Tuesday, November 16, 2010
2. Something that inspires you
There is no one on this earth who inspires me as a parent more than my best friend. He is dependable, smart, funny, and the best parent I know. I love my husband. Above all else, he is my bestest and truest friend. Every moment I see that he spends with Emma and Carter inspire me to be a better parent. He is so patient with Emma - even when she is stretching us to our limits. He plays with Carter and gets up with him at night to change his diaper and soothe him. On days when I feel as though I'm ready to crash and have been stretched thin, I remember how much love and patience my husband has for our children. Men like my husband are few and far between. I thank God everyday for putting Jonathan in my life and making him the man/husband/father he is today.
Monday, November 15, 2010
30 Posts in 30 Days - Day One
In my quest for bettering myself, I have come to the realization that I enjoy challenges. Growing up, I was mostly an only child. I had a much older brother (12 years older) and a much younger brother (16 years younger), so I never had anyone to compete with.
I do remember in my junior year in high school that my goal was always to beat the grades my friend Shalee received in the classes we had together. It was the best year in my whole school career. The challenge - which she may never know until now even existed - made me a better person and of course, proved my mother right - "See! I knew if you applied yourself you could be an A+ student!"
Even to this day, Jon and I have competitions - even though they are mostly dumb and trivial and I almost always lose, they can be so much fun! So here is my new challenge. 30 posts in 30 days. (I tried posting every day with the soda challenge, but didn't quite make it ;) I found some topics to write about in these next 30 days. Not only will I get to learn a little about myself - but you will too! I'm even going to go so far as to challenge YOU to do this also. Who knows? It may even be fun. :)
Day...
1. Guilty pleasure
2. Something that inspires you
3. The five songs you would have with you on a desert island and why
4. What you imagine paradise to be like
5. A thank you letter to someone who has changed your life
6. Earliest thing you can remember
7. Favorite song and why
8. Someone you think would make a good president
9. Five things you want to see change
10. A dream you had this past week described in detail
11. Favorite picture ever taken of yourself
12. Your favorite story
13. A memory that never fails to make you laugh
14. Best meal you've ever had
15. Amoment, phrase, or song that has changed your life the most
16. Something that you want to do within the next five years
17. What you want to be remembered for
18. A picture that makes you feel
19. A passage from a book that has touched you
20. A person that you immediately liked upon first meeting them
21. Your favorite medium of art
22. Someone you would give your life up for without question
23. Most awkward first impression you feel you’ve ever given
24. Something you did as a child that other people remember you for
25. Something you would do if no one stopped you or if you knew you wouldn’t fail
26. Your definition of love
27. Your definition of the meaning of life
28. A moment you remember being completely happy in and a description of why you believe you were
29. What you live for
30. Ways you believe you have grown over the past thirty days
DAY ONE: Guilty Pleasure
My husband asked me one time what my guilty pleasure was and I promptly responded "reading!". To which he laughed and then had to explain that reading is NOT a guilty pleasure. Up until this point, I had not given it much more thought. And the more and more I thought about it, I couldn't come up with a good answer. So the googling person that I am, I looked it up. The definitition of guilty pleasure is this...
"A guilty pleasure is something one enjoys and considers pleasurable despite feeling guilt for enjoying it. Often, the "guilt" involved is simply fear of others discovering one's lowbrow or otherwise embarrassing tastes, rather than actual moral guilt. Fashion, music, and food (especially unhealthier foods high in sugar and/or fat) can be examples of guilty pleasures."
My guilty pleasure is SHOPPING. Yep. I love to shop. No, I'm not exceptionally good at it - I can't always find great deals, I get frustrated when I can't find what I'm looking for, and I'm not really fashionably ahead of the game. But I love to buy things - for the house and the kids mostly. I think I may just make us go bankrupt...! I'm just kidding! However, I always have things on my mind that I think I "need" and the word "buy" has become a bad word in our house. The worst part is that my husband is the most content person in the world. He still wears the same t-shirts as he did in high school. So we are hugely different. When the word "buy" comes up in my sentences, I think my husband lovingly wants to strangle me! ;)
What is your guilty pleasure?
