Weigh In Wednesday - week 3!

It's Weigh In Wednesday!

Week one: 181.0

Week two: 177.6

Week three: 176.2

1.4 pounds gone!! I don't think that's bad considering last week I lost over 3 pounds.

I also don't think it's bad considering that I consumed 3 cheeseburgers through the week. :/

I am now below  my pre-pregnant weight for SARA - and she's six!

Currently, I'm in a size 14 but can fit into some 12's. I started at a tight 20.

The picture isn't great, but hey - it'll have to do.  

Menu PLan Monday (November 11-17)

My menu plan for last week went out the window. I cooked every night, but I didn't stick to what was on the plan at all! Craziness. And I know this is a day late - but I was away for the weekend and got in late last night. I have a lot of catching up to do - stay tuned for pictures and updates about our fun weekend!

So last week we ended up with: 

- poor mans steak (which is a hamburger patty, carrots, and onions wrapped in aluminum foil & baked in the oven), sour cream & chive mashed potatoes, and bell pepper stuffed with tomato and brown rice

-  chicken tacos, ranch pork chops, brussel (brussels?) sprouts and smashed red potatoes

- coconut shrimp, skillet corn and roasted zucchini

- pancakes and sausage

And then we left out Friday afternoon after school and went to visit my mom for the weekend, so we ate out at a local Mexican place that evening. Saturday night we had salad, and Sunday she made spaghetti.

I also made a mistake last week. I said that I had spent $230 for 3 weeks of groceries - but actually, I spent $269. I have since had to spend some more for perishable things like milk, produce, bread, and freezer Ziploc bags to store the mass amount of turnips we've been blessed with. However, I've got another weeks worth of groceries in my pantry & won't be shopping until next week, most likely.

SO! After all that, here is THIS weeks meal plan!

- perogies, bacon & cheddar french fries

- poppyseed chicken thighs, turnips, black eye peas

- beef tips with mushroom gravy, brown rice and a frozen veg from the freezer

- rigatoni pasta with ground beef and marinara sauce, salad

- 15 bean soup with diced ham & cornbread

- turkey burgers with the fixins, homemade onion rings

Head over to Organizing Junkie and link up! Let me know if you do!

Weigh in Wednesday, week 2

It's Weigh In Wednesday, ya'll!

I hopped on the scale this morning, feeling none too optimistic. I did walk every day (except for the one day it was raining), I rode the bike a handful of times, and I ate well. But nothing over the top, nothing I hadn't already been doing, and NO toning exercises. Water was a no-go for the first part of the week, but come Monday I could suddenly drink it again and have been consuming an average of 64 oz. a day since. I would love to get in another 32 oz. but can't handle it right now.

However, apparently the jumpstart cardio gave me brought me a loss of 3.8 pounds!

My goals for next week are to continue walking the 30 minutes each day, continue riding the bike, and GET SOME TONING IN!

I have an appointment this week with the rehab hospital I received inpatient PT and OT in, and I'll find out exactly how far it's safe to push myself. Because yesterday while on our daily morning walk, I ran. I looked like Forrest Gump running home to mama, but I RAN.

It was just over a year ago that I was picking my left foot clear up to my right thigh to take a single step.

God is good, ALL the time - no matter what you're going through.

If you can find joy and praise Him in the mud hole, He'll bring you sunshine like you've never imagined.

(Once again, sorry for no pictures. #computerissues)

'

Titus 2sday - Vegetable Soup

Today I am linking up over at the Time Warp WifeI've never participated here before, but I've been a fan of hers on Facebook for al little while and have long been aware of the "Titus 2sdays" series - I just never put two and two together. Basically, this is just where women/wives/mothers/etc. encourage each other, give inspiration, share their thoughts, etc. Head on over and check her out -- you won't be sorry!

I am sharing my vegetable soup....recipe? If you can call it that?

