Weighing In

Can I just start by saying YAY to election day being over!!!!!  I am so tired of everyone being so hateful to eachother and I am looking forward to being able to read my Facebook news feed without wanting to erase my page altogether.  Not that I had huge political loyalties one way or the other, it is what it is, someone had to win, someone had to lose. Luckily Alabama beat LSU last weekend, so I think the state just might recover from last night.  National Championship titles are way more important anyways, right??

Yesterday was another glorious Wednesday, which means after I convinced myself that I am in for a long week this week so I really could use the extra sleep instead of 30 minutes with Jillian, I dragged myself out of bed and stepped on the scale expecting to see my new favorite number 225.4 (it still really hurts putting that out there).  Instead, I saw 223.4... WHAT WHAT?!?!?!  It's official, I am down 50 whopping pounds!!!  I felt amazing and that definitely took the edge off of having to work the next 4 nights!! 

So what was different about this week than the last 2??  Honestly, I'm not all that sure.  I didn't really do that much better.  I ran twice and managed to start the shred over... well I did it for one day and was soo sore the next 2 that I haven't mananged to fit it in since then, but I have no excuse today so it's on.  I did do quite a bit better with my eating.  I can only recall 1 meal that was truly "bad" and I have been tracking my calories every day.  I still need to be drinking more water, so I'll make that a priority goal.

So now that I have lost 50lbs, I have no clue how much further I have left to go.  When I was thin, I didn't weigh myself... why would I?   So I don't really have a goal weight.  If I go by BMI standards, I have 70 more to go.  To be completely honest, I think that is quite daunting, and I have always heard that the BMI scale really isn't the best indicator for "normal" weight.  My goal has been to get into size 10 jeans... now I'm thinking why not push it to an 8, but we shall see,  I am basically a solid 16 right now which is a far cry from the 22 I started in.

I will NEVER be this girl again!!

I am so proud of myself, I can't even explain it.  When I started this journey I knew that I had to lose the weight for countless reasons, but the reasons were no different than any other time I had tried and failed.  So there was always this little corner of self doubt in my mind telling me that I couldn't do it, but not anymore. I have done it and I am doing it!!  Most importantly, I am loving the changes I have made in my life.  Not only am I healthier, I am happier.  I feel confident when I get dressed now, and want to look nice rather than grabbing the closest pair of sweatpants.  I have even taken the time to learn new hairstyles and play with makeup.  When I first started c25k I could barely make it through 60 seconds of jogging and had to force myself to even do it for the first 2 weeks.  Now, I love my runs.  I get about an hour all to myself to enjoy my music, the outdoors, and my thoughts.  I push my body further than I ever knew I could and enjoy the feeling of my muscles working.  I can run 3.5 miles without stopping, which I never even considered possible.  I have run a 5k and LOVED it so much that I signed up for another one and plan on many more... maybe even a 10k or a half someday... woah, calm your tits, it'll be a while.

I want to give a huge thanks to Y'ALL!!  When I started this blog I really didn't expect much from it other than another attempt at journaling.  I mean, I thought it would be fun to have some followers, but I never expected the impact that it would make in my little life.  I have met some amazing new friends... and yes, I consider y'all my friends.  Your comments and encouragement make me smile and keep me motivated at times that all I want to do is order a large pan pizza from Dominos and chase it with a dozen smores.  I love keeping up with your daily lives, reading about your ups and downs, laughing and crying with you, and seeing pictures of your kids that restore my faith in reproduction.  So, thank you a million times over for following me and being a part of this journey with me. I can only hope that I help you in any small way in return for all you have done for me.

Now I just have to survive working 6 out of the next 7 nights and then I am off to my parents for a glorious week and an early Thanksgiving!!  Just keep swimming, just keep swimming! 

Have an amazing day, my loves!!

Can I Get A Do Over?

