What year is it?

Wow,  I can't believe it was 2 years ago since I last posted on this here blog.  Time flies doesn't it!  A lot has happened since then.  I hate to say it but I let me weight go back up and got up to 219.  I hate that I let that happen. I can give you all excuses, I sold my house, moved in with my parents, had a long commute to work and no time to exercise, I wasn't in total control of all the meals at my moms house etc. But ultimately I just stop working on myself.  I recently went on a diet bet and an down to 212 or so, give or take a days fluctuation. I can't wait to get back to my last blog post weight. Oh, I looked so much better then.

In June 2015 we moved from Southern California to Vancouver, WA.  I haven't ever lived anywhere but Southern California so the weather will be fun to get used to. It rains a lot here so they all say but it's really green an beautiful because of it. The summer is almost over and the summer has been dry, hot and sunny.  I have been told that it's not usually so hot and sunny here.  I've enjoyed it.

The kids are going to start school this week on 9/2.  Colin will be going in to 2nd grade and Kadence will be going into Kindergarten.  No more babies, now I have two big kids.  Insert sad face mommy here. haha I will be starting a job at a preschool part time teaching 3 year olds so that should be an adventure. I have been looking at Pinterest for inspiration for the classroom.

I have also recently entered the world of Essential Oils and am loving them so far.  I find myself hearing someone say they have an ailment of some kind and thinking what kind of oil they could use to help aid them in feeling better or relief.  I am slowing getting rid of harmful chemical laden household products and trading them out for homemade natural ingredient products.  There is so much to learn, but it's worth it if I can utilize natural products instead of synthetic ones.

My favorite essential oils right now are Thieves and Lavender.  The cold and flu season is coming and Thieves well help with a having a healthy immune system and Lavender has been really helpful in calming me down and night and getting a better nights rest.  These are very important since school will be starting soon and I want to make sure I'm healthy and rested.

Have you entered the world of essential oils?

Why Hello There

Hello,  I am still alive and have not fallen off the healthy band wagon.  I weighed in this morning at 183.4.  I'm at my lowest weight I can ever remember.  I don't even know what age I passed this weight up, but it was a long time ago.  Probably middle school.  It feels awesome too.  I did an obstacle course 5k last weekend called Foam Fest.  It was my second obstacle course 5k and probably not my last.  I do have to say that I liked the Hero Rush 5k better, but it was still fun.  This is me before the race.

What else is new....my son has started Kindergarten.  I can't believe how fast time goes by.  He is doing great.

We went on a week vacation up the coast of California and into Oregon in June.  We went to the redwoods in Crescent City, Monterey, and Medford Oregon on our trip.  Here is a picture of the redwood tree we drove through.  My daughter didn't want to cooperate during the picture and got we got this funny picture of my face. LOL

 This picture is on a trail down to the ocean in Crescent City.  It was a pretty walk and I love this picture of my husband and my daughter.

I really need to get back on here more often and share what is going on in my life.  For now that is all I have time for.

What's new?

Once again it's been awhile since I updated on the blog.  Nothing to spectacular to report.  Life has been good.  I participated in a Dietbet and succeeded by .2 pounds.  I bet $35 and won $45.88 so it was pretty nice to win.  I decided to join another one so that it would help keep me on track and the first week I wasn't really committed and now it has been two weeks and I am only down 2 pounds.  I need to lose 7.5 to make my bet.  We shall see.  Oh and my current weight is about 186.

My husband and I joined the gym on 4/13/13.  The one we joined hadn't even opened yet, but opened on 4/20/13 and we have been going 3 times a week.  We went today and took a body pump class and boy did it give quite the workout.   I am sure I will be feeling over the next few days.

We went shopping last night while waiting for my new glasses to be ready and I bought one shirt.  My husband had gotten me a gift card for a store called Torrid not realizing that my weight loss would soon make it impossible to buy anything from the store.  The smallest clothes they have seem to be to big for me now.  I could probably still buy pants there for now.  I managed to find one lace tank top in size 0 of the plus sizes.  It's a nice problem to have (not being able to buy clothes in that store anymore) but I still have about $36 to spend there.

I have another 5k set up for 6/1 and then an obstacle course 5k on 8/17.  I am not really improving any on the running front, but it good cardio for me.  Now that I have the gym I can focus on the weights and toning portion.  There is also a pool, sauna and steam room there so that is a great bonus.

Our next camping trip is scheduled for Memorial Day weekend.  We are taking our camper to my parents house and spending the weekend there.  It should be fun.  We are also trying to take a camping/driving vacation up the coast of California in June.  Maybe go to see Hearst Caslte, Winchester house, Redwood forest and maybe see the husbands sisters family in Oregon.

I guess that is about all for now.

Fitbloggin Giveaway

There is a really awesome Fitbloggin giveaway going on at http://growsoulbeautiful.com/fitbloggin-2013-conference-a-giveaway/.  If you are interested in going to Fitbloggin in Oregon in June of this year, here is your chance to win a ticket.

I think it would be awesome to go to Fitbloggin.  So much inspiration from all those around you.  Such a great multitude of knowledge too.

Time Flies

I missed the whole month of February?  Wow.  Guess I was just living life and not spending copious amounts of time online.  We went camping twice in February, once to Mountain Lakes and once to Rancho Jurupa Park.  We had a lot of fun at both places.  We even brought the bikes to Rancho Jurupa Park.

