Trip Part 4: Food and Fitness

The next in my series of posts about my trip to California.

If you've been reading my blog, you know that I have been working hard to lose weight. My first mini goal was be under 250 (from 267) before I went to California. I made it (and then some). My last weigh in before I left was 246.4. (Which also put me at 20 pounds lost!) I did not walk or do weight training the week of the trip---or while I was gone.

I decided before I left that, while I was not going to overboard, I was not going to be particular about my eating. I would make heathy choices when possible, but I wouldn't stress about it.

On Friday, while hubby and I were in Albuquerque, we had Chinese food at PF Changs. I'm sure the crab wontons weren't the healthiest choice, but we did have brown rice instead of white rice. :) Laster we visited a casino. They had a self-service (FREE!) soda fountain. I got a very small (12 ounce, maybe?) glass of Pepsi. I had about 5 or 6 small sips. I couldn't finish it.

On Friday morning, our "continental breakfast" was Dunkin Donuts. I picked one and ate about half. When I got off the airplane, Cinnabon was calling my name at the terminal. I shared a 6 pack of minibons with my sister. (We did drink low fat milk with them!) At lunch, I had a few drinks of my niece's Pepsi, but I drank water all day. At the BBQ, I avoided all of the soda and beer. I snacked on fruit and nuts all day.

My biggest splurge was dinner on Saturday night. I had two Strawberry margaritas and a slice of birthday cake. I didn't eat much of my dinner. (I usually eat at least 2, if not 4 tortillas with my fajitas. I didn't even finish one. And I left most of the meat.)

My first weigh in at home was 247. I didn't lose any weight, but I didn't gain any. Sounds like a success to me!

The Bloggy Carnival is over and....

Using my own random number generator (aka, "Honey...pick a number between 1 and 70) I have winner! {drum roll please.....]

World's Greatest Mommy (sorry I can't find a first name). I've sent an e-mail and will get that out to her.

Thanks for stopping by! Please come back and see me.

I won a couple of things myself! :) From Michelle at Big Blueberry Eyes I won some wedding scrapbook supplies. From Cayce at An Uncluttered Life I won a copy of The Bathtub is Overflowing but I feel drained by Lysa TerKeurst.. From Denise at You Never Let Go I won a box of customizable fruit snacks. I will get to customize a box of fruit rollups, and they will send them to my house! (How cool is that?!?) From Valerie at Cats and Coupons, I won a coupon for a free pack of kids Yoplait.

Updated: I got two more winning e-mails!
From Amy at In Pursuit of Proverbs 31. I won an autographed copy of Joyce Meyer's The Secret of True Happiness. From Angela at Life with One Busy Boy, I won 2 books: Simple Abundance & Something More both by Sarah Ban Breathnach.

Updated again: 2 more wins!
From Karen at Thrifty Moms I won a Cooking Light Complete Cookbook. And from Lisa at The Laundry Tree, I won a sample of SoapNuts.

Trip Part 3: Flying Feelings

As I mentioned in my last post, this was only my second flight. I loved it. As I was flying to California and looking out my window I had a thought. How could anybody fly 35,000 feet above the earth and not believe in a Creator or "intelligent design"? The landscapes and clouds are just beautiful. Of course, some of what I enjoyed was manmade. The patchwork quilts created by roads and farm lands are absolutely beautiful. I don't think I will ever get tired of looking at God's creation from an airplane window. I think I took about 200 pictures on each trip.

33Miles sings a song called, "There is a God".


There’s a beauty to the dawn, a rhythm to the rain
A silence in the soul that I just can’t explain
There’s a breath of life I breathe, a beating in my heart
A magnificence, a scary sense of what lies past the stars
Beyond what we can see behind the mystery
I know that it could only be

(Chorus)
There is a God; this is the proof
That all around the evidence is speaking the truth
From the center of my soul to the edge of the universe
Creation is crying out believe it or not
There is a God

Trip Part 2: Flight plan

My trip to California was only my second time to fly. (The first time was last May.) I loved flying! This time, I flew on ExpressJet and had a great trip. The flight was about 2 hours. They served a meal (bagels in the morning flight; sandwiches on the evening flight.) Each seat was equipped with Free XM Radio.

