I'm Back!!

Wow has it been a crazy few months. Most of you know that Trevor was in a car accident on 9/17/11. He was stopping at a stop sign here in Norwalk and was hit by a drunk driver at 9:45AM. He was heading to our bank and I started wondering why it was taking him so long. I then got that call that nobody ever wants to get from the Norwalk Police Department. The officer said Heather and of course since it was from Trevor's phone I didn't even realize that it wasn't Trevor's voice. I answer by going yeah you called me, he then says my name again and I was yeah what do you want. Oops. He then tells me his name which I don't remember and tells me Trevor has been in an accident. Of course I didn't want to hear it and I had him repeat what he said. At this point I am starting to panic because he says that Trevor was knocked unconscious and is in an ambulance and on his way to Iowa Methodist. I don't remember much of the conversation after this point because I totally blocked everything out. So of course I ask about my Escape and he says well it is being towed and it is not driveable. I really then panic because OMG Trevor is in an ambulance and my car is not driveable. I hang up and immediately start looking for Trevor's truck keys. Now if I would have stayed calm I would have known that Trevor always leaves his truck keys in one certain spot. I then call Trevor's parents and I really did try and stay calm while talking to his mom but that didn't happen either. I broke down and was crying. I thank god almost every night that I still have my husband and my family is still together and that he only suffered minor injuries for the most part. He still has headaches which he never had before and his back is still hurting but he is alive and I am happy for that.

Now, my close friend Rhonda called me toward the end of September and more or less begged me to join Farrell's with her. So I went to Orientation with her and decided that I would do this with her. Now if I make a promise I try my hardest to follow through with my promises. I talked Trevor into joining with us and it has been the best decision I have ever made, well besides marrying Trevor and having my children. We have survived the first 10 weeks of Farrell's and I am so excited. I have lost 22 pounds since July, I have went down 1 size in pants and I am eating healthier. This is a HUGE accomplishment. All 3 of us have committed to continuing with Farrell's so we will see where I go from here.

In November I took a family vacation to Orlando, Florida with my family and my brother's family. It was so amazing. We of course planned out what we wanted to do and we did everything on our list. We started out by spending a day in St. Petersburg. We took a Dolphin Cruise and then spent the day at Madeira Beach. As we watched the sunset my brother took Jenny by the hand and walked down the beach and PROPOSED. Of course I had tears in my eyes but they were good tears. It was so romantic. We then spent 2 days at Disney World. OMG the walking was horrible but great at the same time. We spent our last day at Cocoa Beach which is on the Atlantic side. It was so much fun. We did body boarding which was fun but I did not like the outcome of one of the waves.

While in Florida I accepted a promotion with my job. I officially started my new position December 1st and it has been quite an experience. (good one though) I love my new job so far and I just know that I will succeed in this position. (Regional Area Supervisor) That's all I have for now. I did try and minimize so I hope this isn't too long for my readers!

The last few months!

So the last few months have been a little busy to say the least. I am going to start with my trip to Las Vegas in June. I went down for an Education Conference but also to enjoy some time with friends. I had a BLAST. We went to our meetings during the day and then we went out at night. Now we did skip one day of classes and we relaxed at the pool. Here are some photos: The first two photos are from the Opening Party at Mandalay Beach. It was so much fun. The last photo is Jackie and I playing a minute to win it game at the Trade Show.

Myself, Beth, Jackie, Mary & Shana



Felicia and I

 

Jackie and I playing a minute to win it game

So now onto the busy/crazy month of July. We took a trip to Minnesota in the middle of July with my brother and his family. It was a lot of fun and it always does good to just get away and relax. We went to the Mall of America which was fun for everyone. The kids got to enjoy the rides while the adults got to SHOP. We also went to the Science Center and walked through the King Tut Exhibit. That was amazing to say the least. We all enjoyed learning and looking at all the exhibits. The following week Trevor, Michael and myself all participated in the CIAA Golf Outing at Copper Creek Golf Course. It is always fun and of course very HOT. Then the following day (July 23rd) Baby Jameson was born. He was 6 weeks early and weighed 4 pounds 13 ounces. He now weighs 8 pounds 5 ounces. He is getting so big. I get to babysit him tomorrow while Michael, Jenny, Trevor and Bryce go golfing. (I am secretly hoping that they stay gone for hours) Enjoy the photos below:

Michael & His Golf Team

My Golf Team

 

Trevor's GolF Team and ICS Girls

 

Golfing

 

Michael Golfing

 

Trevor's Team



Michael & Jenny



Alexis and Mackenzy

 

Jameson Michael Leydens - 4lbs 13ozs



Jameson Michael on 9-3-11. He loves his dogs (slippers)

Jameson Michael

Ok so now for August. All of us got to enjoy the State Fair before school started up. I still can't believe that Bryce started 8th grade and Lexi started 6th grade. Before I know they will be graduated and in College. Trevor and I went to Austin, Texas so I could attend another Education Conference. Trevor relaxed the whole time we were there. We got to enjoy a few things while we were there though. We went to the State Capitol which was absolutely beautiful at night. We went to the Congress Ave bridge and watch 1.5 millions BATS fly out at sunset. Yes I said BATS. It sounds like it would be icky but it was something that you just have to be there and see it to understand why someone would even want to watch it. They all flew in one direction out to the city. The first night we were there we wondered why there was not any bugs. I guess we found out why later on. We also took another duck tour. This one was great. The tour guy talked about so much history and when we actually went into the water he went in full force and made one hell of a splash. I am probably really partial to this tour guy because he gave me an extra duck whistle to bring home to my niece Mackenzy. (I am sure she is driving mom and dad nuts with this thing) For some reason I think planes are against me. Every time I fly we run into bad weather. This time the weather was so bad they had to re-route us twice. I was so nervous. But we made it home and we were on time so it's all good. The last thing I will talk about tonight is the CIAA Board Night Out. I had so much fun with the colleagues that came. We started our night at Cosi Cucina for dinner. This was my first time eating here and it was delicious. We then got picked up by a limo. The driver had red carpet laid out for us. It was great. We then went out on the town and enjoyed ourselves. Enjoy the pics.


From the left: April, Beth, Myself, Jim & Shana

 

Jackie and I drinking a fish bowl from Blue Moon



Trevor and his duck whistle

 

Texas State Capitol

 

Me @ State Capitol

That's it for now.

Moving Forward

Well I didn't weigh in this weekend as I am adjusting to my new medicines. I have been extremely tired and still trying to understand why one doctor can find what's wrong with me but others can't. So just a little history over the past months/year. (maybe even longer)

I have been struggling with my blood pressure being high so I decided to start seeing a doctor through Mercy Clinics because I was not feeling the greatest about the doctor here in Norwalk. He immediately started me back on my thyroid medicine and then said we would monitor my blood pressure before deciding if I needed meds. After monitoring for awhile he decided to put me on a blood pressure/diuretic medicine for 6 months. In between these months I decided I better go back to my kitty (hehe) doctor since I had an abnormal pap the last time I was in. (years ago) I told her everything that had been going on so she scheduled an ultrasound and a pelvic ultrasound. Nothing much showed here. So I went for another check up with my regular doctor on Friday and told him that I was still having horrible pains, I have never had a regular period since I had my children but the doctors never really said anything about this, I obviously have struggled with my weight, and my list goes on. So the end of the story is that I have to stay on my thyroid medicine, he changed my blood pressure medicine and he started me on Metformin which will hopefully help me with my new diagnosis. He said that I have PCOS. You can go to this website if you want to know about PCOS.

http://women.webmd.com/tc/polycystic-ovary-syndrome-pcos-topic-overview

With all that said, I am moving forward. Things could be worse. I still have a wonderful family and I have wonderful friends that I know will help me when I am down and I am looking for an online support group to join. I am going to stay motivated to lose more weight and continue to eat healthy. What else can I do?

WLJ (Week 8 - 10)

Man have I been bad about posting updates. Being super busy should not be an excuse to just sit down and reflect what has happened or is happening. Especially when I only need to really do it once a week. Maybe I should set a reminder on my phone like I do for everything else. LOL.

