Who is this girl?

weight 149.8!


Woke early this morning. I'm watching the TiVoed version of Big Brother while the men are still sleeping. They both nag when it's on so I watch it in the early mornings while there sleeping. I'm working the farmers market tomorrow but today were hiking first. HIKING again~ ?who is this girl?~i like her! LOL It feels so good to be able to move and do the things I put off all those years. Sometimes a rush of happiness runs fast through my body when I think about my life now vs. then. I feel lucky & happy! I know that sounds silly, but that's the only way I know how to put it. Were heading up to Mary Peak here in a bit which is one of the highest mountain ranges between the ocean and the valley. They say sometimes if it's clear enough you can see the ocean or Mt. Hood. We shall soon see! I've got the turkey sandwiches packed, chips, grapes, apples, water, Kool aid and were outta here soon after a bit more coffee.

You know I'll be back with pictures. Gotta love the pictures!

Braces be gone...

Today was the day. Jon got his braces off today!

3 years later, first thing he ate was Corn Nuts, next thing on his list is corn!

My small garden...

☼ We reached 106.2 today at my house. They say 107 tomorrow! This is not normal for this area of Oregon. I don't even own an air conditioner. When we do get this heat it never lasts to long. I'm really close to the ocean and rarely do we get that kind of heat. Even Newport today, which is right on the ocean today was 82 degrees with no wind. 106 degrees is a little hot for me! My men had to have ice cream because of the heat today so rather than eat the "bad for you" stuff I made homemade orange cream protein ice cream for me today. Mm good!

Snapped a few photos of my back deck today to share on my blog. I l♥ve it out there! I've been out there watering lots with this heat.

Strawberrys are happy...
Flowers are happy...
Carrots are happy...
Sweet peas are happy..
Onions and garlic=happy!

Today I also found my first tomato's coming on. They are green but Susy's got tomato's!

☺ Happy Dance Time!

weight: 149.8

I was lying in bed this morning and kind of dreading my weigh in. I've just been stuck at 151-152. I've been good and eating well and we've been walking, but I've been stuck and feel kind of frustrated. I was thinking and talking to myself before I got out of bed this morning that there has to be a fine line between letting the scale make or break your day. Talking to myself :"Think of all the great things you can do that you could not do 2 years ago Susy"! "Look how far you have come". I don't want 150 something to be OK cause then 160 something is next. I know how this goes. Give yourself permission that 152 is OK~ and then the next 5 pounds packs on. I'm not doing that anymore. Yeah for the 140's! I happy danced all the way back to bed and jumped on my hubby I was so excited. He was happy for me too and also squished after I jumped on him. ☺ It's no easier losing weight after having WLS then it was before. First year is a piece of cake, after that it's up to you and your mouth (habits) just like before.

Ok~let's see what's been going on here the last week or so @ our house besides work? Derrel and I have been taking walks more and more in the early evenings. This year we have walked more, hiked more and moved more than all our year together. We took 2 walks last week and walked all over the summer fest we went to on Sat. night. Sat. we went to the summer fest in the small town next to us. I dropped Jon off @ the carnival after work on Sat. He rode rides all afternoon with his friends and Derrel and I went to dinner. After dinner we came home to water our plants/flowers as it had cooled down enough to water and then headed to the summer fest. This little town has the best fireworks I've ever seen. It's also in this valley with mountains on each side, so when the booms of the fireworks happen the booms bounces off those mountains and it's so cool. Great show, great grand finale. Derrel and I go for the fireworks and the hanging baskets hanging all over town. Again this year we walked all over town on the pier, up the hills, and all over town admiring there wonderful hanging baskets. Until last year we just sat in our car waiting for the fireworks until I lost the weight and I could move and do hills. This town is one big hill, the only flat spot is where the carnival is. So we walked again this year for the 2nd time rather then sitting on our butts. I snapped a few pics and I'll post them at the end of this blog.

