Run Eric, Run!

I am so very proud of my wonderful hubby. Right now he is participating (and hopefully finishing) his very first FULL marathon! For those that don’t know, a full marathon is 26.2 miles. Yep, you read that right: Twenty-six point two miles. I think he might be a little crazy! He has already completed 5 half-marathons, but that is only 13.1 miles (Only! Yeah right!). He is hoping for a finish time of 4 hours. That is about 9 minutes per mile. Like I said, crazy! But, I am immensely proud of him and can’t wait to be there when he crosses that finish line. I will repeat again, just in case you missed it the first time. He is RUNNING 26.2 miles right now. You might think about saying a prayer for him. I know I am! Oh, and L is very excited that daddy will be bringing home another medal for her. She doesn’t quite get that the 5 medals he has are NOT exactly hers. Crazy girl.

You might be wondering what I am doing while he is running.  Well, right now, I am in a Starbucks on the campus of the University of Illinois.  I had to walk about 2 miles to find ONE coffee shop!  That is crazy!  At Purdue, there is a coffee shop on just about every corner it seems.  But, I have my knitting, I have WiFi, and I have movies.  I am set for the next couple of hours! Yeah Me Time!!

So, we are trying to potty-train J. You would think that this would not be a difficult thing as we have done it before with L. Right? Uh, no. She is the most STUBBORN little girl. She says she “wants to be a baby like M.” I asked her if we needed to get her a bottle and if she needed to go back to sleeping in a crib. She said yes. How do you use reverse psychology on a kid like that? We are slowly getting there I guess. She has been using the little potty one or two times per day for the past week. She just doesn’t understand how to hold it until she can get to the potty. I’ve even tried the bribe that she can go to Vacation Bible School with sissy if she learns to use the potty. No luck. Any advice here would be much appreciated.

L did MUCH better at soccer practice Thursday night. As long as she figures out to take her hands out of her pockets while she is running, she’s going to be just fine. She still isn’t really aggressive, but for the most part she isn’t really an aggressive person. In fact, we are working with her on standing up for herself. There is a little girl in her pre-school class that has been pulling her hair and spitting at her. L says she has told the girl she doesn’t like her doing it, but the girl continues to do it. I think I am giving it the week and if she can’t get it to stop, I may say something to the teachers or the girl’s mom. I’m torn though. I don’t want to fight L’s battles for her, but she doesn’t understand how to fight them herself. We told her if she tells the girl she doesn’t like what she is doing and would she please stop and the girl WON’T stop, THEN she needs to go talk to her teachers. What do you think? Should I just let L handle it or should I step in? This little girl isn’t this way with JUST L. She has this aggressive behavior towards a lot of the other children in L’s class, but L seems to catch a lot of it.

I don’t know how it is where you live, but here in the fabulous state of Indiana, we are considering building Arks. I’m not even kidding the littlest bit. We have had so much rain. I am pretty sure it is the wettest April ever on record. As a farmer’s daughter, I learned a long time ago, you NEVER ask the rain to stop. However, a pause would be fantastic. I guess we did get that yesterday and today as it was absolutely gorgeous outside yesterday. It was about 62 degrees and sunny. It is a little cooler today and the sun isn’t out, but at least it isn’t raining…yet. But, there is water standing everywhere. It is times like these that I am really glad my hubby works at a lumber company. Anyone have any blue prints for an Ark? How about a canoe? Any type of water craft?
Have a great weekend!
With Love.

The (Wo)Man In The Mirror

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about making changes in my perspective of the way I see myself.  You can read the post here.  I really had been trying to look at myself differently, but not sure I really was.  Then, two weeks ago, I really gave myself a good shake.  I don't remember what I was wearing, but my wonderful husband told me I looked beautiful.  Then my sweet little J told me, "Mommy, you look so pretty".  How could I ignore those compliments?  So, the next morning before I got dressed, I looked at myself in the mirror.  And I mean REALLY looked at myself.  I looked at my body from the front, side, and back.  I looked at the lovely zit on my chin.  I looked at my eyebrows that are in desperate need of some wax.  I looked at the belly that is covered with stretch marks (aka battle wounds).  Then I started to notice other things.  I looked at my muscled quads.  I looked at my bright eyes.  I saw the definition that my arms have.  I looked at my self from the side and realized there is a lot less there.  I saw that my hips are not as "cushy" as they used to be.  I REALLY looked at myself.

