Break-Up

Ok....So it has been a month.  I KNOW.  I have been taking a little "break' of sorts.  WHY???  Well here is the rundown...
I have this life...it is a good life, but a little busy now and then.  I also have this blog...it is a good blog, but SOMETIMES I have to choose the life OVER the blog.  Have you ever heard that you have to choose better things over good things.  WELL this is that instance.  I love blogging!!  Why (I know my husband would like to know)??  Well I love to make things, I love to talk to/meet people, I like to share ideas, and I LOVE to write.  If Icould take a LIFE break, I would write a book.  BUT since my life is NOT going anywhere anytime soon, I have to take a blog break instead.  I test drove this BREAK idea over the last month and realized I only missed blogging a little bit.  PLUS...I still have my personal family blog to keep my ideas flowing. I will still be crafting and reading and my kids will still be super cute, so I will still be posting about it on my personal blog.  AND who knows...maybe in a month I will change my mind. I am sure I will update this blog once in a while if I have a tutorial to share or something AMAZING to write about.  But I am not going to worry about keeping it up to date.  BUMMER, but I know there are OTHER things that need my attention right now.  Thanks for all of your wonderful comments and emails over the last few years.  Happy Crafting!!!  Jessica

No excuse!!!

 SOOOO, this week was a big fat FAIL.  I lost ZERO pounds.  Since I didn't weigh in last week, that means TWO WEEKS with no loss.  I would make excuses, but I know the reasons.  I am not on a plateau...I am not losing inches....I am eating healthy for a few days and THEN.....

Clearly not helpful.  NO MORE CHEATING!!!!  No more bites, tastes, nibbles, or sips.  No more DAYS OFF.  This week I am getting back into gear.  

SOOO this was me tonight at ten o'clock alone in the grocery store buying healthy food.  

 And this is going to be me next week!!!

 Wish me luck!!!

Books of 2011

SOOOO I just realized that I have a HALF COMPLETED list of books from 2011 on my sidebar....what a loser I am sometimes.  I always have great intentions, but then life happens and the kids eat cat poop, or break my glasses in half, or dump nutella all over my floor, or unroll a roll of toilet paper and then try to flush it down the toilet.  AND THEN I forget all about my little blog and keeping it up to date.  SOOO although it is OVER a month behind schedule (and mostly just for me), here is the list of books I read in 2011.  I must start out by saying that last year I read 39 books and this year only 25....BUMMER!!!  I guess having kid # 2 took up a little bit of my spare time:) 
* =  my favorites!!

1. The Amish Midwife--Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould
2.  The Wildflower Bride--Mary Connealy
*3.  Heartless--Anne Elisabeth Stengl
4.  Slay It With Flowers---Kate Collins
5.  The Linen Queen--Patricia Falvey
6.  Journey To Riverbend---Henry McLaughlin
*7.  Wench---Dolen Perkins-Valdez
8.  Real Simple Solutions---Real Simple Magazine
9. 365 Activities You And Your Toddler Will Love--Nancy Wilson Hall
10.  Baby Love--Norah O'Donnell
11.  The One Minute Cleaner--Donna Smallin
**12.  A Distant Melody---Sarah Sundin
**13.  A Memory Between Us---Sarah Sundin
14.  Something Borrowed--Emily Giffin
*15. Nowhere Carolina--Tamara Leigh
16.  The Girl In The Gatehouse--Julia Klassen
**17. The Forgotten Garden---Kate Morton
18.  Rachel's Secret---BJ Hoff
19.  Where Grace Abides---BJ Hoff
20.  Beside Still Waters---Tricial Goyer
21.  Love Finds You in Pedleton Oregon---Melody Carlson
*22.  The Shape of Mercy--Susan Meissner
**23.  The Tea Rose--Jennifer Donnelly
**24.  The Winter Rose--Jennifer Donnelly
**25.  The Winter Sea---Susan Kearsley

A book every 2 weeks isn't bad, but to keep myself sane, I am going to aim for 40 in 2012:)

A little of this and a little of THAT!!!

SOOO first things first....I took the week off from weighing in.  I had a CRAFTING RETREAT this weekend and so I decided to enjoy myself rather than counting calories.  I will weigh in again next week and see what harm I did my eating catered food and LOTS of candy:)  Who knows...maybe the dozen chocolate chip cookies I ate last night will ACTUALLY eat the fat cells...I am not a scientist, but it could happen!!!

Speaking of my retreat...I am already looking forward to next year.  I had  a BLAST!!!  I was hoping to get a quilt top done, but only finished 2/3 or the blocks.  I did get a sideache from laughing and a headache from staying up until 2 in the morning.  So  I guess I was a little productive:)  I also used my sewing machine...which was a big step since I have been a NON sewer for WAY too long.  I cannot remember the last quilt I worked on (sad I know), but I DO know that I got the fire started again and I will NOT be taking a long break again for a WHILE!!! 
ANDDDD last but not least...the first completed book of the year!!! 

The Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly.  This is the 3rd book in her ROSE series.  I FLEW throught the first 2, but this one took me MUCH longer to get in to.  Her writing was as good, but I was not LOVING the characters.  They ALL had a bad side, so I had a hard time choosing who I would root for.  I didn't even know WHO I wanted to end up staying together in the end...I actually hoped for a few of them to die so that I would not have to hear about all of their troubles any more.  BUT all in all despite my disgust with the character's choices, I would give a thumbs up. 
This book was about Seamie...the last brother in the Finnegan family.  He made an appearance in book 2 where he climbs Kilimanjaro with the girl he loves(Willa) and then she falls and destroys her leg, which later has to be amputated.  She blames him for losing her leg and leaves him in Africa.  THIS book picks up when he returns to London and SHE is at Mt. Everest. He is moving on with his life (and his pregnant wife) when Willa returns to London for her father's funeral.  Everything goes down hill at that point for EVERYONE.  Everyone is telling lies.  Everyone is sneaking around.  EVERYONE drove me nuts!!!  PLUS WWI is about to break out and there are spies and mobsters running around making trouble.  If you have read the Tea Rose and The Winter Rose, you should for sure pick up where you left off and read the conclusion of the story.  It is nice to know what has happened to ALL of the other characters that we have gotten to know in the other books.  Now it is time to MOVE ON and find a new book to leave on my nighstand for 2 months:) 

Weigh in Wednesday

SOOOO I had a bit of a FAIL week this week.  Somwhere along the way I ate at McDonalds, ice-cream was involved in one of my days, a high school basketball game with candy and popcorn made an appearance...oh wait that was all SATURDAY!!!  UGHHH.  Then like always I felt like I had already screwed up so I might as well give up for the week.  I KNOW I KNOW!!!  STUPID!!!  BUT all in all it turned out ok.  I LOST 1 pound.  WOHOO!!!  Not as great as last week, but better than gaining TWO right???  I LOVED the comments, emails, messages, and phone calls I got this week.  TONS of support THANKS!!  I also loved hearing everyone's advice and feedback, so KEEP IT COMING.  It really does help to know that I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE.  Which is why I took the advice of TWO OF YOU LOVELY GALS and started using MYFITNESSPAL again. 

I have used it on and off before, but never with friends.  SOOO right now I only have one friend.  If you wanna be my weight loss buddy (hahaha) just shoot me an email!!!  I also agreed somewhere in my crazed ice-cream eating madness to do a 5K (note I said do and not run---no guarantees!!!). 

I had a few new snack finds this week.  MY FAVORITE...

Sweet Chili Quakes mini rice cakes.  OH MY GOODNESS.  They are like really good healthy(er) Doritos.  I am in love with these right now. LOVE!!

Not quite as much love, but still a pretty good crush going on the white cheddar rice cakes.  They are fine plain, but REALLY good with avacado smushed on them...YUM!! I mean what isn't good with some smushed avacado????

I am also loving SWISS MISS DIET cocoa.  I mean 25 calories....how can you not love that???  It works great when I am down to the end of my calories, but do not want to go to bed yet....LATE NIGHT CHOCOLATE.  Just do not drink the regular stuff EVER AGAIN and you will not remember what you are missing :)

And I tried a new workout---since I had done Jillian's all of ONE darn time (I suck), I decided to try Bob.  The Biggest Loser Power Walk video.  I REALLY like working out with the chubby Biggest Loser people more than the SKINNY TONED gals in the regular videos.  I feel like I am the top of the class..haha!!!  Plus it is walking, but with some KICK.  I like that you walk a mile, get sweaty, and can carry around a toddler while you do it.  That is kind of the barometer at my house right now...can my howler monkey child cling to my neck while I do it???? SUCCESS!! 
 
How did you all do???  This weeks goal....stop eating so MUCH of all my healthy snacks...Because a bag of rice cakes a day is probably NOT a good weight loss tool!!!