What else??? Jonathan~ well...it's been a good summer. He got his top braces off last Thursday. This Thursday he gets the rest off. 3 years later and he is so excited and ready for corn nuts and corn. I've already bought corn nuts for him and there hiding in the car so we can give them to him this Thursday. I'll take a photo this week after there all off his teeth. The boy has got his driving permit and has been working/volunteering. He loves it! He is saying now he is thinking of going and working in the marine and science field someday. Either way he is loving working at the aquarium. And I know as his mommy it's a great thing for him and a good influence. His driving on the other hand....LORDY sCaRy. Were not going over 30 mph yet as I'm too scared. LOL But were working on it and it's kind of freaky. But hey~ we were all new once in our life. So Wed. Jon goes to work he has no girlfriend and when he gets off work he has a girlfriend. (OK??? that was fast) But by Sat. night he dumped her. Another girl he met at camp is calling and likes him and he is not so interested in her. She calls~ I hear the sadness in her voice when he's not home and then I feel bad. I'm such a sap~I really am! All this dating stuff and girl stuff is going to be harder on me then him. LOL

My garden is wonderful. I've got sweet peas, strawberry's, carrots that are all giving me food. It's been a blast watering, loving and taking care of them. I'm really proud of my small time garden and I will be going bigger next year. Sometimes we sit outside and eat sweat peas right off the plant. Mm I worked the farmers market on Sat. and got some cherry tomato's and lemon cucumbers from my favorite grower. My tomato's are not ready yet. This time of year I have a hard time not spending every $dollar$ I earn at the farmers market. Tomato's, cukes, lettuce...oh my. There are so many yummy things there along with cool crafts. Poof my check is gone and I'm still at work. LOL But I do come home with the best produce. I skipped the kettle korn again this week as I know it's a weakness of mine so it's better if I just leave it at the market. :) Well I think that's it for now. Busy week around here. Going to be getting up into the 100's this week around here in Oregon. I don't even own a air conditioner as those temp's don't hang around long when they do come. So that's it for now...

Later gators!

4 more weeks till vacation! Lake Tahoe here we come!

Last years 2008 Summer fest photo links from my blog:

1. http://susy-abrandnewme.blogspot.com/2008/07/blog-post_4572.html

2. http://susy-abrandnewme.blogspot.com/2008/07/blog-post_2694.html

and BTW those pants still fit! :)

Beach Play

weight today: 151.0 Ooo so close! One more pound. Keeping my eye on the prize!

My step mom came for a visit and we played on the beach yesterday. NO wind on the ocean and even the boy was in a good mood (teenagers you know). Went to lunch and then a walk on the sandy beach. Searched for ocean treasures that didn't smell or that would die. LOL Found a few shells. Funny memory I remembered today while walking on the beach. When I was a little girl I used to find money/coins on the beach. My dad used to walk in front of me on the beach and drop coins and I would find them thrilled as a little girl would. For years I thought the beach was loaded with money. LOL I found none today, but he still has me looking. He he I miss my dad but still feel very lucky to have my step mom in my life even after my dad passed many years ago. I don't have a lot of family left but I'm holding on to her tight. I know why my dad loved her with all his heart. This Aug. my dad's been gone 14 years I believe. Wow, where do the years go. The loss feels like just yesterday.

I found a much easier way to share photos sometimes. Facebook of course. I ♥ Facebook! Photos, games, status updates, friends, games. Check my pictures out of my beach play day with my family~I posted them there.

Facebook photo link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=94854&id=544116917&l=f6379f8cc8

Well I'm off to take Jon to his volunteer job @ the aquarium and getting busy for the day. I work this weekend and I'll need the extra cash cause there is a small town carnival in town this weekend and Jon needs my cash. ha ha

Get R done...

weight: 152.0 ~

The past few days we having been working on our front deck. Were almost done. I'll be so happy when I can come into my front door again. Yahoo! You can see my hard work on the nice clean house. Notice NO spider webs, thanks to me. It was covered like nothing I've ever seen. We were being taken down by spiders. That's the job that took me 2 days to clean. Even the other day I had to take the mop and wipe the new spider webs off. Lordy, now I'm dusting/cleaning the outside of the house weekly. Is it never done????? LOL Darn spiders any who...

