pictures...

My cable and internet has been out....for 2 whole weeks. there are definitely pros and cons to this. Pros - finding something other than sitting on my butt and watching TV or playing on my computer, spending more time with friends, or actually being productive when I am home! Cons - not being able to play on my computer or update my blog!!!

I had to come home to wait for the repair guy today -- I chose the 4-7 window...and used 4-6:30 as nap time, then miraculously when I woke up, the repair guy showed up. How perfect is that!!!! I got a nap and my internet and cable fixed all in the same night! WOO-hoo!!

Well, now that I can use my computer again, I thought I would upload some pictures and I realized I had a TON of pictures I don't think I uploaded...so I thought I would share some of these with you -- as they tell some stories over the last few months!

As usual, a group got together to bake easter cookies.....these were some of my favorites. They turned out so freaking well!!! Can I just say how I LOVE baking cookies and even more, being able to do it with friends!

 And Easter usually means some time in Seguin....which I love more than anything. Especially since my mom always has the yard looking so fantastic. This morning, the statue in part of her garden had the sun shining on it just perfectly. I tried to capture it -- but I don't think the picture did it justice.

 And the other thing I love about being home is my parents back porch. We love sitting out there and having dinner and hanging out. This weekend we had a scrabble tournament....which I have to say was WAY excited my dad beat my sister :) Don't think I didn't trash talk her on his behalf (because I knew I wouldn't win!!). But this night we had some special guests at dinner...can you see them on the other side of the fence?!?

 In case you can't, see this picture.....I swear there were about 30 of them, just walking in a line on the other side of the fence. It was so awesome.

And I have been doing a ton of things with work friends.....we have two boys that have moved here from Los Angeles and we have been having a lot of outings with our work friends to get everyone acquainted. We love Friday night happy hours, especially with our little friends coming to visit! We usually go early so kids / hubbies can join and we have a blast! this night I think we started at 6, and the last round of people left at 10:30. It was so much fun. Here is TL, one of the new controllers with me, and JD's son. He is SO STINKING CUTE! And he loved sitting on TL's lap....he was being bounced and when T stopped bouncing him, he would jump up and down like he was saying "COME ON T, BOUNCE ME!!!"

 And we had our annual girls weekend with some of our highs school friends. We have been getting together for 7 years now, and we LOVE getting together. We usually don't all see each other but two times a year all together - for Easter (with families) and our girls weekend. This year our friend CL sent her hubbies and kids to the lake and we took over their house in SA. We had so much fun getting to hang out and be silly. I LOVE these girls. Most of us have been friends since we have been born. And if not then, it was within like the first 5 years of life for sure!  Here is me and my twinkie!

 Here is the group -- CL, me, my sissy, GG and AN. It was fun to get to catch up with everyone and just spend some quality time together....which also of course involved good food and even better wine!

And other than that - I figured out part of my problem with my weight fluctuating....I think I have been eating WAY too much sodium. Long story short, I track all of my food on MyFitnessPal (which I love...and highly recommend!) and my nutritionist was trying to help me figure it out -- and we realized my sodium intake was out of control. And I want you to know - I am totally on an eating "routine" and eat the same things over and over again. A few things I realized:

- peanut butter has WAY more sodium than something like almond butter....enough to make me consider switching permanently!
- something you think that is healthy like smoked turkey has a TON of sodium. Almost 1/2 your daily intake....and that is BEFORE you add two pieces of bread that are also like 10% of your daily intake!
- anything you eat at a restaurant is going to be more a TON of sodium. I thought I was doing good eating a grilled chicken sandwich from Chick-Fil-A and it was 50% of my daily sodium intake.
- cottage cheese has like 25% of your daily intake...which is really high...for a snack. My nutritionist told me to stick to yogurt - it has much less sodium.

So now we are monitoring that way more closely. and hopefully that will help. What did not help was my doctors visit on Tuesday. I REALLY liked her the first time I saw her. This visit I saw her for approximately 3 minutes. And as she is running out the door, I was trying to talk to her about me not losing weight, and actually gaining weight, when I am eating about 1600-1800 calories net and working out 6 days a week. Her response, "some people just have trouble losing weight".

I want you to know it took every ounce in my body not to yell. I CAN lose weight...I've lost a LOT already. I'm about 90% sure my thyroid has something to do with it. She told me that my last blood test was really low. I'm guessing its a little low now too (hence my two hour nap and still being exhausted right now). So time will tell -- hopefully sooner than later. It gets REALLY frustrating trying SO hard and seemingly not going anywhere....except to a place where your pants are too tight....and its not because you got to eat lots of cupcakes and ice cream! So say a little prayer that we can get this under control....I'm REALLY ready to not have to blog about my thyroid anymore. I'd rather blog about all the fun I am having instead!