So I haven't written in a while because there's nothing really new to report! Here's a summary of the month of October. I stuck to my diet, and started goin to the gym. I eat just about anything I want now and haven't gained at all- in fact I've lost just a tiny bit. I try to go to the gym 5 times a week, which is easy because I have a gym buddy! My neighbor across the street Cali has been going with me to Lady Fitness, and it makes it much easier to have someone to go with! So that's my weight up-date.
October has been a really fun month with the holiday! My parents did their annual Halloween party and Lara let us borrow a costume for Taylor-- we all had such a good time! Bella had to stay home though :(. In addition to my parents party, Lara started a new tradition that I think she should continue! We got to go to her house, eat dinner, play games, and take home AWESOME pumpkins. Taylor really did have such a fun time and he could not wait to carve his pumpkin! It was really fun, and saved us money! A few weeks after the pumpkin party we finally got to carve the pumpkins. Bella was scared of them before we carved em, but after she was fine!
The week before Halloween I caught the dreaded swine flu! I got it from my gym buddy! All it took was her coughing ONCE in my car and the next day I started feeling the symptoms and then another day went by and I was home from work and completely miserable! It really was one of the worst flus I've had in a long long time. I recommend the swine flu vaccination if possible, I wouldn't wish what I had on ANYONE. Tim was super sweet and although he got sick too, he ended up still being able to take care of me. I did end up getting a little sick of Bella because she has to be by my side constantly. I should have named her shadow. So I ended up still being contagious on Halloween. Tim and I turned out the lights and watched scary movies all day long, it was really nice! We weren't able to get Taylor though because we didn't want him to get what we had-- I really miss him! But at least we had the two parties before to celebrate Halloween with him. I dressed Bella up as a Lady Bug on Halloween just because I wanted SOMEONE in my house to dress up! She hates me when I do it, but I think it's too cute to not dress her up. So here are some catch up pictures!

Such shame...

She didn't even want to stand up

Our Little Champ!

My handsome boyfriend carving his scary pumpkin

So proud!

Oh I love his faces!

Taylor's ghost, Tim's skull, my kitty

He's pullin out the guts

Looking for more guts

Reachin in!

Do I REALLY have to smile?

Witchapalooza

More Witchapalooza at Gardner Village

And me!

Well it has been just a few weeks since my last post. I got super burned out of the diet-- I stayed on it for 51 days!!! At day 51 I was so miserable and grouchy I just thought it best for all if I stopped. The first weekend I struggled and gained 2.5 pounds! BUT since then I've lost another five pounds-- and have been "maintaining" quite nicely. Here's the skinny of the diet now: Low carb (which is no sugar and no starch), and eat just about anything else! I am still losing a tad each day, between .2-.8 pounds a day which is fantastic because I hit another goal of 155!! (which is 15 pounds shy of my *ultimate* goal). I feel FANTASTIC, I am able to eat so many different things finally, and this diet has made me a..... gasp...... red meat eater!! I actually CRAVE steak. Which has never happened in my entire life. As we speak, I have New York steaks marinading in my fridge for tonight. I have a week and a few days of this diet left and then I can start incorporating regular foods back in SLOWLY. However I'm doing so great and FEELING so great I may do this phase a little longer to see if I can get down a little closer to my goal. None the less I have learned a few things from this diet.
1- I no longer crave things that I used to-- I haven't had chocolate in two months, and I'm quite fine with that.
2- I watch portions-- I no longer feel like I have to go back for a second plate (I use a smaller plate too, which helps trick my mind)
3- I drink at LEAST 72 oz of water a day, because that just makes me feel good!
4- I control what I eat, my theory is that over-processed snacks and foods, although quite tasty at the time, leave you feeling empty and wanting more. However home cooked- or healthy snacks leave you satisfied! Same goes for meals
5- I've worked my butt off (literally) to lose 38 pounds, and don't want to screw that up!
6- It's okay to indulge once in a while, and if you make a mistake you can fix it! It's not "the end" of a healthy life style if you splurge and eat a piece of cake. ENJOY that piece of cake, and understand that you CAN work that off, it's not the end of the world.
7- Food isn't supposed to cause us tummy aches-- if it does, you should think about cutting that food out of your diet. Is a bad night REALLY worth whatever you ate?
8- REAL cooking is quite healthy, it saves money, give you needed nutrients, and cuts out of processed junk.
9- I control my body weight. If I have a bad day (I had chinese food on Monday and gained .8 pounds!) I just start right back to eating healthy the next day (and I lost .6 pounds!). I have been learning which foods my body likes, and which have negative side effects.
10- sleep is key to a healthy diet, that's when our bodies repair themselves from the work we put them through.
So these are just a few of the things I have learned on my journey. I am joining a weight loss support group tonight with one of my good friends. She has been in it and has lost 30 pounds! I think it's important to consciously put effort in to our food, and the way we take care of our bodies. We're only given one-- and I've finally learned how to take care of it! I start at the gym in two weeks with one of my co-workers, I plan to "tone" my new body, and exercise just feels good! Plus, being active allows me to eat a few little treats without feeling guilty!
So here is a picture of me, well just my face, I took it two weeks ago, and since I took it I've lost about 2 more pounds, but you can see how different my face looks. My friend said that I've lost my "baby" cheeks. FINALLY! Oh and I'm almost in to a size 10, I should go and buy them very very soon, I never thought I'd get there!! So here are my stats...... for now!

Day:::::::::::::::::::::: I lost track. lol
Starting weight:::::: 193
Current weight:::::: 155.8
difference::::::::::::: -38ish lbs

I have app. 7 more days of HCG left in my bottle. That makes me happy!! However I had the worst week as far as weight loss goes :( I only lost 2.4 pounds the ENTIRE week. Of course I was on my period, but that shouldn't make THAT big of a difference! So today I get to do my first apple day (starting at lunch I eat ONLY apples, whenever I"m hungry I eat an apple, and that continues until tomorrow at lunch- you can only eat 6 apples though throughout that day) It's supposed to help your "stall" and with this being the last week that I"ll be on it, I'll be pretty sad if I get another loss of just 2.4. I feel like I"m getting sick too. Which is NEVER good on this diet because it makes it ten times worse! So we'll see what this next week brings. so here are the stats!
Day:::::::::::::::::::::: 47
Starting weight:::::: 193
Current weight:::::: 158.0
difference::::::::::::: -35 lbs

I have officially made a count down chain of the days I have left: 14 days left on HCG and 16 days left on VLCD (very low calorie diet). Every morning I get to break off one chain--- it makes me feel good. So this week I've been trying to get 2 liters of water in every day-- and can I say it REALLY works. I usually average .6 pounds a day, but with that I was around .8 pounds per day! It also probably helped that I can no longer stomach to eat chicken if it's grilled (oh gosh makes me want to throw up) after 40 days of eating chicken straight I can say I'm DONE. I'm even starting to feel that way towards brocolli. Just 14 more days!!! After that I start the portion of the diet I call "the atkins portion" because it's basically no starches or sugars. I do that for 3 weeks, and I'm DONE. But I don't think I'm going to quite hit my goal of 145 pounds so I think I'm going to do weight watchers, especially during the Holiday Season. I've worked my butt off (literally I've lost 11 inches around my hips. lol) and I'm not going to let it slip away! So every day I have to motivate myself to stick to it. Only 16 more days!!! And then I can have Ham, bacon, tuna fish, more fruit, stir-fry, oh gosh things will just get so much better! I have a feeling this will be a VERY slow week-- it's my TOM (time of the month) and I feel like complete pooh! The HCG effects that aspect too-- it makes it WORSE! So I'm a big bloated grumpy girl with a constant headache. Man!

