Crash Course, Crash Diet.. DIET? WHAT!!

The birds are singing, the sun is out (well not today), and the flowers are blooming. My winter clothes are put up in the amazing space bags .. I have some long sleeves, hoodies, and pullovers left for the month of April when mother nature decides to be crule and send some cold weather. I go to the beach the week of July 4th. My annual beach trip will be here before I know it. Beach = bathing suite = showing body = scary omg!

I have been real good about not eating out, cooking healthy, no fries or fried food. I think I may have cheated on a chicken nugget or two but I have not had any fries since 2010. They are my weakness. No mcdonolds, or any other place that taste so yummy unhealthy. I avoid places with fries. A while ago I switch to all wheat stuff. Prob about a year ago. I do break down with Logans rolls though, but that is ending t.o.d.a.y!  I have a nephew that is all into bodybuilding and what to eat, what not to eat. I learned a ton from him last year. Then I did a bootcamp work out last year and he too taught me a ton about what to eat and what not to eat. Following the things I have learned, I have not put on any weight in 5 months. I also, have not lost the weight I want to loose. POSITIVE.. I have not gained weight. POSITIVE.. I understand about eating.. POSITIVE.. I do not crave frieds or white bread any more. POSITIVE.. starch is no longer my best friend. NEGATIVE.. the beach will be here in less than 15 weeks!

This brings me to my crash course of my crash diet. YES I said diet. I hate that word. That is what it is though. Must be honest!! Must be honest!!

I will never be that 100 pound skinny girl (like 98% of my friends) I am just not built that way. Never was.. never will be. That is ok.. I don't think I would be very healthy looking at 100 pounds.. My tig ol bitties and badunkadunka butt. They alone weigh 100 pounds.. ha.. j/k.. kind of.  But I would LOVE to be the weight/shape I was at my wedding.. Before Mady.. YES PLEASE.. realisticly not going to happen in 3 months. At my wedding.. this can and WILL be done!  Starting TODAY..

I spend hours reading, planning, reading, planning, understanding, planning my crash diet. This is what is going on in my life as of today:

I am going to keep a food journal. I have never done this and always heard it is the #1 step. I have my book, my plan, my pen, my food journal is ready to go!

Sodium: as little as possible.. none is the goal. This is not hard as long as you I read all labels
Carbs: as little as possible.. you do want some carbs in your diet but for this crash diet.. little is better
Calories: It says I do not need more than 2,000 a day for my body type/weight but for my goal and crash diet, I need only 1200 a day. This means around 200 a meal for 5 meals a day

WATER:!!! at least 8 glasses a day.. this is going to be the hardest because I just don't get thirsty. This is also part of the weight problem. I do not drink therefore my body has water weight stored. This is going to come off fast though because thanks to Jullian Michaels, I have a drink mix that is going to help!

Key to burning calories faster.. eat 2 raw fruits/veggies before each meal. Such as carrot, apple, celery stick

Of course excersize is going to play a huge roll in this .. every other day cardio. and on other days tone up

I could say every day cardio but I know I will not stick to that since it is my least favorie. I do love Zumba on the connect though! My tredmill awaits me but I have such a love hate realationship with it. I am going to be honest.. cardio every other day.. HEY, it is better than just 3 times a week and they say 3 times a week is what you need!

Simply Put:

Meal Plan Diet
Food Journal
Water
Cardio
Tone Up

It is going to take a ton of self motovation but I think I can do it. I am actually going to go buy a bathing suite and hang it on my wall. Yes, like the yogurt commercial. Also, I will have a picture of me from my honeymoon.  If you have a visual goal you will accomplish. It is a proven fact that if you see it you will want it if you want it you will accomplish it. If you dont have it in front of you, you will forget the goal and then fail. Kind of like a dream board.

Also, I am going to take pictures of myself and chart my pants size ( I don't go by scale weight ) The pictures will not be shown till the end because I am very self concious of what I look like under my clothes. We will see how honest I get when all is done.. I may be so excited I don't care what I did look like, I may never want to show what I did look like. Either way.. I will be posting progress!! YAY!

I will still be cooking my family meal plan since I have a husband and daughter to feed, I just will not be eating what they eat.

