Wordless Wednesday: Evening Buffet

New Year's Resolution Update

Well, as it is almost February, I thought I should log our New Year's Resolution progress:

Weight Loss: It's actually going pretty well so far. Daryl has changed his diet by limiting his carb intake. So far he has lost 8 lbs. Not too bad for the first month. He has 12 more to go and then maintain his weight until May 1st. Keep up the good work, honey. Me, well I'm not doing too shabby either. I've lost 4 lbs this month just by drinking a lot of water. I feel more full so I'm not eating as much. Also, I feel quite refreshed, which is a good thing too. Let's hope I can stay on track.

De-Clutter: It's a slow process. We did manage to donate quite a few things earlier this month which helped to make more room in the house. Now I just have to start organizing everything. The storage room still looks like a bomb went off. I'm not quite finished putting the Christmas decorations away. The snowmen are still out but with all the snow we have, I think it's okay. When I put them away I can clean up that room. I will just pretend I'm on "Mission Organization" from HGTV. That should motivate me...I hope.

PartyLite Anyone?

Yes, I've decided to sell PartyLite candles and accessories. I just love their candles and after placing orders every month for the last year, I have realized that it's probably in my best interest to be on the other side. Their candles are truly amazing. Not only are they very attractive and smell really good, but they burn so well. I just love them. Now that I'm home all day, I start burning from 9 am to 9 pm so becoming a consultant is a great way to replenish my stock and support my wax addiction. After chasing two little ones all day long, my house is in total disarray, but it does smell good and feel cozy. Even though these candles are more expensive than store-bought ones, they are therapeutic and much cheaper than therapy. If anyone is interested in browsing the new 2008 catalogue, let me know. I'd be happy to send you one. There is a lot of fun stuff, definitely worth a look-see.

Tagged

I have been tagged by Julie to answer these fun & silly questions:

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Mother
2. Architect
3. Life guard
4. Housekeeper @ Marriott

Four movies I have watched more than once:
1. Love Actually
2. Immortal Beloved
3. The Cutting Edge
4. Lord of the Rings
(all have been seen multiple times actually)

Four Places I have lived
1. Spokane, WA
2. Pullman, WA
3. Seattle, WA
4.

Four T.V. Shows that I watch
1. Little House on the Prairie
2. House Hunters
3. Designed to Sell
4. Design on a Dime

Four places I have been
1. Europe
2. Japan
3. Alaska
4. Caribbean

Four People who e-mail me (regularly)
1. Julie
2. Holly
3. Aunt Emily
4. Grace

Four favorite foods
1. Chocolate cake
2. Steak
3. Thai food
4. Lettuce wraps from Chili's (with wasabi ranch dressing...yum)

Four Favorite Beverages
1. Water
2. Cranberry juice
3. Seabreeze
4. Mike's Hard Lemonades

Four Places I would like to visit
1. China
2. New England
3. Australia
4. Greece

Four friends I am tagging to do this
1. Holly
2. Lisa
3. Aunt Emily
4. Susie

Things you may not know about me
1. I've just started selling PartyLite Candles
2. I eat a lot of junk food
3. I sweat...a lot (probably something you do not want to know about me)
4. I like to listen to classical music

Things I am looking forward to in the coming month & Year
1. Our trip to Arizona
2. Summer time
3. My 20 year high school reunion
4. Sleeping through the night

Wordless Wednesday: Clear and Cold! (7 deg)

The Cold Season

'Tis the season for colds. Yes, the whole family is experiencing some type of cold symptom, some more than others, and we haven't been doing a whole lot of anything lately. I'm sad because I even missed my 'Wordless Wednesday' entry. I could have taken a picture of all of us laying on the couch feeling puny. Oh well. Fortunately we are starting to feel better. Natalie is still battling a runny nose which started at the sledding party (imagine that) but she is feeling much better. Henry had a fever earlier in the week, then he contracted some type of stomach something, but he is better now. Daryl was sick on Monday and didn't go to work (he rarely ever does that). He's still not 100% but I think he is just tired from the kids being sick. I'm flying beneath the radar but not feeling the greatest either. It will probably hit me sooner than later. What can I say but hooray for cold season.

Doesn't it figure.

