I am still here . . .

Wow! I have been a slacker when it comes to blogging. I finished up my maintenance and have been free to do whatever I want since the weekend before Thanksgiving. I have maintained very well, just playing around with the same couple of pounds. Although I'd love to say I am losing 2 pounds a week, I am happy with maintaining. I'll start my last round on January 1 ~ whoo-hoo!!!!
Lots of things happening right now but I am at a loss to tell you what they are :-)

• My Dipped Delights is going really well (www.dippeddelights.blogspot.com) I have several orders for Christmas and lately it has looked like Christmas vomited all over my kitchen!
• School is school. Still really struggling this year and not sure if a change is in order.
• My Christmas shopping is done and wrapped! Granted, I don't have a lot of people to buy for but I am still happy that it is done.
• The new year is bringing lots of new possibilities. I am not going to make the "I want to lose weight" resolution this year since I am already well on my way. This year I am going to resolve that I am going to have the life that I deserve to have. It's hard sometimes to realize that I do deserve it ~ but I do!

Not a lot more here . . . I might as well wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year since it will probably be Valentine's Day before I blog again. :-)

I'm Not A Liar Anymore . . .

Well, after my absolutely m.i.s.e.r.a.b.l.e day and night yesterday, this morning started out with a bang! I got on the scale and was down 2.3 pounds!!! I had to get on the scale three different times throughout the morning to make sure it was accurate. So, as of this morning, I officially weigh what my Driver's License says I weigh. I haven't been able to say that for a LOOOONG time. :-)

Just Blah . . .

I don't know what's up with me lately, but I'm just so "blah" feeling. I know a lot of it is work-related. With the results of the election last week, there are going to be HUGE changes at school ~ to the tune of $1.5 million being cut this school year and and ADDITIONAL $5 million next year. Not good news in any way, shape, or form. And, I am just struggling with finding my joy in teaching (or, more accurately, all of the other #*(*@ that goes along with teaching).

How's that for a downer of an opening paragraph? Let's see what else is up . . .

• I have gotten a few orders for my Dipped Delights. Check out my other blog at www.DippedDelights.blogspot.com for more details. I love doing these but, unfortunately, they aren't enough for a main career. :-)
• Maintenance is going well. I am down a couple of more pounds, but the point here isn't to lose but maintain so I am succeeding.
• Getting excited about the Holidays. Went to Costco Saturday and walked through the Christmas aisles . . . I love seeing all the decorations they have out. :-)

I guess this was a pretty pointless post ~ just felt like I needed to put something up to prove that I hadn't fallen off the face of the earth.

New Adventure

In what seems to be counter-productive to my weight loss journey, I have started a new adventure. I am going to be making and selling a variety of chocolate dipped treats. If you are interested, you can go to my other blog at www.dippeddelights.blogspot.com

It is just in the beginning stages but I am so excited about it.

Cobb Salad and Cottage Cheese

I am so excited!!! Tonight, I get to have a cobb salad for dinner and I can even have cottage cheese if I want. That's right, I am officially on maintenance. I stopped my drops 3 days early because I think they had lost their potency and weren't doing anything. In effect, my body did think it was starving, since nothing was being released by the HcG, and was holding on to everything. I decided that the frustration wasn't worth it and made the decision to end them a few days ahead of schedule.

I was very pleased with this round, overall. Sure, I would have liked to have dropped another 15-20 pounds, but 60 pounds in 4 months is pretty amazing! My next goal is to keep things under control over the Holidays, which I am positive I will do. :-)

60 Pounds!!

Yesterday morning I finally hit the 60 pound mark ~ it seemed like it was forever in coming but, in actuality, I have only been on this protocol since June 19. So, just over 4 months, with a 3 week break included in there. Not too bad! :-)
I have noticed the loss slowing down lately. I'm thinking that it's because I have become a little more "normal" sized so there isn't as much to lose. That's good, I guess, (OK, I know :-)) but I was really liking the bigger losses. I only have 3 more days of drops this round and I begin maintenance. Really excited about my spinach quiche and seeing how I manage through the Holidays.

Frustration

Well, this has been a really rough week. I lost 2.4 pounds Monday night and since then I have been at basically the same weight ~ up a little, down a little :-( It is so, so, so frustrating. I know that it will all work out in the end and I am right where I was at this point last round. But, I am at 59 pounds gone and REALLY want to hit the 60 pound mark!

OK, whine over . . .

Progress

I have a thing with pictures . . . I hate them! However, Haley and I are quite goofy when it comes to taking "self-portraits". We usually take about 537,000, give or take a few, before we are happy with them. So, that is why I have so many. Here are four pictures that show some of my progress. I know I need to have some other pictures and I do have some "before" shots, but they will not see the light of day until I have some a.m.a.z.i.n.g "after" pics to post with them.

June 2010 ~ About a week and a half before I started the HcG Protocol

September 2010 - Finished with the first round and ready to start the second round.


October 2010 - Halfway through the second round

Non-Scale Victories

Back when I was doing Weight Watchers they would talk about Non-Scale Victories (NSV), which were things you found along the journey that were not directly related to the number on the scale. So, this morning (in church) I was thinking about this, as I was able to cross my leg over and my foot pointed down, not just across at my knee.
So, here are a few of the NSV I've accomplished:

• I am able to cross my leg at the knee and not have my foot sit on my knee
• I have not hit a drive-through since June 19
• I have gotten over my need to consume massive quantities of food. You know, if a little tastes good, a lot will taste even better.
• I can eat just what satisfies me . . . I was the one who believed that M&M's come in a bag for a reason ~ what person in their right mind wouldn't eat the whole package?!?!? I had 4 bites of a Frosty last month and was totally happy.
• I am in the smallest size that Lane Bryant carries! I am getting down to bare bones in what still fits in my closet. I had a gift card to spend at LB and went in yesterday. I can't wear their tops anymore and this was the LAST time I will be able to shop at that store. Look out bargain clothes, here I come! :-)
• I can sit with others who are eating and be fine.
• My knees and hips have not bothered me in weeks. Now, the ball of my foot is in pain but that is because I refuse to stop wearing heels for any length of time.
• I have a hip bone!! And a collar bone!!! :-)
• I no longer have heartburn or discomfort when I go to bed at night.
• I know that I will succeed in seeing this journey to the end!!! After so many starts and stops with little to no success and many, many times of regaining all I've lost, this is it ~~I will succeed!!!

50 Pounds!!!

I hit the 50 pound mark on Wednesday morning ~ halfway to a hundred and I can see the end in sight. I think I've mentioned before, but I really like being back on the HCG protocol. I do not think of food at all since I get so little variety and I've found that this really works for me.
My OCD brain has "planned" out the rest of this journey. . . according to my plan, as of March 7th I will be completely done with my last round and maintenance and will begin to live the rest of my life. Now, we'll just hope that my body cooperates.
In other news ~ because there is a little more to my life than losing weight:

• My Grams had surgery on her back about 2 weeks ago. It went really well and much of her pain is gone, thank goodness. It had gotten really bad for her lately and this was a pretty non-invasive (all things considered) procedure where they put cement in her cracked vertebrae.
• October 1 was the 2nd Anniversary of my Gramps' passing . . . still a little hard, but definitely easier than last year. It's hard to believe that he has already been gone for 2 years ~ I still have such vivid memories of the last few days with him.
• I am down to only 23 students now. When I took time off for my Grams' surgery, 2 girls withdrew on my first day gone. I was tempted to take the whole week off and see if 10 would move away! :-)

I guess that's all for now . . . not really much excitement, but just wait ~ I am sure I will be bursting with big news one of these days! :-)

My Body is a "One - derland" :-)

Go ahead, sing the John Mayer song along with me . . . I hit this amazing milestone this morning. Since I've decided to be honest on my blog (oh, as of , what, Saturday?) I have officially entered the world of the 100's!!! Yes, to many people that is still ginormous, but I have not been here since September 2001 so, to me, it is a great accomplishment. I know I have a LOT more to go but this feels wonderful. Now, if I could just get someone to appreciate my "skin like porcelain" (I really love that song!)
Ready to go knock some more pounds off and get that song out of my head!!

