Groceries: Week 1

Well, Husband and I just sorted through what groceries we will need for the first 7 days of our 17 Day Diet. The book, fortunately, has breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack example plans already laid out for each cycle, and for the first week, we're going straight from the book. So for this 7 days, we will need:

1. Eggs (lots and lots of eggs)
2. Red grapes
3. Apples
4. Peaches
5. Blueberries
6. Diet green tea 
7. Lettuce 
8. Spinach leaves
9. Chicken breast (insane amounts of chicken breast)
10. Bell peppers (red, orange, and yellow)
11. Carrots (frozen and raw)
12. Cucumbers
13. Green beans
14. Onions
15. Tomatoes
16. Truvia (instead of sugar or Sweet & Low)
17. 7 lemons
18. Sugar free yogurt 
19. Balsamic vinegar
20. Cabbage
21. 15 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
22. 14 oz. can of fat free chicken broth
23. Turkey breast or tenderloin
24. Turkey patties
25. Ground turkey
26. Sugar free strawberry jam
27. Frozen strawberries
28. Flaxseed oil
29. Kefir 
30. Taco seasoning
31. Shredded, reduced fat cheddar cheese
32. salsa

I mean.. This is ONE WEEK's worth of food. I'm slightly intimidated. At least for the first week I don't have to worry about school and preparing food. That will definitely be nice. 

I'm planning on cleaning out my refrigerator and pantry on January 2nd, so if anyone wants our excess food, please feel free to come and take it. It's not all junk, it's just stuff we're not allowed to have (pasta, Hamburger Helper, lunch snacks, brown rice, etc.).

Oh, by the way, we're officially starting this plan on January 3rd, so as to avoid New Years and the garbage that will be consumed during that time. January 2nd will be when I purchase everything on the afore-mentioned list and also when I rid our cabinets of excess food, and then by the 3rd, we'll be good to go!

I was talking to Husband at dinner tonight about what I am most excited for with this new diet plan. My whole life I have tried dieting and never had ultimate success (obviously). What I'm looking forward to is, once I lose some weight (even if it's not all the way down to my goal weight) being able to say that I actually did it. I've never had that kind of victory before because it never worked. I think once I know I can do it, it will be that much easier to maintain because I will have done it before. Because as it's always stood "I haven't ever been able to, so it must not be possible." 

I want to make it a possibility. 

WANTED:

Braylen and I want a child.

I mean, okay.. We won't take this one. 

He has a fabulous mommy already.

But one of similar cuteness and charm would be ideal.

Look at that Husband of mine.

He's in desperate need of a child to call his own,

so they can ram into him on the slide.

Can you see the look of desperateness in his eyes?

I mean, behind the sunglasses, of course.

It's there, I promise.

Darn you, higher education, for holding us back from our family expansion plans!

I told you that to tell you this.

Luke was 6 weeks old when we got him. He is now almost 8 months. Although he is pretty darn large, he is still a puppy. To add to this, we named him Luke Puppy. Puppy IS his middle name. Many people comment on the fact that we often refer to him as "Puppy," as though it is strange to call him such when he is so big. He responds to this name, as well as Luke. Besides the fact that he is, in fact, still a puppy (he's under a year old, people, and still acts very much like a puppy, regardless of his size) it is also his name. We will continue, long past his official puppy years, to call him Puppy.

I told you that to tell you this.

We have nicknamed nearly every activity we do based on our dog. If we take him for a walk, it's never "I'm taking Luke for a walk." We say, "I'm taking Luke for a puppy walk." Similarly, when we all go for a ride, it's not just a ride in the car, but a "puppy ride". Hm, there's "puppy nap," "puppy yawn," "puppy groan," and several others. Owning a dog really has increased the span of our vocabulary.

I told you that to tell you this.

Luke and I often go on "puppy walks". We normally take the same route, so as to visit all of our "puppy friends." Yesterday, I thought I would begin teaching him a new concept: stopping at every intersection to check for traffic. As we approach a curb, I tell him to "stop" then he is commanded to "sit". It took him a while to get the hang of it, but today when we walked, I brought treats, so it sped up the process immensely. He now will immediately sit as soon as he's commanded to "stop", without even needing the "sit" command. I was amazed at how quickly he picked it up! And not only that, but as he's sitting, waiting for me to tell him to go, I will look both ways down the street and he follows my glance and will look both ways also. It's pretty darn cute.

