Destination...YELLOW!!

Ok, so I just have to say it one more time...I TOTALLY and ABSOLUTELY LOVE Tae Kwon Do!!!! It is so much fun and holy cow, is it a workout!!! I can barely lift my legs off the floor and my arms and shoulders ache BUT it's a good kind of pain!! LOVE IT!!

So, I began learning my first set of patterns/skills last night. I was thrilled by the end of class because I had already memorized them. My instructor told me that he wants me to test for my yellow belt on the 19th with the rest of the students who have been there at least 2 months longer than I have! I was so proud and excited...but now I'm a little nervous! I hope I don't make a fool of myself.

Anyway, I am just so happy that I found something that I really enjoy and that doesn't feel like an inconvenience. Running was more of an "inconvenience" to me because I didn't enjoy it much. It was like pulling teeth to get myself motivated to get out and run. But with Tae Kwon Do, it's different. It's something that I look forward to, in fact, I'd go every day if they let me :)

Here are the levels (belt colors) that I'm hoping to attain and their explanations for each. Hopefully on the 19th, I'll be a new proud owner of a yellow belt!! :) YIPPEE!!

Belt color epxlanation

The explanation of belt colors was derived from the book of General Choi Hong Hi.
In WTF Taekwondo there are 10 Geups, starting from the 10th Geup (white belt) and ends with the 1st Geup (red-black belt). The term "Geup" means degree. The term "Dan" means phase. There are 9 Dan degrees, starting with the first and ending with the 9th. All Dan-degrees are represented by a black belt.

White Belt (10th Geup)
The color white indicates that a person is "innocent", has no knowledge of Taekwondo. The white-belt is automatically gained by taking Taekwondo classes.

Yellow Belt (8th Geup)
The color yellow indicates that the person is getting to know the basic techniques, this stadium is compared to a plant growing its roots.
The student going for yellow-belt is usually not skilled enough to show "Chayu daeryon" (non-contact sparring). Instead the student has to show "Sajoe" ("four-direction-movement", one specific technique shown to all directions).

Green Belt (6th Geup)
The color green indicates that a student is growing as a Taekwondo student. The color of the belt is compared to a plant growing its leafs.

Blue Belt (4th Geup)
The color blue indicates that a student is reaching higher, like a plant that is growing towards the sky.

Red Belt (2nd Geup)
The color red indicates danger. The student is warned to practice the control of his/her movements. The color red also warns an opponent.

Poom
W.T.F. Taekwondo requires that one has to be 16 years old to get a black belt. If younger, you get a Poom, which can be replaced by a black-belt when passed the age of 16. The requirements are the same as for the black-belt.

Black Belt (1st dan)
Black is the opposite of white and means the maturity of the student in the art. It also is an indication of being impenetrable for fear and darkness.


Pretty cool...huh? :)

My Books!!

So, finally both of my books are here!! Yippee!! I'm so excited!! (notice the exclamation marks)

They both turned out great, though the next blog book will be much better. The vacation book is huge, almost 200 pages. The blog book ended up being about 170 pages.

As I was reading through each of them it just made me so grateful for the technology that we have now. I'm so grateful that I have the ability to make these books that will hopefully be handed down from generation to generation. It took so much time to make them but they're worth EVERY second of it!

If any of you want to come see them, you're more than welcomed to! :)

Tae Kwon Do

I have always been interested in the martial arts, not the movies by any means, but the actual act of doing them. While in Texas, I got to go to my friend's kid's Tae Kwon Do classes and I just sat there thinking, "I need to do this!" So, once I was home, I thought about it and finally decided that I was serious and that I wanted to take classes (running wasn't "enjoyable" and I needed to find some form of exercise that I'd "want" to do).

Well, last night was my first class. It went really well except for me almost passing out because I was locking my knees..."Keep my knees bent!! Keep my knees bent!!" I kept reminding myself. The instructor was very very positive about my coordination and ability to do the moves on the first day. That made me feel so good!! I have to say that I'm a bit sore today but nothing that I can't handle. In fact, I love this kind of sore...it means I got in some good exercise!! YIPPEE!!!