We signed up for a 5k taking place on 3/30 so I started my run/walk exercise again.  The neighbor a few houses away actually came over one night and asked for some advice on how to get started.  Since I haven't done any run/walking training for awhile so I am back to the beginning.  I probably stopped around the holidays and when it started getting cold and dark in the mornings. The neighbor and I went out on Tuesday and Thursday together and I am actually coaching him.  The family and I went out for a run today.  It felt good to get back out there and feel like I actually am accomplishing something.  I have a month to train before the 5k.  I hope to add in some strength training too.  I really have my eye on a 5k obstacle course called Foam Fest in August, but the Southern California area doesn't have a location yet so I don't know if I'll be able to do it or not.  I need to strength train if I hope to be any good at it.  I would love to get rid of some of my sagging arms.  I might be able to take flight with them so are so floppy.  Not a pretty site.

I am currently at 192.4.  I have been down to 188.6.  Those few pounds were easy to come back.  The 188.6 only lasted about a day and it seems my body is quite happy around 192.  I am NOT happy with this weight though.  I have work to do and I just need to buckle down and do it.  The Shrinking Jeans challenge ended and I didn't even check in on the last weigh in because I started at 194.6 I think, got down to the 188.6 and then came back to the 192.4.  Turns out I lost 2 pounds during the challenge.  Pretty sad.  I only have myself to blame though.  A cookie here or there and it adds up.  I must change this behavior....

I CAN DO IT!

I'm here...really I am!

I don't mean to be a bad blogger, but I guess I am.

We went camping last weekend to Lake Skinner and had a pretty good time.  The weather was great.  My son had a little cough that was problematic at night, but overall it was a good time.  My parents took their 5th wheel out too and we cooked all but one thing in her trailer.  However all the dishes were cleaned in our since their water heather is not working right now.

I forgot to post my week 2 weigh in for the shrinking jeans challenge.  It was 192 I think.  This last one was 190.2 I think.  I have them written down at work and not at home. So I'm doing good on my weight loss.  My water intake is getting better, but not 100% yet.  My exercise is not going well.  I was super busy at work this past week and had no time for anything.  I need to work on getting the exercise in and toning.

We bought a masticating juicer off of Amazon and it arrived on Friday.  We made juice last night and this morning too.  The kids have been asking for fresh apple juice all day.  We are going to try to juice at least once a day to get in some good micro-nutrients.  We watched the move "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" this past week and it makes us want to juice for all sorts of good heath benefits.  We try and east pretty healthy these days overall so the addition of juicing will only help us.

Okay I must cut this short,  my daughter needs a diaper change.

Success and other News

I managed to get my 3 days of walking in at work and I also took a walk today with the family.  I was successful at getting my 8 glasses of water in on Thursday and Friday. I decided to bring in a pitcher to fill up with water and keep at my desk.  I would then have no excuse not to drink the water. Well it worked like a charm.  Today however, I haven't drank very much.  I'm home and out and about and such and just didn't get it down.  I have drank about 4 out of 8 today.

The exciting news in life right now is that two weeks ago we bought our first travel trailer!  We didn't get to pick it up until last weekend though.  We had to go through a class to tell us all about the unit and how to work things and also get something done to the car for brakes on the trailer.  It's a Coleman, Dutchmen 15' with bunks and it's just so cute. We go on our first camping trip next weekend, but we have already stayed in the trailer.  We actually spent the night in the trailer the day after we brought it home.  The kids were so excited to stay in the trailer, and in reality, so were we.  It was fun.  We haven't decided where to go yet, but in the next couple of days we will figure it out.  We look forward to having many adventures in our trailer.

Shrinking Jeans New Years Weight Loss Challenge Week 1 update

Hello, so it's the first weigh in of the Shrinking Jeans Weight loss Challenge and I have lost weight this week. 

Initial Weight: 194.2

This week: 192.6

Loss of 1.6 pounds

Pretty good for not really working on losing the first few days of this challenge.  I have gotten better the last few days and it shows in the numbers.  I still have a lot of work to do on drinking enough water and getting in my exercise, but my food is doing good.

I managed to get in a walk during work today and hope to the next two days as well.  It's expected to rain tomorrow so we shall see.  I am going to go do some bicep and tricep work with some dumbells and maybe a few squats.  It's not much, but it's something.  I hope everything is doing well and this first week shows some great losses.

New Years Challenge Goals

The Shrinking Jeans gals have put up a challenge to create some goals for this 8 week challenge. So here goes.

1. Exercise at least 2 days a week with the weight machine or an exercise video.

2. Walk on break (at work) at least 3 days a week.

3. Drink at least 64 ounces of water a day.

4. Lose 10 pounds. 15 would be ideal for 8 weeks.

5. Keep a log of my food eating as few processed foods as possible.

I think those are pretty decent goals for the challenge.  I have really been having a hard time drinking enough water.  I sometimes only get in 2-3 glasses, which I know is awful, but that is why it's on the list.  Exercise has also been pretty non existent.  I have much work to do if I want to get back to losing weight instead of just maintaining.  From here on out, it's all uncharted territory.  I can't remember the last time I was even under 200 pounds. High school? Middle School?  I don't remember!  The fact that I have maintained around the 195 mark for this many months is pretty great.  I think that may be why I haven't lost any more weight.  It's kind of scary...can I do this. Can I get lower and how much lower is my ideal weight?   Will I be able to tighten up the skin so isn't such a nuisance?  It's scary and exciting at the same time.  I look forward to seeing what I can accomplish in the next 8 weeks and beyond. 

I found a challenge!

So yesterday I said I might need to find a challenge to join to help keep my self accountable to losing weight and exercise.  Well I was on facebook and saw one starting Jan. 1st that is being hosted by the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.  You have to sign up by tonight in order to participate though.



I think is just the thing I need in order to jump start the weight loss again.  Maybe you will join me.  I don't have a partner for the challenge, but they are going to pair me up with someone.