Winter Storm Leon

This morning we woke up to 6" of snow. Under all that snow was about 1/2" of ice. Kimberly and Nicole got more snow than we did as they didn't get the sleet before the snow started. Some people were reporting up to 10" of snow. 

Of course, when we get this much snow it shuts everything down. Schools, federal and city offices are closed as well as some businesses including my work. Jeff's work was on a two hour delay so he didn't have to be there till 8:00. It took him an hour to get to work when it normally takes about 20 minutes. He doesn't get off work though till 8:00 tonight, just in time for the roads to freeze back up.

our front yard and road

snow on the front porch all the way up to the door

I like the snow covered trees

opening the back door

the grandkids picnic table is almost buried

this is how we plow roads in the country

Our cars are buried. Jeff started cleaning the van off in case I had to go to work
but he gave up and told me to stay home. Luckily, work was closed today.

 

Tristan loving the snow

so is Alasdair

Remembering......

Paul Curtis Paulsen

a Beloved Husband, Father, Father-in-Law and Grandfather

Memories Live Forever

It's hard to say good-bye to someone that you love, 

although you know they're safe 

with Jesus up above. 

It doesn't make a difference if they're in their later years. 

It only means more memories 

to carry through the tears. 

Don't let your selves forget, we each have numbered days. 

For reasons that we do not know 

God wanted it this way. 

Tears wash away the pain, but it can't remove the love. 

The memories live forever safe 

in God's hands above. 

So today we give thanks for the lives we chance to share. 

No matter if they're short or long, 

God always will be there.

Week 2 on Diet

This week wasn't as great as last week. I have lost a total of 4.6 lbs. so far. I figure last week's weight loss was water weight and this week is actually weight. I'm basically doing what I did last time on this diet, losing weight very slow.

I have slowed down on my water which I know is a bad thing and that could be another reason why I didn't lose as much but I don't plan on drinking eight glasses of water a day forever, I just can't do it. I usually drink about four glasses in the morning then unsweetened tea or Diet Coke for lunch and about two more glasses of water in the evening.

The food I had this week was about the same as last week. I did go to Chick-fil-a a lot for their grilled chicken nuggets instead of eating a salad for lunch. We are suppose to eat as much protein as we want and believe me I'm doing it.

For dinner there were the old staples of chicken and tilipia. I did make an oven roasted barbecue chicken one evening. It was pretty good and Jeff loved it. It had reduced sugar ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, agave nectar, chili powder and cumin. Jeff liked the spiciness of it. It was a little spicy at first till I got use to it and it will make your nose run. So if you want your sinuses opened up, make this. I tried a new recipe of balsamic roasted carrots which I love. Nicole made the same recipe and didn't like them too much. We had turkey meatloaf one night which was pretty good too. It didn't have bread crumbs or oatmeal in it which is surprising for meatloaf but it did hold together.

I am still eating fruit or carrots during the day for snacks and almonds in the evening. I ran out of yogurt during the week so I didn't eat that some days. You are suppose to have that twice a day.

I went to Wal-Mart yesterday after church and got more fruit, oranges and red grapes, and yogurt. So I'm set for the rest of the week. This weekend Jeff and I will go to the grocery store and shop for two weeks worth, I just wanted to get items that will last me till then.

I have three more days on Cycle 1. I'm suppose to move to Cycle 2 on Thursday but I probably won't till we can get back to the store this weekend. I can start adding pork, red meat, brown rice, potatoes, new fruit and vegetables back in on Cycle 2. I'll weigh myself again on Thursday morning since I will start Cycle 2 then. I don't expect to lose any weight between now and then but we shall see.

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

One day, one wish

for a million birthday joys.

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

Auxiliary Heat

Well, this morning we finally had Smith & Keene out to look at the furnace to figure out why the auxiliary heat doesn't work. I was just hoping the furnace couldn't keep up but that wasn't the case.

The reason it wasn't working properly was that two out of three auxiliary heating coils weren't working, two of them were broken. The service tech's reasoning why they broke was due to restrictive filters, poor air flow. We have been using the middle of the line filters and changing them every 90 days. I guess we should have been using the bottom of the line ones. He said the unit and ducting are designed for cheaper filters. Now why weren't we told that when we bought the house? It would have saved us a lot of money on filters and now new coils.

The coils have to be ordered and they will call us when they come in. So for now we just don't have auxiliary heat which we haven't had in awhile anyway. Who needs auxiliary heat?

First Week on Diet

Well, let me tell you that this past week has been hard. It's hard to go cold turkey and not eat carbs and sugar. I love my bread, pasta and cookies. Doesn't everyone?

For starters I don't like drinking eight glasses of water a day and for the most part I didn't end up drinking eight glasses. I hate running to the bathroom all day plus waking up at night and getting out of my nice, warm bed to go. I would rather drink sweet tea and Diet Coke. Some days I did have unsweetened tea with Sweet'n Low and Diet Coke with lunch or dinner.

Breakfasts have been hard to. I don't like to eat breakfast as soon as I get up, I would rather wait till 9:30 and eat. The only type of eggs I like are scrambled and I can't do that at work. So I have been doing a no no and eating Cream of Wheat for breakfast. I'm not suppose to eat that till Cycle 2, oh well.

