Change.....

~March 29, 2013~

     So.... this little blog I started is about my journey. During a journey, there is typically some type of change that occurs. The first steps of change are always so difficult (yes, I know "anything worth having does not come easy", I can hear my Dad's words in my head as I type, lol). Well to get where I want to go (a healthier lifestyle), I am going to have to do some changing! CHANGING?? Who likes change? (Yes, I read "Who Moved My Cheese?", Ira =)) Primarily, most people do not. In this case, I am sure I will welcome the change, ONCE I GET THERE, because I led that lifestyle before and loved it that I felt so much better. To be completely honest, I have fallen off the wagon so hard, that I just do not have the energy or self-motivation to get up off of my behind and GET WITH THE PROGRAM!!! You would think I would be eager, anxious even, to get started, but I feel so run down.  I only started this stay-at-home mom thing 6 months ago, and I am here to readily admit, it is not all it's cracked up to be! It is HARD WORK. My 3 kids keep me running from daylight until well past dark! And when I am not driving them back and forth where they need to be, I am sitting on my behind reading everyone's blogs! I have no idea how I ever fit working full-time into the equation! Seriously!

I finally got off my rear and my dear friend, Shannon and I went for a brisk 4 mile walk yesterday and it felt great! Baby steps! I am ready to get started back on my C25K program, but I am afraid. I ADMITTED IT!!! I am afraid because when I run, I cannot breathe. And that is a scary feeling. I have exercise induced asthma and the cold air triggers it. And I smoke. Yes, I do. Now you all know my worst habit. And Mother Nature has not gotten the memo that it is Spring and it's supposed to be warming up. UGH!! So there it is. I am afraid. As Roosevelt said, "Only thing we have to fear is fear itself!". Imagine what we could all do or be if fear was not a factor. 

Maybe I just need to start on my treadmill until it warms up. That just seems so boring. (okay, yes that was me making an excuse) ha ha!

Here is a picture of Shannon & I as we took a break from our walk to look at the gorgeous Gulf of Mexico:

Until next time,

~Brandi~

What do you do if you have asthma and the cold air triggers it?

Do you guys think I should start indoors on the treadmill first?

The Weekly Chase #2

~March 25, 2013~

Well it turns out, I really suck at this game! haha! Imagine that! Here's a recap of my goals from last week.

1. Finish the picture frames I began painting weeks ago and get them hung (big fat fail. they are still sitting in the same spot)
2. Get the laundry caught up & pack for Orlando without staying up until 2 am the night before! (yay I did one! I tried not to be so OCD about it and just got it done)
3. Help my son do his campaign posters ("DC", my almost 16 yo is running for President of the Student Government Association at his high school) (I purchased the items but my son did the posters as I apparently make things look too girly. Who ever heard of making a poster without glitter?? ugh! boys!)
4. MOST IMPORTANTLY, RESTART MY C25K!!!! (extremely super duper embarrassing fail =( )
5. (Challenge Goal) Clean out boxes and organize my closet. (I did actually start with the help of my kids because they wanted to look at their baby pictures)
6. (Challenge Goal) Clean out my daughters drawers and closet! (fail! did not even attempt this last week)

Okay, on to this week's goals:

1. Finish the picture frames I began weeks ago and get them hung.
2. MOST IMPORTANTLY, RESTART MY C25K!!!!!!!
3. This is going to be a huge challenge, but get in bed by 11:30 every night starting Tuesday.
4. (Challenge Goal) Clean out boxes and organize my closet.
5. (Challenge Goal) Clean out the diva's drawers and closet!

I don't know about you guys, but I am so sick of this cold weather and cold wind. I am totally a summertime girl and I have the wintertime blues!

I hope you guys all have a wonderful week!!!

~Brandi~

QOTD: Do any of you ever get the wintertime blues?





Thankful Thursday!

~March 21, 2013~

 

 

 

 On this Thankful Thursday, I am most thankful for my family!  So, I decided to take this opportunity to introduce you all to my special blessings in my life: my husband, children & fur babies! Here is a picture of my beautiful babies who are growing up so incredibly fast. They are on Spring Break this week so I took them to the sound for a little mini photo shoot!

