Cup Cake RUN

Good Day Friends!!

This morning I got up way early and went to run a Cup Cake 5K.

(And no, I didn't eat any cup cakes! :)

I didn't really train much for this run and boy was it cold this morning.  And of course I had a way late night because I'm smart like that! ;)  With my most awesome hubs there supporting me, I started off at a faster pace than what I normally run... but I slowed down into a pace that was good for me and didn't pressure myself to go faster than I should.

It was a nice, cold run and I finished at 36:12 and 5th in my age group which I'm way happy with, 

especially for not training much!

Tomorrow will be the end of WEEK 1, back on plan.  

So weigh-in will be fun for both me and Brent.  It feels good to be back on plan!  

One of my new fav Medifast foods is the Cereal Crunch!  

They didn't have these back the first time around.  Yum!  And I love the choc. chip pancake!

A couple lean and greens I made this last week was an egg beaters scramble and a taco salad with light ranch dressing.  I always love my lean and greens!

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I've had some dealings this week that have also been VERY HUMBLING concerning the specific personal struggles I've been going through.  Sufficient to say, I've been sufficiently reprimanded which I'm sure I probably needed but wasn't easy. :(  

So I got my work cut out for me and I know the direction I need to go.  I know I'm being vague, but just wanted to express that I am grateful for opportunities to do better, even though the means can be painful.  I know I can do hard things!  Just thinking how much I've changed my life in the last two years shows me that I can overcome way difficult situations in my life, especially with the help of my Savior.

Life is GOOOOOD!  

Seize the day, life is short too!

Much love, 

~Margene XoxOxoX

Bad Bad Bad and Good Good Good

Have you ever seen Thumb Wars?  There’s a scene with Thumb Lea where she meets Thumb Vader and she says something like “You are Bad.  Bad is Bad.  I am Good.  Good is Good.  Bad bad Bad.  Good Good Good.”  It's hysterical and I laugh every time I see it.  Maybe it's those dorky thumb faces, but it's funny.  Anyway, I think this weekend, I have played both Thumb Lea and Thumb Vader!!

THE BAD:

I think it’s because Brent is home, but I have thrown caution to the wind a bit (okay, a lot) with my eating.  I have let myself splurge... dang it.  I have been so bad bad bad!  Fruit Pizza, beef jerky, 1/2 PB & J sandwich, carmel popcorn, movie butter popcorn, diet soda, chips (just a couple, tho)... at least it wasn’t all in one sitting.  And I actually did say “no” to licorice.  Yay for that.  I don't like the way most of this food makes me feel.  Yucky.  It’s BACK ON PLAN tomorrow for sure!!!

THE GOOD:

But the GOOD has been fabulous.  Thursday was our 26 mile bike ride, Friday we hung out and went to yard sales.  I got some new boots with heels... again, I haven’t worn heels like... EVER!  And I got a new hot pink purse and hat.  Those who know me, know that I name my purses.  And lately, my daughter and I are getting back into listening to the “Wicked” soundtrack so I had to name my purse “Galinda”, of course!  

Friday night, some awesome friends of ours hosted an open house for us to be able to say goodbye to our friends before we move next month.  It was truly thoughtful of them and SO wonderful to see everyone.  So many friends showed up (over 70)... how amazing is that!  Very humbling actually!  Actually it IS amazing because I have convinced myself many MANY times that I have NO friends - which has been the source of my greatest heartaches.  That will be a whole different chapter to cover in the book of my life, I tell ya.  I am mighty good at convincing myself of anything negative but that has been an IS  changing!  We are really going to miss all the friends we’ve made here in Oregon... I can’t even think about it right now, because it brings an immediate lump to my throat.  We are so blessed!

Then Today (Saturday), we went and climbed Multnomah Falls.  We can’t move from Oregon without having climbed this!  

At the Very TOP of the Falls!

Squirrels... practically ran over my shoes... SOO cute!

WOW!  You know what?  It totally didn’t kill me at all!!  It’s about 1 mile up at a steep incline.  It was amazing and perfect weather with an overcast sky but not too cold.  On the way down, it was a little hard on Brent, but he did awesome.  

I can’t imagine how hard it would be with 145 more pounds on me!  I treasure EVERY new experience.  I kind of feel like a kid experiencing life all over again.

We didn’t bring any flowers!  Drat!  What were we thinking?

Then, later on, we treated ourselves to the new Pirates movie in 3D.  

My new pink hat and purse, Galina.  This is what cool looks like!  Talk to the hand.

(Brent told me to pose like this - he likes it when I have an "attitude"!)

