It's A New Year

I originally started writing this in January. It's now March 3rd. lol Guess I should finish it already.

It's a new near. Time for changes, right? I just joined a Biggest Loser challenge last week (Jan. 12). So far it's going really well. It's amazing when you start a new journey like this how you realize all of those little things you were doing that creaped into a habit. Like picking up a little candy here and there. While small, it's just a habit that needs to be stopped. You don't even know how many times I was at various stores this week getting ready for Skyler's birthday party where I was tempted by all of the treats in the isles. But I didn't give in. Not even once.

So, I eluded to Skyler's birthday. She just turned 9. How did that happen? My baby girl is growing up so fast. She is a girl after my own heart. She wanted a Doctor Who themed birthday party. It was so much fun creating things for her birthday to make it look like her theme. Part of me was thinking, "Why do they always pick themes that you can't buy anything in the stores for?" But she was super excited. She wanted a sleepover but also wanted to invite her best buds (that are boys). So, we ended up doing a party followed by an optional sleepover for girls. It was kinda crazy even though we invited way less than last year. And we made it a drop off party too to have even less people. She invited her soccer team, her brownie troop, a couple kids from school, and a couple kids from church. It was a full house but we had fun. I think I'll add pics to a different post.

The girls are both playing soccer this season. I'm so excited that they are both on the Monarch's. So, they have the same coaches and practice together. But they are different divisions so they will play in their own games on the weekend. In the fall they should be able to be on the same team since Skyler is going to be moved up early. One exciting addition to our team is Mikayla. My friend, Riva's daughter. Riva and I have just had the best time at practices together. Tyler and Skyler used to be on the same team when they were younger and now Mikayla and Courtney are. So fun! I even have a buddy to walk/jog with at practice. :) This season the teams have moved to a "Signature" team. It's one step above Rec and below Club. I'm looking forward to games starting soon. This is Skyler's 3rd season with this team and Courtney's 1st official one. She has been practicing with them on and off before now.

We won't mention how old I turned in early February. hehe But it was fun to keep the Doctor Who stuff up for my birthday. It's really hard to stay on your eating plan while planning all of these parties. I struggled here and there but still managed to pull off some good numbers. There are 5 more weeks left in the challenge and I have lost 24 pounds so far. Woohooo!

Courtney's birthday came quickly. She turned 11 in February. 11!!! That's nuts. She wanted a Frozen theme for her birthday. Since it snuck up on us I felt like I was rushing to get everything done. Thankfully our friend, Laura stepped in to save the day. She helped me make decorations and plan for the whole thing. We were kinda burnt out after Skyler's party that we wanted to do something even smaller for Courtney's. (Courtney wanted to also.) To cutback on the drama that can happen when you have different groups of people at a party (ie: school friends, sports friends, church friends) we just decided to separate them. We had a very small family party first. Then that night we had 3 of her friends from school over for a sleepover. Only 1 stayed for the sleepover part. Talk about an easy party. Then the next weekend we had 3 of her church friends over for a sleepover. Totally easy during party time. Still the same amount of prep. We had fun making decorations. But it was nice having so many pre-made things at the store to get. It was fun and we still have a Frozen Wonderland house. (I'll post pictures on a separate post.)

Scott is starting a challenge for himself that he has titled Fit at 40. or #fitat40  He turns 39 this year but wants to be in great shape by his birthday next year. I think it's a great challenge. We told our trainers about it and they were very supportive. They even offered for us to have the party there. He's going to have mini fitness challenges. Sounds like fun! Seems like a taco guy is in order. I better start saving up now. :)

Back to school

Well, the kids are back in school. I can hardly believe that Courtney is in 5th grade and Skyler is in 3rd grade. This is Courtney's last year in elementary school!! Crazy! They have made some new friends and reconnected with old friends. So far it's a good start to the new school year. I'm looking forward to Back to School night this week. 

