The Crawford Diary

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T21:40:00.000-05:00

I'm ready to decorate my pumpkin already!

The nose goes ..... HERE!

Push hard!

Finally, two eyes.

The finished pumpkin... but, the football game is on behind Mama, I think I'll watch that instead of the camera.

Let's make a double-sided pumpkin head.

I wanna do it!

What do you think? I love the upside down teeth (and the red-rimmed eyes, just like Mama)

Cheese!

Captain America!

How do you like my shield?

Mama, I want to go Trick or Treating!

...Now, please?!?!

Finally!

Daddy, they aren't home. Let's go to another house.

Ghostly decoration

Glittery pumpkin

How was your Halloween?

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Shrinkvivor Check In - 10.19.11

2011-10-19T08:28:00.001-05:00

Another week has gone by, and it's time for another Shrinkvivor check in.

I did not do as well as I could this week, especially on the exercise minutes. I only racked up 104 minutes, which was only working out on two days. I have a ton of excuses, but I don't really care to list them all here. I just know that I need to buckle down, focus, and prioritize what is important to me.

Weight wise, I have consistantly lost, which is good for me. I ended up losing 1 pound, which makes my weight at 179 pounds right now.

I still have a lot more to lose, but I am happy with the progress that I'm making. Yeah, sometimes I wish that I could lose 5 - 7 pounds in a week, (like people on the Biggest Loser, and then complain that they didn't lose 10 pounds - but that's another rant), but that's not healthy for me and my situation. Right now, healthy is all that matters!

Fitness challenge - exercise minutes, again. Enough said.

Non-fitness challenge - water intake, at least 64 ounces a day. This is good for me. I need to be drinking my water. I can go all day at work with drinking my Slim Fast (one for breakfast and one for lunch) and 1 pop (Diet Dr. Pepper - that's all we have diet at work that I like), and be completely fine. But, that's not healthy.

Shrinkvivor Recap:
Starting Weight - 09.28.11 - 185 pounds
Week One Weigh In - 10.05.11 - 182 pounds - 342 exercise minutes - 3 pound loss
Week Two Weigh In - 10.12.11 - 180 pounds - 172 exercise minutes - 2 pound loss - 5 pounds total loss
Week Three Weigh In - 10.19.11 - 179 pounds - 104 exercise minutes - 1 pound loss - 6 pounds total loss

How did you do this week?

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Shrinkvivor Check-In - 10.12.11

2011-10-12T08:52:00.000-05:00

Well, this is the second check in for Shrinkvivor. I didn't do so well this week, and I'm totally expecting to be sent to Tribe Exile. I did end up losing another 2 pounds, which puts me at 180 even, but I only logged 172 exercise minutes.

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that I did something to my back and ankle at Yoga on Sunday. That impacted the rest of Shrinkvivor week, as I wasn't able to get out and ride my bike, or really walk longer distances. Couple that with it raining all weekend, and me not being able to go ride or walk when it was pouring, made for a great lack of minutes.

However, this is a new week. And the challenge for this week is exercise ~~miles~~ minutes (apparently they are going back to minutes since the miles were confusing to people who do yoga and zumba and things along those lines). ~~I am wondering how my activities like Yoga would count for miles, but~~ I am really going to try to get it on with the bike and walking this week. I'm going to try to get up every morning before work, and get a quick walk in. Then, in the evenings, I'll either do another quick walk, or hopefully, a longer bike ride. It's just getting really hard, since it's starting to get dark sooner. I need to get a reflective vest or some lights on my bike, so I'll feel a little more comfortable riding at dusk.

(Side note: I am going to have to do a serious cleaning on my house this weekend. About a week after we got our dog groomed, I noticed fleas on him. I have given him flea bath after flea bath, and vacuumed and vacuumed my house, but I'm still getting bit on my legs and arms by these fricking fleas! I finally took the dog to the vet, and got him a flea pill, but I still need to do something to my house. If you have any ideas, please let me know!!)

The mini challenge is to add something green to your diet. Add broccoli or spinach or something green and healthy (since I don't think food coloring or mint ice cream would count as green!).

Shrinkvivor Recap:
Starting Weight - 09.28.11 - 185 pounds
Week One Weigh In - 10.05.11 - 182 pounds - 342 exercise minutes - 3 pound loss
Week Two Weight In - 10.12.11 - 180 pounds - 172 exercise minutes - 2 pound loss - 5 pound total loss

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Menu Plan Monday - 10.10.11

2011-10-09T21:23:00.000-05:00

Like always, menus don't go as planned. We've still been eating out way to much, but I am starting to get back into the habit of cooking. (Side note: I hate cooking. Jerrod is the one who actually enjoys it!)

Monday - Chicken Enchilada Soup - I made this last week like planned, however, for some reason, I don't think the meat cooked fully. So, I put it in the fridge, and we ended up grabbing something quick after practice and Yoga. I'm planning on pulling the meat out, and baking it in the oven, and then reheating the entire thing together.

Tuesday - Steak and Black Bean Quesadillas - I'll probably put the black beans in the actual quesadilla, since I don't eat onions or peppers or anything like that. I know, I'm picky!

Wednesday - Tomato Basil Soup w/ Grilled Cheese Sandwiches - We never went to the grocery store last week, so I didn't have all the ingredients. I need to either go tomorrow or Tuesday after work.

Thursday - Stuffed Pork Sandwich - Sounds so yummy!

Friday - Parmesan Crusted Chicken Tenders - Something that I hope that Ethan will enjoy

Saturday - Taco Chicken Bowls - My crockpot still has the Chicken Soup in it in the fridge, so I never did make this.

Sunday - Leftovers / Eating Out

What are you eating this week?

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Shrinkvivor Weigh In - 10.05.11

2011-10-05T08:25:00.001-05:00

As you might have read with yesterdays True Confessions post, I've done fairly well this week. I haven't had many cravings, and when I do, I try to substitute fruit or go for a walk or something along those lines. But, now, it's time to get down to it, since it's Wednesday, and that means that it's Shrinkvivor check-in day!

I began this challenge at 185 pounds. As of today, I am down to 182 pounds, which is a three pound weight loss! YAY!! I'm so proud of myself for losing three pounds in a week! Now, I just need to keep it up, and continue to workout and lose more weight.

The fitness challenge for this past week was to keep track of your exercise minutes, and the team with the highest number of exercise minutes gets the Immunity Idol! I racked up a whopping 342 minutes of exercise this past week (which calculates out to 5 hours and 42 minutes!).

The other challenge was to not eat fast food, which I bombed on.

This week, the fitness (immunity idol) challenge is the same. Get as many exercise minutes as you possibly can. Can I count dragging two dogs to the vet as exercise minutes?? I'm sure I'll be sweating! :-) Okay, okay, I know I can't.

The other challenge is to get more sleep. I've been trying to be in bed around 10pm, which means that I typically fall asleep between 10:30 and 11pm. I've found that if I do this, I'm more likely to get up with my alarm at 5:15am, and go for a workout before work (which didn't happen today, because it was really cold in my house - Jerrod left the attic fan on all night!). But, now that this is the challenge for the week, I'm going to bust it out!

Shrinkvivor Recap:

Starting Weight - 09.28.11 - 185 pounds
Week One Weigh In - 10.05.11 - 182 pounds - 342 exercise minutes - 3 pound loss

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True Confessions Tuesday - 10.04.11

2011-10-04T08:36:00.000-05:00

Another Tuesday, so it's time for another round of true confessions. I've really been pretty good this first week of Shrinkvivor. Thank goodness, since this challenge came at a perfect time for me, because, believe me, I need it!

So, let's get down to it.

I confess that I have eat out, and eaten fast food this week, even though that was our mini-challenge for the week. Sorry, Tribe Gold!

I confess that I have stayed under my calorie goal, everyday except for one, during this past week.

I confess that at Hot Yoga last night, I was able to contort my body into the Tripod Balance pose! Next up, is the Tripod Headstand pose. I'm still working on mastering the Crow position as well.

I confess that I did not get up and go for a bike ride (or a walk) this morning like I had planned. ~~I decided that my body needed to rest, after a bike ride and yoga the day before.~~ Whatever, I just wanted to sleep, and it felt cold outside, but it was nice and warm in my wonderfully comfortable bed. Sorry again, Tribe Gold! I will get in some form of exercise tonight, either a bike ride or maybe dancing with Just Dance 2 on the Wii.

What do you need to confess?

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Menu Plan Monday, Week of October 3rd

2011-10-02T21:40:00.001-05:00

Wow, it's been a long time since I sat down and wrote out a menu. However, Jerrod and I are trying to eat healthier and exercise, as you might have seen with previous posts. So, in order to do that, I definitely need to begin menu planning again.

Since I'm going to start taking my lunch to work, in order to avoid eating out, I'm going to plan for all three meals, even though Ethan is in school during the day, and both Jerrod and I work full time and aren't home for lunch.

Let's see if I remember how to do this... Oh, and at some point during the week, I'll need to get to the grocery store in order to pick up fresh fruit and veggies, as well as some pantry staples.

Monday - I have Hot Yoga at 5:30, and Ethan and Jerrod have football practice at 6:30. I'll get home about 7 - 7:15, and they will get home about 15 - 30 minutes after that.

Breakfast - SlimFast
Lunch - Veggie Salad (lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, a little bit of cheese, light Italian dressing)
Dinner - Breakfast Pizza
Evening Snack - Fruit and / or veggies
Prep for Tuesday - boil and peel eggs; lay out ground beef for Tuesday; lay out chicken for Wednesday

Tuesday - No plans that I'm aware of, I'll end up going for a bike ride or maybe we'll all go play tennis if the weather is nice outside

Breakfast - SlimFast
Lunch - Egg Salad Sandwich w/ baby carrots
Dinner - Lasagna Cups
Evening Snack - Fruit and / or veggies
Prep for Wednesday - Cook chicken, prepare crockpot and put in fridge so Jerrod can start Wednesday morning

Wednesday - I might go to Hot Yoga at 5:30, Ethan and Jerrod have football practice at 6pm. We would both get home around 7 - 7:15. If I don't go to Hot Yoga, I'd probably go for a bike ride while they are at practice.

Breakfast - Blueberry Brain Boost Smoothie
Lunch - SlimFast w/ Special K Strawberry Bar
Dinner - Chicken Enchilada Soup (crockpot) w/ crusty bread
Evening snack - Fruit and / or veggies
Prep for Thursday - No prep

Thursday - Might go to a local middle school football game (a kid of Jerrod's cousin plays on the team, and it's his last home game). Will get Jack (Jerrod's dad's dog) for the weekend and next week.

Breakfast - SlimFast
Lunch - Veggie Salad
Dinner - leftovers or eating out (if going to game)
Evening snack - Fruit and / or veggies
Prep for Friday - Cut up bananas and freeze

Friday - Need to schedule appointment to take both dogs to the vet, will try to get done today. No evening plans.

Breakfast - SlimFast
Lunch - leftover Egg Salad Sandwich w/ baby carrots
Dinner - Dr. Pepper BBQ Chicken (I probably won't grill, but would bake it) w/ fresh salad
Evening snack - One Ingredient Ice Cream (scroll down to the bottom of the post)
Prep for Saturday - Prepare crockpot and put in fridge for Saturday

Saturday - Ethan has a football game in the morning. Saturdays are also my days to either help Jerrod in his office and work on cleaning the house and doing laundry.

Breakfast - Apples and / or Oranges
Lunch - Either sandwiches or lunch out after Ethan's game
Dinner - Taco Chicken Bowls
Evening Snack - Apple Chips
Prep for Sunday - No prep

Sunday - No plans, cleaning and laundry if not completed on Sunday.

Breakfast - Bacon and eggs
Lunch - Sandwiches or leftovers
Dinner - Tomato Basil Soup w/ Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Evening Snack - Anything from previous snacks

What are you having for dinner this week?

Linked with Menu Plan Your Butt Off at Shrinking Jeans and Menu Plan Monday at Org Junkie

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Shrinkvivor - Week 1

2011-09-28T08:17:00.000-05:00

It's time for another Shrinking Jeans challenge, this one is Shrinkvivor! This is my first year doing this challenge, and I'm really looking forward to it. This month has been complete and total slacking since the last challenge was done, so apparently, I need some Tribe Gold motivation!!

The fitness challenge for the week is exercise minutes, as many as you can. This is good, because I need to jump start my exercising again! I bought a Groupon for a local yoga studio, so I might try to get in there on Sunday and Monday and do a Hot Yoga class. Other than that, I'm going to get back into bike riding in the evening, and try to squeeze in a walk during my lunch hour (but I'll need to remember to grab sneakers and socks, since I cannot walk (for exercise) in my work heels!

Shrinkvivor Challenge - Week One - 9/28/2011

Alright, as part of the challenge, we had to take a picture of the scale while we were weighing. Here goes.

(Please ignore the fact that my toenail polish has almost completely chipped off. I promise I'll paint them before the next picture!!!)

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Weekend Wrap Up

2011-09-19T10:32:00.000-05:00

Oh man, it's Monday. We had a great, but busy, weekend. Let's do a wrap up, shall we?

Friday Evening:

Got our new DirectTV installed
Cleaned up, did laundry, etc, etc...

Saturday:

Ethan was supposed to have a football game, but I woke up at 7am to rain and thunder. Jerrod got a text from the coach at 7:30 stating that the games were cancelled, but we still had pictures today. Got up, got dressed, left to go to pictures.
Got to pictures, and found out from the photographer that typically, when they cancel flag football games, they reschedule the pictures. The coaches wife got a call from a players mom, stating that when they got there, they were told by the front desk that the pictures had been rescheduled and to go home.
Finally get everyone there for pictures. Take pictures. Boys play basketball for a little bit, go home.
Get home and have Ethan start picking up his room and playroom. Mama starts a load of laundry, a load of dishes, and starts the crockpot for dinner that evening. We turn on the football games, and clean and watch football.
At 2:30, when Notre Dame comes on, we stop everything and watch the wonderful Irish play ball.
The rest of the day is spent randomly cleaning up and watching football

Sunday:

Again, a day of cleaning (there was a lot to do!) and football. Jerrod is ecstatic that our new DirectTV package includes the NFL network. After much channel flipping, ~~he decided on a game~~, the channel flipping never ended, it went on all day!
I went over to our neighbors house and was talking to her about home upgrades and whatnot. She said that they were painting their trim and doors a cream color (which is what I've wanted to do since moving into my house six years ago).
I get a wild idea of painting mine white. Jerrod asks it we have any ongoing projects that should be finished before we start a new one. I said that we do, but it's not anything that I know how to do. We need help from one of our parents, and we've been waiting for that help for two years, and I want to do this NOW!
I go to the garage and find the trim that goes on the windows and doors in the kitchen, that we took off when we remodeled our kitchen about two years ago. I hammer all the nails out of it, and give them a good wiping down.
I went to Lowe's and bought a gallon of white paint. Debated on getting wood filler, but didn't.
Stopped by mom and dads to borrow their sawhorses.
Came home, wiped the boards off again, got my painting tools out.
Jerrod came in the garage, and said that I need wood filler to fill the nail holes, since the paint won't fill them (they used too big of nails when they put them up).
Didn't paint. Came inside, ate, watched more football, and cleaned.

