I have unfortunately been away from a computer for TOO long. So I am excited for my first returning post to be announcing the winner.
(drum roll)
And the winning entry goes to:
Thank you to everyone that entered. This giveaway has been a lot of fun.
Suz,
Please send an email to amoxiemom at yahoo dot com so that I may get your prize to you.
Congrats!!
Okay, I am humbly asking for forgiveness… I could use a million excuses.
1. I was overwhelmed with LIFE.
2. I love unhealthy foods way too much
3. I have no self control when it comes to sugar
But what it all boils down to is that I slacked so bad on my 12 Week Challenge. So bad that I in fact, have taken a 12 Week Hiatus from the 12 Week Challenge. I could have the body of a sculpted model right now if I had stuck to it, but no I didn’t. So here I go again.
You see I didn’t give up. I just took a break. I did continue to watch what I was eating but I stopped working out. I am jumping back on the train, where I left off and I plan on going full force for the next 5 Weeks to get back my body.
I cut out almost all carbs… I let myself have one free day but I ate a high protein diet, eating five times a day and watching calories VERY closely. I lost 8 pounds just by changing my diet. However, now it is time to start doing cardio, because I have reached the point where I have lost enough weight where I can see the muscles, it just looks like my body has “hail damage”. (The cellulite has been pushed to the surface by the muscle underneath and is being SHOWN OFF. It’s gross). I am not a fan of that word… cellulite. Blah. This in-between stage is the worst… at least for my body/skin type.
So this is where I have to step it up and begin (drum roll) my cardio workout EVERYDAY. To motivate myself I did a little background:
Cardiovascular fitness refers to the ability of your heart, lungs and organs to consume, transport and utilize oxygen. When you exercise regularly, you can increase your cardiovascular fitness as your heart becomes more efficient at pumping blood and oxygen to the body, and the body becomes more efficient at using the oxygen.
When we mention cardio fitness we are referring to the body’s ability to generate energy through the circulation of blood and oxygen, this is often referred to as the circulatory system. For a person to improve their cardiovascular health they would have to strengthen the heart and increase endurance. Just like any other muscle in the body the heart can be made stronger by exercise and conditioning.
The general formula implemented when trying to decipher one’s optimal heart rate while performing cardio exercise is to subtract your age from 220. If you are 28 then you would simply subtract 28 from 220 to get 192. Your optimal heart beat range would be 60% to 80% of 192 or 115 to 153 beats per minute.
While a cardio fitness regime strengthens one’s heart, its benefits affect the entire body physically as well as mentally due to the increased blood flow to the body’s brain. When you exercise regularly there is also an increase in the number of red blood cells which the body uses to transport oxygen throughout the body.
Now I have come to the conclusion that I hate Cardio. I’m sorry I don’t even like the word hate. It unnerves me, but seriously I do NOT understand people that look forward to this. If my parent’s only knew this when I was a teenager, they could have used this as punishment instead of grounding. I would much rather be grounded & told to stay in my room and read a book then get your booty up & go work out. I guess I can Thank God for small favors. :-)
All that pessimism aside, I am looking forward to reaching my goal and I only have 5 more pounds to go and one more pant size to lose. I’m almost there and I have faith that I will accomplish this goal in the next five weeks.
Last night I played around on the Vans website, www.vans.com designing some custom shoes for my son. He loves light weight, slip-on shoes and for this hot summer weather, Vans are perfect. He had just outgrown his last pair and we tried to buy some that were similar from a different store and needless to say… it didn’t work. I have to admit, he comes by this honestly. His dad is also a shoe FANATIC. Although, I do think that Evan, my son, is far more particular about his shoes than Corey.
Well after talking about Evan’s new shoes, Lauren was intrigued and wanted to design her own pair of shoes. She had such a blast. I bet you can’t guess her favorite color. :-)
Choice #1
She has it narrowed down to three pairs that she likes, but said that she would like some help. So I asked her if she wanted to help me host a contest and we could let other people pick which pair that they liked. To this proposition, she started jumping up & down and clapping her hands, screaming, and the wild excitement ended with twirls. (I think that she likes the idea).
