Week Three

It's time to update you on week number three of my quest to lose some weight. I had another great week and exercised a ton! I have been told that I am not eating enough for the amount of exercising I am doing, but it is so hard to tell my mind to eat more. I will try to do better this week. At least what I eat is very healthy and should be giving me some good nutrition.

18 Jan - Weights 20, Stairs 10, Bike 33, DDR 20, 1100 cal
19 Jan - Weights 20, Stairs 10, Bike 30, 1100 cal
20 Jan - Weights 22, Stairs 10, Bike 32, DDR 15, 900 cal
21 Jan - Weights 20, Bike 42, 1500 cal
22 Jan - Taebo 55, Bike 25, 1400 cal
23 Jan - 1200 cal

And the result . . . I weighed myself this morning and I currently weigh: 171 lbs. That's a 3 lb. loss from last week, making my total weight loss 13 lbs. You probably can't tell a huge difference when you look at me, but I sure can. My pants are looser, my shirts have a little more room, and I just feel better.

Jump On It

Over the holiday we went to Jump On It with my sisters and their kids. It was a lot of fun, but man . . . I can't tell you how awful it smelled when we first walked in - I mean why not just pass out before you've even begun!!

Random Holiday Pictures

Corbyn and his friend, Zach, LOVE setting up and organizing legos - they were all to happy to pose for this picture!

The kids all went up to bed and this is where we found Amber; she must have been too tired to make it up the stairs . . . or she was hiding there and finally fell asleep ;)

I tried to capture a picture of Keira's first time grasping a toy . . . I missed both times - oh, well. This is her new favorite toy and she grasps it all the time.

Week Two

So here is my update for week number two. I actually really enjoyed it and didn't think it was that hard eating less. I ate all healthy and mostly all-natural foods (fruits, veggies, brown rice, etc.). The only processed foods I ate were healthy cereal, yogurt, and pretzels. My new favorite snack is sauteed onions, mushrooms, and mexican squash . . . yummy!

Here's what I did each day (the calories are approximate):

11 Jan - Weights 20, Bike 35, DDR 20, 1100 calories
12 Jan - Weights 20, Bike 37, DDR 20, 1200 calories
13 Jan - Weights 20, Stairs 15, Bike 30, DDR 20, 1300 calories
14 Jan - Weights 20, Stairs 10, Bike 38, DDR 20, Bball 45, 1200 calories
15 Jan - Weights 20, Bike 30, DDR 20, 1300 calories
16 Jan - Bball 20, Weights 10, Elliptical 20, Treadmill 10, 1100 calories

My new weight is: 174lbs. I lost 4 lbs. this week - yeah! I'm now down a total of 10 lbs. in two weeks and it wasn't even that hard. I am going to keep going strong and hopefully in a couple more weeks I will be down another 5-10 lbs.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day was wonderful this year! Santa Claus was very generous - but did much better than last year - he totally went overboard last year ;) The kids were all so happy and very gracious for all that they received. We started the day out at home with all the kids in our bedroom. Before we went out to see if Santa came, we read the Christmas story and sang hymns. Jason and I went out first, then the kids came out one by one, youngest to oldest. Each of them were so excited when they saw what Santa brought!! We then opened presents and let the kids play for a little while before heading up to Sandy.

At 10:30 a.m. we went to Jason's parents for our traditional Christmas Brunch and the kids had a blast playing with cousins and opening even more presents. At 3:30 p.m. we went to my mom's house for our traditional Christmas Dinner. The kids performed an awesome play that they had prepared during the week before (The Christmas Carol) and they did an amazing job! It was actually quite touching. We then opened more presents and watched a movie.

We were pretty tired by the end of the day, but it only happens once a year and it sure was GREAT!!!

All Kelsea wanted from Santa was her own Christmas tree with decorations - he totally delivered AND managed to put a $15 Itunes gift card on the tree as an ornament (She recently bought an Itouch with the money she made off of selling her DS Lite and all her games).

Brianna was so happy to see High School Musical Dolls!!! (And even more happy to find out that two of her closest friends also received the same thing - hmmmm, does Santa coordinate amongst friends?) ;)

I've never seen Corbyn so excited! He wanted this Lego set more than anything, but I didn't think it was available in this country because that is what the Lego website said. Boy was he surprised to see it! (I wonder if Santa had his elves go to the Midnight Toys R Us sale and wait for four hours in line just to get this one thing? Hmmmmm, if he did, he sure must love my son!!!)

My cute, simple, Amber just wanted this darling game called Elefun and was super pleased to see it!

This was Landon's first, REAL, Christmas and he was overwhelmed with all the cars he received. He LOVES them all!

Jason and I were pretty spoiled as well and very grateful that Santa brought us some fun things to share with the entire family.

Don't you just love the bed head bangs? Not to mention the over the top smile! Love it!!

Christmas Brunch at the Barkers:

It's a tradition to have our family picture taken with reindeer ears and Santa hats (Keira was asleep in the other room.)

The fabulous spread of yummy food. Jason's mom goes all out!

It's a tradition for the kids to decorate Cake Trains with lots of yummy candy - they love it!

Larson Party at my mom's:

Liz

Ashley played the part of Scrooge in the play the kids performed

I wasn't able to get a picture of it, but Corbyn and Amber were husband and wife trying to get scrooge to donate to charity and it was the cutest thing I have ever seen!!! Corbyn totally came out of his shell and actually did quite well acting!!!

We had such a wonderful Christmas and my only qualm with it is that it went by way too fast!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is always fun for our family. Jason and I both have family party traditions that we both like going to, so we go my Grandma Hall's party first (around 5 p.m.), then we go to Jason's Uncle Danny and Aunt Kaye's house second (around 7:30 p.m.). It's a great night filled with food, family, presents, nativity, etc. and then, of course, the kids are always excited to go home and get to be before Santa Claus comes.


Danny and Kaye's Party:

Janee and her friend

Norma and her grandkids

Uncle Danny just had both of his knees replaced - ouch!

I love Jason's dad's face in this one - he totally knew I was taking the picture

Jason's Mom, Shannon, and Ben

Grandma Hall's Party:

The kids performed the Nativity Scene, just like my cousins and I did when I was young. (I particularly like Corbyn's ladies coat - too funny.)

My mom trying to get Landon to come to her

Me and my sweet Grandma Hall

Amy, Tiffany, Tara, Diane, Rob, and Jason

Ben and Jeremy

Tracy and Jared

My mom and sister, Tami

Jason and Me (now can you see why I am totally motivated to lose 20 lbs. - wow!)