Insanity - Day 1

So... I did it. I started Shaun Ts' Insanity today.

I have this to say:

I THINK I'VE LOST MY MIND!

LOL

It was only the fit test and I thought I was going to vomit and pass out! LOL

I forgot to take my "before" picture before my workout this morning... so I will have to get one of the kids to do it later today. :-P

In 60 days from now (which I will be blogging for) I hope to see a significant difference in my appearance!

MAYBE at day 30 I will post pictures... we will see!! ;-)

Day 4

I'm taking a rest day today! We took our puppy for her final puppy shots! Then we took her for her very first walk at PetSmart! :-) She got a new harness and leash that will last her instead of the little tiny "I'm a 4.5 pound puppy" collar! :-)

We went to Chick-fil-a for lunch, and I got a grilled chicken sandwich and a fruit cup with a diet lemonade. MAN was that sour!! LOL

For dinner we are having beef stew. Yes, it is SUPER hot here, but, I didn't take that into account when I made the meal plan. (Duh!! LOL) After dinner we are taking the dogs on a walk. :-)

Day 3

Turbo Jam again this morning! 45 Cardio Party! I didn't really know the "routine" so I didn't get quite as good a workout as I do with the 20, but I'll learn it and it will be a good one! For breakfast I had Coco Wheats. I know it's a kids thing... but I really like 'em! LOL

For lunch I had leftover chili again! Num!! That stuff is SO good!!!

(And again for dinner because I forgot to put the stuff in the crock pot this morning!)


***
Hey sorry this didn't go out yesterday!! I fell asleep before I posted it!! LOL

Day 2

Another Turbo Jam workout this morning!! 20 minutes of cardio. I was taking a break between cardio and abs to check on our chick order (which was sent to the wrong post office... LOL) and Bug woke up and decided that I got a quick kiss and she was going to watch TV! Then we went to pick up the chicks. (Which are ADORABLE!) I didn't get my ab workout in, which is okay, but not optimal. Breakfast was 2 pieces of whole wheat bread, toasted, with butter.

Lunch I had chili (see recipe, previous post) and a sandwhich.

Dinner was taco salad! Yum!!

Day 1

This mornings workout was Turbo Jam 20 minute workout, followed by a "late" breakfast" (at 8am, but I'd been up since 5:30) of chocolate Shakeology, made with 2% milk and a Tablespoon of Jif PB.

Lunch was 2 lunch meat sandwiches and cottage cheese with pineapple chunks!

Dinner!! Ah glorious dinner! I made Eggplant Parmesan! No pasta, just eggplant. it was delish!!

During commercial breaks in Americas Got Talent (rerun) I did 15 crunches/sit-ups, 15 push ups, and 15 squats! I'll probably be sore in the morning! :-P

Something different

So, I'm going to be doing something different.

I'm going to blog every day for 90 days.

I'm going to blog my workout, my meals & snacks, possibly with pictures, recipes, and weight! Of course, not all of those will be every day, but, the meals, and workouts will be! Starting tonight! So be on the look-out! :-)

(Talk about extreme accountability!! :-D )

Monday Weigh-in and Chili!

Today is my little girls 9th birthday. I can't believe 9 years ago she was just a tiny little thing wrapped up in a pink blanket! She has grown SO much, in more ways than one! She's super smart, she's in all advanced classes in school, she is a helper at our church, and everywhere we go, she always knows someone, and if it's an adult they always tell me what a sweet girl she is. Makes my heart smile. :-)

Anyways! My weigh in! I lost! WOOHOO! I'm at 204.6 as of this morning. According to my Sparkpeople.com goal tracker, I SHOULD be at 201, but, that's okay! I'm slightly behind, but, not enough to be a big deal. I will figure out how to lose that "extra" at some point in time.

Yesterday I put chili in the crock pot before we went to church, and when we got home, the entire house smelled so good I wanted to eat the air! It was REALLY good! Tho, if you have or have people in your family that have sensitive mouthes, scale back on the chili powder a tiny bit. :-D

Crock Pot Chili
Serves 10-15

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 28oz can diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 8oz can marinara (or regular tomato sauce)
• 1 small diced red pepper
• 1 small diced green pepper
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced small
• 3 medium carrots, cleaned and shredded
• 4-5 TABLESPOONS chili powder (I used 5, kids said it was a bit spicy)
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 15oz can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 15 oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed.

