I have some new favorite recipes!

I thought I’d share those with you tonight.    I’m not doing a photo recipe today… But these are super duper easy so really – pictures are unnecessary.  But maybe someday soon I’ll do it.

The first one is chicken tacos.  Super easy.  Seriously.  Insanely easy.  Chicken breasts, thawed or frozen, thrown in the crockpot and topped with salsa.  I think it takes just a few hours on high for the chicken to cook.  Shred w/ 2 forks.  Spoon into a flour or corn tortilla and top with your favorite ingredients:  lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, avocado, sour cream, cheese…  the options are endless.

Next…  Shredded bbq chicken sandwiches.  Same idea. Chicken, bbq sauce, crockpot.  Shred.  Spoon onto rolls.  Oh my word.  So easy and SO good. 

Try them out – tell me what you think!

Are you a homeschool(er) or are you homeschool(ed)??

Click on this link:

Homeschooled?????

This video is hilarious.

wildlife at the jacobs’ house

So… we have some VERY interesting wildlife around here.  I took a few minutes to snap some shots for you.  I’m just nice like that. 

First up, we have a just a regular, ol’ green tree frog.  It’s actually been living on the side of my house for the past week.  Here are some pictures I took.

Next up we have the Green Lynx Spider.  Dude.  This thing has been living on my rose bush for about 2 months.  They typically live on flowers of some sort as their ideal dinner is of bugs that like nectar.  It’s very very interesting.  Furthermore, this spider MOLTS!  I have a picture (though not a very good one) of its skin it left behind on a dead rose.  And, here are some pictures of the Green Lynx.

Hangin' out on the rose...

Its Skin

Mmm... Dinner...

And last but not least, we have the Agriope Aurantia.  It’s a HUGE black and yellow spider that decided to house itself on my back door.  Actually, I have 2 females living on the side of my house.  One on the door and one between the trashcan and the house.  Ick.  Ick ick ick.  Seriously.  I don’t even know what to do!  Okay, they don’t really harm humans and their venom won’t kill us or anything – but frankly, I don’t want to get close enough to kill it.  Thank the Lord for 12x zoom on my camera!  Ha ha ha!  So – here are some pictures of my new ‘friends.’

This is the underside of the spider that's on my back door.

The top of the spider that's living between the garbage can and the house...

As gross as these spiders are… they certainly are interesting and cool-lookin’, huh?  And by the way – if you want more info about the spiders and frog… you can just click on their names and a window will pop out with more information on them. 

The New Kylie

So…  Kylie got a hair cut this morning.  I decided to be BOLD and cut some bangs for her…  It’s definitely different and will take some getting used to!  So, without further adieu, here’s the new Kylie-Bug.

The "Old Kylie"

The "New Kylie." Her bangs aren't crooked, no worries. It's just the angle.

Dude, doesn’t the texture of her hair look weird in that light?  That’s really weird… Ha ha ha.

Game Night

So, last night before dinner, the family and I sat down at the table for some good, old-fashioned fun.  GAME NIGHT!    Last night, we played Clue.  We all just LOVE that game.  Nevermind that Zachary isn’t very good at it and gives us answers by his facial expressions and sometimes words.  Nevermind that Connor sometimes slips and tells us who/what he has…  We always have a good time.  We played three times last night and I won the first two while Jason won the last game.  Here are some pictures from our game night. 

The Board

Jason Writing Down His Findings...

My Clue Paper - The M's are me and the rest of the initials belong to Jason and the kids - I like to keep track of who showed me what...

The Boys Bein' Sneaky

Zachary Rollin' the Dice

Connor Writing Down His Findings...

Kylie Acting Like a Chicken?

Colonel Mustard (Jason) and Mrs. White (Me) Dancing in the Ballroom - oh la la!

Have you had a game night recently?  You should!  It’s a LOT of fun!

