Gratitude Friday (on Sunday!)

Good morning! Wow, what a week....it's been sooooo hot here in Spokane and camp was a constant GO for me. I arrived home on Thursday, slept most of Friday (super duper bad headaches!) and yesterday I was at a wedding and a luau housewarming. How to cram 1000's of activities and friends into one quick weekend....I think I am learning to master it all.

Here's my gratitude list....

1. the love of traveling and teaching. I interviewed for Quality Schools International this past week and so far I've been offered two jobs overseas. The first one was in Baku (I had no idea where this city and country is located!) and the most recent is in Atyrau, Kazakhstan. I don't think I'll be accepting either one (I'd have to move in about 3 weeks!) but I'm definitely willing to go overseas if I can't get a job here in WA. (and yes, I'd definitely go to MT, too!)

2. longtime friendships. The wedding I attended was for Amy Nelson, one of Charlotte's twins. Charlotte and I have known each other since jr high and I'm blessed to have her in Spokane where I get to laugh with her often.

3. the rain! This morning we woke up to rain. It's very nice to not have to water the lawns ourselves today. It's been VERY hot in the Pacific NW and everything is super dry. Fire danger is quite high.

4. Wild Women Group! I've been a part of the WW group for about five years. They never fail to keep me laughing. Alllllllllll I've learned about life comes from this group. I always am good for blushing in many of our conversations! We were at a luau housewarming for Terri last night, complete with spouses, significant others, friends and neighbors. They roasted a 160 lb pig. It was DELICOUS!!!

5. being able to fit into size 8 clothes! Yesterday I wore the cute dress that you see in the picture and I loved being able to fit into it. I bought it last fall and wondered if I would ever be able to wear it. Tada~ miracles do happen! Now to continue to keep myself this size -- lots of discipline and working out. But it's sooo worth it! Tons of compliments yesterday...happy smile.

Have a wonderful week! Next weekend David and I are traveling to Leavenworth, WA with my cousins from Canada. Inbetween now and then, it's an action filled week with elementary kids at camp.

Double Crum

I got sick this morning after working out at the gym! (I think it was taking meds!)

I had multi grain cheerios for breakfast! (my usual good breakfast!!) but not any coffee.

I had nothing but water for lunch due to having a back to back teaching job and I didn't pack a lunch!

This afternoon I inhaled a candy bar from Walmart!

This evening I ate three pieces of Domino's Hawaiian Pizza!

And I'm reaaaallllllllllly sleepy but the Beagle Boys need to be walked!

I think I'd better walk about 5 miles to get rid of everything I ate and make the scale happy again in the morning!!

Gratitude Friday (on Saturday)

Good morning! Grab a cup of coffee and share your gratitude list with me.

1. http://companygirl.com/ My friend Rachel is putting together a book all about girlfriends! I was looking at some of the photo entries this morning and realized how much I miss getting together with my many girlfriends. Why is there never time to get together or even just touch base via email, a phone call or snail mail? I'm going to have to fix that. I want more pictures of you all, esp since I lost my camera. Ok, hop over to Rachel's website and look at the photos I entered. If you have some amazing girlfriend photos you'd like to submit, go for it! Voting is going to take place after June 7th. (The photo below is from my birthday last yr!)

2. sunshine in the beautiful Pacific NW! Blue skies, warm temps and the purple lilacs blooming! Only thing that could be better...we could be camping this weekend!! sigh...

3. great days of guest teaching -- no kindergarten, either! I'm still searching diligently for a full time teaching job but know I am blessed with the amazing guest teaching jobs I've had this year. I'll be kind of sad when school gets out in a few weeks.

4. a new Starbucks that opened up on Fairchild AFB!

5. size 10 capris are too big...I bought some last night at Costco and I got them home to realize that they didn't fit. Back they went! So it was great incentive to go to the gym last night to walk/run five miles. Plus I got to watch the Seattle Mariners vs San Francisco Giants. I stopped my exercise after the 7th inning. I would have been there FOREVER since they went into the 12th inning with Seattle winning 2-1 (WOOHOO!) My secrets for continued weight loss and inches -- eating breakfast every morning, taking meds that help my body do what it's supposed to do instead of gaining more weight, lots of different types of exercise, almost zero sugar (including soda pop and only a smidge of chocolate) and try to not eat after 7 pm. It works for me!

Have a great weekend! The York family is headed to the Mt. Hood area tomorrow to attend a family reunion on my dad's side. It could be interesting. I love seeing my cousin Gigi who also has 2 beagles so just being with her will be worth the trip!

Personal Update! No more excuses~

I'm happy to announce a PERSONAL UPDATE on my fitness training!

I hadn't been keeping track of how much I've lost, either poundage or inches, because I didn't have a scale that worked very well. It'd say one weight the first time I stepped on, step on it again and I'd either gained or lost two pounds in 20 seconds.

I bought a new digital scale yesterday, one with BIG numbers so these 44 yr old eyes could see the display. Being 5'8" makes it difficult to see down to my toes! (Thankfully it's just the distance, not because my tummy is in the way!)

Such exciting news!! I'm down to 157....last May I weighed in at 178!!! (and I wasn't even pregnant..quite sad.) Clothes fit so much differently and although I'm wearing a size 10, I feel quite thin and lean. There's still some inches to go....and seven more pounds to my goal. The gym and I have become bestest friends and as I train for the Seattle Rock and Roll Half Marathon, I'm reminded every day to not let the committee win. Even when I don't want to drag my hiney into the gym or walk with the Beagle Boys outside, I need to go! No more excuses and baby steps if needed. If you're struggling with losing weight or need incentive to get going, let me know...I'll be your biggest cheerleader!!!

