Discouraged I finally decided to give in to my husband and try what “he” suggested. He’d started his diet weeks before me and was at his goal at 7 weeks. *sigh* I know since women don’t lose the same, it wasn’t going to be that easy for me. Or was it? I could have been using the wrong product and routine? My husband ordered me Hydroxycut Extreme by Muscle Tech. Hesitate to give it a try, especially after the Quick Trim experience, I finally did. I also adjusted my diet… and let me tell you THIS meal plan is SO easy… Here’s what I have:

Breakfast:
1 Zone Protein Bar (which I’m keeping it real… they taste like CANDY BARS)
(You can do 1 cup of egg beaters – even the southern style or western instead of the protein bar, but I hate eggs)
1 – 8oz glass low fat chocolate milk

Snack:
15 peanuts (any kind of nuts and salted, roasted, whatever works)
1/2 cup cottage cheese

Lunch:
Chicken patty (unbreaded – you can have the grocery store make ground chicken and then form into patties, or some stores sell them like that, mine does)
Medium size lettuce salad with any other green veggies on it (green pepper, cucumber, broccoli, etc) with Salad Spritzer
*sometimes I cut my chicken and put it on the salad, sometimes I eat it cut up. You can use Mrs. Dash to season*

Snack:
2 cups Green veggies (usually broccoli and cucumbers for me)
15 peanuts (any kind of nuts and salted, roasted, whatever works)

Dinner:
6 oz chicken breast (I buy them pre-marinated)
2 cups green veggies or a lettuce salad (as above)

Snack:
1 Zone Protein Bar (which again, taste like a TREAT)
1 – 8oz glass low fat chocolate milk

Now I feel like I am eating WAY too much, however, I feel better and after adjusting, it works out good. I am also either walking my dog for 30 minutes or on my elliptical machine for 20 minutes (more intense work so less time) every other day… and because my tummy is my trouble area, sit ups EVERY day on an exercise ball.

After a complete FIVE days, and the last 2 I haven’t done ANY exercise because I am still nursing a leg after surgery 2 weeks ago, so I am taking my exercising as my body is allowing without pain… I have lost a COMPLETE FIVE pounds. I say complete because it is 5-7 pounds depending on when I weigh, and according the the scale at my DR’s office last week and this week it is 5 pounds, with clothes, shoes, etc. But it is a FOR SURE 5 pounds.  I feel better and have a lot of energy. Because of the “fast” result of this I am eager to keep going and try harder. I see it’s working and I am happy about that. I am not with a personal trainer, I don’t have a chef! I am a busy stay at home mom of 2 active kids, a husband that works and works out, and an active puppy. I am not a celebrity, I am not famous, but this is what MY experience was. I am not being paid to talk positive or negative about ANY product and I do not submit my reviews to the company in hopes of obtaining anything FREE. I am simply here to state MY opinion and experience. I have nothing to hide and nothing to lose (or gain).

Please just be aware of your product. Just because some “fad” diet works for one it doesn’t work for everyone. And remember the FACTS when you see something celebrity endorsed. The FACTS they WON’T tell you!!

On that note, I am off to look up some auto insurance quotes. I do need to find something cheaper. We are paying FAR to much for ONE vehicle! A friend of ours, her father sold me my FIRST insurance policy at 16 years old. I was not paying then for liability what I am paying NOW, married, for full coverage. And I was 16, a brand new driver! As with anything, I will always shop around, State Farm, you won’t have my business anymore… Raise my rates for no reason and I will say “bye-bye”! Have a wonderful night bloggers… and Buyer BEWARE!!

Okay now let me tell you, the more I read about these pillows, the more convinced I was I *needed* them. When I read that most pillows begin growing mold, bacteria and dust mites soon after you start using them, and then problem only gets worse over time. Why? Well because we breathe moisture into our pillows as we sleep. Makes sense right? Well the Healthy Dreams pillows have a Micrenza bio-filter. This makes them to be the first truly germ-free, mold-free, and allergen-free pillow available! The filter is made from the same material as the  N95-rated surgical mask, so you know it truly works! I thought the price of them at first was a little deterrent, however, once I thought about it… $10.00 for a moderate standard pillow at a department store, replaced 5 times (less then 5 years) you have spent $50.00. The Healthy Dreams pillows come with a 10 YEAR warranty. Now the next question you are going to ask, but what if I spend all that money and hate it. First, you won’t, BUT if you do, they give you a 60 days  Unconditional Return Privilege. Okay, honestly the thing that sold me on my new bed was that I could have a 30 days IN HOME trial and they would either fix or replace it. This is so much nicer then laying on it for 5 minutes and deciding if it’s right. So the fact I can try the pillows, just completely sealed the deal for me!! I think I found my winner!!

I scrapped 2 new layouts. These layout where not for the ADSR they were just because. So here they are:

Both of them are linked to my DST Gallery in case you want to see credits or leave a comment there for them. I am having fun getting back in to scrap booking again. It’s so zen-like for me!! Okay I am off to grab some dinner! Have a great night bloggers!

Recently a friend of ours, his wife, my husband and I had a conversation about circumcision. The friend has three kids, two boys and a girl. We have two kids, one boy and one girl. When I was pregnant with my son I did a TON of research on Circumcision. I found very little to support the fact that it is a HUGE hygiene risk to keep my son intact (uncircumcised). I found little had to do with Religion as it once was a Jewish thing, but not so much anymore. I found MOST people doing it are AMERICANS! Other countries rarely preform the routine. But what really had me thinking was a conversation that we had with our friend about it. He did NOT circumcise his sons. I asked him why. Without ANY embarrassment or hesitation he replied “I am circumcised and when I have a full erection it hurts.” WHAT?!?! I was NOT going to do something to my son that is UN-DOABLE and have him suffer in the future. Of course I asked my friend questions and he answered, every last question. He knew that my son was about to be born and he could change ONE person. My husband and I had talked about it but never really decided anything. Here’s a video from Momversation to watch:

Is Circumcision Wrong?

So having watched that video, does anyone have any thoughts? Truthfully we decided NOT to circumcise. If my son wants to be circumcised (a body altering experience) he can chose to do so later when he’s older. I guess the part about circumcision that really annoys me is the reasons people chose to DO it. Hygiene (myth), because dad is, because most people are (myth), uneducated decisions. The truth is the rate of baby boys being circumcised is FALLING. Here’s a yearly chart. The average in tact rate in 2006 was 43.9%. Since then it was reported by Parents Magazine that it’s closer to 55% now. As for hygiene, I would honestly hope that one could TEACH their child how to bath and clean. If not you probably shouldn’t have children. The risk of STD’s does decrease, however, once again this can be easily solved by talking to your children about STD’s and the risks of unprotected sex. If you can’t do that then again, you probably shouldn’t have children. I can see the whole, look like dad, however, we were not as aware of things back then as we are now. Bottom line for me, Circumcision is an elective surgery. I would never but my newborn through and elective surgery, I wouldn’t circumcise my girl so why should my boy be … and to top that off, that’s the way he’s born and if it wasn’t supposed to be that way, then God wouldn’t have created males with the foreskin.

Please feel free to comment or not, with your thoughts!

Then there is feedback. Let me tell you how much THIS annoys me. After I get my item, they conviently time it about 2 weeks after they mail, they email me and ask me to leave feedback. However, they haven’t left feedback for me. Why? Well because then if I leave neutral or negative feedback explaining how they SUCKED AT SHIPPING they will retaliate instead of being honest and saying “fastest payer ever”. So I’ve resorted to emailing THOSE people back and saying “Sorry, I do not leave feedback in cases where it hasn’t been left for me when I am the buyer. Thank you.” I never hear from them again!! Why would they leave feedback KNOWING they SUCKED and I am going to be honest!!

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve met some AMAZING sellers on eBay. Ones that I continue to buy from, but there are always bad apples that ruin it for everyone. *sigh* It’s not like I am looking to buy property, cars, or Outer Banks beach rentals… this seriously is not rocket science. Can someone please explain to me what people are thinking? I’ve sold on eBay and I strive to ship the SAME DAY they pay and ONLY use Priority Mail. I just don’t understand!!

I want to thank ALL my readers for taking the time to read this post and look at the face. This face & story will be familiar to someone and that someone will come forward with answers. Answers the family is so desperatly seeking!

Having said all that, I am home and recovering. My husband has been AMAZING the last 3 days and helping with everything around the house. In fact, I haven’t really moved off the recliner. He’s had me resting and treating me like a QUEEN. He’s so super amazing, it reminds me why I fell in love all over again.

I can not wait until next week when I can head back to the gym. I am changing from my Quick Trim pills to athermogenic fat burner. I stopped seeing results with Quick Trim and I am not going to continue spending money on something that has “stopped” working. I am hoping that I can lose this extra weight before summer. I just NEED to do it. My husband has again been supportive and being he is into the gym and supplements, he’s spent ALOT of time researching different things for me and he’s helping me along. Even though he says I do not need to worry about it, I do. It’s a personal thing for me.

I scrapped my ADSR 5 Challenge 6 layout today. Here’s a peak:

This layout was a HUGE challenge… just because they only allowed 4 of this and 4 of that and no more. I am not typically a person to use so many types but only 4 or 4 might be too many. It was a challenge, which is what it was supposed to be, but I a, okay with the final layout. I will be making a few changes to make it “me” and then I will be adding this to my printed book, because it is a good idea!

I also managed to scrap a layout using Bella Gypsy goodies that are coming SOON to Elemental Scraps. I love being on their CT. What a fun bunch of girls and what an AWESOME set of designers Lena and Tabitha are!! One of their new kits is called Blue Skies & Mud Pies… How cute huh? Here’s my page with it:

I’ve linked them both to my DSTGallery in case you’d like to leave me a comment there! I am so glad to be back scrapping again and it feels amazing! It’s been so nice and stress free! Even the ADSR challenges!! Okay bloggers, I will be back tomorrow with more! My meds are starting to kick in and it’s time for a girl to hit the pillow!!

Of course with the MAC I am having a HUGE learning curve. I need to seriously learn so much. It’s sometimes frustrating and I just want to turn Pinkie back on and be done. I am not sure who all of my readers is/are MAC users so I will just tell you a few of my issues {briefly} and if anyone has any tips/tricks I would be HAPPY to hear them.

1. The plug SUCKS! The wall part is HUGE and hates staying in the outlet and the part that plugs into the laptop itself is, well crap-tastic!! It’s magnetic and pretty much falls out as soon as you touch it. *sigh* Apple WHY? You have the most amazing things, but do *something* crap-tastic to it. The iPhone has a 12″ cord! It sucks too!!

2. The internet is VERY laggy. I tried Safari a few times and I thought maybe it was that. So I downloaded Firefox. Still no go. It’s laggy and seems like it doesn’t load anywhere NEAR as fast as Firefox did on Pinkie.

3. It’s downloading ALL my Gmail. Even Gmail that has long since been deleted. All the SPAM too. ANNOYING!!

4. The dock… *sigh* It’s either always there or “invisible”. I want it to stay, but under my windows. It doesn’t. When I maximize a window the dock is at the bottom and I lose part of my “expanded” screen size.

5. The mouse… *sigh* I obviously am used to a PC mouse and my mouse is working on the MAC, but it seems laggy. If I get a MAC mouse is this going to happen? Is it because it’s a Universal mouse? I don’t like and never liked using the touchpad on laptops.

6. Navigation… Where’s my stuff? I haven’t even TRIED to add anything like Photoshop to it yet. I’m confused as to wear my documents and things are or go… so I haven’t really done anything more then install Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger. And by the way… Is iChat different or does iChat use my AIM contacts? How confusing is that?!? The window says AIM buddy list, but I had to sign up for a mac.com address to use it???

7. Color… The screen color seems ummm OFF to me!?? I am afraid to edit photos on it because I am afraid the colors aren’t right. How can this be? Pinkie had a true color screen so this just seems a little more yellow-ish maybe to me?

