Lucky Ducky!

I must start by saying I NEVER win ANYTHING! I can remember being in a pumpkin carving contest at our bank in our small town when we were growing up and my sister won and my parents hid $5 under my pumpkin because they felt bad.... sad, sad.

Anyways, I think my luck is changing! I'm an avid reader of Seriously So Blessed {one of the funniest blogs around!} and I entered one of her giveaways, well yesterday I noticed she posted the winners- I couldn't click fast enough and I see MY name next to this super cute hoodie!


Isn't that so fun?!

My Journey...

I haven't blogged in a while about my weight loss... Perhaps I feel you all are getting tired of it. My motivation needs a tune up, school is kicking my booty, but I realized today that I should be good and proud of my progress.

I've been contemplating telling everyone just how fat I used to be-- but I've decided against that. lol. Maybe once I reach my goal I will post it... that's to be determined though. lol

About my goal... a lot of people have asked me what my goal is. To answer that, my goal has never been a number. My goal is to feel good about myself when I look in the mirror. To be able to shop in a store and not have to buy plus size clothing {which I no longer have to do! YAAY!}. My goal is to be happy with my appearance, which is loaded right there. I know that I will never be a size 2- I'm 5'9" for cryin' out loud, that won't happen. lol. So... my goal, my dear friends, is to be the best me I can be. If that means I stop losing weight next week, perfect, if that means I stop in 20lbs- great! But this whole journey is so emotional that I just need to love me for me.

I was telling my friend the other day I still look in the mirror and see the "old" me. I still think my stomach is huge, my butt is giant, and my thighs are disgusting. It's all so mental. I know I've lost weight, I see the scale. But as a woman that's been overweight for so long I think there's a little voice inside me saying "it's just not good enough". Day by day I'm trying to get better, to love myself, to appreciate my body the way it is. Today I noticed I walked 4 flights of stairs and then about 8 city blocks downtown Phoenix and never once lost my breath. It was amazing. Small victories like those remind me of how far I really have come. This past weekend my hubs text me a quote from Preisthood session. Elder Uchdorf, "The Lord doesn't, nor should we, compare our efforts to others" I'm sure he was meaning this pertaining to the Gospel, but I am guilty of doing this in all aspects. So that's another thing I'm trying to do is not compare myself to others.

So, to date I've lost 110lbs in my 8 months since having my band. I've gone down about 12 dress sizes and 3 bra sizes {sorry if that is tmi- but I think it's so funny how small they are now! lol}. My wrists have shrunk so much that I had 3 links taken out of my watch and I no longer need chain extenders for my necklaces. I also cross my legs ALL the time now! I can paint my own toenails, too!




This picture was me at my sis-in-laws bachelorette party late last November. This is for sure a "before" picture.
This pic is me Saturday night... It's amazing to look at the difference... Crazy!

Thank you, my sweet friends, for all your support, encouragement, and love throughout this wild and crazy journey!

Super Saturday Turned Fabulous Friday

This year I'm doing our wards "Super Saturday" but all of the Saturdays were a no go for our building so my friend suggested doing it on a Friday night... hence the "Fabulous Friday!"
I'm way excited! I have a new found friend who has a vinyl business who did my super Saturday when I lived in Verrado, Sage. She is AMAZING! As is my bff Britty who has been my right hand craft woman in helping me do this! She has been such an awesome sport with this!


So here are the crafts we are doing! Tell me what you think... I"m so excited, but the hubs isn't so excited for how much I'm going to spend! ;)
We are also doing picture blocks and flower hair clips but I don't have pics of those! {Thanks Tera for doing the bows!}

The Stockings Were Hung Board is going to have a few little jewels on it and is only $21 {it comes in red, white, or green}

This cute little believe block also comes in red, white, or green and has cute sparkles for $5
k, I'm most excited for the Give Thanks... it will be out in my house year round and is only $17!







The Fun Money bank also comes in "Mission Fund", "Savings" and is only $7 and come is a variety of different dot colors






This Believe tile is $5 and can also say "Noel", "Joy", or "Peace"






This "Have yourself a merry little Christmas" also comes in white and the "C" comes in a variety of different colors, too and is $17






I'm loving these "Harvest" blocks... $12!!





So I put the prices for because I'm putting my blog address on the order form so the Sisters in my ward can come look before they put their orders in and then they won't have to wait to see the table on Sunday! :)

Melting

Last night was Bry's night to pick for our date, and let me tell you, he didn't disappoint! I knew the night would be good when he came home with roses... I {heart} roses! Though I made the mistake of telling Bry early on that I didn't like flowers because they just die, he still surprises me every now and again with them! He's the best!

Anyways, we got all dolled up and headed over to Ahwatukee to the Melting Pot... can we say oh my YUM?! We'd never been, so it was a super fun experience. We were there nearly 2 hours and enjoyed every minute of the romance, the food, and the company. This salad was the Caprese salad and OH MY GOODNESS! I wanted more, and more, and more... and I'm still craving it tonight! Everything was so perfect! Well, until this super drunk guy in a table near by started to speak loudly about "Mormons" and the kind of people we are, but I'm trying to forget about that. Thankfully, this guy being annoying was somewhat entertaining seeing as even the servers were getting annoyed with him! But, back to the awesome date... lol


I love spending time with the hubs, and there's just something about sitting shoulder to shoulder sharing yummy chocolate and feeding each other that just screams romance!

I'm so blessed to have such an amazing hubby! But now I need some ideas on how to one up him next weekend! ;) Thanks babe for being so amazing and putting so much thought into our date, and thanks even more for stopping at Filiberto's on the way home and getting me a horchata-- now THAT's love!

Spoiled

My parents have been staying with us and we are all getting a little spoiled. My kids especially. They love Papa getting up and cooking them breakfast every morning, and love even more that Papa listens to their requests! I love that my Dad likes to keep a clean kitchen so I can be lazy and the kitchen still gets done! ;)

Tonight at 10:04pm Papa was setting up for breakfast in the morning. I told him the kids were getting too spoiled and he needed to make them cereal for breakfast so that when they leave my kids don't go into total shock when they realize Mommy doesn't cook breakfast on school days. :)
Papa did say cereal wasn't an acceptable breakfast {he wanted to make chorizo and eggs or french toast} so he is making toast and sausage to accompany their cereal.

I'm glad my kids are getting time to be spoiled by Grammy and Papa. Natali gets her hair and jewelery done by Grammy every morning. I am loving getting to shower and get dressed while my kids are getting the finishing touches done to them! It's nice to have my parents around and spend time with them also! Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Birthday Boys!!!!

Today is such a special day! Two of my favorite boys in the universe have their birthdays today!
I'm sure it's not easy to share a birthday with your brother, but Andy and Giovanni do a good job at it!

We woke up at 6:30 to open birthday gifts, eat birthday breakfast {an all meat omelet for Andy and homemade pancakes drenched in syrup for Giovanni! Yum!!}, and get ready for school! The boys brought cupcakes to school with them {60 cupcakes!! YIKES!} then we brought them lunch to school... Giovanni wanted a McDonald's happy meal and Andy wanted Asian beef with rice and sushi {yumm-o!!}.

Tonight we are making Hawaiian haystacks for dinner and then having a family over for cake. Then I'll be staying up all night baking-- Giovanni's party is at 10 tomorrow morning and Andy's is at 2 tomorrow afternoon {I don't know what I was thinking lol}

I'm so happy to celebrate these boys today... they are my little lover buggers! I couldn't imagine my life without them!
{we went to Fry's today-- the boys climbed into the freezer-- I had to take a pic!!}


10 Reasons I Love My 10 Year Old {"Andy Pandy Pants"}
1. He can ALWAYS make me laugh {unless he's making me cry-kidding!}
2. He keeps me on my toes
3. He asks every day {without fail} if he can drive
4. He is one of the best helpers when he knows I'm stressed
5. He loves to read and when he's really into a book you can't even talk to him
6. He is a mans man, loves meat, guns, and pretty girls {I'm in trouble! lol}
7. He is developing a testimony of the Gospel and will make a great missionary
8. He is truly smart
9. When he puts his mind to something there's no stopping him
10. He is constantly seeking after knowledge


5 Reasons I Love My 5 Year Old {"Barky Von Shnowzer"}
1. He is my boy {just ask him, he loves me the most}
2. As much as he struggled with speaking, he tried so hard and his hard work payed off
3. He has developed the cutest little personality
4. He gives the best foot rubs EVER {and loves giving them!!}
5. He takes after his Daddy- could sit and watch movie after movie and popcorn for every meal!


Boys, I love you so much! I'm so blessed to be your Mommy! You two are my favorite boys EVER! I love you both the most-- I WIND!!! ;)

Advancing

Tuesday night Andy was advanced from a Bear to a Weblo in Cub Scouts. He also received his Religious Knot, one of the only 3 awards you can take with you in scouting. I am so proud of Andy, of all our hard work {it was as much me climbing on him as it was him lol} and of the confidence this has given him!

Part of the advancement they have a parent go up with the scout and have a contest, like eat three crackers and then try to howl like a wolf... well, Bry and Andy got a tin of whipped cream each and had to find the candy kisses hidden inside... only my hubby would end up putting the tin in our son's face when they were done and the whipped cream would fly all over one of my besties in the ward... Good thing Tera loves me and is a good sport! ;)I'm so proud of Andy. He has grown so much in the past few years. I love seeing his little testimony develop and I love seeing the example he is setting for the other kids. This does make me sad because this means it's Andy's last year in Cub Scouts , next year {when he turns 11} he will be in Boy Scouts... it's crazy to think of! But I am happy we won't have to buy a new book each year! ;)

Way to go, Andy! You're my favorite {almost} 10 year old!!