Wow.

Hi Y'all,
When I ran by here in December, I had every intention of coming around more often. On a regular basis. Maybe not daily, but at least more than once a year. AND THEN....

Life did it.

That little thing where everything goes haywire and turns upside down.

That thing.

So RIGHT AFTER I wrote that last post, Biggsy was laid off. I'll spare you the details of how terribly unjust it was and just let you know that, under him, his company had had their best year -- ever. REALLY.

We're good.  Better than good.  We can see God's hand all over this. I promise. He is working.

It's like I say all the time, when you can see Him moving in the crazy small details of your life, you KNOW He has your Big Picture in control.

If you could sum up the last 10 weeks in one word, it would have to be CHANGE.  When Biggs was laid off, all spending came to a screeching halt around here. It was a good thing I'd almost finished my Christmas shopping!!  Life does seem to be in a bit of a holding pattern. We're thankful we had decided to low-budget Spring Break, so we didn't have to cancel a ski trip -- that was already taken care of.

We did have to cancel our trip to Italy this summer. Abbie had been asked to play softball over there this summer, and we were ALL going. We have high hopes to have that kind of adventure some day -- we aren't giving up!

In the meantime, I needed to make some individual changes. For one, I needed to cut sugar and caffeine out of my diet. I needed to ditch my Thanksgiving / Christmas poundage -- it was making me grumpy. AND we needed to drastically cut back on how often we visited our buddies at Taco Bell and Chick fil A.

So.... I took a deep breath. I joined a weight loss challenge to help a friend raise $$ for the Breast Cancer 3-Day. I stopped feeding the kids the "easy" way and went back to what really does work best for us. And I bought this crazy book I'd found online -- Trim Healthy Mama.

And everything shifted back to normal a bit.

I've been following Trim Healthy Mama since January 9 and have lost 8 pounds. That's not a ton, but I'm seeing a number on the scales I haven't seen for over a year. I feel better than I have in a long time. As for the peeps over at Taco Bell, I think they're in mourning -- we were only there ONCE in January -- and only through four drive-throughs total. RECORD BREAKING!

It's a process. THM takes a bit of coordination and planning. I tend to make a lot of mistakes. BUT -- I believe in Grace, and I believe in giving myself Grace when I screw up.

Getting our family "healthy" has been a long road. We've been on this path of learning / changing for several years. We stumble along the way, but somehow manage to find the path again and move ahead.

I do love THM for a gazillion reasons. I've had enough experience with Weight Watchers, Adkins, South Beach, Bikini Body (YIKES!) and Dukan to know why those wouldn't work for me long-term -- why they weren't sustainable or something that worked for our whole family.  I really did get excited when I started reading THM, with my background, and could see why it would work for me. I BELIEVED it would work for me -- and now I'm seeing that all come to fruition.

It's been a blast.

So..... Even though Vanity is really real, I'm going to share my picture from yesterday.  This isn't the best put-together outfit, I know.  However, I wanted to wear shorts so I could see my great legs (the one thing I'm ALWAYS happy with) and to taunt those of you in the Great White North. (High of 75 here today.)  AND I wanted to wear a somewhat fitted shirt, so I could see a real difference in the next few weeks.

As far as goals, I don't really have a weight-loss goal. I have a black dress in my closet that I haven't been able to wear in a few years -- when I get in it, I'll know I'm "there." My biggest goal, though, is to walk ALL 60 miles of the DFW 3-Day November 6-8 with my Tiaras at my side. The list of warriors I'm walking for is longer than ever, and I need to do them proud. My Abbie-girl will be walking this year as well, and I need to keep up with her!!

So here's my pic from yesterday. Have a blessed day, and I promise I'll try to touch base before 2016.

Oh!! And don't forget to schedule your Mammogram!  You are your best defense!  Love ya! Mean it!