Skinny Friday: A ray of sunshine

My weight-loss quest has been bleak at best lately. I just couldn't get past my manic need for large quantities of all things unhealthy for me.

This week, though, while I did not stay on any kind of a diet and only exercized once, I actually have results to post! Hallelujah!

Krista's Skinny Friday Results:

Week: 2 pounds skinner
Total Skinny Friday: 6 pounds skinner
Total Weight loss since August, 2010: 17 pounds

SO yeah rah for 2 pounds!

This came mostly with "doing" more around the house, and not snacking nearly as much as I was. I think this was just my bodies initial shock to not quite so much food! But, I'm hoping/praying I can get on a roll and keep lessening that food intake, doing more, and eating a little better. My goal is to get back on the "roll" I was in last year when I lost my initial 15 pounds.

The keyword for this week is: SELF-CONTROL.

I teach it to my kids, but it's SO SO SO hard to teach it to myself.

My daughter once told me, "I can't help it if I hit my sister. She just makes me so mad and my arm just hits her."

This led to a discussion about the choices we have in life, and how no one "makes" us do pretty much anything. We have self-control, meaning we control our actions. It also was a good discussion about sin and how having Jesus breaks the power sin has over us.

Back to weight-loss. I'm trying to remind myself that I have POWER over my eating habits, over my exercise habits. They are choices that I make, and no one MAKES me down a 2 liter of Coke in a day (only slight exaggeration...)

And really, this can be applied to all areas of our lives. Not just weight-loss.

But worry.... and spending habits... and cleaning habits... and a whole lot of other things that we (read I) have issues with.

Now, let's all sit down in a circle, hold hands, and hum really loud to bring out our inner skinny people---

Or, just eat less and do more, kay?

Or.... you could take to eating shoes instead of food like Annabelle... (see picture)

So, how did YOU do this week? And what are some things you can try to muster up some self-control and conquer this next week?

Readjusting and Situating

We've been doing some readjusting around the Phillips' household.

It is called, "Trying to Keep Sane."

I usually don't like to make a lot of changes in habits at the same time. It gets overwhelming. But as a family, we've picked up some bad ones and haven't really gotten into any type of acceptable "groove" since being "reunited" last summer.

So what have we changed?

Well, we moved the kids rooms around. It's not a perfect solution, but it gives them a little more breathing room (and the ability to actually CLEAN their room, which was almost impossible before.)

And we've implemented a new snack-time procedure in our house, as our previously this was a source of yelling and fighting. We now have a "mommy picks it out and you eat it or go hungry" policy. They don't mind this, since if I forget to set something out, they get to have whatever they want per our new rules. They are banking on me forgetting... but I'm thinking broccoli sounds good this afternoon... MUHAHAHAHA!

Homework is another change we've made. Grades have been slipping a little around here, and our scattered homework time is largely to blame. So, instead of after dinner, homework will now be done immediately after coming home.

Less you think all the changes are about my kids, the last change is one for me.

I'm still anti-schedule for myself. I know I would fail at it, and given annabelle's billion appointments, keeping a set schedule is virtually impossible. Instead, I am setting a goal to get ONE THING DONE per day. Previously, I'd make myself a list of like 10 things I wanted to get done, and I'd do none of them because I'd get frustrated when time slipped away. So far, my new method is working decently.

Monday I cleaned my room which I hadn't done in ages. (It was bad. Trust me.)

Tuesday, I cleaned Lacy and Gabby's new room. It had yet to be cleaned/organized since we moved them, so the floor was completely covered with their junk. They were pretty amazed when they came home, which made Momma smile.

Today, Annabelle's room is my goal. Wish me luck!

So, those are our major changes. I have more changes in my head, but I figure that's enough habits to work on for now! WISH US LUCK!!!!

And a little video for your viewing pleasure... someday I'll take one that is better than the blurry video on my phone!! This is Annabelle playing with her toy at OT.

Annabelle and her glasses

So far, we've averaged about 10 minutes a day for Annabelle's glasses. I haven't tried patching yet, hoping to get her more used to her glasses first before I introduce that!

I'm a little more okay with it today. Just had a nervous breakdown on Friday, me thinks. Glasses aren't the end of the world, and they are totally normal, this I know. I have two other kiddos in glasses, and myself, and my hubby. We keep eye centers in business!

Still have no clue how to make her keep them on for more than a second. Those ten minutes are with me sitting with her and putting her hands down every two seconds to keep from taking them off.

And when she sees me coming with them, she cries and crawls the opposite direction! She is one smart cookie!

But anyway, I promised pictures, so here they are!

