Survey from Analee

1. What's the last mistake you made? Giving Gabe a broken Pop Tart...can you say tantrum?

2. Is the sun shining? yes, with a great big, blue sky!

3. Can you successfully blow up and tie a balloon? yes!

4. Do you like text messaging? Receiving, yes. Sending, no.

5. What do you eat the most at your best friend’s house? At Gina's house....lots and lots of homemade egg rolls with an amazing homemade sweet and sour sauce. Her mom always keeps the food coming!

7. Are you wearing any make-up right now? Of course

8. What are your plans for later? Mother's Day party at Gabe's school, Lowes to pick up sand for our patio project, then working on the patio this evening

9. What is your favorite DDR song?
I have no clue who or what DDR is.

10. Is there any drama within your life?
not at the moment

11. What is a song they need to stop playing on the radio?
anything by ACDC, and Love Shack (I listen to satellite radio, and I hate these songs)

12. Are you happy with life right now? Personal life, yes. Work life, no.

13. Does anyone like you? I hope so!

14. What is your current obsession? my hair (I am growing it out, unfortunately not gracefully)

15. Do you have a dog? yes

16. Ever been kissed under mistletoe? no

17. Would you ever smile at a stranger? sometimes

18. Ever pulled your pants down in the street? no!

19. Do your toenails have nail polish on them? sadly, no. Both of my big toes broke way down low, so I am trying to grow them out.

20. When's the last time you wore eyeliner? middle school?

21. Last curse word you said was? f***

22. Are your lips chapped? no

23. Are you currently jealous? not right now. Actually, I am always jealous of Allison's hair

24. Do you own an ipod? for what? MP3 for running

25. Did you have a dream last night? maybe

26. Are you mad at anyone? no

27. Who is the loudest person you know? Not sure

28. What's going on this weekend? Saturday shopping in Greenville with mom. Sunday headed to Raleigh to check out Archivers and eat at Mellow Mushroom-my favorite!!!

29. Done any spring cleaning lately? YES!!!

30. Anything bothering you? my hair (I hope I am not this shallow)

31. Do you do cheerleading? not any more. Unless you count the random flips I can execute at the drop of a dime :) I am serious about that one!

32. Did you wish for anything last night on 11:11? No, but I always wish on 10:10!!

33. Do you drink coffee on a regular basis? absolutely...except for the time I went camping and this one girl forgot to bring the percolator (JK Analee!)

34. Do you wish you were someone else? no

35. What jewelry are you wearing? wedding band set, charm bracelet, turquois earings.

36. Funniest thing that happened last night? Gabe and my mom playing baseball with the tennis racquet

38. Are you easily amused? not really

39. Can you lick your elbow? no

40. Do you know this song, "we stay fly no lie you know this"?
yes, but I can't think of what it is...something from the 90's

Eating Clean

So, I have been in a sort of rut lately (that word doesn't look right). Anyway, my weight loss has all together stopped, and I have been super sluggish, tired, and lazy feeling. I am still running, but I am even losing steam there. I did make plans to start playing tennis with a girl at work, so maybe that will help in the workout department.

In the meantime, a girl I am friends with on Facebook has been blogging about "Eating Clean" and how it is completely transforming her life. She has been doing it for about six months now, and she has lost 47 pounds. She raves about it, and I have always wondered what it was about. So while on my break from classes, I have been researching it, and I decided I am going to try an abbreviated version. After all, there is no way I can give up the occasional diet coke or coffee, so there is no need to lie and say I am going to totally commit to it. The gist is to eat foods in their most natural forms, while omitting all processed foods and white sugars, breads, rice, etc. You will look better and feel better, while losing any extra stubborn pounds that are hanging around. I think my eating is a lot of my problem. We have way too much processed food in the house and way too much junk food. I can limit myself for the most part, but I want to try and stay away from these foods as much as possible. Of course this isn't entirely possible thanks to parties, eating on the road, and living with a 3 year old, but I am going to make a conscious effort to clean up my diet as much as possible. Now, if only I could drink the dreaded 8 glasses of water a day!

I have been printing out some recipes that fit into the eating clean category, and they are not as bad as I was expecting. Since I am cheap I am not going to buy all the books to read and get recipes from, but I am going to look for this one


Mostly I just need some good snack ideas. I know this lifestyle change will have so many amazing benefits, so maybe easing into this way of eating is the best plan. Now, what are the chances of getting Gary on board???

The Circus

Well, we tried to take Gabe to the circus. He was SOOOOO excited to go, and talked about it all weekend. So the big day comes, and he is barely able to sit still. Gary and I pick him up early from school, and we head across the street to the traveling circus. Gabe sees the tent and gets even more excited. We walk over to the elephants, and everything is still going well. Then we enter the huge tent, and I feel Gabe starting to grip my hand a little tighter. We walk around to find some seats, and that's when it happens-Gabe sees the white tigers in the cage, clawing and pawing angrily to get out. He starts FREAKING out, crying and yelling "I want to go hooooommmmeeee!" It was really pitiful. We try to take him outside to calm down, but by this point it was too late. Then he sees the clowns outside, and it gets even worse! Nothing is calming him down, so we head over to the ticket booth to try and get our money back. Luckily the woman remembered us and did not give us any trouble in reimbursing our money.

