I may just die but I won't lose a dollar.

I am doing THIS right now..... http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml
and it is kicking my butt! I will do it though - and I will conquer it all! Sore legs, burning shins, cramping calves, all of it - for a BUCK! Yup, a good old fashioned dollar (well, maybe more than one). You see, since my surgery I have had a far from easy time getting back into shape. Getting back into my workout routine has been very difficult. I am still holding the extra lbs and I am miserable over it all. Never fear LISA IS HERE! Yes, my dearest buddy and pusher Lisa is getting me over this hurdle in life in the fat lane. Lisa challenged me to do this Couch to 5K training with her and we are required to do 5 days a week. IF you miss more than 2 days - you owe the other person a dollar for each day missed. WELL - I simply cannot afford to pay her a dollar and more than that, I refuse to let her win this one and I am pushing forward with all my mind, heart and soul! (and sore legs) We are nearing the end of the first week and I keep thinking "THIS SHOULD GET EASIER" but somehow it is not. Maybe that is the beauty of the program?? I don't know but I'll keep going until my legs shrivel up and fall off.
If you ever thought of wanting to run a 5k (or in my case trot it LOL :O) this is a great plan - if I can do it anyone can!

Have a great one!
Darla

Crazy few days

Has been a good weekend - almost glad it is Monday other than I could have slept in much much later if I'd been allowed! LOL Will have a busy day today with house, kids, laundry, workout and my Couch to 5K training! Also going to carve pumpkins with the kiddos tonight too! Lots to do - lots to do!

Thurs night we went to dinner with some of the other Mgrs at Ed's work at Chili's. Seems they do this about every other Thurs night and is fun but we go out with friends on Sat nights EVERY week so this is not something we can do too often unfortunatly. It was nice though, visited, laughed, and had some divine food and company!
Fri night we were invited to a Adult Halloween Costume party from one of Ed's co-workers. What a HOOT! There was not a huge crowd but some great folks, very nice and friendly and some crazy costumes! My fave was a guy dressed up like a redneck hick with the goofy teeth, jug o' somethin' he was drinking and the whole setup! At one point he sat down and rolled up his shirt over his belly and proceeded to conjour' up some sort of bellybutton lint ball and had us laughing hysterically! Way fun! Lots of great snacks and lots of drinking (not for us, although I did have a Diet Dr Pepper) and even some cool tunes. The guys played some poker although it didn't get too serious! LOL Oh and Ed and I dressed as Football Players - cheesy but easy and cute I thought!
Sat night is usually our date night with Blake and Lisa but since we'd been out the prev 2 nights we told them we'd have to make it an "in" night of games or something, I guess they needed the "out" night so they went to a dinner and movie - which is cool- we all need some alone time! Missed our normal routine greatly but we had a good night ourselves. Chris got some cool decorating done as seen in my previous post and I spent a good majority of my afternoon/evening doing scrapbooking things. My message board I chat on hosted a Scrap in your Jammies weekend and I had tons of challenges and games to play. I did almost all of the challenges too! Way fun!
Sunday was Church, too bright and early for me! I SO could have slept in! We had to go though because Ed and Dani sang a duet and it was beautiful! Loved every second of it. They are so talented! After Church we came home and hung out, Ed took Micheal for a haircut and I did some more scrapbooking things and that was about it. We had a nice lasagna dinner and watched some tv and then it was bedtime.
Soooooo that is what is going on in our world - how about you?

Darla

BOO!

Yup! It is that time of year again... crisp fall days, wind in the air, brightly colored leaves falling to the ground and the spoooks are out! Halloween in just a few days away and as usual our family has made the most of it! This year Chris took over the Halloween house haunting job from Ed and he has done a fantastic job! The yard is scary as always - even in the daylight! I have these few pictures to share but will take more after dark because it is soooo spooky! Enjoy!
Darla

**EDITED** Added a couple of night time photos, not much of a difference but they are there. :O)

Couldn't get rid of me that easily I guess?