1. In a large non-stick skillet, crumble ground turkey and brown, turning often until pink is gone, 6-7 minutes. Transfer to 6-quart slow cooker
2. Add remaining ingredients and gently mix
3. cover and cook for 8 hours on low, or4 hours on high.

Monday Weigh-in and a Recipe!

So, my husband left last night to go to Quantico Virginia for 3 weeks, so these past few days has been "celebration time!" For those of you that don't know, my birthday is tomorrow (12June) and my daughters birthday is next week (18June). We ate out a few times. I didn't get exercise in as much as I would have liked.  Wednesday night Bug came home from school and was crying saying her throat, head, and stomach hurt. I took her to the doctors and she had strep AND the flu. Then Monk started throwing up later that night. They both missed the last 2 days of school. :-/

Anyways! No excuses! I weighed in this morning, and I'm back to 207. GAH! It's okay tho. I didn't go any higher, and I'm getting back on the Turbo Jam wagon, back on the healthy eating wagon, and we'll be fine! :-) Sam is gone for the next 3 weeks, so it gives me time to work out a new routine with the kids being home for exercise and everything else.

Last night we had some REALLY good nachos!! (I LOVE NACHOS!!) I thought I would share the recipe with y'all!

Cheesy Chili Nachos (adapted from Eat More of what you Love)
Serves: 4

• 8 oz lean ground turkey
• 3/4 cup diced onion
• 1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes
• 1/2 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 oz whole grain tortilla chips
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 2 teaspoons flour
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• pinch of garlic
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Add ground turkey and onion to medium skillet at medium high heat. Cook until meat is browned and onion is soft, about 10 minutes
2. Stir in chili powder, cumin, and cayenne peper. Stir in tomatoes and 1/2 cup water. Reduce hit to low, cover, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in beans and heat until warm.
3. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter and add flour, whisk until smooth. Add chicken broth and garlic and bring to boil, stir continuously until thick. Remove from heat and whisk in 1/2 cup of cheese at a time. 
4. Spread chips out over plate (or platter). Spoon meat mixture evenly over chips, and drizzle cheese over chili. Top with favorite garnish, and serve!

It really  filled you up with all of the whole grain chips, and it was lower in calories!! (around 200)

We watched Secret Millionaire and Extreme Makeover: Weightloss Edition last night. I really like Sunday night "feel good TV." Secret Millionaire makes me happy that there are still people out there willing to help. Gives me hope for the human race. EM:WE makes me REALLY happy! I absolutely LOVE Chris Powell! During the program, he challenged everyone to do his "commercial exercise" which was 15 sit-ups, 15 push-ups, and 15 squats. He said that doing that during the commercials was something easy to do and it gave you quite the workout. I did that for about an hour.. maybe a little longer. I can say that my abs and arms are a bit sore today! I guess that means that I need to do that every night while we watch our TV shows.

Anyways! Busy day today! I thought I would share with you a little video about the program that I'm currently doing. It's called Turbo Jam, and it's REALLY fun!! If you have any questions about this, or would like to order a copy of this AMAZING workout, let me know!!

Monday Weigh-In

So, since I didn't really get any exercise in, I didn't expect to lose any weight... especially since I cheated a bit with some dark chocolate this week. (Okay and a glass or two of koolaide... and a glass of lemonaide at church yesterday... just keepin it real!)

But I did!! Of course, it's not a huge amount... but... it's a small step for man kind! :-D

I weighed in this morning at 206.4 so I lost just over half a pound.

I AM starting 30 Day Shred this morning tho.

Sam went to Pensacola this week for work. The first day or two I really miss him, but after that, I'm okay. This seems like it's going to be a regular occurring thing. He said that they have a few more weeks here at LeJeune, then they go to Quantico, then I think he said back to FL, then Pendleton!

