Photo Ordered!

To all of you that have donated for my first competition, I have finally ordered my photo!

I couldn't fit it on 8"x10" due to bad resolution, however, I was able to do it on 5" x 7".

Here it is.... I should be getting them in about a week or two, after, I'll be able to ship them out!

Again, THANK YOU!!!! I can't wait to compete again in 2007!

p.s. Sorry for the delay, was extremely busy at work and at home (with my small business)..now that the Holiday Season is over with, I can finally take care of a few things!! :-)

It's Confirmed!

Just a quick note before we go out to eat (we are going to Smokey Bones). I went to the doctor today at 4 pm...they also confirmed that I'm definitely pregnant! :)

Since it will be difficult to determine the "due date" (since I just never had the chance to have one cycle since July! *lol*), they took my blood and will determine how far along I am.

I've started taking my vitamins and I can FINALLY start exercising again! WAHOO! I had completely put a stop to my workouts since I needed a long rest and we wanted to get pregnant.....

Problem that I will be facing with exercising again is battling fatigue and nausea. I'm tired all day long and during the weekends, I find myself taking a nap during the day (sometimes two!) ........Have any of you ever experienced extreme fatigue during your first trimester? This happened to me while I was pregnant with my daughter Cassandra.

I've already told my husband that I didn't want anymore after this one...I'll be very happy with just two, no matter if I have a boy or a girl.... he wants at least a boy and a girl but I'd be happy with two girls *LOL* Although I believe I'm a great mother and love kids, two is really enough for me (for now....I may think differently later on in life *lol*).

A Christmas I won't forget !

Last Friday, we travelled to Ohio to visit family for Christmas. Friday early morning (1 am), I woke up feeling awful...I dosed off and on, but my belly was rumbling and I knew I was getting a stomach virus of some sort! YUCK! This time, there wasn't "puking" involved but I did feel like I was going to all day! I felt horrible, but it also prompted me to "get checked", to see if I was pregnant....well my husband went to the store for me and bought two pregnancy tests....

Well, I'm definitely PREGNANT and I have the morning sickness to go with it! YUCK! This means that if everything goes as planned, I'll be able to compete in 2007! Probably be on stage 6 months after baby is born! *LOL* It's going to be a challenge but I can do it! I have my great friend and trainer that will help me the whole way! He's terrific!!

Anyway, just wanted to share the news with you all!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Where is Stone Oak?

Has anybody heard from Jim (Stone Oak)…he simply disappeared! He’s such a great supporter and I’m really wondering where’s he is at? I’m actually really WORRIED! Anybody got news from him? Is he ok?? The last time I heard from him was when he visited his grandmother.

Step #1 - ACCOMPLISHED!

As discussed in my post of December 15th ("The Total Money Makeover"), my first goal as been accomplished! We now have $1000.00 saved for Emergency Purposes!

Tonight, we will sit down and figure out what needs to happen next. We are going to put all of our “ducks” in a row, which recurring bills we can eliminate to give us “extra” cash each month that will be put towards are credit card debt.

I’ll confess, for Christmas, I really wanted to buy myself a set of SelectTech Dumbbells ($399 + tax + shipping), but because of our new goals, this will definitely not happen! Instead, one pair of 20 or 25 lbs dumbbells will be purchased ($20.00) and the “Original Club Step” ($80.00) for cardio…I’m in serious need of a change of pace when it comes to cardio, cause there’s only so much “biking” a girl can do! I’ve burned myself out on that bike when I was prepping for my Figure Competition. Also, there’s a method to my madness, the stepper will hopefully help with my glutes, and they need serious toning up (cause I sit on my “ass” on day long at work!). My husband already got me a “exercise ball” that will help with certain exercises such as back extensions, ball crunches, chest press (which utilizes your small stabilizer muscles), etc.

I’ve been in a “runt” for the past month, barely working out but may be once or twice a week, my scale keeps going up and up and I keep telling myself “I’ll start again next Monday”, anybody with me on this one?? HA! Vicious cycle! I need to regain control of my workouts and eating habits; however, I’ll start with the working out aspect of it and then fix the eating habits by the New Year!

Protein Waffles

For Christmas, I got one of my many "wants" (notice I didn't say "need" *lol*). My husband got me a "waffle maker"! I was thrilled! He gave it to me early since we are travelling for the holidays and he wanted to be sure that what he got me was what I wanted.

