day 10

New Beginnings are always great!  What a great time to be thinking about new beginnings with Easter just a few days behind us.  My husband has been struggling with finding full time work since he was laid off from the Tampa Bay Lightning 3 years ago.  Since then he has held 2-3 jobs at one time so we can make ends meet.  He has been working in retail at a running store for the past 2 years and has just started his 3rd season working as Marty the Marauder for the Bradenton Marauders.  Last summer he held those 2 jobs as well as a 10 week job working at the YMCA summer camp program.  Well it seems as he has finally had his big break.  Monday was his first day working at The Joy FM as the new afternoon show producer.  He will eventually be on the air for some segments.  Although the job isn't full time, it is his foot in the door and a job where he feels challenged for the first time in a long time.  I am so proud of him for go through all he has, for standing by me and always having faith that there would be a rainbow at the end of the storm.

day 9

Hey Good Looking...Whatcha got cooking....

Last week my in-laws were in town.  My husband has 3 siblings, the youngest 2 are adopted and one of the greatest gifts to join the family.  They are now 16 and 12 and full of excitement.  Whenever they come into town they stay with us and there is never a dull moment.  We love when they come because they live in the Atlanta area and don't get to see them often but there is a down side. 

The down side is the food.  We eat out 3 meals a day every day they are here and that was horrible for my eating plan.  I did the best I could with my choices while eating out.  It actually wasn't too difficult to find low carb options and I think I did fairly well.  The problem came into play when everyone else around me was ordering all of the yummy goodness I couldn't eat.  I finally gave in and "gave up" the eating the last day they were here. I didn't lose any weight this past week and probably gained 1 pound back.

This week I'm back on track and getting ready to start cooking dinner.  Tonight I'm making a Hungry Girl recipe that is a favorite in our house.  Healthy Chicken cordon blue.

Basically you take chicken breast and pound it so it is thin.  I take a wedge of laughing cow cheese and cut it into a few pieces (usually I use 1 wedge for 2-3 chicken breasts)  I add one slice of low sodium ham lunch meat and roll the chicken up.  Secure the chicken with a toothpick. You will want to bake these in a dish covered with foil for about 20 minutes at 350.  Then take the foil off and bake for another 20 minutes or so until the chicken is cooked all the way through.  Tonight I will be serving this with a side of grilled green beans. 

What's for dinner at your house?

Day 8

He is Risen!  Happy Easter everyone.  My husband and I have decided that in order to better our lives together individually and as a couple we need to spend more time praying and in the presence of God.  We have started praying together at night before bed.  This is a challenge for me because I don't ever have a set  prayer time I just pray throughout the day.  We hope that this will help us stain on the same page with discussions that need to be made and help us feel closer together.  One of the biggest things we are praying about is a possible adoption within the year and buying a house in the next 6 months.  If you are of the praying kind please join us as we embark on these HUGE life changes

Day 6

This is one of my new favorite workouts.  We got this for Christmas and I never got around to using it until a few weeks ago.  This is so much fun and really makes you sweat.  I have some dance background so I find it fairly easy to follow along with the character.  My husband on the other hand says all you have to do is shake your hips and you get points.

There are lots of options on this game.  You can just select certain songs that you want to dance to, you have 3 workout options that vary from a 20, 40 or 60 minute class time.  Within each class time option there are 10 different classes to take.  Lots of variety for sure.  It also lets you program in your stats and will tell you how many calories your burned at the end of each class. 

I have been doing this game on my cross training day at least once a month.  I recommend this game if you enjoy dancing.

Day 5

Part of the life change I am working on this month isn't just emotional and spiritual change but physical change as well.  For 2 years my Husband and I have not planned trips, outings, events, etc. because I could possibly be pregnant and that would keep me from being able to do certain activities. 

I have been overweight my entire life.  I have been dieting almost my entire life.  There were times in my life where I felt like the "token fat girl."  I hate feeling like the biggest girl in the room.  I hate feeling like people judge me by the way I look.  Whether it is true or not, I feel like people look at me and think, "Wow that girl must eat at McDonalds everyday." 

I am a healthy eater.  I don't cook with butter or oil.  I bake, grill or steam everything.  I do occasionally give in to my weakness of french fries or sweets but am conscious of not doing it more than once or twice in a week. 

