Goodbye

I will no longer be posting to this blog. Please visit me at my Weight Loss blog:
Skinny Bitch Wannabe

Snowed in!!!

18 inches of snow was dumped on us yesterday. Yes, you heard me right.....18 INCHES! I really don't mind being snowed in because I'm off work this week & the kids have a snow day. But I know other people really need to get places and they can't. Hard to believe it's the end of March and we have this much snow. I hope it's gone by Easter Sunday!

Poor thing looked really confused!

They were just standing there looking around

My wonderful neighbor plowed the road & driveways!

Don't think I'll get DH to grill any steaks tonight

Poor little tree

I don't think I'll get him to go outside anytime soon!

Menu Plan Monday: 2/25-3/3

Is it just me, or does Monday come WAY TOO FAST? I think it should always be Sunday ;-)

Last weeks menu is pretty boring since we seemed to be busy every night. And to be honest, I don't remember what night we ate which meal. Crazy. 

~Pasta & garlic bread (we have this every week)

~Cheeseburgers & oven fries

~Pork chops & mashed potatoes

~Leftovers

~Dinner out (after a volleyball game)

~Dinner out (used up a gift card)

~Frozen Pizza

So, nothing too exciting. I have a better menu planned for this week & I'm going to try and include pictures and recipes. 

Happy planning!

Linking up with:

I'm an Organizing Junkie

Erin Branscom

Scrappin' Sunday: Getting organized

 I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed with my Project Life projects lately. I feel very unorganized. I feel alot of pressure. I feel like life is passing me by & I'm not keeping up with documenting it.  I'm losing sleep over it. Seriously. 

Then, to make matters worse, I watched a few videos on Becky's blog

about organizing your kids' STUFF. You know, all the STUFF they accumulate. The pictures, the paper, the artwork.......oh my. Thank you Becky for showing us that you are just like the rest of us......BEHIND! 

 As I was watching the VIDEO (Click on the video titled "Get organized with kids' stuff) I realized that I have piles of stuff everywhere & I also have tons of photos that are piled everywhere. Not just the kids' stuff, but everything! I thought I was pretty organized when it came to this stuff.....boy was I wrong. I started looking around my scrapbook area & decided to see exactly how UNorganized I am. WOWZERS! The above picture shows my half-ass organized photos. Most were in order, some were not. I also hate the boxes I have them in.....UGH. BUT.....these boxes really weren't my biggest problem. It's the piles & piles of photos & STUFF that I have, well, HAD, sitting around everywhere. That is what you see below....just the START of me sorting the piles. Mr. Stinky had to get involved & roll around in the middle of things ;-) He wasn't there very long before I had to kick him out.

I found things stuffed EVERYWHERE around the house. I just started sorting into piles according to YEAR & by the time I was done, my bed was completely covered. Once the sorting was done, I decided to add to my photo organization boxes so that I would have everything in order. This was when I was very thankful that I had bought 4 extra boxes last year just for this reason. I LOVE these boxes for the simple fact that they are very sturdy,  have handles and they hold a TON of photos.

I also found these under my desk that I had picked up on clearance for $5.00 each at Hobby Lobby last year. See, I had good intentions of organizing everything!! I like the black, sleek look of these. My hope is to eventually get all my stuff condensed down to just a few of these. SOMEDAY!

So, I basically spent my entire weekend on this project, but I'm so glad I did. It's been weighing on me so much lately. Now I have everything in one place & it will be so much easier when I get to the step of actually catching up on my albums.

Here is my end result:

The tower on the left, going from the bottom up,  is 1995-2013! The tower on the right, going from the bottom up, is Adam's pre-school & kindergarten art & papers, current sports memorabilia & our wedding photos and album. Seriously?!? I don't have room to store all of this!!!!!! I have my work cut out for me!

