On Vacation!!

We are leaving for a few days.

Going to take the kids to see an ocean for the first time.

Maybe a waterfall like this amazing one.

How about a ferry ride??

We are going to love seeing the fish thrown around here!

And admire amazing views like this one.

But most importantly, we are going to see this sweet couple join as one.

I Did It!

I did something today that I thought I never would do.  6 months ago I would have laughed at you had you told me I would be doing this.  3 months ago...I would have said "Never!"  But I did.  And I am both terrified and thrilled.

Baby Number 3 was a killer on my body.  I knew this would be my last "free-pass" to eat what ever I wanted, so I did.  Caramel Blue-Bell Milkshakes every night before bed (hey, I needed the dairy!), 2-3 Big Macs a week (I craved the special sauce), and ohhh did I indulge in the cookies!!!  Needless to say, I gain a large amount of weight.  When Bubba was around 8 months old, I was ready to do something about it.

When working full-time, I tried many different diets.  The Adkins diet left me wanting to attack anyone eating carbs within 50 feet of me.  The "You" diet was sensible, but BORING.  I never took the time to figure out Weight Watchers, so I chalked it up as "confusing".  And the cabbage soup diet left me bloated and hating bananas.

I researched for weeks the best way to diet and the most sensible one was simply to count my calories.  AND IT WORKED!!  There is a fantastic app that I used on my iPhone (Lose It!) that tabulates everything I eat for the day that kept me completely accountable.  The best part of it was discovering that I can eat whatever I wanted, as long as I kept it under a certain amount of calories to reach my goal.  I started off really strict and discovered so many great foods that I enjoyed that were low calorie.  As the months went by and I started to shed weight, I allowed myself to indulge a little on the weekends.  My family LOVES pizza, so I would enjoy a slice or two, as long as I had a good week.  And I finally found a recipe for my beloved margarita that I could enjoy without the guilt!

But eating healthy was only half of it.

I hate exercising.  Did you hear me loud enough?  HATED IT!!  Until I forced myself.

I started doing the Jillian Michael's The Shred dvd along with several of you out in bloggyland.  We held ourselves accountable for a good month or so, shredding away every day...expecting to look just like Miss Jillian in 60 days.  um..no.   But it was a hard workout and while I cursed everyday while doing it, I am glad I stuck with it.

I also started the Couch to 5K running plan in January.  Once again, my iPhone came in handy with a great app that told me when to run versus walk.  I would strap the baby into my jogging stroller, bundle him up, and off we would go!  Now remember how I hated exercising...running was at the top of that list.  So why on earth would I start something I hated to do to lose weight?  Because I always admired runners- they were healthy, had some crazy "love" to run, and looked so great.  Could that possibly be me someday??

I invested in a good pair of running shoes (my hubby forced me to pay the money), a Polar HR monitor (to accurately count my calories...the more you burn in your workout, the more you go to eat that day!!), and a few more of JM's dvds since The Shed can get a little boring after 3 months.

Slowly the weight came off.  
Slowly my clothes started to get baggier.
Slowly I started to lose my late night snack cravings.
Slowly I started to crave exercising.
Slowly I needed to buy smaller sizes.
Slowly I crept to my goal weight.....and past it.

I started increasing my distances in my runs.  I started running with actual runners....and could call myself a runner.   I started aiming to burn twice as many calories then I did when I first started. I went on vacation...and still exercised.  I went down 10 pounds past my goal and am in a size I haven't been in since before college.

I run with a dear friend.  We just naturally started running together months ago.  In June she told me she was going to run her first half-marathon.  I was proud of her and told her good luck.

We kept running together and I kept increasing my distances with her.  Last week we ran 10 miles.  TEN MILES!  I shake my head in amazement.  Only because 6 months ago I would think you were crazy if you told me you ran 10 miles.  Now it's do-able.  Now it's another distance.  Now it's fun.  And tomorrow we run 11.

So what did I do that has me terrified? thrilled?  I signed up to run the Half too.  On November 14, 2010 at 7:00 a.m.  I will be running the San Antonio Half-Marathon.  wow.  that still shocks me.  I never wanted to run a distance race like that until I forced myself out of my comfort zone and tried something new.

