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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

TSFL: Day 22

Hello Sweeties!
I've been MIA from blogging since I'm on vacation in Oklahoma.
We come here every year to visit my grandmother.
This is the road to her house.
It's just like a storybook.
I love this place but it's HARD to be here and not eat Grandma's cooking!
 
We had a BUNCH of family in town and that always means a BUNCH of food.
I packed plenty of my diet meals but look at the spread I'm up against:
 
I was a good girl and ate my protein bar while
ignoring the diet jokes. It's all good. =)
 
It hasn't been easy though. I decided to
"treat" myself to diet chocolate chip waffles.
I'm not sure if it's the altitude or my aptitude but
they just didn't turn out the way I was hoping: 
I completely wasted 3 days worth of breakfast in 5 minutes.
Luckily my grandma's 30+ year old waffle iron has removable plates!
I had to soak those babies for quite a while to remove all that good stuff.
 
I haven't been able to drink all the water I'm supposed to.
I'm feeling dehydrated but I didn't bring enough bottled water.
Lesson learned: BRING LOTS OF WATER ON VACATION!
I think it makes a BIG difference in keeping hunger away.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Teacher Appreciation Gift with FREE PRINTABLE

Another school year has flown by.
I have LOVED my boys' teachers this year and wanted them to know it.
 
I searched some ideas and found a cute M&M jar at Frugalissa Finds.
However, my 5th grader's teacher doesn't like chocolate.
{Wuuuuuut?!!}
 
 I found this SWEET printable
from Simply Sprout {GO VISIT!}
that I fell in love with!
  
So I decided to make it with Skittles instead!
I bought a couple bags at Costco and had my boys sort the
colors into their own jar.
They looked awesome but the M&M poem no longer worked;
so I wrote my own. =)
 
 
 
Then I had to tweak the printable a little to match the poem.
{changed the word DAY to WAY}
^ here's Simply Sprout's tweaked printable ^
 
I printed the poem on the back 
and VIOLA!! 
Instant teacher-in-tears gift. =)

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

TSFL: Day 15

This was not a good day for me.
Most of it was fine but an incident happened
that brought me back to a time I'd rather forget;
it brought me to memories I don't want anymore;
it brought me to tears.

I'm sure the other person had no idea
what was happening inside of me
but she didn't even stop to think.
So I came home and did what any other
true woman would do:
I ate ice cream.

Luckily I have a cool soft serve that came
with all my diet food so I stayed on track
It also happens to be chocolate! PERFECT!
I whipped up several packages so I can
eat it whenever I want!
I just scooped out my portion and froze the rest.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

TSFL: Day 14

This is the exercise I've been doing for the past several days:
moving classroom after classroom!
It's serious work! But I'm pretty much a professional mover now. =)
 
It has me drinking 120 ounces of water every day, which I think helps the weight loss. It also keeps me keep hunger at bay between eating. Get some of that goodness in you!

Monday, May 20, 2013

TSFL: Day 13

10
pounds
in
12
days
!!
 
That. Feels. AWESOME!!
That's all the motivation I needed today!
 
I attended a going-away party for a friend tonight
and had no problem walking right by that delicious food.
2 POINTS FOR ME!
 
I'm trying to decide how to celebrate once I reach my goal.
I saw this at the store last week:
What do you think?

Sunday, May 19, 2013

TSFL:Day 12

 Another pound down!
That's 10 pounds in 12 days!!
 
I'm not sure so tell me what you think:
 
 I must be doing something wrong. . .
 

Liebster Award

What comes to mind when you hear the word "liebster"?
A kids game? (aka Leapster)
Maybe some kind of foreign breakfast pastry?
How about a Justin Beiber brand knock-off?
 