So this weekend we were SUPER busy, but had a ton of fun. Saturday we went shopping and took Taylor to the duck park (in Layton). That night I had a girls night with Bella- we watched Quantum of Solice (not very good) Valkyrie (I was bawling at the end and had Bella licking my face) and Moulin Rouge-- had to get at least ONE chick flick in there! Sunday Tim and Taylor came over and we went to the ZOO!!! I haven't been since high school, and there have been quite a few new additions, like the chinese exhibit (which SUCKED cuz all the big cats were hiding) and the elephant exhibit (which also just had one elephant in it for now because the baby isn't on display yet) We still had a complete blast, I was probably just as excited as Taylor was! Then we went to Del Taco and I got a chicken taco del carbon (only 150 calories!!!-- but a little high on carbs obviously) I figured I had walked SOOO much at the zoo that I had a little wiggle room- and I was right! I lost .4 pounds the next day. Tim and I both had Monday off. We had grand plans to sleep in, but of course Bella had other plans. My roommate moved in last week and she has ODD schedules, so Bella has to bark everytime she comes home (around 1am sometimes 4 am-- YUCK) It's such a pain. But we needed a day for just ourselves. We went shopping, explored Ogden. lol. And went and saw "Extract" It was pretty funny! Then we went home and tried to nap-- once again Bella wasn't up for that! We went shopping and came back and made dinner and then watched a movie together (state of play-- really good!) and just enjoyed each other! I must say he's very VERY supportive of the diet. It's hard when I'm grumpy and get mad when he's eating pizza and I"m stuck with what-- cottage cheese? But gosh only 16 more days of it.

Oh!!! I PAID OFF MY CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel SOOOOOOOOOO good to not have that hangin over me anymore! It's still pretty new-- an 06 with 45,000 miles on it. I paid most of it off with the first time home buyers tax credit (THANK YOU OBAMA!!) and then just finished the rest off this month. I'll be pretty broke for a while, but I'm almost outta debt (except for that HUGE mortgage. LOL).

So I know I"m COMPLETELY random-- but hey, that's just me :D. Here are my stats:
Day:::::::::::::::::::::: 41
Starting weight:::::: 193
Current weight:::::: 160.0
difference::::::::::::: -33 lbs

Baby meerkats
Baby Giraffe

Baby Taylor-- Oops! I mean he's as a big as a todler gorilla

My two boys

He LOVED the elephant

Well here we are, more than halfway through this diet. IT'S GETTIN OLD!! And I had a very very very slow weekend so I'm not feelin much motivation right now- but the rest of the week went pretty well, still managed to lose over 4 pounds this week. I'm on a downhill drive from here so that's what's pushin me onwards. Not much happened this week at all, but I'm looking forward to the long weekend coming up. WAHOO!! Oh and I officially can fit into size 12's (but I only have one pair and they're pretty dark so I stick to my 14's with a belt for now). So! Here are the stats!!
Day:::::::::::::::::::::: 26
Starting weight:::::: 193
Current weight:::::: 165.8
difference::::::::::::: -27.2 lbs

Well I'll start off by saying I had a very slow week... and a GAIN of 2.5 pounds one day (but that's because I actually ate some food because I was SOOOOOO sick and my body just needed more!) A total loss of 3.2 pounds- which honestly ISN'T bad, but it's no where near where I should be! I was sick starting Monday and by Wednesday it had just gotten worse. I'm finally feeling almost 100% better. Nothing big happened at all this week, but I did measure myself, and I've lost over 10 inches around my waste, over 5 around my hips, and about 5 everywhere else (minus arms-- those are 2 inches lost each). So! Here are my stats!

Day:::::::::::::::::::::: 26 (I decided that I REALLY am on day 26)
Starting weight:::::: 193
Current weight:::::: 170.0
difference::::::::::::: -23 lbs

Well tonight I'm officially on day 20 of my journey. Everything has been going fantastic. I had another gain this week, due to my period, however quickly lost it and I've lost over 1 pound a day since... that's 3.5 pounds this weekend! Woot. I know it will slow down a bit more, I think I'll average between .5-1 pound a day- mostly .8 so far. So if I continue at the rate I'm going I'll lose another 10-16 pounds by the time I'm finished!! I am finding more recipes, I've even started cooking with to-fu noodles. I'm officially down to a new bra size, AND almost down 2 pant sizes! I'm feeling fantastic, and could continue this diet for a long long time (I'll actually have to continue it. lol) I've also started doing work outs on a balance ball, just to get a little muscle built up after all of my fat has dropped off-- don't want to look sickly! My neighbor is now doing the diet with me and she told me she'll be my work out buddy afterwards. I made delicious lettuce wraps, bison meatballs, chicken noodle soup, asperagus fritatta, and delicious steaks last week. Tonight I'm trying my hand at tuna noodle casserole with my to-fu noodles, so we'll see how that goes! Halfway there, and feelin fantastic!!! Here are my new stats...... DRUMROLL.....
Day:::::::::::::::::::::: 20
Starting weight:::::: 193
Current weight:::::: 173.2
difference::::::::::::: -19.8 lbs (I'm gonna round that up to 20 pounds!!!)
20 pounds in 20 days!!!!!!

Side picture, yes I still have a goal to lose 28 pounds more, I've lost 30 since last December, so I am halfway there!!

frontal view, with my new bra! (they look rather perky don't they, and sorta lopsided. lol) but I have a "figure" again! Wahoo!!

This reminded me of the Ocean... it's my little mini ocean


Found out later that night that the wind was 84 mph!!!



I was the only one that dared get outta the car!

So I'm approaching my 13th day. It's getting a tad easier to be on this diet, I've come up with some more wonderful recipes, have expanded my protein selection, and just feel fantastic (and feel pretty again!!!) I had a bad weekend in weight loss though :( BUT I'm not discouraged! I lost 1.5 pounds in three days-- which is still pretty great. I had one weight gain AHHH!! But the next lost 1.5 pounds, and then last night I dropped another .5 pounds. I feel that a major portion of this is due to my period and retention of water.. yes yuck I know! But I'm still losing! And I can't wait to have dinner tonight (I have two YUMMY options to choose from, scrambled eggs w/ onions and cottage cheese, OR chicken lettuce wraps-- I stole the recipe from Pei Wei and have revised it just a tad to make it under 150 calories per serving) I had a GREAT weekend, and on Thursday had an Antelope Island mini vacation (for two hours. LOL) Tim took me on a date Friday night, and gave me a WONDERFUL foot massage, and on Saturday he came over and cleaned my bathroom--- spotless. He seems to be a much much happier person, and he told me he really wants to work on our relationship (so good news!)


So here are some pictures from my trip, you can see how much weight I've lost there... my clothes are getting loose on me, and my face is getting much thinner.


Day:::::::::::::::::::::: 13
Starting weight:::::: 193
Current weight:::::: 178.4
difference::::::::::::: -14.4 lbs

Well! upon weigh in this morning I was very surprised to find that I dropped another 2.4 pounds!!! But let me back up to last night. I showed my extra room to a few people (both seemed interested) and then I made ginger garlic tofu for dinner-- now the recipe called for WAAYYY too much ginger, but the whole meal was less than 90 calories so I figured I'd just never do it again! (though I made double so I could have left overs for lunch today so I'll have to suck it up once again). I went to bed wondering how my weight would be in the morning. Okay now back to this morning... After weigh in and a shower, my door bell rang. It was Tim. We had a long talk on Sunday and I guess this was the next step. He took the rest of his things that he had brought BACK after he moved out the first time. And he left me his key.... Now I'm still pretty dang sad about the love of my past 2 years being gone, and honestly still cry a bit every time I think about it. But this is what I wanted right? I'm the one who told him to make up his damn mind. At first I was excited to get back out in the world and just be me! I've been told that I need to focus not on all of the good times we had right now, but focus on how I've grown as a person, and where I'm going. So that's it! Single again after 2 years, really not looking forward to getting back in the dating scene- so that may take a while. But I AM excited to begin my new life, and not letting the real Amanda get lost in this crazy world. But still super excited about the loss of 10.5 pounds!!! My pants are already starting to not fit, my face looks thinner, and even my bra fits a TAD better (which is GREAT news because I can start shopping at Vicky's secret again!)
So with life comes ups and downs, but the only thing I can do is learn from the downs, and learn how to enjoy the ups even better!
Day:::::::::::::::::::::: 7(well technically day 7 begins at 5 pm tonight)
Starting weight:::::: 193
Current weight:::::: 182.6
difference::::::::::::: -10.4 lbs