I do remember in my junior year in high school that my goal was always to beat the grades my friend Shalee received in the classes we had together. It was the best year in my whole school career. The challenge - which she may never know until now even existed - made me a better person and of course, proved my mother right - "See! I knew if you applied yourself you could be an A+ student!"
Even to this day, Jon and I have competitions - even though they are mostly dumb and trivial and I almost always lose, they can be so much fun! So here is my new challenge. 30 posts in 30 days. (I tried posting every day with the soda challenge, but didn't quite make it ;) I found some topics to write about in these next 30 days. Not only will I get to learn a little about myself - but you will too! I'm even going to go so far as to challenge YOU to do this also. Who knows? It may even be fun. :)
Day...
1. Guilty pleasure
2. Something that inspires you
3. The five songs you would have with you on a desert island and why
4. What you imagine paradise to be like
5. A thank you letter to someone who has changed your life
6. Earliest thing you can remember
7. Favorite song and why
8. Someone you think would make a good president
9. Five things you want to see change
10. A dream you had this past week described in detail
11. Favorite picture ever taken of yourself
12. Your favorite story
13. A memory that never fails to make you laugh
14. Best meal you've ever had
15. Amoment, phrase, or song that has changed your life the most
16. Something that you want to do within the next five years
17. What you want to be remembered for
18. A picture that makes you feel
19. A passage from a book that has touched you
20. A person that you immediately liked upon first meeting them
21. Your favorite medium of art
22. Someone you would give your life up for without question
23. Most awkward first impression you feel you’ve ever given
24. Something you did as a child that other people remember you for
25. Something you would do if no one stopped you or if you knew you wouldn’t fail
26. Your definition of love
27. Your definition of the meaning of life
28. A moment you remember being completely happy in and a description of why you believe you were
29. What you live for
30. Ways you believe you have grown over the past thirty days
DAY ONE: Guilty Pleasure
My husband asked me one time what my guilty pleasure was and I promptly responded "reading!". To which he laughed and then had to explain that reading is NOT a guilty pleasure. Up until this point, I had not given it much more thought. And the more and more I thought about it, I couldn't come up with a good answer. So the googling person that I am, I looked it up. The definitition of guilty pleasure is this...
"A guilty pleasure is something one enjoys and considers pleasurable despite feeling guilt for enjoying it. Often, the "guilt" involved is simply fear of others discovering one's lowbrow or otherwise embarrassing tastes, rather than actual moral guilt. Fashion, music, and food (especially unhealthier foods high in sugar and/or fat) can be examples of guilty pleasures."
My guilty pleasure is SHOPPING. Yep. I love to shop. No, I'm not exceptionally good at it - I can't always find great deals, I get frustrated when I can't find what I'm looking for, and I'm not really fashionably ahead of the game. But I love to buy things - for the house and the kids mostly. I think I may just make us go bankrupt...! I'm just kidding! However, I always have things on my mind that I think I "need" and the word "buy" has become a bad word in our house. The worst part is that my husband is the most content person in the world. He still wears the same t-shirts as he did in high school. So we are hugely different. When the word "buy" comes up in my sentences, I think my husband lovingly wants to strangle me! ;)
What is your guilty pleasure?
Sunday, November 14, 2010
28 days of no soda...
So here I am on the opposite side of 28 days of absolutely no soda of any kind. And the question is whether or not I am all the better for it. Now I'll be honest... I totally said that I would blog every day and obviously I did not. I have no excuse. Life is busy. I get tired. Annnnd I'm lazy. But I have kept up with weighing myself every day and Jon and I both have an ending weight that is different from our starting weight. However, it is not what I expected, and I will let you take from it what you will.
