E2E challenge and more…

Because my updates are as boring as eating ice cream with no topping, a baked potato with no butter, a glass of water without ice cubes I’m going to combine my update with some daycare fun and a dinner.

But first my update. No gain, no loss, just maintaining. The measuring tape isn’t saying anything grand either however it’s not saying I’m super fat just chubby. My mama took me shopping today for an outfit to wear to Mike’s college. I tried on at least a dozen tops and hated them all. I can’t wear a large yet (the blouses gap at the bust), the xlarge shirts hang like a sheet. I finally found just two very plain tops that will do but nothing great. I got a new pair of jeans and stuck with my size 14 because the 12’s are just a bit to tight to be sitting for hours in. I no longer have to buy a wide shoe, which is awesome, so got a really nice pair of Nike running shoes. All in all it was an excellent shopping trip though I know that I really need to work on toning because I didn’t like the lumps and bumps in some of those tops.

I found a really cool new book. It’s called 7: an Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker. I am feeling a bit cluttered, a bit full both mentally, physically and more and while reading …..(can’t remember who’s blog, I’m sorry)….she was taking so much about her experience in reading this book and the changes she was making and how just totally awesome I thought it would be good for me. So far it’s great. It’s a lot about spiritual goodness too and I’m really in the need of getting that in order. A new phase in my life is about to happen and I think this will help along the way.

I will apologize for not getting to check in with most of you this week. I truly am sorry. It’s just takes time to be on the computer and time is priceless right now so I’m doing the best that I can.

This midweek Mike and I are heading to Wyoming. It’ll be 2 days drive down, 1 day for our visit and then 2 days drive back home but I/we will be so much more ready for this when he leaves next month. At least I can be a bit more at ease but I know I won’t be more ready, I’m never going to be ready for that.

A new week full of trying to get to be the healthiest I can be, though for me right now it’s just going very, very slowly.

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We had our birthday party party yesterday. Mike’s 20th and Rachel’s 12th. Mike was 8 when Rachel starting coming to daycare as an infant. I have some pictures I’ll share with you in a couple of weeks to show you those two and more together growing up. I’m finding it a bit hard to digest all of this, this year. This is Mike’s last birthday with Rachel, not really but his next one, his 21st he’ll be at school and after that life will move forward. All is good, all is moving on.

 

I had 4 big kids after the party and Mike wanted to head to his friends so the kids and I went for a walk. We were going to go cut some pussy willows but that didn’t happen we did this instead.

 

Our pond opened up in the past couple of days and the kids were so happy to see the fish in there. As we started our walk the north side of the hill still has some snow. We had a snowball fight before heading on our walk.

We have a huge beaver dam the goes from our side of the creek to my uncles and this is the first year the water is low enough that I could take the kids across it. They got to see lots of cool things from frog skeletons, to beaver sticks-logs and just a working dam.

 

We got across the dam and walked to Marks and the kids got to hold, cuddly and love the babies.

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Working on making healthy choices so when the boys dropped fish pff we had a great dinner. I sprayed them with cooking spray, sprinkled on a bit of season salt, lemon pepper and roasted peppers and nuked for 2 minutes, let it rest a minute and then another 2 minutes. YUMMY!!

I served it with this…The white square is a small piece of angel food cake that I was to full to eat so Mike ate it.

So moving forward, working on life and excepting and learning to handle all the new things that are heading my way.

Take care my friends and have an awesome week. I will not be home or near a computer from this week to next Monday. So that will mean no midweek update or a E2E weekly update but I will be back on the 26th with pictures of our trip, of Mike’s new school. of the mountains and just maybe a trip to Mount Rushmore if we can just swing a few extra hours. 2500 miles in 4.5 days busy, busy, busy!!

Blessings!!

P.S. I have an awesome partner. I just walked back from the mailbox and found this in there.

You know what I got from Paraguay? I got these and this….

 

The most beautiful earrings and a box of tea. Yep, it’s a bit squashed but it came from South America to North Minnesota, I’m not complaining one little bit. I think it’s so cool it’s so different then what we get here and those stamps, I am loving them too. Thank you so much Casey.