10 on Tuesday

1. Currently we are in Napa, California! We arrived here last night after a long day stuck in the van-9 1/2 hours altogether!
2. Were about 45 minutes away from the Golden Gate Bridge...so, Thursday were going to the city where the show Full House was based and where rice a roni is a SAN FRANCISCO treat!
3. Tomorrow I get to celebrate the first of many 29 birthdays! To celebrate, my boys are taking me to Johnny Carinos! Yum!
4. Our meeting this past weekend was good! They bought Klayton an outfit-I know he's only 3 months old and really has no clue about those kind of things; but it really is so special to me when people think of him!
5. Last week, I picked up my golf clubs for the first time in a year! We went to the driving range and hit a bucket of balls. I was a little rusty; but not worse than I already am at the game!
6. My thought for the week: don't expect people to meet up to your expectations because more than likely you are going to be disappointed.
7. Seriously, why am I still awake? It's after midnight and both my boys have been asleep since 10.....
8. It's crazy to think; but this time last year I was pregnant and didn't even know it!
9. This past weekend on our way to Twentynine Palms I saw a caravan of rvs advertising the end of the world to be May 21st. Seriously? The Bible tells us that we don't know the day or the hour...
10. I am so thankful for the gifts that God has given me, a husband of 3 years and a 3 month old baby! Tonight I have just been taking the time to say thank you to God for these gifts!

Renewed

My mom and I have now been doing the weight loss challenge for nine days! I have been discouraged by my diet because in my opinion I wasn't being 'good'. However, I weighed myself today to see if I had lost ANY weight, the result was quite surprising! I have lost 6 lbs! Whoo-hoo! Needless to say, I was and still am ecstatic! My desire to lose weight has been renewed and I stepping back on the train!

Tired Blogger

So, to be honest I have not really been in the blogging spirit lately. And, then I don't want to document my diet, especially today and yesterday because I was HORRIBLE. We are currently in Twentynine Palms, California and were taken out both days to places that really didn't allow me the option of eating healthy-ugh. So, back to the diet plan tomorrow. Even though I don't want to blog tonight, I didn't want to neglect, so here you go-pictures of my handsome babycakes!

Seriously mom? Another picture?


Daddy and Klayton reading books together!


See my tongue? I love to stick my tongue out!


Mommy kisses!


And, just because he is SO CUTE!

Getting Serious: day 5

Bad day!

Food Journal:
Breakfast: 1 granola bar
Lunch: peanut butter sandwich
glass of juice
goldfish graham crackers
Dinner: Michelinas manicotti
water
Snacks: 1/2 a pretzel from Wetzels pretzels
1/2 a route 44 cherry coke

Exercise Journal:
*walked the mall
*random exercises throughout the day

Getting Serious: Day 4

Well, to be honest I wasn't to crazy about dieting today. I did however, remain strong and didn't give up!

Food Journal:

Breakfast: 1 granola bar
Lunch: 1 peanut butter sandwich
goldfish graham crackers
glass of juice
Dinner: Lean Cuisine cheese ravioli (very tasty)
glass of juice
Snack: water
goldfish graham crackers
*maybe some popcorn later...

Exercise Journal:
*sit ups
*squats
*walking in place with legs spread apart
*jumping jacks

10 on Tuesday

1. Currently, we are in Bakersfield, California. This coming Sunday we will be in 29 Palms and Monday-well were still working on that one. The place we were going to be staying for the week fell through.
2. A week from tomorrow is my 29th birthday. Does this mean it's time for a mid-life crisis of some sort?
3. As I type this I am suffering from a caffeine headache. I want caffeine NOW...please!?
4. One bonus about being in California in January is I don't need my winter coat!
5. This is day 4 of my weight loss challenge with my mom. I feel like I'm being starved; but it's okay as long as I lose weight and beat my mom!
6. Klayton has had a rough week. He ran a slight fever the other night; but today seems to be his normal self once again. I blame the lady who coughed all over him-manners please? Another reason why I don't pass him around!
7. On this trip I was able to bring some of my scrapbook stuff! Yay! I was able to enjoy an evening of scrapbooking last night! I got 1/2 a page done, not much accomplished; but that's okay!
8. This past Sunday we were in Mariposa, California and we had a great time with the pastor and the church! There were a couple ladies who had babies shortly after I had Klayton, so we had a common bond and it was fun to share what we've learned as new mommies!
9. Speaking of which, did you know Gripe Water works great for hiccups? Klayton seems to always have hiccups...we tried the gripe water while he was hiccuping today and within 3 hiccups they were gone!
10. Wow, I came up with 10 things rather quickly-I surprise myself sometimes!

Quick Update

So, currently we are in Mariposa, California! Mariposa seems to be a tourist town as its just an hour outside Yosemite National Park. Joseph, Klayton and I walked the downtown shops yesterday and they all seemed to have the New Age feel to them-I really hate the scent of incense burning. Yuck.
Tomorrow its off to Bakersfield for the week, were going to be using a prophets chamber for the week. It will be great to kick back for the week and not have to travel. I am hoping to find some time to scrap book, I brought Klayton’s baby book along with me! I am also looking forward to not having to be in the van for long periods of time-I’m still trying to get back into the groove of traveling.
The last two churches we have been in have treated us wonderfully! This past Wednesday, the church in Ventura spoiled us with a gift basket and even spoiled Klayton with his own gift basket! A gift basket for Klayton was really special to us as that was the first church to think of Klayton in that way! The basket was filled with blocks, pajamas, bibs, socks and onesies!
Can I just admit that being on a diet is not all that fun? I am thinking about the Milky Way candy bar that’s in the vending machine…I had one yesterday and it was so fresh and good! Ahh! I really would like to get one tonight; but I know if I am going to stay on track I need to say no…its hard to withstand the pressure of knowing something tastes so good!
Well, life is more interesting to talk about when I am posting about Klayton! Oh well, I hope I didn’t bore you to much!

Getting Serious: Day 2

Today I did not eat my normal 4 pizzas of pizza...I had 3!
Today instead of taking the elevator....I walked up and down 4 flights of stairs!
Today instead of ordering a burger and fries....I ordered a salad!

Food Journal for today: (Note, we spent the day presenting our ministry, so we were taken out to eat for both meals)

*3 pieces of pepperoni pizza
*1 breadstick with cheese
*cherry coke
*grilled chicken caesar salad
*2 slices garlic cheese toast
*sierra mist

And, now its off to exercise! Go me!!!!!

Hotel Review

So, I totally spaced these two hotels out...we stayed in a hotel every night last week; but one!
Motel 6, Winnemucca, Nevada:

This was actually one of the better, Motel 6's in spite of the outside appearing run down. We don't usually like hotels with outdoor entrances and very rarely put ourselves up for the night in hotels like that. But, a church we were in put us up in it. It was conveniently located by a Pizza Hut, Long John Silver and a KFC. The room was clean and thats the main factor! What I don't like about Motel 6 is that you have to pay an additional $3.00 for internet service. And, while the room was clean and the bed comfy, I did not get good sleep because the paper thin walls allowed me to hear everything that was going on in the next room.

The bathroom was clean. The shower stayed hot and had great water pressure.

And, for the question, would we stay here again? If we had to yes: but we would prefer somewhere different.

Hotel Rosedale, Bakersfield, California:

We had a great stay here! The room was excellent, it was big and roomy! The room had a refrigerator, microwave in it! Our room overlooked the courtyard and had a nice balcony to sit in! We slept with our patio door slightly cracked and felt perfectly safe. The hotel is conveniently located off the interstate; but the sound of cars did not keep us awake. The bed was quite comfortable and we had a great night of sleep!

The bathroom was quite clean! The shower, had great water pressure and the water stayed hot-notice the shower is very important to me! What was nice about the bathroom is that there was counter space in the bathroom and just outside the bathroom-more than enough room for two people to get ready in the morning!

The hotel had a continental breakfast that offered waffles. The breakfast was pretty good; but I am beginning to decide unless a hotel offers something amazing for breakfast I should just remain in bed and enjoy my sleep! The hotel was also very quiet and the staff was very pleasant!
Would we stay here again? MOST DEFINITELY!

Do These Hotels Pass the Test?

I have laid in bed for over a hour, hoping that sleep would find me. I really am tired; but yet, I can’t sleep. I hate sleepless nights. However, on this night a great idea has popped into my head! I should do hotel reviews…we stay in many hotels during our travels and who knows you may someday find yourselves in the places we have been! In the past week, we have stayed at three different hotels….I can’t remember anything before this week! So, here it goes:
Vagabond Inn Executive, Los Banos, California:

The room we stayed in pretty much looked like the one pictured below! Clean and big! It was nice to have something other than a bed and desk chair to sit on-the couch was a nice accommodation to the room! Our room had a king bed in it and it was very comfortable, needless to say we had a great nights sleep! The room also had a microwave and refrigerator! The bathroom was also clean-the shower had decent water pressure and the water stayed hot!

