Weight Loss Update :)

According to myfitnesspal, I am down 24 lbs total since the beginning of my weight loss journey. In the last month, I have lost around 13 lbs! Its a great victory I hope to keep up and get to my ultimate goal weight! Here are pictures from last month to this month.

Weekly Menu for October 15, 2012

As usual, things got messed up in our schedule so our menu last week didn't go like it would have. SOOOO that just means we have ham this weekend instead of last weekend! Fine with me!


Monday - Chicken patties

Tuesday - Hamburger Helper

Wednesday - Church Night

Thursday - Southwest Soup

Friday - Ham

Saturday - Ham and Bean Soup

Sunday - Night Out

Weekly Winnings October 8 - October 14, 2012

From Facebook:
- 2 packages of Roland® Lemon Curry Quinoa


From Blogs:
- Funny Face Cranberries

Trains and More Trains

Bubba has been STUCK on trains. We drive the girls to school and he is looking for them everywhere! While we were driving around last weekend, we found one at a park and had to stop so he could see it! He was in love and we had to force him to leave :( Hopefully we will be able to go another time when he will actually be able to climb up in it!

Halloween Costume in Progress

So this year my girls decided they want to be fairy princess kitties. They keep going back and forth on EXACTLY what they want to be but for the most part they want to have wings. I went to Kohl's with my $10 off gift cards I got in the mail and found a cute shirt and some cute leggings. The nice thing is they can wear these whenever they want and have already been wearing them. My next task right now is the tutu. I am almost done with one. I need to make sure I have enough tulle to make the second one. This is what it looks like though! Let me know what you think!!!

My lil sweetheart modeling it for me!

Close up of it, the colors she picked were green, black, light blue, light purple and light pink! I think its turning out a lot better than I thought it could be!

Catch Up Time with My Sweetheart

How old are you?: um.......*then shows me 3 fingers*

What is your favorite color?: green

Who is your best friend?: Taryn

What is your favorite animal?: kangaroo!

What do you want to be when you grow up?: a dinosaur

What is your favorite movie?: Elmo

What is your favorite book?: book about babies

What makes you happy?: tickles!!

What makes you sad?: Lukas

What is your favorite food to eat?: spaghetti!

What is your favorite song to sing?: Elmo's world!

What game do you like to play?: Bunny hop game!

Catch Up Time With Princess

How old are you?: 4

What is your favorite color?:  pink, blue and purple

Who is your best friend?: Taryn!

What is your favorite animal?: every animal!

What do you want to be when you grow up?: ballerina and everything!

What is your favorite movie?: Fairy Secret Barbie

What is your favorite book?: Princesses!!!

What makes you happy?: hugs and kisses

What makes you sad?: doing something spankings!

What is your favorite food to eat?: MACARONI!

What is your favorite song to sing?: every kid song

What game do you like to play?: MARIO

Weekly Winnings October 1 - October 7, 2012

I started entering some giveaways again!! Hopefully here soon I will be winning a couple of things so I can show you what can be won! The first thing I ever won was the Step 2 Market/Kitchen! It doesn't hurt to find something you would like and try to enter for it! It just takes a couple minutes. I usually enter contests when I'm bored or trying to procrastinate from housework ;)

Weekly Menu Plan for October 8, 2012

Monday - Chicken Tacos

Tuesday - Pulled pork sandwiches

Wednesday - Church night!

Thursday - Pinterest Idea!!! :) (AKA I am going to look at Pinterest and find a recipe then post!)

Friday - Ham, green beans and potatoes

Saturday - Ham and bean soup

Sunday - Church Small Group get together

Weight Loss!!!

I am working hard at losing all this weight I have put on over the past 10 years. Life gets away from you and I know I have all kinds of excuses to use, but no more!