Do you have any tips or websites for me to follow?

OHHH I WANT IT!!

It is 1:00 in the morning and I am browsing blogs. Home decor, DIY, before and after... you know the usual blog I like to follow. Well tonight I have come across the room I love!! The guest room is known as my closet. For real.. our bedroom closet is filled with Zak's stuff and the guest bedroom. ALL MINE. I always wanted a closet the size of a room, so my wonderful husband made my dream come true. Of course I have many ideas for it, but that takes time.

My room today:
white walls
black curtains
black futon
small black computer dest
white tall free standing cabinet
black dresser
multiple zebra accessories
*It looks pretty freakin good considering I didnt buy anything other than the smaller computer desk* If only I had endless amounts of money.. wait till you see what my dream is!

CLICK HERE.. I want I Want I WANT!!!  I love pink and black and white and zebra! OMG! Although my husband does not want me to have pink walls. This is what I want!! I am going to do teal though..
Also, I am going to git rid of the futon and add a window seat  that I found on another blog (her blog is here) they built the window seat and we will too! Mine will not be scrap book but crafts yes, blogging yes, closet of course! MY ROOM!

so, this is going to be my fall project. I know.. it is only spring but right now.. for spring, the yard is our focus, then summer will be kitchen, then FALL WILL BE MY ZEBRA TEAL BLACK AND WHITE ROOM!!


Ok so I just spent the last 10 mins scrolling through that blog..  the A to Zebra  AMAZING! I want to be that blogger, have her parties, live in her craft room, be her friend! OMG I AM JEALOUS.. I think this is the moment I go to bed and dream of all that creative bliss I just saw. Good night, off to catch some zzzzzzzebras! Gay I know but I just had to do it..

Weird but true?

I am always reading random facts. Random questions. Random things to buy. On this wonderful cloudy about the have a huge hail storm kind of day.. I came across this:

• More than ten people a year are killed by vending machines

WHAT!! How? Do they stick their hand up it trying to steal a bag of $1.75 chips? Oh, I know.. they are pushing it over so they can steal some money from underneath it. I have actually found over a $1 in change under one before. YES, I have stooped down low to see if their was money underneath. There always is. Watch, I bet you at least think about looking next time. Anyways, I looked it up.. I was right! Stealing money or food by rocking the machine.. I never thought about shaking it to death  my death.. Here is another article that list some deaths by vending machines.

• Hippo milk is pink

Now I am not sure if I believe this. I looked it up and found some articles saying it is true. It also states that Hippos produce a pink mucus to keep them from getting sunburned. I tried to look up pictures of hippo milk and didnt find not one. I did however find an article about a baby hippo that was born and would nurse so for the first time ever a hippo was milked by hand. If this is the case and it was a first, how do they know the color of hippo milk? It was an interesting article though.

•  According to a 1950s survey, 75% of men ejaculate within two minutes of penetration.

Well, we are just going to leave that at that and not go there. This study does say it was done in 1950. Not that I think men have really changed since then. At least not for the better. J/k.. We women love our men.

•  Blue light fends off drowsiness in the middle of the night.

This is interesting. Is it only in the middle of the night? This made my brain start thinking. All the times people are sleepy. Lets just add blue lights to our life! What about driving. Maybe they should figure out how to get blue lights in truck drivers trucks or people who have to drive long distances. They should put blue lights in scool then to help sleepy kids stay awake. Oh, then there is while people study. I am going to actually test this on a friend. Yes Krsiten.. you are my lab rat to be!! So all in all,  let's all change our light bulbs to blue light. Maybe we would see a difference in what we get done during the day .. and night.. Then I read this article about it and at the very end it says blue light can also be harmful.

• Most of us have microscopic, worm like mites named Demodex that live in our eyelashes and have claws and a mouth.

