Hump Day Update-Pumpkin pie?

The I phone doesn't take the best pictures but if you look closely there's frost on the grass! burrr!

So I did my weigh in today and weight is still maintained, a good sign but like I mentioned before I need to really cut the cals!

And of course knowing that I did not eat this pumpkin pie with a hot coffee this morning...

Ha! Ok I did! Oh it was so yummy too!

Some days I'm really good at watching what I eat, others I just binge! It's funny because now that I have been watching what I eat I can pinpoint exactly why I eat the way I do at certain times. When I'm stressed there is no controlling me, so bad huh. Not sure to how I need to address that, but I am aware of what I'm doing when I'm doing it so hopefully I can take baby steps to overcoming that.

This weeks goals:

Jogging 3 days.
Pedometer 2 days 10000
No carbs at dinner

I really try my best and minus the carbs at dinner and it's been working pretty well so far so I will continue that.... Except for tonight ahahh we are going to my inlaws house to watch a soccer game. They are from Honduras and they are playing a important game tonight. Hope they win!!

Thanksgiving long weekend

This weekend in Canada it was Thanksgiving and boy was it a busy weekend!!

I was able to buy pumpkins this weekend for only 1.99 each! I was happy because I was seriously considering not decorating at all this year. Now I just need to figure out what my Halloween costume will be... hmmm

We had 2 family lunches and I sorta watched what I ate. To my surprise I did not do so bad. :) One of my plates below, I have my Turkey and rice and veggies, pretty healthy I think :) and noo seconds either!

It's a gorgeous fall day today and all the trees have almost fully changed their colors. So pretty!

Hope you are all having a great week so far, I have to catch up with my blog reading today ;)

Don't forget to check out my lovely cousin and lovely sister blogs !!!

Hump day update - Peanut Butter

Today's weigh in is the same, once again no surprise there. :)
This week I started eating 4 crackers with peanut butter with a morning coffee. The boiled eggs didn't sit too well with me and I figure peanut butter is a good source of protein too. Also curbs my sweet tooth which is great. My exercise regime is going well and I'm doing a lot better in choosing healthier choices. However... I think...well I know... that I just consume much to much calories in my day. I need to cut calories!!! I haven't set any goals for myself since I am still working on my daily food journals to help me really pin-point my over eating. So next week I will have new goals to achieve and kick some calorie butt!

I read on many blogger friends posts about the new instant coffee from Starbucks and some of my friends recommended it. So last night I went and bought a package of 3 for $3.45, not sure what I think of this price in terms of drinking it everyday. If you buy coffee out everyday then this is a cheaper solution, but I usually make my instant Maxwell house coffee which is much cheaper ahah! So for occasion and Starbucks quality I think it is good, and tastes yummy too.

Hump day update on the job front: No leads yet... I will leave it at that for today. :)

ThanksGiving Monday - No dieting this weekend!

Monday is thanksgiving here in Canada Yum! I will say out loud that I am really looking forward to over eating this weekend. How could I not! Sunday we are going to my grandparents for lunch and Monday I'm going to my in laws for a Turkey dinner mmmm. There will be no counting calories this weekend aha!.

During the holidays I always try and do something a little extra for the people out there that do not get to have all the great family dinners like most of us do. I know how it is to be very tight with money but I always had food on the table and a roof over my head and know I am truly blessed. So the other day when I went grocery shopping I bought a little extra to bring over to the food bank. (I wanted to bring it to church on Sunday, but after our girls night, I woke up too late!) So I will head to the grocery store tomorrow to get some more things and drop it all off tomorrow afternoon :)

I have a love hate relationship with fall. I love the changing colors of the leaves and the smell of the air.... But 7 years ago my family spent thanksgiving in the ICU with my daddy in a Coma. I remember friends bringing us turkey while we sat and just waiting and hoping for good news. :(
Since then Fall has never been the same, those memories are always so vivid as if it were yesterday. If you follow my blog you know I mention plenty of times how grateful I am for the amazing family I have. I always remember that during our family holidays, the togetherness we have and the knowing we can get through anything together even if it is extreeeemly painful.

Oh boo sappy ending to my post :( But look at Zoe right beside me. She does not leave my side EVER! Love her!

Some weekend shopping

While husband was away this weekend I had Saturday morning to myself and I had woken up pretty early so decided to hit some outlet stores before visiting my grandparents. I went to Winners and bought this door mat above. It sorta camouflages with the tiles, not too sure If I like it or not, but it was extremely hard to pick one to begin with. So it's staying aahahah!

I also found this scarf for $14.99 it's nice and big and can be worn as a shawl as well. Love pink!!

I had a budget this weekend and really did not want to over spend so I stopped myself from heading into the mall...what I do not see I will not buy :)

But... my uncle has a an outlet store for designer fashion and he was having a big sale this weekend. My sister and I really wanted to go but were worried about over spending since we have done so many times while there. But we love the clothing there so decided to go anyway!

While there I found 3 cute blouses and fell in love with a winter jacket. I couldn't decide what to put down since I did not want to spend that much. I brought my items to the cashier and asked how much it would all be... and to my surprise my uncle made me pay for the coat only! So I only spent $60.00!!! For 3 gorgeous blouses and a winter jacket! (Winter jacket had a price tag of originally $295!) I was soooo happy!!!! Love Love my family! :)

Next on my shopping list is knee high boots for fall/winter. I'll be on the look out for a good deal!

Happy Monday everyone!!

Lazy Sunday

After a very busy Friday and Saturday with family and friends me and Zoe are just pooped.

