Trying To Beat The January Blahs

Finally, a sunny, beautiful day with no wind!!



It was so nice to get outside and enjoy being active. I went to the farm and spent a great two hours working with Belle. I almost cried when I left the farm... just because I was so happy to be outside and it was so great to be with her!

Then when Katie came home from school, she played outside and was bursting at the seams with giggles and happiness! I think her and I are a lot alike and our moods can only take so much "cabin fever".

I've been playing around with storyboards and this is one. The exposure is off in these photos but it is still fun!

LA :)

What Really Truly Matters

I was inspired by a friends blog to do this...

When I sit down and really think about what I want from life
the people that I want to surrounding me
the wife and mother I strive to be
the business that I envision running with my husband
the travels I hope to take
the house I want to own on land with our horses
how rich and full I want my days to be

When I sit down and think about our new president and the hope so many of us have
my interest in spirituality and the questions I have
the existing friendships I want to nourish and new friends I hope to make
the photos I want to take
the scrapbooks and journals I wish to keep
the walls that I will paint
the people I hope to meet

It makes all the petty, ridiculous, ugliness in the world seem so minuscule and humorous
I really, really want to focus on what matters, what truly matters
I'm trying extremely hard to be the human being that I want to be - the one I know I can be
Kind, Compassionate, Giving, Thoughtful, MOTIVATED AND DETERMINED and Creative
I want to be a better mother, a more attentive, nurturing mother
I want to be a sweeter wife - never takes a night of listening to my husband's heart beating in his chest for granted
I want to be a kinder friend - that is a listener and less of a talker

Daily decisions.
Daily choices.
I get to decide how I will act and react to anything thrown my way

One day at a time, one moment at a time... never taking anything for granted!

LA :)

A Scare With Katie

I'm always trying to remind myself to be aware of how much I have to be thankful for and how blessed my life is. Well, the past few days have been pretty tough and when life gets tough - sometimes I have a hard time coping!

There has been a little bit of a family crisis happening the past week that involves someone who I love and care for deeply and I'm very concerned for her.

Then, Katie went to Children's Hospital via ambulance Saturday night. Some of you know that on September 11, 2001, the day the world seemed to be falling apart, my then 2 1/2 year old daughter got a stomach bug and could not keep her endocrine meds down and went into adrenal shock. It was a horribly scary event. Don was out of town on business and I was here alone - mostly. She was hospitalized and I learned the hard way that day how serious it was when Katie got a stomach bug. We were trained in how to administer a shot of solu-cortef in the event that she become ill like that again in the future.

We never had to use it - only refill the Rx when the shelf life expired. Then in 2004 we were told that the manufacturer had discontinued it.

Then, in July 2007, we were in North Carolina visiting family when Katie got a stomach bug and was very ill and could barely keep anything down for more than 10 minutes. We raced across the mountain and went strait to Children's Hospital. She was well cared for and she rebounded quickly!

Then on Saturday, Don had a wedding and Katie and I spent the day having fun and went to STAR at 3. It was her first session for the winter and she was working with a new horse - Cheyenne. Crazy, crazy horse! Made Belle look like a perfectly sane creature on her worst day when I first got her. Katie started feeling ill and at first, I thought it was because she was scared of crazy Cheyenne! But, no! We left STAR early and Katie got sick before we even made it to the car. The trip home was rough and by the time we got home, she just wanted to lay in the bathroom to be close to the toilet.

I was worried that when it came time for her meds at 7pm, she wouldn't be able to keep them down. So my best friend Lisa, came to our rescue, and went to Walgreens and got some anti-nausea medicine. It seemed to help at first.

We gave her the normal meds at 7:00pm - Don was home by then. Dr. Nichels, her endocrinologist had always told us - if she can keep her meds down at least 1/2 hour - she's good. Not that I didn't trust him - just my gut always said "let's shoot for 1 hour". She kept everything down until 7:55. We should have gone ahead and headed for the ER but there is so much flu and stuff out there right now - the tought of Children's ER on a Saturday night left me saying "let's try it one more time".

So we tried the anti-nasuea med again with her other meds and this time she only kept it down 40 minutes. At this point, she was getting sick and not waking up and her finger tips were blue. In trying to get her awake and aware, I touched her feet, which had furry furry socks and they were like ice bricks.

