Taking a Deep Breath

Sometimes you just have to sit back and take a breath. Realize that you can't do everything and that you are surely not invincible. I haven't been feeling all that well the last several days. Just a light achy feeling all over and some coughing now. But you know how it is when you are a mom. There are no breaks. You don't get to be sick. So, we went on with life. Parties, school events, Splash, soccer, hanging out and eventually it caught up with me. I had such great plans for exercise, but since I was already doing so much my energy had already been spent. I never went to the gym and can not even fathom running today like I planned. So, finally this morning I decided to stay home to rest. Thankfully my hubby and kids aren't sick. So, he took them to church and are currently at a birthday party. I really wanted to be there too. But my body is telling me to go lay back down on the couch that has become my resting place. I am going to conserve my energy so I can be fully well by my 1/2 marathon on Friday. Ya, it's this Friday already. I was going to do it on the weekend, but it's crazy busy. I also won't be weighing in officially tomorrow either. I can never trust a sickness weigh in. Whether it's extra weight due to mucus build up and muscle tension or weight loss due to lack of eating and dehydration. Either way, I'm not counting it. I will see ya back next Monday on that one.

I am so thankful for my husband right now. He told me to rest and that he has a mission to do laundry when he gets home. AND that he doesn't want me doing any while they are gone. aww

Weight Loss Plans

I lost .6 last week! Ya, I was rather disappointed with that. Glad it was still a loss. But as of Saturday I was at 4 pounds down. That's right. I managed to somehow gain back what I had lost in 2 days. How the heck? Thankfully it's already down more. I just need to keep up the momentum from losing. Keep going and not sabotage myself like I know I have in the past. Since my weigh in on Monday I ran a 5K in the hills and went to the gym last night and did an interval workout on the elliptical.

I plan to workout again today too. Probably running today if it's cool enough.

I plan to take my own food to a pool party today.

I plan to workout Friday or Saturday (work it in one day).

I plan to run on Sunday night.

I plan to write down everything I eat. That seems to be the new key to keeping food out of my mouth.

10 on Tuesday

1. The 1/2 Marathon is only a week and a half away. I did a 5K last night to keep with the training. I'm only doing shorter runs until the actual thing. My right leg especially (and my left heel) is really not appreciating the long runs.

2. The last long run I did was 9 miles. It was so much better doing it with a friend. Thanks Kristin! It made the time seem to go by faster. Plus it probably helped that it was a new route and we were hoping to remember it. The first part of it was the loop I will be doing for the 1/2 marathon. I wanted to try it out so I wasn't doing it and getting lost next week. We had to stop at a friend's house for water. I had some graham cracker with me too so I had a little of that and some nice cold water and we were on our way again. I'm glad our house is the mid way point for next week so I can stop for some much needed energy and hydration. If I need to, a few friend's houses are on the way too.

                Boo!!
3. A very stressful update for you today. My hubby did not get one of the 7 positions (out of 12 people trying to keep their jobs). So he only has a job until the end of September. There are several other locations of his company that he is applying to but all of those other locations we would have to move. No fun. I do not want to move. But I guess you do what you have to do, right? He is applying for a lot of jobs not at Chevron too (and has been since he first found out about the possibility).

This was taken on the day of her photo shoot.

4. We have a beach ball that is deflated. It must have a hole in it. But it's sentimental because it was the one that the director gave to Courtney on her photo shoot for Oprah Magazine. She gave it to her because she did so well. So, I normally would just trash the thing, but it's sentimental. So, I keep blowing it back up. lol

This picture was taken when Skyler was 2. She figure out how to dribble a ball all by herself. All over the yard.

5. Skyler starts soccer this weekend. This is her first organized sport (with a team). She's done gymnastics before so I don't want to forget about that, but this is her first team. She is on a green team with no name so far. Her daddy and cousin will be her coaches. It's so fun knowing so many people on the team.

6. Be prepared for cute water pictures. We are going to Splash on Friday. We are so excited. This is our first time going. The girls have been saving up for this and the tooth fairy made it finally hit enough to go. Splash is a small, overpriced, waterpark near our house. (Assuming Skyler is feeling better by then.)

The first one was taken after her front top 2 came out. The bottom one is after one on the bottom came out. (Sorry so blurry. It was with my phone.) So, now it looks like she has 4 out. One of them is starting to peek through on the bottom. She has lost 6 teeth all together now.