So you too ran to the mirror to check out these bugs in your eyelashes! I did. WHAT! Crazy, scary, weird, but TRUE? I had to look this up. I want to go wash myself everywhere after reading about them. They are not just in our eyelashes but any hair. Skin, Head, Eyes, and so on. What are these little bugs doing, can they not find their own place to live, their own food, instead of feeding off of me. They like oil. I do not have oily hair or skin. Thank goodness. It also says that the thinner the hair the more bugs they find. I have thick hair. Really thick hair. THANK GOODNESS.. All you thin hair people stay away. Just kidding. Just kidding. Sort of. They also make peoples hair fall out. It is going to be hard now for me to see a person loosing their hair or with no hair. I will want to say .. hey, you know.. you have mites.  It will be hard for me not to see a family of these mites having a good ol time on that person's head. EWW. Natural but Nasty!

•  When you are looking at someone you love, your pupils dilate, they do the same when you are looking at someone you hate.

So now we know the secret. Just watch the pupils. If they dilate, ask them.. do you hate me or love me. What does it mean when they do nothing? They don't love or hate you. They just slightly like and unlike you? If you are talking to me and I seem to be off in a weird lala land staring at your eyes.. just know.. I am figuring you out! I CAN SEE IT IN YOUR EYES

That is all for now. I really need to go clean. '
Do you have any interesting facts to add? 

Love to Cook, Cook to Love

God blessed me with a husband, the best husband, that can cook. When he was little he wanted to be a chef. Since I have known him he has always cooked amazing dinners. Not only did he always cook (notice I said did) he loves to cook. He doesn't like me to come into the kitchen because it is his space, his time, his recipe. He doesn't follow ANY recipes at all. They come from his head. How he does it, I have no idea. I couldn't even comlete a recipe. UNTIL NOW. Since he works real hard and sometimes real late. I decided it is my turn, as the mother and wife, to cook. This was part of my 2011 wants. To be a better wife and mother.

GOOD NEWS.. I am now an amazingly famous chef!! Ok, not yet but I am getting there. I have started my own food blog. I am calling it Love to Cook, Cook to Love. That title describes my goal perfectly. I have to say I don't Love to Cook yet but I sure am Cooking to Love. Please check it out. I would love for you to add comments or tweaks to the recipes I have posted after you cook them. I know you will cook them. Or if you have any thoughts about how to make it healthier or your own recipe I would love to hear about it also!

A twist to my blog is that I post my 4 recipes of the week, sometimes 5 BEFORE I cook them. I give a little bit of interesting facts on something in the recipe. The history, or how to choose what kind, or what it means, and so on. Then as I cook and post, I go back and link the title to the recipe.

Cook and Learn, thats my moto. When it comes to cooking at least! I hope you enjoy! EAT UP!!

Let's play ball!

It was a beautiful spring wanna be day. I say spring wanna be because it was really winter still but it was in the 70s. Spring is on the way though! We decided it was time to play some ball! After putting on her adorable capri outfit. We got out bat, ball, and tball stand.. headed outside.. and played some ball!

She has never truly used the tball stand. Of course after a few misses she nailed it.

Try again:

Almost:

BAMM

Next we tried hitting it when I would throw it to her. She is much better at hitting it than I am at throwing it. Watch and tell me who you think needs some practice!

Yes, this is me hitting her in the head with the plastic ball. What you don't see after the video is that we continue to laugh about it. It takes us quite some time to regain our composure and try again. When we did try again .. we she hit it out of the park!

I am pretty sure that she takes after her Dad and her Gumps since they were big baseball players. Her Gumps actually played pro. I think that is what it is called.. Shows you how much I know. It will be interested to see in 10 years what she is doing. Maybe she can add that to her list of when I grow up:

Green Day

Every year my best friend Lauren throws a St. Patty Party. She decorates, Jason cooks, and We party! It is always the greatest people that come! This year was no different. We were missing a few people his year but all in all it was perfect. I didn't take the pictures I wanted to. The ones I should have. The ones a real photographer would have. You know, food.. decor.. signs.. lights.. greenness. I just want to say THANKS Lauren and Jason for always having such a green party!  

What better way to start the night! A blast from the past ZEBRA GUM!

We added stickers that say Cheers! This drink belongs to: 

Added to our green cups, this was perfect for drinking! Let me add, the name tags on the cups came in use many times through out the night. I always put my drink down and pick up another persons.  

