how i lost 50 pounds

July 2014 and December 2015

Earlier this week, I told you about my incredible 50-pound weight loss in the last year. Because so many people have asked me (and my mom, who has lost 30 pounds in the last nine months) how I did it, I thought I'd just post here.

I took the basics of Trim Healthy Mama and adapted them to fit me--so what I've done isn't really THM anymore, but it worked for me.

Here are some pointers for following THM:

• The main thing to remember is to separate your carbs and fats and don't eat them in the same meal. As long as you know the difference between fats and carbs, you could make a go of this diet without knowing anything else.
• There are three basic types of meals: S (fat), E (carb), and FP (low fat and low carb). I mainly ate S meals with a few Es and FPs thrown in. If you're looking for recipes, etc., you need to understand this terminology.
• In an S meal, you need to keep your carbs very low. 10 grams or fewer is recommended.
• In an E meal, you keep your fat very low. 5 grams or fewer.
• Just say no to refined sugar and processed foods.
• Protein is a must with every meal.
• Eat every 2-1/2 to 3 hours. Definitely do not eat more frequently than that, and don't wait much longer, either.

Now here's where I made the diet my own:

• One of the basics of THM is eating carbs that are low on the glycemic scale--so sweet potatoes and brown rice are OK; white potatoes and white rice are not. Corn is also a no-no, with the exception of popcorn every once in a while. I did not follow this at all. If I wanted a small baked potato with a carb meal, I ate a baked potato ... plain (well, usually with a heavy dose of garlic salt), because you don't want to mix your carbs and fats.
• THM allows for certain non-nutritive sweeteners: stevia, erythritol, and xylitol. After some research, I grew uncomfortable with using these sweeteners, so I switched to using honey, grade b maple syrup, and coconut sugar in moderation. And I still lost weight :-) (The unsanctioned Facebook group Trim Healthy Mama - Whole Foods Style was very helpful as I switched sweeteners.)
• THM recommends an upper limit of carbs in an E meal. After the first month or so, I stopped counting--and now, I couldn't even tell you what that limit is! Simply separating carbs and fats worked for me.
• I continued drinking diet pop (the one place where I didn't cut all artificial sweeteners)--I just limited myself to about one per week, and I never drank diet pop that contained aspartame.

A few things I learned along the way:

• While the official THM Facebook groups can be helpful, I found that they were not for me--too many people are very dogmatic about what is and is not allowed, and some even treat the book as if it were an extension of Scripture. I know that sounds crazy, but there's definitely some of that going on! Also, many women on the main boards post about incredibly rapid weight loss, and that can get discouraging for people who lose more slowly.
• That said, the THM Beginners group is a great place to go with questions when you're just starting out.
• Be prepared to feel terrible for the first few days to a week. You're probably going through withdrawals ... especially if you're coming right from the Standard American Diet. You will feel better soon.
• You absolutely do not need any of the special ingredients that show up in a lot of recipes, like oat fiber, glucomannan, nutritional yeast, or konjac noodles. In fact, if you're local and trying THM, I have some oat fiber, glucomannan, and konjac noodles that you can have. For free. Seriously. Of all the special ingredients I bought, the only thing I still use is the nutritional yeast, which has a cheesy flavor. (I'm currently dairy free because of thyroid issues, so the nutritional yeast has come in handy.)
• If you don't mind using stevia, Oikos Triple Zero Greek yogurt will become your best friend. It's no pricier than any other Greek yogurt (so it's still not cheap), and it makes a great protein-packed snack.
• Keep it simple. You could spend all of your time cooking, but you don't need to.
• Google is your friend. There are some amazing THM-centric food blogs out there; just Google what you're looking for. Keep in mind that there are also absolutely disgusting recipes out there...I had probably a 50% success rate with THM recipes I found online. (Here's a link to my Pinterest board that contains THM recipes I tried and liked. It doesn't have many pins ...)
• Many Paleo recipes will work with THM if you're following a whole foods approach.
• There is now a Trim Healthy Mama paid membership site with videos, recipes, etc. While I haven't joined the site, I know many people enjoy it--but it is absolutely not necessary to join.

