I have to tell you why I love my blog. I woke up this morning and weighed in at 175.4 and was a little bummed because in my head that was the same as I weighed on Friday. I get my coffee and sit down to write my blog and look at Fridays where I had weighed 176.6 so I did still lose and the blog had to remind me.
I got an email on Sat. that mae my day. The head of the art dept. sent me an email telling me that at an awards ceremony on Thurday I am going to be presented a medalion to wear at graduation because I am going to be graduating wiith Honors. How cool is that. I am really proud of myself. Honors heans that I got higher than a 3.5 Grade point average at CSUSB. It means I got almost all A's and a few B's. I am so thrillled I can't contain it. I the girls who didn't know if I would ever finish school is now graduating with honors. Whoo hoo to me.
Our party went fabulous, we had so much fun even though it was a little cold the kids still went swimming for a little bit. The craft turned out perfectly. All in all the whole thing went off without a hitch. I didn't cheat at all that day either. We did a decorate your own cupcake table and I resisted and had a pineapple spear instead,, we put out cheese as a appetizer that we could eat, and I stuck to no alcohol and only my diet pepsi. I resisted it all. I even got some much needed help form the girls at the partu about what to wear to graduation.
Sunday we went to a bbq at Scott and Matt's house and I didn't cheat there. I was tempted by these stupid wheat thins but I got a big bowl of water melon to eat instead. We ha fun hanging with the guys as well as our friends Jum and his kids Max, and Ruby. Oh I also forget that the most imprtant member oof the family was in on all of the days festivities Drake, Scott's black lab.
We leave for our beach trip in 5 days and I have not planned anything. Our plan was to get things organized yesterday but we cleaned up from the party instead. Hopefully with the crazyness of the week we can pull it all together.
Ali

Well the closet that I packed up a few months ago is being unpacked today. I wore a pair of 12's a few days ago and my 13 jeans yesterday. I am feeling great and ready to try on all the shorts and shirts to see if I have a wardrobe for the beach next week.
I think it is funny how each time I lose weight it looks different on my body. Last time, and sorry if this is to much info, I lost my boobs. I had to go buy new bras and everything. I still have 25 pounds to go and the boobs haven't moved, I am still in the "fat" bra's. I will admit they don't look the same but seriously I want them to go so I can wear the cute stuff again.
So we are haing a birthday party tomorrow for the boys. I haven't done anything to get ready yet. I have bene so stressed and busy with school and little league I wasn't able to wrap my head around doing another thing. So today we are filling the pool, cleaning the house, organizing and getting all the food, etc. I do things great under pressure. To top it off we have a Quakes game tonight. Sometimes I think we are crazy but if we slow down we might miss something:)
ok well off to get things ready but I weighed in at 176.6 almost 25 pounds lost. Yeah for me.
Ali

I have finished two of my finals and I have two to go. I am so ready to be done. I have 11 days until I am a college graduate. Whoo hoo.

I am stressed to the limit and I am now planning a b-day party and it is starting to set in that we leave on vacation in 10 days. AHHHHH. J/k. I am actually doing really well I think it because I know tthere is a light at the end of the tunnel. I was able to finish two classes yesterday so my stress has dropped to "I'm good"

So I have to admit that I cheated on Sunday night. We had a babysitter for the kids so we went out to dinner. We did so well and ordered a caesar salad to share, it was yummy and we didn't cheat. After dinner they brought the dessert tray over and we decided to splurge. Well dessert went to going to a second resteraunt to get my favorite peach drink. Lets just say my instincts went out the window. Good news is I got right back on. Better news is I felt terrible on Monday. Why is this good? I don't want to cheat if I feel like that. I had a tummy ache and headache all day. I also gained 2 lbs. I have been superior ffor the past 2 days and I weighed in at 178.2 this morning.

Yesterday I was getting ready for school and I had no pants that fit. I pulled out a pair of capri's that haven't fit in over a year and they slid right on. I have dropped 2 clothing sizes. Awesome.

Alright well I am off to get ready for a party this weekend and it is the boys llast day of school.

