A small victory and a new dating idea

Today is day 7 on Phentermine and day 7 of kicking butt at eating better.  I feel thinner already and that's a good feeling! I've been weighing myself the last few days and I'm noticing a trend. The numbers are getting smaller. Hooray. I've lost about 4 pounds this week. It's enough to keep me motivated to keep on track.  Even hubby said I feel thinner. By the way, I'm not feeling the crazy side effects as much.

We've been doing breakfast dates the last few weeks. We actually haven't gone out on dates consistently for a long time. I don't even remember whose idea it was, so I may as well claim it.   :)
Going out for breakfast instead of dinner is genius!

1.  It's a bit cheaper, depending on where you go.
2. It gets you up and going on the weekend and you can get more done.
3. The restaurants are usually cleaner in the morning and the restrooms are well-stocked with toilet paper, soap, paper towels.  YAY!
4. It's different, new and exciting. 

So this morning we went to Denny's. I stick pretty close to the Weight Watchers plan and I've been eating under all week. What does that mean? That I have some calories leftover. You can "bank" them for a special occasion, etc.  Even so, I wanted to eat healthier. I didn't just want to go out and waste all I've done this week. So I ordered the wheat pancakes, with scrambled eggs and no cheese (I always order it with cheese, but figured I could live without it) I also got fresh fruit and turkey bacon.  I was able to eat 1/2 and then I had to stop. I was so proud of myself. I stopped eating when I was full. I can do good at home, but when we go out to eat it's hard and it's there in front of me and I want to keep eating it.  Today is a good start and I have hope. I can't wait to do my first month's weigh in.

Here's a picture of me last time I worked my butt off and lost weight. This is my final goal to get back to one baby-step at a time.

Healthy old-fashioned products Chocolate Soap and Double Chocolate Mint Soap (plus discount code)

Time for another review for some good old fashioned products from Healthy Options of Days Gone by.


I tried the chocolate lovers bar soap and the double chocolate mint soap. These were both nice quality soap. To me the chocolate soap smelled more like cocoa beans than chocolate. The Double Chocolate Mint Soap was nice and tingly and smelled delightful. It was very invigorating and you can really smell the mint. I looked forward to using both soaps each shower.








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If you do stop by their Etsy shop and see something you like, you can save 15% off your order. Use this code: (PRREVIEW15) 

Renewed Hope

If you've followed me for awhile, you know that I've struggled with getting the twin belly weight off. Shortly after having the twins I dropped about 25-30 pounds, but then it stopped. I've been off and on track ever since. (it will be 2 years in April)

The other day I had a checkup appointment with my doctor. I figured I'd mention that I'd been having a hard time losing the extra pounds.  Doctor ended up being backed up with patients, so I saw the nurse. Great checkup and she put me on Phentermine. I am once again motivated and ready to roll. I know I can do it... I mean I've done it before and I know what to do, it's just a matter of doing it and sticking to it. I just need a little help now that I'm getting older and this weight has been stubborn. The fact that I have to report back in a month and weigh in is what I've needed. I can't waste money on pills and a Dr. appointment try hard and be accountable.

I just hope there's not a lot of side effects. There's nothing I hate more than side effects! I hate it when there's this long list of things that could happen to you in exchange for making something better. UGH! I found out I have a bacterial infection, so I was prescribed something for that. Well yesterday and today I've felt like crap. I don't know if it's my body fighting the infection or if it's one of the pills or the combo.

I really hope this will work for me and I can finally be ME again. Not perfect, just not obvious that I had twins.

:)

P.S. I  know not everyone will be supportive of taking pills to lose weight, so let me just assure you that I will be careful and I'm not looking at this as a long term thing. I've done Isagenix and Weight Watchers and will be nutritious about this. I will also get back into exercising.  I also trust my Doctor's office.
If you have a personal story regarding Phentermine, please share. Thanks!

Oldies but goodies, short and sweet

Sorry, slow blogging week. Been busy taking care of our new frog and dealing with the death of our old one.

These are some videos with my youngest. She is 7 now, this is when she was 1 1/2.

Tell me they're not cute... I dare ya!

She loved this song, but we'd sing it "I love apple juice, so put another straw in the juice box baby." I loved the way she said bab-a."



My smart little cookie, singing her ABC's her way.



Twinkle Twinkle Little Star- she knew the words pretty good, but last minute changed them to like a diamond in the hand just to be silly. Hee hee hee.



We lived in San Diego at the time, and we made a little message for my dad and step mom.



Silly Curler Girls... I'm in this one too!   :)P

Chunky Bling Ring

I was sent a Chunky Bling Ring to review.

Lovely, I must say.  Check them out www.chunkybling.com.

I do believe in tithing

Maybe you've heard the stories of someone who pays their tithing and receives a check in the mail. It's happened to us. It was a nice check too, about $600 and was from an overpayment of funds. (this was awhile ago...) How often does that happen? I mean really, you've overpaid something and a company admits it and refunds you? I don't think it happens as often as it should. Would it have happened anyway? Maybe, but I don't think it was a coincidence. I think we needed to be shown in a big way that it pays to pay tithing.

Money has been tight since John got out of the Navy in 2008. However, we've made it work. We're still in our house, we have what we need. We put away a little at a time for the extras. It was so tight for awhile that we felt there was just no way we could pay our tithing. There wasn't any leftover. So we didn't. And guess what? It seemed to get worse. We seemed to have less money and things were tighter than ever.

Recently we had been in to talk to the Bishop and tithing was brought up. We explained that things were just too tight. We were told to pay our tithing first. We got back on the tithing train. It is amazing how it works out. We are paying our tithing AND having some money left over. Not a lot, but better than breaking even or worse. Not only that, but I have the last 3 tithing checks here and I'm noticing that each one is a little bit more than the last. Meaning?  Somehow John is getting paid a little bit more each week since we started paying tithing. I should also mention that we've also had an opportunity to make some extra cash. We even had enough money to pay John's speeding ticket!

The secret to successful tithing paying? Pay your tithing first. If you don't think you can afford to, just try it, really give it a chance and believe in it. In reality, you can't afford not to! Try it for 4 weeks straight if you get paid weekly, or try it for a few months if you're paid every 2 weeks or monthly. Then come back and tell me what happened.

I can be spiritual, but I don't like being "churchy" or preachy. This is just one of those things that are too good to keep to yourself. It truly is a blessing. Share the blessing, no matter what religion you are. Help your church and you will be blessed as well. It's really not a lot to ask compared to all that God has given us.

Happy Friday! Have a rockin-awesome weekend!

I am and always will be a Mormon Surrogate (my thoughts and opinions on the 2)

I have been approached time and time again through email and my blog about being a Mormon Surrogate. I am asked advice on the combo at least once a week. I am not complaining, I just feel it obviously is something I should address.

I feel like I keep repeating myself over and over, so here it goes:

When I was first starting out as a surrogate I felt very strongly about it. I felt that I was actually led to it, that it was something I was supposed to do. I was not active in the church at the time (2005), however, I still considered myself a good little Mormon girl and was curious what the church would think. My mom was the most spiritual person I knew. She goes to the temple weekly. She was living with me at the time and I discussed it with her. She was supportive even though she wasn't sure what to think at first. She finally came to the conclusion that there are all these babies that still need to be born in this time and someone needs to help bring down those babies. That has always stuck with me. These babies need to get here somehow.

Shortly after our conversation I moved to San Diego to be with my Navy hubby. We went to church a few times and went to some of the activities. Right away I met another surrogate in the ward. Everyone seemed supportive of surrogacy and surrogates. Most people I talked to in San Diego or back in Utah felt it was a very spiritual, positive thing to do. I knew some very influential and/or respectable people within the church and they seemed supportive. No one ever said otherwise. Sure I had a friend or two who didn't understand it but actually they weren't even LDS, it wasn't a religious thing with them. They just didn't get it.

I moved back to Utah in 2006, about 2 weeks after my first surrobaby was born. A few people in the ward knew and acted supportive.  People started to approach me and compliment me and be in awe of such a selfless act. During this time I was matched again, got pregnant, but sadly miscarried.  A year later I was matched again and after 2 transfers, I was pregnant with twins. We went to church a few times here and there and slowly got to know our ward. For the most part, people were extremely supportive. Only a few people didn't seem to know what to think.

After the birth of the twins in 2009, my husband initiated us to go back to church full time. Sure, why not? So our journey began. We were on a fast-track. I believe it was May that we really started going back. (although we had been a few times during the twin pregnancy) I remember still healing from the c-section and falling dead asleep in sacrament because I was on Lortab and it knocked me on my butt. I remember thinking, "this is not good to be drugged out at church".  But I'm getting sidetracked.
We had the missionaries come over and start teaching us the lessons. We had 2 children older than 8 who hadn't been baptized yet. That was our first goal. That goal soon became doubled with my husband being challenged to be the one to baptize the kids. He hesitated but it ended up working out. They were baptized in July 2009. Somewhere along the way as we soon were challenged to go through the temple, I became curious about how surrogacy would fit into it all. I wasn't done being a surrogate and I didn't want it to be an issue. So I Googled  LDS surrogate, etc. I came across something that seemed to suggest that the church didn't exactly agree with it. I was confused, so I asked the bishop. He knew exactly where to look and pulled out the church handbook. "The church strongly discourages surrogacy" I believe it used to just be "discourages surrogacy" , but is now strongly discouraged?

I have not received a straight forward answer on why it's discouraged or what about it is discouraged. Like everything else in the church, it all seems to depend on your ward/stake leaders.

This is my opinion on the whole issue. I believe it is traditional surrogacy that the church frowns upon. (using your own eggs as a surrogate) I also believe that there are things that go along with surrogacy that wouldn't fit in with church standards, for example: selective reduction, aborting because of abnormalities, being a surrogate for a single parent or same sex parent since the church is all about FAMILY as husband and wife with their children.  That being said, it is my understanding that being a gestational surrogate as long as you follow church standards is okey dokey. I also believe that the church might not want to condone it because it's not for everyone. Some women  might have a hard time being a surrogate. I've also heard that some people frown upon the fact that surrogates are compensated, and yet it's totally fine for a mother to give her child up for adoption and be compensated. I think there is so much involved with surrogacy that it would be hard for the church to specifically say this is ok and this is not. It is discouraged, not absolutely forbidden. I have never been approached and told I should not be a surrogate. I will always consider myself a surrogate even if I never do it again. It would crush me if I was ever told I couldn't do something that was so much a part of who I am. Not only that but I believe that being a surrogate brought me closer to God and I still feel good about being a surrogate. So if it's absolutely wrong in the church's eyes, then the most spiritual, uplifting times of my life were not valid. That does not sit well with me. I know plenty of LDS surrogates who got the ok from their Bishop/Stake President. If you are in doubt, I would suggest talking to them. I am only sharing my personal opinion of my experience and how I feel about it all.

What's interesting is the fact that my blog began as a spiritual journal as we prepared to go through the temple. Mormon Surrogate is what described me best. I knew it wasn't an extremely common combination, that there weren't a TON of us out there, but I didn't know that it was controversial or that so many people would be reaching out to me as they search for answers.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. If you have come here looking for answers and are wanting to be a surrogate, I wish you the best of luck!