My step mom is coming today for a visit and I'm looking forward to that. I have not seen her in sometime and she is my favorite person in this world. Since my dad passed years ago she has loved me the same. I'd do anything for her. I can't wait to see her. I'm sure we will all go out to lunch, maybe the aquarium so Jon can show her his job/work. Thinking a walk on the beach would be nice too. But nothing is set in stone. We will hope it's not to windy and cold on the ocean. The valley is going to be 95 degrees today so that heat always brings in the fog to the ocean and Newport. We went to town yesterday and I wanted to leave right away. Cold, windy and yucky. Get a mile off the ocean and it's wonderful weather. So we didn't stay. Grocery's, Wal mart and we left. Hate it when it's beautiful and then you head into Newport and you need your coat. It's cold, windy and foggy and 85 at home and 61 there~crazy. That's why I don't live there! When Derrel and I first got together we lived in a rental that was looking right at the ocean. I was thrilled. My whole life I wanted to live on the Oregon ocean. Until I lived it. It was cold and windy and you would drive inland just a mile or two and they had nice weather. It was a bummer sometimes. You could not grow anything and we hated that. Living on Hwy 101 and the ocean I even started having dreams of a tsunami taking me out and/or trapping me as there was no way out when the ocean wants to swallow you up someday. Kind of freaky. Beautiful to look at but then I knew we needed to buy a home that was close to the ocean but inland. So we did...Never enough money for our home projects and lots we would like to do with this property. One step, one dollar at a time. One more thing off the hunny DO list, cause the deck is almost complete.

Good news: the boy get's one set of his braces off this week and next Thursday they will all be gone. Yahoo! 3 years later he can have corn on the cob again. I'm excited and so is he. Braces be gone!

Have a good week, I'll check back in later.

☟Still checking in...

Weight:152.4 down~
Heading in the right direction.

Yesterday I shared Friday's food and today it's Saturday's food turn. I don't count calories, but I do think about what's going into my mouth (most of the time). I'd say it safe to say that each day is different and it's less than 1/2 of what I used to eat. I just eat wayyyyyyyyyy different now. I make much better choices now. But I'm still able to enjoy food and learned to love new one's. Those nasty little yummy things still lurk around each corner. I'm eating more now so it's even more important to pay attention. So I pick and choose, say no more then yes so I can maintain my current weight. Like many of us, many times through out my life prior to weight loss surgery I'd lose, gain and gain more than I had lost. Vicious cycle. Not anymore. Sure I still get scared, so rather than ignore I'm talking about it, checking in. Sure I'd still rather have ice cream than salad but my weight is more important to me than that now. But I still struggle with my thoughts and actions some days. Let's get real~ the Dr. did not remove my "cookie bone". LOL The difference now is I know I have a fighting chance. I've learned alot and came a long way. I've been fortunate enough to be put in the game and have a chance @ this battle. I've never had that chance or always blew it in my past. And for that I feel lucky and I'm holding on to that~FOREVER. I will never forget what it's like to be obese. I'm fortunate enough to have won this battle & that alone will keep me focused. For me my goal is to stay below 153 pounds. It's a number I don't want to pass. Fluctuating is ok but only to a point~@ some point you have to admit your plain ass gaining weight. 158 pounds being 5'7 puts me back @ OVERWEIGHT. We are not going there, were not even getting close! So that's why I came up with 153 pounds being my STOP sign. If get close...It's time to refocus and rethink somethings. I saw I was getting close to 153 a few days ago and yesterday I landed there, so I'm checking in with myself.

I still blog to share and I'm blogging for myself most times. Encouraging myself, learning and remembering. I just share my thoughts out loud. You can read along if you want...

148 pounds=Susy's back on track.

I dance in the mornings. It's my little thing! 149.9 or under and I dance/bounce to the kitchen @ that silly wonderful number on the scale! Since I first got to goal 15+ months ago and the scale reads 145-149.9 in the mornings, I ☺happy dance☺. Ever since I've been amazed and thrilled. I was the first to say 2 years ago "not even surgery will work for me", but it did. And I'll be letting myself down if I get fat again.

PLAN for the day: Breakfast out with my hunny, grocery store, home, building a front deck today and another walk with my hubby tonight.
MOOD: Excited to get a new deck on the front of the house. Happy, happy, joy, joy.
THOUGHTS: Phew~getting closer to that dance. Give me a week and I'll be dancing!

Saturday's food log:

BREAKFAST: OJ protein yogurt drink. I add supplements of: creatine, glutamine and benifiber. Coffee. Later that morning~2 eggs over 1 slice swiss cheese on 1/2 slice of toast.