Monday - going to Lowe's on my lunch break to get wood filler (and spray paint). When I get home from work, I'm changing into sloppy clothes and painting the trim boards!!

Thanks neighbors, Jerrod absolutely LOVES you now!!

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Wednesday Weigh In

2011-09-14T08:22:00.001-05:00

Source: swagbucks.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Well, it's Wednesday again. If you missed it, on Monday, I posted an update to my goals for September. If you read it, it will give you an indication of what I'm about to say for my weigh in.

This morning, I weighed in at 183 pounds. Compared to the last day of the Burst In To Summer challenge, I'm up two pounds.

Honestly, I'm surprised. Not that I gained weight back, but that I gained back so little. Don't get me wrong, it's what I was hoping for, but it still surprises me.

I need to get back into exercising. I haven't done it at all this month, and I haven't done any since I've been back either. I was going to go for a bike ride on Monday, while hubby and the boy was at football practice, but Ethan was feeling sick to his stomach and didn't go, but hubby still had to go help coach, so I had to stay home with the little man.

I don't know, clearly I'm lacking motivation right now, otherwise, I would be out and doing whatever I could. If I couldn't leave, I'd look up exercise videos on my computer, or I'd use the Wii to exercise. But, I'm not, and I haven't really felt like doing anything.

I will just say that I'm ready for the new challenge to start. Apparently, I need that kick in the ass to get things done!

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Worried

2011-09-13T09:36:00.000-05:00

Source: babaloud.com via Rachel on Pinterest

I'm worried, but I know that I shouldn't be. Ethan is having some potty issues, and I'm worried that they might have underlying medical issues. I'm worried that this might have to do with his BG Scare that we had when he was a little over 1 1/2 years old.

We have a doctors appointment at 12:15 today, and while I'm sure I'm not going to get answers, I'm hoping that I can get some guidance. I don't know if Ethan will need to start seeing the diabetes doctor again, or if we will have to start checking his BG levels again, or what. I don't even know if they'll have his records from when he was seeing the diabetes doctor (since he was under a different insurance, and wasn't seeing the doctor that he's seeing now).

While I know that worrying is useless, I'm a woman, and this is my child. I worry, and I worry a lot.

Pray for me?

**Updated to add: right now, the doctors office just thinks that it's a bladder infection, and is putting him on medicine. If it doesn't get better within a week, we'll need to go back in for testing.**

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Mid Month Update

2011-09-12T09:02:00.000-05:00

So, it's almost the middle of September. How crazy is that? I want to take a look back at my goals for September, and do a mid-month update and recap, mainly for my benefit.

Weight loss goals - be in the low 170's by the end of the month. Honestly, I'm not sure where I'm at on this one. I weighed myself on Monday, September 5th, after getting back home from the wedding over Labor Day weekend, and I was up two pounds to 182. I meant to weigh myself this morning, after getting home from a long weekend in Chicago, but I didn't think about it, until I was out of the shower, had a towel in my hair, and was starting to get dressed. I'm pretty sure that I've gained more weight, but I'm hoping to at least maintain, since we did a ton of walking while we were there.
Workout goals - work out for 23 out of the 30 days of September. This has not happened in the least. I neglected to think about the fact that I would be gone for two long weekends in the beginning of the month. I guess, if you count all the walking that we did in Chicago, I've "worked out" for about 3 days out of the 12 that we've had to far. Time to get back into the groove!
Calorie and water goal - I've been really bad about tracking while I was gone. I don't think I've tracked any food this month, with the exception of starting today. It's sad, and I need to start. I doubt that I've stayed under my calorie goals at all.
Bike riding - at least three weekends with riding 15 to 20 miles. This hasn't happened yet, but I will do it this weekend and next weekend. There aren't three weekends left in September, but maybe I can do it on both Saturday and Sunday, to count as three weekends.

Well, so far the recap isn't looking that great. However, I'm still holding myself accountable, and I believe that is what truly matters.

How are your goals going this month?

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Chicago - Day One

2011-09-08T20:52:00.002-05:00

Today was the day that Jerrod and I have been waiting for. Our "anniversary" trip to Chicago. We flew in at about 12:30, and was able to get checked into our hotel early. Then, we decided to go eat and walk over to the Art Institute of Chicago. After finally figuring out which way to go (I have issues with North and South in new cities), we were able to walk around and enjoy the art.
I did take other pictures of another painting that I really liked, but I'll wait until I can use my computer (instead of my phone) to blog about that one.
Enjoy, and I hope things don't look too wonky with me posting from my phone!

Homework Question

2011-09-07T10:24:00.001-05:00

Source: countingcoconuts.blogspot.com via Little Sprouts on Pinterest

3 weeks into school and I already have a homework question. Okay, Ethan is only in kindergarten. He doesn't have homework every night, but typically has a couple of worksheets to do over the weekends. However, since we were gone on Thursday and Friday (for the wedding in San Antonio), his Friday night homework came home last night.

As we are sitting there working on his homework, I wondered, am I supposed to let him spell words the way he thinks that they are spelled, or work with him (even if it means telling him how to spell the word) for him to write it correctly.

For instance, last night his worksheet was working on Ee. He was supposed to think of words that started with E and write them down, and then either draw or cut out things that started with E. The first word he thought of was Elephant. We worked together on spelling it, but as everyone knows, the "ph" makes the F sound. Do I let him spell how he thinks it should be - with the f, even though it's wrong - or basically tell him that it's a "ph" even though he doesn't understand it? Do I let him spell it his way, and then write the correct way underneath - so the teacher knows that we talked about it, but also sees where he is at in sounding out words and spelling? What am I supposed to do?!?!

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True Confessions - Labor Day Weekend!

2011-09-06T08:36:00.000-05:00

While this past weekend was a blast, it was not great on the diet. As you might know, Ethan and I went down to San Antonio to go to a wedding of a long time family friend (basically an aunt to me). We spent about 10 hours driving (each way), and so that means that great, healthy food is not always available. I tried to be good, and that meant not buying crap when I stopped to get gas. When Ethan would ask for a snack, instead of buying one, I reminded him that I brought some of his cookies (for school lunches) from home. If anything, I typically just bought a drink, and he has juice that we brought from home as well. The hardest part about being out of town, is the lack of places to exercise. I can't leave Ethan with my husband when he's not there, I don't know the neighborhoods in order to go out for a walk, and I can't ride my bike without my bike!! It's just difficult, and this week isn't going to be much better!

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Weigh In Wednesday

2011-08-31T08:38:00.001-05:00

Today is the last day for the Burst In To Summer Bootcamp challenge. This was my first challenge through Shrinking Jeans, and while I didn't know what to expect, I made it through! I didn't lose weight every week, but I did manage to lose about 11 pounds for the life of the challenge. While this past week didn't show as much loss as I was wanting (under 180), I still managed to lose a 1/2 pound. So, that brings my weight down to 181, right now.

Apparently the next challenge through Shrinking Jeans is Shrinkvivor.

For those of you who are new around here, Shrinkvivor is our weight-loss challenge take on Survivor. We have tribes, challenges, people are voted off to Exile Island. It’s a total blast, and the Ultimate Shrinkvivor wins a bad ass prize! Last year we gave away a sweet beach cruiser bicycle courtesy of CLICK Espresso Protein drinks, along with a slew of other sweet prizes. So gear up, because Shrinkvivor will be starting on September 28th!

To me, that sounds totally awesome! I can't wait to sign up for it!

Recap:

Starting Weight - 192 pounds

Week One Weigh In - 189.5 pounds: -2.5

Week Two Weigh In - 187 pounds: -5

Week Three Weigh In - 187 pounds: -5

Week Four Weigh In - 189 pounds: -3

Week Five Weigh In - 186 pounds: -6
Week Six Weigh In - 183.5 pounds: -8.5
Week Seven Weigh In - 184.5 pounds: -7.5
Week Eight Weigh In - 186 pounds: -6
Week Nine Weigh In - 182.5 pounds: -9.5
Week Ten Weigh In - 181.5 pounds: -10.5

Week Eleven Weigh In - 181 pounds: -11

**Edited to add - I apparently can't do simple math. I lost a 1/2 pound this week, which gives me a total weight loss of 11 pounds for the challenge, not 11.5 pounds**

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August Goals Recap

2011-08-29T21:20:00.000-05:00

Source: theprudentpantryblog.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

So, it's just about the end of August. Amazing. School has started, and we are starting sports practices and going to be going to games soon. In addition to my job, I've been helping Jerrod out on weekends and evenings with what he needs for the agency. Ethan and I are leaving Thursday to go to my "Aunt" Chrissie's wedding, and we'll be back either Sunday or Monday. Then, Jerrod and I leave Thursday for our "anniversary" trip to Chicago. (Our anniversary isn't until October, but Jerrod knew he would be getting really busy with the agency, and since we wanted to take a trip, we knew Chicago would have more weather issues than we hopefully will in September). Right now, it's just a crazy, busy time, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Let's take a look back to my August goals, shall we?

Lose 10 pounds - well, I have lost 10.5 pounds (with the final Shrinking Jeans weigh in tomorrow), but it wasn't all in the month of August. I would have liked to lose a little more before all these trips (because I know it's going to be incredibly hard eating well while we're gone, and I don't even know where I'll be able to exercise!), but I am happy with what I've accomplished. And really, I have lost inches, which is more important than the number on the scale. Goal accomplished!
Join Jen with the August Accountability Challenge - I have been tracking my food and exercise on My Fitness Pal, and when I looked back today, I found that I exercised 15 days out of the month. I'm planning on going to play tennis tonight, and tomorrow night Ethan has another football practice. Jerrod is planning on taking him, so I'm hoping that I can sneak in a workout on the Wii, in between the cleaning and packing that I need to do. However, I'm still disappointed in the fact that I didn't do any form of exercise for half of the month. Goal failed.
Drink more water - I did really well with the water. I averaged about 6 to 8 glasses of water every day, plus I've cut out a ton of pop. Goal accomplished!
Set up a meal plan - Well, I have and I haven't. I almost have the menu board done, but I've been waiting on my dad to help me finish the back so that I can hang it properly. However, while I haven't been planning a week in advance, I have thought about and planned meals the day before. Jerrod and I typically decide together what we want for dinner, and make sure to get something thawed out. All in all, goal accomplished!

So, what are my goals for September? Let's plan.

Continue to work on my weight loss goals. By the end of September, I would like to be in the low 170's range. Again, that's about 10 pounds. If I can lose weight each week, and not do the whole gain / lose yo-yo, then I think I'll be alright.
There are what, 30 days in September? My goal is to work out at least 23 out of those 30 days. I rented Just Dance 2 for the Wii, and I think I'm going to have to buy that game. I loved dancing and felt like I got a really good workout, especially for a Wii workout.
Keep up with drinking water and stay under my calorie allotment on My Fitness Pal. This takes planning, and makes it to where I really have to eat at home, because it's so easy to eat 1,000 calories with one restaurant meal! This also means that I have to keep up with menu planning!
Continue with my bike riding. I've been doing really good about riding about 10 miles at least 2 or 3 times a week. I'd like to be able to up my weekend mileage, and therefore my goal is to have at least 3 weekends in September that I ride at least 15 miles, but preferably 20. I just need to find a site to where I can map out my ride before hand, that way I'm not (over)guessing on my mileage during the ride.

So, how was your August? What is your September looking like? Any goals that you want to achieve during the month?

Thinkin' and Plannin'

2011-08-25T16:35:00.000-05:00

Source: destination360.com via Maya Stormy on Pinterest

So, I've mentioned that I've been exercising more lately. One of those exercises has been bike riding. I love it! I enjoy and crave bike riding like runners do.

Today, I was surfing around the 'net and I found PedalFest, an event organized by Heartspring, a center for children with Special Needs. In PedalFest, they have a 2 mile family ride, a 50K (31 mile) ride, and a 100K (62 mile) ride (not races). Unfortunately, the rides are this Sunday, and I already have plans for that afternoon. However, I have asked Jerrod if he would be interested in taking Ethan and doing the 2 mile family ride this year.

But, I'm thinkin' and plannin' for next year. Once I saw it, I immediately knew that I wanted to do it. Ideally, I want to do the 100K, to really push myself. I'm trying to weigh pros and cons in my head, and right now, the cons list is bigger. I don't have a road bike, I don't have the equipment, the clothes, the anything, and honestly, I'm scared! But, you know what? Even though I don't have that stuff, I want to try. And really, what more can I do?!

Weigh In Wednesday

2011-08-24T08:28:00.001-05:00

Well, it's Wednesday again, which means that it's time to weigh in. I love how yesterday, I was all ~~bragging~~ talking about how I've been doing really good with the exercise portion this past week. Of course, that evening, I do absolutely nothing!

Yesterday was a beast. After I got off work, I had to go over to my mom and dads house to go shopping with my mom. We both needed to get a baby shower gift and a wedding present (two separate people). When I got to mom's house, Ethan was, well, let's just say, a bear. First he wanted to play longer, but, there was no one else that he could have stayed with there, and their air conditioner had gone out, so it was like eleventy billion degrees in their house (that's the technical term!). So, I got him to pick up his toys after a crying fit. Then it was the battle of putting on his shoes. Yesterday, he wanted to wear his new school shoes (which was fine, since school has started here).

