Time for school...already?!

So I've been really stressing out about Miss E's schooling this year. She is at kind of an awkward place in her schooling and looking at curriculums seriously gave me a migraine. There are SO many different types of curriculum it's ridiculous. And it's not like I can go to the curriculum store (I seriously wish that this existed, it would make life a lot easier) and flip through the books and decide which would work for us. Nope. They expect you to pay the $300+ for a full curriculum set and I guess hope for the best. I didn't feel comfortable with that because she is actually in two different grades right now and I didn't want to have to pick and choose from each set. Plus some of the sites ( like A beka) is very confusing as to what actually comes with what. It's seriously exhausting.

So I asked a friend who has been homeschooling for awhile for some advice. I was at the point where I wanted to pull my hair out. Miss E is 3.5, it shouldn't be this hard. Not yet anyway. If I was freaking out this early, how would I handle when she gets to be in middle school, etc? Then she said something that hit home. She told me that God gave Miss E to me and that He would give me the skills I need to teach her. I thanked her, shut off my computer, and prayed. Then I sat in a hot bath for about an hour. I woke up this morning with a new perspective. I had faith in myself again. I sat down and wrote out our objectives for this upcoming year, did a little research and went out and got what I needed. I pieced together what we needed ( and spent a ton less than what I would have on a boxed curriculum set) and now we are ready. I feel prepared and relieved. Come on August! Well actually we are starting a week early because we are going on vacation in September and will be taking a week off, so come on late July:)

Month 6 update and New church update!

I don't really have much of an update this month. I'm still hanging in there at the 30 lb mark. But I'm not discouraged. I know all about plateaus and how hard they can be to overcome. Plus, I had a personal medical issue the past couple of weeks and I was in too much pain to go to the gym everyday and I was advised by my Dr to take it easy. I still went, but it was like twice a week or three times a week(and I was not hitting it extremely hard, just didn't want to get out of the habit of going). That was only for a couple of weeks and this week I'm focused on getting back into my routine now that I'm good to go again:) So maybe in August I'll have a better update for you as far as the weight loss goes. 

The biggest update I have this month is that we finally found a church to call home. I'm not going to lie, it's not the kind of church I ever saw Brandon and I joining because we both come from conservative southern baptist backgrounds. Well this church is southern baptist(that came from the pastor himself), but it is not really conservative like we were used to. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it just takes some getting used to. We've been going every week since Mother's Day. I told Brandon that was the one thing I wanted to do, go to church. It just so happened that one of my friends invited my to her church that weekend. They were starting a new series and it peaked my curiosity. So we went. At first impression, I had my reserves. Everyone was extremely nice and welcoming, but everyone was SO casual. That was very different for us. Anyone who was raised in a traditional baptist church knows that on Sunday mornings you dress up to go worship. It's just how it was. Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best. And if you weren't, well you were looked at weird and/or whispered about. But here, just about everyone was dressed in jeans, shorts, just very casual and laid back. To be honest, I didn't care for that. The service started and the band started playing. Yes a band. I've been to churches before that had the band and the casual dress(Gracepoint, West Ridge, etc) and we just felt uncomfortable. But I always stick it out to hear the message. That's the ultimate reason I go to church is for the message. None of the other pastors could hold my attention, and I would generally tune out fairly quickly. Well this pastor blew me away. So we came back again and again. Every week Pastor Steve just had this way of delivering his message in a way that it was like he was talking right to me. He didn't talk above me, but just in a straight way that really impressed me and Brandon both. We went to the Next Steps meeting one Sunday night to hear about the background of the church and what the church is all about. Going into the meeting we were still both uncertain that we were going to join, but by the end, there was no question that New Season is where God wants us to be. Now I still can't bring myself to wear jeans to church(that is just a "me" thing, I don't judge anyone for how they dress to worship anymore), but we are really starting to enjoy the laid back atmosphere and the comfort of New Season. I know that no church is perfect and I'm sure that there will be things that we don't particularly care for, but we feel at home here. Miss E LOVES going and when we pick her up, she can't wait to tell us what she learned. They seem to focus on one bible verse a week  in her class and that's the one that I tie into our schooling during the week. I love that we have found a church to raise our daughter in. It just feels right and I feel at peace finally. 

Month 5 Update!

Here's my 5 month update...

I'm down 30 pounds!!

I'm ecstatic to say the least. I worked hard to lose this weight. It's not easy and it's not all that fun all the time. There are days that I can't wait to get to the gym. Then there are days that I need to be dragged kicking and screaming to the gym. 

But let me tell you this. I NEVER regret going to the gym. But I do regret the days I'm supposed to go and don't. 

Since I've gotten my Polar watch for Mother's Day, I've been pushing myself to go even harder. It's like a game to see how many calories I can burn in a session. I love pushing myself and meeting and exceeding new goals. It's an amazing feeling to do something I thought I'd never be able to do. 

I finally took the big step and cleaned out my closet. I bagged up all of my fat clothes. My closet is pretty bare right now, but I'll build up a new wardrobe. I've gone from a size 16 to a comfortable 10. Brandon took me shopping a couple weeks ago and made me try on a pair of size 10 shorts. I fought him about it, but eventually gave in. I couldn't believe that they fit! And not tight but actually comfortable fit. I still tend to gravitate towards the bigger sizes. I struggle with clothes that are remotely tight because when I was big I didn't want anything tight. Now I still try to buy a large even though it's roomy, the mediums fit right but it's a psychological head thing I guess. 

I'll admit that I'm still struggling with my eating habits. I'm not eating near as healthy as I should be. But I'm still losing weight. Going to the gym and getting my metabolism right has helped tremendously on the days where I just have to have a western burger and curly fries. But I don't generally have a whole day of eating bad, just a bad meal here and there. I refuse to deprive myself, if I'm having a craving, I'll full fill it. But I know how hard it is to work off those calories, so the cravings don't come nearly as often as they used to. Plus, bad food just makes me feel bad now. 

 Me in 2010 at 200 lbs.

Me last weekend at 155 lbs.

It's those kind of pictures that keeps me going. I've come so far, I do NOT want to go back to that miserable weight I was before. Only 10 pounds til my goal!

All kinds of updates!

So I posted my month 4 update (down 25.4 lbs, YES!!!), but I didn't go into a lot of detail. I was blogging from my phone, which I hate doing, so it was a short update. But a short update is better than no update, right?!

It's these kind of pictures that remind me of how far I've come. They keep me motivated to keep pushing. I don't ever want to go back to that 2011 picture. 

I had my first personal training session today. It will probably be my one and only considering that it costs more than our mortgage a month to train with a trainer. But I got some excellent tips and and learned some new workouts to improve my core, which is something I really needed. I absolutely LOVE my gym. Body Plex is amazing. Everyone is so nice, all the workers are nice, and I love going in there and being able to talk to just about everyone. It makes all the difference because I look forward to going everyday. 

I'm going to be honest. I've been really struggling with my eating. I've been to Hooter's probably 3 times in the past month(dang western burger and curly fries). I work my butt off at the gym, but I can't out train a bad diet. So I'm really going to be focusing on eating better. I go through phases where I eat great, then I just eat like crap for a day or so. I need to reign it in. But overall I'm ecstatic at where I'm at and I look forward to where I will be in a few more months:) I have my 10 year high school reunion AND a beach vacation in September, so I got to focus and and get it together!

Ok so enough about that. I have a ton more to update on. 

Miss E's dance recital was last weekend and she did great. Their leader however, forgot the moves. The leader is NOT their teacher, it's one of the older members that is brought in and taught the moves to dance with the younger ones on stage. I felt bad for her and bad for the girls. But Miss E still had a great time (anytime she is in front of an audience, she shines!) At the very end of the recital, they had the older company members dress up as Disney princesses and escort the dancers down a red carpet for their trophy presentation. It was by far the cutest thing I have ever seen. Miss E was escorted by Tinkerbell and she did her little curtsy at the end of the red carpet. I got it on video, but I couldn't take pics and shoot video at the same time and for some reason none of the people with me thought to take pictures of her during her dance or her red carpet walk. Luckily the photographer there got pictures(and of course they were expensive) so I ordered some. 

 After she danced, with her flowers her daddy sent since he couldn't be there.

After she walked the red carpet and got her trophy.

She got her dance pictures done by a friend of mine the next day. She was going to be out of town for the actual studio pictures, plus these are SO much better than any we would have gotten done there. They were done by Julianna Grey Photography (https://www.facebook.com/juliannagreyphotography?fref=ts). Miss E and her BFF did a shoot together, so we got some of the girls together and then some of them separate. They all turned out great!

