Monthly Weight Loss with Pictures

I didn't even come close to 10 lbs this month. I only lost 3.6 lbs (I got a new scale that shows tenths of a pound). It's super embarrassing and humbling, to say the least. The other months when I never set an "I want to lose such-and-such amount of weight," I lost a pretty good number. The month I say "I want to lose 10 lbs" is the month I have a horrible number. Figures!

It's all my fault. I'm not going to sit here and make excuses. If I would have given it all I had, I'm almost positive I would have lost 10 lbs (if not more). I missed a few days of going to the gym this month because we've been so busy (not counting the seven days I was in MS without a gym). Not to mention, because we've been so busy, I haven't been making the best food choices.

When I go to the gym I still work hard; it all comes down to the eating choices that I've made this month. Lesson learned, that's for sure. Next month is going to be way busier than this month was due to moving. I know I won't be going to the gym as much because of packing, unpacking and getting settled in. The whole moving process is a workout in itself, so that shouldn't really hinder my weight loss.

All of that being said, I'm still very happy to see a weight loss and not a gain. I've been consistently losing each month. Again, this month was pretty bad but I'll take a loss over, no matter how small, a gain any day.

Leaving this blog on a good note: I got rid of lots of clothes this month that were too big on me. Exciting! :-) Even though I only lost 3.6 lbs I can see a difference in my clothes from last month because of building muscle and toning up. Oh, and I hit 50 lbs lost this month! As always, keep me in prayer. I can't do this on my own.

PS: You probably won't notice a difference from last month's pictures to this month's pictures, considering I only lost 3.6 lbs but here it is anyway. Oh, and I look horrible, I know. I was about to head out of the door to go to the gym.

Past monthly weight loss with pictures blogs (click on month to see blog):

May
June
July
August ...

It's National Dog Day!

One of my blogger friends just made me aware of the fact that it's National Dog Day. How exciting! Words can't even begin to describe how much Brad and I love our little piggy pie, Oopsie. He is our little sunshine! So, in honor of National Dog Day, I think Oopsie deserves some spotlight ... not that he doesn't get it all of the time. He's totally spoiled rotten.

Here's a little bit about Oopsie: He was born on Feburary 26, 2006 in MS. Brad and I got him as a wedding gift from my parents. So, we all started our lives together as a family. He has beautiful green eyes that will melt anyone's heart. He's always happy and full of love. He is not your typical chihuahua. He is so laid back. He hardly ever barks and he's not hyper at all. His ears don't stand up (even when they do, he shakes them down).

His favorite things to do are: sun bathe, lick noses (he can go to your brain if you let him), stretch upside down in the air, snuggle, go to parks/on walks, go for car rides, watch animals on TV. Oh, and eat and sleep.

Random facts: He snorts like a pig. He loves to burrow. He doesn't like when it's hot; he prefers the cold. He likes being the only child (we got him a brother one time and it didn't work out -- all he did was pout). He was on America's Funniest Home Videos where they played about a 30 second clip of a video I filmed of him cleaning out Brad's nose (we got $200 and a t-shirt because it was featured on a grand prize episode). People always think he's a female, a puppy or both.

Oopsie's scanned puppy paw

Baby Oopsie

Baby Oopsie again :)

Rawr!

Oopsie, The [Mexican] American Beauty

oX Kisses Xo

Isn't he the cutest little snow bunny ever?

Oopsie and his sculpture we got made. Haha!

Brad and I Bought Tickets Today ...

We're going to the Casting Crowns concert in Knoxville on November 26th! It's a tour for their new CD, "Come to the Well," which comes out on October 18th. I'm so excited! They are such an amazing band. Next to Jeremy Camp, they are our favorite Christian musicians.

Maybe one day soon Jeremy Camp will come to Knoxville, too. That would be great. :) I'm looking forward to seeing the opening acts, as well. I've heard a few songs from each of the artists: Sanctus Real, The Afters and Lindsay McCaul and I like them all. I know we'll have a wonderful and blessed time. Now, only a little over three months ... but who's counting? :-D

If you haven't ever heard of them (I can't imagine that!), here's a video.

A Walk in the Park

Today was a hot but beautiful day. Brad and I went tubing down a river in the Smoky Mountains this morning. The water was pretty low so we had to walk in a few parts but it was still nice. Then, we came home, hung out for a bit and Brad wanted to go to Ryan's for supper, so we did. Then, we picked up Oopsie at home and went for a nice family stroll through the park. Here are a few pictures. I love my boys so much!

Oopsie was having a blast running through the grass, as always :)

 AHH! How cute is my little boy?!
He reminds me of a cute little bunny rabbit. Haha.

A few leaves are starting to fall. Not much longer until fall is here!

 My snookums

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

 

Amy's Shepherd's Pie

Fast, easy and oh-so-delicious. I hope you try it.

1 lb lean ground beef
1 sweet onion
1 can cream corn
1 bag of steamable frozen sweet corn (or a can of corn)
1 package of instant potatoes (whatever flavor you like; I use cheese flavor)

If you want to make a bigger batch, just double everything.

