Yay! Way to go Chris

Chris has finally learned how to blog. He did it all on his own too! I had to help a little when he signed on under my normal email but that is not this sites log-in email address. So after he made the post he was like, "what the?" Cause it is another blog that I try to do at times. But I never would have known he was posting if it wasn't because he was on the wrong name. (at least not until I checked the site) So...Congrats Chris! ....anyway....

We got our power/gas bill - last month - $266, so we turned the heat down, stopped cooking as many oven meals and kept all lights off as much as possible. This months bill $420 ! Pardon my french but we about crapped our pants when we opened the email. So I guess at the rate we will need to get a loan just to pay our insane utilities bill. Tonight when we go work out we are going to stop at the Meijer and pick up some clothes pins and hang our clothes to dry and see what happens. (now I'm just wanting to make sure that we are not paying for the entire house, because it feels like we are.) We even wrote down all the meter readings to see the difference at the end of this billing cycle.

Yesterday went by so fast. We went to the post office, ate lunch at Wendy's, stopped by the goodwill, bought groceries at meijers and chilled out at the house. Chris got 5 new pairs of pants 2 of which still had tags. Dresses were 50% off so I bought a cute little red number and even found some BRAND NEW red heels that fit me perfect to match for only $4.50! Now I just have to wait for the weather to warm up so I can wear it out and about.

This morning we went to the Methodist Church that is only a block away and then came home and ate some pizza. I got most of my homework done and we are about to leave to go work out now. I am going to suggest Cold Stone when we are done because Chris had me wanting some yesterday, but we never got around to it....so maybe tonight? We are waiting for 27 dresses to make it to the five buck club- it should be bumped next weekend. We've been watching the Winter X Games for the past couple of days and last night we watched the figure skating championships...at least a few and the winner. Maybe Rachel will be on there in a few years, I haven't seen her skate yet but I hear she is a natural.

Well I have 6 more pages to read for my EDU class then we are going to work-it-out. Talk to you later,

Chris' First Post!

Hello everyone! Mom called last night to tell us that Thom is back. Welcome Home Thom! I am very happy to have him home safe and sound. I know Matthew and Heidi are happy as well. Lara and I are planning to go to the store later and perhaps even the Goodwill to get some more work clothes. Everyone at work is commenting on how well I have been dressing. What they don't know is that most of it comes from the Goodwill. They have some very nice name brands that are like new. Its is very easy on the budget. We talked about going to a movie later. Not sure what we will see but it will be fun what ever we do. Now that we know where the Coldstone is maybe we can go there as well. This is my first post. Hope it does not sound too stupid. It is quite easy. I will try to post more often. Talk to everyone soon.

213.5 another one down.

Well, the weigh in is official- another pound gone for Christopher, 213.5--- We just wanted to take my picture, I'm at 103. Chris wants to let everyone know that he thinks he is at a disadvantage with working out two or more times a week so he is also going to start measuring inches. Two people have asked him if he is losing weight- while he is, one pound at a time, he thinks he must look slimmer than only being 3 pounds less.



Homework has created a piled mess with things to do. I am managing right now so hopefully I can keep it up for 14 more weeks! Our house payment lowered again this year- while that seems like a good thing- all it truly means is that the house has lost a little more value again. We are trying to schedule a day for the movers to pack up the house and move it here. Once all our junk is out of it we will be able to make a few repairs and get it on the market. Keeping it now is just eating at our savings account.

Chris and I have signed up for a bowling night to benefit Junior Achievement. We both need to raise $60 each. So if you want to make a donation you can mail it to us or you can send it through Pay Pal- however I am opening a small online store (just for family) to purchase some homemade goodies of which the money will go towards Junior Achievement. I'll hopefully have the site up for a while because I am also doing a Breast Cancer walk with Casi and we both need a minimum of $1,800. So this is one of our fundraising idea's- we got more in development. I'll post the link once I get the store up and running. We'll see how it goes.

Chris has to make an emergency run for work next week to check out a machine that caught on fire. It's a brand-spanking new machine so there is reason for concern. He's out of town with work and his boss today but he should be home before I am off from work. Next week I have to get that loose filling replaced. Thursday is a busy day- I have a dentist appointment at 8:30, Class at 10:00, Work from 12:15 - 2:15 and Class again at 4.

Well I better get off from here because I am actually in the mood to clean the house and that is what I am going to do. I actually got up at 4:30 today and already cleaned the Bathroom and the Kitchen- detail cleaned. (Better get it done while I'm willing)

Ok so I lied...

