Day 5: On the Wagon

So you may have noticed that my weightloss banner has been reset back to 0. Well, doing Weight Watchers online was not working very well for me. I'm not sure why as I'm perfectly capable of following the program. I think it is just the thought of someone else with the power to record the magic number each week.

So, starting this past Saturday, I started going back to the meetings. I really enjoy this group of people. I think it was the first time ever that I actually started conversations with other people. Of course one had her 10 month old daughter with her so of course I had to chat :)

So... here's to jumping back on the Weight Watchers wagon! As soon as I have a few free moments, I'll update the weightloss tab with my current information. My first little mini-goal is to lose the first 5 lbs. I figure if I lose 5 lbs a month that will be 30 lbs by the end of the year. That seems doable. Plus, my mom just lost 20 lbs on Weight Watchers so if she can do it then I can do it!

BTW... Marshall hit 7 months on Monday. I have pictures to share, which I'll get up as soon as I have a chance to edit them. He actually sat still so I could take his monthly picture with the bear :)

~AKO

-2.4

Turns out when you actually follow the plan it works. I was down 2.4lbs this morning when I stepped on the scale after being very good over the past 7 days to eat right. I modified my goals so that my first weightloss goal is just to lose the first 5lbs. Since I gained last week, I'm actually only down 1.8 with 3.2 to go to hit my first goal.

Now that Marshall is becoming more aware of his surroundings, Freddy sat down with him this evening to play with his My Pal Scout. Its one of the Leap Frog toys and you can customize it to say your child's name as well as choose some of the songs that it plays. You can also upload to your computer what has been done with the toy. I haven't done that yet but once he starts playing with it on his own it will be interesting to see what he specifically chooses to play. Right now Marshall is more interested in the collar that lights up but he definitely pays attention to it when the music is playing.





~AKO

Introducing the Bumbo

Since Marshall's getting decent head control now, we decided it was time to introduce the Bumbo. I only leave him in it for a few minutes at a time right now since he still needs some more head control, but so far so good. I was waiting for him to start screaming since I put him down but he sat pretty good in the Bumbo. I think we can give success another point in the win column with the Bumbo.





So what's for dinner tonight? Since I didn't really plan anything I fell back on one of my old Weight Watcher favorites - Turkey Sloppy Joes. This is a super easy recipe to make and only takes about 30 minutes from start to finish.





After warming up a deep skillet, add 1 TBSP of canola oil and coat the bottom of the skillet. Chop 1 onion, 1 green pepper, and 1 red pepper and add to the oil. Also add 1 clove of garlic. You can use fresh garlic if you want, but for the sake of time I normally just use the pre-minced garlic. I include a red pepper to add some color to the mix. Oh, and by the way, one of the most awesome wedding gifts we received was this chopper. It cuts down the time a lot when you have more than 1 vegetable or fruit to chop. This one came with a couple different blades as well so you can cut things a little bigger or smaller if you need to. I always use it when chopping onions :)







After the veggies are cooked, add 1 TSP of chili powder, 1/2 TSP of oregano, and 1/2 TSP of dry mustard. Mix and then add your ground turkey. Once the ground turkey is completely cooked, add 1 CUP of BBQ sauce. I normally use Honey BBQ, but you can use any flavor you would like.





Stir everything together. I let it simmer for a couple minutes and everything will thicken. Server on a whole wheat hamburger roll and add a side like Baked Lays and you've got yourself a meal.





~AKO

Hello Friends!

I wanted to introduce you to a couple of my new friends.

Meet George! He is going to aid in my goal to cook a few times each week and my weight loss goals. We received this George Foreman grill as a wedding gift over 2 years ago and finally broke it out the other night. This is the model that also comes with a griddle and waffle plate. We made some Omaha steaks that were yummy and only took a few minutes on the grill. And, the plates are dishwasher safe, which makes clean up so easy... if you have a dishwasher :)







This is my very good friend Jimmy! Another gift we received for our wedding and are just now pulling out of its box. We haven't tested it out yet, but I may be making some Valentine's Day margaritas :) I bought some Key Lime margarita mix when we were down in Key West last March that I was super excited to try out. Only to find out little Marshall was on the way so it has been waiting patiently in our cupboard.









And the one I'm doing it all for... well, not the drinking margaritas part...







