Let's get this party started!

Let the CHALLENGE begin!

Advocare 24 Day Challenge

I have had quite a few friends have success losing weight and inches by using Advocare's 24 Day Challenge. At first, I couldn't get over how much it costs, but I found a guy on Craigslist who sold it to me for the distributor's price. I kept going back and forth with still not wanting to pay the price. Then Joey told me that if I really wanted to do it then just do it if it will make me feel better. At first I thought it would be all meal replacement shakes, lots of pills, and very little eating. After doing some research, only some of that is true. You CAN use the meal replacement shakes, but you do not use them the entire time or for every meal. There is a freaking TON of pills to take. You DO eat though. Now the fiber drink...gag. Of course, the whole point of The Challenge is to start ridding your body of junk and cleaning up your eating act. I have been losing the same few pounds. I lose a few and then do something stupid like eat a bunch of pizza. So I am trying out the challenge to "help" me out.

I am only on Day 1, but it seems easy so far. Other than the dreaded fiber drink. It is absolutely disgusting. I think it is the worst thing I have ever tasted. (Well, Goldschläger is pretty disgusting, too.) My friends who have completed the challenge said to mix it with OJ. So I mixed it with 1/2 cup Trop50. I stirred that drink and tried to chug it, only to gag and feel extremely sick. It is SO gritty and just gross. So I added another 1/4 cup of OJ. It was still super hard to get down, but much better than my first try. I am dreading the other 5 days that I have to drink that crap. Bleh!

My breakfast is something that I like to eat anyway. I had 2 eggs, strawberries, water, and of course the Omega Plex pills. That water jug is the most awesome water cup ever. It is the cup I got from the hospital when I had Brynlee. I love that it has the ounces listed on the side.

Breakfast, Day 1

 

My lunch consisted of things that I love. Canned chicken breast (with a little mustard and dill relish), Minute Brown Rice (with Cajun seasoning), one hard boiled egg, and a bunch of carrots. My lunch hasd 49g of protein and that is awesome! I have been drinking a ton of water all day and now I remember why I love and hate drinking so much water. I love it because it makes me feel full and refreshed, but hate it because I have to run to the bathroom so many times. I am planning to eat some lean meat and veggies for dinner. I LOVE veggies!

Lunch, Day 1

I am going to SERIOUSLY try not to weigh myself until the cleanse part (10 days) is over, but I know I probably will. I just can't help it. I think that is one of my biggest problems. I see the scale barely move or I see it go up one day instead of down and I get so frustrated. I am trying to break that habit. It sure is a tough habit to break. I have heard of people who have actually thrown away their scales or have taken their scales to a friend/family member's house. I don't think I am that bad. I don't weigh myself multiple times a day or anything, but I do tend to weigh myself after a workout. I know you don't get IMMEDIATE results (oh weightloss would be so much easier if that were the case), but I still do it.

Yesterday, I worked in the garden for a little over 2 hours with my sis-in-law. It was hard work, but so much fun. I am super sore today because I used muscles that I have not used in a while, I guess. I wore my Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor and it said I burned 1163 calories in 2 hours and 18 minutes. Now I forgot to pause my HRM a few times when we were taking drink breaks. So I don't think I burned that many calories through the actual exercise, but I did work pretty hard! MyFitnessPal says I burned 837 calories during that time. Who knows. All I know is that I burned a lot and it felt great!

On to other news, I love my Brady Bands! I ordered 4. I wanted them to match the colors of the workout clothes I wear most often so I got a solid black one, a pink chevron, a purple and black zebra, and of course a Texas Tech one. I have worn all kinds of workout head bands and they all slip off. I think I have a small head. So I took a chance on ordering the Brady Bands and I love them. I wore one all day yesterday and it never slipped or anything. Plus, they are so cute! They have all kinds of different band sizes (standard, mini, skinny, wide, and kid size) and lots of cute prints. Here is the one I wore yesterday.

