words

Words are hard sometimes....hard to speak out loud.....it is hard to put into words those things you can not explain and on those days...a smile and a frown, a laugh or a growl can speak louder than all the words that you have in your mind. 


I have not been doing any sort of writing lately. No journaling or blogging and oh the shame of all shames very little Facebook or Twitter posting either. I know its not right, but I just don't know what to write. I want to say so many things, but too many times I just push them away. 

But I have enrolled in a NOVEL writing class and am super excited about it! So no matter if it is one line or a page I am going to write something every day. I will try to post my writing exercises from class on here too and would love it if you all wanted to post them as well! 

INFLUENSTER!

So here is my new web obsession Influenster. So basically you take surveys, reviews and participate in challenges which gives you points. Then based on your activity and interests, you are sent products or coupons to get products for FREE yes FREE to review and share. So my latest box was the Rose VoxBox and let me tell ya it was a pretty awesome box of goodies. And here they are, a LINDOR truffle and some coupons (oh yeah), Rimmel retro glam mascara, Belvita Breakfast biscuits, Kiss gradation nail polish in Film Nior (grey/black), and Dr. Scholls cozy cushions shoe inserts. I apologize for the pictures, I had a heck of a time getting them on here for some reason so it looks kinda funky but oh well. 

A Milk Chocolate LINDOR Truffle

Breakfast biscuts

Rimmel Retro Glam 

Dr. Scholl's for her Cozy Cushions

KISS Gradation 3 step nail polish

I LOVED getting this box of samples from Influenster and am a fan of the mascara, it is probably going to be my go to mascara for now on!  The Dr. Scholls are nice right now, but I will be better on snowy days to help keep my feet nice and toasty warm. The breakfast bars were a nice change up with my coffee in the morning, just will not be an everyday thing for me. But they were not bad. AND who doesn't like chocolate every now and then. I mean these truffles were so good. 

If you have never heard of Influenster before now go now follow the link and check it out. If you want an invite let me know and I will be more than glad to share the love of FREE samples with you. If you received this box leave a comment and let me know what item was your favorite.

"Little miss S" is 2!

We have a 2 year old in the house now and boy oh boy do we ALL know it too. "Little miss S" had her 2nd birthday on Monday the 10th, and she decided to let the babysitter know all about the terrible two's with an hour long fit during nap time. Poor Hannah she got the full brunt the mess that we call Little miss S. Though her birthday was on the 10th, we had a small party for her on Saturday the 8th. We invited a few friends and some of our church family, and had a little cookout. It was nothing too big or special like these pinterest parties you see these days, but oh did she have fun! Running around out side and showing off for everyone there. 





Most of her gifts were in gift bags and easy for her to dig into, all but one. And that one she wasn't quite sure what to do with it so I helped her rip a side open and instead of continuing to rip it the rest of the way she just shoved her head in the hole to check out what was in there. And the reached in to pull out some clothes and proceeded to try and put them on. I had to be the one to take the paper off of the rest of the gift. She loved all of her presents and have played with them non-stop since Saturday. At least the ones she is able to play with. 

Little miss S and her buddy Asher

For our main gift to her we got a kiddie pool, and some of the guest got her pool attire and toys. So for those items, she has not been able to play with since Saturday with our weather being as crazy as it has been. But she loved them while she was out in them after her nap on Saturday. And by the time we were all said and done, the boys were soaked from head to toe....I may have helped "Little miss S" out a bit with the water hose....

As for my first kids party, I think it was a success! Especially since it was put together in about a weeks time. I am just blessed that God has allowed us to celebrate her 2nd birthday with her!

Never Too Young to Witness

So if has been WAY too long since my last post. I have started like 5 of them but then never can seem to find the words to finish them. But I am not going to let that happen anymore (fingers crossed). Ok so last week Little miss S was running a fever and had not been acting herself. At first I just thought she was teething and didn't think too much about it. Until Thursday when her fever spiked on our way home from the babysitters. She had the chills and just looked so darn pathetic sitting in HIMS lap just a shivering. So I got her into an after-hours clinic just to make sure she wasn't coming down with something contagious or an ear infection or whatever. I really had no idea since this is the first time she has been like this since we have had her THANK GOD! 

 Anyways now picture this tiny 22 lb blond hair blue eye little girl with the saddest most pathetic sick look on her face sitting in the doctors office. She was excited about the fish tank for like 10 minutes and then she just wanted to "nuggle" (snuggle) me and her night-night (her blanket). You are probably think awe she says "nuggle" for snuggle but that there is nothing unusual about that at all right? Well it is what she wanted to me to do next that makes this post worth it. 

But I want you to ask yourself if you have ever thought you were too young, too old or not qualified to share Gods love publicly? Sure you have, if we are honest with ourselves we have all struggled with this or continually struggle with it. I know I do. But sometime I feel that I am over thinking things too much. I worry about when,  how and what I say. When in reality the old adage your actions speak louder than your words has never been more true when it comes to Christians. We can speak the most eloquent words but our actions and attitudes betray us time and time again.

Well back to Little miss S, after she got all situated and "nuggled" in on my lap she started to sing "Jesus, Jesus".  Now when we first got her we went to a Walk to Emmaus event and there was this song that we sang several times throughout the night. And ever since that has been her go comfort song. So it was no big deal for this little not yet 2 year old to sing to Jesus as she is rocking back and forth on my lap. AND then to look at me and say "mommy a Jesus" meaning she wants me to sing to her her Jesus song. So like I would at home I rock with her and sing her Jesus song to her. 

