Family Update October - November

This holiday season has been wonderful and life has been busy. We had a great time enjoying all the fall festivals and events that went on here. We had a great Halloween, the neighborhood was really nice to trick or treat in and Gaige really got into things this year. Mom and Matt came with so that added to the fun.

Aunti Linda hosted Thanksgiving this year and it meant so much to me considering last year was terrible and we didn't do anything. My sister Katy wasn't able to come down but other than that it was a great day, yummy food and as always had a blast with family. 

Aside from the holidays life is busy and good to. We have a lot going on, Rylee got braces, is on a city volleyball team and I sold my car. She looks so good in her braces it took two hours to get her all set up and than we had to crank her expanded for 24 days to widen her top jaw. There is so much more to do but its all in a two year process and we have check ups about every 6wks. Since she didn't make the school volleyball team we put her on a city team and she is really enjoying it and learning a lot. I truly believe by the time she has try outs for 8th grade she will make the team. She stands 5 feet 9 inches tall now and I see so much potential. She is making friends at school and has really settled in.

As far as me things are good, work is good and its pretty same ole same ole. I did have to sell my car as it was falling apart and I didn't want to deal with it, the repairs cost more than the car was worth. So for now I'm driving the truck and looking around to see what I want. House plans are still moving a long slowly but surely but no big or new plans to report. 

Now we're just getting ready for Christmas, this past year has been so hard and stressful I can not wait for the new year and new beginnings. 

Home Sweet Home

With a whirl wind of emotions, some personal struggles and a few life changing events at the beginning of August I decided I had, had enough of living in Kingwood. 

I never wanted to move but did it for Steve to support him but in the end I was unhappy.While there were some good things about our new home and the area it just wasn't where I knew I wanted to be long term and being away from home made me realize just how much I loved living there. I missed my family, my friends and my life in SA.

So after we decided we wanted to move back home and Steve had a job lined up with  his old company  (who gladly gave him a raise to come back) we realized Rylee would be started school in a matter of weeks and we needed to move before this happened. It was so hard to move her again, she really loved living in KW and her sadness just broke my heart. While it was hard to see her cry I had to think about the future and I know its easier to move her now than later when she is in HS.

We found a house through some friends and through out the entire month of August we made the move back home settling right outside SA in Cibolo. It was as always stressful and tiring but worth it as we got everyone set up just in time for Rylee to start 7th grade and Gaige to start Pre-K. Everyone asked why we didn't move back to our home and we didn't for two reasons. One we have renters in it who we love and are taking great care of our house and two we want to live outside of SA and plan to buy/build next year. To be able to buy another house we need to show we have renters in it so that debt doesn't count against us on our debt to income ratio. :) This rent house we are in is in a nice area and its bigger so I like that a lot but once again I don't feel settled and I hate renting. The thought of moving again makes me want to pass out but at least I know it will be close as we want to stay in this area, in this school district and it will be our last move.

It has been a little harder of a move for Rylee as she doesn't seem to be making friends as fast as she did last time and she didn't make the volleyball team which was devastating to both of us. She isn't taking any good electives cause we registered her so late and she isn't a fan of all the working out she is having to do in athletics. lol This last year has been rough on all of us but it has affected her more than anyone and as a parent its hard to know our choices are affecting her so badly. :(

But a new year is coming and I am looking forward to what it has in store for our family!

Juice Cleanse ... A healthier me!

My sister has me pumped on doing a juice de-toxic, I have been reading about it a lot and just eating healthier in general. Buying fresh produce and all natural organic meats, eggs, milk and a lot of gluten free stuff for Steve. So you would think I would be skinny :) but nope still carrying around this same 30lbs I have been trying to lose after each pregnancy that never gets lost. I am always able to lose the baby weight I gain but ever since Mateo in 2007 I haven't been able to lose that extra weight. I will say that I did get pregnant with Gaige exactly 6 months post after Mateo and its been a hurdle I haven't been able to over come. I am sure it doesn't help that we haven't completely eliminated fast food, while I work out its not on a regular basis and I have been pregnant twice since Gaige. lol However this time is different I am not pregnant, I do not want to look like I am and I want to be comfortable in my own body!

So I am going to blog my next 12 days hoping yall will help keep me accountable and not give up. I am hoping in trying these different juices that I will find some I like and can keep some for one or two meals a day. :) With that said I think there is going to be more I don't like than I do so this is truly going to be tough for me.

