I'm an activist?

I think it is freaking funny that I am such a "love your body" activist because let's be honest I did NOT love my body for a long time. In fact some days I still hate my body. I look in the mirror and I see that fat roll or that cellulite and it literally makes me nauseous. Ali sees the look I give myself and  he has to tell me I'm beautiful just how I am. (He also tells me he likes "thick" girls so sometimes it doesn't help)
But honestly I know I am damn fine. I look at old pictures of myself and think wow I sure have changed and what changed was not only my appearance but what is on the inside. I am more positive now about my life. I know I can do things I couldn't do a year ago. Heck I ran three 5ks in the past year. I went hiking. I went shooting. I went to CUBA and walked EVERYWHERE! I just think it's crazy that I can do this.
And guess what I'm not a size two. I'm a 14 or 12 on a good day. I bounce between 209 and 215. I have lumps and bumps. I have sooo many stretch marks. But you know what I am so sexy I know I am. I just have to remind myself.

Sandra's wedding and Disneyland

Back in June Ali and I took a long road trip. We left a Wednesday after work and drove to Albuquerque New Mexico where my cousins on my mom's side live. We went because my wonderful cousin Sandra asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. I was excited for it and it gave us an excuse to visit them. Neither of us had every been to New Mexico so it would be a fun adventure. We got there Wednesday night and the wedding was on Saturday. Thursday was a crazy day, Ali stayed around Sandra's working on her centerpieces, he had to spray paint a billion twigs and sticks and stuff silver and glitter the place mats. Yes he used glitter. I actually the pair of jeans he wore to do that and there was STILL glitter on them... four months later. While Ali was being a holly homemaker and being all crafty Sandra and I were off to do other last minute wedding things. We went to get tans, we got more crafts for Ali, we did other things too but I just don't remember them. When we were done we all met up for dinner at a restaurant called BJ's. Then we went home and did more wedding prep. 

Friday was filled with MORE wedding things. I went out with Sandra all day again while my wonderful boyfriend stayed home and glitter and painted even more. The photographer went and did a lovely photo shoot with Sandra and I got to be his assistant. It was an awesome experience. I miss photography sometimes. We were shooting pictures ALL day and then finally around 3:30 we went to the rehearsal. We went to the gardens. It was BEAUTIFUL there. We met everyone in the wedding party and went through what we would be doing the next day. Ali was such a good support through everything. He just helped with whatever he could. After the rehearsal Sandra and Rob took some pictures. They looked beautiful. After the rehearsal we went to the dinner at a mexican restaurant. It was pretty awesome. We weren't planning on doing a bachelorette party because Sandra has already had one with some friends but... once people started drinking the decision was made to go out. So Ali went out with the boys and I went to a country bar with the girls. It was way fun. Two of the girls we went with were actually really good dancers. So they taught me and then the old men at the bar taught me and it was just fun. My cousin Curtis and one of his military friends came too so it was nice to hang out with him. After the bar we all went to Ihop. While we were there we discovered that Ali had gone missing from the boys party... Can you just imagine the stress I was feeling. My boyfriend was missing in downtown Albuquerque. Long story short they looked for him in a few places didn't find him. But he found his way home without a cell phone in a town where taxi's don't take cards and got into Sandra's house to charge his phone and call me.  Once he was found we all headed home. 

The next day was wedding day. That morning was pretty much a blur. I remember helping Sandra do the girls hair and getting our makeup done. Then I remember getting our hair done. Then we went to the bridal suite in the hotel and we ate the chocolate covered strawberries they had because we hadn't eaten all day. Then we went to the wedding. When we got there there was mass chaos. We were helping to set things up and then the wedding ended up being late. The timing was weird so they didn't have anyone to man the candy table so Ali went to the rescue and did that. Thankfully everything went smoothly, at least from an outsider's perspective. I even got Ali to dance with me. I also caught the bouquet. As soon as the flowers touched my hands Ali ran out the door. Haha but don't worry he came back. (disclaimer no wedding in our near future)

The next morning Ali and I were so tired but we had to leave to drive to California to meet up with Carmen. Then we spent a week going to Disneyland and California Adventures. It was really fun. It was Ali's first time at any Disney park. It was fun to have Ali around Carmen and let them get to know each other better. We had a lot of fun without "adults" and just us kids being able to enjoy our trip and do what we wanted. We stayed in a hotel just at the corner of Cali Adventures so we walked to the parks.We got into pin trading this time and it was SO fun! I had never done it before but it was AWESOME to trade with people and get the full collections of some. (go ali)  It was a wonderful trip with nothing too exciting to report. So I'll just share a few pictures with you instead.

we went to a mall our first day

getting ready to walk to DISNEY

honorary first visit

no caption needed

Santa Monica for a day

Yup he is strong

BIG SHOUT OUT TO DAHLIA FOR WATCHING OUR BABY BOSTON WHILE WE WERE GONE! THANK YOU!

You're the Best

Some things I love about you

-You're patient

-You're kind

-You love everyone

-You are accepting of everyone even with their faults

-You never age (seriously you still look like you're my age)

-You want to be healthy

-You share your love of the gospel with everyone around you

-Your strength

-Your humility

-Your beauty

-Your intelligence

-Your ability to give and never ask for anything in return

-Your sincerity

-Your values

-Your honesty (even though I didn't know you kissed anyone before dad until I was 19)

-Your sense of humor (to the right and the left)

-Your judgmental way of clearing your throat

-The way you sneeze *seeeeechew!*

-Your love of fro-yo

-Your grammar skills (try not to judge this too much)

-You'll stay up late into the night to review a paper for a silly class

Most of all I love that you still love me even though I've been a horrible daughter

Dear Mom, 

You are such an inspiration to me. Over the last 23 years all I've ever seen is good come from you. You constantly try to please everyone and never take even a second to think about yourself. I can't imagine how tired you are constantly. You are so giving to anyone that needs it. I have so many great memories with you and I look forward to an eternity more. 

I can only imagine how hard it was for you when dad was traveling constantly. You had to take care of 4 children during the week and barely got any time alone with your husband on the weekends. Even before cell phones you managed to stay connected to your husband while he was on the road. I remember you locking yourself in your bathroom with us knocking on the door wanting you, wanting to talk to dad, wanting to use the phone and most of all I remember passing notes to you under the door. When dad was home I have one memory in particular that sticks out in my mind of you displaying love for each other. You two were in your room listening to Santana (or I could have just added that to the memory) and you were dancing with dad. Every time I think of that memory I hope one day I'll have that with my husband. I remember you and dad going on dates to the temple. You two were so strong in the church and such an example of what we could be one day. Thank you for that. Even when times weren't perfect with dad you still loved him and told me that no matter what you two were sealed together for eternity. You told me you made a promise to God that you would stay with him no matter what. When I was a stubborn, spoiled teen I was shocked you would stay with someone that was completely different than you'd married, someone you didn't sign up to be stuck with forever. Now I can see that you love dad no matter what he does and that he loves you even when he's stupid. The fact that you have stayed loyal to him through everything our family has gone through is one of the most heroic acts someone could do. You kept a family together through the many trials we have faced over the past 10 years. Even though things will never be exactly how they were before I'm grateful that I'll have you two as eternal parents, especially you as my mother. 

When we were kids you were constantly shuttling us around. We were going to piano, ballet, basketball, gymnastics, church activities, friends, you never had time to do anything for yourself. You made sure we were wherever we needed to be, on time and ready to go. I can only imagine how I took you for granted. Even with all of your motherly duties you were still in the primary presidency fulfilling that calling to the fullest. You would never skimp on a calling. You were such a strong example in church. You still are today! Back in Primary with crazy 5 year olds screaming and crying, yet you are so patient and kind to them. You are touching another generation of children with your amazing testimony. 