 

The last few months I have been going back and forth on it. I finally got put back on some medication to help with my depression and I think that is one thing that is helping me. I am finally able to get up in the morning after a good night's sleep. I am finally able to function and WANT to be up and doing things. I have also fallen in love with swimming and zumba! Two great things to get started on! I am trying to do something new at least once a month too. Tonight I am going to try the Boot Camp they do at the YMCA. I'm a bit freaked out but I know I will rock it as best as I can! 

When I started my weight journey, I weighed in at 292.4 lbs! That is WAY too much for someone my size to weigh!  I know I would love to be 150-160 lbs like the charts say, but I am sure that just wont happen. I know I felt comfortable at 180 lbs and I know this time around I will be the healthiest I have ever been. At the moment, I am keeping my goal of 165 lbs and will just go from there. Either way, I am getting healthy for me and my family.

This is my jar I started a year ago that just sat there. Nothing was really added or taken away. As they say, if you would have started when you said you would, you would be done now. I am sure I would be looking and feeling so much better than I am but I know now is the best time and I can start to see the differences in my look and the way I feel. I am definitely starting to feel more confident!

The difference in these pictures are August 27, 2012 to October 8, 2012

I know I am going to have my husband start taking my pictures once a month so I will look better in them then what the gym ones look like, but at that time, that was my first time in the gym to work out and I didn't feel like him taking my picture! Now I am getting more excited for my picture! We will see what next month holds for me in the weight loss department!

Starting: 292.4 lbs

Current: 277.0 lbs

Loss of: 15.4 lbs!

Apple Pie Time!

The weather got nice and cool here over the weekend! When it gets cool, something in me decides its time to go into baking mode! My hubby of course loves that! He requested an apple pie so I decided that was what I would spend some time on just for him on Saturday.

 

My lil sweetheart decided that she wanted to be my little helper for the day! She helped me by peeling and coring all the apples for me! Those apple corers are amazing! If you don't have one, definitely something to invest in!

My lil dude then decided that what we were doing looked kind of cool so he decided he wanted to help too! They were very good at getting it all mixed very well and making sure it tasted good too!

Picture of the pie before we put it in the oven. I forgot to take one right when it came out and the family ate the whole thing before I thought about it!!! Next time I make one, I'll make sure to get a picture of after!!!

Apple Pie Recipe

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

* Two pie crusts (I used Jiffy pie crust mix)

- 6 to 8 apples, peeled, cored and sliced

- 1/4 cup white sugar

- 1/4 cup brown sugar

- 2 teaspoons cinnamon

- 1 teaspoon nutmeg

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

- 1 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

In large bowl, put your apples in there. Add the sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cornstarch and mix well. 

Add the apples to the pie crust. Take the butter and slice it up and put all over the apples.

Put the top crust on top and push to seal. 

Put some fork marks (or any design since others are probably more creative than me!) in the crust to help it ventilate!

Put it into the oven at 425 degrees for 30-40 mins.

Let it cool for a bit and then slice and enjoy!!!

Do you have a good apple pie recipe?!? Please share as I am always trying to find a better recipe!!!

Time

Time definitely gets away from you. In the last 3 months we have moved and been trying to get everything straightened back together. I have finally decided that I need some help and am now back on medication for my depression. Depression is a very serious issue and I figured it was finally time to get it back under control. I thought I was under control but instead I was and am spiraling out of control. I can tell that I am starting to feel some control getting back into order. I am actually sleeping all through the night again. I know some of that would be because of the drugs I am on, but at same time, that is a great thing as I wasn't getting more than about 4-5 hours a night.

Weight loss journey had started and then stalled. But as of tomorrow, that is no more. I had lost almost 12 lbs and I'm starting to gain it back. I haven't been to the gym in almost 2 weeks and that has got to stop! I want to feel nice and fit for my birthday next year! I will make it to the gym and I just got to start eating so much better!!!!

