Embellishments.

I have always loved my Cricut Expressions machine, but lately I have just fallen in love all over again! There are SO many functions I had not realized it came with and yesterday I found the "Multi-Cut" button. I love embellishments but they are so expensive so I tend not to use many. I decided to cut up some old cereal boxes and try to cut some of my own embellishments and it WORKED! I then inked them and put Glossy Accents over them to make them "3D" and pop. I am so excited! Here are a couple of pics of my scrappage in progress and a close up of my homemade embellishments. =)





To do:
-Use old cereal boxes as your cardboard and load your mat.
-Check your settings and make sure it is set to 2 multi cuts.
-Select your image.
-Press the "Multi-Cut" button.
-Load mat and cut.
-Once it's cut I inked them and then covered them in Glossy Accents. You can find those at Micheals. =)

Homemade onesies and food for thought.

My husband bought me a Cricut Expression machine last September and I have been obsessed with it and cartridges ever since then. (And yes, our wallet has suffered becuase of it LOL). The machine is so freakin awesome for scrapbooking and card making but I had never tried to make an iron on transfer with it. I had seen the infomercial countless times where they make the quilt and have always thought it would be neat to do it so today while I was at Walmart I thought, "What the heck?". I bought no-sew adhesive liner and a yard of leopard print fabric,(it was only a buck!)got home, applied the fabric to the adhesive and cut a heart with my Cricut. I then adhered it to my daughter's white onesie and just FELL IN LOVE. How could I have never done this before?!? LOL. It might not be the greatest creation ever but I am so proud of it!




It feels really cool to make something as simple as a shirt because I didn't think I could do it. And it got me to thinking of how many years I have spent underestimating myself. I went through high school thinking I was never good enough, pretty enough, smart enough, tall enough, athletic enough, or even funny enough. I never really tried to succeed in Math because I just knew I would fail.And I did.Everyone around me was better than me and I just knew that everyone felt the same. I know my mother did. She never failed to remind me how I wasn't skinny enough.I think when you are in such a sad state of mind you tend to "settle" for whatever comes your way.

I have always thought I had a "positive" attitude towards life until last night when my husband said something that I will never forget. I was in deep frustration because my son Jacob was running a 103.5 fever and I had no car. Everyone was at work and I had my hands tied behind my back until my father and Chris came home at 7pm. Throughout all this chaos of rushing out the door with my sick child, I had forgotten that I had made my very first batch of homemade enchiladas and that they were in the oven. I get a text message from my husband an hour later telling me that "Dinner was yummy!" I, of course, take that text as his laughing at me and quickly respond "Are you lying to me?". This goes on for a few texts until he sends me "Stop underestimating yourself. I loved the food." I looked down at the phone and just stared. I was so use to always being told that I was never good enough that I couldn't even take a compliment. I started to get teary eyed because it just brought me back to all of my memories as a child and young adult and realized that I dont try a lot of things because I always assume i'm going to fail. I always excused my lack of cooking knowledge to the fact that I was a daddy's girl and never had to learn. The real reason why I never tried to cook was because I was afraid my husband and children would hate everything I make. Well, guess what? Last week I made my first baked flan and it came out PERFECT. That bacon that I was so afraid I would burn? Jacob now requests atleast 7 pieces each time. That chicken wrap that I made a week ago? Tastes as if I would have purchased it at McDonalds. I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, but it is nice knowing i'm not a complete failure. I can cook! And clean, workout, finish homework AND potty train! Maybe i'm not as bad as a mother and wife as I thought and maybe, just maybe, I CAN pass my upcoming Math class on my own! ;)

Picture of the day.

The jeans have been hung up! I am SO close to fitting into what use to be my "fat" jeans (ha!) that I have taken the liberty to taking them out of storage and hanging them up for inspiration. This isnt all of them as I have a slight jean addiction, but you get the picture. lol. :)

My weight loss plan.

I am not a doctor, nor am I by any means qualified to instruct anyone on how to lose weight. But since I'm documenting my journey of weight loss, I figured I might as well tell you how I do it and what works for me. :) If you dont "Agree" with any of this then follow a different plan.

Total daily calories- 1500
!Important!- Write EVERYTHING you eat in a food journal. NO JOKE.
Exercise (5x a week)- 500 calories a session
LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER!!!
Weigh yourself once a week. You should lose between 1-2lbs a week.

This is what I do. Really simple. And it works. No diet pills, no crazy diets. Just calorie restriction and exercise. I once read that Carrie Underwood keeps a food journal and thought, wow, that's a little extreme. But then I started keeping one and believe me, it is SO beneficial. It keeps you accountable for everything you eat and right on track. When it's 8pm and i'm only at 1250 calories eaten, I know it's ok to eat that string cheese. If it's 8pm and I havent kept my food journal, I dont remember what all i've eaten and I could easily slip and eat more than I should. IT WORKS. I'm already at 20 pounds lost since February and 45 pounds lost overall. If this keeps up, I should be hitting my goal weight by August/September. :)

4 month check up!

We went to Julianne's 4 month check up today and it went FANTASTIC!! (I havent used that word in forever! hahaha). I was worried that her flat spot in the back of her head was not going away but the Dr felt her head and measured and she said it's improved so no helmet!! Hooray! :) She is still just below average for weight but she is back up to the 75-90 percentile in height! She's gonna be taller than her mama! And we definitely got the green light to start spoon feeding her cereals and veggies and fruits. I'm so excited, my little girl is getting so big! I still remember when I was counting down the days when she would arrive. And now she is about to start eating solids. WOW. :)

WEIGHT- 12LB 13OZ
HEIGHT- 25 1/4"

Update-Garden.

I am just so amazed at how much our garden has grown in the past couple of months. And to see the CUTEST little jalapeno and tomato is such a treat for me because I have never seen one grow right before my eyes!

Potty Training=SUCCESS!

I NEVER thought I would ever say that! Woohoo!! Jacob is now officially in "Chones" (underwear) and we have had like maybe 2 accidents this entire week. We are so excited! I'm so glad we all stayed consistent with it and didnt quit when I thought it was impossible. Now, I'm still in the situation of 1 down, 2 to go but hey, progress is progress. I'm not looking forward to potty training Bradley but my goal is to have him potty trained before Kindergarten, which for him, is not until September of 2011. That gives me plenty of time. And i'm sure by then, his little sister will be starting on it too. ;)

The cooking Bug.

Last Sunday, I went over to my mother in law's house where she taught me how to make roast with gravy and peach cobbler. I had SO much fun learning that I have been looking up recipes all week and really trying to "cook" more. Today I started working on my "homemade recipe book" and what I've done is just took a 1 1/2 inch binder, added tabs and a whole lot of sheet protectors and went to town. I divided each section into different entrees such as Desert, Pasta, and with my Mexican section I added additional tabs that include Tacos and dessert. It's very simple but I love it. No nonsense and it gets the job done. I think i've become addicted now! ;)

FINALLY.

I am so excited! I finally have decided what profession/career I want to have and the best part yet? I'm actually looking forward to it! I was originally studying business so I can go into Human Resources but after much thinking and praying, I've decided to continue my Business degree, but go to Cosmetology school after! I want to become a hairstylist and Makeup artist and one day open up my own salon! Who knew the Cobian family trade would be in my blood? My aunts in Mexico will be so proud. ;)I havent told anyone besides by husband because I've always changed my mind but I'm pretty sure about this. And the best part, my husband is totally supportive! I cant wait! :)