Yesterday was my sweet grandmas 78th birthday. I love my grandparents so much! Look how cute they are. My uncle requested a song for them on the radio and they absolutely loved it!! They danced and danced until the song was over ahaha. <3 onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoy3pI65zbNI_wMwR1T7pGxUvuS3qmguUoEgb6r2vgWegCPg7vmxoCZluYEM0H-NruoSg8xENyfKpgkiw7dyEg8SeqoDsNgJq_7R5WVeFEibUqvADhiR8_6Ts0X1AwLbwp-4-xzKAtoy4/s1600-h/nonna.JPG">
This my grandma and my sweet aunt having a mommy daughter hug. Love them. My aunt hasn't been feeling too well these days and has been going to through many tests and doctor visits. I hope she gets better soon and feels like her amazing self again. Praying lots for my dear aunt!
Husband went away to Niagara falls for the weekend for a Men's weekend get away lol. So I decided to have all my girls come over Saturday night. It was a lot of fun. In the picture below are baby cousins and my sister. heehee not babies anymore! I can't believe I'm 10 years older than "L" the red head on the left and and 7 years older than "J" next to me with the long gorgeous brown hair! Me and sister are only 4 years apart. I love my girls. They help me be a better person they are smart beautiful, inspiring caring girls!


Fun!!

Just to send a shout out to two new blogs on the block! Check them out! Sister's blog and cousin's blog :)

Jogging in trails

Last night when I was getting ready for bed I had the TV on and it was on one of those health hour special channels. It mentioned a study that exercise helps depression and increases happiness, something I've heard before many times. But what it said was, not just any exercise, specifically out door exercise and specifically in Green areas! The one thing husband and I love to do is jog through trails, it always makes us feel really good and we always have more energy and feel positive after our runs. We have a small trail near our house and we always go through it when we jog, and now I know why we love it so much! It makes us happy!

I did my weigh in today and it's the exact same, no surprise ahah. I did really well with my jogs 3 times this week and jumped on my trampoline twice :) This weekend I am going to wear my pedometer all weekend in hopes of achieving 10000 steps per day Fri/Sat/Sun.

I'm so happy the weekend is here!

Have a great weekend everyone! :)

Leaves are turning colors...

Fall is here and the leaves are turning colors and starting to fall to the ground. It rained the past couple days and this morning I woke up so cold my nose, hands and feet were frozen! Weather right now is 12 C (53.6F) I will not be surprised if we get snow in early November this year.

On this day last year I got laid off from my job. My vision last year was much different than it is today. Hahah Cause I'm looking for work instead of enjoying being self employed! But, My blog is "Growing Towards a Dream" and that is what I will continue to do. Over the year I did increase our monthly amounts and gained many new customers. I also had a chance to blog and meet amazing new blogger friends ;) My goals will still continue. Husband and I have short term goals and Long term goals and we will keep at them ;) No matter what life throws at us. Life does throw curve balls huh... I once read that God throws these curve balls to see how badly you want something. So I will make sure that our goals continue to be acheived no matter what trys to get in the way. We have a 24 hour day and a lot can be done one day at a time ;)



Past couple weeks I've been feeling really down, as I mentioned before I never had an issue with with finding a job. It was never an issue I had to deal with so I find this experience extremely new. The feelings are overwhelming at times and husband reminds me that it is a recession and I am not the only one feeling this way. I guess you can say the "Ego" really gets damaged during these types of scenarios, when I always made X amount and jobs out there are paying much less than X or require much more experience which was never the case before. Damn you Economy Damn you LOL. I took a Business Analyst course over the weekend and met a lot of people in the IT world, many of them are unemployed and looking as well. It is funny here in Canada because the news continues to say the recession is over and throws out these numbers as if all is ok. I guess they do not want to scare people but just from a group of people I know I can count at least 10 people looking for a job right now.

I hope all of us can find something in the next couple of months because as soon as December hits companies do not hire until after the new year.

Trying to stay positive and I will continue to work hard in all areas of my life!!! So take that curve balls! :)

(Drinking a large coffee and getting to work!)

The soup diet

Well as I guess I should have known, my soup and egg diet did not go so well. I did start a journal for my food intake daily and I am noticing that I eat way too much at some meals without even realizing it. My will power was not that great and at times I found myself hungry I ate whatever I found, including m & m's!

My workouts have been going really well. I even went for my jog yesterday despite the rain...I was drenched! But felt great.

The good news is that I have not gained any weight, whew! All numbers are the same as of today.

Weight 145
Upper Arms: 11 1/2"
Waist above Belly Button: 28 1/2"
Waist below Belly Button: 34 1/2"
Hips: 44"
Upper Thighs: 25

My major focus this week is to continue making food at home and working out and filling in my food journal. I will also try and continue soup for lunch. (eggs for bf are not sitting well for me so I will just include a small bf with coffee or tea)

Love eating out!

I'm one of those people that just love eating out! I have been cooking at home everyday lately so when I get that chance to eat out, I go and I love it! (Minus the fact of huge calories taken in when eating out).

I went for a sushi dinner with my good friend. We chatted for 2 1/2 hours at the restaurant, good thing we were pretty much the only ones there, I usually talk much too loud ahah.

So far my egg and soup diet has not been constant but I will keep at it in hopes of seeing some sort of results.

Tomorrow husband and I are taking a 2 day course, it will add a little extra to my resume and hopefully opens some doors for me... I do not even want to go back on the topic of job hunting, you know how I feel about it... ugh.

Wish me luck! :)