Amber's Best Life Journal

[Foxfiregrrl]

Well, when I said I would check in on Sunday...I didn't mean a week later

It has been very busy around here this week.

Camping last weekend - It was pretty fun. We didn't get there until 5pm on Saturday, so we didn't have a whole lot of time. We did have smores around the campfire which is all I was concerned about. Sunday morning, I was brushing my teeth near the water fountain and got stung by two Yellow Jackets!! It HURT!! I ran back to the campsite screaming! That was the first time I've ever been stung and I'll be 30 next month. So I guess I can count myself lucky.

This week was pretty hectic because it was the end of the month AND we were getting ready for the adoption conference next week AND I had training (in town) for two days I spent all day yesterday getting the tshirt iron ons ready and printing them all out. We will iron on the tshirts tomorrow during our "prep" day. Hopefully we won't run into any issues.

I go to Augusta for the Adoption Conference on Wednesday and will return on Friday. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. We have put together a display to show off our children that are up for adoption and the families who are waiting for children (typically somewhat picky families). They have a contest for the best displays and our county has won several in the past, so we have a lot to live up to

I haven't been eating well or exercising lately. I know that I HAVE to do better!! DH and I are going to fall out when we have to do all that walking at Disney!!! I hope that once I get back from the conference I can get us both moving at least a little bit. It has just been SO hot lately though.

Well, gonna call it a night and try to relax a little bit since I've been "working" all weekend. Have a great week!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Just had to come back and say
4 weeks til DISNEY!!!

And 4 weeks 1 day until I turn 30 with Mickey!!

 

[lindalinda]

Hi amber! Sorry I havent been around. I have been reading, just too lazy to post. darn job!

So you should be back today from the adoption conference. I hope it was great and successful. Did I mention that my baby brother has 2 special needs adoption kids? They are coming to visit in October and I cant wait! I am very proud of him, he is doing a great job. He lives in Cal. and they really have good programs there to help with these adoptions. They get services even after adoption, special speech classes and physical therapy.

I hope to take them to Disney and UNiversal in a few years, probably after I retire so we can go on a slow period though!

It just been too hot to exercise, so dont stress out over it. I would just walk late in the evening maybe if it cooled off some, so that you can walk at disney and not get too worn out. Its epcot that always kills me, everything else is ok, but epcot wears me out!


later!

linda

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey. I've been back since around 4:30pm Friday, but just not really in the mood to post. Just lazy mostly.

We had a really good conference and I went to some good classes. We had a good display, but did not win. There was a session for the potential adoptive parents to come in and look at our available kids and we could talk with them. That went really well. We had 7 kids available from our county (two of which were a sibling group). We had some interest for almost all of them. I think the child that I have got the least amount of interest, but she is a 16 yr old (and hopefully will get adopted by her foster mom). Anyway, all in all it was nice. I had a good time too.

Wednesday night I went out w/ my two closest friends from work and we had dinner and Lots of drinks! We had a great time!

Oh, yeah, Monday I woke up early so I went for a mile walk and then did 30 minutes of yoga. but that was about all the exercise I got in last week. Hey, something is better than nothing.

Today, I made DH walk to my grandma's and back. I was complaining that we are going to fall out when we actually have to walk around Disney in 21 days. So DH said that we will walk 2 miles every evening this week We'll see if he sticks with that.

I went shopping w/ my mom, grandma, and sister today. We were trying to get a baby shower present, but couldn't decide. So, I bought some Desperately needed bras

Not sure what this week will entail. We'll see.

I'll check in sometime The Olympics are on though, so I'll mostly be engrossed in them! Love me some Beach Volleyball and Gymnastics!!

Have a great week!!

 

[lindalinda]

Hi Amber! I havent checked in in a while and I suddenly wondered if you were in disney yet! I see you are leaving soon. That sure came up fast.

I hope the weather is good for you, and cools down just a bit. Its been ridiculous hot here. Of course, you can spend some time by the pool. Are you going to Pop again or someplace else this time?


Check in and let us know how you are doing.


linda

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey! I've been around the boards some, but just not really posting lately. Then for the last week and a half I've just been Really busy.