I just finished eating my first batch of waffles and it's 7:00 PM at night! ooooooooooooh, I don't want to hear it, it was completly an "authorized" clean recipe!

Here's the recipe for you! (sorry no pictures, I ate them too fast! *LOL* I'll make them again soon and will post photos then).

HIGH PROTEIN WAFFLES
3 egg whites
1/4 cup of oat flour
2 scoops of vanilla protein powder
1 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1 package of artifical sweetener (I used Splenda - made for cooking)
Dash of Cinnamon ( to taste)

DIRECTIONS:
Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl. Spoon batter (or pour) into a preheated waffle iron (add some non-stick cooking spray). Cook until golden brown and serve with sugar free syrup or cut strawberries.

NOTES:
- If you don't have oat flour... all you need to do is take some regular oatmeal and blend in blender till "flour" like.
- My waffles cooked real quick! I made two big round waffles with this batch.

CALORIES (without syrup): 375
PROTEIN: 59g
CARBS: 25g
FATS: 5g

The Total Money Makeover

With Christmas only but several days away, many of us with be left with maxed out Credit Cards and debt that will take about all year to pay off. I'll admit, we used the "credit card" quite a few times the past couple of weeks, only because we didn't have the "cash" to buy the presents that we needed to get before Christmas. My husband is getting a commission check very soon but it wasn't soon enough...so, we relied on our lovely Credit Cards! BIG MISTAKE!

Alright , I've come to a realization that our family is on the road to "failure" when it comes to finances and money. We are the "typical" american family, with a house payment, two car payments, about $10,000 of credit card/equity line of credit debts and daycare cost (this doesn't include other misc. monthly recurring bills). With this being said, we have "no" savings what-so-ever! OUCH! How stupid can we be?!? Well.... we are changing our lifestyle! 2006 is going to be the year where we pay off most of our debt (for the exception of our house payment and perhaps one car)....yes, we will pay off about $30,000 to $35,000 of debt for 2006!

To live like "no one else", you have to live like "no one else"....OH BOY, say that a couple of times, you'll get yourself confused! *LOL*

My husband and I are reading a book by Dave Ramsey (christian radio talk show host and financial advisor) called "The Total Money Makeover". Thus far, the book has been a good investment, a lot of "motivational" quotes and uses a lot of "real life" stories! He explains in simple details how his program works,...it's simple and easy to understand. In many ways, it reminds me of "Body for Life", how you must use goals and take baby steps....that the road to success is "no short cut"! It's when you have hit that "wall", where you are sick and tired of being sick and tired....

So far, by reading this book, we have the following goals to achieve for 2006.

1. Save $1,000 in emergency funds (for TRUE emergency purposes only, and DO make it HARD to get !).... this is a must before you start paying off any debt!!!
2. Get caught up! (if you are behind on any bills).
3. Set up a budjet, assigned every dollar earn towards your budget!
4. Start with the smallest debt first (this is important - helps keep you motivated since you achieve your goals faster and it's also creates a "snowball" effect!).
5. The money that you save from paying off the smallest debt should be used for the next debt..so on and so forth.... hence, the snow ball effect.
6. Save 3 to 6 months worth of savings (what you would normally earn).
7 . Pay off House.
8. Invest and Give :-)

He also recommends that if you are very tight in money and it seems impossible to even save $1,000 in emergency funds...START WORKING A SECOND JOB! SELL STUFF AROUND THE HOUSE, etc.

Oh... and dont' use credit cards anymore, don't rent/lease...... BUY CASH! :) So, if you want that nice big screen TV, this twice about financing, cause at the end, you'll pay twice what it's worth.... so, let's say you are buying a TV that's about $1,500.00 , just think that it's actually $3,000 if you put it on credit! :-)......sounds less appealing doesn't it!

I'm not getting into this topic cause I want to depress you or get you to buy the book....but I just want for those of you that are in debt and think that you can't get out of it...there's hope!! :-) We all can live a debt free life!! I'll prove it too you!!! :-) ... ( I like challenges!).. AND I will become RICH! not because I won the lottery or found out a long lost relative of mine has left me TONS of money....I will earn my living the hard way. :-)

There will be a lot of sacrifices, but in the long run, they will be worth it! Can you imagine no car payment, no house payment, no credit card payments, no student loans....just your misc. monthly recurring bills and plenty of CASH FLOW coming in each month cause you got NO DEBT! hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm NICE!!!

