NOTE TO SELF

Dear Amie (sometimes we need to give ourselves a little pep talk)

It's time for a little "Love sandwich".
 No, not the "Love Sandwich" that your lovely husband and son like to give you..aka farting in their hands and shoving it in my face. True story..feel sorry for me.

So here is the LOVE part:

• Awesome job with the weight loss
• Awesome job staying away from all fast food, fried food, and foods with labels on it. I SWEAR I'm about to turn into a rabbit
• Awesome job running WITH your 28 pound baby in the jogging stroller. I know it sucks but you do it!
• Awesome job resisting the sweets during LENT
• Awesome job not eating after 7:00pm
• Awesome job getting up at 5:00am to work out
• Awesome job walking at work during breaks
• Awesome job climbing 8 flights of stairs at work just for the heck of it
• Awesome job with your water intake. Drinking almost 1 gallon of water a day
• Awesome job completed Jillian Micheal's 30DAY SHRED

OK HERE IS WHERE THE TRUTH HURTS:

• umm...you're still not at your weight goal so stop acting like you are. It sucks when you hit a wall...CHANGE up your work out and I bet you get results.
• umm...just because you worked out in the morning doesn't mean you can sneak a cookie from the kitchen at work.You just busted your butt working out. IS IT WORTH IT?
• umm...yes it sucks to run with the jogging stroller and just because H has water doesn't mean you need to stop (even if you feel like you are about to die) and swig her water
• umm...when you start sprinting and the wheels start wobbling...it doesn't mean you are running too fast and you should probably slow down...it means you are putting too much weight on the handle...STOP IT and run.
• umm...no matter what you think, it's not normal to go for a run and come home and chug a beer. YES it's refreshing but it's weird and not healthy. STOP DOING IT
• umm.. YES beer is wonderful. it's cold, it's refreshing, it calms my nerves BUT you should probably stop drinking it....we'll stop drinking it so much...baby steps
• umm....when you down six (ice cold, delicious) beers on a Friday night and try to run Saturday morning...it will be hard. No you don't burn more calories when you are dry heaving on your run.
• umm..you have to be in a swimsuit (in front of people) in 30 days. JUST SAYING
• umm...you bought Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 Days like a week ago, maybe you should open that up and start it.
• umm...just because the town pump has DELICIOUS french fries and cheeseburgers they still have calories. BE strong and order the grilled chicken salad.
• umm..you fall asleep super early and your awesome husband stays up with Hurricane Hannah, you are getting 8 HOURS of sleep. NO you do not need coffee (more like coffee with your creamer) in the morning. LET IT GO
• umm...awesome job running and finding your "comfortable running distance" NOW LEAVE IT and run farther...you CAN do it!

THE TOP LAYER OF THE LOVE SANDWICH

• AMIE you CAN do this
• AMIE you WILL do this
• AMIE think of all the cute clothes that you can wear without looking 5 months prego!!
• AMIE you won't have to SUCK it in anymore...
• AMIE STAY STRONG!!!

Family Fun day at the LITTLE ROCK ZOO

I don't know why, but I have been itching to go to the Little Rock ZOO. I've heard nothing but "Blah" reviews about it and knew it wouldn't compare to the St. Louis Zoo but hey, it's EARTH DAY (someone please tell me how my husband knew that?...Google I bet)

I got up this morning, went on my run (my goal was NOT to gain weight this weekend like I always do, so after those adult beverages last night, I knew to put my running shoes on this morning before I weighed in, and it worked! so far no weight gained this weekend)

After my run, I went to church. I had to leave Mike and H at home. They were sawing logs when it was time to leave and I'm still a firm believer in "Never wake a sleeping baby or HUSBAND" it's just not good for the soul.

Church was AMAZING and I am so glad I went. They were singing old hymns that reminded me of my grandma Nellie's church.

I got home and Mike was ready to go to the ZOO, H on the other hand got up on the wrong side of the bed. I don't know what it is these days but GIRLFRIEND LOVES her night gown. and HATES to get out of it. I tried everything:

ME:H do you want to go to the ZOO?

H: Yes

ME: Ok we have to take our night gown off

H: NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! *starts throwing a temper tantrum*

Seriously we did this like 3 times.

 My nerves were shot and we hadn't left the house. so what do I do...

CHUGGED a BUD LIGHT! YEP, chugged it and it worked.

She finally got dressed and we were headed to the ZOO:

MONKEY!! Not to be confused the with guy in the green shirt...lol

FISHES

PENGUINS!!

Gotta take a picture next to the hog.

H takes her animal watching serious.

I think this is the coolest animal. How amazing is it that no giraffe has the same pattern? How do people not believe in God. Look at his mighty work

We had fun at the Zoo, but everyone is right, it's nothing to write home about.

After the zoo we met up with one of Mike's old "Cop" friends. I still can't believe Mike used to be a cop. That was a few years before me. It was fun to hear old cop stories and it's always fun to eat at WHOLE HOG

After a much needed nap for all of us. We decided to end the night with a little TBALL.

Oh you know... A Little bit of this

Sooo...I just couldn't resist opening day. PLUS I was OVERDUE for a girls weekend. Hannah and I put our Cardinal GEAR and HER ANTI CUBS gear on and headed to St. Louis.

Hannah did REALLY well on the airplane.

I'm not big on flying, When I fly I  find an elder lady that looks like she'd be comforting if the plane would go down OR who wouldn't mind if I grabbed her sweet little arm during turbulence. (YES, I have grabbed my complete strangers arm during turbulence)

Well now when I fly with Hannah I try to find a sweet old lady, hoping she likes children and hoping Hannah's cuteness would out weigh her loudness. because WE ARE LOUD on a plane.

BUT Hannah did well. We found a sweet lady who had 5 granddaughters and thought Hannah was a sweet as pie. I brought our travel DVD player and played RIO (Shock Shock)

BUT I do have to add a little side note:

So H and the random old lady were watching RIO and this snotty stewardest said  "Do you have ear phones for her to listen?"

Me: being so shy said "Ear Phones for my 1.5 year old? NO, I don't.

She said: OH you really need head phones, there are people trying to sleep...

1. The volume was super low, duh, I know people are sleeping

2. If you make me turn RIO off, NO ONE will be sleeping on this plane. GIRLFRIEND LOVES her RIO.

REALLY? Lady, you obviously do not have kids. GET A CLUE.

We were more than ready for the CARDINALS vs. CUBS game (too bad they lost...)

I love these girls. Seriously I couldn't ask for better friends!!

H got to hang out with MIMI, PAPAW, TEE TEE, Zahria and her GIGI that night.

oh and my parent's OVER SIZED 160 pound BULL MASTIFF HARVEY

We had fun, but I was excited to get home to Mike.

Here are more random airport pictures on the way home. H slept the ENTIRE flight and so did mama

Suckers make traveling easy!

SIX YEARS...and COUNTING..

April 10, 2006- (My Version)

 I was at work and my  friend E called me:" When you get off work, we're going down town."

A little History:
 This was no normal day in St. Louis. This was OPENING DAY for the ST. Louis Cardinals. EVERYONE was downtown. It didn't matter if you had tickets to the game or not, YOU were downtown enjoying the festivities.

ME: Oh, I don't know.. I just want to go home and do nothing. (I was finishing college at this point and working 3 jobs and trying to maintain a social life.aka going out so much during the week, by the time Friday hit I was BEAT)

E: OH come on, you're off tomorrow

ME: Twisting my arm for all of 3 seconds OK.. I'll go

So I get off work, and throw on a what appeared to be a clean Cardinals shirt and slapped on a hat. I don't think I even put make up on and I KNOW I didn't shower or shave my leg. Which at that time of my life I was single and having the time of my life with my other single friends. SO a night out meant to put our best on maybe run to the mall and by a new shirt (because there was NO time for doing laundry during the week) shave our legs and go!

So E comes by my place and we head down to the game, but not before stopping at our favorite place Paddy O's we walk in and I kid you not. Mike was standing at the front entrance. LOOKING AMAZING.  I don't know why but he stood out to me. It may or may not have to do with the fact that he was the only person( in the city of St. Louis I'm sure) with a GREEN shirt on in the stream of ALL RED. I mean who really wears GREEN to a Cardinal's game? anyway, he stuck out. He was tan, blond hair and BLUE eyes. He totally met my criteria of TWS except for the S part. Mike was in no shape or form skinny. His arms were so buff and amazing (OK sorry but they were)

So of course I walk right by him and not say a word. I would never approach a guy that early in the night (with NO alcohol in my system).

I remember that night being SO fun, at that point more of my friends showed up to Paddy O's and we danced and dance... to this day if  I hear the songSIGNED SEALED DELIVERED.it brings me back to that day. aaahh memories... anyway long story longer

We were having a ball and I totally forgot about Mike.

UNTIL THIS HAPPENED

SLAP!!

Yep,  N (Mike's BFF) aka "The Principle was in Mike's words " WAS OUT" and he jack slapped me in my HINEY and let me tell you, If I haven't had a few drinks in me, I would have totally made a scene BUT I refrained and politely asked Mike to ask his friend to stop slapping me in my arse.

At that point in time Mike attached himself to my hip (and hasn't left for 6 faithful years)

We had a ball that night. The best part of it all, was when I left Mike that night. Within the first 5 minutes he sent me a text ( I really wish I would have written it down) It was along the lines of " I had a great time tonight, you are so beautiful and I can't wait to see you Friday (our first official date)

His Versions:

"well I was extremely intoxicated I was at Paddy O's  a little angel with a hat flew in front of me"

MIKE: No Wait...

We Met, We Danced,  I said come talk to me while I pee and I peed on him, I'm pretty sure THAT version is wrong

MIKE: No Wait...
I was out all day at opening day with my friends, I waved at a girl (behind me) and Amie thought I was waving at her. But I was cute so it didn't matter.

ME:  you're such a Romeo. I'm deleting this post

MIKE: BABE, I was voted 1991 Most Funniest Person. It's in the year book, Look it up. I don't think You appreciate my humor


ME: It's 2012 LET IT GO!!


lol..Well what can I say, It's been good, NEVER in my life did I think that day I would meet my husband, be married 3 years later and live in Arkansas with a child.

I prayed for Mike before I even met him (and pray even more now that we have met lol) I consider myself pretty dang Blessed.

Easter 2012 (PhotoBucket)

We had a great Easter. We did it up like it should be. Friends and family came over Saturday for an Easter BBQ, we drank, we laughed (really loud and often),  ate way too much(no calories count on Easter) mac and cheese. The kids hunted Easter eggs and played with bubbles. AND Mike so graciously put H swing set together. SCORE. What a great weekend.

Easter Basket Time...I went a little over board on the candy...

So all these goodies were pawned off on our guest. That is WAY too tempting for me. Now I have to get ride of 2 YUMMY homemade APPLE pies..

Easter Egg Hunt

The basket was more of a accessory

Riley came to PLAY....and she brought BUBBLES!!!

We LOVE Riley

More BUBBLES

The Easter Bunny brought Hannah a swing set.. Mike was more than thrilled to put it together. It only took one trip to Lowes, a few naughty four letter words and some beer. BUT it's done.

These are my "YOU are GROWING TOO fast pictures"

I LOVE this Picture of my girl...

So happy playing with Riley

Say HUH?

These crack me up. Playing with MaMaw's sunglasses

 

So I fell off the "Workout" Horse

Man, I was doing so well. Working out everyday, doing the 30day shred, running, attempting to run with the jogging stroller... Then BAM...home girl fell off the horse. (3 days in a row)

I blame it on my lack of self control and my love of alcohol. I mean REALLY why does Alcohol have to be bad..it taste so yummy, and it gives my fingers a tingling feeling... ugh.

 I once heard a quote from Klhoe Kardashian " A moment on your lips is a lifetime on your hips"...ugh..

So long story longer, we went to the race track on Saturday (first fall off the horse), DRANK..and ate a DELICIOUS corn beef sandwich..went home and sat our happy slightly intoxicated self on the couch, which bled into Sunday(second fall off the horse). We were totally DAN and ROSEANNE. it was bad. and I ate bad.

THEN Monday(third fall off the horse), I went to MIMI'S and could not resist the chicken pot pie. Tuesday wasn't so bad and I managed to get a run in last night. but when I got on the scale this morning. I flipped the scale off. MULTIPLE times. ALL that hard work and now I'm back to ugly number that I started. UGH. I was so mad and disappointed in myself.

So today didnt' start off well. I had all the intentions on running this morning but since I ran last night, I had WAY too much energy and couldn't fall asleep. Seriously I was up until 12AM. which meant that 5am run was only a dream. I had a little "tickle" in my throat but managed to get through the day. I mean I was nursing it. Sipping hot tea and popping cough drops most of the day. BUT I did get my food intake in check. I WAS STARVING most of the day.

So by 4pm I had pretty much diagnosed myself with strep throat. I had Hannah's gymnastics class (which amazing I felt OK during the entire time) and when we got home I realized I was WAY to sick for a 5 mile run. YEP too sick. The only thing I could do to save  my dying(yep I was about to be the first person to die from strep throat) soul was take a bath and take some NYQUIL.

 Mike was being so supportive.

"Oh just go run, you'll feel better" This is after I sulked about eating so bad for days.

"Oh you look skinny, you probably just gained muscle"  (blah blah blah)

I was all pity party mode and decided the bath would cure my soul...but not before raiding the fridge..for a slice of pizza? REALLY AMIE?!!

Seriously I jumped in the tub and ate a slice of pizza. like I was a kid at fat camp sneaking a piece of pizza. (I was hungry..)

The pizza just made things worse, umm.... here's an idea...If you want to loose weight..try a little self control..duh...

So as I sat in the bath tub (for all of 7 minutes of me time) H and Manny come barging in..

Here she is trying to add more bubbles..

Oh and here she is throwing baby in...

REALLY?!!

At this point my nerves were through the roof.. MAD that I ate bad, MAD that the scale went up and not down, MAD that I couldn't take a bath in peace and MAD that I ate that dang delicious piece of pizza so what did I do?!

Got my MAD azz on the treadmill and ran...

5 miles in 43:49. Not the best but I'm proud of myself for leaving the pity party and running. oh and burning off that pizza ;o)

From THIS to THIS

We've had a few project going on in the Lassen Home and I can finally say that most of them are done.

1. I was geared up for Easter and wanted Hannah to have the BEST and cutest Easter Basket. I've been eyeing THESE bad boys for months, BUT I couldn't justify the price. YES they are adorable, but not $34.00 adorable. So I took my happy self to JOANN'S and bought some fabric and the rest was history. So I started with THIS:

 and with a little bit of THIS:

And THIS:

I really can't take credit for anything but buying the fabric. I had all the intentions on learning how to use the sewing machine, BUT when I got on that thing, it went CRAZY. Thread got all jacked up and crooked. So my handy MIL stepped right in and made it look like a breeze.

AND GOT THIS:

Too cute!! and so empty. I'm totally waiting for all the EASTER candy to go on sale this weekend. Why pay full price?

2. I never said I had a green thumb. Last year I had a little success with the garden. So this year when we planted our "Harvest" (I feel so FARMER-ISH) I realized how horrible the garden looked and decided to give it a little make-over.

So we went from THIS:

This is actually a little better than what it look like. I just forgot to take a picture before I put primer on it.

to THIS:

3. So I've never been a big car person. As long as it got me to point A to point B I didn't care what I drove. Shoot I'll drive a Hoopty if it meant no car payment. I was fond of my 2005 Ford Escape. "Black Beauty", She was a beauty and treated me so well. UNTIL I paid her a** off and rear ended a tank..Black Beauty laid down like a dead horse and I was WITHOUT a car. BUT thankfully Mike's car was paid off and HE got a new car and a new car payment. So I drove the ol' Silver Bullet.

THIS

I really had no problems with this car. We did have a love/hate relationship when I was 8 months pregnant. It was a sight I'm sure to see my big preggo a** try to get out of that car. But I got use to it and it was PAID for. But my Silver Bullet days are over. My wonderful now driving 16yr old (YIKES) stepson Devin was promised this car since day one. And now that he's 16 (YIKES) it's his. so now I have THIS:

Meet "RED ROCKET" ( I don't know why we name our cars but we do) She's a 2011 Ford Escape Limited Edition. Which meant NOTHING to me. BUT I was VERY excited for:

THIS

I love that the radio has controls on the steering wheel.

It's been real sweet NOT having a car payment but I guess this day was coming sooner than later.