Well let me start off with some excellent news..... I've lost 8ish pounds total so far! Yes all in less than 5 days. HMMMMM. I wouldn't believe it if it wasn't all happening to me. So here's how my weekend went:
Friday I got off work early so that I could have one "last meal", Tim took me to chinese food (and I could only eat about 1/4 of it because I was just stuffed). Then we went home and my 500 calorie a day diet officially began at 5 pm that night, but I was still so full from lunch/dinner that I just didn't eat anything! Hah!
Saturday morning I woke up and weighed myself..... 189.8 pounds... WOW, I lost a little over a pound the day before-- crazy! Crazy mostly cuz I was eating like someone who wouldn't be able to eat like that ever again. LOL. I went to the grocery store and bought all of my fresh foods and meats for my diet. (strawberries, oranges, apples, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, lettuce, mushrooms, chicken breats, round eye steaks, crystal light, and tofu). I also went to Home Depot and got a gallon of white paint and more tape so I could finish painting my bedroom. My "diet" began with lunch, Tim BBQ'd me a 3.5oz chicken breast and I had fresh veggies on the side (now this meal was TINY however I felt completely satisfied with it, and tha'ts even with sharing part of it with Taylor). We watched Coroline together and shared and orange. Then it was time for Tim and Taylor to go back to Tim's mom's house. I decided that I wanted steak for dinner, but digging out the BBQ for a 3.5 oz steak just didn't sound like fun, so I went and bought a ...... FOREMAN GRILL!! Can I just say that I love this little machine?! For $20, it's just plain awesome. With everymeal I'm supposed to have a veggie, so I decided to saute 1/2C muchrooms, and 1 oz onions, I put in about 1/2 teaspon of soy sauce and 1 clove of garlic to give it a little more flavor. WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW this meal was amazing!!!! And the best part was that it was only 158 calories. I decided after that fabulous meal that I was going to tape off my bedroom and try to get a coat of paint on... I can't believe that I had THIS much energy. Total for the day, including 2 things of crystal light I only had 382 calories- but felt absolutely amazing! I even dusted my house. (didn't get to vaccuum, I'll get to that tonight!)
Sunday morning I woke up and weighed myself...... 187.2 Did I REALLY just lose 2.6lbs in just one day?! I had to re-weigh myself quite a few times so I would believe it! But when my pants were fitting a lot more loosely, I knew that it was true! So that morning I finished painting, and made chicken lettuce wraps for lunch, I followed a recipe exactly, however the finished product was not great- too much chinese 5 spice. I think I'll revise this recipe because it had POTENTIAL. After lunch I watched HGTV with Bella and then got ready to make the 1 hour drive down to my parents for my mom's birthday party. I STUPIDLY forgot my HCG for my 5 o'clock dose, BIG mistake. I didn't realize how much the HCG reduced my hunger! I gave in and had a little spinach salad, about 3oz of steak, and a...... CUPCAKE. I kept small portions hoping this would help the scale not jump 3 pounds in the morning. I had a really fun time at my families! The kids had such a good time with a pinata (yeah it's family tradition- and no we're not mexican. lol) It was nice to just spend some time with them all! I went back home, Bella zonked out the entire way which is GREAT for me. I had a long talk with Tim, we talked the entire hour home. (yeah I STILL don't know what's going on there, but I told him I think he needs to get his own place :D) I got home and made my meals for work (just grilled chicken and veggies again)-- man what a busy weekend!!!
I woke up this morning, got on the scale sorta scared of what my earlier mistakes would say on the scale.......... 185.0 NO STINKIN WAY!!!!!!!! I've dropped 5 pounds this weekend alone?! I honestly don't know what to think about it all-- it is PRETTY exciting, but this has got to be too good to be true? I know I won't continue to drop the pounds this fast, that my metabolism will make an adjustment, but it still should be a continuall decline. I think I'm going to try my hand at tofu tonight!
Day:::::::::::::::::::::: 6
Starting weight:::::: 193
Current weight:::::: 185
difference::::::::::::: -8 lbs

Notice the tiny black spot near the left side of the pillows-- that's Bella still tired from a day of playing with miles... but check out my paint job!!
here is a little better picture, I think the white adds a bit of depth that my room was missing

Well it's been a while since my last post, a lot has changed in my life since then however I'm still not at a point where I know what's going on so I can't explain! BUT I want to keep a journal of the new diet that I'm doing, and I thought there's no better place!
On Wednesday night I began taking a form of HCG (yes the hormone found in pregnant women's urine). The idea is that the hormone triggers your body to start using up it's fat storage, most people who stick to it lose an average of 1lb a day, or 20-30 pounds in a 30 day period. It's no walk in the park, you have to stick to a very strict 500 calorie a day food consumption, and only eating certain things allowed. Here is a website that can explain everything a tad better than I can http://diyhcg.com/mm5/index.html
The first three days (which I'm just finishing up with today) are the "gorge" days where you eat anything you feel like, with absolutely no restrictions (sounds odd but keep reading). When you deprive the body of food that it's used to consuming, it sends it in "fasting" mode and will hold onto everything. However with HCG, it is almost the opposite, it triggers the body to start using the stored up fat. The reason they say "gorge" for the first three days is to trick the body, let the HCG get in your system and begin work before your body even has a chance to start holding onto it all. Anyways, sounds like too good to be true right? Well I started at (I feel perfectly comfortable telling my weight) 193lbs on Wednesday, on Thursday morning I was at 192, and then this morning when I woke up I was at 191. That's 2 pounds in not quite 2 days (and that's with eating donoughts for breakfast, fast food for lunch, and candy bars in between). Today is my last day on the "gorge" and I can think of no better "last meal" than CHINESE FOOD!!!
I start the 500 calorie diet at 5 tonight and will continue that for app. 30 days. There are very very strict guildines for everything in a book I have by the doctor who "created" this diet. This will be my basic day: Wake up, weigh in, take 1st set of HCG (did I mention you can take it by shot, or orally? I'm doing the oral) have a quick breakfast of crystal light (they say you can have tea or coffee but since neither really hit the spot with me I'll be having just a yummy bit of crystal light) at around 10 am I'll have a light fruit snack-- an apple, an orange, a few strawberries, whichever I feel like. At 12:15 I take a second dose of HCG and 20 minutes after that I can have a lunch which will consist of 1 protein of 3.3 oz, 1 veggie, and one "starch" (but a starch on this diet is like a wheat thin, or melba toast-- yuck). At around 2 or 3 I can have another fruit snack (not an actual fruit snack, but a REAL fruit. lol) and at 5 it's my last HCG dose followed by dinner about 20 minutes later (which is the same as lunch). The only "protiens" allowed are: chicken, veal, fresh white fish, shrimp and lean lean lean lean lean beef. People who do the 500 calorie a day diet without the HCG typically lose about 1/2lb per day, but combine the diet with the HCG and people lose between 3/4lb and 1 lb a day.
I have two other people doing this with me at work, which will help out QUITE a bit. Tim eats healthy most of the time anyways so I know being at home won't be hard. The thing that's hard about sticking to the diet is the "social" eating-- which is a major factor of our society. I have put together books for myself and the people at work that includes all of the information regarding the diet, daily logs, diet trackers, and recipes of the foods we can consume. I know that if I stick to this, I can do quite well. They recommend taking a break after about 30-35 days on the diet and slowly bringing back foods that were restricted before. They also recommend doing a 2nd cycle should you wish to lose more weight, and dependant upon how I do the first time, I feel I will try the 2nd cycle. However this diet isn't a cure all, you have to maintain a good life style, exercize, and self monitor.
So, in summary I'm very excited to begin this new chapter of my life, it has needed to be done for quite some time, and with enough motivation and control I believe I'm capable of almost anything. I'll be updating on this blog how everything is going throughout this process. I'd also like to throw an apology out there in case I may be a little "snappy" while on just 500 calories a day. I will try my hardest to not let it effect me. But come on, no chocolate? That's enough to make anyone a LITTLE cranky once in a while.


