Day 7 of 60 day challenge

Went for a hike with Nana and Sophie and my sweet Doug. He froze his ears off. The wind was coming off the mountains and was chilly to say the least. Brrrrr. I have been doing alright with this challenge. Not great. It's hard to work full time support my family and still find time for me to workout. I've worked out four out of the seven days. The added challenge is having a very small budget for food. So far I've been able to make this work. 

Weight 177

Day one of my 60 day challenge

Lots has happened since my last post and I'm sorry for not writing for quite some time. June 19th my mom committed suicide. I found out the first day of my vacation heading out there. Our summer was spent with my awesome beautiful sisters Leah and Megan going thru my mom and dads house( we lost our dad Nov. 30th to complications to leukemia) I got back from that had one week and then time to go back to work. A month later shingles, three weeks later a head cold, last two weeks a viral infection that landed in the right side of my face. Another part of all of this was knowing I would not be getting the money our nana set aside for us girls so I made the decision to go into a debt management group. Closed all my credit cards. Talk about scary. But all of this leads me to my 60 day Holiday challenge. I started doing Beachbody in January after dad passed to take charge of my weight issue and get healthy. With it I've lost 13 pounds and 13 inches.

Today is November 1st. The day after candy day, I mean Halloween. My biggest focus today was not to go face first into the candy bowl. Chocolate is my crack. I made it thru and for the next 60 days with a group of like minded people we are focusing on healthy choices and habits. We are doing this with a workout plan and eating plan designed for each of us.  I'll be telling you a bit about it in this blog amount other things but I believe keeping a daily blog with be like a journal and help keep me on track. So no candy no chocolate cupcake at the baby shower and a healthy salad at dinner out today.
Weight 179.5
Inches195.75

I have a confession

I have been doing great with my exercise plan. I have it all mapped out for the month and following it. What I haven't been doing really well is tracking and measuring my food and the scale reflects it. The best ab exercise is to walk away from the frig and you can't outwork what you put in your mouth. So I have re- dedicated myself to the diet plan and containers. I'll let you know how it goes when I check back in next week.

Happy Birthday Avery Rose

Hard to believe you are 17 years old. Seems just like yesterday they were putting you in my arms. You have grown into a very amazing young woman and your dad and I are very proud of you. Happy Birthday sweet girl.

I have Vacation ADD

I'm not sure where to begin. I want to hike. I want to workout. I want to quilt. I want to clean. I want to read. I want to plan. I want to watch movies. I can't think of what to do first. Good thing I have two more days of work to figure it out. huh?

Hi Again

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted on here. My computer hard drive took a dump and I just got it fixed. So since my last post I have been doing the 21 day fix since February. So far I am down 12.5 pounds and 13 inches. The biggest part of this for me has been the eating. That is why this week I am running a 5 day Clean Eating and Water challenge. No sugar. No white flour, bread or rice. No processed foods and half your body weight in ounces of water daily. I  have never peed so much. After the first day it was note to self "buy more toilet paper". I may even get brave and put my before and after photos on here. Bye for now. Come get healthy with me.

Be Enough

Take each day at a time. Plan~ but don't be overwhelmed by the big picture. Take baby steps to your goals and little by little you will get to the place you want to be. Let whatever you do today be enough

Waste Not

so huge sadface. My computer is broken and I'm still trying to figure out how to post pictures and blog from my Ipad. I made another mini quilt out of scraps. Trying to use up all the fabric around my desk before I start a new project and I have 3 baby quilts to make. Lots of mini quilts to make and a fabric stash to organize. Also part of the "waste not" is shopping in the freezer and pantry to come up with a meal plan for this coming week. My challenge is finding meals that I can eat with the 21 Day Fix plan that my family will also eat. This week looks like this:
Sunday- Spinach chicken balsamic dressing
Monday- stuffed bell peppers
Tuesday- Baked potatoe soup
Wednesday- Zuchini boats
Thursday-Chicken salad in wheat pita
Friday- flank steak and salad
Saturday-Vegetable Quiche
We've also rented a U Haul to take all the boxes we've been storing from our move to open up the third bay garage for Avery's car. I  feel a little weird about this. We've kept them 3.5 years. So I hope there is not another move around the corner. The great thing about doing this is I found all kinds of wooden embroidery hoops and some more fabric. Any tips for blogging from your ipad and posting pictures? Thanks

