NTR - Happy Friday Folks!

Hi everyone! I thought I'd pop in for a few updates today...NTR (Not Teaching Related, remember?).

There is a reason I am rebelling against teaching topics today.

You see, I realized something earlier this week...

My summer break is almost over!

I know some of you have probably already accepted that and moved on, but right now I am just a little bummed. Not because I have to go back to work necessarily because I really do LOVE my job, but more because of all that comes with going back to school for our family. It just gets so busy and both my kids will be playing middle school sports this year - Yikes!

Kristi and I report back to work on August 13th. We get our new batch of sweeties on the 16th.

My kids start August 23rd...the lucky ducks...condensed calendar. They get out before me too!

Next week, my daughter heads to Silver State Baptist Youth Camp (jr. camp) and traditionally that has been the week that I go up to the school and get to work, so I promise teaching topics next week.

Anyway, this was the last day of my self-imposed weight loss challenge so I need to wrap that up for those of you that have been following along with us. You may remember Kristi had met her goal last week. I have not met my goal - YET. I'm going to keep at it. I lost 8 pounds this summer and wanted to lose 4 more.

We celebrated my birthday last night with Coca Cola Cake and homemade Butter Pecan ice cream. Yum--O! But certainly not diet food - ha! The cake was a Pinterest find and awesome! :-)

I am pleased to say that in all my vacationing that last couple of weeks I did not GAIN any weight back. Woohoo!

Okay, on to the next thing that has kept me busy this week...

I have had a pay as you go phone for years, but I have started to use it so much that we looked into getting a plan. We were also hoping so solve an internet issue here at the house by using a phone as a mobile hotspot for my laptop. So, I ended up with this:

It is an LG Lucid smartphone and I have no idea how to use it - LOL! I am learning...slowly. I was able to connect my laptop to the hotspot, but have not been able to get internet access yet. Weird. I wonder if I missing a step or something. If any of you have experience with this and care to offer suggestions, I'd appreciate it.

Okay, I'm off to play with my new phone clean house!

Happy Friday!

Crystal

Winners (and weekly weigh-ins)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to everyone who recently became a follower of our blog and entered our contest! It was so exciting to see those numbers grow! We are trying to go through all your fabulous comments and visit your blogs too, but it will take some time with so many. :-)

Now for what you all are waiting for...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Aimee - You should be receiving an e-mail with the MPM gift certificate shortly!


Jennifer - We sent you an e-mail requesting your snail mail address so we can mail you the sharpener!

Congratulations, ladies!


On, to the weigh-ins...


Kristi's Weigh-In -

I have continued to go to the YMCA with my husband when he gets off of work.  We go about every day and I will either do a Zumba class or do the elliptical machine.  Both my husband and I have changed our eating habits at home and started to eat a small snack in between meals (which I really haven't done before because I was scared that I would gain more) but was willing to try it because a lot of people believe in it.  Honestly, I am amazed how it keeps my hunger under control by just having a small snack in between each of my meals.  So today, I lost another pound and another 1/2 inch like Crystal-YEAH!  I still have 3 more pounds to go to get to my goal, so will keep working at it. 



Crystal's Weigh-In:

I have this thing with my heart rate (so does my sister)...as in it does not go up like a normal person. In fact every time I have it checked at the doctor's office, they ask me, "Is your heart rate always so low?" Even when I had surgery a couple of years ago, the nurse was amazed. "We don't have you very excited now do we?" she asked. Ha ha! No, not even the idea of having surgery can make my heart race apparently.

One day at the YMCA I had been running on the treadmill a good 1 1/2 miles and still was not in my "zone." The trainer brought a lady to the machine next to me to have her try it out. Within a couple minutes, the trainer said, "Good! This is your target zone."

WHAT? Are you kidding me?

She was walking people!

I had been running a good 12 or 15 minutes and NOTHING!

All this to say, it takes alot to get my heart rate up. P90X doesn't do it, so as I work out with hubby when I finish an exercise and am waiting on the next one, I am doing some sort of cardio (jumping jacks, high knees, tires, etc.) to attempt to feel winded. My husband who apparently has a normal heart rate is huffing and puffing just from the normal routine and needs all the breaks he can get. :-)

That being said, we did Cardio-X all week and I lost another pound and 1/2 inch. I'll take it! I am now at the weight that I sort of plateaued at last time which has me a little worried. Click here if you don't know what I'm talking about.  However, I feel great so if this is my body's happy place*, I'm okay with that.

*Love this term...check out Paige's post about it here.

Cardio-X seemed a bit easy this morning... My heart is probably getting used to it and won't go up anymore. Anyone else out there weird like me?

Have a blessed day!

Kristi and Crystal

50 Followers Giveaway - Hooray!!!!

Graphic by The 3AM Teacher http://the3amteacher.blogspot.com/
Font by Graphics From the Pond http://frompond.blogspot.com/

It's finally here and time to CELEBRATE! And we mean CELEBRATE! We've come up with a great 50  72 followers giveaway. There will be TWO lucky winners. One winner will receive a $25 gift card to MPM School Supplies (the store everyone has been blogging about) and one winner will receive the pencil sharpener everyone has been talking about!

Yeah! We're so excited and hope you are too!

The giveaway starts today and ends next Thursday, July 12th. We will announce the winners on July 13th!

You can have up to 15 entries to win so get started!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kristi Says:

I FINALLY made it back from Colorado.  Let's just say that I was supposed to arrive at 9:38 pm and I didn't make it until around 4 am.  There were delays from the weather and then when it finally cleared and our plane came in, the pilot had worked too many shifts and they had to find a new pilot.  I was grateful that they found another pilot who would stay awake and get me back safely, but I was definitely ready to get out of the airport and home. 

WEIGH IN-I'm getting closer-yeah!  I have lost a total of 8 pounds so far.  My goal is 5 more pounds to get where I want to be.  Hope it goes quickly, but I'm sure that it will take forever! 

Crystal Says:

Not much to report for my weigh-in. I actually stayed exactly the same! Better than going up, I suppose, and with the holiday I guess I can be okay with that! I'm getting nervous to reach my goal by August 1st...5.6 more pounds to go...

Don't forget to enter our giveaway!  Have a great day! 

Kristi and Crystal

Weigh-In and Liebster Award! :-)

A much better weigh-in today -- Hip! Hip! Hooray!

How'd I do on my goals?

Workout 5 days - check

Eat no ADDED sugar M-F - Hmmm...the kids went to Grandma's on Monday and made pies. Harley (my daughter) made my favorite - Chocolate (what else?) - so I did have a couple of pieces throughout the week. :-)

Pounds lost - 2.4 for a total of 6.4 (over halfway to my goal!!!)

Inches lost - 2 for a total of 6.25

This "weigh-in" is definitely holding me accountable! Last night, I was seriously craving "pie crust cookie" (pie crust with cinnamon and sugar on it) which of course must be eaten with my chocolate coffee drink but I refused because I knew I was posting my results today! Ha!

If you're just joining me on my journey, you can click here to see what it is all about.

Now on to some exciting news! Erin at:

has given us the  award! Thanks so much, Erin. You truly have been an encouragement to us since we have started blogging.

The purpose of this award is to highlight new bloggers with less than 200 followers.

Here are the rules:

1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.

2. Thank the giver and link back to them.

3. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

So.... here are our picks for the Liebster Blog Award:

First Grade Magic

Creative Happenings

Thanks again for the award, Erin! That makes THREE awards in one week - whew! There has been several ladies that have welcomed us and encouraged us through comments (everybody loves those, right?) with our blog. We thank you all! We're creeping ever closer to 50 followers - can't wait for the giveaway - we're already talking about it! :-)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Crystal

Weigh In - Do I dare?

I do registration at VBS. I do not enter the sanctuary for the chaos fun. Those of us who do registration are either teachers or have been teachers. We stick together away from the chaos fun. Some think as teachers we should want to be in the big middle of it, but I say I love kids in a structured environment. Ha! It has been a great week - the kids are excited - the Gospel has been preached - and tonight is parent night.

It has not been a great week for my weight loss challenge. At VBS every evening, they have a table of great food for the workers and homemade cookies for the kiddos. I even had to bake chocolate chip cookies - one of my favorites! With tonight being parent night, there will be no table of food, but plenty of cookies and either snowcones or possibly frozen yogurt. Hmmm...maybe the table of food would be better?

Anyway...this posting my progress definitely helped me through the week. I did not 'let loose' and enjoy all the food. I showed some self-discipline, but I did have sweets everyday which is not good for me! My numbers are not as bad as I figured they would be...both are up so a bit of a setback but I know I will do better next week without all the temptation.
:-)

Pounds: +1.4 (for total lost of 4 pounds)

Inches: +1.25 (for total lost of 4.25 inches)

Don't forget about our Super Summer Sale going on now through June 25th! Our entire store is 20% off and since most of our items are $2 or less, you can grab some great resources for CHEAPO! :-)

Crystal

Weigh In, Kitty Update, and Positive Behavior

OK, so I'm jealous of Crystal-all those inches lost!!!  As for me, I'm having a hard time.  Losing just a little bit but nothing like I want.  I am hoping that it will get better as soon as I can exercise to my full potential.  I had cut my achilles ankle tendon about 2 months ago and I'm just now trying to get some exercise in but can't do a whole lot yet.  I'm hoping that as soon as I can get more exercise then maybe those inches will fly off quickly (big hopes :-)).

Kitty update-he is doing much better.  He is actually starting to run around the house a little more than usual-YEAH!  I'm still his primary nurse and am feeding him his canned food from my hand still trying to get him to eat it out of a bowl or plate, but he is not having it.  LOL!  SPOILED! 

Now on to some school stuff.....I have been thinking like Crystal about incorporating some extra positive behavior into my classroom for next year.  I found this cool idea on pinterest and was wondering if anyone does something like this or what you might do in your room for the extra positive?

http://pinterest.com/pin/208221182741220925/




Hope you all have a great weekend!  Kristi

Week 2 Weigh-In Day and Time to the Half-Hour...

Well, last week you may remember that I did not have anything teaching related to add to this post, but I saved something just for today! Hee hee! You will want to read to the end!

First, my progress for the week. After what I call a "cleansing" last week (cutting out a lot of sugar and carbs), this week I focused more on eating only when I was truly hungry and stopping when I was satisfied (instead of full). For me this weightloss challenge is more a refocusing than a diet. I'm not a fad dieter and I don't try things that I know are not going to be long-term in my life. Instead when the scale creeps up, I know I need to pay attention. I believe God designed us to know when we are hungry, when we are satisfied, and even what we should eat. Sometimes I just don't listen to my body!

***Disclaimer - These are just my opinions and beliefs. I know we are all different and there is special circumstances that can cause people to struggle with their weight.

Anyway, I have to say I was sweating it a bit yesterday thinking about posting my progress...I didn't know if I was going to show any loss, but I was excited to see that I had lost inches and weight.

Pounds Lost - 1 (for a total of 5.4 - or 45% of my goal)

**6 more weeks for 6.6 more pounds - I CAN DO IT!

Inches Lost - 2.5 (for a total of 5.5 - or 68% of my goal)

**Most of those 2.5 inches were from my thighs - WOOHOO!

On another note, my son is coming back from Silver State Baptist Youth Camp in Colorado today! Yeah!!! He called me on Wednesday to tell me he accepted Christ as his personal Savior. PRAISE THE LORD! I just wanted to reach through the phone and hug him! He called again yesterday feeling pretty homesick I think...they left on Saturday AM...we are so ready for him to be home!!

On to the teaching related part...Remember those requested I have, Who has? games. Well, I've been busy working on this:

I Have...Who Has...Time to the Hour and Half-Hour

The borders are from Graphics From the Pond and the clocks are from The 3AM Teacher. The pictures are a little blurry (not sure why), but I'm super pleased with how the game turned out!

The first 3 followers to comment WITH their email address will get this game for FREE!

Have a Happy Friday!

Crystal

NTR - Weigh-In Day

Okay, I tried really hard to think of something teaching related to go along with this post, but I have to say it is my summer break and I couldn't come up with anything... I attempted to look on my work laptop for a FREEBIE that I could give, but I can't access the drive where all my stuff is saved from home...so this is it. All you get is my progress for the week - short and sweet. Kristi would say nothing I write is short and sweet - some of you are in agreement I'm sure!

I had two main goals - eat no ADDED sugar (explained more below) and exercise 5 times per week.

How did I do?

Day 1 - A snap!

Day 2 - I was so strong - resisted ALOT of temptations!

Day 3 - HARD - If I had the same temptations as Day 2, I would have failed miserably!

Day 4 - Good, but hubby made homemade ice cream and I had to have a small bowl...

I lost...

{insert drum roll here}

4.4 pounds and 3 inches

For those of you taking the challenge, here are some tips for success. They may or may not work for you, but it is what works for me when I get serious about weight loss.

My favorite "diet" foods.

