Weight Watchers

Hi all! It's been a while, but I've been busy so I have a good excuse. :) The house is coming along very slowly. We've been going places constantly and been just plain busy, so not much is getting done. But, I did make a decision a few days ago. With a little convincing from my friend Gina, I went back to Weight Watchers meetings tonight. I keep going up, up, up, so it's time to make a change. I feel really good about it this time. I set my goals tonight and I already wrote down what I'm going to eat tomorrow. And I have a big challenge tomorrow night. We're having the church ladies Christmas party tomorrow night, and there will be LOTS of good food. So I'm bringing a veggie tray and my bottle of water. I plan on filling my plate with nothing but veggies. I'm going to eat something with protein before I leave, so I'm not tempted to indulge while I'm there. This is my first goal. I'm 100% sure that I will be able to stick to it, because I've written it down and told myself over and over that I will do this. And I bought some Diet Pepsi Maxx last week and it's in the fridge ready for me. I enjoyed my regular Pepsi tonight though. :) But it's all over after tonight. I'm breaking the Pepsi habit now too. So I might be kinda cranky for a while, but in the long run it'll be great. So I'm posting my stats once again, and I can't believe I'm actually going to do it, because it's embarrassing. I'm at my highest weight ever, besides when I was pregnant with Kassie. But I want you all to see how well I do at WW this time. So here we go:

12-6-07 (208.6) (Start)

My 10% goal is 20 lbs. so that will be 188.6. My goal for WW is 163.6, or 45 lbs. Then meetings are free if I maintain it for 6 weeks. :) I would love to get down to 150, but right now I'm going for a good loss just for this week, maybe even 8.7 so I'll be under 200 again. It's been a while. :) So wish me luck, pray for me and give me any suggestions you have to make this successful for me this time!!!

Unpacking

Well, since I haven't been on here for a few days, I thought I'd pop in and say hi. Things haven't gone as planned, so I'm barely starting to unpack. I had to line the kitchen cupboards and drawers with contact paper and that proved to be quite a job. The cupboards are nice and big and there are lots of them, and some are cut at a weird angle, so I just finished that last night at 11:30. So today I'm going to focus on unpacking kitchen stuff so I can actually cook, which we haven't done the entire week we've been in here (fast food is getting a little old). Then I'm starting on the bathroom stuff. We have tons of storage in the main bathroom, so I have a place for everything in there that we had in both bathrooms at the other place. I've found a few things I don't like about this house, like the bathrooms. One is very confining and the other smells old and has a very short shower head. I'm heading to Eugene today to find a good one at Home Depot, since we've got some gift cards to spend. :) And I'm going to be investing in lots of candles and air freshener. :) I really love all the storage here though! It never seems to end! Now, if I could just snap my fingers and everything would be unpacked and put away, life would be grand. So since that won't be happening anytime soon, I guess I better go start unpacking some more. I'll try to send some pictures as soon as I have something to take a picture of besides lots of boxes. :) Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!!!

Halloween

Finally! More than 2 weeks after Halloween, I have a picture of the kids. My batteries died just as I was going to take the picture, so I had to borrow a friend's camera. They emailed the picture a couple days ago, but I didn't have my computer hooked up right away because of moving. So here it is, a little late. Gabe was ninja boy, and Kassie was a little fairy princess. They had a great time. We went out for a quick bite to eat with our friends first, then back to their house to make caramel apples and onward ho for trick-or-treating. It was a fun night and the kids can't wait until next year!

Moving in???

Well, we got the house, we started painting and 3 days later we're still painting. Things didn't go exactly like they were supposed to and I'll be re-painting in a week or so unfortunatly. But they're coming to lay carpet today in the kids bedrooms and stretch the living room carpet. Then we're going to start moving some stuff in. We were hoping to sleep there tonight, but I'm not sure that's going to happen now. We'll see. But in the meantime, here are a couple pictures from before and after, or in the process.


Kassie's room

Gabe's room

House

Well, the house is coming right along! I drove by today and they are FINALLY getting the garage roof done! I was so excited and relieved at the same time! This process has been drug out for so long, I'm glad it's finally getting done! And better yet, we're signing papers today! Yay! We will actually get the keys either Tuesday or Wednesday! Can you believe it? The Glenn's are going to be official homeowners of a real house, not just a manufactured home or a renter! I can't believe it! But, now the hard work will begin. We have a lot to do to get it livable, so if you don't hear from us, that's what we're doing - fixing up the house. We're going to be painting the whole inside next week, so that'll keep us busy. I'll have to give updates as we go and post pictures!

