LAZY days of Summer....

I've been so lazy to update my blog! lol But I'm here now. Not that anything "that" interesting has been going on, but I can't let my followers down! LOL

So, STILL going to the gym...lifting more weight...not getting so tired or out of breath on the elliptical or the treadmill. I'm feeling REALLY good! I see a HUGE difference in the way my body looks...not so blah in the middle...lol...and I lost TWO more pounds! That makes 8 lbs in 20 days! I think that's pretty good! Unfortunately...I still have 35 lbs to lose to get to where I ideally want to be. That would be at my pre Mikey weight and I would be just fine with that....insanely happy with that!

I've done some scrapping....the mojo was high and I finished seven pages! This puts my LO count for the year at 73! The last one I did...with the Wiggles...I'm not really liking. It is too cutesy or something...not sure, but I wasn't "feeling" it. I think the mojo was leaving me at that point! Kind of bummed about that because I really loved those pics of Miguel and Mikey at The Wiggles show at Fiesta Texas. Maybe I'll rescrap them later.
I've gotten SOO much new paper too! I know, I know...I'm bad!! I can't help myself...it's more powerful than me! lol I got like 8 new collections in the past few days. Not necessarily "new" like just released, but new to me because I just got them. At M's I got a pad of Bazzill Dotted Swiss that I just ADORE and can't wait to use! Also got the MM Just Chillin' girl pad. At Big Lots I got two of those 60 sheet AC boxes of paper...the A La Carte and the Metropolitan for $8 each. Pretty good because I think they sell those 60 sheet boxes for $19.99 at M's. Of course those are newer, more recent lines, but whatever. Paper is paper...I don't discriminate...LOL I also got Happy Mail yesterday and today....two Collage Press collections...Knave of Hearts and Sweet Shoppe. And the Cosmo Cricket Early Bird. Also got two Sassafras Lass collections..My Dearest and Pocket Full of Rosies. I love me some Sass!! :) I want to scrap SO badly, but I think I have paper overload! I don't know what to use! lol I guess that's not such a bad thing...having all those paper options. So, that's pretty much all that's been going on. OH, we had Mikey's ENT appointment today...FINALLY..and $365 later, they only confirmed what we already knew...that his tonsils are extremely large and that his adenoids are probably enlarged as well and that is causing him all the trouble with the loud snoring and nasal congestion. So, now we just have to schedule his surgery which I'm not looking forward to because they are going to have to do blood work on him and I don't think that is going to go well. I am definately going to ask them to put that numbing cream on him before they do. I remember that from when Elijah was a baby and in the hospital with Pneumonia. That helped ALOT for drawing blood. I do NOT want to have to hold him down or anything like that. That is just too traumatizing. So we are thinking maybe doing it at the end of August/early September to try to get him on Miguel's insurance at work so that we don't have to pay all this money out of our own pockets. I really just want all this to be done and over with and get back to "normal". Okay, it's late and I'm beat... here's pics of my pages...nighty night.

I'm PUMPED!! :)

Last night Miguel had decided that he DIDN'T want to get up early and go to the gym today. So I ended up going to bed REALLY late...around 3 a.m. And then this morning around 7:30, he comes to wake me up and asks if I still want to go to the gym. I was really sleepy, but I figured if he was willing to go, I should get up and make the most of it. So I hurried and got dressed as fast as I could. I HAD to flat iron my hair which he wanted me to skip and I was like "NO WAY" am I leaving this house and going to the gym with my jacked up hair! LOL (I went to bed right after I showered and my hair was CRAZY! lol) So, I did 30 minutes on the treadmill (we had other things to do today so we were trying to cut down to an hour instead of an hour and a half). And I ran 10 minutes again...yay! The same...two minutes here...one minute or a minute and half there...I'm building up my endurance though which is good. And I know it's going to take some time, but it's going faster than it took me when I first started running years ago. My ankle was hurting a bit today, but I had to just get my mind off of it and push myself to keep going. I did 10 minutes on the elliptical afterwards then my arm weights and ab exercises. It was an AWESOME workout! I felt really good afterwards :) Oh and guess what?? I lost another 1.2 pounds!! My last weigh in was on Thursday, so in two days I lost that much more! I'm SO psyched about that!! I know it's the dieting...watching what I'm eating, cutting my portions WAY down and cutting out all the carbs. And honestly, I'm not even that hungry. It's made me realize that alot of my eating was simply out of habit or boredom or a thousand other reasons other than hunger. I think that if I keep to my diet and keep losing weight at this rate that I can get back down to my pre Mikey weight in like three months or so. I can't even imagine that. It's like it's been so long that I've been that size, I don't even know how I'd feel you know? It's exciting to think of it....I really,really want to get back there. I have vowed to myself that I am not going to slack off on my diet or exercise and that I WILL fit back into my size 10 jeans by the end of this year. I WILL, I WILL, I WILL :)

