Crossing My Fingers...

...that today will be the day I find THIS!

After checking out 4 other Targets and not having any luck I went online and checked all of the stores in my area. Out of 13 only ONE store says they have it in stock. I'm hoping the website does not lie! So I'll drop JK off at school and head off to Target with my fingers crossed.....

In other news, I am really enjoying the 65-day challenge and am doing well!!! I'm making turkey tacos for dinner tonight (recipe found here)!

UPDATE: My last ditch effort to find the Calypso St. Barth Silver Pouf in a Target store failed. BUT when I got home and went back online to the Target website I saw that they are now available once again when ordered online. Go figure!!

65-Days to Reshape it All

Because I got on the scale this morning and to my horror and utter disgust I realized I'm creeping back into dangerous territory...

via

I just bought Bure's book last week and am looking forward to beginning this 65-day challenge! If you are looking for encouragement in your weight-loss/fitness journey then won't you consider joining me? 65 days from now we can celebrate our success together on the beach!!

Shoesday-Tendonitis Edition

The very first week of 2011 saw me back on my treadmill jogging the holiday jiggle off of my body...only to be foiled by my left foot pooping out hours after my workout. It started with a sharp pain on the outside of my foot that wrapped its way around the bottom and up to the back of my heel. As the day wore on I was only able to walk on that foot if I was up on my tiptoes. Not good.

The next morning I called the podiatrist here in town and was greatly relieved when he was able to squeeze me in that very day. After a set of x-rays and an evaluation he determined I have tendonitis. Not severe but enough to cause me problems.

The prescription:

-icing my foot 3-4 times a day for 10-15 minutes at a time

-wear shoes AT ALL TIMES (I do NOT like to wear shoes in my house!)

-take an anti-inflamatory (he gave me a prescription that my lovely insurance would not cover so I am taking generic Motrin)

-wear GOOD shoes. Bye-bye Uggs and say hello to my new Dansko shoes.

Limited Edition Petrol Marcelle Mary Janes

and

Purple Tiger's Eye

(these I chose because they were on sale. If I had been willing to pay full price I would have gone with this or this)

I am lovin' my Petrol Mary Janes!! They make me happy and more importantly my foot feels happy!

PS~My darling friend, Andy, usually has fabulous shoes to show every Tuesday. She's on vacation this week so I'm not positive if she will have anything today. Nevertheless, go check out her fun blog!!

Yoga Lessons

Yesterday I posted the following on my Facebook page:

Can I wait until the New Year to start eating right and exercising again?

Please say "Yes!!!"

Well, my friend Sarah responded with this:

"I've already started!

Got my first work-out in yesterday and about to hop on the elliptical now."

Great....that's just great. So I decided to go ahead and try out the Bob Harper's "Yoga for Warriors" DVD I purchased at the beginning of the month but hadn't gotten around to trying out yet.

I asked the girls if they wanted to do yoga with me.

I thought for sure they would both say yes. They both do yoga in school.

Rand has a teacher that starts out each class with yoga. She is now proficient in twisted dragon, eagle arms and legs, shark, downward dog, among many others.

Kenners' teacher does yoga with the class before they take a test to help with blood flow and brain power. (Maybe I would have been a genius in school if my teacher had used such techniques).

Anyway, both girls said no.

I was surprised...and a bit let down.

But I went ahead and did a bit of yoga by myself.

And it kicked my butt.

Who knew?

In January's Redbook, Ali Sweeney said that she does the same DVD and it kicks her butt too. I guess that makes me feel a little bit better!

Now I suppose I should lay off the Christmas treats and start back up on the treadmill and keep going with the yoga. But I have to tell you...these Salted Caramel-Pecan Bars are tempting the heck out of me. I might have to make them for New Year's Eve!

