LAST CALL!!!

Still waiting on a few of you to email your weight loss percentage to me!!!  If I don't hear from you, I'm going to pick our winner!!!

Merry Christmas!!!...and the winner!

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!!!  Not only do I hope you all have the Merriest of Merry Christmasness, but I can't wait to see who our WINNER will be from our quickie little weight loss challenge!!!  Sadly, I wasn't disciplined enough and I can definitely say that I gained back anything I lost...I am weak...

So after all of your Christmas morning celebrations, don't forget to email me your ending weight/percentage lost!  

Christmas LOVE!

I love this season.  LOVE IT, Love it, love it!  {hence the hearts}  It's absolutely my favorite.  And it's called CHRISTMAS.  Not "Holiday".  

Furthermore...why do people from other non-Christian religions celebrate Christmas?!  I respect all religions, but I don't celebrate their special holidays.  ...hmmm....makes me wonder, that's all.  

...and here's this year's tree - a fun change from the red & white peppermint thing I had going on for the last two years.  Peppermint was exciting, but I'm more in the mood for different colors this year.  I found a huge tub of plastic ornaments from Sam's Club and I'm glad I chose plastic because...

...Brooke loves to rip them off with brute force and eat them.  After having four kids, I've finally learned to decorate with plastic!  It's a Christmas Miracle!!! 

My humble Nativity.  The reason for all of my excitement - the birth of our Savior.  I get giddy thinking about how exciting it all must have been for all of us in Heaven, for those waiting His arrival on Earth, and even for the unknowing during that time.  What a beautiful, humble, exciting moment in time. 

{And let's not forget that noble donkey. He/She had an important job!}

Cooking 101-Open Faced Breakfast Sandwich

Okay, so let me paint a picture for you - clap if you can relate: I'm tired out of my mind, yesterday was traumatic, this whole week has been traumatic (I'll explain later), this morning was "late start" for school which means I had a chance to sleep in, but NO, babies don't know what that means, so we all got up, I had four kids up and eager to talk at my face for 2 hours while I'm vigorously rubbing sleep out of my eyes, trying so hard to stay awake.  Milk in the fridge is sour, there's nothing to eat for breakfast. Baby got to 'play' in the toilet (silence means trouble), therefore needing a bath, there are no clean pants for the kids, and I have Christmas decorations strung out all over my living room.  Have you ever had a day like that?!  


SO...got kids fed and off on school busses with lots of love from mom, put baby down for a much needed nap, and as I was standing in my kitchen STARVING, I decided it was a day for.....my ultimate breakfast sandwich. {gasp!} Do you see how marvelous this all comes together?!

You HAVE to try this if you're a fan of this type of breakfast/brunch food.  Some people despise eggs, so those wierdos can ignore this post - but the rest of you will definitely want to try this!

Fresh Ciabatta buns - cut one in half 

One or two eggs, cooked with a little olive oil, salt & pepper 

Swiss Gruyere cheese - mmmmmm.... (no substitutes-do yourself a favor)

Hickory smoked turkey - needs to be smoked on account of the great flavor

Grill bread with a little butter on a cast iron skillet, grill turkey a little on both sides...

Assemble with a little cheese in between and get a fork and knife because breakfast just got exciting!  This is SO good with a cup of cocoa, too.  These flavor combinations are really, really incredible!!!

...kinda makes a hectic morning melt away.

Baby Needs Bling!

...PUT DOWN THE GLUE GUN...

My home has been needing a wreath update for a long time.  I've looked and looked at different ideas and this year I'm drawn to the bright colors - kinda reminds me of an Elf Shop or something!  Anywee-Kadie had the same idea so we went supply shopping yesterday and NOW...may I present to you my latest creation...

This wreath is big, too - it takes up almost the whole width of my door!  My glue gun is smokin'!!!  This worked up really fast, though, and can I just say how much I love glue guns?! I DO think my happy wreathy needs some spray glitter bling, though.  Baby needs BLING!  It needs to sparkle more {because Christmas is sparkly!} and I'm just not getting enough sparkle vibe.  Until then, though, it's going to hang pretty on my door and blast anyone who comes over with a bright, cheery, Christmas welcome!  {It's even got jingle bells!!! gaspity gasp!} 

You start with a bunch of random junk and just start gluing away.  Start with the biggest ornaments, arrange them symmetrically, and fill in the gaps.  You can do it under an hour!  My wreath & most ornaments came from Hobby Lobby and the other ornaments came from a multi-pack at Sam's Club.

WHERE does the time go?!!

Is it just me or do the days just seem to blaze by in a blur?!  {say that 10 times fast!}  I either need to get it together or something because I miss my little bloggie!!!

Okay, first things first:  How's the weight loss challenge going for all of  you?!  I'm not having you report your numbers to me because I think the secrecy gives you advantage in this short of a challenge.  I will say that I've only lost 5 lbs., but since being on my thyroid meds and this whole 'get skinny' challenge, I've lost a total of 11 lbs.  YAY for me!  (...now only 40 more to go... haha.)  Kadie and I are going strong starting tomorrow, though, so look out.

Secondly:  IT'S CHRISTMAS DECOR TIME!!!  {squeal!} Tomorrow I get to dig out all of my yummy, festive fun stuff, plug in my fave Christmas tunes, and decorate.  Okay, let's be honest.  With the exception of my amazing advent tree, my decorations are crap and I'm looking into updating my old stuff - but I'll put up what I have and try to make some newer additions...

