We already had plans to go to dinner and then get our taxes done so we went ahead and brought him with us since he was here.

First was dinner, Chinese food:

Marisa was pretending like he was her date:

Madelyn (10) fed him an eggroll:

and here was his fortune!

Then we went to H&R Block and did our taxes…We tried, but for some reason our agent wouldn’t let us claim him as a dependent

I’m so thrilled he’s here! and WOW the book looks awesome!!! I love all the little souvenirs and journal pages that came with him. This is sooooo cool. Madelyn made him some good running clothes for tomorrow’s 5k. She’s also made him a bed with blankets and all in her room. We are going to have SOOOOO much fun with him!

I was supposed to meet with Lynne afterwards to go walking (over the bridge!) but her plans didn’t quite work out the way she’d hoped, so we decided to reschedule. By the time we got home from the float the last thing I wanted to do was go back in that weather to walk, so I decided to go buy the Biggest Loser game for the Wii. HUGE mistake. What a waste of money! For starters, I was really wanting the Biggest Loser Strength Training Kit because it has the 4 lb dumbbells, jumprope, resistance band, etc all compatible with the Wii for 34.99. On the box, it says “Compatible with the following games: Biggest Loser, EA Active, Wii Fit”. So, I figured we’d get the Biggest Loser game since it would probably be a better match. $79 later we get it home and turned on and it was NOT what I was looking for AT ALL. For starters, there’s NO interaction at all with ANY of the items that came in the strength training kit. NONE. Yeah, you can jump with the jump rope, but there’s no part of the game or anything that will monitor your jumps, reps or anything. So, they’re useless! I mean, really! So, I tried giving the actual game a try and no, no, no, just no. My opinion is that it’s a glorified workout video. I could have bought a workout video for $20 if that’s what I wanted! The interaction was just non existent and the graphics were HORRENDOUS. I thought I was back in the Nintendo 64 days! So, I’m going to return it…I was thinking of getting the EA Active because it’s around $30 vs the Wii Fit being $100, but I’ve read a lot of bad reviews about its glitchiness. I guess you get what you pay for so we will probably just invest in the Wii Fit Plus afterall.

Well, we’re headed back out to work on the float again today. At least it’s not raining today. Still cold, but the rain and wind are what killed me yesterday.

In other news, I’ve worked real hard this week on all my goals, particularly those related to my weight loss. (You can read more about that on my weight loss blog though.)

Tomorrow I plan on getting up early enough to get a good workout in the gym and then we are all going to help work on the float tomorrow afternoon. Madelyn is on the Bayshore Cloggers team and every year they make a float because they dance in all the local parades (and some not-so-local). We’ve missed a few weeks of helping with the float so we’ve vowed to go both days this weekend. After the float I’ve got plans to meet with Lynne to walk. We’re talking about walking over the bridge which excites me!

I loaded my new gym bag up with all my goodies (dumbbells, resistance bands, sneakers) and brought it to work with me today. I’d like to get in the routine of doing something on my lunch hour, whether it be doing the resistance bands, or just walking the stairs back and forth. Anything is better than nothing and if I want to win that fitness challenge I joined, I’d better really get my butt in gear. I’m also going to the gym tonight since I didn’t go this morning before work. I’m all fired up today, can you tell?

In other news, Marisa seems to have gotten a cold. She was so pitiful last night between her sniffles, sneezing, and hoarse voice, but she got up and went to school this morning. I hope she starts to feel better soon.

I’m gonna start doing research on gardening over the next couple of weeks. It’s something I’ve never done (never even had an interest in until now), but I’ve vowed to start one this year. I really hope I can do it because how cool would it be to just walk out back and pick some cucumbers when you need them? Or strawberries?

Well, I’d better go for now,

On New Year’s Eve we did a little shopping for a new camera bag. In case you didn’t know, last week we bought a new Nikon p90 with the Christmas money we got (YAY!) and since it was much bigger than our old Kodak a new bag was definitely in order. After that we ate dinner at the Waffle House and was home well before all the drunks were unleashed on the roads because none of us have a death wish.

Friday, I met up with Lynne at the Lee County Sheriff’s Office to weigh-in for a new challenge I’ve entered! It’s the Fitness Challenge put on by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office each year and runs for 12 weeks. There are individual prizes and team prizes; our team is called “Extreme Makeover – Booty Edition” and consists of me, Lynne, her mother, her aunt, and a co-worker of hers. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this and it really has me motivated to continue with my weight loss efforts. I weighed in at 231.4 (note – I weighed a few pounds lighter on my scale at home). We’ll see how it plays out in 12 weeks!

From there we went to McDonalds where we basically talked about the challenge and gave each other ideas for healthy snacks and stuff. Don’t worry, I just had the grilled chicken wrap with no cheese or sauce, a parfait, and a bottled water.

After that I headed home because we were to be at mom’s house at 3:00 for some good luck black eyed peas! and boy they were YUMMY! That night we watched the movie “Up” and OMG nobody warned me that I would need tissues within the first five minutes! Holy cow was it sad, or what?! Good movie, just not what I was expecting at all.

Yesterday I woke up completely motivated to take all our Christmas decor down, but spent most of the day on the computer and the Wii. Yeah, totally unproductive. I did finally start taking the tree down around 5:00. Seeing all the ornaments reminded me that I wanted to go to Hallmark to see if they had any of their character ornaments on sale so that’s where we went. Me and Marisa went to the mall and to the standalone Hallmark to see what they had on clearance…boy did we make out! I love character ornaments, and Hallmark’s are the best. They’re just too damned expensive for me to buy BEFORE Christmas so every year I go after and get the leftovers. Came home and finished taking the tree down.

Well, Darren just got home for dinner, so I’m gonna cut this short and then hopefully finish getting my house in order before work tomorrow. Oh and maybe we’ll watch Inglorious Basterds tonight!

Until tomorrow…

January:

Picture from Marisa's school bus accident on Jan. 13th - one of the scariest days of my life!

This is the dump truck that hit my daughter's school bus.

February:

The rotten economy had us looking for cheaper rent and we found the perfect place in February.. Here we are taking a load to our new home.

Darren's mom and sisters came to visit us in February. We had a great time!

We threw Darren an impromptu surprise birthday party at the Outback when his family was down to visit. He turned 40 this year!

March:

We went to the state fair in March. Here we are on the carousel!

Marisa took up the clarinet last year and joined her school's band. We didn't get many good pictures but, here is one from her first performance.

April:

My nephew Brad came down from NC to live with my mom. Here he is with my girls on the first night he was here.

Here are going to our first baseball game! Ft Myers Miracle won!

The girls and Brad after decorating eggs for Easter!

May:

2009 was the year I decided to learn how to coupon...I remember getting all of this for like $6 during a double coupon event at Kmart.

Marisa had her first boyfriend this year, Matt. Here they are at another band performance. They're no longer 'together' but they are still good friends.

June:

We love these bumper boats at the Shell Factory here in Ft. Myers. We always have so much fun when we go.

Feeding the fish and turtles at the Shell Factory. My girls love doing this.

July (a busy month!):

We hosted our first Fourth of July barbecue this year! I must say, the beans I made were DELICIOUS as was the flag cake!

We took our first real vacation this year. Here the girls are enjoying the hotel pool!

Here we are at Arabian Nights in Orlando. If you haven't been, you should. It was awesome!

While on vacation we went to M&M World in Orlando! Mmmm! M&Ms were EVERYWHERE!

We stopped at the world's largest McDonalds and there was a woman there doing caricatures. Here she is in the process of drawing Madelyn!

Here's the artist drawing a caricature of Marisa (at the world's largest McDonalds!)

We went to see the space shuttle launch at Cape Canaveral. Here are the girls placing their hands in Neil Armstrong's handprints. Unfortunately, the launch was cancelled at the last minute so we didn't get to see it.

August:

Marisa with her best friend at the skating rink.

We really enjoyed having my mother in law here for the summer with us. Here's Madelyn loving on grandma at the ice cream shop.

September:

My father and his mother came into town so I had the opportunity to see them. I hadn't seen her since I was a toddler, so this was a mini family reunion.

2009 was the year I really branched out in my cake decorating. This was Madelyn's spongebob cake that I made. Everyone loved it!

This was my first stacked cake ever. Marisa's Twilight cake. She loved it and everyone else did too! I had fun making it.

Marisa and her friends at her 13th birhday party at Chuck E Cheese.

October:

My sister participated in a rocking chair contest to win a car. She rocked that chair for over 50 hours!

The girls right before we went on the haunted walk at Caloosa Nature Center!

My little devil and pop star! The girls getting ready to go trick or treating on Halloween.

November:

Madelyn joined the Bayshore Cloggers this year. Here is one of the many performances we attended.

I participated in my first 5k, the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot. I hope to do many more!

The girls (and Darren) putting ornaments on the tree after Thanksgiving dinner.

