Tick, Tock....

Time is passing so slowly on this fast. 8 days feels like a great accomplishment, but to think I have to go the whole month of October without eating seems like FOR.E.VER!

I made it through the weekend without freaking out, so I am now giving up on the notion that I will go nuts at some point. I'm going to push that expectation out of my mind, and just move on.

I remain steady. My hunger level is still pretty low, and on most days (except for being out in the heat yesterday) my energy level is pretty normal. I have continued exercising daily, but I did have to give up the 2 hour exercise fests that I had mapped out in my schedules. On those days, I noticed a major decline in energy...go figure!

One cool side effect about fasting, is the weight-loss. :0) I have lost 8lbs in the last 8 days of fasting, and combined with my pre-fasting weight-loss, I am down 15 lbs since camping.

The "excitement" of the fast has worn down a bit, and while I am not necessarily hungry, food is sounding good. :0(

Last week we went to the mall, and Rick and the kids shared some Panda Express...my temptation meter immediately spiked to a "10". I've always enjoyed me some processed Orange Chicken! :0)




We later went in to Wal Mart (WHAT!?...I know!), and when Bea & I were browsing through the girly section, I was surprised to find myself enticed by the Easy Bake Oven treats.




And on Sunday, I couldn't help but to long for the family's dinner of a "Tombstone" frozen pizza. It wasn't even a DiGiorno! The crust didn't even rise! The sauce was almost an orange color! But it still looked amazing!




These next few days will provide MANY opportunities of prayer. I am going to the Padre Game on Thursday afternoon, we have my Uncle's memorial on Saturday, and we are going to a wedding on Sunday. All normal reasons to eat...and to eat a lot...and to eat a lot of tasty food.

One thing this fast has taught me though, is that I can say "no" to food. I had convinced myself that I couldn't go to work without sampling a treat (or 3) out of the community candy dish. I have failed to resist the "buffet" of wonderful breakfast dishes at our MOPS meetings every time I have tried to in the past. And who doesn't eat at a wedding!? Sometimes that is the only reason I stay longer than I want to at a wedding...CUT THE CAKE ALREADY! ;0)

In my research of liquid fasting, it was said that this is a great way to eliminate your poor eating habits. To take away your tendency to binge. During this time, your mind (can be) transformed into removing those temptations. I'm praying that will be the case for me. In the mean time, I am making a mental list of all the things I feel like I am missing out on, and I have told my husband that on October 31st he can find me parked in a booth at Pizza Hut all day! :0)

(No one get nervous, I know I can't eat food like that right away...unless I want to pretty much die from an upset stomach!)

I'm alive and well...

In non-food-related-topics...

We had our 2nd MOPS meeting today, and it went really well. The summer required a lot of planning and preparation...a.k.a work. But now that MOPS is in session, I am seeing the fruits of my labor! We have MANY brand new ladies that have never been to our MOPS group before, I have an enthusiastic leadership team working with me, and the church has been incredibly supportive. I am blessed. :0)

Home Schooling is going great. No real complaints here. Wyatt hasn't "gagged" during school since our first week back in session. However, in the last 2 weeks, he has taken on the new trait of fake sleeping/snoring. I much prefer that though...he stops when I tell him to knock it off...where the gagging episodes were a "whole thing", and it invoked a physical reaction in my body (I have a sensitive gag reflex). LOL!

One reason why I love not having a DVR "contraption"...Survivor premiered this past week on Wednesday. However, on Wednesdays we don't get home from Awana until 8:15...after the show already started. If we were a family that had a DVR system, I would just start watching the show after I put the kids to bed that night, and just fast forward through the commercials, and get the episode watched that night. BUT, since I have to tape it on the VCR, it occurred to me, to save the shows for Rick's random nights off of work, we would put Bea to bed on that night, and have Wyatt stay up and watch it with us. Partial-Family-Survivor-viewing-night has been a lot of fun so far. And I'm excited to see that the show is doing a better job of "blurring" out the unmentionables...if you know what I mean. ;0)

Alright, I can't do it, I can't not talk about food on Chubby Diaries...

I'm in day 3 of the fast, and so far so good. I haven't had a single headache, and I would put my hunger level at a "2" during most portions of my day. (It becomes a "3" when I am laying on the couch during the kids nap time, watching an infomercial on some random cooking contraption, hahaha!) I am convinced that based on the information I read online, that my detox I did after camping, combined with a straight week of dieting and exercise, has conditioned me for the fast so far. And also considering that I had previously never skipped a single meal in my life (obviously, lol), I know that the Holy Spirit is answering my prayers of "mercy".