40 Pounds Gone Forever!!!!

I hit the 40 pound mark on Thursday!! Getting even closer to another massage :-)
This weekend I had to "binge" to get my fat cells "primed" for releasing calories ~ at least according the the Pounds and Inches writings. Anyhow, it was hard. I had to think really hard of what I could eat that had lots of fat and calories. Nothing sounded good. So I ended up with sonic chicken and tots (since I had a gift card). The first few bites were good but in the end I was choking it down. Then Sunday I went to BJ's ~ they have the greatest fries ever!!! I ate but it wasn't that enjoyable and I felt like crap when I went to bed Sunday night. I call this P R O G R E S S people!!! I was so happy to wake up on Monday and go back to my strict, no-variety eating plan. And the pounds are coming off, which makes it all worth it.
My closet is getting fewer and fewer options in it. I know what's going to be on my Christmas list.
And, hopefully by Monday morning my body will be in "Onederland". Yep, I just admitted it ~ can't believe I did but the truth is the truth!

Not Much Happening?

I guess there's not a whole lot going on since it's been a loooong time since my last post.

• School is school . . . .still feels like 3 bazillion kiddoes on some days (like today) but I can see so much progress in some of them. However, we aren't making much progress with "inside voices" ~ I don't know that we will since even if they are all "reading" a book to themselves it is quite loud!
• My niece is playing volleyball for Verrado High School, both Frosh and JV teams. The Frosh team is 8-0 today!! She is really good. :-)
• Thinking about the possibility of changing to a charter school. Need to look into it further, but my niece and nephew go to Odyssey and there is a lot of good happening there. It just seems that in the public schools we are getting more and more thrown at us, while getting less support and $$. I'll keep you posted.
• Going back on the HCG protocol this Saturday, which means that I get 2 "binge" days. Sad thing is, I have a much smaller appetite and can't think of what I want to stuff myself with. I guess that's actually a GOOD thing. Who'd have thought that I would prefer cottage cheese and strawberries to a brownie?!?!
• Still wishing/hoping/praying for that special someone. I got my hopes up for a while at the beginning of the summer, but apparently that wasn't meant to develop into anything more. Really, my list of what I'm looking for isn't that great, just a nice, normal guy who likes me and wants to spend time with me . . .

I am tired!!!

But, actually, life is good! It is just taking so long to get into the swing of things this year. I am so fortunate that my kids are actually really good ~ it just takes us f . o . r . e . v . e . r to get anything done. I joke that we are the line that never ends, but there is actually some truth to that.
I am "blessed" with some parents this year! I'll let you read into that what you will but I have already said that I am going to interview the incoming parents next year before we make class lists. :-)
I only have 4 more days of maintenance before I can eat anything, within reason. However, there is not really much I will eat that I'm not already eating. Except for Chipotle!!! I'm really not going to go crazy because I will be going back on to be protocol on September 15 and don't want to have to make huge changes in what I'm eating. I am actually excited to start back up again ~ looking to drop another 33 pounds before Thanksgiving!!!

A Long Week

The first week of school has come and gone. Actually, it was only 3 days of kids but it felt a lot longer than that! I have 25 . . . yes 25 . . .in my class so far. Unreal!!! I started last year with 14 students. No wonder this year feels twice as hard. :-) I don't have any real behaviors, yet, but it is still chaotic. Our line stretches f o r e v e r !!! But, I do have some really cute and sweet kiddoes this year. One of my little girls asked another one, who was crying, if she wanted to be her friend. So sweet!!
Although I felt like drinking on Tuesday afternoon (after meeting the parent from H E Double Hockey Sticks AND seeing how many new kids were registering) I have been doing really well with maintenance. I am enjoying eating a variety of food and still have a much smaller appetite than before. Plus, I now know that I do not enjoy that "too full" feeling anymore.
Not sure if I am really supposed to be losing while on maintenance but I figure I have a LOT of weight to go so I am happy that I am continuing to lose--not as fast as with the HcG, but still losing. As of this morning, I am down 31.8 pounds.

Maintenance

I finished with my HcG on Friday but am still sticking with the very low calories. Beginning tomorrow, I will re-introduce certain foods, just avoiding sugars and starches. I made a crustless spinach quiche tonight that will be my breakfast and/or lunch this week. It looks amazing!!
As excited as I am to eat more variety, I am also a little nervous. It was kind of nice to know exactly what I was going to eat each day. With the HcG I never really wanted anything else. But now that I have the freedom, I am hopeful that I won't get carried away.
As of this morning, I am down 29.8 pounds!!!

