Full Circle

Edit: I started this post a night or two after Annaleese started kinder- I'm just now finishing it...


It's nights like this where you have an epiphany, and suddenly you have a new found respect and appreciation for someone in your life.

I was standing in front of the sink cleaning up while Scott was grilling the burgers, Annaleese was face timing Grammie, Peyton was busying her self with the iPad, and it all seemed so chaotic. Every thing was happening so fast, yet time stood still. I am now the mother of a kindergartener. We are parents of a kindergartener. We now have a new set of responsibilities. We now have to plan, schedule, and repeat on a daily basis. I am okay with all of that. But, I realized something else entirely: My mom must have been superwomen.

She did all of this and more. Laundry, cleaning house, homework, working on the weekends, cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily. My head literally is spinning thinking about it all. I do most of those tasks daily( I need to get better about cooking dinner), and I'm sure we will fall in to a routine and it will be no big deal soon.

It's funny though, how life comes full circle and you finally realize how much work your parents actually put in to give you a sense of normalcy  and make day to day life so seamless.

Long Lost Friend...FOUND!

So there I was in Safeway with Mom and the girls, picking up some hamburger meat and buns for dinner. Mom leans over and says " Is that Robert?". I answer her, "Robert who". She says " You know your friend's dad?" Still confused, she elaborated and then it finally clicked who she was talking about. She tells me to go ask him, not completely sure what I am doing, i follow him. Then ask  him. First he tells me no, quickly smiles and confirms his identity. FINALLY! A means to get in contact with my childhood best friend. His other daughter wastes no time getting my information and promptly calls her sister. By the end of our impromptu grocery trip I have been re-united with Jenny.

Things happen in the oddest ways, but you have to be thankful when opportunities are given. I have been searching for this girl for years, like at least 10! I thought i was close once. A co worker at the Scrapbook store happened to know her, I discovered this by accident. We were talking and she mentioned she graduated Los Banos Highschool in 2002. So I tell her that I had a friend who went there and would have graduated in 2003. One thing led to another and it turned out they rode the bus together or something like that. Small world. She was supposed to get me in touch with her then but sadly it never happened.

I search Facebook to no avail. I tried every name I knew her by. Nothing. I had forgotten that her name was spelled Jeniffer. Dammit.

So after a chance encounter at the super market we  have  finally reconnected. We texted off and on for a couple of hours that night, and tonight we'll actually talk face to face thanks to modern technologies. I'm pretty stoked.

Feelin' Good!

I've got to say, I'm feeling great. Feeling energetic. Feeling better about my self. I recently started loosely following the "15 Day Body Reset Diet", by Harley Pasternak. A friend of mine has been doing it for a little while now, with success. Frustrated with my body's weight loss plateau I decided to give it a try. And 4 days in I'm 3 pounds down. I haven't seen that kind of loss in a while. I'm not sure if it's fat loss or "waste" as this diet is high fiber, high protein, it's bound to cleanse you're system. Either way the number on the scale is dropping, and who doesn't appreciate that? Today my scale told me (it really did, it's programmed that way) that I'm 15 pounds away from the goal weight I set for my self over a year ago. Honestly when I picked the number , I never thought I would actually get this close to it. I'm elated. I may actually break my no shorts rule and get a pair for Disneyland. We'll see.

"Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.."

I call bullshit on that! Take chocolate for instance (in any form) that shit is AMAZING. You know what a more truer statement is : "Nothing feels as good as skinny does." At least that's my opinion. I'm not just thinner these days, I'm more fit too. And that my friends, makes all the difference in the world. I have more energy and stamina, i'm happier and healthier for it too. And as an added bonus, I don't shudder at the thought of buying new clothes. It is however, still a pretty daunting task to complete. 

In the last few days I've noticed my jeans beginning to have a bit more room in them. I was curious:  Have I just stretched them out? Or, am I getting ready to drop another size? Hmm. So on a whim today, after dropping Annaleese off at school, Peyton and I went to kohl's. They carry the jeans I prefer. So I went found them in a size smaller, and you know what? The dang things FIT! Not perfect mind you, but well enough that I could have bought them. I didn't though. I'm not ready to buy new jeans, though I probably will in the next couple weeks. I'm super stoked though! As I was speed shopping, a few dresses and tops caught my eye. I picked a few up, in sizes smaller than the last time I went out ( a few months have passed), tried them on and found out they too, were TOO BIG. I didn't have the time or the patience to go back and find them in smaller sizes. I left the store empty handed, but happy as hell! Now if I had some friends to go shopping with!

Plateaus...

Look at me, I'm blogging! The girls are napping at the same time, so here I am. Okay, now on to the post.

It seems as though I've hit another plateau. It's kinda bumming me out a bit. I mean, I've been busting my butt. And nothing! If I'm being honest ( and I try to be) as I thought about it, while I might have stepped up my exercise plan, I think a floundered a bit with the "healthy" eating. I mean, I try hard to keep junk food out of the house. Out of site out of mind, and there is no need to exercise will power as hard if it's not here. With Easter being last sunday we've had candy in the house. Chocolaty, peanut buttery, mini cadbury eggs, yummy delicious candy. And I may have sneaked a few more bites than I thought. So the plan this week: STAY ON TRACK!!!! We are going camping this weekend, so it might be a little hard. Traditionally, when camping, my family eat like kings! Not sure why the food is better and in ample supply when we sleep in the dirt, but it is.  So I will be found living in my yoga pants, exercising to videos and spinning it up at the gym! Here's to working on crushing that PLATEAU! 

...And Peyton is awake!

Meals planned

Today I sat down and went through my food board on interest and I picked four healthy-ish meals to make this week. I happened to already have some of the ingredients in my fridge. So we are gonna give these a try. I plan to make these this week!

On the Menu:

Pasta with Zucchini Lemon Sauce


Baked Chicken and Spinach Flautas

Breadless Tuna Melt

Turkey Ranch Club Wrap (with turkey bacon)

Back in the Saddle

Since January and February had left the family sick most of the time,  I decided it was time to jump back on the exercise train. I took the lead from Jessica, and put together a work out calendar for the month as motivation. I actually do better when I have things scheduled out. I stuck with it for about half of the month. I think I over estimated my energy levels, but I did make it to the gym two to three times a week. 

To change up the workouts at the gym I tried a Spin class. Although it hurt the first time, I'm hooked! I love it!  The hour goes by pretty fast, and the calorie burn is pretty awesome too!

I know this seems silly, but I'm finally starting to see my self as thinner. Maybe it's more apparent to me because all of my clothes are a little too big now. But I also see it in photos of me, sometimes I do a double take, not sure who the girl in the photo is. It feels amazing, and I'm not gonna lie, I do like the compliments. Keep 'em coming people, it's motivation to keep working out.

In March I did something I never do, I don't even enjoy it. I went swim suit shopping. I didn't hate what I saw. I just wasn't completely comfortable in it. I'm still pretty self conscious. I probably looked better in it than I thought.( We are our own worst critics) But I see little imperfections and think to my self, what if someone else see me in this and thinks it's gross. So I left without buying anything. A couple days later I bought one online from a specialty shop. I also bought a cute dress from them too! And then I went shopping with Annaleese and bought another summer dress. 

So here's to a Happy Healthy April! I'm ready to get my body even more bikini ready.

(Sorry if this is all over the place.)

Here's what I bought: