Let the Sunshine In

Oops

2009-01-29T11:07:00.002-06:00

Well project 365 is on hiatus. I knew I wouldn't make it with a photo every single day. Why oh why did I even try? lol Oh well, I'll just keep taking pics as they come and enjoy them.

I came across some older pics last night and am in awe. #1 I have taken lots of pictures. :) #2 I can not believe how quickly time has gone. My babies are so big now. My scanner is not working or I'd scan some of my favorites in and share with you. So you must take my word for it. Maya really was a beautiful ballerina at 3 years old. She and Evan were both cracking up at her in the little costumes she used to wear. I loved it.

I'm so glad that LOST is back on. Evan has even gotten interested in it this season. He asks so many questions through the show we have to pause multiple times just to help him "get it". As if anyone really can. The producers promised there would be more answers than questions this season. After two episodes I am not seeing that. I wish I wasn't so addicted to this show, but after you've invested all this time watching over the years, I must make it to the end.

My friend Lori is doing The Zone diet and is having such great success. Anyone else ever given The Zone a try? I'd love to hear from you about your experience with it.

Twilight - The movie

2009-01-18T22:42:00.003-06:00

FINALLY saw Twilight tonight. This movie has been in theater's since my birthday weekend (Nov. 24), but time has just not permitted me and Todd a chance to escape to the movies. It was so worth the wait! Robert Pattinson is purely delicious as Edward. I can not wait to watch it again! Off to buy the soundtrack so I can listen to it over and over and over again and imagine movie scenes in my head. Yes, there were a few scenes that I wish were a little closer to the book's storyline, but overall, my review would be FANTASTIC! 4.9 out of 5 stars!

For your viewing pleasure (yummmmm!):

Here are those pics from the earlier post.

2009-01-07T17:53:00.005-06:00

argh! I can not get blogger to line up these pics with the correct caption. The pic of Evan playing the DS is from 1/5. The pic of Evan in his adorable hat is 1/6. And the Wii Fit is today, 1/7. Sorry the alignment is off.

01/05/09 - Evan loves the DS he got for Christmas. Great choice, Santa!

01/06/09 - Is this the cutest kid you've ever seen, or what? :)

01/07/09 - Me and the Wii Fit have spent a little bit of time together lately. I think we're forming quite a bond.

A blessed day

2009-01-07T16:09:00.004-06:00

I'm trying to post pics from the last few days, however blogger seems to be in a bad mood. I'll have to try again later.

This week has been fan-tastic! The kids went back to school and it is a light week at the slaughterhouse so I've decided to take most of the week off from going down there. I still have the paperwork and that sort of thing to take care of from home, but it has been SO NICE to be home all day long ALONE while the kids are at school. I miss my true SAHM days. It was so much easier to get things done when I had several hours at home alone. Now I work almost every day until the kids get out of school (later than that a couple of days a week) and then we rush to get homework done and rush to run here and there, etc. It's been a much needed change of pace. I even made a pot of coffee this afternoon and sat down at the computer to just relax. ahhh Supper was put in the crock pot earlier today so I don't even have to make dinner this evening. It is a really good day.

We're having some repair work done our much loved mini-van so we are down to just one vehicle. My friend has been picking Maya up for school in the mornings (happens to be Maya's best friends mom too). Today she picked Maya up and her daughter came to the door and brought me a bottle of wine. Haaa! She does ME a favor yet SHE is the one to bring gifts. What a doll! :) She doesn't drink at all (not that I drink very much; but I do enjoy a glass of wine every now and then). I assume she was given a gift, and she said she didn't want it to go to waste. It won't!

I feel icky

2009-01-04T11:52:00.003-06:00

I stayed home from church today with this sore throat thing. I'm drinking hot tea, gargling with salt water, eating cough drops like candy and taking ibuprofin. I'll have some chicken soup soon. My throat feels sooo swollen and irritated; I can't believe I don't have strep. I hope this thing passes soon because it's really slowing me down.

On a happy note, here's my pic for 4/365. Todd makes a yummy breakfast atleast once every weekend. Today it was french toast and bacon. I am so blessed to have him in my life. I need to remember that more often. :) Love you, honey!

Since Todd is gone with the kids at church, I'm home alone for a few hours. Not doing much but wasting time on the computer and watching the Illini game. It's halftime and we are up by one. Go Illini! Kick Michigan's butt!

I am so excited because I just figured out that I can take the memory card from my camera and slip it into my printer to transfer pics to the desktop. I've been hooking up cables and turning my camera on and off every time I want to transfer for years. Duh, all I had to do was use the little card. haha Add to the fact that the sound of the camera going on and off scares the crud out of our poor little dog, and sends her running to hide every single time. But no more!