Meanwhile in my world:

I just finished a bible study at a friend's church. It was a Beth Moore Bible study on the book of James. 

I also have been doing bootcamp at Live Fit Wellness Center. It's awesome and I love it there. Everyone is so nice and supportive. I especially love the encouragement and support of the trainers. I'm still going to 24 hour fitness occasionally too. ;) Now that school has started it will be easier to get exercise in. The kids did make some new friends while they were at bootcamp. :) But they preferred to be with their grandparents or doing bootcamp. Too bad we couldn't afford for them to be able to do it for the summer. They tried it once each and they loved it too.

This pic is taken at Rainforest Cafe when our family was down from CO.

My nieces and nephew also from CO came to visit too. This was from outside Splash when they stayed with us.

RJ and Sky

You've gotta love a longer drive home knocking out the kids. :) So cute.

Lay Off My Elf

Seriously! What is wrong with everyone lately? Why do so many people feel the need to bash what other people are doing during their Christmas season? Can't we all do our own thing without feeling the need to bash each other?

There have been many links posted lately about many holiday related things. I even shared a link to a blog post that got me thinking about Jesus and Santa. Did I post it to make you feel like you should stop doing Santa with your children? Heck no. I thought others would appreciate reading what the blogger thought and perhaps think about where our importance of the season should lay. But lately it seems like daily there is yet another post of someone essentially shaming people who choose one way of celebrating or another.

Can't we decide whether or not to do Santa or Elf on a Shelf with our children without others questioning our motives? Some post things like this to get us thinking or to simply state the reasons why they choose one thing or the other. Not all motives are bad. But then the commenting starts and that is usually where it gets ugly.

Why are we feeling guilty over the stupid elf? Why do you care what my elf does or doesn't do? If you are doing it just move the thing. You don't have to be fancy. But don't knock the people who choose to do other things with it that you aren't doing. Stop shaming each other or feeling guilty. It's a fairly new tradition so make it what you want. Or don't do it. Who cares? And no, people who post pictures of what their elf does aren't just trying to brag about it. I, for one, want to post things we are doing that are fun. And we think our elf is fun. So, I take pictures to remember ideas for next year. And post to help others get ideas and share the fun.

Please don't question my "Christianity" because we choose to do both Santa AND the Elf. Are those things the focus of our Christmas season? No. Are they fun? Yes. That's it. And my kids know the true meaning of Christmas because we talk about it. Doing the Elf on a Shelf or Santa isn't taking away from our focus of Christmas. Do you have a tree? Is that taking away from Jesus being the focus of your Christmas? I doubt it. Granted for some people doing Santa or the elf would take away from it. I'm not talking about them and not bashing them either.

If social media didn't exist I seriously doubt people would even care what went on at your house. Everyone would go along imagining everyone did Santa and probably would have no idea what Elf on a Shelf was. But we live in a world with social media. Stop assuming you know the motives of a person posting something. Just focus on what you do as a family. Can't we just give each other and ourselves a little more grace this Christmas?

Breathe a breath for me

lol I don't know why I thought that title would be funny. lol Who cares? These last few weeks have been very hard. 3 weeks now I have been dealing with what I'm calling Super Asthma.

For the first 2 weeks I felt like my throat was swelling. So I was thinking I was eating something that I was either newly allergic to or had some exposure to peanuts. Turns out it was all my asthma. Constriction of the airway and swelling of the airway feel the same. I've also been on a controller for 3 weeks now. Here's to hoping it starts working. So last week I went in to the doctor for test results. She thinks I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome since my symptoms seem to fall within that category. And I'm not testing positive for the other things that are similar (like Lupus, Sjogrens, Thyroid, RA, etc.) She said CFS is similar to Fibromyalgia. And some think that CFS and Fibro are actually the same thing, but just with different main symptoms. Anyway, I'm going to be seeing a Rheumatologist just to be sure and confirm diagnosis or figure it out further. (It's also similar to Epstein Barr, which is what the other doctor in Victorville thought I had. But like myself, my new doctor in Whittier wasn't convinced it was that either.)