I didn't add any of the ones of the girls together because I would want to get her mom's permission before putting her kids photo on a public blog:)

We added a new dog to our family about a month ago. Yes we are in fact crazy, we now have 4 dogs. She wasn't planned, but things happen like that. God put Brandon in the right place at the right time and I think she was meant to be with us. Her owner tried to drop her off at the shelter and they wouldn't take her because they had just gotten off of quaranteen and she was rescued from there previously. Keep in mind that she is not even a year old. So this guy was just going to dump her on the side of the road. Brandon loaded her up in his truck and brought her home. I couldn't even get mad about it because I would have done the same. Her name was originally Rain, but we changed it to Remi(short for Remington) and inducted her into the family with a camo collar. At first our other big dog Shyla was NOT happy, but after working with them both, now they are great friends. She is a beautiful black lab ( I had one that I adored when I was younger, so I'm a softie for those). She is so smart. I just can't believe someone would be so horrible to dump her on the side of the road. Makes me absolutely angry to even think about it. But now she is happy and has a great home. 

This post is kinda scattered...that is just how my brain works though!

Onto Mother's Day. I had a fantastic Mother's Day. Miss E woke up at 8, she apparently did NOT get the memo that she was supposed to sleep in. But it was okay because we weren't rushed. We had plenty of time to relax and do showers and get ready for church. Brandon laid all my gifts out while I was getting ready. He made a frame and wrapped a canvas picture that I've had for over 2 years, he fixed a canvas that I had made for him on our ten year anniversary 2 years ago( that whole fiasco is a whole other post in itself). He also dressed up Miss E and took three pictures of her holding a frame that says "I Love Mom" and framed it for me. He even took the pictures with my big camera and did some editing. I was impressed. Then lastly, he got me a Polar watch, which I have been wanting for a while. I am in LOVE with this watch and I highly recommend anyone serious about weight loss or getting in shape to get one. We tried out a new church that morning and I really enjoyed it. I think even Brandon enjoyed it (he is very traditional when it comes to church) because he said he would go back. We are going back this Sunday. It has been weighing heavily on my heart lately to find a church home for our family and I pray this is the right one. After church we went to Brandon's grandmother's for lunch with the family. 

 I actually don't shy away from the camera anymore!

Then we hung out there pretty much until time for dinner. I wanted Hooter's (I told you, I have an addiction to this place). Mom's ate for free on Mother's day and it happens to be one of my faves, so it worked out well. We finally got back home and spent the rest of the night relaxing. All in all, it was a great day. 

I think that's about all I want to cram into this blog post! I have some more I'll update on hopefully soon.

Month 4 Update!

This isn't going to be a long post(because I am on my phone), but I realized that I'm a few days overdue on my monthly update. Ready for this....

I'm down 25.4 pounds!!

I can't begin to tell you how great I have been feeling, just overall I feel fantastic. I'm happier(excercise gives you endorphines, endorphines make people happy), and I have SO much more energy. I look forward to getting up in the mornings and getting my workout in.

The difference is amazing!

I'll do a full update tomorrow:)

Month 3 Update

Here it is, my three month update. I wrote last time I wouldn't forget and I didn't....thanks to the reminder on my phone!

So.....I am down 19.6 pounds! It would probably be an even 20, but I ate like crap this weekend. Hooters Friday night, Chili's Saturday night, Easter on Sunday, KFC Sunday night. Yeah....I told you, it was bad. But through some miracle I didn't gain any weight through all that junk I ate. The downside is that I do feel like crap after all that junk I ate. My workout this morning was torture(but in all fairness, I have a pretty bad head cold right now). I'm hoping tomorrow will be better. But I went and that is what counts. 

I am also down 2 jean sizes. I can't believe it. Those jeans that I was talking about a couple of weeks ago, yeah I'm wearing those quite comfortably now. It's freaking awesome. That's the only way I know how to explain it. My pile of clothes that are too big is getting huge and I love it. I love the feeling of putting on jeans that used to be too tight and now they are too big. I love that I have a pile of jeans that I haven't worn in 6 years and now I'm wearing them. 

I love how I feel most importantly. I feel like I can do anything. I'm right at my halfway point and I am more motivated than ever. I love having energy, I love not being achy, I love not getting winded. I love the feeling of knowing I put my mind to something and that I'm accomplishing it. Everyday I work hard. I sweat, I push myself, I hurt, and I do it. I drink a ton of water. I eat healthy (for the most part, I do have my days, I'm only human!) I sacrifice and   I'm seeing the results. I can't begin to tell you how worth it it is. 

