Biggest Loser Club....join today!

Well, most of you know that I am a HUGE fan of NBC's show The Biggest Loser. It is such an inspirational show and I just love to see people making a real change in their lives for the better.
(Is it just me, or does anyone else often snack mightily during this show? Now that's embarassing!)

About a year ago, I confessed my own weight loss struggle/goals on this blog. I am even more embarrassed that I fell off the "wagon" and now weigh even more than I did then. So, with the inspiration of my fave TV show as well as friends like Jerri, my sisters Kim & Shellie (and others). I decided it was time to weave some interests together in order to really make a change in my life and help others do the same.

I set a goal for myself. It's called 33 by 33. Simply explained...I want to lose 33 lbs. before I turn 33 (on June 20th). I will be posting about my progress (hopefully weekly) and share tips, struggles, etc. along the way.

I also am starting my first weight loss competition. I kept thinking how I would LOVE to be on Biggest Loser but knew I'd never have the chance (and couldn't leave my family for that long) so why not create a Biggest Loser competition among my friends who are in the same boat as me? So I am going for it! Here are the details...

Starting January 6th (first day of The Biggest Loser's new season) the competition will begin.

I have set up this email address iamthebiggestloser@yahoo.com for anyone interested in participating. Just send me an email by 10pm/9pm central on January 6th to join.

Each club member pays $25 to join. (This money in it's entirety goes toward the pay out for the winners).

The weigh-ins will be held monthly. Let's face it, no one has time to workout for 4 hrs. a day so our weekly weigh ins won't be as significant as those on the show. (FYI--I am the only person who will see "your number" and will keep it confidential. Only percentages of weight loss will be sent out to all the participants. I will not post the results on the blog, only via email to those in the Biggest Loser Club.)

Points will be awarded after each weigh-in.

75 pts. for the Biggest Loser of the month,

60 pts. for 2nd place,

45 pts. for 3rd place,

30 pts. for 4th place,

20 pts. for everyone else.

Weekly points will be added for each workout you complete. 1 point for every minute you workout with a 20 minute minimum. (You can only count consecutive minutes and must workout at least 20 minutes to get credit.).

A bonus of 8 points for every day you drink 8 or more glasses of water. (no more than 8 pts. per day can be earned so don't pull a Neil and try to drink 2 gallons in a day).

Summary: Each week you will email me your total number of workout minutes, and # of days you drank 8 glasses of water. Our weeks will run Wednesday to Tuesday so we can follow the BL schedule. On the weigh-in weeks, you will also turn in your weight (but those occur just once a month. I will send out a weigh-in reminder.)

The final weigh-in will occur on the finale of the Biggest Loser Season 7 (currently scheduled for May 12th, 2009). The winner will be the person who has earned the highest total of points and will receive 70% of the total pay out, 2nd place will receive 30%. EVERYONE will receive motivation and a reason to finally start reaching their weight loss goals. As a bonus, we'll be used to this new lifestyle of eating healthy, getting fit and replenishing our bodies with water so that we all will be guaranteed to have great results by the season finale this spring!

If weight loss is one of your goals, I hope you will commit to joining us! I've already got 4 BL club members signed-up! The more that join, the higher the pay out will be!

To answer Biggest Loser's theme song question, "What have you done today to make you feel proud?" You can say.... I joined Jaime's Biggest Loser Club!!!

Celebrating Faith!

I am not sure how we went from loving this.....To loving this...... (in what feels like only 3 days). But nonetheless, we are officially parents of a BEAUTIFUL 3 year old!!!

With Faith's birthday so close to Christmas we try to make sure her big day isn't overshowered. I am pretty sure this year we accomplished that!!! I think we will scale back on the parties next year b/c I don't think she realized when her real birthday was! We sure had fun celebrating this precious little redhead!!

Her first party started in Memphis with Grandad, Granlyn, Aunt Melody, Uncle Brad, Bennett, Briggs, Uncle Michael, Aunt Darla, Stone, Sterling, Daddy, Mommy and Eli. She wanted a RED CAT birthday cake this year. Not sure why, but she kept insisiting that's what she wanted! So here it is....

Thank you everyone for making this so special for her and for all the wonderful gifts!!

Then, Nana came for a visit and the celebration continued. Nana gave Faith her first Barbie doll (who was a vet so there was also a pony, dog and cat to play with). She also received some dance classes!

Nana, as always, you give the perfect gifts! Thanks so much!

Next, Mommy made cupcakes for her friends at Mother's Day Out....

Her "friend party" was held at Build-a-Bear Workshop. She invited two friends to make bears and the girls had a blast! It was so fun to watch them at each station. Chickfila and cupcakes immediately followed the bear making.....Kissing the bear's heart before stuffing it inside.

Even Eli got into the shopping mode. He liked this little hat!