They fly out of quite a few cities:
Albuquerque, NM; Austin, TX; Bakersfield, CA; Boise, ID; Colorado Springs, CO; El Paso, TX; Fresno, CA; Jacksonville, FL; Kansas City, MO; Long Beach, CA; Monterey, CA; New Orleans, LA; Oklahoma City, OK; Omaha, NE; Ontario, CA; Reno-Tahoe, NV; Sacramento, CA; San Antonio, TX; San Diego, CA; Santa Barbara, CA; Spokane, WA; Tucson, AZ; Tulsa, OK

They have no middle seats. The left aisle has 1 seat. The right aisle has two seats. So there are no "sandwich" seats. I was on the left side, so I had both a window and an aisle seat. The planes are small jets (about 50 passengers?).

Here is the plane I flew on leaving Sacramento:

Bloggy Giveaway Carnival

A few months ago, I had so much fun visiting blogs in the Bloggy Carnival, that I decided to join up this time. I scoured my house to find a prize worthy of this carnival. I decided on a box of "stuff". :) How is that for original? The box will be an assortment of full size cosmetics (at least 3 products) and at least a dozen sample products. I'll dig deep and pull out some fun stuff. The cosmetics will have a retail value of about $15. I'll add something for every 25 comments I receive on this thread.

Here is what's in the box so far:
* Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Hard as Wraps Polish
* Jane Colorless Translucent Face Powder
* Jane Sheer Protection Formula (SPF 15)
* Various samples

The rules:
Please post a comment below. Bonus points if you post something relevant to my blog. (i.e. something that sounds like you read at least one of my posts!)

Sorry, only US addresses. (I am on a budget!) If you win, please be patient. I work full time and I have 3 very busy children. It might take some time, but I'll try to make it worth the wait.

I mentioned the Revolution Money Exchange on a previous post. I did some research to find out more about it. I found this site to be very helpful. Information

Want free money?

I just heard about a new service (similar to Paypal) called Revolution Money Exchange. When you sign up, you get $25 deposited in your account. (Mine was there immediately!) If you follow my link and sign up, not only will you get $25, but I'll get $10.

2 weeks of toys giveaways.

The girls at 5 Minutes for Mom are at it again. They are giving away Two Weeks of Toys. A sampling of the giveaways are:

Rose Petal Cottages, Kid Motion Easy Dunk Basketballs, Made For Me Day To Dream Soothers, LEGO® CITY Police Headquarters, bébéPOD® PLUS baby seat , Martian Matter, ExerSaucer® , Nerf N-Strike Recon CS-6 Blasters, Easy Bake Oven, Canopy Wagon. And that's just a start!

Bloggy Giveaway Carnival

A few months ago, I had so much fun visiting blogs in the Bloggy Carnival, that I decided to join up this time. I scoured my house to find a prize worthy of this carnival. I decided on a box of "stuff". :) How is that for original? The box will be an assortment of full size cosmetics (at least 3 products) and at least a dozen sample products. I'll dig deep and pull out some fun stuff. The cosmetics will have a retail value of about $15. I'll add something for every 25 comments I receive on this thread.

The rules:
Please post a comment below. Bonus points if you post something relevant to my blog. (i.e. something that sounds like you read at least one of my posts!)

Sorry, only US addresses. (I am on a budget!) If you win, please be patient. I work full time and I have 3 very busy children. It might take some time, but I'll try to make it worth the wait.

My trip 1: Facts

This is the first in a series of 4 (or 5 or 6?) posts about my trip to California. This one is the travelogue. It's going to be a run down of when and where I was. Hopefully the other posts will be more interesting.

John and I left Roswell about 10 am. The temperature was about 55 degrees. It was a beautiful day. About an hour into our trip, the temperature dropped---to 32 degrees. It was April 17th, and we drove through blizzard like conditions. Snow was falling. Wind was blowing both directions. Visibility was low. And snow was accumulating. In April!! The snow continued for about the next 100 miles. By the time we neared Albuquerque, the snow had cleared up. (No sign of weather delays at the airport.)