So my mom informed me not ALL the weekend photos were posted- only because I couldn't figure out how to get them off the new camera she gave to us! I wanted the birthday pictures to be separate anyways- that I did on purpose.

So Rachel had a wonderful birthday party and if you visit her site you'll read that we got her Barbie Golf Clubs....Yes we know she's 9 - maybe a little old for Barbie in the age of Hannah Montana and The Bratz but they were semi-decent price and looked like a good quality so we splurged a little on her present...only to find that the box that was rather tall only contained golf clubs 1/3 of the size of the box. Rachel was such a great sport about it too- She gave them to Ashley, so as Aunt Marianne said...now we owe her another gift! I have a great idea that is a bit high on price but I know she'll love it. I just have to run it by Chris and her mom and grandma first. It's not Hannah Montana but....oh I can't tell you! She may read this-- (and don't go getting all excited on me Rachel it's only a thought at the moment.)

So to revive my good name, here are the birthday pictures- You can view them all here.RACHEL's BDAY or visit the 2008 Photos link to see all the new photos you may have missed!

Date Night!

Friday Nights Dinner was 100% Delicious. It only took minutes to get from preparation to finished. I have posted the recipe on the family website: Across The Pond. If it looks good to you or if you don't believe me, you can go there to the recipe's page and try it yourself. Yummy. After Dinner we were going to go see a movie when we decided, "What the heck, Let's make a date of it!" And we did, we headed to the closest COLD STONE CREAMERY for dessert. Next, we headed back towards home and did some browsing at the local Meijers for about 45 minutes and picked up some Kittie litter and a new toy for tigger (who needs to be on a diet). We did all this before we utilized our free five buck club passes to see "I AM LEGEND". Yes I caved- I had no desire what so ever to see this movie but I went. Not that I had much of a choice. I know when Chris fails to ask what I want to see- then he REEEEEAAAAALLY wants to see something. I'm glad we did see it though, it was really good. At first we couldn't decide if we even liked it or not when we left the theater. We jumped several times but we have concluded that we may even want to see it again on the big screen. I think the biggest mistake Friday Night was going to the 9:45 showing because I was almost late for work on Saturday Morning. But we had fun. When I got off work Saturday we warmed up some left overs and got packed to go to Danville. The original plan was to catch the train, have mom pick us up and spend the night at her house. In the morning we would spend some time with Rachel for her birthday and then have mom take us to Brent and Amanda's house to spend time with them then we would ride the late train home. Yeah, that didn't happen! We lost our Multi-Ride passes! Yes they just disappeared. We ended up driving to Danville- I was very upset because I have a load of homework and I was wanting to get my math done on the train. After a quick nap in the car I was fine. It wasn't too horrible I guess. But I really do prefer the train. So we drove to Danville and then there was a family lunch set up at 1:30 which we didn't get to until 2:00. So it was 4:00 when we left and decided to just come home. We will have to schedule a weekend to spend with Brent and Amanda within the next couple weeks. It just got too late this time. See All the Pictures Here! or visit the 2008 Pictures Link to veiw all pictures from this year starting with the newest.

Valentines Day-

I hope everyone likes the new background! I was getting depressed by the Colts one since they are no longer in the playoffs and the season is over for them. So I thought-
Valentines Day! So enjoy these lovely chocolates from us.

Chris and I did not go work out last night but we did go Wednesday. I don't have a picture because I thought we would go on Thursday. On Wednesday I ran 2 miles on the treadmill!
I did the first mile in 14 minutes 17 Seconds and the second mile in 12 minutes 45 seconds. I'm pretty happy with those times. In 6Th and 7Th grade I used to run it in 5 minutes 35 seconds for Mr. Humercous. (If I matched his sons time of 5 minutes 13 seconds he would bring his son to work with him- but I never made it there.) So my legs were too sore to do it again last night. But he just didn't want to go because the night flew by. We may go and take the picture tonight, though we are using our five buck club passes to watch a movie. We haven't decided which movie though. He wants to see I am Legend and I want to see anything else! :)

I went to the dentist yesterday for a cleaning and while I have no cavities I do have a filling that is coming loose. So I still have return on the 31st to get that taken care of.

The first day of all my classes have finally come and gone. I am excited that Spanish 3 will be offered in the Spring as long as the five of us that need it for our degree sign up for it in February. I'll have a busy semester because there is a teller leaving the bank which means I'll be working a lot more hours, I am taking the three classes and my education class requires me to do two hours of community service learning every week. My Spanish class is 30 minutes away and runs until 9:45pm. Posting may few a far between if I have trouble keeping up. So just be prepared just in case.

