November in Review

11/1 I woke up just before 8, as did AJ. I got some laundry in. I got to the gym about 9:30 and had a quick workout. I dropped off AJ's library books. I had a shake, moved laundry, took a shower, and got ready. We went to Cornbelly's for a long time. The weather was awesome, and it was a great day. We left around 4:15, and AJ fell asleep in the car then ended up continuing to sleep on me. It was awesome; I soaked it up. We watched Kubo. Matthew made dinner. I did bath; Matthew did bed time. 

11/2 I went on a walk. I picked up Rachel from the airport. We went to breakfast at Marmalade--so good. I got home and took down Halloween decorations. During AJ's nap, I cleaned the floors and dug out the tomato plants. I ran to Walmart for a few things. We watched Kubo and the Two Strings. The boys played outside with cars in the dirt where the tomato plants were. Matthew made some of our garden broccoli. I did bath, and Matthew finished out bed time. I did yoga. We had AJ in bed by 8, thanks to DST. We watched Stranger Things. 

Tiny sad carrot

Breakfast with Rachel

11/3 I was up a couple of times in the night. I was up at 5 for the gym, a deload day! Work was somewhat busy - a 3-hour class, and a 2-hour condensed re-hire orientation. I picked up AJ. We had teriyaki chicken, rice, and veggies for dinner. I did bath, and Matthew did bed time. We watched Stranger Things.  

11/4 I was up early for the gym. I hit 70.2 KG on the scale, just about where I needed to be for my Saturday meet, which is awesome. Work wasn't too crazy. I picked up AJ. We had chicken sausage, potatoes, and veggies for dinner. We carved pumpkins and set them out. Matthew did bed time. We watched Stranger Things. 

11/5 I was up about 6 to do Core de Force. Work was good. We had our ESL 2 post-test and practice presentation. These ladies are so positive and awesome. I have loved working with them. It was also popcorn day at work. Plus HR brought in donuts from Lehi Bakery, and sandwiches from Port of Subs, which I didn't get to eat at all thanks to my cut. I also got a really nice comment from a few levels up at work: "Just FYI. I asked Janae to help order and pick up sandwiches. She will step away 11:50-12:20 to pick them up. Just want both of you to know, as I have watched Janae from interview to now, I have just been so impressed with her value alignment, work ethic, and attitude. Great job to both of you for identifying her and bringing her up to speed." That was really nice. I picked up AJ, grabbed prescriptions at Walmart, and started dinner--spaghetti and meatballs. I had to stop eating early for my weight, per my coach's request. I did bath time, and Matthew did bed time. We watched Stranger Things.

11/6 I was up early for the gym, which was just a few singles of squats and lots of singles of bench. Work was quiet and slow. I took a couple of walks. I started the cleaning in the evening to reduce the load for Friday. We did bath and bed time. 

11/7 I worked a half day. I got groceries. I cleaned and did laundry. I got the suitcase out of the garage and also brought in my treadmill for the winter. I packed a bag for my meet and packed up me and AJ for the St. George overnight. I picked up AJ from daycare and drove through Swig (and had to turn around because the syrup was out). Then we met Matthew at In-N-Out since I had to be done eating by 6:30. 

11/8 I was up at 6, got a donut, and went to my power lifting meet. It was absolutely freezing at the gym. I weighed in with 0.4kg to spare for my weight class. I ate and drank some Body Armor as we waited for the rules. Squats were first, and I "failed" all three attempts, so it was a really rough start. Everyone back stage including my teammates and coach were so confused and upset by how harsh the judges were being to everybody. I kept it together until after my squats before I finally cried. My coach was happy with my first two squats, and on the third I tried to get too low and almost couldn't get back out of the pocket. My coworker came to watch my squats and sent me some live photos, and I so appreciated that she came. So anyway, I was disqualified from placement or points. I was allowed to bench and deadlift. After squats, my coach told me to have a protein shake, so I did. My brother and his family got there before bench presses, so he pep talked me and hugged me. I was so grateful they came all the way from Logan. Matthew and AJ got there too, then my mom and grandma. I hit all three bench presses maxing at 132lb. After bench presses, my brother went to my mom's house, and my coach wanted me to eat a meal, so I had Matthew get me McDonald's. He brought it to me then took AJ to my mom's house. My mom also went home to spend time with the grandsons. My grandma stayed, and Matthew came back, and they watched me deadlift. I hit all three deadlifts and maxed at 275lb. I stayed to watch my teammate do her deadlifts and then took off after that since I wasn't going to place or get awards. We went to my grandma's. I changed, and Matthew loaded from his car to mine. We went to Nori sushi in American Fork. Then we hit the road, stopped for AJ to go potty in Cedar, and got to St. George about 8:45. Cousins chased AJ around. I got AJ to bed about 10:30 since he took a car nap at 5pm. 

