This Just SUCKS!

So on this Memorial Day I got to take my sweet husband to the airport so that he could deploy to Afghanistan. This is the third time I have had to do this in the past year. I am over it!! The worst part of a deployment is the goodbye. Everything else is fairly easy once you get over the initial goodbye. Even though I know he is only going for 45 days this time it still sucks! One day in that place is too long for anyone. I support what my husband is doing 100 percent and I am SO proud of him. He truly is my hero. I LOVE being an Army wife, but sometimes the things that come along with the job just suck. There is no other way to say it. At least I know that at the end of this deployment I get to move. I have SO much to do between now and then that I should stay pretty busy. As I say that this sucks I still know that I have it so much better then the families whose soldiers deploy for a year or more. I have been there and that truly is one of the worst feelings to come home after that goodbye. That first morning that you wake up alone and realize that you still have a whole year ahead of you seems so daunting.
So, on this Memorial Day I remember all of those soldiers who have given their lives for the freedom of our country. I also remember all of the soldiers who are fighting for this freedom right now. They are true heroes and deserve so much more then they sometimes get. I am proud to call one of these heroes my husband.

Yeah for Moving!

I bought my plane tickets today. This is the first official step to getting out of El Paso! I have also started to collect auto shipping quotes (I refuse to drive halfway across this country with two kids). I cannot believe that we are actually moving in less then two months! I am SO excited and yet a little nervous. The kids and myself are actually leaving before the movers get here, so I am leaving my house intact and then...poof my stuff will appear in Virginia. A little nervous about this, but it should workout. I have so much to do between now and then. So many closets to go through and drawers to clean out. I learned my lesson when we moved from Fort Benning to California, when I did NO prep at all. It was such a pain unpacking since everything was just thrown into boxes. I am now armed with ziplock bags and space bags to make this move seamless. That is my goal, to make it very easy to unpack everything into the new house. I figure that by the time that we make our last move I will have a degree in moving.

Oh, working out...yeah...not so much for the past week. My goal is to start again next week. Less distractions.

I don't have two left feet I have ten!

So this morning I thought that I would switch up the workout routine and try something different. So I went onto exercise TV and found disco abs in the 30 minute workout category. What the heck, it sounded like fun. Cheryl from Dancing With the Stars was the leader and she makes is looks easy enough. Yeah right! It wasn't hard cardio wise (or maybe I really have reaped some benefits from Jillian Michaels), but I am VERY uncoordinated and this workout really brought that point home. So there I was literally stumbling over my own two feet. There is a reason I am not a dancer...I can't dance!!! I am glad that nobody except my sweet 20 month old daughter was here to see me make a fool of myself. My daughter loved it of course. She thought it was great. She was trying to dance too, which was pretty funny (although I am pretty sure she was better then me).

I think I will stick to the basics from now on. It was fun and went by fast, but I am not coordinated enough to do "dance" workouts. So tomorrow it is back to walking pushups, squats and lunges.

Oh, I have lost NO weight now (I gained back what I lost, thanks to my dear husband who likes to eat), but I think that the cellulite on my legs looks better. I am not going to let myself get discouraged, I am doing this for my health, right? I am thinking about trying Alli. My thinking is that if I am on a drug that causes nasty side effects when I eat bad then I won't cheat. We will see.

Arizona's Immigration Law

I was just reading an article about a high school girl's basketball team that was supposed to go to Arizona to play in a tournament and the school has decided that they cannot go because of Arizona's new immigration law. Apparently the school has decided that they need to make sure that all of it's students would be safe and they cannot guarantee that the girls would be safe in Arizona. Seriously??? I am pretty sure that the chances of there being an illegal alien on a basketball team from the midwest are slim to none. This is getting ridiculous! I think that all of the people who are refusing to visit Arizona are stupid. What good does this really do, other then hurt the people of Arizona.

