Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Update on me



The Holidays are upon us, busy, busy, busy. Yesterday I went on a field trip with Rebekah's 3rd grade class. First we went to Canyonwood Nursing Home and visited with the seniors there. They prayed with the residents and sang some Christmas carols to them. It was pretty touching to see those children boldly go up to "old people" strangers and ask them if they could pray for them. They all layed their hands on them as they prayed. After that we headed to the Cascade Theater for a production of "The Elves and the Shoemaker." It was a small production, however the kids seemed to enjoy it. After the Cascade we headed back up to the school and I dropped off some students and picked up other ones for a field trip to the bowling alley. Let me just say that it was a very busy day. While I was at the Nursing home I received a text message from my husband saying that he couldn't find some important business papers that he needed right away, so I had to leave the group and rush off to take the papers (which were in my purse,) to him, and rush back to the group.


So today I told him that I just wanted to stay home all day and bake. (didn't happen.)


My weight this Monday morning was 166.0 Not too bad as I took a week off of pushing it hard.


I really need to start the next round! I feel like I need that competition to keep going.


I did make it to the gym this morning and ran 3 miles and then biked for 10 min.


My house is SLOWLY getting decorated for Christmas. This year I went up to Castle Lake and Brandon and I stomped through the woods and found a tree to chop down. This was something that my family did when I was growing up. I haven't done that in about 25 years! It was fun.




Tuesday, December 2, 2008

4th file 4th picture


OK here is my 4th file 4th pic. It is my cousin Amy and I out on Shasta Lake this summer. We had a great week together, kept busy doing all kinds of activities. Notice how much thinner I am now!!! hee hee =) I can't wait to see everyone else's 4th, 4th!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Random thoughts



I won this weeks weight loss contest. I honestly am amazed every time I place in the top three. Jed and Mike are doing an amazing job!
(Kudos to Tim, Kristen, and Jenn as
well!)



Here is my philosophy on losing weight. I look at it as a project. A "ME" project, in order for it to get done, I have to work on it daily. If I were an architect and building a model of some buildings, I would have to work on it and do something to it in order for it to be finished.



Going for a jog, or to the gym is working on it, however it is only half of the work. Carefully watching your diet is the other half. If I workout and then blow it with my diet, then it is like wrecking the model of buildings right after building them. Yes I do occasionally have a treat.



Do I do all of this on my own strength? No, there are many days I have to pray my way through it. Some days I don't even want to go to the gym, but my husband and I have this saying..."lace them up!" Doing so helps to at least do some sort of physical exercise. I have to daily remind myself of my weight loss goals, and do something to obtain that goal, even if it is just skipping a sweet or high calorie snack. I just pray that I do well through this holiday season!

Monday, November 10, 2008

Update

Just a quick update on my Uncle who suffered a massive stroke a few weeks ago. He is now at Northern California Rehabilitation Center on Eureka Way. He still can not speak, and the right side of his body is still paralized. He can however eat somewhat. He is having problems with aspiration, so he has to be carefully watched while he eats. He has developed a blood clot in his right leg. He needs a miracle. My heart goes out to both my cousins, and my father who has been taking care of my uncle's personal business. Thank you to those of you who have been praying. Continued prayer is needed.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Prayer Request


My Uncle (dad's brother) is in the hospital down here in Redding. He had a major stroke, and is now paralized completely on the right side of his body. He can not speak at all. He can not eat.

He has swelling on the brain, they did an MRI on him today I don't know the results yet. His daughter is flying up from LAX tonight, and staying with us until Sunday afternoon. She is deaf. Some of you may remember her staying with us this July. Pray for our family, and for my uncle's health and rapid recovery.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Just Knowing

Life without Tim this week has been pretty much normal. I do the usual things that I do when he is here, the housework, working out, picking up kids from school, homework, dinner, ect. Things are just the same, except at night. I have no shoulder to lay my head on, and in bed at night just knowing he's there brings comfort. I haven't slept too well the past few nights I think because he isn't there. He also hasn't been here to encourage me in my workouts. I've still done them. Sometimes it's just the little things that bring comfort to me.
I pick him up from the airport this afternoon, so things will be back to normal. Yeah, I missed him.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Lightning hits husbands plane


So for the next 4 days I will be without my awesome husband. Today he left for Seattle for some business meetings this week, he will return on Thursday. He sent me a text when he arrived in Portland saying that his plane was hit by lightning during flight. He said that it was pretty scary, a few people freaked out. The pilot and flight attendants acted like no big deal. Now my husband isn't majorly anxious about flying, however he does tend to get a bit nervous just before his flight. My prayers are definately with his and the planes.

