The Thursday Three/Homework

Today is the first Thursday in the new challenge at the Sisterhood. Our first homework assignment is to set three goals we have for this challenge. We are not allowed to use the words "I won't" or "try". After much thought, here are my three goals for the next seven weeks.....

1. I will plan my meals for the week and make a grocery list. No more coming home from work and saying, "What the heck are we going to have for dinner?".

2. I will work out no less than five days a week. I will do the EA Sports Active More Workouts, Biggest Loser, Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2010 or the Shred before I go to work. I will go on the treadmill at night.

3. I will drink two waters for every diet coke I drink.

I will track my progress on these goals on a calendar.

My non food reward at the end of the challenge, if I accomplish these goals will be a new shirt from One More Mile.

That is all for now. Wish me luck!!

p.s. I am not a total moron. There are spaces between the goals when I look at it before I hit publish post and then when I post it, they are gone. Bad blogger. Now that I have written this, it will probably post fine on the 37th try.

Holiday Recap

No You Capture this week, but I have this post all ready to go. Beth and family are on vacation with spotty internet connection. I'm just going to post it anyway.

2:30 a.m. on Christmas eve is the right time to start putting the presents under the tree. This is just the start. Many more to follow.

Christmas morning is the time to put Baby Jesus in his manger.

Let's eat some breakfast and get this party started.

Let the unwrapping begin.

What did you get?

Even big boys get presents if they are good.

And 22 year olds can still get dolls and be excited about it.

Okay, let's move this party to Grandma Lou's house.

With almost 40 people opening presents, you have to grab your own space and hold on tight.

This is my beautiful mom and me. Would you ever guess she is 84 years old?

True to form, the things that the gifts came in...

....were the most fun to play with.

We had a wonderful Christmas. I hope you all did too.

Rethink your Shrink

Rethink your Shrink!

If you head over to the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans, this is the title of the new seven week challenge. I think this is quite a statement to ponder. I'm sure you can tell that this challenge will involve getting in our own heads about how we feel about weight loss, fitness and eating habits among other things. Now, the real question to all this is, can I do it?

I am not good at being a "me" person. I'm the one who always puts everyone and everything else in front of myself. I try really hard to not do this, but I have been doing it for so long, it is really hard to change. Some days, I do okay, but other days, not so much. I always told myself that when the kids got older, I'd have more time for me. Guess what, not true. If I plan to exercise and then someone asks for help, guess which one wins? You got it! I'm like Ado Annie in "Oklahoma". I'm just the girl who can't say no. Boy, did I just date myself or what?

So, here is what I think about this challenge. It is going to be really hard for me. It is going to be a true learning experience for me. And I think it is going to be really good for me. Maybe it will prove that you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Now, the weigh in part of this post. Ugly, really ugly. I gained 2.7 pounds. I know exactly what I did. We all know exactly what we did. I ate bad things, I drank bad things, I hardly exercised at all, I forgot that water even existed and sleep was just about nonexistant. I was lucky to be getting four hours or so a night. Jeez, wonder why I gained weight? Bad Nancy!!! And to think I did that all when Santa was watching. No wonder he brought me Biggest Loser and Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2010 for the Wii. I was thrilled with that though and I love them both. Great workouts. I tried them both on Monday and my thighs are still screaming.

Okay, I swear that I will give this new challenge all I have. I will really try to learn something from it. I will learn that I am an important person. I will learn that putting me first isn't selfish. I will learn that it's okay to take time for me that isn't carved into 5:30 a.m. I will learn that bad mouthing myself isn't the best way to motivate myself. I will learn, I will learn, I will learn! Right girls??????????

p.s. We still have several parties left this week, so there is a good chance that this will all start on Monday when I go back to work. I do soooooo much better when I am at work. Routines are good for me. Just thought I should be honest with you all.

Something Wonderful is Going To Happen....

and it all started with this beautiful baby. My Christmas wish for you all is that you find the true wonder and meaning of this very special day. That you get to spend it with people that you love. That you get the gifts that you wanted, but remember what your real gifts are. That your heart remembers those who can't be with you. That your day is special from beginning to end.