Our dog has glaucoma and on Christmas Eve night something in her eye ruptured or burst and it started bleeding. The bleeding finally stopped and the vet has given us antibiotic eye drops to help her but it looks awful. Her eyes have been "buggy" for more than a year now so we are used to her eyes looking strange. But now her left eyeball is dark red (from being filled with blood) and kind of "shrunken" now. She looks so bad. :( But since we've started the drops it doesn't seem to be causing her any pain, except for when I wipe any excess goo, which I have to do 2 or 3 times a day. She is her normal self and wants to snuggle and be with us all the time, so we're just going to let it go for now. I know the time is coming that things will get worse and she will probably have a lot of pain. I just don't want to think about that decision yet so I'm not even going to go there.

Half time's almost over so I've got to get back to my game. If someone out there is reading this, enjoy the rest of your weekend! :)

Jan. 3rd

2009-01-03T18:43:00.005-06:00

01/03/09 - My friend Carrie MADE this beautiful basket and gave it to me as a Christmas gift. At first she didn't tell me that she made it, and honestly, I just assumed that she'd bought it. But her daughter ratted her out! I called her immediately and told her I was uber impressed at her mad basket making skills. :)

Today has been one of "those days". I've been fighting cough/cold since the first part of December, and started with a nasty sore throat on Tuesday. I've got these nasty blisters coating my throat so I was sure I had ended up with strep throat. I went to urgent care this morning and after a rapid-strep test, found out I just have a nasty viral thing. I'm glad that I don't have strep, of course, but wish I had been given an antibiotic that would kick this thing in the butt. I'm tired of feeling down.

I've spent most of the afternoon on the couch and dozing on and off. Maya went to her "friend" Trevor's to watch The Longest Yard with him and his parents. Evan is over visiting at Grandma and Grandpa Green's. That leaves just me and Todd home for awhile. It's a shame I feel so lousy; poor Todd. :) Our evening has been spent watching an episode of Iron Chef.

I've got some paperwork to finish up for the slaughterhouse end of the year business. And I want to try to get an orginzational system set up for our receipts and such. That's about all our evening will hold. Wow, we lead exciting lives.

Project 365 and New Years goals

2009-01-02T20:32:00.006-06:00

Wow, it sure has been a long while since I've visited my blog. But it's one of my goals for the year; to journal more about our every day life (among other things).

Here is my list of things I'd like to accomplish in 2009:

* Project 365 (take a photo of something every day and journal a short note about it; I'll keep these pics in a folder on my facebook page. I might post them here too, we'll see)

* Blog/Journal somewhere

* Lose weight (which will involve preparing meals at home more often, stop eating out so much, exercise more)

* Work less and keep our home organized and clean

* Read through the Bible by spending time doing a devotion and praying daily

* Do a family devotion several times a week

* Stick to creating a chore list for the kids and following through with making them complete the tasks

Sounds easy, huh? hahahahaaa I seriously want to get these goals accomplished this year once and for all. Evidently (according to my wise husband) if I can just do it every day for 30 days it will become a habit and I won't even think about changes; it will just be the way I live. I pray this is so.

Here are my first two pictures from project 365:
01/01/09 - Todd, Evan and myself; Taken just after midnight at my parents house. Maya was already asleep. :) Please ignore how tired Todd and I look.

01/02/09 - My friend Amy gave me a starter mix of Amish Friendship Bread for Christmas. I've been "mushing the bag" and adding ingredients for 10 days and tonight, Evan and I made this delicious Friendship Bread. We gave starters to both Grandma Paula and Grandma Green, and kept one for ourselves. Actually there was a 4th starter from the mix but due to an unfortunate incident with a zip loc bag, it did not make it to it's intended recipient. Ah well, there will be another batch ready in 10 days.

Birthday and funny stuff

2008-04-23T10:40:00.002-05:00

I forgot to mention here on the ol' blog that Evan turned 9 on March 31st. And Miss Maya turned 13, yes that is THIRTEEN years old! I have a teenager. Craziness I tell you! They had great birthdays and I'm just so proud to be their mom. :) Even if they do stress me out once in awhile with their bickering. ha!

Wanted to share a funny from Evan last night. I was working on bookwork and had told him goodnight with hugs and kisses and Todd was going to tuck him in. Fasforward 5 min. and he's in bed hollering, "Mom! Mom! Come here! I have to tell you something!" Todd went to intervene since he knew I was trying to figure something out, but then Todd pops into the room laughing and gives me a message from Evan. Evan wanted Daddy to ask me what was more important, my son or a piece of paper?

Ugh, that KID! :) So of COURSE being the sucker that I am (and I know the Mommy moments where he wants me in his room for extra kisses will soon be gone) I went in and stood beside his bed. He asks me what the name of the song is playing on his CD player. I told him it was 'Lord I Lift Your Name on High'. Then he asks me to sing with him. So as he's SUPPOSED to be sleeping, he and I are singing in his bed:
Lord I lift your name on high.
Lord I love to sing your praises.
I'm so glad you're in my life.
I'm so glad you came to save us.

Priceless. A moment I ALMOST missed out in because I was "busy". I'm SO glad I have this super-sweet, sugar coated little boy to remind me what really matters. Thank you God for blessing my life with him. :)

I am the worst blogger ever

2008-04-17T10:06:00.002-05:00

Ok maybe not THE worst but certainly not good at posting regularly. So, I figured since I can't keep up on my blog I'd go ahead and get a myspace page too. http://www.myspace.com/123angelag Check it out! I haven't done anything to it yet, really. Hopefully I'll have time to figure things out over the next few weeks, but for today, that's it. Maya is all gung-ho wanting a myspace page and I told her I had to check it out first. So that's that in a nutshell.

Busy, busy lately. The slaughterhouse is keeping me quite busy these days. I'm actually supposed to be at work right now. But it turns out Todd is home from work today so he's filling my shoes this morning. Thank goodness because I'm PMS'y and I really just need a break. I do have to go in and work after lunch though. Such is life.

So much more I could say, but just not enough minutes in my day to do it right now. Hopefully I'll be back soon!

I'm late, I'm late

2008-03-08T09:41:00.005-06:00

Today is Evan's Tae Kwon Do testing and I really need to jump in the shower so I'm not rushing at the last minute. But hey, if you know me at all, that seems to be how it always goes.

On the weight loss front things are pretty much not so good. I'm down a whopping 0.2 lbs. this month. Note to self: Get it together!

Maya has a basketball game this afternoon at the same time as Evan's testing. It makes me so sad to miss her game. :( But I can only be in one place at one time. My dad is going to stay with her though, and they are going out for lunch together afterwards. So it will be a really fun time for the two of them. I love when not so good things turn into happy moments. :)

Working at the slaughterhouse has been going well. Well, as well as owning and operating a slaughterhouse can be. lol Things are good though. Just busy.

I have a bunch of LO's to share from the past few weeks since I've been a blog slacker. PLEASE go read the journaling on the WOMAN layout. Simply because it's so funny. :) All the credits can be found in my gallery at MSA right here. Enjoy your weekend!

Quite a week!

2008-02-13T08:18:00.003-06:00

I forgot to post my weight loss update Monday. Well, I probably forgot on purpose because I didn't lose anything! I didn't gain either, so that's okay. I did a little celebrating over the weekend that involved fried appetizers (twice!) so I was not surprised. But you know, since I ate pretty well the rest of the week AND exercised, splurging like that once in awhile is ok. Previously, I ate like that on a daily basis and never exercised. So even though there is no loss in numbers on the scale this week, I know I've gained so much for my own health that I'm giving myself a break. Next week will be better. :)

What was I celebrating? I'm glad you asked! My amazing husband and I, along with another couple, are official business owners! Buying or starting a business is something Todd and I have wanted to do since we were first married, and now we have finally jumped in with both feet and done it! Todd will be losing his job some time within in the next year or so due to the plant closing. We knew we had to find something for him to do and this opportunity just fell into our lap. It was like God opened up the door just for us. The business isn't exactly the dream I had early on in our marriage (which was a bridal shop!), instead, we purchased a slaughterhouse. Glorified? No. Necessary? Yes. We live in a farming community and there is a constant need for the butchering of cows and pigs, so that's what we're going to do. The owners before were a couple from our church, and the husband passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack a little over a year ago. It's just too much for his wife and she is ready to move on from it. She's helping us get things started, and we are keeping the 3 other employees that are working there. I was able to quit my job in the school kitchen (praaaaise!!!!!) and will be working at the slaughterhouse part time. Tues & Thurs 8-2 and Wed. 10-5. I'll be doing all the bookwork and scheduling as well, and that will be done on Mon & Fri so I can work from home. We are very excited and just hope and pray that things continue to go well! Wish us luck!