I would absolutely love it if I could just go back and start this day over!  I have been grumpy all day and not much seems to be going my way, which makes it just wrong.  I hate being in a bad mood, I don't carry it well and subconsciously like to take others down with me.

I stayed up way too late last night working on a gift for a baby shower and just piddling in general, therefore I overslept this morning.  I had planned to get up eat breakfast and go for a run before heading into the city for the baby shower and my work evaluation.  So that was immediately shot.  I then find out that I am supposed to be bringing a stack of papers with me to my evaluation, none of which I have since I apparently never made it onto my boss's email list.  This immediately sends me into a "worst case scenario tizzy"  where I am frantically trying to scramble stuff together and being a world class bitch to all in my path because I just know I will be fired for not bringing in these papers and then they will come take my house and my dogs and my cow parade figurines.  It was not pretty.  For someone who takes pride in being fairly go with the flow, I sure can go bananas when I want to, and I'm sure I will have to make it up to Ryan at some point.

Of course once I got to the evaluation, everything was fine.  I had time to make copies of my certifications and print out the things I needed and was only missing one thing that was easy for her to track down, so my melt down was for nothing.

I popped over to the baby shower for my co-worker before going to meet Ryan and his parents for lunch.  This was the best part of the day, because people went on and on about how cute my diaper cake was and how great I was looking and my cute outfit... major ego boost and I loved every bit of it, cuz I'm a whore like that.

I was pretty proud of this bad boy

After that, I met Ryan and his parents at an amazing burger place where I couldn't eat what I really wanted to so I got a grilled chicken sandwich with grilled vegetables.  Of course when my food showed up there was a huge pile of fresh fries on my plate so I immediately dove in head first asked for my veggies and dumped the fries on Ryan's plate.  They also left all the veggies off my sandwich... I mean come on people, if the fat girl asks for veggies, by all means give them to her!

It was then time to get my vote on.  I honestly hate politics and elections.  I always get so overwhelmed and confused and I don't like missing my shows due to coverage and debates and other breaking news longestrunonsentenceever.  Plus my cynical side tells me that I live in Alabama, and short of Nick Saban or Bear Bryant running on the Democratic ticket we will always be a Republican state so either A) I'm voting with the majority so missing that 1 vote won't hurt or B) I'm voting for the losing team anyways.  I really didn't know all that much going into the election and considered not voting, but then I convinced myself that I had to for all those people who wanted to but never got the chance and fought for my rights and what not.  So last night I scrambled to do some research and rocked the vote today, and when I went to get my sticker I was told they ran out.  REALLY ALABAMA?  Are we that poor?  So I made my own since I was seeing everyone rocking theirs on instagram.

Only in Alabama

the trees across the road from my house!  I love fall!!

I decided that I was going to snap out of this mood and make the rest of the day amazing!  I stopped by Starbucks and snagged a skinny peppermint mocha to officially kick of Christmas and entered it in MFP to find out that it is only 100 calories?!?!?  I know this can't be right, if it is, I will be drinking 14 a day.  And, in sticking with the theme of my day, when I took my first sip I realized they had put whip cream on it.... what can you do?  I am really considering dragging out my Christmas tree tonight while I watch last night's episode of the Voice and alternate between pretending I am Miranda Lambert and daydreaming about doing things to Adam Levine.  I will probably cap the day off with some Jillian since it's starting to get dark outside, and I will make up my run tomorrow before work!

I know these are all repeats from Instagram

That's all for this rant, and sorry to be a Debbie Downer, especially since all in all, nothing bad actually happened.   Here's to a Happy Hump Day tomorrow :)

Motivational Monday!!

I hope that y'all had an amazing weekend!!  Mine was filled with work, where I was reminded how much I enjoy my co-workers... so much so that I even signed up to work some overtime next weekend... a dolla make me holla.  I also wrote out my exhaustive to do list that does not include my current activity of watching Kathie Lee & Hoda, but I have a weakness for ladies who get day wasted on national television so what can ya do.  Ryan's parents will be here in about 8 hours and I have about 12 hours worth of cleaning to do so I should probably make this quick.