Disciplining Your Appetite

"Dinnertime. I'm sitting alone, trying to eat slowly. My Guru is always encouraging us to practice discipline when it comes to eating. She encourages us to eat in moderation and without desperate gulps, to not extinguish the sacred fires of our bodies by dumping too much food into our digestive tracts too fast. When students come to her complaining that they're having trouble meditating, she always asks how their digestion has been lately. It only stands to reason that you'll have trouble gliding lightly into transcendence when your guts are struggling to churn through a sausage calzone, a pound of buffalo wings and half a coconut cream pie."

~Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love

I don't meditate but if I did I would be in big trouble with Gilbert's Guru. Over the past few weeks I have reached an ultra-low point with my diet and the foods I have decided to eat. I am definitely "dumping" food down my gullet without any thoughts beyond that present moment. And let me tell you, I feel horrible. Sluggish. Heavy. Frustrated. Depressed. It's amazing the gamut of emotions tied to the foods we eat!

Today I begin {again!} to take charge of my eating and to reign in my appetite. It takes so much work but the results are worth their weight in gold!

So Random

This is a post full of my musings this morning.

JK's preschool is part of a church here in town. Each year the church sets up a pumpkin patch and the money they make goes to an organization that helps children. Last year it was for children who did not have a bed of their own. This year I believe it is a food ministry.

After picking JK up from school yesterday we popped in and bought a few goodies. This was one of my favorites.

I didn't have much cash on me so I have to go back tomorrow and buy some of their fantastic grayish-green pumpkins. How I love the shade of those pumpkins!!

I vacuum over my furniture (couches, chair, ottoman) everyday. Is that odd? Once a week, on Monday, I tear apart the cushions and do a thorough vacuuming but the tops of the cushions get a once over every day.

I picked these up at Michael's yesterday. They were $1 each. I think I'm going to go back and get the white & black coordinating mug to display the pencils. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the eyeglasses but thought they were super neat.

I am usually up by 5 AM and working out until 6:30. I haven't been able to do that since becoming pregnant. (I go today for my last {fingers crossed} round of blood work and will hopefully hear that I have officially ended this particular journey. I am feeling better and better each passing week...I just can't seem to recoup my energy and am still fighting exhaustion.) Here I am at 8 AM still in my pj's. I thought I'd show your proof...I even have yesterday's makeup smeared on my face. And my eyes are all squinty looking. I think I'd best hop into the shower pronto!

I have a stack of receipts I need to enter into Quicken as well as statements to reconcile.

This is my least favorite task in the world.

I would much rather scrub a floor!!

This is the view outside my front door.

The gas company is replacing the gas line and they have reached my house.

Living in my town's historic district has such charm. Old pipes and what not are not one of them!

Neither are power lines. Definitely not charming. But the super old, I mean mature, trees are magnificent! Just breathtaking!

Enjoy this wondrous day. I'm off to play Wii Sports Resort with my little guy and then I must take that shower!!!

Anthropologie, IKEA and Cool Weather

Man, I can tell I am feeling TONS better!

How so?

I had the energy to go to Anthropologie AND IKEA this week!

Wowzers!

I bought some latte bowls at Anthropologie...my elephant approves of my color choices

At IKEA I brought my own soda and used one of their cups. Pepsi...ick! (The one thing I truly dislike about IKEA)

JK and friend enjoying lunch. They had a blast in the kid's play area and want to go back soon!

I haven't unloaded everything I bought at IKEA yet. I'm having a bit of buyer's remorse. I'm not sure if I will keep everything yet... But I did buy these fun little black & white polkadot mini bowls.

The weather has definitely turned fall like. Even Peyton curls up in a cozy throw any chance she gets...which is quite often since JK throws the blankets on the floor when he hops up from the couch.

I'm lovin' how I'm feelin' and I am lovin' this weather!

Accepting Life's Curve Balls

It's about time I finally sat down and wrote what has been going on in my life the past 6 weeks. I have been sick. Exhausted. Nauseous. Exhausted. Nauseous. Hmmmmm, wonder what it could be? So, let me back up.......