I just couldn't beleive he reacted this way! Gabe was so excited to see the circus, but I guess we should have better explained the circus to him! What does a 3 year old know about the circus? He did so well at the zoo, so the animals spooking him really amazes me. Long story short, here are the only 2 pictures I was able to shoot before it all went wrong. Maybe next year :(

I'm free!

I submitted my last paper this afternoon, so I am officially done with spring semester. Only two more semesters to go!

Tonight was the first chance I had to sit down and make some cards,and I had forgotten how much I miss it! One is a graduation card for a friend, and the other is a birthday card for my nephew. I also forgot how long each card takes-I spent 2 hours on 2 cards!

I have a ridiculously long list of things to do while I am on break (I start back May 18), and catching up on cards and blogs are just two of them. I have no idea what everyone has been up to!

Anyway, I will keep the posts coming for a while until school starts to consume me again. At least I am only taking 2 classes this summer.

Oh yeah, and the last recorded weight was 172.8 last week!

Weight

I have finally broken away from the 175 barrier! Today I weighed 173.8, and I am feeling lighter than ever. I was right on track with my four pound weight loss last month, so as long as I can keep it up, I will be at my goal weight by June.

I will get back to blogging in another week or so after my final assignments are turned in. Spring semester is KILLING me!!!!

My first vinyl wall art

My mom used her Cricut to make me this wall art for the family room. It looks AMAZING! The pictures don't do it justice. I will have to come up with some more projects for other rooms. What a great way to add some visual interest to your home!

New stuff!

Race Time!

I am so excited for the Habitat race tomorrow! I have been running for just about 1 year now (seriously running), so I hope that all the hard work will pay off tomorrow. The last race I did in Greenville last summer (before my surgery) I ran a 5k in almost 36 min. The last practice race Chris and I ran was close to 33 min, so tomorrow I am shooting for 31 min. Then the following weekend, the Young Life race is in Washington. The Pirate Alumni race is in April, then finally the Not too Hot to Trot in Washington this June. If all goes well, I hope to hit the under 30 mark for the last race. It's nice to have these kinds of goals.

On a side note, I weighed 174.8 this morning, but I have been "carb-loading" this week for the race.

Spider time

Arachnophobia:the irrational fear of spiders

The reactions of arachnophobics often seem irrational to others (and sometimes to the sufferers themselves). People with arachnophobia tend to feel uneasy in any area they believe could harbor spiders or that has visible signs of their presence, such as webs. If arachnophobics see a spider they may not enter the general vicinity until they have overcome the panic attack that is often associated with their phobia. In some extreme cases, even a picture or a realistic drawing of a spider can also evoke fear.

(I actually tried searching an image for this post and then felt like I was about to puke when the first images came up. Seriously, try searching spiders and you'll see what I mean)

Anyone who knows me knows I have a HUGE fear of spiders. It makes me sick to my stomach to see one, and I get all panicky and nervous and my heart starts beating really fast. I even have dreams about spiders coming down the ceiling onto the bed when I am in that almost sleeping stage right before you actually fall asleep. Gary could tell you more about this in extreme detail. I actually swat away the "webs" and jump out of bed running to the other side of the room. Crazy, I know.

Anyway, so it has warmed up and we have had some rain. That means it's time for our annual spring time visitors to arrive. I don't know what it is, but every spring for about a week, the wolf spiders come out and we see one a day for about a week, then they never come back. It's really weird. Long story short, the first one came 4 days ago, of course when everyone else was in bed. I saw it scurry across the floor while I was watching TV, so I found a heavy book and threw it on top. That's where it stayed until Gary found it the next morning. I felt so sick, I just went to bed. Then #2 came the next day, making its way down the hallway. I screamed for Gary to come get it, and here comes Gabe running down the hall to see what's going on. The poor kid almost stepped on it, which made him freak out. Sick. #3 came out late Sat. night, ironically just after me and Gary said I guess we weren't going to see one tonight. Wrong. And lastly, this morning- what greets me in the shower? Of course #4. I am freaking out here, people!!!!! I can't take these things anymore, and why is it I am the one finding it each time???????? If the same holds true this year as in past years, we should only have a few more days of this left. I am just about at the breaking point. I would just about take anything over a spider. HELP!

Time for a little pampering!

Yes! I finally made it to 175 pounds this morning, so I am treating myself to a much needed pedicure this weekend. I have not weighed this low since about the 5th month of my pregnancy-back in 2007! Only 10-12 more pounds to go until I am at my pre-pregnancy weight. Next time around I will not be so careless and get the weight off in the first year. Trying to lose it all three years later is for the birds!

YouTube - Mar 05 2010 - VID00023.wmv

YouTube - Mar 05 2010 - VID00023.wmv

YouTube - Mar 05 2010 - VID00022.wmv

YouTube - Mar 05 2010 - VID00022.wmv

Easter bags for Gabe's teachers

I found this template in one of my mom's books, and decided to try it out for Gabe's teachers at school. This is so easy, and so cute. You could make these bags about a million different ways.