Here are some examples of meals:

• Breakfast: Fried eggs and bacon or sausage (S); omelette (S); steel cut oats with a bit of brown sugar and cinnamon (E).
• Lunch/Dinner: Bacon cheeseburger without the bun and roasted green beans (S); casserole with brown rice, baked chicken breast, and tomato sauce (E); roast beef or pork (S).
• Snack/dessert (keep in mind that if it's a dessert, it needs to be the same type as your meal): 85% dark chocolate (S); Oikos Triple Zero (E or FP, depending on how much); coffee with cream or half-and-half (S); full-fat Greek yogurt, unsweetened or sweetened with stevia (S), air popped popcorn (E).

If you have any questions about anything, please leave a comment. I'd love to help!

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one year later...

I began following the Trim Healthy Mama diet one year ago, in large part due to the picture below. (I'm on the far left in the 2nd row.)

Photo from the 2014 Nebraska Christian Christmas card

But before we get to that, let's go back to the beginning. I've had a weight problem nearly all of my life. I don't know for sure when it started, but I do know that I was quite chunky by the 8th grade.

At Awana Scholarship Camp, 1995.

I don't know what my highest weight was, as the scale definitely wasn't my friend, and I avoided it as much as possible, but I can tell you when it was: six years ago.

This picture was taken on December 11, 2009. I realize it's no body shot, but no one needs to be reminded of that! About three weeks after this photo was taken, my body basically fell apart on me, and I ended up in the emergency room with what I thought was appendicitis and turned out to be a gallbladder attack.

After that, I dropped 20 pounds fairly quickly by sharply cutting the fat I consumed. So how did I replace the hole in my diet? With sugar and carbs. In fact, I can vividly remember making some extremely low fat chocolate cookies that consisted basically of egg whites, cocoa, and powdered sugar. In retrospect, I know this swapping sugar for fat was a terrible trade off, but at the time I thought I was at least sort of taking care of myself. 

Over the next five years, as I went through a lot of health stuff (which I talked about here), I gained and lost the same 15 pounds repeatedly. 

As December 2014 dawned, I was frustrated with myself and my weight. I'd been gluten free (for thyroid reasons) since the end of May, and I'd only dropped two pounds. Around that time, I started seeing lots of Facebook posts about this diet called Trim Healthy Mama. I finally decided to buy the book, which is a nearly 650 page tome. (The authors have since released a much smaller--and cheaper--version.) Once I had the book in my hands, I was pretty overwhelmed, and the book just sat on my coffee table ... until the day we took the picture at the top of this post. The instant I saw the picture, I knew something needed to change. I went home that night and started reading the book, and the next day I started following the plan. While I only followed it halfheartedly through Christmas, I dove in for real on January 1.

To my surprise, it worked!

From December 2014 through August of this year, I lost 41 pounds! Then I started following the AIP diet to try to heal some thyroid issues, and the weight loss slowed down. 

Still, I have lost 50 pounds in one year.

That number is nearly incomprehensible. When I look in the mirror, I still see the same Becky ... though the size 10 pants and medium tops confirm that I am much smaller than I used to be (16/18 pants and 18/20 tops).

Never before did I understand how an anorexic could see herself as fat, but now I do. When I was obese, I saw myself as much smaller than I really was. Now that I'm on the low end of overweight (yes, according to the charts, I'm still overweight), I still see the 206 pounds in the mirror (or at least the 206 pounds as I saw them at the time). It's bizarre, really. Only when I see photographs do I really believe the truth. So here's a look at me through the year.

Christmas 2014. My face absolutely cracks me up ... but see how much fat there is around my face and on my forearm? Weight: 204

March 2015. With Charissa, the head speech coach, at our last regular season meet. Weight: 185

July 2015. With Mom (who had been on THM for three months at this point) visiting my sister over the 4th of July. Weight: 170

September 2015. Blue & White Day during Homecoming week--we're recreating a photo we took several years before. Weight: 160

November 2015. Pretty much the only full body shot I have, and Isis the cat is obscuring it! Weight: 156.

