Thursday, December 27, 2012

Christmas Time!

Well, I'm a terrible blogger. 

I feel like I have nothing to say lately.  I haven't been working out like I should.  I haven't been dieting like I should.  I work, come home, and sleep.  And that's not exciting, so I don't write about it. 

But Christmas was this week! 

It was super fun.  We were able to spend a ton of time with family.  I had Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday off from work. Cody had to work Sunday and Monday, but was able to only work a half day so we could go to all of the Christmas parties we had to go to.

Sunday was my dads side of the family.  We didn't get to go to the party last year, because my sister was in the hospital due to an infection in her foot.  So it was nice to see everyone this year!  We ate lots of food, played some games, and saw lots of family members that we haven't seen in a while.  My cousin brought her 7 month old baby, so cute!! And I swear, I've never been asked more "so, when are you guys gonna have a baby?"  in my entire life!  We left around 11, because Cody had to work early the next day.

Christmas eve was another fun day. I spent the morning finishing up some wrapping and a tiny bit of shopping, and then headed to my parents for Church.  It started early (4:30!) and so after church was over, we had my aunt and uncle and some friends over at my parents house for a small party there.  Again, lots of food!  We played cards, and hung out.  Again, we didn't leave until after 11, so we got home pretty late. 

Christmas morning always starts early for us.  We have to generally be at Cody's parents house around 6am.  We spend the morning opening gifts, eating, and hanging out. Then we head to my parents around 1, and do more gifts, eating, and hanging out.  It's always lots of fun, but it's generally a super long day.  I love it though, because I love getting to spend a lot of time with my family!

Hope you all had a great Christmas!

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Christmas Shopping

Sorry it's been so long.  It's been crazy around here for the past few weeks.

Cody is still working insane hours.  He hasn't had a day off since Thanksgiving and I know that he's exhausted.  Him and his boss got into a big fight the other day, because Cody brought up the fact that working like this wasn't what the original plan was, and if he is going to be working 100+ hour weeks, that he isn't going to continue to do so at his regular pay.  I feel so bad because I know that he's worn out from working so much, but I also know that it's not forever, hopefully next week things will start to slow down a bit for him, so he can go back to working his normal schedule. 

Work for me has been going good, just working a lot.  We got a new GM, and his has some very high standards, which is good I guess if you work in a restaurant.  We've had a lot added to our plate, so it seems I'm at work a bit longer than usual.  It's good though, it keeps me busy, especially right now when Cody is working a lot and I wouldn't get to see him, anyway. 

Because we have been working so much, we haven't even started our Christmas shopping.  I love Christmas time, and generally I love shopping but we just haven't had the time to really start this year.  Since my family is going to Florida in February, we decided to go light on Christmas shopping this year.  On Thanksgiving, we decided to draw names, and instead of buying something small for everyone, we decided to spend $100 on the persons name that we draw.  I got my mom, and Cody got my dad.  Well, the entire plan kind of backfired, because my mom decided that she can't not buy gifts for all of us, so she's going to buy something little for each of us, but spend the most money on the person she got (which is Cody).  So, now we are getting one thing for everyone too, but it will still be cheaper than a normal Christmas. 

Weight Watchers is going well.  I did really well the first week, and was down 2.6lbs!  The second week, I didn't do so great.  We had pizza one night, I wasn't counting my points like I should, and I was supposed to weigh in on Tuesday, but we got some snow the night before and the roads were bad.  So I weighed in today, expecting a gain, but I lost 1.8!  Down 4.4 total.  Not a ton, but I'm okay with it!! 

I'm hoping to do a complete makeover of my blog soon, as soon as I get the patience to do it.  So look out for that.  :)

comments

I just realized that all of the comments that I have thought I've been posting on here aren't showing up! I tried to comment on someone elses blog and it didn't show up, and sure enough, none of the ones I post on mine are showing up, either!  So I am not ignoring you, google is just being weird and not allowing me to comment.  :(

I plan on writing a much better update tomorrow, I am weighing in tomorrow (and expecting a gain, but more on that later) so I'll let you know how it goes!

Friday, November 30, 2012

Weight Watchers

Well, I took the plunge and went and signed up on Wednesday.  I decided to sign up using a monthly pass, so I figure I'll give it a try for a month and see if I like it.  I got all sorts of stuff - 3-month log book, a cookbook, dining out companion, complete food guide, a PointsPlus calculator, a book with a bunch of tips, and some coupons.  I haven't decided yet what days I'm going to go to the meetings yet. I'm going to a Weight Watchers store, so they're open 7 days a week, with multiple meetings each day.  I'm thinking I'll go on Tuesday mornings, because I am more likely to be off of work on Tuesdays. I didn't do so great yesterday when it came to my points, but I also didn't pay a whole lot of attention to them, either.  I just wanted to see how many points I ate without thinking about it, and it was WAY too many. 

We bought our plane tickets for our February Florida trip!  We leave 2 months from tomorrow. I'm so excited!  We'll be gone for 9 days, and it will be so great to be able to get away and spend time with my family.  I can't wait to bring my parents, especially my dad, to Disney, they haven't been in years!

I'm off work tomorrow and I'm happy about it - Cody's new restaurant is going to open tomorrow!!! I plan on going for lunch, and probably for drinks and dinner later on.  I'm so proud of him.  It's been hard and stressful on us both, but it's always great to see all the hard work pay off!

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Struggling

I have found myself really struggling the last few days.  I meant to start counting calories/working out again today, but I just wasn't feeling like getting out of bed, and basically stayed there until I had to go to work.  I know things will get better, and I know that it won't be this way for long, but I can't help but be sad. 

I think I mentioned this before, but the owner of the restaurant that Cody works at is opening a new restaurant.  Although Cody is going to continue working full time at the restaurant he's at now, the owner wants him to sort of "oversee" this new restaurant.  When they opened the first restaurant, Cody worked a ton of hours over a few weeks - probably a month without a day off, working 12-15 hour days.  The last three weeks, Cody hasn't had a day off, except Thanksgiving.  For almost a month now, our schedule has been something like this:

8:30 - Cody wakes up
9:00 - Cody comes in and gives me a kiss goodbye
10:00 - I wake up
2:00 - I go to work
10:30 - Cody comes home and goes to bed
11:45 - I get home, Cody is sleeping

So the only communication between us has been the kiss in the morning, and a "hi babe, love you" when I get into bed at night.  I'm so proud of all that he's done - he helped open one hugely successful restaurant, and has now basically opened this second restaurant by himself, which I also know will be hugely successful.  I am proud that I married a hardworking, smart, creative man who I know will be able to provide for our family forever.  And I know that the past few weeks, and the next few weeks are going to come and go, and we'll get back to normal.  But I also know that I'm lonely, and I miss him.  He's my best friend, and I miss him. 

I was excited because they had originally planned on having the new restaurant open by Wednesday, and Cody would be able to take Tuesday off, and I also have tuesday off, so we'd finally be able to get some time to actually spend together.  Today, his kitchen manager quit.  There is no way that they would be able to hire and train a new kitchen manager by Wednesday.  They would need to hire 2 more cooks to fill the 50-60 hours that the kitchen manager would have been working per week, which means that a) they won't be able to open in time, and b) Cody is going to have to work harder than he already his.  I know he's stressed out, and I know he's exhausted, and I wish I could do something to make him feel better. 

I think I just needed to rant for a minute, I don't want to tell Cody how I feel, because that will stress him out even more than he already is.  So thanks for reading my vent.  :)

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Post Thanksgiving Weekend

I have been so nervous for the past few weeks, because I volunteered to host Thanksgiving at our house this year.  This was the first time we had a house to have a Holiday get together in, and even though we didn't have a ton of space, I wanted to give it a try and see if I could do it. 

Cody and I found ways to fight most of the day, just because we were both worried about getting everything right.  We fought over small things, like when to put the rolls in the oven, how to make the gravy, dishes, etc.  But everything went great. My mom asked during dinner, "What is something that you are thankful for this year?". I am so thankful that I had a year full of so many great things, with an amazing husband by my side through it all.  I am so thankful for the life that we are building for ourselves, and the family that we surround ourselves with.  Of course, I wish that we could spend more time with each other, but I am glad to know that I am surrounded by some great people. 