Have a good day, I also attached a pic of my finished table.

Ali

Looking Toward the Future by Reflecting on the Past

Thirteen years, what can one person do in thirteen years? A child can start kindergarten and complete his high school career in thirteen years. A college student can earn a bachelors, masters, and doctorate degree in thirteen years. It has taken me thirteen years to follow one of my lifetime goals of graduating from college. The road to get here hasn’t been an easy one. Now that I have reached my goal I am scared beyond belief of what the future holds for me.
Immediately after high school I decided to go to the local community college. My very first semester I took American Government along with 2 other classes at Citrus College. While I was enrolled in my first semester of college I found out that I was pregnant. I was eighteen, unmarried, and pregnant. I dropped out of my classes because I thought that this was my fate. Shortly after finding out I was pregnant I married my boyfriend Shawn. We were eighteen and no one thought that there was a way in the world we would make it.
When my son turned six months old I decided to try out college once again. I reenrolled at Citrus College. My husband and I took classes side by side. I managed to make it through the semester with decent grades. I took many online classes so that I could be a stay at home mom of my young son. My grades got worse and worse as the classes that I took became harder and harder. I made it through two years of part time classes before was excused from Citrus for having too many F’s. I thought that was it.
My husband decided that he was also tired of school so he took a job as a trash man in Big Bear and our family of three moved up the hill to start a new life. My husband had complete all of his general education classes but thought that this job was a great opportunity, so off we went. We lived in Big Bear for six months before my husbands thirst for knowledge and tiredness of being a trash man moved us back down the hill to Monrovia. Shortly after gave birth to our second son.
My husband started at Cal Poly Pomona and I became the bread winner for the family. I worked a retail management job to put my husband through school. I worked nights and weekends away from my children in hopes that when my husband graduated, life would change as we knew it. It took two years of me working and my husband going to school twenty plus units a quarter for him to graduate. In June 2003 he graduated with a degree in Agriculture.
For the first time in my life I realized that I wanted that degree. It didn’t matter what it took, I wanted to complete a degree. At the same time I realized that a degree in a specific area doesn’t guarantee you will work in that field. My husband’s degree was almost useless except for teaching, which wasn’t something he really wanted to do. My husband found a job and I was able to go back to school and being a full time mom to my two boys.
For the first time in my college career I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to breeze through classes like I had done all through high school. I was going to have to earn my degree. I kept taking classes nights and weekends while my husband was able to stay at home with our two sons. I enrolled at two community colleges in order to get the classes that I would need to transfer to Cal Poly. I didn’t even know what I wanted my major to be. I just knew to keep taking the general education classes and transfer. Somewhere in the midst off all of my classes, my husband and I welcomed our third son. Married life with three kids just got harder and harder but I just kept trucking.
It was my last semester at Chaffey College and I took a ceramics class. I had taken ceramics for two years in high school and loved it but never thought of it as a potential career. While I was enrolled in the class I remembered how much I loved clay. I immediately applied to Cal Poly and was accepted to start my degree in ceramics in the fall of 2007. I got a letter from Cal Poly the summer before I was supposed to start at the school. Cal Poly had cancelled all of its art classes except for graphic design. What was I going to do? I decided to apply to California State University San Bernardino and I got accepted as a ceramics major. I had done no research on the school’s art program it was simply the closest one to my house.
In the fall of 2007 I started at California State University San Bernardino. I was so scared. I felt totally out of my league. What was I doing majoring in art? I wasn’t an artist. My first semester at Cal State I kept to myself, my main goal was just doing well in my classes. I would go home do my homework, and be a great wife and mom. My second quarter I started to get to know people in my major and I joined the ceramics club on campus. I started to find my niche. I was being challenged in my art and loved going to school. I will admit that it started to get overwhelming as this was the first time I had done full time classes in my college career.
My third quarter at school started to feel much more natural. I became Vice President of the clay club and had more and more friends from school. As I took on more at school, my home life took a toll. My marriage and kids were great but keeping up with laundry, cleaning, yard work, etc. became more than I could handle most days. I just kept plucking away with my classes and did my best to be a great homemaker. I would read and write papers in between loads of laundry, my children’s homework, entertaining a two year old, and all of my other duties.
This is my final quarter at California State University. In the last year I have been in school art shows, was elected president of the clay club, and continued to grow as a woman, artist, mom, and wife. I truly had always hoped that I would make it to this point but in the back of my mind never thought I would actually be where I am today. On June 20th I will be walking at my college graduation with a degree in studio arts and I am in awe that it is really happening. On one hand I am thrilled and on the other I am terrified for what the future holds for me.
In September I will be returning to California State San Bernardino to continue my college career. I will be spending the next year working on my single subject teaching credential in art. I don’t know what the future holds for me. I know that I am strong and I can handle anything that comes my way. Graduating from college is the ultimate way to prove that I can do anything. Things do not change, we change. That is my new motto. I am nothing like the person who started college thirteen years ago. There is not a chance that girl would be where I am today. I am very lucky to have a supporting husband and amazing kids who have allowed me to go to college and prove to the world that I can do this.
As I look back it brings a little tear to my eye. I achieved a goal that many people don’t ever make. I, the person who started out as a stupid young girl, have become an amazing woman. It may have taken me thirteen years to do what some people do in four. In those thirteen years I have stayed married to a wonderful man. I have been a great mom to my three boys, and have learned so much through my experiences of being a parent. I put my husband through college, and he now has a great job that he loves. We were even fortunate enough to have purchased a home. Many days the laundry is piled in the hallway and kid’s toys are spread throughout the house, but I now know that come with the roll I have as a parent and student. Most importantly I have taken this time to figure out who I am, and I think figuring out who you are for most people takes a lifetime. I consider the last thirteen years very well spent and I can’t wait to see what the next thirteen years brings for me.