I managed to work on a page yesterday. It's a lift off of Kelly Goree's gallery on sb.com. This puts my LO count at 66. I was wanting to scrap today, but I didn't get the chance. After the gym, we came home and had breakfast then Miguel, my mom and Mikey left to Home Depot to pick up a new washer my mom had bought. I stayed home and cleaned up a bit. After Miguel installed the new washer, he fired up the pit and bbq'd. He made me some YUUUUUMMMY grilled squash! I ate it ALL!! At least it wasn't anything bad! I could eat grilled squash every day!! Mikey swam in his little kiddie pool and we just sat outside for a while, but it's just too darned hot!! We started watching Angels and Demons, but Miguel fell asleep so I figured I'd just wait for us to watch it together. Anyway, that's about it. I'm pretty tired so I think I'll hit the sack. Mikey fell asleep on the couch around 9:00, so I should take advantage of this time. Miguel fell asleep on the other couch so I can get the bed all to myself for a while... :) Night!

Music is CRUCIAL...

to my work out! I bought some new songs off of Itunes today and had an AWESOME workout tonight! I did 3.8 miles in an hour on the treadmill AND I ran TEN minutes! WOOHOO!! Not consecutively, but overall. I'm still only up to running 1 and a half to 2 minutes at a time. I know that it's going to take me some time to get back up to where I was before, but I'm just so happy that I'm making progress! And my ankle didn't hurt at all. And it feels okay now too, so that's another good thing! I'm still at only the five pounds lost, but I'm still sticking to my diet! Trying to figure out how/when I'll be going to the gym tomorrow. Miguel doesn't want to go so maybe I'll have him drop me off in the a.m. and get back home on my own or maybe see if my friend wants to go in the afternoon. I know she wasn't feeling well, so we'll see. I really want to do another day since we won't go on the weekend. If I don't, that will only be 3 days working out and right now...I want to do more!

I managed to work on ONE LO yesterday. It wasn't even that complicated or anything, but it literally took me HOURS! The kids have just not been cooperating and I have gotten very little scrappy time :( I need a ME day. I can't remember the last time I had one...must mean I'm due for one!

Not much else to report here....no big plans for the Fourth of July...just hanging out at home and bbqing. Lij will be with his dad so it will just be us. Might go to church...not sure yet. That's all for now...I'm tired and will probably have to get up early with the kids. Night all :)

Still Going Strong...

Miguel and I are still going to the gym. We actually woke up early on Saturday and hit the gym at around 8:30 a.m. I know! I was surprised I actually got up that early too! I didn't want to...but I don't want to start slacking off now. We had a good workout! I lost another pound and a half..so that makes a total of FIVE!! I'm SO happy! I'm still "dieting" too so I know that's helping alot. That was pretty much all we did Saturday. We went to church in the late afternoon and afterwards we dropped the kids off w/my mom and Miguel and I went out to dinner. We were supposed to watch Transformers too, but he was too tired :( We didn't go to the gym on Sunday either, but we did go today and yesterday. Tomorrow Miguel has a faith sharing meeting, so I'm going to go w/a friend and then we'll go together again on Thursday.

I managed to get one LO done this week so far. It was a lift off of Scrappy Daisy's gallery on sb.com. It didn't come out quite like I had wanted, but I'm still happy with it. I made it for the July Color Challenge over on sb.com. The colors this time are yellow/orange/red/black. I really love doing the color challenges! This puts my LO count at 64 for the year. I'm hoping to get some scrapping done tomorrow too. This last one took me like three days to finish because I just don't have the time to just sit and scrap with both of the kids here. Maybe tomorrow. Darn housework gets in the way of my scrapping! LOL What else? I think that's about it...it's getting late and I'm tired...the gym really kicked my butt today! I think the a/c wasn't on or something because it was hotter than a hoochie coochie in there! LOLOL I have always wanted to say that! (Like that Allen Jackson song). Anyway...I'm beat so I think I'll hit the sack...night all :)

I Lost....

