Moving?

For awhile now my hubby and I have been talking and thinking about moving. It's a hard decision, one that requires a lot more then just a "want to". Especially when you have a child to care for too. You have to think about all the pro's and con's and what if's. Not to mention right now both of our immediate family still lives here and I know for one, as crazy as family can be sometimes, I just can't imagine not being able to see them every day or every other day. Or not having them around to help watch Gianna when we need a break. To be honest, they are the reason we stay where we are. But this past weekend when we went and visited Huntsville we just know our hearts are not meant to be in Rutherford County for much longer and certainly not the rest of our lives. I don't want to raise my child here, I really want to move somewhere where there are quality schools, good job opportunities (since I do plan to go back to work in a couple of years when Gi starts school.) and fun things to do without having to drive an hour or longer. Driving around our old apartment area, seeing all the new things they've built up in the past four years is amazing! H'ville is booming, busy and changing and we love that. We like the city feel much more then the country feel but Hville has a little bit of both. Both of my grandparents live there, and other family lives within an hour and half drive. If we can just talk our family here into moving and find some good jobs we'll be set! Lol! It is certainly something we are thinking about daily, starting to pray about more earnestly and desire greatly. So many things have to fall in to place first and if it's meant to be then I believe God will line those up for us. It's hard to be patient, I want a yes/no answer right now but that usually not how it works. So we are praying, and we ask that you would pray that God would give us an answer....a clear one. We need more room, a place for Beej to have a studio set up, a place where Gianna can play outside more, etc. I know God has a big plan for us, I'm just not sure what all it entails and when and where! But we are eagerly awaiting.....

Scattered.

I had a long day of running around with the fam today. Always interesting and I managed to eat pretty well today too despite eating out twice. It's a lot harder then you think but thanks to modern technology you can look up anything and find out the calories, etc. before you eat it! We had Chinese for lunch and that's always hard because there is so much sodium in everything they cook. But I had about 1/4 cup of rice and chicken and broccoli. I kept it to a very small portion because I knew the calories would be higher since it wasn't prepared "clean". And I packed my snack/meals for in between lunch and dinner. Dinner we had Mexican and I had grilled chicken strips, 1/2 c. refried beans and tomato salsa. NO chips or cheese dip! (Here is where I bow and smile really big because I'm always proud of myself when I resist the chips!). My "snack" tonight is small since I used up most of my calories earlier today - frozen grapes but they are oh, so yummy!!!
I weighed at my mom's today - I don't own a scale because I would get WAY to caught up with weighing all the time if I had one here. So I only weigh every couple of weeks or so when I'm out there...last time I weighed (about two weeks ago or so) I was at 127 even. I was afraid that the number would be the same or more since I ate pretty crappy this past weekend but lo, and behold! I LOST a pound and a half!!! I'm now at 125.5! Only 5.5.lbs away from my goal weight! I still think I have about ten more lbs to go before I actually look really good! And most of it is still hanging on around my tummy. Dang it. I think I may have to start eating nothing but oatmeal until I can see my abs! I keep hearing plain oatmeal sweetened with berries is really good for people wanting to actually see their abs. The thing is my tummy is hard - but I still have some fat layers over it. Oh, well, I'll keep at it!!! Oh and I managed to keep my calories intake to 1652 today! So not too far over.....
Tomorrow we are headed to Charlotte to meet Gianna's Pedi. Urologist. I'm not looking forward to it at all. Because I know she'll realize it's a dr.'s office and freak out. I really hope they don't have to examine her or anything but just our luck they will. Since they've already run tests I'm hoping he'll just go over those and talk to us about them and what we need to do next.
My blogs have been boring lately and for that I'm truly sorry. I've been running around a lot lately and just haven't had a chance to really sit down and gather my thoughts and blog appropriately. I have several blog ideas going but they aren't fully formed. I do want to do a blog on my favorite band and why I love them so soon but I'm still forming that one mentally. I have another blog idea inspired by one of my favorite songs by Leigh Nash.....so lots to come if I can ever just stop and think things through! For now I'm going to close, finish my frozen grapes, print up directions for tomorrow and then go get some rest so I can get up early and work out - tomorrow is my recovery day so the work out is a little easier but I'll still sweat like mad....whew!

