Resolutions...bleh.

In years past I have made New Year resolutions but they all pretty much fizzle out by the time March rolls around. So this year I set a goal for myself to get to a healthy weight and I acheived it, but I knew I couldn't do it without accountability. Then I set the goal to maintain my weight and I made it to lifetime on Weight Watchers two weeks ago!

So now I know how to keep my weight off but I struggle getting in enough excercise. So this year I decided to challenge myself further. My two goals for 2012 are to run a 5k and 10k. I already have two buddies who are going to do them with me. I'm looking forward to pushing myself this year and I might even attempt a half marathon by 2013. We shall see!

As a side note, my boss walked around the office in his socks all morning today.

Ten Today

December has been packed full of fun already with more memories still to be made!

1. Christmas parties

2.Craft making

3. Cookie eating

4. Cutting down our Christmas tree

5. Petting zoo fun

6. Trying to enjoy riding a tempermental camel

7. Family picture taking

8. Snake hunting

9. Hay ridin'

10. A weird person taking a picture of weird people taking pictures of themselves

The hustle and bustle of the Christmas season is upon us!

My office Christmas lunch was Friday (I got a Christmas bonus!) and Tyler's work Christmas party was Friday night at Soho in Santa Barbara. We met lots of new people and enjoyed the live band and food. There were at least 150 people there, many more than the companies he's worked for in the past. The people were all really great and excited for Tyler to be a part of the team. We are feeling so blessed that there are so many benefits along with the job. He gets three weeks vacation plus a week at Christmas, low cost health insurance and they'll pay for him to attend ITT Tech 100%! Anyone who reads this blog knows that we needed this so bad! I thank God every single day for this blessing!!

We're looking forward to the family Christmas party at church this afternoon. Cookies, crafts and a Charlie Brown Christmas should be fun!

I have some fabulous news! After interviewing a month ago and patiently waiting for a drug test and background check to pass, Tyler will be starting his new job on Monday!

He has a real snazzy job title to go along with it: Aerospace Engineer.

Congratulations, Tyler!

Catching Up

Thanksgiving was lots of fun. I was in charge of the Thanksgiving meal this year. Well, heating it up actually. That Marie Callendars sure does make it easy. My mom wasn't feeling too hot this year so we went with that option. It sure turned out great, though.

The pie-making consisted mostly of Tyler's efforts with the help of me, Corey and the kids. They turned out so perfectly, especially since he put the apple pie in the oven while we were eating dinner so it would be warm.

All ready to eat!

The boys

We finished off the evening by listening to a tape Joanna, Tim and I made when we were little in Scotland. We alternated using our American and Scottish accents and I have to say, we sounded pretty cute. It makes me miss Scotland. I would love to go there again with my hubby and kids one day.

The day after thanksgiving Joanna and I decided we wanted to make wreaths. We went to Jo-Anne Fabrics (after a very confused Steph ended up at Anna's Linens) and got the things we needed to make them.

Ours both look remarkably similar.

Hillary, Krista and I went to BJ's for a pizookie last Saturday night. Then we went to my house and enjoyed a couple games of Mexican Train with Tyler. Such fun times with friends and we didn't get a single picture.

I spent the rest of the four day weekend decorating the house for Christmas. Everything is all set up except for the tree, which we're going to cut down tomorrow. I love the warm fire, the candles, the stockings hung and family. I'm a happy Steph.

It was nerd day for the kids at school. I think it's more fun for us than it is for them!

Please note Cole's Alfalfa hair.

Hope everyone enjoys the weekend!

Ten On Tuesday

1. I love this Thanksgiving week. Tomorrow is a short day, then a four day weekend! I look forward to spending time with my family and seeing Hillary on Saturday.

2. After our fantastic apple pie making adventure last year we decided to make it again. We'll also be making a caramel pecan pumpkin pie. Yummers.

3. It makes me laugh when people stay up to the wee hours to see new movies, especially of the twilight variety. Just seems like a waste of time when you could wait twelve hours and go see it without having to elbow your way through the crowd. Most of the time I would rather enjoy any movie from the comfort of my own home rather than sit next to someone who talks, texts, laughs obnoxiously and gasps throughout the entire movie. They probably wipe their boogies on the armrests too.

4. When I went to Target last week, a couple of coupons fell into the cart and I didn't realize until after I made it to the car. I felt so angry for at least an hour afterward. I would have saved an extra three bucks. What is wrong with me!?

5. I've been very crafty lately. I had a $10 credit on groupon that I wanted to use on a Christmas card deal. It expired and I missed it but sometimes you can find it in other states. I couldn't find it in the US but I was able to purchase it in Canada. I didn't think it would let me because my card is linked to the US but it totally did. So I paid $5 for $50 worth of holiday greeting cards. Score! I ordered the cards on Friday making me less of a procrastinator than I've ever been at Christmas time. Word.

6. We sold the Magnum last week!

Bye, Reba.

7. Cole's kindergarten play was this morning. Such cuteness, such fun!

8. That's all I got.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

That's How Cole C's It

Me: "I need to watch it or I'll go right back to being fat."

Kayley: "Mom, you were never fat."

