WEiGH in Wednesdays

Okay folks...

Today is day 29

YiKES!

This month seemed to drag on

and go fast all at once!

Today I am officially

WEiGHiNG in at 153 pounds

That's more than 5 pounds from when I started :)

Some of my clothes are fitting a little bit better.

The few that I couldn't even get closed,

I can now button up...

I didn't say they were comfortable,

I can just get them closed ;)

So congratulations to me I now feel like I

am on the road to Healthy!

~~~

Some exciting news in the life of ME.

Today I leave for a 3 day adventure with my long time best friend!

We are heading up to Traverse City, a beautiful city

sitting right on the bay of a beautiful Great Lake!

She has some conferences to attend 

and so when she is away I will be

totally and completely

by myself!

Crazy to even think of!

I leave in a few hours...

I can't even grasp that I get to:

-Sleep with NO interruptions

-Shop with no time schedule

-Lazy around the room, if I want

-Take a really long shower

-Eat my meals with no one asking for more

or saying, "I don't like that"

-No laundry to do

-No dishes to do

-No house cleaning to do

-Jump on the hotel beds, like a crazy woman :)

I can't wait!!!

LOVE

My Lulu is a mother hen

Lulu has always been one to line up her toys, tuck them in and play "mommy" to everyone!

Here are some pics I took of the random things I found in our house:)

Elmo and Grover all tucked in for their afternoon nap

Baby puppy tucked under mommy dog's arm, complete with a Santa hat!

Friends forever...

She was giving all of her friends a sleigh ride!

Too cute!

In Case You're Interested?

Click here for a giveaway!

WiLL it Blend?

Some nights I get bored.

My cousin told me about this particular site awhile ago.

CLiCK here

for your enjoyment!

WEiGH in Wednesdays

Today is good ol' WEiGH in Wednesday!

at least this week I lost weight :)

Today is day 22, just over half way done.

I struggled this week and I did eat some Easter candy!

I also allowed myself some really yummy pasta noodles

{they were calling my name, so I just had a kids size portion}

I also did a little working out which always feels nice.

I got out the exercise ball and let's just say I am not very coordinated!

So the grand total for this week is 155 pounds.

Down a pound and a half from last week!

I am thankful for this at least!

If you were wondering my goal weight is 130 - 135 pounds.

This is a healthy weight for my height.

So about 20-25 more pounds to go at about 2 pounds per week, puts me 

at July 1st. Still plenty of time to enjoy swimsuit weather :)

Happy EARTH day!

The BiG Secret Revealed

Without further ado...

Chalk Cloth Bunting

You can order these in any length.

This particular bunting has 7 pennants. Five of which have the amazing chalk cloth!

Use it for your gathering and then transfer it into any room in your house, save it for another party or a fun welcome sign.

You can use your imagination

Here are some fun 5 lettered words:

HAPPY

SMiLE

FAiTH

JESUS

FRESH

LOVES

and I'm sure a lot of your children's names are 5 letters,

if not I can custom design one in the length you need!

Hope you love this idea as much as I do!

We Got the BiRD

No we did not get "flipped off" 

but we took Alaina to The Red Robin for dinner tonight {this is where she wanted to go} and the Red Robin himself made a special appearance. 

They do the whole clapping and singing for the birthday person 

and they bring balloons and an ice cream sundae. 

Well, let's just say that Alaina has always been sensitive to noise, I mean she'll jump out of her seat if you clap just right or laugh too loud. She's gotten better over the years and can tolerate it, but still seems a little unnerved at times. 

On the other hand huge red birds wearing clothes and smiling goofy at us... not so good! 

He was standing at our table and she was FREAKIN' out! 

The workers  didn't know if they should leave or sing? They shooed the bird away, but it was too late she was sobbing with crocodile tears! The nice girl asked me if we wanted them to still sing to her and I said no thank you, they kept apologizing. All the while you can hear Alaina muttering, I don't like that bird... I don't want them to sing to me!!! Oh well. She was so upset she didn't even eat her sundae so Addie and dad got to partake and Addie loved it... she also loved the bird :)

She was so upset she didn't even eat her sundae so Addie and dad got to partake and Addie loved it... she also loved the bird :)

I didn't have the heart to take a picture of that bird or Alaina after the ordeal! Let's just say the whole restaurant was watching us!

