Can it possibly be a month?!

On March 3rd I headed to the gym for the first time in a very long time. I was nervous and felt a bit dumb since it had been so long. But I got out of bed and went anyway. I got up at 5 AM...which for me is basically the middle of the night. I got on the treadmill and thought for sure I was going to die. I walked for about 30 minutes and called it a day. For the next week I went to the gym every single day. Frankly, I was scared to miss a day because I was afraid I wouldn't go back. But the time eventually came that I missed a day. And you know what...I did go back. But I was also a little frustrated because I didn't seem to be losing much weight. That first week I did nothing but walk on the treadmill, and think about how the weight machines were freaking me out. But on day 8 I decided that I needed to try the weight machines, so I did. It was ok, And I started working them into my workout. I still wasn't losing much weight. So I began researching and asking people at work. One guy suggested that I needed to change up my routine. And I had read on the internet that sugar could also be the culprit. So I decided sugar was out, and I needed to change my workout. I added biking and still worked out on machines, even adding in the Ab Coaster once, which I felt ridiculous on. The week of sugar free sucked! OMG I thought for sure I would die. But I made it. I couldn't believe I made it...and I am still pretty much sugar free. And you know what's really funny...I don't miss it. I thought I would die without it. But I haven't I am still here.

My other big accomplishment this week is I got on the elliptical. I have been staring at that machine all month, and I swore there was no freaking way I would ever be coordinated enough to get on it and not look like a complete dumb ass.Well I threw caution to the wind this week and got on. It was awkward, don't get me wrong. The first time I last 11 minutes. That was two days ago. Today I was on the elliptical for 20 minutes! I can't tell you what a major accomplishment this was for me. I had never ever wanted to get on that machine in public...but I did it. And I have started losing weight again.

One other big change for me is that I gave up Weight Watchers. It worked for the first 20 lbs, but it had stopped working and I needed something different. So I checked another program and decided on My Fitness Pal, which is FREE! It shows me not how many points, but how many calories I have going in and out on a daily basis. It also has the nutrition value added in so I can see where I am over on certain things (mainly salt) and where I needed to add more stuff (mainly protein). It also links to my Fitbit, which I have a love/hate relationship with. One day I love it, the next day I want to throw it out the car window. Like today, I was on the elliptical for 20 minutes, sweating like crazy and it registered 1 activity minute. Whatever! It does not work well on the elliptical or biking. Tomorrow I am going biking. And I think I am going to attach it to my shoe. Maybe that will help.  Yeah, you read that right..I am going biking! I have no doubt my rear is going to be so sore on Sunday, but I don't care. I have a bike rack on my car, I ordered a clip for my GPS and a saddlebag and I am going out with several of my friends and we are going to place caches along a trail. A year ago I would have never considered making this trip. And not only am I going, but I am going alone. Dave and the kids are staying home, no safety net for me. I am excited.

Weight loss update

After posting yesterday with the Pintester movement it reminded me that I haven't posted an update in a while about the weight loss. It seems to be going fairly well. Halloween was a bad time as the candy called out to me...but I have still managed to keep losing. Right now I am at a total of 17 lbs lost since I started. I have started to incorporate strength training and I am really curious to see how that helps reshape my body.

Everything else in life seems to be going pretty well. Lindsay is starting to cheer for her new school and is already looking forward to high school. With her heading to high school next year it will mean that it is Adam's senior year and we will be looking to start a whole new chapter with him away at
college. I am not ready for that at all! This year just seems to be going way too fast for me.

Pintester - HO HO HO edition - Christmas ornaments

I found myself with a little time to do some Pinterest crafts and of course Pintester has a challenge for us! BTW - if you have not read Pintester's blog or watched her videos...you must do so NOW! Here is a link for you: http://pintester.com/2013/11/pintester-movement-ho-ho-ho/

So, I decided that one ornament was not enough and I must have three different ornaments to complete. Yes, I was an overachiever, especially when I found out I also had to make 14 cheer bows on the same day. The men were happy I was occupied elsewhere so they could watch college basketball.

