The Challenge is on!

As some of you know... Steve and I are having a weight loss challenge. (if you've seen me in the last few years... you've seen me get quite large!- it's okay... I know it... but I'm working on fixing it!).





Anyways... the contest is whoever has the largest percentage of weight loss wins. Yes, girls, I did agree to this bet! I've had lots of people tell me that I shouldn't have because Steve is a guy and will lose weight faster. But, that's okay... I am still doing it. So, here's the deal... we weighed in on January 5th and the challenge lasts until April 15th... yes, tax day... that's how we remember it! The wager: If Steve wins... I have to cook dinner for 7 nights in a row. Now, some of you are thinking... "so what, I do that already" or "that's nothing". Well... if you know me, you know that #1, I HATE to cook!!! #2- I CAN'T cook! I only know how to make a few things. So, for me... this is TORTURE! YIKES! If I win... Steve has to take dance lessons with me... like country or something to learn the twists, turns, things like that... not line dancing! He HATES dancing. I try telling him that if he knew how to dance, then he would enjoy it.





Here's an update on where we are at... Steve has lost 27 lbs and I have lost 20 lbs. Percentage wise... Steve is beating me too! That's okay though... I'm loving my clothes getting too big and having to drop to the next size smaller!





If you're wondering what we're doing to lose weight... I'll tell you. Mainly, we're just watching calories. We are eating 1500 calories a day. Lots of people ask us, "are you cutting carbs, sugars, fat, or anything?" When we started the diet, we said we weren't going to do that because we've tried those kind of diets and they worked only for a short time. However, we soon learned that in order to keep a 1500 calorie/day diet... you CAN'T eat most of that stuff. It's been VERY enlightening as we've counted out EVERY calorie! It's kinda funny... before I eat anywhere, I go online and look at their nutritional information so I know what I'll be eating. If I can't find it... then I have a chart that lists just about all foods and I look up each food item individually. What's crazy is when we look at the calorie count on what we used to eat in a day... HOLY COW! No wonder I gained so much weight! (here's an example... we went to Chili's. I used to eat a Grilled Chicken Sandwich w/ French Fries... that alone-- not counting honey mustard or the tea-- was 1100 calories! Steve would eat the chicken fried steak w/ sides, toast, and gravy and it was 1890 calories! YIKES! That was just one meal! Now... in an entire day we only eat 1500 calories! WOW, WOW, WOW!!!!





We also exercise on the elliptical machine... Steve is WAY better at the working out part. I am still not very disciplined at doing this.





All this to say that this is now becoming our lifestyle. This is not something that when April 15th gets here that we're just going to throw down the drain. It's amazing what it's done. This might sound funny to some people, but before we started the diet, I was nervous as to whether or not I could do it. Most of you know that I'm quite the picky eater! Well, as part of my prayer I prayed that God would change my taste buds. And... He did! I eat some things that I would have never eaten before. Now... there are still some things I still just don't like... but, I'm better!





So, my challenge for anyone who is wanting to lose weight or just to get healthy... is to count your calories! Steve and I still have a hamburger every now and then... but we split it and the fries. And... that will go in our calorie count for the day. So, we know we have to eat light calories the rest of the day or something. Anyhoo... just letting you all know! It's changing our lives and I challenge others to try it out!

A relationship with Jesus Christ... can't live without it!

This past week our family went through a tragedy. We got a phone call on Easter night that my 9 year old cousin (3rd cousin) suddenly died. Twelve years ago, this same family lost their first born child, Sloan, at age 8. I have really been struggeling this week with all of this in my mind! I just don't understand how this could happen... but one thing that I am CERTAIN of and NO ONE and NO THING can ever take this away from me... and that is that God is GOD and He is in control of all things. I know He has a purpose for everything and His name will be glorified.

This is a time when a Christian's faith is tested... and some non-Christians are drawn to the Lord and they begin a new journey in life by having faith in Jesus Christ. What an awesome God! Using something like this to draw people to him! Please be in prayer for this family and our extended family as they greive. Just pray that we are all reminded of God's love and pray for His peace to pass all understanding! Please also pray for family and friends who do not already know the Lord and have that relationship with him... that through this... they accept him as the Lord and Savior and begin that relationship with Jesus.

Favorite Moments Part 2

Here's a continued blog of some of my favorite moments...

