Weight Loss Wednesday #9

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Hello Friends! 

How are yall doing!??

We want to hear from you on these posts too you know, and know how your fitness challenge is going, what you are struggling with, and things you are conquering!! Let us know, we are all in this together and want to help and encourage one another.

So here's an update from me, Little Sis! 

This week has been okay, but Sunday, I went to the Texas Rangers Game with my work, and my husband joined us! We had an absolute blast! We just loving going to sporting events like that.  Meguell (my husband) and I always say that if we lived in Dallas, TX. we would definitely have to make it fit in our budget to have season tickets....our first choice would be to the Dallas Mavericks games! We just love them....good thing we don't live there though, because the prices are outrageous for season tickets, but it is just so much fun! 

Here's a few photos from our fun night! 

 Me & my man!!

 My cute Rangers outfit!!

Some of our friends there! 

Anyways, so are you wondering why the Rangers game made it a hard week? 

Well that is because we bought tickets in the all-you-can-eat section! This was my first time to do that, but it was so much fun.  And not only that, but before the game my boss wanted to take us to eat at a wonderful Mexican Restaurant, and I love Tex-Mex! My main weakness in life is chips and salsa and queso!! OMG I could live off that stuff! 

So we ate dinner and stuffed our faces then went straight to the game and had the freedom to eat more! and they had nachos, which I wanted more of event though I had just eaten chips and queso! SERIOUSLY MY WEAKNESS! :-)

Anyways, I am getting back into the swing of things though, weekends are really just more difficult though because my schedule is so different, and I have more freedom to do things like go out to eat, etc.  How have your weekends been compared to your week? Let us know what you are doing to overcome those weekend challenges, and not set yourself back every week because of the weekend. 

Here's our stats for this week: 

WLW Stats for BIG SIS:(Cassey)

Starting Weight: 210

Wed. 3/21: -13lbs total 

Wed. 4/3: -16lbs total

Wed. 4/10: -22lbs total

Wed. 4/17: -25lbs total

Wed. 4/25: -29lbs total

Wed. 5/2: -32lbs total

Wed. 5/9: -34lbs total  

Wed.5/16: -34lbs total

 (176)

WLW Stats for LITTLE SIS: (Brittany)

Starting Weight: 170

Wed.3/28: -3lbs total

Wed. 4/10: -6.5lbs total

Wed. 4/17: -7.5lbs total

Wed. 4/25: -7.5lbs total

Wed. 5/2: -8.5lbs total

Wed. 5/9: -10.5lbs total 
Wed.5/16: -10.5lbs total
 (159.5)

Also, just a little tip from me! 

Lately, I have gotten hooked on these meal bars! I have always been a meal bar kind of girl, which I get from my mom.  I used to eat Fiber One bars a lot, but after going to Africa and eating them so much last summer (because I am so picky :-) I had to find something else, and that I did.

I have recently started eating Clif Builder's Bars for breakfast, mostly every (weekday) morning at work.  So here's my routine.  I grab one on my way out the door, and as soon as I get to work I go fill up my water bottle! Then I sit at work checking my email, etc. and SLOWLY eat the bar and drink entire (really big) bottle of water, basically it is two normal sized bottles of water.  And that really kickstarts my day! I just have to make myself go slow, because these bars are so yummy....but if I go slow and drink the entire bottle throughout eating the bar I get full, and am not still hungry after.

These bars come in two flavors (that I have found), Peanut Butter and Chocolate.  I just buy a huge box with both flavors mixed from Sam's and that lasts me several weeks, maybe close to a month.  

Each bar is packed with 20 grams of protein which is awesome, and only 270 calories, which if this is your entire breakfast is not bad at all! Anyways, give it a try, or at least try drinking lots of water with breakfast! It's a great way to start the day, then continually fill your water up multiple times a day. I basically just sip water all day at work!

Also don't forget about the Naturally-Nifty Linky Party that is happening right now!! Stop by and link up & have a good time at the party! 

**Just a sidenote before we get started! We will be out some during the month of June and we are looking for some guest bloggers to feature a great post here while we are on vacation! Please email us if you are interested (you can do that by visiting our contact us tab above)

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Naturally-Nifty Linky Party #14

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Hello Everyone!

I'm glad we have made it to Tuesday already...I look forward to these parties every week and getting to feature you guys and your Nifty Projects!

Hope you enjoy this week's features, and have fun linking up to the party!

*Remember we pin all of the feature posts to our boards--so follow us and check it out*

Also if you are featured be sure to grab one of our wonderful featured buttons to brag with on your blog space! 

