Thursday, November 1, 2012

Halloween Recap

Seriously? How is it already November? This year is just flying by. Thanksgiving is in three weeks, then it will be Christmas, and before I know it, my baby will be two! I'm not sure I'm ready for that! :)

Anyway, as promised, here are the pictures from our Halloween! We had so much fun taking Addie trick-or-treating around town. Last year, she was too little and since it was FREEZING, we skipped the trick-or-treating. So that made this her very first experience and she loved every minute of it! We have a little girl who is addicted to sugar, (that's probably not something I should admit to, but it's true) therefore, she was over the moon excited every time someone put a piece of candy into her bucket!


 Originally, Nick and I weren't going to dress up for Halloween but then he remembered that I had these ladybug wings so he thought it would be fun for me to be a ladybug since Addie was going to be a butterfly. Then he could call himself "the bug catcher"! I wasn't actually fond of the idea of dressing up but he was insistent upon it, so I did! I felt silly, but it was fun!


I'm not sure how other towns do trick-or-treating but I happen to love the way ours does it! First of all, it starts as soon as the kiddos get out of school. That way, they can wear their costumes for the last few hours of the school day and have their Halloween party. Then, as soon as school is out, they are already dressed and ready to go! All of the business stay open late to give out candy too which makes it a fun and safe evening for the kids to get candy. It's light out still and the parents don't have to take the kids door-to-door if they don't want to (although that is always still an option)! :) 

 

Since we live at a high elevation, I knew it was probably going to be pretty chilly on Halloween so I found this warm costume at Goodwill and knew it would be perfect. However, it actually ended up being a really nice evening (although it did get pretty chilly towards the end of it).


We went home afterwards and Addie couldn't wait to dive into her candy.


Of course we had to sneak in a few pictures first though!


The back of her costume was the best part though! Her wings were really pretty and sparkly!

And just for kicks and giggles, here is her costume from last year!



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Wednesday, October 31, 2012

My Weight Loss Journey: The Rest of October

Happy Halloween! Well that month flew by! I apologize for the lack of updates. It wasn't because I abandoned my weight loss plan, trust me! Actually, this month just got really crazy and I couldn't seem to find time to blog (surprise, surprise)! I did keep track of my weight though so I will try and give you a quick update on what has happened this month.

Also, I hit a major milestone this week! I had to buy some new pants and when I went to try some on, I soon realized that I am down to a size 6! I never imagined that would happen! I haven't been a size 6 since college! Anyway, I just had to share that awesome discovery with you! I was literally doing a quiet scream in the dressing room (please tell me I'm not the only one that does the quiet scream when other people are around)! :)

So the last time I told you my weight, I was at 154. As predicted, my weight loss slowed down drastically. I am getting to the point where my body is beginning to reach it's normal weight so the pounds aren't falling off as easily. I've only been losing about a pound a week and, as frustrating as it is, I know it's completely normal. So, without further ado, here are this week's results!

Beginning Weight (August 22, 2012): 181

Last Week's Weight (October 24): 151

This Week's Weight (October 31): 150

Weight Gain/Loss: -1 this week (-31 total)

 Exercise This Week: I joined our local club this month and they have a pool and gym so I have been trying to go there as much as I can. I haven't been able to find a babysitter for Addison in town yet so it has proved to be difficult but I do take her swimming there every once in awhile. I also try to sneak over when Nick gets home from work and on Friday evenings, I enjoy an hour of Zumba. On the days that I don't make it over there though, I have been running (yes, in the cold). I'm able to run up to 2 miles which is saying a lot for me at this altitude and considering I am literally running uphill the entire first mile! Also, my sweet husband picked me up an ab machine and a cross trainer (for free) so I have been using those as well!

Overall Health: I feel so great! I have so much energy and I just feel so much more rested when I wake up in the mornings. Hardest Thing This Week: Sweets! I have quickly discovered that Halloween sucks when you are trying to lose weight! We also had all of Nick's family visiting over the week so the sweets were laying around like crazy!

Overall Thoughts: I am honestly so proud of myself and how far I have come! I feel great in my clothes and enjoy dressing up! I even wore a cute skirt and top to church on Sunday!

This Coming Week: I am really going to be careful about what I eat. I've not been doing a very good job of keeping track of my calories so I need to get back on track with that. I'm to the point where I am pretty good at estimating how much I've had, but sometimes I tend to go over.