I came home from Girl's Camp at the end of August and could not get my act together. I was so tired and finally faced the reality that I might be pregnant. But it was a far fetched idea...or so I thought. I had an IUD so how could I possibly be pregnant?

The last Sunday in August I took a home pregnancy test and sure enough: positive.

I called my doctor the next morning and he got me in right away. I took a test at his office: negative. We did an internal ultrasound: nothing. He checked my IUD: in place; no problem. He assured me that there was no way I was pregnant. Boy, did I feel dumb! Before I went home I went and had some blood work done...just in case. My doctor called me that night. Guess what? I was pregnant.

I went back to the doctor's office the next day to have the IUD removed and thus began my curve ball journey. Since then, for the past 5 weeks I have been to the "drawing station" for blood work 2-3 times a week. They know me by name and shake their head's each time they see me coming. My arms are so bruised!! JK groans each time I pull up to the building...poor little guy! When my hCG levels reached 2,000 I had another ultrasound to determine if I was carrying a viable pregnancy. We found out 2 1/2 weeks ago that it was not. The ultrasound found the sac in my right fallopian tube. I went back to the doctor the following day (the day I went to TOFW) and had two shots of methotrexate. So here I am over two weeks later and I am still going and having blood work done (now just once a week) hoping my levels go down to 0 and I won't need surgery.

Through all of this there have been so many blessings:

~I spent all of Labor Day weekend reading the NieNie Dialogues from start to finish (something I've wanted to do for a long time) while DK took the kids and did super fun stuff.

~One night when I was in the kitchen crying because I had to make dinner the phone rang. It was a woman from church saying she was on her way over to my house with dinner, dessert and flowers....and no, she didn't know anything about my situation! She just felt prompted to serve our family.

~I have been listening to Christmas music (growing up my Dad wouldn't allow Christmas music before Thanksgiving and here it is September and barely October!) because it makes me happy and lifts my spirit.

~I discovered how much I love Diet Raspberry Ginger Ale. Super good!

~DK, my night owl husband, has been up early every morning getting the kids ready for school. He's out the door with Rand at 7:05 to take her to the bus stop and then off to work himself. Amazing!

~One night while DK was at a town meeting I heard a car door in my driveway. It was a friend bringing chocolate chip banana bread for breakfast the next morning and a scrumptious pasta dish for dinner the next night. Manna from heaven!

~My children. The poor dears don't know what to think of all of this. It's something we have decided to not share with them. JK said the funniest thing to me Friday afternoon. Around 3:00, he said, "Mom, why don't you make some macaroni and cheese now so we can have dinner tonight." Another day I heard Rand tell a neighbor what a great mom I was because I let her eat popcorn and ice cream for dinner! Obviously that makes me the the most amazing mom ever! And my sweet Kenners is always there to snuggle or grab a blanket for me or refill my Diet Raspberry Ginger Ale cup. They really are the greatest kiddos in the world. I am so blessed.

~And most importantly, I have felt the comfort of the Spirit and the love of my Savior.

Headed for a Time Out

I have been looking forward to this weekend for quite some time!

This afternoon I'm headed for a Time Out...and it is much needed!

Really looking forward to shopping at the bookstore for some great books.

This year's theme is Infinite Hope.

I need a dose of hope right now.

Later this weekend I plan on filling you in with what's been going on in my life the past 3 weeks.

Stay tuned for quite the tale!!

A Call to Arms

I absolutely loved the article entitled, "A Call to Arms", in this month's edition of Body+Soul (now renamed Whole Living). I thought I'd share just a few things from the article. I hope you enjoy it as well!

"Strong arms may also shape your life in a metaphorical way. 'Your biceps pull desirables toward you, and your triceps push undesirables away,' says Tammy Wise, founder of BodyLogos."

"View a tighter upper bod, then, as a conduit to reaching for more of the things you want (opportunity, friends) and pushing back on what you don't (obligations, negativity)."