Speaking of pictures, I don't have Halloween pix yet of the kids in their costumes! My batteries died in my camera when we were over at our friends house, so we used their camera. And they haven't emailed the picture yet, so when I get it, I'll post it. But for now, here's Kassie getting her hair cut. This is the first time she sat by herself and didn't get upset about it. We haven't done many haircuts with her, just because she has been so shy for so long. But Karen is the one cutting her hair, and we know her, so I think that's why Kassie did better. So I had to run home and get the camera (with charged batteries) :) and take some pix. So here she is!

Now, I need to get back to packing! Yikes!

We're moving!!!

Yep, that's right! We're buying a house! I am finally announcing it publicly because I think it's actually going to go through! We have been trying for this house for about 3 months now, but things just didn't go right with the seller's. Well, they finally decided to let us have it. :) Closing is in 2 weeks! So we're going to paint the whole inside (it has some really "pretty" colors), lay laminate flooring in the kids rooms (cause the carpet is nasty) and convert the family room to our bedroom. We'll have 10 days to get out of the duplex after the house closes, so that gives us the time to get all this done. Thank God for good friends and grandparents who are going to help out with the house and babysitting duties! So now if I could just find the ambition to pack, things would be great! I got about 1/2 of Gabe's room packed and we took down the shelves and filled holes in the wall, but that's about as far as I have gotten this week. I have tons of boxes, but just can't get the motivation. Maybe tonight??? It doesn't help the house is in total shambles and I can't work around a mess. I need it to be clean to pack, so I need the kids to be entertained. So we'll see how it goes this week-end. Anyway, when we officially move in, I'll let everyone know our new address!!!

Weigh In

Well, I'm at it again. Gaining. :( I managed to gain more back, so I have officially started back on Weight Watchers. I managed to actually lose 1/10 of a pound on Ladies Retreat, but I gained even more at home. Go figure. This doing it by myself just doesn't cut it for me. So yesterday I started back on WW. I actually did pretty good, I even went to Wendy's for lunch and still stuck to it. So far today I've done good. I'm even trying to kick the Pepsi habit again. I went and bought a small one today, just so I wouldn't get the caffeine head-ache. So here are my stats:

9-12-07 (204.8) (Start)
9-19-07 (201.8) (-3) (Total loss -3)
9-26-07 (203.1) (+1.3) (Total loss -1.7)
10-3-07 (202.4) (-.7) (Total loss -2.4)
10-10-07 (202.3) (-.1) (Total loss -2.5)
10-24-07 (204.4) (+2.1) (Total loss -.4)

Pumpkin Hunting

We had a really fun day Sunday hunting for pumpkins. We went to Lone Pine Farms in Eugene with some friends of ours and their kids. It was a gorgeous day to go out there. This was Kassie's first year of really enjoying it, now that she's 3. They got to feed the goats, which they both thought was pretty cool. The kids were tired by the end of the day, but it was worth it.

Weigh In

Today snuck up on me. I realized last night that today is my weigh in day. I completely forgot about it! Whoops! But it wasn't bad, so I'm relieved, especially after my husband keeps bringing home desserts from the new Italian restaurant in town that he is working two nights a week at! It's a good thing it's only two nights a week, that way I can limit him. :) He says he won't stop until he's tried everything, but she keeps adding stuff, so it'll never end! I controlled myself last night though. I told him I only wanted a bite, not half of it like he was going to give me. So that's all I had. And boy, was it a good bite. I think it was pumpkin cake with cream cheese filling. Yum! Anyway, I did lose this week, not as much as I had hoped, but considering everything going on, I did good. I ended up losing .7 lb. That puts me at a 2.4 lb. loss. I have decided to try this on my own. I'm not going to do Weight Watchers for now. I just don't have the time or the patience for counting points right now, which is stressing me out, so I'm doing myself more harm than good. I know the basics, so I can kind of judge what I'm eating throughout the day. I'm going to do a lot more with chicken and vegetables, less carbs and try to fit some exercise in there somewhere. So we'll see how I do without Weight Watchers. I ended up not being challenged last week because the Pampered Chef party got cancelled. So that wasn't a problem. But all the eating out was. I'm really going to work on that. Especially this week-end. I'm going on our church ladies retreat, so I have set myself some goals. I'm going to take a case of bottled water, that way I'll be drinking that mostly. I also bought a 12 pack of Diet Pepsi Maxx, so that'll help with the caffeine withdrawals. I'm going to try to quit drinking Pepsi again. The week-end will be filled with chocolate too, so I bought some Rolos, but I'm going to limit myself to a certain amount per day, maybe 5??? I'm not sure yet. I'm thinking of getting some snack stuff that I know is good for me, like those 100 calorie packs. Last year I ended up gaining 5 lbs. during the retreat. So I'm going for a loss this year. I'm hoping the Subway is open again (it burned down last year so it was closed). That way I can eat there tomorrow night, not at the place with the yummy hamburgers. I don't want to be tempted with those. They have some really good walking trails at Sun River, so I'm thinking I might get out and walk a little every day too if I have a chance. So those are my goals. I really hope I can stick to them, cause I want to prove that I can lose some weight at ladies retreat! :) Wish me luck, pray for me and check back next week to find out how I did!