Day:::::::::::::::::::::: 2
Starting weight:::::: 193
Current weight:::::: 191
difference::::::::::::: -2 lbs

This weekend began sooooo great, and ended great as well! It all started with a surprise day off from work on Friday. (which I really REALLY needed to catch up on some sleep and get ready to head down to Riverton). So Friday I had to go and get some canned cat food for Mr. Kitty (who has yet to be re-named) because he hadn't eaten since the night we brought him home. Thank goodness for hats, I threw one on and ran to Target. As soon as I got back, I went by the side of my bed (where kitty was hiding) and opened the can. Sure enough he popped his little head out and started eating! YAY! My cat wasn't going to die of starvation! I then let Bella out of her cage because she was going CRAZY knowing that I was spending time with the cat while she was stuck all by herself. I spent most of the day re-arranging kitty stuff and Bella stuff so everyone would be happy with each other. Kitty spends most of his days hiding behind the toilet in the upstairs bath, and Bella has to check on him every now and again. They are fairly civil to each other. Bella barks at him because she just wants to play, and he'll hiss if she gets right in his face, but all in all it's going ok for them just starting out! So that's how I spent most of my Friday before my boys got home. As soon as Tim and Taylor got home around 4:15, we had to start getting ready to head down to Riverton for the parade and BBQ at my aunt Melody's house. There wasn't any traffic like I had feared, and we made it just in time for the BBQ. Good food, and family. What more can I ask for?
After the BBQ we walked up the street to the parade. Of course I forgot to bring a blanket to sit on! And we don't have any camping chairs, so we were a little ill prepared for the whole thing. Luckily Jera's dad let me use his chair and Taylor sat on my lap while Tim stood behind us. Can I just say that the parade is NOT as fun as I remember it being as a kid? What's up with businesses piling people in the back of their trucks? That's not exciting! Taylor only got 3 pieces of candy because all of the kids kept running in front of us.
So we sat through the entire parade and made our way back to the Lindleys. Time to swim!!! We had such a great time with all of my cousins. They really are SO great! I have missed all of them, and it was good to be able to catch up. The only cousin's of mine Tim hasn't met are Tam's three boys who live pretty far away.
After a night of swimming we made our way back home. We were greated by a crazy Bella who had been in her kennel for 6 hours straight! (poor baby) She definatelly kept us awake for quite a while. And of course kitty had his usual meowing session once Bella was finally asleep. We ended up shutting our door so the cat coudn't come in and meow under our bed, however he'd stick his head under our door and meow so it's just the same!
We had to take Taylor back to his mom's that Saturday afternoon, so it was just Tim, me, and the animals for the fourth of July. I had a whole bag of fire works that I could not wait to light! I put on a little firework show for Bella and Tim (I think I had more fun then they did). And we made our way to bed. Of course kitty made his way upstairs meowing meowing meowing. At this point Tim and I were both sleep deprived and could not take it! So kitty ended up in his kennel in our downstairs family room for the rest of the night.
We were able to pick up Taylor again Sunday morning. We spent the entire day playing outside with the chalk and bubbles. Man was it hot! We had a very relaxing day, a GREAT way to end the weekend. When it was time for bed, I decided that I did not want to go through meow fest again, however I didn't want kitty forced to stay in his kennel. I made him a neat little set up in the bathroom DOWNSTAIRS so we couldn't hear his meowing (we could still hear it but it wasn't loud enough to keep us awake).
I think after the cat opens up more to us and starts moving around in the day time we won't have to be locked away at night for being too noisy. So we'll just see how it goes! He's starting to be more outgoing too! He'll actually sniff Bella (as long as she's not being hyper) and he'll even play with her a little (if he's under the bed he'll paw at her). I'm excited to see his personality finally open up!
So that was my fantastic weekend! I just love life!