Seriously, these are my 2 favorites!

I am getting better about using techniques, and what a difference they make! I love the sponging technique around the egdges, and I am finally remembering to use my ribbon for some pretty embellishments. These are both birthday cards-

Weigh in

Today's weight is 177.0, which I am counting as a weight loss from the last time I weighed at home (177.6). That 176.2 was the doctor's scale, which apparently is a better reading than mine! Still, I am only counting what my scale says. Unfortunately, no pedicure this week!

Cards, cards, and more cards

I promise I will get back to my regular blogs as soon as this crazy week of school is over. I have everything due this Friday before spring break, so I am going to concentrate on my library blog and other school assignments this week. Check it out if you have time and contribute any thoughts or questions. This is really a fictional blog, but you will get the idea. It is the Lost in the Library blog under my profile.

Anyway, I did manage to make two cards over the weekend. One birthday, one Easter?

What am I going to do for spring break, you ask? Make cards, cards, and more cards! It is such a great stress reliever!

Last two cards for February

These are two of my favorite cards. One is an anniversary card, the other for a baby shower.

Gabe's first trip to the dentist!

Gabe had his first visit to the dentist this afternoon, and it went exceptionally well! He was already so excited to be going, and the hygenist was AMAZING with him! He loved the chair, the huge "flashlight", the tools, and even the flouride treatment that got painted on his teeth. And best of all, no cavities! He got to pick out a toy (an airplane), a new toothbrush and toothpaste (Spongebob toothpaste!), and a dinosaur sticker! He was so good for the hygenist and the dentist, and I was SOOOOOOO proud of him! We went to his new favorite store afterwards (TJ MAxx), and he picked out a super hero book for a present. I would say he had a GREAT day today-

Gina's baby announcements

The insides have the same "Our Baby is Here" stamp I used for the other announcements from a previous blog. I LOVE these announcements. I hope Gina loves them just as much!

STRESSED OUT!

I am swamped with an unbelievable amount of school work this week, so the blogs will be few and far between. This morning I had a doctor appt. and was pleased with my official weight of 176.2-with clothes on! Yes!!! At 175 I am allowing myself a pedicure or after I run the two 5ks next month, whichever comes first.

Also, I am busy working on a friend's baby announcements, so I will post pictures of those as soon as I finish them. They have to be in NJ by March 7th, so they should be done this week. They are ADORABLE!!!

Sweet Story

Here is a Friday story to put a smile on everyone's face-or at least on my face.

My mom babysat Gabe last night while Gary and I spent some time shopping and eating dinner in Greenville after my doctor's appointment. I called her from the restaurant to check and see how things were going, and she told me the funniest story about their dinner at McDonald's. Now Gabe is always a perfect angel for his Grandma, and last night proved no different. She told me they were seated next to a group of older gentlemen enjoying some McDonald's coffee. One of the men told my mom how impressed with Gabe he was and that he looked like a very nice young man. Apparently Gabe must have been on his super dooper best behavior. They continue on with their dinner, and when the men got up to leave, the same one that spoke to them before handed Gabe a dollar bill! He said that he was so impressed with Gabe and that he deserved an ice cream cone for dessert! So this random stranger was so impressed with my perfect angel of a son that he decided to buy him an ice cream cone. I bet Gabe was so excited to get that dollar bill. He loves money, and he especially loves to pay for things himself. I wish I could have been there. Funny how things like this only happen when Grandma is babysitting-

Thursday Thanks

I love this image! I know I am not the only woman with a closet organized not only by season, but by size as well. The only difference is my clothes are organized and labeled in tupperware bins on my closet floor. Here are some of the categories: Pre-baby spring/summer, Fat clothes spring/summer, pre-baby pants, and Fat clothes winter. I am dead serious. It is totally ridiculous. And I just remembered the maternity container in the attic!!!!

Anyway, on to the relevance of this picture.

1. I am thankful for my very slow, yet consistent weight loss this month. I am averaging about 1 lb. per week, and that was the plan from the start. I feel like I am still eating what I want, but I have completely cut out nighttime snacking, and I run close to 3 miles at least 3-4 times a week. This "diet" suits me just fine. Of course if I really wanted to kick it up a notch I could, but then it starts to feel more like work and I will lose interest.

2. I have my last post op appt. with my plastic surgeon this afternoon, and then I am officially done with those appointments! Everyday I am thankful for my breast reduction, and I still can't believe I actually got approved and went through with it!

3. Since I will be in Greenville, I am going shopping at Kohl's with $20 Kohl's cash and a 15% coupon! Time for some new shoes!

4. We finished painting the bedroom last night. This included 2 coats of primer (dark blue walls), 2 coats of paint, trim, windows and doors!

5. Chili's for dinner

6. My new personalized name stamp should be in the mail today

7. No cooking or cleaning tonight!

8. Grandma is babysitting for Gabe, and they will have so much fun!

Oops!

I can't believe I forgot to weigh yesterday! No big deal. This morning's weight is 177.6. Slow and steady, but I will get there!!!

And after all of these parties!

Chelsie's party

Samantha's party