Simple as Pi...

So, you'd think I would have realized there we a Blogger app for my phone when I first got it, right?  Nope!  Just using it now, for the very first time. 

So here you sit, or stand, (or hang precariously from the stairway by your belt fashioned nicely around tour ankle... I don't judge) witnessing my first ever blog from the comfort of my cozy chair.  yeah!  Sure I could have done it with my laptop...  But no, I saved this experience for this very moment here with you. ;)

Where oh where has the month gone?

So, last I knew it was November 1st, I took in a deep breath of accomplishment and POOF! It's already Thanksgiving week... Not quite sure who stole my last 3weeks, but I think I need them back.

I am at my lowest weight in 7 years... 

I have officially lost 40lbs since January first and

..............................................

 OH MY GOODNESS!! 

{ does that feel fantastic?!?! }

  Would love to make it 50 by Christmas and I think that is completely attainable.  I've plateaued for quite a while now and I think I'm ready for a good loss again!!! 

This couple of pounds was just a kick in the butt that "HEY!!  I can do this!!"  :)

I have had a few great weekends of photo shoots this month and will be maintaining a new blog just for my photography

 but I'll post a few of my favorites here! 

Onto a day of editing, curtain making and if I'm lucky a little time to curl up with my book and hubby tonight.

BOO!

So, it's that time of year again... the time when all of the outside world is shut off to me and I crawl into my sewing studio to not surface until November 1st.  

{ HALLOWEEN COSTUME CRUNCH TIME }

I had some fun creations to work on this year and I kept the amount I took in minimal but it was still that same mad dash.  I swear certain fabrics/ supplies are just never available to me or on sale until just that moment where I really start to sweat and question if I have enough time...  ;)

Sooooooo... without further ado... I give to you

Crumbs Sugar Cookie

THE SPECTRE

and the ever sweet little 

Gypsy

So, Happy Halloween to all.... 

bad addiction in the making

I have seen oodles of friends posting things on facebook about pinterest and had looked around and gotten stuck in the nearly  endless loop  of "Oh, that's cool's" and  "ooooh, look at that's" ...



 I requested an invite quite a while ago and had yet to get anything from pinterest directly.  So, being the mildly obsessive person that I am... I finally broke down and asked a friend, who is pretty active in the world of pinning, if she had invites she could pass out and <poof>  I'm in...

I haven't added a ton as of yet, but I'm getting there.  you can see all of my new found loves here...

http://pinterest.com/PredisposedJoi/



...turn it all around...

I am { p.l.e.a.s.e.d...a.s...p.u.n.c.h } to announce that my darling dear husband has accepted a job offer and is currently picking up his company vehicle, doing paperwork and meeting the rest of his NEW company.  What a super speedy turnaround!!!  We have been blessed with him being able to not only continue on with the freedom he had before in working with his clients (the SAME clients) but he has a lot more chances at making some pretty good bonuses!  What a welcome change...

In our families brief two week stint of unemployment freak out (trust me, it seemed infinitely longer) we have come out on top.  I may have a few new grey hairs and a couple extra heart palpitations under my belt but we are looking to be better off than we were before his previous company shut down Michigan operations!  How crazy is that?!? 

So here's to his new company,

our fresh start

and  knowing how I will be buying groceries every week! 

[ ...thank God... ]

just be...

My little man turned 6 today!  I'm not the sappy sentimental mom rocking the "Oh no... my baby is growing up... whatever shall I do?" stance...  I love that my kids are growing and exploring.  Not that I want them to grow up TOO fast (okay, there ARE days that I wish they might progress a tad bit in age and/or maturity).  I'm not into the whole  "I want another baby" thing, nor will I be. 
I thoroughly enjoy my kids... I really did love when they were babies, but I am so thankful that I am done with that part of our life.  Every age is a new adventure.

I enjoy watching them explore new things, helping them muster courage

 or being blown away when they strut around in their

{ Fearless Boots }

you know, the ones that they can do ANYTHING in and not have an iota of hesitation or fear

(in adults they are called "Stupid Jeans" ) 

<yeah, you see what I did there, huh?!>

So, to my little man...

H A P P Y
B I R T H D A Y

 

Grow up at the right pace...

Be a good friend, but not a doormat

Be wise about your choices, but not afraid to take risks

Be courageous

Be bold

Be strong

Be tender

Be creative

Be inventive

Be a good man... 