Pink Chevron Brady Band

My mom and I (and Brynlee) are participating in the Dallas NAMI Walk this Saturday, May 4th from 8:30-10:00am. NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) is an organization that supports thousands of people with mental illness. Every one of us has loved ones and people we know who suffer from mental illness. Please help us in supporting this very worthy organization. If any of my DFW friends would like to join us for the walk (5k), let me know! We'd love to have you there. If you would like to donate any money to support the cause, here is our link: NAMIWalk Dallas. Anything you can give will be greatly appreciated!

 

I usually get my week day exercise in earlier in the morning. Not EARLY morning, but I usually get the workout in before noon. I have to work around Brynlee's nap time! I was awake before 7am today, but stayed in bed (playing on my phone) with Brynlee until 7:30. I had to stay at the house today until the city came to work on my brother and sis-in-law's water lines. They just left and now Brynlee is napping. So I plan to get an evening workout in after dinner.

 

What are you doing for exercise today?



Attack of the baby fever!

I had a dream. And it sucked.

Let me back up and say that this little girl has subconsciously given me baby fever.


Baby Laynea, 4.26.13

That is my niece, Laynea. I wrote about her here. She is almost a month old and I wish I could just hold and love on her. I want Brynlee to hold her. She is obsessed with babies. Hopefully she won't treat Laynea the way she treats her baby dolls though. She does like to put diapers on them, feed them, kiss them, and sleep with them. But she also likes to strip them naked, drop them when she is finished with them, and color on their faces with mascara.

Back on track here. Joey and I have pretty much decided that we plan to start trying for another disaster child shortly after Brynlee turns two. I keep telling myself that I'll be "ready" by then. She turns 2 in July. That's only 3 months away. Um, I think my dream is trying to tell me that we're not really ready.

In this dream, my house was a disaster. It wouldn't make it on Hoarders or anything like that, but it was filthy. Clothes hanging from the ceiling fan, dishes piled up, dirty floor, washer and dryer full of clothes, messy bathroom, the whole damn 9. I was breastfeeding this new baby and seriously chasing Brynlee through the yard because she got out the front door. I looked gross (and I am sure I smelled gross) and frazzled. Oh and I was fatter than I am now! As my friend Katie would say, I looked frumpy.

That may not sound that scary to you, but it does to me. I keep going back and forth between thinking 3-6 months is not far away and thinking it's plenty of time. I try to remind myself that even if we start trying in August, it could take longer to get pregnant. But you see, that's what I was sorta counting on when I first got off birth control so we could try to get pregnant the first time annnnd let's just say, "It only takes one time..."! Brynlee is a super good kid, but she is a typical toddler. She is wild, rambunctious, and in to everything. I know she is exploring, learning, and testing her boundaries. She is mischievious, but so cute. She is smart, funny, and adorable. But am I ready for another? I get tired of people saying, "You'll never really be ready...", but I'd like to at least feel like adding another baby to our family is right for us. I guess we'll play it by ear and see how we feel come August.

I will leave you with some cute pictures of Brynlee. <3

My little Red Raider



She wanted me to wear this mask...

 

Then cried when I put it on.

 

She loves pretending to shave her arms and legs.

 

Hanging out in the cat's window seat.

 

Putting on my (clean) underwear.

 

I guess she wanted them on her head instead.

 

I DON'T WANT PANTIES ON MY HEEEEEEAD!!!

We're having dinner with our friends, Tyler and Chrissy, tonight so I've got to get ready. I hope I have something clean to wear...

 

 

GET IT GUURRRL!

I love running/working out outside. I would much rather walk/jog/run around a park or scenic route than go to a gym and run on a treadmill. I don't mind running on an indoor track if the weather is too hot or too cold, but I definitely prefer working out outside. I love pushing Brynlee in the jogging stroller. To be honest, pushing her in the stroller gives me an "excuse" for being fat and trying to lose the weight. I think people are more sensitive to seeing a fat person running when they see her pushing a toddler or baby in a stroller. I think they are thinking, "Oh she is a Mom and trying to lose the baby weight." (Except this baby is almost 2!) Brynlee loves being in the stroller. She is usually awake, but sometimes she gets tired especially if I am working out for an hour. She spent most of this trip to the park asleep in the stroller! It isn't just all work though. When I take her to the park, I work out first and then we play on the park equipment. So she gets something out of it too, besides just listening to my awesome workout playlist and a free ride.

When I first started running outside as a fat person, I used to be so embarrassed to go outside or workout in front of people. I mean, I jiggle in more than one place. I know that I sweat easy (but always have) and I know that I am not cute when I am running. I used to not want to run any place where cars frequently drove by or where I might find lots of skinny people running or biking. I would always assume I knew what the passersby were thinking and it was always negative. I used to get so frustrated when I would see someone just staring at me. I always wanted to tell them off or be rude. When I joined Planet Fitness, I absolutely hated the mirrors everywhere (still do) because I do not want to watch myself work out. I know that they are necessary for weightlifting to check form, etc, but I hate them being near the treadmills and stationary bikes. I always made sure I got on a machine that was not in front of a mirror. I also always wanted a machine in the back because I didn't want people to be on their machines behind me watching me. When I ran on the treadmill at home, I did not want Joey to come into the room. When I would do DVDs in the living room, I would warn him ahead of time and tell him to not come in the room. *rolls eyes*

That was definitely a reflection on my confidence. Let me tell you, my mindset has changed. I know that the only way I will ever be healthy, look good, and feel good is to get my fat butt out there and do what I love to do. I now think positive things when people stare at me when I am working out. I think they are thinking, "Good for you girl!" and "Look at her sexy legs!" I even think they are jealous because they know they should exercise, but they don't. Now I actually WAVE at people when I am working out. I used to avoid eye contact. I think the first step to changing your mindset is to first buy clothes that you feel comfortable wearing. I think that is important. If you are constantly having to pull on your clothes because they are too big, they are too tight, they ride up, or they fall down, then you need some clothes that fit you better. I like to get these BCG Loose Fitting Tank Tops from Academy. They are long. I have never had a tank top this long and they stay in place. I have white, pink, and purple. I bought the pink and white ones in XLarge, but they are a bit too big. So I bought the purple one in large (and am wearing it today) and I like the fit much better. I want a couple of black ones, but they only have smalls and mediums every time I check. I may just order a couple from their website. I use them for layering, I don't wear them alone, but eventually will when I get this belly to shrink! I wear a sports bra, then one of these tank tops, and then a loose fitting top. I really like empire waist and racerback tops. I usually get them from Old Navy and JCPenney. I like to wear shorts to show off my legs. I just wear BCG bike shorts underneath so my thighs don't rub together and my shorts don't ride up. I hate that! There's nothing worse than having to tug your shorts down while you're running. I hate, hate, hate to get sweat and hair in my eyes so I usually wear one of these Bondi Bands, but I actually think they are a bit too big for my small head. They do have cute sayings and I have 3 of them, but they aren't that good at holding my hair back. When I have my hair in a ponytail, my hair looks like disaster with these Bondi Bands on.

SkinnyMeg likes and recommends these Brady Bands and they are cute! They even have a Texas Tech one and ya'll know I love Texas Tech! So I am going to order a couple and see how I like them. She said they are more for holding your hair back.

So my point to these long post is this: I walk/jog/run at the park or in the neighborhood with confidence. You're staring at me? Cool. You're just feeding the positive thoughts in my mind so thank you. You may be thinking totally opposite of what I think you're thinking, but since I can't read your mind, I can pretend I know exactly what you're thinking. The point is to CHANGE YOUR MINDSET! Think positively! If you are like how I was and you are embarrassed to workout anywhere near another person, you need to work on changing the mental before you can change the physical.

I am about to take Brynlee to the park. The weather is supposed to get up to 80 today and down in the 40s tomorrow! So I want us to get out there and get a good workout in then play at the park. GET IT GUURRRL!

