girl on a mission

If you're friends with me on Facebook you're probably thinking, 

"Seriously, would you give it a rest?"

But no, I can't.  I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it!

On January 20th, I began Weight Watchers.  I've really needed something to whip me into shape for the last few years.  When I was pregnant with Haven I gained 50+ pounds and that is so not easy on the body.  It's something I just never even thought about in my pre-pregnancy days.  I never would have known that pregnancy ravages your body.  I didn't know that stretch marks and loose skin were in my future.  I think if everybody knew that their body would be ruined they wouldn't be so excited to get pregnant and have their first child.  That sounds so bad, but I hear so many young girls talking about how excited they are to have kids and that they want to get married and have them right away.  As much as I love my children, I just want to scream to them, "ENJOY YOUR YOUTH AND THAT SKINNY, FLAWLESS BODY THAT YOU'RE NEVER GETTING BACK!"  Ok, that may be a little dramatic, but it seems true at times.  

Oops, sidetracked.

After almost 6 weeks of dieting and exercise I am down about 20 pounds!  I am so absolutely excited about it and never thought I could do it.  I mentioned before that I have one of my best friends weddings coming up, so that's some really good motivation.  Who wants to be immortalized in pictures as the fat bridesmaid?  Certainly not me.  

I've actually had quite a few people tell me that they can see a difference in me.  That's when I know I am actually doing something.  Somebody ELSE noticed without me mentioning my diet or anything.  There is no greater compliment.  Seriously, nothing.

Yesterday my (new) jeans were starting to get really baggy so I decided to wash them and a couple other pairs so they would hopefully shrink, and so I could hold off on buying MORE new pairs.  (This weight loss thing is a real burden on my wallet!  wink!)  In the meantime I needed to run to the store for a couple ingredients for dinner.  I had just started washing my pants when I realized I needed to leave the house, so I started digging through my drawers for something to throw on.  I came across my pre-pregnancy jeans, and wondered if they could possibly fit.  I knew I had lost weight, but I was a little skeptical as they haven't fit me in almost 4 years.  I tried on the bigger of the two pairs and wasn't entirely surprised that those fit because they were just a little bit tight before.  So I took another risk and tried on the smaller of the two pairs and those fit too!!!  I couldn't believe it.  And they weren't even skin tight - I might even say they were loose.  I am wearing them right now and am just reveling in my accomplishment.  I, Courtney, lost that much weight, and am still going strong and am going to lose even more.  If there's one thing that can make you stick to your diet, it's confidence boosters like the ones I've been receiving lately.  

If I have one piece of advice to people, it's TELL PEOPLE if you notice them losing weight.  I had one of my managers tell me she noticed that I'd lost weight but didn't want to say anything at first because it would be like saying that I used to be fat.  I don't think of it that way at all.  It's a big pat on the back, and great motivation to keep up the good work.  

P.S.  If I keep posting about weight loss, just bear with me.  I am excited.

The Grammys at Grammy's

Yesterday morning I was dreading another boring Sunday night as Luke went off to work.  I've always thought I should have a party during any of the big award shows, so I called up my grandma (who we call Grammy) and ask if we could have a Grammys party over at her house - the perfect and go-to party house in our fam.  Plus it's fun to say, a Grammys party at Grammy's.

Anyway, we decided to make it a small pot luck as there were only a few of us in attendance.  I have been on Weight Watchers for about a month now and purposely not talking much about it as that is usually an instant diet-ender for me.  I'm pretty into it now so it doesn't scare me to tell you guys that I'm proud to announce I've lost 15 pounds!  Wooooop!  

So when I thought about what to bring I wanted it to be delicious and WW friendly.  So I decided to make some chicken noodle soup - very low points.  And my friend, Ashlee, whom I've known since I was one-year-old, told me she knew how to make buffalo chicken dip - which I've tried, but have been dying to know how to make because it's so stinkin' delicious.

The original recipe goes as follows:

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 - 10 oz. cans of chicken

3/4 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce

2 - 8 oz. cream cheese bricks

1 cup ranch

1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Put chicken and hot sauce in skillet and shred chicken with your spatula, once it is shredded and the mixture is warm, add cream cheese & ranch at the same time, stir until the cream cheese is melted, then add 1 cup of the shredded cheese and stir it in until it melts, add mixture to a crock pot on low, put the rest of the cheese on top for garnish.  Use crackers or chips to dip.

Here is my altered ingredient list:

Almost Fat Free Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 - 10 oz. cans of chicken

3/4 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce

2 - 8 oz. FF cream cheese bricks

1 cup light ranch

1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese 

celery sticks for dipping instead of crackers

Really there's not a change in the ingredients, but I think swapping those two highly fattening ingredients makes a big difference.  I was skeptical about the FF cream cheese, because sometimes FF just doesn't work.  As a matter of fact, at a Weight Watchers meeting I attended once they told us not to even bother with the FF cheese because it tastes awful and can't even melt!  Weird.  But to my surprise the dip tasted fantastic.  I think one of the main reasons it was still so delicious is that the Frank's Red Hot Sauce has zero calories, so I was able to use that still and that is mainly what the dish tastes like.

