December Highlights

We had a lot to celebrate last month. First we had a wedding, then Christmas, followed by Miss L's birthday, and then a cruise to the caribbean. We took over 600 pictures last month, so it was hard to narrow it all down. But here are some of my favorites.

Freezing (but happy) outside the Draper, UT LDS temple.

Christmas Eve

L-O-V-E their expressions here!

At Grandma N's house

With all of the craziness of the season, we bought a cake from B&R's.

She is really growing up! I can't believe she is 7 already!

AND THEN THE CRUISE....

Last year my parents surprised me and my siblings (and spouses) with tickets for a cruise to the caribbean. All year we have been anticipating this getaway. It was such a total blast to be with everyone....without kids! And let me just give a quick shout-out to my in-laws who took care of my kiddos---THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!

The highlights of our cruise included incredible food, entertainment from the Blue Man Group, a hilarious Newlywed Game Show that my brother and his wife competed in, sailing our own regatta, parasailing, snorkeling, water slides, rock climbing, rappelling, more food, and more food, and more food. :D But the best part was getting to be with my brothers and sisters and parents. Thank you mom and dad for such a wonderful vacation!!!

Here are a few photos:

This is the top of the ship. The yellow tube is an awesome waterslide!

Sailing our regatta in St. Maarten! We didn't end up winning the race, but everyone worked so hard (except the bartender and the iceberg watcher--heehee). I had never been sailing before and the tipping of the boat made me REALLY nervous. I was sure we were going to tip!

St. Thomas

G & I parasailed over St. Thomas. It was absolutely beautiful!

This is where we went snorkeling. Unfortunately I did not get any photos of us in our gear. We saw two spotted sting rays, a barracuda fish (about 3 feet in length) and lots of other really pretty fish. It was so peaceful and fun!

Nassau, Bahamas

The color of the water was INCREDIBLE!

Swimming in the Bahamas

The sand was more like golden powder.

Waiting for Blue Man's Group. The show was fantastic!

G rock climbing on the ship

Everyone (except G who is taking the picture) at the French Bistro. The food was TO DIE FOR!

The beautiful ladies in my family.

And last, but certainly not least...the food (in no particular order).

Escargot (not my first time---but definitely the best I've ever had)

Raspberry Creme Brulee

Lobster

Rib Eye steak

Crab legs

Tomato salad

The best fish n chips I have ever eaten (a restaurant in St. Maarten)

Squid, Chicken, and Shrimp

Chocolate Fondue

Creme Puffs

Apple Tetin

Salmon

Puffed pastry with shrimp, scallops, & creme sauce (This meal was hands down the best meal on the entire cruise).

Duck salad


Teppanyaki--the garlic fried rice was amazing!

Traditional Creme Brulee (best dessert on the ship)

So now you know why I gained 7 pounds. HAHAHAHA!!!!!! Luckily I've already dropped 2 of those pounds and I'm moving on!

Thanks again Mom and Dad---for an awesome family vacation!

The Verdict

Well, the holidays are over. The cruise has ended. The verdict is in.

I gained 7 pounds.

I do have to say that I completely deserved every ounce of gain. I had the most amazing food on our cruise, and I did not hold back at all. I indulged in every way possible, so in some ways I'm glad that I did not gain more....I sure felt like I had gained more than that!

This sets me back quite a ways. In order to successfully completely my goal, I still need to lose 53 pounds, in a little over 28 weeks. That means I need to lose about 2 pounds per week in order to meet my goal. It's still possible, but leaves NO ROOM for screwing up. *sigh* But I'm going to keep trying.

In two days I am going to attend a Weight Watchers meeting to check out their new Points Plus System. I've heard good things about it, and I think I'd like to try it out. We'll see.

Thanks again for the encouraging comments. Even though I gained weight in the last 3 weeks, I am still 13 pounds lighter in Jan 2011 than I was in Jan 2010...I am definitely moving in the right direction!!!