I ended up going shopping early early Friday morning. I decided to go only to Old Navy, because I REALLY wanted some $15 jeans.  I ended up getting some other stuff too, and didn't spend a ton of money, so I was happy about that!  Other than that, this weekend has been spent working, putting up Christmas decorations, and sleeping.  Cody is working so much lately, that I hardly get to see him.  I've gotten to see him for a few minutes in the morning before he leaves for work, and then he's asleep when I get home from work.  I'm hoping there's only another week or two of hours like this.  He's had 1 day off (Thanksgiving) in the last 3 weeks, and he's not sure when he's gonna get another day off.  That's the life of a restaurant manager, I suppose. 

Here's my question for everyone reading this.......Do you count calories using MFP or sparkpeople?  Or are you a member of Weight Watchers? 

I have really been wanting to join weight watchers again.  I know that MFP is free and it works for a lot of people.....I just think that I want the accountability of going to a meeting.  I loved doing WW when I did it in the past.  I want to talk Cody into letting me to a 3 month signup, just to see how I like it, and if I don't like it, then I don't need to sign up again.  What do you guys think?

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Quick Week Recap

Okay, so as I said, my dog ate my computer charger last week, and we finally got it so now I am back in the online world.

I've had a pretty dull week, honestly.  Nothing exciting. I made it to the gym twice last week.  Instead of running,I did the elliptical.  30 minutes both times.  It was pretty easy.  I need to go back again.  Katie from Runs for Cookies posted a running plan, that feels like it may be more my style.  She said that when she started running, she tried to do the c25k plan, and it was too hard.  I almost think that the reason I'm not having luck with it is 1)I'm lazy and find every excuse in the book not to run, and 2)I get to week 5 or 6, it doesn't ever really seem to get easier, and I quit.  She said that she did this "her way".  It starts out by literally only running for 30 seconds, and then walking for 29:30, for a total of 30 minutes.  The next day is running for 1 minute, then walking for 29 minutes.  It increases just a little bit each time, slowly.  Here is the plan:

I am thinking about starting tomorrow morning, but I do have a lot to do for Thanksgiving tomorrow.  I have to work tomorrow night, so I have to get a lot of stuff ready to go, since we are hosting Thanksgiving Dinner at our house this year.  I'm nervous, because we don't really have a lot of space, but we're going to make it work.  We have lots of wine and liquor, so maybe everyone will get drunk and forget about the lack of space.  :)

I haven't gotten to see too much of Cody lately.  The owner of the restaurant he works at is opening a new restaurant, and Cody is now like a "regional manager", where he oversees both restaurants.  They are hoping to open next week, so he has been working like crazy to get the place ready.  He's written the entire menu, picked out all the serviceware, hired everyone....he's basically done everything except for the decorating.  I'm so proud of him, but new restaurant opens are so stressful, he's been putting in so much work, and I haven't gotten to see him much.  I'm so thankful that he has Thanksgiving off, so we can all be together!  

I'm a little bit stressed out about my job as well.  We currently have 4 managers at my restaurant.  The GM (who has been with the company for a long time, but was transferred to my restaurant around the same time I got hired), one manager who has only been with the company for about a year (and I can't stand him, he's not great at his job, he messes up counting money and someday I'm afraid I'm gonna get in trouble for one of his mistakes), a manager who has been with the company, and at my restaurant for 5 years, and me.  Well, we got the news that the GM is going to be going back to the restaurant he came from, and we're getting a new GM.  I guess this GM has been with the company for a while, but he worked at a corporate restaurant, where my store is a franchise.  I love my GM, and I'm nervous that he's leaving.  Also, the manager who has been at my store for 5 years is leaving as well, and we are getting a new girl.  I know this girl, because she is a bartender/server at the restaurant I trained at, and I like her a lot, but I'm nervous because she's brand new, just like me.  With a new GM, a new manager, the manager I hate, and me, I can't say that I'm excited.  I am new to the whole restaurant manager thing, and I still need a lot of development, and I am fairly sure that there isn't a whole lot that two of them will be able to help me with.  The GM, because of how long he's been with the company, he might be able to help develop my skills, but I don't know for sure.  I guess all I can do is wait and see and hope that things go well!

Well it's bedtime for me, so I will keep you all updated on when I start the Runs for Cookies running plan!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

BACK!

So, after waiting 10 days for our "expedited" shipping from Amazon, and realizing that the husband put our old address in for the shipping address and having to go down to the post office to pick up the package, my computer charger FINALLY is here!  I have a big catch-up post planned, but tonight is Breaking Dawn night, and I have a date with my sister planned for tonight, so I need to clean up my house and myself, so I will for sure be posting tomorrow! 

Thanks for sticking with me!!


Friday, November 9, 2012

Dogs sure like to eat cords.....

....which is why I  havent written in a while.  My puppy ate my computer charger.  This is the fourth charger shes chewed up, so its getting quite annoying.  we ordered two new ones from amazon, so hopefully they will be here soon!! When they get here, I will post a real update!

Monday, November 5, 2012

Starting Over...Again

Everyday when I wake up, I argue with myself in my head about going to the gym.  I want to go, I don't want to go, I miss it, I don't miss it.  I think that at the end of the day, I do miss going, and at night, when I go to bed, I wish I would have gone that morning. 

I think that I need to make a plan, and follow that plan.  Instead of just going when I feel like it I need to schedule times to go.  I need to put it in my calendar, like I would a meeting, or when I'm scheduled to work, and just do it. 

So I'm planning on going on Wednesday and Thursday and Saturday of this week.  If I'm able to keep those commitments, then I'll schedule 3 days next week.  It's getting to be the type of weather where I don't want to run outside because it's cold, so I would REALLY like to be ready to run a full 5k straight through come May when the Girls on the Run 5k happens.  If not more.

So that's my plan.  Get myself ready to run starting in 2 days.  :)

Friday, November 2, 2012

Make Ahead Steel Cut Oats!

A couple of days ago, Cody and I were driving around, because we haven't really explored the area around our house.  As we were driving, we found a cute little Amish store.  We love grocery stores, so we went in to see what they had, and we fell in love. They have so much cool stuff!  While we were there, we bought a pack of steel cut oats.  They are something that I've been reading about a lot, and I know how good they are for you. Since I have a new found love of oatmeal, I thought I'd give these a try as well.  I know they take a while to cook, so I found a recipe for Make Ahead Steel Cut Oats.

The recipe was super easy.  All you need is:

2 Cups water
2 Cups Almond Milk
1 Cup Steel Cut Oats
2 Bananas, mashed
2 Tbsp Cinnamon
2-3 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
1 Tbsp Chia Seeds (The recipe called for 1 Tbsp of Flax Seed too, but I didn't have any)




First, you combine the water and the Almond Milk to a boil.
Then, you add the steel cut oats, and a pinch of salt, and reduce the heat to low.  Then you add the Chia seeds and mashed bananas.

Let it cook on low for about 20-25 minutes.  Then, add the cinnamon and vanilla extract.
You can eat it then, but I made it at night so I let it sit in the refrigerator overnight, to help the oats soften, and the flavors develop. 

When I got up this morning, I got a bowl of it. I decided to eat it just as it is.  I read that you can add all kinds of stuff to it, just like regular oatmeal, but I wanted to see what the flavor was like just as the recipe says.  And it was very yummy!
I'm going to play around with the recipe a little bit, and I will let you know when I find something delicious!!



Thursday, November 1, 2012

Battles

I should be cleaning my house right now, but instead I'm thinking about the battle that constantly goes on inside my head. 

Today, I went shopping, which is something I rarely do. I hate spending money on myself, because I feel guilty. I feel like I should be spending money on something that Cody and I can do together, instead of something that is just for me.  Anyway, I went to Maurices to shop for jeans. I've never been there before, because I was always under the impression that they didn't have plus size clothes.  I generally get my jeans from Old Navy, just because I know they have my size, I know how they fit, and they aren't stupid expensive.  So, I wanted to try them on and see how they fit.  I generally wear an 18/20 in Old Navy pants. I looked at the 18 at Maurices, and they just looked way too small, so I got the size 20 and tried them on.  They fit everywhere great, except in the waist.  So, I got a 22.  It almost killed me to get a size 22, because not long ago, I was fitting into a 16/18, so the fact that I was going to be in a 22 did not make me happy.  Luckily, the size 22 was a bit big, so I didn't buy any jeans today. 

