I'm Baaa-aaaack + a weigh in!!

Came home last night from a weekend of fun in the sun! We spent more hours in the pool then we did anything else. I felt great in my bathing suite... even though it was a little bit baggy on me.

Talk about a true test though. The hotel we stayed at was also home to about 25 marines who where in town for a training exercise. (see them in the background?) There were always a hand full of them by the pool. So me, walking to the pool in a bathing suite really tested my strength. But I did it... and I felt good.

I got to hang out with two very good friends on Friday night while Granny babysat! We went downtown and enjoyed the scenery. It was a night of laughter. Thanks girls!

Saturday we went to the zoo. Yes, I am wearing a sundress because it was soooo hot. I got this dress (size 12) last Christmas but it was too small. On Saturday I was having a hard time keep it on because it was too baggy! LOL

So... that was my weekend. We are home and I was so happy to see my Hubby. It had been a full week without him and I missed him tons. He is out of town again today for work... but will hopefully be home again soon.

As for my weigh in.... 177.8 That is a gain of .2 lbs. Not bad for a fun vacation.... oh and one LAVA COOKIE DESSERT!!!

PS... DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR ME FOR THE STRONG MOM AWARD!!! Today is the last day to vote.....http://girlgetstrong.com/2009/08/26/vote-now-for-your-favorite-strong-mom/ Click on Tigerlilly in the right hand column!

VOTE FOR ME!!!

I entered a funny story for a Strong Mom Award over at GirlsGetStrong and am a finalist!!

VOTE FOR TIGERLILLY HERE!!!

Scroll down and look for Tigerlilly on the right hand side. I need your help guys. I could really use the prize!!

Your Lovely!!

I am on my way to the city for a weekend of fun in the sun! Yes, I will be wearing my bathing suit and shorts all weekend... and I'm gonna look good! I'm leaving this morning, so this post will be short... but very, very sweet!

I have been given the 'Lovely Blog Award' by three very lovely ladies. Annie, Kat and Michelle. (((HUGS))))

So in order to accept this award I have to do the following:

1. Recognize the person who gave it to me - YAY ANNIE, KAT AND MICHELLE!!

2. I need to give it away to 15 other bloggers who I think are just lovely ... so here they are ...

If you are reading this and have a weight loss blog then this award is for you. Because you dare to share your victories and failures with the rest of us. Not only are you helping yourself by sharing, but you inspire and motivate us too. So congratulations... YOUR LOVELY!!

I've learned....

Thanks to everyone for the kind comments yesterday. It is very exciting to see such a big change in myself. Like I said, I've been doing this for 2 years now. But even at a turtles pace I have managed to not give up on myself. I have kept on moving forward and in the process have learned a lot about myself.

I've learned that it wasn't anyone elses fault that I was fat and that trying to put the blame on someone else wasn't going to change the fact anyway. It was my own addiction to food that put me there, and it is my own blood, sweat and tears that will get me healthy again.

I've learned that everyone makes mistakes. No one is perfect. No one can be 100% all the time. Your gonna do a no-no sometime and that's okay... its how fast you bounce back that matters.

I've learned that food is not the enemy. My addiction to food had me eating all the time. Even when I wasn't hungry I would stuff myself until I was uncomfortably full. Now I eat 3 times a day... and if I'm not that hungry to begin with, I eat a small salad or a cup of soup. Listen to your body and you will succeed.

I've learned that blog friends are a must have to succeed. Being cheered on to succeed is motivation you cant beat. Knowing that your friends are reading your words and looking for a little inspiration or motivation can really make you want to strive to succeed. I want to do this for you just as much as I want to do this for me. You also cant survive without the ones that kick you in the ass when your down.... just to make sure you get up a little faster.

I've learned that true love is on the inside, and that no matter what size I am he will always love me. Knowing that, I try even harder to give him a wife he can be proud of.

I've learned that my children really are monkeys because... 'Monkey see, monkey do'. I have two little girls that love to work out, run, walk, ride bikes and swim. My youngest even says... 'uh uh mom, that's fat food' when I am thinking of putting some doughnuts in the grocery cart. They keep me on track and make sure to compliment me whenever Mommy is looking really good.

I've learned that strength comes from the inside. No matter how strong your body gets, you can't do anything without that mental push of 'I CAN DO IT'. Sometimes working on the inside can make a bigger difference on the outside.

and I've learned that 'through HIM all things are possible'. God can work wonders in you if you let him. God bless all of you and thank you for being such an inspiration to me.

I am less then 2 lbs away from losing a total of 50 lbs. This is amazing to me. I am at a point that I never thought I would get to. Seriously... two years in the making!! But I am so close to weighing 175 that I can taste it. This is going to be a good weekend!!

I look forward to seeing all your before and after pics. Make sure to post a comment here when you do it so I dont miss them!! In fact, if its okay with you guys.. .I will post them on my blog too!

A point in the journey....

I have reached a point in my weight loss journey where I am finally seeing the new me. I'm looking in the mirror and seeing a thinner version of the person I've known for so long. Just like in the beginning, a picture has shown me how far I have come. I took this yesterday while sitting at my computer. I have no make up on, my hair is a mess and I'm wearing a bathing suit cover. I'm not sure why I took it... I guess I just wanted to see how much of a mess I really was. But then I saw it and was surprised. 'Wow, I don't look too bad.'

You guys are probably getting sick of seeing before and after pics of me by now... but I have to say that seeing the change is what keep me motivated to keep going. After 2 years of doing this... I need it.

I want to challenge all of you to post some before and after pics of yourself. Even if today is the before pic... I challenge you to an after pic in 6 weeks!!!!

Weigh In and Forza

-0.8 lbs

This mornings weight was 177.6! Not a huge loss, but a loss.

Yesterday I wanted to go for a run, but the rain rolled in and I had to find another way to get out the sweat. I wanted something 'different' so I looked through my workout DVD's. I forgot I had so many! LOL

I decided on my Forza workout. I haven't done this one in a year... or longer. You do this with a 5 lbs wooden sword. It is a killer on the shoulders, back and abs. 1 hour burns 600 calories!

Have a great Monday... make it count!

Before and After pics.... 6 wks apart!!

Back on July 3rd I wrote THIS post about a shopping experience I had. Instead of buying a pair of 16's that would have been baggy on me I bought a pair of size 11 pants. When I got home I tried them on. Can we say muffin top?? Oh yes, I was hanging over.

Today I took them down and tried them on again. I actually had to take them off and make sure I grabbed the right pants because they fit! Yes, THEY FIT! It has been 6 weeks since I bought them and now I am sitting comfortably in them!

I promised pics... which is very embarrassing... but here you go. The before (185 lbs) and after (178 lbs) pics, 6 weeks apart!

Operation Fat Blaster challenge.

We are making a motivational board.... here is mine!!

Tough as a nail

Independant and strong

Giving in nature

Enthusiastic and ready to succeed

Rowdy with friends

Loving with Hubby

Intensely motivated

Lovable on good days

Likable on the other days

Young at heart

Aaaaaaaack... bathing suits.

Yesterday went well. Baby got her hair cut and loves it. She was grinning from ear to ear while the lady was cutting it. Too funny. Then we stopped by and visited with family and picked up a hot wax machine from hell.... I'll tell you about that in just a second.... Then we picked up McDonalds for lunch. I know, I know... but its a treat for the girls and I ordered one of the salads and only ate half of it. So it wasn't too much of a no-no. I did end up with two things of french fries in my purse when we went to the movies (shhhhhhh). The girls weren't done eating yet and I wasn't about to fork over $10 more dollars for popcorn that I would inevitably eat myself ! The best part about living in the country is that you can go to the movies at noon and have the whole place to yourself. So no one was bothered by the smell of McD's french fries during the movie! We saw Aliens in the Attic. It was a pretty good movie. The girls loved it.

