Before and current pictures

Okay, we aren't quite at 50 pounds, but close enough. :) Here are pictures of our weight loss progress so far. I'm really proud of us and it's nice to meet a goal that I set last January. I'm excited to see our progress in a few more months. 

Week 10 update

First, this is just ridiculous! Look at this lazy dog!

Okay, moving on! I spent some time last week organizing some main areas in our apartment. Brad and I started with our medifast food. Our boxes get all mixed up in the pantry and it takes up two shelves. Mess. So, we now have them organized by meal as pictured below. :) 

I even labeled the drawers so we know who's is who's. I don't like some of the things Brad has, so I didn't want to mix up our food. 

Our friends may come to visit and this is a little gift basket we put together for them with snack foods, since we don't have any in our house. 

My final organization project was my craft area. It was driving me crazy! My new Imagine (which I love) takes up my whole desk, leaving me no work space. So, I had to think of something else. We went to Target and got this shelf for $30, plus some cute rubbermaid containers for all of my paper and wa-la! New craft area. 

Here is a picture of my craft corner. I love the work space that I have now!

Now onto the news you have been waiting for! We had our 10th weigh in this week and we both lost... during the holidays. That's what happens when you don't cheat... at all! I lost another 4 pounds for a total of 45.6 pounds!! Brad lost another 2.5 for a total of 47.6 pounds! Together, we have lost 93.2 pounds! 

A few random's....

Tonight I actually cooked. If you know me, you know that these events are few and far between. Brad is definitely the chef in our house. I made a vegetable quiche with spinach, zucchini, mushrooms, and broccoli. It was so delicious! Brad likes to add some salsa for some extra flavor. 

 We aren't going home for Christmas, which is totally okay. We went home for 2 weddings this year and figured we would save some money by staying in Texas. It's been a little hard being away from family, especially when I see so many of my friends going home. But, Christmas from home came to us. We got packages from both my mom and dad today! Our tree is pretty full underneath. 

Another reason that not going home is okay.... our friends Katie and Chris will be here on Monday!! I can't wait to see them! Fortunately, we see each other frequently but not enough at all! 

Tomorrow's agenda: organizing our Medifast food. (I'll post pictures for all you Medifaster's out there) I have discovered that when I am out of work, I blog more. Hopefully these will stay steady! 

Taking note from a few blogs...

I saw these on a couple of other blogs and thought they would be something fun. :)

Next: Top 10 Ways you know Christmas is here!

10. Christmas decorations every where!
9. My credit card has too much on it!
8. The million emails I get every day for online sales
7. Lifetime Christmas movies
6. SNL Christmas Special
5. Hearing "Last Christmas" every time I am in the car
4. No more work!!
3. Packages are arriving almost daily!
2. I have more chocolate in my house than I did 2 months ago. Anyone want some chocolate?
1. Kids are crying every time I go to Target!

Craft time!

I have been crafting away the past few weeks. However, I'll share a few with you because I forgot to get pictures of the others. 

First, I made these crayon people, an idea from Pinterest. If you haven't gotten on pinterest yet, let me know and I will invite you! It's amazing!! Both of these crafts were door prizes at our school's Christmas party. 

The plates were my first experience with Vinyl. I'm not so afraid of it anymore and want to try more things. I need to order more colors online since our stores here only carry white, brown, blue, and pink. Random. I put the vinyl on chargers that I got from Hobby Lobby for $1. I think they would have looked better in silver. Next time.

School is out tomorrow and I am hoping to try some more pinterest projects. Keep checking back for more projects!

Week 9 update

Well, another week down and Brad and I have lost a total of 86.8 pounds between the two of us! If someone would have told me that we could drop 40 pounds in two months, I would have called them a liar! Brad's total is 45.2 pounds and I have lost 41.6 pounds!!

We are getting ready for Christmas and I have had to get rid of a lot of sweets that students and coworkers have given me. Luckily, I have friends that will happily take these things off of my hands. I will try to get before and current pictures sometime this week so you can see our progress. In the meantime, here is a head shot from my work Christmas party.