We were talking a little bit this morning about winning this weeks biggest loser challenge, and how hard it is to lose weight with normal daily life going on. Everyone's schedual is busy. Those people on The Biggest Loser Ranch have nothing else to do but workout for 5+ hours a day! I think I do have somewhat of an advantage as I don't have to punch a time clock anywhere. Sure I still have a lot of household responsiblities, and children to tend too, but most days I have the opportunity to do a long workout. However it is being disciplined to do them is where I struggle. I hope and pray that everyone who is participating in TBL Bridge edition has a focused, determination driven week!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Orange water!


This is what came out of our facets this morning! It is gross looking, and we had to shower in it.

I'm sure it is harmless, but I sure wouldn't drink it. Good thing we have bottled water at home.

Just thought I'd share.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

The Encourager


Last week was a rough week for me with my weight loss, and I got a bit depressed about it. My poor husband never said anything but positive words of encouragement to me the whole time I complained. He really is great, he would say things like "that's ok babe, just keep going and doing what your doing, it will come off." Although I didn't loose any weight, I didn't gain any either.

Thank goodness! I might have been docked a point for a .1 gain! I think personally the women should get an amnesty week once a month! It's not our fault that we're women, and bore your children. Anyway, it seems like all that is on my mind these days are what am I going to eat, and what am I going to do for a workout. I am blessed that my husband is so incredibly supportive, I couldn't do this without him being that way that's for sure!

Monday, September 29, 2008

Rough Week

Ok, so I didn't even place in the top three for our Biggest Loser contest this week. I did all the right things, worked out almost daily, ate right, watched my calories and fat intake. It's kind of a bittersweet feeling, I'm bummed because I didn't beat Mike, (sorry Mike) on the other hand hey I did lose 3.8 pounds this week! Half a pound away from making the 2.30% bonus point. So I guess I'm going to have to step it up this week (although don't know how to do more!)
I have to say good job everyone! Just knowing how hard everyone is working is keeping me motivated.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Yet another food picture! If you watched The Biggest Loser Tuesday and saw the yummy low fat and low sodium recipes they did, the Tiny Turkey Meatball with Chickpea soup won the vote. So Tim and I decided that I would make this recipe for the Barbque tonight.

Temptations


OK, so I needed to blog again to take away that huge chocolate chip cookie. So I decided to show what kinds of things I am tempted with at all these Business events that I attend with my husband.
And believe me, there are lots of events!
I was good, only had some fruit and a very small piece of chicken.
I've been doing my workouts, and eating very carefully however not doing as well as last week with my weight loss. Oh well, hopefully by Monday morning I'll have lost 4.4 lbs. We'll see. =)

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Cravings


OK It's Thursday 6:00 pm. I've done GREAT with eating right, no junk food at all.

Now I have this massive craving for the chocolate chip cookies I picked up for bible study tonight. I really have to focus and be disciplined. Because....you can not eat chocolate chip cookies and kick everyone's butt in "Biggest Loser!"

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Sticking with it


I am notorious for starting things and not following through and finishing them. I don't know how many times I have started a diet, did great the first week or two, then not stuck to it.

I have patio chairs that I was supposed to recover this spring still undone. Brandon finished one of them for me, three more to go.

I have lost weight before, several times. The first time was back in January 1998, New Years day I decided to join a gym and meet with a dietitian, she recommended that I keep a food diary and write down what and how much I ate to keep track of my calories, make necessary adjustments with the quality of food I ate. Well I kept that up and lost roughly 90 lbs. My heaviest weight was 217. One year later I weighed 130. Six months after that I went down to 125. Then I got pg with Rebekah. Weight went up again, then I lost it all two years later. Then yo-yoed a few times more. I've been wanting to do something about my weight creeping back on for sometime now, but just haven't had that "fire" to do it. I really hope that with God's help, and encouragement from friends that I can stick with it this time and be successful!

Monday, September 8, 2008

Hair



I miss my long hair! Several years ago I cut my hair super short. I went from long to super short overnight. Now there are many benefits of having short hair like mine, such as a 5 minute blow dry compared to the 20 minutes it used to take me, and it looks cute if wind blown. However there are times that I feel more feminine with longer hair. I don't know, I probably will have short hair the rest of my life as I am too impatient to grow it out! As long as my husband likes it, I am happy.

Monday, September 1, 2008

check out the new names

If you haven't noticed the blog buddies on Tim's list, check them out! He gave us all new names. I like mine the best! =)

Monday, August 25, 2008

Girls 1st Day of school




Yeah! Finally! The girls are back in school. If you've read Tim's blog, then you already know that I'm super excited. Bekah is also super excited, she loves school. Abby, not so enthused, but I think she'll like it more this year. So here's a few pics from this morning.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Happy Birthday Brandon




Today is our only son's 17th birthday. I am proud of him, he is a gifted, talented young man.

Not a person of many words, but always willing to help out. I love how artistic he is, his drawing ability amazes me. So here's to Brandon's 17th Birthday!!!!! I love you son!

Monday, August 18, 2008

Back to School

This is the last week of summer vacation for our girls. Next Monday they will return to school.

It's kind of a bittersweet thing. Gone are the lazy days of sleeping in, swimming, waterworks park...on the other end of the spectrum, the girls will be gone for 6 hours everyday. I will have a little more time to get caught up on housework, going to the gym, out to lunch with friends, whatever. I will also have those after school things, homework, class projects, dance, ect.

I love it all, every phase of the year. I will try to embrace these things the girls go through, as they do grow up fast. Wednesday Brandon will be 17. It's hard for me to believe how old he is getting. He has his driving permit now and will be able to get his liscense in Feburary. Soon he will want to move out and live his life on his own. I hope we have properly prepared him for that adventure.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Our Trip to Monterey Bay






Here are a few pictures of our quick trip to Monterey Bay Aquarium.

We left Friday at noon, it was so nice to get away for the weekend. One last trip before back to school. It was 112 in Redding, but when we arrived in Salinas around 5:00pm it was 65! We had to put our sweatshirts on! Saturday morning Tim took the girls to see the houses where he had lived as a young boy. The last house he lived before moving to Redding had a giant hill right behind it that he used to take card board and slide down, at the bottom of that hill was a giant tree, the kind that makes for great tree climbing. So we took the girls to see where daddy had a fort by the tree. Sure enough there was some card board right next to the tree. (We found out later that night at Tim's moms house that his sister and her kids were there the previous week and she had taken them "sledding" down the hill and left the card board there!) After that we went to the aquarium. The girls had a blast looking at everything there. Following the Aquarium we went to Fisherman's Warf, then the beach. Tim and I were pretty tired after the busy day we had, but not those girls!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

The day after...



Bekah had a nice small simple birthday yesterday. She gets a big party at Waterworks Park on the 30th of this month as most of her friends and family are on vacation this week.


Her older sister took her and Abby to the movies to see Journey to the Center of the Earth for the second time while I did a little shopping and decorating. Then after having Pizza for dinner she got to open her presents and have some cake and ice cream. Overall it was a nice day.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY REBEKAH!




Today is our youngest daughter Rebekah's 8th birthday. Like all parents know, she is growing up so fast! Rebekah is an above average kid, ( well at least I like to think so ) she is very confident in most tasks she takes on. She was an early climber, fearless of most things, very self assured. She is also very headstrong, persistant, definately a leader, not a follower. She is our most challenging child, and her and I share a special bond. So today is her day. These pictures are from last year's Birthday party.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

The things children say


I love the things children say, especially when the words seems so grown up and they are so little. I just read Jamie's blog where Emily said "now I have my ticket to Heaven." It filled my heart and made me smile. Today in the car driving back from Kids Kingdom, Rebekah put her hand on my arm and said, " Mom, I apologize for everything since I was born." I cracked up laughing. Now if you know Rebekah, you understand why that is funny. Rebekah is our most trying child we have. She is extremely persistant, and headstrong. She can negotiate like nobody's business. So I told her apology accepted and continued to drive home, with my heart filled with life's simple little blessings.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Go Karts Part 2




Ok so Tim took his office staff to Need 2 Speed today for a meeting and some racing. I was going to go along so that I could take pictures, however my wonderful, super sweet loving husband said that he'd video tape and I could race. YES!


Everyone who was going was pretty excited. Few had never been there before. Then there's Chris. Hardcore racer. And don't forget his brother Mark. The first race we had was a warm up. Mark took first place in that race. Then the second race we had Chris took first place. Surprisingly Holly our office manager took 3rd place in the first race. As for me, I took 6th place both races. =( Guess I need some more practice. Overall we had a blast.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Go Karts!