When we got home the girls got their new Pj's on and went to watch a movie while I took out the borrowed hot wax machine from hell. Now, we are going to the city next weekend for two days of swimming and I desperately needed to wax my legs... but I hate paying so much to do it. When I found out my aunt had one, I figured I would just do it myself.

That was a hell I would not wish on my enemy. Putting the warm wax on, a little patch at a time, wasn't too bad. Putting the little strip of cloth on said wax and rubbing it down wasn't too bad. Grabbing the bottom corner of that cloth and ripping the wax and hair off my legs.... hurt like a *$&#^%&^$*#^@!!!!! At one point I had to make myself count to 3, just to make myself do it. Of course, the thought of going swimming with a piece of cloth hot waxed to my leg was tempting too. Towards the end I had missed some spots but could not take it anymore and figured I would just shave the missed areas. LOL They do look pretty good this morning and might take the wax out to do the touch up.... *sigh*... what a girl goes through to look good in a bathing suit.

Speaking of suits... I have not put on a bathing suit in over a year. I'm not even sure if they fit. So I just took a minute to go try them on. I had to throw 4 of them away because they were so stretched out, but here is a bathing suit I bought last year that was WAY too tight and a bathing suit cover I haven't been able to zip up in 9 years..... (I played with the coloring so that you didn't get blinded by the whiteness!!)

Ok, so I'm pretty excited to finally look good in a bathing suit! I'm almost ready for that tattoo...

Its going to be a long weekend....

At 4 a.m. this morning I watched my Hubby drive away for his ,much anticipated, 4 day archery bear hunt. He has been dying to do this for years. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with a bear if he actually gets one... Baby wants me to stuff it and put it on her bed (LMAO).... but I'm sure it will be an adventure for him!

Since it is going to be an 'All Girls' weekend I asked my girls what they wanted to do. Baby surprised me and said she wanted to go get her hair cut short. At 4 years old she has a very good sense of fashion. (note the mud facial she gives herself once a week, see pic below) So I am trying to get us in today with my favorite hairstylist in town....

Angel wants to go to the movies. I think we will do that tonight... but I'm not sure which movie we will see.

Today will be fun.... now, what to do for the other 3 Days?

Wordless Wednesdays

Why???? Why????

There are days when I really question my ability (and mentality) to finish everything I have set out to achieve. Yesterday I went to town for my drum lessons with my new teacher. He rocked. He is actually the preacher at a baptist church in a neighboring town. Anyway, after my lesson I figured I would stop at the park and get in a run before heading home. I figured I'd better since I new I was going to the dentist again today and would probably be on pain meds for another week.

I started off a little shaky. You know, those first couple of yards where your body is in shock that your even thinking of moving this fast...(without being chased).... and every muscle in your body is horrified at the sudden rush of incoming blood. I managed to drown out the little voice saying 'why? why?' with some really loud music and keep on going.

At least for a couple of more yards before I found myself needing to walk. I caught my breath and then picked up the pace again...... for a couple of more yards. At this point I'm thinking about what a bad idea this half marathon might be. Then I hear my Dad's voice in my head saying 100 on, 100 off. This was how he helped me run when I first started to lose weight back in 8th grade. So I counted 100 steps walking and then took off and counted 100 steps running. This was working until I lost count too many times and could only concentrate on the burning in my throat.

I made the 1.25 mile lap in 15 minutes, but holy crap do I suck at running. I was very doubtful on my way home. Doubting myself and my ability to ever become a runner... especially a marathon or half marathon runner. Hubby gave me some advice when I got home saying, 'running is like anything else, in order to get good at it you have to keep practicing'. Amen for smart Hubbies!!

So, I may not be a runner NOW.... but starting September I will be practicing a little everyday until I get really good at it! I wish I could start today, but I saw my dentist this morning and am back on pain pills and a liquid diet. I have another appointment next Tuesday and hopefully that will be the last.

No worries ladies and gentlemen.... runner or not, I am going to cross that finish line in January. I dont give up that easily on myself.

