Gobble, Gobble!!

Happy Thanksgiving friends! Evie and I made her first cake - pumpkin gooey butter cake. Yup, just as healthy as it sounds. She has been a little fussy which means she has been on my chest for most of the past 2 days. This cake has a 30 min. prep time. With 5 week old Evie, it took 2 hours and 5 mins. Quality time and memories!!

Hope you had a great holiday!!

Back to Reality

On the way home from Michigan, we stopped at the farm (my in-laws house). Here is a rare picture - me barefoot and pregnant and doing dishes.

But now I am home and spending time with the twins (2 year old god-daughters) and best bud. They were so missed. I look forward to catching up on your blogs!!

On Vacation

Hello all! I am still on vacation but just thought I would drop in for a moment. Today was the 4th of July and my folks wanted to do their favorite activity. This is what it looked like from my perspective (that is my ma up in front of me).

Yup, we went kayaking. It was very fun. Especially when my ma said "follow me" and then got stuck on some rocks. I made a sharp turn when she said (from perched upon some rocks) "um....don't go this way" a nice young man helped push her off since I was laughing and crying so hard that I got turned around and stuck on a tree while trying to get a picture. I seriously laughed so hard I almost wet myself. Ah, memories.

Hope you had a great Independence Day!! I hope to catch up on your blogs soon!

I want to go back....

Back to this....

This is me crushing a giant caterpillar at best bud's house a few weeks ago. I miss hanging out there. My folks just left tonight. Between both families - it has been a crazy, busy 2 weeks. I am sick of entertaining others. I only want to entertain myself. I DO NOT WANT TO GO BACK TO WORK TOMORROW.

Oh well. With that comes routine. I do like my routine. I did exercise religiously but food is another story. A few too many cheat meals and I am about to make pancakes for dinner. I might as well go out with a bang. Tomorrow I will count every calorie.

So Saturday I got up super early and rejoined Weight Watchers. I am not sure if I will like it or if it will annoy me. The good news is I only paid $20 for the 1st month so I will give it that long to impress me. It was an annoying meeting but the regular meeting leader was out sick so I think that was the worst part. I wish TJ were my meeting leader. Then I know I would love it.

I am very impressed by everyone's goals for the new year. Some people have exact miles they want to walk, bike or run. Some have gym hours they want to log. Some have races they want to train for. I need to work on some specific goals. I will get back to you on that topic. Right now I know I have one goal for this year and that is to try and have a baby before the year is through.

I have a few more weeks of this P90X and then I will start trying on that goal. The only other goal I can think of is I want to find some new recipes and cook about once a week. Just to make things a little different. I am not sure if my body can lose much (or any) more weight on the scale so I do not know if I have a goal there. I could probably lose another 10 but I am not sure. I guess my body will let me know.

Today before my mom left, she had me make her a diet and workout routine. She wants to lose 10 pounds. Actually, she has wanted to lose 10 pounds my whole life. She was an overweight child/teenager. She lost that weight but those last 10 pounds have stuck around since I was born 31 years ago.

I gotta say, I question how dedicated she will be. This takes a ton of work. It is like a full time job. I even took her to grocery stores. We checked labels and I showed her some of the healthier finds that I think taste pretty good. She seems excited and promised to stick to the plan.

Did I ever tell you she orders every piece of magical workout equipment with an infomercial? My house has been home to many bizarre things. I personally loved the thigh-master. Her most recent purchase (6 months ago) was this mini-trampoline with a bar on it. It is supposed to work on your core. I asked her today if she ever tried it. Nope. Just sitting in her living room. I asked if she thought the act or purchasing it would melt the fat away. I was given a list of excuses as to why she couldn't use it. That is fine, it just makes me laugh. God love her.

I could post all day about the funny ass crap we had in our house. Perhaps another day. I am off to make some pancakes! Hope you have a good week!

Grandparents Intrigue Me

Before I begin, let me tell you that I am aware that I am securing my place in hell for posts like this. However, I am a curious person and I find humor in things and maybe you do too. I like to share.

I took these 3 photos at my husband's grandparent's house (and it was full of people so it was not easy). There are just walls of what I call "crap" in this place that I am DYING to get pictures of but I do not have the guts to take those pics because the rooms are filled with relatives.

These were 3 things I was curious about though.

Picture #1 - the phone. Weren't these called rotary phones? I called them dial phones (I know all phones dial, I am special like that). But I think years ago (or decades) people were told that these phones do not support the 911 service (I could be wrong). Now if I were in my 80s and I fell alot (like these folks tend to do) I would make sure I had one of those buttons you push on a necklace or a portable machine to tap out some morse code asking for help. Or maybe....a cordless, push-button phone. I can understand no cell phone because they live in the middle of NOWHERE and reception sucks. But anything is better at giving you chance at calling for help than dragging your body across the room, sticking your big, arthritic fingers in the holes (you would have to feel for the right ones) and turning the dial 3 times just to find no one on the other end of the line.

Picture #2 - the bathtub in the main bathroom. Did I tell you this family is full of farmers? Yup. Farmers (and grandma was a school bus driver). In Kansas. In the middle of NOWHERE in the United States of America. So I am curious as to why the wall in the bathtub has the Taj Mahal on it. I asked my husband last year. He never thought about it. It has always been there (that he remembers). No one has ever asked about it. You're not curious? Just me? Also - why are there boots in the tub?