I am excited.

I am nervous.

I always believed that you could do anything you put your mind to....now I just proved it.

I Like to Eat

my Bubba Boy is a fantastic eater.

 and while we started off a little slow with the mushy food.....

 once he could pick it up & feed himself...

 there was no stopping him!

 now he wants anything you have to eat.

 and loves to make a mess of it.

 spaghetti is one of his favorites.....

 too bad it's not this guy's.......

 he especially loves anything sweet.  but come on, who doesn't?

 he is one happy fella when he is at the dinner table.

 and he even manages to figure out ways to feed himself.

this kid will eat everything....pancakes, bacon, oatmeal.... 

 peas and carrots, butternut squash, and green beans are some of his favorites.

 and oh how he loves to make a mess with his mashed potatoes.

 and bananas.

and when the foods all gone, he'll even try his plate.

yum.

There will never be another 10.10.10.

10.10.10.  So cool.  So what to do to commemorate this cool date?  Blog about it!  Shawn from Seriously suggested we take the 10.10.10. and talk about something near & dear to us.

10 Things we are Grateful for

10 Things we are Glad we have done

10 Things we would like to Do in the next 10 years

10 Things I am grateful for

1. My Faith

2. My sweet husband

3. My adorable children.....is every mom this biased?

4. Coffee

5. My iPhone - I left home without it twice this week and felt like part of me was missing...

6. Awesome Friends that tell you the truth

7. Chuy's Creamy Jalapeno Dressing - even at 8:30 am it sounds good!

8. Books - I only wish I had more time to spend "in" them

9. Soccer - HUH?  Yeah, I know I complain about it, but it brings a lot of joy to this household

10. My Nikon D40 - sweet thing is back in my hands and taking great shots again

10 Things I am glad I have done

1. Had a third child - couldn't imagine life without baby bubba....

2. Had a fulfilling career for 13 years

3. Staying home with the kids and getting this amazing time with them

4. Earned a Bachelor's Degree

5. Moved to Central Texas 

6. Started running & lost 50+ pounds

7. Took on the PTA President role at my kids school this year

8. Bought my Nikon and took a class to learn how to take better pictures

9. Learned how to make movies with my Mac - have you visited my Darling Memories site?

10. Living my life for Jesus 

10 Things I want to do in the next 10 years

1. Go to Hawaii

2. Run a Half-Marathon - 3 months ago I never would have said this one!!

3. Open my own business

4. Take my kids to a real beach

5. Take the time to really learn how to use my camera to it's fullest potential

6. Learn to play the piano

7. Learn Spanish

8. Spend 2 weeks in Europe with my hubby

9. Plan a fun trip with friends for my 40th birthday

10. Be an encouraging wife, mother, & friend

What a great way to start a unique day, by looking at all the things I am grateful for in my life and life to come.  Thanks Shawn for the reminder!!!

My Eight

 One: I love that he is innocent about the world around him.

 Two: I love that he raced inside the house to get a band aid for his sister this week.

 Three: I love that he is stubborn and holds his ground.

(*Disclaimer- as his momma, this one is hard.  
I keep remembering how it will make him a confident man someday.)

 Four: I love that he loves lizards, trains, snakes, Legos, and Star Wars.

 Five: I love that he told us that he likes grilled chicken the other day. 
WHAT? Only took us years to get him to try it!

 Six: I love that he prefers to eat at a fast food restaurant, but choose to go to a "slow food" restaurant for his birthday dinner because "the whole family likes Chuy's!"

 Seven: I love that his Dad is his Hero.

 Eight: I love that he is too cool to tell me "I Love You", so I get a "You too Mom" instead.

Happy 8th Birthday!!

We love you!

We are proud of you!

And we thank God that you are our son!

Wordless Wednesday

International Walk to School Day 

we walked over 2 miles this morning with all our neighbors

so much fun!

