Ok, I am back for my link up to Fit Club!! I happened to miss last week, but in all honesty, I just didn't realize it was Monday. My days were all off, because my boys were home from school, for their winter break, and my husband took that day off too. So I was thinking it was Sunday. Then I remembered and really didn't have anything to share that I haven't already shared.
It is still a constant battle to make sure I stay on track and exercise and drink my water, blah blah blah. So I felt like I was a bore.
However, I am slowly making progress. I didn't reach my personal goals for this month.
I wanted to reach 5lbs this month, 2 more inches off my belly and 1 off my hips.
I did manage to loose 3 more pounds, and 1 inch off my belly and 1 off my hips. So it was still good progress. I also really didn't want to try on those other jeans. I think I am afraid they won't fit well, and I will be so disappointed. I need to go ahead and pull them out and try them on, so I can just see where I am at in them. Maybe they will fit??
So for this month, which my husband informed me, I will have 5 weeks to accomplish before weigh in/measurements. I want to get under 180! I also want to loose 2 more inches off my waist, and I want to consistently workout 5 days a week. I flex any where between 4 and 5 days.
I also keep thinking I still need to work on making better decisions when I am eating out and what not. For example, I was at the Cub Scouts Blue and Gold this weekend. They had it catered by a BBQ place. I ended up getting a pulled pork sandwich, and I could of just got the pulled pork minus the bun. That would of been just as filling and less calories. So little things like that, I still need to work on.
I hope everyone else is doing well. Keep it up!
MJ
Monday, February 27, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Or where or where have I been...
Wow, where have I been? Totally slacking on so much. The kids had a winter break this year, so my normal routine is off. Not to mention, birthdays, and scouts.
I have missed my photo challenge twice now, and the last fit club too.
I guess I really haven't had much to blog about.
I did finish The Hunger Games trilogy. I really enjoyed the first two books, but I thought the third was lacking a little. I think it was more to do with how the author developed her main character, Katniss. I guess I pictured her mentally stronger, and I felt like she was really kind of weak in the last book, but it was pretty good. I can already tell that I am going to be irritated with the movie. I saw a preview, and in that tiny clip, they had already changed stuff from how it was written in the book. Which I shouldn't be so surprised at, but I guess I don't understand why they would change that part. I can't imagine it being so hard to film it like it was written in the book.
I have read all the Twilight series, but I have never seen any of those movies. I keep thinking I need to watch them, but for some reason I don't seem to care either way. I did however read all the Harry Potter books, and watched all of those movies. I couldn't wait until the movies came out. I love when they can take a good book and turn it into a good movie. Sometimes though, books should be left alone. The one book to movie that I was really disappointed in, was The Horse Whisperer. That was such a great book, but the movie was terrible. They totally changed it. Are there any books to movies, that you really enjoyed or didn't?
The Oscars are on tonight! Do you guys watch? Every year, for a long time now (not even sure how many), my friend and I, and my husband have been predicting who the winners will be. It has slowly grown, and now her husband is included and my husbands friend. Anyway, most of the time my friend Kim is the winner, followed by my husband. I am typically in last place. I think one year, I got a total of three right. I am just not a good predictor. One year, I even went so far as to pick all the ones that People magazine had picked, and I still lost. Anyway, I can't wait to see what will happen this year. This could be my year. I will let you know the results.
MJ
I have missed my photo challenge twice now, and the last fit club too.
I guess I really haven't had much to blog about.
I did finish The Hunger Games trilogy. I really enjoyed the first two books, but I thought the third was lacking a little. I think it was more to do with how the author developed her main character, Katniss. I guess I pictured her mentally stronger, and I felt like she was really kind of weak in the last book, but it was pretty good. I can already tell that I am going to be irritated with the movie. I saw a preview, and in that tiny clip, they had already changed stuff from how it was written in the book. Which I shouldn't be so surprised at, but I guess I don't understand why they would change that part. I can't imagine it being so hard to film it like it was written in the book.
I have read all the Twilight series, but I have never seen any of those movies. I keep thinking I need to watch them, but for some reason I don't seem to care either way. I did however read all the Harry Potter books, and watched all of those movies. I couldn't wait until the movies came out. I love when they can take a good book and turn it into a good movie. Sometimes though, books should be left alone. The one book to movie that I was really disappointed in, was The Horse Whisperer. That was such a great book, but the movie was terrible. They totally changed it. Are there any books to movies, that you really enjoyed or didn't?