But remember you will ALWAYS be my little boy

 

is it school yet?

We are in the home stretch of countdown before school starts... 60 hours from now I will be waking the kids up for their first day of the new school year!  WOWZA!  Where did the summer go? Can it still be summer with the benefit of the kids going to school certain days (for my sanity... and their own). 

We are spending the day laying out clothes for the week, getting our plan in place so that come Wednesday morning when we think we are all prepared we can go bonkers trying to find everything (still)... lol

Brandon had an interview on Wednesday last week and is having a follow-up interview this week.  So, we are very excited that we could have a job under his belt sooner than anticipated! { Dear Lord,  Please! }

This post is short but sweet... Good things brewing for this predisposed family... 

... time out... wait a minute!!! we are going to have FUN!

One thing that I (we) have tried to do is make our children aware of Brandon's job situation without making it a burden on them.  nothing worse than a 7 and soon to be 6 year old having that weight on their hearts.  We have made it clear that we have to cut back and make smarter choices about money, but not to the point that we are screaming "No, we can't we are POOR!" or "Don't ever ask for that again, we can't afford it!"  as I've heard other people say and it breaks my heart.  Give a kid some hope, some faith that they CAN achieve things even if it seems a little out of reach.    It's not the end of the world... and family money issues should be the last of their worries at that age.

Before the "bad news" came down... we had already had the plan in place to go to Michigan's Adventure with the kids on Sept. 1st to celebrate the boy's SUPER SPECIAL BIRTHDAY!!!   

A long time running tradition (at least in my mind) is that whatever day your birthday is, when you turn that age, it is your ultra super duper amazing birthday!  

So little man's birthday is Sept. 6th making his 6th birthday { awesomesauce }....    

Well, when his first question after finding out about my hubby's lack of employment was "do I still get to have my birthday?"  It completely broke our hearts...  The kids had no clue what our fantabulous surprise plans were and we maintained the :: TOP SECRET :: nature of our plan... until the very moment we pulled up to the entrance to the park.  :)

They both knew there was a surprise.  what it was exactly was open to speculation.  There were plenty of guesses but I like hat they believed for the better part of the ride that they were getting shots for school...

*yep, I'm THAT mean!*   It just made them all the more grateful, didn't it?!?  ;)   Their other favorite guess was great white shark fishing... haha

So, as we had been blessed with tickets to the park by my mother-in-law, all that it entailed from us financially was the gas and food (which, you have to eat anyways).  So I made a variety of sandwiches, cut up some fruit, grabbed some string cheese and other snacky goodness, tossed it all in the cooler and we were off.

The moment we pulled up to the park entrance was ~bliss~...  They were both so excited!!!   We were somewhat apprehensive that the day before Labor Day weekend had the potential to be REALLY busy...  wrong!!!  It was great!!!  There were basically no lines at all, with the exception of bumper boats, which I am not getting into.  ;)

 

I was not aware that I had two Ride Warriors on my hands.  He was a little bummed that he was that 1/2" short to go on the good rides... but they still had a blast!  

Next year they are going to experience Cedar Point... forget this "baby park"!!

 

All in all it was an amazing day and we are so thankful that we were able 

to celebrate little man's big day in style.  

our crew all wet and worn out from the water park...  

nothing better!

 

Here we go... again... again...

Okay, so here it is.  I've had the best intentions on blogging at regular intervals; I REALLY did!  Sadly, this has been on the back burner.  We've been dealing with curve balls that this lovely game of life has decided to chuck towards us at lightning fast speed... with  uncomfortable spiky bits... oh and thrown from behind while we were completely distracted... did I mention they were ablaze, as well??  (See where I'm going here??) 

We received a ever so delightful proverbial cherry on top yesterday.  My husbands company has decided that they are no longer providing services in Michigan.  Yeah, we live in Michigan.  So, with that announcement, you'd tend to think an offer to relocation would shortly follow. 

*EERRRRNNNT*

  ~that was  a buzzer for those of you that don't speak (or read) joi fluently yet at this point.~ 

Well, surely they will give clientele (and in turn employees) a fair bit of warning so that they can possibly make the appropriate arrangements and changes.  {Yeah, that was big fat negative as well.}  

No notice...  just a big fat "finish out your week; it's not you, it's us" spiel... a little pat on the bottom before kicking you down the stairs type of vibe.  