Well, to keep it short and sweet, no, it was not any one thing that caused me to stop blogging for a few days. It was no big meanie poo head or anything like that. Just some folks who expressed feelings about what I was blogging and made me think about what I like to share here.
When I started to blog it was sort of a diary of my daily goings on. Then I started to post more photos and stories and soon it became a place for our friends and family to come and see what is going on with our family - not just my life. I have shared trials and triumphs and goals and loss... but mostly it was just about sharing things with loved ones. If I have hurt anyone's feelings I am sorry, or stepped on toes, or rubbed noses in things... whatever, I have never intended to bother or upset anyone by what I write. I try to be sensitive to privacy issues and basically what it boils down to is if you don't like what you see or read here, then don't look. This is me. Just like I said all those years of being overweight - love me or leave me! So..... with that said, I am back and have lots to share but right now I am busy busy so it will have to wait! Sorry! :O( I'll try to catch things up tommorrow. Thanks to those of you with kind responses and emails...

Darla

Time off to get focused.

Going to take some time off from blogging - seems like things are screwed up right now and I need to focus on some important aspects of my life. Not quitting the blog all together, just slowing down. Sorry to anyone who might miss it and apologies to anyone who was offended by things posted (photos or otherwise). I'll be back later.

Blessings
Darla

Tuesday Check In

Not much to report. Just having a blahh week so far. No big news, no fun stuff. Just general everyday life things. Guess no news is good news, right?
Thinking I may scrapbook a bit today, see if it energizes me a bit. Feeling pretty drained and worn. Still wondering if I am recovering from the surgery and just not quite 100% yet. My sister thinks my resistance is way down still - who knows? The past week has been icky fighting this cold junk that I hear is a 2-4 week bugger. Ick! I have had it, Liz has it and now Dani is in the starting days of it too. Not to mention the baby I watch has been sick for a few weeks. Yucky way to start off the fall/winter season. Heck, maybe it'll build up our immune systems so that the winter months won't be as bad? With any luck anyway....
So, that is about it for around here. Took some cutsie pix of the baby today, will probably put them up here later. :O)
Have a good one and stay away from the people with coughs, goobers and boogers this week!
Darla

Ladies and Gentlemen.... The Exxon Valdez!! (aka Ford Excursion) !!!!

Yes, it has a name. Our dear buddy Blake came up with this fun name and somehow I think it is going to stick. Explosion? Maybe. Exxon Valdez - yea, just sounds right... hee hee! So, a few photos to share of our new big baby! (Lovely Dani modeling through and through too!) Oh and the whole reason we "had" to buy this..... yea, the boy toys, the muddy buddies, whatever you want to call them, we had to have something with more power, I think Ed did the trick!
:O) Yes, we are very happy!
Darla

Lots to post and share.....

First off I have new photos of my 'before - after' on the scar and on the weight loss and then some of the new car too. I think I'll do 2 posts just to keep it all seperated. So, be sure to look at both pages! :O) So, there is a 1 week post op photo and a 6 week (just this past Friday) and I am amazed how good my neck is looking although it IS still red and puffy and all that, it is looking better if you ask me. Then the other photo is from May of this year, in the green teeshirt, and then just today (5 months later) in the red sweater. Ed bought me this sweater last winter on clearance... it was a regular womens XL size and I figured I'd never get into it! Well, I wore it to Church this morning and I love it! **Excuse the mess of my scrapbook area in that photo too! **

Darla

SWEEEEEEEEEEET!

We had a Ford Exporer AKA: "Exploder"
and now we have THIS Ford Excursion
AKA: "Explosion" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Same color, same style, all the extras and I THINK just maybe it might be able to pull somethings out of the mud?
Happy dance at our house tonight!
:O)
Darla

Love this lady

If you aren't a scrapper you probably have not heard of this gal, but in the scrapping world she is HUGE (in a good way!) and I love her blog, she is silly, crazy, and just plain honest. Love that. So, her blog entry today "Diets SUCK" just really hit me-
http://cathyzielske.typepad.com/my_weblog/
...and I had to reply to her this time. Basically, I think I need to follow my own advice and that is this: you can't fix yesterday, you have to face today with renewed hope and energy and faith and if waste your time dwelling on the past instead of making the future brighter, well, that sucks. Thanks for the insight today Mrs Z. :O)

What I was up to today...

Hangin' out, watching baby Noah (who is now 5 1/2 mos old!) be a cutie-pie, making cards, trying to fight off a snuffy nose and cold and just staying WARM! It was cold and rainy here today and then all of a sudden we look out and there is SNOW! It melted off fast, but it was a "stay inside and be warm" kind of day - so this is what I did. :O) Darla

Tuesday

Nothing big planned today. Hanging out at home, getting kids to help with housework, catching up on laundry. Fun fun.
I did have lunch with Ed - nice to get to visit mid-day. :O)
Missed the gym this a.m. as I think I am catching a cold and the baby was late, but it all worked out in the end because I am really sore from doing weights yesterday and just didn't feel great. Going to try to get a walk/run in on the treadmill later today.
And that is it! Exciting stuff egh?

Baby steps.

Last week I did 3 minutes

today I did 4 ... :O)

Positive Reinforcements

Well, sorry I have been offline most of the week. Just busy I guess. Didn't get on my own computer for a couple of days, snuck a peek in on dh's a few times but just now catching up on things. My apologies!

Not too much going on, just busy with kids and life. Trying to get my mind wrapped around some things right now... mostly health related. Feeling like the last month and a 1/2 have been a waste of my time as far as fitness/health and I am trying to figure out what I need to do to get in the right state of mind again. Fortunatly, through this 6 weeks of lazies my weight has not jumped too bad and I can see a few steps forward soon. So, help me stay motivated people - please!

I spent a good portion of time late last night going through my "plan" yet again. What it is I WANT to do and how I can do it. Keeping with better food choices, keeping myself moving and working out. I did some running (very minimal) last week and it felt SO good - not necessarily physically - but majorly boosted my esteem and mental focus. To know that I can actually run, even for a few minutes, is just unreal to me. I know... dorky, dumb, but when you come from where I have in the past year it is a HUGE step. So, I think that in changing things up I am definatly going to be pushing myself a bit on the running part - I think that might be the challenge I am needing to get through this phase of my weight loss.

Positive reinforcements. Crazy enough... even though I have been slacking off, I think that now that I am starting to really recover from my surgery and am getting my color back and energy back... and just feeling better overall, it must be showing??? I have gotten several compliments in the past few days that have just made me BEAM with happiness. Not bragging, or anything like that, but just saying that some words of encouragement and some recognition for LOOKING good....well, for me that goes a long ways. We went out last night with friends for a "date" night and I got a couple of compliments that really made me feel great. When I got home, I actually stopped and looked at myself in the full length mirror and thought to myself that I really did look pretty good. Hard to take compliments, even harder to compliment yourself..... you know?

So, I am wrapping up all this good "STUFF" and using it towards my path ahead. I hope that someone out there reading this will find some inspiration and that the things I have learned can help you too. If this crazy girl can do the things I have done this past year, then you can too! Walking 3+ miles, dancing in public, swimming, 4 wheeling, day hiking... amazing where I was one year ago to now. And this is just the beginning! :O)

Have a GREAT Sunday and new week ahead!!!!!!
Darla

OOPS! And I almost forgot!
I have been tagged!!
By Robin http://heartfelt.typepad.com/my_weblog/

1) Link to the "tagger" & post the rules.
2) Share 7 facts about yourself- random / weird facts.
3) Tag 7 people & link to them.
4) Leave comments on their blogs, so they know they've been tagged.

So, if I tag you.....follow those rules!!!!!

Robin's Blog is Here: http://heartfelt.typepad.com/my_weblog/

1. I am the baby of 12 kids but only have 2 full sisters.

2. I failed pre-algebra twice in Jr High/HS.

3. I love to shovel snow in a tshirt and no coat.

4. I love to eat spinach - fresh, cooked, cold, out of a can- all of it.

5. I have never been on the eastern 1/2 of the US and my "dream" vacation is to Vermont in the fall.

6. I secretly love the kids Disney tv shows (ie: Raven, Hannah Montana, etc)

7. I love to crank up the radio in my minivan and jam out, even if I look like a megga dork.

Hmm who do I tag next?

Linda, Dolly, Cindy, Cynthia, and I can't think of anyone else??

Weekend photos and a happy story!

