My weightloss journey:

A friend of mine asked me if I would write something for her weight loss because I had inspired her. I thought that was really nice and I appreciated the compliment. I decided to post it here on my blog too since it is a big part of my life. I really don't like sharing my weight with the world but I thought it was important in this case.

12 years ago after giving birth to my 1st child, I decided it was time to do something about my weight. I was at my heaviest(180) and felt miserable. I, at that time decided to join Weight Watchers and it worked. I lost about 50 pounds and felt great. I was finally where I wanted to be and then I got pregnant again. I was able to watch my weight during the pregnancy and start up Weight Watchers again soon after giving birth. The same thing happened with my 3rd and 4th child, always getting back on the wagon after giving birth. After my 4th and final child I was able to lose all the baby weight. But as the years went by, I slowly began to put on a few pounds here and there and before I knew it, I was 25 pounds overweight. I felt miserable and decided I needed to make a change. I have always exercised but my eating habits were awful. I decided against weight watchers this time around, thinking I needed to make a permanent lifestyle change. A friend of mine had great success with the Body Bugg(http://www.bodybugg.com/science_behind_bodybugg.php)and it sounded like something that would work for me. I am a numbers person and if I can see how many calories I am burning each day and I put in how many calories I'm eating, I can figure what is going to work best for me. So I spent the $200 to get one and after a week I knew it was going to work for me. In 3 months I went from 160 back to 135 where I feel the best and I have been able to keep it off. I am at the point now where I don't count my calories but I still wear the bodybugg to make sure I am atleast burning 3000 calories a day. That gives me room to have some treats and not deprive myself. I workout 6 days a week, doing a circuit class at the Y three days a week and running 20 miles a week. I had to work up to this and now this is what is comfortable for me. I am ok with exercising so much so I can eat a little more. It is worth it to me. 3 years ago if you would have told me I would be training for a full marathon, I would have told you, you were crazy! But after doing 5 half marathons, I am ready! I will run my first marathon June 5th along with great friends that have pushed me along the way. Anna, who is my friend and neighbor has always been my inspiration when it comes to running. She has taught me a lot and for that I am so grateful to her. I have many friends who like to run and it is a blessing to have someone by your side when you are trying to get in 10 miles. I feel like I have come full circle I finally feel like I am where I want to be. Even though I always say I want to lose 5 more lbs. I think that will always be in the back of my mind but I am happy and that is good enough for me!My best advice is to take one day at a time. Don't look at the big picture. Think about what you are going to do today to fulfill your goals and then go onto the next day. It is so important to exercise, even if you only get in 30 minutes a day. Not only for weight loss but for your health. Eating well balanced meals are equally as important. I wish I didn't have to choose between a cheese burger and a chicken breast but I do and that is the choice I choose to make it so I can be healthy.(don't get me wrong, I have cheeseburger on occasion!-it just needs to be done in moderation)

Mom's Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you.........Happy Birthday to the best mom in the world, Happy Birthday to you!!!!!

My mom had a Birthday yesterday and the adults(minus Doug-he had to work)went to Red Lobster for a kid-free dinner. We had a lot of fun as we always do as a family. I love that my family is so close and we can talk about anything with each other. After dinner we came back to our house to have ice cream cake with all the kids. We all got to say something nice or memorable about my mom.

This is our crazy family and as the saying goes "we may not have it all together but together we have it all!"

3 generations

3 generations again

me, mom and Mindy-we couldn't have asked for a better mom. I hope my kids can say the same thing about me when they are my age.

Happy Birthday Mom!

FHE night at the Gailey's

Last Monday when Sean was out of town, me and the kids went over to the Gailey's to make pizzas and then eat them. They were very good. We then decorated our own little heart cakes and had dessert. We also made some for grandma and grandpa. Then all the kids made cards for my mom since she hasn't been feeling good lately. We then loaded up and drove over to my parents house and snuck in the backyard to surprise them. It was a nice surprise for them.(I think!)
I love my mom and feel awful that she hasn't been feeling well. She has been to a few doctors appointments since then and I hope they are going to be figuring it out soon. She is lucky to have my dad. He is her rock and supports her in every possible way possible.

Thanks to Mindy for having us over. It made my week a little more bearable.

My neighbor, Anna had us over the next day for Lasagna and that was also nice. I am so blessed to be surrounded by family and so many wonderful friends.