8 week update

Wow! We have been on this weight loss journey for 8 weeks! I haven't had an egg mcmuffin in two months! I haven't had a piece of chocolate in two months! GASP!! I can't believe I am still alive! Who would have thought?? Well, here is an update on our progress in 2 months.

Kristen
Upper arms: -0.5 inches
Chest: -1.9 inches
Waist: -7.5 inches (not sure how accurate this is. I think we measured in a different spot week 2
Hips: -4.5 inches
Thighs: -0.5 inches

Total inches lost: 14.9!!
I am down 37 pounds in only two months!
I am under 250 for the first time in years. I can't even remember when I weighed less than 250. That's how long it's been.
Back down to a size 18 in pants and XL in shirts.


Brad
Upper arms: -0.5 inches
Chest: -1.5 inches
Waist:-3.5 inches
Hips: -2.5 inches
Thighs: -1 inch

Total inches lost: 9!!
Brad is down 42.5 pounds!
Down to 2X shirts and 50 pants, but even those are falling off of him. We haven't really shopped to see Brad's current pant size.

We have tried a lot of new recipes and I now like several veggies that I didn't like before. I haven't craved chocolate, which is amazing! Brad still misses Mexican and Chinese food so I am trying to find Medifast recipes that meet these genres of food.

December... where did you come from?

Wow!! I can't believe it is already December. Brad and I have been busy shopping, decorating, and dieting! Our diet is going well and we just ordered our third month of food. We have been trying some new healthy recipes. Brad is quite the chef!

Here is our weight loss update:

Brad has lost a total of 38.4 lbs. and I have lost 33.4 lbs!

I have gone down a pant size and am officially a size 18 again! I haven't seen this size for a while. We are pretty sure Brad has gone down a size or two also considering he is having a hard time keeping his pants up. We are both at our weight before we moved to Texas. Now, we have to survive the holiday season!!

We will do some before and after pictures soon... maybe! ;-)

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I know, it's a little late. :) We had a nice, healthy Thanksgiving meal that Chef Brad prepared for us. We had smoked turkey, green beans, tomato and cucumber salad and mashed cauliflower. 

We were a little worried about the amount of sodium in the brine, but it all turned out so delicious!

Brad and I are continuing our weight loss journey and have had a lot of success! Brad has lost 35 pounds and I have lost 31! 

I have so much to be thankful for this year! I thought about posting every day but I couldn't keep up with that. :) Today I am truly thankful for Brad for supporting me on this diet and doing all the research it takes to come up with healthy meals. God knows I couldn't do it on my own!

Another week down!

This weight loss journey continues to prove successful. :) Brad has lost 30 pounds and I have lost 26! Madness!!

Diamond Earrings!

Exciting times in our household! I found out last week that I won 3 carat diamond earrings from a raffle ticket! I picked them up today and they are beautiful! The pictures do not even begin to do them justice. I think they are officially the most expensive thing I own!

1 month measurements

Brad and I will finish our first month of Medifast tomorrow! I will post weight updates then. For now, I have how many inches I have lost!

Chest: 1.9 inches
Waist: 6 inches
Hips: 2 inches
Thighs: 0.1 inch

I haven't had any change in my arms, but I am losing big time in my core! We went to Florida for Sara's wedding this week. I'll post more about that later. However, I went through a wedding, bachelorette party, and staying in a hotel and didn't cheat once! I can't believe it!

2 weeks down....

2 weeks down and our weight is dropping like flies! Brad lost 4.4 lbs this week, bringing his total loss to 18.4 pounds!!! I lost 3.2 this week, bringing my total loss to 14 pounds!!

Thanks for your support and encouragement. It hasn't been easy, but we can do hard things!

And the journey continues....

Brad and I are about to end week 2 of our weight loss journey. I am anxious to weigh in tomorrow to see our progress. Originally, I thought about measuring every month. However, today I decided I want to see progress more often and am going to measure every 2 weeks. Brad's measurements from last time didn't save, so we aren't exact on how many inches he went down. We know he lost an inch in his waist! Yay! GO Brad!!

