Ten Years

We've been married for TEN YEARS!!!  I know one day ten years will seem like just a drop in the bucket but right now it feels huge.  We've lived a lot of life in ten short years!  Some days it feels like a lifetime ago and some days it feels like yesterday.  I'm so thankful that we can both look back on the last decade of our lives and smile.  It wasn't always pretty or happy but there are way more good memories than bad ones.  Plus, a lot of the bad memories made us even closer.  We've laughed, we've cried and we've laughed until we cried!  I think if I had any advice for people about marriage or finding "the one" I would say... Marriage is less about your compatibility and more about your willingness to make it work.  Your commitment to each other is what will make it last.  Patrick and I don't always agree.  We're actually very different.  He's very much an introvert, and I'm more of an extrovert.  He is not a morning person and would rather stay up all night and I usually go to bed as early as I can.  I don't love to get up early but I'm way more productive in the morning.  I'm more neat and tidy, he doesn't care if there is crap piled everywhere.  In fact in lieu of a closet he just has piles of clean clothes everywhere.  I like to go and do and he would rather stay home and watch a movie.  I'm a "the more the merrier" friend and he is more "quality over quantity".  We learned at Financial Peace University we are both "Free Spirit, Spenders" (I have more nerd tendencies but live more as a free spirit).  Which does not bode well for finances.  We're working on it.  Patrick would rather spend money on stuff, where as I would rather have experiences (I will need a cute outfit for the experience though).  Even after 10 years we are still learning new things about each other.  People change so much over time.  This isn't a bad thing, but you have to grow and learn and change together.  

March 28, 2008

March 28, 2018

This was before Patrick left for work, I was still in my robe having my quiet time.  I can't believe how different we look.  When I think about us, I still see those two kids from ten years ago (although I really don't remember Patrick having that much hair or it being that dark).  

We celebrated by going to work and then had take out Chinese food with our kids.  We have a fun trip planned next month for just the two of us.  I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I  don't want to wish the time away but I can't wait.  Of course you know it takes an act of congress to travel anywhere without your kids when you have kids.  Especially when they're involved in anything.  But we're finalizing all the details now and it will all be worth it. 

I love this life we've made together and I can't wait to see what unfolds in the next 10 years.

PS: Also my goal for my 10th anniversary was to be able to fit into my dress again.  I'm proud to say that I got in it and even got it zipped the other day!  

Bunko and Baseball

March is my month to host bunko, when I chose March I had no idea how busy we'd end up being but I managed to get it on the schedule.  Well it seems everyone was super busy in March because I ended up having to find 5 subs.  I was a little nervous because our house isn't huge but it ended up being a really nice night so the table on the deck was perfect.  

My friend Kellie and my sister were both subs and our moms have played together in a group for years and they happened to be playing the same night so we had to send them this picture.  

I'd ordered this sweater and kind of forgotten about it.  Someone brought my mail in on Sunday and this was in it so I immediately put it on.  I loved it so much and a couple of the girls were trying to order it while we were playing. Ha!  It's lightweight and perfect for spring.

Baseball is going great!  We've had several practices and a couple games.  We love our coach and Barrett improves every week.

This girl thinks she's too big for naps and I let Barrett win that battle when he was her age and I refuse to let that happen with her.  The only good thing is she is ready to crash before it even gets dark most days, the bad thing is not every day are we at home so she can just crash.

She cries to take this bear from Barrett's classroom everyday and one day his teacher told her to take it.  So she did and she pushed it around the office all day in this stroller.

Last Thursday Barrett had his Easter party at school.  He was so excited to hunt eggs.  It was cold but beautiful day.

Love this big boy!

That night he had his first real baseball game ever.  With real umpires and everything.  He didn't get any hits but he did so good playing right field.  He's one of the youngest and smallest on the team but he's learning so much from the older kids and improves every day.  We are loving ball park life.

They had another game Saturday, I had a brain fart and we barely made it before the game started.  He played right field for a couple of innings and the team we played could hit so he got several balls.  He really did great assisting the other fielders and stopping the ball.  So coach decided to give him ago at playing catcher.  (we were missing a few players since it was spring break)  He was so dang cute in the catchers gear.  He could barely move but he did a pretty good job.  John, Hope, Madelyn and my dad all came to see him play, so he was excited that he got to show off.  

He was so dang cute!

And this girl is living her best ball park life.  Last year she couldn't walk so she sat happily in the stroller.  This year she is all over the place.  I'm pretty sure I've gotten a few extra grey hairs from my short time at the ballpark with her.  

We're gearing up for Easter around here and all the fun April will bring!

Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 12

Week 12.  I really thought I'd be at my goal by this point in 2018.  I'm not.  I'm trying to be patient and consistent but it's not easy.  I have to keep reminding myself of what I've already accomplished.  It's easy to get caught up in the little bit left in the journey and forget how far you've come.   Some days I'm so proud I can hardly contain myself, and some days I'm so discouraged I'm not at my goal I want to quit it all and eat all the things.  I am feeling much better since getting back on track last week.  It's amazing how much better I feel physically when I'm eating to fuel my body and not just eating because I want to.  I really don't think I'll ever not want to eat cupcakes or drink margaritas.  I just keep telling myself I will be able to have those things again in moderation.  Baseball has me scrambling to get my workouts in.  I'm still managing to get there twice a week and I'm hoping to keep that up.  I need to throw in an at home workout at some point during the week but I haven't yet.  I really love how strong I'm feeling these days and seeing muscles doesn't hurt either.  

Now, for this weeks weigh-in...

147.0

I think that's my lowest WW so far on this journey, so that's exciting!

I'm down 2.4lbs from last week!  I'm down 0.6lbs from the WW before that!  So, finally trending down again!  It's amazing, when you eat right and so what you're supposed to the scale goes down!  Imagine that!  I'm 12lbs away from my goal.  I need all 12 of those pounds to come from my gut.  I've got 5 weeks before our anniversary trip.  I'm going to work my tail off to make my goal before then.  I'm soooo close!  I have to get back to the mindset of "it's not worth it".  In the beginning I would ask myself  "is it worth it?" when I wanted to cheat and most of the time it isn't! 

Thanks for following along! 

Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 10-11

Wednesday Weigh-In didn't happen last week.  I think I've been pretty honest lately that I've been struggling to get back on track.  I needed something to get back in gear so I decided to try a KETO ReBoot.  My cousins did it back in February and said they liked it so I decided to give it a try this month.  I'm tired of losing and gaining the same 5 pounds every two weeks.  I'm ready to lose this weight for good.  I feel like I'm doing great maintaining, problem is this is not the weight I want to maintain.  So the ReBoot kicked off Sunday night at 8:00pm.  It's basically a 60 hour fast.  In the kit you get meal supplements that are packed full of ketones to send your body into ketosis.  Yall, this was one of the hardest things I've ever done.  The supplements were awful.  I can usually eat just about anything and I could not choke these things down.  One wasn't too bad but that was it.  Monday night I was nearly in tears I was so hungry.  I decided to go to HIIT to get my mind off of food.  I actually had a really good workout.  I had more energy than I'd had in a long time.  The ketones were definitely working.  I struggled through Tuesday.  Considering giving up several times but I'd made it that far I wasn't going to quit now.  I made it all the way until this morning.  I couldn't wait to get up and make bacon and eggs and drink a cup of coffee.  It was delicious.  Will I do the ReBoot again?  Probably not.  I feel like I can achieve the same results without buying the kit, especially since I didn't like most of the products.  Am I glad I did it?  Yes, I wanted to try the products anyway and I needed something to reset my system and get me back into ketosis and I accomplished both of those things.  My goal is to stay in ketosis for 5-6 weeks.  I'm not sure I'll survive Easter but I'm going to give it my best shot! I really want these last 14 pounds gone forever! and I really do feel so  much better, I sleep better and have more mental clarity when I'm in ketosis.  You'd think that alone would be motivation enough but sweets are a powerful thing.  

I'm up 1.8lbs from two weeks ago.  I'm not happy about it but I'm not going to let it undo everything I've worked so hard for.  I'm still so close to my goal.  I'm more focused and determined now.  I'm confident I can knock these last pounds out before summer!  If I didn't eat for 60ish hours, I'm pretty sure I can do this.  

Baby Sprinkle & Beauty Pageant

We had another busy, fun weekend around here.  Friday night, I ran some errands, took a meal to a family and then we had baseball practice and then we hung out at home.  Barrett wanted to watch Moana so we did that too!  Saturday morning I was up pretty early to get ready for Hope's baby sprinkle.  AveryAnn and I picked up my mom and sister and headed across town.  We were excited to celebrate Hope and baby Brooks! We can't wait to meet him!

When we left there my sister and I wanted to stop by the Target because it's way better than our Target.  Mom volunteered to sit in the car with AveryAnn while she slept.  My sister and I tried on a plethora of clothes and both found a couple things we decided we needed.  AveryAnn woke up and she and my mom joined us.  She was so funny saying "yook, yook" at every single thing they passed.  It was a fun afternoon.  

I went home and rested a bit before it was time for Harper's pageant.  This was her first year in the pageant and she did so good.  She looked beautiful as always and had so much fun! 

Sunday we lost our hour of sleep and went to Mass.  All the kids were cranky, I'm guessing from their missed hour of sleep.  After Mass we went to my parents for lunch.  After lunch Patrick headed home with the kids and I went to HIIT.  Now that baseball is in full swing, Sunday is the only day I know for sure I can get to my class so I make sure to make it every week.    Sunday evening we went to Patrick's parents to celebrate his brother's birthday!  Then we came home and dreaded going to work today.  

Spring is Coming

AveryAnn had a big week of riding forward facing in the car finally!  I'm kind of shocked we made it this long.  Now when we drive she's constantly yelling, "yook, mommy a ____!"  It's really cute!

Friday morning my hair straightener died.  I'd had it for 12 years.  It was the first thing I ever bought with my credit card (stupid, I know, don't be like me).  Of course this is turning out to be one of the most expensive months of the year for us so I'm going to have to strategically work a new one into the budget. 

Friday night we went to my parents house so my dad could color my hair.  AveryAnn was helping Granddaddy get some work done while I was processing.

Barrett curled up on the couch and took a little nap.  We got home late Friday night and crashed.

Saturday morning I got up and got ready for a brunch baby shower.  The kids had a fun morning at home with daddy!  That afternoon I took the kids to my parents house to spend the night because we were going bowling for my friend Anna's 30th birthday!  I also enjoyed a solo target run to get a wedding gift for a tea on Sunday.  I came home a took a little nap before getting ready for our little (group) date night.

I kind of love bowling!  I'm not great at it but I think it's so much fun!  We rode with Jeremy and Jessica and always have so much fun with them!

I love this sweet friend of mine!  I love that we've known each other forever but our babies brought us this deep, forever friendship.  We are soul sisters and almost always know what the other is thinking because we're thinking the same thing.  Also, she's so pretty both inside and out.

Love these girls!  Anna has a ton of friends and all she wanted for her 30th birthday was for them to all be together to celebrate. We were missing a few but we had the best time! 

Sunday, we got up and got ready for church.  I had to run by and get the kids dressed for church because I forgot to pack their church clothes. We went to Mass and then came back to my parents for lunch before the tea.

We went to the tea and then my sister and I ran up to go to HIIT.  Hope came to the tea and then she and John and Madelyn went back to mom and dads to hang out.  After HIIT there were more people at the tea so we stopped by in our sweaty gym clothes to visit.  After the tea was over we went back to mom and dads to visit.  Hope had taken these cute pictures of the girls while we were gone.  They are really starting to interact and play together and it is so sweet!

I took this picture of the three of them.

Then I told Barrett to kneel down so he would be the same height at the girls, but they got on their knees too and we all had a good laugh.

We finally made it home, way too late, but it was so worth it!  We don't get to see John and Hope nearly enough.  We don't live that far away but it's so hard to coordinate our lives and get together!  We're getting into a busier season at work and life.  Baseball practice starts this week and we're really excited!  This is our first year of coach pitch!  I think that's all for today!