Which is still no big deal right? Well for one we were not alone in the waiting room. There was a mom with her teenage daughter there watching us interacting and us singing Little miss S's Jesus song the whole time. As well as others who came in a little later. After wards I was thinking how natural it was for us to sit there "nuggleing" and singing that song. And what must that mom and daughter think about us. It was so natural for Little miss S to let her Jesus song comfort and show the world around her by actions and words how much she loved Jesus. AND she is not yet 2, how awesome is that.

I know for me too often I don't think about how my attitude towards things or situations damages my Christian witness. Or how many times have I passed up an opportunity to show my love for my God for any number of reasons. All of which sound so legit in your head but so hollow when spoken out loud. I pray that all reading this (myself) included can learn for Little miss S and other children like her who find it so natural to go to God no matter where they are or who they are around.  

New Beginnings

Since taking a break from my Masters program a year and a half ago, I have stayed at home babysitting and taking care of our foster placements. Well that is all about to change. In two weeks I will embark on a new journey at my Alma Mater Oakland City University as the Administrative Assistant in the Financial Aid department. For a while now I have been thinking of getting out in the work force. Now don't get me wrong, I love being at home and the freedom that I have. I love the kids that I babysit for, but this is not my calling. I have felt out of touch and isolated staying at home. Then there is this big issue known as HEALTH INSURANCE, something that is non-existent in the Depoister household at this time. Which has really hurt us these past few months as I have had some health issues. To prevent this from happening again a change was needed. 

 So when I saw a few positions open at OCU, I had to try. No matter what complications could come from me applying. I couldn't let the fear of change hold me back. It all happened so fast. After talking it over with HIM, asking for prayers from our friends and doing A LOT of praying on my part I left it all in God's hands.

My favorite Scripture that has spoken to me all through out my walk with Christ is Jeremiah 29:11-12. And it has severed again as a reminder of God's promises and faithfulness. It has helped calm my fears and given me the strength to face the unknown.

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, 

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you 

hope and a future. 

12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

I applied, got an interview, and prayed for God's will. And I got the JOB!!! I am so excited to begin but also a little nervous. Now HIM and HER really has to work together to make our household run smoothly. We have things set up pretty good but with kids you just never really know what is gonna happen. It will take some getting use to that is for sure, but I know we will do great. Plus I have started browsing Pinterest for some crock-pot meals that will help make getting dinner on the table that much easier. 

 

I am just so thankful that I get to work at a place that has given me so much. I have always said that I would love to work for OCU at some point and glad that I have been given this opportunity. Plus it doesn't hurt that HIM and HER will be working at the same place either. There will be some things that I I will miss like the freedom that staying at home has given me especially in the summer time. And the one on one time that I have been able to give to Little miss S, but I know that she will have a great person taking care of her. So here is to NEW BEGINNINGS! May you never let the fear of the unknown hold you back from the blessing that the future holds. 

DIY Laundry Detergent

If you are like me, you have wasted oh I mean spent a lot of time on this little old website known as Pinterest. I have this love hate relationship with this site. I love it because it has given me so many great ideas from food to crafts to clothes and home improvements. And I hate it for all the same reasons. It seems like there is a never ending supply of new great  ideas that I just HAVE to try out. Some good and even more not so good. I can spend hours on Pinterest and talk about these great things I have seen. But HIM does NOT like Pinterest, not at all. He says that it is an evil site and there is a never ending supply of eye rolls when it is even mentioned.

Anyways on to why you are really reading this...for a while now I have seen and heard people talk about making their own laundry detergents. And have thought hum that could be useful....but do I really want to shred, cook, mix, separate and whatever else... It just sounded like a lot of work and way too time consuming. Even if it saved me money. Well with our ever growing household there comes the never ending mountain of laundry...yes mountain(I will take pictures so you will believe me). Last week I did 13 loads of laundry....granted we washed bedding as well but still 13 loads is A LOT of laundry. I usually use Purex Natural Elements 66 loads for $6 with Snuggle's white lavender and sandalwood fabric softener 50 loads for $4.50. For a year doing about 8 loads of laundry a week I can easily spend $80.50 on just detergent and softener. And with our new additions that price was guaranteed to be a lot more.

After reading several blogs on homemade laundry detergent I settled on a dry mix (howdoesshe.com) that is suppose to last a year for a household that does 6 loads a week. I only spent $31.16 for everything and didn't even use all of the items. So the next batch will cost even less. Here is the items list:

1 (4 lb 12 oz) Box of Borax- Found in the detergent aisle

1 (3 lb 7 oz) Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda- Found in the detergent aisle

1 (3 lb) Container of OxyClean- Found in the detergent aisle. (This is optional, I only used half of it)

5 (5.5oz) bars of Fels Naptha - Found in the detergent aisle (could also use zote soap)

1 (4 lb) Box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda- Found in the cooking aisle (You could also get two 2 lb box, we couldn’t find the larger 4lb box when we went)

1 (55 oz) Bottle of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener- Found in the detergent aisle

I forgot to take a picture before I started but here they are after

So armed with all the ingredients, an old school hand grater, bowl and large container to mix it all it, I was ready to get started. Unfortunately I still had to grate/shred the Fels Naptha, but it really wasn't as bad as I anticipated it to be.  It looked a lot like cheddar cheese and Little miss S would come up to me saying cheese, bites please and getting mad because I had to tell her no. She is such a mess...but back to the detergent....after all 5 bars were shredded I started to add a little bit of the other items and mix with a spoon. But that didn't last long at all. I ended up just dumping everything in the bucket at once and used my hands to mix it all up. The spoon just wasn't getting it all mixed up so I just dug right in. It took me about 30 minutes from start to finish and that was with me taking some breaks to check on dinner. And to sooth Little miss S...she has been an emotional mess these past few days. I wasn't thinking about how I was gonna store it when I was at the store, so I filled the Purex bottle up with some and just covered the bucket with a blanket until I can go back and get something to store it in. I was thinking that I will just get a medium sized Rubbermaid plastic container the next time I went to the store. 

I made this batch on Saturday but didn't get to use it until Monday. I don't think I have been this excited to do laundry in my life. I figured I would test it out on my towels first since they are the one that I expect to look, feel and smell clean no matter what. And it PAST the test!!! I used the cap off of the Bottle of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener and it worked great. I will not be going back to store bought detergent any time soon. I am now excited to see how long this will last our ever fluctuating household. So now I have to say a big thank you to Pinterest and to howdoesshe.com for this recipe!

Growing

Our household just keeps on growing! We started fostering in September of 2011 with this desire to provide a safe a loving home for children in need. Since then we have had the pleasure of having 11 children in our home. There is training before becoming foster parents and then training every year which is good for us non-parents. But even with this training we were not quite prepared for the roller coaster ride we were willingly strapping ourselves into. And boy has it been a roller coaster ride with many ups and downs and twists and turns. There were even those times when we felt like we were failing at everything we tried. But we would not take any of them back for anything. 

We know that God brought each child into our home for reasons we many never understand. And we trust that he will use their time with us as an example of a better life. It has been a blessing and a growing experience for both HIM & HER. Each child has forced us to grow in areas that we would never have thought of before and has given us a different outlook on life.

We still have Little miss S who is now 20 months old and 8 year old A. But on February 1st we added 14 year old miss K and 11 year old T. I was a little nervous about having a teenage girl. Little miss S has been the only girl we have had. And as many of you know teenage girls are an unexplainable and sometime scary force of nature. Even though it has only been 11 days, I don't see us having too many issues with either miss K or T. Both of them are such good kids they seem to just fit right into our little family. Both Little miss S and A love having them here. 

The scariest thing that we have to deal with is having only one bathroom, yes i did just say ONE bathroom (Gasp). We still haven't quite figured out a good schedule for everyone (if there is even such a thing). But we have found a way to make our morning mayhem work for us. It just means earlier mornings for me and a lot more coffee to get the day started.

2013

The crazy Christmas season is all but a distant memory now. As we have jumped head first into the year 2013. Where some may be oh so happy to be done with the holidays, others like me are thinking back to it with longing. For me this year was a nice and peaceful time with HIM and Little miss S. While we did do some traveling and visiting with family, we also had some great down time that would be so nice right about now. It seems like I have not been able to catch my breath since 2013 began. And now with January already coming to a close, there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. Add to that the failure of most of our resolutions and stores pushing Valentines day on us, it is no wonder that we all get a little down about now. Then to add injury to insult there is the extra weight that if you are like me was so kindly added to our midsections during the wonderful holiday season that is making all of us grumpy. So what are we to do about all of this depressing weariness and make 2013 a more joyful and fulfilling year? 

I say keep it short term, with nothing to crazy like loosing 25 pounds in 3 weeks(this is the real world NOT the Biggest Loser), and make them fun! It is easier to commit to something for a short period of time. You get a higher sense of accomplishment instead of failure when it is a shorter period as well.  

1. Drink more water! (easy enough right, wrong I HATE drinking water) At least one glass before every meal. 

2. Exercise at least 3 times a week .... any form of exercise from Zumba on the X-box to ten minutes on the elliptical to plain old jogging in place I am gonna move it...move it!

3. Journal daily (easier said than done, I was journal-ing regularly, but lately I have become very erratic) 

4. Have a date night with the HIM at least twice a month. (this is something we have talked about but never done) 

5. Most importantly I will focus on my relationship with GOD! I have joined a growth group at my church on The Forgotten God by Francis Chan (this Wednesday was week one). 
Also both of us are taking the Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey at our church. (We are excited to see ourselves out of debt, a retirement plan in place and well on our way to fully fund an adaption!)

These are five small ways that I can make my 2013 a little bit more fulfilling! What are some things that you all are going to do to make it that way for you? 

The Weather Outside is Frightful

Storm #2 is making itself know here in Southern Indiana. The first one dumped around 4-7" with strong winds making drifts 10" or more deep. Now this one was only suppose to bring 1-3" but now it is looking to bring more like 3-6" of this lovely white stuff. It started out with some lovely freezing rain but soon turned into some nice big snow flakes. We are suppose to have a few days without snow then here comes storm #3. I just hope we don't get snowed in again. This first storm already had our county under a state of emergency and urged people to stay off the county roads until Saturday. But with Storm #2 coming down nice a heavy today, it may be even longer. 
 

My little brother Terry came home with us on Christmas Day and went home today. While he was here Terry and HIM built a snowman while HER and Little miss S played in the snow. She didn't quite like the snow at first, but after a little bit of coaxing she came around to it and has some fun. Well besides not wanting to keep her gloves on. She would take them off and grab the snow then start crying and getting mad. So finally I took her gloves off and shoved mine on her so she couldn't take them off and her hands would keep warm. 

Lazy snow days are always the best. Even if we were not able to stay out there as long as I would have liked to.  But the time we did spend out there was great. And then there is the time spent lazing around the house playing video games, reading and watching movies. I am just thankful that my not so little, little brother is not too cool to hang out with his big sister. And I hope that doesn't change.

Thanksgiving and HIM's 30th Birthday

We normally go to my in-laws for the Thanksgiving since Him's birthday is on the 28th. But this year we weren't sure if we would be able to go since we have Little miss S. What with having to have the courts approval to take her out of state and all. Which we finally got right at the last minute!! I wasn't too worried about the 3-4 hour drive,I figured Little miss S would just sleep most of the way there. That was until we were asked to take one of our nephews with us. And guess what happened....Neither of them slept.  And let me tell ya it is not a good thing when Little miss S doesn't get her nap. She gets very goofy, whiney and very sassy. But luck was on our side, Little miss S was in a good mood and did really good meeting HIM's family.  I was nervous since she doesn't do well with men sometimes but for the most part she was good with everyone. She latched onto  my mother in-law following her around all the time. And she slept good too. It is always hard to know how she is going to react to things since we have only had her since August. Also this is the first trip that we took with her so we were in a whole new ball game and anything was possible.

We went there on Wednesday and came back on Friday. Yes it was a short visit, but that is really all that we were able to do with work, school and all. But the best part of traveling on Black Friday is that there are so few people driving on the interstates and highways. They are all either driving to and from the stores or sleeping off their late night shopping. Which makes for a perfect day for the 3-4 hour drive. We did have better luck with her sleeping on the way home YAH us. But we also didn't have our nephew with us on the way back either.  But our day was not over when we got home. HIM stayed home to work on homework while HER and Little miss S went to E-Ville for a little bit of shopping for HIM's birthday.

For HIM's birthday, this year I wanted to make it a special one since it was his 30th birthday. But he didn't want anything big or a surprise party or anything like that so I was a little at lost for what to do. So after a LOT of thinking and brainstorming with the hubby, we came up with a very good plan for his 30th party. We invited only 8 of our closest friends and asked that no presents to be brought. I cooked HIM's favorite meal and baked his favorite cakes. I even made up an about David quiz. We had a nice meal with some great fellowship. Followed by the cake and the quiz. Then we had a surprise for our guests, one that we hope has blessed them just as much as it has blessed us. We presented each of our guests with a gift to hold on to. Then HIM got up front and addressed each guest personally with a little something that we admire about them and why we are thankful to have them in our lives. Along with a scripture or a quote that we felt fit their personalities. When HIM addressed the last person we asked them to open the gifts. Ones that we took special care to pick just for them. They also were given the slip of paper that HIM read to them as well.
After all of that then HIM got to open his gifts, even though he asked for none to be brought they guest still gave him a little something.

We don't live close to our families, and these 8 people invited to the party have truly become family to us. HER family lives in Illinois while the majority of HIM's family is in Missouri. The distance does make it a little complicated to have a close relationship with our families. But we are truly blessed that God has brought some amazing people into our lives here in Indiana. And it was our pleasure to be able to honor them in the small way that we did.

Oh and HER really got some bonus points from HIM when we all went to out basement to reveal one of the gifts I got for him. So HIM has been wanting a punching bag for I don't know how long. He drops hints left and right about them. Which is a good thing because I am horrible at picking up on hints. I tell everyone I am like a guy because it could be the biggest slap you in the face type of hint and it would go right over my head. So I just tell HIM that if him wants something you need to drop repeated hints or just flat out tell me. Because if not I will not get it. But anyways I did get this ONE (or a thousand of the same hints on punching bags) and HIM was so excited for it!

3 Day (Military) Diet Day 3

So I have been surprised about how much food you eat each meal and how full you really feel from them. The only thing is I am use to not eating half as much for breakfast and lunch. So I am not sure how that is gonna play out here. I can see how for people who do not diet or watch what they eat can lose up to 10 pounds. I just don't think I will be one of those people. 

For almost two years now HIM and HER have made a major overhaul on our eating habits.  We have gradually taken out a lot of the really bad stuff and gone to more natural and lower calorie products. We try to regularly count our calories and be conscious of what we eat. Though HER is not as good as HER should be. We usually use Stevia in the raw instead of sugar or Splenda but the past few times I have been to the store they have been out of Stevia so we compromise. Some of those little changes have been fresh or frozen veggies rarely if ever do I get canned veggies anymore. We also do a lot of turkey like turkey bacon, turkey burgers,  turkey pepperonis etc.  And bread we do not eat much bread. :(  When we do it is the 35 calorie white bread. Sometimes I might splurge and buy a fresh loaf of bread from the store or at subway get the Italian herb and cheese but that is rare. There are other changes, but those are the big ones. 

Anyways here is the break down for day three.

Day 3: 185.1

Breakfast - 5 saltine crackers, 1 small apple (the hubby and I halved a large apple), and 2 ounces of ham (about 4 slices of thinly sliced lunch meat) 

• After yesterday I just had to have some coffee with Splenda (still no creamer, I can not wait until tomorrow to have some yummy french vanilla creamer in my coffee!) 

