Busy weekend!

First, I can't believe that Wednesday will be the first day of April. Seriously? It feels like yesterday was Christmas!

Okay, so this weekend, David had his employee appreciation party. He was working, but as long as they had their pagers and radios, the guys could come to the party. He asked me to come down and I'm so glad I did! David ended up getting hypnotized - the guy said he could wake him up quick and he'd be fine to respond on a call if he had to - and then his coworkers took me out after the party for drinks! I stayed at his partner's house - he lives in the town but since he was working, I felt comfortable sleeping on the couch.

Sunday morning, we drove home and spent the day at the MAC. David's summer passion is racing. He does "solo racing" where only 1 car is on the "track" at a time. The track is a bunch of orange cones. And they have to wear helmets. It's pretty safe - one car did something funky and ended up going over a curb and screwed up his tires, but that's the first accident in years. David has a set of race tires and his mom said he could use her car this season. Here are two pictures from the first race:




My dad came out and watched for a little bit and so did David's mom and dad. We took our grill out there and had burgers. It was a little chilly but fun. Next race is the same day as the March of Dimes. It's in Lincoln, so I'll probably go there after the walk!

Then, the other highlight... my clothes from New York and Company came! I wore one outfit today:

I took this at the end of the night - I'm tired. But, you get the idea! These are size 12 slacks - I now own 2 pairs of slacks and 1 pair of jeans that fit. The tunic style of shirt makes me feel like I'm hiding fat - which, yes, is still there, but I felt bigger than I usually do in more form-fitting clothes. I got lots of compliments! This was taken at 54 lbs down (well, maybe more, but I don't weigh in until Wednesday).

So, it was a great weekend. It's going to be a long week. Next week is Spring Break and David and I have lots of plans! We are going to clean this house from top to bottom. The dogs are getting groomed, and I hope to visit at least one winery. (You know you aren't surprised!)

We are also going to get organized so that we can stop losing mail and figure out our budget better. We always get it on paper, but don't add in the extra stuff that has to be there - the fun money. So then we end up over spending because we "think" we have it. My goal is to be out of CC debt by this time next year. We can do it if we get our butts in gear and stop spending like money grows on the trees in the back yard! It will help that we aren't going to California. We are still taking our anniversary trip, and David wants to go to Kearney in August for a race. But, that's what fun money is for, right? Plus we'll have our monthly rewards that we earn and any big milestone ones as well. :-)

I've really been lacking energy lately. I'm drinking plenty of water and eating the right foods, but I still feel drained. I think I need to get back on a multivitamin - I got off while I was sick because I didn't want to take ANOTHER pill! Exercising seems to help also, but I'm not as enthusiastic about it as I used to be. I need to get my butt back in gear and make myself accountable (thank God for goals!). If you have any tips on energy let me know!

Nighty night!

Baked Pizza Casserole

Okay, seriously. This stuff was AWESOME!! This was the recipe we got from our leader on Wednesday. I love pizza, and this is a healthy way to feed the craving! We are thinking about adding veggies to the mix to make it a little more filling. Make sure any changes you make you look at the points (run through Etools).

POINTS® Value: 7 pts
Servings: 6
Preparation Time: 5 min
Cooking Time: 15 min

Ingredients
1 lb lean meat (The original recipe called for beef, but we did turkey. David also thought that italian turkey sausage would be good too!)
1 can chunky italian tomato sauce (David couldn't find the chunky italian, so I used regular tomato sauce and added italian seasoning.)
1 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 refrigerated roll of pizza dough

Directions
Spray 9x13 pan and spread dough onto bottom. Make sure it goes up the side a little - about an inch, maybe a little more

Cook and drain meat. Add sauce (and seasonings).

Put meat mixture into pan. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Add cheese and cook another 5 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Weigh In!

Well, I went back tonight! The last time I weighed in was January 28th. That's right! 5 days later, I got sick, and all the other fun stuff that has happened.... So, remember how I had gained weight during my illness but lost it?

Well, I posted a loss of 1.6 lbs!!!! I have lost 54 lbs! I am just over 8 lbs away from my goal weight! David came to weigh in and is basically starting over. He couldn't find his book and their "high tech" system lost his info. He's down from where he was last week, but he also hasn't eaten much (gotta love flu and bronchitis!), but up from where he was before I got sick in July!