We decided to go to DragonCon after all, since we still have our tickets. So we leave tomorrow after work for Atlanta. We will spend two nights in a hotel near the airport and go to DC on Friday evening and Saturday all day.

Sunday we fly down to Disney!! We could not get a reservation at POP this time, so we are at All Star Sports.... which was our Last choice of the value resorts Go figure right. I don't really care though because we don't spend that much time at the hotel. I came close to upgrading, but changed my mind.

We will be at Epcot for my birthday on Monday and eat at Chefs de France. I did some research on the alcoholic drink pictures thread and picked some yummy looking drinks to get throughout the week

Also we get to start baby making again while on the trip so double the fun

Well, gotta go finish up my packing. Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!! See ya'll when we get back (which will be 9/6).

 

[lindalinda]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE BIG 3-0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I'm sure you are having a fabulous time in Disneyworld! I wish I was there.


linda

 

[lindalinda]

Hey Amber, how was the trip?

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey! Sorry, it's been a bit busy around here since we got back.

We had a great trip!! It was somewhat crowded the first two days because of the holiday weekend, but then it thinned out a lot. The weather was good, but HOT!! We could tell that we were WAY out of shape and all of the walking really wore us out!

My birthday was really nice. We had dinner at Chefs de France and Tony had ordered me a birthday cake. They also gave us complimentary glasses of wine I got the birthday pin and wore it all week I got a lot of "Happy Birthdays" which was cool!

We got to ride the new Toy Story Mania which was AWESOME!!! We rode it twice and I wanted to ride it more. The lines were bad for it though. We got to see and do everything and did a couple of rides/attractions that we had never done before. We tried to take it easy some, but I have a tendency to get excited and want to do Everything Now!

When I got back to work on Monday there was an email from our administrator challenging everyone to sign up for an exercise challenge called Walk Georgia. It is an online site that reminds me of Fitday, except you only log your exercise. Anyway, you tell it what exercise you did and then it converts that to mileage.

She, our admin., told us that she wanted to have a contest. The individual contestant has to win against all others AND beat her mileage (she's pretty competitive, too) and he/she will receive $25. Then you can sign up with your unit to win $50 for the best unit (to be spent on something for the unit - ie lunch or whatnot)

So, I signed up and convinced most of my unit also. I went to water aerobics on Monday and got up early Tuesday to go walk on the treadmill. I am glad I got jumpstarted, but I don't think I let myself recover from Disney enough. Wednesday I decided to take a break. But then Thursday I felt like I'd been run over by a truck or not slept in weeks (even though I've been making sure to get plenty of sleep). So, I left work early and took a 1.5 hour nap. DH had a cold while we were at Disney, so I figured I was coming down with it. I have been ok since then though

Today we did house and yard work. Then we went to a new grocery store near our house. It is called "The Fresh Market" and it is very similar to the Whole Foods or Harry's stores that we LOVED when we lived in Atlanta. We were SO STOKED that we got a good Fresh food market her in Macon!! We went there thinking that we would get a few things there and then still have to go to the regular grocery store. But we were able to get everything there instead which was Great! Some things cost a little more there, but we didn't mind too much because of all the cool things they have! So, I think we are both IN LOVE with the new store, if you can be in love with a store On of the best parts is that it is closer to our house than the Kroger!

So, now with all the chores and shopping done our plan is to relax and enjoy the rest of our weekend (need a kicked back in a hammock smilie)

Have a good one!!

 

[kmp1191]

Damn, you're a young one!! ONLY 30!!
Happy belated birthday girl!!!

Hope all is going good for ya'll!!
ttyl

marie

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey, Marie Yes, I'm "only 30" even though DH snickers and laughs at me every time I have to give my birthday or age. (did it twice today while buying wine and both times he decided to make fun of me and tell everyone how "old" I am now - even though he'll be 30 in December) I am ok with it. I think I might throw him a big Over the Hill party though since he seems to think it is a big deal

I didn't do as well this week with the exercise as I did last week. I made it to the gym on Tuesday morning and did the elliptical machine. Other than that, I really didn't do any exercise. It was a week of late afternoon visits which really kept me from making it to the gym. Then there was the fact that I was really lazy in the mornings.

