Foodie.... Not Fattie!

Crunchy Granola

(not as healthy as I would like it to be)

Yummy Layered Jell-O

I Love Pintrest! I have found so many yummy foods to try. Neat hair do ideas, ideas for Luke's Mickey Mouse themed birthday party. And AWESOME craft ideas. If any of you want an invite leave your email addy and I'll invite you! And you can join me on this craze.

As you may have noticed on my little blinkie on the side I have reached my 20 lbs mark, and going strong. I am constantly looking for more inspirations and routines to try. Started to include a "Fab Ab February" Routine to my workout. I really doubt I will get FAB abs in just a month... Well I might, but it's well hidden under layers and layers of fat. So I will continue to do them and hope my pants and shirts fit a little looser. Planks really are killer. They look simple enough, but if you do them correctly.... Wow! Burn baby burn!

Adalei's finger is doing great. Still doing the bandage changes daily. Today she is a little mopey but snuggly. It is a cold snowy day, makes me extra snuggly too. So I don't mind.

Well 5-14 inches of snow expected here. Only about 2 inches maybe here so far. So I hope tomorrows drive to work goes okay. Safe travels and stay warm!

Cindy

Running....

Kicked my BUTT!

I am still wheezing and in pain. But I am happy, high from my workout. I feel so great! It was a BEAUTIFUL January day here. I felt sad about not doing so yesterday. Boy, was I happy that I went today. I feel great and my waist line will thank me as soon as my lungs forgive me.

In other news, Adaleis finger is doing great. She is a trooper, and tolerating the dressing changes better each time!

We might have our siding finished for us, by hiring someone. I am excited about it, but I hope its not to pricey. We will hopefully get the estimate this week.

Nothing else important to share. Alot of friends and co-workers have lost loved ones recently and I just hope to reach out to them and pray that God comforts their pain.

Have a great evening.

Cindy

Just a pinch will do.

This week has been very eventful. Well, maybe only Monday, but stressful at that. I worked at the Clinic on Monday. I was told I had a phone call on line one... the babysitters voice on the other end with crying in the background, told be something was array. "We have a little emergency." What??? Oh no! Well it turns out Adalei got her finger pinched in the hinge/crack of a drop down table leaf that was raised quickly. However, it wasn't just a pinch. It pinched the tip of her left index finger right off. Yup. You read right. Off. The babysitter was taking her to the Arnold clinic, and I take off to go meet up with them. Well several calls and minutes later, they decided she needs an x-ray and is en route to Callaway. I meet up with them on the road. At first I can't see Adalei in he car and the babysitter holds up a bio hazard/specimen bag with a wad of gauze inside... part of her finger. Talk about freak out mode. A few shuddering breaths, and the babysitters consoling of it not being as serious as it appears, and I compose myself. I walk to the babysitters car and there sits my baby, tear stained cheeks but calm and quiet. Her little hand bandaged all up. She says to me, "I got an owwie." I pick her up and get her all settled in my car and off we go to Callaway. Called Daddy to meet up with us when we got there. Once there they take her right back to x-ray. We removed the bandage and I about lost it. My baby's finger is all cut up! As soon as Adalei noticed I was upset she became upset, so I played it cool. Adalei hated to see it all "blah-bloody" too. But she listened well and held her arm still. Then we coveredit back up and the the whimpers quieted again.

The X-ray.

Thank the Heavenly Father the bone was not broken. However, the tissue that got pinched off could not be reattached and she probably will have a deformity in that finger, but it didn't get all of her nail, so that should grow back too. The team at the Hospital was great. I appreciate all they do! So now, she is on antibiotics and daily dressing changes. Ugh.. Which I hate. I hate being a nurse on my baby. But she does really good. She has a purple band-aid on that finger and gets lots of TLC.

Snuggling with Mommie.

Her band-aid finger peeking out of the blankie.

On to other news:
Just got her heart check up final results, everything is fine. Follow up in a year. Good!



Weight loss is slllllloooooowwwwing down. WAY down. But as long as it is going down I can live with it!! 18 lbs so far. I know I am getting more muscle too. I am able to do more push-ups and crunches. Starting to see more definition in my arms and maybe, maybe a slight line to show me where my abs are supposed to be.


I am hoping to have a fun day at my sisters and mom and dads tonight. So I hope you all have a great day!




Cindy

I may be addicted.

I really doubt it. But I love exercising right now. I feel sad when I don't. And I feel in control of my body with my calorie counting. I definitely feel fuller and better for the most part. The end of work day is my low point. Tired and probably low on calories really gets me. But my good friend FitnessPal on the smart phone shows me how much more I can eat, and my wonderful husband encourages me to work out. Tonight is the first night/day I have not logged any time on our elliptical. I was in North Platte most of the day with Dr.'s appointments and such and didn't make it back home with much time before work.

Adalei had her heart appt. We think everything is okay. It looked alright, the EKG was a little misleading, but the preliminary result of her follow up ECHO was good. I wont have final results until next week sometime. If she is okay, check scheduled for next year, if its not..... We really didn't discuss it because the Dr didn't think it was a true problem. So I went along with it because why borrow trouble? So I will let tomorrow worry about itself, and continue to enjoy my sweet girl. Speaking of that girl we went and got supplies to have a fun nail painting party together. I let her choose 2 colors by herself and then picked out a pack of nail stickers to try too. I can't wait! Should be fun!!

I chipped a tooth on Sunday and had it worked on today. Its a baby tooth. Interesting huh? Also there is no adult tooth hiding under it either. It is a hereditary trait. Fun Fact for your Friday!

I acquired a fun little weight loss bling for my blog, I just hope it doesn't start to mock me later. I really am trying hard and I love reading about new exercises and tips and advice. Wrapping my head around the whole process has really helped to keep me motivated.

Thanks for staying tuned!

Cindy

No pain, no Gain.... Or Loss

Luke working on a puzzle!

Its a 100 piece puzzle he got for Christmas. He was SO happy to get it all put together. It entertained him for hours.

I hurt yesterday, so I didn't give it my all yesterday.... Which also meant only 3 ounces lost yesterday... Sigh. So I must work harder today. Counting calories SUCK. I have read so many different calorie limits I should try to stay under, and I am positively lost. So I'm going to try one for this week. If it doesn't work, I'll shoot for the other one. It that one doesn't work I will go somewhere in between.

Ryan and I both are doing the pound plunge. We have a lot to lose to win but we are working hard... Both of us have lost.



In other news Adalei is potty trained except nap/bedtime. I'm so proud of my big girl!

Have a great day.

Cindy

If You aren't movin'. You aren't losin'.

So that's what I did today. I worked nights last night and then took a little nap. Then I cleaned and spruced up the house and then got to my exercising. I worked out for an hour on the elliptical while watching Biggest Loser. Definitely a motivator! When they did their 'last chance,' I pushed harder too, until they returned to weigh in. It was awesome and the quote above was from one of the trainers. Not for sure which one now.... but it was my mantra.

Feeling great too. "Feeling the pain." Tired, happily exhausted.
Hope you are had a great day!

Ding Ding Ding!

Round 780 or something like that.

I am trying to lose weight.

I hoping for better luck this time and hoping it sticks. I feel very nervous/skeptical about this being a lasting late starting resolution. But there is never a better time than NOW to start. I just hope I can stay motivated!!! So if you are reading this and have any advice, tips, encouragements. I'll take them!!! I am going to try to keep this as a tracker. Any avenue I can use I am trying. I hope I am not overdoing it and setting myself up for failure. I really need to change, and the world around me is a tasty place.
That big eyesore in my livingroom is WONDERFUL. I love it and today, in addition to working out on it for 32 minutes, I also did "girlie" push ups until my arms said no more. Next time I am going to count the number I do and see how far I can get as my time goes on. Lost 2 pounds since I started exercising on it. Also, I have been drinking TONS of water.
I did take a before picture. If I do make attainable goals, and successfully acheive some of them, I might be brave and try to post before and after pictures.

BUT

I've said that before and never have. I really should make that as one of my resolutions too. I will check into that too.

Thanks Aunt Patty for reminding me of my little blog, and my handful of sweet lovely readers!

The Christmas Letter-like Post.

Well life is speeding along and and I'm just trying to enjoy the ride. A quick update on my family members.


Me: Still loving my job. Have a great "family" I work with. So happy I changed hospitals! God has blessed me numerous times over with this change, and I am forever grateful.
I am starting a New Year's Resolution. Like most I am going to try to lose some weight. I really want to do good at this. I hope I am not setting myself up for failure. I am joining 2 weight loss "programs." The pound plunge, and Healthy Lifestyles Nebraska. Both which do weekly weigh ins, and awards prizes for losses. We also have purchased a elliptical workout machine, which, once it arrives will be a giant eye sore and uncomfortable piece of furniture in out living room. So if you are coming over for a visit, I apologize now, I promise not to make you sit on it though! ;) Currently I have a little cold/throat bug bothering me but that will soon subside with the nice meds I was given to day!


Ryan: He is still working a Weathercraft. He got a new company truck. Its white, so now all the vehicles in front of our home are white. Ryan's, been working on the siding and upstairs bedroom in his free time, which is a rarity with our little ones running around. Cancer stuff is still int eh clear. Hopefully in the next 18 months he will be completely done with it all! PTL!

Luke: My little school boy. He learns new fun things all the time, and (I'm a little biased) he remembers things SO well. He can still tell me what each of his and Adalei's birthdays were (minus his first), what he/she got, what he/she ate for their birthday and who was there. I will say that there are pictures there that might have triggered these memories, but none browsed through in a LONG time. I hope he keeps that capacity to remember things! Its all about letters and number for him right now. Some were a struggle, and in the process of working with Luke Adalei has picked up on a lot of it and actually can count better than her big brother.
Adalei: Speaking of Adalei, my little sweetie is getting so big, she and Luke wear the same size!!! She is just 2 inches shorter than Luke too. My little talker. Right now her brain is moving faster than her mouth can catch up and she has started to stutter a little, but what from what I have researched, she should grow out of it before she is 4, and not to worry about it until then. Adalei's biggest accomplishment is the potty! She is almost completely day potty trained for Mommy (won't go at all for Daddy), and stays dry 1/2 teh time during naps. She wants to be a big girl and "do it self." Adalei has her yearly heart check up right around the corner. I don't foresee any complications arising either. Adalei is a growing weed and her heart seems to beat strong with her!

I hope all my friends and family had a lovely holiday and I will try to share more frequently.

Love,
Cindy

Just another day.

Not really much to share right now. I haven't done any shopping... Bummer! I have acquired a little stockpile of coupons, but I want to stack them and the spreadsheets I have looked at confuse me. I hope to make Walgreen's my coupon deal place. I really was all excited to print out the specials I found (took me 45 minutes to apply them to my list), then they deleted themselves.... Ugh! So now I need to try to find a ad, physical not electronic. I am hopeful that this next week I can figure it out. I also haven't figured out the rewards system there. In due time I suppose.

Other news..... Ryan has started putting the siding up on our house. I am getting so excited! It will look so much better! I need to make a before and after pic!

Luke is becoming such a good helpful big brother, he is amazing me! Adalei loves babies. I am a little scared to say this, but I think she will be a good big sister someday. Not NOW! But, someday. Maybe in year we might think about it.

Getting geared up for a busy summer. No definite plans, but I am trying to get fun activities for the kids and I to do, Ryan will be super busy with the siding most of this summer, so I hope it goes fast for him and that he will be able to actually enjoy the summer with us.

Well, I promise to give you the run down on my coupon adventure whenever it does happen. Have a safe and fun Memorial weekend.

Coupons/Freebies

Do you Coupon?

I haven't really. Every once in a great while I will remember that I have a coupon wedged in my purse that can be used. After seeing previews of the TLC show Extreme Couponing, I became intrigued. Now these ladies/couples that get all or most of their grocery items for free amaze me. What amazes me more is their stocked room full of items that they have received/purchased for free or next to nothing.

So I am checking into things. Around these part the double/triple coupon thing does not exist/not honored, at least in places that I shop. That being said, I don't shop often. Rarely am I near a store these days. Since I took the job in Callaway, I can honestly say that my visit to a department store is monthly. Ryan, (bless his soul) gets most of our groceries. Walmart is our main grocery provider. We do have a store here in Arnold, but small town grocery stores don't have small prices. I still stop in if I need an item for a recipe/meal that we don't have at home.

