Great FHE for any family

For an Elders Quorum lesson recently, we watched this talk of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's from the April 2007 broadcast of General Conference. It's worth checking out:

Give it a listen or even watch Elder Holland himself deliver it by clicking here.

My plan to hit 175:

So, the "final 12" is going to be a tough nut to crack, I realize. Of course, by that I am referring to nothing involving Simon, Paula, and/or Randy, but losing 12 more ellbees to reach my goal weight of 175. But this is my plan in getting there.


1. Portion control. We've traded bad habits with good in our household as far as choices in food. Ex. spray butter v. real butter, non-fat mayo v. real, light and/or non-fat yogurt v. regular, soy milk v. cow milk, chicken and fish instead of red meats and pork (the other red meat), etc. But I really am not being so careful with portions at meals. Back to the six small meals focus... meaning small meals! This is my big focus area. I love food. But I need to make a concerted effort to eat the amount my body really requires, not what my appetite suggests.


2. Steady routine. I've adapted Luanne Cobb's routine to my own personal fit. Her schedule focuses all upper-body routines on one day and all lower body routines on another, with opposing muscle groups (like biceps and triceps) being worked on the same day and abs only on lower body days. I've made that into "extension" days and "curl" days, where I do the upper AND lower body exercises that focus on the extension muscles on the same day and the same for curl exercises grouped together with abs every day. Of course, I've got the aerobic days mixed in 3 days a week between the 3 training days. Looks like this (click to enlarge):

Fun Money! Thank you, Congress.

Ever since they first came out, these fancy-shmancy flatscreen t.v.'s have been the rage. Being somewhat conservative as we are by nature, Amanda and I have opted to "save our money" instead of buying one. Truth be told, however, one of our absolute favorite things we love doing together is to enjoy a good flick as often as time will allow.


Well, I'm a bit torn with this whole "economic stimulus" plan. On the one hand, I truly despise debt and do NOT approve of the direction our deficit has been headed. It has been estimated that this "stimulus" adds between $110 and $150 BILLION to that number. Nevertheless, I understand what they are trying to do, and since I did not have a chance to voice my opinion about it before receiving a payment from the government last week, it seems only fair to treat those funds as they were intended by spending them.


So, after a bit of research and no arm twisting on either of our parts, we found ourselves last night at Sam's Club and then today on lunch break at RC Willey. Long-story-short, I will be setting this beautiful piece of electronic mastery up this evening in our home:

"Ooooooo's" and "ahhhhhh's" are permissible at this point in the post... I won't judge you as being materialistic. It is hard to argue that this simply is a beautiful piece of modern engineering in grand piano black, as the salesman called it. In part, I see us as helping celebrate humanity and our progress in technology, fueled of course by the gifts and intelligence given to man by our ever-powerful Creator. So in many ways, this is a rather oddly spiritual experience.

So, to the economy, will you please consider yourself stimulated by this branch of Cracrofts, and right yourself a.s.a.p.?!

More beautiful than any other site in the world...

Have you ever seen anything more beautiful than these little miracles? I just have to take a moment to say how blessed I feel to have such an amazing little family. Nothing in the world could ever compare to the joy that they bring me! These few pictures seem to capture the innocence and the marvel that are our children. How grateful I am for their sweet and beautiful mother who I love so incredibly much. No matter what the day may bring, worries fall by the wayside when I walk into the yard or the home to their tender little greetings. I am one proud papa.

A number I'm even MORE excited about... 187!

No, for anyone reading who grew up subject to 90's rap lyrics, I'm not talking about a "drive-by." I'm talking about my weight as of today! Since I started tracking my food intake and my exercise back in January, I am down 18 pounds! Since my high weight during the holidays (somewhere around 210... YIKES!), I'm down roughly 23 ell-bees!


The fun part is now I get to set a new goal weight! I had the original goal of 185, but now I want to push down to 175. I have a hunch the next 10 will be a good challenge, but steady as we go is the theme! I'll even post a theme song here. :)

My gratitude is first and foremost to Amanda. Making such a lifestyle change is SO much more possible when your spouse is in on it with you. She makes such divine healthy meals, and she thirsts for great recipes and is actively "getting after it" in her own way!

Next, I must credit new habits encouraged by The Daily Plate. It really started by using Melaleuca's "Vitality For Life" site, but I've become a quick convert to TDP because of its wider library of foods and their respective nutritional information (plus the fact that it is 100% free).

And on the topic of Melaleuca, I am grateful to the Alan and Cami for introducing us to quality products--and a quality, healthful mindset! I love the secret power behind the Access Bars and Attain Shakes!

Come here, 175! I'm gonna get you!

The Number 73

Never in my life did I expect to receive JOY from the number 73. FINALLY, after about the 12th time of logging into my personal portal at WGU, that was the number that appeared next to that horrible acronym, "MSO1." (see post below) 66 is passing (60 is what I got on the first attempt).

IRONY: Any other 73 written on a test in my life would have generally pissed me off. Glad this program is simply "pass OR fail."

SOOOOOOO glad. Bring it on, ACP1.

Oozing Useless Information

"MSO1"

Translation: Most Stupid Obstacle, numero Uno, in trying to scare me away from finishing my MBA. It has also kept me from getting a good night's sleep for many, many weeks and from playing with my children and my wife as often as I'd like to play with them.

I've never staked much of a claim on being a great test taker - believe it or not, I'd rather write a paper than take a test - but this one has been a real PAININTHEASS. I just took it last night for the second time.

For my first attempt, I admittedly took more of a shortcut in preparing for it. When I missed the passing grade by 6%, I was upset but not totally shocked. This time around, though, I really, truly prepared for it, going perhaps overboard, taking the entire course outline and preparing my own OneNote-study-guide-for-total-geeks that totaled roughly 200 pages.

Well, much to my chagrin, I'd say 50 or 60 percent of the 2nd attempt looked like a foreign-freaking language compared to what the study guide suggested I know and understand. Some well-respected associates of mine in the program took it three times before they passed.

"You sound frustrated, pal. Why don't you speak up to the dean of the department?"

Fabulous idea. Lo and behold, guess what I got in my inbox the same night of the 2nd attempt... an invitation to complete a survey on the MBA program. I took that opportunity, believe me. And I took a deep breath first--promise. I actually think the feedback I gave was quite constructive, not just blatantly open.

Here's hoping for better news... maybe tomorrow, maybe Monday. [That's the other pisser about this... if you take a test that is completely multiple-choice, on a computer, through an ASP (i.e. online), why should the test taker not know IMMEDIATELY whether he passed or not? It just adds to the aggravation to not be able to know!! Freak.]

N E WHO... back to the original statement, am I going to let the MSO1 truly be any obstacle so significant? Hell no. In fact, if nothing more, it's making me want to accelerate my pace and finish my degree. So bring it on, oh ye keepers of the ever so precious test scores. Let me have it.