Okay, well, as you can see the shoes have little ~~dragons, dinosaurs~~, I don't know what, but Ethan calls them dragons, on the side. Jerrod told him the trick of making sure that those are on the outside to know that his shoes are on the correct feet. Well, apparently, his version of the outside is them facing one another, and God help him, mom was not right, and he was not wrong!! Finally, I gave up, it was not a battle that I was willing to deal with anymore. If he wanted to wear them wrong and have sore feet, fine. However, apparently my mom made up her mind to fight it, so it ended up finally ending about five minutes later, after about a 15 minute crying, kicking, screaming fit. My patience was so thin, and dealing with a baby shower registry at two different Walmart's, because the first one didn't have anything, and then a bridal registry at Bed, Bath, and Beyond was not really anything that I was looking forward too. If it had just been Ethan and me going, we would have been at home, and he would have been in his room (and if I had more bananas, I would have made more ice cream that I posted about here! Go check it out, so yummy!)

Wait, isn't this post supposed to be about weight loss?!?! Crap, I got off on a mini-tangent. I guess I went into all that to say that by the time I got home after 8pm, I wasn't in the mood to exercise. So, I grabbed a book, ~~a glass of wine,~~ and went and took a long, hot bath. Instant stress reliever.

Again, weight loss. Sorry. This week, I managed to lose 1 pound, which puts me down to 181.5 pounds. I'm excited to get down in the 170's. Hopefully this week is the week for it! This also means that I have lost 10.5 pounds, which allows me to get the 10# lost button!!

I do have a question for you My Fitness Pal-ers. When I'm inputting my food and exercise, it gives me 'extra' calories. Am I supposed to eat those calories too?!? It just seems very counter-productive to me, to eat the calories that I've just worked off. Especially when that puts me at eating 1,700 - 2,000 calories in a day, instead of the 1,200 that they assign. Can anyone shed some light on this for me??

One more week to go, let's get it done!!

Recap:

Starting Weight - 192 pounds

Week One Weigh In - 189.5 pounds: -2.5

Week Two Weigh In - 187 pounds: -5

Week Three Weigh In - 187 pounds: -5

Week Four Weigh In - 189 pounds: -3

How did you do this week?

True Confession Tuesday

2011-08-23T08:36:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my confessions! I haven't done a Confessions Tuesday post in a while, not because I haven't needed to, believe me, but because I felt like weight loss was all that I was blogging about, and on my family blog. But you know what, oh well. Weight loss is what is on my mind right now, and if that's what I want to talk about, it's what I'm going to talk about.

I have done really well on the working out front this week. We (meaning myself, hubby, Ethan, and sometimes my parents) have played tennis (or tried to, we aren't very good!), or we go ride our bikes (hubby, Ethan and I typically go up this hill over by our house, and I use that as a warm up, and then hubs goes back with Ethan and rides or plays around our neighborhood, and I do about an hour long ride (typically 7 to 8 miles). This weekend, I even mowed our front and back yard (with a push mower), and weeded the garden (which was completely overrun, considering we've had more rain in the past week than we had all month of July (and possibly June!). On Sunday, Jerrod and I rode bikes over to my mom and dads house, which seemed quite a bit further than it really is, I think because the ride is mainly consistently uphill. After we got there, I mowed dad's inner backyard (again with the push mower). So, really, like I said, working out has been good. And really, I'm starting to enjoy it, and dare I say, crave it. I have never felt like this before in my life. I despised working out, and would rather read or play with Ethan, or hell, clean the house, before I would work out. And now, I'm finding myself planning my workouts like I would plan my meals. It's kind of a refreshing change.

However, on the other hand, the food front hasn't been as great. We've cut back on the eating out, which is helping, but Ethan wanted to make brownies, and that wasn't the best thing to have around my house. Normally, I have a pretty high will-power, but I'm not sure if it was an off day or not, but I ended up eating three (3!) brownies. Last night, we had some leftover, but hubby promised those to Ethan (thank God!!), so I ended up making myself some healthy ice cream.

Healthy Ice Cream?! Yep, and really, you can do it with one ingredient! I found it on Pinterest (surprise, surprise), and made it and it's totally super easy.

Source: userealbutter.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Basically, you take bananas, and slice them, then freeze for a little bit (minimum of at least an hour, preferably two). Then you take the bananas out and put them in your food processor (you can use a blender, but it's not as easy), and chop, chop, chop. They will initially turn gravelly looking, but keep blending, and it will get to the consistency of soft serve ice cream. If you want, you can add some peanut butter and / or cocoa, to give a little less banana flavor, or last night, I added strawberries to mine and it was totally yummy!

Now, I just have to go buy more bananas!!

My poor baby...

2011-08-22T13:26:00.000-05:00

A lunchtime conversation with my husband:

Jerrod : "Did you know that Ethan sat by himself in the lunchroom on Friday?"

Me: "No, why did he do that?"

Jerrod: "Apparently, when he got in the lunchroom, he asked the teacher in there where he needed to sit, and the teacher told him 'go sit at that first table over there'. Ethan went over there, and when the rest of the kids came in after buying their lunches, none of them sat at the table that he was sitting at."

Me: "No, he didn't tell me that, he just told me that he didn't have enough time to eat all of his lunch, that I packed him too much, but not that he ate all by himself. What did you say?"

Jerrod: "I asked why he didn't get up and go sit by someone else and make a new friend. He said that he had so much food, that he was afraid that it would spill if he tried to get up and take it somewhere."

Me: "Aww, the poor kid!!"

Jerrod: "Yeah, I told him today to wait until the other kids in his class get their lunch, and to sit with his class, so that he doesn't have to sit by himself"

My poor baby. Now this mama's all sad about her little guys first experience with lunchtime at school. I know that it must not have upset him too much, since he didn't say anything about it to me on Friday, and this is the first that I'm hearing about it, but it still makes me sad. Hopefully today will be a better day, and you better believe that I'm asking him about who sat by him in the lunchroom!!

First Day of Kindergarten

2011-08-20T13:24:00.000-05:00

I got this idea from Pinterest, here is the original that I modified a little bit for Ethan

So, yesterday was Ethan's first day of kindergarten.

Thursday night, after Ethan went to bed, I put his lunch together, and I put the rest of his school supplies in his backpack. Thank God everything was ready for us just to grab and go, because, Friday morning, we all managed to sleep until 8:30. Yes, 8:30, when his school starts at 8:50!! Needless to say, the morning was a rush!! I snapped a few quick pictures at home, and plan on playing around with some of them, and then I also took some when he got to school.

I know he looks very unenthusiastic, but he warmed up after this!

See, he's excited!!

His awesome backpack and lunch bag

Walking from the car to the school with daddy

Finding my hook to hang up my backpack and lunch bag

Taking it all in

He's to excited to focus on the camera - bye mom!!!

What I thought was a little amusing, is that I used to go to this same school that Ethan is going to. I went there until 3rd grade, when we moved to the other side of town. However, when I was there, we didn't have this cool license plate sign!! (And, on the back side of the license plates is a painting of the American Flag, but I didn't get a picture, since it would have been backwards. Maybe the next time I'm there, if the wind is working with me, I'll get a few)

Our school used to start after Labor day, but it just keeps moving further and further up. When do your kids start school??

Real Life Update

2011-08-17T12:04:00.000-05:00

Source: moneysavingmom.com via Gretchen on Pinterest

Wow, has life gotten in the way of the blog. I feel like I'm making the same excuses over and over again, because really, I am. This has gotten ridiculous, and something needs to give (not my sanity, please?!?).

I found this phrase on Pinterest and it really caught my eye. It's true really, and I haven't been making time for this blog. I don't know if it's just because Ethan is older and I am trying to weigh his privacy with my blogging, or if I'm just not into it anymore.

Now, I don't want to be the person that just shuts her blog down, especially since I know that some of my family does read, in order to keep caught up with Ethan. But, I definitely need to re-evaluate my thinking and what it is that I want this blog to be.

If you haven't noticed, I've been making some small changes here and there with the blog. I'm hoping that by getting it a little revamped, I will want to come and spend some time writing here. I installed some new fonts for the post titles and then another font for the text (but if you don't have that font downloaded, it won't show up for you). I'm also going to be working on changing the style with the colors and getting a sidebar in. I love being able to have bigger pictures, but I also want to showcase some things on the side, which with this style I just can't do.

Stay tuned. I can't promise that I won't go anywhere, but I can promise to try harder.

~~Rachel

Weigh In Wednesday

2011-08-17T07:50:00.000-05:00

Another week has gone by, and it's time to weigh in. Crazy how fast time is going right now. In fact, in two days my baby starts kindergarten!! What?!? No!

This week was a pretty good week for me. I weighed in at 182.5 pounds, which means that I lost 3.5 pounds, which brings me to a total weight loss of 9.5 pounds. Woohoo! I'm getting closer and closer to the next Shrinking Jeans button! And, since we're on week nine of the Shrinking Jeans Bootcamp challenge, I think that's a pretty good averaged total!!

Anyways, on to the challenges.

This week, the challenge was the breathe deep before getting out of bed. Yeah, I totally did not do this, any day of the week. What can I say, ~~I hit the ground running~~ I hate getting up in the morning and will oversleep my alarm (damn snooze button) every time. (It's hard to break your snooze button when you use your cell phone as an alarm clock!)

This week, the challenge is to do the same thing. Woohoo! I get a second chance at this mini-challenge. This week, I'm also challenging myself to wake up earlier. And by 'wake up', I mean actually getting out of the bed!

Recap:

Starting Weight - 192 pounds

Week One Weigh In - 189.5 pounds: -2.5

Week Two Weigh In - 187 pounds: -5

Week Three Weigh In - 187 pounds: -5

Week Four Weigh In - 189 pounds: -3

Week Five Weigh In - 186 pounds: -6
Week Six Weigh In - 183.5 pounds: -8.5
Week Seven Weigh In - 184.5 pounds: -7.5
Week Eight Weigh In - 186 pounds: -6
Week Nine Weigh In - 182.5 pounds: -9.5

Weigh In Wednesday

2011-08-10T08:27:00.001-05:00

Well, looking back, apparently I missed ~~a week~~ two weeks of weighing in. ~~Go me!!~~ So, I'm grabbing the last two weeks of weigh ins from My Fitness Pal to update, since I apparently posted it there, but not here.

If you were around and read my post yesterday, then you know that these last two weeks have been very challenging. I've been working out, but I've also been eating. And when hubby is getting free tickets to this baseball game or that baseball game, and we don't have time to cook between work and needing to be there, it makes eating healthy a challenge. So, as much as I was wanting to maintain my weight, it isn't really a surprise that I gained. I am up to 186 pounds, which is a gain of 1.5 pounds. Really, it could be worse, but I'm not going to let it get there!

Challenges:

Last week the challenge was no ice cream. Really, as hot as it's been here, I haven't been craving ice cream *ducks*. So, that one wasn't an issue for me. As much as I love sweets, I've learned that if I don't keep them in the house, I'm typically okay. Now, if you put it in my house, then we are going to have issues!

The challenge for this week is to breathe deeply before getting out of bed. As long as I remember, and don't wake up late, I'm sure I can manage this one.

Recap:

Starting Weight - 192 pounds

Week One Weigh In - 189.5 pounds

Week Two Weigh In - 187 pounds

Week Three Weigh In - 187 pounds

Week Four Weigh In - 189 pounds

Week Five Weigh In - 186 pounds
Week Six Weigh In - 183.5 pounds
Week Seven Weigh In - 184.5 pounds
Week Eight Weigh In - 186 pounds

How was your week?

Random Update

2011-08-09T14:53:00.000-05:00

Wow, these weeks have been flying by. Ethan starts school a week from Friday, and we have a couple vacations coming up in the beginning of September (yes, I'm the mom that pulls her kid out of school to go on vacation!).

I've been doing pretty well on my challenges for the month. Lets do a quick recap before I weigh in tomorrow.

~~ Lose 10 pounds - well, I haven't weighed in yet, so I have no idea. Honestly, this week has been very "go, go, go" with not a lot of healthy options. I have worked out almost everyday, even if it was just a 10 minute You Tube video or some ab work. So, as much as I would love to drop weight this week, I'm at least hoping for no gain.

~~ Jen's August Accountability challenge - like I said, I've worked out almost everyday this month. In fact, I worked out everyday from August 1st - August 7th. Yesterday, hubby got last minute tickets to the NBC tournament that is going on here, so I went home after work, changed, and left. I didn't get back home until after 10:30, and I fell into bed. I did have a considerable amount of trouble falling asleep last night, and I'm wondering if not working out caused that.

~~ Drink more water - I have been doing pretty well with this. I have a 32oz bottle that I keep at work, and I've been good about getting through it at least once. I try to drink one bottle in the morning, and then another after lunch, but I don't always manage that.

~~ Begin meal planning again - We are still working on that wonderful chalkboard meal chart, so I haven't been able to use that. While I don't have my menu written down for this week, we are deciding what to do for dinner the night before, that way I can get things laid out and make sure that I have all the ingredients.

What else is new? I'm looking into trying a couple workout classes. I cancelled my gym membership about six months ago, but I found a couple places that do Zumba and Yoga on a 'punch card' basis, and I'm looking into trying those. I've been bike riding for the rest of my exercise, and I love it! I despise running, but I'm able to ride over six miles without wanting to jump off the nearest bridge, so I think that this is a win-win for me! In fact, I downloaded an app for my phone, the AllSport GPS app, and I love that it will map where I went, track my average speed, and tell me how many calories that I've burned. There is a paid version, but I'm cheap and just got the free one, and I still love it!

Well, I should probably start doing the job that I get paid to do, but I'll check back in tomorrow to weigh in for Shrinking Jeans.

August Goals

2011-08-01T12:53:00.000-05:00

So, I'm going to try to start posting my goals for the month on the first of the month, and since today is the first of August, here goes!

~~ Lose 10 pounds by August 31st (I know this will be difficult, and I will be happy with 5 pounds, but would be ecstatic with 10!)

~~ Join Jen with her August Accountability challenge - do the 30 Day Shred everyday in August (I might not do the 30 Day Shred, as my mom still has my DVD, but I am going to do some form of exercise - running, biking, Wii Fit, or go back to the Shrinking Jeans Bootcamp challenges).

~~ Drink more water! When that was the Shrinking Jeans challenge for the week, I rocked it! I need to get back into drinking at least 60 ounces of water per day!

~~ Set up a meal plan and stick with it! I found the following picture on Pinterest, (which I am now in love with, by the way), and instantly loved it! I talked with hubby, and we started making it last night. Hopefully it will be complete to use next week.

Source: fussymonkeybiz.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

So, what do you think? What are your goals for August?

