I grew up camping. And I really like to camp, but it's something that has repeatedly slipped through the cracks for our family every summer.  I wasn't going to let that happen this year.

I accidentally overslept on Friday, and that put us all behind.  I knew that my attitude would dictate how the preparations went, so I tried to be patient and less stressed.  It didn't work.  By the time we were in the car and ready to leave, we were an hour behind schedule and I was grumpy.  Maybe someday I'll learn that.  I refuse to surrender to my personality flaws.  One day I will pack for a trip without the stress and grumpy, just not this time, unfortunately.

When we got to Christopher Creek, it was a gorgeous 76 degrees and the mountains were spectacular, as always. (I can't get this collage to cooperate, so click on it to see all the images.)
Micah fell in the creek with his only pair of shoes on (and his only pair of long pants).  Evie was a little intimidated by the long grass.  We all cooked hot dogs on the grill (fire restrictions in AZ prohibit fires or charcoal).  And we had a great time.

I found this ball toss game that glowed in the dark, and all of us had a turn making crazy faces with them.  I was deemed the creepiest, and not in a good way, I'm afraid.  Evie was fascinated with them.
 
Even though we couldn't bring Dad's "King mattress," we still slept reasonably comfortably, all seven of us.
It was worth every second, all the preparation, all the laundry and the mess.  We would have stayed a little longer on Saturday, but Evie blazed through my entire stash of diapers and we had to return to civilization to doctor her raw bum with medicine and clean pants.


And as far as my fight with my funk and weight?
While in the mountains, I succumbed to first one S'more (as Hyrum calls them--"Snore"), then another, then a little chocolate, then a little more. And that released the control beast for the rest of the weekend.  I was beating myself up pretty bad about it yesterday, but today is a new day, and new dawn, and I'm back on the wagon.  I've lost 1.5 pounds, avoided sugar all but four days, avoided fast food mostly, and exercised five of the six days last week.  That doesn't sound like losing the war, right?  I may have lost a few battles, but I'm gonna win this war!

8 comments:

  1. One day at a time, Jen. The second I try to concentrate on more than today with my diet, I lose control. One day at a time, and sometimes one hour at a time.

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  2. i love that hyrum calls s'mores 'snores'

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  3. I truly hate packing for camping trips. I love it once we are there, but hate the packing. You go girl. You are doing great! S'mores can take the best of them down.
    Dana

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  4. That sounds really fun! Cool weather AND smores in the same 24 hours are definitely a winner. It always is worth the mess, but oh man, is it hard to get out the door...

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  5. Sounds like fun times. Raw bum, falling in the creek, loads of laundry to come home to do.....camping rocks.

    You are doing great in the war!

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  6. Sounds like you guys had a great time camping :) I think camping is such a great activity for families since you get to spend time bonding without the distraction from tv's and computer's. If only I was more of a nature person, I would totally take E out camping all the time too :)

    Hang in there with the getting out of your funk war!

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  7. Good advice from Karen. I fell off the wagon today, too. My mom had homemade ginger snaps.

    Ah well, onward and upward. Tomorrow I will do better!

    =)

    PS. The camping looks fun! i always find getting ready a difficult time, too. And yes, sometimes I get cranky during the process...!

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  8. I am grumpy this morning. Max woke up an hour early and is extra cranky bc of it. She and I both have a cold. In June. Hers has been going on for almost 3 weeks and the allergy medicine is not working so I'm actually starting to believe it's a cold which makes me even more grumpy.

    I afraid to camp with kids but your pics look so fun that I migh be talked into it...

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