A couple of sites I read said that days 2 and 3 were a nightmare, and my pastor shared with us that days 5 and 6 tend to be the hardest for him. I'm feeling good about days 2 & 3, so I am anticipating a rough weekend??? My energy level has been great, (in fact I felt high on Monday evening after not eating all day...shout out to my sister Anna who got that annoying "giggly" phone call), and I have continued to do my daily exercises that are on my "schedule". :0)

The thing that I am starting to realize though, is how much "food" is a part of my (our) daily life. I'm honest when I say that I haven't been all that hungry...However, I will occasionally get bored, and that is when I could throw back some of the kid's animal crackers or something. Food is the answer (for me at least) to so many of life's feelings...hunger, boredom, exceptionally emotional (good or bad), etc. This has been an eye opener as to how often food is/was the answer for me. This realization has been added to my prayer list during the remaining 37 days.

We are 7.5% done with the fast...not that anyone is counting, LOL!

Why are thousands of churches all over our nation fasting until October 30th???:

http://www.prayandact.org/

Lord, hear our prayer.

Well, I had been going back and forth in my mind all week as to whether I should share the following or not...but I have decided to. (No, I'm not pregnant. lol.)

My church, and MANY churches across our nation are entering into a 40 day fast tomorrow...which will end on October 30th. The purpose of this fast is to pray for our Nation...in hopes that our foundational morals would return, and God would do a work in our homeland. Specifically, that life would be restored in the form of making abortion illegal. That marriage would be restored to allowing only one woman and one man join in a legal union with each other. And that our Religious freedoms would be restored to where our Forefathers declared and intended them to be.

If you are interested, you can read more about this Fast & Prayer on the following sites:

http://www.prayandact.org/

http://manhattandeclaration.org/the-declaration/read.aspx

My reasoning for not sharing this, is that I didn't want this fast to be about me.

However, I have been very active in my blogging lately, and since I am still deciding on what I am going to do with my blog during this time, I didn't want my possible absence to be misconstrued as I was "falling off of the wagon." I can't decide if I will take a "leave of absence", or find a humble way to share this spiritual journey on my blog. Hmmm...???

I will ask for your prayers though. I have never done a fast from food. I have always been pregnant or nursing when the rare call to fast has arisen, and I have elected to fast from the TV or soda, or something like that. But this time, I am out of excuses. :0)

Lets do this! Lets Rock! (Can I pull off, "Lets Rock"!? Hmmm.)

7 Days of Dieting...

Yesterday marked 7 straight days of dieting, and exercise on most of those days. I lost a total of 6 lbs this past week. It's not the most I have ever lost in a week, but I'm still pretty proud of myself...more so that I actually stayed on the diet a whole week! :0) Throughout these past 7 days, my struggles were fairly manageable. Today they were not. I was fighting temptations all day. I never did give in, but I'm spent.

I walked another 4.5 miles at Lake Murray again today...this time with my dad...and the kids of course. :0) We had a sweet time catching up on life, and both littles were quite pleasant. Maybe it was the bribe of a Tootsie-Pop Grandpa had waiting at the finish line for them???

Today's eats...

Breakfast- 2 servings of Vanilla Almond Special K (1-1/2 cups)- 4pts

Snack- Fruit Smoothie- 5pts

Lunch- Chicken Salad Sandwich with Cheese- 7 pts
Animal Crackers- 2 pts

Snack- Animal Crackers- 2 pts

Dinner- "One Dish Stuffing and Chicken" WW recipe- 9 pts
Green Beans- 0 pts

TOTAL DAILY POINTS- 29 Points

Cookie Monster...Monster Cookies

Oh my word. So I went to Target late this afternoon to do our regular grocery shopping (which I have discovered that I forgot to put that activity on the schedule all week...there's some editing that needs to be done)...and in normal "Elizabeth life" I typically would end my trip to Target by visiting "Food Avenue" (did you know that that is the food court's actual name?) and purchase a "Monster Cookie"...or 2. Seriously, they are the best cookies ever. The base is some sort of peanut butter oatmeal cookie combo. But in addition to that, the soft chewy cookie is LOADED with chunks of chocolate, peanuts, and plain M&M's...DE-LISH! As I was paying for my groceries, I was contemplating my cookie ritual. Initially I told myself, "No." But then I thought to myself, "Hmmm. How many points can this cookie really be...3...maybe??" So Beatrice and I venture over to Food Avenue. I ordered her her standard bag of popcorn, and since there was not a line forming behind me, I was brave enough to ask what the nutrition facts are on the Monster Cookie. The kind gentleman handed me a brochure that was packed full of all of the nutritional information on all of their products. Would you believe the Monster Cookie contains 480 calories!?!? That is 10 whole points!!! I couldn't believe the calorie counts on most of the items they sell there! No Monster Cookie for me...well, for however long I can stay on this diet. :0)