Fortunately, my measurements from the first week saved. So far, I have lost 5.7 inches total!! Here is the breakdown:

1 inch from my chest
3.7 inches from my waist
1 inch from my hips

My arms and legs stayed the same... for now. Thanks for sharing our journey and our success with us. We will continue to keep you updated!

Diet update week 1

We survived!! Week one of our diet is over and we are still alive!!

Here is an update:
I lost 10.4 lbs.
Brad lost 14 lbs!!!

It's definitely working and I hope we can stay motivated. Thanks for the extra thoughts and prayers as we work towards healthier Shummies!

*gasp* Don't say the four letter word!!

If you know Brad and I personally, you know that we have struggled with our weight. I have tried Weight Watchers for the past year and learned there is too much freedom. "Oh this piece of chocolate won't hurt." A week later.... "why didn't I lose this week?" So, we are trying something new tomorrow. We spent our weekend cleaning out all of the tempting food. I have 2 boxes of food to give to a friend!! This is the first time I have ever done that! We took measurements, before pictures, planned meals and I think we are ready!!

So, wish us luck! We'll keep you updated with our progress. When I'm not totally disgusted with my before picture and have made some progress, I'll post picture progress. :)

Think Pink!

First, check out the cute stamp I found! I love it! 

Okay, now on to our main topic... 

Why do you wear pink? Breast Cancer Awareness is something very near and dear to my heart. I think pink all year!! Both of my grandmother's are breast cancer survivors. I am so proud of them and the fight they won! Unfortunately, I could fill this page with cancer stories from our family. We have been hit hard. However, a most have survived and it is a blessing that I don't take for granted. 

My friend Amie has been battling cancer for over 3 years now. She is my age (30ish) and started with breast cancer years ago. She beat her breast cancer and it came back, this time in her liver. 4 years ago she was given 3 months to live. After some research studies with doctors at M.D. Anderson in Houston, Texas and a lot of prayer, Amie is still alive and kicking!! Her tumor count is down and has beat the odds! I am so proud of her. She could have given up, but she decided to keep on fighting! 

Finally, here is my tattoo. I designed it and waited a long time to get it. I couldn't decide where I wanted it. Then, I was scared of the pain. When I went to New Orleans for a Bachelorette party in May, I decided to go for it! I love it and the courageous women it reminds me of. 

I have added two things to my bucket list: 

1. Participate in Avon's one day walk in Houston

2. Participate in the Susan G. Komen 3 day walk

I will keep you posted on these adventures. 

Suggestions needed

There is this thing I want to do for my students and I need your advice. I would love to have a Skype session with a children's author. I want an author to talk about how they come up with their ideas and connect their illustrations with the text. Our librarian is an author, so I am going to ask her but she is busy with two campuses. Plus, I would love someone like Marc Brown. Hmmm.... I am going to write fan clubs and what not. I wonder if I could put in my note to Marc Brown, "Remember me! My friend and I drove you to the airport during the Florida Reading Conference." Okay, what are your suggestions? If you could talk to a Children's Book Author, who would you want to talk to?

Exhausted!

I am so tired and I have so many things I want to do. I feel like I haven't crafted in a while and I hope I can get to it this weekend. I am in the midst of wedding countdown for my little sister. My dress came in this week. I have been writing out shower invites and planning a bachelorette party. So.... hopefully I'll have some crafts to share with you soon. :)

Good Day!

Don't you love good days?? I do! Here are the reasons I had a good day:

1. I finished round 1 of reading assessments on my kiddos!
2. I have an amazing team and I love my job.
3. My hubby took his usual video game night off to spend time with me. (Tues and Thurs are Video Game nights for him)
4. My Journey (Pink Ribbon) Cricut cartridge game in today!!!
5. I won my first piece of blog candy! I won a cuttlebug item.... I don't have one of those yet. I may have to look into it.
6. I get to wear a hat to work tomorrow. This is awesome because a) I don't have to fix my hair and b) I can support my Gators!

Hope you had a great day!

Thank you!

Thank you for participating in my first blog hop! I am thankful that it was a success! And... new followers! Welcome!! Have a great weekend!