Here are the Pinterest pins I decided to take on:
http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/90/d9/d7/90d9d7a384b6282cfb7754f3febdacdd.jpg
and
http://www.diyncrafts.com/3992/home/15-easy-festive-diy-christmas-ornaments/2

The first thing I did was gather the supplies to make three different kinds of ornaments

We have glass ornaments, crayons, pom poms, glitter, mop & glo and a hair dryer

You were supposed to use Future instead of Mop & Glo, but in true Pintester fashion I improvised.
The first ornament we tried was glitter ornament
The first thing you want to do is add the Mop & Glo to the inside of the ornament and swirl it around.

Then you just let the extra drain out. As you can see this is a very kid friendly craft.
The next step is to add your glitter. I am very happy to report I made two of these ornaments and did not have a dining room filled with glitter afterwards. (SCORE!)

Swirl the glitter around and it will cover the everywhere the floor cleaner was on the inside of the ornament. After that you empty out the extra glitter and put the top back on and you are done!

My lovely daughter Lindsay models

The next ornament is a little bit trickier and I will warn you right now...get out the gloves! Those glass ornaments get freaking hot! The first thing we did was take the paper off of the crayons, we used Crayola brand because I had read several reviews that they seemed to work the best.

Next you chop them up in little pieces and add them to the inside of the ornament

 

And then you heat - with gloves!

As you heat the crayon and it starts to melt start turning the ornament to coat.

Finished project

We also did a blue and green one that kind of turned out looking somewhat like the earth

The third ornament we did was the easiest one yet! My daughter chose this one because it looked super easy and it really was the easiest thing ever. We purchased some glittery pom poms and stuffed them in there. It doesn't get easier than that! But it did inspire me to make some ornaments for the cheerleaders. I am going to put red, white and black pom poms in ornaments and add a megaphone charm and bow to the top for a sweet gift for each cheerleader.

Here is a picture of our finished projects - not a very good one since I had handed off my camera to my 10 year old son.

Down 10lbs and counting!!!

Today I had to weigh in because I start a new weight loss challenge with a bunch of friends that is going to take us through the holidays. I am really hoping to take home the cash on this one! I am down 3.4% of my body weight. Which is awesome!!! And that is the only awesome news right now.

Over the weekend I took my first quizzes for my new class - Business Statistics. And let me just tell you...this class is going to suck! It is really really hard. And the professor is really tough. The good news is he lets us take the quizzes and even the final TWICE! That really helps. He also gives us a hint if we got a question wrong, so you know where you have ventured off the wrong path. The first quiz I got 5/10...after the second attempt I got 8/10. On the second quiz I got 9/10...and that made me feel a whole lot better. He also doesn't use the book so I have to print out giant power point lectures to go through. This week there is 5 lectures! It's going to be a long 5 weeks.

Some other not so awesome news is Dave is in the hospital with an infection on his foot. He gets these frequently but this one was not helped with antibiotics. After two days of me basically bitching for him to be seen he finally went to the emergency room. And as I suspected, they admitted him. What I did not expect was for them to think it was flesh eating bacteria. After an MRI it turned out not to be (thank goodness). I can not begin to tell you the scary thoughts that were running through my mind. Like what if he had to have his foot amputated or even if he died. It was a rough day yesterday. And neither Jordan or I slept much last night. Hopefully we will have more good news today.