Watching you with my nephews makes me wonder what you were like with me. You are so in love with those little boys. You would do anything to make them happy. You care so deeply about them and their sweet spirits. I love how excited they get when they get to see you. Just mentioning "abuela" makes them so happy. I wish I could remember those years with you when I was so young. I bet you have some special memories of that. (even if you don't have pictures to prove it)

Is it sad that most of my great memories of you come after I moved out? Why couldn't I love you when I had you around all the time? Boy was I dumb. When I first came out here you were so worried for me.... well if we're being honest you're still worried about me. But I am fine. I have a great foundation you have given me. I am smart and capable of doing things for myself. I have loved learning who I am and figuring out what I want to be and having your love and support along the way. You are so supportive of me and the things I want to pursue. Going to Cuba this summer without you will be such a bummer but just think one day we'll go back with Lauren and Carmen and I can show you the things I did when I was there! I can't wait. I can't pick which vacation with you was my favorite. I love New York and seeing where you grew up, walking up and down the streets with you. Seeing HUGE bags of bagels being throwing out at the end of the night. Eating at some DISGUSTING restaurant I never want to go to again. Riding the subway for the first time...almost falling down on the subway because I had no idea how powerful they were... Miami with you and Lauren. BOTH of my best friends in one place. Holy fun. I swam with a dolphin. Yeah I freaking swam with a dolphin! We saw one of the biggest houses ever. The geckos (AH) the food, oh my gosh. The humidity (gah) Then Hawaii with you dad and Carmen, that was another fun adventure. Disneyland. There are so many fond memories. I just can't list them all.

Overall Mom, you are so wonderful and I am so lucky to have you in my life. I love you forever!

Love Always,

Adrienne

New and Exciting!

Basically since I was 11 I have wanted a dog. I probably wanted one when I was even younger but I remember wanting one at 11 and my parents refusing to get me on. Well my mom refusing and my dad sticking by her side and refusing but secretly wanting one. So a week ago Ali and I got a puppy. He is freaking adorable, incredibly smart and loving. (the puppy not Ali, although he is adorable and smart... the loving part he's still working on)

I basically started convincing Ali we were getting a puppy back in December when we started dating. He has two cats, Zazzles and Loki, and always said we would never get a dog. One day he accidentally told me that we could get a dog if we could train them to hunt. So I started looking up dogs. After this slip up he also said we could go on a date to the Humane Society. Yessss So I start looking at dogs at the Humane Society, North Valley and South Valley Animal Shelters. We found a Blue Heeler at the South Valley animal shelter we wanted to check out. So we start our date off at North Valley to see if there was anyone there we liked there was a really well behaved German Shepard but we knew we were getting a medium sized dog for the apartment. So we go to South Valley, there are a couple hounds and then our heeler. We play with them and see which we like the most and decide on the Heeler. We go to the front and talk to the woman at the desk. Told her which we wanted and she said "Well the adoptions ended at 5 so you'll have to come back tomorrow but you can fill out the paper now." Ali jokingly says "quick Adrienne go turn the clock back 5 minutes so it's before 5 again." Yes it was only 5:05... Rude lady. She said "nope if I stay here past 6 then my boss will get mad at me." So we kinda laugh it off and we start filling out the paperwork and then we finish. She's looking over it and was just rude about everything. "So who is getting the puppy." Adrienne "But the puppy isn't living at her address?  The puppy needs to live at the owners address" Ali said "well lets write my information there and she'll just pay for it." So that's how that story goes. We leave the animal shelter without rescuing that dog. I was quite sad and Ali was mad about it too. That lady was really rude...

A couple days later we look into what the Provo company Puppies for Rent has to offer. They have a little Blue Heeler. (YAY) We decided we would rent him for an hour and see how he does with the cats. He did great. They weren't instafriends but they could stand being around each other. The guy came to pick him up and we said we wanted to buy him. He told us we wouldn't be able to get him until the next week because he already had appointments booked. Although I understood I was still a little annoyed someone else was going to love my puppy. So a few days later (Saturday) I emailed them and asked if we would be able to get him Sunday since Ali was leaving for the week and he wanted to be around and let the puppy learn to love him. Sunday around 1 we got our pup. Seriously the happiest moment of my life! When we got him he instantly loved us and licked my face (yuck but yay) Now the sad part was they were feeding him yucky food and he had the runs the first night we had him. Then we started giving him better food and his stools got a lot more solid.