3.5 lbs so far!! WOOOHOOOO!! I weighed myself that first time Miguel and I went to the gym and then on Tuesday I think, I weighed myself and I lost 3.5 lbs! I was SO happy! I know it's not alot, but it's something. And it's enough to keep me motivated. I don't think "working out" on the exercise bike was doing it for me anymore. It might have helped alot in strengthening my ankle, but wasn't doing much for toning anything other than my legs. I knew that the treadmill would do it. At the time I was walking/running before I fell down, it didn't seem to me that the treadmill was doing much for me, but seeing my body NOW and seeing it back THEN...it was most definately making a HUGE difference! I know that in time, if I keep at the gym and dieting...I WILL get to where I want to be. I am really LOVING the gym! We went on Monday and Tuesday, but on Wednesday Miguel had something to do after work, so we didn't go. On Thursday, he had a meeting for church, but I went ahead and went w/out him and I did pretty good. An hour and 5 mins on the treadmill, 125 crunches on the ab machine thingy and my 5 different arm exercises on the weight machines. Took another day off today, but we are going early in the morning tomorrow and then again on Sunday when Miguel gets home from work. I would really like to be doing 6 days a week, but if I can get in 5, I'll be happy with that.

This is the last week for the Blog Hop that Chon and I have been hosting and this week, it was her turn to host the challenge. She did a color combo challenge this week and we had to make a page using black/white/hot pink/turquoise/lime green. I had such a hard time with it for some reason! Not so much because of the colors, I guess I just wasn't feeling the mojo. I FINALLY found a page I wanted to lift and I'm pretty happy with what turned out.

Other than that...not much else going on here. Miguel and I might catch a movie tomorrow after church. But other than that...not alot planned for tomorrow. I need to go now...Mikey is tired and fussy and I need to give him a bath to wake him up because he can't go to sleep now...too late for nap and too early to put him down for the night! Later :)

And I ran.....

LOL makes me think of that "old" song..."and I ran...I ran so far away" WHO is that anyway? So we went to the gym on Friday as well..got on the treadmill right next to Miguel this time. Felt REALLY good...I wrapped up my ankle this time too. I decided to try to run...and I did! Only for one minute...three different times, but I did it!! YAY!! Wasn't struggling to breathe...wasn't in any kind of pain..it was GOOD! This is the first time I have run since I fell back in November. And it felt good! I was so happy! I wanted to scream out to Miguel who had already left his treadmill "I'm running...I'm running!" LOL Did more arm weights with Miguel when I was done with my cardio. Another good workout day. Oh, and with the dieting I'd been doing all week and the exercising, I lost ONE pound! I know it's only one pound, but it's something! And right now...I'll take it! :)We didn't go Saturday or Sunday, but we did go back last night and this time I did 40 minutes on the treadmill instead of an hour and then I did 5 minutes on this stair machine that KICKED MY BUTT! Seriously! Going up and down stairs is still an issue for me with my ankle, so pushing down to get the step to go down was HARD! But I did it! I have to admit, that I felt a little bit like passing out after though! LOL I'll take the treadmill over that thing any day! Also did arm weights and added in some crunches on the "ab thingy" lol...technical term :) I did 80...two sets of 40...that was a little hard, but I've been doing leg lifts at home so it felt the same..definately "felt the burn". We're going back again today. Don't know about the rest of the week because Miguel has "plans"...a church meeting, then inventory at his job. But we'll go again on Saturday and Sunday. I want to go as much as possible and get our money's worth. Miguel doesn't seem as motivated as me...lol, but then I know he's already tired from waking up early and working all day.

