Where HAVE you BEEN?!

Imagine the voice of Mrs. Weasley from Harry Potter.  I love her.  : )

I realize I've been somewhat out of sync with the rest of the world and haven't been posting or commenting lately.  My apologies to family who look forward to these posts (I love you!) and friends who thought I might be lost.  For awhile, I've kinda been in a funk of sorts.  Not really wanting to put much effort into anything really.  The diet I was doing, though successful in the beginning, was getting competition from my hormones (at least that's what my doctor and I believe).  In the end I decided to cut it short since I was putting in effort my body wasn't allowing to see results for.  If none of this makes sense, well, it doesn't have to.  : )  Rest assured I'm feeling better, although I'm still just getting out of this funk.  I've missed all of you....and your comments.  ; )

Now on to regular business as usual.  I have three goals to post, which includes this week.

We'll start where we left off, shall we?  Makes sense since that's the name of this blog, "Picking Up Where We Left Off".

Week 10:  Cleanliness

(As written in the book)

GOAL:  Choose one area of your home that is the hardest to keep clean, and try to keep it spotless for the week.

Ty and I have the perfect room to do this with.  It's the one I'm sitting in right now.  The office.

It's true.  I'm ashamed.  : (

Really we're not completely moved in.  This room probably has the most stuff to fit into it.  Those boxes are full of books needing to be put away.  There are sooooooo many.  Ironically they were the first things to be packed.  Now they are the last to be unpacked. That pile of gift bags need to be put away in the nice little wrapping and gift bag holder I have in the closet.  I will definitely enjoy showing the cleaned up pictures when this is all said and done.  I swear I keep the rest of my home very nice and organized and well kept.

Week 11:  Scriptures

 (As written in the book)

 GOAL:  This week focus on the scriptures.  Set aside a specific time each day-morning, evening, or anytime-and spend a meaningful amount of time in true scripture study.

Thanks to my brother-in-law initiating a Scripture Challenge in our family, I've already been doing this and can say that I have fully accomplished this goal.  In fact, I'm totally beating his socks off.  : )  Every day, I read for 15 minutes in the Book of Mormon.  When I'm finished I'll move on to the Old Testament.  To be honest, there have been times where I've procrastinated up to the last minute and read as I'm almost falling asleep, but I know that it is truly important to read so I still make sure to get it in.  I'm loving the insight that I get from reading.  This has made me feel more uplifted and I love the knowledge that I'm receiving.

Week 12:  Optimism

 (As written in the book)

 GOAL:  Maintain a positive outlook on life - see the glass as half-full.  Be upbeat at all times, and try not to say anything negative.

I like this one.  It's a lot like the first goal I did where I need to smile all the time.  I'm looking forward to having a good week.

Well, there you have it.  All of my goals up to date.
As a side note, I went with the crowd and decided to get a Formspring account.  You'll notice the box in the top right corner.  Leave me a question and I would love to answer it.  I'm all about letting people get to know me better.

Week 8 and 9 Goals

You may have noticed I didn't post a goal for last week and still have yet to do so for this week.  Well, my friends, it's because I failed miserably last week.

Last week the goal was Excercise.

(As written in the book)

Goal:  Exercise every day.  It doesn't matter the kind of exercise, just do something.

Monday, I actually kicked things off with a bang (I don't work out on Sundays).  My friend, Suzette, and I went for a walk on a trail near her house.  It was beautiful.  The trail follows right along with the Columbia River.  It's amazing!

 

You can even see the "Blue Bridge" in this one.

We even saw a bald eagle.

How would you like to see this in your front yard?

I thought this would be a great place for a nice romantic, sunset picnic.

 

 

It was a beautiful day and I was feeling empowered, so we walked quite the distance......not a good idea.

The next two days I was so sore I could barely walk around, and even that was painful.

Suffice it to say, that I'm completely out of shape.  Being that I was so sore, I decided there was no way I could work out.  Which obviously helped me NOT complete my goal.

There's another reason I didn't work out as well.  I've started a diet called the HCG protocol.  Eventually, I write a full post on that later to explain the whole thing.  For now, if you don't know about it already, you take the hormone HCG (a pregnancy hormone) daily while only eating 500 calories a day for 40 days.  It's very safe and I guarantee you it's not illegal.  Like I said, I'll go into further detail later.

