Saturday July 31, 2010...

Wow! I'm finding that it's becoming more and more difficult to find time to keep my blog updated! Now that Summer is here we are busy living life on the weekends. And, ever since we bought the business in January I have worked harder than I ever did as an employee!

So anyway, it's been two weeks since I was here last. Here's some of what I've been doing...

Picnics & bike rides with the most adorable granddaughter in the world! (and her Daddy!)







Eating loads of healthy foods...















And continuing to lose weight.....
Last week I was down .2 pounds...yes, point two. This week I was down 2 pounds. I am 1.4 pounds away from 30 pounds being gone! Wow! Just Wow! I am eating almost whatever I want and my body is continuing to shrink. I am so excited!
(My actual starting weight was 226 pounds, but I didn't take a week one photo...I know, what was I thinking!?)



So...here's the challenge for me for THIS week. We are leaving this morning for a mini vacation. We will be spending the next four days at Disneyland and California Adventure. I am within 1.4 pounds of being 30 pounds down. I think it would be the coolest thing in the world to lose that 1.4 pounds and hit my 30 pound mark on the same week as the Disneyland trip. That will be my motivation to make it a vacation for my mind and my spirit...but not a vacation from my healthy lifestyle. I will not be heartbroken if it doesn't happen...but it really would be so cool! I can just see myself telling the folks in my meeting about it!

OK...and we're off to the Happiest Place on Earth!

Saturday morning update...

Wow! 2 posts in one morning! I am on a roll here!.

Yesterday was my weekly weigh in. I lost .4 pounds. I am finally under 200 pounds!!! Yay!! I'm so thrilled to be under the 200 pound threshold!

Versatile Blogger Award!...

I got this cool blog award from Patrick over at Resonsibility 199. I only recently discovered Patrick's blog and I'm so glad I did. His blog is a down to earth, honest, inspiring blog. If you aren't already following Patrick, head over there now (well, finish reading MY blog first...LOL) and check him out!

Here are the rules of the award...

1. Thank the person giving the award
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Nominate 15 newly discovered blogs.
4. Let your nominees know about the award.

OK...Thank you Patrick! I'm honored to be included in your list of 15 newly discovered blogs! I'm looking forward to visiting the other blogs you listed.

Seven things about myself...Hmmm..

1. I am a Christian. I came to the Lord late in life, after a very tumultuous, confused, self-destructive early adulthood. I love the Lord Jesus with my whole heart and I am determined, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to live a life that's worthy of the redemption He's given to me!

2. I have 3 sisters and I am one of the middle siblings. I am second to the youngest. I am convinced that the reason for my Dad's dementia is that he lived in a house for so long with 5 females!...LOL

3. My husband and I bought the business I have worked at for the past 14 years. We took ownership in January of this year and we are still walking around pinching ourselves to make sure we are awake and this is real...well, that's when we have TIME to pinch ourselves in the midst of the increased responsibility!

4. I have 3 sons. Chris is 35 and is daddy to lil Miss Autumn, who is my HEART! Courtney is 32. He is the middle child and owns a very special niche in my heart, He was born on my 20th birthday, in the same hospital I was born in. Colin is 30. He is newly married to Christina whom I have grown to love like my own daughter. They just bought the condo across the street from us and I love, love, love having them as neighbors.

5. Vern and I share our home with 3 completely indoor cats. Agnes is a long haired, grey tabby. She is about 5 years old and she takes her role as grouchy old cat very seriously. Fred and Ethyl are littermates that we got just over a year ago. They are adorable and mischievious and they keep us laughing at their antics every single day. Fred is a short haired, white with orange striped patches and he is absoulutely, hands down, my FAVORITE. He is so darned cute and has his lil paws firmly wrapped around my heart. Ethyl is long haired, white with black striped and orange striped patches. She is a tiny little beauty of a cat! She is our diva, drama queen, girlie-girl cat! Most of my friends and family simply shake thier heads over my affection for and complete lack of discipline with, my cats! I love, love, love my cats and if I had a big place out in the country I would have oodles of them.







6. Vern and I have been married for almost 6 years. Before I met Vern I had stopped believing in soul mates. Vern has taught me to love and be loved again. He has taught me how to play and how to ride a bike again. We have had some very rocky times in our time together but we have grown to love each other more deeply and become more committed to each other and to our marriage as we have worked through the rough times. I thank God for the life we have together.

