Long time no see

Greetings! (Hold on... this one's longer as there's LOTS to tell!!!)

Well there's A LOT going on.  I am still epically failing at getting thinner but I feel a ton better and Mark and I have made some big decisions and startling realizations this week. 
      1. It's not that we eat a ton of crap - we just eat too much (we seem to figure this out weekly but
          what does one do about it?
      2. To fix the above we have finally decided to take some OLD advice from diets long since faded
          from popularity. Ready?  Are you sure? Wait for it...

          We are going to stop using our dinner plates.

Yup, you heard my typing correctly.  No more dinner plates.  Mark has been very creative and healthy in his food prep on our super limited budget and we've enjoyed salmon patties, grilled veggies in all available yummy varieties, smoked pork  (thanks Salamy's!), breakfast for dinner (eggs with shrooms and a little cheese and bacon - my fave), and it's all been scrumptious!  So what are we doing wrong (this week's minor episodes of stress sweets aside)? We have the same complaint every time after wolfing down our healthy yummy goodness. Wanna guess?  Yup. "Man, I ate too much!  Why do we always do that?"  The answer.  Are you sure you're ready again?  This one's really profound.... It's because it's there!!!! It takes several minutes to feel full and since I'm busy inhaling my husband's delicious cooking... by the time I know I've eaten too much and could have put half of that food up for tomorrow, it's already in my belly!

Solution: Salad plates.  We are now going to eat dinner on the teeny delightfully cute mini versions of our dinner plates.  We've decided that we'll eat, set the plates down, and if after a few minutes we still feel hungry we'll go get a little bit more of the healthiest available dinner choice.

Stay tuned to see if our evil plan works!

In other news:  Let's not discuss finances.  That's an ugly word.  Let's instead talk about blessings.  Mark has had a ton of great leads on jobs and I know he's very nervous but I know God's going to put him in the right place.  Please make sure you send up an extra prayer for him as he has his first couple interviews tomorrow. He's worked so hard at the computer (6-8 hours a day) chasing leads and applying and making calls. 

So Blessing #1 - My amazing husband.  Did I mention tomorrow is our second anniversary???  We may not be recreating last year's extravagant Florida celebration but we'll be together and after the last few weeks I'll happily take that and run with it!!! Florida can wait until fall break when it's cooler! :)

Blessing #2 - Our great friends and family who have supported us like the Barons and Harts and so many more like the Reeds, Arch, Jen, Michelle, the Steeles, my Mommy, and so many more who have called with tips, advice, made calls for us, prayed, etc.  There are simply too many of you to mention!!

Blessing #3 - Ellie!!! 'Nough said.  She could make a rock smile.

Blessing #4 - Companies who've helped us reduce some bills and my upcoming summer Bridges check!  Woot!

... and soooooo many more because God is good!!!

Well that's a novel I've written so I shall call it a day!!! Until next time friends! Thanks for tuning in and I can't wait to update you on how our tiny plate plan is working!!!