I did, however, buy some bras.  I went to Lane Bryant, because I am in desperate need for a good bra, and I have only gotten cheap ones from Target.  I used to be a 38B, but I gained weight, and I have turned into a 40C.  Well, today at Lane Bryant, I tried on a bra....and the 40C was too small.  I had to go up to a 42C.  In my mind, I keep telling myself that it's just because it's a different brand than I'm used to, when I know that it's probably just because I've gained more weight than I like to admit. 

I let myself slide a little too much on my weight loss efforts. I was doing so good, I was motivated, I liked going to the gym, and now, for some reason, I'm just not motivated.  Cody and I told ourselves that after our Disney trip, we would do everything we could to lose weight.  I want to be down at least 20lbs by the time we go back to Florida in February.  And we had talked about how we'd both like it if I was down 40lbs before we start trying to get pregnant.  Both of those things are great goals, and should be great motivators, but for some reason I just can't get my mind wrapped around it enough to keep myself on track.

I know that most people who are successful have something that happens - one monumental moment - where they say "thats it, I'm changing my life and I'm doing it for real this time".  I feel like I should have had many of those moments, but instead, I say "I'm doing it for real.....oh a cheeseburger!".  I need to figure out how to get myself to really feel like I want nothing more than to lose weight. I need to figure out how to make my love of food stop keeping me from my desire to be thin, fit, and healthy. 

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Disney Part 1

So we got back from Florida on Thursday, and our trip was AMAZING!

We left early Monday morning.  Our flight was supposed to leave at about 9am, with a layover in Baltimore, and we'd be getting to Orlando around 2:50.  Because our airport is kind of small, we didn't need to get there the 2 full hours before our flight, so we got there just after 7:30.  When we got to the counter to check in, they asked us if we wanted to change our flight, to a direct flight.  It left at 1:30, and got into Orlando an hour later than our original flight.  They also said they'd give us each $100 in future flight credit, and upgrade us to first class.  We said of course! We prefer first class.  We generally fly AirTran, and it's usually pretty affordable to upgrade to first class once you get to the airport, so if there is room, we try to upgrade.  The flight we were supposed to take to Baltimore was completely full, which prevented us from upgrading, which also why they wanted us to change flights.  So we were happy that we could get a direct flight, and get first class.  Plus, the $200 credit will help us when we go in February!

So, that meant that we had about 5 hours to wait at the airport.  We sat around, drank coffee, had breakfast, played in the arcade, ate lunch, and finally it was time to go.  Our flight went smooth, and when we got to Orlando, it wasn't hard to find the Magical Express area.  I had never used this service before, so I was excited to get the full Disney experience.

We had dinner reservations at Yachtsman Steakhouse at 8:30, and by the time we got to our hotel, it was after 6, so we were worried that we wouldn't have time to change and get ready.  When we got to our room, I was happy and disappointed at the same time.  I was happy, because we were greeted with a beautiful towel Mickey Mouse.  :)  But we had been given 2 full beds, instead of a King bed, like I had requested.  I called and asked to be switched, but unfortunately they didn't have any King beds available, so we had to deal with it.  :(

We were worried that our luggage wouldn't get to the room in time for us to change before dinner, but luckily it came right before we were leaving, so we had a chance to get freshened up a bit before heading over to the Yacht and Beach Club.



We got to the Yacht and Beach Club a bit early, because we weren't sure how long it would take us to get there since we were using Disney transportation, so we had some drinks while we were waiting for our reservation time.  At 8:30, we headed into the Yachtsman Steakhouse.  Our dinner was SO good!  We had the deluxe dining plan, so we were able to both have an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert.  Everything was great, the wine was great, the service was great.  We loved everything about our dinner.

We were going to try to go out to Jelly Rolls after dinner, but we were so full and sleepy that we decided we'd head back to the hotel.  We had breakfast planned for 7:45 at Ohana, so we wanted to get some sleep.


The next morning, we headed to breakfast nice and early.  I had never done a character breakfast, so I was excited to see what it was all about. Since Ohana means family, everything was served Family Style.  We got a big bowl that had scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, and potatoes. We also got a big bowl of fruit, and they came around and served mickey mouse waffles. And to drink, there was coffee, and a really yummy fruit juice.  I generally don't meet the characters, but since they were there, I couldn't say no to taking a picture with them. 





After breakfast, we took the monorail to Epcot.  As a rule, I generally try to do Magic Kingdom, or Hollywood Studios first on my trips to Disney.  To be honest, I really don't care THAT much about Epcot.  I know it's a lot of peoples favorite park, but it just hasn't done much for me.  I looooove Soarin', but that ride alone isn't enough to make me want to spend a whole lot of time there.  But because we were there mostly for the Food and Wine Festival, and because Cody hadn't had much of a chance to see the World Showcase, we decided to spend a whole day there.  I wasn't sure that we'd need an entire day to get all the stuff done we wanted to do, but I was surprised that we easily spend the entire day there.  We did a lot of things that I had never done before (Journey into Imagination, Captian EO) which made me happy, since there isn't a ton that I haven't done before!




We signed up for the "Behind the Seeds" tour, which is an hour long tour that basically was an extension of the Living with the Land boat ride. It was very interesting, and we learned some awesome things about hydroponic gardening!  These are some Pumpkins that are "earning their ears"!




 After the tour, we headed to the World Showcase.  We went around the whole thing twice, and ate our hearts out.  We ate so much food, but luckily it was over a few hours time, so we weren't too full.  The reason we went to Epcot on our first full day at the parks, was because Hanson was playing that day.  So, after we were done eating everything we could, we got our spot for the Hanson show. 

They were great, as usual.  I'm used to crazy Hanson shows, and people were actually very well behaved.  I was shocked, though, that there were people who had stood in line for 5 hours!  I don't understand why you would pay all that money to get into Disney, to not enjoy it! Even if you'd been in the park before, that just seemed awfully silly to me.  Anyway, like I said, the concert, although short, was great.  We had gotten a wrist band from the Chase lounge that meant guaranteed seating for the second performance.  We figured we'd use them if we had an issue finding a spot for the first performance, which we didn't at all. 

Since neither of us slept very good Sunday or Monday night, we decided that we'd skip out on the other two performances.  Our original plan was to go to the hotel for a few minutes to rest, and get cleaned up for our 9:00 dinner reservation, but I called to see if we could move our reservation up, and we were able to go at 7:30 instead of 9! 

We had dinner at Narcoossee's at the Grand Floridian.  Now, I have always wanted to eat at one of the restaurants at the Grand Floridian, and I am a little bit disappointed in our first experience there.  When we got to the restaurant, we were a little early, so we decided to go to the bar and wait for our table.  We sat at the bar for 15 minutes without getting a drink.  There were people that got there after us that got served before we did.  Cody was annoyed that we were clearly being ignored for whatever reason, and we got up and decided to wait outside instead.  Then, when we got our table, our server wasn't nearly as awesome as the night before. The food was great, but our server seemed just a little too busy to want to pay much attention to us.  I have big worries a lot when we go out for nice dinners that people will look at us and think we are too young, or don't look wealthy enough to be able to "deserve" to have dinner at a nicer restaurant.  So, when the server didn't seem to want to pay attention to us, or when the bartender ignored us, it made me feel like we weren't wanted there.  I know that might be crazy, but I still just felt a bit unwelcome.  Like I said though, the food was great, and we did get a really great view of the fireworks from Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.

We were able to make it back to our hotel in time to swim for a second (the pool was FREEZING!) and we were sound asleep right after that, ready to spend the next day at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios!

Part 2 coming soon! :)

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

updating from Disney!

I'm on my husbands tablet so I cant post a long update yet, but our Disney trip is almost over :( But we are having a great time!!!

