Paleo and Loot Crate 05.01.16

A couple weeks ago I decided to try the Paleo diet to keep my blood sugar down while losing weight. I've made quite a few meals and most of them have been totally delicious, not to mention I feel great eating them knowing that they are all fresh ingredients. 

These are portobello mushroom pizzas. They have pepperoni, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers and olives on them. Kind of juicy but really good. 

Portobello Pizza

My kids had theirs with lots of cheese, to be perfectly honest they didn't really like the mushrooms and just ate the toppings.

Mmm Cheesy!

This one was Cuban shredded beef and fried zucchini. River and Rain liked it but Sky was unimpressed with the zucchinis.

I thought it was yummy.

Taco fries was the one dish we all agreed on. It's french fries topped with taco meat, veggies and a bit of salsa. Even Sky liked it once we switched from sweet potatoes to regular ones.

Taco Fries for the win!

The best part about this is that I'm not hungry most of the time and I've been losing weight on it. There's something to cutting out processed food for sure!

On another note, I'm a huge geek. I love video games, comic books, cartoons, anime, all of it. At any rate I have been getting Loot Crates for a while now and have been really enjoying all the awesome stuff so I figured I'd share a few here.

This is a watch out of the gaming crate. It works great for me when I'm driving because the light only comes on when pressed so it doesn't mess with my night vision. Plus it's just flat out cool.

Here's some other things from recent Loot Crates. I love the glass and cooling stone (just got it a couple days ago). Sky is way into Adventure Time so it was cool to get the glow in the dark Finn too. 

Whisky and cherry flavoring... For the HORDE!

At any rate if anyone wants to give Loot Crate a try you can get 5 bucks off using this link Loot Now and, bonus, I get 5 bucks off of my geeky addiction so win win :). By the way this months theme is Power so you'll be getting some Marvel and Warcraft stuff in your crate.

04.28.16 Update on weight loss!

So I know I haven't blogged in a while but I figured I'd give you all a quick update. I had a kind of rough winter so I am just now buckling back down on the getting healthier. About a week ago I started doing the paleo diet and so far I love it! I'm not hungry most of the day and I feel great after meals rather than overly full. I have also been walking and running more and am pleased to announce that I have lost a total of 36 lbs! Because I'm still 60-80 lbs overweight I don't look a lot different (to me anyway) but I can definitely see it in my face :). See for yourself!

From left to right November 226, December 219, and end of April 204.

Still a ways to go but I feel way better. And yeah, I rock the blond look :p

Sky's Birthday! 11.05.15

My oldest just turned 9 on the 3rd and her birthday has been ongoing for the last few days. On the second her Grandpa took her out to Subway and bought her Minecraft. Sky is way into video games and she's really good at them so that was the perfect gift. The picture is from this morning because she hasn't stopped playing it since she got it. 

Sky playing Minecraft

The big surprise for her was last night when Grandma made the trip out and brought her even more birthday goodies.

Backpack, Card, Fuzzy Boots, and Glow Sticks.

I asked her to just look normal and got an eye roll. She cracks me up. I love my big girl.

Are we done yet Mom?

For her birthday we got Chinese food (her favorite) and watched some movies on Netflix. Sky is going to do the 5k with me at the end of February, which will be a ton of fun.

On that note I really haven't been keeping up with the whole exercising thing, in fact I haven't really started it so I will remedy that today. I am still dropping weight though so yay! That's all for now, we'll talk to you all later.

From Mt Vernon to Smelterville 11.04.15

Hello everyone! I have been a bit busy the last few days. Yesterday was my daughters birthday, she turned 9. In some ways I still can't believe I have children much less how big they're getting. It's kind of amazing. Before I got home though I took a load to Idaho and then picked up potatoes on the way back. There's a railroad track that ends right behind where I swapped trailers. I always enjoy seeing nature take back a portion of what we created. It seems like no matter how grand our creations, without constant maintenance, nature reclaims what is hers. Maybe a thousand years from now someone will consider this an archaeological site and wonder what the purpose of it was. It's kind of cool to think about. 

End of the Track in Warden.

Of course winter is on its way and that means different things in different places. Trees are changing colors and losing there leaves. In Idaho it's cold and dry right now while in Mt Vernon there's fog that's engulfing everything.

Smelterville Idaho

I love the Tamaracks, they add little bursts of color to the northern mountains. I can never tell the difference between them and other pine trees until they start changing color. To me it's like they're saying "Ha! Fooled ya, I'm deciduous." it makes me smile.

Tamarack

Up in Mt Vernon it was pretty foggy, although it's hard to tell from the pictures. Everything up there is pretty wet right now.

South of Mt Vernon

On 405 we experienced classic Washington rain. It rains really hard, so much that the windshield wipers can't keep up then stops so they squeak across the glass. Just when you're ready to turn them off the rain pours down again.

405  South

Between the rain and rush hour traffic was pretty slow.

