If you wanna see a bear - go to the Cades Cove!

My father, a man not known for being cool under pressure, yelled at the tourist traffic that was a head of us causing a "bear jam" on the way to my wedding last November. "If you wanna see a bear go to the d*mn zoo!"

It was embarrassing, then, when we reached the bears and my mother made him slow down to get a picture. Then again, I had to have proof that I was late because of nature, rather than cold feet!

This summer bears are out and about more than ever. The national park has closed trails due to numerous bear sitings. Black bears aren't normally aggressive, the deer aren't scared of the bears at all. Typically its stupid humans - getting too close and making the bears nervous.

Since Jay got finished working early than expected on Saturday, we decided to head into the Cove to go bear hunting. Rest assured that the only shooting allowed is with a camera, and we got some great shots.

(Click to enlarge pictures.)

At the entrance of the 13 mile loop, an old timer was riding a horse drawn wagon of some sort. The entrance is where all the horse are (there is a nearby riding stable) and it appeared that he was fertilizing the area.



Jay had said we were a bit too early for the bears (it was 6:30PM) so we headed down one of the side roads to take it all in. About half way down the lane, there were several cars stopped in the road pointing at something.



We had the top down on the Jeep, so I stood up in my seat to get a better view. I wish I could take credit for this one, but Jay pulled off the road and stood up to take this shot.



As we headed around the loop, we saw 3 more bears - a mama and her cubs. Since traffic was at a bear jam stand still, I hopped out of the Jeep to take a few pictures.



I had the camera zoomed in, because I know better than to get to close to a Mama Bear & her cubs, so the pictures of the cubs turned out blurry.

As we circled around the loop, there was no shortage of deer either.



I'm a firm follower of the park service's "take nothing, leave nothing" philosophy. Even to the point of packing out a tampon in a powerade bottle once during a hike. So I was upset to see what looked like a balloon in the middle of the field. Zooming in with the camera, our suspicions were confirmed.



Jay and I decided to swing back through the loop, since we still had a couple hours until dark. We made a great choice because shortly into our 2nd loop, we saw another bear. I stood up in the Jeep and rested my elbows on the roll bar to get this one.



Half way through our 2nd loop, it started to get dark.



While it made for some great scenery, I was in a tank top and shorts and the top was down off the Jeep. I got really cold really quickly.



Next time I'll be sure to bring a sweatshirt because in a Jeep with the top down is definitely the way to take it all in!

Cruella Deville

Yesterday we got a good, hard rain so about 8 o'clock last night I went out to work in my front flowerbed. The previous owner had planted ivy and it was starting to choke out some of my other flowers.

I had to pull them out all by hand, so I'm sure I left some of the roots behind. I figure it'll be easier to maintain a little at a time now that its cleaned out. Also, I was without gardening utensils last night, so my bare hands and a too big shovel was the best I had to work with.

I was wanting to post a picture of how much ivy I ripped out, but my camera battery is dead. Sorry! Does that make me a horrible blogger?

While I was out working in the dirt, I proved to my neighbors that I'm a horrible person.

A kitten came into my yard. When the back yard neighbor's cat comes onto our back deck a simple "get outta here" does the trick. (Something poops, tracks mud on our front porch and I'm not a big fan.)

This kitten didn't seem to be affected by it. So I raised my voice. Then I started throwing weeds at it. It wouldn't leave me alone.

So, using my elbow (my hands were covered in red clay) I knocked on the door and told Jay to come out and deal with it. Only when he opened the door, it almost ran into the house.

When he came out with the broom, he got it out of the garage and from under my car and it ran to our front neighbor's yard. The neighbor was sitting on the porch and picked up the cat and immediately started petting it.

So I called over "Is that your cat?"

"No, but its friendly enough."

Yeah, I gathered that when it was sticking to my side like glue no matter what I did.

"Its been declawed, so it must be an indoor cat that accidentally got out."

At the point I feel like a complete idiot. Afraid of a declawed kitten.

I get that people love their animals to the point of even thinking of them like children, but I've never been that person.

Animals are unpredictable, messy, and needy - a combination that doesn't allow me to be a pet owner.

The way the neighbor just picked up the cat and started petting it, he must consider me the neighborhood Cruella Deville.