The Oscars are on tonight! Do you guys watch? Every year, for a long time now (not even sure how many), my friend and I, and my husband have been predicting who the winners will be. It has slowly grown, and now her husband is included and my husbands friend. Anyway, most of the time my friend Kim is the winner, followed by my husband. I am typically in last place. I think one year, I got a total of three right. I am just not a good predictor. One year, I even went so far as to pick all the ones that People magazine had picked, and I still lost. Anyway, I can't wait to see what will happen this year. This could be my year. I will let you know the results.
MJ
Friday, February 17, 2012
A book or two...
Two books in two days...lets just say I am tired! I was up reading until 2AM! What can I say, when I get a hold of a good book, I can't put it down. I read constantly until it is finished. Even if it is a pager here or a page there, until I find the time to just sit and read. I finally read the first two books of The Hunger Games, trilogy. The local radio station, that I listen to in the mornings, was talking about this book a couple weeks ago. The one girl, Jenn, was telling this other guy Jeff, how good this book was, and he had to read it on the plane. They were all traveling to the Super Bowl. Then I learned that they have also turned this book into a movie, that comes out at the end of March, I believe.
I have a Kindle, and I was reading The Swiss Family Robinson ( I ended up ordering it for my son), but got sucked into the story, myself. I read Robinson Crusoe, when I was younger, but not that one. I realized while reading this book, that there is no where possible that these people got ship wrecked on. The landed on this island, that had desert like conditions in one area, jungle in another and open plains in yet another. Then they came across every single type of creature that lives on earth. They had animals from South America, Africa, Europe, North America, and Australia. Penguins, walruses, kangaroos, lions, elephants, monkeys, it just never ended. As soon as they saw an animal, they killed it, and/or captured it. I kept thinking, that PETA, probable doesn't really like this book. Although, it was a good story, and obviously a classic, it was kind of silly now, they never ran out of bullets, lol. I wonder back in the day, how many people really thought there was an island like that?
So back to the Hunger Games book. After reading Swiss Family Robinson, I saw that I had the Hunger Games already down loaded on my Kindle, and I have no idea when I did that? I must of did that quite a while ago, because I really haven't been reading much lately. Then I remembered I had been hearing so much about it, and now I can just read it. Let me just say. If you haven't read it, and you are a reader like me, that once you start you can't stop, don't read it yet, unless you have time! I was sucked in right at the beginning. There was really no hope. I finished in like a day, turne around and down loaded the second, as soon as I was done and had to finish it last night. If I had a paper copy, I have a feeling I would of laid it down, but my Kindle was screaming at me, to just finish it. I would look, and it wold say 50% read, and then 65%, and then I was at 88%, and thought I only have 12% to read!! I can do it!! I almost down loaded the third and final story, but have held up. I need a break. I need to pace myself, lol. I did discover, that Kindle had a program, where you can down load books free, so I think I am going to sign up for that and not actually buy the third one. The second one was only $7, but I think free sounds even better =). The only down fall, is you only have it on your Kindle for 2 weeks. Which isn't a problem if the book is good and I get sucked in.
I have also been reading presidential biographies. I started this project shortly after the 2008 elections. Just going through the process of selecting a president, I realized I really don't know anything about any of our past presidents. Only 44 Americans have had the privilege of being President. The most powerful man in the world, according to some. I just became interested in learning more about these men. I figured, I would start with the first, and work my way up. I have thus far, read 6, and working on the 7th. Yeah, not a stellar start, but to my defence, biographies can be hard to read. Not to mention, I have purposely found books that are long, because I figured they would contain the most information. I am currently on Andrew Jackson. I think I got through half of his book, before I had to take it back to the library (a month over due). It has really been fascinating to learn about our founding fathers. I know when I get done reading their stories, I am usually thinking, that people really have no idea what hard work is. Our founders where amazing men, who worked very hard and sacrificed much, for the love of our country.
Wow, this post got long. Do you like to read? Have you read the Hunger Games? Did you like it? Do you like biographies?
MJ
And normally on Fridays, I post a pic for the photo challenge, but I totally forgot this week. Can't imagine why....
