Weighing In!

Ugh! 2.8 lbs. I can't believe how much harder it is this time!

Since I need something to celebrate, I am going to celebrate my abilities in Spin Class. Last competition, about 1/2 way through, we started going to spin class on Fridays before weigh in. When we first started I couldn't even make it through a whole class. I didn't even make it through a whole class that competition. The first week we went back I was able to make it through the whole class. I couldn't stand up (partly because of my knee- but mostly my body/mind) during the parts we were suppose to stand and pedal. But today, today I did the whole thing and I stood every time for the whole time that we were suppose to! Hooray! My body is getting stronger. I decided that even if I don't lose another pound (which I hope I do) I will be so happy with my body getting so much stronger and healthier. Now, to conquer that 5k. For those of you who are runners, when does it quit hurting? And when can I start breathing? I don't hurt while I run (other than I REALLY need new shoes) except for the breathing part and then I hurt afterwords. Is this normal? Is it worth it?

Cut the Crazy

My friend Debbie is starting her class at Big Picture Scrapbooking today. I am so excited for her and Georgana! I wish I was able to take this class, these ladies are amazing and this concept is amazing. If you can, go take the class. It's on line and it costs $30 and I'm sure it will be wonderful. Debbie also started a new blog, wow, I love it! Make sure you read the post about "Unplug the Christmas Machine" it really makes you think. I think this Christmas is going to be different for a lot of people (you know that economy thing),but I think that makes this concept that much more important. I think we may all be realizing this very important concept "He puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!" Here's wishing you all a delightful Christmas! Enjoy the things that are most important to you!

Ice Skating

On Friday night we took the kids and went ice skating. It was SO MUCH FUN! Even little Bevan loved it. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera. (We have one picture on Doug's cell phone but I don't know how to get it off.) Maddie used a "walker" and was speeding all over the place. Katie was pretty independant and by the end of the night could keep up with me. At first Bevan was being held up by us but by the end of the two hours he would barely hold our hands. He wasn't skating but he was kind of walking around the rink. The whole time he was yelling "I kating, I kating!" The girls just thanked us and thanked us for taking them. And asked when we would go back. I'm not sure when we will, but we will for sure be going back!

While we were there I asked what their schedule was for the next day. When I saw that we were not on the schedule, I decided we were not going skating for our competition. As we were leaving we were talking about it, Katie said; "Maybe your going to the corn maze." I thought, "yup that's it." And guess what, it was! Our team did horrible. We were told there were three boxes and we had to to get an envelope out of each box. Well, we were very slow, and we made it half way and still hadn't found any boxes so we kept circling around. Finally, someone came in and got us and said the person who was suppose to put the boxes in never did, so just get out. Well, we finally made it out and it took us about 45 minutes, the other teams took about 27. Oops! Oh well, at least we stayed together and worked together as a team. When we came out Nick (head trainer) said that it really wasn't fair so if we wanted to we could just go again and whoever gets out first wins. By this time we were down to only 3 members (others had commitments). I said "I'm not going back in there, just give it to the team who came out first." They ended up doing that. I don't like those mazes, I get claustrophobic and grumpy. I hate being lost!

Weighing In!

3 pounds. I have to say, I'm quite disappointed. I wanted 6, I thought I had 5 (according to the numbers) but it didn't happen. Hopefully next week. We've got a competition tomorrow. We think it is ice skating (since we were told to meet outside the rink, dressed warm and prepared to stay on our feet). Since it's been around 15 years since I ice skated, our family is going tonight to see if I can relearn how. Wish me luck. Maybe you'll get some entertaining photos later! ;)

Oh, I should say, I lost 5 inches in these last 2 weeks. I think that's about 11 inches in a month! :)

Love this time of the year!

Oh, I am just loving it! I find myself getting excited. I love Fall so much. I love the crisp air, the beautiful trees, and the fact the holidays follow. Is there anything more wonderful than the holidays? I don't think so! I even pulled out my Christmas planning binder today. I added pages and cleaned it out and made lists (getting ready to check them twice!) Oh, it's just so fun! I love the season more than I love the day. I love the days before Thanksgiving. The baking and cooking and planning. Then I love the weeks before Christmas, the planning, shopping, activities. All of it! Oh, I can barely contain myself!

Weighing In!

It's that time of week again... 3.8lbs! It didn't quite make my goal of 5lbs, which would have put me in the next lower "10's" (does that make sense?) But, after my food choices yesterday, I don't feel TOO bad. I'm digging in this week. I'd love to see a big weight loss, like 6 pounds.

Wedding Flowers

On Saturday I did flowers for a wedding. Some of these were unique but I thought they turned out beautiful. Just thought I'd share.

Boutonniere

Cake & Bride's BouquetCenterpiece used on buffet table and book table. This I didn't know she wanted but when we got there it was definitely needed so we threw a quick one together.Centerpieces for tables. I was a little worried about how these would look- I've never done one like them, but they really worked. And I think the bride (and her mother) were really happy with them. For the reception they had a brown silky square underneath them, it really added to the centerpiece.

This is what yesterday looked like!

So, this was our day yesterday...

Can ya' tell Bevan and I are dancing in the snow, and catching the snowflakes on our tongues?

It has been at least 70* for the last few weeks and yesterday and today, it snowed! Welcome to Fall in our neck of the woods.

Weighing In!

