Welp, I failed my very first blog challenge, well not technically since I got 9/12, but you know. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. :)

Our Christmas Eve and Christmas was one of our very best yet. It was more about the family time, the cooking, the food and well, the gender reveal!! We surprised both of our families over the weekend, it was a BLAST! So without further a-do my most gorgeous glowing wife and I present to you....

We are beyond excited and cannot wait to meet the little "G". :)

PS. I am now in the COACH club!!! Nicole got me the BEST Coach bag and I love it! Like I tell everyone though, I feel like I need to walk a little prettier lol

Cheers to a New Year! Stay safe!

Nine Ladies Dancing

Topic: Party Time!

We just went to our very first "Ugly Sweater" well actually it was called Merry Ugly Christmas Sweater Extravaganza, LOL! It was tons of fun! I had some great winter ale while Nicole sipped on water. This was where her glass got spilled and broken. To get her a new glass I walked up to the host and said, "Where are the glasses? That was Nicole's water that broke." And all he heard was "Nicole's water broke" and it startled him for a quick second then we laughed about how those words aren't to be used right now! "Isn't it a little early?" "Do you want me to drive?" LOL It was fun, but one day those words will probably be pretty real!

Anyhow, it was tons of fun and even included some RockBand playing; I forgot how much I like playing the guitar in that game.

Wish we had pics, we looked AWESOME! I looked so hideous I couldn't stand the sweats so about mid-way I took them off and had my normal jeans on underneath. Ridiculous, I know.

Fun fun! I am looking forward to Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner!

Eight Maids a-Milking

Topic:  Holiday Eats

This one is easy - BAKE DAY! My family does an annual bake day where all of the women in the family get together for an entire day to bake! We gab away, tell stories, laugh until we just about pee, pray before we eat, and mass produce cookies. This tradition started with my Grandma and us Grandchildren just won't let the tradition go.We change up what we're baking almost every year. Some of the things we baked this year are: Cinnamon Hazelnut Biscotti, Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, Chocolate dipped shortbread cookies, 4-layer bars, Oatmeal cranberry raisin cookies, White chocolate chip and macadamia nut cookies, Butternut Balls and Muddy Buddies just to name a few!

Seven Swans a-Swimming

Topic: A Moment for Grace

A moment of grace as we remember and continue to heal from our very own loss not so long ago. A moment of grace for those who have lost a friend or family member this year. A moment of grace remembering my grandparents and missing them as another year and season passes without them. A moment of grace for those struggling or persevering through divorce or separation. These are all things I or my family have personally experienced this year. 

A moment of grace for our precious little baby on the way. A moment of grace for those in new relationships both friendships and more. A moment of grace for new changes and beginnings for all of us. A moment of grace to good, lasting health. A moment of grace being thankful for what's to come as we have nothing, but a big bright future ahead of us.

 

Six Geese a-Laying

Topic: Gifts Galore

I love buying gifts for people, but especially Nicole. I will never forget one year, the first year we were together, I bought her a gift for every day leading up to and through Christmas. It was So Much Fun! She just reminded me "yeah, and you said it won't happen again", but I don't know about all that! I just might have to get a little more creative and not spend so much $. That year obviously scarred me financially LOL jk, it wasn't really that bad, mostly time consuming, but boy was it fun! 

One of the daily gifts

It definitely seems that the Christmas times are changing and I'm okay with that. Seems more like people are cutting back on the spending, buying less, more practical things and focusing more on spending quality family time. This year I thought my family was going to not do presents except for the kids, but no one could commit to that. So we drew names, we buy one gift for the person we got for no more than $25. I think it's a nice compromise, but if we removed it altogether, like I said, I wouldn't be disappointed. Nicole's family does something similar, buy one gift for each person no more than $25. It is fun opening presents while the tree is lit, the laughter and joy is in full-force and the Christmas spirit is all around.  

I must admit knowing we have a baby on the way is really helping me stay practical this year. I'm only at 275ish for Nicole. She is well over that for me, but for once I don't feel like I need to go buy more. Sucks for her, ha! She will be just fine, in fact, I'm really happy with the gifts I got her. Just have to finish her stocking! 

I really think the best gift I could have ever wished, hoped and prayed for will be gracing us with his\her presence around June. :)

Five Golden Rings

Topic: Decor and Baubles

Re: Title - Hard to believe we will be a family of 5 here shortly. Our little bun will be the deciding factor on the gender dominance in our household, crazy! But so exciting!

Here are some pics of our decor thanks to Danielle:

This year Nicole really wanted new decorations as ours were more knickknacky and needed to be updated. So we splurged a little to get us some new decorations and we're glad we did. I think after Christmas this year we'll go shopping and take advantage of the sales for more!

Four calling birds

Topic: Holiday cards

Getting Christmas cards is literally one of my favorite things about the Christmas season! I was just telling this to Nicole as we checked the mail the other day and were fighting over who would open which ones! ;)
I also like sending them because I feel like it's our little way of saying hi to each and every person we send them too even though we may not see them very often. It also let's them know they're in our hearts.

Side note: I love receiving cards just in general, be my guest! Doesn't everyone love getting something in the mail other than a bill or junk!?! I do! I do wish I was better at sending them out though.

Three French Hens

Topic: Travel Tales

Over the Thanksgiving Holiday we traveled to Maui with Nicole's whole family. I really think traveling together is the way to go! We have also traveled with them for a Mexican Riviera cruise and also traveled with my family to Donner Lake, that was a first for my family! It was tons of fun!

Personally, traveling stresses-me-the-heck-out until we're at our final destination. Thank goodness my lovely wife is a good traveler! 

I really miss traveling to So Cal to visit my Father, Sister and her family (1 niece, 3 nephews (one I haven't met)). Unfortunately, the dynamic has changed. Not by my choice, but my sisters. That doesn't mean I don't miss them, love them any less or hurt because they choose to not allow us in their lives because it "is just easier for them".. boy I wish I had that switch to turn on\off at the drop of a hat. And as for my Father, he struggles with addiction so unfortunately he is in\out of our lives from time to time. I'm hopeful that one day he will be freed from addiction and able to enjoy life with those who love and support him most.

Two Turtle Doves

Topic: Loved Ones (beware mushy)

I have one too many directions in which I could write this post, but I'll go with Nicole and I. I just feel so blessed and so grateful that we fell in love and get to share the rest of our lives together. Before us, I never knew a love like this; a love that is so true, so understanding, so respectful and so on fire... Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming, I kid you not. Personally, I think about Nicole all of the time. It seems like my mind can only keep thinking about what I can do for her to make her feel special, to make her happy, to make her smile, to make her laugh and to make her feel loved by me. From moving the car at 530am in the freezing and raining weather so she doesn't have to walk very far when it's time for her to leave for work, to leaving her little cheerleader notes to have a great day 143 UI (Until Infinity), to sending her flowers at work just so she has something pretty to look at for a few days, all the way to laying her clothes out for her so she doesn't have to think about it while she's rushing to get out of the house... I just can't help it and I don't think she minds.

We are often reminded by friends and family about this love between us and how special it is and I like to think I don't take it for granted, at least most of the time because hey, we're all human. I just feel so lucky to have married the love of my life and I can't wait until we get to share some of this love with our child here shortly.

Life is seriously too short and I wish this same happiness for everyone because after all this is what it's all about.

A partridge in a pear tree

Our tree currently represents the past & present. It has ornaments from Nicoles childhood, back in 87 is the oldest one I think. It has ornaments from each year we have been together, mostly represented by Starbucks ones. (Missing 2007) It has ornaments from some of our most meaningful and unforgettable vacations, newest one from our Hawaii trip!
It's a fake tree but that is the exact opposite of what it really is. It's very much so alive filled with memories, love, happiness, and it's a chronicle of our journey together thus far. I cannot wait until next years tree has one that says baby's first Christmas. I feel like it'll be more complete. :)

guess who got cookies today?

I did! Down 3lbs this am, it's amazing what a little tracking, weighing and discipline can do for me! I figured I'll count the cookies at 2pts each since they're pretty small like one bite size only cookies. I might bargain at 3 for 5pts haha Maintenance allows me to have 37pts a day, and on a good day I can get by just fine with about 31-33, that's my sweet spot.

So, we're busy girls. Not only are we expecting, but we're moving in less than 2 months and we're also going to try to replace the Acura TL. I have it up for sale on Craigslist, but so far not much luck. I'm also working with a couple dealers to see what kind of deal we can work to make it worth it. Our lease payment is pretty low considering, but what we're worried about is what's going to happen to our credit once the foreclosure goes through. We're confident we won't have what it takes to re-lease a vehicle and since my credit still above 750 we want to take advantage of getting a lower interest rate on financing something so why not lessen the payment a bit too? We figure a mid-size to small sedan will do the trick since the big family vehicle will be the Pilot. We're looking at the used Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, Hyundai Sonata, and few others. Curious to see how all this pans out, but worst case, we keep the TL for 2 more years then just give it back when the lease is up and we'll be starting from scratch... except that obviously when we go to finance something we'll have crappy credit so I can only imagine what type of interest rate we'll get, if any financing! ha!

Bonus: Major embarrassing moment today... walking out to the car in the Safe.way parking lot and what do I do? Burp out loud and then what? Brunette walking by (I didn't see her beforehand lol) totally looks back at me!! I was devastated! I said to Nicole "She just looked at me!!" haha we laughed so hard and I jokingly said "Of course as the hot brunette walks by!" haha but omg.. so embarrassing!

Tuckered pups!

Our annual Bake Day went really well. Lots of great family time and even a few family secrets were revealed! Good times.
Came home a little early to celebrate our niece Blair's 1st birthday which was absolutely adorable! Can't believe she's 1!
Picked up our boys from grandparents and look what we have on our hands tonight... A whole lot o tuckered pups! They had fun, obviously and of course they were missed by their mommies.

These grateful girls are taking tonight to get caught up so we can have a productive and successful week.

Ps.. I'm up 1.5lbs from the weekend alone, so to get my butt back on track, I've sworn myself to no cookies til I get those lbs off! Ugh!