~~~

A quick update on the crafting front! I received in the mail today my brilliant idea! Now I just need to make it! I'll have some time tomorrow, so hopefully this weekend or early next week I will be able to share my big secret :) Can't wait!!!!

She's a Woman now...

...or at least that's what she thinks!

My Lainie Pie is the big 5 today!

I have mixed emotions. As I was praying for their breakfast this morning I was thanking God for the unbelievable gift He has given us and I started to cry!

It's crazy how these past 5 years have flown by. When I think about the next 5 years... well I just can't yet!

She is so excited that she is 5 today. I keep asking her what she wants for her birthday and she says a chocolate cake with no sprinkles and blue presents :) She's pretty easy to please!

She is so proud to be turning 5. Here are some things she has said to me:

"mom, now that I'm older I won't need you anymore!"

(a dagger to the heart)

"now that I'm 5, I'm a woman"

(not quite, honey, but mom will let you dream!)

This little girl of mine is brave. When I say brave, I mean she is my hero. She has been through so much in her short life, more than anyone should ever have to endure! Yet, she always is cheerful, says, "Hi" to anyone and everyone, pushes to do the things everyone tells her she "can't" do, and LOVES Jesus!

~~~

Oh and she has been telling EVERYONE, "I'm gonna have a baby brother soon"

Everyone always looks at me with a twinkle in their eye, and I just say, "No, no she's not :)"

Talk about being self-conscious!

I

LOVE

YOU

ALAINA

JOY

HAPPY BiRTHDAY

WEiGH in Wednesdays

Hi all... Today is day 15

I've been dreading this post!

I have some minor bad news!

I do however have some good news to report.

The good news first:

I went through Easter weekend and a week with my family and lost 1/2 a pound!

I am now 156

The bad news:

I did eat some things that were not on my list of things to eat!

However, when I had no other choice, I tried to choose the best! Taking smaller portions, and not eating everything in sight! I was "practicing" for when I can eat what I want. Making the right choices when there are so many delicious, bad choices is really hard to do!

Moderation, moderation, moderation... is the word I keep repeating over and over in my head!

So all in all I did loose some weight!

My Trip to Ann Arbor

During Spring Break we went to visit family. We stayed at my parents house and it was so nice. They are soon to be "empty nesters" and it already felt like that! My youngest sister was away to the Bahamas(lucky girl), and my other sister and my brother don't live at home any more! So it was us four plus my parents. It was fun!

One of the days Jeremy stayed back with the kiddos while me and the mama went shopping in Ann Arbor! We had a lot of fun. I was trying to find a really fabulous fabric store, but had no luck :( Oh well!

Here we are visiting the Red Shoes! I read about this store awhile back from a blogging buddy and decided we had to visit! 

It was full of eye candy. And it was full of Etsy stuff too. I was trying to hint to the clerk that I sold on Etsy too, but she didn't take the bait ;)

The hallway was lined with this fun mosaic the owner did herself. Full of interesting finds.

This store has a fairy door at the entrance and it is so cute. I wanted to get one, but they were a little pricey. Maybe I'll go back and get one later! This way I'll have an excuse to return!

I loved spending the day with just my mom. It has been awhile since we did this and it was so nice.

Although I love all of these things we had no kids, no husbands and no rules, it was just us! Even the long car ride was fun talking with no interruptions! Wonderful :)

Mom, we'll have to do this again really soon!

WEiGH in Wednesdays

Today is day 8 of my diet!

It's going better, but it's still really hard to see everyone eating all the food I can't!

It's all okay though, because I am already seeing a positive effect of my diet! My plan is to weigh in every Wednesday to let you know my progress and how I am doing, but since I am at my mom's house and her scale does not read the same as mine I will just go off of yesterdays!

drum roll please...

As of yesterday I weighed in at 156.5 pounds. That is 2 pounds off!

The first week is always the hardest and now I have that behind me!

Of course I didn't think about this but there is mounds of Easter candy all around me and oh man do I want to dig in!

Two Side Notes

Today I purchased some new tools. This will make life easier and be  A LOT nicer to my wrists!

Thanks everyone for letting me know that they make a pinking rotary blade. I also found a wavy and a scalloped edge as well! Oh the possibilities!

 We just got a new JoAnn's Fabric store and it is beyond huge. I stepped in and my friend had to reign me in and remind me why we went there in the first place!

