Spray-paint projects

If you know me, you know that I love to use spray paint.  I will spray paint almost anything in my house, just because I can.   I've spray-painted many peices of furniture, and then re-sprayed them when I wanted a new color.  There was the table and chairs I painted blue right after we got married.   A few years later, I sprayed them black.  Then there was the cute little blue shelf I found in a trash dumpster when we lived in an apartment in Denver.  I sprayed it black a while later, and then recently topped it with white.  A pedestal has gone from gray, to black, to white.  A pine-colored side table is now black.  Four brown baskets have a new life in white.  Three brown picture frames became red.   A white bathroom shelf unit was more suited with green. In fact, I once spray-painted my dishwasher (complete with heat-safe appliance paint, and plastic paint for the controls) and saved my white kitchen cabinets from having to clash with its shade of warm almond.  Truly, I do not discriminate when it comes to items I choose to spray paint.   Anything that comes in my house is considered fair game for a color change.  You might want to keep your eyes on your shoes and handbags.

Here are a couple of my latest spray-paint projects:

This is a mirror I bought at a garage sale for $3.  I decided it would go better with my decor if it was white.  I had plenty of white primer from another project  so I decided to use it, without paint, for the mirror since I'd need to prime it anyway.

 I covered the mirror with magazine pages to protect it from the spray. 

I sprayed the frame from all viewable sides. 

Looks clean and fresh in my hallway!

I have two of the flower arrangements pictured below that sit on the mantle above our fireplace.  I decided the vases were too dark and were attracting too much attention to themselves.  I wanted to tone them down a bit.  

Here's what they looked like before.  A little too orange-brown.

I wrapped the floral part with upside-down plastic bags and tucked the handles inside.

First, they get a coat of primer.

Then, with their final paint color, they blend in much better with the fireplace.

 It's as easy as the three "P's":  Prepare, Prime, Paint.  You should try it.  I can't find a cheaper, faster or more satisfying way to update your home decor.  And there you have it! 

Pictures as promised

Here are a few shots of Max in the hat from Steph.  You can even see his third tooth in the first picture!

Having a good time!

So stylin'!

Just love this cute little guy!

Awestruck!

For those of you who don't know, I have an incredible sister-in-law, Stephanie, who is probably the coolest crafter I've ever met in my whole life!  Just when I think she's made it to the epitome of craftiness, she goes and makes something else even more incredible!  If you haven't read her blog: murrillspearlsofwisdom.blogspot.com, then you need to.  She shares pictures of some of the things she's made including wallets, baby head bands, baby quilts, customized onesies and now she's even making earrings.  She sews, crochet's, makes greeting cards, refinishes furniture and more!  To top that off, she made the cutest hat for Max and gave it to him today.  I need to get a picture of him in it and post it.  It's absolutely adorable.

She has been a huge inspiration to me.  I used to crochet years ago, maybe when I was around 12 years old, or so, but I later gave it up.  Then I tried sewing, but that too included projects that took so long that I ran out of motivation to see them through.  I've always loved paper and beads, not necessarily together, but I could never figure out what to do with them.  Finally, now that I'm older (maybe turning 30 shocked my psyche), and due mostly to Stephanie's influence, I have tried doing a few of the "crafty" things I used to do.  I picked up crocheting again, she's shown me how to make some great shirt embellishments, and she has helped me realize that instead of being afraid to try something, I should just go for it.

Thank you, Stephanie, for your unknowing encouragement to my creative side!

This week wasn't as successful as I'd hoped with my resolution.  I am going another week with no desserts/extra sugar, and although it didn't create an astonishing weight loss over one week's time (or any for that matter, ha ha), I have no doubt it will help me in the long run, and also keep sickness at bay.  Several nights this week I felt like my sinuses were going to break in to a bad cold by morning, but it didn't happen!  I know sugar is bad for the immune system, so I might have my new "sugar rule" to thank for staying well.  Even that seems worth giving up sugar.  I weighed in at 166.2 pounds on Friday.

Here we go.  Call me crazy, but I'm going to shoot for 165.0 pounds by next week!  Let's see if I can get back on the "losing" wagon and do this!

Too much of a good thing?

Apple season is upon us and since I've been eating delicious, freshly picked honeycrisp's every day, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that I'm experiencing one of nature's more unpleasant afflictions.  I'll let you guess what that might be, shouldn't be too difficult.  I've been taking it easy since yesterday and hoping to feel better soon.  Luckily, we had an awesome day outside on Wednesday at the beach with Maria and the kids, so staying inside hasn't felt too bad.  I've posted a few pictures below from our beach trip.