This really touches my heart..

Here's hoping when we're old we won't have to worry about this..

Gotta just face it

I woke up feeling so fat and very bloated, which doesn't help, but honestly I couldn't talk myself onto the scale after our fun week-long-who-cares-vacation. While I don't have any regrets, I just wasn't ready to go back to work after 10 days off AND face the scale on the same day. Like my thinkin'? Ha!
Today I tracked using etools about 90% of what I ate. I haven't tracked in several weeks, so it's a good start. However I struggled with being hungry all day! Literally a zone bar satisfied my hunger for 2 hrs, lame. Anyhow, gotta work on shrinking down this tummy again.

I am trying to remember that losing weight helped us to get where we are today and that's pregnant which is a dream come true. I don't want to lose sight of that.

Back at it! My goal through Nicole's pregnancy is to maintain.

Let the world know

Finally, finalLY! We are at a safe place in our pregnancy to let the world, meaning Face.book mostly, know that we are expecting. It has been a long road to get here but I believe our babies choose us and that this is truly the one meant for us. We are a mixture of feelings of course, but the excitement overwhelms us for sure!

Our family of 4 (including our boys) will soon be a family of 5 (party of 3 ;)) come June time. Nicole is due 6/8/12 - we like the even date. By the way, if you didn't already know this Mama wanted a 2012 baby. In our entire relationship something pretty big has happened about every 2 yrs so I wanted to keep that up! See below:

Together in 2006
Engaged in 2008
Married in 2010
Baby Sheldon eta 2012

Anyhow, the cat is definitely outta the bag for real! No more secrets now that as of today she is 12weeks and well, it's on FB!

Today we are leaving Maui, we have had a great relaxing and fun time with her family. Plus, it's here we took the picture for the FB announcement. Along with the pic (below) It said This Thanksgiving we are most thankful for...

How does bad dog = more work for mama?

Took the boys to play on my lunch break and figured they would enjoy the rest of the afternoon out of their crates. We put everything up on counters and tables.. but that didn't stop Logie!

He grabbed a little vase off the table with two red roses I bought for Nicole awhile back and tore it to shreds. Meet Mr. Guilty himself.

I say bad dog I get pee on carpet. Ugh.

Maybe Duncan will be the only one enjoying the afternoons out for a bit longer!

Oh summer!

Where does the time go? I thought they said time flies once you have kids? Ahh yes, but time flies when you're having fun too!

A couple weeks ago we went to Clovis and had another fabulous time with the Marina's. We just love hanging out at their place and catching up with them. They have such a beautiful home, it's just the perfect getaway coupled with great company! The boys stayed with Nicole's parents as they usually do and they love every minute of it. They get to swim and play with 3 other dogs the whole time. We're so grateful to have them take such great care of our boys when we're away.

Doesn't this remind you of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6FgUsC2kYs

Sleepy boy after a fun-filled weekend

4th of July weekend was really nice. We went to 2 BBQ's on the 3rd and had a blast. The morning of 4th we went to the Roseville parade with the fam. Afterward, we just hung out at the park and snacked on some fruit while Blair took a little nap in her stroller. The afternoon was quiet and relaxing (a rarity these days) and in the evening we went over to her parents for some pool time and a nice dinner.

We have really been enjoying this summer. If you've seen my posts on FB you'll see just how nice this summer is in shorts! I am actually wearing shorts (both bermuda and regular shorts (ok only once)) this summer for the first time in over 8yrs. Plus, the heat isn't that bad with some weight off; pool time is fun too.

We have some fun things planned for the summer. Tahoe cabin with my family, camping with Nicole's and our 1yr wedding anniversary. Can't believe almost a year has gone by since the best day of my life!

After a brief hiatus in exercising I think it's safe to say we're back at it! I have really been enjoying riding my bike on trails and am looking forward to exploring more and more! Nicole is sticking to yoga and the gym, but I'm hoping to get her riding with me soon.

Antelope Trail

WJU Trail

An honest update

I feel like every time I post on here it's about how busy we've been, but at least it's honest.

Lately, things have been pretty much the same. We work our tails off and are still so grateful we have such great jobs. That occupies much of our time of course and when we're not working well we're trying to live life to the fullest because really, there's nothing wrong with that right? I think I got that advice when I was like 15 or something and it hasn't slowed me down yet, even at the young married age of 27. ;)

WW - I finally hit 40lbs a couple weeks ago, it was a huge accomplishment. I'm finding it harder to lose the weight. Not only because we have tons going on and I have officially realized I'm an emotional eater, but because the weight is coming off a lot slower. However, I am not done and I am still tracking, but haven't been as active lately. I'll touch on why in a minute. Nicole is still around 30lbs, and doing about the same as I. We're hanging on, not falling off, just not making great strides like we were, but again that doesn't mean we're done. :) In this I find we're learning how to really use the lifestyle change even if we're not as successful with weight watchers because once we get to lifetime we won't have weight loss to be our main source of motivation. Anyhow, last week we missed our first weigh in ever because we were out of town, but we are looking forward to going to our meeting on Tuesday night even if it doesn't prove to be a loss, it's about the support and finding that motivation and what not.