It was getting dark, so he took the kitten into his home for the night. I really do hope that they are able to find its owner today. And that it leaves me alone as I'm doing more weeding tonight.

Its bad enough that there are all kinds of bugs crawling around in the flowerbed dirt.

*YAWN*

Sorry about that. Please know right away that this blog might not make the best sense.

Our air conditioning went out on Wednesday night, and we were told someone would be at the house after 5PM last night to fix it. It got up to 87 degrees in the house last night.

87 degrees.

I sat on the couch most of the night with a fan pointed right at my face. I barely motivated myself enough to cook dinner and do dishes. By bed time, there was still no sign of him. I shut all the windows and headed for bed.

At 10:30 we got the call.

That's 10:30 PM. He was on his way and needed directions.

I woke up about 2 AM and the house was still hot and sticky, so I woke Jay up. Apparently even though Jay had told them what was wrong, dude didn't have the proper part.

I had went to bed in PJs since there would be a strange man in my home, although I considered PJs over dressed for 87 degree sleeping. All of that and he still didn't fix it.

As I lay in bed at 2 AM sweating, I got to thinking about the Lost season finale. (I just finished watching it last night). I got worried that the fake Locke would come after me.

Give me a break - it was really hot and I had gotten very little sleep.

Finally I decided that I'd die of a heat stroke long before Locke, or the creepy 10 PM air conditioning repair man got me, so I fell back asleep. Only to have to drag myself out of bed this morning and into the shower.

I think I must be insane. 86 degrees in the house and yet I still use a hair dryer. I did, however, have to put my makeup on in the car because I didn't have time to do it at home.

I still haven't gotten around to using my straightening iron yet...

Minor League Fun

This past Friday, my dad, Jay & I decided head out to the ball park to watch our Double A Chicago Cubs affiliate - the Tennessee Smokies take on the Carolina Mudcats. This year, Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg is the manager of the team. According to Jay & Wikipeidia, he was an amazing player in his day.

My dad got his autograph earlier in the season (he's friends with a season ticket holder, so he goes to a lot of games) and said that he typically available for autographs before the game.

We decided to meet at 6:15 to make sure we got there early enough. I cut my long run (4.6 miles) short (down to 3 miles) Friday afternoon so that I could make it on time. When I left the gym I had a missed call from my dad and from Jay. Jay was still working and couldn't get away till closer to 7 o'clock (first pitch was 7:15).

I suppose I should be proud that my husband has such a strong work ethic he'll sacrifice getting the autograph of a childhood hero in order to support his family. Honestly though I was more annoyed that I had cut my run short for nothing.

Jay finally met up with my dad and I around 7:15, by that time the game was already underway. We listened to it on the radio as we hustled to the stadium, but weren't hopeful. The Smokies were already down 4 runs in the first half of the first inning.

It wasn't looking pretty. We finally got to our seats behind home plate (it pays to know people) and settled in.



Turns out, the Smokies are pretty good at scoring runs themselves, and they quickly tied up the score. Going into the 9th innning, the score was still tied. Bottom of the 9th, runners on 2nd and 3rd, the Smokies put in a pinch hitter with a batting average of 0.083. Poor thing, I thought. Why did they put him in?

Turns out the reason that his batting average sucks is that he's pretty good at hitting a sacrifice fly. He hit the ball into the outfield, where it was promptly caught. The Smokies player on 3rd base had no problem trotting in for the winning run.

Instead of swarming the guy that got the winning run, the entire team surrounds the batter. He's the hero of the night after all.

But the poor thing still has a batting average of 0.083 - or worse now!

A gorgeous round of fireworks (that follow every Friday night home game) end the night on a great note.

Jay took a ton of pictures of the game, but most of them were just following Ryne Sandberg around the field. So he doesn't get arrested for being a stalker, I'll just post one of the pictures.

Weigh in Wednesday - Motivation

Its weigh in day over at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans. I'm tired and a had a very weird morning, so I'll get right to the numbers.

Challenge start: 133
Last week: 130.8
This week: 132

The scale just confirms what I already knew - its crunch time. If I want to get below 130 I'm going to have to kick it in high gear.

