Photo a Day - on the wall

February 11, 2015
on the wall

I love this painting in our den. It reminds me of Hookville where we used to live that had 2 ponds.

Some other fun things I found ON THE WALL today were at our babies' vet visit.

These puppies are so cute going after that tennis ball in the water.

I loved this they have painted on the wall.  They also had a verse from Proverbs in the waiting area painted on that wall. What a great idea.

Here's a little summary of our vet visit with the babies:

Tom, Bonnie & I took Mary Ann & Ginger for their yearly check-up and shots. We went to a new place called Grace Animal Hospital and Pet Lodge. Paige was our lab tech (not sure of her official title) and Dr. Davis was the doctor that helped us. This place is amazing. It's roomy, pretty, and I loved the art on the walls and the quotes about animals painted on the walls. 

Ginger is perfect - as always. She weighed 69 lbs.

Mary Ann had some issues - as always. She weighed 60 lbs.

1. We learned that her heart murmur is NOT gone as we were previously told by the former vet. 
2. Dr. Davis pulled her gums up and showed us her adorable under-bite. (We didn't know she had that.) 
3. She had a nail that was messed up and hurting her toe that got trimmed. 
4. She has an infected left eye. Got eye drops for that.
5. And Dr. Davis informed us of a more serious problem with Mary Ann. She has arthritis in her back legs / hip / knee. I don't remember exactly where it is, but she has some swelling in both back legs. 

Mary Ann will need surgery at some point to slow down the progression and make her feel better. We wonder how long she's had it because she doesn't jump. She waits for us to pick her up and put her on the bed, in the car, etc. The doctor said the arthritis is probably why she doesn't want to jump. All this time we just racked it up to another one of her character special needs. Poor baby. Mary Ann will be on limited Sky Patrol until she has the surgery. It's not urgent at this point. 

I tell you, Mary Ann has all the issues, but she's such a loving baby. Ginger is too. We got us some really good babies. I love them to pieces. 

The doctor said low impact exercise was best for Mary Ann - like swimming. Maybe we should move to the lake?

:) Janis

Digi Scrapbook Page

Hi, everyone!

Remember back during the Holidays when Becky Higgins had the Project Life App on sale for 99 cents? I haven't used it much this year yet, but yesterday I played around in the app building a page. There are a few new digi card kids available for the app this week, so I did a little shopping too. The app now allows you to order prints! Love that. The Project Life Blog also posted some fun free Valentine printables. Check that out here.

Here is a page I made with just Bonnie. She's so cute.

My Girl Heart, Oval, and Map Heart all from the Love Themed Cards.

Center card from the Kraft Edition.

Notable from Project 52 Edition.

Top Row Photos:

• One of Bonnie's favorite things to do is play her brother on XBox while talking with him through the headphones.
• Bonnie has great company while playing with her iPad. Mary Ann is snuggled in close for a nap.

Middle Row:

• Bonnie watercolored a painting for her sister.
• She also likes to randomly say during the day, "picture," when she wants her picture taken and sent to her brother and sisters through text or snapchat.

Bottom Row:

• We have a town square with a Pavillion, stage and podium. Different groups meet here and enjoy the facility. We love walking around town and stopping there for Bonnie to give her "Bonnie for Mayor" speech. Of course, it's always empty when we do that, but Bonnie doesn't care. She loves being up on stage.
• This time Ginger is enjoying Bonnie's blanket with a nap while Bonnie plays with her iPad on a day she wanted to make a bed in the den for no other reason than she just wanted to.

The Project Life App has a $5 flat rate shipping (US) for ordering prints, so I'll probably just wait and order several at one time to make it worth the shipping cost. I'm hoping to do more "Between the Weeks" pages in my scrapbook. Layouts like:

1. A Blast From the Past
2. Road Trips
3. Vacations
4. Events
5. Celebrations
6. Adventure Days

Thanks for stopping by today.

:) Janis

Weight Watchers Wednesday

Welcome back to Weight Watchers Wednesday here at Pause Dream Enjoy!

Are you into Juicing? I have a yummy juicing recipe from Reboot with Joe
and have confirmed the correct points plus count with Weight Watchers.
4 Apples
4 Carrots
2 Lemons
Juice it!
You will get about 16-20 oz and this can be divided up into 2 servings.
Each serving is 4 points.

Now, you have to ask yourself, do I want to DRINK 4 points or would I rather EAT 4 points. That's up to you. I don't mind drinking these 4 points because I know I'm getting a healthy, no chemical, fresh juice with all the vitamins and nutrients these foods happily offer to me. Besides, it smells and tastes delicious.

Ready to hear how my Monday weigh in day looked?
I lost... -0.6 lbs.
I've been getting on the scale every morning, so it was no surprise.
I told my husband that the shock of not drinking cokes and grazing on chocolate all day every day gave me a whopping shock that first weigh in day, but now the scale isn't moving! He said not to worry about it, that my body needed time to adjust.
I'm not worried about it. On the one hand I'm a little disappointed there wasn't a bigger change. I'm doing everything I'm suppose to do, so I expected to see a more of a loss, but on the other hand I am thrilled it's a loss and not the same or more. A good week. Not bad. I'll take it.

How's it going with you? You can leave me a comment and tell me about your Weight Watchers week if you want. I'm cheering for you!
:) Janis

Photo a Day - Tuesday

February 10, 2015
this inspires me

Our daughter used a few Signs along with trying to talk and picture prompts to help her communicate when she was little. I only know a few signs, but these books inspire me to know them all. Sign Language is an ART. I love watching people sign and am amazed at that language. We still use some of the same signs today that we learned when Bonnie was little.

:) Janis

Photo a Day - Monday

February 9, 2015
energy

:) Janis

PDE - Sweet Treats

A new challenge started today at

PDE LINKY PARTY,
and the theme is:

Here is my project:

I decided to make this SWEET TREAT container & use a SWEET TREAT on my project.
I love this SWEET TREAT Purse!
You can fill it with your favorite sweets for your sweetie.

Treat Bag  ID# 74075
Print 'n Cut Cow ID# 72844
Fiskars Grass Border Punch
Flower & Ladybug sticker - stash
Little Heart stickers - Mrs. Grossmans
Tiny Silver Brads - Stampin' Up
Ric Rac Ribbon - stash

Hope you'll link up your project at

PDE LINKY PARTY,

:) Janis

Photo a Day - Sunday

February 8, 2015
Photo a Day
in my bag

:) Janis

Photo a Day - Saturday

February 7, 2015
Photo a Day
stripes

We had a fabulous visit to Dreher Island at Lake Murray Saturday with a yummy picnic.
I found something for my "stripe" photo prompt!

:) Janis

Photo a Day - Friday

February 6, 2015
Photo a Day
makes me smile

 

These angels my mama gave me make me smile.
They live here in our China Cabinet.
My snow angel is there in the background too.
:) Janis

My Favorite Scrapbooking Tool

Hi all you Project Life Scrapbookers!
DT Janis here to talk to you about one of my favorite tools while scrapbooking.
But first,
Do you scrapbook with Project Life or a similar pocket style scrapbooking?
We'd love if you would link up your pages, filler card creations, organizational ideas, video tutorials or anything pocket scrapbooking related in the
BIMINI MOOSE CHALLENGE page tab.

You'll be getting a little sneak peek of my Week 6 layouts in progress in this post.
Let's make stickers!

TOOLS:
One of my favorite tools when I'm scrapbooking is my Xyron sticker maker! 
I have the Xyron 1 1/2" sticker maker and the
Xyron 3" sticker maker for those larger darlings.

I really enjoy using the Print 'n Cut feature on my Cameo,
then running the pieces through my Xyron. I leave them on the strip and store them that way until I'm ready to use them.

I've even run some chipboard diecuts through the Xyron before and it worked like a charm.

After running the diecuts through the Xyron, I go around the edges of the cut with my bone folder just to make sure when I peel the top away, I have a nice, clean image ready to use without any stickiness hanging out around the cut.

Here are some of the die cuts I already have in my layout that are adhered with the Xyron Sticker Maker:

 

If you don't have this tool and think you may enjoy it, you should check out Xyron and all the different sizes and tools they have for sticker making. Great product, and so easy to use and get those Project Life pages done quickly.

Thanks for stopping by today! Enjoy the rest of your day!

:) DT Janis

Don't forget to link up over at the BIMINI MOOSE CHALLENGE page tab.

Photo a Day - Wednesday

February 4, 2015
Photo a Day
reward

My sweet Ginger.
She did pretty good waiting. This was about the 4th shot.
The others were mid-action of her jumping toward the treat.
Mary Ann was walking around, tail wagging, not sitting still.
:) Janis

Photo a Day - Tuesday

February 3, 2015
Photo A Day
water

I'll wash - you dry.
:) Janis

Photo a Day - Monday

February 2, 2015
Photo a Day
mail

Look! I got a package! Woo-Hoo!

:) Janis

Weight Watchers Wednesday

Well, I made it through Week 1 of Weight Watchers.

//throw confettii//

Woo-Hoo!

Great documentary on Netflix.
This is Part 1. There is also a Part 2.

You know, it was not bad at all. I mean, it was almost too easy. Did I do it right? A big help is that Tom, my husband, is also doing a 15-Day Reboot with Joe. We are both trying to be healthy and eat foods that give us nutrition. Surprisingly a lot of food out there is not that nutritious. It fills you up. But it doesn't feed you the nutrition our bodies need. Anyway, back to WW...

What I love about Weight Watchers:

*You can eat anything you want - just track it
*You can eat anything you want - just measure your portions
*You can eat anything you want - just stay within your daily and weekly points

Did I mention, you can eat anything you want?  

Once you start figuring the points for foods in the recommended serving size, you learn two things:

1. What a recommended serving size is (not the Super-Size-It portion)
2. The Value of the points for that food versus eating something else that will cost you less points (and probably be healthier for you)

There's a lot more to Weight Watchers than just portions and points, but when you start on the program and until you get that all figured out and used to eating this way, that's probably what you'll spend a lot of your time learning.

Just a Googled pic of fruits & veggies.
I'm not saying these are all Zero Points.

Major Plus - most FRUITS and VEGETABLES are ZERO Points!

If you choose to join Weight Watchers Online Community instead of going to weekly meetings for whatever reason (you may live too far away to attend meetings like me, or maybe you just can't fit one more meeting into your schedule) there is a wealth of information on the site. I mean, oh my gosh. So many tips, recipes, how-to's.... then there is the community section - join a group, take a challenge, read some of the member's blogs.... and if for some reason you just can't find the information you are looking for - they have 24/7 online chat. That's way cool. 

That's just a snippet of what they offer their online members. There is also a FREE app so you can track what you are eating or drinking wherever you are. I love the BARCODE SCANNER on the app! Scan it and see the points. Voila. Done. I used that at the grocery store last weekend looking for healthy snacks for me and Bonnie. If I liked the points, it went into the shopping cart. If I didn't think the points were worth the pleasure of digesting that food, it stayed at the grocery store.

Another very cool thing about the app - it can be linked to your VIVOFIT or other step counter device. How fabulous is that?! Way cool. So now if I reach my basic daily activity and still rack up on activity or steps - it converts that into additional points I can eat that week if I want. Yep, liking that feature.

Oh! You probably want to know what my weigh in day looked like. Monday is my official weigh-in day. So on Monday I was 195.8.  That's -7.6 pounds lost!!!  

//throws more confetti//  

That is not normal and probably is too fast, but hey, I'm extremely happy with that! I'm sure it will slow down. 

Take a moment and think about where you are. Would you rather be somewhere else? Does Weight Watchers sound like it could help you get there?  I have an INVITE A FRIEND link that is connected to my online membership. If you decided you want to give Weight Watchers a try, please use THIS LINK. By doing so, you can lose your first 10 lbs on them if you join by Valentine's Day. And if you join by March 14, you'll get one year (6-issues) of Weight Watcher's Magazine, and I'll get a free month added to my online membership. Yep - I like those perks. If it's not for you right now, just save the link or bookmark this post. When the time comes you want to make a change and WW is your vehicle to get there, pop back over and use the link then.

Remember,

At any given moment,

you have the power to say,

"This is NOT how this story is going to end."

Hugs to you! :) Janis

Project Life Week 5 Page Layouts

Hi! Today a brand new challenge starts at 

PDE LINKY PARTY and BIMINI MOOSE.
The theme is
Anything Goes Project Life Pocket Scrapbooking!

Here is my Week 5 Double Layout:

We had Kevin's 5th Birthday Party at our house on Sunday.
He and Kati had tons of fun being Teenage Mutant Nija Turtles. LOL

Got all the pics for the Photo a Day prompt printed up.

They run through the middle row on both pages.

Kevin's birthday party photos run through the bottom row on both pages.

Thanks for stopping by!

:) Janis

Weight Watchers - The Beginning

This Journal was actually written last Friday. So when reading and you see terms like "this week," just know it's referring to the week it was written - last week.  If you would like more information on Weight Watchers, just click HERE. If you are already a member of Weight Watchers, I'd love to encourage you on your Quest. If you blog your ups and downs during your journey, leave a comment with your blog link. 
Smiles & Hugs, :) Janis

BLESS THIS QUEST

Third Time's a Charm

Friday, January 31, 2015

  

I started Weight Watchers with meetings in 2006. I LOVED THE MEETINGS. They were informative, supportive, and just fun. Plus we took home a lot of valuable information, recipes, and challenges or things to focus on until our next meeting.

Sadly, we moved 45 minutes away that same year which sort of put a damper on attending those same meetings once a week. So I joined the online community. But it just wasn't the same. I never felt connected to people like the meetings did for me. You probably already guessed it, I didn't renew that subscription.

I told myself I can do this. I have all the information and tools. But slowly I quit writing things down, or guessing at portion sizes and guessing at points. Here I am today bigger than I was then. I obviously NEED some sort of support or community, but we are still living 45 minutes away from where I loved the meetings.

This past Monday, January 26, I started WW again on my own - Tracking points, measuring portions, and writing down everything. I've done well so far this week, but didn't trust myself to continue to do so well on my own, so once again, TODAY, I have joined the online community. I'm really hoping this time will be different. That I'll be able to connect with others in my same shoes. Third Time's a charm, right?

I'm 48 years old and the full time care-giver of our special needs child = Stay at home mom / retired from the working world.

I'm 5' 2" and on Monday weighed the most I've ever been, which is not a good thing. 203.4 pounds.

I don't know what my goal weight should be, but I chose 125 lbs. If I reach this goal in a year, I will be thrilled.

I'm not active other than walking around the block or doing the WW Walking DVD at home.

I have a history of Migraines that can be triggered if my blood sugar drops and I don't eat when I should.

I have arthritis and was prescribed prescription Motrin 3 times a day.

I also have to take Omega 3 vitamins and Calcium vitamins due to my family history.

I tend to jump in with both feet when starting weight watchers, get obsessed with counting points and wondering what can I eat. I'm a huge graze eater. Walking by the kitchen means grabbing a cookie. Fixing my daughter a drink means grabbing a coke for me. I'm weak. What can I say?

I prayed about this for several days before I started on Monday. I know I cannot do this on my own. On Monday I took everything out of the pantry, frig, and freezer and calculated points using my old WW Turn Around tool. I made a list of our inventory and the points for each food including the serving size. (Now that I'm subscribed online, I can easily go look up those foods and double check their point values, adjusting my inventory list accordingly.)

To help with my graze eating or fits of feeling a headache coming and then downing chocolate and caffeine to hopefully nip it in the bud, I plan out my day of food and points the night before or first thing in the morning. I can't tell you how much this has "freed me up" during the day.

I know what I'm going to have for each meal and also add snacks that fit within the leftover points. This has been a MAJOR advantage to my success this week. I also start the day (around 5:30 am) with water, water, water. If I eat time I get out of bed, I'll over eat. So I don't have breakfast until 10. By this time I've already had about half my daily suggestion for water intake, and I'm really not that hungry.

I dislike most vegetables (except the ones I was raised on from our family farm), and love almost every fruit. My supper last night was a bowl of 1 chopped apple, 1 serving of raisins, and 4 strawberries. And I couldn't eat it all because I was full before I saw the bottom of the bowl. That's progress!

Thank you for hanging in here with me for this long post. I look forward to reading your comments and getting to know some of you.

May your Quest be Blessed!

:) Janis

P.S. The photo is from August last year at one of our daughters' wedding.

Photo a Day - Catch Up Post

I've been good about taking those photos every day using the prompts, but haven't posted them to the blog in a few days. So let's catch up!

The last Photo a Day I posted was last Thursday.
Here are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Friday, January 30, 2015
Fav Food

I love chocolate, French Fries, Cheeseburgers, but I also love Fruit.

No chocolate, French Fries, or Cheeseburgers to take a photo of this day,

so I chose to use the fresh Strawberries.

Saturday, January 31, 2015
On Top
(Cherry on Top, that is)

Sunday, February 1, 2015
On my Plate

My plate was pretty boring, so I used Tom's plate.

His plate was much more colorful. He's doing the 

Reboot with Joe 15 Day Juicing Plus.

I started Weight Watchers last week and the only thing I scheduled for my plate that meal was Jasmine Rice and Baby Butter Peas. Pretty boring for a photo.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

See you tomorrow.

:) Janis

Project Life Layout - Week 4, Page 3

Hi, crafters!
I'm back today to show you my Project Life Layout
Page 3 (last one) for Week 4.
To see pages 1 and 2, just scroll down to yesterday's and Friday's posts.

click to enlarge

Top Row:
Dream Big filler card.
Hello Sunshine card - Tom is playing with his new XBox One with our son Jimmy through the magic of internet since we are in South Carolina and Jimmy is in Kansas.
Admit One stamp from Cardz TV Stamps - Ticket Talk 2.

Second Row:
Photo a Day - Black & White - this is an angel my Mama gave me.
Our Grandson, Wyatt. He's so cute.
Blessings card - both of the 2 stars were cut out with My Creative Time dies.
Our Grandson, Kevin. Adorable. Man, we have good-looking grandkids!
The two little animal banners are part of a set of 6 from the Silhouette Store. (ID# 40514)
Both of the boys' names were stamped with alpha stamps from Walmart.

Bottom Row:
Keep Moving Bike card.
Aaron and Kevin at the Cheesecake Factory where their family went to celebrate Aaron's birthday that week.

FUN!
Do you scrapbook with Project Life or a similar pocket style scrapbooking?
We'd love if you would link up your pages, filler card creations, organizational ideas, video tutorials or anything pocket scrapbooking related IN the
BIMINI MOOSE CHALLENGE page tab.

The current challenge is Anything Goes with an optional twist to include a filler card with a LIST on it as part of your page layout.
Each entry will receive a FREE DIGI FILE,

and one lucky entry will win a FREE CUT FILE from
KaDoodle Bug Designs!

Woo-Hoo!
Go link up!

Thanks for stopping by today.
See you again tomorrow for Page 3 (the last one) of Week 4's layouts.
:) Janis

Project Life Layout - Week 4 Page 2

Hi, crafters!
I'm back today to show you my Project Life Layout
Page 2 for Week 4.
I actually have 3 page layouts for that week, so yesterday I showed you page 1, and tomorrow I'll show you the 3rd page.

click to enlarge

Top Row:
Two photos in the first pocket. One is a watercolor I did in my Art Journal and the other was using a Photo a Day prompt - "Far Away."

The next pocket is our daughter, Bonnie, in her sassy pose. Love this girl. She is so much fun! The chipboard Polaroid frame and the chipboard heart are both from Studio Calico's monthly PL Kits. (You can earn 500 points when you use this link to subscribe to any of Studio Calico's monthly kits.)

Second Row:
Snapchat from our daughter, Kati, who was on her way to teach Art at school.

Snapchat from Tom during one of his walk about breaks at work. It was a nice day that day - perfect t-shirt weather for walking.
"Have a moovelous Day" from Craftin Desert Divas "Simply Moovelous."

Last 2 photos are of Tom & Bonnie washing his truck. Bonnie is such a good helper.

Bottom Row:
Grass from My Creative Time metal die.
Cow from KaDoodle Bug Designs "Dairy Cows." 
(using the print 'n cut feature)

Banner was created with a Walmart punch and some of my scrap papers.
Bingo filler card with sequins attached with glue dots.
Last card is just a weekly recap

FUN!
Do you scrapbook with Project Life or a similar pocket style scrapbooking?
We'd love if you would link up your pages, filler card creations, organizational ideas, video tutorials or anything pocket scrapbooking related IN the
BIMINI MOOSE CHALLENGE page tab.

The current challenge is Anything Goes with an optional twist to include a filler card with a LIST on it as part of your page layout.
Each entry will receive a FREE DIGI FILE,

and one lucky entry will win a FREE CUT FILE from
KaDoodle Bug Designs!

Woo-Hoo!
Go link up!

Thanks for stopping by today.
See you again tomorrow for Page 3 (the last one) of Week 4's layouts.
:) Janis