Im still here!!

Hi guys!! I received a comment from Jessica at CBGBlog a couple of days ago asking if I was ok.

First of all, how stinkin sweet is she??


Yes, I am still here! I'm trying to stay caught up on everyone's postings but it is becoming difficult for me. No, I haven't fallen off of the wagon. I'm still eating well and am working out - in my mind. Who am I kidding? Since we've been back from our vacation - I haven't worked out but maybe five times total.

As of Wednesday - I am clocking in at 215. A total of 45 pounds gone. I'm almost halfway to my goal! Whoot!


So, let me explain why I've been pulled into 15 different directions --

Ive talked some about my walk in this years Susan G Komen 3 Day for the Cure in Dallas this coming November. Well, my little adventure has since turned into a seven man team. And I'm talking to three other girls about walking with us too.
Each person who commits to walking this walk - also commits to raising $2,300. That's a total of $16,100 so far for the team to raise. These numbers are insane for a new team full of first time walkers.

Look what is happening here --- my little personal goal of losing weight, becoming healthy and walking 60 miles (as my own personal fitness goal) has turned into raising over SIXTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS for a fantastic cause!! I could not be more proud of what is happening here - right in front of my eyes.

I get phone calls and texts every day from team members who get donations. "I got $20!" "I just got one for $50!" This morning, one of my best friend IMd me saying "I just got at $200 donation!" The team is all so excited and encouraged by what we are going - its amazing.

Right now, my fund raising account sits at $475.91. That money has been raised in only TEN donations. I'm absolutely overwhelmed at the support we are getting from friends and family members. Ive also been absolutely overwhelmed by the information I have learned about my friends and family members. I have learned that some of them have lost friends, aunts, cousins, and sisters to this horrible disease. Ive also learned that a few have dealt with this disease themselves.

Do you guys know

Over 1.3 million women are diagnosed globally through out a year.
Somewhere in the world, a woman dies from breast cancer every 68 seconds.

These numbers are insane to me.

Susan G Komen died from this disease in 1980. She was 36 years old. She passed only 3 years after her diagnosis. In 1980, the five year survival rate for breast cancer was 78%. Since then, through the help and funding from the Susan G Komen Organization, that number is now 98%.

98%

Read it again - 98% and yet STILL someone dies every 68 seconds.

If that doesn't drive you to want to change things, nothing will. I know of four women who have personally been affected by this disease - one of which has had a double mastectomy. Another had a single mastectomy and is now having issues with her other breast. She will be having a biopsy next week. I have no doubt, none at all, that one if not all of these women would be dead now, if it weren't for this organization.

How would your children survive with out their mother? How would you survive with out your mother, best friend, sister? How would you survive if, God forbid, you had to bury your daughter.

ONE in EIGHT women will be diagnosed with this disease. Look around you. How many family members do you have? How many friends do you have? How many blogs do you follow? I follow 59 blogs. Statistically, at least 7 of the bloggers I follow will receive this diagnosis. Jack Sh*t, you are not immune - roughly 2,000 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year alone.

So, that's why Ive been missing the last week or so. I'm becoming passionate about this cause and I haven't even walked my first walk.

My first walk -- TOMORROW! The Komen Organization has 5Ks all over the country. If 60 miles is too much for you - find a 5K. I know there will be two in Dallas this year alone. Were getting up at 4:30 to drive the tree hours to attend this event. Bubba is so excited!

Speaking of Bubba - he has volunteered to do anything and everything the team needs to do to help the team raise money. With his birthday money he bought two spools of pink ribbon to make into the classic pink ribbon pins. He's walking the 5K and has even volunteered to wear a bra on the outside of his clothes and a pink wig during our fund raising events. He is disappointed he can not walk in the 3 Day but I have no doubt this will not be my only year to walk. He only has 6 years to wait.

We have several fund raisers planned - we dont have a Krispy Kreme down here so they sell like hot cakes. They have a great fund raising program so we'll do a few donut sales. We'll also be doing a few car washes, a flamingo flocking project and bake sales in front of Walmart. I have a meeting with my church's board to discuss a spaghetti dinner and pancake dinner. A friend of mine has offered her Scentsy business as a fund raiser. The team will get 25% of the profit sales for three weeks. We will start that next week. So, if you know of Scentsy and would like to place an order - just let me know. I'll pay for the shipping to save you money. And if you'd like to help us sell -- I can send you the order forms - and again, I will pay for the shipping to get the items to you. If you dont know what Scentsy is, you don't know what your missing!

If you'd like to help me by donating, please follow this link. All donations are completely tax deductible. If an individual or company donation is made in the amount of $500 or more, the name of the company or individual is printed on the back of our team shirts. Also, my personal dedication is that anyone who makes a donation of any dollar amount, who has a loved one lost or fighting this disease I will personally write their loved ones name on the shirt I will wear to walk my 60 miles.

Guess What I Got!!

We have a local Yahoo! group named Abilene Garage Sales. The whole idea is if you have something to sell or looking to buy - you post an email to the group. If someone wants what your selling, they email you directly. Its like Craigs list - only on a smaller level and with out the rapes and murder. I dont know about you but to me, that's a good thing!

Anyway, a couple of days ago a guy posted that he was selling an Exerspy. I had no clue what it was and deleted the email. But for some reason, I went back and actually read the post. Holey personal trainer in a box!!

The armband records calories burned, moderate and intense physical activity, sleep times , sleep efficiency and steps taken. The software (you pay a monthly fee for this) gives you the ability to track calories in, weight and measurements. There are tons of resources available on information like performance, muscle gain, weight loss, women's health, pain relief, supplements etc

I bought the spy from the guy for $50. The online program is $10 a month. When I brought it home - it didn't work right out of the box. I received an error message when trying to connect it to the pc through the usb cord. That night I emailed tech support. Less than 24 hours later, I received an email back from Chad in the tech office. He knew exactly what the problem was and gave me great detailed info on how to fix it. Ten minutes later I was up and running! I also received a comment on a post I made on the companies Facebook. Wow! Customer service rocks!

So far, I love the program! The one and only small downfall is that I'm having to manually input almost all of my food. Their data base just doesn't have the amount of food as what Sparkpeople has. However, the small amount of time it takes to input the nutritional counts of the food I eat is WAY worth it. I love having the ability to plug the little gadget into the computer and look at all of my stats for the day. I can tell you that I burn more calories when I'm up cleaning my house vs sitting on my butt all day. Duh - I know, but its great to see it right in front of your face. I like being able to log into it and see the little graph go up after Ive done something like laundry or playing with the kids. I'm excited to see what its going to do when I get a real work out in. The armband is comfortable though if my arm were much bigger, Id need a bigger arm strap. Ive worn it to bed the last two nights and have had no problem sleeping with it on and it doesn't slip out of position. The only time the arm band can not be worn is when showing or in the pool. But the system tracks when the arm band is not on. You can however, input what you were doing at that time - so you're not out on burned calories for that time frame.

So far I love this program! I'm excited to see what all it has to offer as I learn more about it. I will definitely let you all know how it goes!

My first 5K!!

Last week I saw a commercial for The Mayors 5K. Its a race here in Abilene, downtown. In several of your blogs, I read where you're training for one, are doing one or have done one. "What the hell? Why not?" I thought. I didn't know anyone who was doing it but was willing to even go by myself. However, I got the great idea to talk to Bubba about it. Im SO glad I did. He wanted to do it and was super excited. Saturday was his birthday - what a great way to start it!

We got up early that morning and headed down there. Wow! What fun! We found a couple of girls that go to our church and walked with them. We finished in just a little over 51 minutes. Our time could have been much better - but we were chit chatting and having fun with it. Bubba asked me to run several times but I just wasn't up for it. Not yet. Plus, I had a back pack on that was real floppy and not comfortable. I wouldn't have been able to run if I wanted to.

