A mish-mash of thoughts!

I've sort of fallen off the blogging train. But I still like reading your blog posts and I have so much to tell you ... my life is just SO busy right now, that I'm going to try to cram a few blog posts into one:

Good things are happening in our lives! My middle daughter, Sierra, will be leaving in a month to serve a full-time mission for the LDS Church in NORWAY! When the announcement was made in General Conference last October that Young Women could serve beginning at age 19, she hopped right on it and began the process of submitting papers that week. She just turned 19 last week and is so excited. And we're excited for her as well. Anyway, because this time came 2 1/2 years earlier than she expected, she hadn't been preparing financially for this - so she went into high-gear finding ways to earn money. One way was a CD of her 12 of her original songs.





She's a singer/songwriter and I'm really proud of her finished product. The CD sells for just $5 and is available through my paypal account denaleechapman@gmail.com or over my ebay account - just search for me. Please include shipping if you want to get one. And I'd be forever THRILLED if you wanted to help support Sierra in this way! (you may want to check out her blog: SisterSierraChapman) In preparation for her leaving, she's posting some pretty amazing things!

Next: Everyone in our home is losing weight and feeling great!!! I'm FINALLY back to the weight I was 5 1/2 years ago when we moved here. I'm only 5 pounds away from my ideal! My husband is now below 200 and the girls are right where they want to be too! Part of that, of course, is marathon training; part is the military diet I mentioned in an earlier post; part is just smart eating;


part is my new addiction to Wii Fit;


and part is this amazing bread that I've posted about before. My daughter-in-law, Caci, suggested adding Vital Wheat Gluten and it's made the bread turn out perfect EVERY TIME. Looks just like bakery bread, but it's 100% freshly ground whole wheat (and 3 T Vital Wheat Gluten).


WOW.

Next: I learned from a site I was shown from pinterest how to make photos into canvas prints (or at least, look like it) ... you know, those prints that cost $35 - $1,000,000 depending on the size? Anyway, I was asked to help teach the process for a gathering of women at a Relief Society Meeting, so I had to learn it first. Sierra and I practiced on these photos she took at a family reunion this summer:


So this morning (no work today! you wouldn't BELIEVE all that I'm getting done!) I made a canvas print out of this family photo (it's a 20x30):


One last thing before I get back to house stuff. I've recently been immersed in eBay selling (thanks Brooke! for getting me going!) HOLY SCHMOLY!


I've made almost $300 in 2 weeks! I'm addicted! This eBay is going to pay for a crown on my tooth (too much info?). YAY.

Oh wait! One more thing: My husband is going to work for a season utilizing his boat captain license on the Eerie Canal .. he leaves in just a week (WE'LL MISS HIM!) . So I'm spending today cleaning out cabinets, cleaning the carpets, ..... in prep to rent our home out for the summer. Azure and I will be following him to New York as soon as school is out.

Hope you're all doing well! Have a great rest-of-the-week.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

My Military Diet Substitutes

Ok. Bummer that a week after I started the 3-Day Military Diet (the one I lost 0.7 lbs in 3 days) I actually gained back 0.2 lbs. I know .. we're talking about minuscule amounts, but everything counts to me. So the rules of the diet are that you can do the 3 day diet, 4 days off, then begin again to keep losing weight. And it's not a horrible diet, so I'm back on beginning today. My body doesn't respond well to hot dogs or ice cream (even though it's SO yummy!) so I'll let you know how my substitutions go:


Salmon or Pan-Seared Tuna in place of hot togs and this luscious homemade blueberry or cherry "ice cream" in place of the real stuff. At 110 calories per cup, I'll either be eating twice the amount of ice cream assigned or I'll consume half the dessert calories. This is just frozen fruit run through the food processor with 1/2 can of coconut milk. Texture of ice cream - and SO DELICIOUS.


Besides gaining 0.2 lbs, I truly over-indulged this weekend. Brad and I celebrated our 31st Anniversary and a big part of that celebration is food :)








That's not to say we didn't celebrate in other ways as well! Brad surprised me with an overnight stay at the Monte Carlo. The best part of that was our evening walk in 70-degree, breezy Las Vegas to watch the Bellagio Water Fountains. SO Romantic!


Cross your fingers that 3 days from now I'm a couple of pounds lighter and healthier !!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad