Counting Calories

Joe's mom told me about a cool website: www.Sparkpeople.com . This is a free website where you can set fitness and nutrition goals. It also makes it easy to keep track of how many calories you take in and how much exercise you have done. My goal is to get in better shape, and in the process hopefully lose a little weight. So today I started by entering everything I ate. It's amazing to me how many calories are in processed foods... especially salad dressing, tortillas, mayonnaise, butter, and of course M&Ms.
I figured I better eat a little bit of chocolate, so I will have my fill for another month, but have say that it totally wasn't worth the 100 calories for 8 M&Ms!!
And then the veggies have just about zero calories in them. I really need to eat more of them...

Here are my totals for today

I made it!!

My goal on New Year's day was not to eat any chocolate, or anything with chocolate in it for a month. I went through withdrawal, denial, and temptation, but I did it! Against my faith in myself. Now I think; why not have some chocolate today, and then go without for another month? Make it a goal to have chocolate only once a month? Ok , maybe I'll change the rules a little, so I can eat chocolate sprinkles on my bread, and have some hot chocolate once in a while. Maybe from now on the rule will be that I can't eat JUST chocolate. No M&M's, chocolate chip cookies (or dough), chocolate bars, chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream etc. In short, all the stuff I like to binge on. Life really isn't that bad without it!

Stats

My cousin Jenny had a fun thing on her blog. Statistics about her marriage. I decided to take the liberty and do some plagiarizing (I'm not in college anymore right??) Joe and I have been married for 7.5 years. I had to think really hard about some of these, because we have had a lot of change. Hopefully these next 5 years will be a little more stable.

number of homes lived in: 9
number of states lived in: 4
number of wards attended: 11 (2 of our wards got split)
number of cars driven: 9 (these are cars we actually DROVE)
number of cars owned: 14 (I'm sure I'm forgetting some!)
number of schools attended: 2
number of degrees earned: 2
number of callings held: 8
number of jobs for Joe: 3
number of jobs for Jessica: 2
number of kids: 3
ER visits: 2
Trips: ?? at least 2 a year
number of diapers changed: 6 diapers x 912.5 days x 3 kids = 16,425 (conservative estimate)

I have noticed a trend in our car buying choices. We don't seem to be able to make up our mind as to what car we really want to be driving. Every time we get new ones I think we are set, and will just drive them into the ground. But then I always manage to find something I don't like about them (like size, gas mileage, function) and we end up with something else and better (or so you would think) The problem really is that you just can't have it all. You can't have a nice big vehicle that has all the right functionality, with good gas mileage! My quest for the perfect car is far from over.....

Friends' blogs

I have become somewhat addicted to reading blogs. I check all my friends' and family's blog every day, and am somewhat disappointed when nothing new is to be read. I love being able to keep up on my loved ones' lives. I have even gone so far, as to convince 2 of my friends that it's a good idea for them to start their own blog, and that I'll be checking it daily. Thanks girls!

State of the Union

I find it hard to watch the State of the Union address. Most of the things said, seem like empty promises. Plus, Bush's time is almost up, and so are his chances to change the world. He's had 8 years, and I'm disappointed in the result. Not that a different nominee would have done any better (Al Gore, or Kerry). That's the problem.... we only get to choose between the lesser of two evils. Hopefully Romney will win the primary's and I can vote for the first time in my life, with a real hope that the person I vote for will be elected to be president of the United States. Yes, I am 27, and have never voted in my life, because I have just become a United States citizen in August.

Skunk

Tonight as we were watching the Guiness World Records on TV, we hear my cat meouwing in his crazy voice that sounds like one of my kids. We have had trouble with neighboring cats visiting and fighting with our cats, so I thought it was that cat. I turned on the porch light, and saw to my amazement that it wasn't a cat, but a skunk. She/he was eating my cats' food!! Imagine that! I guess skunks like turkey and chicken too. We had fun watching her, the cats just sat and watched her as well. In this picture you can see my cat in the foreground, disappointed that his food is being et by a skunk. He was smart enough to stay back!

Two down

Today we got rid of 2 of our animals. We sold Cookie and our mule. Cookie was just costing us money, and in addition to that she was mean to my horse. I am still planning to sell Faith as well, but that won't be as easy as Cookie. It took us a while to get the mule into the trailer because he wasn't tame. The most exciting thing about this was the way Faith reacted to all of this. We put her in her stall, and she worked up a sweat, and freaked out. I think I am going to wait a little while before I get another horse, because it's too cold, and I don't have very much time to ride anyways.

Baby goat, and potty training

Joe bought some goats a couple of days ago, and one of them was pregnant. Well, not anymore. Today around 2pm she had her little baby. It's really cute. We think she might have another one, because we can still see stuff moving around in her belly. I'm a little confused about why it would take her so long, so hopefully she's ok.

