Nice Weekend!

Jordan was home this weekend! She hadn't been home since Christmas break. We spent the day together Saturday... lunch, shopping and then we met Craig for dinner.

The best part of her being home was seeing how happy she is. She is just glowing and I LOVE seeing her like this. She's doing so well, loves school, has a lot of wonderful friends. We've come a long way from her first weeks at college. She got an adorable new haircut. I didn't know if I was going to like it but it looks great on her!

The frigid temps have finally broken. We got up to 45 today and we felt like we were having a heat wave.

Last weekend was the Super Bowl. Here's Caleb and Bailey (and Seadra too) sporting their Green Bay loyalties! The Super Bowl is the only football game each year that Craig and I will watch. I actually enjoyed it this year. Good game, good company.

And I leave you this adorable face.

Digging Out

Well, it's over for now and most people are still digging out. I stayed home from work today.... too afraid to drive and the county declared a snow emergency and ordered no one on the roads except for emergencies. I did go into work this evening for about 4 hours and was sorry I did as I drove home in what seemed like another blizzard but I guess it's just lake effect. I love this kind of weather and all the hype that goes with it. I love the beauty of it all. And you all know I HATE driving in it.

Craig and Caleb have been doing a wonderful job of keeping trails blown out in the back yard for the dogs.

And paths to my bird feeders!

Pretty deep, huh?

Fiona hates to go outside in this. She runs and hides when she knows you are getting ready to put her outside. But surprisingly, once she's out there she loves to play in the snow more than the other two.

Zoe tolerates it pretty well. But Zoe tolerates everything. She follows me everywhere and is just happy to be with me. I LOVE that girl!

And Seadra does her business in record time and then cries to be let back inside.

I just watched the evening news and they are reporting some frigid temps in about a week that may bring a lot of lake effect..... Craig said that since this was the year he sold the snowmobiles that this would be a really snowy year. Hope you all are warm and safe! Enjoy the snow!

What's Up?

What's up? Not much... just in the middle of winter dreaming of warmer days. Craig and I took a drive out to the cottage last weekend. It was cold and lonely out there. It's a whole different world out there in the winter.

We are FINALLY close to getting our hardwood floor installed in the living room. We were messing around with a contractor that was giving us the runaround and now we have a new one we are pleased with and are making good progress. The stairs and landing upstairs are getting new carpet too. I'm so excited. I've been looking at curtains and I can hardly wait to have things new and beautiful.

Craig bought me a new garden swing today. Yes, it's the end of January and we are buying outdoor furniture. We waited too long last year and the one I wanted was sold out so we jumped on it this year and bought it as soon as Lowe's put them out. OK, the snow can melt anytime now.

You might have heard about the tragedy in our hometown this past week. We live in a small close knit community and on Monday a 30 year old mother came up missing. She just seemed to vanish. There were organized searches, prayer vigils, and our quiet little town turned into a national media frenzy. Sadly on Thursday she was found murdered along with another young mother. Things like this never happen so close to home. Our whole town is shocked and in mourning. Luckily they have arrested and charged the guy responsible. So sad......

Jordan is LOVING college. No more calls home sobbing, no more homesickness, has LOTS of friends. She couldn't wait to get back to school when she was home over Christmas, in fact she went back almost a week early. I miss her but I'm so happy she doing so well.

Caleb and Bailey are doing really well too. We wish we got to see Bailey more often. Between school and work for both of them they are really busy.

I'm still very excited about my Weight Watchers. I'm making progress and so proud of the fact that I haven't thrown in the towel. I'm actually doing it and it's getting easier as time goes on. Craig has been really supportive and he's even doing it too. Last night I went to Mom and Dad's for dinner. I told Mom I could eat pretty much anything as long as it was low carb. She made me the most wonderful salad loaded with fresh veggies, a grilled steak and some cantaloupe for desert. It was awesome. I can do this!!!!

Happy Weekend All.....

I love me some Skinny Cow

This is my new favorite treat. You gotta try this stuff. Check out the website and then pick some up at the grocery store.

Happy Sunday

It's -10 degrees this morning in Hartford. Yes, that's a minus! I bundled up and ran outside to throw some food out to the birds. I quick snapped a few photos but I didn't last much more than 10 minutes. Wow, is it cold!

