Reflections, with a Twist (Read on!)

I'm going to start this post off with a great picture of the baked oatmeal that I mentioned for one of the foods that I like to snack on, the post is here. I make this recipe at least once a week, sometimes twice. It is pretty dense, almost like a muffin bar. I like to grab it by the chunk and munch on it, but you won't find me turning my nose up at throwing some in a bowl, microwaving it, then adding milk and mixing it all together.

This recipe, courtesy of here, had to be adapted to suit my tastes. Of course, those tastes wouldn't have come in to play if I had enough oil for the recipe during one session and hadn't decided to switch it off to applesauce. Best unorganized thing that has happened to me in a while!

My suggestion is to use 1/2 of the oil called for, and replace the other half with the applesauce. This recipe is already sweet enough, so completely substituting out the oil will make it sickly sweet (in my opinion anyway, take it or leave it). One more thing, try to use the smaller sized quick oats (not the package size, I'm talking "oat" size). I made it for my sister, and the oats were huge, and I felt that it ruined the recipe.

Hope you guys enjoy the recipe as much as I do, it's semi-quick, super cheap, and easy to make. Plus, it feeds a lot. How can you go wrong with that? I refuse to go back to microwaved oatmeal (which I previously worshiped) or regular plain Jane oatmeal. Once you go baked, that's all it takes!!

Enough about food. That's really not why I'm here. I noticed the pic on my camera when I transferred the ones in the rest of this post off of it, and thought it would be a good time to share it. Voila. This is me, at 2 years old. I'm sure you are asking why it matters that I dug that far back into my childhood for this post. Hush, it's a progressive post. I had to start somewhere. Plus, I want you guys to think that I'm really super cute and adorable.

Somewhere along the way, I took a liking to food. Junk food. Lots of it. So, that perfectly chubby-but-fit 2 year old, managed to plump up a bit by the time she was 10.I would be the one on the left of the screen. With the funky pale yellow shirt. See all that pudge straining against my t-shirt? That was the product of 8 years of eating whatever the hell I wanted, when I wanted. I shouldn't be so harsh on myself, I really could have blown up like a balloon with the food that I liked to pack away.Fourteen. *sigh* What a beautiful age that was. I still had the makings of a "big boned gal", but I. Was. THIN. And this is the Porkchop that T-Bone fell madly in love with. Don't mind the slightly bad hair, it got better for a while. Pardon the interruption while I cringe. *Cringe* *Cringe* Okay, I think I'm over it. Yes, that is me. Yes, that is a wedding dress. And NO that is not the man I was marrying. That was my dad. Notice the short, stylish hair. Mine, not his. The still *mostly* thin body. Please keep in mind that I married extremely early, I was nearing 17 in that pic, and I was 3 months pregnant. Blah blah blah, too young, blah blah where were your parents. Now that we have that out of the way, and I decline to answer those questions, we can skip them. *wink*

A little footnote (or is it a side note, since I'm barely through my post? you can choose). When I am single, or in any sort of a non-live-in relationship, I'm thinner. I eat less, I have more energy, and the freedom to fill my mind with whatever I like that doesn't pertain to the rooming with the opposite sex variety. Once I get settled in, the fat moves in like an uninvited guest, and invades every last piece of me. It's true. I can prove it.I have to admit that this pic in particular makes me want to build a time machine, travel back over 10 years, and kick the ever loving snot out of the woman standing right there. You know, the one with the baby on her hip, the 8 month pregnancy bump, and the awful hair. Very awful hair. My oldest was almost 11 months old in that pic, and I was pregnant again. Must be that I never realized how it happened the first go round. Anyway, that pic doesn't prove that I was fat, although I was. Not just pregnant, but F.A.T. I gained 70 pounds with baby number 1, and managed to lose maybe 20 pounds of it before getting myself knocked up again. You do the math, and I can guarantee you that this pic above had me sporting all of those 70 pounds again, plus some!Let's fast forward a good five years. Through the diapers, the feedings, the birth of 3 total children, the loss of one, and a messy ordeal that left me moving back in with my mother. I don't think I mentioned that during the "bad" pregnancy, I lost 20 pounds during the 6 months that I should have gained at least half of that. I was malnourished due to blood loss, and climbing back to something resembling healthy was a long haul for me. The picture above shows me at ten pounds over the ideal weight for a woman of my height and body mass index. TEN FREAKIN' POUNDS, and not a single person could walk by without asking me if I was sick. A few even ignorantly asked what kinds of treatments I was going through that would cause me to look so ill. Let's just say that the money I paid for a fitness trainer to point out a couple of years after this picture was taken that my ideal weight was less than what I weighed in that pic had me wanting to throttle him. There is no way I can hit my target weight and maintain any semblance of looking healthy. Been there, done that, and have the pictures to prove it, somewhere. This one isn't the best, but it shows the thin.Here I am at my sister's wedding a long time ago, but maybe 3 months after the previous picture. I had managed to gain 10 healthy pounds in 3 months, and was looking the best I have ever been.

Alright people, let's fast forward again. To a time where I have been in a comfortable relationship for almost 4 years. Of course, the fat has moved in, as I've mentioned in other posts. But, just how much fat? Muahahaha, I think I just started myself with my first blog giveaway.

Listen up people. I will show a couple of current pics. And, I must say, that my sister, T-Bone, Shell, and Sara MUST be excluded from entering, in order for it to be fair. The person who comes closest to guessing the correct weight just from these pics alone, will receive a gift-card from Target. The contest will run through the weekend, ending Sunday night. If more than one person guessed the same thing, or were the same distance from the actual weight, I will use a random generator to choose the winner.

On with the pics, my dears!Backside shot. I'm the one with the non-graying hair. :)Wedding pic, taken 2 years ago.
And, of course, I'm the taller one with the blonde streaks.

I really don't have any pics that show me better, but after the contest is over I will have T-Bone take a full body for me to post.

So, the rules.

1. Leave a comment with your guess on what I weigh. Really... I will not be offended. At all. Well, just don't say like 600 pounds. Then I might have to hunt you down and gut you like a fish. But we won't have that happen, right? RIGHT?

2. Feel free to blog about the contest, but it is not necessary in order for you to enter.

3. Anyone found canoodling with Sara, Shell, T-Bone, or my sister to try to get an accurate guess will be disqualified. :) Let's keep in the spirit of fair play, shall we?

Looking forward to pulling some shock and awe faces, along with a ton of laughing (I'm sure) at your guesses!

***Update*** I am 5'9". And, please don't ruin the contest by posting that you think weight guessing is rude. If that is how you feel, even after I asked for it, then please don't leave a comment. And no, I haven't had anyone say that.. just want to clarify it before it happens. :)