I didn't pass go, I definitely didn't collect $100 - I went strait for the phone and called 911. The ambulance was here within 5-8 minutes and the 6'4 paramedic who was absolutely AWESOME about broke down our door. He went strait for Katie and did like a 60 second assesment and radioed that he was coming in. Don said "let me grab her jacket" and the paramedic said "no time for jackets".

Don rode in the ambulance because I was panic ridden and Katie was clinging to Don. Don said that when they got in the ambulance, the paramedic called in and told the driver Code 3, Code 3... then started getting Katie all hooked up.

Apparently, the driver of the ambulance was a firefighter and not use to driving the ambulance and got lost on the way to Children's.

I actually got to Children's before the ambulance. As I was walking into the ER - I saw and ambulance going West on Cumberland lights and siren and I thought - "oh that couldn't be them"... well it was.

Long story short, the team at Children's descended on Katie once the driver got her there and the acted quick and got her turning around.

Turns out - the manufacturer of the Solu-Cortef actually put it back on the market in 2005 and no one told us. Obviously, we have a good supply of it now and if one of Katie's meds ever gets "discontinued" again - you better believe I will be much more vigilant.

Katie came home Sunday but has been pretty weak and still under the weather the past few days. She isn't sleeping well at all.

Obviously, I have not exercised in the past four days and I definitely have not eaten well. I'm not making excuses - it just is what it is. I have had NOTHING left after the hospital stint and taking care of Katie.

In the midst of all this, I was dealing with a new client who apparently not a sane person. He was via email, demanding to meet with me face to face while Katie was in the hospital. Obviously, he's no longer my client.

I'm trying desperately to have a successful 21 day stint of eating everything right and exercising daily... if you do anything for 21 days - it supposedly becomes habit.

Hopefully, once she is well and level - I will be back on track. But, one day at a time and just trying to keep my head above water!

LA :)

Tips For Living A Happier Life

I got this from one of my Facebook friends and thought I would share it with my blogger friends.

1. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day. And while you walk, smile.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
3. Sleep for 7 hours.
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
5. Play more games.
6. Read more books than you did the previous year.
7. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
8. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
9. Dream more while you are awake.
10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
11. Drink plenty of water.
12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
13. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
14. Forget issues of the past.
15. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
16. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
17. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
18. Smile and laugh more.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
22. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
23. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about. Don't compare your partner with others.
24. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
25. Forgive everyone for everything.
26. What other people think of you is none of your business.
27. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
28. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
29. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
30. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
31. The best is yet to come.
32. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
33. Do the right thing!
34. Call your family often.
35. Your inner most is always happy. So be happy.
36. Each day give something good to others.
37. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
38. Share this with someone you care about.

2009 - The Year of Hope & Also Learning To Love Me

I was very happy to see 2009 arrive! Eight is my favorite number... I don't know why, it just always has been! But, 200EIGHT was a very tough year for my family and even a few others I'm close to!

So, welcome 2009!!

I have a lot of hope for 2009 and HOPE does seem to be a recurring theme for many people I have encountered recently!

2009 is also going to be the year that I finally conquer some of my nemesis! I don't have resolutions... I think you've heard me rant about New Years Resolutions before... most are long forgotten by January 31st.

However, I'm starting a 21-day journey on Monday. It's an online class with Ashley Wren and it focuses on "Learning To Love Yourself in 2009". A big focus of this class is living healthier and losing weight! There is a great online support forum for fellow scrapbookers who are all dealing with similar issues.

I'm going to try and chronicle as much as I can of this (continued) journey and hopefully my progress on my blog. My blog was a good accountability tool when I was loosing weight... when I was easily loosing weight! Now that the weight loss has been thrown back in my court completely and is no longer a result of the surgery... hopefully blogging about it and posting some of my creative outlets concerning it will help and hold me accountable.

I have not weighed since December 14th and I'm dreading like everything getting on that scale on Monday. But, I can't beat myself up... there are many "excuses" for what that number is going to be on Monday but the thing I have to focus on is moving forward. So Monday, it's back to BodyBugg, AM Walking 3-5 miles a day, Eating healthy throughout the day and PM Workouts.