We are back to making monthly goals. I reminded him that I never did get my reward from January - Wii Active Play. So here are my goals, and I'm stickin' to 'em!
* Exercise: Cardio 3 days a week. My body is still recuperating, so right now, 10 minutes is good. By the end of the month, I want to be back up to 45 minutes! My second goal is to walk in the March of Dimes, a 3 mile walk at the end of April. My reward is dinner at a local restaurant - they do have healthy choices, but this is a slightly pricier restaurant, so it's a good reward!
* Weight: 4 lbs. It seems low, but I know that since I'm getting closer, I may hit a plateau or consider myself "lucky" to lose one pound a week! My reward is another new outfit (1 top, 1 bottom - don't have to match or both be for work). I told David I NEED new clothes!

David's goals are:
* Exercise: 4 days a week of high intensity cardio. Reward: Movie night (but I have the right to veto because I don't like scary/gross movies)
* Weight: 10 lbs. Reward: Night away from home (hotel or something like that)

We also set long term goals. When I hit Lifetime, I get to go to a Bed & Breakfast. David set 10% goals each getting a trip. We set the rule that, when the goal is reached, we will book the reward. So, it may be a few weeks or a month, but it will happen. His lifetime goal is to book and go on a 7 day cruise!

Sunday night, I'm making a new recipe from my leader. It sounds really yummy, so stay tuned! :-)

March of Dimes

My friend Summer invited lots of her friends to help her in a mission: either walk with her or donate to March of Dimes. The walk is 3 miles long on April 26. 33 days. I can be healthy and walking 3 miles easy by then! :-)

Money is tight (as it is for alot of people right now), so I told Summer that I would walk with her! If you could help this wonderful organization out, please go to my page and donate. Every dollar counts to help these babies.

When Summer asked me to help, I thought about several children that I have cared for that were born premature. I took care of Haley when I worked at a daycare during college. She was born at 21 weeks. She is now in 1st grade and doing well! I actually saw her mom at UNO last semester and she has a sister now, who was born at 31 weeks. I also took care of Julia and Claire, 23 week twins. They were both healthy, slightly delayed (of course), but loving girls who were growing and so smart!

I am so happy that I can be a part of this! Now that I've entered a healthy chapter of my life, I can help people of all ages by walking for their cause. Please join me by donating or walking in your local area (or join our team!).

OMG! I cooked!

Before I got sick, David and I were cooking. Every. Single. Night. Or at least eating healthy left overs. Not so much while I was sick - he gave into my cravings (which is probably why I gained weight while I was sick). And then, while I was dealing with my tummy's "I hate food" stage, I was eating crackers, Sprite 0, and MAYBE jello (but that was usually too sweet). So, I amazingly lost the 12 lbs gained during my "Eat everything in sight and what looks good on TV" stage.

Last week, I made my Taco Soup. Sunday, I made the Crunchy Chicken Bake. (David asked me last night if I had ever made that. He was so out of it he didn't even remember me eating at all that night.) Tonight, I told David that I was going to make a nice dinner - sit down at the table, and enjoy ourselves dinner. Holy Cow! I made Meatloaf with Barley. David loves meatloaf, and for him to say "I don't remember you making this" made me sad. But, it has been quite some time since I've cooked anything. I gave him the choice between pasta or meatloaf. He picked meatloaf and got: meatloaf, baked sweet potatoes (with a little Splenda and Cinnamon on top), steamed veggies (seriously love Bird's Eye bags!), and a glass of wine from Loess Hills. I got the Loess Hills Blanc on Saturday from a local deli/wine shop.

He was pleasantly surprised, and so was I! It was so nice to sit down and enjoy dinner together. I also bought stuff for Strawberry Shortcake. Not sure if I'm gonna eat it tonight or not - I'm pretty full and my tummy is kind of arguing with me about eating more than 1/4 of what I "used to" eat. That's right. I'm still taking Zantac 3x a day and pray whenever I eat something in between meals.

Oh, and I went to the gym tonight. It went a little better than Saturday. I still only went 10 minutes on the Elliptical, but I went faster (averaged 3.9). It's still frustrating thinking about where I was, but I know I have to listen to my body so that I don't hurt myself!

That was the excitement of the evening. Well, and Max and Sam getting baths - they rolled in something and SMELLED. Of course these are the 2 that hate baths the most and I still have scratches on my arms an hour later. But, they are happy now. In fact, Max is sitting at my arm trying to help me type!

