It's getting closer...

I can't believe all of the nervousness that is coming with Rachel's upcoming graduation and college plans. I am so incredibly proud of her and can't believe we are to this point. When I met her, she was 7 years old, and honestly college planning wasn't really on my mind at that point, blending our family was. I am worried that I may miss something; filling out the paperwork, filling out financial aid, schoalarships, etc. What if I make a mistake as the mom? I know people do this everyday, but I'm not gonna lie, I am a little freaked out by all of this!

She has been accepted to Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas. That was one of her first choices and she has decided that it is where she wants to go. They have an outstanding History program and seems that it will be a good fit for her since she wants to be a historian or museum curiator. She wanted a smaller school, something far enough from home, but close enough to come home if she wanted for the weekend. She will be 5 hours away, not sure about that yet; somedays it doesn't seem far enough away for me and some days I can't believe I won't be seeing her every day.

We will be going for freshman orientation on April 16 so hopefully we will be learning more and making sure we have done everything we were supposed to do. I am excited for Brian to see the campus since he hasn't been there yet; Rachel and I went for a visit last fall, but her dad wasn't with us; being on campus with her really makes it real. I have taken care of the really important things like, getting her a really cute comforter for her dorm room :).

Anyway, just another little something that is happening at the Strong House that I thought I would share. Graduation party planning madness will soon be starting; we have paid a small fortune for her announcements and all of the stuff that comes with that, but I think we are on schedule, for now anyway....

Loving My New Lifestyle!

Thought I would do a quick blog on my WW journey! I am loving it. I feel so great. I have been worried that I haven't been dropping the lbs. but I can definately feel it in my clothes. However, this morning, I went to my meeting and had lost 5 pounds this past week, making it a total of 8.8 lbs. I feel recharged and excited to continue this journey. I love the WW on-line tools that I use, it makes doing this simple. Brian and I go grocery shopping every Sunday (he has been an amazing support), our shopping trips take twice as long because I compare points for everything, but then we come home, clean fruits and veggies and bag them all up. It makes doing lunches everyday so much easier for Rachel and I.

Rach is doing great too, she is down a little over 8 lbs too and my mom is down over 10 lbs.; I think we are all motivating each other and of course, my girl Jennifer Hudson; she seems to be everywhere right now and I am just loving her. She is such an inspiration; I mean look at this picture of her.



So anyway, I am happily moving forward on this commitment to myself; I love that I am not feeling deprived of anything. I need to work on my water intake and exercising; not having too much motivation in that dept. but hopefully something will click for me there. I kinda want to try some jump roping, anyone....?

With it being my Birthday week, I am a little nervous too; I have a ton of support around me, but I also can see my self saying "it's my Birthday, I can eat whatever". I also will be in a big trial at work so I will need to plan my days and snacks accordingly this week.

So wish me luck for a successful week, I'm going to need it!

X Games 2011

We surprised Brady with a weekend trip to the XGames at the end of January. He was so excited! He loves snowboarding, and of course all extreme sports, so we thought this would be perfect for him and we were right.

We left on Friday afternoon and headed towards Aspen. We stayed in Glenwood Springs because so many people had warned us that Aspen during the XGames was insane and they were right, you couldn't even find parking in town. Staying in Glenwood worked out perfectly because we were able to sneak to the hotsprings pool one evening after the events, very nice and relaxing, especially for Brian and I who were way too old and sore after standing on a mountain all day smelling the wonderful smells of a certain herbal cigerette that some people are fond of. :) Brady kept asking, Mom what is that smell? Ummm... yah.

Anyway, we had a great time and Brady texted Grandma from there that he was having "the best day of his life" so that made the costs of everything priceless. He was able to get Torstein Horgmo's autograph the morning after he won the gold (they won't let you take pictures while autographing though; rude, huh). So here he is holding the autographs; the riders were all incredibly nice. Although, Shawn White didn't autograph so he didn't get his favorite riders autograph, but did get to see him compete.