What are you doing for exercise today?

 

"Now joblessness isn't just for philosophy majors." - Kent Brockman

Let me start this by saying that I am not technically a "Stay at Home Mom". I am actually an "Unemployed Mom Desperately Wanting to Get a Job". I have now been without a job for 25 days. That is about 20 days too long. Well technically the last day I physically worked was March 8th, but I consider myself unemployed as of March 18th thanks to Spring Break and personal days counting toward my contract. :) Okay, before I sound like a total jerk here, I have enjoyed staying at home with Brynlee and putting her in time out hanging out with her every.single.day.all.freaking.day.long. Okay, maybe I didn't sound sincere there so let me try again. I have mostly enjoyed staying at home with Brynlee, (here is the big ole...) BUT I am definitely designed to be a working Mom.

 

 

I found that picture to be funny. I am sure my husband knows that I don't sit on the couch smoking a cigarette, LOL, but I am sure he thinks I play Sorority Life and Candy Crush Saga all day long. I also don't consider myself to be Super Mom by any means.

 

 

I finally got the call I have been waiting for from the job that I really, really want. Unfortunately, it was bad news. The managers narrowed the candidates down from six to two, me being one of the two. The Area Director called me today and said that it was "very close" and that it came down to the Regional Director's decision and she went with the other candidate. She said that they will be hiring another one in a couple of months and that she will definitely be calling me first. Of course, I hope I am employed by then (well, I BETTER BE). She was very sincere and apologetic. From the conversations we had, I had the vibe that she really wanted me to get the job. I was very thankful and polite. I have to be honest and say that I am incredibly bummed. I've applied for 40+ jobs since February and had 4 interviews. Two of the jobs I did not want at all once I had the interview, one job I would have liked to have and was supposed to have a second interview but was never contacted by the manager (yes, I called her too), and the last job I just really, really wanted. It was the perfect fit for me and my career goals. So I am incredibly disappointed. I was really hoping for some good news especially after what we've gone through this week with Roscoe suddenly passing away. I know that there are people in this world who have it way worse than me. But honestly, that is not an effective pain killer for me. If anything, it makes me feel worse and guilty for being a disappointed Negative Nancy.

 

I am not sure if I am happy to hear that I was one of the two final candidates and that it was such a hard decision or upset to hear that the other person beat me! Some of you know that I can be sorta kinda super competitive. I don't have to be the best 100% of the time, but I do like to set competitive goals. For example, when we did long distance runs in high school, I used to always follow directly behind this girl named Courtney because I knew she always made her runs in a decent time. So I would follow behind her for the entire run just listening to and paying attention to her foot steps and then I would sprint by her super fast at the end to beat whatever her time was. LOL. I know that sounds so childish and I only really did it to keep myself from slowing down...and to beat her, of course. It wasn't a race or anything. It was just for us to get our endurance up during off season from softball, but it was a competition in my head. Since she was technically a better long distance runner than me, but I was a better sprinter than her, I still won in the end. LOL

 

Anyway, if you're a praying person, please send some prayers up that I get a (good) job ASAP. I applied for 4 more jobs today. I search every day, but it seems like I am not qualified (bilingual or Masters degree) for a lot of the ones that have been posted lately. I've applied for a lot of jobs that I haven't even received a response to. I just don't know what I am doing wrong! *Sigh*

 

 

 

The one best place to bury a good dog is in the heart of his master.



