Tidbits from My Week

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This past week was pretty typical – if not slightly busier than usual. On Sunday and Monday we went to see our horses and I helped Laura film a video for her YouTube channel. I really enjoy spending this time with her each week. She comes up with the ideas and sometimes she shoots her own video but other times I help her get the different angles and shots that she needs.

Laura and Legend Has It

Hannah had a great week on the ice. Friday morning during her lesson with Larry, he told her that she was about ready to start the Axel Jump. She’s been working on her Baby Axel Jump for the last eight weeks and over the last two weeks she’s just made such great progress. So exciting!

I’ve been making a costume for one of Hannah’s new programs for the competition in April. She’s going to dress up like a dragon and skate to the music Something Wild from the new movie, Pete’s Dragon. I made these wings and they look pretty good on the ice when she skates. I think I need to add weights to the bottom so they don’t float so much as sometimes the wings want to flip over her head. I’m still trying to figure it out. I had to come up with the design on my own with no direction from anyone so it’s a learning experience!

We only have eight weeks until Hannah’s competition so not much time since she can’t skate every day. That means her practice has to be really focused when we are there.

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Hannah started taking a Silks class and this week was her second class. It’s really fun to watch and I can’t wait to see her moves in a few weeks. Her teacher told her she has very good extension. Hannah hopes to be able to do Silk on Ice – our rink is looking at putting in silks above the ice and Hannah wants to be picked to do a performance over the ice on the silks.

Hannah did great today in #silks class. Lots of fun to watch!

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Wednesday afternoon we had a Skate for Our Future meeting at the Blackhorse Pub and I usually order the same thing – the Sweet Summer Salad which is soooo good – but I decided to try something new and I ordered the Sweet Potato Fries as well as Macaroni and Cheese. Oh my goodness, those fries were so yummy! I don’t eat out a lot and it’s a real treat when I do. I’m still thinking about those fries. 

I’m working on the website for Skate for Our Future and it’s exciting to see the program for foster children coming together. It kicks off in March and we have so much planned for this year.

Wednesday evening Laura has her gymnastics class while Hannah has her classes at the ice rink and this week they worked on the bars and floor.

Laura on the bars. #gymnastics

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On Thursday, between time on the ice, we went shopping for costume makeup. I couldn’t find some of the colors I needed at Walmart, so we went to Ulta for the first time. I’m also not a makeup artist, but I can follow instructions. The folks at Ulta were very helpful when I showed them pictures of what I wanted to do and I was able to find what I think will work very nicely. 

I’ll have to practice putting on the make up a few times as well as doing her hairstyles and we’ll need to practice getting it off and see how quickly we can do that. Since we don’t know how close her performances will be, I’ll need to know if we can get the makeup off and get her hair styled for the next and how long it takes.

What’s New

On Tuesday I got a new computer! It was a gift and very much a surprise. I’m so excited to finally be using it tonight. The week was so busy I never even had the chance to turn it on. I’ve been downloading software this afternoon and setting it up just the way I want it.

I also ordered a new computer case – my briefcase I’ve been using for the last few years was looking rather tired. I ordered this simple case in the color gray. My daughters have been using the same case in different colors for the last year for their computers and I really like how well made they are and nice looking.

I also bought a new purse at Kohl’s. I had $10.00 in Kohl’s Cash and the strap on my purse had broken so I really needed a new one. This purse makes me feel so organized! I really, really love it. Hannah and Laura went with me and helped me pick it out. It’s nice being able to take my teenage girls shopping – they help me make good choices when it comes to fashion.

I finally went and bought new jeans. I’m not joking when I say the jeans I’ve been wearing the last few months were literally falling off of me. I’ve been working hard to lose weight over the last year and while I don’t know how much weight I’ve lost since I don’t have scale at home, what I do know is that in October I went from a size 10 to a size 8 and this week I bought three pairs of size 6 jeans. It felt so good to be able to button those jeans up! I practically live in jeans and I bought my favorite brand – Sonoma Slim Boot Cut Jeans in three different colors at Kohl’s. This made me so happy!

I haven’t really done what I consider dieting. I can go into more detail if any of you are interested. Just let me know in the comments below.

A Sabbath Hike

We love hiking on Sabbath. Or any day, but we often take hikes in the afternoon after church. This week we took our dogs, Caroline and Tucker to Kingdom Come State Park for a hike. I think we hiked close to two miles total, which isn’t a lot, but it was nice and we were on the trail for an hour and a half. The weather was chilly – about 45 degrees, but the sun was out so it was really pleasant weather.

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I really enjoy taking photos of the girls and Kingdom Come is a perfect setting for great photos. And today, the late afternoon sun offered the perfect lighting.

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I always bring lots of water and some snacks when we hike. I love drinking water and drink a lot of it so I try to bring extra water when I’m on the trail. Today we ate these Raspberry Double Chocolate Brownie Bars and they were pretty good. Now these aren’t really brownies – they are similar to a healthy fig bar, except chocolate and raspberry. The girls liked them too.

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The dogs really enjoyed the hike too. We’ve been so busy the last few weeks that we haven’t done much with them and they were very happy to ride in the back of the truck and get on the trail!

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So what was your week like? Any big plans for the coming week?

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2 Comments

  1. Lots of lovely news :) Please share what you are doing to achieve your weight loss healthfully! My husband and I have recently started a "paleo" plan. I want to lose weight but my choice of this plan is for his sake. I would prefer a vegetarian plan but he would refuse it and I can really only spend so much time in the kitchen. Eliminating grains is HARD! On the upside I'm finding my joints really seems to like this way of eating!
  2. I too am interested in what you've done to achieve weight loss. Congrats on your success. Many blessings for the new week!

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