Well since May 9th I have had my ups and downs. I have gained and lost. So I didn't weigh in the last 2 weeks because I felt that I had been very bad during the week. I had been eating out and even though I did eat veggies with my food (big accomplishment for me) I still felt horrible. I have been telling myself you need to keep exercising, eating healthy etc. but some nights I would just give in and tell the kids lets go eat. Isn't that much easier? Yes but it does not help my end goal.

Well today I decided to weigh in instead of waiting for tomorrow because I wanted to make sure and get back on track right away. Well holy cow I did a dance and I was fully clothed when weighing in and I still lost 4.9 lbs since last weigh in. So since I had gained in previous weeks it only takes my total weight loss since starting to 11 lbs. I think that losing on average 1 pound per week is good for me. Little steps and soon enough I will be celebrating much more.

Stay tuned..

WLJ Week 4-7 (Bad Month)

Wow it seems like it has been forever since I posted last. Well I can honestly say that this past month was a month that I don't want repeated for a very long time. I had a very busy work life and home life. I managed to fit 4 city(building) inspections, IFA inspections (all 13 buildings and apartments), employee changes, 2 weddings, track meets, ear surgery, CIAA meetings/changes and my normal day to day activities into ONE month.

So with that said I did not keep track of my food intake or my exercises the way I should have. I would gain one week but then lose it the next. Now I am ok with taking my time on losing this weight because I need to learn what I am doing wrong and how I need to keep off the weight.

This week instead of going into each week of gains and losses I am just going to say that since I started my WLJ I have lost 8.5 pounds.

I am starting this week with new goals and ending the week with going to Okoboji to see JACI!!!

WLJ Week 3 (Disaster Week)

OMG is all I can say about this week. I had a week from HELL and that is putting it mildly. The only quiet day I really had was Monday. Tuesday was horribly busy at work and to end the day a sprinkler head got broke off in an apartment. What does that mean? DISASTER. The apartment was flooded so we worked frantically to help the resident move her belongings so the water extraction could begin. So hoping that wednesday would be a better day was just a dream. We had another sprinkler head break and this time it was in the entry way which flooded 3 apartments, entry way, hallway and laundry room. Lesson on this one: don't let incompetent furniture movers from Aaron's Rental move furniture anymore. (well I can't stop that but at least they are paying for this disaster) So of course Thursday couldn't be any better. I had to get reports done so I could have my meeting. We had move-ins scheduled and we had to inspect 41 apartments. Well let's just say that by Friday evening I was ready to tell almost anyone where to stick it.

So with this horrible week I only managed to walk one night. I still tried really hard to watch what I consumed but I know some days I did horribly because I ate candy quite of few of those days for my sugar fix.

DRUMROLL... I still lost .9 lbs. This isn't much but after the week I had I will take anything.

WLJ Week 2

Week 2 was a lot better than week 1 by a long shot. I made sure not to go over in my calories this week. I walked 4.25 miles which is only .25 more than week 1 but I also exercised more this week. I walked buildings at work which is a huge workout, yesterday since it was so nice I played catch for a little bit, shot some hoops with the kids and also played Wii Bowling and I have been getting in some weights. Now, all this is exercise so everything counts for me.

DRUMROLL..... I lost 3.5 pounds. YAY..

Crazy Weekend

So I am posting again because I didn't want to include all this with my WLJ post.

We started this weekend by going Friday night and buying the rest of the supplies we needed to finish our 4th bedroom. Trevor and Bryce painted Friday night so it would be ready for carpet on Saturday. We woke up Saturday morning and started on carpet. Much to my surprise, Corey offered to come and help Trevor so it actually went faster than I anticipated. Of course Trevor let Corey do most of the work so it was Corey sweating and not Trevor. So we got all the rooms switched around on Saturday and then grilled some food and had some family out to join us. What a long day.