Lunch - 1 hard boiled egg and 1 slice of toast (35 calorie white bread)

Dinner - 1 cup tuna, 1/2 banana, 1 cup Vanilla Ice Cream

• I had to have a Diet Mtn. Dew again today. I just can not seem to go with out at least one soda a day, but especially after yesterday I need all the pick me up I can get.
• Now I almost couldn't get all the tuna down. I did not add anything to it this time but really wished I would have. 

Day 4: 

Saturday morning I woke up a weighed myself and.......I came in at 183.8!  So like I thought, I did not lose 10 pounds. But 2.8 pounds in three days is still pretty good. Not to mention a healthier weight to lose in three days. But as I mentioned above I can see how someone who is not currently counting calories, dieting, or being food conscious could be able to lose 10 pounds in these three days. So by all means please try this diet and share your results with me. I would love to hear about your experiences. I may also try to do this diet again here in a week or two, to see if I have different results the second time around. Also I will make sure that I do not have plans for these three days so I will not have to deviate from the plan. 

Also here again is the link to the full 3 Day (Military) Diet breakdown. Please go there and read all about it. There are substitutions to most of the foods and helpful hints as well. 

3 Day (Military) Diet Day 2

So I wasn't thinking when I went shopping for and started this diet. I have had a girls day-night out planned for a while and completely spaced it when preparing to go on this diet so I had to improvise just a bit. I tried to be as true to the diet as I could considering I was in a movie theater for over 12 hours.


Why you ask would I be in a movie theater for more than 12 hours, I must be crazy right. No I am not crazy, I was just in need of some girl time. It just happened to take the form of a twilight marathon ending in a 10 pm premier of Breaking Dawn part 2. Yep I was one of those crazy people along with four other great girls. Not that I am that obsessed with the Twilight saga like many out there are. I just find the whole experience fun. If you have never done a midnight premier or an all day showing then I recommend you do it at least once. The excitement in the place is contagious and so entertaining. I think I enjoyed the audiences reactions just as much as I do the movies themselves. It also helps that I did like the books, they are not the best literary work out there but they were enjoyable. Plus the movies aren't that bad either, but I have to say the final one is by far the best. It differs some from the book, but I think it made the movie that much better.  

Anyways enough on Twilight, here is the break down for day two. And remember I am not sold that I will lose 10 pounds in three days, especially since I only lost 1.5 pounds in one day (which is still good). The outcome is not looking as promising as they suggest, but we shall see.

Day 2: 185.6

Breakfast - 1 egg (fried), 1 slice of toast (35 calorie white bread), 1/2 banana

• I had coffee with splenda too (no creamer which is KILLING me. I love creamer it takes my coffee to the next level.) 

Lunch - 1 cup cottage cheese (fat free), 1 hard boiled egg, and 5 saltine crackers.

• I had water and some Diet. Mtn. Dew 

Dinner - 2 hot-dogs no buns (all beef/meat ones no fillers) 1 cup broccoli, 1/2 cup carrots, 1/2 banana, and 1/2 cup Vanilla Ice Cream

• So here is where I had to deviate from the diet some. I was able to get the two all beef hot-dogs at the movie theater. Then I brought the broccoli (lightly seasoned with salt and pepper) and carrots both raw not steamed. I felt that would be easier to eat and not as smelly or easily spoiled as steamed veggies would have been. I did not have the ice cream, but did eat the whole banana instead of just half. 
• Also I brought with me some almonds to snack on through out the day. This helped curb those sudden cravings that came with the enticing scents of popcorn, candy and pizza. I had maybe 15 of them.
• I tried to drink water but lets face it 12 hours of movie watching I needed the caffeine that soda provides. I did stick with Diet Mtn. Dew. I am sure this has to have some effect on the diet, just not sure what. 
• I also did a short work out in the morning on the elliptical so don't know how that will play into it either. And did not get to bed until after 1 am. 

These are all of the factors that I felt I should let you know of. Sorry no pictures of the other two meals. But go check out the original site for more information on the 3 Day (Military) Diet.

3 Day (Military) Diet

Okay so I have been trying to lose weight for a little over a year now. And in the beginning I did really good losing around 30 pounds. Yeah for me right, I was so excited. But then I put back on a few pounds and have been hanging out around the 188 - 186 mark. Yikes!!! I so can not believe I am announcing my weight for all the world to see. It is more than a little terrifying. But in the spirit of full disclosure I feel I must be honest about my weight. Anyways, the word DIET makes me (like most people) totally cringe. The thought of not being able to eat the foods I like or feeling like I am starving all day does not sound very appealing. So while I was browsing pinterest one day I came across a pin that said

"3-day military diet. apparently you can lose up to ten lbs. in 3 days, with this special diet."

I was like yeah right, 10 pounds in 3 days, that's only possible if I starve myself. I am so not willing to do that I may be overweight but I refuse to starve myself. But to say that this pin didn't intrigue me would be a lie. So I opened up the link and started reading about this so called miracle diet. And to my surprise it seems legit with the best part being you eat a good amount of food too. Yeah to no starving!!! As I was reading the allowed foods I was surprised when I got to the dinner list and saw Vanilla Ice Cream listed yes you read that right Vanilla Ice Cream is allowed in this diet. By now I am sold! Below is what I ate and the above link has where I found it and how it breaks everything down. I followed the program pretty close any additions or changes are listed and explained.

DAY 1: start weight 186.6

Breakfast - 1/2 Grapefruit (with splenda), 1 Slice of Toast (35 calorie white bread) with 2 Tablespoons of Peanut Butter (crunchy), and Coffee (with splenda) you can have tea.

