Gobble Gobble, Wobble Wobble

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I know, I know, the holiday has passed but with all of the business of last week and this past weekend I have not had a chance to blog about it. Plus this gives me a chance to save up all of my exciting info and photos and provide a post that is quite possibly the most photo-ful that I have ever posted.... watch out!

This year was a year full of firsts for us. This was the first year Aidan was really excited about Thanksgiving and knew what the heck was going on. She made adorable crafts at school and told Roger and I how thankful she was for us. She also wanted to make cards for both her Grandma (my mom) and her Great-Grandma (my grandma who is in the hospital : ( ). So despite our time crunch I quickly traced her little hand and let her decorate her "turkey" for the card! Look how CUTE it came out!!! She also is getting really good at writing letters as you dictate them. I think that she did a great job with the long word "Thanksgiving", but maybe that is just the mama bear in me talking with pride.

Another big first was that this was the very first year we did not have Thanksgiving at my grandmother's house. For those of you who know my family, you will understand that EVERY holiday, occasion, etc. is a "Savelli holiday" meaning, spent at Grammy's. Her house is truly a home, with warmth, love, and more memories for our family than I can list. We just spent Aidan's birthday there actually! Well, unfortunately my grandma recently came down with pneumonia and has spent the past week and a half in the hospital. The good news is that the pneumonia is gone. The bad news is that she will spend probably another week or so in the hospital with some physical therapy for other issues. We did go visit her last Thursday and she was quick to point out what she wanted me to get her for Black Friday...that info to come.

We ended up having Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house. She was adorably excited about FINALLY getting to break out all of her serving dishes and holiday decor, and also christening her gorgeous pottery barn table that has served as a storage unit for the last few months (they repainted their house (which is small to begin with!). AND it was also the first year that I contributed with my culinary skills (slim to none on the richter scale!). I half made a 7 layer dip after Roger comandeered it and added a HUGE can of refried beans (sigh.... sometimes people just need to listen to someone who loves to eat!). And thanks to Pinterest, my very favorite idea website, I made a spinach and gruyere pie/calzone/quiche type deal. It was sort of tasty although a lot salty... I think I put too much gruyere which I didn't think was possible to have too much yummy cheese but I didn't realize how salty it was. Anyway... it came out WAY better than Roger thought and it looked beautiful coming out of the oven. CHECK THIS BAD BOY OUT!
It was tasty, but salty. And EXPENSIVE might I add. Roger called it the million dollar appetizer. To which I replied "Excuse me but it is NOT an appetizer! It is a side dish!". Hmph. It was a labor of love..... that's my reply to all of my crazy crafts and menu items that I want to try out : P


The rest of our weekend was spent somewhat decorating the house, and just hanging out with the kids. I hung the wreath on the front door, some in house wall stuff, and dug out this mini silver tree I got last year at 75% off. I would have put it in Aidan's room, but I feel like the princess gets EVERYTHING, so I decided to put it in Benji's little room. He has been a good boy and not messed with it, and they both had a great time putting on the ornaments (non-breakable thank goodness). I asked them to take a picture with it and Aidan insisted that Benji sit on her lap. Ummm ok. But my gosh they are cute! And yes, my son's very favorite blankie is the free one we got from the hospital when he was born..... wish I would have known that and saved my dough on other blankets! lol
Just some more Barr kid goodness to enjoy because my gosh they are just the cutest!!! Wondering what will happen with the alignment on this picture.....looks weird on the "word" part of the blog. Oh well!

Anyway, my diet went out the window the last week. I was living in carbville starting on Monday, when people at work started in with the cinnamon buns, the cakes, the cookies, the dips, the chips... omg. It was craziness! I gained 3lbs last week. As of yesterday I am back up to 142. And I tell ya, it is a WAKE UP CALL! This just goes to show that so much of weight issues is all based on what you eat. When your diet is primarily carbs, up goes the scale. I once went to a crazy weightloss doctor who I could barely understand but one of her mantras was "carbs feed your fat. Protein feeds your muscles". So now when I eat carbs I just think of how I am feeding my fat... and yet here I am still eating them! Eeks! I swore to myself yesterday that I needed to be back on the wagon starting today because I don't want to see the 3 pounds turn into 5, turn into 10, turn into 20, etc. Because that DOES happen!

So.... I woke up today and went to the gym. I swear I was going to entitle this post "optical illusions" because every time I go to the gym after not being there for a few days I feel absolutely gross about myself. Especially after seeing the scale go up. And then I get to the gym, do my cardio, and when I go to do my weights I see the strangest thing. I see MUSCLES. Say what?!!!! Yes, that is right, I see arm muscles. And the reason why I am so perplexed by this is because my arms used to be HUGE. Like ham hock huge... for reference find my post about my trip to Hawaii because I do believe there is a "before" pic of my arms on there. But anyway, I decided to take pictures today because I don't know if the gym has magic lighting or what.... I don't think my arms look like this at home! ***I am NOT flexing in these pictures. Look at my biceps.... look at my SHOULDERS! Wth?! I look like a chicky who is buff, tuff, and has the stuff! Now with that said, in the forward facing pictures you can also see that I still am hanging onto my Puerto Rican hips and booty.... can't fight genetics folks :P



And I know what you are thinking:

LMAO!!! Sorry but I didn't think it was appropriate to ask a stranger to take a picture of me in a locker room, and I also wasn't about to be taking one in the main space where EVERYONE could see what a dork I am. But, I love this Pinterest find.... seriously folks, stop taking pics of yourself in bathrooms already :P I only take them in the bathroom at work for my blog, GEEZ! haha

Anyway, seeing these pictures of myself reminds me that I am scarred from the experience of being so overweight, but also that the reality is that sometimes I just need a reality CHECK. I need to see that I am working hard, and the hard work is paying off. Size 4 pants, buff arms, a new do.... this thanksgiving I was of course thankful for my friends and family, a roof over our heads, Roger and I both having jobs .... but I am most thankful for being given a new chance at life. I will forever be grateful for that.