Weigh Day

Two weeks have come and gone. My vacation was great; we had a wonderful time! We got to see dolphins from our balcony, alligators, crocodiles, and lots of turtles. Here are a few pictures:

So, we had a great time; we walked a lot, and we laughed a lot.

I was planning on starting a running plan for beginnners on Monday after I returned, but then I got a cold just before we left Myrtle Beach and that turned into a sinus infection. I have not felt well enough to get back o the treadmill yet, but hopefully by Monday I will be able to start the running plan.

However, I did weigh in on Tuesday. I was a little surprised to find that even though I wasn't eating the healthiest food, all the walking paid off and I still managed to loose one pound. Hopefully now that I am on some antibiotics for the sinus infection I will start feeling better and can get back to the treadmill on Monday!

Weigh in day

Well, today is weigh in day for me. I wasn't too sure how I would do since I have been having a hard time being able to get on the treadmill with my blood sugars acting up. I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped on the scale and I was down 1 pound. It doesn't sound like much, but it is better than nothing.

I will not be able to weigh in next week since I will be on vacation, so it will be two weeks before my next weigh in. Hopefully I will show a good loss then! Even though I will be on vacation I will still get my walking in at least. We will be walking around a lot everyday we are there, so that will help. We are leaving on Friday afternoon and will be gone for a week. I will be taking my laptop along but will not be posting while I am there. Hope you all have a great week and I will see you when I return next Saturday!

Frustrated!

I haven't been able to run the past few days because my blood sugar hasn't been high enough. It is frustrating to want to be on the treadmill but not be able to because my diabetes will not allow it. Even on days that I am able to run I can run into the problem of having my blood sugar go low before I go to bed. Then I end up having to eat something even though I am not hungry at all. I feel like it is hampering my weight loss efforts.

Tonight, though, I was able to get on the treadmill. I decided, though, that I was pushing myself too hard and decided to slow things down a little bit and start out at a pace that is more comfortable for me and work my way up to a running speed. I was still at a fast walk and walked for about 40 minutes.

I am hoping that the longer I walk or run my blood sugar will get used to it and I will not need to have to have it be higher in order to work out and that it will not drop so much when I exercise.

Running

I was introduced to Ben's blog by my mom and have read it through from the beginning. I was really inspired by him to get my act together and start exercising and eating healthier. I started running on the treadmill; Saturday I "ran", it was probably more of a slow jog, for 45 minutes, and I did 50 minutes on Sunday. I gave my legs a day of rest yesterday since my calves and ankles were really sore. Today I decided I wanted to know how fast I could run a mile in. I get all bundled up and went outside. I finished one mile in 15:34, which is a pace of 15.5 minutes/mile; about what I expected. I did have to stop and walk for a while, but for my first mile run I wasn't too disappointed.

I am hoping to loose about 50 pounds and to decrease my running pace time. I am looking to you guys to keep my accountable! I cannot guarantee that I will post as much as Ben, but I will try to post at least once a day. Go and check out his blog. Head back to the beginning and read through it; it takes a few days but it well worth it!

Surprise Visitor

Wednesday September 15 I went to the Airport with my two aunts, Karla and Diane, my Grandparents, and my cousins wife, Brenda, and their two kids, Tierney and JP, to welcome home my Cousin Alecia and her parents and her fiance Ovi. We had to wait awhile as their flight was delayed, so I held JP and kept him entertained while we waited.

Afterwards I had dinner with Karla, Diane, Curt, Brenda, Tierney and JP. Once again I was holding JP as it was getting late and he was getting tired. As we got ready to leave I told Curt and Brenda that I was going to kidnap JP; so I did!

Imagine my parents surprise when I showed up back at home with him! I did have to run over to a certain person's house and retrieve the stolen toys so he had something to play with! He is such a good baby, though. He is all smiles and happiness!

He did decide, though, at 1:30 in the morning to wake up and not go back to sleep for an hour and a half! After being assured by his mom that he sleeps through the night you can imagine my surprise at this turn of events! Once we got back to sleep, though, he sleep the rest of the night and didn't wake up until 8 and even took a few short naps with me throughout the morning. I really enjoyed having him spend the night with me, even though it made me realize how tiring it is to be a mom!

Onetimeblind

I found this drama group online and thought they are great! They go around to churches and conferences and put on small skits like this one. They are a group of four people, 2 guys and 2 girls, and call themselves Onetimebind. Enjoy!

Two Years in a Row!!

Andy, my brother, has been away on my birthday for two years in a row. Last year he sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers since he was in Virginia, see here for that post.

Well....he has done it again!! He had flowers delivered to me at work for my birthday!


I may be biased, but I think I have the best brother ever!! Thank you so much Andy! I love the flowers!

My wreath

Today was wreath-making night at Karla and Diane's house. I had a great time and finished my wreath quite quickly. This is the finished product. What do you think? I think it turned out quite good (with a little help from Karla for the bow)!

How can she even breathe under there?

Cleo loves to cuddle in the winter. She likes to steal all your warmth (although she does give it back in return). I threw this blanket on top of her and while most cats would probably try to escape Cleo was more than happy to burrow in and sleep.




















The lump you see...that would be her.

Next semester

Well...wow, it has been a long time! Sorry about that!