Weigh In Monday

I had a rough weekend, food wise. I was able to eat a little more solid food then the past two weeks... and boy did I want to eat! Chinese food on Saturday, pizza on Friday.... it wasn't a pretty site. I really need to focus on my food this week. Make sure that, even though I can eat solid food again, I'm making healthy choices.

So, even with my terrible food choices this week my weight this morning was....

178.4

That is a total loss of -1.4 lbs!!

In other news.... Angel lost her front tooth last night!!!

Sometimes I just need to see it.

Before.... 225

Then.... 186

Now.... 178

Drumming to a new beat!!

Took a little sneak peak at the scale this morning... just to make sure my straw diet is still working. 178.4!

Now, I don't recommend this diet. Seriously. I may be dropping weight, but I don't want somebody reading this thinking that its the miracle diet. I am trying really hard to make sure I am getting all the nutrients I need by drinking protein shakes blended with lots of fruit. My lunches and dinners are grilled and then blended veggies. I am craving some grilled chicken and pasta and am thinking of making it for dinner and seeing if my mouth can handle it.

I was very sad yesterday when I found out that I had missed my last drum lesson with my teacher (he moved out of town). I was loaded up with pain killers on Tuesday and there was no way I could drive all the way to town. I then found out that he had left me a little going away present. I was so curious. So I was in town yesterday and remembered to stop by the music shop on the way home. The owner, who is awesome, told me to back my truck to the door.

WHAT???

He came out with 2 large boxes, a base drum and a snare drum!!! My teacher gave me my very own drum set!!! HOLY CRAP!!!! We're not talking second hand either.. BRAND NEW TAMA DRUMS!!!

My teacher used to be the drummer at my church. When he left I took his place, which is why I decided to take some lessons from him since he already new all the songs. I am sad that I missed our last lesson, but my heart is overwhelmed with his kindness. Now to find a good place to put them!! LOL

Will it ever end?

My mouth is sore. Trying to chew food is like trying to chew glass. I did manage to eat spaghetti last night and it tasted so good. It made me realize that I'm going to have to really watch what I eat when my mouth heals. I can already see myself going on a binge and eating everything in sight.... just because I can! I have to remember what being in the 170's means to me.

A year ago my goal was to be 175. I thought that would be the magic number. I figured at that weight I would be the perfect size. At that point I did not have dreams of running a half marathon... or running at all!

Being at 195 back then I guess I thought 20 lbs lighter would be a huge difference... and it is... but not the huge change I was hoping for. I still have a belly, and always will thanks to two kids and two huge surgery scars, but I would like it to be a little bit smaller then it is now. I am still in double digit size 12... I would love to be a size 6... ok, I would settle for a size 9... just out of the double digits.

As I sit here thinking about everything I want my body to be, I wonder if I will ever be done on this journey. I have taken on a huge project and seeing the progress I have made makes me want to keep going. Will I ever be skinny enough? I'm sure one day I will reach the perfect weight for my body. Will that mean my journey is ended? Of course not. There will always be the calorie counting, the water drinking, the scale jumping, the sweating. Truth be told, when you start this journey, you get a one way ticket. You just transfer from the 'Lose' train to the 'Maintain' train.

The word 'obsession' comes to mind. I am very obsessed with weight loss right now. Maybe because I am actually succeeding at it or maybe because after two years of trying I just need to do it. I thinks it is a healthy obsession though. One that will benefit me in the end (which will hopefully be at 90 years old surrounded by family).

For now I try to focus on the small details... like losing another 5 lbs before the 10K I am running in September....... the goal of 163 lbs to get my journey tattoo.... the half marathon in January.... the triathlon I will do after that....

Mission #3

Mission #3 for OFB is to post pictures of our kitchen. A year ago, shoot, 3 months ago, I would have been too embarrassed to show the blog world what was lurking in my kitchen. Cakes, cookies and 'snacks' for the kids. A couple of veggies here and there... some even growing their own colony. I had more boxed food then I did REAL food.

