Reflection on 2012

Today is the last day of the year.  What a busy year 2012 has been.  Lots of new, lots of ups and downs.  I reflect on my word of the year and my 2012 goals.

Word: discipline.  I have done fairly well with this.  L and I started discipline by going to church regularly.  I have done well keeping a schedule for myself so I'm not spread too thin.  I exercised regularly and kept my marathon running schedule.  I'm happy with this word for 2012.

My goals:

1) Spend time by myself.  I've done this.  It's evident by the fact I've read 50 books this year.  I love reading.  It calms me down and it's my time to get lost in another world.

2)Keep the house cleaned.  I did pretty well.  I'm not sure I spent 10 minutes per day picking up, but it was relatively picked up and clean most of the time.

3) Lose weight:  I finally addressed this! In three months, I've lost 15 pounds.  I feel more secure in my weight loss and the journey I'm on.

4) Keep my blog updated.  YES!!!  As evident by 368 posts, I got one in every day.  Sometimes it was challenging, especially when I needed to catch up.

5) Be more financially savvy.  Well....I can't do everything so I gave Jeff the job of paying bills and managing our finances.  And it's working better than I thought.

Overall, I feel I accomplished my goals.  I'm happy with my progress.

Cheezers

So the Shockers beat Northern Iowa by 23 points. These two cheesed up for the camera.



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How it Should Be

I love our home filled with friends and fun.



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Grandma Sandwich

G and G left today. We had a ton of fun with them.



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Rock a Bye Baby

When L was little, Grandpa Ed would do rock a bye baby. She hated it. Now, she begs him to do rock a bye baby. It's hilarious!






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A Mother's Nightmare

Orbeez ladybug. She picks up and poops out little gel balls. Santa must hate me.


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Christmas Day

The day was crazy as usual. The family was all here and weathered the cold windy weather. L was good; she got everything she wanted from Santa.
Jeff got electronic Battleship from L. We had tons of fun playing.


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Christmas Eve

I forgot to post yesterday. After our tradition of eating pizza at Pizza Hut we went to look at lights. We stopped at a couple houses that were all done up. One had Santa out in front.



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Christmas Eve Eve

On the eve of Christmas Eve, our tradition is to eat at PF Chang's. We had a delicious dinner and downed three pots of tea.



After dinner, we stopped at Baskin Robbins for ice cream. This might be a new tradition to add.


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Pre game Cheers

L is gearing up for tonight's game.


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Merry Christmas from the Beer Folks

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L's Gigantic Stocking

L and Jeff picked this stocking up at Menard's. So the question is: will Santa fill up her stocking? Or should the question be: has L been good enough to have her stocking filled?



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Dancing with the Stars

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Weight Loss Journey

So I've deferred posting about my journey because I hate posting about wanting to lose weight, then I start a diet and fail within a couple weeks.  But now, I feel confident I will keep my journey going.

At the end of September, I decided to join Weight Watchers...again.  This is the third time I've joined in.  But when I started, I felt like I would stick with it this time.  One: I've been following the blog "Runs For Cookies" and she had recently joined WW again and was discussing all the benefits.  Two: I just finished reading "Weight Loss Boss" by CEO of WW.  It's a well written book that I would highly recommend.  But it was the last point that made me get started.  I don't have high blood sugar, my cholesterol and blood pressure are normal, so it's hard to be motivated to lose.  But I went online and got my BMR.  And it was 31.3.  Yipes!!  Normal is 25 or less.  I was overweight and heading to obesity if I didn't change my ways.

So I joined.  And it was hard.  Not the counting part, but the not eating everything in the kitchen hard.  But after a few weeks, it got easier.  And now, it's just second nature.  I have an app on my phone and the website is tagged on my computer.  I'm not a role model for eating a great diet.  I eat the same breakfast Every. Day.  Because I love it and it fills me up until noon.  I eat the same lunch almost every day.  It's easier than trying to figure out how many points this and this has.  And I like my lunch.  I eat so many more veggies and fruit than I use to.  My favorite snack: carrots with salsa (no PP). 

And slowly but steady, the weight is falling off.  In three months, I've lost 15 pounds.  Some weeks, it's 1/2 pound.  Last week it was 3 pounds.  And I'm okay with whatever it is.  Once I lost the first 6 pounds, I didn't worry that I would never lose weight.  The biggest change?  I don't eat when I'm not hungry.  I don't eat because I'm upset. Or stressed. Or bored.  And that is a huge hurdle that I've been able to overcome.  And I feel so much better not eating junk all the time.  And when I eat a not so good for me meal or two in a day, I don't feel like I failed.  I just think tomorrow is a new day.  I'll eat more fruits and veggies tomorrow and I follow through. 

I'll continue to update my journey (because it's not just getting to goal, it's the process).

Marathon Training

So I'm trying to catch up on my absent blogging. It's hard to fit everything else in, especially with Christmas around the corner.

I have three long runs before the Houston marathon. So far training is going well. I've missed one run. I had a 20 miler two weeks ago which was superb. I had so much fun. It was an out and back route. Not too hilly. The morning was beautiful and quiet. I love running in the country. Last week's 14 miler was tough. The wind was brutal. Saturday is my second 20 miler. I hope the weather is nice. I find that my runs go well when I don't feel a time constraint in life. But if it's not great, it will be a good learning tool to the big 26.2.

Wish me luck!


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Shocker Girl

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She Loves Snow

My sweet Lucy was so excited to see it snowed last night. She loves this kind of weather.


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Getting Our Craft On

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Uneventful Day

Today was pretty quiet. I started off early (6:30) with a 14 mile run. We watched the South cheerleaders compete. That was cool.



Ate my only meal at 2:30 (delicious burger) and messed around the house. My kind of day.

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B and N Night

Tonight was the Barnes and Noble reading night to support her school. L got a book, I found a stocking stuffer and L got to see Santa.



Then we went on a carriage ride in the rain.



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Santa's Little Helper

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L's Bed Buddy

Yep, it's Reggie.


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No Pictures in this Post

***warning: this is a gross post***

So last Thursday, I got in my van and saw two things running though my car. BARF!! I knew there was a mouse in the garage, but in my car? No Way!! So I got some traps and Jeff put them out. By morning, those two mice were found in the car (stuck to glue traps). And over the course of the next 4 days, Jeff has killed 12 mice. BARF. We eliminated the bird food which brought them the first time to the garage.
Ok, here's the nasty part. (Ha, you thought it was gross already). L LOVES this game. She loves helping her dad set the traps and collect the bodies (don't worry, Jeff does all the work-she just oohs and aahs). She will run in the house screaming, "mom you have to see this!!" And I'll go outside to find one of the mice has been EATING THE OTHER DEAD MICE. Yes, he ate several mice killed on the traps sometimes the bodies, sometimes the brains. It's all too gross for me. But L loves it! Tonight I told her 3 were dead and she asked if they were missing body parts. BARF. She is definitely a daddy's girl. I don't even care that its gross. I remember doing stuff with my dad and loving it. Brings back great memories.


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My Spoiled Babies

They have the best seats in the house.


Oreo is mad because I'm reading the paper and he wants my whole lap.


L and Lucy. Two lovely girls.


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L's Letter to Santa

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Letter to Santa

I came home tonight and L asked me if I had a stamp so she could mail her letter to Santa.






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My Sick Girl

I woke up at 5:45 am to "I think I'm gonna throw up". Poor chicky. She vomited and had the runs all morning, then slept all afternoon. I think she is feeling better now. Stupid flu.



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Caught in Camera

I finally captured one of Oreo's snarls.



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Tapping Away

L is such a good dancer and she loves, loves tap.





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Goofy Girl

Lucy decided she wanted to sit on Jeff's lap an plopped down in the middle of his paper reading session. She cracks me up.


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Thai Time

Our friend, Jill, was in town today and she was dying for pad Thai from the Thai House. I'd never been. It was sooo good. I had pad Thai, L had lo mein and Jeff had pineapple fried rice. The restaurant is as big as my kitchen. They were so friendly.



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Scrapping

L learned how to do eyelets. Pretty cool.


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Parents Night

We got to watch L at hip hop class. She's really good.



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Two Shocker Girls

Adorable, huh?



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Showtime

Last night Jeff and I saw the musical "Rock of Ages". It was really good. We've also seen the movie and it was interesting how different they were. It was really nice to do something by ourselves too.



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Back to the Grind

Stink eye is just a bonus.


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Our First Trial Run

Today was a beautiful day. Sun shining and 60+ degrees. L has been BEGGING me to take her running. Now mind you, I just ran 17 miles yesterday and while I feel good, I was worried about running. We had a great time and went 2.25 miles. We walked most of it. L said she couldn't run while she told me a story and she had lots of stories to tell. It was perfect.



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My Odd Kitty

So Reggie needs "spoiler" food once a day, which is wet food. She begs for it after 4 pm (because she usually gets it when we come home from work). I generally feed her then leave. But one day I went back and realized she eats it in two parts. The first is she eats the liquid part, licking it off the pieces.


Then she comes back later to eat the dry pieces. A little odd if you ask me.



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Tree Trimming Time

L was a huge help in getting the tree up. We watched Tooth Fairy while we decorated the tree.





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Playing in the Leaves

L has been waiting for Jeff to rake the leaves so she can jump in them. And she did. Many times.









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Thanksgiving 2012

We traveled to C-ville to spend the day with my parents, gparents, and in laws. The day was gorgeous. We had a wonderful meal and visited with everyone.



L is taking a break from cooking.




Grams and L hanging out watching football.