Road Trip

Shane is on vacation this week so we started searching for things to do... I remember hearing about the Children's Museum of Naples from a few different moms a while back so I decided to look into it.  We decided to go and Im so glad we did.  Everything there is geared towards toddlers up to about age 5 (in my opinion) So it was perfect for Savannah! So much to do there, she didn't even know where to begin!

Here's our trip through pictures, enjoy!

(I was bummed when I realized I forgot our good camera, so I was stuck taking all the pics on our phones.  These were the least blurry ones)

On our way!

We made it!

First stop- she just stood there looking around for a few seconds before getting started

Next up, the restaurant, making pasta

 This was so neat! A "real" play size kitchen

 Then onto the grocery store

 Outside there is another play area and a water area....

Back inside, she jumped up on a chair and said "Pen?" Pen?"

"Pet-land"

Our little Veterinarian

 The Art Room

They had a TV production room, you could actually record yourself on the screen, OF course we had to try it out!

The Mother Nature area...

 "Fall"

 Rake the leaves, then put them in the wheel barrel.

 Then you can put the leaves in the blower, it blows then up and then they come falling down on you

 IGLOO, she didn't want to go in at first....

The Ice wall

 It was a lot of fun for her, next time we'll have to go with her buddy Anthony, he would LOVE it!

After stopping for lunch, she was out!

SkinnyCandi - Going Strong

My SkinnyCandi plan is still is full effect! I must say, I feel great! (Except for having a tooth pulled today) I'm still going to the gym Monday through Friday, no exceptions. And I've decided the best thing for me to do is "Mix it Up".  I cannot do the same workout everyday, I'd never stick with it. So I do Step class every Monday, Spin on Wednesdays and Blast class on Thursdays.  On the other days I'll do the machines.  Plus I'll always get in a little extra cardio or weights before and after class.  Can you believe all that?  Because, honestly...I can't.  Who is this new girl? Never have I been this consistent.  Never has it come so easy for me.  Never have I felt so damn good! Sure, I have my days where I'd rather stay home in the morning, but really I know it's not even an option.  I fear missing a day, because in the past when I would miss "a day" that would always turn into two days then three and before you know it, it's been a month and the gym is a distant memory.

I refuse to let that happen again.  I also refuse to let small setbacks force me to give up.  Setbacks such as getting sick, showing a gain on scale (ugh, that's a biggy), no loss at all, or eating bad.  All of those things have been an excuse to quit in the past.  I'm not letting it happen now.  I have pushed through all of it in the past 2 1/2 months (jeesh, seems like it's been much longer since started) and I just feel great about it.

Now as far as actual weight loss goes, I am losing but I really am trying to stay away from the scale.  When I weighed in after Christmas and New Years I gained 4 lbs.  I was so upset about it.  Sure I was slightly off my routine and ate things I wasn't normally eating but for the most part I still stuck to the program so a 4 lb gain was very disappointing.  I had to work my butt off the next 3 weeks just to get those 4 lbs off, again.  That really ticks me off.  I don't want to have to lose the same weight twice! So the last I checked I was down 16 lbs.  But I have a feeling I've lost more, strictly going by my clothes.  Every thing is loose.  I've already had to go down a size in my work pants.. ahem.. last season's "skinny" work pants might I add.  Meaning, I only wore them on days when I could squeeze my big butt into them. And now they are just too big and baggy.  I must say that is a damn good feeling.

My next challenge that Im so looking forward to? losing the next 8 lbs! No, I won't be at my goal weight, but I will be under my "wedding day weight", which was the smallest I'd been in years. Im so ready for that!

So that about wraps up my update on SkinnyCandi.

I need to have the hubby take a current full body pic so I can do a side by side, maybe we'll do that tomorrow and I can share it with you.  For now I only have this one ... I already posted it on Facebook. But I like it.  I can see the happiness in my face... and hey, how about my new do?? I'm loving it!