National Teddy Bear Day

Welcome to National Teddy Bear Day! To celebrate, we are having a Teddy Bear blog hop! You should have come over from Cherie at One Heart Scrapper. Thanks to Jen for hosting this wonderful event. 

Teddy bears are, of course, named after US President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt. The name came about after a 1902 hunting expedition. The hunt had found no game, so at the end of the day someone brought out a baby bear and suggested that Roosevelt might like to shoot it instead. Roosevelt understandably felt that this was not exactly sporting and refused. The incident was illustrated in a newspaper cartoon entitled "Drawing the Line" - which also referred to the political situation at the time. An enterprising New York toymaker saw an opportunity and brought out a cute stuffed bear named "Teddy's Bear". The rest, as the say, is history. (Taken from: http://www.festivology.com/topics/teddy.html)

Right now, Texas is in desperate need of bear hugs and rain!!  Bear hugs always make us feel better and there is no better comfort than that of a teddy bear. I used Pooh and Friends for the font, A Child's Year for the bear, and Wild Card for the boot! Consider it a Cricut potpourri. Head on over to Paper Memories for your final stop in our blog hop! Enjoy!

Here is a list of the participating blogs:

www.jenscraftcorner.com

http://jeanscraftycorner.blogspot.com

http://jk-littlebitofbling.blogspot.com

http://annetteasalinas.blogspot.com

http://youhadmeatscrap.blogspot.com

http://www.patternsbysher.blogspot.com

http://teachdanz.blogspot.com

http://evasscrapsncards.blogspot.com

http://1krazeemama.blogspot.com

http://stampinpearls.blogspot.com

http://expressionsbyelaine.blogspot.com

http://Scrapsbysissy.blogspot.com

http://ICrea8Cards.blogspot.com

http://edoggsugarlipsandprincessbuttercup.blogspot.com

http://www.lindascreativity.blogspot.com

http://www.mypassion4scrappin.blogspot.com/

http://oneheartscrapper.blogspot.com/

http://www.theshumberas.blogspot.com

http://papermemories4u.blogspot.com

Back to work!

Man, going back to work has been nice, but it is draining me! My class is all set up and organized. I have two great groups of kids and I am really enjoying this age group. They say some funny things in second grade. Brad and I spent Labor Day relaxing. Well, mostly relaxing. We finally got a new couch! It is a leather sectional and it is so comfortable compared to our broken, very loved couch and love seat we bought on our first anniversary.

I'm doing my first blog hop on Friday! I need to work on my project for that.... hopefully tomorrow. Be sure to come back and check it out! Happy Tuesday!

Butterfly Blog Award

I received this award from Jen at http://www.jenscraftcorner.com/. Thanks to Jen, I am participating in my first blog hop and I'm super excited!

As part of this award, I have to answer the following 12 questions and pass this on to 6 people.  Here are the answers to my questions:
Name your favorite color? purple, although blue and orange are close seconds :)
Name your favorite song? Don't Stop Believing... it's my motto
Name your favoirte dessert? there are so many choices!! I would have to say anything with white chocolate
What wizzes you off at the moment? I don't have anything today. Ask me tomorrow, and I may have something. :)
Your favorite pet? Daisy girls of course!
Black or white? Black... it's slimming
Your biggest fear? being alone... watch out! I'm getting deep on you!
Best feature? My eyes
Everyday attitude? Glass half full... I always stay on the positive side of things
What is perfection? My love and family
Guilty pleasure? craft supplies and gossip magazines
When you're upset? I watch a sappy movie and get over it

I am awarding this award to the following blogs:

http://brkichblog.blogspot.com/

http://kimboscrafts.blogspot.com/

http://www.fairlyfabulousblog.com/

http://sarahslatestread.blogspot.com/

http://technologyrocksseriously.blogspot.com/

http://kandjstaats.blogspot.com

Some random crafts

While MIL was here, I took her to Michael's to pick out some beads. I made the above necklace for her. 

I made this necklace to wear with our school t-shirts this year. I hope it matches. If it doesn't, I am sure I can find something else to wear it with. 

