Spring Break part UNO

We have had a really fun start to our Spring Break, despite the weather being in the 30's and SNOWY!  Craziness.  The kids are dying to go outside and ride bikes and play at the park, but that ain't happening. :/

Sunday, we celebrated our beautiful niece, Megan.  She turns THIRTEEN on Friday.  She wasn't even born when I met Eric!  That is insane to me!  

 A lot of people tell me that she favors me, but we aren't "blood" related.  She is Eric's brother's daughter.  But, Maggie favors her when she was little.  I love it!

The kids had a fantastic time running around like little hoodlums with their cousins.  And, Eric was using this sweet face to persuade me we need another one.  Dog, that is.  Not another child.  After getting drool on my pants for the 40th time, I stuck to my guns and told him HECK NO! ;-)

On Monday evening, I ran around with Natalie.  We got some dinner (I mean, that's what you do when they don't have Zumba classes during Spring Break, right??) and shopped for some Easter stuff for the little kiddos.  While I was out, Eric texted me and said Griffin was coming to spend the night.  Shortly after I got home, this is what I walked in on...

Levi was completely worn out, poor guy!  I love the huge open mouth snoring!!  Ha!  This morning, the boys spent time putting tents up in the basement, shooting guns at the bad guys, and talking Maggie into being their "snack" girl.  ;-)

I have THE BEST husband!  He called me this afternoon with a surprise:  He arranged for a sitter so that we could go to Outback to eat!  HOLLA!  I didn't have to cook.  Thank you, Jesus.  Then we ran a few errands and did some shopping.  After that, we finished up with dessert at the Orange Leaf.  I'd never been there and it was really yummy!  Heck, frozen yogurt with chocolate toppings?  Yes, please!  We honestly just had the best time just eating, chatting and being together.  Thanks, babe! 

We have some fun things planned for the rest of the week, but I didn't want to forget about these precious moments we've already had.  :-)  I love breaks, when my kids are both home with me!

Motivational Monday

First of all, I just have to share this:

WOO HOO!!  How about those Hoosiers?!!  Sweet Sixteen, Baby!  Their game had me pacing back and forth, biting my nails, and yes, I yelled at the refs on tv... But, we won!

 Okay, now for some motivation!

Last week, I shared my frustration.  Thursday, my weigh in day, came and went and I promised to share the results today.  I lost 3 pounds last week!  THREE POUNDS!  In one week!!  Woo hoooo!  Now, would I have lost that even if I didn't add the extra calories back into my diet?  Maybe.  But I was excited to see a loss, even with the extra calories!  I'm trudging on.  Yesterday was a "bad" day.  We had a birthday party, and, well....#cake.  Ugh.  But, I jumped right back on this morning and am exercising even as I type this. :-)

A couple of things I want to remember:
I'm in a Wednesday night women's Bible study and this jumped off the page at me Wednesday night.  Now, this book is about taking our thoughts captive, and not giving in to temptation (whether that temptation is physical or emotional), but I thought it could also mean the same thing for a healthy lifestyle.

 "Life consists of one twenty-four hour period after another.  If you can be faithful for one day, you've got it made," my mentor responded.  "You just do the same thing the next day and the next day."

Taking one day at a time and trusting our future to God is all it takes.  That's why Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us today our daily bread."

Every Woman's Battle by Shannon Ethridge
***********************************************

I also thought this was really great!  Natalie, my workout buddy & friend sent it to me.

That is SOOO true!  A month from now I will be closer to my goal.  That's awesome to think about.  And, speaking of goals, that's my topic for today.  GOALS.  I think that is important, for me, to keep going.  So, I set a couple small ones for myself.  It's not "lose 50 pounds by March 31st" or "run a marathon tomorrow".  But, if I can stick with this, they will be easily attainable for me.

---The first one is to try and make my workouts longer.  I've been doing 20-25 minutes at least 4 or 5 days a week.  I think that's great!  Some days, I hit 30 or plus minutes.  But, I would like to consistently try to push myself and make 30 minutes my minimum workout.

--The second is to not buy any clothes until I have honestly lost TWO SIZES!  PEOPLE, that is huge for me!  I am a shopper.  I love to shop.  I don't know how long this will take, but I am anticipating MUCH APPRECIATION for my hard work, and even some squealing when I am able to do that.  It might even be around my birthday, so I can't think of a better present!  :-)

After that, I will make another goal.  But for now, I'm looking forward with GREAT EXCITEMENT to shopping!!  