"'Yoga teaches that our arms are an energetic extension of the heart, giving and receiving not only physical energy but also love,' says Sierra Bender, founder of Bootcamp for Goddesses."

As I continue to work on strengthening my arms physically I can take it to the next level and strengthen myself mentally and spiritually and reflect upon what I do and what I don't want or need in my life.. Now that's what I call good time management!

2010-Week 24

Where did this past week go? Holy guacamole...it just flew by! Hubby has been in St. Louis at a conference. He gets home this morning. Sure do miss him when he's gone. There is so much running around after school with the girls that I don't always remember how nice it is for him to be on "pick-up duty". I drop off and he picks up. It's a nice system.

I had my last PTO meeting of the year last night. Had to bring my 3 kiddos along with me. Fortunately we have an amazing community group through our high school and they provide babysitting for our meetings. The kids had a great time but again, I take for granted how smoothly DK and I work as a team.

I am working with two new fellow officers this coming school year. My ultra-talented and amazing Treasurer is moving to a new town and my Vice-President stepped down due to working more hours and having less time to devote. Completely understandable! I have an enthusiastic new Vice-President and a new ready-to-learn Treasurer. I am grateful to continue on with my Secretary of two years. None of them have blogs so I can't link to them! Maybe one of their new duties should include starting a blog!

One more week until the end of the weight loss challenge I have going on with my sister. I am down another 3.8 pounds bringing me to a grand total of 11.2 pounds lost!! Hoping to drop two more this coming week but not so sure that will happen since I lost almost 4 this week....

Yesterday I started reading Seth Grahame-Smith's Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter...not so sure what I think. Of course I'm only on page 52. Got to get into it a bit more before I form an opinion. I've heard great things about the author's other books so I thought I'd give this one a try. I also have this to read. What's with all the blood and vampires?

Are you ready for Father's Day next week? I've had my dad's gifts for a few weeks now but have to wait until next week to pre-order DK's.

iPhone 4

One for him. One for me!

2010-Week 2

Here I am, at the end of week 2 and anxious to report how I did this week.

~I am excited to say I have lost 2 more pounds for a total of 3.8.

~I worked out for 5 days but all workouts were at home and none at the gym.

~I filled out my food journal every day with the exception of Wednesday. Obviously I do not get along with Wednesdays and have had it by that point in the week. I wrote the word "Flub" on that page because I have now dubbed Wednesday as my "Flub Day"! But isn't that the whole point to keeping a food journal and tracking one's progress? It's to find the recurring patterns and areas that need improvement.

~Cooking was fine this week. I didn't make as many gourmet dinners as I would have liked but we didn't starve!
~Patience. I need to practice more patience in my life. Boy did I ever mess up this past Monday. I was at the store and was extremely impatient with an employee (I have a short fuse when I have to wait around for something to get done and am wasting time. I hate wasting time!) Anyway, I wasn't the nicest person at that point and was called on the carpet. To add insult to injury I found out later that this woman was filling in and is an office worker. She was so kind to me even though I did not deserve it. I've been thinking all week about this experience and have adopted the following quote from Plato:

Be kind,

for everyone you meet

is fighting a hard battle

~Plato

Amen and amen,

Warped Sense of Humor

Does anyone else see a flaw in my thinking when I bought these two items at the store today?

And yes, I am totally planning on eating that big ol' peanut butter & chocolate heart WHILE reading Jillian's book! Ha!!!

Dreams

For the past two nights I have dreamed of running. I hadn't had a running dream since being 9 months pregnant with JK. Whenever I have this type of dream I am overwhelmed with the feeling of freedom. The wind is blowing through my hair and I feel like I am floating as my arms pump and my legs take long strides. And of course I look like this (borrowed from my friend Kim's blog).
Last night before going to bed I made sure my iPod was charged and got all of my running gear together. I was so excited! I haven't been running since injuring my foot, almost two months ago. This morning at first light I headed out to run. Guess what? It was raining! I stood in the driveway debating whether or not I should turn around and head back inside. It took all of 10 seconds before I decided to hit the road. It was fabulous! No, I didn't run the whole time. No, I did not look like the girl in the photo. In fact it was quite the opposite with my hair frizzing in 100 different directions thanks to the rain and humidity! BUT I felt FABULOUS! I felt free; I felt like I was flying. And the cherry on top was my foot didn't hurt at all!

