We're Going to Disneyland!!

The hubby surprised us all by announcing we are taking the adult kids and grandkids to Disneyland in December!!!  Unfortunately, our oldest son and his family have planned to move out of state next month and will not be around to go with us (I'll take them someplace super special when I go visit them instead).  Our plan is to go the 1st week of December.  It's quite daunting to check around looking for the best deals on this!  We have decided we want to stay in the Disneyland Hotel, 3 nights and 3 days.  To say we are excited is an UNDERSTATEMENT!  The daughter-in-love broke down in tears when she was told!  I've already got a Pinterest page set up for it and been shopping for "stuff".  I picked up some great notebooks for the kiddos to use for autographs and will trick them out a bit.  1 just happened to "fall into the shopping cart" for me too so I can write down all my plans and lists...yep I'm that kinda gal.  Last night I made a stop at Dollar Tree and found some things that will fit in perfectly...and all in Disney décor!  There are kid's activity books, individual packs of Kleenex, snack boxes, napkins, and rings just to name a few!  I even found OPI nail polish in Disney colors so I can do my nails.  I'll try to get a picture of my haul soon.  One of the grands found a cute Disney bag at WalMart that I just had to bring home with me the other night.  She wasn't too happy that I didn't give it to her...lol. 

 

Weekend Happenings...

This weekend was a busy one!  Twice a year our city does a neighborhood trash pickup.  They take things like tree trimmings and junk that doesn't fit in a normal trash can.  Hubby spent almost all day Saturday going through tile we've had stored on the side of the house, trimming trees, taking down a partial fence and just going through "stuff".  He worked hard!  I helped him with the tile and found muscles that I'd forgotten I had...ouch!  I went to the grocery store and stocked up on chicken breasts (.99 cents a lb) and repackaged them.  I decided the freezer needed a good going through while I was at it.  Laundry was also tackled.  Sunday I worked in the toddler classroom at church then spent the afternoon with 1 daughter-in-love and 3 of the grands.  Two of them spent the night but didn't have a change of clothes so a run to Wal-Mart finished out our day.  Hubby spent the afternoon relaxing on the couch then had to drive 5 hours last evening to his workplace in order to be there at 6:00 this morning. All in all a very productive weekend...time to start a new week!

What's Been Going On Around Our Place

We have been busy working...that's what's been going on around our place!  Hubby has been finishing the built-in table in the backyard and it's fabulous!  Here's a picture:

Now he's working on finishing the wall behind the Green Egg and BBQ grill:

I've kept busy too though!  I planted several pots of succulents in the front yard, staked our pepper plants, planted a couple of flower pots in the backyard AND have been working on 2 quilt tops!  The 1st one is a Marilyn Monroe quilt for 1 of my daughter-in-loves:

We still need to pick out borders for it.

The other quilt I'm working on is a churndash.  I was in a block exchange with friends from all over the USA in 2012 and had put the blocks away with "someday doing something with them".  Well, I pulled them out this weekend and here are most of them:

I want to turn them into something like this:

I'm well on my way to it too!  I may make the flowers a bit different...we'll see.

We also been having fun in the pool and bbq'ing with family.

On the weight-loss note...I'm down 45 lbs as of today!




 

3 month update & My Great Estate Sale Find

Sunday was my 3 month post surgery anniversary.  I'm less than 1 lb. from loosing 40 lbs!  Here's my pic:

I've had to go buy a few new shirts to wear to work.  I decided I wasn't going to spend a lot on them since I 'm still loosing so I went to WalMart and found some cute t-shirt type for summer.  The shirt in the picture is several years old but I only wore it once before outgrowing it.  I kept it to wear as an overshirt but never did.  Now I can wear it buttoned up!  I've noticed my breasts and hips are smaller.  Hubby said I'm getting curvier!  I went to the drs. for my 3 month check-up last week and the dr. was very happy with my loss so far.  So am I!