~~~

My second side note is that the sweet Ashley had asked me, "what do you eat on this all natural vegan diet?"

My reply to you Ashley and to anyone else wondering the same is...

One of the things to this so called diet is you can eat as much as you want as long as it is nuts, fruits, veggies...  This helps, 'cause you will be hungry!

Secondly, I personally have a few things that I flub on. Nothing serious, but it helps a lot better to get through!

Such as, you are not allowed to eat anything fried. I allow myself 100% corn chips. Another thing is no salad dressing. I allow myself low-fat Italian dressing (or something that is similar like Raspberry vinaigrette). The last thing I am allowing myself to eat is yogurt with Grape nuts (just in the morning for breakfast)

So now that we got my exceptions out of the way this is what I would eat normally in a day...

Breakfast: Yogurt with Grape nuts. A full glass of water.

Snack: A banana or some kind of easy fruit or veggie.

Lunch: Peaches, salad with light Italian dressing and carrot sticks.

Snack: popcorn with olive oil and light salt.

Dinner: Quick & easy guacamole

(a single serving is one avocado, garlic salt, cumin and some lime juice),

eat with yummy store bought salsa, with 100% corn chips,

corn with olive oil and salt,

celery slathered with natural peanut butter... YUM.

and of course that crisp water!

There are a lot of possibilities if you start to think of everything and be creative (which I know you all are). The one really hard part is if your spouse/family is not participating. Not only do you have to make 2 meals, but the one you can't eat smells and looks beyond out of this world and all you want to do is eat it! Like tonight I made the family Breakfast casserole (bread, sausage, eggs, milk and cheese.) I can't eat any of this! I was craving it and I don't even like sausage!

OH and this was beyond crazy... today my friend told me she was buying... as in STARBUCKS! You will be proud, I said thank you, but I can't. Oh man did hers smell delightful.

If any of you have some super great vegan recipes, I would love to know them!

Pure Brilliance!

I will get to my brilliant mind in just a sec...

Aren't these fun? I made this cake using the Berry Sweet line from K & Company! You can get it in the shop now!

This was a custom order for a gal throwing a shower for her friend who is having twins. A boy and a girl! Didn't they turn out super cute?

Okay now onto me being brilliant :)

The other night I was sleeping, and I woke up to the sound of my husband getting up. 

It just came to me!

The most wonderful, fun and brilliant idea!

I obviously can't share it with you until it's complete, but seriously I am sooooo excited about this project!

Not only is it extremely versatile, but it's green (as in you'll use it over and over again!).

I am so impatient when it comes to things like this!

I'm hoping to get some made by next week!

Keep your fingers crossed!

I guess technically you won't know how brilliant I am until you see the finished product! Just trust me on this one, I am brilliant :)

To Be Continued

~~~

Oh and thank you to all who gave me the encouraging words yesterday! Today is harder than yesterday. I'm feeling hungry a lot. But I haven't cheated and I feel positive about this!

I CAN do this!

Today I am committing to a vegan diet!

Things I can eat:

nuts

vegetables

fruits

olive oil

some seasonings

Things I can't eat:

dairy

eggs

sugar

meat

anything fried

You know pretty much all the really yummy food!

My reasoning's are not religious, but to have a healthier lifestyle and to shed some pounds, because I will NOT buy the next pant size up!!! 

I did the whole vegan thing before and  I felt healthier, had more energy and lost all of the baby fat I had with Addie and then some! It was awesome. Now it feels like I just had a baby... but there is no baby, so depressing!

Over the past year life has been stressful. I am one to eat when life is hard and when I'm bored.

Taking Alaina to school everyday it got really easy to just grab a bite to eat here and there... leading to my weight gain... I hate getting dressed, yet love eating cookies. Not a good combo!

I am writing this down to give myself more accountability!

I'm very reluctant to put this out there on the world wide web,

but as of this morning I weighed

158.5 pounds

YUCK!

(just so you know I am not that tall... 5'2")

So every week I will be posting my weight just so that I have to prove to you that I am sticking to what I said! My goal is until May 10th (40 days) after that I still want to eat healthy, but I will include some of the other foods, such as dairy and some meats.

 

I can do this, I can do this, I can do this!

P.S. This is not an April fool's joke, this is for real :)