DIY Friday

Ahhh! I had a whole post written and somehow it disappeared! So, here it is in short form. I don't have a very exciting post for you this week. There was not much DIY brilliance around my house. However, I have a good reason. I was busy planning my DIY brilliance. (OCD, remember!) So, here are my main goals for this month.

{1} hang closet doors that have been in my living room for months

{2} paint and hang doors for entertainment unit

{3} clean/declutter/rearrange my bedroom & sewing room

{4} paint TJ's room green

{5} get Dad to commit to changing the color of the kitchen cabinets, then do it before he changes his mind!

{6} use my newly organized sewing room to do something crafty!

There we go. Now it's time to get to work!

Thankful Thursday

I'm a planner.  A list maker.  Maybe a little OCD.  I love planners.  I wasn't super thrilled with the one I had last year, so starting September, I began looking for a new one.  I tried one from Clean Mama Printables and it had some good aspects, but I didn't like that it fit in a big binder.  It wasn't easy to carry with me.  By December, I decided I needed a more portable planner (yes, I know I have and iPhone 4s, but technology and I rarely get along.  I'm trying, but I still don't have it mastered!)  I was on the hunt.  I wanted it to be cute and functional.  After many hours of searching, I came across this on pinterest (yay pinterest!)

image from here

I love it. It fits in my purse and it has all sorts of fabulous stuff with it. One of the fabulous things that came with it is the 30 Day Gratitude Challenge. She has collected 30 different quotes and then a journaling challenge along with each quote. I've decided to make it a 30 week rather than 30 day. Really give myself time to think! I may not blog all of my answers as they're pretty personal. In fact, I may end up not blogging many. But that's not the point. The point is I want to be more aware of my blessings. And this will help! So here goes!

Gratitude Challenge #1

Journal Challenge

This one is really challenging for me at this time. I feel like the last 10+ years have been so full of drama and trials that its hard to distinguish where one begins and another ends. (I've said countless times I should write a soap opera based on my life!) I know I've learned some things from them, but I'm sure hoping that what I've got so far isn't all I'm getting out of these doozies! But I'm trying. I especially love that last paragraph. I often feel guilty for not getting all "what am I supposed to learn from this" in the midst of some trials. But I don't need to feel guilty. I don't have to be grateful right now. I just have to determine to work on being grateful someday. And in the meantime, look for the joy in the other areas of my life. I kind of love that thought.



So, there you go. Week #1. Want to join in? Let me know! If you want to, I can try and figure out how to add one of those things where you can add your link. I may have to bribe someone smarter than me with brownies, but I'd do it! Even if you don't want to join in, try and spend more energy looking for the joy in your life this week!

Weight Loss Wednesday

I think this is by far the most difficult day for me.  It also the most necessary.  I have battled with my weight my entire life.  The thing is, I don't eat a lot.  I don't even eat very unhealthily (generally!)  I never have.  (Ok not quite never.  There was a breif 3 month peiod I'll talk about in a minute!) My mom never cooked with salt, I really don't like the taste of it.  I don't drink a lot of soda (maybe a 3 or 4 cans a week) and its always diet (I know, aspartame will kill me!).  I used to be quite and active person and, even now, I don't just sit and watch tv.  I'm moving.  I may not be working out like I used to or running or playing soccer, but I don't sit a whole lot during my day.  So, why am I gigantic?  There are a few reasons.

#1     I was my smallest while in university and even then, I was a 10/12.  However, I felt great about myself then.  Not because I was "skinny" (clearly a 12 is not skinny!) but because I felt healthy.  I had so much more energy and, while I was still a little self conscious, I learned to truly love myself, inside and out.  Then life happend and I had to move back home.  I was so depressed, I literally did nothing but eat, sleep and cry for three solid months.  It was an awful time.  I gained a TON of weight (not literally, but close enough!) I really just didn't care about anything.  At all.  I gained over 80 pounds in 3 months.  Yep, you read that right.  Crazy.  Stupid. 

