And the Winner is....

My bestest buddy Jenni J. won the Holiday Challenge!!!!  She took home the $100 and also lost 6lbs!  You go girl!  I'm so proud of you!!!!!

Challenge Update

My best buddy Jenni is currently in 1st place, while my other good buddy Kate is in 2nd....I'm currently at 4th.  Don't count me out yet though girls.  I may have got off to a slow start, but I'm on a roll now, and don't plan to give up!  :-)
Skinny jeans here I come!  Woo-Hoo!!!!

Challenge

I'm currently in challenge with some friends of mine, to see who can lose the highest percentage of weight in 5 weeks.  I'm not real confident, since I don't have a lot to lose and am already so close to my goal weight (fyi: I gained back some weight since summer, and started the competition at 124...so I'm hoping to get back to at least 116-120 range).  It seems that the closer I get to my goal weight, the harder it is to lose and maintain.  Therefore, I've been running a lot.  Which I LOVE!!!  I'm training again, and am planning to run the half-marathon in February again. 

Also, I was thinking about our boys, and how they are learning the importance of healthy nutrition and exercise.  If I ever eat anything other than my "normal" foods (ex: oatmeal, chicken breasts, sweet potatoes, salad, fish, etc...) they say "Oooommmmm, Mom is having a Cheat day!" LOL!!!!  Talk about a couple of little tattle-tales. But I can now make sweet potato fries, and the boys woof them down!  They wouldn't even try them about a year ago, but they are learning to love our healthier options.  Don't get me wrong, they are far from perfect eaters, they LOVE their sugary treats, but they also know the difference in what's healthy and whats a "treat".  I'm proud of them.  I wish I had learned all of this stuff at their age.  My oldest has even learned how to read nutrition labels!  I didn't even learn that until I was 21! (yes...I was clueless!)  LOL! 

Anyway, I don't know why I just went into all of that....but there you have it. My thoughts for the day. 
Oh I ran 5 days in a row last week, and then sunday night after I finished running, I did lunges from one side of the football field to the other, twice.  I can barely stand up today! LOL!!! Feels SOOOO good though, knowing I worked those muscles hard...love that sore feeling, reminding me to keep up the hard work!  :-)

New Ride!

My poor little Maxima was getting very high in mileage (over 153K), and it was running a lot rougher than normal, and very rough when it would switch through the gears.  I really didn't want to get rid of it, because it was loaded with every bell and whistle you could think of.  But Stephen didn't want to worry about me breaking down in it either.  We had already replaced a $600 sensor and the battery this year...who knows what would have been next on the list.  We figured we better go ahead and get rid of it while we could still get something for it as a trade in.  So we had been searching for a few months, trying to decide what to get.  I was going back and forth with whether I wanted a new Cross-over like the Nissan Rouge or the Hyundai Tuscon, or if I'd rather go with another Nissan Maxima or maybe another Toyota Camry......hmmmm, or maybe a Hybrid.  

Well, after doing some research, we decided to go with a Toyota Prius Hybrid.  It gets 45-50 miles per gallon!!!  Talk about fun to drive to.  It takes some getting used to, because it's totally different than a traditional car.  But we are really enjoying it (and LOVING the gas savings! especially with as much as I drive!)  The display says I'm currently getting 47-MPG (after driving it for work the past two days). YES!

Here's my new ride.  A 2007 Toyota Prius.  We all LOVE it!!!  It's not fully loaded like my Maxima was, but has some other great features.  It actually feels roomier in the front and back seats, than my Maxima did, and is a much more comfortable seat/ride.  So we are very happy with the change. 

M.I.A.

Sorry I've been M.I.A. lately.  It's just been so busy with work, kids, college, online appraisal school, exams, housework, etc.  It's been a total whirlwind.  Basketball has now started also, so I have 4 hours every week of basketball practices to sit through.  {sigh....} 
Can I just say "I'm EXHAUSTED".  So ready for a break....

I can say that I am still running.  Trying to get a minimum of 4-5 miles a day (or more,  at least 4-6 days a week...depending on what all is going on and when I can squeeze it in). 
My mother in law also gave me a Zumba DVD to try.  It's rather difficult, since this white girl can't dance...but I do love the Zumba Flat Abs workout.  It's only 20 minutes long, and I can actually do the moves, so I enjoy it.  Let me just say, it makes me SORE! I feel parts of my abs I didn't even know I had...so it must be working.  Hopefully...  after having babies, my abs are my most difficult body part to get/keep firm. 

Okay, I better get to work. I have two reports sitting here waiting to be typed up. 
Later!

busy, busy, busy....

I'm still here...sorry I haven't been a regular blogger lately. It's just so busy around here. On top of my normal "mommy chores" I am also working full time, taking appraisal courses, and a college course. so if I'm not working, doing school, or chores, then I'm running or weight training, and after all of those things, the day is over....

Anyway, I weighed in on Sunday....it said.....116.2!!! Yea!!! I have now officially lost 12.8 lbs since March. Yes!!! It feels GREAT.
So now, I have to work hard to "keep it off", and especially to keep it off through the holidays/winter months. I sooooo do NOT want to gain the dreaded 7-10 pounds this winter.

Okay, gotta go get ready for work. Catch ya'll later!

hair and clothes...

sorry it's been so long since my last post. It's just been a whirlwind around here....
I never made it to my goal weight of 115 by my birthday. I'm currently stuck at 117, but I'm okay with that. I'm wearing a size I feel comfortable in, and my clothes fit really well, so I can't complain.
At my hair appointment today, my aunt gave me a bag of clothes she had bagged up and was going to give away. So once I got home I tried it all on and everything FIT! I was shocked. I've always DREAMED of being as tiny as my Aunt Linda!
She gave me 6 pairs of jeans (some with tags still on them!), and all but one pair fit perfectly! (The size 4 jeans from old navy were way to big, but still have the tags on them...wonder if I could take them in and exchange them without a receipt....hmmmm). She also gave me 3 pairs of running shorts, two pairs of lined straight leg workout pants, two shirts, and a victory secret capri sweat-suit type set. It all fit GREAT! I'm on cloud nine. It was like Christmas! LOL!
New hair, new clothes...what more could a girl ask for. LOL!