We had a great time at our sledding party on Saturday. Of course it rained the entire time. Doesn't it figure. I had been watching the weather forecast and thought that Saturday would have been ideal since it was supposed to snow everyday that week. Well, after we had a good 6 inches of new snowfall on Tuesday, it started to warm up. By Saturday it was close to 40 degrees. We had lost quite a bit of snow, but there was still plenty for sledding. And, of course, during the party, it actually rained. We had to resort to plan "B" and hold the fellowship under the patio instead of out back. Oh well. I think we all had a good time anyway. I was surprised and grateful for how many "die hards" showed up for the party. Despite the wet weather, the sledding was very good and the cocoa and camaraderie were exceptional. If we continue with this "La Nina" winter, we may be able to host another sledding get-together. I'm already looking forward to it.

Wordless Wednesday

My friend Julie, from whom I got this great blog idea, posts a "Wordless Wednesday" every week. She shares a picture with a title only, no journaling. It's a quick way to show what has happened that day/week. I'm excited to try it out. Thanks Julie!

This week: MORE SNOW!!

SLEDDING PARTY!

With all this snow, we figured it would be a great opportunity to have friends and neighbors over to enjoy an afternoon of sledding.

• Saturday, January 12th 2 pm
• Lohstroh Residence

We will be sledding out back behind our place. Daryl will have a fire going in the firepit on the concrete slab. We will roast marshmallows, make s'mores, and enjoy hot cocoa too. The snow is great and the sledding is fabulous. We even have a kiddie hill to accommodate the little ones.

Hope to see you there.

Winter Wonderland

We woke up this morning to a couple inches of new snow. Everything is white and pristine. Daryl and Henry enjoyed a day a sledding (again).

So far it's been a snow filled winter. We were fortunate enough to enjoy a white Christmas, but for new year's it started warming up and raining. Just when most of the snow was gone (and all that was left were the dirty sanded streets) it snowed again. It is lovely. And thankfully it's not too cold out so driving conditions aren't bad at all (the roads are usually wet, not icy!) and we can all enjoy playing in the snow without turning into human popsicles. Yippee.

We will see how we feel in a month or so when the snow and cold are still around and we are all aching for spring. Until then, we like it so far.

New Year Resolutions

Yes, it's time again for those new year resolutions. This year Daryl and I have 2 main objectives:

1. Weight Loss:

• The annual challenge is upon us again. This time it's for real. At work, Daryl and some co-workers are on a mission to each lose 20 lbs by May 1st. Hopefully with the help of each other, they will all be able to attain their goals. For the record, Daryl might be the heaviest he has been...ever. Although I personally don't think he looks it. But he is 25 lbs heavier than he was 4 years ago when he was probably in the best shape of his life with his Ironman Triathlon training. For me, I still have the last 5 lbs of baby weight to shed in order to get back to pre-pregnancy weight. Of course an extra 7-8 lbs of weight loss on top of that would be ideal. So I should target to lose 10-12 lbs. I've decided that water will be my weapon of choice. I heard from a gal-pal that if you drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water, you can lose weight, stay hydrated, and just feel better without changing your lifestyle (diet and exercise) that drastically. E.g. 130 lbs = 65 oz of water each day. Very doable, don't you think? It's actually been a good jump start for me so far even though we are only in the 5th day of the new year.

2. De-Clutter:

• Need I say more. In the land of America, I just have too much stuff. I'm on a mission to donate all those items I've been hanging on to for years thinking someday I may need them (watch, just when I get rid of them, I WILL need them...oh well). Now that we have 2 kids in the house, all that extra stuff does not have a place anymore. Yes, our 3800 SF home was full to the brim before kids and now with all the baby/kid stuff, we definitely have no extra room. So, de-clutter it is.

Wish us luck on our new endeavors!

Welcome 2008!

I can't believe it's already 2008! The years do go by fast, but for us, the days seem to take forever. I don't know if it's because we are getting older; or that we have a couple of little ones now; or a combination of the two. It is exhausting, but a lot of fun. We had a good New Year's Eve. We sort of crashed a friend's family party. Oh well. No one seemed to mind. We made it to 9 pm and watched the ball drop in Times Square (midnight east coast time) via the internet. Then we all wished each other a happy new year and at 9:15 we went home. I think we were in bed by 9:45 pm. Not too bad.

Today we went out to Daryl's parents and had lunch out there. It was very low key but very enjoyable. Now that we are back home, everyone is taking naps. A pretty good start for 2008 if I do say so myself.