LUNCH: 1/2 ham sandwich with swiss, 15 or so cherry's. 10 Bugles (i counted).

SNACKS through out the whole day: Bowl of fresh raspberries from the farmers market with a bit of light cool whip. Homemade of my famous protein frapp. with soy milk. ~190 cal. 24g protein. I ♥ Love my protein creation!

DINNER: 7% lean ground beef. Made hamburgers. I ate a small plain patty, no bread/4oz. Lots of ketcup. Small salad with cottage cheese as dressing, cukes, tomato's, bell pepper, 1/2 boiled egg, almonds. 1 pickle & a few chips (8)

☝Up? WTF

153.2 UP ~1 pound???

I did nothing wrong yesterday. So no worries. No reason.
That's just the way it is sometimes.



We took a walk yesterday again and played on a train! :)

PLAN: Were taking a walk tonight. :) Keep moving! We have been really good about walking and hiking~it's our new thing we do together. I'm liking it.
MOOD: Watchful and content.
THOUGHTS: It's all good. I've got this. Not scared. :)
PLAN FOR THE DAY: House is yucky. House work. I was not called into the farmers market today to sell. Derrel and Jon are working the farmers market for our business while I clean up there shit. Ug MOOD: just cleaned there toilet. Ug how do they do it? YuCkY!
DINNER plan: 7 % Lean ground beef hamburgers and salad.

GO!

Friday's food log:

BREAKFAST: 1/2 piece of toast with one slice of melted swiss, topped with 2 egg whites.
OJ protein yogurt drink.
LUNCH: Quizmos Chicken salad with ranch on the side. Ate 1/2 of the salad & one of the 4 pieces of the bread served with it.
SNACKS: through out the whole day.
SouthBeach PB protein bar
1 Apple
few Cherries
DINNER: 1/2 baked potato with 1/2 cup of cottage cheese on it.6-8 cucumber slices

train time!

152.2

Ok~here's the post you have all been waiting for from me. I know your looking, watching. LOL For me 153 is my number I like to stay away from and not exceed. It's my STOP sign. I fluctuate between 147-150, sometimes a bit lower and sometimes a bit higher. Today 152.2! Ut Ooo Every morning for the last year plus when I weigh in less then 150 pounds I dance and jump after I get off the scale. It's my happy dance. The past 2 weeks there has been less dancing in the mornings. I got here and I'm staying here. I've got 3-4 pounds to lose right now and that feels great. Years ago it was so overwhelming to realize you have a whole person to lose. I will not let it become 15 or 25 pounds and ignore my actions. I've been told by many and my hubby I could stand to gain 10 pounds or so. NOPE! La La La, I'm not listening to them. My all time low was 145 and being at and around 150 I feel the best. Even this week I notice my jeans fit better at 148 and I can't believe how different your clothes feel/fit with only a few pounds. How come I never noticed that years ago??? So I know what I've been doing. Picking things that I should pick "once" in awhile. Snacking on this, snacking on that. Meal times have been pretty normal and I'm not making mistakes there really. It's the in between snacks that I've chosen to put into my mouth. Eating when I don't really need to eat. Those sneaky little life habits are trying to bring me down and they are familiar and tasty. But not one piece of food can make me feel like I have felt this past 15-16 months since I reached my goal. It's time to step back~look @ what I'm putting into my mouth and pick up a cucumber if I think I'm hungry rather than Bugles and crap. These things can still be part of my life, just not each day and in moderation. I get it~Look at anyone you know that is healthy and has the eating under control. They work @ it everyday. They may slide off for a weekend or a meal but they jump right back on the next meal with good food choices and working out. This year my hubby and I have taken more hikes than we ever have in all our years together. I will not give that up and let myself down. I am able to move, I feel great and have been giving a great "tool". This is my chance to make myself proud. And that I will do! Bumps~yes...I expect them...and I will climb over them! So rather than ignore, I'm being honest and blogging it. Phew! I feel better. Surgery is not your magic pill. Never think you won't have to work for it, because that's misleading. The first year is a breeze and here is where the real battle lies~forever. It's up to me to use this to get real, honest and take care of me.


