Back from Vacation!

January 06,2009

Let me start out by saying Happy New Year to each of you and I pray that 2009 brings you much joy and many blessings from our Father above. I will say that it has been since the 17th of December since I blogged and I apologize. I went on vacation for 2 weeks and just got side tracked with other things. I got out of my daily routines and nothing has been structured. I even slacked off my weight watchers and have been eating as though I am having my last meal. Anyway, coming back to work has it perks. I am getting back into a routine and very much needed the structure back in my life.

I went to weigh in on the 24th of Dec. and lost another 3 lbs. Let me stop here as well. I've probably have put this 3 lbs back on and so come this Wednesday the "scales will tell." I did not weigh in the week of 31st due to being out of town so I will start back in on my weekly weigh ins this Wednesday. I look forward to dropping more pounds in 2009. I've said all along, this is a journey and with the journey comes lessons. Habits have to be formed and you have to allow yourself forgiveness when you fall. Its hard to understand why we indulge in addictive behaviors and we see the train wreck coming but do nothing to stop it. If I could answer the age old question of "why?", I would be the smartest person on earth. Why do we fall into addictive behaviors that only bring severe consequences? Like eating 5 small cheesecake desserts or 6 chicken wings. (I love chicken wings!) Its over now and the New Year begins with a Renewed Motivation! Lose! Lose! Lose!

My family had a wonderful Christmas Eve celebration and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. My mother loved her ring that all the children bought her and she cried when she finally got to the last box. We wrapped her box within boxes so she had to unwrap 8 boxes before she got to her mother's ring. She cried and laughed at the same time and it was well worth the wrapping to see her excitement. You can see from the picture above that she loved her present.

I also received an unexpected present for Christmas. My husband had also purchased a mother's ring for me as well and I love it. It has a beautiful emerald in the middle for Kelli's birthday and a cintrine stone on each side for Nick and Rachael's birthdays. It is neat how Nick and Rachael were born in the same month and made the ring look great! Jimmy calls me his queen now due to a message we heard in Sunday School (way to go T.W.!!) and I call him my King. He has been showing his appreciation to his queen and his queen saids, "Way to go King!"

Christmas Day was spent at my in-laws home and we had a great time of fellowship and food. Jimmy took me out Christmas night and we saw the movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons. I would definitely recommend this movie to the adults. It is a wonderful movie with an awesome story. Brad Pitt does a great job and it would not surprise me if he won an Oscar for his role as Benjamin Buttons. There is one part in the movie that really touched my heart and I burst out crying in the theatre. Everyone there probably thought I was crazy, but my husband understood exactly what I was feeling and took my hand to give me comfort. It is a very short scene between Benjamin Buttons and his real father but speaks volumes. It is truly about forgiveness and unconditional love.

Our trip to Gatlinburg was very nice. We had a total of 22 (including Little Miss Claire) and we had a wonderful time of fellowship with everyone. Claire behaved so well and really did a great job on her trip with such a large crowd. She is saying names now and I love to hear her try and pronounce them. She calls Rachael, Ray-Ray and saids Jimmy and An-gi. She really like Mr. Jimmy's gravy biscuits too! Jimmy and I had a date night and went into downtown Gatlinburg. It was very nice. We played lots of sequence and hats off to my partner, Kim! We Ruled!!

I also learned alcohol swabs are the greatest things for nausea. Stephanie kept one under her nose each time we left the house. (love you Steph!) GPS systems don't always recognize road names and never ever slow down for strangers walking in the road in the mountains, especially when they continue to double in numbers each time you come back!

The Grogan clan brought their wii fit and we played the hula hoop game. Everyone got a try at it and we played it so much, we possibly have broken the hula hoop game. (Sorry Ray & Jennifer)

We brought in the New Year with good friends and good food! We played games and welcomed 2009 with optimism but with some sadness at the departure of Jon Brown to his new job in Asheville. (We miss you already Jon Brown and expect to see you often!!)

And to the completion of this post, I say to my good friend, Jennifer, "did I do well on my paragraphs?" Ha.Ha. (look forward to seeing you at "rib fest")