I plan on going to weigh-in tomorrow. I'm hoping I'm down at least a little bit. If nothing else, I haven't been eating much the last couple weeks. And I've been trying to make healthy-ish choices. But, I know I'm not getting enough fruits and veggies, so my goal next week is to get back into it! I miss my veggies and fruits. Now it's spring and more stuff is coming back into season! YAY!

Crunchy Chicken Bake

I'm due for another recipe! I haven't done one since the end of January. Oops! Probably because we haven't been eating the healthiest while I was sick and then last week was Conferences. I had to cook this chicken, so David will have some when he feels better. Anyways.. Here is another recipe from my WW leader. I think I might play with the spices in this. It wasn't bland, but it wasn't quite right. If you make this and change/add spices, let me know what to try!

POINTS® Value: 5 pts
Servings: 4
Preparation Time: 5 min
Cooking Time: 40-45 min

Ingredients
2/3 cup cornflake crumbs
1 Tbsp flour
1 tsp brown sugar
3/4 tsp onion powder (I used dried minced onion)
1/2 tsp coriander
2 tsp paprika
3/4 garlic powder
3/4 tsp salt
4 skinless bone-in chicken breasts (I used chicken tenders and adjusted the cooking time to 30 min)

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, spray baking sheet

Combine everything into a bag. Spray chicken with cooking spray, put chicken in bag, and shake. Place chicken on baking sheet.

Bake until golden brown, 40-45 minutes. If you use tenders or boneless chicken breast make sure you adjust this time accordingly! 30 minutes did it for my chicken tenders.

Sunday Ramblings...

I went to bed last night thinking I'd get to sleep in, do a little laundry, go shopping, and just relax. Yeah, right.

I woke up at 9:00 and noticed I missed a text message. David's partner had texted me to call him - that David got sick at work. I guess he woke up about 2:00 with major abdominal pain. About 3:00 he went up to the ER because he was puking and other stuff... The doctor ordered an Xray because his pain was a little higher than he thought it should be for the flu - he was thinking gull bladder or possible bowel obstruction. Luckily between that a bunch of blood work, he decided it's "just" the flu.

2 of his coworkers had this this week - and slept in the bed he slept in for the last 2 nights. They, of course, decided not to disinfect or wipe anything down. The sheets were changed, but that's it. David was just lucky enough to catch this while he was at work. The doctor thinks that, because he's still dealing with the bronchitis, his immune system was low so it hit him harder than the other 2 guys.

He obviously wasn't up to working his shift or driving home. So, my dad and I drove out there to get him and his car. He ended up with tons of pain meds, anti-nausea, and 3 bags of fluid. We stopped at the grocery store to get lots of fluids, popsicles, and chicken broth. I also got him TheraFlu, Immodium, and a 'script for Reglan from Walgreens. Now he's passed out on the couch under 2 comforters and 2 blankets. I'm trying to stay away from him so I don't get it, but I figure I probably will... fingers crossed not until the end of the week!

I was supposed to go shopping today for clothes. I had a coupon from New York & Company that expires today. The friend that was going to go had to bail, and I didn't want to leave David. So I shopped online. I spent a little more than I had planned but I got 2 pants and 2 tops. I'm excited to get my clothes in a week. Then I'll have a "fashion show" for you!

And my last randomness for the day... When I was at the grocery store getting popsicles, I noticed Weight Watchers has new ice cream things! Fruit popsicle with vanilla ice cream - I LOVE those things, and now they are healthy! Oh, and you know how Snicker's has their ice cream bars? Well, Weight Watchers has their own! They are 3 points, which is a little higher than I usually like to go for sweets, but they will be so worth it!

And then, I decided to get Frosty Paws. Have you seen these? They are dog-safe ice cream treats! They come in individual cups and I've heard good things about them. My sister and brother in law give their dogs these yummy treats about once a week. In fact, Shammy can open her own cup if you start it just a little bit! I thought today would be a good day to try these - instant entertainment for the dogs. They LOVED them. I got the original flavor. Max immediately took his outside, and Allie tried to enjoy her's in the recliner. I vetoed that. Toby eventually ate his laying on David's feet (David finally warmed up a little!). They were gone in less than 30 minutes and I had happy puppies with dirty faces! I think these are going to be a common entertainment/treat around our house! :-)