Ginger is in the middle of potty training. I haven't gotten the guts to take off the diapers completely, but she has used the bathroom several times. It all started when I was in Lowes a couple of weeks ago, buying new toilet seats for our house. The previous owners installed the soft/cushiony toilet seats, which are a little weird (even though it's nice that the seat's not cold). Anyways, we were in the toilet seat isle, and Ginger saw a kid's seat with Dora on it. Now I'm not usually the type to buy whatever my children want, but I figured this would be a good investment, so we wouldn't have to buy diapers anymore. BTW, we have had one or two kids in diapers for the past 6 years, and I can't wait to be done with it (for now). So anyways, Ginger has really enjoyed sitting on her new toilet. She's my first child that just wants to sit on it, and then would stay on it for hours if I let her. On several occasions she has almost fallen asleep, but I haven't had the chance to get a picture of that yet....

As most of you know, I'm somewhat of a TV addict. I like to sit and veg after a long day. The other day I was watching American Gladiators, and my kids just loved it. They all sat around me. Ginger was also giving me kisses, and at some point she was almost macking on me. LOL, the joy of a baby's kiss.

CPR

I am officially fit to be a mother... yes, I took a CPR class for infants and children this last saturday. It was a 5 hour class, where we practiced CPR and mouth to mouth. This is all part of the adoption process. We have it all finished now!
After finding out how much we've been spending on gasoline, I have come to the conclusion that we need to get me a diesel. Joe's truck is a diesel too, and we can make our own biodiesel. I figure that if it costs $1.60/gallon to make diesel, and I get a VW jetta that gets 44MPG, I will spend $30 per month on gas instead of the current $165!!! I think that would be worth it! Joe's dad has a bio diesel system that we can us, so now I just need to find a restaurant to get the oil from on a regular basis. On that same note... we have taken Sterling out of preschool because it was costing us over $300 a month for gas and tuition. He has a friend that lives close by, so we'll set up some kind of playdates with him, so he can still socialize.
It's been super duper cold here this last week, and I just can't wait to get some good old warm Texas weather. Oh, and Joe got 3 goats and a donkey yesterday!

Sober for 18 days

Yes, I'm still sober!! (of chocolate) The interesting thing is that the first week was very difficult, and it has gotten easier every day. I truly believe I was addicted to chocolate. Not in a romantic kind of way, but in a physical way. All I could think about was that rich, creamy taste.

Joe is out of town, and we were supposed to go down to Plano to visit Nancy one more time before she heads back to VA, but Asher got sick. So, now I am bored (even though there is plenty to be done). I just don't want to do the necessary stuff... you know, ... only fun stuff.

I have also decided to sell my horse. Yes, I know, that was fast. She is just too big for me! I think I'll start looking for a nice, calm, small horse next. And this time I don't think I'll buy it from the internet, but by networking.

Asian World Market

Yesterday I went to the Asian World Market in Plano. I wasn't expecting much, since our Asian store in Boise was very small. What a surprise! It is a full-sized grocery store. They have any kind of Asian food you might like to find. I was walking through the store in awe and wonder wishing that I knew how to cook some of this stuff. I have a couple of Asian recipes, but not many. They also sell the largest selection of pork meat I have ever seen. It sure beats Walmart and Target! So I got some stuff I regcognized, sauces, pork, veggies, and noodles. By the way, they have a full isle dedicated just to instant noodles! I made spring rolls with tofu, and it turned out pretty good.

Wood

On saturday we finally started laying our wood floors, and I'm just so excited! After doing most of the hard beginning parts on saturday, I was able to continue today by myself. It looks pretty good so far, and I'll keep you posted on my progress

Tonight was a very clear and calm (wind free) night. Joe had the great idea to do Family home evening outside with a great big bonfire. We had a lot of wood that we tore out of the house that needed to be burnt, so Joe made a big fire. The kids had lots of fun throwing wood onto the fire, and course we roasted some marshmellows too. We also had some sparklers left over from New Years that Richard Worth brought over for us. The kids loved those, even Ginger, until she touched the hot part. I was just so immensily happy sitting there with my sweet husband and great kids. We are so blessed with our home, health, job, and family!

Faith 's desire to be with Cookie

In an effort to keep Cookie from cornering Faith in a stall and kicking her to keep her there, I usually keep one of them locked in a stall. Usually I keep cookie in a stall, because Faith would need more hay (that I have put into the stall) and she needs more exercise. I am amazed at how loyal Faith is to cookie, because even though she could go anywhere on our 20 acres she wants to, she chooses to stay right by cookie. Last night I decided to let cookie out for a change, and when we got back from church she was on the other side of the lake. Faith had worked up a good sweat in her stall, trying to get out and get to cookie. So after giving her some food, I decided to let her out and join cookie for some grazing. I knew she would be a little crazy trying to get to her, but what I saw next, I never would have guesses. Faith ran to the edge of the lake, and went straight into it! For a moment I thought she would swim all the way across, but when she got into the water up to her head she changed her mind and headed back. Very confused and frustrated, she went back to her stall for a minute. I decided I better show her the way AROUND the lake, so she could be with her friend. Where is my camera when I need it??