And, here is another addition to my classroom. The Pooh and Friends font is my favorite font cartridge on my cricut. 

Summer is over...

I have mixed emotions about going back to work. I have really enjoyed my summer relaxing. But, I am also ready to get back to work and back in the swing of things. 

Brad's mom came to visit us for two weeks. She helped me in my classroom, spent a lot of time at the pool, and helped take care of Brad. He had his wisdom teeth pulled last Monday. Fun times at the Shumbera's! We took M.I.L. to Messina Hof for a tour of the vineyard and some wine tasting. As you can see in the picture, the summer heat has really hurt our crops, even our grapes. :( I am ready for fall and am thankful for the small rain shower we are having this very minute!

Below is a picture of us with M.I.L. It was a little windy, but still too hot to spend a lot of time outside. 

 I still can't believe that we have been married 8 years!! I love this guy so much!

So much to do!

Over the summer, our school got a sprinkler system (in the building)! This allows us to prop open our doors! Yay! However, since we have had a construction crew in our building, we haven't been allowed in. This week, we are allowed to go in during the morning hours. Dawn and I have been there every morning since. Here are some before pictures of my room. And yes.... I have carpeted walls. 

This is all of my stuff I moved from my old 4th grade room. I have a lot of stuff! Fortunately, Brad's mom has been a tremendous help!! I wouldn't be this far along if it weren't for her. I will post more pictures as I get stuff done!

Door Poster

I made this sign to hang on my classroom door. I am feeling groovy this year and going away from my sports theme. I made this sign with the Groovy Lite cartridge. It may have a different name. I got it at Walmart! I bought the poster at Jacque's, a local teacher store and cut out the letters.

Right now, I am trying to decide what to call my job board. I have a sports one from last year, but I kinda want something different. I don't know. I may use the same one but since I am changing grades, I may need to make my jobs second grade appropriate. Any suggestions?

Brad's Office Visit

This month marks Brad's one year with Texas A&M. I decided that it was about time we hung his diplomas on his office wall. If I had an office, I would totally hang my diplomas up. He also had a clock in his office that hasn't worked for the past year. It has been stuck on 6:55. Ridiculous. So, new clock. Diplomas on the wall. He has officially claimed the office. :)

Did I mention Brad's mom came with me? She's here for a little over a week. I should also mention that it is hot here!! "Extreme heat advisory" since the weekend. I'm ready for cooler weather!

Special Guest

Brad's mom came to town on Thursday. :) We have been spoiled with home cooked meals. I don't think I have cleaned a dish since she has been here! So far we have had meatloaf, an egg dish, and tonight we are having pork chops. Yummy! I taught Dawn the art of necklace making. Other than that, we have been relaxing and enjoying the last few weeks of summer.

Cricut in the classroom

If you are a teacher thinking about getting a Cricut, I highly suggest it!! I use my Cricut all the time to make stuff for my classroom. 

I made this owl from the "Create a Critter" cartridge. Then, the writing is Pooh font, using Cricut markers. You just put the markers in the blade's place and presto! I wanted a "woodsy" look, so it worked out perfectly. I am going to put this in my reading corner with a library pocket for each student. Then, when they "check out" a book for me, they will put that card in their library pocket. I'm hoping this helps me keep track of all of my books!

Who likes plain binder covers?? Not this girl! My theme in my classroom is sports. So, why not made binder covers using our favorite team's colors! Can you guess the teams?

Clipboards

I knew I wanted to make a beginning of the year gift for my new team members. But, I didn't know what to make them. Well, while cleaning out around my house I found 4 clipboards. Where did all of them come from?? I made one for each of my team members. I think for my first "set" they turned out pretty cute. I am looking for ways to improve them. For one, I used Mod Podge to put the paper on and it kept bubbling up. On the last one, I used spray adhesive and that worked a little better. I didn't have any ribbon to match Mrs. Byrd's so I added some bling instead! 

