She's Gonna Blow!!!!

ShrinkYoSelf 2012 - Week 4

2012-01-25T11:51:00.004-06:00

I saw this picture this morning on Facebook and it seemed to fit perfectly so I borrowed it for today's Weigh in post with the Sisterhood.

For the first 2 weeks in January I was on track and doing great with my goals for health and fitness. The last week and a half I have seriously been slacking. I could give you a laundry list of excuses but instead I choose to just suck it up and say I haven't had my head in the game. I have been going through the motions but haven't been doing what is necessary to apply the knowledge I have to lose the weight I want to lose.

So...here are the facts based on the numbers:

Starting challenge weigh in: 1/1/12 - 205.0

Last week's weigh in: 1/18/12 - 199.6

This week's weigh in: 1/25/12 - 201.0

Like I said I could give you tons of excuses for why I gained more than 1 pound this week but bottom line is I have been eating more calories than I should and at least 1 day this week I ate more than double the calories I should have eaten in 1 day. I HAVE been tracking my food and calories and workouts in MyFitnessPal app so I knew things on the scale were NOT going to make me a happy momma. I got off my "eating ONLY low glycemic index" foods and it is hurting me.

I HAVE been VERY consistent with working out. As of this morning I have worked out 25 days in a row, doing the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and an additional 10 minutes of Ab work, since that is the area of my body I am most unhappy with. I'm looking at options of different kinds of workouts for the month of February and feel like it is a good idea for me to commit to doing a couple of different kinds of workouts. I think my body gets too used to doing the same things too quickly and then doesn't change. My Marine bought me The Biggest Loser for Kinect game for Christmas so I want to use that at least 3 days a week and then do something else the other days of the week that I work out. I am most content and happy with myself if I am working out most of the week so I will probably commit to doing a workout 5 days a week but most of the time I will workout every day.

As for my discipline issues with the eating right??? I just need to do what I know is right. I need to decide I want this weight loss badly enough. I need to accept that there are some things in life that aren't easy or fun and this is one of them. I know I can lose weight. I know I can do it! Every time I have decided I'm going to do something and pour myself into it 100% I have done it!

Now, the question is "how bad do I want to lose the weight?"
I guess next week's scale and My Fitness Pal chart will be able to answer that pretty clearly!

Speaking of pouring myself into something I am once again pouring myself into the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure Walk. This past weekend we had a team meeting to go over details for this year's walk. I am getting excited to start raising my $2300 and doing my part in finding a cure to breast cancer. You can help me by going to my fundraising page and making a donation! No donation is too small or too big! Please help by donating HERE!

10 Minute Confession

2012-01-24T14:27:00.003-06:00

I literally have 10 minutes to write this but I feel I MUST get this out in the open so here are bullet points. Short and sweet!

* Exercise has been excellent! I have completed all 24 days of exercise his month! I have exercised before doing anything else in my day! Meanig sometimes school starts at noon! But I am done with exercise for the day!!

* My food choices for the past week have pretty much SUCKED! I'm guessing it will show up on the scale tomorrow, too! Sunday ate enough calories for 2 days!

* That Other Kid learned to ride his bike Sunday and I'm hoping to get a bike later today so we can start bike riding together! I LOVE BIKE RIDING!!

* I'm starting to think about what kind of exercise program to start in February, cuz I will be done with the 30 Day Shred on the 31st!

ShrinYoSelf - Week 3

2012-01-18T18:54:00.004-06:00

Here we are in week 3 of 2012 and it's Wednesday so that means it's time to weigh in with the ladies at ShrinkingJeans. So I'm just gonna go ahead and get right to it.

Starting weight for this challenge: 205.0

Last week's weight: 200.0

This morning's weight: 199.6

Ok...so it definitely wasn't what I had hoped for this week in the weight loss department but it is what it is! I'm UNDER 200 pounds and that made me happy! Honestly when I first got on the scale this morning it said 200 and I just couldn't accept that I hadn't lost ANY weight this week. I did have a couple of "off" meals but to go through the whole week exercising and eating less than my "alloted" calories and NO weight loss, I couldn't accept. So, I got on the scales again and it went down to 199.6! That is a number I could accept. Minimal loss but a loss regardless.

I have been doing pretty well on the 52 Small Changes challenges going on over at the 'hood. This week's challenge is to find little things to keep our body moving. I parked further at Target, used a different parking area for my car Monday night, helped carry My Marine's heavy sea-bags to the car and then into the airport Tuesday morning when he left. I have also been drinking my 100 oz+ of water so I go to the bathroom alot! All of these little things add up to extra movement, and extra calorie burn!

Ok..so yesterday I didn't get my Confessions posted, so you get to hear my ~~excuses~~ confessions for this week in this post, too! I know you are excited...so here they are in bullet points, since that's easy!

*I went to Schlotzsky's Friday night and ate a 880 calories cinnamon roll! Not exactly on my Low Glycemic Index diet plan!

*Sunday went out for a final "family meal" before My Marine left to go back to California for his next phase of the Marines. We went to the Texas Roadhouse because he loves their bread! I do too BUT I only ate 1 roll! It was a wonderful roll BUT it wasn't on the plan! But, I ate a SALAD AND GREEN BEANS instead of my usual salad and baked potato! Those were ON my plan! Yay me!

*Oh and I DID NOT drink a coke with my meal, like I usually do!

*I didn't go to sleep Monday night because I needed to take My Marine to the airport at 4:00 am. I decided it would be better to stay up and then go to sleep AFTER getting home from the airport. I DID NOT drink soda on the way home from the airport! Nor did I stop at the NUMEROUS DONUT shops that were on the way home from the airport like I normally would! Score for me!

*I came home from the airport and got in bed at 6:30 am and got up at 11:00 am. If I would have been able to sleep all the way through that time I would have been ok for the day, BUT I got interrupted by the hubs, That Other Kid and the cats numerous times! I figure I got 3 or maybe 4 hours of sleep!

*I was tired all day but DID my Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred dvd and my 10 minute ab work shortly after getting out of bed!

*I went to sleep shortly after 10 p.m. last night and slept till 9:30 this morning! I felt a bit sluggish from getting that much sleep!

*I skipped lunch today and was sooooo hungry this afternoon. I bought mozzarella cheese sticks from Sonic. Then for dinner I ate a huge cheeseburger, french fries and a COKE! I knew when I ordered all of this food I was making a huge error in judgement! I knew I should have gotten something MUCH better for my body but I didn't feel like going to another food place and I really didn't care at that point that it was not on the Low Glycemic Index plan!

*Honestly the food didn't taste good and the coke just left me MORE thirsty! It didn't really satisfy my desire for salty food either!

***Yes, eating the right foods for me makes me feel better and I know that although eating "crap" food occasionally will happen I feel a lot better mentally and physically when I eat what my body NEEDS!

***Eating right and exercising at least 30 minutes a day helps me mentally and physically feel so much better! I'm glad I have finally figured that out!

***I completed Day 18 of the 30 Day Shred with additional ab work this morning and I'm beginning to be able to tell a difference in my body shape. My stomach does seem to be shrinking, although I haven't taken measurements. I'm going to wait till the end of the month to measure but it is noticable enough that my hubs can tell!

***I sent My Marine off to Camp Pendleton, CA yesterday morning and only shed a few tears. I probably won't hear from him till he is done with this phase of training in 3 weeks. Then he will head off to Ft. Mead, Maryland for his final phase of schooling for nearly 3 months. During his final phase he will have more freedom and I'm praying that I will have more contact with him. I don't know when he will get to come home again....and that makes this difficult BUT I am ~~pretending to be~~ strong! I have to be, I raised a Marine!!

I absolutely LOVE this quote! I got this card today from 'Lissa and it really hit home with me!

Ok..so there you have it. My confessions for the week as well as my weigh in post! Nothing like killing 2 birds with 1 stone, huh?!

Hello From 2013!!

2012-01-12T21:44:00.004-06:00

ChristieO wants us to write a letter to ourself about the things that happen in 2012 from the point of view of it being 2013. Confused? Yeah, me too! But what a great exercise in goal setting! I did it last year and didn't have great success, but this year will be different! Read and enjoy the year that I'm about to embark on.

Good morning!

It's been a year since I talked you into taking a chance with yourself and convinced you that you are indeed worth living a healthy lifestyle! I'm so glad you listened and took the bull by the horns and stopped half-assing your workouts and your diet! I know you are too because you are so much happier now than you were at the beginning of 2012! This was a great year full of learning how to live without constantly thinking of the "what-ifs". You now concentrate on the "nows" and that makes life so much less stressful! Speaking of stress, yes there is still plenty of it but you have really learned how to keep yourself from freaking out about every little thing that doesn't go according to plan. See that Charlie Brown cartoon up there? You saw that cartoon and applied it to your life! What a great way to live 2012 (and beyond)!

The hubby had a great year...full of meeting some pretty significant goals. It was a wonderful thing to watch the transformation!

My Marine is doing better than you imagined as a Combat Photographer and is getting to see some pretty awesome sites! He emails and sends you pictures all the time. This helps you feel more connected and helps you not miss him so much. Yes, you still miss having that day to day connection with him but it is getting easier! He's been a Marine now for a little more than a year and it feels wonderful being able to tell people that your son is a Marine! You raised a good person!

That Other Kid is growing up and excelling in school. Not that that is a big surprise to you. He's always been a smart kid but it's good to know that as a homeschooling mom you are doing the right thing with him! He still knows how to push your buttons and make you want to throw him out to the ~~windowdoor~~ world but you know in your heart of hearts that you are his best teacher! He has learned that school comes first, then building all his wonderful lego creations can come next! You have learned how to keep him focused on his school stuff and it helps you as well!

How have you accomplished this wonderful feat? You both exercise every morning before starting school! Yes, you decided that if it was good enough for you to exercise in the morning then it was good enough for That Other Kid too! You get up and do your morning exercise routine then you both do some kind of exercise together! It's a great way to spend some quality time together doing something fun as well as good for you! Some mornings you play a Wii or XBox game, some mornings you go walking, biking, or playing catch with the football! And your favorite? Is using the punching bag you bought him for his birthday in 2011! It's a great cardio workout for both of you! And what's more...he loves spending this time with you! After this great workout you sit down and get some good book-learning done! You are both focused and ready to take on the day!

AND you have lost a ton (well not literally) of weight this year because of your constant exercise! It feels so good to finally be at a healthy weight and be able to do so much more because you have gotten the weight off! I'm so proud of you! You have learned how to balance eating right and exercise into your day to day life as well as tackling that ugly stress beast!

You also raised the money necessary to walk your 2nd Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure! This definitely was one of the high points of the year. Finding a cure for breast cancer and helping bring awareness to others has become such a passion for you and you did a great job bringing it front and center this year! Not only did you walk but unlike last year you didn't gain a bunch of unnecessary weight while doing it! You were smart with your calorie intake and made it a wonderful experience without gaining weight!

At the beginning of the year you started reading and following the book 52 Small Changes with all your sisters over at the 'hood and I am happy to report that you made it through all 52 weeks and yes, you are happier because of it! You have made great changes to your life this year that you will carry through with you the rest of your life! Another wonderful thing you accomplished this year!

Another highlight from this past year is that you finally got a handle on your organization skills! You made organizing a priority for your household and family and it shows in every area of your life! What a great feeling!

It's been a great 2012 and I can't wait to see what 2013 brings your way!

Hugs to us!

Your 2013 self

ShrinkYoSelf 2012 - Week 2

2012-01-11T09:55:00.004-06:00

Yes, it's already the 2nd week of the new year. And it's also Wednesday so that means it's time to do a weigh in for the Sisterhood. As I was watching The Biggest Loser last night I was thinking about how normally the 2nd week of any diet/exercise plan is a small weight loss week. I was also thinking about how to ensure that I wouldn't be disappointed if the scale reflected that this morning. I decided that I would look at it this way. If the men and women that are working out with Bob and Dolvett are only losing 4, 5, and 7 pounds I should keep my eyes focused on what I am doing and be happy with any loss this week. Regardless of the size of the loss as long as it is a loss I would be happy!

So I got on the scale this morning and I was indeed HAPPY!

Starting challenge weight: January 1, 2012 - 205.0
Last Wednesday's weight: January 4, 2012 - 201.8
Today's weight: January 11, 2012 - 200.0

So that means in 11 days I have lost 5 pounds! Yes, that's 5 pounds that I have shred from my body in just 10 days! Like the men and women on the Biggest Loser I wish I could have seen a number in Onederland BUT I did lose 1.8 pounds this week! I am going to be happy with that and continue working toward my goal of losing 10 pounds in the month of January and another 10 pounds in the month of February! Heck, I'm half way there for the month of January and I still have A LOT of month left!

So as far as the challenges for the week - we are supposed to be exercising a minimum of 20 minutes/3 times a week for vigorous exercise or 30 minutes/5 times a week for moderate exercise.

I am happy to report that I have done a minimum of 34 minutes of exercise for every day of this month! Yes, I have gotten up early (or not so early) and exercised! I am beginning to like exercising in the morning...shhhh, don't tell my head that! Yes, I still have a hard time actually making myself get started but once I do I like that it is over early in the day and I don't have to worry about it in the afternoon or evening!

I am following along with the 'hood groupthat Christy set up for 52 Small Changes. Last week was getting enough water! Clear, plain water! I do that one by drinking a minimum of 100 oz of water every day and was successful even on Saturday when I was out most of the day without access to extra water! This week's challenge - is getting between 7 & 8 hours of sleep a night! This is a HUGE challenge for me but so far I am doing it! Yay me! My goal is to go to sleep at 12 midnight and sleep till 8! Last night I got in bed at 12:03 and woke up at 5:34 but went back to sleep fairly quickly. I slept till my alarm went off at 8! Then I got up and got started exercising BEFORE 9!! Yay me! The night before I went to bed at 12:16 and slept THRU my alarm at 8 and woke up promptly at 9:01! Even though I got up an hour late I still exercised in the morning! Another Yay me! Normally I would have said "ugh I'm already an hour late, I will just do it later!" But the new me said "screw the schedule, exercising is more important!"

I'm running behind on my assignment for the year; my "Dear Me" letter. A letter written by the 2013 me telling me what great things my 2012 me did this year. I don't really have an excuse for why I haven't done it yet, I just haven't taken the time to do it yet. These letters take a lot of mental focus for me and I haven't had much of that lately! BUT...I am committed to doing it by Friday night! I will get this letter written and posted and linked up. I think it's a very important process to do this and it's kind of fun to think of what I want to do this year!

So how are your goals going for the year? Honestly, my health and fitness goals are going great but the others not so much! I guess I can only focus on one thing at a time till I get the hang of it, so I'm not beating myself up over it. I'm just going to focus on the accomplishments that I have made and keep striving for improvements one day at a time!

Some Good Confessions

2012-01-10T21:16:00.003-06:00

Today is 10 days into the new year...about the time I usually cave in on my resolutions or weight loss journey. Today is the day that I usually just decide I can't do this anymore. Today is usually a hard day to do the right things in my journey and then I figure if I can't do it longer than 10 days then I obviously can't do this. In other words I give up on myself.

HOWEVER, I am happy to say that today was a new day! It was a new year! Not only did I NOT give up on myself today but I had a major victory! If you've been around me long you know my love of ice cream! I passed this love on to "My Marine". Tonight after dinner (a new recipe yummy!) he said he wanted ice cream! I told him "we have chocolate ice cream in the freezer; help yourself." (Yes, chocolate ice cream has been in the freezer since the beginning of the year and I haven't had any!!) He said he didn't really want that. I had to go out to run an errand and was going to be near Braums so I asked him if he wanted that. He said, "yes." Then I asked the hubby if he wanted ice cream since he has been asking for junk food for the past week or so. He wanted it too! So I ran my errand and went through the Braums drive thru and ordered 2 (not 3) ice cream mixes!! Victory for ME!!

And in reality it wasn't even a temptation. I smelled it all the way home and wasn't tempted to even have a sample! Whooohoo!

In other confessions for the week...I have been doing really well following the low glycemic index plan. Basically if it's lower than 55 on the GI list I can eat it. If its higher than 55 I can't! And surprisingly it hasn't been too difficult while eating at home. BUT...Saturday I was out all day doing a fundraiser for the Komen 3 Day that I am gearing up for. So I went to Subway thinking that would be a great choice for food. It was, except the sandwich wasn't enough so instead of ordering the chips which is what I normally would do I ordered the yogurt parfait. It tasted great and added something to my sandwich to make me fuller. BUT...after I got home and logged it into MyFitnessPal I found out it was very high in SUGAR! UGH! Oh well, I moved on and just took it for what it was. The best choice for me at the time (best I could tell!)

Other than that flub up on Saturday I have had a really great week. I have been getting plenty of water! This weeks 52 Weeks Challenge is to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep! I can really tell a big difference when I don't get enough sleep and it's an area I really struggle in so I'm glad this challenge is pushing me to sleep more!

I'm really excited to get on the scale tomorrow morning! This is new for me...as I haven't looked forward to the scale in some time.

I'm also moving up to Level 2 on the 30 Day Shred tomorrow morning and although I know it will hurt I am looking forward to it! I have done Level 1 of the workout every morning and I'm feeling like I am getting my exercise groove back! My plan is to continue with the Shred this month along with the ab work that I have been doing, but I feel that maybe I should do something else too, so I'm trying to figure out what to add to it.

2012 is gonna be my year!! How is your year going so far??

ShrinkYoSelf2012 - Week 1

2012-01-04T21:26:00.003-06:00

Well here we are at Wednesday! Over at the Sisterhood that is the day we weigh in and tell the world (or at least our ~~hooker~~sisters) how we are doing and get cheers or a kick in the booty if we need it! I was actually looking forward to hopping on the scale this morning BUT almost forgot! I have been exercising every MORNING (yes, ME EXERCISE IN THE MORNING and if you know me well you know it's hard for me to do anything in the morning!) So this morning I got up did my usual stuff, got dressed, etc and then right before I left the room to exercise I remembered "it's Wednesday! Time to weigh in!" so I went back into the bathroom, undressed and got on the scale! See how dedicated I am?

I was thrilled to see that since Sunday I lost 3.2 pounds! After doing a little happy dance right there in my undies I got dressed and went out and let Jillian Shred my butt some more! It made it a little easier to workout this morning knowing that I lost 3.2 pounds in 3 days! Yes, I realize that most of that weight is probably detoxing the crap out of my system and water loss BUT STILL it looked mighty nice to see a nice loss on the scale! Especially since I baked chocolate chip cookies for my Marine last night (and didn't even want any for myself!) and there are still 3 left and I haven't eaten them! No cookies or crap for me! YAY!!!

I'm participating in the 52 Weeks for Healthy Living Challenge over at the 'hood! This week is easy...WATER! Drink 1/2 your weight in water, nice clear yummy water! Not a problem for me since I got into the habit of drinking water some time ago, I am accustomed to drinking somewhere in the range of 100 oz of water but NOW I am making a concerted effort at drinking that much and even more! I spend a lot of time in the bathroom, but I know I am getting enough water!

We are also supposed to get in 30 minutes of "moderate" exercise 5 days a week or 30 minutes of "vigorous" exercise 3 times a week. This fits in with my own personal goal for the month of at least 30 minutes of exercise every day! I am happy to say that I have been working out with Jillian's 30 Day Shred this week (planning to do it the whole month - every day!) and also adding some ab work to round out my 30 minutes. It feels great to get up in the morning and get it out of the way! This way in the evening if people want to watch tv or play video games I don't have an excuse!
I "think" it's getting easier although my knees were pretty sore this morning so my lunges certainly weren't deep enough, but I kept moving and that is the point!

Ok..so here are my goals for this challenge (and at this pace I should make them, PLEASE??):
Starting weight for challenge: 205.0
Today's weight: 201.8

My goal weight for this challenge: 185.0

Yes, that's a loss of 20 pounds in 8 weeks/2 months! I know that if I stick with the Low Glycemic Index Diet Plan I can do this! It's that big IF that always gets in the way!
How am I planning to reach this goal? I'm going to follow the plan exclusively for the month of January....that means 31 days of nothing but the foods on the plan. That means no soda. That means nothing fried. That means my choices for eating out will be limited but certainly not non-existent. That means I have to prepare healthy foods for myself and keep myself busy when I "think" I want something that doesn't follow the plan. That means I can't stress out when My Marine goes back to San Diego for his next stage of training, in less than 2 weeks. That means I have to focus on MY goals!

The next thing I will need to do is continue exercising. I actually like exercising and I love the way it makes me feel so the biggest problem I have is not making the excuses of why I don't have time! I really do have time! I'm a SAHM who homeschools! What the heck am I so busy doing that I don't have 30 minutes to workout? ~~goofing off on my phone, playing #WordsWithFriends, checking emails 30 million times a day, checking facebook 1 million times a day~~ Yeah, lots of really important stuff there! Yes, I do homeschool That Other Kid. Yes, I am responsible for a household. Yes, I constantly prepare meals, do laundry, run errands and everything else a mom does, but really can't a mom spare 30 minutes to take care of herself?! I think we all know the answer is YES! We just need to make that decision to do it!

Exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes EVERY day for the month of January, and then at least 5 days a week for the month of February. I would like to set the goal at every day for both January and February but I want to allow myself some leeway! For the month of January there is NO leeway! I gave myself a whole year of leeway! There is none left!

My next goal for this challenge is to follow along with the 52 Weeks of Healthy Living. I have the book coming and we have the group set up on the 'hood, so there is not a reason why I can't follow along with these.

I think that's all for this challenge. I want to change my life so much this year and this is the beginning of it! I can't wait to see the difference 2 months can make!

First Confession for 2012

2012-01-03T10:42:00.005-06:00

Today is Tuesday and over at the Sisterhood that is when we confess the good, the bad and the ugly! Sooooooo here are my confessions for the first Tuesday of 2012.

Late last week I decided I was going to make 2012 my year of finally meeting my weight loss goals and not just talking about meeting my weight loss goals! I looked at what I would need to do to meet my goals and started formulating a plan. Almost 3 years ago when I started my journey of losing weight I weighed 226.8 pounds and the doctor told me some key things to do to lose weight and get my health under control.
Sunday morning I weighed 205.0 pounds....so I guess I can say I have lost and maintained 21 pounds but that's not the 75 pounds I should have lost and maintained by now!

The first thing he told me to do was EXERCISE! Simple enough - exercise at least 30 minutes a day to get a decent sweat and the heart rate up! (If I would have consistently done this 3 years ago I wouldn't be sitting here telling you how I need to lose weight still!) I started with Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred then and I didn't die 3 years ago, so I knew it would be a good place to start 2012 with!

I have been so inactive the past couple of months that I knew I would be basically starting over and let me tell you, Jillian is kicking my butt! In a good way of course! My muscles hurt and are screaming but I know it will work.
I also wanted to add in some additional abdominal work, so I found a nice short ab workout on Netflix Instant. It is off the 10 minute Toning for Beginners and I'm just doing the ab portion. That gives me a little more than 30 minutes with the warmup/cool down from the Shred and the 10 minutes of ab work!

The second thing he told me to do was to STOP DRINKING SODA! Another no brainer! Soda has no redeeming qualities (except it tastes good!) Again I managed to go 6 weeks without one soda 3 years ago...I can do it again!

So...Saturday evening I drank my last soda of 2011 and my last one for some time. Now in all honesty I know I will drink soda again. BUT....I can't make it my preferred drink. I need to make it a "special treat"! Not something I get when I'm thirsty or because it's "happy hour" at Sonic or because my hubby wants one.
My plan is go the entire month of January and February without soda. I'm determined to not drink ANY for the month of January. We'll see how things are going then! For these first 3 days of January I am having some pretty intense cravings for coke which means I was drinking WAY too much! Having it in the house isn't helping either but my will power is stronger! Right?? I'm doing great on the water challenge that is going on over at the 'hood! I'm supposed to drink 102 ounces a day and I have nailed it on both days so far. I am already at about 45 ounces today so I'm certainly on track for today, but I am spending a lot of time in the bathroom! lol

The third thing the doctor told me to do was to follow a low glycemic index diet plan. He gave me some guidelines and told me to look it up for more specifics so I went home and looked it up BUT I didn't really follow it! It looked too hard, but in reality I was just being stubborn! I didn't want to change my life completely. I still wanted to eat crap food. I still wanted to eat fried foods. I still wanted to eat sugar loaded desserts! So, although I did lose weight (quickly and a significant amount) I wasn't completely committed.