December 2015. With Mom on an unseasonably warm Sunday. Weight: 154.

Honestly, I thought I'd always be fat ... so I'm very grateful to Serene and Pearl for the Trim Healthy Mama diet! While I only strictly followed the diet for about two months, I've applied the principles throughout the year--and Mom (who has lost 30 pounds) and I are proof that it works!

Several people have asked me for tips on implementing the diet, and I'm working on a post about that now. I hope to have it up by this weekend.

To those of you who have been following along on my weight loss journey, thank you for the encouragement you've given me along the way! A simple "You look great!" goes a long way ... even when I don't quite know how to respond. I especially am thankful for the support I've received from my parents--who never tried to get me to "cheat" and have always encouraged me to keep up the hard work--and from my sister Val, my biggest cheerleader. 

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase an item, I will receive an affiliate commission or referral bonus. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

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35 before 35: #12

#12: Release 35 pounds

One year ago and today.

When I stepped on the scale this morning, I saw a beautiful number: 169.0. That makes 35 pounds down since I started following Trim Healthy Mama and 37 pounds total. I am more than halfway to my goal of 140, but honestly, whether I get there or not isn't so important to me. What is important to me is that I feel good, and in order to do that, I've had to slow down the weight loss.

Let me explain.

When I started THM, the weight came off pretty easily. My rate of loss wasn't nearly as quick as many of the women posting in the THM Facebook groups, but for me, it was rapid. So I have no doubt that THM works. One of the basic principles of THM is separating your fats and carbs. If you're going to eat a meal with more fats (say, pot roast), then you severely limit your carbs. If you're going to eat a meal with more carbs (like chicken breast and brown rice), you severely limit your fat. And you eat every three hours. You can have a carb meal or a fat meal whenever you want, as long as you're waiting enough time between meals.

The problem for me was that I had a much easier time coming up with fat meals, so I hardly ever ate carbs. In essence, I was following Atkins by default. This was fine at first. I told my mom once that my body told me when I needed more carbs by making me crave them, and I think that was true at first. But in April, after getting slammed by the nastiest cold I've had in years, I started feeling pretty bad again. Not as bad as I felt before I went gluten free and found my endocrinologist who put me on a T3 medication in addition to the T4, but still pretty bad. (If you're not a thyroid patient, don't worry about the gobbledegook I just spewed forth. If you are, and you haven't checked into T3, do it! It's made a world of difference for me.)

I started doing thyroid research again, and I found several sources that talked about how Hashimoto's patients need good carbs. Then I did a little experiment and found that I feel much better if I have a good portion of carbs for lunch. (I also found that I feel better if I avoid carbs at breakfast--either having greek yogurt or eggs in some form.)

So here's how Trim Healthy Mama works for me. (I don't always follow this, but I feel better if I do.) I probably shouldn't even call it THM anymore ... but I don't have a better name for it.

• I always have carbs with lunch. If I'm having a fat meal, like pork roast, I'll have a small portion of carbs. (I believe this puts it into S-Helper category for THM, but I could be wrong.) If I'm having a low-fat protein, then I'll have a larger portion of carbs.
• I've stopped avoiding potatoes and white rice; I just monitor my portions. They're higher on the glycemic index, which is what makes them a THM no-no. 
• I avoid refined sugar if at all possible.
• The only non-caloric sweeteners I use are stevia (in very limited portions) and Splenda (which is in the delicious Breyer's Carb Smart ice cream I eat two or three times per week). Otherwise, I use coconut sugar, honey, and maple syrup in baked goods ... and I limit my portions to one piece (most of the time).

While I've been following this modified diet, I've still lost weight ... it's just that things are going slower. In the past two months, I've only lost seven pounds, but I feel a whole lot better, and that's what's important!

See all of my 35 before 35 posts, where you'll learn that I have a ways to go in 13 months!

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30 down!

When I stepped on the scale this morning, I was greeted by a wonderful number: 176. That means I am officially down 30 pounds since I went gluten free on May 27, 2014. (Twenty-eight of these pounds have come off since I started THM in December ... I did lose and gain about five pounds a few times between May and December, but the weight loss didn't really begin until THM.)

Who-hoo!!!!!!!!!!

Not only is this an awesome milestone, but it represents something even bigger. Back in 2010 when I started having gallbladder problems, I lost a little weight. As a motivator for myself, I bought a TV series on DVD that I really wanted ... and then promised myself I wouldn't watch it until I lost 30 pounds. At the time, I thought it would take maybe a year ... but then I started feeling better and eating worse, and I began to wonder if I would ever get to pull those DVDs out of the box.

But finally, today is that day!

The funny thing is, Sports Night doesn't hold that much of an attraction to me right now ... but I'm still going to watch an episode to celebrate!

Here's to the next 30!!!

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five friday favorites #13: week of march 6, 2015

So, it's been 1-1/2 months since the last Friday Favorites post. I think we can still safely blame speech, but not for much longer, as we're in the home stretch! Beginning with this week, I'll be highlighting four random favorites and a book ... because you know I'm all about the book recommendations!

Today I'm linking up with Erika, Karli, and April.

1. TOMORROW IS OUR LAST SATURDAY SPEECH MEET OF THE YEAR
Can you sense my excitement? 'Cause I am very excited. After tomorrow, my Saturdays become mine again! We've had a good year, and I have high hopes for several of our kids heading into districts in a couple weeks and then state (God willing!) at the end of the month.

The team. Small but mighty!

2. Tea Samples from a cousin
As you may know, I love tea. I'm not really a tea snob at all, choosing to go for the cheap over the more expensive, high quality teas most of the time. I mean, one of my absolute favorite teas is Bigelow's Orange & Spice herbal tea. $3.00-ish for 20 bags at Walmart. But I may soon be purchasing more expensive teas. My cousin (once removed? I can never quite remember how that works...) recently sent me a package of tea samples she's received with her Harney & Sons orders.

I. Am. In. Love.

The Hot Cinnamon Spice black tea is my favorite so far. I've been disappointed by cinnamon teas in the past, but this tea I could drink every day. The only thing that has kept me from ordering already is that I'd like to try the rest of the samples first to see what else I should order! (One that I won't be ordering? Tilleul, which is apparently linden leaves. Blech!)

3. These Two

Last weekend, my parents celebrated 39 years of marriage! They were just kids when they got married, obviously, as they're not old now! I'm so grateful to have grown up with parents who have modeled a godly marriage for me and my siblings. They're still so obviously in love!

4. Fifteen Pounds
That's the amount of weight I lost in the three months between endocrinologist visits. My endo was floored. She told me that they always tell their overweight patients to loose 10 pounds before the next visit, and they never do ... but I did it! I'm still doing Trim Healthy Mama, though I am modifying it a bit to fit me. And I'm thisclose to convincing my mom to try it with me. Here's to the next fifteen!

5. An Uncertain Choice
On Tuesday, Jody Hedlund's An Uncertain Choice released. This is Hedlund's first novel for the YA market (she's most known for her inspirational historical romances, like the fabulous A Noble Groom). I reviewed the prequel novella The Vow a few weeks ago, I'll have a review of this novel up on my book review blog soon, and I'm also participating in a fun blog tour promoting the book. My post for the tour will be up on March 17.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a fabulous weekend!

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quick health update

It's been a long time since I've said anything about my health, but this is worth documenting, if for no other reason than so I can remember!

I've been gluten free since May 27, and in mid-December I started a diet called Trim Healthy Mama. I was off and on through the holiday season (but always still gluten free), and now I'm back on, for the most part. (Sometimes I will choose to eat something "off plan" like a potato when I'm out, but whenever I'm eating at home or at work, I follow the plan, which basically means separating carbs and fats, as well as not eating sugar.)

Since May, I have lost 15 pounds and at least one inch from everywhere I measured (waist, arm, hips, etc.) except my neck!

