Still Going...just not there yet...

Well, I've lost another 5 pounds.  It's finally put me below the 250 mark!!  WOW!  It's so unreal to see the scale going that direction after SOOOO long.

The only problem is, my goal.  Remember the goal I said I wanted to reach by my birthday?  Well, that was to have gotten rid of 100 pounds by then.  I now have 29 to go, and that means 15 pounds a month.  UGH!  That's probably not going to happen, but I'm going to try my darndest.  My trainer said maybe by the END of October...lol   sigh.  July was just sooo hard, and so was June.  I had really hit a plateau and slowed down.  I'm just going to have to really kick things up.

At least she didn't recommend I change anything by way of diet...  ;)  I don't know if I could get any lower...lol  I'm really getting used to drinking breakfast...

Have a good one!

Well, there's progress...

I told my hubby I was bound and determined to get my earth oven done this week. I've taken FAR too long as it is. I really wanted it done in May. sigh.

Anyway, I finished leveling the ground and the bricks were pretty much level, so I said onward. I put the cinder blocks in, and it stayed level (miracles do happen!!), so I put the barrel on. You see, he suggested (my all knowing and amazing hubby) that I'd probably want to be able to reach the cooking area from the deck and not have to walk around, and he's probably right. So, in order to make it high enough, we have to stack things. ugh.

It looks rather ungainly, but the barrel is full to the brim with broken bricks to weigh it down and make it solid. With the ring on top, we're ready to fill it with the bottles and mud to make the heat sink base for the floor of the oven. Hopefully I'll have that done by tonight so I can start on the top tomorrow.  Eventually we're gonna put brick around the base so you don't see the barrel and stuff, and it will look cool.  But for now, pizza this weekend!!! (I hope!)

Well...step 3?

I'm building a mud oven. Did I mention that before? I realized that I should probably document the process, and since I've already missed part of it, here's where I'm at now.



We had to cut down the bush and cut back the tree that was there before, and then get the sprinkler moved that was back in the corner. It's now up in front of the rail road tie, and now I've put a layer of brick as the foundation. Problem is, we need to build up a good two feet before I put a barrel on it to make it the right height to reach from the deck. Sigh.

Anyone have spare cement blocks? ;)

I Lost 7 Pounds!!

It was so great today! I went in to see my personal trainer, after having been, if I do say myself, extremely good this past week as I wanted to get those two pounds off and perhaps 2 more...

Anyway, I get on the scale, and I lost 7 pounds!! I was SOOOO excited! She couldn't even believe it at first and had me get back on. She was totally floored. YAHOO!! It's such a relief. I'm now up to 66 pounds since October. My goal is to lose 4 more before the end of the month? I hope I can, I hope I can...lol

Anyway, had to share.

Song in my head? I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it... lol ;)

I'm a little discouraged...

Well - we go on vacation and I come back to find out I've gained two pounds!! ARGH.

I know it's only two pounds, but I was sooo looking forward to it being down, not up. I've still gotten it down 60 pounds, but that just means I've got two extra pounds to go before October, which is my 100 pound goal date.

And lately, I've just felt FAT. Interesting, huh? I think it's satan working at me, but still - it's discouraging. oh well.

So, at least I did my work out today, so we're still moving onward. sigh.

If I could figure out what to do with my socks or shoes to keep me from getting a blister on my right foot, I'd be more excited about doing the 5K on July 3rd!

Any suggestions would be helpful...

Family Home Evening Helpers

I had the opportunity to evaluate a book for use in Family Home Evenings this past month, it was really fun and I'm a sucker for a free book! I wasn't sure what to expect - other than it's the second in a series of helps from Diane Kirkpatrick. Apparently there are several different kinds of 52 weeks of Family Night.

The one I got to look at was 52 More Weeks of Family Night. It came with a CD with downloadable activities.

It's very simple - it's not a full lesson plan, it's simply a suggestion of activities for different subjects. I had my 16 year old teach a lesson out of it on Tithing, and he wasn't sure what to do (he's autistic and wasn't happy to be teaching anyway ;) ) Fortunately, it was easy for him to print up the chosen activity and he was able to give us the general idea from what they'd provided.

So, if you're in a rush and need something easy, this is your best bet. It's not a huge book, it's not very costly, and I think it would make a great addition to the Family Home Evening library. Go check it out!

Remember and Memorialize

I read an interesting article the other day that said one of the reason for picking the last Monday in May was so that people wouldn't associate it with a particular war (civil war) and that it would be warm enough that flowers would be used on the graves.

My mother-in-law came over last night for dinner, and her husband was quick to tell me they had distributed 17 different mums to graves over the past two days. That blew my mind. 17???

We are going on the first ever family walk to the cemetery today. We live about a mile from the city cemetery and we talked about how we need to do more of the exercise variety with our children - so this was suggested. We are also thinking of doing a 5K for the 4th, and need an idea as to how out of shape we are, personal trainer aside - I mean, she hasn't been training me to walk a 5K... lol

So - Anyway - Today I honor my father. He was a veteran of World War II, and he was a Ranger at a time when being a Ranger meant you didn't have a long life expectancy. If you've seen the movie Saving Private Ryan - the group that they send in to find him is a group of Rangers, the same group my father would have been in.

He and thousands, hundreds of thousands others have fought throughout the years to preserve our freedoms and to help others in discovering it. They volunteered. I honor those who have gone before, and those who serve today. Thank you for being willing to be on the front lines.

Thanks Dad.



On a side note: it was pretty cool - we saw Elder Uchdorf at the cemetary!!! My son spoke to him, but we all restrained ourselves from mobbing him. At least now I can say I've seen him in person! lol

Just a Caution...Clearplay users

Okay - Just for those of you interested in the Clearplay - it's good, we like it, but beware.

If you let your subscription time out, you can't use it anymore.

We noticed there was this little message when we used it last week that said we only had 3 uses, then 2, then suddenly it wasn't letting me. It's message was that you had to update the filters on the stick in order to use it.

What???

I figure, you know, once we've paid for the filters, they're on the stick, they're ours. But no. I emailed them and said what's up with this, and they emailed back and said it's how it works. If you don't have a current subscription the filters don't work.

I told them I'd be sure and get the word out.

It's a great idea - and we really like it. That's why we updated to the new one. Only you know what?? the old one would let us use the filters despite the age of the filters or the status of our subscription. Hmmm... Although, perhaps I'm being naive. We never let our subscription run out, so how do I know?

It hadn't even run out this time, we just don't update it every month. We're not that into the new movies.

Anyway- just a word for thought.

Have a good one!
;)

Life is Good

I got to work this morning, and got out of my car to hear the sound of hummingbirds flying around. I love the sound of hummingbirds. Then as I walked to the entrance, I passed two lilac bushes that are starting to bloom. Pure heaven. I got to my office and sat down, realizing that I have it pretty good. I have my own office with a large window that looks out at a large flowering bush.

I've had worse jobs. I've had worse views - to be sure. There are many things to be thankful for, not the least of which is my job and the small pleasures associated with it.

Life is good.

Just Us and a Yard

Yesterday we decided it was such a gorgeous day, we had to do a picnic. The kids were ecstatic as the ones that didn't live at home anymore texted back to say they wanted in. So, we got home from church, scrambled to make sure we had enough food for everyone - defrosting more meat...lol - and then heading out. We went to the park we usually go to, but it was chuck full. Okay...we were going to head to one across town, but my daughter called us from there, they were just as full. We went to a little less known park, but they didn't allow dogs and all three vehicles had one. So...

We went home.

See, we live on an acre, and we have loads of grass, our own bbq and picnic table. What more do you need? It turned out just fine. The kids pulled out the sports kit my children had given me for mother's day a couple of years ago and played volleyball and tossed a frisby around. We ate pasta salad (the heralding in of spring) and bbq chicken and pork ribs, topping it off with a great low fat gelatin cake that I'm highlighting on my food blog. It was great. We had loads of fun together, and I was glad we stayed home. It was a nice drive around town...

The Tulips Are Coming!

Okay...I love tulips. I think they're one of the prettiest flowers. It's hard to decide between roses and tulips...lol.

Anyway, When I heard there was going to be a Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point, I'm thinking my family needs to go. Only, it's a little steep on the price side...so I don't know if it will happen. I'm thinking I might be able to talk my mother-in-law in going and perhaps helping pay, but that depends on when we end up going. There's no way it will be this Saturday...tooo much going on. Eagle project, RS conference, ugh. But - in an effort to win tickets, I am hooking you up with a chance to win free tickets!!



Greta's Deals is giving away a pack of 6 tickets to the festival! One of the things we have to do is link to her blog - so go check it out!!

Now...who else do I know that likes flowers? ;)