And the week begins...

A little to do list for this lovely morning. (because who doesn't love a list-filled post every now and then?)


To do:

1. Get internet and utilities set up for new house.

2. Pick out colors for girls room.

3. Pack. Pack.  PACK.

4. Search aimlessly all home decor sights on the computer all day long.

5. Talk about the new house to the girls as much as possible.

6. Dream about everything that is just better at the new house.

7. Worry just a little about the unknowns with this new house.

8. Take a minute to look around this soon-to-be-old-house and remember the good times.

9. Smile constantly because we'removinginlessthanaweek!!

10. Make lunch. (Hey - it needs to be done.)




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Food, Cardio, Pictures

We are moving in one week. Cue the excitement.

I'm anticipating  a few moments of freaking out because time is going too fast/moaning about how long this week is taking/trying to distract the girls and myself. It's going to be crazy over here.

I took a few days off from blogging and now my mind seems to be broken or at least sprained. I can't think of anything to write. Thankfully I have a bunch of pictures of the girls being ridiculous adorable at the new Chili's in town. Yes, we ate at Chili's. We tried to find a cute local coffee shop and struck out twice in a row because they were out of business. What is with that? We just want authentic! We drove around so much that Josie fell asleep and we didn't get to even sit down to eat until after 1:00, unheard of for this little family these days.

I also made Tikka Masala. It was amazing and I am loving trying a bunch of new recipes and types of cuisines. Any other suggestions to keep it interesting around here? I want to try new foods that aren't your standard steak-and-potatoes-with-a-side-of-veggies variety.

Credit

I was surprised that Josie ate it and liked it. She's up for anything if you time it right. Most days, though, I can count on a solid breakfast and eating like a bird for the rest of the day. Weirdo kid... so unlike her mama that can eat all day long. :)

What are some good workouts that have low impact on the feet? I'm not up for swimming at this point, although maybe down the road I would. I don't mind riding bike but would like more variety... Let me know if you have any good ideas! Even things like punching the air while squatting for one minute. Those types of things count as cardio too and I could sub them in place for the harder-on-the-feet cardio activities in 30ds. Thoughts?

I've got nothing else. So sorry. Enjoy the pictures!

Amazing. 15 PPs.

Kraft Mac-n-cheese. Paid $3 for that bowl. Consider me a sucker.

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Non Scale Victories and a weigh in

Remember how I mentioned that little time period in the middle of the day called nap time? And how I tend to get "hungry" and want to munch on anything that isn't healthy? BAM. Beat that down to the ground this week. I planned for it, so the pretzel braids I had were no big thang and I topped it off with a handful of grapes. It was perfect. Oh if only every day were so simple as this. 

It's only been a couple of weeks since I've started losing weight for real, but it's been years in the making of changing my life style and food habits. I've always known the basics, that I need to eat way more fruits and vegetables and limit the carbs but still include some. I know that I need to eat good fats and not just avoid all of them altogether. I've been working on eating more protein and reducing but not eliminating dairy. Seriously, it's a huge process. But. the results are pretty incredible. You guys, I love so many more varieties of food. I love Indian, real Chinese (not Americanized), Thai, and Italian (of course). American food in all of its fatty goodness doesn't have as much appeal to me lately. I still make it, for the family of course, but overall I've been leaning more towards recipes centered around vegetables and spices with a lot of flavor. My taste palate has changed immensely. I am absolutely loving eating vegetables like crazy and have tried a bunch of new recipes, almost all of them being successes with myself and the family. I don't want as much sugar (although I still have enough to not go crazy binging later). Seriously, if I can keep this up and make it a legit lifestyle change, then I'll be golden for never gaining it back.

This week, I started doing the 30 Day Shred (Jillian Michaels). It's not so bad, although I can't say that I am doing every single second of it. I still take 5 second breaks every so often but yes definitely there is a difference already... three days in. I love that it is short, but I can see how boring it will get if I don't mix it up. Mostly, I am doing it because it's not running and it's not walking so my foot is less affected. I still feel some foot pain though, so I need to watch it.

And lastly, I am feeling comfortable in my clothes more and more. It helps that I just stocked up on a few more tank tops, but this is one of the perks that I most look forward to. Being comfortable makes such a huge difference when it comes to repeated success in this process. (Don't I sound like such an expert? Ha.) When you feel good, you want to keep feeling good, right? Take it and run, girl. (A little self pep talk never hurt anybody!)

And now for the weigh in results. 3.2 lbs down this week! That's a great amount, although Weight Watchers is telling me it's too much in one week. I'm not too worried about it since I am working out and doing some strength training. My total weight loss is 10.2 lbs. A great start.

As always, check out KTJ Weighing In for more inspiration and Non Scale Victories.

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A little happy with your sad (A memory)

It's no secret among my family that awkward laughter can almost always be heard through the tears. Sometimes it is just easier to laugh than it is to cry, even though it doesn't make sense on the surface or look just right.

Four years ago, my uncle got stomach cancer and fought for his life. He didn't win that fight, and in April, we headed to the cities to attend his funeral and be as supportive as we could for his family. It was such a hard trip. There's nothing fun about seeing family suffer, mourning someone that you loved, wondering how or where to go from here. 

Amid all of the sadness was one little ray of happiness. It was my sister's birthday. Not just any birthday, though. It was her eighteenth birthday. She was so aware of everything that day, that it wasn't really appropriate to be parading her excitement around, that people couldn't be expected to remember or give her more than a quick "Happy birthday." It was hard on her, and I could tell. She's the kind of girl that loves to celebrate, not just her birthdays, but everyone's. She loves to make others feel extra important and flat out loved. It truly seemed unfair that her big milestone birthday was not to be celebrated.

I grabbed my cousin, the one that my sister adored the most and that loved her back like her very own sister. I told her what was happening and we agreed that we needed to secretly do something fantastic for her. We snuck away to a local Dairy Queen and found the best cake we could. We even had them write on it with icing. This is no small thing, since her name is LARA, frequently confused for LAURA. They even got that right! It was definitely as perfect as we could have hoped for.

After we got this cake, we realized that we had no good way of getting her to see it without awkwardly parading in front of our family after the funeral. We put on our thinking caps and decided that she needed to come to us. As we parked around the block, by the little park just down the street, I got out my phone and gave her a call, "Lara, come down the street to the park. No, just do it. Hurry up! Just do it. Seriously. Just do it." She was hesitant and confused, and I'll never forget the look on her face when she saw us standing there with a big pretty cake just for her birthday. We laughed so hard that we almost cried (typical, no?) and snuck back into the house to enjoy a piece before it all melted.

The cake ended up abandoned in the freezer of my aunt's house and I'm sure she wondered where in the world it came from, but the memory of this was worth all of the trouble. 

Just this past weekend, my mom and I were walking past this same park and I knew I needed to write this little story down so I'd never forget it. Because, you see, my sister is great at birthdays. And she deserves to have great birthdays. It's a happy story, even with all of the sad.



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