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family. You'll never know how much you all mean to me. You make my life warm and special every day. My love and good wishes for a wonderful holiday go out to you all!

Always First

We have many traditions at my house for Christmas. There is one that is most special to me. I have my dad's ornament that we made for him when we were kids. It is the simplest of ornaments. A glass bulb that we wrote his name with Elmer's glue and covered with glitter. He loved it and so do I. When my mom remarried, she didn't feel it was right to put it on her tree and I said I would be thrilled to put it on mine. So, every year when we put up the tree, my dad's ornament is always first to go on the tree and I'm the one to put it there. It is a very simple tradition, but one that means so much to me. Dad has been gone for 32 years but somehow, the simple task of putting his ornament on my tree makes me feel like he is closer. I love the feeling. I love you dad and I miss you so much!

You Capture/Holiday Decor

The assignment this week was to photograph your favorite holiday decor in a different way. I love our tree. There are 37 years of memories on it.

Our Christmas tree Our Christmas tree in sepia

There may be too much going on in this picture. I was going for the reflection of the tree in the window, but also ended up getting the lights on the house across the street.

I am anxious to see what everyone else has done. I love Christmas. How about you? Want to join me over at Beth's?

Final Weigh In

Can you believe that it is already the final weigh in of this challenge? The time is going too fast lately. This has not been my best challenge as far as weight loss. I only lost 3.8 pounds total. Nothing to write home about, but better than nothing. I'm really thinking that I need to get on Weight Watchers or something come the first of the new year. Don't yell at me for saying this, but the next two weeks are pretty much going to be a wash. There is just too much going on with too much good food and drink. Yes, I have no willpower when it comes to the holidays. Hey, at least I'm being truthful with you here. Gotta get points for that!

Now, globetrotting! Here I did great. I wore my pedometer every day and logged my steps and milage every night. My totals are 530,664 steps for a total of 265.1 miles. I'm very proud of that. It helps that I like to walk. I haven't been doing a lot of running. I was letting my ankle and knee rest. Now, I'm ready to give it a try again.

I still haven't made a decision about the mini marathon. I'll use my two weeks off work to figure that out. So, that's my post. I can't wait to hear what the new challenge is going to be. Now, I'm going to read all your posts. I bet you all did great!

And It Only Took a Quarter of a Century!

Now that my daughter has officially blogged about it, I can too.

We are going to have a grandson in April!!!

There are only three boys in our family and the last one turned 25 in September. There have been nine girls born in those 25 years. I think we were due. To say we are excited is truly an understatement.

So, that is my news. I have to get back to the Christmas cards now. I have people to tell about our news!

Big News

Hey, it's early and I have to get ready for work, but there is big news for my family over here. Check it out. It made me soooooo happy!

Happy "55"!

Friday was my 55th birthday. It was a really great day. It started out very quiet. I was the only one in the house awake. I went to work and got so many wonderful presents. Everything from workout clothes to handmade jewelry. At 5:30, I went to my daughter's house for my surprise. That was what I was told by my three year old granddaughter. It was a surprise and she wasn't talking. We got there and I was greeted with flying streamers and many yells of surprise and it just kept getting better.

We had a great quitar player.

We had a princess.

We had an acrobat.

We even had dancing girls!

We had yummy roasted vegetable pizza and lots of snackies.

There were lots of presents and every one of them was something I asked for.

There was chocolate eclair cake with candles and helpers to blow them out.
(Don't ask me how, but the picture for this just disappeared and I can't find it!)

There were lots of smiles and laughter. It was a great surprise. I was told I would love it and I did. I have the best family ever. Everyone was there except my daughters boyfriend who is still down at Purdue. He called though.