Having three kids that are 4, 3 and almost 2 are a lot of work. I am so glad the older two are going to school right now! Our youngest turns 2 on Friday. That I can't believe. I just hit my 29th birthday to turn around and deal with him going to be 2! He is definitely a handful and I am so glad to have him in my life. Hopefully with the change of my mood and getting more into the fall and winter seasons I will be able to be more postful :) I have started getting back into giveaways too, hoping to win some nice Christmas gifts since that would make it a lot more fun! I hope you all have a great week!

And again......

I seem to not be able to keep up with my blogging! I have been in a bad depressed mood for a while and just have let a lot of things fall behind. I am trying to turn a new leaf and be more productive and see what I can do to make myself get out of this funk. Any ideas? One is that no matter what, I am going to try and set aside time every day to blog. I am setting a goal of 5 posts a week. We will see if I can accomplish this! I also want to try more recipes. Pinterest is one of my latest addictions so we will see what I can find :)

Time Out

Well, I took a longer time out on this than I thought! I had taken time off of the computer for lent. I stopped playing all the games I had on facebook and just stuck to checking messages and facebook statuses. I even stopped entering all the giveaways I had been doing too. It was a nice break but at the same time, I lacked posts here! Life has been crazy here. I hurt my shoulder from some spring cleaning I was doing so now I have to take it a bit more easy on it since I was overcompensating on my arms and that caused my old elbow injuries to flare up. (9 years ago, I went rollerblading with my sister. I rolled over a garden hose, the hose won. Fell and broke the tip off my one bone on the left and chipped the right. Could have been worse but I got lucky!) So, anyways now I have to be careful with what I do. It all is finally getting better so maybe now that I am able to be on the computer more, I can get better on posting :) We have tried more recipes from pinterest! I can't wait to share with you!

Sloppy Joe Biscuits

The hubby used to have them when he was younger. I had made them a couple times before but forgot all about them until I saw a couple pinterest spots with them. I decided to make them last night for the hubby. Of course they were a hit! They are pretty easy to make!

Sloppy Joe Biscuits
-1 lb hamburger
-1 can 8 jumbo biscuits
-BBQ sauce
-A1 sauce
-ketchup
-shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown the hamburger, drain the grease. Put pan back on burner and add in a dash of A1 sauce, about 1/8 cup ketchup, and about 1/2 cup BBQ sauce. Heat until boiling then turn off.

Spray muffin tin with Pam. Open biscuit canister and pull out one biscuit. Flatten with fingers to make it bigger and then push into the tin. Continue to do to the rest of the biscuits. Spoon sloppy joes into your biscuit cups until overflowing. Don't worry if you have a little extra. My hubby likes to just add it to his on the plate to make it more messy! Take a pinch of shredded cheese and put on top of each biscuit cup.

Bake in oven for 12-15 mins (about how long it says on the pack to bake the biscuits alone) Take them out and serve them up! So yummy!!!

.................

I don't even know what to call this post. I have gotten so far behind again :( There are many things I have been saying I would keep up with and not find myself back in a rut. Well, I guess I am back in a bad rut again. Depression is not a fun thing. I am finding I have my good days and my bad weeks. Its been a few bad weeks, maybe a month now. Today I woke up feeling a bit better and ready to take on the day. House work is the main target today. I hate how bad the house has gotten again. I will not show pictures as it will not pretty pretty and will probably make me feel worse.  Lets just say its not as bad as some houses but worse than a lot of others. Trying to find a balance between all this crazy madness and then including my head is a tough battle. I was on pinterest, my latest getaway drug, and found a couple great cleaning schedules. I put a bit of one together for myself and then printed it out. Its on my fridge and looks all pretty. Now, the goal is by this weekend to get the house completely caught back up to where I can actually do the list and then see how it goes. I am hoping it will bring the cleaning down to none like the marathons it feels I do when we are cleaning up.

Cleaning Schedule

Daily

Morning:

·         Make beds

·         Wipe down bathroom counters

·         Empty dishwasher

·         Load laundry

Evening:

·         Load dishwasher

·         Unload laundry

·         Wipe down kitchen counters

·         Take out trash

·         Quick sweep or vacuum

·         Spot clean floors

·         Declutter living areas

·         Chore of the Day (below)

Weekly

MONDAY            Deep vacuum/sweep

TUESDAY           Clean mirrors and windows

WEDNESDAY      Scrub toilets and tubs

THURSDAY         Mop the floors

FRIDAY              Organize and Laundry day

Week Winnings February 6-12, 2012

Not bad winnings this last week! I'm excited to get the pasta to make some new dishes to try!

• Rooware Children's Tableware
• Picasso's Giveaway including: Piancone brand pastas: Linguini, Rigatoni, Spaghetti, penne Rigate, Ponzu Picatta Sauce, Mezzo Mezzo Sauce, recipe cards for both sauces, Dukka spices with recipe card and prep instructions and assorted candies!
• Free 6 pack Zevia all natural soda

Weekly Menu Plan for February 13, 2012

Monday - Waffles and sausage

Tuesday - Heart Pizza

Wednesday - McDonalds (I know, kinda eww but I have things to do in town and need a distraction for the kids!)

Thursday - Stir Fry/Sweet and Sour Chicken

Friday - Taco Night

Saturday - Oven Chicken

Sunday - Spaghetti

Sorry for Lack of Posts!

My sister was staying with us for a few days before she left for Belgium for 3 years! I am so happy for her new adventures to come but a lot of things got "thrown in the backseat" while she was here! I will try getting posts updated here shortly and get back on track!

Best Day Ever....For The Kids Anyways!

For Princess' 4th birthday, she wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese. We decided to go ahead and have the party there. I am so happy we did! We all had a blast and it was so nice to just drive somewhere for a party and not have to do much prep work, cook anything and not clean up! If you have never gone to a party at Chuck E Cheese, I suggest you do! You can even go in and just go play or do your own little party without their help and planning! I have a feeling lil sweetheart will want to have her party there too! I will be so excited to see her have fun there!!! I hope you enjoy the pictures :D

Pinterest Success/Fail

I have decided since I have been having a lot of fun with Pinterest lately that I will be posting different things I make :) I have had a bit of success and a couple failures but have been having a blast on Pinterest! The people that invented it are just wonderful! Best time killer ever!!!

Week Winnings January 30 - February 5, 2012

• Box of Ocean Spray fruit snacks
• Alphabeast stuffed monster
• Fit Moms for Life book (since I had already won this once, I gave it up for another reader to win!)

Weekly Menu Plan for February 6, 2012

I can't believe how far behind I am! I will catch up and add a couple more posts. I feel bad! Things have just gotten crazy lately!

Monday - Spaghetti

Tuesday - Patty Melts

Wednesday - went out

Thursday - went out

Friday - Bierocks

Saturday - eat out

Sunday - oven chicken

Crockpot Potato Soup

I have been looking for a good potato soup recipe lately and haven't had too good a time looking. I would find one recipe I would like to an extent but not all the way. I finally broke down and pieced together two different recipes and I was pretty impressed! It got approval from princess and my lil man but sweetheart did NOT want to try it. First time ever!!! Anyways, without further ado, the recipe!


Crockpot Potato Soup

• 6 medium to large size russet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup green onions, chopped up best you can
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• shredded cheddar cheese and bacon bits for garnish

Clean up potatoes and peel them. Dice them up to size of pieces you would like. Bigger ones will take longer to cook. I diced mine to about 1/2" thick. Put them into the crockpot and mix together with the cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup. Mix in the green onions and put the lid back on. Cook on high for about 3-4 hours depending on how big the pieces. Once or twice in the 4 hours, stir it. At the end of the 4 hours, take out a potato and make sure it is cooked. Then add in the cheddar cheese and milk and stir until cheese is melted and its all mixed together. Put lid back on for about 10-15 minutes until hot again. Pour and enjoy!!!!

Week Winnings January 23 - 29, 2012

So happy with my winnings this week! They will definitely be put to good use!

