Checkers and Ice Cream

At the end of our trip we slipped into the Jefferson General Store for some hand dipped ice cream and a game of giant checkers:)

Victoria chose strawberry and Adam had mint chocolate chip. Jeff and I had chocolate milkshakes...mmmmmm good.

More freaky dolls

Take me to your leader

While in Jefferson...

We went to numerous antique shops. In one cute little shop we saw a Gerber Doll. She was frightening.. and she cost $100

Jefferson, Texas

Today August 30, 2008 we went to Jefferson. It is only about 1 hour away. We have lived in this area around 4.5 years and have never been out that way. I was a nice day and a nice drive.
I have been feeling poorly for several days so I was a bit worried about going. Thankfully, I felt much better when I got up this morning.

Million Dollar Body Countdown

This is the countdown until December 31st. About a week after that MDB starts accepting the update videos for the BIG contest for $250,000!!!

School Days

Our little school started today. Well, 1/2 a day. The Fellowship Hall/cafeteria/music room was full of young smiling faces. Everyone happy to see each other after a long summer break.
Our kindergarten is the largest it has ever been, 14 new students. Poor Shannon!
Today is called "student orientation" day. They go and take all their new school supplies and get their desk assignment etc. Most of the classes are pretty small. We have 93 students in K-12, so we are a small group.

Anyway, the kids were up and dresses before I got out of bed. I got up at 6:50am! I think they may have been a little excited. So at noon I will go and pick them up, feed them lunch, and take a nap.
The house is SOOO quiet! I miss them

Now I am going to wash dishes and wash some clothes.

neat-o

Oldest child, youngest kitty.
I thought they looked sweet.

THE COPING DIET

Only girlfriends can understand this one. This is specially formulated diet designed to help women cope with the stress that builds during the day.

Breakfast
1 grapefruit
1 slice whole wheat toast
1 cup skim milk

Lunch
1 small portion lean, steamed chicken
1 cup spinach
1 cup herbal tea
1 Hershey's kiss

Afternoon Snack
The rest of the Hershey kisses in the bag
1 tub of Hagen-Daaz ice cream with chocolate chips

Dinner
4 glasses of wine (red or white)
2 loaves garlic bread
1 family size supreme pizza

3 Snickers Bars

Late Night Snack
1 whole Sarah Lee cheesecake (eaten directly from the freezer)

Remember: Stressed spelled backward is desserts.

Today Victoria turned a new page in her life. Braces. she is beginning to feel the soreness. but looks great.
we are trying to make plans for her surgery tomorrow. plan on spending the night in Little Rock. Just cannot decide where!

spoiled rotten

Need I say more

Victoria

Victoria wanted to color her hair. This is something I have done to myself since I was 12/13 years old. It is fun and...well...it's just fun.
She had picked a coppery red color. I was..hesitant. So I found her a reddish brown color. It turned out really pretty. Not too different from her own hair, but with pretty red in it.
Both are "after" photos. The top one looks like a different color though.

She is very excited and happy with the results. I will be coloring mine later tonight. Gotta cover that gray!

Cheeseburger Buns

Cheeseburger Buns

TIME: Prep: 30 min. + rising Bake: 10 min.

Ingredients:

• 2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
• 3/4 cup warm milk (110° to 115°)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3-1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
• 8 slices process American cheese, quartered

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, sugar, shortening, egg, salt and 2 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.
In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in tomato sauce. Remove from the heat; set aside.
Punch dough down; divide into 16 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, gently roll out and stretch each piece into a 5-in. circle. Top each circle with two pieces of cheese and about 3 tablespoons beef mixture. Bring dough over filling to center; pinch edges to seal.
Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 20 minutes. Bake at 400° for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 16 sandwiches.

before and afters

I love side by side photos. Here are 2 photos. the one on the left is from August 2007 and the right is August 2008.
I can see some difference. I have lost a little more than 10lbs since last August.
I am wearing the same clothes. Not like the bikini photos below.



Whether there is a noticeable physical difference or not, I certainly look happier.

Abs, abs, and more abs

Hey folks...
The electricians are DONE! I have power and the house to ourselves.

Here is what I am doing. It is an Abdominal Workout Challenge.

I will be doing Tony Horton's Ten Minute Trainer 5 days in a row. Don't let the 10 minutes fool you. It has some hard moves.
I think it will be a great challenge.

Workout

Today I did 2 workouts
1. Cardio Party 3 (50 minutes)
2. Ab Ripper 200 (about 6 minutes) 200 crunches targeting the entire abdominal area

I am resting and re hydrating before launching into housework.

Home

This week we have had electricians here every day. Today we will have the house to ourselves. They are nearly done with the work we need done for now. We used Nantz Electric. We would recommend them highly. The work left to do is in the attic. They are hoping for another day or two of cooler weather so the attic won't be to terribly hot.
We had a few light fixtures replaced and we bought the new lights at Lowe's. Yesterday we went, by recommendation, to Logan Electric here in Texarkana to find a wall sconce with a built in switch. I didn't realize how hard they would be to find.
Anyway, we had looked at Lowe's and Home Depot and they didn't have anything we really liked at all. Logan's had TONS of beautiful lights. We found the sconce we liked and the guy told us he can install the switch for us!!! DUH...I never even thought about that. HD and Lowe's sure never offered that service. I really love helping out the local businessman. It is much more gratifying than giving the larger corporations my money.

While we were there Jeff found the perfect ceiling fan for what will be his office. It is called a Gyro Ceiling Fan. Cool, huh
It is 7:30am, I need to finish my coffee and get ready to workout. I need a good workout.

Victoria is watching some silent movie called "Flesh and the Devil". A 1926 Greta Garbo movie. I will give her 30 more minutes.

Electricity

Today electricians were here. We were without electricity from 8:30am-around 3pm.
It got pretty darn hot today!

Anyway, they will be back tomorrow for more fun:)

Green Goddess Smoothie

**haven't tried this for myself** Not too sure



INGREDIENTS:
4OZ. - Blueberry Pomegranate juice(other juice optional)
6oz. - Lite vanilla soymilk(reg. milk optional)
1 - Kiwi with fur!
4-5 - Strawberries
1/8 - Of a Lime
1/2 - Of a medium Avocado
3 C - Raw Spinach leaves(well packed)
1-1/2 - Scoops of vanilla protein powder
Dash - Vanilla extract
To taste - All natural Stevia sweetener
1-1/2 C - Ice

Blend together in blender and pour into favorite glass.


Bottoms up