BUT....now that I've decided to really make this change and lose the weight for real I've started following the plan strictly. For the month of January, I have committed to ONLY eat what is on the low glycemic index diet plan. Really it's not that hard...and it's what I already know I need to properly fuel my body. Whole wheat grains, lean meats, moderate amounts of fruit, and lots of veggies. If you are interested in it feel free to use google to find out more about it. I'm a pretty picky eater so I just found the foods that were approved on it and wrote them down on a piece of paper and I'm only fixing foods that are on that list. 'Lissa told me last night it sounded a lot like South Beach Phase 2. I've followed the plan before and had great results...I just didn't stick with it long enough.

Ok...so now that y'all know what I'm doing I will tell you I am really struggling with getting myself together. I have been exercising shortly after I get up (which is hard enough for me!). Then I have been sitting down to record everything and eat some breakfast, and I have ended up sitting at the computer for at least an hour! That's gotta end. I can't be hitting the shower at noon! I need to be able to start school no later than 10:30. Today we are taking another day off since the kiddo is sick but he won't be sick for the whole year, ya know?! So time management is an area I need to work on!

I'm also having some serious junk food cravings. I know its normal to go through these withdrawals but still! Makes it harder for me that the hubs and kiddo are sick too! But, I know I can do it...it just takes will power and the determination to want it bad enough and I DO!!

I heard this quote about 6 weeks ago on the Biggest Loser and it really spoke to me! I think it's gonna be my mantra for this time in my journey.....

"If you believe you can achieve!"

It's A New Year - 2012

2012-01-01T12:09:00.002-06:00

It's a new year and I'm ready to make the most of it! The Sisterhood wants us to start it off right so they are offering a great new challenge to start 2012 off with a bang!

I'm excited and ready to see what I can do when I pour myself into it 100% and that's exactly what I'm planning to do! In fact I already started, by getting up this morning and changing clothes, putting my contacts in and EXERCISING! Yes, that's right I've decided that I need to exercise first thing in the morning so I have no excuses to NOT do it!

For the month of January I have decided to do Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred! Yes, I know January has 31 days but I figure I can start February a day early since it only has 29 days in it! Since Jillian's workout is only about 20 minutes (plus about 4 minutes of warmup and cool down I decided to some sort of ab workout to bring my minumum total of workout to 30 minutes. Today I pulled up Netflix's Target Toning and I did the 10 minute Ab workout. Normally I would say that this workout would not be a good enough workout for me but after Jillian it was enough! I feel like I'm starting over with my fitness and this was a great start!

As for my starting weight for this challenge: Sadly it was 205.0 and honestly I was surprised it wasn't more. Over the past couple of months I have basically not had any exercise and I have been eating and drinking way more than I know I should! This challenge lasts 8 weeks and goes till the end of February. That gives us plenty of time to make some good changes and a great start to meeting our goals for 2012!

At the end March of 2009 I started my journey of weight loss and I weighed in at 226.8, so over the course of 2 years and 9 months I have lost and maintained a loss of 21 pounds. For that I am happy. For that I am grateful. BUT I really want and NEED to get the rest of this weight off. It's for my health! It's for my sons! It's something I need to do for ME! So here I am again at the beginning of a new year saying one of my goals for the year is to lose weight. I really believe that if I follow the Low Glycemic Index Diet Plan (that the doctor told me to follow nearly 3 years ago) I will meet my goal of 150 - 155 pounds by the time my birthday shows up on the calendar in late July.

So...how will I ensure that I follow the diet and exercise plan I KNOW will work for me? I will hold myself accountable. I will beg my friends to help me! I will make sure that I don't buy junk that I will be tempted to eat! I will focus on the things that help me do what I know I need to do. I will also make sure I exercise EARLY in the day so that I'm not "too tired" to exercise! Just an excuse really since I don't EVER go to bed early but it was an excuse I used for the past couple of months!

So...my goals for the month of January?

** Workout with Jillian every morning as well as an additional 10 minutes of ab work! (My abs will thank me!) for a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise a day.
** Follow along with the challenges that the Sisterhood throws out there!
** Follow along with the "small changes" that Christy will share with us on the 'hood!
** Follow the Low Glycemic Index Diet Plan! If it's not on the plan it's not going into my mouth this month! (I'm not planning to be this strict the whole year but I really think my body needs some "detoxing" and this is a great way to do it!)
** Weigh in at the end of January at 195!

If I do everything I have set out to do I know I can meet this goal! Yes, it will be challenging. Yes, it will be hard. Yes, I'm gonna need my friends to help me out sometimes. BUT....I know in my head and heart that I am worth the effort!

So are you participating in the new challenge? It's gonna rock!! Let me know what your hopes and dreams are for the new year so I can encourage and help you meet them!

Happy New Year friends!

Just A Few More Hours!

2011-12-31T15:40:00.002-06:00

2011 will be over in less than 10 hours! This has been kind of a "stand -still" year. So many things were just "there". Nothing special, nothing much to discuss, the kind of year that just was! I didn't lose weight this year, in fact I've gained. I haven't gotten organized like I wanted. I didn't complete the Christmas stocking that I started for That Other Kid 8 years ago. I did a lot of stressing out over my son being in boot camp. I just kind of let the year slip me by. I don't want that to happen again!

There were a couple of significant things that happened this year that will forever change my life (and that of my family and friends). First of all my best friend, Glenna went through breast cancer treatments, surgeries and recoveries. I watched her deal with this and helped as much as I could. She has tackled it head on and has had a recovery that is amazing!

Through her cancer diagnosis I decided that it was time to follow through with something I have wanted to do for years! The Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure Walk- 60 miles in 3 days! It truly was an experience I will never forget! I'm already signed up for 2012's walk and I'm gearing up to start training and fundraising again. I loved it! Except for the blisters while training and the cramped calf muscle during day 2 of the walk! Lol

The third thing that happened this year that is worth taking note of is that my oldest son went from being "that kid" to My Marine! He left in September for Marine bootcamp and graduated December 16th! I am now the proud mom of a United States Marine Private! I couldn't be more proud to say that my son is a Marine! He gets to be home on leave till January 16th and so I'm enjoying having him home for this month since I don't know when he will be home again.

These are all very significant things that have made me the person I am at the end of 2011 BUT they don't come close to meeting the goals I had for the year. So I have been reflecting on a lot of things I want for 2012 and have decided to break them down week by week and month by month into smaller goals that will help me reach my bigger goals.

Honestly, I'm still working them out but here are a few of my goals, in no particular order.

Christy threw out a great challenge of following 52 small healthy living goals to make us healthier by the end of 2012 so I'm going to follow along with this.

Another thing I'm implementing first thing tomorrow is a Low Glycemic Index Diet Plan. When I follow it it works amazingly well! There's just that big IF so I'm making it a priority for January and eating only from the plan! Will power will be necessary but I know I can do it!

Another thing I'm going to implement is moving my body a MINUMUM of 30 minutes every day! I have video games, DVD's, apps on my phone, Netflix instant! So many options, all I have to do is DO IT! I'm starting with Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. It will give me a great benchmark for starting over!

A couple of other things I'm wanting to do is start consistently reading my Bible, getting organized and rid of clutter! I love to read but lately I just haven't taken the time to do much. This will be another area I'm going to work on.

And probably my most challenging goal that I have decided I want to work toward is "less frivolous computer time"! This means not checking emails, Facebook, twitter, words with friends, etc a million times a day! I'm going to give myself time limits and designated time during the day and that's it! I've wasted far too much time goofing off on the computer (or phone) so that has to stop!

Consistently is gonna be a big key to my success this year! Wish me luck!

Btw, if you want to get another quick tax deduction I have started my fundraising for my 2012 3 Day for the Cure Walk! Once again I need to raise $2300 and I would love to have your support! You can donate here

Thanks bunches for all your support and love and virtual butt kickings you have given me this year! I hope you have a wonderful 2012! Xoxoxo

Almost the End

2011-12-28T22:16:00.001-06:00

It's nearly the end of 2011; in case you have been living in a hole somewhere and are unaware of the date, it is December 28th! That means there are only 3 days left to take advantage of 2011 and all it has to offer!

As for me I am looking forward to 2012 already! This year has been a very emotional year for me....lots of ups and downs. I'm ready to move on to 2012 so I can push through the things I have struggled with and hopefully move forward to a better year.

There have been great things that happened this year; namely the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure Walk and My Marine going through Marine Corp bootcamp and the graduation ceremony. He's home now on leave and it is so wonderful to have him home!

But, there have been downers too. I haven't lost weight this year. In fact (if I'm honest here) I've gained weight this year and this depresses me greatly. This must change!

Whatever it takes I must make 2012 the year I lose enough weight to hit my goal!

I have committed to walking the Komen 3 Day for the Cure again for 2012, but I also promised my husband I would lose weight before that time. It's for my health and necessary to make sure I am around for many years to come.

So I'm trying to come up with some workable plans. Something that will enable me to train for the walk AND lose weight! Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated!

I've started my fundraising efforts for the 2012 Walk for the Cure. If you donate this week you can still get a tax donation for your 2011 taxes!
Go here to donate!

Birthday Time!

2011-12-19T22:19:00.001-06:00

Today was That Other Kid's 8th birthday! I can hardly believe it has been 8 years since he came into this world! He has been a rambunctious, active boy since the very beginning and today was no different.

He woke up about 6am saying "I had a nightmare, I need to sleep with you!" so he climbed into bed, wiggled , squirmed and finally went back to sleep till about 8:15. At that time he determined it was time to get up and OPEN PRESENTS! We made him wait till about 10:30 which apparently was cruel! Lol

But it was all worth the wait apparently because he was VERY excited to get several "cool" gifts that he had wanted for a long time.

Traditionally we go to the birthday person's restaurant of choice, so he chose to go to Red Robin! He loves the fries and the arcade games there!

He aged very quickly!

His favorite game; a car racing game!

We came home and played a VERY short game of Star Wars monopoly! He won, which made the birthday even more special!

He had a great birthday!

Happy birthday to my baby! So glad you are That Other Kid!

Graduation Day

2011-12-17T00:15:00.001-06:00

Today was graduation day! A wonderful day to be sure. It's late and I'm exhausted so it's just pictures tonight. My son is back home and I'm still in San Diego, but we are leaving very early so I need to get to bed.

I will write more after I get a chance to relax tomorrow night with all 4 of us under the same roof again!

Today In Pictures

2011-12-15T23:09:00.002-06:00

Today was Family Day- the day before graduation and the day we got to spend 4 glorious hours with My Marine! It was a wonderful day!
I loved seeing how changed he was, and just watching h interact with his peers and That Other Kid was wonderful.

Today was a very emotional day for me. Pride, excitement, joy, shock are just a few of the emotions that I experienced. Unless you have watched your child grow from an infant into a United States Marine you can probably not relate. There is nothing like this feeling. No words can adequately describe it, so I won't try! People always say pictures tell a story better so I'm sharing some of the pictures from today. It was a very bright, sunny day so there is a lot of glare on these but that's ok. They all are pictures of My Marine and I'm happy to say that I am the mother of a United States Marine!

San Diego Zoo

2011-12-14T23:18:00.001-06:00

We went to the zoo today and had a great time! Dallas and Ft. Worth both have great zoos but this zoo was amazing! We took a guided tour bus tour of the zoo shortly after we arrived. It was a double decker bus and of course we had to ride on the upper deck! The zoo was HUGE! I didn't wear a pedometer but based on how tired my legs and feet are I would guess we walked somewhere around 5 miles!

We saw Koala bears, Panda bears, Polar bears, Mongo Camel- all new to us! The Elephants have a fabulous facility that is unusual, at least to us!

We are having a great time in San Diego and the next 2 days are going to be even better! We get to see My Marine tomorrow and hang out with him on base for 5 hours! Then Friday is graduation! It is so hard to believe it is almost here!

Adah is a wonderful host...mellow, down to earth; exactly what we needed this week! And her hubby is very patient with all of That Other Kids talking!

For some reason pictures are not posting so check out Facebook and hopefully I can post them there!

San Diego in Pictures!!

2011-12-13T23:07:00.001-06:00

We made it to San Diego around noon today. Adah got off work early today so she could hang out with us so she met us at That Other Kids favorite restaurant, Chick-fil-a!

We headed to San Diego's Children's Museum to burn some little boy energy. It was fun for me too!

Looks like Adah had fun too, huh?

For dinner tonight we went down to a cool diner that has arcade games. The kiddo was pretty tired and didn't feel good till he realized he could get to play video games! Adah and I didn't want to be left out so we played Dance Revolution while her wonderful hubby played air hockey with That Other Kid!

The trip has been smooth sailing so far and tomorrow we are going to the zoo so it's gonna be a great day!

More pictures and stories tomorrow evening from Beautiful San Diego!

Confessions....

2011-12-06T12:25:00.005-06:00

It's Tuesday and that means it's True Confession time over at the Sisterhood. I have really been in a funk over the past month. Although I am extremely excited to get to go to San Diego, I can't seem to focus on much beyond that. I can't seem to push myself up off the couch or away from the computer in the evening. I think this 25 Days O' Exercise calendar says much about my confessions for this week!

Yep that's right only 2 days of exercise over the past 5, and honestly they are about the only days I have exercised since the Komen 3 Day Walk a month ago. I had a nice long heart to heart with myself last night while I was wallowing in self-pity and I decided that the only way to pull myself up by the boot-straps was to start moving my body! So although it was LATE and I knew I was waking up early today I decided to do some kind of exercise - I did the Wii Fit Step Aerobics and added in some 3# dumbbells to work on some arm stuff. It felt great to move, even if it wasn't too strenuous!

So tonight I'm planning to do the #Tworkout and then some other kind of Wii Game. I haven't quiet decided what but I know I want to do AT LEAST 30 minutes of exercise tonight so I can fill in Day 6 of my tree!

I'm going to San Diego next Tuesday, YAY!! and I plan to have a great time while I'm there, but getting there scares the bejezzus out of me. I'm not a great flyer and I will be flying on an airline I'm not familiar with in airports I've never been with That Other Kid! Coming home next Friday adds to my stress a bit since I will be flying home with My Marine and That Other Kid and I'm not 100% sure we will all be on the same flight. The problem? I'm concerned That Other Kid is going to throw a full out tantrum (yes, he still throws tantrums even though he is almost 8!) in the airport if we don't get to fly with his brother! Then I get to deal with a tantrum throwing almost 8 year old in an airport where I can't discipline him the way I normally would.

Today, tomorrow and Thursday I am praying for My Marine as he goes through the Crucible. I would appreciate your prayers too....You can find out more about the Crucible here.

My Marine and Crucible

2011-12-05T21:56:00.004-06:00

This is what My Marine is about to go through. It starts at 4am my time! I think I will get up and get on my knees at 4am! If I cam do it for breast cancer training walks I can do it for him!

Watch this and Pray please!

Here's a poem one of my new facebook friends who has gone before me sent me just a few minutes ago! I thought it was perfect for tonight.

It's the night before the Crucible
And it's quiet in your Bay
And as you toss and turn this night
... Your Mom begins to pray.
A prayer not of completion
For I know you're highly skilled
It's more a prayer of vigilance
That you're safe upon the field.
I'm closer than you think my Son
I'll be there with every step
And while you dream of finishing
It's your Mom who hasn't slept.
Time to wake, it's 3 a.m.
Before the rising sun
So square away your gear and get
Your ALICE and your gun.
The march today will be a feat
A hundred "KLICKS" it seems
But you and your PLATOON stay sharp
You're soon-to-be MARINES.
Your "WAR BELT" weighs a thousand pounds
As you slog through mud and slime
And you know before this trial ends
The "REAPER" you must climb.
Your arms will ache from carrying
The injured "UP AND OVER"
An obstacle some forty feet
You can do it; you're a soldier.
The "MRE'S" are dry as H---
Takes canteens to quench the thirst
Your stomach feels like it's inside out
And you think it can't get worse.
Four hours sleep in fifty-four
The slow turning of the wheel
Battlegrounds aren't made for wimps
Just Marines of time-forged steel.
This is what you've trained for
With sweat and tears and blood
Remember that when you're on your belly
Crawling through the mud.
Your bayonet will strike it's mark
Your shots will all be true
For now a WARRIOR you've become
It's what you've trained to do.
Your face is streaked with dirt and grit
A mirror is not in sight
And where your long hair once was
You sport a "HIGH and TIGHT."
A flash of light, a "MOON BEAM"
Strikes eerily upon your face
You wear a mask of tubes and straps
You're disguised to withstand mace.
Rappelling down the sides of cliffs
Or moving through the mire
You've been trained by the very best
It's a test of strength by fire.
When you feel you're at the point
Where completion can't be done
Stay true, stay fast, you're almost there
Your race is nearly run.
You'll soon join ranks with Brothers
Those who have gone before
It's not easy but then it never was
To become "ESPRIT de CORPS."
In those last few hours when
YOU know you've survived the worst
Think of all the bone-weary times
For this moment you've rehearsed.
You'll wear your necktie two-blocked
Blouse creases fore and aft
You walk a little taller now
All things past are past.
Standing on "PARADE DECK"
At the end of thirteen weeks
You exemplify strength and courage
As tears run down your cheeks.
Take refuge in your confidence
You've brought honor to your team
You are now a man, my son
A UNITED STATES MARINE.

Great Day in the Neighborhood!

2011-12-04T16:09:00.004-06:00

Yesterday morning when I woke up this video was waiting for me! It is a video that was posted of My Marine and his plattoon. Apparently they post these for family and friends 2 weeks before graduation! It was a great way to start my Saturday! "My Marine" is on the 2nd row from the top and the 4th man from the left! As one of his friends told me on facebook yesterday, he looks kind of strange with such a serious look on his face, but I don't think Marines are supposed to be full of smiles...doesn't really scare the "ememy" (his word for "enemy" when he was 4 or 5) if they are full of smiles, now does it!

I can't tell you how many times I have looked at his picture since my hubby sent it to my phone! It is now the first thing I see when I pick up my phone! lol

I have missed my son so much over the past 11 1/2 weeks but it is getting closer and I'm beginning to feel like we are both going to make it all the way to graduation!

In just 9 days we will hop aboard a plane and fly to San Diego! We will get to meet Adah! We will do some sight-seeing on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday That Other Kid and I get to go to the San Diego Zoo! Then Thursday afternoon we will get to hang out with My Marine on base for approximately 5 hours! It's gonna be a great 5 hours of non-stop talking by both That Other Kid and me - we have so much to catch up on!

Then Friday morning, December 16th "My Marine" will graduate as a United States Marine! I'm so proud of him and all that he has accomplished over the past few months!

After he graduates and has "liberty" we will go get some food and head to the airport to come home! He gets to be home throughout the entire Christmas holiday and I can hardly believe I get to celebrate Christmas with him and even beyond. From what I understand he will get to be home till at least the 6th of January but it sounds like he may even be home till the 17th! Whooohooo! A whole month!!

I also got to go shopping yesterday afternoon for a few clothes and I found them on SALE!! Whoohooo! Pictures to follow....but I think I got some good stuff for the event of my son's life! Its been a great weekend!!

Almost There- 2 Weeks from Today

2011-12-02T00:43:00.001-06:00

The Marine Mother's prayer says, "Dear Lord, Give me the greatness of heart to see the difference between a mother's love and duty to country. Give me understanding that I may know, when duty calls them they must go. Give me a task to do each day, to fill my thoughts when they're away. And Lord, when they're in a foreign land, keep them safe in your loving hand. And Lord, when duty is in the field, please protect them and be their shield. And Lord, when deployment is so long, please give me the support to remain strong. Amen."

Two weeks from today I will be a true member of the Marine Mom's sisterhood. My Marine graduates from bootcamp in just 2 weeks! I thought this day would never get here but it is quickly approaching.

Friday's are Red Friday in honor of our military so I am posting this prayer- remember the families if the military when you pray for our soldiers please! We need your support also.

30 Days of Thankfulness

2011-11-30T23:06:00.002-06:00

I missed yesterday's Thankful post because by the time I got around to writing my post I was too tired to sit down and do it! So today you get a two-fer!

Yesterday That Other Kid and I ventured out to the mall to visit with Santa, hang out with a good friend and do a bit of shopping! This is something we do EVERY year! It kind of kicks off our Christmas season! Although That Other Kid doesn't believe in Santa he still likes to "talk to Santa", listen to the story he tells and spend time enjoying all the holiday festivities.

Yesterday, after Santa was done talking to That Other Kid and he was about to see his next little ones Santa asked if he knew why we celebrate Christmas. I'm not sure if Santa asks every child this or not but I loved That Other Kid's response - "We celebrate Christmas because it's Jesus' birthday!" That warmed my heart and made me thankful for the privilege of being his mom! Indeed Jesus is the reason for the Season!

And although this picture makes him look like a little alien and some sort of demon child (which sometimes is true!) I love him like nothing else!

Today I am thankful that it is the last day of November!

That may seem strange to most of you, but I am so happy to see December come up on my calendar! December means that I get a mini-vacation because of the generosity of friends! December means "My Marine" comes home from boot camp! December means I get to meet Adah! December means Christmas time and 20 days with "My Marine". December means That Other Kid turns 8! December means 1 year since my friend, Glenna discovered her breast cancer....and now she is 100% cancer free!

December is going to be a great month!

I am also thankful that during the month of November I found plenty of things to be thankful for! Yes, I truly am blessed with family, friends and plenty of other blessings! I'm so glad I took this month to reflect on so many of them!

Happy December! Only 15 days till I see my first born! What a day that will be!

Thankfulness Day 28

2011-11-28T22:59:00.001-06:00

It's the 28th of November! Wow! Where is this month going?

For today's thanks I just want to say I am so thankful for the blessing of friends who are willing to help out in times of trouble! Last night one of my Komen 3 Day friends posted about a friend of her's who had just gotten 5 of her niece's kids, ranging from 2 - 16. Her niece died and they had no one to care for them. They have nothing! They went to pick them up this weekend. Now they have 9 kids to care for (she already has 4 kids of her own)!

Last night after the post went up people all over the city and even out of state said they could help with clothes, beds, bedding, linens! Everything is coming together for this wonderful family!

Today I am thankful for people who are so generous they are willing to help a family who truly needs it!

Thankfulness Day 27

2011-11-27T22:33:00.001-06:00

Today I am thankful for the generosity of That Other Kid! See these toys? These are things he is donating to a family of 5 children whose mother has died. They have nothing but the clothes on their back due to some terrible living arrangements. They are now living with their aunt and things are improving daily! This week will be even better due to the generosity of lots of people in the area!

He told me that it's terrible to not have toys to play with or books to read! I agree....we truly are blessed!

Thankful Day 26 - 3 Minutes of Heaven!

2011-11-26T21:09:00.003-06:00

This is a picture of the call from "My Marine" that I've been waiting nearly 10 weeks for!

I was over at our Team Leader's house this afternoon for our Thanksgiving Potluck just relaxing. I had been told by numerous moms that I should expect a phone call to discuss travel plans for after graduation but I really had no idea when it would come! When I saw this number come across my caller id on my cell phone I nearly peed my pants! I knew it had to be My Marine! So I went out and found a quiet corner and took the call! It was a tiny bit of heaven for this momma! I started crying as soon as I answered the phone and heard his deep voice on the other end!

I knew the call would be short (from what I had been told) so I tried to listen and ask vital questions. It was sooooo wonderful to talk to him. He sounded great! He wants to get the "hxxx" out of there as fast as possible on the 16th so I'm hoping we can all get flights home that afternoon after graduation. He wants to take us to a hockey game while he is home. He wants to relax and enjoy spending time with his family! Sounds perfectly wonderful to me!

19 days till I see my Marine son -- not that I'm counting! -)

Thankful Day 25

2011-11-25T23:31:00.001-06:00

Rarely do we put our Christmas tree up this early but December is gonna be a busy month with That Other Kid and I gone for a several days in the middle of the month and "My Marine" coming home so I decided to get the tree up early. It feels great to have that out of the way.

For today, I am thankful for the wonderful Christmas holiday that we are entering! I am also thankful that the tree is decorated so I can enjoy it for the whole month!

I am also extremely thankful that we will all be together this year for Christmas! I know there are many families that can't say the same.

