Starting OVER

Life has truly been a whirlwind lately. I haven't even had a chance to sit down for two seconds let alone compose myself long enough to complete a thought. My husband got a job offer that moved us across the country to South Carolina. At first I was completely excited. We get a raise enough to move us into a bigger home, more space for the kids and a possible studio for my photography business. All of the possibilities of traveling to the beach. Seeing my old college buddy because she's so close now.

Then there was leaving our family for the first time. I rationalized during the moving process my emotions away because after all, I can always visit and come back. I didn't realize how big of a part my family was in my daily routine with the boys. We would go to lunch, just hang out at their homes, or grandma would take Lex for a few hours during the day. Evening dates were no longer an option unless we wanted to fork over some money and that used to be free. It's all different.

Another point is starting all over with my entire support circle. No one knows me. When I walk into a church now to visit and see if it's for us, there is no deep unsaid connection because of our long talks. There is no appreciation for the last five years we dedicated to our youth and music in our church. It's all starting over. And that's emotional for me as well. I'm a stranger. But not for long!

Finally my business. I started my photography biz a few years ago and it was very exciting. Things took off fast for me and grew in a few short months. I learned a lot of things and now that is got to start all over again. That's ok though.

In the first two weeks I was greeted so warmly by my new group I joined in my MOPS group here. Mother's of preschoolers. Very nice.

We are going to be traveling home soon and the excitement is so fun! An entire week to see the ones I left behind. The beach can wait.

I'm looking forward to this new beginning in our life. To establish ourselves again and form new blessed relationships.

Run Forest Run

I had a funny conversation with a friend today. While I was dropping Lex off this morning, I DRAGGED myself to the Y to get on the treadmill. There is a whole process in my head that I have to defeat to keep myself motivated.

Just had to wipe my son after going to the bathroom. Back to basics.

The first thing I do is I get it in my head that I have to find a time to workout. Sweat some as my instructor would say. I can really rationalize away my workouts if I am not careful. So to beat this, I get my sports bra on and get dressed to go to the gym first of all. That's half the battle.

Once I've got that accomplished I actually have to veer away from Chik Fil A, Walmart, or shopping, and head to the gym. When I'm in, I step on the treadmill and start walking and have to push myself to say we're not going to waste our time here, if we are walking it's going to be up a hill.

And Fast.

So today I had a friend that walked in and ended up running right next to me and my competitive nature kicked in and I ended up running for most of the time and really sweating it out. I'm so proud of myself. We had a good time talking and I ran without really having to make myself do so.

The thing about running is it hurts at first for me. But once I get going, it's like in Forest Gump when he was running with the braces on his legs. That had to be awkward and hurt. But he busted them off and he was off. That is how it is for me. Once I get past the couple creaks and aches, I'm home free. I get my music added to the mix and I'm a happy lady. And before long hopefully if I can get my stubborness out of my system, and my hubs will be happIER. Lol.

Eating Healthy for My INSIDE

I just wanted to say something today. I went to my doctor today for a yearly physical. He did blood work to test my lipids. My bad cholesterol was down by 30 points and my good cholesterol was where it needed to be.. I have been working out and eating "SUPER FOODS" I'll put a list under for you to see.

He said this is the simple things to keep us from having strokes, heart attacks, and diabetes. All run in my family.

It reminded me that whether or not the scale is going up or down, my inside body and choices are making me live longer for my boys. Please remember this when you get discouraged. Even though you might not see a difference outside, you are making a HUGe impact on the inside. The list below we use each week when we are making up our grocery list. Just having these foods in any way in our diet, has made a great difference.

Apples

Avocado

Beans

Blueberries

Broccoli

Cinnamon

Dark Chocolate

Dried SuperFruits

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Garlic

Honey

Kiwi

Low Fat Yogurt

Oats

Onions

Oranges

Pomegranates

Pumpkin

Soy

Spinach

Tea

Tomatoes

Turkey

Walnuts

Wild Salmon

My son's first Halloween

My four year old is now going to preschool three days a week and he had his first halloween party this week. I brought my one year old and his brother with me to his party and he crawled right over to jump into the action here. It was adorable. Lex is learning so much in his class, just socially. This morning when I picked him up he had a made a new friend last week that he was really excited about. She dressed up as Jesse and he of course was Buzz, so that made them instant friends. Well he let me know today that she didn't have room for him to be his friend anymore because she had a new friend. I didn't know what to say. This is my little boy growing up and actually having issues that he is sharing with me that hurt his feelings and really I can't do anything about except maybe encourage him. Aww. I hope she's friends with him tomorrow.