So Bryce woke me up this morning with this: Mom, Desi's parents are coming here at 11AM to talk to you and dad. So of course it is 10:45AM at this point so I jumped out of bed and brushed my teeth and hair and waited. Of course they didn't show up so I got myself all worked up for nothing. We then did a little shopping (NEW TV for my NEW OFFICE) and then came home and got ready for Hockey. After hockey my lovely husband got into the attic and set up my phone line so I could have internet access in the new office. THANK YOU TREVOR!! I got to talk to my mom tonight for about 15 minutes so I am happy about that too. Now it is 10:20PM and I am heading to bed.

Week 1 of my WLJ

I am going to start off with saying that I LOST 4 POUNDS this week.

Ok so now onto the story behind these 4 pounds. Trevor and I decided last week that since we weighed in on Sunday and really actually started last sunday that we would weigh in on Sundays. So I wasn't actually sure how I would do because I only walked 4 miles this week and I totally bombed one whole day. I ate at a breakfast buffet with Felicia and then we had lunch with Trevor at Jethro's BBQ and then we had pizza for dinner. Talk about going all out on one day. I have been logging all my food and drinks and it really makes me say to myself that oh I don't need that today. Trevor lost 1.4 pounds and he was a little disappointed once I weighed in but hey it was a loss and I am certainly proud that he lost and that we are doing this together.

My goal for this week is to exercise a little more and lose some more weight again next sunday.

Weight Loss Journey

Well awhile back I let all of you know that I was going to start exercising and eating healthy. I have been very committed to doing this so after talking with a friend I decided to go ahead and purchase some exercise equipment because I have never really liked going to a gym and I knew that I wouldn't in the future either. So over the weekend I went and purchased a treadmill and I have ordered a small version of an elliptical. That is just like a normal one except it doesn't have the arm thingys. I also downloaded a personal tracker on my phone so I keep track of all my exercising and food intake. I knew I could stay committed to exercising but I wasn't so sure I would be able to track all my eating but I actually really like it. It has my calorie intake at 1690 per day. It is actually a challenge for me because I go on it every time I eat or drink and I watch my calories. As most of you know I don't like to be beat at anything so my big challenge is to stay under in calories but still eat healthy.  I know that it has only been 4 days since I started but I am so happy with my progress that I want to share. I have been under in my calorie intake and I have been eating a lot of veggies and fruits. Fruits have never been a problem for me but veggies have. I actually find myself liking them and wondering why I haven't done this before now. I have also committed myself to walking 1 mile a night and once I'm more comfortable I will do more. I have met this challenge as well. I will keep everyone updated on this journey as I know at some point I will need as much support as possible.

Simple? Not Totally Sure!

Well there is so much I could ramble on about so I will try and just keep it simple. I have been a little down in the dumps lately between being very stressed out at work and dealing with the complicated family that I have. So I will start with work. I sometimes wish that everyone had the motivation that I have when it comes to their job. Some people are just plain LAZY. The next month or so is going to be quite busy for me and I am just hoping I will get through it with my sanity still in place. I have city inspections, IFA inspections, pre-inspections for all this, vacation, and of course all the daily and monthly things that I need to do for the property. OH BOY!! I am so thankful that Felicia will be there to help get me through this. :)

Things were going so great with my mom and the kids until last week. Now I am super sad and the kids are upset again. I honestly don't know how to deal with this or what to say anymore so I am hoping that any one of my friends will be able to help me through this or at least open an ear and let me talk, cry & whatever else may come out without judging. Just giving advice or listening would do a great deal for me.

Now onto the fun stuff... We leave Friday night for Texas and I couldn't be more happier. We decided that we would leave at night so that way the kids would (hopefully) be sleeping most of the time and wouldn't be asking every 5 minutes if we are there yet. We are ready for this break. We have a lot of things planned out with the kids so I really hope they have a great time. I can't wait to see their faces when we take them on the Duck Tour. I will have my camera ready and praying that I get a good shot. Of course I will fill everyone in when we get back and post lots of pictures.

