Happy Thanksgiving to ALL

Wow! It'a already here, which means Christmas is soon after! That's ok though, 'cause I really love entertaining and decorating and getting the girls all dressed up. How fun!  I had yesterday off, so the girls and I cooked and baked. We made these chocolate covered pretzels with fall sprinkles....They turned out pretty good, except that I need to work on mastering my almond bark skills....I'm  a beginner baker/chef and I just can't get that stuff to cooperate with me, its always chunky, never smooth...Am I missing somewthing? Do tell.

Jenny S. my Enchanted Forest Ornament swap buddy got her ornies...I made them...Finding flying pigs out and about is not easy...Though, I am working on the 2nd part of her gift from moi...

Well, in case I take another week to take a minute to ramble, I hope you all have the most amazing holiday and the safe travels...XOXO

Holding On

Well, I'm still holding at 3 lbs.....Although, I havent made any extra efforts. When I get home and make dinner, do homework with kiddos, sew a little (if Im lucky or not tired), work and of course do my Farmville, I don't feel like exersizing and its getting darker earlier....I'm making excuses, huh? Well, Im hangin on...Again, the diary really helps and planning out meals.
SarahBeth  got her package from me for the swap. Glad she was excited. I was too! I can't believe this Saturday is swap deadline for the Enchanted Forest Ornament Swap...I'm working on it! I hope she likes! Then I have the SSS Swap, woo hoo to Georgie for being my most frequent commenter. Thanks, Girl. And thanks to you all who have stopped by and given me encouragement. You are awesome and I can't tell you how much it means to me!! Thank you!

Ok, holidays are coming up and I dont know about you guys but I am a thifty/bargain Queen!  Check out what will be part of my Thanksgiving table setting.
I found the black candle stands at a yardsale $2 for all 3, the wreath at Goodwill $.59, the glass pumpkin jar at Wal-Mart $3 & the pillar candles for $1 each at Dollar Tree~! How great huh? Ya know, it looks awesome espcially when I fill the pumplin with fall colored hershey kisses..... and didn't cost hardly anything and well, I think it looks great!

Anyone know of a good online source for bargaining and sometimes free stuff, other than Yahoo! freecycle and cheapcyle. Oh, are any of you members? If not, you must check it out. They have freecyle and cheapcyle Yahoo! Groups available for most areasm I think, just look for your county. Let me know if you need help and I can send you the link.
We're doing staff Thanksgiving at work tomorrow, Im bringing greenbean casserole...Yummmmmmmm....
Guess it's goodnight for now... XOXO
Oh wait.....I made this bag too, the other day!

Crafty

Well, it's been a slow yet busy week. I swear this diet is getting harder everyday! I'm trying, though..must...not....give....up...:oP I have no other comments on it tonight.

So, my creative side is reading my wonderful book from the book swap from SarahBeth. I love it! I'm making some Thanksgiving & Christmas nspkin rings from Ellen Medlock. She has some really great new stuff out. All DIY. Check her out! Here's some of hers. I'll get mine posted as soon as they're done.
This weekend is our 4th annual girls shopping day. My BFF Trish & I take Kim, a coworker's daughter out so far every holiday to do fun stuff and shop. She's very special to us. We just love her! Anyway, we'r taking her the WInnsboro Christmas in the Park? I think thats what it's called. Will be sure to get tons of pics and show you what we find. There's gonna be crafts!
What are you up to? Are you working on any holiday crafts?

1 Week Down

Wow..So, today marks one week of my lifestyle diet. I swear this has been the longest week of my life. It started off rough, then got good and now it's....IDK but it's hard to keep up on the weekends when everyone's home. But, I've been good.  I have lost 3lbs..It should be better,but hey, I hope to be down by 10 next week.  I have been having headaches still, IDK what that is all about. Probably my body freaking out about the change.  All in all, I think I can manage this. It's just being very concious of what and how much food I am putting in my mouth. The journal does help, too! So, come on week 2, here I come!

