Well, we knew about it ahead of time but the visit in general was a surprise this weekend! Roger and the girls were up visiting his other daughter Amanda for the weekend and she lives about an hour away…so they all came over for dinner! I haven’t seen them since we left Jacksonville in 2014!
Can’t you see us with a daughter this age?! We’d take her in a minute. 🙂 (We could have had one this age if we had a kid two years before we got married…or two years after we met.)
One of the best things to come out of tonight? Getting to recreate one of our favorite Virginia photos!
The photo Virginia wanted to take—showcasing the two big guys that she can threaten boys with (a running joke for many, many years):
And just for comparison, the same trio back in 2007:
Owen received a Good Character award at school today! Unfortunately, we weren’t there…and I only learned about it when I got a photo text from a friend!
SERIOUSLY?! AGAIN?! What is it with teachers forgetting to tell us?!
The stars are apparently aligned against us with these awards as Tom happened to have been home and we could have both gone!! And if this sounds familiar, it’s because this exact thing happened last year, too!!
His teacher has since apologized, and (of course, the story of my life) said it was the first time she’s forgot all year. (Ironically the same thing his K teacher said the when she forgot at the end of the year last year.)
I know mistakes happen and in the grand scheme of things it’s not a big deal so I’ll be okay and get over it. It had just been a crazy morning already and I didn’t need another snafu.
I’m just thankful a friend was there and got the picture! (Thanks to Krina!)
We really need a name for the pizza where we use miscellaneous leftovers from the fridge. I like garbage pizza but that doesn’t really have a good connotation. It’s not technically leftover pizza so I don’t like leftovers pizza. Kitchen sink pizza isn’t much better than garbage and doesn’t roll off the tongue. (I actually recall having a very similar conversation a few years ago and can’t remember what was decided.)
So I posted on Facebook asking for suggestions…and boy did people come through!!
So Patchwork Pizza it is! 🙂
FYI tonight’s toppings were:
Kids: butter/garlic salt, homemade mac and cheese, fresh mozzarella, and Italian blend shredded cheese
Adult: homemade bacon-y 1000 Island, leftover grilled hamburger, chopped green onions and bacon, and fresh mozzarella
OMG I cannot stand the cuteness. I bought this dress from a friend and I just love it—and I didn’t realize until JUST now that it also has LADYBUGS on it!! And the ladybug is riding the hedgehog. It kills me.
Dammit. I liked my whole recent Le Tote box. But I don’t need all of it. Hell, what am I saying?? I don’t need ANY of it LOL.
I more than like but not quite love the dress. Great length, good color, nice feel, not my favorite neckline (as a general rule I choose V-necks) but I can branch out, and it’s easily changeable with accessories. It’s a bit expensive at $64 but unfortunately isn’t available anywhere else online so no cheaper option.
I like the pants. They are a bit more current (hip?) than anything I own—they have pleather-type panels on the front (better seen in the stock photo)! My fashion-guru friend says these are a definite yes, plus says they’re a steal at $29. I’m still debating but leaning towards keeping them.
The tunic isn’t exactly my style but it’s super comfy and my friend really likes this one, too. I’m not convinced, though, since it is a bit big, a tad short (for just leggings for me), and a bit more than I’d want to spend ($30). I’m wearing it today to see how it works in real-life but I’m leaning towards returning it and then keeping my eye open for a more suitable tunic (since apparently these are totally IN now).
Necklace 1 is very similar to the silver one I already bought for $19 and I don’t like the shiny as much—even at $22. So I like it but it’s going back.
I LOVE necklace 2. And it’s a known famous brand so Google told me it was cheaper direct from the company so it’s already on its way! (And it looks much better in person than in this photo!)
If they discounted for buying a whole box, I might have just taken it all…but they only give you credit for another month and this is my last month…so that was a no. But it was good to end my experience with Le Tote on a high note (though it does make it harder to cancel—I just have to remember my other boxes that weren’t as successful)!
One year ago today at my highest weight ever, I crossed my fingers and started my attempt to lose weight doing low-carb (the only thing I really knew). Little did I know at the time I’d find my way to Naturally Slim and would end up successfully losing 132 lbs. (thus far—with a few more still to go)! If you’d told me a year ago I’d have lost that much I’d have said you were insane.
I can’t begin to thank everyone who has supported me along the way, but top shout outs go to Tivo friend Brad Nelson (who started the thread on Naturally Slim), Tivo friend Bryan McCullough (who turned out to be THE Naturally Slim guru), and my amazing husband (who supported me every hour of every day—and even joined in).
I owe my life to this program (and these people!) and I’m beyond thankful every. single. day. that I have a new, thinner, and healthier lease on life!! ❤️ 😀 🎉 👏🏻 🍾
And as you can see, a friend said I should update my total! I just (finally!) passed 130# so was happy to update! I didn’t take a new pic this last weigh-in, so I posted a recent shot instead. Then NS posted it on Instagram!
The entire first grade went to visit DC monuments today! This is the class pic a mom friend/chaperone sent me. (Can you find Owen? Back row, center, green coat.)