The tosty fire outside was great. The weather wasn't freezing but cold enough where the fire added the warming touch to the night! Now, where is the keg?!

The guys HAD to order the big ufc fight that was on that night. They spend the entire time of the fight glued to the TV. The girls were doing their own thing. AKA below:

It has been a long time since us girls have been together. We are missing our good friend Courtney in the picture though. She is living in Florida. I have to say it was real nice all of us girls getting back together and we will for sure have to do it again.

We forgot the other paddle to ping pong so a spachula came in handy..

BRING ON ST PATTY 2012!!

If you could have another Mommy

Tonight I was laying down with my chica before she went to sleep. I lay with her every other night (Zak lays with her the other nights) This is one of my favorite times because if she is still, she will talk to you more than ever. Kind of like in the cars. So tonight, the question was (I ask her a question about mommies to hear her say how much she loves me) I asked her if she could have another Mommy what would she have. I figured she would say.. Mommy I just love you.. but NOOOOO that is not what she said. She said..

Mady: If I could have another mommy I would have the mommy with blonde hair. I want us to match
Me: O..
Mady: If I could have another mommy I would just want you if you had blonde hair 
Me: O..
Mady: If I could have another daddy I would want a daddy with a cat that doesnt sneeze (Zak is allergic to cats and he sneezes.. she has been on a kick about getting a cat) 

They do not work

So earlier this week I caught up on my blog. Towards the end of this blog I told you about the bead things that you can decorate your vases with and they are supposed to keep fresh flowers alive. Well.. They Do Not Work. I tried two different kinds of flowers and they all died. I ended up saving my sunflowers by taking them out of it and putting them into water. I had even put water in the vase with the beads. They are still really pretty beads but I saw at walmart some beads that smell good for vases. I think that would be better since they would serve a purpose other than looking pretty. I still have that entire tub of the water filled beads and plan on using them. Just not on fresh flowers.

spell check is still no working! WHATS UP WITH THAT!?!

March's Newsletter

At my work we get monthly newsletters for the residents. ( I work at an apartment community) I know that my residents just throw out the news letters. At least half of them do. Waste of time and waste of paper. If only they would read it. It isnt full of just community info and your rent is due and pick up after your pets use the bathroom. There are actually really interested facts in there. I love reading the news letters!

So St. Patty is coming up. Actually I have a green party to attend to this weekend. You will see pictures eventually. So along with St. Patty is the FOUR LEAF CLOVER.. This is what I have learned from the newsletter:

FOUR LEAF CLOVER:
The highest amount of leaves found on a clover is 18 (Guinness Book of World Records)
Pollution, soil compostion and other environmental factors are what cause clovers to have more than 3 leaves
There are 10,000 three leaf clovers for ever 4 leaf clover

Just to let you in on a little bit of personal info. I got my first tattoo when I turned 18. Guess what it is of..... A FOUR LEAF CLOVER. I love it to this day by the way! So this was really cool when I read this. I actually was told this by the tattoo artist when I was getting it but I forgot what they ment and then it never really crossed my mind again, until now...

The first leaf is for hope, the second is for faith, the third is for love, and the fourth... you got it!! LUCK!!

Hope Faith Love and Luck.. I am pretty sure I like my tattoo that much more!!

THE LEPRECHAUN:
Leprechaun is from the Irish name Lobaircin meanins small bodied fellow. Leprechauns had nothing to do with St Patrick or the celebration of the day which is a Catholic holy day. In 1959, Walt Disney released a film called Darby ODill and the Little People. The movie changed the thought of Leprechauns from cranky to fun and cheerful. The Leprechaun is an American invention that is now know world wide for St Patty day and for Ireleand.


SPRING:
The vernal equinox (vernal means spring and equinox means equal night) occurs around March 20 when the sun is directly over the equator. This makes the start of spring.

An ancient holiday from the vernal equinox was OSTARA, a celebration honoring the lunar goddess ESTRE. MYTH: Estre rescured a wounded bird whose wings  had become fronzen by the cold (winter) by changing her into a hare (rabbit) who could more easily survive the winter. The hair could still lay eggs though. She expressed her gratitued to the goddess by decoration her eggs and giving them to her. Missionaries adapted the traditions for Easter in hopes of converting pagans to Christianity.