Now having a puppy is not as wonderful as I thought... Don't get me wrong I LOVE having him and I love him but dang he is some work!
I have to take him out when he wants to go out...even if it's at 3 am (thankfully that was only one night)
I have to clean up his messes. (thankfully no poop inside the house)
I come home on my lunch break to take him outside
Kennel training is really sad. I just hate hearing him cry
Puppies are biters and dang do their nails hurt!
He eats anything he can reach. It's like having a moving vacuum but it's scary (today he ate a toothpick....that's gonna hurt coming out)

Things I love about him
He has an adorable face
He's already bell trained...mostly
He knows how to sit
He's great on the leash
He's good with Clay and Aidan...as long as they aren't crazy running around
He is a great cuddler
He makes hiking more fun

I just love my little boy and I'm so glad I convinced Ali to let me get a puppy.

This is the first day we rented him

I just love his dark headband and dark ears

Zazzles was touching him with her paw as he was sleeping...Then he moved and she FREAKED

The two cutest boys I know

At the top with Ali 

Vote for my Cousin!!!

My cousin is getting married this year and deserves her dream wedding!!! Vote for Sandra and Rob!

NM Dream Wedding 2013

Shake Day 4, 5, 6 and 7

Alright so Shake Day 4 I had class. (I should have blogged sooner I don't really remember much....oops) So  ooo Oh I remember! I didn't have a shake that day. I went to Chili's with my friend around 11:30 and I wasn't hungry the rest of the day so I didn't eat. When I was at Chili's I ordered off of their lighter menu so I only had about 600 calories... Don't do this regularly....

Shake Day 5 I had two of my yummy banana shakes. I ate some snacks at work (CURSE YOU SNACK DRAWER!!!) Gardettos and a Reeses heart. Then for dinner I made heart shaped pasta with red sauce and we had a spinach salad with a white vinaigrette. I twas DELICIOUS! Oh I also went running. I did 3 miles in 40 minutes. I was very very proud of myself. Mostly because that was the first time I'd gone running in a few weeks.

Shake Day 6 is also known as Valentines Day. I had 2 shakes. My breakfast one had an apple and some cinnamon in it. I didn't like the texture so I only drank half. Then my lunch one had an IsaDelight in it. Dinner was unhealthy. I got a thin crust veggie pizza from Nicolitalia and a Caesar salad. I ate more of that than I should have. And to top that off I had a few chocolate covered strawberries... DELICIOUS

Shake Day 7 (I know I got carried away with shake days but I couldn't do cleanse days. I'm going to be doing shake days for a while....) I had a chocolate covered strawberry shake for breakfast....Hahaha lets not talk about it. Then I had a banana peanut butter shake for lunch. Dinner I had one slice of my pizza. I finished my Caesar Salad as a snack and that was my day.

Today I'm going to fail because I'm going to Cheesecake Factory...Oops But I'm also going hunting so I'm going to be walking around a lot. Maybe it will equal out.

Shake Day 2 and 3

Oh my gosh TODAY I WILL stick to the diet. Lets just say I've been doing my own thing. Thankfully I haven't gained more back but I will stick to it. What's the point in dieting if it's just going to come back. Stupid Adrienne.

Anyway Shake Day 2 was hard because I wanted to eat my leftovers AND I was having people over for dinner...So instead of just sucking it up and only eating one meal I ate two...Ugh dumb. So I had my shake with banana for breakfast, then I had my leftovers for lunch and for dinner I had some pizza. Oh not smart. On the bright side I ate A LOT of veggies.

Shake Day 3 was equally bad because people brought be free food twice...and being a poor college student you can't turn down free food. The first free meal was from Olive Garden. I ate a lot of salad with little dressing some chicken and some pasta. I kept it pretty reasonable there. Then for dinner I had a slice of pizza. Just one though! That's good right?!

Today is Shake Day 4. I have class from 2:30-8. I don't know what I'm going to do. I could just make the shake without ice and drink it that way or have my meal be during that time. Maybe buy a Jamba Juice (one of the lighter choice options) I don't know. We'll see what I do!

Shake Day 1

So yesterday I told you about my breakfast and lunch shakes. They were delicious. I'll tell you again what I had though.


