Couch to 5K- Week One

Hello my blogging friends! I apologize for the lapse in updating. Working has really taken a huge chunk out of my time and I barely have time to check my email anymore! This past week I made a decision for myself. Instead of the usual "I need to lose weight!" exclamation, I decided I would make a "smaller" goal for myself. I've decided to start running. So much so that I decided to have a goal at the end. December 5th, I'll be running the 5K Jingle Bell run for Arthritis in Waco! To help me with this endeavor I've started using the Couch to 5K program. This program is all over the net and basically eases you into running with a 9-week course. The objective is to condition your body to run using intervals of running/walking. I started last week but suffered a bout of the Flu AND the stomach flu all in one week. I decided to start over this week as week one. I cannot tell you how excited I am to come home and run in the evening! (can't say I've ever felt like THAT before). Although I'm not specifically trying to lose weight but let's face it, we all are. I will be posting my progress weekly as well as my stats for weight and measurements. This is a very humbling exercise because it forces me to tell the world (literally) my measurements and show pictures. If anything, it's also a way to somehow encourage someone else to do the same thing. So here goes the stats (Eek, I can't believe I'm really about to do this!).

Week One
Weight- 153
Hips- 40.5'
Thighs- 24.5'
Belly- 35'

Rylee drops it like it's hot

LMAO, Scott and I were DYING watching this earlier. Rylee has started to really enjoy dancing to music and is shaking it pretty good. Watch closely towards the end when she brings her hands to the floor and drops it like it's hot. Mommy's so proud.

God really IS good!

Alright, bear with me, I'm gonna get a little preachy here. Have you ever hit a point in your life when it feels like God is coming at you from different angles with the message "You've stayed away from me long enough, it's time to come back now."? Lately I feel like these signs are blinking, neon screaming saying "PAY ATTENTION TO ME!!!!". The things that have been going on in my life just make me realize how good God really is to me (all of us). I recently started back to work (as if you didn't know) at a Christian Adventist hospital. This type of atmosphere is unusual to me. Although I am a Christian, it's as though I've been in the closet for many years. My previous job for 6 years was General Electric Finance. Being it was a very Politically correct business, religion was basically banned from the premise. We couldn't say "Merry Christmas" or "God Bless". Our Christmas trees and decorations were newly named "Holiday decorations". It was like He was "The one who must not be named". At my new job we start every staff meeting with a prayer. Then, we read aloud a religious passage that relates to something in our lives or our work. It's actually really refreshing. With the recent job, and the fact that after being there for a little under a week when they decided to promote me and bring me on permanantly, I feel like God has been aiding me and making me see again how much he helps me. Rylee was sick all last week with a high fever and rash. It made me pray much more and realize how much I take for granted when she's feeling well.

Last week when Rylee was ill she woke up at around 9 pm, hot from her fever. I went in and rocked her for a bit to calm her down thinking "Gosh, I wish she would go to sleep. I'm tired, ready to go to bed, I'm cold and could use a blanket...." I almost rushed her back into the crib so I could attend to MY needs. Really, how unfair was that of me? She wasn't feeling well and all I could think of was what I wanted. After I got my blanket I sat down to my laptop and browsed a few of my friends blogrolls. One came up that totally stopped my heart. This blog, http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/ is about a wonderful Christian family who found out at 20 weeks pregnant that their sweet daughter Audrey had an enlarged heart and wouldn't make it for long outside the womb. The family had the choice to terminate the pregnancy early to save themselves from heartbreak or to endure the pregnancy and give their daughter the option of living and meeting her for however how brief. I cried as I read how Audrey came into the world with a little squeak, signalling she was alive. Tears streamed down my face when I saw the pictures of the whole family with tiny Audrey, loving and holding her for as long as they could. That brief 2 hours she lived were two hours that family will forever remember, as will I. There I sat absolutely SOBBING, thinking "How selfish am I??!" I don't have any idea what I would do with myself if I didn't have my laughing, smiling little Rylee in my life. How could I live? I realized in that instant how much I take my life for granted. Rylee didn't wake back up that night but if she had, I probably would have slept there that night, rocking her in the chair, holding her tight in my arms. Instead, I got into bed with my red, itchy eyes and prayed. I prayed for the loss of Audrey and all the losses like her. I prayed for the family who believed so much in God that they felt they were CHOSEN to have a child like Audrey. I prayed for all the people I knew who were having problems at the moment. I also prayed to God how grateful I was for what He had given me. I stayed in the closet long enough, it's time now for me to come back out. Out as a Christian. I'm back God, you've let me know loud and clear, it's time to come back.

