Alone Time?

I know, it's an endangered species around this house. Alone time. I had almost forgotten how to spell the actual phrase. As most mothers know, alone time is rare; rarest of rares. Even potty breaks and showers, which should be a breeding ground for alone time is always interrupted with a pounding on the bathroom door demanding attention. But, as few and far between as alone time moments may be, I actually got to experience one of these heavenly moments on Thursday night with a quick trip to fabulous Wal-Mart. That's right.Wal-Mart. Precious alone time, Wal-Mart.

This was Finals week for both me and JB, and while my finals consist of extremely difficult accounting tests, Josh's consists of extremely long papers. So, Thursday night we determined that we had run out of things that we can't replenish at the Pig or good ol DG and it was decided that a trip to Wally world was inevitable. However... as I previously mentioned, JB had a HUGE paper due and I wasn't about to lug the boys around WM by myself,  so JB took one for the team and stayed home with the boys. Off I went.

Can I just say Oh. My. Word. You would have thought I was getting a massage and a pedicure! I know Wal-Mart isn't in the "most luxurious" category of any shopping spree, but I didn't care. Seriously. I hopped in the car, turned on MY music, at MY volume, drove the way I wanted to (abiding by all traffic lows of course) and frolicked, yes frolicked, to Wally world. Upon my arrival, I checked my list, got my buggy (not "shopping cart"--I'm in the South, after all!) and headed inside. Now, as a side note, I have to mention here, that normally I have my list made out to whatever store I'm shopping in. When you have wild children, its always a good idea to get in and out as fast as possible with absolutely NO dilly-dally or rambling around. Just in and out. But this time... Oh  this heavenly moment... I didn't have to do any of that. I think I went up and sown every aisle. I'm talking every one of them. Toys, Hardware, Housewares, curtains, clearance, gift wrap, electronics, cat food, baby section, etc. Of course I didn't BUY any of those things... but it didn't matter. I was by myself and I could shop however I wanted to! I actually spent so much time in there, that JB called while I was checking out. I could tell by the disappointed sound of his voice that he expected me to be close to home with supper by now.

Well, I eventually got supper home in a goodly amount of time, and the fleeting moment of alone time was broken by lots of hugs and exclamations of "Mama's Back, Mama's Back!!" ......which isn't such a bad thing either! :)

The Weight Loss Journey

"Weight-Loss". That ugly 2 word phrase that immediately associates itself with other nasty little words as "fat", "overweight", "diet" etc.etc. O.k... I know it's not particularly something that everyone is comfortable talking about, but we're going to do it here on The Blog.

In order to have something to write on The Blog other than about JB or our children (although they can be quite entertaining at times), I'm also going to let you in on a slightly personal part of my life. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that I'm overweight. I know, I know... "You shouldn't talk about yourself that way", "You're beautiful just the way God made you", "You have a great personality". OK. Trust me, I don't have self-esteem issues and I've learned to deal with my looks/weight over time. But, having all that said, I still need to lose weight. 

On Mother's day 2011, after taking pictures with my boys on our "lovely" front porch, I saw myself as others see me for the first time in several months. 

I wasn't very happy about my appearance and a few hours later when I confirmed my weight on the Wii, I could see why! I weighed xxx.0 lbs! Really xxx.0lbs!!?? (Now, when I get to my goal weight, I'll let you know how much I weigh and you can do the math from there, but for now, we'll just use letters to save a little of my dignity.)


History: I've battled with my weight for years. I was overweight in High School. I lost weight in college and finally got to within 20lbs of my goal weight when IT happened. I fell in love and got married. Here's a pic of me at my smallest (Fact:  a mere -98lbs from today's weight!)

 

Needless to say, I all went downhill from there! Happiness adds the weight. Over the course of 2 years of married bliss I gained about 30lbs. I was in the process of losing the weight again when another IT happened. I got pregnant... with twins... and gained 60lbs. Here's a pic of me at 7 months

Sadly, I didn't lose any of the baby weight (it only redistributed to other parts of my body) which brings us back to present day. Mother's Day 2011 and the quest to lose weight.

