Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Sisters
As you know, last night was "GNO". We had a great time and I got a ton of awesome presents! (BETTER than Christmas!). I know I have mentioned it before but I want to say again how blessed I am to have such amazing "sisters"! We have seen each other through so much. We have been through pregnancies, loss, husband "woes", tears, health crisis......we have also celebrated so many things together! That is a sign of true friendship, when you can feel the pain or joy just as much as the friend who is experiencing the situation. My "Sistas" are like no other! They are CRAZY enough to get a "tat" with you-but compassionate enough to hold your hand when it is your time to get "inked"! (Karen!). They will not take "NO" for an answer and insist on driving you to the doctor's appt where you'll find out the results of your medical tests (Nikki!). They will show up at your door with bags of groceries and a Publix gift card when they know you are in need (Tanya!). They will talk for hours and hours until we realize that the sun will be coming up soon and we'd best be gettin' home (Karen-after a movie and Melissa-in the drive way of her house!)They will make you laugh until you "pee" yourself (Erin!), cry with you until the pain is gone, grow with you and remain with you forever! I know that my sisters will be standing in line with me when it is time to join the "red hat society" and we will probably do something outrageous to celebrate when we do (red hat tat anyone?)! I am so grateful that God has placed these amazing women in my life. I have a few new "sisters" now -Jodi and Amee have become a part of our "family" too! Thank you all for being my "sisters"!! I love you all!
Our "GNO" last night
Our tattoos in Dallas-2005 (above) and my B-day 5 years ago (below) -when my friends got me an "I Love Lucy" birthday cake!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Girl's night out!
Date night
"Our wedding bands"
Last night was "date night"! I love spending time just relaxing with Brett! A brand new "Cracker barrel" just opened up this week-right by our house, so that is where we went for supper. Good "home" cookin'-yum! Chicken and dumplins-almost as good as Mama's! After supper we went to the beach to watch the sun set-it is one of my favorite things to do! There is just no better way to relax and unwind than kickin' back and listening to the waves hitting the shore and watching the sun-with all the beautiful colors "disappear into ocean". After we left the beach, we went to (can you guess?) "Starbucks" (we all KNOW how much $ I waste there-right?-if you do not know what I am referring to-read several posts down). Date nights are such an essential part of our marriage-it is so important to take the time away and just spend time together. We make it a habit to reconnect every night and spend time alone-once the kids are all down, but there is something special about getting away from everything else and just being able to enjoy each other's company.
Here is a pic I took at the beach last night.Sunday, April 27, 2008
Letters from God
I never did make that frame but I did come home and put both the scriptures in frames.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Weight Loss-#2
Science fair results!
District Competition
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Today
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
An emotional morning
Monday, April 21, 2008
Didn't your Mama ever tell you....?
Weight loss
"Before"-YIKES! 1996
I have had a few people ask me about my weight loss recently so I decided that I would do a series on my blog. I have my weight loss story on another website http://www.freewebs.com/sha9830/ -so if you would like the details that led me to begin my journey you can find "my story" there. The site is somewhat outdated so that is why I thought that I would share some things here. As many of my entries are, this is a personal experience-but I know that there are many people who struggle with their weight who may benefit from hearing my story and my thoughts on the subject. I used to wonder how I got to the weight I was (which, I am embarrassed to admit,was around 225lbs)-it seemed that I went to bed thin and woke up one day "fat"! Of course, that is not exactly how it happens. I, like many other people, got to be 225 lbs ONE lb at a time. As a young "stay at home Mom" with NO transportation I sat at home and ATE. It was all that I had to do-at that time I had not discovered "MOPS" (mothers of preschoolers)-which is where I met all my "sistas" (my girlfriends who are more like sisters) and I had no outlet, no friends, no hobbies, nothing-so I stayed home and ate. The bigger I got, the worse I felt about about myself and the more I ate and the cycle continued. I remember waking up each morning promising myself that I would eat healthy and lose the weight-but, by 10:00 am I would give in eat the junk food that got me to the place of desperation I was in. Brett, being the amazing man that he is, NEVER-not even ONCE made me feel anything less than beautiful. He never mentioned my weight and he told me everyday that I was the "most beautiful woman in the world". I am so glad that he was able to look past my weight and see "me". Once I became pregnant with our 2nd daughter I was so ill that I LOST 30lbs within the first trimester. "Maddie" gave me a jump start and once I had her (11 years ago)I decided to change my unhealthy habits and I made the commitment to myself to lose the weight and change my life. Unless you have lost a large amount of weight you can not truly understand how it really does change your life! I found out that I was capable of so much more than I gave myself credit for. And even though I was never shy, in a sense, I "came our of my shell". I vowed to NEVER go back to the place I was in and once I heard that "95% of dieters gain their weight back" I became even more "stubborn" and decided that I would beat the odds! I still struggle with my weight-it goes up and down about 5-10 lbs but the difference between now and then is I am "aware" and I am committed to myself . I know that my value does not lie in the number on a scale but I value myself enough now to take the time, effort, and energy to live a healthy lifestyle. I will be blogging more on this topic and I plan on keeping you updated on my goal of losing 10lbs. (see, I TOLD you the struggle never ends!)
"After"-although my son told me I "looked like I had another baby in my tummy" as we were walking into church this day! KIDS! Gotta love 'em! (April, 2008)