STOP!! Put DOWN the cookies!!

I've been thinking... How long am I going to let myself continue to be uncomfortable in all my clothes? 


Confession - I've ALWAYS struggled with my weight, expecially in my mid section.  I hold all my weight in my mid section and cheeks.  I dont have many problems with my legs and arms.  My "bye bye" arm (which jon likes to call it) has decreased alot over the past year, but my goal for that is to have, what I call "ripa" arms.  I want arms like Kelly Ripa.  Have you seen her arms?!?!  They are gorgeous and tone so nicely!


Honestly, I've tried everything.  Weight watchers, make up my own diet, starving myself, P90X, turbo jam, 10 minute trainer, and then just not caring.  I wish I had more will power, but honestly, I LOVE food!!  Chocolate is great!  Pizza is great too!  Arby's fries...YUM!  It's not that I just eat uncontrollably, I eat when Im hungry and dont really care whether is healthy or not.  I think thats my problem.  I need to start eating healthier.  Honestly, im not the fruit and veggie kind of girl.  A salad once in a while is good, but not every night.  It gets so boring and they are cold.  Who wants cold food all the time.  I want mine warm and with cheese.  :) 


Ok- now back to the reason for me talking about this.  I finished a "boot camp" a few weeks ago, except I say i finished, but truthfully, I hardly went.  I paid to go and didnt really ever go.  It was at 5:45AM...in the wee hours of the morning.  Who wants to work out that early in the morning.  I say "work out" but really it was a whole lot of running around the publix parking lot.  Lap after lap... no walking... just running.  And if anyone knows me, I dont really like to run, much less run in 30 degree weather with no sun to warm me up. 


So we can check boot camp off my list of failures. 
Basically I need to find something that will
A. fit my schedule
B. be fun
C. Motivate me to keep going
D. Show pretty fast results. 


Im the type of person who wants to see results ASAP, but that wont happen with me just sitting on the couch eating my nightly cookies and milk... SKIM milk that is.  (Not that skim makes it any better) 


So with that said, I want to see if there is anyone out there that would like to take a journey with me to loose the last 10 pounds and of course tone the mid section... or get rid of what I like to call, my muffin.  We have just enough time to get back into shape before bathing suit season starts.  I think If I have some sort of support or someone that is doing it with me, I will be a little more accountable.  I might slip up. but who doesn't?  I will not deprive myself, thats for sure.  Im not a believer in not having what I want, expecially when its food.  So maybe, I will limit myself or have weekly rewards or something. 

To do this I will have to do some sort of cardio and eat better than I am now.  I plan on possibly doing a little running (If the weather cooperates and gets a tad bit warmer), starting back my P90x, and putting down the cookies!! 


If anyone is interested in taking this journey with me, leave me a comment.  I plan to start on this Tuesday!!  No exceptions!

I will update weekly on my progress and hopefully start seeing changes!

Vintage Cereal Boxes

I was in Target with my sister and two boys yesterday, when I stumbled across these vintage cereal boxes.  Im not sure why they brought them back, but it is nice to see old stuff like this again. 
I find it refreshing to see vintage things come back into style. 

I think these are too cute.  Austin was right beside me as I picked up the Cheerios box and said "momma, can you get the cheerios that taste kind of like cardboard, yeah I like those."  HAHAHA.  He can always make me laugh. 

Duncan Hines Muffin mix

Continuing on with trying new things, I stumbled upon the Duncan Hines Chocolate Chip Muffin Mix, its whole wheat by the way.  I think we became owners of a new box earlier this year when shopping with coupons.

So I baked them a little while ago, let them cool, and decided to try one.  Let me tell you... they are NOT that great.  They have the doughy wheat taste to them.  I'm not diggin' them at all.  I think the true test will be whether or not my husband and children eat them.  If they eat them, then I wouldn't feel so bad about baking something I didn't enjoy.  Im not sure If we will be getting these again.  Maybe the chocolate with chocolate chips might be better. 

Has anyone else tried these?

Confession of an overloaded mom

Today was my first day back at my normal routine since Thursday of last week.  I left on Thursday afternoon to go with my church to Hilton Head for a Women's Retreat.  The retreat was great.  I learned a lot about Jesus and the Holy Spirit, I guess you can say the retreat was also refreshing! 

Ok back to my "confession".  During the retreat we had the oppurtunity to attend a "break-out" session.  I decided to do one that was called "Presence & Priority".   It was taught by our Womens leader, Cassie.  She is great!!   This was tid bit that was given about the session before hand...

-Are you tired of being tired and living a life that seems to have no breathing room?
 -How do we practically live into knowing God's presence as a daily reality of life in a culture that is fast paced and overloaded with noise and activity?
-Do my calendar and commitments reflect a life that is committed to loving God and people as a top priority?

