February by the Numbers

Oh boy! I am so behind on blog posts. Instead of trying to catch up, I thought I would start today and move forward. Before I do that, I wanted to record our February by the Numbers. They are some of my favorite posts to look back on, a quick glimpse of our family comings/goings/milestones.

ZERO books read by me(totally bums me out).
TWO different casts for Tanner(goodbye full leg cast, hello short cast).
THREE a. blog posts for the month...so sad!
THREE b. basketball parties celebrating awesome seasons.
FOUR a. layouts created...slow scrappin' month for me.
FOUR b. weeks of Fit Club classes under John's belt. Go, John, GO!
FIVE miles were run without stopping. First time ever(did this twice this month)!
EIGHT minute mile...fastest time ever!
Eleven a. friends get together to celebrate my 100 lb. weight loss...surprise style. Still makes me cry, I am blessed with amazing, thoughtful friends!
ELEVEN b. new songs downloaded. I bought the latest Blake Shelton album. Loving it!
TWELVE basketball games played by the boys(Carter,Garrett and Brody).
EIGHTEEN the # of candles on our niece, Sasha's birthday cake. It was fun to celebrate that milestone with her.
SIXTEEN family members go to the movies for my Mom's birthday!FUN!
TWENTY FIVE Fit Club classes were attended...couple of double days in there!
THIRTY FOUR years of marriage for my parents...thankful for their example.
FORTY NINE(RS) lose their shot at the Super Bowl...bummer.
SIXTY ONE candles on my Mama's birthday cake this year.
ONE HUNDRED lbs. gone from my body as of this month...HUGE goal checked off of the list.
ONE HUNDRED TWENTY miles logged(lots of running this month).

100

It is official! 100 is my new favorite number! Are you asking yourself, "why 100?" I am happy, proud, floored, ecstatic to announce that I have lost 100 lbs.. Can you believe that? I am still having a hard time wrapping my mind around it. 100 lbs.!!! When I wrote that goal down, a little over a year ago, that number almost seemed unattainable. I wasn't sure how I was going to do it but I knew that I had the determination and drive to attempt it. Honestly, I was a little unsure of my lofty goal. Just a little over a year later, I am there. There have been MANY heart to heart talks with John about what I wanted to accomplish. There have been MANY "you can do this" statements from John. There have been MANY early mornings spent at Fitness MD. There have been MANY afternoons spent at Fitness MD. There have been MANY friends cheering me on. There have been MANY Weight Watchers meeting attended. There have been MANY Weight Watcher Points Plus counted. There have been MANY habits kicked to the curb. There have been MANY new,healthy habits formed. There have been MANY miles logged (outdoors and) on my treadmill. There have been MANY tears shed. There have been MANY smiles due to triumphs/victories on that darn scale. There have been MANY weekly weight goals set by David at Fitness MD. There have been MANY people who have cheered me on! To you, I say thank you for the bottom of my heart. It has been quite the journey. A journey I am so glad I decided to take. Not only am I 100 lbs. lighter but I feel great!

Today was the day I officially stepped on the scale and hit that 100 lb. loss! It was exciting and very satisfying. The Weight Watcher leaders were excited for me and made a big deal about it. I was even called to the front of the room so the rest of the members/group could ask questions about my journey. I spent about 15 minutes in front of the group, sharing my story and answering their questions! And seriously, had I known they were going to do that to me, I would have dressed a tad bit cuter-ha! I went in my workout clothes.

This is my cute WW leader, Jan! She has been so positive and so wonderful! She has cheered me on each week. It has meant the world to me.



When I got home from my weigh in, this is what greeted me in our garage. As soon as I had texted John telling him that I had nailed my 100 lb. loss, without me knowing, he ran to the party store and purchased supplies to decorate the wall in our garage. As soon as I saw it, I bawled.




















Not only did he decorate the garage, I walked into the kitchen to find this. So fun!



I am so thankful to have John in my life. He has been so supportive and his love unconditional! I am so thankful to have that in my best friend, my partner in crime.

Now that I have hit my 100 lb. weight loss goal, friends and family are asking "now what?" Well, I have a few more lbs. that I want to lose and their are a few goals that are related to the gym that I want to kick some trash on. I can't wait to see what 2012 holds for me!

sneaky friends

My friend Amanda and I have been talking about treating ourselves to a pedicure and dinner at Pluto's. Amanda and I workout every morning together & thought we would do this for every 5-10 lbs. that we lost. Well, we have been talking about this since the early Fall(2011) and have lost (several) 10 lbs. (over& over since then). We finally narrowed down a day and time to treat ourselves. Amanda picked me up and we headed to Island Nails. We enjoyed fabulous pedicures. You know the ones...where they dip your feet in the paraffin wax and rub hot rocks on your legs. It was heavenly!



