Sharing...

I made a life altering decision at the beginning of the year. I didn't want to "blog" about it, because I wanted it to just be MY thing. I didn't make a big deal about it because I wanted to be successful as well, and I didn't want to say anything because I wanted to feel confident in my decision without feeling like a failure if I didn't succeed.
I realized when 2009 started that in 6 short months I will be turning the BIG 3-0! And it gave me a huge wake up call. My baby has just turned 8, and my oldest will be 11, ah!! And I am in the worst shape of my life!! I definitely can't say that it is just baby weight anymore. :)How scary is that?
So on Jan 3 I took the plunge and for the how ever many-ith time I have joined the gym. It is a cute little quaint small gym that doesn't intimidate me in the least! It's 3.5 miles up the road and I HAVE to drive by it every single day to and from work, so it is a constant reminder for me to go there.
Before I have always said that I have tried to eat well and work out, but I honestly don't think I ever took the actual steps to make it successful for me. It is so different this time, I am eating better than ever, 5 meals a day: 3 regular size and 2 snacks. I eat breakfast every morning, and make sure to get in all my snacks. I go to the gym and work out on the elliptical for an hour to an hour and a half, burning 500-650 calories per workout and I am going 4-5 times a week!! My girlfriend Laura is my workout buddy and she hopes to get me into the spinning classes once our endurance level is up to par!
I am proud to say that I am down 7 lbs and hope to lose at least 50 lbs by my 30th B-day. I am making an honest effort to make this a part of my life. I am keeping my family involved and changing the way we are all eating. Although Mick hasn't gained what seems like a pound since H.S., he is the MOST supportive person encouraging me to reach my goals. He went grocery shopping last week to buy the food that I specified, he can eat ANYTHING and not gain an ounce, and I look at it and my butt grows an inch! He was so great to not buy any "junk" food. He does have his own junk, but it is always the food that I don't care for, so we are safe there.
My biggest weakness is Pepsi and Coffee, and I am proud to say, I stopped cold turkey the day I signed up for the gym and have been going strong w/out either one ever since!

Anyhow, I decided to share with the encouragement of some of my friends. I have been told not to step on the scale again until the end of Feb, so I may not post about my progress until then. Finding the time to workout hasn't been a challenge, I typically get off work at 1 or 2 and go straight to the gym after work before the kids get home, it's working out wonderfully.

I applaud all of the other co-worker-outers, it's a constant struggle. I just tell myself that I need to take it one day at a time, and that no matter how hard I work it isn't all going to come off in a week. AND, I am not going to lose weight like the people on the Biggest Loser, so I should be discouraged! Good luck, and good job to everyone who takes on this hard task in life!

With success comes failure, and if we didn't have failure we wouldn't have success..

Roller Skating Madness!!

I think the idea to go roller skating was one of the best ideas ever! We ALL had a blast. There were more than 20 of us in attendance for Sis' B-day party, and just about everyone got out and skated.. After getting everyone through the door and then all of the presents stashed and blah blah, we were out in the skating rink.. I saw Mick and Clay out there first.

Mick said he was a little nervous too not having roller bladed since he was a kid, but he got out there and did a great job. Ash really wanted to skate, so Uncle Micky took her out there and had her skating between his legs in no time.




Mick's mom even got out there and skated, that was great! My poor friend Jennifer was going around w/ her daughter and fell, oh it looked so bad, I felt terrible..

It was a little difficult trying to manuver around on skates, to get all the gifts to the tables and presents and then gathere everyone all at the same time. Michayla recieved a lot of generous gifts from her family & friends! She is very thankful and had a great time.

Her little booty is hurting her this morning, as she fell a few times yesterday. I am sure there are a few other little one's who are hurting too. I was very nervous, having broke my legs a few years back I was just sure I would biff it and break it again. Michayla kept asking if I was going to skate and I told her I would attempt it. I did get out and skate, and did NOT fall at all, it made me feel like I was 10 yrs old again. TOO FUN!!
They had a race, Clay, Michayla, Kayla, Kaitlyn, Kimmie, Jessica, Jake, Cole, Mick, Jason D., Laura & I all raced around. That was fun too..








My sister posted a good picture of all of us adults for the race, Jason Dawson won and I think Mick was second, I of course was last, but atleast I got out there and did it.

We had a terrific time, and it seems like all of Michayla's friends did too. I can't wait to go back and just skate around with the kids again, it's definately a family outing now!!

Happy 8th B-day!!

I can't believe that Michayla is 8 today. Where has the last 8 years gone? I am so very proud of this little one. From day one she has been an utter joy in our lives. She was a terrific little girl, she slept well (some say way too much), she wasn't ever picky about food. Always was a happy baby. She is smart way beyond her years. Potty trained herself before 2 yrs old, started reading before she was 5. Once she got in school she absolutely loved it. Asked the teacher for extra homework to come home with. Loves to read and pretend like she is the teacher. Has always been the little motherly friend. Follows the rules and likes to keep things in order. Very helpful to her little cousins, sometimes too much that they don't like it.
She wears her heart on her sleeve, if you talk to stern to her she is crushed. Always wants to help clean, cook, organize, or whatever she can to keep things straight.
Mick and I adore her more than anything in this world. We definitely got two different ends of the spectrum with our children. We love them both for their individuality's.
Happy B-day my love, I hope you have a fantastic day at school. Can't wait to celebrate with our family and friends roller skating Saturday!!!