My mom had great success with the South beach diet by loosing about 100 pounds in a year.  I have previously done Atkins and lost about 40 pounds.  My husband and I started South beach because it seems like a great life style change and something that would be easy for us to keep up with. 

We finished the first week this past Saturday and I lost 5.6 pounds.  I was super excited and super motivated and it was exactly what I am needing.  I have set a goal to loose 20 pounds by the time we go on vacation June 1.

Stay tuned as I share my new workout plan I'm experimenting with and some new recipes.  I have a feeling some of these recipes will fail but I will share the good, the bad and the ugly!

Day 2, 3, 4

So already I am behind on my 30 day challenge to blog.  My in-laws are in town for their spring break and I haven't had the chance to sit down to blog.  It works out because I was trying to figure out how I was going to divide up the first topic into a few days...I guess now I don't have to.

Part of the life change I'm looking for, is a shift in my thinking about having a baby.  You can go back and look through my blog to get an idea of the journey I have been on but here is a short overview.  My husband and I got married on July 11, 2009.  We knew from the start we wanted a family and decided to start trying right away.  We got pregnant on the 3rd try.  It was bittersweet because I found out I was pregnant on the 1 year anniversary of our proposal, but it was also about 2 weeks after my grandpa passed away.  I was thrilled because in my mind, the baby I was carrying had my grandpa's spirit.  On the morning of January 8th I woke up and had some light spotting.  That light spotting soon turned into more and we went to the ER.  They did an ultrasound (my first ultrasound) and we were able to see the baby and the heart beat.  The problem was the baby was measuring at around 6 weeks and I was almost 10 weeks.  They sent me home and told me I was fine, but I might miscarry.  We were home for a few hours when it happened.  It was like a balloon burst.  It was horrible and traumatic.  My husband and just run out to the store.  I was scared I was bleeding out and would pass out or die even.  We called the hospital they told us we didn't need to come in unless the bleeding got to a certain point.  For the rest of the night I tried to sleep but was in a ball of pain, fear, emotions etc.  We left the hospital thinking everything was fine.

It has been 2 years and almost 3 months since we lost our little Zoe.  We didn't know if she was a girl but in my heart I knew she was.  We named her Zoe because Zoe means life.  Since the miscarriage I have been to 3 different doctors and finally found one that will help us.  I'm convinced that something isn't working properly in my body since the miscarriage because I haven't had regular cycles.  I did 3 rounds of clomid with no luck.  My husband has a slightly low count but the doctor wasn't concerned about it because it was so close to normal.  I have been been angry at God. for the majority of these 2 years.  Everyone keeps telling us, "When it's meant to be it will happen," "just be patient,"  "Have fun trying," "Sometimes miscarriages are blessings in disguise."   It is to the point that if one more person says something like that to me I think I will snap.  I can't understand that if Zoe wasn't meant to be then why did I get pregnant in the first place.

It has been a long emotional journey.  My husband and I have fought for no other reason than we both have deep hurt from our loss.  After years of soul searching, praying and wonderful friends we have had a change of heart.  We have decided that we will be parent's but sometimes people don't get to have their own babies the natural way.  Some babies come to us through other outlets.  We will be starting the adoption process in a few weeks.  We have prayed long and hard to find peace in our hearts to know that God is still in control.  "The Lord gives and Lord takes away, Blessed be the Lord."  Sometimes we never understand God's plan for our lives, but I have to trust and know that their is a purpose.  God doesn't want us to suffer, and he definitely doesn't want us to suffer alone.  He wants us to have bold faith in every aspect of our lives and to jump in and to not look back.  I will always have hurt in my heart over the losing Zoe, but I know she will be in heaven waiting for us.  One day we will get to hold our angel and we will not only be in presence but in the presence of the Lord.

30 Day Challenge

A friend of mine has a blog, Eat, Pray, Love, Live!  She is started a challenge for fellow bloggers and I have accepted the challenge.  For the month of April my challenge is to not only to blog for 30 days but is "30 days of life change."  My husband and I have had a hard couple of years and have decided to make some big changes in our lives. This challenge will be about my journey for the next 30 days and how i'm changing my life.