The law was passed for a reason. I live in a border town and I do not believe it is racial profiling to check ones immigration status. Heck if you really want to profile you could profile me here since I am much more of a minority. My real question is since when is it NOT illegal to be an "illegal alien"? Heck, the term itself says illegal. There are too many repeat crimes committed by illegal residents that could have been avoided if the persons immigration status would have been checked the first time they were arrested. Do they really think that police officers are going to just start randomly pulling people over to check their immigration status? I am pretty sure that they just might have better things to do with their time. If they do pull some one over that is committing a crime or offense I see no problem with them checking to see if they person is in this country legally. I guess I always assumed they did this anyways. Everyone says that if the person left the house without their documents they are out of luck and would be arrested. My whole thing is that if you can manage to leave your house with your drivers license every time you get behind the wheel, why can't you make sure you have your immigration papers in your wallet? Why not make it mandatory for states to put ones immigration status on a drivers license?

Yes, I know that I sound like a heartless person with my views on this topic, but I truly don't see a problem with this law. If I was in another country I would be expected to show that I am in that country legally and I would have no problem with it at all! Why does it have to be such a big deal here? I love my country and I respect the people who immigrate here legally. This country was built by immigrants. But, they did it legally (most) and did not hide in trucks or sneak across the border into the desert. I know that life is not perfect in Mexico and other countries. Everyday I here about multiple murders right across the border from me in Juarez, but this is still no reason to break another countries laws. There are legal routes to take and though they make take time at least they could live here without the fear of deportation after the process is over with.

I think our country is in dire need of immigration reform and I think that those people who do not live in a border state do not quite understand. Instead of boycotting a state and hurting it's residents why not contact your senator or congressman with your concerns. I know that this won't do that much, but it is much better then boycotting the grand canyon (yeah, that one makes a lot of sense). Boycotting Arizona is not going to help Arizona's immigration problems. Refusing to let high school girls play in a tournament that they had raised money for and have been looking forward to this year is not the answer. I am sure that there are problems to this law and it may be abused by a few, but I don't think it is a bad thing. We need to have secure borders and I don't blame the state of Arizona for taking matters into it's own hands since the federal government has had better things to reform such as healthcare.

Not Much

I don't really have that much today. It is a pretty lazy day around the Copeland household. Laundry is the big highlight of my day. Showering has been put on the back burner until tonight. This morning I told myself that I would take the day off from working out, but I did it anyways this afternoon. I have to say that I am so proud of myself. I haven't stuck to working out since we were at Fort Benning a couple of years ago. I have to admit that I actually feel better afterwards. Boy, that is something I NEVER thought I would say. Plus, I may not look thinner, but I feel thinner after I workout and that is enough to keep me going.

Mother's Day was WONDERFUL. I slept in and then had a wonderful brunch. I found my new sunglasses after dragging my family through the mall. I was determined to find new Coach ones and after searching all over the mall Dillards was the lucky store. I ended up with aviator style glasses. I am not sure they are really me, but they are the ones my hubby liked the best. I think they are just different from what I am used to wearing and I am sure they will grow on me. It was a great day and I have decided that there should be a Mother's Day once a month:)

So I have 47 more days to go of "shredding" and the scale went up 2 pounds this morning! Two pounds people, this is just wrong. Yeah, yeah I know that muscle weighs more then fat, but I don't like it one bit. Hopefully it was just from my indulgence at the Mother's Day buffet yesterday. I wasn't that bad though. I only had one slice of cheesecake!!!! Today is a new day and hopefully the scale will be back down tomorrow.

Mother's Day

I love Mother's Day! It is the one day out of the year that I don't feel the least bit guilty about sleeping in and letting my husband get up with the kids. So tomorrow I plan on sleeping in until at least 8:30 (isn't it sad that this is considered sleeping in now). I am going to take a LONG shower (actually shave all of my legs...once you have kids you will know that this is a luxury) and dry my hair nicely (which means I will use a round brush and not just pull it into a half wet ponytail so that I can expedite the process). My husband is taking me to the Mother's Day brunch at the used to be officer's club on post. I love brunches. I love the fact that I can eat breakfast and lunch all in the same meal. Plus, I am going to splurge and have dessert, since I have haven't had anything sweet in two weeks (I was SO good and did not have cake the other night). Then we are going to go and get me a new pair of sunglasses to replace my beloved Coach ones (which I LOVE and hate that they are scratched to oblivion). I was never an expensive sunglasses person until I bought my Coach ones and now I don't think I can go back to cheap ones. It is kind of like purses, once you start buying nice expensive ones it is REALLY hard to get cheaper ones. Luckily I have had the sunglasses for three years so we have gotten our monies worth out of them, the purses just may be a different story (Oh, did I mention I got a new Coach bag as my Mother's Day gift?).

I have SUCH a sweet husband and am SO lucky to have him in my life. I know that tomorrow is going to be a great day especially since he doesn't have any buddies around here to go to a bar with on Mother's Day (yes, it really did happen a couple of years ago and I may never let him live that one down). So, happy Mother's Day to all of the current and future moms out there.


Workout...

I am still going! I have done 2 days of level 2 and Jillian Michaels is not kidding when she says she wants you to feel like you are going to die. I really do during the workout. I don't know if I really see the results yet, but my husband (who was gone all this past week) says that he can tell that my stomach is flatter and that my face is thinner. That is encouraging. I am down about 5-6 pounds on the scale. I am proud of myself that I have kept this up. I only have 49 more days to go!

Cake

I want cake! I want chocolate cake with decadent cream cheese frosting and not a little tiny sliver either. I want the whole honking thing. I HATE trying to eat good. I am so close to breaking tonight. Heck, today was going to be my rest day from working out and I made myself workout earlier with hopes it would curb my temptation to eat something sinful tonight. No such luck. I haven't been denying myself completely everyday. I make sure I eat a good lunch and then I am not as hungry for dinner. It has been working up until tonight. I REALLY want something sinful (like I said cake). The problem lies in that if I bake this cake (which I would have to do since I don't normally keep chocolate cake on hand) I am the ONLY one in the house who will eat the thing. Which means I will eat the whole darn thing, because I have NO will power. I LOVE cake. It is SO good. Birthday cake, pound cake, crumb cake...you name it and I love it (as long as it isn't lemon, coconut or have nuts). So, I am hoping that maybe just maybe I will be able to resist and not bake the stupid thing. Maybe I will indulge in a Skinny Cow cone (not quite the same though). I keep on trying to tell myself that a size 6 would be SO much better then cake. Right??? Lately, I would have agreed but tonight I am not sure.

Workout...

I have kept it up. I finished day 9 today (even though I was going to rest). I think am going to venture into level 2 tomorrow. I am a little scared of going up a level. I am getting good at level 1, but I am afraid that if I don't go up I won't see any results. So 51 more days to go and hopefully I won't ruin today with cake:)

Look What I Can Do!!

I did push-ups today! REAL push-ups (okay, I did the girl version, but they still count), five to be exact, in a row. I have NEVER been able to do push-ups. I am so proud of myself. This is such great motivation for me to keep up with my workouts. I am beginning to LOVE Jillian Michaels. I have also lost 4 pounds! I am hoping that I might see some toning by the end of this week. Maybe a leaner body really can be a reality this summer. I don't foresee myself being a size 6, but I would take a good toned 8. So I think my goal for the end of this week will be to do 10 push-ups. I think I will seriously jump for joy if this happens. I have NEVER had upper body strength, even when I was thin.

I think I am going to try to throw some yoga into the mix this week too. I miss yoga. I used to do it twice a week when we lived at Fort Benning and I was SO much more relaxed when I went and MUCH more flexible (things that my hubby appreciated:). So onwards into week 2 and going strong!!!!

There's Crying In Baseball

So I froze my ass off this morning at my son's first tball game only to watch him NOT play and sit in the dugout crying because he was cold! Did he think that everyone else on the team was not cold? I am pretty sure that he is not going to have a very fun day today after this little stunt. I cannot believe he did this. It was so embarrassing. I am not a sports freak by any means and I am not one of those parents who expects her kid to do amazing, but I do expect him to play. I am not going to freeze my ass off to watch him cry like a baby. I am so frustrated by the whole thing. Do I just pull him from the team or make him play the next time? How do you make a kid play though? I eventually left the game a little early with my daughter because I was not going to sit there and watch him cry any longer, my husband can do that.