Liebster Award

So, I am very grateful to Bethany for nominating me for this award and because I love her (and her blog) so much, I of course had to accept. My cousin, Beth @ Unskinny Boppy, takes the cake when it comes to blogging in my opinion. And I merely blog when I feel I have something to pass along or post about an accomplishment of my own. I would love to blog more. Maybe I should... We'll see... I would love to pass along this award to some other great smaller bloggers but all of the ones I follow have already been nominated and have taken part in this process. So, I will just complete my portion of the award.

The Liebster Award is an award for new bloggers with less than 200 followers. It exists to help find new blogs to read and also help promote the blogs of people who don't have a huge following yet. Other than family and friends, I don't think anyone else reads my blog, which is ok but I'm pretty excited that Bethany thought of me! :) 

The criteria, should you accept this award, is as follows:

• Thank your nominator by linking back to their post.
• Answer 11 questions posed by your nominator.
• Make a list of 11 facts about yourself.
• Nominate 3-5 up and coming bloggers with 200 followers or less.
• Provide a list of 11 questions for your nominees to answer.
• Publish your post and contact your nominees with the awesome news!

Questions from Bethany:

1. What is your favorite recipe? Either my mother-in-laws chicken and broccoli casserole (which is a secret family recipe), or my peanut butter pie because it is so quick and easy and everyone loves it because it's something different. 1 block of cream cheese, 1 1/2 C peanut butter, 1 large cool whip, and 2 graham cracker pie crusts. Combine all ingredients and evenly place in the pie shells. Keep refrigerated until serving. Easy and great!

2. What is your favorite restaurant? My favorite restaurant is Carrabba's Italian Restaurant on 280. I've gone there every year for my birthday since I was in high school :)

3. What is your favorite thing to do in your free time? Hang out on the couch and watch tv or Pinterest - you can follow me on there as well. I am all the time finding funny/inspirational quotes that I need at the right time, or fun crafts to do. I'm currently finding fall decorating ideas for our home.

4. Where is your favorite place to go on a date? Bruce and I have been trying to find fun, new places to go on dates. I blind-folded him and took him to the drive-in movies a month ago. We love movies so we go there a lot.

5. What would be your dream job? A Kindergarten teacher at a local school. I just started back to school last week and I am LOVING all of the teaching classes I am taking. I cannot wait to have my own classroom, my own students, and teach for 20-25 years :)

6. What is your favorite high school memory? I was in the band in high school and my senior year I really made an effort to remember each game. I loved my friends, traveling, and enjoying every minute of that last year.

7. What has been the best day of your life? Oh, wow, that's a tough one... I would love to say my wedding day but since it was pretty much a blur (as most bride's wedding day), I think I would say when Bruce and I really got to know each other at the beach before we started dating. It was fun texting and flirting and just having fun. Not that I would trade our lives now for anything in the world, but I do miss the days before we were married, when we didn't worry about bills, and jobs and didn't have a care in the world, except when our next date was or where we would go. Fun times! :)

8. What is your favorite tv show? That's a tough one, too, because we do watch a lot of television. I know that's bad but that's our down-time. I love Law & Order SVU, NCIS, Person of Interest and Parenthood.

9. Where do you want to live when you retire? Somewhere on a few acres, in my dream home. Most people would say the beach but I love living in Shelby County close to all of our family and friends.

10. What is your favorite vacation spot? The beach... we LOVE Seagrove/Seaside/Santa Rose beaches.

11. What's the best vacation you've ever been on? The best vacation I've ever been on was an Alaskan Cruise. There is nothing like it. It was beautiful everywhere and cruises are great anyways because you don't have to worry about extra costs except shopping. I went on that vacation with my grandparents and friends before Bruce & I were married. With Bruce, the best vacation was last year when we went to New York City. It was amazing because you could walk or take the subway anywhere. There was something to see and things going on all of the time. We didn't even get to see half of the things we wanted to see so we will definitely be planning another trip up there.

11 Random Facts About Me:

1. I am an only child, oldest child and middle child all in one :) I was the only child to my father, then the oldest child to my mother (half-brother), and then I became a middle child when my father remarried and I had an older step-sister and younger step-brother.

2. I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands/wrists when I was 21 and had surgery to correct it. I will probably have surgery again within the next year (because it's recurring). That's what happens when you go to an online university, craft, sew, bake, etc. :)

3. I am an adult-returning student at the University of Montevallo. I have my bachelors degree in Accounting but really want to be an elementary school teacher. I started Montevallo in 2002 as an education major but changed it to accounting and now after being in the field for 9 years, I know I desire more than anything to become a teacher.

4. I do not like to clean house but stress about not having a clean house, even though our house is very clean :) Ask my husband, he'll tell you, I stress over it for nothing.

5. I love to drive but only on trips, like to the beach. I hate driving when I'm going to work because it's driving to Downtown Birmingham every day.

6. I LOVE craft shows.

7. My primary love language is affection.

8. I hate chocolate but love chocolate ice cream.

9. I love to play games: board games, card games, anything. My family has always played games and I LOVE it.

10. I love Sunday afternoon naps.

11. I LOVE Auburn! Football, the University is beautiful, there is just a great atmosphere there.

5k #4 in the books

So, 5k #4 is in the books for me. Yesterday morning, Bruce and I ran, jogged, power-walked to the finish line. Really, I am very proud of my husband who jogged the entire course in less then 36 minutes! I, on the other hand, walked the entire course and finished in less than an hour.

We signed up for the "Baby Steps" 5k when some friends of ours decided to sign a team up in memory of the child they lost at 6 months pregnant, Eli. So, of course several people in our Sunday School class and church decided to race and there ended up being about 19 of us in total.