Roscoe
April 2009-April 2013

April 8th was a sad day for Joey and I. I went for a bike ride after dinner with Paige, Christina, and our two toddlers. I didn't bring my phone because I didn't have anywhere to put it and we weren't going to be going far. I saw Joey's car coming down the street and wondered where he was going. He drove up to me and looked upset. He said that his Mom thinks Roscoe is dying. Joey's Mom and Step-Dad are nice enough to keep the dogs for us while we get established down here. They called on Sunday and said that Roscoe was being very sluggish, not eating well or drinking, and just laying in one spot. I don't know all of the details because they talked to Joey, but the news wasn't good. He was pooping blood and couldn't move. He was very weak. They tried to call the vet we use and she turned her cell phone off. They eventually got in touch with another vet. The vet said it sounds like Roscoe had a tumor in his intestines that ruptured. There was nothing left to do for him. He was barely holding on and was going to pass away. I am incredibly sad and I feel really bad that we could not be there with him. We couldn't hold him. We couldn't love on him. We couldn't look into his sad eyes and tell him that we love him. I know that Janet and Larry were there for him the entire time. I just wonder if he thinks we gave him away. I don't want him to think that we didn't want him or love him. I miss him so much and am having a really hard time dealing with his death.

We got Roscoe in May of 2009. We got him when he was a new little chubby puppy. His mom put her neck in a pipe, got stuck, broke her neck, and died. She left behind 10+ puppies. When we got Roscoe, we fell in love with him. He was so cute and thought he was so tough with his tiny little playful growl.

 

He went through his ugly stage, but luckily didn't stay that way for long. He just got SO TALL so fast.

 

We brought a new kitten into our family in August 2009 and Roscoe didn't even care. He would play with her (gently) and even sleep by her. He was very curious about her. This picture is when we first brought Rita home. She's a little blurry, lol.



Rita always jumped on him and he didn't even care.



 



He was hanging out with me in the house this day.



Just waiting for Daddy to get home.



Kissing Rita

Roscoe was happy when we moved to a bigger house with a big fenced yard. He could run around as much as he wanted. We really wanted him to have another dog to play with all day while we were at work. So in the summer of 2010, we got him a female friend, Roxie, and he warmed up to her on the first day she arrived. Roxie, on the other hand, took a while to get used to having Roscoe follow her everywhere. Eventually, they became the best of pals.

 

 


Best Friends.

We had numerous snow days in February 2011. I let the pups hang inside with me. I couldn't really go rough house in the snow with them because I was 4 months pregnant. Roscoe always got a bit rough in the snow so I didn't want him to knock me down! I brought them in and we played all day. We even had a dance party, but I didn't have anyone to take pictures of us dancing. <3

 

 
 

 



They wanted my Cheeto Puffs!

"If you have a dog, you will most likely outlive it; to get a dog is to open yourself to profound joy and, prospectively, to equally profound sadness." This is very true. I am very happy that we had Roscoe for the little bit of time that we did. He was the best dog. He was very friendly, sweet, and playful. He was so easy going, not jealous at all, and really loved us. I only saw him get aggressive one time and it was right after I had Brynlee. Joey was at work, Brynlee was napping, and the electricity guy had to check our meter in our backyard. All of a sudden, I heard the deepest, scariest growl I have ever heard. Then I heard a long, VERY deep bark. I looked outside and Roscoe was about 2 feet from the electricity guy. He wasn't snarling, but his bark and growl let me (and the man) know that he was in protective mode. When he looked at and saw me at the patio door, his bark and growl got even deeper. It was as if he was telling this man, "Look, my mom and baby are in that house and I dare you to try something." I felt so incredibly protected by him. Roxie, not so much. She just went and hid in her dog box. I think she was even scared of Roscoe at that point! Roscoe followed (barking and growling) the man all the way until he left our yard and closed the gate. The man walked backward the entire way. When the guy went into our neighbor's yard, Roscoe still barked at him but he went back to his normal bark. I've never heard that bark or growl again.

I am deeply saddened by our loss. I know Joey isn't very good at showing his emotions, but I know he is very sad, too. He loved Roscoe so much. We both hope Roscoe knows how much we loved him.

My brother and Paige sent me these beautiful angel dog flowers today. Of course, they made me cry.

Roscoe--We love you. We're sorry we were not there to hold you while you took your last breaths. We're sorry we were not there to tell you that we love you. We're sorry that we couldn't take your pain away. We hope you know that we love you so very much and hope we see you again someday.

 

 

"Marriage halves our griefs, doubles our joys, and quadruples our expenses."

It makes sense to me that the trials and tribulations of marriage (which are bound to happen) should be spread out over many years as opposed to slapping you in the face from the beginning. I think that every couple should get to have a few years of bliss before the rocky roads. Then experience some challenges that bring you closer and stronger as a couple. These challenges shouldn't be too difficult, but shouldn't be too easy either. We all know that humans are not perfect so we cannot expect marriage to be. It is hard to live with someone else. It is hard to merge your lifestyles. It's difficult to become new parents, experience sickness, death of loved ones, job changes, homebuying, and other life issues. These issues are going to happen. There's no way to avoid them. Some people may argue that they'd rather just get all of the problems out in the beginning, learn from them, and move on. I, on the other hand, think that more marriages would survive if not too many problems happened at once.

Joey and I just celebrated our two year anniversary. We got married on March 19, 2011 and the last two years have been extremely difficult on our marriage. We were together for 3 years before we got married and had lived together for two of those years so we were not strangers to living together. We got married when I was 5 months pregnant. We did plan to get pregnant with Brynlee and it was not important to us that we weren't married when we got pregnant, but it was important to us (me) to get married before she was born. During our first year of marriage, we were not only newlyweds, but new parents. Up all day and night feeding a hungry baby, sleepless nights, lack of homecooked meals, new financial responsibilities of a baby, and a house that never seemed clean enough. It was hard for me to return to work when she was 6 weeks old. I've never wanted to be a stay at home Mom, but I wish maternity leave in the US allowed Moms to stay home with their babies a little longer. I would have loved to stay home longer, but we need my paycheck each month. It made me very sad to leave her with someone else. I think one of the hardest jobs a working Mom has is trusting someone else to take care of her baby while she goes to work. It's exhausting to be up all night with a baby, take her to daycare to go to work, then come home to cook, clean, and take care of the baby. I was exhausted by the time I got to bed every night. Lots of fights and petty arguments happened. It was a hard adjustment and luckily, we had an easy baby.

During our second year of marriage, Joey got sick. He started to get sick in February. He had 4 hospital stays, two major surgeries, and a colostomy bag for 14 weeks. It was rough. He missed a lot of work and used all of his sick and personal days before the end of March. Each of his hospital visits were at least 4 days. He had to have a PICC line put in. A PICC line (peripherally inserted central catheter) was inserted into his right arm and connected to a large vein near his heart. He had heavy duty outpatient antibiotics every morning for 9 days. It's even a pain to take care of. We had to wrap his arm up every night so that he could shower. Water could not get into the PICC line or it was considered an emergency and he would have to go to the ER and have it fixed. Having water enter the PICC line is very dangerous and life threatening. So we had to be very careful. His first surgery was on May 17th. Here is my post about that. The surgeon was hoping to avoid a colostomy bag, but wouldn't know until he got in there. They removed 8-10 inches of his colon. When the surgeon came out to talk to us after his surgery, he said that this was the worst case of Diverticulitis that he has ever seen.  He said that Joey would have the colostomy bag for 4-6 weeks and then they would go back in and put him together. 14 weeks later and he still had the bag. He couldn't go swimming. We couldn't go to any Ranger's games or go camping. He couldn't do much of anything because he always had to go back home to change/clean the bag. If we went to dinner, he would have to go home right after to take care of his bag. One time, we had to leave dinner in the middle because his bag filled up. You see, those things are hard to empty and clean. It's a lot of work. There's no way I would want my husband having to do that in a public restroom. It was often annoying and frustrating to have to leave whatever we were doing to go home, but I know that we had to. In August, he was scheduled for a colonoscopy to see how his colon was healing in order to schedule surgery number two. Here is my post about his follow up colonoscopy. His second surgery was August 23rd. We were told that it would be about a 2 hour surgery. It turned into a 5 hour surgery. I was at the hospital from 12pm-10pm. It was a long, stressful day. I briefly posted about it here. So the health issues turned into financial struggles, emotional difficulties, and a whole world of other problems. Joey was not able to hold Brynlee and this really upset him. When he did return to work, he had to be put on a light load. Luckily, he now has a clean bill of health. As long as he avoids nuts and popcorn, he shouldn't have any future issues.

