Project 365: Week Eleven

How can it be Sunday already? Now that I'm doing a linky party once a week, it feels like Sundays sneak up on me awfully fast! We had a lot going on this week and I got some pretty cute iPhone photos. I know I should probably strive to taking a "real" photograph with my "real" camera each day, but when I committed to doing Project 365 this year, I knew that using my phone would make it much easier to keep up with. After all, it's quite rare that I'm somewhere without it! Here is what we've been up to over the last seven days...

Sunday, March 11 (Day 71): On Sunday, we had lunch with Josh's parents after church. I mistakenly packed shorts and short sleeves for the girls, with the assumption it would be a beautiful day. 55* and cloudy meant they were a little on the chilly side. We had taco salad and a nice visit before heading back home to get ready for Mission Friends. Ella was posing in the car and I couldn't resist capturing this one. Luckily, she's all about the pose and was very cooperative with this one!
#febphotoaday photo prompt: someone I talked to today

Monday, March 12 (Day 72): I've been doing really good about carrying my lunch to work over the last several weeks and months, but this week I ate out a ton. Monday I grabbed a yummy nacho bowl at a little TexMex restaurant across the street from my office. It was loaded with steak and veggies and for the first time, I almost ate the whole thing.

#febphotoaday photo prompt: fork

Tuesday, March 13 (Day 73): Tuesday was the primary election in Alabama. I managed to sneak off to the police station to vote right before the polls closed at 7. Ella & Sophie fought over my "I Voted" sticker all the way home.
#febphotoaday photo prompt: a sign

Wednesday, March 14 (Day 74): This morning, the clouds were so thick there wasn't even much to photograph. I was sad for nothing outstanding to share. By my afternoon run, however, the skies were blue and the weather was beautiful. There was hardly a cloud in the sky! Unfortunately, I was having a pretty severe allergy attack and an awfully stuffy nose. For the first time since starting C25k, I had to bail on my run. I just couldn't breathe well enough to ever establish a decent pace. Boo.

#febphotoaday photo prompt: clouds

Thursday, March 15 (Day 75): On Thursday morning, my mom called to tell me that Ella had been up most of the night with an ear ache (she spends the night with my parents every Wednesday night - what a treat!). I had an important project to finish up at work that morning, so Ella joined me for a few hours until I could get her to the doctor. She was feeling much better, but gets very car sick, so the drive was less than fun. We discovered a raging ear infection in one ear and severe seasonal allergies. She's on Augmentin for the infection and daily Zyrtec to help with the inflammation.

#marphotoaday photo prompt: car

 

Friday, March 16 (Day 76): I despise self-portraits and was a little irritated that I left my favorite sunnies on the bathroom counter. These J.Lo ones are my back ups and are appropriately seventies-inspired. If only the lenses were darker, I'd probably where them more.

#marphotoaday photo prompt: sunglasses

Saturday, March 17 (Day 77): We spent at least eight hours slaving away in our yard on Saturday. Josh cut the grass, weed-eated (is that a word?!), burned brush and helped haul brush. I cleaned off our gazebo and porches, picked up sticks, pruned our shrubs and brutally trimmed the loropetalums along the front of our porch. I can actually see my front yard from the porch and my sweet architecturally interesting porch can be seen from the street. I am so excited to see green outside these days!

#marphotoaday photo prompt: green

I'm linking up with Laura and Chantelle!

Won't you be my neighbor?

Right next door is a pretty little house. It's old and charming like mine. They are really close to one another, share a wrap around drive and some pretty great trees. For the last eighteen months, it has sat empty. We were blessed for several years to live next door to my aunt Heather and her three wonderful children. They were such an important part of our lives and we were so sad when they moved on to bigger and better things. Ella has been pretty depressed about the empty house for awhile and dreamed of having neighbors, especially if children could be involved.

We've known for several months that it was very possible some very good friends might move next door. Parker & Ella are the same age, Conner & Ella are in the same class at school and Carson & Sophie are two peas in a pod at Heidi's. We were so worried about getting her hopes up, so we waited as long as possible to share the good news. 

Almost three weeks ago, these three sweet boys moved into the house next door.

And our life has pretty much looked like this ever since.

 

Ella goes straight to their house in the afternoon and if she manages to come inside first, we'll hear a little knock at our back door. They are exhausting themselves after school each afternoon and crying for each other on the weekends.

 

My doors have been open, front and back, and it has been wonderful to watch a stream of little people (and Beemer, of course) run straight through the house on an adventure. 

They climb trees and "build" fences. They navigate play houses and swing sets. They jump on the trampoline, play board games and make believe. I have never seen my littles so happy. THAT makes their momma so happy.

Baseball.

My girls love to be outside and they love sports. We all know this has nothing to do with me and everything to do with their daddy. This past Saturday was the alumni baseball game at our Alma Mater. It's a fundraiser for the current varsity team, which my brother-in-law helps to coach. They worked so hard to pull it off and we had a fabulous time at the ballpark. Not to mention, it's just across the street and makes for an awful easy commute!

First up, we had to say hello to our daddy. He had just hit two out of the park in the Home Run Derby when we arrived. Sophie was pretty happy to talk with him through the fence.

