I guess "Breakfast Gown" sounds nicer than calling it a "Moomoo"?

Meal Planning

I'm pretty excited about my new {free} subscription to "Food on the Table"!  I also just downloaded the smart phone app that goes with it!  Get your subscription by entering your email address and coupon code "springfree" (good only through today!).  You choose which meats/kinds of meals you prefer and if you have any special diet restrictions (gluten free, low carb, etc), then you can choose which meals you want to fix for the week, and your grocery list is right there (either online or on your phone app)!

Thanks Deal Detecting Diva!!

This is actually exactly what I'm thinking - even in the midst of an upcoming layoff. :)

{habituallychic.blogspot.com}

That awkward moment

in cycle class when you're going along doing your thing. Then someone comes in and gets on the bike right next to you, and they smell like sweaty boy (because they are a sweaty boy)... Then you start getting a complex because maybe its actually you that stinks. Then for the rest of class you do the "wipe your sweat with your shirt collar but really you're smelling yourself" move...

I'm still pretty sure it was sweaty boy and not me.

Do You Have a Problem?

My husband is getting laid off in a few weeks... I'm not a worrywart, so it's all good.  God will take care of us like he did during the last lay-off :)

Who Am I?!

As a kid I couldn't wait to be an adult so I could make macaroni and cheese however I wanted to. I hated it when Mom would add stuff like peas! So wrong to ruin a perfect box of m&c...

Now, I put peas in my macaroni. And I like it. What has adulthood done to me? *hangs head in shame*

My 2nd "Last Day" at PCC

For the last ten weeks I've been filling in for a gal on maternity leave. I worked at Pregnancy Crisis Center/WISH from April 2006 up until I had Emmalyn late 2010, and it's been so fun to come back for a bit! :)

{These beauties were on my desk this morning... I love you Sharree Moore!}

These ten weeks have gone by fast, and it's because the PCC has the best group of people working here.  Seriously, I'm not exaggerating!  I'm so incredibly blessed to be a part of the PCC family :)

Who else is able to stop everything they're doing at work to have a quick prayer time with co-workers for someone?  I just did that yesterday.  Where else are you going to find an Executive Director that cleans the toilets too? The PCC was short about $30,000 for the 2012 budget. Due to the economy, funds have greatly decreased. The Board of Directors took this to prayer and did everything in their power to avoid staff cuts, so one of the things they decided could be eliminated was the cleaning service. Now, all 15 staff members have a weekly cleaning duty . I know the ED isn't here for the money and I'm pretty sure no one else is either (oh, the joys of ministry).  It is because their heart is to see people in their community restored and healed emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

A piece of my heart is forever stuck here at the PCC.

WIW: Week 1

It's Wednesday!  So I'm here for Weigh In Wednesday... Keeping myself accountable. ;)

1 pound lost this week.  Not as spectacular as I'd hoped, but I'll take it.

Accomplishments this week: Got up twice at 4:45am to go to classes at the gym. Kept within my calories and ate well.  Tried a new vegan recipe that was delish!  Easy and perfect for spring/summer.  I'll share it later. :)
Goals for next week: Continue to step it up at the gym.  I'm still working on getting a gym schedule set (although at this point I'm having doubts that it will ever happen).  I love cycling classes, and since the hubs goes to the gym after he gets off work and I won't take my daughter back to the childcare that the gym offers, my only realistic option is early morning (since the gym doesn't offer 8pm classes).  I'd also like to use the "30 Day Shred" DVD that I have a few times a week.  Continue to cut out processed foods (even if they are "low-cal" options, like my beloved 90 calorie strawberry bars)... Have you seen this??  Make as many meals that I can from scratch.  For the most part I do, but I also do things like use canned tomatoes for my pasta sauce, and if you watched the video link I posted, you'll understand!

Even though I've only lost a pound (well, since last week... I'm about 20 down from where my weight settled after having a kiddo), I feel good!  I think my clothes are looking better on, my confidence is (slowly but surely) growing, and I'm sleeping great at night! My head hits the pillow and I don't wake up until my alarm goes off (unless the kiddo wakes up).  I've never really had "issues" with sleeping besides the occasional restless night, but for someone who loves to sleep, this is a great perk. ;)

Do you have any goals this week?  A load of laundry a day?  Get out and walk the dog after work?  Tell me about them!  Can we encourage one another in our goals? :)

The "Misc." Drawer

"Misc." is the nice way to word it...