(You can find the link to this in our upper tabs bar)

**Just a sidenote before we get started! We will be out some during the month of June and we are looking for some guest bloggers to feature a great post here while we are on vacation! Please email us if you are interested (you can do that by visiting our contact us tab above)

I love this cute Mother's Day Gift idea from Our Pinteresting Family. It's a fun color coordinated Smoothie basket.  I probably love this so much because I love smoothies, plus my mom likes them so I know she would enjoy this gift.  She did some cute stuff to personalize this basket though, and she only spent about $25.  You should definitely go check this out and where she got deals on stuff! Because although she used this as a Mother's Day gift, you could use it for ANYTHING! 

Look at this great find that the girl's from Home Grown Families found! How fun is this? It's an old school desk from the 1900's! And they did great at redoing it! I just love this little treasure, it could be so cute in house. Stop by and check this out and some of their other projects.  

Ashley at Keeping up with the Joneses just gave me the recipe to my sons hearts desire. he LOVES corn. Last weekend was his first time to have a full, grilled corn. I am so excited to try this corn recipe out for him. The pictures she has with the steps make my mouth water.. you should definitely go check it out. She has a lot of other neat ideas on her blog too.. Check her out.

If you are anything like me, I am always struggling for just the right gift for friends and family. Ida at I love doing all things crafty has solved the problem... IF you have a cameo. I love this gift of a cross word puzzle. This style of art is really up and coming and so unique. What I love about the word puzzle is that it can be personalized to anyone. I would love to have one of these hanging in my home. Thanks for sharing Ida.

We want to see any and everything that you are up to! 

From Home makeovers, craft projects, DIY, recipes, tips, kids games or crafts, or anything else you are up to!!

Just Remember....

Please SUBSCRIBE to our blog on the left sidebar!

Also, we have moved our Naturally-Nifty Party Buttons to the top tab, so take one of those and put it on your blog or add us to your linky parties tab on your blog!

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Flower Boxes from Scrap Wood

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So if you saw my post about our Wooden Patio Box made from scrap wood taken from an old fence, you noticed that we had a lot of wood, so my husband is continuing to be creative and decided to make some fun flower boxes.  

We got the idea and the flowers from our friends! I know flowers can be expensive...but get this! If you go to places, (especially Home Depot) at night, they will fill shopping carts full of flowers that don't meet their floor standards. They then sale full carts of plants for great discount prices.  Our friends bought a cart full for only $15.  They were able to plant about 4 full size planter boxes, plus probably 10 pots of flowers, and gave us about 3 crates full of flowers! What a great deal and sweet for us that our friends just gave us the leftovers.  

Anyways, I have laid out some simple instructions for you to plant a different kind of flower box. I had never heard of this before, but basically you use a plastic netting and newspaper.  Then you plant on top of the newspaper.  Eventually the roots will  hold the soil together, and the newspaper will disintegrate and the flowers will be able to drain and breathe well! 

Here you go! 

Here is the Outcome! Pretty great huh! 

We are hoping to hang our boxes in our backyard, but it was night time when we finished, and we just stuck them in the front of our house to get sunlight until we hang them. 

The smaller box we made is actually going to be a Mother's Day Gift for my mother-in-law.  So I used some paint and made it pretty cute! Later I went back and sanded parts to make it a little more ruffed up, but I didn't take a photo afterwards.

They turned out pretty cute, and only took a little while to make. (Well the building of the box took a little longer, but my husband did those)

The same night I also used some of the plants in these different planters.  I had the old clay pot, then the jar was from some pickles I finished off.  The coffee mug is one I made when I took ceramics class. Haha it's a little lopsided so I decided a flower pot would be the best use of it! Turned out pretty cute! And the spool we got from a garage sale.  I thought it was fun and cheap to find things to use around my house for planting the flowers, and I really like the outcome.  

What do you think about this look for displaying flowers?

My flower boxes were featured here!! 

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Why I love being a military wife.

Pin It Today is Day 5 of a week of participation in the Military Spouse Blog Carnival at Wives of Faith in honor of Military Spouse Appreciation. I have really enjoyed writing these blogs this week! It was a lot of fun!

Today's daily topic from Wives of Faith is: Why I love being a military wife.

http://www.wivesoffaith.org/third-annual-wof-milspouse-blog-carnival

Why I love being a military wife.


It is my life, my heart. As I said before, I never thought I would live this life. I love that I can bring honor to my husband and his name by being is quiet sidekick as he does his job. I love that I can be his biggest morale support and his biggest audience. I love that I can make him feel so special when he has had such a hard day at work or on deployment. I love being that person that he calls to, relies on, and needs. I love being here, next to him, supporting him, as he carries out the mission. It has always been important to me that I lift my husband up in my words and my actions. It has also been important that the things I do and say make him look good. I don't want my poor actions or words being a reflection on the kind of man he is. I love being a military wife because I am able to ensure that my husband is taken care of on the home front in order to do his duty on his job. 


This 'job' is hard. It would be easy to throw in the towel, as many do. It requires a lot of dedication and handwork. I would dare to say it requires more than a normal marriage. We spend a lot of time apart because of training, deployments, TDYs... and for those reasons we have to make sure that the time we are together really brings us together. ALL marriages have problems, and we are not an exception, but being able to work through those problems is the key. There are times we have to throw down all of our skeletons and just let it out... but the awesome part is.. if you allow the Lord to work in you, your marriage comes out stronger. I know that what we do is hard but I am so blessed that the Lord called me to this challenge. I can't imagine another life other than being a military wife. 


The opportunities are countless. We have had done so many amazing things since joining the military. We have traveled and visited foreign countries, we have met amazing people, and we have eaten great food. It scares me sometimes to think of what life would have been like had my husband not joined the military. Something that I was so fearful about at first has been the biggest blessing in our life thus far. The military offers so many awesome things on the bases to help families out and it is overwhelming sometimes. It is hard not to look at everything and realize- I am blessed. 


I love living this life because I am able to be the woman that God has called me to be. My husband serves our country and I can serve him. I am so thankful for this opportunity in my life.. and so thankful God chose me to do it!  Pin It

Military Spouse Blog Carnival Day 4

Pin It Today is Day 4 of a week of participation in the Military Spouse Blog Carnival at Wives of Faith in honor of Military Spouse Appreciation. I have never participated in anything like this before, but I think it is a great idea. It is a week of taking their daily topic and writing from my heart. I really like it because I will be able to look back into the last 8 years of our military lives and tell you some of the things that I love so much about being part of this world.... and reasons I am so very proud of the man the Lord brought into my life. I hope you will join us here daily to read about the life that I love so much- Being a Military Spouse!

Today's daily topic from Wives of Faith is: It’s been said that a picture’s worth a thousand words. Post a photograph you’ve taken. (And yes, you can describe it or tell the story behind it if you want to! The only stipulation is that it needs to be a photo of your own, so as not to violate copyright.)

http://www.wivesoffaith.org/third-annual-wof-milspouse-blog-carnival

The picture I am posting is one that I took on our drive from Texas to California last summer when we moved here. We had stopped to get some coffee and was shocked at the itty bitty store we were at in the country. When leaving I saw this old church and it caught my eye. I took the picture and have all intentions of getting it printed and hung in my wall. It may not look like a lot to someone else, but for some reason, I LOVE this picture! :)

What about you?

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Weight Loss Wednesday #8

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What a Happy week this is for me... Big Sis! This week I get to celebrate my 9 year anniversary to the Man the Lord gave to me 12 years ago. It seems like yesterday that I saw this cute boy wearing his superman shirt on the steps at church. It seems like yesterday that he hung out the window of his car at a red light .. next to my car.. to give me a rose. Seems like yesterday when he turned 18. Everything seems like yesterday. It seems unreal that we have been married 9 years... that we have lived away from home for 8 years... that we have lived in three different unique places.. and that we have a two year old. God has richly blessed us and we are not blind to that. I am so thankful for this man the Lord gave to me... this man who provides for us, watches after us, loves us, and cares for us. This man that He gave to me to be father of our children... who would become one of the most amazing daddy's that I have EVER met. I love this man more everyday. We have grown up so much since we got married at 19 and 20... and the best part is.. we have done it together. I would not change it for anything. So tomorrow I will hug and kiss him and tell him Happy Anniversary and remember all of the years we have had and how we have come so far... I love him. 

OK! OK! Enough of the mushy stuff, right? This week is a great week for so many reasons.. Anniversary of our Marriage... AND I am so close to a goal that I did not think I would ever get to. I am three pounds from my PRE-pregnancy weight. After I had my son, I dropped back down to 4 or 5 pounds above Pre-pregnancy weight.. but I lost control.. and ate myself big again. I am so happy to say I am ALMOST there!! Then I only have 8 pounds until the weight that I was when I moved to Japan... the weight that I held for so long.. I still have a little ways to go until I reach the smallest weight I had gotten when I lost weight before. BUT I am so excited. I have been so focused.. and it has been great. 

I have set a goal for myself to do 4 races (5K/10Ks) in 2012. I have been looking for them and there are several that are local... but the dates aren't lining up as I would like.. BUT I am so excited to announce that my dear husband and I have signed up for a 5K Foam Fest! I am so excited for this. It is going to be so much fun and so messy... and even more fun because I will be with my dear love doing it. It isn't until September so I hope to find something I or we can do during the summer. We have done two 10Ks and a couple of 5Ks together in the past and it is so nice... it is so great to be so active as a family. 