Here is our beginning weight:
Jonathan: 169.0
Gina: 140.4
And... drumroll please -
Jonathan: 166.6 (-2.4 lbs)
Gina: 136.8 (-3.6 lbs)
As you can see, both Jon and I did lose some weight. Now if this loss was because we weighed ourself first thing in the morning or if mine is because I am breastfeeding - I will let you decide. Honestly? I thought I would lose like 10 lbs because I drink at least a soda or two a day normally. I was a little disappointed. However, it is a little less than a pound a week which in actuality isn't too bad. My weight has fluctuated up and down since I've started, (one day 139 the next 137 then back up to 140) so it's pretty hard to say that it's all from a lack of soda. In the end though - the good thing is that I didn't GAIN any weight. Which I have to say is a good benefit!
I think the best thing that came from this for me is the fact that I now know that I can set a goal for myself and make it. No soda for 28 days. That's pretty good for me. I'm proud of myself! However, Jon and I will be breaking the "soda fast" tonight. We normally would have done it tomorrow - but since he will be out of town (and it's a whole lot more fun to do this together) we will watch a movie, eat some popcorn, and enjoy a nice cold one - soda of course!
I think my next goal is to watch my portions. I think for the next couple of months, I'm going to try weight watchers. My goal is to lose 10% of my weight which is about 13 lbs which will take me to about 124 lbs. I don't personally think that I'm overweight, but I do know that I have some extra poundage that I would love to lose from having two kids. I want to feel more comfortable and more confident, and since I could go 28 days with no soda, I think I can go a couple of months counting calories to see how much I really intake. (I love my sweets!) I'm motivated by a friend of mine who lost 25 lbs in 10 weeks. How awesome is that?! And she looks amazing. What better motivation is that than a friend with a great success story?!
Thank you to those who have followed a long on the few blog posts I've written and for all of your encouragement. It was knowing that you were there cheering me on that kept me going!
Here is our beginning weight:
Jonathan: 169.0
Gina: 140.4
And... drumroll please -
Jonathan: 166.6 (-2.4 lbs)
Gina: 136.8 (-3.6 lbs)
As you can see, both Jon and I did lose some weight. Now if this loss was because we weighed ourself first thing in the morning or if mine is because I am breastfeeding - I will let you decide. Honestly? I thought I would lose like 10 lbs because I drink at least a soda or two a day normally. I was a little disappointed. However, it is a little less than a pound a week which in actuality isn't too bad. My weight has fluctuated up and down since I've started, (one day 139 the next 137 then back up to 140) so it's pretty hard to say that it's all from a lack of soda. In the end though - the good thing is that I didn't GAIN any weight. Which I have to say is a good benefit!
I think the best thing that came from this for me is the fact that I now know that I can set a goal for myself and make it. No soda for 28 days. That's pretty good for me. I'm proud of myself! However, Jon and I will be breaking the "soda fast" tonight. We normally would have done it tomorrow - but since he will be out of town (and it's a whole lot more fun to do this together) we will watch a movie, eat some popcorn, and enjoy a nice cold one - soda of course!
I think my next goal is to watch my portions. I think for the next couple of months, I'm going to try weight watchers. My goal is to lose 10% of my weight which is about 13 lbs which will take me to about 124 lbs. I don't personally think that I'm overweight, but I do know that I have some extra poundage that I would love to lose from having two kids. I want to feel more comfortable and more confident, and since I could go 28 days with no soda, I think I can go a couple of months counting calories to see how much I really intake. (I love my sweets!) I'm motivated by a friend of mine who lost 25 lbs in 10 weeks. How awesome is that?! And she looks amazing. What better motivation is that than a friend with a great success story?!
Thank you to those who have followed a long on the few blog posts I've written and for all of your encouragement. It was knowing that you were there cheering me on that kept me going!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Random meanderings...
