Starting off 2012 on the Right Foot

We are now 2 weeks into 2012, and although I haven't finished my Year in Review of 2011, or really set my goals for the rest of this year, I have made one decision that I hope will have a lasting effect in 2012. Last week I joined Weight Watchers with my friend, Chrissy. I have put on about 20 pounds since my mother got sick in August, and I had pretty much stopped exercising. In all fairness, I didn't have a lot of time or energy to devote to eating right and exercising, and my emotions were definitely getting the best of me.

Ok, hold on. While that last statement is the truth, it is a cop-out. The decision I made after the new year was not to make any more excuses. I decided that I was tired of eating my feelings and using any excuse not to take care of myself. I mean, seriously. How hypocritical was I?! I was treating my body like crap, and ignoring my mental health, all while blaming my parents for not taking care of themselves enough to still be on this earth!

It's not like losing weight isn't on my list of resolutions every year. In fact, getting healthy and losing weight were #1 on the list last year! I had a good start in 2011. I joined a gym, lost some weight, and felt a little bit better about myself. That all came to a screeching halt in the middle of August when my mother went into the hospital. From that point on I spent a lot of time travelling, grieving and trying to avoid my feelings. Food was my go-to mood enhancer. Well, not anymore! I'm using diet and exercise (Zumba and workout videos) to get back on track.

With Weight Watchers I am focused on every food that I put in my mouth. I'm learning to pay attention to portion size, and make better decisions about which foods I want to spend my points on.  I'm drinking a lot more water and I'm down to 1-2 diet cokes per day, which is a huge success in my book!

I guess we'll see how my choices translate on the scales. Tuesday is weigh-in day. My starting weight (and I can't believe I'm going to put it in print) was 184.2. Of course that's with capris, a t-shirt and a fleece jacket on. I'm hoping to see 180 lbs. on Tuesday! I worked out 4 days this week, and I intend to work out pretty hard tomorrow.  My ultimate goal weight is 145 lbs so I have a ways to go. Wish me luck!


Are you making healthy changes for the new year? I'd love to hear about it in the comments section!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

My Youngest Monkey

My three year old is chatter box. He moves easily from one topic to the next, asking lots of questions and giving long drawn out explanations for things. There are times where I'm not sure he is breathing between sentences.

We were in the car the other day, and this was the conversation that we had:






Him: Mommy, I need to have a birthday. I need to be 4.

Me: (Thinking this is because he knows we are going to Disney World after he turns 4.) Why do you need to have a birthday? What happens when you turn 4?

Him: I won't be 3 anymore!

He was dead serious.! I love what their little minds think up!

2011: A Year in Review - Top Blog Posts

I started the year strong, with lots of blog posts, but I had a huge lull from May to November. Despite that, there were some posts that stood out as the most visited. Here they are again, in case you missed them!

5. Chocolate Chip Irish Creme Cupcakes: These are some of the best cupcakes I have ever tasted!

4. Tuesday Tutorial: Cupcake Tower: I have now made several of these and they are a lot of fun!

3. Soccer Party Printables: Taking a queue from TomKat Studios, I designed my own soccer cupcake toppers and posted them as a free download!

2. Mickey Mouse Birthday Party: I made a cupcake tower, homemade cupcakes and lot of other Mickey shaped goodies!


1. Recipe Review: Cinnamon Roll Pancakes from Recipe Girl: I didn't even have time to take pictures of my final product, but this post was a big hit! The pancakes were an even bigger hit. My family went nuts over them!

Well, that about does it for my top 5 blog posts of 2011. Here's to an even better 2012!

2011: The Year in Review - Our Anniversary

OK folks, I'm not gonna lie. 2011 sucked! I could bore you with the details, but I have already written about the big things, like my job and getting through the holidays without my parents (I'm not ready to blog about my mom's death in August). Instead, I'd like to focus on the positive, which is one of my goals for 2012. So I'm kicking off a new mini-series of posts called 2011: A Year in Review. I'm starting with a big milestone that we hit this year.

In May of 2011 my husband and I celebrated 10 years of marriage. 10 years!!! We were supposed to go to Paris, but after having to pay taxes, instead of the getting a return, and waiting to buy our airfare until the prices were sky high, we had to go with Plan B. Went went to Walt Disney World in Orlando without the kids, and had a fantastic time! 

At Epcot

At Hollywood Studios

At Magic Kingdom

Our Anniversary dinner at Chip and Dales Harvest Feast in the Land Pavilion in Epcot

Our Anniversary card from the gang

Our gift from the House keepers! 

It wasn't Paris, but it was as close to a perfect second honeymoon trip as it could be! My husband and I are huge Disney dorks, so it was great to do all of the things that we never get around to with the kids! We tried to eat at restaurants we hadn't been to before (and found a lot of great ones too!), and see attractions that we hadn't seen before. Some of our favorites were the Lights, Motor, Action! Speedway and the Backlot tour in Hollywood Studios, and the Jungle Tour and Carousel of Progress in Magic Kingdom. Of course we did all of our forever favorites to like the Tower of Terror (which is so much better at night), Soarin', Thunder Mountain Railroad and Expedition Everest. 

We rode the Safari ride in Animal Kingdom with a celebrity:  

David Annable (Justin Walker on Brothers and Sisters) and his wife

and we were treated like celebrities:

In the Directors' chairs at Lights Motor Action!

All in all, it was a fabulous trip. It gave us some time to reconnect, and it gave my children 6 days of quality time with their grandmother before she passed away. It was a win-win! 

Our next trip is planned for October 2012 when we'll be going with one of my best friends from Vermont and her family. The 6 kids will range in age from 2 to 14, so it should be interesting! I am really looking forward to it though! We need our annual trip to the Happiest Place on Earth!