7. I mentioned her in number four, above....I am "Grandma Honey" to the most amazing little girl in the entire world. Autumn Ann Marie. Autumn is almost 6 years old. She was born on the day Vern and I got married...that's a whole 'nother story!...I got the nickname "Grandma Honey" because I call people "Honey" and it differentiated me from her other Grandma. Becoming a Grandmother is one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced. Before she was born, people tried to tell me how amazing it is to become a grandmother...but I could not have ever imagined it until it happened to me!

Now...I really hate to break the rules of the award...I really do...but all the blogs I know about have already received this award. I'm sorry to drop the ball here. I guess I need to get around blogland more....

Thanks Patrick...this was fun.

Tuesday July 13, 2010...

So....things have been a little tense and unsettled here at our house....

The time came for me to REALLY ask my sister to find another place to live. It was a huge, ugly scene. I lost my temper with her. I am not proud of some of how I handled the situation. On the other hand, I am 100% convinced that it was time to draw a line in the sand...and that I did.

So, I gave her notice, I gave her time to make the necessary arrangements...she has chosen to be out by the end of the month. Whatever....

I am, for the most part, eating on plan. I find myself not tracking as closely as I normally do. I haven't walked all week. My sister has been my walking partner.....
(and, Vern and I have had appointments in the evening almost every night recently so it's been too late for me to go...I know..sounds like a bunch of excuses...maybe it is...) So anyway...new plan...I am going to join the fitness center near my house so that I can walk on the treadmill. That way it won't matter if it's dark outside...I can just dash over there and walk. They are running a special right now and it's only $10.00 a month. I have stuff after work tonight and tomorrow night...but Thursday will be perfect for me to go, join, and walk.

Tracking...I am on it...no more eating a bite of this and a bite of that and not tracking it. I am committed to going back to being the tracking QUEEN that I have always been!

So that's it....I'm ready for the end of the month to come. I am ready to have my house back. I hate being uncomfortable in my own home...

Mirror Challenge Award

I received this really cute blog award from Lesia at "Here We Go...Hold On Tight!
In order to fulfill my requirements for this award I have to do the following:

1. Thank the giver: Thanks, Lesia!!! I'm so glad we met through our blogs and have formed a bond of friendship that is growing stronger each day!

2. Link back to the giver: Right Here.

3. Look in the mirror and find 10 things I like about myself. Hmmm..Why is that a scary thought!?

4. Pass it on to 3 people.

OK...here we go. Lets see if I can find 10 things I like about myself!

1. I'll start with the easy one. I love my eyes. They are the one feature I have that I really, really believe to be beautiful. My Dad has big, beautiful blue eyes and I was fortunate to inherit that trait from him!



2. I love my eyelashes...is that different from loving my eyes? I think it is. I like that I have long, thick eyelashes.

3. I like my hair. You would have to know me to know what an amazing statement this really is. The whole time I was growing up and throughout most of my adult life I was told that I had "bad" hair...I kept my hair very short for most of my life because I believed that it was ugly. A couple of years ago I decided to let it grow and see what happened. At the same time I also stopped coloring it. It's now shoulder length or a little longer. It's completely my natural color, streaked with grey...and I really like it. I see my hair in the mirror and I think it's pretty. Wow!

4. I like that, even at 200 pounds, I have a feminine shape. I like my curves.

5. I like my height. I like being 5'5"...I'm not tall and I'm not short...I like that.

6. I like my legs. Right now they are a little too white and my veins are really spidery as I get older...but I like the shape of my legs. And, I like that they are strong enough to carry me on my 5 mile walks and peddle my bike for as many miles as I choose to ride.

7. I like my nose. I NEVER thought I would be able to say that! My nose is rather long and even a little "beak like"...but it's my nose. My Aunt Minnie had the same nose and I LOVED my Aunt Minnie (R.I.P. Aunt Minnie) and my nose reminds me of her so I've grown to not only accept my nose but to love it.

8. I like my skin. When I was young I hated my skin. I wished so much for flawless skin with no freckles! I have come to a place of peace with my skin.

9. I like my cheekbones.

10. OK...this one's a little strange...I like that my butt is big even when I am not overweight. I like my butt!...LOL (I can't believe I said that!)

It's so hard to make a list of ten things you like when you look in the mirror with out making a mental list of the things you don't like!!!

Thanks Lesia...this was such a good, healthy, thing for me to do!!! Great idea!

Now for the three people I'd like to pass this on to....

1. Joy at Nuggets of Truth I discovered Joy's blog a few weeks back and I love reading about her journey!

2. Karla at Daily Thoughts Karla is a fellow weight watchers blogger. Her blog is full of great photos of her menus and she inspires me with her "can do" attitude and no nonsense approach to weight loss!

