Chris, Heidi, Nixon and Ruby

I am doing an 8 week challenge to improve all over physical, mental, and spiritual health. Each day we get points for eating healthy foods, exercising, praying, etc. we also have a daily challenge. Today's challenge is to write down 10 things I am grateful for. I thought the blog would be a great way of completing this challenge. I have put this off all day for some reason. I guess I just didn't want to think, after all, it is summer break! As I sat in a nail salon with my mom and sister-in-law and sweet niece camryn, I couldn't help but feel extremely blessed. How will I narrow my blessings down to a mere ten to write down. Well, I will do my best! 1. I have a fantastic, patient husband. As I have been trying to eat healthy and avoiding dr. Pepper and sweets, let's just say I haven't been a delight 24/7, but he has been very understanding. Thanks dear. 2. I have an excellent family! Immediate family, in-law family, nieces, nephews, you name it, I have it! (Oh, e

I did pretty well today. I did give in this afternoon and have a Dr. Pepper. I was exhausted before my conferences had even begun and our principal opened the pop machine for us. I had a weak moment and took it. I'm not beating myself up about it too much. I think I earned it this week! Today I will be good though. All this talk of food and sweets is getting me hungry. I guess I should go eat breakfast. (I love days off! It is 11:15 and I am just getting breakfast!)

I made it! No sweets yesterday! It wasn't easy. I had a tin of Hershey kisses in front of me all night but I held my ground! And to top it off I snuck in a weigh in this morning and let's just say I liked what I saw! Hopefully I don't blow it all today. :) wish me luck!

Now I remember why I can't cut something completely out of my diet. I have already planned at least three meals for Sunday, and I'm pretty sure they all fit in the top triangle of the food pyramid! I had to pass on an Oreo this morning - on Oreo's birthday! I passed on some delicious looking Dr. Pepper at dinner and then I passed on a yummy-looking chocolate tonight. I did eat a bag of the "right bite" cookies before hitting the gym so I had some energy. I wasn't planning on completely avoiding sweets this week but I have a tough time stopping once I start eating them. For the past two days I have decided it is better to be safe than sorry. We will see how I feel tomorrow after my 13th parent-teacher conference.

Status: success! It was not an easy feat, but I did not have any sweets. I thought I was going to fail this morning as I filled the class "candy jar" (yes, it's exactly what it sounds like, a jar full of candy). This month's candy jar was more tempting than normal, with Kit Kats, Reese's, and Starbursts. I made it through that and the rest of the day. One day down, six to go!

I have started a second blog. This one is about my efforts to shed the 20 pounds I have gained since I got married. The address is weloveskinny.blogspot.com . I am excited about it now, let's see how it works!

I got a great idea from Pinterest for a bridal shower treat.  I was looking for some decoration ideas and instead came upon these "tushy cookies." It looked like a pretty easy craft.  All you needed was a heart cookie cutter, then once you cut the heart, you chop the pointy point off and turn it upside down to create a tush shape. I had been talking to my sister-in-law all day and mentioned these to her.  She admitted she wasn't 100% loving the idea at first but she came around and said she would help out.  Friday night we went out to dinner with my family and as soon as we got home we got started on baking and decorating.  It was a whole family affair.  Carrie and I baked and decorated, then got Katie to help out with the decorating.  It looked like so much fun that Brett decided to try it out, and then Chris gave in to temptation and created his own masterpiece.  Although you can't see it really well in the picture, due to Dad's request, I did do one modest pair

I'm not writing this post because I cooked a fancy, extravagant meal. I didn't. I am simply writing this post because I cooked. Go ahead, judge me! I know it is something I need to work on, but in the meantime I am going to celebrate every success! Tonight I made parmesan tilapia with cheesy rice and grilled asparagus. It's an easy meal but I love it!

Ok, so I had to squeeze one more craft in before my two week break is officially over. I made these invitations to my best friend, Abby's bridal shower. They turned out cute, and hopefully are the close enough to her colors (there are like 50 different ideas of what "robin egg blue" looks like on the Internet).