Thank God It's Falling Off

Well, here goes my first official Friday, TGIFO, post! It is week two of my weight loss journey and while I have not weighed yet, I feel FAN-Flipping-TASTIC! I just realized that I have not had red meat since Monday, (BIG DEAL FOR THE JACKSON HOUSE) and I am still alive! I have made two dishes this week that I would normally put hamburger meat in and I used ground turkey or chicken instead and we all loved it! I attend my Team Weight Loss class three days a week and I will admit Wednesday I thought I was going to die because I missed Monday due to being out of town still and man, did I pay for it! Today was much easier. I am jogging 2-3 minutes at a time, at an incline I might add, and I am still alive! I feel leaner and taller. I feel more energy already, and I am sleeping better. This all comes down to healthy living. I wanted to share a typical day of my menu so you can see what I USED to do and what I do NOW.

OLD MENU

• Breakfast- uuuummm, nothing, or a Vitamin water. I was just not hungry, so why eat.
• Lunch- I was starving, so yes, let's eat! Vitamin Water, A Cheeseburger, Mexican Food, Box of Mac and Cheese, Fast Food 9 times out of 10.
• 
  
  Dinner- The Big one! Vitamin Water, Hamburger Steak and Gravy, Rib Eye, Pizza, Fast Food, Maybe some Chicken, always a starch, something along these lines. I always had one of these fatty foods, or I would pick a good meat and eat TONS of starch on the side.

(Do you see I ate no snacks, no vitamins and not alot of fruits or veggies)

New Menu (I will post what I did yesterday).

• 
  
  Breakfast- Water, vitamin, 1 blue berry waffle torn in half and I took 2 turkey sausage links and wrapped the waffle around each one and ate two little breakfast wraps! SO YUMMY!


• 
  
  10:00 A.M. 1 and only Vitamin Water for the day, I was running the roads but knew I needed to eat something. I ate 1 Spring roll (had shrimp, rice noodles, romaine lettuce and dipped it into peanut sauce) So yummy and the fatty part was the sauce, the wrap was practically no calories. (I will blog Spring Rolls next week)


• 
  
  Lunch 12:30- Met Lance for lunch at a Mexican Restaurant. Had a YUMMY chicken salad with a Catalina type dressing.


• 
  
  3:00 P.M. Banana


• 
  
  Ok, tricky part, knew we were eating dinner LATE with family, so around 5:00 I grabbed a handful of nuts and ate them.


• 
  
  Dinner 7:45- Spinach Tortilla Wraps with chicken and loaded with lettuce! SO GOOD! At a local Mexican Restaurant.


• 
  
  Bedtime- 11:00 had 3 crackers, 3 squares of cheese (precut squares) and a cup of 2 % Milk.

Ok, can you see the difference in my eating habits? I am eating all day long now and it's AWESOME! I feel amazing already and it's only been 2 weeks! I also entered a cooking contest at my gym tomorrow. The winner gets 12 weeks of free nutrition classes! Wish me luck!

From Trash to Treasure!

My friend Kristie has opened my eyes to a new place! The Goodwill Store! Look below at the "fab finds" I found and that a little spray paint goes a long way.

The gold looking piece on the far left was not priced, heavy, and I wanted it! A worker said $3.99 and I said, "Oh yes". The candle holder in the middle was $1.99 and so was the wine bottle holder. You can't see it up close (well, because I take horrible pictures) but it was very stratched and dirty looking. The tray on the bottom was spray painted a horrible silver and was only .99 so I jumped all over these.

A few cans of spray paint later, and....

This piece found a new home in our den.

This piece found a new home in our bedroom.

This piece found it's way into my kitchen as a tray for my night time snack!
All I need is my crackers.

And lastly this piece will be out at our next gathering to hold our favorite bubbly or as a gift for the next dinner party we attend!

*TIP: I used the CHEAP .97 flat spray paint to fully coat each piece and let them dry over night. Then I used a higher priced glossy can of spray paint $3.97 to spray a quick shine over each piece the next morning.

Our New Treasure in the Woods!

Our Deer Lease is over 650 Acres and is surrounded by thousands of acres, some government and privately owned. The trails we went on with the kids on the four wheelers were unbelievable and the memories we have already made after one weekend there as a family are priceless! I encourage any family seeking a second home or place to get away from it all to look into a family deer lease! It is worth it!

Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

I have been in a little town named Groveton, in East Texas, for the past three days. I must say this town is no stranger to The Jackson Family. In fact Lance's dad and uncle both graduated from Groveton High back in the late 60's and so did Lance and his cousin Dean in 1993 and Dean's little Brother Joe in 1997. Even Lance's Granny still calls Groveton home.

Of course all the Jackson boys played football.

The Groveton Indians.

