A season of firsts

Home made carrot cake!  Icing and all :)

Well, my family and I were out of town for Thanksgiving this year ... WAY out of town!  We called everybody and talked to them, but I'm sure they'll tell you it's not the same.  It was weird with it just being the 3 of us, but it was nice too.  We stayed in our pj's all day :)  I had cooked some stuff yesterday, but still spent plenty of time in the kitchen today as well.

Our menu this year included a Honeybaked Ham, potato salad, sweet potato casserole (with brown sugar and pecans), stuffing, gravy, and homemade mac and cheese.  My husband likes these meatballs my mom makes, with grape jelly and BBQ sauce, so I made those as an appetizer.  I was determined that just because we were "alone", that didn't mean we weren't going to eat well :)  I made the peanut butter cookies with a hershey's kiss in the center, chocolate chip cookies, a pecan pie and my first attempt at a homemade carrot cake.  So LOTS of yummy sweets!  Haha, time to get back on the diet bandwagon again first thing in the morning!  No, seriously ... not even gonna post a pic because I can PROMISE you I have not lost one single pound in the last 25 days.  I was on the Insanity bandwagon GREAT last week, and then I got the Black Plague of Death and TRIED to keep working out.  I did the T25 stretch which is AMAZING, then the Insanity Recovery workout, then the stretch again and then just decided to take the week off.  I am STILL not well, it's been about 10 days and I'm still coughing crap up. :(  My throat is sore, my nose is sore from blowing it so much and I have that constant annoying drainage that JUST won't quit.  Not going to worry about working out until Monday since Insanity is a 6 day program and I like having Sundays off, but I am going cold turkey on the food thing.  I ate EXACTLY what I wanted to today; didn't stuff myself silly, but didn't deny either.

No matter, I feel just fine about myself.  I know I was strong enough to lose 45 lbs, I'm strong enough to knock the 15 or so lbs I've gained back off again.  I have worked out a deal to take some riding lessons from a local trainer, AND I'm doing a "test ride" on Saturday to see about me riding a person's horse once or twice a week because she just doesn't have the time to ride a whole bunch.  I'm SO happy about that, because even though riding isn't enough by itself, it's definitely a step in the right direction OUT of the whole sedentary thing.  I'm thankful to have been presented these opportunities and I intend to make the most of them!

I hope all y'all had a great Thanksgiving, and remember to be thankful EVERY day.  Remember, the key to happiness is contentment, and in order to be content you have to WORK at it.  The holiday season tends to bring out both the best and worst in people; always strive to be at your best and keep a positive attitude.