Love Where You Live

NEW YEAR 2012! Here we come!

2011-12-20T10:54:00.000-07:00

As most of you have heard we are expecting baby number three. We are very excited. We will find out what we are having in the next week or two, baby is due at the end of May! I am feeling better than ever. I never get very sick being pregnant, but being so healthy going into this pregnancy has made it even more fun! Mike is doing well with work and his weight loss. We are excited to re-commit in 2012.

We are shifting focus to our new business adventure with my sister in law Shelley and her Vinyl Decal shop www.thehouseofsmithsdesigns.com check it out. Mike and I are the production team working with Shelley to build an amazing shop linked with The House of Smiths amazing Blog. Fun additions to come in the new year.

I am no longer designing flowers as of January 2012. It has been so fun to share my talents in a creative way and I may pick back up where I left off one of these years, but as for now it is time to move on to bigger and better things.

I am Young Womens President in my ward.... it's hard. I feel inadequate but that's usually how it goes. I love, love the girls and we will have a great year! Mike is Ward Mission Leader along with Gospel Principals Teacher each week. Busy busy.

Jeffrey is in Kindergarten and seems to enjoy school, he loves computers and being creative with paper and coloring. I am excited to get him involved with sports. like soccer or karate or something in the spring.

Katie is three going on 16. She is a fun spirited little girl and she is SO excited for our new baby. She loves horses, and playing with her brother.

Thank you all for your love and support this past year, we love you all!

Happy Holidays! And, Happy New Year!

First Day of School

2011-09-21T13:47:00.000-06:00

Jeffrey's in Kindergarten!!! Love this kid. He definitely chose what he was wearing the first day of school. He refuses to go to school without his har fixed, all spikey and cool. And is very particular with the type of snack I pack each day.

He is doing so well so far. Yay!

STATE FAIR 2011

2011-09-21T13:24:00.000-06:00

Getting our hands stamped.

Kangaroos this year huh? Pretty fun.

We had such a great time. Spent too much money and left very satisfied.

2011-09-21T13:21:00.000-06:00

Our tradition for the kids. A ride on the ponies is a must.

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Mike standing for our new lifestyle. Last year we got fudge carmel apples and a funnel cake. This year we brought our own apples in a plastic baggie.

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Until next year.

Gettin Crafty

2011-08-26T10:18:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I've posted for real. We are doing so great right now! Hope things are going well for my few readers.

I have done quite a few of these frames lately, thought I might as well share. I have two more in the works that I am doing for my cousins. One that is getting married on monday! And one that is having a baby pretty soon. So fun. This is more like something I think is fun to do. Definitely not a business, but I slowly the word has spread and It has sure been fun to get ideas for baby names ;)

Pricing starts at $20 and definitely varies from frame to frame. I never use the same frame. I have been collecting fun frames here and there and use the one that fits the theme or name. Get in touch with me if you might like one. More updates to come!

2011-08-15T13:29:00.001-06:00

Hi guys! Head on over to Mike's blog for pictures and stories from our camping trip. We had so much fun. Thanks for all of your love and support. More updates to come!

PARADE OF HOMES 2011

2011-08-08T13:52:00.000-06:00

We didn't even get to half of the houses, but we definitely got our money's worth. My friend Shannon and I went to the Parade of Homes. We started out in Daybreak and saw some pretty amazing things. HOT colors right now include the grays along with yellow, turquise and green, Dark blue and white, and neutrals with pops of color like oranges and greens. Wall paper is BACK people. We saw some awesome designs. Some amazing decor and some not so amazing decor. Well worth the trip.

2011-08-08T13:37:00.000-06:00

The "UP" house. One word ...BUSY! It was crazy over there. But I'm glad I got to say that I have seen it. Inside and out. It was decorated to be exactly like the house on Disney's UP movie. It was so cute. Who would buy a house like that? I don't know, but it is fun.

2011-08-08T13:31:00.000-06:00

Favorite house by far. Located in Draper. Every detail was more than well thought out. The colors were amazing. Textures were unique. Everything came together. Adn the layout of this enormous house was just briliant.

Love the idea of the computer/ internet in the kitchen. Every cabinet in the kitchen had those glass windows, most of them were lit. And they each had an object in them to add color.

Okay.....ULTIMATE back yard. Only because it has a ZIP-line!!!! Can you see it to the left. You start at the top of the hill and fly down ocross the yard. Oh man would I have loved that as a kid. I mean this house had EVERYTHING!!! So fun, thanks Shan for a great time.