New Sunday Prep

 Tomorrow I start the 21 day fix. I've taken my measurements, made my video, took my before picture- none of which I will be sharing with you. Trust me you don't want to see that %^&$. But I will tell you that I will be exercising EVERY day and all those fruit and veggies containers I've been making will come into play. It takes 21 days to create a new habit and my wish is to create many habits that will lead me to a more healthy lifestyle. Without our health we have nothing. So this Sunday I have prepped our food, laid out my work outfits and planned my workout times. 

Two Mini Quilts finished

 Two mini quilts finished this week. Both are heart themed. Both quilt as you go. Both a joy to make. I heart them:)

Miss this man

It's been two months since my daddy went to be with God. These last few weeks have been hard as I think it is settling in that I'm not going to see him for a long time. He was so funny. A big bear of a man that was so goofy with us girls. I guess you have to have a sense of humor when you live with all women. I love you daddy and man do I miss you.

Weekend recap and Week Prep

 It was a busy weekend here at the Wayne household. I even wore the husky out.  8 miles of walking for us. Isn't she so cute with her head on that white pillow? Not what I had in mind when I purchased said white crocheted pillow

 The scrappy log cabin quilt is growing and the original 20 blocks has now grown to 36. That will make a good lap size or end of bed quilt

 Remember those confetti mini quilts I was telling you about? Well I got one done and another one planned out.

 And now for the week prep..... I've been doing this a few weeks now and the kiddos notice. "Mom, how come you aren't prepping real food for our lunches. We want real food too"

 Normally I pack them a PB&J, chips and cookies. They have asked for veggies and a fruit too.

 That meant lots of chopping and getting all the containers out. Grapes, cantalope, carrots, cucumbers,bell peppers tangerines and apples. Along with prepping food, I've got my workouts planned out and clothes for work picked out and put aside.
"The more organized you are the more freedom you have."
 This just helps keep me on track for the week in all things. Health= mental, physical and financial 2015.

Scrappy Log Cabin Squares

 

 

   A very large scrappy stash has got me thinking of projects to make it go away. As I was working on these scrappy log cabin squares - (20 down 10 to go)-I ended up thinking of a few more projects. My list goes a little something like this:

Scrappy Log Cabin Quilt

Small Coin baby quilt

Confetti mini quilts with embroidery sayings

Mug rugs

Stain glass square quilt

 

That should keep me busy for a while. I hope it gets rid of my four containers of scraps.

Here are two shits........zus

I now have clean carpets now due to these two ............ sweet dogs. I don't know which one of them did it and they are not saying but something happened somewhere it shouldn't have. Good thing we love them.

Grandpa Holmes Heaven Day

Grandpa's heaven day was yesterday. He's been there for 11 years now. He's up there with Nana and my daddy. Grandpa was a bear of a man who knew what frugal was long before it was cool. All the books I've gotten about paying down debt and living beneath my means are all the words of grandpa Holmes. Too bad I was hearing them when I was 16 years old and knew it all. So now at the age of almost 45 I'm putting those words into practice. I remember gardening with him and watching him can and freeze the food he grew. He also made wine- pretty sure that was 100 proof. Only sipped that once- once was enough. He played the trumpet and loved to cut wood. He loved his family and provided for them far into his years. He was a gruff kind of guy, but the leader of my tribe and I miss him.

Weekend Recap

 ~A little house mini quilt was created this weekend. Good therapy. I have plans for the next project.
~Went through Rileys drawers and closet, bagged up three huge trash bags of clothes
~Bought and put together a desk for her room- her daddy did that for her
~Made a menu for this week
     Sun. Lasagna 
     Mon. Leftovers- Momma's going to zumba
     Tues. Quiche
     Wed. Bean Burritos
      Thurs. Pork chops and roasted veggies
      Fri. Tacos
      Sat. Potato Soup
~Chopped up all my fruit and veggies for the week
~Walked the dog 6 miles and did a yoga video (something the dog did not understand at all)
~Did 7 loads of laundry and layed out my work outfits for the week.