I weighed in this morning at 166.4 lbs.  This week it was definitely harder to stay on track and I had several meals eating out, including a never-ending pasta bowl from Olive Garden, that I can't say I regret!  Did you know that you have to have a deficit of 3500 calories to lose just one pound?  That's a lot.  I've been trying to cut back by a few hundred calories per day.  Even that isn't easy, so to build up to that size of a calorie deficit can take more than a day or two, and frankly it should, if I am to be losing weight in a healthful way.  

I'm going to try something new this week that I haven't done since I was pregnant and was ordered to do this by my doctors.  I am going to try to go off of sweets, candy, etc. for the week and see how I feel.  I am not planning to go off of everything that has sugar in it, as this would mean I wouldn't be able to eat almost anything, but I am going to try to make choices that exclude desserts, and other obvious sugar-laden foods.  

I'll check in next Friday and let you know how it goes! Until then, enjoy the harvest of September, but remember: it's possible to eat too many apples.

 

A mini-party

I decided I need to throw myself a mini-party today because this morning I weighed in at 166.0 pounds.  I'm so excited to be at my lowest weight yet.  The Myplate feature I'm using on livestrong.com has really made a difference for me.  It's helped me realize my portions were too big and also that I wasn't getting enough activity.  I've adjusted my lifestyle this week accordingly and I hope to keep it up!  Back to the fun...My mini-party consists of me giving myself a manicure.  :)

We had a wonderful Labor Day weekend.  We went on lots of walks, played at the park and just had a low-key time.  It was just what the four of us needed.  We are happy to all be together after a very fun summer of lots of great vacations, but also the "un-fun" aspect of lots of time with Mike gone.

We've had amazing weather this last week.  It's been in the mid-low 70's most days and it's perfect for just hanging out outside.  I'm so glad fall is creeping in!

I heart Sunday breakfasts.

This is how I love to start a Sunday morning.  I'm sitting here eating a delicious breakfast of blueberry pancakes, stripples, and scrambled eggs all courtesy of my awesome husband!  He's also feeding both boys breakfast while I sit here at the table in my own little world.  I'm a lucky girl.  Once breakfast is over, we're walking to the farmer's market to get some fresh produce.  It was actually cool yesterday and last night was down right chilly.  It was wonderful.  I'm ready for a taste of fall after the long, hot, humid summer we've had.

Friday, I weighed in at 168.8 lbs.  It was only a few days before that I started using MyPlate and I think some fluctuation is normal.  I've been faithful with inputting my food and snacks and I'm still loving all the features MyPlate has to offer.  Thanks again, Timi, for your fabulous suggestion!

Happy Labor Day weekend!  I hope you can all enjoy some good food, good company, and get a little nap.  I sure plan to!

Thank you, Timi!

If you happened to read the first comment from my last post, you would see that Timi, who I'm blessed to have as my first cousin, suggested "My Plate" from the livestrong.com website.  Well, I checked it out and I was blown away at how perfect it is for me and my goal!  It's the most incredible website for tracking food you eat, calories burned, and more.  I've tried other websites before, but they took too much time.  I was amazed at how easy and helpful this site is and would recommend it highly.

Last night I put in the food I ate yesterday, and saw that I definitely needed to burn more calories for the day.  I'm ready to start today with my new food diary in mind.  Let's see how it goes!

It's sure been a while since I gave an update on either my weight loss goals or my summer happenings!

It's been a very busy summer.  We've had wonderful times with my mom, my sisters family, Mom and Dad Murrill, and of course Mark, Steph and RoRo.  The boys are doing wonderfully and doing new things everyday.

This weekend Mike is on a motorcycle trip around Michigan's upper peninsula.  He was gone last weekend too, so the boys and I are especially excited to have Mom Murrill here to help us stay sane this weekend!

Friday I weighed in at 167.4 pounds.  Not much progress in quite a while with my weight loss goal, but I've thoroughly enjoyed my summer vacation and all the delicious foods that went along with it. I'm still excited to keep at it and hopefully continue my process and reach my goal by December 31.  If I can lose about 8 more pounds I'll be pretty much where I was when I got pregnant with Max.  Although I think I'm at a plateau point, I need to keep at it.