On Saturday, we took Mikey to Fiesta Texas to that new Wiggles World attraction. He loved it! I got lots of cute pics. He wasn't as excited about the show as we thought he was going to be..I think Miguel and I enjoyed it more, but I did get a great pic of him and Miguel at the end of the show with all the characters. That was ALL we did there that day....spent about 3 hours there, but it was HOT! I mean HOOOOOOOOT! Hey, that would be HOOT! lol Walking back to our truck afterwards, I really felt like I was going to pass out! And poor Miguel was carrying Mikey on his back!! I bet he wanted to just drop to the ground! And we were even drinking water like crazy too! Mikey fell asleep on the way home and we got back just in time for us to shower up and get ready for the reunion we were having with classmates we graduated with. We met up at a restaurant called Pericos and they had a table reserved for us outside by the band. It was kind of hot at first. Had I known we'd be sitting outside, I might have picked a different outfit! But as the sun went down, it cooled off some and there was a nice breeze so it wasn't "that bad". It was SO much fun seeing some of our old friends and catching up and reminiscing...it was really, such a nice time! I think there were about 12 of us and then some husbands/wives/ect..We want to plan another one and hopefully this time alot of people who weren't able to make it can join us.

On Sunday, we went over to Miguel's parent's house for a bbq, but I spent the whole time inside because it was just too hot...and it was "that time" for me...I didn't feel like being outside and sweating. I was pretty bored, but I knew Miguel wanted us there...me there, so I was. Right before we were about to leave, Adriana showed up with her mom. I hadn't seen her in a LONG time. So we stayed a bit longer and talked and caught up. Then we came home and that was it. It was a great weekend :) Here's some pics to share....

Happy Father's Day....

to this man....

He is a good father...a great friend, a hard worker. He loves God and his family. He is my strength, my rock and my friend. He plays video games with the kids, he puts up with my "hobby" :), he does all the "dirty jobs" around the house. He is a good man....a generous, kind and giving man. And we are so blessed to have him :)

What's going on??

Just an update on what's going on in my oh so exciting life :) lol Hmm...where to start. Mikey is still doing that whole "snoring" "gasping" thing at night. The meds the doc had given him which I "thought" were making a difference, don't seem to be doing so now. So I took him off the nose spray and the Singulair and am just giving him the one a day Claritin which is for his allergies and I give him allergy meds on a daily basis anyway. We made an appointment for the ENT, but that isn't until July 9. Which seemed like a LONG time away before when we made it, but is getting closer now. Although at night, when I'm trying to sleep and I'm hearing him make these noises that literally hurt my heart :( each minute seems like an eternity. I applied for CHIPS online and got back a letter early this week that he doesn't qualify. "We make too much money." Really? If that is the case, I'd like to know where all this money is??? So, I guess if he does need surgery to remove his tonsils or adenoids, we will just have to go ahead and do it and get billed and work out some kind of payment plan. Just another bill to add to the oh so long list! But it needs to be done.

I've still been working out on the bike. And earlier this week, Miguel and I went over to Gold's so he can add me on his account. He's had a membership for a while already, but didn't really use it much with his crazy schedule, but we figured that now that his hours have changed, we could both go together in the evening after he gets off of work. After we signed me up, he was also SUPER sweet enough to take me over to Target and bought me some workout clothes...a couple of pairs of shorts, a tee, and a sports bra :) I needed THAT! So yesterday was our first day. There's quite a bit of people working out at that hour and I couldn't find a treadmill that wasn't being used. Luckily, I remembered that the girl told me there was a small Women's Only section in the back with machines and stuff too, so I went and looked back there and found a free one! YAY! So I stayed back there on the treadmill for an hour while Miguel did his thang! lol :) I think I did pretty good. At first, I felt like my ankle was kind of "stiff" and I couldnt' really "bend" my leg right, but after a little while....it loosened up and it didn't even bother me like I thought it was going to...thank God. There were even times where it felt good enough that I thought I could speed up a bit and start running, but seeing as how this is my first day back on the treadmill since back in November when I fell, I didn't want to push it, hurt my ankle and ruin my whole workout. But soon...crossing my fingers...I think I can get back to where I was....I can't believe I'm saying it, but I miss running! I know! It's crazy! Afterwards, Miguel helped me do some arm weights because I really want to tone up my arms too. He's such a helpful boyfriend :) When we walking out the door, they had a scale up by the front desk and Miguel convinced me to weigh myself...I really....REALLY didn't want to...let me tell you, I SHOULDN'T have! :( :( I will not disclose said weight, but I was kind of bummed and I know I'm going to have a long road ahead of me, but I'm commited to it and I WILL get back to where I was before "that day" lol I've been dieting all week. Cutting out all breads, pastas, rice, ect...NO junk...no cookies, candy, cereal..nothing like that. Just good food...chicken, lots of fruits and veggies and a TON of water. So, we will see how things progress :)

Oh, I have some pics of my reorganized scrap area....put a whole bunch of stuff in that shoe organizer I got at Target. I really like it. And I got a page done yesterday. I didn't LOVE it, but I liked it well enough. Kind of bummed about that because it was a picture I really loved! I guess I just wasn't "feeling it", but I really felt like scrapping.