4th of JULY Festivities!

2011-07-06T14:06:00.000-06:00

Pirate Party for Jeffrey's birthday celebration.

We had a blast this year. Thanks guys!

2011-07-06T14:04:00.000-06:00

2011-07-06T14:03:00.000-06:00

Jeffrey turned 5! Love you buddy.

We ended with all of THESE. Made for a fun summer night.

2011-06-27T11:22:00.001-06:00

Don't worry if you missed it this year. There will always be the next year! It was a successful celebration of the longest day of the year. We had a ton of food and even more people than we have EVER seen. We had Steve Walker preform along with another band and an accordionist. We had a lot of fun. So next June we better see the rest of you come on over. It's at my parents home every year. They invite friends and neighbors. In Norway they celebrate it as Sankt Hans Aften it's a day when the sun does not go down for them. Land of the midnight sun. Thanks to all who came!

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2011-06-27T11:14:00.000-06:00

2011-06-27T11:13:00.000-06:00

Taking the time.

2011-05-23T10:26:00.000-06:00

It doesn't take much to keep a kid happy. Get down on the floor with your baby and take the time to read to them, build something with them or color with them. It makes such a difference.

Fashion Photo Shoot

2011-05-23T10:21:00.000-06:00

We came home the other evening from a family walk. And Jeffrey was in the mood for a photo shoot where he does all these "cool" poses. Katie jumped right in and started posing as well. It made some pretty silly pictures. I was standing there taking the pictures saying,

"Oh yeah baby work it. Come on! You got it. Keep em comin. Woo Hoo! Ooh, that one was hot."

Little did I know, one of my neighbors was waiting at the bottom of the stairs waiting to go up while all of this was going on. Hmm. Embarassing.

17th of May

2011-05-23T10:01:00.001-06:00

This WILL be the last year my kids wear their traditional Norwegian outfits. Sadly they are growing out of them. But, we had a wonderful time. The weather was glorious. I couldn't bare to miss it this year. It is a tradition that means so much to me. My parents used to drop us off the night before at Grandma and Grandpa Larsen's house where we would eat dinner and then head to the park down town. We would stay up late being silly with our cousins and try to get some sleep. Grandpa would wake us up super early for breakfast so we could get down to the celebration early. Where we would march in the parade and pretend to sing the Norwegian songs. We had so much fun. I will keep going every year. Hurra! Hurra! Hurra, fra Syttende Mai! Read HERE to learn more about our tradition.

Grandma Badger came with us this year because we made plans earlier in the day.

Ya think!?

2011-05-10T17:01:00.001-06:00

It has been a while. Yep. No excuses.

My life is so good right now. I have so much to be grateful for. Mike and I are hard at work to get to our healthiest by Christmas. I have lost 40+ pounds and Mike.....well he's lost a lot more try 130+ pounds. WOW!!!! Before and after pictures coming your way. Check out his blog and I'm a little bit shy about my success but maybe I'll get brave.

The kids are doing really well. Excited for summer. No big plans just a few camping trips. Mike is going to get through a little more school over the summer. Weddings are picking up. Can't wait to share pictures! Thanks for the support guys.

Below are the pictures I took of Katie wearing the dress my Grandma Larsen painstakingly knit for my sweet Katie. We will be framing this dress along with this picture of her wearing it. These gifts are priceless. The dress is absolutely gorgeous. THANK YOU GRANDMA!!!!

Easter pic of the fam. Awe, cute.

Football Season.

2011-04-19T09:32:00.010-06:00

SACK.
SACK!Headed for the sack.
SACK!!!
SACK!!!!
And SACK.

My brother Cody is going to have an AWESOME year down at SUU. Can't wait to see him play.
And Ty this up at USU this weekend! Oh and don't forget Zach and Collin. Go Diggers!

The Right Mentality

2011-04-17T14:06:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to post this here as well as Skinny Jeans for all my readers. Feel free to become a follower the Skinny Jeans blog as well. Thanks!

At our group on Monday everyone weighed in for the second time. I was amazed by the progress from just one week. Eight or more of us loosing an average of two pounds each. We now have six dedicated women going to the gym 5am next week. So exciting. We are in this! More support each week. We are all rooting for each other. Doesn't matter what gym you go to. Keep it up girls!

