Playroom...check

Hello again!  I know this is crazy, two posts in a matter of one week.  You might wonder what has happened to me.  Well apparently I have a lot to say.

Today I conquered the playroom.  I know it is not even September yet and I started "the great cleanout."  One room down, many more to go!

The problem with the playroom is there are so many little pieces and they are all shoved in each little crevasse.  None of the games had all the pieces because they had been spilled out and then placed in whichever basket was closest.

Playroom - BEFORE

So it took all day, but I cleaned out each wicker basket, sorted and organized each little piece of everything that was shoved everywhere.  I also moved the "stove" out as Morgan notified me she was "done with that."  Which is good because little does she know about the large puppet stage (she is getting for her birthday next week...shhhh) that is going where the stove used to sit.

Playroom - AFTER (with area cleared and ready for Morgan's Puppet Stage)

So tomorrow I will have an extra large black garbage back out by my garbage cans, but totally worth it to get the clutter out.  I am slowly piling all the stuff for either the garage sale or donation in the living room (or what I refer to as the unused room).  But I need to get it out by next week as it is Morgan's birthday party, so I am fairly sure most of the items are going to get donated.

But it feels really good to have that room taken care of and finished.  Hopefully the kids will keep it somewhat orderly, but who am I kidding, I will need to keep on top of it.  The next rooms to get tackled are the kids rooms. Ahhhhhhh.

Cheers to one room being "done!"
 

As the School Year Approaches...

September is coming at us full force...next week it is September.  That means school starts and the schedule starts getting real.

It has been a while since I have blogged...really the past two years have been a complete blur.  I WAY over-committed myself with Tommy's school, church and community volunteerism and pretty much could not keep my head above water from September of 2013 to mid-July 2015.  As of mid-July, I have stopped all my leadership roles in volunteering and have decided to focus this school year on our family and on me - what really makes me happy.  For a while there, I was too busy to even think about if I was happy and then I was so over-stressed, I realized I was not happy at all...in fact I was downright miserable.  So now begins the work.

I am going to clean out my house...this is my goal for September.  I am writing it down so I can somewhat be held accountable for this goal (not that I think that people who ready my blog will actually track this), but if I write it down and throw it out there, I will make it happen.  I need to purge the excess in our house and then with the salvageable items either have a huge garage sale or take many trips to Goodwill.  I did already start this process and clean about a 5ft x 5 ft space in our bonus room called my "wrapping paper closet."  This ended up with a large black trash bag filled with garbage and then a stack of stuff that is either garage sale or Goodwill bound. So I have started.

I am also going to try to be a better friend and family member.  I am going to try to schedule coffees and lunches with friends.  I just need to reconnect to people because while I was always really busy over the past two years, I was lonely because I was too busy to stay connected with friends.  I also need to really live in the moment with my family - not be looking at what meeting I need to get to or what project I need to get done.  I need to appreciate being where we are at and savor the times where we are just together...hanging out.

Getting back to working out...for a while my world revolved around getting my workout in.  That has severely dropped off and I am really looking forward to getting that back.  Working out is my stress relief and makes me a very happy person.  But I also know it is going to hurt...I am nowhere near where I was two years ago, which not only makes me sad, but also a bit discouraged.  But I need to get back on that horse and start to ride that road again.

Volunteering in both Tommy and Morgan's classroom is a must-do this school year!  I love being in their elementary school...I never realized how much I like it until I was spending most days there over the past two years.  It is a great place to be and Tommy's (and now Morgan's) school is a really wonderful place.  I love the staff at Charles F. Tigard Elementary School and I love helping in any way that I can.  So I am looking forward to volunteering in both of my kiddo's classrooms this year.

On top of all that, I am going to do a little self-discovery and figure out what I really like to do.  I am thinking about taking guitar lessons (I know crazy talk, but I have always wanted to do it) ...now that the kids are both in school for the whole day, I am excited to explore new things.

So while I might have a severe identity crisis as the reality of both kids being in school full-time sets in, I am also going to celebrate uncertainty in my identity because I feel that in times when I question what my identity is is when I am able to really find out about my true self.  And then hopefully I will be able to figure out what path I would like to take with my life.  I guess I am always thinking about that age old question, "what do I want to be when I grow up?"

Cheers to a new school year, a year of self-discovery and a year of making the most out of each day!

So much happening!!

Okay wow!  So much has happened since my last post...I will try to give you a quick update on our lives and then hopefully I can just start blogging about the current happenings in our lives.

I have failed miserably with my baking experiment.  I pretty much have just baked what I blogged about in the beginning of the year and that is about it...things got chaotic.  I might try some recipes this fall, but we shall see if I can find time.

As of February we have a new addition to our family.  His name is Riggins Leeper and he is a Siberian Husky that was born on December 8, 2012 (my sister/brother-in-law's anniversary).  He is great but also a lot of work and a lot of energy.  So we have a routine down at this point, but it has taken a lot to figure it all out.

