Beautiful Blogger Award

I am honored to receive this blogging award! Thank you to my friend Sam over at Believe In Yourself. She has been my inspiration, she believes in me and keeps me motivated. I love her!
The rules of this award: pass it onto 7 other bloggers. And then tell 7 things about yourself that no one really knows. BTW...I have to change the rules just this once! I'm awarding 5 bloggers.

I am happy to award this beautiful blogging award to the following well deserved bloggers!! Not all of these are weight loss blogs. They are blogs that enrich my life and will do the same to yours. And I don't know about you but when I read about others I am more inspired to be a better person!

1. Jocelyn at We Talk of Christ, We Rejoice in Christ. She is one amazing woman! Her blog is family centered and service centered. She really inspires me to be a better person! I hope I can meet her one day! Jocelyn, thanks for being my new friend! You always have something positive to say.

2. Misty at Misty's Scrapbook Corner. Misty and I went to school together way back when! She is an amazing woman. She is kind and compassionate. She is amazingly talented! I only dream of having true talent like this. She's got it going on! Misty thank you for your amazing courage and determination.

3. Petit Elefant is my next award. I don't know her personally but I've been a follow of hers for some time now. She's awesome! I love her blog. She has so many followers and I'm probably just another "number" to her but she's not to me!

4. Shan at Design Gal & Her Handyman. I found out about her blog because of a local news program. She has amazing thrift store ideas. Her vision of items found are out of this world! I can't wait to make her jewelry holder.

5. Audrey at Audrey's Bliss is a favorite. Her blog is private but deserves recognition. Her attitude is infectious. She radiates positiveness. She and I perform in the Jenny Phillips Choir together and I swear my life is better because of her attitude about life and family. You rock Audrey!

Here are 7 crazy, fun facts about me...

1. I LOVE to fold socks. If all laundry was just socks I would want to do it every day. It's so fun! So if you hate to fold socks I'll come over and do it for you!

2. I LOVE jewelry...the bigger, the better! I love rings. I have almost 30 different rings. And they are big, loud and sometimes gaudy. I can't go into a store without stopping by the jewelry section. I love earrings, bracelets, necklaces and cute watch bands. Awww...just blogging about jewelry makes me happy!

3. I collect magnets from the places we've traveled to. I'm not sure how many I have but our refrigerator is getting pretty full!

4. I am totally afraid of big dogs. It doesn't matter what kind of dog it is. If it's big...I'm afraid.

5. I LOVE to play games. I LOVE to act silly and immature when I play them too. Floppy face anyone? Or how about I've Never... We host FUN parties. They are legendary! Ok, maybe not but our friends do look forward to them.

6. I HATE unpacking from trips. I will dump out the dirty clothes and then live out of the suitcase until it's empty, then I can put it away. I went to Minneapolis in April and I think there's still a couple of things left in the suitcase.

7. One of my favorite things to eat it left over turkey dipped in ketchup. Hey! Don't knock it until you try it. Ok...I know it sounds gross but my dad would eat that growing up and I loved it. It's not Thanksgiving time until I have turkey and ketchup. Oh yea...the turkey has to be cold.

Thanks again Sam for the award!! I guess I need to find some fun weight loss blogs to follow also!

You've Got To Try These LOW Point Foods!

I'm now on the lookout for delicious, low-point foods. Here are my latest finds. I love rice pudding. I love Kozy Shack's rice pudding but it's really high in fat, sugar and calories. I found no sugar added rice pudding last night at the store. I pulled out my handy dandy WW calculator and discovered they are only 1 point each! I tried it this morning and it is so good. And did I mention it's only 1 point! I am so excited that I can still eat rice pudding.I NEED a chocolate fix every day. My life won't go on if I can't have chocolate. These mousse cups fro Jell-O are only 1 point each. I love the light texture and the rich chocolate taste. I don't need a candy bar with these around.

I am so in love with this cereal. The vanilla taste is subtle and not so sweet, which I love. It's all natural and will even leave little black vanilla specks in your milk. My daughter wanted to know why they had put pepper in her cereal. It's definitely NOT pepper!

Guess how many points this little packet of apples has? ZERO. That's right! If you only eat one pack that is! These are expensive but worth every penny. I found a box of mixed varieties at Costco (I think it was around $14.00 for 20 bags). The pears and bananas/strawberries are 1 point each. They are crunchy, light and a perfect snack to keep at your desk or purse.

I've saved the best for last! These alternative bagels are only 1 point each. I'm not kidding. They are great toasted. I had a bagel sandwich for breakfast this morning. I cooked 3 egg whites in olive oil (got that in today!) and sandwiched that between an onion bagel. I was a little hesitant to try these because who wants to eat an "alternative" to anything? They are amazing!

What are your yummy, low-point finds?

I'm Hungry!

I'm hungry right now. It's a feeling I've been so scared to feel. I think that's one reason why I kept myself full all the time. Why was I afraid of hunger? Would it hurt? Would it scar me for life? Would my face turn purple? Of course not. But feeling full was my comfort. I ate what I wanted, when I wanted and I ate a TON. I didn't do that today. I promised myself I'd stick to my points and that I'd eat smart. So what that I'm hungry...hello it's 5 o'clock and time for dinner. It's a good feeling actually. I'm going to have a snack so I don't pig out when we go out to eat tonight. I survived being hungry!! What are you afraid of?