And, since we still haven't been great about taking pictures, I don't have many to share so instead, I will share a photo we took tonight after we went trick-or-treating. Stay tuned for more pictures tomorrow!


Thanks again for your support and please let me know if you would like to take this journey with me! Again, check out my friend Megan's blog to keep up with her progress as well!

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Wednesday, October 3, 2012

My Weightloss Journey: September 27-October 3

Read about my weight loss story HERE.

First of all, I have to say that I am wearing skinny jeans for the first time in my entire life and I feel like a million bucks in them! :) I picked some up at the thrift store just to see how I would like them, and well, I will definitely be buying more in the near future!

This was a rough week. It's actually been a rough 2 weeks. We all got sick with a terrible respiratory virus and so I wasn't able to do anything strenuous that entire time. That meant, absolutely no running. I really couldn't even go on a walk because we live in the mountains and all of the roads around our house have a steep incline at some point. All I could really do were floor exercises and even those ran me short of breath! Needless to say, I was worried that this week's weigh in.

However, this ended up being a GREAT week!

Beginning Weight (August 22, 2012): 181

Last Week's Weight (September 26): 161

This Week's Weight (October 3): 154

Weight Gain/Loss: -7 this week (-27 total)!!!!!

Exercise This Week: Like I said, it was a bad week as far as exercising is concerned. I was restricted to floor exercises only and SOME walking. I do floor exercises every day either first thing in the morning, or right before bed (depending on when I have a chance to fit them in). I continued to focus on my abs and arms this week. Working on my abs has really flattened out my baby pooch and my arms don't have quite the jiggle that they used to! :) 

Overall Health: It is hard to really judge how I felt this week since I was so sick. I really felt like crap most of the time! Haha! So, using how I have felt from previous weeks, I can definitely tell a difference from before I started exercising. I am not near as tired and have much more motivation and stamina throughout the day. It's wonderful! I can't wait until I am over this sickness and can feel that again!

Hardest Thing This Week: Oh my, besides being sick, the hardest thing about this week was having self-control when it came to sweets. My husband requested I make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies for him and they were so yummy that it was all I could do to not inhale them! I did have a few, probably more than I should have, but overall I'm proud of myself for showing some restraint! :)

Overall Thoughts: I am actually really glad this week is over and I am finally starting to feel better. I am longing to go running again but I know that it is going to be a kick in the pants! I am so relieved that I did not gain any weight back and actually continued to lose but I know that this trend will not continue if I do not get back out there and get my cardio going!

This Coming Week: I hope to run, run, run! I am going to try Zumba for the first time on Friday and I am really looking forward to it! I know I probably won't produce the same results that I did this week, so I am going to mentally prepare myself for next week's weigh in. Hopefully it won't disappoint too much though!
 
Photo Taken on October 3, 2012

Thanks again for your support and please let me know if you would like to take this journey with me!

Again, check out my friend Megan's blog to keep up with her progress as well!


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My Most Embarrasing Post, Ever

So this is going to be one of those brutally honest posts. One like I've never done before. One where I share something really humiliating about myself. Because it's time. Because it's something I NEED to share.

Here I go. 181. That number makes me sick. It was the number that I saw when I stepped onto the scale for the first time since I had Addison. It was the number that gave me a severe reality check. So why even try out the scale in the first place? Because of my little (if you can call 25 little) brother and my wonderful momma (who has recently lost 75 lbs...more about that later). So what did my brother do? He literally told me I was getting too fat. Yeah, he said it just like that. It hurt. LIKE CRAZY. I cried...A LOT. But you know what, he was being honest, because he loves me! And to tell you the truth, I needed to hear it from someone other than my husband or myself.  I love my brother for telling me that. More than I can even express. It brings tears to my eyes because I know how hard it was for him to say it to my face. For him to be willing to lay it out there knowing that it would upset me and make me angry! I mean, obviously I knew that I was getting too fat but it was like I was living this dream that no one else would notice my rapid weight gain. What a lie I had fed myself!

