Wow 95 posts already!

I think that I may have to do a giveaway for my 100th post!

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I wanted to share with you some pictures of the adoption finalization yesterday. I guess in the adoption world it is called gotcha day!

Anna

She is one of the cutest and best behaved babies I have ever seen! I started crying when I saw her smile yesterday. I think it was all the emotion of wanting a child.

Ben

Ben is almost 3 now. He was also adopted but looks like he belongs to his parents. He also looks so much like his little sister. His mother was born without a uterus so they knew they were never going to be able to have biological children. It was really rough for them but now it is so sweet to see the plan that God had all along for them.

Us with Anna

The complete family

The judge who also did Ben's adoption

Ben and my hubby, his other Grandma made him the cape for him for Christmas.

Hubby's younger brother playing with Anna

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It was so great to spend time with them. As I mentioned in the last post we have 4 nieces and 3 nephews already. I am guessing we will have 15 or so by the time everyone is done having kids. The only problem is we only see them a few times a year even though we only live about an hour away and love kids. I was feeling very hurt because we never get to see them and it seemed like they never made an effort. I felt a lot better though after we had a fun evening with them and when I got a sweet e-mail from my sister in law today.

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Things with other members of the family though are still very weird though when we are all together. I didn't realize until recently how hard relationships with in laws are for every family. Hubby has a younger brother who I get along with really well. He has however started dating a new girl who seems to lack the ability to talk. We were all together for over 4 hours yesterday and the only talking she did was to answer that her Christmas was good when I asked her. My dream would be that he would find an amazing Christian girl who we love and could hang out with since he is one of hubby's closest friends.

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There is also the topic of the youngest sibling, Hubby's sister. She is one of the most awkward people I have ever meet. She doesn't say hi when you see her, she almost acts like you are not even in the room. I don't even think her and hubby have ever had a true conversation. She was one of my bridesmaids at hubby's request since he had my brother as a groomsman. She decided right before the wedding to tell me over instant messenger that we shouldn't be living together before we were married. (My living situation got really bad right before we got married so I moved early.) Fast forward 3 years and she stays at her boyfriend's house every evening. She lives with my brother in law and instructs him not to tell the family what she is doing. She also regularly talks about how she is going to break up with him but never seems to follow through. At least I was engaged I knew I would spend the rest of my life with my husband. When I ask her about him you can tell she doesn't want to marry him.

I think we just need to sit down and have a good talk so that things are not awkward. I think the guilt is eating her alive.

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Sorry if that is too much information or too negative it is just so healing to have it out there and actually talk about it. I also think it helps so much to know that no marriage is without in law trouble. I bet all of you married ladies also have some crazy in law stories!

Welcome to the family

Today is a very special day for our family, our niece Anna is officially a part of the family! Her adoption will be finalize by the same judge that did the ceremony for her older brother Ben. Even though they were confident that the adoption would go smoothly you still hold your breath until it is all completely finalized and legal.

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Here are pictures from the first time we meet her, only a few days old.

My husband! This man was meant to be a father.

This is Anna now! Isn't she cute.

Hopefully we will get some good photos for me to post.

Also if you didn't pick up on it the kids names are Ben and Anna. Say it fast and it sounds like Banana!

Just 2 of our 7 nieces/nephews and we still have 2 of hubby's siblings to get married and one of mine.

Acne Help needed

I need some help from all of you out there. I have been having terrible breakouts along my jawline and I can't do anything to prevent or clear them up. I use Solvere (made by the same people as proactive but it has an extra active ingredient) It has cleared up the rest of my face but it won't make a dent on the cysts I continue to get on my jaw. I seem to really breakout about a week before my period but they take weeks to clear up. By the time they heal they start again. I am pretty sure it is caused by hormones.

I am looking for a solution that isn't drastic. We may start trying to get pregnant this summer and lots of solutions can't be used during pregnancy. You aren't even supposed to us Proactive while you are expecting. I am also so tired of having to buy white towels and sheets because everything gets bleached out. Have any of you found a solution to this problem?

I have heard to use good makeup, I currently use bare minerals.

Wow 2 years already

It has been 2 years since I finally took the plunge and made one of the best decisions of my life. It may sound so silly but this great decision was to join Weight Watchers. My only regret is that I didn't start sooner. I must say that I have been far from perfect on my journey but I still have managed to lose 35 lbs. So if you are going to make your new years resolution to lose weight I would encourage you to check out Weight Watchers.

I also have to confess that I was doing an amazing job at going to the gym. I was lifting weights and doing cardio and loving it. I was even starting to see definition in my abs! I have been super busy though and haven't been able to go for a week now. I can tell such a difference in the way I feel. I feel sluggish and have had a hard time getting out of bed and falling asleep in the evening. I also haven't been accomplishing my tasks that I set out to do for the day. I am so excited to not be as busy and going the gym again but I am really not excited to be fighting the crowds. I know that they will be long gone after Valentine's day though.

If your goal is to lose weight how are you going to accomplish it this new year?

It's been a while

I have been spending a lot of time with my Young Life girls since they are out of school for Christmas break. I love spending time with them, I never feel like I should be somewhere else when I am with them. We always manage to take a million goofy photos no matter what we are doing. If you are friends on facebook with any high school girls you will know what I am talking about, if you are not that fortunate here is a preview.

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The first evening we went to sushi for dinner, saw Twilight and then had a sleepover. It was my first time but the other 4 girls had already seen it multiple times already. We had some time to kill though so we went shopping!

dollar store panties

A jeep with reindeer antlers

My purse and all the candy we got at the dollar store! I hadn't finished the book yet.

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Our second adventure was a trip to the Denver Zoo Lights. We had 6 girls and 3 leaders, it was a great time.

Our entire group

You have to take a photo with the covered wagon if you go to the zoo! It's been there since I was a little girl.

Another photo opportunity

Simple yet Classic Clothing

I was coveting these items yesterday from Victoria Secret. I just looked at them again and realized how simple and classic they all are. I could just see myself in these showing houses to clients.

Maybe not for work but I love it! I also think it would be a classic piece and last forever.

I have never tried on this style but I am guessing it would be cute and great for work.
I like this but think it may be a little too long.

I can't pull this off yet but sometime soon maybe. I want a dress to wear cute tights with in the cold weather. I have yet to find the right way to wear this style though.

I am confused because I wanted this shirt my freshman year of college. They are still selling it 6 years later.

Never say never

There are many things that I never thought that I would do in my lifetime but I have managed to do quite a few recently. They are as follows

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The first thing is own a pair of Uggs.

I now own two pairs and really want a black pair to go with my tan ones and my chocolate brown ones.

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When I did buy Uggs I swore I would never tuck them in. I did that this week.

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I really never thought that I would read Twilight. I skipped the Harry Potter crazy and didn't really miss it and thought I could skip this as well.

All of my Young Life girls are reading it and I am starting to get parents asking me questions about them. I have started this week but I am only 20 pages or so in.

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I also thought that I wouldn't read the book so I wouldn't have to see the movie. Well once again I am going to go with my YL girls this Friday to see it.

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I have never watched the biggest loser. I just looked the before and after pictures though and I may have to start watching in January. I have heard so much from all of you how motivating it is.

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Is there anything you do now that you never thought you would do?

Weight loss tips and other thoughts

On my last post I wrote about how I was about to go to the gym and I gotta say I almost flaked out after I turned off my computer. It was just so warm and toasty that it was hard to leave. I am glad that I didn't because I wouldn't have this to share with all of you!

I love to watch the people at the gym and then point out all the funny things they did on my drive home with hubby. He usually says "I was there to work out not to check other people out". At times he will indulge with me though. Anyways last night was no exception... I saw a high school boy in bud light pajama bottoms with the bottoms rolled up, one higher than the other, and tall white socks pulled up high. He was following around another teen and barely working out even though you know he was going to tell all his friends tomorrow at school what a great work out he had. Please, I worked harder than he did when I was stretching. It was closing time and he noticed we were all putting on our coats and leaving when he asked his friend is the gym closing? He then went on to say how upset he was because he wanted to run for the next hour.

See what funny amusing things happen at the gym! Don't believe me, I took a photo!!

Sorry he is somewhat hidden but you get the idea, I couldn't let him see that I was taking a photo.