 

 

 

 

My oldest daughter on the left "Queen Bee" is 12, my son "DC" is 16 (in April) and my babygirl "Bug" is 10!!

 

Here's my favorite posed shot:

 

 

And this is how they normally look =D :

 

 

 

Queen Bee:

 

 

 

And my little Diva, Bug =)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a photo of my husband, J and I. We have been married for 18 years (unbelievable, I know!) He has been my saving grace. xo

 

 

 

 

 

Here is one where he's smiling =)

 

 



 

These photos were taken last month in New Orleans. We were there for our daughter's cheerleading competition. Those seem to be the only "vacations" we get because their cheer is so expensive! We love to watch them compete however; and I thoroughly find joy in watching them so it is all well worth it to me! We are leaving tomorrow for another cheer competition in Orlando! Here is a photo of them below doing what they love. This one was taken on Okaloosa Island at the Emerald Coast Convention Center where they had just won 1st place and Grand Champion in their division so they were very happy girls!
 

 

 

 

And here is another one with us at a competition immediately after they performed! I was a very proud Mommy xo

 

 

 

 

 I am so thankful for my mature, intelligent son who just got his first ever job! He is employed as a kennel tech at a veterinarian clinic! He took the initiative himself to get a job! I am a very proud mommy! Here is a photo of him on his first day of work:

 

 

These are from our photo shoot:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here are the little fur babies of mine. They stay right underneath me all day every day but I love it! The little one on the bottom of the photo is Luke and Tinkerbell is at the top of the photo!

 

 

 Tinkerbell is 8 and she is sick with cancer. ;(  She is a rat terrier that we adopted from the vet when she was a puppy. Luke is a Chihuahua, only 9 months old according to the vet. He was a rescue that we got in December. He bonded with Tink and I right away! ;) I think he has been good for Tink since she has been ill. Her cancer is too advanced for treatment. ;(
They are worse than my children as far as being right underneath me. They follow every step I take! I can barely type on the computer for them being right on top of me!

 See:

 

Here is one of my favorite photos of Luke. He is so precious and loves to cuddle!

 

 

And here is one of Tink. She is my heart!

 

 

And this is what they do all day, every day!

 

 

I am also thankful for the SPRINGTIME & The Gulf of Mexico. SUMMERTIME will be here soon! Yay!!!

Because I am a total:

 

 

 

On this Thankful Thursday I am also thankful for my favorite "healthy fat"....

 

 

AVOCADOS! YUMMY!!!

 

 

I am also thankful for pretty flowers that make me smile and brighten my day:

 

 

 

 

And I am extremely grateful for my friend, Shannon. xo

She is my inspiration.

 

 

I am also thankful for my friend, Venny. She is my motivator. She gave me this magnet a couple of months ago and I noticed today that it is my "oneword365"!! How awesome is that?

 

 

 

 

 

It's nice to remind yourself every once in a while what you are thankful for. It puts things in perspective! And....

 

 

 

 

Until next time,

~Brandi~

 

 



The Weekly Chase

~March 18, 2013~

     Apparently, motivation is also needed in the "getting things done" area! Soooo... I have decided to participate in The Weekly Chase! I got the idea from reading my friends blog over at Flamingoz Girls Run!! (I'm a little behind, but it's never too late to start, right?!) Since I have become a full-time stay at home mom, I tend to procrastinate even more than I did in the past! "I can do it tomorrow" has become the day after that and the day after that....You get the point! This week is Spring Break for my kids so this may be a difficult week to start, but then again; I will have help, right?! Here goes nothing: 

1. Finish the picture frames I began painting weeks ago and get them hung
2. Get the laundry caught up & pack for Orlando without staying up until 2 am the night before!
3. Help my son do his campaign posters ("DC", my almost 16 yo is running for President of the        Student Government Association at his high school)
4. MOST IMPORTANTLY, RESTART MY C25K!!!!
5. (Challenge Goal) Clean out boxes and organize my closet.
6. (Challenge Goal) Clean out my daughters drawers and closet!

