~PINK ROSE BEAUTY and a ITTY BITTY MORE on WEIGHT~

 

~DAINTY and EVER SWEET~

Every year at Easter my beautiful Mother blesses me with something special.  Of all the things she has ever gifted me with the things she has created with her own two hands remain my favorite.  Yesterday I received one of these precious Cross Bookmarks in the mail from her.  Not only is my Momma crazy-talented...she has NEVER FAILED EVEN ONCE to remember me for a holiday OR to send me a Thank-You note for something I've done for her (and I don't mean an email note...I mean a real HAND-WRITTEN one!).

~TINY PINK ROSE~

Anyway~for as long as I can remember my Mom has worked her magic with a crochet needle.  She has made more gorgeous baby sweaters and baby bib and bottle-cover combos than I can tell you and except for a handful of times when I BEGGED her to make a few for me to sell on eBay (years ago!), she's always given them away for free.

 ~PRECIOUS BABY BIB~

(I Know...It's Fabulous!)

She's made them for my friends and family...her grandchildren and even her great grandchildren!  Hope you don't mind me bragging on her a bit...  If you've forgotten what she looks like here's a little picture of her when she was about 30 years old...

~HOW SHE LOOKS IN MY HEART~

Now...if you read my little bloggie very much you know I've been on Weight Watchers since late December.  The time came to truly GET SERIOUS about my health and begin to take care of my one and only heart!  I've decided that working to reduce one's size (for whatever the reason...heath, appearance, etc.) is almost always a GOOD THING!  Right?

 ~TIME TO GET SERIOUS~

Well...it's also just plain hard!  Seems to me it takes so little effort to pack on the pounds (who doesn't love great food???) and sooo much work to take them back off again!

When I visited my primary Doctor last December (you can read more about it here) I almost fainted when I read what was on the scale and my big "AHHH HAHHH" moment was when I realized I weighed only ten pounds less than I did when I was 9 months pregnant with both my children...

And so...since the 28th of December I've been on Weight Watchers and BY GOLLY was I determined to do it right this time!  As of today I've lost 32.5 pounds and that means I'm now 10.5 pounds away from my goal weight of 132.  My guy has now lost 22 big ones since mid January (and much more that that if you go a few years back!).

 ~WEIGHTING FOR CHANGE~

The two of us are feeling great and now that our eating habits have changed for the BETTAH we can't help but wonder how it was we were able to consume sooo much unhealthy food...and for sooo long!  Now...if your quick with the math you'll easily figure out that I started out weighing over 170 pounds.  I'm only 5'4" and do I even need to tell you that was WAAAAYYYYY too much!?

Don't mean to keep harping on this topic...it really isn't what my bloggie is all about.  Still...just can't help but think that so many of you out there are dealing with the same issues as my Mr. AGPMan and I (I have your emails as evidence!).  If we can do this then sooo can you!  Weight Watchers is a fabulous life-changing-program and their new Points Plus System is amazing!

"Has it been hard to lose the weight?" you ask?  Yep!  It has been!!  Change is almost always hard.  But...it IS possible!

YOU CAN DO IT!

YOU CAN!

I promise to show pics of the two of us once we hit our goal weight!  Probably will be in June or July or close to it!

Blessings to you for an awesome Thursday!

Thinking of you all with love~

~OREO SIN~

 OK Peeps!  Here's the skinny...

 

On the rare occasion my Mr. AGPMan is out of town I never share it publicly for obvious reasons.  So...all this week while I've been snowed in here in my La Chaumière de Briarwood I've been alone.  My guy left the morning the winter storm hit and since Monday I haven't even attempted to leave our home!  I hunkered down all by my lonesome, but truthfully have nearly gone totally stir-crazy bonkers INSANE while waiting for my hubby to return!  This Cali native doesn't do so well when she can't get out and about...  Friday night and the return of my "He Can Do Anything Man" couldn't get here fast enough for me!

  Midday yesterday I found out that my Baber's plane was probably not going to make it home on schedule.  He's been in Washington, DC, on business and it was his flight to Dallas that was in question.  :(  Bummer!  BUMMER I SAY!

 Anyway...if you've been a reader of my blog for any time at all you know I started Weight Watchers a couple days after Christmas.  I've been doing awesome (AWESOME I SAY) and LOVE LOVE LOVE their new Points Plus Program (and I'm down almost 20lbs).  When my hubby told me about all the canceled flights I nearly died!  So-o-o-o-o-o-o-o...in a moment of weakness

I Ates-Meez-A-Chocolate-Dipped-Oreo-Cookie 

and I'll have you know that single little confection just cost me five big ones (Weight Watchers Points)!

   Now...that may not mean very much to you but when you're only allowed to consume twenty-nine points per day (not including Flex Points) blowing five of them on ONE MEASLY NON-FILLING COOKIE is crazy-stupid!

 Somebody slap me, pleeze!!!!  Good thing I don't have a weakness for truly worldly-type pleasures.  My sincere disappointment over not seeing my hubbs last night could have led to my total demise!

 

So I ask you...do you think an extra 15 minutes on my exercise bike was enough to absolve me of my Oreo Sin?

  

Love to you from the ever shrinking (and healthy-bound!)

~JUST THE FACTS Ma'am! Just the Facts!~

Remember the old TV Show DRAGNET?  When I was little we use to watch it at my Gramma's house all the time and I can still hear Sargent Joe Friday speaking in his dry and non-emotional way, "Just the facts, Ma'am!  Just the facts!"  So...instead of boring you with lots of non-essential statistics I thought I 'd go straight to the chase...

Here's the Skinny...

I was at my local Doc's place just before Christmas and then THREE TIMES right after New Year's with the "wish I was dead" FLU.  As usual I had to get on the DREADED SCALE for a quick "weigh-in" and I'm not afraid to tell you this caused me much ANGST!.  Still, as sick as I felt I wasn't up to arguing with my Doctor's Head Nurse (who I lovingly call BROOMHILDA!) over STEPPING ON or NOT STEPPING ON the scale.  Beings it was just AFTER Christmas and I had consumed things like CHOCOLATE ALMOND BRITTLE, SUGARED ALMONDS (who provided those recipes anyway?????), all that Figgy Pudding and of course my family's infamous FRUUUUUUUUUIT...KKKKKKKAKE I was just a tad bit nervous about what I might find out.  Even so, inside I quietly thought

"HOW BAD CAN IT BE?

HOW BAD CAN IT BE????"

Now...have you evahhhhh stepped up on a scale and tried leaning a little to the LEFT in hopes the weight-slider might follow your lead and stop climbing to the right?

Well...it didn't work.

Long story short is this...I nearly FAINTED right then and there over the number I saw starring back before me.  Now...this totally bums-me-out because last year I lost 18 pounds and kept it off until my Mr. AGPMan and I went gallivanting around the deep south late last Summer and Fall and consumed too much food at places like O'Charley's and the like... Not ONLY did I gain every single pound back (which wasn't ALL I needed to lose in the first place), but I found a few more pound-friends along the way...  The hubbs did, too!

BAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Sooo....back to "Just the facts, ma'am!  Just the facts!"

I decided to  rejoin Weight Watcher's because even though I certainly do like my body not so FAT FLUFFY the bottom line for me is this...

 

Heart Disease is the number one cause of death for women and that takes into consideration ALL forms of cancer (including breast cancer).  I am absolutely serious about shedding the 30 pounds I've packed on since having my second child back in 1984.  I've decided I love my own Heart enough to take really good care of her for the rest of my life.

Pinky-Heart Swear.

"Just the facts, Ma'am!  Just the facts!"

Love to you...

~CHOOSING TO DIE-IT - So I Can LIVE-IT~

Dear Peeps...

Today marks the beginning of Week Three in my Weight Watchers "DIE-IT (Diet)! I've decided I DO NOT LIKE that "D" word (no matter how it's spelled!). The older I get the harder it is to regain control of just WHAT IT IS I put into my mouth! I was once just a tiny little kid...I'm wondering what happened!?

Now...let it be said~I don't have a ton of weight to lose. That may be at least one of the reasons why it's been soooo easy to excuse away shedding the extra poundage. Maybe if I was a heavier gal I'd have more incentive to get in shape. Maybe not. I just know I don't like how I FEEL any longer and that has got to be enough to bring change into my life! Additionally, I don't EVER want my children to see my chest cracked open (sorry for the mental picture) because I need bypass surgery like my mother did a few years ago~ I will do anything to spare them such a agony...

SCARY!

Still...weight loss success is coming. Slowly. But, it is coming! Today I'm down a full ten pounds and it feels good to fit back into my 'favorite blue jeans'. Let it be said I have an iron will. I do. If I decide to do something I DO IT! Period. Even so...I can tell I'm older than I was the last time I decided to drop some weight. That was at least a decade ago and I don't remember being nearly this unfocused or even this whiny. Despite my stick-to-it-tive-ness attitude :), I've decided overall that losing excess weight is HARD WORK! I feel for those of you who struggle with this issue every day...

My poor Mr. AGPMan! If not for the simple fact he can also stand to lose a few pounds himself he'd be running for the hills.

No "Mimi's Chicken, Cranberry, Walnut, Blue Cheese Salad" for me for a while (or him)! I nearly fainted when I realized it contains almost ALL my daily allowed points in that one tiny dish! :(

Blessings to you as you make good choices for your life...Rebecca

~MONDAY MONDAY...So Good To Me~

MONDAY MONDAY

~So Good To Me~

My busy weekend is over and I've successfully laid out the plans for the next seven days. I have many things I want to share with you... lots of product orders to fill as well as exciting offerings for eBay to upload. Gosh...seems like I never stop!

That's right. I don't! But, I LOVE IT!

Did I ever tell you that I LOVE MY LIFE??? God is good! All the time!

First some big news! I opened a 100 Square Foot Booth in a local Antique Market here in Oklahoma City? I did. It's been a LABOR OF LOVE (and longtime coming). It's been over twelve years since I've had a 'physical space' in which to sell my wares. I'm about worn out from all the moving and hauling... Time will tell how much I continue to LOVE IT! More news and some pictures about this soon.

How about this one...

~DREAMS DO COME TRUE~
They Can Happen To You

Did I tell you that I sent out my very first WHOLESALE ORDERS on my Cookie Cutter Keepsake Cards? I did! I am proud to tell my Southern California Peeps they can now find them in both Orange, California at THE TEA LEAF COTTAGE and will soon be carried in a sweet Shoppe in Fullerton called THE COTTAGE ROSE. Thank you to both Joan and Patsy for showcasing my work (and for Sweet Tea...my SALESPERSON of the Year). :)

I might also add...I will be carrying the Cookie Cards on Etsy later this week and eventually on my Website! If you'd like to order them just EMAIL ME! Special pricing on Wholesale Orders, too! These sweet little pretties are great for FAVORS and Teacher Gifts, etc.!

Next...

~LOSING THOSE EXTRA POUNDS~
Getting Rid of the Junk in my Trunk

After DRAGGING my feet (more like my BUMM!) for far too long I've decided to join Weight Watchers. The time has come to finally rid my body of the extra 15 pounds I've gained over the past decade. I've opted to do the ON-LINE PROGRAM because the whole "Meeting Thingy" is just NOT FOR ME!! I'm lovin' it so far!!!! WHOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO! So far I'm down 7.5 pounds. Maybe I'll up my goal to 20lbs. :) :) :)

Lastly...

~I'LL BE DRAWING FOR EXTRA PRETTIES~
(See...you've gotta read!)

Don't forget about the DRAWING for the Sachet Pillow! The winner will be announced later this week! Make your comment, follow along, post the link, upload my button, etc. for a chance to win something for FREE!

Want to know something else??? I'll be drawing three extra names from MY FOLLOWERS LIST ONLY! But shhh....it's a secret! :)

Blessings to you as you begin a fresh, new week! It very well may be the best one of your entire life...Rebecca