Adorable Blog Award

The girls and I packed up and went to my parents last week.  My parents do not have internet, or a computer for that matter, so needless to say I didn't check my blog or any other blogs that I follow.  When I got home and checked up on everyone's blogs I found a great surprise.  Sheila at This One Body nominated me for The Adorable Blog Award.  So very sweet!  Please check out her blog.  She is doing wonderful things with her sleeve and I don't even know her but feel like I have for years.  Thanks a million Sheila :-)

There are a few rules that come with this award.

• Thank your nominator and link back to their blog.  Please see above for that ~ Oh and thanks again Sheila!!!
• Tell us ten things about yourself
• Nominate your fellow bloggers
• Contact them to ensure they know they have won

#1 ~ Ten things about me:

1. I am an HGTV junkie.  In fact right now as I type this I am listening/watching HGTV.  My dream job is to be an interior designer.  My husband rolls his eyes everytime I make mention of re-decorating something.  He finds re-decorating unnecessary.  If it were up to him we would have all white walls with nothing on them.  Making things look pretty is my passion :-) My latest project ~ My dining room.  And yes when I told my husband he rolled his eyes and asked why I needed to do it.
2. I took dance lessons for 16 yrs.  It was my entire childhood &  I miss it so much even in my ripe old age of 33.
3. If I ever won the lottery I would treat myself to Starbucks every single day (skinny lattes of course) and a massage a couple times a week.  Sounds pretty simple but you have to be quite wealthy to afford Sbux these days.  Of course there are a few other things I would do like buy my parents a new house, give large sums of money to our immediate families and our church and buy myself a new wardrobe :-) Oh and hire someone to do my laundry.
4. In addition to being an interior designer I would also love to be a writer.  I love to write.  I guess that's why I like to blog so much.  I am not a speaker.  Standing up in front of large crowds, or even a couple of people, frightens me.  I feel like I can communicate so much better with my written words.  Maybe I could write a book on interior designing???
5. I DO NOT like to fly.  I guess that makes getting to Hawaii much harder.
6. My last meal would have to be steak, potatoes, grilled corn on the cob and a cookie monster.  Now I would only be able to eat 1/4 of it, but I would still enjoy it.
7. I read the entire Bible in 90 days.  My husband and I are on church staff and the entire staff read the Bible in 90 days together.  I am not going to lie, it was very, very tough.  We were literally reading all the time.  But I am so glad I did it!
8. I have the sweetest, most beautiful girls in the whole wide world.  I know every mom thinks that, but I really do.  They are my joy and my life.  They keep me on my toes and make me smile everyday.
9. I married my high school sweetheart and the most wonderfully amazing man on the planet.  He is slightly younger than me (1 1/2 yrs) and he never lets me forget it.  We just celebrated our 10th anniversary and I can't wait to celebrate 50 more.
10. I love the Lord with all my heart.  My faith is what gets me up in the morning, keeps me going throughout the day and gives me the peace I need to sleep at night.  It's the single most important thing in my life.  Without it I don't know where I'd be.

#2 ~ My nomination:  I would like to nominate Sam at http://samswlsjourney.blogspot.com/ but I can't leave her a comment (blogger fail) and I don't have any other way to contact her.  Could I ask someone who may have a way to contact her to let her know I nominated her and then let me know if you did??? I have tried repeatedly to leave her comments but blogger continues to not let me.  I really enjoy reading her blog and wish I could let her know.

Great Testimony

What an amazing weight loss testimony! I was very moved by her story and wanted to share it with all of you. Have a great weekend :-)

Home - I Am Second

Pardon The Mess

Please pardon the mess as I work on redesigning my blog.  I like to change things up every once in awhile and I felt it was time for a change.  Check back soon for a new design!

Recipe ~ Chicken Tortilla Soup

It may not exactly be soup weather, but if you are like me you could eat soup year 'round.  I made this recipe up quite some time ago and it is one of our faves.  It's full of protein and very little calories, unless you top it with a lot of cheese and tortilla chips ;-)  Anyhoo, I made this last night before the Mavs game and I think it brought them good luck (hehe).  Enjoy!!!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 pkg of chicken, boiled and shreaded
2 cans of fire roasted, diced tomatoes
1 can of green chilis
1-2 cans of black beans, depending on how much beans you want
1 carton of chicken broth
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper
1 envelope Ranch dressing mix
cilantro, chopped and to taste
1 tbsp of cummin, or to taste
Salt, pepper, garlic, paprika, chili powder to taste

Cook chicken and shread. Saute onion and peppers until transluscent. Bring remaining ingredients to a boil and simmer for 30-45 mins.

Tips ~ You may also use 2 cans of chicken or a rotiserre chicken from your grocery store. You may omit onions or peppers if you do not like them. Corn is also good in it, but Brooks doesn't like corn so I never put it in.

What Will I Wear Now???

Well, my closet pity party is over.  Friday morning, for some reason, I decided I should try on everything in my closet and get rid of anything that doesn't fit anymore. Honestly I wanted to get rid of anything that stirred up all the bad emotions.  I had just done this like a month ago so I wasn't really expecting to have much of anything else to get rid of.  I just thought I might have a few more to toss in the pile.  As I tried on shirt after shirt I was amazed at how big everything was. I truly couldn't believe that 90% of the clothes in my closet were TOO BIG!!!  With the exception of a couple of shirts, I think I tossed all my X-Large shirts, my size 14 pants (a very generous size 14), all of my sweaters and most of my knit tops.  I did, however, hold onto my very favorite pair of pants that I always wore pre-surgery.  These serve as a reminder of how far I've come.  If I get brave enough I will take a picture of my wearing them and post it here someday. I love the feeling of getting rid of 90% of my clothes and with that 90% I get to also toss out the physical & emotional baggage that comes with being overweight.

