tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79400319121598779732024-03-13T11:49:43.106-07:00Confessions and Rants of a SAHMMy day to day thoughts and ramblings=)Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-71154603192536805502013-07-14T19:33:00.001-07:002013-07-14T19:33:27.499-07:00Time for school...already?!<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I've been really stressing out about Miss E's schooling this year. She is at kind of an awkward place in her schooling and looking at curriculums seriously gave me a migraine. There are SO many different types of curriculum it's ridiculous. And it's not like I can go to the curriculum store (I seriously wish that this existed, it would make life a lot easier) and flip through the books and decide which would work for us. Nope. They expect you to pay the $300+ for a full curriculum set and I guess hope for the best. I didn't feel comfortable with that because she is actually in two different grades right now and I didn't want to have to pick and choose from each set. Plus some of the sites ( like A beka) is very confusing as to what actually comes with what. It's seriously exhausting.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana;">So I asked a friend who has been homeschooling for awhile for some advice. I was at the point where I wanted to pull my hair out. Miss E is 3.5, it shouldn't be this hard. Not yet anyway. If I was freaking out this early, how would I handle when she gets to be in middle school, etc? Then she said something that hit home. She told me that God gave Miss E to me and that He would give me the skills I need to teach her. I thanked her, shut off my computer, and prayed. Then I sat in a hot bath for about an hour. I woke up this morning with a new perspective. I had faith in myself again. I sat down and wrote out our objectives for this upcoming year, did a little research and went out and got what I needed. I pieced together what we needed ( and spent a ton less than what I would have on a boxed curriculum set) and now we are ready. I feel prepared and relieved. Come on August! Well actually we are starting a week early because we are going on vacation in September and will be taking a week off, so come on late July:)</span>Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-90874989311098452602013-07-02T11:22:00.002-07:002013-07-02T11:22:59.590-07:00Month 6 update and New church update!<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I don't really have much of an update this month. I'm still hanging in there at the 30 lb mark. But I'm not discouraged. I know all about plateaus and how hard they can be to overcome. Plus, I had a personal medical issue the past couple of weeks and I was in too much pain to go to the gym everyday and I was advised by my Dr to take it easy. I still went, but it was like twice a week or three times a week(and I was not hitting it extremely hard, just didn't want to get out of the habit of going). That was only for a couple of weeks and this week I'm focused on getting back into my routine now that I'm good to go again:) So maybe in August I'll have a better update for you as far as the weight loss goes. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The biggest update I have this month is that we finally found a church to call home. I'm not going to lie, it's not the kind of church I ever saw Brandon and I joining because we both come from conservative southern baptist backgrounds. Well this church is southern baptist(that came from the pastor himself), but it is not really conservative like we were used to. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it just takes some getting used to. We've been going every week since Mother's Day. I told Brandon that was the one thing I wanted to do, go to church. It just so happened that one of my friends invited my to her church that weekend. They were starting a new series and it peaked my curiosity. So we went. At first impression, I had my reserves. Everyone was extremely nice and welcoming, but everyone was SO casual. That was very different for us. Anyone who was raised in a traditional baptist church knows that on Sunday mornings you dress up to go worship. It's just how it was. Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best. And if you weren't, well you were looked at weird and/or whispered about. But here, just about everyone was dressed in jeans, shorts, just very casual and laid back. To be honest, I didn't care for that. The service started and the band started playing. Yes a band. I've been to churches before that had the band and the casual dress(Gracepoint, West Ridge, etc) and we just felt uncomfortable. But I always stick it out to hear the message. That's the ultimate reason I go to church is for the message. None of the other pastors could hold my attention, and I would generally tune out fairly quickly. Well this pastor blew me away. So we came back again and again. Every week Pastor Steve just had this way of delivering his message in a way that it was like he was talking right to me. He didn't talk above me, but just in a straight way that really impressed me and Brandon both. We went to the Next Steps meeting one Sunday night to hear about the background of the church and what the church is all about. Going into the meeting we were still both uncertain that we were going to join, but by the end, there was no question that New Season is where God wants us to be. Now I still can't bring myself to wear jeans to church(that is just a "me" thing, I don't judge anyone for how they dress to worship anymore), but we are really starting to enjoy the laid back atmosphere and the comfort of New Season. I know that no church is perfect and I'm sure that there will be things that we don't particularly care for, but we feel at home here. Miss E LOVES going and when we pick her up, she can't wait to tell us what she learned. They seem to focus on one bible verse a week in her class and that's the one that I tie into our schooling during the week. I love that we have found a church to raise our daughter in. It just feels right and I feel at peace finally. </span>Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-75069879609267274922013-06-08T19:06:00.000-07:002013-06-08T19:06:25.344-07:00Month 5 Update!<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's my 5 month update...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm down <b>30 pounds</b>!!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm ecstatic to say the least. I worked <b>hard</b> to lose this weight. It's not easy and it's not all that fun all the time. There are days that I can't wait to get to the gym. Then there are days that I need to be dragged kicking and screaming to the gym. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But let me tell you this. I <b>NEVER</b> regret going to the gym. But I do regret the days I'm supposed to go and don't. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since I've gotten my Polar watch for Mother's Day, I've been pushing myself to go even harder. It's like a game to see how many calories I can burn in a session. I love pushing myself and meeting and exceeding new goals. It's an amazing feeling to do something I thought I'd never be able to do. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I finally took the big step and cleaned out my closet. I bagged up all of my fat clothes. My closet is pretty bare right now, but I'll build up a new wardrobe. I've gone from a size 16 to a comfortable 10. Brandon took me shopping a couple weeks ago and made me try on a pair of size 10 shorts. I fought him about it, but eventually gave in. I couldn't believe that they fit! And not tight but actually comfortable fit. I still tend to gravitate towards the bigger sizes. I struggle with clothes that are remotely tight because when I was big I didn't want anything tight. Now I still try to buy a large even though it's roomy, the mediums fit right but it's a psychological head thing I guess. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'll admit that I'm still struggling with my eating habits. I'm not eating near as healthy as I should be. But I'm still losing weight. Going to the gym and getting my metabolism right has helped tremendously on the days where I just have to have a western burger and curly fries. But I don't generally have a whole day of eating bad, just a bad meal here and there. I refuse to deprive myself, if I'm having a craving, I'll full fill it. But I know how hard it is to work off those calories, so the cravings don't come nearly as often as they used to. Plus, bad food just makes me feel bad now. </span><br />
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Me in 2010 at 200 lbs.</div>
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Me last weekend at 155 lbs.</div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's those kind of pictures that keeps me going. I've come so far, I do NOT want to go back to that miserable weight I was before. Only 10 pounds til my goal!</span></div>
Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-21723922430499734682013-05-15T12:47:00.001-07:002013-05-15T12:50:04.710-07:00All kinds of updates!<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I posted my month 4 update (down 25.4 lbs, YES!!!), but I didn't go into a lot of detail. I was blogging from my phone, which I hate doing, so it was a short update. But a short update is better than no update, right?!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's these kind of pictures that remind me of how far I've come. They keep me motivated to keep pushing. I don't <i>ever</i> want to go back to that 2011 picture. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had my first personal training session today. It will probably be my one and only considering that it costs more than our mortgage a month to train with a trainer. But I got some excellent tips and and learned some new workouts to improve my core, which is something I really needed. I absolutely LOVE my gym. Body Plex is amazing. Everyone is so nice, all the workers are nice, and I love going in there and being able to talk to just about everyone. It makes all the difference because I look forward to going everyday. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm going to be honest. I've been really struggling with my eating. I've been to Hooter's probably 3 times in the past month(dang western burger and curly fries). I work my butt off at the gym, but I can't out train a bad diet. So I'm really going to be focusing on eating better. I go through phases where I eat great, then I just eat like crap for a day or so. I need to reign it in. But overall I'm ecstatic at where I'm at and I look forward to where I will be in a few more months:) I have my 10 year high school reunion AND a beach vacation in September, so I got to focus and and get it together!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ok so enough about that. I have a ton more to update on. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Miss E's dance recital was last weekend and she did great. Their leader however, forgot the moves. The leader is NOT their teacher, it's one of the older members that is brought in and taught the moves to dance with the younger ones on stage. I felt bad for her and bad for the girls. But Miss E still had a great time (anytime she is in front of an audience, she shines!) At the very end of the recital, they had the older company members dress up as Disney princesses and escort the dancers down a red carpet for their trophy presentation. It was by far the cutest thing I have ever seen. Miss E was escorted by Tinkerbell and she did her little curtsy at the end of the red carpet. I got it on video, but I couldn't take pics and shoot video at the same time and for some reason none of the people with me thought to take pictures of her during her dance or her red carpet walk. Luckily the photographer there got pictures(and of course they were expensive) so I ordered some. </span><br />