We went to another women's Illini basketball game Sunday (they won! Go ILLINI!). The game was shown on the Big 10 Network and guess who they showed in the crowd? US! :) Maya and Evan are jumping up and down cheering right after a 3 point shot, and Todd and I are sitting down cheering. It was awesome to see ourslves on TV! :) In case you don't remember, Evan was given a basketball by a cheerleader during the last game. And this game, Maya was given a pink Illini t-shirt by another cheerleader. How lucky are we?! I told the kids that in two games, they have been picked out of a crowd of thousands. They must be pretty cute. ;)

Tonight Evan has family night youth group, and Todd is leaving for a ski trip with his buddies. He'll be back Saturday afternoon. And when the guys all get home, the wives are taking off for a night out for ourselves. :) We figure it's only fair, considering the big dorks planned a weekend getaway for themselves on Valentine's Day! Boogers! Maya won't have youth group since the youth minister is one of the guys going on the ski trip. I'm not sure what she'll do tonight. Probably hang out and play Sims on the PC. I tell you, that kid is addicted to that silly game and sometimes plays it for HOURS! I don't get all the hype about it, but to each his own.

Oh, I forgot to tell you! Sunday when we went to the game it was C-O-L-D!!!!! The walk from the parking lot to the ticket office and then the stadium is quite a distance, especially in the cold. Well, we RAN! Yes, I was running. 2 years ago, I NEVER would have considered that. And, I wouldn't have been ABLE to run that far without completely losing my breath. But this time, I was running all the way and was just a little short of breath when we got there. I could still talk and order our tickets so it wasn't bad at all. And, during the game, of course we had potty breaks and drink breaks, etc. and I was jogging up the wide stadium steps. I was so proud of myself. Those kind of things remind me why I'm pushing myself to work out 5 or 6 days a week and TRY to eat better. Go me! :)

I wish I didn't wait so long between posts on this darned blog. I always have so much to say, and by the time I finish saying everything my post is 2 miles long. Sorry! So if you've read this far, THANKS! And *mwuah!*!!! Have a good one!

Oh, and a layout to share. Credits can be seen here. You HAVE to read the journaling. I may have posted about this story on my blog last summer. Not sure. Journaling: Betty Crocker you are not. On this summer day, I was across the street at Grandma & Grandpa’s watching Evan swim. You came over expecting me to come home to fix you a TV dinner. Now, Maya, you are 12 years old. I am certain you should be capable of reading the cooking instructions from the box and setting the microwave timer. You huffed off home and I thought nothing else of your little tantrum. Shortly after this, Daddy came into our house to the scene of smoke rolling from the microwave and a terrible smell crawling through the house. Evidently when you read the directions you set the timer for conventional oven cooking time instead of microwave oven. Ugh, our house smelled for DAYS! Of course everyone in the family has gotten quite a kick out of your cooking skills, or lack thereof. Your response to the whole thing: My bad! Oh, and by the way, you have since learned how to cook properly in the microwave. You go girl! July 2007

Weight Loss Update #4

2008-02-04T22:55:00.000-06:00

Good news! I was down 2 lbs today! woohoo Now if I'm being honest (which of course, I am!) I will tell you that I hopped on the scale Friday morning to find I was down THREE pounds! Now typically when I see that I've done well and the scale is down, I tend to blow it by rewarding myself for a job well done. With food. And that my friends is the reason I am overweight to begin with. Emotional eating. I didn't do that on Friday though! Yay! I didn't splurge on Saturday either! Double yay!! But then on Sunday, I was hungry for a big fat steak. And I had a big fat steak. I could have simply cut off 3 oz. of a New York strip and eaten within my daily point range. But no, I didn't do that. I had an entire 12 oz. steak. I'm sure that contributed to the change in the scale from Friday morning to today. Pick up and move on though.

Another thing that I'm sure contributed to my great loss this week was my exercise. I really kicked it up this week and I've felt great about that! I am honestly starting to notice a little bit of firmness coming to the jiggly parts of my midsection (for you skinny people, I'm sure that grosses you out. But you chubby folks, you know what I'm talking about, don't ya?! ;))

Here is a peek at my exercise log last week.