And, in that moment, I realized something.  I really do not look bad.  I don't.  For almost 20 years, I have looked down on myself.  I have thought badly about myself.  I have compared myself to other women and always found myself coming up short.  No longer.  As I looked at myself, I came to the realization that all the stress about how I looked was just continually making me stress even more about it.  My husband thinks I'm beautiful.  My daughter thinks I am pretty.  What else do I need?  I have come to the decision that I am simply going to rock what I've got.  Sure, I would still like to lose a little more weight and tone up some areas, but I am no longer going to let this action of putting myself down rule my thoughts anymore.  I have to tell you.  For the past two weeks, I have felt like I have had a one hundred pound weight lifted off of my shoulders and my heart.  I am seeing myself differently.  I am seeing myself clearly.

I'd like to think that part of my new thinking is my re-found relationship with God.  I know that he loves me and cares about me, no matter what I look like.  I would like to think I am FINALLY seeing myself through His eyes.  Now, I know I am not perfect and that I will surely have days where I will get down on myself and start to feel negative again.  But, I vow that I will NOT let that way of thinking rule me.  I will OWN who I am.  Again, I will "ROCK WHAT I'VE GOT"!!  How about you?  Can you look at yourself honestly and see yourself for who you REALLY are and not who your negative thinking THINKS you are?

Have a great day!
With Love!

Weight Loss Contest Take 2

Today is the start of my second Biggest Loser Contest a friend of mine runs. I am really excited about it! I am hoping to lose at least 20 pounds this time around. As of right now, I am over 50 pounds less than when I started this journey on January 26th. That's right, you read 50 POUNDS!!! To be honest, I feel fantastic! I am in a lot smaller clothes than when I started, I feel better, I have more energy (well, as much energy as one can have with a 7 month old that doesn't sleep!). I am stronger and more fit. I feel like I can chase the kiddos around a little easier. I just overall just feel better! So, my goal for the contest is 20 pounds, but overall I think I would like to lose a total of 30 more. That would put me at minus 80 pounds which would really be kick ass! I can't even imagine how good I would look and feel if I were to hit that!

I was able to try something new at the gym too. I have REALLY bad knees (2 knee surgeries and arthritis at 30...it sucks) so I have never been really good at Stairmasters. But, I thought, that I am 50 pounds lighter, I would give it a try on Sunday. I only did it for 15 minutes just in case my knees exploded on Monday. It felt really great! I am excited! I can add something else to my workouts. I don't want to get bored. I have to keep adding/trying new things. I tend to plateau really easily and doing different things usually helps keep those at bay! So, tomorrow, going to try for 20 minutes on the Stair climber machine. Today I went up in weight at Body Pump. Probably not the best idea seeing as I am REALLY tired, but it still felt great! There is just something very satisfying about upping the weight and feeling that good tired feeling. Plus, I LOVE doing bicep curls...instant gratification, especially now that I am getting trimmer, those biceps really pop!!

I really missed writing last week and over the weekend. I'm anxious to get back into the swing of things!

With Love,
Theresa

Another One Bites The Dust!

Another pound that is! I weighed in this morning and now my total is 43.6 pounds!! YAY!! It was a little weird to see only a loss of 1 pound after all the big numbers I have been dropping, but I know that the weight loss needs to slow down if I want to keep it off. I also have been lifting so much more and muscle weighs more than fat. I MUST remember that! I went to Body Pump this morning and we did a new track (#71 if you are familiar). WHOOO! Killer! I upped my weight a little in the upper body too so that even made it more killer. But, man do I feel good about it. It is that good kinda sore, where you know the benefits will SO be worth it! I have my friend Casey going with me. It is a blast! LOVE IT!!

