Change is blowing our way...

I think our word for the year should have been change. First we tackled me and my change and now we are tackling change with our family.

A lot of things have happened at work in the last six months. I've been pretty unhappy and only because of the IsaBody challenge and Celebration have I lasted this long. I told myself that I was going to quit after Celebration no matter what. I can't keep up this craziness of our lives and with our babysitter going back to school after the summer I knew I didn't want another person coming into our household to help with the kids. I've really been praying a lot in the last few months to know what to do about the situation.

Unexpectedly, Jordan has recently been given the opportunity to work on a really cool project but it would only take up 1/2 his time so he would need to find something else to fill up the rest of his time. He was talking to his boss about options and his boss mentioned moving to Portland where there is more opportunity to work in the areas that Jordan is interested in. Jordan came home and talked to me about it. I knew immediately this was the answer I've been searching for. Change isn't easy and starting over again is kindof scary but exciting at the same time.

We decided in many ways that moving to PORTLAND would be best for our family at this time. I can't believe we are really doing it. The paperwork is final and we are headed in two weeks to house hunt. The final actual move date hasn't been set yet, but it will be sometime during the first two weeks of November. There are many pros and cons to moving so I thought I would list them here.

PROS

-I won't have to work full-time and can be with my kids. I have been working full-time for the last 14 years so this will be a HUGE change for me. I'm a little nervous about it, but with Matthew in preschool and going to Kindergarten next year I need to be around to get him to and from school and I feel like it's just time to be home with the kids. They are growing up too fast and I need to be with them NOW. I do need to do a little work so I'm working on part-time options that I can do from home that will work with our family. I know we're supposed to move and know that something will work out.

-We'll be closer to some family. We haven't lived close to family since moving from Utah 11 years ago. My younger brother Brent and his wife Sam live in Seattle which is only 3 hours away. It will be fun seeing them and spending time with family more than 2 times a year. (My family in Utah will about the same distance and Jordan's parents/brother in the Vegas area will be further away.) We are way excited about this aspect to moving.

-Cooler weather. I don't love cool weather, but I also hate all this sweating I've been doing lately and feeling like my kids are going to die the instant we turn off the car or get into the car.

-We can get out of this financial sink hole of our house. It's $150k upside down and isn't going to turn around anytime soon. We have already met with an agent and will listing our house for short sale. It's in great shape and is beautiful and someone is going to get a steal of a deal.

-Decluttering. We're working on it now of things to put in our garage sale. Once we find a house in Oregon then we'll know what we'll be storing away and what we'll be moving into the house with us.

-Intel will move us. They'll be packing our house and unloading the boxes on the other end. We've never had that luxury before.

-I can spend a good chunk of time in Utah in the summer visiting family and friends. My vacations are always packed to the gills and usually I have to worry about work when I'm there too. Once Matthew starts Kindergarten we'll have even less time to be going places for vacations outside of summer.

-We'll be close to the Ocean. The Oregon coastal water is chilly, but we'll be pretty close so I'm excited to have the option to go on the weekends if we want.

-I can quit work and leave on good terms.

-Yummy ethnic food. I can make a mean Mexican meal, but Chinese/Thai is more tricky. We are way excited to explore new eating places up there.

CONS

-Leaving all of our great friends. I start crying every time I think of it. This is our 4th location move and we've always left great friends and have always managed to make great new ones. This will be especially hard since some are friends we've had since college. :(

-Parting ways with our babysitter Amy. She has been watching Matthew since he was 18 months old. She is a huge part of why I am able to work and has been the biggest blessing in our life. We truly feel the reason why we felt the huge need to back out of the first house we signed on and move into this one was because of her. She lives 5 houses down, is really responsible and cares for our children like they were her own siblings. We couldn't have made it through the last 4 years with me working without her.

-Bunco and Bookgroup. It sounds trivial, but I've been involved in these groups for the past 4 years. The people are always changing, but it's time I consistently make to get out and spend time with other women. It's hard when I work full-time to get together with other moms. I've known some of these girls for the 4 years and will be sad to go. I'm just hoping there will be other groups to join in Portland or I guess I'll have to start some of my own.

-The weather. Yes, it's a Pro and a Con. I really do hate chilly weather and I do feel better when the sun is shining. I guess the tradeoff is in AZ you have to survive about 5 months of crappy hot weather and in OR you have to survive 5 months of crappy chilly drizzly weather. We'll be moving at the start of crappy weather so I'm hoping by May we'll have the start of a nice spring/summer. I have no closed toe shoes as I wear sandals year round. Matthew recently told us he hates socks and Isabelle tries to take off her shoes within 10 min. of putting them on. Cold weather and shoes is going to be an adjustment for all of us.

