Introducing Ross!

Although he wasn't due until the end of March, this little guy just couldn't wait and little Ross came a couple of weeks early. He weighed the exact same as his older sister, and so far he seems to have the same good natured personality!

I got the chance to take a few pictures of him last weekend. Here's one of my favorites!

Easter!

Here are a few pix from Easter Sunday at my cousin Devin and his wife Christy's house. Taking on my extended family is a large task, but Christy pulled it off very well...so well, that we kept telling her she should have ALL of the Burget family dinners. I'm not sure she looked at that as a compliment or as a threat!

I have a bunch of pictures to post from the last two weeks, but I thought I would start with these since they were the most recent! Hope everyone had a happy Easter!

Emma and Ella demonstrate the new aprons and Easter bags that Christy and her mom gave them. It was so thoughtful!


Aunt Gail...caught in action...just not sure which action. I'm pretty sure it was while talking about renting a Winnebago to drive to MN for our July 4th trip!


Devin's cousin on the other side. Yes, Christy and Devin hosted three different sides of their family at once: my extended family, his dad's extended family and her family.


Ella slipped in under Uncle Mike before he sat down.

A "Sweet" Joke

This little gem is courtesy of my friend Allison. I'm not sure how long it's been since I've laughed that hard at an email.

Thanks, Allison! This is priceless!

All, please note the 'pastie' and fake money details.

Day 5 Report...and a big treat!

Day 5 (Friday) went fine. Not to sound like a broken record, but breakfast was two eggs, soup and carrots at ten, turkey sandwich and fruit around two, ran two miles over lunch.

The big break in the schedule was for supper. Now, I know I was raised on a farm and all, but after living in larger towns for the majority of twelve years, moving to Shelby County has been a bit of an adjustment for me. Moving anywhere where there wasn't a Panera nearby was life-altering...and don't get me started on how much I miss the restaurant Granite City. So, when Nick and I got married, and I moved down here, I had to resign myself to the fact that the Cracker Barrel was going to be it (OK, I'm being a little sarcastic here, but it's my story!).

Then, a year ago, a couple from California opened a restaurant in Effingham called the Firefly Grill. With it's loft-like feel on a lake (aka water retension basin), it felt so super-swank! I went there with Nick's mom and we loved it, but when we went for Nick's birthday, Nick's food was horrible, as was our service, and he didn't want to go back. I was so upset. Six months later, I convinced him to try their Sunday brunch after church. They redeemed themselves a little. Last week we ended up there again with Nick's brother and sister-in-law, and we both had this pork tenderloin with this great sauce on it...it was fabulous. Now we're addicts! We went again last night...pork tenderloin again, spaghetti squash, their yummy bread. It was all so good!



So, didn't really stick to the diet last night, but I don't care! It was SO worth it!

Day 4 Report

I hate breakfast. I love breakfast food...but really only if it's after 9 am. Not at 6:30 in the morning. One of the things I do enjoy for breakfast is making a smoothie in the blender and then drinking it on the way to work. It works well for me.

So, yesterday I told Nick I didn't want any eggs. I was going to make a smoothie. I use a banana, yogurt, blueberries, ice, wheat germ, honey, and pineapple juice. Everything took a turn for the worse when I went to pour the pineapple juice in and realized it had gone bad. Nick offered to make me eggs really quickly, but I was running late. So, I ended up getting a yogurt parfait at McDonalds on my way to work. A nice treat, but probably not the best for you.

Otherwise, the morning snack and lunch were the same: carrots, soup, turkey sandwich, no fruit today though.

Supper: used non-breaded chicken tenders, spinach, a bit of cheese, salsa, and a tortilla to made a low-fat version of a soft taco. It hit the spot.

Exercise: Ran two miles over lunch...yes, at an incline...but not as much as what the treadmill was set at yesterday. I did, however, speed up the mph...I figured faster at less incline was a good compromise!!

Days 2 & 3 report

Mom gave me a little shout-out for not posting yesterday. She thought I'd given up already, but I haven't! I just didn't have time in the morning.

Both days went pretty much the same...eggs for breakfast, soup and carrots at 10 am (this time I did chicken noodle...much better then the pumpkin soup), turkey sandwich and fruit at 2, and salad for supper. I'll admit that I had a littlel run-in with a ham salad sandwich on Tuesday. I worked from home because of the ice and snow, and for some reason the little thing I'd bought at the deli this weekend, which I only do twice a year probably, was screaming at me from the fridge. I finally gave in, but oh well...you can't give everything up.

On the exercise front, I did aerobics again Tuesday night, and on Wednesday I did a really stupid thing...but one that will pay off in the long run. I went to the gym over lunch to run. I do this often, because I don't live in town; so, I have nowhere to go except the library or the gym. I got on the treadmill, and man!...it was a more difficult run then usual. But that's what happens sometimes. It seems harder then other days. Now, I don't make it a habit to look at the display much...I usually throw a towel over it so that I can't constantly glance at the display and monitor how far I've gone. With 3 minutes left in my run, I finally looked down and realized that I was running at an incline! No wonder it was so darn hard! The girls at work were all like "Isn't it great to know you can do that though." No, it's not! Because now, every time I run, if I'm not doing it at incline, I'm going to feel like a slacker! I would have preferred never knowing I could do this!

Anyways, have a good day! There'll be more tomorrow!

Day 1 Report

So, Day 1 of the crackdown went well.

Breakfast - 2 eggs, scrambled...courtesy of my wonderful husband who asks me every single morning, "What do you want for breakfast this morning?"

10 am snack - 1 cup carrots and 1 cup pumpkin soup (I know...sounds gross...it was. I was trying to re-create this pumpkin soup I'd had once. It was one of the couple of my times while working for Deere that I got to eat in the executive dining room. Theirs was so much more like a pumpkin custard or pudding...sweet, yummy...more like a dessert vs. a soup. Mine was the low-fat, healthy version...not as good.)

2:00 lunch - turkey sandwich and 1 cup peaches

Supper - spinach salad with blue cheese, tomato, oil and vinegar.

Exercise - 1/2 hour aerobics.

No one likes a cold butt...or a fat one.

So, this weekend was the first one that felt something like spring. Nick's been outside cleaning the garage while I've been doing a bit of cleaning inside today. It's been nice. However, I had a thought a day or so ago that I have two weeks before I get on a plane and head to Vegas for a few days. Then I had the thought, "What clothes should I pack?"...and then panic set in. I knew I needed to go through my summer clothes that are packed away. Yikes! Which ones would fit well, because who doesn't put on a few pounds over the winter months?

So, I made the decision that for the next two weeks I was going to buckle down, eat healthy, and exercise daily. Now, I have made this promise to myself many times before; so, this time I decided to put it out there for everyone to see. Not only am I going to eat well and get back on the treadmill, but I'm also going to report daily, because I know, if anything, my sisters will at least keep me accountable. They can be harrassing like that. So, here it goes. In preparation for the next two weeks, I cut up masses of carrots today and made a low-fat soup to take in my lunch. I'm also later today going to have Nick measure my arms and legs so that I can really see if I've made in progress in the two weeks.

I will post tomorrow and let you know how Day #1 goes.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures of our dogs...who evidently don't like sitting in the cold snow; so, they drag their dogbeds outside the garage every time it snows and sit on them in the middle of our yard. Weird (or smart?) pups.