Oh panty hose, how I hate the

I truly want to know what person thought that a torturous device made of nylon and cotton would be a good idea? I'm all about a smooth butt and zero panty lines but come on now. How embarassing are panty hose really? Let's start out with the waist. Control top. Even though it's meant to sound appealing as if it'll "control" the rolls we've managed to stuff in it, it doesn't really live up to it's name. Any time I've worn control top it's just stuffed my "muffin top" up a little higher, creating a puffy confection-like bulge right under the boobs. That's attractive. On to the reinforced toe. When I first saw the sewn in patch of extra layer on the foot I wondered "Now, what type of dinosaur claws do you need to rip out the toe of a pair of panty hose?" Apparently, dinosaur claws are pretty damn common. I actually kind of like the reinforced toe, we'll keep that. Let's get to the real ego booster, the size. I can understand the A and B sizes, I remember I used to fit both sizes some time ago. What comes after B? C, you would think. Nope, it's size Q. What does Q mean? Queen. Greaaaaat.....I went from Adorable to Beautiful, to QUEEN? What is the logic in that? Can't a girl get an in-between? C for Chubby maybe? So, if you've ever been humiliated by the long-time "pull it all in so you can fit into that lovely little skirt" fad of panty hose, you probably know what I mean.....

Drumroll please..........

I DID IT!!! Boy do I love this haircut! I feel like 10 lbs just fell off me and I feel, dare I say it....sexy! My stylist copied Jenny McCarthy's style to a "T"! She did exactly what I wanted her to do and I appreciate a stylist like that. Ok, without further a"do" (LOL, I'm such a nerd). Here's the hair!
The front
The side
The back

And one with the glasses. Sooooo...what do you think?

Hair today, gone tomorrow....or in 2 hours.

I'm doing it!!! In about an hour and a half I'll be chopping off most of my hair!! Much to Scott's dismay, I've decided to do the uber trendy assymetrical cut, stacked in the back. I've been scouring the internet and finally found the perfect cut and here it is folks....

I am so rediculously nervous to do this but I know I'm do for a change. My hair has been long for a couple of years but it's pretty damaged and it ALWAYS ends up in a pony tail within 10 minutes of me doing my hair. THis state is just too damn hot to have pretty hair. Well, wish me luck! I'll post pics of it later on today!

Shameful cute kid post

Because I think my daughter is hilarious and I usually have a picture of her doing something that cracks me up, I'm going to start posting pictures of her occasionally. Ignore them if you don't want to see them, I just want someone else to be able to see this smiling kiddo!

I just like this one of her and Scott. They love playing with water together.

As promised

Wow, I didn't think two days of working could wear me out as much as it did! I started work on Wednesday morning nervous as could be. There was a slight mis-communication between the temp agency and hiring manager. I was told the job was an HR Coordinator but in reality it was the HR Receptionist. Hey, it's a job. I realized I really missed being "Christine, professional" instead of just "mom". Not that there's anything wrong with wearing the "mom" hat, I just prefer wearing the other hat more often. I missed working and bringing in an income. I'm a very hard worker and the job of occasionally answering the phone when it rings is just not challenging enough to me. I was begging for projects by mid-day. I'm assuming they wanted to get a feel for my experience and didn't want to overwhelm me at first. I did find out my "bought for comfort not for looks" shoes were not what they had promised.
Don't these LOOK like they'd be comfortable? I ended up driving home barefoot and nursing my blisters when I came home.

The worst part of the day, little did I expect, was coming home. I haven't been away from Rylee for more than 4 hours...ever. I fully expected her to be waiting at the door missing me as much as I missed her. I wearily walked into the door anticipating her huge smile and running to me for a big hug. When I realized there was no toddling cuteness at the door I found out she was still napping. NAPPING??? At 5:30 PM???? Jeeze louise Scott, come on now! I went to her room to hear her hysterically bawling. When I reached into her crib to comfort her, she turned away from me! I pulled her out and cradled her in my arms till Scott walked in the room. She immediately squirmed her body and reached for her Dad. If Scott tried to give her to me she would start crying again. This lasted for almost 30 minutes. Meanwhile, my mommy heart was breaking. Maybe it was the lack of sleep or my overtired brain but at that moment I was crushed. I started crying to Scott saying that I expected her to at least miss me and here she was wanting nothing to do with me. Why on earth did I stay at home the last year, caring for her? Did she even care? Was she mad I had left her all day, did she even notice I was gone? I seriously needed a swift kick in the ass but I was so exhausted. Finally, after I got a giggle out of her while crawling around pretending to run from her, she opened up. To spare my feet for the next day, I'd stopped off at Walmart to get a new pair of shoes. She opened the box and my good little girl tried on my high heels, lol. Somehow, that made it all better for me and the rest of the evening went much better. I was however, a RAGING bitch. By 8:30 I could barely keep my eyes open and went to bed at 8:45. Sissy.

Boy, I am whipped.

I am honestly too tired to post about my first day at work. I slept terribly, waking up at least 9 or 10 times last night thinking I'd be late. Scott's first alarm goes off at 4:45 am and he hits snooze till about 5:30. I don't snooze. That means I've been up since 4:45. Ugh. I can hardly keep my eyes open and my knees are on fire (damn shoes). So my blogging friends, I bid you adieu. More to post at a later time.

Yeyy! I got a job!!!

Today, my friends, is bittersweet. The temp agency called me today to let me know there's a position open at the local hospital for an HR Coordinator. I start tomorrow morning! I'm terribly excited to start working again but I feel so bad at the same time. I haven't been away from Rylee for more than 4 hours EVER. She's going to make someone else smile all day long. She's going to go to someone else for comfort when she falls down. She's going to be around some lucky person who gets to see her all day. I'm getting teary-eyed just thinking this. My neighbor is going to watch her for the rest of the week and she is just fabulous. I trust her completely and know she'll be great. After that we're enrolling her at the On post CDC. I still don't want to work full time but at this point I can't be choosy. I'm hoping she'll be in a place that keeps her mind intellectually stimulated more than I can. I am a TV watcher and know she sees more of it then she ever should. I also know she'll enjoy being around all the different children, she LOVES kids. I guess this is just all to real and thought I would have a little more than half a day to get used to the idea of not being around my little lovebug. OK, I'll be strong. Hey....maybe now I can get a new pair of shoes or something, lol. Maybe I'll be allright working again.

Well, crap

I'll confess it, I'm a speeder. I'm a lot better than I used to be though now that I have a little squirmer in the backseat. I was on the way home from visiting a friend in the hospital on post when I was pulled over about 3 streets away from my home. I knew I was speeding and was completely honest with the officer when he asked if I knew I was speeding. However, I didn't realize how MUCH I was speeding. Honestly, I thought I was going maybe 5-8 mi's over. Nope, this idiot was going 14 miles over the limit! I'm sure the shock showed on my face when he told me. What made things worse was I didn't have an updated insurance card in my car, which I didn't realize at the time. When the officer came back and asked me for another copy of my updated insurance card, the panic set in. I called Scott in near tears asking where my copy was. He informed me he had taken out the Atlas (which he had put the copy in) and had it at the house.

I've never NOT had an insurance card, so I'm thinking....That's it, I'm going to jail. I immediately burst into tears because I'm also thinking "Shit, we don't have the money for this either!". By the time the cop comes back to my window, I'm a mess. I didn't want him to think I was crying to just get out of a ticket but I couldn't seem to get myself together. I think he would have let me off had I provided insurance but alas, the pink ticket sits beside me. I still can't believe I was speeding that much and I can't imagine how much this lesson will teach me. I guess I'll remember to keep that foot off the pedal a bit. AHHGG! I'm so mad at myself!

Need a Laugh?

I love being an idiot with my child. It's great to run around the house screaming with her just to make her laugh. This is one of my favorite parts of being a mommy. No matter how dumb I look, and how terrible my hair looks that day, she still thinks I'm the greatest. Excue the "Blair Witch Project-esque" way my husband recorded it. It's rare he's the one behind the camera so it's a bit....jumpy, lol.

For Sale

I've gotten a couple requests to make and sell my beanies. Since I'm in my current state of unemployment, I have decided it's a great idea! I'll be selling my handmade beanies for $20 plus shipping. You make the choice of any color, I can stripe them or do solid colors. I can also edge and do the flower in different colors. Flower or no flower, Bill or no bill. You decide! I typically make them out of %100 cotton but if you would like a lightweight acrylic or wool, let me know. Send an email with your childs head circumference to www.hinote1980@yahoo.com

Each hat takes about 2 days to crochet (providing I don't have to run after my crazy walking child all day long!) and will let you know ahead of time before it's sent. We'll work out the money details in email and I'm thinking of using Paypal or something like it. I'm so excited!

Back to the drawing board

Sooo.....the job with the Insurance company ended up not having the position anymore. I knew it was a longshot being that I didn't have my license. The owner really got my hopes up by telling me he was pretty sure they were giving me the job. About 3 days later he called to say he had met with his colleagues again and they decided it wasn't a needed position. Stupid me had already went and bought a few new work outfits and was totally stoked. The rejection kind of pushed me down again. I've been struggling with a bit of depression lately. I guess the non existance of any sort of money is beginning to take it's toll. I was so excited to finally contribute again. I was given a very nice offer though. The owner felt so bad about stringing me along that he offered to help me get my insurance license by paying for my study guides, as well as my test. I'm going to do it, but I really need something in the meantime. I've applied at quite a few places this weekend. It's really demeaning to have worked in upper level corporate jobs for the last 8 years and having to do anything I can do even get eight dollars an hour! I guess that college education would really come in handy right now. I'm thisclose to having my Associates degree and really need to go back to finish it. *Sigh*, I guess this is just my big pity party today.

My new obsession

Other than the adorably cute model, it's crocheting beanies with brims! I've been on a crocheting kick lately because it's faster than knitting and I just don't have that kind of patience right now. After years of trying I was finally able to watch enough online video tutorials to teach myself. I was trying random patterns off http://www.ravelry.com/ and finally found one I liked on Etsy. Since then I've been making these things like crazy! Mine doesn't look as good as it does on Rylee but I've got plenty of time before "winter" to get one done for me.

Pay no attention to the rediculous goofy smile on my face. This was the best out of like 10 pictures I took. I would get more except my new neighbor next door walked out right when I was doing it. Nothing looks more dumb then someone wearing a winter beanie outside in 100+ weather while taking a picture of themselves. I then pretended I was looking at the lense to find an imaginary smudge. He probably thinks I'm weird now and is telling his wife about the weird neighbor who thinks it's cold outside.

Mmmm....crackers up the nose

HAHAHA, this picture just makes me laugh. Rylee loves crackers and was eating a combination of Wheat Thins and Ritz. She would begrudgingly eat the wheat thins if I gave them to her. Yesterday she was eating a Wheat Thin when I offered her a Ritz, she spit out the entire Wheat Thin onto the floor in order to eat her Ritz. She completely demolished it in a couple seconds but left some for later.....in her nose.

Backyardigans

Sunday morning Scott actually woke up with Ry and me. Our lawn hadn't been mowed in about 2 weeks and looked terrible. We decided to do some major yard work. Scott mowed and I attempted the weed wacker. Let me tell you, if there were tickets being sold to me using it, it would have been sold out. I had an insane fear of the gas-powered machine and treated it like it was covered in prickly spikes. Once Scott gave me a lesson on starting it, the fear subsided a bit. It's still pretty difficult to start and stop it while holding it in one hand but I think I did a very nice job! After that I was motivated to do quite a lot!

For some unknown reason, our backyard was full of random rocks! I was tired of stepping on them while walking across and decided to get them all up. Boy did I underestimate that job. After almost an hour and a half of picking up stones I had already filled a huge bucket. Covered in sweat and downright parched, I called it off for a bit. Look at this bucket!

It was a balmy 100 degrees (104 with the heat index) by 5 pm when we decided to keep going. I took one look at the flower bed in the backyard and realized it needed my dire attention. We moved in here the end of February this year. The previous tenants were trash. The backyard was filled with broken lawnmowers, old bike parts, trash, bits of brick, and plenty of dog poop. The rental company cleaned up most of it but small things and the presence of all of it left a toll on the yard. Scott put the flower bed in and lined it with bricks once we moved in. It looked fabulous for quite some time, until the heat of summer hit. As I was looking at it I realized it hadn't been weeded or deadheaded AT ALL since we put it in! I took to deadheading while Scott decided to put in a vegetable garden. LOL, they don't sell seeds for vegetable anymore but we have a lovely patch of dirt now! Anyways, here's a picture of the flower bed, after being deadheaded. Hopefully it'll make a comeback as it looks rather sad right now.

No....

I must start this by saying I was an exceptionaly well-behaved child. The worst punishment for me were the words "Mommy is disappointed in you". Forget spanking, I was most miserable when I knew I had done something wrong. Neither parent was adamant about my punishments or upbringing so I can only say this insane rule-abiding personality was some sort of weird genetic wiring. I've always been somewhat of a smart ass but that's about it. I'm the person that doesn't cut in the parking lots or pull through to the next spot. I'm that girl that feels bad about forgetting something in the cart only to find it later and develops a stomach ache from worry. I'm just that damn moral, lol. As luck would have it, my wonderful daughter has seemed to not only inherited my husbands exact facial structure (seriously, when is this kid going to resemble me at all??) but she's also developed his attitude. My daughter said her first word the other day. Like most kids the usual firsts is Mama, Dadda, Doggie, More, Up.....etc. What is my daughter's first word? No. Yeah, that right the first word we could decipher was her giving me attitude.

Rylee's obsession with the laptop and other electrical items has left me repeating No, No, No all day long. I've had to also start slapping her hand to emphasize my point. After she cried from being mad that I'd smacked her hand she reached for the laptop again. I said the obligatory "No" in which she looked me straight in the eyes and said "No" back to me. Scott was beside me and after he confirmed to me that she did indeed, say her first word, we both wondered what the hell should we do? I wanted to jump for joy that she'd said a word, whether it be from repetition or not. Another part of me wanted her to know she was wrong for saying it. What would you do? All I could do was look the other way while I tried to control my laughter. I also got a brief glimpse of the future with a fiercely independant 12 year old who thinks I'm the bane of her existance. Oh was a great though, lol.

Working girl

The time has come the walrus said.......for this girl to get a job. After a year of staying at home taking care of my angel, our money situation has dearly suffered. Being DINKS (dual income, no kids) for a few years made our spending habits not so responsible. I'm proud of being able to do it for at least a year. I was a daycare child until I was old enough to stay home on my own and always vowed I'd never do that to my child. I can strongly say I am no good at coupon cutting and generic buying so I have decided a few days of working a week will make for a happier household. For the last couple of months I've been scouring the classifieds hoping for some glimpse of a decent job like my last. For the past 8 years I've worked in Call centers doing a myriad of jobs. For 4 years I've been doing Workforce Management, a field that's hard to describe the actual job itself. I previously worked for Acer Computers before giving birth and going on hiatus. The job itself is great, the 46 mi drive however, was not. After searching and searching the papers I finally realized the job market here......SUCKS. A few weeks ago I was driving down the road on the way home and noticed a billboard for an insurance agency. Deciding to give fate a chance, I called to see if they might potentially have any openings. The owner seemed interested in my Call center background and had me come in to fill out and application and drop off my resume. After a week of no word, I got a call yesterday. They're thinking of hiring me to train their agents on phone ettiquette and scripting. This company is about 5 miles away- Nice! The same day I got a call from my old boss who was returning my call. My old job isn't available but they could hire me to do the job that I managed before. I feel terrible about being excited to work but the prospect of buying a bra or shirt that's NOT from Walmart on the clearance rack is mighty tempting. Now it comes down to the money game. Will the money from Acer be worth the 90 mi drive 3 days a week? We shall see!

Lions and Tigers and Bears....Oh My!

While Tim and Bran were in town we decided to hit up the nearby Cameron Park Zoo in Waco. What a fantastic place! Zoo's in my past included a couple penguin, some monkeys that were always scratching their butts and a couple birds here and there. This place was so much more than I'd expected! The park itself is surrounded by thousands of trees and shrubbery, making it almost jungle-like. Mind you, a tree in Killeen is few and far between so it was refreshing to see some live greenery. The animals were huge and exotic which made us all feel like kids experiencing something new. Every scene brought ooh's and ahh's from all of us. Save for the 108 degree day, it would have been perfect. Rylee was a champ the whole day and really toughed out the heat. The minute we walked in her cheeks got red and I started to strip her down. By the end of the day my poor redneck (and red-faced) child was stripped to her diaper and covered in water we kept pouring onto her to keep her cool. Right before the park closed she finally let out her frustration but fell fast asleep once she was strapped into her carseat in the air conditioned car.

Aunt B and Uncle T

This past week my BIL and SIL came to town. This was the first time they both had come down to see us and Brandi's first plane ride. Only the promise of extra hugs and kisses from Rylee could convince Bran to face her fear of flying down to visit...Oh, and a couple Xanax. The visit was truly one of the best we've had yet. Rylee latched to them like velcro and they were both too happy to oblige. It's no secret that Tim and I had some problems once upon a time and it's great to really be part of the family. Because money was so tight, we mostly stayed at the house drinking beer, playing guitar and playing games. We went bowling on Thursday which turned out to be much more fun than I thought it would be. It's funny how being terrible at something can make you let down your guard. Rylee made friends with the 'tween beside our lane (I swear, the kid could make friends with a rock) and had a blast herself. I know all the time they got to spend with Rylee will be remembered and is reminding them of how much they want to start they're own family. Hopefully something happened on this trip as an even better reminder ;) I was truly sad to see them go home. It was also pretty tough to watch the tearful goodbye they had to say to Rylee. Hopefully we'll be able to visit again soon.

John Deere Dress

I delved into the world of Pillow case dresses last weekend. After finding THE perfect fabric at Walmart of all places, I decided to give it a try. Scott's brother Tim is a huge John Deere fan and they were set to come here July 4th. The 3rd I finally decided to put it together. Haha, nothin like a little procrastination. I'd never made much on my machine other than a few half-hazard fleece cloth diapers and a breastfeeding cover up. I was suprised to discover that adding those little extra steps in sewing really does help. I pressed all my seams before sewing and made sure I was precise in my stitches. After an hour and a half of putting it together (ie. Rylee sitting on the fabric, eating the fabric, grabbing the electric foot of the machine and trying to grab my pins) I decided that naptime was the perfect time. In under 2 hours I was able to complete the dress to my standards. I initially made it too wide so she looked a bit risque on my first try. My attempt at a matching headband displeased her and ended up on the floor. She seems to like the dress though so I guess I accomplished something. Uncle Tim and Aunt Bran loved it and asked where I bought it.......I smiled extra wide with THAT compliment. The link to instructions to make this dress is found at http://www.jenleheny.com/pillowcase-dress-instructions

The Christening

Hello and thank you for reading my blog! You'll experience the many talents I have of being a mom and a crafter. This blog isn't specifically about knitting so don't let the title fool you. I'm a craftaholic who looks forward to creating something the way some people crave food, attention, or......sex, haha! I hope you enjoy!