Buffalo chicken dip on a celery stick, and my soup simmering in the background.
And yes, I borrowed Haven's nail polish. ;)

The dishes were definitely a hit.  We watched* the Grammy's with full bellies.  I loved Adele and Bruno Mars, the tribute to Whitney Houston, thought the double-performance by Chris Brown was a little much, and realized I'm either too old or not cool enough for deadmau5 (pronounced "dead mouse" for those of you who are too lazy to google it).  Fun night.  I can't wait for my next award show party!

*By "watched" I meant, waited on my needy children hand-and-foot.

midnight

Twilight Edition.

Friday night around 8:20 p.m., I left my house to go and pick up my sister.

We went to our local Target to attend the midnight "Breaking Dawn part 1" DVD release.  They had it set up so that you could pick up a ticket at 9 p.m. that would guarantee a DVD to that person.  Then at 11 p.m. they were going to show a clip from "Breaking Dawn part 2" which is going to be released on November 16, 2012.  (This was particularly exciting for me as there haven't been any scenes released yet.  Also, they announced that day that the trailer for "Breaking Dawn part 2" is going to be revealed as a preview at "The Hunger Games" - another movie I'm stoked to see!)  And finally at midnight they would give out the DVD's.  

Chels and I thought it would be total madness at Target.  We got there a little early and saw about 5 people standing in line for tickets.  We got in line and in the next 10 minutes or so there was a line of around 20 people behind us.  There were a few options as to which DVD you could purchase and you picked a ticket with the corresponding color.  I picked the Limited Collector's Edition that came with a flower from the wedding scene encased in this cool plaque.  How cool is that?  A little piece of the movie is mine!  Bwahaha.

After that there was 2 hours until the next "event".  Chels and I realized this was an evil ploy by Target to get you to spend money in their store.  We just wandered around Target for a couple hours, finding things to buy in the meantime.  I ended up with a scarf, three bracelets, a dry erase board, a bottle of nail polish for Haven, and a bag of Quakes* because I got hungry walking around aimlessly for so long.  

Finally at 11, they set up the TV's in the electronics section with the video.  It had flashbacks to the other movies, a little bit of behind the scenes from the new movie, and then finally a short clip from "Breaking Dawn part 2".  It was really exciting to see Bella as a vampire after all this time.  They really made her look beautiful.

At that point there was a little less than an hour until the DVD's would be given out.  I never stay up that late.  My daughters get me up early so I'm usually in bed around 10.  At a little after 11, I was seriously dragging.  We went back to where the line for the DVD's was set up, sat on the floor, played with our phones, ate our snacks, and chatted for close to an hour.  After hours of aimless Target wandering, they started handing out the DVD's.  Hallelujah!

We were only a few back from the start of the line of about 100 or so.  We got our movies, payed for them, got in the car, and headed home.  

I was in bed around 12:40.

The next morning (yesterday) I watched all of the special features including a really cool documentary on the making of the movie.  It was awesome to see how they made Bella look so thin and haggard during her pregnancy.  They really did an amazing job.  I have a new respect for the people who make the wolves look so real - even if it was my least favorite part of the movie, they did an excellent job making it look real.

Overall it was a fun night, but they probably could've condense it into two hours instead of four.  And hey, it was worth it!  I got my long-awaited movie.

Chels and I - soooo happy to have our movie and go home.

*If you're on a diet, Quakes are these delicious rice cakes that come in lots of different flavors.  I like the cheddar cheese ones.  They are really good and the serving size is pretty big comparatively to other baked chips.  Not to say these aren't good for people that aren't dieting.  I would eat them on or off a diet.

 

Anyone can look ugly

**Daddy Edition**

        Having one of those days where you're not quite at the level of beautiful you'd like to be?  Well you've come to the right post.  Maybe.  I suppose since anyone can look ugly that would include ugly people.  I don't work miracles, but if you're having one of those 'off' days, take some solace in this.   

I have a pair of little girls.

The youngest is a 10-month old named Parker.

        Slightly cute, I think you'd agree.  I might go so far as to say that I haven't seen a more beautiful girl.  I mean, sheeesh, I think she just woke up in this picture and her eyes were instantly penetrating my soul.  (Not even a dash of makeup either.)  But I think God gave us our bad hair days to keep our egos in check.

Just in case you missed the ugliness, here's the highlights..

        So if even this little cherub can look like she got bashed by an ugly stick, lets all realize it happens and make a slight adjustment to our ego's.
'Cause anyone can look ugly.


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This is dad, and I have a life too.