Menu Planning

We've recently really buckled down on budgeting and with that means I need to really menu plan so I'm not spending more than we need to on groceries. I've been looking and looking for a notebook or planner to help me do this, but I haven't been able to come up with one that is strictly just menu planning and nothing else. So I decided to make my own! I thought I would post it here in case anyone else wanted to use it too. I'm going to see if I can make it into a notebook or something to print it out.

Download the PDF HERE. 

5K

I've never been a runner and I've certainly never run more than a mile at a time and even then I was forced to do it in gym class. So when I started running in April, I didn't have high hopes. I had been working to lose the baby weight that I never lost after I had Felix (I know! 2 years is a long time to not do anything about it) and I needed to have a form of regular exercise that I could do on my own either at home or in the mornings before Phil left for the day. At first I decided to do workout videos from home. That worked for a few months, but then I started to feel like it wasn't challenging enough and sometimes was hard to do with Felix trying to play in my workout space...

I have a neighbor (a very good friend of mine) who started running in the fall three days a week and completed a half marathon recently. She gets up before 6am so she can run and shower before her husband leaves for work/school. I always thought she was crazy for getting up so early. I thought I could never do something like that....until I needed something else to do for exercise. So I downloaded a couch to 5k program on my phone and decided to give the 8 week program a shot.

I started getting up at 6am to run before Phil left for school. The first week was killer! Seriously. Having not run since before I got pregnant with Felix (when I was trying to do a c25k, but only got 3 weeks into it before I got pregnant) my body and muscles were not in shape. That first week has you alternate running for 60 seconds and walking for 90 seconds, alternating until you reach 20 minutes. Sounds easy, right? Well I struggled! I did it, but I struggled. Each week after that increases the running and walking intervals and then by the last few week, you're doing longer stretches of running and shorter stretches of walking and doing a long run on day 3 of the week. By the end you should be able to run for 30 minutes straight (assuming you run about a 10 minutes mile, then this would be close to 3.1 miles).

It took me about 12 weeks to get through the whole program. I repeated some weeks because I wasn't able to complete all 3 workouts or couldn't quite do the workout (that first 20 minute run was a doozy). I even went running while on vacation! When Phil and I went away for a few nights we went running together and when I went to Chicago with some friends from High School I got up and ran in downtown Chicago.

The best thing about it? Phil decided to do it too! We've only been able to run together a few times, but I really enjoy doing that. I kind of wish we had started doing it a long time ago, before Felix came along. So when Phil started running, we decided to sign up for an official 5k race together. We found one in Detroit on July 13th on the Detroit River Walk.

Before the race, neither one of us had run the actual 3.1 miles. I did three 30 minute runs every week, but never more than that and I never went the full 3.1 miles. I'm slow! So I was VERY nervous about the race, so nervous in fact that I didn't sleep very well the night before. My only goal for the race was to run the whole thing without stopping! On race day, we headed downtown bright and early for the 8am start time. They gave us our bibs and we waited for the race to begin.

Well, in the end, we both finished without stopping! I could not have done it if Phil were not running right there by my side. I know he could have gone much faster, but I only had one moment where I almost stopped running, but pushed through and kept going. The only thought in my head was how disappointed I would be if I didn't finish the whole thing. By the end I was exhausted, but after catching my breath I couldn't stop smiling. I never have felt a true "runner's high" but I did that day. I felt like I could do anything and I felt so proud of myself (not very humble, but I felt I deserved a little self congratulations).

To be honest, this experience has really shown me that I can do hard things; things I never would have in my wildest dreams thought I could do. Its extremely empowering to set a goal, work towards that goal, and finally achieve that goal. I've also learned the power of physical exercise in my life. I have more energy with Felix when I'm consistently working out, I sleep better at night and I tend to be a bit happier. So since the race, I've kept up running 3 days a week for anywhere from 25-30 minutes. I hope this becomes a lifelong habit! I also hope there are more 5k races in my future.

That's Canada!

The start/finish line

Family Pictures

Phillip and I haven't had good quality and professional pictures taken since we were married about 7 years ago! So it was about time for us to get our little family captured on film. Julia's good friend Lisa and her husband have a photography business and Lisa came up for a Clark Family Crazy Morning of Picture Taking. I can't imagine trying to get 15 adults and 18 kids in one picture! But she did a great job. Here are a few of them plus the ones of the Singers.

Our UT Trip: Part 2 (The Reunion)

My parent's house in Heber is in such a great location. They have the most amazing view off their porch and I loved spending every morning and evening sitting out there watching the sun rise and set and the storms roll in. 

Their house is in a golf community with a great pool. We had a great time watching Felix discover his love of swimming. This was really his first time being able to swim, since we didn't do it much last summer. He did great! The pool had a shallow end that went from about 1 ft to 3ft and he had a great time throwing balls around and splashing. At one point he even let me carry him on my back while we swam in the "big water" (i.e. deep end). Sadly I don't have any swimming pictures. I really wasn't on top of my game as far as pictures are concerned. 

The reunion set up was pretty casual. We had mostly free mornings and afternoons to swim, play, go exploring, etc. And then we would all have dinner together at the house and in the evenings the adults would have a discussion. My Dad decided what our topics were going to be and sent it out and had us think about/prepare some things to discuss. My favorite night was when we talked about family history and family memories. We talked about and read about some of our ancestors and their histories and then we reminisced about growing up in the Clark household. I especially love hearing my siblings talk about things I don't remember or wasn't around for. There were a lot of great things that happened before the twins came along! 

One morning we took a family hike up to Stewart Falls up the Provo Canyon. Phil wasn't going to be able to come because he had to go for a run that morning to prepare for our 5k (more on that later), so I didn't think I could do it by myself with Felix. At the last minute, my sister offered me her baby carrier (50 lb weight limit) ato carry Felix on my back, so we decided to go! The minute we got to the trail Felix refused to be put in the carrier. And then he pretty much cried all the way up and back! Luckily I have some amazing brothers who helped me carry Felix up and down when he didn't want to walk. In retrospect, it probably isn't a good hike for toddlers, but Felix had a blast once we got to the bottom of the falls and he could splash around in the water and throw rocks. 

Uncle Mike. The Best. 

Taking a rest on Andrew's shoulder on the way down. Uncles are the best!

The best part of the whole trip was seeing Felix with his cousins. He loves his cousins! He still talks about them and asks about them. 

Oh I can't get enough of these two. That's Clara on the left and Charlotte on the right. They are the two littlest grand-babies and I LOVE THEM. 

Here are Papa and Nana doing a little FHE with the grandkids before bed. Too bad you can't really tell its them! (darn sun)

 Felix loved getting to play with Henry. I think they bonded over cars. Below is a picture of Henry showing Felix youtube videos of monster trucks!

Picking a winner!

This is Felix playing with Rachel and Katherine. Rachel was Jasmine and Katherine was Aladdin. They recruited Felix to play Jafar! It was awesome. 

The smiles on this one are awesome!

While we were in UT, Phillip turned 30! Phillip is not one for being the center of attention, but we did sneak in some delicious chocolate cake and cupcakes. 

We loved our time in Heber! Thanks Mom and Dad for opening up your home to all of us and providing great memories for us and our children.