We went to the Fresh Market again today. We bought a few fruits and then went hog wild getting the prepared foods for lunch. We have enough prepared foods for at least 2 lunches in addition to what we ate today. We also bought some reusable bags for $.99 which are really pretty. I just have to remember to take them next time!

I helped my coworker paint her house today, but really got there right at the end of the painting day. She had a LOT of help and when I got there at like 3:45, she was almost done. I was torn about going over to help. Part of me feels like I should have gone and spent the day helping, but the other part of me was like - I only get two weekend days and don't even do my own house projects so why should I go do hers? Anyway, I kind of split the difference, by going to help some.

Well, the guys are here again today. I like it when they are here because I get a chance to spend a lot of time at my computer catching up on all the things that I normally don't take the time to do.

I've been reading green blogs and actually updated my own blog (which I hadn't done since July). Dh has been really worried about the economy lately. I'm not sure what to think, but I know it is not good. I'm thinking that the more sustainable our lives become the better. Then if the economy crashes at least we can make ends meet. Who knows what is going to happen though. We are trying to come up w/ a plan that will protect us if the economy crashes, but will not waste money if it doesn't. I have been wanting to invest in some solar or wind energy anyway, so I think we are finally going to do so. We have the perfect location for it because we do not have any neighbors really close by. I would love for us to be able to cover 50% of our energy usage, but that is a long shot. We have a pretty big house. I have been amazed recently though, because I was talking to a foster parent on my case load. She said that they spend almost $300 a month on electricity and I wouldn't think there house is as big as mine. We have spent at most $120 a month on electricity and most months is considerably less than that. I am also amazed by people who NEVER open their windows. We open ours as soon as it is somewhat cool outside (they have been open since Tuesday when I realized it was cooler outside than inside) and we only close them when we HAVE to because it is way too cold or hot outside. I grew up w/ no central heat or air, so even though I have it now I prefer the fresh air to the enclosed space whenever possible.

DH's was telling his friends about our plans for solar or wind energy today... so they were like you are a hippie aren't you! He was like well DUH He is a long hair after all

K, I think I'm rambling now... note to self: post before dipping into the wine

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

My food hasn't been terrible this week. The wine has been a little overboard though.

I'm not doing very well at my exercise plan either. I did get up on Tuesday morning to go to the gym. I did 28 minutes on the eliptical. Other than that I haven't done anything. This morning I chose to sleep late and enjoy the warm comfort of my bed rather than get up and go to the gym.

The Georgia State Fair is in town this week. I haven't been and doubt I will actually get there. Tonight there was an attempt to beat the World Record Kazoo Ensemble. The Kazoo was actually invented in Macon. I kind of wanted to go, but couldn't get anyone to go with me. I wasn't too keen on going by myself, so I missed it. Oh, well.... I wish them good luck anyway!

I've been watching some of the money oriented shows on CNBC and reading more and more green blogs this week. I'm really concerned about the state of our economy these days. I am hopeful that a new president will help but afraid that the American people won't come together and choose the right candidate.

I'm also REALLY looking forward to this weekend!! I just feel that I really need a weekend about now! I still like my job, but this week has been a hard one

Well, I'll check in over the weekend. Hope everyone has a good one!!

 

[lindalinda]

Amber, even though I am so waaaay older than you I think we really think a lot alike. I have been trying to figure out ways to "green" my life for years now. About 13 years or so ago I started researching windmills. It just seemed like it would work where I live. All my research at the time said no tho, not enough wind to make it worth the cost. (Though at my house, the way its situated, its always windy) Well here we are now and things have changed. I bet it would be well worth the investment now. Unfortunately, I am hoping (if the stupid economy will cooperate) to sell within 2 years, so it just doesnt make sense to do it now. My stupid HOA probably wouldn't let me anyway!

I think I showed you the "green" condos I have been looking at. My most recent brilliant idea (I'm not sure if I have mentioned that I'm brilliant before, but it's true, I'm just too humble to say it), is windmill neighborhoods. I envision a big-time developer jumping on this soon. Set aside a portion of the development for a small windfarm. Have it be on the grid, with portions of the homes power to be provided by it. This is essentially the same profile as the green condos I was looking at. Do everything green that the homes can have, maybe even berm homes and use some solar and geothermal. Its too bad I have no money, or I would be rich!

I got a new computer and I dont have the link to your blog anymore so you need to post it again.


have a nice weekend. Or week I guess, its sunday.

linda

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey, Linda! I do remember looking at the green condos and they looked pretty cool. I also think a windmill community would be a great idea. We have not really had much time to work on our green projects since I posted about them. Although we did go buy 16 CFLs this weekend because Georgia was having a tax holiday on Energy Star items.

Last weekend DH decided that we need a hand gun for "home security" so we went out and bought one. Sunday we practiced shooting it and then we worked on cleaning projects around the house.

Dh's father, his wife, and DH's grandma were supposed to come over today for lunch. His grandma has never been to our house and his dad has only been once. SO, this week we have been on the mad cleaning and organizing spree. We worked on various things throughout the week and then spent ALL day yesterday cleaning and trying to straighten up some of the areas that have just been collecting junk. Well, we got everything all nice and this morning I got up and started making sides for lunch (DH's dad was bringing steaks)... then his dad calls and says his wife's knee is hurting too badly and she cannot get out today to come visit. Apparently she recently had knee surgery, which I either didn't know or had forgotten about. We aren't really close with them. Can you tell? Anyway, at least we got the house all clean out of the deal. They may come next weekend instead.

Then we went to my grandma's for lunch since the in laws weren't coming. My sister came down from Atlanta for the day. I decided that I would stay and go shopping w/ both sisters and my mom. Then my dad said we should go look at some junk in the barn that has been there for like 5 years. Which turns into "lets sort it all" because he wanted us to get out anything that is usable before it gets ruined. WELL, HELLO!! After 5 years if it is ruined, then it's ruined and if it isn't then it's not going anywhere! Well, I was reluctant to help and ended up in a yelling match with my dad. It ended up that I lose because he argued that everyone was here today and if we don't do it today it won't ever get done. It wasn't my mess to clean up, but since I would be chastised as the "selfish" one if I didn't help, I just caved and helped out. Needless to say I was filthy by the end of it and had NO interest in going shopping at that point. I came home and called it a day.

My back has been hurting me all day because I swept the patio a little too vigorously yesterday. I am hoping it will feel better tomorrow. Needless to say, I got some fairly good exercise over the last two days. I undid any good that it did though because we went out for "Endless Shrimp" at Red Lobster last night with 2 of DH's buddies. It has sort of become an annual tradition for us. I didn't walk away totally miserable, but I definitely ate way more than I should have. The craziest and coolest thing was that at the end the waitress brought me a to go box! I didn't think you could take home from the endless shrimp. But since she brought it I took home everything that was left. That meant that we ended up with a whole meals worth of Shrimp pasta because me and one of the guys ordered it and couldn't eat but a few bites. We also had a few fried shrimp left. Anyway, that will be dinner one night this week.

My weeknights have seemed busier than normal lately and I just haven't had time to post on my journal regularly. I want to get back into the habit though. I NEED to get back to posting my food so that I can eat better.

We are considering getting a laptop for Christmas. If we do that I guarantee I will be online more. If I can feed my TV addiction at the same time as my internet addiction, then you might never get me off the couch

Well, that's it for me tonight. Have a great week!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Gonna start trying to do better on my eating and exercising and the first step to that is putting it all down here. So, I'm gonna try to start logging again. Most days will be a quickie post of the daily log. On days when I have more time I'll post more

Today:
b- kashi, milk, coffee (this is my standard - almost EVERY weekday)
l- ceasar salad, slice of ultimate pizza, water
d- shrimp alfredo pasta, 4 fried shrimp, 1 cheese biscuit (leftovers
from Red Lobster), water
no snacks today
no wine today

exercise was a short walk around the lake and back over to my sister's
new house, then home again.... probably 15 minutes

TTFN!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Today's check in:

I had a cup of hot tea last night w/ some sugar in it after I posted.

