Me standing in the snow on Sunday. 

Brushing off two inches of snow off the windshield of my car. 

Icicle out our front window. Kinda cool. 

That is my side yard. Or what used to be. After Mark blows the snow it piles up. It is as tall as the hood of my car.  

Me and Jeremy. 

Jeremy again. 

See this jetty? Now look at the next picture. 

I don't know if you can read this plaque but it is a memorial to the people who went out on the jetty when the water is rough and the winds are hard. 

Coming back up the stairs to where I was. 

Jeremy...not sure what he is doing.  

Isn't he handsome? He's is also single!!! He will be 20 on April 14. This is on the shores of Lake Superior in Marquette, MI.  

My Birthday Saturday

Ok, my birthday is not until Thursday, the 2nd, (Groundhog's Day)but we went to Marquette today to celebrate. I wanted to go to Red Lobster for my birthday and since it is an hour away we went on a weekend day. We went up there and first thing we did was went to Red Lobster. I didn't do terribly bad but it definately was not diet food. I had the Supreme Feast which included a small lobster tail, 1/2 pound of crabl legs (MY FAVORITE THING IN THE WORLD!!), shrimp scampi (bad bad bad for the ol' diet) and 4 fried shrimp (worse worse worse) I didn't eat but one bite of the baked potatoe tho. Then we hit the stores that we don't have here in Iron Mountain. We went to Office Max, Target, and Michaels. ALso drove by the Honda dealership because Jeremy wants a Honda Element. Anyway, we also went to a park to show Jeremy this pier thing that has a warning monument not to walk out on it in windy or stormy conditions because you WILL BLOW OFF!! Look at the pics and you will see it. So, all in all it was a good day. Oh, when we left to come home, we were on the 2 lane highway and Mark said, look it's starting to snow. In less than five minutes IT STARTED TO BLOW AND SNOW!!! Mark said he could see about 2 feet in front of the Jeep. It wasn't too terribly slippery though. A little, but not bad. Jeremy of course was scared to death because he has never been in that yet and so he was panicing.

Also, prayer request. I got some bad news today that my cousin Sherron has breast cancer. Hopefully they have caught it early enough and they will get it. She is going to have a full body scan to make sure it hasn't gone any where else. They are also going to take out her lymph nodes. I think that's how you spell it. Anyway, please say a prayer.

I guess that's it. I will be 43 on Thursday and I don't fee but about 33. Isn't that great??? LOVE YA!

R

What's This Stuff in the Sky?

The sun is shining. First time in a long time. Actually I think it did a couple of days ago but I have been sick with a cold and haven't been out to enjoy it. Ok. I probably won't be out in this either because even though the sun is shining, it is stil 15 degrees out. Wait, it's up to 22 now. Anyway, Mark is out snow blowing. I just got finished weighing and I guess because I have been sick, I had a big weight loss. Total as of today is 27 lbs. OH MY!!! I couldn't believe it when I got on the scale. Oh, this scale we have talks to you. It says "Hello". Then "I'm ready". Then you stand on it and wait and wait and then she announces your weight nice and loud. Today I did it twice because I thought she was having a major malfunction. Guess not. I was so excited!!! Mark weighed and he only lost 3 more pounds. I am not sure why because he has been doing as well as me and Jeremy has. Jeremy lost another 7 bringing his total to 35, we think. It may not be quite that high but we are going with that. I am almost at a goal that I wanted to reach. If I lose 3 more pounds I will be lighter than I have been in at least 4 years. Mercy me. I am so excited. Oh well. Talk to ya later!!!

Update

My update is 20.6 lbs. to date. I have a problem when I go to the VA to volunteer which has been often lately since we are getting ready for a big week coming up in April. All I want to do is eat when I am there. It drives me crazy. Anyway...plus, Mark and I have the beginnings of colds. Joy. So, I don't know the guys' weight loss. I just weighed this morning after Mark left for work and Jeremy is still sleeping...so I will update it again when I know. I know that we are all showing the signs. Jeremy's chest and stomach look smaller. Mark's stomach seems to be deflating and me...well...I have had some water weight gain this week so my stomach has been a little bloated...but....I still feel like I could run a marathon! Sorry...rambling. Thanks for all of the encouraging words from everyone. Ya'll rock!!

Love ya! R

Quick Update

As of today, I have lost 17 lbs.!!!! Mark has lost 23 and a notch in his belt. (I hate him!!NR) And the big winner!!! Jeremy has lost 28 lbs. Actually these are just guestamates because we just now got our scale. We all had an idea of what the last time we weighed was so that's what we are going by. Anyway...so there ya go!!! WOOOOHOOOO. I hate that men lose weight faster than women. And they eat more calories than I do! And they sure aren't more active than me. Mark may walk a little more than me but not that much. Anyway...I won't let it get me down. See ya!!



r

PSYCHED!!!!

I am so psyched. (Glad I asked the guys how to spell it because I was going to spell it siked.) Anyway, I am so psyched. We are doing so well on our lifestyle change. We are counting EVERY calorie and drinking water and we still have to get our exercises going. We took our before pictures tonight and I was going to put mine on here but I decided to put it on when I have another picture to put on that you can see a big difference!! My picture was, yes...horrible! Why do people let themselves get this way? I just don't understand why. I did this to my self. I have no one to blame but my self. It wasn't my mom, dad (biological), or dad (favorite) or Mark or Jeremy's fault. It was all mine. So, now I am going to make this lifestyle change for me, since me is the one that got me in to it.

We can't weigh yet because our scales are broken but we bought a new pair on the internet and they will be here Monday or Tuesday. I have an idea of how much I weighed when we started.

Oh well...wish us luck!!!

Hugs!
R

Happy 2006

Happy New Year to everyone. We started the new year out wrong already. I was supposed to get up when Mark's mom called this morning and take my shower so we could go to church. We woke up at 8:45. So much for that.

Well, starting January 2, 2006, Mark, me and Jeremy are starting on our life change. Jeremy and Mark can both eat 3000 calories each (not fair!!) I can eat 2200. Stay tuned for our "before" pictures. (That ought to be a sight!!)

My only other resolution, which I am not calling our life change a resolution because they usually get broken. Anyway, I want to be a better homemaker and keep my house better. I also want to be a better mother and wife. That's it. Everything else is ok. Maybe I want to finally get a job. That's not necessarily a resolution.

I went to bed last night. I have been so tired since we got back from Texas. Doesn't seem that I can get enough sleep. Mark came in at midnight and kissed me. I think he and Jeremy played Skipbo until midnight. There were snowmobiles out on the lake going back and forth and were still going when I went to bed.

So, today, January 1, 2006 I am going to fix the typical southern New Years traditional dinner. Roast, potatoes, cabbage and black-eyed peas. If you do not know the tradition, you are supposed to eat black eyed peas (change) and cabbage (folding money) for new years so you will be prosperous through out the year. (Not sure if it works but it's tradition.) So, that's what we will have today.

Oh well, Happy New Year to all. Take care and have a healthy happy year.

R

P.S. I just looked at January 2005 to see what I wrote. Basically the same thing as I wrote this year. Difference is, IT WILL HAPPEN THIS YEAR!!! We are all together this time and we can help each other. Stay tuned.