Also, there is a new season of The Biggest Loser which I think is going to be amazing!! If these people who, for the most part, are far larger than I was at my heaviest, can do this and reach a healthy life... so can I! So can my husband!

Here is the beginning excerpt from my online class...

Better late than never... Because of previous commitments, I'm not starting my 21-day journey until Monday, Jan 12th. I've been reading and printing and starting to assemble my binder. Also, planning out menus and grocery lists. Planning is KEY!

Here's my 411.

Name: Leeann Samples

Three goals for the new year:
#1 - Making ME a priority... I always put ME at the bottom of my list (to include exercise, continued weight loss [I've lost 144 or so pounds since December 2006]
#2 - Planning and being better organized and
#3 - De-cluttering my office, my scraproom, my whole house (one room a month) and basically de-cluttering my life and daily schedule!
#4 - I'm horrible at adhering to limits... by December 2009 to ride my horse Belle bareback with no mounting block!

What convinced you to take this class: Being stuck in a rut... haven't been able to reach my goal weight...still 40 pounds away. Also, have been in a rut with NOT scrapbooking, NOT taking enough pictures and NOT taking any time for me. AW is an inspiration and I read her recent blog entry with tears streaming down my face. You go girl!!

I had gastric bypass surgery on December 27, 2006 and lost 144 pounds. I have gone up 5-10 and down 5 pounds consistently for the past 9-10 months and it's heartbreaking to me. After my surgery, I experienced life-threatening complications and was critically ill for over 3 weeks. It is heartbreaking to me that after going through that, all that... food is still "my drug" and my "go to fix" when I've had a stress filled day (which I have MANY) or am depressed (which is often) and that I went through all of what I went through and still am not "cured" with my food attachment! Depression is a cruel, cruel illness because I have SO VERY MUCH to be thankful for in my life which makes it so extremely frustrating when I'm depressed!

I have to embrace what I have accomplished and move forward trying to realize that I do want to reach my goal weight but I'm still significantly better off than two years ago. But I do have to learn to make ME my number one priority or I'm not going to strong or healthy enough to live the long life I hope to live!

Greatest Attribute: My love for people and animals and LIFE! I would do almost anything for anyone I care about!

Biggest Downfall: Depression, staying motivated and on track and getting BACK on track when I do get derailed!

Name a Christmas gift you got: BodyBugg and spending Christmas with my dad who fought a serious form of cancer this past year!

Family: Don (amazing husband of 17 years), adopted daughter Katie who is 9 and is the LIGHT of my life, Brinkley the Golden Retriever who is 10, Hogan the Puggle who is 3 and such a snuggle buddy and Gizmo, the 15 pound Himalayan kitten who thinks he rules our entire abode who is 9 months old and HUGE!

Three of your favorite things: My iPhone, my MacBook Pro, My Bodybugg, my Canon 40D and my Treadmill... sorry, I know that's FIVE but I love stuff!!

Oh yeah, and falling asleep to the sound of rain... not to be confused with my new disdain for rain during the day.

LA :)

Catching Up!

Wow, it's been too long since I've posted! People thought I fell off the blogging planet! Things were just crazy busy during the holidays and Katie, bless her heart, really hit a BIG rough patch a week before Christmas.

She leveled back out literally on Christmas Eve so we had a very nice family Christmas. We tried to scale way back this year on the materialistic aspect of Christmas and focus more on being with family and the things that are important. I think everyone who has been really paying attention to world event and the global economy did the same.

We have always done WAY too much for Katie at Christmas anyway. Which, has never been smart because she never really "wants" for anything during the year. But this Christmas was nice because she wasn't overwhelmed and she appreciated each and every gift, taking her time opening them, and talking about them.

Dad and Marilyn arrived mid-day on Christmas day. They went and picked up Gran and we all spent Christmas afternoon and evening together! We had a very nice Christmas dinner and there was a lot of laughter and fun. Gran was really zoned a lot of the day and not very conversational. It's very hard watching this happen to her... but we tried to tie her into conversations constantly and Katie engaged her all through the day.

I was very thankful to have Christmas with my dad. There was a time this past year that I was so concerned he might not even make it through the year. But, he seems to be doing very well, he's much stronger, his personality is back and the last PET scan didn't detect any cancerous cells. The doctors are still guarded but they are much more optimistic than they were late summer. When we took Gran back to Victorian Square Christmas night, we drove around looking at Christmas lights. All six of us fit comfortably in Don's big truck and it was a lot of fun.

