Weigh-In Friday And A Visit From Our Kids

And the scale said.....1.5 lbs lost this week, yes!!!

I do have to admit that I am having a free weekend though. Our kids and grandkids came to visit this weekend and I have been cooking up a storm. I have been trying new recipes and have been taste testing like crazy. But I am looking forward to getting back to 100% Nutrisystem on Monday, I guess I have turned the corner.....I like eating healthy and LOVE the way it makes me feel!!!!
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Family Moments

Grandpa Brent reading Garrett a story. Brent read these same 3 books and watch Shrek with Garrett over and over this weekend. What a wonderful Grandpa!!!! Every time I saw him sitting on the couch with Garrett spending time with him it melted my heart. I love you sweetie and am the luckiest girl in the world to be married to such a kind and patient man:)

Here is a picture of Auntie Amy and our new grandson Levi. Amy leaves for the Army on Monday, she will be in basic training at Fort Jackson in South Carolina for 9 weeks. We are so proud of her and pray that God will protect her and keep her safe. We love you Amy!!!!

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend...until next time, Blessings...Rhonda

Moments From Home

Brent and I spent the weekend in Spooner working on our house and enjoying our family. We spent most of the time insulating around all the windows and doors at our house. Our builder is pretty much done with his part of the building process, now it's up to Brent to get all the insulating done so we can keep the progress going and move onto the next step which will be hanging the sheet rock. It was so nice spending time together working in our home and talking about when we can come home someday and can live in it. I told Brent I will NEVER move again so he should plan on that:)

On Sunday, I ran in town and picked up lunch for us real quick at McDonalds (I had the southwest salad with grilled chicken, it's so good). But my first stop was at the Red Door Antique Mall to add goodies to my booth. The month of July has been pretty busy for us at the Mall, we are all happy about that.

My primitives are starting to sell pretty good in my booth. It has taken time for people to know they are there and to stop back and check out the new items I add...but it's happening:)

Added some pillows and dolls

A booth full goodies

A few new items added

Added some new stitch pictures

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Garden And Campfire Fun

I snapped a few pictures of Kara and Trav's garden, I could not believe how much it has grown in a week

Kara and Trav's garden, it will soon be harvest time.

Next week, I have to work at the Antique Mall on Monday and Tuesday, so I am planning on spending the whole next week in Spooner, it will be a very busy week for me. Wednesday I am going to the eye doctor, Thursday I am getting a perm, Friday my girls and I are going down the river and then Friday night Brent is coming to Spooner after work so he can spend the weekend finishing up the insulating at our house. Kara's beans will also be ready to pick next week so we will be spending the evenings picking and canning beans. I am so glad that I can help her do this, I am looking forward to spending time with my daughter:)

Before we left to come back to Rapids on Sunday, Travis started a campfire so we could roast hot dogs and enjoy sometime together before we took off. Brent has fallen in love with turkey wieners roasted on a stick by the campfire.....it's the highlight of the campfire for him:)

Brent roasting his turkey hotdog mmmmmmm....he doesn't look real happy here but he was, it's so hard for me to get a good picture of him for some reason.

Alyssa smiling for the camera, what a little doll

Kara spraying the horses down with fly spray...those flies are SO pesty!!!!!

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House Progress

I hope you all are are not getting sick of all my house updates.....sorry if you are but here goes another one.

Here is view of our house from the road...love it!!!!

Another view from the road...Home Sweet Home!!!

Here is a pic of the inside...in a couple weeks the sheet rock should be hung...can't wait!!!!

I had to include these pictures. I LOVE the view off the back decks....so peaceful

Another beautiful view, this is off our bedroom deck...love it!!!

The garage doors were installed last week...the house is starting to look finished:)

I can't believe Summer is flying by so fast. It will not be long and I will be starting school...wow, that does not even seem real, it seems like just yesterday I applied. Well, I am going to try to enjoy every Summer day we have left and pack in as much fun and excitement as possible. Blessings to you all.....until next time....Rhonda

Weigh-In Friday And New Fall Items

Is it weigh-in Friday already????? wow, this week flew by. This morning I jumped on the scale and it said 1.5 pounds lost this week....YES !!!! On Monday, July 12th it had been 4 months since I started this weight-loss journey. I have lost a total of 27 pounds so far...SO COOL!!!!! While I was waiting for my car to get an oil changed this morning at the tire place, I walked over to Maurices and bought a pair of jean shorts...I have went down 2 sizes..LOVE IT and also LOVE the shorts!!!! It is so nice to go shopping and want to try clothes on again....bonus!!!!!


I have been VERY busy this week trying to get some Fall items finished up. Here are some pictures of the progress from start to finish.

Pumpkins, pumpkins and more pumpkins. The paint drying process here...it's not rocket science as you can see:)

These little pumpkin head gals are sun bathing:)

More pumpkins

Some stitches that I turned into pillow.

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Finished Fall Items

I put the finishing touches on everything this morning. I really LOVE these pumpkins, they bring Fall right into the house

The gang lined up for their photo shot.

