You Capture/Summer

Summer has finally begun this week in northwest Indiana. It is blistering hot. 90's and humid. Lucky for us, we have a pool and that is where we have been spending our time. My oldest granddaughter loves the pool this year. I bought her the cool floaty thing she is wearing and she gets anywhere she wants to go all by herself. As you can see, she even jumps in now. She went underwater for the first time too.

Baby sister seems to like the pool too. She cracks me up with that tongue sticking out .

So, that's what summer means around here right now. I'll be checking out all the other pictures at Beth's. How about you?

Weigh In #4

If you read my last post, you know I was struggling a little. I was reading something Sisterhood's very own April wrote and found an amazing quote. I posted it on my fridge with a very recent picture of myself. It's a lovely view of me walking away. It's not pretty, but it is quite inspiring.

My goal this week was to get my ten pound badge. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. I only lost a pound. I keep telling myself that if I lose the weight slowly, it will stay off. Actually, lots of people have been telling me that. I sure hope it's true because it sure is coming off slowly.

So, this morning I was once again inspired by April. I was reading her weigh in post and it all made perfect sense. She was talking about switching up your exercise routine to keep your muscles confused and working. I have been doing several kinds of workouts, but they are always the same ones. This week I'll change that. I have workout video after workout video. Maybe it's time to start using all of them. Not maybe, it is time to use them. Maybe a different one each day. I'm hoping that along with my daily walking will give me the boost I have been looking for.

Well, that is the plan for this week. Wouldn't it be wonderful if it could just happen overnight? I know it won't, but it's fun to think about, right? It took me years to get to this size. I'm afraid that it might take years to lose it too. It's okay, I'm up for the challenge.

How are you doing? Are you struggling like me or are you breezing right along? Leave me a comment and let me know. I'd like to think that I'm not the only one struggling.

GO TEAM RED!!!!!

Words to Live By

Look at the size of my butt!!!! No, those aren't the words to live by. We did pictures for my hubby for Father's Day of his seven girls which would be, myself, four daughters and two granddaughters. One of the darlings took this picture of me. At first I was horrified, then I cropped it and posted it on my fridge with these words....Nothing tastes as good as being thinner feels. I may be paraphrasing a little, but I heard that quote the other day and it clicked.

Wednesday is the next weigh in for ......

As I've told you before, I am on Team Red and very proud of it. I have been working hard this week to make a big contribution to our team loss. I would really like to earn my ten pound badge.

I know I screwed up a little yesterday. Everyone was here for Father's Day and I didn't do too bad on my eating. I didn't have dessert and I didn't have a bun for my brat, but I caved big time and had several cocktails. Hey, it was a party.

How are all of you doing this week? That is of course if you are also in the throws of weight loss and fitness. I think I'm okay this week. We'll find out for sure on Wednesday!

You Capture/Emotion

I loved this assignment. These are the six most important girls in my life. They are my daughters and granddaughters. Baby sister got an extra picture because you couldn't quite see how adorable she really is in the picture with her big sister. There is no greater emotion than love and that is certainly what I feel for these girls. They are my world and the lights of my life. I am truly blessed to have them in my life.

If there was ever a week for you to join in on You capture, it would be this week. Head over to Beth's and check out all the great "emotional" captures.

p.s. Sorry about the weird spacing of the wording, but it's late and I don't have the time to figure it out.

Weigh In #3

I wasn't going to post today about my weight loss because it was minimal, but when Courtney said in her post today that I was her inspiration to join the Sisterhood, I felt I had to take responsiblity for my week.

I lost .06 pounds this week. I had hoped for so much more. I guess that any loss is better than a gain, but come on. I had fallen in love with the Wii Active, but I guess it doesn't love me so much in return. I guess I need to go back to Jillian kicking my butt. I also started biking some and walking pretty regularly. My eating wasn't bad with the exception of the fried fish last night and some frozen yogurt a few nights. I couldn't help the fish. My husband and son-in-law caught them and there is nothing like fresh fish. We haven't had it in years and that is the only way they will eat them. But oh man, it was so good.