Cole: "You're so beautiful, mom. Even when you're naked."

Lovely.

Cole: "I have an idea for Kayley's punishment. She should pee in a cup and drink it."

Ya, that's our son. I don't condone our five year old with a potty mouth but he is so stinkin' funny sometimes!

Things I love about Cole:

He calls the dog Hartley McFartly, encourages his friends to put red vines in their water bottles to create a whole new drink and thinks that putting his gummy vitamins in his orange juice every morning makes it taste better. He's known for pulling the girls around the yard at recess in the wagon and wants "the other blonde girl" to be his girlfriend.

And he's a total goofball!

Ten Today

1. I reached my Weight Watchers goal! Now I have to maintain for six weeks and I'll become a lifetime member and no longer have to pay. I will probably weigh-in at least once a month for the rest of my life since I really need the accountability!

2. Tyler had the plate removed from his leg last Friday. I'm so happy that in a few weeks he'll be pain-free!

3. I had the worst stomach flu ever last weekend. I was literally one stomach flu away from my goal weight. Apparently it payed off. Ha.

4. Sunday we carved pumpkins with the kids. Tyler drew both pumpkins free hand. He's pretty amazing like that.

Cole: "I don't know why I didn't like to touch the inside of the pumpkin last time! I could do this all day, all year long!"

Kayley is really starting to look big to me.

The finish product: spider and Ferb.

5. Cole was Batman and Kayley was the female version of Jack Sparrow for Halloween. We had a really great time at Trunk or Treat! When we got home around 8:30 our street was literally crawling with people. Hundreds, and I'm not exaggerating. Apparently our neighborhood is a popular place. Pictures to come soon of the kids.

6. Hartles McFartles turned one on Sunday!

7. November is a lovely month. I have Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and the day after off of work. Bring on the chai tea and the cozy evenings by the fire.

8. We're hoping and praying that the job Tyler interviewed for this week will be his!

9. If you have a chance or if you care, Youtube Lift Me Up by The Afters. I couldn't get the link or the video to post on here. I've felt such a peace in my life just by letting it all go and letting Him carry me. Love it.

10. Turns out my birth control could have possibly been causing my high blood pressure. Since I no longer have to take it I'm weaning myself off the blood pressure meds. I'm hoping to be medicine-free by next week.

Six super cool things about the last six days

1. Thursday was payday and picture retake day for Cole.

2. I got my facial on Friday. Where have they been my entire life? It was wonderful. She also shaped my eyebrows which makes me feel pretty.

3. Saturday morning was full of house work and discovery that the dishwasher was leaking into the living room. When Tyler was done with school we went on a family bike ride and in the evening we went to the movies and saw Horrible Bosses.

4. Sunday my mom made a fantastic lunch for the family.

5. Monday was Monday, meh. Tyler built a fire, I made the kids hot chocolate, we dimmed the lights and watched The Music Man. We were in bed by 9:30. Fantastic!

6. Today I weighed in at .2 less than last week. .2 to go. Seriously, that could have been one trip to the bathroom. Oh well, it'll be motivation to keep my hand out of my kids halloween candy.

I also saw William Daniels this morning aka Mr. Pheeny from Boy Meets World. Joanna, you'll appreciate that!

Happy Tuesday!

Wordless Wednesday-Almost There!

Cousins

I already mentioned the cousins came for a visit. I forgot I actually took a couple pictures!

The older ones...

...and the youngest one...

..and apparently I forgot all about the two in between.

Mi Casa

I finally took a video of my house!

I'm still working on the decor pretty much throughout the house. When I'm done in three years I'll show you in another post :)

Whazup

I went to the doc last week with seriously high blood pressure. I was given an EKG because I was having some heart palpitations. The sticky things don't stick well to hairy legs, just for future reference. Then I had to go get an echo (ultrasound) to rule out any heart abnormalities or blockages. The echo itself was uncomfortable but the man who did it was quite interesting. I think my favorite part about him what that he was wearing a bolo tie. I havn't seen those since Royal Rangers. In fact, I think I used to wear one. Ha. Anyway, I digress. I'm now 50 years old probably because I'm taking medication to stabilize my blood pressure. The day after I started taking the meds I felt like a different person. I can do normal tasks again without feeling like I'm going to faint. The doctor said that all my anxiety was probably a result of the high blood pressure and not the other way around. The mystery is where exactly the high blood pressure has come from. I'm healthy and I've endured much more stress and never had a spike in my blood pressure before. I'll keep you posted on what's going on.

In other news, it's red ribbon week at school and the kids have been dressing funny all week. Kayley got in the top ten for the craziest hair on Tuesday and yesterday she won for all of first, second and third grade for having the best backwards and inside out clothes! Naturally my child would win, she's a weirdo.

Last weekend we had all the Battens together in one place. I met baby Ryan and he's the spitting image of Noah as a baby. The Batten kids are now 7, 7, 5, 2, 3 months and 2 months. There was some serious madness in our house that day. My dog did not appreciate Zoey pouring scoops of formula on her head. I also forgot how much that stuff stinks.