I shook things up a bit this morning. I was supposed to do my 2 hour workout, but earlier in the week, a girlfriend (shout out to Deana!) asked me if I would like to walk at the lake with her. We used to walk Lake Murray ALL.THE.TIME. But we haven't been in moooonths! I couldn't resist. We had a great walk, and despite Beatrice's constant crying, we managed to have a good time socializing as well.



Today's Schedule...

Friday- No Work

• 6:30- Wake-up
• 7:00- Breakfast & Bible
• 7:45- Prep for workout
• 8:00- Circuit Exercise
• 9:00- Neighborhood Walk/Jog
• 10:30- Fix Lunch
• 11:30- Nap time- work for mom and/or Trisha?, eat lunch, work on MOPS stuff?
• 2:00- Kids Snack
• 2:15- School time
• 4:00- Play with Wyatt & Practice Piano
• 4:30- Play with Bea
• 5:00- Prep dinner
• 5:30- Eat dinner
• 6:00- Clean up house
• 6:30- Bath time
• 7:15- Bible & Bed time
• 8:00- Time with my hunny :0)

Today's Menu...

Breakfast- Cornflakes- 4pts

Lunch- Chicken Salad Sandwich- 8pts

Dinner- Finished off the Lean Pockets that were given to us (Shout out to Carrie!) 5pts

Dessert- Fruit Smoothie- 4 pts

I only consumed 21 points today which is 5 below the minimum I am supposed to have...but when I wanted a snack, my cupboards and fridge were still bare, and by the time I got home from Target, it was dinner time. As it turns out, I could have had a Monster Cookie today, and still managed to stay in my points range. But I'm glad I didn't. It's a slippery slope. ;0)

My clothes are fading...FAST!

(A note to my hunny...)

WANTED:

* 3 Pairs of workout pants- Size: Chubby
* A new package of socks- Style: No holes
* 3 Sports Bras- Design: No stains

I'm starting think I can only survive on my good looks for so long, LOL! I have worn the same 2 sports bras for the last 5 years, and they are losing their stamina. 2 out of the 3 workout pants I own have finally given out in the thigh area this week. And, we don't need to go there with my sock situation. LOL! Here's to praying for bigger paychecks and smaller bills this month. :0) "Mama could use a new pair of shoes!"

Today was a pretty good day with the schedule. I'm really embracing it. I haven't been a schedule person since Wyatt was an infant. When he was born, he was nuts, and so I became nuts, and the only thing that made me feel like I had ANY control in my world was that I had this schedule typed out. Rick, Wyatt & I "respected" the schedule. My family thought were were CRAAAAAZY, but when they watched him, they were kind enough to honor the schedule too...well, except for my mom...she's a rebel. ;0)

But when Bea joined our family, I had the privilege to stay at home full-time, and all schedules went out the window. I was relishing in our freedom! :0)

As I have mentioned, things have been feeling nutty recently, and once again, I am finding comfort in the schedule. I'm not sure why I didn't do this sooner.

Thursday- With the Addition of Playgroup

• 6:00- Wake-up
• 6:30- Breakfast & Bible
• 7:00- Get ready for the day
• 7:55- Leave for Piano
• 9:00- Home from Piano, pack lunch for park day.
• 9:45- Leave for the park
• 12:30- Home from the park & nap time- work for mom and/or Trisha? eat lunch, work on MOPS stuff?
• 2:30- Snack time
• 2:45- School time
• 4:00- Walk/Jog Neighborhood
• 5:00- Prep dinner
• 5:30- Eat dinner
• 6:00- Clean up house
• 6:30- Bath time
• 7:15- Bible & Bed time
• 8:00- Blog? Work?

The diet was just OK today. It's not that I fell off of the wagon. It's just that I had some "big ticket" items. My friend (Shout out to Katie!) made me her DELICIOUS "Katie's FAB Tuna Pasta Salad" (she calls it something else) for lunch...and it is loaded with incredibly healthy ingredients...whole wheat pasta, carrots, grape tomatoes, hearts of palm (ever tried those!? Me neither...not until this meal, and I LOVE them!), celery, and of course, tuna! However, this ADDICTING dish (I have consumed this entree 3 times in the last 6 weeks, and that is not often enough!) also has 2 debilitating ingredients...mayo and pesto. :0( If I were to have eaten my full portion, it would have taken 10 whole WW points!...I ate 8 points worth. LOL!