I'm Fat AGAIN!

So here it is...my story. Ok, not so much of a story as a journey that I'm on and you can come along for the ride! I'm fat. Yep, it's true. I clearly remember being in high school and wishing a certain cheerleader would get fat when she got "old". She's not, she's absolutely beautiful and I'm the fat one. I was never overweight as a kid or teenager. When my husband and I were married I had gained some weight but was pretty comfortable wearing a size 14. We were married 12 years ago and now I can't wait for the day I can wear a size 14 comfortably! A couple of years ago I lost almost 50 pounds. I was looking good (I was almost that size 14 again)! But then my son got sick and spent a lot of time in the hospital. He's had 3 MAJOR surgeries in the last year. I stopped taking care of myself and I stopped going to my Weight Watchers meetings. The weight slowly crept back on. Now here I am almost at my starting weight AGAIN. Uggg. I joined WW a while ago and have been very wishy washy. I have been going for 5 weeks straight now and have gained weight each week. Why? Because I haven't been following one thing that they talk about. I didn't care yet.

I care now. I had my light bulb moment this week. And I'm pumped up now! I can't wait to get started. This is a new week. I CAN do this. YOU can do this. Let's do this TOGETHER!! I realized that I need support. I need it like a fat kid needs chocolate. Ok...probably not the right thing to say but you get the point. The meetings are great each week but how can I stay motivated? Through this bloggity blog I tell ya! So buckle your seat belts! It's going to be a bumpy but a GREAT ride!!

A Slight Change...

I'm adding to this blog. I'm going to include my battle with weight along with my battle with depression. They go hand in hand for me. I have SO much to blog about and can't wait to get started. I don't have much time tonight but it's worth waiting for!! Stay tuned!!

So Much To Say

I have so much on my mind right now. I had an appt. with Dr. Mike last week. He walked in and asked how I was doingl My immediate reaction was "I'm doing really good". We chatted for a minute and then he asked why I wasn't taking my ADD meds. I gave some lame excuses and then promised him that I would stay on them because I need them. It really is a pain to go in every month to get my Rx but I did promise him. He then asked me if I was having suicidal thoughts. I had promised myself a long time ago that I'd be honest with him because I really did want to get better. I thought about it for a minute and then told him yes. I think about it everyday. I didn't think it was a big deal because they are just fleeting thoughts. They aren't ones that I was thinking were a big deal because I wouldn't really do it. He told me that those were NOT normal. I had grown so used to having them everyday that they did become normal to me. That was the first time that someone had told me that it's NOT. Honestly it was shocking to hear. I thought that I was doing so much better. And I am I just now know that it's not ok to think about dying everyday. So if you are and you think it's ok because you know you'd never really follow through with them (like me) go get help!!

He upped my meds. I am still getting used to the medication. I am really tired. But I am so happy to be back on my ADD meds. I don't get irritated as much when I get interrupted. It was very frustrating for me when I was concentrating so hard on something and then one of my kids needed something because it would take me forever to try and re-focus.

I used to be so ashamed of my depression. I hid behind a "happy mask". I thought I was alone. It's hard for people to be understanding when they don't understand what is going on. I lost friends and frustrated people along the way. This blog has helped me so much and I hope that it's helped others.

Dr. Mike also said something that made me feel better about my depression. He said that our goal was to get into "remission". I had never thought of it like that. I like how he phrased it.

Depression is hard to live with. It truly is a battle that I have to fight on a daily basis. It's not something that I can "snap out of". No one can just snap out of it. And those, like me, who suffer from chronic depression will NEVER be "cured". But we can have it go into "remission". So if you are beating yourself up because you aren't cured STOP!! Accept it as a life long battle that CAN be won!!

You can do it! And you CAN be happy! I know first hand!

I Got Called On A Mission!!

Ok...not really. But I did get the amazing book for Christmas and had to give a shout out to Michael McLean for writing what I don't have the talent to write. The advice and music are great. I had been searching for something that would be meaningful and helpful in this fight and I found it. My kids and I turn up the music and sing and dance. They understand the message too. The music is upbeat and energetic to say the least. It's fun. I've accepted my "call" and am now on the Mission 2 Be Happy.
Here are the songs that are on the CD:
1.Mission 2 Be Happy
2.Sick 'n Tired (of being sick 'n tired)
3.Pills
4. You Don't Know How Long This is Gonna Last
5.With Paul and John
6.I Don't Need a Sign
7. Someone Else
8. I've Got To Find Out Who I Am
9. One
10. The Toodle-OO
11. See Us Shine
12.What D'ya Got
13. Use Words
14. Something Perfect

So do you want a call too? You can! You can order it here.

I have learned that happiness is a choice. And on my really bad days I literally have to tell myself out loud...be happy, don't yell, it's ok, get up!, get showered, etc. It has made a huge difference in my life. So make the choice to be happy!