I am going to go to Walmart on Friday and am going to try to search a few more deals. Unlike most of the extreme couponers, I probably will only seek out items that we will use and not every great deal available. So I am searching for coupons. Its rather a daunting task. There are so many sites that have them. I love www.Coupons.com but right now the new computer and old printer aren't friends yet. So I am searching the newspapers, hoping to score some. I also wanted to share the page www.SampleStuff.com I have gotten so many good freebies from this site. It rocks! I have gotten many hair care samples, a box full of cleaning supplies, numerous coupons, some food products, and body care samples. A must to check out. If you are on Facebook, like their page and every time they locate a new freebie they have a new status update on it with a link to go right to it. I have also been going directly to store websites and searching for freebies/samples off of there sites. Target and Walmart mostly. I have gotten a few.
I hope to check out Walgreen's now though. N.P. got one about 2 years ago, and I've never stepped foot in it. That might be a good place to try my hand at couponing too, but from what I read from the experts; I should be comfortable with using coupons first and know the rules... and that, my friends, is why I never have done much couponing yet. It makes me nervous and I don't want to be that lady with 50 bazillion coupons flying everywhere with a line of 12 people trying to check out behind her. So, slowly I will ease into this new territory. I'll let you know how my first couponing adventure turns out.

Anyways, I'm going to get back to my searching and hunting for coupons!

Have a splendid day!

Cindy

Abra Cadabra

As you can see I changed thing up here a bit. Was SUPER excited when I realized you can change the font of your blog. Let me know if the color/ font changes make it hard for you to read. I'd hate to lose any of my few readers because of it! Anyways, planning on doing some laundry this morning and watering the berry patch (that is if we don't get the rain that hopefully will be showing up here soon.)

Loving life right now. I am so excited to work on my daughters quilt. Maybe tomorrow. I am nervous about the actual "quilting" part of it. Before, I just placed yarn holders in the childish quilts I made. Hope this one turns out OK.

This Friday I hope to have my little sister and my nephew spend the night. Park, pizza, and a movie are the line-up. Saturday I am going to go to my Great grandmas and help sort through things. Excited to see family, but the task I am sure won't be that exciting. And Sunday is branding at my in-laws. I will get to see my nephew and nieces, and give cows shots. I love brandings.

Please let me know if the blog changes are hard for you to read.

Well goodnight all.

Cindy

Hearts desires

I had an amazing Mothers Day. I worked on Sunday, it was a quiet day. One of my co-workers gave 2 roses to each of us working. So, sweet of her. After I got home I was welcomed with hugs and kisses galore, and my fabulous husband made me supper: goobers (cut up and fried breaded stew meat), fried potatoes, creamed corn, and cottage cheese. Yummo!And for dessert he made me brownie pudding! Yum. I couldn't of tasted any better that is unless my Momma had made it! :) I also got two homemade card and two colored pictures from the kids, and chocolates and a Glee CD and the blue-ray of Notebook! We watched the notebook and i cried and then I read and played with my babies and then it was bedtime. Great day!

Friday night I talked to Ryan about my unsure calling. The end result was what I thought it was going to be. Keep praying, our family probably can't logical do that right now, but if God want us to continue with that that he will figure a way for us to be able to do it. I will also mention that prior to telling him I prayed again as to if this is what He wanted. After I talked to Ryan what I may have thought was Him telling me that our next baby would have DS, Ryan said that I maybe am just letting my subconscious fears rule over. I really don't know what is Him and what is me. So anyways, I am still seeking. However, I did tell Ryan to open his mind to a calling. He hesitantly said he would.

So thus, hearts desires or God's desires? That is the question.

No news, just wasted time.