I CAN DO THIS!!!  ....Right?

Today I weighed in at 167.6 lbs.  Although my May goal was 167.5, at least it feels good to hit it before the end of June.  Ha!

This morning the boys and I had a lovely time hanging out with Steph and Monroe at Starbucks and then shopping at Target.  I just love my little niece Monroe.  She makes me smile every time I see her.  Especially when Steph told me the story about her literally throwing her bottle across the room because Steph had tried adding a bit of formula to it.  Hilarious!  That girl has her mind made up about what she wants!  Mason was a rascal who kept running all over the store instead of staying close to me like he usually does and nothing seemed to work to get him to calm down and stay with me.  Even Target employees were calling his name.  At least he listened to them.  I can only go so fast with Max in the cart to try to keep up with Mason.  Thankfully, Steph was there to help out.  These are really crazy times in our lives with such little ones, but I'm so glad to have Steph, Mark and Monroe here to do this together!

I'm leaving in a bit to go get my mom at the airport.  She'll be with us until next Thursday!  Yay!

Back on the wagon...again

The last few months have been busier and crazier than I expected.  Quitting my job brought extra stress for me both before I quit (through the month of April) and after I quit (through the month of May) probably due to finishing up things at work and then adjusting to a new routine at home.  I'm so happy that I made the decision to be home full-time and haven't regretted it for one moment.  Now that I'm feeling more relaxed and peaceful after finishing the transition, I'm able to focus more on my weight-loss goal.

Here's what's been happening for me in the last few months.  I had been hovering in the low 170's and I got discouraged that I wasn't making any progress and didn't feel like writing much of anything on my blog because I had nothing good to report.  I know I should stay open about everything, the good and the bad, but I didn't feel up to it.  The first 10 pounds were much easier than these next 10 are proving to be.  Last Saturday I turned 30 and am only more motivated than ever to get to a weight I am comfortable with.

I weighed June 1, which is kind of like my final May weigh-in since I didn't get to that on the 31st. I was 168.0.  This morning for my regular Friday weigh-in I am 169.4 lbs.   I am glad that I'm more consistently in the 160's now.

I've taken a new look at my eating habits and exercise (or lack-there-of) and am committed to continuing on my journey.  I'm watching my portions more closely and have already made exercise a bigger priority.  I'm getting ready to feel some more success coming my way!

I love these kiddos.

That was fast...

Wow.  A whole month went by and I hardly even knew it!  The last post I wrote was at the beginning of April and much has changed since then, although I wish I could say it was my weight!  I weighed in this morning at 169.0. I will be honest that I don't even remember where I'm supposed to be right now, but I'll check and get back on track.

After my wonderful visit to Washington to stay with my sister and her family, I realized something I had been considering for a while: that I really wanted to stay home with the boys full-time.  I gave my notice at work and my last day was April 29 - well, my last day in the office.  I've still been finishing some work at home and have agreed to do one more newsletter, but I don't have to go into the office or pay for childcare which helps.

I have to say that although the last month has been crazy and at times I felt like I was going to lose my mind, I have had the most fun week this last week, staying home with the boys, that I could have imagined.  I feel sure now that I was listening to God speak to my heart when I decided to quit my job.  I struggled deeply with the decision, worrying that I would not find a job like it again, sad to leave a boss and co-workers that I enjoy so much, wondering if it was something we could really afford and also not sure if I would be happy to "just be at home".  After being home for my first week, I feel peaceful, relaxed, thankful, fulfilled and happy deep in my soul.  I also feel this was the right time for me to do this.  At other points in my life I haven't been ready, but I feel God has prepared my heart, and my mind for this special task and I am more than willing to jump right in.  It's funny, I had many people tell me things like, "it will be a shock", "get ready, it's not as easy as you think it will be", but I didn't do it because it would be easy, and I already had a concept of what it might be like since I only worked part time anyway.  I guess some people don't feel the way I do, but I truly believe God has called me at this time for this job of focusing all of my energy on my children, husband, and home, and YES, I realize it's way harder than a day at the office but THAT'S WHAT I'M SIGNING UP FOR!!!  And I couldn't be happier about it.  I know that since God called me to do this at this specific time, that He will provide the resources we need and He will bless us.  I already feel incredibly blessed just from the joy one week of being home with the boys has brought me.  I can't wait for more!

Hello Again!