We had Owen take the picture and of course Katie had to follow us out…so Owen told her to get in the picture! 🙂 (I’m also wearing a “borrowed” Le Tote dress!)
Love these guys!
Just out of curiosity, I looked up our last couples selfie (minus the 2015 USMC Birthday Ball) and was shocked to see how close the dates were 11 years apart! (See that post.)
The boys being boys…eating their truffles. 🙂
And pics of the dress after we got home because I forgot to take them before:
I have promised myself I would do StitchFix when I reached my goal weight…except A) it’s expensive and B) I just did a bunch of shopping and got a bunch of new clothes. So I had vowed to wait even longer. However, a friend introduced me to LE TOTE—a similar clothing loan company—with an offer for a free month (which means no cost unless you choose to buy something). So I went for it. I picked out things I liked and told them my sizes, they suggested pieces, I picked what I wanted, and they showed up on my doorstep.
Now, I wanted things to fit and I hoped I liked them, but I honestly didn’t want to love any of them because I need to stop buying clothes. 🙂 And dammit if I didn’t like every piece in my tote (well, minus one necklace). Here’s what I got:
All the pieces aren’t PERFECT but they’re very nice.
I love the top left necklace. LOVE IT. My favorite thing in the box.
I didn’t look closely enough at the colors of the other necklace. I thought it was all black—and it’s not. It’s two different colors and it’s a bit too busy overall.
The gray dress is super comfy and my favorite length but the waistline is a little wide and the top hangs just a bit weird.
The red top fits nice and looks nice but the draping is purposefully off-center and it hangs weird around my boob.
The blank pants are comfy but have “moto rib detailing” across the front.
I have to check prices on a few pieces because I’m tempted. Of course I’d like to find cheaper alternatives (like I’m envisioning the necklace being $40 and I’d rather find a cheaper $20 version) but I love it and it’s probably worth the $40 because I can wear it with a ton. I just feel bad because I’ve spent a lot already. I think they said the whole box is $250 so I’m hoping the pieces I want aren’t terribly expensive.
Unfortunately, it was nice weather when I ordered and we have cold weather now…so it’s not going to be perfect to wear this summery stuff. I am planning on wearing the dress (or the pants/shirt) tomorrow when we go out to dinner with friends. I’m just not sure what shoes to wear with the dress since it’s not summery weather and my shoe selection isn’t as robust as it should be for the style of my new clothes. (First world problems, I know.)
So, then I looked up the prices. And…
The top left necklace will be mine at $19. YIPPEE!
The dress is $70 and I don’t think I love it $70 worth, especially considering all the dresses I’ve recently bought.
The red shirt will be going back—at $68 it’s WAAAY more than all the similar tops I recently bought at 1/4 the price.
The pants are a bit expensive at $56. I found them at Amazon for $55 so the price is no super special deal. But I may keep them because I really need black pants.
We just made our best pizza yet!
Goat cheese with rosemary and garlic infused oil*, caramelized onions, flank steak, and fresh mozzarella. I mixed too much oil into the goat cheese so it seeped out in the oven and started to smoke on the stone…but the bonus side effect was actually a crispier, fried crust! It was our best pizza yet!
* We were gifted a bottle of goat cheese that was marinated in rosemary and roasted garlic oil. After the amazingly delicious goat cheese was gone, we used the oil mixed with our own (Costco) goat cheese to make a paste for the pizza.
So, as a byproduct of the weight loss, pretty much everything in my closet is new. But I’ve been holding off on buying summer clothes until I got closer to my final weight so I wouldn’t have to buy even more summer clothes (I went through multiple sets of winter clothes as sizes kept changing). The weather is getting nicer now…so it was finally time to get some summer stuff. As luck would have it, friends were staying with us for the weekend and Sheryl—who has worked in the fashion industry for probably 35 years—went with me to pick out some new stuff.
AND OMG IT WAS SOOOOO MUCH FUN!!! :p
AND OMG I SPENT ENTIRELY TOO MUCH MONEY!!!! 😯
But I now have a whole new wardrobe of SUPER cute and stylish (!) summer clothes thanks to Sheryl’s assistance. It was so much fun…
looking for and trying clothes on with a friend.
fitting into pretty much every single thing I tried.
being able to decide what pieces I really LOVED and not just what FIT.
liking how I looked in most of it (though Sheryl had to convince me of some pieces).
buying most things in size large, but also a medium and even a small! A SMALL!!
I got six dresses (from a formal ball gown to casual sundresses), 11 tops, 2 pair of jeans, a pair of patterned slacks, a short skirt, two long pencil skirts, and a spring/fall all-weather parka (because the same type coat I just got in October is WAY too big—GRRR).
I don’t think I’ve done a clothes shopping trip like this EVER in my life—the closest might be a back-to-school shopping trip where I’d get like two pair of jeans, a few tops, a sweater, a pair of shoes, and some socks. It was expensive, but everything was from Nordstrom Rack and Marshalls so overall it wasn’t bad. And I am now set for summer clothes for the next few years, if not more (since NS should keep me at about this same size forevermore—I mean, realistically, I could wear these clothes for the next 8-10 years).