He told me that there is a fitness room and a pool at his hotel, so he would start some light workouts, which is a HUGE step for him! I kinda feel bad for Sam, because when he was growing up they didn't have any money for family vacations or anything like that. Then when he got into the Marine Corps... they don't stay in hotels! LOL So, this has really been the first time that he's every really gotten to stay any place nicer than Uncle Bobs Bargain Shack. He told me how the room had a microwave, and a couch, and he could order room service! I'm sure it's the nicest room he's ever been in. We'll remedy that soon tho. :-)

So, here's the truth...

I'm fat.

Yes... I said it. I'm a fatty. Oh I know... you look at my nice little banner up there at the top and say "There's no WAY that she's fat!" Well.. that picture was taken more than 4 years ago by a great friend of mine. He was trying to build his photography portfolio and I agreed to help him out. I used to LOVE to have my picture taken... but not so much any more.

This morning I stepped on the scale at exactly 207 pounds. Egad. My scale has a weight tracker option where it gives you 4, 8, and 12 week past weights. 12 weeks ago I weighed 27 pounds less. Holy CRAP! That's gaining a little over 2 pounds a week for 3 months!

Today is the day that I'm going to change that.

So, today until June 15th, I'm going to do Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. I've had luck with that one before. It's a 20 minute work out, 27 if you could warm up and cool down. I can do that between getting Austin off to school and waking Jillian up to get ready. I'm going to cut out all soda and juice. Water (and milk) only! I'm not going to add sugar to things. (Unless the recipe calls for it... like bread) No more sweets!!!!! After my initial 30 days, I'll be moving on to TurboJam. After that, hopefully I will be able to afford TurboFire! I REALLY like TurboJam, but, until I can get myself back into a routine of eating right, working out, and housework, I need the short, sweet, bust your chops workouts.

I'm not a big fan of "Lets cut out fat!" and all that stuff. I would rather lose weight eating better, than replacing my foods with chemicals. I'll still drink my whole fat milk, because that's what I like, that's what my children like, and even tho Sam buys reduced fat milk, I can't stand to drink it because it has no flavor.

As soon as we get our bills under control with Sam just starting his new job... I'll be getting back on Shakeology as well.

We have a book called Eat More of What You Love and it has some really good recipes in it. Altho we haven't cooked any, I can tell by the recipes that they will be good. I'll update more when I've cooked some of them.

I don't have any good recent photos of me.. because I hate having my picture taken since I've gotten so big. There is no excuse for me to have gotten this big other than I'm too lazy to work out and eat right. I've let Sam slide under the radar one too many times when I've spotted him putting cakes, candies, and chips in the grocery cart. No more!!

I guess that's maybe why I haven't done so well in my Beachbody biz. I feel too much like a hypocrite telling people that they can lose weight and be healthy when I can't do it myself. As my Pastor always says, let your test be your testimony! My testimony starts today. :-)

Results

So... I finally got the official time from the 5k, and I have to say that I am more than a bit confused.

My official time was 47 minutes flat.

Now... there was a lady from our church that I ran the ENTIRE race with. We crossed the finish line together... and her husband (who didn't run with us because he ran a much faster time) came back a ways and ran across the finish line (for a second time) with us. She's not listed with me! (And for the life of me I can't remember her last name... haha)

I'm very confused because when I crossed the finish line it said 46! No... I didn't mistake it for a 6 but it was an 8... it was a 6 I would bet my life on it!

All in all... I guess what REALLY matters is that I did it, not the time that I did it in. But, I would be lying if I said that 47 didn't bother me. I guess that just means more training, and more races! Maybe someday, I'll go run a half marathon with RJ! ;-)

Wounded Warrior 5K!!

So, I'm signed up! On Saturday I'll be running in the Wounded Warrior 5K! It will be my first 5K as an adult, and my first one that I'll actually be running!! (I did one in HS for MS that I walked with my 4H club) I'm so stinkin excited!!!!!

What I'm NOT excited about is that my bone spur has been acting up and causing me to have pain in my Achilles tendon! GRR!! I took some advice from my friend RJ and decided that I was going to try KT Tape. I bought it today. Bright pink! ^.^ Only thing is... they have one application for "heel pain" and another for the "Achilles tendon" and I don't know which one to do! I wouldn't really call it HEEL pain, it IS in my tendon.... I did send them an email asking which application that I should use, but I haven't heard back yet. I'm going to train again on Wednesday and then maybe a light workout on Friday and then off to the race on Saturday! SOOOO EXCITED!!!!