So there is my update as promised. I am doing this. It is hard, but it is so worth it. 

19.6 down, 20 to go!

Little bit of this and that.

It's official. I am a terrible blogger. I only update maybe twice a month. I think about blogging often, but then my mind quickly goes somewhere else and it's forgotten. I really hope to get better at it.

This month feels like it has gone by quickly. I can't believe that it's already Spring. I'm ready for some not so cold weather, but I am NOT ready for the boiling hot Ga summer. I HATE the heat, when it's so hot that you open your door and it takes your breath away. I don't do well in the heat and neither does my kid. I want it to be 70 degrees all year round. Is that really too much to ask?

Anyway, Miss E just got over the flu...again.  She had strain A in Dec and she had strain B last week. Luckily we had Tamiflu in her within 24 hours so she was better pretty quickly, within a few days. I've never been a flu vaccine advocate, but I'm thinking that she just may get it next year. This crap was miserable. Especially having it back to back. 

She went to the dentist for the first time a few weeks ago and LOVED it. We have an amazing dentist. Seriously. They were all so surprised that it was her first time because of how well she did. They all loved her because of course she had to put on a show for them. 

She thought it was pretty much the coolest thing ever. The dentist said her teeth were perfect (take that all you people who said the paci would ruin her teeth!) and she had no cavities. She is already ready to go back and is counting down til Sept.

We went shopping over the weekend because I pulled out my capris from last year and they are all way too big(victory!). This is good and bad. Good because I'm losing weight, bad for the bank account and the fact that I hate shopping. Like I loathe it. I can't ever find anything that I like. Everything I saw was floral, I guess that's the "in" thing right now. I don't do flowery crap. I just don't. Brandon has better fashion sense than I do when it comes to my clothes and he will be coming with me next time. My shopping trip for me turned into Miss E getting 3 new pairs of shoes and 2 new tops. To justify it, she really did need new shoes bc her feet went from an 8 to a 9.5 like overnight what the crap???. I also have to build up her spring/summer wardrobe because none of her 3T stuff fits from last year. She is all the way in 4's and we can even shop some from the girls department at Target now. 

It was also St. Patrick's Day and since we are pretty Irish, we had to wear our green!

She spotted the Easter bunny on the way out of the mall and had to go visit...

This is her first visit with the bunny and her recent one. Sigh...when did my girl get so big??

And finally, yesterday at dance the girls got their recital costumes. The girls loved trying them on and running around in them. 

They are doing a tap number to The Little Mermaid's Under The Sea. These costumes are way better quality than the cheapo ones at our old studio. That made me pretty happy. She may wear that sucker for Halloween for what it cost. No kidding. 

My last update is...you guessed it...my weight. I know I usually only do the once a month update, but the rate I'm going keeping up my blog, I may forget to actually update it. But the good news is that I am down 17.8 lbs!! My weight loss is slowing down some scale wise, but I'm gaining muscle and I'm seeing the change in my body shape. If you're trying to lose weight and change your body shape, LIFT WEIGHTS. No joke. You'll lose weight doing only cardio, but you'll see the real change when you add weights into your routine. I've switched up my routine and I'm seeing the pay off and I love it! I'll go more in depth with all that when I do my monthly check in. I marked a reminder in my phone, so it will get done! 

Month 2 update.

I'm a day early on this, but I don't plan on being on the computer this weekend, so here it is, my monthly update!

As of this morning I am down 15 lbs!!!

People around me are starting to comment about how they can really tell that I'm working by butt off. It makes me feel great and fuels my fire even more. Eight weeks into this and I'm more motivated now than when I started. I CAN do this and I AM doing this. My face has really slimmed down and my jeans that used to me too tight are now falling off of me. I still haven't bought new ones because I have fat girl syndrome and loathe trying on clothes. I put on a pair of jeans that were 2 sizes smaller than the ones I normally wear and they fit (although they were a little snug)! I couldn't believe it. But because of my fat girl syndrome I took them off and put the bigger ones back on(and had to spend the day constantly pulling them up). But my self confidence is getting better daily and maybe with a couple more lbs gone I will totally rock those other jeans:)

One more thing that I am so excited about that I can't see straight...I looked at my starting weight on MyFitness Pal from 2011 and as of today I am 30 lbs lighter than when I started. I wish I would have stayed motivated back then, but all I can do is keep going now. I haven't seen the number I saw this morning on the scale in a good 7 years. 