At that same appointment she also put me on Prednisone, to get rid of any residual allergic reaction that was going on. But that opened another can of worms. I ended up reacting very strongly to that. It's a common side effect but it was very strong for me. It made me jittery. Like you are sitting still but your insides are shaking. It reminded me of when I was on Terbutaline when I was pregnant with Skyler. But not as severe. The jitteriness also increased my heartrate and made my breathing increase as well. This then started making me feel like I was having an asthma attack. ALL DAY. Even using the inhailer wasn't making it go away. So, she took me off that medicine.

I ended up going to urgent care last week for a breathing treatment the very day I had stopped taking the Prednisone because I just couldn't catch my breath and nothing was helping. It was just getting worse. So, one breathing treatment and a chest x-ray later and I went back up to my doctor for my appt there too. Eventually the breathing treatment kicked in so that was nice. My x-ray showed something in my brochials they said and they said that's common to see if someone has asthma or bronchitis. So, we came up with a plan of action.

I now have a nebulizer at home for whenever my asthma is really bad. Unfortunately the nebulizer meds also make me jittery. But it doesn't last as long as the Prednisone. I'm now on a steroid controller as well as the Singulair I had started 3 weeks ago now. On top of that I'm taking Benadryl at night to help with any residual histamines as well as Claritin during the day. Both of those I can stop at any time when my asthma is more under control.

So, it's a new week and today I'm finally feeling a little better. I still am having the asthma feeling every time I breathe, but it's not as bad as it was. It seems to be getting better. This last week has been hard. Whenever I would talk it would just make the asthma worse. I have hardly gone out of my house so that I could try to stay away from whatever allergens were causing this flair up.

Thankfully last week my parent's were picking up the kids for me from school. But this week I have been. Still every day after picking them up (walking from my car to the front of school and waiting for them and then back to the car down the street) I'm having to use my inhailer. It's like just being outside is causing problems. 2 days ago my throat was feeling so tight so I took my inhailer. It wasn't feeling all that much better so I took a Benadryl too just in case it was throat swelling. Thankfully either of the 2 worked and I started having less of a swelling throat feeling after. Yesterday, thankfully, just taking the inhailer after getting home was enough. I really hope today will be all that much better. And eventually that I can get back to being outside, exercising, doing all kinds of normal every day things.

In the meantime, I patiently wait for all of the meds to kick in. Oh, and I also have a Pulmonary Lung Function test scheduled as well.  Oh the joys.

10 on Tuesday

I really came on to give an update but realized it was Tuesday. It's a long overdue 10 on Tuesday! I'm doing it from the wrong computer so my graphics aren't available. (Update at end)

1. I swear my kids are fish. And with it being so hot all they want to do is swim. Good thing we have a pool. Free entertainment. :)

2. Skyler started doing homework on her own today. Up until now I had been sitting with her being sure she knew what to do. Well, for some things. But today she did it all on her own and I just checked it after. I did go over her spelling list with her like usual though. Aww she's growing up.

3. Courtney is obsessed with our dog. She just has way too much love stored up in her that she just can't contain herself sometimes. She showed this today by being so distracted by touching, petting, and talking to the dog instead of being focused on homework. I seriously had to separate them so she could get it done.

4. So, the first elements of Christmas are starting to show up. Costco having Christmas stuff already. And my kids being in the mood to watch Christmas movies. We are currently watching "Elf". It's not even time to start decorating for Fall yet. :) So, that begs the question. When do you start decorating for Fall/Halloween and Christmas?

5. Did anyone watch the VMA's? Ug! There are some great articles out there that have said what I'm thinking about that.

6. If you have girls do they like to wear bows/hair accessories? Mine do now, but as babies would take off anything on their head. I just love them and try to make them occasionally. I have a small collection for my photography too.