He did have a great Halloween. Got the hang of going door to door pretty fast and this was his little costume here with his buddies in his class. He was soo pumped that his teacher was the Cat in the Hat. These are the days that I'm going to document because they will go by so fast.

Healthy Train

*SHUDDER* Today was interesting. Last night I fasted from midnight to this morning late because I had to get blood work done for my doc exam on Thursday.

I drank water all morning. My sweet mom in law is a nurse who took my blood for me b/c my veins are tiny. She came to my home so I wouldn't have to go to the lab and get stuck a whole bunch, and, being sweet, brought me a Mcdonalds breakfast sandwich. The grease was dripping off it was so amazing. I ate it of course b/c how could I not?
Then we had a MoPs playdate at Mcdonalds on the WestSide.

Do you see where this day is going?

I thought it was so cute b/c Laura came over to me with a big thing of french fries with a funny look on her face and I started laughing because she was thinking the same thing. Her and I both participate on our Biggest Loser group on Facebook, we are at mcdonalds, and she's offering me french fries. Hilarious. I had to run intervention so I let Zach have some. Then I ate a couple. Then I went and bought the boys a happy meal that they shared and I got a "snack wrap" mushroom and swiss. I was pretty proud of myself.
So for dinner..Not sure. lol. So moral of the story. Some days are going to be not as great as other days, but I'm still making good choices inside of that. And that makes me happy. Here are two pictures to show a little progress. I go by the roundness of my face. The skinnier I am, the less round. I'm down from 176 to 171.5. Let us just see if I can maintain or get better.

Walking

Where did my writing knome go? The little man that pops in my head with a great charismatic story to tell. He took a leave of absence and didn't ever return. Hope he comes back. I figure if I just write, eventually something will come to me. Anyway as far as life is concerned, my little man is almost four. I updated that on the sidebar thanks to my buddy who read my last post since JUNE.

My other little buddy is just turned one. And who just walked across the floor by himself tonight? HE did!! It was the cutest thing. He was so proud of himself. But just the once. It must've been the Kentucky Fried chicken he had for dinner.

I'm on a journey now. To begin this looking better goal. Taking care of myself.
I keep talking about it, but I'm still eating all the extras. I'm excercising but since I do that, I still sneak the extra piece of cheese. Even the little crunchies I get for my little guy. It's embarrassing. But I'm sharing it so I'm not hiding it anymore. I'm tired of being this size. A middle 14-16. When I can't believe that is reality. But it is. I have wavered between the 12-16 range over the last couple of months.

When the kids get sick, I'm home, but that doesn't mean I can't still focus on my diet. That's what I ultimately need to work on. I have a grocery list. We'll see what happens. This is me from my vacation in September, when I was really deciding to tackle this once and for all.

100th POST

Everyone has surpassed me I know. I have been waiting on this moment for a long time and now I'm thinking I just need to get this over with. It's a great accomplishment. I can't wait half a year to get it over with. LOL. I have a photography business now. I'm going great with it. My boys are my life. They are absolutely amazing. Very intense, but amazing. I'm starting a book club with my MOPS group. It's John Baker's "Life's Healing Choices". The chance to work on moving forward and not getting HUNG up.

Everything is going very smoothly in my life right now. My grandma just turned 80 years old today. Seeing her grace and love and passion for life, just made me smile. Here are some pics of that.

The path to LOVELY

Today, my mother-in-law took my hubs, boys, and I to this little garden path out in the middle of nowhere in Indiana. It was off all these SR 600 and whatnots. Very beautiful. Got some pics of the boys. This place smelled of lavender and all good things. Even the portapotties were beautiful.

Donut Holes BABY!

My last two weeks have been jam packed with stuff to do. I am really proud to say, I got over my attitude about counting calories. I stopped all Diet Cokes from entering my body, and all fake sugar into my coffee. It's not that bad. I actually am aquiring a taste for it. Like when you make yourself eat your vegetables, you start to enjoy them. At least I feel better. There are definitely stages of this business of transforming your body. I was in denial for too long.

What got me to change was I kept telling myself that I had time to lose this baby fat. The baby is only 4 months, he's only 6 months. Then I saw a chick at Mommy and Me class at the Y who had a baby that was 3 months and she was tiny, but still had her belly. But I haven't been tiny since before Lex was born and he's 3. Get over it Liz!

Here I am two weeks into keeping track what I eat on
http://www.sparkpeople.com/ and I'm two pant sizes down from 16 to 14. And I'm on my way.

Every morning I battle my brain to go to the gym. Always getting there somehow. Even though my brain is telling me all the reasons not to, I still make myself get the boys dressed, put on my sports bra, and tennis shoes, JUST IN CASE.