1. Don't give up EVERYTHING you love to eat. I have a homemade "chocolate coffee drink" every morning that has 2 TBS of sugar and 2% milk in it (SHOCK!). I know it is awful and I have tried to substitute "fake" sugar, but it just isn't the same. I also allow myself one piece of dark chocolate every afternoon (I love Ghirardelli chocolate - the ones pictured are good, but my favorites are the 80% dark chocolate truffle balls). I do not count these two splurges as ADDED sugar because I am planning to eat them. I love chocolate and if I tried to give it all up, I would be setting myself up for failure. The Fudgsicles are for my late night snack if I just have to have something - serving size is 2, but I am happy with 1.
 
2. I eat eggs and bacon - and not turkey bacon either - for breakfast with my coffee drink, of course.
 
3. Lunch is salad w/ protein (varies and depends what I have - usually sliced turkey or leftover grilled chicken).
 
4. For dinner, I eat what I make for my family and concentrate on smaller portions.
 
5. Aside from the coffee drink, I drink water the rest of the day.

Looking to next week, I know this was the easiest four pounds to lose (my goal is 12). So if you took the challenge, comment below and tell me how you did. I can't wait to hear from you!

Also, all are welcome to join us. You'll find details in the summer weight loss challenge post and a link to a spreadsheet to track your progress.

Crystal

 

June Currently...and Random

Well, I'm just a bit late to Farley's Currently party, but here goes...

Okay, I'm not much a of a traveller, but I really would love to go on a Caribbean Cruise someday. Hubby is not that interested so it will probably have to be a surprise if it ever happens...

We celebrated our 15th anniversary in December and took a quick trip to Kansas City. The best part was going to the KU vs. Ohio State basketball game on the way home! Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

This summer we are going to MO to visit friends and go to Silver Dollar City. Can't wait!

Random 1

We are working on bringing COSMO (pictured below with my daughter) home. This has been in the works since the first of the year. We had some friends offer to give her Cosmo (she has been in love with horses since she was 3 years old - now she's 11). After much prayer, we began cleaning out our barn and now we just need to finish the fence...so maybe within the next couple of weeks.

I love this picture of Harley!

Random 2

Summer Weight Loss Challenge...If you don't know what I'm talking about click here. There were a couple of you interested so I will post my updates tomorrow and expect to hear from you in the comments. This is what I have to say so far...Day 3 (yesterday) was MISERY. Kristi and I decided there must be scientific proof somewhere that Day 3 of a diet is the hardest. LOL!

Have a great day!

Crystal

Summer Weight Loss Challenge

Okay, so this is definitely not teaching related, but I started a Summer Weight Loss Challenge yesterday...with myself. Kristi and I both did a weight loss challenge at work in January 2011. It was great to have that accountability - nevermind that we started on a Monday, the first weigh-in was supposed to be Tuesday, but we had two snow days and couldn't weigh in until Thursday. Kristi and I were both too stubborn to just start eating again and stuck with it those two days - losing A LOT of weight. You know how it comes off pretty easy when you first cut out carbs... Anyway, since we had already lost weight before the initial weigh-in, we did not win the BIG prize but we should have. I promise I am not bitter - just updating you. LOL!

So this year when they did it, I had only gained back 2 pounds and didn't feel the need to participate...and yes, now I do. That number has grown from 2 to well, let's just say less than 10. Some of this is due to the change in my workouts...I was doing Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred or Burn Fat, Boost Metabolism. Now I do P90X with my hubby which I know has built muscle, but I know this is not just muscle!

By the way, Kristi will probably say she needs to lose weight again but that is totally not true...just saying.

I started this challenge with myself and made up a spreadsheet to track my measurements and weight for the summer. I printed it off and posted it where I can see it everyday to keep me motivated. I thought there might be others who would want to do the same so here is the link to my cute little spreadsheet. It is all set up for Friday weigh-ins and will track your pounds and inches lost as you go.

Sorry it is not embedded. I tried to figure that out and couldn't...my Google Docs does not look like the pictures in any of the tutorials I watched. Hmmm...mystery for another day maybe.

I would love some accountability on this and wonder if you would too? If so, leave a comment below that you are taking the challenge and would like updates weekly. I would just post something about how many pounds and/or inches I am down or up, no certainly never up I hope I am and you could comment how you are doing as well. If no one is interested, I'll keep this little challenge to me, myself, and I. :-)

Crystal