So here i sit to waste more time. Don't get me wrong I would rather be blogging than organizing the basement or outside in this splendid heat spell we have right now mowing my lawn. I waste so much of my time with meaningless things, and gain hardly a thing from doing so. What I mean by this is mostly my facebook/game time and TV. I have been trying to cut back but not doing well at that. The T.v it can be paused, and that has helped babies want books read to them. Thus, pause button is nessessary. but why whay should it even matter. I was sad we got rid of the TV last year, but you know I really wouldn't mind having it postponed until football season again. Its just wasted time.... my gaming habits are improving. I just get bored of them and have tried hard not to find new games to addict myself with. That being said I still have like 1 hour time spent on facebook revolving around games. Slowly I will be better... I hope.

Switch gears here,
I haven't had any astonishing revelations about my last post. Ehh.. not really. I am scared to even mention my thought of adoption out loud to others because in reality, with what money could my family afford to suit a child like that, or all of the specialists he/she would need. We are not near anyplace like that. That being said I haven't looked too much into my options. Nor have a I discussed this with my hubby. That really should have been my first stop. But I just needed to voice my nerves here, hoping to make the dream more realistic, or have it knocked out of my head completely. I did find two books about living your life to the fullest in my basement when I was cleaning there Wednesday...... Coincidence? I think not. Cracking them open today!

Have two projects that I really am wanting the work on. Adalei's baby quilt (Gasp! She is almost 2 and you don't have it done yet... Nope.), and organizing our old computer desk into a craft/kids art supply /my sewing storage spot. Hopefully some horrific pictures of the before and the after will follow. We shall see. (No promises.)

Its time for Adalei's potty break (me changing her out of her wet undies into clean ones). No matter how many times I take her no pee pee in the potty just on the floor. I think she is not ready. Still trying on my days off.

Welp, Toodles!
Cindy

Restless

Have you felt it? Why? I feel like I am going through a mid-life crisis at the ripe ol' age of 27. How is that even possible?

I really have been reflecting on things I miss from my past. Friendships that haven't changed and those that have. Freedoms that I once had that I don't have anymore.

I feel unsettled.

I feel the Lord wants me to do something, not sure what he is guiding me to. I never have felt he has pushed me to do missionary work, but maybe I am just being ignorant to His calling and not wanting to step out of my comfort zone. I really can't place my finger on it.

I have prayed, and I really am confused.

I don't have great patience, I have found that out with my children, I did have really good patience before them though. I used to think I would be an adoptive parent to a Down Syndrome child, but now I am not sure. I still feel maybe a tweak of a pull that way, but I am not sure how great of a parent I would be to them. I have a lot to work out with my parenting skills with my own children.

Persisting Restlessness

I would love to hear any of your thoughts on restlessness/unknown callings.

God Bless,

Cindy

Phew.

What a day! It was a crazy day today. We had scopes and inpatients. I am took care of an insulin drip on a patient and frequent call lighters, and wonderfully nice patients and nervous nellys and sick sick patients. I really enjoyed my day until 1600. Then it was time to chart and my brain was swimming!

In addition to this I got hand sanitizer in my eye and poked myself with a needle. Argh.


I think my brain could have coped better if I would have slept better last night. Praying for a good nights rest tonight, and focusing on my getaway with the hubs later this week!


Sigh of relief.

Thanks for allowing me to vent a little.

Have a great night!

Oregon Pics

Just some pics of our trip to Oregon a few months ago. Enjoy. The view from outside our suite. Breathtaking isn't it? Our favorite spot to go when we visit. Cape Perpetua. One of the first spots we could see the ocean. So we stopped for a photo op and then a few miles later a nature walk. It was great! Ryan took this photo. Such amazing beauty God created for us to enjoy. Have a great day! :) Cindy

Life Cyclical

I feel like this time in my life is repetitious. I am aware that I have added another child into the mix, but I feel like things are in a way deja vu to me right now.
I am creatively in tune, and trying to find outsources for it.
I feel the absolute need to lose weight and exercise, and by ends day haven't accomplished much into that.
I feel more need to share more thus blog more. Which is good for this page, because to be honest, about 2 months ago I was very tempted to just delete my blog. I was certain my lack of post had resulted in no readers anymore. I am glad to see I still have one reader. :)


Another cyclic event is the potty training of my Adalei. No go yet. She has been going pee-pee following our q 15 minute potty breaks. I am going to keep trying, but if she doesn't get it over this weekend I might give her some more time to figure out things before pressuring her. She know when she does go, she says "potty, yucky." just getting her there before an accident happens hasn't happened. Yet! Sigh.

