Sweet Summer

I love summer. I love the warm weather, the freedom, the long days, the thunderstorms, listening to the birds while sitting out on the screen porch, reading a good book, walking with my sister most mornings, bike rides, lazy days at the cabin, walking with dogs out on our trails, all the beautiful wildflowers blooming in the fields... The list goes on and on.

I'm enjoying this summer a lot. Our trip out west in June was amazing. July has been great too: celebrating Independence Day at the cabin with family. We've had more free time this past month and it's been heavenly. The county fair is over and the children all did well. In fact, we got all blue ribbons except on two art projects that my son forgot to sign and date. If he'd have signed and dated them he would have gotten blues on them both, but, alas, he did not. They were framed and under glass (by yours truly, thank you very much) or I would have whipped out a pen right there, although there's something to be said for the judge teaching him the importance of following directions.

July is wrapping up and then it's August and I start to feel sorrowful for the pending ending of all the lovely things I've mentioned above. I want to wring every little bit of joy that I can out of the next four and a half weeks. Don't leave me yet Summer! I'm not ready to let go. I want to revel in your hot, glorious, sun-kissed days!

Bye Bye Sugar...

Mike and I hiking in the Grand Canyon last month.

I haven't been blogging much lately... There's always something going on in the summer it seems. This week is fair week. The children have to get their projects ready to bring to the county fair on Thursday. That's right, it's the day after tomorrow!

I've been walking almost every morning this summer, on a 4.7 mile loop, usually with my sister. You'd think that alone would be enough to keep the extra pounds at bay, but alas, no such luck! I hopped on the scale last week and was dismayed to see that I'd gained more weight and was at the point where I had never weighed more than this except when I was pregnant!

I knew it was time to take action and so when I was in a bookstore and saw "The Bellyfat Cure" by Jorge Cruise I was intrigued. (FWIW, that's where my extra pounds seem to have deposited themselves.) I had a 20% off coupon and even though I need another diet book like I need a hole in the head, I bought it.

Some of what he says I can't agree with but the gist of his plan is this: Stop eating so much sugar and carbs. Limit yourself to 15 grams of sugar a day and 6 carb servings a day. Of course he has a bunch of success stories in his book to motivate his readers and I have to confess that I love success stories! Who doesn't want to read about someone else doing what they want to do?

So, I decided to start right away and here's the amazing part. It works! I don't have a lot of weight to lose, maybe 15-20 pounds and in less than one week I have lost 4.5 pounds and my waist has shrunk by 2". If it hadn't happened to me I wouldn't believe it myself. I'm still eating, just not quite as much and no added sugar. I'm not even eating that much fruit right now but I hope to add more of it in the near future. In the meantime it's vegetables, eggs, low fat meats and seafood with limited fruits and VERY limited breads and sweets.

I'll let you know how things progress as time goes on but I'll admit that I'm pretty excited. Summer is a great time to do something like this: I have more time to exercise and there are so many delicious vegetables and fruits to replace the junk I was eating.

Happy trails!

Summertime=Too Busy to Blog!

Hanging out in a cozy corner in the cabin.

Family photo on the deck.

Thanks Famous Dave's for the fabulous fireworks!

Leah and Sam waiting for the fireworks to begin.

You'd think that when school is out I'd have more time to blog but I've found the opposite is true.

I'm busier than ever. What have we been up to? Well...

We traveled out west for two weeks and took in six gorgeous National Parks: Mesa Verde, Grand Canyon, Bryce, Capital Reef, Arches and Rocky Mountain. While all were beautiful, the Grand Canyon literally took my breath away. Photos simply cannot do it justice! If you haven't made the trek out there, I'd encourage you to put it on your list of places to see. It was our first trip out to the southwest and we had a great time.

Once we returned we were home for a few days and then headed up north to the cabin to celebrate Independence Day. We had eight other family members join us (for a total of 13) so our cabin was full. It was great fun. We enjoyed the fireworks show at Famous Dave's, a local rib joint (where Famous Dave's got their start!)

Now we're back home. Well, at least some of us are. My two girls are with my brother and his family attending a supercool Christian concert festival from Wednesday through Sunday called Lifest. I just looked at the lineup and I'm jealous! There are so many good bands and speakers. I know they'll have a ball.

Why am I missing out on all the fun you ask? Well, my youngest wants to have a food booth at a roping at my mom's farm next door. So, all day Saturday and half the day on Sunday we get to grill burgers and hotdogs and sell them to the (hopefully) hungry cowboys. It's his way of earning a Wii system. Meanwhile, I'm just a devoted mom who's willing to sweat and work and help her son become a successful entrepreneur!

I hope you're all having a great summer so far. I know we are - I only wish it would slow down a little!