Well, liebster is German for “love”, “sweetheart” or “dearest”.
In the blogging world, it's better known for being a virtual award.
And I was nominated for this liebster-ific opportunity by
my sweet friend Britany who creates
{Click it, check it , love it!}
This "award" {parenthesized because it isn't a physical award; more of a cool recognition} is passed around from blogger to blogger to help smaller blogs build a bigger community.
I can dig that! I'M IN!!
 
So, THANK YOU BRIT, I accept your nomination whole-heartedly!
Here are the Liebster-ific rules:
 
1) Thank your nominator {include a link back to their blog}.
2) Answer the 11 questions given to you by your nominator.
3) Post 11 facts about yourself.
4) Nominate 5-11 other up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 followers- no tag backs!
5) Come up with 11 questions for you nominees to answer.
6) Let your nominees know you nominated them so that they can pass on the Liebster Love!
 
Here are my questions from her and my answers . . . from me. =)
 
1) Why did you start blogging? I started because my mom wanted to keep track of my family's adventures when we moved to Phoenix. I think it's gotten a little out of hand. I may need an intervention soon.
 
2) What is your favorite thing about your blog/blogging? I LOVE to create things digitally! Computers are my happy place and there's no mess to clean up!
 
3) What blog post or project you are most proud of? So far, it's my post on Classroom Cheers - 10 Ways to Praise. It took a lot for me to actually post a video of myself doing some ridiculous things. I have severe Social Anxiety Disorder and could NEVER have done that a couple years ago. I've come a long way and I like that!
 
4) What is your least favorite food and why? I. HATE. TUNA. It's smelly, greasy, and looks like hamster vomit.
 
5) What is the best book you have ever read? I will always love the book To Kill A Mockingbird. It was required reading in high school. I had a difficult time during those years and this book taught me to be patient, to be friendly, to look for the good in others, and to stand up for what I believe. <3
 
6) How do you handle a stressful day? I'd like to say that I don't eat enormous amounts of sugary deliciousness but I cannot tell a lie. I have a serious sweet tooth!
Actually, I don't think I handle a stressful day: it handles me! Seriously, I think I'm allergic to stress; I break-out in stupid!
My mind gets jumbled. My words come out weird. And then I take a nap.
 
7) What is one thing your children will remember about you? My mantras to them: "Being obedient keeps me safe and happy!"  AND   "Be grateful for what you have instead of whining about what you don't!" Confucius and I are buds.
 
8) What is the best thing about you? I have a good sense of humor. It was forged in high school amid jeers, bullying, name-calling, and embarrassment. But now I know who I am and where I belong. I'm ok with being less than perfect.
 
9) If you could have any superhero power what would it be? I would want to fly! Although if you've seen my white SUV cruisin' to work, you may think I already posses that one!
 
10) What do you have the hardest time completing? The laundry. That is a never-ending chore. My 3 boys can make impressive amounts of filthy clothes. It's pretty much the bane of my existence.
 
11) What color best describes you? I have no idea! My favorite color is black because I think it's classic, timeless, and elegant; it goes with everything. What color would YOU say for me?
 
SO that's already information overload! But I will give you 11 random facts about me:
1~ I am allergic to cats . . . and their attitudes.
2~ When I was young, I wanted to be a body builder. (OBVIOUSLY DIDN'T HAPPEN!)
3~ I love the 40's! The hair, shoes, clothes, music, movies, all of it!
4~ I am the 2nd of 6 kids, 2 boys and 4 girls.
5~ The Stud & I have been married for 14 years.
6~ I believe strawberries are the perfect food.
7~ I can laugh like Pee-wee Herman.
8~ I lived in Canada for 18 months.
9~ I never got asked to Prom.
10~ I love peanut butter {specifically Simply JIF}.
11~ I like every kind of music except country. It makes my ears close up.
 
PHEW!! That's a ton of useless trivia.
 
Now, the bloggers I nominate for the Liebster Award are:
 
1 - Kyndal at Penn Pals ~ she's my cousin's daughter, a gorgeous young lady, and serious fashionista!
 