Dice onion and cook until translucent. Add beef and seasonings to taste (I use salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, parsley, etc.) and cook until done. Add both corns to pot with meat and onion. Stir until heated through. Dump into a baking dish, cook potatoes and slather on top immediately after cooked so that they are easy to spread. Broil on 500 degrees until lightly browned on top. Enjoy!

PS: Brad and I always eat this with ketchup on top. :-D

We're Moving ...

That's our new rental house. We love the place we're in now but we really needed three bedrooms so that Brad could have an office since he works from home and recently just took on a lot more work. We currently only have two bedrooms and one is used as a guest room. It's only two years old and is 1200 square feet ... which is only about 50 square feet more than what we have now. So, since it's three bedrooms, they are smaller than what we have now. The only rooms I'm worried about fitting our stuff into are the master bedroom (it's going to be super tight, if our stuff even fits -- we have a king size bed) and the living room. I know our stuff will fit in the living room but it might look awkward because of the layout. We'll see. It will all work out. :)

We absolutely love the place. I'm excited about sitting outside and reading with a cup of coffee or something and just looking at the mountain views. I want to get a little table and chairs for out back and then maybe get a couple of rocking chairs or something for the front porch. I already know that the front porch will be Oopsie's sunbathing spot. All we'll have to do is put up a babygate or something so it's all blocked in when he wants to lay out. It doesn't have a fenced yard but it does have a nice little side yard he can prance around in and it's only about seven minutes or so to two of the beautiful parks here in Maryville (which is about how far we are from them now). We'll be moving in by the 15th of next month. I'll take some more outside pictures, plus the inside pictures when we get all settled in.

This post was sponsored by Man With A Van

Back from Gulfport

I had a great time in Gulfport. It was so nice to get to spend some time with my family and friends. I'm so glad to be back home, though. There really is no place like home. Oopsie and I missed Brad so much. We're so happy to all be back together.

Ok, I know you're wondering ... so, did I gain any weight? Not only did I not gain, I lost some. Yay! Not as much as I would have lost if I were at home and going to the gym, but a loss is a loss. I'm still hoping to hit my 10 lb weight loss goal by the end of this month.

Here are a few pictures from my trip. :)

My hunnie and I

My mommy dearest and I

My mom and Brad

My stepdad and Brad

My dad and I

My sweet little Oopsie

My friend, Jessica, and I

My friend, Lauren, and I

My friend, Bridgette, her son, Landen, and I

Pedi, Mani and Dinner

Today I went and got a pedi and mani. I've had a mani pefore but never a pedi. So, I was really looking forward to it! I always do my toenails really cute and have never gotten a pedi done because they are so expensive and I CAN do them by myself really professional-looking BUT my amazing husband found a deal on a half-off website for $55 for $22.50. Plus, he had a $10 off coupon that the website sent him. So, I got a $55 dollar pedi and mani for $12.50! I was very excited to pamper myself today. :)

The nail polish is Opi brand and it's called "I'm not really a waitress." It's ruby red and sparkly. I'm going to order some on eBay because I love it so much.

The pedi and mani were very nice but I would NEVER pay $22.50 much less $55. I can make my nails look just as nice, if not nicer. It was nice getting a little massage and stuff, though.

Then I came back home and picked up Brad and we went out to a nice restaurant in the area that he also got a gift certificate for on a half-off website. It was amazing! We got a really good spinach pizza for an appetizer and then we both got their house burger. It was one of the best, if not the best burger I've ever had. What made it taste so amazing was the candied bacon on it. YUM! :-D

I just finished packing, besides a few things I have to pack last minute. I'll be leaving for Gulfport tomorrow at 8 AM. I'm very much looking forward to seeing my family.

Gulfport, Here I Come!

Sooo, I just found out yesterday about 30 minutes after I posted my blog that I'll be going to Gulfport, MS (my hometown) from the 4th until the 13th. Of course, I always miss my family (we go visit them every Christmas) but my husband was the one who really thought I should go.

He's just taken on a lot more of a workload and has been super busy and not really been able to spend much time with me. So, he thought it would be nice for Oopsie and I to go visit my family for a while. He's going to drive us down and pick us back up, spending the night the day he drops me off and picks me up.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much Oopsie and I will miss him. I know he'll miss us like crazy, too, but it will give him time to get caught up on work and some extra time for me to visit my family. Also, I have a couple of friends I'll be seeing which will be nice. :)

The bad part of this is that I won't have the gym! How in the world am I going to lose 10 lbs this month without the gym? Of course, Brad didn't tell me this until AFTER I posted my blog. Figures. Ha.

It's hard enough to lose 10 lbs in a month with the gym, much less without the gym for almost one-third of the month. Plus, I know we'll be going to two amazing buffets ... one of them twice, might I add (although, I mostly eat snow crab legs *Can I get a YUM?!* with no butter at the one we're going to twice -- which isn't bad). My parents make a lot of delicious stuff but a lot of it isn't so healthy. So, I'll have to really watch it.

Honestly, I'm hoping to just not gain any weight while I'm down there. If I lost 1-2 lbs while down there, that would be a miracle! I'm really going to try my hardest to not only not gain, but to lose. They have a new treadmill which my tush will be on for sure. With all of that said, I'm still going to try to lose 10 lbs this month.

Like I said in my last blog, please pray for me. :)