I'm very thankful that it's Friday. The tax extension deadline is Monday so it's like a mini tax season at work. So it's time to catch up on all the important things in life like Words With Friends, Hanging With Friends and spending some time with my family. Ahh, life is good!

Good morning, high blood pressure and anxiety ridden Steph here. I'm under a tremendous amount of stress and as a result my body is freaking out. How fun for me, right? There's nothing horrible going on in my life, just lots of changes.

We're making some changes financially that I know will be good for our family. Starting yesterday we've gone cash only for many of our day to day purchases. Also, we have started building up an emergency fund for those things that, you know, shouldn't really be emergencies because life always happens and we should always be prepared. Adios debt and hello saving!

Cole finished swimming lessons and has requested that his next extra curricular activity be golf. I think we'll stick to t-ball for now and explore that option later.

As far as tv goes, I really don't like Glee much anymore. This week was miles better than last week's boring episode. I just don't know if I will keep watching. The New Girl and Up All Night are pretty great shows that I will be watching for sure, along with my faves Modern Family and Parks and Recreation.

I haven't reached my goal weight yet. I keep yo-yoing up a pound, down a pound. I'm only three pounds away dangit! I'm not giving up, I just need one less stressor. I'm still on weight watchers, just maintaining. So I scheduled a facial for next week and I'm going to reward myself for making it this far.

The kids got their school pictures this week. I will scan them and post them for ya'll to see. I think Cole's need to be retaken. He thinks it's funny to smile with no teeth, I don't think it's quite so hilarious.

I love all my friends. Wish you were closer and that I had a nicer camera and/or the will to take pictures of my life so you can see it. My house will never be clean enough to post pictures of. If you want to see it, come visit me. :)

If I were a disney character today I would be Eeyore. And my tail would be missing.

Eight Years!

Yup, we made it eight whole years! And to celebrate I forgot to put on my wedding ring today and I'm wearing my panties and my bra inside out. No, I didn't mean to do any of these things. Tyler married a really special lady, ha.

Happy Anniversary, Tyler. You make my life special and my heart happy. I love you.

We're coming up on the end of September already, can you believe it? The weather is more fall-like and getting chilly already. Although I guess the weather is like this on a cold day in summer. I feel like I missed summer, probably because I worked full time this year and didn't spend as much time at the pool.

As a little tribute to summer I thought I would post these pictures from Labor Day. I had the day off so I took Kayley and Cole to the water park.

Random Thoughts

Is there ever really a day when I wake up not exausted? I was convinced the clocks were wrong this morning when I got up and it was pretty dark.

Katie and I have been spinning at the gym and while I love the energy it gives me most of the time, today I'm dragging. I forgot that I used to mountain bike in click in shoes so I got them out and used them last night on the spin bike! If you've never spun(?) before you should try it. 60 minutes of sweat and feeling the burn. Awesome.

Our house is looking so nice. We got curtains for the living room last weekend and they make a huge difference in the way things look. I'll take a video to post soon.

Starting tomorrow I'm going a whole month with no Facebook, just to reduce the amount of things my brain has to process. I'm overwhelming myself with things I don't need to be worrying about. I'm neglecting my Bible study times but make plenty of time to update my status. Not cool. So adios Facebook for a little while.

This flow chart is something I know you guys will appreciate. Some of us have husbands who might not appreciate it so much! Click on it to make it easier to read.

Humpday

I wrote this post last Wednesday and I'm too lazy to change any of the wording.

Hey look, it's humpday again! I survived the weekend and half the week so far. If you came in contact with me at all recently you would probably would have killed me due to my extreme crabbiness and intolerance of people's ignorance and stupidity. I must say I've had a crappy couple of weeks. Props to my husband for not making me sleep in the guest bedroom.

Besides having a physical and emotional breakdown, my life isn't that interesting lately. Although, I did have a giant black bug like creature that jump from the desk behind me onto the floor and scurry behind my desk the other day. I definitely did not try and get rid of it by turning my space heater up really hot. Smoke 'em out I always say.

Both kids are doing well in school. Cole is having some issues adapting to school life but I'm pretty sure he will improve as he settles into the routine of things. Here are a couple pictures from the first day:

See Past What It Seems

I have to admit that lately I've been the grouchiest person on the planet. I can't give you a reason why but in case you're wondering, no I'm not pregnant! I had begun a blog post at the peak of my crabbiness yesterday and planned on posting it today. But then I came across a blog post that a friend posted on Facebook. It really touched me and softened my heart a little and I chose to post about this instead. If you have the time, click here to read it.

This week I reached a goal I've been working to for a long time: my 10% off! It's crazy to think I've lost one tenth of all the weight I was carrying. I've got to say, it really feels great. My total weight loss at this point is 15.2 pounds. I have 1.6 till my goal weight! I still don't know what I'm going to do to reward myself. I would love to get a facial. Yes, I think that's what I'll do!

See this little guy? This is Ryan, our new little nephew. He was a whopping nine pounds at birth and is a chunky monkey! Do you see how much he looks like Noah?

This Riley guy turned two months this week.

I'm very much looking forward to this three day weekend and date night tonight with Tyler!

Happy Friday!