I had to write this paper as an assignment for a class and I thought that it would be nice to share with all of you since all of you have been there ans supported us the entire way though all of this.
Ali

Well I have been the same weight since Sat. and I finally broke my plateu. I was starting to think the diet had stopped working but normally I would be like well it stopped working so I guess my body is fine where it is. This time I kept going and it finally paid off and I lost almost 1 pound. I weighed in at 179 even.
I have new people joining me on the low carb diet wagon. Shawn has decided that weight watchers was to slow and he had started gaining even though he wasn't cheating at all. He started on Tues. and is down 6 pounds already. I have another friend who's name I won't say ad she is doing really well as. It is nice to have partners in the hourney. Shawn has been doing alot of research on how the diet works and my other friend is giving me new recipies to try. Awesome. It has been inspiring.
Other than dieting I am just working really hard to get done with school. I am at the tail end and I can feel it. I have a 10 page paper to write this weekend with a partener at school so Sunday I have to meet him for the afternoon. I have finished all of my ceramics work for the quarter, and my woodshop project is almost complete. I basically have an art history final and a few papers to write for english and I am DONE!!!! I am so excited because I honestly wondered if I would even make it to being done with school. 2 weeks to go.
Well have a great weekend and I will chat again on Monday,
Ali

So I got to school yesterday and as soon as I sat down in my class the guy next to me (who is a ceramics major) was filling out a sheet for a ceramics sale. OH my Gosh, I forget that there was a sale that day. I jammed out of the class, drove home picked up some stuff to sell, drove back and set it up with the help of a few people, and sat the rest of my day selling work. I felt like such a lop, I ususally don't forget stuff like that. I sold a bunch of the ladybug and bird stuff that I made awhile back. When I left at 3 there was one hour left and I had made $97 not bad for throwing some stuff together that I had in the garage.
I am in some major uncomfertableness. I have had eczema on my hands for awhile but recently it has moved to my feet and instead of one area on my hand it is all over them. The kind I have is called dyshidrotic eczema which means I not only get the dry layers but little blisters that itch like crazy. I have been taking benadryl and all kinds of home treatments but nothing is working on it. I have been reading the diet is a major factor in it and dairy is really bad for people with eczema, I am trying to convince myself to stop eating dairy for awhile and see if it helps. I am starting that today.
I went out to happy hour with a friend and had a beer and we ordered 2 appetizers that were low carb, I did great. Cody had a preformance at school and we went to the resteraunt at bass pro shop for dinner. I had 2 beers and a great plate of fresh fish and shrimp with broccoli I did great there as well. I weighed in today at 180 even so up a little but I did great and enjoyed myself and I know I am going right back on it and the weight will come right back off.
Well I am off to work on yet more homework, 17 more days to go.
Ali

So I was really good all weekend and only lost .4, I was a little bummed as I would get on the scale and not see the number move all weekend. I feel thinner and this is making it ok that the number didn't move. I am going to think of it as the weight is redestributing so that even if it is still there it looks better on. Nice thought right? oh well I am thinking that it might be necessary to add exercise to keep it moving and am trying to talk m yself into it. Did I add that I am officially in the 170's!!!

What a great weekend. I saw alot of people and it seems like people are starting to be able to tell that I am losing which is always a great motivator.

Garrett was at a friends and the other two boys and I went to my nieces b-day party, we had so much fun hanging with the fam and celebrating. I had a ton of homework so we rented movies for the boys and hung out Sat night. Sunday we went at got Garrett and I decided to take the kids to see the new movie UP. It was suck a cute story and the kids enjoyed it. I will admit it is a bit of a tear jerker for adults but totally worth seeing.

Shawn gets home today and I can't wait to see him. He called yesterday but his throat is bothering him so it didn't sound like him. Shawn told me that is has been raining almost the entire time and last night they decided to pack up the camp and stay in a hotel to get out of the weather and get some sleep. He says they have been catching and having fun even with the weather so that is good.

my goal today is to work on a research paper I have been putting off and really need to get done, it is in a new format so I am stumped on how to write it and not looking forward to it.

Well have a good Monday,

Ali

so here is something to make you think.

Junk Mail

we all hate it and it seems like when you pick up mail in the mailbox more than half is junk mail. The USPS make million of dollars a year by delivering junkmail sot hey don't want to stop and don't offer a service to stop junk mail

So what to do

there are online resources that you can pay $1 and they will get rid of junkmail to you mailbox by adding you to a do not send to list. It is like the do not call list for junkmail. Here is the link

https://www.dmachoice.org/dma/member/home.action;jsessionid=D76779F3736595A2D2A796828E721DE0.tomcat1

Stopping junk mail is earth friendly but....

Did you know that if there were no junkmail an average letters cost to be sent would be well over $1 a piece. So which is better??? Going green or going broke? I am still torn on this one but I am thinking going broke isn't an option.

TGIF

Another week down. I am so close to being done with school and the closer I get the more I have to do. I am talking the whole weekend to get caught up on homework. I have 12 ceramics things to paint, 3 papers to write, and a ton of reading. Between homework I have 2 little league games, and 2 birthday parties. It is going to be a busy weekend but I am almost done(can you tell I am trying to convince myself).

I am putting a few pics up of the latest Ali ceramic stuff. I am trying some new things to see what I like. It is sad that after 2 years I still am not sure what to do in ceramics.

Well I weighed in at 180.2 so I have officially lost 20 lbs. Yeah for me. I am hoping to lose 5-10 more before the beach trip in 3 weeks. We will see.

have a good weekend,

Ali

Well here is my laptop table so far. The table is the one I am making from recycled materials. When it is done it will be all black with a plexiglass inlay to protect the glass of the window. I am having so much fun in the class. I really wish I had taken it awhile ago. I would love to learn more and have more time to make stuff under a teachers supervision and the advice is the best.

Lets see another good diet day yesterday. I forgot my lunch so ran to the local market and picked a few things up to get me through the day. String cheese and low carb yogurt are my favorites still.