I told you that to tell you this.

I have an incredibly smart dog. And I use the term "dog" loosely because, as I said earlier, he is still very much a puppy. He still does not know his own size or strength, which makes him seem so much more "wild" than he really is. It's upsetting that he gets so excited when new people come around, because then most think he's a nuisance. It's when he becomes used to their presence that he can really show his true colors. I'm looking forward to the time when he is more calm and everyone can see the potential and intelligence in him that Husband and I see on a regular basis.

I told you that to ask you this.

Is it any wonder I'm so obsessed with our Luke Puppy?

Christmastime is here

Or was here, rather.


The day after Christmas is always a little bittersweet to me. It's sweet because you've had such a wonderful time with family and friends and [hopefully] brought home a lot of great loot! It's extremely bitter (at least for me) because I wait the entire year for Christmas Eve and Christmas. I love those two days. And the thought of having to wait a whole year for them to come again is entirely too sad for me to think about on this chilly winter's morning.

I've just had an idea! My birthday (which is on July 1st) will be Christmas-themed this year. Get your sweaters ready!! I'm not waiting a full 12 months this time!

Although Christmas is [or should be] about much more than gift-giving, I really scored this year. A few of my treasures include:

An amazing 3-in-1 printer (that also prints photos)

A foot spa set

A trip to an actual spa for a facial w/my MIL and SIL

Tons of Luke puppy toys/treats

A Candies purse

A pair of Bob's shoes (which are exactly like Tom's)

and The Beauty, The Magnificent, The Piece de Resistance:

My new Fuji-film Fine Pix S1800 with 18x Optical Zoom

Oooooo... Ahhhhhh... Soooooo pretty.

I absolutely love all the things that I received, but I have to say that Husband really won me over with this beauty of a camera. I knew he was getting me one, but I had no idea it would be this amazing. I love playing with it and taking pictures. Here are a few from the past couple of days:

Luke Puppy, on Christmas Eve, at my parents' house.

Chewing the new stick toy my mother bought him.

Husband and our future nephew, Makisig.

 Makisig, my BIL Logan, and Husband's cousin Lauren.

It's safe to say he is my favorite little kid to hang out with.

I mean, c'mon. Look at this face.

We (Husband and I) bought each other Christmas ornaments this year.

We intend to do so every year, as a new Christmas tradition together.

This is my first one: Kissmas Cottage, first in the series.

This one is his: Indiana Jones.

These we got as a gift from my mother when she returned from Germany.

Mmmm so happy with this camera. I look forward to sharing many more pictures/memories with you as they present themselves. 

I hope that your Christmas was as special as mine was! Husband and I both loved getting to spend it together. We look forward to many many more ahead (even if we do have to wait for them...)

Side Note:

       We saw True Grit yesterday and it was AMAZING and funny. Go see it now.

Puppy Love

I'm overwhelmed with love for my dog at this moment, and trying to encompass it within a FB status just wasn't cuttin' it.

By now you can see that I love to make lists. This post is no different.

Ten Reasons I Love My Dog, Luke:

1. We have a bed for him set up in the dining room under a table. When you're sitting in the living room and look over, you can see him. I love it when I look over and he's looking straight at me. This happens a majority of the time I glance over at him. He's always watching me to see that everything's okay. 
2. He is extremely smart. It's so much fun to get to show off all the tricks he can do when our friends and family come to visit. At this point in training, he's mastered sit, shake, speak, up, down, turn, praying, and probably a couple others that aren't coming to me at the moment. We still work on "go to bed" and "drop it" on a regular basis. "Stay/Wait" is also on our list of to-do's. Oh, also a BIG training point for us right now is toning down his excitement when guests come over. I'm pretty sure this will get easier with time, as his puppy-ness eventually simmers down, but no sense in not trying to work on it when we have the opportunity.
3. He's head over heels in love with Husband and I. I don't have specific instances to provide as examples, it's just a certainty I have. He is happiest when both of us our home and we're all together. 
4. Every once in a while, he'll get up from his bed in the dining room and come over to where I am on the couch and rest his head on my leg so I can pet him. He's just ridiculously loving.
5. He loves to go on car rides. He doesn't try to get in the front seat, he doesn't try to jump out of the window, he doesn't bark... He's absolutely perfect. In fact, I often forget he's even in the car with us. That is, until I glance at the side mirror and see him with his head out of the window, ears blowing in the wind, happy as a clam. 
6. When we go on walks, he's the kind of dog that will want to sniff/lick any dog we come to. All the dogs we pass in yards will bark or growl at him, and he doesn't even flinch. He's very non-confrontational.
7. He's friendly to every person that we meet. He loves our family. He is a little rough with kids, despite the fact that he absolutely adores them. He just doesn't realize how much stronger/bigger he is than they are. He is getting better, and I'm excited to see how he is when we have kids.
8. His guard dog skills have vastly improved in the past 2-3 months. There's a noticeable difference between his normal, everyday bark and the bark he gives when the doorbell rings or someone knocks at the door. He also dislikes when my car horn beeps (like when I remote lock the doors) and when my cell phone rings and the ringer is turned on. He's just started barking to the cell phone yesterday, but he did it again today from a dead-sleep. We're hoping that, as time progresses and he becomes less interested in his surroundings at night and more interested in getting sleep, we'll be able to let him sleep outside of the crate. This would make him a much more effective guard dog and would make me feel a lot safer when Husband works nights.
9. He's 100% potty-trained. Hallelujah! 
10. Although my cat hisses/swats at him more often than not when he passes by, he still tries to lick her and sniff her every chance he gets. He's just such a sweet dog, no matter who he meets or how they treat him.

I'm kind of obsessed with my dog, oops. He's just kind of wonderful.

following "shake" command

Weekend

Well, "taking it easy" since school got out has been a little challenging since we'd already made plans for this weekend. Once I got home from my last final on Friday, Braylen took me back up to Norman to go to one of my favorite restaurants for a celebratory lunch (Reeeeeeeeed Robin, yummmm). Love that place. Then we got home, I took a nap, and when I woke up, we went out to eat AGAIN to celebrate the good grade I got on the final I took that morning (Napoli's). Afterwards we had a mishap at Walgreens and then headed out into the wilderness (aka Ninnekah, OK) to see a friend of ours we hadn't seen since, what, June? I got to catch up with her and Bray got to play CoD Black Ops for the first time (he was unimpressed).

The madness continued Saturday. We woke up to the sounds of beep-beep-beeping at the door (our open bedroom window is RIGHT by the front door). We were both thoroughly confused in our sleepiness, until it dawned on me... It's UPS!! So Bray got up and brought in our goodies from the mailbox... Three packages and two Netflix movies... Yay!! We bought the "Shrek" 4disc box set, "A Muppet's Christmas Carol", and "Where the Heart Is". We were awake at that point, so we got up and watched "A Muppet's Christmas Carol". I started cleaning and getting ready for our long-lost friends to come have lunch with us. Finally got here around 1pm. We ate Chicken Express and talked about dogs. =]

After they left, we headed up to Oklahoma City to have our Christmas dinner at Grandma Betty's. I had the best cream corn I've ever tried and watched part of "Open Season" and "Kung Fu Panda" (there were children present, by the way... These were not my choices). My "nephew", Makisig, stole my heart yet again. He's so stinkin' cute. After eating, the kiddos opened presents and the adults opened cards (we hauled in a couple hundred this year!!) and then everyone parted ways by 7:30. When we got home, we watched "Where the Heart Is" then headed to bed.

Today, the plan is to go to Grandma Virginia's here in Chickasha to do her Christmas get-together. We'll probably stay an hour or so, then come back home. Some of his aunts want to come over to see our house, and then my friend Darcy is supposed to swing by on her way to Texas.



So far I've accomplished three things on my list:

#7: Watch movies with my honey as often as possible.
#8: Spend as much time as I can with my parents, parents-in-law, and friends.
#9: Continue to write on my blog to document what I can accomplish over the break.