Choice #2
So please take a look at the three pairs of shoes that she created and leave a comment telling us which you like best.
Choice #3
But you guessed it, the fun doesn’t end here. Lauren & I are also hosting a fun contest for a free pair of Vans Custom Shoes.
It only takes seconds to pick your colors and begin designing.
Happy Shopping.
select Shop
Select custom
and begin…. it really is THAT simple.
This contest will end June 26, 2009 at midnight.
,PART I: WAITING
We often go out to eat and we almost always take our little ones with us. With Corey’s work schedule it is very difficult if not impossible to have an early dinner, however we do try because on those occasions that we are out past our kids bedtime they inevitably get a second wind and are recharged to the max.
At that point they have no control of the words coming out of their mouths (the filter between their brain and their mouth has already shut down and is sleeping quite soundly). Their energy levels have sky rocketed and they can NOT under any circumstances stop moving or even slow down because this may mean that they will fall asleep in a public place and possibly miss something. So they are literally bouncing off the walls or just flat out climbing them.
So here I am “Miss I want to do everything right” torn because I don’t want to get on to them too much since it is OUR fault that they are up so late. However, they should know to use their manners in all situations, no matter what distress their bodies are under… tired, hungry, hurt, or just having a bad day. (I really wish some adults could learn this too). :-)
But then it’s all about perspective right, so I could look at it from the angle that I am setting them up for success, teaching them to use their manners in tough situations and pressing their limits. Life is a Baby Boot Camp.
Then there are those times that I am too exhausted myself to be Sergeant Mom and I let them just be wild & have fun. Once again, it isn’t their fault that they are up so late and if the kids & I did eat earlier and go to bed on time then they wouldn’t get to ever see their dad. So we go out. After all, it is much more important to me that my kids have a relationship with their dad.
Of course, during the nights that they are absolutely insane I am begging my husband to change his work hours knowing that this will hurt our income. I have no problem downsizing and moving to a smaller home… once they start school this will probably have to happen anyway if Corey wants to spend time with them. For now I believe that he is absolutely enjoying the way it is.
Corey loves the outlandish, sometimes rude, things that the kids pick up and repeat. It’s not just him. They make me laugh too, but I would find it a LOT funnier if it was coming from another child’s mouth and not my kiddos. Just the thought of our little angels saying some of these things will make him giggle to no end.
Here a few examples to that I am referring would be from one particular night… yes all of this happened… and yes it all happened in the same night.
While we were waiting for our table of 10, (Like I said we go out with our family… it isn’t just the four of us and they have many cousins around their age). The kids wanted to pretend that they were monkeys, so they were literally climbing on us and once they reached the top we would get showered with kisses. (Ok, what parent is going to turn that game down). Then someone gave them balloons, which somehow magically became swords, so sword fights between the three kids and well Corey too broke out. It wasn’t long before the sword fighting was old news, not to mention that we were probably detouring more patrons from walking into the restaurant.
As if I needed further embarrassment, Lauren was tapping on my body playing her own version of the game “Meany, Miney, Mo” by tapping on my chest going from one boob to the other, Then she changed the words to “Boogie, Boogie, Booby”, which made her laugh hysterically. Normally we have a huge LIST of words that we DO NOT SAY and well booby is on that big bad list, but this night it became obvious that I needed to pick & choose my battles. So I flipped her around on my lap and crossed her arms across her chest (as if she was in a straight jacket) & started my own game of “Free Yourself”… I WON. This game lasted until it was time to be seated. Yes you read correctly, we still were waiting for a table.
I think the hostess was at her wits end when she was picking up menus for us and began to show us to our table when Evan exclaimed at the top of his lungs, “LOOK OUT DAD, SHE’S BACKING UP”. Laughter erupted around us and my face was flushed with embarrassment as I explained to her that it was a line from a movie (one that Corey repeats often).