For someone who has Hashimoto's and PCOS, both conditions that make weight loss difficult, this is amazing!

I don't know just how much I've lost since starting THM because I stupidly didn't record weight or measurements, but I do know that in October, I was over 200 pounds (hence one of my October goals), and I was still over 200 when I saw the endocrinologist in early December (though just barely). As of this morning, I'm 190*, and my driver's license no longer lies about my weight! I can't wait until it's lying in the other direction :-) I can't really see a difference in how I look yet, but I do know that my clothes are fitting differently--still no drop in size, but things are getting looser!

As for how I feel, for the most part, I feel much better than I have in more than two years. (September 2012 is when things started going wonky for me.) Do I still have what I like to call "thyroid days"? Yes. But they're becoming fewer and farther between. Am I still tired all the time? You bet. But I'm not overwhelmingly exhausted anymore. (Well, speech season is kicking my butt, but I'm not as bone tired as I was during last year's speech season.)

Going gluten free and starting THM aren't the only things having an impact on my health--I'm now on an additional thyroid medicine that's making a huge impact, I'm exercising more (because I finally feel good enough to do some exercising), and I'm also getting better about setting limits for myself regarding activity and sleep. But I also have no doubt that the foods I eat and don't eat are playing a major role in how I feel!

The picture below of some of Nebraska Christian's staff went out to our alumni along with a Christmas gift. I'm on the far left. Seeing this picture is what made me realize I definitely needed to make some changes--I was a bit mortified to realize that all of my high school classmates would be seeing this photo (at least all of them that we have current addresses for). The day after I saw this picture, I started THM.

*I've joined this THM challenge to not step on a scale for a whole month, so this morning's weigh in will be my last for a while. If you've tried to lose weight, you probably know that the scale can be your worst enemy. I have a tendency to step on it each morning, and seeing the fluctuations does me no good. I'm hoping that this challenge, while extreme, will help rid me of the habit of compulsive weighing. 

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five friday favorites #12: week of jan. 16, 2015

Once again, I've gone two weeks between Friday Favorites ... and really, I'm lucky to even get this posted on a Monday! Speech is in full swing, and by the time I make it home after a full day of work followed by speech practice, I'm done. The other night, I fell asleep on the couch at 6 p.m. Yesterday, I took an afternoon nap--and I never nap! February 28, the next Saturday without a speech meet, can't come soon enough!

1. This

Need I say more?

OK, I will. One of my best friends had never seen Pride & Prejudice before. Tragedy, right? So a few years ago, I gave her the Kiera Knightley version ... not because I think it's the best version (I don't) but because I didn't think she'd ever sit through the five hour BBC masterpiece. A couple months ago, she finally watched the DVD I gave her. Then, shock of all shocks, she told me we should watch the BBC version when she was home for Christmas break! She didn't have to ask twice :-)

We spent one great afternoon basking in Colin Firth-as-Darcy's awesomeness ... or at least I did. While she liked the movie, she actually preferred Matthew Macfadyen's Darcy. Seriously! In her defense, she is quite a few years younger than me, and her first exposure to Colin Firth was in What a Girl Wants, so she struggled to see Amanda Bynes' dad as a romantic figure. Still, though ... how could you ever pick Matthew Macfadyen over Colin Firth???

2. Nikki's Refusal to Throw Juan Pablo under the Bus
It's no secret that I enjoy watching any show the Bachelor team puts out there. So, even though I'm not crazy about "Prince Farming" (seriously, ABC? That's just about as bad as "Juan-uary"), I tuned into the season premiere two weeks ago. Honestly, I find Chris a bit boring, and, after the premiere, I also questioned his judgement. I didn't watch last Monday's episode, and I'm not sure if I'll watch any more this season--we'll see. Anyway, back to the premiere ...

This year, ABC/Team Bachelor decided to kick off the season with an hour long red carpet show, followed by the two hour premiere. (Yes, three hours is excessive. Most of the time, the two hour episodes are far too long!) The highlight (lowlight?) of the red carpet special was Chris Harrison's excruciating interview with Nikki Ferrell, who recently split from last year's bachelor Juan Pablo. I was never a Nikki fan during the season, and Juan Pablo ended up not being my favorite, but Team Bachelor clearly reviles the man--maybe because he didn't play by their rules?

Anyway, Nikki. She went way up in my estimation during the interview. It was painful to watch because Chris was bound and determined to get her to say bad things about Juan Pablo, and she refused. Chris's feelings about Juan Pablo came through loud and clear, and it certainly didn't make me like him any more. But Nikki? Way to be classy, girl! Here's WetPaint's take on the interview.

3. My Crazy Kitty
Oh, Isis. When last week began, I was a little worried about her because she threw up a couple times in close succession. Well, maybe she had a little bug that day, or a hairball, or something, but now she seems completely recovered. The other night, she was tearing around the house, leaping on top of furniture, and "fighting" with anything that would move, all while Hammond and Skaara slept on the couch.

And then this happened:

I got a new Christmas tree that I bought online for 1/3 of the original cost. The box is in terrible shape (blame Walmart or UPS?). I heard a noise and went to investigate. Apparently, Isis has decided that fake Christmas trees are quite comfortable. Silly kitty!

She continued her craziness on Saturday night when she was responsible for this:

But then on Sunday, I saw this side of Isis instead:

I'm so thankful that a "little" thing like getting shot didn't keep her down!

4. Agent Carter
I wasn't sure if I'd watch Agent Carter, but then this review by Rissi helped me decide. I've now watched all three of the episodes that have aired (thanks, HuluPlus!), and I'm completely hooked. I absolutely love the characters, especially Peggy Carter, Jarvis, and Daniel. Oh, Daniel--he's played by Enver Gjokaj (I know, you're probably saying, "Who?"), an actor I've loved ever since Dollhouse. (I think he was the best actor on Dollhouse, even though he played a supporting character.)

So far, this series is completely delightful, and I look forward to continuing it.

5. Breyers Carb Smart Ice Cream
I'm still not ready to talk too much about Trim Healthy Mama, the new diet/eating plan I've been following, though I'll have an update very soon. In the meantime, though, I have to share this amazing ice cream. The last time I had ice cream was sometime before I started THM in December. I love ice cream, but it seemed like too big of a cheat to me because of all the sugar. (THM has you separate fats and carbs and avoid added sugar.) I've made several on-plan shakes that taste kinda sorta like ice cream ... but I was really missing ice cream. Then I read about Breyers Carb Smart, and I thought, how good could it possibly be??? But I saw that Walmart had it yesterday, so I threw it in my cart without even checking the price (yes, desperate times ...)

It. Is. Amazing.

Probably shouldn't eat it every day, but when the ice cream cravings hit, it will be perfect. (It's sweetened with Splenda, which is not a "THM-approved" sweetener, but I'm not really a stickler about that.)

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five friday favorites #10: weeks of dec. 12 & 19, 2014

Last week was nuts. Nuts, I tell you! So I didn't get a Five Friday Favorites posted. This means you get TEN favorites this week. Aren't you excited?!? I'm linking up at A Little Bit of Everything and Housewife Glamour, as usual.

1. Fire TV Stick
Amazon introduced its Fire TV Stick a few weeks ago at the special price of $19 for Prime members. I couldn't pass it up--and I'm glad I didn't! I've been doing my streaming through my blu-ray player, and, more often than not, it either glitches mid-stream or refuses to connect to the network. But the Fire TV Stick has none of those problems! It works like a charm and easily moves from one TV to another. Plus, I can stream all of my Amazon music through it.

This screen makes me very happy!

It does make a funny buzzing noise every once in a while, but other people have had the same problems and have posted easy work arounds. I think it's $19 well spent!

2. Christmas Choral Concerts
While I think it's okay, I'm normally not a huge fan of choral music. When I have a choice about what music I listen to or concerts I go to, I would never choose to listen to a choir ... except at Christmas! There's just something special about Christmas music performed by a choir.