We checked into our hotel around 2 and then went out to shop a bit. We visited Monte's (John's favorite cigar store) and Apple (another of John's favorite stores). We went to PF Chang's for dinner. (Yummy! Chow mein and brocolli beef!) Then I got to play. We went to the new Route 66 Indian casino. I couldn't find nickle video poker (my favorite) so I sat down at the quarter one. I figured I'd either win big or run of out money fast. (I had a $20 to play.) John put in $10. I ran out first. :( He got his back to $10 and cashed out and gave it to me. I found the nickles and played much longer. But still left with nothing to show. But I had fun. :)

After a quick stop at Target. (Well, the stop was quick, but it took a while to find it!) we headed back to the hotel.

Friday morning, we got up at 5:30 to allow time to eat and get to the hotel on time. Our "continental breakfast" consisted of Dunkin Donuts. We each grabbed one and took off. I got to the airport about 75 minutes before take off. The ticket line was short, but the security line looked long. So we said goodbye. The line actually only took about 15 minutes. I grabbed some (more substantial) breakfast while I waited.

My plane departed right on schedule. Another post will brag about ExpressJet. :) My flight landed at 9:30 local time. My sister (Linda) got there about 9:45. We shared an order of MiniBons while we waited for Brian (Brother #3) to arrive. After meeting Brian, we went to the car and drove around to the other terminal to pick up Becca and baby Hannah.

We all went to Linda's house to get ready for the BBQ that night. After lunch, Linda went back to the airport to get Karl (brother #2). Shawn (brother #2) was bringing Mom up (as well as his son, Nathanael and his girlfriend Shanna). When Mom arrived, we slipped out one at a time to greet her. She actually admitted to being surprised! Finally Carmen and 3 of her kids arrived (followed by her husband a bit later.) We had a BBQ and crashed about midnight.

Saturday morning, we had breakfast about 9 and then headed for the spa day. It was fun. We had the table full of munchies and we visited and laughed a lot. After a quick trip to the hotel for showers and makeup, we headed to the restaurant for dinner. There were 20 (plus a high chair) in our party. And it was a crowded restaurant! Shawn returned with brother #4 (Stephen) just as we ordered. After dinner, they brought out a cake with 70 lit candles. Next we headed to find a place for pictures. We found a semi-lighted place with steps near where we parked. We ignored the "Department of Corrections" logo behind us. We took a bunch of pictures: grandkids, everybody, siblings, sisters, brothers, and then some family shots. (I'll post some later.)

Before everyone disbursed, we showed Mom a slide show of the handprint quilt that wasn't finished yet. We also had pictures of each family group and some shots from the BBQ the night before.

We said goodbyes to Carmen's family, Shawn, and Stephen and headed to the hotel. We sat around a talked for a while before, once again, falling asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.

Sunday morning the remaining party gathered for breakfast about 9. We stayed and visited for about an hour and then went to pack up the rooms. Linda brought me bags of clothes that she had already shrunk out of. Most won't fit me yet, but hopefully soon. We got everything packed and went to say more goodbyes: Mom, Nathanial and Shanna were headed home.

We headed to a brew pub for lunch. I left the party for a while to get some gifts for my kids. (And I found a tea towel for Linda that said, "It's been fun, but now I need to scream!") After a minor meltdown at lunch. (Let's just say the emotions of the weekend caught up with me.) We headed to the airport. I got there in plenty of time to check in and hang out for an hour.

The flight home was great. I took lots more pictures (about 500 between the two flights!) When I got to the airport, my kids ran into my arms. (Aww.....) After greeting everyone and gathering my luggage, we headed for dinner. Then home. We finally pulled in about 5 minutes to midnight.

Back to the real world....

I'm off!

In an hour or so, my husband and I will be heading to Albuquerque. We'll hang out today and spend tonight there. We are making up for the missed anniversary trip from February. Then, tomorrow morning at 8 am, I'll board a plane for Sacramento to see my Mama!