Weigh In Wednesday

2011-07-20T08:05:00.002-05:00

So, another week has gone by. This week was hard. I wasn't able to post a Confessions Tuesday post, since I spend half the day in meetings and the other half on a plane trying to get home. I've been gone since Sunday, and have had free food, with dessert at every meal it seems, and meeting after meeting. I'm happy to say that I did stay within reason on my intake, and only had dessert one night.

Amazingly enough, even with all the struggles that I've had this week, I managed to lose 3 pounds. Now, since I gained 2 pounds last week, I'm only down 1 pound from my lowest challenge weight. But still, 3 pounds!!

Mini-challenge:
Typically I'm really good with sleeping, but of course, the week that we have this as a challenge, I can't do it. I was fine until Saturday night, when we decided to go to Jack Blast, a local fireworks show. It is in a small town about an hour away, and the show doesn't start until dark, obviously. The fireworks last a good 30 minutes, if not longer, and then cleaning up and everything else. I think I finally fell into bed at 1am. Normally, not so bad, since Ethan was spending the night with my parents. However, Sunday morning I had to fly out to go to a work conference. I had to be up and getting ready to go to the airport at 4:30am!! Add in flight delays, and it makes for a very long day. On Monday and Tuesday, breakfast was at 6:30 every day. That doesn't sound so bad, right?? Well, I had to get up by 5:30 Eastern time, which was 4:30 my time. So, I had three days of getting up at 4:30, and the conferences were lasting until 9:30 at night, so I wasn't getting to bed until after 10:30 or 11. Tuesday, I flew back in, and arrived home at about 11:15. I crashed, and crashed hard.

Goals:
The goals for the week are:

60+ ounces of water every day
Cook dinner 5 out of the next 7 days (hubs went to the grocery store while I was gone, so I should be good)
Exercise 5 out of the next 7 days
Stay under my calorie goal (and start tracking food again - I stopped this past couple days during the conference)

Recap:

Starting Weight - 192 pounds

Week One Weigh In - 189.5 pounds

Week Two Weigh In - 187 pounds

Week Three Weigh In - 187 pounds

Week Four Weigh In - 189 pounds

Week Five Weigh In - 186 pounds

How was your week?

Weigh In Wednesday

2011-07-13T08:28:00.001-05:00

Well, if you read my rant yesterday about how I just don't care, then it will come as no surprise that I have gained 2 pounds, putting me back up at 189 pounds. I will say that I'm sorry to my team, but other than that, no excuses, just looking forward.

Mini-Challenge:
This mini-challenge is to get 7+ hours of sleep (or at least one more hour than you currently get). I'm actually pretty good about my sleeping. I typically go lay down about 10, and fall asleep between 10 and 11, and get up at 6:30 and 7 in order to get ready for work.

Goals for the week:
I need a place to list my goals, since I'm not keeping up with the old challenges, and I have a feeling that might be affecting my weight gain this week.

Drink 60+ ounces of water every day (SJ twitter users, my name is @ETsmommy, if you are on there, will you ask me, and remind me to go get some water and actually drink it?)
Cook dinner and eat at home every day from Wednesday to Saturday this week (I fly out at 7am on Sunday, so, I'm out of luck there)
Do some form of exercise every day from Wednesday to Saturday (preferably Sunday too, but if that happens, it'll be a bonus)

Recap:

Starting Weight - 192 pounds

Week One Weigh In - 189.5 pounds

Week Two Weigh In - 187 pounds

Week Three Weigh In - 187 pounds

Week Four Weigh In - 189 pounds

There are two more weeks of bootcamp, and seven more weeks of the main challenge. Let's get it done!

True Confessions Tuesday

2011-07-12T08:05:00.000-05:00

Wow, I really need to start blogging about my family again. It seems like the only time I've blogged the past couple weeks is for Confessions or Weigh Ins. Well, I guess, at least I'm sticking with something.

This week has been a very blah week for me. I don't really know what to say or how to say it. Right now, I'm maintaining, at least, but I'm not losing anything. And this past week, I can't get myself to care. I know that I should, for the team and all, but I just don't.

One of the reasons that I know of is that it is so hot here lately. In fact, as I was watching the weather report on the news last night, they were saying that this year, we've had 19 days of weather over 100 degrees. We typically have 11 days of triple digit weather. Our highest summer was the Summer of 2003, with 21 days of 100+. On Sunday, we hit a record high of 111 degrees. Hutchinson, which is about an hour away, was the hottest place in the United States, at 112 degrees!! It's hotter in Kansas than it is in Arizona! What?! Not to mention the humidity that we also have to seem to endure this time of year.

I worked out yesterday (kinda) for the first time since Thursday. The weekends are hard, since we are so busy doing office matters, for Jerrod's agency, that we didn't have time during the week to do. I started to work out, even though my tennis shoes were over at my mom's house. I did the (bad) thing and decided to do it barefoot. I did the mountain climbers, because even I'm not stupid enough to go do sprints outside barefoot, and turned my right ankle during the 2nd set of 45 seconds. Then, I turned my left ankle in the 4th or 5th set of 45 seconds. And then, I must have had a rock or something stuck to my big toe, and it ripped a blister like hole in the skin of my toe. I ended up doing the mountain climbers and the reverse lunge kicks and then basically said forget it. The rest of the day (the whole hour before I went to bed), was horrible because Ethan kept fighting me and I was frustrated with myself for quitting and him for not listening and trying to get out of doing what I asked him.

Right now, I just can't seem to get out of my slump. I know I should be working out, and working out hard, especially since I leave on Sunday for a work conference in Charlotte. I know that, but I just don't care. I have absolutely no motivation, I just want to wallow in that, and eat a pint of ice cream. I just don't care.

What's wrong with me?! How can I not care about my health and my appearance? How can I not care about my family and my friends? Why can't I care? How do I fix me?

Weigh In Wednesday

2011-07-06T07:52:00.004-05:00

Another Wednesday, another weigh in.

Like I said yesterday, this week was hard! I hadn't worked out after Thursday, and while I was planning on working out yesterday after work, by the time I got home from work, my upper body was SO sore from tubing, I was afraid that I would hurt myself if I worked out again.

All the food that I confessed yesterday along with the lack of workouts should add up to a gain, so I am extremely happy to report that I weigh 187 pounds. No gain, no loss, and right now, I'll take it.

Challenges:
This last week, the mini-challenge was fruits and veggies. This was a hard one for me, and I don't think that I did it any day out of the week, at least not at every meal.

The upcoming challenge is going to be hard for me. No fast food! Hopefully, it will be a little easier with Ethan's last t-ball game tonight (6:30 - after 9pm, counting driving time), but it's still going to be difficult. However, I think if I put my mind to it, I can do it, I just might need to swing by the grocery store to get some things. Jerrod's going to love me!! :-) Oh, and I am not at work on Thursday and Friday this week, as I have work conferences to attend in a nearby city, so lunches are going to be fun. But really, lately I've been bringing a Slim Fast to work, and grabbing a salad or fruit or something like that from QT. It's what I've been doing for work lunches for the past week, so I'll probably continue to do that this week.

Food:
I've been really good about tracking what I'm eating. I'm not so great about tracking my water. And really, now that water intake is not a challenge, it's getting hard for me to keep up. I need to get back on that.

Recap:
Starting Weight - 192 pounds
Week One Weigh In - 189.5 pounds
Week Two Weigh In - 187 pounds
Week Three Weigh In - 187 pounds

How did you do this past week?

True Confessions Tuesday

2011-07-05T09:55:00.000-05:00

Confession time!! This weekend was TOUGH!!

I did really well during the work week, but the weekend was my downfall. I'm still not eating enough at home, but I have been extremely busy with helping Jerrod get his agency up and running. If I'm not at my work, I'm either at his work or helping him do his work at home. So, we're busy, and my house is desperately showing the neglect.

On Friday, I went out with my bestie and had a girls night. I confess that we went to On The Border, and I got enchiladas, and ate all three!! I confess that I also drank a huge daiquiri! I confess that I didn't work out at all today.

On Saturday, we were really busy and went to take Ethan to see Transformers 3. I confess that I ate a 1/2 bucket of popcorn (no butter, thank God!) at the theater. I confess that I didn't work out at all today.

On Sunday, we went to Jerrod's parent's house and did some fireworks there. However, before that we took Ethan to go see Cars 2 (I know, two movies in two days!), and again I confess that I ate more popcorn! I confess that I had my first pop since I started the SJ Bootcamp Challenge. Again, I confess that I didn't work out, and I confess that I had Strawberry Koolaid Pie with vanilla ice cream, after eating taco burgers and nachos for dinner!

And finally, on Monday, I confess that I didn't work out (unless tubing counts!), and I confess that I ate more food than I should have, along with homemade vanilla ice cream.

But, the best confession of all: I confess that I had the best time with my guys and friends and family, and I confess that I wouldn't change this weekend for the world. Yeah, I ate to much and didn't exercise, and I might gain weight this week, but it was worth it seeing the joy on my little man's face, and being able to have fun with friends and not worry about obsessively counting or tracking.

Now to get back on the SJ Bootcamp & Challenge wagon

What are your confessions for the week?

Weigh In Wednesday

2011-06-29T08:01:00.001-05:00

Another week has gone by, and it's time for another weigh in. While this past week has been a struggle for me, especially with Jerrod getting ready to take over his office (July 1st can't come fast enough!!), and just all around summertime busyness, it's been hard.

Mini-Challenges:
For week one, the mini-challenge was hydration. I did really good that first week getting in 70 - 120 ounces of water, but this last week I've had trouble getting 64 ounces. I really need to step it up and get with the (water) program.

The week two mini-challenge was breakfast. Now, I've never been a big breakfast eater, but I did manage to eat breakfast every single day. Now, it wasn't always bacon and eggs, (well, it's never bacon and eggs, because I hate eggs!!), but I had breakfast, whether it was getting an oatmeal at McD's, or grabbing a Slim-Fast at QuikTrip.

For this week, the mini-challenge is getting a daily serving of fruits and veggies. Now, I went to QuikTrip to get my Slim-Fast for this morning (what?, I was running late!), and I happened to get a container of apples and peanut butter. So, I'm set for that this morning, but I know that this will take a little more planning on my part.

Totals:
So, what am I waiting for?! Did I lose weight, or did I (gasp) gain weight? This week, I actually lost 2.5 pounds! Yep, I am now down to 187 pounds. While I might like to be losing at a faster pace, I'm losing at a healthy pace, and that is what really matters to me!! And this means that I get to add another button to my blog, because I'm down 5 pounds since I started the Shrinking Jeans Challenge (and Bootcamp) two weeks ago!

Recap:
Starting Weight - 192 pounds
Week One Weigh In - 189.5 pounds
Week Two Weigh In - 187 pounds

How did you do this past week?

True Confession Tuesday

2011-06-28T08:08:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday, everyone posts their confessions for the past week. The idea is to get them out there, so that everyone can start fresh on Wednesday (weigh-in day). Here are mine:

I ate out almost every day last week (but I did stay within my calorie range)
I did not do more than one day of my C25K challenge
I didn't do an actual workout on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday (but I did move full file cabinets, shelving units, boxes, and then I taped off walls and painted; so that should count for something)
I ate two slices of Pizza Hut pizza on Sunday night
I haven't been drinking nearly enough water this past week
I didn't exercise at all yesterday

That's about all that I can think of. It's really pretty mild this week. I did finally do W1D3 of Bootcamp on Sunday, and oh man, it wore me out. I still haven't done any C25K, and we've got so much going on, I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to get that in.

Yesterday was incredibly busy, and there was no way that I would have been able to exercise. My alarm went off at 5am so that I could get up and do W2D1 of the Shrinking Jeans Bootcamp, however, my body just would not comply with that at all. I ended up getting up at 6:30, enough time for me to shower and get ready for work. I'm planning on going home after work and doing W2D1, then showering, and then we have an work sponsored baseball game to attend.

Don't forget to check back tomorrow for Weigh In Wednesday!

What are your True Confessions?

Weigh In Wednesday

2011-06-22T08:04:00.001-05:00

It's Wednesday, and it's time to check in with the Burst In To Summer challenge at Shrinking Jeans!

I actually did really well this past week. Sure, I had a couple slip ups, but really, who doesn't? With the exception of Saturday and Sunday, I drank at least 100 ounces of water. Weekend days are harder for me, but I'm not really sure why. I have to make myself remember to drink my water, so on those days I think I was around 60 - 70 ounces.

Weight:

If you don't feel like going back to last week, I was at 192 pounds. I am now down to 189.5 pounds. Yep, I lost 2.5 pounds!! I'm sure that I could have done better, but hey, I'm still losing weight, and that makes me happy! And really, 2.5 pounds in a week is still pretty good, to me anyways!

I need to take some measurements, because I already feel like my pants are fitting a little better. I don't feel like I have to squeeze as much to get into my work pants, and that makes me incredibly happy!

Exercise:

I have been doing really well with my exercising challenges this week. On Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday last week I did week 1, days 1 - 3 of the C25K challenge. On Tuesday, I worked out with my Wii Fit Plus, and on Friday, I walked (brisk) about a mile with my mom and a friend. I didn't do any formal workout Saturday or Sunday, which, if I had done, I probably would have lost a little more.

On Monday this week, the Boot Camp started at Shrinking Jeans. I did week 1, day 1 on Monday, day 2 on Wednesday (today - yes, I actually worked out before going to work!), and on Tuesday I did week 2, day 1 of C25K.

I didn't feel like I did the boot camp correctly on Monday, since I really wasn't that sore on Tuesday. I feel like I was trying to duplicate the videos, including the speed at which the exercises were done, instead of taking my time and doing them to my needs. This morning, I tried to take it a little slower, and focus on my body and my form, and I already feel sore. So, I think that today was a little better workout than Monday, even if it was the same things.

Challenge:
This week the mini-challenge is Breakfast. I've been doing really good this week, but before that, I was the person who would skip breakfast. I'm going to be making sure that I eat something every morning, even if it just means slicing an apple or grabbing a yogurt as I'm walking out the door.

Review:

6/15/11 - 192 pounds

6/22/11 - 189.5 pounds (-2.5 pounds)

How have you done this week?

San Antonio Zoo

2011-06-16T21:59:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, before the Elite Eight game, we had a little time to kill, so we decided to go over to the San Antonio Zoo. I'm sorry for those in San Antonio, but coming from one of the greatest zoos in the United States, this one wasn't that great. It seemed very dirty and very cramped. Granted, it is also pretty much in the middle of downtown, about 10 minutes from the Alamodome. Oh well, Ethan still seemed to enjoy himself!