I am sitting here on my bed just trying to figure out how to put the last week into words (and listening to Emma - out in the living room, putting a DVD on to watch. Miss Little Independent). It has been a super crazy busy week - which has its good and wonderful moments but it has its crappy (sorry, this is the best I could come up with... my brain has become mush!) moments.
My husband flew out early Monday morning and spent the week in Connecticut. Since his last trip, we have come up with some new terminology for my daughter to understand what is going on. When he traveled earlier in the month, I told Emma that Daddy was at work. I figured that this was as good an explanation as any and would end the conversation pretty much there. It did. It worked, and although Emma asked throughout the week, it didn't seem to matter too much to her. She was thoroughly excited to talk to Daddy on the phone, but didn't seem to realize that we hadn't seen him in days. However, last week, when Jonathan was in Roanoke working, we realized our mistake. On Monday morning when Jon was telling Emma goodbye, she had a massive meltdown. She sobbed uncontrollably and kept yelling for Daddy... We understood at this point that Emma thought that Jon was going away and wouldn't come back for awhile since that is what happened the last time he went to work. We now have new terminology. During this last week, we told her that Daddy was going to work - we even went to the office so that Emma could understand what "work" meant. When we dropped Jonathan off at the airport this past Monday, we told Emma that Daddy was traveling. Of course, this meant that all week long Emma thought that he was flying. Oh well. At least she seems to be comprehending it so much better!
I've also come to the realization that without Jon here, my daughter is absolutely attached to my leg. She follows me everywhere - to go take the laundry downstairs, to take a shower, to go to the bathroom... oh my. Right now is the most alone I've been in a week's time (don't worry, I can hear Emma - she is less than 20 feet away playing with her Disney Princesses... lol). I will have to say that baby Carter seems to take the transition well - of course, he really is only three months old and is lucky to realize that his fist is not the same as his pacifier. Poor boy... haha!
I can also happily say that I have gone 12 days without drinking any soda. I am sad to say that I have only lost a couple of pounds though - and I definitely don't feel any different. I do massively crave soda - especially since it has been so warm. There is nothing like a cold glass of soda on a hot day! We will have to see what happens in the next 16 days or so to see if I will totally stop drinking soda at all. But at this point, it's not looking good! :)
Well now that I've spent some time jotting down my random thoughts, my precocious 2 year old is demanding some attention. May you all have a lovely Halloween weekend!
My husband flew out early Monday morning and spent the week in Connecticut. Since his last trip, we have come up with some new terminology for my daughter to understand what is going on. When he traveled earlier in the month, I told Emma that Daddy was at work. I figured that this was as good an explanation as any and would end the conversation pretty much there. It did. It worked, and although Emma asked throughout the week, it didn't seem to matter too much to her. She was thoroughly excited to talk to Daddy on the phone, but didn't seem to realize that we hadn't seen him in days. However, last week, when Jonathan was in Roanoke working, we realized our mistake. On Monday morning when Jon was telling Emma goodbye, she had a massive meltdown. She sobbed uncontrollably and kept yelling for Daddy... We understood at this point that Emma thought that Jon was going away and wouldn't come back for awhile since that is what happened the last time he went to work. We now have new terminology. During this last week, we told her that Daddy was going to work - we even went to the office so that Emma could understand what "work" meant. When we dropped Jonathan off at the airport this past Monday, we told Emma that Daddy was traveling. Of course, this meant that all week long Emma thought that he was flying. Oh well. At least she seems to be comprehending it so much better!
I've also come to the realization that without Jon here, my daughter is absolutely attached to my leg. She follows me everywhere - to go take the laundry downstairs, to take a shower, to go to the bathroom... oh my. Right now is the most alone I've been in a week's time (don't worry, I can hear Emma - she is less than 20 feet away playing with her Disney Princesses... lol). I will have to say that baby Carter seems to take the transition well - of course, he really is only three months old and is lucky to realize that his fist is not the same as his pacifier. Poor boy... haha!
