ramble on...

Updated Daily Photos

I just updated all the photos up until yesterday. I'm happy to say that I've been able to keep up with my Daily Photo since the beginning of this year. It's easier when I tell myself it doesn't  have to be perfect...just document the day to day stuff. I know I will be so thrilled to see this at the end of the year.

a brand new year

Happy New Year! Does anyone even follow this blog anymore?

Sorry...it's been a rough few months around here and haven't really had the urge to blog much.

For my WW friends, I did start another blog specifically about my weight loss journey. If you want to read it send me an email or leave a comment and I'll send over the link.

I also decided to give the photo a day project everyone is doing a try. So far they've all been iPhone photos, and they may stay that way. I added a little link on the right to the gallery if you want to take a peek. Just a little disclaimer...these are average, everyday photos of things going on in my life - so nothing fancy and not photoshopped.

Here's my image from today...

Celebrating 16

My first born turned 16 over the weekend. That went by WAY TOO FAST. Don't even get me started on how old I feel to say I have a 16 year old now .

To celebrate, we spent the weekend at the Arizona Grand Resort at the fabulous Oasis water park. That place was amazing and we will definitely be back again some time. We invited the neighbors out to celebrate. It was a perfect weekend.

This the the lazy river, which is where I spent a good portion of my time.

This is the 8 story slide that the kids spent a lot of time on. This is a shot of Tatum coming down the slide. She's the little bullet on the right. I think she rode this slide twice as much as Iain.

The whole gang of kids.

After we left the hotel we headed home and made a stop at Oregano's for a little birthday lunch. This is Iain's "personal" pan pizza - loaded with bacon and meatballs. Oh to be young and full of fast acting metabolism.

Happy Birthday Iain. We love you!

summer project

tatum got creative on me and decorated the house with her tech deck dudes. i guess the fireplace makes a pretty good hiding spot for these little guys. this is what happens when you get cooped up in the house during this miserable hot summer we are having. the good news is it kept her busy while i worked all afternoon.

 

oh, and henry helped...

 

permit

my first born earned his driver's permit today. it's a pretty big deal for him. for me, not so much. i'm nervous. and a little worried. and to be honest, i'm not ready to have another driver in the family. it means he's growing up...for real.

i remember when i first got my permit. my mom and dad took me out driving on the empty roads and parking lots around our neighborhood. those roads and lots are now filled with neighborhoods and grocery stores. every time i drive by them i still remember learning to drive. my mom would slam her hands on the dashboard or put her foot (almost) through the floorboard - as if she could control the brakes this way. my dad taught me to parallel park in a church parking lot - in his 79 corvette. i guess he figured if i could park that car i could park anything. and that's the truth. i have this crazy ability to parallel park like a pro...even in the tightest of spots.

so maybe it's time i get over it and let the kid take me for a spin. i'm sure i'll have my hands on the dashboard and my feet planted firmly in the floorboard the entire time. or...maybe i'll let john handle all of that and i'll swoop in at the end and attempt to make him a professional parallel parker like his mama.

(by the way...totally random fact...i won the 7th grade spelling bee by spelling the word parallel. coincidence? i think not).

What I Eat Wednesday

I thought it would be fun to do a little feature for my WW followers called 'What I Eat Wednesday' and take pics of everything as I go. That ended after my first meal of the day. (I'm blaming it on a busy day that got away from me).

But I'm not giving up just yet. Stay tuned for more food pics as soon as I get my act together.  

 

1 cup cantaloupe | 1 ww point

Happy 4th!

 

Be safe and enjoy your day today!

summer vacay

We just got back from a wonderful (almost) week away in San Diego. The weather was gloomy and a bit chilly and we loved every minute of it. The worst part about the trip is coming home to our horribly HOT weather. It takes a good week to acclimate - so luckily we still have a few days off for the 4th of July holiday weekend. 

We stayed at the Catamaran Resort where the pool was nice and warm.

Spent a day at Sea World.

Had some fun at Belmont Park  where Tatum was finally tall enough to ride the roller coaster. Here she is climbing a palm tree.

 

Her prize was the monkey. Iain won the banana throwing baseballs, which is why he plays soccer. :)

 

Spent some time boogie boarding at Mission Beach...

...where we found TWO sand dollars.

 

Now it's back to the gym because in addition to everything else we did, we managed to eat our way around the entire San Diego area. I'm up 4 pounds, but to be honest, it was worth it.

Happy Summer!
 

Are you still here?

If you still hang out here and check in on me...THANK YOU! I'm hoping to start back up and give this space some attention. I'm making some changes to the blog and fancying things up a little. It's time for some little changes.

Stay tuned and thanks for being here!

Oh...and because lately this is all we seem to do...here's a pic of my up and coming soccer pro (who happens to be really pissed about the fact that girls can't play in the World Cup)...

Reward

Earlier I posted on Twitter & Facebook, "The only thing I'm looking forward to about today's boot camp class is the protein shake I'm rewarding myself with afterward. Is that bad?"

Then I hemmed and hawed and thought about not going to class, mostly because I felt lazy...and my to-do list is growing by the minute. But the shake...it's so good. And filling. And makes me feel like I'm getting a little dessert for lunch.

Then I started thinking about how far I've come. How I'm aiming to lose another 20 before the end of summer. I've been at a plateau for a while and I'm trying to be patient and hang in there and be good to myself despite the frustration of it all. I have to remind myself daily that this is a lifelong thing - not a quick fix anymore. Life long. Like, for the rest of my life. And it's up to me to make good choices (or bad ones...) regardless of the reason.

So I went. And we ran stairs. There was lots of stairs and sit-ups. And sweat. It was good.

And the protein shake? Yep, it was pretty dang good, too.