I usually go.

Last week I was on my way to the gym, or so I was heading in that general direction and somehow my car veered off the road, right into the Krispy Kreme drive-thru. Dangerous that they have a drive-thru.

My 3 yr old wanted a donut hole. He was good that morning. Oh, what's that Krispy-Kreme, you only have donut holes in cups of 10? Oh well.

So I ate one and gave him one. Then I ate another. 3 by the time I got to the Y.

Walked in and sweat myself into a frenzy running away from the fat that was making its way to my thighs.

I'm gonna be ok.

United Tour Coming To Evansville!!!

Show Date: Saturday May 1, 2010
Doors Open: 6:00 PM
Showtime: 7:00 PM
Tickets: www.itickets.com

Location: EVANSVILLE, IN
Venue: New Beginnings
Address: 11420 Middle Mount Vernon Road
City: Evansville, IN 47712







Sanctus REAL, Johnny Diaz, Mike's Chair!!!

In the Moment

My husband has shown me a very valuable lesson in life. That is to be in the moment. Even the slow ones. I move fast. Always. Thinking ahead to the next thing I have to do. At first I was proud of myself that I could accomplish so much in a day.

My heart racing with excitement...er um...Anxiety. If anyone got in my way, I'd snap. Or snip. Not necessarily yelling. That's not a person I would like to be around.

Last night my husband was in his workshop outside making numbers for our house. I guess he noticed it was a little damp in there or humid. I walked in to let him know I was going on some errands only to find this when I came out there.


My heart started racing. Many thoughts came to mind.
JUST THOUGHTS, NO OUTBURSTS.......
Do you realize all the animals that will now take refuge in here.?
Your tools are exposed to the elements until this gets fixed.
I guess the backsplash in the kitchen will be put off for another six weeks.

What are you going to cover this with.?
What money will you use to buy supplies to rework this wall.?
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I took a deep breath within myself and said oh, look at that.
It is my nature that before I take any action, I think of all the things I need.
This comes in handy with children.
For example.

Baby in tub. Before you put baby in tub, you need the following:
A towel, outfit laid out, surface to put them on, soap nearby, washcloth.
You can't leave the baby in tub by himself so you must have all these things accessible before beginning the bath.

Why does my husband just put holes in walls? Who knows. But all I know for sure, is I will stand by my man through the holes and pray for my heartrate to adjust to a healthy level from now on.
This is what matters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He does stuff around the house..YIPPEE.
And he did that wtih the hole b/c water was seaping into the building and would ruin it for good if he didn't do it ....

A time to Laugh

There has been no desire for me to write because I have been very content in my busy life lately. Since Christmas we got the puppy and have since given it away. It was too much to have a young puppy pooping, potty training a 3 yr old, and changing a baby. I was able to get some things I wanted because we got a nice tax return this year. Good times!! All is well.

Dog Bites, Want Hair Did, Baby Teething

Life sucks sometimes. At all levels it's awesome when you have the basics. But eventually you want your hair done. A beautician to make it gorgeous so that every time you look in the mirror you say oh yes that's me.. Oh well. Not now. These are the days of our lives. The days we have to sacrifice b/c we have 3000 hospital bills to cover and we got a dog, a cute little puppy , and the annoying commentary from your husband who wishes he made more so you could get your hair done. Oh well. These are the oh wells that have to go down in a well that never gets heard b/c it is nonsense. Just garble. Wants are not needs. And that's what we have to cover now. Some people in my universe get wants all the time. IN threefold and I get jealous, YES I DO. Lets hear it for the hard workers out there that have been able to do that. Get over it. I have allI need. And that's great.

Love ya.

Best Christmas EVER!

This year was amazing. I went to open my presents with my family this morning. Every year, my nan usually gives us all envelopes with money. I was expecting this on this particular year to save for my camera for my new business. I've been borrowing a friends camera to do sessions to save up for my camera. I am half way there. Well this morning I didn't get an envelope. When we were opening our boxes that we get every year, the camera I needed and was saving for was underneath some baby food!!!! I started crying. I haven't been that surprised and happy since my husband asked me to marry him. This business is such a passion of mine. This meant my family believed in me to invest in me and I was so thrilled.

So tonight I used my savings for some business cards and a strap for my camera and a case. I'm so excited!!!

My little guys got some clothes and games and they are content with our new puppy as well. Good times!!

Christmas

This morning I went to my MOPS group which is MoMS of preschoolers. It gives me a chance to be around other moms and chill by myself without my children for a couple hours. It's very nice. Anyway, one mom read an excerpt about of Max Lucado's book. It was 25 questions for Mary the mother of Jesus asked while she was raising him. It's so perfect for this holiday season. A time to really revel in our Savior and his life and how he gave us his sacrifice so that we may be new and whole and have peace. It's amazing how much we forget this. Here are the questions.

These are from Max Lucado's book God Came Near.

1. What was it like watching him pray?
2. How did he respond when he saw other kids giggling during the service at the synagogue?
3. When he saw a rainbow, did he ever mention a flood?
4. Did you ever feel awkward teaching him how he created the world?
5. When he saw a lamb being led to the slaughter, did he act differently?
6. Did you ever see him with a distant look on his face as if he were listening to someone you couldn't hear?
7. How did he act at funerals?
8. Did the thought ever occur to you that the God to whom you were praying was asleep under your own roof?
9. Did you ever try to count the stars with him....and succeed?
10. Did he ever come home with a black eye?
11. How did he act when he got his first haircut?
12. Did he have any friend by the name of Judas?
13. Did he do well in school?
14. Did you ever scold him?
15. Did he ever have to ask a question about Scripture?
16. What do you think he thought when he saw a prostitute offering to the highest bidder the body he made?
17. Did he ever get angry when someone was dishonest with him?
18. did you ever catch him pensively looking at the flesh on his own arm while holding a clod of dirt?
19. Did he ever wake up afraid?
20. Who was hi best friend?
21. When someone referred to Satan, how did he act?
22. Did you ever accidentally call him Father?
23. What did he and his cousin John talk about as kids?
24. Did his brothers and sisters understand what was happening?
25. Did you ever think, That's God eating my soup

Year in Review

We're almost to the end of 2009. Can you believe it?
All in a year:

1. Had a baby boy
2.Started my photography biz : http://eebeeimages.blogspot.com
3. began a daily devotional called Good Morning Gals.
4. Made long lasting friends in MOPS
5. Got healthier in Mommy & Me.


And it goes on and on. But those are some incredible goals that I have achieved and am grateful for the outcomes and what it continues to do in my life.

well i just haven't blogged in awhile. so what. i had a baby. i got my lady junk taken out.yeah a partial hysterectomy. my baby is not sleeping. he's three months so he's teething...i'm done. yep. all done. just on a break. and it's ok to do that. i love my family. started a photography business. love life. good times. so that's it. bye.

A picture in my mind

It will happen and I am happy about it. Being a photographer will be so exciting. I will get to share in the happy moments of people's lives. This is going to be a journey I begin this month. I have two sessions planned with my little nikon and then I'm currently teaching myself and learning photoshop. It's so hard to learn something the older I get I noticed I want to know it yesterday. But I know part of this life is growing always. Never stopping to learn how to be a better person, or grasp a new concept or learn a new way of something. We get labeled or have complexes throughout our lives. My personal quest is to beat these head on with this new found time I have as a stay at home mom. Yes I have personal free time little minutes here and there throughout the day. So far I am mastering cooking. I always ran away from the kitchen growing up. My sister and mom could cook so well. Unless I was good at it, I didn't want to try. That makes no sense I know. So I'm quitting being immature and learning.

I try a new recipe or two each week and so far I"m doing fabulous.

With this photography thing, I've always spent time editing pictures and taking them wherever I am I want to. It's such a passion of mine. If I master photoshop this year, then next year I'll get a CANON SLR Rebel camera. Or ask for it because it is a hefty price. Please if you are out there reading this pray on this venture for me that I enjoy every step of this and continue with it.

Free Pumpkins

Two years ago I lived in an apartment and we had our first halloween with our baby.
Well I put a pumpkin out on our porch and was happy. A day later, it was STOLEN!
Yeah I was skeptical of all carved pumpkins after that and had a sick feeling every time I saw a pumpkin. Well today when I came home from working out, there were TWO ..TWO PUMPKINS sitting on my porch! Someone just gave me pumpkins. How cool is that?
Two babies later and a house, I'm with free pumpkins! I'm so happy.

So here they are painted!!!!!!

One Month Old

I can't believe it has been an entire month of newborn heaven for mommy. If I knew how easy it was going to be using the bottle, I wouldn't have done anything different. Haha. I nursed my first one for six months, then got sick. This time around I was planning on doing the same as long as I could nurse. Well I tripped in the middle of the night and hurt my back so I had to stop because of meds.

My little guy is sleeping thru the night and I have myself back. I've starting a Good Morning Gals group that is just fabulous. It's really blessed me. All you do is send a bible verse to a group of people in your email. It's very simple and then you can write something about it how it has touched you.

Well I better get to the day.