In addition to that, when we got home from the park, during the kids' nap time, I made chocolate "muffins". Yes, I lie to my children on occasion. They are really cupcakes, but without the frosting...I didn't want to be asked, "WHERE'S THE FROSTING!?" I was stoked to read that 1 "muffin" is only 3 points...that's totally doable! Until...I tasted some of the batter. (I really need to be supervised during things like this...my kids need to be there to lick the beaters for me, lol!) This wasn't just your average Betty Crocker cake mix. My mom had brought me Williams Sonoma's Dark Chocolate Cupcake Mix...it was a.ma.zing. In the end, I consumed 8 points worth of "muffin" product.

With that being said though, my total points count for the day was 30 points. It's within my range. However, I can't be shocked if I don't lose weight tomorrow, HA!

Today's Eats...

Breakfast- 2 servings of Honey Nut Cherrios (1-1/2 cups)- 4 pts

Lunch- Katie's FAB Tuna Pasta Salad- 8pts

Snack- "Muffins"- 8 pts

Dinner- Homemade WW BBQ Chicken Pizza, 2 servings (seriously, one cannot just eat 1 serving of this...YUM!)- 10 points.

I'm sure there are nutritionists crying all over the world about the types of food I consume...I'm sure there are readers noting that I am not eating the proper servings on the food pyramid...sorry. :0)

In LOVING Memory

My Uncle, and more importantly, my Godfather, Marc Beverly, passed away yesterday afternoon.



He was an amazing Godfather, and my siblings often told me how envious they were that I got him for a Godparent. He always made me feel so special. He would bring me (and only me) gifts to family gatherings. When I was I was younger, he would always find me at our (large) family parties, and come sit next to me, and ask me how I was doing. We have a LOT of funny people in our family, and he just might be the FUNNIEST! He tells a hilarious story about a dog needing to wear a hardhat on his construction site, and he had a deep love and appreciation for "Fog Horn & Leg Horn" cartoons. When Jenni & I were in elementary school, my mom was struggling financially, and she sent us off to the desert for the summer to be with my Uncle Marc and my cousins on a moments notice. I was scared. I was extremely in-tune with my mom, and I wasn't going to be with her during what I felt was going to be a hard season. However, my Uncle Marc and my cousin Ramona (cousin Luke was a teenager, and too busy to hang with his younger girl cousins, lol) couldn't have been more welcoming. I would experience many more occasions in the future, but this was my first opportunity to witness the joy of being in a tight-knit family. They rallied behind us, and cared for Jenni & I during this time. I will be forever grateful for that summer.

My grandparents passed away right around the time I was born, and as the oldest sibling (and brother) in an Italian family, he became the head of the family. He believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and read the Bible. In his final weeks he asked us to be praying for him, and he often requested my Godmother, Aunt Carrie, his ex-wife, to read the Bible to him...his favorite passage was Psalm 23.



Uncle Marc,

The family won't be the same without you. I will miss you terribly. I look forward to reuniting with you in heaven. I thank you for always supporting me. I thank you for always being a listening ear. I thank you for your encouragement and support last year when Rick was having a hard time. I thank you for co-signing on my first car when my own parents wouldn't. I thank you for making me feel so special during those awkward adolescent years. But most of all, thank you for being an example to all of us on how to continue to operate as a loving caring family.

I Love You,
Your Goddaughter


(Pictured on the far right)



(Pictured with my cousin Kelene)



(Pictured with my mom, middle, and Auntie Veronica, left)



(This is him earlier this week, with all of the siblings...he is supposedly "awake" in this picture)

The problem with weighing yourself everyday...

After all of these years of dieting you would think I would have learned my lesson, and not weigh my self everyday. But telling ME not do THAT, is like telling Latoya Jackson to stop getting work done on her face...she thinks it's helpful.

And it is helpful (encouraging) to weigh myself everyday when I am dropping pounds, but it is also so discouraging to have been on the WW program the last 2 days, and GAIN a pound! EEEEW! Now, I realize that doing this diet after a detox may be the factor, but still, it's annoying. I'm working hard mentally and physically, and I want results daily...even hourly would be preferable, LOL!

Yesterday's menu (24 points...I know I am supposed to eat a minimum of 26 points, but seriously it was even a struggle to get these points in, I was surprisingly full all day)...