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After she danced, with her flowers her daddy sent since he couldn't be there.</div>
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After she walked the red carpet and got her trophy.</div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">She got her dance pictures done by a friend of mine the next day. She was going to be out of town for the actual studio pictures, plus these are SO much better than any we would have gotten done there. They were done by Julianna Grey Photography (</span></span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliannagreyphotography?fref=ts">https://www.facebook.com/juliannagreyphotography?fref=ts</a>). <span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Miss E and her BFF did a shoot together, so we got some of the girls together and then some of them separate. They all turned out great!</span></div>
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I didn't add any of the ones of the girls together because I would want to get her mom's permission before putting her kids photo on a public blog:)</div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We added a new dog to our family about a month ago. Yes we are in fact crazy, we now have 4 dogs. She wasn't planned, but things happen like that. God put Brandon in the right place at the right time and I think she was meant to be with us. Her owner tried to drop her off at the shelter and they wouldn't take her because they had just gotten off of quaranteen and she was rescued from there previously. Keep in mind that she is not even a year old. So this guy was just going to dump her on the side of the road. Brandon loaded her up in his truck and brought her home. I couldn't even get mad about it because I would have done the same. Her name was originally Rain, but we changed it to Remi(short for Remington) and inducted her into the family with a camo collar. At first our other big dog Shyla was NOT happy, but after working with them both, now they are great friends. She is a beautiful black lab ( I had one that I adored when I was younger, so I'm a softie for those). She is so smart. I just can't believe someone would be so horrible to dump her on the side of the road. Makes me absolutely angry to even think about it. But now she is happy and has a great home. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This post is kinda scattered...that is just how my brain works though!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Onto Mother's Day. I had a fantastic Mother's Day. Miss E woke up at 8, she apparently did NOT get the memo that she was supposed to sleep in. But it was okay because we weren't rushed. We had plenty of time to relax and do showers and get ready for church. Brandon laid all my gifts out while I was getting ready. He made a frame and wrapped a canvas picture that I've had for over 2 years, he fixed a canvas that I had made for him on our ten year anniversary 2 years ago( that whole fiasco is a whole other post in itself). He also dressed up Miss E and took three pictures of her holding a frame that says "I Love Mom" and framed it for me. He even took the pictures with my big camera and did some editing. I was impressed. Then lastly, he got me a Polar watch, which I have been wanting for a while. I am in LOVE with this watch and I highly recommend anyone serious about weight loss or getting in shape to get one. We tried out a new church that morning and I really enjoyed it. I think even Brandon enjoyed it (he is very traditional when it comes to church) because he said he would go back. We are going back this Sunday. It has been weighing heavily on my heart lately to find a church home for our family and I pray this is the right one. After church we went to Brandon's grandmother's for lunch with the family. </span></div>
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I actually don't shy away from the camera anymore!</div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then we hung out there pretty much until time for dinner. I wanted Hooter's (I told you, I have an addiction to this place). Mom's ate for free on Mother's day and it happens to be one of my faves, so it worked out well. We finally got back home and spent the rest of the night relaxing. All in all, it was a great day. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think that's about all I want to cram into this blog post! I have some more I'll update on hopefully soon.</span></div>
Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-67955100562997935942013-05-05T18:43:00.000-07:002013-05-05T18:43:12.348-07:00Month 4 Update!This isn't going to be a long post(because I am on my phone), but I realized that I'm a few days overdue on my monthly update. Ready for this....<br />
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I'm down 25.4 pounds!!<br />
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I can't begin to tell you how great I have been feeling, just overall I feel fantastic. I'm happier(excercise gives you endorphines, endorphines make people happy), and I have SO much more energy. I look forward to getting up in the mornings and getting my workout in.<br />
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The difference is amazing!<br />
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I'll do a full update tomorrow:)Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-20240294124582702262013-04-01T17:44:00.000-07:002013-04-01T17:44:37.084-07:00Month 3 Update<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here it is, my three month update. I wrote last time I wouldn't forget and I didn't....thanks to the reminder on my phone!</span><div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So.....I am down <b>19.6</b> pounds! It would probably be an even 20, but I ate like crap this weekend. Hooters Friday night, Chili's Saturday night, Easter on Sunday, KFC Sunday night. Yeah....I told you, it was bad. But through some miracle I didn't gain any weight through all that junk I ate. The downside is that I do feel like crap after all that junk I ate. My workout this morning was torture(but in all fairness, I have a pretty bad head cold right now). I'm hoping tomorrow will be better. But I went and that is what counts. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am also down 2 jean sizes. I can't believe it. Those jeans that I was talking about a couple of weeks ago, yeah I'm wearing those quite comfortably now. It's freaking awesome. That's the only way I know how to explain it. My pile of clothes that are too big is getting huge and I love it. I love the feeling of putting on jeans that used to be too tight and now they are too big. I love that I have a pile of jeans that I haven't worn in 6 years and now I'm wearing them. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love how I feel most importantly. I feel like I can do anything. I'm right at my halfway point and I am more motivated than ever. I love having energy, I love not being achy, I love not getting winded. I love the feeling of knowing I put my mind to something and that I'm accomplishing it. Everyday I work hard. I sweat, I push myself, I hurt, and I do it. I drink a ton of water. I eat healthy (for the most part, I do have my days, I'm only human!) I sacrifice and I'm seeing the results. I can't begin to tell you how worth it it is. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So there is my update as promised. I am doing this. It is hard, but it is <b>so</b> worth it. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">19.6 down, 20 to go!</span></div>
Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-10433063079202540722013-03-22T12:54:00.000-07:002013-03-22T12:54:37.327-07:00Little bit of this and that.<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's official. I am a terrible blogger. I only update maybe twice a month. I think about blogging often, but then my mind quickly goes somewhere else and it's forgotten. I really hope to get better at it.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This month feels like it has gone by quickly. I can't believe that it's already Spring. I'm ready for some not so cold weather, but I am NOT ready for the boiling hot Ga summer. I HATE the heat, when it's so hot that you open your door and it takes your breath away. I don't do well in the heat and neither does my kid. I want it to be 70 degrees all year round. Is that really too much to ask?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway, Miss E just got over the flu...<i>again.</i> She had strain A in Dec and she had strain B last week. Luckily we had Tamiflu in her within 24 hours so she was better pretty quickly, within a few days. I've never been a flu vaccine advocate, but I'm thinking that she just may get it next year. This crap was miserable. Especially having it back to back. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">She went to the dentist for the first time a few weeks ago and LOVED it. We have an <i>amazing </i>dentist. Seriously. They were all so surprised that it was her first time because of how well she did. They all loved her because of course she had to put on a show for them. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">She thought it was pretty much the coolest thing ever. The dentist said her teeth were perfect (<i>take that all you people who said the paci would ruin her teeth</i>!) and she had no cavities. She is already ready to go back and is counting down til Sept.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We went shopping over the weekend because I pulled out my capris from last year and they are all way too big(victory!). This is good and bad. Good because I'm losing weight, bad for the bank account and the fact that I hate shopping. Like I loathe it. I can't ever find anything that I like. Everything I saw was floral, I guess that's the "in" thing right now. I don't do flowery crap. I just don't. Brandon has better fashion sense than I do when it comes to my clothes and he will be coming with me next time. My shopping trip for me turned into Miss E getting 3 new pairs of shoes and 2 new tops. To justify it, she really did need new shoes bc her feet went from an 8 to a 9.5 like overnight <strike style="font-style: italic;">what the crap???</strike>. I also have to build up her spring/summer wardrobe because none of her 3T stuff fits from last year. She is all the way in 4's and we can even shop some from the girls department at Target now. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was also St. Patrick's Day and since we are pretty Irish, we had to wear our green!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;">This is her first visit with the bunny and her recent one. Sigh...when did my girl get so big??</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And finally, yesterday at dance the girls got their recital costumes. The girls loved trying them on and running around in them. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They are doing a tap number to The Little Mermaid's <i>Under The Sea</i>. These costumes are way better quality than the cheapo ones at our old studio. That made me pretty happy. She may wear that sucker for Halloween for what it cost. No kidding. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My last update is...you guessed it...my weight. I know I usually only do the once a month update, but the rate I'm going keeping up my blog, I may forget to actually update it. But the good news is that I am down 17.8 lbs!! My weight loss is slowing down some scale wise, but I'm gaining muscle and I'm seeing the change in my body shape. If you're trying to lose weight and change your body shape, LIFT WEIGHTS. No joke. You'll lose weight doing only cardio, but you'll see the real change when you add weights into your routine. I've switched up my routine and I'm seeing the pay off and I love it! I'll go more in depth with all that when I do my monthly check in. I marked a reminder in my phone, so it will get done! </span></div>