Susy's got 3~4 pounds to lose! That sure does sounds better and not as overwhelming as ...Susy has 150 pounds to lose. GO!

ABC and things you must know.

I stole this from Debbie http://throughthicknthin.blogspot.com/. Her blog is one I click on each day to see how things are going in her world. Check her out. She's real, honest and a great mom.

So here ya go...some more stupid questions and answers for you.

A – An advantage you have – Hell if I know? LOL still thinking on that one.
B – Blue or brown eyes – Green!
C – Chore you hate – vacuuming.
D – Dad’s name – Bob
E – Essential start of your day – OJ yogurt protein drink and coffee!
F – Favorite color – Hot Pink
G – Greatest thing you’ve ever done that made you feel really good – Married D and being a mom.
H – Habit you have – Sorry that’s a secret!
I – Issue you hate that the world tries to make you pursue – Recycle. I get it but don’t like it. But I do it!
J – Job title – Mom, business owner, and dog treat sales girl @ the farmers market.
K – Kohls or Target – TJ Maxx! Been to Kohls 2x and I liked it. So Kohls.
L – Living arrangements – Too many men in my house. Even the stupid dog and cat is a boy. 2 men, me and one Chihuahua & a outside cat.
M – Music you like – Nickelback, 3 doors down, Madonna, classic rock.
N - Nicknames – Derrel’s Angel, honey bunny.
O – Overnight hospital stay – 1 childbirth, gastric bypass, that’s it!
P – Pet Peeve – Clean floors. I get irritated when my floors need swept and mopped and I can't get to them.
Q – Quote that you like most – The really good dreams are the one's that last...
R – Right or left handed – Right.
S – Siblings – Only child ~but I have one half brother and one wonderful stepbrother and one strange stepsister. They all came into my life later, not while I was a kid.
T – Time you wake up – 5:30-6 am most days.
U – Underwear – Yeah, and??? I wear them.
V – Vegetable you dislike – I hate mushy veggies. Most I’d rather eat them raw and cold.
W – What makes you run late – Never late, I like to be early.
X – X-rays you’ve had – Hip x-ray and does a mammo count?
Y – Yummy food you make –I make a killer lasagna.
Z – Zoo animal – Penguins, bears, but all the animals are cool to look at.

Mini Getaway

Jonathan is off to camp, so we went out to play! This week we went to Silver Falls outside of Silverton Oregon. Rather than just sit in the car and ride we planned a hiking trip @ Silver Falls and back to the ocean. We headed south to the ocean and then headed north home on Hwy 101 that follows the ocean line. I took the apples, water and our shoes and we were off. I've been to Silver Falls many times as I grew up here in Oregon, but never hiked. We hiked! Amazing the difference in my life. What I saw before was what I could see from the car or the edge of the roads. It was amazing to me and felt great. This is why I did this...Live and not just watch life pass me by.

We left early on Tuesday and hiked 4 miles and saw 5 of the 12 waterfalls at this state park. After our hike we traveled back to the Oregon coast to The Mill casino. The sun was shinning and the sun roof was open and had great company and tunes. We had a nice dinner and gambled a bit and enjoyed the bed. The room was very nice and the bed was so wonderful. We even had a stocked fridge. *FANCY* We didn't eat or drink out of it but that was a first for either of us. $4.50 for a Snickers bar out of there stocked fridge. crazy~LOL The second day we went to a walk through game park safari that we both love. You get to touch and feed the animals and not just look at all of then through wire and glass. I even got to pet and hold and love on a 4 week old tiger cub. It was so sweet and wonderful to hold it and pet it and not be rushed. Then we headed back home North on hwy 101 that follows the ocean. We both had lots of laughs and a good time. Here is some photos from this weeks getaway.

Two links below. One is a short slide show that you can't see really great or a link to my FB page to these pictures.

Silver Falls & Game Park getaway.

or click below to see them on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=92108&id=544116917&l=7b1dc1807b

Gone out to play!

