June Give Thanks, Week 3

June 15:
     Happy Father's Day to all the amazing fathers out there. Today is the day that we all thank our wonderful fathers; sadly I do not have one to thank. Instead I have an amazing, wonderful, inspiring, uplifting, supportive, and loving husband who takes care of our kids and does a damn good job at it, and that (or rather, who) I am thankful for.

Opening his Father's Day gift I made.

Its an ipad mini case made from his uniforms.

June 16:
     I love when I have a chance to do a little sewing. Its my happy place. I am so excited and really thankful to have finished a door hanging project that has been in the works for awhile now. I finally finished it and was able to hang it up today!

Hanging on the front door.

The appliqued stars.

How I quilted the corners.

June 17:
     Weight loss has been a huge part of each and every day this year so far. I wanted to take a moment today to be thankful for each small and large weight loss. Even though some weeks I loose a few ounces and others I loose 5 pounds; we all need to remember that its just another step forward to a healthier goal and healthier life style. Work hard and enjoy the small (and large) victories!

Updated weight loss photo.

June 18:
     Started a new sewing project today, and of course its for our master bedroom decor. I can not wait to finish it. With that, I am so thankful to my husband for letting me go crazy and re-do our master bedroom bedding/decor. I can not wait to get the quilting tool I need to make our blanket!!! I am so thankful for these fun and wonderful projects!!!

June 19:
     I am so thankful that my oldest son loves to help me in the kitchen. He sees me starting to get the chocolate chip cookie dough items out and he asks/signs "help?" I love that he wants to crack the eggs, and pour the flour in. I am so glad he will have these fun memories of making cookies with us.

June 20:
      I am so lucky and thankful for my amazing neighbor. She has a daughter my sons age and they absolutely love to play together. I love how they just run each other out, and he always sleeps great after they hang out. I cant thank her enough for all the information she gives me about the community, parties, and local events. She is by far one of the best neighbors I have had, ever!

June 21:
     Thankful beyond thankful for being able to attend a new group today. Not only did my oldest get to play at a playground, but I was able to meet a few other moms, and snag a ring sling for our vacation! I can not wait to try the ring sling out and hopefully I end up loving it (as well as little man). So happy I finally am getting out into the community and exploring the world outside my house (don't judge, I am a hermit.)

Give Thanks,
Sarah

May Give Thanks, Week 5

May 29:
     Feeling like the world around me is finally becoming a peaceful place to live, and I am so thankful for this peace. I feel more calm, humble, awake, happy, and so many more emotions and feelings. Its been an amazing month.

May 30:
    Today I am thankful for the amount of weight I have lost. I am down 35 pounds. I cleaned out my closet and drawers of clothing. I got rid of tons of stuff. Just look at this weight loss:

(Excuse the bad hair/no makeup) These are shorts I wore when I was at my HEAVIEST! Look at this amazing gap! Feels great!

May 31:
     Today we traveled to Vacaville, which is about an hour and some change from us. My sister and brother in law were having a family party, and I was able to attend and meet my nephew for the first time. I am so thankful that I got to spend the day with my new nephew, sister, and brother in law (plus my two kids, and husband). I met a lot of my brother in laws family, and enjoyed meeting some of the people who are more local to us. It was great. I am so happy to have met my nephew!

My new nephew and myself, isn't he adorable!

Give Thanks,
Sarah

April Give Thanks, Week 4

April 22:
     My first block is done. I started my Halloween wall quilt. Its all done by hand applique. I am so thankful for the few hours after the kids go to bed, to work on this project. This first block took me a few days. Feels great to have the first one done!

April 23:
     Thankful today for those moments you get to catch, while your child learns/touches the kitty for the first time and really understands what it is. The laughter, the excitement, the puzzled looks, and the overall joy of the experience for him, is just the best feeling and a great experience to see. I love watching my kids grow and learn.

April 24:
     Today I am thankful for a HUGE milestone for myself. I have officially lost 30 pounds! Its an amazing feeling, and I can not weight for the next few pounds to fall off. I am half way to my goal weight. However, this overall life changing experience of putting the weight on and then slowly taking it off has helped me realize what healthy LIVING is all about. Its definitely a lifestyle change.

Left: December 2013, Right: Current weight today.

April 25:
     My youngest, Jared is 10 months old today. I am so thankful for all the wonderful days that he has blessed me with, and the wonderful experiences and life changing moments that have happened in the last 10 months. He is a unique, happy, funny, out"spoken" kind of personality, and a picky eater. I love him to death, and I could not be more thankful for him.

April 26:
     Since we arrived here in California, months ago; we still are going through stuff and trying to "clean up" and "clean out" the items we don't need or we don't use. Today, we spent at least an hour or more going through boxes apon boxes of stuff and posting them for sale, or putting them in the thrift store pile. I am thankful that we can give our unwanted or unused items to people who can use them, and still give back and help out our military community in return. Feels good.

April 27:
     Thankful for each and every second I get with my kids. They are my world, my only world. As a stay at home mom, this is what I eat, breath, and well... clean! Its my life; I never get a day off from it, even when I have strep throat, and I will work harder then I ever thought I would, at any other job. (No other job, can you go to work with strep throat and still have to work, taking care of 2 kiddos who also have strep throat... yeah this job rocks!) In a positive though, us all being sick means we are spending a lot of time cuddling and thats what its all for.

April 28:
     I am thankful for my kids love for one another... just look at this photo. It says it all. This is what life is about.

Holding hands... awwww

 Give Thanks,
Sarah

April Giving Thanks, Week 1

April 1:
     Pulling a pair of jeans on an realizing you can button them for the first time in six, yes, SIX years! Now that, is something AMAZING to be thankful for. A pair of jeans; I can not believe actually fit me. Don't believe me here you go:

April 2:
     After hours and hours of running errands, being at the Dr.s office, cleaning the house, unloading groceries, and screaming/crying children; it feels amazing and melts my heart to see my two kids watch frozen (calmly) and be so kind and loving towards each other. I am thankful for just that.

April 3:
     I am thankful for my few minutes (ok maybe it was a few hours) of being able to sew a quilt and feel so much joy, knowing the baby who will be wrapped up in it!

April 4:
     Thankful for a great doctor visit, for Jared, and everything is well. Feels great.

April 5:
      Family day at the zoo, and enjoyed every second of it. Thankful for such a wonderful day together, and could not have asked for a better day.

April 6:
     Thankful today for the hour or so that we got with our neighbors, just hanging out and letting the kids run around. Felt great. I think I needed that mommy/adult chit chat.

April 7:
     Seeing a doctor to make sure everything is OK! Thankful for the health care right here on base and "free" to us. Its nice to know I am feeling taken care of.

Give Thanks,
Sarah

March Giving Thanks, Week 1

March 1:
     I am thankful today for the safety of my sister and her soon to be born son. She is at the hospital, earlier then her due date, by about 3 weeks. I am excited and have been checking my phone non stop.

March 2:
     Starting to finally catch what the boys had, and I was feeling pretty sick this weekend. I am so thankful to my husband who stepped up and took care of the kids as much as he could, to let me get an extra hour or so of sleep!

March 3:
     Today I am thankful for the birth of my nephew! He has arrived. He was only 5.12lbs and 17in long.

March 4:
     Spent the afternoon out shopping with just the two kiddos. I am so thankful they both behaved so well, and everyone was saying how well they were behaved. Felt great to be out for more then 5 hours and know my kids are being calm and polite!

March 5:
     Thankful for the weather holding out until late today so the kids and I could get in a 45 minute walk. I think we all needed it.

March 6:
     Today I am thankful for my weight loss, it keeps on going. Some weeks are slower then others, but my new total of loss this week is -22.6 pounds!

current weight

starting weight

March 7:
    Thankful today for the small blessings in our life; such things like, going to Toys R Us and getting excited about picking out toys for the kids. I think my husband and I are enjoying some of these toys more then the kids are.