First day of Riggins in the Leeper home!

Riggins in the pool in August.

In April we headed to St. Augustine, FL to see Mike's step-brother (John) and his lovely bride (Erin) get married.  Unfortunately Morgan had an asthma attack and she and I missed the wedding due to her being admitted to the hospital.  We also missed our flight out on Sunday morning after the wedding, so we were in Florida two extra days.  We were very sad to not participate in the wedding, but Mike and Tommy were there to share our love.

Our summer was filled with swimming, Tigard Safety Town, 4th of July trip to Black Butte, and more swimming.  The good news is Morgan the final two weeks of swimming lessons decided she could jump in and just swim.  So that was exciting.

The first weekend of June I did my first Triathlon.  It was AWESOME!  I loved it and the next day signed up for the Portland Triathlon that is next Sunday, September 22nd.  It was a wonderful experience and people that do triathlons are all so friendly and helpful.  Everyone is there just to do their best - whatever that may be.  So it was an outstanding experience and I am excited that I took the dive and tried out this sport. This upcoming triathlon I am a little intimidated for because 1.  I have not been training as much as I had for the June race and 2.  Mike bought be a new bike and it is WAY too fancy...it is a tribike (made especially for triathlons).   I am pretty sure it might kill be because I fall off my mom-hybrid-road bike so say a little prayer or happy thought for me a week from today because I will need it!

Post Race Medal :)

My pit crew...Mom was invaluable part of the experience.

Me, Salina and Tracy post-race beer!  Always the best part!

My littlest sister (who really is our neighbor from growing up - that Diana and I adopted) Ashley married Matt (our new brother-in-law) last weekend.  So the summer was filled with super fun showers, dress appointments and a bachelorette party in Black Butte.  It was so fun to celebrate this wonderful young lady and get to spend time with family.  Their wedding was amazingly beautiful and so much fun to see the union between such a lovely couple.  Tommy and Morgan were ring bearer and flower girl.  They were super cute and I am so excited to see pictures of them in the wedding.  They were also amazing on the dance floor!

Making sure the tux fits...and pretty much being too cool for school.

Morgan in her princess dress.  

End of the evening and they are still smiling :)  Aren't they so cute?

I am still health coaching with Take Shape for Life.  I love talking to my clients and finding out how happy they are about the health they are creating in their life.

Tommy started the school year as a 1st grader the day after Labor Day.  He LOVES it!  He has had a great start to the year and feels like a "big boy" because he is at school all day.  Of course his favorite parts of school are recess and lunch.  Morgan also started school at Wee Wisdom (or as she calls it "brother's old school."  She loves it and gets to hang with the ladies who love her!  So great to be back at Wee Wisdom.

My volunteer obligations are pretty much at maximum capacity.  I am PSO (Parent Support Organization) President for Tommy's Elementary School, I am chair of the Advisory Committee for my church's preschool, I am the co-registrar on the Tigard Safety Town Board and I am the Volunteer Table Coordinator for our church.  So I am trying to balance that all out and still keep life fun.  It is a challenge at times, but all are good things so I am trying to make it all work.

I think that catches you up on what we are up to.  I will try to be better about blogging with what we are doing and how we are doing.

Cheers to trying to catch our stride!

Improvement

Okay so last year was all about improvement in my health - mainly getting my weight under control (see my previous post).  While I am still working toward Optimal Health and really love working to help other people with their health goals as a health coach, one of my goals for 2013 (and probably 2014) is to work on my skill of baking.  While I am not planning on eating the items I produce (because I do not want to undo losing over 85lbs), I truly enjoy baking...it is definitely one of my happy places and strangely enough I do some of my best thinking and relaxing while baking.  So here is my plan to work on my skill of baking:

Mike purchased the book Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller and Sebastien Rouxel (With Susie Heller, Matthew McDonald, Michael Ruhlman and Amy Vogler - Photographs by Deborah Jones) in November of 2012...I did not pay much attention to in as Mike has a cookbook buying problem and it arrived during a time where multiple large cookbooks were arriving at our house.  I was annoyed at all these books because we truly do not have the space for them.  Well this bakery book sat around for a while, but then I picked it up one random day.  I have to tell you this book is not only beautiful and large, I think it is really going to stretch me as a baker.  So I decided that in the new year (2013) I would start to bake through this book, page by page.  Now I am not promising a recipe a day or even a week because my schedule is so crazy, but I promise each time I do a recipe, I will post it (with pictures).  Even if I fail at a particular recipe, I will post it because we not only learn from our successes but our failures as well.

400 Glorious Pages of Beautiful Baking

The first recipe is "Pecan Sandies for my Mom."

That is my plan today...to make these Pecan Sandies.  I will let you know how they turn out - along with pictures (hopefully tomorrow or if I get ambitious, later today).

