Haven't been feeling it.

December is here and I'm sure most people put up their Christmas decorations right after Thanksgiving, but I just haven't been feeling it. I don't like extra things bulking up my living area...like a 7ft Christmas tree. I'm really thinking about getting my sons 3 ft tree I put in his "outdoorsy" themed bedroom and just let the kids decorate that. Is that bad?

So yesterday I MADE myself decorate a little bit - for the kids. I added some snowflakes and bows to my chandelier hanging above the dining room table, put some stockings up, tied red bows around all the candles and did a couple of other decorative things....it hurt just a little. :)

I'll post pictures a little later. (I'm dying to take pictures of anything at this point.)

All I Want For Christmas...

...is to lose 10 pounds! We are going to Great Wolf Lodge again this year for Christmas and I have to be bathing suit ready in 22 days!

We are also planning a trip to Hawaii sometime between February and May so I will need to lose more than 10 pounds. It needs to be more like 30+ pounds total. I'm so tired of wearing clothes that will hide certain areas and dressing for that reason. I would love to go into a store, find something that I think is cute and buy it, instead of going in and finding what will hide my love handles. I was 138 pounds in high school...according to my first driver's license, which sounds like a lot, but I'm 5' 8". I know I won't get back to that weight because I'm not a little girl anymore. I want to keep my curves and just lose a couple dress sizes. I would be happy being a size 10 again. That's my goal and I think it's realistic.

Here's the thing. I have never needed to diet. I didn't need to exercise after having my first two boys. I was young and "bounced" right back. I was a little older when I had Ashton and I don't know what that kid did to me but I have never been able to recover as far as weight goes, since I had him 8 years ago. Now I'm 35, my metabolism has slowed and I realize that I have to exercise regularly and I need to watch what I eat...a little bit...or at least when I eat because I stay up pretty late and do some munching during that time. That stopped as of Monday. I also started exercising - REALLY exercising. I started....jogging! I don't jog. I've always been a walker but I have some friends on Facebook that post how many miles they run in a certain amount of time and it's impressive and has really motivated me to start.

I have been eating better for a couple of weeks and everyday since Monday I jog a mile, walk until I complete 20 minutes, stretch for about 5 minutes (stretching is the BEST part of exercise), then I get back on the treadmill and walk for another 10 minutes, to total 30 minutes. I don't know why I do it that way, but I do and it works for me. THEN, I do the 20 minute Windsor Pilates DVD. I LOVE PILATES! I also will switch it up and do the basic Tae-bo workout or the Cindy Crawford's Shape Your Body workout.

And the best part is....I've already lost 2 pounds! :)

My treadmill.
I've probably had 3 or 4 treadmills
but this one is my favorite.
It has a soft cushion,
power incline and folds up.

Ashton's Award

I found a card in Ashton's backpack from his teacher letting us know that he was going to get an award at his school assembly today....and that it was a surprise. His award was for "being responsible and getting his assignments completed on time." Good job Ashy!

I got a new camera!

Anson and I were at Best Buy a few weeks ago and bought a camera. He's been wanting me to get a new camera for quite some time now and I didn't really care either way......until recently. So we bit the bullet and bought a package deal. I got the Canon EOS Rebel T1i which came with a 55mm lens, a 55mm-250mm zoom lens and a carrying bag. The bag is huge! I don't like carrying it around.


Anyway, I have only been able to use my camera a few times because this NW weather is keeping me inside! I can't stand it. Here are a couple of pictures that I have taken so far - nothing spectacular, but whatever.

Slacker!

I have not been feeling like blogging for awhile - not sure why, but I'm going to do better.

A Birthday, Back To School and Bowling!

My parents had a Labor Day BBQ the Monday before school started on the 8th so I decided to bring cake and ice cream over to celebrate Ashton's birthday. He turned 8 years old on the 10th!



Ashton loves playing video games, shooting BB guns, basketball, and playing with Lucy.





This year we have 1 boy in elementary school, 1 in middle school and 1 in high school. Ashton is in 3rd grade and 2 days after school started he turned 8 and brought cupcakes and juice to share with his class.
Ammon is in 6th grade.
Anson Jr is in 9th grade and started seminary this year too. Luckily for him it's at his school and starts at 7:30AM. His school doesn't start until 9:35AM.



Saturday the kids were going NUTS and driving us NUTS so we took them bowling. Anson Jr. told Ashton if he beat him then he could have his phone. The 1st game they tied and the 2nd game Anson won by 9. Ashton was a little disappointed.

Chehalis Washington Thousand Trails July 2010

Anson Jr. went to EFY up in Tacoma at the end of July for a week so we decided to camp all week. We went to the Thousand Trails campground in Chehalis and had lots of fun.

The boys did a lot of swimming!

We saw a lot of wildlife!

We did a lot of biking...and walking!

We had a lot of campfires.

We did some treasure hunting.

We went on a nature trail and had a great view of Mt. St. Helens.

And this beautiful place is the adult lodge where people must be 18 years or older to partake of. We would set the boys up in the trailer with a movie and Anson and I would come down here for an hour or two and relax. It was quite nice.