Who knows, this could be a tradition in the making...

A start to my commitment list...

The commitment that was simple to work on, however not easy to do is the weight issue and getting healthy before 2012. I did some research and decided that it would be Weight Watchers to help me achieve this goal. I went to my first meeting on Saturday and started shopping on Saturday afternoon buying all of the necessary fruits and vegetables, etc. I also have recruited my mom and Rachel to join this "new lifestyle". So far, so good. Rachel and I pack our lunch every night for the next day and we have been making weight watcher recipes for dinner. I am really proud of her excitement and hope that it continues, we have also gotten Brian into the mix to help him get a little healthier too.

I have done WW before, however they have a new system now, Points Plus, it's a lot like the old system but they have worked out the points a little differently. You get like a million points a day now... granted things cost a little more, but you still feel like an eating machine. I haven't done WW since I had Brady, so I am really excited. Not to say that I haven't tried many other diets including cardboard from Nutrisystem, hundreds of dollars with Slim for Life, diet pills, etc. But I always give up after I work my butt off for a week and lose 1 lb., I never stick with it because I decide that I would rather keep the pound then give up everything else.

I have battled with my weight for as long as I can remember; I have always had to be cautious about what I ate. It does not come naturally to me, I was born with big boobs, big hips, and big bone structure, however I was not born with all of the extra meat that is now resting upon them. Oh, and did I mention that I love food; Mexican, Chinese, Mexican, chips, Mexican, bread, Mexican...you see where I am going with this.

I am hoping for a genuine new lifestyle. For some reason, it has just occurred to me that I am almost 40, no, definitely not the end of the world, but I am running out of time for my "someday" statement. I am seeing ridiculous amounts of wrinkles and sun spots on my face, the weight that has stayed around the same size for years, is now moving up on the scale, the buttons on my clothes are starting to scream and parts of my body pop, crackle and hurt with the smallest amount of low-impact exercise. I need to get this body in shape! and fast! I am Brady's mom for crying out loud, if I don't take care of his mom, who is going to?

Wish us luck, I am really excited and can't wait to be a new and improved model of Brady's mom.

Commitment to Myself List

So I have never been big into "New Years Resolutions" and even if I tried it, I never stood by them. So this year, I have decided that I am going to make a Commitment to Myself List. This will be a list of things that I am going to commit to achieve for myself and only myself during 2011. A bit selfish... perhaps, but a happy mommy/wife makes a happy home, right?

I may add things to it as I mark other things off the list, or at least that is my hope.

Here goes:
*I commit to find a church and attend it at least once a month.
*I commit to weigh less than I do today at the end of 2011.
*I commit to pay off at least 2 credit cards this year.
*I commit to take the stairs at work more than I take the elevator.
*I commit to take my lunch to work at least 4 days a week if not 5.
*I commit to making my kids sit at the dinner table for dinner every night, something we did when they were small, but have gotten more lenient as they have gotten older.
*I commit to cleaning out and discarding crap out of one room per month in our house.
*I commit to getting rid of our storage unit in the next 3 months.
*I commit to finishing Rachel's scrapbook before graduation in May.
*I commit to clean out and find a way to organize my closet (whatever that means, I'm not sure yet because it is a hot mess and I may have to call in Kelly for reinforcement. It's kinda like Carri cleaning out her closet on SITC 1; a process for sure).
*I commit to getting the basement CLEANED out, we don't need to keep dollhouses and Tonka trucks anymore, right? I will likely buy the grandkids new crap when the day comes, so what the hell am I keeping it all for (Rachel, Mason, and Brady: not a hint for grandkids anytime soon, got it?)
*I commit to taking a week off at work just to have a staycation to get stuff done that I want to get done, not to run the kids all over God's Creation.

Ok, this is all I can think of now. I will need to add as I remember what else I want to accomplish in the next 12 months, but this is a good start, right?

Signed this 10th Day of January, 2011: A.M.S.