Picture #3 (disturbs me the most) - I took this in the doll room. I also like to think of it as my nightmare. I would NEVER sleep at this house just because this room exists. C-R-E-E-P-Y!! Hello? Do you see the bags on their heads? Who does that? Is it to keep their hair nice? Then why don't all of them have bags on their heads? Were these the bad dolls that must be suffocated? What if this gives the dolls ideas and they come to life and choose to do this to me? I literally had to shut the door to this room and return to the living room and stare at the ceramic bust of Jesus who watches me while I eat dinner.

I was at my in-laws for 4 solid days. I was so excited to go the 3 miles down the road to the grandparent's house. These were some of this things that greeted me there. Boredom really makes your mind work in wacky ways. Perhaps that is why their house has these things.

You can leave me hateful comments but I just felt the need to share. It was like having a secret I just HAD to tell.

On another note - I am de-crappifying my body today which makes me feel a bit like I am in detox. And this is only from like a day and a half of bad eating but there was a lot of caffeine for multiple days. Dude this sucks.

And it is not over yet. My folks fly in tomorrow for about 5 days. And then there is New Years. I will keep with exercise and lots of water. I must. At least I will get more presents!! Hope you enjoy your week!

I did get presents!

I just got back from four solid days on the farm. I went NOWHERE. Today I finally got to go 3 miles down the road to visit the grandparents. Look for a post about that tomorrow (with some fun pictures). After that, we headed home (about a 7 hour drive). I had to - for my sanity's sake (and those around me).

I got some presents finally. The first picture is a present from my in-laws. The best gift ever! Beef! I get it every year and every year I love it. Last year I also got a trip to Vegas. But not this year. This year I got a gift card to Banana Republic. Score!!! I am going to buy more skinny jeans (which I have been wearing everyday since I bought them, don't worry...I bought 2 pairs...but now I want more).

One funny thing we learned while bored on the farm is that my in-laws have never down loaded any pictures from their camera to their computer in 5 years. Can you believe it? They just delete some to make room for more. There were pictures from Xmas 5 years ago on there. My lovely husband downloaded them all and cleared their memory sticks so they can take some on vacation next week.

Picture #2 I found on that camera. According to the date in the corner, it is from Xmas 2005. Looking really plump in my fat girl uniform (all black and super faded from all the wear it got). I had never seen that photo. If I had, maybe I would have lost weight sooner.

Picture #3 is from this Xmas. Just thought I would throw that in for comparison's sake. 115 pounds lighter, longer hair (and now it is my natural color) and color in my wardrobe! I guess I am starting to see how people think I look like a different person. I for sure feel like a different person. And I like it. A lot.

I am exhausted and want to sleep but feel the need to peek at a few blogs before I pass out. Hope you all had a great weekend!

I have yet to open a present...

Christmas day and I have not opened a gift. We are waiting for my sister-in-law and family to show up tomorrow. So many presents yet none we can open. Torture. Snowed in and just staring at presents - for 2 days. Oh well. Good things come to those who wait, right?

It has given me time to enjoy my in-laws (I really do enjoy them - funny folks) and dogs and exercise. We have even played games and watched movies. Like families used to do in the olden days.

I have been thinking of some things that have changed from last Christmas to this Christmas. So here they are:

Christmas 2008:

1. I had lost 40 pounds and was so proud.
2. I was scared to death that eating too much at Christmas dinner would make me gain back all 40 pounds (this is no exaggeration)
3. I was super nervous about leaving my environment and schedule.
4. Travelled by car for days to see all the family (exhausting and not healthy).
5. Realized I was still pretty fat, even after all I had lost and exercised.
6. Never thought I would lose 100 pounds.
7. Elf was my favorite Christmas movie.

Christmas 2009:

1. I have lost another 75 pounds and I am even more proud. I FEEL so good!! Especially in my new size 10 jeans (this seems so unreal to me).
2. I know I can eat over in calories. It is just a holiday. I need to just keep exercising and get back to my routine when I get home.
3. I am super relaxed. I know I can do this. I brought things that I need to keep up with my workouts and am doing cardio on the in-laws treadmill (I am making it up myself and doing well I believe).
4. We travelled to see one family and asked that the other come to visit us (and they actually are). Much healthier (for me anyway).
5. Realized that if I never lose another pound, I will be EXTREMELY happy with where I am.
6. Cannot believe I lost 115 pounds. Now I am wondering/studying/researching maintenance.
7. Elf is still my favorite Christmas movie. Some things never change. And never should.

The realization of how far I have come and how great my health is - that is the present I get today. It may not come in a box with pretty paper and a bow but it is by far the BEST present I could ever get.

Merry Christmas!!

We made it to Kansas before the storm. We have gone nowhere today. Cold, freezing rain and snow. At least it is a white Christmas. Man have I been eating. A lot of healthy stuff but I am in eating mode. I have exercised (but not enough to negate the amount of calories I have consumed but hey - it is Christmas!). This is me enjoying the weather! I hope Santa brings you lots of good stuff!