Dear Jennifer Hudson (week 13)

Dear Jennifer Hudson,

The tone in this letter is the complete opposite of last week's letter! Last week I had gained .8 pounds at my WW meeting, and I was super disappointed in my weight loss progress.

While it was true that I had gained .8 pounds last week (for NO reason!), I WAS mistaken about 1 thing...I had told you that my total weight loss since the beginning of the year was exactly 20 pounds. But I was wrong. As of last week, my total weight loss was 22 pounds. I know that it's not a massive discrepancy, but shoot, 2 pounds is 2 pounds, and that 2 pounds brought me a LOT closer to my long-term weekly goal of wanting to lose 2 pounds per week.

But enough about that. Those numbers aren't the numbers I am REALLY excited about!

What I am SOOOO stinkin' stoked to tell you, is that this morning at my WW meeting, I rocked the scale! I was down 6.8 pounds this week! :-0

That 6.8 not only brought my total up to 28.8 pounds lost since the beginning of this year, but it also meant that I achieved (and exceeded) my weekly weight loss goal of 2 pounds lost/week....13 weeks X 2 pounds = 26 pounds...wooohoooo! AAAAAND, one of the bonuses of attending a WW meeting...I received my 25 pound medal! :0)



Such an exciting day!

And if that wasn't enough, I have even COOLER news report! At the beginning of this year, I took my starting measurements, AND I took some "before" pictures. I see myself everyday (duh), and so my appearance doesn't seem to change that much to me...BUT, after looking at myself 3 months ago, compared to now, I am ECSTATIC about the results so far!

Here is the before and after of my front view...





And more shocking...here is the before and after of my side profile...





I'm sure you are curious what that red ribbon is???? I truly do not watch daytime television, however, the one time in 4 years that I WAS flipping through the channels during the day, I came across a Dr. Oz episode, where he said that the healthy size for a woman, is 32 inches around the smallest part of her waist. He recommended that the best way to monitor those inches, was to cut a piece of ribbon 32 inches in length, and see how it fits around your waist. So that is what I did. :0)

As far as my measurements go, in the last 3 months, I have lost:

Chest: 3 inches

Waist: 4.5 inches

Hips: 3 inches

Thigh: 1 inch

Arm: 2 inches

I obviously still have quite a bit to go on my WW journey, BUT these findings were oh so encouraging and motivating to me! I can't wait to see the results at the end of 6 months!

It made the sting of not eating my sister's Strawberry Lemonade Cake this week, TOTALLY worth it!!!...





And it has made all of the bruises and scratches I obtained in this weekend's Mud Run, also totally worth it! (That's me in the bottom-left corner, lol)...



Hands-down, your biggest fan on this day,

Elizabeth

We were gettin' crafty this week

After downloading the pictures off of my camera, I realized that we had a very crafty week.

Early in the week, we did crafts with our cousins...

Little Sam, was helping Beatrice with her craft...





Because apparently, Beatrice wasn't in the mood to craft, lol!...



But with teamwork, the sea horse was completed!



Zachary crafted a lobster!...





Brady made a bird...





Which meant Wyatt got stuck with the feminine jelly fish, lol!...





"Son, please act like the Jelly Fish was your first choice...thank you!"...



We really did have a lot of fun at "Auntie Cheech's Crafting Corner!"



Later in the week, Wyatt cut out tons of Spiderman pictures for us, so we could each make our own Spiderman collage...



Which then of course meant that Beatrice had to host her own craft for us as well. She decided on...painting for everyone!





The sickness that took over our Beatle last week, stuck around for a few more days this week. After holding her in my arms for a few nights (the cough was always much worse/scary at night), God gave me a brilliant idea! Now don't get me wrong, I LOOOOOVED the extra cuddles at night, but after a few consecutive nights of limited sleep, I start to long for some decent sleep again. ;0) Sooooo, I built our little Bea-bird a NEST! From the use of her giant teddy bear, and pillows on all other sides, my little girl was propped up all night, and didn't cough but more than once!



I love it when God speaks so clearly to me! And loved it almost as much as when He healed her sickness completely! :0) After being couped up in the house for exactly a week, we were finally able to re-enter society! We ventured to Sea World with 2-B and Maddie...



You can't tell from the expression on her face, but Beatrice was the only one that WANTED/BEGGED for a picture with this turtle, lol!



And finally, this week, Beatrice bridged a gap with my Sister's horse...ahem, excuse me...DOG, Daphne! Beatrice hasn't been a fan of this large beast from the very day she was welcomed into to our (extended) family. Beatrice would always keep a great distance between herself and the dog! But when Daphne would invade Beatrice's "personal space"...which happens quite frequently...screeches, squeals, and ocassional tears could be found coming from my daughter. But this week...I was SHOCKED to find "the girls" enjoying each others company! Apparently, when you are curious about another female's jewelery (also known as, a pretty dog collar), the walls of fear break down!...





A special shout-out to Wyatt, who looked particularly cute/silly in his "thinking cap" during school this week...



Aaaand a shout-out to my Beatrice, who looked especially beautiful at church this Sunday (I just loved her little feet in this picture!)...



I am looking forward to another week of GOOD HEALTH...and Happiness! :0)

5K Mud Run...and the 1K "Mini Mud"

For my race schedule, this Mud Run was a bit of a last minute decision. As I had previously stated, I had no other races scheduled for the rest of the year. But, for Wyatt's race schedule, we have been planning this baby for a couple of months. :0)

I had originally chose not to sign up for this race for 2 reasons:

1. It was "just" a 5K.

2. I don't want to contribute any amount of money towards a race that does not reap a medal around my neck in the end. (I'm all about the bling...the life long souvenir...the memento.)

But after some "peer-pressure" from one of my MOPS friends (Shout out to Blanca!), a couple of weeks ago, I decided to go ahead and sign myself up too!

I'm so glad I did!

Our morning started off by riding the shuttle...a double decker bus...with Grammy...to the START line...



When we arrived at the course, we met up with our friends...





And then I got ready for go-time!



My friend Michelle is an avid runner as well, and yet we have never ran a race together...or have even run a block together, lol. But God had ordained a special experience for us both this day. Most of our other friends had decided to run together as a group, and so I looked over at Michelle and said, "Let's try and stick together." She said, "Okay...BUT...I want to have fun." HAHAHAHA! Me!?...No fun!? LOL! But I totally knew what she meant, and surprisingly, I was of the same mind set. The competitor in me did not show up to THIS race...the 7-year-old-girl-that-wants-to-play-in-the-mud showed up to THIS race! I have never done a Mud Run before, so it's not like I was trying to beat a previous finishing time anyway.

Let the fun...in the mud...BEGIN!

Now again, I wasn't too concerned about this race when I first signed up for it..."It's only a 5K"...but boy was I sadly mistaken about the strength that would be required from me on this race! The Mud Run is a challenging 5K run with hills, obstacles, 4-foot walls with mud, tunnel crawls, slippery hill climbs, and oodles of mud pits! Not to mention, hurdle after hurdle of hay bails...and then my least favorite, hurdle after hurdle of heavy plastic walls that you had to heave yourself over...I.HATED.those...all 5 (or so) of them!

The mud pits were definitely my favorite...and there were TONS of them!!! I usually take a lot of pictures in the midst of my races, and if there was EVER a race that I could have had a camera with me the whole time, it so would have been this one! All of the things they had us doing...and going through...was incredible!

Michelle and I stuck together the whole time. She pushed my rear up some inclines, and I pulled her body up other inclines. We were a GREAT team!





Highlight of the race for me: Running (and practically slipping) through GOBS of mud on solid ground...and then Michelle says, "Hey, this is just like frosting!" (You know how much I love chocolate...and anything that enhances cake!)

Low light of the race for me: Getting mud splashed in my eye (by my own doing), which got lodged behind one of my contacts...OUCH! Fortunately there was a water station right in front of me, and I was able to quickly flush the gritty particles out of there!

Eventually...after enduring scrapes on the palms of my hands, and shins...having a BOULDER (I might be a bit dramatic) lodged between my shoe and my ankle...running up, up, and up too many inclines to count...practicing Lamaze breathing over plastic wall hurdles...slipping on mud, which resulted in falling HARD on my rear...and most of all, having experienced one of my favorite race experiences EVER (sorry...but my mom, my stepmom, and the kids surprising me at the Tinkerbell Half Marathon, and Wyatt finishing the remainder 3 miles of that race with me, was still the VERY best!)...we finished!!!





A 5K usually takes me about 30 minutes, but we completed this challenging 5K in just over 55 minutes, LOL!

Immediately after I crossed the finish line, I was greeted by some old friends, from WAAAAAAAY back when...I'm talkin' toddlerhood! My sisters are gonna be sooo "jelly" of me that I got to see these girls! ;0)...



Then, we played the waiting game. There was another set of runners going through the course, and so Wyatt's 1K run wasn't due to start for another hour and a half. Most people got to immediately shower off after the race, but since I was going back in the mud with Wyatt, I figured it didn't make sense to clean off just yet. Instead, I ate the lunch I packed...I was STARVING...especially after all that talk of frosting...and then fudge frosting...and then buttercream frosting...and then talk of being in Willy Wonka's chocolate lake....MMMMM! ;0)

Finally, the moment Wyatt had been waiting for...it was time for his race to start!

Our "before" picture...



It was not mandatory for the parents to accompany their children on the course...but initially, I wanted to.

Many times during the first trip through this race (especially towards the end), I kept thinking two things:

1. I don't have the energy to do this all over again with Wyatt! :0(

2. Eeeek, these mud pits are deep...I'm gonna HAVE to have the energy to do this again with Wyatt!

I'm really glad I had some down time in between the races. By the time his race started, I was super excited to then get to go through the course again with my buddy. :0)

He was awesome! We held hands the en.tire.time...that was definitely more out of my fear for him, rather than is own fear for himself. I'm telling you, some of those pits were deep...and when you weren't in a pit, even the level ground was SUPER slippery with mud!



He had a BLAST! He loved everything about it! And once we were done, and I was thanking God that my race day was now over, Wyatt shouted, "Let's do it again!"...Ummmmm, yeah, that's gonna be a big "N-O", LOL! This mama was TIRED!



And tired of being dirty...



After the race was over, the kids played some more in the "fun zone"...



Where they competed with Grandpa in a donut-on-a-string eating contest...







...Grandpa's the winner!!!



Then came my next favorite part of the day...SHOWER TIME!!!



Wyatt didn't share my sentiment though. :0( The VERY COLD, and very public experience left him saying that he never wanted to do the Mud Run again, LOL!



Aaaaah, we're now CLEAN...SO much better (in MY opinion, lol)...



Believe it or not, I did not care that we didn't get a medal...well, I wouldn't have turned one down ;0)...but we got more than a medal at this race!...we got MUDDY! And you can't get muddy at just any race! :0)

Such a fun day!...Such a cool mom day! This guy always makes me swell up with pride!



When the sting of Wyatt's shower experience wears off (his reaction still has me laughing!), I look forward to doing this race again with him...and my mom???...and my dad???...and whoever else I can convince to join in! :0)