I can also happily say that I have gone 12 days without drinking any soda. I am sad to say that I have only lost a couple of pounds though - and I definitely don't feel any different. I do massively crave soda - especially since it has been so warm. There is nothing like a cold glass of soda on a hot day! We will have to see what happens in the next 16 days or so to see if I will totally stop drinking soda at all. But at this point, it's not looking good! :)
Well now that I've spent some time jotting down my random thoughts, my precocious 2 year old is demanding some attention. May you all have a lovely Halloween weekend!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
2nd Annual Pumpkin Patch Day with the Clarks!
Today we had the privilege of going to Layman Farms with the Clark family...
You never can tell what these two are up to... :)
Jessica, Mike, and Mary
We did it! Our first picture together... lol.
Myself and the two men in my life :)
I love my crazy Emma-girl!
And of course, my little man, Carter!
It's so funny to think where we were a year ago. The Clark and Dickinson families each only consisted of three members (and now we have Mary and Carter) and Jon had just quit his job at Wachovia. It's amazing to me the blessings God can bring out of hardship. This last year was probably one of the hardest for our family - but in the end, Jon has a wonderful much better job, we've had a wonderful new addition to the family by the name of Carter David, and we realized what good friends and family we are surrounded by. God has blessed us immensely!
Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul,
Thank you, Lord, for making me whole;
Thank you, Lord, for giving to me
Thy great salvation so rich and free.
Some thank Him for the flow'rs that grow,
Some for the stars that shine;
My heart is filled with joy and praise,
Because I know He's mine.
Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul,
Thank you, Lord, for making me whole;
Thank you, Lord, for giving to me
Thy great salvation so rich and free.
I trust in Him from day to day,
I prove His saving grace;
I'll sing this song of praise to Him
Until I see His face.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Day Five of No Soda
5 days, 120 hours, 7200 minutes without soda - ahhh! Tonight I could so go for a nice cold Pepsi. But I must prevail ;)
Here are our current weights:
Jonathan: 168.0 (-1.0)
Gina: 139.8 (-1.6) Woo hoo! :D
Here are our current weights:
Jonathan: 168.0 (-1.0)
Gina: 139.8 (-1.6) Woo hoo! :D
Thursday, October 21, 2010
I Love Fall!
Fall could quite possibly be my most favorite time of the year... the smells, the changing of the leaves, the cool - but not cold - weather. It all adds up to a perfect time for being with family!
This morning, I was fortunate to be able to take this little farmer to school:
This morning, I was fortunate to be able to take this little farmer to school:
Today was the Fall Harvest party at school and the kids were supposed to dress like a farmer or a farm animal. Don't I have the cutest little farmer ever? :) Of course, I am a little biased.
I also love fall for football. When I had the chance to travel to PA to spend the week with my mom and brother, I had the chance to see my little brother play in Pony Football (5th and 6th graders).
My cute handsome little brother :)
Who knows why he stands like that... lol.
We also got the chance to go to one of Kurt's practices. And let me just tell you, in northcentral PA it IS COLD! But oh so beautiful!
My mom and Emma near CARP Park waiting on Kurt while he is at football practice.
This is a picture of the PA Grand Canyon (borrowed from my friend, Talia - thanks!). Aren't the leaves absolutely gorgeous? PA has the best fall leaves in the world. Incidentally, this is actually where Jon and I got engaged. :)
And to end our wonderful fall experience in PA, Emma got to take a trip back to my childhood and ride this wonderful merry go round at the park... oh the joys of being a child. Annnnd the joys of being the adult that had to run in circles to get it moving. That was so much easier 15 years ago. I must be getting old! ;)
Well I sure do love fall for so many reasons. What do YOU love about fall?
**Day 4 of No Soda**
Jonathan: 166.0 (-3.0)
Gina: 140.4 (0.0)
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