Exciting news - we bought a 2007 Honda Pilot!! It was our first choice vehicle and we stayed really patient. We got the one we wanted which happened to be at the right price. During the 3 weeks we were looking and without a 2nd car mostly, we found a ton that would be perfect except the prices weren't so much perfect. I love our Pilot, our payment is practical, our interest rate low (8% less than on the Exploder I might add) and has all the utility we wanted such as 3rd row seating, roof rack, 4WD, leather, big enough back for both boys and it's comfortable!! No more bounce bounce bounce for us! Like I said, it's perfect for us and we are very happy with it to say the least. Oh and about that activity, well I was riding my bike to work as you know and this last week with having the new ride I couldn't leave it sitting all day so I didn't ride my back and well I didn't do anything else either! haha Except we did do some walking when we were out of town and we went (all 4 of us) for a walk tonight, so I guess I've (we've) been at least getting some walking in. Hoping soon enough I'll pick up the bike riding because I did log 75 miles in the month of May and I really enjoyed it.

This week has also been a little tough on me because unfortunately, I am afraid my Father has "gone out again"... just 4 days after getting out of a 90 rehab center and cleaning up his record. I'm hurt, upset, sad, angry, disappointed etc.. too many feelings to really grab hold of. I can't say I didn't see it coming, but really, less than 1 week after a successful 3 months in rehab, really? Ugh, disease, addiction, poor choices, weakness, etc.. whatever you want to call it, it has clearly gotten the best of him again and I'm worried. I am worried for his health, for others he may be putting in harms way and worried I'm going to get an awful phone call all over again and it sucks! Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers that he gets over this outing before it's too late.

Today, we went to a celebration of life for a very sweet lady, Carolyn Nelson, who used to be our neighbor. I was honored her son called to inform me of her passing and to invite me to her service. It was a very touching service and we were so thankful we could be there. I'll never forget her smile and just how sweet she was, she'll definitely be missed.

That's all for now... it's just about time to go to bed with the most amazing woman in my life.

~ Jen

This Moment

A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Busy has taken over!

I am not quite sure where the last month has gone, but here we are! Boy, are we and have we been busy busy girls. Lots changing around us and tons more going on.

WW - we honestly had been pretty stagnant for awhile, but are happy to say we're back on top of things! Had some gain, got that off and are now back to losing. Keeping our eyes on the prize; Lifetime is just about 20 lbs away for both of us, yay! That means healthy BMI and no more spending 80 bucks a month on WW, but still being able to attend meetings and use the tools to help us maintain this lifestyle change. In case you can't see the tickers on the right, I am down 39.8lbs and Nicole is down 29lbs. :)

Truck - Well most of you know we'd been looking to sell my truck and get a more practical family vehicle. We have been looking to do this for some time and had the mindset to be more proactive rather than reactive. I knew I wouldn't want a car seat in my dropped Exploder on 22's. It was too flashy and uncomfortable, not to mention it was almost 10 yrs old and I was paying a hefty interest rate on it. Anyhow, almost 2 weeks ago I was successful in selling it on CL for a little over pay off. I am so relieved about this, but it was bittersweet I'm not going to lie. So, for the last week or better we had been doing some test driving and the I got pre-approved, (for the first time in my life, with the best rate available through Golden1) which was a very pleasant experience. We had been working to perfect my credit for 5+ years and what do you know? Hard work pays off! :) I'm officially pre-approved and we have our eyes on the 07-08 Honda Pilot. We'll see what happens. Maybe this weekend.

Bike Riding & Being active - Since we haven't had a 2nd vehicle I have been riding my bike to work even more than I was when we did have my truck. I over did it a little last week by riding, going to the gym and training for the 5k, but that's behind us now. We have managed to make it work even with this crappy rainy weather, with the help of Nicole's parents loaning their car for a couple days and Nicole waking up @ 530 to take me to work then doing the lunch time shuffle. That's if I don't ride, err can't ride. Being active, holy cow! We have a whole new understanding about this. 5k? Who woulda thought we could run a 5k in about 41:25, let alone our first one! We ran it along with Nicole's Mom and I don't think we would have done it as good without her there! It was an amazing experience. Running at the weight we are right now is fun and enjoyable. We talked like that whole night about how light we felt while running, how much we enjoyed it and how we couldn't wait to do another one. Or even bigger things such as a triathlon and\or 10k. Pretty crazy, but it feels great! Nicole also just did her first official yoga class with Momma L at a yoga studio, it was suppossed to be warm yoga, but it turned out to be hot yoga! LOL Not quite Bikram (108 degrees) but it was 96 degrees. And without water (oops) but she loved it and will be going back as much as she can!

Boys - Oh these boys, they're such troopers. We have been in and out of the house quite a bit lately. Whether it's a normal work day then something that evening, crazy weekend days with Birthdays and Weddings all in the same day, or just crappy weather so they weren't able to go run, they are amazing! They still love the crap out of each other and play non-stop. :)

Our girls - Momma L and Momma B are wonderful. They're our new blogger turned IRL friends and couldn't feel any more grateful that they have come into our life at this time. They are an amazing couple and are just the good, solid and down to earth type of people you want to surround yourself with. We have so many fun things in store for us and cannot wait to share some of our adventures with you all let alone introduce some of you to them! You'll love them like we do! ;)

As I am saving this OneRepublic's Good Life song came on, that's just what we're living!