Friday I was happy to say hello, a second time, to the 160's!  I weighed in at 168.6, my lowest weigh-in yet.  I'm so excited to be creeping lower and lower.  

We had such an awesome Easter weekend with friends and family.  Friday, Steph and I ran around to several goodwill stores and a thrift store in search of furniture to refurbish.  We ended up with a few odds and ends, but mostly some great clothes from brands like Banana Republic, Lucy, and Ann Taylor.  We were pretty excited and have already worn several of our fabulous finds.  

Sabbath we went to Sabbath School and church, although didn't make it through the whole service as it was communion and a little rough for tiny ones.  We headed over to Mark and Steph's for lunch  and hung out for the afternoon.  That evening we all drove to Geneva, IL and got ice-cream at a great little shop and had fun walking around enjoying the nice weather.  Since we have never lived close to Mark and Steph every time we hang out with them it feels like we're on vacation and like we will never see them again.  Because of that, we usually feel compelled to do as much as we can and cram all kinds of fun activities into whatever amount of time we're together.  It's actually pretty fun and I don't mind it at all.  We definitely appreciate the fact that we can see each other so much now.

Sunday we hosted an Easter brunch and egg hunt.  We had such a blast with Jen, Jared and Ella, Mark, Steph and Monroe, and Brandon, Maria, Mitchell and Blythe.  Everyone brought amazing food and after the food was gone and the hunting complete, the guys engaged in a basketball-type game using Mason's little plastic hoop.  It was really quite entertaining to watch.  

This morning the boys and I are headed out for a walk in the beautiful sunshine!  What a blessing it is to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior.  Thank you, God for another day of life!

It's been a while...

I only have a moment for a quick update but I am ready to get back on schedule.  I weighed last Thursday morning, the 19th, instead of Friday since we were heading to Spokane, WA that night to visit my sis and family.  I weighed in again at 169.4.  I didn't even think about losing weight on our trip, just enjoyed being with my family and eating yummy food.  I weighed this past Friday, the 26th, and was up to 170.4.  But I'm really okay with that and am ready to get focused again and try to keep up with my success.  My first quarter weigh-in is coming on Wednesday, at the end of March.  I'm really excited to have finished 25% of this challenge!
I need to run because I finally have sleeping boys and I need to get a nap!

Weekly Weigh-In Day

This morning I'm so excited to report that I weighed-in at 169.4.  I can't believe I'm leaving another "decade" of weight behind!  Good-bye 170's!  I'm not sad to see you go at all!

It feels so good to have made this much progress.  I've lost a total of 13 pounds since January 1.  I still have 19.4 pounds to go to reach my goal weight by December 31.  I know that the closer I get to my goal, the harder it is going to be, but I feel so great about my success already that I hope it will give me the motivation to keep it up.

We're very excited to see Mom and Dad Murrill in a few days.  They are coming into town to help Mark and Steph with some painting (and of course to see everyone).  I think they could be professional painters by now with all the painting they've done for all of us.  As a bonus, they're helping us out by watching the kids for us while us mom's go to work.  That is a big help with the cost of daycare.  It's so great that they are close to both of our families now.

Today the boys and I are headed to pick up some groceries for the "potluck" we're having with Mark and Steph tomorrow.  We're contributing a salad, bread and the dessert.

I hope each of you has a wonderful Sabbath!

Time for Girl-Time

I'm finally feeling better after 3 weekends in a row of suffering with the icky stomach/abdominal issues.  I'm so glad to be finally on the mend and definitely getting better.

I did weigh last Friday, but hadn't found time to form a new post until now.  I weighed in at 171.6 lbs and am VERY excited about it.  This means... JEN!!! I earned my prize of hanging out with you!  I hope you are reading this because I'm ready to plan!

If you remember, Jen offered herself up as my prize for losing my first 10 pounds.  Anyone else who thinks they could put up with me for a short evening or even just a quick trip to Starbucks, I'd love your company if you want to volunteer to be another one of my prizes!

Speaking of prizes, since I realized how much my final goal prize of a flat screen TV is going to cost, I've decided to let my prizes consist basically of enjoying the way I feel with each weight loss goal reached.  I don't think it's a good time for us to be spending any extra money and I really don't need "things" for my motivation anyway.  I'm actually more excited to spend time with friends and try to save money for my grand prize.

Have to share a picture with you!  Mason did us proud today at Miss Shelley's.  He went potty on the big boy toilet!

