Another WW Report

Well I hate to admit that I have nothing exciting in life to report other than I had another good WW weigh in yesterday. I lost another 1.8 lbs!!! I have been sick since I got back from the ski trip and did not get the work out last week like I wanted. I am sure the people at Zach's appreciate the fact that I did not contaminate all of their equipment. Anywho, I am back in the grove this week and feeling much better. Since I have nothing else to report, I will do this survey I stole from Kelly.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yes, my first name was actually the name of my dad's crush growing up, Amy Hughes. We actually went to church with her and her family when I was in middle school and I was the same age as her son, Brandon. My middle name, Renay, is after my second cousin.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? On the ski trip. I was asking my girls who God is to them. Little did I know that one of my girls, Kristen, lost her father a couple of years ago and she shared about how God is her father. I blubbered like a baby.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? sometimes

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? turkey

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Not yet.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOURSELF? I hope so but I would probably roll my eyes at myself alot.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? probably too much

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? no way I am not a dare-devil

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Cracklin' Oat Bran

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Nope

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Sometimes

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE-CREAM? Rocky Road

14. RED or PINK? Pink!

I DON'T KNOW WHERE NUMBER 15 WENT* That's ODD.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF? I am pretty spoiled. I don't think I realized just how much until I got married. I am trying to work on it.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My great-grandmother who died when I was in 8th grade. She was amazing. I also miss my grandparents who live in Oklahoma cause I don't get to see them as often as I would like.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? I want everyone to POST this on their blogs!

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Brown pants and some really sexy brown heels

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? a peach fruit cup

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Thanks to Chris and the I-Pod docking station he got me for Christmas...Dave Matthews Live from Radio City Music Hall

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Red

23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Chris

24. Who WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My boss, Jason.

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Yes, she is FABULOUS!

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Football and Yankees Baseball

27. HAIR COLOR? Dark Brown (I am getting my hair done this weekend so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!)

28. EYE COLOR? Hazel

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No

30. FAVORITE FOOD? Mexican

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy Endings

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Bee Movie - Very cute

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Cream with a pink sweater

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? SUMMER! (Sorry Ashley)

35. HUGS OR KISSES? I ♥ both equally.

36. FAVORITE DESSERT? creme brulee

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Hopefully all of you!

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Kelly because she already did it.

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? too many textbooks so I have not picked anything up for casual reading in a while

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? a picture of Allie when she was a little puppy

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? One Tree Hill and Rob and Big

42. FAVORITE SOUND? Laughter

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles

44. WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Bahamas or Cancun actually, I think NY is farther.

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Wouldn't you like to know!!

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Amarillo, Texas

WW Report

Well I weighed in last night and had lost 2.2 lbs. I am totally pumped about that number. I know it does not seem like very much but considering the food I had to work with while on the ski trip I was just hoping not to gain. Thankfully I was doing all of that skiing and burning the hamburgers and fries I porked down. Hopefully this week I can get back into my routine and have another good week next week.

Ski Trip

Well we made it. We left Friday afternoon at about 5:00 pm with plans to make it to Winter Park by 2:00 am MST but, we hit some bad weather and the buses' windshield wiper fluid froze up so we had to stop about every 20 minutes for someone to clean the windows. We finally arrived in Winter Park at about 4:30 am and were up at 7:30 am so everyone could make it to the slopes by 9:00 am. 2 hours of sleep was not enough but, somehow I managed to make it through the 1st day of skiing. Saturday night I actually got about 8 hours of sleep and woke up refreshed for my 2nd day on the slopes. Sunday night was the night of the dancing freshman girls (see below) and I only got about 4 hours of sleep before we had to be on the buses by 8:00 am. About an hour after we left bus #2 completely shut down and we had to wait 3 hours for another bus to come from Colorado Springs. We finally made it home at about 10:30 pm. It made for a long day but we had such a great time. The Lord kept everyone safe and we had no major injuries. We also had a great time of worship and fellowship. The trip was a huge blessing and a great chance to bond with the kids in the youth group further.