The website for the hotel claims to have a breakfast buffet; but we learned it was more of a continental breakfast with waffles. Kind of disappointing. We were expecting more, nowadays it seems most hotels that offer a continental breakfast include waffles so we were expecting more. However, the waffles were good!
Drawback to the hotel was its location. We approached it from the interstate and could not enter from our side of the street so we had to circle the block to get to it. But, if thats the only drawback I can handle it!
So, the question remains, would we stay here again? MOST DEFINITELY!
Vagabond Inn, Oxnard, California:

The room we stayed in is basically like the one pictured below; but DIRTY. The room had a refrigerator, which was nice. The bed was comfortable and appeared clean! We also had internet access! The carpets in the room however, were dirty after I showered in the shower that did not have a shower curtain, I walked on the carpet and my feet started to turn black-disgusting.

The bathroom was clean, it was just very aged. The water pressure was not very good and I felt very exposed showering without a shower curtain! Also, the water never really got hot.
I don't know how the continental breakfast was, I wasn't to crazy about trying it out.
The question remains, would we stay here again? MOST DEFINITELY NOT!!
Super 8, Mariposa, California:

The room we stayed in pretty much looked like the one below! The room was a great size, with a king bed, table and 2 chairs! After staying in the previous hotel, we were very grateful for a room that was clean and carpets that did not turn our feet black! The bed was very comfortable! With the room being as big as it was, we didn't feel cramped which was nice since this was our home for 3 nights!

The bathroom was quite big! Big enough for two people to share the same counter and mirror and not get in one anothers way! The water pressure was great and it stayed hot!]

The hotel staff was very friendly and very attentive to our every need! It offered a simple continental breakfast; but thats fine!
And the question remains, would we stay here again? MOST DEFINITELY!

*Since I just had this bright idea, I will have to work on perfecting how I do my reviews! Bear with me and in time I will become a professional hotel reviewer!

It's Time to Get Serious/Day 1

I am still 4 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight and 25 lbs from my first goal towards weight loss. I have tried to get the motivation to lose weight and then it seems there is always something that happens. Example #1: Six weeks after giving birth, my doctor clears me to begin an exercise program. The following week, Klayton is admitted to the hospital for a week long visit and then the week he is discharged it is discovered that I will be having my gall bladder removed. Example #2: We are now back on the road. Fast food joints, eating in peoples homes...are a small part of my current food journey. Frankly, its hard to eat healthy on the road and to exercise.
So, today my mom and I are challenging one another to lose weight! Whoever loses the most weight by the time of my brother's wedding in May, has to buy the other one either a new outfit or dinner-whatever the winner decides they want. Since, we know (smile) that I am going to be the winner, I am announcing that I want a new outfit!
To help keep me motivated, I am going to log my weight loss journey on here. To start, I must admit-I am to prideful to announce my current weight. Once I lose all the weight I will then tell my starting weight, however, when I do find a scale to weigh myself I will document my weight loss. On here I will blog about my exercise, food intake and whatever else may be prevalent to my weight loss.
Something interesting that I learned is, if you want to maintain your current weight-simply multiply your weight times thirteen and that is the daily amount of calories you should be eating to maintain. If you want to lose weight shave off a couple hundred calories...I shaved off 300 calories to begin with!

Food Journal:
*Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad, with garlic toast
*2 glasses Sierra Mist
*6 inch oven roasted chicken breast sub. (lettuce, banana peppers, onion and lite mayo)
*44 ounces root beer
*Milky Way candy bar

*In my defense, I started this challenge in the middle of the day. So, hopefully this will improve. I also know that there should be water somewhere in my daily water, and while I hate water I will try and add it to my daily diet. Digusting; but it must be done.

Exercise Journal:
*28 sit ups
*3 minutes of walking in place with my legs spread a part.
*2 minutes of other card
*Walked 4 blocks

Stay tuned for day 2....

3 Months

Klayton, You are 3 months:
*You wear size 1 diapers
*You are 23 ½ inches long
*You weigh 10 lbs. 2 oz-getting to be quite the chunker, even though you don’t look like it!
*You wear 0-3 month clothes, some straight 3 month if they have been washed! If you wear anything newborn its usually for the last time.
*You love to smile…you are such a happy baby! When I change your diaper and say pu-wee you get the biggest, cutest smile!
*You love to talk back to us!
*You are not that crazy about tummy time; but we keep plugging away in hopes you will come to like it!

This month, you:
*Had your 1st shots
*Laughed for the 1st time! We keep trying to get you to do it again; but you refuse! So, yes you can be stubborn!
*Sucked your thumb for the 1st time and for the only time so far! Daddy is pretty grateful that this has not become a habit! I must admit it was pretty cute to wake up to though!
*Celebrated your 1st Christmas
*Celebrated your 1st New Years and you even stayed up until midnight to ring it in!
*Went to Nebraska, Utah, Nevada and California for the first time!

Dear Klayton,
Seriously? Three months? I have a feeling time is just going to continue to pass as quickly as it already has. I don’t even know how to explain my love for you; but each day I wake up loving you more!
God has truly blessed our lives with you, you are such a good baby-happy and content! Wherever we go, people are always raving about how good you are! It makes daddy and me proud! I don’t deserve you. I am so blessed.
These past few weeks have been rough on me; but you are the sunshine in that roughness. You are so loved…I love you for the sunshine that you bring to my life, I love you for the tears you shed, I love you even for the diapers you mess-I love you for everything you are to me and I love you no matter what!
Love,
Mama

Klayton's First Laugh

Two weeks ago, we were with friends in Utah. Getting ready to play a game, Blokus and from nowhere Klayton started laughing! We were in shock and by the time we thought to record it, we only caught the tail end. If you want to listen you will have to mute the music at the bottom of the page. Here is what we caught....

10 on Tuesday (pics & updates)

1. We have now been in Utah, Nevada and currently California-we definitely get around!
2.
3. Since being back on the road we have picked up one new supporting church!
4.
5. Joseph attended his first NBA game with his friend Jason! The Utah Jazz versus the Cleveland Cavaliars-the Jazz won!
6.
7. Klayton laughed, I mean really laughed for the first time! It was so funny and so cute! And we keep trying to get him to laugh for us once again and he keeps refusing!
8.
9. I really need to stop putting my diet off until tomorrow...the excess weight isn't going to just disappear on its own.
10.

Wish They All Could Be....California

Yep, were in California!

Yep, we got stopped on the Nevada/California border at a produce checkpoint and no we did not have any apples, bananas or oranges...or maybe we had an apple?!


Yep, those are snowcapped mountains behind us!

This is How I Travel

Here's my little man and how he rolls when traveling the roads of Colorado!

Isn't he adorable? I just love his shades and he really doesn't mind wearing them!

On the Road Again and tidbits!

We are currently on the Colorado border, Nebraska side for the night. We left Sioux Falls, last night after attending a wedding. We stayed in Bellevue for the night and were hoping to make it to the west side of Denver tonight. However, winter weather changed our plans.


The above scene is a minor incident that we came across today. As evening approached we decided it was best to stop for the night, as we considered the fact that there was a 50 car pile up just ahead on the interstate anyway,
This trip will take us on the road for about three months, it will be crazy! We will be in Utah, Arizona, California and Nevada and obviously any state in-between! I have known for a long time that we would be getting back on the road this week; but it somehow managed to sneak up on me and catch me out of sorts about it. But, I didn't realize how out of sorts I was about it until we left home last night and as I said goodbye to some friends. I don't know why this trip is effecting my emotions the way it is; but it is...
On to other things! I wanted to do a Christmas post; but realized that the SD card with all my Christmas pictures is at home, so this is very sad. I just have these two pictures with me.


We had a wonderful time celebrating Klayton's first Christmas! We did stockings as a family on Christmas Eve as well as homemade pizza and a camp out beneath the lights of the Christmas tree! Christmas Day started with the Christmas story, followed by more presents! Later in the morning my parents and sister came over to do presents with us and exchange gifts! I was glad to have such a nice time even as I was recovering from gall bladder surgery that I had the Wednesday prior to Christmas.
As the new year started Joseph's parents came for a visit and we celebrated our third wedding anniversary on the fourth of this month.


Joseph's parents really wanted to babysit Klayton and then Joseph found the above shirt. So, Joseph took me out to dinner for our anniversary. We had a nice dinner together in spite of missing my little man.
So, after a long; but somewhat brief update of our lives since my last post that was forever ago...enjoy your night, stay warm and I'm not going to wait so long to post again!