3. My dear Friend Amy B at Our Daily Blessing...Life Amy is an amazing woman who is battling cancer and has a son with some significant, severe, health issues and somehow manages to move forward with a faith and hope that I admire deeply.

Friday July 9, 2010...

So this morning was my weekly weigh in and are you ready.....I hit my 25 pounds lost goal!!! It's actually 26 pounds but the token is for 25. I am almost embarrassed by how crazy excited I was to reach this goal and get this token! I really wasn't expecting it at all.

The key-ring/charm holder was my token for my 10% goal. The 5K charm was for walking in the 5K challenge....and today I got to add my 25 pound token!

Happy Independence Day...and a couple of other things...

My plan was to publish this post yesterday..on the Forth of July...but the time got away from me and I found myself busy preparing food and getting the house ready for a BBQ get together with my sons, my daughter-in-law, and my beautiful grand daughter...the get together was wonderful and it was after 11pm when we sent everyone home with packages of leftover food.

So anyway...this is what I was going to post yesterday..

We went to a ball game with my youngest son, Colin, and his wife, Christina, on Saturday. We had such a great time!!




A few weeks ago, I was given the opportunity to get some complimentary Weight Watchers Cheese and review it here on my blog. I was sent two coupons for any of the Weight Watchers Cheese products that I wanted to try. How cool is that!? (I feel like a "real" blogger now!)

Honestly, I was a little bit surprised to find that these products were not as easily available as I had thought they would be. I normally buy groceries at Costco, Walmart, Food 4 Less, and Vons. None of these stores carried the Weight Watchers Cheese products. I finally found them at Albertsons.

I decided to try the cream cheese and smoked provolone varieties of the product.



I loved the cream cheese! It is packaged in little single serving containers which I really, really like because it's like automatic portion control! I incorporated it into my breakfast by spreading it on a toasted Bagel Thin. This cream cheese was very good. It was rich and creamy and I would not have known it was reduced fat by the flavor. I will buy this again, inspite of the fact that it's a bit inconvenient to find.




I used the provolone variety in my lunch menu. It was decent but I was not as impressed with it as I was the cream cheese. I used it on a sandwich with smoked turkey and it didn't have a strong enough flavor to hold its own on the sandwich. I'm thinking that it might be really good eaten with apple slices though. The other thing with it is this...I felt like the 1 point label on the package was a little bit misleading when coupled with the nutritional information on the back. Frankly I was surprised that Weight Watchers would present it with a one point per slice label on the front and then the serving size in the nutritional information is 2 slices. I think for someone who simply skimmed lables rather than reading them fully, this could be an issue.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to try these two products!!



This last photo is simply here because it's cute and it made me smile. This is my cat Freddie resting up for a long night. Apparently, having enough energy to bug your humans off and on all night long requires some catnapping during the daylight hours.

Saturday July 3, 2010...

Happy Independence Day Weekend!!! Vern and I spent the morning cleaning house and doing laundry. Now that all the chores are done we are ready to begin enjoying the fun stuff!

We are going to the Padre game tonight with my youngest son and his wife. I am looking so forward to it! We are actually sitting in the "all you can eat seats." This should be interesting! Our seats include all we can eat of hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts and soda. I'm feeling pretty confident that I'll be ok. I have tons of activity and weekly points allowance so I can enjoy at hot dog or two (they are 6 points each) and popcorn and as much diet soda as I want. Ourseats also include bottled water, which is awesome! I had a vitatop, half an apple and a latte made with almond milk for breakfast after we finished our housework and I'm banking the rest of my points for later. It's not even that I'm really so crazy about hot dogs...it's more sharing the experience with my family.

Tomorrow we will be having the kids over for the 4th. We'll grill some food and hang out and then watch the fireworks. We have an awesome view of the firewoks from our yard so it's a perfect time for us to all get together. This year, since my youngest and his wife have moved in across the street, we'll be in both places. I got some great "Mango Chicken Sausages" from costco. They are 2 points each and they are absolutely delicious! We'll also grill burgers, hot links, hot dogs, and Boca burgers. But I'll post more of that menu, along with photos afterward!

I had my weigh in on Friday morning. I love, love, love, my Friday morning meeting! I lost 1.4 pounds so now I am down a total of 23.2 pounds. I am so happy with the results I'm having...not just the weightloss...but the lifestyle change!

I'm still trying to get in a five mile walk most days. Vern and I are riding our bikes to work more and more. I walked with my sister last night. We drove down and walked along the bay because it's just so nice there!

So, here are some photos I've taken over the past few days. .....