"Before and After"

"Before" my weight loss...these photos were taken in Aug/Sept. when I was 40 lbs. heavier. I was feeling good when these were taken as I got some new pants that fit well. I took the time to have them altered so they were a perfect fit.
There's nothing like a pair of crisp white pants! A fine pair of white pants have been my favorite article of clothing to own since I was in college. Then I lost 40 lbs. and discovered it was time for new white pants!
"After!" Now I have lost 40 lbs. and feel really good! I didn't realize how much energy it drained in me carrying around the equivalent of four 10lb. sacks of potatoes!

Those are the Rocky Mountains behind me and the snow capped peak is one of our "fourteeners" called "Longs Peak."

For 4 months I walked/jogged/ran(shuffled) on this 3 mile loop around McIntosh Lake with these pretty views.
It was always inspirational and I spent a lot of time thinking about my parents and my goals in life.
My friend Lorri is a wonderful photographer and she graciously offered to take these 'after' photos for me! She is so talented making even a 43 year old gal like me look youthful! (And these are originals before "Photoshop!" Can't wait to see what magic she can work next on my many wrinkles!)

So remember my love of white pants?

Well, I may need to rethink how I feel about them. After Tom carefully looked over the photos and complimented my weight loss and Lorri's fine skills, he said, "You know what these photos on the swing remind me of?" A commercial for Tampax!" Gee, if only I'd have known that with a little planning all these years of wearing white pants could have lead to a fruitful tampon career! :-)

Good News!

Good news to report from the Kofford Household!

We are excited to announce that Tom started a new job today, in his field of Financial Planning and Analysis! The position is with a good company that is over 120 years old, and is located about a half hour away. Great benefits and health insurance, an easy drive, and an exciting new opportunity!

Inspired by my mother's influence of growing up in Hawaii, and all the skills she and my grandmother taught me from dancing the hula, making beautiful floral leis, and teaching our elementary school students about our 50th state Hawaii, I will be taking on a new part time job!

I am sending in proposals to local schools and am going to be teaching our "Hawaii Unit" to Ashlyn's Girl Scout troop and a local elementary school as part of their enrichment program. It will be a four week class after school, and the children will learn how to speak simple Hawaiian phrases, perform 2 hula dances, a bamboo stick dance, they will make leis and grass skirts, and host a luau for the parents on the last day! I'm excited to get started and share this special love of the Hawaiian islands with local students. Here is the cat involved in my sorting and organizing...

We had an enjoyable Easter complete with an uplifting church service, a jelly bean trail that the Easter Bunny left,

Easter baskets....


dying eggs....

hunting eggs...
a lovely Easter brunch at a local restaurant owned by Charles Dicken's family... isn't that Easter bunny ice sculpture interesting?

(Mmmmm...the chocolate fountain was a favorite for me!)


and a casual tastey ham dinner to complete the day.

This owl visitor has been lounging on our roof top, we can only hope he catches the woodpecker that is knocking on our exterior bedroom wall every morning!
Tonight Kyle will be playing in a district wide Orchestra Concert, Ashlyn and I will be bowling with the Girl Scouts, and Tom will be at work! He was singing the "Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work I go" Seven Drawfs song this morning! Today I am busy cutting pineapples, making sample erupting volcanoes, and dancing the hula in preparation for my class.

We look forward to hearing the latest in your family's life! Happy Spring!

P.S. Our friend Lorri has generously offered to take some "after" photos of me next week. Will share as soon as we get together...I'm down to 120 lbs. and am feeling great! :-)