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I also have to share with you the results of all my hard work at the gym. In the last 10 days I have followed my points 6 days. The other ones haven't worked out but I am still so much farther ahead because I was able to follow for 1/2 the days. I allowed myself those days to eat what I wanted at parties and I don't feel guilty about it. It is a lot better than just giving up everyday because it doesn't work a few days as so many people do. I also made it to the gym 6 times as well, not always the same day as the other. Three of these times I was able to lift. I can tell such a big difference since I have started doing this. I have lost at least half an inch everywhere, even in my arms. I am not saying this because I am conscious about my arms but because I want to share with you how building muscle will take off inches everywhere. I have also noticed that when I didn't follow my points I could tell by looking at my stomach the next morning but now that I am working out I can't tell the next morning.

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I also found pictures of my new earrings online!

I am also trying to track this down from Forever 21. I bought a similar one in red last year and it is so great. It is thin and stretchy and the white is a little see through, I got tons of comments on it as well! I have been to two store so I may just have to break down and buy it online.

This is little Eli! I got to spend my day with her and all day she told me you are my best friend quiet a few times.

While I was gone hubby dropped an ice cube that Ridley decided to pick up. I just don't think she counted on it getting stuck. I guess she was so scared she wouldn't move and didn't know what to do.

Last week I heard the tip once again not to wash your hair but just to condition it, washing it only once a week or so. I was a little freaked out by it but knew I needed to do something different now that my hair is so long. I tried it and I love it! It makes my hair so manageable and smooth.

The weather outside is frightful

Seriously it is 2 degrees outside and so cold. I decided to brave the cold though tonight and get some Christmas shopping done. I also needed a few things for myself at the mall. I have really been wanting matchstick jeans so that I can tuck them into my Uggs. I decided I should look at Forever 21 for some cheap ones since I have never worn the style before. It is a little intimidating to shop for pants there because they are all so small. I couldn't believe it when the largest pair was too big for me! I also couldn't believe it when they were only $12! I also picked up two pairs of really cute pearl earrings at another store that are not photographing well enough to post. One is half a pearl that is set with diamonds surrounding it, the other is a large dangling pearl. They are very classic!!

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Tomorrow we have the firehouse Christmas party, it is pretty casual but I am not sure what I will wear yet, most likely jeans. I may just wear my new purple blazer that I wore on Thanksgiving. I was talking to a few of the other wives and we all agreed to jeans for the evening. One thing is for sure I will be sporting my new earrings!

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For all of those who have been inspired by my workout posts thanks for your sweet words. I will continue but post more frequently about it after the new year. I am so happy that I am getting hooked during the off season when the gym is slow. I am actually off to the gym now because I didn't work out yesterday and won't have time tomorrow. I am guessing I will be one of the only people there since it is freezing.

Doors closing and opening

God is so good and truly closes doors and opens others. Just as my nanny work for one family will be cut back I get word from a friend that they know of a family with 6 kids that is looking for someone new! I can't tell you how amazing it would be if I could get more hours and get paid more as well. We can make it by on hubby's pay check but we don't have any extra money left to pay down debt. We have been working really hard to pay off our credit cards and getting my hours cut back was going to put a huge damper on that. Luckily we have learned our lesson and don't put anything on credit anymore. Please pray that this would work out for us until the real estate market picks up again!

So sorry

I can see from your lack of love over my motivation tips that all of you girls are not ready for the weight loss tips just yet. I will save them for a few weeks when everyone decideds to jump back on the fit train as Mojito Maven likes to put it. For those of you who did ask the water bottle is a camelback one and can be purchase at most sporting goods stores.

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I still have yet to start my Christmas shopping, although there aren't a ton of people to buy for I am really behind already.

Also in other news I am feeling the hits of the economy today. The family I have been picking up some nanny work from is going to have to cut back my hours. I have only been doing this while I am waiting for the real estate market to get strong again. At least I am not alone, it seems everyone is cutting way back even the super rich. Please pray if you think about it they are worried they will be relocated to California.

My motivation for hitting the gym

Last week I was looking for something that would get me to the gym and keep me going back. The following are the things that make my trip to the gym a little more enjoyable.