OK, so my complaint for the day...This old woman in Hobby Lobby! Now, let me preface this by saying that I truly respect my elders. I think older people have a lot to teach us and I have so much respect for the lives that they have lived and the knowledge and experience they have gathered in that life. That said, this woman, seriously! Here's what happened. I took the 3 kids to Hobby Lobby. Sometimes they can be good, but today was NOT one of those times. By the time we got to the check-out, I had had about all I could take. There was only one lane open and the line was long. There was another family in front of me (a woman, her hubby, and their 2 kids). This elderly lady got in line behind me with what I am going to assume was her middle age daughter. It had to be very obvious that I was barely hanging in. L kept touching everything even after repeatedly told not too, J kept TRYING to touch everything, and M was crying. I was trying to handle it, but it was quite clearly NOT going well. Another cashier FINALLY came up and opened another lane. She said quite clearly, "The next person in line please step over here." Well, the next person in line was the family in frontof me. The mother though took one look at me, and said, "You go ahead hon." I smiled and told her thank you. I started to head over to the other lane when the old lady behind me seriously cut me off and went instead. I was FLABBERGASTED!! What made her think it was her turn? I mean, had she been by herself and was having a hard time, I probably wouldn't have thought anything of it, but she wasn't. She had help. I did not. I ALWAYS try to let older people go ahead of me if I can, always. Would it have been too much to ask for her to let 3 kids and a very flustered mommy go so we could just get out of the store making EVERYONE's shopping experience better? Seriously? No? Well, I guess not! Ok, done complaining!

I voted today. I didn't really feel like I was prepared to go vote. Is it better to vote somewhat uninformed or to just not vote? Well, I firmly feel like if you don't vote, you shouldn't bitch about the government. I want my right to bitch so I went and voted. Luckily for all but like 4 positions, there was only one person running, so that made it all easier. And the 4 positions with more than one person...well, I think I voted OK. If you haven't voted yet, get out there, you still have about an hour!!

Don't forget to go vote for my friend Natalie at Mommy On Fire. Click here for the details!

Did you know that today is Star Wars Day? MAY the FOURTH be with you! :)

Have a great one!
With love,
Theresa

Final Contest Weigh In! (Take It Off Tuesday!)

I woke up this morning and got a little giddy. Today is the final weigh-in for my Biggest Loser Contest. Giddy or scared, I am not really sure, but either way, I stepped on the scale. Good news! I was down another 2.6 pounds. That make 39.2 pounds total!!! I just am floored by that number! My goal was to lose 15% of my original starting weight by the end of the contest, and I did it! I actually even beat that, ending at 15.68%! In the contest I earned 2 One Pound passes (one for being one of the first 3 to hit 10% of my body weight and one for finishing the 30 day Shred!). This puts my contest percentage at 16.48%. I am really really proud of myself. I have worked really hard to get here. I still have 30 pounds I would like to lose, but for today, I am proud! I even have on the jeans that I bought when I was at my thinnest after L was born. Exciting!

I started going to Body Pump classes on Thursday and have now been to 3 of them. I am not doing heavy heavy weight as I tend to bulk up easily, but the class is still a hard workout. I love this class, I really really do. And the instructor, Stephanie, is fantastic. She is helpful, motivating, and welcoming. If you have a Body Pump class around you, I highly recommend it. Don't worry, I am still doing PLENTY of cardio, but doing Body Pump instead of Shred. I will still do Shred if there are times I can't get to the gym though, I want to keep active!

Big thanks go to everyone that has supported me and encouraged me throughout this contest. I really do appreciate it! I hope you will stick with me throughout the next 30 pounds!

I should hopefully find out the results of the contest on Thursday...I will let you know!

With love,
Theresa

Ugh! (Take It Off Tuesday)

Well, my experiment FAILED with a big F! Remember? I made myself eat all 40 points every day (OK, so 2 days I ate 39.5, but come on a half a point is difficult to find!). I lost only .8 pounds. Originally, I actually GAINED .2 and then had to nurse M again, so I weighed myself on a whim and apparently he ate a pound worth of milk, making my actual weight loss -.8. This is VERY discouraging to me. I am trying NOT to let it get me down, but it is difficult. I feel like I work so hard, I watch what I eat, and NOTHING. Logically, I know that isn't true as I have lost almost 30 pounds in 2 months, but it is still just so damn frustrating! Why can't their be a magic genie of skinniness so that I can just wish it away? While I'm at it I'd like a million dollars and a cure for cancer!