Dino Land

2011-06-15T21:45:00.001-05:00

While we were in San Antonio for the basketball games, we decided to take Ethan to Dino Land. While Jerrod and I thought it was a little lacking, Ethan enjoyed himself.

Burst Into Summer

2011-06-15T07:38:00.003-05:00

with the Sisterhood!

After I wrote my weight / exercise post yesterday, I was doing a little more research on the Couch to 5K (C25K) program and I came across this article at the Sisterhood. I read that, and was hooked, and started looking at other things around their site. I even joined the 'Hood, which is their forum to talk about struggles, successes, and everything in between.

I came across a Summer challenge that they were just beginning to start. I hesitated, because thoughts of I'm just starting. What if I let others down? What if it's too hard? What if I fail? were running through my head. Finally, I went ahead and jumped in.

The premise of this is an 11 week journey, June 15th - August 31st. You check in every Wednesday, and they calculate (by percentage) weight loss of people that are trying to lose weight (some people just do this because they love to exercise - imagine that!). They put up a leaderboard on Thursdays, and everyone tries there hardest. Within this challenge, they have mini-challenges, and they are also doing a 6-week online bootcamp! As difficult as this might be for me, I know that I'm making the right choice.

With that, my starting weight is ... 192 pounds. Sigh, I have a lot of work to do.

The mini-challenge this week is hydration. I didn't see a goal in the challenge, so, I'm going to set my own. My goal is to drink 72 ounces of water each day for the next week. I'm even going to go one step further and eliminate all pop (yes, even diet!).

Check back next Wednesday to see how I've done with the Challenge, my goals, and my weight loss. I hope you decide to join us over at the Sisterhood!

Real Life Update

2011-06-14T08:11:00.001-05:00

I haven't had one of these in a while!! Shocker!

Anyway, I've been really bad lately about food and diet. I need to quick slacking off, so that I can see results! So, I'm going to go bold, and post my weight and my exercise plan. I'm trying to not do a formal diet plan right now, but around Easter, I tried the 17 Day Diet, and I did see some results before I abandoned the bandwagon, so I'm going to pull bits and pieces from there.

Anyway, if you've met me, you know that I am short (about 5'3"), and I carry the majority of my weight in my tummy and butt (and thighs). When I went to the doctor last Wednesday, I tipped the scales at 196 pounds. 196 pounds!!! I haven't weighed this much since I gave birth to Ethan!!

In doing the weight loss calculators, for my height, I should weigh about 110 - 135 pounds (110 on the small boned side, and 135 for mid-boned). My ideal weight is right in the middle of that, 120 - 130 pounds. That means that I need to lose 70 - 80 pounds!!

How am I going to do this? First off, I have started the Couch to 5K program. I also have the Wii Fit Plus and the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred (that I need to get back from my mom's house). I would like to buy the Zumba Dance videos, but I figured that I better start working out and sticking with it before I try to talk Jerrod into letting me spend $60 on exercise videos. I am planning on doing the 5K program on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (that might be a different day, due to any plans that we might have as a family), and doing the Wii Fit Plus and / or the 30 Day Shred on Tuesday and Thursday. I was planning on taking Saturday and Sunday off to rest, but might do some light Wii Fit, depending on my mood.

Exercise:
Last night, at around 8:45, I went for a run (and if you know me, you know that I despise running). The first step of the Couch to 5K is a brisk 5 minute warm-up walk (which I didn't do, since obviously I can't read closely enough), and then 60 seconds of jogging followed by 90 seconds of walking, for a total of 20 minutes. Now, like I said, I despise running. I was not able to do the full 20 minutes. I was able to do the walk / jog combination until the 11 minute mark, and then I walked until the 15 minute mark. After that I jogged back to my house, which was another minute of jogging. So, all in all, I walked / jogged for 16 minutes.

Food:
Last night, we ate at Kentucky Fried Chicken, which was probably not the healthiest choice. I ate the KFC Famous Bowl, minus the corn (about 680 calories). After my working out, I took a shower (much needed), and then had about a cup of grapes and an 8oz glass of Iced Tea. This morning, after getting ready for work, I had two packets of Oatmeal (about 290 calories). For lunch, I'm planning on making a salad from Dillons. I also have chicken cooking in the crock-pot today, that I'll shred when I get home, and will probably make baked potatoes with some shredded chicken or something similar.

What have you done to be / eat healthier?

Sweet Sixteen

2011-06-10T13:07:00.000-05:00

Back in March, Jerrod, Ethan and I went with mom and dad down to San Antonio. We had tickets for the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games. We ended up seeing three games: KU vs. Richmond, FSU vs. VCU for the Sweet Sixteen, and VCU vs. KU for the Elite Eight. Unfortunately, Notre Dame got beat in the round before the Sweet Sixteen by Florida State, so we weren't able to see them play. And even worse, VCU actually beat KU in the Elite Eight, which was devastating. However, it was a great trip and fun games.

Prior warning, this will be a very picture heavy post -- these are just the Sweet Sixteen games.

The excited family!

KU Jayhawks!

The team before the game

Defense!

I'm gonna score...

Free throw

Haha, I have the ball!!

I'm gonna score again!

Give me back my ball!

Double teamed

Congrats Guys

The crowd!!

Final score and stats

Come and get it!

Free Throw

This cheerleader walked like this the entire length of the court, AND back!! Impressive!

Ugh

2011-06-08T19:43:00.002-05:00

Well, I started to get better about posting my pictures, and then work and life happened. However, right now I am sick at home with bronchitis. Great, that is just what I needed. However, I'm hoping to use the time in bed editing pictures and posting updates on the 'lil old blog.

Here is an updated list of what needs to be posted.

KU vs. Richmond - Mar. 25th
FSU vs. VCU - Mar. 25th
Dino Land - Mar. 26th
San Antonio Zoo - Mar. 27th
KU vs.VCU - Mar. 27th
Front Garden: Before and After - Apr. 10th
Bowling Birthday Party - Apr.16th
Jayhawks Flag Football - Apr.16th
Practice Fishing - Apr. 17th
Jerrod's New Office - Apr. 23rd
Egg Decorating - Apr. 23rd
Easter Egg Hunt - Apr. 24th
Zoo Field Trip - May 16th
T-Ball Season Games - May 17th & ongoing
Pre-K Graduation - May 24th

I've been really bad about taking pictures lately. I seem to capture some little moments on my phone, but hardly ever grab my good camera any more. I'm not sure what the deal is.

Oh well, hopefully I'll be able to get caught up, and can start "live" blogging again. I miss it!!

Monster Truck Games

2011-04-28T21:08:00.000-05:00

Ethan loves his monster truck, but he loves it even more when Papa plays with him.

As you can see, Ethan loves both his monster truck and his papa!

Shockers vs. Creighton - February 23, 2011

2011-04-26T20:22:00.000-05:00

As many may know, Ethan is a sports fanatic. He loves all sports; loves playing them, watching them on the television, and best of all, loves watching them in person. This year, we were lucky enough to take Ethan to a couple of basketball games. He loved it, and can't wait to go back!

Opening Tip-Off

Score!!

Go Shocks!!

I'll get that ball!

So, what are we gonna do?

Maybe, maybe, maybe

Monster Truck Rally - January 29, 2011

2011-04-25T20:51:00.000-05:00

So, Jerrod and I decided to take Ethan to the Monster Truck Rally with Jerrod's mentor agent, his wife, and son. The boys had a blast! We got there early enough so that we could go down below and see the monster trucks up close, and get autographs if we wanted to. The lines were really long, so we just decided to walk about and take pictures. After we did that for a while, we went up to our seats and enjoyed the show!

Raminator

El Toro Loco

Triple X

Rammunition

Monster Mutt

Front of El Toro Loco

The wanted sign on Bounty Hunter

Straight up - Monster Mutt

Bounty Hunter

Ethan watching the show

I love Monster Mutt - look at that tongue!

Bounty Hunter, again

A little blurry, but I love the action in this shot

How ~~low~~ high can you go?!

Have you ever been to a Monster Truck rally? Would you ever go?

Chiefs Playoff Game - January 9th, 2011

2011-04-25T07:03:00.000-05:00

I know I've posted this picture from the game, but I wanted to share some more. First off, it was so cold at this game. I know I personally had about three layers of clothes on, and I believe that Ethan had more. Ethan was so excited to go to the game, before the game and as we were on our way. We tried to explain what it would be like, but it's hard. As the game started, Ethan got more and more bored with the game, for lack of a better word. I think he was cold and he was tired. Finally, about the second half of the game, he perked up and began enjoying himself, and was actually disappointed when the Chiefs lost, badly, I might add. As soon as we got back to the car, he immediately fell asleep.

Kansas City Chiefs vs. the Baltimore Ravens - Playoff Game

The whole family, ~~enjoying the cold~~ freezing before the game started

Opening Kickoff

I'm gonna get you!!!

Cuddling with daddy (note the blanket wrapped around his zillion layers)

Sad because we wouldn't leave - he wanted to go home and watch the game on t.v.

Ethan about 10 minutes after I took the 'pouting' picture

Ethan as soon as we got out to the car - and we didn't even stay for the whole game!

All in all, it was fun. I probably wouldn't take Ethan to another game (unless it was an opening game or something along those lines), but even though he was pouting and wanted to leave, he enjoyed it. Even four months later, he still talks about going to the football game. He just wished that they would have won!!

Bad Blogger

2011-04-25T06:46:00.004-05:00

Yes, I've been a bad blogger. Yeah, I'm sure you know the same old excuses, "busy, busy, busy." Oh well. Here is a list of things that I need to catch up on blogging about.

Chiefs Playoff Game - Jan. 9th
Monster Truck Rally - Jan. 29th
Shockers vs. Creighton - Feb. 23rd
Monster Truck games with Papa - Mar. 12th
KU vs. Richmond - Mar. 25th
FSU vs. VCU - Mar. 25th
Dino Land - Mar. 26th
San Antonio Zoo - Mar. 27th
KU vs.VCU - Mar. 27th
Front Garden: Before and After - Apr. 10th
Bowling Birthday Party - Apr.16th
Jayhawks Flag Football - Apr.16th
Practice Fishing - Apr. 17th
Jerrod's New Office - Apr. 23rd
Egg Decorating - Apr. 23rd
Easter Egg Hunt - Apr. 24th

Like I said, I've been a bad blogger.

Also, I know I was a little cryptic back in January about researching. As some of you might know, Jerrod is an insurance agent. He was told that an agent in a local small town (about 2 1/2 hours away) was going into management, and someone was needed to take over her office. Jerrod interviewed, and we researched, and it came down to him and one other agent. However, the other agent got offered that position. Which is completely good!! Jerrod is good friends with the other agent, and we wish him nothing but the best.

However, just last week, Jerrod was asked to take over another agent's office here in Wichita. So, on May 1st, Jerrod will go off on his own, and start running his own agency. I am incredibly nervous, even though I know that Jerrod loves what he does. He cannot wait to start being his own boss, and helping his clients, and following through with his ideas.

Hopefully, within the next week, I'll be able to catch up on posting pictures about the things that we have done!

Menu Plan Monday - Week of Feb 28 - Mar 6

2011-02-28T07:57:00.001-06:00

Wow, we've been busy. Sorry, I've forgotten about this 'ole blog for a little bit, but hopefully, I'll be able to get caught up and stay that way. I know there are quite a few things that I need to post about, but before that, the much needed menu plan for the week.

Monday - Cola Pork Chops with macaroni & cheese
Tuesday - Baked Ziti
Wednesday - Tilapia with Asparagus and Squash
Thursday - Chili with fritos & cheese
Friday - Semi-homemade pizza
Saturday - Lasagna
Sunday - free for all

What are you making this week?

Post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie

Replacements

2011-02-01T21:22:00.000-06:00

Jerrod and I have started going to church with his mentor agent and his family. Ethan loves going there, and while the church is sometimes a little "rock concert-ish" for me, I enjoy it as well.

I grew up going to church. My mom, brother, and I went to church every Sunday and Wednesday, and I went to church camp every summer for at least five years. Around high school age, I would guess, we stopped going. We just grew away from the church that we were going to, and it just wasn't a very good fit for us anymore.

Since getting married and having Ethan, we haven't really done church. We've gone here and there, but never consistently. However, Ethan seems to be getting to the age where he needs to go, and more importantly, enjoys going.

The series that the church is studying right now is "Replacements." This has really resonated within me, and within my life. As of this past Sunday, we've discussed money, success, and power as being replacements for God in your life. I want to start putting the notes from the church lessons here, both for my benefit as I continue to blog, and hopefully to grow in my life, and for anyone else that might happen upon them.

I am thinking that I will start this series on Sundays. I want to be able to have a time and period for self reflection before I pass the messages along to anyone else. I really hope that people aren't offended by this, but honestly, oh well.

Mini Meatloaf Muffins

2011-01-27T19:19:00.000-06:00

So, instead of doing a boring, basic meatloaf recipe tonight, I decided to change things up a bit. Part of it came from seeing a Muffin Tin Italian Meatloaf recipe posted by Sasha Says. I modified her recipe a bit, as I didn't have all of the ingredients that she used, and I didn't print it off before I left work.

Mini Meatloaf Muffins:

1 pound ground beef
1 can black beans
1 can tomato sauce
1 or so cups of cheese (we love cheese)
Teaspoon or so olive oil (since I was out of eggs)
spices (I used kosher salt, garlic powder, Italian seasonings, ground mustard, and minced onions)

First off, I mixed the ground beef in with some spices. Then, I took the can of black beans and ground it in my food processor for a bit (since Ethan thinks that he doesn't like beans). I mixed that in with the ground beef mixture, and then added the tomato sauce to the processor. I put the spices and some cheese in there, and then mixed about half of that in with the ground beef.

Then I sprayed my muffin tins (which I probably didn't need to do), and plopped the ground beef mixture into the tins. I filled them so that they were even with the top of the pans. Then, I put a spoonful of the tomato / cheese sauce on top, and baked in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. When there was about 5 minutes left, I sprinkled some more cheese on top of the meatloaf muffins.

They were yummy, and quick, but I would change some things before I made it again. I would probably add some crackers, since they had a tendency to fall apart when I dished them out.

Do you have an awesome meatloaf recipe that you would like to share with me?

Menu Plan Monday - Jan 24 - Jan 30

2011-01-24T06:39:00.002-06:00

This week might be a trying one. I will make a menu, but I might not stick to it. Here goes!