OK so here are a few of the highlight photos of some of the more "fun" parts of our weekend adventures in Island Park! The kids playing in the snow, visiting, watching movies and playing games. Oh and a fave shot! Blake nailed Chris in the face with a fat snowball right as he'd put his goggles on and the face mask on his helmet was still open! I got the shot just after but I love the look on his face!! There are a few pictures of the adults gearing up to go out on our ride too... I swear I look like some freakish sort of biker mamma in there! ROTF! Ed is in black, I am in denim blue, Lisa is in purple and Blake in brown coat. Megga fun times! *See Robin! It was not all drama!!* :O)

On a happy note! Since I have not been to the gym all week (due to very sore legs from our "hike/walk" up at the cabin, today was determined to go - do or die. Well, I died, I slept in. LOL However, I did get up and got on the treadmill here at home and I am proud as peaches to say I did a quick mile walk plus I threw in three full minutes of running too! It kicks my butt but I am so proud of myself! Going to shoot for one addtl' minute each day and see how I do! Whoo whoo!
Darla

4 Weeks Post Op Photo

For those who were looking for it, here is the 'latest' photo of my oh so lovely neck. This was taken last week on my 4 week "anniversary" date of my surgery. Not too bad if you ask me! Still red and puffy and still some swelling. Crazy how some of the things are so slow to heal. I am still having that feeling of a lump in my throat (like when pill gets stuck going down, and coughing, sneezing and nose blowing is still rough. I also still have to sleep with my rolled up blankie/pillow to keep from getting a crook in my neck. One other thing I learned this weekend, popcorn kernls' getting caught in my throat does NOT feel good at all. :O(

Darla

Let THE Adventures Begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK first off, this is going to be long, but HONESTLY if you take the time to read it, well, you'll be thouroughly amused beyond your own expectations! Especially if you know my hubby Ed and our friend Blake very well. That said, let the adventures begin. :O) Darla

DAY 1 FRIDAY
Fri afternoon we get in the Ford Explorer with the two 4-wheelers in tow.
We go up to the cabin mid afternoon and unload, it's starting to snow slightly but man was it COLD. Shortly thereafter Blake and Lisa and their kids showed up and we did some pre dinner cooking and visited. About 6 pm Ed, Blake and Chris decided to go for a *quick* ride on the 4-wheelers -- ahhh snow, wet, mud.
Well, they were gone for quite a while when I hear Lisa hollar to me that Ed needs me. I come down and find Ed SOAKING wet and cold at the door and they are loading up Blake's big truck (BIG!! Chevy truck with all the perks- big "man" truck) to go back down to the resevoir (mostly a dried up mess of mud and silt) and pull TWO of the 4-wheelers out of the mud! OK so this means that ALL THREE OF THEM rode back to the cabin on ONE 4-wheeler! DORKS! No problem, big truck, 3 "men" and a couple of muddy buggies... no problem.
PROBLEM.
(or should I say problem #1)
Well, shortly thereafter Lisa and I get a call (THANK GOODNESS FOR TECHNOLOGY!) and we are "instructed" to get in the Explorer and come get them. Uhhh "come GET you?" Tell me HOW you get a big huge truck like that stuck pulling out a couple of lil' ol' ATV's? Well, I'll tell you how.
PROBLEM #2
The "boys" (aka men) drive the big truck down there, pull one of the 4 wheelers out and then, because the tow ropes aren't long enough, have to drive down a "little" further to reach the other 4-wheeler that was, in fact, quite a ways out there.

** I guess I should back up here and say, the whole thing started when BLAKE challenged CHRIS to "ride outside of his tracks" and Chris went wayyyyy outside of the tracks - then they all proceeded to go back and forth getting the ATV's stuck trying to "rescue" one another... leaving only one 4-wheeler free in the end **

So, back to the pulling out part. Well, let's just say that Blake driving the truck down a little further was too far and he BURRIED his big ol' manly man truck in the deep wet soggy glue-like mud clean up to the axles! So, this is about the time we get the call. Lisa and I bundle up, and head out to get them. Directions a bit askew, cold, flustered men, bewildered women, well... we got lost! LOL Fortunatly, Chris rode out on the ATV they had been able to retrieve and found us and took us down to the guys. Too late, too dark, too cold and we headed back to the cabin for the night. (not after stopping by my neices cabin and getting some cell phone no's for some of my family that has locations up there as well)

PROBLEM #3
Blake calls for tow truck info for the next morning... uhh $300-500 ?? Um no, not happening. Well, unless it HAS to. So, we take the phone no's for my nephew in law, my sister and bro in law and make some more calls. My bro in law agrees to meet us in the morning to try to pull em' out. He has the exact same big "man" truck that Blake has. Ohhh goodie!
So, we eat dinner at 10pm and everyone pretty much crashes for the night. (not after a hot tub and a movie for the adults!)

