Happy Independence Day!

I am always thankful for a day off of work, however, must never take for granted the greatness of this day.....The United States Day of Independence!  We are an overly blessed nation and it saddens me to see where it is headed but, I won't get into that because I want to stay in a good mood :)  Fireworks are already going off in my neighborhood and it is only 8:30 a.m.  Really?  What ever happened to all the anticipation leading up to the night of July 4th when it was FINALLY dark enough to start lighting the sparklers & bottle rockets?  Now days it seems they start setting them off a few weeks before and continue for a few weeks after.  Sorry, that is another pet peeve of mine.  Moving on.....here is a pretty photo to start this LONG post where I will catch up the last 3 weeks of my life!

I guess the biggest event that has taken place since June 10th was Father's Day.  I am incredibly grateful to still have my dad here to celebrate this day with.  We had a BBQ at Jeff & Julie's home (the go-to place for our family gatherings now).  I made sure to snap lots of photos.  Are you ready?

Dad & I

Brian (my brother) & Trevor

Jeff (my brother) & his oldest son, Josh

Jeff & his younger son, Jesse

Trevor, Brian & Dad

Trevor & Grandpa

Caiden & Great-Grandpa

Brian, Dad & Jeff

Josh & Caiden

~Four Generations~

Great Grandson Caiden~Grandson Josh~Son Jeff~Father

We also had a special cake to honor Mom & Dad's 54th Anniversary that was actually June 6th.  Plus, it was a great excuse to have a Kruta Bakery cake - yum!

Now, the following photos are not in chronological order because I am too lazy to look and see when exactly they were taken and then re-position them in this post.  Hey, give me a break - I have been awake since 4 a.m.  I did my workout at the gym before 6:15 and was home with groceries before 7:30.  I am already ready for a nap.

I went on a kick of wanting to clean out & organize my refrigerator.  I bought the little bins at Dollar General and this was the end result.  Ahhhh, I love an organized fridge :)

We had some monsoon-like rainfall in June.  This downpour hit just before leaving work one afternoon about 3:00 o'clock.  Across the road is a farmer's field.  Yes, that is a field - not a lake!

The next morning you can see the field again.

I found a $25 gift card to QVC that I received for my birthday last September & it had never been used.  Hello?  What is up with that, I thought?  Suddenly the money was burning a hole in my pocket so online I went to see what they offered in exercise equipment.  Found this space saving mini-elliptical.  Despite my hopes it turned out to be a dud.  Too choppy feeling when in motion and it hurt my knees.  I decided to pack it up - which, by the way, gave me more of a workout than actually using the machine itself!  It was not a pretty sight trying to get that little monster back in the box.

Yes, I still treat myself to a Starbucks iced, non-fat, no whip Mocha now & then!  Moderation is the key to any weight loss success!

My poor Molly had to be rushed to the vet one evening because she had a cyst on her left, front leg that had become infected (unbeknownst to me until too late).  I jokingly said it cost me $80 to have a huge zit popped on my dog's leg.  She is all but healed up now but, I felt so bad I didn't notice it getting infected until her leg was swollen like it was :(

Would you look at these ginormous grapes?  I love grapes despite the fact I cannot eat them as just an in-between-meals snack (they make me hungrier).  However, I often enjoy them after a meal - kind of like a dessert I guess.  That way, I can relish their yumminess without the downside of feeling hungry since I already ate my meal.

See?  Told you, love to indulge in Starbucks now & then.  Twice apparently in the month of June.

I bit the bullet and ordered a month's supply of Chocolate flavored Shakeology.  I did so because I wanted to participate in the July Team Beachbody challenge and they recommend you replace 1 meal a day with a Shakeology smoothie. The challenge is being hosted by my Beachbody coach (and online friend, Tricia).  I met her in January as a teammate on a different weight loss challenge we were doing. She inspires me to keep going because she started her journey very close to the same weight as I did and seeing how far she has traveled & amazing she looks.....well, it's amazing!!!  This challenge is challenging me to workout more often again & be held accountable by other ladies who are facing many of the same obstacles as I am.  I cannot stress enough how important the support is for success!

To wrap up this crazy long post I wanted to share this photo because on June 29th I walked into Club Fitness, a local gym in my town, with intentions of only doing a week trial membership.  I was impressed enough to join that day.  More about that in another post because it really does require a post all its' own.

Whew, I really should NOT go 3 weeks without posting!  If you hung in to the end then I say THANK YOU!!  

God bless,