Thanks for all your sweet comments and texts throughout the last few weeks!  You guys rock.  This has been fun to put together and I look forward to more MM posts.  Oh, and PS...I just checked my time and I'm at 31 minutes on the elliptical!  YES!

road to state

I already posted my Motivational Monday post, but I need to back up and tell you about my weekend!  

Saturday was a really important day!  To start my day off, my friend, Natalie and I went for pedicures.  Ahh!  It was great. :)   

After getting my feet all pretty, I had another important date -- with these two pretty gals! :)

We were headed to the little town of Seymour, IN to see G's nephew play ball in the semi-state game.  Um, that's kind of a big deal around here!  G did a really great post for the day.  (Click here.)

Sisters.  Even though they look normal here, they were major basketcases! ;-)

This was exciting for my little guy.  His FIRST high school basketball game.  

Let me tell you something.  THIS GAME.  Oh my stars, the memories started to flow.  High school basketball is the heart of Indiana.  I was immediately transferred back to high school where I was screaming bloody murder for the Red Devils!  We love our ball!  And you know what?  SO DO THESE BOYS!

Look at those faces!  So nervous for Cody, who was shooting a free throw shot in this picture.  PRECIOUS.

Those boys were on their feet the entire game, just like the adults, and were cheering, screaming, high-fiving each other... and when we WON?

TEARS...

AND STORMING THE FLOOR...

 SO PROUD of these Borden Braves and their journey!

They play on Saturday morning for the State Championship.  Oh my gosh!  I wish I could be there to show my support.  But, I will be there in heart.  :)  Good luck to the Braves!!!

Motivational Monday

Last week, I did a Motivational Monday post and I hope it is something I will continue to do.  I enjoyed looking for things to post this week and every little bit of motivation helps!

Gretchen sent this to me and I loved it!

This was kind of a rough week.  Frustration has set in.  For the most part, I was sticking with healthier eating, drinking water, exercise, and staying under my calorie count.  AND I DIDN'T LOSE ANY WEIGHT.  I don't get that.  At all.  So, on Thursday, I called my brother.  He did this little thing called the Ironman and knows a little somethin' somethin' about exercise.  When I texted him, it was 9am and he told me he would call at NOON, WHEN HE WAS FINISHED ON HIS BIKE.  I guess I shouldn't really complain about my measly 30 minutes on the elliptical! ;-)
  

Anyways, I told him the details: low calories, exercise 4-5 days a week, not losing weight.  He said his first thought was that I wasn't eating enough calories.  Whaaa?  I talked to Jenny later that evening and she agreed.  Natalie {my friend/workout buddy} and I did some research.  Some things we found said if you aren't taking in enough energy, your body can kind of go into "shock" and your metabolism will slow way down, kind of reacting like you are sick and it is trying to conserve.

So, I needed to eat more?  I like this dieting stuff!  Ha!  On Friday, I increased my calories by 200, so we will see how that goes.

Another thing I did {thanks to tax money!  Woot!} was buy a really nice heart monitor.  I didn't know exactly how many calories I was burning while working out.

When I did 25 minutes on the elliptical, the MyFitnessPal app told me I burned more than 400 calories.  However, when I did 25 minutes and wore my new fancy schmancy heart monitor, I only burned 210.  That was a huge bummer!  But, I would rather have accuracy.  I will use it for the first time tonight at Zumba - Yay!  

One thing that I am learning is that I can be that person.  For years, well, my whole life, I have teased that I don't do exercise.  But, each time I exercise now, it becomes more of a habit.  There are more days that I do than don't.  On the days that I don't, I miss that feeling of accomplishment.  And, I'm starting to see small results.  Little things.  My rings are looser.  My pants aren't snug.  My body craves water.  I get excited about Zumba -- that is insane to me!! ;-)  

I remember Gretchen telling me that time is going to go by, no matter what.  I may as well make the most of each day and try my hardest because in a year, if I stick to it, I will be so glad I did!

While Daddy's away, the kids will drive me nuts asking when he comes home!

Eric has been in Texas since Friday and he comes home tonight.  I AM SO READY FOR HIM TO BE HOME.  While he was gone, we took lots of pictures and videos to send him.  I think he really enjoyed that!  

So, here are a couple of things we did while daddy was away!

Naps...

I love how it's like "Where's Waldo" when Maggie naps.

I usually go in and peel some of the layers away. ;-)

Visiting sweet Griffin and chowing on cookies while we were there!

Helping Grammy pick out some new eyeglasses.

{I love her pretty blue eyes!}

Coaxing Papa into feeding us cheese balls. 

 Trying new foods!

I must say the cool ranch taco changed my life.  Fantastic!

And, I am forever grateful to God for Pistachios.

 Playing.

