Biggest Loser for January

Biggest Loser Week 3

Biggest Loser Week 2

Mom

It seems like yesterday but twenty-seven years ago God called my Mom home.  I sure do miss her!  There are times when I would like to sit down and chit chat about things and seek her advice.  She was a very wise woman and I miss her words of wisdom. 

Love you Mom!!!

Biggest Loser Week 1

A Great Day!

Slept in this morning.  Gary and I started an exercise routine yesterday.  Marianne and family gave me a 1 - 5 mile walking DVD for Christmas.  We thought we could do the 2 mile but let me tell you we are barely making it through the 1 mile.  This week we will do the 1 mile and then. hopefully, next week we move up to the 2 mile.  After our workout we had breakfast, checked email and facebook.  I had a luncheon today with Nedra, one of Gary's classmates.  We are working on the decorations for their 50th class reunion so we went to check out what Hobbylobby had to offer.  I love that store!  I'm also on the decorating committee for YAH Valentine's Dinner so I checked out a couple of things for that.  From there we went to Marshall's and checked out their home goods and then headed to Olive Garden for lunch.  We had a great time together and got a lot accomplished. 
This evening was our small group Bible Study and I had refreshments so I baked a pan of chocolate chip bars.  Had a great time at small group.  It has really been a great day!

Busy Monday

As usual today was laundry day so I got up and got that done.  Looking around the house today I decided it was just to bare with all the Christmas decorations gone.  I said to myself it is just a little over a month until Valentine's Day so why not do some decorating.  Off to the garage I went for the tote of Valentine decorations.  I don't have that many things but I think it came together quite nicely.  What do you think?

 

After the decorating was done it was time to start dinner.  Tonight we had Oven Baked Herb Chicken, Corn Bread Stuffing and Green Beans.  Even if I do say so myself it was really yummy!

Nice Relaxing Day

Today has been a very relaxing day.  This morning we went to church and heard a great sermon on our relationship God our Father.  After church played a couple of computer games and Gary left to take his Mom to church in Lindsay.  While she is in church he hangs out at the local Starbucks and works on his crossword puzzles.  Today he decided to take the laptop to see how that would work for him.  While they were gone I cooked lunch; Spaghetti w/Meat Sauce, Green Salad and Garlic Bread.  When they got home Gary played a couple of rounds on his Xbox 360.  Marianne, Stephen and Awbrey gave him the wireless setup for Christmas and yesterday he got it up and running, and he is having so much fun playing on line with Stephen and Richard.

We had lunch around 1:30 PM (Yummy), and after lunch Gary and I took a little drive and went out to spend some time with Nellie and Roger, to see how Nellie was doing after her out-patient surgery on her knee last Friday.  Good visit with them!  Since we got home we have just been hanging out watching a little TV and catching up on email and FB. 

All in all a great Sunday of relaxation!

Saturday, January 8

Took Gary's Mom shopping in Visalia to pick up a few things at Target and then we were off to the Olive Garden were we had a very enjoyable lunch at the Olive Garden.  After lunch we headed to Joann's to pick up some yarn for a baby afghan Mom wants to make.  On the way we decided to stop for Caramel Frappe and Lattes, which were very good.  We even brought one home for Gary.  We had a very enjoyable dinner of Black Beans w/Ham, Cole Slaw and Corn Bread.  Yummy!  I had cooked enough beans for us to have for lunch 1 day this next week but that won't be happening.  Guess who forget to put them in the refrigerator after they had cooled?  Me!!!  What a dummy.

Girlfriend Luncheon

Today was Girlfriend Luncheon day.  The LHS Class of 63 girls decided last May to get together once a month for lunch.  Nothing planned other than to meet the 1st Friday of each month at Tivoli's Restaurant in Lindsay for those that can make it.  We have lunch then visit for a while catching up on what is going on in our lives.  Today was no exception.  We had a great time catching up and the food was excellent!

Day 2 ~ Busy, Busy, Busy

Yesterday I put the house in order.  Everything is dusted and the everyday decorations are back out.  Some are in different locations than normal but that is okay as we need a little variety in life.  Gary said it is a little early for spring cleaning and I responded, might as well do it now as later.  I was exhausted after a long day of cleaning so I decide to hit the hay early and I was sound asleep by 10.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Today has been a really busy day although I did sleep in this morning.  While I was waiting for the fog to lift a little I started moving Christmas decorations from the bedroom and bathrooms to the living room.  After the fog had lifted I decided that I would do the grocery shopping at our local market since Visalia still had zero visibility so off to the market I headed.  Got that job done, came home, reorganized the pantry as I was putting things away and then had some lunch.  After lunch I said okay it is time to undecorate.  Gary started carrying in the storage totes and I started sorting and packing things away until December when we'll pull them all out again.  The house looks really bare now but I will take care of that tomorrow as I intend to do a cleaning before I pull out the normal decorations.

Setting Up the New Year ~ January 4

I spent my day closing out our records for 2010 and getting everything setup for 2011.  Took me a while to get everything caught up after being gone for almost 3 weeks but I did it.  I also had a mountain of laundry to do from the trip but it is now all done and put away.  Now to make the menus for the next 2 weeks and get the grocery shopping list done.

January 2 & 3, 2011

The time had come for us to head home so January 2 we did just that.  I thought as time went along it would be easier to leave the kids but it just isn't getting any easier.  I love spending time with them and just hanging out in general doing nothing special.  Sunday we drove to Yreka, CA.  We were very thankful that God kept the passes open and we did not have any bad weather.  Monday morning we left Yreka heading for Exeter.  We were hoping to see Patty in Redding but her work schedule was switched at the last minute.  Hopefully we will get to see her when we make our trip up in the spring.  We arrived home at 5:30 PM.  It had been a very long 2 days! 

New Year's Day ~ January 1, 2011

I love family traditions and this has become our New Year's Day tradition.  After breakfast on New Year's Day we decide on a color scheme for everyone to wear and head out to take family pictures.  This year we went to a park in downtown Vancouver, WA.  It was really cold but we all toughed it out and took our coats off long enough to take our annual family picture.  After the pictures were taken we headed to the nearest Starbuck's, another new tradition, and each of us had our favorite latte.  It was so great to be able to be with the kids and to keep our family traditions alive.

December 31, 2010 ~ New Years Eve

We had a wonderful time with Marianne, Stephen and Awbrey celebrating out with the old and in with the new.  We spent the evening playing games and watching the Times Square countdown.  All 5 of us actually made it to midnight and celebrated with a glass of champagne, Awbrey had seven-up.  It is so great to be able to keep this tradition going!