Interesting right? I KNOW! Maybe I should start posting once a month from the newsletter.. hum, idea!  Anyways.. why wouldn't my residents enjoy reading about these things? Their loss.. I love it!


p.s. It is supposed to be 40 degrees in the morning and then rise to 75. OMG. I am so excited that my house is spotless.. I dare you to come take a look and see if you can find any dirty spots. It is s.p.o.t.l.e.s.s.!  Now for tomorrow, play all day with my chica in the sun!

p.s. why in the world is spell check not working?! Sorry for the misspelled words..

Response to my 3 year old kisses

Tonight, instead of a book.. My chica wanted me to read her what I was writing. Really I was just posting the blog below. So I read it to her. Then she asked me to keep reading about her. I scrolled down my blog and came across THIS ONE  It talks about a 3 year olds kisses. I skipped the parts where I talk about pretending to be asleep. After I read it to her she gets off my lap, smiles, and says:

" Mommy, I do kiss you because you are soo cute. Oh, Daddy is han'some not cute. "

Just figured I would let you know that I got an answer to my blog that day....     If only I had known   :)

I was blogging before I blogged

So for the first time in.. well FOREVER.. actually I think it said last log in was Aug. 2010. but anyways, for the first time in forever I logged into myspace. WoWzErS. I almost forgot my password. So I looked to the right and there was 4 post. I figured I should just ad them to my blog in case I forget my password for real.

baby is here..

well as most of you know... baby is here.. MADYSON JADE is her name.. she was born aug 12 2007 .. 5:10 pm.. 7.12 lbs.. 19.5 inches
that was 6 weeks ago.. she was 2 weeks early.. NOW SHE IS 10.10lbs holy crap.. she was in preemie clothes for like 5 weeks and then boom skip the newborn stuff and hit the 0-3 month stuff! but like i have said. i love chunky babies.. she is not chunky yet but from the sounds of it she might be on her way there..
pictures are under my picture section..
and for the people who care about me and not just her.. ha, i am doing great.. it took a bit for me to get back to normal as far as hormones go but all is good now.. zak and i are loven mady and he is such a GREAT and PERFECT daddy.. she is very lucky to have a dad that loves her the way he does.. we are very blessed to have such a good baby.. and on top of everything she is so......
BEAUTIFUL

toddler is here

here it is, a year later.. well almost.. the first blog was written sep. 27 07 today it is sep 24 08 
when i was prego, i always wondered what she would look like.. i just wanted to have her to see what she would look like.. hair, eyes, nose, would she sleep or be awake.. what would i sing to her, would she be chunky or little, when would she get her first tooth, would she talk and say dada or mama first.. little did i realize that i wouldn't find all the answers to the wondering questions i had.. little did i realize that i would have to wait a year before i would know her true eye color.. what she would look like..
well now mady is 13 months old. 26.5 pounds over 2 feet tall..crawling, singing, talking, she giggles and plays peekaboo and paddy cake, so on and so on. she is everywhere into everything..
blond thick soft hair (me) huge eyes with such pretty long dark eyelashes(zak) the smallest little nose (me) and small perfect ears(zak) chunky as can be(both) she loves to dance. ever since she was little.. always dancing and singing something. dada was the first word.. then bear.. she knows what al sorts of animals say and look like. she got her first tooth at 10 months.. now she has 6 teeth with 2 on the way  she looks the best in the color teal or hot pink and dresses and hair bows are for sure her thing! she doesn't like apples but anything else is a go! if it is green then it is her favorite thing! would rather have plain cheerios then honey nut.. takes a bottle to bed(i know that's bad..) doesn't really have anything to do with a nuk unless she finds one in her toy box randomly. . . doesn't like to sleep with mommy or daddy not even for a nap.. hasn't fallen asleep with us AT ALL since 3 months old. loves loves g-raffs. would rather be chased around than anything. loves to shop, she loves to watch people. cant sit still for more than 30 seconds unless being read to.
ok well i think that is enough... the point is that she is her own person now.. i know what she looks like..NEVER in a million years did i ever think MY child would be so beautiful and so cool!
this past year has just made me so excited about the next year that is about to fly by.. the walking and talking and playing on playgrounds.. the cute toddler clothes and cool toddler toys.. coloring and hide and seek.. the list goes on
ok well just thought i should do a little update for the people that wonder and care.. have a wonderful day!