So today, Keyona and I are starting our Motivational Monday posts!!  Each week, I will be sharing with you guys what keeps me focused on my goals.  I hope you guys will join us and share your inspirations too!!  So, let's do this thing!!

My major motivator this week is getting over this damn plateau I've had the past couple weeks!!  I know I haven't done my best, so I'm kicking it into gear and getting pissed.... grrrrr

Fall and winter are my favorite seasons.  I love the holidays and the fashion during this time of year.  So wanting to wear outfits like this pushed me through my run this morning and gave me the power to sit across from Ryan eating a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit while I sipped a muscle milk.

       

                     

I have always been one to shy away from the camera, but I love picutres!!  I want to have the confidence to jump in front of the camera and take pictures that I can look at years from now and cherish or even proudly display in my home.... gasp.  Plus I really really want to take some amazing engagement and wedding photos.

 I really love this shot!

 this is the perfect wedding photo

  I think we are actually going to take this one in a couple weeks!

The POTM challenge also started last week, and I am sad to say I only got in 2.5 miles last week between my work days and being so exhausted once I got home and it being nearly dark by the time I woke up yesterday afternoon... boo daylight savings!  However, I did get up this morning and pushed myself to run 3.5 miles on this chilly morning and it felt AMAZING!!!  Even though I still run slower than a turtle, I didn't feel incredibly winded, stayed at a fairly consistent pace of a 12:30-12:50 mile, basically stopped because I have a 47381 item long to do list for the day, and I loved every second of it!  I am looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow!  I will be busting ass to hit my 50 mile goal!!

So what is keeping you guys motivated this week?  

In One Year

Exactly one year from today is the biggest day of my life so far.  It is the day that I get to stand before my family, friends, and God hand in hand with my best friend as we dedicate our lives as one,  aka MY WEDDING DAY!!!

My gorgeous ring!  I can't find the pic we took right after the proposal  :(

Yes, I know this is a rediculously long engagement, since we got engaged in May of this year, but growing up I only knew one thing about my wedding... that it would be in the fall.  It's hot as hell in Alabama for a lot of the year, in case you didn't know, and this girl is not a fan of thigh sweat.  So that left us with either a 6 month or 18 month engagement, and who couldn't use a little more time to plan procrastinate and save money?

I thought this would be a great post to blab a little about one of my favorites, my fiance.  So, here's our story... I know, you're pumped... just fake it :)

Ryan and I met right before I graduated high school at the local drag strip ( I never said anything about being classy).  I had left this detail out when I told my parents I was sleeping over at friend's house and was a little worried that I would be killed in a car crash and they would find out I had lied, but I was there to be a good bestie and support my friend in her being set up with a potential prom date, who she is now married to.... success!  I first noticed Ryan as a part of the group of guys we were meeting and was immediately attracted to him, because he was so tall  looked a good bit older. Much to my disappointment, he was only a year and a half older than me, haha.  Our version of flirting involved me telling some extremely filthy joke and some random craziness that I am known for spewing at any given second while he impressed me with his mad shotgun skills.....Natty Ice, not 12 gauge.  The next day, a friend asked if I cared if he gave him my number and THREE weeks later he called while waiting in like to see the new Star Wars movie... yep he's that guy, and the rest is history.

Us on a beach trip in 2007 and the earliest pic I can find

We are the definition of opposite, minus the big issues.  I love country and pop music and he likes screaming whatever you call it and just random crap.  I love books, and he spent a good deal of our first date trying to convince me that he couldn't read.  He is a big gamer, I'm a crafter.  He loves to watch the History Channel and educational television, I can quote any episode of Honey Boo Boo ( I wish I had an extra thumb so I could grab me some more cheese balls!!)  and Grey's Anatomy. He loves cars and I do good just to be able to drive one.  I think you get the picture   Anyways, I learned that those things aren't what matters in a relationship.  We can make each other laugh, challenge each other at all levels, and never stop learning from each other.  That is what I love most about us.

