Weekly weigh in

Was anyone anxiously waiting to see if I'd lost any weight? :) Well, I did! I lost 4 more pounds! Yay! :) Here are some things I learned this week:

Water is good. When I'm drinking more, I have more energy, and I don't get munchie. I don't crave junk as often when I'm well hydrated.
A little is okay. I've tried not to ban anything completely. I've had chocolate this week. I even had one peice of chocolate cake Saturday. It was really good! The two things I can't seem to go without are chocolate (obviously) and pizza. I don't know why, but I've always had a weakness for pizza.
I heard a few questions that I've been trying to keep in mind when I'm deciding what to eat. Is what I'm puting into my body going to be good for me? Is it going to help me reach my goals? and if not, is it worth it? Gourmet pizza is worth it. Papa Johns comes close. Little Ceasars, not at all! Jelly beans are not worth it, but a piece of dark Dove chocolate (just one!) is.
Portion size is important. I went to Las Vegas with my mom for a Tupperware convention. We were served a delicious lunch! It was set up buffet style, and we were given huge plates! Everything looked great! I picked out what I felt would fall into those questions above. I was a little tempeted by some things, but knew I didn't want to overfill my plate. When we sat down, my mom said, "You didn't get very much!" But I got enough to fill me up without stuffing myself. Then, I felt like it would be okay to get one desert. I watched what everyone else was bringing back from the desert table and made my choice before I went over. I was very pleased with myself for making good decisions! Did I splurge a little, yes. But I didn't binge. I watched most of the people at the table come back with 3, 4, or 5 different deserts after eating a huge plate of food. You know, I wasn't jealous of anything they got that I didn't. I wasn't disappointed about any of my choices. And I didn't feel guilty. The splurge was worth it! This is how I want to live! I feel like that lunch was a milestone. I proved to myself that I can enjoy good food without having to feel bad about it. Yay! :)

Hello, can we all be healthy for 5 minutes!?!?

Leonora is sick... again. Aaron just got over a nasty cough. I've had a slight sniffle (hopefully it's related to all that beautiful spring pollen floating around). Before Aaron's cough set in, Leonora also had a little cold. Nothing serious, but anytime I call the doctor's office with a list of symptoms, they say, "You'd better come in." So, I took her in when she had her little snifflie cold. (It was just a cold.) And again yesterday when she threw up. (Just a flu bug.) And again today, because her fever hasn't gone away. (Hmmm... we don't know what this is. Could you bring in some poop?) My alergies/cold/whatever hasn't been too bad, but William seems to be the only one who continues to avoid whatever case of the sickies seems to be going around. Ironicly, he tells me almost daily that HE is SICK, and needs some kind of special treatment. Hmmmm...

It's Wednesday

Okay, I did weigh myself today, and I'm not terribly excited or surprised. After all, I "cheated" (can you cheat when you're not really on a strict diet?) a few times. We went to a funeral last Thursday, and I stuffed myself with rolls, ham drenched in brown sugar, and "funeral potatoes." Oh, and a piece of chocolate cake. What can I say? It was 4:00 in the afternoon, and I hadn't had anything but a shake up to that point. (It was a good shake too! A berry smoothie (with protien powder) from Emerald City Smoothies. Any of you Seattle types been there? Aaron was excited to see one put in here. Previously, there wasn't any place to get a smoothie that wasn't made with ice cream. Or otherwise loaded with sugar. At least, we hadn't found any place. Anyway, I'm distracting myself.) The point is, I didn't eat all that great. (They also handed out chocolate bars in Relief Society! I couldn't NOT eat it!) On top of not eating as well as I could have, I also didn't exercise much. I went on a short walk yesterday with Leonora, but that was it for the entire week! Pretty terrible if I do say so myself. So, as I said, I was not terribly surprised to see the needle on the scale pointing in exactly the same spot as last week. My not perfectly accurate scale told me 3 consecutive times that I didn't loose anything. Ah, well, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained," as my Grandmother has been known to say. Or in my case, "Nothing ventured, nothing lost."

Bigdog, worlds most advanced quadroped robot

Aaron was watching this video earlier. I can't get over how strange this is! I mean, okay, it's a robot that walks on four legs. Not too weird right? But you have to watch the video. This thing looks man made, but moves like an animal. The combination is what makes it strange. Anyway, watch this clip, I think you'll see what I mean.

Weigh in Wednesday

It's been a week since I last posted about loosing weight, and I'm excited to say, I'm still loosing some! Yay! I've lost another 5 lbs in the last week for a total of 12 lbs! Yay! :) I had a couple of requests for picture last week, so I had Aaron take one of me this morning.