We went estate saling this weekend and I got the find of the century...ok so it was technically at a yard sale...I'm still super excited!  I got a like new Coach purse for $40...can you believe it?  I was in total shock.  I bought it with the idea I might try reselling it but after getting it home and really checking it out I introduced it to it's sister Coach's in my closet...yep I just increased my purse collection by 1!  I'm not a snob about purses and used to use 1 until it wore out but a few years ago we got some gift cards for an outlet mall and I spent mine on a Coach purse.  I carried it for 6 months and it looked just like new!  I was sold on Coach brand from then on.  I've slowly added to my collection of them by getting them as gifts from hubby for my birthday or Christmas.  I was also given a fun denim one by a co-worker too!  I currently have a navy blue one, a red one, a black/white one, a brown one and the denim one.  Here's a pic of the one I just got on Saturday:

Sorry it's not the greatest picture...the purse really is gorgeous!

I also got a really pretty necklace at another yard sale and a Thomas Kincaide lighted house that is numbered.  I had thought to use it in a fairy garden but I'll have to check to see if it's worth anything before I possibly mess it up...

Another thing I look for at yard/estate sales is paper goods.  Unopened packages of napkins and paper plates.  I found both this weekend!  We have a lot of family over for dinners and these come in handy!


 

Yard Sale/Estate Sale finds

This past weekend the hubs and I went to a few yard sales/estate sales before heading over to a quilting/sewing supplies sale.  I'm happy to report we got a few great finds!  At 1 sale they had a big box of Legos (in original box).  They are Harry Potter's castle!  I got the set for $15!!!  It's supposed to have over 900 pieces....for $15!!!!  I went online and this set sells for anywhere from $175 to $1500 (new and unopened).  Here's a few pics of our find:




The grandsons played with the set after we got home and 1 of them decided to take the big chunks of pieces apart (ok so he smashed them with a Joker toy).  Anyway, I decided to try my hand at putting it all together this week.  The last pic is how far I got last night.  Did I mention there are over 900 pieces???  I figure I can probably have it done in about a week of evenings and they better not take it apart again!!!  Oh and I better be their favorite Nana too!

We also found a vintage portable sewing table for $15!  Again, I went online and found that one just like it sold a couple of years ago on eBay for $235!!!  Score for me!!!!  Here is a pic of the 1 that sold:



I'm going to clean mine up and take it to the 5th wheel in a couple of weeks. 

We also found a couple of dolls that are similar to this one:



We got them for $6 for both.
I found some Sakura Mary Englebreit plates like these (no box).  I got the set of 4 for $2!  They are selling online for around $40 with the box.  I'll take $2 and no box...thank you very much!  We also got a few other things but these were my biggest finds...I wonder what next weekend will bring!

 

My New Life: Food

Yesterday I touched just a bit on my food.  I thought I'd take you a little more in depth of my food intake as of right now.  Here are a few typical meals:

Breakfast:

1/3 cup instant oatmeal with just a little Lactaid free milk (1/3 cup is 1/3 package of instant oatmeal...so 1 package=3 breakfasts for me).

or

1 hard boiled egg and 1 slice of ham

or

2 oz low fat yogurt with 1 oz of fruit added

or

2 egg muffins (9 eggs whisked with chopped ham, onions, and salsa. Pour mixture into 12 muffin tin holes that have been sprayed with non-stick spray.  Bake on 350 until done.  Take out of oven and immediately add small amount of LF cheese (I used Sergento's ultra thin sliced cheese, 1/4 of the slice on each "muffin").  They are very filling.  2of them weighed 4 oz so are over what I'm supposed to eat.  I brought 2 to work for breakfast today but can't finish 1/2 of the 2nd one because I'm full.  I'll probably eat the last couple of bites before lunch but next time I make them (this weekend) I will divide mine up to 1 1/2 per serving.  If you make these make sure you make enough for everybody because they are good!  I'm going to have to try these with bacon bits (from Costco) when I use up the ham slice!