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Lazy Blogger

Sorry I suck at blogging.  I just feel bad, because really, nothing besides work is going on in my life! 

I finished my training at work, and had my first day on Monday.  I'm excited about the opportunities there, but I am nervous about being overwhelmed when I first get there.  There's a lot of areas that I'm responsible for, and I don't want to screw it up!  I'm gonna be working 6 days for the next 2 weeks, so hopefully I'll get all sorts of time to practice and get good at my job.  :)

I bought a bathing suit from a girl on this buy/sell/trade facebook page that I'm a part of, and it's one that I've been wanting for forever!  It's from Torrid, and I have wanted it since the moment I saw it, but by the time I could afford to get it, it was sold out everywhere.  I was so bummed, but I finally found it, and I'm in love.
So Cute, right???
 
My biggest worry about the suit is that it's just a tiny bit too big.  Not so big that I can't wear it, but if I lose any weight, it won't fit.  That doesn't make me want to stop losing weight, but it does make me sad that if I lose much, I won't be able to wear it.  Because dang it, it's so cute!  
 
2 Weeks until we go to Florida! :) I'm soooo excited.  It's gonna be great to spend 4 full days with my husband, and get to go to Disney! YAY!
 
 

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Kick in the Face

I don't know where my motivation went.  I was doing so, so well for a while. I was losing weight...slowly, but I was losing, which felt good. I was running, and even though I wasn't progressing as well as I wanted to be, I was still doing it regularly, and I liked doing it.

When I started working, it was a huge adjustment for me, which is what I think kicked my motivation out the window, because all the energy I spent on my fitness was now spent at work.  Now that I am going to finally be able to work at my restaurant, which is about 45 minutes closer to home, I am hoping that I will have some extra time, and motivation, to get back on track.  My original goal was to be near, or under, 200lbs by the end of the year, and now I know that goal is no where near reachable.  And that makes me a bit sad. 

So, starting next week, once I am working a more normal schedule, closer to home, I am getting right back on track!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Busy Week!

Hi everyone!!

I am such a horrible blog owner.  I haven't written in more than 10 days and I'm so sorry about that.  It's been such a crazy few days though, I have hardly had time to do anything other than eat, sleep, and work. 

I'm in my last two weeks of training at work, and instead of following other people around, I'm now in charge of running the shift.  It's really fun, but it's really stressful too.  All last week I was working mids, so my shifts were from 9:30am to 7:30pm.  Add an hour drive both ways in there, it makes for a long day.  This week my schedule changes up a bit, so that's nice.  Gives me some more time during the day, or at night, to get stuff done. 

My friend finally had her baby! And she went through a lot to get her, too!  She had mild pre-eclampsia when they induced her.  Over the course of 2 days, she only dialated 5cm, so they ended up doing a c-section, which is good because her cord was wrapped around her neck 3 times!  She was born at 6lbs, 4oz, and 20 inches long.  She's beautiful!  And then a couple days after coming home, she went back in with post labor pre-eclampsia.  Her blood pressure was super high and it was scary, but 24 hours of meds and she was right back to normal.  Holding her baby is making my baby fever go through the roof!!!  Cody got to hold her too, and his thoughts are the same...he wants a baby, just not now.  Which is fine, we will wait.  :)

So yesterday, we went into the car dealership to get new tires and an oil change for my car.  We have been talking about getting a truck for a while, so we had them give us a trade in estimate.  I dont know exactly how it happened, but at the end of the day, we went home with a 2013 Chevy Silverado! I love it, but Cody loves it more.  We ended up trading my car in, and I'm going to be driving Cody's car.  I am not the biggest fan of his car, but that just means that the next new car we get will be mine! :)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

1 Year, and Many More! (Lots of pictures!)

Yesterday was our 1 year anniversary!!! 

It seems so, so crazy that we've been married for a year already.  We've had a crazy year - we got a puppy, we bought a house, I got a new job.  It's been an amazing year, and I can't wait for many more!

Here's a few pictures from our wedding.  :)





We got a hotel room last night at a local casino, and had a great night together.  We were nervous about eating the top layer of our cake, because we figured that cake that was a year old wouldn't be great - we were wrong! It was still very good!!  I'm glad too, because we didn't get very much at the wedding! 

Like I said, we've had an amazing year, and I am very excited to have lots more together!!! <3

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Baby!!

My friend Amy is at the hopsital having her baby!!!  :)  She was induced last night, they think she has mild preeclampsia, so they induced her 8 days early.  We're all so ready to meet her, so we are all welcoming the induction!  :) I can't wait! This is the first one of my close friends to have a baby.  I hope her baby helps get rid of my baby fever haha. 

For those of you moms out there, what is one thing that people did/gave you/helped you with when you first had your baby?  This is her first baby, and she's got a big family but I have a feeling that once the newness of the baby wears off, there might not be as many people around and I want to make sure I do what she needs! Should I make her dinners?  Help with her housework?  Stay away and let them rest?  I need ideas.  :)

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated.  I know I sound like a broken record, but work has been keeping me so busy!  I have been training in the kitchen for the last 4 weeks, and I'm finally out front and I love it! I'm finally where I feel comfortable at, and learning the things I felt like I needed to learn.  I'm anxious to finish training, and get to my store so I can get comfortable.

As far as working out goes....I've been sucking lately.  I really need to work on getting motivated, but my mind has been so wrapped around learning the billion and a half things I need to learn for work, that I just don't have the energy to motivate myself to work out.  I know I need to, and I will hopefully soon.  Any tips on how to motivate myself?

This weekend, Cody and I, along with his mom and my dad, are all going to a University of Michigan football game! I'm so excited! Last one I went to ended up getting rained out, and so I hope that this one doesn't, because I'd like to see an entire game!  And Monday is our one year anniversary!!!! I can't believe we've already been married for a full year.  It went quick!  Cody got us reservations to a casino/resort up north, so we're going Monday, and going to do a wine tasting, hang out at the casino, and hopefully do a lot of relaxing! I love September, so many cool things going on!

Have a good weekend!

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Stay at Home Wife

I often find myself wishing that I could be a stay at home wife.  I've always been "that" girl....I love being home. I like decorating for holidays, and making meals, and running errands.  But the responsible side of me knows that I have to work.  I wasn't born into a family with money, and I didn't marry a man who has a lot of money, therefore in order for us to live the life we want, I have to work. 

But my ideal day is spend working on my home, instead of working at a business.  While I enjoy my days off with Cody, I like my days when it's just me.  I wake up around 9, make breakfast, start the laundry.  Do any dishes from the night before that I was too lazy to do.  I go to the gym, run any errands. I can make lunch, clean the house a bit, and then figure out what to make for dinner.  I've gotten lazy at it, but when I was working 5am-1pm, I'd have the whole evening to make a real dinner, and sometimes dessert.  We ate so good back then - not always the healthiest, but we had good food, and I had the opportunity to try out a lot of different recipes.  I love the days that I can take care of my home, and my husband.

We've decided to put off having kids.  It really breaks my heart more than I care to admit, because as much as I want to be a stay at home wife, I really want to be a stay at home mom.  Being a mom is one of those things I was made to do.  But as I have already discussed, I have to work, and so does Cody.  That leaves a very small window of free time during the day, which is already filled with errands, a house, and my gorgeous puppy.  That is not enough time for a baby. 

The thought of having a day care raise my child is very unnerving.  The thought of having to work the long hours that I work now, and Cody working the hours he works, and missing out on some important things in my childs life (first steps, first words) or missing out on when my child goes to bed at night, or wakes up in the morning, all because I have to work, just seems ridiculous to me. 

So, we're going to wait. 

I wish I knew what path God was trying to lead me on.  Back in February, I thought I had everything planned out.  I was going to run my butt off for the next year, and run the Princess Half Marathon.  I was going to get into shape, and get under 200lbs, and begin trying to get pregnant after the race.  By 2014, I was going to be a mom.  And all of those plans are not unfolding for me the way I wanted them to.  I guess I just need to continue on and learn what His plan is along the way.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Disney Day

I finally have a day off!  I did have to wake up early this morning.  I'm training at a restaurant that is about an hour from my house, but when I'm done training I'll be at a restaurant that is about 15 minutes away.  I've been in contact with the GM at my future restaurant for a while, and he wanted to meet today to see how my training has been going.  I was hoping to have the morning to sleep in, but he wanted to meet at 9 this morning. So no sleeping in for me.