A love like this

Oh Logan aka Logie Bear - this one is for you...

You have been given to us to love, play with, care for, provide for and just to provide a happy and healthy life. In return we are blessed with your happy presence, unconditional love and your loyalty to us. Duncan is very fortunate to have a brother (or bruder as I call you) that he can play with at anytime; not to mention that we all love your cute little growls and adorable whine noises you make as you play with him. They never get old; unless we have a headache or something. :) We have taken you to the dog park twice now and you are quite the social butterfly, just spreading your love to everyone whether they like it or not! ;) We are very anxious to see you swim for the first time because you're just so clumsy with those legs\paws!

I have grown to love you, but not without it taking some time. I never knew what it'd be like getting a dog that wasn't a puppy and bringing it into ones home, but now I do. Love didn't necessarily come easy, we've had you for about 5 months, but now Logie Bear I can truly say you're loved more than you know. You're our boy, (albeit special @ times, but that's what makes you, you!) Duncan's bruder and we couldn't be any more happy that we brought you into our home.

Yes, that is a chuck it ball they're playing tug-o-war with

Snuggling on Duncan

Mama Jen caught a yawn!

Happy and Lazy Logan @ the dog park, must be tough spreading your love around

Can't get enough of his bruder, awe!

This Moment

A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Your Weight Watchers questions, Our answers and more!

First of all, we are seriously humbled by the messages and support regarding our Weight Watchers success. Thank you to all of you for the continued support! There are so many factors as to why we have been so successful with it, but rest assured we're not done yet! ;)
The messages that we've received on FB are pretty much the same; People have been asking... What's working for you? Do you attend meetings? Planning? Tracking? etc.. so here it goes. This is a compilation of responses and we just thought for those of you wondering yourselves it might be a good place to get some info.

1. The biggest thing has been doing it together for sure. We are each others biggest fans.
2. The next would be earning activity points. From riding my bike to work to Nicole getting up at *gasp* 6am to workout before work, we earn approx 12-17 activity points per week on average.
3. Planning, this includes but is not limited to a meal plan then grocery shopping based on that.
4. Attend meetings!! We go to the BEST meeting, hands down. Tuesday nights @ 545pm in Roseville. There, the support and recognition is priceless and the tools you learn help you at least through the next week and beyond.
5. Tracking using eTools - this is a must. When tracking doesn't take place, it's guaranteed your body still knows!
6. We weigh and\or measure practically everything we put in our mouths
7. Just being committed! With the end goal of starting a family, this has come naturally for us. We want Nicole to have a healthy pregnancy and want to be the healthiest Mommies we can be.

Fun facts:
We enjoy exercise now.
Nicole is in size 10's and 12's down from 16's
Jen is in size 12's and 14's down from 16's
Our rings are loose, like scary loose
We feel "brand new"
We are 60.2lbs less today than we were 11/1/10
We no longer own 2XL clothing and just barely any XL's
Though it costs us 80 per month to be members, we're still saving tons!
We do not feel deprived of anything, if we want it we have it! (see the steps above on how)

Then (Sept 2010) and Now (April 2011)

March = no dining out

As most of you know for the month of March we didn't dine out once. We did this for a few reasons... we were up for the challenge, wanted to break some plateaus with our weight loss and to save money. Well, the results are in.... we compared March to February, same year:

Jen
2/1 to 3/1 -1.2lbs
3/1-3/29 -9.8lbs **

Nicole
2/1-3/1 down 3
3/1 - 3/29 down 7.2 **

Saved approx $320 on dining out and we actually spent 100 less in groceries as well. We attribute this to planning!

I encourage anyone to do this. It's healthy in more ways than one and we're proof it can be done!

Tuesday Weight Update (& other things...)

Tonight was our latest WW meeting and we have some good news. We both lost weight! Here are the current stat's:

Jen:
     This week: -.8 pounds
     Total: -32.6 pounds

Nicole:
     This week: -2.2 pounds
     Total: -26.2 pounds

Grand Total: -58.8 pounds!

We got lots of love from our meeting and it felt great. We went into the meeting thinking that this week might be a maintaining week and were pleasantly surprised by the drops!

On other topics...
Jen's mom's move went really well and she is settling into her new home. It is such a cute house and she will have it all personalized in no time! We are really happy for her and Jon and are grateful to all of her friends and co-workers for their help and support, it made the whole thing go smoothly and you could really feel the love in that house! We know that she will be JUST FINE.

We are so excited about the weather clearing up, Jen especially, because she will get to ride her bike more and is going to get to start riding it to work regularly in no time! The boys are going to enjoy the extra playtime as well! Logan has a slight ear infection right now but we hope that it clears up soon.

We are also excited about some new blog friends (Hi Momma L, Momma B and Tiffany!)