I just wanted to share the exciting news with you...perhaps I'll see if the Duke will take a picture of me in my new dress that is adorable with polka dots! I went to dinner tonight with a girlfriend and ate just a shrimp & spinach salad. It's so easy to remember calories when you know how long you have to be on the treadmill to lose those calories! :)

Happy rest of your week.... remember, NO MORE EXCUSES! :)

A Starbucks type of day!

My teaching job for the day got cancelled so I didn't have to get up early this morning. However, the Beagle Boys thought differently!! I was up at 4:40 with them and shoo'ed them out the back door for the morning piddle. Afterwards, they snuggled in under the covers for about 45 minutes until David got up. After they had breakfast, David put them back into their crate and I got to go back to sleep til 7! Woohoo.

I'd been puttering around the house til about 9:30 (the morning has gone by SLOWLY!) and then I decided that I DESERVED a Starbucks treat! Since I still owed a Starbucks card to my 100th post gratitude attitude winner, it was the perfect opportunity to get that, too. (It's in the mail today!!) I hadn't been to Starbucks in awhile, partly because of no extra money and partly of being so busy teaching. It was nice to go in, browse, order a few things and take the first sip of my Vanilla latte. YUMMMY!

I also took the time to go to Safeway to get a few groceries. Because I wasn't teaching out on the base today, I decided to shop in town instead of going to the commissary. I didn't need a lot and I did buy healthy. (Mr. York will be happy, though. I bought him Chocolate Chip Mint ice cream.)I'm going to make blueberry muffins in a little bit, put on a pot of soup in the crockpot and settle in for a nap.

The dr's is the next stop for today. I think I might have overdone my training for the half marathon -- cuz my right food hurts really bad! -- so I want to see if it just needs more rest or I do, in fact, have a stress fracture again. I'll be major bummed if I do. I was being careful to not add too much mileage too quickly, but I know I was doing some intervals at quick speeds and it's right in that spot I noticed the pain. After teaching all day on my feet, it really bothers me. Ho hum.

Here's my treat for the morning -- my venti non fat extra hot vanilla latte and a yummy cinnamon roll. In the bag are two mugs....one that's a clearance "12 days of Starbucks" and a fancy red one that's perfect for Valentine's Day. Mr. York will say "Great! just what we need, another mug or two!" I think we can have about 30 people over for coffee before we need to wash any mugs. And that's what's in the upstairs cupboard. I'm not sure what's hidden away downstairs. But the coffee pot is almost always ready to go so if you're in the area, stop by for a cup of coffee!


Time to let the beagle boys back in. I think Klaus is out with them, too. He got left out there earlier and he was not happy to have spent time outside in very cold temps! Sorry, kitty.

Happy Thursday, everyone! Be thinking about your gratitude list....it's coming up tomorrow!

What have you?

I always like the part of the staff meeting where the principal says "What have you?" Kinda like cleaning up house and what's left to say. It's my turn to talk! :)

Today's "what have you's" are:

• I made the phone call that was part of my homework from the series "One Month to Live". It was one of the hardest things ever. Especially since it was to my mother-in-law. I took alllll week to make the call. I finally picked up my cell phone when I was in the Safeway parking lot and knew I had one day left. (Did you know that I am a professional procrastinator?) I ended up just asking if we could start our relationship over again and be friends. I felt like she didn't like me and I've been part of this family for 25 years. She told me she had no hard feelings against me but never could put her finger on what caused us to be like strangers. I didn't go into exact details because there are definite reasons but this wasn't the time to share. I just wanted to take that first step. So, we've turned the page and started afresh. We'll see what happens in the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law arena next!


• Results from my 100th post giveaway: The winner of the Starbucks' card is JyLnC! Congratulations to you and send me your snail mail address so I can get it in the mail! Thanks to everyone for sharing your gratitude thoughts with me. I am thankful for you.


• I have continued to workout every day (2x each day!) at the gym. While on the treadmill, I have my MP3 player on and have the fast inspirational songs turned up LOUD while I'm running or walking. (fyi: slow songs aren't very good motivaters!) I wrote earlier that I'm at 172 lbs and not liking where I'm at. However, one of the songs by Big Daddy Weave talks about that He loves me just the way I am! He's ever patient, accepting me, committed to the process of making me more like Him. He loves me just the way I am, not just when I'm good enough, not when I clean up my act, not when I cross the line for the thousandth times. His grace is enough.


• Siestas Memory Team. I was sharing with Melissa about the verse we're memorizing for these two weeks. I'd told her that I've been writing down a daily verse, too, and it was amazing what I'm being shown each day. She posted this on my blog "The Word of God can really cut deep into our lives, can't it? After all, it is 'sharper than any two edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow: it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.' Hebrews 4:12" Thanks, Melissa, for sharing that verse with me! Exactly where I'm at....thoughts and attitudes.


• I think that's the bits and pieces of my brain today. Mr. York and I are headed to watch the Whitworth University men's basketball team take on Pacific Lutheran Univ tonight. It's Alumni Night so I'm excited to see friends and root on my favorite team! Go, Whitworth!!