Tuesday, January 31, 2012

1st of 12 = Success!


I still have lots of posts from Christmas, but I must interject a real-time post here. As I mentioned earlier, I am trying to nourish my body with more living food this year. Last year I focused on weight loss, thinking that once I lost the weight THEN I would be healthy. This year I am focusing on BEING healthy, then the weight loss should just come naturally (hopefully).

Well, so far so good. Not only did I lose my monthly allotted pounds, but I also lost the "extra" pounds I gained during our holiday vacation. Yahoo! So, this afternoon Noe and I went shopping and I bought myself a little prize. (Or not-so-little). I got the 6 piece Nativity set from Willow Tree. I'm so excited to display it next Christmas. Now I just need to stay on track each month and I will get the Wise Men, Angels, Shepherds, Animals, Creche, etc. to complete it.

Len had the idea of us having an incentive to pay ourselves instead of paying Weight Watchers or joining a gym. I do need to exercise more, but I heard that weight loss is only 20% from exercise and 80% from diet. I guess it's true- you are what you eat!

If you're wondering, this is what I've been eating:

BREAKFAST- either a warm bowl of plain oatmeal with some raisins & cinnamon tossed in or, Leonard's delicious muesli- raw oats, plain greek yogurt, banana slices and diced oranges.

LUNCH- as much salad as I want until my tummy's full. We've had a different salad everyday to mix up the nutrients provided as well as to give the taste buds variety.
So far we've had- Asian, Southwestern, Greek, Waldorf, Caribbean, and Chef. We'll make up some tasty vinaigrette to top them off too.

DINNER- we've looked online for healthy recipes using chicken breasts, fish, pork tenderloin (or vegetarian) with lots of steamed veggies. Last night, my awesome husband made us halibut steaks with couscous and a vegetable medly of zucchini, tomatoes, and melted feta cheese- SO. DANG. GOOD!

DESSERT- ha ha, we're not eating desserts on a daily basis, but we're not cutting them out entirely either. We figure about twice a month we'll have dessert- from our monthly dinner group and from the holiday or birthday that arrives each month too. However, we are doing the desserts up real good. We're not wasting calories on crappy treats, we'll make the things we truly love and then they really will be a special treat!

WATER- is the only thing we drink, and lots of it!

SUNDAY- is our day off. We eat the above way the other 6 days of the week, but on Sundays we just eat 2 meals (we skip lunch because of church) so our dinners will be some comfort food that's maybe not quite as healthy (flaky chicken pot pie, 4 cheese lasagna, double-decker tacos, greasy & delicious Chinese egg rolls- we're having those tomorrow to celebrate Chinese New Year- wahoo!).

I really think this new way of eating can be the way I eat for the rest of my life. What healthy food tips can you share with me?

Monday, January 30, 2012

Dear Grannybelle,


Happy Birthday Young Lady!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

I'm know I'm biased, but


















this boy is cute!
Hiram will be 3 months old on Saturday so he had a little photo shoot today.
Love him so much!!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Lovely Lacey


Happy Birthday!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Here be Dragons!


To celebrate the lunar new year we had a Chinese food feast.

We opted not to do take-out this year, but I don't know how to cook all those yummies from scratch so we tried frozen.




It turned out to be pretty yummy!




Of course we had to end the meal with fortune cookies and chocolate-filled panda cookies.




When the flowers bloom, so will great joy in your life.




Fortune will smile upon you.




Follow your honest beliefs to stay strong.




You will discover an unexpected treasure.




You are sociable and entertaining.




You will bring sunshine into someone's life.




You will be coming into a fortune.



*We really laughed at Hiram's fortune, because Leonard always tells him that if he had an inheritance to give- Hiram would get it since he actually sleeps at night! Ha ha ha!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Keeping Warm


My little monkeys, panda, frog, and monster know how to keep warm in the winter.






With snow pants, boots, coats, mits, scarves, and lots of HATS!

Monday, January 16, 2012

Snow is falling all around...

















...on the housetops, on the ground.


Snow is falling on my nose,


On my head and hands and toes!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Hey Max,


Happy 9th Birthday Buddy!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Another Christmas


We decided not to take our gifts to the children with us to Vegas. ($25 for the first piece of luggage, then $35 for the second- both ways. Nope we didn't want to pay $120 per person just to have our gifts on Christmas morning.) So on our first Saturday back we had another Christmas celebration!

So glad to have another stocking this year!














The kids liked their gifts from mom & dad, but they preferred what Santa brought most.










At least, I thought they did!
I love decorating for Christmas, and my eight 29 gallon bins can attest to that. This year I really loved ornaments. Not just on the Christmas trees (3), but


on the banister,



on the buffet,


and at the front porch.
My favorite decorations though-


Christmas cards from family and friends,


my Claus,


and Nativity collections.