Darren and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. Due to finances and my new commitment to eat healthier we decided not to go to Olive Garden as we have in past years and instead made a great dinner at home. We drank out of our wedding glasses and hung a homemade 'Olive Garden' sign in our dining room. It was awesome!

December:

Marisa with Santa at the Holiday House (Burrough's Home).

Madelyn with Santa at the Holiday House (Burroughs Home)

Madelyn during her school's Christmas program. She even sang a solo!

This is one of the many pictures I took of the girls with the hopes of getting a good one to put in Christmas cards. I got so many good shots that I made collages.

Our family on Christmas Eve

And finally, I’ll share two images to show the progress I’ve made in my effort to lose weight.

Me on September 28, 2009:

and here’s me on November 30, 2009:

2009 was the year I proved to myself just how capable and strong I can be. I’ve lost 28 pounds so far and am looking forward to losing more in 2010. Here’s to a much healthier future!

Until tomorrow…

• Lose 93 more pounds.
• Walk 500 miles (logging it here)
• Finish the C25K program
• Start riding my bike
• Not drink ANY soda
• Participate in (12) 5k races for the year (hopefully running at least one)
• Start a garden
• Sign up for karate (or another martial art if karate not available)
• Stay within my budget every month (using YNAB)
• Organize family reunion
• Read the entire Bible using this plan.

2009 was a trying year, so I’m excited for everything the new year will bring.

Until tomorrow…

My interests are varied, everything from the internet to photography, but what I love the most is just spending time with my family. My oldest daughter (Marisa) is 13 and the youngest (Madelyn) is 10. Where oh where does the time go? It seems like only yesterday I was a pimply faced 13 year old writing in my journal about all the perils of middle school. Now it’s my daughter doing it. I may not be 13 anymore (thankfully), but to be honest I’m still pimply faced and still writing…just from a different perspective now. I just had a thought. I’m going to be blogging about our daily lives and Marisa is keeping a journal about hers as well. Wouldn’t it be interesting to read them both five years from now? If for no other reason than to just compare the different perspectives on the same occurrences. Huh!

Well, the new year is upon us (2010) and I’ve been giving serious thought to the goals I’d like to accomplish in the next year. In the past, I’ve never really accomplished any of my resolutions before, but I’m a lot more disciplined now than I have been in years prior. I think blogging will help keep me accountable as it has with my weight loss. I’ll post my goals for 2010 tomorrow.

Feel free to comment or if you’re curious about anything, just ask. I try to be an open book (well, as open book as is reasonably safe to be online).

Until tomorrow…

What I’ve been drinking

The best news of all is….I haven’t had any pepsi for 5 days now. AT ALL. This is huge for me. I’ve never went this long without ANY pepsi. I’ve been drinking Crystal Light’s “On the Go”. They’re packets that you pour into a bottle of water and shake. So far I like the taste of Raspberry Ice the best. The orange flavored ones remind me too much of Tang (which I have never liked). I am so proud of myself though for going this long without pepsi. Today my family had Wendy’s for lunch and it was the perfect opportunity for me to slip and have a soda, but I didn’t.

What I’ve been eating

I’ve been eating mostly Weight Watchers Smart Ones meals, but also some Healthy Choice ones too. My favorite food is anything pasta, so I get some great variety in these frozen meals. For dessert/snacks I’ve had the Keebler Right Bites. They’re bags of crackers, cookies, snack mixes that are 100 calories per bag. What’s most difficult for me is limiting myself to just one bag at a time. Even so, for me having two bags is A LOT better than me eating an entire large bag of chips. 200 calories a snack is better than 1000. I’ve also enjoyed the Smart Ones Chocolate eclairs. MMMmmm. I’ve had Subway more than ever! I’m no Jared by any means, but I love their ham subs and for only 6g of fat, I can’t go wrong. I don’t eat mayo (I like my sandwiches/subs dry) so that’s not an issue for me like it is for so many. For breakfast I’ve been trying to eat Nutrigrain breakfast bars or the South Beach meal replacement bars (Chocolate). It’s hard for me to be disciplined in this area because I’m not a big breakfast person. I also find that I am a lot hungrier come lunch time when I have had breakfast versus when I haven’t. Odd. At least I’m trying. If you know of any other foods/products that’s worked good for you, please let me know. I’m not a big cook, so I like pre-packaged, quick, easily prepared stuff. heh.

I’m going to buy a new scale this week, so hopefully my further weight posts will be accurate.