At a wedding in 2008

Over the next 5 years we had our share of ups and downs, managed to only break up once and made some great memories.  About 3 years in other friends started to get engaged, and I started to pressure ask him about when it would be our time.  Luckily, he is the one with sense and I made it through college without trying to juggle more than I could handle. After graduating nursing school and struggling to find a job I actually wanted for months weeks, I was offered a great opportunity that would potentially open a lot of doors for me in the future career wise... it just so happened to be 3 hours away.  I was bawling when I told him about the job offer, because I knew I had to go, but I knew he most likely wouldn't... but he did.

4th anniversary trip to Memphis- 2009

Christmas 2010

2 weeks later we were 3 hours away from everything we'd ever known, all our family and friends, low crime rates.  We were suddenly living together after 5 years of basically only seeing each other on the weekends.... that was not fun, but we got into a rhythm pretty quick and even became parents to our precious Ali girl just 1 month later.  We became adults together, at a time in life where lots of people grow apart, we grew stronger, we were a team no matter what came our way... kicking ass and taking names.

Baby Ali!!  Isn't she the cutest?!?!

It wasn't really unexpected that he proposed, I mean we had been together almost 7 years, but it was definitely a surprise when it happened.  We had just relocated.. again, bought our first house, and started new jobs.  We had been planning a trip to the zoo once we were settled, because I am secretly 12 that is my all time favorite activity.  I could watch animals for hours, especially the elephants.  We had finally picked a day to go, and of course it was raining and we couldn't.  I did what any mature 25 year old woman would do... I went into spoiled brat mode and pouted all day, not my finest moment.  The next day  I was in stinky animal heaven!  I was shoving small children out of my way to get closer gawking at the elephants when Ryan turned to me and asked if I knew that elephants mate for life... being the mean ass know it all that I am, I corrected him saying that they are more of the hit it and quit it type.  We moved on, and I was none the wiser that he was carrying my ring in his pocket around the zoo for hours while I insisted we watch the  giraffes try to get it on.  As we went to say goodbye to the elephants, because I know that they cared I was leaving, Ryan was standing behind me.  He asked if I remembered him asking if elephants mate for life, and when I turned to once again correct him, he was down on one knee holding out a beautiful ring and said "well I think they should".  He then asked me if I would marry him and I immediately started crying and said yes.  It was the most perfect proposal I could have imagined.

Over the past 7 years, he has been there for me in every way.  He has pushed me when I needed to be pushed, kept me grounded when I was getting out of control, supported me when I needed it most, was tough on me when I insisted that I was a princess, had a snappy reply to every smart ass remark, and has been nothing short of  my best friend. He balances my crazy with his overly laid back-ness.  I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with this man.

Okay, sorry to lay all that on you guys.  Now that I'm reading back over it, it really isn't the most exciting story, but it's mine, and isn't that what this whole blog is about :)  Now that we are at actual planning time, I'm sure I'll have some crazy wedding planning posts headed your way, yay!!! 

I hope you guys all have a fun and excited weekend for me to be jeally over on Monday.  I will be working.  Oh, and don't forget to turn back the clock after you are done watching Bama stomp all over LSU!!  While you are getting that extra hour of sleep, I will be working an extra hour.... thanks daylight savings!  Nope, not bitter at all.  Happy Friday, skanks!

Back to Business

Today is a sad day...  I have to go back to work tonight after having 8 glorious days all to myself.  The first night back is always the worst.  I can never sleep the way I want to and end up dragging ass halfway through the night.  Plus, most of the patients have changed so dibs on the "good" patients or at least the ones I know anything about are gone, and I have to work my Saturday night for the month.  But like Ryan so snarkily points out, it's just for 3 nights, then I get to be off again, so I guess I will be putting on my big girl panties and heading off to adult-land.

On a more pleasant note, it is officially November!!  In my family, that basically means the beginning of Christmas... Thanksgiving is usually just glossed over.  My mom is an event planner and her hotel always has a big Thanksgiving thing so that people who are too lazy to cook for their own family, can enjoy a buffet for $30 per person. Therefore, my mom never gets to spend it with her family.  I actually don't mind it really.  I don't come from a huge family full of second and third cousins, great aunts and uncles twice removed, and that wierdo (fill in the blank) who everyone tries to avoid, so we do see each other fairly regularly throughout the year.  Plus, I have to work a major holiday every year so I always try to work Thanksgiving.  We have big pot luck dinners and it's like a whole other family dinner.  I am really excited this year that I have the entire week before Thanksgiving off so I will be able to enjoy an early dinner with my family, and maybe start a new tradition!!

Today also starts the POTM challenge that I signed up for.  I challenged myself to run 50 miles this month which is going to mean absolutely no slacking!!  Today I ran 2.5 miles which means I only have 52.5 to go!  I am super excited about this and I know I can do it!!!

And the "exciting news" I have for you guys today... may have been a bit of an overstatement, but I'm pretty pumped about it.  My friend Keyona and I have decided to start a little something called Motivational Mondays.  Basically each Monday we want to post about what is motivating us through that week.  Working towards a goal is always a little easier if you keep the reasons why you are doing it at the front of your mind. Plus, I love seeing what keeps others going, and they always manage to inspire me.  So join us in sharing what gets you excited each week.  It can be ANYTHING,  an event, outfit, vacation, quotes, WHATEVER gets your heart racing each week, and does not have to be weight loss related either!!  I think it's going to be a blast, plus a great way to get to know each other a little bit better!

like this outfit

or this, which just makes me smile

Happy Hallo-Weigh Day Wednesday

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Even though I won't be doing anything special to celebrate tonight....I'll probably be sitting on the couch watching American Horror Story since that's about as scary as I can handle and we live on an unlit street with exactly 1 other house on I doubt any parents will be sending their goblins my way.... I love Halloween!  I love seeing the kids all dressed up and getting to give them insane amounts of sugar and turning them loose on their parents... I'm sure I will get my payback someday.  I always want to get into the spirit, thinking that this is the year I try a haunted something or another again after peeing my pants in a haunted corn maze a few years back.... for real or I think I can handle watching scary movies and then sleep with the lights on for days.  And then my motivation fizzles by the week of....  I've come to realize my main excitment of Halloween is that this is the beginning of the homestretch to the best time of the year..... CHRISTMAS!!!

In honor of the spirit of the day and oversharing, I figured I would divulge my biggest Halloween memory, don't worry it's not that scary.....  On a special Halloween night in high school, my boyfriend took me on one of the best dates ever, a showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at a local theatre... let's just say I was in LOVE!!  The costumes, the inappropirate-ness and sleeze, the music, the screaming and throwing things at the screen.... it was amazing!!  I loved every second of it... so much so, that I returned the favor with the one thing I really had to offer a boy.... YEP, I gave it up in exchange for the Sweet Transvestite from Sensational Transylvania... totally worth it!  To this day, I still love Rocky Horror and would love to get all slutted up and participate in a show!  Maybe next year.  I watch it every year and laugh about the memory.   I will always be grateful that getting dirty got better to him for exposing me to such trash.... even though he eventually decided that smoking pot was cooler than dating me.... I guess I was lacking my mad skills back then.

I mean, how could you not love an transvestite making his own sex slave and corrupting sweet Susan Surandon all with alien side kicks?!?  

plus check out those bad ass legs!!