This is my daughter, the hostess. She does way too much. She has a three year old and a one year old and is 20 weeks pregnant. I should be doing for her, not vice versa. My youngest daughter gave her lots of help, so that made me proud and happy. Like I have said many times before, I have amazing kids! This was a great birthday and being 55 is better than I could have dreamed. Maybe I'll even do that half marathon. I've been giving that lots and lots of thought. We even discussed it at the party. I'll let you know when I decide.

Lastly, thank you to all my friends who left me birthday wishes on my blog, email and Facebook. It made the day even more special. You are the best!

You Capture/Lines

Lines, okay!

This is my couch.

This is my favorite Longaberger basket.

My table runner.

Our stockings.

Lines gone wrong. This was supposed to be really cool. It's the house across the street and it was supposed to show the reflection of the lights on the rain soaked street. Guess I'll be trying that one again sometime.

Okay, you know the drill. Head over to Beth's to see the rest of the lines.

Weigh In #6

It's weigh in time again. I keep waiting for the week when I can say I had a big loss, but it just never seems to come. I lost .5 pounds. I say this every week, but any loss is better than no loss. Right? One of these weeks is going to be my week I can't wait!

Thank goodness I have my pedometer to keep me happy. This week I had 100,923 steps which converts to 50.5 miles. Now, that makes me happy!! Christmas shopping has helped add some extra steps. Yay for shopping!!

I'm having a real battle with myself over this 1/2 marathon thing. There are so many things to consider. I've done two half marathons before in Indy. I walked them both and I had a good time. This is going to sound funny to most of you, but I have never flown before. Do I want to fly for the first time all by myself all the way across the country? Can I raise $3500.? I had a hard enough time raising $350. for the March for Babies last spring. Then there is the fact that I am going to be 55 on Friday. I'm at least 20 to 30 years older than most of the girls in the Sisterhood. I would love to go and do a great job and raise the money and meet all the people that I only know online, but can I really do it? Will my ankle let me do it? Like I said, lots of things to consider. Luckily, I have a few more weeks to think about all these things before I have to commit or decline.

The next three weeks are going to be tough as far as keeping on track with my eating and exercising. There are so many parties and family functions that I have to go to with the holidays. There is also my birthday. I went out last night and tonight already and my birthday is two days away. Lord, please give me the strength to get through this hectic, but oh so happy time. You guys can send a little inspiration my way too! Please!!!

Golden "54"

If you have been reading my blog from the beginning, you know how I have felt about being 54. I wrote a post about it early on in my blogging adventure. 54 has not been my favorite age.

What I realized this past week was that I have missed a lot of the joy of an entire year of my life by worrying about a number. My dad died at 54 and I hated being that age. I spent too much time dwelling on that number. Anything that was going to happen in my 54th year was going to happen regardless of what I did or didn't do.

I was thinking the other day that if you can have a golden birthday when you turn the age of your birthdate, why can't you have a golden birth year? This was my golden birth year. I was born in 1954 and I was 54 this year. Makes sense, right?

So, one week from today, I will turn 55. I plan to enjoy every minute of my next year. I will be thankful for every day. I will not dwell on the bad that could happen. In the final analysis, you can't really control anything. You can just live what comes your way. I plan to do just that.

I will enjoy my family. I will spend all the time I can with my beautiful grand kids. I will wait with great anticipation for my third grandchild. We will find out on the 14th (my mom's birthday) what sex this baby will be. I will continue to enjoy my job. I will continue to work on my lifestyle/exercise changes. I will continue to learn all I can about my new camera and photography in general. Believe it or not, I am even thinking about trying to run a half marathon in San Diego of all places in June. My girls at the Sisterhood have me thinking that I can do this kind of crazy stuff.

These are my promises to me and me alone. I spend a lot of my life doing for everyone else and that has always been my choice. I'm sure I will still do that, but I will also live for me. It is my life and the choices are up to me. 55 is going to be a good year lived without dread and worrying to the best of my ability. This is my promise to myself!