In the video, this is the process that Becky recommends:

1.) Assess-what you have + what you've done

2.) Gather-papers, pictures, art....everything

3.) Sort-per child, per year, per event, etc

4.) Organize-by year or topic...whatever makes sense for you

5.) File (if needed)

6.) Compile-into albums

My next step is going to be organizing the photos on my computer that aren't even printed yet! THAT is gonna be a task too! Then I will be going through my completed albums and seeing exactly what I have scrapbooked. If I have photos in these storage boxes that are already scrapbooked, then I'm not keeping them. I will share them with others (family, friends, etc). One thing I noticed is that I have several copies of some photos. I know my thinking behind that was having a copy for each album because I keep a family album & an album for each child. If I have more than 3 copies I probably thought I would give them to my mom, dad, grandma, etc. But I'm sure I never got that far. I have good intentions ;-)

Wednesday Weigh In & new blog

Starting Weight: 197.4 pounds

Current Weight: 192.0 pounds

Difference: 5.4 pounds

Not a whole lot to say this week :-( I'm getting frustrated, but I'm not going to let it get me off track. If anything, it's made me more determined than ever to kick this into HIGH gear.

I've also decided to start my blog back up that I started last year that is solely dedicated to my weight loss. I've been working on it for a few hours this evening. Starting next week I will post everything related to my weight loss journey on the new blog. So, please check it out and let me know you've been there! There aren't any posts yet, but I am working on an introductory post as we speak!

Skinny Bitch Wannabe

Menu Plan Monday: 2/18-2/24

Happy Monday!

 It's been a while since I've posted my menu plan, but I have been keeping up with it. I've also been planning out MY food, but I'm going to keep that for a different post. I like having my menus posted here on the blog so I can reference back to them because sometimes I don't remember what we had the week before! Sad, isn't it? 

Monday: Pasta, garlic bread & salad

Tuesday: Dinner out (after Courtney's late volleyball game)

Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner (eggs, bacon, biscuits & gravy)

Thursday: Chili

Friday: Dinner out with the in-laws (sister in law bought...score!)

Saturday: Dinner @ softball banquet (which wasn't worth the $8 ticket in my opinion)

Sunday: Tacos & Nachos

Hope everyone has a good week!

~Jen

Linking up with:

I'm An Organizing Junkie

Healthy Branscoms

Scrappin' Sunday: Project Life Layouts Weeks 3 & 4

Well, it's Sunday and so far my internet is behaving! We've been having so much trouble with it!!! 

 Anyways, onto Project Life! Like I said before, I'm not using Core Kits so my weekly layouts aren't any certain matching theme. I pretty much just use what I have. Of course I used alot of Instagrams (I'm obsessed) and I used an insert in week 3. It was a busy week it seemed like. Both the cat & the dog had to go to the vet on the same day. Courtney and I took a trip to Chicago to visit my sister and we went dress shopping for us bridesmaids. Then Courtney and I got to babysit Hailey :-) I wish they didn't live so far away. It's about a 3 hour drive.

WEEK 3:

Full layout of week 3

Left side of week 3 layout

Ride side of week 3 layout

Insert for pics of my niece :-)

Other side of the insert

Right side of week 3

 WEEK 4:

Full layout of week 4

Left side of week 4 layout

 

 

Right side of week 4 layout

The pink post it note is there because I cut a picture wrong and have to get it re-printed. I'm pretty happy with how this project is going. I feel like it's keeping organized when it comes to my photos!

Happy Scrapping!!

~Jen

Wednesday Weigh In

Starting Weight: 197.4

Current Weight: 191.4

Difference: 6 pounds!

Finally.....another loss! I can't wait to get out of the 190's! I've also decided that when I hit 10 pounds lost, I'm treating myself to a pedicure. 

This week I have felt more in control of things and I think that has helped my mindset alot. I weighed in at Weight Watchers on Saturday morning and according to their scale I was 196. I think it's crazy how different the scales can be sometimes. I'm only going by my scale when I do my weekly weigh ins at home. I'm thinking about only weighing in at Weight Watchers on Friday mornings and not weighing at home at all. I joined WW for the accountability and I pay a monthly fee, so I have to go. I can't ignore the number on their scale. The problem is when the 2 scales differ so much, it gets me discouraged. When I saw a 4 pound difference from Friday to Saturday, I wanted to throw in the towel. So, you will possibly see another weigh in post on Friday ;-)

Hope Everyone is having a good week so far!!!