Today I still have little snacks here and there for the kids... but the majority is healthy, yummy stuff. I present you my kitchen:

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

Yesterday was my second dentist appointment. I was in so much pain that Hubby actually took the day off of work to watch the kids for me so that I could lapse into a pain free , pain killer induced, coma.

I was awake at 4 am. Angel had a nightmare and wanted me to stay in her room. I laid there for a minute, surrounded by dirty laundry, piles of toys and a smell I could only imagine. She was laying next to me watching a Disney movie . I decided since we were both up I might as well get started on the day. I spent the next 2 hours cleaning her room. When my husband woke up he looked at me and said 'feeling better, huh?'.... all I could mumble was 'eh'.

I do feel a little better today. The pain is manageable. I was able to get down a protein smoothie this morning, which helped my tummy with the nausea. I've got a mountain of work to do today.... better get started.

Weigh In....

Drum roll please............

179.8

That is a total loss of -2.2 lbs and takes me out of the 180's!!!!!!

I was so excited to see this number at 6 o'clock in the morning that I was jumping up and down in the kitchen on my tip toes , with my arms in the air, mouthing YES!!!.... all without making a sound so I don't wake up the whole family! Hey, a girl has to celebrate.

I haven't seen the 170's since high school. My husband has never seen me in the 170's.

My goal right now is to make the 170's disappear as fast as the 180's did!

169 here I come!!

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In other news, today is my second dentist appointment. I am having two more teeth extracted on the other side at 8 a.m.. I am not as nervous this time as I was last week. Ok, maybe a little bit....

This week is revival week at my church, so yesterday was a day full of playing drums, singing and praising Jesus. I loved it. My favorite part was wearing a tank top (hey, I'm the drummer... it gets way too hot back there) and jeans and feeling comfortable in them. I had 3 woman come up to me and ask me what diet I was on because they saw such a huge difference. Jokingly I said it was the 'go to the dentist and get all your teeth pulled diet and then drink through a straw for two weeks' but then went on to tell them the food I've been eating and exercises I like. I really hope they get at least a little inspired by what I've done.....

Hugs to all of you and I cant wait to see how YOU'VE done this week!!!

The 7th of the Month Pic....

Its that time again... my monthly pic. I dont see a change other then my mood, makeup and hairstyle! LOL But here you go anyway. Me at 184 and 181

The lion escaped....

I did it!

At 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon my hubby came home from work and I went to the gym. I knew I couldn't run with my mouth, so I wanted to try biking. I went to the new gym in town, which wasn't all that great but they had two bikes, and paid $5 for a day pass. I hopped on the bike and 45 minutes later left with 9 miles under my belt. It felt fantastic to sweat. By the time I got home my mouth was aching. I made dinner and then took my first pain pill of the day and went to bed.

I wanted to share with you what I have been living on all week. It is absolutely delicious....

Onion, zucchini, red and orange bell peppers, broccoli and some Zataran spice. I put the top on and let it simmer in the pan until everything is cooked through.

Then I put a cup of chicken broth in a blender, add the veggies and blend away. I come out with this yummy homemade veggie soup!

I alternate between my yummy soup and my frozen banana and blackberry protein shake. LOL

Fridays are my usual cleaning day. This way the house is nice and clean for most of the weekend and I can relax. I'm going to try and stay busy so that I don't think about my mouth. I'd like to stay off the pain pills all weekend.

I have Praise Band practice tonight. We are doing two songs that are pretty heavy on the drums, so I have a lot of practicing to do!

Feeling like a caged Lion.

This dental work is slowing me down. I have yet to go a day without a pain killer. I have stitches in the upper one (with a string hanging down that is driving me crazy *gag*) and rolled up gauze in the bottom one that just grosses me out.

I WANT to start my half marathon training. I WANT to RUN!!! But one pain killer a day makes me all goofy. I get light headed and nauseous... but no pain! I can't drive after taking my pain killer which means the girls and I are stuck at home all day. I'm going crazy.