The only other thing that I have to say about the race right now is, if you would like to donate to the Wounded Warriors, you can do so under my name! You go here and type in my name in the participants box Jacque Charwood. You don't have to.. I'm not begging, BUT! If you would like to, here's your opportunity! :-)

My training today? I ran 2.5 miles in just over 30 minutes. Not terrible... but not exactly great either! ;-) I guess I need to build up more endurance and get a lil faster. It will come with time! :-D

Yes... I suck... I'm sorry!!

So.. I know I missed P365... and I've been terrible about taking pictures this past week as well. It's so close to P365 for THIS week that I'm just going to wait and post them all together. I'm sorry guys!

There has been quite a bit going on, but it seems like nothing at the same time!! I always feel like I'm busy, but it never seems like much of anything gets done! *sigh!*

Well, I'll just drop a little update down for everyone. After the news of Sam going to Wounded Warrior barracks was handed out, he gave me a little more info. He's not sure that they're even going to approve it, and even if they do, it's only for 90 days at first. If it takes longer than 90 days to get him out of the Marine Corps they can either ship him back to his unit, or keep him at the WW until he is out. Either way, he will be able to focus more on getting out of the Marine Corps and finding employment and whatnot.

A new development for me is, on Monday 14March2011, I'm going to start the Couch 2 5K program. It's basically a running "program" that helps get you in shape to run a 5K (or approximately 3 miles). You can find out more about it here. I downloaded a program on my phone that helps time you. It gives audible beeps for when you're supposed to switch from walking to running. It's quite the nifty little gadget! It essentially gets you from couch potato to 5K runner in a matter of 9 weeks by only working 3 days a week! Of course, I would really like to run MORE than 3 days a week, ideally I would like to run every day!!

The reason why I decided that I wanted to start the C25K program (Couch 2 5K for those that weren't paying attention) is because there is a 1 mile, 5k, 10k, and half marathon here in Jacksonville for the Wounded Warriors. It's called Hope For The Warriors and I would REALLY like to run it! It's only $20 for a single person, but, there is an option for the entire family, which is $65. There is a discount for Sam since he is a Wounded Warrior, tho I'm not sure what that would be. Monkey is on board for doing it. I figure Monkey and I could probably run the 5k, and Bug and Sam could walk the mile.

On another note. The weather here is icky!!

{via wunderground}

That red circle is where we are. Tho it's not as bad as it could have been! Holy moly! It starts pouring, then it stops, pours, stops... etc etc!! It really doesn't impact me all that much, other than I just want to sit on the couch and watch TV all day... more so than usual that is... *shifty eyes*

Speaking of watchign TV! I did find more than one channel on our bunny ears finally!! Tho we don't watch much TV, we have been stuck with only ABC for live TV for quite some time because we turned the cable off to save a little bit of money. It didn't really bother me that much, other than not being able to watch a couple things that I wanted because we didn't have that channel any more (Hello!! Classic Nickelodeon cartoons!! {Random fact: A nickelodeon is also known as a jukebox or as an early movie theatre [yes, I know it's spelled theater in America]}) I was TRYING to watch The Bachelor : The Women Tell All and it wouldn't come in very good so I started messing with the bunny ears. Wednesday I decided that I was going to go thru the channels again and see if we got any of the other ones since I moved the ears. Wouldn't you know it... we now get all the major ones... including FOX! Wooo!! (Hello!! House! {Random Fact: I don't have one for FOX})

New Years Resolutions

So, it comes down to the time when we all make these grand plans on how we are going to change in the next 365 days towards the better for ourselves (hopefully) and for our families (if we have them). Most of the time I really don't make any resolutions. I figure, if I don't make any, I won't have any to feel bad about not keeping. Lets face it, we, as humans, are creatures of habit. We fall into a habit and it's a lot of hard work to get yourself out of the habit of doing it. They say that it takes 21 days to break a habit. Most people quit their resolutions within the first 2 weeks. Just 1 week shy of becoming a habit. Terrible. They also say, that if you write it down, and profess it to someone that you trust, that you are more likely to follow through with your plans. I like the sounds of that.