I just knew she would be a disaster at the park and into everything. I was surprised that she actually sat still the entire day (with only a few mishaps) and was MUCH better than I expected.

Don't they look presh in the yellow jacket gear?

There were more than a few trips to the concession stand by these girls. Who could resist a lunch at the ballpark and unlimited Reese's Peanut Butter Cups?

Apparently, not even me! These chicken fingers were so good and I sacrificed other calories all day long to enjoy them. Thank goodness, I didn't even have to share.

We did actually manage watch our daddy play ball for at least a little while!

Our one major mishap for the day was this. Sophie was walking along the edge of the sidewalk and stepped off into the grass by accident. Unfortunately, she lost her balance and ended up in a mud puddle. Thankfully, she had on water sandals and after stripping off leggings and washing her feet, she was good to go!

Ella tried her best to get a snooze in, but this chair just wasn't comfy enough.

We did get some good snuggles from our Daddy in between games. Sophie refused to smile and this was the best I could do.

Sophie actually took a nap, even though it was hot and loud. As soon as Jo-Jo showed up, she piled into his arms and was out like a light. I'm pretty sure she slept for the better part of two hours out there. Boy did she feel better when she woke up to find her best buddy Carson there.

It was the perfect spring day to welcome baseball season and look forward to some pretty Saturdays outside. Wanna check out pictures from last years' game? You can click here! Don't you agree that he looked better with a shaved head than with his current mop top? I'm trying to convince him to cut it again, but he is determined to grow it out long!

on running and other things.

 

I don't normally post on my blog when I jump on a band-wagon or make a new "rule" for myself. I don't do it because I have a really hard time following through. I'm an excellent starter, just not much of a finisher. 

Last year, I made a commitment to myself to be healthier and more active and for the first time in my life, I followed through. Sort of. After Sophie was born (and the initial weight fell off), I weighed a gloriously large (for me) 147 pounds. Ouch. On my 5 foot, 5 inch frame it was much (more than necessary) to behold. My doctor cautioned me that it would be much harder to lose the weight the second time around and that I shouldn't be surprised if I didn't reach the pre-pregnancy weight (ppw) of 141. That ppw wasn't much to be excited about anyway. Fertility drugs have a habit of making my starting weight pretty stinking terrible.

In February of last year, I started going to the gym at work. I didn't go every day, some weeks not at all, but I was pretty consistent through the end of August. Between three and five days a week I was on the elliptical, sweating it out, even though I didn't want to be. If I felt really bad about things, I might jump on it at home or do Jillian's 20 minute work out to make me feel better about myself. By my annual visit in November, I was down to 139 and so proud of myself for getting back below that ppw. So proud, in fact, that I rarely exercised between then and the first of the year and by February I was back up to 141. At the time I thought I was doing great, but in hindsight 8 pounds in 8 months isn't so special.

Then, out of the blue, my best friend called me to see if I was interested in being crazy with her. She invited me to run a 5k with her on March 31st to support colon cancer. I whole-heartedly agreed, even though it's been years since I ran anywhere and months since I last broke a sweat. Lucky for me, we were both newbies and decided to train together. I recognized pretty early on that just winging it wasn't going to work for me. Not to mention, I wasn't exactly "fit" to start with and my eating habits needed a major overhaul. I simultaneously downloaded My Fitness Pal and Couch to 5k and told Josh I was really going to do it. He smiled, but I'm still not convinced he believed me.*

Fast forward seven weeks and I'm hanging in there. It is amazing what your body is capable of when you push it... when you are determined to accomplish something. Unlike goals in the past (swimsuit season, my next pregnancy, high-school reunion, what-have-you), this one was concrete. If I bailed, someone besides myself would be disappointed. I would be accountable for the $35 registration fee, the two pairs of $100 shoes (I did manage to sell one pair on eBay) and the countless on-sale running shorts I've managed to accumulate in the last two months. I would be accountable to my best friend, my husband and my check-book.

MFP has been a huge help in monitoring what I'm eating. It is so easy to rack up 2000 calories+ when you aren't paying attention. Especially when every large, fountain DP from Jack's is a measly 400 calories a piece. I cut myself down to 1320 calories a day as a starting point. Most days I stay well within that range, although I almost always have a cheat meal at least once a week and some days I'm closer to 1500 calories. Either way, I'm at least 700 cals under my starting point. One month ago tomorrow I gave up Dr. Pepper. Did y'all hear that? I GAVE UP DR. PEPPER. It is hard. Real hard. I even smelled one that Josh was drinking last week and it was awesome. I might have one again one day, but if I took just one little sip right now I would fall off of the wagon. Heck, it might even run me over in the process. I'm guessing I'll save that little delicacy until I reach my goal. Whenever that is.