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Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-9004162847566633552013-03-01T14:57:00.000-08:002013-03-01T14:58:13.326-08:00Month 2 update.<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm a day early on this, but I don't plan on being on the computer this weekend, so here it is, my monthly update!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As of this morning I am down </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #351c75;">15</b><span style="color: #674ea7;"> lbs!!!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7;">People around me are starting to comment about how they can really tell that I'm working by butt off. It makes me feel great and fuels my fire even more. Eight weeks into this and I'm more motivated now than when I started. I <b>CAN </b>do this and I <b>AM </b>doing this. My face has really slimmed down and my jeans that used to me too tight are now falling off of me. I still haven't bought new ones because I have fat girl syndrome and loathe trying on clothes. I put on a pair of jeans that were 2 sizes smaller than the ones I normally wear and they fit (although they were a little snug)! I couldn't believe it. But because of my fat girl syndrome I took them off and put the bigger ones back on(and had to spend the day constantly pulling them up). But my self confidence is getting better daily and maybe with a couple more lbs gone I will totally rock those other jeans:)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One more thing that I am so excited about that I can't see straight...I looked at my starting weight on MyFitness Pal from 2011 and as of today I am <b>30</b> lbs lighter than when I started. I wish I would have stayed motivated back then, but all I can do is keep going now. I haven't seen the number I saw this morning on the scale in a good 7 years. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Me in 2011....I am <b>NOT</b> ever going back to that horrible weight.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Truth is that I was almost 200 lbs and completely miserable. I was going through depression over the loss of someone that I loved dearly and then losing a pregnancy. I simply didn't care. I ate like crap and I stayed on the couch. A lot. But in July is when I decided I needed to change and I started eating better and moving more. By November I was down about 25 lbs.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But then I got bored and comfortable and gained a good 10 of those back. I knew I couldn't go back to what I was so in Jan is when I got serious. I look at my fat pictures a good bit as a reminder to not fall back into the trap. When I started in Jan, I started a new life, not just a diet. I don't call it a diet, I call it eating better and overall trying to better myself. I want to be able to run around with my daughter and play without getting winded. In the past 8 weeks, I went from barely being able to do 15 minutes on the treadmill to doing an hour on there on a 10 incline. I love going to body pump and upping my weights and just the feeling of accomplishment. It's my way of life now. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is the most recent picture I have of myself. This was about 5 lbs ago. Note how the double chin is gone:) </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So there is my 2 month update. 15 down, 25 to go!</span></div>
Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-59674054787492215152013-02-22T11:11:00.000-08:002013-02-22T11:11:04.670-08:00Answers finally!<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I really have been a horrible blogger lately. I'm aware of this. I could make an empty promise to try to get better, but I won't. I will of course do my monthly weight loss updates (because, well those make me very happy!!), but when it comes to day to day stuff, well I just plain forget to most of the time. So anyway, here are my updates:)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brandon is FINALLY home from Canada. He left Feb 4th and got home yesterday, that is way too long to be gone. It sucked. Not gonna lie. Thankfully it is a once a year thing, I couldn't handle more than that. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We finally have gotten to the bottom of Miss E's cough that she has had for months (hence the title of this post). She has pretty bad asthma. It was always disguised by other things, she had brochiolitis, she had the flu, she had a viral bug, etc. These were all pretty spaced out, but her cough never went away. And it kept getting worse and worse. Then it got to where she couldn't run around and play without having these bad coughing fits. Nights were horrible, she would just hack her head off and neither of us would sleep. She was getting to where she was constantly wheezing.Brandon was in Canada when her symptoms really started to peak, so he missed all that good stuff. I chalked it up to allergies and started her back on her Zyrtec. Well last weekend was horrible. Her dance studio was throwing it's annual Sweetheart Dance and Miss E and her Pops went. She wanted to get her hair done so I took her to Famous 6 minutes away from our house. Someone was getting a perm and between that and all the hairspray, she didn't stop hacking. They were nice and kept giving her suckers to suck on and I had her water to sip on and that helped some, but not too much. I was thinking her allergies are definitely worse than they were last year and Zyrtec may not cut it this year. I made a mental note to call the Dr first thing Monday morning. We got home and I gave her some honey and she calmed down. Then Pops said that she was fine until the end of the dance and she started wheezing and having the coughing fits again. They lasted all night. Sunday was no better. We were at the Dr first thing Monday morning because something had to give. Long story short, asthma it is. She had to be on a 3 day steroid (which helped tremendously) to jump start her because it was so bad. Now she is on 2 inhalers a day, a maintenance and a rescue one. Hopefully we will get it under control soon and she will just be on the maintenance one and use the rescue one as needed. Yesterday she had a full blown attack at the gym and it scared the crap out of me. Watching your child turn purple is no freaking joke. I got her stabilized and then she had another attack shortly after. After 3 calls to the Dr,( I LOVE our pediatrician) we finally got on the same page about the inhalers and frequency of use and she hasn't had another attack since. So pray, send good thoughts, or whatever it is you may do that we can get this under control fairly quickly and Miss E can go back to her normal activities soon.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now that I got that out, here is my princess about to go to her very first dance:)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am still going to the gym and working out 5 to 6 days a week. I love it. I feel so great when I leave there. Miss E loves the KidsPlex so it's a win win. You'll have to wait for my monthly update next week for all the details, but I'm still doing good:) I'm more motivated than ever!</span></div>
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<br />Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-48055142302530351452013-02-02T10:31:00.001-08:002013-02-02T10:31:41.129-08:004 week update.Disclaimer: I'm blogging from my phone, so excuse any grammatical errors or lacks of paragraphs.<br />
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Yesterday marked four weeks since my serious weight loss journey began. I am proud to say that I am down 10 lbs and a few inches as well. I wish I had taken measurements at the very beginning, but I didn't, but I'm starting to notice that my clothes are starting to get a little loose. I am starting to notice a small change in the way my body looks and I'm overall happy with the results this far.<br />
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Another change I've noticed is how I feel. I have had so much more energy, I'm not craving the bad stuff as much, I wake up so much easier in the mornings and I'm sleeping great at night. I'm also not as achey as I used to be, I just feel better over all. My mood is also been better, I'm finding myself feeling a lot happier and a lot less stressed out.<br />
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So there is my update. I'm very excited to see where I'll be in another 4 weeks! 10 down, 30 to go!Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-59723874677328613742013-01-16T14:03:00.001-08:002013-01-16T14:03:14.235-08:00Miss E is 3!<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's been a little over a week since I've updated, but in my defense, I've been really busy. Between the gym, Miss E starting dance back, and her turning 3 and having her party, it's been a little hectic. </span><div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So the most important thing first, my baby is THREE now. Her birthday was Saturday and her party was Saturday afternoon at a local jump place.I ran around like a crazy person Saturday morning, picking up the food, cleaning out my car, loading everything into my car....by the time the party came around, I was tired. But that's the good thing about having her party there, once we were there, I didn't have to do anything, it was quite nice:) Her party was a success and we had a great turn out. She had a blast playing with everyone. Saturday night we had her family birthday dinner. She picked the place(Texas Roadhouse) and she thought it was the coolest thing ever when they sang "Happy Birthday" to her and gave her ice cream.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here is my 3 year old on the way to her party:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sunday we took her to Build A Bear and she loved it. She took awhile to pick out the animal she wanted, she wanted a chocolate lab at first, then something else and something else before she finally decided she wanted the Disney Bear. Then she picked out a purple bubble dress and purple shoes with jewels on them(of course) to match. To top it off, she HAD to have a princess wand as well. That was an expensive trip, but so worth it. She named her bear Princess and has been inseparable from her since.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here is Miss E and Princess:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So this is my second week at the gym and I must say that I love it. I lost my gym buddy due to her husbands schedule changing so now I'm going solo. I thought going into it that it was something that I was going to have to make myself do, but that hasn't been the case. I look forward to going and sweating and burning those calories. I really like the body pump class. I did yoga too and I didn't enjoy it as much, but I still liked it. I've been doing the treadmill and the elliptical and on the days that I don't do pump, I'm doing weights as well. This is only week 2 so I haven't seen any results yet(didn't plan too, I know it takes awhile) but I'm looking forward to when I do. I can see how people become addicted to it, I feel so great when I leave that I always look forward to going back. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I can really see this becoming a every day routine, I was at 3 days a week, this week I'll go 4 days...I got to stick with it if I want to see change!</span></div>
Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-22567197679935477562013-01-06T18:18:00.001-08:002013-01-06T18:19:00.541-08:00Holy soreness!<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Friday morning was my first <i>ever</i> gym class(well outside of high school anyway). It was at 8:30 am but luckily the gym is only 10 minutes away, but I got up at 7 to give myself plenty of time. We got there and Miss E was more than excited to go to the kid area(as she calls it). The only thing I wanted to accomplish was to actually finish the class. I'm not going to lie, that crap was <b>hard</b>. Much more than I expected. But I did it. All of it. I was so proud of myself that the rest of the day was just nothing but great. I even did the elliptical there after, and did a mile on my elliptical at home that evening. I felt fantastic. Saturday on the other hand, I didn't feel so fantastic. I hurt. The tops of my legs and my chest, even my butt hurt. I was holding my pee because it hurt so bad to sit on the toilet. But the pain made me make better eating choices over the weekend. All that pain was NOT going to be for nothing! Today was a little better, the squats are what got me because the tops of my legs are the only thing that are still pretty sore. And I'm doing it again in the morning. I'm really loving the body pump class(that's the only one I've taken so far) and I'm going to do it twice a week. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No spectacular update. I'm just proud of myself for finishing the class. I'm proud of myself for the better choices that I am making. This year is all about being positive for me. I've separated myself from the people who bring me down. I'm making big changes in my life and I'm excited to see how this all turns out.</span>Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-70176269725757464772013-01-03T18:45:00.001-08:002013-01-03T18:45:28.665-08:00My first ever mile:)<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today will forever be known as the day I did my first ever straight mile on my elliptical! To be exact, I did 1.09 miles, but who's counting?! Yesterday I dragged my butt up to Body Plex and joined. I start my first class in the morning. I am NOT a morning person, so this should be interesting. I'm going to be doing classes 3 times a week, alternating between body pump(what I'm doing tomorrow), body combat, and yoga. As I get better I also want to <i>try </i> spinning. I am more than ready to do this!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My other obsession has been my new camera. I've always been what you call a 'mamarazzi'. Anyone close to me can tell you that is the truth. I've had a camera in Miss E's face since the second she was born. Now that I've upgraded, the obsession is worse! I mean, at least this kid will have <i>tons</i> of baby pictures, right?? Anyway I skipped automatic and flipped straight to manual and have been learning ISO,Aperture,Shutter speeds,etc. I've been experimenting and seeing what looks best and such. Like I said before, I am in NO way wanting or trying to be a professional, but I do want to be able to take good pictures of my kid whenever I want:) Anyway here are some(out of the hundreds) that I have taken:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UW7pM07KWC6bzyO2-zXZG9vsR8t3zUMkodi_0RvaT8-CEG4FZSXOpA7uHsJNOa1Swh0sj1twxj5UOR-eDA9hpKMKY6RkS9luOA_cd6mezeltpCMtunNFrCwOuC-lUucoqy0YshV6st4/s1600/Picture+041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UW7pM07KWC6bzyO2-zXZG9vsR8t3zUMkodi_0RvaT8-CEG4FZSXOpA7uHsJNOa1Swh0sj1twxj5UOR-eDA9hpKMKY6RkS9luOA_cd6mezeltpCMtunNFrCwOuC-lUucoqy0YshV6st4/s320/Picture+041.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These are all straight out of my camera. I figure I'll learn my camera thoroughly before learning the editing process. Not spectacular pictures but I think they are pretty good for a beginner in manual:)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway, that's all I've got for now. I'm off to bed early so I can get up and bust some booty in the am! </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span>Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-34252856180433148532013-01-01T19:32:00.000-08:002013-01-01T19:32:18.367-08:00Hello 2013!<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm starting the New Year with nothing but positive thoughts. Why? Simple, because I CHOOSE to. But here are a few reasons:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are going to pay off a good bit of debt this year. A loan that we've had for a year and a half, our last 2 credit cards, and my car(I will NEVER have another 6 year loan). I'm so excited that I can't see straight!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My baby is turning THREE! In just under two weeks Miss E will be 3 and it is just surreal to me. I can't wait to see what this year has in store for her.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brandon gets TWO vacations after July and a couple of raises this year. Need I say more?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary in September and our 12th year together in November.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have lots of house plans this year. I want to redecorate our bathroom(which isn't really decorated, just painted, but I want to repaint and do some things in there. I want to re paint our living room, dining room, and hall, and I want to get our basement de-cluttered and organized into useful space. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And the biggest thing I'm looking forward to....doing things for ME! Getting this weight off. I'm down 10 lbs since my first post about it a couple of weeks ago, but I slacked over the holidays. But now saying that I have 40 lbs to go sounds so much easier than saying 50 lbs to go, so I'm thankful for that 10. I'm taking a HUGE step and joining a gym ( I have a workout buddy) and doing two classes with her. I'm so excited about this next step. This is my biggest goal of 2013. Cliche, yes I know, but I don't care either. I AM going to do this!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Happy New Year everyone!</span>Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-65918177712510724392012-12-28T18:20:00.001-08:002012-12-28T18:20:45.836-08:00The flu=EVIL!<span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I took Miss E to the dr yesterday because she woke up with a bad cough again. We had been around so many people the last week so it wasn't really a surprise that she would pick up something. I actually just called the dr office and asked the nurse to call in a refill on her cough meds, but she insisted on us coming in. Thank goodness we did. When we got there her fever was over 102 and so they did a flu test and it came back positive. I woke up yesterday not feeling so great, and by the time we made it back home from getting her Tamiflu, my temp was over 103. Not good. Luckily my MIL works in a dr office and called me in Tamiflu, so we both have been taking it since last night. Great. Except our insurance didn't cover the liquid form for Miss E, so I have to take caplets apart and hide the powder junk in different things (i.e. mixing it with a small bit of yogurt, hiding it in between a piece of cheese folded in half) and so far it has all been a fail. It tastes horribly and I feel terrible, but it's not like I can mix it in a whole cup of juice because I have to make sure she gets ALL of it. I've been having to keep Motrin in her constantly because that is the only way her fever will stay down and even then it lingers around 101. And somehow the child still has energy and wants to play. For very short periods of time because she gets exhausted easily, but I have NO energy to keep up. All I want to do is sleep. All. The. Time. And that is just not possible with a toddler. "Mommy, I'm done, come wipe me", "Mommy I need more water", "Mommy, can I have a snack", "Mommy, can I play on the tablet"? It's never ending. At night is when it is bad for her, all she wants to do is lay with a cool wash cloth on her face and I'm like "finally"! Rest time for mommy too! My body aches to the core and I have chills that will not go away. But the OCD side of me still needs certain things done, so I'm the freak with the 103 temp doing dishes because I just can't sleep knowing they are in the sink(Brandon is out of town working). It's a horrible sickness and I fully acknowledge that.</span><div>
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway, Christmas was great. We went to Alabama Christmas Eve day, then we did our family stuff on Christmas morning, then went to my in-laws to open gifts, then to Memaw's for more gifts and lunch. I must say that I am extremely lucky to have married into such an amazing family. Miss E got more gifts from Grammie than she did from us (same as the last 2 years). Brandon and I also got some great gifts, I got a new big crock pot(which I have been wanting), some kitchen things, some dvd's, clothes. I love that my MIL and SIL know me so well:) My big gift and the one I was most excited about was from Brandon and Miss E though. I FINALLY got my nice camera! I was so surprised and have been pretty much obsessed ever since. Anyone who knows me knows that this is something I've wanted for 4 years now. Don't worry though, I not one of THOSE people, you know, the ones who get a nice camera and in a month they are a professional photographer charging people for pics;) Although I have always been obsessed with taking pictures, I am in no way wanting to go that route. I just want to be able to take nice pics of my own kid whenever I want to, not on someone else's schedule. I do have 2 photographers that I absolutely love and will continue to use them as well. So yes, Christmas was freaking fantastic this year. I'm just glad we got the flu after it was over! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hopefully we will both be over this flu crap quick. I have a birthday to plan and invites to get out. I still can't believe that Miss E is going to be 3 in two weeks!</span></div>
Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-31826398597867313252012-12-12T13:47:00.000-08:002012-12-12T13:47:23.285-08:00I got the Liebster Award:)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">Woo hoo! I got this the other day:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihjaM3o5IuEgXHs-v8qRu6D9BveKL9rHA1jN-E38shqnDsaIN4VD5rECxnzzKMCRU4j0No6qIeaFfjPneR1WXDw50wnA4BG5P6IAIp1arbOjweenJNZ1piBlBPHBVwBQdXCvcJZcLYP3Q/s1600/liebsterblogaward.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihjaM3o5IuEgXHs-v8qRu6D9BveKL9rHA1jN-E38shqnDsaIN4VD5rECxnzzKMCRU4j0No6qIeaFfjPneR1WXDw50wnA4BG5P6IAIp1arbOjweenJNZ1piBlBPHBVwBQdXCvcJZcLYP3Q/s1600/liebsterblogaward.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thank you Erin over at <a href="http://mother227.blogspot.com/">http://mother227.blogspot.com/</a>. She has been an inspiration to me as I'm starting on my weight loss journey. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So now I guess it is my turn to nominate 11 people, give some random facts about myself, and answer some questions.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">So here are the rules:</span></span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><b><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></b></span><br />