Now I am not going to tell you that I changed my habits right after he told me that. Because I didn't. I was still angry so why would I give him the gratitude of being right by trying to lose weight right away? That would just be silly! DUH. What a moron I can be sometimes. Instead, I went home and continued on with my unhealthy habits. Then, a few days later, I came across a pin on Pinterest that caught my attention and, if it hadn't been for my brother, I would have passed it by but his words were still ringing in my head. Anyway, the pin was a diet that is used in the military to help those in training lose weight fast. Lose up to 10 pounds in 3 days?!?! That sounds easy enough, right? Basically it is this strict diet regimine where you can only eat certain things for the firs 3 days of the week and then you go back to your normal diet routine for the last 4 days (rinse, repeat). So I printed it out and told Nick I was going to try it. To monitor my weight, I decided to step on the dreaded scale and that's when I saw what my weight was. Wow. I literally sucked in my breath when I saw it. That was when I decided that I COULD DO THIS. So, the next day, I started the diet. IT SUCKED. I was hungry all of the time and the food was pretty gross. There were times when I really wanted to give up, but I was determined to not fail at another diet. I had my doubts about it but, it worked! I literally lost 10 lbs in 3 days! Now, I am sure a lot of what I lost was probably water weight but it was just what I needed to give me a boost of confidence! For the next 4 days, I did all I could to not gain any of that weight back. I ran, and ran, and ran. I did sit-ups, push-ups, and other exercises. I started counting calories. And by the time the end of those 4 days were up, I stepped on that scale again to discover I hadn't gained one pound back. In fact, I had lost 1 more pound! Woohoo! I then decided to try the 3 day diet again. Let me tell you, it sucked the second time around too. Only this time, I lost nothing. I felt like I had put myself through pure torture for nothing. So...the last 4 days of that week, I did the same. I ran, I exercised, I counted calories. I lost 3 lbs! Once the 3 day diet came back around, I tried it one last time, and lost NOTHING again. At this point, I was done with that diet. It was a great diet to give me the boost I needed initially, but it was not fun, and not at all healthy. Being hungry all of the time is NOT HEALTHY.

So what am I doing now? I am continuing to exercise. I do ab exercises and arm exercises every day because those are the areas of my body that I feel the least confident in. I run/walk when I get the chance (meaning, when Nick is home to watch Addison) too! I am watching my caloric intake. I can't tell you how much this has helped my diet out. Once I started counting my calories, I realized just how much I was actually ingesting on a daily basis. I was probably consuming over 1000 calories in drinks alone! Now I only drink water (or vitamin enhanced water), tea, and milk. Cutting soda out of my life was a challenge in itself but I can happily say that I haven't had a soda (aside from the diet soda here and there that I like to have when we are at a restaurant) in a month and a half! I am continuing to try to stay within the 1000-1200 calorie mark every day. It can be a challenge, but it is actually much easier than I could have ever imagined!

So, 5 weeks have passed and here I am 27 pounds lighter and so much more confident in myself. My family has been my biggest cheerleaders. My husband is continuously telling me how proud he is of me and encouraging me. My parents have been pushing me to stay strong and are so very proud of me as well. I was able to see my dad and brother for a short while a few weeks ago and they went home raving to my mom about how great I looked (talk about a confidence boost)! My brother texts me encouraging things all of the time and loves when I send him updates!

Losing this weight has helped more than my self-esteem though. It has helped my marriage, tremendously. I didn't mention it before, but that was something else that my brother said to me. My weight was affecting our marriage, big time. That seems silly, but it truly was. Sex was not something that I looked forward to because I hated the way I looked. (Sorry if that is TMI but I warned you that I was going to be brutally honest!) And for all of you women out there that think men don't really need sex, you are wrong. God made them that way. It's a part of life. Kind of like we, as women, need to be loved, men need to have sex. It's just the way they are programmed and it is wrong of us, as wives (myself included), to not give them what they need.

This experience has also helped my walk with the Lord. I am denying self by not eating what I want and not laying around like I would like. Therefore, I am more in tune with what the Lord wants for my life. As my friend Megan mentioned on her blog, the Lord has called us to take care of our bodies. In 1 Corinthians, Paul says it like this:

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

So why do I tell you all of this? Because I'm not done yet. I need to continue with this healthy lifestyle and not let myself fall back to my old ways. I am much healthier, yes, but not as much as I should be. So that's where I need your help. My friend Megan is monitoring her progress on her blog every Wednesday, (Check her progress out. She's amazing, I tell ya.) and I want to do the same. It will be beneficial for me to share my results with the world so that 1. I will be more motivated to continue. and 2. I may be able to help someone else who is struggling with the same things. So, from now, until I determine I'm ready to lay it aside, I will be checking in on Wednesdays with a look at my week. I hope you will take this journey with me and I would love for you to help me along the way. Also, if you hope to start out on your own weight loss journey and would like some support, please let me know and I would love to help you as well!

