June Happenings

June:

• Phoenix Comicon                                                                                                                           Well we spent our second year in a row at Comicon.  We stayed for a little over a week in a resort in Scottsdale, the same one as last year, just a different room.  This one wasn't as close to the playground, but it was closer to the pool.  Dorothea, Allison, and Jamie came over a few times to play games and watch the kiddos.  We met up the first night with our friends from young marrieds, Candice and Russell, who happened to be up there that weekend.  We spent the week just relaxing, swimming, shopping, etc and then it was time for Comicon.  We were especially excited for 2 guests this year, Stephen Amell who plays Arrow on the CW show and Nathan Fillion who was Captain Mal from 'Firefly', Captain Hammer in 'Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog', and most recently Richard Castle on 'Castle'.  We got to meet Stephen Amell and he signed our photo and Arrow action figure, but we didn't wait in the extremely long line to meet Nathan Fillion.  People were lining up hours and hours ahead of time to meet him and we just didn't want to stand in line that long.  The convention set up food trucks outside this year, which was great to have good food options but dang it was hot waiting in line for your food!  I'm honestly surprised nobody had a heat stroke!  We brought Embry along on Thursday night and then both of the kids on Friday.  They liked it of course and mostly just looked around and played in the art room.  We did go to an Avengers boot camp and an event to make steampunk wings, both of which they enjoyed.  Each of them got to pick out a stuffed Pokemon as their souvenir.  Embry picked Charmander and Nola picked Squirtle.  

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  Playing in the kiddie pool

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  Swimming in the big pool with dada
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  Tony meeting Stephen Amell

   
  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  • Camping At Lake Patagonia                                                                                                                                                     The weekend after we returned from Phoenix we went for a 3 day camping trip to Lake Patagonia.  It went much better for me than the trip we did last year!  Of course I stupid air mattress sprung a leak the first night, so we spent every  hour or so filling it back up.  I think I was just in a better mind-space this year for the camping than I was the year before because the same thing happened the year before but this time it didn't make me nearly as upset!  I mean yeah, it sucks to have a broken back and essentially end up sleeping on the ground, but it definitely could have been worse!  The first day/night there were a ton of people camped out at the lake, not a whole lot of bugs, and I feel like it wasn't as hot as last year either which was great.  We went with 2 couples from young marrieds, one who had 3 kids and one who had 2, so with our 2 that was a total of 7 kiddos.  They had a blast!  Ours pretty much stayed in their swimming suits the entire time and loved every minute.  Our friends brought along a boat which we used to go to a small island in the lake for the last day, which was a lot of fun and really relaxing just hanging out and swimming and collecting shells.  Embry came home with a big bucket full which we scattered in our garden (which I will post more about later).  Anyway a good time was had by all.

  

  the kids checking out the tents

  

  swimming in Lake Patagonia

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  S'Mores are delicious!

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  Father's day boat ride

  
  

  

  It's Medusa!

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  the kids checking out the tents

May Happenings

Ok so I guess there was one more slightly important event in April...Easter!  Woops, guess I forgot.  Anyhow, family came over, we went to church the night before, kids got dressed up, we ate yummy food and all was well.  Had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard and then dyed Easter eggs.  I have to say that the pots of gel food coloring do not work well for dying eggs, just fyi. 

 

May: 

• Mother's Day                                                                                                                                                               We spent the day at the Desert Museum with my friend Niki and her family.  It was lots of fun as always.  Then we went out to my parent's house to wish my mom a happy mother's day.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
• Refinishing the Kitchen Cabinets                                                                                                                                                                                        Let me just say it was awful and I'm never doing it again, but it does look much better than before.  Here's the finished product.   

It's been a while...

I kept thinking that I needed to make a blog post, but I didn't realize it had been almost 5 months since my last post...woops!  Well needless to say, lots has happened since then.  I guess I'll give a brief overview of the major events starting with March and April!  

March:

• Father Daughter Dance at Church                                                                                                          I guess Nola wasn't really being very nice that night (and I was told that at one point when Tony tried to get her to go to the bathroom she balled up the skirt of her dress and shoved the whole thing in her mouth in protest), but besides that, they had a good time.  They got to eat a yummy dinner, dance, take pictures, and the girls each got a special pearl necklace. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I love that they get to spend some special time with their dada.  We should definitely institute daddy/daughter one on one dates in the near future since it's obvious they really value his attention. 

April:

• Walk the Loop for Lupus Walk                                                                                                                A few of my super awesome friends, my awesome mom, and my awesome husband joined me to walk the loop around Reid Park in support of Lupus research.  It was a lovely morning, a nice (not too long) walk, and afterward there were free chair massages, ice cream, snacks, etc.  My friend Niki painted mine and Heather's faces beforehand.  I got a butterfly since it represents lupus and purple is the color for lupus.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
• Davis Monthan Air Show                                                                                                                          Even though we've lived in Tucson for 10+ years, we've never gone to the annual air show.  I think it was mainly that I didn't want to deal with it being hot, getting sunburned, trying to park, walking a long way etc etc, but this turned out to be so much fun!  I've always loved planes and so has Tony so I think that helped to get the girls excited about it too.  They gave out booklets with pictures of all the Thunderbird pilots and then Embry and Nola got to meet a few of them to sign their books and Embry is still holding onto that thing like it's gold.  It definitely helped that we got to park near the entrance and while it was a sunny day, it wasn't extremely hot, so we had a wonderful time!   
  