I'll just be honest - I don't have encouragement at home. Before you start thinking my husband is a jerk, that's not it at all. He tells me how hot and skinny I am, and how much he loves my body (filthy bastard I know :P).

I purchased a pair of size 6 pants at Banana Republic on Monday, and a size 0 (a-line of course) dress on Saturday.

HOWEVER I still have some fat, flabby thighs.

The fitness instructor at my gym told me that my body would probably be happiest here and going lower would take a lot of work. I want the results, I'm just not sure I'm up for the challenge.

Don't worry, I'm not turning back to my old life. I enjoy exercise and the way it makes my body feel. I also plan to continue count my calories and try to choose healthier foods.

Even though I was just 1 pound away last week, the 120s seem like the unreachable dream.

What am I made of? Am I a quitter that settles for good enough? Or am I a strong-willed woman who doesn't stop until she gets what she wants? Right now I'm just not sure.

Is the weekend over?

I had an incredible long weekend, and had to drag myself out of bed this morning. I plan on doing a post for every day of the weekend, but since I didn't blog yesterday I wanted to let you guys know that I'm back.

I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth, just super busy.

Friday my dad, Jay & I went to see our City's double A baseball team. Saturday was the annual summer trip with my mom and mamaw to our favorite consignment store's 70% off sale.

My sister and her crew came in Sunday afternoon, stayed overnight with me, and headed to my BIL's hometown in Ireland yesterday. After we dropped them off at the airport my mom and I went shopping!

Tonight is the Trace Atkins concern (with Jeremy McComb & Billy Currington) so the fun just seems to never end!

Okay now I'm off to read your blogs and log my calories for the weekend to see how much damage I did.

The Passion Has Died

Its been slow, gradually over time, but yesterday marked the end.

I walked into CVS and used my last $2 in extra care bucks to by household necessities that would give me no more ECBs back in return. Just a straight transaction. $0.88 cereal and two boxes of $0.87 tissues.

Beyond yesterday, I haven't been in a CVS store or a Walgreens in about a month or so. The proof of which is the $3 in ECBs I had to throw away yesterday because they were expired.

When I first started playing the drug store game, I thought it was great fun. I'd bring home my purchases and make Jay guess how much I'd paid for the merchandise in front of him. Sorta like an at home Price Is Right.

You know you have an addiction when you have a room in your house named after your passion. Please meet my CVS closet.



The closet extends about 6 inches on either side of the door frame, so the picture is missing a row of tampons, a row of Mr. Clean wipes below that...etc.

So when the CVS deals started to go south, I justified my lack of shopping. Who wants to pay $0.50 for a tube of toothpaste when you've got at least 10 tubes at home that you got for free?

Then Walgreens discontinued their EasySaver program. I played their "Register Rewards" game for a week before decided that it was just too much effort and typically I still had to spend some money out of pocket.

So now its back to just Krogering for me. I'm still gonna clip coupons (my Kroger doubles coupons $0.50 or less so i get stuff for free there too) and keep and eye on the sale ads.

But for now, I'm in retirement.

Funny thing happened this morning. I finished the bottle of shampoo I have in the shower, restocked with a new one and discovered beyond that I only have one more bottle in the closet. Guess I'm gonna have to keep my eyes peeled for a good deal on shampoo. Even if I have to pay for it.

Brooke vs. the Chicken

Two weeks ago while I was at the store, I saw that Kroger had their chicken leg quarters on sale for $0.59 a pound. Since I normally buy boneless skinless breasts for $1.99 a pound, the bargain price jumped out at me.

Jay and I love buffalo wings, so I got the chicken and used my $0.40 Frank's hot sauce coupon (that doubles at my Kroger) to buy some buffalo sauce. I put the legs in the freezer to deal with at a later date.

Last night Jay was out late showing property to a client, so I had a date with that chicken. Who knew that chicken with the bone in and covered in skin was that gross.

Thankfully I was getting it ready to marinate over night, cook tonight, and not eat until tomorrow night. I would have rather thrown up and gone hungry than eat that chicken last night.

But sure enough I riped the skin off that sucker with all my might. I didn't realize a knife would be handy till I already had my hands in chicken carcass. And the news was on reporting a little kid that just died in our town of E Coli.

I'm paranoid any way, but that news story made me wash my hands 4 times, and spray everything down with anti bacterial cleaner twice. I just hope baked buffalo chicken is worth it.

I may not being a cooking diva, but Jay better realize what a wonderful frugalista wife he has. I should get major wifey points for doing battle with a chicken to save $1.40 a pound. Just don't remind me that some of that weight got thrown out with the skin and will get thrown out with the bones later...

Weigh in Wednesday

Its weigh in day over at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans!

I was horrible this weekend - I ate anything and everything I wanted. Saturday night was hot dogs, mac & cheese, peanut butter m&ms, Dr. Pepper flowing freely, and a milkshake night cap.

Sunday was my family reunion. I didn't eat breakfast, I pigged out for lunch, and just snacked for dinner. I'm pleased with my results, but I'm also confident for next weekend.

Challenge start: 133
Last week: 132.6
This week: 130.8

That pretty much gets me back to where I was before PMS and AF plumped me up. I'm confident that I can get into the 129s next week because if I ate horribly this week and still had a good result, then surely if I put my nose to the grindstone this coming week I can lose at least one pound!

Sunday night when I was out riding my bike in the neighborhood, I thought about my situation. I'm at a healthy body weight, my husband (at least he says so) loves the way I look - what more could I ask for? I'm not sure I'm ever going to love the way I look. Why not just be happy with good enough?

Before this year, that would have meant giving up. However that's not what I mean at all. I'm going to try my best to not let it consume me. I don't starve myself, I just eat good, healthy foods. Losing weight or not, for my health I need to exercise.

Basically I'm going to keep up my routine. If I lose weight - wonderful. Otherwise I'm not going to beat myself up. I have nice arms, a great waist, I'm working on good calves. So what my legs are a little larger than I'd like? A woman my age has no business wearing a skirt or pair of shorts above her knees any way.

My parting thought for the day - you know you're losing weight when the family member that always teases/tortures you remarks on your weight loss. When my cousin saw me for the first time in several months he couldn't resist making a comment.

"You've went from a pear to a top (the toy) - you're just a stick with a big @$$."

Reading through the Bible

Last month I started a read the Bible through in a year program, which includes one Old Testament and New Testament scripture each day, plus a Psalm, and a verse or two in Proverbs.

Last week I came across a verse that seems fitting for our financial situation today:

Proverbs 12:9 Douay-Rheims Bible translation is "Better is the poor man that provideth for himself, than he that is glorious and wanteth bread."

People were so consumed (and to an extent still are) about having the latest and greatest and making sure the Jones's think his home is glorious they neglected making sure they had their daily bread.

Isn't it amazing how relevant the Bible is, all these years after it was written?

I was reading in Numbers, bored by all of the tribal census information. Then, out of the blue, a donkey talked (Balaam & his donkey, Numbers 22). So much for my thoughts that the Old Testament is dull!

In other news - my nephew had tubes put in his ears this morning. My sister called and they are already on their way home from the hospital. She said he was grumpy, hungry and drunk. He really is a little Irishman just like his daddy!

Success?

Friday night, Jay looked over the stuff we had for the yard sale. "You'll be lucky to make $50." Shocked that he thought I would make so little, I rolled my eyes and chalked it up to him not knowing how yard sales work.

Only it turns out that he was right - I made $39.50. I paid $5 for the signs and newspaper add, so I netted $34.50. My father sold two pair of shorts for $6 and he has requested the money (the rest of my family just gave me stuff to get rid of for them) but when he found out how little I made, he felt bad and told me to keep the money.

Of course that didn't make any sense to me, since he was the one that didn't break even. After spending $20 on lunch for himself, my mom, Jay and I, he actually lost money on the deal.

Truth be told, I was hoping to make around $100 or so. I had already planned on what I wanted to buy. I never just buy a pair of pants without checking the price. That results often in a pair of pants that don't fit me properly.

I thought it would be nice to go into one of my favorite stores (The Limited, Express, Banana Republic) and not concern myself with the price, just buy a pair pants that fit me well and look good. With less than $35 profit, that's not going to happen.

My mom tried to make me feel better by reasoning that it was $40 that I hadn't started with. I had gotten junk out of my house, gotten a little money for it, and she and I had gotten to hang out. Using her logic it the sale was a success.