(To be continued…)
This video makes me laugh so hard. Mostly because I have a little nephew that is so intelligent and inquisitive, and his little brain doesn’t take breaks for breaths. He sounds so much like Mrs. Lewis’ son, Desmond, that I can’t stop laughing. I absolutely love every chance that I get to watch Jett, because I just sit back and enjoy his constant thought processes. He cracks me up with the way that he comes up with different solutions to problems and most of the time, his solutions are better than those that some adults can offer. So enjoy the video and welcome to peak at our world.
Jett has a similar response to trucks (of any kind), especially monster trucks.
There are many things that I love about where we live. One of my favorite things is the drive home. As I get closer to my house I have to drive through this tunnel of trees and it melts my heart every time. It is so inviting, and it completely warms my soul.
I realize that many things in life are relational, and this instance may be one of those moments. Almost 16 years, I visited Oak Alley Plantation with my dad and youngest sister.
The beautiful view towards the river is filled with so much history. I couldn’t help but think of all the events that these trees witnessed. It was breathtaking.
It is so quiet and peaceful here. We enjoyed a night in one of the cottages and at that moment this place became my “getaway”. This vacation with my dad was the perfect remedy to a broken heart and I learned so many things and made so many wonderful lifelong friends. The relationship that I was in was a bad one, the guy was rude, he believed money was the measure of a man, and judged people according to their financial successes… needless to say, he was an idiot.
It honestly took getting away and stepping back to realize that no matter how good I was to him, that he would always be demeaning and disrespectful. (I thought that would change if he was just shown enough love). Once I stepped back I could see that he was always going to treat those he loved in that manner and that was just who he was. It was sad.
However, I am so thankful for the experience because it has helped me appreciate those people that are loving and that do treat others with love and respect. Due to that relationship I will never take my good friendships for granted.
Now today whenever I see this tunnel of trees, I can’t help but think of new beginnings and happiness.
My sister found other reasons to appreciate the amazing grounds. She is a huge movie fanatic! She was more than thrilled to be staying in the location where they filmed Interview With The Vampire.
So I guess it is safe to say that this place had something for everyone.
Just for fun I am going to play the What if game with you today? If you’d like you can answer all the questions, or you can pick & choose. It’s a game without rules meant for your enjoyment.
Have a great day!
1. If you had to lose one of your five senses, which would you give up? After living with Corey, I would say smell. Just kidding baby. I am definitely in a teasing mood today. He smells awesome (that’s why we had TWO kids so quickly after we got married).
2. If you were stranded on a tropical island with one platonic friend only, in whose company would you want to spend the rest of your days? Now this one is HARD. I would probably pick one of my many sisters, I have three sisters and three sister-in-laws and I adore them all. I would pick the one that I laugh with the most & who loves to have fun. (They all fit that description).
3. If you could have chosen your own first name, other than your current one, what would it be? This question was super easy for me. My name would be Sarah. I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS loved that name when I was a kid. I had three baby dolls named Sarah (they did have different middle names), and I begged my mom to change my name when I was 9 and the song “Sarah” began playing on the radio. (I was a goofball, even at a young age).
4. If you back on that tropic island and only allowed to have ONE book with you, what would it be? Yikes, I can’t even answer my own questions. After MUCH thought, I would have to say the BIBLE. It has it all, drama, teachings for spiritual and emotional growth, instructions for financial endeavors, romance & love stories.
5. If you could instantly be fluent in one other language that you currently do not speak (or read), what would it be? This answer would all depend on what tropical island that I landed on. I’m sorry I just can’t get the image of palm trees out of my head. I am ready for a vacation. :-) Seriously, I would like to fluently speak Spanish. I do think that it is a beautiful language. (I had a crush on Zorro as a young girl).
Now can you blame me? Look at him go, he’s off to the rescue.
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