Gotta update, it keeps me going, plus I want a record of this fight! ;) 3.2 pounds! hooray. Our team is ahead in weight loss, but only by .25%. We also had our first "head to head" challenge. We did a 5k with a couple of stops where our team had to stop and guess the calories of 3 fast food meals. Once we had them right (we were give 6 cards with numbers on them) we could go on to the next leg. The last guess was a big salad and we had to write down our calorie guess. For every 100 calories we were off we had to wait 1 minute. Our team was only off by 50 calories so we had a 30 second penalty. Honestly, that's the only way we won, the other team had 1 minute penalty and our team average was only a little over 30 seconds faster than theirs. So, I guess maybe we would have won, but it would have been much closer. Good thing our trainer drills calories so much! Even with all those stops, I beat my time of my last 5k (the one I did in May, the one I mostly walked) by 10 minutes, maybe without those stops it would have been 15 mintes. I think I am going to do a 5k in November, maybe by then I'll be able to run most of it. Oh, btw, we won $50 gift certificate to Dream Dinners, I am so thrilled! I love Dream Dinners, but I haven't been able to go there for quite a while so it will be so fun to use!

BTW, I added Maddie's picture below...

Happy Birthday Maddie!

Yesterday (October 7th) was Maddie's Birthday. What a grand day it was! I'll fill you in on all the festivities later, right now I want to celebrate Maddie.

Maddie is the most tender hearted little girl. She is a great helper and almost never fights with me. When she decides she wants something she just goes ahead and does it and doesn't stop until she gets it! I think I'll share Maddie's guitar story, because it is such a perfect example of how she is.

Last Spring Maddie asked me if she could learn to play the guitar. (Not sure where this came from- we don't even own a guitar.) I just kind of put her off. Finally after she nagged me for weeks I told her that if she went and asked Mike (our neighbor and world known guitar player) about lessons then she could do them. Knowing how shy she is, I thought this would be the end of the guitar. Nope, as soon as we got home, Maddie walked right over to Mike's house. He wasn't home, so, early the next morning she went again. This time he was home. He told her that he didn't teach children, but if I would call his office he'd give me some names of teachers. He gave Maddie his office phone number and said he'd be leaving to go in a few minutes. She brought the number to me and I explained that we couldn't call until he was at the office. Well, as soon as she saw his car leave she brought me the number. I once again explained that we had to give him time to get to his office and I told her to go put his number back so we didn't lose it. She didn't put it back and the number was lost. I thought for sure this was the end of it, but not for Maddie, she stalked their house until Kathy (his wife) came home and she ran right over, before Kathy was even out of the car, and asked for Mike's number. I was finally able to call him. He gave me some numbers and told me who the best one would be(Jenny). I called Jenny and left a message everyday Maddie asked me if I had heard from the teacher. Finally Jenny called back and said that she didn't have any openings but would in the Fall. I asked her to call me back at the end of the summer- thinking for sure Maddie would forget by then. Of course, she didn't. Almost every day she asked me how many more days until Fall and if I had gotten her a guitar yet. I decided that she was serious and so I had better get serious too. I looked on a statewide classified website and found a 3/4 size guitar for only $30. It was just about perfect (the only reason it wasn't was because it didn't come with a case). Finally on September 11th Maddie was able to start her lesson. This week she learned how to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb". For her birthday Doug and I gave her a pink guitar case (once again I found it on that classified site- only $20, $50 total for the guitar- not bad!) She loves it and loves to put it on her back and carry it around!

My Fitness Trainer

Most of you know that I am on a quest for a healthier, fitter, more energetic me. I want to share a wonderful web site with you that has helped me a ton. It is Myfitnesstrainer.com. Annette is the owner of this web site, she is a personal trainer and is working on writing a book about health. I love the philosophy she has and shares on this web site. It has a great way to keep track of your food and it also automatically adjusts the calories you should be eating. Everyday there are exercises. These exercises only take a few minutes but will help you get stronger. This is definitely a program that works into your "everyday" life. Plus, she's just lowered the prices! I even think you can get a couple weeks free trial. There is also a "Fitness Forum" that is free to post. Go check it out!

Weighing In!

8.8 pounds! Whoo Hoo!!!!!!!!!! I'm excited because this has been a hard week. I'm tired and my LEGS ARE KILLING ME! I keep telling myself it will be better next week. So far my knee has held up pretty well too. Guess that physical therapy was worth it! ;)

Katie's sling

Since a couple aunts ask for Katie's picture with the sling so, here it is. It's not too exciting, just a normal sling. When I told Katie we needed to take it she thought you were nuts! But here's the picture. BTW, she is doing really well. She takes Lortab at night and ibuprofen during the day. She seems to be handling things great! She's even sleeping through the night now, after a couple of restless nights.

What am I thinking?!?

I'm doing it again. The Body Bugg Ultimate Loser contest that is. I have to say I was just as nervous this time- maybe even a little bit more, it's like having a baby, the first time you're nervous because you don't know what to expect the second time you're nervous because you do know what to expect! :) We weighed in on Monday. (Have to admit- I drank about 90 oz of water in the 2 hours before I weighed in, and then spent the rest of the day in the bathroom.) Then yesterday was our first "real" work-out- we did the stadium! Every stair and then all the yard lines (I did the yard lines 1 1/2 times!) I was actually able to run part of it, boy, that felt good! Today I'm stiff, but not as bad as I was the first week last contest. Today we're off for a three mile hike. Love those hikes, and the canyon should be beautiful!

I am lucky enough to have the same trainer, Felice, and it seems as if we have a great team this year. We even have one guy. All seem positive and ready to fight. Oh, there are three of us who were on the same team last competition.This time there is a group prize ($300 each) and an individual greatest loser ($3000). I'm playing the game this time! Last time I didn't even think I could do it so I didn't worry about the contest, until towards the end. I'm hoping we can at least win the group again, if not I guess I'll have to wear clothes that fall off my body! Last time I had enough clothes that I'd held on to, but if I make my goal this time, I'll weigh less than I did when I got pregnant with Katie and I have none of those clothes left- that was 9+ years ago! I guess that's the whole story, wish me luck!