So, my plan for this week. I have to get back to eating like I was when I was working. It was so easy then. I had a routine. I ate before I left for work and I took a lunch and had a set lunchtime. I'm not doing that now. There are days when I don't eat much more than a Live Active cheese stick and some fruit till dinner. I know that is wrong and I will change that this week. I have grapes all stemmed and washed and green peppers sliced and ready in the fridge to grab a quick and easy snack. No thinking involved there. I have Fiber One bars, yogurt and fruit for breakfast and Lean Cuisine's for lunch. That is the same things I was eating when I was working. Dinners will be mostly salads and grilled chicken, turkey, pork or fish. Sounds like a good plan, right?

So girls, that is my plan for the new week and hopefully next week I can earn my 10# button. I hope that next week I won't feel like I'm letting Team Red down.

GO TEAM RED !!!!!!!

You Capture/Nature

I was so excited last week when I found out about the nature assignment. I had plans to go to the dunes and the nature park. Unfortunately, we had a death in the family and my week was consumed with that. I realized it was time to post my pictures and I had none. My pictures are of the nature in my own yard.

I love the shot of the woods behind our property. It doesn't look like we live in town and we do.

The rest of the shots are of my flowers and my tomato plant. We put in a vegetable garden for the first time in probably 25 years.

Head over to Beth's and see all the other nature captures. I'm sure they are great!

Shrinking Days of Summer/Week One

It is week one of the new challenge at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans. It's called the Shrinking Days of Summer and it's a take off on the Biggest Loser tv show. I am on the most awesome there is.


I am proud to say that I lost 1.8 pounds this week. I was really surprised when I weighed myself this morning. Last week was the week from hell between the end of school, a death in the family and open houses. I hardly exercised at all, but I did try to watch what I ate and I guess that worked.

I'm excited for this next week. I have lots of time for exercise now that I am done with school for the summer. I just got the Wii Active and was finally able to try that yesterday. I really liked it. I got my bike out and cleaned up and took a little trip on that too. I love summer. I have lots of time and possibilities for exercise. Just wait and see how I do next week.



GO TEAM RED

Thankfully Saying Goodbye

We lost our "Grandpa" Johnny this past week. He wasn't our biological grandpa, but he was our grandpa in all the ways that really count. He was my sister's father-in-law.

When my dad died, Grandpa Johnny swooped in and took my daughter under his wing. He treated her (and my other three daughters who came along later) just like his own blood grandchildren. We have so many wonderful memories of him. He came to grandparents day at school every year when the girls were in grade school. He was with us for all the holidays. He took the girls for rides in his boat. He let them help him in his garden and on and on. My husband and I were with him when his wife, Grandma Wanda died. He was the best. Truly the best!

As I typed the title for this post, it made me think of a song. Do you remember Kermit the frog in one of the muppet movies singing a song about saying goodbye? It said---
Saying goodbye, why is it sad, when it makes us remember the good times we've had.
It is so true. I can't help but be sad, but I have wonderful memories to keep Grandpa Johnny close. I will always miss him, but I am so thankful that he was in all our lives. As I finish this post, I can't help but smile. He was that good!

Sister Spotlight

My wonderful friends at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans have honored me with the first ever Sister Spotlight award. It was a huge surprise and I can't thank them enough. If you want to be motivated to lose weight, these are the people that you want on your side. They have given me the tools I needed to believe for the first time that I can lose weight. I've tried so many times before, only to give up. Not this time. This time, I will achieve my goals. I know I will.

Yesterday, we started a new challenge. It's called Shrinking Days of Summer and it works like the Biggest Loser tv show. I'm on Team Red. Today was my last day of work. I work at a preschool, so I'm off till mid August. This is going to give me lots of time for exercise. I have actually found that I like exercise. Who ever thought I would say that? My plan is to be the Biggest Shrinker and for Team Red to take it all. I think I have a great shot at both.

Lastly, I want to thank Christy over at the Sisterhood. She is one amazing lady. She inspires me on a daily basis. If I'm down on myself, she won't hear any of it. She gets me back on track immediately. I'm proud to say that she is also on Team Red. With Christy on our side, we can definitely win this challenge. Thank you , Christy. You are the best!!

You Capture/Feel

In the world's busiest week, I thought I was going to miss my first You Capture. I didn't know how I was going to do it. But, I couldn't miss it. I just thought for two seconds and then it hit me. I feel more for these two little girls than I could ever tell you. They are my heart and my soul. Yes, this is definitely feel! You Capture has so many more pictures for you to check out. Head over there and see them. Maybe you'd like to join in the fun.