  
  
  

Skin cancer update

1 week after getting stitches out.  

2 weeks after getting stitches out...with makeup on it. 

Stitches Out

I finally got the stitches out of my face on Tuesday afternoon!  Here's a pic right after they were removed.  

I think it looks better now even just 3 days later.  The nurse said it healed really well especially for having such fair skin.  I tried to have the stitches taken out the thurs before but she got 4 out and said the top layers of skin still hadn't closed together so I needed to wait longer.  Glad I did because I'd like as little scarring as possible. 

Week 1: DONE!

Week one is done and so am I!  But really, this week has been quite an eye opening experience for me.  I think I'd continue on for week two, but the trail of snot running down the back of my throat says otherwise.  I'm sick once again and I just want some real food, like an egg, is that really so bad?!  No it's not, but it's not on the plan because the plan is only a short term weight loss kick-off.  It's not something that's sustainable and it's not meant to be.  Doing this 2 week rapid weight loss plan by Dr Oz, I averaged under 900 calories/day.  Of course you'll lose weight!  And I did.  I lost a grand total of 8lbs in 1 week (and that includes one day of cheating where I had half a piece of pizza and some icecream *gasp*)  So here are the 1 week stats:

                          Current                 Starting                 Difference
Weight:              179.6                     187.6                      -8 lbs
Waist:                  45"                        46"                        -1"
Bust:                    43"                        44"                        -1"
Hips:                    44.5"                     45"                        -.5"
Thigh:                  21.25"                   21.25"                    0
Bicep:                  13.25"                   13.25"                    0

Here's my conclusion to this whole experience:  whole foods is the way to go.  God provided all of these nutrient rich foods for us to eat and that's what we should be eating.  I'm sure I'll have an occasional splurge and eat or drink something processed, but it won't be the norm like it has been for too long.  Our diet will now focus on whole grains, fruits, veggies, & lean meats and I will get back into the swing of things at the gym.  I've come to point where I  realized that if I eat whole foods and it doesn't cause me to lose weight, I am ok with that, because I will be doing what is healthiest for my body.  I don't need to keep beating myself down about this weight thing because it's not good for my mental state.  If I'm bigger than I used to be, then so be it, at least I will be healthy and that is what is really important. 

Bonus!  My tastes have definitely changed in just a week's time.  I don't crave soda like I used to.  I tried a Mt Dew on Saturday night and it really wasn't as good as I remember.  It was very very sweet and I just kinda wanted water instead.  I have also been drinking a TON of water which I've never been very good at and I'm proud that I've crossed that line where it's actually enjoyable for me instead of something I just have to chug through to make it to 8 glasses a day.  Plus if you drink water with a meal instead of soda, beer, juice, whatever you really get to enjoy the full taste of the food as well. 

Day 3 and VAHS lottery

IThis day has been the easiest thus far.  I do have a carton of mint chocolate chip ice cream staring at me everytime I open the freezer, but I have denied the urge to go at it.  After my saltine bing last night I haven't had anymore nausea or headache, but I do have a bit of face pain from the incision site.  It actually kinda feels like bone pain but I'm guessing that's just due to it being located on my cheekbone.  The dermatologist even called me last night to see how I was doing and remind me to take it easy fir a few days, that was sweet.  Today I actually had less of an appetite than normal which I'm going to take as a sign of my stomach slowly shrinking back to a normal size.  I had a much harder time downing the warm lemon water because it turned out super sour.  Since I had used up our 2 big mugs already I had to use a regular mug which meant the water to lemon ratio was off.  Therefore I didn't do the breakfast smoothie and instead just ate a banana.  When I start thinking about 'cheating' I keep praying and being reminded that God has provided all of these nutrient rich foods in abundance to not only sustain my body but to make it thrive!  I tried my hand at a ratatouille recipe tonight that included eggplant and it was all right.  I added some cubed chicken since I knew the kids would hate a plate full of cooked veggies, but they told me how gross it was anyway.  I can't say it was my favorite dish ever but it was edible and tony really liked it.  

Embry and I also went to the lottery at vail academy and high school today to see if she got into their kindergarten class.  They had 22 kinder spots and I think about 47 kids wanting in.  End of story is embry got spot 21 which means that if nothing else happens she will be in the class.  Although if another kid trying to get into another grade got in today with the lottery and they also had a sibling that was trying to get into kinder with the lottery, but didn't make the cut, then that sibling trying to get into kinder would automatically bump embry down a spot.  So if that happened twice then she would not have a spot in the class.  