Here are the girls and their Bears. From L to R: Emily & Hannah Bear, Faith & Boo Bear, Charity & Ila Bear! So cute how they picked the same bear. I love all the names they chose!

Emily, Thanks for the Strawberry Shortcake set!
Charity, Thanks for the My Little Ponies!

Cupcake Time....

Finally, on the BIG DAY (December 20th) we had her 3 year pics taken and headed off to Chuck-E-Cheese for lunch! Our new neighbors, the Williamsons, came over for our last round of cupcakes!!

Still not too sure about characters in costumes, even if it is Chuck E!!
Riding one of her favorite rides with Daddy!

Her final birthday cupcake...(thanks Ryan, Sarah, Sydney, Jack and Evy for the last minute drop-in).

Happy Birthday precious girl! We love you so much!

18 months!

It is hard to believe that Eli is now 18 months old!! This boy has stolen our hearts and has recently filled our home with MUCH LAUGHTER..... click on this super short video for a sampling!

It is hard for me to put into words what this little boy means to me (his mommy) and the rest of our family. I haven't been great at keeping track of all the specific accomplishments that he has made. But here are a few things I would love to share about our Bubby...

1) He LOVES to get dirty! He can be outside playing less than 5 minutes and will be covered with dirt. He takes his granola bar and crumbles it all up so that he can get crumbs and the chocolate pieces EVERYWHERE!!

2) He LOVES to climb. I think he got this from my mom (his NayNay as she was a big climber too). He will climb on everything. He can Houdini himself out of any booster seat we've tried to put him in and climb on top of the table in record time.

3) He LOVES to move. Strapping him down in any form frustrates him. Therefore, car rides aren't very pleasant for our family. He also gives us an additional workout whenever it's time to tie his shoes! Whew!! I'm sweating just thinking about it!

4) He LOVES his sister. Watching this friendship unfold has been such a blessing to me. Faith and Eli both attend MDO 2 days a week. Both their teachers comment on how sweet their friendship is and how they find each other when their classes have play time together. I LOVE that!

5) His language is exploding and it is so fun (especially for me) to watch him grow in this area. He knows the signs for: more, all done, drink (my fave), sorry, please, thank you

He can say the following words: shirt (his new fave), whoa, sis (for Faith), Daddy, Mama, nana (banana), Nana, dis, yea!, and tons of others, I just can't think of them now.

6) He loves animals (especially dogs). He can make the sounds for: cow, sheep, cat, tiger, lion (so cute), and elephant (our absolute fave!)

There's tons more to say about this precious boy but hopefully this little taste of Eli has put a smile on your face!


Eli, we love you so so so so so so so much!!!!

And the winner is......

CANDICE!!! Although her guess was incorrect, she was the name selected in our random drawing! I noticed as I was writing the names on the paper that every contestants name started with a "C" and Christmas starts with "C" too so maybe it's a good thing that no one else participated b/c odds are we couldn't have kept up the "C" names for too long!!)

I really liked all the guesses.
Candice: Randy Travis' "Meet Me Under the Mistletoe" (one of my faves on his cd...my fave Cmas album)
Crisiti: "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" (I debated on this one and almost picked it!)
Cynthia: Amy Grant's "Tender Tennessee Christmas" (I hadn't thought of this one but now I wish I had. I love this song and it's particularly appropriate for us this year!!)

But here is the one I choose (it makes me smile and dance (ever so slightly) every time Murray calls.....

Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You!" It's such a fun song!!!

Congrats, Candice!! Let me know what kind of Cmas fabric (theme and colors) you want me to use and the measurements of your table (or place you want to put it....bar, coffee table, etc.) You can leave it in the comments of email me.

Thanks for playing "C" friends! May your days be merry and bright!!!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Cheer!!!

Well, I received from Christmas cheer from Kristen and Jennie when they told me about www.thecutestblogontheblock.com . How do you like the new look???? I will admit, I was up WAY too late updating it. It was fun playing around with different formats, colors, etc. Hope it brings you all some Christmas cheer too!!

Now.....onto my attempt to bring my massive blog following (ha ha!) some Christmas cheer, CLEARLY a Christmas themed table runner is not on the "must have" list of very many folks this year...even when it's free!!! Nonetheless, my offer still stands and as of right now (9:20 a.m. central time) I will have to have a drawing for the 2 guesses I've received (both GREAT guesses but neither one is correct). I will close voting at 9:00 am central time tomorrow to allow me time to buy fabric, make the table runner and mail it by this Friday. So for the remaining 3 readers, if you want to play, guess away!

P.S. A quick shout out to my buddy, Chris. A very dear friend from my teen years who I haven't seen in YEARS!!!! I got to see him this summer with our great friends (and mentors) the Martins. Thanks for commenting on the last post!! It was crazy (crazy like a fox) to see you again! Glad to hear things are going well for you!