Here's a picture:





Lunch:

I usually bring leftovers such as:

1.5 oz meat such as chicken
1.5 oz veggies such as cauliflower
a little teriyaki sauce drizzled on top

or

a slice of ham with 1/2 a lite cheese wedge rolled up and a couple of grape tomatoes

Dinner:

1.5 oz of meat
1.5 oz of veggies or potato



Here is a picture of a typical lunch or dinner for me:



It might look big in the picture but it's really not and I still have to remind myself that this will fill me up~

I can't eat breads, pastas or rice for 6 months and to be honest I feel so much better without them that I may not add them back in!

I'm not supposed to snack but in reality I still do.  My snacking has changed though.  Before the surgery I craved and ate sweets...all...day...long.  Now, I don't crave sweets hardly at all.  My snacking consists of mostly the following:

Raw yellow peppers (I used to not like them)
Grape tomatoes
1/2 c. yogurt w/a little bit of cooked apples mixed in
1/2 SF pudding cup
Frozen Go-Gurt
1/2 Banana w/a little bit of p-nut butter

Like I said I don't crave sweets much but I do crave protein and vegetables. 

I realize my food may not sound exciting but I'm learning food is a fuel and it's not supposed to always be exciting and gooy and extra "yummy".  I've stopped saying desserts look yummy.  Instead I say they look pretty.  If something is extra pretty we don't eat it right?  Therefore desserts are pretty and I can admire them for their prettiness and not feel deprived by not eating them!  I also tell myself that just because I can't have something today doesn't mean I can't ever have it, just that I can't have it today.  For example, those delicious ribs my brother-in-law cooks.  I couldn't have them a month ago and took some cooked chicken to eat instead.  Last weekend he cooked them again and this time I was able to eat a few bites of them and did fine.  I do realize there are some things I may never be able to eat again because they are triggers for me...potato chips, chocolate chip cookies, ice cream.  I love these 3 and I won't be satisified with just 1 of them so I just won't start!

My next post will be on drinks...see you around the water cooler!

Long time gone but I'm back!

I've been off blogging for so long I hesitated to start again.  Then I started worrying about whether I'd keep it up.  In the end I decided I'd just go for it today and worry about future posts in the future!  Lots has happened since I last posted...grandbabies have been born (we now have 10!  7 girls and 3 boys).  Hubs had roux-en-y surgery a year ago last October and has lost 140 lbs!  He did crazy good with it so I joined him and had the surgery 2 months ago last Friday.  I've lost 31.8 lbs so far.  I'm not going to lie and say it was a piece of cake but it was definitely doable!  I went in 1st thing on Monday, Feb 22nd and was in my room by early afternoon.  I spent the rest of the day dozing in and out.  I went home the following day in the afternoon!  My menu for the 1st week was clear broth, sugar free popsicles, sugar free jello and sugar free drinks.  The 2nd week I was moved up a notch to include a few pureed items, including tomato soup..I thought it tasted like it came from Heaven after a week of clear broth!  I'm now able to eat most anything that is good for me (meaning no breads, sweets, pasta, rice).  I didn't do well with raw baby carrots so will stay clear of them for a while longer.  I've not tried any meat that would be harder to digest such as steak yet but did eat a little bit of pork rib yesterday and did fine with it.  Guess how much I can eat at each meal right now...go ahead guess...give up yet?  My portions are 1/3 cup at each meal....not of each item but total!!!  Out of the 1/3 cup 1/2 is to be protein.  That equates to 1.5 oz (or more) of protein and 1.5 oz of veggie or fruit.  It's not a lot but believe it or not it fills me up!  If you've known me for very long you know how much of a sweet eater I am...well guess what...I don't crave sweets anymore!  I can still have sugar free jello or pudding if I really get a hankering for something sweet but usually I'm fine without it.  In the future I'm probably going to be sharing weight loss type things along with my quilting things...be forewarned!

I've decided that I will break down some of my catching up and weight loss into different posts...it'll give me something to blog about for a while!