Day 2 & moh's surgery

Ugh, today was ROUGH!  I altered my smoothie so it was actually slightly enjoyable (a full banana and 1T of each flax seed and protein powder instead of 2T each).  At mops I didn't even visit the snack table (but saw from afar that it was filled with donuts and cookies, drool).  At about 10am I started getting what turned into a horrible headache.  When I got home from mops I felt nauseated and was so tired I fell asleep multiple times while tony was home for lunch.  Then it was time for my derm appt to have moh's surgery to remove the basal cell carcinoma.  Problem was that I still felt awful and they told me to eat a big meal before coming since it might take a while, but I only ate halftime salad for lunch since I was nauseous.  :/  Anyhow, good news is the surgery went well.  They only had to remove one chunk and then stitched me up.  Since I'm on blood thinners it's a little more concerning for recovery but they put me on antibiotics and gave me some Percocet just in case.  As I was getting stitched up, she told me that I was already bruising so I need to ice around the area to prevent swelling.  I keep this bandage on for 48 hours and then switch to a smaller bandage and then at 10 days I go back to have the stitches removed.  Bummer in all this is that since they put me on abx, I can't go in for my infusion again this week which was supposed to happen tomorrow.  Oh well, I'm. Sure I'll survive!  End of story is that I was still nauseous when I got home and I couldn't fathom eating any real food so I splurged and ate saltines.  Of course immediately felt better and rest assured those were the best crackers I've ever tasted!!!

Day 1: COMPLETE

Well it was hard, I'm not gonna lie.  The warm lemon water almost made me gag, then the smoothie tasted like a chalky, seedy, nasty cup of nasty.  I added 2 extra strawberries and a but of lemon juice to make it tolerable and then conjured up a straw so I didn't get the grit on my teeth.  It was super thick but it definitely kept me full until lunchtime so that's a plus!  Lunch was fantastic but I tried some of those snap-pea crisps (in Caesar flavor) as an afternoon snack and blech!  I just can't get over the pea aftertaste, so tony can have at 'em!  I was super hungry by dinner time and I didn't start my brown rice soon enough so my chicken and asparagus was done way before the rice.  Even without the rice, the dinner was so delicious.  I could have had 3 more servings (and would have if I wasn't on a mission here).  I went to the store tonight to get some nuts and pickles, which are 2 of the approved snacks, so I don't run into the same problem tomorrow that I did today. I took some screen shots of myfitnesspal because I was so proud of how I ate!  

Hopefully I continue to feel this sense of accomplishment as the days go on.  Only 13 days to go!  

 

Dr. Oz 2 Week Rapid Weight Loss

Well, I'm starting this tomorrow:

In general I stand by my previous statement that I hate Dr. Oz.  I think he's a nut-job.  Seriously, you're not supposed to eat anything that tastes good...AT ALL?!  That's garbage.  My thought is that you shouldn't deprive yourself of things completely but just do things in moderation.  Well, that's my problem, my moderation setting in my brain, it's broken.  It broke a long time ago.  In fact, I'm not sure if I was even born with one, so that's why I'm doing this.  I'm good at following instructions and I think I can do almost anything for 2 weeks...right?  RiGhT?!   When I am feeling like binging on a bag of chips or the 3-12 packs of Mt Dew we have in the garage start calling to me, I'm going to pray.  It's the whole idea of fasting in order to grow closer to God except not in the extreme of not eating at all but just trying to get back on track.  I need to eat to live, not live to eat.  I've definitely been guilty of the latter as of late.  I mean, how sad is it that I go to bed thinking of how good my ice cold glass of Mt. Dew will taste when I wake up in the morning?  Yes, I have a problem.  I admit it.  Now for the ugly truth...the numbers! 

Current Weight: 187.6 lbs
Waist: 46"
Bust: 44"
Hips: 45"
Thigh: 21.25"
Bicep: 13.25"

Wow, I find that really depressing that my waist is bigger than my boobs.  That is not ok.  This 2 weeks is going to be HARD, but I can do it.  I like a challenge.  Then when it's over and I start a normal, healthy diet again (lean meats, lots of veggies, fruits, etc) I can go around feeling like I've won the biggest game ever because I'll have accomplished what I never thought possible.  I can do it, I know I can.  Wish me luck! 

Basal cell carcinoma

I had a spot on the left side of my face which I thought was a zit. I went to the dermatologist to have it looked at and he said it didn't look like anything but if it got bigger to come back in. Well it got bigger and I decided to go back in and they did a biopsy and it turned out that it was basal cell carcinoma.  It's the most common and least serious form of skin cancer, but still needs to be taken care of.  I go into the dermatologist on Tuesday afternoon to have Moh's surgery to get rid of it.  They will cut it out and then examine it under a microscope to see if the outermost layer that they cut still has abnormal cells in it. If it does then they go and cut more out and examine that until the outermost layer does not show any abnormal cells and then they stitch it up. 

The shiny pink spot by my hairline is the suspicious spot.  

And this is what it looks like after the scab from the biopsy fell off.  

Wish me luck! 

1 injection left!

Took this pic before my dose last night when I only had 2 more injections of blood thinner left!  Woohoo!  Can't wait to be done with this phase of my journey.