MIA

Oh, hi there. Remember me? I know, I know it has been a long time. In my defense I have been super busy! With what you ask? Well summer, and work and life and everything everyone else is busy with as well. But we did spend half of July in the U.P. on Drummond Island. Then there was trips to our cabin and we attended several weddings. Oh and we had a ton of graduation party's this year, one being our own. Our oldest son is officially a high school graduate! We couldn't be more proud. He graduated in May and bought a house in June! He is doing training at work as a mechanic and he is thinking about taking classes next year. Bill is just one of those kids that needs to figure things out for himself and he is learning a lot this summer.
Anyway, as busy as the summer has been I have been trying to keep up with my blog reading and keeping tabs on everyone else. This has been a super tough task though, since my promotion earlier this year I have been working tons of hours and the time I am not working I am spending with family and friends. But summer is over. Work has settled into a good routine and school for the little one is back in sesson.
I now have a little bit of time. It helps that I finally have my family trained to do their chores before I get home, and I have implemented a menu plan for each week. Gary is great about at least getting dinner started before I get home and Kris is a great helper. It gives me almost an extra hour each night if I don't have to cook, all I have to do is dishes when we are done (that's my chore, lol).
So what am I planning on doing with this extra time? Hopefully blog more! and I am getting back to my sewing and crafting, I am volunteering at school, and as always getting a work out done as often as I can. I am anxious to get back to running, which I just have not had time for lately. But have no fear, even without running I am still getting the workouts in and I have lost 17 pounds over the summer! Can't beat that with all the parties we have been too!
So look for me to be on here more often. Look for some of my new craftng projects and of course to see how much more weight I can lose! I am looking forward to being back and catching up! What have you been up to? Do you find you have more or less time now that kids are back in school?

Monthly Project

Over at the Sisterhood they have a monthly project. Obviously it is something that changes every month and honestly I usually don't get too involved in it. But this month I was super excited about it. The project this month is to grow something. A herb or a veggie, inside or out. Just to try to grow something, and then use it in your cooking. With Spring in the air I thought this would be a perfect time to jump on board and grow something, well to try to grow something. I love, love, love to cook and to can, so I thought growing some herbs that I use in both would be great. One it is something that K and I can do together and also it is wonderful to grow something I would normally have to buy and it would save me money in the long run. I actually started my plants before I even knew about the monthly project but I thought I would join in and show everyone how green my thumb is. (Actually is it dark brown, lol)
I decided to try and grow some chives, dill, basil and peppers. I am having a little trouble. I am not sure if it is the light I have them in, the soil, the seeds or how much I water them, but they are not growing as well as I had been hoping for. I wanted to start them inside because in my neck of Michigan it is still pretty cold outside. I do plan on transplanting them outside when the risk of frost has pasted, but for now they sit in a sunny spot in my dining room and on nice afternoons I am putting them outside to soak in the direct sun and fresh air. Today it is beautiful out and I have them on the back porch. I am hoping it helps to perk them up a bit. The peppers and chives are doing the best. The dill started out great and now has kinda died off. I started the basil last week so it is still too early to tell how it will do. Once I can plant outside I want to start some green onions and cucumbers. I can't wait for Spring to finally get here and move into summer so that I can watch them all take off. Have you gotten into the project? How does your garden grow?

Shreding It

I started the 30 day shred (again) last week. I am on my fifth day in a row now and I am still really liking it. I think I like most that it is only 20ish minutes from start to finish and it fits into my busy life really well that way. I'm just wondering if it is doing as much good doing it everyday or if I should be giving my muscles a break once in awhile? I have combined it with a walking routine every other day or so, just to add to the work out. I am trying to lose 10 pounds by my anniversary in mid-May. That will have me about half way to my goal weight. So I am very concerned with doing what it takes to get the best results. I am eating much better and logging all my food and workouts at myfitnesspal.com. I know that writting down what I eat is a huge help. I like to look up my options before I make a decision and seeing how many calories something is often helps me to make better choices. For years I have been "dieting" to help control my weight. I feel like I have literally tried everything, Weight Watchers, adkins, you name it, I tried it. I had a few years where I was really successful and was at my lowest weight ever and stayed there for about 2 years and then it slowly started to climb. I kept an eye on it, and thought ok, time to stop this, but I just couldn't get back on track. Finally after 2 years of struggling I am starting to see some results. Some changes in my lifestyle that I can live with. I am just afraid of burn out. Of getting so close to the end result and then relaxing too much. I guess I need to not worry so much (easier said than done) and just move slowly and keep working at it. I am trying to see the end goal by meeting small goals along the way. 10 pounds at a time. Eventually everything will click together.