Shoveling Snow Can Be a Really Good Workout!

We got several inches of snow last Monday, and since Nate has been working like crazy having started the busy audit season 6 weeks earlier than usual, he's not around much to do any snow shoveling. I figured that I might as well do is since it mostly benefits me. Once Mason and Jackson were both down for naps, Jefferson and I got in some snow clothes and went outside to shovel. I didn't think it would be too hard or take a long time- I used to help shovel snow as a kid - but boy was I wrong. Not only did we have about 8 inches of snow on our driveway (the other side of the street had less- the wind must have blown it our way), but the snowplows had gone done our street and had pushed the snow off the road towards our side of the street, so that added a couple inches on the sidewalk and the lower half of our driveway, plus it was more packed down, so it added weight. So it took me over about an hour to get it all shoveled, without taking any breaks. As soon as I got inside and warmed up some, I looked up how many calories are burned shoveling snow. Most sites calculated around 400/hr but some sites said as many as 900 calories/hour. Either way it was still a decent workout- better than all of the lower intesity exercises and on par with weight lifting (vigorous), skiing, and swimming. Here's what the snow looked like the next day (and it had started snowing again):

My Year In Cities

From time to time, like most bloggers I know, I check out the links to other blogs that my friends have on their pages. It's fun to see what random people blog about and what their blog looks like, etc. Today I came across this fun meme on one of such blogs and thought I'd also give it a go. You list all the cities where you stayed at least one night. I wasn't expecting much of 2007, but was pleasantly surprised once I made my list. Then I did 2006 for comparison and 2007 turned out to be quite a good year- especially when you factor in toting around 3 kids. Here goes:

2007

• *, UT (where we live)
• Las Vegas, NV (twice)
• Near Anaheim, CA (I'm really not sure what city Sherrie and I stayed in)
• Pasadena, CA (twice)
• Williamsburg, VA
• Sterling, VA
• Strasburg, PA
• Washington, UT
• Henderson, NV
• Cedar City, UT

My Sad 2006

• *, UT
• St George, UT
• Pasadena, CA (twice)

At least I made it out of the state!

(And Mason was born that year, so what was I really expecting?)

So how about you? Post your list in the comments section! Or post on your blog. I'll be waiting...

Game Night!

Last night I hosted, for the third month in a row, a Relief Society Game Night! We had a great turnout. At the peak there were 12 sisters (only one less than the first game night) and we had a great time chatting, munching, and playing games. We played Hoopla (a Cranium game) and Last Word. Both were fun games, although a bit challenging for some of the group. Of course, they were both newer games that only a few of us had played before (and only I had played Last Word before - once). I love learning new games but I get nervous sometimes that people will get scared away by the new games that are the "unknown" so I hope everyone that came last night will come to a future game night! I plan on hosting the game night the 2nd Thursday each month. It's nice to have a night away from the kids and get to know the other women in the ward.

Oh, and by the way, my name is now Sue. Not really, but kind-of.

Pictures from the White House New Year's Y2K Party

I was sorting through some old pictures and found some from one of My Favorite Past New Year's Celebrations- The White House Party! And since I now have a new printer with a scanning function, I thought I'd scan them in and share. Here they are:

My Favorite Past New Year's Celebrations

This year we just sat at home on New Year's like it was any other night- except we let the kids stay up a little later than usual. Jackson and Mason made it to around 10pm, before they were too cranky to stay up any longer, and Jefferson made it to midnight-barely. We didn't watch any of the New Year's countdown shows until 2 minutes until midnight (Nate can't stand those shows). And we even had to pause the TV so that we could get the martinelli's ready to drink at "midnight." So two minutes after midnight we watched the 10-second countdown and celebrated with our martinelli's. Since we didn't do anything exciting this year for New Year's (although spending a quiet evening at home with the fam is still nice), I thought I'd reflect on some of my favorite New Year's celebrations from the past. Ordered by year, nothing else.

1. New Year's Eve 1990-1994 (New Year's 1991-1995): My Stake Dance New Year's Celebrations. I loved going to Stake dances and the New Year's dances were always extra fun. Plus, we'd all go to someone's house or the ward building afterwards for breakfast so the night wouldn't end. New Year's Eve '93 was especially fun because we had a Tri-Stake (or was it a 5-Stake?) Youth Conference that year that ended with the New Year's Eve dance. The conference was a blast and the dance great. I even won a hula-hooping contest (well, technically tied for first place)- in a dress even! New Year's Eve '94 was special because I had my first "Happy New Year" midnight kiss! And coincidentally, the girl that I had tied with in the hula-hooping contest the year before, who I hadn't known then, was the sister of the boy that I shared my midnight kiss with (yes, for those who know him or of him, it was Paul).

2. New Year's Eve 1998: Once I had graduated from the youth New Year's Eve dances, I quickly embraced the Young Single Adult dances. While not as well attended as the Stake dances (which could boast 700+ attendees during the summer months), they were still a blast to go to. '98 was fun because I was able to meet up with some high school friends that I hadn't seen since high school at the YSA dance. I split my time that night between the YSA dance and a party at my friend Sahana's house. It's also memorable because my friends, Joanne and Duff, got engaged that night (although I missed the actual proposal because I stayed at the dance longer than I had intended).

3. New Year's Eve 1999: This was the first New Year's Eve since turning 14 that I did not spend at a church-sponsored dance. I was living in Provo in the "White House" and all of us White house ladies (minus Audra who had just gotten married) decided to return from our Christmas vacations in time to spend New Year's in Provo. We threw one of our spectacular White House parties and had quite the turn-out. I don't remember everything that we did, but I do remember playing Cranium for the first time (Hilary had gotten it for Christmas) and running outside at midnight to light sparklers and take a run down the street. It was a fun-filled night and I didn't miss being at the YSA dance.

4. New Year's Eve 2000: This year was special because it was the first New Year's as a married woman! We got to celebrate New Year's two nights in a row since New Year's Eve fell on a Sunday that year (and celebrations in Utah tend to be moved to the Saturday before). Nate and I spent the evening of the 30th at Provo's "First night" celebration and enjoyed listening to the band "Fiddlesticks" play. We enjoyed watching the fireworks and seeing the various displays.

5. New Year's Eve 2002: This was Jefferson's first New Year's Eve (he was 6 months old). We spent the evening at the friends of our good friends the Boyle's. We played some games and chatted and munched on snacks until midnight and then we went outside and watched Provo City's fireworks. Jefferson stayed awake the whole time and was mesmerized by the fireworks. He fell asleep the moment that he realized the fireworks were over.

6. New Year's Eve 2005: We moved into our new house only 6 weeks before the new year. A couple weeks after we moved in, our next-door neighbors had moved in as well as the people on the other side of them. We knew our next-door neighbors (Nate and Jason served in the same mission) before they moved in but we quickly also became friends with their other neighbors. We decided to hang out together for New Year's and had tons of fun playing games (especially that super fun version of Uno that I can never remember the name to) and drinking virgin margaritas.

7. New Year's Eve 2008: Okay, so I know it's in the future, but after reminiscing all the fun New Year's Eves I've had in the past I was thinking that next year I need to throw my own New Year's Party so that the fun can continue. Okay, it's being planned.