Also during our second year of marriage, we wanted to buy a house. We finally got caught up and slightly ahead from the financial struggles of him missing so much work in 2012. In October, we started the home buying process. You see, I never thought we'd be able to buy a house due to Joey's credit score. He had some issues (young, dumb, and in love with his ex) where they made some bad decisions that made his credit score jump off a cliff. I worked really hard to help get his credit up to where we needed it. We were finally pre-approved through our lender. We found a nice house that we both liked and were happy with.  A few days before the grace period (to back out of the house with no questions asked), we were told that the loan program we were pre-approved for had expired. We now had to get his score up an additional 13 points in order to qualify for different loan program. Oh my gosh. It is HARD to get a score up 13 points and get it up FAST. Our lender used the Rapid Rescoring software to tell us what we needed to do to get his credit score up higher. We everything she told us and it involved spending money that we didn't need to spend. We kept waiting to hear back and finally...bad news. His score was still 2 points too low. There was nothing else that we could do to get his score up higher. So we had to just accept that we were not granted the loan and back out of the house. We also lost the money that we had put up for the house. Luckily, it wasn't a TON of money, but it was money that we could have held on to. So not only did we deal with all of his health issues, but now we had the stress of buying a house...without ending up with the house. Before our home deal ended, we had started discussing possibly moving out of Wichita Falls. I think we both took it as a sign that maybe we're meant to be somewhere else. We really discussed it and decided to move to Dallas/Fort Worth in 2013.

Now, during our 3rd year of marriage, we have already faced a few life changing issues. We both quit our jobs in March and moved to Fort Worth. My brother and sister-in-law were nice enough to offer us a place to stay while we get established with jobs and work on buying a house here. I left my job in Wichita Falls on March 8th. We packed up our house and moved here on March 15th. Joey got a job right away in the same field that he was in in Wichita Falls. I, on the other hand, am still looking. As I mentioned in a previous post, I interviewed for a job that I REALLY want and am waiting for a second interview. The 2nd round was supposed to take place last week, but the Area Director and Regional Director are still working on scheduling them. I was told that I will definitely have a second interview so I have been praying that I get called this week. So here we are: living in someone else's house, only one of us has a job, and we don't have the income that we had in Wichita Falls since I haven't started working yet. Sigh. I can only hope that things will get better from here.

Today was our first day attending the new marriage series at church. It's called From This Day Forward. It is about five commitments to a fail proof marriage. Neither Joey and I are "church people". I haven't attended church since my Dad died in 2001. I have a lot of mixed feelings about religion that I won't go into here. Joey just doesn't "do" religion. I don't think he really has any beliefs at all. Anyway, I think that it is important for us to attend this marriage series together. Even if he decides to not attend church after these 5 weeks, that is fine. I am just happy that he is (sort of) open to attending the series with me. I just think that we need help at this point. I don't think there's anything wrong with asking for guidance (hello, I am in the counseling field), but I know that Joey will not attend marriage counseling. I would love to go see a Marriage and Family Therapist, but I have discussed this with him and he won't do it. I think it is wrong to force him to do something and that's not healthy for a marriage either.

We've already been through a lot together and I know that there will be more to come. We plan to buy a house here and have a second child. I know that one day we will lose Joey's grandparents and our own parents. It will be hard. We will need to stick together and be there for one another. I know that we will have children who go to college (hopefully) and that will be expensive since tuition increases every year. I know that we will have to stay connected as a couple so that we still have each other when our children grow up and move on to their own lives. "More marriages might survive if the partners realized that sometimes the better comes after the worse." -Doug Larson

It's sad and very disheartening to me that less than half of married couples stay married. I want to be in the 45% of couples that actually stay married. Marriage takes work. It's not easy. It's going to be hard, but it's going to be worth it.