A few of my "new favorite" Christmas things....

Well, the Christmas season is in full swing. Here are a few of my new faves I've recently discovered. (Note: I'm doing my first ever blogger give-away so be sure to read this post in its entirety!!)

1) Chick-fil-a's New Holiday Peppermint Chocolate Chip Shake. It is seriously SOOOO good! Words can't describe its deliciousness, so stop by the amazing Chick-fil-a BEFORE January 3rd and try one!!

2. The YMCA. Our family joined last Monday and we are LOVING IT!! I sorta (ok--definitely) fell off of my workout wagon and have gained even more pounds when I was so determined to be disciplined and finally get in shape. Now that we are settled, Murray and I were feeling the MAJOR need to get back on the wagon and give it another try. I cannot describe how cool our local Y is. It used to be a country club and it has all this super cool stuff in it! Subway, Cardio media room (where you watch movies while you workout), plus all the fitness classes are included in the membership....it's just great! I found an awesome new friend and accountability partner who braved a spin class with me on Friday (we're both still sore). We are meeting in the morning for another workout (my 4th one so far. Thanks, Cynthia!). Already, it's helped me not eat as much, I said "no" to a second warm krispy kreme donut the other day b/c I didn't want to cancel out my workout (hopefully the first donut didn't cancel it out!)....a few days ago and I would've maybe even had 3 donuts!!! (I realize my #1 new fave is a yummy shake!! When you split one four ways, hopefully, it's not too bad either!) Sweets in moderation, right????

3. Ringtones! I've never used a ringtone before and since we just got new cell phones, I figured it was time! I selected holiday songs. One song for my mainstream callers and one special holiday song for when Murray calls. George Strait's "Jingle Bell Rock" is my mainstream ringtone. This sounds so silly, but I seriously LOVE when my cell phone rings now! If you know my number, give me a call sometime!!!

4) Real Simple decorating.... This month's issue of Real Simple had 35 super simple decorating ideas. Since I fall in the "decoratively challenged" category of women this article was of particular interest to me. I found these ADORABLE (and super simple and cheap!!) candy cups. Faith and I made 6 of them in less than 10 minutes. If you don't read RS here's how you make them... Select a few different glasses (I used ones I already had and bought the green ones at Joann's for less than a dollar ea.), fill each glass 3/4 full with sugar (another thing I already had), fill the glasses the rest of the way with mini marshmallows (I bought a giant bag at Walmart for a dollar). Select different colored candy sticks and place in cup (Cracker Barrel sells theirs for 10 sticks/$1). So for less than $5 you get a super cute decoration....my new favorite holiday decor this year!!

5) Holiday table runners! Our dining room table was in desperate need of a table runner. But our budget is pretty tight right now so I decided to make one with some fabric I already had (and a little bit of new fabric from Joann's). I really enjoyed making it and I really like how it turned out. I enjoyed making it so much that I wanted to make another one. So, here's my blogger giveaway....

I will make a holiday table runner for the first person who can guess the special holiday ringtone (song and artist) I selected for Murray when he calls. (Kim--you can't guess b/c I already told you!). I'll let you pick the theme of your table runner (Santas, snowmen, candy canes, etc.) and get it in the mail to you by the end of this week. (one guess per person)

Merry Christmas!!

It's Christmas Time!!!!

Well, now that Thanksgiving is over, we are ready to celebrate the Christmas season. I am one of those people who don't like to "think Cmas" till after Turkey day.

I am so excited for this year's season since the kids are older and Faith is able to understand a lot of it. We've had a lot of fun conversations about Christmas and all that makes it so special.

I don't think she'll get near Santa again this year since she saw him from afar at the Peabody hotel in Memphis and kept asking and asking where he went (she does that when she is really afraid of something). I asked if she wanted to go say hi thinking that maybe since we explained to her how he gives kids really special presents, maybe she'd change her mind.....she VERY QUICKLY said, NO!!!!

This is Faith in Cmas 2006 she was just 12 mos. old. We had to skip Santa pics last year. She wouldn't even get near him. I think she looks ALOT like Eli in this picture!

I wish I knew how to change the background of this blog to make it look like a cute scrapbooking page...so if you want to give me a little Christmas cheer (and it's super easy to explain, please tell me how to do this in the comments!! Is there anyway to do that without paying money?)

Well here's a few Christmas questions to answer (I love knowing new things about my friends...especially their faves) so indulge me, please :)

What's your favorite Christmas....

C'mas Movie of all time:
C'mas comedy movie:
Newer C'mas movie:
C'mas Song:
C'mas CD:
C'mas gift you've ever received (childhood and/0r recent):
C'mas gift you've given someone:
My favorite thing about C'mas is ________.