Also I know many might ask, what will you do with all the baked items?  Well, the nice thing about Mike working in a big office is there are a lot of people there that can help consume the baked goods.  Remember nothing is terrible for you in moderation...I encourage making healthy choices, but the occasional yummy is also okay with me too.

Cheers to stretching yourself in what you enjoy doing!

How I lost over 85 lbs!

Well this is the weekend…the weekend that started my weight loss journey.  Since February 2012, I have lost over 85 pounds.  My sister’s wedding was my reason for finally getting serious about the weight loss process.  I know it is silly but I really did not want to be the large lady in her wedding pictures.  But I am so thankful this journey started because I have gained so much more than just not being the large lady in pictures. 

So starting out I was 233.8 pounds.  This was me in Hawaii the week before I started the program Take Shape for Life.  

My friend Susan had done the program and lost weight; subsequently, Susan had become a health coach for the organization.  For some reason I just knew this program would work for me. 

My biggest problem (in regard to eating) was I was not eating in the morning and then just gorging in the afternoon/evenings.  My story is not revolutionary at all…I am a mom who is responsible for getting two others dressed, fed and out the door in the morning, so it was a miracle that I myself was getting dressed – I did not think I had time to eat.  Plus in my mind I would think “Isn’t it good for me to be cutting those calories out anyway since I really wanted to lose the weight?”  NO!!!  Your body needs fuel to start its day and if it does not have fuel it is going to hold onto that fat with all it’s might because it thinks you are starving it.  And then on top of that, I would go exercise HARD for an hour so then my body was really starving. 

I started Take Shape for Life in February and it has changed my life!  Here is general information on Take Shape for Life:

Take Shape for Life is a comprehensive program that is safe and effective. It was designed by doctors to help people not only lose weight, but to reduce Blood Pressure and Cholesterol and help Type II Diabetics stabilize blood sugars.

Some of the reasons that people love Take Shape for Life is:

-Free personal Health Coach 
-Lose 2-5 lbs per week for the first two weeks and 1-2 lbs a week thereafter 
-Low hunger, high energy, no cravings 
-Able to reduce or eliminate medications 
-Cost neutral or less than what you currently spend on food

The program consists of high-quality, medically formulated meal replacements combined with free coaching support to help you lose weight and keep it off. It is not a diet, but a two-phased approach for weight loss and maintenance.

The first phase/the “weight-loss” phase of the program is called the Medifast 5 & 1 Plan which includes eating 5 Medifast meals and then 1 Lean & Green meal. So you get to eat 6 meals a day and still lose weight…how great is that? Then there is a transition plan that will gradually increase your caloric intake and re-introducing a wider variety of foods. And then there is the Maintenance Phase where you will monitor your weight and balance your calories. You will stay active and make smart choices.

As far as what really interested me about this program was the ease of it.  In the 5 & 1 plan, the 5 Medifast meals are all interchangeable and there is a variety of foods (shakes, soups, bars, pretzels, brownies and even more).  So as I was jetting out the door in the morning and needing breakfast, I can just grab a bar and know that I am getting 20% of my daily vitamins and minerals in that one meal…along with a ton of protein which will help me from being hungry.  So it was a win win…I also could eat brownies (WHAT!?!).  So I hit the program hard and have not stopped being committed to it.

I hit my goal weight of 145 mid-November.  I am now in the middle of the Transition phase, and it is going well.  I have stayed right between 145 and 147 through the transition and that is even with Thanksgiving smack dab in the middle of it.  It was funny as I was about halfway through losing this weight, I was really nervous about the transition/maintenance phase…I did not think it was possible to keep this weight off, but now that I am actually at my goal weight, I truly know that I will not go back and this program has given me the tools to know that for a fact. 

Playing in the snow with the kids at Whistler

(I will also post more pictures of the wedding later - I just can't find any this morning :)) 

Because I have had such success on this program and really truly believe it is so much more than a diet, I have decided to become a Health Coach for the Take Shape for Life organization. I want to pass this gift of health onto my friends and family as well as anyone else who is ready to make a change in their life! If you want more detailed information on the program you can visit my website – just think you/a family member could be pounds lighter by New Year’s… wouldn't that be outstanding? 

Okay I think that is my story… and if you have any questions or need any further information, please feel free to call me (503.780.4027) because I would love to talk with you about how my life has changed.

Cheers to a new chapter in life!!!!

New Program...Better Behavior?

So I have decided since it is Monday and I am feeling a little wacky, the kids and I are going to start a new program today...it is a program that I learned about from my fabulous friend in Indianapolis, Kiera Dubach. She explained it to me when I was out there in September and I have been meaning to implement it since then, but just have not had a chance. 