Daily Exercise Log
Monday - WATP 3 mile-45 min, strength 10 upper/10 lower/10 core, 10 min stretching=85 min Tuesday - 30 min exercise bike-interval, 10 min stretching, strength 10 upper/10 lower/10 min core strength=70 min
Wednesday - WATP 3 mile-45 min, 5 min stretching, flexibility 20 min= 70 min
Thursday - 45 min walk
Friday -rest
Saturday - WATP 3 mile-45 min, 10 min stretching, 10 core/10upper strength=75 min
Sunday - core strength 10 min
Total minutes = 355 minutes

More good news! I FINALLY got the spare bedroom cleaned out and made room for a treadmill. Now as soon as Todd has a chance to go pick it up for me, I'll have a place for it! Hopefully by this weekend. The extra room used to be my scrapbook room, until I turned into a digi scrapper. And for the past year+ it's became a glorified closet/storage space. We're talking boxes of junk and papers and clothes and books and toys just stacked everywhere. Well now, my friends, it is clean and organized as can be! But it was A LOT of work!

Before I go, here a couple new LO's I did with some new FPD products! Credits can be seen in my FPD gallery here. Thanks for reading, I hope you have a fantastic day!

No School Today!

2008-01-30T09:18:00.000-06:00

Hooray, a day off! I love to have a day off in the middle of the week. REFRESHING!

I got up this morning as usual around 6:30am and got the kids up out of bed, dressed and moving. I fixed Maya something for breakfast, and started nudging Evan to move quicker. After we're all wide awake, Maya gets a text message that there is no school, yay! And I go check my phone, um yeah, as an employee of the school district I had gotten a call at 6:05am that there was no school. If only I would've heard my phone ring this morning we could have slept in! waaahhh!!! I hope I get a little snooze on the couch sometime today. Evidently, a transformer blew up last night (we had a freaky wind/rain storm last night) so there is no power in half of our town. Thank goodness we have power though! Hopefully the powers that be will get it fixed soon. So if you have a second, say a little prayer for the people who are without power. It is COLD here today. It's about 9:30am and we're up to a whopping 12 degrees!

On the food and exercise this week things are going good. It's Wednesday and I'm already at 225 minutes. woohoo! That's a step UP!

Weight Loss Update #3

2008-01-28T22:03:00.001-06:00

Well I hate to admit that the scale was not pretty today. I was up .6 pounds. Yeah, that's a little more than half a pound not six pounds (just in case you missed that little dot!). I won't share my food log because, well, it isn't going to help anyone. LOL Let's just say I had pizza a few times, and appetizers at the Outback. But okay, it's a new week and I'm off to a better start. I did let myself splurge on dessert this afternoon and used some flex points. I hope that is the LAST time I go over my daily point allowance this week. I've exercised 75 minutes today, so that's a great start on that side of things!

I can't think of a single thing to blog about, so I'll close with the LO's I did over the weekend. :)

Credits can be seen here and here.

Happy Saturday

2008-01-26T10:27:00.000-06:00

I'm spending the day in my pj's today. :) That always makes for a happy day!

I'm embarrassed to admit that in the year 2007 I had ZERO pictures printed out. So that means I have no photo album for the 100's of pictures I took last year. It's stupid, I know. So I've been editing and uploading pics for 2 days now and I'm going to get them all printed out and put into an album this week.

And while I'm admitting a weakness, one more to share. My food choices this week have stunk. PMS took over my body, made me crabby and forced me to eat pretty much everything that wasn't nailed down. But I can't focus on being irritated with myself. Pick up and move on, right? It's a new day!

I think I blogged about this on Monday, but we went a women's basketball game at the U of I. We had so much fun! The cutest thing happened. The game was about 2 minutes in and the cheerleaders had been throwing t-shirts up into the crowd and cheering down on the floor, etc. Well one of the cheerleaders climbs up the stairs to our row, and walked right up to Evan and placed a basketball in his lap! He was so darned excited! He held that ball all night long. Even took it into the bathroom with him. LOL He has slept with it every night and carried around the house ever since. It's so cute. :) The bummer of it is that there is a slow leak in the ball and he has to keep using an air pump to fill it up. But he's still over the moon about it, so really, that's all that matters. :)

He's been sick this week and stayed home from school on Thursday and Friday. He's doing much better today though. He and Todd just took off for Tae Kwon Do a few minutes ago. That reminds me, he had a belt testing a few weeks back and is now a brown belt w/ a black stripe. He'll be going for his red belt in about 6 weeks. Go Evan!

Last night Maya went on a little group outing. I hate that she's growing up. Can I just hold life here for a little while? She and 4 girlfriends and 5 boys went to see a movie. One mom took the girls and another mom took the boys. They met up there. I went to pick the girls up afterwards. She had fun, and it was just a movie, but still, she's just my baby, ya know?