Since, I'm on the diet and protocol I'm not supposed to exercise.  However, I should at least do a little walking around right?  Well, I probably won't count this week since it's already in the middle, but rest assured I plan on getting back on track.

Now onto Week 9's goal.  Planting

(As written in the book)

Goal:  Plant some flowers or herbs in pots, and deliver to people you know.  Tell the people you have been thinking about them, and wanted to brighten their day.

As soon, as I read this to Ty, we both looked at each other like, "Uuuuuuhhhhhhhhh."

Neither one of us has a green thumb.  I'm really better at helping things die rather than live.

I will say though that I think I've already started giving this a try.  My mom bought me a basket with planted flowers in them.  Since then, a few have died and I've tried reviving the stems with water and sunlight.  I even put them outside for natural light.  I don't know what the benefits will turn up since I really don't know what I'm doing, but I guess we'll see!

All advice welcome!  : )

Belated Birthday Post

I'm sorry I'm such a huge slacker lately.  Life has been crazy and the motivation to post hasn't been there, but I'll try and make it up to ya.

 As I posted before, I started out my day with eating a Peanut Butter/Chocolate Cupcake.  Yes, it was divine!  I miss it.  When I'm done with my diet, I'm going to get another one.....and a mint chocolate one.  : )  I have no shame.

 Later that morning, my mom came to town to hang out with me.  She dyed my hair, while we chatted.  I hurried to get ready and when I came out I found this.

 My mom had truly outdone herself.  By the way, that cute little thing is me.

I was definitely surprised.

Like my dark hair.  I do.  ; )

 

I was still hungry.  The cupcake was yummy, but just not enough.  (Don't worry.  I waited.)

My mommy and me.

We left the house and headed out for some lunch at Panda Express.

After some scrumptious food, we did a little shoe shopping.  After all, I had a coupon.  (Note:  E-mail subscriptions get you some great deals people.)

 What girl doesn't need to have chocolates on her birthday?  I know I do!  So mom and I head to West Richland for some indulgence at Boehms Candies.

 We headed to the Mall where we found a cute little candy store tucked in the side (you know those side areas no one ever really goes down because they think nothing is there), called "Caramelcorn".  A darling older man assisted us in getting some caramelcorn and fruit candies.  Then, I bought some cute little hair accessories from Claire's.  On our way out mom and I indulged in a luxurious 3 minutes of chair massage, while taking part in our treats.  Bliss.  Anyone ever try those things?  I want one.  Maybe for my next birthday.  ; )


Mom had to get on home (she lives 1.5 hours away) before it got dark, so she dropped me and my loot off at my apartment before heading out.


When my pretty dang cute hubby got home, I was still undecided about where to spend my birthday dinner.  Finally, I decided to go for it and go to Outback.  We don't go to steak restaurants very often and I thought if we're going to splurge, then might as well.

Waiting for our table.  Took literally, 30 seconds.

I hate making decisions.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm, bread.

They have a great selection of non-alcoholic drinks.  Very yummy.

I got the Sparkling Citrus Cooler.  The description says it's very refreshing and they did not lie!

Ty got the Cherry Limeade.  Classic!

Mmmm, Steak.

Ty's Aussie Chicken with Garlic Mashed Potatoes.

Being full of good food makes us happy.

When we were walking in, an employee was handing these coupons out to those leaving.  One of the people who received one gave us theirs.  Yay!

When we got home is when the real fun began.  Haha.  I had bought a couple of bottles of bubbles and wanted to get in touch with my inner toddler.

The really cool thing about these bubbles......

The really stick around.  I bought them at Safeway.  They were one of those random things they have hanging in the isles.  I love random things.  : )

After we let our tummies do a little digesting, it was time for cake!

 

Look how bright it is!  It was also extremely warm.

Time to blow 'em out!

It took me a few breathes to get them all.

This was serious.  Haha.

In case you are wondering, there were 25 candles.  I'm too young to deny my age, thank you!  Though, I think denying one's age is denying who you are.  But I know I'll hear it, I'm too young to know.  Haha.

Black Forest cake (Without alcohol.  Believe me, I learned my lesson in Germany).  It's my favorite cake on the face of the planet.

Thanks Mom for hanging out with me that day and dying my hair for me!


Thanks Ty for being goofy with me.  I like it.  : )


And thanks to everyone who offered up great birthday wishes.  You're the bestest.