So, without further ado, here are my Resolutions for 2011

1. Be better at cleaning the house 
* Do dishes before bed. * Laundry is done by Saturday. * Clean bathrooms every week. * Vacuum floors twice a week. * Make bed every morning.
2. Build my Faith again.
* Read Bible evey day. * Go to church every Sunday.
3. Be better organized.
* Keep work spaces in order. * File bills when paid. * Keep clutter off of surfaces.
4. Start paying off debt.
* Cut down expenses as needed. * Look into part time job.
5. Build Charwood Candle Company
* Do a giveaway on popular Blog (on LATW as well). * Find less expensive suppliers. * Get Etsy store front open.
6. Exercise every day
* Get Sam and myself up every morning at 5AM for at least 30 minutes of exercise. * Take dogs on walks in the evening.

On that note, I'm going to end this now, so I don't break my very first resolution! It's Saturday, so, I need to do laundry! :-)

How I lost the Curvy in my pants size. (Fat picture included!)

For those of you that didn't know, I'm fat. Yes, I know I have a beautiful profile picture with a pretty, slender girl standing by the ocean. That really is me. But that was me about 4 years ago. That was the "skinny me." Since that picture was taken, I've packed on about 50 pounds. (YIKES!!) So, now you know my dark secret, and the reason that I don't post many picture of myself on here. (Other than I'm usually the one taking all the pictures.) I never really had a problem with my weight before. I was slender pretty naturally, and ate whatever I wanted.

When I moved to Jacksonville 4 years ago, I was 130 pounds. I was a bit on the thin side really. I think I was just a bit TOO thin. I was in pretty good shape, but, I just didn't eat enough, so I was thin. I started eating more, exercising less. I started gaining weight. I then obtained a job in a call center. There, I ate more. I ate because I was bored. I ate because it was there. I ate because we reached a goal. I ate because we didn't. I ate because it was someones anniversary. I ate because someone got divorced. There was always food around, and I was normally stuffing it in my face. I ballooned up to just under 200 pounds. I didn't LOOK that big, but I felt like a giant blimp. I felt like the largest cow in the pen. It was terrible.

If you look back thru my blog, you can see that I've tried before and failed to lose weight. It's been a battle for me. About 3 weeks ago, I really started to crack down on the exercise and eating better. Guess what? I've started to lose weight!! I've been sick and injured during that time as well, but I have managed to drop to 179 pounds. I'm starting to notice that my pants are fitting looser, that my tummy isn't bulging out as much. I'm starting to notice a difference!

I was in my closet the other day, and I was putting up shorts and whatnot for the winter. I looked at my shorts and said "This will be the last summer that I wear you. Next summer, I'm going to be back down to my size 4! Goodbye tight size 12!" (Yes, I was talking to my pants....) I started to pull out my pants and such for the winter. I found my FAVORITE pair of navy blue jeans and gave a heavy sigh. I haven't been able to wear those in a year because they were just too tight. I could get them on, but buttoning them up had become a problem, and when I did get the buttoned up, I had a severe case of muffin top. It was terrible! I looked at my Aeropostale size 12 "curvy" jeans, then I looked at my Old Navy size 12 regulars. I held them up to each other. The ON jeans were 2 fingers width smaller than the Aero jeans. I thought to myself "I wonder if my big fat bum can fit in these this year." So, I tried them on. Guess what??

THEY FIT!!!

Yeah, I know. I still have a ways to go. But that's me! That's my big 'ol fat belly and my smaller sized jeans. That picture makes me want to run and hide and never show my face to the light of day again. But, I'm being real. I'm not perfect.

I'm on my way to a smaller me. I'm exercising more. I'm currently doing Turbo Jam. It's SO much fun! It doesn't feel like I'm working out for more than a couple minutes even tho by the time I'm done I'm POURING with sweat! There is even a timer at the bottom to tell you how much time you have left in the workout and in the particular activity that you're doing. All in all it's a fantastic workout!