Making changes

I think God sent me a wake up call on September 13th this year. It just happened to be a Friday. I was coming home from work, taking my usual path and a lady ran a red light and slammed into my car. I was spun 90 degrees and two of my tires lifted off the ground before slamming back down. I was so thankful the car didn't roll over. Someone from a business came out who had seen the whole thing came out and told the police what she had seen. I was so thankful that she actually looked up and noticed the lights. My car was damaged slightly, she hit right on the rear tire, but I ended up with whiplash. I have since been to the chiropractor at least a dozen times. At first I was really depressed about the pain and also about missing a weekend we had planned with friends to go kayaking. But as I have started getting better I have decided that maybe God was trying to tell me something.
About a week before the accident I stepped on the scale was just devastated at the number. How could that even be possible? I stepped off and on several times thinking the scale had to be crazy...but yep, there it was in black and white, I was 10 pounds from the weight I said I would never ever see...I weighed 290 lbs!!  After the accident I turned to my normal stupid comfort foods and spent way too much time laying around feeling sorry for myself. And then I don't know if my brain had just had enough or what but a switch was thrown. The next day was Senior Night for my son's soccer team and I had to take pictures. With every snap of my camera I could only think that next year I would have to walk across that field and hug my son, and I wanted him to be proud that I was his mom. I wanted to feel and look good walking across that field. The next day I started trying to figure out how I was going to get this done. I knew my weakness was afternoon lunch. I hate coming home and not knowing what I am going to eat. I also hate having to take a long time to make it, because if I am hungry I will snack while I'm making lunch. So I decided I would get some frozen meals to start and see if that helped. I have had a couple of set backs. Sunday morning being one of the worst as Dave always brings home muffins and donuts in the morning. But overall I have done pretty well. I joined Weight Watchers Online this week and have been very good about tracking my food and water. And just for the heck of it I actually got some activity in as well! I stepped on the scale today, even though I'm not supposed to weigh until Tuesday...and I am down 10 lbs! I am thrilled! I feel pretty good and have started changing some habits, like eating breakfast, getting enough sleep. The Weight Watchers website really helps with making little changes. I am not one that  takes to changes very easily, but I am really hoping that with baby steps I can be successful! I also joined a weight loss challenge with some friends, so that should help keep me motivated also!

Pintester Movement - May 30th Vootbeer float

I had planned to do something completely different today. But after a really long day at work. I also was in New Orleans last week and it would be nice to have a cocktail tonight. So I decided I would try a fun little drink.

All you need is 2 oz of vanilla vodka, root beer, ice, whipped cream and a cherry. Well guess who didn't have whipped cream or cherries? Not to mention who wants ice in the float? I wanted ice cream. So I decided to improvise a little. I added ice cream and left out the whipped cream and cherries.

I even found a wide mouthed mason jar to add a little special touch.
Here is the finished project:

The only bad thing about this drink is that I shouldn't have had any dinner. It was very rich and filling! NAILED IT!!!!

Check out more Pintester Movement posts:
 http://pintester.com/2013/05/the-pintester-movement-craft-all-the-things

I want to remember...

Last week one of my favorite scrapbook gurus posted in her blog, "I want to remember...", and then she posted random everyday things about her kids.  I loved this idea.  I always have a really hard time journaling in my scrapbooks and writing blog entries. By using those four words I think I can write our family stories much better.  I won't have just scrapbooks filled with birthdays and holidays but actual everyday stories that make my family who they are.  So here is the first in what I hope will be any entries.

What I want to remember about this weekend and today:

This weekend we went to the a geocaching event, the Fall Picnic at Lieber State Recreation Area. Not only was it a great weekend with friends and family but it made for some wonderful memories.
From this weekend I will remember these moments the most.

• Lindsay was the leader of one of the kids GeoSurvivor events and she was so encouraging with her younger teammates. She really makes a great big sister and is so sweet with kids that are younger than her.  It makes me wonder if she wouldn't make a wonderful teacher.
•  Jordan made a wonderful new friend, Kellan.  We had never met his parents before, so we made new friends as well.  Jordan and Kellan were almost inseparable when we got back to the campground and are going to keep in touch over the internet.  Neither one of them have stopped talking about the other. I love had easy my kids make friends.
• Sunday morning Katie, Dave, Fred, Bernice and Daryl and I sat around just chatting.  I love the fact that I could have cared less if my hair was done or not.  We just sat around and shared great conversation.  We also had wonderful stories around the campfire the night before.  It is so hard for us to even go to bed when we are having such a wonderful time.

Lindsay encouraging her younger teammate