For the past six years (and one other year before that), my Decembers were so consumed by Singing Christmas Tree performances that I didn't really have time to enjoy other Christmas concerts. But this year, since I'm not in the Tree, I'm taking the time to truly enjoy the season. So far, I ...

Watched the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas special (with special guest Alfie Boe!). It reminded me of the Christmas specials we used to watch with my grandparents in Kansas when we'd visit for Christmas. Here's one of the songs from the concert--it's not a Christmas song, but it is one of my absolute favorites.

Attended my mom's Lone Tree Singers concert.

Sat in the audience of the Singing Christmas Tree for the first time in eight years.

Sang in the Festival of Lessons & Carols at Nebraska Christian. The video is pretty terrible, but the audio is good. My mom sings a solo at 30:30. (You can't see her, but you can hear her!)

And the fun will continue on Sunday, when we attend the candlelight service at my sister's church in Omaha. 'Tis the season!

3. Camera Lens Coffee Mug
Today was our last day of school this semester. (Hallelujah, Amen!) One of my yearbook students gave me this travel mug. Isn't it fantastic?

4. The Wishing Season

Ever since I read The Convenient Groom six or seven years ago, I've been a fan of Denise Hunter's writing. Though not every one of her books has gone onto my you-absolutely-must-read-this-book list, I've liked all of her books and loved most of them. (If you're looking for a place to jump in with Hunter, I'd recommend The Convenient Groom or Dancing with Fireflies [review], with Seaside Letters and A Cowboy's Touch [review] right behind.)

Now, there's another Hunter book to add to your TBR pile: The Wishing Season. I got this book for review through NetGalley, which isn't my preference for my favorite authors' books, simply because I like to keep some books on my bookshelf! But I wasn't offered a print copy for review, I've blown all my disposable income on Christmas presents, and I didn't want to wait until January to read this book, so I went ahead and requested it. I'm so glad I did!

I started reading The Wishing Season after work one night, and I finished it the next day. It was so, so good! Maybe not quite on the same level as The Convenient Groom and Dancing with Fireflies, but close. Very close. You can easily pick up this book without having read the others in the series, so why not make it a Christmas gift for yourself or for the romance lover in your life?

5. Middle Names
I'm not one of those pet owners who gives their pets their last name. Isis, Hammond, and Skaara Ritta? No thanks. (If you do that, more power to you ... I just think it's a little weird.) My cats are just Isis, Hammond, and Skaara. Period.

Until now.

Isis has been particularly naughty recently. It probably started out innocently enough on her part, but she now knows how to work the system. A couple weeks ago, she was sitting on top of a bookshelf, and she decided to try to pull down the garland (see picture below). In an effort to distract her, I pulled out the laser pointer my aunt gifted the cats with a while back. She went nuts for it. Problem solved, I thought. Nope. You can probably guess where this is going ... Now every time she wants to chase the laser, she hops up on the bookshelf and tries to pull down the garland.

Anyway, sometime between the first time she pulled the garland down and Monday night, I began calling her "Isis Marie" when I was especially frustrated. I have no idea why. But I do like the sound of it, so I decided to give the boys middle names, too. Skaara Samuel and Hammond Alexander. Like "Marie," they have no special meaning; I just like the sound.

Isis Marie. Skaara Samuel. Hammond Alexander.

Just don't throw Ritta onto the end!

6. Gina Rodriguez's Golden Globe Nomination
A few weeks ago, I told you that The Flash was my favorite new show of the season. While I still completely adore the show and Barry Allen, another show has topped The Flash: Jane the Virgin. Now, before you run out and start binge watching, let me warn you that Jane is definitely an adult show. Not adult a la Sons of Anarchy or Game of Thrones with lots of language, violence, sex, and/or nudity, but adult as in please don't watch this show with your kids.

The setup is completely ludicrous: Jane is a 20-something Latina living in Miami with her (rather promiscuous) mom and grandma. As a child, she saw the damage her mother's lifestyle caused--plus she was pressured by her grandmother--and she made a commitment to remain a virgin until marriage. When Jane goes in for her yearly pap, her distraught-because-of-her-partner's-infidelity substitute gynecologist artificially inseminates Jane instead of the woman in the next room, making Jane a pregnant virgin.