Productivity

This is the first Christmas in a long while that I haven't had any obligations to fulfill (either job-wise or otherwise) and I've decided... That I need some dang obligations. But good ones. I want to be productive over the break, because it's been a long time since I've had a fun project to do, that I could accomplish during free time instead of in the place of something I should have been doing.

Whatever will I do with myself?!?!? I have a few ideas...

1. Work on the scrapbook I started for Braylen and I last year. It contains the story of our relationship and I gave it to him as a Christmas present last year. I haven't update it since he proposed (yikes!) so I have a lot to catch up on. 
2. Religiously keep up with the housework. I told Bray, I've really been slacking on my part of the housework over the past couple months, and this Christmas, he'll see the kind of housewife he's only dreamed of! It's kind of exciting to me... 
3. Speaking of religion, I'd like to find a church home for us. Christmas seems an appropriate time. We went to First Baptist a couple of Sundays, but our work schedules conflicted and we couldn't commit long enough to get involved. I'd like to try again, especially now that Braylen will be working nights. Even if he works Saturday night and gets off at 6am Sunday, we could still go to church and he could sleep before and after. I'm definitely excited about this one. It's been a long time for both of us..
4. Work double-time on puppy training with Luke. It kind of got lax with school being crazy the past few months, and we've really been working hard the past week or so. I just want to make sure he keeps improving, instead of plateauing. He's such a smart boy and he can learn so much.. Just have to stay consistent!
5. [If finances allow for it,] I'd like to work on house decor a little bit. We don't have curtains in any rooms but our bedroom. That's something I'd really like to accomplish. I hate the look of just blinds and no curtains. I'd also like to get our downstairs bathroom somewhat spruced up. With that bath tub, it could really be cute!! 
6. FINALLY order the prints from our wedding. In particular, I want to get a huge canvas of one of the black and white pictures from the day afters to hang in our bedroom.
7. Watch movies with my honey as often as possible. 
8. Spend as much time as I can with my parents, parents-in-law, and friends.
9. Continue to write on my blog to document what I can accomplish over the break. I really hope it's interesting to you all, and not boring.
10. Plan for and start buying the foods I'll need to start my diet in January. Of course, I can't start this until late December because it calls for mostly fresh fruits and veggies, as well as chicken and such, but it is something I need to set my mind to.

Like I said, I'd like to hold myself to several of these goals, and I hope that committing to documentation through this blog will enable me to do so. Hold me to it, ladies! 

Cycles Approach

And I don't mean for phonological therapy.


I went to bed last night dreading how I would be able to study my horrendous pile of notes for my Speech Science test tomorrow. I forced myself to read through all of them on Tuesday (gosh, that seems so long ago...) and last night was the first time I'd looked at them since. I knew this was going to be my hardest test to study for and try to wrap my head around, but I woke up and decided to give myself a break.

Since I've been up, my method of studying has been as follows:

1. Read a day's worth of notes (the way I have my notes organized on OneNote has them separated by day). 
2. Read a chapter from "The 17 Day Diet" (which I received in the mail yesterday!!!!)
3. Check facebook, email, d2l, and any other form of web media I desire (which actually takes less time because I get to do it so often that nothing changes)
4. Begin again at Cycle 1.

It's really been working out for me. I don't get burnt out on reading notes because one day's worth really isn't that much. PLUS I get to read my new book, which is turning out to be reallllly good and I'm almost somewhat disappointed that I am waiting until after the holidays to start! ha. The foods sound really good and losing 20 pounds in a month sounds even better. (By the way, I deciphered that my goal weight is about 130-150lbs.. Depending on if I'm considered medium or "big-boned". I can't tell if I'm big-boned or not because I've always been overweight. So I think I'm going to settle for my goal weight being around 140lbs.)

Getting to know more about this weight loss plan had me thinking that it would be kind of neat to document here how it's going. What I eat, when I eat it, how it makes me feel, and how well/poorly it's going. It'll be interesting to see where this takes me, and I'd like to share it with those of you that have been reading. 