I took the day off Friday, and got so much accomplished. I stayed in sweats and no make up all day, while I cleaned and rearranged every single room in my house. Yes, I know, we have 12 rooms! But I am finally comfortable. Ya know, we've been here since April and it being a fixer upper, some things just ya know had to go the side or reside somewhere for the time being. It's still not finished, but I can put my furniture where I want it.  I'm pretty pleased. And of course, it's inspired a new desire for another decor! Don't you you just love being inspired. It's like an energy!
I made this bag today, for my book swap partner. It's going out in the mail tomorrow. Finally....
We'll see what the new week brings!
XOXO

Day 4

OMG! I hate day 4! I am an emotional wreck! I'm ok right now, but ordinarily I'm pretty tough and don't take things people say the wrong way or offensively, but today I sure did. I don't know why I was so vulnerable.  Maybe due to my lack of caffeine? I did quit cold turkey. I haven't had a Pepsi in 5 days. I feel like an addict. I guess I sorta am...'Hi, my name is Niki and I.....am a Pepsi-aholic' . Gosh, I hope tomorrow gets better. (I ate within my calorie allowance, so I didnt fall off) It's a good thing there aren't any Twinkies in the house...Just kidding...no, not really.
I got the book I ordered for my swap buddy, SaraBeth, so now I can get her package in the mail. (You're gonna love it, hope you haven't already read it!)

Although today was emotionally challenging for me to day..I have to say that all in all I am thankful for the important things in life, like my 4 wonderful, beautiful, fun and intelligent little girls and a husband who is just amazing. There isn't anything he can't or won't do, even dishes, laundry, cooking.......Thank You, God for everybody and everything you've given me!

Day 3 : Diet

It's getting a little easier.... I talked to someone at work and she said to do 300 calories breakfast, lunch & dinner then 3X 100 calorie snacks in between. Also, that breakfast can & needs to be bigger. I can handle that. So, today for breakfast was water & granola bar. Lunch, had a chicken teriaki from subway heavy veggies and Dinner a little more than I should have, but had about 3 cups of rice, chicken breast & broccoli casserole with cheese. Yumm! So, it's not terrible, although quitting Pepsi has been rough...
I made a friend from HS this bag tonight. It's so much cuter than the pic shows, but she's a new quilter and I am just so excited about that!
I'm making it short and sweet today. Talk to ya lata!

Day 1 down...Day 2 here I am

So, yesterday was the first day of our "lifestyle" diet.  I have to admit, it wasn't was I had expected. I woke up half excited and made breakfast. Not even an hour after breakfast I got this insane migraine headache that made me sick to my stomache and I just went to bed. After a 3 hr nap I still found it hard to snp out of it... But, I did snap out of it and was then wired for sound. I was ready to go. We took a ride to Lowes & Walmart with our oldest daughter. That was fun! I got home,  cleaned and started getting my sewing room straightened out for the shelves Hubby is putting up for me today. I'll be sure to take some pics when I post later.  Before I went to bed I excersized for about 10 minutes. Yeah, that was it. When you're out of shape 10 minutes is brutal. My calves were burning and I was outta breath.  IDK if this is normal, Hubby says it is, but I was doing arm reaches and as I reached to each side it was like I was pushing the air out of my lungs like a squeeze bottle. IDK, we'll see if it continues. I wonder if maybe it's the weight shifting against the lung. Who knows. Guess we'll see unless you guys know something. I really am ashamed of the shape I'm in, and again, it's not my weight really, it's just I'm so outta shape.
Today for breakfast I had a bowl of Raisin Bran w/ 2% milk and a glass of OJ. Lunch, salad & crakers...My snack is gonna be a banana. Trishy Poo (my bff) baught me some gum to occupy my mouth so Im not wanting to snack on all the Halloween Candy sitting around.
All in all, I KNOW, I can do this. I need to do this.  I'll blab at ya later and post pics of my sewing room!
Found this great recipe that I'm gonna try. Doesn't it look great?! MyRecipes.com is doing a cookie countdown.  I need to find a way to make these cookies a little "healthier". Hey, I understand I can eat, just in moderation, right? Anyway, just click on the link below the image to get to the recipe.

Yummy Cookies!