and now she is 2 years old

it is July 23rd 2009, 

Madyson is about to turn 2 years old.. I wonder where the hell the past 2 years went..  I thought that from age newbie to 1 year went by fast but this past year.. yea it went by way way faster. I feel like I just had her 1st birthday and here is am getting ready for her 2nd

she is 28 pounds and a little over 2 and a half feet tall.. she has thinned out so much.. except for her thighs and feet.. her eyes are green now - they change from green to green blue... she has so much hair, it is blond, long enough to pull it all back in a ponytail, and it is starting to curl! :) She is no longer in a crib.. sleeps all night in her toddler bed AND she doesn't ever take a bottle! took me 2 years to get rid of them but the good news is they are gone! she likes her nuk more now than ever.. but that's ok.. only at bedtime

she is very calm and laid back (like her dad) she doesn't really get upset or mad at anything.. i am pretty lucky. she is very quite little girl. she loves to go to sleep, we do not have a problem at nap time or bedtime. like i said, i am pretty lucky to have such a good girl.

she loves sunglasses, purses, dollhouses, and baby dolls! to paint her toe nails and pretend she is putting on make up. she still loves to sing and dance. i think it is how she relaxes her self.. she sings her self to sleep. and as soon as any music starts, she dances.. It is funny because she has certain dances depending on what type of music we are listening to. really she is the typical toddler.. elmo, animals, cartoons, coloring, and anything else that involves playing.

she talks full sentences (when she is not being shy) and she loves her lala and her aunt kelsey .. o and josh!  she loves anything baseball. Playing it, watching it, singing about it, pictures of it! she is the funniest person i have ever met in my life! there has never been a person that can make me laugh the way she does.. i really do think she is the coolest person ever!

well that is about it, it is crazy to me that i no longer have a baby.. i no longer have a person that depends on me for everything.. she would rather do it all herself and what is more crazy to think about is that she has become one of my best friends and i will have her for the rest of my life! it is crazy she is just going to get bigger and bigger.. i think i actually feel like a real mom now and not just a person that just had a baby or a person that has a 1 year old.. if that makes sense..

ok this turned out way longer than i meant but that is my update on madyson jade!

and now she is 3 years old

It is time for the birthday update..
oh where to start...

Madyson Jade just turned 3 years old. It is crazy that over 3 years ago I was prego with her.. 3 years ago I was at home with a new born.. I miss her being little..

I love having a 3 year old though.. A little about her now:
she is just over 3 feet tall, she is 32 pounds. Her feet are still chunky and we still have a hard time finding shoes to fit. Her thighs are still pudgy which I love to squeeze. Everything else has slimmed down. I miss her chunk.. Her hair is long and blond. It is now to the middle of her back. Straight as can be.. no curls unless of course I make it curl. Green eyes that still look just like her daddy. Toes are always painted. Usually each foot is a different color. Gap in her two front teeth.. YES!! still there.. cute as ever! She still looks like she did when she was born in so many ways.. JUST OLDER. much older. She talks as if she knows every word in the dictionary. She knows more Spanish than I do (thanks to Dora)

Her loves:
The Beatles, Ringo.. she has a drum set and says she is going to be the next Ringo.
She is into Bob Marley, Dave, and so on. I do not let her listen to rap music since she learns the words to music so easily. Music is for sure her love. Not just listening to it but playing it. She likes to "jam out" on her drum set (yes it is a real full drum set) or her one of many sting instruments   . She sings and dances and likes to play in "bands".

She is all into baby dolls right now(and barbies, and polly pockets, and little pet shop) She loves to feed them and sing to them and most of all she likes to make voices for them. She likes to roll play and tell the dolls what to do. She got a power wheels motorcycle for her birthday and it has a side car for her dolls (or Paxston..even though Pax is to big, we make it work.. ha)

Baseball and Football still catch her eye on the TV.