Lunch - 1/2 Cup of Tuna (single serving package, the lemon pepper seasoning), 1 slices of bread (35 calorie white bread), and Tea (Green Tea Tropical by Mighty Leaf)

• The single serving size packages are only 2.6 ounces so instead of having two packages, I supplemented with 15 almonds. I also added a tiny bit of light mayo with the tuna along with a Diet Mtn. Dew. 
• You can also have coffee instead of the tea. Also any variety of tea is okay as long as it is caffeinated. 
• When I say tiny bit of light mayo I mean tiny. Think an orange leaf spoon scoop. But not the heaping scoops like you would do with the frozen yogurt when you first get it. But the tiny scoops that you do when you are almost done to savor every last bit of the orange leaf goodness that you concocted. (I am almost drooling thinking about all that goodness yum) Anyways just enough mayo to make the tuna stick a little creamy. 

Dinner - 3 ounces Chicken breast lightly seasoned (salt, pepper and a lemon juice), 1 Cup of Green Beans (simmered in chicken broth with salt pepper, garlic and onion flakes), 1/2 Banana, 1 Small Apple, and 1 Cup of Vanilla Ice Cream (YUM)!!!

• I cored then baked the apple with splenda and cinnamon then topped it with the Vanilla Ice Cream. We had this as a snack a little after dinner not with dinner (not sure if that will matter) 
• And I didn't even have the whole cup of Ice Cream either, I just wasn't that hungry and so I did a little over a half a cup. 

So here I am at the end of day one and still not 100% sold on this whole lose 10 pounds in 3 days thing. But I guess we will let the results speak for themselves on Saturday morning. Even if I lose a few pounds, and this helps get me over the hump that I have been battling since July then I am okay with it.

And sorry for not having pictures from the whole day I didn't even think about it until I was almost done preparing the apples as you can see. But seriously they were so so good.

Halloween

Okay so I apologize  I  am still getting the hang of this whole blog thing and really need to stay on top of this better. But here is the Halloween post. 

Since we no longer live on campus there are a few things about dorm life that I really do miss. Like having your friends close by if you ever get bored, or always having something to do. But I think the things I miss the most are the holiday events. Trick the halls being one of them. Where all four dorms work together decorating their  hallways and dressing up to put on a fun and safe Halloween experience. But lucky for me Him is in charge of the dorms and we still get to participate in the activities just from a different point of view. 

We found the cutest monkey costume for Little miss S and even though it was a tad bit too big, we just had to get it for her. Which worked out perfectly because our first foster placement left his banana costume from last year at our house. So Little miss S was such a stinking cute little monkey and I was her big banana!! We had so many complements on our costumes while we were at trick the halls on the Oakland City University campus. 

Now HIM was not apart of our group costume, even though some people thought he was a gorilla  When he was obviously a ghoul. But that is besides the point. If it was not for HIM having to be at the campus for trick the halls, then we may not have not have gone trick or treating. Little miss S is not quite old enough for all that candy, plus Halloween fell on a Wednesday this year. We don't like to cancel on our youth group, but as since it was for HIM's job we made an exception. Little miss S did really good at only picking one piece of candy from the bowls and she even got to enjoy some of it. While HIM and HER got to enjoy the rest (not that we needed any of it )!! Perks of being a parent of babies. 

We had a really great time experiencing what Halloween is like with little kids. Last year our foster placement was 14 so it was not quite the same as this year with a 17 month old girl. She was so excited and was hamming it up for everyone. Squealing and laughing at all the people in costumes. I was a little nervous that Little miss S would be scared of HIM's costume. But HIM laughed at the mask and made her think it was funny before HIM put it on and she was good. I was so relieved it would've made for a bad night if she had a bad reaction toward his costume. This whole learning life with a baby is a challenge, but a fun one that's for sure. 

Covered Bridge Festival

So on last Saturday Him and Her got up super early and headed out with the Hose's for our second annual Covered Bridge Festival excursions. Last year we were joined by the Denning's who were not able to join us this year due to their new little addition miss Adelae Elizabeth. So it was just the four of us since we got a sitter for Little miss S, and boy did we have a good time. Even thought we live in Indiana, we are still in a different time zone than the festival so I had to get up around 5 am so that I could get me and Little miss S ready.  Most people that I have talked to, say that the CBF is a "chick" thing and they are surprised that HIM even wants to go. But we all have so much fun I think the guys get just as excited about going as us "chicks" do. The food is probably the best and the worst part of the whole experience. Best because there is so many different and delicious foods to eat and samples everywhere. And the worst because you totally blow your diet out the window and gain about ten pounds even with all the walking that you do all day.

We started the day off at the Bridgeton festival and spent several hours there before we headed on the back roads to the Mansfield festival. Bridgeton is a lot smaller than Mansfield and a lot less crowded, but still just as fun. We got the most delicious fudge and roasted nuts from Bridgeton. Both places gave out as many samples as we wanted and were so very nice we couldn't just not buy from them. When we were at the nut booth, I had like 6 different kinds in my hand and he was still giving us more. HER bought honey roasted cashews and HIM got the white chocolate roasted almonds. HER's are gone already, they were just too good. The fudge was pretty much the same they were like have as many samples as you want, they had so many good flavors but I just couldn't decided so I went the safe and got chocolate peanut butter but HIM got chocolate mint. And that is all we bought at Bridgeton, there was a couple items that we would have bought but the sales people were really rude so I just walked away. I mean really your goal is to make a sale and you want to be a jerk then I will keep my money safe in my pocket and walk away. And I did right in the middle of their pitch and all I just left.