I was trying to figure out how to embed the video to show you all about it, but, I can't figure it out, so, I'm just going to give you a link to view it. Which is here. I'm still trying to figure out how to get all of my software and whatnot back onto this computer since we upgraded to Windows 7. I'm hoping that we can get everything to work. *please please please!!*

Anyways! Until next time!

Love ya! Mean it!

Not having a good day!

My day started out fantastic. It really did! I got up, I got the kids off to school with no hitches. Everything was going fantastic! I worked out to my new workout video Turbo Jam (which is FANTASTICALLY fun btw!). Things were still good. Still doin my thing. Still be-boppin along being my happy go lucky self! I ask my work out partner if she still wants to work out this morning. Yup! She sure does! Things start going down-hill from here.

I call the DMV to make sure they have transfered my plates from my old car, to my new car. The car that I've had for going on 3 weeks now. The car that I've fallen completely, madly, deeply in love with. (It has a CD player!) Wouldn't you know it, my plates are still registered to old car. So I ask the lady if I get pulled over, I'm in big trouble, yes? She says, "Yup!" My next move is to call the dealership we got it from. I ask them if they've done anything to get my tags switched over because I needed the new registration to get my base sticker. I REALLY didn't feel like getting a new little slip of paper all the time because they were too lazy to do their job. They tell me that it will be fine, that a cop isn't going to give me a ticket because I have 30 days to get the tags changed over, blah blah blah. Well, I'm not sure how things work where we bought the car from, but here, cops can be real jerks. The fact of the matter is, my tags say they belong to a '05 Hyundai Elantra, but they are ON an '09 Kia Sportage. It's illegal, and they CAN write me a ticket for it, even if I have the papers showing them that I just bought the car less than a month ago. I then tell them that I didn't mean to be a #$)&^#( but if I got a ticket, I was sending all the paperwork and whatnot straight to their office and they were going to pay all of it, and get me a lawyer. It probably meant nothing to them, but in that moment I felt very powerful.

While on the way to my w.o.p.'s house, I'm on the phone with my Momma. Momma is always fun to talk to! Well, I keep feeling like I need to itch my leg, so I scratch, still itches, so I look down (yes, I'm driving, yes I know it was bad...) at my knee area to see if something was under my steering wheel scratching me or something. Wouldn't you know it... it's a tiny little brown TICK!!!! Yes. A tick. I'm not normally a person that freaks out about bugs, or snakes, or "creepy crawlies" in general, but, there are a couple that freak me out beyond belief.

One is the June Bug (or June beetle... whatever). I think that the reason I hate them so much was because I was staying at my Dads one summer, and he had one of those electric bug zappers, (Yes... I'm old... thanks for reminding me!!) and one of them caught a June bug. OMG! It took it FOREVER to zap that lil thing! And it was smokin and and zapping and making all that noise and light. It was terrible. So, from then on, I always thought of them as these extremely tough  bugs. Bugs that take forever to kill. And the FLY!!!! (We'll go into that another day...) How could you NOT get creeped out by them. LOOK AT 'EM! EEEEEEW! (Okay... I'm done...)

The other is the tick. Not just any tick tho. I can handle them when they're on other people or on animals, but it was ON ME!! ON ME!!!!!!!!!!! Oh God. I'm so lucky it was just a tiny little thing. I'm so lucky that it wasn't sucking the life blood out of me because I would have put my brand new car into another car trying to get it off of me. I'm SO lucky that I picked it off, rolled down my automatic window (if it woulda been a crank, I woulda died!!) and flicked it out. UGH! *shiver* Now, every time I have an itch, I'm expecting there to be a tiny tick there. *shudder* 

Work out goes well. Her cat scratches my leg, not a huge deal. I get back into my car (after checking for ticks...) and drive back home.  I take my shower, which kinda sucked because I got this FANTASTIC shower head that has several different sprays and a massage spray... man... it's fantastic, BUT!! Now when I go to wash my hair, I can't move it to spray on the back wall of my TINY stand up shower stall! How am I supposed to put conditioner in my hair? Or shave my legs? STINKS!

