A beautiful day

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day. The weather was in the high 60's and really motivated me! It began with a great walk/hike with a couple of friends in the gorgeous Percy Warner Park. We've been dying to get Brooklyn to kick around her soccer ball and the rain has been preventing that from happening, so it was a must. A trip to our new favorite park to take her, Owl Creek Park, including some soccer, swinging, tricycle riding, sliding, and some relaxing in the beautiful sun. Here are some

pics from the park:

These are the moments that life is about. We hope to take in every single one of them.

I also broke the routine and kept Brooklyn up late past her bedtime to go to the dance recital at SCA. She was enthralled by the dancing and it was worth every minute of it!

Small victories

A week back into the journey and we have some small victories to celebrate!

• last weekend we ate every meal at home (actually a big accomplishment for us, but small in the big picture)
• three workouts over the week--extreme muscle pain prevented more later in the week (maybe went too hard too quickly?)
• over the whole week we only had one meal out due to Brooklyn's soccer practice on the other side of town after work, making it impossible to come home to eat dinner--kept that meal healthy by grabbing low calorie subs at Subway
• thoroughly enjoyed Brooklyn's first soccer practice and hope she loves it

Goals for this week: Lent starts, so we are going to do something together to better our lives. Drink more water and less diet drinks (Diet Dr. Pepper has been my vice these days). Research more recipes for healthier cooking like this.

Re-commitment

March 1 was our re-commitment date on this journey. We had gotten a little off track, but not too bad. Our goals are to exercise more and return to eating at home as much as possible. Many things have happened since August, but we are still striving to have a healthier lifestyle. We have plateaued in the weight loss, so we know that we have to kick up the physical activity if we want to lose more.

My official goal is 40 lbs. by Sept. 1 (6 months from start date). I have the honor of being a bridesmaid in my sister's wedding and really want to rock the dress I'll be wearing. Now that it is getting warmer, I hope to be motivated by the sunshine and get it done! Tom bought me Zumba! for the Wii for Christmas, so I also hope to incorporate it into the routine. I've worked out with it twice now and I definitely felt the burn in my muscles!

So the update since 3/1:

3/1: 30 min. Zumba! for Wii

3/3: 45 min. Zumba! for Wii

We have to learn from our past, right? Well, I wasn't really that involved in many physical activities as a child or growing up, so I hope to change that for Brooklyn. I want her to enjoy sports and other activities. We're starting her young. Last night she had her first soccer practice! I hope she has fun and learns to enjoy playing with her teammates.

I appreciate your feedback and comments as we venture on down the road. Here we go!

Thank you Mrs. Crocker

My achievement for this week was cooking my first whole chicken! I wasn't sure that I could do it, but yes I could with the help of Mrs. Betty Crocker. I never knew it could be so easy!

I am excited for the start of a new school year--all the celebrations, new projects, and being a part of bringing more great girls to a fabulous school!

Another accomplishment this week that may not sound huge to the average person, but I went shopping with people other than my husband or family member. I cannot remember the last time I felt confident and unashamed enough to allow myself to be around others when I am shopping. It was fun, but I also had to remind myself to not get frustrated because I still have a ways to go, but I will never be skinny. I ended the day feeling good which hasn't been the case after a shopping trip for a very long time.

I'm back..../Not just any jeans

Yes, it has been too long. No, we have not "fallen off course." We're still going along in our journey, just kind of hit a level plain. Not mountains, not valleys. In the last six weeks we have spent time with family and friends and I have also returned to work. I've been working on a lot of fun projects that have been challenging yet enjoyable and hence not much energy when I get home. My hubby has been working lots of overtime lately, making up for the dollars spent traveling and visiting family as well as paying off some bills. I'm quite proud of the hard work he has been doing, but ready to have him back on the weekends. I guess I've gotten a small glimpse into what it is like to be a single parent and wouldn't wish it upon anyone!!


These are not just any jeans...





These are the first jeans that I have purchased for a long time that were not plus size!!!! While in Georgia visiting my in-laws, Tom and I snuck away while Brooklyn was napping and did a little shopping. These jeans are from one of my old favorite stores, Old Navy! It has been many years since I have fit into their jeans, and I not only fit into them, I didn't have to buy their largest size! I had a bit of a celebratory dance in the dressing room to say the least. My hubby has also fit himself into the smallest pants he can ever remember wearing. To say the least, shopping is fun again! Being able to shop just about anywhere I want to also allows me to be picky and look around for bargains. Here is my latest:







Not the best photo of it, but this is a stylish gold skirt (4 sizes smaller than when I started this journey), that I would have not ever thought I would look good in before. The original price was $54.50; it was marked down to $39.99 with an additional 50% off and I had a $15 coupon... do the math and I got it for a whole $5!


With my new confidence due to my healthier life, it was also time for another drastic change for my new look. My good friend Maggie blessed me with a gift card to Studio 120 for a hair makeover--and boy did I need it! I figured if I wanted to get something different, I should go all out---





and I did!


I promise to blog more and don't forget to send me recipes for your tasty healthy meals! I need to expand my recipe book to keep things changing with our eating and we won't get bored.


Till next time!

The fun stuff we are doing

I met up with a coworker yesterday to get some ideas for a summer camp I am teaching in a couple of weeks and she asked what we had been doing so far (this is technically just week 1 of summer break). I was telling her that I've been in a predicament because summer is shorter than I was looking forward to all school year (going back to work July 6), so I have all these ideas of things to do and want to enjoy the time I have off. But yet, I still want to relax a little so that I feel refreshed when I go back to work. I'm working on the balance.

With that said, I thought I'd share some of the things we have done this week and last week when I didn't have inservice meetings:

• Nashville Sounds baseball game- Tom got to see a legend coaching the Iowa Cubs (Ryne Sandberg)
• Lunch date and a movie
• Wave Country ($12 for the family with our Citipass coupon)
• Trip to the zoo (many more to come)
• Story time at the main library (a must for all young children)
• Free family movie at Green Hills Cinema
• Staying up late and catching up on movies from the Redbox since summer television stinks
• Finished a book I started on Spring Break

If you have other fun and inexpensive things to do, please share!

Today we head to Indiana after Tom gets off work. The first celebration of the summer--my little sister's engagement party! Still hard to believe my little sister is getting married because she's supposed to stay little to me and not do these kind of grown up things--just kidding Karen!

Yesterday I found out that registration for a camp increased, so next week I'll return to my art state of mind and maybe it will inspire me to do some more of my own artsy things!

Summer please slow down.

Summer has begun

I've been busy with my to do list for the month and realized I hadn't written an update in a couple of weeks. It's going to be a busy month, but we are excited to see family and friends over the next few weeks! One project I am working on is a recipe book of my own! I collect recipes from various Web sites (eatbetteramerica and Mrs. Dash are my faves), but need one place to put them all so I don't have to keep searching for them. If you have a recipe I can add to my book, please send it to me! We need to energize our menu so that we don't get bored with it!

Here's our next weigh in:

Amie has lost 2 1/2 more pounds for a total of 53 pounds!!

Tom has lost 5 more pounds for a total of 48 pounds!!

We'll post some updated pics after we take some this weekend!