It also made me think of my weight loss goals. I felt skinny this weekend, even though I seemed to be eating anything and everything in site. Do I choose to measure success by the number on the scale, the size of the pants, or the way I feel?

Depending on how you look at it, I'm either a wonderful success or a huge failure. For today, I choose to be a success.

That's the last time I compare myself to the Amish

Yesterday afternoon Jay called around 3 o’clock to tell me that the power had went out at the house. My first thoughts were, of course, to dinner. No power = Taco Bell run!

I called him back at 4:45 to confirm it was still off, then made a run for the border. He wanted his usual of 3 bean burritos. I still had the calories for two soft tacos and an order of triple layer nachos. I need to learn that just because I can eat something doesn’t mean that I should.

When I got home, I hit the garage door opener and wondered why nothing was happening. I punched in the code again – and again nothing. When I finally realized what an idiot I was (you need power to raise the garage door), Jay was manually opening the door for me to pull in.

After dinner, I had work to do. My garage sale is tomorrow and I needed to get everything priced last night. Also, since my mom is helping with the sale, she’s spending the night. I needed to change the sheets in the guest bedroom and clean the guest bath.

Power outages are the one and only time I’m thankful to have city water. Growing up in the country means in a power outage you have no electricity to run the pump from your well. You get one flush – that’s it.

Since we’ve been doing without the a/c all summer, we were use to opening the windows for the breeze. Without power I couldn’t wash the guest bedroom sheets, but I have two sets so I just threw the dirties in the laundry room to be washed later.

I tackled the coupons that I hadn’t cut from Sunday’s paper, and then filed them in my coupon box. By 8:30 the power was still out. Sure the storm that came through was pretty bad, but it was just wind and rain. Why should it take that long to get the power back on?

I gathered up candles and flashlights just in case it was still off when the sun went down. I also started to worry about the stuff in my fridge. The freezer stuff was so well frozen that I didn’t worry about it. Most of that stuff is hard to thaw (it takes a couple days) so I knew it was okay. Most of my stuff in the fridge isn’t that big of a deal, but I had just bought about 10 packs of lunch meat and I was worried about it going bad.

I did my “read the Bible through in a year” for two days. By then it was 9 o’clock, not a respectable bedtime ordinarily but understandable given the circumstance. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and was just about to crawl into bed when the power came back on.
9:15 – seriously? If they would have waited just 10 more minutes I would have been in bed and not gotten back up. As it was I watched the results to So You Think You Can Dance and found my way to be at 10.

Hopefully the storms will hold off for the sale this weekend.

8 things...

A/C update - It stormed last night so with the open windows and the breeze it actually felt cold in my house! I guess now we're holding out until tomorrow - I'm having a yard sale Saturday and my mom is coming over tomorrow night to help with it. Since she's helping me make money the least I can do is not cause her to have a heat stroke.

8 things I am looking forward to:

1. My yard sale this weekend
2. Buying new pants with my yard sale money
3. Getting rid of the junk in my house
4. Family reunion this weekend
5. Weighing in the 120s
6. Having the girls over this weekend
7. Lunch
8. Vacation


8 things I did yesterday:

1. Worked
2. Ran 3.1 miles (1/2 at a 10 minute mile pace)
3. Jumped rope (I suck)
4. Planned Father's Day
5. Continued with my Bible study in the book of Numbers (fun times)
6. Talked to my sister on the phone
7. blogged
8. stuffed myself at dinner


8 things I wish I could do:

1. Pay off (this year)the $22K we owe on the land.
2. Control my temper.
3. Eat anything I want and not gain weight. (I'm stealing this from April)
4. Love my self
5. Spend money without feeling guilty
6. Run a marathon
7. Control my emotions better
8. Be content


8 shows I watch:

1. LOST
2. The Biggest Loser
3. Chuck
4. So You Think You Can Dance
5. Heroes
6. I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here
7. Quantum Leap (currently watching it on DVD)
8. Nanny 911 (not by choice - Jay loves it)


8 people tagged:

8. You

Weigh in Wednesday

Its weigh in day over at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans. How'd you do today?