Lots of time outside because this weekend was beautiful! 

A day at the park with sweet friends!

More teeth falling out! 

Now, both front teeth are gone and he looks like a little vampire. ;-)

And, more napping.  

Sweetness.

We've enjoyed our time together, but are all ready for Eric to come home!  Let's pray for no flight delays because if I hear "how long till Daddy comes home" one more time, I will need medication.  And lots of it.

Motivational Monday

I've decided to start doing some Motivational Monday posts.  Throughout my journey starting Zumba (you can read those posts here and here), I've found lots of little motivational things that are helping me stay, well, um, motivated! ;-)  My reason for doing this is (A) to keep myself motivated and (B) to maybe encourage others.  I want to keep record of my diet and exercise and I'm hoping to receive lots of accountability by posting it on my blog!  I don't want to sound as if I am bragging, because I am far from that!  I just need to constantly remind myself to do better!

As of this morning, I am down six pounds.  I started exactly six weeks ago.  Six pounds in six weeks doesn't seem great to me, but slow and steady wins the race, right?  I've been exercising five days a week, on average.  I do Zumba two nights and our elliptical on the other nights.  I can tell it is getting easier.

I've had lots of encouragement...hello Mother :)...and one of my biggest cheerleaders has been Gretchen.  She sends me stuff like this:

Ha!  That's been one of my favorites!  One thing she has encouraged me to do is to eat healthy.  Wha??  I figured that if I stayed under my calorie count and exercised that the weight would just come off, right?  Wrong.  I don't know if it is my age or what, but it isn't easy.  So, Gretchen suggested this:

This is huge for me!  If you know me at all, you know that I am a very picky eater!  I don't eat many fruits and vegetables.  You might die, but I can't remember eating a banana.  Ever.  My mom, bless her heart, tried when I was little, but I just wouldn't eat many foods.  So, I'm sure she made me try bananas, but I didn't like them.  Blueberries?  The same thing.  Can't remember ever eating one.  Well, guess what?

I tried a banana.  I didn't love it.  But, at least I am trying!  I went out and got a small stash of some healthier options to try.  

The verdict?  I like blueberries!  And, I am in LOVE with Pistachios!  Who knew?!

On Thursday, our Bible study had brunch.  I passed on Honey Buns, cinnamon rolls, CAKE, and donuts and I got some fruit and casserole.  As much as I wanted the cake, it was a great feeling to know that I stayed disciplined.  

I'm not saying I will always make the right choices by any means!  I'm just trying to make 'healthier decisions' a part of my every day routine.  {Besides, who can resist my dad's mashed potatoes and my mom's mac n cheese on Sundays?  Not me!}

This was great, too:

I noticed last Sunday that my black dress pants felt looser - Woot!

And, this one is an every HOUR reminder for me...

I hope I haven't bored you to death with my first MM post!  ;)  I've got more to share, but will save it until next week.  I will leave you with this though.

YES...

My nephew is a trooper!

Last night, Jami, Jill and I had a date to go see GREASE at my former high school.  I knew several students who were performing in the production and GREASE is one of my favorites - ever!  When Jami and I decided to go, we teased because I was coming from Zumba and she was coming from Jazzercise.  We were afraid for the people who would be sitting next to us... ;-)

We all know I am not a very coordinated person, especially when it comes to dance.  But, you know what is harder than doing Zumba itself?  Doing Zumba and texting.  During my class, I got this text from my mom:

Yes, my sweet nephew had been pinned down and bitten by a neighbor's dog.  Urgent care decided he needed to be seen in the ER by a plastic surgeon.  THANK OUR GOOD LORD that he was only bitten on the arm and right below his ear lobe.  Jenny said if it had been a few inches lower, they could have had more serious problems.  The surgeon decided that he needed to have surgery to clean out the wounds and close them up.  Cannot imagine... :-(

Before surgery -- {my dad's hand on his shoulder}

The surgery was around an hour and they were pleased with how everything went.  Such a brave boy!

I like how my brother titled this "...with his big sympathy gaining dressing".  Ha!

Again, I'm so thankful that he is okay!  If you remember him, please say a little prayer for him over the weekend.  And, I would ask you to pray for Travis' neighbors, too.  They are absolutely traumatized that this happened.  Travis and Jenny are SO CLOSE to their neighbors and Jenny said she feels worse for them.  ;(

I got some sweet texts from Griffin this morning.  {It still shocks me when I get a text from him! Ha!  He has a special app on his iPod.}

Still a fun night, even amidst all the texting going on with my family.  The students did a great job performing GREASE!  It brought back a whole lot of fun memories for me.