Trying on the store's pair. Holy every-lovin' terror.

The teacher look. "Mom. Get. Them. Off. Now."

Maybe if I close my eyes long enough, they'll disappear...

Crap, they're still there. Didn't work...

And this is just a cute picture. Annabelle and I went to our first "play-date" on Friday morning. She came home, I put her on the floor, she laid down immediately, and fell asleep. Play-date tuckered her out!!!!

Glasses Suck (and a mini-skinny friday update)

Skinny Friday Update: I failed. It was a bad week. I'm about even or up a pound.

Bootstaps: pulled up.

Operation: Do better next week.

As a side note, my husband is doing amazing. Putting me to utter shame. Gotta get my A game on and beat him!

Yucky note:

Went to the eye doctor yesterday. Annabelle has to have glasses.

We also have to "patch" one eye two hours a day.

Hmmm... YOU try putting a patch over an 18 month old's eyes for 2 hours a day and wearing (on top of the patch) glasses on the same face that had tubes out gallore this past year and she is sensative about and lets NOTHING near.

Yeah, this is not good. Not good at all.

I know she needs it. I just...

I'm mad. Okay, maybe not mad. But irritated. At God.

I just want to scream, "REALLY???? You don't think she's been through enough???"

I know. It's dumb. It's just glasses. A ton of people need them. It's not a big deal.

But I'm struggling with this. I cried in the eye-glasses store today (right along with Annabelle.)

And I'm overwhelmed. I LOVE being home with my Annabelle, but between meds and feeds and doctors appointments and therapies not to mention taking care of my other three kiddos, my writing, and trying to keep up with the house (which I've been utterly failing at...) I'm now adding wrestling daily with my daughter to keep glasses and an eye patch on.

Oye.

Okay, I'll stop complaining.  because really it's not about me that I'm frustrated with. It just hurts my heart to have to add this to Annabelle. She's adorable, glasses or not, but it just feels like this foreign "thing" that is scarring her face when we are finally "thing" free after having "things" invading her face for so long (i.e. ventilator, NG tubes, oxygen cannula...) She hates anything on her head/face. And I'm adding more for her to hate.

It's for her good. I know, I know, I know. She'll be able to SEE (and considering her seriously bad vision, it's questionable how much she's seeing without them, the girl has some serious blur going on!) and seeing is a GOOD thing.

But... yeah.

I promise, I'm done complaining this time.

Pictures to come on Monday. As soon as I get her to keep them up for more than 2 seconds....

Random things... (and cutie Annabelle pics!)

Random thing #1: Overdosing on hand sanitizer = my hands resembling that of an alligator. It's what you get when you have an immune suppressed child in the house! I think it must be a brand thing... at the hospital last year my hands got a little dry, but NOTHING like they are with the stuff I use at home. Do they make moisturizing hand sanitizer (that I can afford? ha!)

Random thing #2: Annabelle stood up for TEN MINUTES STRAIGHT today. Not without holding onto anything, obviously, but I propped her up to a toy and let her go, with the TV blaring one of her favorite shows on PBS. She batted at that toy and giggled at her show for 10 whole minutes. Yes, I timed it.

Random thing #3: I have 10 picture frames placed at various parts of my house (some even hanging on walls...) that have no pictures in them, or pictures of someone else's family (i.e. models...) Why you ask? Well, because I haven't taken the time to print off the pictures I have planned for them! Time, time, whereforart thou time? (although, one of those frames has been displayed in my living room for years... so I guess that just points to laziness more than anything....)

Random thing #4: I just ate a Hershey Kiss... and am dreading my "come to Jesus meeting" scheduled for Friday... (aka SKINNY Friday blog post where I have to come clean on how not good I've been doing!)

Random thing #5: I tried to take a nap today, a very very very rare thing for me. I laid down for over 2 hours and barely dosed. I got up feeling worse and more tired than when I laid down. Mommy=not-pleased!

And those, my friends, are my random 5 things for the day.

Any random things you want to share today???? Totally off-the-wall stuff is welcome!

Fun OT times = eating beads and playing with the John Deere toy! (she had the beads hooked on the one front tooth she has!)

Man, this John Deere thing is HILARIOUS!

A little blurry... but she's swinging sitting up! She wasn't a huge huge fan... but then we put her on her belly and she was good with that for a bit. We were trying to get her to hold onto the ropes but she was like, "Heck no, get me OUT OF HERE." ha!

Marketing... huh?

It is 2012.

THE YEAR MY BOOK COMES OUT!

AHHHHH!!!!!

I've officially entered a new era in my path to being a published author.

I'm starting to get my head wrapped around the whole concept of marketing my book.