Little sweeties

I love this little gals face...so cute

Stitch pillows all sewn up

They are all at Country Freckles waiting for new homes now. If you are in the Rapids area, stop in at Country Freckles and see Joni and her beautiful store, she has been very busy this week filling the store with FALL.

Brent and I are headed to Spooner as soon as he gets home from work so I better get going and get us packed up. Have a blessed weekend everyone......Rhonda

A Fun Weekend But My Rodeo Pictures Are MIA

Brent and I arrived back in Rapids tonight after a fun filled weekend in Spooner, WI. We went to the Spooner Rodeo Thursday and Friday night and LOVED it...we had a blast!!!!! But I do not have any pictures of our fun time because today, while I was taking pictures at the house this morning, my memory card came up full (which happens a lot because I have too many picture on it). So I started deleting what I thought were old pictures but to my SHOCK and DISBELIEVE.....I deleted all the pictures I took at the Rodeo Friday night. This is the second time I have pulled this little stunt...when will I learn. My husband tells me all the time to get another memory card....I think I will listen to him this time!!!! (I hate it when he is right...just kidding honey). I had some awesome pictures of our Rodeo date and I had taken the BEST picture of him I have ever taken.....UHHHHHH it's now gone, I am still not over it.....oh well, live, learn and move on I keep trying telling myself!!!!!!!

Anyway, enough of that drama.....we stopped at Mandy and Leighton's on the way back to Rapids and had a nice visit them. We enjoy any time we get to spend with them and our grandson's Garrett and Levi, they are growing up so fast...they are so precious to us.

Brent, Garrett and baby Levi

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House Progress

Our house is coming along nicely. Most of the siding is now on and the back decks are completely finished. The railing really added that final touch we were both hoping for.

The front covered porch is almost finished, this is going to be fun to decorate for all seasons to come.

Lovin it!!!!

Here is a view of the front of the house...they are going to be putting the garage doors on this week so next time (which will be this weekend) when we go home, the whole front should be complete.

This is a view of the side of the house towards the woods....Matt (our builder) is waiting for the furnace guy to come and finish up his venting work and then he will be able to finish putting the siding on this side of the house.

I LOVE the decks!!!!

A closer view of the deck off the dining room, this will be a wonderful spot for family gatherings and bbq's.

This is the side facing the road. Last night, Brent and I spent sometime at our house enjoying the sunset and talking about when we will someday be able to live in and enjoy our beautiful home. We were standing on the deck outside our bedroom when Brent spotted a bear lumbering around the edge of the woods and then walked out in the field a little ways. He seemed to look up at us and then slowly walked back into the brush....It was so cool (I'm sure I won't think it's so cool when he is tearing down my bird feeders someday) but for now, it was pretty cool. What a view we have of the woods, birds and wildlife from these back decks!!!!!!

We decided to do some re-designing on our shower this morning. We are going to put an arch in the door way of the shower to give it a different look. We both like this idea and think it will match the arch theme we have going on in the kitchen and living room.

Brent is trying to give me the vision here.

This is VERY rough.....but I know when it is done it will look amazing!!!!!

Here is a picture of Brent pondering our shower idea. He is a thinker and I usually just get out of his way and let him think (I swear I can see smoke rising from his head sometimes). He is going to be tiling this shower so he will probably have it tiled in his head 30 times before he actually does it:) I think my head would BLOW straight off my shoulders if I thought things through as long and as many times as he does.......but, I guess I am the one sitting here without Rodeo pictures from Friday night right now. So.....maybe there is something to this thinking things to death thing, I probably should try it more often, especially when I am deleting pictures off my camera:)

This is a picture of Alyssa's bedroom (her doorway is on the right) and her bathroom....as you can see, her tub is now sitting in position.

A view of the living room...the fire place is in the corner.

And the last picture for today...... this siding glass window is in our bedroom which opens out onto our deck. What a beautiful view of the woods and field from here and a wonderful site to wake up to!!!!!! Can't wait!!!!

Brent and I are going home again next weekend to hopefully start insulating our house. We are going to do quit a bit of the finishing work ourselves. Brent is going to do all the insulating (I will help where I can), he's laying all our flooring, tiling the shower, and we are both going to paint the rooms. If we look at all we have to get done it gets overwhelming. So I told Brent we can only do one thing at a time so lets concentrate on one thing at a time and it will all fall into place somehow. But it is hard when you have to live and work 3 hours away and you don't get every weekend off....oh well, it will be worth it in the end.

Well, it's back to sewing and getting some Fall items finished up this week....hopefully I will have some pictures within the next couple of days of my creations....Blessings and thank you for stopping by. Oh, as you may have noticed, I have started responding to your comments on my blog comment page so please check back, I really want to respond to all your comments, I appreciate them all so much and responding this way seems to work for me...hope it's o:k with you all......Rhonda

Weigh-In Friday And A Goal Met By Rodeo Time

When I started this weight-loss journey on March 12th, 2010 one of the goals I set for myself was to loose 25 pds by the Spooner Rodeo (I LOVE THE RODEO)......and today.....I DID IT!!!!! I jumped on the scale this morning and I lost 1 pound this week for a total weight-loss so far of 25.5 pounds....WOO HOO!!!!! I can't begin to tell you how good this feels, it's amazing!!!!!

