MIA. . .

I realize that I have been MIA for 2 years now.  I am quite sorry about that.  Lots has happened in that two years!  We had a baby who is now 17 months old!  Yikes!  And we have another on the way!  We will have 2 under 2!  What did we get ourselves into?  ;)  Anyhow, if you would actually like to keep up with me on a more regular basis feel free to contact me!  I can be reached at  --  i luv gzus 2 at (any of the popular domains.)  I check most of them frequently.  :)  If you still don't understand just leave me a comment and if I know your email I will get in contact with you.  :)

Newest Cochran. . .

Well, I know that I have been quiet for quite some time but I am her to finally be able to tell you that we are 12 weeks pregnant (well actually on Monday). We are super excited still a little in denial especially since I had a miscarriage last year. My current official due date is 12/12. We just thought we'd overload December with another birthday in the family! ;) This ultrasound is from my 10 week appointment, my next appointment is at 16 weeks.

Yes, we will finding out the gender when that point comes around. I have been feeling icky and extremely tired. But it seems as though that is subsiding. Hopefully these next 7 months will pass quickly! :)

The New Year. . .

Well, since 2008 when I hit my all high on my weight I finally decided something needed to change. So I decided to cut out all/most processed foods. Like soda, soups, boxed foods, fast food and the like. Well, that helped me drop 30 lbs. then I was stuck there for about a year. It finally got to the point that I was frustrated so I decided that I needed something new. So just before my 29th birthday 3.5 months ago I started Weight Watchers for the 4th time in my life. And I think this time I have lost the most I have ever lost on WW. I am down another 20lbs!!! I really would ultimately like to loose another 70lbs!! So, all this to say I am super excited that WW is working this time. Here's to hoping the other 70lbs just melt off!!! :)

Thanksgiving 2010. . .

Well, I have been enjoying myself as we have been spending some time with my family. As we prepared to leave to come spend time with my family I made a list of things I needed to bring, per my usual, and I had all my ducks in a row and we were on our way.

I knew that I needed to stop at the grocery store to buy an onion and a box of ginger snaps so as we were on the way to the store I remembered I forgot my retainers but I figured oh well I don't care it's not that big of a deal. So we went onto the store got the 2 items we needed and got on the freeway and kept going. We were maybe 5 miles from home and I then realized we didn't have our swim stuff and I REALLY wanted to go in the spa at the resort but I so desperately did not want to turn around so we continued on. One and half hours later we arrived at our destination still not realizing the one really important thing that never made it in the car.

A couple hours after we got to the resort I left to go see a good friend of mine who just had a baby I spent a couple hours there. About 6:30pm (mind you we left at about 9:30 in the morning) I get a call from Bryan asking me where the ham is?? I told him I didn't know, because I truly didn't! I started thinking when we were getting everything together I got everything together including taking the ham out of the refrigerator and setting it on the kitchen counter!!!! Are you getting where this is going??? So all this is coming back to me and I am getting frustrated at myself for leaving the cotton pickin ham at home!!! We drove all this way and wouldn't be home for a while with the ham sitting there. We do have a local friend who could have gone in the house to put it away for us however we locked the gate and she doesn't have that key! GGGRRRR!!! $23 down the drain! So I went to the Ralphs local to my friend and they had sold out of hams at 3pm and it was 7pm so I called Bryan and asked him to go the Ralphs closer to where the resort is and THANKFULLY we got to spend ANOTHER $23 on ANOTHER ham. Talk about all the stupid things you can do this is one of them. Forgetting the most main ingredient is really not wise!!! ;)

All in all, we had a great dinner and dessert! I think we had as many choices for dessert as we did for dinner. We had Creamy Lemon Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Harvest Pie, Texas Hot Cocoa Cake and Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies!!! My nephew almost made a Pecan Pie as well but we were lacking one of the ingredients for that recipe but no it wasn't the pecans! ;)

I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving and has lots to be thankful for I know we do. :) Wonderful family and friends that God has placed in our lives!

UPDATE: The ham actually never made it out of the refrigerator! :) So it spent the 3.5 days we were gone in the safe in the refrigerator!! :)

. . .

Well, I know it has been quite sometime since I last posted. Lots has been going on. The store has been either really slow or really busy. I just ask for some consistency!! ;)

I have been working on Christmas presents which is taking up a lot of my free time in the evenings. I decided last Christmas that we (as a general population) are too focused on the commercialization of Christmas. So I started some traditions that I hope will carry along throughout my family and generations to come. Bryan and I no longer purchase store bought gifts for anyone we/I have committed to making everyone something each year. So this year I have 37 gifts to make. Don't think I am crazy and make gifts for everyone I know that is only including 2 sets of friends with 1 daughter each!!! The rest is our crazy family! Last year I made quilts and fleece tie blankets you can look back and see the quilts just click here. I really do enjoy making things for people and sewing helps me not consume so much food!