I don't actually have this yet but it is on my Christmas wish list! I have plenty of water bottles but I really want one that is easier to drink out of on the treadmill.

One of my favorite gym items! The music at my gym is TERRIBLE. When the right song comes on it just puts you in the grove.

I love my polar heart rate monitor. This has really made me take my workouts to the next level. They are a little pricey but it was worth every penny. It has a strap that goes around your chest so it keeps a constant read. It also links to the machines at the gym so I have a constant read of my heart rate. I am no longer able to get on a machine and coast like I see so many people doing. I also love it for Weight Watchers because it tells me how many calories I have burned.

I love to read these while I am working out. I find that I get sucked in and it makes my workouts go so much faster. You can always seem to find them at the gym but I recently broke down and got a subscription. It also kills two birds with one stone because I always feel behind on reading my pile of magazines but now I am working out and making my reading pile smaller at the same time! One of my guilty pleasures.

I have hips like this girl's but it is so fun to see my stomach develop more definition and turn into this!

My husband told me this morning that when I work out a few times it is like me dieting for a month. He can tell that much of a difference in the way I look.

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I must say though that diet and exercise go hand in hand. If you are only able to do one I would encourage diet. They say that diet is 80% of losing weight. It is just too easy to think oh I worked out today so I can eat whatever I want now. Two pieces of pizza will cancel out an hour long hard workout.

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I would love to see what keeps you motivated so that we can all motivate one another, Don't forget to let me know!

Thoughts on weight and working out

I have actually been doing really good on my Weight Watchers lately. I am not sure how much I have lost but I am thinking it is 35- 40 lbs now. (I still am not sure about my scale.) I have a few pairs of jeans where I know I have gained if I am muffin topping when I put them on, all 3 are wearable just a little tight in the legs. One of the pairs has never even been worn. (They are $225 jeans that I found for $60! A must buy in my book.) The biggest thing that I have been doing is working out. I even lifted weights one day, upper body. I am planning on lifting lower today after I run for 30 min. I can't tell you the changes I see when I am following my points and working out.

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Are any of you scared of bulking up when you lift weights?

My hubby majored in health and exercise science and knows quite a bit about personal training so I will share what he has taught me. Woman don't have the same hormones that men do, we are missing the ones that will make us bulk up like men do when they lift. (Body builder women who look like men are taking steroids) The more muscle you build the more calories you will burn through out the day. You can't tone your body, you just build muscle or you don't. You also don't burn fat in just one place, you loose fat all over your body, it just is more noticeable in spots where more fat is present. I know that most of these are the opposite of what we have always been told so they may seem a little strange.

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I have learned from the facts that he has taught me is that lifting weights will really help us get to our goals. Going to the gym and lifting very light weights a tons of times will only have the equivalent of a slow walk, lifting heavy weights will really burn the calories that you want and give you results you can see.

Next time you are at the gym notice what the women who you want to look like are doing. Are they just lifting 5 lb weight or are they really pushing themselves by lifting enough that they can't lift the same weight more than 9-10 times? Also notice that the ones who are lifting are not huge but look great, like you strive to. They also can eat more calories a day because muscle burns calories. If you want what you did at the gym to continue working after you leave you have to build muscle.

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When I was lifting on a regular basis my measurement were less than they are now even though I may weigh less now. The more muscle you have the better clothes will look on you and the skinnier you will be. People see skinny not your actual weight.

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Also since I have started Weight Watchers I have realized how terrible fad diets are and how they set you up to fail. I tried a few and they always had terrible results after I quit. I also watch my friends try them and always fail miserably. Whenever you are restricted it will be impossible to stick to it. I watched a friend skip all the food at a Christmas party and eat a stash of nuts, she is cutting out sugar, dairy and caffeine. The problem with that is she most likely ate her entire days calories while she was sitting there. How long can that truly last?

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I hope this all make sense and give you something to think about.

Holiday gift ideas for your hubby!

I am having one hell of a time figuring out what to get for my Hubby this year. We have a $100 limit this year and we have to get an ornament with that money! It is so fun to look at our ornament from each Christmas we have been together when we set up our tree. I have also been putting our Christmas card picture each year in a frame ornament so that 20 years from now our kids will love looking back.

Other than an ornament I am completely lost.