7. Courtney lost 3 teeth last week!!! So insane. She lost her front top 2 last Thursday when her daddy was playing a game with her and her sister. They got scared and ran into each other and they fell out. Thankfully they were already loose. One was practically falling out (she just needed to pull) and the other wasn't as loose. The third came out when we were at a birthday party on Sunday. What's the going rate on your tooth fairy? All I want for Christmas is my 4 front teeth!

8. Tonight is Skyler's "Read-To-Me" Reading Club party. Sadly, she will not be going. She's just too sick. Poor thing. She was up all night coughing last night and she looks sick right now. I hope she sleeps tonight. For all all of our sanity. We stayed home and mommy did face painting just like they wanted to do at the party.

9. I am reading the last book in the Twilight Saga, "Breaking Dawn". Ahh...so fun. It's my favorite book of the series. Finally things start happening that you seem to be waiting for the whole time. It's been fun re-reading the whole series.

10. We have some pretty awesome table names this year for MOPS. They are some of my favorite words. What are some of your favorite words? I'm thinking I shouldn't give it away just yet. Suspense and all. :)

10 on Tuesday

A little late. Who cares? lol

1. I have been so busy these past few days getting stuff done for MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers). Especially yesterday and today. It's a good thing. A little stressful at times, but overall good. Since I am coordinating it with Danielle we have had so many things to do lately. A massive check off list of sorts. :) Thankfully, I am very organized when it comes to this stuff. That's just in my nature to do that. It's awesome seeing it all come together and getting together with all of my friends. I love those women.

2. Ok, well I already confessed my gain from last week (.4)..but look out everyone. This week is going to be awesome. I'm not going to spill the beans yet. But I have already been doing great. This writing down everything you eat is really working. What a concept! lol

3. I ran a 5K last night. I'm happy to report that my foot/heel feels fine. It definitely likes the shorter distances better. First of all I can't believe I'm calling a 5K a short distance. I said the same thing about a 10K the other day. Because compared to the longer ones I have been doing, those feel short now. I caught myself saying it too. Weird. I am so thankful it's ok today. My leg on the other hand is hurting. It started giving me a tiny bit of trouble on my 10K last Saturday but got better and I didn't think anything of it. Then almost the whole 5K last night it was hurting. Especially at the end. It's at the top of my leg like around it. I wonder if that is the hip flexors. I'll be resting tonight and tomorrow for my long run on Friday. 9 miles this week. EEEK!!

4. How does my house become a mess so fast. Oh wait! I can tell you. 2 kids who run around taking things out and not putting them back. ahh At least their rooms are still clean.

5. Not sure how healthy this is, but everyone asks for my meatball recipe. It's really not a recipe at all. Just putting a couple things together. It's totally cheating, but everyone thinks they are divine. 2 packages of frozen meatballs (Italian is the best....yes totally cheating), one bottle of Masterpiece BBQ sauce, Dr. Pepper That's it folks. You put the meatballs in the crock pot. Then pour in the bbq sauce until you cover all of them. You'll have to stir it around a little. Then pour in the Dr. Pepper until it reaches the height of the meatballs. Put on low for several hours or on high for a few.

6. I want to get one of these SpiBelts. So awesome. That way I can carry my phone with me and my key without worrying about needing a phone on my runs or my key coming off my shoe.

7. I just changed my picture for the header for my blog. I kept wanting to change it since I look so different. The last one was from Easter.

8. As of right now Skyler wants to be a black kitty cat for Halloween. (She got the idea from Dora's Halloween DVD). Courtney wants to be Jack Skellington (from Nightmare Before Christmas). Why she wants to be Jack and not Sally? I don't know. lol I'm sure they will change their minds before then. I'm really surprised how long they have said they want to be these 2 things. Quite a while.

9. Wow, it's hot here. We didn't have to have our ac on for a week and now I had to put it on. It's on 80 degrees and still the ac can't keep up with it. Actually, right now I'll go turn it off again and open the windows again. We get a good cross breeze here.

10. I've been trying to drink a lot more water lately. And since that's really all I drink, that's an even better thing. Occasionally I'll have a Sprite Zero, but I can't have too much of it or it will make me sick. Speaking of water....gulp

Monday Morning Update

I thought I would do something a little different this week and do an update instead of a weekend review. I managed to GAIN .4 this week. I am very surprised that it wasn't more than that. For so much of the week it was way higher then all of a sudden shot back down.

It's so frustrating because I felt like I was doing pretty well. I had it in my mind to seriously kick butt this week. I exercised more than I had been. I even went to the gym twice (even though I'm loathing running there) and ran outside twice. I even felt like I was eating fairly well. There are somethings I did eat that I could do without and do much better though. So, I know it's probably that. But still. It didn't seem like enough to gain. Maybe it's a water thing or hormone thing. ahh It really doesn't matter I guess as long as I move past it and get my groove back. I felt really good last week with all of the exercising I was doing. I felt like I was getting back to it.

