Still Eating Cookies

Well, I am still enjoying my cookies and diet pepsi. Haven't made it back to the gym yet. (See post below...) Partly because I've been battling a cold. (EXCUSE-I know.) I tried a new cookie recipe yesterday that I found on another blog. TO DIE FOR! They were chocolate cookies. There are variations on the recipe. You can add white choc chips, choc chips with mint chips- or the one I did. You wrap the dough around a Rolo and bake. YUM YUM! Nothing like a caramel center in a chocolate cookie- and so easy. If anyone wants the recipe then let me know and I'll post it and try and find the blog where I found it to give them credit.

So as for now I am adding calories instead of subtracting them. (I was always better at addition than subtraction anyway.)

Queen of the Catwalk

First of all, let me just say that I have never been surrounded by so many fake boobies in my life as I was in the gym on Tuesday. I think all the women must reward themselves with a new "set" once they get their bodies in shape. On the treadmill next to me was a lady with her nice set of "twins" (as Curtis Brown calls them) and her little sportsbra/tank shirt. Her incline on the treadmill was at a 10! I didn't even know the incline went that high. It was like she was hiking up a mountain. And she went for a full hour! I guess it was intimidating and I was determined to stay on there as long as she did so I walked/jogged 4.25 miles on the treadmill. It took me 60 minutes. I was proud of myself for enduring that long on there. Wednesday I returned to the gym with a burst of energy. I did the 4 miles- ten minutes faster than before- and thought "I'm going to go for five miles." I sped up the pace and was jogging and actually running. I had my Ipod going and felt great. I did the five miles and I just wanted to throw my arms up in the air and do a little cheer. Yahoo! I did it! I contained myself- didn't want to draw any undo attention to myself- AND I KEPT ON GOING! I guess I was on a "high." I did 6 miles total. I proved that I could do it. My Aunt Karen has been exercising and losing weight (60 lbs in like 4 months) and she started calling her treadmill "The Catwalk" because she felt so great on it. At that 6 mile moment I truly felt like the "Queen of the Catwalk." I don't know where I got the energy from. Maybe it was because I finally went and saw Twilight the night before. Edward Cullen was giving me some extra energy or something. :-)

The rest of the day was pretty much a waste because I was so exhausted. I felt a little better after a short nap and a hot shower. Thursday, I was back at the gym. My body was feeling it so I could only do 3 miles. The entire week I have watched what I eat and only had ONE diet Pepsi a day. That is huge for me! Then I get on the scale this morning and have gained a pound and a half! What the H***!!!! I just don't get it. I have been exercising about 3 times a week (sometimes more) for at least 6 weeks now and not one stinking pound is gone and my thighs still rub together when I walk. So, I popped open the can of diet pepsi and made some cookies. Cookies and caffeine makes it all better....there's always next week. I wish you could see results instantaneously when exercising. Walk a mile, lose a pound, walk a mile, lose a pound...... UGH.

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

The Monday before Valentine's Day, we had a family home evening lesson on love. I read a little story titled "The Love Drawer" from a past issue of the Friend and then we each made these cute door hangers out of paper plates. I challenged each family member to leave at least one note in each person's door hanger telling them something they liked about that person or a compliment, etc. They could also leave candy with it. The kids had fun decorating their valentine holder.

Valentine's morning I got up early and decorated the kids' bedroom door. I also hung up hearts and garland in the kitchen. We ate pink heart shaped cookies for breakfast and then made sugar cookies to take to a few neighbors.

That night Spence and I went out to dinner at Macaroni Grill with our good friends, Vicki and Dale. We were smart and made a reservation a couple weeks ago. Otherwise the weight was almost 2 hours! The place was packed. Then we went to the late movie and saw "He's Just Not That Into You." It was pretty good. Was a good show to see on Valentine's Day. Hope you all had a great day also!

Here's the conversation taking place in the background at the moment:

Claire- "Quinn, did you fart?"

Quinn- "No."

Claire- "Cuz boys fart a lot."

Quinn- "Well maybe it was Logan."

Short Conversations with Kids

Here are a few conversations I've had with some of my kids lately....

I was with Logan and walked by someone smoking and we both hated the smell of it. Logan commented on it so I took the opportunity to tell him all the bad stuff about smoking...

Me: "Smoking is really stinky and bad for your body. It makes your insides black and gross. It damages your lungs and makes it hard to breathe and can give you cancer which is a disease that makes you sick and can kill you. "(No harm in scaring them to death is there?)

Logan: "Well why do people smoke then? Do they WANT to get sick?" Good question bud.

All Claire has been watching on TV lately is TLC. (Learning Channel) She loves the baby shows- Baby Story, Bringing Home Baby. She also is addicted to Jon and Kate plus 8. This was her question of the day-

Claire: "Mom, what do you do at baby showers?"

Me: "You bring gifts for the new baby and sometimes eat and play games."

Claire: "Well, does the baby take a little bath or something?"

Me: (laughing) "No, the baby usually isn't born yet. You bring the gifts for the mom so she can be ready for when the baby comes."

Claire: "So the baby doesn't even get to watch?"

Geez- what a bummer party for the baby!


I was reading the other day and not really paying attention to Claire. She came up and started telling me this:

Claire: "Mom, Macy's little cousin had to go to the hospital the other day because he swallowed a polly pocket toy."

Me: (not really paying attention...) "Oh, really?"

Claire: "Yeah, they had to get it out of him."

Me: "Hmmmm."

Claire: "They had to cut off his foot to get it out."

Me: "Hmmm." Then it registered what she had said... "What? I don't think so Claire. They don't cut your foot off to get something out of you that is stuck."

The thing with Claire is she is really good at making stuff up and telling stories so I never know what is true and what isn't. Em- did your nephew really swallow a polly pocket and get his foot cut off to get it out? :-)


Oh- another funny moment was when I had picked up kids from school. We dropped off one of Nate's friends and Logan wanted to walk the rest of the way home. So he got out of the car and started running home. I was following in the car and started to roll down my window. At the same exact moment Nate did the same thing and we both shouted out the window "Run Forrest Run!" We busted out laughing that we would have the same thought at the same time. It was funny- guess you had to be there. :-)

100!

Wow. This is my 100th post. I've been thinking of something special to do for it. So I decided to do a "Jackie's Favorite Things." (You know- like Oprah....)
1- I LOVE my Toyota Sequoia. My favorite vehicle I've ever had. So go on- everyone go out to your driveway. I've given all of you a Sequoia!!!! Ha ha...I wish I could do an Oprah thing like that. My Toyota has 123,500 miles on it and we haven't had any major problems. Changed the battery once, tires, maintenance stuff like that. My favorite feature on it is the back window rolls down. I can roll it up and down sitting in the driver's seat. Love that feature- along with all the cup holders.... Sure, I'd like a brand spanking new one, but I'm happy with what I have and love it even more that it's paid for. :-)








2- I recently bought a new griddle from Costco. Best $25 ever. I love it. It's so convenient to just put it on top of the stove and turn on the burners instead of having one that sits on the countertop that you plug in. Seems my kids always got burnt with my old one. I can store this one underneath the oven with the rest of pans so it doesn't take up a lot of space like others. The flip side of is has grill edges to cook meat, etc. Get one!

3- My favorite hand cream is "Wish" by Lollia. (website) Love this line of products. Smells so yummy. I do have a box of this that I will give away to some lucky reader. Just leave a comment and I'll choose random from hat.







4- As most of you know I LOVE cookies. Could eat them non stop. (My thighs are witness of that.) I love the classic chocolate chip. Some that I love (also from Costco) are the Otis Spunkmeyer frozen cookie dough. So convenient to pop them in the oven and they are delicious. Also convenient when I'm craving cookie dough.



5- This favorite thing should really be number one. Diet Pepsi! My name is Jackie and I'm a Diet Pepsi addict. Face it Spence- I'll never give it up so quit bugging me about it. Only makes me drink more. An intervention wouldn't even help.