...LIKE THESE!  I've been working on some (and ruining others with spray snow-don't buy that stuff), but I hope to have a little mini-forest of trees soon.  {eek!} love these!!! Get the pattern here at Allsorts.  Mine have some hand beading and I love it. I can't wait to show you all of my creations!!!

All Full!!!

Alright, everyone!  You all came through - good for you!!  We've got plenty of teams now - I'm compiling a list - and I"ll post it after my herd comes home from school.  Sorry, but I'm not taking anymore teams at this point - it's 2:50 p.m. Eastern time - if you emailed me sooner than this than I've got you down.  YAY FOR YOU!!!  Now get to work.

Team Spirit!

Okay, Ladies, normally I could understand any hesitancy about jumping off a building, swimming naked with hungry, killer sharks, or dumping acid on my face - BUT SERIOUSLY?!  Why isn't my email inbox full?!  I only have SIX emails!!!  WHAT THE?!  Are you CRAZY?!  Nobody wants to drop a jean size by Christmas and show off a cute tush for Santa?!  (by the way, Santa wants you to drop a jean size...it's his wish.)

Intervention time.  Stop what you're doing right now - grab a buddy - and email me - abbywelker(at)yahoo(dot)com.  We have a few more spots open!!!  You know you want to do this because, well, it's fun, you're going to benefit from it, you're going to feel amazing, and you could win some shopping money!!!  Is there a bad side to this?! 

While you guys get off the couch and email me - here is our team lineup so far:

Team Abby & Kadie (a.k.a. "the Winners")

Team Emma & Buddy (sorry, mom, you're doing this with me...)

Team Ashlee & Mom

Team Kathy & Amanda

Team Carrie & LoverBuns

Team Jill & Heidi

Team Brianne & LoverBuns

Team Denise & Buddy (yay, Denise!)

Team Courtney?  

Team Smullin?  holdin' a spot for you guys...

Team Melissa - do you have a buddy yet?!  Wendi needs a buddy - you two could team up! (let me know)

Here's a big Spartan cheer to all of you - may the best team win!  Now hit the gym because it's 

GAME ON!!!

Another Challenge!!! {eeek!}

Alright, ladies - and the occasional dude...let's do something CRAAAYYYZZAY!  So, I'm thinking, what better way to celebrate Fall, the upcoming Holidays, and the huge food fest that encompasses "Thanksgiving-Passing-Out and Christmas-Goodies-Overdose?!"  A weight loss challenge!!!  {yaaaay...horray....cheeeeerrrrr!}  No frowning...this can be a GOOD thing.

(Okay, let's be honest.  Kadie and I decided to challenge ourselves to a little "drop-10-pounds by Christmas" thing and we need some more motivation...)  SO......

We're opening this up to a few more people who want to join us!  The last fitness challenge we did HERE was a huge success, (A cute girl won something like $400! WOW!) but there was so much involved with that and I have no desire to do that again YET.  However, I thought it would be fun to invite 10-15 couples/buddies to join us in this quick, small little challenge.

Here's the Deal:

Loose as much weight as you can THE HEALTHY WAY by Christmas!  {aaakk!} (no puking, gagging, laxatives, starving, or anything deemed unhealthy. Getting the flu would be to your advantage, though.)

The first 10-15  COUPLES/BUDDY partnerships to email me gets to play! (yay for you!!)

You DO have to have a partner or, well, you're on your own...sorry....we still love you, though.

Everybody (EACH PERSON) sends $10.00 to our "Cash Corral" (my house) and I'll hold onto it for the winner.  (No worries - I'll be honest...as a whipperwill....or something like that...)  So if you win, you and your partner could split $200!  How fun would THAT be?!  (Kadie, we are totally taking this...)  

If you don't send in your $10, you and your buddy are disqualified and we'll all be upset with you because you short-changed us.  We'll have to tie you to the whippin' post and smack you around - and it won't be pretty.

NO CHEATIES!  This is an "On-Your-Honor" kind of deal.  You can weigh in and start as soon as I get your email - nothing prior counts!  We will determine COMBINED weight loss by PERCENTAGE to keep this fair - just email me you AND your partner's beginning and after weight and I will be more than happy to total the weight loss percentage in order to simplify everything.  (lots of confusion last time)

SO...if you weigh 120 and your partner weighs 180, then you would email me "300" as your starting number.  Got it?!  Then if you both, together, loose 40 pounds, then your ending number would be "260", making it a total 13.33% weight loss.  (here is a calculator)

It's pretty basic - just let me know if you have questions!

Yee-Haw!  Now go grab a partner and email me!!!  HURRY!!!

How Do People Blog Everyday?!

Every day I check my Google Reader and every day there are blog entries from amazing women who seem to constantly be doing amazing things.  WHAT THE?!  How do they do this?!  I don't even have enough time in the day to get my dishes done, let alone some amazing project! (I did make my bed today and it looks heavenly...)  I've been wanting SO BADLY to put up a blog post, something cute, clever, and (of course) adorable - but NO.  Hey - I can't even get a chance to read "Mockingjay" {gasp} - I'm still in the first chapter and I've had the book for two months now!!!  ???  (It's a crime, I know...I feel so ashamed and trashy.) 

HOWEVER....I know that my time will come to make something festive for the Holiday season and I'm so giddy to prepare for Christmas - I can't stand it!!!  {love the Holiday season!!!}  I did some Christmas shopping today...so much fun!  So with that in mind, I leave you with the following cartoon - huh-larious.