Let's get crafty

It's Friday and the weekend has begun. It's time to get crafty. While I was talking to my mom on the phone, I started sewing some scraps together and then drew some images that married with the scraps on some white fabric to embroider. Trying to post on this blog during the week isn't happening so be prepared for lots of weekend posts.

Prepping for the week

I can't believe the break is over. Getting up tomorrow is going to be ugly so I am trying to do whatever I can to help myself out. I've got food packaged up and outfits layed out. Now if a magic fairy could get my teenage girls up and out the door on time- that would be awesome. Fingers crossed.

Thumbprint necklace

Have you ever heard of a thumbprint necklace? I hadn't until I met a woman that lost her son and was wearing one. We have now become great friends. God brings people together. Anyway, we had them made for my mom and sisters and myself of my dad's thumbprint. I got it a few days ago and love having a piece of dad with me.

Vintage modern

 Got another quilt top done - I cut into my Vintage Modern fabric by Moda.

 I saw a picture of a quilt on Pinterest and decided to use that.

 Made 64 squares and put them together

 Bordered it with pink poke a dot fabric and off white. It measures 58x58 a good lap size quilt.

It is hanging in the closet now with the Sweet as Honey quilt and the doll quilt. I think I am liking making quilt tops.

A list of meal ideas for January

Meal planning is such a good idea on so many levels. Having a go to list of meals saves money, reduces stress and gets everyone on the same page. We also make allowances to go out to eat too so that the family doesn't twitch.
1. Pear, fig and gorgonzola ravioli (from whole foods)
2.Pork chops, Potatoe gratin, broccoli
3.Chicken salad and cucumbers
4. Baked stuffed chicken
5. Taco salad
6. Frittata and melon
7.Bean burritos
8.Mac and cheese and salad
9. Hamburgers, tater tots
10. Potatoe soup and salad
11.Chicken tenders, mashed potatoes
12. Pork Chops with chutney, roasted veggies
13.Veggie quesadilla
14.Roast beef sandwiches
15. Pizza and salad
16. Grilled cheese and tomatoe soup
17. lasagna, rolls, salad
18. Eggs, hash browns, bacon
19.Baked potatoe bar and salad
20.Maple mustard pork, grilled apples
21. Meatball Subs
22.Quiche
23.BBQ chicken sandwiches
24. Salad, soup and Bread
25.Sausage, Peppers, Potatoe bake
26.Spaghetti
27.Sloppy Joes

Since my last post

 Nov. 2nd was my last post. Nov. 16th I went out to sit with my dad in the hospital for nine days and he passed away Nov. 30th. It is still very unreal. These pictures are from the summer of 2013. We are in Tahoe and life was good. He had just finished a bone marrow transplant and chemo- had his hair back and getting his strength back. Sense of humor in full force. Since Nov. 30th my sister Leah has gotten married to her love of 8 years on 12-13-14. I've gone back to my parents and dealt with budgets and financial stuff for mom, spent time with my sisters, walked the dogs, spotted the wild horses,went through dads clothes and set aside all of his shirts and jeans to make quilts, spent Thanksgiving,  Christmas and New Years with my hubby and girls. This week I wrote dad's obit and thank you letters to his doctors. I cry everyday that I've been back. Grief is a very interesting thing to go through. I'll be fine and all of a sudden it is a punch to the gut and a hand squeezing my throat and tears falling down my cheeks. And I am thankful for it. I thank God that he now has my dad and he is no longer in pain and his perfect self. I'm thankful it hurts this much because that means I loved him very much, but I'm going to miss him. I feel like I'm mourning my Papa and Nana, my dad, moving from NY, not having my horses, all of those past hurts that I never dealt with completely. It is going to make for an intersting 2015. I hope I deal with all of this with grace.

Thank you for indulging me in this and I am going to get back to the normal post of meal planning, quilting, weight loss and what not. Happy New Year to you all and many blessings to all of you.