Summer's Over :-(

Well today was the first day back to work, officially. Actually the first 4 days are "optional" but they do pay you extra for being there. Sold! However, I feel like I earned every dollar today. It was a long and monotonous day ~ I really prefer being in my classroom and working with my kiddoes, rather than sitting and listening all day. Lots of changes in the district, that's for sure, but I'm not certain that they are all for the better.

My goal is to keep as positive as possible this year. I love, love, loved my class last year and that usually means the following year is pretty much the opposite. Let's hope that isn't the case this time around. I do know that I have 19 in my class, and we still have more than a week until the first day. Can't wait to see what happens.

I am on my last week of HcG drops. As of this morning, I am down 26.7 pounds. My body has fallen into a rhythm. I lose a nice amount for a couple of days and then just .2 or so for about 2 or 3 days. I'm learning to be OK with it, although I would love for everyday to be a big loss!! I know that's not possible but a girl can dream! I am hoping that I can hit 30 pounds by next Monday. Then comes the hard task of doing maintenance. I get a lot more choices but still a good amount of restrictions. I've gotten used to having very little choice so there is not much room for error. When I'm on my own . . . a little bit scary!!

Look Out Massage, Here I Come!!!

Yay!!! I hit the 25 pound mark this morning . . . and I am wasting no time in booking my massage. I am so flippin' excited. Don't know if it was the apple day or if it would have happened anyways, but regardless I met my goal.
Now, on to the next 25!!!

The "P" Word

Well, I've hit the dreaded "P" word . . . I am sitting at a plateau right now. I have been at 23.5 pounds, give or take .1 lbs since Sunday morning. I know that it is to be expected, but I am SO frustrated. The solution seems to be an "apple day". So, hopefully tomorrow I will have a nice new loss to report!
I am proud, thought, that I haven't fallen off the wagon. In the past, I would have just eaten a "little something" to make me feel better. I truly have no cravings anymore.
In about a week and a half I will begin my maintenance phase. During this time I will reintroduce foods and get to eat a lot more calories. I still need to avoid sugar and starches. That really limits a lot of foods, still, but all meats, veggies, and some dairy are A-OK. It will feel like I am pigging-out, I am sure, after being on such low calories for 6 weeks.
Even with this little snag, I am so happy that I am doing the HcG program. I finally feel like I've found something I can have success with for the long-term.

20 pounds!!

Today I hit the 20 pound mark ~ actually 20.6 pounds gone forever!!! I am so happy and am really seeing it in my lower stomach now. Not that it is svelte by any means but it is starting to slowly disappear.

Rewards

I've decided that I need to reward myself along this journey ~ not that losing the weight once and for all isn't reward enough, but still . . . Anyhow, I've decided that for every 25 pounds I lose, I get to have a massage. I love, love, love them but very seldom do I treat myself. That being said, I only have 5.5 pounds left until I hit 25. That's right, as of this morning I am down 19.5 pounds.
I've decided that I will take three weeks off when I am done with maintenance and then do another round of the HcG. I would finish maintenance of that round the weekend before Thanksgiving. If it continues as it has been, by that point I will be at a "happy" weight ~ not my final goal, but a point where I can be happy.
Nothing like planning ahead, I guess!
Hopefully I will be able to book that massage by the end of the week!

Day 20

I am almost half-way through this phase of the protocol. When I weighed in this morning, I was down 17.3 pounds in all!! I can actually see it in different areas but since my clothes have a lot of "wiggle" room, I am not down a size. That frustrates me so much ~ you know, when you see "I lost 10 pounds and 2 dress sizes!" commercials. I think when you get to the "Big Girl" clothes you have about 35 pounds between sizes. I know I have a pair of jeans I call the 75 pound pants ~ I can wear them for +/- 75 pounds, seriously!
Not sure if I wrote about Fry's trying to sabatoge me the other day. As I walked in the door, there was Starbucks and the big bakery cookies set out. Then, there were different fruits for sampling (none that I could have!), cheese dip and crackers, chocolate covered mini-donuts, and then, my biggest weakness, BROWNIES!!! I passed them all by. It was pretty easy until I came to the brownies. I realized that I haven't lost my taste for them at all. Other than that, I haven't really had any cravings. I am able to take my own food and eat with other people and do OK. Not that I wouldn't love to have a little spanish rice or queso now and then :-)
Anyhow, 22 more days of the HcG drops, then I get to go on maintenance. I am really hoping for at least 15 more pounds ~ who am I kidding, I'd actually like about 50 more pounds but I am trying to be realistic here.

Praying for Bennett

I am a blog-stalker . . . I do not remember when I came upon this blog, but Adrienne and her husband, Jim, have such a great story of Faith. They are now the parents of 4 little ones, all aged 4 and under. They have had such a long road to parenthood with many, many miscarriages, 2 international adoptions, 3 (?) failed domestic adoptions (after they met the baby), 1 domestic adoption and, finally, a pregnancy! However, their newest baby, Bennett, was born at just 26 weeks, 5 days. Right now, he is doing as well as can be expected. I have added his button to the side of my blog.
In following Adriennes' journey, I am blown-away by the level of faith she has displayed. Where most of us (at least myself) would have totally lost it, she has shown such grace throughout her entire journey and God's love has really shone through her.
So if you will, say a prayer for the precious baby and his family.

Mid-Summer Update

I cannot believe it is already July 5!! I go back to work 3 weeks from today :-( The good thing is that I get paid extra for those first 4 days, since they are not contract days. :-)
So, this post is gonna be a mind dump!

• I am now down 15.1 pounds!!!! It had slowed down there for a bit and I had to try really hard not to get discouraged. But I stuck in there and am really please with the results I am seeing. I can notice a change in my upper back, boobs, and lower belly! Today is the beginning of Day 17, which includes the 2 "loading"days and this is the 15th day of VLC eating.
• Summer school is done!! We actually were done last Wednesday. That was an experience that I don't want to re-live. The mornings weren't too bad ~ I was a floater so I filled in for an hour each in a 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade class. But the afternoons lasted f.o.r.e.v.e.r!! The kicker was the lady who, in all seriousness, was having us repeat after her: "a noun is a person, place, or thing. You may want to write that down for future reference"! Huge waste of time.
• I don't understand men!!!! "They" say that women are complicated, but, in this case, it's not me!! Once again, I am trying to use my patience. :-)
• Hard to believe that I am coming up on a year in my house. Still love, love, love it!!
• The lia sophia business is not doing so well right now. I haven't entered a show in 2 months. I am having a boutique and an open house this month, so hopefully things will turn around.

I guess that's about it. I hope everyone is having a great (and not-too-hot) summer!

Day 12

When I weighed this morning, I was down another .8 for a total of 12.9 pounds. I am starting to see a change in my stomach, the upper part, and my sides. Whoo-Hoo!!!

I saw a girl at school yesterday with some recipes, and being the nosy person that I am, I was reading them. I realized that they were recipes to be used on the HcG program. I asked her for copies and then she gave me a website to go to where there were more recipes. So, last night I was a cooking fool!!

I made:

• Orange "Julius" - This one was soooo good and felt like a treat. All you do is put an orange (peeled and separated into sections) and a handful of ice into a blender. I used my Magic Bullet :-) Whir it up and, I promise, it will turn into a light orange, foamy concoction. I added vanilla creme Stevia but I think you could also add some vanilla extract and sugar/Splenda/Equal, etc. You can drink it right then or put it into the freezer. Then it freezes into a blend between and orange ice and orange sherbet. I was so happy with it and the only calories in it come from the orange. I'm going to try it with different fruits, when I am allowed to reintroduce them to my eating plan.
• Chili - This recipe was very easy and you let it simmer forever. It is ground beef, cut up tomatoes (which I don't eat but someone gave me a case of beautiful ones), garlic, onion, chili powder, and a few other spices. I decided to put half of the tomatoes into the blender first since I'm not a huge fan of chunks. This simmered on my stove all evening and my house smelled A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!! It is sooo delicious and tastes so much fresher than what I made with a seasoning mix. Have to get used to no beans, but I'll adjust.
• Ketchup - I found a recipe to make sugar free ketchup. That was fun! I didn't get the seasonings exactly right (there were no exact measurements) but it is really close! I'm going to work on adjusting the recipe and use it for . . .
• Mini Meatloaves - I haven't made these yet, but the girl who gave me the recipes said they are delicious (and she isn't on the program, her husband is). I have the meat to make them and then I can stick some into the freezer.
• Chicken Lettuce Wraps - I bought some stuff called Bragg's Liquid Amino Acids, which is kind of like a natural alternative to soy sauce. I minced up some chicken, added some Amino Acids, and then quickly stir-fried it. Wrapped up in lettuce, it was awesome!

Now, I am going to go use the rest of the tomatoes in my kitchen to make "legal" marinara sauce. It will be my first time peeling tomatoes but I'm thinking it will turn out wonderfully!

Hope you all (you know, the two people that read this blog) have a great day!

Still dropping

Well, it looks like I'm losing between half a pound and a little over a pound everyday. I am down 12.1 pounds as of this morning. And, although I would like a little more variety, I am doing just fine with the food and portions. Amazingly, it seems like a lot! I guess after the sheer volume of junk I'd been jamming down my throat in the past couple of months my boday has plenty of "reserves" to live off from.

Broke the 10 Pound Mark!!!

Yay!!! I am down 10.6 pounds as of this morning. I can not believe it :-) I think I can see it in my ankles, of all places. I'd really like to see it in my stomach!!

Went to a family birthday and just took my own dinner, so it was fine. Having people over tonight so it's another test.

I have been a little hungrier the past two days. I think it may be due to the fact that I am home so a little "boredom" has made me think I'm hungrier.

Hoping for an awesome second week!

Day 7

Yuck! I am down .5 lbs this morning. Very disappointing and I am trying to figure out why. Here's what I've come up with so far . . .

• I went out to meet a friend yesterday and drank a large peach iced tea. It wasn't sweetened but maybe the fruit essence/flavoring made a difference.
• Since I was out, I had my lunch about an hour and a half later than normal. Therefore, I also ate my dinner and fruit later than usual. Maybe this threw everything off.
• I put some new seasoning on my chicken last night. I used a little too much and it was REALLY salty!

Whatever, I am moving on today. I'll try and keep my meals spaced like they normally are and hold off on too much salt.

We have a birthday party tonight at Peter Piper Pizza. I really don't like Peter Piper, but being around food is definitely a temptation! I'll be taking my water :-)

Happy Saturday!!

Day 6

It's Friday!!!! I don't have Summer School today ~ Yay!! The scale said I'm down another 1.6 pounds this morning. That is a total of 9.3 pounds so far and, actually, that's just since Monday morning. Crazy!! It would be awesome to be down 10 pounds in a week and I hope I will be.

I do know that food isn't holding as much interest for me now. I think it is because I have so few choices. The amazing thing to me is that I haven't really felt the urge to cheat. I made some lemonade yesterday using Stevia and lemon juice, just to change things up a bit.

I'm am going to meet a friend today but we're meeting at Coffee Plantation so that I can have iced tea. I was proud of myself for saying right upfront that I couldn't eat out. There is just no way that I could guarantee that a restaurant would give me the right amount of food and prepare it with no oil or sugar or starches so during this time I don't plan to eat any restaurant food.

Day 5

Ok, now I feel like one of those contestants on Biggest Loser. You know, the ones who complain because they only lost 5 pounds this week. I only lost 1.3 pounds when I weighed in this morning. I've gotten spoiled the last two mornings! Anyhow, that puts me at a total loss of 7.7 pounds in 5 days ~ not bad at all! :-)

It's amazing how good I feel. I don't feel sluggish when I go to bed and have not had that "stuffed" feeling. However, an apple definitely fills me up now, which is a good thing! My goal is to have changed my eating habits when I am through with this journey. So far, so good!

Day 4

I am down another 2.7 pounds today, for a total of 6.4 pounds!!! I am so freakin' excited.

Yesterday wasn't as hard as Monday, eating wise. I had no headache. I just need to get it through my mind that this is what it is.

Seeing the loss on the scale each morning does make it a little easier, though.

Here's hoping for another great day!

Day 3

Yayyyyyy!!! I just weighed myself this morning and I am down 3.7 pounds from yesterday morning!!! Unbelieveable :-)

I did learn yesterday just how quickly the calories add up . . . to the point where I am deciding if I want an apple or an orange based on how close I am to my limit. I also realized just how often I mindlessly pop something into my mouth. Walking by someone's bag of chips or a bowl of M&M's. Very eye opening!