Monday - Chicken Noodle Soup with Mashed Potatoes (rolled over from last week)

Tuesday - eating out, Jerrod and I have to go out of town

Wednesday - Grilled Chicken & Pineapple Quesadillas

Thursday - Spicy Lemon Garlic Shrimp

Friday - Meatloaf

Saturday - Tequila-Lime Chicken

Sunday - sandwiches, leftovers, and snacks (lunch out after Church)

What's on your menu for the week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie

Project 365 - Jan. 11 - Jan. 20

2011-01-23T19:58:00.000-06:00

01/11/2011 - Wilson, random picture (not very good); 01/12/2011 - a pumpkin that my daycare lady still had in her front yard, it made me smile; 1/13/2011 - frozen snowflakes on the back windshield of my car; 1/14/2011 - a random snowman that I passed when I was picking Ethan up from daycare; 1/15/11 - my mom and grandma for my grandma's birthday

I really didn't do very good on taking pictures every day this week. I missed the 16th and 17th, so the first three pictures were actually all taken on the 18th. The first one is my son's newest fascination, making hamburgers for mommy with his new kitchen; the second is me trying to be 'artsy-fartsy' with my camera and mirror; the third is Ethan's 'are we done yet, mommy?' face; the fourth is on 1/19/2011 and it is frozen rain on my drivers side window, with a tree in the vague background; and the last one is actually one from 1/21/2011, since I skipped the 20th as well!! It is a tree with the pretty sky behind it, obviously.

Are you doing a Project 365? How are you doing as far as keeping up?

Friday?!

2011-01-21T10:30:00.000-06:00

Well, today is Friday! As grateful as I am for the weekend, I am shocked that the week went by so fast. I even skipped posting yesterday, just because I've been so busy.

For the past two nights, my schedule has been to ship the kid off to grandma's house, and then go home and work with Jerrod. We have been writing a Business & Marketing Plan for himself, for an interview on Tuesday. This interview could cause great and wonderful things to happen. Scary, but great and wonderful.

In my spare time, I've been researching. Schools, daycare, housing, and anything else that my little brain can think of. I've been talking to people and getting ideas. I've been told over and over not to stress. But, for those that know me, I'm a planner. I'm a worrier. I like to know what's going to happen, when, how, and why. It pains me to be apart of the unknown.

I can't ship the kid off today (and I don't really want to, as I haven't seen much of him the past two nights), so we might not get as much work done tonight as we can. However, we have a good start. We will get done.

Then, we will go to the interview (well, he will, I'm just tagging along), and we will be ourselves. What will be, will be. If he gets this job, that's great and awesome, and great and wonderful things will happen. It might be a long, stress-filled journey, but it's our journey, and that is all that matters.

(Sorry, I still can't give details about what's going on. I want to, I really do, but I can't. As soon as I can, I will post all of the details, without dancing around the topic.)

Wednesday

2011-01-19T10:33:00.000-06:00

It's the middle of the week.
It is the first day that my child has gone to school this week.
It is a week before a decision that I can't really talk about right now (sorry - I will as soon as I can).
It is a blah day, weather wise. We are fore-casted for rainy slushy stuff and then snow.

I guess the weather is matching my mood today, or is it that my mood is matching the weather?

Oh well.

I hope everyone else is having a much better Wednesday.

Gone Today

2011-01-18T13:13:00.001-06:00

I took off work today to hang out with my little man, so that's what I'm doing! I'll be back tomorrow!

Menu Plan Monday - Week of Jan 17 to Jan 23

2011-01-17T06:37:00.000-06:00

This week is a lot of repeats of last week. We ate at home (or used gift cards if we went out), but we didn't stick to the menu very well after Wednesday. We ended up having to run and do things after work, and either I didn't have time to do the crockpot, or I was too tired, or whatnot.

We will have to do a grocery run tomorrow night (or Tuesday, since I'm taking the day off). We don't need a major stock up, but we do need meat, so it won't be cheap.

Here's my menu for the week. What does your menu look like?

Monday: Chicken Tortilla Soup (except my chicken went bad, and I only had drumsticks in my freezer, so I'm using some smoked turkey that we had in the freezer instead)
Tuesday: Baked Cheeseburgers (we did have these last week, so I might sub in something else, but these are just so yummy.)
Wednesday: Chicken Baked Potatoes (no recipe needed, bake some chicken breast, shred, and put on baked potatoes with other potato toppings, healthy and yummy)
Thursday: Baked Ziti (I have modified a couple of recipes, I make my own pasta sauce by doctoring up tomato sauce. I'll see if I can remember what I do and post it)
Friday: Chicken Noodle Soup (I make my own by taking a whole chicken and cooking in the crockpot the day before with spices and either chicken broth or water. Then, I shred the chicken and cool. The next day I'll put the chicken with more spices and broth in the crockpot and heat all day, and then throw in the egg noodles when I get home from work. Cook for a little longer, and while it's going I'll make my mashed potatoes.)
Saturday: Baked Pork Chops with Crockpot Macaroni 'n' Cheese
Sunday: leftovers, snacks, and sandwiches, probably lunch out with friends after church

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie

Busy, busy

2011-01-16T18:31:00.001-06:00

We've had a busy day. First, we went to church with some friends of ours. Then, we went to Olive Garden for lunch. After that, we went and looked at a camper, before going over to our friends house for a little bit. Then to my parents house, and then back to look at a different camper. Finally, we are headed back to my parents house to make dinner, and then will be going home to finish laundry and get ready for work tomorrow.

What's with all the campers, you ask? Well, last night we went to a local RV show, and now are trying to find a used RV on Craigslist. Well, we've really been interested in getting one for a while, as we want to be able to do more camping this year than we have in the past. We are finally at a time in our lives that we can afford to pay cash for a used one, so that is what we are looking at.

Well, we are about to start cooking, so I better go. I just wanted to tell you all about my oh, so, interesting day!

Denied

2011-01-15T09:25:00.001-06:00

Well, the house is not meant to be. Apparently, someone else bid double what we did, making their bid over $10,000. Oh well, we will just keep looking, and see what else pops up.

In other news, my mom and I are going to a Mary Kay party today. Please wish me luck and sanity. :-)

Photo Story Friday / Give Me Your Best Shot

2011-01-14T06:34:00.001-06:00

This is one of my new favorite photos. I took this photo this past weekend when Jerrod and I took Ethan to his first Chiefs football game. At this point, it was before the game, and Ethan was watching the players practice and warm-up. You can see all of the layers that he has on, because it was cold! Even though the Chiefs lost, it was a fun time to be had, and I know that Ethan enjoyed being there and watching the game.

This photo is linked to Photo Story Friday and Give Me Your Best Shot with Lolli

Mixed Emotions

2011-01-13T07:44:00.001-06:00

I have a important announcement to tell everyone, but I can't do it now. Sorry, I didn't have time to write about it last night, and I only have a little bit of time before work. I will try to get in here and write on my lunch break.

(And no, I'm not pregnant!)

Be back in a few hours to update...

Okay, so I wasn't able to do this on my lunch break and I'm sorry for that.

Anyways, yesterday, as I picked Ethan up from daycare, Jerrod called me. Our conversation went a little like this...

J: I have something that I need to tell you.
R: Okay, what's going on?
J: Do you want to talk about it now or when we get home?
R: That depends, is it good or bad news?
J: A little of both.
R: Okay, what is going on?
J: I've decided to buy a house with G (his agent trainer)

It continued to go on a little further, with me asking more questions and getting some answers. We went last night and looked at this house. It is a small, two story, two bedroom house. However, it has a ton of potential. We put in an offer last night, and are waiting to hear back to see what's going to happen. We were hoping to get some news today, but I haven't heard anything yet. I don't know if the agent that we dealt with has.

I'm excited, but I'm also extremely nervous. I'm sure that we can make it work, and hopefully make a little bit of money in the process. I'm not sure if we are going to sell it, or if we are just going to rent it out.

I will keep you guys updated. Hopefully, we'll get this house and be able to have some fun remodeling it!!

(And, I'm still not pregnant!)

Wii Night & Other News

2011-01-12T07:57:00.001-06:00

Last night, Jerrod and I had a friend in town from Dallas. He came over, and since it was cold and snow was still on the ground, we decided to have a Wii night. I didn't really want to get up and exert myself, plus we had just finished eating, so we played Super Mario Brothers. Wow. It was so much fun. I loved Super Mario when I was a kid on the original Nintendo, but it can be hilarious playing it with multiple people on the Wii.

In other news, Ethan's school has yet another snow day today. The roads aren't even that bad!! However, it is cold, with a windchill of negative cold, and they don't want to have the ~~precious babies~~ kids waiting for the buses in that weather. Oh well.

What was your Tuesday night like??

Project 365 - Jan. 1 - Jan. 10

2011-01-11T06:33:00.001-06:00

Well, I've gone 10 days with taking a picture every day. I have been trying to keep my camera in my purse so that I have it for those random opportunities. There was one day that I left it at home, and there was the most gorgeous sunrise that I have ever seen. Luckily, I was able to capture some photos with my camera phone.

Here is the collages for weeks one and two. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep this up over the rest of the year!

Week One - January 1 to January 5:

Jan 1 - an ornament that we gave to my mom, I took a picture of it since Ethan broke ours this past Christmas, so I'm going to frame the picture as our 2007 ornament (since we do yearly ornaments); Jan 2 - my mom's dog, Scamp; Jan 3 - a pretty sunset on my way to get Ethan from daycare; Jan 4 - my dog, Wilson; Jan 5 - Ethan playing with his Buzz Lightyear that he got for Christmas on top of a ladder that he took from our garage, huh what?!

Week Two - January 6 to January 10:

Jan 6 - my dog, Wilson, again (he's finally getting to the point where he'll slow down enough for me to get a decent picture); Jan 7 - the gorgeous sunrise that I thought I wouldn't get since I forgot my big camera at home (thank God for camera phones); Jan 8 - an Antarctica license plate that hubby and I saw when we were on our way to dinner in Kansas City (photo taken from a moving vehicle, hence the little blur); Jan 9 - Ethan checking out the football field at the KC Chiefs playoff game; Jan 10 - some ducks that I saw on a lake that was halfway frozen, after our snow storm that happened Sunday night.

My Sweet Shot Tuesday entry is the photo from 1/09. This was Ethan's first professional football game, and I just love the look on his face. When I get home, I'll edit this post and add the full image, not just the one in the storyboard.

I'm going to try to get on a regular schedule for posting these, but with being out of town last weekend, it didn't really work for me.

Are you doing a Project 365 or Project 52? Have you been keeping up with it so far?

This post is linked to Sweet Shot Tuesday at My 3 Boybarians

Menu Plan Monday - Week of Jan 10 - Jan 16

2011-01-10T07:51:00.000-06:00

Well, we made a last minute trip to go out of town for the KC ~~Chiefs~~ ~~Chefs~~ Chumps playoff game, so I had to revamp last weeks plan. So a couple of things will be rolling over.

Monday -- Baked Cheeseburgers (Jerrod's recipe)
Tuesday -- free night, hanging out with a friend from out of town, don't know what we'll do
Wednesday -- Chicken Tortilla Soup rollover from last week
Thursday -- Pulled Pork Quesadillas
Friday -- Chicken Noodle Soup w/ homemade mashed potatoes
Saturday -- A pasta dish, maybe Baked Ziti, depends on what ingredients I have at home
Sunday -- snacks, sandwiches, leftovers

Sorry, my internet at home is being funky on my computer - Jerrod says that I either have a trojan virus on it or my wireless switch is broken. We are doing a scan, but my computer died in the middle of the night, so I restarted it this morning. Therefore, I am typing this at work, and don't really have time to search for links. I'll try to add some throughout this week. Also, I'll try to get Jerrod's recipe for the Cheeseburgers and post it.

What are you eating this week?

This menu is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

One Thing To Say

2011-01-09T10:12:00.001-06:00

GO CHIEFS!!!!!

Playoff weekend

2011-01-08T16:54:00.001-06:00

Well, we'be been busy. The Chiefs made it to the playoffs for the first time in about 6 (I think) years. Jerrod decided that he wanted to go to the game, so we bought tickets. Today, I spent the morning buying coldwear, since it is supposed to snow in KC. We drove up, and now I'm sitting in the hotel.

I have been keeping up with my photo challenge, but I'm planning on posting the photos a week at a time. Hopefully that will be tomorrow.

Give Me Your Best Shot / Photo Story Friday

2011-01-07T06:12:00.005-06:00

This really isn't a very good photo. Jerrod's forehead is cut off, my chin is cut off, and our unfinished kitchen is in the background.

However, to me, this photo tells a story. I look at this photo and I see the green frosting on my husband's cheek. I remember that my four year old took this picture for Jerrod and me. I remember that we had made sugar cookies and were frosting them and dumping sprinkles on them.

That's what a photo is about. Photos can be "technically" perfect, and still not convey any meaning. Ultimately, it's the photos that have meaning that really are perfect.

This post is linked to Lolli at Better in Bulk for Give Me Your Best Shot and Photo Story Friday!

You Capture -- 2010 in Review

2011-01-06T06:24:00.000-06:00

The prompt for You Capture this week was to look back and find 10 favorite photos from 2010. It is sad to say that I forgot that I took some of these pictures!! It was nice to look back and spend some time reminiscing about my little boy being ... well, little!

This picture was one that I had forgotten about. I know, the horror!! After editing it, it kind of looks like he's sitting against a backdrop, but it's not. We were at the zoo and the lion was right up next to the wall. I asked Ethan to sit there and look at me, and this is what I got! I love how the lion is watching him ...

Obviously, I did not take this picture. However, I love the feelings that it evokes by looking at it. (Any idea how I can get rid of the sun spots when editing?!)

This is Ethan dancing with him new cousin at her mom's wedding. Not very good technically, but it still makes me smile.

Again, I didn't take this one, but it's a special picture to me.

This is Ethan at Jerrod's graduation. He wanted to wear his hat!

This photo is just an extra. Seeing the lion one again reminded me of this one that I got when Ethan was really little. This picture was from 2007, when Ethan was just a little over a year old. I love how the reflection looked like the gorilla was giving him a hug or protecting him. (The only editing on this is a crop, PW Boost, and the frame)

I hope you enjoyed my Best of 2010 Photos. Check out I Should Be Folding Laundry for more You Capture Photos!