That being said.  We've been here before... in fact, in the nearly 11 years that we have been together, we have survived 3 major lay-offs...  By major, I'm talking could NOT find work for over a year (each time),  living off of ramen noodles and hot dogs, struggle to figure out which bill we could pay, which we could put off until the next unemployment check came tough.  

Yet we were still guilty of finding strength in each other and l♥ving one another the whole time through 

(well, there were a few of "those" days!)  

We lived... we know what to cut and where we can go without...  

but I'm a big pouty 4 year old stomping my foot down...

"I DON'T WANNA!!!"   

*you think if I throw myself on the floor kicking and screaming they might decide his job really IS needed?!?*

I didn't think so...

So, here we are... wondering where this change will take us...  

but I'll be here  narrating our story with 

•  heaping scoop of creativity 
• a spoonful of whit           
• a pinch of sarcasm                        

 and hopefully a whole lot of laughs and new thrifty ideas for you to gain inspiration from.

Sunburns, poison oak & ice cream sandwiches

Okay, so I have apparently failed in my attempts to be completely and totally awesome.  I mean, yes, I realize I exceed the norm in my rad quotient BUT my daily blogging, heck even weekly, bi-Saturday-ly or monthly at this point have completely gone down the drain... Boo!

My kids have been out of school for...  36 days   { yes, I AM counting }  I swore it was longer!  ... really...     They have already checked off a fair share of the normal prerequisite summer activities...

• declaring boredom on the second full day of summer vacay
• having a growth spurt, so that none of the summer clothes purchased 2 months ago could possibly fit

• promptly finding any and all poison oak on our property and hopping, crawling and rolling in it
• destroying the freshly cleaned and organized house in a matter of 27.5 minutes
• refusing to come out of the lake in a timely manner to avoid both water log and sunburn
• asking "Are we there yet?" over 100 times on our first road trip of the year... with many more to come.

It really isn't all that bad!!!  [ Truly ]  We have had a lot of fun as well.  It's just amazing how the bad (and mildly annoying) always stands in the forefront of your mind, trumping all the amazing little moments.  

• Realizing that my son's sense of humor is fantastically sarcastic and of uber quick-wit 
• My daughter's love for fashion design is taking off like a wildfire...  To the point I actually teared up!
• being able to have family game night EVERY night

  

• noticing fantastically askew spiderwebs
• ice cream sandwiches and Popsicles a plenty
• teaching them new things daily and having them actually care enough to ask questions about it
• our first REAL family road trip... which took them across the Mackinac Bridge for the first time

• Seeing three of the Great Lakes in the same day

• all the other joyous tidbits of time yet to be written 

{ CLEAR }

busy little hands

With the end of the school year rapidly approaching, I am faced with a plethora of mixed emotions. 

• I'm overjoyed to not have to wake at the crack of dawn to get the wee ones up and ready for the far too early bus ride in...
• I'm delighted with the prospect of warm days with cool breezes, listening to the rhythmic beat of the waves of Lake Huron.
• Eager to spend some amazing quality time with the hubby and munchkins. 
• and TERRIFIED that I have to continually have to find things to occupy the minds, hands and energy of two children with attention spans even shorter than.... ooohhh, GLITTER! 

I was blessed to have my creativity nurtured (and harnessed, as needed) but Super Mom (take that Martha Stewart!)  She would always come up with something to rescue my brother, Jason, and I from the throes of boredom.   When our entertainment was facing eminent danger, Super Mom would fly to the rescue with what seemed to be a never ending supply of felt, ric-rac, paint, buttons, clothes pins, chewing gum and a paper clip... all the staples of any McGyver-esque Mom's survival pack. 

I have been going through my stash of goodies... and by stash, I mean a HUGE room full... literally... I know many people exaggerate and brag up how much "stuff" they might have.  I try to down play it because I am seriously a fabric/craft hoarder...  I can use everything for something...  I can redesign this to make into that... I can't possibly let perfectly good supplies sit on the shelves of a thrift store... It is an addiction, but my goodness... I am having a blast with all the projects I've already got planned for the summer. 

Today, I went on a run with my husband, who had a large shipment of X-Ray film come in and was going to take the box to recycling...  For Shame!!!  

Large Box  +  "Bored" children + Crayons = two  bedrooms up { For Rent } in the main house...

I had planned on saving it for "one of those days" but my husband was a tad too eager to get the french doors cut on the front.  ;)

Here's to a great summer full of artsy~fartsy goodness!!!   

14.5 days left of school... 