I vividly remember standing in my generic base housing kitchen, 20 years old, across the pond in England, calling random family members long-dstiance until one answered and gave me the recipe for vegetable soup. The lucky person was my cousin Tammy, who makes the best potato salad I've ever eaten (Tammy, if you're reading, heyyyyyy!) . Between her & my mom, we got this SUPER easy and cheap recipe down and it has been a HUGE hit with my husband since day 1. Like, he request it for birthday suppers kind of good. That is something 'round here, ya'll.

You are going to be stunned at how easy and cheap it is. For real.

Because we all know I don't like complicated things.

Excuse the sugar can & vitamins/meds in the background. I live in a real house, with real people, who make real messes, and I can't go around making everything look perfect for pictures. Sorry - just keeping it real around here!

The cast:

- vegetable mix

- diced potatoes (can use real or canned)

- green beans

- peas

- tomato sauce

- tomato paste (only need small can)

- onion

- seasonings - I used garlic salt, pepper, paprika, thyme and parsley

- 1 lb. ground beef or turkey

This is so interchangeable. You can use fresh, canned, or frozen - your choice. I used canned because, hey - we're on a budget - and this particular day, I needed it to be FAST and SIMPLE.
It's also doubled or tripled very easily.

I added a little bit of olive oil to the pan to saute the onion in. If you have carrots and celery - they are a great addition. You'd add them in at this point to saute. And garlic. Mmmmm, garlic.

 Excuse the bottom of the pan - it IS clean. It's just been well loved over many years.

Right now is when you can for sure change it up according to your preference. I like to halfway brown my ground meat, then boil it the rest of the way in water. The reason for doing this is a) by boiling the meat, you give the "sauce" lots of good flavor that you would miss otherwise (in my opinion) - and b) if you JUST boil the meat, it's kind of clumpy. And we don't do clumps around here. *shudder*

Once your meat is 100% done....are you ready for this? It's kinda hard. 

But don't worry, you'll get the hang of it. ;)

Okay - you just dump all the cans in.

Whew. I know that's a toughie, but you'll get it.

And here's the finished product!

This is hands down my favorite meal in the cooler weather - and sometimes in the "hot as Haides" weather, too. You can easily make it vegetarian, with no meat, or you can make it healthier by using ground turkey -which I usually do, but this was for my husbands birthday supper and I wanted to 'treat" him. It's great to do in the summer because you can use fresh veggies from your garden or the farmer's market.

Hope ya'll enjoyed - have a GREAT Tuesday!

Menu Plan Monday

I'm linking up over at Organizing Junkie

today for Meal Plan Monday. She has great ideas and I've already written down a few dishes for our next meal plan! Head on over & check her out. If you join in, let me know - I'd love to check your post out!

Monday: coconut shrimp, roasted zucchini, skillet corn

Tuesday: turkey burgers with tomatoes, cheddar or pepperjack, bacon, avocado & sprouts, homemade onion rings

Wednesday: breakfast for supper (pancakes & sausage)

Thursday: stroganoff, turnip greens, & black eyed peas

Friday - Monday the girls & I will be in my hometown while my husband visits his family.

This was my week to grocery shop, and I spent $233. That should last us almost 3 weeks, with the exception of picking up cucumbers, carrots, and some fruit. Not too shabby, if you ask me! 

Hope ya'll have a GREAT week! We have no  big plans today - Junebug is still under the weather, but I think one more day at home will get her back to normal. :)

Birthdays, Halloween, Parties - oh my!

Last week brought birthdays for two very special people in my life - my husband & my mama.

Michael turned 32 on the 30th.

 Dirt cake - yum!

Helping Daddy blowout the candles.

And my mama turned 21 on the 31st. :)

We haven't been able to celebrate her birthday yet, but we will this weekend!

I love you both so much and am so blessed to have you in my lives.

My mama, who raised me alone for 17 years, and taught me so much. 

My husband, who has raised me for 8 years (lol) and has been my knight in shining armor.

Friday we woke up to Minnie Mouse in our house - and Merida from Brave, too!

June had a Hallelujah Party at her school, then I had an eye appointment (my vision is getting better - praise God!) and then after ALL THAT, it was time to get some candaaaayyy!

Merida and Minnie racked up, let me tell you!

\

We went to the Fall Festival at the church where June attends pre-school.