9-12-07 (204.8) (Start)
9-19-07 (201.8) (-3) (Total loss -3)
9-26-07 (203.1) (+1.3) (Total loss -1.7)
10-3-07 (202.4) (-.7) (Total loss -2.4)

October TAC Specials

Wow! TAC is really offering a lot in the month of October! I got my newsletter the other day and I'm blown away. The Fall Supplement is out too! There are some super cute Halloween stamps, a couple Thanksgiving and of course Christmas. I found one I cannot live without, Ornamental Snowflakes. Love it! Unfortunately, TAC doesn't have all the images (but some are there) on our shopping website, so you can't see them all yet! But if you keep checking back, they'll all be up soon!

OK, so here goes. To start off for the month of October, we have Celebration!, which is in honor of the Angels and customers, which means double rewards! So that means that customer and hostess rewards will double! Also, New Angels who join TAC will get $50 in T-coded stamps with their new starter kits! What a great time to sign up to become an Angel!

Next up is the Kaleidoscope Kit. This consists of the following:

• Kaleidoscope Brites Soar With It Collection
• Kaleidoscope Girlz Wing It Collection
• Kaleidoscope Boyz Wing It Collection
• Kaleidoscope Wordz Limited Edition Stamp Set

All this for only $34.95.

And then they are doing the Dynamite Designer Collection Special Offer! You have your choice of any or all of the following four Designer Collections for 50% off! That makes each pad only $3.50!!! Here are your four choices:

• Fingerpaints
• Country Cottage
• Metropolis
• Lap of Luxury

It starts now! There is no specific deadline, it's just "While Supplies Last". So get yours while you can!

Back by popular demand are the Totally Terrific TACBAG's! These are only available while supplies last, so hurry and get one before they're all gone! You get an assortment of TAC stamps for only $15.95. Some people have gotten full sets by purchasing these! You just can't pass this up! Also, all new Angels will receive a TACBAG free during the month of October. And hostesses with a $250 order/party will receive one for free, in addition to all the other rewards! What a great Christmas present for that stamper! Shop early!

And last but certainly not least, is the October Stamp of the Month and Vintage Set. The Stamp of the Month is "Days Like This", a set of 5 for $5.95 with a purchase of $30 in regular priced merchandise. The Vintage Set is called "Mini Bold Posey" and is a set of 4 for only $2.95 when you purchase $30 in regular priced merchandise. Both of these end October 31st, so don't miss out! (These aren't on the website yet, but they should be any day now).

Don't forget, you can still purchase a catalogue from me for $4.95. Or if you spend $50, you can have one for free. Let me know if you're interested! To see any of TAC's specials or stamps that aren't on here, just click a link on the top right side of the page. You can go see the full Fall Supplement!

Until then, happy stamping and scrapping too!

Weights

Here is a list of my weights each week. I'll post it every week to show my progress every weigh in day. By the way, does anyone know of a good way to make a chart on blogs to just keep adding to this? Some HTML code or something? I'm not sure how to do that. Something like the graph that I have at the top of my page, but only showing the info I have listed below that will only show up once on the page instead of every week when I post. Anyone, anyone???