Not so wonderful

Sorry in advance for the pity party... I won't announce this blog on FB... So let me preface this by saying this is not an attack on anyone, just my feelings exposed as my family goes through this tough time.

Been feeling some anxiety in the last week or so and I think I've finally pin-pointed it. Seeing my mom move for the 3rd time (in my life) following a divorce (albeit official or unofficial yet) is hitting me pretty hard. Today is the official move day. We've been to the house a couple times now to help and it's getting the best of me. Feels like we just got her\them settled in there, into her new life, and celebrated a beautiful wedding, but now that's over. Just like that. I mean I'm not discrediting their attempts at trying to make it work or whatever, but really another marriage over, done. Trying to see the positive right now seems so distant. Watching her hurt one day, but then solid the next... it's natural to be all over the place and I try my very best to be there for her as much as I possibly can in both ways... but it's not easy is what I'm trying to say. I know I'm strong, I know she's strong and I also know Jon is strong, but sometimes the weakness prevails. It is a fact that they will make it through this difficult time, but man it hurts and is just so hard from a daughters perspective.

We saw her new home yesterday. Very bittersweet, but for she and Jon it really is just perfect. I guess that's a really good thing. Ugh this is just so hard to write, I suppose I should just stop now...

So here's to you Mom even if you never see this, to your new life, hopefully happiness shows up for you and your new home very soon cause you deserve it. Your kids and your family love you more than words could ever say, just keep laughing and smiling it's what you do best! There is hope!

~ Jen

Brotherly Love

I will preface this post by saying that we recently relocated Duncan and Logan's crates. We used to do this every once in awhile when Dunc would snore really loudly, but this time its for good. Those boys make SO MUCH NOISE at night!! I think they set each other off. So they are now located in the dining room, classy, we know. We are bursting out of our little condo seams!!

So this morning I let Duncan out of his crate first and said "Let's go get your brother" and he ran up all excited and pranced in front of Logan's crate! How cute is that!!!! So I let Logan out and they tackled each other and ran off. I thought to myself "What a great way to start my day, Duncan seemed to know exactly what I was doing!"

I go about my merry way and get ready and head into work and start chatting with Jen, all excited to tell her about the newest thing our boy's did!! So I rave all about it and she tells me that she does it all the time with Duncan!! LOL No wonder he knew exactly what I meant!!

How many pups do you see in this picture?

Sidenote: Also in our chat this morning Jen made a comment about herself and used the word "skinny!!!" It was the first time she has ever used this word about herself!! I was so proud! It was because her belt, which she now HAS to wear in order to keep her pants up, was practically wrapped around her twice! Guess its time to get a new belt!

I hope everyone is staying as warm and dry as possible in this horrible weather!!

This Moment

A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Happy St. Patricks Day!!

I would like to start off by saying that I don't know how life slips away so fast! No new blog posts in like 2 weeks....shame on us!!! Well the Friday "This Moment's" but thats not really an update on our life so it doesn't really count.

The last two weeks have been GREAT in the weight loss department!! Weight Watchers is still working because we are working it!! I (Nicole) am .6 pounds away from 25 pounds lost and Jen is .6 pounds away from 30 pounds lost! Watch out honey, I'm gonna catch you!!! I encourage anyone to join, it really is a great program. Also, March has been a "No Dining Out" month for us and we are doing great with it, 17 days so far of no food outside of the house! There have been a few moments where we have wanted to go out (like smelling McDonalds while giving up my arms and legs at the gas station the other day) but we haven't and it has been really good for us. Both financially and calorically.

We have been working out alot and really enjoying it. I have even been working out in the mornings before work, which if you know me well then you know that its a HUGE deal!! LOL I am NOT a morning person, and that is not an understatement! Last Sunday morning we did a X-bike class, which I thought was like a spin class. I have done one spin class before and encouraged Jen to go with me since she has been enjoying her bike so much. Well let me tell ya, X-bike is NOT spin! LOL It is harder!!! Spin bikes have this momentum that helps you keep going a little bit, not X-bike...You do all the work. Plus the handlebars move so you get a little arm workout too. Lets just say sitting, standing up from a sit and walking were NO FUN for about 3 days! We will probably go back though becuase it burned so many calories and was a great workout!!

This year is just flying by so far, it will be summer before we know it and we are really looking forward to it. Time in the pool at the Kimpel house will be a blast as always and we can't wait to see Blair in her summer attire!! We are thinner this year so we are also looking forward to more shorts and smaller clothes!!

Also, its official, Thanksgiving in Maui for 2011!!!!!!! Woo Hoo!!!! The whole Kimpel clan will be saying Aloha in Nov. (the day after my birthday) and having some island fun to kick off the holiday season. This includes BLACK FRIDAY!!!! Us sisters are all really excited by this, although getting stuff home in our luggage might be an issue. The extra baggage fees might be worth the deals though, we'll see. Either way it will be a BLAST!!!!

Well I hope everyone is having a fantastic St. Patricks Day!!!

This Moment

A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

This Moment - 2/25/2011 - Better late than never

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Sickness has struck again..

Well.... the cold\flu\bad bug etc has struck our home again. Nicole was suffering immensely last night, at times it reduced her to tears. We were finally able to break her fever last night with the proper combination of Aleve and Tylenol coupled with some Delsym for her dry, yet productive, cough. I swear she has slept for like 24 hours in the last 30! But I'm very glad about that; she clearly needs the rest. Let’s hope she recovers from this one quickly and without antibiotics so it doesn’t weaken her again.

This morning I woke up with a really sore throat, but so far Throat Coat tea and my coffee is mostly soothing it. Please Lord, I don’t want to get sick! 

Nicole didn’t cough very much throughout the night at least if I’m recalling correctly. Her fever is down a little this morning, but she is just exhausted and her skin still hurts from the higher temp. She woke up for like 15 mins twice and is going back to sleep again after taking some more meds. I miss her beautiful blue eyes already! 

I hate feeling helpless and I just hope this passes quickly so we can get on with life as we know it.

Here's the scoop!

My birthday was spectacular, definitely one of the best! Everyone made it so special for me and I'm so grateful for all everyone did for me on my birthday. My lovely wife got me a hybrid bike, something I'd been wanting for some time, and I have to say she mostly pulled it off. ;) Unfortunately for her, I was watching her every move. I even noticed a spatula that made it from the trunk of the TL to the passenger seat to which I bombarded her with questions she had a hard time answering. haha she did a nice job, it's not easy having this Jen on her back! :) I love love love my new bike. It was such a tease getting it on Thursday night where leaving town the following day for 4 days! I couldn't wait to get home to it. You know, the first thing I did when we got home was go for a ride. We had to take it in for a minor adjustment @ Sports Chalet so I rode it home (ok so I stopped @ Starbucks on the way, who cares, so what, what do you want from me?!) haha I crack me up! Anyway, that was day 1; roughly 1-2 miles. Day 2 I rode up to our gym on Sunset\Park then back home; approx 5.5 miles. Today was the best though, Day 3 I rode to work then back home; approx 7.4 miles round trip. It's such a great workout and man is my booty sore! (TWSS) I can't wait for the weather to get better so I can ride to and from work. Right now, it's too cold @ 530am. Anyway, I love the heck outta my bike and I need to get all of my cool accessories on it so I can really use it to it's full potential. Thanks again everyone!

For the weekend we went to the Marina's house! It was SO much fun. We enjoyed our time with all of them and little Ethan is growing and learning new things every single day. Even while we were there he sat up from laying down on his own for the first time. He had some proud cheerleaders around him! Little gym was pretty dang cute! He smiles so much, it's just priceless. He is a happy boy! All 4 of us went in the spa 2 of the 3 nights and really enjoyed ourselves. We also played Settlers (I know right?) TWICE! Loved that game. Another special thing was watching our rehearsal and wedding videos, we got to watch them while we were down there and relive the whole special event. We loved them and B did such a good job. We can't wait to have a copy so we can share them with our families up here! We also ate tons of yummy food. From Tri-trip sandwiches @ the Langs to Salmon and Shrimp @ Marina's all the way to In&Out after us girls got massages to rainbow chip cake. Not to mention a FABULOUS trip to Ruth's Chris that was ah-mazing, to saw the least, we ate well! That brings me to the next paragraph!

WW - Even though we literally weren't "on plan" (didn't track or exercise at all) we did surprisingly well @ yesterday's meeting. Nicole was just barely up .6lbs and I was down .2. We can live with that! This week is a new week and hey, it was fun while it lasted and apparently we didn't do as bad as we thought. I really think WW has given us the tools for the lifestyle change and therefore it was easy not to "over eat" all the bad things if you will. Portion control is one of the biggest things (hehe) and I think we've mostly got that down.

Total Combined Weight Loss = 44.8lbs
Jen - 24.8 *I plan on getting 25 this next week! ;)
Nicole - 20

Well that's the scoop on our weekend and my birthday. Again, thank you everyone for making it as special as you did. I was surrounded by my friends and family and showered with gifts and I couldn't be any more grateful to have each of you in my life.

This Moment - 2/18/2011

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

 

Onward and DOWNWARD!

“The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.” ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

And we are still moving in the DOWNWARD direction ladies and gentlemen!!!

Tuesday was our latest weigh in and I am happy to report that I, Nicole, lost 2.2 pounds and have hit the 20 pound mark!! And the 10% weight lost mark!! Woo Hoo

I am very excited about it and proud of myself. I worked really hard and sacrificed alot to get here and I am LOVIN being here. I am also 2 pants sizes down from when we started! Hello Shopping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Jen also kicked booty this week and was down 2.2 as well putting her just below 25 pounds! Are we awesome or what!?!

This Friday is Jen's birthday (Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you...ok I'm early) and we are having a little get together at our house tonight so our familes can celebrate her birthday before we head out of town! I made a healthy (er) version of Jen's newest favorite dessert, Red Velvet Cupcakes. Hopefully they are as good, or similar to the full fat ones. But for 4 points (instead of 12) they should be worth it!