One Word

2011-01-06T06:22:00.002-06:00

2010; a year of what? What word would I use to describe that year? I think the best word to describe 2010 is perseverance. 2010 was a year of persevering; by me, Jerrod, and even Ethan. I got a new job, Jerrod graduated (and now has student loan payments out the wazoo), Jerrod quit his job, hoping that he would have another and that it wouldn't fall through, I finished school (and now have student loan payments out the wazoo), we've dealt with deaths and family illnesses. Through all of that, we've stuck together. We've leaned on each other, and helped each other through the trials of what life has in store.

2011; what word would I want to use for this year? This year, I believe that the word that I want to try to achieve is together. I want to be the mom that has it together. I want to be the family that spends time together, no matter what we are doing. No matter what, I want our motto for the year to be together.

Together; that's my word. What's yours?

This post is linked to Writer's Workshop at Mama's Losin' It

WFMW -- Shower Doors

2011-01-05T07:51:00.000-06:00

Or rather, Doesn't Work for Me Wednesdays.

Dirty Shower Doors Do Not Work For Me. Not at all.

I've never had to deal with shower doors before. We only have one bathroom, and we have a tub. Lately, the tub has been leaking due to a crappy shower curtain. We've been wanting to get a door there for like .... forever! So, we finally did. But now, I don't know how to keep it clean. I would rather worry about it now, when it's new, than trying to figure out how to clean it after a couple months!

So, what are your suggestions for getting and keeping a new shower door clean?

Photo Credit

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesdays at We Are THAT Family

Ethan-ism's

2011-01-04T21:35:00.000-06:00

Ethan came up to me before Christmas and says "mommy, your tummy looks full!"
His newest phrase when he's doing good on the Wii or other game: "Now how do you like me now?!"

Okay, so I can't think of much more than that. My memory is getting worse and worse. What -ism's do your kids do or say??

WILTW - Game Edition

2011-01-04T06:33:00.000-06:00

Some things that I learned this week, in no particular order:

My 4 year old son is very good about beating me in Wii Bowling, Wii Golf, and Wii Sword-fighting, as well as the game Trouble.
You can get a decent workout by boxing or playing baseball on Wii Sports.
One can easily get addicted and stay up ~~way too~~ late playing Mario Kart, multiple nights in a row.
It is possible for your arms and back to ~~ache~~ hurt after doing an hour of training with hitting home runs on Wii Baseball.
Trouble is a good way to teach a 4 year old math skills, especially when you don't want them to realize that they are learning.

What did you learn this week?!

This post is linked to What I Learned This Week at From Inmates to Playdates

Menu Plan Monday -- Jan 3 - Jan 9

2011-01-03T06:15:00.011-06:00

Since a couple of my New Years Resolutions were to lose weight by eating healthier and to start Menu Planning again, here is my menu plan for this week. I've tried to keep all of these recipes under 400 calories per serving, and I will be making lunches for hubby and I to take to work. As far as breakfast, I will probably buy some English muffins and bagels to keep around the house, as well as some cereal.

If anyone has any suggestions for yummy, healthy, kid-friendly recipes, I'd love to hear them!!

Monday: Penne with Shrimp
Tuesday: English Muffin Sandwiches (probably with turkey slices instead of avocado), served with fresh fruit
Wednesday: Honey Garlic Chicken, served with rice
Thursday: Broccoli Beef & Linguine, served with salad
Friday: Chicken Tortilla Soup
Saturday: Honey Lime Tilapia
Sunday: White Bean Chicken Chili

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday over at I'm an Organizing Junkie

January 2nd

2011-01-02T20:41:00.001-06:00

So, it is the day after the first day of the New Year. We are getting ready to get back into routines, to make and break New Year's Resolutions, and hopefully keep a few going for at least a couple of months.

I am happy to say that Jerrod and I did go work out today. I walked / jogged / ran a mile on the track at the Y. For those of you who don't know me, you might not think that this is an accomplishment. However, I despise running. I have never been able to run long periods of time. I think that people should only have to run if they are being chased. However, the hubby enjoys running. So, I like to work out with him, and I do challenge myself to keep up. I have a bunch of music on my phone, but I need to go through it to find encouraging songs for running. Anyone have any suggestions on that front?

I am not happy to say that I had pie and cake today. Clearly, I need to work on my self control in order to lose weight.

Jerrod and I have talked about our little ~~wager~~ plan to lose weight and make it a challenge for us. We have decided that we are going to start for three months, and have set a goal to lose six pounds each month. If we succeed in that, we will have lost 18 pounds each! Our motive will be a mini vacation, probably around four days, to spend some time with each other and ourselves. At that time, we will re-evaluate what we still need to do and where we need to be. Hopefully we can use that to encourage and motivate ourselves and each other!

I still need to take the time to establish a workout schedule for myself. I do know that there are some classes that I enjoy and would like to do, either by myself or with Jerrod. Hopefully, I will have time to get that accomplished this week. I'll keep you posted.

Well, I am going to do some training on the Wii, and then get ready for work tomorrow and then bed. I hope everyone has a great day getting back into the normal!

Lots of Love!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T10:26:00.002-06:00

Since I don't do well with resolutions, here are my 2011 goals. There are a bunch, but that is so I can give myself definitive steps to achieve them. Jerrod and I are going to make a plan for working out and losing weight in the new year, and have a little challenge to go along with it. I will post more details as we get that all hammered out.

Personal:

Focus on my family more

Ignore the computer until Ethan is in bed
Play games with Ethan (board, card, and Wii)
Imaginative play with him -- his kitchen and Lincoln Logs

Focus on staying calm and less stressed

Try to find humor in the "stressful"
Keep in mind that in a couple of days, it's not going to matter

Blogging:

Complete the Project 365 (this applies to both blogging and photography)
Get a regular blogging schedule going (post at least Monday through Friday)

Join more blogging meme's, such as Menu Plan Monday, What I Learned This Week, Works For Me Wednesday, You Capture, or Photo Story Friday.

Comment, comment, and comment. I'm so bad about commenting on other peoples blogs, but I'm selfish enough to want them for myself! I need to hop out of Google Reader and comment!!

Photography:

Complete the Project 365 (this applies to both photography and blogging)

Learn how to use my camera better
Learn how to edit better, without using actions all the time

Work:

Manage time better - no procrastinating!

Make lists each evening before leaving work for the next morning
Be more efficient in completing tasks

Health / Diet:

Get a regular schedule for working out made

Get people to work out with (classes or otherwise)

Eat out less than three times a week (including breakfasts and lunches)

Start menu planning again -- healthy meals
Make lunch for work the night before so I don't have the I didn't have enough time excuse
Get healthy snacks to leave at work

Lose weight (I'll post more details about this as it's worked out)

I will be posting periodic updates so that I can hold myself accountable for these goals. I hope others will follow along with me in this journey!

2010 -- Blogger Review

2010-12-31T09:51:00.000-06:00

January: I'm not doing resolutions this year, I'm setting goals.
February: .So, Org Jukie (the same person who does Menu Mondays) is hosting a 28 Day Organizing Challenge.
March: ...I know I haven't been posting lately.
April: It was a wonderful Easter.
May:
June: Well, sorry that it has been so long.
July: When Jerrod and I went to the movies on Friday night, they played this song / poem that Johnny Cash wrote and said.
August: Right now, I'm baking banana bread.
September: So, mornings are difficult for me to capture.
October: Happy 6th anniversary honey.
November: While You Capture this week was Halloween and Silence, well, lets just say that the silence part didn't necessarily happen....
December: These pictures are my interpretation of "Outside."

I did this list last year as well. This year it is still linked to Musings of a Housewife.

Holiday Favorites - You Capture

2010-12-30T09:57:00.000-06:00

Some of our Holiday Favorites.

My favorite little man's favorite archery set. And some favorite people, Dede and Uncle Eric!

My favorite little man's favorite Buzz, Mater, and McQueen toys! And some favorite people, Memaw and Papa!

My favorite gift from my favorite little man.

My favorite little man's favorite football guys.

My favorite puppy chewing on his favorite bone on my favorite tree skirt.

And last, but certainly not least, my favorite little man's favorite present. (Ignore how skinny he is, he eats all the darn time!!)

Linked to You Capture over at I Should be Folding Laundry. Go check her out and join in!!

The Aftermath

2010-12-27T11:42:00.000-06:00

Christmas was a blast! It was so much fun to just relax and just be, whether we were by ourselves or with our family. I made a point to try to not take too many pictures, as I wanted to just enjoy the moment. I did take a few, but I haven't uploaded them to my computer yet, so you'll just have to wait.

I'll do a bigger recap post later, as I'm still recovering (and am at work), but first a funny story.

On Sunday, we went to do Christmas with my husband's parents. They spoil Ethan beyond belief. Ethan is very big into Cars and loves Mater and McQueen. So, my father-in-law gave me a present actually addressed to Ethan. When I opened it, it was a Frightening McMean. Jerrod ended up opening Tormentor Mater. My mother-in-law opened a Mater remote control car and my father-in-law opened a Buzz Lightyear. It was so much fun to be able to open toys (and funny to hear Ethan get upset because adults aren't 'posed to get toys!)

Okay, well, I'll be back later to post pictures and talk a little more, something I never have a problem with!

Lots of Love!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T13:43:00.001-06:00

I just want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Please, be safe no matter what you are doing. I'll be back after the holidays are over!

Lots of Love!

You Capture -- Holiday Magic (Light)

2010-12-22T21:09:00.002-06:00

One of my favorite things to do during the holidays is to drive around and look at Christmas lights. We tend to do that several times leading up to Christmas, but we often find ourselves spinning our wheels trying to figure out who has the best lights. Well, this year we found a website that lists the best lights in town, and you can search by different things as well. We searched in our area and by "The Griswolds." Now, that's what I'm talking about!
We went one night after work, but I didn't have my camera. I did take a couple of pictures with my phone though. Ethan fell asleep before we got to this specific house, so we had to come back by the next day, and I made sure to bring my camera!

The first two pictures are from my phone, the last is from my camera. (No editing, except to put in the story board and a noise reducer)
This is the house without being cropped to fit into the story board.

Again, photo is off of my phone.
This house was completely set to music, but we weren't really able to see it for to long with how busy it was. However, we did find another house about a block down the road, and was able to sit and watch the lights with the music. Here is that video (taken with my camera).

This post is linked to You Capture at I Should Be Folding Laundry

Santa Visit 2010

2010-12-21T22:42:00.005-06:00

On Saturday, Ethan and I went to go visit Santa. He was able to sit on his lap and tell him all sorts of things. Like I said a couple days ago, Ethan is very into Santa right now, and I will do anything to encourage his imagination right now. To me, there is enough to deal with, and I feel like I should let Ethan be a child as long as he can.

Did you visit with Santa this year?

**storyboard template provided by The CoffeeShop blog actions**

A Lotso Lego Christmas

2010-12-20T20:34:00.007-06:00

This past Sunday we had a Christmas get together with my mom's side of the family. There were about 22 people there, including grandparents, aunts, uncles, and lots of cousins. Every year we do presents for the kids and a White Elephant exchange for the adults. The set-up of this White Elephant is pretty cool; instead of picking numbers, each adult participating gets to pick three cards out of one deck. Then, my uncle takes the other deck, shuffles, and pulls cards one by one off the top. Whoever has the card that he calls gets to go pick a gift. With your first card that is called, you can pick a new, unwrapped gift, or steal a gift from someone else. With the second or third cards, depending on how long it takes you to get chosen, you can trade your gift for a new, unwrapped one in the pile, or exchange your gift for someone else's gift. If you exchange, the other person is stuck with that gift, until they can trade (if they still have a card left) or someone else steals it.

I found this super funny Superman snuggie like blanket at Kohl's shortly after Thanksgiving. It was hysterically funny to see my grandfather pick the gift that I so lovingly chose. It was even funnier to watch my uncle and cousin's husband laugh so hard that they cried. My uncle's face was turning beet red and I thought that he was going to make himself sick, he was laughing so hard. Love it.

There were a couple of other gifts that were very amusing. My parents brought their old mailbox. You see, about a week ago, someone completely demolished my parent's mailbox by running into it. My mom found it on the other side of their driveway. So, they took the old mailbox and put it in the box for the new mailbox and wrapped it up. It even still had the address number stickers and the name on the side of the box. What was even funnier is that my brother ended up with it, so he doesn't even have to change the name!!

Another one was a Santa suit. My cousin wanted to keep it so bad, for her husband to wear. Towards the end of the deck, he still had two cards left, and he did not want that suit. One his second card, he exchanged his gift with his wife's gift. Then, on his last card, he exchanged the Santa suit, giving it to my grandma!!

The last favorite was a ~~bottle~~ jug of conditioner. It was there last year, and had been recycled by my cousin for this year!

Well, Ethan's favorite gift was a set of Lego's. He has wanted some for a couple of weeks, ever since he played with some at a friends house. My cousin got him this Toy Story 3 lego set, and he wanted to break it out as soon as we got home. I ended up putting it together while he played with the characters that it came with. However, afterward he was so excited to play with that dump truck. He played with it until bedtime, when I asked him to set it on the kitchen table. After he went to bed, I put it in a ziplock baggie with the instructions and extra pieces and put up where he couldn't reach it. This morning, I was getting ready for work when he woke up, and he ran to the kitchen table. After he didn't see the truck, he turned to me with the saddest look on his face. He says "I wanted to play with my dump truck this morning..." Needless to say, when daddy woke up, he got to play with his truck again.

Thanks again for the lego's. As you can see, Ethan absolutely loves them!!

Photo Story Friday

2010-12-16T20:43:00.003-06:00

This is the first year that Ethan has been really interested in Santa. He wanted to write him a letter, he wants to go see him and his on his lap, and tell him what he really wants. So, imagine how excited Ethan was when he got a letter in the mail, postmarked from the North Pole!!

As you can see, Ethan was ecstatic to see that Santa wrote him a letter back. He loves his letter, and asks us to read it over and over again. Right now, it is in a very prominent place on the front of our refrigerator.

(Side note: I can't wait to see his face when he gets to call Santa four times on Christmas Eve day! He's going to love that!!)

If you are interested in doing this, I purchased the letter from Letters By Santa. It includes the letter, with about four (I think) templates to choose from, mailed from the North Pole, and four phone calls to Santa on Christmas Eve. Also, if you close the window before you purchase, they will give you a coupon code for $2 off.