The worst part is this is not something that will be over soon. I have another appointment on Monday to get the other two teeth pulled... and then a week from that I am going to go back and get MORE work done. We're talking a good 4 weeks of dental work.... that is 4 weeks I cant train. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Michelle and Betsy aren't 'officially' training until the beginning of Sept.. so I guess I have these 4 weeks to spare, but the fact that I WANT to start running and can't... well, it just sucks. As for the 100 Miles in Aug. Challenge... HA, probably not going to happen. *sigh*

As for my weight, I snuck on the scale this morning and am holding steady at 182. Not surprising since I cant break a sweat... and I haven't been eating a lot, just bread when I have to take my pills so that I don't get too sick. Which, by the way, has not been working. I've been eating a lot of soup and not enough water... so my sodium is pretty much out of the ballpark. **sigh**

I'm not giving up, I'm not getting depressed. I'm going to push through this month and just focus on getting everything done. It will be September before I know it and I will be kicking ass out on the running track!

Honest Scrap Medal...Metal??

The amazing Michelle over at Secrets of a Former Fat Girl gave me this award. "bestowed upon a fellow blogger whose blog content or design is, in the giver’s opinion, brilliant. This award is about bloggers who post from their heart, who oftentimes put their heart on display as they write from the depths of their soul."

In accepting the Honest Scrap Award, I have a few rules I must complete: (1) Brag about it, (2) select seven blogs you find brilliant and link to them and (3) list 10 honest things about yourself.

#1.... I think posting it first thing in the morning satisfies the 'bragging' part!

#2... I am going to copy Michelle and select 7 bloggers that I find brilliant!

Hanlie at FertileHealthy

Fat Daddy at Fat Daddy Rants

Rebecca at Fat Fitness Food

Cindie at Mac N' Changes

Ms Bitchcakes at Bitchcakes

Fab Kate at http://fab50.blogspot.com/

Carlos at Your Gonna Need a Bigger Boat

#3... 10 honest things about me:

• 1- I smoked for 10 years before quitting 6 years ago
• 2- I am a pool playing shark!
• 3- I was bitten by a young Tiger Shark when I was in high school.
• 4- I love to go to karaoke and sing my heart out... sober.
• 5- I love to go to clubs just to dance all night!
• 6- I get sea sick... but love cruises
• 7- I'm a nympho..... thankfully my husband doesn't mind.
• 8- I'm scared to death of heights.
• 9- I only make coffee for the smell... and never drink it.
• 10- I homeshool my girls... and right now, I've got to go get ready!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Did you know....

....that 1 tooth weighs 1 lb!

Ok, so that's not true... but it sure seemed that way yesterday when I came home from having two teeth extracted and weighed in at 180 lbs!! Don't ask me why I went straight to the scale after my horrific two hours in the dentists chair... but it did make my day!

After 10 years I have finally given in to my deadly fear of dentists. I don't know if it was the pain of having 4 broken molars or if its this new life I am trying to create for myself. I mean, you cant have a rockin' bod and not have the smile to go with it, right? So I walked into the dentists office (thanks to a little shove from my husband) and sat in the chair. The dental assistant was a wonderful woman named Charlotte... who made me want to just give her a big hug. She took the x-rays and wiped the tears as they fell from my cheek. Now don't go picturing me sitting in the chair crying like a baby... they were just a couple of stressed out tears that escaped before I could get my hands out from under the 100 lb lead jacket they laid on top of me.

The dentist was amazing. (I think Charlotte gave him a heads up that I was a head case!) He asked why I was scared of dentists... I said I didn't know but that just the thought of my teeth being worked on gave me an anxiety attack. He then asked about my tattoos... my kids... my husband... all while checking out my teeth. (How do they expect you to answer them when you have a mans entire hand in your mouth?)

The best part was when he asked me if I was a soda pop drinker. I shook my head and said "NO! I eat clean and drink only water. I'm training for a half marathon in January!" His eyes went wide. " No kidding," he said. "I'm running that marathon too!" After that it was all easy going.... kinda.