Breakfast- 2 Servings of Honey Nut Cherrios (1-1/2cups) & a glass of water- 4 pts

Lunch- Chicken Salad Sandwich- 4 pts
BBQ Baked Lays- 3 pts
100 Cal Pack of Chocolate Covered Pretzels- 2 pts

Snack- (I got bored during nap time)- Lemonade Popsicle- 1 pt
1 Serving of Pineapple (1/2 cup)- 1 pt
1 Serving of Cornflakes (1 cup)- 2 pts

Dinner- 1 Bacon & Chicken Dijon Lean Pocket- 5 pts
2 Servings of Pineapple (1 cup)- 2 pts

Yesterday's schedule involved the 2 hour workout which actually felt GREAT this time! Is my body getting used to physical activity again???? I think so! :0)

Wednesday- No MOPS

• 6:30- Wake-up
• 7:00- Breakfast & Bible
• 7:45- Prep for workout
• 8:00- Circuit Exercise
• 9:00- Neighborhood Walk/Jog
• 10:30- Fix Lunch
• 11:15- Practice Piano
• 11:30- Nap time- work for mom and/or Trisha? eat lunch, work on MOPS stuff?
• 2:00- Kids Snack
• 2:15- School time
• 4:00- Play with Wyatt
• 4:15- Play with Bea
• 4:30- Prep dinner
• 5:00- Eat dinner
• 5:45- Prep for Awana
• 6:00- Tape Survivor
• 6:15- Leave for Awana
• 8:15- Home from Awana
• 8:30- Kids in bed
• 8:35- Work? Update my blog?
• 9:00- Watch Survivor

I wasn't going to do it...

...But my schedule said I had to.

The great thing about today is that the detox is over and I was able to eat "normal" food again!

With the detox, I was able to polish off the last bit of protein powder in that HUGE jug that has been chillin' in my cupboard these last few months. I would love it if I never had to see or smell another protein shake again! Even with plugging my nose, I gagged the last glass down. BLECH!

But back to the good part about today, LOL! According to my dated Weight Watcher material, it said that I can have 26-31 points a day. I consumed 26 points, and I have been full all day. These were my eats...

Breakfast- 2 "servings" (1-1/2 cups) of Honey Nut Cherrios & a bottle of water- 4 points

Snack- 1 serving (1 cup) of Corn Flakes @ work- 2 points

Lunch- Tuna Sandwich- 4 points, Baked BBQ Lays- 3 points & 100 Cal Pack of Lorna Doone cookies- 2 points

Snack- Homemade Lemonade Popsicle- 1 point

Dinner- WW Frozen Dinner (Mini Vodka Rigatoni?)- 6pts & Green Beans- 0 points

Dessert- Homemade "Family Smoothie Night", LOL- 4 points

Not that it should surprise anyone, but I have been pretty sore all day from my 2 hour exercise fest yesterday...Jillian Michaels is a BEAST with her Circuit Training! I did NOT feel like going for my afternoon walk today. :0( However, I mustered up the ambition to go. The HOA is working on our carports at the moment, and so we are having to park really far away (for a chubby person). I was so bummed to realize that when I finally got to the van, I forgot my keys to unlock it, and to get the stroller out! :0( I was not going for the walk. But then I thought about the schedule I drafted...and printed out...and hung on my refrigerator, and realized I NEEDED TO STICK TO MY SCHEDULE! I went for the walk.

Boy was I blessed! It was beautiful weather this afternoon, and after working all morning in an office, and then continuing to work during the kids nap time, it was WONDERFUL to be out in the fresh air. Wyatt had an exceptional attitude about riding his scooter, and I had a great time of prayer while I was out doin' my thing. :0)

Here was today's schedule...

Tuesday- With the addition of work

• 5:00- Wake-up & get ready for work
• 6:00- Breakfast & Bible
• 6:45- Leave for work
• 12:00- Arrive at home & nap time- work?, eat lunch, work on MOPS?
• 2:00- Kids Snack
• 2:15- School time
• 3:30- 3 Mile Walk/Jog Neighborhood
• 4:45- Practice Piano
• 5:00- Prep dinner
• 5:30- Eat dinner
• 6:00- Clean up house
• 6:30- Bath time & Practice verses for Awana with Wyatt
• 7:15- Bible & Bed time
• 8:00- Biggest Loser (when it starts...9/21)

I forgot to mention that I feel totally rejuvenated after the detox, and I lost 5.5 lbs from doing it. Camping weight...GONE! HAHAHA!