I've been sick, so I decided today was gonna be a lazy day.  I went through my movies and found all my older Disney movies - Cinderella, Fantasia, Bambi, Snow White, Pinocchio.  So, I'm hopefully going to watch them all today.  My sister is coming over later, and we're going to look at houses to rent for our family vacation in February to Disney.  I'm also super excited, because I was able to get reservations to the Be Our Guest restaurant at Magic Kingdom when we're there in February! I'm so excited about it! 

I hope everyone is having a great Holiday Weekend! :)

Friday, August 31, 2012

Foodie Pen Pal Reveal Day!

As most of you know, last month Cody and I signed up for this super awesome program called Foodie Pen Pals.  Each month, you get paired up with two people - one person who is going to send you a package, and one person that you will send a package to.  It's a great way to get to know people, as well as try all kinds of awesome new foods!

This month, my box came from Abby over at Full Time Wife Life. Turns out that Abby was the perfect match for me, because we are so alike!  Not only are (well, were) we both planning on running the Princess Half Marathon, but she's also way into Disney, she loves Hanson, and she's a wedding photographer...and I love weddings!  I was super excited to see what she was going to send us, and she definitely didn't disappoint!





As you can see in the picture, I got some yummy stuff!  She sent me:

  • Kettle Brand Chips - I LOVE Kettle Chips!  I may or may not have eaten the whole bag the first day we got the box....
  • Pasta Sauce - I don't exactly remember the name of this sauce, because we ate it already and I threw the jar away.  But it was so good! She got it at her local farmers market.  I loved it, it was great with the chia pasta!
  • Chia Pasta - I was totally surprised by this, I had no idea they made this stuff!  It was super yummy and had a great texture! I tried tofu pasta once, and it was awful, so I was nervous about this stuff, but it was great!
  • Homemade Peanut Butter Granola Bars - Abby made these, and they were so good!  They made a great breakfast for my ride to work. 
  • Justin's Peanut Butter Cups - Abby sent this specifically for Cody, since I told her he has a sweet tooth. He loved them! 
  • Protein Shakes - I haven't tried these yet, but I'm super excited to!  She send a chocolate and a vanilla - both flavors I love!
  • Luna Coconut Chocolate Bar - I have recently discovered my love of Luna Bars, and this one was delicious! 
I wanna thank Abby again for the awesome box, we loved everything in it!!!  I hope to see you when Hanson plays at Epcot! :)

If you want to sign up to be a Foodie Pen Pal, head on over to The Lean Green Bean to learn how to sign up!

Monday, August 27, 2012

Kind of a Sad Post

I have been putting off writing this post, because I am still not sure I've made the right decision.  I've thought long and hard about it, and while I'm not necessarily excited about the decision, at the moment it's what I feel I have to do.

I've decided not to run the Princess Half Marathon this year.

I know I've talked in the past about how I may not do it, and you all have been so incredibly uplifting, and I am so thankful for that.  I don't want you to think that this means I'm going to stop running.  Because I'm not.  I actually miss running, and can't wait to get started again. 

Starting this new job has been emotionally and physically draining on me.  It's been a bit overwhelming at times, but so far I'm liking it.  I have another 6 weeks or so of training, and in my first 2 weeks of training, I haven't been go the gym once.  My schedule is so weird, and with a two hour round trip commute, my days are 12+ hours.  And when I am off of work, I want to sleep, or clean, or hang out with my husband. 

I know this probably sounds like a bunch of excuses, and it probably is, but I honestly feel like I don't have the time, or possibly the dedication it takes right now to train for the half.  My schedule will be changing again in October, so even if I were to get on a training program now, I'd have to start all over again once my training is done.  I just don't think I would be ready in time. 

I hope I don't lose any readers because of this decision, and I hope I haven't let any of you down.  I am so excited to hear about all of your experiences, and I can't wait until 2014, because I have every intention on running that year.

Thank you all for being so incredibly supportive, and I hope you all stick around because I love having you all here! :)

Saturday, August 25, 2012

So.Tired.

Whew, what a crazy week it's been.

I'm into week 2 (almost week 3) of my training.  It's going pretty good. I have been working in the kitchen, which I'm really not okay with, but I have no choice.  As a manager, you have to know how to do every position in the restaurant, so I have to learn how to cook.  I am getting through it, but I can't wait until I'm done with all of that, and am training in the dining room.  The early mornings are killing me though, and another reason I can't wait for the kitchen training to be over is because I will get to work some nights. 

On Wednesday morning at work, I got a text from my dad saying my Aunt Rose had passed away.  She was actually my dads aunt.  We weren't super close with her, but we saw her about once a year or so, because she lived in Chicago.  We had gone to see her in November for her birthday, and we knew that she wasn't doing great then.  The last few weeks, her health had gotten worse, and we knew that her passing was on its way.  The visitation was scheduled for Friday, and the funeral scheduled for this morning.  My boss understood and said let me leave work early Friday so I could make the 3 hour drive to chicago to make it to the visitation, and also let me off of work today for the funeral.  It was great to see my whole family together, but it sucks that it had to be under such crappy circumstances.

Sorry this is kind of short and choppy, but it's been a long, and emotional few days, so I'm off to bed.  Hope you all are doing well!

Friday, August 17, 2012

My new job!

Sorry I haven't been around much! I haven't had time to do much of anything, besides work, eat, and sleep.  I started my new job on Tuesday!  It is fun, stressful, long, tiring, and great all at the same time.  I was super nervous about it, and it's super hard to explain but it's just as tough, yet not quite as hard as I would have thought. 

I don't know if I've said this yet, but my new job is managing at Red Robin.  I worked at a Red Robin for 3 years back about 3 years ago.  It's actually where I met Cody.  I ended up leaving, because I thought I wanted to work in banquets, but I did that and it wasn't nearly as fun as I had hoped, and I really missed being in a real restaurant.  I'm glad it all worked out that I was able to get this job, because now that I've been back working in a real restaurant, I realize how much I missed it!

This week is the beginning of our kitchen training.  The training program is supposed to be about 8-10 weeks.  The first 3 weeks are mostly kitchen training.  Which really, really sucks for me, because I HATE being in the kitchen.  I had to take a few cooking labs in college, and I really struggled to get through them.  I love being in the dining room of a restaurant, but the kitchen just isn't a place that I'm comfortable.  I'm lucky, because I remember a lot of the food from when I worked there before, so it's not hard for me to remember the recipes.  I'm just not comfortable back there, and I get nervous when it starts to get busy.  I can't wait until my time in the kitchen is over!  Each of our shifts are about 10 hours long, so I work from 7am until 5pm, or 9:30 to 7:30.  I come home, relax, and eat dinner, then I head to bed and do it again the next day.  The restaurant that I'm training at is about an hour away, so if I work at 7, I have to leave by 6, which means I'm up by 5am.  On Monday, I have to be there at 5am, so I have to wake up at 3am! ugh! 

Just as I thought, I wouldn't want to do a whole lot of working out this week.  I'm hoping that next week, I'll be able to force myself to go to the gym. I have to admit, I haven't been eating so great either, but they have been encouraging us to eat some of the food we're making. I have a plan that next week, I will be eating all healthy foods, and not as much crap.  I won't make my goals by eating like I'm eating now! 

Well, I'm off to bed. I have this Sunday off, and then I don't have another day off until next Sunday.  I need to try to get in as much sleep as possible!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Happy Post! :)

So I have to write because I'm super excited -- We just booked all of our meal reservations for our October Disney Trip!!!!  :)  Let me tell you, I will expect a gain for sure that week.  We are going to be eating good! 