William's favorite video

Spring has sprung!

I'm so excited to be seeing more of this around my apartments!

The Ant and the Grasshopper

Earlier today I recieved this in an email. I don't usually post about politics or related topics, but my in-laws have been visiting (they like to keep up to date and to discuss political issues), and I've been reading The Entreblog, and I like a good discussion. So when I got this in my email, I thought it may make an interesting one.
The email follows:
Subject: The ant and the grasshopper


There are 2 Versions - Read Both

TRADITIONAL VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all
summer long, building his house and laying up
supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and
laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The
grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out
in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!


MODERN VERSION

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long,
building his house and laying up
supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and
laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a
press conference and demands to know why the ant
should be warm and well fed whil e others are cold
and starving.

CBS, NBC , PBS , CNN, and ABC show up to
provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next
to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a
table filled with food.

America is stunned by the sharp contrast.

How can this be, that in a country of such
wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer
so?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the
grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing,
'It's Not Easy Being Green.'

Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front
of the ant's house where the news stations film the
group singing, 'We shall overcome.' Jesse then has
the group kneels down to pray to God for the
grasshopper's sake.

Nancy Pelosi , John Kerry & Harry Reid exclaim
in an interview with Larry King that the ant has
gotten rich off the ba ck of the grasshopper, and
they all call for an immediate tax hike on the ant
to make him pay his fair share.

Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity and
Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of
the summer! The ant is fined for failing to hire a
proportionate number of green bugs and, having
nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home
is confiscated by the government.

Hillary Clinton gets her old law firm to
represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit
against the ant, and the case is tried before a
panel of federal judges that Bill Clinton appointed
from a list of single-parent welfare recipients.

The ant loses the case.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper
finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while
the government house he is in, w hich just happens to
be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because
he doesn't maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow.

The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related
incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over
by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once
peaceful neighborhood.


I have to say that I think this is a bit of an exageration, but it did come in the form of an email forward, so I think that's to be expected. However, I do think it illustrates the entitlement attitude that many seem to have. If you notice there's a moral to the first story, but not for the second. If I were to choose one, it would be that Success cannot be given away. However, it can be learned. If we wish for our lives to be different, we should learn to aply the principals of those who have the lives we wish we had. (This is something I'm always working on myself.)
What moral would you give the second story?

Good News!

Leonora had a check up with the doctor today. He said that although the numbers from her most recent blood draw were not perfect, but good enough that he thought it was time to end her antibiotics! Yay!! So, tomorrow she will get her picc line out with the home health nurse, and we will see the doctor again in two weeks to see how she is doing! This is great news for me as well as for her. I don't have to stay up late or wake up early to make sure she gets her dose at the right time. Yay!! More sleep! or at least a choice between staying up or sleeping...

(Another) new background

Okay, maybe I'm a little bit fickle. I decided the whole dot thing just wasn't what I really wanted on my blog. The problem was that I really don't know anything about Html or publishing websites. If it isn't a templet, I'm in way over my head! So I decided to check out this link which I got from Andrea's site. Andrea has one of these cute templates on her blog as well. (btw, it's very cute Andrea!) Anyway, I did some copying and pasting (I do know how to do that!) and changed a few colors, and I think I like it! At least for now... I might change my mind again soon! What do you think?

Oh, and if anyone wants to see what they have, the link is now in my side bar as well. Check it out! :)

Yay for me!

So it's been 8 days since we started trying to eat healthier, and I am happy to report that I've actually lost some weight! Yay! I've lost about 7 lbs. My scale isn't the most acurate thing, so that could be off a little, but I am loosing weight! Aaron has also lost some. I'm not sure how much, but he is looking better. Both of us have more energy too, which is nice! I only have 27 more pounds until I get into my ideal weight range... Ugh, I can't believe I let myself get so overweight, but I'm changing that! I know that the scale isn't the only thing, but I do feel better. Both physically and the way I see myself.

Paddy's Day

I hope everyone had a good St Patricks day yesterday! I took a couple of pictures of the kids in their green cloths and thought I'd share. If I knew how to edit photos I could make them look nicer, but here it is anyway!

Why I blog

I read this on my cousin's blog and thought I'd do it too.

1. Why did you start your blog?
I started mine when I was living in Seattle. I had a couple friends who had blogs, and I thought it would be a good way of keeping in touch with them. It also was an easy way to post pictures and stories about my kids for my other friends and family to be able to keep updated with them.