Me in 2011....I am NOT ever going back to that horrible weight.

Truth is that I was almost 200 lbs and completely miserable. I was going through depression over the loss of someone that I loved dearly and then losing a pregnancy. I simply didn't care. I ate like crap and I stayed on the couch. A lot. But in July is when I decided I needed to change and I started eating better and moving more. By November I was down about 25 lbs.

But then I got bored and comfortable and gained a good 10 of those back. I knew I couldn't go back to what I was so in Jan is when I got serious. I look at my fat pictures a good bit as a reminder to not fall back into the trap. When I started in Jan, I started a new life, not just a diet. I don't call it a diet, I call it eating better and overall trying to better myself. I want to be able to run around with my daughter and play without getting winded. In the past 8 weeks, I went from barely being able to do 15 minutes on the treadmill to doing an hour on there on a 10 incline. I love going to body pump and upping my weights and just the feeling of accomplishment. It's my way of life now. 

This is the most recent picture I have of myself. This was about 5 lbs ago. Note how the double chin is gone:) 

So there is my 2 month update. 15 down, 25 to go!

Answers finally!

So I really have been a horrible blogger lately. I'm aware of this. I could make an empty promise to try to get better, but I won't. I will of course do my monthly weight loss updates (because, well those make me very happy!!), but when it comes to day to day stuff, well I just plain forget to most of the time. So anyway, here are my updates:)

Brandon is FINALLY home from Canada. He left Feb 4th and got home yesterday, that is way too long to be gone. It sucked. Not gonna lie. Thankfully it is a once a year thing, I couldn't handle more than that. 

We finally have gotten to the bottom of Miss E's cough that she has had for months (hence the title of this post). She has pretty bad asthma. It was always disguised by other things, she had brochiolitis, she had the flu, she had a viral bug, etc. These were all pretty spaced out, but her cough never went away. And it kept getting worse and worse. Then it got to where she couldn't run around and play without having these bad coughing fits. Nights were horrible, she would just hack her head off and neither of us would sleep. She was getting to where she was constantly wheezing.Brandon was in Canada when her symptoms really started to peak, so he missed all that good stuff. I chalked it up to allergies and started her back on her Zyrtec. Well last weekend was horrible. Her dance studio was throwing it's annual Sweetheart Dance and Miss E and her Pops went. She wanted to get her hair done so I took her to Famous 6 minutes away from our house. Someone was getting a perm and between that and all the hairspray, she didn't stop hacking. They were nice and kept giving her suckers to suck on and I had her water to sip on and that helped some, but not too much. I was thinking her allergies are definitely worse than they were last year and Zyrtec may not cut it this year. I made a mental note to call the Dr first thing Monday morning. We got home and I gave her some honey and she calmed down. Then Pops said that she was fine until the end of the dance and she started wheezing and having the coughing fits again. They lasted all night. Sunday was no better. We were at the Dr first thing Monday morning because something had to give. Long story short, asthma it is. She had to be on a 3 day steroid (which helped tremendously) to jump start her because it was so bad. Now she is on 2 inhalers a day, a maintenance and a rescue one. Hopefully we will get it under control soon and she will just be on the maintenance one and use the rescue one as needed. Yesterday she had a full blown attack at the gym and it scared the crap out of me. Watching your child turn purple is no freaking joke. I got her stabilized and then she had another attack shortly after. After 3 calls to the Dr,( I LOVE our pediatrician) we finally got on the same page about the inhalers and frequency of use and she hasn't had another attack since. So pray, send good thoughts, or whatever it is you may do that we can get this under control fairly quickly and Miss E can go back to her normal activities soon.

Now that I got that out, here is my princess about to go to her very first dance:)

I think she is pretty much the cutest little girl ever!

I am still going to the gym and working out 5 to 6 days a week. I love it. I feel so great when I leave there. Miss E loves the KidsPlex so it's a win win. You'll have to wait for my monthly update next week for all the details, but I'm still doing good:) I'm more motivated than ever!

4 week update.

Disclaimer: I'm blogging from my phone, so excuse any grammatical errors or lacks of paragraphs.

Yesterday marked four weeks since my serious weight loss journey began. I am proud to say that I am down 10 lbs and a few inches as well. I wish I had taken measurements at the very beginning, but I didn't, but I'm starting to notice that my clothes are starting to get a little loose. I am starting to notice a small change in the way my body looks and I'm overall happy with the results this far.