Thanksgiving - Time to be Thankful

2011-11-24T22:26:00.001-06:00

It's Thanksgiving evening and I'm sitting here typing this post from my IPhone! For this I am thankful cuz I don't want to get out of my comfy chair to go over the 10 feet to my old, slow computer!

We had a pretty laid back Thanksgiving. I prepared a small Thanksgiving meal, ate and watched Cars2 on DVD. The hubs relaxed and played a video game and That Other Kid watched him play and built with legos and talked constantly!

The only thing missing to make this day even better would have been a phone call from My Marine but it didn't happen so I just have to wait 3 more weeks!

I am so thankful that I live in a free country and get to pause and Thank God for all that I have! That's what I have done today. Thank you God for all that I am and all that I have!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankfulness Day 23

2011-11-23T19:36:00.001-06:00

Today I am thankful for all my wonderful friends and family that made this Komen 3 Day thermometer full! Not only is it full but it is Overflowing! My goal was $2300 - my total was $2722.61!! Whoohooooo!

Thanks so much for all your donations, prayers and support to make this possible!

I will be signing up for next years 3 Day walk this weekend and I would love to have your support again for next year - or if you are so inclined walk with me! Hint, hint Christy!

New Challenge

2011-11-23T09:29:00.003-06:00

Over at the 'hood they want us to stay active all year round -- even through the holiday time! So they are starting a new challenge today 10KaDay! Meaning walk 10,000 steps a day! I know what you are thinking - that that is a lot of steps a day, right?! Well it is but we all need to move our bodies a little more. We all need to push ourselves to do our best! So I'm accepting their challenge and I'm going to push myself to walk 10,000 steps every day, between now and the end of 2011! Did you see that there are only 5 weeks left in this YEAR??? How did that happen?

Anyway...I'm going to move my body and push myself to take 10,000 steps a day! I definitely know I need to do this right now! I've gained weight and gotten lazy over the past couple of weeks....that's gotta change!

In just 22 days I get to see My Marine and I don't want to be looking like a slob when I see my kiddo!

And in just 20 days I get to meet Adah!! Whooohooo! Gotta love the internet!

Thankful Day 22

2011-11-22T23:33:00.003-06:00

Today I am thankful for places to take That Other Kid where he can burn excessive amounts of energy! We went to a place today called JumpStreet and he ran around, and bounced around for 2 hours! He even got to ride a "bull"!

What a great metroplex we live in!

For some reason I can't get this video to post on here so go watch it HERE!

Thankful Day 21 plus 12 Days of Christmas - Marine Style!

2011-11-21T18:13:00.005-06:00

Today I am thankful to have access to the public libraries! I went there this afternoon while That Other Kid was in his karate class (3 hours of PE, HELLO!) and found several books on my list of books to read this week and next. I also found a book about the history of Thanksgiving that I thought would be fun to read on Thanksgiving morning. I am so thankful to have a library that I can use as much as I want to! The area libraries enhance our school studies sooooo much!

Now...onto something fun that I found from one of my new Marine mom friends on Facebook! Enjoy!

MARINE CORPS CHRISTMAS
On the first day of Christmas, the Marine Corps sent to me, a D.I. yelling at me.

... On the second day of Christmas, the Marine Corps sent to me, Two yellow footprints, And a D.I. yelling at me.

On the third day of Christmas, the Marine Corps sent to me, Three months of bootcamp, Two yellow footprints, And a D.I. yelling at me.

On the fourth day of Christmas, the Marine Corps sent to me, Four days of "Libo", Three months of bootcamp, Two yellow footprints, And a D.I. yelling at me.

On the fifth day of Christmas, the Marine Corps sent to me, Five M.R.E.'s, Four days of "Libo", Three months of bootcamp, Two yellow footprints, And a D.I. yelling at me.

On the sixth day of Christmas, the Marine Corps sent to me, a Six month deployment, Five M.R.E.'s, Four days of "Libo", Three months of bootcamp, Two yellow footprints, And a D.I. yelling at me.

On the seventh day of Christmas, the Marine Corps sent to me, Seven seas to sail, a Six month deployment, Five M.R.E.'s, Four days of "Libo", Three months of bootcamp, Two yellow footprints, And a D.I. yelling at me.

On the eighth day of Christmas, the Marine Corps sent to me, Eight brand new rifles, Seven seas to sail, a Six month deployment, Five M.R.E.'s, Four days of "Libo", Three months of bootcamp, Two yellow footprints, And a D.I. yelling at me.

On the ninth day of Christmas, the Marine Corps sent to me, Nine ladies dancing, Eight brand new rifles, Seven seas to sail, a Six month deployment, Five M.R.E.'s, Four days of "Libo", Three months of bootcamp, Two yellow footprints, And a D.I. yelling at me.

On the tenth day of Christmas, the Marine Corps sent to me, the Tenth of November, Nine ladies dancing, Eight brand new rifles, Seven seas to sail, a Six month deployment, Five M.R.E.'s, Four days of "Libo", Three months of bootcamp, Two yellow footprints, And a D.I. yelling at me.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, the Marine Corps sent to me, Eleven general orders, the Tenth of November, Nine ladies dancing, Eight brand new rifles, Seven seas to sail, a Six month deployment, Five M.R.E.'s, Four days of "Libo", Three months of bootcamp, Two yellow footprints, And a D.I. yelling at me.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, the Marine Corps sent to me, Twelve months of training, Eleven general orders, the Tenth of November, Nine ladies dancing, Eight brand new rifles, Seven seas to sail, a Six month deployment, Five M.R.E.'s, Four days of "Libo", Three months of bootcamp, Two yellow footprints, And a D.I. yelling at me!

Thankful Day 20

2011-11-20T23:36:00.001-06:00

Today I am thankful for something most of take for granted these days! The convenience of the Internet and all that we have at our finger tips because of it!

My life has changed dramatically because of the Internet - mostly in a good way! I have a lot more friends; and everyone knows how important friends are, right? I have information available to me within seconds (usually!) I play games via the Internet. I get school resources via the Internet. I watch movies, read books and type blog entries all via the Internet! I often exercise via the Internet - and the 'hood is my biggest source of support for losing weight!

So today I am thankful for the Internet and all the wonderful things I have today because of it!

Thankful Saturday Night

2011-11-19T23:13:00.002-06:00

Before beginning the training for the Komen 3 Day for the Cure hubby and I were watching movies rented from Netflix nearly every weekend. Once I started the training we were trying to do our "date night" on Sunday nights but by the time 10 p.m. came around I was ready to go to sleep. For a few weeks we just watched a short "tv" show off Netflix Instant. But before you know it we weren't watching anything together....No more date nights! boo!

Now that the 3 Day is done for the season I wanted to start back to our Saturday night date night, so tonight we watched "Date Night"! I thought it was appropriate to start the ball rolling for our "at home dates". It was a pretty funny movie and it was nice to spend time with the hubby!

So for today I am thankful for Netflix, and "at home date nights" with the hubby! We get to watch a movie in the comfort of our home, with That Other Kid in bed and eat theater food that doesn't costs us $30!!

Do you have any movie suggestions? We tend to lean toward comedy and romance....

Thankful Day 18- My Marine

2011-11-18T21:56:00.001-06:00

In honor of my son who will graduate Marine bootcamp I am posting this prayer for him and all the other recruits graduating in 28 days!!

Father, in the coming days I will need You, but my recruit will need You more.

Let him perform his tasks with a sense of duty, not of anger or vengeance.

Let his reflexes be quick and his hands steady.
Let his head be clear and his eyes sharp.
Let his mind and body be strong and his spirit stronger.

Christ, please stand by my recruit and watch his back when he cannot.

Father, I love this recruit of mine! Take from ME,
what he needs and give me what he does not.
I will pace the nights, if it means he gets some sleep.
I will deal with fatigue, if it means he will have energy.
I will carry his fear if it means it gives him courage.
I will take his pain, if it means he is healthy and whole.
I will take his anger, if it means he is at peace.

Take from me my love and pride and let him feel it! Let him know that I am with him every step of the way.

Please, take from me what You can; I give it willingly and with love.
It is all that I have besides my prayers.

Above all, please help my recruit achieve his goal of becoming a United States Marine. This I ask on bended knee, that which I cannot do without You.

Amen.

Thankfulness - Day 17

2011-11-17T21:55:00.004-06:00

I sent out a plea last night for plane tickets to go see "My Marine". I am pleased to tell y'all that I have the best friends EVER!! I now have a plan for our trip to San Diego! That Other Kid and I get to go see "My Marine" at the biggest event of his life! I also get to have a bit of fun and go see Adah and the San Diego Zoo! It's gonna be a great December!!

I am soooo thankful to God for blessing me in this way! I was so disappointed that I was possibly going to have to miss this graduation. Now plans are in the making!! Whooohooo!

I am sooooooo thankful for my friends who have helped me! Thanks sooooo much for blessing me!!

I love each and every one of you!!

A Special Request...

2011-11-16T18:20:00.005-06:00

I have a problem and I'm coming to my "extended family" for help. ;(

In just 30 days, December 16th "My Marine" will be graduating from Marine bootcamp in San Diego, Camp Pendleton, CA. It is one of those events in life that can never be duplicated. We want to go celebrate this wonderful accomplishment in his life. We want to support him and cheer him on. That Other Kid and I are looking forward to attending the graduation celebration. We want to attend BUT plane tickets are so expensive right now from Dallas to San Diego.

Here's my request -- does anyone have "buddy passes" or "miles" that we can use? We need 2 plane tickets, round trip from Dallas to San Diego sometime in the area of December 14 - December 16/17th. We are flexible with travel times but definitely need to be there on December 15th and 16th.

I know this is a big request but I desperately want to celebrate this accomplishment in My Marine's life!!

Thanks so much for your help....

Thankfulness - Day 16 (with weigh in)

2011-11-16T18:05:00.004-06:00

Today I am thankful that it is November 16th! That means in just 1 month "My Marine" will graduate from boot camp! Sometimes it seems like just yesterday he left and other times it seems like he has been gone FOREVER!! It was one year ago Thanksgiving he told us that he was "done" with college and was going to join the Marines. I will never forget that shock! And here we are almost a year later and he is nearly done with the most rewarding, challenging thing he has ever done....BOOT CAMP!

Today is also Wednesday which means it is weigh in day at Shrinking Jeans. It is the final day of Shrinkvivor and although I was sent to Exile Island a few weeks I still need to weigh in.

My starting weight for this challenge: 200.8
Today's weight: 202.6

So...instead of losing weight this challenge I gained. I'm upset with myself but I know that during distance training it is difficult to lose weight and I definitely was training and walking long distances!! I am now done with that training for a while and now I've got to find my fitness/weight loss/healthy living mojo back! This week I have improved but haven't exercised much still. I went for a 30 minute walk with a friend and That Other Kid yesterday and that was really the first time I have done anything since the 3 Day. That must change!!

I changed the way I am approaching school, chores and many other things around here this week and now it is time to start meal planning, exercising etc to make better use of my time! If you have suggestions on "organizing" my life I am open to them! I need some structure so I can accomplish all that needs to be done!

Ok...so there's a new challenge coming up at the 'hood next week and I'm planning to make that one shine for me! Are you in???

Thankfulness - Day 15

2011-11-15T22:27:00.002-06:00

Today I am thankful for the opportunity to be flexible with the new schedule I created for That Other Kid in our homeschooling journey. He decided he wanted to do spelling today even though it wasn't on our schedule! Because we have the freedom to create our own schedule I was able to forego history today and we did spelling instead! I love that he wanted to do spelling - All About Spelling is a great program!

I am also thankful for my friends who told me about All About Spelling! I had never heard of this program; even though I have been homeschooling FOREVER!! Whooohooo for friends who try new programs and aren't afraid to recommend them even to a veteran homeschooler!

Thankful for Friends!!

2011-11-14T21:54:00.003-06:00

6 months ago I didn't know a single one of these wonderful Angels! Today I call them my friends and I am truly thankful that I can! Without these wonderful men and women (some of which have fought the breast cancer fight) I would never have had the opportunity to say, "I just finished walking 60 miles in 3 Days!"

I will never forget them and I can hardly wait to start training walks again for next year's 3 Day!

Doing the Impossible...

2011-11-13T18:45:00.000-06:00

This past weekend I walked the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure. I can honestly say it ranks as one of best 5 things I have ever done! This was truly an experience that made me feel like I was more than a wife and mother. It gave me a purpose other than preparing meals, doing laundry and teaching That Other Kid (all worthwhile for our family but very mundane!)

This is Glenna...the reason I decided this was the year to "put your words into action" and walk the 3 Day for the Cure that I have been wanting to do for years! My grandmother died of breast cancer more than 10 years ago and I had always thought I wanted to do something grand like the 3 Day but once Glenna got breast cancer I knew it had to happen now!! She came down to join me for lunch on Saturday - the roughest day of the weekend for me! I'm so blessed to have her in my life and I'm so glad she didn't let cancer beat her!

As a wife and mother I usually devote my attention to caring for my family. Rarely do I do something just because I want to make a difference in someone else's life, but this weekend that's what I did. Rarely do I do something purely for me. This weekend I did. Rarely do I do something that I have such a strong commitment to that I feel good about when I'm done. This weekend I did.

Like most Americans I usually don't follow through on things that I start doing. This weekend I followed through on the commitment that I made in July to walk the Komen 3 Day. Not only did I train for this event, but I raised more than $2300 to help find a cure for breast cancer. Then I followed up by walking 60 miles in 3 days!

Now that the Komen 3 Day is over for the year, I'm experiencing many emotions that I wasn't prepared for. I was so exhilarated while I was walking. I felt on top of the world; like I could do anything I set my mind (and feet to). I felt as if I couldn't be stopped.

I saw so many people this weekend with the same goal in mind - finding a cure for breast cancer. I walked with a woman on my team who was diagnosed with breast cancer last October and has gone through chemo, radiation, surgery, etc ALL while training TO WALK THE 3 DAY! She walked all 60 miles and was smiling, laughing and SERVING several other women on my team along the way!

Definitely applies here!

The lady on the far left is Yvette! She's one of my heros..the lady on my team I just mentioned!

All along the route people came out to cheer us on throughout our 60 miles. Many of these people spent the whole weekend following our route and setting up cheering stations and supporting us. Many of these people have a very personal reason for supporting us.

In case you can't tell the top of her head says thank you! This one brought me to instant tears!

Some just wanted to say thank you for making a difference.

There were times when I cried because there were so many people at a cheering station. There were times when we were walking that I was so physically and mentally exhausted I cried. There were times when I was in pain and wanted to cry, but I knew the discomfort I was in was NOTHING compared to the pain of breast cancer and all that goes with it. There were a few times I thought I could go on forever and there were times I didn't think I could take another step!

There were times when the signs I saw posted along the route kept me going - "It's kind of fun to do the impossible" really spoke to me!

I managed to walk all 60 miles and was encouraged to keep going by my wonderful friends who sent tweets, emails, letters and texts throughout the weekend.

Through this experience I have gained more than I could have ever imagined possible. I have gained lifetime friendships and a feeling of "I can do anything"! and I'm already planning to do it again next year!

The entire weekend was an experience I will never forget and I owe a huge thank you to many of my friends who donated money to help me raise the $2300 necessary to walk this event. Without your financial support and constant motivation I would not have been able to do this.

Now that the walk for this year is over I am going to apply what I have learned to my weight loss journey. If I can train in the heat of summer and get up at 4 a.m. on the weekends to do so, raise money, and walk 60 miles in 3 days I can do what most people consider the impossible - lose 40 or 50 more pounds! I have learned that I can do anything I set out to do! All I have to do is put my whole self into it! And I intend to do just that - the impossible really is possible when you want it bad enough!

Thankful for Homeschooling...

2011-11-12T22:01:00.002-06:00

Today I am thankful for the privilege of homeschooling! I spent time this afternoon working on some lesson plans which for some strange reason excited me and made me think of how thankful I am for this opportunity.

I was also at the library gathering books for the next couple of weeks. I found this to be both exciting and frustrating! There are so many great books I want to read with That Other Kid but I just don't have the time to do it all. Our library has a decent number of classics and books off my list but there were some they didn't have! Ugh! That means I forgo reading those or I look elsewhere!

While I was working on the lesson plans and looking over my stack of books I realized how blessed I am to have a husband who works so much so I don't have to. I would hate to miss this opportunity to homeschool That Other Kid!

Thankful for our Veterans! 11/11/11

2011-11-11T10:22:00.004-06:00

I grew up in a family with many veterans - my Dad, my uncles, my grandfather...all served in our military and fought for our freedoms! I have cousins that served as well! My brother also joined the Marines while he was in his early 20's and when I received the phone call saying he was joining the Marines I freaked out thinking it was the worst decision of his life I now openly say it was the best thing he has ever done!

Sooooo why was I surprised when my oldest son came home last Thanksgiving and announced he was joining the Marines? I don't know but now I realize it should have been one of those 'duh' moments! In just 5 weeks my son will graduate from Marine bootcamp and I couldn't be prouder to add just one more member of my family to my military family!

So THANK YOU VETERANS FOR SERVING OUR COUNTRY AND BEING A WONDERFUL EXAMPLE TO MEN AND WOMEN OF TODAY WHO DESIRE TO SERVE OUR COUNTRY!

Thankful for USMC - Happy Birthday Marines!!

2011-11-10T10:20:00.009-06:00

Happy birthday!

I am thankful that my son is over half way done with bootcamp and in just 5 weeks will officially be one of The Few, The Proud, The Marines! I am thankful that he has found a purpose and a group of men to call his brothers. I am also thankful for the wonderful support system I have found online to help me come to not only accept his decision to become a Marine, but to be proud of him! Semper Fi means Always Faithful and that is exactly what Marines are! I'm proud to call my brother one and now my son!

Weigh in Wednesday with Thankfulness Wrapped In

2011-11-09T10:36:00.002-06:00

Ok...so it's Wednesday and that means it's time to weigh in for the Sisterhood's Shrinkvivor challenge. I have to admit that I wasn't too shocked by the number on the scale although I'm not happy about it. I knew there would be a significant gain this week with the Komen 3 Day and all the carbs and junk I ate this weekend. I haven't really stopped with the food yet, either. I guess I'm still recovering.

So...today I am thankful that I am already in exile island! I did log in a whopping number of exercise minutes - 1560! All of this was during the time of Friday, Saturday and Sunday! I don't recommend trying to cram 26 hours of exercise into 3 days! It kind of hurts! lol But, I am ready to sign up to do it again next year! The experiences I encountered this weekend are difficult to express but I'm planning to give it my best shot! Hopefully I will have it written out in the next day or so...

I'm looking forward to seeing who gets to be in the Top 7 for Shrinkvivor! I was in the top 7 last year and it was so much fun creating a video and trying to win the Ultimate Shrinkvivor challenge! Hopefully next year I will have what it takes to get me to the place where I can train and walk the Komen 3 Day and still lose weight!

Thankfulness and Confessions

2011-11-08T18:07:00.003-06:00

I'm going to take this opportunity to say thank you to whoever created the massage industry! Yesterday I was sore from my weekend (can't imagine why though) and so I decided a massage would be a good idea. Tried getting into 5 different places yesterday with no luck but got in this morning at 9:30 and I'm so glad I did! I feel like a whole different woman!

Now....onto the confessions portion of this blog post.

Mel posted her confessions this morning telling us about how she has been struggling! I have to say it again...I am too!

During all the training for the Komen 3 Day I felt confident that I would lose weight and hit goal weight before the actual walk. Instead I weigh pretty much the same as I did this summer when I first started training for the walk. Late last night and this morning I was looking at some of the pictures from this weekend and there were a couple of them that I literally felt sick about! Here I am walking 60 miles and doing all this training to prepare for it and I'm still sitting around the 200 pound mark! Unbelievable!

I'm sick of being in this weight range. I want to be sitting at my goal weight. I want to go see my son at Camp Pendleton, San Diego and not feel fat, frumpy and out of shape. But we are only about 6 weeks away from that time and I don't see how I can lose 20 or 30 pounds in that time (in a healthy way). I'm so frustrated with myself. I know he won't care how I look. He will just be happy to have a couple of weeks of freedom..it's all about how I feel about my appearance. It's all about disappointing myself and the lack of self-control I have exhibited.

This weekend I did walk 60 miles in 3 days! It was the most exhilarating and empowering experience of my life and I ate the whole time I was walking! I had so much food as I was walking that at "meal times" I wasn't really hungry. That is just pathetic if you ask me. So I'm almost afraid to look at the scale tomorrow morning. But...I will own up to it and accept the number and realize that my self-worth is not defined by the number on the scale or the appearance of my body in a picture (no matter how much my head screams that it is!)

I'm ready to turn a new leaf and get back to the healthy eating and exercise. Now...the million dollar question is, "will I do it?" or "will I continue to make excuses?" Only time will tell, right?

Thankfulness - Days 4, 5, 6, and 7!

2011-11-07T22:25:00.008-06:00

Yes, I'm a bit behind....but at least I have a good excuse, right? In case you haven't figured it out I walked the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure this past weekend; that's 60 miles in 3 Days! Let me tell you that's a lot of freaking miles!

I walked from Plano, TX down to Farmers Branch, then all around north Dallas, Farmers Branch, and Addison and then I turned around and walked down to Fair Park in Dallas. If you are not from the Dallas area, you need to google map this and see just how far I traveled! If you are from the area then you already know this is a long way!!

So...here are the things I am thankful for from this weekend and today!

From Friday the 4th - I am thankful for the Angels for the Cure team that I joined back in July! Without this team I would never have been able to walk the 3 Days. From the very first training walk I joined in on with these wonderful people I felt that these women were special and really cared about me. They made getting up at 4 am on the weekends something I ~~kind of~~ looked forward to! They made fundraising not look so scary to me. They made me feel like I was a part of something bigger than myself! Because of this wonderful team I not only MET my goal of raising $2300 but I exceeded it! ~~I am waiting for "matching funds" to come in so it doesn't look like I'm quite there yet, but I am!~~ I owe a special thank you to our team leader Debby Rich! She is an inspiration and a wonderful leader! Out of this team I have gained another group of friends that I will treasure forever!

From Saturday the 5th - I am thankful for my legs and feet that carried me through a really rough day! Typically from what I was told Saturday is the hardest day of the weekend so I was prepared mentally for it and even wore the appropriate shirt for the day! I have often complained that my legs and calves are huge and that my feet are ugly but on this day, I was thankful that they were so muscular. They carried me over rough sidewalks for somewhere in the area of 25 miles over a time span of somewhere in the area of 9 hours. Most of those miles were done AFTER I had tripped over a crappy sidewalk and fallen early in the day. I wasn't hurt AT ALL for which I am thankful to God for...except as I was falling I tried to catch myself and tightened up my calf muscle. From that point on I had a charley horse that wouldn't go away! Do you realize how far 20 miles is when you are walking with a charley horse??? My feet carried me EVERY MILE on Saturday without a single problem! Yes, they were tired but they didn't hurt because of blisters or other issues! I owe most of that to the people that produced HikeGoo. I made it through Saturday without blisters whereas a lot of my team mates came out of Saturday with blisters and were in pain on their feet. Blisters make walking really hard, in case you didn't know that! lol

From Sunday the 6th - I am thankful for my family and friends that have supported me while I have been training and fundraising. They also came out to support me this weekend as I was walking. Hubby and That Other Kid came out several times to cheer me on while I was walking. I even had a couple of friends "walk with me" for a while. Glenna (my best friend who underwent breast cancer this year) came out and sat and watched me eat lunch Saturday and encouraged me to keep going!

Without my family, friends and the constant encouragement from everyone I don't think I would have been able to keep going during the training and then the actual walk, so THANK YOU! I received numerous letters from family and friends this weekend also and I can't express how special it was to read letters and notes from all of my friends and from my parents who each sent me a card telling me how proud they were of me! A HUGE THANKS goes to all my Sisterhood friends! Without the financial support and continual encouragement of all of you I would not have met my goal.

From today, Monday the 7th - I am thankful that I didn't have to do much of anything! I sat around a lot, soaking my weary feet in epsom salt water and caught up on emails and facebook and snuggling with That Other Kid as much as he wanted! I did have a few things to do; like laundry, changing sandboxes, unloading and reloading the dishwasher and a quick run to Target. But..for the most part I sat and vegged out today! I didn't even have to cook...For that I am MOST thankful! Tomorrow morning I get to go get a massage, so I can assure you I will be thankful for that!