#2     I have a very serious hormone imbalance.  Its why they thought I couldn't have kids and why my 3 little monkeys truly are miracles (I know every baby is a miracle, mine are just more so!).  Its why I'm tested for ovarian cancer regularly (I've had a couple of scares and its no fun!)  Its why my skin/hair/nails/ect don't do what normal peoples do.  Its why I'm super irregular (TMI?  Sorry!)  What does that have to do with weight loss you ask?  Well, estrogen is the hormone that makes girls girls, right? (I know, oversimplifying it!) My body goes through cycles.  I either have almost no estrogen or I have crazy excessive amounts.  Estrogen holds on to fat.  Thats why women naturally have a higher percentage of fat than men.  So, while my body is estrogen deprived, the little that is left is working overtime.  Like, 90 hour week kind of overtime.  One of its overtime duties is to hoard fat.  It fights to hold on to it.  While my my body is overrun with estrogen, its not fighting to hold onto it, but there are way more estrogen girls running around holding fat's hand than in a normal female body. 

SO, getting to the point, it is about 10x more difficult for me to lose weight than the average female.  Let me give you an example.  Shortly before I got pregnant with Kezia, I had decided the time had come to really get serious about this whole weight loss thing.  I joined the lifestyles program, which is run through the local clinic.  Basically, its a program to educate you about food and what you should and shouldn't eat, proper portion sizes ect.  They have this amazing scale that measures bone density ect and lets you know what weight would be ideal for you as well as fat percentage and water percentage and stuff like that.  So, I was going for weekly weigh ins.  I signed up for a bootcamp.  I got up at 5 am 3 mornings a week and went to this crazy stupid workout.  It was intense.  Even the skinny girls thought so!  The days I didn't have boot camp, I'd still get up at 5 and do a workout video of somekind.  After bootcamp/video, I'd do yoga for 45 minutes.  Most days (at least 4 days a week) my friend and I would load our kids in the stroller and go for a walk.  I'm not talking a walk around the block either.  I'm talking minimum 2 hour-usually closer to 3 or 4 hour walks.  Then at least 3 evenings a week I'd go for another walk or do another dvd.  Once summer came and the pool opened, I added early morning water aerobics after bootcamp, followed by morning lane swim and then occasionally afternoon lane swim.  I was watching what I was eating SO closely, keeping a journal, everything I was supposed to do.  I did this for just over 6 months.  Want to know the most I lost in a week during that 6 month period.  0.2 pounds.  Yup, not even one whole pound in a week.  And my fat percentage barely moved either.  Meanwhile, my friend who was doing the same thing I was doing was averaging 5-7 pounds a week.  Talk about frustrating.

So, why am I telling you all of this?  Because I know that this is going to be a very discouraging challenge for me and I need your help.  If you see me, even if I don't really look like I've lost anything, lie to me ;)  Don't let me give up, no matter how much I might yell about only losing .2 pounds.  Make me keep going.  Just keep sending your love my way.  I'll need it!

10 on Tuesday

1. My to do list in the house feels completely insurmountable, but I'm determined to push on.

2. James is in the final stage of interviews for both fedral and provincial positions and its looking more and more like we're going to be moving. Not going to lie, not looking forward to it.

3. January has flown by. At this rate, it's going to be another year of not being ready for Christmas!

4. I am going to pick up our newest order of shoes this week and am SO excited!! There are some SUPER hot shoes coming!

5. I can't get enough of the Big Bang Theory. Love it!

6. I finally figured out how I want to arrange our bedroom, now I just need to make the time to do it!

7. Tomorrow is my last official day of working with Terry. I'm kind of happy about it though. I'm not sure how we're going to pay for living, but I've been feeling really overwhelmed lately and feeling like I wasn't doing what I should be for my kiddos. Now I have time to really focus on them and raise them the way I want to.

8. James is in charge of organizing the graduation dinner for his class and they are doing a couple of fundraisers to help lower ticket prices. The first one is a bake sale on the 13th. I love baking so I'm very excited, but would love any great recipe ideas!

9. I HATE the wind!!

10. We got a dog and I love her to pieces! I was really nervous, but she is so well trained and great with the kids. The first night we got her, TJ pulled up a box next to her kennel and slept by her!

And because they were missing yesterday, here are a few recent pics of baby girl.

Mommy Monday - Where are they now?

So, what better way to start off this new blogging foray than with an overview of the little lovlies I get to be mommy to!

TJ

- Started preschool in September and loves it. In fact, he woke up puking one day this past week and when I told him that meant he couldn't go to preschool, he cried so hard! We ended up having to call his teacher and have her tell him that it was ok for him to stay home and get better.

