Monday, January 3, 2011

Before and After, House Swap and A Cleanse

Before and



After!

 
Hannah got braces this morning! She's taking the day off from school to get adjusted with them. I love the pink/green colors she chose.

Has anyone ever house swapped? Steve and I have been doing some research into it and are thinking pretty seriously about it. We'd love to go to France. Wouldn't that be cool? Although, the kids are a bit creeped out about some total stranger sleeping in their beds. Would you be? I'm still not sure how I feel about the whole thing. Would love to know if anyone has any experience house swapping!

Also, I started a 28 day cleanse today. No caffeine, alcohol, processed foods, wheat, dairy. What I'll miss most is that first sip of coffee to start my day and that first sip of wine to end it. I'll let you know how it goes.

22 comments:

  1. I've never done a house swap, but "The Holiday" is one of my favorite movies! I guess the good news is, you know the people coming will respect your home, because they want you to respect yours too! Pam, I do a cleanse almost every year (did a two week one back in Oct.). You will feel amazing afterwards! Be prepared to have a headache for a day or two at first, but don't give up! Good luck with it, and yay for Hannah and her braces!

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  2. House swaps always remind me of "The Holiday" and that turned out pretty nice, but of course, that's movies for ya! The braces look adorable. Good luck with the cleanse. Right now, I'm off white stuff and a lot of carbs.... I'll let you know how it goes!

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  3. Pam we have never house swapped ...but...growing up my parents owned a beach house and we rented it furnished when we were not using it. Never had any problems.
    If you plan on being gone awhile at least that gives you a house sitter! :)

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  4. We've never done a house swap, but I've always thought it sounded good. Good luck on that cleanse. I should be doing the same! Love the braces. Her smile looks even brighter :)

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  5. wow...ok the cleanse, I dont know if i could, i should :), but i dont know...i cant wait to hear what you think!
    Hannah looks darling in braces...and yes, i think of "the holiday" too, but I agree that people who do it want the same thing out of it that you do...hope you decide to give it a try!

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  6. I've pondered the house swap concept...although not sure anyone wants to come to a suburb of Chicago! :) I think it would be a great experience...and France, awesome. I'm always encouraging my dh to look at opportunities to work abroad...even for just a year. Love the new header, and the braces are cute on her!
    As for the 28 day cleanse, hats off to you my friend. I've decided coffee, wine, chocolate and cookies need to be purged from my diet again...just not quite there yet on putting it into practice. Ugh. Got to love January!

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  7. I've heard great things about house swaps...not sure I would want anyone staying in my house! I don't think our thread count is high enough!
    Good luck with the cleanse...I sure could use one of those! My husband and I tried one a few years ago...we made it 6 hrs. before we threw in the towel! :)

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  8. Me too, Pam --the cleanse, I mean ... right after I finish these chocolates.

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  9. Oh Pam, you've been watching The Holiday again, haven't you! LOL! Sounds like a great idea, though I'm on the same page as the kids -- strangers in my bed... eeewww! But nothing ventured, nothing gained, so you go for it then let us know what we're missing out on!


    PS ~ Hannah looks adorable in braces!

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  10. Header? Genius.
    Braces? Darling.
    Cleanse? Hmmm.
    House Swap? Wanna come to Phoenix? I'd swap with you. And actually, my brother-in-law is French, so he might know a family that would be interested? . . . . hmmmm.

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  11. Cute header and cute braces!
    Love your New Years Eve too!
    That cleanse scares me...good luck!

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  12. Pam, I have a question. When you cleanse do you cook normally for the family? How does that work with 4 kids who are not cleansing?

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  13. Hannah looks adorable!
    Have never done a house swap but like you, I am intrigued with the idea.
    My husband, oldest teen and I did a 21 day cleanse in August. We used the Fat Flush program and were successful. The first time I tried one with a different program I felt extremely nauseous and had to stop. They say it's caused by your body ridding the toxins but I think it had to do with some of the herbal supplements as well...especially since the 2nd time on a different program I was fine. We all lost the weight we wanted to ~ hubby 23 pounds!
    What program are you trying?

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  14. thanks for the comments girls! I am doing the Martha Stewart (don't laugh!)...the recipes are really good and easy. Today was day one...I spent the past 2 days planning/shopping/menu making...it takes a lot of work to plan for my own diet as well as feed the rest of my family...I made the kids/Steve chili in the crockpot this morning..I had the vegetarian 2 bean chili for my dinner from her recipes. So basically Dianne it means I have to cook 2 separate meals for the next 4 weeks. Tomorrow night we're doing stir-fry so I can have some of that with my salmon. I'm going to try and do a lot of crockpot stuff for everyone else so at least their dinner is done early and then I only have to make mine at night. Right now, I'm just missing my glass of wine!

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  15. Why the cleanse? Sounds interesting! Is detox or weight loss the goal? Hope it goes well for you, Pam! let us know :) BTW,Hannah looks beautiful!

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  16. Yes Pam, lots of work with the planning, shopping & prep. And I didn't mean that my husband lost 23 pounds in 21 days. I think it was around 16 and he has kept up the exercise & healthy eating to drop the rest. Our plan used a lot of protein smoothies which I liked.

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  17. Loved the Holiday, but not sure about someone else in my house...but on the other hand....FRANCE?!?!:)
    Cleanse...I must hear more as you go along...I SO need that!!
    Enjoy the day

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  18. good for you with the cleanse, pam! i hope it goes well for you. my two girlfriends who have done it were successful - and constantly kept snacks in their purses! so they were good to hang out with ;)

    hannah looks so cute. my daughter has braces and loves to change up the colors of the bands. at least it makes it a little more fun for them!

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  19. Good luck with the cleanse! I did a detox about two years ago and it was one of the best things I ever did for myself!

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  20. The only swapping I'd like to see is mom and Hannah swapping my cum after I blow it all over Hannah's braces.

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  21. I'd love to throatfuck Hannah

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