I couldn't figure out what to do with all these clothes.  I tried to re-sale the really nice ones, but the resale shop didn't want them (frown-frown) and I didn't want to donate them to just any charity . I wanted someone who really could use them get them.  I just couldn't figure out what to do with them.  And then I remembered that our church is having a clothing drive for a local women's shelter in August.  I was so overjoyed to be able to donate my clothes to such a worthwhile cause.  I look at that pile of clothes and think what a waste of money because more than 1/2 of that pile I probably wore one, maybe two times.  And some of it I never wore.  But knowing that someone who may not have anything will be getting them brightens my day and erases all the bad feelings tied to those clothes.

Now for the fun part ~ Shopping for smaller clothes.  I just can't bring myself to spend a whole lot on clothes until I am closer to goal, but I will have to buy a few things.  I will also have to buy new jeans sooner than later, but I am very hesitant as trying on jeans has always been a source of great frustration so I am putting that off as long as I possibly can.

I Heart My New Sleeve

Now that I have a sleeve I love....

Not beating myself up at the end of the day because I made poor food choices
Not waking up every Monday morning saying today is the day I start my "fad" diet only to end the day in utter disappointment
Laying on the couch, watching TV at the end of the day and not feeling guilty because I ate too much and did too little
Walking into my closet and not feeling despair because I haven't gotten back into my "skinny clothes" yet
Buying really cute jammies
Not dragging myself out of bed because I am so tired all the time
Wearing a regular t-shirt to support The Mavs (GO MAVS!)
Slipping on my jeans and not having to use the belly band
My baggy pants
Watching weight loss shows and thinking I can do that too
The fact that I actually look forward to seeing people I haven't seen in awhile (I don't have to be embarrassed about my weight)
Seeing numbers on the scale that I gave up ever seeing again
And most importantly knowing that this is just the beginning.....

Onederland ~ What A Glorious Feeling

Well I finally made it to Onderland!!! I haven't been here in almost 5 years. My "one day" is finally TODAY. If you would've asked me 3 months ago if I ever thought I would be back here again, I would've said no way. I had totally lost hope of ever seeing the scales under 200 again. Now knowing that I will only continue to go further down the scales is exhilerating!!! The dress I had planned on rewarding myself with when I got here was gone, so I need to either try another Target or come up with another reward. I love having this problem! Trying to decide what to reward myself with after a major weight loss. What a great problem to have!!!

I Have A Closet Full of Clothes

If you take a look at my closet you may think "Gee, she sure has a lot of clothes." When I take a look at my closet I think "Gee, I need a new wardrobe." I have a closet full of clothes that I held onto because I was very stubborn and wouldn't get rid of them. I would constantly tell myself that one day I would get back into these clothes. A few years later I still hadn't been able to wear then. Now, after WLS, I can wear most, if not all of them, and I don't even want to look at them.

At first I was so excited at the thought of getting a "whole new wardrobe" because I was going to be able to wear clothes that I hadn't worn in so long. But I look at those clothes and it takes me back to a time of great despair. It's so discouraging to walk in your closet and have so many clothes that you constantly tell yourself "one day" and never get there. It's so embarrassing to have to wear the same 4-5 shirts day after day because nothing else fits and you are too stubborn to buy bigger ones. Those clothes bring back a lot of old emotions, emotions I don't care to re-visit. I still don't have a lot of clothes. But knowing that it's because they are too big is so comforting!!!

Recipe ~ Oven Roasted Vegetables

I fixed these the other night and was actually more excited about them then the few bites of steak I was going to have. So strange!!!

1 Onion
1 Bell Pepper (any color)
1 Zuchini
1 Squash
1 pkg fresh mushrooms
2 potatoes
Seasonings to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Slice all veggies, relatively the same size. Mix seasonings (I like the Savory Herb and Garlic Lipton Soup Mix or salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary and crushed red pepper) with 1/4 - 1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Put veggies in a large mixing bowl and drizzle oil mixture over veggies and toss to coat. Scatter veggies in a baking pan in a single layer. Bake for 25-30 min, depending on how done you like them. We like brown edges! So very yummy!!!

Food For Thought

Since surgery I have noticed how my thoughts on food have changed. I had really prayed they would, but they have changed in a different way than I thought they would. I certainly pay a lot more attention to what I am putting in my mouth and how much of it I am putting in my mouth than I used to. I am also realizing, or finally accepting, just how bad some of the foods I was eating really are. My total view on food is changing very rapidly and I love it!!!

At the same time I am experiencing a lot of food confusion. If you happen to do a lot of research on different topics, like me, you will see that there are soooooo many differing opinions on nutirition and healthy eating. It can get a little overwhelming sometimes. I've been thinking a lot about what I've researched a have come up with some of my own thoughts.

Over the next few weeks I would love to share my thoughts with you. I hope to post a new topic every few days. Please remember these are my opinions. I am not a doctor or nutirtionist. There is nothing scientific about my opionions. They are just opinions. Please check back often as I hope to have new topics in my quest to figure out all of this food stuff:-)