Concerts, Crutches, and Counting Calories...

Ah yes... it has been WAY too long since I have updated... and as Darcie pointed out, I have PLENTY to talk about... and I even found three C's to title this post with - so no having to change spellings or anything to make it cute! LOL!

So - my last post (not counting the cheater one I did last week about Craft Corner DEATHMATCH!) was way back in February and did, in fact, have some concert info... we did enjoy our Matt West/Jeremy Camp/TobyMac show... however, I have not yet mentioned the other 'concert' we went too yet! A few days after the big show, we went to a local big show... our most beloved Brian Regan did a concert at the gorgeous Capitol Theater on Thursday, Feb 28th. We had 4th Row Center seats and he was standing right in front of me! It was GREAT! The warm up act, Kermet Apio from Seattle, was hysterical! Seriously - he put on a great show and had us laughing hysterically before Mr. Brenemenammenamm came to take the stage! Then, much to our delight and surprise, Mr. Regan went on to do over an hour of ALL NEW material! Now, this is saying something since I basically STALK him online and have heard everything that has ever been recorded for TV or radio by him... so a full hour of new stuff was incredible... I entered the theater with a dangerously full bladder and have to admit to literally giving praise to God that I did not have any trouble... (and no, I did not down a steaming cup of coffee right before the concert... I learned my lesson LAST time... but I did drink an incredible amount of water through out the day?!) Anyway - a great show... I seriously love this man and if you get the chance to see him live, do not hesitate - he will not disappoint! Here are a few shots of that concert:

On to Crutches... Well - my daughter's nickname given to her by my sister used to be BamBam - because the girl is just tough! She has always been solid and strong and can take a beating... ok - not literally, of course - but the girl is constantly showing off her scars or bruises! She wears them like a badge of honor and with each new one I simply praise God that she has never BROKEN anything?! So - with that said, she went to a sleep over last weekend and was scheduled to be picked up at 11am the following day. The sleep over was at a friends' house for her birthday and the party was fairly small - all girls from church... so when I got a call from someone OTHER than my daughter at 10:50 saying that Kayelyn wants me to come and get her - I knew right away something was up!? I didn't ask though - because Dave was already on his way to get her. So at first, after hanging up - I thought that it was maybe some classic girl drama... but that didn't quote set well - Kaye would have called herself. I began, then, to get a bit concerned!? I started praying... and about 30 minutes later, Dave walks in and goes straight to Kaye's room and sets up her bed. (Not good?!) He tells me that she hurt her knee and can't walk - but she will be fine. Hmm? OK... I am not quite connecting those two facts but I am willing to wait and see. So - out he goes to retrieve her from the car and carries her down and in the house... I can see that Kaye has been crying and this is the fact that really worries me the most! My tough girl who can bodyslam a wall and not be phased... my girl who can crucify her hand on top of a cyclone fence and hang there without letting me know she is stuck and bleeding... my girl who can cram her knee into a screw on the Matterhorn at the fair and still enjoy the ride while blood trickles down her leg... (yeah - you get the picture!) This very same girl has tear stained cheeks and a runny nose and she is unable to straighten her leg. Nice... no more spending the night at the Pastors house, ok?! So - anyway - long story short(ened) - the girls were wrestling and playing around and one of them picked her up and bodyslammed her to the floor and something behind her knee sort of snapped and it locked up. It was pretty swollen and so we spent much of that first day icing it and elevating it and praying... she could move her toes and her foot so we figured nothing was broken and we just wanted to wait and see what it looked like when the swelling went down a bit. Luckily my Mom had crutches from her knee surgery last year and Kaye was able to walk around school and home using those for a few days... the swelling quickly went down within a day or so and she was able to slowly unbend it all the way... I am happy to report that yesterday she was able to walk around without crutches and only once in awhile do I notice her limp a bit... so it has been a full week today and she is healing up quickly... thank the Lord! Oh - and as a side note... um - even though I am an obsessive scrapbooker and I am all up to date and I only have one... I STILL forgot to take pictures of her injury - or even any of her on crutches?! I suppose I should still do that... even though she is better now... at least I should have a staged photo to document it, right? So - here ya go:

Lastly, Counting Calories... well - I can honestly say that in all my years of struggling with my weight - I never resulted to counting calories!? It just seemed too hard and I didn't think I could really stick with it... plus - I am not one to really like having anyone be the boss of me so much - and I was afraid those pesky numbers would start really bossing me around... however, I will say that since joining SparkPeople and using their Nutritional Tracker... I have lost over 15 pounds so far and have found that it is not as hard as I once thought!? Have I given up some things... of course, but it's not like I can never have them again - I just am learning that I have to be able to PLAN for them... I am not able to be as spontaneous as I once was when it comes to eating out or enjoying a margarita - but if I preplan my intake for the day - I can have almost anything?! I saw almost because, really - when is it a good time to preplan to take in a meal that normally runs over 1000 calories?! I mean - sure -I can do it... but in the end, it may not be worth the sacrifice. Take, for instance, my rare - um - 'occasion' to enjoy my once beloved China Express from Safeway!? Yesterday, seemingly out of the blue, I got SLAMMED with some sort of sinus sickness... I mean - honestly - the day before my throat was a little dry/sore - but not much and the next morning my entire head ached - like my bones even... my ears, my throat, my nose, my head... everything was achy and feverish... I managed to get my daughter to school and then rest (not sleep?!) the entire day until I had to go get her from school. In between my trips to drop off and pick up - I attempted breakfast and that didn't really stay down so well... and even though I KNEW I should have been at least drinking fluids - I just didn't have it in me... so I was weak and tired and barely made it home with her in the car before I went to bed and finally SLEPT... Now - this was yesterday, which was Friday. Anyone who knows us well, knows that Fridays mean Take Out or Eat Out... now, with all my changing habits and counting calories - this has come to be a stressful 'treat' and we have had to make changes... one of them was no more China Express.. Goodbye General Tso - I will miss you immensely! Anyway - last night - Kayelyn asked if we could have China Express and while Dave was saying no I found myself deliriously saying Yes! Enthusiastically saying Yes! I know, I know... I SHOULD have had chicken noodle soup - or 7up and Crackers... but I figured when else am I going to actually have ROOM in my calorie counting that I can actually HAVE this treat... and besides, what are the chances of me keeping it down?! So - my dear husband went out and bought China Express (AND Chicken Noodle Soup and 7up and crackers!) for dinner... I have to say - it could be because I was sick... or it could be because I haven't really eaten anything like this for over 2 months now, but the chow mien noodles tasted very starchy and not so appetizing, and even the General was lacking to my 'taste bugs' (as Kayelyn used to call them!) So - I had less than half of my plate and was able to keep it down... but was not tempted today at lunchtime to have left overs... no - today I am going for the Chicken Noodle Soup... this new lifestyle is becoming more second nature and I am finding that this is something that I can - and will - do!

As far as crafting goes... I have been in some sort of a slump... I did do a couple of digi's the other day and I will post those... I need to be making cards and just need to feel rested enough and back on track with my schedule to have the time to sit downstairs and craft! Plus - of course, I have all the concert photo's to scrapbook too! So - I need to get busy so I can stay caught up! It seems as though as soon as I get caught up again, the Lord brings me a new client and I am ready for that, so I better get to crafting this week! Here are my most recent Digi's:

Scrap On, everyone!

~Karrilee~