DAY 2 SATURDAY
Problem #4
We wake up to LOTS AND LOTS of new snow. LOTS of snow - and still coming down. Then Blake goes out to shovel the deck and, well, yea, Ed now has a FLAT tire on the back of the Explorer!!!!! YES! A FLAT TIRE! Not low, not "needs a bit of air".... no, no such luck. As a matter of fact the ONLY luck we have is that our spare was in good shape and Ed and Blake were in fact able to get it changed out and be able to get going to pick up some tow chains. Whew!
So, my bro in law and sis show up, the boys go in the Explorer and I go with my sister (to take PHOTOS of course!) and we head back down to the reservoir. We get there and HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!! With all the snow and moisture the water has risen, "quite a bit"... So, the guys hook up a zillion feet of chains, rope and tow strap and make several attempts to pull out Blake's truck with narely a budge. *sigh* So, we gave up and at least pulled out the other ATV - talk about at least a bit of a stress relief for Darla!!
Problem #5 and #6 and #7
Well, we discover that they overcharged Blake $3 ft for the chain so we send Chris on the retrieved ATV back to the cabin and Ed, Blake and I head off to get a refund and Blake calls a tow truck guy. Meanwhile the snow is flying and the roads are getting SLICK! Well, we are driving along and all of sudden we go into a fishtail in the Explorer (pulling the empty trailer!!) and HOLY COW I was so scared! We did about 4 or 5 fans back and forth but luckily Ed kept it going and straightened us out and I tell you what - I thought we were DEAD right there, right then. So, we get the refund, go "home" to the cabin and wait for the tow guy to call. Due to the nasty roads there were several wrecks so he had to respond to those and finally called that afternoon....

Resolve of Problems FINALLY!
YES - they got the truck out! The tow guy had a heckuva time, but they got it out AND he was only going to charge $95 AND he even loved the bazillion ft of chain so much and since Blake had his reciept of what he'd paid for it on him, the tow guy TRADED the tow out for the chain!!! HOW COOL IS THAT?!

So, the rest of the weekend was lots of movies, naps, games, a few much more "mellow" ATV rides and some good ol' fashioned rest and relaxation! WHEW! I do have some "fun" photos but I'll share those later.
Enjoy the photos of the drama. I am sure you can make them all out. The only thing I did not get photos of was the actual TOW OUT OF THE MUD but we did get the "after" tire tracks in the mud to keep forever! LOL Enjoy!

Top to Bottom:
-The "men" trying to dig in the mud to try to pull out with tow ropes/chain/strap with my BrotherInLaw
-The mud tracks after they finally got the truck out.
-The truck out in the snow on the banks of the water. Look at the SNOW!
-The ATV way out there!!!!
and -Ed's flat on the Explorer that morning.

We're Off Again!

We are outta here boys and girls! Headed up to the cabin to ride some atv's and have some fun. Watch some movies, play some games, enjoy nature (rain and maybe snow even) and just R E L A X for a few days! We'll try not to have too much fun without you and I'll be sure to bring home LOTS of pictures to share! Have a great weekend! We will!

Darla

For Miss MeaMea Bug!!

THIS beautiful little thing is our dear neice Meagan from Tx.... I heard from a little bird that she was sad that Aunt Darla didn't put up any photos of her on the family blog so I had to go looking, I didn't mean to leave her out, just had so many pix to post and missed one of her too, sorry sweetie!!Well, I found this cute one of her from the 4th of July (all decked out in her red, white and blue) watching the parade here in town. They made a fun visit to us this summer and we enjoyed a lot of great times but the 4th is the big deal, the parade, fireworks, all that fun stuff. So here is to you Miss MeaMea, we love ya!!!!

Busy days ahead of us, unfortunatly I have a family friend funeral this week, we also have a dinner for Ed's promotion at work (YEAHH ED!) and then we are headed up to the cabin for the remainder of the weekend -- Sooooo who knows when I'll get back on here! Hopefully I'll have some time before we leave but if not, well, you have this awesomely cute little girl to gaze at for a few days!! (XOXO Meagan!)

Take care and be good!
Darla

I got a CABIN!!!!

Yup! I got my very own cabin for my birthday this year.... hee hee! Lisa and Blake bought it for me even (maybe so I won't be so jealous anymore?) but isn't it cute!? It is even green like theirs! LOL! Love it! Just right for lil' ol' me! Thanks guys!!!!!

Darla