I have a Kindle, and I was reading The Swiss Family Robinson ( I ended up ordering it for my son), but got sucked into the story, myself. I read Robinson Crusoe, when I was younger, but not that one. I realized while reading this book, that there is no where possible that these people got ship wrecked on. The landed on this island, that had desert like conditions in one area, jungle in another and open plains in yet another. Then they came across every single type of creature that lives on earth. They had animals from South America, Africa, Europe, North America, and Australia. Penguins, walruses, kangaroos, lions, elephants, monkeys, it just never ended. As soon as they saw an animal, they killed it, and/or captured it. I kept thinking, that PETA, probable doesn't really like this book. Although, it was a good story, and obviously a classic, it was kind of silly now, they never ran out of bullets, lol. I wonder back in the day, how many people really thought there was an island like that?
So back to the Hunger Games book. After reading Swiss Family Robinson, I saw that I had the Hunger Games already down loaded on my Kindle, and I have no idea when I did that? I must of did that quite a while ago, because I really haven't been reading much lately. Then I remembered I had been hearing so much about it, and now I can just read it. Let me just say. If you haven't read it, and you are a reader like me, that once you start you can't stop, don't read it yet, unless you have time! I was sucked in right at the beginning. There was really no hope. I finished in like a day, turne around and down loaded the second, as soon as I was done and had to finish it last night. If I had a paper copy, I have a feeling I would of laid it down, but my Kindle was screaming at me, to just finish it. I would look, and it wold say 50% read, and then 65%, and then I was at 88%, and thought I only have 12% to read!! I can do it!! I almost down loaded the third and final story, but have held up. I need a break. I need to pace myself, lol. I did discover, that Kindle had a program, where you can down load books free, so I think I am going to sign up for that and not actually buy the third one. The second one was only $7, but I think free sounds even better =). The only down fall, is you only have it on your Kindle for 2 weeks. Which isn't a problem if the book is good and I get sucked in.
I have also been reading presidential biographies. I started this project shortly after the 2008 elections. Just going through the process of selecting a president, I realized I really don't know anything about any of our past presidents. Only 44 Americans have had the privilege of being President. The most powerful man in the world, according to some. I just became interested in learning more about these men. I figured, I would start with the first, and work my way up. I have thus far, read 6, and working on the 7th. Yeah, not a stellar start, but to my defence, biographies can be hard to read. Not to mention, I have purposely found books that are long, because I figured they would contain the most information. I am currently on Andrew Jackson. I think I got through half of his book, before I had to take it back to the library (a month over due). It has really been fascinating to learn about our founding fathers. I know when I get done reading their stories, I am usually thinking, that people really have no idea what hard work is. Our founders where amazing men, who worked very hard and sacrificed much, for the love of our country.
Wow, this post got long. Do you like to read? Have you read the Hunger Games? Did you like it? Do you like biographies?
MJ
And normally on Fridays, I post a pic for the photo challenge, but I totally forgot this week. Can't imagine why....
Monday, February 13, 2012
Fallen off...
Fit Club Monday, and I have confessions... I confess I have fallen off the wagon this last week. I haven't been drinking my water, not keeping up with my calories, and I slacked on the exercise.
I was out of town, this weekend, and that made it hard to exercise, and my eating wasn't so good. I made poor choices, when I could of made better ones.
So today, I am really going to keep track of my calories again. I think not doing that really made me less accountable. So this is a must! I have to hold myself accountable.
I am not sure why I am not drinking my water. I am really not replacing it with anything else, I am just not drinking much during the day. I know that is not good for me. I need to, at the minimum, drink 64 ounces every day, if not more. So I am getting ready to fill up my water container and get to work on that for the day, week.
And, the exercise, besides the last thee days, really hasn't been too bad. I just ran out of time on Friday, and Sat, and honestly, got lazy on Sunday. In general though, I think I have been doing pretty good with the exercise. I am still working on making sure I give it my 100% when I am doing it.
I am worried about not making my goals, but hopefully if I buckle down in the next two weeks, I can do it.
How is everyone else been doing? If you have fallen off the wagon, there is always room to get back on, and today is always a good day to do that. Take a look at what you know you are doing that is keeping you from your goals, and think about what you can do to fix them. You will be more angry with yourself for falling off, and not getting back on. Then falling off again and again. Because at least if you fell off, you put yourself out there to try. (Note, I am giving myself a pep talk here too)!
MJ
I was out of town, this weekend, and that made it hard to exercise, and my eating wasn't so good. I made poor choices, when I could of made better ones.
So today, I am really going to keep track of my calories again. I think not doing that really made me less accountable. So this is a must! I have to hold myself accountable.
I am not sure why I am not drinking my water. I am really not replacing it with anything else, I am just not drinking much during the day. I know that is not good for me. I need to, at the minimum, drink 64 ounces every day, if not more. So I am getting ready to fill up my water container and get to work on that for the
And, the exercise, besides the last thee days, really hasn't been too bad. I just ran out of time on Friday, and Sat, and honestly, got lazy on Sunday. In general though, I think I have been doing pretty good with the exercise. I am still working on making sure I give it my 100% when I am doing it.
I am worried about not making my goals, but hopefully if I buckle down in the next two weeks, I can do it.
How is everyone else been doing? If you have fallen off the wagon, there is always room to get back on, and today is always a good day to do that. Take a look at what you know you are doing that is keeping you from your goals, and think about what you can do to fix them. You will be more angry with yourself for falling off, and not getting back on. Then falling off again and again. Because at least if you fell off, you put yourself out there to try. (Note, I am giving myself a pep talk here too)!
MJ
Friday, February 10, 2012
Rise up
Ok, just a quick one to link up to the photo challenge, over at, my 3 boybarians. If you haven't checked it out, click here. This weeks theme was Drink Up.
I love love love hot chocolate ( yes, I am a small child at heart). I don't like heating my water up in the microwave, it just isn't as good for some reason and I don't own a coffee pot. Instead, I do it the good old fashion way, and use my tea kettle. I got a new one last Christmas, and this one sings when it is done. I love watching the steam rise from the kettle, so I thought I would try to capture that.
I love love love hot chocolate ( yes, I am a small child at heart). I don't like heating my water up in the microwave, it just isn't as good for some reason and I don't own a coffee pot. Instead, I do it the good old fashion way, and use my tea kettle. I got a new one last Christmas, and this one sings when it is done. I love watching the steam rise from the kettle, so I thought I would try to capture that.
MJ
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Granny Square anyone?
I have tinkered with crocheting, here and there. I made a baby blanket for my son, and one for the surrogate baby I had. All I could do at the time, was single crochet. I don't even know if that is what it is called, lol. I chain a row, and then I go back and add another row on top of that. Nothing fancy, no little loops, or waves. Just line after line. I thought I had a picture of the last blanket I made, but I can't seem to locate it.
Well, on pinterest, I found this rainbow quilt. It is the coolest looking quilt, and what I wouldn't do to buy it. I would love to some day, make my own quilt. The lady who made the quilt, quilts all the time. So she was giving an example of what to do with your scraps of fabric. I can totally relate, because when I scrap book, I tend to keep the smallest pieces of paper to use for something else. Anyway, she was able to use all her scraps to make this rainbow quilt.
seriously people, how pretty is this quilt, I just love it!!
My daughter loves rainbows. She even sings this rainbow song. So I instantly wish I could make her this quilt. But that would take A. The knowledge of quilting, and B. Lots of Fabric. Which I have neither of, but I do have a very limited knowledge of crochet. So I while searching through pinterest, I found these rainbow blankets, that were crocheted.
But they have this zig zag pattern, which I can't do. So I decided to look up how to do this on YouTube. YouTube has quite a selection of how to crochet videos (which surprises me, but I don't know why, lol. Youtube has everything on there). I found this one lady, who was so easy to follow, and I figured out how to make a granny square. Y'all, it was so much easier then I thought. I mean seriously. I did find a video how to make the zig zag, but it was a tad bit harder, so for now I am staying with the granny! I have left over yarn, from when I made my last blanket. Lots of pink yarn, some red and cream. Lucky for me, we have a new baby coming in the family, and it's a girl, woohoo!! So I am going to attempt another blanket using granny squares. I can't wait to see how it will come out. After that, I will either make my daughter a rainbow blanket using the granny squares, or I will figure out that zig zag pattern. Here are some pics of my granny squares... I feel so old making those, lol.