As I said before, we are going to be staying in a Value Resort (The All Star Movies), which would typically come with the Quick Service Dining Plan.  We already upgraded to the regular Dining Plan, but we wanted to be able to eat wherever we wanted, without worrying about money.  After looking into it, we would have to pay another $300 to upgrade to the Deluxe Dining Plan, but because of all the amazing places we wanted to eat at, we would end up saving SO much money!  This might be our only shot at getting to eat at these amazing places.  We are going back to Disney in February, but since there will be more of us going, we won't be eating the more expensive restaurants.  And after that, we *hopefully* will be getting pregnant, so who knows when we'll go again.  And once we do go again, it would be with a baby/young child, and we won't have the opportunity.  So, I figure, what better way to celebrate our one year of marriage, and having an amazing year of changes, and growing, than splurging on ourselves!  So here's the rundown of what we're doing:

Monday is the day we are getting there, and we don't have our plane tickets bought yet, but we are looking at getting there in the afternoon.  We can't check in until 3, so we made dinner reservations at Yachtsmans Steakhouse. 

Tuesday we are spending all day at Epcot (This is also the day we are seeing Hanson! yay!).  We wanted to do a character breakfast, so we're having breakfast at Ohana, and then booking over to Epcot.  We are using all of our snack credits at Epcot that day, and trying as much as we can at the Food and Wine Festival booths for lunch.  And then for dinner, we're leaving Epcot and heading over to The Grand Floridian, and eating at Narcoossee's!

Wednesday is Magic Kingdom in the morning, and then Hollywood Studios at night.  We are just going to eat breakfast at our resort, and then we'll be having lunch at Tony's Town Square, at MK.  We'll spend a few hours at MK, then spending the evening at Studios, where we'll eat at The Hollywood Brown Derby for dinner.  And then, of course, seeing Fantasmic!

Thursday we are going home, and we haven't yet picked where we'll eat for our meals that day.  It looks like our flight won't be until 6pm, so we will have breakfast and lunch to eat, and we'll have some meal credits to use.  We are going to decide where to go when we get there, and hope we can get reservations! :)

I'M SO EXCITED! :)

Sunday, August 12, 2012

***Complain Alert***

While I am so happy for everyone that is having success with their weight loss, I can't help but be a little lot jealous. 

I feel like I am constantly on some sort of diet.  I know that I am not always under my calories.  I know that I don't always exercise like I should.  But if you compare my eating habits now to how they were even just a year ago, it's like night and day.  I used to eat fast food every day.  I used to eat enough at dinner for 2 meals.  I could easily eat an entire bag of chips.  I didn't care.  Which is how I got to 260lbs.

And now, while I am down a little bit of weight, I can't help but get upset about the fact that my hard work isn't showing itself.  A scale is only so much.  It's just a number.  It could tell me that I weigh 150lbs, but if I can't physically see it, then it only means so much.  I have never had the satisfaction of seeing my clothes fit better. They only ever fit worse.  If something in my closet doesn't fit me, it's not because it's too big, it's because it's too small.  I just want to see a change in my body.  It's so hard to stay motivated when you aren't seeing anything.  I know it takes time.  I know that on my 250lb body, it's gonna take a bit of weight to actually see the loss.  But damnit, I need SOMETHING to keep me motivated.  My running isn't going anywhere.  I can't even run 5 minutes, and I've been running since February.  I'm having such a hard time trying to find a happy medium, between what works, and what makes me happy.  Cutting out everything I love isn't going to make me happy, and that's often what it feels like I have to do to make me lose weight, and see progress.  And honestly, I'd rather be fat and happy then skinny and miserable.  I feel so stuck. 

I don't want anyone to think that I'm going to give up, because I'm not.  I'm just saying, it's been 6 months and I haven't physically seen any sort of change in my body, and that is so incredibly frustrating.  I just want it to be my turn to be proud.  Because that is something that I never get to be. 

Friday, August 10, 2012

Running Woes

First of all....I lost a reader! :( I hope I'm not boring everyone. I get excited that ya'll are reading (are you actually? haha) and I love getting new readers, so I was sad to log in this morning and see that I went down by one.  Oh well, their loss! :)

So on Wednesday, I went to the gym, and tried to do my run again.  For whatever reason, I absolutely cannot get through the 5 minute run.  I was able to get through fairly easily last time I began the c25k program, but I think the difference with that time is that I was on the track, and this time I'm on the treadmill. It's harder to stop, or slow down when you're on a treadmill!  I got through as much as I could, until I had to stop, and walk the rest of the way.  I think part of my issue is my ankles.  They are killing me each time I run! It's the weirdest pain, it's like my muscles hurt, from the top of my feet, to right below my knee.  There are spots on my leg where it hurts, almost like a bruise.  It hurts pretty bad for an hour or two, and then they're just stiff the rest of the night. I don't know what the deal is, but I hate it! 

So, because of my troubles, I decided to go back one week on the program, and run 90 seconds, walk 90 seconds, run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes, and repeat.  I decided I'd get comfortable with that, before moving on to the next week.  I'm hoping just two more times of running those splits and I'll be able to move on! 

I've been struggling with the idea of possibly not doing the Princess Half in February.  Not because I don't want to do it, but because I really don't know if I'll be ready.  I have a feeling my new job is going to be taking up a lot of my energy, especially at first. I got my schedule for the first 3 weeks.  The restaurant I'm training at is about an hour away.  And the first 3 weeks of training are all in the kitchen, so I'll be doing prep, which means I'll have to be there early.  My in times are either at 7am, or 9:30am.  Which means I'll have to leave my house at 6am or 8:30am, and I have to get up an hour before that.  All my shifts are 10-11 hours, and then an hour drive home.  I'm just not sure how much energy I'll have to go to the gym after that.  I'm going to try, for sure, but I'm just worried that I will end up falling back, again.  I have made it at least 3 times a week for the last 2 weeks, which is way more than I was doing (I'm planning on 5 times this week!), and I don't want to fall behind again.  Another reason I'm thinking of not doing it is because of my family vacation.  We are sort of planning this whole vacation around me running the race, and it's turning out to look like we aren't going to have time to do everything we want, because I have to run the race.  Its everyones vacation, not just mine, and I worry that me running the race will make everyones vacation not as great as it could be.  Am I
crazy for thinking of not doing it?  I still WANT to do it.....so maybe ya'll can re-convince me to do it! :)

So, my Garmin! I told ya'll I'd post a picture, so here she is!

Isn't she pretty?
 
I love the pink accents, and the little swirlies around the outside!  The same swirlies are on the band, which I also love.  But what I love most is that I can finally tell how many calories I'm actually burning, instead of going by what the treadmill says, or what MFP tells me. 

Do any of you have a HRM with a chest strap? Or a garmin like mine?  Do you know how accurate they are?  Mine seems like it tells me I've burned more calories than it should.  I did my run the other day (where I ended up walking the end of it), for 35 minutes, and it said I burned over 400 calories.  Does that seem high?  The run I did yesterday, for 28 minutes, and then doing 12 minutes on the elliptical (total of 40 minutes) said I burned 519.  I am not planning on eating back all of my exercise calories, but I don't want to overeat, because my garmin says that I burned more than I did, know what I mean?  I made sure that I'm wearing it right, and that my settings are all good. I did realize that my resting heart rate is kind of high.  After I got dressed and ready to go to the gym, when I put my HRM on, it said my HR was about a 85-90.  I know that overweight people have a higher resting HR, but should I be worried? Could that be why it says I'm burning so many calories? I'm new to all this technology, so forgive me haha.  

Have a great day!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

I'm Back! (and hopefully for good this time!)

I'm HOPING that I get to keep my computer this time....I've had it turned on for about an hour, and so far so good, so I'm thinking we're good to go.  :)

The last two days have been pretty good.  I've decided during the last week and a half that I've had off from work, that I could very easily be a stay-at-home-wife/mom.  Monday was spent hanging out with Cody, which I love.  I think I could spend every day just being with him, and I'd be a happy girl.  Anyway, we didn't do much, and I tried to do good, but we went to this delicious Thai restaurant.  I had Pad Thai, which I guess isn't nearly as bad as some of the options I could have picked, but I'm sure it wasn't the best, either. Still, it was yummy, and I enjoyed the time spent with my husband.