So here is how it works:

• Each kiddo starts out the day with a set amount of "coins."  The example that Kiera gave me was you give the child 4 quarters, but I think I am going to start out with $.50 and then gradually build as responsibilities build.
• Throughout the day, they can either keep all their coins or if they are being crazy(in a bad way), not listening, fighting with each other, or whatever they might be doing that I deem not good behavior, I can take away a coin or all the coins depending on what the instance is.  I also think as this evolves, if they decide to do something nice/outstanding, I can reward an "extra" coin.
• Whatever they are left with at the end of the day, they get to put into their piggy banks (or in Tommy's case, his football helmet bank).
• Then after a period of time (I think I am going to chose 2 weeks for the first little bit and then adjust to what works best), you have a counting party - we count up how much money is in the bank and then separate it into thirds...1) for saving, 2) for spending and 3) for charity of their choice.

Our first day...today!!

I am super excited about this because I think it will give me a parenting tool for better behavior/listening and it also teaches the kiddos about saving, spending and the importance of giving to charity. I think Morgan might be a little young for this program, but then at least she will be into it later - plus I think it would be hard to start it with Tommy and not with Morgan since she wants to do everything her brother does.

So let me know what you think...have you done anything like this?...has it worked?...I would love to hear your opinions.

Cheers to fun new programs that will be beneficial to both me and my kiddos!

It has been a while...

Okay so it has been a while...so much has happened since June:

• Tommy started kindergarten at our local public school (Charles F. Tigard Elementary - CFT for short)
• Tommy started playing soccer with Southside Soccer (3 x a week)
• Morgan started Pre-Ballet class
• We found bridesmaid (or matron in my case) dresses for my sister's wedding
• Morgan is almost potty-trained
• We have been traveling a ton...Seattle, Indiana, etc. (and that does not even include Mike's travel schedule)
• And the biggest news of all, I have almost made my weight loss goal of over 85 lbs and I have become a Health Coach with Take Shape for Life (the fabulous comprehensive program that has allowed me to lose all this weight and what I feel confident will help me keep the weight off for good!)

So let's take these one at a time...

Kindergarten
So far the year has been great!  Tommy really likes his teacher Mrs. Darby and seems to be making some good friends.  I was just able to volunteer in his classroom last week for the first time.  It was so much fun and I loved being around the kids.  I am volunteering in his class at least once a month and then I am also being the Art Literature (a volunteer parent program) teacher.

Was he excited or what?

Southside Soccer
This has been great!  Tommy is on a 6 person co-ed team called the "Purple Hornets" - there are three boys and three girls on the team.  We practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays and then our games are on Saturday.  Our last game is tomorrow.  We are working with Tommy on sportsmanship and not grabbing onto the other players during practice or games.

Pre-Ballet Class
Morgan started her first ballet class in September.  She loves it and constantly asks if it is ballet day.  She is taking it with her friend Hannah.

Bridesmaid Dress/Diana's Wedding
My sister Diana's wedding is in December and over the summer we found a bridesmaid dress...YAY!  So we are set to go there.  This fall has been busy with a shower and a weekend bachelorette party so the festivities are fully underway.  We are looking forward to her intimate wedding in Whistler in December.

Potty Training
Morgan is mostly potty trained, if mom stays on top of it...not necessarily if I do not remind her, but we are getting there.  I am looking forward to no more diapers in this house!

Travel
We had two weddings in Seattle in August, so that was really busy and then I went to Indiana to surprise some of my best friends from college in September.  It was such a fun weekend and they were so surprised! It was awesome.  I have to give a big shout out to their husbands who helped me pull off the surprise - so THANK YOU Nathan and Josh!  You guys rock!

Me, Krisha and Kiera...LOVE these ladies!

Mike and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary in Seattle because Mike had a Microsoft conference that he was attending and it gave me a reason to spend three days in Seattle.  SO much fun!

Steph and Mike on our anniversary night after dinner at RN74 in Seattle

Health Coaching
Since February I have lost over 85 pounds.  Most of you who know me know I have been exercising my little heart out for the past 5 years; however, the weight that I wanted to lose was not coming off my body.  My friend, health coach and now business mentor, Susan, had done Take Shape for Life and become a coach about 2 1/2 years ago.  I was very interested in doing the program, but it just never seemed to be the right time.  Finally in January of 2012, I pulled the trigger.  It was time to get this weight off!  So I began the program in February and was very committed to it. Because this program has been so successful for me, I decided I wanted to pay this healthy journey forward so I decided to become a Health Coach with Take Shape for Life.  I am having a great time helping people and really look forward to chatting with anyone about what I have done/am currently doing!

I do not have a current before and after photo, but it will be coming soon...stay tuned!

So there is the update on the Leeper family...things are busy and it seems like it is not going to slow down until the New Year.

Drop me a note and let me know what you have been up to!

Cheers to so much happening that I have not had a moment to blog :)