2 - Megan at Living Beyond Measure~ she's a whiz in the kitchen! Her strawberry cream cheese bread is divine!
 
3-
 
 


6- Katrina at My Mama Always Said~ she has fantastic recipes that help you eat to live, not the other way around!
 
And here are your questions:
1} How do you spend your free time?
2} What is your favorite season and why?
3} What is the most exciting thing you’ve ever done?
4} What are the five words that would best describe you?
5} What is your favorite dessert?
6} What was your favorite stuffed animal as a kid?
7} What are you 3 favorite websites?
8} What's your biggest pet peeve?
9} What product could you NOT live without?
10} If you had to live in a decade other than the current one, which would you choose?
11} What's your favorite color palette?
 
That wraps it up, Sweeties!
I LIEB YOU!!

Saturday, May 18, 2013

TSFL: Day 11

I only lost .6 yesterday.
Hopefully I'll have more to report tomorrow.
Had another busy day so I wasn't able to follow
the timing exactly but I did pretty well.
 
I had my "lean & green" meal for lunch today
and I felt fuller longer than when I usually eat it for dinner.
I think I try that again tomorrow and see how it goes.
 
Today's motivation:
Ha! So true!

Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe

 As promised, here's the recipe I made earlier this week.
It's actually quite simple!
 
The Crust: It smells divine! My boys begged for the
left-over crumbs. =)

Here's what makes it so chocolatey: HERSHEY'S!

This is the butter & cocoa mixed.

Just dump that right into the blended cream cheese.

Here's the filling, all ingredients in, ready to pour.
Basically, it looks like a chocolate pillow from heaven.

And this is right out of the oven! AAAAA!!
I will have to make this again after my diet!
Someone, anyone, PLEASE make this
and tell me how it turned out!
linking up here:

I Heart Nap Time

Friday, May 17, 2013

TSFL: Day 10

Still feeling exhausted.
The principal brought in a catered lunch today.
I ate my soup in a different room and got back to work.
 
My motivation today?
I lost another pound!
That's 8 pounds in 9 days!
That's what I'm talkin' about!!


FRIDAY FUNNIES: Summertime

Ahhh, summer.
When schools is out, when children run through sprinklers,
when the Phoenix sun melts your face.
BRING IT!

Thursday, May 16, 2013

TSFL: Day 9

I'm feeling rundown.
No energy.
It could be the weather.
It could be that I'm helping half the school move classrooms.
It could be that I ate this
for lunch today.
(It's over-cooked vegetable beef stew. Yes, I ate it anyway.)
Maybe it's because I only got to eat half of my
salad at a restaurant tonight because I found a dead bug in it.
Maybe I need more than 5 hours of sleep.
 
Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

TSFL: Day 8

Today was a little nuts!
I spent the day WAY off my normal routine
and as a result I wasn't able to eat at the right times.
I stayed on track as far as what I ate, just not when.
It was rough though! I made a chocolate cheesecake
{recipe coming soon}
for a co-worker without tasting ANY of it!
GO ME!

I spent the evening at a church event with
refreshments like cream puffs, caramel apples,
sherbet punch, and more cheesecake.
I survived by staying in the kitchen and doing
dishes while everyone ate.
ANOTHER WIN!
 
Well on my way in Week 2
and down 7.2 pounds already!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

TSFL: Day 7

I wasn't as hungry today as I was yesterday.
I think part of the problem was that I woke up at 5 yesterday.
You have to eat breakfast within a half hour after waking
and then continue to eat every 2-3 hours throughout
the day. That was too many awake hours!

Today was my anniversary.
The Stud & I have been married 14 years!
We celebrated at our favorite place: Texas Roadhouse!
It was so nice to have a night out to ourselves.
And even nicer that I could stay on track with my diet!
I simply ordered a small steak with broccoli.
DELISH!
 
I'm trying to remind myself to just take this one day at a time.
After all:
You never know what tomorrow will bring!