Thankfulness Day 3

2011-11-03T09:48:00.001-05:00

Today I am thankful that dreams do not make reality! I had a dream that I missed the bus to start the 3 Day and by the time I got "ready" the day was over. This WILL NOT happen to me!

I am also thankful for all the wonderful friends that have donated to make this event a reality for me!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I am also thankful that I found a way to honor my grandma who died from breast cancer 13 years ago! Grandma gets to walk with me on my wings!

Shrinkvivor and Thankfulness Day 2

2011-11-02T15:26:00.001-05:00

Today I am thankful that my self-worth is not wrapped up in the number on the scale any longer!

Granted I'm not happy about this number but I'm not surprised that the number went up this week. If you read my confession yesterday you noticed that I'm not concerning myself with stressing out about much of anything till after this weekend. So... When the scale went up a tad bit I just took it in stride.

Life will get back to normal after this weekend when I am done walking my 60 miles!

As for the mini-challenge I bombed Monday night....with Having some tootsie rolls.

This weeks challenge is to de-stress before getting out of bed! Perfect time for me...I need this so much!

We also counting minutes again for exercise! Watch out y'all! I'm walking 60 miles this weekend and that's gonna take awhile! Lol!

A Month of Giving Thanks (With a little confession mixed in)

2011-11-01T20:48:00.003-05:00

This is the first day of November. The month that most Americans set aside a time to reflect on the things they are thankful for. I'm going to attempt to do this on the 'ol blog. I'm pretty sure I will miss some days but I will try to keep that to a minimum!

For the first day of November I am Thankful for my family and friends - both the IRL friends and the online friends that I have "met" over the past 4 years of blogging!
I would not be the person I am without all of you!

Now....for the confessions!

I've pretty much decided that the only thing I am concentrating on this week is preparing for the Komen 3 Day. I have packing to do, costumes to make, bags to pack and all kinds of "little" details in order to prepare for the weekend away from home. I need to prepare foods that are easy to heat and eat for the hubby and That Other Kid. I need to make sure the house is in order, laundry clean and folded and all manner of things like that. Since I still have so much to do to get ready the eating and exercising are kind of taking a back seat to everything else. I got my "short" walks done this weekend and I walked for about 15 minutes this afternoon but that's pretty much it. I feel like I need to do more but I'm pretty distracted and can't seem to focus on much else.

I had WAY more than the 2 "fun sized" pieces of candy yesterday that was the mini-challenge for the Sisterhood. I tried to not eat any candy last night but then they put some toostie rolls in That Other Kid's bucket. Being the good mom that I am I didn't want him to have them around so I helped him out by eating them! (He's allergic to dairy and can't have chocolate!) Then I saw some candy bars and I decided to keep those from him, too! ~~Ain't I a good mom?? I'm looking out for his health, right?~~

I need to really bump up the water over the next couple of days. I usually drink 100 ounces a day but the past couple of days I have been under that and I really need to boost it OVER that. I don't want to have dehydration issues on the walk.

If you are in the Dallas area this weekend I would love to have you come out to a cheering station and cheer me on! 60 miles is gonna be a lot of walking...but I am prepared! You can check out the cheering stations here. Let me know if you will be out so I can look for you! I will be dressed in angel wings and a halo and tutu!

Chapter 1 is Complete

2011-10-30T16:23:00.002-05:00

This morning my team and I finished our final official training walk before the Komen 3 Day in just 5 short days! It was "just 8 miles" so we got to the IHOP before the Sunday morning crowd got there, and we had our server take our picture. This group of women (and a bunch more that couldn't make it to breakfast for multiple reasons) have made training for the 3 Day very memorable. I can only imagine what next weekend will be like!

When I decided to sign up to walk this event I had a couple of concerns. The first being would I be able to find a team to train with and be a part of? The second (and even more daunting) would I be able to raise $2300? At the "Get Started Meeting" I was told if I found a team to train with I would be prepared both physically and financially. So I went home and found "Angels for the Cure" and started training and participating in fundraisers. I was gung-ho and ready to work my tail off to meet my goals of raising $2300 and walking 60 miles in 3 Days. The coach at the get started meeting was right!

I am ready! The training is complete. The fundraising is complete (as soon as I get some matching funds deposited in my account) and all I need to do is the finishing touches of my tutu and pack up!

I owe it all to my friends who have listened to me talk non-stop about the Komen 3 Day for the Cure for the past 5 months and my team mates and new friends who have helped me fundraise and pushed me to keep walking during the hottest, longest summer Dallas has ever had.

I am so blessed to have found them! 5 days till I embark on the weekend of a lifetime! I am so ready!

If you are in the Dallas area and can come out to a cheering station I would love to say hi for a few minutes! I will be wearing Angel wings, a halo and a tutu with all my donor's names on it! If you want to "walk" with me just donate here and I will add your name to my tutu!

Shrinkvivor - Going From Pink to Exile

2011-10-26T19:17:00.004-05:00

It's Wednesday and that means it's time to weigh in with the Sisterhood. I got sent to Exile Island last week which didn't surprise me terribly since I had a gain again.

Now that I'm on Exile Island I lost a bit more than a pound...go figure, right?

I did well on the exercise minutes this week with 657, most of which was over the weekend with the Komen 3 Day training. This past weekend we had our last long training weekend walking 19.5 miles on Sunday and almost 11.5 on Saturday. I also did the Run the 'Hood 5K with That Other Kid on Saturday so it was a busy weekend. Saturday afternoon our team also got to go around and mark some of the route we will be walking during the 3 Day, but it would have been difficult to quanitify the time for that so I didn't count it as "exercise" minutes although we were walking A LOT! We are just 9 days out from the 3 Day Walk!! Wow! I can hardly believe it is almost here! I'm starting to get really excited and a bit nervous, as well, about what happens after the 3 Day. How will I handle going from walking miles and miles on the weekends to all of a sudden NOT walking alot on the weekends?? Suggestions are appreciated...

Our mini-challenge for the week was to drink at least 64 ounces of water a day. NO PROBLEM! I usually drink a minimum of 100 ounces a day and on the weekends I usually get around 130 ounces!

This week we are sticking with exercise minutes so I will have to push myself to get some extra workouts in since this is our taper weekend before the walk and we are only going 10 and 8 miles this weekend - only about 2.5 to 3 hours a piece!

We are also supposed to stay away from the halloween candy! Wow! That is kind of mean, right? But, it shouldn't be too hard for me since That Other Kid is allergic to most of the candy I don't buy it for him and what he gets from the Fall Festivals we usually give to friends....as long as I just do that right away I should be good.

Hope you guys are having good success with your goals and are getting healthier, cuz that is the ultimate goal, right?

Walkin the Hood 5k!

2011-10-23T16:27:00.004-05:00

First off I just want to say a huge Thank You to Christy and Melissa (and all the other 'hood peeps) for organizing such a fun event that That Other Kid and I could participate in on a busy weekend for me! It was difficult to squeeze it in. Between a 10 mile Komen training walk, grocery shopping, a 3 Day event and laundry it was a challenge but it was fun and a great way for me and the kiddo to spend time together!

Y'all said you wanted pictures so here you go! In no particular order (cuz I'm being lazy!) and I just finished walking 19.5 miles!

We started out about 11 am since I had to do my training walk and run to the grocery store and make sure we were all fed before heading out. My hubby and That Other Kid were teasing me saying this was just a "walk in the park" since it was such a short distance and it literally was, cuz we went to the park to do our 5K!!

Of course the skeleton Bondi Band made him even more excited! Why do boys like skeletons so much?

We started our walk at the park, then took us by the pond where we saw ducks, wild plums, acorns and lots of rocks! (see why it took us over an hr to walk the 5k?) and he was "so tired too"!

Our official time (per MapMyRun) was 1:12:16 to walk the 3.1 miles! What a great feeling of accomplishment for him! And it was a great way to spend an hour doing something with him outdoors!

Shrinkvivor - Week 4

2011-10-19T10:22:00.005-05:00

It's Wednesdays and over at Shrinking Jeans we do a weigh in on Wednesdays. Can we just skip Wednesday this week? No, well then this is what it is....

Can I just say I pissed I am to see this number on the scale this morning! Really there are no excuses except the normal ones. I ate like crap, ate way more than I should have and didn't put in enough exercise minutes. Adding up my time last night I realized that I got NO exercise minutes in 3 of the 7 days. Totally unacceptable for me! I KNOW that for me to lose weight I MUST be consistent and put in an hour of exercise EVERY SINGLE DAY with an occasional day of "rest". Apparently this week I thought I deserved 3 days of rest. Thus, the gain AGAIN on the scale!

I could say I had a sinus infection so it's understandable to expect a gain on the scale since the antibiotics ALWAYS cause a gain in me but in all honesty I just put in the effort to lose weight. Apparently I don't want to look good when we go to San Diego in December. Apparently I expect "My Marine" to get his act together but I can continue sitting around being an ~~fat slob~~ obese mom.

This week is once again exercise minutes which will work out for me. We have the Virtual 5K this weekend that That Other Kid and I are doing, on top of the training for the Komen 3 Day. This is our last long mileage weekend then we have a weekend of tapering before the event. This past week I only had 546 minutes which for me is really light. ~~I know I should be proud of this but I'm not happy about it because I expect A LOT MORE of myself than that!~~

This week's mini-challenge is water! This one I have in the bag. I drink a lot of water a day - at least 100 ounces (yes, I spend alot of time in the bathroom!). Last week's mini-challenge was to eat "my greens". I have to admit I did good 3 of the days but the rest of the week? NOT SO MUCH! Eating veggies are sooo hard for me but I have been improving and that is the goal, right?

Ok...so my plan for the week - TRACK my food! This works for me, WHEN I DO IT! It's just a matter of doing it. I also need to focus on the low glycemic index plan. I lost weight on this....I just need to FOLLOW IT!! I also need to move my body more intensely and more often!

So...here's to another week...I'm hoping that ALL of the Pink Tribe remains intact this week but if not we will stick together even from exile island. We are united all seeking the same goal...healthier, more fit women!

Winner!!

2011-10-16T22:50:00.001-05:00

Here's my version of random.com....and the winner is: Thea

Thanks for helping me raise money for a wonderful cause that is changing life for women every day!

60 miles in 3 Days!!

Red Friday....

2011-10-14T11:21:00.004-05:00

In honor of RED FRIDAY, I decided to post this poem that was posted on the Marine Family facebook page that I am a part of. This group has kept me sane over the past 4 weeks!

Yes, "My Marine" has been gone nearly 4 weeks! That means in just 9 weeks he will be graduating from boot camp and will hold the honor of being a United States Marine! I'm still looking for flights to San Diego for us to get out there as cheaply as possible so if you know of any way to get from Dallas to San Diego the middle of December cheaply please let me know! I've only received 1 REAL letter and it was just like heaven on earth! Can't wait to hear from him again although I know he's a bit busy!

Yesterday a Boy, Today a Marine, Always my son

There is a young man,taking part in God's plan.
... To go off and rain in the sun and sand.
He goes to an Island where is taught by a DI
Commanded by stern voices to make fearful choices.

Following through to the end.
To never to stray or to bend.
To fight the good fight
and run the race to win
The Eagle, Globe, and Anchor
Is the prize at the end.
Honor, Courage and Commitment
Are what is taught.
To stand for these and to hold them true.
He does this for me and for you
To be yelled and screamed at and to not quit.
Push ups and quarter decked they say will make him fit.
To run miles at a time in eighteen inch sand.
Training and learnig to defend with his hands.
An oath he took willingly to serve and defend,
He will follow through with his brothers down to the end.
He puts a Sir or Mam at the end of each yes or no,
Makes you wonder, "Where did the boy go?"

His recruiter says he is doing well.
His letters are our communicationfrom his boot camp hell.
Some thing he goes through he cannot and will not tell,
His letters we look for daily in the mail,
Recieving one makes the waiting all swell.

The day he left was a heart strain,
Will be totally forgotten when my son becomes a Marine
The Few and the Proud, is what he choose to become,
Not an easy task for many,impossible for some.

Prayers and scriptures are what he reads through,
Fighting illness and homesickness, he knows God is there too.
He is doing the things he has to do,
To become a Marine, one of the choosen Few

Semper Fi is the motto, always faithful and true,
This will be obvious when he stands in his Dress Blues.
Oo-Rah will be the battle cry,
Shouted loud and clear.
Becoming his dream
Overcoming his fears.
My son will be a Marine.
What a wonderful sound.

And don't forget to check out my Target giftcard give away. All proceeds go directly to the Komen 3 Day for the Cure that I am walking in just 3 weeks! WOW!! 3 weeks to go!..I will close it off tomorrow evening and pick a winner Sunday afternoon with the help of That Other Kid!

Shrinkvivor and Other Random Stuff!

2011-10-12T10:54:00.004-05:00

Ok...before we get down to the ~~ugliness~~ business of Shrinkvivor can I just say I have the BEST ONLINE FRIENDS IN THE WORLD!! I received donation after donation after donation yesterday for the Komen 3 Day Walk and every one of these donations came from women that I have NEVER met in real life (with the exception of Christy cuz I got to meet her this past spring!) I am so grateful for the community of women (and men) that I have met online! Y'all have enriched my life greatly!!

On with the business of the day! This is Wednesday which means it is weigh in day! I didn't really know what to expect. I walked over 30 miles during the weekend and ate a lot of food to keep me going! Not all of which was good for me, obviously by the number on the scale. Sorry the picture is sideways! I don't know how to fix it! :(( ~~since I am technically challenged!~~

Anyways, as you can see this is right back where I started from one the beginning day of the challenge! Back to 200.8 is not where I wanted to be but it is what it is!
Nothing I can do about it now. Just gotta work harder this coming week and make the number go back down.

I did log a respectible number of minutes of exercise -- 755 minutes -- so I'm hoping it is enough to give us immunity!! We lost Roo last week and that made me very sad but it doesn't mean she's not PINK still! We still love her and as far as we are concerned she is still on our tribe!

We were supposed to make sure we got at least 7 hours of sleep a night last week for our mini-challenge. I did good except over the weekend when I only got about 4 or 5 hours a night! It's hard for a night owl to get enough sleep when she has to get up at 4 am to walk for training!

this week's mini-challenge is EAT YOUR GREENS! Honestly this is one of my most difficult areas! I'm not a veggie eater. Salad is about the only veggies I eat and I have a hard time eating them on a regular basis but I am trying! I did buy salad yesterday at the store and we had a salad last night so I will just need to make sure I fix one every night!

Before I say goodbye I want to remind you that I have a $75 Target giftcard giveaway going on. Check it out over here. I will have That Other Kid help me choose a winner Sunday afternoon since I will be out walking Sunday morning.

Oh I almost forgot! Go give Bari some love this weekend as she is running her first MARATHON! Go give Thea some love, too! Cuz she is running her FIRST HALF-MARATHON!! These women are all kinds of inspirational to me and they definitely deserve some lovin'! They are both gonna rock their races and I can't wait to hear how awesome they do on them!

Feeling Overwhelmed Confessions

2011-10-11T13:21:00.003-05:00

Right now is the first time I've even sat down at my computer long enough to even THINK about writing a post since last week for the Shrinkvivor post! I've been busier than a "one armed paper hanger" and I'm ready for some down time!

But....I'm not really going to get it for another few weeks. I will just take care of business as soon as possible and move on!

I WALKED 20.5 miles on Saturday! Oh my goodness how good I felt for accomplishing such a wonderful goal! That is 1/3 of what I will be walking in a matter of 3 1/2 weeks. I felt so good...our training walk that day was 18 miles but our wonderful training leader wanted to allow us to walk those extra 2 miles "to show we can"!! I can't tell you how good it felt!

I know that there are marathoners out there that are RUNNING OVER 20 miles but for me this was such a wonderful accomplishment!

Then on Sunday we were supposed to walk 15 miles! I bailed at just over 9 miles! My allergies were making me sick! I was dizzy, weak, and exhausted! I felt worse walking those 9 miles than I did walking the 20, so I went home, and got in bed for 2 hours and SLEPT! I felt a bit better - not great but better. Since then I have been having some serious allergy issues so I am going to go to the doctor to get some antibiotics to prevent a sinus infection. I know most people love fall and I do love the cooler weather BUT my allergies and I are NOT loving fall!

I had a bake sale to raise money for the Komen 3 Day
on Friday night (and spent 6 hours Thursday baking for it!) and raised $150 in just a few hours! I was very happy!

I'm also giving away a $75 Target giftcard on Saturday to one of my donators! All you have to do is donate at least $5 and leave me a comment on this post! Sometime Sunday That Other Kid and I will choose a winner for the giftcard! So far the odds are pretty good -- Brooke, Roo, and Alison are the only ones who have donated.

All proceeds go directly to help find a cure for breast cancer! Donate here before Saturday night and I will enter you into the drawing!!

Yesterday I went to hang out with my friend Glenna, whom I am doing all this walking, baking, and fundraising for! It was the first time in what seemed like forever that we have done anything by ourselves! It was soooooo nice! We walked the mall, went to see a movie (7 Days in Utopia - a great clean movie, btw) and walked the mall some more and ate dinner at Chilis! We talked till we barely had voices! It was a great way to spend the day/evening!

But...I missed SisterChat and that made me sad:(

Today I have been cleaning and trying to get a handle on the disorganized clutter and mess that has been taking over my house! How do y'all tackle the clutter? Do you have a "cleaning schedule"? Do you do a little every day or all day cleaning? Inquiring minds NEED to know! I'm tired of the house being a mess! Storage is limited and space is even more limited so I need to figure it out!

My eating has been so-so this week, exercise has been good considering I walked over 29 miles this past weekend! lol Hopefully, I will have another good loss tomorrow.

What do you have to confess this week?

Shrinkvivor Week 1

2011-10-05T13:30:00.004-05:00

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Today is check in day at Shrinking Jeans and honestly I was afraid to step on the scales this morning BUT I was pleasantly surprised with this number!

Last week for the start of Shrinkvivor I was at 200.8 so I lost 2.6 lbs this week! Just think what I could have done had I not eaten 1 dozen cookies in 2 days!!

For the mini challenge we were supposed to avoid fast food. I did

Ok on it but I blew it on Thursday even before I knew what we were supposed to do. I also bought Chickfila Monday but I got a grilled chicken salad, so I don't think that is bad.

I have been participating in a fitness challenge at the karate studio that That Other Kid takes class at. This is the 4th and final week if it and we got weighed and measured. I lost a total of 10 inches in 1 month! I'm so happy that I am actually seeing progress!

For our physical challenge I did 727 minutes, and that's taking Thursday completely off from exercise. My body needed the break! This week's challenge is exercise minutes again! No sweat! I am walking 20 miles on Saturday and at least 15 on Sunday! I will also be getting some more minutes in during the rest of the week, just cuz!

As most of you know I am walking the 3 Day for the Cure
and I am supposed to raise $2300 so I am doing a great give away for a Target giftcard! Go check it out ...
here

Hope you all had a great week!

TARG-AY Giftcard GiveAway and Breast Cancer Awareness!

2011-10-04T13:16:00.005-05:00

I'm happy to announce a Target Giftcard GiveAway! This giftcard is $75 of FREE MONEY for Target or Target.com! Everybody loves free money and everybody LOVES Target, right??

Ok...so here's the deal! I am raising money and walking the 3 Day for the Cure 1 month from today! I have pledged to raise $2300 for breast cancer research. If you have been around much you know that this cause has ALWAYS been pretty special to me, but this year it became a little MORE special to me with my best friend being diagnosed with breast cancer the week before Christmas last year. This year I have watched her go through the cancer treatments, the surgery and all the junk that goes along with cancer. It has been a rough year for her and her family. She is doing amazingly well and is probably healthier than she has been in years now!

Anyway, I am about at the 1/2 way point in my fundraising! Considering I have only been working on this since the middle of July I think I'm doing pretty well BUT....in order for me to walk on November 4th, 5th and 6th for 60 miles --- (that's 20 miles a day, yo!) I need to raise the rest of the money quickly! Enter Target...

I have this $75 giftcard that I want to give away to one of my supporters!

So if you go to here and donate at least $5 (everyone can afford $5 right??) I will put you in the drawing for the $75 giftcard! $5 is just one trip to a fast food place. Or just 1 trip to Starbucks! Have you gone to Starbucks or gotten fast food lately? If yes, then I'm sure you can handle donating to this wonderful cause that is helping millions of women (and even men) daily in the fight against breast cancer!

Once you donate leave me a comment and tell me (I will know cuz I get emails telling me when someone donates!) but I want to have all the names in a list so I can have That Other Kid help me choose a person to give the giftcard to!

You can also get other entries in this giveaway by telling others about it either on twitter or facebook or your blog! If someone donates through your recommendation to donate both of you will be in the drawing!

So if you donate and then you tell your peeps about it and they donate (and let me know about your connection) you can get multiple entries...easy peasy, right??

So....go forth and donate a minimum of $5 (which is just like nothing really) and tell your peeps and you could win $75 of free TARGET money!! What could be cooler than that??? ~~A cure for breast cancer! But we can only do so much, right??~~

I will close this giveaway out on October 15th in case you have to wait for another paycheck! Ain't I nice?? And if you enter, make sure I can find you, k??

Confession

2011-10-04T12:10:00.003-05:00

It's Shrinking Jeans Confession time. I have a few things to get off my chest, so sit back and help me get my act in gear, k?

I have been training for the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure. We have 4 more weeks of training and a lot of prep work to get through during this month of October. My weekends have been crazy busy already with the training but they are about to get EVEN more crazy! If you are looking for me on the weekends I highly recommend you try on Friday or Monday!! This coming weekend is our "dress rehearsal" - where we wear our halos, angel wings and tutus (if I manage to get it made in time!) and walk 18 (or 20 miles) on Saturday and then turn around and walk 15 (or more) miles on Sunday! I'm actually kind of excited to walk this weekend -- I know my feet can handle it now that I have the correct shoes and I'm using Hike Goo to keep the blisters at bay. Right now the weather forecast is calling for a 30% chance of rain. I may be shot but I'm praying it doesn't rain till AFTER we are done with our training walks. I'm not looking forward to the possibility of walking in the rain for that many miles!

I got my first REAL letter from My Marine yesterday in the mail! I cried while I read it walking back from the mailbox and then I cried again as I was reading it in the apartment. He seems to be doing well, but was in "sick bay" for a cough. Apparently so was 1/3 of his platoon! He has his first knowledge test on Thursday or Friday (I can't figure out which day it really is) so I'm praying that he does well on that. He was saying that he has basically NO time to do anything. He got his rifle but had not got to use it yet! He was learning how to clean it and memorize the serial number on the gun!

Ok...onto some confessions that will no doubt affect me on the weigh in tomorrow morning for Shrinkvivor.

I ATE an ENTIRE BOX of COOKIES (12 of them) with 230 calories a piece in a matter of 2 days! I paid for it dearly by being sick to my stomach and having a serious sugar headache all evening. I also felt like someone had beat me with the ugly stick! I felt fat, ugly and disgusting all evening! I didn't really have an excuse for why I ate them all -- except I just wanted to. STUPID!!! I spent a lot of time in the bathroom last night, too! Hopefully I flushed all that CRAP (literally and figuratively) out of my system.

I have been really putting a lot of hours of exercise in this week so I'm hoping that it will help me lose the weight that those stupid cookies caused me to gain...

We were supposed to stay away from the fast food this week for our mini-challenge. I blew it before I even knew what I was supposed to do. I ate fast food Thursday afternoon but in all honesty I didn't make bad food choices with what I ate, but STILL....I can't say I stayed away from fast food this week! I also bought a Chickfila Grilled Chicken salad last night that I didn't end up eating...so that will be my lunch. I don't really consider that "fast food" since it has 180 calories and is actually better for me than most of the food I have at home right now!

Menu planning has totally been a BUST for me. I know I need to do it, but I haven't.
There are a lot of great recipes floating around through the Sisterhood but I just haven't taken the time to sit down and figure out a menu. I think the thing holding me back is that I am SOOOOO busy right now that I don't feel like I have the time to sit down and write it out and then go to the grocery store to buy the stuff necessary to fix the food. I pretty much know what I'm gonna fix this week but I haven't written it down!

