I'm on my way...

I AM SO EXCITED!! I joined Weight Watchers last year and this bright, beautiful, President's Day morning I hit my first 50 pounds! I have lost as much weight as my 9 year old daughter weighs! I lived in a serious state of denial about my weight for a very long time.It feels good to finally be doing something about it! It has been one of the hardest things I have ever done, but it is SO worth it! I still have a ways to go to reach my goal weight, but I am well on my way! So here's a before picture and a part-way through picture (of course it's me with my hair pulled up and no makeup because I just rolled out of bed and went straight to my meeting, but who cares? I'm 50 pounds lighter!!!)

I've been tagged

OK, Julie tagged me. This was a hard one to fill out! Hopefully it's not too boring!

1. The best thing you cooked this week.
Well I absolutely detest cooking. When I'm rich I'm going to hire someone to cook for us every night. I do it, but only because I have to. So the best thing I cooked this week was a crock pot stew with chicken, sweet potatoes, diced tomatoes and some other veggies. I doesn't sound appetizing, but it really was good.

2. If money, time, and babysitting were no object, where would you go and who with?
I would backpack through Europe with Chris and the kids. Luckily my kids are old enough that they could not only appreciate where we were, but they're old enough to walk and carry their own stuff!! :)

3. When was the last time you cried?
Oh let's see... maybe the question should be when was the last time you made it through a whole day WITHOUT crying!!! It's not like I'm sad all the time, but it doesn't take much to really make me cry. Anything touching can make me cry.

4. 5 things you were doing 9 years ago. Let's think... 9 years ago was 1999...
1. We were living in Las Vegas (where it was 71 degrees today, thank you very much!)
2. The girls were 3 and 1, so I was a stay at home mom with a husband working and going to school full time.
3. My brother Nick had moved to Vegas and was living with us.
4. Really just enjoying my kids. You know, play groups, story time at the library, etc.
5. Swimming quite often because it's warm/hot there!

5. 5 things you were doing 4 years ago. 4 years ago... 2004
1. I had just graduated from UNLV with my degree in Sociology
2. Still a stay at home mom... the girls were 8 & 6.
3. Enjoying my freedom because the girls were both in school full day (1st and 3rd grades) and school was done for me!
4. I volunteered at school A LOT! PTO VP and in each kids classroom at least once a week.
5. Still swimming... the kids LOVE the pool! (I got some really great sun tans too!)

6. 5 things you were doing 1 year ago.
1. Living in Colorado Springs and substitute teaching.
2. Carting my kids around to basketball games and clarinet lessons.
3. Shoveling ourselves out of the snow we managed to get EVERY WEEKEND!
4. Building fires (in the fireplace) and drinking hot chocolate.
5. Playing bunco!

7. 7 of your favorite hobbies
1. Scrapbooking
2. watching movies
3. sleeping
4. swimming
5. reading (when there's time)
6. Playing games with my family
7. blogging!

8. 5 favorite foods
1. Anything Mexican... tacos, burritos, tamales, etc.
2. homemade salsa ( I know it's Mexican, but it's good enough to get it's own spot!)
3. homemade caramel corn
4. my mom's clove sauce (which goes on my ham every Christmas & Easter)
5. my mom's scones (which is a Thanksgiving and Christmas tradition)

9. 5 places you have been.
1. Washington D.C.
2. L.A. & San Diego
3. Chicago
4. Bahamas
5. Portland, OR

10. 5 favorite memories.
1. Getting married... it's not like it was a really great event, just everything that has come after!
2. Having my kids... I got really lucky! They're great girls!
3. Going home for Christmas when I was at Ricks... the excitement of seeing everyone (mostly Chris!)
4. Hanging out with my sister, Michelle, when we were in high school. Fun times!
5. Any memory I can conjure up of my mom and sister... they make me smile!

Ok, there ya go! I hereby tag all my bunco buddies!!! (Alicia, Deanna, Arielle, Yvonne, Emily, Zipporah, Tagan, and Leslie!)

Don't hate me...

So Chris and I went to the Democratic Caucus last night. We had never been to a caucus before. It was pretty cool! There were a lot more people than I expected (especially when we live in the 6th most conservative city in the U.S.) Obama won by a landslide in our precinct. Chris took a ton of pictures to show his class because they're studying the election process. He was also the secretary for our precinct. I'm really glad we went and that we could perform our civic duty and caucus for a candidate that we believe in!

1 down 3 to go!

We have become totally dedicated and focused on getting out of debt. Chris has started waiting tables 5 nights a week on top of teaching. We take ALL of the money he makes and it goes to pay off our debt. Well I am very excited to report that we paid off our first credit card today! HORRAY! He works so hard and is gone so much it's nice to get a little reward for all of his efforts! It is such a good feeling to have one gone and look forward to the next one going away too! (probably in about 6 weeks, barring any major catastrophes!)So the next time you go out to dinner tip your waiter well because you never know if he (or she) may be a poor school teacher working to get his family out of debt! :)

A little shout out...

to a few of my far away family/friends that I know read the blog...
Hi, Nick! (When are you moving here? We miss you!)
Hi, Mary! ( I loved all the pictures you sent!)
Hi, Chris! (Could you send a little warm weather our way?)
Hi, Angie! (Let's meet in Vegas and have a GW-fest! If only!)
Hi, other Nick! (Love the music link you sent us!)
Hi, Travis! (The 1 year mark is coming! How exciting!)
Hi, Gregg! (Congrats on the wedding!)
Hi, Jennifer! (Congrats on the baby! Maybe you should name him George! Just a thought!)

(Those of you that know me well enough can get a laugh out of President Bush waving for me!)

Hope all is well with you!

I can't believe it took so long...

I finally took my first card making class. I went with a friend and we made the cutest Valentine's Day cards. I didn't realize what I was missing! It was so fun and I was really happy with how they turned out! Here's my favorite...



Happy Valentine's Day... a month early!

Well that didn't work!

Looks like my Ohio State dreams have been ruined... let's try this!
Go Patriots! Maybe by cheering for the Pats they'll LOSE!! (one can only hope!)