2. How did you come up with your blog name?
Well, I think I was trying to be clever. I've thought about changing it to something else more descriptive of myself, but haven't come up with anything, so it's stayed the same.

3. Do your friends and family know about your blog? What do they think of it?
After reading #1 this shouldn't be to hard to figure out. I don't know what they all think about it, but I know there are at least a few people who read it. My mom doesn't read it so much anymore unless I tell her to look at a picture or something. She sees the kids all the time now though.

4. How do you write posts?
Some of them are just my thoughts and feelings. Some are fun or cute things my kids are doing. Sometimes if it's been a while since I posted, I just try to come up with anything that might possibly be of interest. I've thought about starting a different blog just for "writing." I wish I had more time for it.

5. Have you ever had a Troll or had to delete unkind comments?
No trolls, just spam.

6. Do you check your stats? Do you care how many people read your blog? If you do, how do you increase traffic?
I've never checked my stats. I don't really care how many people read it, but it is nice to know that someone reads it. I do like getting comments.

7. What kind of blogs/posts interest you?
All the blogs I read are people who I personally know. Most of them are just updates about themselves or their families. I do enjoy when they post pictures. I like to see their kids and I like to see other things they come across that are interesting. Like the Snag on Heidi's blog, Tearese's posts about art, Stephanie's sewing projects, and Saskia's honest opinions about everything. And of course, as I said, I like to see everyone's kids. It's fun to watch them grow, and don't get to see most of these kid's in person very often.

8. What do you like and dislike about blogging?Hmmm... well I think I've been over most of the things I like. I just enjoy getting to know people better. As far as dislikes, well, hmmm... I don't like spam. Other than that, I just wish I had more time to put into making my blog more interesting and reading other people's blogs.

I'm tagging anyone who needs something to post about! :)

Tupperware givaway

Hi everyone!
I'm providing Tupperware for my friend Heidi's surprise givaway, and wanted to give those of you who are not regular readers of Heidi's blog the opportunity to participate! Just go to Heidi's blog to find out how! Have fun!

Leonora dances

Leonora has always loved music. She has to move if there's music playing, and the more dramatic the music the better! She loves all kinds of music. She'll rock out to heavy rock and twirl to pretty classical. Here are a couple of videos. The first one she's a couple of months old, and the second is from yesterday at breakfast.

Great Chili

Aaron and I have decided we need to be healthier. This includes losing a bunch of weight, so we've started a "diet" for lack of a better word. Mostly, we're just trying to eat less of the bad stuff and more of the good stuff. Anyway, here's a recipe that I'm making for dinner today. I got it from a diet program we've used before. It's good and good for you! Just watch your portion size! :)



Ingredients
Olive oil-flavored cooking spray
1/2 lb extra-lean ground beef of soy crumbles
1 small onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 T. finely chopped jalapeno peppers, or to taste
2 16-oz cans diced tomatoes
1 16-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 16-oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 T. chili powder
1 T. cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Spray nonstick frypan with the olive oil-flavored cooking spray. Brown ground beef or frozen soy crumbles. If using boxed soy crumbles, skip spray and add water, heating mixture according to package directions. Add the onion and green pepper; cook until onion is translucent. Add remaining ingredients; cover and cook over low heat 15-20 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Serves 6
255 calories, 17 g protien, 7 g fat, and 31 g carbs.

Enjoy!

In case you didn't notice...

I decided it was time for a new look. What do you think? I also started labeling my posts, so it will be easier to find past posts. Yay me! :)

Some more of William's art

The other day, I was trying to straighten out the kids' room and get things put away where they belong. I picked up this notebook of drawing paper.
The cover was kind of lopsided, and in the proccess of trying to straighten it out, I happened to open it to this page.

William says it's a Superman Flower.

Just so you can see how cute she really is...

Please, Don't Die

Leonora is cute. I probably hear it at least half a dozen times a day, and I think or say it as often myself.
Tonight we were at the store buying "superman" milk. Everything William likes is "superman." His favorite cereal is "superman" cereal. AKA Cherrios. William is cute, too. Anyway, as we were leaving the store, Leonora, who was standing in the basket, excitedly started bouncing and yelling, "Die! Die!" Of course, I know that what she actually means is "Bye! Bye!" But a gentleman near the exit looked at me with a puzzled look and asked me what she was saying. "Well, it sounds like 'die' but it means 'bye.'" A nearby cashier laughed and repeated the words "sounds like 'die'" as Leonora cheerfully waved and shouted to each passerby, "Die!"