Trains are all the rage in our house, and are also kind of fun for adults too!

 Give Thanks,
Sarah

February Giving Thanks, Week 1

This month I am going to do my giving thanks by weeks. I felt like I was sitting on the January post for too long. It drove me kind of nuts. So, ill post weekly, and that way you all can read a few at a time, and not 30 or so.

February 1:
      I am so thankful its February! My sisters baby shower is this month, as well as my sons 2nd birthday! Its going to be a great month, I can just feel it!

February 2:
     I am so thankful for a husband who knows how to use tools. He was able to bust out a cutting table for my fabric, in my sewing/craft room, in less then an hour. Its awesome, and its pretty much custom built for my height. He said hes going to eventually add a shelf to it, so I can place fabric below thats not is use. I am extremely happy, and it works great!

February 3:
     Today, I am thankful I hit a goal weight I had in mind, for my weigh in today! Yep, I had to weigh in for my WW, and I told myself I wanted to be at xxx number and I landed right on it! I even went out and spoiled myself with an In-N-Out burger!!! Yeah!

February 4:
      Double seated shopping carts, like the ones you find at sams club or costco, yep those; thats what I am so very thankful for today! Jared man is at that point where he can now sit in a shopping cart, and so today when we went to sams club, both my boys got to enjoy a ride in the cart! Jared was just so excited, and Brian loved having his brother right next to him. It definitely melted my heart.

February 5:
      I am so thankful for those special moments I get to have with my wonderful kids. They are growing up so fast, so those special moments that I do have mean the world to me.

My big boy is not feeling well, and my little guy is sleeping!

February 6:
     Husband came home super early from work, so thankful for perfect timing. He helped load up the car for our trip to southern Cali tomorrow!

February 7:
     Arrived in southern Cali before noon, so thankful for the very little traffic we hit and the two extremely happy kiddos the entire way!

Enjoying the in-laws coffee table as a teether.

Dinner at grandma and grandpas house!

Giving thanks 365 days,
Sarah

New Year, New Year Resolutions!

Everyone makes resolutions, either for themselves, or publicly. I don't usually make any. However today on the eve of the New Year I feel the urge to attempt this, this year. What should I set as a goal? I kept asking myself all day. I thought about it and thought about it... finally, I came up with one. Next thing I knew I had a ton of ideas. Then I thought, thats too many... I just want to keep it simple and I can't do that if I choose too many!

I decided on the following New Year Resolutions:

1. I am going to do 365 days of giving thanks! Thats right, follow this blog and at the end of the month I will post my daily thanks, or what I am thankful for. Ill try to include photos and a small daily blurb of how I came up with the daily thanks! We shall see, this might be a challenge for me with the two kids, but I am going to do my best. The reason I am doing this is to try and find something positive in everyday life. We sometimes have rough days, weeks, and sometimes months. This year I want to remember the small things, and the positive things that I still have in my life. I hope this will inspire others to remember the positive, and thankful things in their lives.

2. I want this year to be a year of living healthy, working out, and getting fit. I am over weight, because of all the weight I gained during my two pregnancies, and then my knee injury didn't help either. I eventually put on WELL over 50 extra pounds. So starting in the new year, I am joining weight watchers, working; out now that my knee is (kind of) back in working order, and eating healthier. When I married my husband I was around 125 pounds. I worked out at most 6 days a week, and at least 3 days a week. I watched what I had for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I made meals, packed lunches, and when I couldn't pack food I purchased the healthiest item I could find. I want to get back to those choices, and remember the results that can come of it. I will say here that I would love to get back down to my 125 pound healthy body, but I would be happy to just reach 140 before the year is up. I know I can do this as long as I don't need any random surgeries, and as long as my body stays strong. Wish me luck, this one I might need just that!

Heres my past to present photos:

June 2008

July 2008

March 2012 After the birth of my first son.

July 2012

Present day, current weight.

Alright, thats it! I told you I was keeping it simple!

Hope you all have a great New Year,
Sarah