A while back I had a pretty amazing experience. I debated on whether or not to share this. I decided it would benefit us all.

I LOVE running/ jogging/ chunky trotting ;) outside for exercise. I have always loved it. The other evening it started poring rain while I was out. It was the most amazing thing. What was I going to do? Stop? No. I had to get home somehow. It empowered me. It was like magic rain. I ran harder and faster and longer than I ever have.

I was headed past the isle of fast food restaurants, I mean you name it, it's there on that street.

For those of you who do know me, know I can not SMELL. It may seem sad. It doesn't really bother me unless my house is filling with smoke and I can't smell it. I remember being able to smell when I was a child. Anyway. I can't smell poop, throw up, sour dish rags, body odor, cat pee, etc. All those gross smells. Along with the good smells. Aaaww, sad. I may have pretended to smell something if someone asks me, "Ooh how does this smell?" I don't want to go into the whole explanation. I just smile and give an, "Ooh, it smells very nice :)" Sorry if I've done that to you, now you know. I don't have a sense of smell.

I started walking quickly past Wendy's, then Taco Bell, Blimpie's, & McDonalds, a place we stopped often back when. I felt as if something was luring me in. It's not like I was going to walk in from my run and order a double cheeseburger, plus I didn't even have any money. But it made me angry that I even felt that. I became even more angry thinking about all the times I had been through the drive through. Come on when the drive through guy knows your name, I'm sorry it's time to stop or at least go next door to Taco Bell!

No just kidding he didn't know our name...... I knew his name. Lol.

I was SO angry I had the urge to flip off those damn places. I can't blame anyone but myself, I was mad at myself! How did I get here? Why did I do this to myself? I just wanted to SCREAM!!!

I neared the end of the evil row of greasy foods and one last thing sent me...................

The- AROMA -of fast food filled my head...... I smelt it as clear as day...... I stopped for a second not believing what was happening. I didn't want people to watch me as started crying so I kept walking. I knew the smell the minute it entered my nose. REALLY??? really. I have never smelt something so real in my life. It was like one last shove it in my face. One last temptation. One last realization that I am never going back there. Back there as in the time of my life when I was sad, depressed and fat sitting on my couch eating unhealthy, being lazy, and just not doing anything about it.

I continued walking home crying and praying that I would have the strength to make this journey toward health and happiness. That my body would respond to my efforts as I work so hard to achieve the goals I have set for my self. Ever since that experience something changed inside of me. I'm here, I'm ready.

This experience put me into the mentality that I am in now. Bring it on.

I have run past those same fast food places many times since then. Not once have I smelled the food again, and I probably never will.

Thanks for reading.

~Karlie~

UPDATE!

2011-04-14T09:52:00.003-06:00

Most of you that read my blog know already about our new passion for life.

Mike and I have been successfully and consistently loosing weight for a while now. It is taking over our life. In a good way. Mike has lost over 115 pounds. I have lost 30.

I was asked by a friend how Mike and I are doing this. How can we keep up on everything while working so hard to become healthier?

Here is my answer:

"Okay ready for it? I'm lucky if my front room stays clean. Sorry girl, there is no secret, it's so hard. Mike and I recently came up with a detailed list of how my day should go. Hour by hour to keep me on track and on top of EVERYTHING. Laundry dishes cleaning, kids you name it. I recently started working out at 5am so I can check that off my list first thing, but I miss my evening workout, I loved going out at night. Mike always goes after dinner. But really, we came to the conclusion that this takes priority in our lives. And everyone around us knows it. So if I have to leave a Relief Society meeting early so that Mike makes it to the gym that is okay our health takes priority over just about anything. Find a schedule that works for you. Sit down with Jorey and plan hour by hour because that is what it came down to for us."

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So there it is. It is NOT easy and we are working very hard for this. It is so exciting though. We have so much support from family and friends. Some ladies in my ward started up a group that meets at the church every week, we go to discuss health and fitness tips, exchange healthy recipes, and just enjoy the close knit support. We even weigh in to each other. It is so FUN!

I keep telling people. It's time. It is just time for us to do this. We want to have more kids. We have a lot to look forward to in life and we want to get the most out of it. Our weight issues were holding us back .

NO MORE!!!!

Have a good week more updates to come.

I am posting on www.skinnyjeansforme.blogspot.com twice a week or so along with two awesome girls. Check up on my progress there!