11/9 AJ was up at 6:30am. I took him out of the room and into the small living room where I put on Yu Gi Oh for him. I did yoga. I took AJ and got a protein latte from Starbucks. I ate while Matthew showered. After I showered we took some of the kiddos to the pool, and Matthew was with AJ while I just tried to process and watch videos from my meet. Emily made beef bulgogi bowls for lunch. We put AJ down for his nap, and he slept for almost two hours. We packed up while he slept. We left shortly after 3 to head back home. We got Matthew's car from my grandma's house. Matthew went to get Dexter. I drove AJ and I through Taco Bell, and we got home. I unloaded and put on a show for him while I tried to get things settled and unpacked. I got AJ into the bath. After his bath I did lunch prep. Matthew finished bed time, and I did my supplements for the week. We watched Stranger Things. 

11/10 Per my coach's instruction, I didn't lift. I got up about 6 and did a 10 minute treadmill walk since it was freezing outside. Work was fine--I did tech support on a 3-hour class. I picked up AJ and started dinner. We did some playing. No bath, and Matthew finished out bed time. We watched Stranger Things. 

11/11 I got up about 6 and ran a mile outside, which was really nice, actually. We had continued beautiful sunny mild weather. It was a really busy day at work--lots of setup and cleanup and shopping and random things. I finished listening to Harry Potter 3. I picked up AJ. We ate, did bath and bed time, and watched Stranger Things. 

11/12 I woke up about 6 to do some cardio in my living room. I was busy at work in the morning, including our ESL graduation party which was so awesome. I also had a networking opportunity at lunch at work. I picked up AJ, got gas, ate, and did bath time. Matthew finished out bed time. 

11/13 I slept until 6:30 because AJ was super wakeful all night. It was a busy day at work with a mental health first aid training. I picked up AJ, heated up dinner for us, and did bath time. Matthew finished out bed time. We didn't watch a show but decided to talk as a couple instead. 

11/14 I woke up about 6 and walked for 10 minutes inside due to the wind. I worked a half day and actually was pretty busy at work. I came home, cleaned, did some laundry, went to Five Below (for work gift exchange gift), Petco, and Smith's. I picked up AJ. I set up my Free Porch Pantry outside and posted about it on Facebook. I set up my new laptop. I downloaded my meet photos. 

11/15 AJ woke me up around 7. I got him some breakfast and started some laundry. I ran 1 mile and walked 20 minutes after that. Matthew went to get an oil change. I took a shower and hung out with AJ. He took a nap. We watched Stranger Things. We watched a movie after AJ woke up, and went to Keyaki Sushi for the first time. Then we went to Sweetaly for dessert. There was a book truck parked there, and I lost my mind. I got a new crewneck that is SO cute. I loved it. We did bed time with AJ and watched Stranger Things. 

11/16 I woke up super tired at 6:30am after being up all night with AJ in bed next to me. He was coughing and choking so badly. After breakfast and tidying I got ready for family photos at the White Studio in Sandy. Ali did a great job as always. We went to Paris Baguette afterward. I showed AJ how to do a sinus rinse, and he did great! We did some stuff in the yard--cut up our carved pumpkins and put them in our garden. AJ took a nap. I walked, and we finished Stranger Things season 4. I got lunch and vitamins ready for the week and made some rice. We dropped off dinner and rice to Brooke and Brett, then went to Saratoga for my brother-in-law's birthday. We did another sinus rinse and bed time, and I went to bed early because I was wiped out from the hard night. 

A legitimate carrot

11/17 I woke up at 5 for the gym, after getting up at midnight and 1am with AJ due to his coughing. I had new hire orientation at work, which always just feels like a long day. I picked up AJ, heated up our chicken chili, and we ate dinner together. Matthew brought home some Christmas bins from storage. I did bath time, and Matthew finished out bed time. We started season 2 of Bridgerton. 

11/18 I got up for a short walk and got to work early. In the middle of my workday, I drove to Provo to meet with a surgeon who had a pre-term labor he had to run to, so I ended up meeting with a nurse practitioner. They basically recommended against surgery, so that was a fun waste of time. I stayed late at work and took a call from the doctor who had missed my appointment. I had a Yelp event downtown in the evening with coffee and donuts and a sound bath! I was so, so sore this day from lifting on Monday. I also wasn't feeling well for the second day in a row and used Flonase. 

11/19 I got up early for the gym. I barely made it through my workout due to being in so much pain. I almost quit in the middle of my deadlifts and struggled not to cry. I took my car to the mechanic and got a ride to work. Work was fairly busy with popcorn day, a training workshop, and an UltraLead class, plus our company Product Fair during lunch. Again in the morning I took allergy medicine and used Flonase. I was in so much pain throughout the day (nearly in tears), Matthew had me take a salt bath that evening. I spent about an hour in the tub while he did dishes and managed AJ. I finished AJ's bed time.

11/20 I slept in due to not feeling well (both illness and soreness). I took a couple of walks during the day. I met with Dr. Stanford virtually for an update on my case, and I'm happy with how that went. I picked up AJ. Matthew and AJ made themselves noodles, and I had leftovers. I worked on our holiday card and ordered from Walmart. I did AJ's bath, and Matthew finished bed time. We watched Bridgerton season 2. 

11/21 I lifted early in the morning. I started some laundry because AJ wet his bed. I worked a half day. I had a dentist appointment. I went to Walmart and Smith's and storage. I started to decorate for Christmas. AJ had a fun event at Canny Kids so Matthew and I went on a date to Sauce Boss Southern Kitchen. 

11/22 I got up and continued some decorating but spent a lot of time looking for the battery recharger and small command hooks. I trained with Taylor at the gym in the morning. I did laundry. AJ and I took a shower. We decorated the tree, and I finished other things during his nap. I also cleaned the floors. That evening we had Kennedy over to play with AJ. 

11/23 I slept in until 7:40. I made AJ and myself breakfast. It was a movie day. In the morning he watched In Your Dreams on Netflix. We went on a walk. Then he watched Paddington in Peru. We took a break while Matthew was at a movie and lunch with friends. I did some lunch prep. We watched Klaus and Vivo. We did bath and an early bed time. We watched Bridgerton. 

11/24 I was up early for the gym. I went to work, but it was a really mellow day. I stopped at Beans & Brews for a gift card and stopped at home for a Christmas card. I picked up AJ then Matthew, and took them to the mechanic to get his car. From there I left to have dinner with Brittney at Wingers. I did bath and bed time. 

11/25 I was up early again for the gym. I went to work and had a few things to do, so a little bit busier. I went and got stamps at the post office and went home to start packing. I picked up AJ and fed him. I stamped and sealed Christmas cards. While Matthew took his dog to Jim's, I took AJ to Smith's and the post office to drop off cards. I packed us up while AJ took a bath. 

11/26 We got up at 5 to drive to California. We left at 6:05 and stopped in Fillmore for potty and donuts. We drove to St. George, went potty, and got gas. We stopped in Vegas because AJ said he had to pee. After he told us he didn't want a burger, he fell asleep, and woke up asking for a burger. It was a pretty large meltdown. We stopped in Needles to get him a burger and let him go "poop," which he didn't actually need to do. And the entire system was down, so we had to go to Burger King to get him a burger, and they wanted to charge us $3.79 for a large cup of water, so we asked for our money back. We had traffic most of the way to Glendora after state line, including the Cajon pass. We got to Glendora at 4:45pm--almost 12 hours in the car. We ate some tacos dad got for us. I made the sweet potato casserole and prepped for the stuffing, plus marinated the turkey. We watched 1.5 episodes of Stranger Things. 

11/27 Slept until 7:40 which was so nice. I made stuffing. We got the turkey in at 9am. I walked 2 miles. Matthew made mashed potatoes. I baked the stuffing and the sweet potatoes (with topping). I made green beans. Jason & Kellie brought salad, rolls, and dessert. We hung out. We watched Stranger Things. 

Dad got donuts

11/28 I got up about 7 and fed AJ. I went to the gym. I showered. Brittany came over for a while to chat. I spent a lot of time talking with my dad. AJ took a nap. Matthew spent the day with his brothers going to the movies and dinner. I played with AJ doing chase, chalk, and hide and seek. AJ complained about his ear, so we did an onion poultice. I did bath and bed time, and I went to bed super early. 

11/29 I got up at 6 and got AJ food. I went to the gym, got gas, got Starbucks, and got Donut Queen. We went to Eastvale for Hollis's baby blessing and stayed a while. We did some laundry, changed, and went to Jason's to spend time with them and go to the park. We got dinner at Casa del Rey, did AJ's bath and bed time, and watched Stranger Things. 

11/30 I woke up at 5:20. We packed up, started a load of laundry, and left at 6:57am. We stopped in Baker for 15 minutes and St. George for 30 minutes (to eat, go potty, and get gas). We had traffic and weather off and on the rest of the way home. We got home about 6:20pm, but we picked up pizza before going home. We unpacked and AJ watched a movie. We got to bed early. 

Books I read in November

-The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica (audiobook)

-Harry Potter 3 by J.K. Rowling (audiobook)

-Harry Potter 4 by J.K. Rowling (audiobook)