Internet problems

I have not had internet for 3 days and I'm frustrated as hell! Our internet provider was awesome until they sold to another company a few months ago, and now it's nothing but problems!

I'll be back tomorrow with regular blogging!

Reality Check & a weigh in

 Starting weight: 197.4

Current weight: 192.2

Difference: 5.2 pounds

I have to say......this surprises me. I really thought I would have gained. BUT....I most definitely could have lost more. So, with that being said.........

Oh my, what a crazy week it's been. My sister came down from Chicago for 2 days so we could cross some things off of her wedding planning list. We got her dress & invitations taken care of and we found our bridesmaids dresses. It was a crazy 2 days of running around and to say that my "diet" went out the window is an understatement. I've been horrible. For about a week I've started to fall back into my bad habits. The "I've already ruined my diet this morning, so I might as well eat what I want the rest of the day" has been my mentality all week.  I haven't exactly been eating crap, but I haven't been eating on a schedule at all. On Wednesday I had breakfast at 10:00 am and then didn't eat again until 6:00pm. Of course by then I was starving and ate my dinner and everything else in sight. I feel very out of control with it and I don't like that. I've come to the conclusion that I HAVE to have a plan! HAVE TO! Trying on bridesmaids dresses has once again given me the drive to keep this going.

I'm spending the day at home today doing laundry so I'm also going to take the time to plan out the next 7 days of food for myself. I'm also going to empty out my deep freezer in the garage and take inventory because I found a bag of tilapia in there the other night when I was looking for something! Totally forgot I had it!

I'm weighing in at Weight Watchers tomorrow morning, so we'll see how close their scale is to mine. Last time is was exactly the same as mine. This weight loss stuff is hard :-(

Zero Point Weight Watchers Veggie Soup

I can't take credit for this recipe.........I found it on Kelly's blog. When I saw this, I knew I had to try it. Not only is it ZERO points, but it sounds delish! I love soup.

I totally forgot to take a picture until I was dividing the soup up into individual containers. I'm planning on having this soup for lunch or dinner a couple times this week and next week. I'm thinking I need to make more to keep in the freezer :-)

Zero Point Weight Watchers Veggie Soup Recipe:

(*I DOUBLED THE RECIPE* )

1/2 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

3 carrots, peeled & chopped

1 box nonfat, reduced salt broth (beef or vegetable)

3 celery stalks, chopped

2 zucchinis, chopped

Handful green beans, trimmed

1 jalapeno, seeded & chopped (I didn't add this)

1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 cup kale, chopped (I didn't add this)

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. southwest seasoning (I didn't add this)

1/4 tsp. chili powder

Combine onion, garlic & carrots in large stock pot over medium heat for 5 minutes or so. Add liquid & then chop & drop remaining ingrediants. Cook together on low heat for 20 minutes. I actually let it simmer on the stove for about 30-45 minutes. 

This soup is amazing!!!!!!!!

Scrappin' Sunday: Project Life Layouts Weeks 1 & 2

 (Yes, I know it's not Sunday....it's Monday. I started this post yesterday with every intention of getting it published, but my Internet kept going in & out for some reason. It was really windy yesterday so I don't know if that was the problem or not. I got fed up with attempting to stay online so I gave up)

Last weekend I went to Tara's for a day of scrapping. My goal was to get 4 weeks of Project Life in my family album done and I did! I've decided to post 2 weeks at a time so it doesn't get too overwhelming. As I said before, I decided not to purchase Project Life Core Kits this year, but I did purchase page protectors. I'm using whatever supplies I have on had so my album doesn't really have a "matchey, matchey theme"

WEEK 1:

Week 1 entire layout

 Left side of week 1 layout is mainly photos from New Years Day, except for my cousin's little girl's smash cake photo that I took. She turned 1 year & my gift to her was a photo shoot. We spent New Year's Day at home working on some projects around the house. I also made my mom's chicken & noodles for the first time so I had to document that! They turned out great & I'll definitely be making them again!

Right side of week 1 layout is a mix of things from the week. I caught both hubby & son sitting around playing on their phones. The kids both had games all week so I included pics from that and I had to include the start of my 90 day Body By Vi challenge. 