Traffic was stop and go

I can't complain though. I got great miles the last few days and have yet to hit any snow even though some of my friends have. Later tonight I will tell you all about Sky's birthday, but for now I'm signing off. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Update and Beginning Again! 11.01.15

So I should probably start by apologizing for promising to keep everyone updated and not following through. It has been an eventful year. Since the last time I wrote we ended up going to live at the KOA from November of last year up until August. We tried to buy a house but the deal fell through, which was okay in retrospect, I'm closer to work and am home every night which I would not have been if we had gotten the place we wanted. Now we are living in an actual house (First time for me! Yay!) under a rent to own contract. It's old and has some problems but they're problems I can fix, and hey hardwood floors for when the kids spill things. The neighborhood we're in is quiet and everyone is so nice, it is night and day from leaving the apartments last year. It seriously was the best thing that ever happened to me. 

Now I'm going to jump to today and work back a little. I had a beautiful drive up to Omak and caught some amazing scenery on the way back. Even though I have been to these places many times I am always struck by the unique beauty present no matter where I'm at. Here's a little snapshot of my drive back.  

Hwy 17 Headed to Soap Lake

Yesterday we all got to carve pumpkins with our neighbors. The girls had a blast and the moon didn't turn out half bad. After pumpkins we sat around and passed out candy to the kids trick-or-treating. I didn't get it together in time to go with the kids but they still enjoyed copious amounts of candy.

Our Moon and Stars Pumpkin

The only downside to yesterday had a lot to do with me being insanely clumsy. After we carved the moon with the "proper" pumpkin carving tools we went home and I decided to carve another pumpkin with my pocket knife. At any rate I ended up sticking said knife into my hand. It's closed up and healing just fine but it was crazy embarrassing.

Yeah, I'm not always the sharpest tool in the shed.

Last but certainly not least (yes I'm excited :p) I've been losing weight. I have gained a bunch of weight in the past decade or so and staying in a travel trailer at the KOA only made it worse. So on September 20th, at 240.4 pounds, I decided to do something about it. I started by logging all the food I ate everyday but it was just way too tedious. So I just stopped eating while I worked and weighed myself everyday. One big thing I learned from this is that weight loss is not linear, it goes up and down depending on what and how much I eat on any given day. There is a general downward trend, however, and I am "organically" learning what my body thrives on and what just gets stored away. 

My goal for September was to get under 240, which I did. My goal for October then was to get under 230, which, again, I did (see the trend?). Now here on November 1st I weigh 226.4 lbs. That's 14 pounds lost! While I don't see a real difference, I definitely feel it. My knees don't hurt and I'm not winded anymore walking from the truck to the bathroom. Seriously, I am way to young to have been that out of shape. So here I am today, still in size 44 pants and a 3X shirt but I am getting there. 

My goal for this month (as you've all probably guessed) is to get under 220 which will put me at the lightest I've been in over a year. If I can keep this rate up I want to run a 5k in February. Which leads me to my next goal for this month. Exercising three times a week, starting today. 

So wish me luck, I'm off to do that now.

River photobombing Mommy.

P.S. I promise that this time I really will keep you all updated and post a new "selfie" once a month so you can all watch me shrink :P.

The Adventure Begins 10.18.14

About a week ago we received a 20 day termination of lease from our landlord. After looking for apartments and realizing that with my less than fantastic credit, our cat and Jason's record, finding a place in 20 days was going to be nearly impossible, we decided to move into a motel.

At this point we are still working on getting a storage unit but we have reserved a 2 bed room at the motel for the first of November. Our plan right now is to get rid of most of our things and only store the things it would be difficult to replace once we get our own place. Our oldest daughter is actually excited to be moving as is Jason. We are looking on the bright side and coming up with ideas on how to make it work for us. We are still very lucky, we are not homeless, we have food, shelter, and I have good job that will be able to support us wherever we end up. All of us are healthy and happy to be getting out of a place where it takes over 3 weeks to get someone to fix the heat in the winter and where we have the hot water shut off under the sink because it's been leaking for several months, even if us leaving wasn't by our choice. So in two weeks we will be starting our grand adventure and I will keep you all updated on how it goes. Until then, stay happy and remember, no matter what happens you create your own reality. Rather than getting down about situations or things that seem bad, find the bright side and make it work for you. It could be the best thing that ever happened to you!

Safety Blitz 2014

If you haven't already noticed, the 2014 DOT Roadcheck has been going on for the last few days. Scales that are rarely ever open are in full swing as this years Roadcheck comes to a close.

With that said, it seems I picked a very inopportune time to jump back into a truck (I'm on casual status as I normally work in the office). I took a load yesterday, through an area where the scales are rarely open and found one that was. I didn't get pulled in, which is always a good thing, but it surprised me as I had forgotten about this years Blitz.

Since it ends today and I won't be driving until next Tuesday, I won't have to worry about it too much this year. But for those of you still out there, make sure your logs are up to date when you're out driving today, and be safe.