Shawn's friend Jimmy is flying in tomorrow to stay with us for a few days. Shawn and Jim are going fishing in Bishop over the weekend so I get to do b-day parties, baseball, and 3 papers while they are gone. The house is in good shape but I am doing the little thing today like making sure the floor is mopped and the boys rooms are clean.

We are heading to a Quakes game tonight for hotdogs and getting the kidds out of the house so that I don't have to clean it again tomorrow. We love the Quakes games. It is the best time to hang out as a family and the kids really enjoy them.

Ok well I weighed in at 181 today. I am hoping to hit 20 lost by this weekend. I actually had 4 people at school yesterday tell me that they can tell I am losing weight. I hadn't told anyone I was so that was really uplifting.

24 days until I am a college graduate and this means 23 days until we leave for the beach trip Whoohoo.

talk to ya soon,

Ali

Happy Memorial Day.
I knew that I wouldn't have time to post tomorrow so I am doing a holiday edition today. We just got back from our relaxing weekend in Big Bear. It was a much needed time of no plans and alot of laying around and doing nothing. We went fishing on Sat. but for the most part our days were spent in our cabin reading, doing puzzles, and hanging out as a family. I had no idea how bad I needed a weekend away until I was up there with no computer, homework, etc. to keep me off balance. Sunday our good friend Matt drove up and we all went to Thelma's (our favorite little resteraunt) for lunch and then we BBq for dinner. It was nice just to be away from it all.
We packed all of our meals except for one which we knew we were going to go to Thelma's for. I was great on my diet all weekend. I didn't cheat once. I did take the smallest bite of a cookie and then spit it out because it wasn't worth the cheat. Shawn laughed at me but I felt like I was in power by spitting it out. I was nervous to weigh in today when we got home but I did it anyways and was pleasently surprised. 182.2 so down 1.5 pounds from Friday. I am thrilled that I was able to go out of town and out to dinner and still stick to the diet and lose at that.
Talk to y'all on Wed.
Ali

I got my class ring yesterday. It is setting in more and more each day that I am graduating. I tried to take a pic of my real ring but that didn't work very well so I am using this pic so you get an idea. I got it in silver and the stones purple, it says my school name and my grad year. I love it.

My arm is killing me today. Yesterday I worked on my table at school and for a cut that I needed to do on the legs there is no power tool that can be used so I had to use a saw, chisel, and hammer for about 2 hours. My arm is dead today.

We are leaving this evening for a little vacation to Big Bear. We so need a weekend off. I am really looking forward to hanging with just my family. Shawn has some hiking planned and maybe some fishing. I am looking forward to sitting and reading in the sun.

I weighed in this morning at 183.6 so down again. I am feeling so much better already. When I am losing weight I actually want to get dresses each day and try to look cute. It is hard at 200 lbs to feel cute.

Alright well I am off to get packed, clean and all that good stuff. Have a great LONG weekend,

Ali

I am starting to realize that in 31 days I will be graduating from college. I am starting to get nervous about it now. I will pass on my classes so I am not worried about that. It seems like I have spent the last 13 years in college trucking towards the goal of graduating andd now I am here and I have no idea what to do next. They do not prepare you for being a college grad. I feel like have the skills I learned aren't real world skills and on the other hand I still feel like I have so much that I have not learned. I have 4 1/2 weeks of school left and at 2 classes a week that is 9 classes. Totally freaking me out. Ok well now that I have vented on with my life.
Life hasn't been any unnormal lately. We are doing the school, baseball, and normal house stuff. I am excited because we are going on a mini vacation this weekend to Big Bear. I totally need a vacation. I am however going to be taking all my books and computer to work on some papers but life wouldn't be complete without having to lug my 2000 page art book around. So Shawn is planning some hikes for us and other who knows what activites.
Diet is still going awesome. I have people telling me now that they are starting to tell that I am losing so that is awesome. I weighed in this morning at 184.2 so down another pound. I feel like I have so much more energy finally and feel like I just want to keep moving which is one of the benefits of low carbing. I seem too averaging 1/2 a day and with 31 days until our family beach trip and my college graduation I am hoping to lose 15 more pounds for a total of about 30 pounds before the big events. I did however have to break out my smaller sized jeans yesterday which was cool I put on my old ones and they are getting so big in the butt and waist. Yeah!!!