DREAM BIG PEOPLE! IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT BEING HEALTHY AND FIT, BUT IT'S ALSO ABOUT FINANCIAL FREEDOM, LIVE HEALTHY AND ENJOY LIFE!

Christmas Tree

We put up our Christmas Tree this week and here it is :) This is my first "artificial" tree.

Personalized Books - Huge Sale!

I was BLESSED with "Buying out" a local competitor and was able to get a great deal just on time for Christmas! I'm passing on the savings to my customers and thought that I should pass it down to you! (if any of you are interested!).

I'm doing a "3 Books for the price of 1" Sale!

You can send me an email at personalizedbooks@earthlink.net if interested.

Books can be shipped via USPS Media Mail for $4.00 or via USPS Priority Mail for $6.00.

Hello!!! I'm back!!! :)

After stuffing my face full of food for the past month, I have done lots of damage that I must now “repair”. After the competition, I went into a state of “gloominess” and my comfort was sweets and junk food! For about a month, I have been eating anywhere between 2,000 up to 4,000 cal a day! I’m now up to 131 lbs, NOT GOOD! Off-season weight, according to a good friend of mine, should be anywhere between 130 and 132 lbs…but the problem is, I gained the weight too fast and with not a whole lot of hard training. The goal was to gain my weight back slowly, eat clean and train real hard – work on my weak spots and add some muscle.

Monday, I started fresh! I’ve got my diet/workout programs in writing, and I’m ready to shed back down to 125 lbs! The whole “bulking” idea isn’t meant for me! *lol* I used it for an excuse to eat, eat, and eat! I have been very bad, and now I’m paying the price. A few competitors had “pre-warned” me about the “contest blues”, of where you mentally play a game with yourself and say “Well, I worked my butt off so hard, it’s time to reward myself, have another huge chocolate bar, muffin, bagel, bag of chips, etc.”…but honestly, there’s a fine line between rewarding yourself and being “unintelligent” and stuffing your face till you about cause yourself a stomach stroke! (If there’s such a thing! HA!)

I now officially weigh-in at 131 lbs (this is after a few days of clean eating), I now have to shed off 6 lbs of fat! Doesn’t sound like a lot you say? Well, how does a month and a half sound like? Sure, I could shed it off in about 3 weeks, but I’ve been dieting for so long, to slash my calories back down to 1400 cal a day, increase cardio to 4 to 5 sessions a week may not be the best thing for me to do at the moment…my body is still trying to adjust! Still no monthly visit….haven’t had my periods since the end of July! WOW! That’s almost 6 months ago…and NO I’m definitely not pregnant.

I’m still working on my cookbook, but I have been putting this program aside for the past two weeks since my Personalized Children’s Books business has kicked off for the Holiday Season and I have to say this is the best year I’ve had for my Online Web Store…it keeps getting better and better each year, I just need to hang on for a few more years before I see a lot more traffic and becomes more profitable…for the past two years, the profits have been strictly invested back into my business, no pocket money (except for a few occasions where I had to use my business for emergency purposes, daughter getting sick and having the pay for the doctor and medicine!). Shipping books everywhere in the USA is building my business up! Also, on the very last page of the books, there’s a list of “available titles” and my website address, so, I’m sure I’m getting some “word of mouth” advertising this way…Anyway, I don’t have a major in Marketing but my efforts thus far have proven effective. I’ve had a few bad investments but that’s ok, I learned from them, and it’s not like they were “risky” investments.

Ok, enough about “business” talk. *LOL* Running my little business is so much fun, but I’m sure “reading” about it can’t be as exciting as it is for me to write about it!

Anyway, still no pregnancy yet, and I’m starting to get a little anxious. I want to compete again, and I want to start soon! I don’t want it to be five years down the road, I want to compete again like yesterday!! *LOL*

I’ve got the motivation, determination and the discipline to do it….what I don’t have that is so important while competing is a great supporter “in your household”. I’ll be COMPLETELY OPEN and HONEST and NO, my husband will tolerate it but he’s not the best supporter……..he is supportive of me working out for good health, but he doesn’t want to see me take it to the next level (which to him, is EXTREME) and compete. ….. as for me, I’ve had this “competition” bug in my head before I even meet him!!! I just never really “voiced out” my desire to compete cause he always said that the girls were not “normal” and looked “horrible”. ...so I had a fear of him not loving me so, I just never told him for years…. NO MORE HIDING! Love for me what I am and WHAT I CAN ACCOMPLISH :) He can learn to deal with it! :)