*gulp*

I have a love/hate relationship with the word marketing.

I LOVE the thought of being able to get my book into the hands of readers. It's an author's dream to have people read their story. It's the purpose of all those sleepless nights listening to characters talk in your head and the subsequent sleepless nights trying to perfect the prose during editing.

But marketing a novel, for ME, is personal and scary. I keep trying to tell myself, "It's just business" but writing a book comes from a really deep part of you, so it's about as personal as it gets. What if no one likes it? What if no one buys it? What if people get annoyed when I tell them that I wrote a book because they think I'm this big selfish dork and just wish I would go away and shut up already?????

So finding ways to tell/convince/bribe/beg people to buy my book... (that won't make them run for the hills...) yeah, it's hard to wrap my head around.

Yet, I know I have to. Because I must have my book's name, and subsequently my name, into the ears of as many people as I can so my books can sell so publishers will want to publish more books of mine.

In looking at this big M word, I remind myself the REASONS I'm doing this for the first place.

Which are:

~ Jesus told me to. Not in audible words, but the prodding was very real.

~ To be a light for Jesus. I try not to "preach" when I write, but rather let God's light shine through the life of my characters, to let them experience real life and struggles and work to overcome them. Jesus used stories as illistrations, and I believe he calls some of us to do so as well.

~ To make people smile. I write romance, which is smile-worthy right there, but I also write quick, snappy, light-hearted romance. My goal is to give a woman a break from everyday light and something to laugh with and smile about. Because we all need those laughing moments. It is great medicine, don't ya know!

~ To stay home. This is a new one for me. But I had to let my job go last year because I couldn't care for Annabelle and still work. Yet, it has caused an incredible strain, one we won't be able to keep going for the long-term. Writers don't make a lot of money, that is a well-documented (and complained about, ha!) fact. Yet my hope and prayer is that I CAN treat my writing as a business as well and be both profitable for my publisher and my family, and be able to continue being the at-home Mommy that I am loving to be!

So there they are. The reasons that I'm pulling up my bootstraps and embarking on this big unknown marketing thing.

My first step I took yesterday: I created an author page on Facebook! This way, I have a place to hang-out with future readers, and update about all the latest steps in my writing journey. I'll still update here... but you'll "hear it first" on my author page! I'll also post links to any interviews I do there, and other cool links that I find that readers might be interested in! I don't completely have it all figured out yet... but if you'd like to "like" me... you can do so by clicking here!

Discussion: Any marketing tips? Anyone? This is coming from the Mom who fails at selling girl-scout cookies with her daughter...

Anna Reese has hijacked Skinny Friday... Prayer Request!

Skinny Friday will resume next week at the regularly scheduled time.

This week, Anna Reese is more important!!! You may or may not remember, but Annabelle's best friend is Anna Reese, her heart-buddy in the hospital who was there almost the whole time we were there. She was the one who would go back in the hospital, only to have Annabelle follow her days later (and visa versa!) We joked that they just were trying to find a way to play together!

Well, Anna Reese, against the predictions of the doctors, has been doing FABULOUS at home these last months and we are just tickled pink about it!

Today, however, she is back at Vandy having a heart cath to check up on things and determine some next steps, as her heart status is a super super complicated one.

They anticipate it being super routine, with only an overnight hospital stay, but nothing has ever been routine with Anna Reese in the past (remind you of a certain Annabelle we all love??), so just asking for your prayers this morning for this precious little girl who is so near and dear to my heart that she might as well be my own! (I'd have to fight Melissa for her though... and I'm fairly sure she'd win!)

Annabelle and I are going to go visit them later today after she is out of recovery, so we're pretty excited to see our friends!

Thanks so much in advance for your prayers for our heart friend!!!!

Anna Reese: Girl, come on! Smile for the camera! We look fab!

Annabelle: I'm going for the mysterious look... you know, like that Gerber chick does.

Anna Reese: Gerber chick... that was hilarious. You crack me up, Annabelle!

Annabelle: *Giggle* No prob. Okay, now I'll smile for mom. Maybe she won't try to shove that gooey stuffin my mouth if I do... what do they call it again?

Anna Reese: Oh, food? Yeah, I've heard of it. Not a huge fan. Blah.

Annabelle: I KNOW! Right? Goofy people. Don't they know that's what belly tubes are for?

Anna Reese: Girl, you're so right. They are so old-fashioned.

Annabelle: The gtube button will catch on. We're just cutting edge, that's all.

Anna Reese: Cutting edge, I like that! Well, gotta go. My mom is making me to go yet another doctor's appointment. *sigh* I humor her. Cya girl!