I just signed up for classes this morning and I am not too sure about the results. I got all the classes that I wanted, however....the schedule that I now have is not the best, at all. I have mostly afternoon/night classes with one morning class. My weekly schedule for next semester is as follows:

Monday: 5:45-9pm Computerized Accounting 2
Tuesday: 3:15-4:45 Tax Accounting
Tuesday: 5:45-9 pm Cost Accounting
Wednesday:5:45-9pm Computerized Accounting 2
Thursday: 3:15-4:45 Tax Accounting
Thursday: 5:45-9pm Cost Accounting
Friday: no school
Saturday: 7:45-12 Computerized Accounting

So, you can see my delema - when do I work? Hopefully my wonderful boss Karla can work with me to figure something out.

On a happy note, this will be my last semester of school! Thank goodness! I am SO ready to be done with school.

A Hoodie for Cleo

I decided that since the post on my mom's blog about the horrors my cat goes through received the comments that it did I should purchase something new and exciting for my cat. Yes...I do agree that the pink and white polka-dot dress wasn't the best but it was all I could find at the time!
So, here you go, a new outfit for her. I like it and think it suits her (although she would like it better if there was some pink in it, however she does like the fact that she is supporting Andy!). What do you think? Is it better than the dress? (Yes this is a hoodie for a small dog, but I saw it in an Avon catalog and couldn't pass it up!!)

What a surprise!

I have two breaks at work when I am working in the morning, one at 10 and one a 1. This last Friday I went on break at 1 and the cook and I headed outside because it was a beautiful day. As usual the half hour break went quickly and we were headed back up to the building to finish our shift.

Imagine my surprise when my boss, and aunt, Karla comes running out to us saying, "Oh good you are coming in. I was just coming out to get you. Someone just delivered flowers to you Heather!"

So....wondering who is sending me flowers when it is not my birthday or really any important day we all headed to the kitchen.

This beautiful vase of flowers was sent to me by my sister, Laura, just because we hadn't talked in a while! Isn't that sweet?

The Circle

I just finished reading this series by Ted Dekker and highly recommend them to everyone. They pull you in right away and leave you wanting more. Once you start you just cant stop! They are suspenseful and have a little fantasy, but are great Christian books!

Fireworks!!

My family doesn't usually go to the Fourth of July fireworks but this year I went with Mark and Cheri and their kids, Dave and Terri and their kids and my Uncle Duane. We laughed a lot and the fireworks were great! Thanks for letting me tag along guys!

International Gifts!

My cousin Alecia just got back from studying in Spain. She brought back a lot of cool stuff and took a lot of pictures of the places that she traveled to. She brought back a few things for me as well. Wasn't that sweet?
This is a scarf from Spain. It is silk and is REALLY soft!
This is a key chain that she got in Paris. She knows that I love Paris and said that she had to get me something!
This is the other side of the key chain. This is the L'arc du Triomphe, or, Arc of Triomphe. Napoleon commissioned it to be built to honor the soldiers. at the center of the arc is the grave of the unknown soldier. It is built at the center of a roundabout so you have to walk under the street to get to it, but once you do you can go up to the top and see for quite a ways!
This is a bracelet that she got in Greece. It is handmade and very beautiful!
Thanks Alecia for all the gifts! I really appreciate it!

A twist on French Toast

This is something that I came up with this morning...it is really good!!




















All I did was make normal french toast. While they were cooking I cut up a couple apples into bite size pieces and added cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter to them. I cooked the apples until they were fork tender and had plenty of juice. When I dished it up I made sure to put plenty of the apple juice on the french toast. The cool whip on top is optional, but it does add a little something extra!
It took a little bit more time that just pouring a bowl of cereal, but it tastes a lot better!

House sitting

I am staying with Melissa while she is house sitting while a family is away on vacation. They have two small dogs


Zorro

Maggie

This morning I was getting dressed for church and happened to look out the window in the bedroom that looks out over the (huge) backyard and this is what I saw coming out of the trees:



There were three deer in all. One of these two was young - he still had his spots!





What a way to start a Sunday morning!

You make my day

Cheri gave me this wonderful award!

I just saw that Melissa also gave me this award; thanks Mel!

The rules of this award are to give it to 10 other people whose blogs give you happiness, inspiration and make you feel happy about blog land. Let them know that you have given them this award via e-mail or by posting a comment on their blog. This way they can continue to pass this award along! You should know that you may get this award many times, but this just means that you are very, very loved! Just keep passing the award on "keep the love going!"

I am giving this award to:

Laura

Bonnie

Melissa

Alecia

Mari

Kim

Cherdecor

Cheri

Terri

I truly enjoy reading all of your blogs! Have a great day!

For all you tea drinkers out there!

I found this great tea on the internet and loved it!

Vanilla Carmel Truffle Latte
This recipe makes two (small) servings

1 cup water
1 cup milk
2 cinnamon sticks
3 Lipton Pyramid Canilla Caramel Truffle Tea Bags(this depends on how strong you want it; I only use two bags)
2 tbsp. sugar

In a 1-quart saucepan, bring water, milk, and cinnamon just to a biol. Remove from heat and add the tea bags. Brew 3 minutes; remove tea bags and cinnamon sticks. Stir in sugar and serve immediately.

I LOVE this tea and it is quick and easy to prepare.

What is that?

I walked into my room, one morning to see my robe, where I had thrown it after my shower, laying there harmlessly on my bed where I left it.

Then I looked closer and could see that it was moving, be it ever so slightly. I lifted up the edge of it and this is what I saw.....








Somehow a small opposum had gotten into my room (which wasn't hard since the door was open!), onto the bed and under my robe! I really don't know how she does it, but she has been known to do the same thing with a freshly made bed. She is one talented cat!