It's a very leisurely Sunday and I'm loving it. Yesterday Craig and I groomed he snowmobile trails. I was out for about 5 hours and Craig continued for a 10 hour day! We have tons of snow and the trails are in great shape. Today it's laundry, grocery shopping, cooking (today it's Weight Watchers Tofu and Veggie Stir Fry) and a trip to Sarett later this afternoon. Have a great day!!!!!

In the right direction

Things are going in the right direction in my vow to get healthier this year. And I'm really excited about it because for once I can see progress. I'm not discouraged and each day I look forward to the challenge. I know it's only Jan 22nd but I've been doing this since right after Christmas and for me that is a huge accomplishment. Maybe you are laughing because it's only been a month but I can't ever remember sticking it out this long. Three or four days was my track record in the past.

I started out on my own doing no sugar no flour. I didn't like the way it made me feel and was quickly discouraged. My girlfriend from the hospital called me and asked if I wanted to join her in Weight Watchers. Honestly, my first thought was how could I get out of it? Sure I've thought of joining Weight Watchers many times but I wasn't sure if I really wanted to do that. A week later she called again and said she found meeting place close to my office and it would be right after work. Now I couldn't get out of it (Sorry Susan). WOW! It's been the best thing I've could have done (Thank You Susan!!!).

So what changes have I made? If you know Weight Watchers it's a points system where each food has a points value. I'm allowed 29 points per day with 49 flex points per week. Weight Watchers pretty much lets you eat what you want as long as you keep track of your points. Of course you are able to eat more if you make healthy choices. Fruits and veggies have no points and I really like that! Weight Watchers does not count calories. The points are based on carbs, fiber, fat, and protein.

I'm enjoying grocery shopping, reading labels, making menus that work for me. It's easy for me to give up sweets, and I've never been addicted to colas. The challenge for me is carbs. I'm not depriving myself of my favorites such as my wonderful homemade spaghetti. But now I eat it with whole wheat noodles and I divide it up into healthy smaller portions and I leave the cheese off. I'm buying ground turkey breast and using that in soups, chili, taco's, etc. I bought veggies burgers (and I actually like them!). I'm buying low fat yogurts, cheeses, cream cheese. I'm eating more whole grains.

One of the biggest changes for me is breakfast. My WHOLE life I've never eaten breakfast. Food just doesn't appeal to me in the morning. I've been forcing myself to eat breakfast. Oatmeal, grits, mini whole grain bagels, hard boiled eggs, fruit. I'm getting used to it. I still would rather run out the door and skip breakfast but I'm making it work.

My first week at Weight Watchers I lost 3 pounds, last week I lost 3.6 pounds and with my weight loss since Christmas I've lost 10 pounds! I'm pretty excited. I'm excited about feeling better, having more energy and being able to be more comfortable doing things I want to do this summer, such as kayaking and hiking.

So you might be wondering where the exercise and fitness is falling into all this. It hasn't...yet. That's really going to be the challenge for me. Simply put, I despise exercise. That's a strong word, huh? But I've got to start to make all this work. The excuse now is the weather but I know I have to stop making excuses. I'm going to start walking and I know the perfect place. As soon as the weather breaks and it isn't dark when I leave work I'm going to stop at Sarett and walk the nature trails. If I'm in a place I love (surrounded by nature) then exercising should be easier, right?

I've discovered some great online tools that you might enjoy checking out. Weight Watches online is a wonderful website with so much useful information and recipes but unfortunately you have to be a member of Weight Watchers to access it. Another site I find really useful is www.hungry-girl.com From what I understand Hungry Girl has a show on the Cooking Channel (I don't get that channel). But her website is awesome. You can sign up for daily emails for healthy tips, cooking and shopping. Check it out!

Well, that's what's new with me. Stay tuned for updates........

I have a dream....

Reading the title of my post you might think my post is about MLK, especially since tomorrow is our MLK national holiday. Don't get me wrong, I have great admiration for the man but my post is about a different dream.

For years I've had the dream of attracting an OWL. I became one step closer today.

It still may only ever been a dream but I'm giving it a shot. I now have the house but I don't know if I have the environment. I read that the nesting box needs to be in a dense tree and this was the best we could come up with.

A friend of mine had a screech owl in a nesting box for several years. She brought photos into work and needless to say I was envious. The lady that owns the Wild Bird Center store said she put up owl boxes and only got squirrels in hers. Oh PLEASE, let an owl like my owl nesting box!

Wish me luck!