-I will miss my house. It's cute and is a great fit for now. I'll miss not being able to do what I want to my house when I want to.

-My gym. I really, really love my gym. It is really far though to drive to from our house, but is convenient after work. I'm hoping to find another one that I love as much with a good childcare facility. It's a requirement of our new house. I need somewhere close to go to so I can fit it into my routine easily.

This change is not what I thought I would be going through 1 month ago, but it's a huge blessing to our family. It's something we've been needing for awhile and it's a good change in so many ways. Things I'm needing to find when we go house hunting are: a good house in a good location, a good preschool for Matthew, great gym and eventually FRIENDS.

All of you are welcome to visit anytime (say after January once we've settled in).

San Diego

After my convention was over Jordan headed to San Diego on Wednesday with the kids. We stayed at a hotel in Mission Bay for 2 nights.

We went to Sea World our first day (we didn't take too many pics). It was really fun and the kids did pretty good. Matthew loved everything and I taught him how to sound like a seal and he does a great impression.




Matthew wanted to go on this ride which he never goes on rides. We were heading out of the park so we stopped for 1 ride. Not too scary so right up his alley.


Isabelle was super cranky (she was fighting a cold) so we stayed in the room and Matthew and Jordan roasted S'mores. I think Matthew had a fun time even if he was scared of the fire.

Isabelle would not quit crying in her pack and play so eventually I put her in bed with me and we slept by each other most of the night. She tried to roll over on me a few times so we finally moved her into her pack and play.

The next day we headed to the Zoo. Super fun! This is typical silly Matthew. Trying to get a good picture of him is getting harder and harder because of his silliness or weird smiles.

Camels in the background. So fun! I think Matthew loved every minute of it. He was super good. Isabelle was kinda cranky but did ok.

Cute Koalas! Poor Isabelle was stuck in the stroller most of the time because she would throw a holy fit after she got put back in so it was easier to just leave her in there.

The Pandas were pretty active. Last time we came (2.5 yrs ago) one of the Pandas had just had a baby. The cute little baby was out with the momma this time.

I don't have a picture of the Gorillas, but we sat down on this bench by this older guy who knew lots about the Gorillas. He told us a lot of great information. When we were leaving Matthew told the guy "thanks for telling us about the Gorillas" all on his own. It was so cute and moments like that make be feel he is a really kind boy even if he's crazy around us.

Before going to the zoo we moved to the Hotel Del on Coronado Island. We are doing an event there next April so they offered to put me up.

After staying there I've realized I am not a fan of really old hotels even if they are historic. I would rather be in a new hotel. The Hotel Del has a lot of character and right on the beach so that was nice! It's very expensive though all the way around from the rooms to the food to little shops and ice cream.

It was pretty chilly on Saturday morning when we went down to the beach. The sand is so nice there though and it was really good for cranky Isabelle to be outside. She loved just playing in the sand and probably just played for 30-45 min. dumping sand back and forth into the buckets we had.

Jordan was trying to make sand castles with Matthew but he kept wrecking them. Of course, he thinks that's hilarious.

Isabelle ate sand and then it stuck to her snot nose.

After lunch Jordan took Matthew back to the beach so Isabelle could take a much needed nap. I read and rested a little too.

Matthew was playing in the waves and a big one snuck up on him and knocked him over. He was soaked and that was the end of beach time.

Cuddle time! So much fun spending time with the kids and Jordan and not worrying about work.

We went for a walk Saturday evening down the street where all the restaurants and shops were. We found a cute Italian place that made their own pasta and had a great dinner. Afterwards, we found a yogurt shop where you can pick your own yogurt and toppings and then you pay by the oz. Yummy!

The view from our room was amazing!

After dinner and yogurt we came and hung out on our balcony enjoying the breeze.

I bought Matthew these pirate and dragon figurines. He was in heaven and had a great time playing with them all weekend.

Such a great trip, but I was gone for 12 days between Convention and vacation. So good to be home! We are getting ready for more change in our life which I'll be posting about next week.

The Results Are In!!!

Most of you already know because of my Facebook post, but for a few of you that might not be on Facebook...

I DID IT!!! I can't believe it. I am still in disbelief. I have never set such a huge goal in my life and then actually come through to the other end and accomplished everything I set out to do. I am so proud of myself for sticking to my calorie limits and exercising 6 days a week even through 3 vacations, 4 events, and 3 family birthdays.

I will admit there were times it was hard physically, but I think most times mentally was much harder. There were days when I battled with myself to make good eating and exercise decisions even when I didn't want to. There were weeks when I worked out so hard and ate so good and then it would be a 1 measly pound weight loss. I just didn't know if all my hard work would be enough and I would feel like why keep trying when the results weren't what "I" wanted because I expected my body to do more. I'm so glad that I kept trying and kept going (I am still going) even through the tough times.

I am waiting for official pictures from Tuesday's announcement and then I'll post the whole story of how it all went down and how I was feeling, etc. Thanks for all of your encouragement and support. Some things have happened recently at work (co-worker wise) where I don't always feel supported, but having all of you tell me I can do it week in and week out helped me build belief in myself and to pull me up when it was hard. I knew so many people were rooting for me and that really made a difference.

It was hard at the beginning to really admit where I was body/weight wise and seemed like a long road to get to the results I wanted. Now that I'm almost there it seems unbelievable where I started. Like I put in my essay - these months were going to pass regardless and I could choose to change or stay the same. I chose change every day, week, and month. I'm still choosing change, I'm still on this journey and I am NEVER going back!! Thanks for going through this life changing journey with me!

First Day of School, First Day of School!

Matthew started back to Preschool on Tuesday. What a difference 1 year makes. His teacher said he is doing really great about obeying all the rules and helping the other kids. He even got stickers (only a few kids did) this week on his papers for being so good. He loves school and is 1 smart cookie (in my estimation of course!). He was so excited to go back to Miss Heidi's. When I told him Monday night that he was going to school the next day, his eyes lit up and he said "yes!".

I can't believe next year he will be in Kindergarten.


I forgot to take a picture of his first day of school last year, but remembered this year. I love his long plaid shorts and his cute giraffe backpack.


Matthew made this his first day of school. It was a little clothes pin of himself. He thought it was so awesome! I love it.



They are practicing writing their names this year. Matthew did this all by himself. He has come a long way since last years writing.

See his sticker for being good-only 3 kids got them. He did this glitter writing all by himself. He was so excited to show me this and tell me the colors when I got home from work.

Green gold, blue, red gold, gold gold, blue blue, silver. I am so glad he is back in school. It's something he really needs.

p.s. We have been fighting illness in this household the past two weeks. Matthew was talking funny (like something was in his throat) and then had fevers for 2 days. I took him to the Dr. and he had a severe strep throat and double ear infections. The Dr. said you could see the puss on his tonsils. I went home and looked in this throat with a flashlight and sure enough huge coatings - no wonder he was talking funny. I had asked him if his throat or ear hurt and he said no. He had been complaining of a headache though so I wonder if that was from his ear infections.

Isabelle started getting fevers this week so I took her in and sure enough she had 1 ear infected and the other half-full of fluid.

Matthew is done with his round of medicine and Isabelle has a week to go. She is teething too so there have been a lot of interrupted sleep, early mornings and crankiness around here. Can't wait until they both are clear of sickness. You take good health for granted sometimes.

Official Before & After Pics

I really can't believe the pictures, but here they are! The last two weeks I haven't seen any weight loss, but finally lost another 2 this week, so I'm at 46 total. Hoping for 4 more lbs. before convention to be at an even 50 lb. weight loss. I have a lot of work to do in the next 2 weeks.

BTW-I haven't been given the digital pics yet, so these are scanned from the hard copies I was given. Not the greatest quality, but it's what I have.

Obviously not too pleased with getting my picture taken here. I remember thinking I couldn't wait to get to the gym after work so I could start on this journey. I need to take a picture with these same before clothes on so you can see how baggy they are now.

Much better!

Final Essay

I handed in my essay to the health coach on Thursday who was pretty impressed. She obviously can't guarantee that I'll win first place, but she said I will definitely get one of the prizes (of course I want first). I then asked if anyone lost more than me and she said "No". I was really shocked. She said about 3 of us are around the same weight loss. I didn't know of anyone who had lost more than me, but I don't know everyone that entered and it's pretty tight lipped about actual weight lost around the office. I for sure thought a guy lost more than me.

Here are pictures of my essay. The pictures are crappy because they are taken at work after I bound it there. I had 5 tabs. Essay, Before/After Pictures (that I posted here last week), Food/Exercise Log, Weekly Blogs, BMI results. I definitely had this plan all along to help boost my essay score. I'm hoping this will tip me over the edge to be the winner since 50% of the overall total is the essay. Everyone else's essays I saw (in her folder) were single sheets of paper so I'm hoping the judges will be impressed. Below I've posted my actual written essay.

This week I lost 3 pounds and am a total of 44 pounds lost (6 lbs until 50-wow) and only 20 to go. Can't believe it! My health coach suggested HITT training so I'm trying a new workout regime the next 3 weeks and will blog about it afterwards. It stands for high-intesity interval training that you do twice a week for 20 min., but the afterburn lasts several hours. It's great for burning fat and for getting a great workout in quickly. I tried it on Thursday and will do it again on Monday.

ESSAY:

I have wanted to get into shape for 8 years. While living in London I exercised almost daily but didn’t watch what I ate. After joining Isagenix I saw results from the 9-day cleanse but only temporarily because I didn’t exercise or change my diet. After 2 kids in 4 years added more weight, enough was enough. I was tired of excuses. I took this challenge head-on to get in shape the right way and permanently change how I and my family live.

I knew I needed drastic changes. I stopped bad habits I had formed: Diet Coke, fast food, and sugar. I started good ones like using more Isagenix products, drinking lots of water, and eating only healthy food. I committed to work out 6 days a week.

Within the first week I knew I needed to track calories. I found a great website (see food/exercise log tab) where I could even add products I use regularly such as the shakes, bars, IsaPro, WME, IsaDelight, and Cleanse. I love figuring out calories in recipes, tracking what I expend, and logging weight loss. I had chosen to be oblivious to calories, and this really opened my eyes and changed what I put in my body.

I knew that exercise was going to be tough, having done almost none in 5 years. I prepared to battle my fat with new shoes and exercise clothes, an iPod, and a gym membership. I could only do 20-25 minutes of cardio at first, but I worked up to 40-45 while adding yoga, pilates, and now weights. I love the gym and how I feel after going and don’t want to miss workouts.

To keep me accountable and motivated, I blogged weekly for friends and family (see blog tab), sharing diet, exercise, and weight loss. I also found a great saying that motivated me through tough times: “These months are going to pass, you can either change or still be the same.” Every day, week, and month, I chose change.

The four months of the IsaBody challenge have been about winning my body back and changing my life for good. I have lost 42 pounds (20% of my weight), 46.6 inches, and over 4% body fat (see BMI tab), and I have gone from a tight 14 to an 8. I kept my commitment of working out 6 days a week and eating good food the entire challenge even through 4 events, 3 vacations, and 3 family birthdays. I only have 23 pounds to my goal and will be close by Celebration. I feel incredible, have so much energy, and feel better about myself. I know I can do anything I set my mind to and am never going back to the old me.

I am so grateful for the products and Isagenix as a company for helping me make this transformation. I feel so proud to be an employee and to help others around me realize they can change and be healthy too.

Before & After Pictures

Ok-I don't have my official weigh-in before & after pictures STILL, but I included some before pictures I had of me and some "after" pictures from our vacations at the end of June. Shocking really. I think I was really fooling myself that it wasn't that bad. I can beat myself for letting things get to where they were or I can just be proud of where I've come to date and keep in mind my goal and to keep working to get there. The pages below I'll be including in my essay booklet.

p.s. Please notice Jordan's great weight loss too. He's lost 30 pounds since about September of last year. He just hasn't been vocally talking about it on here. He's fitter than he's ever been and is in super great running shape. He looks amazing and has some "skinny" jeans that look really good.





So...in addition to the 41 pounds, I've lost 2 inches in each of my upper arms, 9 inches in my waist, 4 inches off my behind, 5 inches in each of my thighs and then some other in other places for a total of 46.6 inches totally lost so far. I was a tight 14 and in L-XL shirts and am now in S-M shirts and size 8 pants. I'm hoping to be in a size 6 by Celebration, but we'll see. I haven't seen these sizes in a really long time. I am still sometimes amazed at how just watching my calories and exercising every day for 35-45 minutes has changed my body so quickly in 4 months. If I can do it, really so can anyone else. I was so unmotivated and lazy, but now that I'm in the habit and feel great I don't want to get back out of shape again. I don't want to go through this process again. This is the new me and way of life.