* gasp *

slacker.alert

Okay... so I failed to keep consistent with posting... AGAIN!  I swear I have the best of intentions but sometimes it just doesn't HAPPEN, you know?

BUT I come baring a SPLENDIFOROUS  report...   I am now....

:
:
:
:
:
:
< drum roll please >
:
:
:
:
:
:
:

OVER 

30 lbs 

down

  

That is amazing... that is fantastic... that is motivating...

Wait... THAT'S A SMALL CHILD!!!!

So, needless to say... (but you know I will anyways)...  I'm pretty geeked about it!  It makes me pretty happy to walk past a store window and feel surprised when I realize that reflection is ME.  

I am keeping this short... but I will be more consistent...  For real... Most definitely... maybe....

  

Day one... Week 2...

My offical weigh-in for the first week... 7.2 lbs down!  That was just adjusting my food, I hadn't even started dealing with exercise...  But I know that if I'm working out, I have no desire to eat poorly, because it would just negate all the hard work I had done.  So, today is day one of adding in my workouts...

Zumba just kicked my butt!!  Wow... am I really this out of shape?!?  When did that happen?  I feel like I'm 300 lbs heavier and 50 years older, not that I know any women who are over 500 lbs and 83 yrs old... but you know what I'm saying.
The funny thing is, I'm not discouraged.  It is just more motivation that I needed and it is a lot of fun. Of course, the fact my calves are burning more than Chicago with a flaming cow, is a slight hinderance.  I only hope that I can make it up and down the stairs to shower off all of this sweat.  haha

Hears to a great day of kicking my butt's butt!   Happy Monday!

...long story, not so short...

Let me take you back a few years... Brandon and I joined the Million Pound Match-Up, which was an online group/competition spawned from Biggest Loser.  We did AMAZING together, we were working out together every morning and eating healthy meals TOGETHER.  We both started rapidly dropping weight, it was the most fantastic feeling that we were doing this as a team.  I built a strong group of friends (along with my life long best freind, Rachel) via MPMU, many of which I still interact with and even join in on weightloss challenges with currently ( ahem...Jen & Meg)...  

I had reached a loss of  almost 40 lbs and he was right around the same... we were rocking it!!  This was all in a matter of about 8 weeks.  And then the unthinkable happened...  (no, nobody died, lost a limb or was diagnosed with some crazy disease)... we were contacted by a casting director for Biggest Loser... SERIOUSLY!!  I thought it was a joke for the first few days, I just couldn't believe that we could possibly have that opportunity together.

Once it was established that this indeed WAS legit and we set up our interview  with the casting directors in Chicago, it got REAL... and we were gently advised that we might want to slow down on our weightloss and just maintain so that if we were chosen, we'd still have good losses onthe show.  Makes sense, right?!? 

...BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER...

So, we waited and waited and maintained, and waited... the day that the winning contestants were to be chosen came and went.  Nothing... no call, no email, no Ed McMann standing at the door, we had not been chosen...and with that our drive, our flow, our whole ambition flew out the window...

We maintained for several months and were okay with that.  It would have been fantastic to lose weight, but "meh, I'll do it later"... I just didn't care.  I hated being fat, but I was used to it, I've been in this body my whole life and it has never been thin.

The next striking blow came when the new season of Biggest Loser started.  It seriously ANGERED me to watch it at times.  I wanted so badly to have that opportunity to have 100% focus on my weightloss that the pissiness and hurt feelings that I weren't chosen were destroying the progress I had made.  Instead of using the show as motivation, as it should have been, I was spiteful that if I was picked I would have lost that much weight by now.  Instead I started packing it back on... little by little chip by chip...

A few months later, my husband was laid off from his job.  not a lay-off you come back from in a week, or a month... and indefinite lay-off which was his comany's way of saying... "it was nice, but don't hold your breath waiting for a call back". 
                                                 D
                                                    o
                                                         w
                                                        n
                                                              w
                                                                  a
                                                              r
                                                                   d 
                                                                       S
                                                                      p
                                                                   i
                                                                r
                                                                    a
                                                                        l
                                                                          .¤´¨)
                                                                           ¸.·´
                                                                          (¸.·´     

By the end of  the stint of  living off of unemployment and ramn noodles (you think I'm joking, don't you?!?)He was brought back on 16 months later,  through a temp service making significantly less than he had been for the same job.  His weight was right back where he started and I was... well ::BEYOND::  I was not only back up to where I was before MPMU... I was 20 lbs over...