After the 5K there was a little 1 mile fun run. We were already there so we did that one too - just walked it though. Right before that started - look who we saw!

Melissa is not my favorite on the show but was really nice in person. You never know what someone is edited to be like on a reality show.

So, Bubba and I have a new hobby!! Our second one is this weekend - at the Ft Worth Zoo. I want our time to be at least 45 minutes, if not less. We also have one planned for the 24th - the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure. YAY!! Who knows what other races we'll do. Weve also looked at a couple of half marathons. I think he's nuts but he says we can do it.

We also have a plan - Next year at the Mayors 5K - we will run. Not only will we run the entire race but we will metal. We have a year to train. We can do it!

Ive been registered to walk the Susan Komen 3 Day for the Cure for several months now but Bubba can not participate in that one. He's too young by their standards. Plus, I really feel that's a lot for him physically - 60 miles is a heck of a lot. And once you get started there's no turning back. Well, there IS but - I don't want to have to turn back with him.

Me registering for the 3Day was the start of my transformation. I really felt the desire to do it but knew there was no way I could complete it in the condition I was in. That's when I broke out the treadmill and actually GOT ON IT. 40 pounds down and a whole lot more energy later -- I still am not ready to walk 60 miles. But I'm getting there.

I don't have breast cancer and can thankfully say I have no personal connections to it. But I STRONGLY believe that this 60 mile walk has saved my life - before I even walked it. I will walk it - EVERY. DAMN. MILE. Because I can. There are so many women who can't walk. They cant walk because of the chemo - others can't walk because they've lost their battle. So, I will because I can.

I started a team with some friends of mine. There are 5 of us total going to walk this walk. None of us have done it before.

In order to take the first step in this walk - we have to raise $2,300 each. No ifs, ands or buts. No fund raising - no walking.

There's a link on my side bar to my personal fund raising page. If you have it in you - $5, $10, $20, $100 or $500. What ever you can - Ill take it! For donations of $50 - Ill honor a loved one with their name on the shirt Ill wear or the flag Ill wave when I walk. Also, the adds on my page are all AdSense - I get paid when you follow the links. You don't have to buy a thing - just click, click, CLICK. All that I get from the AdSense goes directly to my walk fund.

If you want, and will - write a post on your blog about my walk - spread the word - link your friends to me - **Would LOVE if J*ck Sh*t got the word and spread it, hint hint. :) **

Let them all know what I'm doing, what the cause is and how they can help. If I have to hawk my youngest child to get the funds to walk this walk - I will. Though that would suck. So, PLEASE for the love of Monkey - help me!!

FOURTY pounds gone and photo comparison challenge

This morning I weighed in at 220.6.

What does that mean???

2.2 pounds gone this week so far - my "official" weigh in day is Sunday

11.8 pounds gone in a month (from 3-9 to today)


FOURTY pounds gone total!!

Whoot!! You couldn't beat that with a sharp stick!



A couple of days ago I told you guys about Jessica's photo comparison challenge.


Here's the results of my challenge!

My Before pic, taken January of 2010:


And my After pic, taken Easter day 2010:


Look!! I have a neck!! I have one chin instead of three. You can see a defined jaw line and cheek bones. You probably don't know by just looking but my smile is very forced in the first picture. I was trying to be a good mom by riding the ride with Monkey but I was not happy about it. I was stuffed into the seat and very uncomfortable. Though we haven't been there since, I know that I will fit into the seat much better. The biggest difference? Notice I said in the before pic I was TRYING to be a good mom. In the after pic, I had just gotten done putting up the 20 ft pool for the boys - Ive never actually participated in putting up a pool before. Ive only watched. I'm not trying to be a good mom anymore - I AM a good mom!

Boobs

Dear Boobs,

Why did you have to be the first to go? There were many who could have easily taken your place - butt, hips thighs, love handles, chin number 2, 3, or 4. But, while some are gone others still hang around where they are not wanted or needed. But you, YOU were loved and YOU were needed! I have always appreciated you and have shown you off **sometimes, shown more of you then I needed to - damn tequila** However, I understand that your leaving is for the greater good. No amount of stuffing or tube socks can fix you now. However, I have promised myself that once my goals are met I will find you again - even better than you were before!


Our last great night together.....


So, dear boobs - I will remember you fondly. Our good times were many and our bad times were few and far between.

Until we surgically meet again,

A couple of challenges and one of my own - are you in???

I have been WAY behind on many items in my life since our vacation. I haven't worked out - not one stinkin time - since we got back, which was on the 22nd - that was TWO weeks ago. I made it a goal for the week to #1 get on track with working out, #2 get the rest of my trip pics edited (only 120 left to go, out of 1200!), #3 get my blog updated and #4 get caught up on my blog reading.

Yesterday, I accomplished #4 all in one day. Mind you, I follow 60 blogs, so three weeks worth of 60 blogs is ALOT of reading. In doing this, I discovered several dead blogs and some I just need to clean out of my list. Its not that I don't enjoy the blogs - I just don't have enough time to fit all of them in. Yall know how it goes, I'm sure.

Im SO glad I caught up on reading, instead of just punking out and start my reading at today. I found lots of encouragement, goals met, fallen bloggers who are now back on track and lots of fun challenges.

Here's a couple of the challenges I found that I decided to jump on - and a little ditty I came up with all on my own!

Tammy's Summer Challenge
Tammy (as the challenge name implies- duh), at From Fat to Fab, came up with this GREAT idea! She and the hubster are leaving on May 1st for a vacation to Panama Beach. The one and only goal for this challenge is to lose 10 pounds by April 30th. That's it. The prize - a souvenir from Panama Beach! How stinkin awesome is that?? She asks for everyone to check in and post how theyre doing every Friday. She doesn't care how its done or what other goals are linked to the 10 pounds. Just get the 10 pounds off and she'll send you a little trinket! She didn't say I couldn't cut my own arm off to get the 10 pound loss..... Hmmmm, something to ponder!

Seriously, I totally LOVE this idea! I really wish she would have come up with it sooner - I could have stolen the idea and brought everyone back a tacky set of Mickey ears for meeting their goal! Oh well, there's always next year!

Photo Comparison Challenge


This idea came from Jessica, at CBGBlog.
First of all, I totally <3 this chicka! She has a great heart and busts her hump to get her goals accomplished. So, here's her plan: Find a pic of yourself. Either a "before" pic or one from when you weren't as healthy as you are now. Take a pic of yourself today. Not from yesterday, or last week. Today - like NOW. **Ok, really Jessica, can I PLEASE shower first?? Pretty please?** She wants a blog post showing both pics and wants to see you compliment your changing body. Not on what the scale says, or how you were able to not eat the cookie last night **though those are both great as well** but on the physical changes that are taking place in your body. **Do my bat wings and shrinking boobs count?** Ok, POSITIVE changes that are taking place in your body! Once your post is posted, she then wants to know - so post a comment on her page linking your photo comparison. That way she and all of her readers can look, comment on and make comparisons of their own. FABULOUS idea!! Some people are fantastic about taking pictures of themselves for comparison **Keelie** but I just am not. I feel strange taking pics of myself. Do I smile, not smile? How do I stand? What do I do? BUT, in the pics I have of myself lately, I see a difference in my body. So, I do need to make a habit of taking more pics of myself. So, after my shower - I'm breaking out the Canon, baby! :)

Now, on to my idea--

Help Me Help You!