(Note: The art above is an original oil painting by Peter Furler (former lead singer of the Newsboys). It's currently for sale and you can check out more of his amazing art at Peterfurler.com)

Thinking Cap

I decided not to post all my food for the day because, well, I just feel lazy and I don't want to take the time to do it! But I did chart all day long and concluded my day with a grand total of 1605 cal. So I'm pleased! I ate well and I'm feeling better already. Went grocery shopping tonight and stocked up on good stuff again. The house was starting to get low and that always leads to more random eating out which leads to me making worse choices then I should. Our trip to the store was fairly uneventful I guess. It's always a challenge with a 3 yr old. She doesn't like to sit in the buggy and no matter how much I coax, threatened, bribe or spank her she just won't sit down back there. So she fell about 5 minutes into our shopping trip, not out of the buggy but just fell down in the back and started crying her eyes out....goodness. I was already a little tense and that didn't help matters. But we managed to finish shopping and get home in pretty good shape! It always feels good to have all my healthy "go to" foods on hand.

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So I started that post late night and just didn't feel like finishing it. We started a movie and didn't finish it either. Beej has to get up so early in the mornings for work and works so hard that he usually crashes fairly early anyway.
Mute Math is supposed to be in Charlotte for their Spring Tour in a couple of weeks. They are currently opening for another band that I've never even heard of. It seems strange because I've never seen them open for anyone and if you had seen their show you would be wondering WHY they are headlining for anyone! We had decided we weren't going to go just because we have no desire to see the main band but the thought of them coming so close and us not going to support them seems, well, silly! I mean, we can always leave after they are done, right?! But who knows, it's really close and they don't have tickets up for sale yet so I don't know how much they'll be. I'll have to keep an eye on them and see! Not to mention the show is on a Sunday night and Beej will have to work the next morning...Who knows. But like I said, it seems wrong for them to come so close and us not go see them!
My knees have been extremely sore lately. I guess all my high impact work outs are starting to get to them. I don't want old crabby knees at 23 so I guess I need to start researching what all I can do to help them. I need to start icing them in the evenings too. I don't want to start taking Aleve every day or anything.
I think I may go out and do some mowing at my parents house - their huge yard grows like mad once the sun starts shining! It's really good exercise so I figure I might go out and shed a pound or two sweating!
I have so many things to blog about - lots of thoughts going through my head but they all seem kinda jumbled up for now....so once I get them sorta I'll blog about them! For now I'm going to go work out because I do a lot of thinking while I work out......

Monday......

Meal 1 - 1 cup Honey Almond Flax Kashi (200 cal.) & 1/2 cup skim milk (45 cal.) = 245 cal.
Meal 2 - Turkey and cheese on wheat with lettuce, tomato , pickle & mustard (350 cal.)
Meal 3 - 1/2 c. cottage cheese (90 cal.) and 1 Plum (40 cal.) = 130 cal.
Meal 4 - 1 flax flatbread (90 cal.), 2 eggs (96 cal.), 1/8 c. cheese (55 cal.), mustard (5 cal.) = 246 cal.
Meal 5 - 6 0z. chicken breast (180 cal.), 2/3 c. broccoli (30 cal.), Low sod. soy sauce (15 cal.), 1/2 c. corn (60 cal.), olive oil (50 cal.) = 335 cal.
Meal 6 - 1/2 cup low fat vanilla yogurt (60 cal.), 1/2 banana (50 cal.) and 1 Tblsp. Grape nuts (50 cal.) = 160 cal.

Total for the day - 1616 cal.

So I told you I would be "reporting" for the next couple of days just to get myself back in the habit of charting my food, etc. I started off my day with a good work out. I added an ab work out to today because I missed it Saturday and today was "only" my second Fit Test anyway so I knew it wouldn't hurt to add something. So I did a 30 min. fit test which included:
1. Switch Kicks - 71 reps
2. Power Jacks - 56
3. Power Knees - 105
4. Power Jumps - 31
5. Globe Jumps (4 jumps equal 1 rep) - 12
6. Suicide Jumps - 17
7. Push Up Jacks - 16
8. Low Plank Oblique - 65

Each exercise goes for a full minute - you go as long as you can without stopping and do as many reps as you can. I can proudly say I didn't stop on any of them for the full minute!!! It's harder then it sounds! Then I did a 15 minute Cardio Ab work out. Felt pretty good once it was all done!

Right now my weight is at 127lbs. My goal weight is 120lbs. Which is the top of the ideal weight for my height. Between 115 and 120 is perfect. If I get down to 115 I wouldn't complain but my goal is 120. Getting my mid section toned really well, I'd love to have abs but my biggest goal is just to have it perfectly flat again! It's close but I've still got some fat I'm carrying around my mid section and I hate it - so I'm back to concentrating on eating really "clean" so that I can get there. Today went well! Eager for tomorrow's work out....!!!!

Catch Up Blog

Wow, I have so much catching up to do on here. So many things I wanna share and discuss. I don't even know where to start!!!
Well, first of all let me say that my hubby and I had a wonderful weekend away with each other. So much fun! We went and visited my aunt and uncle Friday night - the guys played golf of course and we went to dinner and then saw Date Night which was totally hilarious! It was fun to hang out with a super fun, cool couple. My aunt totally rocks! Spent the night at their house and then went to a cute little grill for breakfast, hit up the Galleria Mall and had lunch at Olive Garden. After that we headed on to Florence and got a beautiful room and got ready for the concert. We got there about 2 1/2 hours before Mute Math was supposed to play but it was worth it because we got great spots to stand right at the very front, right in front of Darren, the drummer! We saw Eyes Around first, a band that I thought I recognized but didn't know where from. Later I discovered they are from Huntsville, AL and used to play at the church I attended there! So cool to see them making it.....after that a guy named Daves Barnes played, I gathered he was a fairly big deal but I didn't like him at all. His music wasn't that great and he was kinda goofy and annoying! By that time I was just ready for MM anyway....FINALLY they came out and played! That show gets better every time we see it, never gets old. Roy (bass) and Darren (drums) are just insane when it comes to their instruments and playing them - don't get me wrong Paul is totally talented and will always be my fave and Greg is great too but Roy and Darren are beasts! We weren't able to find the guys after wards, I was really hoping we would especially since we drove so far but it was still worth it! Beej got a MM t-shirt after wards and the woman running the Merch. table was Paul's wife - I wasn't positive but if I had been I would have certainly got a pic with her. There seems to be NO pics of her anywhere that I can find and I still don't know what her name is. My sis and I jokingly call her "Paula" (since she's married to Paul!). We were pretty tired after the show so we grabbed a quick dinner and crashed since we had to be on the road fairly early the next morning. We decided Sunday to drive into Huntsville and surprise my dad who was preaching there that morning. After that we grabbed a quick lunch at the mall and went by Build-A-Bear and made Gianna a dragon! She's really into dragons and calls them Dreygon's! So cute, so that's what we named it for her. We are going to take her Thurs. after we visit the Urologist to see How To Train Your Dragon. It looks so cute and it'll be her first 3D movie - I really hope she enjoys it!
The drive home took forever because we couldn't go back through 40 due to the rock slides so we took a back road that added about an hour extra to our trip. I was so excited to see Gianna when we got back. I was fine the first two full days but by Sunday afternoon I was ready to see my girl! She was pretty thrilled to see us too!
I did horrible with my eating this whole weekend. I didn't even try to be honest. I felt awful by Sunday....I did get up super early Friday morning and work out before we left so I only missed one work out. But I totally undid that workout with my eating. I ate some seriously crappy stuff! Luckily I know how to get myself back together and get back on track and not keep at it. I've already had my big temptation today and said no - potato chips and chocolate cupcakes, I didn't even lick the icing off my fingers when I got one for Gianna! Whew. Little steps I keep saying. I've done it before and I can do it again (hopefully my Beach Body coach won't peek in on this and be totally disappointed in me.....he's done an Iron Man. Lord have mercy!!!) But I took at look at myself in a swim suit today and it totally motivated me to get back on track for real. My coach told me little snacks and "treats" and splurges are not going to get me abs and I know that so I've really got to get with it again! I'm closer for sure but not close enough. I'm going to be posting my food, calories and exercise daily again for a couple of days, just to get me back in the habit of charting and really watching what I eat. It might be boring for you to read so you can just skip it - it's more for me and getting myself together again. I'm realizing more and more that I'm just lazy when it comes to eating right. I used to be lazy about exercising but I've gotten a lot better about that. But it takes a lot of effort to choose the right foods, measure it out, keep up with calories, etc. I know everyone, including me, have plenty of excuses as to why we are overweight or out of shape and some of them are legit but what it really comes down to is laziness. Everyone can make the time to work out 45-60mins. and you can eat right even at some of the worst places but the key is avoiding those places altogether. Luckily most places try to have a few "healthier" options on the menu.
I'm getting my stuff together for the Fall/Winter WeeRuns already. I'm planning to sell stuff this year instead of just getting rid of it or giving it away. I figure even if I only sell $25 or $30 worth of stuff it'll at least cover what I usually spend of getting Gianna new stuff. Plus I want to be able to get into the early sell since I won't be going with anyone, most likely, this next time. I've got a lot of really good stuff that is still in great condition that I'm pretty sure will sell well.
Tried to lay out a bit today but the sun is only in a good spot like right after lunch and Gianna isn't usually ready for a nap then so I tried letting her play around outside while I laid out but it didn't work out to well! I can't relax and be still and enjoy the warmth of the sun while trying to keep an eye on her too. So I'll have to try again sometime later....
Anyway....so my weekend was wonderful and I had such a wonderful time with my hubby! Hoping to go hiking this coming weekend - I keep saying I want to go and it just never works out or we have something going. So I'm hoping it'll all come together this weekend, I need a good hike!!! Not looking forward to taking Gianna to the urologist Thurs. I don't think they are going to examine her or anything but I don't know for sure. I think this is just a consultation with the dr. to talk things over and see where we go from here. I'm ready for it to be over with....