P.S. Last year my family had a weight loss contest. The weigh-in date was Dec. 23, 2010...and I WON!!!! I kind of have to laugh about this because my other siblings lost a TON of weight (a combined total of something like 300 lbs) the year before, so they really didn't have anything to lose this year. But still...I WON! :D

Checking in

I haven't reported on my weight loss journey in quite a while. I just haven't had time with the holidays. I am happy to report as of last Friday I had lost more weight, and have now lost a total of 20.5 pounds! :D

Unfortunately, I think the past week has ruined me. Between a wedding all-you-can-eat buffet, a weeks worth of holiday baking (and eating), and Pertussis (McDonalds is much more appealing than cooking when I am sick), I am seriously afraid to step on the scale. Since Christmas is this weekend, followed by a cruise on New Years....I'm in BIG TROUBLE!!! Hopefully I can resist all of the sweets, and make it through!

Thanks everybody!

Nutcracker

A few weeks ago Miss L, Miss A, and I went to see the Sacramento Ballet perform The Nutcracker. Grandma N and GG came up to see it, along with lots of cousins and a couple of aunts. It was such a fun girls' weekend. We got dressed up and went to the Cheesecake Factory. Then we headed off to the show (luckily we got there in time---BARELY). I've seen The Nutcracker before (as a kid), and I remember being confused and bored. I enjoyed it so much more as an adult. However, my girls LOVED it (they got a little tired toward the end). We also managed to pick up a few adorable ornaments to help us remember our fun day together. It was so much fun!

Here are some of our pictures. This probably is going to sound lame, but I'm sad I am not in one single picture that we took. Not that I want to see myself--haha--but because it's such a fun memory with my girls. I just didn't think about jumping into any of the pictures. :(

GG and the girls

Miss A LOVES her nutcracker!

Lunch with Grandma

All dressed up and waiting to go

The entire crowd, minus 3 adults (who were frantically snapping pictures)

Little Singer

Miss L has always LOVED to sing. It is not unusual to hear her singing in her bed when she wakes up; it's typically the first things she does. She sings in the shower. She sings in the car. She sings pretty much all day. She often tells us that she dreams of being on stage, singing for a large crowd.

Here is a video of her first solo at a church talent show (age 3). And then there is a video of her performance at our church Christmas party last week (age 6).

Great job Miss L! We are so proud of your courage and willingness to share your talents!

26.2

We recently had a fun, quick trip to Santa Barbara to support my husband in running his first marathon. It was a completely crazy trip, but luckily my mom offered to watch Baby C and Miss R for us. Thank heavens!!!

G trained hard for his race, spending many, many hours running. This was his first race to exceed a 5K, so it was a pretty big jump for him.

We had the opportunity to meet him at the 18 mile marker to cheer him on. The girls made a cute sign for him. When he ran by, everyone around us was cheering, "Go Daddy!" It was really cute!

It was cold, so the girls wore Gma's jacket.

All of us waiting at mile 18.

And there he goes.....

For the first 22 miles, G was running at an awesome pace...and he expected to reach his goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. However, at mile 23 he became severely dehydrated and all of his muscles locked up. He had to walk (hobble is probably more like it) for a while, and then was able to run the last mile or so (thanks to his sister who went and found him and cheered him on). He was very discouraged when he crossed the finished line, but I cannot even begin to tell you how proud I was. It was so amazing to watch him accomplish something so challenging. It was pretty dang cool!

FINISHED!!!!

Wiped out.

Ouch. Yes, those are blood blisters.

Getting iced up.

After the marathon, G could barely walk for 2 days. But now he has fully recovered and is actively looking at a spring marathon. I've been told marathons can be addictive, and it looks like my husband has succumbed to the temptation! :D

THANK YOU

First off---I want to say thanks to all of you who responded to my last post. It made such a difference in my morale---SERIOUSLY! And you all had great ideas too! Thank you so, so, so much!

I am feeling much better this week. I think part of it was your encouragement and part of it was giving the South Beach Diet "da boot!" Why? Well, I ran into a friend last week who also started the South Beach Diet a few weeks after me. She told me that she became violently ill. After we talked about it, I came home and did some research. Hmmm....seems nausea is a common side effect of the diet. And I have definitely felt nauseated the last couple of months. I kept wondering if I was pregnant or something because about 3 days a week I felt like someone had kicked me in the gut. So I decided to give up South Beach and start Weight Watchers again (informally--on my own). This week went really well. I am happy to report that I've lost 2 of the 3 pounds that I had gained. So I'm back on track and hoping for an even greater loss next week (since it really has only been 4 days since I started WW again).

Thanks again for your help!!!