This is the last week that I'm going to be gone during the week for my fitness classes so I'm hoping that I will have a little more time at home to do what needs to be done as far as menu planning and grocery shopping!

I bought a couple of shirts and a dry-fit jacket for my 3 Day Walk training since the EARLY mornings are actually a bit cool! I got both items on clearance at TARGET!! Gotta love Target for clearance! Speaking of Target....check back in a bit. I've got a great give away planned for a $75 Target giftcard!! Think FREE MONEY to use at TARGET or TARGET.COM!!

Ok...that's it for my confessions-- what about you?? Do you have confessions to make? I promise you will feel better if you spill the beans!

Marine Corp Prayer...

2011-09-30T21:18:00.005-05:00

The United States Marine Corps Prayer.

Eternal God, we humbly beseech You that your hand of mercy extend to all United States Marines from sea to shining sea, from ports near and far, amphibious bases and airfields, to embassies around the world. Whenever our Marines stand watch this day may they be persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things pre...sent, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate them from the love of God.
Lord, stand beside these Marines whom you have called to serve. Help them to serve honorable. Give them courage, strength, and skill, and if they are called to sacrifice may it be worthy of their Lord.
For the tasks that lay before the Commandant and the Sergent Major of the Marine Corps, we ask an extra measure of strength. When they pass through the waters, make known that you will be with them, and when they walk through fires they shall not be burned.
God, we pray that you would sustain our Marines, and just as they are always faithful to the Corps, we ask that you would call them by name, and they would hear your voice and they would be faithful to you. (Semper Fidelis) Amen

I received my first "form" letter from My Marine last night! I was so excited I started dancing and singing! You would have thought someone handed me $1000! Now I have an address so I can start communicating with my son! It's been a long (nearly) 2 weeks but I have survived and I'm sure he has too! lol Occasionally on Fridays I will be posting things that pertain to the marines. I hope you don't mind! It is a part of my life now and that is what this blog is all about ME and MY LIFE!!

As we end September and start October I hope you will prayerfully consider donating to help find a cure for Breast Cancer. I am participating in the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure Walk on November 4,5,6th and I have pledged to raise $2300. You can donate here to help me raise this money! This weekend I will be doing training walks...of 10 miles on Saturday and 6 miles on Sunday (it's a short weekend of training before next weekend we walk 18 miles on Saturday and 15 miles on Sunday!)

Have a great weekend everyone and Semper Fi (Always Faithful)~~

Beginning Shrinkvivor 2011

2011-09-28T18:17:00.006-05:00

This is the number I saw on the scale this morning! I'm disappointed and not happy about this number. I'm posting it boldly so that I can remember where I'm starting this challenge! I'm hoping that I will NEVER see this number again on a scale that I am on!! I've been here far too often over the past few months!

This is the beginning of Shrinkvivor 2011 at the Sisterhood of Shrinking Jeans. This was one of my favorite challenges last year and I was fortunate enough to be on the Green Tribe last year. We were very successful and won several weeks of the challenges!

This year I am on the PINK TRIBE - The PINKberry Dough Girls!

PERFECT for the month of October (being Breast Cancer Awareness Month and all!) I'm on a tribe with Roo, Heather, Virginia, Tiffany, Audrey and Shera! I know Roo pretty well and I have chatted with Heather a little on Twitter but the rest of these women I don't really know YET! But we are definitely changing that now!! I'm excited to start this new challenge...I've been struggling since My Marine left for bootcamp. I've been doing ok during the day because I have been staying busy. BUT....once night falls and That Other Kid is in bed, well let's just say things have been UGLY! So ugly in fact I probably consumed more calories after 9p.m. yesterday than I did throughout the rest of the day! NOT GOOD!

I am changing that starting today. Roo and I talked this morning and every time I want to go eat something, mindlessly I'm going to text, call or chat with her! OR...I'm going to do some sort of exercise! I can't eat if I'm talking or exercising, right???!!

The fitness challenge for the week is to log minutes of exercise...This is going to a great one for me! I've already got a good start for the week!

Hope y'all have a great week! Remember....take your photo of the scale every week so you will be eligible to win some great prizes!

I took my picture so I could see how much I can change in just 7 weeks when I apply myself! I'm hoping it will motivate me to keep going once the challenge is over!

Time to Confess...

2011-09-27T14:38:00.003-05:00

Tuesday is confession day at the Sisterhood. Sometimes I feel like confessing and sometimes I don't. Today I feel the need to get some things off my chest ~~and butt, stomach and hips~~.

We are about to embark on our next challenge over at the Sisterhood (Shrinkvivor)and I am definitely ready to get the numbers on the scale to go down.I have been stagnating (or some people who are nice say maintaining) this weight for the past year and honestly I am sooooo tired of it I could spit! IT'S TIME to change!!

Last night during SisterChat (were you there? if not you missed a great time!) I was chatting with all the lovelies telling them they better really work hard cuz I am ready to become a HAWT Marine Mama when I go to SanDiego in December! That means I am going to really work hard and get this weight off! 12 weeks is gonna go fast...and I want the weight to get off fast too! BUTTTTT I REFUSE to starve myself and deprive myself of healthy eating habits! So what does that mean? I eat right, exercise right and lose the weight with the help of my friends!

@JeninRL was telling me last night I couldn't win Shrinkvivor cuz she was gonna win...Now usually I'm like ok great, but I was in a "dude I don't think so I'm gonna win this sucker" mood so we were egging each other on! It was actually entertaining, but then she threw of the gauntlet! To take pictures of ourself in a bikini/swimsuit and then post it on the 'hood! She went over and set up a group for it. I decided what the heck! I might be old but if I'm going to challenge her to lose weight while she challenges me to lose weight I may as well be proud enough of my successes to post a picture of myself in a swimsuit! She said bikini -- I haven't been in a bikini since she was 2 though so not sure I'm gonna go that far BUT I can do a swimsuit!! AND look GOOD in it!! THAT is the clincher!! That's gonna require some serious weight loss on my part! So....the challenge begins tomorrow!! There will be a beginning picture but that will not be seen YET! And of fcourse the ending picture!

Ok...onto other confessions!

That Other Kid is driving me crazy! He seems to be craving my attention every second of EVERY day! We have done very little school lately and I'm frustrated with that. We have to do school but every time we sit down to do it he starts whining and complaining that he misses his brother or he wants to "spend time with me"!! He doesn't want to do anything that requires actual LEARNING! I have to admit that I'm at a loss as to what to do. Honestly I am pretty distracted and don't want to do school either....BUT that doesn't change the fact that it needs to be done!

My Marine left on September 19 for bootcamp and I still haven't heard from him! I'm getting to the point where I can function without crying and wondering what he is doing and how he is doing but there are things that will set me off! This weekend while walking my 17 mile walk someone had yellow ribbons tied on their trees in the front yard! I started crying and one of my friends started praying for me! Only 12 more weeks till I get to see him!! I've been told that I should get a letter from him sometime this week! I hope so!

I walked 30 miles over the weekend! Honestly it was HARD but it was not impossible. What made it harder??....messing up my knee on Saturday and having to walk all 17 miles Sunday (in the heat)with a bum knee!
What made it easier??....getting the FroggTogg in the mail on Saturday and using it on Sunday and walking with a friend! (We shared the FroggTogg!!) Thanks Christie!

I am down to 6 weeks before the Komen 3 Day for the Cure Walk and I still have about $1500 to raise! Please help me raise money for breast cancer research! It could be you, your mom, your sister or best friend that you help!! You can donate here to support me!

And while we are talking fundraising I have a question for you. If you were given a chance to raise a significant amount of money at an event that you didn't really support would you participate or would you say forget it? Just curious cuz that's where I am at with an event this weekend. I am going to participate in it because I can raise a lot of money but I'm having a problem with being at the event!

Ok...I'm off to play soccer with That Other Kid! If you have confessions to make feel free to join in the confession discussion at the Sisterhood or let me know what is up with you!!

Thankful Thursday with Rambling Thoughts

2011-09-22T16:37:00.002-05:00

My Marine left my care on Sunday evening around 7:30 pm and I have to say it was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Bootcamp is 13 weeks and yes, I am counting down the days till he will graduate. Graduation is December16!

I am THANKFUL for a son willing to go do something for our country. These 13 weeks will be difficult for That Other Kid, my hubby and me but what he goes through over these 13 weeks will make him a MAN able to fight wars and defend the freedoms we all hold so dear.

As I was sitting at my computer Sunday night and Monday trying to focus on something besides how much I'm going to miss him I found several wonderful support groups for marine parents (in particular moms). We are all going through the same things (or they have gone before us).

I am THANKFUL for these groups to help me through these 13 weeks!

I am THANKFUL for the Internet to help me connect with these women!

I am THANKFUL for my sisters at the ShrinkingJeans who have been texting, tweeting, facebooking, and commenting their support this week.

This morning was pretty emotional because That Other Kid's kittens escaped the apartment. He was crying for more than 30 minutes and I was out on a walk. So I am THANKFUL that my hubby was home to rescue the kittens. I can't imagine how heartbroken That Other Kid would have been if the kittens would have been lost forever. He's already feeling sad since My Marine left.

I am also THANKFUL for all the people who have made donations in order to support me in my Komen 3 Day Walk. My parents sent me a check this week and this morning I got a donation from someone I don't even know....and I can't tell you how thrilled I was to see this donation come through. I am definitely thankful for these 2 donations as I have been feeling like maybe I can't do this....

I have finally been able to conquer the blister problem and have been able to walk without getting blisters. (If you suffer with blisters on long walks/runs you should check out this great product. It has saved me over the past 3 weeks....no more blisters!! What a glorious feeling!! This weekend I will be doing my longest walks so far -- 13 miles on Saturday and 17 miles on Sunday. I'm actually looking forward to this!! Crazy but true!!

I have 6 weeks left to raise the remaining $1500 I need to meet my $2300 goal. You can help by going to visit my personal page and donating here.

24 Hours....

2011-09-17T16:08:00.000-05:00

In just under 24 hours hubby, That Other Kid and I will turn over That Kid (My Marine) over to the United States Marine Corp. At 3:30 p.m. CT tomorrow afternoon My Marine will check in with the recruiter and he will officially be a USMC recruit. We are allowed to hang out with him till 10 p.m. tomorrow when he has to be in lockdown in his hotel room. Then EARLY Monday morning he will start the longest 13 weeks of his life (and mine) although in all honesty his 13 weeks will be a lot harder and longer than mine! I will still have the normal day to day things to take care of. Life will go on. I will still be homeschooling That Other Kid, taking care of the household stuff, exercising and training for the Komen 3 Day and having the freedoms granted to me by men and women who have gone before him to ensure that I am allowed to live a life in a free country. During this 13 weeks (which is over right around Christmas time - YAY) his life will change dramatically. He will go from a regular middle class young man struggling to find his way in this big world to a United States Marine trained to fight off the "bad guys" (in the words of That Other Kid). I'm gonna miss him fiercely but I know that life will go on all around me. He will come back from boot camp a changed person. He will go in a "boy/man" and come out a "man". I believe it will be the best decision of his life and after this 13 weeks he will be the member of a very elite club - "The Few, The Proud, The Marines". Although for the past 9 months I have been on a bit of an emotional roller coaster ride wondering about this decision for my son and wondering if we will both survive I have to say that I couldn't be more proud of the decision for him to become a Marine! Semper Fi (Always Faithful) seems to being a fitting way to end this post....and it fits him perfectly. He has always been faithful to the people in his life....even when they don't deserve it.

Confession of a Walker

2011-09-13T17:21:00.000-05:00

I'm a bad girl --- Over at the 'hood they are doing a weekly meal plan and encouraging us to do the same and post it. I have FOREVER been meaning to do this BUT....when it comes to actually doing it, it never gets done! They asked if I would do it if there was peer pressure. I said I could be coerced to do it with enough peer pressure, but STILL I haven't done it! I am a slacker when it comes to meal planning but I have been preparing healthy meals with salads this week for dinner....that's good, right? As most of you know (if you've been reading my post lately) I am participating in the Komen 3 Day Walk for the Cure in November. This will be the first year for me to participate in the walk and I'm not planning on it being my last either! As I've been training for the walk we have been sweating it out in the hot Texas summer and walking early in the morning to avoid heat stroke! This weekend was actually a bit chilly and when we first started walking I wished I would have thought to bring a long sleeve shirt or a jacket but by the time we were done walking it was quiet comfortable! This week we are back in the heat of summer breaking our hottest summer on record record with 70 days of 100 degree or more! Yes, welcome to fall ~~summer~~! While most of the country is already breaking out the sweat pants we are still wearing shorts and running our air conditioners 24 hrs a day! So, you might ask what does this have to do with my confession? Well it has to do with I'm tired of this freaking heat!! I thought it was going to be cooler so I could start enjoying my training walks but instead it was so stinking hot this morning at 9:45 when I walked that we had to walk in a shady area of town just so we wouldn't melt in the heat! So if you are already enjoying those nice cool fall temperatures PLEASE send me some cooler weather, k? I finally fixed my blister problems! YAY!! There is a podiatrist that offers his services to the Komen 3 Day walkers free of charge every other weekend at one of the local running stores. Every time he has been there I have been busy but this week I decided I would go no matter what was going on. I am soooooo glad I did! I have an incredibly high arch in both my feet and because of this I put a lot of pressure on the balls of my feet ~~(like 100 pounds each foot!)~~ . and when I walk more than an average days worth of walking I am putting too much pressure on the balls my feet, and end up getting blisters. He cut a hole in my insole of both of my new shoes and "just like magic" NO PAIN! I walked 11.25 miles on Sunday WITHOUT BLISTERS!! It was heavenly!! I'm so glad I took the time to go down and talk to him! Moral to this story....take advantage of the professionals!! Yesterday I started a 24 Day Challenge with the product Advocare. I'm also participating in a fitness class kind of like a bootcamp that meets Monday, Wednesday, Friday for 4 weeks. Yesterday was our first class and ohmygoodness my back and arms HURT! I can only imagine what the other women who have NOT been working out at all are feeling today! I'm hoping that this will boost my metabolism and I will be able to break through my plateau again! I've been working on losing the same 5 pounds all year and it has gotten very frustrating. One of the first things they told me to cut out was SODA! Duh, that one is pretty much a no-brainer but what have I been craving ever since I was told NOT to have it? You guessed it, SODA! When I first started losing weight back in March of 2009 that was the first thing I cut out and I was able to lose 5 pounds in one week. I'm not counting on losing that much this time since soda is not an every day occurance in my life any more (more like a 2 or 3 time a week occurance) but I am counting on it adding up in my weekly weight loss. I'm kind of looking forward to getting on the scale tomorrow morning...I want to see what I have lost this week, if anything! I have been VERY alert and attentive to what I have been eating yesterday and today so I'm sure that will help greatly. My Marine leaves for bootcamp on Monday morning. We will take him to the recruiters office Sunday afternoon and then I won't see my baby for 13 LONG weeks! That Other Kid and I have done school for 2 days in a row! and they have been productive days! Whooohooo! It's been challenging since My Marine has been home and a constant distraction but it has happened! That Other Kid told me he loves math, spelling and history today! I must be doing something right, huh?!! Well that's enough confession for today.... Please help me in raising money for the Komen 3 Day Walk for the Cure!! It's easy and TAX DEDUCTIBLE!! Donate here and I will love you FOREVER!!

Thinking Out Loud

2011-09-09T00:23:00.001-05:00

Bare with me as I think out loud for a few minutes, will you. My thoughts have been pretty scattered lately, so this may not make a bit of sense. It may not make sense cuz I'm writing it from my phone too, but that's besides the point, right?

My Marine leaves on a plane for a bit of a vacation on Sunday which kind of freaks me out! You do realize that Sunday is 9/11, right? He will come home Thursday night late then I will take him to the recruiters office on that Sunday afternoon. He leaves for bootcamp Monday morning early and will be gone for the next 13 weeks. It's gonna be a long fall for this momma! But according to the calendar he will come home in time for That Other Kids birthday and Christmas so we have that to look forward to.

I bought new shoes this past weekend for my Komen 3 Day training walks and gave them a bit if a test today by walking with a friend! We had a nice walk and the shoes felt pretty good. The real test will come this weekend when I have to walk a total of 25 miles over the two days!

Y'all know that I homeschool, right? Well I do, in case you didn't! We are moving along with school doing a combination of 1st and 2nd grade although it has been sporadic and slow moving but we just finished going through the entire Hooked on Phonics program. He finished the last chapter book of the program this afternoon and declared "I never want to read another chapter book!" I thought it was kind of amusing because just a couple of says ago he was reading a chapter book in his own! So far he is loving Story of the World history and of course math! We are also listening to some of the Maestro Classics and he seems to be enjoying them which is nice since I really like them! He just finished going through all the lower case cursive letters and is ready to start connecting them to make words. After he does this for a while we will move on to capital letters. He is such a perfectionist that he gets frustrated if his letter doesn't look just like the book's letter so I have to work on making sure he isn't constantly erasing!

I want to leave you with a thought that christieo mentioned in a post yesterday that really hit home with me. She was talking about how there is nothing wrong with being average. It is actually AWESOME! It made me really think because lately I haven't felt all that special but after reading her post I started feeling like I was really pretty special. I am doing something that many people find unfeasible....I am preparing to walk 20 miles for 3 days in a row all in an effort to bring breast cancer to an end! That is just something this "average" mom is doing this fall but in reality it is AWESOME!

You are awesome too!

2 Weeks and Counting

2011-09-05T19:00:00.001-05:00

2 weeks from today my son will no longer belong to just my hubby and I. He will belong to the United States Marines. He leaves for boot camp 2 weeks from today. I have to say sitting across from him this evening was a bit unreal. We were just having normal dinner conversation (which isn't entirely normal) when I looked up and realized that because of the schedules we all keep this could very likely be our last family meal together! So I took his picture - which he doesn't like! But I'm a mom about to send her first born off to the Marines and I intend to get as many random pictures as I can over the next 2 weeks! I hope you don't mind!

Final Post for Burst Into Summer

2011-08-31T13:18:00.002-05:00

Thank God this challenge with ShrinkingJeans is over. I have to admit to being less than enthusiastic with this challenge. It's been a long, hot summer with lots of excuses for me to NOT lose the weight that I really wanted to this summer. There's always something, right?? Anyway, so here is the scoop. I started losing weight in March of 2009 and weighed in at 226.8. At the beginning of this challenge I weighed 194.6 Today I weighed 198.2 Kind of went the wrong way during this challenge -- supposed to be a WEIGHT LOSS CHALLENGE not a weight gain one, right? Anyway, I'm not going to dwell on this. I'm going to move past it and get my head in the game. I'm planning to participate in the next challenge with the Sisterhood that will start September 28th. My goal at this point is to lose weight over this month so that I can start the next challenge weighing LESS than I do right now. Shouldn't be too hard if I really apply myself....but that seems to be the problem for me right now. Onward and DOWNWARD I like to say. My Marine just signed his paperwork for his MOS (which in marine talk is his job) and has an "official" leave date of September 19th. Please pray that this MOS is the "right" one for him....it's not the one he wanted but it was the "best" of what was available for him right now. I will drive him to his recruiters office on September 18th and then it will be a LONG 13 weeks before I see him again! Yes, I know he's 21 and he's really a man, but he's still my baby and I'm gonna need therapy when I say goodbye to him on the 18th! Send chocolate and lots of it, k?? I think the only thing that will keep me going will be my Komen 3 Day training, which is continuing to increase in miles every week. The walk is on November 4th, 5th and 6th. I will be walking 60 miles over the course of these 3 days! Please help me raise money to find a cure for breast cancer. It is a sucky disease that has hurt yet another woman this week, my husband's step mom. She had to have a double mastectomy this week! Cancer sucks....help fight it please! Go to here to donate, thanks!!

Confessions Time

2011-08-30T12:18:00.008-05:00

It's been a while since I've done a confessions post for the Sisterhood and it hasn't been because I've had such a stellar summer. It's been because I figure no one really wants to hear me whine about not doing what I need to be to lose weight. I'm ready to get my arse back into gear and lose this weight but I definitely need some of my friends to keep me from making stupid choices!

Here goes --

My husband's step mom had to have a double mastectomy yesterday! All I can say to that is that CANCER SUCKS!! I am so glad that I am participating in the Komen 3 Day this year! With all the people that cancer is affecting (including those that are close to me) it just means all that much more to me!

I was sitting at my computer last night soaking my feet in epsom salt (trying to heal all the stupid blisters) eating a WHOLE ENTIRE BAG OF Kettle Chips! ~~I told myself the bag was small and I had eaten healthy all day so it was ok but come on...a whole bag of chips when I've got bowls of fruit just sitting here waiting to be eaten??~~ I bought these chips on Sunday for my husband cuz he LOVES Kettle Chips. He didn't even know I had bought them! They are gone now! and my stomach is not happy about all that oil I put in my body!

Why would I do that to myself? you might ask! Cuz I'm ticked at my feet!! I can't seem to figure out why out of a group of 20 women training for the Komen 3 Day Walk for the Cure I am the only one coming away EVERY weekend with blisters covering my feet so badly I can't walk till Wednesday without pain! And yes, I have good shoes, and dri wicking socks. I've tried Moleskin, New Skin, blister bandaids, all the stuff everyone suggests! I was on the message boards for the walks and heard about a product to put on your feet called HikeGoo by this company to prevent blisters. Have you heard of it?? I ordered it and I'm praying it is the miracle cure I need! It was pricey but if it works it will be worth it!

I'm also getting a wee bit ~~ok A LOT~~ anxious as September gets closer to making it on the calendar. My Marine (formerly known as That Kid) is leaving for Marine boot camp in September. I know it will be good for him but my mom heart is having a hard time with it! Especially since he bought That Other Kid a couple of air soft guns "to remember him"! A little disarming for a city girl mom, ya know??!!

We started back to doing a full schedule of school and I am adding several new subjects into his schedule. In addition to that I am trying to not just "do workbooks" which is hard on my flesh! It means I have to put more effort into preparing for school which takes away from my limited "me time". Although That Other Kid just told me that "history is his favorite now" instead of math like it has always been! History is one of the new subjects we are doing not "workbook style" so that is a good thing, right?!

Ok...I've got to get back to work/um....school so I hope you all have a good day and if you have confessions to make please spill them! I don't want to feel all alone!

If you have a few bucks to spare to help me in my fundraising efforts for my Komen 3 Day Walk for the Cure I would greatly appreciate it! I am walking November 4th, 5th and 6th....20 miles each day for a total of 60 miles! Please help me as I have to raise $2300 and so far I am up to $300! I still have a long way to go and this is such an important cause to support! As I have said before CANCER SUCKS -- my best friend and now my mother in law have had to deal with it JUST THIS Year! That's 2 more people that are adding to the statistic of 1 person every 69 seconds!! This must end! PLEASE HELP by donating here! Thanks bunches!!

13 Miles!

2011-08-27T17:12:00.003-05:00

On the weekends I have been getting up at the 'unholy' hour of 4 am and preparing to walk for the Komen 3 Day training. We leave the parking lot of a local grocery store at 5 am and make our loops and meet back at the cars in case someone can't come at 5am. Every week we are increasing our miles by a mile or 2 and then when it gets to be a couple of weeks out from the November 4th weekend then we will scale back our miles, similar to the way a marathoner trains.

I had never really thought about the work that it would take to prepare for this walk, I guess I just thought I would walk and walk some more and then walk more! But the Komen organization has a training plan set up and the group I am walking with is following it pretty well, although I think they are a week or 2 ahead of schedule, but that's ok...I've got to put the miles in to be prepared.

This week's walk was supposed to be 13 miles on Saturday and 9 miles on Sunday. But as one of the ladies I am training with says, "Our leader has long miles!" Yes,
'mam she does! Today's 13 mile walk was 14.21 miles!! It was a really good route in my opinion although some of the walkers complained that it was boring! But, really is 14 miles of walking going to be "not boring?" unless you are walking in the woods or around bodies of water? I don't think so! There will always be someone that complains about something during an event like this.

My only complaints?! It is too stinkin' hot here in Texas! and I am continuing to get blisters on my feet EVERY freakin' week! I don't get it! I have good shoes, good socks, orthodics (but I didn't wear them this week cuz I thought they might be the cause of the blisters)! I guess my feet just sweat too much! I'm gonna try corn starch or powder for tomorrow and see how that helps! There has been little to no breeze on our walks and I come in from the walks a hot, sweaty mess! But really these things are NOTHING compared to the pain and suffering that women going through breast cancer endure. Given the choice of breast cancer or heat, blisters and a lot of miles I would take the latter EVERY TIME!