Health Benefits to a Big Bottom

"A type of fat that accumulates around the hips and bottom may actually offer some protection against diabetes, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday, (May 6th)."

Finally some good news for those of us that seem to hold on to fat in those areas. My hard-to-lose areas just happen to include: buttocks, thighs & saddlebags.

For the complete article, click here. 

Results - Week 2

Here it is, week 2 of our 6 week challenge. How are you doing? I am happy to report that my exercise was up this week - 5 days out of 7. My food journal also saw improvement - I had more recorded than Pizza Hut and Mickey D's salads! Lots of water, increase in fresh fruit and vegetables. BUT the one thing I still do not have a complete handle on is: CHOCOLATE! Ever since I was pregnant and nursing JK I crave SWEETS & CHOCOLATE! It is highly frustrating to me. I know all of the tricks to use. Truly I do. I only indulge in DARK CHOCOLATE, I take out a piece at a time and freeze the rest of the bag so I'm not tempted to eat more. Blah, blah. Blah, blah......

For this week, I am pleased with the improvements in my activity level and eating BUT I did not lose any weight (damn that CHOCOLATE). Onward and upward to next week! Good luck to you all! Don't forget to let me know how you did this week!!

Ready to Have My Butt Kicked!

Well, I guess it's time. It's time to let Jillian kick my can! The other night I was talking to a friend about these DVDs and how I was thinking of buying them. She said, "Don't bother. You can have mine!" Well, okay then! She HATES them so she dropped them off last night for me to try. I'll let you know how it goes. Maybe I'll end up hating them giving them away too! Have any of you tried these before? Any thoughts?

The Biggest Winner - How to Win by Losing:

The Complete Body Workout

Results - Week 1

Well, guys.......I have pie in my face. I can't believe I started this challenge during the girl's Spring Break. What was I thinking? OK. Here's the scoop: I GAINED .2 pounds. Sooooooo, now I have 10.2 pounds to lose!!!

Also, my food journal was pitiful. It consisted of Pizza Hut breadstick's at Target and McDonald's Southwest Salads. 

And exercise? Um. Yeah. Twice. Two days during the whole week. That's it.

There you have it! My HONEST feedback. So much for a great kick-off to this challenge. I WILL do better this week! Check in with me next week.......keep me accountable!!!!!!!

So, how'd you do? Can't wait to hear about your successes!

New Product Discovery

I made a fabulous discovery this morning while I was at the grocery store!!!

½ Less Sugar & Calories

Start your day off with great tasting Tropicana® Light 'n Healthy with Calcium. It has one-half less sugar and calories (50 calories/10 g. sugar per 8 oz.) than orange juice, contains a full day's supply of Vitamin C and is an excellent source of calcium.

I bought 4 of these babies! I only drink 4 oz. of oj in the morning because of the calories. Now I can choose to drink a full 8 oz. for the same amount of calories! Wahoo!!!

I do have a question for those of you who know the in's and out's of nutrition. This new OJ only has 42% juice. I usually buy 100% juice. Is this important compared to the lower calories and sugar? Can someone please educate me?

Portion Plate

Take a look at this nifty plate. Yes, it's a bit pricey (retails at $24.50) BUT it's a really great idea for those of us who need help in the visual department. Better yet, how about designing your own portion control plate at a paint-your-own-pottery studio? Just remember to choose a smaller sized plate instead of the average dinner plate that measures in at 11.5"!

Jeffrey Harris - Porcelain Plate, 9.5 in diameter 

Do you think the 5 peanut butter cookies I ate last night have a place on this plate?