BootCamp:Day 2

I spoke to soon!  Fun is definitely not a word I would use to describe tonight's class!  I barely made it up the stairs to my big comfy chair.  I'm hungry but I don't think I can make it to the kitchen...that is probably a good thing!   What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?  I'll let you know tomorrow!

Wednesday Weigh-In

I had to run a mile and time it for my boot camp class this week.  I did it in 12 minutes.  Not great but not to bad either.  I probably could have done it faster.  I was with my little brother and we were talking and laughing which makes it a little difficult to run at full speed (not that I could run the whole thing at full speed anyway)!  The scale is looking better.  I am really trying to eat better.  I can tell by energy level if I'm eating what I should or not.   Which the main thing is drinking water.  I hate water.  I love sodas..I wish I'd never had one so I wouldn't know what I was missing! 

And here's the scale for this week.

Down 2.4lbs from last week.  I do feel better this week even after the minimal exercise I've done.  I love the energy I get from exercising...I hate the actual exercising itself.   

Huntin' Club & 4-wheeler ridin'

Last month Patrick joined a new hunting club for the year (and probably many, many years to come!)  The one he was a member of last year was to far for him to go on his off days and they didn't have anywhere you could stay the night.  So he was really wanting to find something closer to home.  Well one of his buddies found this place and it is thirty minutes from our house and has a nice lodge and a couple cabins you can stay the night at (although since it is so close he won't really have to stay the night!).  The property is close to 10,000 acres so he had to have a four wheeler to ride out to the hunting spots.  I wasn't thrilled with the idea of spending the money but I gave in.  Plus I enjoy being outside and we have kind of fallen into a rut of just sitting on the couch and watching TV every. single. day!  It was getting old.  So yesterday when I got off work we loaded up and headed to the club.  It was so nice.  They also have a stocked fish pond where you can fish and a nice size creek runs through the property and it is beautiful!  They have little campsites set up along the river where you can bring you tent and camp right on the water!  We rode for a couple hours so I could see some of the property!  It was so nice to hang out together not in front of the TV! The weather was beautiful!  It was hot in the sun but out in the woods it was so cool!  We saw some turkey and a couple snakes!  I can't wait to go back!

(Just a few pictures from the ride!  I didn't take my camera while we were riding and these were made with my p&s so they are not so great!)

Benton and Baseball

Friday night my sister and I went to stay with my cousin Bullet and his family in Benton, Alabama.  (You may remember Bullet from Tuscaloosa!)  Saturday was Matthew's last regular season baseball game and we wanted to see the Cosby Ice Machine.  They won by forfeit the other team didn't have enough players.  We did get to see them play a little bit our team loaned them a couple players and they played a couple innings.  After the game we were heading home to get the grand tour of Benton and hang out at the pool! 

I love this place. It's the kind of place I want my kids to grow up.  Matthew actually plays for the Selma park so we spent the morning in Selma.  I think it was about 95degrees at 9:00AM!

Matthew playing 1st base.

Hanging out in the dug out!

Cheerleaders!

Matthew at bat!

After the game!  They were so cute!

Victory Smile!

Meredith, Me, Matthew, and Elizabeth after the game.

I'm going to do a whole post on our tour of Benton.  It's such a quaint place you're going to love it! 

More photos from the holiday weekend

Ava, Ally, Me, Sister, and Amy! 

Ava Jane feeling much better and Ally putting Champ in his place!

I was so happy Patrick actually got to come to the lake!

Beautiful Ava!

Grilling in the rain.

Look at those sweet curls!

BootCamp

Wow!  It was, dare I say, Fun!  That doesn't mean it wasn't tough. Because it was!  We all cheered each other on so it was very motivating! and I'm not that sore today!  Yesterday was the first class so we spent the entire time measuring our base fitness level.  We did several exercises to measure flexibility, balance, strengh, speed and endurance.  I am not flexible never really have even though I took gymnastics as a child and cheered all through school!  My balance was not terrible but not good either.  I was actually stronger than I thought I would be.  I did 20 push-ups (girl style) but it was still tough!  The hardest part for me was endurance.  I did alright when we did the drill to measure speed but the ones that measure endurance were tough ones.  I think I'm really going to enjoy going even though it's going to kick my tail. 

And just to make you laugh!  Here is me before class! I was pumped!  I should have taken one when I got home but no one was there to take it...and I was completely exhausted!

Wednesday Weigh-In

*Sorry this is just now going up! I meant to do it at work but got side tracked..go figure!
It's Wednesday! Yay! I love short weeks!  Today I start Bootcamp!!! I'm taking it with a group of 10 people.  I'm not real sure what to expect!  I'm really nervous.  I haven't done any sort of organized physical activity since I cheered in high school 7 years ago!  The first class we have to do a bunch of physical fitness tests to see where we stand as a class!  I'm going with my friend Carla. I think we will be fine but I do need to dig out my tennis shoes since I haven't worn them in almost a year!
Now for the scale...I'm pretty sure the holiday caught up with me this week!

UP 1.6lbs from last week.  I'm disappointed in myself but I'm not going give up!  I'm hoping the bootcamp class tonight will give me the motivation I am lacking!

Holiday Weekend

**Warning** Longest Post Ever** Consider yourself Warned**

What a weekend we've had.  It's been one of those that you look forward to for weeks only to have nothing go as planned and you almost wish you'd never tried then the clouds part and you remember why you went to all the trouble to begin with.  Friday night my parents picked me up around 6:00 we crammed all my stuff in the car. I packed light...thank goodness!  We stopped by to get Ava and Drew decided he wanted to come too.  So we all climbed into moms car and we were off.  Drew was upset and crying because he was supposed to go with his dad one night and he decided he'd rather go to the lake.  He was worried that he'd made the wrong decision.  It was a teaching moment.  I explained to him that most often when you are given two choices you will wonder if you really chose the right one.  You have to make your decision with confidence and not let yourself worry about the option you didn't choose.  He didn't really care what I had to say!  He kept saying he thought he was going to throw-up.  I thought he was just upset about his decision.  We finally got to the lake and he jumped out of the car and vomited more than you could imagine.  He then decided to tell us he'd been sick all day long.  Great!  so we get to the lake and the power is out.  Has been out for about 3 hours.  We got the car unloaded and were settling in to chatting by candle light.

My sister, Amy, Aunt Pam and Uncle Donald were already there so they already had all the candles lit.  Uncle Donald had rigged up the tv to run on the car battery so at least we had that.  Drew laid down and took a really long nap!  Elizabeth, Amy, Ava and me decided we'd play Mexican Train dominoes by the light of a flashlight and candle light!  It was fun! 

 Then we hear a lot of commotion in the den.  Apparently Ava started violently vomiting! So if you thought cleaning up puke was bad imagine trying to clean it up by candle light.  So we got her and everything cleaned up and put her to bed.  Well she got sick again and again and again.  It was awful!  She was pitiful!  It made me so sad for her.  Meanwhile Drew woke up from a three hour nap and he felt way better.  He was back to is normal self.  So there was hope that Ava would feel better when she woke up.  It finally quit raining and we sat outside for a little while.  The power was out on our side of the lake for as far as we could see.  We could see the guys working on the lines and they were struggling.  They would get the power on for a minute or so and then we would hear the transformer blow.  We all decided to call it a night and we settled in.  Elizabeth, Amy and I got the room with the king size bed.  We laughed so much.  It was much roomier than the fold out couch we slept on at the beach.  We stayed up telling Amy stories about the lake and some of the funniest things that we remembered.  (We've had the house since I was 6 months old so as you can imagine there are tons of stories to tell).  Finally at about 3:00am the power came back on.  Every light in the house was on!  It was kind of funny!  We turned off some lights and finally went to sleep. 

Ally woke me up before 6 to go out.  Drew was already up so we just sat up and he read scary stories to me.  It was so sweet.  I was so excited that he was feeling better.  Then we heard Ava.  She was still sick.  She was so upset.  She was crying and just kept saying she wanted to go home.  I wanted to cry too!  I got her something to drink and told her to try to go back to sleep because I didn't want her to go home!  I really felt like she would feel better since Drew did!  So she went back to sleep.  It was about 6:45 by now and everyone was up.  Dad was getting his list together he was going to go up to the Dollar General to get Ava some Gatorade and a few other things we needed. I think I forgot to mention that it was raining, with no sign of letting up.  It was going to be a long day of eating, reading, napping, and playing dominoes.  (Kind of sounds like a retirement home!) At least we had power!!! Uncle Donald was out fishing in his rain gear and Drew was going stir crazy.  We found him a rain jacket and sent him out.  He caught two fish and was so excited!  He took the fish in the house and showed it to Amy and Elizabeth (who had gone back to bed!).

I laid down and started reading, then I took a little nap.  When I woke up I heard Ava giggling.  She was like a new child she said she felt so much better and was ready to go swimming. Then around noon the rain stopped and the skies cleared.  We all hurried and got our swim suits on and greased up to hang out in the sun because we didn't know how long it'd last.  It lasted the rest of the afternoon and the night was clear too!  We sat outside and talked and laughed!  It was so much fun!  Ava climbed up in my lap and let me hold her for hours.  It was so sweet!  I love that she still loves to cuddle.  I was just like that growing up!

Amy, Elizabeth, Drew, Ava and I canoeing.

I got tired around 9:30 and headed to bed.  I finished the book I was reading and was out like a light.  We were getting up early to go to church.  Ally did not like sleeping on the top bunk.  She was a nervous wreck and didn't sleep well at all.  Elizabeth and I went to church and then we stopped by the Dollar General to get some ice.  When we got back to the lake house the sun was out and Patrick was there.  He came up when he got off work Sunday morning.  I was so excited he got to come.  Then around noon it started raining again.  We all piled in the house.  We played some more dominoes!  I love that game!  The guys had already started the grill so we put an umbrella over it and they continued to cook!  Around 2 the rain stopped!  My brother Patrick and Leslie came and brought Porter and Harper and those babies were so excited to be at the lake.  Harper swam and Porter talked about swimming but he wasn't crazy about the water.  We played outside for about 2 hours then it stated raining again.  We all crammed around the tv and watched the race.  We had a little wager on the race.  Everyone put in a dollar and got to pick 3 cars and whoever's driver won got the pot ($14)!  My driver ran second most of the night.  He led a few laps towards the end but he didn't win!  Patrick and I loaded up and headed home around 10 last night. Today we had lunch with the Horton's...we just got home.  I love just sitting and talking with them.  That is exactly what we've been doing ally day long! 
I have more pictures to add later.  My computer is being difficult!

Family Night

Tuesday night we had an impromptu family night at my parents house.  It was my mom's birthday and my little brother came home for the occasion.   We were all there except for Patrick he had to go to work.  I got some really cute pictures of mom and the kids.  I'll let the photos speak for themselves...

Harper had a fashion with Elizabeth's shoes!

Ava wore her best fairy wings!

Harper had to call someone!

Then she changed shoes so she could work on her computer!

Mom and her grand babies.  I love this shot!  This is so typical of a family night at our house!

All he wanted was cake!

Then he wanted to touch the light bulb.  It looks like a dad got a tiny idea!

Mom and her first born!

Ally was worn out!  She just laid there until it was time to go!

TakeaPicturePhobia

Yes, this is a real phobia, and my own mother is a sufferer.  You may recall the Mother's Day photo shoot where it took about 40 shots to get this one decent one.

 Then last night at Mom's birthday celebration we went through this shoot...

Notice the poodle is making perfect eye contact with the camera...Mom eyes closed!

Again the poodle making great eye contact....Mom not so much...at least she's got a great smile!

Mom has eyes...they are looking at the camera...and she is trying to smile!  Ally was over it.

Maybe you or someone you know suffers from TakeaPicturePhobia.  The only cure is more photos.  You have to be comfortable in from of the camera.  This is something that my mom struggles with.  You see as a mom of four she was always the one taking the photo in fact if were to see my childhood in photos you would think I was motherless.  So now that the tables have turned and she is the subject of the photo she struggles.  This mini shoot was actually therapy for a big shoot that mom had today.  The dreaded DMV photo shoot. Yes, the one that will be proudly posted on your drivers license for the next four years.  I've been told the shoot at the DMV did not go as we had all hoped it would go for mom.  I haven't seen the photographic evidence but the words my sister used to describe it were "Mug Shot".  That can't be good for any one's ID photo!

I am committed to helping my mother overcome her TakeaPicturePhobia.  I will keep you posted on her progress. 

Wordless Wednesday Weigh-In

Up 0.4lbs from last week.  Not to bad considering I went on vacation and to my mom's birthday last night!  It's not looking to good for next week either with the holiday this weekend.  I'm heading to the lake!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Today is my mom's birthday!  I won't tell you her age (for fear that she is fibbing again and I might give it away!).  I hope you've had a wonderful day!  My mom is the best.  Her birthday is always one of my favorites because we usually celebrate at the lake for Memorial Day!  We are headed up again this weekend!  I'm pretty excited!  Enjoy the rest of your day!  

Lessons in Life...

Yesterday Patrick's nephew was having his birthday party at Trussville Playstation.  I hadn't been there is years!  Patrick was running late (as always) and I had forgotten how to get there.  (I wrote down directions but we still managed to drive around lost forever!)  So the party was from 2-5.  We get there around 3:30!  I was already mad because I hate to be late and I hate being lost.  When we finally arrived  we walked into the front and handed the girl our invitation and asked where we could find our party.  She looked at me and asked if I had another shirt...um no...why would I have another shirt.  Well apparently the Trussville Playstation now enforces a strict dress code.  I had no idea!  I was wearing a tasteful spaghetti strap top.  Well apparently your straps on your shirts have to be at least 1.5 inches.  They would not let me in!  I was so embarrassed.  I had to just walk away because I was either going to scream at the girl or start crying and I didn't want to do either.  I guess I was just upset because I thought the shirt was cute and never even thought that it would be a problem.  I am very conservative and would never wear anything that I didn't think was appropriate.  I mean I was going to a birthday party for an 8 year old boy...I would never want the boys moms to think I was wearing something inappropriate.  It was an awful experience.  So moral of the story always check to see if there is a dress code.  I looked at the invitation after we left and it did say in small print the dress code was strictly enforced.  I obviously didn't see that part or I would have worn a different shirt.  If it is that important it should have been printed a bit larger on the invite!
So we decided to come home and order pizza!  I hate we didn't get to see the kids play all the different games! but I guess I learned a very valuable lesson!

Friday Night Wedding Fun

Last night my sister was in a wedding for one of her best friends.  It was one of the prettiest weddings I have ever been to.  It was outdoors and it stormed here all morning so we were all so worried that it would have to be moved indoors.  At about 4:00 the sky cleared and the weather was beautiful.  It was perfect.  The Sonnet House is one of the prettiest wedding venues I've been to.  It has a beautiful garden area, the inside of the house is stunning and it also has an additional building that is used as a chapel when the weather does not cooperate.  That is where the band was set up last night.  We had a blast.  The band was Nationwide Coverage and they were so much fun.  I want to get married again just so I can have them play!!!

My beautiful sister.

The bride and her daddy!

My sister and Me!

This place has three of these beautiful claw foot tubs.  We had to get our picture made in one!

Sister caught the bouquet!

Congratulations Whitney and Kevin!  Your wedding was beautiful!  I wish you nothing but the best of luck!  Have a blast in Jamaica!