**Disclaimer: I am in no way being compensated for writing this post. I found this site this year, and Ethan was so excited, I just had to share.***

Linked to Photo Story Friday at My Chaos, My Bliss

Hosted by Cecily and ???

Nine days 'til Christmas

2010-12-16T19:47:00.002-06:00

So, I'm sitting here on my couch, nine days before Christmas. The dogs (one mine, and one my father-in-law's) are running around chasing each other. I have a plate of cookies, a glass of wine, and am just enjoying the quiet and peacefulness of the season.

It's important to take the time to enjoy that, don't you think? I mean, at nine days before Christmas, I'm normally running ragged. This is the first year that I've not worked in a restaurant for the Holidays, and I absolutely love it. I love being able to have nights off to spend with my little man. I love having the weekends to do things around the house, go shopping, and wrap presents.

My presents are wrapped and stashed under the tree. I do have a couple left to wrap, and I have one in the garage that will be put together Christmas Eve night after the little one is asleep. However, none of that really matters. Maybe it is because of all the families facing different hardships, but I am just really glad that we are able to spend family time this season. We need it, and I am trying to cherish it.

You Capture -- Outside

2010-12-15T19:52:00.005-06:00

These pictures are my interpretation of "Outside." Since I work from 8-5, and it is winter, it is cold and dreary by the time I get home from work. However, when I pulled into the driveway this evening, our tree was on, and I just loved the glow from the outside looking in. Hence, these pictures...

I tried a couple of different effects, but I think the first one is my favorite. Which is yours?

(This post is linked to You Capture @ I Should be Folding Laundry). Go visit!!

Menu Plan Monday -- Low Calorie!

2010-11-14T18:35:00.003-06:00

So, after six months of denial about how much weight I have gained, I have decided to do something about it. This something is more than just saying that "I will eat healthier," this is saying "I will eat under 1,500 calories per day, and work out at least 4 times a week!" In order to really be able to eat under 1,500 calories a day, I have to have a meal plan. I'm not sure what I'm going to do as far as lunches for work, but I'm going to be getting up early enough to have breakfast at home. Therefore, my menu's will have more than just dinner, unlike the previous ones.

Here we go!

Monday --

1 packet of Apples & Cinnamon oatmeal (130cal), 1 apple (77cal)
Granola Bar (100cal)
Premium Bacon Ranch Salad w/ Grilled Chicken (260cal) w/ Ranch dressing (170cal)
Fruit 'n' Yogurt Parfait (160cal)
Baked chicken (80cal) with Awesome Broccoli Marinara (121cal)
Orange (85cal)
Total = 1,183cal

Tuesday --

English muffin (135cal) w/ peanut butter (190cal) and banana (105cal)
Apple (77cal)
Leftover Baked Chicken (80cal) w/ small baked potato (128cal) w/ butter (60cal)
Granola Bar (100cal)
Tuna Salad w/ Dill sandwiches (200cal) w/ SunChips (140cal)
Grapes (62cal)
Total = 1,277cal

Wednesday --

1 packet of Original oatmeal (130cal) w/ banana (105cal)
1/2 English muffin (63cal) w/ peanut butter (95cal)
leftover Tuna Salad w/ Dill sanwiches (200cal) w/ Crunchy Cheetos (160cal)
Apple (77cal)
Actually Delicious Turkey Burgers (333cal) w/ Green Beans & Cherry Tomatoes (122cal)
Orange (85cal)
Total = 1,370cal

Thursday --

1 English muffin (135cal) w/ butter (60cal) and cinnamon /sugar mixture (44cal)
Granola Bar (100cal)
leftover Actually Delicious Turkey Burger (333cal) w/ SunChips (140cal)
Kashi Pumpkin Spice Flax granola bar (170cal)
Baked Chicken (80cal) w/ Maple Dill Carrots (117cal)
Banana (105cal)
Total = 1,284cal

Friday -- We have a surprise birthday party at a Wine bar at 6pm. I will try to eat a little something beforehand, and stick with an appetizer for dinner. They do not have their nutrition facts online

1 packet Apples & Cinnamon oatmeal (130cal) w/ 1/2 English muffin (63cal) w/ peanut butter (95cal)
Grapes (62cal)
leftover Baked Chicken (80cal) w/ raw carrots (52cal)
Kashi Pumpkin Spice Flax granola bar (170cal)
Honey Mustard Snack wrap (grilled) (260cal) w/ small fries (230cal)
Total = 1,142cal

Well, as boring as it probably is, it needs to be done. Now, I just need to stick with it!!

So, Let's Talk About Christmas ...

2010-11-10T20:53:00.004-06:00

This year, I'm getting my cards from Shutterfly. They have everything from Holiday cards,Christmas invitations, Christmas ornaments, and wall calendars (which I've done for Christmas gifts in the past, and believe me, they go over very well with Grandparents!)

Do you go for the photo card?

One photo? Two? More than that?

Clean and simple or fun and funky?

Folded in half or postcard (flat) style?

I like the photo cards, with one or two photos. I gravitate towards the clean and simple, with some fun and funky elements. I love the postcard style, in a square shape. Well, let me just show you. Here are a couple of the ones that I'm deciding from...

Which one am I choosing? I'm not sure yet, and even if I was, I'm not sure that I'd share. For one, I'm still deciding which picture(s) to use. For two, I haven't shown hubby the options. And for three, I'm not sure that I want my family to "see" it before they see it.

Make Christmas cards one of the first things on that never-ending to-do list. Go to Shutterflyand check out their options. Bonus: Shutterfly will even mail your Christmas cards for you!

Disclosure: I signed up for the Shutterfly Holiday Card promotion and am receiving 50 free cards in exchange for this blog post. You can too! Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Halloween 2010 (You Capture)

2010-11-03T22:14:00.002-05:00

While You Capture this week was Halloween and Silence, well, lets just say that the silence part didn't necessarily happen....

Anyway, here are the my Halloween pictures...

Trick or Treating and random decorations that I liked.

Happy Halloween!!!

*** Editing question: How would I make just the hat in the last picture darker, without completely changing the color? It doesn't seem to fit in with the photo, but I can't figure out how to darken it, without changing the color, which doesn't seem to fit either. ***

You Capture -- Autumn

2010-10-28T06:58:00.000-05:00

So, I finally got around to picking up my camera. I also found an old Photoshop Elements install c.d. that I had, so I put that on this computer. So, I've been playing around with some pictures that I took. Anyways, here are my You Capture pictures!

(Edited with PW Boost Action)

(Edited with Coffee Shop Sun Kissed action, then PW Boost action)

(Edited with Coffee Shop Sun Kissed action)

(Edited with PW Warmer action on "Color Burn", and Texas Chicks No Noise action)

What do you think? Pictures, editing?! Does anyone have any great actions that I should download? What about any other photo challenge blogs? Specifically, one that requires photo editing? I want to get better with that, and honest, helpful thoughts.

Forgive Me?

2010-10-27T11:51:00.002-05:00

I know I have not posted much. I have been trying to avoid being on the computer at home, since I am on it all day at work. Therefore, I haven't had a lot of time to be able to update life. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things.

Recap, in no particular order:

Ethan had his (first) and last football game. I don't think I blogged or posted pictures of either (bad mom!!)
We went to Jerrod's cousin's wedding on Saturday. Congratulations Bryan and Melissa. We wish you the best and all the happiness in the world.
Halloween is this weekend!! As Ethan would say "I just cannot bewieve it!" Ethan is going to be dressing up as Iron Man.
Jerrod and I are looking at taking Ethan to Neewollah (Halloween spelled backwards), a (semi) local festival -- it's about two hours from our home.
I found this cool site. It lets you carve your own pumpkin. I'm going to let Ethan try it tonight at home!
Jerrod and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary. I love you babe!!
Ethan got his first black eye (which I did post about). It is finally starting to heal up.
I am a bad mom, as I have only picked up my camera twice this month!! What happened to me?! I need to get back into taking pictures.

Well, now that I've killed about 15 minutes of work, I am going to take off for lunch. I get the task of taking Ethan's backpack (the one he left in my car) to daycare before he heads to preschool! I will try and post some pictures later tonight or tomorrow!

Black eye

2010-10-17T22:27:00.006-05:00

(Forgive me, the picture is not very good. Ethan was brushing his teeth and didn't want to hold still)

Ethan got his first black eye today. We were playing football, and he ran into the garage and either slipped or fell or something. We heard a thud and then screaming. Ran in there to find out that his eye was already turning blue from a bruise and scrapes. Poor baby was hurt so bad, and was still saying it hurt 3 hours later. I'm sure that tomorrow will bring more bruises. Hopefully the teachers don't think that we are abusing him or anything. I mean, parent teacher conferences are Tuesday....

Edited to add -- the picture that I took this morning (Monday)

Sorry if the pictures look all funky. They are from my phone and I was posting from there. I've tried fixing on the computer, but now, it's just irritating me!!

Love

2010-10-09T08:55:00.001-05:00

Happy 6th anniversary honey. I loved you then and I love you even more now. I can't wait for the next 6 or 60 years to come. :-)

Muah!!!

College Football

2010-09-25T14:04:00.001-05:00

I love me some college football. Love it. I love to spend Saturday lazing around flipping back and forth between the games. But, most of all, I love me some Notre Dame.

No dogging on me now. I know they haven't been good the last couple of seasons. I love what they stand for. I love their players. And I love their heart, both of the players and the fans.

In about 30 minutes, I will switch the channel, and start watching my Irish. I will root and cheer for them, and be devastated when they lose by an overtime fake field goal (Michigan State - who's coach later had a heart attack - serves you right!). I will be overjoyed when they win, which is what I know will happen this week, just like I know they will every week.

Go Irish!! I know that you can do it!!

Rachel

Snucks

2010-09-24T22:14:00.001-05:00

Ethan has learned about snucks (skunks) and how they are stinky. As we were driving home tonight, he smelled a snuck from the car. He started saying that there we a snuck in the car, and Jerrod decided to tease him a little. Jerrod asked how he knew it wasn't him that was stinky. Ethan said that he wasn't as stinky as a snuck, that he was only a little stinky, but that snucks were very stinky.

Love my stinky little man!

Muscles and Elephants

2010-09-24T22:09:00.001-05:00

Late last night, right before bed, Ethan was talking about his muscles. Out of nowhere, he started saying that even though he has big muscles, he can't lift an elephant. However, he said, he can lift a baby elephant because he is 4 and a baby elephant is only 1.

The imagination of little kids. I love it.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-09-13T15:36:00.002-05:00

Here I go again!

Monday -- (football practice) Sandwiches
Tuesday -- (E with mom, me finishing homework) free for all
Wednesday -- some sort of chicken pasta or spaghetti and meatballs
Thursday -- (my LAST night of class for my bachelor's degree!!) free for all
Friday -- (Jerrod coming home from Wisc.) homemade (sorta) pizza
Saturday -- I don't remember what I put on my list -- chicken maybe?!
Sunday -- (football!!!) Chili in the crockpot for lunch and dinner

Linked to I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday!

*sorry there aren't any links -- typing this from work! Shhh!!*

You Capture -- Mornings

2010-09-02T06:25:00.001-05:00

So, mornings are difficult for me to capture. With having to rush to get little man to daycare and myself to work, especially with Jerrod working out of town right now, I don't have time to snap many pictures. The one that I did get was actually snapped from my (new) phone as I was driving to work. I love pictures like these ... well, I'll just show you.

I love the sunbeams that shine out from behind the clouds. In this case, I don't even mind the telephone poles running across the horizon.

Good morning to me, and good morning to you. For more morning shots, visit Beth at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

Virginia Vacation, part 2

2010-08-28T14:29:00.004-05:00

You can catch up with part 1 here.

On Saturday, my cousin got married. It was a small, outdoor ceremony, which was beautiful and meaningful. She made and decorated her own wedding cake, made the invitations and favors, and decorated the backyard, along with many other things. It was finally time for her to relax.

Then, later that night, we went to the beach!!! It was so nice to get there, step out of the car, and smell the wonderful air. I love the beach, and wish that we lived much closer!

I tried to do these collages, so that I didn't overload anyone with pictures. I'm not sure if I like them or not. Opinions?

You Capture -- Outside

2010-08-26T05:21:00.002-05:00

So, I'm trying something new. You Capture is held by Beth at I Should be Folding Laundry, as a way to get people to pick up their cameras and snap pictures, of anything and everything! This week's assignment is "Outside," and these are my pictures.

So, I didn't realize that this was the category before I took this picture, but it fits and I love it!

Some of these pictures are older, as I decided at the last minute to do this. But, I look forward to jumping in, and learning to use my camera a little bit better!!

Question for the regular participants: I don't edit my photographs. I know that they can look better if I do, but 1) I don't have any software, and 2) I just plain don't know what to do when I go to edit. I have an account set up with Picnik, so, does anyone have any suggestions of what I should do, change, look for when I try to edit them? Also, is it possible to make a watermark with Picnik? How do I do that? Here is a photo that I tried editing; what do you think?!

Wordful Wednesday

2010-08-24T22:10:00.004-05:00

This picture brings tears to my eyes. I love how the lack of symmetry seems so symmetrical. I love how I was able to play around with Picnik to create the vintage-y look. I look at this picture and remember watching my son see the ocean for the first time. Remember him putting his feet in the water, and running in the waves. It has only been about a month, but looking at this picture makes me think it was yesterday. Family; that is special.

Linked to: Seven Clown Circus and A Beautiful Mess. Feel free to visit them for more Wordful Wednesday posts.

What I Learned This Week

2010-08-24T11:25:00.000-05:00

I learned that I can watch my son walk into a school, hang up his backpack, and walk into his classroom without looking back without crying (from him or myself).

I learned that my baby boy is much more grownup than I want to think that he is.

I learned that even though I didn't cry watching my son go to school, I can tear up writing about him go to school.

What did you learn? Linked to From Inmates to Playdates

First Day

2010-08-23T19:02:00.001-05:00

Ethan loved the first day of school. He did really well, hung his backpack up and went right in, sat down on the shape, and started looking at books with the other kids. Tomorrow starts the "real" first day, with all of the kids. There were about 10 kids there today, since the pre-k's in our area do a "staggered start." I got to pick what day I wanted him to start on, from last Wednesday to today, with everyone starting on Tuesday. It is a way for the kids to get used to going, without a room full of other kids thrown in as well. Here are the pictures of my baby going to school!!!

I still cannot believe that my baby is old enough for preschool, but I'm glad that he is happy. He likes the other kids and his teacher, and I know that everything will be fine.