The question of the day is... How long will it stay this way?

Emma Creek

Today was a first:  "Ran" a 5K while pushing a stroller.  I use "ran" lightly because my jog is similar to most people's brisk walk. :)  This was my first "road race" since the kiddo was born, and I'm still alive to tell about it.  Success.  I had no idea how fast I would be (especially since it's always so different than treadmill time), so I pulled a number out of the air and had a goal of 37 minutes.  12 minute miles aren't anything to write home about, but everyone's gotta start somewhere...  According to my time, I got in right around 39 minutes (12.5 min/mi).  Now at least I have someplace to go with goals. :)

Emma Creek Classic is a female only walk/run in Hesston, KS.  This was my second time to be involved, and during the run, I was reminded why I love it.  Almost every single participant is so SO nice.  Even when you are passing someone, they cheer you on... Unless you're my friend Ginger, who apparently was trying to pass a not-nice person.  Boo.  Other than that, it's great fun. :)

 

Afterwards, Emmalyn and I found a spot to munch our her post-race fruit. ;)

Dear Hesston Community - As much as I love your quaint little town, next year please don't fill the air with allergens right before the race.  I don't know how, but I could swear that's what you did.  ;)  Been blowing my nose off ever since I got home! :/

"... for I am a bear of very little brain, and long words bother me" - Winnie the Pooh

Just opened Photoshop Elements...

for the first time in a long time to edit some coffee labels I've been working on...

I can't find them anywhere!! :(

Did I delete them all in a fit of frustration?? I thought they were decent and was going to tweak them a bit today since I actually have a bit of time...

*sigh*

Peanut Butter Face

1 Peter 3:4

I've been praying this verse over my daughter recently and just thought I'd share :)

Weigh In Wednesdays

My sweet, fantastic, bubbly, hilarious, spunky, colorful, encouraging friend Sarah (who has lost over 25lbs!) over at abitofsilliness posts a "Weigh In Wednesday" each week.  I've eaten well and exercised pretty consistently since the beginning of Lent, but as we all know, the inevitable burnout comes when you least expect it.  You either fall off the bandwagon, slowly go back to your old habits, or stick it out and keep going...  So in hopes to push through when that time comes, I'm going to need some support and accountability :)

Before this year, I had never given up anything for Lent and actually stuck with it, so this year decided to take it seriously and gave up soda (even though I only drink diet) and sweets (desserts, cookies, etc).  It felt really good to know that the soda wasn't eating away at my bones and that sugar wasn't taking an extended vacay on my thighs.  I've tried to keep them both at a minimum since Easter, and honestly I haven't craved either that much since... This is saying a lot for me ;)

Each week I'll do my own WIW and then link to hers.  Just knowing that I have someone (Sarah and you!) to be accountable each week will help me "keep on keeping on"... Someone who will be anxiously waiting for my Wednesday post *ha!*

So stay tuned. 

If you care to. 

If not, that's quite alright. 

I won't hold it against you. 

Or away from you.

Or over you.

Or under you.

Easter in Pictures

Easter was spread out between Saturday and Sunday this year... We like holidays that last more than a day - more family time!

{huntin' those eggs like she's been doing it her whole life}

{E loves her cousins!}

{Papa and Grandma Janis with their four grandbabies - all girls!}

{Grandpa Terry is a great reading buddy}

The Not-So-Good, The Bad, and The Ugly... Workout Gear Edition

For as long as I can remember, my workout clothes of choice have been a cut off cotton t-shirt and basketball/mesh shorts.  Basketball practice in high school, yard work, a 5K run... It all got the same treatment.

And up until this past Sunday I've been totally okay with it.  Not given it another thought.  I'm not at the gym to impress anyone.  I even jokingly told my friend Sarah that I signed up for a few runs this spring because my t-shirt stock was dwindling. 