I am trying three new recipes this week! love Beef-N-Broc though I have never made it myself- So hopefully it taste decent! I bought a flavoring packet to reduce cooking time. The Bow tie and Broccolini and the Cheddar Vegetable Quiche are new to me. The Broccolini seems really simple; I've already altered the recipe slightly. As far as the Vegetable Quiche is concerned- who knows. It seems to remind me of a vegetable pot pie thing. We'll see.

We are going to Danville this weekend for Rachel's Birthday on Sunday. It is our last weekend to use our multiride passes. I want to iceskate still but the there are hockey games all day on sunday at the civic center. Mom also has gift certificates to jockos so we'll be eating there atleast once. And Chris will be able to get his ICE from the Donut Shop. He loves those little circular ice chunks.

Well I go to get ready to get to work and finish a bit of homework! Have a great day.

Family Fun Weekend

Our Visit to Science Central

Sunday we drove to Fort Wayne very early in the morning to meet with Mom, Rachel, Ashley, Casi, Austin and Devon. The original plan was to go Ice Skating but the indoor skating was only from 2:30 - 4:30 and we couldn't wait that long to get out and about. So Chris decided on Science Central. The kids were semi-excited when I showed them pictures from our last visit, but thrilled like they were about ice skating.

We had an entertaining time playing Nerf darts in the house while we waited for sleepy boys Austin and Devon to wake up. Casi killed Rachel and Ashley, but Ashley was a horrible dead person- she couldn't stop smiling. Just like her Aunt- I can't pretend to sleep with out smiling!

Finally the boys got out of bed and we headed to Science Central. Austin taught me how the pipes make music sounds when you bang on one end. Rachel and Ashley walked on the moon. Devon loved the black hole, but hated the slides. We all got to be weather people on TV but Austin stole the show. The hardest part was the 90 degree angled room! Standing up was hard to do...not to mention the kinda queasy feeling in your stomach just from looking in the room. We learned about two sided mirrors, compasses, pressure, electricity and lots more. Check out our pictures here.

SCIENCE CENTRAL PICTURES.

Lara Hair Color!

Thanks for the reminder Amanda! Here is my new hair color- Chris and I think we did a pretty good job! I can't see much of a difference on my computer screen- hopefully you can on yours. (mine is old and dark!) But that's it- It has a light red tint to it- and my other high lights make the look!

By the Way- I did not work on Part 2 of the vacation video this week--- maybe next week--- in my defense- I told you not to hold your breath.

It's time to go back to School!

Whelp! I'm waiting on time to pass so I can call the Ivy Tech in Valpo about my Spanish Class! I was registered to take it here in MC but it got cancelled this week! So now I will have a 45 one way minute drive every Tuesday night. I hope the roads stay in good shape or Chris will be checking out Valpo while I'm in class every week. :)


Chris and I have been working on the bedroom! It's almost ready- We are missing a TV stand and a bed, but everything else is in. I opened a Shutter fly account for pictures. I probably will not transfer all the Picasa photos over but I got links on the photo pages if anyone wants to look at the old ones.

This is our new bedroom set! We had originally decided on buying the really expensive one with a ton of storage for $2,200. Chris walked in with the credit card out and said, "22 out the door right?" and the sales guy said, "plus tax and delivery". Which is not what he said just a few days before, so Chris comes back to the car to ask me and I suggest getting the cheaper one down the road for only $1095. We drive down there and it's gone! We don't see anything else we like there so I say, "let's go to Walmart get some El-cheap-o dressers and wait for what we really want. So we drive to Walmart. They were pretty pricey for the crap they were selling. We decided not to buy from there and went back to the second place we visited....then we see it: out by the road this bedroom set with pieces for $69 and $39 each. So we look at it, we like it and we buy it for a bargain at $305.00! There are four pieces all together, we got 2 of the tall, slender dressers. Someone bought the head board and they needed to sell the rest of it- so we got it! And it matches our bedroom paint perfect.

Our next step was the curtains- which we found at Walmart (Michigan City is very limited on shopping- it's not even a super Walmart!) However when we bought them we didn't realize it was one piece and they left a big hole in the middle for everyone to see in. I didn't want to put blinds up so Chris cut along the top and flipped the dresses upside down and put them on their own rod. You can't even tell that he altered them. And they match really great with the gold in the bedroom set!

Another Weigh-In

Another week has passed and it is time for MidSon to weigh-in for his first official "Did he keep any off?" week. We watched the scale all week- seeing 2.5 pounds come off but sadly- only one meesley pound stayed off at the end of the week.

OFFICIAL WEIGHT: 215.5!