At Mansfield I got my apple dumpling which I wanted so bad last year and never got one so the first thing I did when we got there was buy one. And it was sooo good!! But the best thing about Mansfield was the fresh warm homemade Amish pretzels. They were the best thing by far I could have ate three of them but I contained myself and shared the ONE with HIM. The only thing we ended up buying at Mansfield was a hat for Little miss S. There was so much that I should've and could've have bought for Christmas gifts and all, but I kept second guessing myself. That or I didn't want to carry it all day so I said I would get it on the way out and forgot. But that's okay we had a blast even with our minimal purchases. The Hose's on the other had now they got a deal on this huge block of Amish butter cheese all because it was closing time and they wanted to make a sale. Heather loves cheese and was so excited about their purchase!!!

The weather was pretty much great the whole day. It was not too windy, a little cloudy, but that kept it from getting too warm. There was about a ten minute rain shower around 4 o'clock but it wasn't too bad and thankfully didn't make things too muddy. We stayed there until about 6 o'clock their time and then headed out taking the back roads again to avoid the crazy two mile an hour traffic. On the way home we stopped in Terra Haute for some dinner at Fridays and I had the best salad yep it was the bomb. We made it back to our house around 8:45 our time.

Football game Disaster

Okay so we are still pretty new at this whole parenting thing since we don't have any kids of our own and all. And with Little miss S as our first infant placement. So to say that we make a few mistakes here and there is pretty accurate. But none quite as bad as last night. We were definitely not thinking like people with a baby and the possible disasters that might occurs on our little outing.

 My not so little, sophomore in high school  brother had a football game last night that we went to. It was the only game that we are probably able to make it to, so even though it was cold we went. BIG Mistake!!! I have ordered a coat for Little miss S but it hasn't came in yet so I bundled her up real good in layers and brought with us some blankets to keep her nice and toasty. Well it would have been okay if she would sit still on her own and stay snuggled up but she wouldn't so we had to hold her mistake #2. Then to top it off the game started late and it lasted well past Little miss S's bed time and she so did not want to snuggle mistake #3. Then even though I feed her before we left, when HIM got us food from the concessions she wanted ours and got mad when it was all gone (we both shared ours with her too). I even had snacks for her but they didn't quite cut it for her mistake #4. 

Now if all that wasn't enough her teeth started bothering her. Good thing I had the oragel with me but I did not pack any pain reliever for her BIG mistake #5. The oragel only helped for a little bit and after the third time putting it on she was over it and didn't want any of it. I tried my hardest to tough it out until the game was over but that did not work unfortunately. There was a little over 3 minutes on the board and Little miss S cracked. She started crying, screaming and kicking oh man was she giving it her all. We just got up a left, without even saying hi to my little brother. But at least he knew we were there that was the main thing. This was the first time she has had a melt down like that in public and man was I embarrassed and mad. As soon as we got to the car I changed her diaper and put her in her car seat and low and behold the little stink starts smiling grrr. Well like they say you live and learn and boy did we get a lesson in parenting last night ugh.

Auction

She has a monkey on her back

Auction's are so exciting! I have been to a few when I was younger but last year was my first time actually participating in one. Our Alma Mater has their annual Athletic Auction every September.  We really didn't want to bring Little miss S with us but she did surprisingly very well. We had to pick up a child restraint backpack which is just a fancy name for a child leash. But she loved it, she was able to still have her freedom and still not get into too much trouble. And then there was the food, the one way to keep her happy and calm is to bribe her with food. This girl loves to eat she gets so darn excited when you mention "bites" that she starts to squeal and dance on her tippy-toes.

There were four silent auctions where the items were supplied a combination of sport teams. It allows for a nice mix of items there are even some pretty nice foreign items. Then there is a  meal that is followed by the live auction. We only won  one item from the silent auction which was a bummer. There were a few items that we really wanted but were outbid on them. We don't participate too much in the live auction but the excitement of it all is still well worth the time. Though there was this one time that I almost bid $500 on a trip that we so did not want all because of those stupid nats that were swarming our table. They would not get out of my face and I was swatting them away when the auctioneer thought I was placing a bid YIKES!! Good thing someone else placed a bid because HIM was about to have a heart attack. Under no uncertain terms was I allowed to swat those nasty nats from my face the rest of the evening.

New little house guest

 August slipped past me faster the July ever did. It just seems unreal that the older I get the faster the days slip on by. It seems like last week I posted my latest blog and here it is already September. And I never even posted anything in August aahhhh I missed a whole month. Life is slipping by me way too fast. I even started Christmas shopping yes I said it the dreaded Christmas shopping has started. I have not got much done granted, but I am determined to have the majority of my shopping done before December gets here. Which is hard since we never know when and for how long we will have our foster placements. But either way I will have my Christmas shopping done before the week before Christmas.

The twins got to go home right before school started here about the middle of August. It really was a bitter sweet event. But I was glad to see that they were able to go back with their parents. It was a tough situation for those boys who loved their parents so much but started to get attached to us. The plus side is that we still get to see them every once in a while. Their mother and aunt had joined us a couple times at church before they went home, and still decided to join us after they returned! It is nice when we are still able to stay in contact with our previous placements.