~AKO

2011 Stephen King Reading Challenge

The second book challenge that I've joined for 2011 is the Stephen King Reading Challenge. I love Stephen King novels but I think the last one that I read was almost 10 years ago. I'm using this challenge to read the books that I haven't read before. I'm also going to try and read the Dark Tower series. Fantasy really isn't my genre so we'll see how that goes. If I can't get into them I'll just choose some others in their place. And can you believe I've never read The Shining???

1. The Shining
2. Under the Dome
3. The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger
4. The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three
5. The Dark Tower: The Wastelands
6. The Dark Tower: Wizard and Glass
7. The Dark Tower: Wolves of the Calla
8. The Dark Tower: Song of Susannah
9. The Dark Tower: The Dark Tower
10. Full Dark, No Stars
11. The Stand
12. Duma Key

I can't wait to get started!





~AKO

For Real This Time... I Hope

Sunday night I finally packed away my maternity clothes. They've become too convenient to wear. There's a reason we don't wear stretchy pants all the time :)





Notice the nice organized and fancy label :) Anyway... Tuesday was my first official day back on my diet. Stepping on the scale Tuesday morning was not pretty but I guess you have to start somewhere. I signed up for Weight Watchers online to help in the process. I love going to meetings but can't get to any right now with Marshall. I need to lose around 75 - 80lbs in order to get into a healthy weight range. I'm going to try and approach this by targeting some mini goals rather than the final goal. My first mini goal is to lose the first 5% of my weight. My weigh in day is Tuesday so I'll post my progress in my Tuesday posts whenever possible.

Beginning Stats
Goal 1: 0/13.8 lbs
Total Lost: 0/84 lbs

Now about that exercise thing. I tried to do my WII yesterday but my precious little bundle of joy would not stay asleep for more than 20 minutes at a time. So, I've order a couple DVDs that incorporate baby into the workouts. I figure using my 12 lb little boy as a weight should help a little :)

Speaking of my little chunk...





~AKO

2011 Classics Reading Challenge

One of the book challenges that I've joined this year is the Classics Reading Challenge. This challenge interested me purely because I don't read any classic literature! Because I know me, I decided to focus on what are essentially categorized as "Children's Classics". Can you believe I've never read any of these books? I'm not sure what I was doing in school. The following list includes what I plan to read as the minimum number required for the challenge.

1. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
2. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
3. A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
4. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
5. Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
6. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
7. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
8. White Fang by Jack London

I plan to try and post monthly on my progress for this challenge.





~AKO

Book Challenges

You'll notice that a lot of my posts this month will center around how I'm going to start moving toward the goals I've set for myself. One of the goals that I really hope I can accomplish this year is to read 50 books this year. I used to read all the time and over the past few years I've, for some reason, just stopped reading books. I have to take public transportation to work which is prime reading time so I plan to take advantage of that once I return to work. I'm also thinking of finally getting a Kindle, which will make travelling with books a whole lot easier.

In an effort to help with this goal, I've joined a few blog book challenges. I haven't finished my entire list of 50 books yet but I've got about half. I've been making my selections very carefully because I want to make sure it is something that I will actually read. But, like all things, we may need to adjust the list throughout the year. If I'm not digging the book, I won't make myself suffer through it and will just choose another one to take its place.

I'm going to try and post monthly my progress on this goal. You can also see my progress in the 50 Books in 2011 link at the top of the page under my title.

The Challenges that I've joined are:





In the next few days I'm going to post on each of the challenges with the list of books that I've chosen for each. The book I'm currently reading will be displayed in my sidebar.

~AKO

I'm a Big Kid Now!

You have to realize you're a grown up when this makes you happy:





The hubby got this for me for Christmas and I finally broke it out today while we were doing some cleaning. In case anyone didn't already know Staples is one of my happy places with Home Depot a close second. I love, love, LOVE office supplies. My new P-Touch will go along way to help with my 2011 goal of getting organized.

I haven't had a label maker in over 10 years and was pretty impressed at how they've progressed. My last label maker was one of those that you had to punch each letter individually. My new one prints them out so nicely.





I think I'll have used all of the starter tape by tomorrow :)







Now I have to get to Target to buy more totes that I can label!

~AKO

Happy New Year and 2011 Goals

Marshall enjoyed his first new year with a bottle and a nap! Now we're ready to cheer on the Michigan Wolverines in the Gator Bowl. No Spartan Green in this household!