Tomorrow is another 2 hour workout day...will she do it????

4 months, 2 days...

Today is the last day of the detox, thank goodness, LOL! I'm looking forward to tomorrow when I can eat something normal. :0)

I was very tired on Saturday and Sunday...but that could have been from the detox or my camping adventures.

Last night I spent an hour coming up with a schedule for each separate day of the week. I have something different going on on each morning, except for Mondays. I needed to figure out our new schooling schedule and include more exercise in my day.

School has now been moved to the afternoons, and as I predicted, it's killing me, LOL! I much prefer to do school RIGHT AWAY in the morning...for the last 5 weeks we started at 7am, and finished NO later than 8:30am. It's great to have the whole day to do what ever we want after that.

With the afternoon schedule, I just feel like I have this big burden all morning until we accomplish school. But like I mentioned, we pretty much have something going on every morning except for Mondays. Every-other Tuesday I work in the morning, Wednesdays we have MOPS, Thursdays Wyatt has piano & we have park days with my "Mommies" group, and every-other Friday I also work.

IF I can get over my head-trip about doing school in the afternoon everyday, then I think it will be great to have some level of predictability in our busy life. I'm not sure how rigid I will be, but it is nice to think that everything CAN fit into a single day. :0)

Today's schedule was/is:

Mondays

• 6:30- Wake-up
• 7:00- Breakfast & Bible
• 7:45- Prep for workout
• 8:00- Circuit Training Exercise
• 9:00- 3 mile neighborhood Walk/Jog
• 10:15- Prep Spelling words
• 10:30- Fix lunch for kids
• 11:15- Practice Piano
• 11:30- Nap time- work for mom and/or Trisha, eat lunch, work on MOPS stuff, catch a nap???
• 2:00- Kids Snack
• 2:15- School time
• 4:30- Prep Dinner
• 5:00- Eat Dinner
• 5:45- Prep Bea for dance class
• 6:00- Leave for Dance class
• 7:15- Home from dance class
• 8:00- Kids in bed
• 8:15- Work (???), Update my blog (???)
• 9:30- “Mike & Molly” on CBS (when it premiers this month)

So far so good today. This is the first morning in over a week that I have woken up with a ton of energy, but after working out for 2 hours, I'm spent. :0) I work tomorrow morning, so my exercise will be limited to 1 hour, and according to my schedule, LOL, that will take place after school time in the afternoon. Lets see if I'm off the schedule by then, HA!

Camping...Chubby Style.

Well, I'm back from camping, and all I can say is, "That was a LOT of work!"

I'm not sure if I romanticized last year's trip, or if the dynamics were different this year, but regardless, I would not consider this last week to be relaxing in the least! I did have a good time, but I am not sure if I'm gonna want to do this again next year without the help of my husband.

In keeping with the theme of the blog I will report that I was physically active everyday...In addition to literally chasing after my children around the clock, I set up my campsite pretty much all by myself (which trust me, IS a workout!) on Monday, I went for an hour power walk with the kids on Tuesday morning, I had some intense time in the water boogie-boarding and open water ocean swimming on Thursday, and then on Friday morning I packed up our campsite 100% by myself. My lower back and my abs are still sore tonight.

HOWEVER, again, keeping with the unfortunate trend of this blog, I still managed to gain weight on this trip...and close to 5 pounds! A lot of eating was had. A friend (shout out to Janet!) brought those caramel swirl marshmallows I mentioned in a previous blog post, we enjoyed the best pizza in California (shout out to Stuft Pizza in Dana Point) one night, my girlfriend (shout-out to Deana!) made the most A-MA-ZING cheese burgers I have EVER eaten in my life on one night, we had smores, we had a Denny's breakfast one morning, we had smores, I had peanut butter and honey sandwiches almost everyday for lunch, we had smores, we had cupcakes, we had the most delicious chocolate cake from scratch (shout out to Janet's MIL) that I have ever tried...twice, and did I mention we ate smores!?!? Oh my word...apparently when I wasn't chasing after my kids, I was eating!

I feel totally "BLECH!" and I can't imagine that has ANYTHING to do with also being completely exhausted! ;0)

I decided not to wait until my usual Monday morning diet fest. For this 5 minutes, I am totally "over" looking, feeling, and eating like crap. I started the 3 day fruit flush detox this morning, and after that is complete, on Tuesday morning I will go back to my Weight Watchers version of dieting. This is how I lost a bunch of weight on 2 previous occasions, and I am praying that I will be successful this time around as well.