I...

I AM a wife to Mick and mom to Clay & Michayla.
I KNOW that my family is FOREVER..
I WANT to succeed at my goal.
I HAVE to get the rest of Michayla's B-day party in order.
I WISH I could take a family vacation right now.
I MISS my grandma.
I FEAR losing someone close to me.
I FEEL lucky to have what I have.
I LOVE listening to music.
I SMELL Scentsy warming.
I CRAVE ice tea.
I SEARCH for a good deal on anything I am looking for.
I WONDER how my grandpa is doing.
I REGRET some mistakes from the past.
I LOVE my family!
I AM excited for Michayla's 8th B-day tomorrow.
I THINK it's funny when people read about your life but keep their's private.
I ALWAYS hug and kiss my kids goodnight.
I BELIEVE miracles can happen.
I DANCE to music mainly in the truck, sometimes when I am being weird at home.
I SING in the car with the music up so loud. I love a good song.
I DON"T know what the future will hold for us, but I'm excited to see.
I ADORE this life I have.
I TRULY am a Cowgirl.
I CAN"T wait for our "Girl's Weekend" to McCall at the end of the month.
I WIN playing Aggravation, it's a cute marbles game.
I AM proud of my children.
I THINK it's funny when the kids pretend to be people they aren't, when they are playing.
I CAN always depend on MICK.
I AM not scared of anything..
I NEED to keep focused and stay confident.
I KNOW I am happy when I'm with my family.
I TRUST having a friend that takes you for exactly who you are (Thanks LauraBell)

I tag anyone who reads this blog to post this on your own, it's pretty fun!! Read those two words of each sentence and see how much of a postitive attitude you have when you are done! I love it!! Feel free to change any of them for yourself..

Tonight I am sitting over at my sister's watching her kids, well I should say, Mick is entertainging them with the Wii and well I am really not doing much. Ocassionally Ash will come over and try to bug me, she is such a little stink-pot, right now I have told her 3 times to put the keys back that she keeps getting out of the laundry room where Amanda & Jason hang their keys. HOLD PLEASE.. Ok got the keys put away, I don't think they would appreciate Ash locking the doors to the truck and then losing the keys or setting off the alarm in the garage, or whatever it is she could do w/ those things. Then of course she wants a snack, so now she is running through the living room making the announcement that we are having popcorn... I tell you, it is very different tending to a litte one. I think I am so spoiled with my kids, it sure seems they have grown up so fast..

Talking of that it reminds me of Sis B-day coming up on Thursday. I can't believe that my baby will be 8 yrs old.. Goodness, where has the time gone. We are going to go Roller Skating for her B-day, she can't wait. I didn't think I wanted to have another slumber party, although it was fun, I opted for her to do something else this year.
Amanda made some really cute invitations this year:


I can't wait to go skating, I can't remember when the last time was that I did that. It had to have been quite a long time ago because it was at Skate world that is no longer on Cole rd.. This will be an experience in itself.. I just hope I don't break my leg or something. ;)

I just can't even belive that this year I will have an 8 and 11 yr old and that Mick & I will hit the big 3-0!! I truly do adore this life that I have and all of those that share in it with me~

My friends on the Biggest Loser...

About 6 or so months ago my friend Aubrey told me that she and her sister had made some semi finals for the biggest loser and they were going to Colorado to see if they made it.. I never heard back from her if they had or not. Mick told me while I was still at work that some gals from Meridian were on the Biggest Loser and I asked if it was Aubrey and Amanda, but he didn't know. When I got home we started watching from the beginning and sure enough there they were!!! I am so excited for them both. I have know them since 6th grade and in middle school and early high school was really close friends. Amanda and I use to play Basketball together and Aubrey and I kind of use to get into trouble... Well lets just say we were always there to be eachother's "backup." I am so rooting for the girls in the yellow shirts!!! They came in 2nd in the competition for imunity and just barely lost it...

So keep the girls in yellow in your corner, they were both really big athletes in school and I know they will kick butt this year!!!!!

CRasHEd

What do you do when you have lost ALL of your pictures from the past 3-4 yrs on your computer?? You cry like a BABY... This past week my computer said I needed to do some updating on it, so I downloaded the updates (which I typically do) and then restarted the computer. When it came back on it just kept flashing this black screen and wouldn't come up with my normal screeen. Impatientially I kept turning it on and off to see if it would reset itself, and it wouldn't. I see a screen that says press F10 to do a system recovery. I of course thought that would fix everything. It did - in a way - it reset to original settings when I bought it and erased everything else that I had!!
I seriously cried, I couldn't believe that this happened. And of course I had been ignoring the little pop up screen that kept telling me to backup my picture files... I have been googling all different ways to see if I can get those pictures, I could care less about anything else on my computer but pictures are very important, they tell a story all by their selves.
I do have a guy that says he could probably find them on my computer, so I am going to take it over to him to see if he can find and copy them to a disk for me this week.
So, word to the wise. Back up your pictures or put them on a disk. I probably lost over 2-3000 pictures... It makes me sad talking about it again.. I should have learned when this happened to Cassie and taken the appropriate steps to avoid this, but I didn't.. Bummer...

2008 in review

I can't believe that 2008 is already gone. We had a terrific year last year, I have put some pretty memorable pictures together. I can't wait to see what pictures I get next year!

Hope everyone has a fantastic New Year in 2009