I had a bit of a headache last night before bed but nothing major. I was up a LOT during the night to use the bathroom but, with the number on the scale this morning, I'm fine with it!

Hoping for another great day!

Days 1 and 2

I just finished my two "binge" days! You take the drops and then eat lots of fat to "load up" for the week. Starting tomorrow, I go VLC (Very Low Calorie). I cleaned out my fridge today . . . it looks like a bachelor's fridge now ~ water and some fruits and veggies. I portioned out my meat this afternoon--even used a food scale. I am giving this my all!!

I'll update every day or two, for my own accountability if nothing else. I will stay VLC, with the HcG for 43 days, then 3 weeks of maintenance. Wish me luck!!!

Summer's Here!

Well, it is already halfway through June . . . time is flying by! Let's see~since we last spoke :-)

• School is out for the summer. It was extremely hard to tell this class goodbye. I really loved this year. That was the start of the emotions, because . . .
• That afternoon, May 21, we drove down to Willcox for Michael's graduation. Where have the years gone? I am so proud of what Michael has done and am so excited to see what his future holds. Here is a picture of me, Michael and "Flat Haley" Since "Round Haley" couldn't make the trip, I took her flat version with us and she had quite an adventure ! :-)
  
  
• On June 1, Haley graduated from 8th Grade. She received the Superintendent's Award, which I think is the equivilent of high school valedictorian. She is another one who is going to go far. I told her that I would bring "Flat Michael" with me to her ceremony . . . this is the picture I took to show her that Michael was actually there. When she looked at the camera, she threw down the flat Michael and her reaction was priceless! Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of that.

• Our whole family went over to California for a few days. We went to the beach and Knott's Berry Farm. Awesome time! I would post pics, but I am having trouble formatting. So, just use your imagination.
• Finally, I am going to begin the HcG diet plan on Monday. I have tried so many things and worked so hard (and at other times, not-so-hard) and the weight just doesn't want to come off. I have seen friends have success with this plan so I am giving it a shot. It is VERY low calorie, so I have told people that I will be getting skinny, but I will most likely be a B***** while I am doing it. It is for 42 days and I will be updating my progress. I promise!

A Good Weekend

This has been a great weekend! First, we are just 4 weeks ( 20 days) away from the end of the school year. Then, there was a new "opportunity" for me that was a lot of fun! That's all I'm going to share for now but, hopefully, I'll have more to talk about in the future! :-)

Yes, I am THAT blogger . . . .

You know, the one who lets her blog go for months on end with no new posts. And all of the people who read my blog~~Crystal~~are so anxious to hear what is up in my ever so exciting life. So, here is an update:

• Since I last updated, we have had all the major Holidays. I hosted my first Thanksgiving at my house and it was wonderful! Unless you count the fact that one of my chairs broke when my Grams went to sit down in it. And, no, I didn't take a picture of her after I checked to make sure she wasn't hurt. Christmas was good, too. I can't remember a lot about it except that my parents' gift to us was a CRUISE!!! Our family is definitely addicted to cruising! :-)
• We went on an 8 night Mexican Riviera cruise at the end of January/beginning of February. There were 14 of us in all~~and we had adjoining balcony cabins. I had never thought they would be that great. After all, how much time do you actually spend in your cabin? Well, when you have a balcony, the answer is a LOT. We spent so much time just staring out at the water and looking for whales. Finally saw some a couple of days before the end of our cruise.
• I had another birthday. I think I am officially done celebrating birthdays!
• My Neon, which I loved, finally gave up the ghost. :-( I am now the owner of an (almost) new Nissan Altima. All I can say is "what Neon?"
• The school year is winding down. Just 42 more days, but who's counting? I have to say that this is one of the best years I have had, class-wise. They have learned sooo much and we have had so much fun with all of our new technology. However, the whole politics and budget situation has been awful and morale isn't great at all.
• Finally, I am now a lia sophia advisor. I started selling the jewelry in January and am having so much fun with it. If anyone is interested, click on the link to visit my website.

I guess that pretty much sums up the past 6 months. Look for my next update around, I don't know, Christmas ?!?!?!