So, last week is over, my bitching is DONE and I am moving on. This weeks plan...well, I'm for sure not eating that much food every day! Seriously, I felt pretty miserable. I don't really understand the philosophy here (and I'm sure if I actually WENT to a WW meeting, I might understand better!). You are supposed to eat all your points, but you are supposed to stop eating BEFORE you feel full. Well, I felt full WAY before I ate all my points. I found I was eating random things just to meet my points. So, with that in mind, I am dropping my points level. Since I am nursing, I am technically allotted 40 extra points. I am not going to use these. I will keep an eye on M, don't worry and if I need to start giving him a bottle or 2. He has started eating a little oatmeal at night anyways, so that is good for him. :) That means, I will be eating 30 points each day. That seems a LOT more reasonable!

I have also amped up my gym workouts. I am still Shredding, but really wasn't killing myself at the gym. Well, that has changed! I am doing MUCH harder workouts now and sweating a whole lot more. I am really hoping it all works and I can get past this plateau. I would LOVE to break 30 pounds this week. have 4 more Shred workouts to get my 30 days in and earn a One Pound Pass in my contest (I have already won 1 by being one of the first 3 to lose 10% of my original body weight). I plan on continuing to do Shred, but to also start going to Body Pump at the gym. I miss this class so much!

Well, I am out of time for today as M is up and starting to cry. Have a great day. Get out and enjoy the sunshine! Take a walk, chase your kids, have fun!
With Love,
Theresa

The Year Of Accomplishments!

Happy 2009! I can hardly believe that it is 2009. As I watched the Rose Bowl yesterday, I couldn't help but reminisce about my trip there in 2000/2001 to watch Purdue play. That was such a great time. With the exception of Eric and the girls, probably one of my most memorable events (Eric wanted to know how he was an event when I told him this, but y'all know what I mean!). Walking down Hollywood Blvd, almost getting shot on Sunset Blvd., seeing places like Whiskey A Go Go and the Viper Room, spending NYE at Hollywood Park and Casino in the Brown Sugar Club, just AWESOME experiences, things I will never forget!

But, it is a new year, time for new things and to think about in which direction I want my life to head. Of course that usually means RESOLUTIONS, (AAUUGGHH!!). I have decided instead to make OPPORTUNITIES for the year 2009. Not just short term goals, but ideas that will better my life for the long run. I turn 30 this year and I want my life to have more direction than just wife and mother. As much as I love being a wife and mother, I want more, so here goes:

1) I want to get fit again. I would like to be the fittest I can possibly be by the time my birthday hits in August. I've been saying that I want to be the fittest I have ever been, but considering I was in really great shape in high school, that was over 10 years ago, and I have had 2 children since then, that may be reaching to do in 8 months. So, I want to be as fit as possible. I plan on working out A LOT and eating right. I am not going to set a number that I want to weigh, I think that is my downfall. I get to obsessing about that and forget to just enjoy life. So, no numbers, just fitness. I figure if I work out right and eat right, the numbers will follow. :)

2) I want to knit a sweater for myself. I know that doesn't probably sound like a big deal to you non-knitters, but it is. A sweater is quite the undertaking, especially your FIRST sweater. I have the yarn and it will be more of a cardigan than a sweater with cap sleeves so I can wear it over other shirts throughout the year, but it will be a sweater non the less.

3) Finish my book. A couple years ago, I started writing a book. I think that I have a great idea and started out great. Then life got in the way and I haven't gotten very far since. So, this year I want to finish it. Of course, after that I would love to get it published, but we will cross that bridge when it gets here. For right now, let's just work on getting it finished!

4) I would like to read more classic novels and reread the books I read when I was younger. I LOVE to read, but often read a lot of junk. Yeah, it makes me happy to read Chic Lit, but it probably doesn't do much to expand my brain, so I plan on reading some more classic things like Of Men and Mice and Wuthering Heights (did I spell that right?). I also read a lot when I was younger and would LOVE to revisit those books, like A Wrinkle In Time or The Yearling. Finally I want to reread books that I read in high school and college that I didn't really appreciate, but read because I had to, like To Kill A Mockingbird and A Farewell To Arms. If you have any other suggestions, please pass them on, I'd love to hear them!

Well, I think those are great opportunities for me. Not only to expand my mind, but help my body and make me a better person. Wish me luck in my pursuit of them and stay tuned as I will update you as I go along!

I also hope to blog a lot more about what is going on in my life. Often it is just diapers and grossness, but sometimes things get interesting.
Until then, God Bless,
Love,
Theresa