Thank you!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

I got an email this morning from SparkPeople notifying me that I'd been selected to be a SparkPeople motivator!!

What an honor :-) I love going through my friend feed and commenting, encouraging and supporting my Spark friends. I never really thought that doing something I truly enjoy deserved any special recognition, but I have to say I'm happy people noticed and liked it and voted for me!

I've voted for quite a few people that have touched me along the way. Whether it was the inspiration they instilled in others, the great success story of their weight loss or their incredible fitness transformations or their awesome ability to be so active and supportive in the community. There are so many people who are deserving.

to the 's that I have helped in some way and to all the ones that have helped and inspired me! I love you all and

PS Lori, I hope your kitty isn't in your lap! And I hope I write enough blogs to move my fireworks one to another page,

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Sad day

Monday, July 12, 2010

Today a lovely young woman came into our office for her last check up before her planned C-section tomorrow of full term identical twin boys. Much to our surprise and dismay, there were no heart beats on either baby An ultrasound confirmed their deaths.

I can only imagine what she felt, I know I was heartbroken, as was everyone else...and they weren't my beloved babies that I had planned for and was going to meet tomorrow.

I haven't stopped thinking about her...all the way home and since I've been home..

Please keep her and her family and those precious baby boys in your thoughts and prayers as she goes through their delivery and then goes home without them.

Update:
Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers! She delivered 2 beautiful boys, 6lb-7oz and 6lb-9oz late last night. There was nothing to indicate a problem... They got to hold them, take pictures of and with them and got a lovely memory box for each of them with pictures, footprints and a lock of hair. They are planning the funeral now and are coping as best as could be expected.

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Caribou Coffee and Spark friends

Saturday, July 10, 2010

I had a great time today with my NOVA Spark friends at Caribou Coffee. There were a lot fewer of us than normal. Between people being out of town and Tammie getting married today (Congrats Tammie and Chris!!), there was just a small group of 5 of us today.

I loved seeing Mary Lou (AuntyEm) again. When we did the Komen race in June, I didn't get to talk to her much, but I so enjoyed the time we got to talk today. She's lost an incredible 100++ pounds and is just an awesome person! I enjoyed hearing her stories of her time at the Spark convention, her flower child days and the awesome work she does teaching handicapped kids to swim. It was really nice to catch up with the others too. My oldest daughter came with me, but she had been at work since 4am and she spent most of the time sleeping in the car, waking up and wondering if I was ever going to take her home.

I think I need to always look up drinks at Caribou coffee BEFORE I order them, LOL. The last time, I had a turtle blended drink. I had looked that one up and it was a whopping 680 calories! I knew that ahead of time and planned the rest of what I ate around it. Today I knew I wasn't going to spend those kind of calories so I chose what I thought was going to be a decent drink calorie wise. Mary Lou and I both got a Signature mint lime white iced tea. After we ordered, I looked it up on my phone and saw it was 360 calories. Ouch...that's a lot of calories for a drink! Then I realized I could have asked for it made with splenda instead of whatever sweetener they use, so before we left, I sent Emily in to get me one with splenda. Got home and went to their website and realized that it didn't use any added sweetener...it was just sweetened limeade, mint and white tea. Sooo, I guess mine was just extra sweet with added splenda! To top that off, once I was looking at a normal sized screen, I realized I had looked up the calories for a SMALL and we had a LARGE. The large was 490 calories and I had two of them!! It's a really good thing I only go there once a month! I think next time I better have water....

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4th of July Fireworks and video

Monday, July 05, 2010

We had a great time at the fireworks and 4th of July celebration today!

We went around 4 pm, got a great spot right at our car:


We walked around a lot, visited the band they had playing:


They also had wagon rides:


There was so much to do. Lots of games and booths to visit. This year Disney radio was there with prizes and games for the kids. Funnel cakes and all sorts of food (I was good! Only ate what I brought).

This year it was me:


Meghan:


And Brandon and his girlfriend, Lisa:


We packed our chairs and 2 coolers full of yummy and healthy food and drinks. We talked, walked, danced and enjoyed ourselves until time for the fireworks.

The display is the largest in Northern Virginia. I've lived here my whole life and we never go anywhere else since we started going here about 5 years ago, it rivals the show in nearby Washington DC which we used to go to, although the entertainment and activities are much nicer in DC. Almost all of the show is like most places finales...it's literally almost non stop the entire time. The city uses it's own money, but for the last 5 years they have had an anonymous donor give a large sum of money that they use also, making it one of the biggest shows in the entire DC MD VA Metro area.

Tonights started right at 9:15, but after about 5 minutes, it abruptly stopped. All of a sudden, we saw the firetrucks racing towards where they are set off. We saw smoke and flames, but it quickly went out and after about 10 minutes the music and show restarted. I have no idea what happened, but whatever it was, it was over very quickly. I hope no one was hurt. We sit pretty close to where they are set off as you can see in the pics and videos...

Here are a few of the pics:




It was a very enjoyable day :-) I hope everyone else had a wonderful 4th!

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4th of July Parade

Saturday, July 03, 2010

I really enjoyed the 4th of July parade in my community today. Meghan and I went this morning and then Simone found us. She had come with her daughter, Emma and a neighbor. The parade lasted about an hour to an hour and a half. It wasn't as big as I remember each prior year being, but it was still nice. Thankfully we'd had a couple of really nice days. Today was nice, but standing out in the direct sun for over 2 hours, it was hot!!

Here are a couple pics of what we enjoyed seeing:



We came home and grilled up a storm-2 chickens, a big tray of grilled veggies marinated in FF Italian dressing, corn on the cob, sweet potatoes, FF hot dogs, chicken breast burgers and a boneless pork roast. We have more than enough to last for several days.

Tomorrow is the day we go and have a picnic and enjoy all the festivities in Old Towne Manassas during the afternoon and early evening and then the fireworks display. They have an awesome one every year. It will be my son Brandon and his GF and my daughter Emily and her BF and Meghan and I. Aaron and Amber have other plans so there won't be as many of us as there normally is. We pack a picnic lunch (dinner) and I have all sorts of low fat things planned for us. It will be a fun day with family (most of us anyway). More to follow on that tomorrow :-)

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