 "Let all that you do be done in love..." -1 Corinthians 16:14

Get your butt movin'!

Brynlee and I started our morning afternoon with a nice walk. She loves riding in the jogging stroller. She did insist on bringing her baby with her, but then got mad because her baby was taking up room in the seat, lol. She loves wearing my Bondi Bands. Every time I put one on, she wants to wear one.

I haven't worked out in over a month. I have got to get back into the swing of things so that I start to feel better about myself, more energized, and healthy. I have already gained a few pounds just moving down here. Okay, it's obviously not from moving here. It's from eating too much, unhealthy food and not exercising. I don't complain about not losing weight (or even gaining) because I know that I am not doing what needs to be done. I cannot stand when people constantly BWM (bitch, whine, and moan) about not losing weight when they are doing everything NOT to lose weight: eating poorly, not exercising, just being lazy. 

I think I got into a little bit of a funk because I am sort of a SAHM (stay at home Mom) right now. It's not by choice. I definitely want (and need) to be working. I've applied for many jobs, had a few interviews, and am still in limbo. I honestly didn't think it would take me long to find a job and it's completely opposite. I mentioned in a previous post that I am waiting for a second interview with a non-profit organization that I really, really want to work for. I have wanted to get into the Foster Care/Adoption field for a while now. I know that I would be awesome at the job and really benefit the organization. The Area Director said that she is waiting on the Regional Director's schedule to open up before she can schedule 2nd interviews, but that she definitely wants a second interview with me. I am trying so hard to be patient. I just feel that with each passing day without a phone call that I am getting further away from getting this job. I have still been applying for other positions, but there hasn't been much posted lately.

So staying at "home" (brother and sister-in-law's house), no job, and limited adult interaction all day has put me in a funk. I figure that 3 weeks of sitting around is long enough so I woke up today at 7am 10am and planned to get some exercise. Thankfully, it stopped raining, but it sure is chilly outside. I am glad I brought a blanket for Brynlee (don't worry, she was plenty layered) because we walked into the wind a few times and she was smart enough to put the blanket in front of her face. Oh by the way, I love my Xersion Running Leggings that I got on clearance at JCPenney. I wasn't sure if I would like them, but I love them. They are snug without making me feel like a stuffed sausage!

Being that I have to take 5 pictures of Brynlee before I get a non-face making picture, I figured I'd share a silly one with you. She LOVES to make this face...

I have had my Garmin Forerunner for over a year and haven't had to charge it since the first day I got it. Today, it tells me that it has a low battery. Unfortunately, the USB cord is in our storage unit! I know that it is in my computer desk drawer, but am not sure if I can even get to the computer desk. That makes me sad! :( The storage unit is seriously packed. I think I am about to head over there and see if I can get to it. I have a PolarFt, but I like that the Garmin tells me my distance, time, calories burned, and pace (not that I really pay attention to the pace though). The PolarFt just tells me how many calories I've burned. So that doesn't really help me when I set a distance or time goal for my walks/runs. Sigh.

 

Have you exercised today?

 

 





Happy (belated) Valentine's Day!

I completely forgot to add Brynlee's Valentine's Day pictures. Let me preface these pictures by saying: She was a complete brat! She did not want to take pictures. She did not want anyone to touch her or tell her what to do. She whined, complained, and fussed A TON. She insisted on eating fruit snacks the entire time so that's why almost all of her pictures are of her holding a bag of fruit snacks. I bought her three adorable outfits and she was so pissed off when we wanted to change her. It was so frustrating, but luckily the photographer is very patient and friendly.

I can't believe how big she is now! Here's just a few of her Valentine's Day pictures from last year (by the same photographer).

I also made Brynlee a mailbox and asked family and friends to send her a Valentine's Day card. I read her the cards/letters and then I put them in her memory box for her to look at someday. I LOVE things like that. I keep her birthday cards, letters I have written to her, and other keepsake items. Hopefully she will read all of those things and know just how much everyone in her life loves her.