You Capture/My Happy Story

Last week when I saw this weeks assignment, I had an idea about Thanksgiving and Santa coming to town. I sat down tonight and I counted the pictures I had picked out and it was an even dozen. That got me thinking. There is nothing in the world that makes me happier than

This dozen We are a perfect dozen. It started out just the two of us and over the years we went to six and now there are twelve of us. In April, we will be a bakers dozen when we welcome our third grandchild. My family is everything to me. I love them with all my heart. Even though I decided to go with one simple picture, I think it tells volumes of my happy story.

If you head over to Beth's, I bet you'll find some wonderful happy stories. That's where I'm heading.

Weigh In/Week 5

I can't believe it is already week five. I am pleased to say that even with the holiday, I was able to stay even with my weight. I would have liked a loss, but this is okay too.

Globetrotting is going great. I had 105,585 steps which converts to 52.7 miles. I am really loving this challenge. I feel really good about this one.

I am also really enjoying the More Workouts challenge. It gives you a great workout. The lunges were trying to kill my ankle, but Christy told me how to remove them from my workout and that has helped a lot. I really love the boxing and the obstacle course.

Head over to the Sisterhood and check out how everyone else did this week.

And For This I Am Truly Thankful!

Four years ago today, my daughter married this wonderful man. They didn't want a conventional wedding, so to speak. They were married by a justice of the peace at the hall where they had the reception. The attire was casual. The menu was vegetarian (except for the chicken that I was able to convince them of the morning of the wedding). People were encouraged to go in the bar and check on the Notre Dame game during the reception. It was different from any wedding I had been to before, but it was perfect. It was them, it was special and I loved every minute of it. Fast forward four years. This is them today. They have had their ups and downs like any married couple, but they are happy and healthy and what mother could ask for more than that. They are each others best friend. They have fun together.

As a mother, I couldn't be happier to have this man in my daughter's life. He is a perfect fit in our family. We are blessed that he became a part of all our lives.

And for this, I am truly thankful!

Happy Anniversary!!

I love you both with all my heart!!!

Weigh In/Week 4

It's not been a bad week over here. I'm down one pound. A pound is a pound. I'm loving the new More Workouts with the exception of the squats. They are killing my knees. They are also making my thighs hurt, so that is a good thing.

Globetrotting is going well. I was a little worried when I added up this weeks steps. It was quite a bit lower than last week, but I figured out why. Last week started on Monday so I had extra days in there. I felt much better after that little discovery. This week I logged 99,832 steps for a total of 49.9 miles. I love my pedometer!

I hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving filled with family and friends. I'm hoping to be good when it comes to the food and liquor. I promise I'll do my best. The whole family will be here and we'll be taking our annual Christmas card picture. That is always something to remember. Try getting a dozen people to smile and look the same way at the same time when they range in age from 1 to 57. It's quite the adventure.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!

Life Was Good Today!

It was a girls day. My six girls and I headed out to the local feed and garden center to meet Benny the Turkey. Because the littlest angel decided to sleep for the trip and had to be carried, I only have a picture of five of the girls and me. I would have liked to get a shot of the six girls. We learned some neat things about turkeys. Did you know that their head turns colors? We saw it go from red to white to blue and back to red again. It was pretty cool.
Somebody had a pretty good time with her aunt to protect her.

This is Benny the Turkey.

This is what the littlest angle did for the outing. Hey, when you're tired, you're tired.

We stopped to see the koi pond.

This one is for you, Mary!

We always have time for a pose or two.

Then we started running and jumping from hay bale to hay bale, so it was time to go.

We said good bye to Benny and off we went.
The littlest angel finally woke up when we got back to grandma's house. She doesn't even know what she missed. Maybe we can go back before the holiday, so she can see too.

So yes, life was good today. The weather was perfect and so was the company.

I love my girls with all my heart. In my book, they are perfect.

Weigh In/Week 3

I'm down a half pound this week. My body just likes to lose in little spurts. People keep telling me that if I lose it slowly, it will stay off. I'm going with that theory. It's just not going to take me to a big loss for the challenge. Worse things could happen, I guess.

