Water Aerobics

The post you've all been waiting for, a post on water aerobics- Get Excited! So as you can see, I have lots of spare time on my hands while Bill is at work, and Citymama is out of town - boo. So what do I do? I do what any vain person would do, take pictures of my self doing ridiculous things. You can thank me that I didn't take pictures of me in the pool, that would have been too hard to do by myself. So you get the G rated version, me in clothes and in my small apartment, with a camera remote and tripod.
So lets start with the basics. Water aerobics can be done in shallow and deep water, mix it up. This move is great for about 4.5 to 5' range - A form of jumping jacks, but keep your arms in the water for maximum resistance, and cup your hands and push the water around you, and don't forget to be dramatic, all in the name of a good workout. See below.
Okay, here we have a little ab workout. So keep your legs at least shoulder length apart or wider, and twist your upper body, again use your arms for Resistance. RESISTANCE, RESISTANCE RESISTANCE!
Now it is time to bring in your dancing experience. If you are(were) a ballerina, do some ballerina moves, like plie and, well that's all the ballet positions I know. Be creative. Or do something like the grapevine, or clogging, honky tonky, or a jumping plie (this is great in deeper water, but if you are doing it in shallow water, maker sure you swimsuit it tied on securely).
If you are like me, you might have to resort to dancing like Elaine on Seinfeld, and that's okay. It still get a great workout dancing like a spaz in the water or on the coffee table.

Next we have, walk like an Egyptian, again, RESISTANCE is the key. Push water around with your arms and do some lunges in the shallow end.
And finally we have the Robot. This can be a good workout or and could be for kicks and giggles. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" I always like to say. So throw in some robot moves.
And finally how could I forget running in place or running around the pool (high knees are a must). When Deena Kastor is injured, she turns to the pool (a special workout pool) and runs in the water to maintain her fitness. Also, if you don't have a kick board, you can do a flutter kick or a breaststroke kick on the stairs.
So now what have we learned? RESISTANCE is key, (and not caring about what others think of you) and you can have a great workout!

Meet the New Me

Did I mention that I cut my hair? Well I did, I decided it was time for a new me for a new city. It is great to have short hair again.
Anyway, as we drove into this weird city full of weirdos, I've noticed all sorts of weird things. For example in Utah, there are scrapbook stores on every corner, in Chicago, Starbucks are on every corner. Here in Las Vegas besides having nude bars etc all over, there are IHOP's and Denny's everywhere. I guess when the city never sleeps, 24 hour places like Denny's and IHOP thrive.
Also when we moved here, I figured we'd be close enough to everything that I could walk everywhere, you know save gas, thus save money. That lasted about 1 day. I tried that and found myself crawling to the nearest gas station for a Slurpee which promptly melted as soon as I stepped out the door. You can't walk around here, the only walking done is from your car to the air conditioned destination. Needless to say, I can't run here, at 7 AM it is already 89 degrees and so I've resorted to making up water aerobic routines in the pool. Imagine Elaine on Seinfeld dancing, and that is pretty much what I look like in the pool, but it's not a bad workout.
Well, that's all for now, stay tuned for more updates.

Good Food Friday

Sorry this is late, the library was closed on Friday due to employee training. So today we have the most scrumptious meal of all time. Bill LOVES this and we make it frequently. And this is the one meal he will gladly eat as left overs.
California Chicken Salad:
2 1/2 cups chicken , cooked and cubed
1/4 cup mayonnaise (or more to taste)
3 Tblsp cilantro, chopped
1 Tblsp grated onion (optional)
1/4 tsp chili powder
salt, to taste
rye bread
avocado
lettuce
tomato
alfalfa sprouts
mozzarella cheese

Instructions:
Combine chicken, mayo, cilantro, onion, chili powder and salt.
You can: pile salad on rye bread, top with avocado, lettuce, tomato, alfalfa sprouts and mozzarella cheese, as desired.

or you can: eat it plain

or you can: place chicken mixture on tortillas, top with additional toppings, and roll, making a yummy chicken salad wrap.

Just FYI: if you are a Miracle Whip person like myself, don't use Miracle Whip, you must use Mayo. Second, I just cook a bunch a chicken, throw in as much mayo as I need and use whatever bread I have lying around. I like my bread toasted, Bill doesn't. But this is a very tasty summer meal, try it, you'll like it.