The last thing that happened to me today (so far.....) is that hubs calls and tells me that he thinks I need to get a part time job. *sigh* Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against having a job. A job pays you with money. Money is good. I like money. Money can buy me new socks! (Oh how I love new socks!) But I also love being able to stay home, and make bread, and exercise, and work on prospecting for my Beachbody business, and be here when the kids get home and help them with their homework. If I'm working outside the home, I can't do those things. Oh yes... I know... millions of people do it all the time... blah blah blah. I just don't want to. *very sad face* I was getting used to being able to take a nap at 11:30 if I wanted to. Not that I ever did... okay maybe once or twice... but! The point is, if I WANTED to..... I COULD! 

Why can't I just win the Powerball and never have to worry about working again? Why must it be so difficult to be comfortable these days?? Maybe I should just sell a kidney or something.....

A-Quiltin' We Will Go!

So, it's no secret that I read a TON of blogs (82 and counting!)! Usually my morning routine, after getting the kids off to school is to read thru all of the blogs that have posted over the night, and periodically throughout the day. That's a lot of blogs I say, but each and every one of them has something that I want to learn, or improve upon, (Well, except for those few that are family and friends!) I added one yesterday about how to improve your marriage. Sam and I have a pretty good marriage these days, but, it NEVER hurts to find ways to improve things!

So, the other day, I found this FANTASTIC site called Cluck Cluck Sew, and she had this really cute quilt on there, and talked about Charm Packs and all kinds of things that I had NO IDEA existed. Allison is really nice too! Anyways! I was talking with Sam last night, and I told him that I would like for us to MAKE a quilt TOGETHER! So that way, we are spending time together, he gets to use his fantastic artistic ability, (who knew a colorblind guy could be so great at art?!), and we get a new comforter for our bed (which we REALLY need)! Oh, and it doesn't hurt that I'll be getting to use the fantastic sewing machine that he bought me last year! (Sadly, I've only used it a handful of times!) He thought it was a FANTASTIC idea! HOORAY! So, I guess that only leaves us to plan the pattern (anybody have any ideas for simpler quilt patterns??), pick the colors, buy the fabric, make the blocks, sew all the blocks together, get batting, and find someone to teach me the rest!! LOL

I think that this will be a fantastic adventure that Sam and I are about to embark upon. Never know, maybe I'll do so well at it, that I'll make one for Monkey and Buggy! I thought about making a Purple and Gold quilt for Monkey, maybe with some ECU Pirates fabric thrown in there as well. Never know! I think Momma has something up her sleeve for Monkey with purple and gold. I have no idea what, but I think she does. (I could be wrong tho!) For Buggy, it would be super simple... pink and purple. She's ALL girl! I'm not exactly sure WHERE she gets it from. I'm almost the opposite of girlie! I don't wear make up that often, I love t-shirt and jeans, heels are very uncomfortable to me, and I HATE doing my hair, but every once in a while, I like to get dressed up, look really nice, and be girlie (like, once or twice a year, seriously.).

Okay! Well, I'm stalking the UPS man today. My new workout video in on his truck! I'm off to do some recruiting, clean the house, figure out what I'm makin for dinner, work out, and have a hot shower with my new shower head! YAY! (Yes, the simple things really do bring me the greatest pleasure!)

Trapeza-wha???

So, Tuesday I had tea with my favorite guy that isn't related to me by marriage or birth, Bill. While on the way to pick up Bill from the car dealership where his brand new truck was being worked on (That's a whole 'nother story!), I noticed that my neck hurt. I thought "Geez! I must have slept on it wrong. Oh well!" I took some Tylenol when I got home, and it seemed a little better. That night in bed, I had Sam rub my neck and shoulders. He did a fantastic job, and I promptly fell asleep with a nice kink-free neck and back. Wednesday morning, I wake up at my usual 5:30 to get Monkey off to school and then wake Bug up at 7 to get her ready for school. When all the kiddos were off to school I sat here for a little bit and decided that I was tired of how the book case looked and I wanted to rearrange it. That way, when I finally get around to putting the laptop on the desk, or when we get a new tower for over there, or even a chair that's slightly comfortable, I won't have to look at a horrible looking bookcase all the time. It was then that I noticed that my neck, back, and shoulder were REALLY hurting! I decided to go to the doctor about it, and sure enough, I had tweeked my Trapezius muscle! So, the extremely attractive Doctor told me that I should rest it for about a week and hold off on any upper body exercising. Now, for those of you that know me, know that I've been trying to lose weight like CRAZY the last couple months. So far I've lost 10 pounds in the past 30 days. (WOOOOOHOOOOOOO!) So, the super hot Doctor telling me that I had to take a week off just didn't make me happy! I did some cardio yesterday tho. It felt great, even tho I felt like I was going to die while doing it! LOL