I'm guessing that you would too! You can donate to my fundraising page here and help me raise the $2300 that I am going to raise for breast cancer research. Every penny counts!

I posted on facebook about my walk this afternoon and Melissa made an interesting observation. She said, "You just walked OVER a 1/2 marathon!" Very true...although it didn't really occur to me till after she said it! Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Melissa!

By the way, on October 22 the Sisterhood is hosting the 3rd Annual Virtual Race! You can walk it, run it, or wog it! The point is to just move your body! I'm planning to walk it with That Other Kid! He's been wanting to do a race with me since I first started racing and this is a great opportunity! They even have swag, T-shirts, and other great prizes! Sign up here. I'm planning to sign That Other Kid and I up for the 5k portion! If you are in the DFW area and want to participate with us let me know and we will do it together!

Burst Into Summer -- One Week to go!

2011-08-24T10:27:00.004-05:00

Ok...So here's the deal. It's Wednesday and over at Shrinking Jeans we hop on the scale and report back in and let everyone know how the weight loss journey went this past week. Although I haven't taken this challenge seriously and put much effort into the weight loss aspect of the ourney I don't want to be a slacker on all fronts so I am checking in, reporting back and owning my errors. They are mine and no one elses. I can't blame the gains I have made on anyone but myself.

So...here are my numbers:

Starting weight: MARCH 25, 2009 -- 226.8

Starting challenge weight: 6/15/11 -- 194.6
Last week's weight: 200

This week's weight: 198.2

So I must have done something right this week. I *think* I know what that is so we will see how that works out for me this coming week. Since we only have one week left in this challenge I'm hoping that I can at least get down to my starting challenge weight this week but since I have to lose 4 pounds I don't know if that is feasible....I'm gonna give it a try, though!

I think part of my issues for not losing weight is my hormonal issues, so I started taking some homeopathic supplements and I'm going to see how that works for me. Just gotta remember to take them EVERY DAY! I also need to remember that eating crappy food isn't gonna help my stress levels in a positive way! I kind of forgot that this weekend AGAIN! But...every day is a new day. Time to forget about the past and move forward. Eating healthy foods helps me in so many ways and I KNOW I will feel better both mentally and physically if I'm eating right and exercising. Which I haven't really been doing much of lately. Walking over the weekends is about all I am doing and that needs to change. We have been going non-stop lately during the week and by the time I get That Other Kid to bed all I feel like doing is sitting down and goofing off on the computer! But...that's gotta change, too! Need to find my computer time some other way.

Too much to do to waste time goofing off. I still have fundraising things to prepare for for the Komen 3 Day for the Cure and I'm trying out some new things for our homeschooling year with That Other Kid this year. Both take time that I haven't been devoting to them. So I need to get back on a schedule so I can get it ALL done!

Priorities are important so I am prioritizing my life:

ME comes first! That means eating right, spending time reading my bible, and exercising DAILY. I have found that is the way I make sure I get it done consistently.

Secondly, I have to make sure the family is cared for properly. That means the house is clean (relatively speaking, of course! since my house is never REALLY clean!), meals are prepared, laundry is done and I am spending quality time with That Other Kid. I'm finding that this is a biggie as it gets closer to the time when 'My Marine' leaves for boot camp. Once he leaves it will be even more important (for both of us). I also want to make sure that when hubby and I get a chance to spend time on the weekends I am spending quality time with him, not trying to do other things at the same time.

Thirdly, comes homeschooling preparation and school "stuff". I need to make sure I devote time every week (and even every evening if necessary) to school preparations. I have been seriously slacking on this.

Then last but not least, I need to devote time and effort into raising the funds for my Komen 3 Day for the Cure walk. This is even more important to me this week since I just got an email from my hubby's stepmom that she has to have a double mastectomy on Monday, the 29th. Cancer SUCKS, and we must do everything we can to make sure there are cures found!

Ok...enough rambling out of me. I need a shower so we can get out the door! We are attending a "Not Back to School" party with a bunch of other homeschooling families since all the public school kids went back to school this week! We get the place to ourselves!

Hope y'all have had a good week and met your goals for the week!

Homeschooling -- Curriculum Choices

2011-08-19T00:10:00.011-05:00

I've been a fan and reader of DeeDee since I first started reading blogs. She is humorous and has great stories from her kids. She is also a homeschooler which in my opinion makes her even more special!

I love to see what other homeschoolers are using for curriculum and I know others do too so I am once again participating in this Curriculum Roundup. I'm basically cutting and pasting from the Heart of the Matter's Curriculum Roundup that I participated in a couple of weeks ago since who really has time to type all this out twice, right? And nothing has changed in those 2 weeks either, ya know?!

So here you have it....a little background to my family, in case you are new to my blog and my curriculum choices for this school year!

I have a recently turned 21 year old son that I homeschooled all the way through high school. He attended a private, Christian University (yes, you can homeschool and then get into a good college!) for 1 1/2 years. He decided that college wasn't for him so he took this past spring off and worked. He has signed up to join the Marines and will be leaving for boot camp sometime in the next 6 weeks or so. Although I am proud of him, it is hard to let my 'baby' grow up and leave for such a huge life changing thing. I know that it will be the best thing for him....but....blah, blah, blah.

I am now homeschooling my 7 year old son, whom I call That Other Kid on the ol' blog. He will be doing a combination of 1st grade and 2nd grade this fall. He has a winter birthday and I pretty much stick to a loose year round school schedule, with the "grade change" happening at the beginning of the calendar year. Seems to work well for now, so I'm sticking with it.

Now...on to the curriculum choices for this year.

I am a very eclectic homeschooler and I live in Texas!! Whoohhooo! Texas has great homeschooling laws and allows me to basically teach what I want, when I want as long as I am teaching math, reading, spelling, grammar, and civics from the time they are 6 till graduation (or 17). The hard part is choosing the right stuff to teach, right?

This year I am trying something new and different for me. I am trying a more "Well Trained Mind" plan with lots of 'living books'. I have pulled alot of books off the Ambleside Online site and I'm hoping to use a lot of the resources that are there for the first and second grade student. My son loves to be read to and is starting to read decently so I'm wanting to do a lot of reading and have him read alot this year, so that takes care of the "reading" requirement!

For Language Arts (grammar) I am using a combination of Critical Thinking, Language Smarts and First Language Lessons-Levels 1 & 2 from the Well Trained Mind Company. I think my son will do well with both of these curriculums as long as I make sure I don't overwhelm him with "the boring stuff".

For Spelling I am using "All About Spelling". I bought it back in February but never got around to actually using it since we were so busy with just the basics of learning to read and phonics. I think he will breeze through the first level since he has a really good grasp of words and letters, thanks to Hooked on Phonics and then we will move on to level 2, hopefully by October or November.

Math is his favorite and by far his best subject. At the age of 4 he could count to 100 by ones, just because. By 5 he could count to 600 by ones, just because. He understands time, money, fractions, addition and subtraction and can do it all in his head - all instictively! I'm shocked daily at his ability to do math! It also scares me! I'm not very good with math so I know that I will definitely be sending him to classes or co-ops for math in a few short years. BUT...for now I am teaching him 2nd grade ABeka math. It is advanced, colorful and easy enough for me to teach (for now)!

We are going to be using Story of the World for history this year. This one is new for me, and honestly I am scared! I know it's going to take time and consistent dedication from me to sit down and do the lessons with him but I love history and so does he so it should be fun as long as I do it!!

For Geography we are doing a mish-mash of Cantering the Country by Geography Matters, and a book The Star-Spangled State Book by Bramley Books and whatever else I pick up along the way! Geography is the funnest subject to play around with and I know we could spend more time with geography than I have allotted for a school day if I let it happen that way!

For Science I will take him to a couple of bi-weekly classes. I'm not a sciencey person and there are classes in the area that are inexpensive and really good at teaching what I don't want to and what he loves to learn...so it's a win-win situation for me! Not to mention I get to hang out with friends while he is in class!

For our Fine Arts I have purchased Handle on the Arts and Maestro Classics and I am excited to use both of these this year. My son also loves to draw and create so there will be times this year when I just let him draw and create whatever is in his heart to do. This will be a first for me to use fine arts as part of our regular curriculum, and I regret that I didn't make the decision to do more fine arts study with my older son, so I'm not making that mistake again.

For his PE and socialization (since everyone is always concerned that homeschoolers don't socialize and get enough PE) we go to the park at LEAST once a week from late September to May (even through a lot of winter since it doesn't get that cold in TX usually) and he also takes a karate class that meets twice a week throughout the year. We also get together with friends throughout the school year when the weather is nice out and do field trips and excursions to do and see things that we wouldn't normally do if he was in a traditional school setting.

The only thing that I was wanting to work on this year that I don't think we are going to do is a foreign language. Although I want to do study several foreign languages with him I know that with the schedule we have this year I won't get to it, so I didn't even look at it.

Ok...so that is our curriculum choices for the upcoming year with a brief description of what our year will look like. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you won't be a stranger and will come back. Please leave a comment so I know who stopped by and so I can see your curriculum choices for this year. Homeschooling is an adventure of a lifetime!!

I will quickly add that this fall we will be spending a lot of time WALKING and calling it PE because I am training to partipipate in the Komen 3 Day for the Cure that will be on November 4-6 here in Dallas. I fyou would like to support me as I raise money for breast cancer research I would greatly appreciate it. You can go here to donate to my specific page! Thanks so much!

Thankful Thursday...Friends

2011-08-18T21:47:00.004-05:00

Brooke and Bari have been doing a "Thankful Thursday" post for a while now and just this week I thought about how much of my blog is used for moaning and complaining or talking about my weight loss journey (that isn't happening right now) and I need to branch out a little and do something different. So...here is my first Thankful Thursday post. I'm hoping that I will make it a regular part of the ol' blog!

The first thing I am thankful for (and hopefully it won't sound corny) is all my online friends. Women I have met online and have truly become great friends with. All of these women have picked me up when I am down, celebrated with me when I am up and helped cheer me on when a cheer is appropriate! Some of you have kicked me in the booty when I needed that too! I have always been a pretty social person but since I'm not your usual gal I have had difficulties making true, lasting friendships. However, with all of y'all the miles that seperate us don't seem to matter. There is always someone available to "be a friend" when a friend is needed.

The second thing I am thankful for is having the "in real life" friends that are here in the "here and now" that I can phone, text or drop by and see whenever I need a personal and up close friend. These are the people that know the ins and outs of my life and see me when I am at my highest and my lowest. These are the women that are here to just be there when necessary. I also know them the same way, which is kind of nice!

Proverbs 18:24 says, "One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." I can definitely say I don't have unreliable friends and I am so thankful for all of them but I am even more thankful for the best friend of all - Jesus!

Bursting Into Summer

2011-08-17T10:42:00.003-05:00

It's Wednesday and that means weigh in time with the 'hood. For the first time in a really long time I did not want to get on the scales. Last night while wearing a pair of capris that I have worn losely for sometime I noticed they were pretty snug. So this morning I knew in my heart that I would not like seeing the number on the scale but I figured I couldn't ignore it forever so I hopped on and looked down.

Yep, pretty much what I thought! I started this challenge at 194.6 and this morning I saw the number on the scale that I keep telling myself I will NEVER see AGAIN! You guessed it:

200 pounds!!

I am NOT proud of this. I am not happy about this. In fact I'm pretty stinkin' upset about it. NOw the true test of just how upset I am will be in the results it pushes me to make. For example will I stop drinking soda again? Will I go back on the low glycemic index diet plan that I continue to have great success with? Will I eat 5 servings of fruits and veggies daily?

Only time will tell but I can tell you that I am tired of feeling this way. I also know that if Ii will just do the things I need to do the weight will come off and it will stay off!

For the challenge this past week we were supposed to try something new....um...I walked 4.21 miles in the pouring down rain on Saturday morning at 5:30 AM for my Komen 3 Day Training!! That is definitely something new for me! Then on Sunday I turned around and walked nearly 12 miles starting once again at 5 AM!! Definitely new things for me! Nothing compared to my running friends like Kirsten, Tiffany, Lisa, Christy, Brooke, Bari and ChristieO who regularly RUN WAY more than that but for me it was new and I'm counting it! I also bought a fruit called a pluot. I haven't tried it yet but it looks interesting -- kind of like a plum??

Ok... this week's challenge is to take deep breaths!! Um...yeah, I think I need to do lots of this! So I will be doing this A LOT this week! ~~as long as I don't get too stressed out to remember to do it that is!~~

Ok...so that is all from me this week. Hope you have had better success than I have in this challenge and if you haven't please let me know so we can help each other out, k?

Debby Downer Confessions

2011-08-16T15:21:00.005-05:00

Today is Tuesday and over at the world famous Sisterhood of Shrinking Jeans we post all about our confessions of the good, bad and ugly that we might have encountered over the past week. This exercise in confessions is designed to help us feel like we aren't alone, we can turn things around and get back on track again!

I desperately need to get back on track again. ~~As evidenced by the giant Heath bar I just finished consuming right after eating a big cheeseburger, french fries and drinking a coke!~~

So anyway....here are my excuses...just so you know I completely understand that they are nothing more than excuses!!

I just can't seem to stay away from the junk this summer!!

I have been on an emotional roller coaster this summer. One minute I am happy and excited to be healthy and alive, and the next minute all I feel like doing is plunging my face in a bowl of chocolate or ice cream or candy or....you get the idea!

My oldest son will be heading off to Marine boot camp any time now (with a DEFINITE date of September 19 UNLESS something changes that date to an earlier one!) How's that for decisiveness?? Yeah, that's what I thought, too! One minute I am sooooooo ready for him to be GONE and out of my house and someone else's responisiblity to "fix" and the next minute I don't want him to leave at all! He's been drinking and smoking cigars and overall a VERY bad influence on his little brother and it's basically pissing me off!

It's time for me to start back to schooling That Other Kid and I don't feel prepared mentally or physically. There are so many things I want to work on this year with him but with our schedule I'm already feeling that the fun things aren't gonna happen.

I am supposed to raise $2300 for the Komen 3 Day Walk and so far I only have $75 in my account! I'm getting scared that I won't be able to raise it all and we will have to fill in the gap with our own money! That is freaking me out! The women on my team have told me repeatedly that the money will be there in time for the walk but I still keep having a little breakdown weekly when the money doesn't "just magically appear"!

I have been doing well with my weekend Komen training walks and this past week I even managed to walk afew extra miles during the week! This weekend was a major milestone. Saturday I walked 4.21 miles in the POURING DOWN RAIN!! YAY!! It finally rained here in North Texas!! It was very exciting to know that the rain didn't keep me from doing what I needed to do. Then on Sunday I walked almost 12 miles! It was HOT AND HUMID! By the time we were done with our walk we were all drenched in sweat! After walking I went home, fixed breakfast, took a shower and slept for almost 2 hours! Then I went out to eat and ATE BACK ALL THE CALORIES I BURNED!! If this was the exception to the rule it would be ok but it seems like since I have started doing these training walks I am CONSTANTLY HUNGRY! As in never can get enough to eat hungry!

This has been very frustrating and is making me upset with myself! I know that my hormones are all out of whack (cuz I'm an emoitonal basket-case most days) but in order for me to go to the doctor and get medicated I would need an extensive blood workup which is costly! We are finally getting to the point where we are paying our bills and having a bit of money leftover and I really don't want to blow all that "left over" money on stupid blood work, ya know?! So I'm wondering if anyone knows of any way to get my hormones regulated without spending a boatload of money at the doctor! (We don't have health insurance yet - working on it but it hasn't happened yet!)

Ok...so...enough Debby Downer from me! Hope your confessions aren't as doom and gloom! But if they are please don't keep them to yourself! I don't want to feel alone!

If you are able to help support me in my efforts to raise money for the Komen 3 Day you can donate here.

Need Some Motivation

2011-08-03T23:20:00.003-05:00

ChristieO is doing a little project to help motivate us in our health and fitness journey. And can I just say it could not have come at a better time for me (and based on what I have been reading I'm not alone)!

So won't you participate? I've already sent her my picture and can hardly wait to see what she has up her sleeve! All you need to do is send Christie a picture and a line describing how that picture made you feel.

Well here is what she says....

■You know those photos you have from racing or race day or perhaps even from training? Send me one! It can be before during or after when you’re a hot smelly mess. In fact, the stinkier the better. They haven’t invented smellovision yet so we’re ok.
■Send your name and blog url so everyone can know where to visit you (yes! exposure for your blog too!) If you don’t have a blog, put your town and state (ex: Tampa, FL) You’ll be famous!
■THEN send me ONE short line of what was going through your head during the photo. Did you finish a marathon? Did you so totally not want to do this race but you were glad you did? Were you proud? Were you hurt? Were you on fire? Did you never think in a million years you’d have just done what you did? Were you defeated inside? Was there drama goin on up there? Give me one line of what you went through or how you got there or what you were thinking.
■Email to christieo@averagemomswearcapes.com
■Then please RT this post so that our fun-loving community of awesome bloggers and friends can get involved! OK? Well that part’s not mandatory but it would be nice to spread the motivation!
■Grab the button below. I will create a list of participating bloggers on my sidebar with their url (feel free to blog about your participation in the project too but don’t share the picture you sent me in that post, it’s a secret until the final project day, ok?)

Go over and see what else she says! She is all kinds of awesome, wouldn't you agree?!

Burst Into Summer

2011-08-03T19:47:00.004-05:00

It's weigh in time for the Sisterhood. I'm starting to sound like a broken record!What can I say that I haven't been saying all summer long? Not much! Here we are in the beginning of August and I still haven't lost any weight. I just haven't done what it is gonna take to lose the weight. I have eaten too much junk, too much ice cream, too much sugar and too many high glycemic index foods. The month of May I lost over 8 pounds because I was sticking with the low glycemic index foods. Since then, not so much! Thus, no weight loss!

Starting weight for this challenge: 194.6

Last week: 196.0
This week: 196.0

Last week we were challenged to eat/drink 3 servings of dairy a day. I did good until Tuesday and then I guess I forgot what dairy was! NONE! My bad!

For this week we are being challenged to give up the ICE CREAM!! Seems A LOT of us are having ice cream cravings and we are eating more than our fair share! Since it has been sooooooo hot throughout most of the USA I can totally understand how ice cream has been such a issue for so many of us. I know it has been for me, too! So I'm going to give it a try! Surely I can live 1 week without ice cream, right?!

Exercise has been ok...not what I would like but here again it is so hot outside and I've been wanting to do boot camp but can't really go out and sprint when it is 100* at 10 p.m.! I have been doing my training walks for the Komen 3 Day so I am getting some good exercise on the weekends, but we have been walking starting at 5 a.m.!! I can do that 2 mornings a week since I can come home and sleep but NOT GONNA HAPPEN DURING THE WEEK! I'm trying to figure out how to do training walks during the week, so any suggestions would be welcome.

"My Marine" still isn't sure when he leaves for boot camp, but it could still be as soon as Monday, the 8th!! In one regard I hope it happens then, but on the other end of the spectrum I hope he stays as long as he can! ~~I will let ya'll know as soon as possible so you can send therapy!~~

I guess that's it for the week. Hope ya'll had a good week!

Homeschooling....

2011-08-01T23:51:00.004-05:00

Although I don't talk a lot on my blog about homeschooling it is indeed a very BIG part of my life. In fact next to my weight loss/exercise activities it is the most important thing I do on a day to day basis, so when I heard about this "blog hop" for 'not back to school' I wanted to jump on board. If you are new to my blog Welcome! I will give you a quick background then I will hit you up with my curriculum choices for this year.

I have a recently turned 21 year old son that I homeschooled all the way through high school. He attended a private, Christian University (yes, you can homeschool and then get into a good college!) for 1 1/2 years. He decided that college wasn't for him so he took this past spring off and worked. He has signed up to join the Marines and will be leaving for boot camp sometime in the next 6 weeks or so. Although I am proud of him, it is hard to let my 'baby' grow up and leave for such a huge life changing thing. I know that it will be the best thing for him....but....

I am now homeschooling my 7 year old son. He will be doing a combination of 1st grade and 2nd grade this fall. He has a winter birthday and I pretty much stick to a loose year round school schedule, with the "grade change" happening at the beginning of the calendar year. Seems to work well for now, so I'm sticking with it.

Now...on to the curriculum choices for this year.

I am a very eclectic homeschooler and I live in Texas!! Whoohhooo! Texas has great homeschooling laws and allows me to basically teach what I want, when I want as long as I am teaching math, reading, spelling, grammar, and civics from the time they are 6 till graduation (or 17). The hard part is choosing the right stuff to teach, right?

This year I am trying something new and different for me. I am trying a more "Well Trained Mind" plan with lots of 'living books'. I have pulled alot of books off the Ambleside Online site and I'm hoping to use a lot of the resources that are there for the first and second grade student. My son loves to be read to and is starting to read decently so I'm wanting to do a lot of reading and have him read alot this year, so that takes care of the "reading" requirement!

For Language Arts (grammar) I am using a combination of Critical Thinking, Language Smarts and First Language Lessons-Levels 1 & 2 from the Well Trained Mind Company. I think my son will do well with both of these curriculums as long as I make sure I don't overwhelm him with "the boring stuff".

For Spelling I am using "All About Spelling". I bought it back in February but never got around to actually using it since we were so busy with just the basics of learning to read and phonics. I think he will breeze through the first level since he has a really good grasp of words and letters, thanks to Hooked on Phonics and then we will move on to level 2, hopefully by October or November.

Math is his favorite and by far his best subject. At the age of 4 he could count to 100 by ones, just because. By 5 he could count to 600 by ones, just because. He understands time, money, fractions, addition and subtraction and can do it all in his head - all instictively! I'm shocked daily at his ability to do math! It also scares me! I'm not very good with math so I know that I will definitely be sending him to classes or co-ops for math in a few short years. BUT...for now I am teaching him 2nd grade ABeka math. It is advanced, colorful and easy enough for me to teach (for now)!

We are going to be using Story of the World for history this year. This one is new for me, and honestly I am scared! I know it's going to take time and consistent dedication from me to sit down and do the lessons with him but I love history and so does he so it should be fun as long as I do it!!

For Geography we are doing a mish-mash of Cantering the Country by Geography Matters, and a book The Star-Spangled State Book by Bramley Books and whatever else I pick up along the way! Geography is the funnest subject to play around with and I know we could spend more time with geography than I have allotted for a school day if I let it happen that way!

For Science I will take him to a couple of bi-weekly classes. I'm not a sciencey person and there are classes in the area that are inexpensive and really good at teaching what I don't want to and what he loves to learn...so it's a win-win situation for me! Not to mention I get to hang out with friends while he is in class!

For our Fine Arts I have purchased Handle on the Arts and Maestro Classics and I am excited to use both of these this year. My son also loves to draw and create so there will be times this year when I just let him draw and create whatever is in his heart to do. This will be a first for me to use fine arts as part of our regular curriculum, and I regret that I didn't make the decision to do more fine arts study with my older son, so I'm not making that mistake again.

For his PE and socialization (since everyone is always concerned that homeschoolers don't socialize and get enough PE) we go to the park at LEAST once a week from late September to May (even through a lot of winter since it doesn't get that cold in TX usually) and he also takes a karate class that meets twice a week throughout the year. We also get together with friends throughout the school year when the weather is nice out and do field trips and excursions to do and see things that we wouldn't normally do if he was in a traditional school setting.

The only thing that I was wanting to work on this year that I don't think we are going to do is a foreign language. Although I want to do study several foreign languages with him I know that with the schedule we have this year I won't get to it, so I didn't even look at it.

Ok...so that is our curriculum choices for the upcoming year with a brief description of what our year will look like. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you won't be a stranger and will come back. Please leave a comment so I know who stopped by and so I can see your curriculum choices for this year. Homeschooling is an adventure of a lifetime!!

Birthday Edition of Bursting Into Summer

2011-07-27T13:20:00.004-05:00

This challenge for the Shrinking Jeans Sisters is definitely not going as I had hoped. I still am struggling with motivating myself to stay consistent with eating right, and getting enough exercise in daily. It's no ones fault but my own and I am frustrated with my lack of consistency and effort BUT....