After an hour of getting our feet pampered, we headed to Pluto's for dinner. Amanda and I walked into Pluto's and got into line to order our salads. As soon as we stood in line, I heard lots of clapping and cheering. I turned towards the dining area to see what all the commotion was about and started to recognize lots of familiar faces...sweet faces of some of my very favorite people in the world. It took a minute for me to register what was going on. My friends had been a little sneaky and had gathered together to help me celebrate my weight loss. It was such a BIG surprise and sooooooo unexpected. They had beautiful flowers and colorful balloons waiting for me. I received hugs from each and every one of them with lots of congratulations. I totally lost it and started to cry.









I was so overwhelmed(in a good way) and floored that they were able to pull this surprise off. After the hugs, they had me sit down and open a fun basket of goodies. This basket was filled with exercise items. There was a new water bottle, new sweat towels, rubber bands for my hair, Fiber One bars, Vitamin Water, a bunch of bananas, and a Fitness MD tank top with a note from the Fitness MD crew. It was so thoughtful and so much fun to open. Then they had me open the card. There was a HUGE list of names of friends who had contributed. Inside that card were two, $100 Visa cards with a note that read: "this is to buy some new, girly clothes for yourself." Oh my goodness! How fun is that?


















































I felt so loved and spoiled. I am very thankful for each one of those girlfriends. They have cheered me on from day one and helped me believe that I could do it and succeed! I feel very blessed to be surrounded by such amazing ladies who have BIG hearts. I am VERY lucky to call each one of them MY friend...sneaky or not :-)!

January 2012 by the numbers

We had an eventful start to our New year. Nothing like a trip( a full day spent)to the ER :-). We are adjusting to life with Tanner in a full leg cast. Our errands, getting him to school and anything else that requires transporting him,takes a little bit longer to do :-). He has been a trooper.

Here we go. Our month by the numbers.
ONE book read (Worth Dying For by Lee Child)
TWO a. broken bones for Tanner(the Fibula and the Tibia-OUCH).
TWO b. date nights for John and I.
THREE Dr. appts. to the orthopedic surgeon for Tanner.
SIX scrapbook layouts created.
TWELVE basketball games attended/played by Carter, Garrett and Brody.
THIRTEEN candles on Tanner's birthday cake.
FOURTEEN new songs downloaded from itunes( the new Tim McGraw, Emotional Traffic album-LOVE it. I also bought the Jesse J. Domino song)!
SEVENTEEN days of the Cardio Blaster class were attended by my. This is a new class for me!
TWENTY SIX days of Fit Club classes were attended.
ONE HUNDRED,Fourteen miles were logged(lots of running and a little bit of walking).

our life...project life style

I am recording our lives, one picture at a time. I have decided to continue on with Project Life. I have started capturing our world(2012) for the 3rd year in a row via Project Life. Here is a little glimpse of what we have been up to this week!

Saturday, January 21,2012
Moe tied the knot! She and Mr. Brown were beaming from ear to ear! We are so happy for them!



















Sunday, January 22, 2012
The San Francisco 49er's made the playoffs. They played the New York Giants. We have four 49er loving little boys. I guess it is really 5...I should include John in that count. They wore their shirts to show their love. By the end of the night, I had 5 really bummed out boys! The 49ers were soooooo close to going to the Super Bowl. *Note to self: Don't try to take a picture of the boys as the doorbell rings. They all wanted to bolt(minus Tanner) to answer the door :-). Aunt Heidi and the girls came to watch the game with us and have dinner.




Monday, January 23, 2012I have been busy working on layouts for Green Tangerines. Today's project was the Feb. GT Kit Club sketch layout! You can check out the other design team members work here.


Tuesday, January 24, 2012Finally!!! A calm, down day at home. There were NO errands to be run and I loved it! Brody and I hung out at home. I was able to get some much needed cleaning done. Not my idea of a down day but the house looked great when I was done.


Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Carter earned the highest rank that he could as a Cub Scout! He received the Arrow of Light award tonight! We are so proud of him. Our good friend Jason made these Arrow of Light plaques for each of the boys. They turned out awesome! Thanks, Jason.


Thursday, January 26, 2012
GNO with friends! This month we went bowling! It was 80's themed...think BIG hair! It was optional to dress up and go all out with your hair. I didn't have good, big hair in the 80 's and I certainly don't have it in 2012 :-). I went as my current self. We all picked 80's names for our bowling screen names. I was Gem :-). I haven't decided what photo will actually represent the activity in our book so I am sharing both.




Friday, January 27, 2012
Our Friday night was filled with basketball games...3 of them, right in a row. The boys all played great. Carter was on FIRE tonight! He started the game out by laying this shot up...right into the basket. Look at the air he caught. This game came down to the wire. It was 27-30, we were trailing. With 10 seconds to go, our coach calls a time out. He tells the boys that there is enough time lefft to tie it up. Carter listened and delivered. Carter got the ball during the last 5 seconds of the game. He headed down the court and shot a 3 point basket right before the buzzer. The crowd went wild. It was a tied ball game. 30-30. We went into a 2 minute over time and Carter immediately nailed another 3. They boys were pumped up and weren't going down without a fight. They ended up winning 36-31. It was an awesome game to watch! Way to go team BOLTS!


















Saturday, January 28, 2012
John and I were up at 5 am. Out the door by 6 am. Enjoying a session at the Sacramento Temple at 7 am. We were home by 9:45 am. We made a goal to attend the Temple at least once a month. Happy to have checked the first month off of the list. I am so thankful to have a Temple that is located so close to home. We are already setting our date for February!

Grandmas are the best

Shortly after Tanner broke his leg, he received a package in mail. He opened the box to find this note and a pair of flannel jammie bottoms.









The left leg of the jammie bottoms had been cut off and hemmed to the perfect length for a boy who was sporting a new cast that went all the way up his thigh. Tanner laughed and then quickly put them on. We then decided that they were going to be his new church pants for the next couple of weeks. Flannel jammie bottoms and a white dress shirt, what's not to love? Thanks, Grandma Sandy!

celebrating 1 year

So...I have gone back and forth a million times as to whether or not I would share this post, publicly! This is one of those posts that I knew I wanted to record and share at some point! As I looked at my before and after photos, I could not believe I was staring at the same lady. While my physical appearance has changed, my heart has remained the same. I am still the fun, life loving, happy person that I have always been. I have finally settled on sharing these photos via my blog in hopes that someone out there in blog land will be inspired...and simply for the fact that it is part of my story, my journey.

January 8, 2012 marked my 1 year anniversary with Fitness MD.I walked into Fitness MD on January 8,2011. My very first visit to Fitness MD consisted of participating in assessments. Every 6 weeks they assess your progress. I was starting from ground zero. They measured me, weighed me, pinched my fat and assessed what I was capable of doing(sit ups, timed 1.5 mile run, push ups,bench dips,pull ups, etc...). Honestly it was so humiliating and one of the most uncomfortable things I had ever done...for the simple fact that I was out of shape. The trainers in charge of the assessments were friendly and easy to work with. They weren't the problem. The main thing I learned about myself from that very first visit was that we all have to start somewhere. If I was going to make some BIG changes in my life, I would have to do things that pulled me out of my comfort zone and pushed to me to my limits...to places that I simply didn't want to go when I first started. I attended Fit Club(think Boot Camp/Biggest Loser style)Monday-Friday. The class is an hour long and I would walk out of there drenched in sweat. Some days, I would walk out of there, get into my car and cry! I am not gonna lie, it was hard! I was doing things that I never imagined myself doing in a million years. They were tears of joy, frustration, happiness, and pain. Knowing myself as I do, I knew that I had to give this 110 percent to make it work and happen for me. I committed myself to going 5 days a week and to NOT make ANY excuses as to why I could miss a day here or there. Again 110 percent. I am happy to report that 1 year later, I am still attending Fit Club 5 days a week(sometimes more). As of this week, I started attending the 1/2 hour Cardio Blaster class that is right before the Fit Club class that I attend. While I have not reached my final destination in the goal department, I am inching closer to it every day. Not a day goes by that I don't think about the HUGE impact that Fitness MD has had on my life. It may sound silly to some but for me, it has been a big part of my world and success. I am thankful for those who have cheered me on from the start(John, family and friends) and continue to do so. I am thankful for David and the opportunity I had to give Fitness MD a try. I am thankful for the entire staff at Fitness MD. They have pushed me and encouraged me to try harder and to do more. A year later, I can honestly tell you that I now look forward to those assessments every 6 weeks. It has been FUN watching my #'s decrease(weight, inches, and timed runs).

So without further ado, I give you the before and after pictures of my journey so far. Again, I struggled with my decision to put these out here for the public to view. It is a very personal thing. If these photos can help motivate someone else to find their happy/healthy place/self then it is all worth it to me! If anyone is interested in checking out Fitness MD, you can get a free 10 day trial pass. Let me know if you are interested and I will meet you down there for a Fit Club class :-).

Before(1-7-2011)...





















After(1-8-2012)...





















One final note. I want to share ONE quote(of the many) that has inspired me along this journey. It reads:
"There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when it is convenient. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses: only results."
Kenneth Blanchard

p.s. I if can do this...anyone can!