We didn't really get any our time from the twins leaving us and getting our new little house guest. The reason being we welcomed a friend and her 3 yep 3 kids ages 15, 7 and 4 into our house for a few weeks until they found their own place and all. They officially moved out this past Sunday and to say that it was an interesting experience is to say the least. It is not that we did not want them here it is just that you get use to your own space and way of doing things and then when people come in and stay for extended periods of time it gets a little awkward at best. And then while they were still with us we got a new house guest, little miss S or as most people refer to her as Little miss Cindy Lou Who. 

She is our first infant placement and first girl placement. It has been an interesting couple of weeks with her in the house. I babysit for a 17 month old boy so the whole baby thing is not that big of a deal for me, but by 4:30 he and his sister go home. To have a baby in the house ALL day and night long is way different than from having one in the house from 7:30-4:30. Little miss S really isn't that bad for a 15 month old little girl that has been placed in a strangers home. It did take her a good week to warm up to HIM though. She did not want anything to do with any male for the first couple of days with us, but she is so over that now. HIM is her buddy now which I am oh so thankful for. It means I can go to the bathroom without having a crying baby banging on the door. Oh the little things in life that we find joy in huh. I have always heard moms talk about how going to the bathroom in peace would be nice but never really understood what they meant until our first week with Little miss S. Now boy do I ever!!! All in all Little miss S is a sweet little girl, she sleeps through the night for the most part, and she is pretty independent. But boy does she like to throw her fits! Whew they are enough to drive a person crazy at times.I just have to give us both a time out and collect myself. 

She is a funny little thing too, she doesn't say many words, but she will let you know what she wants that's for sure. She was hungry one morning and David was up with her she keep running between him and the kitchen smacking his leg and pointing to the table. Then when you get the food out boy does she get all kinds of excited big smiles and excited squeals. And when she smiles it is with her bottom teeth only she looks so goofy and cute! Having a baby in the house versus teenagers is totally new experience. She is in bed between 7-9 and the house is nice a quite. That gives HIM and HER some nice alone time or more realistically it allows us to go to bed early and getting some much needed sleep. I feel at times like I am never gonna get caught up with my sleep. But it is all worth it in the end at least we are able to give Little miss S a safe place to live for the time being. 

Wrapping up July

I am so behind on my postings, I still have events from July that I have not blogged about yet. Hopefully with this one I will be done playing catch up and can move forward to this months events! The last weekend of July was spent camping and boating out on Patoka Lake.

FRIDAY - We arrived at the camp site around 1:30, got set up and then everyone went off to take the jet ski out on the water for a while. I got to stayed behind to relax in the peace and quite since the camp site was still very empty. I am not very big on camping in the first place so to have some time to myself was a major plus. It is not that camping is that bad it is just getting everything ready and most of the time not having a bathroom close at hand. Everyone did not get back until around 5:30 just in time to get a fire going and supper on and most importantly the rain covers and tarps. It had been thundering and getting darker for a little bit and Her just knew we would be getting some rain. Him said it would miss us and we had nothing to worry about but Her was not having any of it. I just knew we were gonna get something and sure enough we had a nice storm with heavy rains strong winds and even pea sized hail. So much for blowing over and missing us. Most of us were out in the storm trying to get all the food and other items covered and stored before they got ruined. One of the first things I did was grab a trash bag and shove over me to help keep myself some what dry I still got pretty wet before I got it on but it still helped. Now here I will remind you that I DO NOT really like to camp. So here I am pretty much soaked sporting the oh so fashionable black trash bag poncho and wondering how in the world am I gonna feed all of us since the storm decided to hit in the middle of cooking everything. The guys were able to get the fire going again and the food cooked thank God and thankfully none of our stuff got ruined! The rest of the night was spent around the fire and goofing off. The one good thing that the rain brought was cool weather. We had a nice chilly night, especially since I forgot our blankets and we had to buy a small throw at the camp store. It was only barely big enough for Her to cover up with, poor Him had to use a towel. Needless to say it was not the best night of sleep either of us have had.

 

SATURDAY - We all got up and had breakfast while the rest of our crew arrived and got set up. Then we were off to the marina for a beautiful day out on the pontoon boat. Our day out on the water was amazing. Not too hot, a nice breeze and warm water it was a good day to be out on the boat. We had our annual diving competition first for all the guys then for us few girls. The guys got a little bit more daring in their dives than us girls. But they were also the only ones who came away with a diving injury as well. There was a lot of swimming, noodle fights and jet ski rides that day as well. After all that fun on the water we headed back to the camp to eat supper, get cleaned up and then ended the night around the camp fire eating smores and telling jokes. That is all of his besides Him, he had to go and work on his sermon for the next morning in our tent. Him was up most of the night putting the finishing touches on it and going over it so he would be prepared to preach in the morning. 

Mount Laundry

SUNDAY morning came way too soon for all of us but it could not be helped. we had to be loaded up and ready to go so we could be back for Him to preach at 10:30. Luckily Patoka Lake is an hour ahead of us so that gave us some wiggle room. After service we all were ready for naps but first I had to get all the laundry sorted and out of bags so they wouldn't get all nasty. I ended up having 8 loads of laundry from this short camping trip (another reason not to like camping) all because the boys decided to bring their comforters instead of a light blanket.  But all in all even with not being a big fan of camping it was a good trip and great memories for the twins who had never done anything like this before.