See Cookie on the other side of the lake? (the white horse)

Flipped into the air

Today we have been working on laying our wood floor, and around 2pm we needed a break. So we headed for Bonham trade days. Lots of people try to sell anything from cool wood furniture to junk they found in the garage. There's also a good sample of dogs. On the way back home we witnessed the craziest car crash I've ever seen. We were sitting at a stop sign waiting to turn onto the highway when a large SUV came driving past at about 50 miles per hour. Then, a lady in a small car drove into the road, and (pretty softly and slowly) T-ed into the SUV. The SUV swerved, and I expected it to just kind of slide to a halt; but instead, it got airborne, flipped twice, landed on it's side and then skidded to a halt. Wow! The first thought I had, was if there we any kids in it. Luckily the SUV only had 2 adult passenger, one of whom walk out of it. The lady wasn't so fortunate, and was bleeding from her hand and head. We left before she was taken out, so I don't know the extent of her injuries, but it was definitely a wake-up call for the importance of wearing your seatbelt. It just happened so fast, and so unexpectedly. We were pretty lucky too, because we were sitting so close, that if the car had hit just a fraction of a second earlier, the SUV could have easily crashed right into us.... Today I counted my blessings or our safety and health!

Finances

I am a really good record keeper of my finances, except for the last 5 months I have seriously slacked off. I made excuses like, I don't have a monitor to hook my computer to, etc. Well, the day has come, and I finally decided to catch up. Well.... let me just say, it's crazy. There are so many charges and withdrawals that I don't remember what they are for. I have spent the last 2 days doing this, and still don't see the end in sight. At least I kept MOST of my receipts.

CC fraud

A couple of months ago while we were in the middle of moving somehow someone got a hold of our credit card info, and spent like $350 at a drugstore. Usually I keep really good track of our credit card charges and enter them all into my finance records. But again, we were moving. So by the time I finally found out about this, it was too late!!! I requested a copy of the receipt, and when it got here it just infuriated me. The lady signed with her own name, not even my name, and no one bothered to check the signature. I am always annoyed when I sign and the register person doesn't check. Why even make you sign?? I have started letting Winter sign her name whenever she's with me, because it really doesn't make a difference. This whole ordeal makes me want to hire a PI and go after the lady, but I guess that's just in dream land.

I had a very fun day today. This morning I went to Joe's parents house to visit Joe's sister Nancy. Nancy is staying there for 3 weeks to help out with Joe's grandma Benac. I figured I better take advantage of her being close by (she lives in Virginia). Ginger had a great time playing with her kids.
Also, this afternoon when I fed my horses, the kids came with me (for a change). I usually drive my car to the top (yes, I'm lazy), and after I was done the kids wanted to chase me back down to the house. I was amazed at how fast Winter was running. I guess she gets a lot of practice at school during PE, so much so that a couple of days ago she was crying from pain in her legs from all the running. Anyways, since the kids had a lot of sugar for dinner, french toast, I really needed them to run it off before bedtime. So when we got to the house I asked them to run down the driveway to check if the gate was closed (yes, yes, I already knew it was). They ran all the way down, and then proceeded to run to the barn (another couple hundred feet) Watching these kind of moments just makes me melt with happiness! That barn has a big roundbail of hay in it, and they had a lot of fun trying to climb on top of it. Needless to say, by the time we got back inside they were nice and tired and went right to sleep.

Sober for 8 days

Well, now the waiting begins... we have all we can do with the adoption paperwork... and it's up to a birth mother to pick us. It's harder than I thought. Especially when there's nothing you can do. A friend of Joe's cousin told us it might help to call some hospitals and put the word out there... turns out that's illegal and they can give us a $10,000 fine for child soliciting!! Ahhh....So no more phone calls from me!!

I finally rode my horse this past Saturday. She's really quite mellow. I am going to take her to a trainer to see what he thinks of her, whether it's worth it for me to keep her, or if I should get one with a little bit more training.

On new year's eve I made a resolution not to eat any chocolate for a month. What was I thinking?? It's only been a week, and I'm dying. It doesn't help that there are M&Ms and hersheys kisses sitting right here on the computer desk. I think that's Joe's way of punishing me for all the times I have eaten his chocolate. I like to say: "I have been sober for 8 days"
Yesterday I almost caved, but somehow made it through the day without giving in to my chocolate deamons