7. Ooooh I just remembered it's "Extreme Weightloss" day tonight!! I can't wait to see the new episode. Another amazing transformation, I'm sure. Have any of you been watching?

8. Apparently I can not be trusted with cookies in the house. I need to stop buying them!!! When in the world will I get that? Anyone else have issues with certain food items and you keep buying them anyway?? I can't be the only one.

9. Ever just feel like you have so much to do that you can not be feeling sick??? That leads to number 10.

10. The update: I finally went in to the doctor to get my medical issues figured out. I hadn't been in the doctor since once in Victorville a year ago. I have not been all that convinced that what I'm dealing with is Chronic Epstein Barr. Don't get me wrong. The symptoms seem to be Epstein Barr but there are so many symptoms that really aren't covered. So, this doctor isn't convinced either. 9 vials of blood later (plus 2 more tests). Hopefully we will have some results. But regardless, she's going to have me see a Rheumatologist since the bulk of the issues seem to be like Lupus. It just would be nice to have an answer and possibly be able to do something about it so I don't feel like this all the time. It's really very exhausting. If anyone ever had an excuse to not workout I sure would have a million. I just don't ever know when I'm going to feel good so I have to take advantage of any lessening of symptoms and just work out anyway. Here's to hoping I feel ok in the morning because I'm supposed to hike with a friend and help another pack because she's moving.

TV Show" Extreme Weight Loss"

Ok, so who is watching "Extreme Weight Loss"??? Talk about a motivating show. It is a 2 hour show each week showing one person's journey in weight loss. They have a one year progress period and most of them lose most if not all of the weight they needed to. I LOVE this show!

Last night's show was amazing. Both the wife who requested the help from Chris Powell and the husband by her side both lost a ton of weight. They did amazing.

So, it got me thinking about how much they work out and how motivated they are. I feel like I have been stuck forever. So, I'm changing things up and sometimes doing double workouts so I can hopefully kick start the scale to go back down. What I really need to do is get my snacking in check. That's where my downfall is. I can have great breakfast, lunch, and dinner but don't even get me started on snacking. ug! So, I'm trying to figure it all out.

On a positive note I have been doing a lot more strength training. I can see the difference in my arms. And I feel stronger all the time doing various other workouts. So, that's good at least. I've been doing strength training first and feel so much stronger starting with it. I'm not all wiped out from doing cardio first. I really recommend it.

I love watching shows like the previous mentioned show. They are so motivational. And they get me thinking outside of my comfort zone. Get me thinking that maybe I could be doing more than I currently am. Striving to better myself daily.

WOW!

WOW! It has been a long time since I blogged. Sorry about that, friends. I'm pretty active on my facebook fitness page and I need to add blogspot to my phone apps again so it can be easier to post here too.

I've been having fun learning new things in photography and loving the chance to try them out. Too bad I don't have the pics on here to show you. I'll have to do that next time. I learned how to add clouds and sky to pics that are blown out (white sky). That usually happens if it's overcast.

We just got our laptop back after it died. So sad it took pictures with it. We had been adding our iphone pics to this computer. And ever since getting a phone that had a camera on it we have been taking much more pics on that camera than the good one.

The girls have been doing gymnastics and it is amazing the improvement they have shown in just 2 sets of lessons. Courtney can now do all 3 splits and a cart wheel. Before the class she couldn't do any of them. She was close in the middle but quickly went down during class. Plus, she likes to practice daily. So that helps her. Skyler just wants to practice at gymnastics so she is making smaller improvements. But what I'm noticing with her (actually both) is how much stronger they are getting. Every time they go they have to do push ups, squats, and many other things. They can do push ups better now too. (And so can I.)

I had a challenge to do 25 push ups daily for a week and now I try to do them whenever I think about it during workouts. My arms got a lot stronger. I also am getting stronger ever since I started doing strength training before cardio. It's amazing the difference. I'm looking forward to more improvements and increased strength.

Talk to ya later.