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>You must thank the person who nominated you for the award.</b></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>You must write eleven facts/things/tidbits about yourself.</b></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>You must answer eleven questions that were given to you from your nominator.</b></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>You must nominate eleven other bloggers who have 200 or less followers and tag them in your acceptance post.</b></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>You must create eleven new questions for your nominees to answer in their acceptance post.</b></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>You must notify your eleven nominees on their blog, so they can accept their award and pay it forward.</b></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>You must not nominate the person who nominated you.</b></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>After all of this is done, you may add the Liebster Award Button to your blog.</b></span></li>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Here are my 11 things about myself:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">1. I LOVE being a mother. I truly believe that this is what I am supposed to do with my life. Raise my little girl and maybe another one one day. My daughter is the absolute greatest gift. I don't think you can know what true love is until you have a kid. It's freaking amazing. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">2. I have 5 siblings, 2 younger, 3 older, and I don't talk to any of them. It sucks but that's the way it is. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">3. I was lucky enough to marry my absolute best friend. I swear Brandon knows me better than I know myself sometimes. He is the only person in the world that knows *every* single thing about me and the only person that I can be myself 100% around.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">4. I think RIC (routine infant circumcision) is wrong and disturbing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">5. I despise coffee, but I LOVE the smell of it. Sweet tea is my coffee.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">6. I am currently working on shedding some major pounds. It's not easy, but it will be so worth it when I finally get there.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">7. I love tattoos. I have 6 of them and I want more. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">8. I also love guns. I have 2 myself, and in my house we have quite a few. My almost 3 year old loves them too, but she knows the difference between her play ones and mommy and daddy's real ones. It's all about teaching gun safety at an early age. There is nothing better than going to the range to let out some stress. Also, I will NEVER be left defenseless. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">9. I want to go to Ireland before I die. I want to see where my family comes from. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">10. I love college football. I think the pros are pansies. College is where it is at. During football season I plan my Saturdays around games. I have and will always be a UGA fan. I think I will always miss Matthew Stafford. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">11. I'm trying to think of something spectacular here, but honestly I have nothing. The only thing I can think of is that I'm a planner. I plan everything. I like things to be done well before time so there is no stress. I booked Miss E's birthday party like 4 months in advance. I buy presents extremely early. I'm just not a last minute person. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Ok now that those are done, here are the 11 questions from Erin that I have to answer:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">1. What is my favorite holiday? That's easy, Christmas! I love the season, the lights, the celebrations, the family time, the food, the look on my daughters face on Christmas morning. I just love everything about it!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">2. What is my favorite food: Longhorns crab stuffed filet. It is freaking amazing. They don't carry it anymore and I refuse to go back til they put it back on the menu.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">3. What is my favorite memory that includes alcohol? This one is tough. I have quite a few...I think Music Midtown 2004. I went with my roommate and Brandon and it was just a freaking amazing weekend. I just can't even explain it. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">4. What is your favorite memory without alcohol? Dang, I have a few of these too...do I have to pick just one? I'll go with the day we arrived in Daytona last year. It was our first family vacation with Miss E and her first time seeing the ocean. I will never forget the look on her face. We were standing in the hotel parking lot, the sun was going down and Brandon was holding her. I can still smell the ocean. That was an amazing memory, I won't ever forget it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">5. How long have I been with my significant other. We have been together 11 years, married 4. I was 16 when we started dating and he was 17.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">6. Where did you meet them: Well we went to high school together, but our families just happened to be in the same place at the same time for vacation one year. He saw me at the pool and the rest is history.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">7. What would be the first thing I bought if I hit the lotto tonight? I would pay off the house, my car, Brandon's truck, and anything else we owed. I would donate to foster kids, women's shelter's and animal shelters. I would pay off Brandon's parents house and vehicles(after everything they've done for us, it's the least we could do) Then we would probably buy land and build. I would also love to foster dogs. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">8. What is my dream car? I don't really have one. Cars aren't really my thing, I just need something practical with good gas mileage. I mean, I wouldn't turn down a Bentley or BMW though:)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">9. What would be my dream place to live? I wouldn't mind staying in Ga I guess, but I want somewhere with land. I don't want to be too far away from civilization, but I love the quiet and the privacy. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">10. If I could get plastic surgery today, what would I get? A boob job. I'm waiting until we get done having kids, and then I am getting one.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">11. Where is my favorite place on earth? Honestly, probably my home. It's my safe zone, the place where I have great memories, plus I love who I share it with. I guess I was supposed to say the beach or something, but oh well.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Ok so here is who I nominate:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; line-height: 18px;">1. Anna at <a href="http://justnormalthinking.blogspot.com/">http://justnormalthinking.blogspot.com/</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. Elizabeth at <a href="http://mylifeaslizwifeandsahm.blogspot.com/">http://mylifeaslizwifeandsahm.blogspot.com/</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. Christine at <a href="http://inspire-to-create.blogspot.com/">http://inspire-to-create.blogspot.com/</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. Amanda at <a href="http://justtakeonebiteplease.blogspot.com/">http://justtakeonebiteplease.blogspot.com/</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. Kristen at <a href="http://kristenplusjswifts.blogspot.com/">http://kristenplusjswifts.blogspot.com/</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6. <span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Mommy2Izzy at</span> <a href="http://mommy2izzy.blogspot.com/">http://mommy2izzy.blogspot.com/</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">7.MommaSachs at <a href="http://mommasachs.blogspot.com/">http://mommasachs.blogspot.com</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">8. Mommy RiRI at <a href="http://thatgoesdouble.blogspot.com/">http://thatgoesdouble.blogspot.com/</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9. Amy at <a href="http://threeoclockcrazy.blogspot.com/">http://threeoclockcrazy.blogspot.com/</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">10. Christina at: <a href="http://twoboysandarucksack.blogspot.com/">http://twoboysandarucksack.blogspot.com/</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">11.Michelle at <a href="http://ourlifeontheoutside.blogspot.com/">http://ourlifeontheoutside.blogspot.com/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And here are my eleven questions:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Who is your favorite author?</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. What is your ideal job?</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. What is the best concert you've ever attended?</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. What is your favorite movie?</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. What is your favorite thing to cook?</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6. What is your earliest memory in life?</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">7. What is one thing on your bucket list?</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">8. What is your favorite tv show?</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9. Do you collect anything?</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">10. Why did you start blogging?</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">11. What is your guilty pleasure? TV show, book, movie, anything like that.</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ok, that took forever, but I'm done!</span></div>
Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-41403788642505910312012-12-10T09:09:00.000-08:002012-12-10T09:09:15.835-08:00First week weigh in.<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today was my first weekly weigh in. I'm happy to report that I am down 4 lbs even. Nothing spectacular, but to see the numbers go down is a great motivator:)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's much easier to eat healthy when its just me and Miss E. Throw my husband in the mix and that is where it gets tricky. But I've been doing great not eating the things I'm not supposed to even though I'm having to fix them for Brandon. Last night I did indulge in a piece of cake for my FIL's birthday, but I came home and did double time on the elliptical too. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So there it is, my first week back on the wagon and I feel good about it. I knew it wasn't going to come off easily, but I'm working everyday at it:)</span>Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-63102219649098363712012-12-05T19:09:00.000-08:002012-12-09T09:24:51.764-08:00Me vs the Elliptical <span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I won!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I started back on it today for the first time in too long. I have bad knees and they started giving me problems (no cartilage) and swelling really badly. I started taking glucosamine to try to build the cartilage back up and took a break from the elliptical. I was nervous to get back on it tonight and had really low expectations. I gave myself a goal of 15 mins (low, but better than nothing, and I don't want to hurt my knees) and wound up doing 30! It feels great to be back on it and the best part is I have NO pain in my knees! I know I'm going to have to build myself back up to what I was doing, but I'm so proud of myself for taking the first step and getting back on it. I love the energized and accomplished feeling of when I'm done. And yes, I had those jeans draped over my elliptical the whole time as a reminder of why I'm doing it:)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Change of subject now, I got Miss E's Christmas pictures back yesterday and they turned out amazing! The same girl that did our family pics back in August did them and I must say that I just love her. If you're looking for a great photographer, I HIGHLY recommend her, here is her FB page:https://www.facebook.com/mmcphotographyy?fref=ts.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here are a few of my favorites:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWHGe9ekrQ2P_jL9CaErVoa5l16SV1juGGmrarzKhkEABBrR8BfTUjLntZuOJSu-LGvm6C_t-BmRy7Hh7bqBReN3QZa_nuF5SNjP0M4HmqirLsQkrqydoxCDT8SmGoim97uWR3j96yKI4/s1600/ChristmasMinis_814.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWHGe9ekrQ2P_jL9CaErVoa5l16SV1juGGmrarzKhkEABBrR8BfTUjLntZuOJSu-LGvm6C_t-BmRy7Hh7bqBReN3QZa_nuF5SNjP0M4HmqirLsQkrqydoxCDT8SmGoim97uWR3j96yKI4/s320/ChristmasMinis_814.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivbzhhPgDG51QUp1CoWm8nj5aR-Yx5uymNsbRrbkAfHDtvSeTovu3jMp4kF9A9gcLPNBGpzYFP5hecMQd8shAo-sX0zdj1597pkOJ3E-ufCV2yTh2c_O8KvT52FOazmC-cIeFX9upaP4/s1600/ChristmasMinis_853.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivbzhhPgDG51QUp1CoWm8nj5aR-Yx5uymNsbRrbkAfHDtvSeTovu3jMp4kF9A9gcLPNBGpzYFP5hecMQd8shAo-sX0zdj1597pkOJ3E-ufCV2yTh2c_O8KvT52FOazmC-cIeFX9upaP4/s320/ChristmasMinis_853.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuf7sUiqA1PC6kJucyCLC_UnPP-CndfjTreuSE2asUlqB7SNCpMf921TphcFkGTOcy6Hv8Spx2aE2RmZyjv7xc_I2LfCrkTPURLnFzj5DQjHFSpjIX2-DD3KFU7lwK3ZvhI9eSA26hpn0/s1600/ChristmasMinis_868.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuf7sUiqA1PC6kJucyCLC_UnPP-CndfjTreuSE2asUlqB7SNCpMf921TphcFkGTOcy6Hv8Spx2aE2RmZyjv7xc_I2LfCrkTPURLnFzj5DQjHFSpjIX2-DD3KFU7lwK3ZvhI9eSA26hpn0/s320/ChristmasMinis_868.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXYUwGKNkBZKXs1cZQ2TEe46WOhOSL7ofCAIWnv8xNP9qxIvuwgqkHm9itx4552FWglVxcZXmHNK-3LKhLHnGzXBISUgYfXp08ELA1_EN7pm6udbFXs-5ZAHzkXKsjTXoYDByT3m7ONrA/s1600/ChristmasMinis_896.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXYUwGKNkBZKXs1cZQ2TEe46WOhOSL7ofCAIWnv8xNP9qxIvuwgqkHm9itx4552FWglVxcZXmHNK-3LKhLHnGzXBISUgYfXp08ELA1_EN7pm6udbFXs-5ZAHzkXKsjTXoYDByT3m7ONrA/s320/ChristmasMinis_896.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ok, so that was more than a few, but I think my kid is adorable:) The third one just shows her personality perfectly, always dancing and twirling. We took her to her dance studio's holiday show on Sunday and the look on her face as she watched the dancers was just priceless. It was a great experience for her. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It has taken me about an hour to write this post (had to stop for a tea party then to put Miss E to bed). So I think I'm done for the night, goodnight!</span>Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-10168349103268826802012-12-03T18:39:00.001-08:002012-12-03T18:39:19.444-08:00Motivation<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today I finally found my motivation for weight loss.</span><div>
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I lost 28lbs last year, got lazy and have since gained 10 of those back. Boo. That is what happens when you're just not motivated. Should I be motivated? Sure. But I haven't been. I'm healthy as can be(I had to have tests done at the GI specialist and my blood pressure and cholesterol and all that jazz is perfect). People don't treat me differently because of my weight (I'e been on both ends of the weight spectrum, from too thin to well, overweight). I have a freaking amazing husband who has never said anything negative about my appearance, which has changed drastically over the past 11 years. I was a blonde size 0 when we started dating and now, well, I'm not either of those things. I have some self esteem issues, but they aren't that bad, I don't think I'm horrendous or anything. So basically, I just haven't cared too much about it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That changed today.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was looking through the back of my closet for something and there <i>they</i> were. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. THE pair of jeans that looked freaking amazing on me 7 years ago. The ones that even if I felt horrible and wore no makeup, I could put them on and they made me feel like I looked like a million bucks. <i>Those</i> jeans. I don't remember the last time I wore them or even saw them to be honest. I pulled them out and that's when it hit me. I want to wear those jeans again. I started digging further and pulled out a few more pairs(they started going up in sizes) and I realized that if I went up these sizes, I can go back down. It's sure as heck not going to be as much fun as eating whatever I want and such, but it will be worth it to finally be able to put on those jeans. They are the smallest pair in my closet (all of my tiny anorexic clothes are long gone, I'm not dumb enough to think I will be a 0 again, nor do I want to be). So I'm going to start working my way back down my old jean pile until eventually I get to that one pair. They are currently hanging over my elliptical so they are constantly in my sight.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Any inspirational stories are welcomed and greatly appreciate as I start this journey. Most people send me FB messages after reading my posts because they don't like putting their personal stuff out there. One request, don't bother with the "I took this and lost 20lbs in a week" crap. I've never tried weight loss pills or fast fixes before and that is not what I'm interested in. Last year I did it on mostly diet alone, throwing in walks around my hilly neighborhood and using my elliptical. I just like reading real success stories from people doing it the old fashioned way and having that inspiration. You can also follow me on myfitnesspal.com. I've been on there for almost 2 years and set it to where I'm starting with today's weight so I can work my way back up.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This time, I'm going the distance. I'm <b>GOING</b> to wear those jeans again.</span></div>
Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-88601451616581420592012-11-30T08:18:00.002-08:002012-11-30T08:18:59.621-08:00It's Friday!<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Which also means its payday, which unfortunately means that I'm sitting on the computer paying bills and drinking hot chocolate(I don't drink coffee), which means all that money will be gone very shortly. But I'm just thankful that we have the money to pay said bills. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Miss E and I started the 25 days of Christmas crafts yesterday. She remembered us doing it last year so she was very excited to start this year. We started off with a construction paper Christmas tree. She loved cutting the strips of paper with her little safety scissors, she thought that was a big deal. I'm thinking we will do the Popsicle Santa's and Reindeer today. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As most everyone knows, Miss E is and will be home schooled. We don't like the public school system here, or really anywhere close to here. If she gets older and decides she doesn't want to be home schooled anymore, we will look into private Christian school. Right now since she is only at the Pre K level, we don't have to report yet nor do I have to follow a set curriculum. I started her when she was 2 to just get her into the routine of it and it became something she loved doing. She knows when we wake up and eat breakfast, that afterwards it's school time. She loves talking about it to other people and telling daddy about what she did for school when he gets home at night. It has just become a routine part of our day. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">She knows her alphabet really well and you can say a random letter and she can tell you what comes before and after it. So now we are on to letter sounds. She thinks letter sounds are hilarious, she particularly loves the 'Z' sound. She knows how to spell her name and knows how to spell it in sign language, so she is working on writing it right now. She does the 'E' and the 'L' well, but has a hard time with the 'Y' and 'S'. That wasn't something I was going to start with her yet, but she drew the 'E' one day and said "look mommy, I drew E" and we just went from there. She loves drawing smiley faces and circles and squares too. She just loves to learn and soak everything in right now, so I want to cram all this knowledge in there while she is so willing. We don't have a set amount of time we do for school, just whenever she starts getting antsy, it's usually an hour to an hour and a half. I don't push things on her, I really just follow her lead, she usually lets me know what she is ready to learn and that has been what works for us. So far anyway. The day she tells me she doesn't want to home school or if she gets older and it is just something that isn't working anymore, we will enroll her into private school. I'm not going to push it on her because that just defeats the whole purpose of it. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since we are done with school and bill paying for the day, I'm going to take her to do some Christmas shopping:) We still have a few people to buy for and she loves picking out presents for other people!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-83611858767021462962012-11-28T19:00:00.000-08:002012-11-28T19:00:30.001-08:00Lets play catch up!<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Truth: I am a horrible blogger. It's been almost 2 months again since I've blogged and I said last time that I wouldn't let it go that far again, but I did. I think about it often, but since the death of my laptop and my desktop being a dinosaur, and it's just a pain to blog from my phone or tablet(unless it's something really short) so that is why I haven't been keeping it up. Brandon did a reset on the dinosaur computer and it's actually working really well now, so here I am.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lets see...since my last blog post, Miss E has been to Disney for the first time(without mommy or daddy), we've had to switch her dance schools because of a bullying issue, and I'm sure there have been significant other things, but those are the 2 that pop into my head right away.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So Disney...it was a very last minute thing. Like night before last minute. My MIL called the night before they were leaving(they already were planning a trip to Fl for a vacation) and said that they had been given tickets to Disney and really wanted to take Miss E. I was invited too but I had no one to take care of the 3 dogs on that short of notice. We had been planning on taking her next year to Disney for her first time and so this was a difficult decision to make. We decided to let her go because what if something happens and we aren't able to take her next year? Plus, I didn't want to be selfish and not let her go just because I wouldn't be able to. So she went. It was a hard 5 days for me, but she had so much fun with her aunt, Grammie, and great grandmother. I know she will have those memories forever(and the pictures) and I don't regret the decision one bit to let her go.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We had to pull Miss E out of her old dance school, and that was a very tough situation. She adored her teacher, it's the only teacher she has ever had. She had her last year, over the summer, and this year. But it was something that had to be done. There were 5 little girls in the class and one of them, who was the youngest in the class btw, was a bully. At first, it was a push here or a kick there. The mom always had an excuse. No nap, loud house, something about daycare, etc...Well the behavior continued and was getting worse. The girl just didn't want to be there, she was always trying to escape from the class while her mom held the door shut from the other side. The mom eventually stopped watching the class, she would wait in her car for it to be over. The teacher was spoken to, I know we all had communication with the owner of the studio, and I spoke to the mother as well as one of the other moms did. Nothing was done. The owner said she was going to sit in a classes for a bit, she sat in the class the day that I spoke to her and the bully wound up leaving halfway through the class. The next week she showed up the last 20 mins of class bc her kid was sick. Well that week the teacher shut the curtains so we couldn't see in and I was pissed about that. When the owner finally showed up, I told her I was NOT happy about being shut out and she kinda laughed it off and went it. The girls Halloween party was also that day so we tried to be calm for the girls sake, but after class was over, I pulled the mom aside and basically let her have it. A few days later I sent an email to the owner saying we weren't coming back. All four of us left that week. So she lost 4 students over that one. Bad business, bad policies, just all around bad. We tried 2 studios the following week and really liked the second one. The first thing I asked was the policy on bullying. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I hate it because this has really stayed with Miss E and the other girls. We all four wound up at the same studio, 2 of us in one class and the other 2 in a different day. But they all 4 still talk about it. Every week when we go, Miss E asks if that girl is going to be there and how much she hurt her feelings and how she was mean to the other girls. I'm hoping eventually she can put it behind her. I can't believe this starts at such a young age. I teach Miss E to be nice to everyone and she is. She is such a sweet girl to everyone she meets, so she just didn't understand why this girl acted like that. But I am glad that it is over and we have moved on. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oh, we've started going to story time every Tuesday, she has loved it. It has replaced our home schooling on Tuesday mornings. They sing, dance, learn sign language, and of course have 2 books read to them. They wrap it up every week with a craft. We both really enjoy it and I wish I would have learned about it sooner. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Miss E turns three in a month and a half. I will be a mom to a three year old. It looks weird even typing it. But I am very proud to say that she is fully potty trained! I may have mentioned that in my last post, I don't remember. She's been partially trained for a long time now, but she would still still have an occasional wet pull up in the morning. But for the past few months she will wake up to go pee in the night if she has to go, so now I say she is fully potty trained. I can't really take credit for anything because all I did was put her on the toilet, she completely did this by herself, no pushing from us. Now she just goes whenever and just calls me when she needs to be wiped. I'm just glad she decided to do it before she was 3 and I'm thankful it was so easy because I know it's not easy for everyone.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are in Christmas mode full swing here. All of our decorations are up and the majority of the presents are under the tree(I am on top of it this year!). Miss E actually likes Santa this year, she had a photo shoot with him and got to hang out with him and drink juice and eat cookies and she thought that was really cool. The only thing she wants for Christmas is a Cinderella carriage with Cinderella and Prince Charming. She's going to be a happy kid come Christmas morning:) We were talking about Santa the other day and she said "mommy, does Santa come in the house to bring presents?" I told her yes, and she said "while we are all sleeping?" So that freaked her out some, I told her that mommy and daddy would meet Santa and he would give us her present and we would put it under the tree. She said "good"! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've been at this for awhile now, so I think that's going to be all the catching up I do tonight:) I'll catch up on her schooling and stuff tomorrow hopefully!</span>Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-44485366745373839662012-10-01T16:10:00.000-07:002012-10-01T16:10:06.308-07:00It's been awhile...<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's been over 2 months since I've blogged. I just never seem to remember to do it and I've been staying pretty busy these days. But a lot has gone on in the past 2 months.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First thing is I turned 27 in August. I didn't plan a night out or anything like that because I just wanted to spend the day with my family. And that is what we did. We went and ate lunch at the Olive Garden then went to Mountaisa where we spent the day. We played putt putt and played all the games and Elyse loved getting to trade her tickets for prized. She told daddy that she wanted to get a prize for me since it was my birthday so she picked out a purple bracelet and I wear it all the time. Brandon got me the Hunger Games DVD and a ring with Elyse's name on it. But the company sized it wrong so I haven't been able to wear it just yet. Then my sis in law made me dinner at her house and surprised me with cheesecake(my absolute fave). It was a really great day. Brandon took his stress days on my birthday and the day after. So the next day we woke up at 6 am for family pictures. It was so worth it though because all the pictures turned out amazing! I will eventually post some new pics on my blog, but since my laptop crashed and I mostly use my phone and tablet and the slow as Christmas computer, I just haven't done it yet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next weekend Brandon and I headed to Blue Ridge for our anniversary. We spent the day wandering around and then we did horseback ride through the mountains. It was so peaceful and amazing and we have decided that we are going to make that a tradition. I was SO incredible sore the next day though! But I can't wait to do it again. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The end of Aug beginning of September was our staycation. We had so much things planned and made a ton of great memories. We went to the aquarium and spent all day there. We hiked Stone Mountain (the sky lift was closed, so we had to hike). That was tough with a 2 year old. Every day we did something, it was almost better than actually going somewhere, there is something comforting about getting to sleep in your own bed every night and we didn't have to worry about boarding the dogs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Elyse had her first dance performance for the new dance year. They performed at Paulding Meadows and she did a great job. That kid loves the stage and loves putting on a show. She is doing great in the older class and it was definitely the right move putting her in the next class up. She has another performance in a few weeks and then she will also be in the Nutcracker in December. I really appreciate that the new owner is involving the younger kids with everything and not just having them in the end of year recital.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The fair came into town and so we went to that. Elyse wanted to be in the beautiful baby pageant, so she got to pick out her own dress and walk across the stage. After that, she rode every kid ride and one not so kid ride and had a blast. I think I had more fun this year watching her enjoy everything so much than I ever have in the past before we had her. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some not so good news is that Brandon got caught in a speed trap and got 2 tickets that we have to pay for in a few days. I really need one month with no unexpected expenses. The cop was a prick, he gave him a speeding ticket and a window tint ticket. I've had my car for 5 years and no one has ever said anything about my tint. I bought the car the way it is and had no idea that my back windows were illegal. It was the end of the month and you know how cops have to get their quota in. He should have given us a warning, but no. I don't like power hungry cops. They really piss me off.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway, our yard is really looking good and Elyse loves having a huge front yard to run around in and all 3 dogs love having the back yard to run around it. It's a win for everyone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I know I'm missing some things, but my mind is drawing a blank. Maybe it's because it's dinner time and my stomach is growling:)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I know I say this a lot but, I really will try to keep this more up to date!</span>Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-59700601489880716232012-07-22T19:08:00.000-07:002012-07-22T19:08:58.451-07:00My name is Meagan and I am a co-sleeper.<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today Brandon and I made a super bed. Meaning we pushed Miss E's twin bed up against our queen bed. It's pretty awesome! </span><div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I guess that by the above statement you realize that we are a co-sleeping family. Not just co-sleeping, we take it one step further and bed share. That's right, our 2.5 year old daughter still sleeps in the same bed with us. *GASP* (enter eye roll here). </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am SO sick of people thinking co-sleeping is unnatural or weird. Some people are very understanding, they are usually other peaceful parenting people like myself. Others just think it is so weird that we co-sleep. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let me start by saying that before we had a child, we said we would <i>never</i> bed share. That changed the day we got home from the hospital. I had a c/s that I had complications with and was breastfeeding. The thought of getting up every 1.5 to 2 hours to pick the baby up, feed her, then put the baby back down didn't sound too good to me. She did have a bassinet set up in our room. When she was hungry, Brandon would get up and bring her to me so I could feed her and then put her back down. But that got old really quick. It was SO much easier to have her beside me and when she got up, just pop a boob in her mouth til we both went back to sleep. Lazy, yes. I was a new, very sleep deprived mom. I had an incision that had complications and I was very sore. Plus I had a colicky baby that cried. A lot. She only seemed content at night when she was in bed next to me. So it worked. We all started sleeping great. She would still wake up to eat(she didn't drop her last night feeding til she was right at a year old), but she always went right back to sleep.