Big 7-0!

This entry is a bit indulgent...so if you don't want to read about me talking/bragging about myself, leave now!  I will NOT be offended.  It's simply for my own recording/keepsake purposes.  :)  You have been warned....  ;P

Big news:  I hit -70 pounds yesterday!  I am now just 8 pounds from my goal weight, which is 5 pounds below the weight I was at when I found out I was pregnant with Russell.

Today was my measuring day and I lost 4 inches this month which brings me to a total loss of 62 inches!  Like I always say, the inches part really shows me what I've done.  Honestly, I still feel like I LOOK like I did 70 pounds ago.  Maybe because I'm still wearing a lot of the same clothes I wore then?  Yes, they are baggy, but they still fit...and I'm cheap.  I will not buy a new wardrobe until I reach my goal!  But the actual goal, if you remember, is that I will be buying a maternity wardrobe soon.  Yes, it's almost time!  :)))  In my eyes, of course.  Who knows what God has in store?

The pictures below are from my trip to Seattle with our school focus team.  It's a beautiful city!

At the top of the Space Needle in Seattle, WA

Space Needle

Mt. Rainier in Washington---BEAUTIFUL!!!

Russell graduated from preschool a few weeks ago for the second time.  The sad part?  The poor kid still has another year in preschool before he's old enough for kindergarten!  He enjoys preschool though, and he has a great teacher.  So I guess we will keep him right where he is.  He's definitely learning still learning something new every day--both academically and spiritually!  Last night, there was a big storm.  I told him when he woke up this morning that he slept right through it and that I was proud of him.  His response?  "Well, I said my prayers last night and asked God to help me not be scared so I could sleep.  And he made me not scared!!"  He was so amazed.  I love hearing him say things like that.  :)



Summer vacation.  I'm diggin' it!  I've got lots of work to do though.  We are transitioning to Office 2010 next year so I've got some tweaking and updating to do on all lessons and activities.  It's a big task, but necessary.  Other than that and a few workshops, I've really got nothing going on.  We went on the cruise during Spring Break, so this summer we don't plan on doing anything big.  OH--BIG NEWS!  Ricky is going to DAY SHIFT!!!!  He found out about 2 weeks ago and will not be moving to days for at least another week--exact date has not been set yet.  I was very hesitant to believe him when he told me.  Not him necessarily, but Walmart.  Walmart always gets my hopes up then crushes my dreams.  :/  BUT.  Ricky says it's guaranteed.  He's already had the interview for it and was told he had the job BEFORE he did the interview.  I can't wait!!!!  It's been 3 1/2 years!!!  Our little family will be back together every night AND day very soon. 

And finally--Teacher of the Year.  I hate bragging on myself as a teacher, so I won't.  :D  I did get this amazing award and feel super blessed, but I know I've got a LONG way to go before I'm a true Teacher of the Year.  Either way, the words from my current and former students made me cry.  "Did you hear me yelling for you?"  and "You deserved it, good job Mrs. Moon."  These words from students I never thought I made a connection with no matter how hard I tried.  Then after an incident with my 7th period class that day, they all proclaimed, "And that's why you got teacher of the year!"  Made my day.  :)

It's a Good Friday for Good Friday.

What a pretty day!  Today was Russell's Easter party at preschool and I had the day off.  Ricky worked 2 hours over this morning, which means...he's now asleep and this mommy got a day all to herself!  What did I do, you ask?  I went to watch The Hunger Games for the second time.  :)  I know it doesn't sound like it, but before that, I was very productive.   I did 4 loads of laundry, I've gone through Russell's winter clothes and placed those that no longer fit him in "storage".  Ha!  Who am I kidding...we have no more room for storage!  I seriously feel like I'm starting to live in a Hoarders episode.  This summer, we're getting a storage building, but there's no time or money for that now.  :)  And once we have another kid, if it's a girl, I'm getting rid of it ALL, with the exception of a few special baby outfits. 

We ended up going on our cruise during Spring Break rather than waiting for summer.  I think it may have been the best vacation EVER, and the timing was perfect.  I came back to school fully refreshed!  We went to Progreso, Yucatan, Mexico and Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico.  It was our 4th time to Cozumel, but 1st to Progreso.  Progreso was way different and I loved it!  It was much less commercialized than Cozumel.  My favorite things about the cruise were 1) the beautiful Cozumel water and 2) our balcony.  Wish I was still there....  ;)

Balcony...  :)

Progreso Beach

Progreso Bus Tour

Progreso--Dzibilchaltun Ruins

he he he

A little piece of Heaven

Could have laid there forever...

Ahhhh.  This was taken at Three Amigos Restaurant.  Great food, PERFECT view!

Ricky fell asleep on the beach in Cozumel

I almost fell asleep, too!

The Lobby of the Carnival Triumph

Formal Night

 In my last entry, I mentioned, "We have to catch a break sometime, right?"  Well....on the cruise, we were seated in the dining room with three other couples.  One of the couples, around our age, just so happened to both work at the Home Office for Walmart!!!  How amazing is that?  We all really hit it off and became cruise buddies.  In the end, the husband told us his job is coming open due to his promotion, and that he would be happy to turn Ricky's resume over to his boss.  Ricky and him exchanged contact info and he actually emailed Ricky when he got back to Arkansas asking for his resume.  So...obviously, Ricky sent it in ASAP!  No clue what will happen with all of that, but the fact that it happened gave us assurance that we are where God wants us.  It's so easy to forget that sometimes!

I gained 5 pounds on the cruise (ate EVERYTHING in sight), but lost 6.4 pounds the next week.  I'm now down 65 pounds and 57 inches.  Holy moly!  I'm only 12ish pounds from my goal weight.  I've GOT THIS!!! 


Easter is Sunday and Ricky found out this morning that he's off tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday.  YAY!  He gets to go to sunrise service with us.  Sunrise Service with Mt. Pleasant MBC in Langley, AR is something everyone on Earth should get to experience.  It's such a blessing.  Can't wait!

Still Going Strong

It's been a while! As I type this, I'm still in the bed, and that makes me a happy mommy. :) Russell is watching a movie (Home Alone 2--I'm so proud!) and Ricky is still at work. On his job front, he is now on his THIRD year of working overnights. That is the majority of Russell's life! It was supposed to be "temporary". We gotta catch a break sometime, right? I know it will happen when the time is right, but for ME, the time has been right for a few years! We're definitely being forced to practice patience during this time.

I'm still going strong on Weight Watchers and to date have lost about 52 pounds and have lost 47 INCHES. The inches part always validates me more than the pounds. I still have about 25-30 pounds I'd like to lose before we try to get prego. I can do it! Several coworkers have joined WW recently and I think that will hold me more accountable. I hear them talk about exercising and know that I'm not doing all I could to get to where I want to be.  Here are a few before/after pics: 

Can't get this to rotate for some reason, but this was just recently.

February 2011 - A couple days after starting Weight Watchers - WOW - That's embarrassing!

Can you tell a difference?  I can!  50 pounds later... And I just had to take a pic of my old PJ pants--haven't been able to fit into them in years!!!  :)

 
The new semester at school just started and it appears that I've got a good group to work with! :) The first three days are so exhausting though because I have to get my bluff in with them and "put the fear in them" so to speak. If only they knew I was not a crazy mean lady...haha! But one thing that really inspired me as a teacher yesterday was with my Computer Technology students. The students I've had in the past could answer every review question thrown at them and their typing technique was impeccable. I was so proud! And I let them know that I noticed...you could just see their face light up like, "Wow, I really did learn something in here." That was the validation I needed to keep being a crazy nagging "mean" lady and force my new keyboarding students to keep their keyboard covers down and type each key with the CORRECT finger!  So evil...I know.  ;)