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I wanted to share with you some great gifts that we have loved as a couple!

One of my very favorite things to do with my Hubby is to play UNO. Yes, Uno the game you played when you were little. It is a great game to play with a group but I truly enjoy playing only with him the best. Sounds so silly but you can be mean to the person you play with and do a little trash talking. If you are playing with only one other person any of the "special" cards (change directions, skip a turn, draw 2) means you get to go again. We play that you only draw one card at a time but you can play as many special cards as you can in a row!

Table Topics

These are so great and are really starting to get popular. They are cards with different discussion topics on them. They have 7 different sets with different topics including girls night out, book club, teens and more. Last Christmas I received the couples edition from my husband! I would really like to add the right or wrong and the original set to our collection. It is really a miniature marriage counseling session every time you play. I love having the couples set but we can't play it with friends so that is the couples edition downfall.

This game is also getting really popular for great reason. It is a blast and one of the best party games I have ever seen! I have never seen a person play with didn't love it. It only takes a few seconds to learn to play and people really get into it. I love this game over Cranium because it is so fast to learn. I have Cranium but still have yet to learn all the kooky rules that go along with it. (Sorry don't stone me.)

Lightning Reaction

This is one of the presents I got for my hubby last year, one I love to pull out but refuse to play. Each player (2-4 at a time) grabs one of the handles and as soon as the scary music goes off the last one to push the button gets shocked! Such a fun game. It doesn't really hurt just scares the crap out of me.

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As you can tell almost all of the Christmas presents last year were games!

Weekend recap

Here is a little rundown of my weekend.

Saturday my hubby was at the firehouse all day and I had nowhere to be all day or anything to get done. I love days like that. I was feeling very motivated and decided to get together a large pile of things to give away that I wasn't using anymore. This is our pile of things to donate or try to sell. I have never really sold my clothing items but it can't hurt. I also have a pile of things to sell on eBay if I ever get around to it. Anyone need a large North Face kids fleece? It would be great for a woman who is a medium but has shorter arms.

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I also went through some messy shelves at the top of my husband's section and found a few boxes he had obviously never gone through, so I did it for him! I found all sort of interesting things, cards from exes, pictures, old earrings (so glad that's not popular anymore), his friend's phone numbers written on napkins and so much more. I got rid of the cards and such but left the pictures that lead to a conversation about what pictures of the exes do you keep? He had a whole album of pictures of him and his ex (they dated almost 3 years off and on). We decided that pictures of event such as birthdays and dances would be kept but pictures of her graduation and such would be tossed. It was great because it was just a discussion not an argument.

The following picture is my pile of stuff to go!

Sunday evening we went to our Young Life Christmas party. It was an ugly Christmas sweater party and a white elephant gift exchange, there were presents for the best of both. We decided that if we were going to dress up we would go all out. I would let the pictures speak for themselves but my computer isn't reading my memory card right now. My husband wore flip flops and cameo shorts with one of my mother's old Christmas sweaters that was obviously way to small for him. I wore tan cowboy boots with a black dressy skirt and one of his mom's sweaters. We both topped of our outfits with stick on mustaches, we got some pretty great reactions to our outfits!

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We had a great time doing the white elephant exchange as well! We had about 50 gifts to choose from so that always makes it more interesting. I have finally learned my lesson to steal gift rather than open a new gift I may be disappointed in, last year I got toothpaste because of this. We brought a fart machine we got 2 years ago at another white elephant exchange, it was quite a hit. I also had the remote in my hand so that when it was quiet I would set it off!

The following are what we "stole" from others!

This was mine! It is a hot chocolate dispenser, the bottom is a candle to keep it warm and the head is for marshmallows. I really love it.

Here is what my husband got! Extra large footie pajamas that glow in the dark! I have been told they are from Target for about $14.

Here is a present the receiver didn't want. We took it to give it as an extra present for my golf loving father in law.

All in all I think we made out better than last year.

Sorry honey

It is a freezing 8 degrees here tonight so what better to do than run to Old Navy!

My husband, the funny man he is, invented a new way to "try on" clothes tonight and decided we should take photos. He then remembered the blog and declared he was never going to take photos again since EVERYTHING goes up on the blog. Obviously he is exaggerating but still this is too funny no to blog. So honey if you are reading this so sorry and I love you.