SO.... training for my run is resuming on Monday.  I’ve got some friends joining me on this 5K run in just 2 weeks.  How cool is that!  I’m so excited to have Joy running this with me too... and she WILL be kicking my butt because that woman rocks hard!  It is key for me to BELIEVE that I can accomplish anything - including this run.  It’s a daily effort for me to believe that the best will happen; and to believe and think positive thoughts about myself and others, and then to act on it.  But the more I practice... the easier it gets to believe.  And there is power in believing!!  

God Bless.... XOXO ~Margene

He ran a 5K and won a pie!

My man rocks! Last Saturday was our "Pioneer Day" celebration and he got up and ran/walked a 5K that was actually closer to a 7K! Then, right afterwards, at the Pioneer Day Fair, he won this huge apple pie on the cake walk. Plus he volunteered ALL of his time at the fair handling the mixer for the performances. How could I not love this man to pieces?

The other day, he had to go through his clothes again and pulled these out and showed me. I had to snap a picture of his old size 48 jeans. He wears size 38 right now! Yaw!!!

I tried doing something different with asparagus this week. I broiled them in the oven with a little olive oil drizzled on it and some sea salt. I broiled it for about 3 minutes, then turned them over and broiled them for another few minutes until they were tender.

Then I made a kind of sauce with a couple T. red wine vinegar, a little mustard, freshly ground black pepper, chopped green onion, basil, and 1 garlic clove minced and then put it on top of the broiled asparagus. Yum.. My man even liked them.

Life is SWEET with all these changes BUT we've been having our share of set backs too.

For instance, BOTH our cars have died on us, the 2nd one just yesterday! We've had to cancel our Vacation to Utah next week :( It is a total bummer and our kids are very disappointed (as are we) but, better than having our van break down during our trip!

Our van was only working in one gear (tranny going out) and we were using it yesterday to go pick up our car that was majorly overheating, and just after we got our car dropped off at a shop - the van stopped driving in any gear except reverse in the middle of an intersection! So my man, amazingly drove BACKWARDS down the street - going the right way but just backwards, and into a turning lane and a parking lot. And there we were completely stranded! Thankfully, a good friend came and rescued us! Yay... we didn't have to sit in that heat.

Not only that, but we had a BBQ invite that night and our host friends came and picked our whole family up! How cool is that? We enjoyed a nice evening relaxing after all that car drama with good friends, an incredible view of the country, a dip in a little pool, petting some chickens & ducks, and some great eats!

I even beat my man at tether ball (with a little cheating).

My yummy BBQ meal: Chicken skewers dipped in orange sauce, shrimp skewers and salad. SO delish! We brought the pie that my man won and he even treated himself to a piece... but I stayed right OP and did not. He deserved it, though, and I think he has more "room" in his plan for a tiny little bit of "treating" off plan than I do. And I'm okay with that (for now at least).

My man admitted to me the other day, that he was concerned because in our past when we'd diet, he would always lose like twice as much as me and I'd always get so discouraged. So he has been PURPOSELY trying to keep his loses more even with me so I would feel better. (He could be losing faster) I was AMAZED to learn that that's what he's been doing. I am sometimes blown away at how much he loves me!! Anyway... thanks for reading, my blogger friends... I love you ALL!!! Ta ta for now. :)

Week 21 - Happy Independence Day!!!

HAPPY 4th of July!!! (tomorrow)

It's the end of WEEK 21, and this last week BOTH my man and I lost 4 pounds!! (8 pounds total). That brings me down a total of 74 pounds and my man down a total of 75 pounds! BOOYA!

In celebration, we walked our first 5K this morning before the city parade. It is called the "catwalk" for Cancer Awareness and Treatment. My girls and I walked in honor of my dear sister who is a breast cancer survivor!! My father and my grandmother both died from cancer so it really gave us motivation to walk as well.

(Seriously... is that really my tushie??)

I got all my kids to join us too, except for my oldest son who was at a youth camp. How's that for a former couch-potato, video gaming family?

(Except wait, we still play video games!)

Look at that gorgeous skinny man!!! Hubba hubba!

My little guy held my hand most the way. When he's 16, I doubt he'll do that anymore so I take it while I can get it!! :)

Afterwards, we enjoyed the parade. We have lived in this town over a decade and have NEVER gone to the parade until today. Our old selves would probably still be at home.. IN BED.. or watching the tube. I don't want to miss out on LIFE anymore!! We saw many friends, clapped and cheered, and felt joy and gratitude for our great country and freedoms!

I hope you find a way to Celebrate Life this weekend!!!

A couple of Lean and Green meals this week:

I found myself completely out of all my veggies one night EXCEPT for cabbage. So I grilled up two chicken burgers with sauteed cabbage and it was yummy!

This was delish: sauteed summer squash, fresh cut tomatoes, and some roast beef (from Costco). Loved it!