Four of the little ones, equal one big one. So my plan is to have two big ones in a row, and then two sets of four in the same row. Then the next row, they will be opposite. So the four little will be under the 1 big. I will post a pic when I get all done.
I wish, I would of got this bug to crochet a long time ago, so my grandma could of taught me, how to do some things. Although, I am sure she is proud that I have figured out how to make my own granny squares. Anyone else out there, that likes to crochet? Do you quilt? How hard is that to learn?
MJ
Monday, February 6, 2012
Fit Club Monday
Monday is Fit Club day!!
But this Monday, I don't really have much to report. Besides the fact that I ate horrible this weekend, and I still hate exercising! Although, I did bring it on Friday, while exercising, and boy were my butt cheeks sore =)!
I knew this weekend was going to be a little tough. So I tried to eat healthier, while still eating bad. I have noticed though, that I am much more conscience about calories, and knowing I only have so many I can eat in a day. So on most days, that really helps me stay focused.
On Sunday, we took the kids to get some ice cream, and instead of getting any, I opted to save my calories, for the Chicken with Lemon Butter, I wanted to make for dinner that night. That chicken is so very good, but so not good for you! 9 tablespoons of butter, in it! So I am proud that I didn't eat both the ice cream, and the Chicken.
So not much to report. Getting back on the eating better, and not going to worry too much about my slip ups this weekend.
MJ
But this Monday, I don't really have much to report. Besides the fact that I ate horrible this weekend, and I still hate exercising! Although, I did bring it on Friday, while exercising, and boy were my butt cheeks sore =)!
I knew this weekend was going to be a little tough. So I tried to eat healthier, while still eating bad. I have noticed though, that I am much more conscience about calories, and knowing I only have so many I can eat in a day. So on most days, that really helps me stay focused.
On Sunday, we took the kids to get some ice cream, and instead of getting any, I opted to save my calories, for the Chicken with Lemon Butter, I wanted to make for dinner that night. That chicken is so very good, but so not good for you! 9 tablespoons of butter, in it! So I am proud that I didn't eat both the ice cream, and the Chicken.
So not much to report. Getting back on the eating better, and not going to worry too much about my slip ups this weekend.
MJ
Friday, February 3, 2012
Casting a shadow
Yeah, today is my weekly photo challenge, at my3boysbarians. She has a weekly photo challenge, and each week there is a new theme. So this week it was shadows. I always have these grand ideas of what I want my photo to look like, but thus far they haven't panned out. Although I liked this one, because I was doing one thing, and the shadow looks like I am doing something else. Not to mention my figure looks pretty good, ha!!
The weather here, has been beautiful!! So not typical for January, and I am so loving it!! I admit I grew up in Ohio, and have seen my fair share of snow. I loved making snow men, and forts, and sledding, and all that good fun stuff, you can do with snow. But since I have lived in the south, for almost 15 years, I don't enjoy the cold, or snow. I cringe when the temp starts reaching the 30s. My point about the weather, is that yesterday, when I took this photo, the sun was shinning just right to cast shadows.
I did look around and see if I could find any cool looking shadows (think grand idea), but nothing popped out at me. So we headed to the driveway to look at our shadows (we, as in my daughter and I). Anyway, this is what I ended up with.
My daughter was having a good time watching her shadow, and this is one of my favorites.
Found this quote about shadows, and thought it fit just right.
"There is strong shadow where there is much light."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
MJ
The weather here, has been beautiful!! So not typical for January, and I am so loving it!! I admit I grew up in Ohio, and have seen my fair share of snow. I loved making snow men, and forts, and sledding, and all that good fun stuff, you can do with snow. But since I have lived in the south, for almost 15 years, I don't enjoy the cold, or snow. I cringe when the temp starts reaching the 30s. My point about the weather, is that yesterday, when I took this photo, the sun was shinning just right to cast shadows.
I did look around and see if I could find any cool looking shadows (think grand idea), but nothing popped out at me. So we headed to the driveway to look at our shadows (we, as in my daughter and I). Anyway, this is what I ended up with.
I love that it looks like I am laying on my back watching the clouds.
My daughter was having a good time watching her shadow, and this is one of my favorites.
 |
She had a lot with her leg in the air, lol.
Found this quote about shadows, and thought it fit just right.
"There is strong shadow where there is much light."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
MJ
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