Linking up with Miller Racing Family's Wordless Wednesday

and

5 Minutes for Mom's Wordless Wednesday

If you are visiting, please take a minute and look at my last post.  I am dying to know where the hell you are from!!

Where the Hell Are YOU??

Got ya!  How quickly did you open this post?  (I know I expect to hear from my mom with a title like this.....).  But give me a second to explain.

First of all.  Have you seen this viral video?  If not, I promise you, it's worth the 4 mins it takes to watch.  Go ahead.  Watch it.  I'll be right here when you finish up.

So cool, right??
And it got me thinking...wait for it......
where the hell are you??

Seriously. Where are you visiting me from??  I started this blog for my family to see what the Texas Darlings were up to.  I think they come & visit me still...but I don't know 'cause I never get any comments from them (just wave hi at me every once & a while!!!).  But my readership has evolved and I have gained many friends through this fun little media outlet.

My friend Kenlie did this a few weeks ago, so in true Texas form, I stole the idea (Thanks Kenz!!).  So, if you visit my blog but do not normally comment, please do so today.  Let me know "where the #%?@ you are from" too!  I'd love a chance to say "Hi!" back!! If you have a blog, let me know- I'd love to visit you too!

And those who regularly comment- thank you.  Please tell me where you are from too!  My hubby laughs at me when I tell him how many comments I do or don't get - he thinks I need to "get over it" when I don't have many.  I know, I know - it's not a popularity contest, but it is nice to know that you are read.  I like to look at it as if you are waving hello!  It's what friendly Texan's do y'all.

Can't wait to see where the hell you are all from.

100 Books of Summer: We Did It!!

Remember the challenge I issued my kids in June??

Let's read 100 books this summer!!

I know ALL of YOU are dying to know if we made it or not.......

As it turns out, WE DID!!!  uh hem....well, we read 100 books before summer was over......hee hee!

If you look real closely at the picture, you'll notice the squiggly line?  That represents us going back to school.  We were up to 80 books at that point.  Frankly- that HUGE!!!  That means the Texas Darlings read 80 books in 11 weeks!!  That's not small potatoes folks.  

However, our goal was 100 books and here in Texas, we don't count the summer over 'til we are at least in the 90s temperature-wise.... So could we read 100 books by September 20?? 

The challenge was thrown down and these kids rose to it.  You should have seen them reading their little hearts out to be the person who read the 100th book!!

       Sis won!  And she deserved it- reading a whopping 54 books!  She read some fantastic classics like,  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Boxcar Children (and several of the "mysteries"), & started the Little House on the Prairie series.   She also discovered some new favorites like Because of Winn Dixie and The Percy Jackson & The Olympians series (which she devoured all 6 books  in 2 weeks).  Here was her favorite books of the summer in her own words:

         

      

         Brody, like I predicted, read a lot of  non-fiction (tanks, submarines, snakes, lizards, you name it) this summer.  He also read a ton of Magic Tree House books and really enjoyed the Diary of A Wimpy Kid series.  For someone who doesn't  pick reading as his first choice of something to do, he read very well this summer, completing 30 books!  Here is his favorite:

           For me, I wanted to read quick, fun reads this summer.  My favorites this summer?? 

The first 4 of the Sookie Stackhouse books (such fun, quick reads!) 

Jen Lancaster's Bitter is the New Black and My Fair Lazy

 Janet Evanovich's First 2 Stephanie Plum books

Quick, easy reads for me....don't come looking for serious novels here.  I also got nice & caught up on my magazines that have been stacked in the corner.  NO time for those any more...need to end my subscriptions....

    
I also fell in love with the Kindle this summer.  It is so, so, so easy to get a book and read on it.  Love toting it around in my purse and having my "book" where ever I go!

So I have quite a few more books on my list to read this fall, including Carl Hiassan's Star Island (or October Book Club read), The Hunger Games series (thanks to all of you out there hyping it up) and I STILL haven't read The Host yet (shame on me!).  


Part of me is intrigued by Eat, Pray, Love and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  There seems to be a lot of mixed reviews about these.   Have any of you read these?  What do you think???

What are you reading right now?  I'd love to hear what's on your bedside table??