Last year, when we went to the Spooner Rodeo, I felt so embarrassed and down right FAT!!!! Spooner is a small town and I pretty much know everyone,( my husband is always shocked at how many people I know and talk to during a quick trip to the grocery store:)

As I have blogged about before, we moved to Rapids 2 years ago for my husbands job, and while we have been down here I gained 17 pounds (so as of today I am 8 pds less then when we left Spooner 2 years ago...YES!!!!) I think because I was lonely and felt down right lost, I was out of control and so miserable!!!!! When I would go home to Spooner, I found myself almost hiding from people because I was not happy with myself and the path I found myself on because of my own out of control eating and lack of self control. At times I found myself giving in to it by saying....."you are going to be 50"....."this is what happens when people turn 50, I guess you're destine to gain a few pounds".....this is so NOT like me to give in and start talking this way, I had to change my mind-set!!!!!!

Then, just in the nick of time, came the bitter/sweet Christmas present from my daughter Alyssa. I have blogged about this before, you can click here for the whole story, it's toward the bottom of the post....my present was that she had signed me up for a 5k in Lacrosse, WI on May 1st. I was in shock that she had signed me up for a 5K (I hated running) but because she thought I could run a 5K, I didn't want to disappoint her and wanted to make my girls proud, (she gave her sister, Kara, the same gift...so it would be a mother/daughters weekend). I started training the end of January (it took me that long to get over the shock of it all and get on the treadmill) . By the beginning of March, something changed.....I was not only doing it for her I was also doing it for me...I was enjoying the journey. Running and that 5K on May 1st motivated me to finally get serious about loosing weight and be ALL I could be when I turned 50. Nurtisystem had been in the back of my mind for almost a year, I had wanted to try it but something always held me back. I decided enough was enough and took the plunge and ordered it (actually I had my husband do it for me, I was too chicken).....one of the BEST decision I have made in a long time!!!! My husband was totally on board with me and he also started running and watched what he ate and he has lost 21 pounds...so proud of him, honey, you are such a hottie!!!!

I am still on this journey, and want to lose at least 10 more pounds. As of right now I am trying to ween myself off NS and go it alone. This week, I did half NS and half making choices on my own and I was very happy with my 1 pd loss results. All I can say is that I am learning as I go and loving this new found confidence. I am starting Cosmetology school on August 23rd and am so excited to learn and become a beautician!!!! I have wanted to do that since I was 18. I can walk into class and hold my head high knowing I have finally gotten control of myself and my thinking. I will probably be the oldest student in the class but that does not matter to me...what matters is that I continue to be all I can be at 50 years young:) and show the young girls that you can grow old gracefully:) I want to live my life for JESUS, to be a light in this dark world and continue to live out the CALL that God has placed on my life.

One of my first goals realized is....I ran and finished the 5K on May 1st....and LOVED it!!!! I am going to run the Monster Dash in the Twin Cities in October with my girls. I am hoping my husband will join us this time. Maybe I will have to surprise him with a 5K sign-up....it works:)

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BEFORE-AFTER PICS

Ok, time for the before and after pictures. I am NOT proud of the before pic that's for sure but it is where this journey began but I NEVER want to go back there again!!!!!!

My BEFORE picture...
This was taken at the Spooner Rodeo last year...see why I was hiding!!!!!!

The AFTER picture.....WOO HOO!!!!
So happy with my weight-loss and so proud to be the Mom of these 2 precious girls!!!!!

Thank you Jesus for never giving up on me even when I sometime want to give up on myself. You are always there gently nudging me toward the life you died to give me here on this earth and also in Heaven....you are truly AMAZING and I LOVE you with all my heart!!!!

Last but not least....here is a picture of Alyssa at the Rodeo last year. Cotton candy at the Spooner Rodeo has been the highlight of her summer since she has been a little girl. She is such a nut and I will forever be thankful that she didn't give up on her out of control Mom....Thank you Alyssa for your awesome Christmas gift and for believing in me when I didn't believe in myself. I didn't realize what you were giving me that Christmas morning...but I know now what you were giving me was my life back, I just had to believe it and receive it. You truly are my gift from Heaven....I love you!!!!

Brent and I are leaving this afternoon for Spooner (that is why this post is a day early). The first Rodeo performance starts tonight at 7:30pm and we will be front and center...can't wait, I get tickets for all 3 nights every year. And yes, I will be sportin those new jeans I bought last week...I will have pictures to share with you all next week of our Rodeo dates. We will also be spending a lot of time at our new house....I will be posting pictures of our house progress next week also.

Until then, have a GREAT weekend and Blessing to everyone, Rhonda