Amy and I had the opportunity to ride the Go-Karts at Need 2 Speed.
If you've never done this, I highly reccomend it! I absolutely LOVED it.
(When I drove my Pontiac Grand Prix, my kids were constantly reminding me "Mom, your not a race car driver.")
If I ever had the chance to go one one of those Fantasy Vacation Camps, I would choose race car driving.

Monday, July 14, 2008







These area few pictures of my cousin Amy and I out on the lake. I haven't seen Amy since I was 7 years old and she came to live with us for a while.
We did many things this week, indoor go-karts, hiking to Mossbrae Falls in Dunsmuir, visiting her father in Mt.Shasta, Sundial bridge and Turtle Bay Museum.
We had some minor communication difficulties, I wish my signing was better so that I could talk about more in depth subjects.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Magic Word

Yesterday morning after dropping my son off at summer school, (school starts at 7:30am) my daughter Rebekah asked if we could stay home today and watch movies. It seems like most of the day we are driving from place to place getting errands done. So I told her alright. She fell back to sleep on my bed for a couple of hours, allowing me to get some things done, and shower.
When she woke I told her come on lets get ready to go, she replied, "Mom, you said that we could just stay home and watch movies today, where are we going?" I said, "We're going to Costco with Grammy." Rebekah- " I'm up!" It seems like those are magic words in this family. Whether it is Lets go to Grammy's house, or we're going shopping with Grammy. The kids always get excited to be with Grammy. She is like their own Fairy Godmother or something. Grammy caters to their every need, or desire. She always listens to them, and what they've done with great enthusiasm. She shows extreme patience and love towards them, and always makes them feel extra special. That is just one reason she is my mentor.

Friday, June 20, 2008

My Garden





Every morning I go out to my garden and check things out, see how big the plants have grown since yesterday, see if there are any bad bugs eating them. This is my first garden, so I'm pretty excited to watch my veggies grow. I've never really had a place for a garden, so when we had our backyard re-landscaped last Fall, they put in a raised flower bed. It's only about 2 1/2 feet wide, but about 25 feet long. I don't really have a green thumb, I usually neglect plants, forgetting to water them, and not giving them fertilizer.

Jesus uses gardening practices in many of his teachings. One of my favorites is the parable of the sower Matthew 13. We simply can't just throw out seed and expect it to grow. We must take care of it, water it daily, nurture it until it produces fruit. Last night at Bible study Joel used an illustration that we must become sponges filled with water, not dry and empty, so that we have something to pour out onto others.


Those words really inspired me to do some self-reflection on if I am really filled with the water of life, or am I dry, having nothing to give.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Kung Fu Panda


So I took Rebekah to see Kung Fu Panda today. She enjoyed the movie, but don't ask me how it was, I fell asleep. Slept through most of it too. As you can see from my 1am blogs and comments, I have sleeping issues. I haven't always had them. I used to be a heavy sleeper.

I can remember when Kayleigh and Brandon were babies it would take every ounce of energy to wake myself up and take care of them. I think one reason is when Tim had sleeping issues I kind of took it on as well. He sleeps better now, Praise God. However about 4 times a week I'm up for several hours in the middle of the night. I probably should use my time better than I do, I usually watch tv desperately trying to fall asleep, or I go on the computer.

Tim's Mom


This is in response to my Husband's Wednesday blog about his mom.

I have never met anyone more dedicated and loving to her family than Carol Scarbrough.

She really is amazing. Over the past eight years that I have known her I have witnessed her unconditional love for her family, and her love for the Lord.

I have developed a deep, valuable friendship with her, and am blessed that she considers me her daughter. I definately have a better relationship with her than my own mother.

She has always taken care of the needs of her family before her own. I think after all she's been through, it's about time for HER!

(And yes, my sweetie is a momma boy!)

Sunday, June 8, 2008

What are you willing to do for God?


When I worked at our old church, I used to be very involved in helping people less fortunate, down on their luck. Most of those I helped it was because of poor choices they had made in life really. I would run into those people while out shopping, and would stop and say hello, and ask how are things going? Most of the time they would ask me to please pray for them because this or that wasn't going right in their life. They wanted God to do something for them, but I felt as if they weren't willing to do anything for God. Sometimes I would think to myself how can you even ask God to do this for you when you won't even get your butt to church and worship Him?
I do believe that God can, and does bless us when we don't deserve it. However I also believe that we can live in such a way that it makes it difficult for God to bless us. Next time I see one of those people who seems to always need prayer for the way their life is going, I'm going to ask them "what are you willing to do for God."