Monday, November 30, 2009

weight loss deals and Thanksgiving....

Well, some and of you know that about 2 1/2 months ago I made a deal with Travis about losing weight. He has wanted to lose weight for about the last year or so. It has always been about 20 lbs that he has wanted gone. But, he just never had the motivation to lose it. Ya see, he is devoted to his sweet nectar, Mt. Dew. I have tried to tell him over and over that he could easily lose the weight if he would quit the "sauce," as he calls it. Being the faithful man that he is, he just couldn't/wouldn't do it.
Now, I know my Travis. I have been with him for 13 years now, 9 of which we have been married. And if there is one thing that motivates all with Travis, it is cold hard cash. So, I devised a plan. I proposed to my sweet lover, that if he would lose 20lbs, I would give him $1,000. I knew that it was a sweet deal for him. He probably would have done it for $500 or maybe even $200. BUT I wanted him to be so motivated that he would work EXTRA hard to get the weight off. I knew he could do it, but there was a part of me that wondered if he WOULD do it.
Some of you may wonder where I would get $1,000 and if I was just giving him back his own money. I happen to do a small home job that pays a little every week. I knew it would take over a month to save the money, but I also knew it would take over a month for him to lose the weight. So this is why he agreed to the deal. He was going to get money that wasn't already his. Money that wasn't part of our budget and he could do whatever he wanted with it. About a week after I proposed the idea and Trav had accepted, I asked how is journey was going and he said he wasn't going to even start to lose the weight until I had saved the money because I was so bad at saving (this is true, I am awful with $$). So 5 weeks later, I laid 10 100 dollar bills before him and told him that if he didn't lose the weight by Thanksgiving, I got to take that money and spend it on Christmas. By this time he had 6 weeks to lose the weight. The pressure was on!!
I believe it was 2 weeks in he lost 6 lbs right off. He was encouraged. He had stopped eating a lot of sweets and had cut himself off his sweet nectar. Things were going good for him. He even started watching his portions and being conscious of the things he put in his mouth. He said it was hard, but compared to how hard it is for me to lose weight, He hardly had to work at all. :) It got down to the last 2 weeks before Thanksgiving, and Travis still had 6lbs to lose. He was getting concerned. As much as I wanted to keep the $$ for myself, I really did want him to meet his goal. So I told him that he had to start exercising if he wanted the last bit to come off. He HATES exercising in any form. So, this was going to be a challenge for him. He started doing the treadmill every night for about 30-45 minutes. He would walk/jog and carry weights. The Monday before Thanksgiving, He weighed in exactly 20lbs lighter than he was 6 weeks earlier.
He actually learned a few things too. He said he feels so much better now, and eating healthier helped him feel less sick too. He said his heartburn went away, and he is more comfortable in his clothes. I am happy for him! He did great and worked hard. I was glad to pay up. He deserved it. I have a couple of pics below. A sort of before and after. The before was taken this last July. and the After was taken on Thanksgiving. I know the one pic, he has his eyes closed, but that is all I could find. I don't know if ya can even tell. But I notice a difference.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

And then there is Harlee Sue.....






The difference between Harlee and Bodie is this: I told Bodie, when we took pics of him, that we could do whatever he wanted. We went down into the pasture by the trees and he wondered around, I took a bunch of pics, he had one or two spots he especially wanted to try and that was it. Harlee, on the other hand, had several spots, several poses and several ideas of what she wanted. It was pretty cute, and fun to take pics of her. Keep in mind, these were HER poses. I told her to put her chin down a couple of times and relax her shoulders, but other than that I didn't tell her how to stand, sit or pose. I took 20 pics of the boys, and 49 of Harlee. That's the difference.






Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Pics of the Boys









Today I took pics of the boys. It's that time of year where family pics are due, and I thought I would see how they would turn out if I just did some on my own. Jax was only semi cooperative, but I think I got some ok ones. These are a small sample.



Sunday, November 1, 2009

Super Super Family!!

From Left to right: SuperDad Travis (he really is too!!) Superman Jax, Supergirl Harlee, Superman Bodie and Wonder Woman me.
We got to dress up a couple of times. We went to a Halloween party with my parents Firday night. Then on Saturday, of coarse, we went to our ward party and also to Travis' parents ward party. The kids got enough candy and we were able to spend time with family. I love to dress up with the kids and Travis was a good sport too. It was fun!!