Throw in a fantastic narrator, Jane's telenovela star father, the super hot baby daddy, and twists worthy of, well, a telenovela, and you've got such a fun hour of TV. On the CW, of all places. (I now watch four CW shows: Jane, The Flash, Arrow, and Hart of Dixie. That's more shows than I watch on any other network. Crazy, huh?)

Anyway, the Golden Globe nominations were announced last week, and, shock of all shocks, Gina Rodriguez (Jane) was nominated! Shows that I love very rarely get any awards love, so this is great. It's a well deserved nomination, and I hope this will be enough to keep the show on the air for another season!

7. Serial parody from Funny or Die
So you know that I've been a bit obsessed with Serial recently. The first season ended yesterday, and I guess I'm as satisfied as possible, considering we still don't know if Adnan is guilty or innocent. (My theory is that he didn't kill Hae but was at least somewhat involved. Of course, I can't prove anything.) Anyway, Funny or Die released a Serial parody video right before the last episode, and it is spot on. (There is some harsh language.) If you're a Serial fan, you'll get a kick out of it!

The Final Episode Of Serial from Funny Or Die

8. Lemon Poppyseed Breakfast Cookies
I've recently started a new diet called Trim Healthy Mama. You may have heard of it--it's pretty popular right now. The basic concept is that you shouldn't eat carbs and fats in the same meal, and when you do eat carbs, they should be from low glycemic foods. I've only been doing this since Monday, so I don't really have any results yet--except that after feeling terrible the first three days, I'm not crashing mid-afternoon anymore. I'm sure I'll talk about this more in the future.

All week, I had steel cut oats for breakfast--I make them in the crockpot overnight, and they're good, but by this morning, I was pretty sick of them. So I went in search of another quick on-plan breakfast, and I found these breakfast cookies on All Day I Dream About Food. I did adapt the recipe a bit, using 3 tablespoons Truvia in place of the 1/2 cup of Swerve, leaving out the Stevia because I don't have any, and adding an extra tablespoon of lemon juice, as I like my lemon items to be very lemony. Also, I didn't add the glaze. They aren't incredibly sweet, but they scream LEMON!

They are amazingly delicious! They taste like poppyseed muffins. Yummy! My picture isn't nearly as amazing as the ones on Carolyn's site, but it'll give you an idea:

9. Ulta Gift Bag
Ulta had an amazing sale on Butter London nail polish on Cyber Monday. Since Butter London is my new favorite brand, I couldn't resist indulging. Not only was the nail polish half price, but they were offering a gift bag full of samples for anyone who bought $60 worth of products. But here's the kicker--your items just had to be worth $60--you didn't have to actually pay $60 to get the gift bag. Let me tell you, this gift bag was better than any ipsy bag I ever got, except for maybe the first one. Everything pictured below, except for the nail polish, was free. So far, I've used the Purity face wash (works really well but smells awful) and the Big Sexy Hair blow dry volumizing gel. That, I'm in love with. I'm pretty sure I'll be purchasing it once my sample runs out--it definitely adds body to my thin hair!

10. Nashville
I know that Nashville has been a Friday Favorite before, but it's even more fitting now than it was then--I am completely obsessed. I just started Season 2, and I have to say, if Deacon & Rayna aren't part of the showrunners' end game, I may throw a fit. And don't even get me started on Juliette. I swear, I go from loathing to liking her so often it's making my head spin. Just when I think she's making strides, she goes and does something incredibly stupid ... and to hear my friend Joanna tell it, that's going to go on for quite a while! Nashville is so, so soapy--and I love it! (Also, one of my soap favorites, Jonathan Jackson from General Hospital--I talked about him here--has a major role as aspiring singer Avery. I absolutely hated him at first, and I hated that I hated him, since I loved him on GH. But lately, he's been growing on me, and Joanna assures me that I will eventually love him!)

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase an item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

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