Another Lego finished. This one was a bit easier–ages 8+ and only 922 pieces.
When Owen was done, he was ADAMANT that I take a picture and show it to Mason, his friend in Ohio who also likes Lego and Minecraft. So I posted it on Facebook. His mom’s reply? Mason said “Oh my gosh! That is so cool!” Then did this…
Friends invited us to their community Easter Egg Hunt today. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite Easter-y weather—it was 45 degrees and rainy! 🙁 But, the kids still had fun! The little kids and big kids each had their own side to search on, so I went with Katie and Tom went with Owen.
Owen did AMAZING! They had two tracks running at the same time—Kindergarten and 1st grades on one and 2nd and 3rd on the other. The VIPs (parents, family, etc.) were in the center of each ring to cheer them on. Of course, Owen was on the outside of the track almost every time (which also meant that other kids were blocking my view) so I didn’t get many good pictures of him. I had been wondering how they were going to keep track of laps run, but the kids all had Boosterthon T-shirts with boxes on the back so every time they crossed the starting line, they had teachers and volunteers marking off boxes. Owen completed…ALL 35 POSSIBLE LAPS!! For a total pledge donation amount of…$390!! We are SOOOOO proud of him!! (The only slightly disappointing thing [for me] was at the end of the event—the kids got to take a “victory lap” with family and friends so Katie and I rushed out to walk with Owen…and he didn’t want anything to do with it and just went off on his own. I swear he’s 7-going-on-14.) If the amounts on the website can be trusted, the school hit 99% of their goal…which means the kids get the technology updates AND the playground equipment!!!
Tom wasn’t able to make it to the fun run, but Katie and I were there! Of course, she was pouting about something (I can’t even remember what since it happens so often).
Owen’s class coming onto the field.
National anthem.
Can you see Owen? (Hint in next pic.)
They had theme laps like clapping, walk with a friend, and slow-motion. This was the kangaroo lap (his favorite). 🙂
He started with the headband on, then it came off pretty quickly, and here it’s back again.
It came off again soon after.
Katie was an awesome cheerleader for Owen and all our other friends!
Westin, a kindergarten friend (we ate at their house for Thanksgiving).
Our across-the-street neighbors.
Owen and Colton (he was in his class last year and is on his baseball team this year) running together.
Click for larger version.
They had music playing the entire time so Katie did a lot of dancing!
Hazel, our kindergarten neighbor.
More dancing!
Katie helping clean up!
And the attempted class picture afterwards:
Since it was the end of the day, we went back to Owen’s classroom to take him home. This was the class goal sheet. I love to see the order of importance. 🙂
A friend shared a video on Facebook showing how to make a no-sew bag from a T-shirt. I normally bookmark these types of things with grand plans to do them but then never actually go back and do them. Amiright? But since I happen to have an abundance of T-shirts and 10 minutes to spare, I decided to make me a bag. 🙂 I actually think no-sew was the key term for me.
I used a really big tee (3X) and consequently had a really big bag:
Unfortunately I don’t think it came out looking quite as cute as I had hoped. (It will still work, of course, but just doesn’t look as cute.) It’s also hard to find a tee without graphics on the front/back that will most likely get cut into and ruined. I thought this one was low enough down but it looks funny. Again, it will work…it’s just not exactly right. So I’d suggest plain tees.
It was also very confusing when tying the second layer together—it was hard to tell which strips were supposed to be tied. Maybe it was because it was all black or maybe it was just my old eyes. Or maybe it would have been easier if I had cut the strips longer. (Yes, probably that one.) But it was a valiant first effort and only took maybe 10 minutes so I’ll likely try again.
The video originally posted was in Japanese and didn’t give full instructions so I searched YouTube and found this one which is a bit better.
Friends from South Carolina came to DC for the weekend and we grabbed dinner with a bunch of other friends at a pizza place.
Of course, the kids were watching TV. (Guess how old the boy is. Just guess. Nope—he’s 6.5 and in first grade! I know, right? I told you we grow them big. 🙂 )
Owen’s cool crayon sculpture!
As a sidenote. We had a perfect example of why I say I hate people. Parking in downtown DC is always a nightmare, but we were thrilled to realize there was a parking garage right next door to the restaurant. Except some asshat parked next to us in a NON-PARKING spot which necessitated a 23-point turn to exit our space. (Parking is tight in the best of cases, so with him there it was ridiculous.)
New friends (Nate, a co-worker of Tom’s I’d never met—and his wife), newbies to dinner (friends from T-ball, mutual friends, and now Owen’s first grade class), good food (gumbo, rice, homemade white bread and spaghetti bread), amazing desserts (peanut butter bars and carrot cake by Nate!), and great kids equals gumbo dinner party success!
Through a small comedy of errors, Allison spilled red wine on herself a mere five minutes after arriving…so I loaned her a shirt (same shirt, different color) and we were twins!
