Paid off!

Scott and I have been blessed more than we deserve this year. When we were positive we would owe a huge chunk of cash to the government for taxes, we actually got a return and were able to pay off my credit card. It was a huge surprise and relief to us! I had 2 goals at the beginning of the year... 1st I wanted to pay off my credit card by the time we went to California. And 2nd we wanted to be able to save up and pay for that trip with cash and not have to charge ANYTHING. When I made the goal about the credit card, there was no possible way we could possibly do it by June but here we are 2 and 1/2 months away and goal #1 is accomplished.

Do you ever feel that you receive more blessings than you possibly deserve? I certainly do!

3rd in the nation baby!

There hasn't been much going on around here lately. We are still chugging along doing our thing. But we did have a fun little activity that I thought I would share. Our CEU Eagle Basketball team went to the NJCAA tournament and came in 3rd in the nation! They weren't even ranked but they excelled in the tournament and almost made it to the championship game. This is the furthest the basketball team has gotten in over 50 years so this is a big deal in Price. They held a parade for them and a little ceremony. Scott got to be in the parade. He drove this Yukon with the kids from the theater department in the trailer behind.

This is our team.


And this is them being honored by the mayor.
Now how often do you get to go to a parade in the middle of the week in March? Not very often and this was a big deal for our town. They made us proud!

Doesn't this make you want to go to Disneyland?

We are going to California in 3 months and everyday I tell Scott how excited I am! It has been 5 years since I have been there which is the longest amount of time I've spent away from California. My parents are from Anaheim and my grandparents lived there until I was 10 so when I was young, we went to California almost every summer and got into Disneyland for free since my uncle worked there. The place never gets old to me. California is just familiar to me and I love it there, despite the smog and traffic. Thanks to my wonderful in-laws who are putting together this shindig so that we are all able to go. I've been begging Scott since we got married to go. Woo! CAN. NOT. WAIT!

I'm done! (This is said in a cheerful way)

So it's been 2 months and I'm done with the cleanse. Although I feel healthier and lost weight, it was the wrong cleanse for what was wrong with me. The lesson learned through all of this is...

1. I do have self control and can go without sugar, flour, dairy, fruit, vinegar, artificial sweeteners, soda, chips, vegetable oil, beef, pork, all other meat that is not organic etc. for 2 months. I am a sugar-aholic and when I read about this cleanse I thought there was no way I could ever give it up but I did it!
2. When you feel something is wrong with your body, listen to it and don't leave the doctor's office until you get tests done that you think will help you. DON'T take no for answer. If I had done that with 3 of the specialists I went to, I would have been written a simple antibiotic 6 months ago and wouldn't have had to go through months of misery. Nobody knows your body better than you! And my experience is proof that even some of the best specialists out there can be wrong and will assume rather than testing to see. (And by the way, after taking 3 of the 40 pills prescribed, I'm already feeling so much better after months and months of being miserable.)
   
3. Eating healthy is much more expensive than eating unhealthy. How sad is that?
4. It is not fun to have to make separate meals for Scott and myself. So I have to find some healthy yummy recipes, because I want to eat healthy from now on but not as strict as I was. And my loving husband is totally supportive of that.
5. I am a totally grouch when going off of sugar cold turkey and it was probably best Scott had rehearsal at nights during that time.
6. Going out to eat, there are very few items at any restaurant that are healthy.
   
7. Juicing green vegetables tastes nasty!
8. Going off of the good food is a great start to a diet. This is just the start, gotta look good for California in 3 months!
   

Even though this didn't cure my problem, I'm glad I did it. BTW I'm starting out little by little with the food. I had a drizzle of ranch dressing on my salad last night and it was super yummy!

A weekend of temptations

Scott and I went up to Salt Lake over the weekend for a few different events and it was definitely a weekend of temptation. It has officially been 2 months without sugar, flour, and dairy and after the first couple of weeks it wasn't so bad. I could easily resist things. Now I'm to the point where I still feel the same as day 1 (although my clothes fit better) and I just want to eat again. But I'm waiting to hear back from my doctor about a few things so I'm not going to ruin this eating streak until I know some things.

So this weekend was filled with some of my favorite things, that I had to resist and it was pretty tough. Here are some of my favorite things that I got to see this weekend...

• Dunford chocolate cake donuts (The best cake donut in the world!) with a cold glass of milk.
  
• Belgium waffles with strawberries, bananas and whipped cream.
• Chicken salad sandwiches on crescents.
  
• All sorts of fresh fruits.
• Su Casa food... fajitas, refried beans, cheese...mmmm.
• Ice cream and pie.
• Really greasy onion rings.
• Homemade chicken enchiladas.
• Mom's homemade chicken enchiladas.
• Fresh brewed root beer.
  
• And last but not least... my favorite Easter candy... mini Cadbury eggs.
  

So if anyone asks, you can tell them that Stephanie Westwood does have self control and she is darn proud of that.