Other than that, not much going on around here.. :) Loving life... enjoying the weather... enjoying cooking healthy meals... growing my garden... taking my baby boy on walks.... What about you? What are you enjoying the most about this season in your life?

WLW Stats for BIG SIS:

Starting Weight: 210

Wed. 3/21: -13lbs total

Wed. 4/3: -16lbs total

Wed. 4/10: -22lbs total
Wed. 4/17: -25lbs total

Wed. 4/25: -29lbs total

Wed. 5/2: -32lbs total

Wed. 5/9: -34lbs total   (176)

WLW Stats for LITTLE SIS:

Starting Weight: 170

Wed. 3/28: -3lbs total

Wed. 4/10: -6.5lbs total

Wed. 4/17: -7.5lbs total

Wed. 4/25: -7.5lbs total

Wed. 5/2: -8.5lbs total
Wed. 5/9: -10.5lbs total   (159.5)

OF COURSE DON'T FORGET TO GO LINK UP!!! WE HAVE A GREAT PARTY GOING ON AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO ADD YOUR AWESOMENESS AND SHARE OUR PARTY WITH YOUR FRIENDS! 

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HOOAH! I am a fireman!

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Today is Day 3 of a week of participation in the Military Spouse Blog Carnival at Wives of Faith in honor of Military Spouse Appreciation. I have never participated in anything like this before, but I think it is a great idea. It is a week of taking their daily topic and writing from my heart. I really like it because I will be able to look back into the last 8 years of our military lives and tell you some of the things that I love so much about being part of this world.... and reasons I am so very proud of the man the Lord brought into my life. I hope you will join us here daily to read about the life that I love so much- Being a Military Spouse! 

Today's daily topic from Wives of Faith is Accentuate the positive: Describe your best military wife “Hooah!” moment (or, you know, “Oorah!” or “Hooyah!”–whichever word works for your husband’s branch of service!). You know it–now share it with us!

http://www.wivesoffaith.org/third-annual-wof-milspouse-blog-carnival

This question actually took a lot for me to figure out what to write... I wanted to be sentimental and talk about my seeing my husband the first time after so long at Basic or the day he returned from deployment. I struggled with this one too... because I haven't heard these terms too often in the Air Force. I talked to my husband about them- who gives me odd answers, lol- and I looked it up online. Online it defined "hooah!" as your "War Cry"....or expression of enthusiasm. so I kept thinking and thinking... I wanted to write something different from others... So I chose my best HOOAH! OORAH! HOOYAH! moment as the time I....

Got to play firefighter with my husband.I know my man's job is hard... but I never realized it until I was able to dress in the gear and walk with him, with the hose into a burning plane and put out the fire. It was an amazing experience that I am so grateful to have had... 

Putting on the gear in itself was a tough job. There is so much gear that goes with being a firefighter... you know, gotta keep our men safe. My man looks amazing in his fire gear.. shall I say- I did NOT look near as amazing as he did. I struggled getting everything on, including gloves... then to put the heavy air tank on my back was really hard... and then to walk around like you are in space! Let me just say... once I had ALL of the gear on.. I was definitely shouting "HOOAH!" because I was so excited. 

Then... they turned the water on and MY GOODNESS! Talk about heavy.. throwing me back... I didn't think I could do it anymore.. Thank God my husband was behind me.. helping support the hose! HOORAY I had help! 

Walking to the plane that was on fire.. was hot, hot, HOT! Even with all of the gear on, I remember being hot! I remember freaking out with the air thinking it wasn't working. I remember the couple in front of me breaking the wooden step going up to the plane.. and I had to figure out how to haul myself plus the hose, plus that gear up to the plane.. It definitely took a push from my husband...but once I was up.. I was definitely crying out "OOORAH" in my head because I had gotten up! :)

Getting closer to the plane with my husbands hand on my back... I felt he was pushing me... my view was fogging up... I was walking in the front... trying so hard to aim the hose to the fire. I thought I Was going to die... :) I was scared for a bit. My husband pushes me down- because I need to get down low.. He is talking to me.. DUDE! I CAN NOT HEAR YOU!!! All of this gear, smoke, fire.. how am I suppose to hear you? But guess what guys? We got that fire out! :) HOOYAH! And we back out....

We did it! One of the most exciting experiences I have had yet. I am so proud of the man my husband is... how he works so hard to support us.. I love embracing him when he returns from TDYs or deployments.. and doing this with HIM was so much fun.

HOOAH! to all of you!! 

I re

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