Our Sunday Footage

Remember how I said our ward was video taped during sacrament meeting for some Church thing. Well my dear friend Ali (hi Ali, thanks for the heads up!) sent me a link to some footage of our ward. Don't worry, you will see me and Bill very clearly. Enjoy.


I love how you can schedule posts, because I wrote this yesterday. Mwahahaaa.

I'm Back, Hallelujah

Oh I'm back, hurray! Yes we are alive. 1,900 miles later we made it to Las Wages, I mean, Sin City, or Las Vegas.We are here in our new very short term home, and once I figure out how to transfer the pictures I've taken from a raw format to jpeg, then I'll post them, but as for now, I don't know how, and Bill always makes it look so complicated. So I'll just have to wait for him to show me, or do it for me.
Here is the problem. There is NO FREE INTERNET! How is this possible? I'm going through withdrawal! The place where we are staying charges $.20 per minute. Even Barnes and Noble charges. So here I am, an the public library. I have to make it quick because the weirdo across from me is commenting on how cute my freckles are and how long I've had them. (Don't be alarmed Mom, there are lots of people here) But honestly, does the rock on my left hand mean absolutely nothing?
But now that you all know my unfortunate internet circumstances, you should also be aware that my responses to email and writing clever blogs might be fewer than normal (not that I am that frequent), but they will still appear, because there is just way to much crazy stuff to write about during our short tenure here.

Yes, I'm a lame-o

Sorry for my lack of posting, yes I'm a lame-o. My excuse(s): I'm packing, no computer (see Bill/finals), and my life is really boring right now. But be ye prepared, life should get exciting again in 2-4 days.

Good Food Friday

I'll be honest, I rarely make chocolate chip cookies. For one thing, they usually have too many chocolate chips, also, they never seem to turn out. So instead I make Spicy Pumpkin Cookies.
And what better time to make these scrumptious and nutritious cookies (this might be a stretch, but pumpkin is really good for you). Plus, Bill is in mad finals mode, so he has to get some calories some how.

Spicy Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C butter, softened
1 1/2 C white sugar
1 C canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, salt; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and sugar. Add pumpkin puree, egg, and 1 tsp vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Add dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheets by tablespoon full; flatten slightly.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 min in preheated oven.

how to name your kid

I realize that humans are a vain species. We like to see ourselves everywhere. In mirrors, in photos, our names on street signs, vanity plates, and especially in our children. But for some reason, seeing your ears on your child isn't enough. Humans like to pass on everything about themselves especially their names.

Take for instance Dion Sanders, he has a new show on and it is pretty funny. Anyway, his two oldest children are named Diondra and Dion Jr.

I know that Dion isn't the only person that does this. A Chantel might have a baby girl and name her Chantella (I saw this on the news last night)

Others like to combine their names for their children, such as Kristen and Travis would then have a Tristen or Kravis.

So to keep up with the Jone's, Bill and I will be naming all of our children the following:

Billianna

Kill

Batie

Bate

Willarvey (we have to fit in my maiden name some how and just think of it like Willaby from Sense and Sensibility)

Bill Jr.

Kate Jr.

Katrina

Will

and finally

Willthryn

For more ridiculous names see this post by my sister .

American Girl Store

The other day, my friend Amy and I went downtown to the American Girl Place. We had an excellent time of course, and it's okay if you feel kind of jealous, it's natural.
I grew up with American Girls. I read all the books, and I even have one. Too bad this is booming business, because I don't think my Samantha doll will ever be worth anything. See below for Samantha, the best one they ever created.


Now they've got all sorts of AG, 1970's girl, 1950's girl, 2008 girl, bitty babies, and even BFF's for all the original girls. Anyway, we had a most enjoyable time.

They even have a real hair salon, with real salon chairs and real prices.
Here is the Felicity doll with her BFF Elizabeth. Go ahead, by the collection for $205.
And finally, you can have an American Girl that looks just like you. Don't you think this looks like me? (they had a girl with freckles, but she also had bangs, and....I ain't got no bangs).
So if any of you want to go to the American Girl Place, I'll take you and hopefully we can catch a show in the American Girl Theater, and have brunch in the American Girl Cafe with our American Girl dolls, of course.