She's been talking about trying out for cheerleading next year. I don't understand that, because she's always made fun of cheerleaders. LOL But she's growing and changing and that's ok. I'm not sure how great she'll be at this whole cheering thing, because she's just so athletic and not exactly sharp and "cheer girl". But hey, I'm going to help her learn and I know she'll do her best! Time will tell. Heck, by the time they have try outs at the end of the school year, she may change her mind.

Well that's all I've got. I'll be back Monday with a weight loss update. I probably won't be sharing the old food log this week though. LOL Enjoy your weekend!

Weight Loss Update #2

2008-01-21T09:11:00.000-06:00

Alrighty, down a whopping 0.4 pounds. Woohoo! [insert sarcastic stare here] Ah well, I know any loss is better than a gain but still. lol I need to work harder this week. I'm eating too much processed and snacky foods, and need to replace that with more healthy choices. That's a goal this week, to cut down on those snacks. My WW plan allows me 27 WW points per day and 35 weekly flex points that I can spread out through the week as I want to. Next week I hope to stick closer to my daily point range and not use so many flex points.

I said before I would share my food log, so here goes:

Monday - 32 WW points

Breakfast – 2 Special K waffles w/ lite butter & syprup (5), orange (1), diet coke

Lunch – LC Carbonara (6), Fiber One bar (3), diet coke

Dinner – BK Whopper Jr. w/ cheese (.8.), small fries (5), diet cokeSnacks – 3 hushpuppies (4)Water – 85 oz.

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Tuesday - 33 WW points

Breakfast – WW muffin (3), banana (1), diet coke

Lunch – pop up pizza (.8.), salad w/ ff dressing (1), pineapple (1)

Dinner – homemade pizza (10), popcorn (3), diet cokeSnacks – Snackwell's (2), rice cakes (2), Special K bar (2)

Water – 102 oz.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday - 27 WW points

Breakfast – WW muffin (3), banana (1), diet coke

Lunch – jello (1), string cheese (1), ham (1), WW yogurt (1), carrots

Dinner – chili (10), rice cakes (2), diet cokeSnacks – diet coke, Snackwell's (2), hushpuppies (5)Water – 68 oz. so far

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Thursday - 32 WW points

Breakfast – WW muffin (3), banana (1), diet coke

Lunch – LC Carbonara (6), orange (1)

Dinner – pizza (13), nutter butter cookie (2)

Snacks – Fiber One bar (3), WW yogurt (1), Snackwells (2), diet coke

Water – 85 oz.

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Friday - 27 WW points

Breakfast – WW muffin (3), banana (1), diet coke

Lunch – ham (6), WW yogurt (1), orange (1), carrots

Dinner – soup (5), bread & lite butter (4), diet coke

Snacks – diet coke, fiber one bar (3), mini rice cakes (2), string cheese (1)

Water – 102 oz.

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Saturday - 37 WW points

Breakfast – WW muffin (3), banana (1), diet coke

Lunch – LC french bread (6), scalloped potatoes (5)

Dinner – italian sausage sandwich (9), diet coke

Snacks – Baked Tostitos, 2% cheese & salsa (6), WW dessert (3), popcorn (4)

Water – 85 oz. so far

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Sunday - 30 WW points

Breakfast – Special K waffles w/ lite butter & lite syrup (6), banana (1), diet coke, coffee w/ creamer (3)

Lunch – cauliflower & ranch dressing (2), 6 hushpuppies (.8.)

Dinner – BBQ pork sandwich (7)Snacks – Fiber One bar (3)

Water –68 oz.

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29 Flex Points Used (35)

And my exercise log:

Daily Exercise Log

Monday - 45 min walk

Tuesday - 30 min walk/WATP 45 min/upper strength 10 min/core strength 10 min=95 min

Wednesday - 30 min walk

Thursday - 30 min walk

Friday - 30 min exercise bike/lower strength 10 min=40 min

Saturday -

Sunday - 20 min flexibility

Total minutes = 260 minutes

____________________________________________

So in other news, we're all home from school today. My niece spent the night and so far this morning she and my 2 kids have bickered and annoyed each other pretty much non-stop. I am a smidge on the PMS'y side and my head is throbbing. I'm so NOT in the mood. I just sent them to their rooms and am about to take all Wii priveledges away for the day, since that is the root of the arguments this morning. I just hate when my kids argue. It stresses me out beyond belief.

We are picking up Todd from work this afternoon and heading to Champaign to see the U of I womens basketball team play. If my kids quit arguing, that will be fun. :) If my kids don't quit arguing they are staying home with Grandma and Todd and I will go alone. lol

Before I go, a couple of layouts I did this weekend. Credits for them are in my gallery here. Actually, I still have one to upload into my MSA gallery but it will be up soon. Have a great day!