She rode rides for the first time this summer. Boats, Trains, and so on.. she loved it! It hit me that she is really big sitting in a ride all by herself going around and around.

Her fav. color is black right now. She says she likes black because it "shows up" . She picks black crayon, playdoh, shirts, and so on. Anything really that is black she likes.

She is potty trained. Has been for at least 7 months now. I didn't start when she was 2 because I didn't think she was ready. I waited until she was almost 2 and a half.. that was very smart of me because she caught on very well! She has only had 3 small accidents since she started. Still sleeping in pull ups but that's ok.

On her 3rd birthday I decided the pacy in the car and at nap time had to go. She never has it in public but I think she is too big for it in the car. I didn't want to take it away cold turkey since she loves it so much so right now she just has it at night time when it is dark outside only in her bed. She is doing well. Doesn't ask for it anymore but since the 12th of Aug,(and it is Aug 22nd right now) she has not once taken a nap. She says she can't sleep without her pacy so she just plays for 2 hours in her bed instead.

She loves to tell joke and say silly words. She laughs at herself all the time. She likes to race us in the house.

My fav things she says are: Mommy (or Daddy) I just love you..  :) also, she still to this day calls Zak and I babe.. YES .. BABE.. Hey Babe.. she says.. wonder where she hears that all time?! :)

She started preschool .. well she stars preschool next week and even though I am nervous, she is very excited to go play by herself. She thinks it is so cool that I will drop her off and pick her up.. :) that makes it easier on me for sure! We will see how it goes when it is actually time for me to drop her off.

She is still quite, and calm.. most the time,  loves nature and being outside.. doesn't like to finger paint because it is toooooo messsyy. She can pretty much do anything and everything you can think of.. She can jump, flip, and she loves to put on tu-tus and dance.. DANCE CLASS, here we come!

She has become the smartest, most beautiful child that I could have ever asked for. She is my everything and I did not realize how much I would continue to love her. I didn't think I could love her more than I did the day she was born but I was wrong. It is crazy to think that she is not a toddler.. not a baby.. a little girl. A beautiful little girl!

That's about it .. until next year, when she will be 4 years old.. omg!!!! 

In other words, guess I was blogging before I blogged..

Thats just how it works

Although the blogging has slowed down, the life has sped up. Here is a quick catch up.

We had a huge storm a few weeks ago. I hate storms. I like rain. I like thunder. I even like lightening. When you combine them and add wind really hot weather mixed with cold weather. Well, you get me freakin out because I just know there will be a tornado. I HATE tornado's! They scare me. Sweaty palms, heart beats fast, mind thinks a million things at one time, heart beats faster, breathing changes, and and boy does the praying begin! When we has weather issues, God is prob. like alright.. I guess I am about to hear Traci talk a million words a second for the next 2,3,4,5 hours. Thank you God for listening!!  Anyways, so we had one of those storms. I was a work. Work where every room has huge windows. Work that is about an 600 square foot 2 room office. No where to go. To sum it all up real fast. Tennessee had a horrible storm..

recorded tornados in hamilton county    youtube news about tornado    The tornado had at least 2.2 mile path. It is said to have been more than that bouncing around town. Trees on houses, trees uprooted in yards, roofs torn off, storage buildings and carports thrown across yards. It was crazy!  My street was hit by what looked like a tornado. It could have been the 60 mile winds but whatever it was left me without power for 3 days. I have to say. I would much rather have no power with running water than having power and no water. It wasn't too bad with no power other than no showers since we didn't have hot water. No cleaning clothes or the dishwasher. The worst part was no heat. We were lucky. Only a few small branches down in the yard. Here is Madyson helping clean up the yard the day after to storm.

This is just a picture of the sky one night. I didn't have my "cool" camera outside with me so this isn't as good as it could be. It also doesn't show how pretty it was. The sky was very blue with light pink swirls. Not the normal hot pink you see. I love pink skies!

So, on another happier note. WE GOT POWER! The house got cleaned, the fridge was cleaned out since we had to get rid of most everything left in it. I sent my meats to my moms house but it gave me a "have to" reason to clean out and clean up the fridge and freezer. There is a positive outcome to everything in life!

Enough about the storms.. (which by the way we had so much rain last night and today that everything is now flooded. for real.. )

FUNNY STORY!!!

Zak, Madz, and I were in the truck going to eat. I am so over eating on 153. Same thing for years and years. That is why I now cook. So we are trying to figure out where to eat. Ryans.. good salad, choice of food, and plus it isn't Fri, Sat, Sun, or Wed (these are the days I refuse to go to Ryans. Church crowd and cold left overs from the rush hour) On the way Mady blurts out.

 "I KNOW WHERE WE CAN GO"  

Where?

"THAT NEW PLACE.. YOU KNOW. THAT NEW PLACE"

(Humm, what new place?)

What is the name of it Mady?

"YOU KNOW, UMM.. PICCADILLY"

(we die laughing)

Ok, I guess. I have never been there

"THEY HAVE JELLO IN COLORS THAT JELLO ISN'T SUPPOSED TO BE"

Oh. ok

(I look at Zak and ask)

Do they have food there (meaning food I want)

Mady " YES THEY HAVE FOOD"

haha.. Zak agrees that they have food

Do they have good there for me to eat I ask Zak

Mady "YES THEY HAVE FOOD FOR YOU TO EAT"

Do they have good food that I will want to eat I ask Zak again

Mady "YES THEY HAVE GOOD FOOD THAT WE CAN ALL EAT"

ANOTHER FUNNY STORY!!!

Again in the truck. While Zak is driving, he comes to a stop sign and stops.

Mady: Good job 'topin at the 'top sign Daddy

Me: your so sweet Mady. You love to make people feel good. You have such a big heart. You are so nice

Mady: Sometimes I am nice to some people, Sometimes I am not nice to some people. THAT'S JUST HOW IT WORKS

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

So I look outside during all this rain and what do I find:

BIRDS GOING WORM HUNTING

Speaking of worms and birds. We have a ton of Robins at this house! One in particular is Mady's favorite. (and mine too) How do we know specifically which one it is and if it is the same one. Well take a look at this plump bird.

 I could pick it out of a crowd! She (I assume it is a she with eggs.. she is always with a skinny bird who we call he) but anyways She is not very fast. She likes to just sit in the yard and watch us. She lets us get pretty close to her. She doesn't jump/waddle. She has to hop and plop. I bought her a bird house from Kirkland's. I hope it is a she and I hope she uses the bird house I bought. It is like this but with a bird house on it. Made out of the same thing as the one pictured and almost the same colors. It is so cute. Just $10!

Now moving on to Kirklands! I love it I love it I love it. It is my Fav. store ever! EVER! If you are on their mailing list, you get (tons of emails) great coupons! $10 off $50, 20% off entire purchase, $5 off $25. Also, they have GREAT prices! For real. Just go in and check it out. Expensive looking, great quality, reduced prices. I just LOVE IT. I could decorate my entire house with it!

I have had my eye on this item for a while.. Well, I got it!! Here is mine!

Ok, so I know you are wondering what the blue bead things are.OMG These are cool. I got them 2 for $3 at Kirklands but I can not find them on their website. (There website never has everything they have in the store) These beads are called deco beads. They can be used with fresh flowers or just for color. You can use them straight from the package as a decoration or you can soak them in water for 5 hours and they expand, turn to a gelish bead and they release water to the flowers for 30 days. I just got them so I am not sure how they work with fresh flowers. Ill let you know (the roses were already leaning when I got them, not because they beads are not working) They are small beads and when you soak them they expand. I did not think that it looked like a ton of beads so I soaked the entire tube (some are in tubes some in packages) BOY was I in for a surprise. I only used maybe a third of the soaked ones. Look how much I have left.. I guess I need to go get more vases and flowers. Pretty cool though!! Click here to learn more about deco beads. Click here to see how pretty they are. I will for sure buy tons more in many colors to fill up my glass jars. Even if they do not work with fresh flowers. I find them soooo pretty!

Well, this blog is pretty here and there. That is it for now though. Just a few family photos on the kitchen floor to end.

February 2011

February 2011