I have had a great November 2012, with much to be thankful for every day! I am now walking 2.5 miles 3 days a week and am really watching my points as I continue to lose weight and most of all I feel better! I treated myself to Pecan Pie at Thanksgiving and I am sure there will be some Christmas treats that I will eat. But, I will continue walking. I am hoping to be up too 3 miles a day soon. I got to celebrate Thanksgiving TWICE which was such a treat. First, on Sunday November 18, we all gathered at mom and dads to celebrate Thanksgiving and Brandon's 24th Birthday! I must say this was one of my FAVORITE days this year as it was the 1st time we have all been together including Ian and Caiti. It was just an awesome day and having all of them with me made me realized how blessed I am with my family and the special bond we all share. God has been so good to me! Here is a picture of the whole gang: 

Since Brandon doesn't like cake I decided to do something fun for him. he LOVES oreos which is funny because that is the food I craved when I was pregnant with him. So Caiti and I made him an awesom OREO cake, it LOVED it and I do believe it is the best cake he has ever had. Will post picture later.

We also did some special pictures writing what we were thankful for on a chalkboard(thanks Pinterest)

 

Then on Monday, me, Lee, D'nea, Ronnie, Ian and Caiti left for Broken Bow, OK.
Our cabin was awesome and we had so  much fun fishing, cooking, golfing, hanging out! It was just great being together. Here are some pictures of us, the cabin and all the fun we had! I can't wait to scrap these.

 Fun Times

 The Cabin

 The Food

I have started buying digital scrapbook kits and am having a blast learning to use them in Photo Shop with my photos. I create them in a 5 by 7 or 8 by 10 size in Photo Shop, then save them as a high quality .jpeg and then send them to be printed. They come out really nice printed. Then I add them to my 12 by 12 scrapbook layout and include embellishments and journaling. The pages turn out great. Here are some I have done and printed.

 

Here are some of the sites I LOVE for Digital Kits:

Ginger Scraps
NitWit Collections
Just So Scrappy 2
The DigiChick
Sweet Shopp
My Memories

If you aren't sure then download some of their freebies to get started.
Also, here is a great link to photoshop tutorials for digital scrapbooking
Free Tutorials

You can also follow me on Pinterest for more great digital stuff.
Terrie's Pinterest Page

Updates

Well, it has been too long since my last post. Over the last part of summer I was still counting points but the hot weather made me not as active. Thus, I gained a few pounds back. When the weather turned cooler I got motivated again and began walking again an average of 2 miles 3 times a week. I am happy to report I lost the few pounds plus more. I am now down 11 pounds since May and that is a great accomplishment for me. I am now more motivated then ever because in March 2013 I am going on a cruise with my mom and girlfriends. I have a goal to lose at least another 20 - 25 lbs so I won't be so self-conscious in a bathing suit. So I have the rest of October, November, December, January and February to get the pounds off. I know the holidays will be tough with all the goodies but I have learned it is all about the choices you make and if you really want something you sacrifice something else for that item. This week was a co-workers birthday at work and the cake was a snickers ice cream cake that I wanted so much. But, after losing 1.8lbs this week I decided it was not worth it because I have worked too hard so I gave my cake away! Like my friend Jules tells me it is just food. I will keep everyone posted on my weekly results as I continue to reach for my goals. 

 On another note my great nephew is growing too fast and he is so precious, I have been able to see him every few weeks and here is a picture.

I am also busy scrapping Christmas gifts because as usual Christmas will be here before we know it. I am going to a scrapbook retreat this weekend and looking forward to good times with my scrapping sisters.

Xavier is Born!

I have now lost 10.4 lbs and am so thrilled!
Yesterday, July 25, 2012 was a great day as my Great Nephew, Xavier Carter Sikes, was born at 6:32 PM weighing 7 lbs 9 1/2 oz. and 19 1/2 inches long. I was able to be there and share in the family  joy when he arrived. He is so handsome and I am proud to be his Great Aunt. There are now 4 generations of Sikes men with my dad being the Great- Grandfather. He is so happy about this as it has not happened before.
Check him out:

Mom, Jennifer and Dad, Josh are both doing great and I am sure they have no idea how much their life is about to change- for the BEST! I shared one of my favorite quotes with them yesterday, " Being a Parent is having your HEART walk around outside your body for the REST of Your Life!" which is so true as those of us know who have children that are grown, they NEVER leave your heart! I just feel so blessed to be apart of this family as we have so much love to share and we are always there for each other no matter what storms come our way!

I have been really busy lately so haven't posted here in  a while. But, I am still losing weight, I have now lost almost 8 lbs. I really felt good this week when I was able to wear some jeans and capris that I haven't been able to get into in several years. I have been on several trips but watched and counted everything I ate, it wasn't always easy but I am happy with myself for sticking to the plan. I hope to get back to the gym next week as I have been tired this week.