TGIF!

2008-01-18T13:48:00.000-06:00

I love Friday's. Really, I love the weekend and it's Friday that brings that home! With Monday being a holiday, the kids have a three day weekend. Tuesday morning I have to take my mom to the doctor, so I took that day off too. So a FOUR day weekend for me. Yaayyy!

I think we might take the kids to see the Illini womens basketball team play on Monday night. We've been to womens soccer and volleyball games before, but this will be our first basketball game at the U of I. I'm looking forward to it.

Tomorrow is Evan's last day of Bitty Basketball. Can you believe I haven't taken a single picture of this? It's hard though, because the lighting in the gym always causes yellow photos and I hate that. I've tried adjusting the white balance, shutter speed, etc. and still get cruddy results. Any advice?

I'd like for Todd and I to go out on a little weekend date, but I don't know if that's going to pan out. It will probably get bumped into next weekend. I want to eat at Biaggi's and see a movie. But, we had an unexpected expense come up this week with my van and it's costing us a heck of a lot more to fix than we want to. Todd's picking it up tonight and we'll see how much it's actually costing us then. Ugh, ugh, ugh.

Not much else planned this weekend. I need to clean out the spare bedroom. I sure hope I get some motivation to get that done! I'm getting a treadmill when I do, so really, that should be motiviation enough. Wish me luck!

Before I go, here is a layout I posted this morning. Credits can be found here. Ciao all!

Weight Loss Update #1

2008-01-17T15:24:00.000-06:00

Thanks to the prompting of my friend Laura, I am going to start posting about my weight loss journey. Accountability is a good thing. Since I haven't really said much about this, I guess I'll start at the beginning.

First of all, putting my weight "out there" is a really big deal for me. No one but my husband (and doctors, lol) know what my weight actually is. Of course, people know that I'm overweight, but there is just something about saying the number outloud, so to speak, that seems like a huge ordeal. But anyway, here goes.

Back in July 2006 I was at my highest weight. 258 lbs. I have NO idea how I reached this weight without realizing, but it happened. I had surgery to have a bunion removed on my left foot and many complications later, I spent 6 nights in the hospital with a wicked infection and had lost 21 lbs. Luckily, I didn't put that weight back on.

In January 2007 I joined an online weight loss group called The Biggest Loser Digi Style, weighing in at 237 lbs. These girls have became my greatest strength and inspiration. Some of us have struggled, but many have succeeded and are getting pretty close to their ultimate weight loss goal. I'm so proud of them. :)

I've bounced up and down with a few pounds for awhile, and as of Jan. 1st my weight was 217.8. So in all, a loss of 40 lbs. since the beginning. Our group has an official weigh in on Monday mornings. This Monday my weight was 213.6. So I've been working at it again, and it feels great.
Laura's suggestion is to post to our blogs every Monday with an official update on our weight loss. I might include my food log once in awhile, recipes, and even my exercise routine. I'm not sure what all I will post, but hey, if it helps one person get started towards their own weight loss goals then it will all be worth it. And if it keeps me accountable and on track, well then that is even better!

Here's a picture of me from Christmas 2006 and Christmas 2007. I plan to update with pics every once in awhile so my progress will be recorded here.

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In other news, I've been a scrapping machine since we were off for Christmas break. Take a peek here: MY GALLERY. Being on the site CT for Funky Playground Designs has been a big help in that area. I have new and amazing digi products to scrap with every single week. I've never had a better scrapping gig in my life. I love it! And since my last post, I've picked up another creative team to work with: Andrea Burns. I'm having a great time with her stuff so far.
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Anyone watching American Idol? Man I love that show. I can't believe that some of those people honestly believe that they can sing. And the worst part, they have a friend or family member standing outside the door waiting for them to come out with good news. If someone I love wanted to go on national television and make a fool of themselves, I would be sure to talk with them about their singing talent; or lack thereof. One thing that did bother me, was when the judges were laughing at the bad singers. Sure, it's bad. But laughing in someones face is just not nice. There is a more tactful way to handle those contestants. Stepping off my soapbox now. :)
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My child is desperate to get on webkinz.com because there is some incredible giveaway of 20 kinzcash. She has to hurry! ;) Priorities, ya know? So I better end this post and let my beautiful daughter get to her game. Have a happy and healthy day!

Where will you spend DSD?