Tuesday I really had nothing planned.  Cody had to work all day, so I hung out for a bit after he left and had some breakfast. I just bought some chia seeds that I was dying to try, so I made some yogurt and granola, and mixed in the chia seeds.  I really couldn't taste them, to be honest.  I know they're good for you, so I'll keep putting them in random things, especially since so far, I don't think they change the taste of the foods.

I went to the farmers market later in the morning, and got some yummy veggies.  My mom has been getting some amazing tomatoes from the farmers market in her city, so I went to the one here, and tried to find some.  I probably bought 20 tomatoes, trying to find the ones she had.  I didn't find any as good as hers, but boy are they yummy! I also bought some broccoli, green beans, corn on the cob, and heirloom tomatoes for Cody.  When I got home, I had a few tomatoes just sliced with a little salt and pepper, and then made a wrap with lots of tomatoes.

I went to the gym, and was excited to do my run.  I'm moving onto another week of the c210k program, and this week is this:  5 minute warm up, followed by 3 minute run, 90 second walk, 5 minute run, 2.5 minute walk, then repeat.  I was able to get about halfway through the the first 5 minute run before I had to slow down, and ended up walking the rest.  Every since the color run on Sunday, my ankles/calves/shins have been bothering me.  They hurt, basically from my ankle to my knee.  They get all cramped when I'm walking, and then they ache for about 2 hours after.  I'm not quite sure what the deal is, but it went away, so I didn't worry too much about it.

This morning, I had to drive to a city near Detroit to go to the home office of the restaurant I'm going to be working at, to fill out my paperwork.  I had to fill out insurance papers, tax forms, etc.  Basically, a 6 hour journey round trip, for about an hour and a half worth of paperwork.

Since I'm not a good planner, I didn't plan on what to eat today, so I had McDonalds for breakfast, and lunch.  And I didn't make very good choices.  :(  Which means, today I'm going to be going over my calories.  I need to make sure to be under the rest of the week if I'm going to have any sort of loss!

At the gym today, the same thing happened with my ankles.  I was able to make it through the 5 minute run (I had to walk for 30 seconds of it, though), but after the 2.5 walk, when it was time to run again, my ankles were hurting so bad, that I had to stop.  I don't know what is going on, but I don't want it to stop me from doing my runs!  I'm thinking I'm going to have to do the elliptical for a while, to let my ankles heal.  I did some weights today, but there were a lot of people on the weights and I just seemed to be in their way, so I only got about 15 minutes of weights in.

I'm hoping to find something good, filling, and low cal for dinner tonight, since right at this moment, without dinner, I only have 46 calories to use.  Tomorrow, Cody is off again, and it's supposed to be nice and cool outside, so I might try to do my run outside tomorrow!

Oh, and before I forget, here's a couple of pictures from the color run on Sunday!

Us girls before the race...nice and clean!
And after the race! (Sorry it's kinda blurry!)

Foodie Pen Pal Reveal - Finally!

Okay, so, for those of you that don't know what I've been talking about when I've been talking about the foodie pen pal program, here's a quick description.  I'll give a link and some more info at the bottom of this post. 

Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean came up with a program that is like pen pals, only better.  You get paired up with 2 people - one person you'll be sending a box to, and one person that will be sending a box to you.  You get to know them, see what their likes and dislikes are, and then you make them an awesome box of food items that are from your area/are really cool/taste really good.  So fun, right?! 

So my box came from Anamarie (@amarietweets on twitter!) and she sent an awesome box!  She is someone who has lost a large amount of weight, and sent us some yummy, healthy treats! 

Here's what was in the box:


Kopali Organic Pineapple – Dried Pineapple, made us nervous, but they were actually pretty good!  Something we’d have to get used to, but we liked them!

Got Milk? Cookies and Cream Straws – LOVE THESE!  I am not a fan of milk, but these things would make me drink milk like crazy! Super fun! They have little flavor beads in the straw, so when you suck the milk up the straw, it flavors the milk.  Love it.

Hail Merry Pecans (Orange Rosemary) – They were surprisingly savory.  They tasted much better than a typical pecan.  Cody liked them better than I did, but they were something different, and new to try!

Odwalla Original Bar (Choco-Walla)  Fruit and Cereal Bar – Tasted like a brownie!  Crazy that it had fruit, and oatmeal in it.  I could eat these every day for sure. 

Odwalla Chewy Nut Bar (Sweet and Salty Almond) – I love Almonds, so this was right up my alley.  I love the mix of sweet and salty so this was perfect.  I am going to be on the lookout for these!


I am excited to send a box, and get a box again this month!  :)


Here’s a detailed explanation of the program:
-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treatsThe spending limit is $15The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
- Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!
***If you’re in the UK, please contact Carol Anne from This Is Rock Salt at rocksalt@thisisrocksalt.com to get involved!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Playing Catch Up

Okay, so Im so sorry I've been gone for so long. My computer is giving me so much trouble.  I was finally able to bring it home today, but of course, it's still broken, and the guy who fixed it isn't in until tomorrow morning, so now I have to go another night without a computer. 

I want to let you guys know a bit about what's been going on this week, so hopefully my computer holds out long enough for me to type it all out!

So last Monday was weigh in day.  I hadn't worked out the prior week much, but I did do my best to watch my calories and hardly went over.  I was hoping for a decent loss, since my losses have been so small.  And it turns out, I gained .2.  I know that's not much, but when you want a good loss, any gain is a huge gain.  I was so, so disappointed.  I wasn't prepared for a gain. 

So, because I knew I had a busy week coming up, I decided to take the week off of counting calories.  I knew I had a lot going on, and I was just so mad that my hard work wasn't paying off.  I wasn't giving up, I was just taking a week off. 

Monday and Tuesday were our days off, and we spent them hanging out, not really doing much.  It was nice to have some time to just relax, and not worry about doing anything special.  We did go out to dinner with my parents on Tuesday night, to celebrate my birthday, and we went to a Japanese Steak House.  So good, too much food, but it was delicious. 

Wednesday was my birthday. I turned 28, ugh. I don't know when I got so old!  Cody had to work all day, so I went to the Zoo with some of the girls I worked with at my old job (my last day was Sunday).  We had a great time, and then spent the afternoon shopping, before going to dinner at Cody's restaurant.  I had a good time.  My mom got me a Garmin for my birthday! I will post a picture of it soon, it's so pretty.  It's just a basic one, not one with a GPS or anything, but it's a HRM and it will track my workouts. I'm so excited to use it! 

Thursday, I got hired into my new job!  I'm working as a restaurant manager, at a restaurant I worked at a few years ago, which is also the one that I met Cody at.  I'm so excited, but I'm extremely nervous.  It's such a good thing for us though, because my pay checks will be just over double what I was making at my old job, plus I will get paid vacation time, and great insurance.  All good things!  I have to go to Detroit this Wednesday to fill out some paperwork and stuff, and then hopefully I'll be starting the week of the 13th.  I didn't work at all last week, and it looks like I'll be having all this week off too.  It's a great little vacation before I start my new job where I'll be working my butt off!

Friday I went downtown in my city to hang out with my sister and my friend Kaysha.  In my city, we have this huge festival that happens each year at the end of July/beginning of August.  It's a week long, and there's a carnival, and lots of activities.  There's also a race, which I wanted to run but never got around to signing up for (but I plan on doing it next year for sure!).  So Friday night, we went downtown, and walked around the carnival, ate some carnival food (not too much though!) and had some drinks at a local brewery.  It was a lot of fun, but I got home late, and had to get up early the next morning, so I knew I wouldn't get much sleep. 

Saturday is the big day of the festival.  There's a huge parade in the morning, and then fireworks at night.  When I was in High School, and even a few years after, I was actually in the parade.  I did Color Guard with the Marching Band for 2 years, and then I taught for a few years too.  After that, I was either living in Florida, or working, so I haven't been to the parade in a few years.  It was super fun, and I got a pretty good sunburn, but I had a good time.  That night, I went to the fireworks with my family.  I love the fireworks, but it was raining, and I knew, again, that I'd have to wake up early, so I didn't enjoy them as much as I wanted to. 