I was devistated....  and managed to slowlly drop 10 of it, literally over the course of 6 months.   Depression was not a good companion, not a chum to have by my side and I felt it growing more and more over the course of the last years but figured I could snap myself out of it... yah, right!  So, that brings us up to date... I am 5 weeks into dealing with my depression and I feel like a different person...  I feel like I have a life worth living and even caring about again.  I don't break into tears at the drop of a hat... but I could if I needed to.  It's a HUGE change...  What more perfect way could there be to start this journey anew?  A new spring in my step, a REAL smile on face, and a fire burning so strong that I can't help but to succeed. 

So, 5 days after this new journey of weightloss, I am happy to say I am 6 pounds down... SIX! :)  I am counting calories and making sure I keep all of my intake in check, i.e., fat, sodium, etc...   I need to add the REAL exercise in, not just chores around the house, but at least I'm moving even more than I was six weeks ago. 

Beyond my weightloss, today has held an extra great gift for me...  While looking through some success stories via before and after pics on My Food Diary . I happened across a guy who was around the same starting weight as were my husband is.  I know my husband DOESN'T have to join me, but my oh my, is it much easier when you've got a partner on the journey...   When he saw the guy's progress he was wowed.  I think that is one of the best motivations you can have, seeing some one who was built like you when they started, being successful...  He's in... We are on this journey together again and I couldn't be happier.    I've got that extra wind back in my sails by having him at my side in this.

...the last first day...

okay, so how many time have you started a dieting, eating healthy and/or exercising after letting your body roam free and graze on the fields of horrible food choices or  sit comfortably in the lap of a sedentary lifestyle. That first day of getting into things, knowing "this is the first day... I'm only going to get better from this point".   Well... that is my TODAY... and I'm sick of having hundreds of these first days...  I am ready to be done!  I want to get things under control once and for all.  not to think that I am NEVER going to get off track or struggle, but I'm sick of the DAY ONE after letting myself get so far off track. 

I feel with the medicinal help I've been receiving, this is a possibility.  I don't feel as though I've got as far to dig out of this hole, I don't feel like there is an anvil tied to my ankle pulling me down... I feel (AND KNOW) that  I can do this.  I think that the depression has had me in such a deep "funk" that no matter how much I wanted to get things under control and in order, it wasn't going to happen without first dealing with the "UGGGGGG" that my body, mind and spirit have been crushed under.

I have a plan in place and I'm ready!!!!  I'm not willy-nilly... I'm not doing this half way.  I'm taking control.     This is it... ready to begin again... ready to make it last... ready to finally overcome this body that I've been lugging around...    HERE'S TO ME!!!  I deserve this, I'm worth this... It is utterly, amazing how you can get to the point where you aren't even a priority in your own life, and I know that was where I was. 

...it's me time...

... Holy Guacamole ...

What's all this talk about religious avocados??  ;)  I am a blog slacker... it is official.  Once again, good thing that I've only shared with a select few... whew... They already know I suck!  haha

So, here we are already a month into the New Year... 2011...  What do you have in store for me year??  Better yet, what do I have in store for the year... I like that better!!!  What?  A control freak you say, possibly, but at least I've got a handle on it.

So...  There have been some very positive changes so far this year.  I finally got my butt in to see my doctor and FINALLY after much much much ado (and a HUGE gap of not having any type of insurance) confronted the fact that I was dealing with depression.  I feel it had to be pretty obvious to everyone, even though I think I've always been pretty good with my game face.  I just don't think that it is something you can really hide after a while.  and it had been a looooong while.

I am now 2 weeks into my Rx and am loving the change I feel already.  I know it is corny and abundantly cliche but I really feel like "I've got ME back"... :)  It's a new day... a new month, of the new year... ahhh... the New "Old" Me. 

It is the wee hours of the morning right now, the munchkins are off to school and hubby is watching his morning cartoons (you think I'm joking?).  Coffee in hand, fuzzy slippers hugging my tootsies, and I've got a whole productive day ahead of me.  Sadly, it's still winter and I'm going to have to fake the sunrise for myself so I don't feel like it is still night... enjoy it with me now....  (Ahh... can't you feel the simulated rays beaming onto your face?)  Um, yup... neither can I... dang! 

 
On that note.  Off to be productive... warm thoughts that this bitter chill will soon be over.