I'm a little bummed about this weeks weigh in although its not as bad as it could have been. My challenge numbers are going down - so at least I'm giving team maroon a tiny morsel. But my numbers from two weeks ago are still up.

Pre-challenge weight: 130.8
Last week: 133
This week: 132.4

I suppose any loss should make me happy, but I was counting on that two pound gain last week being PMS and easy to lose. Then again that makes this hut week (aka the week AF comes to visit) so maybe I shouldn't be so hard on myself.

Also, there was Sunday. It was my birthday and I didn't care. I ate probably 4-5 servings of mac & cheese. The homemade variety. Smothered in Velveeta cheese. I drank an entire bottle of wine. Had hot dogs for lunch and ramen noodles for dinner.

So its back at it this week. Running this evening then toning class and running tomorrow. I've got a yard sale on Saturday, so I'll probably shred Friday night to give me extra time to prepare for the sale(the a/c is coming on tonight so it won't be as miserable).

I'm slightly concerned about the pot luck family reunion on Sunday. It'll be hard to resist. I'm starting to get to the point that I think I'll never make it into the 120s so giving up and enjoying myself seems to be the best option. However, I can't let team maroon down!!

I'm a spoiled American - get me outta here!

For those of you who haven’t been watching I’m a Celebrity Get Me Outta Here (you must have a life – or at least cable) the general concept of the show is taking a group of pampered celebrities and put them in the jungle for a month. They live outside, eat rice and beans, and participate in food challenges that typically involve some combination of spiders, rats, ants, or snakes.

The celebrity that survives the longest is crowned King/Queen of the Jungle, and gets money for his/her charity. If at any time the celebrity doesn’t want to participate, or wants to go home, they just say “I’m a celebrity get me outta here.”

I don’t think of myself as a pampered diva. Sure I have a walk-in closet full of clothes and own a couple of designer purses. Yes, my family of 2 does own 3 vehicles. However, I truly don’t believe I’m spoiled.

I would like to take this opportunity to say “I’m a spoiled American – get me outta here.” I have reached my limit. With temperatures in the high 80s, and our lovely home at 84 degrees I just can’t take it anymore. Unless the rain cools things off this afternoon, I’ll be turning my air conditioning on when I get home from work today.

I’m proud of myself for making all the way through May, and at least attempting June. But it’s more than I can deal with. Jay is still comfortable. Although he’s not the one coming home after running 3 miles, over the hot stove cooking dinner, and over the steaming hot dish water.

Our exchange last night:

Me: We’re not poor! We can afford a little a/c.
Jay: What if business dries up, we could be poor.
Me: Even poor people have their a/c on at 84 degrees!

So farewell electric bill under $40, it was nice knowing you. I hope to see you again this fall.

I'm a light-weight

No, this doesn't have anything to do with me losing weight. Just the opposite actually.

Since yesterday was my birthday, I gave myself the day off. I ate what I wanted and (tried) not to worry about it. Chili dogs, mac & cheese, fries, and ice cream for lunch. Mac & cheese for snack (its not often I get homemade mac & cheese). Ramen noodles and strawberry short cake for dinner.

And 3 glasses of wine. I'm not sure if I was dehydrated because of my lack of water consumption (did I mention the Pepsi I had for lunch and the Dr. Pepper for snack?) or if it was because our house is hot (84 degrees at the hottest point), but after a half a glass of wine, I started getting a bit of a buzz.

The first bottle was already half empty, so between Jay and I we finished it off for round one. I had to wait a couple of hours for the 2nd bottle to chill in the fridge, the we cracked it open and enjoyed.

I must take this opportunity to say I'm not sure how I ever enjoyed Sutter Home White Zin. It use to be my favorite, but somehow I just doesn't taste as good when you start with Yellow Tail Reisling.

After 3 glasses of wine, I was to that perfect buzzed moment. Kind of embarrassing that it takes that little any more. We just don't drink very often.

I had a great birthday. My sister brought my niece and nephew into town, my mom cooked lunch for me, and Jay cooked dinner for me. Not to mention the awesome gifts. It just sucks that the day after such a wonderful birthday is a Monday!

Frugal Friday - Money Goals

Last week Dave Ramsey posed a challenge to his twitter followers – finish the following statement: Live like no one else, so that later ________.

For as long as I’ve been listening, he’s been saying “Live like no one else, so that later you can live like no one else.” Through twitter, he was asking what “living like no one else” means to his listeners.

He got some great responses, including travel-filled retirement, a new boat, and sending kids to college. The more I thought about it, I realized that I didn’t have an end game in mind. Sure I’d like to have a beautiful farm house, but that’s not at the heart of my thrifty nature.

I finally realized that I can’t fill the blank in without changing up the wording a bit. For me its “Live like no one else, so that I don’t have to worry about how I’m going to pay the bills.

Pathetic, huh?

Thankfully Jay had a better answer – he wants to retire early and go traveling across the country. Its actually very do-able. I’ll have my 30 years of service in when I turn 55.

How would you fill in the blank? What causes you to watch your pennies? Your “if money were no object” goal in life?

For great ideas about how to save, check out Life as Mom's Frugal Friday

Meet the Newlyweds!

Sweet Pea over at Newlyweds! interviewed me for this week for her weekly "Meet the Newlyweds" feature. Head on over here and check it out.

She's a fellow sister, but has a bit of color confusion - because team maroon rocks!!

Hope everyone is having a great Thursday. We went to Dollywood last night, so I'm hoping to have the video of us on the teacups ready for you guys to watch tomorrow. Be sure to have your Dramamine on hand!

Also, we had a push up competition at work today and I won for the girls - I did 35 full push ups!!! I have a feeling they won't let me do modified for my assessment after this.

Weigh in Wednesday: Go Team Maroon!!

Today is the first day of the new challenge.

Starting weight: 133

Yep, that's right - I've gained 2.5 pounds since last week. I'm hoping some of that is water. Or PMS. Or anything but the piece of chocolate cake I had this weekend.

This challenge is gonna start out rocky for me. I had a birthday party for my nephew on Saturday, and a for a friend on Sunday. Not to mention all the stuff my husband has planed for my birthday this weekend.

(Sweetie, are you reading this? You do have things planned right? Don't forget to get me a card and present - go to the Dollar Tree today if you have to. I just want something to open on my birthday.)

Ahem, where were we?

Oh yeah, me griping because I'm only 5 pounds from my fast food/couch potato diet. I'm a month away from my next assessment where I get measured and use the body fat calculator. Which means for the next 4 weeks the scale is all I have to go by.

I just hope my team members don't kick me off for bad behavior.

Uninspired

Ever have one of those blah days? I've been like that for the past two days. I'm hoping I'll feel better tomorrow. Until then its bullet point time!!

*I had my allergy shot yesterday.
*Normally it makes me feel like crap day of, then great the rest of the month.
*Today I still feel like crap, probably because of the 3 inch by 1 inch reaction I had.
*Said reaction is red, puffy, and the reason I'm wearing long sleeves today.
*Even though it got up to 90 degrees outside, we still managed to cool the house with open windows and fans.
*I watched I'm a Celebrity get me out of here but feel asleep before it was over.
*Heidi and Spencer are Christians????
*I completely failed at this week's Corinthians challenge. Already.
*I'm going to try to do it for the rest of the week.
*I wanna take a week off and do nothing but sleep in and read books.
*I dread the weigh in tomorrow, after the birthday parties this weekend.
*My birthday is only 5 days away!!!!

Hey yo...time for a little survey

When celebrating your birthday, when does your birthday week actually begin?

a) 7 days before your birthday
b) the Sunday before your birthday
c) I celebrate the entire month
d) um...you only get one birthDAY, so celebrate the day you were born.

Just in case you were wondering, mine is this coming Sunday. I was a little confused if I celebrated my birthday week this week, even though technically my birthday isn't till next week. Or if I celebrated Sunday and the week to follow.

Jay was extra sweet to me Saturday and Sunday, so I'm sure he's hoping that it counts for birthday week brownie points. It was so nice to come home from my nephew's birthday party (it was a 2 hour drive) and not have to unload the dishwasher or straighten the house - Jay had already taken care of both!

Then of course there was last night where he not only fixed me dinner (chicken noodle soup) but he also brought it too me, along with a beverage, so I didn't have to get off the couch.