He gave me 4 shots on the right side of my mouth to numb it up. After waiting a couple of minutes he tested my mouth... I felt everything. 'Well, no wonder your scared to death of dentists' he said. 'They probably never gave you enough meds to numb you up all the way'. So with 5 more shots... yes 5... my mouth was finally numb. He did his thing... grabbing, yanking, pulling, pushing, breaking, cutting, sewing.... and the list goes on... until two of the 4 molars were extracted. The whole time my eyes were shut and all i was thinking was... 'my dentist is a fellow marathon runner!'.

Almost 12 hours later and here I am with a very sore mouth, face and jaw. I am happy I went in, even with the pain. It is a good feeling to finally be doing something to better myself... and my teeth! Next Monday I go back in to get the stitches removed and for him to remove the two on the other side. I'm not thrilled, but I'm not scared either. Hey, he's a marathon runner... and so am I!

As for my weight... I dont know if it was just a fluke that it hit 180 or not. We will have to wait until next Monday to find out. With my liquid diet, though, I think I may drop some good weight this week!

Weigh In

182.0 (-1 lb)

Its a loss... but not much of one. I'm a little disappointed, but I've been doing this long enough to know that eventually my body will let it go. Just gotta keep going strong.

Today is my Hubby's birthday. He gets the day off from work and is planning on being lazy all day. Lucky man.

I have my dentist appointment this morning.... **shiver**... and then I have my first run around the track at the high school.... yay!... which will be my Day 2 of the OFB challenge and my first time running at the track. I'm hoping there wont be an audience. I think I might even run the bleacher stairs!!

I'm going to try and get in 2 miles. Since I joined Mesha's 100 miles in August challenge, I better start moving my butt! It should be too hard with my 'long' runs on Saturdays making up for my rest days! If you need a little boost to get you walking/running/cycling... whatever.. head on over and join the challenge!

Good Day.....

Yesterday was a very active day. First off, I had to take my Angel to the eye doctor for her first ever eye exam. She passed with flying colors. Then we went to the park trail... I unloaded the double stroller and got the girls comfy. I ran for the first half , which was either flat or down hill... and walked the rest, which was all uphill. It was one heck of a workout. The girls, together, with the stroller weigh 70 lbs. Pushing that while running... or walking uphill... is painful. This is part of my OFB challenge. We have to do something 3X's this week that is out of our comfort zone... running outside in public, and not inside on my treadmill, is very much out of my comfort zone... but seeing that I am now training for a half marathon I guess I better get used to it. My next run outdoors will be at the high school track on Monday!

We then went to Granny's and picked up some leftover paint so that I could paint the girls new school room at our house. (I'm homeschooling) I waited until the evening to get started on that project.. which had me sweating like mad until 9 p.m. when I finally finished.

We also went to the local Farmer's Market and got these:

Huge zucchini, squash, onions, small bell peppers and tons of broccoli....

25 lbs of peaches!!! I'm going to clean, cut and freeze most of them...

Blackberries!!! The ones in the baggies are going straight in the freezer for my morning shakes!

All of this I got for $30... it was wonderful.

I am working on the girls room today... its gonna take me all day. Today is a rest day for me, so no running.... but head over to Michelle's and wish her luck running a half marathon today!!

Girls Night Out.... and the first day of training!

My mom had her Girls Night Out party at her house last night. It was fun to see all our friends again. Some of them I only get to see once a year at her party! I was really excited when I saw my friend Roni show up. She is a very active woman. We used to challenge each other when I first started to lose weight to push ups, pull ups, sit ups... you name it and we were trying to outdo the other!! LOL

I told her about my running the PF Chang half marathon in January and she got all excited and said she wanted to do it with me!! We sat at the table for hours talking about what, when and how to do it. It was such a booster for me to see how excited she was.

So today we are both starting our training. She got up at 5 a.m. and ran 2 miles... I am going to the park later with the girls and pushing the stroller for 2 miles! LOL But starting in two weeks we will be meeting every Saturday at a designated area to do a 'long' run.

I am so happy to have someone to train with.

For all of you reading this... today is day 1, make it happen!!