PERK UP!!!

It is that time again. The new year! Time to refresh and DEFINITELY it is HIGH time for me to PERK UP!!!! Enough is enough and I have had enough of my excuses!

So, this year, I have made some resolutions. I made them very vague so it will be hard to "break" any of them. It is time for a change, no excuses style! So here goes. This year I resolve to:

1. Eat healthier
2. Complain less
3. Work harder
4. Get more done
5. Compliment more
6. Nag less
7. Love more
8. Worry less
9. Play more
10. Put family first

I can feel the change is in the air! I am planning to do so many awesome things with 2012! I sure hope I can keep up with it all. I am hoping to be better about posting things on here when I do. I am going to try to revamp this blog and make it more of a reflection of my goals, works in progress, steps toward a more balanced life. But hey, If I don't, I can also remember my secret resolution #11- Be patient with yourself.

HAPPY 2012 to all of you!!!!!

1462

1462. That is my calorie intake number. I went to The Daily Plate website to figure it out. It is a really great site with lots of tools to help keep your body weight in check. Now I just have to try to stick to it! This is the FIRST time in my life where I have had to really think about calories and exercise etc. Whoever said breastfeeding helps you lose weight was lying! At least for me it has been the opposite! But, now that Brayden is finally four months old, I can start exercising and hopefully get back into my jeans. It has been a long road getting my milk supply built and I basically had to forfeit exercise (which I don't care for anyway) and up my calorie intake. It paid off for little Brayden (who is not so little) but I hate the way I look with all these extra pounds and I really have NOTHING to wear. I feel like Renee Zelwegger who has been gaining weight for a movie and now the filming has stopped and I have to get disciplined. During the summer, I was fine with the extra weight. It really wasn't a huge difference from being hugely pregnant. But now, now I have preschool, Young Women's (yep, I am in Y.W. again- I'll have to do a post) and Lewis and Conner's busy schedule to keep up with. So, 1462! I'm crossing my fingers! This is the number I have to stick to if I want to lose 1.5 pounds per week without really adding TOO much to my exercise plate. I really have no idea what my calorie intake has been thus far? I just know I have been eating CONSTANTLY all summer & not burning off anything I have eaten. Maybe it won't be that hard? I'll keep ya posted! Oh, and feel free to go on over to the site and get your number! Maybe you could join me on this journey to a slimmer waist line! Misery loves company!


http://www.thedailyplate.com/

This picture will be my motivation. Notice how small Conner is. And, those are clothes I was able to wear BEFORE I had him. If I can do it then. I can do it now. Plus, the other motivator for me is how I feel. I feel like such a slug right now. I was playing Freeze Tag with the preschool kids for all of about three minutes the other day and I was SORE all over the next day! SO pathetic! Here's to exercising and eating less! Wish me luck!

Goin' for the GOLD this school year!

I know! It has been a WHILE since I've posted. To say I have been "busy" is a HUGE understatement. This time of year is always crazy. I love it and hate it at the same time. On the plus side, I have been working my tail off and I'm fitting into some of my smaller jeans again (I always lose weight this time of year. No worries though, by December, I'll have to haul out my bigger sizes again). On the down side, I have been drowning in a sea of work, work and more work. But, I have been enjoying it! Watching the Olympians compete has given me the extra push to keep on going! If they can do it, so can I! My goals this year include:

1. Keep my desk cleaned off
2. File all paper work immediately
3. Stay three weeks ahead in planning
4. Keep all laundry out of the baskets
5. No dirty dishes in the sink ALLOWED!

I know these sound silly, but they are my goals for a happy school year. Let's face it, without all the prep, it would be hard to get the job done. I'm hoping to stay the course and keep it all flowing and going smoothly this year. Last year, I felt like everything was just thrown together and I could never quite "function" the way I wanted to. I spent the last two weeks going through every nook and cranny of my room and organizing it all. I LOVE the feeling of knowing where everything is. I just finished off the last of it today. AHHHHHH. I wish I'd have thought to take some pictures. Posterity needs to see the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into my kindergarten room. It is no small task to try and pull it all together. But, seeing this sweet new batch of kids makes it all worth it!I am STOKED for this school year. It is going to be the best year ever!

Once Bitten

Conner is such a great kid! I am impressed with him lately and here's why. He used to be a "nail biter!" (I know. . . shudder the thought!) I don't know when he started this habit and I can't think of a time when I've actually caught him in the act, but his nails were just terrible looking for so long. For over a year I have begged him to stop biting. I have bribed him. I have reminded him. I have given him no sympathy for any pain associated with his biting. It has been this little annoyance at the back of my head since I first noticed his little sad nubbins of finger nails. But, around Christmastime, he found a book in my classroom called, "The Bearnstein Bears and the Bad Habit." I watched him read this book and really study the pictures of the pages. He asked me a few questions about Sister Bear's bad habit (which just so happened to be nail biting) and we talked about it a little. He didn't say anything more about it after that, but I could see the wheels turning in his little head. I really didn't expect much to come of this incident, but it has been a few months since that day and I am happy to report that Conner is now the proud owner of a beautiful set of fingernails! He made the decision to stop biting all on his own, didn't say a word about it to Steve or me. Just decided to quit! What a great kid. He is such an example to me and I am reminded of that each time I get to sit him down on my lap and trim his once bitten nails.