You'll have to turn your head on this one. I couldn't get my picture to turn and I sure tried! After making these, I decided that I need to add more ribbon to my collection. And, I need to buy more full sheet scrapbook paper so there isn't a seam at the bottom. Here's to more improvement! :)

We are at board

 At our school, we have to display where we are on the outside of our door in case someone needs us. Below is a picture of the board I made for my room this year. I used one of my favorite font cartridges, Cuttin' Up on the Cartoon setting. "We are at" is cut at 2.5 inches. The places are 1.5 inches.

I brought in a little bit of island flair with my paper. I wanted something bright to counteract our institutional white walls. 

In the past I have used laminated construction paper or a paper pocket with index cards. I'm looking forward to sporting this board. :) Keep up with more ways to use a cricut in the classroom!

My Pink Stamper Design Challenge

My Pink Stamper is having a challenge! Robyn is choosing new designers for her My Pink Stamper design team! I found this challenge... well, challenging. The challenge was to make a new project using orange, turquoise, green, and brown, which are not colors I usually use! That's what made it so hard. I used one of my favorite cartridges, Wild Card. The cards are fun and funky with some detailed icons and frames. My card is simple, because all of my designs are simple. I will post the recipe at the bottom. The orange icon was my inspiration for the project. I love swirlies! 

 

I made two of these frames, one for the outline and a turquoise one to fill in the frame. I really like the way the frame turned out. 

 If you don't have a Xyron... get one! I use mine all the time, especially for little pieces (such as the small ones used on my frame).

Here is my final product. Like I said... simple. I like the way it turned out. Here is the recipe.

- Basic 5 x 6 1/2 white card

-George and Basic Shapes Rectangle 6 1/4 inches (brown paper)

- George and Basic Shapes Rectangle 5 inches (green paper)

-Wild Card Stitched Icon (shift) cut swirlies on orange paper at 4 inches

- Wild Card Oval Frame (shift) at 5 inches. 

I used this step twice: once on brown, once on turquoise. 

I used the turquoise to fill the frame. 

If I had a My Pink Stamper stamp, I would have used that. But, since I didn't I used my swirliest handwriting and wrote "Happy Birthday". 

Simple. Easy. Perfect for busy ladies! Choose me Robyn!! 

Where did this week go??

I feel like this week flew by so fast! What did I do? I feel like I didn't get anything accomplished! Maybe next week will be more productive. It will have to be! We have a garage sale!

Test

I just downloaded an app on my iPhone. Seeing if it works. Thanks Katie for mentioning this app.

Corpus Christi

Krissy and I spent this past weekend in Corpus for a girls weekend/ archaeology lesson. I learned more about what Krissy studies, and hope to put that knowledge to use in the near future. But, along the way we squeezed in a lot of fun! 

 We started our visit with a Hooks game. The Hooks are a farm team for the Astros. The best part, well there are two fantastic parts. First, we scored free tickets!! Second, Hooks won!!

On Saturday, we went to the Museum and got a behind the scenes tour! Our guide, Eric, took us to the back room where there were a ton of artifacts! It was so cool to see all of this fragile, old treasure! Then, we spent a few hours at the beach. The water felt great, until we kept getting bit by something. Little did we know, there were a ton of jellyfish in the water!

We got back to our room and noticed that it wasn't cleaned but our towels were gone. So they came in our room, took our towels but didn't replace them, and didn't clean our room! Madness! Oh well, we laughed about it. 

This picture was taken while we waited for a seat at Joe's Crab Shack. I know, it's a chain. But, it was on the water and fun! After dinner we went to the Selena statue and searched for a cache, although we weren't successful. This statue made me sad. Selena was beginning to cross over into the American pop scene when her life was taken way too early.

So that fire ant feeling we felt earlier....yeah, here's why. All of the larger white things in the water, those are jellyfish!! Check out how many there are! I couldn't believe it.

Before we left on Sunday we went on a tour of the USS Lexington. These things always amaze me. I couldn't imagine living on one, it's no cruise ship. But they have everything you can imagine! We got a workout and saw some neat things. If you are ever in Corpus, you should check it out!

I had a great time with Krissy. I went someplace new in Texas, which I am always up for. Plus, I got to spend a great weekend with a great friend! I am truly blessed to have such great people in my life.