I hope you have a wonderful and BLESSED Lord’s Day. 

of bowling, manicures and pedicures…

Yesterday morning, we took Aunt Jamie and Uncle Roy to the bowling alley on base.  We had so much fun!  I took the time to snap some pictures.  The last few times we’ve been bowling, I’ve realized how much I’ve just LOVED it!  I think we’re going to try to go more often.    So, here are some pictures.

Okay seriously... HOW. CUTE. IS. THIS!? I just seriously love my kids. That's Zachary, Connor who's helping Kylie and Aunt Jamie snappin' a shot...

Aunt Jamie, Zachary, Connor and Jason

Aunt Jamie Bowling...

Awesome Bowling Shoes

Uncle Roy

Our day didn’t end there.  Aunt Jamie treated us (Kylie and I) to a pedicure and manicure.  This was Kylie’s very first, full blown, mani/pedi.  She. Loved. It.  So, I’ll end this post with pictures from our girlie day out. 

at the beach

So, Jason’s sister and her husband (Roy and Jamie) came to visit us for the week.  We had a fabulous time!  On Monday, they got in early evening, so we just hung out here, ate dinner and played some Rock Band.  On Tuesday, we just drove around a bit, did some shopping and hung out at the house.  Wednesday was a wee bit busy.  We got up, ate breakfast and left for the beach fairly early.  We had a BLAST!  Nevermind that I was COMPLETELY sunburned.  Two days later and I’m still burnt to a crisp.  That night, we all went out to Olive Garden for dinner.  YUM. MO!

So, I’m going to post some pictures of our trip to the beach.  We really just had a fabulous time and can’t wait to go back!

Connor, Aunt Jamie and Kylie

Kylie and her Daddy

Uncle Roy, Zachary, Connor, Aunt Jamie, Jason and Kylie

Connor

Zachary

The Kylie-Bug

Building a Sand Castle

The Best Picture of My Sunburn You'll Get...

My New Do…

So.  Yesterday, I frosted my hair.  I like it, mostly.  It is definitely a big change.  The thing is, when you frost your hair, make sure you part your hair the way you normally part it, otherwise it might not turn out right.  I parted my hair down the middle b/c that’s how I see hairdressers do it when they style your hair, cut it, blah blah.  Well, I typically part my hair down the side.  When I was done w/ the frosting process, I parted my hair down the side and ended up with more highlights on the left side and barely any on the right.  Ha.  Lesson learned.  Thank goodness for a good friend w/ a hairdressing license!  She came and cut my hair for me this afternoon.  It made a big difference, I think… Then she’ll have me over this week to re-highlight the right side.  Yippie!  So, here are some pictures. 

Before

In my highly fashionable cap.

Almost After #1

Almost After #2

The Final After

I hope you have a wonderful and blessed Lord’s Day. 

This is how we do it…

Did you just sing that title?  Raise your hand if you did.  Ha!  I did, when I typed it.  Good ol’ Montell Jordan. 

So anyway, I had this big long post typed up and I lost it.  Isn’t that fabulous?  I’m going to try and remember everything I wrote…  Here goes.

I already mentioned in my previous post that I’m going to focus on portion control.  I hate counting anything – so that’s not going to work.  I’m not trying to be rebellious against this weight loss thing… but I can never find that happy medium or balance with calories, weight watchers or carbs – so I’m just not going to.  It’s far too frustrating.  I’ve exercised portion control before, with results even.  So I know I can do it.  The next thing I need to do, that I’ve already mentioned, is remember breakfast (I remembered this morning!!! YAY!).  Breakfast is just plain imperative to a healthy lifestyle.  There are SO many benefits to a good breakfast each day.  Some will say that you should even make breakfast your biggest meal and dinner your smallest.  If you skip breakfast, your body starts holding on to the much unwanted fat because it’s hungry.  Even if you don’t get the hunger signs first thing in the morning.  Breakfast jump starts your metabolism for the day, after your 8 hours of sleep.  Breakfast is just plan important.

Exercise.  I love and hate exercise.  I love how I feel once I’ve exercise but I hate getting up and doing it.  But I do have a plan.  My plan is to do Walk Away the Pounds (WATP) by Leslie Sansone on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  Then on Tuesdays and Wednesdays I’m going to do Winsor Pilates.  I like WATP because you’re not only walking 1-2 miles in 20-30 minutes, but you’re also making arm movements.  You’re incorporating your entire body in this workout.  Furthermore, you’re not just walking.  You’re stepping from side to side, kicking, doing knee lifts, etc.  It’s definitely an effective workout.  I want to do both throughout the week because I do think it’s important to not only do cardio, but to also do strength exercises.  Oh – and I just thought about the fact that I have Wii Fit.  I can do yoga on that some time too.  Maybe on Saturdays?  Anyhoo…  That’s my plan.  20-30 minutes of cardio three days a week and 20 minutes of pilates 2 days a week. 

Water.  My goal for water is short and sweet.  4 to 5-14 ounce glasses per day.  That’s about 56-70 ounces.  I think that is definitely an achievable goal. 

And I’ll end my post w/ a snapshot of the excel worksheet that’s going to keep track of my weight, exercise and water intake. 

I’m Fat…

…and no, I don’t mean phat (do kids still say that nowadays?  or am I showing my age…).

But really, I’m fat.  It’s kind of pathetic.  I want to lose weight. I want my husband to have that trophy wife on his arm.  I don’t want to walk through the store wondering what people think of this tall, handsome man and what he’s doing with this short fatty fat fat chick.  I think about when Jason and I met.  I had already had a baby and I looked great … if I do say so myself.  Then he and I had Zachary… that’s when it all went downhill.  Jason doesn’t deserve that.  He needs a wife who is thin(-ner) than she is now, healthy, energetic, etc.

I want my kids to have a mom they can be proud of.  Not just because she can teach them, cook well, sew, etc…  But because she’s gotten herself back on track for a health(-ier) lifestyle.  They don’t need a mom with heart problems or diabetes at the age of 35.

Finally.  I want more children.  I’d love for the Lord to bless us with more.  I want to have healthy pregnancies.  I don’t want to worry about the next pregnancy making me 1,000 pounds and having to lose that… YIKES!

And I lied… there’s another finally.  I think in order to improve my testimony as a Christian, living healthier and being smaller is the ticket.  I think that by overeating, being exhausted all the time, etc, is not being a good testimony to Christ’s church body.  I need to lose this weight for Him.  He gave me this body and I’ve abused it over the last 10 years.

But here’s the thing…  I REFUSE to count calories, weight watcher points, carbs, etc.  It stresses me out.  It doesn’t work.  I can never find the right range.  With weight watcher points, I was starving every. single. day.  With calories – I’d start off low and end up starving… then I’d aim high and gain weight.  There’s never that happy medium.  And carbs?  Well… I love carbs.  My family loves breads, pastas, rices…  I’m not cutting those out or down.  My husband doesn’t like brown rice.  I’m not making myself something separate.  So my plan?  Portion control.  I’ve done it before with results.  But… lately I’ve seriously lacked self control.

So my plan…  first I need to start eating breakfast again.  It’s just not something I’ve made a habit.  Second, I need to not eat so much that I have to roll to the next room because I’m so full.  I need to eat an adequate amount of food to where I’m just full and not starving.  Satisfy the hunger – yet not overeat.  Third – water.  I’ve gotten out of the habit of making water my main beverage of choice.  I’m either drinking chocolate milk, regular white milk, Cherry Pepsi or Mountain Dew.  Yeah.  Water needs to be what I drink regularly.  And the fourth?  I need to get back into my exercising.  I have loads of DVDs that I could use, a few free gyms on base and a nice neighborhood to walk around.

So what’s stopping me?  I’m stinking lazy.  Hello!?  How do you think I got to be so fat?  Just by overeating?  Wrong.  Well, I have to stop the laziness.  My goal is to lose 30 pounds by the end of the year.  If I lose more, that’d be great.  But I don’t want to aim so high that I end up discouraged.  30 is a good starting number.  And the end of the year is 4.5 months away.  So here’s to weight loss!

Anyone want to join me?