Ok, now let's skip ahead 1 month to June 14. I decided to throw caution to the wind and join a weight loss group. Let's just say... good move :) First night's weigh in I weighed xxy.2lbs. Now, for all you math geniuses out there, that's a loss of only 1.8lbs from my Mother's Day weight of xxx.0lbs. That's -1.8lbs in 1 month--- not a good trend. Let's just say... I need that accountability. From hence-forth, we will refer to my starting weight as xxy.2lbs... to save confusion.

The weight-loss group claims on there paperwork, that you can expect to lose an average of 1-2 lbs per week. OK, that's fine by me, but being as heavy as I am, I kind of expected the first 20lbs to come off just by uttering the word "diet", but, much to my dismay... it didn't. Second week weigh-in, I was down -2.8lbs. Great start (that's more than I lost in a month on my own!), but less than I was hoping for. I'm an impatient person, so I suppose this is yet another way that God is teaching me patience!

Ok, I'm going to jump ahead to present day to save you all some boredom. Last weigh-in I was down to a weight of xyy.0lbs. Translated: a loss of -11.2lbs! Just in case you don't think that's not a lot, go get the sugar and flour out of your pantry and tote them around for a while and you'll start to appreciate the weight-loss! My weekly average is 1.9lbs (pretty accurate to what their paperwork says).Just call me Steady-Eddie.

Setting goals really helps me keep on track, so for my reference, here's a list of my goals for the next few months:
 I hope to have lost, by:
Sept 3 (Anniversary)  -20lbs(from starting weight)
Halloween    -              -36lbs
Thanksgiving              -43lbs
Christmas                  - 50lbs
Valentines 2012       - 65lbs
End of Tax Season  - 80lbs
June 14,2012 (1 year) - 98lbs. 

After the one year mark, we'll re-evaluate and set new goals for the last 25lbs. I know they tell you not to focus on long-term goals, but I have to see the long-term to help focus on the short term.

Here's to seeing less of me next week :) 

First Time Blogger.... Oh yeah.

So, over the past few weeks, I've noticed that I've been missing out on something pretty popular among my peers: The Blog. Friends, coworkers, and casual acquaintances are all in on The Blog. In order to abide by the laws of peer pressure and of course, not to be outdone by others, I've decided to start my own Blog.

First of all, I need to set some ground rules for The Blog. After all, if I'm allowed to just go all willy-nilly on The Blog, I'm bound to lose a follower or 2 (that is, if I have any followers at all!)

Rule #1: Apparently I must give my husband some sort of Blog nick-name. After reading several of YOUR blogs (under the radar, I must say) I've noticed that most of you never refer to your husband by name. So, without further adieu, I give you "J.B".... the hubs.

Rule #2: (Umm... I can't think of any more rules at the moment, so we'll get back to the rules later in The Blog.)

OK, it's time for a little introduction to the FAMILY. As previously stated in Rule #1, I obviously have a husband, J.B. We will be married 5 yrs this September. (Whoo HOO! Way to go!). Granted, this is an old picture.


Next up to bat, I introduce the Young-un's, Jayton and Jonah. 2 year old twins with attitude :) This is them drinking an afternoon spot o' juice.

Last but not least is our cat Charger. (Since Josh..I mean J.B. has a Blogname, Charger wanted one too, so henceforth he shall be called "The Charge"). Here's one of "The Charge" in all of his glory. The Charge, while very protective of them, is not very found of the boys. The feeling is mutual so they all tend to stay their distance.


Ok, I guess that wraps it up for The Blog #1. If anything exciting happens around here, I'll be the first to let you know. We are definitely a thrill seeking family: at the moment, I am writing this edge-of-your-seat blog, Josh is doing death defying homework, and the Boys are taking a MIND-Blowing nap! See, you're all excited, I can tell :)

I apologize for not having "cutesy" graphics and such, but I'm a first timer.