It Is December

Well to steal a phrase from a fellow blogger "I have been a bad Blogger". so sorry for the delays in posting. things have been crazy around here and I keep waiting for them to slow down, but guess what? they don't! Thanksgiving last week was help at our new house...It was great to have everyone over and for everyone to come see it. It really was a fantastic day and then my sister stayed overnight so we could wake up at 3:30 in the morning for our annual shopping trip. yes that is my favorite day of the year to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. I loved it!! Now it is getting ready for Christmas...Hillary coming home and eventually making the total move over to the new house. Kendall will be with her dad this Christmas. The first one either of my kids won't be with me. I mean Hillary will be but it is the first year I won't have them both. I am not going to get into that whole thing now...that is for another tear streaked post on another day.

Right now I am loving the fact that it is Christmastime. My favorite time of year and the fact that since I have been on Nutrisystem I have lost 8 pounds!! Woo Hoo. I am super excited about that. Now for the upcoming Holiday, I have told myself I will be happy if I just maintain that 8 pound loss and then start fresh the new year keeping it going down. I have until March to lose it for the first race. So for the next 4 weeks I am going to stay on the Nutrisystem plan but I am still going to do the family dinners and outings that are happening during the holidays and the baking that I am super excited to start. But 8 pounds YEA!!!!!!

Here are a few photos of our thanksgiving....

Happy Birthday Mom

Me and my mom on Easter

My mom and Dad in their younger years

This is a terrible picture of me but I had to include it because this is how my mom was...always laughing and smiling.

My mom with her sister and the grandkids. Hillary is in the white next to my mom. this is the face that only certain people in my family can do I am not one of them. Hillary is. LOL

Roberta Joan

Today my mom would be 72.

My best memories my mom is there.

I miss her so much. If anybody says time heals old wounds they have obviously never lost a parent who was as wonderful or as close to her kids as my mom.
It does NOT get better. I do NOT miss her less. I do NOT think about her less. I think about her EVERY SINGLE DAY and wish that she has won her battle to cancer. My mom was the type of person everybody who met her loved her. Total strangers would come up to her in a store and just randomly start talking to her. She had such a gift of being a caring loving human being. She was an amazing christian and believed with all her heart. She would pray and pray for my one brother to be saved and get his life straight and finally through her faith and the help of God he did. She ALWAYS had time for you, made you feel special and loved her kids and grand kids more than anything in this world. that is what she lived for. She was a housewife her entire life and truly enjoyed that job. She loved having kids and family around her which is the main reason why none of us kids moved to far from her...within 30 mins or so. She was an incredibly giving person and gave herself and things with no expectations of getting anything back. In fact I think she preferred it that way.LOL She would do whatever she could to help any of her children or grandchildren. ....I just can't stress enough how amazing she was to be around and how she really lived her life for her family.
I am one of those lucky people, I had an amazing childhood. I had an amazing family, I had an amazing set of parents who loved me and I knew they did. We would shop together, sit and talk on my bed...which was one of my favorite things to do. Yes she "tucked " me in even when I was in High School to catch up on what happened or what boy I liked. My friends all loved her. They would come to her to talk or share things they couldn't share with their family. She was the back bone of our family and the one who kept us together. I am so incredibly lucky to have been there through every stage of her sickness. Beginning, middle (remission) and end. I savor every memory I have with my mom. I only wish I would have written them down because time does fade the memories some. I only hope that I am just half the mother she was. Giving the unconditional love we all hope for and want. I want my kids to feel about me the way I feel about her. To savor the time we have together and to know how truly important family is. My mom stressed that so much. God and family . I love that my house, when I lived in Elkhart, was the house everyone came to for things. It was the main stay for family gatherings and such. I loved that! I try to shadow her in her love for her kids and family and her general kindness to all people.
I miss you mom and love you so much!
Happy Birthday!!

Thursday

I am decorating my house! I have all my Christmas stuff all over the house and I finally think I see the end of the tunnel. It takes about a week for me to get everything up and I am loving every minute of it.

I once again have been doing some reflecting. It is that time of year, to reflect on things in your past, things ahead of you in your future and to set some goals for yourself. I know back in September I said I was going to set some goals for myself and keep my move ahead to a better healthier life into motion. Well I have thought long and hard about this. I have come up with a few. Some are just basic things I want to do and accomplish for myself , while others are more meaningful and deep...whether it is for me or something else..Here goes...

1. I am going to strengthen my relationship with God and that will in turn make me a kinder person to people I encounter.
2. I am going to continue my quest for Independence and I am going to go to a movie ALL BY MYSELF. This is a big one. I mean I only recently went to dinner and other places by myself. this is a huge deal for me and something I really want to accomplish in the very near future. I really would like to put it on my list for things i have done in 2009. Only a few weeks left to do it...We will see.
3. I want to b the best mate I can possibly be to Harry and the kids. I want to do my best to do my job and do it well. I know I complain about the stress and things that I am doing, but honestly I have never been happier. I am doing exactly what I have wanted to do my ENTIRE life. I mean how many people can really say that and mean it. I have dreamt of being a mother and homemaker for as long as I can remember. I love it.
4. Still on this weight loss journey so I want to lose this final 30 pounds!! I want it gone this time next year. I am tired of complaining about it, stressing over it and still carrying it. I am going to lose it !!!
5. I am going to work on my insecurity issues. I have always been an insecure person. I want to push all that aside and believe in the love I have around me and the people who give it to me and just let go of it all.

