Wilbur the Cat.

 

(Loni tucking Wilbur in with a pillow, blanket, and music box)

  His name was Wilbur. He was the perfect feline friend. He was the runt of his family. He was the smallest and most gentle of his brothers and sisters. He had white fur with large grey/black spots. He had a pink nose and very friendly eyes. Wilbur was a special cat because he was handicapped. He lost all of his whiskers and had no balance! He could not jump from the couch to the ground without falling over. He also got his claws stuck in things. One time, my family and I went on vacation. After a week, we returned home to find Wilbur, crying with his nail stuck underneath the dish washer! Who knows how long he was there. Maybe the whole week!

 One time, when we were on vacation again, we returned and listened to all of our voicemails on the home phone. Wilbur had left us a message! He was "meowing and meowing" over and over into the phone. I think he was telling us to "come home!" He really missed us when we were gone and I really missed him.

Wilbur loved to play barbies with me. I had this pink barbie convertible that I would put Wilbur in and drive him around. He loved it! He would hang over the side and paw at the wheels as they went around and around. He sat in there until I took him out.

Wilbur could also do flips. I would sit down and hold wilbur with his back against my thighs. As I slowly moved my legs apart, he would reach his arms above his head and touch the ground and flip over backwards. We used to do that over and over again.

I remember Wilbur hiding in my closet a lot. He loved to cuddle up anywhere he could. He always rode around on mom's shoulder like this so he could see everything going on. Wilbur was one of my best friends. He loved me, and I loved him. I cried and cried the day he was gone. We had some poisonous car fluids in the garage one day. I guess this kind of fluid animals love because it tastes sweet. For almost 4 days I tried searching for Wilbur. I ran around the house, searched through the woods, looked in every nook and cranny I could and in every place where he could get his nails stuck. Wilbur ALWAYS came when I called for him, but this time he didn't come. On the fourth day, I went out back to try to look once again and I heard this tiny 'meow' from behind me. He had been nestled in between our big blue water barrels.  He looked so pitiful. He had lost weight and could not stop shivering. It took all he had to give out one tiny 'meow'. I instantly brought him inside and bundled him in a blanket. His body was so weak. I tried to give him food and water but he wouldn't take anything. He kept throwing up. My parents decided to take him to the emergency vet. They tried what they could but he didn't make it. He was too sick. When I heard the news about my best friend, I ran into my room and cried and cried. Jamee and her friend Sydney were there to comfort me and hug me but the news was devastating.

I remember mom and dad telling me stories about how cats go to heaven and get to chase mice all day long. They are never sick and they just get to play all day. They told me how Wilbur would be waiting for me to get there so he could see me again! This made me feel better...but still miss him.

Dad helped me make a grave for Wilbur and it still sits behind our house in Morristown, Tennessee on Sussex Lane at the top of the hill, on the edge of the woods. I made it myself.

Through this experience, I learned how lucky I am to have an understanding of what happens after we die. I look forward to one day being able to see many family members, friends, and felines on the other side :)

Loni's Losing Her Lumpy Love-Handles!!

Malcolm and I made a deal with each other that we would not be that typical newlywed couple who gains 20 lbs of fat the first year of marriage. And guess what? We lost. Well, I lost. I have always been up and down with my weight EVER SINCE MIDDLE SCHOOL. I have tried a lot of different ways to lose weight. Some healthy and some not so much. As this is a struggle for many people I know...I have decided to SUCK IT UP. Yes, I said it. Physically and mentally. What are we supposed to do when we want something so bad? GET IT! Over the next 4 months, I expect to lose FAT, gain MUSCLE, TONE-UP and work out the most important muscle in the body, MY HEART. Since I need help in achieving this goal, I ask my friends and family from blogspot to follow my progress and get motivated to make your own changes! Is there anything you HAVE to do? NO! Just follow this progress with me! To start- I have some stats and pictures and goals.

Day 1.