I think I get a one on one with Apple to help learn some things. I am pretty sure it was with my purchase, but I can’t remember. Plus we don’t have an APPLE store in my city… We have authorized agents? Wonder if that works the same way? At this point, I do like the MAC, but I am frustrated and having a huge learning curve stumble. I wish I knew someone that had a MAC, was in my area, that could sit with me!! I am open to ideas, advise, tips, tricks!! I know some of my readers have got to know what I mean!!

Until tomorrow bloggers…

First, my dad. In case you didn’t read this post he has cancer. It’s a trying time for my family. We are going through a lot of changes and a lot of things. This is especially hard on me because I am daddy’s little girl AND because my brothers are not showing much support or concern. I will be there through every moment of my dad’s journey. No matter what. I just will. I am very family oriented and we have a SMALL family. My dad and mom, my 3 siblings. My husband has his mom and dad and 1 sibling. So it’s close knot because we don’t have a large family to depend on. My brothers are avoiding everything like it’s not happening or that they don’t care. I understand that everyone deals with things differently, but it’s hard for me. I know *IF* something happens they will regret it later. They don’t see that. Anywho… My dad had to see a dentist for his teeth on Tuesday. He got them all pulled. He only had 6 left, but they removed them. They won’t last through Chemo & Radiation so it was just best. He’s healing from that…. SLOWLY. On Wednesday, he had the PET Scan, which came back CLEAR for cancer anywhere, so that is good. On Thursday, he seen the surgeon. They inserted a G-Tube in his stomach. This is because his throat will be very damaged and he may not be able to eat by mouth. Sad, but it’s to ensure he stays healthy and nourished. He’s healing good, although very tired. I feel bad because we haven’t even started treatment and he’s so worn. He’s officially on disability at work too.

Next, my brother. On Monday my brother text me and said “Can you come and get me?” This was odd because he has a car. I replied and said “Where are you?” He replied “My apartment.” I replied “Sure, what’s up?” He replied “I am in pain and it’s not right.” I replied “On my way. Stay still till I get there.” Now I know it’s odd to have this via text and your thinking why didn’t he call… well when I got to his apartment I found he was completely out of breath and could barely breathe, let alone talk. He said there was a TON of pain in his left side. We got him into my SUV and drove him to the ER. There we sat from 2:00pm until 6:00pm. They ran a lot of tests and hooked up an IV. He entered up having a CT Scan at 6:00pm. At 6:30pm they came back in and said… Surgery at 7:00pm. His appendix was rupturing and needed to be removed NOW. But wait, his pain is on the LEFT not the right. His pain was displaced, and it is common. So at 7:00pm I called my mom up there, she stayed until 9:00pm when he was out of surgery and ready to go to recovery. I needed to leave so I did. He stayed the night and I picked him up the next day at 11:00am. He’s home and recovering and getting ready to eat his first REAL meal. They have you on liquid and soft diet for 3 days after appendix surgery.

Lastly, me! I am set to go see the surgeon and muscle specialist on Tuesday the 23rd. They will be taking a biopsy of my muscle from my left leg, thigh area. This has been HARD. I haven’t been able to take any Advil or Aleve. Only some Tylenol but not a lot. UGH! I take Advil daily so this is a struggle. I need it to get through the day with my pain and inflammation. I will know more once the biopsy is complete. I will update then! As far as my weight loss, that is going well. There are no diets for quick weight loss that have worked for me, so this is an ongoing work in progress. I will keep working on it. For now the Quick Trim and exercise is working. After the biopsy I won’t be able to exercise for 10 days though. That is going to be tough!

A lot is happening here in the next couple days. The kids birthday party is tomorrow. Mariah turned 9 and Alex turned 6, so we are celebrating tomorrow with all their classmates. My MAC laptop is on it’s way. FedEx site says “On FedEx vehicle for delivery” so I am JUST waiting…. impatiently!! I will have more to update soon!! TTFN bloggers!!

P.S. Mac I would do any thing to have a PINK Mac Book *wink*