I refuse to beat myself up over it. I'm finding it hard to do my workouts outside like I want to since it is summer and 1,000,000 degrees outside here in North Texas! Even in parts of the country where it's not supposed to be hot it is! It's supposed to be hot here and it definitely is and that makes doing anything outside really hard unless it's EARLY in the morning or VERY LATE at night! Yesterday we had clouds and it was actually not unbearable till after 2pm! Then those clouds lifted and once again it was sweltering! Anywho, the reason you are here is to see how I did this week on the scale so...

Last week: 195.6
This week: 196.0

Just can't move away from this range....boo!

But it is birthday week here so I wasn't surprised. My oldest son and I share this week with our birthdays so we have been eating out alot! That also means I did NOT do well in the no soda drinking! In fact I have had too much soda this week, probably where that 4 oz gain came from!! This week's challenge is to get my 3 servings of dairy in every day. I seem to be doing pretty good in this area so hopefully I can tackle this one without a big struggle.

Boot camp and Komen 3 Day training walks are still moving right along so that's good. I attempted to do my boot camp workout (wk3 day3 - yes, I'm behind but I'm still hanging in there and actually like the workouts!)

but it was so hot out even at 10:30 pm I couldn't do the sprints. Hopefully I can get to it tomorrow night! I know it won't happen tonight since I'm going out with friends to celebrate my birthday!

I hope y'all are having better success in this challenge than I am! Here's to a better week!

Confessions

2011-07-26T19:22:00.003-05:00

It's Tuesday so that means confession time with Shrinking Jeans. This has not been one of my better weeks. Let's go with bullet points to lay it all out, shall we?

* I'm doing training walks for the Komen 3 Day Walk for the Cure on the weekends now. I have to get up at 4:15 am to be ready to walk at 5 am on both Saturday and Sunday! I'm a night owl so this is HARD for me! Once I get going I'm doing fine but the mental aspect of getting up before the sunrise is hard on me.

* I walked almost 16 miles this weekend and I got blisters on the BALLS of my feet! This is WITH the new shoes and new socks that were supposed to prevent issues with my feet!

* Yesterday I could barely walk, my feet were so sore! On top of that I was exhausted because Sunday night I got less than 4 hours of sleep....after having only got 4 or 5 each night of the weekend! Last night I crashed at 10:30 and I crashed HARD!! The only reason I stayed up that long was because I wanted to spend some time foam rolling my legs and soaking my feet in Epsom Salts!!

* Today I felt more normal! I'm planning to do my boot camp workout that I had wanted to do last night...it will only be Week 3, Day 3, but I am happy to say that I have been sticking with it and doing them...that is a good thing in my opinion!

* I'm doing well with my walk training but as I was telling one of the women on my training walk the fundraising for the Komen 3 Day is what is scary to me! She reminded me that we still have 3 1/2 months so just do what I can to get the word out and the money will come in!

* Since I started these training walks I have been STARVING!! From what a lot of you have said this is normal but I really don't feel like I can afford to eat that many calories! I'm supposed to be losing weight!! I have goals, people!!

* This is birthday week -- my oldest son turned 21 Sunday and my birthday is tomorrow, so this week has been less than stellar in the food department! I celebrated Sunday with dinner out, we went out tonight for his birthday and some friends are taking me out tomorrow night, so I've been eating ALOT of food this week, although I did use a lot of calories this weekend, I'm still behind on my calories spent category! That isn't good!! Having my child turn 21 has been rather emotional for me! Realizing that he is really a GROWN UP is hard for me!! I think not having him home to really celebrate was harder, too!

* Earlier today I got another blow from him....he WAS scheduled to leave for Marine bootcamp on September 19th, but today he got a call from his recruiter telling him that if he passes the physical test on Friday morning (where he has to run 1.5 miles in 13 minutes, do 3 pull ups, and a bunch (I can't remember how many) of situps in a minute then he leaves AUGUST 8th!! I'm not worried about him passing this part of the training so that means he's off sooner than I am prepared for! AGH!! That's less than 2 weeks away!!

* I was ready for September but August....that's too stinkin' soon!! I may need therapy! and lots of HUGS!! ~~I may even need booze and I DONT DRINK!!~~

I guess that's all...I'm sure theres more but I need to go so I can #Tworkout some before bootcamp!!

My Baby is 21!!

2011-07-24T01:00:00.000-05:00

How could this be? I went to bed one night and the next the day I went into the hospital and after 11 hours of grueling labor complete with pitocin, epidural, and lots of squeezing the life out of hubby's hand That Kid was born!

I blinked my eyes again and he was sitting up, crawling, running (he never walked...it was always running!) and talking!

I blinked my eyes again and I was teaching him how to read, write, tie his shoes, and master all types of "school" stuff! I homeschooled him all through high school so I was blessed enough to watch him learn and grow throughout his school years!

I blinked again and it was time for him to learn to drive!! Oh my, that was scary! ~~It's still scary but I've gotten used to it!~~ Yes, I taught him to drive, then we proceeded to buy him his first car and watched him drive off in it. ~~Talk about scary!~~ As he went from a teenager to a young man I watched him and stood in awe that this man/child was created by my hubby and me.

His first time out driving! Whooohhooo!!

First car...thanks to his grandparents for offering such a great deal and us buying it!

This was him at his 18th birthday party! We rented a boat and went out on the lake. Look at that hair!!

His first time to vote - I was quiet pleased with him for taking that opportunity although many his age don't bother!

This is my favorite picture from his Senior Pictures. It captures his personality pretty well, I think.

How is it that in 21 short years he has gone from a baby who needed EVERYTHING to a young man about to leave our home and serve our country in the USMC? Although I am having a VERY difficult time accepting that my "baby" is about to leave the nest I am immensely proud of him for making a decision that will not only better his life but our country's.

From the time I started this blog I have always called him "That Kid". It was a nickname we came up with as a baby for him, but now that he is a full-fledged adult and about to become a Marine I have decided that I'm going to call him "My Marine".

I love "My Marine" and I pray that your life is everything you hope and dream it will be over the next two decades. You have brought many years of joy to my life, even if I don't always show you!! Love ya, baby....Mom

Burst Into Summer - Week 5

2011-07-20T21:25:00.003-05:00

Wow!! I can't believe its been a whole week since I sat down here at the computer to type a blog post! The week has been crazy with lots of "stuff" and there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day! Can I get an AMEN to that? I don't know what it is about this summer but it seems like I am on the go ALL.THE.TIME! I was thinking tonight that as a "stay at home mom" I had visions of being home most of the time with little ventures out and about to keep me sane. BUT...it seems over the past 3 weeks being at home has been a rarity! Even when I am at home I am "on the go". My hubby called me into his office tonight because one of the kittens was on his chest getting snuggles. He asked me if the kitten ever did that with me? I said "yes, when I SIT, but I don't seem to sit much these days!" I haven't even taken the time to read and comment on blogs! AND I love to do that!! So...sorry if you haven't seen me around your blog lately! Don't feel bad. It has nothing to do with YOU and everything to do with my limited time!!

Anywho....on with the reason you came over to check out my blog this evening. Today is Wednesday and it's Weigh-in day at the Sisterhood. There wasn't much change this week but at least the change with DOWN!

Starting challenge: 194.6

Last week's weight: 196.0
This week's weight: 195.6

So I am still UP but I did come down this week. I think the thing that disappoints me the most is that I really wanted to lose ALOT of weight during this summer challenge and it just isn't happening. I'm not being as dedicated as I know I need to be and I'm frustrated with myself. I know what I need to do, it's just applying it and doing it. But...this is a new week and I'm starting fresh. Working harder at eating according to the Low Glycemic Index Plan and increasing the fruits and veggies again will help greatly with the weight loss. It's just a matter of DOING IT!!

This past week we were challenged to SLEEP 7+ hours a night! I have gotten pretty good at this one over the past 6 months but this week it all fell to PIECES! I THINK I got more than 7 hours of sleep 1 night out of the 7!! BAD...BAD...BAD! and can I just say I feel like I am sleep deprived too! My body feels sore and achey and I feel tired ALL.THE.TIME!

I have been working out hard doing the Shrinking Jeans Bootcamp (I'm only on week 3, but I am doing it) and doing a lot of walking to prepare for the Susan G. Komen 3 Day Walk for the Cure that I am participating in this fall, so I have to make sure I treat my body good! I also bought a foam roller to help with the sore muscles that I'm experiencing, and it's helping alot!! I just need to make sure I start getting more sleep!! The weekends are gonna be tough for me, cuz we are doing training walks at 5a.m. and I am NOT a morning person but it is for a great cause so I am going to suck it up and get up early 2 mornings and walk then come home and SLEEP!!

This week's challenge is to NOT drink SODA! I've really been struggling with this one lately and I really need to stay away from it. I haven't been drinking alot of soda but definitely more than I should be, so this will be a good challenge for me!
I had one tonight with dinner but I'm really gonna try not to have any more this week! Wish me luck, k?

Ok...I'm off to try to read a few blogs and try to get to bed before it becomes a new day!

Bursting Into Summer Week 4

2011-07-13T11:37:00.004-05:00

Well here we are in week 4 and I'm still not taking full advantage of the tools in front of me to lose weight, but at least I didn't gain this week! That's my silver lining of the week!

Last week: 196.0
This week: 196.0

I have been able to get through all of Week 1 of the Shrinking Jeans bootcamp and I did Week 1 Day 1 Monday night. The plan is to do Day 2 tonight. My quads starting cramping up pretty bad during the last couple of sprints Monday night so I shortened them to only about 15 seconds but the rest of them were right around 30 seconds. I spent a lot of time stretching and still felt really tight so I went ahead and used my Arctic Ease. That seemed to help cuz yesterday my quads felt pretty good.

As for the challenge this week, I did ok, but I did NOT make it the full week without fast food. I was craving ice cream one night so I went to Braums and got some! It was yummy and I didn't feel guilty about it....although looking at the scale this morning maybe I should have. lol! I also left the house forgetting to eat lunch one day so I stopped and got some since I knew it would be several hours before I could eat again. Overall, although I wasn't completely fast food free I didn't do too badly. There was only 1 day this past week that I went much over my calorie count and that was Sunday when we had our big family "eat out"! That is the day that I don't really think much about the calories. I just enjoy not having to cook and having someone else serve me and clean up after me! Ah...the little things that matter, ya know??

This week's challenge is to get 7+ hours of sleep. I have to say that I am glad that this one is up next. I have been sorely lacking in this area, staying up far too late just to get a little "me" time. So starting tonight I intend to get my sleep! So if you see me online after 1 a.m. send me to bed, k??

So for this week, I am going to continue working on getting my fruits and veggies in (I've been lacking here and I know it is hurting me) and continue doing boot camp. I know it is good for me, cuz it hurts!! You've heard the phrase "what doesn't kill me will make me stronger", right? Well that is my mantra this month! I'm also going to continue tracking my food in My Fitness Pal cuz it seems to be helping me to monitor those stupid cravings that come along when I'm bored or frustrated. I'm using My Fitness Pal because it is easy to log my food into my phone app. If you are on My Fitness Pal and want to be my friend, go ahead and "friend" me!

This weekend I got to sign up for the Komen 3 Day Walk for the Cure that will be in November here in Dallas, so I will start doing my training walks for that this week too. Unfortunately, all my outside exercising has to be done late at night because of the heat so I need to wait and do it when it is convenient for That Kid and he is getting busier and busier with work. Hopefully, I will be able to fit in some of those beginning training walks...

I would greatly appreciate your support in this. Breast cancer is a killer and I want to do my part in helping to find a cure. You can donate here! Thanks!

Komen 3 Day Walk For Breast Cancer Awareness

2011-07-10T19:33:00.006-05:00

I'm finally doing it!! Thanks HUBBY!!

For years now I have wanted to participate in the Komen 3 Day Walk for Breast Cancer but for one reason or another it has never been possible for me to do so. This year it took on even more significance and I wanted to do it even more than ever before. I got information on it a couple of months ago when my best friend was in the hospital for her breast cancer surgery. However, I never got around to asking my hubby about doing it UNTIL tonight. I finally decided it was time to ask and sign up if I was going to do it.

You've heard the bible verse that says, "Ask and you shall receive", right? Well I did and I received permission to do this!! YAY!! I explained that this would be a 3 day - 60 mile walk and it was in November so I still have plenty of time to prepare. HE SAID YES!! I get to finally do one of my "bucket list" things!! I will be walking November 4-6 here in the Dallas area to raise $2300 for Breast Cancer awareness! That amount of money is mind boggling to me...but I know that it is possible to raise. I have several months to raise the money and I know that I can do it with the help of my friends and family!! So PLEASE help me raise this money to support Breast Cancer.

Breast cancer is a disease that is VERY close to me. At Christmas my best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer...she went through chemo, and surgery this year. She is doing VERY well and we Thank God daily for her coming through this. One of my grandmother's had breast cancer and died as a result of NOT getting the care she needed, so I know that this disease is a KILLER! I also know that with prompt care and attention women can live through this and can be SURVIVORS! I want to do my part..Will you do your part, too? Please help by donating here if you can support me in my 3 Day Walk, k??

So Much To Be Thankful For

2011-07-09T01:12:00.003-05:00

I'm staying up far too late once again....although I am tired I have much on my mind. Tonight I am thankful for my oldest son, who is right now down in Houston. He drove down there today to visit a friend of his who was admitted into a mental institution on Thursday because he threatened suicide. It really shook That Kid up and seemed to shock him tremendously. He had just talked to him a couple of days before and he seemed to be just fine. I texted him tonight and asked how his friend was and his reply was "Not good. He's in a really bad ward. They are hoping to move him somewhere else soon." This is very sad to me. Here is a young man in his early 20's who feels he has nothing to live for. From what I understand he comes from a typical middle class family. He went to a private Christian college (that's where my son knows him from) so he obviously has a Christian background or he wouldn't have attended this school.

I think what concerns me the most about this situation is that there are young men and women out there that are in their early 20's that don't feel they have anything to live for. They perceive their lifes worthless. They maybe don't know what they want to do with their life. They don't have a goal. They don't see themselves in college but know they have to do something to get an education to start a career to start being a grown up and living in the real world. College is not for everyone but most people (myself included) feel that you need a college education in order to get into a decent career these days. Unless you just stumble into something you need to start your career and build up before you start making enough money to support yourself and (later) a family.

I haven't talked much about this lately but That Kid dropped out of college. He went to college for 3 semesters then decided he didn't want to continue "wasting" money and time for a college education right now. He has always hated school. never really been a "book learning" kind of kid. I homeschooled him and he made good grades but I geared his education toward that of a non-book learning kind of education as much as I felt I could. Knowing what I have learned over the past 5 years I could have done better but....hind-site is always better right??

Anyway, That Kid has decided that for now, the best option for him is to join the military. This scares the ba-jeebers out of me. When he first mentioned it I freaked out! I couldn't believe MY KID wanted to be a Marine. Now that I have had 8 months to mentally prepare myself for this I know that it is the best thing he could do for himself. Right now he doesn't really know what he wants to do for a career. He doesn't really feel like he has a direction to go. He doesn't really know what makes him tick. All he knows is that he HATES college and he HAS to do something with his life! He is about to turn 21 and I am having a hard time with this fact too. My baby is not a baby anymore. He is a MAN who is about to tackle the most difficult task of his life. He is about to join the toughest branch of the military and become of the most respected people in this country. He has decided to take matters into his own hands and do something with himself and become someONE!

Thinking about the situation with his friend makes me sad. BUT...thinking about the fact that that could be my son makes me even more sad. Thinking about how he has decided to not just sit around feeling like he can't do anything to better himself and has decided to join the military makes me PROUD of him. Although him joining the military freaks me out on a daily basis still I have come to accept that this is the best thing he could do for himself right now. It gives him direction, purpose, and something to do not only for himself but for our country. He will be a fine Marine and I will be praying for his safety daily.

I pray that my son's friend will recover fully and find a purpose to his life soon. Will you join me in this prayer??

**PS Sorry if this post is disjointed and makes no sense. I am tired but felt it necessary to get it written and posted. Hopefully it makes enough sense that you will understand what I was trying to say.

Bursting Into Summer - Week 3

2011-07-06T11:31:00.002-05:00

I don't get me! I mean here I am telling myself and everyone around me how desperately I want to lose weight, get healthy, exercise and be fit BUT my actions tell everyone just the opposite! I haven't been losing weight (in fact this week I gained to the tune of 1.4 pounds), I haven't been exercising, and I'm definitely NOT fit! I'm doing stupid stuff to sabotage my own efforts. I buy and then eat crappy sugary foods that I know will not help in my weight loss journey. Instead of exercising (now that my legs feel normal again) I just sit around on my computer or in front of the tv vegging out. I don't get me!!

The month of May I lost more than 8 pounds and I was so happy and proud of myself! The month of June I just went back to my old habits and now here it is July (half way through the year) and I'm still NOT doing what I know it will take to lose weight! I guess I need another "AHA" moment in my life to kick me back into high gear!

Yesterday I had planned to do the bootcamp workout that the Sisterhood is offering us and about 3 p.m. I cme down with the most incredible headache! I didn't even do the #tworkout and I almost always do it! I took tylenol, put That Other Kid to bed and got ready for bed myself! I took a picture of the clock on my nightstand because I wanted to have proof that I can and in fact did go to bed early! I was in bed by 9:35p.m. I read in bed for a little bit and then went to sleep. I slept till 9am this morning and I feel much better! My neck seems tight but maybe that is just cuz I need to pop it.

Anywho, here are the numbers for this weeks weigh in -- just for the record, I was not surprised to see a gain. I didnt really pay much attention to the calories this week and it definitely showed!

Beginning challenge weight: 194.6
Last week -- 194.6
This week -- 196.0

The challenge for this week is to NOT EAT FAST FOOD for the week! It will do my body good to stay away from this crap so I plan to do my best on this challenge.
Last weeks challenge was to eat 5 servings of fruits/veggies and I failed miserably on this challenge. There really was no reason either as I had plenty of both in the house. Just being lazy and not wanting to do what I know is right, I guess!
I have continued drinking plenty of water (I usually get about 100 ounces a day) and there were days over the weekend that I drank more than 124 ounces cuz it's so stinking hot outside that is the only thing that really helps quench my thirst!

Ok...off to get my lazy butt moving....hope ya'll had a great week! and if you didn't lets motivate each other, k?? Here's to a better week for EVERYONE!

Bursting N2 Summer Challenge - Week 2

2011-06-29T10:55:00.004-05:00

Well here we are in Week 2 of this 11 week challenge for the Sisterhood. I'm actually glad that this challenge is so long....maybe it will give me time to get my act together and lose the weight! So it's weigh in time -- let's get to it, shall we?

Starting challenge weight: 194.6
Last week's weight: 195.2
Today's weight: 194.6

Yes, that's right I weigh exactly the same as I did 2 weeks ago! I know it sounds lame but I am actually pleased to see that I have lost the weight that I gained last week. I have been sidelined from exercising more than just basic stretching since Sunday. I took Friday and Saturday off from exercising since I was having some good "mom time" out with some friends. So....basically I haven't exercised since Thursday! That's nearly a week without exercising and that's a long time for me! i am pretty consistent with my exercise, even if it is just something easy and light-weight I try to do something nearly every day. BUT...having such intense leg cramping that I can't walk isn't very conducive to exercising. I'm feeling better tonight thanks to Roo's advice and @ArcticEase's great wrap! I'm planning to go for a short walk tonight after dark (since it's nine million degrees here in Texas!) and see how I feel after I do that. I'm hoping to get back to the ShrinkingJeans Bootcamp soon! I need it sooooo badly! and I want to push myself beyond my comfort zone!

This weeks challenge was to eat breakfast! I am happy to report that not only did I drink all my water but I also ate breakfast everyday! Saturday I almost forgot, but just as I was walking out the door I remembered that I hadn't eaten anything so I grabbed a protein bar and ate it on the way to meet my friend!

This week's challenge is to eat my fruits and veggies! The times where I actually do this I am consistently shocked at the fact that I can eat so much more food and feel full longer! and my calories are so much lower -- cuz ya know fruits and veggies have WAAAAAYYY less calories than say a coke or a bag of chips or almost anything!! So this is definitely gonna be a goal of mine for the week. It is almost 7:30p.m. and I am happy to report that I did indeed have all my fruits and veggies for today! I ate a nice big salad for lunch and that helped a lot!!

Ok...so it's time for me to get some stuff done around here...since I have been in and out alot for the past few days, the house is starting to fall apart!! Does this happen to anyone else? or is it just my household??

Hope ya'll had a great week and are doing well with this challenge! If you are struggling just get back in the saddle, k?

Disappointment

2011-06-27T23:47:00.001-05:00

I'm laying in my living room floor with an ice pack on my quadricep. I have been stretching, icing, heating and stretching more! I have taken advil, eaten bananas, and tried to relax and nothing seems to be helping. I'm so frustrated!
Last week while doing the boot camp workouts I noticed my quads seemed really tight so I spent extra time stretching them. I did the workout Monday and was sore but felt great! I felt like I had challenged myself and I was proud of the fact that I had accomplished something challenging. I was still pretty sore on Wednesday but went ahead with the workout! The sprints were pretty slow, even for me but I had pushed myself and I got the heart rate up which is what the purpose of the sprints were. I was gone all day Friday and busy again on Saturday so I didn't get the workout done when I wanted but I had noticed my quads were pretty tight so I figured an extra day off would probably be ok. Sunday evening I was a little stiff but figured once I got moving I would be ok. I got That Other Kid to bed and dressed to start my boot camp workout. I devided to do 10 minutes step aerobics for my "warmup" walk. Then I told hubby that I was doing the sprints outside and he was concerned about me being out in the dark so he came out to make sure I was safe. I stretched for a few seconds and pushed my run keeper app to start and took off! After 10 seconds bothy quads cramped up to the point of tears! I couldn't move! I just stood there screaming in pain! Hubby helped me back in the house where he literally lifted my legs onto the ottoman so I could wait for heat to be applied. I stretched, heated, iced, took advil, ate a banana, and drank a bunch of water. 45 minutes later I could walk by myself!

It's been 26 hrs with repeated icings, stretching, heatings, advil, and tlc and I still hurt when I walk very much!

I so wanted to do boot camp with all the ladies at Shrinking Jeans but now I am sidelined and don't know how to make my quads work well enough to do what they need to do.

Hubby suggested a deep muscle massage and if they don't feel better by tomorrow evening I guess I will be making an appointment for a massage. I may be sidelined for awhile because if this but I'm not quitting! I will complete the 6 week boot camp!! I want this and will get it!!

Bursting Into Summer (or not!)

2011-06-22T11:33:00.001-05:00

It's time for weigh in Wednesday and I kind of hoping against all odds that the weekend food fest that I had wouldn't hurt me too much BUT I guess it was just too much to hope for. So let's get the ugly part of this post over with so we can go on to the better things of life, ok?

Last week: 194.6
This week: 195.2

Yes, I know in the big scheme of things that a gain of .5 is not that bad but u think the thing that bugs me so much about it is I once again let circumstances dictate my food choices! My allergies are incredibly bad right now and instead of eating as I should I told myself that it was ok to eat crap because I didn't feel good. Bottom line is right now I can't really taste anything so I should be eating the good for me stuff since I can't really taste the crap food! Instead I ate junk and kept wanting more and more!

But today is a new day and I'm going to stick with my low glycemic index foods. I know following this plan I can lose weight and a decent amount of it!
So expect to see a lower number on next weeks weigh in post!

I did the boot camp workout Monday and honestly I am still sore from it but I need to do today's now! I figure if I do it today even though I am sore by Friday I will feel pretty good. Besides it felt great to push myself like that!

Hydration was the challenge for the week and that wasn't a problem for me as I usually drink around 100 oz a day. Monday I think I drank about 130 oz and based on how hot/humid it is today I'm sure I will do the same or more today.

This weeks challenge is breakfast! This one is a bit more challenging for me but as long as I stick to the LGI plan I have this one under control too.

Hope everyone has had a great start to the challenge and has a good week!

Confessing It All

2011-06-21T10:02:00.002-05:00

Today is Tuesday over at the Sisterhood and in honor of April and her wonderful poem and a GIVEAWAY for POPCHIPS (the most wonderful chips I have tasted to date) I am going to attempt some of my confessions in a rhyming fashion.