We are leaving tomorrow to go to Clovis to hang out with Bogdan, Christie and baby Ethan for the long weekend, we are so excited to see them and to spend some time with them. The last time we drove to their house we drove right back to welcome little Blair into the world! Marina's here we come!!

Another exciting development in our world is Jen's Schedule. Starting next month and rotating every 4 weeks she will have WEEKENDS OFF!!!!! I am soooo excited about this and I know she is too!

I won't blog about it just yet but Jen has an exciting change to share, hopefully she does soon!!!

This Moment

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

I did it!!

I freaking did it!! I am under 200lbs as of this morning!! As I stood on the scale anticipating the loss, I looked down and saw what I have worked so very hard for and that was 199.5! I literally threw my hands up in the air in victory! It has been YEARS since I've been under 200, I want to say approx 8-10yrs... practically since HS. I can't believe it, but I can at the same time.

Thanks to all of you for so much support! I'll continue to need your support as I shred off many more lbs!

~ Jen

"It's working!"

Last night we had a fantastic weigh in. We mentioned on FB - Nicole had an exceptional loss down 2.4lbs total -18.4!! I was down .8 total -22.4! That put me @ 10%. The Leader was SO proud of me and shared some of the many benefits to losing that 10% such as reducing the risk of Diabetes and Heart disease by over 60% on both. That really helped me to feel even better about my loss and lifestyle change. I hit 200 even this morning, it's my second time, but I'm REALLY liking the idea of the 200's being a thing of the past!! I'm SO close and I DO want it SO bad, so I'm gonna get it! :) 


Also in our meeting last night was a newbie. She stated she had done it before and "it didn't work!". The leader ate that right up and proceeded to be a smart alec "Well it's not going to work this time!". It got awkward for a second, but we all laughed because we know how sarcastic our leader is, but the newbie didn't. LOL The point is, "nothing changes, if nothing changes" and unless you work this program it's not going work! She said "we're all here because our own program didn't work, right?" It's so true it's not even funny. I'm really taking to this program and for the long haul I think. Even once Nicole gets prego we're going to stay on it because "It's working!" When she asked me about how I feel after recognizing me for the 10% in front of everyone I said "I feel wonderful and it's working because I'm working!" 


We are at a grand total of 40.8lbs and we have a combined goal of 50lbs on or before March 6th. Nicole also has a separate goal of 20lbs on or before March 20th. My goal right now is 199.5 or LOWER! STAT! :D The point of these goals are to set yourself up for success, that's why the time frame.


Anyhow, clearly I am LOVING WW. It's really working for us, honestly and rest assured there's no plan to stop anytime soon; especially with all of this incredible support.

PS - I am down to 33 points; I lost a point last night! BOO! LOL 

Mildly Interested

I think I can speak for both of us, we're having a case of feeling "mildly interested". This sparked just days after successful weigh ins however there are many contributing factors which I won't name each of! haha Anyhow, we are at least managing our mildly interested feelings, but man is Taco Bell good! All I have to say is, I'm glad they got my order wrong when I ordered 2!! crunchy taco surpremes and a bean\cheese burrito and only gave me 1 of each. I took it as a sign, a sign to save it for frozen yogurt! Man, last night was yummy. A nice little break from the low point, frozen or "regular" meals we've been having. (I'm not complaining, it was just a nice break! :)) I am looking forward to getting that "committed" feeling back.

Some "excuses" are ~ having terrible workouts on Wednesday. Having a lot to do @ night having Jon for the week. Nicole still not up to par. I won't mention any others!

I will say, we have been tracking and aren't going overboard.

Here's to "feeling committed" ~ Jen

Edit: So after this was written but not proofed yet we had a case of not just "Mildly Interested" but we went over the deep end to "Don't give a Crap!" We went out to dinner and had CHINESE FOOD....oops. It was SO good though and we enjoyed every bite. However, we did not enjoy the heartburn and uncomfortableness that followed. Jen also has a couple "regular" beers and enjoyed those as well.

But we are back on track and after a successful Superbowl we are both down a pound this morning! We are back to committed!!

~Nicole

Feeling Committed!

Good morning everyone!

Last night's weigh in was one of the best for me especially. I hit a 20lb weight loss milestone. It took great dedication, commitment and hard work to say the least, but I'm seeing and feeling the results! Our FB peeps are just incredible! All of the encouragement and support is greatly appreciated, please keep it coming!  Our totals for last night were Jen -21.6 and Nicole -16lbs - I'm proud of both of us and I know Nicole's -20lb is just around the corner! She was sick all week and is still fighting her cold, but still managed to lose, very proud of her. In our mtg they talked about being "committed" or "mildly interested"; this morning we both woke up feeling committed!

My next milestone is going to be breaking the 200lb barrier, I'm SO close! You will all hear about that one because it will not only be an accomplishment, but it will have been at least 8 yrs since I've been under 200lbs that I can remember. And to think my highest weight at one point (approx 3 yrs ago) was 248.5 - I'm very proud of myself and don't plan on stopping any time soon!

I would also like to mention that I don't think either of us could do this without one another. I encourage the rest of you (working on this of course) to find a buddy to do this with as doing it alone makes it twice as hard!