Here I am in my nice new uniform...I ate a choc. dipped ice cream on the way home from class (I gave myself a reward for getting positive feedback) and if you look really close, you can see it ALL OVER my uniform!!! Not my smartest choice. But I'm glad to say that it came out with a little elbow grease and a cycle in the washing machine. And, for those of you who are knowledgeable in Tae Kwon Do, I know that my fist is in the wrong place in the photo but I was in a hurry to get my chocolate-covered uniform off and into the washer. I was like, "Hurry and take a picture Greg! Hurry!!" I didn't stop to think about where my fist was suppose to be! The next photos I post will be better and maybe I'll be wearing a different belt, as well! :)

"Lego" Fun

When Greg and the kids start playing with Legos, I think Greg gets transported back to his childhood. He absolutley loved Legos as a child and I think it makes him happy to see that his kids love them too. And as usual, I love to see Gregor and the kids bonding as "Father and son/daughter" that means more to me than most anything!

Here are their creations...


Buddy's "helicocker"


Buddy and his fun new flying toys. If you look closely, you can see his little mouth is making the engine noise...too cute!!


Not much gets better than a "helicocker" and a couple of "airpwanes" with wheels!


Hannah and her creation. She made a ship (like the Titanic) and this bus for Buddy to play with. She's such an amazing big sister!

So Excited!!

I just checked and my "vacation book" is going to be delivered tomorrow!! I can't wait!! I hope it turns out as good as I'm envisioning it. Good thing I don't have much longer to wait to find out :)

YIPPEE!!

Surprised?

Ok, so I'm sitting here, in the desert, in the middle of August with rain falling all around me. Am I surprised?!? No, no I'm not! Because today across the complete state of Utah, all LDS church classes have been canceled so that the entire state could watch the Oquirrh Hills Temple dedication in every Stake Center in Utah. It's kind-of like General Conference...almost everyone is accompanied by rain. I love the rain! I love how calming it is and how it makes everything so beautiful and fresh and new! I think it's a loving gift from our Heavenly Father or maybe even the angels crying for joy at the new temple being dedicated! (That's what I would have thought when I was a kid and it still makes me happy inside to think of it that way!)

Greg and Hannah went to the 9am dedication session and I get to go with my mom to the 3pm session. I can't wait! It's so amazing how a simple Stake Center can have the feel of you walking into a temple, when a temple dedication is going on in it! The Spirit is just so strong and so wonderful!!

Have I said lately just how much I love this gospel? And how grateful I am for having it in my life? And how amazing it is that my children are being raised with a righteous father who holds and honors the priesthood? I'm not sure how Greg and I managed to make it to where we are, coming from where we came from, but words can't express how thankful I am!! What a miracle!

Our Mommy-Daughter Date

This month I had the specail opportunity to go on a "Mommy-Daughter Date" with Hannah. It was an activity for her Achievement Days. Hannah was very excited about it because she was going to get to do my hair and my make-up. It was a kind-of pampering activity, focused mainly on the inner beauty but also on having fun with our outer beauty.

I think Hannah did a wonderful job on my make-over, starting with my glitter mascara and ending with my fancy twists in my hair! She was thrilled that I did her make-up and put a braid, with beads on the end of it, in her hair. We also did each other's nails and gave each other foot massages. It was a VERY GIRLY evening, spent with my favorite "girly".

It was a fun bonding activity that I think we may do more often just in our own home.




The "before" picture


Hannah's "after" picture...(I really didn't put tons of make-up on her but she felt so grown up. It was cute to see how confident and beautiful she felt....funny how mak-up and outer beauty stuff can do that to us!)


Hannah applying the "sparkle" mascara! HOT stuff...gotta get me some of that! :)

My fun hair with twists in it! I had a few in the back as well and also my bangs were up in a twist. I was very impressed! I think she did a wonderful job!!

The finished product!