Since I'm completely obsessed with Instagram right now I included a 6x12 page protector with extra Instagram shots on it. 

WEEK 2:

Week 2 entire layout

Left side of week 2 layout is pretty much a hodge podge of our week. More volleyball & basketball, of course. Our big boy, Stinky napping...doing what he does best and my niece Hailey turned 2 months old! I also included a pic of Courtney from 2010 to show how young she looked! 

Right side of week 2 layout is just Instagrams. I had quite a few from this week so I wanted to include them. DH celebrated his 43rd birthday so I included his Instagram on this side. 

I'm really enjoying this project and I'm loving the fact that I'm just using supplies that I have on hand. I'm not really following a plan or a certain design and that is what I need. I often put alot of pressure on myself to make things look "perfect" like I see on other blogs.

Title Page for my niece's 1st Year album:

This title page probably took me the longest out of all the layouts I did that day. I wanted to use Thickers for her name & stats, but I just couldn't find the right color and font. So I finally decided on some Tiny Type letters so they weren't so overpowering. I'm happy with how it turned out!!!

 And this post wouldn't be complete without a few pictures from out day! This is Tara's little girl, Londyn "scrapbooking". Let me tell you, she made some beautiful masterpieces! ;-)

And of course a collage of Instagrams from our day. M&M's, Cosmos & a cat who has to be involved in our creating ;-)

Happy Scrapping Everyone!!!!

Financial Friday: Emergency Savings

Financial Friday is a bi-weekly series that I'm doing on the blog to share my personal experience and opinions. I am not a financial expert.

When it comes to saving money everyone has a different opinion on what that means exactly. Personally, I don't have any experience with saving except for a traditional savings account at my local bank. In the near future I hope to educate myself on what other methods of "savings" is out there. When we got our taxes done the other day the lady asked us if we had any savings accounts in a foreign country. Oh yes....that's where we keep our extra 10 million bucks ;-)

Anyways....since we are following Dave Ramsey's plan, we are doing the baby steps that he suggests. Baby step #1 is $1,000 in an emergency fund. At first I thought this was crazy to only have $1,000 in savings, but once I read more, I realized it makes perfect sense. DH also thought it was crazy and he said he is not comfortable ONLY having $1,000 in savings to start. So, we collectively decided to put $1,500-$2,000 in there to start. Once we hit that $2,000 mark, we will throw every extra penny we have towards our debt. Once the debt is paid, then we will work on getting 3-6 months worth of living expenses into savings. 3 months of living expenses is $15,000 so that will be our first goal. To be honest, that seems like an impossible thing right now, but I know once we get the ball rolling, it will be fine. 

Now, the one thing we still have to do is decide what exactly that emergency fund is supposed to be used for. New TV? Just kidding!

Next Financial Friday: Saving money on groceries

Wednesday Weigh In

Starting weight: 197.4

Current weight: 193.2

Difference: 4.2lbs

Well, I gained 8 ounces. I'm not happy with this at all. I know there are a few things that could have contributed to this, but for the most part, I stuck with my plan. 

I weighed in last Friday at Weight Watchers and talked to the meeting leader. She gave me a few reasons as to why I might not be losing. And guess what? She's probably right! LOL

1.) I'm not eating enough. There are days that I don't use all of my points that I'm allowed to have during the day. You have to eat to lose. I have a hard time getting that into my way of thinking. You have to give your body something to burn!

2.) I'm waiting too long to eat in the mornings and I'm eating too late at night. This is one of my biggest problems. Sometimes it's 11:00am before I have anything to eat and then I find myself eating "dinner" at 9:00pm. I'm working on changing this. 

3.) Beer & soda are 2 things that makes my body hold on to water weight. I've pretty much given up soda, but if I have an alcoholic drink, it's usually something mixed with diet coke. If I choose to drink a few beers I drink the lower calorie beer, but it makes me bloat. I'm just going to have to give these things up. Not that I drink all the time, but maybe once a month. We went to a superbowl party and I have 5 beers. Obviously not the best choice. 

So, I'm not going to let this little gain get me down, but I am using it as motivation to get my ass in gear and make the changes that my Weight Watchers leader suggested.