Today:
b- kashi, milk, coffee
l- Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich, fries, coke ( I was out of town for work - on the road)
d- beef stew, water
wine - on my first glass... will probably have three
snack - none so far, but might have something later
exercise - none unless you count sprinting almost a block in the pouring rain trying not to get soaked because I didn't bring an umbrella ;-)

Also of note: Dh and I are having a Halloween Party, so I'm keeping busy planning it. It should be fun. I'll update periodically on it.

 

[DisDee]

Hey Amber, I hear ya about the computer and TV addiction. I've been out of work for a month now and all those projects that I said I would do are still waiting. A laptop is great though and you should look into getting one. The prices have come way down! I used to keep it on the dining room table so I could see the kitchen TV, but now I've moved downstairs to the fam. room cause we just weren't using the space. We've also traveled with it a couple of times, which comes in handy.

Hope to see you post again soon! I was also among the missing for awhile, but I've been trying to post more often. Hope to "see" you soon!

 

[lindalinda]

Hey Amber! Hope everything is going well. I have been avoiding the dis a bit until after the election. I just wanted to stop in a say hey. Don't forget to vote, it looks like Ga may actually matter this year!

nite
linda

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey! I'm sorry I've been gone so long. We had a Halloween party and the prep for it ended up taking up the last half of October! Then there was the week of recovery afterward We had about 20 people total and had a real blast! We made lots of food and then had a whole table of booze! We made 3 mixed drinks and then had a selection of shots available. Everyone got pretty drunk and everyone had a good time. Also, my sister lives (kinda sorta) next door and she had a party the same night. So we all went over and visited her party also. It was a bit of a wild night! Here is the link to the pics on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/24941386@N06/sets/72157606404554862/
I truly hope it will become an annual tradition Of course when the kids come along, it will be toned down and kid friendly I'm sure.

Well, I also had been off line a good bit leading up to the election. I voted Way early, because I wanted to ensure that my vote counted. I'm sure it is obvious, given my signature, that I am THRILLED that Obama won!!! I'm so Super Pumped about the possibilities!! I think that Obama being President could really shake up Americans and change our country for the better! I'm hopeful and proud of our country for this election!

I haven't been doing very well on my food, exercise, or alcohol consumption lately. I'm just now starting to try to do better. I've been emailing with Amanda, who I met through the Biggest Loser Challenge earlier this year, to try to encourage myself to do better.

I just think a lot of things were working against me. I don't do well in the last quarter of the year anyway (historically) and I had allowed myself to wallow a bit regarding not being pregnant. I think I'm over that now and ready to try to get back on track so that when I do get pregnant I will be healthy!

In the meantime, I have allowed myself to top my highest weight! I think my highest recorded weight when I started W.I.S.H. was 210. In the last month I have stepped on the scale and seen 212 more than once. The worst part is that it did not immediately prompt me to do better!

DH is somewhat on board now also though, which should help. He is trying to think about cooking healthy, yummy foods so that we aren't as tempted to eat out. Also, two weeks ago, he said that he will start getting up in the AM w/ me and exercising before work. We have yet to start, but the first week he was on call and we had ALL the prep work for the party. Then last week we were recovering from the party and I kept feeling like I was coming down with a cold (that never materialized). SO, this coming week I hope to get moving!

Today, I feel like I got some pretty good exercise in though. We went to "Christmas Made in the South" and walked around for 2+ hours looking at crafts. Then we went grocery shopping. We came home and DH's mom came over for a bit. We put away some of the Halloween decorations while she was here. Then when she left, Dh cooked while I went up and down the stairs and all around the house cleaning and putting away various Halloween items. Also, I flipped our bed today because my side was starting to become uncomfortable. So, needless to say, I'm a bit tuckered out tonight.

I promise to be more diligent in my posting from here on out!!! I need to post here because it helps me in my healthy journey!

Hope you guys are all doing well! I'll try to make the rounds soon.

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Oh, Linda... Of course I voted. I was somewhat hopeful this year since they said that Georgia may possibly be a Blue state... But I knew it was too good to be true. I was proud that Bibb County (my county) voted for Obama!! What matters most is that GA didn't matter too much after all, and Obama won!! WOOT!!


Also, I have to share a website that DH showed me tonight. If you like cats at all (or just think they are funny) and need a good laugh go to LOLCATS.com I have not laughed so hard in a LONG time!!