WISH ME LUCK!!!

Until next time,
~Brandi

One word.....

~March 16, 2013~

 

 

I came across this website, oneword365.com on a friend's blog.  Wow! I was blown away.  "One word that sums up who you want to be or how you want to live.  One word that you can focus on every day, all year long.", it read.  One word.  I pondered and one word came to mind, "believe", but I continued to think....I could come up with a 'stronger' word than that, right?  Wrong.  Not for me.

I made a list of words:

 

STRENGTH

COURAGE

BELIEVE

PERSERVERE

CONQUER

FOCUS

TRANSCEND

BREATHE

 

If I have strength, I can make it through anything.

If I have courage, I can survive.

(coming back to believe)

No matter what I am faced with, I can persevere.

I can conquer all of my fears and doubts.

If I focus on the goal, I can succeed.

I can transcend into a better version of me.

We all must breathe, right?

 

All the time, 'believe' kept coming back to mind.  You have to believe that you can do all of the things I listed.  Believe, I think that's my word!  So without telling my husband what I was doing, I gave him the same list and asked him to pick only one.  He chose believe.  I asked him why he chose believe, and he responded, "Because if you don't believe, you can't do any of those other things."  Double wow!  Believe is definitely my word!

 

Later that day I found a note my husband had written for me:

 

My word is BELIEVE

 

Meaning:  Accept something as true; feel sure of the truth of.

 

croire en soi- (Believe in yourself) - French

 

Believe is a very strong word.  It takes a lot to believe in something.  The things I believe in the most are:

 

My Faith.

My love for my wife and her love for me.

My love for my kids.

That my wife has made me a better man.

That God has a purpose for us all.

That I can do anything if I have you.

That I was meant to be with you forever.

 

Believe in Yourself! Have faith in your abilities!

"Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy!!!"

 

 

Now, OUR word is BELIEVE!  As I wiped the tears away, I remembered every reason why I loved this man. 

 

I will believe!

 

 

WHAT'S YOUR ONE WORD?

 

 

 

 

Until next time,

Brandi

 

 

P.S.  My amazing friend's blog can be found at flamingozgirlsrun.blogspot.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



And so it begins, again....

 

~March 9, 2013~

 

             Today I walked the McGuire's 36th Annual St. Patrick's Day Race with my dear friend, Shannon, her son and 16,915 registered Irish-loving participants.  There were definitely some interesting sights to see ;)  $28K was donated to 3 different charities!  Here is a pic of myself, Shannon & Little G:

 

 

The morning started off great despite the fact that I didn't sleep well the night before. (I am not a morning person ;) ) Shannon & I met in Navarre and followed one another to Pensacola and parked uneventfully by Pensacola Bay. We are fortunate to live in such a beautiful area!  See:

We walked up to the race area & starting line and there were LOTS of people there! We saw green ones, black ones, orange ones, male ones, female ones, unknown ones, little ones, big ones, ones of all kinds!

The route was beautiful as we wound around Pensacola Bay toward the downtown area and back up by the Pensacola Civic Center and finally finished in front of McGuire's Irish Pub on Gregory Street. Since we walked (Shannon has an ankle injury from her Marathon last month & Little G had his Opening Day of Baseball) we were able to chat along the route & sight see! It was nice to catch up and enjoy the scenery! They had water stations and DJ floats with music & dancers! Here are more pics:

 

 

And post-race they had Irish Stew!!! ~yummy~

 

 

And here is the 3 of us again post-5K!

 

It turned out to be a beautiful sunny morning and the walk felt great! It has motivated me to get back on track with my Couch to 5K program.  I want to start running for Bling!  After all, a girl loves her bling, right?! ;)

 

Stay tuned for my race goals and I will begin posting my weekly goals for The Weekly Chase as well ;)

 

Until next time.....

~Brandi