Fall Is Coming

A little motivation from my phone:

Monday morning music on the way to work - fun!!:

These seem so easy and tasty, I want to try them soon:

Pretty flower during a morning break/walk:

I can't believe this dog is still alive!  I was around him when he was a puppy 14 years ago!:

Waiting for attention:

It's hard to see what's going on in this picture, but Winnie "punched" Ruger in the face.  It was hilarious!!!:

Smokey sunset:

Spying on the neighborhood.  Winnie is trying to look too, but Ruger is a window hog:

Doug found this picture.  I think it's about 7-8 years old:

Sunrise:

Our squirrel friend showed his face!  We're not sure why they don't come around much anymore:

How about a ride in a medical transport van that is beat up!?!?  No thanks!!

Winnie is IN the pool!!!  This is a first!!:

"I want you to pay attention to ME!!!":  This picture looks weird, but I was sitting on the couch with my feet up and Ruger put his face on my knees and was walking forward to push closer to me to get some attention.  He stares at me and just blinks until I pet him:

Another big moment for Winnie!  Her new food bowl stand scared her a little, but she's getting used to eating out of it:

Our neighbors wrapped about 75% of their poor bird in plastic. I don't know if these people are trying to slow roast their bird, but I feel SO bad for it!  It's outside almost all the time even during really warm/hot days and cold (for a bird) nights too:

Hanging out in the tiny pool:

He was really trying to act cute so I would let him bring his outside toy inside:

BYU Bound!

Doug finished his interviews and whatnot and is officially BYU Idaho bound (via online)!  So excited for him to begin this journey.  Let's hope it doesn't last forever!  It's such a hard schedule to keep up while working so much:

Something I posted in reaction to a video about women should be happy with their bodies no matter the shape or size:
I wish I could say "I Heart My Body".
I have low self esteem and showed a picture of myself in a bathing suit to a friend today (it took me 3 days to work up the courage and I had tears in my eyes because I was embarrassed). I ended up showing another friend sitting nearby too (the tears were really in my eyes).
They were great cheerleaders to keep working hard. I'm thrilled for people who have self esteem (and a little jealous), I wish I had more. Maybe I will if I continue working hard.
Although, I'm sure some will still roll their eyes at me and make comments because they see me in a way that I don't see myself. Never have.

Another post I put on Facebook:

I’m having a “YAY ME!!” moment this morning, so I’d like to share it with you. This helps balance my low self-esteem post the other day. Haha! This post will end up being a “YAY ME” and a bit of an open book counseling session. LOL!! For the moment I decided that I don’t care about the people who say, “You don’t need to lose weight,” “You’re crazy,” or the people who scoff, roll their eyes, or huff about my journey to shed some pounds and tone some muscles. My motivation ...is our upcoming vacation that will have me in a bathing suit for a week. I may walk on the cruise trim and fit, but I’m walkin’ off my “normal” self. HA!! I took my weight and did some math last night, but this morning it’s even better! (I weighed myself again this morning because all my other weigh-ins are in the AM. I want them at the same time each day to keep it accurate. I promise I’m not obsessed… well maybe a little). As of this morning I’m down 13 pounds. My BMI has dropped 2.2 points. I still have a goal of an additional 4 -9 pounds, which is another 1.5 BMI points. 9 pounds is a stretch goal to keep me working hard (I know pounds aren’t everything, but they keep me focused). Now that I’ve dumped some pounds I’m focusing more on toning to stop the excess jiggling I have. Honestly, I probably won’t be happy with my body for a while even if I am toned and fit. I have stretch marks even though I’ve never been overweight (or pregnant). I have cellulite no matter how hard I’ve worked out throughout my life. I have pimples and will NOT leave the house or answer the door without foundation on – most weekends I try not to leave the house at all because I get so sick of feeling insecure and wearing foundation. I can’t let these things go. My brain is a little broken that way. Logically I know it’s silly and I should be happy in my own skin no matter what, but I’m working on it. My insecurities and low self-esteem affect my physical relationship with my amazing husband, so I need to get myself in check and get this figured out! I need to learn to like myself again and eventually love myself. I’m getting there little by little and I am so grateful for those who are helping me through my journey. Some of you are on this journey with me and some of you are cheerleaders – I appreciate all of you!

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Winnie the sunbathing pup - she can't get enough sunshine, but we don't let her stay out for long especially on hot days:

I sent this picture to Doug and said, "Holy testicle Tuesday!! HAHA!!!:

I watered my pitiful looking plant and it perked right up.  This thing is getting huge!:

Picture at the doctor's office - home remedies:

I had a "little" computer problem at work a couple weeks ago:

I decided I should eat ice cream out of this bowl. LOL:

Keeping motivated:

Ready to play!!!! Throw the ballllll!:

Ear up!  Winnie means business!:

"Please play with me.  PUUHH-LEEEZZZEEEE":

I'm ready to get rid of these trees.  We have a taker for one of them.  Maybe I'll take the other two to my parents so they deer can eat them :) :

Nosey little things watching Doug, Jake, Jaren and Peter unpacking their stuff from a morning out shooting:

Doug had an earache and wasn't feeling well, so he took a nap on a warm rice bag.  Thankfully he felt better that evening.  He had company during his nap:

Garage Clean Up

I did a little organizing in the garage during the weekend. I basically moved a few things around and built the shelves and put them in place:

The mess in front of our cars before the cleanup:

This smoke turned out to be a truck and trailer on fire under a tree at the mall.  Crazy! It looks like a building was on fire:

Relaxing on a car ride.  These two love going on adventures:

I found this picture online - it's the truck and trailer that were on fire:

This is a handy graphic for frosting tips:

This is the comforter we've had since we got married over 9 years ago:

This is a nice change!!:

Winnie loves cardboard tubes (usually from toilet paper or paper towels). She's having fun ripping one up:

I cleaned the rest of the garage when I got home from work one evening.  This is what it looks like in front of our cars now:

It's so organized and clean now!!:

It's been years since our garage had this much room!  We're so glad we were able to store Jake's care for a couple years and before that we had a truck in the garage.  We have an empty space and its great!:

The soup company I order wheat berry chili from is no longer offering it.  I'm so sad!  I love this stuff!  I found another company that sells them so I ordered 6 packages.  Hopefully I can find a recipe to mirror this one or use the packages to figure out their spices:

More turkey time!  These young turkeys are getting so big:

The sun is rising later and later:

Playing in the empty pool again: