I DID IT!!!

I am beyond excited - I walked 100 miles in a smidge less than 3 months! I'll admit that when I started this challenge I really didn't think I would be able to do. But by golly, perseverance paid off and I did it! This is so huge for me, for many reasons. Mostly because I have muscular dystrophy and was told some years back that within the year I would be wheelchair bound. HA! Makes me want to go slap that doctor now - LOL! But even with that, the most important thing of all is that I feel unbelievable about this. It totally proves that..."I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

And the people say AMEN!!!

ALL the glory goes to GOD!!!

Chocolate Cupcakes

Looks like I'm still stuck on cupcakes! Lucky for me and my pile of printed cupcake recipes, we have a birthday girl at work today. She has a deep fondness for chocolate, so I made Chocolate Cupcakes for her of course! We were very pleased with the recipe and at least for now it will be my chocolate cupcake recipe of choice - they really are that good. They are topped with Fudge Frosting from a Betty Crocker cookbook that we received as a wedding present. Keith isn't fond of powdered sugar frostings, so wanted to try this one and I'm glad he did. Pure fudgy delight!

I have also joined the Honor Your Husband 30 Day Challenge. I'm not sure how much of this I'll share with the world, but I think it's an awesome thing to do. Keith and I have been married for 27 years and still thoroughly enjoy being together. This challenge came at a good time for us as we are just now facing an empty nest for the first time. Since this is a fresh new start for the two of us, it's good to keep the challenge in mind.

Tales From The Scales

WooHoo - down two pounds this week! I am amazed at how happy I am over those two pounds. And how motivating it is to finally see some progress. I really think what gave me the push was getting my water drinking up again. Still hard to believe that I let that slide the last few months after so long drinking so much water and actually learning to enjoy it! Onward and Upward! :)

Random Thoughts

In my continuing quest to find the perfect cupcake recipe for Brooklyn, who hasn't been born yet (!), these were the cupcakes I just took to work. They are Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcakes with Magnolia's Vanilla Buttercream Frosting. The funny thing about all this is trying to get honest opinions and critiques from people. We've all been so conditioned to saying nice things and when I asked the people at work what they really thought I kept getting "these are good" type of answers. I explained my quest for the perfect recipe and they just smile and say this would be it. It's a very good recipe and I'm sure to make it again, but I guess I just can't believe the first vanilla recipe I try would be The One!

I just finished reading this book and really loved it. It's a Christian novel and was filled with real people that had real thoughts and struggles. Kind of a chick lit without all the extra baggage that I don't need to be reading. :)

Speaking of cupcakes, when Mom, Gary and Michele were in town for the shower we went to Sprinkles Cupcakes to try them out. Very good and I have to admit that it was kind of fun to be eating the same sort of cupcakes as Ms. Hilton does in Beverly Hills - LOL! We don't like to leave Joe out of things, so I brought home a Doggie Cupcake as a treat for him. These are made with dog friendly ingredients and for a mere $2.50 (!) for a cupcake about an inch and a half wide I'm sure I won't do it very often. He was quite appreciative of it though!

This is a picture of "our" lake a week ago. At that time the lake measured four feet above normal and with all the rain we've had recently there's just no telling what it is now. To the right of the picture is the boat ramp we use and just in front of those trees is the road we travel to get there - currently under water. The ramp getting to the dock that is shown is under water the first eight feet. It's been many years since the lake has seen a water level like this. Seems especially strange when I think of the drought we've had the last few years.

Tales From The Scales

I've been in this challenge now for five weeks - and I've lost 1 pound. Honestly though I'm not upset or down or anything over "only 1 pound". I know that there are still some things I could change to make it better. And I also know that I have adopted some MUCH healthier habits and that is really the most important thing. I've started back drinking my water, though I still have a little bit to go to get it to where it needs to be each day. And my walking is just amazing to me. I had joined the Runagogo challenge - walk 100 miles between April 1 and July 4 - and when I updated my miles last night I saw that I've walked 88.25 miles already! WOOHOO!!!! I've also stopped my breakfast drive-thru runs, which is another huge victory.

Really I think that it's gotta start dropping off soon. And if not, I do know that I'm healthier with the new habits.

Random Crafting Update

Well, the picture isn't great since I took it with my cell phone. But this is the card I made for Loni's birthday. It doesn't show well in the picture, but the cupcake is paper pieced with Stickles on the flame and icing (ribbon - Stampin Up; cupcake stamp - TAC; sentiment stamp - Close To My Heart)

I received my first order from Papertrey Ink in the mail today! The quality of the stamps looks to be awesome and I cannot wait to make cards with the set I got! I also got some new acrylic blocks and they were packaged in the cutest little organza bag - love the attention to detail.

