YIPPEEEE!!!!

Yesterday ended week one of the Summer Wellness Program. I lost 4 lbs! YIPPEEEEE!!! And this morning I was one more pound down. Amazing! I have only a few clothes I can fit into, but should be able to fit into my bigger clothes by next week. Most of my clothes I have are size 10's so I have a little while before I get into those. Our challenge this week is:

THREE PART – PLAN, REWARD, SHARE

1. WRITE DOWN your specific plan/goal:
a.Certain Weight? Pant Size? Specific Health Goal? A race?

2. DECIDE how to reward yourself without FOOD!
a.A manicure? A new pair of pants? A vacation? YOU choose, just
NOT food. It need not be costly, but DOES need to be for YOU!

3. SHARE YOUR PLAN!
a. Tell someone on your team about your plan and WHY it’s so important to
you.

Ok, So my goal is to be 136 lbs, although at the end of this, I may lower that. But, I'd be very happy to be this. That's me around a 7/8. I would like to be able to play dodgeball with my family without dying. I would also like to dabble in running. I plan on running a 5K in a month and will make more goals based upon that race. I would love to run the race in Savannah, GA over the bridge in December. I think that would be awesome!

Because I plan on winning the challenge, my prize money will go towards clothes. For my own reward, I also would like some new pots and pans and pretty dishes to eat on. (10 years of marriage and kids have kind of taken a toll on my kitchenware.) I really think when your food looks good, and is presented nicely, you take more time to eat it. I usually shovel, so I'm working on that. I think it would also be cool to take a cooking class. I have heard of these couple classes in Atlanta. That may be a fun anniversary.

There you go... I'm super excited and know this is going to be a challenge, but I already am feeling so much better. Wish me luck. ">

Baby Shower

My dear sweet friends threw me a baby shower at my favorite restaraunt that just opened up in Statesboro... Olive Garden. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. It was pretty easy to be good as I ate Soup and Salad (with dressing on the side) and breadsticks.... ok, had to eat 2, but these beautiful cupcakes, no problem saying no. I wanted them, but I had my one treat for the week (1 scoop icecream which by the way made me sick)....Anyways, we got so many adorable baby clothes and a few toys which Amie loved to give Mia. I am so blessed to have good friends.

From That to This

Ok, So how do you get from a cute pregnant person to a not so great looking after the fact? I am almost embarrassed to post this picture, but I want to be held accountable. I just started a new Summer Wellness Contest sponsored by one of my old roommates Dianne. She looks fantastic and it all started with cutting out her sugar, running and drinking water (lots). So, I'm in this contest for the next 12 weeks. There are 4 teams and we each submit points we earn for being healthy. It's a new way of living your life, rather than a diet. After the 12 weeks, there will be prizes distributed based on the points from the teams. I did this a few years ago, well, just cutting out sugar. And that alone, helped me lose the baby weight from Amie. Now, I'm exercising and just eating better. These first two days have been horrible. I have had a headache (Sugar Withdrawal is REAL), and now my body just aches. The first day I couldn't even ride the exercise bike with out dieing. Day 2 was a little better, but now I'm sorer than anything. I feel like it's basketball tryouts in High school all over again. Well, every 4 weeks I'll post a new picture of me. I know I'll reach my goal weight and then maybe reassess and shoot for a lower goal weight. I also would like to run a 5K on June 5th. That gives me a month to recover more from being dormant for 10 months. Wish me luck. I can't wait to let you see the new me!

Blast to the Past

When I finally rolled out of bed after getting Mia back to sleep, I didn't know what to expect the others to be doing. I heard the Wii on and Mollie's music blaring. (Hannah Montana). When I walked into the girls room this is what I found. They were sitting in front of the fan singing and dancing their hearts out. It reminded me of me when I used to do the same thing. What is it about the effects of the fan. Of course back then it was Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Belinda Carslile and Debbie Gibson.

Wow! Almost a whole year since I've written. Much has happened since my last post...... We had a wonderful summer full of fun... spent a rainy camping trip with my family at Disney, played at the pool in Augusta, GA with Brian's family, went to Ashville, NC for my 10 year anniversary with my sweetheart, oh, got pregnant.... so that brings us to 9 months later. We now have our 5th addition!

MIA DANIELLE RUSSELL

Born on March 25th at 10:46 am

7.0 lbs 19.5 inches long

She is such a sweetie! She has Benjamin's temperament and we are so thankful. She eats well, sleeps well (of course she grunts all night, but that's better than crying right?!) She tolerates all the loving and holding and hugging and kissing that the rest of the kids give her and she is just a wonderful blessing to our family.

I'm feeling great and ready to get back into a routine. I'm even up for a Summer Wellness Challenge and will keep you updated on that. I hope to be better at posting. I am great at looking at others blogs and realized if I just took a few minutes less on that, I'd have time to do mine. So, here I go once again.

Catch Up!

How does everyone keep their photos organized? I had been downloading all photos to my Kodak program and then keeping them on until I either ordered the prints or put them on disks. Well, my computer is doing "funny" things and it even had a crash warning last week, so I have been trying to get everything off of it just in case. I bought a portable drive and did accomplish to save everything, but in the meantime found out I had multiples of each picture. No wonder my computer was dying, I had 7,000 pictures on it and 100's of video clips. I would download a picture and then create an album and it would be in several folders. I had no idea. So, I have finally put 2008 and 2009 pictures on Picasa and then on my disk drive and then I can also order from it. I'm hoping this works out for keeping organized and up to date.

Ok, let's see... what's going on. First of all isn't this picture cute? We went Strawberry picking with our homeschool group and Amie had to do what the rest were doing. I think though there was more on her and in her then were in the bucket.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day too! I got the three disc Twilight movie. You know, I had been reading the books as they came out, so when the movie was out, I did not like it at all. I thought it was .... I don't know, just didn't like it. Well, after the second time seeing it, it sure did grow on me. Now I love it. Of course, the books are much better. I've read them all twice and want to read them again, but I'm trying to read all of Jane Austin's novels. I think, even though there are only 7, it will take me time.

Next on the list this month was of course Mollie's Birthday. She is 9! Can you believe it? She is growing so much and such a sweetie. We were going to have an American Girl "Tea" party, but she opted for her gift instead (and dad gave in.....A DOG!) Brian said he would NEVER have a dog and I swore I would never have a cat. Well, I guess I won. :) So we had her a combined party at Grandma's house and then on her actual birthday, we had a donut cake and then took her out to Chick-fil-A (her pick) On Saturday we went and picked up Bella (she was already named that, it wasn't from Twilight although I thought it was a sign :)). She LOVES her and has been doing a really good job of taking her out etc. Plus it's my workout partner. She has been jogging with me every morning.

Oh, back to Mollie. She is so cute. We were working on her Faith in God for girls book for church and in it she had to write her testimony. Well, one night she spent some time in her room and when she came out she had written a very sweet testimony/ life story in one book. I am so thankful to have such a sweet daughter who loves the Lord.