*** In January, Steve and I went to Newport Beach, California for the ALS National Conference with Steve's job. All I can say is WOW!!! It was BEAUTIFUL!!! I've found one of my new favorite vacation spots. Although it rained 3 out of the 4.5 days we were there... the one day that it didn't rain was so gorgeous that I'd go back in a heartbeat! In fact, I've got to go back because I never got to see the ocean. I attempted to walk to it one day while Steve was at his conference. The lady who gave me directions TOTALLY did not know where she was going. I walked for about 2 miles and got to Pacific Coast Hwy... but could not see how to get to the beach. I ran right into a subdivision of houses! I finally turned around and walked back to our hotel with no luck in getting to see the beach. Later that night, Steve and I tried to find it by going a different direction. It grew dark on us and we were afraid it was about to rain... so, we too turned around and went back to the hotel without ever getting to the beach!

This is a view from our hotel room. (there was a golf course right below. In the back ground... those mountains have snow on top!- you obviously can't tell in this pic. It snowed while we were in Cali... just not in Newport Beach)

I ABSOLUTELY did not fit in there though! I've never seen so many rich people in my life! I don't think I saw a "normal" car while I was there. Now, normal for me... a girl that grew up in a small town in Texas, went to college in small town, and now practically lives in Mexico... normal cars to me are Toyota's, Chevy's, Ford's, min-vans, trucks... etc. EVERY car in the parking lot of our hotel... and EVERY car I saw driving down the street was a Mercedes, Rolls-Royce, Infiniti, Jaguar, etc. Don't get me wrong, I've seen these cars... yes, they even have them in Burkburnett where I grew up... but... it's not the "norm" to see those and nothing BUT those kinds of cars!

Not only that... but across from our hotel was a mall called "Fashion Island". It's an outdoor mall. If you've been to the Shops at La Cantera in San Antonio... that's what it was like... only nicer! In fact, I walked over to the mall one day in jeans (nice jeans... not w/ holes or anything). I got over there and was WAY underdressed! I turned around and went back to the hotel to change clothes just so I didn't stand out! I put black dress pants on and a nice shirt... just to walk around the dad-gum mall! How crazy! But... it was a great experience!

The food... now that was an experience too! Every meal we ate (all of them at the hotel for Steve's conference) was eating something like you'd see on TV. Every plate was too pretty to eat! Even the salads! I mean, how pretty can you make lettuce look??? Whoever prepared the meals had to be artists... it was just beautiful! Our first night there, we had literally just gotten off the plane and to the hotel. We were STARVING. We went downstairs to the hotel restaurant to grab some dinner. Mind you, we're in windpants and t-shirts! We go in and it's dark in there... there are candlelight tables all over the place. So, we're already out of place in our attire. We look at the menu... holy cow! I can't afford the water! Just kidding... but, that's about all I could afford! LOL! We did have a wonderful... yet expensive dinner... $35/person! (just a side note for all of you that know what I like to eat... they didn't have bean and cheese burritos!). I had grilled chicken for every meal!

Anyhoo... I won't bore you with anymore details. I will just say it was awesome and I would recommend it to anyone!

Here are a few pictures from our hotel...

This is the view from the hotel restaurant balcony

Favorite Moments

Here are some of my favorite moments w/ my family, friends, church and of course... our baby... Briley!

I have to back track about a year with some of these pics... but it's still some of my favorite moments. Note... these are not in any particular order of my "favorites".

*** Since we live so far away from my family, we don't get many visitors. In fact, it's been a year since we had any of my side of the family down. My parents came down 2 weeks ago and it was great to have them here! So, needless to say, I cherish the times when my family comes to our house. This is when my family and Steve's family came down to San Antonio for Easter last year. They came to see our church Easter performance... here's a picture of all of them...

(front row: Brad, Shannon, Dad, Mom, Mallory. second row: Steve, Ed, Steph, Sherry, Ted)

*** We LOVE our church and love for people to get come visit and go to church with us. It's called Community Bible Church. It's a "non-denominational" church that is such a blessing to us. It's one of those churches that you can feel the Holy Spirit and you know that God is at work in our church! We are a mega-church... but don't have one of those mega-church pastors! (he doesn't yell and act all dramatic.) He preaches EVERYTHING that's in the bible... including things that a lot of pastors don't address... like pre-marital sex; that being "good" does not get you into heaven... but accepting Christ as your Savior and live a life following him does; homosexuality (yes, it's a sin); divorce; and GOSSIP (yes, that's a sin too!). His name is Robert Emmitt... as he calls himself... he's "the left-handed aggie"! Gig 'Em!!!!! He is truly a gift from God and knows how to preach the word of God in a way for ALL to understand! Here's a picture of our church...