Ok, so this isn't really a challenge but more of an idea of another way we can help each other. I have the book, Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels. This book is full of great information and I'd like to send it to someone, anyone. If you'd like to read it, just let me know and I'll send it out tomorrow. No challenge, no weigh in and no link to my blog **however, that would be great seeing as I only have 23 readers** I just want someone to get the information that I got.
BUT, there is one catch! Whoever gets the book is not allowed to keep it. When you're done with it, post that you have it and put it up for grabs for someone else. So, if you have alot going on and would take 6 months to read the book - maybe let someone else get it first, who can read it quicker. I plan on getting a few more things - books, dvds, cookbooks etc. Stuff that ships well and is fairly inexpensive to ship. The only "challenge" part to this is that I'd like to encourage everyone to pick up a few things to add to the Help Me Help You pot. There will be no governing agency making sure people pay the items forward. It will all be done using the honor method.
I think this will be a great way to pass on the things that we are using in our journey. With money being tight, I know Id love to be able to read a book or try out a work out dvd before I buy it. So, here's a way we can do that! Let me know what you guys think of the idea! If it blows, I wont put the effort into it. Also, if you know someone or are someone who can make a tag for this - Id love you long time! Something cute and bright would be awesome!


So, here's a run down of a couple of awesome challenges and my plan. Check em out!

Disney World Trip Report - part 1 finally!!

My gosh! I didn't think this day would ever come! I just finished editing all of the tons and tons of pics I took. So, the first thing on the agenda now - to tell ya'll about the trip!

Friday afternoon before heading out, we had to make a stop by the bank first. The boys had been saving all of the change in the house in the Mickey bucket. It was time to cash it in! They made $227! We surprised them by letting them have all of the money for their own spending money. They were pretty stoked.
The drive was 21 hours and needless to say - sucked, with a capital S!
We stayed at the All Star Movies Resort, which was super cute. Here's a few pics of the hotel:
The first night we met a friend of mine who lives in Oklahoma and I hadn't seen since high school and her daughter for dinner at Mickeys Backyard BBQ. As we were walking into the BBQ area, Monkey fell. Not just a regular fall but a running down a gravel slope kind of fall. So the rest of the entire trip was filled with both a wrapped arm and knee. But, the BBQ was alot of fun.
The next morning was our breakfast reservation at Cinderella Castle. Our reservation was for 7:30 and wake up call was for 6:00. Early, but no big deal right? Wrong! Not only did I not take into consideration the time change from Texas to Florida but that night just happened to be Spring forward time change. Yea, our bodies were saying "It's 4am! Why are we getting up at 4am??" On the monorail headed to Magic Kingdom:
The first view of the castle looked like this: If you've never been there, the Castle is totally awe inspiring. Ive seen it many many times - different times of year and different times of day. At night, it changes colors - pics of that later. But, this was the most beautiful Ive ever seen it. I was so tickled to be there, I cried. Yes, I'm a bawl bag like that. Hey, a princess is allowed to cry when she sees her castle, right?
Breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table was a highlight of the trip, to say the least. Monkey was more excited about having breakfast with his girlfriend than anything else. The inside of the castle is amazing. The staff and food were amazing. It was just a fun experience. During the meal, they do a wishing ceremony. Each kiddo is given a "wishing star" and either a sword or wand. During the ceremony, the kids wave their sword over their star and make a wish.


Then it was time for the princesses to come out!

After a couple of hours running around Magic Kingdom, we headed over to The Pirates League for the boys' makeovers. They actually had more fun with that than we though they would!

My sweet little boys before:



And the little pirates after:


Here's more pics of our first day at MK.


The next day - we had a character breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. We met several characters including Alice, the Mad Hatter, Tigger and Pooh. After a great breakfast, we spent the day in Epcot. We were there during the International Flower and Garden Festival. The gardens and topiarys were amazing! Here's pics of the day:



During the trip Bubba and I had tons of fun looking for Hidden Mickeys. Here's a couple:

Don't see the last one? Look on the right door - the plates. Cool huh?

Couple of more pics from Epcot:



He didn't believe me when I said that Time Outs even happen at Disney World! :)

Ok guys - so this trip report is going to end up being at least three posts. I have at least one, maybe two posts to finish showing pics **cause this one only shows two days** and I plan on doing one full post of just food pics. It was all too good and too pretty not to share! I hope you like what you've seen so far!