Another change I've noticed is how I feel. I have had so much more energy, I'm not craving the bad stuff as much, I wake up so much easier in the mornings and I'm sleeping great at night. I'm also not as achey as I used to be, I just feel better over all. My mood is also been better, I'm finding myself feeling a lot happier and a lot less stressed out.

So there is my update. I'm very excited to see where I'll be in another 4 weeks! 10 down, 30 to go!

Miss E is 3!

It's been a little over a week since I've updated, but in my defense, I've been really busy. Between the gym, Miss E starting dance back, and her turning 3 and having her party, it's been a little hectic. 

So the most important thing first, my baby is THREE now. Her birthday was Saturday and her party was Saturday afternoon at a local jump place.I ran around like a crazy person Saturday morning, picking up the food, cleaning out my car, loading everything into my car....by the time the party came around, I was tired. But that's the good thing about having her party there, once we were there, I didn't have to do anything, it was quite nice:) Her party was a success and we had a great turn out. She had a blast playing with everyone. Saturday night we had her family birthday dinner. She picked the place(Texas Roadhouse) and she thought it was the coolest thing ever when they sang "Happy Birthday" to her and gave her ice cream.

Here is my 3 year old on the way to her party:

Sunday we took her to Build A Bear and she loved it. She took awhile to pick out the animal she wanted, she wanted a chocolate lab at first, then something else and something else before she finally decided she wanted the Disney Bear. Then she picked out a purple bubble dress and purple shoes with jewels on them(of course) to match. To top it off, she HAD to have a princess wand as well. That was an expensive trip, but so worth it. She named her bear Princess and has been inseparable from her since.

Here is Miss E and Princess:

So this is my second week at the gym and I must say that I love it. I lost my gym buddy due to her husbands schedule changing so now I'm going solo. I thought going into it that it was something that I was going to have to make myself do, but that hasn't been the case. I look forward to going and sweating and burning those calories. I really like the body pump class. I did yoga too and I didn't enjoy it as much, but I still liked it. I've been doing the treadmill and the elliptical and on the days that I don't do pump, I'm doing weights as well. This is only week 2 so I haven't seen any results yet(didn't plan too, I know it takes awhile) but I'm looking forward to when I do. I can see how people become addicted to it, I feel so great when I leave that I always look forward to going back. 

I can really see this becoming a every day routine, I was at 3 days a week, this week I'll go 4 days...I got to stick with it if I want to see change!

Holy soreness!

Friday morning was my first ever gym class(well outside of high school anyway). It was at 8:30 am but luckily the gym is only 10 minutes away, but I got up at 7 to give myself plenty of time. We got there and Miss E was more than excited to go to the kid area(as she calls it). The only thing I wanted to accomplish was to actually finish the class. I'm not going to lie, that crap was hard. Much more than I expected. But I did it. All of it. I was so proud of myself that the rest of the day was just nothing but great. I even did the elliptical there after, and did a mile on my elliptical at home that evening. I felt fantastic. Saturday on the other hand, I didn't feel so fantastic. I hurt. The tops of my legs and my chest, even my butt hurt. I was holding my pee because it hurt so bad to sit on the toilet. But the pain made me make better eating choices over the weekend. All that pain was NOT going to be for nothing! Today was a little better, the squats are what got me because the tops of my legs are the only thing that are still pretty sore. And I'm doing it again in the morning. I'm really loving the body pump class(that's the only one I've taken so far) and I'm going to do it twice a week. 

No spectacular update. I'm just proud of myself for finishing the class. I'm proud of myself for the better choices that I am making. This year is all about being positive for me. I've separated myself from the people who bring me down. I'm making big changes in my life and I'm excited to see how this all turns out.

My first ever mile:)

Today will forever be known as the day I did my first ever straight mile on my elliptical! To be exact, I did 1.09 miles, but who's counting?! Yesterday I dragged my butt up to Body Plex and joined. I start my first class in the morning. I am NOT a morning person, so this should be interesting. I'm going to be doing classes 3 times a week, alternating between body pump(what I'm doing tomorrow), body combat, and yoga. As I get better I also want to try  spinning. I am more than ready to do this!