Project 365 via Instagram: Week 5

Day 30 BRRRRRRR!!!!

Day 29 Hanging with my sweet boy :-)

Day 31 Goofy dog insisted on laying on her...he WOULD NOT move! lol

Day 32 Homemade cat tower courtesy of free boxes from Sam's

Day 33 Scrapping with my bestie :-)

Day 34 Redneck closet?

Day 35 Ready to return the serve

 

Recipe Roundup: 3 point apple dippers

I just wanted to share a recipe that I found on Katie's Recipe Blog using PB2. PB2 is a powdered peanut butter and I bought it to use in my protein shakes. One of my favorite snacks is apples and peanut butter, but I hated using up so many points for the peanut butter. I knew Katie used PB2 alot, so I looked to her blog to see if she had any ideas on other uses for it. I was thrilled to find this recipe for a "spread" to use on things such as apples.

Combine:

2 TBSP PB2

2 tsp honey

a TINY bit of water

mix until it's the consistency you like

3 points for the "spread"

0 points for the apple

I accidentally used 2 TBSP of honey instead of 2 tsp so it had more of a honey taste than a peanut butter taste, but it was still really good. Next time I'll be sure to pay attention to my measuring spoon!

Wednesday Weigh In

 Starting Weight: 197.4

Current Weight: 192.4

Difference: 5 pounds

Well, it's been one month since I started this journey & I really thought I would lose more than 5 pounds. I'm a little disappointed, but at least I lost something. I also know that I could have done better.

 I've been doing the Body By Vi Challenge & I think it's great. If you don't know anything about it, you can go HERE to get the information. Basically you replace 2 meals per day with a protein shake. The shakes taste AMAZING! Seriously! I've tried several diet shakes in the past and none of them even come close to these. It literally smells like cake batter.  About halfway through the month though,  I realized that I really needed a more structured program to follow. I need the accountability.  I had been thinking about Weight Watchers for a while, but it took me a while to make the final decision. Actually, the day I joined, I kind of did it on a whim. Courtney had a doctors appointment last Thursday & Weight Watchers is just down the street. So, as we left the doctors office, I just said what the hell and I went and signed up. I signed up, weighed in & got all my tools. I'm doing the monthly plan which gives me access to all of the online tools and mobile apps. My plan is to go to the 8:30 meeting on Wednesdays, but today I wasn't able to go because Courtney is home sick. I have to go at least once a week to weigh in, so I think I'll go tomorrow. But, I will normally go on Wednesdays. I'm also curious to see how close their scale is to mine.

Since joining, I've felt alot more in control of everything. I'm still doing the Body By Vi shakes, I just count the points for them. Since I can do everything from my phone, it's so easy. I track my daily points with the tracker app. There is also a bar code scanner app so you can scan the bar code on something and it gives you the points plus values. There is really no excuse for me NOT to stick to the plan. And the best part about it is that most fruits and veggies are ZERO POINTS! It's great.

I finally took a before pic and did my measurements. I'm not the best at self portraits so I took this one in Courtney's full length closet door mirror. (Excuse the crappy looking bedroom in the background......we are in the middle of redoing her room)

I think I'll do a photo and measurements once a month. 

Current Measurements

Abdomen: 43.5"

Hips: 42"

Bust: 43.5"

Thighs: 23"

Calf: 16.5"

Arms: 13.5"

Neck: 15"

So, here's to another week! 

 

Project 365 via Instagram: Week 4

I can't believe it is already week 4 of this project! I am L-O-V-I-N-G it!!! I love capturing the little everyday things that I wouldn't normally think to photograph! I've been working on my Project Life layouts and I love incorporating the Instagrams! 

AND I have been fighting for 2 hours to move these pictures into numerical order and I just can't get them in order! So, I gave up. They are numbered so that's that ;-)

Day 25/365 Making a lifestyle change

Day 26/365 Long day of volleyball!

Day 22/365 I'm sure he wishes he was working today ;-)

Day 24/365 Give me all your blood!

Day 27/365 I finally took a "before" pic

Day 23/365 An Instagram of my Instagrams!

Day 28/365 Road trip to the scrapbook store!