- Is so caring. He is very concerned with how people are feeling and wants people to be happy.

-Is very polite.

- Can go from being the happiest, most helpful little man to a screaming monster in about .1 of a nanosecond. (On a side note, I am completely out of ideas as to how to deal with these tantrums!)

-Loves playing with pretty much anybody.

- Loves to have books read and has started to "read" to Myles and Kezia.

- Eats like a bird. But will eat most food. He loves seafood, especially shrimp!

- Wears a 5/6 because he's tall, but can fit his waist into 24 month (even some 18 month) clothes.

-Is ALWAYS writing "notes" He gets post its from the office and scribbles on them then will bring them to me and tells me what they say. Ususally, its something about inviting a friend for a playdate.

Myles

-Is the busiest little thing a going. TJ never did the whole go through the cupboards, pull everything off/out of everywhere thing. Myles has perfected it.

-Eats like crazy. Especially fruit. He'll pack away a 2 lb thing of straberries if you let him.

-Is very stubborn and not very patient.

-Wants to do everything TJ does.

-Gets VERY sad when TJ or Daddy leave for school, but usually has no issues when I leave.

-Is becoming very snuggly.

-Calls every movie "Rio"

-Isn't talking nearly as much as I think he should, but apparently he is ok.

-Is fitting between 18 and 24 month clothes.

-Still has a soother at bedtime.

-Has the most mischevious grin.

-We call him "SMyles". I'm sure you can guess why.

-Will go for one nap a day.

Kezia

(this picture was taken at my cousin's baby blessing. Bradey was born a few days before Kezia)

*I realized as I was putting this post together that there is a sad lack of pictures of Kezia. That will be remedied this week!*

-Is still pretty tiny (don't have an exact weight, but am going to weigh in again this week.

-She just outgrew newborn clothes two weeks ago, but only in length. They still fit best around.

-Army crawls like crazy and has actually crawled for the past week, but it slows her down, so she usually goes back to army crawling.

-Pulls herself up on her knees.

-Has been drooly and chewing on everything for almost two months, but still no teeth.

-Loves solid foods (or as solid as baby food gets!)

-Smiles and giggles and talks like crazy!

-Loves her brothers and lights up when she sees them.

-Doesn't always love her carseat.

-Naps at least twice a day.

-Goes to bed around 8 and wakes up around 9, sometimes waking up once to eat around 5:30 ish.

Here we go!

Ok folks, here it is! My foray back into blogging! I've decided if I'm going to do this, I'm going to go all the way! I do much better when I have a list or a schedule, so I'm going to have a different topic to blog about each day. Most posts won't be long and some may not include pictures (mostly because my picture taking skills are atrocious!) but I figure if I'm going to do it, I may as well do it right! Want to know what I'm going to write about? Me too! Just kidding! Here it is...

Mommy Monday - Anything pertaining to mommyhood. Funny things my kids say or do, challenges I'm having, new things I want to try or have tried, pretty much whatever I think pertains to me being a mom!

10 on Tuesday - If you read most of the blogs I follow, you'll know this is not my idea! This is either just 10 random things or maybe a top 10 list, that kind of thing.

Weight Loss Wednesday - Umm, obviously I could stand to lose some weight. Not because I want to be skinny, but I want to be healthy for my kids and my future. And you get to follow me on my journey. I'll share the things I learn or find really helpful as well as (hopefully) my progresss.

Thankful Thursday - I'm doing this really awesome gratitude challenge and I'm going to share it with you! Maybe you can play along too!

DIYF - Instead of TGIF, its DIYF. Yep, Do it yourself Friday. I know, its not the best title, but its the best I could think of. I'm open to suggestions! I'm going to write about our renovations or maybe some crafty hack or something of that sort. Hopefully, this will give me motivation to actually finish projects!

Self-Reliant Saturday - This is something that has always been important to me, but recently it's really been on my mind. So, as I get my family prepared, I'll share what I learn and do with you!

Sundays will be my break/day to regroup and plan. Here's hoping it will work.

Coming Soon?

I want to blog. I miss it. I might just get to it this week. We'll see. Well, maybe I'll see as I doubt anyone even reads this old thing any more!