This past week, our time at home could be summed up in one word.

puke

I had kids puking or thinking they would. A husband home sick for 3 days. And then there was me. No, I didn't get sick with the rest of them in the traditional way. I tried Pilates. And that, my friends, made me feel like was going to puke.

Helen, my trainer, gave me this incredible interval workout that starts with 15 minutes on the treadmill and then moves into a variety of Pilates moves. My abs burned. My arms shook. I got sweaty. After a week of her program, I realized I had been exercising, yes, but certainly not pushing myself. And her weekly Facebook messages keep me accountable and encouraged.

Take that and blend it up with the shake up in my WW routine {cutting my points plus allowance by 9, since routinely I use them all during the week} made for a loss of 2 #'s! I started seeing numbers on the scale this week that I seriously haven't seen in a l-o-n-g time. I'm psyched!

A few other things going on with me:

-My new addiction: "American Pickers" - this show has gotten me ramped up about hitting flea markets and rummage sales this spring. So many fabulous ideas to incorporate into our home.

-Olioboards. 'Nuf said. Check it out. Be amazed.

-Projects. More projects. And even more projects. In the upcoming weeks I plan to make belted sweater pillows, finish the silhouettes of the girls, and paint the frame for in their room {which I think will end up a mirror}. I'm on the hunt for a cool vintage armchair to reupholster for their room, too. Like I need another "to do" on my list.

-Forcing bulbs. Last fall I bought some tulip bulbs that never got in the ground in time. I plan to force some of them indoors to enjoy this spring and then get them in the ground THIS fall instead! And soon, very soon, I'll be starting my annual flowers in my indoor greenhouse!

-One more thing about Olioboard... I entered a contest with one of my mood boards and I'd love your vote!

-And finally. *S*N*O*W* Once again we were in the path of "the big one" and it fizzled out. Seriously??? Can't a storm lover get one this winter?

busy busy busy

What would cause a dedicated blogger to miss a weekly blog post, you ask? Well, how about a son who fractures his arm and ends up in a cast. Or preparing for and hosting out of town company. Maybe a child with the pukes. All of those scenarios {and more} played out in our home in the last 2 weeks, thus making me completely oblivious to the fact that I didn't post last week, and am late in blogging this week. My apologies to those of you looking for inspiration and encouragement. {or maybe just need a good laugh once a week}

To recap... last week {somehow} I managed to gain 1#. Not exactly sure how that worked, but this past week I lost .6#. Seems as though I've been hovering at this same basic weight for weeks now and I'm sick of it. I'm never going to get to my goal if I don't step it up a bit and move past this point. I talked to my WW leader and we're trying something new this week to see if it kick starts my weight loss again. I've also started my personal trainers weekly routine. I do a cardio kickboxing DVD with ab workout twice a week, and a treadmill-Pilates interval routine once a week. The 4th day is a "my choice" day where I can decide what I want to do, but an ab workout of some kind is in order. I'll do this program for about 6 weeks and then we'll assess and switch it up. My friend Helen {aka Personal Trainer} also plans to come over on Thursday's to work out with me and keep me accountable. Unfortunately, with the pukes in our house, today was postponed till next week - but I'm still going to exercise!!

What else is new? Well, I got my hair cut and colored. This is a tremendously big deal, since it seems that the last time I was in was last JUNE! I knew it had been a while, but sheesh. Here's what the new do looks like {before and after}:

bliss

"We will WORship You, WORship You.
We will worship You.
We will WORship You, WORship You.
Ever worship You."

I honestly don't know if this is something they have sung at church or Awana, but frankly, I don't care. Sweet voices of my 5 and 7 year old singing praises to our Lord without a care in the world will always, always, make me tear up with delight.

"My God is Healer. Awesome in power. My God. My God."

Bliss. Turn off the radio any day to witness little ones worshiping their God. Their Savior. Their heavenly Father. Pure bliss.

Ok, now that I got to share that glorious moment in my week, I can tell you about my weight loss efforts this week. I have to tell you, that I'm not entirely sure what I did differently, other than follow the program, except that I made a conscious effort to eat 5 servings of fruits and veggies each day {although I didn't succeed every day}, and I tried hard to eat a protein with each meal and eat Weight Watchers "power foods" throughout the day. I guess now that I think about it, I also spent time weighing and measuring those foods that I've gotten lazy about, and I've stopped going back for seconds unless I planned for it.

Planning ahead for each day is crucial, I've found. Obviously things come up that are unexpected, like the fries I treated myself to on Monday, but I found that when I thought ahead to what I'd be eating the whole day, I made better choices in how to spend my points between those meals.

One other thing I'm doing this go-round is eating what my family eats. Before I would make a healthier option for myself but now, I make the whole family eat healthier, or I figure and take the points for eating what they eat. I know that for me to be successful, I need to learn to eat now what I plan to eat the rest of my life - only in moderation. I can't loose a bunch of weight on frozen entrees and get to goal, only to return to eating leftovers for lunch and hope I don't gain it all back. No. I need to learn how to eat the foods I like and want now. It's all about 1. Moderation and 2. Portions. {and there could be a 3. how you cook it , too}

This week I felt great. Like I was making good choices most of the time. I could see my progress on the scale each morning, and that was encouraging. At weigh in, I was down 2.2 #'s! I'm back on the fast-track to my goals! Only 4.8#'s left to reach my Valentine's Day goal.

This week I meet with my friend, and now personal trainer, to put together a work-out routine fit just for me! And because it's been a while, here's what I look like after a great week:

chipping away...

... at me! I'm down another .6#'s this week. I was shooting for 1#, which would have brought me to where I was around Thanksgiving. Seems like eons ago, doesn't it? But when you consider I gained only 3 #'s over 3 holidays {and parties that outnumbered that} I'd say I did okay. Not to mention that I didn't start loosing again until early January, I have to remind myself that any loss is chipping away at my weight and getting me to my ultimate weight goal.

I still have the goal to be a certain weight {not mentioned here} by Feb 14th. I need to loose another 7.2 in the next 14 days. Probably not entirely feasible, but I'm still going to

Shoot for the moon, so I'll at least land among the stars.

{a quote I heard often while in Mary Kay}

Because, whatever I end up actually accomplishing will still bring me closer to the goal than if I gave up now because it was too lofty. Right? And that can apply to any goal, dream or desire. Try. What's the worst that can happen? Where else am I applying this mentality? Debt. We have some, and I hate it. So this year we resolved to put future projects on hold until we get the debt paid off so we can move forward uninhibited. And no matter the problem or goal, big or small, taking it one day... week... month... or small step at a time will get you closer than if you sat on your hands and it remained a thought.

Ok, that got more philosophical than I had intended, but I guess it was in me and had to come out. Oh, and there will be no photo this week. In an effort to get this blog post out in a timely matter, I wanted to upload it today and unfortunately I have a sick little one to tend to.

Here's to another great week!