Now for a few trivial ones...

6. I want to go to Navy Pier in Chicago. ( I have never been)
7. I want to continue to have a our date nights at least once a month with Harry.
8. I want to go on a family vacation with all the kids.

long term goals...
9. I want to go to Italy
10. I want to run a marathon, or at least a half marathon.

So there it is my 10 best list....I know I an achieve each one of those and i know with each achievement it will make me into a better person.

Day two!

Today was day 2 on my Nutrisystem plan. Yesterday I was famished!! Today was not too bad. I find that if I keep myself busy then I don't get as hungry as When I am not doing something constructive. That just goes to prove how much of this is just mind over matter. the food is actually not too bad. Today for breakfast I had some very good granola cereal and lunch was a broccoli pasta. Tonight I am having meatloaf and mashed potatoes...Portion size is normal I guess but it is SMALL!!! I am thinking my stomach will be shrinking soon here and I won't be quite as hungry as I have been the last two days. I am on a 1200 calorie a day diet, so I better be losing some weight. Harry started it also...he is on a 1500 calorie a day diet.

I started getting my Christmas decorations out yesterday. Hillary helped me get them out of storage on Sunday and I started decorating the house. I love this season. It is such a great time of year. My mom loved this season also and it always makes me think of her. She always tried to make every Christmas so special for everyone in her life. She would start the decorating process early also. I guess I have learned that from her. My sister does the same thing, and just like my mom, it takes us both about a week to get everything up. I take down everything almost from my walls and replace it with Christmas pictures and knick knacks. the entire house is redone from the bathrooms to the living room and kitchen all the way to Kendalls bedroom. The entire house will be decorated by thanksgiving just like my mom. We will get the tree the weekend of Thanksgiving and decorate that then. I love just sitting in my house in the evenings after everything is decorating and savoring the moments...the lights, the atmosphere, the kindness that everyone has for one another. It is like no other time of year.

Monday is my moms birthday...She has been gone for 7 years and this will be her 8th Birthday she has been gone. I have been missing her so much lately. I know it is because this is so close to her birthday and we always did something special for her, especially on those last few birthdays she had with us.

I'm home!!!

The winning team...Well to me anyways. We came in Second this weekend. but 8th overall for the year.

At PF Changs in Planet Hollywood in Vegas

At the meet and greet with Holly Madison after "PeepShow" in Vegas.

On Fremont Street in Vegas watching the lights show.

The view from our room at the Wynn (Encore) on the 60th floor!!! AMAZING!!!!


I am home.

It was a great week. Vegas is Awesome. I just love it! Above are some photos from the week. The race went really well and they got farther than ever. We took second place but came in 8Th overall for the year. But the best news is that the Pro Mod class that we run in is getting to become a recognized class with NHRA...So what does this mean?? This means that the races will be televised on ESPN on Sundays. THAT means big time Diet time for me!!! The races start back up in March so I have 5 months to get my shit together and drop these last 30 lbs. I am going to do it. I want to look good for the camera. LOL...Soooo I am ordering Nutrisystem and going to start that. Harry and I both are. We both are going to buckle down and get the weight off. I am super excited. He also threw in a few other incentives for me like a extra trip to Vegas because I love it so much. I hope everyone had a great week. I will update on other things tomorrow. Right now I am looking forward to my own bed. I will also try and catch up on what everyone else is doing with their blogs also. Night all!!

Amazing

I made the most amazing granola today. It is chock full of good things for you and tastes amazing. I am a granola freak and love the stuff...but i am also pretty picky about it. I like it crunchy and I like it flavorful. so this one is the one I will make from now on...and yes Paula it is BETTER than the stuff at Sheltons! LOL

1 1/2 Cups Rolled Oats
1/2 Cup Chopped Almonds
1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans
1/2 Cup Sunflower Seeds
1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries
1/2 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips ( I used the mini morsels)
2T Honey
7 oz (1/2 can) Low Fat or Fat Free Sweetened Condensed Milk

Mix all the ingredients except the Chocolate chips together and pour onto a foil lined cookie tray that is sprayed with Pam. Bake for 10 mins flip it over and bake for another 10 mins. Take out of oven (it will seem a bit wet still but will harden as it cools) Cool completely ( I put mine in the fridge because I couldn't wait) then break up and add Chocolate Chips. Wow this is YUMMY. A bit higher in calorie but using the fat free version makes it better.

Enjoy!!

Weekend

Whew! This week has flown by. Wow. Another weekend of rain here. Hopefully will be able to get some things done around here this weekend. I am trying to get my exercise back into my routine. We leave for Vegas on Wednesday so I want to work out while we are there also. We are going to see the show that Holly Madison is in in Vegas. I know I know...but I am a reality TV junkie and I really do love the show Girls Next Door. Holly was my favorite and harry got me VIP tickets so we can attend a meet and greet with her after the show!! Woo Hoo!! I am super excited!

Diet has been really good. I am still on my banana and Peanut Butter kick. Can;t seem to shake that one and well it really is good for me. I would love to be able to make the switch over to almond butter with it, but I can't get away from the peanut Butter yet. I hope everyone has a great weekend!!