I keep hurting my feet after running (near the heel). To the point that the rest of that day and the next I can't walk on them much. My left is the worst. I have described the feeling to a few people and they both think it's Planter Fasciitis. My mom actually had it for a really long time so she was showing me stretches to do. Thankfully I can walk normally today, but I can still feel it a tiny bit. I guess I will just have to be more careful. Ok, now after reading that article myself I'm pretty sure that's it also. I need to get some orthodics to relieve the pressure on the fascia. This doesn't surprise me since I have a high arch. I have been tempted to get one anyway. Also new shoes that are stability shoes would be good too. Too bad I don't have the money for that though. Orthodics it is. See how that helps first.

Oh this 1/2 marathon training is killer. I have a 9 mile run this week for my long run. (10 next week, then a rest week for long runs, then the 1/2 marathon 13.1 miles) I have come to a conclusion about running. I really prefer shorter runs. My favorites are 5Ks (3.1 miles) to about 5 miles. Anything over that and it's more torture than anything. lol However, I do have to say that it felt good doing my long runs so far (the 7 and 8 I just did recently). Maybe I just have a different mindset when I'm doing them. I know, mentally, that I have a long way to go so not to keep looking at my miles to see where I'm at.

In other news: The girls finished their swim lessons. I could not believe it when I saw Skyler swimming by herself to the wall. She swam about 15 feet all by herself. I was so proud. Courtney did everything in her class really well. The only thing she needs to work on is diving. I'm amazed at how well she swims now.

This is me being happy because I'm outside the bug room.

We went to the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles on Friday with Scott's parents. We had a great time. The girls loved every minute of it. My favorite was probably the butterflies and the big whale bones. It was so huge. (And that's why I don't like the ocean. Too many large mammals underneath.) Skyler said her favorites are the dinosaur and whale bones and the dead animals. hahahaha  Courtney said her favorites were the butterflies. Scott's favorite part was the BUG ROOM!!! ewwww! I had such a problem with it. It totally creeped me out. I seriously had to leave the room because it was so creepy. Especially after I found the black widow on display. However, it was a good pic for my blog becuase the sign said that black widows are mainly in California. So, that explains one of my questions from last week's 10 on Tuesday. I even took a picture just for all of you.

We also had the party for Courtney's reading program at the library. They had to read and report on so many books in the summer to be able to go to the party. There were SOOOOO many kids there. It was a little insane.

Still no update on my hubby's job. He should find out very soon though.

A few more pictures just for fun.

I Feel Like A New Woman!!

I got my hair cut! Here are the pics. I made a comparison shot between the last time I got my hair cut (Nov. 08) and today.

What a difference 2 years makes.

I always take pictures of my hair cuts right after they are done. Not always at the salon, but right away so I can remember how exactly it looked when they cut it. I can bring the pics back the next time and tell them what I didn't like and what I did.

I got this hair cut for FREE!!! We had a raffle at MOPS and 2 of the prizes were hair cut baskets (filled with product and a free hair cut gift certificate). My fabulous friend, Amy won both of them!! She's such a sweetheart and gave me one of them. I could not have been more ecstatic. I can not believe it took until August to do it though. I got it in May. lol It was awesome. My friend April works at the salon and that's how we got the donations. Her friend, Joy, is the one that did my hair. I thanked her for donating to MOPS.

I feel awesome. I feel like a hot sexy mama. :) And since I have been keeping on track these last 2 weeks I have been losing again. Now some of my clothes are bigger than the last time I wore them. :) Ahhh....I need to remember this feeling. Thank you God!

10 on Tuesday

1. I'm so excited! I'm getting my hair cut TOMORROW. I'm chopping it off. I'll show comparison pics of the last time I cut it and this time. Not long hair to short, because this will be more dramatic. lol

2. We are going to the Natural History Museum with my in laws on Friday! Sounds like fun.

3. I lost 1.6 last week!!!! (back to 60 lb. lost) I'm seriously kicking my butt in gear this week too. I am determined to get to that 70 lb. lost and to a huge other goal that I will reveal at that time. lol I don't know why I just can't do it yet.

This is Courtney on the first day of Kindergarten last year. She looks so little.

4. I'm sorry, but I can't wait for school to start. I love having all of this two on one time with them this summer, don't get me wrong. The constant "what are we going to do today" is wearing me out. Thankfully we have swim lessons this week and last because they aren't constantly asking to swim. It is nice waking up at whatever time we want and doing whatever we want. That is awesome.