What else? Oh, tomorrow we have a "reunion dinner". A whole bunch of friends I graduated with who I found on Facebook are getting together. Some of us haven't seen each other in at least 10 years if not longer. We've had a good number of ppl RSVP so it should be a fun time! I'm going to be sure to take plenty of pics!

Not sure what else I wanted to talk about...I think that's all for now :)

Name That Stamp!

Since this week's challenge incorporated stamping, I thought it would only be fitting that the mini challenge should have something to do with it also! What you have to do: name the company who makes each stamp pictured below. Please only post once. The first person with the most correct answers wins! Now GO!! :)

It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This....

:) :) :) :) We have had an AWESOME week! Like I mentioned before, Miguel has a new schedule at work...9:00a.m.-6:00p.m. And with the exception of one day where I believe he got home around 7:30 (he was at his parent's house), he's been home in time for dinner and the sun is still OUT! lol It's just SO nice! We all get to eat together, we sit and watch tv or just talk or he plays games with the kids...he's helping me around the house with stuff I need like bathing Mikey. It has just been SOOO nice!! I really, really, REALLY hope and pray that the new people who have taken over his old "job" will hang in there and keep doing a great job so that Miguel gets to be home with us more. Really, I think that IF something were to happen where they weren't doing so great without him...I don't think he'd go back. Even he has said how much better it is for us all...for HIM...he gets more time to rest..it's just better all the way around! Anyway, on Saturday we had plans to take Lij to Sea World since the weekend before when he was at his dad's, we took Mikey. So we made plans to leave Mikey at home with my mom and to spend the day with Lij. Well, at the last minute Miguel decides that he is going to get us season passes to Fiesta Texas too!! YAY! I thanked him with a bunch of hugs and kisses ;) Lij was excited too although he's not much for getting on rides. Which is why we had gotten the Sea World ones to begin with. But I like getting on rides...not the REALLY scary ones, but I "will" get on some. And there are alot more kiddie rides for Mikey at FT too. Oh and that new Wiggles World which we went and checked out and just know that Mikey is going to LOVE it!! I cannot wait to take him and see the look on his face! I managed to get Lij to get on this ride with me...they're these big "pool balls" and they spin around and you can also make them spin more by turning this "wheel" inside. I thought it'd be okay since it didn't go UP which is something he just didn't want to do...lol...I was wrong! LOL You should have seen the look on his face. I was just praying he wasn't going to puke on me! He did NOT look like he was having fun at all!! It makes me feel kind of bad because he's so afraid of SO many things and I don't want him to miss out on having a good time. We also got on the Ferris Wheel and he looked SO nervous on there too! Poor thing! After a while though, I think he "loosened" up...when he saw we weren't going to plummet to the ground! We did a few more rides including a water ride where I got SOAKED!! So much for spending 30 minutes flat ironing my hair in the morning! It was SO hot though! We all dried off in NO time at all! We had a great time and afterwards we came home and showered and got ready for church. It was a good day :) On Sunday, for the first time in I can't even remember when...Miguel was actually home by TEN a.m. YES, TEN!! lol He goes in at 4:00 a.m. on Sundays and sometimes isn't home until like 5:00. We all got to eat breakfast together and we just hung out all day...we napped on and off on the couch...lol...Miguel played Xbox with the kids. In the evening, after dinner we headed over to Target and I found this really cool metal pail in the picnic section. It's meant for cutlery, but it was PERFECT for all my pens, tools and deco scissors! I forgot to say that Chon had come over on Friday and we hung out and we had also gone to Target and I bought this shoe organizer which was just PERFECT for putting all my diecuts, paper borders, stuff like that in. I purged and reorganized my sb area AGAIN...not quite done yet though. So I'll post some pics when I get everything in its place. Umm...I think that's about it. I woke up pretty early this morning and I've gotten quite a bit of my cleaning done...even got my ironing out of the way so maybe I won't be cleaning the WHOLE day and I can start my page for this week's challeng on our Blog Hop. Here's a few pics from Fiesta Texas :)