As of lately...

So this post might be a little confusing, because I have written it little by little over the past month or two. I really need to actually finish my posts so I don't have so much to add. Oh well...here is a little recap on what has happened the past few months:

1. I turned 22. We celebrated my birthday, I think before my last post actually, but I had already written so much that I was kind of over it. It was more like a birth week then a birthday. If I remember correctly, I had 2 different family parties, a dinner date with my man and our friends Craig and Sharise, and 2 birthday lunches. I definitely got spoiled. It was a great reminder of how blessed I am to have so many great people in my life that care so much about us.

2. Colten almost burned our house down burning weeds in the garden on what was probably the windiest day of 2013, and also happened to be Valentine's Day. No biggie. But seriously, I wanted to kill him. The fire department showed up and everything. It will probably go down as the most memorable Valentine's Day of our marriage.

The initial panic of seeing huge flames going up the side of the house sounded something like this, "I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THIS!" and " CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT!" and "GO GET YOUR DAD!" Followed by me running inside to get Levi out of the house, giving him to our sweet Relief Society President/neighbor, and then trying to get everything of most value out of the house. Thankfully our neighbors got there pretty quickly and got it put out before the fire department even arrived. On the bright side, we were ready to plant on the following Monday! HA.
I saw this quote on Pinterest soon after, and felt pretty justified in yelling at Colten during the fire. Even President David O. Mckay said it's okay to yell during a fire, right? I am pretty sure my kind of yelling was not what he meant, but it did make for a few good laughs between Colt and I.

Colten is holding/wearing a little "Fire Kit" my mother-in-law's co-workers gave her as a joke after the fire. He definitely learned his lesson, and will never live this down either. Poor guy. He is a good sport about all the teasing, but he still cringes every time it's brought up.

3. Summer is upon us!! Colten is done with the semester of school. Although it doesn't seem like it because instead of being in Saint George studying away, he is in the office at the big house slaving away on all of his DAT crap. It's actually kind of torturous to have him home, and still not get any time with him, but I figure I better get used to it because it isn't going to be getting any better in Dental School. On the bright side, less than 2 more weeks of stressing about the DAT and then we can start applying for school and moving on with our lives.
We have a lot of fun plans this summer that we are looking forward to including, a Butler family reunion, a week up in Snowbird visiting with my Smith side of the family, and a visit to Fort Collins/Denver to see my family there. We can't wait!

4. We just got a new calling in church that we are very excited about. For almost all of our married lives we have been team teachers in sunday school. We loved our calling, especially with the new sunday school curriculum, but we are happy to have a little change.
When our bishop called us in few weeks ago, and asked us if we would be willing to serve a mission we were a little taken aback. He proceeded to extend a calling to us to serve in the Spanish Branch as language missionaries. I have always wanted to serve a mission. To be honest, I was a little bitter when they announced the age change for missionaries because if they would have done that just 3 years earlier, I would have definitely gone. But in a way, I am getting to serve a mission after all, just not exactly how I had imagined. From what I understand, we will be going to the Spanish Branch every week as if it was our ward, and they will put us to work where ever we are needed.
We were immediately very excited, and have been for the last couple weeks. It wasn't until we got released that I started to get a little nervous. The language barrier definitely scares me a little bit.
We went to the branch for the first time a few weeks ago (well technically we have been once before when Colt spoke in Sacrament meeting there). It went really well. Colten especially loved it. He was right in his element. I sure love that man. Anyway...Honestly, I was pretty intimidated, and a little overwhelmed by the end of the second hour. How can I be outgoing and get to know and love these people when I don't even speak their language? It is a little daunting to me.
Colten told me a story once of when he first got to Mexico, fresh our of the MTC. He was riding a bus to his first area, when the Michael Bublé song "I wanna go home" came on the radio. In that moment, sitting on a bus in a foreign country where he knew no one, and could not yet really carry on a conversation with anyone, he was incredibly homesick.
Thinking of him, and other missionaries who serve in foreign countries, it donned on me just how much of a baby I was being. There are plenty of people in the branch that speak both languages, and I am just attending a branch a block or two from our home, in Hurricane, Utah. We are surrounded by friends and family, and pretty much everyone we know speaks english. I am such a baby. I resolved myself to taking a trip to the library to get some books or tapes to try to teach myself at least some basic Spanish so that I can introduce myself to people, and carry on a basic conversation, and felt much better.
Language barrier aside, the branch is amazing. We had countless people come up and introduce themselves. We felt so welcomed, even though I could only understand a very limited part of what most of them were saying. The Spirit is so strong there. The testimonies were heartfelt and sincere, the lessons were amazing, and you can tell the people in the branch truly love one another, and are eager to serve. There is a true sense of unity there. We are feeling pretty blessed to be able to be a part of it.
On another semi-unrelated note, they actually had a branch party for Mother's Day. I have never been in a ward that has done this, but it was AWESOME! The people in the spanish branch really know how to party. It was a true fiesta, complete with live Mexican music from some of the men in the branch. The food was "legit" as Colten would say. We had a lot of fun.

5. As always, our little man is growing like a weed. He turns one in just a couple of weeks. Where did the time go? I am in the middle of getting his first birthday party pulled together. We are doing a little man mustache bash for him. I am so excited!
We love him so much and it is so much fun to watch him learn and grow. He is pulling himself up to stand and holding on to furniture to move around. His favorite activities at the moment include opening and closing our bedroom door, over and over again, playing in the toilet (ICK!!) and using our kitchen stools as his own personal obstacle course. He loves to crawl in and out of the little space at the base of each one. He practically gives me a heart attack every time, and his legs are covered in scratches, and bruises from it. He seriously almost never stops moving. He is the busiest baby I have ever seen, and it is EXHAUSTING! I am just glad that he is so happy and healthy.
Levi is doing all sorts of silly things, making lots of sounds, and faces. He is clapping, waving, laughing a lot and his personality is really starting to come out. He loves playing outside, crawling in the grass, and bouncing on the tramp. We are pretty excited to really introduce him to the pool and at the splash pad, and to take him hiking this summer.

Do you see how happy this little face is? He just LOVES it!

Playing in the yard with papa.

Being silly with Auntie Jenna and Grandma!

Also, he just started biting! What in the world do you do to get an eleven month old to stop biting? If you have any advice for me, please share!

 6. I have had the darndest time trying to get off the baby weight. I retained water like crazy and gained close to 70 pounds while I was pregnant with Levi on top of the 15 pounds I had already gained after we got married. In the first month after having him, I lost about 40 pounds. The next ten came off pretty easily with breastfeeding, but the last 20 were killer. Colten and I both decided to start eating healthier at the beginning of the new year, which we were semi successful at.
I had been going to Phazes (a gym here in Hurricane) for about 6 months I think, but I hadn't really been going. I didn't have the will power to commit to going to the gym everyday. I used just about every excuse in the book, not to have to go work out. Bottom line: I was just plain lazy.
At the beginning of April I started a 60-day fitness challenge at Phazes. It isn't a weight loss challenge which is what is really neat about it, it is an overall health challenge. You gain and/or lose points for working out, getting outside, eating fruits and veggies, drinking plenty of water, eating junk food, getting too little sleep, etc. It was really exactly the push I needed to get my butt off the couch and going, but just as or more importantly, it has been just what I needed to truly get healthy with what I am eating. I stopped eating sweets, pre-packaged foods, fatty fast foods, and white flour. I started eating lots of fruits, veggies, whole grains and drinking water like crazy.

Um..yup. Thanks for sharing this with me Jessica!

The first week was hard. I felt like I was constantly hungry, I was craving sugar like crazy, and getting out and working out was not something I was thrilled about. Seriously though, it only took one week for me to start feeling the difference in my body, and my energy level. I just felt so good! I can't quite explain it, but I was sold. The sugar cravings stopped, and I started looking forward to my work out everyday. It is now my me time. I love it. I am just plain happier now.
With just a couple of weeks left in my 60-day challenge, I have lost 14 pounds and who knows how many inches. I actually weigh almost 10 pounds less than I did when I got pregnant with Levi. I feel great! I am confident in myself again and am looking forward to continuing to be active, and eating just how I am now. I never want to get back to that person I was before. I still have about 9 pounds to get down to my goal weight, but I am learning that the number on the scale isn't necessarily whats important, nor is the number on the tag of your jeans. I want to set fitness goals throughout the rest of my life. I need to decide on my next one pronto. Make it through the four week Phazes bootcamp maybe??  :) We will see...