The next post I do, I think I'm going to post about my hobby. Everybody that doesn't partake in this hobby is going to think that I'm a fruitcake (most people do without even hearing about my "strange" hobby!) when I tell them what I do for fun, but, I think it's fun, so that's all that really matters! :-)

Until then, keep on keepin on!! (A little Joe Dirt for ya!)

Happy Labor Day!

So, this morning has been quite the morning! Sam and I stayed up late last night and watched Stargate SG1 and went to bed around midnight. I specifically told the dogs "We are sleeping in tomorrow! No barking and waking us up until at least 8!" But they didn't listen, barking started at 7. They never listen! They're worse than babies, I swear!

I decided that I would be a nice wife, and let Sam sleep in. It's 9:17, and I've not decided yet that I'm going to go wake him up. The last couple days I let him sleep till around lunch time and then went and bombarded him with kisses and told him to get up for lunch. We have been having meals a little backwards for the last couple of days. Breakfast is still our normal cereal or toast (Shakeology for me!), but lunch seems to be the big meal of the day. It's strange, but, oddly it's been working for us! I know it won't stay like that. Today it's going to be a light lunch, and a bigger dinner.

The kids are enjoying the day off today. As much as they love (or dislike) school, they're both glad to have the day off to lounge around and watch TV or play video games. Currently, at (almost) 10AM, (Yes, I realize almost an hour has passed since the last paragraph) they're playing Super Mario Galaxy. It's a cute game, plus, they have to work together! It's a glorious thing to see my two kiddos getting along!

As I said yesterday, I have started a new blog about diet & exercising. Here's the link. I would love to get more followers on there. Later today I'm going to post my "mini-meatloaf burgers" on there!

It's been a while

Okay, so, I've been a bad blogger! Sorry about that.

I've been pretty busy since we came home from vacation!
Lets see, there was getting the kids ready to go back to school, which went pretty well! Monkey started 6th grade, and has 6 classes that he has to "commute" to. He even has a locker this year. It's not that big of a deal, he had one when he was in 4th grade as well when he went to school in Ohio. He really isn't too fond of going to school, but, he always says he's had a good day when he comes home. He's usually not all that excited about doing homework, but, he can usually get it done pretty quickly, at least for now. Bug loves school. She's in 2nd grade this year. She loves her teacher and classmates already. She's also found a little girl that rides the bus with her that she really likes. Most days she comes home, does her 15 minutes of reading and what little homework she has, and hops right on the phone to call her friend and stays on there for most of the evening. It seems like it has started already!

I recently became a Beachbody Coach. If you don't know who (or what) that is, it's the same company that does P90X. It's really a fantastic company. Their products are excellent! I've been using the Shakeology for not quite a month, and I've lost almost 10 pounds! I'll admit that I've not been working out as much as I should be, but I'm still losing weight! Soon, I think I'm going to get Slim In 6, which is a home workout that helps you reshape your body in 6 weeks! I'm really excited about this company! They give so much back as well! The company recently hit 30,000 coaches, and they donated $150,000 to Raincatcher for providing rain catching systems to 10 schools in Kenya & Uganda! That will provide clean drinking water to over 100,000 people!! That's not all though! Beachbody will also be donating $5 for every active coach the company has on December 31, 2010! This company really cares about people! I'm so proud to be a part of this company!

I'm going to start another blog soon to recount my weight loss journey and business as well! I'll let you all know when I think of a good name for the blog! You guys can make some suggestions as well. :-)