One last thing regarding our church... Robert is known for his "props" or "illustrations" that he uses to get his message across. One time (and my parents happen to be in town to witness this) he swung out over the audience on a rope! I mean... he was standing on the stage, jumped out onto a rope that was hanging from the rafters, and swung right over our heads! It was great! Here is video of one of his latest stunts. He was doing a sermon on Faith. He talked about about how faith is like rappelling. You have to BELIEVE (in Christ/the rope), STEP OUT (and do what God calls you to do/ off the 12 foot ladder), and HOLD ON (to Christ/ the rope).... (I apologize for the sideways video, I don't know how to get it upright on here)...

*** Here's a video for all of my TX Longhorn lovers in my family....

**** We spent Christmas at Brad and Shannon's last year. Here is some video of Mallory imitating a sneeze. I love this...

***Another great memory is being there when our niece Autumn Olivia was born! It's fun to be in the waiting room when they come in and say "she's here!". I love being an Aunt! I can't wait to be a mom too... NO, I'm NOT pregnant... but some day soon hopefully!

Here's Steph, Ed, Zach and baby Autumn...

And here's an updated pic of Zach and Autumn... (thanks for sending it to me Steph)

*** Here's a more recent "favorite" moment. Steve and I went to the San Antonio Rodeo on Christian night! We got to see the rodeo (some of it anyways... Steve's allergies kicked in because we were only 4 rows up from the dirt. So, we got some dirt kicked up on us and all that dust (and horse hair- Steve's allergic to horses too)... it just didn't go over well with the allergies! We made a trip to the first aid room and got Steve drugged up w/ some benadryl. The reason for doing this as opposed to just leaving was because we wanted to be able to stick around for the concerts! We got to see Toby Mac and Jeremy Camp! It was AWESOME! Here's video of them after their shows.

The first one is of Toby Mac... he's the one in the blue shirt and black hat in the front of the back of the truck... you'll see what I mean.

This next video is of Jeremy Camp... he's the one in the striped sweater

Okay... here's the last one for now. It's of Briley. As you all know, we love going to the dog park. But, Briley is also a soccer player. We got her an indoor soccer ball to play with and she literally dribbles it all over the house! It's hilarious! Here's video of her when she first got the ball...

Proud Aunt and Uncle

Here's a funny video that I took at Thanksgiving. We were at my aunt Pam and uncle Dickey's house. My niece (Julia- Jason and Jenn's daughter) had been twirling and dancing w/ my cousin Kevin. This video is of her after she had been twirling for a while...

Here's video of Mallory one night in Temple. We went up to see Brad's soccer team play. After the game we all went to dinner (Brad, Shannon, Mallory, Steve's parents --Ted and Sherry-- and me and Steve). Well, after we prayed for our meal... Mallory kept wanting to pray. You can't hear her very well on the video... but she says "mnnmnm nmn nm nmn mnmmnmn... amen". PRECIOUS!

And here's some pics of my newest nieces. I don't have on of my nephew Johnathan yet :( ...

Here's Morgan Paige (Mallory's little sister)

Here's Autumn Olivia (Steve's sister and bother-in-law's-- Stephanie and Ed--daughter). I need some updated pics of her! This was the day she was born... November 3, 2007

Here's Zach (Steph's son) with his new baby sister...

Joining the Blog-Waggon

Okay... at the request of all of my family, I too am giving in to peer pressure! (wow- I thought I was stronger than that!)

I'm just warning everyone now... I'm not even close to being as creative and funny as my sister-in-laws and mother! But, ya'll want to know what goes on in our lives... so... we'll see how interesting I can make this!


I'll start by talking about our "baby"... Briley! Since we don't have kids, she's what we can talk about. She's a Golden Doodle and she is the best dog ever! (Briley's dad is a black standard poodle and her mother is a golden retriever). They breed these dogs for people with allergies because they don't shed. Here's Briley...

Every weekend we try to take Briley to the "dog park". It's the best idea ever! It's free and it's entertaining. Not only that... but your dog gets it's exercise and is tired when you get home. Our first time out to the dog park, we learned exactly how it works. As soon as a dog comes into the gate, all of the dogs come to greet it! They greet one another by sniffing each others rear-ends! It's hilarious... here's a video of one time we took Briley...