 I spent a week in Lake Charles scrapping with my peeps and completed my 2nd Trip to Disney scrapbook, all 90 pages, crazy! But, it was so much fun! Then I was in Lafayette at the Treasured Memories crop for 3 days where I started on a gift Disney Album for  someone and did 2 mini books for Christmas gifts. It is now time to do some power cropping as I have a crop on Labor Day weekend and then another one in October. After that I am counting the days till March because I am going on my 1st Cruise with my mom and some other scrapping friends. Not only will it be my 1st Cruise but it is a scrapping cruise, WOW, combining 2 of my favorite things scrapbooking and traveling. I will have to really  plan what I am going to scrap as I can't pack all my scrapping stuff to take on the boat.


Right now I am really anxious for Xavier's birth and holding him and smelling that sweet baby smell, wish that could be bottled. LOL. Also, I hope to see sweet Willow soon and smothered her with kisses.


My life is so good that it scares me sometimes because I am so happy and content. I am so proud of my son and all the great things that are happening for him. My daughter and son -in-law are doing great and I know the future holds great things for them. My stepchildren are doing well and I am so proud of them! My parents are really enjoying their retirement spending my inheritance and I couldn't be happier for them as they are able to camp and travel together.

Until next time, God Bless Everyone!

Wow, I have made my first month at WW and I am really happy with the results. I have lost a total of 5.4 pounds in a month. I had set my goal of 5 pounds a month so I am happy to be on track. I also invested in some scales yesterday so I could weigh my food. I am working out at the gym on the average of 3 days a week and I do great watching my points during the week. Sometimes on the weekend I splurge a little but nothing too crazy, a girl needs rewards sometimes you know. So thanks to the WW plan I am feeling better and am motivated to continue to my goal weight. I have several trips this summer and I think that will be my biggest travel is how to eat when traveling. But, I promise you that I WILL NOT GIVE UP as I continue to reach my goals!

So today was 1 week since I weighed and started following the Weight Watchers plan. I did not go over my points last week and exercised 3 days. I was very careful this weekend but still ate enough to keep me satisfied. I even ate a half cup of homemade ice cream. So today I was so nervous before weigh in and was just praying to see some weight loss no matter how little to keep me motivated. My friend and coach Jules was waiting for me as I stepped on the scales I got a very pleasant surprise. In fact I had to ask the lady 3 times are you sure these scales are right? So here goes I did not lose 1 Pound, or 2 or even 3 pounds. I lost 4 Pounds, yes, 4 pounds,OH MY I almost cried and Jules hugged me tight and then hugged me again. I really felt like I had just won the lottery. I know that some of that was water from just detoxifying a bit last week,but I am so happy. I know now that the plan does work and that I can do this. I can honestly say that I did not go hungry and even though there were some items I wanted to eat I avoided temptation and stuck to the plan.

So I don't have expectations of losing that much every week but sticking to the plan and exercising will continue my journey to a healthier smaller me and that is why I am doing this. I will be off the the gym tomorrow and will try and do 4 days this week. I will keep you posted!

HAPPY DAY!!!

I made it to the gym yesterday and did 40 minutes on the treadmill. I am noticing that I have more stamina and can do more so that is a good thing. I also made another trip to the grocery store for fresh fruits and vegetables. I picked up some of the SMART ONES meals that have the WW points on them. I got the Lasagna which has 7 points and had it for supper last night with steamed broccoli. It was very filling and I really wasn't hungry but before I headed to bed I still had 3 points left not to mention the 3 points I earned for exercising which I didn't use. So I had a yummy WW ice cream sandwich for 3 points and still have my 3 points from activities. I will head to the gym again today which means I will earn some more points. I am going to try and not use them but with the weekend and Mother's Day lunch it is nice to know that I have them if I need them.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Yesterday I attended my 1st Weight Watchers Meeting and I must say that I am pretty pumped. I got some good snacks plus my Food Bible that I think will help me stay on track. I did exercise 4 days last week and should be able to make 4 days this week. I started on weights and I felt the pain but am better now.I really like the etools that WW provides to help you count points and look up foods. Yesterday I found one for lettuce wraps, ( 2 wraps = 5pts) I emailed it to my hubby and that sweet man of mine had it ready when I got home from my meeting. They were so YUMMY!. His support means so much to me as I strive for a healthier lifestyle plus it helps him too. I have also noticed that I have more energy at night and have been doing some scrapping. When I scrap I really don't think about food which is a good thing. However, as I learned last night it is important to eat all of your points each day. Well, I really haven't had a problem doing that. LOL I have even managed to save 2 - 3 pts for a snack before bed. I am hooked on the WW ice cream. One thing I don't like is more trips to the grocery store so I can have fresh fruits and vegetables.So, nest week the scales will tell the tale and I will keep you posted.

Friday, April 27, 2012
Ok, I got on the scales after being on my exercise and eating plan for about a week and I was not really happy with the results. But, I know it takes time when you first get started. So, I am NOT giving up. I will walk again today and will try to walk at least 1 day this weekend. I am sore but as Lance Armstrong once said, " Pain is temporary,quitting lasts forever!" (Thanks Jules) I do notice that when I get home after my walks, take my shower and rest about 15 minutes I seem to have more energy into the evening to get some things done. I plan on doing some pre-scrapping this weekend to get ready for my May scrap trip. I have a wedding book and 2 baby books to make so that will keep me busy.


Just remember that if you are thinking of changing your lifestyle there is not time like the present and I know that in the long run it will be worth it. I am thankful that I am healthy enough to walk and that I have a good support of family and friends as I continue on to a healthier and hopefully smaller me.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012 So today will make 3 days in a row walking and I am now walking 2 miles in about 30 minutes. The weather outside is still cooperating and I have got some new exercise music on my IPod to listen to as I walk. I am really enjoying being outside every afternoon as being behind my desk all day gets old. I find myself actually looking forward to my walks and I think this is a good thing. I am still watching what I eat but yesterday I did splurge a little by having fried fish and dessert. But, today I am doing good. My joints are aching some and yes I am tired but it is a good feeling and I know that means that my body is working. So I continue to be committed in my pursuit of living healthier so I can feel better. Someone at work today said they heard on the news that Louisiana is the least peaceful state to live in and you know that got me to thinking. Being at peace does not mean being in a certain location, peace comes from within yourself and how you feel about yourself and life and in my case I am at peace as I am happy and doing what I want to do. So no matter where you live you can be at peace! I am blessed beyond what I deserve as God has given me so much, my family, my friends, my job and my health. Yes, I am at peace and I thank God for that everyday! I weigh again on Friday and hope to see the scales go down. I will keep you posted and thanks for all the positive comments.

Ok ,my last post was in February and now it is April.. Geeze where did the time go? I have decided it is time to try and get some weight off again. So, yesterday, April 19 was my 1st exercise day and I walked 30 minutes outside on campus. The weather was really nice and I am a bit sore today but that is a good thing. I plan on trying to walk every day for a week outside while the weather is still not too hot. Then, I will head back inside to the gym and do the treadmill and start some weights. It is really hard after working a 9 hour day to exercise as I really just want to go home. But, I really need to do this for me. I hate that my belly is so fat when I see pictures of myself and I would love to wear clothes and not look prego. It will also be difficult to watch what I eat as my sweet hubby is always cooking something yummy. I am helping him prepare meals a week in advance in hopes that I can eat healthier.

So I will keep my log here and hope that my body shrinks as I work hard to reach my weight goal.

Wow, I can't believe it is February already even though the weather outside feels more like spring. It is 73 degrees, rainy and very humid. I have been running my a/c this week which is crazy! Work is really busy with lots of workshops on WebEx but I do enjoy it.
I am excited about the Superbowl even though our Saints are not playing. We always have a big family party at my brothers with lots of good food and company. It is a great time for all of us to get together in the new year. I am going to cheer for the Giants as I cheered for them last time they played the Patriots and they WON, plus I like Eli.


So it is raining cats and dogs outside and I have lots of errands to run before I can head home. Going to the library to get a new Nicholas Spark book, then the bank, walgreens to pick up more photos to crop and Brookshires for some weekend groceries.
I have some housework to do them I will probably go to bed read and take a nap. I hope to do some power cropping again this weekend.

So this weekend I spent several hours sorting through pictures from 2011. I had printed them at various times when photo sites had sales. They have just been piling up as I spent most of 2011 making scrapbook gifts.
Well, I am so ready to work on them so I had to sort them and I was a bit overwhelmed when I realized how many events I had to scrap, I scrap by events. I was also excited as I started sorting through some of my new papers for these pictures. I keep a calendar each year with events on it so I know what photos I need to print and scrap. I realized I didn't print pics from my summer trip with the girls and I remembered I wanted to get some odd sizes from scrapbook pictures, you can get 3by3 4by4 5by5 and other cool sizes. However, when I sent to their site yesterday they are now closed down.... Boooooooooo I was so disappointed because the odd sizes are so great for scrapping. So I did some searching on the internet and found another site that I think is going to work.It is called RitzPix http://www.ritzpix.com/  and they have the odd sizes too. They also give you 25 free 4 by 6 when you sign up with them and it is free. So I am getting some pictures from them and will post back on my blog how they turn out.


I am now so ready to Power Crop and get ready to scrap at Cheryl's in a few weeks and then again in Pineville Feb.16- 19. Power Cropping is where I pick my pictures and papers and put them together so I don't have to pack 100 lbs of paper. Picking out the paper is the hardest part for me. My first project is to scrap my 50th birthday from last February when Cheryl and I went to Memory Lane Inn in Tyler, TX. We had the whole house to ourselves and it was a great way to spend my 50th, I was so busy I didn't really have time to think about being half a century old.

It was another great scrapping weekend. Cheryl got a new I Phone and called me over to help her set it up, well I decided to go ahead and bring my scrapping stuff. We had a great day scrapping and then Wayne invited Lee and I over for fried fish on Sunday evening so I left my scrapping stuff at Cheryl's. On Sunday after lunch I headed back over there to watch some football and scrap. I am SO happy because I finished an album for a friend this weekend and some other 2010 Christmas pictures that I forgot to do last weekend. Lee came over around 5:30 with his awesome 
"Paula Dean" coleslaw and we had a great supper. I stayed till about 8 PM then headed home to see the rest of the Giants, 49ers game. I am going to cheer for the Giants in the SuperBowl just like I did the last time they were there.
My scraproom is now a wreck and I will spend some time this week getting it cleaned up again. I am hoping to do some power-cropping this next weekend as I have a scrapbook crop to attend in a few weeks in February and if I don't get some stuff ready I will pack too much.

I had a wonderful 3 day weekend with my scrapping sisters. We stayed at Cheryl's and scrapped the day and nights away in her new, awesome scraproom.(thanks Wayne!) I completed my Christmas 2010 pictures and my Christmas 2011 for a total of 56 pages. YEAH! That is a good feeling. We ate snacks - popcorn- peanuts - chocolate -chips, dip. We had gumbo, pizza from Pizza Hut, green beans, potatoes, sausage and yummy breakfast. Cheryl was the perfect host. We scrapped, laughed and cheered our Saints on, watched some TV and listened to music on Pandora. It was just such a relaxing fun weekend. I love my time with Cheryl & Connie as they always make me feel so blessed. It is off to work tomorrow for 3 and half days that will be busy. But,that is OK because everyday I work is one day closer to retirement and then I can scrap whenever I want. YEAH!!! 


I will post pictures of my Christmas layouts later in the week.

 So today is a sad day as I have lost someone I love dearly. Maw Maw Gertie. She is my x-husband's grandmother and great grandmother to my children D'nea and Brandon. She is and always will be my Maw Maw Gertie whom I have know for over 30 years and could not love her more if we were blood related. I have such fond memories of her. I am hoping to find some photos and make a mini scrapbook about her. She was 96 years old and lived a very productive life. I use to spend summers with her picking and canning vegetables. It was nothing for us to get 20 dozen ears of corn in the morning, cut all the corn off the cobs, cook it and bag it and be done by 3PM. She could work circles around me and she taught me so much about life. I can still see her in the kitchen over the stove cooking something, she never turned anyone away for a meal. She will be missed but her legacy will live on through her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren (17) and her 3 great-great grandchildren and by all the lives she touched. God now as another angel in heaven and I look forward to seeing her again one day with Paw Paw Tommy.
 I LOVE you Maw Maw now and forever.

Here is a picture of her at D'nea's Wedding Reception.

So Yesterday, January 12, 2012 was my husband's 60th birthday. This is really hard for me to believe because he doesn't seem that old to me. He is so young at heart and I love him more and

more with each passing year. He still never ceases to amaze me and he did that exact thing on his birthday by going out and buying a new car. We named her Magic and she is so cute!

Close to My Heart

I am a Close to My Heart Consultant and we have AMAZING products for all your paper crafting needs.


Check out my website and shop securely online.
Terrie's Close to My Heart Site

http://www.scrapbook.com/galleries/44434/view/3492655/-1/1.html
Here is a link to My Gallery of layouts on Scrapbook.com
Here you can see pictures of my layouts and craft projects.

DIsney 2011

Create a free digital scrapbook

Even though this trip was in November 2011, it was so awesome that I had to share. I went with 3 of my Lady Bug Scrappers to Disney World and we had more fun then I could have ever imagined. Here is just a sampling of the 800 photos we took.

A New Year

I was a really bad blogger in 2011 and hope to change that for 2012. I want to journal more here and share more crafty stuff with my friends. I am hoping to post at least once a week and share some of my crafts here with you. I have 2 other pages where I will post scrapbooking links and scrapbooking events - such as crop retreats.
I scrap with a wonderful bunch of ladies that I call the LadyBug Scrappers, we decided on this name over 7 years ago and it has stuck, plus who doesn't love ladybugs? So now we have ladybug totes, ladybug coffee cups and anything ladybug we can get our hands on. I am hoping to have a new scrap room one day and it will be red,black and white with ladybugs everywhere.
I will also be sharing family stuff here as they are what I scrapbook and the inspiration behind my projects.
Today is my DH birthday and he is so supportive of my hobby, which is a good thing because choosing between him and my scrapping.... well let's just say "Honey I will miss you!"