Weight Loss 101

About two months ago I decided to get serious about losing weight. I need to lose 40 pounds and over the last five years have lost 20 of those pounds over and over again. This time I decided to keep at it till I lose every last pound!!!


I signed up for Weight Watchers Online the beginning of August and started walking the dog--great exercise till it gets cold. I am losing slowly but am losing--10 pounds in two months. Thirty more pounds to go! My clothes are already getting loose and some are ready to go to Goodwill.


I will post before and after pictures when I reach my goal!  If you would like to consider Weight Watchers just click on the link. Until October 15 Weight Watchers Online has free signup when you join for three months at $17.95 per month. What a deal! 


On Monday, Dr. Oz introduced his Transformation Nation Million Dollar You--a plan in partnership with Weight Watchers to encourage weight loss, healthy eating and exercise. You can learn more about the Transformation Nation Million Dollar You by clicking HERE.


You will definitely hear more about my weight loss journey--hopefully more good than bad. Kat

Beauregard!

Okay, a little background here. We adopted a Great Dane dog from the Willamette Great Dane Rescue in Portland about nine years ago. His name was Blue. The couple who had him since he was a puppy had to move into an apartment and couldn't keep him so wanted to place him through the Willamette Great Dane Rescue. I don't know how much you know about Great Danes, but they have a lifespan of 8-9 years. Blue lived to be 11 years old but passed away the middle of July. About two weeks after Blue died, my husband said he needed to call Lynn at Willamette Great Dane Rescue to put our name on their waiting list for another dog. My husband thought it might take a couple of months for Lynn to find the right dog for us. Well...two weeks later we got a call from Lynn telling us there was a 15 month old, male Great Dane in The Dalles who needed a home. So much for a couple of months!!!

My hubby went right over to check out the situation! The dog had (has) issues--fear of men and fear of anyone wearing a hat. He was very attached to his female owner. My husband is very tall so decided to kneel down to let the dog get used to him. The dog circled around behind him and bit him on the upper arm! He is a very beautiful dog and my husband decided he wanted him in spite of the fact that he got bit. However, the dog wouldn't get into the pickup with my husband so he ended up having the owner ride to our house with the dog and then stay for a bit while he got a little more comfortable. The first night neither my husband nor I could get close to him but the next day I was his best friend. The third day we had him my husband still could not pet him or get close to him so I sat on my husband's lap and petted the dog. Then he started petting him and I quit. After that my husband could pet him if he was sitting or lying down. When my husband was standing up he was just too intimidating for the poor thing.

The dog came with the name of Scooby but we changed it to Beau (lady's man) and it fits him perfectly. After two months he is getting over his fear of men although when my husband is gone all day and comes home after dark Beau is spooked by him. He hasn't bit anyone recently. He still thinks I am the best thing since sliced cheese:) He has a lot of energy so we have been walking him three miles in the mornings and a mile and a half most evenings. This has been great for my weight loss but also channels some of that energy. Beau has a funny habit if sitting on the furniture--he just backs up and sits down. It looks so funny as you can see in the picture above. His favorite seats are my husband's chair and a loveseat we have on the deck.


Beau is a great dog and we feel very fortunate to have him. His personality is really starting to blossom. I will be so happy though when he gets secure enough to stop following me from room to room. He is getting a little better about it but still has a ways to go. 


I will keep you posted on our rescue dog experience.


Have a great day!  Kat

Taco Soup

Well, I am a couple of days behind but will try to catch up. Arrived at my daughter's yesterday and plan to stay till next Wednesday. Today we went to the YMCA to exercise after taking my granddaughter to school. Then my daughter dropped me off at the tanning salon where I spent a very relaxing 10 minutes in the tanning bed before walking to my daughter's. Whew! Busy morning.


Today I want to share a very yummy recipe for fall. My family loves soup when the weather starts to cool and the days get shorter. 