Today I went and bought about $50 worth of fresh produce I was shooting for 5 days worth but I don't think it will be enough specially since Gaige loves fruits and veggies and I'm obviously not going to ever tell him no. I spent a hour or so pre-making 4 drinks, a dinner for tonight and breakfast, lunch and dinner for tomorrow and then tomorrow night I will make the 3 meals for the following day. The clean up was a lot I made a huge mess and the whole process seemed to take for ever but I am hoping with time I will get faster and make less of a mess. :P

Day One

7/20/12

Started with Dinner

1 cucumber

4 celery

2 apples 

1/2 lemon

1 tbsp ginger

It was so hard to drink very green and it had a terrible after taste. I drank about 90% of it and than a bottle of water. I tried drinking out of a straw and holding my nose just to get it down. I didn't feel full or hungry in the evening but around 11pm when we were going to bed I was hungry. 

Day Two 

7/21/12

Breakfast

2 cups blueberries

16 strawberries

2 kiwis

I liked this one a lot better but than again it didn't have any veggies in it. lol I did put ice in it to make it really cold which helped but I like drinking it out of a bottle better.

Lunch

3 oranges

1/2 grapefruit

1 carrot

1 celery

Lunch was worse than the dinner one I had on day one. So unfortunately it was either quite or start over so I pulled all my stuff back out a remade my drinks with more fruit and less veggies. Now each drink has a hint of veggie in it so I can continue on.

So lunch ended up being

2 Pears

2 Oranges

1 Kiwi

1/2 cucumber

Dinner

Salad & chicken chili from Jason's deli

My first two days were pretty good, could have been better but hey its a process. First day started with one drink, second day completed two drinks.

Day Three

7/22/12

Today should have been my first day of all juicing but it has not been a good day. A little stress in the house has thrown me completely off. I was not hungry at all for breakfast and than after church the boys wanted to get a burger so I caved and had a chicken sandwich but I didn't order the fries and shared a drink. Than this evening we are going to diner with friends so today I didn't have any. However I'm not losing hope because tomorrow is Monday and with the kids gone and Steve at work it will be much easier to be on my schedule.

Day Four

So day four was my first day of all juice and I did it :)

The juices were good and after each one I had a bottle of water. I did get a headache that night and I really wanted to eat spaghetti with the boys but I held out and just had my juice. I got a 3.26 mile walk in and it felt great.

I only have one juice left for tomorrow which means I need to make more but I am also already running low on stuff. :( I can see very easily having a juice twice a day and just eating dinner with my family but I think the hardest part is always having enough fresh produce to make them.

Breakfast: Grapes, strawberries, apples, cucumber

Lunch: Pears, Kiwi, Orange, broccoli

Dinner: Apples, Kiwi, peaches, celery

Miles: 3.26

Day Five

7/24/12

So today was by far the worst day. Started out ok with my morning juice but since that was my last bottle I had to make more but by the time I got to it, it was already 1:00 and I was starving. I really thought about getting a salad thinking its pretty much the same thing right. I'm talking myself into it but instead I just ate carrots and cucumber slices while I prepared my last 5 bottles. I was so proud of my will power. So I whipped up the last of my produce and once again made a mess. lol I like my juicer but the clean up really does suck.  I got really busy in the afternoon and than had to run and get Gaige by that time I had a headache and I was so tired. I could feel that I was cranky and was just dreading the evening. I did not want to drink my juice, I really wanted to cheese burgers I was making for the boys :(  but once again I held out and did not have one single bite of the yummy burgers I made.

The worst part about today was not so much I was hungry it was the cravings. I do get hungry like normal when its lunch or dinner but not in between meals so thats great but I hope tomorrow is better. I do like that in the morning I can just grab my juice and go. Its a healthy quick meal with no mess, I would love to get my whole family on at least once juice a day. I made apple juice and orange juice today I can't wait to try it tomorrow, doesn't get any fresher than that. :)

Oh ya my taste buds are on over drive today, it takes good but its stronger. Like when you get pregnant and your sense of smell is more intense its like that. :P

Breakfast: Grapefruit, kiwi, apples

Lunch: Apple, peaches, strawberries, celery

Dinner: Grapes, apples, blackberries, cucumber

Miles: 2.72

Tips: 

Drink a bottle of water (or more) after each juice

Add a little veggies in each time until you have enough but not so much it taste gross

I make between 14-16oz pre-made in water bottles so its not so over whelming to do every day

I make all my juices and than clean my juicer at the very end

Oranges and grapefruit have a texture to them a little more pulp than other fruits

On your juicer where the extra goes put a bag in the container so you just have to pull the bag out and through it away.

Day Six

7/25/12

The day started off good as usually had my morning juice, went on my walk and by lunch time it all went down hill from there. :(

Another good tip I have learned about doing a juicing cleanse is timing, the timing has just got to be right to help your self succeed.

Breakfast: Orange juice

Lunch: Spaghetti - Good portion control

Dinner: Pizza

Miles: 2.92

Day Seven

7/26/12

Still off the wagon and feeling down on myself but I only had one juice left and I am out of produce and no time to go to the store.  Tomorrow we leave for SA and will be there all weekend so I am going to retry my juice cleanse next week. However I am still going to watch what I eat and have portion control.

Breakfast: Nothing

Lunch: Chicken crispers @ Chili's - Ate to much

Dinner: Apple juice

Miles: 0.0

FAILED JUICE CLEANSE but I did enjoy juicing and have continued to make fresh juice at home.

Our move to Houston & where we are now.

Wow where do I began ........

At the end of last year Steve was offered a job in Houston that he was very excited about and we both felt a fresh new start was exactly what we needed. Steve and I have spent our whole lives in San Antonio basically and we wanted something different. Steve and I came up in December to look for rent houses and at the same time we were able to find someone we knew to rent our home. After 2-3 trips up here we choose a rent house and in January Steve and Rylee moved up here so he could start his new job and Rylee could settle into school during the winter break. Gaige and I stayed behind so I could finish work and get the house ready for the renters.

It was a very stressful time, I wanted to move but than I didn't, having Gaige all by myself everyday was a bit rough and he missed his daddy terribly. I was driving back and fourth every weekend and the stress began to effect me physically. My face and arms broke out in a rash, I wasn't sleeping and it was just taking a toll on me. Finally mid February Steve came down to take the final load and Gaige and I joined them in Houston. Well we don't actually live in Houston we live in a small town called Kingwood which we love. I started working at a new property but with the same company which was nice that I didn't have to find a new job. Steve likes his job and is getting used to the Houston and surrounding areas. He loves his new truck he got at the beginning of the year to and of course has all the extras on it (lift,tires, rims, etc) but he works hard.

So now 7 months later I feel like we are really settled into our new life, jobs, school and enjoying it all. It took me the longest the adjust and I did have a really hard time but I can now say I am glad we are here. I love the area we live in, love our new church, we are making great friends and now that I am working full time with the agency and doing what I love I am beyond happy. Moving here and starting a new career was very scary but I was ready for it and I'm glad we made the leap. 

Rylee quickly settled into her new school making friends and started to play softball. This past season was a little rough for her and she still hasn't quite gotten that competitive edge I keep waiting for her to get but she enjoys it and thats what matters. She just finished up with volleyball camp and I am so excited for her to play sports in school. She is 5'8 and surprisingly hasn't grow in 6 months needless to say all the coaches want her to try out for their sport. :P She loves it here and has a good friend who live right down the street. If you ask her now if she wants to move back she will tell you no. :) 

Gaige also settled in quickly to and I really did think he was going to have a hard time adjusting to his new daycare but he didn't. He loves his teacher and I love that they are so personal and don't max out their class rooms. I must have looked at 20 daycares before choosing one. Right now he is doing swim lessons, they do a art project each week, they have a in-door and out-door play area and he is just learning so much. He loves Sunday school to some weekends we miss church and he gets so upset. He has changed so much in the last 6 months maybe its him getting older but he is still a little firecracker keeping us on our toes. He will start T-ball next season and he is so excited. 

Making this move was a huge step for everyone but we are all doing well! 

The one hard thing was Matthew didn't make the move with us, he stayed behind to finish school. It was really hard to leave him behind and it was weird not having him around. He is here for the summer :) and is thinking about staying here for the year but its a hard choice to leave all his friends behind and start over for his senior year. He enlisted into the Army so right after graduation he goes to boot camp, I am torn on how I feel about him going into the military but I do think it will be good for him if he does his best. Katy is moving back up to Dallas, she loves it up there and she should be finishing up her last year of college there. Its hard to watch my brother and sister make choices for them selfs and pray that its the best for them. Katy is going to be 22yo and Matt will be 18yo but watching them fall and some times not being able to fix it for them is the hardest thing about me being so much older than them. 

Mom is doing well, we got to spend time with Auntie Linda and Uncle Steven, I've made a few trips into SA and we even made it to Inks lake this summer so its been a good balance. Our plan is to buy a house next year but staying in this area so Rylee doesn't have to change schools again and at that point Gaige will be starting kindergarden. While life is not perfect up here and not every day is good, I feel so blessed and thankful for my life.