2007-11-02T15:55:00.000-05:00

What is DSD you ask? Oh I'm so glad you did! DSD is Digital Scrapbooking Day and it's tomorrow!!! And if I were a digital scrapbooker (which I am) I would spend it shopping HERE cuz pretty much everything in the store is 25% off! woot, woot!!! And if you're in the mood for a little sketch challenge (and ANOTHER sale) stop by Rachael's store at Polka Dot Potato!
And FINALLY, you MUST come to My Scrapbook Art because there is an INCREDIBLE freebie for every single registered member. Seriously...I am not exaggerating when I say incredible. You will be so glad you came by to pick it up! And a little birdie told me there are going to be challenges running at MSA all day long in a brand new DSD forum. And rumor has it that I might be giving away a few prizes. So come by and hang out with me, ok? :)

Oh, and I never did share my good news! I can't believe I forgot. Well, the big news is I'M A FUNKY GIRL! I get to play in the sandbox at Funky Playground Designs! What a treat, huh?!

One last scrapping thing I need to share with you. My friend Toni Berman has started selling at Plain Digital Wrapper and she just put out this new autumn kit. Isn't it fab?! Go pick it up for only $4 bucks! Wowee!

Oh my word!!!

2007-10-26T21:16:00.000-05:00

I got some very exciting scrapping news today! I'm going to be on the creative team of some place that is very, very cool! I am not sure I'm able to say just yet as I don't start until next week. But as soon as I have the ok to spill the beans I'll let you know! Just know that it's GOOD! VERY, VERY GOOD!!!!! woot, woot!

Bad news first, and then the GREAT!

2007-10-12T08:29:00.000-05:00

There have been rumors flying around the last 2 weeks that the plant where Todd works is closing. He's been there for 20 years. The company released a statement to the union Tuesday and confirmed the worst. They will be phasing out the work to another plant in GA and everything will be shut down within 18 mos. at the most. I don't know what we're going to do. I only work 3-1/2 hours a day so I can be home with Maya & Evan before and after school. That is not an income. I admit, I was totally freaked when the story first seemed to be more than a rumor last week, but I feel somewhat of a peace about it. I've been praying and asking God to give me strength and wisdom and peace. I wholeheartedly believe that God is bringing us to this trial for a reason. I don't know yet what that reason is (and I may never know) but I believe that He will be here to hold our hand and walk us through. We will be fine. But I'm asking everyone else to pray too that this transition will be smooth and that Todd will be able to find a good paying job with benefits.

In some GOOD news, Evan was baptized Sunday. :) Wonderful, WONDERFUL feeling knowing that my son has accepted Jesus into his heart!!! I have pics but of course don't have time to post them right now. I have to leave for work in 15 min. and I still have no make up on and my jeans are still damp in the dryer. Oy vey!

This makes me happy

2007-09-28T13:41:00.000-05:00

(In case you can't tell, next to Maya's big ol' long body is Evan, cuddled up under a sheet with his Build-a-Bear turtle.) Lately our Saturday's have been focused around early morning soccer games. I mean E-A-R-L-Y! We have had to leave the house at about 6:55am. [YAWN!] Miss Maya is a morning person. She gets herself up and ready to go without a problem. Evan, on the other hand, takes after his mama. A morning person we are not. A couple weekends back, I was in the bathroom getting ready and Todd comes in and tells me to look in Evan's room. Maya had cuddled up in Evan's bed with him and was trying to coax him awake. Absolute sweetness when I see them like this. :)

Finally

2007-09-23T22:12:00.000-05:00

I scrapped. It's been so long! Obviously, we have a new puppy in the family. My dad bought a new chocolate lab earlier this month. Isn't he cute? :)

Credits can be seen here.

So that's what happens when you kiss a girl

2007-09-21T17:36:00.000-05:00

When I picked up Evan from school Wednesday afternoon I heard the CUTEST elementary school story I think I've ever heard.

"Mom guess what happened today! Today at recess Chase kissed Rebecca. Well at least I think it happened. That's what I heard happened, I didn't see it. I think it's the Chase in my class. The Chase that sits next to me. But I'm not sure. It could have been another boy named Chase. But then later in computer class, Chase that's in my class threw up. So I'm pretty sure he's the one who kissed Rebecca."

I wanted to laugh as soon as he told me. hahahaaaa I told him he was probably right, and that sounds like a pretty good reason he shouldn't be kissing girls. He agreed. [wink]

Time, is not on my side

2007-09-19T20:17:00.000-05:00

I simply do NOT have enough of it. I have so much I want to post about. So many pics I want to post. Layouts I want to scrap. But just about zero time to get it done. Soccer, basketball, work, life...just a full plate these days! But hopefully I'll make a real post soon. :)