Want to know a secret? Shhhhh.....Not only am I going to surprise Mom. And my brother from Colorado is surprising Mom (and bringing the handprint quilt his wife put together). And my niece and her 10 month old daughter is flying in from Arizona. My sister and her family are driving in from Santa Rosa. And my brothers will drive up from Modesto. If you've been reading my blog, you know all of that. But here's the secret....My other brother (who lives in Missouri) is arriving 25 minutes after I do!! So, what's the big deal!?!?

It is the first time in 9 years that we've all 7 been together. The last time we were all together was for Daddy's funeral January 1999.

Here is what we looked like then (the ages are current):
(back row: Shawn, 50; Brian, 45; Karl, 49; Stephen, 41
front row: Me, 38; Mom; Carmen, 46; Linda, 39)


I'll post a new sibling picture when I get home.

6 week update!

Last night I met with my trainer again for my 6 week update. (Today is actually 7 weeks since I first met with Angie.) Angie was near tears a few times as we talked. According to the weigh in, I'm down 16 pounds. (The scale is an old bathroom scale. My home scale shows a 20 pound loss.) But, the other resulsts...(can I have a drum roll please?)

Body fat: Was 39.9% ------> 33.51%
Waist: Down 2 1/2 inches
Arm: Down 1 1/4 inch
Thigh: Down 1 1/4 inch

My strength (how much weight I could lift with my arms and legs) was nearly doubled.

I was blessed this week!

As my loyal readers know, I'm flying to California to see my mom. (Shhh...it's a surprise!) One of my friends decided to bless me with a new outfit. It was one of those times that I knew it would be an insult if I refused. So we went together and picked out an outfit. I got a pair of tan, long, cargo shorts. (They were too short to be called capris), a turquoise tank, and a turquoise, tan and white striped shirt. It was good to have D's input on what colors and styles would look good. She didn't tell me how much to spend, so I kind of had her guide my choices. As we walked out, she said, 'We came in 96 cents under what I budgeted." I'll have John take a picture of me before I get on the plane.

A very cool product: a unique bike trailer

One of the blogs I visit often (5 Minutes for Mom) is giving away a Caboose Bike Trailer. Basically, it makes a bike into a bicycle built for two. The back car has two wheels for stability. It comes in two sizes (child 5-10 and adult). My daughter (almost 5) would love to ride on the back of this! You can enter the giveaway at their blog.

My training update

First of all, I have enough trouble keeping up with one blog, I'm not going to try to update the Less of Julie blog. So here goes:

As of yesterday, I've been Pepsi free for 6 weeks. Well....last Saturday, I had 3 sips of my kids' Pepsi at Target. (We were eating popcorn....) Then I got myself some water. I've been able to limit my sweet treats to about once a week---and they are very small. (Like a single Giradelli square or a very thin slice of birthday cake.) I even helped my son sell 2 boxes of "World's Finest Chocolate" without sampling even one! (And I didn't eat ANY of the 4 boxes of Girl Scout cookies that were in my house.)

I've walked at least 15 minutes (sometimes more) at least 5 (sometimes 6) days a week. I've done weight training 3 times a week.

Oh...and I've started running! No...I'm not running far or long. But I've started. I'm doing interval training. When I'm on the treadmill, I was walking about 2.5 MPH. I started pushing it up to about 3 or 3.5 for 20-40 seconds at a time. One day, I went a litte higher and couldn't keep up, so I sort of jogged. Then I decided to keep doing it. Now, each time I walk (15-20 minutes), every 2-5 minutes (depending on how tired I am!) I push up the speed. I've been running about 30 seconds at a time at 4.5-5 MPH. Now, I can walk about 3 MPH without too much trouble.

And I reached my first mini goal: under 250 before my trip to CA next week. The last three days have been between 248 and 249!!! I'm almost to 10% gone!

