Black Eyes, Dresses, and Conference

So the first item of business is to mention that Merilee has had a black eye for over a week. It is still bruised but lightening some now. It looked like she had different colored eye shadow on everyday as the coloring changed. We don't know how she got it!I have mentioned before that the girls and I go to the youth center to exercise everyday (except Sunday). We have tried to do this since last June and it has been really hard to not slack off. So, this is the gym where we play ball after the girls have sat and watched me on the treadmill. There is another big room that we call the "big ball room" because it has big exercise balls. I do step aerobics in there for an hour and then walk on the treadmill for 20 minutes or so. Needless to say, we are all DONE by the time we leave.This particular day we walked to the youth center. We had planned to walk to the park, but it was windy and cold so Merilee begged to go to the youth center instead.We recently had a semi-formal/formal youth dance. I went to chaperon for our young women and it was really fun. I don't have a picture of this occasion, but I wish I did because I wore my prom dress from my junior year of high school. I didn't think it would fit but tried it on anyway and it was even a little roomy. I guess I looked quite young because I was asked to dance a few times and had to politely turn the boys down and stand against the wall. This dance had like 10 chairs for all the adults, so I just wandered around or stood by my young women. I guess that is why the boys assumed I was one of the younguns. Well, after this dress boost, I attempted another dress. This dress was my "get away" dress from my wedding reception. My mom made it for me and it is the first non-formal dress that I loved. I always had poor body image and so I thought all the dresses she made for me made me look fat. But this dress fit me really well. It was also during the "smallest" part of my life. I had lost a lot of weight my first year of collage. I did the opposite of the "freshman 15". So, for my wedding, I was thrilled with my figure. That was a really good feeling until I could not get my figure back after Merilee was born. I had just started to inch back down when I got pregnant with Cara and started to inch back up, obviously. Anyway, needless to say, I have not worn this dress since before Merilee was born!! I guess the exercising is working SLOWLY, but the scale is not the best indicator. Yeah for me! I don't know why my arms look like the Hulk. It's just how they hang I guess?I wore the dress to stake conference, which is a church meeting where all the smaller wards come together in one place. We went out to eat at Applebees beforehand. We have not eaten out as a family in at least six months. I can't even remember the last place we went, so this was a treat. And to document the rare occasion, I took pictures!!

The End