My knitting over the weekend consisted of almost two squares for a group putting together afghans for wounded soldiers. I enjoyed doing this knitting as it really is a mindless, soothing knit and that is perfect for in car knitting or for knitting while watching a movie on tv (we watched Deja Vu with Denzel Washington Saturday night - loved it!). Unfortunately the need for this project will continue, so I'll probably always have these on the needles for when I want to do "knitting without thinking". I'm using Red Heart and the one on the needles right now is a variegated called Earth and Sky, a delightfully clever name for brown and blue yarn. ;)

Today's knitting mail brought me the Knit Picks catalog.

And I might as well add another hobby to this post - the class list from my favorite quilting shop came in my email today! I think on the way home tomorrow I'm going to stop in to see the samples for a few of the classes I'm interested in and then make my decision.

Wait for it......yes, we had quilting mail as well! I received The Keepsake Quilter catalog today! I absolutely adore looking through this catalog.

Crafter's A.D.D. leaves little time for boredom! :)

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Happy Birthday to Loni today! Since we work at the same company I decided to make some cupcakes to bring to work. And with a granddaughter on the way I've also been intrigued lately about all the cupcake excitement that is so popular right now (more on that later!). Now that it's just Keith and I there is a lot more time available and I don't have to rely on box mixes and canned frosting so much.

Off I went surfing for cupcake and frosting recipes. I found the perfect recipe for Loni - Pink Lemonade Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Icing! She orders Pink Lemonade everywhere we go now, so I knew it would be something she would enjoy.

I stopped at Joann's on the way home from work yesterday, armed with my 40% off coupon, and purchased a cupcake decorating kit. I still need some practice, but I think it looks a little more special than just slopping it on. Though apparently getting it to look really good is quite an art and will require practice! I ended up with frosting drops all over my shirt and when Keith got home from work and was petting Joe he found a frosting drop on his back! Hmmm.....

Lynne' stopped by to get more of her things and we chose the ugliest cupcake and split it - you know, in the interest of making sure they were good enough to take to work. LOVE these! It's a light, tart flavor that is perfect for summer. Keith had one when he got home and he enjoyed it as well. We'll be adding this recipe to the rotation now.

And hopefully Loni will like them as well! :)

Empty Nest Hot Dish

Last night was our first night alone. We no longer have kids living at home and all of our weekend houseguests had left for their homes.

A simple dinner of hot dish was decided upon. I cooked while Keith did some things around the house. When he saw the finished product he really couldn't help but laugh, and that started me off as well. I obviously need to work on cooking for two! This is a large mixing bowl full of pasta. We ate, then I packaged all the leftovers for lunches.

I think I better Google some smaller recipes..... :)

Brooklyn's Baby Shower

Saturday our side of the family got together for Loni's baby shower and it was SO MUCH FUN! My cousin is the quintessential hostess and every time we've had any kind of shower or gathering it is wonderful - and this one was no exception. The picture is the "chef guy" in her home standing inside her dining room off the entrance of her home. The sign says "Can't wait for Baby Brooklyn!"

We had so much family there and it was truly a blessing. I sat with my cousin and her 5 month old grandson loving on him. I saw my other cousin's daughter 5 months (I think) pregnant and she is just so beautiful. Another cousin's twin boys just turned a year old and they were fun! My grandmother was there, my in-laws, more cousins and kids - truly fabulous.

This shower was a couples shower (the mom-to-be always gets to choose), so really a full house. We even had a sit down dinner for all these people! And baby Max, the 5 month old, coo'ed and played and entertained us all.

The second photo is, obviously, the beautiful cake. So precious and PINK! My family has obviously embraced having a baby girl come into the family as there were so many pink and girlie outfits in the gifts. This will be a very sharp dressed little girl!

Again let me say - It Is Well With My Soul. God is truly gracious to our family and in the heart of our gatherings.

Brooklyn Star Book

I received the most amazing gift in the mail this week from Jeanie - a Star Book for my grandbaby! This is such an amazing, heartfelt gift and I am just so honored to receive it. The pictures show the front of the book, the page that has Brooklyn's name (made with the Cricuit?), and the open star book so that you can see how the book gets its name. I am so excited and can't wait to fill this book with pictures of her!