Finally! A little movement!!

Here we go!

Pounds Lost this Week: 1 Pound
Pounds Lost Since Surgery: 106 Pounds
Pounds Lost Overall: 148 Pounds

Pounds to GO until GOAL: 47 Pounds

One pound may not be much to you but after a two week stall, it's a move in the right direction!! I'm pumped about a pound. It's one pound gone and not needed right?!

It was another nice week. Work, school, gym, repeat. Again, sometimes it's very comforting to have a little stability in this crazy time that we call life. Don't get me wrong, we love being spontaneous. We love being able to get up and go. But sometimes, it's nice to be able to bing on The Sopranos on HBOGo and not worry about a thing besides what's cooking in the oven.

This weekend was also a relaxing weekend. Saturday, we got up and went to the Kiamichi Quilt Show. Quilting is such a beautiful art. When life settles down a little, I really want to try and learn the craft. My obsession with quilting started after I was in the show "The Quilters." Quilting was a way of life in our history. It was used for everything. Women quilted when a baby was born. Women quilted when someone died. Women quilted over sweet tea. Women quilted just to quilt. I think it was a beautiful way of life and I would love to learn that craft and carry on traditions of the women before us. I am very proud to call those women that had quilts in the quilt show friends. Marge, Marty and Willie Dell are wonderful women and are such an example for me. I'm always so speechless when I see their work and the love they put into each stitch.

After we left the quilt show, we headed out to the McAlester Home and Ranch Show. That was an experience. There was so much to do and to see. I got a butterbell. Have you ever heard of a butter bell?! You put water in this contraption and a stick of butter and it makes it spreadable and creates a seal that keeps butter good for up to 7 days. Aunt Danna has one and I've wanted one since then. We got a red one, of course, it had to be red. They also had several hot tub displays. I want one of the hot tubs with a hard top cover. We didn't go home with one, but they are definetely on my radar You might get less blogs if we get one because I'll be in the hot tub ALL the time.

We also got a grill mat. The best investment I ever made was the gas grill for Johnathan's 30th birthday. We use that thing ALL the time because not only is the foot amazing hot off the grill, but it's super healthy. We grill steaks, pork chops, chicken breasts, sausages, vegetables, you name it and we've probably grilled it. The grill mats can withstand temps up to 500 degrees. It helps to keep your grill clean. It makes Johnathan's life easy and that's a great investment too.

Saturday night, I spent the night home alone. I watched Chocolat. Talk about torture. I watched a movie about chocolate. Also, they talk alot in the movie about hot chocolate. I don't know if you noticed, but fall is here ya'll. Cooler temperatures used to mean hot chocolate for me. I do kind of miss it. One of the reasons that I've been so successful, is that I haven't cheated. I've found alternatives to the things that I love: i.e. cookies, lasagne, taco salads, etc... I just need to research and see what I can find for a low carb, sugar free hot cocoa. I also watched Love and Basketball. It's a classic. Still love it today. It reminds me of New Years Eve at Tasha Couch's house. Great memories.

Sunday, we started the day at God's house. It's a great way to end the weekend/start my week. Another reason that I love Sundays is that I get to spend some time with my family. I love that we worship as a family. It just shows the bond that we have with one another. After church, we took Miss Ry and Mr. Ax home with us. First, we met Michael Andrew & Megan at Chilis for a little family lunch. Chilis really does have some great options for low carb. I had the mango chile tilapia. It was pretty good. My only gripe is for appetizers, there are NO low carb options. We usually get the 2 for 20 that includes an app. When we order the 2 for $20, we get the fried cheese. You have no idea how crazy people look at you when you peel off the breading and just eat the cheese. People honestly think I'm crazy. This happens to us alot. I am starting to get used it, but restaurants, get some decent tasting low carb appetizers out there and everyone wins!!

One lesson that I learned is that eating out with a one year old is not as fun as it seems. Don't get me wrong, Ax is such a good baby. He doesn't fuss. He doesn't scream. He ate really good, but he was pretty messy and he tried to grab everything. I got tickled at him though. He ate almost a whole chicken crisper, breading from my cheese sticks, a couple bites of pineapple and I tried to introduce broccoli. He looked at it and thought it was interesting and stuck it in his mouth. He immediately spit it back out and Michael immediately panicked thinking he was going to vomit it back up (HAHA!). He turned to me and stuck his finger in the air and started yelling at me. He was so mad at me for giving him broccoli. Sooooo, lesson learned, babies can be messy and don't introduce new foods at restaurants.

It was a great weekend, it just went by way too quickly. I enjoyed it though because starting tomorrow it starts a couple of days of 90 to nothing, balls to the wall, work, play and fun. So, back to normal for the Mullers :)

Prayer requests. Some of you know, but I'm not ready to share yet, but I do have an unspoken prayer request for our little family. Just pray that God will hear our prayers and answer. Pray that the weight continues to drop because I'm so close to that goal. Also, pray for relief. I'm still having pain in my low back. I see my primary doctor on Monday about it AND my 9 month appointment is next Tuesday.

As always, thank you in advance for your prayers and encouraging comments. It's because of these encouraging words and your prayers that I've made it this far. Thank you for being there for me even when I'm down and frustrated. I have the best God, husband, family and friends a girl could ever ask for.

Recipe for the Week:

Sour Cream Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Crust Ingredients:
3/4 c. Almond Flour
1/4 C. Ground Flax Seed
1 C. Ground Almonds (we bought slivered almonds and pulsed them a couple of times)
1/4 C. Splenda
2 tsp. Skinny Girl Sweetner
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 C. Butter

Filling Ingredients:
8 oz Fat Free Cream Cheese
3 eggs
15 oz can of pumpkin
1/2 C. Splenda
1/4 C. Brown Sugar Splenda Blend
1 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 Low Fat Sour Cream
1/4 tsp Salt

Crust Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour and ground flax seeds, ground almonds and Splenda.
3. In a small bowl, combine butter, liquid sweetner and vanilla
4. Press into a 9X13 pan.
5. Bake 12 to 15 mintues or until the crust browns on the edges.

Filing Instructions.
1. Mix cream cheese and eggs with a mixer.
2. Add sour cream and mix well.
3. Add pumpkin, Splenda, Splenda blends, vanilla and cinnamon and mix well
4. Pour over baked crust.
5. Garnish with cinnamon
6. Bake 30 to 40 minutes

Feel free to top with Light Whip Cream!