We're glad to take that one pound though! Only 34 more to go!

April Showers in January?

Is everyone else getting this crazy spring weather? The Drive-Thru tubes at the bank run underground and because the snow melted so quickly we had to shut them down because the tube couldn't make it through all the water! Luckily the person who's deposit got stuck was able to snatch the tube when the door opened after we re-set the system. Then of course we really didn't want to shut the drive thru down completely so we re-started lane One which had been down since that morning... yeah it worked for about three cars and then nothing. It felt so good outside I was like, "Man, if it could stay that temperature all year long- with or with out the wind it would be just fine by me!" (this was at the noon temperature). And now we got lots of rain, it rained the entire last 1/2 of the day yesterday it stormed like crazy last night and tornado warnings were out and about (I heard a few towns got them, thankfully- we didn't).

I did not go to the auditions last night. I wanted to go but then I thought with classes starting I should probably wait and not overload myself like I usually do. Plus I didn't notice where the play is actually going to be practiced and performed in Valpo which is a 45 minute drive from here. After reading this I decided it's best to wait.

West Family Vacation Video Part One

CLICK HERE to see a bigger version at our new video site on http://www.putfile.com/

Yes! I have finally completed one thing on my list to do to start catching up on photos and videos. Here is Part One of the West Family Vacation. I am currently working on Part Two which thankfully is coming along a lot faster then Part One did. I hope to have it done this week sometime, but don't hold your breath. Yesterday Chris helped me color my hair- we both think it looks really good! It's a strawberry blonde- I guess I might be able to post some pictures later. We are totally wasting the day away- we didn't wake up until 9AM which is sleeping in, sleeping in for us. I guess it makes sense because of the work out last night. Chris was tearin' it up in fitness center last night. I worked out harder than usuall but I had trouble getting motivated- where Chris just got rolling right away. I hope to get some house work done today aswell- but who knows. This is my last week of break- then it's back to school. I am taking the same number of credit hours as I did last semester, so it should be interesting as the courses are sure to be a little bit harder- the plus is that my education course teacher is the same and my Spanish instructor is the same. That should ease begining of the semester butterflies I guess. There is also a play that I want to audition for but I don't have any meterial. I plan on calling today to see what the information says you need- I found it on Wednesday last week but kept forgetting to call- auditions are tomorrow- Monday. So if I call and go then I do, if I don't I'll wait for the next one. So just enjoy the video.

Ride 'em Cowboy!

So far the New Year has been a good one! I went yesterday and bought one of my school books. I got the last used copy for $106.00- The new ones cost $175.00- I figure let someone else burn their money on a new one! One down, one to go- luckily Spanish 102 is using the same book Spanish 101 used. Yesterday I also mailed out my newest Candy Orders from eBay. I'm thinking about making some peanut butter logs to sell next week. And as braindead as I can be- I put my Am. General bill in the mail slot instead of the Hospital Bill and it had no postage on it. I called after I got to Am. General to pay the bill and had the wrong envelope! Too late- it was already on the truck. I'll be calling today to get another payment coupon.

Chris is coming home for lunch today before I leave for work! I got a Broc and Cheese with ham casserole mix thing going! It smells yummy. So not only did he leave late today, but he comes home for lunch too- yeah! ... What time I didn't use out and about yesterday on my day off- I used creating the Vacation video from Orlando! I have to break it into smaller segments because it will take 3 days to transfer to video! (Of course this is a very old computer with lots and lots of programs and stuff on it- so I'm sure that does not help!)

I got on the slim-fast site this morning too! Chris has been watching calories lately and we're working together to burn them off. I have been working to gain weight and it has worked- In October I was 98 pounds and now I am at 104.5! So no more 100pounds soaking wet jokes Darrell :) Well duty calls- actually it's laundry but hey what can you do other than fold it.

Christopher's Weekly Weigh-In

During the New Years Weekend at Brent and Amanda's- a challenge was raised for Chris to lose weight! Part of this challenge is for Chris to lose 35 pounds and keep it off for three months by the end of the year. Then came the challenge as to who could do it quicker- Mamma West or MidSon West. (Official challenge name) So at some point every week we will post a picture of the scale with MidSon's weight...

Thursday, January 3rd: 216.5

...Gained a pound and half over the holidays which Midson blames on THE GRAVY. So technically I guess his goal would be 36.5 pounds to shed- but let's not take away his positive thinking by adding more to it. Right? and Just for Kicks here we are working out:

We worked it out on the treadmills for 20 minutes before working our ABs. And hey- now everyone gets to see the great facility we use for free from Sullair!