5. Seriously, why are there so many dang black and brown widows here?? It makes me nervous to sit on anything that's been outside. Especially since I know what their webs look like. Scary! Those things freak me out! No, I'm not going to find you a picture of a black widow for my blog. That would be way too creepy and scare me. lol

6. Skyler had to stop wearing the cute earrings. Her ears do not like them. Poor thing. And they were the sensitive ears (nickel free) ones. I guess she has ears like mine. I can only wear real ones for long periods of time. If I wear costume jewelry (like Cookie Lee) then I have to take them out that night and put the other ones back in. By one day they are irritated. Courtney doesn't seem to be having a problem with the new ones.

7. The weekly check in for Scott's job: He hasn't found anything out yet. He should hear within 1-2 more weeks. But any of the other places he applied for could happen any time.

8. Some money making ideas I might start. Making and selling personalized journals. Card assortment packs (who wants to give Hallmark money when you can support your friend? And they're cuter anyway.) Photography business I have talked about this for quite some time and have been thinking about it forever. I really want to do this. I'm just not sure that all of the retouching aspects of it could be done. I want to get better at my photoshopping. That's really the only thing holding me back. Well, fear of failure I suppose too.

9. Ahh Doritos and M&Ms...why do you have to be so good? I need to stop eating you. I want to reach my goal weight. I really can have you in moderation. But sometimes I'm not very moderate with you. You tempt me so. What foods call out to you?

10. I did a 5 mile run on the treadmill last night. No fun. I am beginning to loathe it. It felt like a great pace. I was doing 5.7 the whole time (minus 5 times walking for about 1 minute). The pace was 10:31 (for the 5.7 part). I realize that I love the fresh air hitting my face when I run outside. I only did the treadmill because it was too late to run outside. If you run, where do you prefer to do it? I'm liking the neighborhood runs, but I want to try the trail again.

Weekend Review

I just had to add some pics from swim lessons. This is the last week of it. I'm amazed at how much they are learning. Skyler is swimming with her teacher holding under her belly. But doing much better. She's putting her face underwater while doing big arms and kicks too. She's also jumping in to the teacher instead of having her have to touch her hands to jump in. Courtney is learning so much. She did the breast stroke for the first time and has been doing that every day since. Today she just learned the breast stroke, but on her back. They're working on diving too. She has tried to do side breathing too which is huge for her to even try.

Think this, but only all black. I didn't want to scare him any further by taking his picture.

Ok, now to the weekend review. :) We started watching our friend's guinea pig for a week and a few days. He's so low maintenance. But he stinks. lol Also, one of my hubby's worst allergies is hay and they brought over hay in his cage. The girls have been calling him Mr. Guinea Pig, Guinea, or Mr. Guinea. Occasionally they call him by his actual name, Nicholas. We are also taking care of my parent's bird, Tiny, until Saturday as well. We have had to go over to their house to take care of her. I was thinking we could just bring her here so it would be easier and we would be with the bird more, but Scott didn't think his allergies could handle it.

Friday night we had a game night with my aunt (after the kids were asleep is when we started the games). It was fun as always. We played Rummikub. Then we turned it into a movie night also. :)

Saturday I went for a long run in the morning. It was perfect weather for a run. Overcast and cool. (At the beginning and middle of the run.) At the end it started getting too sunny. I decided to do my long run this week around our house and not go so far away this time just to see how it feels being close to home. Constantly passing my house and fighting the urge to stop every time. It was an 8 mile run. Thankfully I thought to tell my neighbor who was outside across the street doing a yard sale what I was doing. I still wasn't sure at that point that it would be my long run day. But once I told her it was like I had to do it. I kept having to stop to stretch the front of my left leg. Like in the shin area, but not a shin splint feeling. More of a muscle weakening feeling. Thankfully it finally went away. I was really glad my run was close to home for a few reasons. First, I all of a sudden had to go to the bathroom. So, after the first loop, I stopped inside to go. Then I had something in my eye and I thought I was going to have to stop to get it out, but it ended up being ok. Then finally it was getting way too sunny for these blue eyes of mine so I stopped in to get my sun glasses. But that only took a second. :) It was a good run and I felt like I could keep going at the end. So, that's a great sign. However, that night and the next day I could hardly walk because my heels were killing me. ahh

Sunday we went to church and went to a birthday pool party. We decided to not swim this time and just watch our little mermaids in the pool. Skyler had her life jacket on so she would be safe. They were dare devils jumping off the diving board!