Now, the Globetrotting challenge, I am rockin that. Although I may be doing it all wrong after reading other posts. I asked Christy last week if we could wear pedometers and count all our steps and she said yes. So, I've been wearing my Weight Watchers pedometer since before the challenge started. It is great because it converts your steps to miles for you. I've been as high as eight miles and as low as five miles on any given day. Since the start on November 9th, I've walked 126,561 steps for a total of 63.2 miles. Is that awesome or what???

I'm excited to start the EA Sports Active More Workouts on Friday. I got the biggest surprise last week when I received a copy in the mail for free. It was from EA Sports Active for being a community leader for the 5k challenge. I was so happy. Thank you so much for an awesome gift.

That is what is going on over here! Hope you all are having a good week.

Weigh In/ Week 2

Week two and it's not great. I'm up .1 pounds. It's okay though. I can live with that. I thought I would have lost something. I thought I did pretty well this week. Just goes to show how wrong I can be.

I love the new challenge!! I've been wearing a pedometer for the last few weeks. I like the incentive it gives me. I try to get 10,000 steps a day which converts to five miles. If I see that I'm lagging behind, I get up and walk. If I'm at work, I'll walk up and down the hall while I'm waiting for a child in the bathroom. I like to walk on the treadmill while I watch tv at night. This challenge has made me strive to get more than 10,00 steps. It's only day three, but I'm doing pretty good. Well past 10,000 the first two days and a little past as I sit and type this on day three.

If I have anything to say about it, I'll be posting a loss next week. This is going to be my best challenge yet. That is my promise to myself. My birthday falls during this challenge and my present to myself is to do the best I can possibly do. I'm shooting for 15 pounds. If they can lose double digits in a week on Biggest Loser, I should be able to do it in seven weeks. At least that's one womans opinion.

My 5K Day

So, my two daughters, son-in-law and I were on the road with the sunrise. Once we got to Plymouth, we found our team.

After getting our race bags, we made our way to the starting line.

We passed some pretty scenery.

We passed my daughter who was running the 10k. She's my marathon runner.

I ran as much as I could, but I walked more than I ran. Damn injuries!

At one point, we passed this liquor store and I was thinking a cocktail wasn't such a bad idea. You know, maybe a Bacardi and diet!

We finished our race and the kids ran the Fun Run.

We got to eat some awesome chili. That's why I do this race. Excellent food!

Just kidding!!

It was time for the awards ceremony. Believe it or not, I came in first place for my age division. This is a low budget race. It's a fundraiser for the NICU at the hospital where ny niece works. My prize was a plastic pacifier.

This was a first for me. One race, three shirts. I got the first shirt from EA Active. I filled in my blank with "me". I am active for me! The second shirt is the one that came in my race pack. The third is my team shirt. Team Anna and Kamryn. They are my great nieces who both spent some time in the NICU where their mommy (my niece) works. They are happy and healthy six and three years old now. I'm always more than happy to do this race and help raise funds for the hospital. They do amazing work. We were told on Saturday that over the last six years of this race, they have raised $25,000.00 for the NICU. So awesome!

Now, to recap. I started this 5k process with the help of the Sisterhood. They keep pushing me and making me believe that I can do these great things. I wanted so much to run this whole race. Unfortunately, I already had a longstanding ankle/foot injury and then I twisted my knee on a pile of wet leaves. I kept training as best I could and hoped for the best. Now, I have a new goal. I had said I would run the Flurry Scurry next month if things didn't go well here, but I found out Saturday that they no longer do that race. I did find out that there is a Sleigh Bell race, so I'll be training for that. That is my new goal!

Thank you to all the wonderful people at the Sisterhood, especially Christy, Melissa, April and Lisa. You four mean so much to me. You inspire me daily and make me believe in myself. I have lost 13 pounds since I joined you and I plan to keep going. You make me feel like the energizer bunny sometimes.

So, today, I'm clipping on my pedometer for the new challenge and envisioning myself running the entire 5k next month. Wish me good luck and fast healing.