Taco Soup


1 lb hamburger (crumbled) or 1 can Worthington Vege-burger
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cups water
2 (16 oz) cans stewed tomatoes
2 (16 oz) cans kidney beans
1 (16 oz) can tomato sauce
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
Shredded cheddar cheese
Corn chips
sour cream


In large saucepan cook burger and onions in 1 tsp. olive oil till burger is done and onions are tender. Add water, tomatoes, kidney beans, tomato sauce and taco seasoning. Simmer covered 15 minutes.  


Enjoy! Kat

New Stamping Projects

Sorry to be away for soooo long but it was for my mental health. I was on overload and had to just let a few things go for awhile--blogging was one of them. But, I am back and ready to roll.


I have two months worth of stamping projects to share with you so hope you enjoy seeing them as much as we did doing them!

This first project from our August Happy Stampers group. It was CASED from Dawn Griffith (surprise!) at Dawn's Stamping Thoughts. Dawn's card was monochromatic but we decided to try out the 2011-2013 In Colors in the new Stampin' Up Idea Book & Catalog. The base of the card is Lucky Limeade Card Stock and the pinwheels are in Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade and Pool Party. The Designer Paper is from the 2011-2013 In Color Designer Paper Pack. The stamp set used was Sweets for the Sweet--sooo cute! One of the ladies in our stamping club chose to do her card all in Pool Party and it turned out cute as well. 

The picture for this second project is a little fuzzy and I apologize for that. I really need to get a better system for photographing my cards:( I had been wanting to do a black & white card and found this one but can't remember who's website I found it on. If it is yours, please let me know so I can give you credit for this very elegant card! I used the stamp set called Because I Care (retired--Level 1 Hostess set from last year). Base card is in Whisper White Card Stock with Basic Black then Whisper White layered on top. I used Basic Pearls as centers of three of the flowers and black grograin ribbon "tied" it all together. I made several of these to use as sympathy cards plus made a few Thank You cards as well using red grograin ribbon instead of the black.

I am not in to Halloween at all but the ladies in my stamping group wanted to do a Halloween card sooo... I have to admit, this one turned out very cute! The idea is totally CASED from the current Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalog!! The base card is Rich Razzleberry Card Stock with a layer of Rich Razzleberry Designer Paper on top. I stamped the Bingo Card stamp Rich Razzleberry Card stock and trimmed to fit. I didn't have the First Edition Designer Series Paper shown in the original so photocopied a page out of a magazine and used that for the strip across the middle. Also didn't have the Scallop Trim Border Punch used in the original so used a pair of Fiskars Decorative Scissors to cut the Certainly Celery trim at the top and bottom of the Bingo Card. I used the Spooky Bingo Bits stamp set to stamp the little Bingo pieces using Basic Black, Rich Razzleberry, Lucky Limeade, Chocolate Chip and Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pads. I cut each of the Spooky Bingo Bits out and attached them with Dimensionals. You will definitely see another Bingo Card project in the future!

This card and the one above we did this week at our Happy Stampers Club meeting! This one is a favorite of mine and I know I will make dozens of these for all occasions. The card was CASED from Diane Burns at To Stamp or Not To Stamp...what a silly question! Diane posts about once a month and has some great ideas! The base of this card is Real Red Card Stock with a layer of Basic Black Card Stock on top. The butterflies are cut out of Basic Black Card Stock using the Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die for the Big Shot. The small butterfly was attached to the larger butterfly using a glue dot then Basic Rhinestones were attached to the center of each butterfly. Diane's original used First Edition Designer Series Paper (and again I didn't have any) but I used music torn out of an old piano book. The edge was punched using the Spiral Border Punch. I added the Thank You stamp (retired) and punched the pieces using the Modern Label Punch and the Word Window Punch.


Next week I will be visiting my daughter in western Washington and am hoping to do some stamping with her. So will share with you what we do.


Monday's post will be back to recipes:) Tuesday's post will be about our new dog--quite a story!!! Wednesday I will share with you about my 10+ weight loss and continuing journey. So be sure to check back as I love sharing with you.


Have a great day and a super weekend!  Kat