Yeah, that crow is tasting fantastic right about now. *ahem*

On Sunday I decided to take a 90 minute cycle class.  This particular classroom has floor-to-ceiling mirrors... I assume so that you can see what you look like when you are at death's door, wishing you were born with elephant-sized lungs (or never born at all for that matter), and praying that either the 7-minute hill climb would just be over, or that the Lord Jesus would return already.  Why else?

Well for about half of the class there was a gal directly in front of me.  Then she left.  Then I had to stare at myself for the next 45 minutes.  Those 45 minutes were, to say the least, humbling.  But not in the "wow, I'm out of shape and look like crap" kind of humbling.  No, that's just a given.  It was the "I'm pretty sure my cut off tee is 6+ years old, and my shorts with paint spots aren't helping" kind of mortification.  I usually don't get too embarrassed about my clothes.  They are never spectacular and I rarely look put together (I do try, it's just hopeless).  Right then and there I told myself I was never allowed to step outside of my house in any of the workout clothes that I currently had, unless I was going to be rolling in mud.  Literally.  Since then, 99% of my cut-offs have been recycled to the "rag bag" in the garage [who knows when I'll get the chance to roll in the mud].

So thanks to that class, I now have a few new pieces of workout gear that I actually feel really great in, and am looking forward to breaking them in. 

Lesson #1 learned:  Gym mirrors aren't anything like the mirrors you have at home... Similar to the doctor's office scale and your home scale. 

Lesson #2 learned: Never underestimate the power of clothes (whether positive or negative), even if they are spandex and polyester.

I made it to the early morning cycle class today, and the new clothes worked out great! :)

Now if I can just get the rest of my closet up to par...  Baby steps, huh?

Spring!

We've been spending as much time outside lately as we possibly can! E cries when we have to go back inside :)

First Haircut

It finally came down to it. Baby needed her bangs trimmed. I successfully put it off for 18 months. But it was time for a trim (just the bangs though!)




{We watched Bear in the Big Blue House to keep still while Aunt Emily did her magic}





{I can't stand the cuteness}



Family Day-ish

This past Friday, the hubs took off work and planned a family day.  Well, it was more like three hours... Maybe when the kiddo doesn't need an afternoon siesta, we can move up to Family Days. :)

First on the agenda was Exploration Place...

 

{Veterinarian Emmalyn working hard}



{love these two so much!}

Unfortunately, that's all of the pictures I took.  I probably would have taken more, but we had lunch at Chic-Fil-A... It was crazy in there, and someone decided to have a leaky diaper, so pictures took a back seat :)

If you've forgotten...

who I am... My name is Ginny. I'm the not-so great keeper of this blog.
Several times in the last few months I've thought "I need to blog this!".  I even got the super-easy Blogger app with every intention of posting a quick picture every now and then.  But when I do think about posting something, my sweet 18 month old takes a 7-minute-long afternoon nap, or she's making art in the dirt piles on the floor and I decide I should probably vacuum instead of blog.
~

In my married adult life, I had come to terms that we will probably always have hand me down or Goodwill chest of drawers, and I'm okay with that!  Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of "matchy-matchy", so I don't really ever see myself buying a "bedroom set"...  I like unique and antique pieces of furniture that go together but not match [thanks Mom!] :)

While perusing Craigslist one day, I saw a solid wood king size headboard for, what? $30?? Surely it doesn't look as good as the picture.  I had to at least look at it!  So the husband, kid, and I went to check it out, and sure enough, it actually looked better in person! When does that ever happen?  I asked the guy if he would take any less, and he said he's take $20. SOLD!  Even if it doesn't turn out quite the way I had pictured in my head, I could eat twenty bucks.

I decided to paint it off-white (already had the paint) and initially thought I would distress it a bit since I wasn't counting on it looking really great after paint.  Well, after a good sanding and a couple coats of paint, I was pleasantly surprised how it came out! What do you think abuot my $20 headboard? :)  I love it!

{the actual picture from craigslist}

 {the 'before' in my garage; already looking better!}

{paint is truly a miraculous thing}

{finished!}



My "after" picture does leave something to be desired (how about some throw pillows that don't stick out like a sore thumb), but finally having something for pillows to lean up against (besides the wall or the window) is a huge improvement!