Before I end this, I want to share some photos of what I looked like before I started this weight loss journey. These were all taken over the summer so they are fairly recent. I am sharing these so you can have some sort of idea as to where I was when I started out. I hope to continue to take pictures of myself so that I can actually see the progress I am making and share it with all of you as well. I will try to post one soon!

So stay tuned for this week's stats!

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Friday, September 28, 2012

Instagram Friday

Here is a little peek at our week via Instagram! Enjoy!






Friday, May 18, 2012

Our first campfire of the year!


We love everything about the area we live in except for the lack of moisture. I suppose when you have a lot of sunshine that means you have to give up the precipitation that comes with clouds. However, since we've been getting an unusual amount of rain/snow these past few weeks, our fire danger is low! That being said, we decided to take advantage of it and have our first camp fire this week...in our front yard! 

Last year, Nick had to cut down a pine tree that was near our deck because it was destroyed by bugs (sad). Since then, we've had this perfectly round spot with no grass and it worked perfectly for us to put a fire pit there! 


This was Addison's first campfire and she loved it. For the longest time, she was just mesmerized by it! We were a little worried that she might want to get close to it but she was content as can be sitting in the chair.


She would hardly even look at the camera so that mommy could get a picture with her! I must say that I rather enjoyed having her sit still on my lap though. We got to cuddle under the blanket together and let daddy do all the work!


Having a campfire was completely his idea and he even ran into town (which is a 15 minute drive by the way) just so we could roast some marshmallows!

YUMMY!

It really was very relaxing to just sit out there as a family and enjoy each other's company. I hope the fire danger remains low so that we can do it again soon!


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Thursday, May 17, 2012

Homemade Playdough

Would you believe me if I said I had never made homemade playdough until this week? It's true! I may have made it with my mom when I was a little girl but I don't remember it if I did. Anyway, I decided it was time for Addison to be introduced to playdough and what better way to do that then by making it together?

The recipe I used was found on the Skip to My Lou blog

I set her on the counter (with her light up Easter bunny) and we set to work!

She liked to help me dump out the ingredients. She discovered that the best way is by using her fingers to scoop it out. What fun!

She then took it upon herself to help me stir. It was really cute to watch her try!
I chose not to add the food coloring in with the rest of the ingredients because I wanted a variety of colors. Instead, I cooked all of the main ingredients and after it had cooled, I took out the dough, divided it into sections and then (using rubber gloves and wax paper to cover the counter) I added drops of food coloring. 

To make it even more fun, we added some pretty sparkles! I have some fine colored sparkles and they worked perfect for this project!

Here are four of the colors that we made. We used neon food coloring and regular food coloring and created our own combination of colors. 


 To store the play-dough, I bought these cute little containers that came in a set of 10 from the dollar store.

Now let's see if she approves!


I think she likes it!


We will definitely be playing with playdough all summer long!

One thing I do want to mention, Jill's recipe only calls for 1 tsp of oil and I have seen others that call for at least 1 T. I kind of feel like this playdough is drying out faster than I would like and so next time I am going to try adding more oil. I'll let ya know if I do!

Thanks for joining us!
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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

We Love the Park!


One thing is for certain, we have a little girl who is a thrill seeker! She absolutely loves being tossed in the air, held upside down, and twirled around so we knew she would love the park too! We have been to our local park numerous times but it's always fun to check out a new park. That's what we did the other day!

 Obviously she really enjoys the swings.


She could literally spend hours in them! Her favorite thing is when daddy pretends she kicked him. He throws himself back and makes an "oof" noise and she thinks it's hysterical!

Just check out this video and you will understand what I mean!



Addie does love a good slide too though.


Her problem with them is that she can never seem to keep her balance!


Whoops! Let's try again!


Much better!


It's also fun to go down the really big twisty slide with daddy!


I think one of her absolute favorite things about the park though, is playing in the rocks!


I know there will be many more trips to the park this summer...


because who can resist this sweet face?

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