The Romo jersey is officially hung!!

ok, so here is the story........When Sean went to Dallas in September to see the opening game at the new stadium he bought a Romo jersey to always remember his special trip. It really means a lot to him and even though it was more than I would have spent on a shirt, I knew it was something he really wanted, so I gave him the go ahead. When he got it home he really wanted to get it framed and hang it in his office at work. I thought that would be a perfect spot for it since our home decor is not really Dallas Cowboys.(unless we could hang it in the garage!) So Sean searched high and low for a place to frame it and it couldn't just be anybody, he had to find the right place to do it. Finally he found a place downtown Puyallup that would do it for about 400.00. Are you kidding me? To frame a jersey? This jersey is getting quite expensive. Oh well, I know it was something he really wanted to do so we went ahead with it and got it framed. Well, it took about 2 weeks and about a day or two before we were suppose to pick it up, Sean decides that maybe he didn't want to bring it to his office and that maybe we could put it in our living room. Again, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? No, he was serious as a heart attack and I thought I was going to HAVE a heart attack. This was not a battle I was going to lose. To make a very long story just a tad bit shorter, we compromised.(isn't that what marriage is all about?) As you walk up half our stairs there is a wall before you finish going up the second half of the stairs. That wall now holds a very special piece of history. Not exactly the best place, but he can still show it to the "fellas" when they come over and it is not in my living room or bedroom so everyone is happy, right? I just pray that a ball doesn't get thrown down the stairs and it gets broken. I might need a place to stay for awhile if that happened. That would almost be as bad as hitting his car parked in the driveway!:)

I love you Sean and you are totally worth it!

Brooke and Isaac

The other day Isaac and Brooke decided to have a picnic and it kept them busy for hours. They filled the pitchers with water and put some peanut butter cracker on the plates and had fun with all their friends,(the stuffed animals) These two rarely fight with each other which is so nice. Sometimes they play barbies and sometimes they play spiderman. Whatever it is, they always have fun.

Christmas and New Years!

We have been busy the last few weeks with all the holiday festivities and as much as I enjoyed it, I am glad it is over and we can get back to a normal routine again. Sean has been off work for the last 2 weeks which has been nice but there has been no routine to my day and I don't function well without it. On Christmas Eve we went to my parents house for dinner with the Newbold side of the family. It was great to see extended family we haven't seen in awhile. My cousin Sharon, and her family we here from Alaska and it was fun to catch up with them.

From left to right: Tonya, Sharon, Me, Mindy and Jamie. We always got together growing up and it is sad we don't get to spend as much time together now.

This explains how excited the kids were waiting to go downstairs Christmas morning to see what Santa brought.

Unfortunately we were kind of lame and hardly got any pictures but I think they all got what they wanted. Kaylee got her long awaited phone and clothes. Connor's favorites were a paintball gun, unicycle and wii games. Cierra finally got her Candy jewelry which she has been waiting for along with clothes, new boots and much more. Brooke was the spoiled one and got everything her little heart desired because the things she wants aren't as expensive as the other kiddos.

We went out to breakfast and then home for a little bit and then back to grandma and grandpas to be with our family for the rest of the evening. It was a great day had by all!

One day this week I watched Macy's(the baby I watch a few days a week) and her two twin sisters, Sophie and Isa. Shaylyn also spent the night so Cierra had a great time having three friends over all day.

They jumped on the trampoline even though it was quite cold outside.


This is the cute baby Macy that I have been watching for about 6 weeks. It is nice having a baby around, although I forgot how much work they are. Sean has even grown attached to her. She really melts your heart.


Socks and Ditto have been content to hangout during the day and then run around like wild animals during the night. They are a lot of fun to have around. Ditto has gotten out a few times and unfortunately we haven't gotten them fixed yet. We suspect she is pregnant but we will have to wait and see.

New years Eve we always get a ton of junk food and just have fun pigging out. Although I felt sick afterwards it was fun. We got the makings for caramel corn but didn't end up making it with all the other junk.

Before all the fun stuff with the kids, Sean and I snuck away to Olive Garden for a nice dinner. It was fun to be alone for a little while without 4 kids talking at once.

The kids were waiting patiently when we got home.

At midnight we did the confetti and called it a night and were in bed by 12:30. All the kids made it until midnight and I am the only one to take a little snooze during the movie.

We are such party animals!

We watched the fireworks from the comfort of our own home on Sean's new Christmas present. He got a 54' inch TV because the 42' inch we had wasn't good enough. He must have been good because Santa was very generous.

New Years day we went up to Paradise to go sledding with the Gaileys and my mom and dad. There was a ton of snow and it just keep coming but the kids still had fun. The line to go down the hill was really long so we didn't do much sledding but they had fun playing in the snow. Grandma was smart and stayed in the car and Brooke joined her for most of the day.

Chance biting it hard.

Mindy and Austin going down. Austin was barely hanging on.

And last but not least, Cierra with Connor's paintball gun. I love her!

2009 was for the most part a great year. We had a few things that was hard for our family and some really great things too. We are looking forward to 2010. I am planning on running my first marathon in June and really getting excited. I have been running about 20 miles a week and I am loving the way it makes me feel. I just hope that I can have the endurance to do 26.2. I will keep you informed...............

HaPpY NeW YeAr!!!!!!