I've also almost completely abandoned fast food. For someone who found herself in the drive-through 3-5 times a week, this is insane! In February, I had McDonald's once (it was awful and I regretted it immediately) and Chick-fil-a once (after rescuing Josh from scary NYC). In March, I've had Burger King once and a salad at Zaxby's (which clearly doesn't count). I'm not counting places like Chipotle and Jason's Deli where I grab dinner before Bible Study, because I can see all of their fresh ingredients and the calorie intake is MUCH lower. I'm not getting anything deep-fried there and I'm ordering water with my salads. The hidden benefit to my diet overhaul is the effect it is having on my family. There are more fresh foods in the refrigerator, I'm subbing low fat / no fat ingredients in our recipes and we're eating dinner at home almost every night. It's much easier to tell Ella "no happy meals" when I'm not willing to eat their food either. It's all or nothing.

So, about that exercise. I am currently on week seven / day two of Couch to 5k and I love it. I never thought I would say that, but running is actually fun. I am actually enjoying myself. I have managed to complete each workout without stopping and I haven't had to repeat any days. The program only gives you three workouts per week, so I usually just run on my own in between. I try to run on the ground 5 days a week and then on the treadmill at work 3-4 days a week depending on my schedule. It would be so much easier for me to walk, but I know that the effects just aren't the same for me. Someone mentioned this week that they were burning 150 calories in 40 minutes of walking. Running, I'm burning 300+ in 30 minutes. As a busy working mom, I need to make the most of my time!

I'm not an expert and I haven't even reached my goal yet (3 miles without stopping), but I'm getting there. I have run 2 miles on the ground and 2.5 on the TM pretty comfortably. I am figuring out what works for me. What to wear. What to eat before and after (low fat chocolate milk!!). How to recover and how often to run. I'm reading a few new-to-me fitness / running blogs which are a huge source of inspiration. The almost 7 pounds lost in 7 weeks doesn't hurt either (I am officially down to 134.8 as of Friday). I have right at two and a half weeks to go before the big day and I am determined to be running all three miles. It isn't easy. There are days when I'm tired and cranky and just want to be lazy. There are times when I want to trade it all in for an Angus burger and a bathtub full of DP. The thing is... I've come to realize that when I give in to those desires the only one hurting is me. When I sabotage myself, I'm just adding more days of feeling icky in my clothes and hiding in the fitting room. I want to be a confident woman that my girls can look up to. I don't ever want them to remember me before I learned to love exercise. I want them to see me as a fit and healthy person and have a desire to be that way, too. I want them to make healthy choices from a young age and never have the urge to eat fast food five days a week.

I used to laugh at those moms who banned soft drinks in their home. Now... I want to be just like them.

*Seven weeks in, SD believes me, but he is really tired of talking about it :).

Project 365: Week Ten

It's that time again! Here's what we've been up to for the last seven days...

Sunday, March 4 (Day 64): This table is one of my favorite pieces of furniture. It is brass and round and awesome. We have two of them, but unfortunately, we haven't found the perfect location for them yet. For now... it's next to my bed. On Sunday, you could see my current read (finished now -- SO good), nail polish, hair clip (which Josh calls the "beak"), remote control (for the Walking Dead), Essie nail polish, the baby monitor and our alarm clock. In the background - a messy bed and Sophie's teddy bear.
#febphotoaday photo prompt: bedside

Monday, March 5 (Day 65): This girl was so stinking cute on Monday morning. I loved what she was wearing and she was in such a good mood. It took forever to get her to cooperate, but once I asked if I could eat her for breakfast, she finally cracked a grin.

#febphotoaday photo prompt: smile

Tuesday, March 6 (Day 66): I pulled into my parents' driveway right at 5 o'clock on Tuesday afternoon. Ella was waiting, not so patiently, on the back porch. She was ready to get home and play outside with our new neighbors!
#febphotoaday photo prompt: 5 o'clock

Wednesday, March 7 (Day 67): It's kind of ridiculous that I captured my running attire of all things. I had on a really cute outfit and my favorite boots and it wasn't until I was completely changed and on my way out that I realized I never took a picture. Instead, here are my sweet new running shoes (the second pair in a month, thankyouverymuch). I am in LOVE.

#febphotoaday photo prompt: something I wore

Thursday, March 8 (Day 68): After dance class on Thursday afternoon, Ella & I had a function at her elementary school to attend. When we got home our house was a wreck, thanks to Taz. I couldn't resist snapping this picture through the window of the front door.

#marphotoaday photo prompt: window

  

Friday, March 9 (Day 69): I'm usually doing good to take a single picture in one day, but on Friday everything I saw was red. These were my favorite three for the day. I ran on the treadmill at lunch and was proud of how far I went. The treadmill is not my favorite, but it's great for days I can't get outside. I also shared an image from Invisible Children's website of the Kony 2012 campaign for public awareness. If you haven't been to their site yet, you should check it out. Finally on my way home, I ran through the car wash because the Jeep was NASTY. 

#marphotoaday photo prompt: red

Saturday, March 10 (Day 70): We had our second annual alumni baseball game on Saturday at the high school field across the street from our neighborhood. SD & lots of our friends played and we were there to cheer them on. It was hilarious and loud. I used to spend every afternoon at the field watching him on the field, with my toes in the fence waiting on a sign from 2nd base. In those days, I was a lucky girl to get an "I love you" signal from this sweet boy. 

#marphotoaday photo prompt: loud

I'm linking up with Laura and Chantelle!