Lunches. All I can say is I'm tired of salads with canned chicken. I really wasn't a salad eater to begin with so eating them almost everyday is not my idea of something yummy. Some days I did go to Chick-fil-a and have their grilled chicken nuggets with fruit and a Diet Coke. Yah, for Chick-fil-a for having grilled nuggets! Not many fast food places have things for you to eat if you are trying to be healthy besides a salad. Boring!

For snacks during the day I have been eating oranges, apples, baby carrots, and yogurt. I have been getting Dannon Light & Fit Nonfat Vanilla Yogurt in quarts then I will divide that up into servings and add frozen blueberries to it. So yummy.

Dinner hasn't been too bad. I had a taco salad, tilipia with Green Giant Cauliflower & Cheese Sauce (it has a value of 1 point on Weight Watchers and only 50 calories per serving), turkey burger with asparagus, and McDonald's Bacon Ranch Salad with grilled chicken. I got the McDonald's salad on Saturday on my way home from Nicole's so I took it home and used my fat free dressing instead of using theirs. Yesterday, Jeff and I did go to Applebee's for a late lunch/early dinner and I had the Napa Chicken and Portobellos. I ate the chicken, mushrooms and some onions then gave the red potatoes to Jeff and had some of his vegetables. I was so proud of myself that I didn't even eat one potato. Go me!

At night I have been eating some almonds, which is also a no no. You aren't suppose to eat anything after 7:00 pm. and I'm usually eating them around 9:00. My tummy starts growling and I would rather put something in it before I go to bed so I don't wake up starving.

Drum roll please.............

I have lost 3.8 lbs. so far. I broke down and weighed myself on Saturday and I had lost 2.8 lbs. then I weighed myself again this morning, since it had officially been a week, and I had lost another pound. I hope the scale was right.

Only ten more days on Cycle 1.

Alaska Plane Tickets

We bought our plane tickets to Alaska! It seems so real now that we are going back.

I have been watching the prices ever since I booked our trip and they basically have remained the same. Some days they would go up but the lowest price has always stayed the same. It's weird because one day I would check them and they would be up. Some days the flight would be the following day when I specifically put in to leave and arrive on the 13th.

I booked them directly through Princess Cruises since our mishap with Holland America back in 2007. I have been booking all our airfare through the cruise lines since then. Even though we are flying out a day earlier so we can relax and take it easy before our land tour begins on the 15th.

We are flying out of Norfolk to New York La Guardia then to Minneapolis then finally to Fairbanks. The flight leaves at 8:45 am and arrives in Fairbanks at 8:05 pm. It's going to be a long day as we gain four hours so it will feel like 12:05 am to us.

Dare and Bruce have decided to fly out of Baltimore since the airfare will be around $200 cheaper. We decided we didn't want to do that since the flight leaves at around 7:00 am and we didn't want to have to leave here soon after midnight to make the flight since it will be about a 3-4 hour drive. It would just be a long day. She said we could sleep on the plane and Jeff and I said no. You really don't get much sleep on a plane. She has a cousin that lives outside of DC so she may go up the night before and stay with them and have them take her and Bruce to the airport so they wouldn't have to pay for parking at the airport. They will meet up with us in Minneapolis for the last leg of the trip. Plus when we return from our trip we don't want to have to drive that 3-4 hours back to their house, we just want to get home. Our flight back doesn't leave till 5:50 pm and we don't return back to Norfolk till the following morning at 9:00 am so already our trip is long, we don't need to add any more hours to our return trip by driving.

We are getting so excited. Now the next thing to do is book our excursions.

Happy Birthday, Felicia!

Today is your day

Hope it's filled with

happiness, laughter and love.

Happy Birthday, Felicia!

17-Day Diet Again

I or should I say we girls have decided to go back on the 17-Day Diet again. I have gained almost all my weight back and I'm pretty disgusted with myself so it was time. I want to get back to what I looked like when we went to Disney.

Kimberly and I started back today and Nicole will start back up around the 15th. Dave went grocery shopping before he knew we were going back on the diet so she has a house full of not so good for you foods that she needs to eat first.

Since Kimberly and I were starting today, I wanted to go to Cracker Barrel for my last bad meal. So last night Jeff and I went there, my last meal consisted of their Sunday fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, fried apples and a biscuit with apple butter. It was so yummy. Then on the way home we stopped at the grocery store. When we got home I divided my salad and canned chicken into lunch meals for the week and packed my breakfast, lunch and snacks for today.

Today wasn't too bad. I have a hard time drinking 8 glasses of water, I just hate running to the bathroom every 5 minutes but I did get about 7 in today. I had 896 calories out of 1200 but My Fitness Pal yelled at me since I was below the 1200 minimum calories allowed. It says it may put me in starvation mode, which isn't good. My Fitness Pal is a free calorie counter, diet and exercise journal us girls use. I really like it and it helps me stay on track.

For some reason this time around seems different for me. I am not dreading it like I was the first time. I'm not sure if that is because I know what I can and cannot do or if I have a more positive feeling going in. Yes, I'm still hungry through out the day but I have a better attitude about going on the diet. I'm hoping this time I can follow the plan in Cycle 4, the maintenance cycle, when we have completed the diet and not gain it all back. I hope this positive attitude sticks with me forever and I keep it off.

Wish me luck!

Happy Birthday, Aaron!

May your birthday be filled with sunshine 
and smiles, laughter, love, and cheer.

Happy Birthday, Aaron!

Happy New Year!

May God's love light your way and lead you 

into a new year that shines with

His special joy.

Happy New Year!