Never leave home without it.....

Here it is, my coupon book. I love this book. This book and I are like peanut butter and jelly. I can't take credit for the idea however, a saw a lady in Target one day using her 3 ring binder and I being nosy....nah... okay, well I asked her. She was so sweet. She took the time to explain that it was just a three ring binder with plastic baseball card holders. (all found at Wal-mart)

You would have thought that it was Christmas. I came home all excited! The next day, I had my very own. :)

I clip coupons out of the Sunday paper every Sunday.... I buy 2 of the double papers so I get 4 copies of coupons AND I get the free Thursday paper. It has coupons in it too! By doing this I sometimes get 5 or 6 of the same coupons.

I never leave home without it. And the kids know, when mama takes in her coupon book... it is going to be a while.

Happy 4th of July

This 4th was a special one. My dear sweet aggravating brother was home in the states to celebrate it with me. He has served in the Army for 19 years now. I am so proud of him. He is one of the many that put their lives on the line to protect our country. He will soon be leaving on his final tour to Afghanistan....this will be his 4th and final tour, hopefully.

He has been very brave over the years and I am so glad to call him my "butter."

We started the day of like all of the past 32 4th of Julys..... at the Marietta parade. I have posted a few pictures for y'all to enjoy.

Here is my sweet little girl. Is she really almost 11?

And this little guy....all he has to do is wink and I am mush.

Now that school is over.....

Now that school is over I hope to get back to blogging. :) I didn't do a very good job at keeping up with our weight loss challenge. To be completely honest, I got overwhelmed with school and work.
But now it is summer and I have NO excuse. Since we aren't doing the biggest loser anymore I would really like to start blogging about saving money and coupons - This way I can keep track of how much money I save. I'll be back soon with pictures of my coupon book.

Latest Weigh in Results

Before I post these results let me preface them with this....
We have done well for soooo long.
Have you ever heard the saying too much of a good thing... or all good things must come to an end... well, this was the week that has made those saying true.

Let's play catch up......

On Jan. 4, 2009 four friends jokingly made a bet. Girls against boys.. who could be the biggest loser... and so the story begins. On Jan 4th our beginning weights were

Denise Tony Marsha Darin
145lb 235lb 163lb 210

everything has been going well.....however.. everyone falls off the wagon at some point. Nothing wrong with falling off the wagon as long as you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get back on. And let me say it's much easier to get back on that wagon when you have friends to help you back up.

What am I talking about you ask? Well... I could be good and just post the weight lost to date and not tell you that 3 out of 4 of us has gained weight back since the last weigh in....I could be. And you know... I think I will. ;-)

So here is the latest and greatest results!!!! Pounds lost and percentage loss so far.

Denise currently weighs 135 and has lost 10 lbs. That is 6.9 % of her body weight!
Tony currently weighs 220 and has lost 15 lbs. That is 6.4% of his body weight!
Marsha (that's me) weighs 149 and has lost 14 lbs. That is 8.6% of her body weight!
And Darin currently weighs 194 and has lost 16 lbs. That is 7.7% of his body weight!

Drum roll please..........

That means that if today was the last day GIRLS WIN, GIRLS WIN, GIRLS WIN!!!
But it's not the last day... we still have all of March and will have the final weigh in on April 1st...

Until then.... I'll keep posting weekly (or bi-weekly) what ever I can remember to do. :)

Hmmm... what happened to my blog?

I went to post on my blog today to find that all of my posts are missing. Strange... the music is there.. but no posts. So consider this a test blog... Let's see if it pops up. ;-)

It's been a while... but the progress has continued!!!

I know that it has been a few weeks since I have posted but I am glad to say that we are all still making great progress.
It is amazing what being held accountable will do for you. I am sure that I would have given up weeks ago... but here we are into week FIVE!!!! Wow, I can't believe the results!

Darin and Tony are of course kicking some boo-ty. Darin has reached the 20lb. mark. I am so happy for him... I know he has been working so hard... but I am jealous too. I have only lost 13 lbs. in 5 weeks. I know, 13 lbs. is huge... but I can't see it yet. Not like I can in Darin.. .his face is so much thinner and his uniform is literally falling off of him.

Tony has lost 18 lbs. and Denise has lost 12. That's a grand total of..... Boys - 38lbs vs. Girl - 25 lbs... in FIVE weeks!!!! Between all of us we have lost a small child...

Lets see what week 6 brings! (Hopefully, I will see the 140's this week!!!)

It's been a crazy week!!!

I haven't posted about our latest weigh in.... It has been a crazy week!!! Better late than never RIGHT?

Last Sunday 1/18? I think... I don't have a calendar in front of me......
Darin lost 1 lb. He is now under the 200 mark, Tony lost 2 lbs., I lost 1 lb, and Denise gained 1lb.
Now in her defense....she had just eaten lunch and we know that she has actually lost weight. How do we know you ask? I took the scale over on Monday and we weighed her again. She had lost 3 lbs. Whoo-hoo! Here is to kicking the boys butts!!!!

However, this Sunday I am not sure that I will do real well. I have really been trying but I have found myself snacking a little more every day. I still haven't had a coke and for me this is a huge accomplishment. We will see in a few more days! Wish us luck!

The Results are In....

After one week of making the challenge......the results are in

I lost 8 lbs and Denise lost 7. That's a total of 15 lbs. :)
Darin lost 10 lbs. and Tony lost 8 for a grand total of 18 lbs.
Luckily as it stands right now, Denise and I are the biggest losers for week One.. percentage wise.

We will see what week Two has in store.

It's late and I'm hungry

Here I sit doing lesson plans watching some trash on t.v. and I'm hungry...... I ate 2 weight watchers cookies, 1 point a piece, mind you... and I'm still hungry. So I'm thinking... do I go down stairs and get something to eat.... or just go to bed. Uggghhhh... How many days has it been again?
And wait... here's the best part. This morning I was working on the laptop and Darin gets on the floor and starts doing push ups... whatever.... I'm going to bed!

Did I mention that we weighed in tonight? Keep in mind that it was after the football playoffs between Arizona & the Atlanta Falcon ... which means we had a feast on meatballs, buffalo chicken dip (my favorite), spaghetti casserole and pound cake..... oh sadness... who knows when I'll get to eat this stuff again. Anyway.....

This is how the challenge works, boys against girls. The winner gets... bragging rights and a better body! Corny I know... but hey, it's motivation. And let's face it... bathing suit season is right around the corner. We will weigh in every Sunday for twelve weeks... and the couple (Me and Denise or Darin a.k.a my husband and Tony a.k.a Denise's husband) that has loss the most % of body weight wins.

Sounds simple??? Yeah... tell that to me in the morning when I'm reaching for my coke (which btw is my coffee)

Here is our beginning weight and pictures for your viewing pleasures.

Denise - 145 (black suit)
Marsha - 163 (in her p.j's)

Tony - 235 (white shirt)

Darin - 210 (maroon shirt)

The next weigh in is Jan. 11th!

I've been a blog stalker for a while now.....

I have been a blog stalker for a while now and have recently decided to start my own blog. The reason is simple: My dear friend and I have challenged our husbands to a biggest loser challenge..... a 12 week biggest loser challenge :) What better way to be held accountable than to blog about it....... wish me luck