I thought "Man, this is so what I need right now".  I have been so overloaded and busy with weddings and kids things that I even have to basically schedule in a shower every day.  Thats nuts.  Its like I would wake up every morning and write down my "to-do list" and hope that I would actually get through it and if I did then I would actually be proud of myself.  So anyway, here is a little of what she said.

She started out with the passage of Mark 1: 29-39 when Jesus healed many people.  The passage also talked about how Jesus went in the early morning and got with God.  He took the time to get with his Father and talk with him.  This was touching for me because I find it really hard to find time to study the bible and get time alone.  She then went on to talk about "Overload vs. Margin".  

Overload - do you ever feel overloaded?  I do all the time.  I feel like I should have everything done by 5pm everyday or Im doomed.  (I know, im extreme sometimes)  But one thing she said was "sometimes you can get so overloaded that, that can become your norm".  

Ding!! It clicked, thats exactly how I have been feeling.  So now that I was all into the talk, I wanted to get to the margin part.  How can I fix this overload in my life and take back my freeness?

Margin - "Don't let the calendar be your boss, be the boss of your calendar"!  I think that was the best thing she could have said to me.  
-Know thy self - Know your personal red flags of being overloaded, so you know when to step back and relieve yourself of duties. 
- ask yourself "What is my motivation for this activity?"  I love this question.  I can ask myself this all the time and it will make me think twice about what im about to do.  Do I have enough emotional energy to get through this activity?  Next time the school sends home a "Can you do this sheet" I'll be asking myself these two questions. 

So to wrap things up, I'm going to be rearranging my schedule and keeping this at the front of my mind until I learn how to keep myself in my margin.  No more overload!!     

Do you get overloaded and if so, how do you deal with it?  Any tips or suggestions?

Caden Turns 5!

Today is Caden's 5th birthday!!!  I am still in shock that my last child is already five.  That is a huge big deal.  Caden was born at 1:08 in the afternoon and was 7lbs, 13oz, and was 19 1/4 inches long. 

Turning five is a pretty big birthday.  He will no longer be going to preschool - he will actually be in "real" school... Kindergarten.  He is getting so big and talking so much more clearly.  I think I like the fact that he talks with his hands and when he tells a story, in between each sentence he says "and then um.." - insert sentence - "and then um.." insert another sentence.  So cute!  Hes so personal and animated.  Both the boys are getting along much better than they used to.  I say that now but im sure this is just entering into that fist fight stage.  I was hoping my boys would be angels and never want to wrestle and fight, but who am I kidding.  Their dad is the one who starts all the pillow fights and wrestling. 

Here are some pictures of Caden.  Happy Birthday my little boogie bear!!

Wasn't he the cutest thing.  He was 2 in this picture.

Caden was early 4 in this picture

And this is present Caden, eating of course.  He loves him some food. 

sneak peak

So, Im too excited to wait until the finished product is complete.  Ive decided to let you peak at some of the new additions to my bedroom makeover.  We have come a long way since the end of December. 

Here is a look at what my bedroom used to look like.  (Its sooo embarrassing!  You can laugh if you need too, I give you full permission!)

Now here are a few additions.  I tried to go bold and vibrant, thats why I picked the lime green color.   It took me several attempt (and I mean like 5 attempts) to find just the right color and designed pillow. 

Im a bargain shopper so I found these pillow COVERS from Target for $4.00 each.  The brown pillow is also from Target.

Now this is a little decor that I have on our end tables.  The plate I got from Tuesday Mornings.  If you haven't shopped at Tuesday Mornings, you are really missing out.  Its a store that gets all the stuff that a department store didnt sell, so they sell it cheaper.  It's sort of like a TJ Maxx or Marshalls.  (Which I LOVE those stores too)  I like to call these stores "Dangerous"!  Anyway, the orange candle holder is from Target on clearance for $1.98 each.  Then the green thing holding the flower, its actually a saki holder.  I got that from Goodwill for $1.41.  I can't pass up a good deal when I see one. 

I know this isn't a great picture, but its just a vase/globe thing.  I got this from Marshalls a few weeks back.  The pine cones are not staying.  I've had trouble finding fake limes to go in it.  If I cant find the limes then I will settle on the oranges. 

Ok, here the new white bedspread I've been talking about. 

 I was super excited when Jon surprised me with it. 

It brightens up the room so much.

So My color scheme for the bedroom is Brown, Lime Green, White, and Orange.  The last few things I need to complete the bedroom would be two end tables (because ours are hideous), Jon to make our custom closet so we can get rid of our dressers, then a few pictures and two lamps.  I think I'll be finshed after that. 

Oh and if you didnt notice on the first picture, my walls were blue.  Now they are a beige color.  The color was picked out at lowes but i got the paint from sherwin williams.  The color is Frappe.

Hope you liked my sneak peak!

Monday Monday

So many people say how much they hate Mondays, But I for one love Mondays.  This is the day that i can catch up on stuff I didnt get to over the weekend.  The boys go back to school, I get to straighten up the house,

maybe do a little shopping, 

work on my weddings, and enjoy some ME time. 

Sometimes the "me" time is just sitting down in front of the computer,

enjoying your cup-o-joe,

and exploring the world through the internet in peace and quiet!  Mondays are great!

What do you do on Mondays? 

Ahoy there Matey

Yesterday we celebrated the boys birthdays with a pirate themed birthday party.   I had a lot of fun making all of the decorations and the cake.  Heres a look at the party.

Captain Jon leading his crew to find the treasure!

 They found the treasure!!

THE LOOT!  I like to give more practial party favors.  I dont like it when the kids bring home all the junk toys that end up on the floor or lost under the forbidden couch, never to be seen again.  It just seemed more practical to give them something they enjoy to eat.  The favors had "thanks for attendin' me party"  attached to them. 

And at last the boys birthday presents from mom and dad.  They were both long over due for a new bike.  They loved them!!

SNOW!

It actually snowed in Charleston!!  In the past the weather man would say it might snow, but this time he was right and it snowed a lot.  This was the first snow sighting for the boys and they loved it and had a blast.  We origianlly let them play in it for a little while and then wanted them to go ahead and go to bed, but Jon pulled them out of bed to play it in again!  Here are some pictures of all three boys playing outside. 

Rain Rain go away...

Today we, as in my mom, sister and I, put on yet another garage sale.  I guess I should call it a yard sale considering I dont have a garage, but whatever. 

Since the new year begain and I started my out with the old... in with the new thing, I successfully went through all of my closets, kitchen, under beds, porch, and even some kids stuff.  I priced as I went since I learned hard lessons in the past as my mom, sister and I would stay up super late the night before pricing everything.  So pricing as I went was much easier!  Then I gathered it all up and placed them in containers in my dining room.  I was supposed to have the sale three weeks ago, but the weather has not been so nice to me the past few weeks.  It has rained for the last three saturdays so this saturday said "cloudy" but no rain, so I figured it would be a perfect saturday for the sale. 

Wrong wrong wrong was I!! 

Yesterday was monsoon weather and the ground was so wet and muddy.  So I thought (here I go thinking again) it would be great to do it on the road by my house so nothing will get nasty and we can lay out plastic so nothing will get dirty or wet.  The EARLY morning set up went great and then it happened.  RAIN!!  Not horrible rain, just a constant drizzle so after about 10 minutes of drizzle EVERYTHING was wet.  It was aweful.  We still had customers that bought stuff but I was hoping it would have been more successful.  I think my total count was about $40.00.  Its forty dollars I didnt have before but I packed up alot of stuff and took it to goodwill. 

It just seems to me that I havent had much luck with garage sales lately.  Im not sure I will be doing many in the near future.   Ive listed some pros and cons. 

Cons
1. You have to wake up early.
2. Your tired and cranky the whole day - Beacause of #1
3. Possiblity of rain
4.  People always try and talk you WAY down off your original price.  I will admit that I do that when I go to sales but, some people just are too cheap.  You tell them one price and then they ask for it cheap... not just a dollar cheaper but like 5 bucks cheaper.  Thats crazy!!

Pros
1. PROFIT
2. Possibility of Starbucks in the early morning

Im not sure if the pros weigh out the cons but I think im done with garage sales for a while.   I had my hopes set on a new bedspread (one that I found at Ross, but Jon wouldnt let me get it.  He wanted me to wait until after the sale to see how much I made) and some new Dinner plates and bowls.  The ones I had were fine, I just wanted to have more modern things.  But Im happy I made at least forty dollars.  So now Im taking my profit and going to Ross!! 

Happy Birthday Austin!!

Yesterday was Austin's 8th Birthday!!  I can't believe my first born child has turned EIGHT!  It's amazing how far we have come in eight years.  Austin was born january 31, 2002 at 11:31am!  He was a beautiful 6lb 2oz, 19 1/2 inches long baby boy.  I wish I had pictures on my computer of him at that age but I dont so enjoy these that I do have. 

This was taken on Mother's day in 2007.  He was 5! 

This was Easter of 2009. 

A more recent one.  This was us on one of his field tips to Cypress Gardens.  Still crazy to think that I have an eight year old!