Allie trying to stow away in my suitcase.

Making my way slowly down the mountain.

A nice picture of my nostrils.

Staying warm on the lift.

I took a lot of pictures of Chris.

Blake and Haley. They are in my small group.

Another member of my small group, Holly.

Chris and I admiring our snow blades!

3 of the crazies in my room, Ally, Madison and Kristen.

14,000 people were at the slopes on Saturday and 13,000 on Sunday. Pretty crowded but still fun.

Haley and Holly.

Haley, Me and Blake.

Me & Holly.

Me and Blake.

The 3 other girls in my room, Aimee, Whitney and Kaci.

The dance party had just begun!! They danced to "I like to Move It" for about 3 hours.

If you are wondering about the large cans in their hands, don't worry it is not beer. They had these huge cans of energy drinks that turned out to be a mistake. I was awoken at about 1:45 am to Madison crying at the foot of my bed while Ally was dry heaving in my bathroom. Lovely!

I am alive...I think

3 nights with 6 freshman girls + 4 days with 70 high schoolers + 2 days of skiing + 1 bus breakdown + 14 hour bus ride home = 1 tired Amy

Pictures to come.

Off to the Mountains

Well I have not had much to post about the last couple of days because I have been so busy doing mundane stuff that I have not had time to do anything fun. School started on Monday so I have spent most of the week familiarizing myself with my new classes and requirements. FUN!! This afternoon Chris and I, along with 70 youth and 11 other adults, are leaving to head to Winter Park, Colorado for a weekend of skiing, fellowship, worship and fun. I am in charge of checking everyone in this afternoon before they load the buses. I have to write their room number on their right hand and then after they pick what bus they want to ride on, I have to write that number on their left hand! Should be fun!! I think if I can make it past check and the 9 hour bus ride I can make it through rooming with 8 freshman girls!! Please pray for us and the kids that God would begin preparing their hearts now for the words Brad has for them. I promise to come back with a slew of pictures!! Love.

New Year Resolutions

Yes, I am aware that it is January 15th and a little late to be blogging about this but rest assured that I did actually put my resolutions into effect on the 1st. I was hesitant to blog about my weight struggles before but I have come to realize the more people I tell the more motivated I am to stick to my goals. I know there are millions of men and women around the world who also made this one of their resolutions but, I will share nonetheless.

I have never been a skinny girl. Even when I was cheering in college and working out non-stop I was always pretty short and compact but I have never been as big as I am now. I will not share my exact weight cause I think that might be a little much but, I will tell you that I have gained 30 lbs since my wedding in March!!!! Holy freakin crap, every time I say that I feel a sense of shock go over my whole body. I think when I was single I was always innately aware of being single and overweight and thinking that my odds of landing a man where slimmer so I always had a reason to keep my weight somewhat in check. Even then I was still overweight but, once Chris put that ring on my finger, I think a flood gate opened in my stomach and all of the sudden there was extra room. I was/am so comfortable with Chris and know that he will love me no matter what and I think I let that comfort get the best of me. Chris too has gained weight since the wedding but, not as much as me. We are both vowing to make a new lifestyle for ourselves and have done very well over the last 2 weeks. Last week I went to my 2nd Weight Watchers (WW) meeting to weigh in and I had lost 5.2 lbs!! (Picture me doing the Elaine!!) I was so excited. My goal is 45 lbs. I hope that everyone else that is struggling with weight loss will keep checking in on me. I have a bad habit of getting discouraged if there is only a small change and then quitting! I am not doing it this time. I want to be healthier for Chris and for our future family.

Some of my other resolutions are as follows:

• Read 3 chapters in my Bible a week.
• Blog at least twice a week.
• Clean out my guest room.

Last Tuesday

Last Tuesday, I went with my mom and brothers to watch my cousin, Jenny, play B-Ball at my old high school. If you did not already know, I went to a private school from K-12!! I did not realize then what a sheltered environment I was in and as I have looked back on over the years I wish I had gone to public school. My parents pulled my brother's out of SJCA after I graduated and they both had such positive public school experiences. Anyone who asks, I always tell them "If you are thinking about putting your kids in private school to avoid the influence of sex, drugs, alcohol, etc., they are going to find it if they want to find it. It will not matter what school they are in." Then I go into a lengthy dialogue about my beef with private schools. I am sure not all of them are the same but after going to that game the other night, I left resolved in my opinion. Wow, I had no intention to get on my soap box about private vs. public schools. I really started out this blog with the intentions of posting pictures of my cousins from dinner that night, so here you go.

Jenny and Adrien

My Aunt Brenda and Jenny

Brenda, Jenny & Adrien

Merker Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

New Year...New Chair

Chris and I got a new chair for the living room. Here is a before and after of the corner where it resides.




I think that I need to branch out of my brown color box. What is my deal?? Everything in this picture is brown!!! I will get back to you after I have totally finished this corner of the living room. I am determined not to leave it looking all drab and blah.

New Year's Eve at Home

Last year we went out with friends for New Year's and had a blast but this year we decided to stay home and enjoy a night off. We were so busy over the holiday's it was nice not to have plans. I fell asleep at about 10:00 and Chris woke me up at 11:50 in time to ring in 2008. Here is a pic of me enjoying a glass of wine and my last candy bar before I started my new year's resolution to shed my post-wedding weight.

The more I look at this picture the more "white trash" it looks. Candy bar and wine...really???

Benjamin and Katie

December 29th we had dinner with Chris' brother, Kerry, and his family. After dinner our niece and nephew, Katie and Benjamin, came over to play for a while. I am pretty sure that they entertained us more than we entertained them.

Lunch Date

On December 27th I had lunch with my dear friend, Elisabeth, and her new beautiful baby girl, Ella. Lis and I have been friends since 9th grade and went to HSU together where she met her husband, Jason. Ella was born on December 6th so this was my first chance to get to meet her. We had such a great lunch and I loved getting to hold Ella and hug on them both. They live in San Marcos so I know it will be a while before I get to love on them both again. I forgot my camera that day but, here is a picture of the Wier's.

Ella was so quite all through lunch and made the whole parenting thing look like a walk in the park it got me thinking...YEAH RIGHT!!! I know I wont be so lucky. Love you Lis!! Kiss Ella for me. Oh does she have a middle name yet??

Christmas Day

Christmas morning we woke up and drove across town to my parents. We ate, laughed and went to the movies as is the Merker Family Christmas Day Tradition. We saw National Treasure. It was soooo good. If you have not seen it yet I highly recommend it.

Mom & Dad's Tree

My parent's dog, Macy, enjoying the bone we got her.

Daniel trying to avoid getting up.

Daniel after he woke up! Scary.


Mom making breakfast burritos.

My husband!! Enough said.

Christmas Eve

Our Holiday's started off with Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve. This year my step-grandfather even came which made it extra special. Since my grandmother passed away 10 yrs ago he does not come very often. We were so glad to have Dave celebrate with us this year. Here are some pics of the festivities.

My grandma (always alert and chipper)

Me, Mom, Dave, Andrew, Dad & Daniel

Andrew counting his money.

Squeezing in!

Jesus' Birthday Cake! I used Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Cake recipe. AMAZING!!!

After everyone left Chris and I opened one gift from each other (we had already opened one about a week ago). I got a new charm for my charm bracelet. It was a little puppy and is so cute. In case I never shared this Chris' started the charm bracelet for me on our wedding day. It had a gorgeous heart charm for our wedding day and dolphins since we were going to swim with them on our honeymoon. So thoughtful.

I will have more pictures if my mom will email me the ones from their camera so there will be more to come.