Happy New Year!

Well, just as I was getting back to blogging, our internet crashed so I am a little late on the holiday blogging.

So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Here is a recap;

My father-in-law sent me these beautiful flowers, a very nice surprise and treat.

We spent Christmas Eve at my grandpa's house with my mom's side of the family. This is a tradition that we have done since I was born. It was always so much fun, we would have chili, house of smoke trays, and yummy desserts (my mom made them when we were kids and now my sister does). My grandparents always went crazy at Christmas for us, opening gifts would seem endless when we were kids.

In the upcoming weeks before Christmas, my Gram used to "hire" my sister and I to wrap all of the presents for her. I loved it because I always felt like I had insider secrets about what everyone was getting. She would take us shopping with her to pick out presents for everyone and we would always get a little "elf" gift for our help. It was the best. When I think back to my favorite times with my Gram, I always think of the holidays and how wonderful she made them for all of us. On the flip side though, the holidays are also the times I miss her the most. It's been two years since she died and and it hasn't gotten any easier to be without her. In fact, I miss her more and more.

This year was no exception to the pile of gifts, the kids just look different now. Instead of my brother, sister, cousins and I unwrapping and going crazy it is now our children. I love the excitement in their faces when they finish eating dinner and know that it's time to open gifts.

It was a great evening, I just wish my Gram would still be here with us.

Christmas Morning, which is my favorite part of the holidays, Brady still came running in and begged us to get out of bed to see what "Santa brought", then to beg his sister to get up. Brian and I got up and headed downstairs for our family Christmas tradition. I love Christmas morning, I love the magical feeling of the perfect Santa gift and stocking sitting there under the Christmas tree lights. I love that even though Brady is 12, he still loves getting the whole house up. We ate breakfast and huddled around the tree to open gifts. It was a great morning, although Mason was with his mom this year so he wasn't at home for our traditions. This is a tradition that mom started when we were kids and something I always loved. If Brian wouldn't have been on board with this, I wouldn't have been able to marry him. :) I love it that much.

I also surprised Brian with the best gift this year... a new car! I was so proud of myself, I actually managed to trade in and purchase a car without him even realizing it. He is having to make many trips a day to Arvada right now and with a daughter staring college 5 hours away next year, we needed something with really good gas mileage. He absolutely loves the new Kia Souls, they are goofy, I know, but he loves them and they are really fun to drive. We still have the Avalanche and my cute convertible, but we now have a family - good mileage - car. He loves it and Brady has named it Sully or Souly (depending on who is saying it)!

Later that afternoon, we had my mom, her significant other, and his son over for Christmas dinner and gifts with them.

Sharing family time with them was a perfect way to end the day and the holiday.

A good way to start the Christmas festivities!

Brady and I got to spend the afternoon with my nieces and nephew yesterday while my sister and Sam were out. I love spending time with them. They are hysterical; Emma is ridiculously smart so everything she does is with thought and has a method to it; Ally is the biggest entertainer I know, she is naturally funny and talented, she can perform on the spot with dancing, singing, cheering, etc.; and Sam is a typical boy; he loves playing and checking everything out; he is the happiest kid I know; he smiles and laughs with that big belly laugh like no one I have ever met. I love, love, love these kids and I am so grateful when I get to spend quality time with them.

This is a note that Emma wrote in the morning in preparation for our arrival (see methodical...)

I try to bring some sort of craft, game, or even baking ideas for them when I come over. It can be a bit tricky with a very smart 7-year old, a very entertaining 4 year old, and a very busy 2 year old boy. Trying to find something that will entertain all three of them can be a bit of a challenge, but I scored yesterday! We built a gingerbread house and a gingerbread train (Sam is in love with trains right now and may or may not have a Thomas set under my tree).

Our finished products...

I'm pretty sure they didn't stay like this for long though because I saw some hands reaching in and grabbing some candy off before the mess was even cleaned up. :)

What a great day!