Weight: 157 lbs.
NECK: 13 in. 
ARMS: 12 in.
LOWER ABDOMINAL ( largest part) : 33 1/4 in. 
HIPS: 42 in. 
THIGH: 23 1/2 in.
CALF: 14 in.
KNEE: 16 1/4 in. ( I know, weird place to measure, but I have knee fat which I wish to lose! :) 


GOAL #1: I know my body. And my body does not like sugar. On the other hand, my mind LOVES sugar and thinks it needs sugar every day. This might seem over the top, but the best thing for ME is to stop eating it. This includes candy, cakes, pastries, pies, ice-cream or anything you would consider a 'treat' with high simple sugars. I will continue to eat fruits and whole wheat bread with carbohydrates.

GOAL #2: I feel awesome when I work out consistently! I will go to the gym 4 days a week. These days will be MON, WED, FRI, and SAT. from 7am-7:40am. I will be doing circuit training- between weight lifting and a stationary bike. On Sat- I will be doing more cardio than weight lifting. TUES and THURS will be stay home with yoga days where I will not use weights but only my own body weight for toning up. This will also include stretching.

GOAL #3: I will be drinking only water and LOTS OF IT. Because water is probably the most important ingredient in getting fit, I decided that I will fill my large water bottle up 3 times a day.

There will be more goals in the future.

NOTE: this workout plan and goal list is specifically critiqued to my own personal body. Everyone is different and we all need different things. Listen to your own body and find what makes YOU feel good!

KEEP UP TO WATCH ME GET IN THE BEST SHAPE I'VE EVER BEEN IN. 

Our Adventure CLeaning the I-Center

 The I-Center is an auditorium almost as big as the Conference Center in SLC. It is used for BYU-Idaho's devotional every Tuesday afternoon ( Elder Cook spoke last week!) and used for choir and band performances. Like I said, it looks a lot like the Conference Center which means it's REALLY BIG. This also means it takes a lot of people to clean it! So, every so often, our stake is asked for volunteers to clean it on a night during the week. We were able to go this past week and take some fun pics with the 'Ghost Buster' Vacuums! I could not even try to guess how many seats are in this auditorium! You can kind of see what I mean by looking at some of these pics. In order to clean this place, every seat needs to be vacuumed along with the carpet and everything wiped down and dusted. Usually it takes around 4 hours, depending on how many people volunteer. Before we started, a Sister Missionary wanted to share with us a message. She said that President Hinckley had prophesied that there should be no worry about WHO would clean this magnificent auditorium but that the STUDENTS would always volunteer. Isn't that cool?? And that is what happens...every week the students volunteer to clean it. And now you know :)  

I

Valentines Day 2012

Not only was this our first Valentines Day together as a couple but we also celebrated our first "meeting". We met February 6th of 2011 so we have been married for 5 months, engaged for 3 1/2 months and we have finally known each other 12 months! This has been a busy and exciting year! We have to give thanks to Jamee Andelin, again,  for making this all possible :) So I know you are all dying to know what we did on our first Valentines Day! I was surprised with red and white carnations at work and upon returning home, I was invited to a candlelit dinner in our kitchen with one of my favorite meals- Sloppy Joe's and vegetables! He not only made this night so special but also bought me a new Willow Tree figure called 'Promise'.  

                                                            

New Valentine's Day tradition: Fruit Pizza!!

Thank you US Bank!

This past month has been awesome! First of all, we moved into a BIGGER apartment. It actually has a living room! We also have 2 bedrooms, a normal sized bathroom and a kitchen. We feel as though we live in a mansion compared to our other apartment. (Although we just moved next door). We returned to our old apartment to find the ceiling had bubbled and water was dripping everywhere. "WHAT A GREAT TIME TO MOVE OUT." -This was my first thought. Another great thing happened. I won $500.00 by catching a T-Shirt at a US Bank employee party!!! I went to the party knowing that prizes would be given out but I have not had a good track record of winning things...okay, I did win a puppet and lunch with the principal in 3rd grade, but that's it! I actually teared up a little when I found the cash reward inside the shirt...