Again...more than you probably ever wanted to know...

I'm trying to figure out what has happened to my usually-stable and reliable health.  Admittedly, I've always been a relatively sickly person...growing up I constantly had colds, the flu, ear infections, sinus infections, bronchitis, struggles with asthma and a persistently bad cough.  Since becoming an adult, I still get hit with sickness harder than most, but I've been much more healthy and able to rebound more quickly.  I had a difficult time about 4 years ago when I got chronic bronchitis for one summer, but other than that I've been doing pretty well until lately.  As you know from my last post, I struggled with a very bad case of GI troubles the weekend of Feb 20, complete with a visit to the ED.  Well, this past Saturday, although it didn't last 24 hours, I had 12 more hours of diarrhea.  I was so exhausted Sunday that I spent most of the day in bed, drinking water and eating bananas, toast and yogurt.  I thought it had gone away, but then early this morning I was awakened with it again and am going on several more hours of continued sickness.  Also, yesterday I struggled with blurred vision in my left eye and also vertigo.  Needless to say, this morning I'm working on picking out a primary care doctor to go visit.

Probably about the only positive to all this is how it's helped me get back on track with my weight loss.  When I weighed Friday for my weekly weigh-in, I was 176.6 pounds.  By Sunday morning, for my end of the month weigh-in for February, I was down to 173 pounds.  I'm sure much of that was water-loss from getting dehydrated, but I'm still hopeful to keep it from going up too much once I get myself better.

Any extra prayers would be helpful, and if you have called me lately and I haven't returned your call, please know that I would love to talk to you, but I haven't had the energy to do much other than taking care of the boys and trying to get myself well again.  I'm really starting to get frustrated because I want to figure out what is going on!

TMI Alert: Montezuma, how did I offend thee?

It's been an interesting weekend!  I weighed on Friday morning and was 176.6 lbs.

Later that evening, I proceeded to come down with a severe case of gastroenteritis.  I weighed in the morning and was already several pounds lighter.  I was still feeling relatively well and made it to church but didn't last too long after that.  My symptoms became increasingly worse.  I was going on 20+ hours of severe diarrhea and finally decided I needed to go to the Hinsdale Emergency Department Saturday night.  They hooked me up to an IV because I was very dehydrated.  They gave me several different medications to calm down my intestines, to soothe my stomach and I even got a shot in the behind to curb the nausea.  My potassium was quite depleted so they gave me some potassium pills.  I was in the ED for probably 3 hours. They wanted to make sure I got at least 2 liters of fluids through my IV.  I was released and came home and actually slept better than I have in quite a while.

I'm still taking a variety of prescriptions they gave me but today am finally feeling a tad more energetic.  Luckily, my mom was visiting us this weekend so she was able to stay with the boys while Mike and I were at the hospital.  Although she tried to give Max a bottle while we were there, not surprisingly he defiantly refused, but luckily I had pumped at the hospital earlier enough that I still was able to breastfeed him once we got home and he was able to relax and settle down.

Yesterday I mainly rested, but I today I'm dying to get out of the house so we may take the kids to  Yorktown mall to just walk around a bit.  I don't think I'll be up for exercising for quite a while, but that's okay with me.  I'm just glad to get through all of this with a smile on my face!

Help! Need Encouragement!

Last night was another in a row of about five of Max getting up every 3 (and often 2) hours.  Today it caught up with me in a big way as I've had a migraine all day and had to get up and get the boys to daycare and go to work.  I made it through the workday, picked the boys up at about 6 and finally have dinner ready and we're going to just relax and watch a little TV.  I'm really struggling with such a lack of sleep.  The last thing on my mind is watching what I eat or exercising.
Why is this so hard????!!!  Aaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!

Off the wagon, on the wagon

This has been a tough week for me.  I started going back to work and have been struggling with keeping my asthma under control from being sick.  I haven't exercised in several weeks and with all the craziness of work, I think I lost some focus on my goal and on my eating habits.  We also left work early Thursday so we could hit the road with Mark, Steph and all our kids on a trip to Kansas City for the weekend.  It was a night of little sleep but we made it here and got to bed at around 4am.

I weighed yesterday morning and was 177.0 lbs.  I can tell I haven't been exercising and I also think the lack of sleep lately makes my body feel so sluggish.

I'm trying to be encouraged to keep at it and am feeling some sanity return as I try to get rested up again.