NYC Recessionista

Wow.  It's been a long time since I've written anything on here.  Since the last time I wrote we have graduated from seminary and moved to Atlanta!  Crazy.  More on that later.  But for now, I wanted to share with you a great blog I've ran across: NYC Recessionista (click to go to the blog).  I really have enjoyed this blog.  She shares all kinds of fun tips on getting great things at great prices.  I've seen a lot of information on this blog for codes for online sales that you won't find anywhere else (the codes, that is).  She's also got great taste in the outfits she pins and puts on the blog.

Part of that great taste is Anthropologie.  I first met Anthropologie thanks to my friend Sharon when we got to seminary :) I really like that store and find myself wandering through every time I go to the mall.  Well, much to my delight, for the 4th anniversary of her blog, NYC Recessionista is doing a blogiversary giveaway to Anthropologie!  You should click the link above, check out her blog, and enter to win!  But if you win, give it to me for suggesting you do it ;)

One of the best decisions I've ever made.

I have made a couple of good decisions in my life.  Granted, they've been amidst thousands of bad ones.  But I've gotten a few things right every now and then.  And this one, this one is intensely personal.

I have struggled with my weight for my entire adult life.  When I was younger I always thought I was overweight, but I don't really think I was.  I was always the tallest, biggest-framed girl I knew but looking back at pictures, I wasn't a roly-poly kid.  I think what happened was this: I went to college and the good health foundations built by my parents (they actually did an exceptional job of creating and explaining a healthy lifestyle to me) got drowned out by the all-you-can-eat dining halls.  Dessert before and after dinner every single lunch and dinner?!  Yes, please!  Large, full omelets for breakfast?  Yum! So I got to college and went from about 160 lbs to probably somewhere around 220 at graduation.

This is where I need to explain why I said this is "intensely personal."  I have never told anyone except my doctors and my husband (and that only recently) the actual number of my weight.  It's a hard thing to admit.  But, I've decided that what I look like is what I look like.  I could say that I weight 120 lbs or 320 lbs and I won't look a bit different.  I could say that I wear a size 4 or a size 24 and I will look the same.  So, since it won't change how I look, I choose the freedom to admit what I weigh, admit my size, and be OK with it.

Enter: One of the Best Decisions I've Ever Made.  Having Zach in September really spurred me onto wanting to get a grip on my unhealthy relationship with my body and with food.  For starters, he might be our last biological child and in the past I never saw the point of trying very hard to get rid of the weight because I knew I'd likely get pregnant again.  Also, and this is what really made me do it, I didn't have any pants I could wear and the weather was actually going to get cold at some point.  I'd never had a baby born that late in the year so I'd never been so freshly un-pregnant when winter hit (if that makes sense).  So I didn't fit into my jeans and I absolutely refused to buy more jeans when it would only take a little hard to work to fit into the ones I have.

Without thinking much of what I was going to do about it, a friend mentioned in passing that she'd joined Weight Watchers.  I had tried it back when Nathan was 6 months old and found it tiresome to think about every single crumb I put into my mouth.  But the program has changed and this time I actually paid to join instead of trying to do it on my own. (I might have to write a post about that because the program has changed so much for the better and actually paying to do it and go to meetings makes a word of difference.)  I could go on and on and on and ON about how much I love the program and why I love the program, and I might do that in a future post.  But not right now. (I will say: I love Weight Watchers and think it's an amazing life-changing program.)  I wondered if I had the time and energy to do it (have I mentioned I have four children--nay, four SONS--under six years old?).  I wondered if it would negatively affect my milk supply since I am nursing Zach (I decided I would take supplements if the milk started to drop).  But nothing was going to change unless I actually changed something.

On November 7, 2011, I took the following pictures of myself.  The ones where I'm wearing an orange short-sleeved shirt or a blue shirt were taken that day.  Zach was 7 weeks old and I was barely fitting into a size 18, but not all 18s, just the ones that were especially roomy.  On November 8, I went to my first Weight Watchers meeting and weighed in at 225.8 lbs.  Today is March 11 and this week, for the first time since before I was pregnant with Nathan, there is no longer a blasted 2 in the hundreds place!  I have lost over 25 pounds since November 8 (right now I'm in the 197-199 range).  I have been tracking my points (sometimes more diligently than others).  I have made the decision not to use "fake" food.  I don't use Splenda instead of sugar; I just eat less sugar.  I am also not eating dairy because Zach has a dairy allergy so while I have a lot of dairy alternatives at home, it makes it easier to stay on the WW plan while eating out because I can't eat anything that has, or might possibly have, cheese, butter, milk, yogurt, etc. (So when we go out for pizza, I get a salad, hold the feta!)

At the beginning of December I started exercising.  We'd been members of the YMCA for a while and I'd done some walking and some swimming here and there, but now I feel like I was just playing at exercising.  In December I started taking classes at the Y.  Oh wow.  What a difference!  Those teachers know what they're doing!  The classes are so much harder than I could work out on my own.  Jimmy bought me some personal training sessions for Christmas, too, so now I really feel equipped to keep it up.  I usually work out 4-5 times a week for 45 min to an hour each time.  For the first time in my life I actually enjoy exercising (but I'd still rather sit and read at Starbucks!).

I bought new pants a couple of weeks ago.  They're size 16 and one of them is a little baggy :) And I bought a dress today that is size L.  This has been an incredible process and while I still have a long way to go, I never thought I'd enjoy it until I'd reached the end.  Now I realize that I'm enjoying the journey.

November 7, 225 lbs, size 18+

November 7, 225 lbs, size 18+

March 11, 199 lbs, size 16

November 7, 225 lbs, size 18+

December 7, 215ish lbs, size 18 (comfortably)

March 11, 199 lbs, size 16

The Many Faces of Toby

This kid is absolutely hilarious.  We get comments all the time about how cute he is, how funny he is, how happy he is, how animated he is.....and they're all true!  He's got quite the personality.  Toby will be 21 months old this week and doesn't say much (maybe a handful of words, what you would expect normally around 12 months), but what he lacks in vocabulary he makes up for in personality.  

And dimples.  Oh, the dimples!

See for yourself :)

Zach is five months!

That baby who's looking at me is so stinkin' cute.

October: Halloween

As soon as we got back from California, it was Halloween. (Literally.  We got back on Sunday and Halloween was the next day.)  For some reason this year I got a wild hair and decided to make the boys' costumes.  Nathan wanted to be a superhero so I decided that they could all be superheroes.  It wasn't too hard because Nathan already had the mask and shield he needed, so we went from there.

I bought a couple of shirts and looked at a lot of pictures of the superheroes online and made a plan.

Can you figure out who they are???

And can you tell that the costumes significantly decrease in complexity from oldest to youngest?  (Zach's was not made by me!)

If you haven't figured it out, here's the answer.  Nathan is Captain America, Isaac is Ironman, Toby is Green Lantern, and Zach was Spiderman.  A good, SAFE time was had by all :)

October: California!

In October we went to to California to celebrate Grandma Brock's 90th birthday.  Most people might find it absolutely nuts to take a family of six, whose children range from 6 weeks to 5 years, on a cross-country flight to stay for four days.  And those people would be right.  It was crazy.  But there was no way we were going to miss it.  Jimmy and I have a very close relationship with his grandparents.  Though he grew up 3,000 miles away from them, he moved to California for college and that's when an already close relationship really grew.  Then I moved out there, fell in love with them, and we went to visit them every chance we got.  We've been back to California once a year since we moved in 2008.

Grandma Brock is someone I would be more than happy to emulate in this life.  She is a godly woman who loves her family and her husband so well.  She has the ability to make every grandchild and great-grandchild feel like the favorite.  She made Jimmy a quilt for our wedding that is stunning--and she didn't even follow a pattern!  She's very talented.  I'm so glad that we got to go, even though the logistics of the trip were kind of crazy :)

Great-Grandpa and Nathan playing Wii bowling.  Great-Grandpa usually wins, but I think Nathan might have won one game.

Great-Grandpa holding Zach.

Great-Grandpa with Isaac and Toby.

Isaac pushing Toby on Great-Grandma's walker.

Andrea and Katie came up to visit!  What wonderful friends!!!!!!!!!  They drove several hours for a couple of hours to visit with us.

Toby examining Aunt Betty's cake.

Wayne made balloon animals for the kiddos.

Malachi loving on Zach.

Great-Grandma and Toby.

What a cute couple!!!

Dinner Tonight

Tonight we are having one of my favorite FAVORITE dinners.  There are many reasons it's one of the best:

1.  It's easy.
2.  It's tasty.
3.  It's healthy and low-Points (I'm counting Points because I'm doing Weight Watchers--more about that in the November post).
4.  The boys like it (that's a huge bonus).
5.  It goes in the crock pot so nothing to do last-minute.

Salsa Chicken
Ingredients:
Chicken
Taco seasoning
Salsa
Black beans (drained and rinsed)
Frozen corn
Sour cream
shredded cheese
rice/tortillas/tortilla chips

Directions:

1.  Put the chicken in your crock pot.  I did not include amounts because it's really up to you and really easy to alter based on what you've got.  Today I did 3 boneless, skinless breasts.  I put them in frozen but it's fine if they're thawed.

2.  Sprinkle on taco seasoning.  If you're using store-bought, plan for about a package per pound.  But, can I encourage you to make your own?  It's REALLY easy and in mine and Jimmy's opinions, tastes much better.  Here's my recipe:

• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder (I just throw in some dried minced onion b/c it's what I've got on hand)
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (omitted today because I didn't have any)
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2-1 tsp cinnamon

3.  Cover or mostly cover the chicken with salsa.  Today I just threw in one jar of salsa, minus the actual jar.  I've cooked this with the chicken anywhere from 1/2-completely submerged in salsa and it's great every time.

4.  Cook on high or low until the chicken is cooked through (today I'm cooking it on high because I didn't get it in the crock pot until about 12:30.  I'm hoping it will be done in 5 hours but I'll check it periodically).

5.  Shred chicken with a fork right in the crock pot.  Add in black beans and frozen corn and keep heating until they're heated through.

6.  Serve over rice or tortilla chips, or as taco meat.  If over rice, we put sour cream and shredded cheddar on top.  I'm omitting those right now because I'm going dairy-free for a while and also because that's where you really rack up on the WW Points.  But it's still good without them!  We also sometimes substitute low-fat plain yogurt for sour cream and you really can't tell the difference.  We're all about using what we've got on hand :)

We usually serve this with a salad, but it goes well with almost any vegetable.

Enjoy!