Peanut Butter Banana Shake
1 T Natural Peanut Butter
1/2 VERY ripe banana (I keep them frozen after they go brown)
1 Scoop IsaLean Vanilla Shake
4 Cubes Ice
1/2 Cup Purified Water

Chocolate Cookie Shake (This one was a little off the diet....)
1 T Biscoff Spread
1 Milk Chocolate IsaDelight
1 Scoop IsaLean Vanilla
6 Cubes Ice
1/2 Cup Purified Water

Both were super delicious!

Later that day I went to the dinosaur museum with Ali, Lauren and Aidan. We walked around for a couple hours then Ali and I went to the Harvest Restaurant at Thanksgiving Point. Oh my gosh that place was delicious. There's a groupon for 2 tickets to the museum and a $50 gift card to the restaurant. It was totally worth it. Once again I went a little off diet because we were on a fancy date. Our dinner came with a miniloaf of wheat bread...so I had a couple slices of that. Ali ALWAYS has to have an appetizer so we go the flatbread. It had spinach, sun dried tomatoes, grilled chicken and pesto. I only had a couple piece because Ali really liked it. I had a spinach salad with strawberries, candies pecans, gorgonzola and strawberry-balsamic vinaigrette. For my main course (this is where it gets bad) I had a pork chop, sauteed vegetables and mashed potatoes. In my defense I only had one pork chop and I ate lots of the veggies and only a couple bites of the mashed potatoes. Then came dessert... we got it on the house because the waiter rang in our appetizer wrong... so we had chocolate cake with raspberry chocolate truffle filling. OH MY GOSH it was amazing. Probably the best chocolate cake I've ever had (and I've had my fair share of cake)

So not the best DIET day but I only gained back .8 pounds so I'd say it was fine. I just learned if I eat in moderation then all is well. I didn't work out yesterday which I really wanted to but I was going crazy with church (we're doing a broadway review and my ward is dancing to Grease so I went and practiced that) then I had an Isagenix meeting, then I had my date. So I didn't have time. Maybe this week. I'm looking forward to running again. I just got so burnt out because I HAD to run. It wasn't a choice anymore. Now that I can do it for fun it's something I desire.

Anyway that is Isagenix day 3 of the diet and shake day 1 for me.

Cleanse Day 2

So yesterday was another cleanse day. It was significantly easier than the first cleanse day. The first day I ended up getting a headache (could have just been stress, I'm prone to headaches) but I felt like poop. I also started my period on day 1. So day 1 was just meant to be a terrible day. Sooo lets talk about the flavor of this stuff. I'm not a fruity drink person so when I first tried it I really didn't like it. I watered it down, next time I barely put enough water in, I even made it into a smoothie but I just really didn't like it. The second day the flavor grew on me and I could drink it. I was drinking so much water on the cleanse days it was crazy. I had to pee every 30 minutes. Haha but are you ready for my results?!

I lost 8 pounds and 10.25 inches

Thank you Isagenix I am a believer.

Today is a shake day. I started off with a Vanilla Shake with 1/2 an overripe banana in it. SOOOO delicious. Then for lunch I had a Vanilla Shake with PEANUT BUTTER. I love that I can still enjoy the foods I love. 

Isagenix

http://adriennesisabelievers.isagenix.com

Today is day one of my Isagenix 9-Day Cleanse. It's an amazing product with great results. I heard about it from my cousin and she did so great on it. She lost 9 pounds in those 9 days which is pretty incredible for anyone. I did a shake day yesterday which was awesome. Two delicious protein shake (which I learned you can flavor and put other things in AWESOME) and healthy snacks and a REAL meal. That is great. It's all so healthy for you and the shakes are almost entirely lactose free so that helps my bowels a lot. My first cleanse day was difficult because EVERYTHING I saw I wanted to eat. I was so tired of drinking constantly I just wanted solid food! But I just kept eating my snacks and drinking my drinks and alas I survived. I'm so excited about this cleanse and the product and the company. The people are great! If you buy product you can sell it. Who doesn't want to make money off of something they love and are passionate about? If you want more information you can go to my link. 

I'll keep you updated on my week and eating. This way I'm accountable for what I put in my mouth! 

This is Sandra after her 9 Day Cleanse. She lost 9 pounds and 6.25 inches!