I had not trained at all, walked around the neighborhood a few times the week before but I do NOT count that as "training". So, when the big day came, I immediately started regretting ever signing up.Especially at 530AM on a Saturday! Had I lost my mind? Yes, I had. At least Bruce was right there beside me :)

We got ready and drove all the way to Tannehill State Park, which is about 45 minutes away from our house. We had never done this course before or knew anyone who had so we had no clue what to expect. When we got there, we signed in, found our friends, and were immediately attacked by mosquitoes. EVERYWHERE! This is a course of gravel, paved roads, and mostly trails and since it had rained the night before and there were mosquitoes everywhere.

When it started, I was towards the back since I knew I would be mostly walking. I did not want to kill myself, especially in the beginning. How embarrassing would it be to pass out in the first turn? Luckily that did not happen. I listened to my iTunes and jammed out at my own pace. The first mile is always the hardest for me. I guess because I'm usually not feeling it that early in the morning, I'm still nervous and regretting even signing up, and nervous because I don't know what to expect of the course. With that said, at 1.5 miles I ran walked up on my friend, Jody and her son Joseph (who is 7). She was practically dragging him and I thought "Bless her heart. This is going to be a long 1.6 more miles for her." So, I decided to try and encourage him and walked with them (even jogged several) times through the rest of the race. Joseph cracked me up because he said "I'm DONE!" about 5 times and wanted to stop for a break at every water station and bench. Laughing at him did make the last portion of the race go by very fast. We still finished in under an hour, which is always my goal :) Maybe one day I'll jog more and finish in 45 minutes or less. That would be cool but not going to kill myself to get to it.

This was a great race to reflect on things. I was definitely listening to my Jesus music and pushing through. Bruce and I are so very glad we did this race and while I know it meant a lot to our friends who we were there supporting, we have several other friends who have miscarried and we did it for them as well. We also did this race for us. I'm very glad to have another 5k under my belt and have plans to do the "Color Run" on Labor Day with Bruce, my step-dad, his wife and anyone else that would like to join us. I've read if you ever do a 5k, this is the most fun one and I absolutely CANNOT wait to do it and I never thought I'd ever say those words. We're also doing one a month for the rest of the year and hopefully going to sign up for the Mercedes Race in February in Birmingham which I've always wanted to do. Maybe by then I can jog most of it and get to that 45 minute goal.

So, that's it. Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged last but I'm definitely going to try to keep it up. Especially since I've taken a Facebook break to give me some time to concentrate on life and enjoy the little things, not what's going on in everyone else's life...

Enjoy some pictures from the race (proof we really did it):

           (This picture cracks me up because Joseph got his second wind and I love his tongue sticking out.)

                                                        (Bruce about to cross the finish line)

                  (Not pretty but we finished - they had to take my number to track me in photos and for time.)

(Joseph's older brother, Sam, and their dad, Ryan, booking it. Literally, because Sam came in 3rd place in his age category! Way to go, Sam!)

Red River Bag giveaway from Unskinny Boppy

I am in LOVE with this bag that Unskinny Boppy is giving away from Red River Bags:

You can enter to win here: Giveaway

For great ideas on home decor, refinishing, remodeling, and a laugh here and there, follow Beth

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2 weeks later...

Sorry, I forgot to post last week. I was a little embarrassed that I had gained a little (like .4) but still... Well, got on yesterday and I was down to 304.2, down 1lb since 1st weighin so I'm happy. :) See you back here next Monday.

Today's Weigh-in

So, today I made our lunches and dinner and tracked my meals and snacks on my phone with my WW Mobile App. (If anyone is doing WW, they also have a free WW Scanner app that is awesome. You scan the barcode of the product and if it's in their system, it will log all the information automatically. It's really GREAT in the grocery store to find healthy options.) We did really well. I had water all day except at dinner. We had sweet tea, which was factored into our points and we cherished every drop :) Today was a good day as far as eating and drinking water goes. So, as promised and so there's proof I jumped on the scale this morning and took a picture, granted Blogger won't let me post a picture to this post for whatever reason. This is the heaviest I've ever been and I'm changing it, starting TODAY...

My weight as of 1/7/13: 305.2

My BMI as of 1/7/13:

For the information you entered:
Height: 5 feet, 7 inches Weight: 305.2 pounds Your BMI is 47.8, indicating your weight is in the Obese category for adults of your height. For your height, a normal weight range would be from 118 to 159 pounds. People who are overweight or obese are at higher risk for chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol.	BMI Weight Status Below 18.5 Underweight 18.5—24.9 Normal  25.0—29.9 Overweight 30.0 and Above Obese

I'm not proud but I'm proud that I'm doing what's right... This is going to keep me motivated. I want next Monday's post to show a decrease... Believe in me and say a prayer for me :)

P.S. A proud moment today was when our office brought in free Hungry Howie's pizza for lunch and I stayed away and ate my turkey sandwich on honey wheat bread with baked chips... YAY for me and small victories because I'd normally be ALL over that pizza... plus 2 more slices :)

I'm BACK!!!

Ok, so I'm back... And I'm doing something BIG... I'm going to post my current weight, and measurements, and BMI on Monday. And every Monday after... Yeah, I think I've lost it but I started thinking... If I was on Biggest Loser, it would be on national tv so why can't it be on here for my 12 followers... and whoever else runs across my blog. This is the ULTIMATE accountability that I can come up with. Stay tuned.... or check back on Monday... or don't :)

P.S. Bruce and I signed up for the Rumpshaker again. We feel it's a great cause and we did the 5k in 2011 (my first 5k) and couldn't do last year because we were in NY at that time.