Camp time! YAHOO. We thought we should do something and have some laughs and fun while the boy is having a blast where he is! Were off for a over nighter and I'm looking forward to the sun, tunes in the car, hiking and waterfalls and ocean and holding hands and no one nagging in the back seat for 2 days. LOL Were going on a family vacation in Aug. so there's plenty of time for nagging from the boy later. LOL So it does not cost but $3 to hike and see very, very cool waterfalls. So were hiking! I've lived here a good part of my life, drove to this park before but have only seen 1 of the 12 falls here at this forest and park due to how heavy I've always been. The trails have been to far and hard in the past so I didn't try. I saw it from the car and what I could see from the window of the car or the edge of the road. Were going economy and having some fun. Hiking, sandwich's, we've got the cooler and apples/snack and were set. We are hiking some of the trails at Silver Creek falls here in Oregon. From there were driving down Hwy. 101 that follows the Oregon Ocean line and spending the night. Wed. we are going to a Wildlife game park safari. Driving home on Hwy 101 that follows the Oregon ocean to home. You don't drive through this animal park like many of them, you walk through and touch, look and pet some if you want. This one is smaller & they have deer to black bears, leopards, peacocks, ferrets, monkeys and all sorts and kinds of animals. They raise and have baby bears and leopards and all sorts of animals too. They bring them our for a bit and let you touch or feed and pet baby black bears and leopards. That is my favorite part. I love the baby's and getting up close. Susy's even got a coupon. :) he he

We outta here! You know there will be pictures to follow!

Silver creek falls link:
http://www.oregon.com/trips/silver_falls.cfm

7 things I love♥!

This week I checked on two of my favorite bloggers http://talktotiff.com/ & http://michelle-journey.blogspot.com and saw that they both had named me for this little award. First of all these two girls are now what I would consider my friends. Tiff has even became my e-mail pal and we talk & share there some days. Through this blog of mine I have came across many people and made some good friends. I have made new friends, people to share my thoughts with, my fears, my joys and my life's journey. I have learned something from each of you. I look forward to comments and sharing my little life and stories as much as I look forward to new posts about all of your life's journey.

So this is where I am to list and share 7 things Susy ♥'s.

1. I ♥ my hubby! I am lucky to have him in my life. I trust the love we share. I trust us to grow together for the rest of our lives... and that feels good. He still drives me crazy @ times but I know deep down I'm the lucky one.

2. I ♥ my flowers❀ and garden. I love watering them, I love taking care of them and looking at them in the summer months. This year I did a small version of a veggie garden and it's been yummy eating my own food I grew. Next year I'm going "big" as now I'm hooked and have the energy to play in the dirt!

3. I love candles! I almost always have one lit someplace in the house. Makes me feel good and candles also remind me of my dad as he too always had a candle burning. ☂Rains a lot here in Oregon and a candle is my ☼sunshine.

4. I ♥ Two in a half men! We all love to laugh at this show. Feels good to just laugh at nothing and this show does that for me.

5. ♥COFFEE♥. Does not matter if it's iced or warm... anytime is a good time for coffee!

6. I love shopping now! If I were rich I would have a blast and a big ass closet. I'm not a junkie and I don't make debt we can't afford, but it's FUN. I love a great deal, a clearance sale and second hand stores. Give me 10-20 bucks to blow and I'll buy myself something~ no problem. My hubby is holding on to $40 bucks right now that I gave him to buy shoes with about 3 weeks ago. I could of spent that several times over. Silly man...what's he waiting for???

7. I LOVE being healthy! Every part of it. I know I had things to learn to get to the place I am in life, but I wish I could of had this years ago. I did not understand what I had been missing standing on the side lines watching and not doing all those years. I l♥ve me and it feels amazing! I won't let that feeling go for anything now that I have it. I'm loving moving, walking and hiking and living.

I tag all of you! You know who you are. Just do it!

Alsea Falls in Oregon

Yesterday we made our every other month run to Costco in Eugene. We took the back way home through the forest. Years ago we camped here once and several times we have taken this wonderful ride home through the forest. Because of my weight I never have ventured down the trail to the waterfall. Sad but true! Today we did! I'll just say one thing~ It's amazing what a extra 147 pounds took from me and what I've missed out on. Coming out and up still hurts my hip and I could not do too much of that uphill stuff. Feels good to the heart but my hip still goes into spasm's. That just means I have to walk and move more and work my way up to hills and build and work those hip muscles rather than just jump into a 2 mile hikes straight uphills. Anyway, we snapped a few pics before my battery's went dead of us and the falls.