Speaking of food back a week before my birthday in September I decided to start Weight Watchers for the 4th time in my life and so far I have lost 12ish pounds!! My ultimate goal is to loose another 78 pounds and I know that will take time but I will get there eventually. :)

The other cool thing that I did recently was that I was involved with Holiday Idea House at my church. Holiday Idea House is an outreach event where the women in the church get together and have a day of crafts and ideas for the holidays. I invited 7 women this year that don't go to our church and it was so fun! I taught a class on how to make your own Christmas stockings. When Bryan and I got married or really when we were dating 6 years ago I looked in the big box stores for stockings for us to fill for each other and I couldn't find ANYTHING that was appealing or acceptable so I decided to go to the fabric store and make my own. We still have those stockings today and still love them. :) So I braved the world of teaching women how to cut out a pattern, pin and sew. I think it all went pretty well. There are women in the church that would now like me to give them sewing lessons. I am pretty excited that there is a generation older than me that would like me to teach them how to sew. :)

Before I keep just rambling I will let your eyes rest until another day! Have a blessed day!

A Little Spice. . .

So, I know that I haven't posted in quite some time but I haven't felt a real desire to or newsworthy info to share!

Well, today for the very first time in my life I decided, for what reason I am still slightly unsure, to get my legs waxes. I can now confidently tell you that it's really not that great an experience!!! I have been contemplating it for a couple of weeks, all the while the hair on my legs getting longer and longer, going back and forth whether or not I wanted to put myself through the torture!! Well, now I know that I don't think I will ever do it again. I can say that the pains that I endure during my recent miscarriage were easier for me to deal with. Now I never did scream while she was ripping the sheets of fabric with wax and my hair attached off my legs but I was twitching in pain so that I wasn't screaming and scaring the other customers! Some may call me a whimp but there are far other forms of torture I would rather endure than having my legs waxed again!

Now onto the miscarriage comment I just made which I am sure raised some of interest seeing as it may be the first mention of it for you. I haven't talked about it much really because I don't want people to dote on me or tell me how sorry they are. I know that God has plans for Bryan and I and that everything happens for a reason. Well, I wanted to take a over the counter medication and it was one that you shouldn't take while pregnant so I decided to take a pregnancy test just to put my mind at ease and low and behold it came back positive!!! That was on March 1, 2010 I went for my first OB appt on March 3rd and Bryan and I had decided not to tell anyone till his 30th birthday party on March 20th. I ended up going to the doctor several more times in the span of the next week and half and on March 11th I started spotting and everything was fine until the afternoon and I said goodbye to our first child. Granted that day was hard for me it didn't take me long to know that God was with me/us in that moment and that everything would be okay. I have a peace that not many people understand about it and if God wants Bryan and I to be parents it will happen in His timing not our own!

Now if you want to pray for us I will of course not stop you whatsoever but I really have "moved on" if you want to call it that and I am looking toward the future and what God has in store for us. If I did not have my faith in Christ I would not be able to have this attitude, He is my joy and my light and without Him I would probably be a basket case!

Phil 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Meal Planning. . .

Man it has been a while since I have posted a blog or meal planned. And the meal planning this is huge!! Our expenses have gone up considerably and so have our waistlines!! So here's to trying to more proactive again in meal planning and blog posting cause Lord knows I need it so I don't eat soo much JUNK!!! :) Hope everyone is doing well. :)

Holiday Toffee. . .

This may not be a healthy recipe but is sure a tasty one!! :) I made this for the tables at Bryan's birthday party. :) Will post pictures later.

Holiday Toffee

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. (8 oz.) Butter (2 sticks, not margarine)
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 sleeve of Saltine crackers
1 12oz. Bag of Chocolate Chips
Optional: Chopped Nuts

Hardware:
1 Cookie Sheet lined with Foil (roughly 11" x 15")
Sauce Pan

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400¤.

On the lined cookie sheet lay out package of saltines side by side for full coverage of the sheet.

In the sauce pan at medium high heat melt the butter, once melted place brown sugar in the pan and bring to a boil. Once boiling set timer for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes of boiling the butter sugar mixture immediately remove it from the heat and pour it on top of the lined up saltines spread to cover all the crackers.

Place in oven for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes is up remove from oven and be extremely careful as it will be VERY hot and liquid like.

Pour the 12 oz. of chocolate evenly on top of the toffee/cracker layer and place back in the oven for 1 minute. Once the minute is up remove from the oven and use a spatula to spread the chocolate evenly over the toffee/cracker layer. Now would be the time to sprinkle on the optional chopped nuts.

Place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to cool and harden. Once hard lift foil out of the cookie sheet and break into reasonable size pieces and enjoy!!

You can store it in the refrigerator for up to a week and longer in the freezer. But always make sure to use an air tight container since this recipe is so full of fat it will take on other flavors if not in an air tight container.