Now, never in a million years did I nor Lance, think we would end up on a deer lease in the very small town Lance so eagerly left back in 93. But, we did, and you will have to wait for my next blog for pics from our gorgeous place and second home we have always wanted.

Now, I have always wished and prayed for a second home, but I never thought we would be able to pull it with our truck.

Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

Snack Time Never Looked So Good!

I had to copy this idea from my friend Buffy's Blog (take a look at my blog list on the right and you must check out B Jane Brewing). She did "Muffin Tin Monday" and I believe she found it on another blog!

I purchased these "mini" muffin tins at the Dollar Tree for $1 each and the bright colored paper inserts there as well for a $1.

Taylor and Cash didn't know what to think when I walked out with this fancy afternoon snack! Those are "mini" juice boxes and I counted out this snack to be around 175 calories.

I already had the ribbon left over from Easter and the kids loved it! Wonder what I will put in there today! Oh, and the kids just pop the inserts into the trash and the tins were clean!

Terrific Tuesdays!

Pics of the Week!

Cash is so darn cute I couldn't do just one this week! This is Cash last night at his school program. He was a little turkey and didn't sing one note! BUT, he stood there like a gentleman and did what he was told. He was so handsome last night!

For Today Outside my window... It actually feels really nice!

From the home office... Organize Lance’s files and baskets, buy curtain rods to hang drapes.

From the Kitchen... I am cooking something with shrimp! HMMMM, not sure what yet!
I am reading... Twilight still! I read 4-5 pages a night! I am savoring it!

I am hoping...We get a travel trailer soon for our deer lease!
I am creating... Lots of things! Always creating!
I am hearing... Nothing! The kids need to get up.

Around the house...CLOSETS, CLOSETS, CLOSETS!
One of my favorite things...is knowing how much I am loved by Lance!
A few plans for the rest of the week... Get this house cleaned, keep working out at the gym and get ready to go out of town for the long weekend! Maybe, don’t know yet!
Prayer Requests... Pray for me and my journey at the gym! It’s going to be a long one!

"If you want to make a change in your life, Make a Change in your life"

Well, here we go again and this has to be the last time I say that. I am at the end of my rope and if I don't do this I am afraid I will only know myself as overweight and I can't do it anymore alone. I won't do it anymore alone. I have to take a leap and I pray that this time I will let God hold my hand the entire way. I was told a little over a month ago that my blood pressure was high at my well woman visit. It hit me like a ton of bricks but I did nothing about it. I also am at a higher risk for Diabetes because I had Gestational Diabetes with Cash and had to be put on insulin shots twice a day. I just keep on eating. I have to make a change and it can't be a quick fix, it has to be a lifestyle makeover and I have Lance on board too. I hate to say it this way but I looked at him last week and told him I was afraid one of us were going to have a heart attack and leave the other alone with the kids and I can't do that to him or my children. I have to do this now, not tomorrow! SO, drum roll please! We joined Lifetime Fitness, www.lifetimefitness.com and Lance joined a Boot Camp he will attend 3 mornings a week and I joined Team Weight Loss (here is a video you can take a look at http://www.lifetimefitness.com/team/index.cfm?strWebAction=video&intVideoId=9) and I will attend this class 3 days a week and workout on my own the other days. Here is a description of the class and if you guys don't mind I will be blogging every Friday about my journey and it will be called "Thank God it's Falling Off". My ultimate goal for my 5'3 body is to weigh 130 lbs (give or take) and to do that I need to lose 91 lbs. You do the math, I weigh TOO MUCH! HA!

So, here we go, I start Monday morning at 10:00 A.M. God Speed! ;o)

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Crates Crates Crates!

I am pretty sure I am obsessed with "The Lettered Cottage" blog. I want to replicate her kitchen dining room EXACTLY! I have lived in this house almost 5 years and knew I wanted the kitchen a certain way but never knew the way until I saw this blog. My girlfriends, Buffy, Kristie and Kelley (Kelley has been telling me for years) told me to do it! Well, You will see, over the summer, me slowly transform this space into what I have always wanted. It will be under a new label "Kitchen, The Summer of 09". Enjoy!

Inspiration Kitchen Below

My Kitchen/Dining Room Below

Inspiration Kitchen Below

My Kitchen/Dining Room Below

Inspiration Kitchen Below


My Kitchen/Dining Room Below


Inspiration Kitchen Below



My kitchen/dining room below

This and That (on a can).

I bought these paint cans at Lowes for $2.50 each

Then I taped off little rectangles. I didn't measure or anything, I wanted them to not be so perfect. Then I brushed on chalkboard paint. It took 3 coats over about 12 hours. I would just walk by them every 3-4 hours and brush on another coat. These will be in my scrapbooking corner I am putting together this summer! I will fill them with pens, buttons, whatever I need storage for! They were fun to make!