9-12-07 (204.8) (Start)
9-19-07 (201.8) (-3) (Total loss -3)
9-26-07 (203.1) (+1.3) (Total loss -1.7)

Weigh In

Well, I blew it this week, but I'm not going to beat myself up totally. Maybe a little bit. :) We had a lot going on, which I know is a bad excuse, but for me, it was hard. Chris took on a second job working two nights a week, but he also worked Sunday for 13 hours. The kids are having a hard time adjusting I think, so it was quite stressful for us. I ended up not caring about what I was eating, plus I've been so tired from everything going on. I think today is a turning point for me though. I have gotten 7 hours of sleep the last two nights, so I'm feeling refreshed and ready to attack the day. I've already been cleaning up around the house and started laundry, so I've been moving. I need to stop and eat breakfast though, otherwise I might forget it altogether. So that's the next "job". After my 3 lb. loss last week, which I don't think I even posted about, I ended up gaining 1.3 lbs. back this week, which is actually good, because I was thinking it was going to be more like 4 the way I ate. So I can take that off and then some before next week. I'm going to have a little challenge tomorrow night however. I'm going to a Pampered Chef party and she's making something with chocolate if I remember right. Guess I'll find out what's in it so I can figure points and be a good girl and count it. :)

I also got an Elliptical Trainer, so I'm going to start using that tonight or tomorrow night. We have AWANA tonight, so it might be a late night. But tomorrow for sure. I'm not giving up the fight, because I know I need to do this now, rather than waiting till I'm even heavier. So we'll see how I do this week! Wish me luck!

Soccer Fun

I sent Chris and the kids outside to play today, so I can get the house clean. And here I sit, playing on the computer because I got some good pix of them. They were playing street soccer and Kassie got into it. It was her and daddy against Gabe. They were all having such a good time, I couldn't help but break out the new camera and test it out. We're not going to have many more nice days, so I'm glad they're out enjoying it!

The Angel Company

Well, the time has come. I have a few spare minutes to post about TAC! I finally got rid of my website all together, so I figure I better put something up about the specials! :) There are some really fun specials for the month of September, so hurry before you miss out!

Stamp of the Month: Love and Kisses, $4.95

You can purchase the September stamp of the month for $4.95 with any $30 (regular priced) purchase. This is a set of four and can be used in scrapbooks as well as stamp projects, like cards, altered items and what not.

Stamp Kits:

Lilly Anna: $24.95 - Comes with the following coordinating products from the Lilly Anna collection:

• Lilly Anna Soar With It paper collection
• Hardware
• Cardstock
• Ribbon
• Lilly Girls LE stamp set

Mimi: $24.95 - Comes with the following coordinating products from the Mimi collection:

• Mimi Soar With It paper collection
• Hardware
• Cardstock
• Ribbon
• Mimi Girls LE stamp set

Hostess Special!!!

Get the following stamp set absolutely free when you hostess a catalogue party/funshop that is at least $250 in regular priced merchandise. This set will not be released until the Spring/Summer 2008 catalogue. Be one of the first to own it! Contact me today for more details!

Contact me if you are interested in any of these specials! They all end September 30th, so don't wait! There are links to the right of the screen that will take you to all the pages for these specials. Also, you can order directly from TAC now, thru my personal website. Let me know if you have any questions! Happy stamping/scrapping!

Weight loss

Well, this is my first post about my weight loss. I've been avoiding the subject. :) I started Weight Watchers (again) on January 1st, thinking that "this is it". This would be the time I do it and do it right. Well, I was wrong....again. I've fought it for the last 8 1/2 months and I'm tired of it. I got rid of all my size 16 & 18 jeans when I finally lost enough to fit into my 14's. But now my 14's are REALLY tight. I'm to that point of almost not being able to zip them up. So I've decided that I really need to focus on my weight loss. I have been psyching myself up the last few hours. I think that's why I didn't sleep well last night. I was ready to start apparently. :) Last night before bed, I made my goal list for the day, but missed my first one. I was so tired from not sleeping that I just couldn't force myself out of bed at 5:30. But I met my second goal. I took Kassie out in the stroller and went for a 20 minute walk. And let me tell you, it almost killed me on the way back. We have some little hills coming back and pushing a 30 lb. kid in a stroller is a little tougher than I thought being out of shape. :) But I made it. I'm thinking it's around a mile, but I'm going to drive it today to find out for sure. I got home, stretched and did 30 crunches. Then I came in and made up my little log sheet that I'm posting in the living room. It's got all my info on it, weight, BMI, 10% weight loss goal and how much weight I have left to lose. Not a pretty picture. Especially after I had lost 16.9 lbs. at one point and as of today when I got on the scale, I have gained every single ounce back. Talk about depressing. I'm exactly where I was on January 1st. So it's time. I'm going to try to add some graphs that I have on my website to here, so bear with me if they don't turn out the first time! I'm still new to this. :)

1st day of school!!!

