A really nice day

We went to church this morning. It's been a while since we've been to our home ward. It was good to see so many familiar, smiling faces. I have a great ward. I often find myself giving in to the frustrations of trying to get myself & 4 kids ready & out the door on Sunday morning. I'm glad to feel like I'm back in the swing of things. Next weekend is General Conference, which Dave will be off work for. I look forward to hearing from our new First Presidency & the other chosen speakers.

They have new leadership in the Nursery, which is wonderful. It seems to be much more organized & peaceful & less stressful than I've ever seen it before.

My sister-in-law, Miranda, sent me a link to a beautiful tribute to our Savior & the greatest sacrifice he made for us. If any one's reading, I wanted to share it & also save it for me to return to in the future. http://www.eastvalleyproductions.com/blog.cfm?postID=31

It's just been a fun, spiritual, happy day. I feel good. :) All is well.

A Saturday to relax

This will be the last one for the next 8 weeks, so I'm being as big of a bum as I possibly can. :) Jordan's soccer games & Tyler's basketball games start next Saturday, so we'll be on the move quite a bit. With the practices they have twice a week, each, it's getting to be a bit much. How do parents with big families & kids doing different extra-curricular activities handle the constant driving??

I talked to my mom a little bit this morning. She had some teeth pulled the other day & is incredibly bored being stuck at home with no one there. I guess Brett, my youngest brother, is spending significantly more time with my older brother, Travis, leaving her all alone during the day. Well, my dad took some vacation time last week, but I'm sure that added to the fun. LOL Lots of History Channel shows....fun, fun! I feel bad for her & really wish I could be there right now. I miss being around her. When I was a teenager, I never would have imagined our relationship to be like it is now. She's one of my best friends. I feel bad for the rest of the world, not having my mom as their mom. :) She's the best!

I set up a MySpace account for Ty today. He's so excited about it. He's not able to get on it without me there, but at this point he's just grateful to get any computer time. It's been a while. I hope he chooses wisely & doesn't let his hormones take over.

Chocolate cake bad....

'nuff said. Tomorrow I will be better. And the chocolate cake will find it's way down the sink.

Grant is the MAN!

My younger brother, Grant, entered the MTC today! Woohoo!!! I'm very excited for him & this journey he's begun & I'm extremely proud of him. To be honest, I was doubtful he would ever go on a mission.

The kids & I flew to Kansas to spend a week & a half with my parents & brothers & sisters-in-law over the Easter holiday. We had a nice go-away party for Grant & I got to see some old friends & spend time with my family. My younger brother, Jake, even made it out. He lives in Utah, so Grant flew out with Jake a few days before he needed to check in to the MTC.

Easter was good, though we all missed Dave. He had to work & wasn't able to come to Kansas with us. He struggled with everything while we were gone. I'm sure it was very lonely for him & I can't imagine the house being so quiet for so long. He doesn't have many friends to hang out with, so it was just him & our cocker spaniel Ginger for 9 whole days.

We got to take some family pictures while we were out there. I'll put them up when I get them downloaded. They all turned out really good. It's the first professional pics we've taken since well before Hayleah was born. I'm bad about that, I know.

Twenty-one days and counting

I'm down 11 lbs., 12 oz. as of two days ago. I start to get down on myself because in the beginning I was seeing a difference of pounds each day, but lately it's just ounces. I've stopped weighing myself daily. It's making me feel like I'm giving up a lot & not getting the results I want. But seeing it's been 3 weeks & I've lost 11 pounds, I guess I'm not doing so bad.

I sometimes find myself obsessing about it, which I definitely don't want. I still haven't added any more exercise than normal to my efforts. I need to get that glider do-hicky in the house still. I don't have time for much lately, it seems. I've decided to take Logan & Hayleah on a nice walk tomorrow morning, though, after I get Ty & Jo off to school.

I'm starting to feel like my clothes aren't fitting right anymore, which is exciting. And my round belly is flatter than it's been in many, many years!

Day 5 with nothing delish

I want to drop a lot of weight that's been hanging around for a lot of years now. My first goal is 20 lbs. My first reward will be a new pair of walking shoes. My second goal is another 20 lbs. The reward, once that goal is reached, is an MP3 player that's all mine. :)

Of course with all this weight loss, a girl's gotta have new clothes. :)

I actually feel really good about this intentional deprivation. I feel good when I make it through a craving & don't give in. A little factoid about cravings: they only last 15 min. If you can make it through those 15 min. without caving, you're in the clear (for now) & YAY!!! for you. :D

I can't wait to not look like my older brother anymore. Not that he's bad to look at, or anything. It's just that with my short hair & multiple chins & our mother's good looks, sometimes I don't recognize myself in pictures. LOL I remember, just after I had Ty 13.5 years ago, catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror....it was just out of the corner of my eye....& doing a quick double-take because I thought I just saw my brother standing in the hallway just outside the door. I had short hair then, too. It kind of startled me because he left for his mission the week before so I was shocked to see him standing behind me! I think I was equally shocked to realize that it was me & not him.

It's been a roller coaster with my weight since then. I know I'll never be a svelte 125 again. I'm okay with that. I'm not doing this for the way I look. I want to be around to meet my great-grandchildren. There's no way, at my size, I'll be able to do that. I'll die early & that thought just doesn't sit well with me.

So, here's the game plan: I've cut out all processed foods. I'm consuming alot more fruits & veggies & limiting my meat intake. Everything fried or sweet (other than fruit) is a no-no. And there will be no eating after 5:00 p.m. Also, once I get the dang machine out of the garage & into the house, I'm going to get at least 30 min. a day on the exercise machine (can't think of its name) or on walks with my kiddos & puppy.

Seems like a good plan. I look forward to seeing the results. Being such a fat kid, I'm hoping the weight comes off faster than it would if I wasn't such a fat kid. I meant to say fluffy...really. :)