Allergies suck and I let them lead me down a slippery slope of eating crap food this weekend. How crap you might ask? To the tune of 4 ice cream bars, 3 Heath candy bars, 2 huge scoops of chocolate chip cookie dough (yes, raw), and just to round this out nice and neat, 1 row of brownies that were supposed to be for hubby for fathers day!

During the weekend of crap food I did little more than lie around on the couch and sit at the computer complaining to myself and others who would listen (which really was no one) about how badly allergies suck. Meaning no exercise really got accomplished although there was plenty of time to do so. I would have felt better too! I did manage to drink plenty of water during the weekend because I was so thirsty so I guess it wasn't all lost, huh?

Monday morning I woke up and decided enough was enough, allergies will be what they will be but I don't have to let them define me! (See I rhymed that line!)
I ate a good breakfast, and decided that no matter what the Shrinking Jeans bootcamp workout was I was gonna do it to the best of my ability. Then I saw that the first part of the workout was SPRINTS!

Come on now....I don't run fast! I barely run at all! I sucked it up and decided YES, you can do this! Your sprints may not be fast compared to others but for you they are fast...JUST DO IT!! So I laid out my game plan. Got dressed in workout clothes, decided where and when I would workout and didn't let anything change my mind! Once I dropped That Other Kid off for karate class (for 3 hours of me time!!) I went to the local high school track and found a bunch of high school kids having a meeting of sorts on the track! Oh no, what now? I decided to go over to a local park that has lots of different areas and I found a great place to workout! So I did!!

Yes, the sprints sucked, but I did them! Yes, it was hot (95ish) but I found trees and shade to do the workout in, so I did the workout there! Here's another confession at the time, I didn't really think the workout was all that tough. Yes, it was challenging but it all seemed doable to me. BUT... by the time I was done and started walking back to my car I was already feeling the effects of that workout! My legs were sore (and I did do my stretches at the end) and I was having a hard time walking back to the car! By the time 8 o'clock hit last night I was so sore I could hardly get up and down out of the chair.

I asked That Kid to go over to the track with me so I could walk around to stretch my legs but he was engrossed in a game with friends so he said he wasn't going to go, so I decided the best thing for me to do would be to sit on the floor and stretch! I ended up stretching for 30 minutes...I'm glad I did too, cuz I can't imagine how sore I would be today if I wouldn't have! I'm gonna have to invest in something like a foam roller or Artic-ease I think!

Food yesterday was very good....I didn't want to blow that great workout by eating crap food! Today is shaping up to be a good food day! I don't know what I will do workout wise but I know it will involve a lot of stretching. I'm hoping to do the #tworkout tonight too!

I'm hoping that my indiscretions of the weekend don't hurt me too much on the scale tomorrow. I have a great team of ladies counting on me!!

Our Week In Pictures

2011-06-20T00:15:00.004-05:00

I downloaded Angry Birds on my phone this week and on Monday afternoon, the 13th both boys were arguing over who was gonna play each level! Nothing like a little sibling rivalry even if they are 13 1/2 years apart in age, huh?!!

I wore this t-shirt on Tuesday, the 14th while I grocery shopped. The cashier said, "yes it is" and I wondered what he was talking about. He said, "your shirt says life is good and I just wanted to agree!" I had to agree that "Life is good" no matter how we feel...living is better than the alternative, right??!

One of his many Lego creations this week was built on Wednesday, the 15th! A 2 story house complete with stairs!

That Kid started learning cursive this week in our homeschooling lessons. He decided (on his own I might add) to practice on Thursday, the 16th! I thought he did a great job!

Friday, the 17th we went to a local Splash Park and That Kid was resting on this spinning seat that they had on their playground area!

We celebrated Father's Day on Saturday, the 18th since That Kid was supposed to work all day on Sunday. This was a picture that we took at dinner....Both boys and myself!!

I just couldn't figure out what to take a picture of today, since it was just a pretty routine day around these parts, but I thought it was funny that of all the places our white kitten, Mickey could choose to sleep he chose to sleep on That Kid's laundry that is waiting to be put away!

Burst Into Summer - Start Up

2011-06-15T18:46:00.002-05:00

Well today is the first day of the Burst Into Summer Challenge over at the Sisterhood. This challenge is 11 weeks long which is longer than most of the challenges with the Sisterhood. It is also a team challenge, which I have had some success with in the past and some failure. It all depends on what I put into it! I can tell you that I am going to be putting everything I have into this challenge. I'm getting to team up with some ladies that I don't really know well, too, so that will be fun to team up with new women and get to know them and their strengths and weaknesses!! We are Team 3, but we are calling ourselves the Fierce 5.

I am personally trying to get as much weight off as I can over the next 11 weeks. The end of this challenge is near the time that That Kid leaves for Marine Corp bootcamp and I really want to get some more weight off and tone up between now and then. I'm not sure what kind of goal I want to set, but I really think if I put everything into it then I can lose up to 20 pounds this summer. I can do this, if I continue tracking food, getting enough exercise, and staying with the low glycemic index diet plan that I was so successful with in May. So back to work!!

Today my weigh in was 194.6 which is up 1 pound since last week. Based on my lack of exercise and excessive amounts of junk food I had this past week I'm truly surprised it wasn't more than that.

The mini-challenge for this week is drinking 64 ounces of water a day...shouldn't be an issue for me since I generally average 100 ounces a day. Of course, it's nearly 7pm and I'm still working on my 64 ounces so maybe it is gonna be harder than I thought! lol

I'm going to be participating in the online boot camp with the Sisterhood that starts next week. That should help me tone up and get me moving in the right way. I'm also planning to get back to my NTC app and I'm wanting to do some of my Wii games again, too. I have grand plans...now just to put action to them!!

For tonight, I'm watching the Stanley Cup Finals - Game 7 between the Canucks and the Bruins! Yes, I'm a hockey fan and I'm not ashamed to admit it!!

This Week's Pictures

2011-06-12T23:30:00.005-05:00

This was a really long week. That Other Kid was sick most of the week running a fever of up to 104.6 and vomiting. Hospitalization for dehydration was tossed around by the doctors and I was a wreck wondering why my baby was so sick. He was put on amoxicillin on Wednesday and by Thursday his fever was gone and he was feeling better! Pictures this week reflect the sickies of the week and other random stuff!

I got nothin' for Monday, the 6th! I had gotten about 2 hours of sleep and That Kid was violently ill! I just couldn't conjure up the ability to take a picture of anything!

This picture was taken on the Tuesday, the 7th. He had been sick with high fever and vomiting for more than 48 hours, but he could still smile for the camera!

This is from Wednesday, the 8th! After waking up with a fever of 104.6 Wednesday morning and going in to see the dr AGAIN, he was given 2 doses of medicine. Finally the fever broke...Happy dance!!

He was feeling better but not 100% on Thursday and he was complaining of being cold, but the blanket was a whole 10 ft away and the pillow case was right there, so he curled up in that instead! I thought it was pretty humorous and apparently so did a lot of my friends...I got several comments from facebook from this post! Becca even decided to give it a try and curled up in her own pillow case!

This one is from Friday night, the 10th. Since one of the reasons I decided to do this "daily picture taking thing" was so I could get some pictures of That Kid before he goes off to boot camp I decided to snap a picture of him doing what he does best...sitting at the computer!!

Saturday, the 11th was kind of a lazy day since That Kid was finally back to mostly normal and it was too hot to do anything outside...apparently the kitten thought it was a great time to curl up on my lap and take a snooze, too!

This picture of That Other Kid and I was taken tonight as we were snuggling up before bedtime!! He's such a goofy boy and I love his smile!

Hope you had a great week...and I hope to take more exciting pictures this week as I continue my picture taking journey!

Confessions of a Tired Momma

2011-06-07T10:45:00.004-05:00

I had a pretty good week as far as staying on track with the food and exercise UNTIL Sunday night and Monday!

That Other Kid went to sleep surprisingly easy Sunday night (which should have been my first clue that he didn't feel well!) and I went out to relax for a few minutes and then I was about to exercise when everything went down hill! That Other Kid woke up vomiting and burning with fever about 10 p.m. It continued all through the night. Meaning momma didn't get much sleep...cuz it's hard to sleep when your child is vomiting every hour and burning with fever and doesn't want to leave your side, ya know??! I probably got an hour or 2 of sleep Sunday night. I took him to the dr Monday morning and he has a stomach bug that apparently is going around here...let me tell ya it sucks to have your child vomiting and dry heaving water cuz he doesn't have anything in his stomach!! I'm so ready for him to be over this!

I did sleep last night!! Really deep, so deep in fact that he came and got in bed with me and I didn't know it till he started coughing and vomiting!! Fortunately it was short lived and he went back to his own bed and slept through the night! Today the fever doesn't seem to be as high and he has moved out to the living room couch to lay on! He has confiscated my IPhone to play games on he hasn't vomited since early this morning so maybe just maybe he is getting better!!

Ok...so on to the REALLY BAD part of this confession...see this list of foods and calories?? This is what I ate yesterday!!

Dannon Greek Yogurt, Plain 80 calories
Braeburn Apple 80 calories
Almonds, raw (16 almonds) 80 calories
McDonald's Small French Fries 230 calories
McDonald's Large Coke 310 calories
Coca-Cola Can Of Coke Classic 140 calories
Lay's LAY'S Classic Potato Chips 450 calories
Jif Peanut Butter 190 calories
Mrs.bairds 100% Whole Wheat Bread 120 calories
Lay's LAY'S Classic Potato Chips 150 calories
Taco Cabana Chicken Fajita Nachos 1,200 calories
McDonald's Large Coke 310 calories
Totals: 3,340 calories w/an anstounding 163 g of fat!!

Do you see that total for the day?? That is MORE THAN TWICE what I am supposed to have in one day!! Did you see those fat grams?? That is just a sickening number of fat grams!! Did you notice all those COKES I drank?? and yesterday was the first day in probably a year or more that I haven't had even 64 ounces of water in one day!!

This makes me sick to my stomach....how could I have treated my body so badly? I know....I just didn't care what I ate and I was too tired to really care!

So...I'm moving forward and back to my normal healthy eating today. I'm rested and I'm ready to tackle this stomach flu that That Other Kid has and not treat my self with such disregard!!

Hope ya'll are healthy and enjoying your summer!! Do you have confessions?? If you do feel free to confess here and over at the Sisterhood of Shrinking Jeans! You'll feel better and you'll get plenty of support to get back on track!

A Week in Pictures

2011-06-05T17:58:00.005-05:00

All year I have been watching my friends post pictures from their week. All year long I've been thinking I should do this, especially since That Kid will soon be away for long periods of time with the Marines. Sooooo.....this week I decided to jump on board. I downloaded the "Project 365" app and started finding things out of my day to snap a picture of. Some are gonna be pretty random. Some will be goofy. Some will be serious. Some will just be my life!

Here are the first 5 pictures I have taken this week!

That Other Kid showin' me his 'guns' and abs!!

My best friend, 5 weeks post breast cancer surgery! She looked radiant on Thursday and I just had to take a picture of her!

The boys hanging out...That Kid playing video games and That Other Kid watching!

One of the kittens that came home to join our family in December! He's grown so much since that time...it's hard to believe he is less than 8 months old!

I guess I'm finally coming to grips with That Kid joining the Marines and leaving me in a few months cuz I sat on the couch and looked at this shirt for a while this afternoon while he played video games (and I didn't cry!) and I realized that he's my kid and he's soon gonna be "the few, the proud, the marines". He could leave anytime between now and September 19th.

May Your Way (or The Month I Lost 8.4 Pounds!)

2011-06-01T10:12:00.007-05:00

May has gone very much my way for losing weight. I can safely say that this month has been one of the most successful for me in A LONG TIME!! So a big THANK YOU goes to the Sisterhood of Shrinking Jeans for being here to encourage, push, and challenge me to a great weight loss this month.

So here are the stats:

Starting weight 3/25/09: 226.8

Starting weight for challenge: May 1st, 2011 - 201.0

Last week: 195.2

Today's weigh in: June 1st, 2011 - 192.6

so what does this mean? It means I lost a freakin' 8.4 pounds in just a month!!! Even with my set back last week I still managed to lose weight and recover from a few bad days last week, get back on track and pulled out of the slump I was in and I started losing weight again!!

How did I do it, you might ask? Well first of all I set out 3 goals for myself and I stuck to them pretty well, ifIdosaysomyself!

1) Follow a Low Glycemic Index diet (as much as possible): Accomplished I have a list on the side of my fridge of foods that follow the Low Glycemic Food Index and every time I ate something I looked at that list to see if what I was about to eat (or had eaten) followed that plan. I'm a pretty picky eater so my list of foods that are eat-able(yes that's a word!) is not too hard to browse through quickly. I'm also in charge of the cooking and grocery shopping so I pretty much know what is in the house and available to eat! Shockingly, it wasn't that hard to stick to this plan...I don't know why I didn't stick to it 2 years ago. BUT, I'm sticking to it now and that is what matters, right?

2) Exercise a MINIMUM of 30 minutes a day: I admit I missed a few days on this goal but I'm not beating myself up over it. (Shocking, right?) I'm still calling this goal accomplished because the only days that I didn't exercise 30 minutes were not because of laziness. They were simply days that things like caring for a family got in the way. That Kid moved back home this month, my hubby has finally gotten extremely busy with work, therefore making me busier cuz he can't help out as much and then this weekend That Other Kid got sick. I still have managed to exercise MOST days this month and that has certainly helped me lose weight!

3) Track food and exercise on MyFitness Pal/Livestrong: Accomplished
Yes indeed, every day this month I have tracked my food into My Daily Plate. There were a few days that it was not pretty and I really didn't want to record those ~~brownies~~ bananas that I ate, but I did it anyway. It was very eye opening, too. We eat out one fast food meal a week and those nights I got online and checked out the food choices that I wanted to eat. There was one week I went to 3 different places just so I could get something that wouldn't blow my plan out of the water!! And did you know that a hot fudge sundae from Sonic (yum Sonic) has 342 calories?? It was soooo not worth it so I TURNED IT DOWN, thankyouverymuch!! And did you know that a huge salad that you make at home only has around 60 calories without dressing?? That has been a huge help in keeping my weight going down this week, because I've had a salad nearly every night!!

My final goal that I set up for this month was to lose 11 pounds so that I could be at 190 pounds by today, BUT I felt this was a pretty unrealistic goal for myself. I'm not holding this against me because although I had set out to lose 11 pounds this is the first month this year that I have actually lost a decent amount of weight! I'm counting this as a "mostly accomplished" goal since I lost 8.4 pounds this month and that was even with having a gain last week!

I also found I was having a harder time getting a decent amount of sleep so I added a goal of getting to bed by 1 am and getting at least 7 hrs of sleep. There were a few nights that I didn't get to bed by 1 am but if I didn't I made sure I managed to sleep enough to get my 7 hrs or more of sleep. One night this weekend I think I got about 4 hours of sleep but that was because That Other Kid was sick and kept waking up....he's better now but still has a cough and a stuffy nose...allergies suck is all I can say about that!!

So...overall, I am very pleased with the way May has gone and I'm happy to be 8.4 pounds lighter than I was a month ago!! I had fun participating in SisterChats and the SisterSays challenges. This week's challenge was to try new fitness/exercise - I did a couple of different things; I did a 30 minute Nike Training Club app routine and I did a Netflix Instant dvd exercise routine - Dance off the Inches - Fat Burning Jam. It was nice to push myself in a different direction with these exercises although That Kid thought my "dance" moves were a bit goofy! But that's what he gets for coming through the living room while I'm exercising! lol

I missed the SisterChat this week and for that I am bummed. I heard it was just Mary and one other lady so apparently everyone else was busy or forgot too! It was nice to sit down and chat with my sisters for a bit and I got lots of laughs and a lot of information too! I hope this feature hangs around cuz I need this!!

I did manage to do #Tworkout every week this month...even the week the Dallas area was hit was tornados and everyone was telling me to get to shelter!! See I'm telling you the love is thick around here!! I did head to one of our bathrooms and I took my phone so I could keep up with everyone and the weather! I did the tworkout mostly on my own that week but at least I did it, right??!!

All in all it was a great month and a super week! I hope you guys have had a great May and are looking forward to a wonderful summer! It's already stinkin' hot here in Texas so I'm looking for things to do INSIDE or late at night! I'm also checking out the apartment complex pools to see if any of them are clean enough for us to use this summer so we don't have to go to the community pool and pay money to use them!

Hugs!!!

May Your Way

2011-05-25T10:09:00.004-05:00

Let's get right to the facts today: Starting challenge weight: 201.0
Last week's weight: 194.4
Today's weight: 195.2

Not a good weigh in for me today 195.2....I got on the scales 3 different times this morning trying to get that number to change but it was set right on 195.2 - didn't even vacilate the way it usually does when I first get on the scale!! Not a happy momma today but I'm not making excuses. I'm admitting the errors of my way.

I was stressed out this weekend and didn't move my body enough. I made brownies one night cuz the guys wanted a treat...they didn't like them...um, I'm guessing you know they didn't get thrown away, huh? No, I ate more than I should have.

I also fixed nachos last night for dinner...I piled mine high with grilled chicken and veggies but there was also a fair amount of cheese and salty chips!! Then I didn't flush my system enough with drinking water last night. I justified it by saying I had already had plenty of water for the day....um, apparently not enough to get rid of all the salt!!

I have been sticking to the low glycemic index diet pretty well (except for the brownies, of course) and I have been eating lots of fruits and veggies (my 5 a day!).
Overall I just feel that this weigh in is a little glitch in the system but I am going to be very careful over the next 5 days because I still want to see how much I can lose this month! My original goal was to be at (or below) 190 by the end of the month. With this gain I don't know if that is likely but I can certainly give it a shot, right??

As for the SisterSays challenge for this past week: We were supposed to look in the mirror and say something good about ourselves...this is very hard for me to do but I managed to do it everyday. I even wrote them down in my notes so I could remember them! So here are my nice to me compliments: I have nice lips, I could wear a pair of MEDIUM yoga pants at Target, I have strong arms (strong enough to carry 2 full 5 gallon water jugs), I have nice eyes, my legs are strong, my hair is healthy, and for being nearly 46 I don't have very many wrinkles. Looking at these compliments really do show me that I have a lot of good things going for me! So thanks Sisterhood for making me look deeper!

For this week for the SisterSays challenge we are supposed to try something new. This is always a challenge for me but that's what makes it more fun!! I'll ave to think about what I can do but I will do something new --hopefully something that will burn a lot of calories!! lol

I have been doing well with tracking my food in My Daily Plate (even my indulging brownies and nachos) and I have been getting my exercise in. I did miss one night because by the time I got around to it it was past time to go to bed. Last week I had decided that I needed more sleep so I made a decision to be in bed by 1 am and not up till at least 9 am. I did pretty well on this one. The only nights this didn't happen was when the hubby needed my help with some work stuff and so I stayed up with him. I did manage to sleep in a little later to ensure I got enough sleep though so it all worked out.

I started out trying to do the #tworkout last night and then DFW got hit with a round of tornados and thunderstorms. Everyone on twitter told me to get in shelter and not to worry about the #Tworkout and since I've lived through enough tornados to know when to take cover we hid out in the bathroom and I tweeted some with my phone just to keep everyone in the loop! WE were safe but others in the area got hit pretty hard. The tornados went all around us. Really strange how that worked, but it did and I am greatful! Thanks for caring ladies!! I did do the #tworkout after I got That Other Kid in bed and the storms passed through the area so all was not lost! But...this all happened right in the middle of Biggest Loser so I didn't get to watch so I'm staying off Facebook and Twitter till I can watch later today!!

Overall I am feeling good about my goals and my accomplishments. This week is the last week of this challenge and I'm planning to adhere to my goals strictly and come as close to my goal of 190 as I can! Eating a low glycemic index plan will definitely assist me in reaching my goal. So will eating lots of fruits and veggies and moving my body!!

So how are you doing this week? Hope May is going Your Way!!

Confessions Time

2011-05-24T13:21:00.002-05:00

It is confession time over at the Sisterhood so here I am!

It hasn't been that bad of a week but I did sit around WAAAAYYYY too much this weekend watching the twitter stream of all my friends that were at FitBloggin. It was rainy, hot and humid this weekend so I didn't really feel like venturing outside much so I just sat around on my computer!! Not a very good way to show my support of my friends but it is what it is, huh??

As far as eating goes this week I have been doing good.

I did bake a batch of brownies the other night for the guys and I just couldn't stay away from them. In fact I ate more of them than they did! They thought they tasted funny! Apparently I didn't cuz I managed to devour them! I used Olive Oil and my hubby thinks that messed up the taste of them! I did track each and every brownie in MyDailyPlate though so I knew just what they were costing me. I still stayed within a reasonable limit of calories so that I was able to burn the calories with exercise, so I'm happy about that!

I have had a nice big salad every night with dinner so I've been getting my fruits and veggies in. Drinking plenty of water doesn't seem to problem for me so that is good!! I've been looking at myself in the mirror every day and finding something good to say about myself. I have been writing them down too so tomorrow I will give you a full report on my weigh in post!

All in all it's been a good week and I'm looking forward to getting on the scale tomorrow to see how the numbers are looking!

So what do you have to confess?? Go ahead and get it off your conscience! You'll feel better!

Sister Spotlight

2011-05-22T10:40:00.003-05:00

I'm the featured Sister over at the Sisterhood today. Go check it out, k??

In other ramblings it has been humid and rainy for the past 5 days and I'm already sick of summer and it's not even June yet!! It hasn't really been that hot yet but it feels absolutely miserable outside. I've tried having the windows open to get some fresh air but the air is stifling so I close it back up within a few minutes.

I have been following some of the twitter conversations that have been floating around about #FitBloggin and it makes me wish I could have gone even more. I'm hoping that next year will be my year to get to go. Wonder where it will be?? I asked Roni on Twitter...so I hope I get an answer soon. If you got to go this year PLEASE let me live vicariously through you and post full reports on your blog and let me know, k??

Have a good Sunday and if you are having fab weather, please go enjoy it for me!!

May Your Way Weigh In -- Going My Way!!

2011-05-18T10:04:00.003-05:00

The "May Your Way" Challenge over at the Sisterhood has definitely been going my way!! I am happy to report that I once again lost weight!! And not just some piddly amount!!

Starting challenge weight: 201.0

Last week's weight: 196.6

This week's weight: 194.4

Did you hear me squeal with delight about 9:45 CT this morning??? I'm shocked if you say no! I am indeed one happy lady. It's been a long time since I could safely say I have been happy with my efforts at losing weight. But this month apparently something inside me just clicked and I am actually doing what it takes to lose this stupid weight!! In just 17 days I have lost 6.6 pounds!! That's more than I have lost this whole YEAR!!

What have I done different you ask??? Thanks for asking.
I have logged my food (every chip, coke, fruit, vegetable, glass of orange juice) into My Daily Plate/Livestrong and paid attention to the calories of foods that I am eating (and not eating), I have consistently drank 100 ounces of water, I have gotten off my hiney and exercised (not as much as I want to but apparently it's enough for now) and I have been following my Low Glycemic Index eating plan that was set up for me nearly 2 years ago.

I have met my goals in this challenge and that makes it even more special to me. I have decided to add something to my list of "things to accomplish" the rest of this month. I have been going to bed WAAAAYYYY too late and waking up even earlier than normal over the past couple of weeks and it seems to have gotten even worst since That Kid moved back home. This needs to change...so starting tonight I am going to make sure I get in bed early enough to get 7-8 hrs of GOOD sleep! This means I will be in bed no later than 1 am. I will have to plan my evening a little better to accomplish this and I will have to make sure exercise doesn't get pushed off till too late in the night and I don't read for 45 minutes before bed unless I start at midnight!

This weeks Sister Says challenge is to "say nice things to yourself in the mirror" every day. This will will be an even bigger challenge for me than the fruits and veggies one but I accomplished that so I can do this too! I know that I need to be nicer to myself when I look in the mirror and this will certainly push me in that direction!

Ok...enough from me today. I just want to let ya'll know that if you get to be at FitBloggin I will certainly miss you, but hopefully next year I will get to attend too! Take lots of pictures, learn lots of great stuff to pass on to me and hug all the Sisters that you meet there!! Much love and hugs being sent from Texas!!