Say it with me - NO PIZZA AGAIN!

Ok, so tonight we went out to Sidestreet Pizza with the in-laws. And well, if you've ever been there you probably know they don't really have anything healthy on their menu. But I could have done a lot better then I did. But I'll just be honest, I didn't feel like eating healthy tonight. I watched it all day, probably too much. By the time I went to dinner tonight I had only consumed 970 calories and had probably burned off most of that during my work out this morning so I was running on empty and that's never a good place to be when you go in to a restaurant. So I ate pizza and wings and way too much bread. And to be honest, I feel like crap now. I'm already dying for my work out tomorrow so that I can relieve my guilty conscience.....I wasn't planning on working out tomorrow since we are going to have to leave the house by 7am but I just can't stand the thought of skipping two workouts this week especially when I've eaten so crappy. Plus while waiting at my mother in laws house I watched the infomercial for Insanity (funny since I watch it EVERY day!) but seeing everyone's before and after pics really made me realize how dad-gum far I still have to go. They are all rockin' abs and I am still seeing a pudge. And eating crap like I did tonight certainly doesn't help my cause.....anyway, so I'm getting up at 4:45am, yes, that early, to get my work out and shower in before we hit the road. I'll feel so much better about myself and this weekend away if I get it done and accomplished. I'm really struggling this time around with the diet part, I did this with P90X too, stuck with a diet the first round but totally crashed on the second round. I keep trying to get my motivation back to eat right 24/7 again. I did it for 60 days straight, no cheating and yet I can't seem to pull myself together again and it's pissing me off! I know I can do, I'm just not willing myself to do it enough.
So this was a vent blog...just to let you know I'm feeling awful about myself tonight! Ugh, I'm a loser, for tonight at least. I keep saying tomorrow and that's getting me no where again. I only have like 10lbs to go! I'm so close yet so far away....goodness, I could throw up just thinking about what I consumed tonight and how many thousands of calories it probably was. Holy cow, Alaythea. I'm getting lazy again.....I've got to shore up and get myself back into boot camp mode. Summer is here and I'm still not where I wanna be. I need to go buy swim suits but I just keep holding off because I know I'm not how I wanna look in a bathing suit just yet. Untanned, and not as toned as I need to be. Well, this was a good motivational speech, Sarge!!! I'm back at it tomorrow......please don't let me slip up again, I'll hate myself even more!

