Father's Day!!!

Just a few pics of me and my dad, Shorty!!!

Shorty has been there for me through thick and thin. I can ALWAYS depend on him no matter what.

Thanks for always being there for me!!!

I LOVE YOU!!!

Summer Fun!

Summer has been sooo much fun! I can't believe that June is almost over and July will be here in the blink of an eye.

Here are a few pics of a busy but FUN summer!

Saturday we went to Splash Park in Brandon, Ms. It is so much fun. I think Brooklee will really be able to enjoy it when she can walk. Aunt Kate got Brooklee this too cute American Flag swimsuit.

Me and Miss Priss at Splash Park.

Two weeks ago we went to the Memphis Zoo and then stayed in Sardis at my Aunt and Uncle's house.

Me, Em and our cousin Maegan at the Memphis Zoo.

Brooklee loved the Zoo. She would just stare at the animals and try to figure them out.

She just sat there and watched this panda eat.

Summer is never long enough. Its hard to enjoy the summer when you work full time and go to school several nights out of the week but thats what weekends are for.

This past week has been absolutely wonderful!!! Started off with a 3 day work week, no school and plenty of time do things that I have not been able to do in a while. Monday was Memorial Day and thankfully I was able to be off work. I started the day off with a run, mowing two yards then an afternoon of playing in the kiddie pool with Brooklee! She is just a ball! She LOVES to splash around in the water.

She has been going to swim class every Wednesday night. I have been dying to go but have been stuck in clinic for school. But thankfully I am finally through with that part and was able to go watch Little Miss Priss show off her swimming skills. She is definitely a water baby. This week they went all the way under the water. She was sooo funny. She would come out of the water with her eyes as big as they could get and shake her head and then was ready to play. No tear, no cough, nothing... she is a little pro!

Friday I was off(only because I had to work the dreadful weekend!) and got the chance to babysit.ALL.DAY. It was sooo much fun. We played, napped, ate and played some more. She is always on the go. That evening Zach, the wonderful chef he is, cooked an awesome supper and Emilee and Britt came to eat once they got off work.

After supper, Em, Britt and Brooklee had to head on home so she could go to bed. I stepped outside to help them load the vehicle and this is what I saw.......

How GORGEOUS is this sunset??? So pretty! I just had to take a picture of it. It was a very nice ending to a wonderful week. Unfortunately, I go back to to 430am-1pm 4 days this week and night school from 6pm-10pm for three days... But school will soon be over and hopefully I will be able to have more weeks like this.

Challenges,,,

Zach and I have really been working hard on getting this post-wedding weight off. We worked really hard before the wedding to get to a certain weight......

Then came the honeymoon...then thanksgiving...then Christmas... and then just not really watching what we ate. We both love to work out so that isn't the problem... its the eating!!!! We know what we should eat but those other foods are just sooo dang tempting!!!

For the past two weeks we have eaten right allowing us to have one cheat meal on Saturdays. Except for this past Saturday we had to bump it up to Friday for Gigi's Cupcakes(see previous post) grand opening!!!!

So far I have lost 8 pounds(all my post wedding weight) and Zach has lost 12 pounds. The funny thing is, I feel like I eat ALL the time! Zach, the wonderful husband he is, portions out all of our meals for a few days at a time. I eat every 3.5-4 hours... Zach's is a little different, but the main thing to do is eat. Skipping meals slows down your metabolism.

Even though it would be nice to be able to loose weight without all that hard work... It just doesn't happen. So, we have both set challenges for ourselves:

Since I teach anywhere between 8-10 classes(water aerobics, body sculpt, cardio classes) a week, I decided to set a goal of something that I don't get to do in my classes. My challenge is to get my running back up. For anyone that doesn't know I have an 80 year old knee on a 25 year old body. Thanks to tearing my ACL back in high school, I have had problems with it daily. My challenge to myself is to get up to 10-15 miles a week. I know... that doesn't seem like a lot but with my knee that is what I am going to work on for now and if I do more than I will give myself a big ole pat on the back!!! So, far this week I have ran 5!!!!

Zach does weight lifting daily so he decided wanted to add more cardio in the mix. Zach's challenge is to do 11 hours of cardio a week!!! He started off with two hours a week, then 3, then 4, then 5 hours and has worked is way up to 6 hours.

I will keep you updated on our goals. Once we have reached our challenges we will set new ones and try to keep pushing ourselves harder.

Happy Days!

I just wanted to share with you a few things that make me smile!

Brooklee is soooo much fun! Mom and I got the chance to keep her the other day. We decided to go to the Canton Flea Market.. well we stayed MAYBE a hour and half... way TOO HOT! But it was a great day and Brooklee just tagged along.

I downloaded a new picture editing program and I played around with some of Brooklee's pics. My neighbor has this random bench sitting next to their house and I have been wanting to get our little model on it.

Brooklee is definitely something that puts a really BIG smile on my face!

=)

So, I LOVE yard work and today I decided that I would surprise Em and Britt and go mow their yard while they were at work. Back in March, me, Em and Britt planted some flower beds in their back yard and it has been very rewarding to watch the plants grow and bloom. This flower wasn't even a flower when we planted it. It was just a small little plant with a green leaf. While I was mowing I notice this gorgeous flower! All that hard work makes it all worth it!!!

AND... it just happens to be my favorite color!!!!

Last May I got the chance to go to Nashville, TN for Stacey's bachelorette party. Six of us drove up to Nashville on a Friday and had a blast(to say the least). One of the girls, Courtney, kept talking about this place that we just HAD to go to named Gigi's Cupcakes. She was right!!! Those cupcakes were to die for! DELISH!!! Well, a few weeks ago I was out and about with a good friend of mine and notice a new store at the mall...

Are you kidding me????

Does that say Gigi's Cupcakes???

Holy Crap that's Gigi's Cupcakes!!!!

I just couldn't believe it! I immediately got my phone out to google it ! Yes!!! Flowood, MS Gigi's Cupcakes coming soon!!

Friday was Gigi's Grand Opening! I was soooo excited! Zach and I got up bright and early and headed to the gym. I must work out REAL HARD and that is exactly what I did. I knew I was going to Gigi's later.

Me, Em and Zach made the trip to Gigi's! I think I was more excited than most of the kids in the store. I had this big smile on my face the entire time! Well we started naming all the cupcakes each of us wanted and we decided since it was cheaper to get a dozen.... we would make the sacrifice.

How delicious does that look!!!

Yes, thats ALL icing on top!

Life is good!!!

Dragon Boat Regatta

On May 15th, I got the chance to participate in the 2010 Madison County Dragon Boat Regatta.

Dragon Boat is a sport that is very popular in the north. I had no clue what I was getting myself into at first. I got to compete in this race 2 years ago(which we won), last year it was canceled and picked back up this year. Let me explain exactly what Dragon Boat Regatta is:

Each team has 25 members; which 21 one members are on the boat at a time. The boat is very long and narrow. There is a drummer that sits at the very front that drums the beat to which the rest of the team must row too. There are ten rows of 2 people. One race is 400 yards long.... which might not seem like a lot but it is!

Here is a pick of the boat. The small wooden chair right behind the number is where the drummer sits.

This year 15 teams competed. Each team had 3 races then a final(if you made it to the final). Well... if you remember what yesterday was like you know it wasn't nice weather. Very cloudy, windy and just not pretty. The water was very choppy and for a resevoir there was some very big waves.

My team was in the 2nd heat of the very first race. 3 teams were in each heat. So, the first heat of teams all successfully made it to the finish line and then one boat turned over.... all 21 members in that boat were now in the resevoir waiting on the rescue team.... this doesn't help my nerves one bit!!

Its time for our heat. All three teams load the very long, skinny boats and get ready to race. Paddles in the water... Ready... Set... Go!!!! We were on our way to the finish line. We made it to the first 100 yards and all of a sudden those gigantic waves are rocking the boat sooo hard and next thing I know all 21 of us are in the water. You have got to be kidding me! We are the returning champs and we are in the water!!! Well thanks to another boat in our heat that just sank because of the waves we were all able to redo the race!

Me after being rescued!

Bandits being dragged to shore by the rescue team.

After 3 teams were unsuccessful on completing the first race, they did some configurations and cut the team from 21 people in the boat to 14. Thanks to this, Baptist Bandits were able to step it up and show the other 14 teams what returning champs looks like.

Baptist Bandits

(Baptist Health Systems sponsored us)

Thanks to the weather the 3rd race had to become the final. The weather was very nasty at this point. As we are loading the boat for the final race it seemed like the waves were getting bigger and bigger. The sprinkle was becoming huge size rain drops. Since it wasn't lightening the race continues! The 14 of us paddle our hearts out and left everything we had in the resevoir.

Did we win??? Was it a close race?? Was it a sweep??

We are being told we won by other team mates but are they just telling us this or do they really know we won??? As we are all walking back to the tent the rest of our team starts yelling with excitement!! WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Mayor of Madison County in our tent with the trophy!!!

We won!

This is a very physically demanding race. I feel that I am in pretty good shape and I can do this. Um..... not so much!!! I hurt in areas that I have never hurt in before. This takes being sore to a whole new level. But winning makes all this pain SOOOO worth it!!