First Starbucks

After working most of the day we decided to go out for an early dinner.  Afterwards we wanted to get some ice cream and take Savannah to the park.  Great plan, right?  Well, stopping at McDonald's for ice cream then heading to the nearest park turned into going to Chic-fil-a for a shake and letting Savannah play in their "play area" then going to Target to get a few things.  Chic-fil-a is right in front of Target so it sounded like a good plan.  Welllll..... we totally forgot Chic-fil-a is CLOSED on Sundays. Damn.  So poor Savannah got suck with no ice cream and no park. Poor girl.  So we ended up getting Starbucks in Target and she got her very own strawberries and cream shake. She loved it! And loved that it was all hers!  She'll get her park time in tomorrow :)

Playing at Sonny's after dinner..

 YUM! I like it Mom!

 She's got her eye on you!

Keeping it close by ;)

A Belated Eulogy to my Father in Law

My last post was the day after Christmas.  I've been putting off even getting on the blog because I knew I had to talk about my father in law's passing and I just wasn't ready. Honestly, I'm still not.

He had cancer and for about the past 5 months was getting treatment. The treatment process was a roller coaster, he had his ups and more so, his downs.  But even with all of the downs, we still had hope.  However on December 24th, our hope was crushed.  His scans came back that the cancer had spread to his liver, the doctor said he had 2 months to live.  Just typing that last sentence brings tears to my eyes.  I think about how he must have felt when he heard those words.  There was nothing left to do.  This amazing, strong, wonderful, 64 years young man was going to die.

We celebrated Christmas, but it was a Christmas that will never be forgotten.  Our last Christmas with Pop, and we all knew it.  From that day on he worsened tremendously by the hour.  It was sad, it was awful, it was horrible.  By the next week he was admitted into Hospice.  What I saw on January 4th, in that room, will never leave me, it is almost unexplainable.  How could I even begin to explain watching someone die, watching someone you love take their last breath.  Watching my husband and mother in law who were the closest people in the world to him, have to watch this.   Again, I can't explain it.  

Pop took his last breath at 6:35pm on Friday January 4th.  11 days after he was told he had 2 months to live, he was gone. 

{Memories - My Eulogy}

You know, I never thought when I took a job at my Uncles construction company 9 years ago that I would meet my soul mate.  Or should I say my soul mates father? Because I met him first.  Mike and I became friends, he would come into the office every morning and talk with me a little and make me laugh; I always looked forward to him walking through the door.  Then I found out the cute guy with matching red hair was his son.  I watched their relationship in admiration.  This was a time where my dad was not a part of my life and I didn't know if he ever would be.  I could see such a respect between the two of them but I also saw a friendship and a father and son.  It was obvious, he was a great dad but one day I found out he was also a great husband.  He came in the office and was flipping through his folder, I noticed a picture of a woman on the front of his notebook and I asked him "is that your wife?" he said "Yes, I like to keep her with me throughout the day" as if that wasn't enough to melt my heart, he then said "You know Candi, I tell my wife every morning how beautiful she is" He was so sincere about it that I remember thinking "what a lucky lady she is" Another memory for me was one day at work some how we got talking about me not having a boyfriend (this was before Shane and I were dating) and I just remember him making the funniest comment to me, he said "Hunny, if I was 30 years younger and 30 pounds lighter, I would snatch you right up" Of course, he was just being funny but it was sweet none the less.

It wasn't much later after that, that Shane asked me out to our first lunch date.  I like to think Mike had something to do with it.  We had such a great work friendship that I like to believe he wanted his son and I together.  So about a week later Shane asked me if I would like to go see the Lynyrd Skynyrd concert with him and his family.  I thought that was awesome, and that's where I learned of Mike's love of (great) music.  I remember thinking to myself "I was made to be in this family".

The funeral service was last Friday and when the time came for friends and family to get up and speak, I wanted to so bad.  I wanted to tell the stories I just told.  But I couldn't.  I knew I couldn't get through it.  But there was a huge part of me that still wanted to share these stories.  I never told Pop how much I loved him, how much I respected him, how great of a dad he was and how much I enjoyed our times together.

I love you Pop.  You will be missed every day.