• Dino Dan DVD (kids new favorite show)
• Fit Moms For Life Book

Weekly Menu Plan for January 30, 2012

Monday - Sloppy Joes

Tuesday - Waffles and sausage

Wednesday - Lasagna

Thursday - Bierocks

Friday - Taco Night

Saturday - Southwest Soup

Sunday - Patty Melts

Day 1: We Meet Again

As some of you know, the hubby and I had started doing the 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels. We were doing awesome and I even lost 3.4 lbs in a week! I also had lost about 8 inches all over too. It was impressive and I felt so accomplished and felt like I could do anything! Well, that was short lived. We did over 2 weeks and took a day off, then another, then another.........you see where this went! Well, some weight came back, a few sicknesses have gone through the house and a couple months completely off track. Well, no more! Today even though I was feeling crummy and the hubby too, we did it! Day 1 is now under out belt! They say it just takes doing it and I know I am already feeling better even though I still feel sick! I feel better mentally that's for sure. AND I was able to go the whole way through no stops! Yes, there was a lot of groaning and sweating but I am so proud of myself to know not all my endurance is gone! The first time around, I had to stop A LOT. It took about a week to where I could go the whole way through. To now know I could do that makes me feel even more refreshed. I feel that this time is going to be different, this time I AM going to make it! I now have 124 lbs to go to hit my goal weight. 

I hope to accomplish this as soon as possible but also in the right way. I want to be strong and healthy. I want to make sure I can play with my kids and even outlast them (is that even possible with this age?!?!) I want to be able to go to any store and be able to try on clothes without having to go to a specialty shop. I want to wear clothing that shows off my curves, not ones to hide everything. I know I will get there, just need to work on it. I need to make this lifestyle change. Please be thinking and praying for us! I know how great we were doing, we need the motivation to keep going. I want to see results! That's why I will also be measuring myself too instead of just weighing. It was funny, I was doing Weight Watchers and didn't weigh myself until weigh in day. I would see myself loose an inch or two but only 1 lb on the scale. I STILL felt so accomplished! This is where I need to be! For now I will sign off and say Jillian Michaels, kick my ass!

Playing Outside in January

This weather has just been driving me crazy!! I have lived in this state for my whole life, and it just seems that the weather never seizes to amaze me! It got up to 60 degrees on our thermometer for outside so I decided it was time to have the kids go and run off some of their attitudes outside. The girls wouldn't sit still for long at all but I got a couple of cute pictures either way. I hope you enjoy! Tomorrow the high is supposed to be only 48 degrees so we will see when we will actually be able to go back out again!

Sweetheart's Turn!

I have done a couple times with the Mommy and Me questions with princess but this time around I did it with my lil sweetheart! She is almost 2 1/2 yrs old already and I still can't believe it! Her answers are just too darn cute!!!

What's your name? Lilly!!!!

How old are you? 1! *honey, you are 2* OH!! 2!!!

What is your favorite color? PINK!

Who is your best friend? Puppy! (puppy is what she has been calling her lil brother lately!)

What's your favorite animal? a ZEBRA!!!!

What do you want to be when you grow up? A Zebra!!

What is your favorite movie? Barney! No, mommy whats my favorite movie? Oh yea, Barney!

What's your favorite book? Nothing

What makes you happy? My puppy (which can be her brother or the 3-4 puppies she has to sleep with!)

What makes you sad? Daddy *why?!* Because daddy makes me sad!

What is your favorite food to eat? Um, I like to eat with memaw! (what they call their grandmas!)

What is your favorite song to sing? Cat and the fiddle!

What game do you like to play? Mickey mouse club!

Let's Make Some Whoopie!!

Whoopie Pies that is!!! My hubby loves the recipe book I bought awhile back. We have tried the original chocolate with chocolate buttercream and the marshmallow creme. Today however, we decided to change it up and make vanilla whoopie pies with chocolate buttercream :) Best book ever I tell you is Whoopie Pies: Dozens of Mix Em, Match Em, Eat Em Up Recipes! It has been well used and I can tell when I open it up and have flour, powdered sugar, and who knows what other ingredients in it!!

I forgot to take a picture while mixing it up and baking it, but figured you would want to see more of the after pictures anyways :)

Before:

During:

After:

The recipe says it can make up to 48 2 inches whoopie pies to make 24 sandwiches. I was able to make 32 pies so 16 sandwiches total. I think they are more like 4 inches then 2 inches! I definitely made the husband's night! Hit the spot for him!

Weekly Menu Plan for January 23, 2012

Tonight was Pizza night :) My princess likes to be my little helper so I let her help me make the pizzas today. She was so proud to make a heart pizza. She usually doesn't eat too well but since she made it herself, she ate two slices!!! I might have to make sure she helps me out more if it means for her to eat more!

Monday - Pizza

Tuesday - Waffles and bacon

Wednesday - Southwest Soup

Thursday - Spaghetti

Friday - Taco Night

Saturday - Patty Melts

Sunday - Sloppy Joes

Week Winnings January 16 - 22, 2012

This last week I guess I didn't put in much either as I thought I had. I guess I will have to just keep trying!

• Reverse Charades game 

Week Winnings January 9-January 15, 2012

Well, since the family has been sick and I haven't been able to get on the computer much and haven't had too much time to enter many giveaways, I only won one this week. I was happy that I did!

• Frosted Toast Crunch Prize Pack with a box of Frosted Toast Crunch, spilled milk bowl, funny spoon and frosted pitcher

I have hopes this week that I will win a couple more but if not thats okay. I would love for my prizes to start showing up as it's been a bit since I have gotten any in the mail! I like to keep up on it and sometimes it just takes a month or two AFTER winning to get them. I know when they are sent from the sponsor and when from a company! It just takes a bit longer from a company and I'm sure that is because they have a lot on their plate. Sometimes though, I just don't know! I have a couple things that I won December 5th still waiting on so we will see!

Weekly Menu Plan for January 16, 2012

Monday - Red Robin

Tuesday - Southwest Soup

Wednesday - Hamburger Pot Pie

Thursday - Chili and Rice

Friday - Taco Night

Saturday - Date Night AKA Company party

Sunday - Turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, dinner rolls

Week Winnings January 2- January 8, 2012

Since everyone was sick this last week, I didn't have as much time to be on the computer so less entries into giveaways. Still impressed that I did win something :)

• Strawberry Shortcake DVD
• Stalkinator (really cool thing to put on keychain! Has an alarm, bright light and place to put something in to squirt, I'm thinking lemon juice! )
• Toilet Time Potty Target

Weekly Menu Plan for January 9, 2012

Now that we are all over the flu, I hope we can stick to our menu plan and not have to have more issues!!!

Monday - Ham and Bean soup and corn bread

Tuesday - Patty Melts

Wednesday - Southwest Soup

Thursday - Princess' birthday meal! Mini corn dogs, macaroni and cheese and dora cake

Friday - Taco Night

Saturday - Turkey, potatoes, corn, dinner rolls

Sunday - Miley's party/dinner out

Week Winnings December 26-January 1

• 2- Tommee Tippee sippy cups
• Chickafila prize pack (5 watches and 2 cow plushies!)
• Peeled Snacks variety pack
• Caillou Train and Doll

Weekly Menu Plan for January 2, 2012

Monday - Red Robin

Tuesday - McDonalds

Wednesday - Southwest Soup

Thursday - Spaghetti

Friday - Taco Night!

Saturday - Pizza

Sunday - Turkey

Lots of eating out the last two weeks. Holidays seem to do that to us! I am hoping to get back to eating at home every day of the week again after this week! One of my goals for 2012 is to eat at home as much as possible not only for our health but for our wallet! Adding up some of the food costs this last week from eating out has scared me!