Well, I'm sitting here for the first time by myself while both kids are at school. I'm enjoying the quiet, but it's weird not having someone constantly wanting attention or needing something. And it's so quiet! It's a different kind of quiet than when the kids are just at someone's house. Guess it's just a mental thing. :)

Kassie did great. She got a little clingy walking in, wouldn't let her picture be taken, but she let me leave and didn't cry or hold on for dear life. She met a cute little girl named Natalie, so she sat by her to color. It was so nice not having to fight her to stay. But the second I sat down in the van I lost it. Mommy boo-hooed for several minutes. But I finally gained my composure and survived. :)

As for Gabe, the poor little guy. We got to the school and we had to ask where his classroom was, because they just told us the teacher's name. The only problem...they weren't letting kids go to their rooms until 8:10. I had to be at Kassie's school before 8:20 (when it starts). So I explained to him where it was, because it's outside, and asked a friend of ours to help him find it if he is wandering the halls lost. I felt absolutely horrible! I can't believe on the first day of school they won't at least let the parents take them down to show them where to go! Don't they realize that parents have to get their other kids to pre-school too? So I'm going to talk to them about doing it different next year. For the first time in his life, Gabe looked terrified to have to be on his own. So I'm taking him to DQ this afternoon to make up for abandoning him.

So anyway, here are some pix of the kids before school. They look so cute, don't they? :) I'll write more later and tell you how it went at school!

Smiley :)

School starts tomorrow!

Well, I'm getting a little nervous! Tomorrow is Kassie's first day of pre-school! I'm not entirely sure how she will do. She clung to me like I was a life preserver yesterday at the orientation, so we'll see how it goes tomorrow. She is talking about it, and is very excited, but when it comes down to it, I think she'll freak out. Thankfully, one of the ladies from our church nursery who happens to work at the school, who Kassie knows and loves, offered to take her from me and calm her down if she panics. So that's a big relief. And I know the teacher personally, so that makes it a little easier for mom. :)

Gabe is going to be a big 2nd grader. He doesn't want school to start. I think he likes sleeping in and being able to play all day. He said he wishes he was back in pre-school because it was more fun. He must realize that the older you get, the less play time there is. :) So check back tomorrow for a picture of my cute little munchkins and a report on how they liked it!

Scrapbooking time!

Well, I recently attended a 24 hour crop-a-thon here in town. Let me tell you how much fun that was! I was exhausted, but we had a great time. I don't get much time to do anything crafty, so when I have a chance to attend a crop, I try to make it. Here is one of my creations that I made. The kids were outside playing in the little wading pool on one of our hot days, and Chris decided to get in too. I couldn't resist taking some pictures. They had a great time!

Kassie

And then there's Kassie. Our little angelic 3 year old. Yeah right! She may appear to be cute, but she's getting that treacherous 3's attitude! She's paying her big brother back for all the times he's been mean to her and she's got the big attitude. But we can't help but laugh at some of the things that she says.

She's about to start pre-school too! Mom has mixed feelings. :) I'm sad that my little baby is going to school, but at the same time I'm thinking along the lines of 2 1/2 hours a day, 2 days a week I'm gonna have free time! Woo hoo! ;) Well, it sounds good anyway. But yes, Kassie is quite excited to be starting school and having Mrs. L for her teacher. She talks about her all the time and can't wait to go. She's got her little pink backpack and all. So we'll see how the shy little munchkin does when the day comes that she actually has to part from mommy!

Gabe

Well what can I say about Gabe. He's 7, full of fire and cute as can be. Although, I guess I should say he's handsome as can be, cause you know at 7, they don't want to be cute. :) He is still into basketball and likes soccer, loves video games (what 7 year old doesn't). We just had a bad experience with hamsters, not sure what happened, but we lost two, so we decided on fish for a while. He's about to start back to school and will be a big 2nd grader. He's got mixed feelings on going back, he misses some of his friends, but he doesn't want summer to end. So check back in a couple weeks and I'll let you know how school is!

Here we go!

Well, I figured I'd jump into the hottest thing, blogging. I've decided it might be a little more fun than my website. So away with the website, and welcome to blogging! But, it'll take me a while to figure this all out, so bear with me! I'm going to start out with whatever my brain thinks is easiest. What that is, I'm not sure yet. :) So here we go!

Here's my family, back in 2006. This is the most current family picture we have, so you'll have to wait on a current one. But it's less than a year old, so it's not too bad. :) Guess this is it for now, so check back later for more fun!