So I don't have a green tip today so I decided to share my stupid useless art knowledge. I think everyone on the planet has seen the above picture by Van Gogh titled Starry night. Well did you know that art historians went back to the year that they know it was painted and have looked at astronomical records and they have pinpointed that is was painted in Sept. because the stars in the sky are in the exact allignment in the sky in the picture as they were in Sept. of the year it was painted in the real sky. So he wasn't just painting, he was painting exactly what he saw.

Ok well I am off to take Garrett to his 12 year old physical this morning.
Ali

This is the first weekend in forever that I make it through and did really well and lost!!!
I weighed in at 185.4 down from 188 on Friday and down a total of 15 pounds in 3 weeks. I swear I am eating non stop and good stuff and losing. We went to a Quakes game on Sat and I ate a philly cheese steak but not the bread and Sun we bbq in the backyard. We had marinated chicken that was super yummy and I will post the recipe soon. We also had bbq ardichokes with a tomato relish and roasted garlic mayo, and watermelon. The kids and Shawn had rice with spray butter and fresh parmishan cheese on it. We had a great dinner and I even had a beer while we were relaxing in the back yard with the kids. How is this a diet? For dessert we had sugar free jello with whipped cream on top.
I took my cset teaching test on Sat. I already passed one part of it and had to retake the 2nd part because I didn't pass the first time by 5 points. I think I did much better this time. I don't find out until July but I am not as worried as last time.

Ok so a new green tip of the day.
An easy way to clean green is to turn the dial on your washing machine to cold. Most loads don't need hot water, and 90% of the energy used by washing machines goes into heating. The higher the water temperature, the higher the cost to you and the planet. We have been doing this for awhile and it is true, most loads get just as clean in cold water. I still do however wash sheets, towels, and bleached loads in hot water. One more little tip is to run your water heater at a little lower temp. if you turn it to a cooler temp it isn't running as offten to keep the unused water warm. We did this and didn't notice a difference and it is also safer with kids in the house.

Have a good one,
Ali

I had a really great day yesterday. I got to school at 7:45 for my midterm and on my way to class the teacher found me and told me she wanted to talk about my art history paper that I had turned in a week before. I started freaking out in my head because I thought oh no what did I do wrong. She could tell I was freaking out a little and said " no, I loved it, it was fantastic." She lliked it so much that she is going to use it as an example of how to do the assignment for future students. I was the highest grade in the class of about 200 people. How cool is that.

Next was the midterm, I was nervous that I hadn't studied enough but I am pretty sure I did fantastic.

Later in the day we had our critiqe for our cutting boards in my wood class. In a critique the teacher and students tell you what they liked and dislike about your work. I got nothing but great feedback and my professor loved it. He wants to put the board in a display by the museum for people to see. Another cool.

So for the diet I had another greaat day. Cheese has become my new best friend. I eat a ton of protein (shrimp, chicken, lunch meat) and yogurt, cheese, and veggies. We had the best recipe last night for roasted veggies and I will post it at the bottom. anyways I weighed in at 188 even today. I can't remember where I was on Wed.. so I know it is .8 from yesterday.

Pj is sick and has a terrible cough so we are going to spend a day home and a little cough time to try to mae him more comfy.

Have a great weekend,

Ali

Roaster veggies

in a large bowl mix

2 red bell peppers cut into thick strips

1 sweet onion cut into thick strips

1 zucchini cut into circles

1 yellow squash cut into circles

1 lb. os asparagas chop off ends and cut remainder into two parts.

4 teaspoons of olive oil

4 teaspoon. balsamic vinegar

1/2 t.easpoon basil

salt and pepper

toss everything and lay on a baking sheet

put into a 450 degree oven for 30 min.

Super yummy and the veggies get sweet and soft.

*next time I am going to add 1 pack of mushrooms*

1 c. = 1 POINT