Vacation And A Little Extra

So we finally decided on a place to go for Spring Break. TEXAS. We don't really have a reason on why we picked Texas but I think it is going to be real fun. We do have some friends that live in Texas so I am going to try and see them one night. We are driving down there so it will be a new scenery for all of us. The kids are getting excited about going too because they both were standing over my shoulder last night as I booked our hotel room. After I did that Lexi was like so what room are we in mom? So when I explained that we would get that when we checked in she was like couldn't they just give that to you now. LOL. I am ready for this trip as I love taking the kids to explore different states. Bryce and Lexi both like to explore different things so I need to find activities that they both will like. I have picked touring a battleship for Bryce and a Museum for Lexi. We will see if they like those ideas. I have given in and said yes to going on an airboat tour since Trevor and my brother want to do that. Please pray that we don't get eaten by alligators.

I have probably said this before but I am saying it again. I am going to be an AUNT again. I am so excited. It really hit home when my brother sent me a text of the baby on the ultrasound screen. I almost cried with happiness. I really hope he has a boy this time. I have been patiently waiting for my baby sister to get pregnant and am starting to wonder if that will happen anytime soon. Hurry Up ASHLEY! As you can guess I am very close with my younger brother and sister and would do anything for them.

Well that's all I have for now. Will try and update again soon.

Updates

Well I have finally made a real committment to lose weight... I went and bought a workout dvd and I am starting tomorrow morning. Trevor and I are going to get up early and start this journey. I am excited to get this going. We have also decided to commit to going to the gym 3 days a week until we are comfortable going more.

Our Trip: Well we are not going to TN in March but we have decided we will still do something when the kids are on Spring Break. We are trying to find a new indoor waterpark that we can go too. We found one in Burlington and one in Okoboji that look fun. We will see which one we decide. On another note, Trevor took 2nd overall in the Maintenance Mania so he could possibly be going to Las Vegas for Nationals in June. That would be so awesome.

Bryce's 2nd Hockey game was tonight and he played so good. His team won 5 to 3. He assisted in making a goal and did quite a few blocks. I am so proud of him. I have attached some photos. Bryce is number 6 and his best friend Austin Shaffer is number 7.

Everything!!

Well I just feel like writing today so here I go. The past couple of weeks have been extremely busy and tiring. I have been working with detectives so we could solve the case on the Molotov Cocktails that were thrown at the office. Now that they have arrested 1 person and are looking for the other 2, I can actually focus on other issues at work. I am excited that I will be going to the 2011 Education Conference in June which is being held in Las Vegas. YAY. There is 6 of us girls going from Conlin Properties and then there are a couple of other people that I know that are going too. It should be a fun time for all of us.

Now onto family... Bryce is getting bored with basketball because he hasn't had too many games. So he asked me if he could play Roller Hockey. Of course I want both of my kids participating in sports so they stay active so I reluctantly agreed. He actually started this past Sunday @ Skate West which was fun too watch. He really likes it which is good too. He plays goalie this Sunday so I am excited to watch him play.

Lexi then breaks it to me this past week that she wants to QUIT band. This really surprised me because Lexi doesn't quit anything. So when I asked her why? She said because she is BORED. I can totally see that because Lexi needs to be challenged at all times or she does get bored. So with that being said, I signed her up for a traveling softball league this past weekend and they are actually going to start practicing indoors in February. How exciting!!

I save the BEST for last. HEHE.... Trevor and I are going to Bristol, TN in March for our 14 year anniversary. It is going to be so much fun because we are traveling without the kids plus Brea and Mark are joining us on this trip. I can't wait. I can't believe we have been married 14 years. It has been a long bumpy journey but I am looking forward to continuing this journey and beginning new chapters of our lives. I mean the kids are growing up so fast so soon they will be off to college. OMG. I can't even believe that Bryce is a teenager and into girls now. So we have been talking for the past year about renewing our vows in 2012 since it will be 15 years and at dinner last Saturday Brea and Mark had a great idea; why not renew our vows while on a cruise or vacation? So my plan is to book a cruise in 2012 and have some family and friends join us.

That's all I have for now!!

Staying Positive

Well another week has gone by in 2011 and I have nothing negative to say about it. I had a very busy week at work but there were such great rewards at the end of the week. I ended my week with enjoying some martini's at Gino's with friends. I then went Saturday morning and changed my hair color to dark chocolate with blonde highlights and then I enjoyed the night with the family watching a Des Moines Buccaneers Hockey game. I ended my weekend at an Iowa Energy Basketball game with Trevor, my brother, Jenny and Dan and then we took the kiddos to dinner at On The Border. WOW. What a long week and weekend. I really did enjoy every last minute of it though.