Just to clarify, I am not paying for the weight watchers program...I am too cheap...I have some WW materials/booklets from like 10 years ago, and I just follow the low fat/low-cal diet that way.

4 months and 4 days until my 30th birthday party...YIPES!

Here are some of my CHUBBY pictures from this past week at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point...enjoy! :0)

Spiderman, Spiderman, He can do what a spider can...

I have been a baking BEAST! In addition to the 3 weeks of bake sales for MOPS, I had also completed 2 other paid cupcake orders, and then a special sugar cookie order for my lovely nephew Brady! He turned the big "5", and celebrated at a Spiderman party! Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend the party, as that was the day of my first trip out to Palm Springs to visit my Uncle. However, I was at the party in spirit with 3 major things that make up who I am...Wyatt, Beatrice, and baked goods! In the future I am hoping to get burned out on tasting my creations. I'm assuming at some point if I bake enough cookies and cupcakes that buttercream frosting will sound about as delicious as peas and brussel sprouts! Blech!

Until then...I'm still chubby! ;0)

The Bake Sale is "D.U.N."...done!

The MOPS bake sale actually wrapped up a couple of weeks ago, but I don't think I posted pictures of my "Princess & Pirates" themed cupcakes...

"Chubby" and "Chubbier"

I can't remember the last time I posted on my blog...it feels like years, and yet I am pretty sure it has just been a little over a week. I can't believe everything that has happened in the past week. Right now in life, I am overwhelmed. I am an active home-schooling mom. I am an attentive wife. I am a supportive daughter & sister. I am a dedicated part-time employee (both in Real Estate & baking/decorating cupcakes). I am volunteering as the Coordinator of MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) at my church. Most importantly I am servant to my Lord Jesus Christ. Much to my demise, I do not know how to do anything half-way. I am either in it, or am not. It may sound like a good thing, but most of the time it is not. I need to find balance...but that is a topic for a different kind of blog, lol.

If you can imagine a tall clear glass of water sitting on a table, you would see that my glass was almost full. I had about a half inch of free space residing at the top of my glass. Which is fine. I definitely felt the pressure of not spilling the water over the top of the glass, but generally speaking, if something new came my way, there was still a little breathing room in my glass.

However, last Friday morning I received some very sad news...my favorite Uncle, who also happens to be my Godfather (I was baptized Catholic as a baby), was in the hospital, and to make a LOOOONG story short, he has terminal cancer all throughout his body, and we are told that he has only weeks to live. MY GLASS IS NOW FULL. I'm devastated. I have been to funerals/memorials in the past, but they have always been in support of a grieving friend. A member of my family has never passed away. This is new territory for me. I must express that a TINY bit of my sadness is removed by the fact that my Uncle has a relationship with Jesus Christ, and I know exactly where he will be in his afterlife....waiting for me in heaven. :0) However, seeing someone you love in such pain and agony is horrible. Not being able to be with him whenever I want to (which is all the time) is extremely difficult. I have traveled 2-1/2 hours out to the dessert 2 times this past week, and I wish I could go everyday. I want to be there feeding him his ice chips every time he wants one. I want to be rubbing his head with a hot towel around the clock. I want to be there when he takes his last breath, and it sucks to know that there is a 99.9% chance that I won't be there for that. My cup is so full with other responsibilities that while I can pass those tasks off for a day, I can't clear out my schedule for the remainder of his life. I continue to carry this burden and sadness.

So, as I mentioned, the clear glass that is sitting on the table is now filled to the rim with water. A single drop of liquid will send the contents of my glass spilling over the edge.

Unfortunately, with all that life brings, that very thing has happened many times this past week.

We had a our first MOPS leadership meeting this past Wednesday, and the spiritual attack I endured the night before was incredibly intense. I thank the Lord for my wonderful Bestie (Shout-out to my sister Jenni) who received my email late Tuesday night with 7 bullet points as to "Why I suck". I even included an additional summary at the bottom of the email as to "Why I suck". Everyone needs to have a person you can go to in life that won't have you committed for such an email. I was a mess. However, the MOPS meeting came and went, and I felt much better. (Just to clarify, I felt no concern about the meeting leading up to it...apparently I just suck in general, lol).

And equally as trying as Tuesday night, was late Saturday morning. I am in the midst of prepping for our beach camping trip this coming week, and I have had my game face on the last 3 days. I know I am stressed with everything that I have going on, and so on Wednesday, I made a list of everything I need to do before our trip, and then I divided the tasks among the remaining days in the week. I was totally on point.

I had another Bridal Shower to go to this Saturday, but before that, I had my "Saturday Tasks" to do. I brought my Beetle (Beatrice) along with me becuase she was accompanying me to the shower. We accomplished everything I needed to do, and had a pleasant time doing it. I had a few extra minutes, and thought about filling up my gas tank for our vacay, but I thought, "No, I'll leave my list the way it is, and take care of that tomorrow." We were leaving Friars Rd. in San Diego, and were on our way to Ramona for the shower! :0)

Little did I know, in about 20 minutes, I wouldn't recognize myself.

I had NO IDEA how far away Ramona was! I know Ramona is considered "Country Living" compared to Downtown San Diego, but I didn't realize that there wouldn't be a gas station for MIIIIIIILES! I knew this shower was during the hours that Beatrice usually naps, however, I didn't realize that she begins to SCREAM like a JUNGLE CAT when she is over tired, impatient, HOT (becuase it was 113 degrees in Ramona, and I had to turn off the A/C since we were running out of gas), and now she "really had to go pee" since she refused to go all of the times I had previously asked her to go in the last 2 hours, but now that we were in the middle of nowhere in Ramona, she needed to go, like NOW! UGH!

According to the GPS, we were 2 miles away from our destination, but according to my gas light, I was not going to be able to turn my van back on once we parked at the shower. I HAD TO TURN AROUND and find a gas station! I drove back 8 miles to a gas station (meanwhile crying and cussing...which I haven't done in YEARS! Shout-out to my sister Anna who got that phone call, lol!)...and when we got to the gas station, there was a LONG line to fill up. And of course, we are in Ramona, so there aren't little cars filling up their gas tanks...there are LARGE trucks, pulling dumb trailers, occupying both gas stalls, and filling up portable gas cans as well. GRRRRRR! I was stewing in my frustration for what seemed like hours, when finally it was MYYYYYYY turn! Much to my surprise, when I pulled forward to begin filling up my tank, there was an older gentleman driving towards me in a BMW. Apparently he didn't see me waiting on the other side of the truck FIRST! Our "conversation" through our windshields went this way:

BMW: IT'S MY TURN!

Me: NO! IIIIIII WAS HERE FIRST!

BMW: NO, I WAS HERE FIRST!

Me: NOOOO, I WAS HERE FIRST! (I now get out of car to start pumping gas)

BMW (rolling down his window): YOU ARE A BLEEDING HEMORRHOID!

Me: FINE BY ME!

(BMW leaves the scene)

I fill up my tank, head back to the bridal shower...arrive a half hour late. :0(

The problem with having your glass full, is there is no room to be gracious and let "BMW" fill up his tank before you...you cry when you put your son to bed and 5 minutes into your "me time" his night-light burns out and now he is too scared to go to bed...and you cry when you are parked on the side of the road out in freekin' RAAAAMOOOONAAA while you are trying to get your daughter to pee in somewhere other than a normal bathroom.

The good thing about being so emotional...you laugh so hard that you cry re-telling the "Bleeding Hemorrhoid" story to your sisters at the bridal shower...you and "The Core" (Shout-out to my mom & sister Jenni) laugh so hard that you all sob when we tried to fit all 3 of us and our combined 5 kids into my mom's 7 passenger SUV (yep 1 seat short, but that wasn't going to stop us!...except it did.)...and after 3 weeks of serving at the MOPS bake sale at church, and making it to the church sermons only, you cry uncontrollably when you finally get the opportunity to meet with your Lord through praise and worship on this Sunday morning....His cup runneth over for me! :0)

Why is this post "Chubby Diary" worthy!?!? I am stressed. And where I come from...if you are stressed, you eat!

I am pictured above at the infamous Ramona Bridal Shower with my adorably CHUBBY niece! She actually makes me look skinny...NOT! :0)

Soooo, beach camping all this week. Is it stupid to say that it couldn't have come at a worse time, AND it couldn't have come at a better time!?!? There are so many other things I need and want to be doing. However, I need a break. This trip will force me to give undivided attention to my kids. This trip will force me to do almost nothing but relax on the beach. And here's to hoping for some FUNNY nights at the campfire with friends. :0)

And on one last chubby note, I have been eying all the different flavors of marshmallows over the last few months. Camping has given me the excuse to buy them. I must admit, I was bummed to see that the caramel swirl ones were no longer available, but The Brumbaugh's will be rocking Strawberry, Chocolate Swirl, and traditional flavored marshmallows. Happy toasting and roasting to you! ;0)