week four

Back on the diet. I did some serious "fallin off the wagon" over the weekend, so I've got some catching up to do. Time to EAT TO LIVE again... I really did feel better when I stuck to the plan. And I really felt like crap when I went off the plan. Who knew you feel so much better when you quit putting junk in your body?!

OK. I got a new computer at work, and... Are you ready for this??? ... It's a Dell. Yikes! Yes, you read that right. I will always be a Mac fanatic (I'm writing this on my iPad, which I love!) but I'm actually kinda glad to have the PC for work. I can now get on the shared drive, print to the big fabulous printer, and lots of other things that I couldn't do when I was the only one with a Mac. It is definitely going to take some getting use to, and i've already found some things that are easier (and better) on the Mac... But I'm not going to complain. I'm happy to leave my MacBook pro at home, safe and sound, to be used for all of my fun stuff... like this.

This has been a great week, full of good time with good friends sprinkled here and there.  Fun with Karen on the weekend... Los Mariachi's with Lori on Wednesday (margaritas in our "nazarene booth")... coffee with Lisa on Thursday... lunch with Meggie B, Megan K, and Criss also on Thursday (JP+)... and coffee with Meredith on Friday.  Ok, Mere and didn't actually drink any coffee, but we hung out at Un Mundo for almost two hours. :)  Good times!

Friday: Teej & Keeley came home.
We met T&K and A&A at Los Mariachi's Friday night (twice in one week!) for dinner...then played cards (Shang Hi... I lost miserably).
Cinci on Sat for Marg & Soph's bday party... Such sweet girls.  Growing up way too fast!
I love my family...but I miss my girl.  I wish Megan & Colin could be with us more, but they're working crazy hours right now and I'm really proud of them.  I know the time will come -- probably once Megan graduates --  I'm just impatient (shock).  It's hard on a momma when her babies grow up. :)

week three

Back to a pretty routine week.  Working.  Relaxing.  Doing chores.  Knitting.  Watching Housewives. :)  Oh, and American Idol.  I know... I'm pathetic.

In between loads of laundry and chopping vegetables (yes, we're still doing that vegan thing), I've been practicing with my camera and with Instagram and 1000Cameras.  I've learned that Instagram only makes square final images, so if an image doesn't fit well into a square, go with 1000Cameras.  I also really like the frames you can put around the pics on Instagram.  I really like both apps.  Both are fun, just have different features.

this is with 1000Cameras

this is with Instagram

Here are my precious pups.  They are seriously lazy... didn't even flinch when I got out the camera.

Bella on her favorite pillow (1000Cameras)

Queen Bella (Instagram)

Conner (best first dog ever!)

nice profile :)

I got a couple of nice shots outside during the snow today... it was beautiful!

view from my front door today

sideyard

I love snow.  And I love a good blizzard.  Bring it on!

I played with Hubby's Christmas present this afternoon -- a microwave, oil-free chip maker.  I made sweet potato chips (Hubby's favorite)...they taste pretty good sprinkled with cinnamon, but they don't look too great.  I'll take pics of the process once I get it mastered.  I also want to try regular potato chips (salt-free) and dried fruit.  Yum.  Hope Hubby likes them!

Hoping to get snowed in tonight. :)

Saturday: a nice lazy day!

...some ice, snow, and crummy roads :/ ...missed Hubby (he was at a church council retreat in London, OH)...hung out with Karen...finished knitting projects...watched "Babel" (brad pitt)...stayed in jammies ALL DAY...watched lots of Housewives of Beverly Hills...ate Cousin Vinny's pizza (not on vegan diet)...watched "Funny People" (adam sandler)...drank yummy "fruit smoothies" ...got my tail kicked in Wii bowling by KG...

Overall, a great day.

And another great week.

week two

Hi ho, hi ho, it's back to work I go!

This week was crazy busy at work.  Lori and I have a new office (with four walls and a door that closes!) so I spent a lot of time getting things organized.  One of my favorite new discoveries is this fabulous little label maker.

You can actually select a font, size, border, etc.  And check out the snazzy little labels (that are now on everything in my office!):

Don't let this fool you into thinking that I'm organized.  Oh no.  I just like doing crafty things like making labels.  Just being honest.  :)

I have several great pictures from this week.  This one is a picture of Hubby that I found from our trip to Charleston last fall.  More Instagram fun.

OK, I know this isn’t from 2012, but Thursday (Jan 12) was my sweetheart’s birthday and this is one of my favorite pics of him. Isnt he handsome? I made this the wallpaper on my iPhone. Love it. Love him. Happy birthday honey!!

Poor guy had to work late on his birthday, so Karen and Linney took me to Yamato for my very first sushi… It was DELISH!!

beautiful!

Karen doesn’t like getting her picture taken… Can you tell?

Friday was my hubby's big 60th b-day surprise...
There's nothing he likes more than spending time playing with all the kids.  Since they'd all gone back to work, school, etc after the holidays, I told him I'd just take him out for a romantic date-night bday celebration.  But the kids all came home and surprised him by being at the restaurant with balloons and gifts (including his very-own iPad and accessories), followed by some REAL bowling!  It was a fantastic night... I wouldn't have changed a thing.

dinner at Bonefish Grill

best meal in a long time!

great little bowling alley in Hilliard

reading notes from family and friends

blowing out candle on bday no-bakes

overwhelmed

Andy & Alex

Teej & Keeley

Colin & Megan

l.o.v.e. this

The pictures pretty much say it all.
We have the most amazing kids.  I can't tell you the joy I felt looking around, watching my family loving and laughing with each other.

We are so blessed.

more week one

The first week of 2012 was spent relaxing, playing, knitting, eating, and generally having fun!

TJ was still home from college so most nights (when he wasn't at Keeley's) were spent Wii bowling

or playing cards...usually Five Crowns...

I almost always lose at both.

Check out my hubby's Wii figure... it looks just like him!

I spent most of my free time doing one of two things:  knitting or reading.

I've discovered the most darling little store here in Springfield called Running With Scissors.

It's run by Ellen Alleman and she sells things made by local craftsmen and artists.  It's fabulous!  She was nice enough to accept the scarves that I'd knitted (they were just sitting around in a basket) and they sold pretty well.  This has motivated me to knit more, which is fine with me because it gives me something to do while I'm watching the Real Housewives of Wherever.  :)

The book I read is Eat to Live by Joel Furhman, MD... not exactly pleasure reading, although I did enjoy learning so much about the benefits of a vegan diet.

We're making a serious attempt to change our eating habits/styles.  Dr. Furhman's suggestions are no animal products, no oils, no preservatives.  In order to get my hubby's cholesterol and triglycerides lower, we're going to give it a go.  Losing a couple of pounds along the way won't upset me a bit, either.

Our big night out during week one was on Saturday night.  We went to Texas Roadhouse with TJ, Keeley, Andy, Alex, and Kent & Amy Booher (Keeley's parents).

Hubby and I managed to find something on the menu that Dr. Furhman would approve of:  a big plain salad and a baked potato with broccoli.  It was delish (mostly due to the crazy amount of salt on the outside skin of the potato... yum!).

After dinner, we went back to the house and played games.  We introduced the Boohers to The Game of Things...what a hoot!

 

If you've never played it, I highly recommend it.  Be prepared to laugh, and be prepared for things to get out of hand.  Ok maybe that's just my family.  Either way, it was a blast!

Great start to 2012!

week one

Since I'm getting a late start on Project Life 2012, I have to go back and try to fill in the first two weeks of January.  Last week won't be hard -- there was lots going on -- but the first week is going to be a bit of a challenge. 

the cape

the poncho

So I’m going through my photos from Christmas, trying to sort out the keepers from the junk, and I ran across these.  Yes, that’s TJ…”up-cycling” his blankie.  Yikes.

 

I spent some time that first week of January researching camera apps for my iPhone and my iPad and figuring out how to use them.  Here is my first attempt at using Instagram :

humble momma with beautiful bride

 

Sidenote:

I figured out how to link to other websites, so here's a list of the websites/blogs mentioned yesterday regarding Project Life 2012 and the mastermind behind it:
I first read about it on Jessica Turner's site,

 
but the creator of PL is Becky Higgins
 
You will love both of these sites!