I don't have much more but I am looking forward to another busy busy week at work, another great week with the family and then I will enjoy my weekend catching up with a friend and then watching Bryce's first Hockey game...

New Beginnings!!

Well I had a wonderful weekend.. I haven't said that in a long time so it feels amazing to be so happy. I spent saturday with my close friend Heather. We started the day out by dropping off Bryce and Austin at the skating rink. We then went to lunch and shopped for a little bit at the mall. We picked the boys up around 6 or so and then met up with Trevor and Lexi and headed to the Monster Trucks at the Wells Fargo Arena. I explain this because Heather and I haven't spent anytime together in a long time. It was so nice to spend the day with my friend. I made a New Year's Resolution to stay in contact with my friends so I feel like I have started this year out just right. Now I just need to continue to stay in contact with all my friends this year and hopefully I will continue to feel amazing.

So I signed Bryce up to play roller hockey today. He is so excited to start playing and of course I am really nervous. I am nervous when he plays the full contact sports because he could get hurt. I know deep down that it is part of being a boy and part of playing sports but worrying is part of being a mother. So sometimes I think to myself that boys are so hard to raise but then I have the same worries with Alexis. She tells me tonight that she wants to play softball but she wants to play soccer too. My first thought is well they both have balls that could hit your face or you could slide and break something. I know I shouldn't use a friend's experience but how can you not think about a little girl getting her jaw broke by playing softball? I mean that's a huge deal!! So I guess I will just bite my nails and keep my mouth shut while both Bryce and Alexis play their sports this year.

Toast to a wonderful 2011!!!

1st week of 2011!!!

WOW.... That's all I can say for the very first Monday of 2011. I got to work at 8AM as usual to find out that someone tried to start the leasing office on fire. So all morning I got to work with detectives and go through the security camera footage to see what happened. A day like today makes you wonder why you are in the profession that you are. I really like the Oh Yeah feeling like let's take these idiots down but then once everything settles down, you really think man someone could have got hurt. Now it is up to the detectives to figure out who and why!!

So I was reading another blog yesterday and she talked about whining, annoying, irritating and pet peeves. I thought about myself when reading this blog and thought OMG it is not just me that has all these little irritations/pet peeves like men pissing on the toilet seats instead of lifting it, (it even happens at work, WTF) people whining about things they can change, (change your problem and it will go away). Before I go any further let me clear a few things up. Yes, I am aware that I have whined before and will do so again. Yes, I am aware that makes me a hypocrite. Show me a person that isn’t, in some way, a hypocrite. Also – there is a difference between whining and crying, whining and venting, and whining and confiding. So when your venting or confiding in someone and you feel like you just received a lecture from your mom when all you wanted to do was get it off your chest, they are probably a hypocrite. So many people feel like they are right all the time and will confide in you and possibly even vent about the same person or same thing but when you want too they make you feel like the bad person. So I say confide in and vent to someone that will understand so you don't feel worse. I think children are the biggest whiners. They are always I want this, but why, please can I get this, can I have this, but it wasn't my fault. Will this generation or the future generations ever take responsibility for their actions? If I did half of what some kids do today I would have had a belt across my bottom. Sometimes when I am in the store I just want to take the kids from their parents and beat them. I mean come on people, you are in public. Keep your children under control or keep them locked up at your own home.

So now onto something I really want to do. I was watching Income Property on HGTV on Sunday and they renovated this kitchen. All they did was sand, stain and put new hardware on these cabinets and it looked like they spent thousands on new cabinets. I really want to fix up my kitchen but I know that won't happen for awhile. Trevor's list just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I mean he still has to replace all the brick mold on the garage, (which has been sitting in the garage since summer) we have to finish the 4th bedroom off of the family room, we need to finish the laundry room and now I want to add kitchen. Holy crap I may have a normal house in 10 years. LOL

As you can tell I am really loving this blog thing. I will post again soon..