The Big Two-Oh!

Today was my 10th weigh-in for Weight Watchers. I was pretty nervous, because last week I gained o.4 lbs...and did I mention that Halloween was last week? Stinkin' candy. But all the worrying was for nothing.

I weighed in at 154.4 lbs!

Not only was that a loss of 2.8 lbs in a week, it also was a total loss of TWENTY POUNDS!

I'm a mere 2.4 lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight. Oh that feels so good.

Maybe tomorrow, after I've had a shower and am halfway presentable, I'll post a picture in honor of the bit two-oh.

An Awesome Halloween

We had a GREAT time yesterday! Oh man.

So Nathan's dad got several tickets to the OSU/UCLA homecoming game in Corvallis. 6th & 7th row on the 10 yard line, on the alumni side. Oh, they were amazing seats! We were surrounded by hard-core fans, which just made the game even more fun. The score was tied at 19 up until the last 49 seconds, when the Beavs made a touch down...I am SO glad they didn't go into overtime, because I don't think my heart could have taken it. Not to mention my voice...there was a little yelling and screaming going on. What? I get into games. So sue me! I felt a little bad for Kate and Eliot, who were sitting right in front of me, ha ha ha.

After the game, Nathan and I waited out the post-game traffic jam at my grandparent's RV, along with my parents and my aunt and uncle. It was great to spend that time with my family, especially my aunt and uncle, who we hardly ever get to see. We finally headed home, back to the boys, after a much-needed relaxing day.

The boys, on the other hand, got to spend a fun day with their Grandma Jan. While I did miss them, it was great to have that time with Nathan, without worrying about being on baby duty. Very rarely do we get more than about 4 hours sans-baby together, so a full day was a real treat. Do I regret not spending Halloween with the boys? Yeah, not really. They really wouldn't have enjoyed the whole going trick or treating scene, and we'll be ALL over that next year.

What a day. I don't know about Nathan, but it was EXACTLY what I needed.

And now a couple of photos.

Levi as a pumpkin, Asher as a skeleton, and Mommy as an OSU fan (ha ha ha)!

The view from our seats...OOOOOO SSSSSSS UUUUUU!

But the best part? The surprise on my family's face when they saw the effect of losing 17 lbs on my body. Another was when I held a medium OSU sweatshirt loaned to me by my super fit aunt in my hands (the one in the photo above), and wondered if I would be able to fit in it. I haven't been able to wear a medium sweatshirt since high school. I put it on and it fit perfectly! Success! My self esteem was at an all time high yesterday. What a good feeling!

We're Famous...Kind of

About a month ago, I submitted Nathan and my financial story to Dave Ramsey's website, never really expecting it to be used.

A couple of days ago, a neighbor of ours who is also on the "Dave Ramsey Plan" sent me an email with the following link:

http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/newsletters/company/092509.cfm?ectid=cnlsignup_1

Go about halfway down the newsletter, to the "We Did It!" section.

I have to say that I'm pretty excited...and a teeny bit proud. But I am also more than aware that it is all in God's hands and that it was through His grace that we have come this far.

Mmmm...Tea

I love tea, especially peppermint tea. Especially peppermint tea if I have a sore throat and/or a cough. It's my go-to stuff, chosen over even cough drops or cough medicine.

No, I don't have a cold. *knock on wood* I'm just waxing philosophical about peppermint tea.

Because that's what I happen to be drinking right now. I'm groovin' on peppermint tea and Biggest Loser. I'm almost three weeks behind on this show and I'm finally taking some 'me' time to catch up...at almost 1 am. Don't look at me like that, I got off work at 11 pm, spent some time with Nathan, worked out on the Wii Fit, and sent Nathan to bed. Nathan has been monopolizing the computer for the past few days in order to edit the photos he shot of our friend, James. I'm not complaining, it's given me an excellent excuse to do nothing but hang out with my boy-o's.

I admit it, I'm just rambling at this point.

Life has been a little rough lately, mostly just in my corner. I get frustrated with the new job because I feel like I should know how to do it, considering the fact that I DID this job for two years. I keep having to remind myself that I'm having to un-learn a ton of stuff and then re-learn it all again. Poor Nathan has to help pick up the pieces when I come home at the end of a tough shift. It doesn't help that my current schedule is keeping me from both Young Life and the phenomenal bible study we became a part of. Just about the time I was starting to really invest in our bible study, I can't go anymore. So if you could be praying for all of us on that front, we'd really appreciate it.

In other news, a bunch of us (Nathan's family and my family) are going to OSU's homecoming football game against UCLA on Halloween. SOOOOOOO EXCITED! Nathan's dad got tickets for the 6th & 7th row in the alumni section and we are going to be rockin' the orange & black! Nathan's mom was kind enough to offer to watch the boys for us so we can just enjoy the day. Thanks Jan!

One final thought: I can't believe it's almost NOVEMBER!

Getting There!!!

You may or may not know that I'm doing Weight Watchers again. I say 'again', because I was on my 5th week of WW when I found out I was pregnant with the boys. Since doctors kind of frown on losing weight while pregnant, I had to put WW on hold until after the boys were born.

Well, "until after the boys are born" turned into "after they get out of the NICU". Which turned into "after I'm done nursing". Which then morphed into "after I find a new job/we move across the state/we get settled".

Finally, 8 weeks ago both my mom and I signed up for the local WW meetings and have been going ever since. Both of us have been steadily losing weight, which is totally exciting! I've been losing an average of 2.2 lbs per week, which is about as much weight as you want to lose each week.

Besides the satisfaction of seeing the number on the scale get lower, WW also has a ton of little awards to mark your progress. When you return for your second meeting, you get a "you survived your first week" book mark. Each time you lose 5 lbs, you get a small star sticker with a 5 on it to put on the aforementioned book mark. When you lose 5% of your starting weight, you get a big sticker with a 5% on it. I never thought I'd be so excited to get stickers, for goodness sakes.

When you reach your 10% goal (meaning you've lost 10% of your starting weight) you get a nifty bronze colored key ring in the shape of a 10. I've had my eye on that key ring for weeks now, and on Saturday I finally earned it!

I've officially lost 17.6 lbs in the past 8 weeks. Even more exciting, I'm only 4.8 lbs away from my weight on the day I found out I was pregnant! For some reason, reaching that number will feel like a huge accomplishment...like I'm no longer backtracking over my weight loss prior to being pregnant. That's over 20 lbs of backtracking, and I'm ready to be out from under that and breaking new ground!

Wish me luck! Only another 36.8 lbs to go until I reach my goal weight...I'm a third of the way there!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE FALL!

As I was driving down to OSU this afternoon to shoot some engagement photos for my college bestie, Dani, and her fiance Tyrell (check out our photo blog for a sneak peak!) I saw these grave vines and couldn't resist stopping. Oh the color!

Sometimes I take for granted just how beautiful of an area we live in. Yes, it's not Baker Valley, but it has a different kind of beauty that I can totally appreciate.

I <3 Maternity Shoots

I finished up my friend Lisa's maternity shoot editing and am pretty happy with how they look! Go to our photo blog and check a few of them out!