Move It and Lose It!

After much discussion with friends and family, it seems that there's a general discontent with our health and weight. Jon and I decided to start tracking our weight and making more efforts to lose it. We set up a cool little chart to show our weight loss. But, to engender a bit more accountability and competition, we'd like to open up the challenge to everyone!

So here's the deal. If you'd like to lose weight (more than 5 pounds, please) and be involved in our little Move It and Lose It challenge, let me know in a comment! I'll set up a chart with the participants' names, and you can do a personal "weigh-in" every Friday and log it on the chart for all the participants to see. (It won't be up here on the blog.) AND, if everyone who participates will send me $5, then whoever loses the most weight (or gets closest to their goal weight, or something like that) will win the money collected in the form of a gift card to his/her favorite clothing store, since we'll all need new clothes to fit our new selves! (Or, if you're like me, your closet full of clothes will fit again.)

Our first weigh-in will be tomorrow, but you can sign up through next Friday, February 27. The challenge will last 6 months, to the end of August. The more the merrier! (And the better the prize will be in the end!)

Yummy chocolatey-ness

So the other day I got a hankering for Jason's Deli chocolate mousse. You know, the one on the salad bar. Anyway, not only did I end up going to Jason's Deli, I also found a recipe for something similar. Then I got the wrong sizes of ingredients and a little bit extra and came up with my own recipe, purely by accident. That being said, it's pretty dang good!

So here it is, Chocolate Mousse:

Ingredients:
1 lg. pkg (5.85oz, I believe) instant chocolate pudding
2 1/4C milk (I had skim)
8 oz. extra creamy cool whip, thawed
1/2C semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

Mix the pudding and milk. Fold in cool whip. Add chocolate chips. Chill in fridge (I waited overnight, but I bet it'd be good in an hour or so). Stir and serve! Garnish with chocolate chips, if desired.

The second time I made this, I used 16oz cool whip, which is what the original recipe calls for. It's not as thick or rich, but still good, and goes further at parties. I'd still go with 8oz, but Jon recommends 16, hence this paragraph.

And um...yes, I did have seconds just so I could take the photo.

Twenty-Nine

To my husband,
Twenty-nine things I love about you:

1. You make silly faces at the camera.
2. You encourage my photography.
3. You talk to our cats.
4. You are always learning.
5. You change dirty diapers.
6. You ask forgiveness if you're wrong.
7. You come up with recipes to make for dinner...and make them!
8. You make conversations count.
   
9. You make sure my gas tank is full before I go to the office every week.
10. You make sacrifices for the sake of relationships.
11. You are generous to those in need.
12. You can always answer questions about the Bible.
13. You save money.
    
14. You are all bark and no bite.
15. You call me every day from work.
16. You understand my need to get out of the house at the end of the day, and will get out with me even though you just want to be at home.
17. You wash diapers every night.
18. You think my postpartum self is beautiful.
    
19. You always have good advice.
20. You make me feel safe.
21. You appreciate a good musical.
22. You get groceries, and always come back with a surprise.
23. You can have a good conversation with anyone.
24. You are my news reporter/interpreter.
25. You tolerate my meddling in your routine.
26. You came to every prenatal appointment.
27. You are romantic.
28. You balance the check book.
29. You love me!!

Happy Birthday!! I love you.

Recipe for Wellness

In line this morning at the grocery store:
Both in front of and behind me, people whose only purchases were boxes of Nyquil. My purchases? Zinc, Vitamin C, and orange juice.

Looks like shorts yesterday and coats today wasn't kind to anybody!