And For These I Am Truly Thankful

I have so much to be thankful for on a daily basis. I have a beautiful family that has already grown to 13. How did that happen? If you add in my mom and stepdad, sisters, brother and their families, we are a family of 33. All 33 of us are healthy and basicly happy. We have our little family squabbles, but we are happy for the most part. I have wonderful friends, both in real life and in the blogging community. I have a home to keep me safe and warm. I have a job I love. But there are three things that bring me nothing but joy and happiness and smiles and love day after day after day. I'm sure you know where I'm going with this.

Natalie and Lizzy and Jack

This was taken at the very start of the afternoon yesterday when Lizzy was still napping, but I love the twinkle in Natalie and Jack's eyes. It doesn't matter that they aren't looking at the camera. They are that cute!

Here's my Natalie. She is four years old now and a big preschooler. It is wonderful to have her come to preschool and call me Mrs. Collins and not expect me to treat her any differently than any of the other kids. She's the best! She tells me I'm the best all the time.
This is my Lizzy girl. She is two and let me tell you she is all two. She could be the poster child for two. She can be as sweet and loving as can be and then if you blink your eyes, she can be crying and mad and having a mini tantrum. But, God do I love her.

And this is my little man Jack. Can you even believe how big he has gotten? He is almost eight months old and making tracks by rolling to get to where he wants to be. He is so close to crawling. He gets up on all fours and rocks. He's trying so hard. He makes my days so happy.


I love these kids with all my heart. They are the lights of my life. I love my girls so much, but there is something about being a grandma that brings a whole new meaning to love. The feeling is indescribable, but it's wonderful.


Sorry this is a day late, but I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Please remember that my little friend Bridger is still working on his clean water project and you can help him. Just go here and donate. There is no donation that is too small.
Thanks so much for helping him achieve his wonderful Christmas wish.

Upcoming Review

CSN Stores have offered me a review of any product in their website for $50. or less. To say I am excited would be putting it mildly. Have you been to there site before? You really should check it oout. They have everything from exercise items to a briefcase to baby items and thousands of other things in between. They have over 200 stores to shop in.

CSN has become one of my favorite places to shop. They have everything. I have no idea what I'm going to pick to review, but I'm going to have fun deciding. Maybe something I can use for the holidays would be good. Check back to see what I decided on!

A New Inspiration

I've been waiting for tonight for several months now.

Tonight I was looking for inspiration.

And tonight, I found what I was looking for.

I went to the Healthy Woman Expo to see Ali Vincent.

She was the first female winner of the Biggest Loser.

She is amazing in more ways than I can even tell you.

She made me laugh.

She made me tear up.

She said that Jillian Michaels is a five foot nothing maniac.

She said that as much as we want people to like us and approve of us,

the only opinion that really matters is our own opinion of ourselves.

If we don't think we're worth it, why would anyone else think we were?

She said you can do anything for one minute and if you can do it for one minute, you can do it for two. If you can do it for two minutes, you can do it for four minutes and so on and so on.

You have to have a goal and you have to really want to achieve it.

I got meet her. She talked to me like we were old friends. She told me about working out at the local YMCA and invited me to join her for a spin class in the morning. She signed my book. It took me a few minutes before I realized what FFBL meant.

She even took a picture with me and my friend Mari.
I could go on for a really long time telling you about tonight. I won't put you through that.
What I'll tell you is that everything Ali said made perfect sense.
I found the inspiration that I was looking for. I know that nothing in weight loss and fitness is going to come easy. I know that it requires hard work and determination. I will probably have to recommit to it just about every day. But...I can do it if I really want to.
And guess what? I really want to!
Thank you Ali. You made a difference tonight in how I think and how I feel about this journey I'm on.

He'll Melt your Heart

This adorable little man's name is Bridger.

He has a dream for Christmas this year.

While most kids are asking for toys and video games and bikes,

Bridger isn't asking for any of those.

He has asked his mom to not buy him presents this year and instead help him try to raise $5000.00 to bring clean drinking water for children on every continent.

Bridger donates his allowance each week and any other money he earns.

He even gave his money from the tooth fairy.

I've already donated and I plan to donate again.

How many kids do you know with a heart this big?

In a world where children are too often overindulged and pampered,

it's a refreshing change to meet a boy like this.

If you can help Bridger achieve his goal, please click on his picture in the left sidebar.

That click will take you to his page to donate securely and help him reach his goal.

Thank you so much for helping this sweet boys Christmas wish come true.

Merry Christmas Bridger
Thank you for renewing my faith in the Christmas spirit!

You Capture / Serene

One of the most serene things I know is a walk in the woods after a beautiful snowfall.

I had that opportunity on Saturday when I did a 5k.

Serene thing abound at Beth's

Random Pictures

I haven't been very good about posting pictures lately, so I figured I'd fill you in on what's been happening around here the last few weeks. In no particular order, of course. They do skip around.

We had out first snowfall yesterday. I love snow, so I was pretty happy. I did a 5k fundraiser yesterday with some members of my family. It gave me a chance to take some pictures.

The snow was beautiful. It was like a winter wonderland.
I love the reflection in the river.

This is our little team for the 5k. It was a fundraiser for the NICU where my niece works.

This is my daughter and her boyfriend.

I love how the newly risen sun shone on the trees.

My lovely (?) daughters at Lizzy's Halloween themed birthday party.

I can't believe that Lizzy is 2 already!

Any of you who know me, know that I am obsessed with taking pictures of the moon.

A windy fall day at the Dunes.

When Lizzy is tired, there is no telling where she will fall. This day she got cared in half asleep and just plopped down and wouldn't even take of her coat.

This is my mom in her world's greatest mom costume at Lizzy's party.

Can you even believe that she is going to be 85 next month?

Kermit the Frog

aka Jack

My sisters and I.

The pumpkin, the cheerleader and graduate.

Last but certainly not least, our hosts for Lizzy's party.

The gangster, Fozzy Bear, Elmo, the flapper and Kermit the frog.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Just a little peek at what has been going on around here lately.

CSN Store Review

I was contacted by CSN Stores to do a review for them. I could choose anything I wanted for $50.00 or less. I chose something that I wanted for a long time. I chose the Ekho E - 10 Heart Rate Monitor. I'm really glad I did.

I have really enjoyed using the monitor. I found out that many times before when I thought I was working at a good clip, I really wasn't. I've learned that I can push myself much harder than I thought. With a new challenge starting soon at the Sisterhood, that's a good thing to find out.

The monitor has functions that tell current heart rate, average heart rate, max heart rate, target zone, out of zone alarm and calories burned. The monitor also functions as a watch that

includes time of day, date and is water resistant.

The only thing I didn't like was when I opened the box, there was a transmitter that you have to wear around your chest right under your breast. It didn't mention that in the information I read before I ordered it. Now that I used it a few times, I'm getting used to it and it's not so bad.

All in all, I am very happy with the Ekho E - 10 and happy that CSN Stores gave me the opportunity to review it. I'm looking forward to many workouts when I will be working to my full potential.

I apologize for the beginning of this post and the weird blue underlined letters. Once again, Blogger is acting up on me and I don't know how to fix it.