6- Another one of my favorite things is Trollbeads. My mom started selling them in her store. Lucky me! I love my Trollbeads bracelet. I can wear it with anything. Change up the beads, etc. They are kind of like charms- you can pick out your beads and make your own bracelet. All the beads have a meaning and are handmade. Price on the beads vary, but it is so worth it because you can wear it with anything.









7 - My favorite store is.... Costco! Big surprise. I love to buy books there along with clothes, food and seasonal items.



8 - My favorite thing to do to pamper myself is to get a FACIAL. Love them more than a full body massage. That way I can relax and not have to worry about what my body must feel like to someone rubbing my muscles (or lack of muscles). If you've never had a facial- treat yourself to one. Worth the money.




9- One of my favorite movies is "You've Got Mail." I love Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. Maybe I love it because of my memory seeing it in the theater. It was in December 1998 and I was in Oklahoma City. I was staying with Mike and Gayle, waiting to deliver Ethan. We were walking around the mall and they were having a sneak preview of the movie. I wanted to see it so much but they said it was full. We bought a ticket to a different movie but Gayle's sister, Paula, took me by the hand and said "You are seeing that movie. You are a very pregnant woman who wants to see it and you will!" So we went into the theater and she found me an empty seat in the very front of the theater. I thought it was such a cute show. Still love it.




10- I guess for my last favorite thing I'll say I love scented candles. I especially love the Banana Bread scent from McCalls candles. It smells so yummy and is a very "homey" scent. (Is that even a word?)

So there you have it- my Top 10 Favorite Things.

At My Whit's End

Help! I am really struggling with Claire these past few weeks- okay, months. She has been the best form of birth control EVER! I just don't know what to do with the little "brat" lately. (Did I just publicly say that??) I am so sick of her telling me to shut up and that she hates me. She gets violent with me- slaps, hits, kicks, throws things, etc. I spank back and it doesn't even phase her. No tears, nothin. Just a mean look on her face and she tells me how much she hates me. I just don't get how sometimes she can be so sweet and then- the devil takes over. I need some advice on how to nip this in the butt now before she gets to be a teenager. I put her in her room in time out and she will destroy her room, kick the door, etc. I have tried putting her in time outs in other places- like the corner, but it doesn't work. She has a mind of her own and will NOT stay. I have thought about taking away all of her toys- I think that's a Dr. Phil thing- but where in the heck would I put them all? Ugh- I just need some advice or ideas before I end up in the loony bin in a padded room....

7th Anniversary

Spence and I had our 7 year anniversary on December 22nd. Every year we shake our heads and wonder what in the **** we were thinking to get married three days before Christmas. I guess we just planned it around our families of when they would all be in town. Everyone remembers our wedding because it was the coldest day ever in Evanston. We all froze our behinds off. I joke with Spence and tell him "I always told you it would be a cold day in hell before I married you." LOL

We stayed the night at Inn on the Creek in Midway Utah. That is where we stayed for our wedding night. Spence surprised me and had candles in the room with a bottle of chilled sparkling cider along with rose petals on the bed and in the tub- just like our wedding night. It was very romantic. Dinner was excellent and very cozy.

Dear Spence,

I just wanted to tell you how much I love you and am grateful to have you in my life. I love that you are able to provide for our family so that I am able to stay home with our children. I think that it is so important to be at home with them. I love our children so much and hope that I can be a good mom to them.

One thing I love about you is your ability to give. You are one of the most giving poeple I know. I love that you always want to do what you can to help others out. It is such a good quality to have. I think it is such a good example to our children.

Another thing I love about you is your hands. You have strong, sexy hands that are so gentle. They are also hands that can fix or do anything. You amaze me in your knowledge on how to do things- from around the house to cars. You are so talented that way which makes me so lucky to have you.

I hope you know how much I love you. Thank you for knowing the importance of me needing time away from the kids and home, and also for believing in date nights. Thank you for watching the kids for me. Thank you for being romantic and for thinking of me. Thank you for your patience and for loving me.

Love Always, Jackie