SNOW DAY

It snowed the most ever on the last day of February!

Ship visit

Tonight we went to visit Ethan in his new ship, the USS Shiloh here in Yokosuka Japan.
The older kids really had a good time. Ava, who is now 2... Not so much fun for Mommy.

Watch Out!!

I just may be back in blog heaven....
It sucks I haven't blogged in such a long time, but I think we may be back in business!
With the iPhone I've just acquired, blogging will be easier than ever.
I can't wait to share all the places we frequent...
With Ava at the 'terrible2's and all... It's hard to blog anything.
Here's to hoping the new gadget I've come upon can be the solution.

Ethan and I

:-) just a few of us too....

Olivia

Is almost 10 years old and in 4th grade.

Evan

Is 6 and a 1/2 now and in 1st grade. He also has lost 3 teeth. :-)

Ava

Is 19 months old now!

Hello again....

So it's been about 7 months.

Long time no see!

Wow, so many things have changed in 7 months.

I hope to be filling you in soon.

Look for new photos and updates.

I sure so miss my little old blog........

Photo Update #2

Here is a few from today, Olivia's basketball game.
She is in the 9~12 yr old league. :)
She is really having fun. :)

Photo update!

Here are a few shot's of Evan playing 5~6 yr old basketball.
He is enjoying himself, and we love watching him try hard and be all boy! :)

This one is for the MEMORY Books!!!! ~~~>

Photo update

Ava, Almost 1 year old.

Evan, 6... waiting to play some basketball. (Number 4)

Olivia, 9 playing in the yard....... SNOW!

So busy!!

Wow! We have been busy.

So, here is the re-cap of the past few weeks.

Ethan is gone. He is working away for now, and will be for a few weeks. I look forward to his call's and Skype call's. Evan and Ava are doing well with his absence, but Olivia is struggling. :(

But, to keep us busy during the weeks --->
The kids have started Basketball! We have practice for both kids at diffrent times 2 times a week per child. Ugh!! Can be so busy, but some days they have practice on the same day and that's nice. We have games on Sat.

Also, Olivia is in Girl Scouts and now i am helping out weekly, so ... We ALL go. Monday is one busy day.

Olivia is also in a Speed Stacking club at school on Thursday Afternoons. We just play at the park, while she is stacking.

Evan is not into to many things, but Olivia sure is.

Ava and Mommy stay busy at home trying to get the house in order and the shopping done.

Yesterday we did a Job for Modeling for Ava. It was a Big Job and lasted 12 hours...You know, Ava was having fun and not upset one bit. Just walked and played. She sure had fun!

It's almost Valentines day and were getting those things together, for school. And the 100th day of school is also coming up and we have potluck's and crafts ... (mostly for Evan).
........... and Field Trips, SIGH......... busy i say!!!

Ok, Well... that's the update from here.

Day ??

I took the weekend off....
Then, today when i was going to "get it together"... i blew it tonight.
UGH! NEED to get re motivated.
But... the "17 day diet" thing is soooo $$ and over here (in Japan) it's hard to get the food needed. :(


So, i am still going to follow it as i can, and diet as i can.
:) Working out as well.... Keep Cheering me on. :)

The 15th Day....

So, today was the 15th day of this 17 day cycle.
I had a "free" day. Although it was free, it was not about eating whatever i wanted.
I am still on a plan to loose weight.
No worries.
I did weigh in today, another week gone by.
I only lost just over a pound.
At 1st i thought it was just 1/2 of a pound, but it was a little over a pound after i did the math.
So this makes the 2 WEEK TOTAL at 4.6 pounds.
Not bad for 2 weeks.
Not as good as i hoped with the "promises" this plan offers. But, everything is relative.
I am ok with the loss,.... and i can and will keep on keep'n on.

So, today i planned a day out with a friend and knew i was going to cheat.
I had one Krispy Cream Donut... one Cafe' Latte at Starbucks, the small size. Also... with Very little sugar.
Then for lunch we went to El Torito's in the SKY.
I was worried about this. But, I did good. After looking at the menu i knew what i needed to order. A Salad. A Shrimp Salad.
I wanted all the beans and rice and so on. But, i did good and got a very lite Salad... with Very lite dressing and i ate one Tortilla.
Afterwards we went to the SOGO Food Extravaganza and i bought a few goodies, but only tasted them... and gave the rest away!
SIGH... that was hard, as i love good food....

Anyways, tonight we are having Chicken and Veggies and i am going to try to "get back on the wagon" for tomorrow.

My goal is far off... but this is a lifestyle change. I am making good choices for the future. I am not willing to sacrifice good times with good friends because i am afraid that one day,.... will screw me up forever. It wont~!

I am Keep'n on Keep'n on!!!!

Day 13 !!!

This cycle is almost over!
Oh Yea!!!!!
5 more days.

I have been 'good'. I had one "bad day" but let me tell you that only consisted of 1/2 of a mixed drink and a bite of ice cream. HEY... we were @ Chili's and i enjoyed it VERY much and not regretting it.
I LOVED the Salmon @ chili's and it hit the spot.