Halfway there!

I stopped my Hobby Lobby today to pick up some greenery for the top of my cabinets. I really didn't want to spend a lot so I was very happy to see that it was $8 for a long strand and then 50% off! I brought it in and my husband reminded me that he suggested it last year and I told him it would look bad. He really has such great taste. He picked out all of our paint colors for our house. He also redid our kitchen cabinets when we moved in. They were cheaply laminated with a really light tan almost gray color that was badly peeling. We also had the same in our bathrooms but he painted those white. The people who we bought our place from were going to replace them with the same cheap thing but we told them just to knock what they would spend off the price.

Now all I need is to find something to fill my jars still. I didn't see anything I loved today.

For those of you who think of Hobby Lobby as only a place for crafts need to make sure to check it out again! They really have very cute stuff for your house. They always have amazing sales all the time. If something you want is not on sale just wait till next week, it will be 50% off. These were a few things I loved today but don't have room for.

Such a great verse to read every day! I may need to go back and pick this up.

How cute for a kitchen!

I like this better with the family included.

How to loose 8.6 lbs in a week!

Did I get you to look by my title?!

Before I start I should say I am not complaining just confused...

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I weight myself always on the same scale and I always think I get an accurate weight. It is always around 140. My husband hates our scale and complains it is different than the one at the gym. (Hello, you have clothes on at the gym and have eaten so the weight will always be different than our home scale.) I never had problems with it doing this before. Well since my husband started weighing himself on our scale again at home it has jumped down to where I weight around 131 all the time now. I was really good at following my points last week but that seems like way too much weight to loose and I don't feel 8 lbs skinnier. Wouldn't I notice a huge difference in the way my clothes fit? They say 10lbs is a size.

We have been using his work out weights to check the accuracy of the scale and it always reads right where it should be. I just want to be able to track my weight loss not just say oh I lost another 8.6 lbs without really loosing it.

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Has anyone had this happen or can you offer some insight?

All in 10 minutes

I just had two very weird occurrences in less than 10 minutes, ok so maybe not weird but things I would rather didn't happen.

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The first occurred when I ran out to my car this evening to grab something and brought my dog, Ridley. I shut my car door and look down for my dog but in her place is just a limp leash with an empty collar. She is absolutely no where to be seen. I start calling her name and luckily there was a man in the parking lot to tell me what direction she had headed. Before I continue there are a few things you should know about Ridley.

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*She was abused and then rescued by my husband.

*She doesn't know that people who are walking aren't trying to kick her so if you are at our place and walking she will bite you. (She really just grabs your pant leg not your actual leg) She just goes in her bed when we have people over. (She doesn't bite us.)

*My husband LOVES this dog, he picks her up to give me hugs and tells me all the time "dog loves you" I may love her as well.

* Before we were dating he would sleep in a sweat shirt with her inside.

*She smiles when she is really happy and has little tears come out when she is sad.

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Now that you know a little more about her and how she makes our family complete imagine the horror of her getting lost. I was able to catch up to her but she kept on running the second I almost got her. The only saving grace was that she had to poop and it really slowed her down. Sorry too much info but very relevant. I was finally able to get her to be scared enough to sink down and freeze long enough to grab her. I called my hubby and cried the minute it was all finally over.

I got inside and made some coffee. I shook up the creamer and soon realized the cap wasn't on completely. This was the result...

creamer all over my kitchen. Thanks hubby for making me coffee this morning! Did I mention to let you know you forgot to snap down the lid?
I need to fill those glass jars up with something festive since hubby used them to decorate my new birdcage and I used the rest like this...


I love the fact that I get another reason to use my wedding china.
Anyone have any ideas of cheap fun ways to fill my jars?
(I have another smaller one that is not in the picture)
I was thinking about buying some more Christmas bulbs or maybe some dried cranberries.
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Ha ha I also almost forgot to tell you, I almost fell down the stairs this morning on my way to work. I got my heel stuck on my pant legs and miraculously stumbled down quite a few stairs then caught myself before I ever hit the ground. I didn't even drop my coffee! My husband opened the door and asked "Did you just fall down the stairs?"