Detour Part 3

I was between home visits (or I should say "attempted home visits" since both were no shows!) today and I had another detour. Ironically, it was on the same street, just a few blocks down. The wind had really picked up, and dust was flying everywhere. I passed a house, and saw what appeared to be smoke. With all the wind, I wasn't sure. So I stopped the car and got closer. Between the sidewalk and the street, was a small (about 10' wide by 4' deep) garden area. It was full of the bark chips. As I got closer, I saw that it was, in fact, flames. Nobody answered the door, and I couldn't find anything to use to extinguish the fire. So I called 911. (Love my cell phone!) About the time I ended the call, a couple of neighbors came out because they smelled the smoke. One sent her son to get a bucket. We walked back to the house to look for a hose. After a search we found a house and turned it on. We were able to extinguish the fire before the fire department arrived.

Detour, part 2

For the first part, see: Detour Part 1

Today, I was getting ready to eat my lunch when a couple came into the office looking for daycare. (My office is housed in a daycare.) Instead of just telling them that we had no room, I took the time to look up and write down some Daycare centers and their phone numbers. They asked if they could also be put on our waiting list. I gave them a paper and pen to write their information. So far, nothing out of the ordinary.

Then Dad asked, "Do you know anybody who can help us get a carseat? We are kind of short of money and we really need one." I think I just stared at them for a couple of minutes (it was probably only seconds). The reason for my delay is God was nudging me---er slapping me on the back!

You see, a couple of weeks ago, I got an e-mail that I had won a sweepstakes at Learning Curve. The prize? A new convertable carseat (from 5-65 pounds) and a few other baby toys. I received the boxes on Tuesday. My baby is almost ready for a booster seat. So I hadn't opened the box. I figured I would just put it in storage until I need a great baby shower gift.

.

When I finally got my voice back, I said. "Yes. I know where you can get one." I made arrangements to meet them at a store in a little while. I looked at the paper she had written her name and kids' names on, and it was the same as the woman from yesterday. And the kids were about the same age. I don't think it was the same woman, but it could have been.

I dashed home to get the carseat. I grabbed a Max Lucado booklet and a Gospel tract. I didn't have any invitations to church, so I wrote the church name and address down. When I arrived at the meeting location, Dad asked me how much I wanted for the carseat. I told him, "It's yours". He was surprised, and said, "God Bless you!" I said, "He does!" And I reached for the papers. I told them I wanted to share God's love with them. I invited them to join me at church. They asked a few questions (service times, etc.) and said they would come when Dad didn't have to work. As Dad was putting the carseat in the car, Mom said, "I have $11 for you". I told her to keep it and "pay it forward". "When you meet someone who needs something, you can help them out." She thanked me and gave me a hug.

Wow! That felt good!

Detours, part 1

This Sunday, our pastor preached about Detours. Using the story of the Good Samaritain, he shared how we need to:
Accept that interruptions are opportunities
Build time into our days
Commit to live a compassionate life.

This week, we were challenged to look for opportunities to be the hands and feet of Jesus in practical ways.

Yesterday, I was heading to a home visit for work. I was running late. 2 blocks before the house, I saw a little boy---about 2 years old---on at tricycle at the edge of the sidewalk. I debated whether I should stop. When I got a little further up the road, I saw him roll out onto the street. I pulled over and called 911 (with my eyes glued to the rear view mirror). A few minutes later another woman (ML)stopped. (Turns out she works for a child service agency too!) She got him out of the street and asked which house was his. Nobody answered her knock.

At least point, I approached them. I let her know that I had called the police. ML knocked on the door again. She called through the screen door. Then she even opened the door and called out. The boy couldn't answer our questions in Spanish or English.

When the police officer arrived, he went into the house and announced himself. Turns out, there was nobody in the house--except another boy about 9 or 10 months old who was asleep on the couch. The officer called for backup as well as someone to bring carseats to take the children into custody.

I stayed on the scene to complete my statement. About 30 minutes after I first arrived, I woman walked up from a few houses down. She said she was the mom, and she had "just stepped out" to use the phone---and "they were asleep". The officer replied, "Just stepped out?" We've been on scene for 35 minutes? At that point I excused myself. The officer had my card in case he needed to get ahold of me.

I could have easily drove on. I could have left it in the hands of the other woman who stopped. But instead, I took a detour--and maybe even saved a life.