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now she is 2.5 and still loves to sleep with mommy and daddy. She was asking to sleep in her room on and off and we would always let her choose where she wanted to sleep. Even when she did go to sleep in her bed in her room, she would always wake up at some point and come in our bed. She has never slept an entire night in her room. We have never forced her to sleep where she doesn't want to. We have never made her "cry it out". We want her to be comfortable. If that's in our room with us, then so be it. We don't mind at all. There is going to be a day when she doesn't want to hang out with mommy and daddy so until then we are enjoying it. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I get asked a lot why we just don't make her stay in her own bed in her room. I just simply say that is not where she wants to be. Then I get asked why don't we just let her cry. I then say that we are not believers in cry it out and we think that it is a horrible thing to do to a child who is crying. I could *never* let Miss E just cry and not respond to her cries. I wanted Miss E to know from day 1 that if she cried, mommy and daddy were going to respond and resolve whatever was wrong, even if she just wanted to be held. Then we, without fail, get asked the million dollar question. "If she is sleeping in your room/bed, then how do you and your husband have 'quality time'"? Or the "Oh, you guys must not have a very good sex life with your kid in your room all the time" To this I answer(with a smile on my face), "if you can't have a sex life without a bedroom, then you have bigger things to worry about than where my child sleeps". Because that is the truth. If you can't have sex except for on a bed in your room, then you seriously have bigger issues than how my family chooses to sleep.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I can only do what feels natural to me. Having my child close to me is what feels natural to us. To some, it only feels right having them in their own bed in their own room. To each their own. My kid is a very well adjusted, smart, independent, thriving child. So no, you don't need to worry yourself about how and where we all sleep because we are all doing just fine=)</span></div>Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-75916767230603737412012-07-10T10:39:00.001-07:002012-07-10T10:42:58.825-07:00FINALLY!<span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Are you ready for this??? After 4 months, we finally have a yard!! Sod was laid on Sunday and it looks amazing! I finally have the huge yard that I have wanted since we moved in. The backyard is still getting worked on, but it is close to being done as well. As I type this, the fence guy is here putting up the fence in the back. It will be awhile before the pups can have full reign of the back bc we have to wait til everything settles, but they are going to have a great place to run back there. The best part is Shyla finally gets a bigger pen, more than double the size of her's now AND she won't have to stay in it all the time, she can run around the backyard as she pleases. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had NO idea how much work was involved taking care of sod. Apparently we got the high dollar, best grass, very thick and durable once it takes (it's good to know people). Watering it is seriously a full time job. We have three sprinklers in the front that I have to alternate and watch the time bc it has to be wet, but it can't be too wet. Then there's the sprinkler in the back (we only laid sod where Shyla's pen is going to be and connecting it around to the front of the house on the far side) that I have to move to 3 different spots, it has to be in exactly the right spots to hit everything for a certain amount of time bc again, it has to be wet, but not too wet. Then there's the other grass that has to be hand watered. It's just really a lot of work, but in about a week or so, we are going to have a beautiful front yard! I can't wait to plant rose bushes and plan the garden out(which should be fun since I have never planted or taken care of a garden ever). So basically, we are almost done with the yard renovations and I couldn't be more happy with the out come.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now for some updates I guess. I recently got back in contact with an old friend. We just kinda lost touch after I had Miss E (although we were friends on FB, so we both kept up with each other). She came over and we got to catch up and talk and it was like we never lost touch. We had a girls night out a few nights later, we went and ate and had margaritas (only 1 each, neither of us are drinkers anymore) and saw Magic Mike (horrible plot, great eye candy). I have really missed this girl and didn't realize it until we started talking. It's nice to have someone that understands how you think and are on the same page about so many things. I have few friends that are like that and I need to keep those close. I've had friendships fizzle out bc we just have nothing in common anymore, from religion and politics to the way we live our lives and raise our kids. I'm not saying you have to think exactly alike to be friends with someone, but there does have to be some common ground that you can base a friendship on and sometimes as we get older people change and part ways. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think I wrote in my last post about Miss E going to Florida. She had a blast. She was gone for 5 days and the day she was coming home, I was over at their house 2 hours early. She loved telling me all about the beach and the pool and everything she did. I'm so glad that she got to have that experience with her aunt, Grammie, and Memaw, but I think it will be a long time before she is away from me for that long again. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm counting down the days til Brandon is off for vacation. We are at about a month and a half. I am so excited about our weekend anniversary trip(which we still need to book) and about our week with Miss E. I did some research and wrote out a list of things to do and how much each thing is so we are prepared. Brandon doesn't know this, but I've been putting money up every week so we can pay for that week in cash and that way I know we have the money to do everything. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oh and if there wasn't enough to pay for in July and Aug (my tag renewal is in Aug), I got hit with a law suit. I've been fighting this credit card company since 2009. This is the back ground on it: I got a pre approval for this card in 2008 and so I called and got the card because it was to a major store that I was wanting to buy Brandon a new TV for Christmas and I was going to use the card. Well I wound up getting him something else and just paying in cash so that I wouldn't have to worry about having another card payment. So the card was never even activated. Fast forward to a year later when I get a notice from them saying that I owed money. There was a yearly fee and interest on that, plus late charges for every month. I called them and said it had to be a mistake bc the card was never even activated much less used. They said the card went active when I called and accepted the pre approval offer. I said okay, well why wasn't I notified of any outstanding balances in that entire YEAR that had gone by? They said they have sent bills (I never got any). The amount owed was over $1000 and I told them I wasn't going to pay that. I would pay the 1 yearly fee and close the card. Well, they said no and we have been back and forth since then. Last week I got the call that they had filed a law suit against me so I did some digging and it would cost me more to pay the lawyer fees and court cost than to just settle the stupid card out. So I have to pay $826 on a card that was never even used. You better believe that store will NEVER have our business again. I paid the first half last Friday and will pay the last half the first week of August, so that puts a huge damper on things. But at least it will be done and not hanging over my head anymore. And I am also one step closer to having all of my credit cards paid off. I am now down to 1 (from 7). That is one of the lessons I'm going to teach Miss E about for sure. I wish older me could go back and tell younger me to never open those cards(or use them). But it's just another one of those life lessons learned the hard way. At least I learned it relatively young though!</span><br />
<br />Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7940031912159877973.post-86446097862848345792012-06-20T08:43:00.000-07:002012-06-20T08:43:27.740-07:00Empty Nest Syndrome<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today is day 1 of 5 with no Miss E:( We were invited to go to the beach with my MIL, SIL, and Memaw, but with Brandon's work schedule and 3 dogs, it was impossible for me to go on short notice. Finding someone to take in the 2 inside dogs is hard and it was too short notice to board them on a "maybe". If we could guarantee that Brandon would be home, it wouldn't have been a big deal. But either you book a room for the pups or not, they don't do "maybe's". Elyse was SO excited, she has been wanting to go back to the beach since we left last year, that it wouldn't have been fair to not let her go. So we dropped her off last night and I cried the whole way home. This is the longest that I have ever been without her and I'm kinda lost to be honest. Brandon is working so I'm by myself for 3 days, then who knows if he will even be home this weekend, so I could be by myself then too. But I know she is going to have so much fun, this kid LOVES her Grammie, Aunt Shell and Memaw(her great grandmother), I'm just sad that I won't be there to see her excitement when she sees the beach again and have those memories. But I also know that it is important for her to have those memories with them. The house just seems so big and empty and quiet without her and I'm just lonely without her.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On a different note, we have been trying to decide what we wanted to do for our vacation this year at the beginning of Sept and we finally got it figured out. Brandon asked me if I wanted to go away for the weekend for an anniversary trip just the 2 of us to Savannah (this is SO unlike Brandon to even think to do something like that) so I jumped on the offer. So Miss E is going to stay with her Grammie for the weekend (2 nights is so much easier than 5) while we do a mini vacation. Then we are going to use the week to fun things with Miss E. Like go to the zoo, aquarium, stone mountain, Acworth Beach, things like that. This way, we don't have to worry about boarding the dogs for 7 nights(which is really expensive). We still get to do fun things as a family and have the time together. We figure Miss E is still young enough that she doesn't care if we go out of town, just as long as we all do things together. Next year is going to be the fun year though, we plan on taking her to Disney next year and I can't wait for that! Everything from the time this vacation is over is going to be about planning for Disney next year:)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Confessions and Rants of a SAHMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05132681488274709397noreply@blogger.com0