Let's Get This Show on the Road!

Ok ya'll........we have a house in Arizona....I have registered for nursing school......let's get this show on the road! I am ready to move. Ok maybe mentally. In a real life situation if movers came to my house today they would laugh and walk away. I have not 1 box packed but I am ready! The more I think about being together everyday the more anxious I get to just do this. I am dreading the thought of getting boxes and packing them carefully as they are going to travel 1600 miles in a trailer. I dread the unorganized chaos of my house while we do that. I dread the mess that comes with moving anywhere. But the end result will be totally worth it. I hope.

Today I woke up to the heat coming on in my home. Brrrrrr. It was 40 degrees and pouring down rain with a fierce wind blowing as well. You gotta be kidding me? What is this Moctober?(that's me jamming May and October together). Anyways, I got on the computer like I do every morning and checked the weather where we are moving and at 8:20am there it was 70 degrees. Yes sir....70. And sunny. Long range forecast......80's for the next 10 days straight.

I don't like to wait for anything. Everyone who knows me knows that. I am enrolled in nursing school. I start in July. VERY excited and just want to be a family again. Together and happy.

What a rip off

I am not usually one to stew on things but this has got me in a tizzy. Back in Feb I signed up Malaya for Lynden Action soccer. Which was supposed to be kind of an "elite" team, where they learned more and played harder teams so they were supposed to be challenged more to prepare them for 4th grade soccer. BIG MISTAKE! the season cost me $75. She doesn't even get to keep her jersey. The season started April 21st....that was their first game. When did we get a call from her coach? On April 19th. One practice, if you could even call it that. and they were off to their first game. The coach is a joke, pracitice is a joke and some of the kids on the team are a joke. they are obviously not there to learn soccer skills, but to play with their friends and chit chat on the field. I feel terrible for Malaya. They have not won a game yet. 8 games, all losses. They hardly practice...one week the coach just decided to not show up and we sat in the school parking lot for 45 minutes waiting for him to show but nothing. And no follow up phone call. to me that is inconsiderate and rude. When they do practice they don't learn soccer skills, they scrimmage for an hour and when girls goof off he says nothing! It takes all Ihave to not stand up and say something. Other parents are also discouraged and I have a strong urge to write the Lynden Action director and ask for my $ back and to really put a bug in his ear that this is not ok. Today, there was a tournament. When did I find out about it? Last night when Malaya told me after finding out at school from a teammate. No call from the coach or anything. I was tempted to tell her we aren't going that this is the last straw but she loves soccer so I just couldn't. Last night she got no sleep and isn't feeling well today so she opted to stay home and not play. Guess they weren't going to miss her anyways since they didn't bother calling to tell her about it. Ugh. I don't know if I can send the letter. I want to. But at the same time I wonder if i should just say whatever and forget about it?

For all you carbohydrate addicts.

.....like me! Well, usually you hear people say that over the holiday's they gained weight and la de da de da. Yeah well I had strep, tonsilitis AND the flu over Christmas so I think I may have been the only person on Earth that lost weight over the holidays. but boy oh boy did I make up for it in February. I don't know what it was about February...ok maybe I do. We went on a cruise. Enough said. For anyone who has ever been on one they will tell you that it's all bout the FOOD!! and more food and food everywhere. I think we did mostly eating on vacation. Blah. The cruise director said the average adult gains 7 lbs on a cruise and he was right! I put on 5 lbs over a 10 day vacation. Which isn't too hard since you eat constantly and drink alcohol then do nothing but lay around in the sun and be lazy the entire time. Then when we got home it was depressing being home and not on vacation, the weather sucked and I was bored. I went from 134 lbs before vacation to 140 lbs in no time. So I finally decided this is it. My clothes started fitting tight and I got sooooooo uncomfortable it was making me cranky.

10 days ago I decided to start the Atkins Diet. I also added a diet pill supplement and a One A Day womens weight loss support vitamin. 5 days into it I had lost 1 lb. Then my friend Shawna told me about the Carbohydrate Addicts diet. And thank goodness she did! I am down another 3 lbs for a total of 4 lbs weight loss in 10 days. If you have been considering dieting but aren't real good at restricting yourself or just don't want to give something up all together I suggest you check this out!

You are allowed 2 mini-meals a day. That contains little or no carbs at all. For instance in the morning I have scrambeled eggs with cheese (no carbs) and a cup of coffee with 1 tsp of half and half (also, no carbs). For lunch I usually have a salad.....chicken ceasar, taco salad, steak with blue cheese.....(all no carbs) and am fully satisfied! For dinner, you may have WHATEVER YOU WANT!!!! That's the best part. You can have bread, pasta, beer whatever....it's up to you. The trick is that you must eat your entire meal in 60 minutes and not one minute later. Dessert and all within 60 minutes. This diet has alot to do with your insulin and how much your body produces in a day and it's ability to break down sugars and complex carbs and not let them turn into fat.

Anyway it is supposed to work, well it's working and I love it! My goal is to get to 130 lbs by the end of April so hopefully this will happen. I would recommend this diet to anyone who asked or is looking to just lose a few lbs and a healthy way to maintain it. I feel a million times better even only 4.5 lbs lighter. I can't imagine what another 5 is going to be like! If you want to check it out here is a link!

http://www.carbohydrateaddicts.com/

A Summer Tease??

My my it has been one heck of a last few days. SO Beautiful out!! I believe summer is teasing us, mmmm hmmm...yesterday the temperature was 78 degrees. Can you believe that? 78 on April 6th....but I am fully prepared for that rainy spring to come back and knock me back to reality. Luckily, it is Spring Break for the girls so they have been able to take full advantage of it. I was armed with camera in hand for a while they other day and got some shots Sunday afternoon of the kids playing at Grandma's house. they were supposed to be picking up sticks and throwing them in the fire...ha ha. Enjoy!

It's Official

Well we have been tinkering with the idea of moving to Arizona ever since TJ got his job there. Immediately, he fell in love with the place, the people, his job....so he asked me to come check it out and attend his company Christmas party with him. When I arrived, I too fell in love with the place. It's beautiful, serene...yet not too small. I asked him to at least stay 6 months before we thought anymore about moving and he still loves his job and everything about it.

June 15th we will be moving to Lakeside, Arizona. What a big change from small town Lynden it will be. But I welcome change and we are so excited. I am saddened at the thought of leaving my family and friends but I know that this is the right decision. My gut tells me that we belong there and we certainly belong together. I can't do this alone all the time anymore and the kids need their dad.

Wish us luck on this journey of transition. I am confident that the kids will adjust well and we will be happy there. I have enrolled to start FT nursing school in the fall. So I won't have to work and most my classes can be done from home online. I love that I will get to spend most my time with the kids and every night we can eat dinner as a family!

Formal Bunko

These are my Bunko girls. I love them. We have so much fun together playing dice and eating and drinking.....and drinking.....we should really call it Drunko. Ha! Anyhow, it was Shari's month and she decided to make it a formal bunko night. So we all dressed up in old prom dresses, bridesmaid dresses and Monica even wore her wedding dress! I think we spent more time taking pictures for our Facebook than anything else. But regardless, not matter what we do we always have a great time. I am going to miss them so much when I go. :-(

This Week

So much has gone on this week and even though many probably don't care to know I like to reflect on what has gone on. Malaya had a great music concert Tuesday night, TJ left again on Thursday, only for 2 weeks. He is coming home for Easter. When he goes back on the 23rd of April......yep, I am going with! YAY! Mainly to scout homes because the girls and I are 99% sure we are going to be spending the summer in Arizona with him. His boss has offered to rent us a house for the summer so why not right? We are contemplating moving there as a family and weighing the pros and cons right now. He loves his job and the people and it's a wonderful place to be, but how do we leave everything we have here? This is weighing heavily on my heart this week.

Tonite my 2 oldest nephews (14 and 12) are coming to stay the weekend with me. Oh boy. How can I entertain 2 teenage boys? Yardwork, video games???? HELP! They should be a big help around here though and i am happy to have them. Sunday night I am hosting 11 extra people to sleep wherever they can find a place to lay their heads down. I like to open my home to friends and family though and they are all welcome with open arms. Even if that means that the lineup for the bathroom in the morning is going to be 5 people long at each door!

And today I bought the person's coffee who was behind me in line at Starbucks. I have cut down to only hitting the coffee shop once a week due to budget cuts.....I usually save it for Friday mornings on my way into Bellingham to do my errands. I didn't really have the extra $ but I know I made somebody's day and it makes me feel so good to know that I did. At least I hope so!