We rang in the new year cozy in our living room with the Back to the Future trilogy. Marshall was asleep by 10:30pm and we didn't make it much past 1:00am. With the new year beginning, I've put together my list of goals for 2011, along with some background. These are in no particular order. Whenever I address something related to these goals I'll add the label "2011 Goals".

1. Become PMP certified

The PMP is the official Project Management Professional certification. It follows the Project Management Institute's (PMI) documented Project Management Body of Knowledge, which is a 400 page book. You need to have 35 hours of PM training in addition to documented 4500 hours of leading projects. It also costs $400 just to sit for the test. I've been saying that I'm going to take this test for the past three years now. I took the first step a few months ago and joined the PMI, which is $119 per year. I've been a Project Manager for 8 years now so I definitely want something to show for it. In addition, while my employer does not require it, there are some that do and I would hate to be overlooked for a job because I am not PMP certified.

2. Start my Masters Degree

My employer reimburses a lot of the cost of a Masters Degree program as long as it pertains to my job. I figure it would be stupid to not take advantage of this while I can. I'm thinking of pursuing a Management Information Systems degree, but I haven't decided yet. I hope to start classes in the fall.

3. Read at least 50 books

This is pretty self explanatory. I used to read all the time and it has fallen by the wayside the past few years. I have a lot of free time with the need to take public transportation. Maybe I'll break down and buy a Kindle :)

4. Organize and get rid of the clutter

We took the first step here and rented a storage unit yesterday. We have too many things that we can't really get rid of but that we don't use regularly. If we had a house I would just store this stuff in our basement or garage. Plus, we have a growing pile of baby supplies that need somewhere to live. So, over the next 2 - 3 weeks, we are going to reorganize our apartment, get rid of the clutter, and put what we don't use daily in storage temporarily. Along the way I'll be getting rid of stuff that we don't need or use anymore. When I cleaned my closet 4 months ago I ended up with 4 garbage bags of stuff that went to GoodWill. Oh...and I got a label maker for Christmas :)

5. Start process of buying a new home

2011 will be the year for us! I know the home buying process can be lengthy so as long as we have actively started the process I will be satisfied. Of course, closing on that house this year would be an added bonus.

6. Lose 30 lbs

I think this is a reasonable goal for 12 months. It won't put me at my goal weight but it will have me on my way. My first goal is to lose the last 15lbs of baby weight and then go from there. I plan on using Weight Watchers again and will post my progress each week whether it is good or bad.

7. Start my photography business

I think photography will always be a hobby for me so I'm planning to start with an Etsy shop and see how that goes.

8. Finish the following cross-stitch projects: Marshall, Tigers, Pistons

These projects would have been completed before Christmas had Marshall not arrived early. So I plan to finish them up this year... hopefully by June at the latest.

9. Join and become active in a parenting group

I'd like to make some other friends with small children this year and what better way than to join a parenting group.

10. Complete 30 day workout challenge in the WII Active

I LOVE my WII Active. I've started the 30 day workout challenge a few times and never finished it. Something always seems to come up and I never get back to it. I would like to complete it at least once this year.

11. New mattress

Our mattress is 10 years old. 'Nuff said.

12. Weekly Task Lists

I don't know why I've never incorporated this at home since task lists rule my day at work. At the beginning of the week I'm going to write down what needs to be complete and add to it as things come up. If something doesn't get done it will just be moved to the list for the next week. I'm hoping this will help get my personal life a little more organized.

13. Cook 3 nights a week

We spend too much money eating out. Period.

14. Start scrapbooking projects: Wedding, Putties, Honeymoon, Marshall

I don't plan to have these all completed by the end of the year, but I would at least like to have them started.

15. Marshall's baby book

I've been collecting stuff for his book and it is all laying in a pile. All I need to do is just sit down and get it done.

16. Track and organize finances

A couple years ago a made a spreadsheet to help get my credit cards paid off. It really helped to see everything all in one place so I'm going to try and do something for all of our bills. I haven't decided if I'm going to creat my own or find something online to use.

17. Photograph more

I want to take more pictures this year. I especially want to make sure we don't miss anything while Marshall is growing up.

18. Bake More

I would like to start baking more. I have all the cool Pampered Chef supplies so I just need to start using them.

19. Take better care of myself.

I need to start taking some time out for myself. Even if it is just a few minutes.

20. Make family plans at least 2 weekends per month.

I want to make sure we are getting Marshall out and involved in activities whenever possible. This could include just getting out and going to the park for a day.

I hope everyone makes the best of 2011!

~AKO