Sienna, my best friends daughter, keeps Katie some and she is so awesome! She called me on Monday before New Years and told me that she'd keep Katie New Years Eve so we could go out for our anniversary. You know, when you are 24 years old... you think getting married on New Years Eve is romantic... not so much when you are 40+. There is nothing really "romantic" that you can do as a couple on New Years Eve. So, the next best alternative was to spend the evening with great friends. It had been MONTHS since we'd been out and had any fun.

So, we went with Lisa, Rick, Don and Shara to the Downtown Grill for dinner which was awesome. Then we spent the evening at Market Square! I have to say that Knoxville has finally started doing a GREAT job of revitalizing the downtown area. The "First Night" event that they had at Market Square was just awesome and we had so much fun.

I think one of the best things we did that evening was go see Einstein Simplified. They were hilarious and it was so good to laugh... you know the kind of laugh that almost hurts your tummy. We definitely plan on going to see them again soon. Don enjoyed catching up with Frank Murphy, who is part of the group and now lives in Knoxville but is originally from the D.C. area.

We didn't make it until midnight because of the cold. It wasn't just the cold... it was the wind really. I think I'd be fine in sub-zero temps if I was dressed warm enough... it's the wind that gets ya!

But, we danced in Market Square... we had interaction with a funny magician... we walked around and just had fun!

Time with good friends is great therapy for the soul! I hope we get together again soon!

Then, Friday we headed up to Kingsport to visit Don's family and help his Aunt Joyce with her new computer that Don helped her pick out. No surprise, it's a MAC. An iMac. Katie was literally counting the days to hang out with Blake and Hunter again!

We stayed at a hotel and we went to the hotel first to drop off our things and I don't think we had told Katie that was what the plan was and when we got to the hotel and Blake and Hunter weren't there... she was not happy!

We headed over to Joyce's house after we got checked in at the hotel. I have to say that it is just wonderful having Don's mom and other members of his family back in our lives again. We can't ever let "stuff" come between us again. Family is too important and especially when there are children involved. There is nothing in life that can happen that can't be worked out.

Katie has really gotten attached to them all. She calls Don's mom, GramSue. She has a Grandma (Marilyn) and a Grandmom (my mom) and a MomMom (my MomMom) and then Gran. So, Katie came up with GramSue to keep it different so she'd know who was who.

She also absolutely loves Joyce and Robin. Robin is awesome with Katie! I love being around Blake and Hunter because I always wanted a boy and a girl... and it appears as though Katie will be an only child so it's great being around Blake and Hunter. Robin is the same with Katie... I think she'd enjoy having a girl. Robin's fiance' David is great too! They are doing just an awesome job raising Blake and Hunter because they are great little guys and they are very patient and good with Katie.

We spent Saturday evening at this place called Fun Expedition. We had a blast! We did laser tag, bumper cars, rock climbing and lots of video games. Katie even got to build another animal... her room officially looks like a stuffed animal factory blew up in it.

Phew! What a holiday season! Now, it's time to focus on 2009. I hope it's less hectic and trying than 2008 was. I'm fixing to start a journaling scrapbook class tomorrow online by Ashley Wren called Love Myself in 2009. Taken from her blog...

Its scrapbooking, but its so much more.
It's even more personal this time.
If you want to lose weight, this is the class for you.
If you want to simply get in shape this is for you.
If you have goals for the New Year, and want some accountability - this is for you.
If you want a place to document your days, your journey, and your progress - this is for you.
If you want to have support all along the way - this is for you.
If you want to love yourself and to be proud of yourself

I didn't necessarily want to have "New Years Resolutions" because by January 31st... where are they? Usually long forgotten.

But, I do want 2009 to be a health, family, friend, business, fun and love focused year! I don't want to loose more weight because of vanity... I want to for my health. When I was so heavy, I could gain or loose 5-15 pounds and never tell it. Now, if I go up 5 or down 5 - I can tell a huge difference in how I feel and how my clothes fit.

So, welcome 2009. I hope you are a year full of blessings and happiness for me and all those I love and care about!

LA :)