Honestly, i want the carbs... the bread. But, my body is not "craving" it. I only want it because i know how good it is.
Otherwise, i am A OK.
I cant wait to mix up my meals a bit next cycle. YAY for Oatmeal and Brown Rice. (LOL)

I have only weighed in once, but let me tell you i feel FANTASTIC!
I am loosing inches but wont know about the weight until next weigh in, Thursday.
(2 FULL weeks)
My last day on this cycle is the Sunday!

Oh... and i am adding in a "shake" into my diet. It's a Low/No Carb Shake~low cal/fat... and it's only for on -the-go days when i cant/don't pack a lunch or breakfast.
Hey.... it cant hurt, as the other option is a drive thru!

Day 9

Wow, has it really been 9 days? I feel like i just wrote the "day 3" blog yesterday. Now, if time would continue to fly like this!!


I had a hard day, the day before yesterday. So, i Tried REALLY hard to make yesterday's day the best i could.
I had a mixed veggie omelet for breakfast w/ my coffee and so on.
Then, I packed my lunch because the Daughter's and I were going on a Shopping day (Skipping school).
So, Olivia and I both packed our lunches and headed out. Now, the chicken wraps were not As Delish as i wanted them to be. They dried out a little bit. Live and Learn.
But, dinner was amazing.


We ate with Coleen and Ryan, like we do a few times a week. Dinner was roasted Cajun Chicken nuggets over salad w/ parm mushrooms and roasted brussel sprouts.
I used 2 tbsp of lite ranch... and it was sooooooooooooooo good. :) YAY!


Today is day 9 and i started off this morning wanting something sweet. So, i made a Mock French Toast from the Facebook Blog "17 day diet" and WOW!! So yummy. (basically a Sweet Egg)
One thing this "diet" or "change of life" what every you wanna call it has done for me... is make me fall in LOVE with yogurt. Yummmmy!!!

Weigh In

Today is the Morning of Day 8 and my official Weigh-In. :):)
I was hoping for at least a 1 pound loss, but nope! 3 TOTAL POUNDS! Whoooooooohooooo!!!
Some great motivation to keep going. :)

Day 6!

So YAY day 6 has come and gone.
Day 6 has been THE EASIEST so far. Way Easy!!!!
Yesterday i had Very Little hunger pains. I actually don't want to eat much at all.
It's kinda cool.
I am pushing the healthy foods though.

Today i did not exercise, but i was on the "go" all day...
I have burned those cal's via cleaning and walking for sure.

Yesterday was big for me. I packed a lunch!!!
EVERYtime i go to "base" i always run through somewhere for a quick bit of food. Not yesterday!
There was no way i could eat at Taco bell or McDonald's (IMO) on phase one. So, i packed a lunch for while i was out and running errands.
Honestly? I was GOOD!!! And... i had happy to eat it.
I did not want to eat the greasy food anyways. So, i sat in my car between stores and munched on the fresh selection i brought. BREAK THROUGH!!! I can do this, and it's going to be easy!!

Ok, enough of that.
:)
..........Day 6's dinner of rotisserie chicken and salad w/ roasted cauliflower & brussel sprouts was sooooo good! :)

End of the 5th day....

And it's the end of the 5th day.

I will admit, today was hard.

I reallly wanted to have some SWEETS!!

Breakfast of egg omelet was boring... Lunch of soup was not so bad.

But, i have run out of my favorite Greek yogurt and the berries, so.... i need to go out tomorrow for some more.

And Apple for a snack on a cold day... it's sucking.

Tonight i made Crock pot turkey and it was dry.

:(:(

I served it with a tiny bit of Cream of mushroom soup i added water to... and made into a gravy of sorts. It was low in everything i am watching (sugar) and ... i only used a SMALL amount.

If not, i would not have been able to choke it down. :(

So, today was a success in other areas!!!! I walked 2 times today!!! Once to get Olivia and Evan from school & take them to the girl scout meeting. Then, after the meeting we walked all the way home. That was At Least Two 20 minute "workouts".

Tonight, i am going to focus on pushing the water and green tea.

And, if i get hungry, i will eat the "soup" i made from the book. It's a chicken and veggie soup. It's Really good and keeps me Full.

Day 5 ...

... and still going strong.
Yesterday (4) was good. No mix up's and i drank the water/green tea.
I did not eat much i think... in Calories, but i was not hungry.
Did push the protein though. :)
Today i woke up NOT feeling the Lemon Water. I am STILL choking it down, 1 hour later.

~ok, just chugged it~

Now... i can have my Coffee and some breakfast. Oh yes!

Yesterday i did not get in my workout, but i did work around the house.
Today? I plan to walk around the neighborhood for a bit.

I will say,... now at day 5 i am feeling Really good. My clothing was already big to begin with (a side effect of not loving tight clothing) and so ... this morning my pants were falling down with every step. lol
Water weight is water weight.... it's STILL weight! :) I am loving this UN bloated feeling! :)