I'm ready to get started and excited that Husband wants to take the journey with me. In fact, he said yesterday, "I want to lose my gut and work on a six-pack." I laughed until I realized he was serious. I told him, "If my husband wants to have a six-pack, I have absolutely no objections!!" I'm so happy he's willing to work on this with me, even if he's happy with how I am now.

My lovely MIL sent me this message about a week ago:

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens" Ecclesiastes 3:1

I think that this is your season.

I'm ready to get started!!!

But for now, it's back to Cycle One.

What's left of my brain.

This may be a hodge-podge of topics, because that's just the kind of mood I'm in.


Since I've been listening to Holiday Traditions on the XM radio in my loaner car, I've discovered SEVERAL new Christmas songs I never heard before: "Marshmallow World" by Dean Martin, "The Christmas Waltz" by Peggy Lee, "Winter Weather" by Tony Bennett, and many more. It's been kind of nice to add these to my list of favorites.


My dog needs a bath. He's very smelly. I'm sorry to any guests or persons that may be in his presence until said-bath takes place.


I'm in the middle of finals week, currently. In the past, I've blown through midterms/finals weeks without any problems. This is different. I'm exhausted all the time. Each day goes by so slowly. Maybe it's because I failed my first one. Kind of set a bad tone for the rest of the week. (And when I say fail, I mean REALLLLY failed. Lowest grade in the class, kind of fail). Fortunately, I think I still hold a B in the class so whatever. And the second test I had (which was this afternoon) I feel very confident about so maybe once I get that grade back I'll feel better about the rest of the week. Tomorrow I have another test that I feel pretty good about, but the big one (the one I thought I'd get the worst grade in) will be on Friday. I can't imagine bombing a test any worse than I did Monday, so I'm hoping for the best. But so far, my notes have not looked promising.


My cat stinks, too. But it's mostly her breath. Have you gotten close enough to your cat's mouth that you can smell his/her breath? I'm telling you... You think dog breath is bad, you got another thing coming smellin' a cat's breath. It's awful. Terrible. Horrible. Ungodly.

But she'd throw a hissy fit (no pun intended) if I tried to do anything about it.


My husband plays a lot of video games. A lot. A looooooooooot. He's playing one right now. Except he'd probably get mad at me for calling it a video game. The correct term, I'm told, is "MMORPG". Sigh, I mean, is it that much of a difference? It still takes away precious bonding time he could be spending with his lovely, talented, completely interesting and riveting wife.


I just had to look up if there is a difference in spelling between riveting (attention holding) and riveting (as in "Rosie the Riveter") because I don't want you all to think I often do work with rivets. I don't know how one actually "rivets," so I wouldn't want to be misleading. That is not a talent of mine. Although, it could be a hidden skill of mine that I've yet to discover... Hmm... Interesting...

They're spelled the same, as it turns out.


I think I'm done.

To the pokey.

I like to see people be taken away in cuffs. It's thrilling, exciting, and out-of-the-ordinary. It also brings a feeling of triumph when you're the one that brought about the events to put them in cuffs.

This applies to only people rightfully-accused, of course.

Our neighbors are noisy. Last night we called in a complaint (our second one, I might add) which led to the police coming to ask them to quiet down. I guess they found something more reprehensible than loud speakers, however, because two more cars came within minutes... Pictures were taken and the four hoodlums were hauled off in cuffs... to the pokey.

(my husband told me to say that)

Lately we've had to resort to watching Cops on TV.

(what's with TV channels these days having nothing on?)

And I think this has catalyzed my need to witness crime being resolved. Takin' the bad guys down. Hittin' 'em where it hurts. Do the crime, do the time. Feet to the fire. Get down to brass tacks. Pedal to the metal. Elvis has left the building. Don't count your chickens before they hatch, and curiosity killed the cat.

Wait, those idioms don't make sense do they? Got a little carried away, sorry.

Maybe in another life, I was a police officer, security guard, or FBI agent. Possibly a police dog?

Bad boys, whatchu want?

Whatchu want? Whatchu gonna do?

When Sheriff John Brown come for you

Tell me whatcha wanna do? Whatcha gonna do?

Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do?

Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do?

Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

You've got to accentuate the positive...

Eliminate the negative.



I have been a bummer lately, and I just want to officially declare my apologies.
I am not a grump, I just have been very grumpy lately.
School is a pain, Husband is away 6/7 nights, my puppy is a disaster case, and did I mention school is a pain?


Top 10 Reasons Why I Should Shut My Mouth:

1. I am married to the best man I know. He takes care of me, provides for our household, makes me laugh, loves me relentlessly, thinks babies are cute, loves our Lord, has a really cute puppy-dog look, and hugs and kisses his momma, daddy, and brother each and every time he sees them. I adore him. And that's that.
2. God gave me this opportunity to go to graduate school. He gave me not only the opportunity itself, but the skill to get there and the support to see me through. I attend a wonderful school that many people would love to get the chance to learn within. 
3. When I'm lying on the couch, watching TV (as I often do.. don't judge me), Luke will every once in a while wake from his comfortable nap on his doggie bed to come check on me. He lays his puppy head on my knee and waits for his puppy rub. How do you not smile?
4. My parents and in-laws support me 100%. That's extremely hard to come by.
5. Multiple people pray for me daily. I shouldn't let them down by sabotaging God's work in my life.
6. I get to hear Christmas music every day. 
7. When I drive to school, I get to watch the sun come up. God shows me what beauty can be. 
8. Things like this sometimes happen: The other day I looked pitifully at Husband and pouted saying, "You know what I wish I had right now?" and he silently got up and got me a pair of socks because he knew my feet were cold. This particular instance had never happened before, he just knew what I needed. Like he always does. See #1. 
9. I have a few really good friends. They're few and far between, so I'm extremely thankful for the ones I have. 
10. I'm alive today.

To illustrate my last remark

Jonah and the whale

Noah and the ark

What did they do 

just when everything looked so dark?

They said we gotta accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative

And don't mess with Mister In-Between

New Life Resolution

My New Life Resolution

I don't normally do New Years Resolutions. I kinda think they're silly, for the most part, and they've never worked for me. I've always preferred New Day Resolutions. As it turns out, those don't work for me either. Apparently, resolutions, in general, are very hard for me to stay motivated about.

Besides, my life needs to change, not my year or day.

I am overweight. According to BMI scales, I am obese. It has taken me a few years to come to terms with that fact, but I've got a grasp on it now. Some call it BBW (big beautiful woman) and some call it fat. I tend to lean towards the latter, cos I tend to not feel so beautiful being big, but that's just my own personal feelings on the subject.

I do not like my body. And let me explain that I never have. I won't go into all the gory details because blogs are supposed to be funny and cheerful, right? Let's just sum it up to say that, despite my husband telling me each and every day that I am beautiful and he loves me just the way I am, I do not and never have felt sexy or desirable, much less beautiful.

Wah, wah, wah.

Okay, I'm addicted to food. I admit it. I love cooking, and I love eating. More than most. It's not some problem where I find comfort in food because I had a horrible childhood and needed an escape from my pain (not to minimize those who that is an issue for). I had a great childhood, and wasn't taught to have unhealthy eating patterns. I just love food, and I love eating. It's fun to me. I don't like leaving a plate unless it's empty. Preferably after a second helping. I enjoy the tastes and smells and the satisfaction of satiation.

I need to change. I need to be better... for my husband, myself, and for our future family together. I need to stop avoiding the mirror (I can't remember the last time I stood in front of one). I need to stop hating every inch of myself. I need to cook healthier and eat healthier. I need to stop caring what my mother and extended family think of my weight. I need to stop thinking my appearance isn't good enough for my husband.

And I need to start now.

I watch Dr. Phil. In fact, I DVR it every day. (I blame Darcy Kay Jergens for this habit.) The other day he had a guest on his show named Dr. Mike Murano, who researched and authored the diet and book, The 17 Day Diet. From what I understand, the premise of the diet is to eat a certain set of foods for 17 days and then cycle through other types of foods every 17 days after that. I guess it psyches out your body and you continually lose weight instead of plateauing and eventually giving up. I don't believe in diets, and I am highly skeptical of this one.

But I ordered it.