The need for organization and cleanliness is pressuring me. I really want some motivation and ideas on how to organize things.

Lastly but not least, is my feelings of the need to show kindness and love to others, yet not smothering them. I think I miss having time with friends outside of work that I seen to bother those that I work with a little bit. I have a overwhelming need to be liked, that I am very paranoid at times that everyone hates me, and am way to sensitive, however, in trying to not be so sensitive I become unkind. Ugh. I need a happy medium!

Phew. That felt good! Cleaned and organized my brain a little at least. Alright nap time for my babies are in order, now I will work on cleaning and other fun things I need to tackle!!

New Blog header

I have been excited to work on this. I love Scrapblog. Although most of it is not free anymore, there are still some fun things to put together to make it work. Plus, I am sure many of you (ha) were looking forward to seeing post-fetus pictures of Adalei in the header. Faster Internet connection has blessed me with that being a possibility again! :) Well this Momma needs some sleep. The babies are resting and so shall I! Have a great day!

Spring. Happy that its made its way here. Temp is in the 50 and 60s. Unfortunately haven't been able to enjoy it. Bummer! Night shift work. I am off Thursday until Monday. Hoping to enjoy the sunshine. Luke's birthday went well. He had a blast. Can't believe he is 4! It was humorous the night before his actual birthday I was telling him what was happening 4 years ago that day. I got a little teary eyed. Luke looks up at me and says, "Mommy, why you got sad eyes?" "Cause I'm a man?" Ha ha. I stifled a half laugh/cry and hugged my little 'man.' I love him! I hope tomorrow I can try to update my blog, but no promises. Oh yeah, our trip to Oregon was fabulous. Cold, but good. We are already missing it, and threw the idea of another trip back there up just tonight! Could you please pray for some dear family friends of ours. They are experiencing some medical issues, and have had a hard past 9 months. Pray for the Great Healer to place His hands on this sweet family, and heal all of their ailments. Thank you. Thanks for stopping in. Have a great day!

Howdy

I bet I don't even have a sole reader out there anymore. Sorry I have taken a hiatus from blogging. Life and a slow Internet connection can do that to a girl.

So this is going to be very random and all over the place.

We are leaving for a trip to OR soon. Very excited for said trip. WE are driving there. Ryan and I and the kids. Happy about going there with them. Not so excited about the 3 days of traveling to get there. Plan on doing some rock climbing (beach climbing) if kids are able. Beach combing, sandcastle building and eating tons of seafood, and Marion berry anything. Also in our plans is to get wine and starfish that we couldn't bring back with us on our last trip. We plan on going to the Tillamook Cheese factory, and if I can get it arranged, the Portland Children's Museum, and maybe a zoo also. Have read online that both zoos I could find were not so great; so I am going to ask some locals for their opinion.

We LOVE Oregon.

Most likely we will scope out further info to build our dreams of moving there someday. This trip will prove if I can handle the mostly cloudy/rainy weather. The average high there is 45-50 degrees, and 40% chance of precip. Hopefully it will be relaxing, and memorable at least for Luke. He asks us everyday if "today we going to the ocean?"

Speaking of Luke, he is getting very tall. And very independent. And stubborn. Ha ha ha. He is full of life and is inquisitive about everything. Is all about the rules and order of things, unless it applies to him following such orders and rules.




Adalei is growing like a weed. She will soon weigh as much as her brother, and if Luke hadn't decided to sprout up in the last month, I think she would have been close to the same height. Adalei, is my happy, smiley, funny girl. Almost always has a smile for you and, offers lots of hugs and kisses. She is a snuggly girl. Loves her "baby," and "blanky." Talks up a storm. Everyday is a new word. We are introducing her to the potty. She seems interested, know what it is, but I am not sure if she understand the purpose, of except making funny faces while on it in which makes her mommy laugh hysterically.

Ryan is working hard on remodeling the upstairs bathroom. He just has the trim and fixtures to place.

Well, I don't think I have redeemed myself for me absence, but I am going to bring this post to a close. Have a beautiful day!