It was AWESOME, and we'll be going back next year.

They had fun with all the games, stations, etc.

I thought this was so cool!

We had plans to go to a homecoming in a church about 3 hours from here, but June got sick over the weekend, and last night it got way worse than we thought. Fever, chills, achy all over - I'm thinking the doctor will be telling us tomorrow that she has strep. :(

Hope ya'll had a great weekend!

Sara's Cheer Career

At the beginning of fall, Sara decided she wanted to become a cheerleader.

We signed her up and before we knew it we were on a whirlwind of practices & games!



Sara is a quiet child, and I was both worried and hopeful for this new activity. Worried because I thought maybe she wouldn't fit in - and hopeful because I thought it may open her up.

About halfway through, she decided she didn't want to do it anymore. Sigh.
There was many long talks about how we are not quitters. When we begin something, we finish it. You don't have to do it again if you don't want - but you MUST finish it. And nothing worth having comes easy. Life is not easy, but we press on regardless of how tough it is at the present time.

The last two games, she REALLY found her voice....both literally and figuratively! She poured her little heart and soul into those games, and it paid off.

Today was her end-of-the-season party, and she was presented with a trophy.
Sara,you did a great job - and we love you sooo much!

SUYL Friday - Advice for New Moms

I'm linking up today with href

=http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/2013/11/advice-for-new-moms.html>Kelly's Korner for her Show Us Your Life series. The topic this week is "Advice for New Moms." Let me know if you link up - I'd love to read your thoughts!
Don't worry about your house!

Seriously. It'll be there when they're grown, and yeah - you may have to replace carpets, but let's be honest - your  baby is precious and the time you have with them is short, so make the most of it. Clean while they're asleep. Hire a cleaning lady to come in once a month and deep clean floors, bathrooms, etc. I promise that $50 is worth your sanity. And time.

This too shall pass.

One night, Michael and I were deep into American Idol and Sara woke up. I'd put her to bed at 7, and she didn't normally wake up at this time. I remember rocking her and singing This Little Light of Mine, and I thought...one day I am going to miss this. One day I am going to WISH she would cry for me to rock her. Those days are quickly fading for me. At the mature age of 6, she only wants me to rock her when she's sick. We still have the rocking chair (it was my Grandma's) but it sits in the corner of the office, with a big red laundry basket of craft activity and other homeschool books in it.

I also remember, in our NICU days with June, begging God to please hurry up and get us home. Get us out of the NICU, get us a healthy baby, no more doctors appointments, and get us back to normal.

Whatever normal is - because obviously OUR normal is just not the same as others!

Michael kept telling me to be patient. That one day I'd look back and say that those were some of the best times of my life. And they were. I wish I had taken more time to cherish those days there. I wish I had not been so worried - because whatever was to have happened, it was all planned out before I was even born. If we had celebrated bringing a baby home, or if we had celebrated her going to Heaven, God would have been there right with us every single step of the way.

Let those little old ladies in Wal-Mart play with your baby.

Yes, I know. It's kind of weird for random women to come up and want to tickle your babies feet, or kiss her cheek, or whatever it may be that day. But for the love of God, just let them do it! They probably haven't been around a baby in who knows how long, and we all know how comforting a child can be. I had one little elderly woman take Sara's sock off to tickle her tootsies. And that was okay with me, because I saw the sparkle in her faded blue eyes.

Video EVERYTHING.

This is my biggest regret. I have tons of pictures, but there's nothing like video.

Cherish every last second.

One day, I thought I had an earache. I went to the ER, they started talking about doing a large amount of bloodwork and that I'd be there for a while.

 Mike and the girls were there, and since I figured it would be several hours, I sent them home. 

They were starting to get a little scared of all the needles anyway. 

I didn't kiss my girls goodbye.

I told them I'd be home to tuck them in bed.

Four days later, I was in a coma with the doctors telling my family I had hours left.

I didn't come home for three months, and I've spent about half of the last two years away from them.

That show that's on TV that's really interesting? That video game? That book you're reading?

They won't matter in 25 years.

But those memories you missed making will tear your heart to pieces.