Sunday was The Color Run!  Oh man, such a great time.  The race started at 8am, so it was an early morning.  My friends came from Chicago and they were staying in Grand Rapids, where the race was, and I live about 45 minutes away from the city, so I got up at abut 5am, so that I could drive the 20 minutes from my house to my parents house to get my sister, and then head to Grand Rapids to pick up my sisters friend, and then to the hotel to pick up my friends and then head to the race.  There was about 10,000 people at the race, so it was super crowded.  We went right to the starting line, and waited for our turn to start.  I was hoping to run as much of it as I could, but my friend Sarah who was with us has a very low iron deficiency, and that makes her legs cramp up bad, so as soon as she started to run, she cramped up and had to walk.  Since we signed up as a team, we weren't going to let her walk the whole thing alone, so we all walked with her.  It was sooooo much fun.  It's fun to just not care about getting messy, and be able to have a few moments of carefree fun.  At the end of the run, everyone gets in a big group and at the same time, we all threw our color packets in the air.  If you didn't get much color on you during the race, you got a ton on you during the throw at the end!  It was so fun.  After that, we spent a good part o the day hanging out with my friends from Chicago, and then I spent the rest of the day taking a nap, since I'd gotten about 3 hours of sleep Saturday night.

So there you have it!  That's been my crazy week! I am back on track now, counting calories, and working hard at watching my sodium, since I think that's what caused my weight loss.  I ate a lot of things with high sodium at my last job, so I think that might have been part of the issue. 

I hope everyone is having a great week!  My next post (tomorrow, when I get the computer back, again) I'll add some pictures from the week, and then also post my Foodie Pen Pal Reveal post!

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Still here!

I'm at my parents house, using their computer....just wanted you all to know that I'm still alive, and still blogging....my computer is broken, and it's been in the shop since Monday.  :(  I am hoping I get it back by this Monday, so I can write one huge long post about all that's gone on this week!

Hope everyone is having a great week! :)

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

July Foodie Pen Pal Reveal!!

So today is the day that I was suposed to reveal what was in my foodie pen pal box.  i got it a few days zgo' and have already opened, and eaten all that was in my box.  I wrote out a whole post on my computer to post today, but my computer broke yesterday and is in the shop until tomorrow.  :(  I promise as soon as i get it back, Ill post it!

My birthday is tomorrow, and I can already promise that I wont be eating that great. I have a lot to post about, and I will try to post tomorrow after we get back from the zoo!  :)

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Struggles.

I don't know if anyone else here has the same types of struggles that I do, but I have been thinking a lot lately about why I am having a hard time staying motivated, and to continue my path to being healthy.  I hate using that term, "being healthy", because in all actuality, I am healthy.  I don't have high blood pressure, I don't have issues with my blood sugar, or anything.  I have a body that is completely healthy, except for the fact that there is way too much fat on my bones.  I have always told myself that, because I am healthy, my body must not mind having the fat on it. It must be comfortable being this size, and I could continue the way I am.  I know that eventually, it will catch up to me.  Heart disease runs in both sides of my family, and I know that it will show up in my life one day.  Because that is a terrifying thought, that's why I am doing what I am doing.

But once again, why am I finding it so hard to keep motivated?  And then it dawned on me.

I like to eat.
I like eating pizza for breakfast.
I like eating entire boxes of Mac and Cheese.
I like Appetizers, Entrees, and Desserts at restaurants.
I like to eat big, buttery buckets of popcorn.
I like Diet Coke.
I like eating chips, even if it's the whole bag, while watching tv.
I like eating, what I want, when I want, without thinking of the calories, or how it's going to screw up the rest of my day.
I like looking at a restaurant menu like it's my own personal wish list, and getting to order anything that I want.
 I like being able to go down every aisle at the grocery store, without worry that I'll buy something that will lead to a binge.  Because I really don't mind binges. I like to "snack".

It's these things that are making it difficult for me to stay motivated.  But there are also a lot of things that I don't like.

I don't like the way I look.
I don't like feeling weighed down all the time.
I don't like that I have to hold my breath to tie my shoes.
I don't like that I can't cross my legs at the movie theater.
I don't like that I always feel like my husband wishes I was just a bit prettier/skinnier/sexier, even though he constantly tells me that I'm all those things.
I  don't like feeling judged by my family, friends, and strangers.
I don't like going shopping, unless it's for perfume or jewelery - things that don't require a size.
I don't like going shopping because it means hoping and praying that the largest size will fit me.
I don't like going to the mall, because there's only one or two stores that I can actually shop at.
I don't like getting dressed in the morning, because it is a constant battle of finding something that fits AND looks good.
I don't like constantly feeling like I am not as good as other people, only because I am double their size.
I don't like feeling trapped in my body.

I have to figure out a way to continue to do the things I like, while fixing the things I don't.  I really think that eventually, I will be able to ignore my "like" of binging, or large amounts of food, and crave the good things. I want my mind to ignore the want to binge, and instead go to the gym.



I'll get there, eventually.  But it will be a struggle the whole way.



Monday, July 23, 2012

I'm still here!

Sorry it's been a few days since I've written.  Honestly, I haven't written mostly because I haven't been doing anything worth writing about.  I haven't worked out, I haven't been eating well...I did lose .6lbs though! 1lb in 2 weeks is kinda sad.  I am determined to lose more this week though!

Friday we spent the day in Chicago, because we were seeing the Michael Jackson The Immortal Cirque du Soleil show. It was SO good.  We had so much fun, at the show, and just hanging out in Chicago.  We went to an outlet mall on the way there, and I got the most comfortable sports bra EVER from Champion. I'm used to cheap, nothing to them sports bras, so having one that actually has support is so fantastic. I can't wait to run in it!

Has anyone used the Jeff Galloway method for training?  I just downloaded the Princess Half Marathon training program, and I'm confused about all of the things it's telling me at the beginning.  I would like to use that program, but I just need some help! :)

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Good Intentions don't make you skinny.....

My sleep has been all off the last few days, so my time at the gym has been slim to none.  I went on Tuesday and it was great, and had every intention on going yesterday and today.  But I just can't seem to make myself get out of bed.  Tuesday night, we went to bed kinda early (11:30) because it was so hot in our house.  We have an AC unit in our bedroom, but it's not big enough to cool the whole house, so the days when it's super hot out, we spend a lot of time just hanging out in the bedroom. Well, I'm still trying to finish reading the last book of the Fifty Shades series, so I was up until almost 1:30 reading.  And then Cody had a hard time getting comfortable, so he ended up putting his pillow at the foot end of the bed, which is right in front of the AC, and slept that way.  I ended up getting kicked in the face a few times during the night.  :)  So when my alarm went off at 7am, I turned it off and slept until 10. 

Last night, we decided to let our puppy sleep in our bed, and that never makes for a great nights sleep.  She generally sleeps in her crate, but we're slowly trying to get her used to being out of her crate at night, and when we're gone.  When I start working at my new job, Cody and I will basically be working 10+ hour shifts, at the same time, so I don't want her to be crated the whole time we're gone.  We're going to be having someone come over and walk her and play with her, but I'd rather not have her crated.  So she slept in our bed. She did great until about 5, which is when she woke up and started licking everything.  She has this weird habit of licking.  She'll lick the couch, she licks pillows, she licks people....she just licks.  So I woke up to this big wet spot on the sheets where she'd been licking.  So I tried to kick her back down to the end of the bed, and she started biting and wanting to play.  She ended up getting up herself and going in her crate, so I just shut the door.  5 hours was longer than she'd slept in our bed before. We're just gonna keep trying and hopefully eventually she'll be able to sleep through the whole night.

I am so excited for tomorrow.  Since my birthday is in just about two weeks, and Cody is going to have to work the whole day, we are celebrating it tomorrow.  He bought me tickets to go see the Michael Jackson Cirque Du Soleil show! I'm super excited. I'm a big Michael Jackson fan, and I  always hoped to see him in concert one day.  Obviously, I won't be able to do that now, but I'm hoping that this show is just as good!  It's in chicago, so we're going to leave here early tomorrow morning, and spend the day probably just hanging out downtown Chciago, eating somewhere cool, and going to the show at night.  I can't wait!!