Moving on to weighing in.  This was the week I promised myself I would hit the official 50lb mark.... instead, I seem to have hit a plateau.  I first weighed in up 1lb and was ready to make some pancakes pissed... so I waited about 30 minutes and tried again, there had to be a serious 3lb mistake on the scales part. The re-do had me at the exact same weight as last week... I can't be too mad, it was my fault.  I did pretty good on my eating and still need to up the water, but I have gotten lazy with my workouts.  I still haven't gotten back into Jillian, but today it is on..... that bitch gets results. Plus, I have to get regular about my runs again, even if they are short ones.  So hopefully next week will be better. 

Tomorrow, I have a small bit of exciting-ness to share with you guys so be sure to check in!  

Have a fun and safe Halloween everyone!!

A Case of the Mondays

I definitely had the Mondays today, and I didn't even have to be at work today.  I did, however, have to get my grumpy bear out of bed this morning.  Along with Ryan's new job, comes the responsibility of having to open the store during the week at 6:30 am, and he is definitely NOT a morning person,  which means at our house alarm clocks start going off at 5:30.  We have a real alarm set to play awful 50s music, his phone, and my phone all going off every 5-10 minutes until he finally gets up with just enough time to shower, brush his teeth, throw on some clothes, and rush out the door.  Luckily we maybe live 5 minutes from the store.  Throw into the mix that neither one of us are particularly chipper in the mornings and top it with the first cold morning of the year ( it was 39 when he left)  and my love for open windows and you have a very ill morning.

Needless to say, my day didn't get off to a great start.  Instead of staying up and starting on my list of stuff that I had planned, I grabbed the dogs and had a snuggle fest in the bed, under the sheets, where they are not supposed to be and went back to sleep til oh about 10:30... fine 11:30.  So I had already wasted half of my day before it even got started.... BOO!  Luckily, I have snapped out of it.  It's a nice and chilly beautiful fall day, I'm trying out a new recipe that I stole from a friend, started my 10k training, and will catch up on housework eventually.  I even convinced myself that I am still on board for marriage!!!

 I kid, I have never doubted my engagement for one second, despite cranky mornings.

So I had a great weekend!!  I have talked before about wanting to create a new social circle in our new town since we plan on staying here for a while, so Saturday, I hosted my first dinner party!  Once I realized everyone just couldn't find my house and hadn't stood me up, it was so much fun!  We had a taco night, I made Halloween treats, and we carved pumpkins while gossiping about the people at work not cool enough to get invited, very high school, but true.  I had such a great time and I can't wait to do it again.

our pumpkins!! well minus 1, one girl was a little too advanced to put ours beside hers

TREATS!! Chocolate dipped apples, oreo truffles, and vampire bites! Thanks Pinterest

 This is how Ali treats new guests, everyone is forced to love her

So, after definitely eating too many of those yummy treats, today was the day I get back into serious weight loss mode.  I think that I let myself get lax because I have come so far and I do look and feel so much better, but then I remember that I still have even further to go!!!  I have tracked everything in MFP, and plan to keep up with my workouts even if I'm lazy!

I started my 10k training today.  I'm using the Hal Higdon plan rather than an app on my phone... just for shits and giggles, no real reason.  Today was supposed to be a stretch and strength day, but because I had already gotten excited about running today..... for reals, kinda sad, but true.... and I still can't bring myself to face Jillian again, I swapped it up.  The wild and crazy rebel I am did tomorrow's run today, and I will do my Jillian time tomorrow.  So how was my run?  Different.... it was only about 50 degrees out which is about 20 cooler than when I normally run which meant I had to get used to a couple of things, namely running in more clothes and breathing in chilly air.  But I loved it!!!  There were some times where I was hot and wanted to strip off my long sleeves, but then the wind would pick up and I would be freezing.  I even decided to push an extra half mile and ran 3 miles instead of 2.5.  I always feel amazing after I run, I'm not sure that it is that elusive runner's high yet, but I just feel great and I'm off to tackle the world... or at least laundry mountain.

almost home!  the trees are starting to get pretty!

tried on bridesmaid dresses for a friend, this one is a 16!!!!

I hope y'all had a great weekend!!