Well I did it.... if any of you really know me, you know that when I want something- I get it-- even if it's not the BEST idea. I have in my house a 1 year old Russian Blue cat. I picked him up last night, along with everything a cat would need. We brought him home and got his new room settled (he gets the washroom until he and Bella can get along) and I opened his kennel and he RAN out! He got a drink of water, started eating, and just started exploring. This gave me false hope that he felt comfortable, so I let Bella in......BAD idea. She chased him downstairs, around the couch, and back up. Bella was put outside and poor kitty was back in his kennel, as far as he could get from the door. It was almost Bella's bedtime, so we put her away, and decided to leave Slate's door open hoping he'd come out and explore. Well.... he DID come out and started MEOWING! At first it was cute because he could make all sorts of different noises, but then it just became horrible. He would not stop. Tim and I both tried to get him to play with us, but he still wasn't comfortable. So we decided to shut our door and go to bed. Not such a good idea either, he came out of the washroom finally and started meowing and scratching our door. Needless to say this went on the ENTIRE night. And when I"d go to try to talk to him to comfort him Bella would wake up and start whining and crying. Tim went downstairs on the couch eventually because there was just no way to sleep with all the animal noises. Slate finally came in my room, and got brave enough to jump on my bed. (this was around 4:30 this morning) He actually fell asleep at the foot of my bed! He would wake up a few times and meow a little, but would go back to sleep. Tim came back up around 5:30 to check on us, which woke up the cat who began meowing again, which sent Tim BACK downstairs. Slate ended up UNDER the bed asleep and when I woke up I put him in his room and got Bella out of her room. Now I know this was his first night home, and he's probably beyond stressed with what he's been through, so I'm trying to be patient..... The whole point of fostering a cat that's GREAT with little dogs is so that Bella will have company and someone to play with! I guess I just play the waiting game until they realize they like each other. IF that doesn't happen, I can luckily take him back to the shelter (a no kill shelter here in Layton) and they will find a home he'd be happier in. so for now, if anyone has any ideas on how to get a cat to stop meowing at night, I'd GREATLY appreciate it! Here's a picture of him that was listed on Petfinder.com. He really is the prettiest cat I've ever seen! And he's very friendly, let's just hope he'll adjust to a new house!

When we were getting ready to head out to Craig and Jera's this weekend, I took Bella potty in our front yard, where she spotted something laying in the dirt. I sent Bella and Taylor inside while I did some investigating. On the side of my driveway, this little guy (or girl?) was just laying there. First thoughts were that this was a small cat that may have gotten hit by a car and came to rest there. However, upon further investigation, I discovered that it was a raccoon! I got my phone out, and tried to find the number for animal control. At this point I still thought the poor thing was dead..... until a fly landed on his back and SWAT, his tail moved! He began rolling over, took one look at me, and rolled back into his first position. He moved his back leg up onto the driveway, it looked like he was just relaxing! He rolled around a few more times, and that's when I got the pictures. The little guy was covered in mud, but I couldn't find any outside indications that he was hurt. I tried calling Ogden Animal Control, however no one answered, and at that point the raccoon stood up and started walking away. My neighbor came out, and was watching him stroll down the street onto our other neighbors driveway, where he parked himself one more time and fell back asleep. I think he may have had some internal problems, because raccoons don't just move like that! However Tim and I were running late and we had to get on the road, so I tried animal control one more time- and of course no answer. When we came back, the raccoon was gone, hopefully on his way back to his house. Here are a few pictures that I snapped of him. Good thing for the ZOOM option on my camera!

He looks dead in this one.... but he was just sleepin!

His eyes are open!

Close up of his face

Posing for the camera

I love this one! He's just chillin with his foot up on the driveway

This weekend was absolutely fantastic! Tim and I picked up a BBQ and a cute swing at Lowes on Friday night and spent practically the whole weekend outside with Taylor (we lured him inside some times with a sponge bob movie). Tim made DELICIOUS burgers Saturday on the grill, and yummy BBQ chicken for Sunday night. I also picked up some flowers for my front porch to add a bit of color. Needless to say I LOVE summer and I finally remembered to take some pictures of my new house!

Master Bath

Back patio w/new swing & Taylor

Downstairs bath

Front Porch

Bella jumped on the swing while we were all inside

This is my house from the street! Grass coming soon!

Upstairs Hallway full Bathroom

Bella's room/my office

Laundry room (Taylor didn't want to be in the picture)

Stairs

Foyer

Kitchen

Tim's art of our names with the sidewalk chalk, or as Taylor called it "pork chops"

Family Room

My jetted tub in Master Bath!

Master Walk-in Closet

Hallway into fam room (Taylor likes to be in pictures)

Two bedrooms, Taylors on the left, Bella's on the right

Master Bedroom

Another Kitchen picture