Friday, January 25, 2008

I don't know why I share these


Because they're pretty. I love this mosaic maker! What I should do is print them and hang them up for inspiration!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Attention Blog Dieters!!!

GO HERE!

Please go there and post your weight this week!! (Preferably on Wednesday)

Friday, January 11, 2008

Let the games begin!

Ok girls!
Blog Diet Challenge begins again!
I hope everyone had a fantastic Holiday season and didn't totally negate all the work you did last time. I did.
When we met for the end of the last challenge we discussed things we'd like to do differently this time around. One of those things was weighing together at the end and the beginning. I really would like to do that but I know that it would be a pain in the butt to get everyone together at the same time twice. So, we are going to end up doing it the same as before...weigh yourself on your scale at home and use the same scale to weigh at the end. This is very important because scales vary quite a bit. I weigh almost 10 pounds more on my mom's scale!
Another thing we discussed is doing a percentage loss rather than a flat poundage loss. For example: I weighed 140 pounds at the beginning and weighed 126 at the end. (I wish) So I lost 14 pounds and 10% of my body weight. Sue weighed 110 at the beginning and then weighed 99 pounds at the end. She only lost 12 pounds but 11% of her body weight so she would actually win, not me. Make sense?
And one more thing...I noticed that everyone started to lag when we got a little further in so we are shortening this one up to 6 weeks instead of 9.
I also want to discuss one more thing...I want to put in more money per person. What do you think? I think it's too easy to walk away from $20. I wanted to do $50 and I've had some people jump right on the bandwagon and some say that it's too much. What do you think?
I heard another idea from someone else that I thought I might throw out there. It's like a poker game. It'd work like this: Everyone who is interested puts in $20 to begin. At the 6 week mark we "up the ante" and we'd go another 2 or 3 weeks. You can put in another $30 if you feel good about your "cards" and you think you have a good chance of winning or you can "fold" then and just be out your $20 instead of $50.
Just an idea, feel free to discuss.

Ok...Blog Diet Challenge will begin on Wednesday, January 16th (Sorry Kathleen)
and will end on Wednesday, February 27th.
Please discuss (in comments) what you think of the changes and on Tuesday night I will post "official rules and regulations" based on your discussion.


INVITE A FRIEND TO JOIN YOU!!
The more, the merrier!

One more thing. Thanks for the suggestion Kathleen!
www.blogdietchallenge.blogspot.com

Friday, January 4, 2008

Happy Happy 2008

Whew! I feel like I just breathed a big 'ol sigh of relief for the first time in about a month! We had a really great holiday season and I have to say that I think I did pretty good in the balance department. Not too crazy, fun stuff for the kids without doing too much and I did not do my usual frenzy of gift making/buying. I made one gift. Yep! One! And let me tell you what, it felt really really good. Don't get me wrong...I love making things for people and I love receiving handmade gifts but I don't have the "get up and go" to start early in the year so it usually ends up as an "Oh shit" finish the gifts on Chritmas Eve fiasco! Maybe some day I will have it together but for now I have released the pressure and it feels good!



2007 Holiday recap:

*It started early with our O'Dell and Friends Annual Christmas Party on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This year we only did gifts for the kids. The adults just ate and talked. Our friend Gabe brought over his Wii and that was seriously fun. Jimmy and I had a couple boxing matches and I think it was better than couples therapy. We decided that instead of fighting over dumb stuff and being cranky, we'd just get a Wii and beat the living crap out of each other. (You don't actually hit each other)



*I discovered The Daring Book for Girls at Costco and I think I'm in love! I decided that every girl needs to read it (even grown up girls) and commit to learning a new thing from it as often as you can. Then buy a boy that you know The Dangerous Book for Boys and trade with him when you're done. I love it! I bought it for my friend Buffy and my sister-in-law Robyn. I hope you girls like them!



*I know that I may be sending a mixed message about the holidays. Sometimes I hate it and sometimes I love it so let me clarify. The part that I love is the parties. I love love love Holiday parties! I love getting together with my friends, I love getting together with strangers, I love bringing something for a potluck and I love it when you feed me. I just love holiday parties!

The part that I hate is the pressure. The pressure to find the perfect gift, to decorate your house super fabulous-ly, to take your kids to every holiday fun opportunity, etc. So this year I just picked the things that I liked to do and to heck with the rest.
I bought everyone easy things that I knew they would like but I did not agonize over whether it was perfect. Jammies and Barnes and Noble gift cards for my dad and brother, a magazine subscription for my mom, Vera Wang stationary for Casey...etc. Easy and they'll like it. I put up my Christmas tree and a few other decorations and we did a few laid back fun things with the kids. It was really pleasant and not insane.



*We had a Winter Solstice Party. It was a blast! I made chili and cornbread. We had hot chocolate and spiced cider (and rum and peppermint schnapps) and a big bonfire in the back yard. And the most beautiful perfect thing happened. It snowed!! A lot! It was gorgeous and a perfect compliment to our party.



*Joe and Kelsey stayed in Rexburg for Christmas so it was just Warren and Casey and us and my parents. We went to a movie then came back to the house and had yummy yummy steaks for dinner. We opened our presents and played scrabble while the kids watched some Christmas movies and played with my dad. It was nice and low key.

*On Christmas day we went to Jimmy's parents. Again, pretty low key. We ate dinner and opened presents. They gave Jimmy and I cash. We were going to be practical and buy a new mattress but I think I have prevailed and we are going to take a short trip (no kids). I don't know where to...maybe skiing at Tamarack and staying at the Ashley Inn...with an in-room hot tub. Mmmm.



*We left for Rexburg at about 1:30 on Friday for a visit to Joe and Kelsey. It was a nice drive over despite the ugly weather in Boise. When we got there we did a whole bunch of nothing! We played in the snow, sledded on the sand dunes and played in the snow some more! There was so much snow!! One day we drove over to the big city of Idaho Falls (hehe) and we also drove over to Jackson, Wyoming to see the place where Joe works. It's a pretty town in that phony way.

*We got home pretty late from Jackson on New Year's Eve and then we didn't really do much. The girls played Legos and we played the Newlywed game. At about 11:55 Olivia threw up all over Joe. Happy New Year! At midnight I was sitting next to her on the bathroom floor. Good times. We were like a teen abstinence commercial!

*We drove home (with Kelsey and Chance in tow) on New Year's Day. The kids were great for the drive. Kels and Chance are staying at my mom and dad's then Joe will be here to get them tomorrow.

I thinks that sums it up! I've been working like a nut at the shop this week to get caught up and ready for the end of the year. Last night I got Olivia's bug and threw up at about 3 am but I feel fine today. Well, kinda.

I hope all of you had a terrific holiday season!!

Future posts...new years resolutions and new blog diet challenge!