Top 'O' the Mornin'!

Good morning, fellow bloggers! It is, so far, a bright and sunny morning. I keep hearing rumors of rain and I'm praying hard that it just skips right by us. At least for this week. I'd really like to get an hour or so of sun out of my back patio before tomorrow. I have just a hint of color from laying out the other day and it's amazing how good a little "red" can make you feel versus your sunless, white skin from winter! But my tan does fade fairly quickly so I need to give it a little boost! If the sun remains out from 10am -11am I can hook Gianna up with her side walk chalk and lay out for a bit! Crossing my fingers!
I also have to finish laundry which is a never ending chore around here. Luckily Gianna has made it the past three nights with no accidents so that's cut back on my laundry some but we still have lots of clothes! Gi's been playing outside more this past week and gets her clothes fairly dirty. But I have to have clean stuff to pack for the weekend! It's going to be perfect all weekend in Bama, sunny and about 75! Great summer clothes weather without too much heat. The problem is AL is usually pretty humid even in the spring so that usually makes it's feel about 5-10 degrees hotter. But we'll have A/C so it's gonna be no problem! We dropped of the Jeep last night and we'll pick it up later this evening with a brand new, fairly expensive compressor in it!
So we'll be leaving Gianna for the weekend with Mom and Dad....this will be our first full weekend away from her and I know she'll do great! She loves staying with them and I don't think she hardly notices we are gone, they keep her so busy and occupied. I'll miss her of course but I'll be having fun too! I've ceased to feel "guilty" for enjoying time away from my child -I think everyone needs a break whether they are willing to admit it or not. And yes, we'll talk about Gianna but it won't consume our entire trip. This is about us getting away as a couple and enjoying some time just between us and that's a very good thing! I think it's very key for our relationship....it might not be for everyone's. Everyone has a different kind of relationship with their spouse or significant other.
I am looking at getting another cat, yeah, I know I said I didn't think we had room but you can make room for what you want I guess! I want to get a little female and I plan on getting a kitten this time so that she can bond with the family. It's a little harder for a grown cat to do, Gandalf has adjusted well but it's taken him a while to really warm up to all us. And Beej is still his favorite, I'm hoping this new kitten will bond with me and Gianna a little more. Right now my mother in law doesn't have what I want so we are going to wait and see what her other cats produce, she has about 3 or 4 pregnant right now that will be due over the next few months. She raises alot of white with color spots but I want a dark colored one - grey, black, brown, tabby, etc. Sometimes it's hard to find that and it be a female too. Right now she has an adorable tabby but it's a male and I just don't want another male. Plus I want to make sure it's kinda laid back and relaxed unlike our last cat! But we'll see....I'm not going to rush into getting just any cat but the good thing is if we get it from her and it doesn't work out she'll take it back and keep it or sell it so I won't have to take it to a shelter or anything. I'm already looking at names, of course! I usually pick a couple I like and then see which one fits best! I think it'll be fun for Gianna to have a smaller pet around that she can help take care of too. Gandalf doesn't really like to play with her or anything...I'm hoping a kitten would enjoy being with her more maybe.
Well, I've got to get off this blasted computer and actually get something done! I need to get my work out out of the way so that isn't looming in my mind all day! I hate packing, but I hate unpacking even more!!! So I need to just get on it and stop stalling!