My other obsession has been my new camera. I've always been what you call a 'mamarazzi'. Anyone close to me can tell you that is the truth. I've had a camera in Miss E's face since the second she was born. Now that I've upgraded, the obsession is worse! I mean, at least this kid will have tons of baby pictures, right?? Anyway I skipped automatic and flipped straight to manual and have been learning ISO,Aperture,Shutter speeds,etc. I've been experimenting and seeing what looks best and such. Like I said before, I am in NO way wanting or trying to be a professional, but I do want to be able to take good pictures of my kid whenever I want:) Anyway here are some(out of the hundreds) that I have taken:

These are all straight out of my camera. I figure I'll learn my camera thoroughly before learning the editing process. Not spectacular pictures but I think they are pretty good for a beginner in manual:)

Anyway, that's all I've got for now. I'm off to bed early so I can get up and bust some booty in the am!  

Hello 2013!

I'm starting the New Year with nothing but positive thoughts. Why? Simple, because I CHOOSE to. But here are a few reasons:

We are going to pay off a good bit of debt this year. A loan that we've had for a year and a half, our last 2 credit cards, and my car(I will NEVER have another 6 year loan). I'm so excited that I can't see straight!

My baby is turning THREE! In just under two weeks Miss E will be 3 and it is just surreal to me. I can't wait to see what this year has in store for her.

Brandon gets TWO vacations after July and a couple of raises this year. Need I say more?

We will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary in September and our 12th year together in November.

I have lots of house plans this year. I want to redecorate our bathroom(which isn't really decorated, just painted, but I want to repaint and do some things in there. I want to re paint our living room, dining room, and hall, and I want to get our basement de-cluttered and organized into useful space. 

And the biggest thing I'm looking forward to....doing things for ME! Getting this weight off. I'm down 10 lbs since my first post about it a couple of weeks ago, but I slacked over the holidays. But now saying that I have 40 lbs to go sounds so much easier than saying 50 lbs to go, so I'm thankful for that 10. I'm taking a HUGE step and joining a gym ( I have a workout buddy) and doing two classes with her. I'm so excited about this next step. This is my biggest goal of 2013. Cliche, yes I know, but I don't care either. I AM going to do this!

Happy New Year everyone!

The flu=EVIL!

I took Miss E to the dr yesterday because she woke up with a bad cough again. We had been around so many people the last week so it wasn't really a surprise that she would pick up something. I actually just called the dr office and asked the nurse to call in a refill on her cough meds, but she insisted on us coming in. Thank goodness we did. When we got there her fever was over 102 and so they did a flu test and it came back positive. I woke up yesterday not feeling so great, and by the time we made it back home from getting her Tamiflu, my temp was over 103. Not good. Luckily my MIL works in a dr office and called me in Tamiflu, so we both have been taking it since last night. Great. Except our insurance didn't cover the liquid form for Miss E, so I have to take caplets apart and hide the powder junk in different things (i.e. mixing it with a small bit of yogurt, hiding it in between a piece of cheese folded in half) and so far it has all been a fail. It tastes horribly and I feel terrible, but it's not like I can mix it in a whole cup of juice because I have to make sure she gets ALL of it. I've been having to keep Motrin in her constantly because that is the only way her fever will stay down and even then it lingers around 101. And somehow the child still has energy and wants to play. For very short periods of time because she gets exhausted easily, but I have NO energy to keep up. All I want to do is sleep. All. The. Time. And that is just not possible with a toddler. "Mommy, I'm done, come wipe me", "Mommy I need more water", "Mommy, can I have a snack", "Mommy, can I play on the tablet"? It's never ending. At night is when it is bad for her, all she wants to do is lay with a cool wash cloth on her face and I'm like "finally"! Rest time for mommy too! My body aches to the core and I have chills that will not go away. But the OCD side of me still needs certain things done, so I'm the freak with the 103 temp doing dishes because I just can't sleep knowing they are in the sink(Brandon is out of town working). It's a horrible sickness and I fully acknowledge that.

Anyway, Christmas was great. We went to Alabama Christmas Eve day, then we did our family stuff on Christmas morning, then went to my in-laws to open gifts, then to Memaw's for more gifts and lunch. I must say that I am extremely lucky to have married into such an amazing family. Miss E got more gifts from Grammie than she did from us (same as the last 2 years). Brandon and I also got some great gifts, I got a new big crock pot(which I have been wanting), some kitchen things, some dvd's, clothes. I love that my MIL and SIL know me so well:) My big gift and the one I was most excited about was from Brandon and Miss E though. I FINALLY got my nice camera! I was so surprised and have been pretty much obsessed ever since. Anyone who knows me knows that this is something I've wanted for 4 years now. Don't worry though, I not one of THOSE people, you know, the ones who get a nice camera and in a month they are a professional photographer charging people for pics;) Although I have always been obsessed with taking pictures, I am in no way wanting to go that route. I just want to be able to take nice pics of my own kid whenever I want to, not on someone else's schedule. I do have 2 photographers that I absolutely love and will continue to use them as well. So yes, Christmas was freaking fantastic this year. I'm just glad we got the flu after it was over! 

Hopefully we will both be over this flu crap quick. I have a birthday to plan and invites to get out. I still can't believe that Miss E is going to be 3 in two weeks!

I got the Liebster Award:)

Woo hoo! I got this the other day:

Thank you Erin over at http://mother227.blogspot.com/. She has been an inspiration to me as I'm starting on my weight loss journey. 

So now I guess it is my turn to nominate 11 people, give some random facts about myself, and answer some questions.

So here are the rules:

1. You must thank the person who nominated you for the award.
2. You must write eleven facts/things/tidbits about yourself.
3. You must answer eleven questions that were given to you from your nominator.
4. You must nominate eleven other bloggers who have 200 or less followers and tag them in your acceptance post.
5. You must create eleven new questions for your nominees to answer in their acceptance post.
6. You must notify your eleven nominees on their blog, so they can accept their award and pay it forward.
7. You must not nominate the person who nominated you.
8. After all of this is done, you may add the Liebster Award Button to your blog.

Here are my 11 things about myself:

1. I LOVE being a mother. I truly believe that this is what I am supposed to do with my life. Raise my little girl and maybe another one one day. My daughter is the absolute greatest gift. I don't think you can know what true love is until you have a kid. It's freaking amazing. 

2. I have 5 siblings, 2 younger, 3 older, and I don't talk to any of them. It sucks but that's the way it is. 

3. I was lucky enough to marry my absolute best friend. I swear Brandon knows me better than I know myself sometimes. He is the only person in the world that knows *every* single thing about me and the only person that I can be myself 100% around.

4. I think RIC (routine infant circumcision) is wrong and disturbing.

5. I despise coffee, but I LOVE the smell of it. Sweet tea is my coffee.

6. I am currently working on shedding some major pounds. It's not easy, but it will be so worth it when I finally get there.

7. I love tattoos. I have 6 of them and I want more. 

8. I also love guns. I have 2 myself, and in my house we have quite a few. My almost 3 year old loves them too, but she knows the difference between her play ones and mommy and daddy's real ones. It's all about teaching gun safety at an early age. There is nothing better than going to the range to let out some stress. Also, I will NEVER be left defenseless. 

9. I want to go to Ireland before I die. I want to see where my family comes from. 

10. I love college football. I think the pros are pansies. College is where it is at. During football season I plan my Saturdays around games. I have and will always be a UGA fan. I think I will always miss Matthew Stafford. 

11. I'm trying to think of something spectacular here, but honestly I have nothing. The only thing I can think of is that I'm a planner. I plan everything. I like things to be done well before time so there is no stress. I booked Miss E's birthday party like 4 months in advance. I buy presents extremely early. I'm just not a last minute person. 

Ok now that those are done, here are the 11 questions from Erin that I have to answer:

1. What is my favorite holiday? That's easy, Christmas! I love the season, the lights, the celebrations, the family time, the food, the look on my daughters face on Christmas morning. I just love everything about it!

2. What is my favorite food: Longhorns crab stuffed filet. It is freaking amazing. They don't carry it anymore and I refuse to go back til they put it back on the menu.

3. What is my favorite memory that includes alcohol? This one is tough. I have quite a few...I think Music Midtown 2004. I went with my roommate and Brandon and it was just a freaking amazing weekend. I just can't even explain it. 

4. What is your favorite memory without alcohol? Dang, I have a few of these too...do I have to pick just one? I'll go with the day we arrived in Daytona last year. It was our first family vacation with Miss E and her first time seeing the ocean. I will never forget the look on her face. We were standing in the hotel parking lot, the sun was going down and Brandon was holding her. I can still smell the ocean. That was an amazing memory, I won't ever forget it.

5. How long have I been with my significant other. We have been together 11 years, married 4. I was 16 when we started dating and he was 17.

6. Where did you meet them: Well we went to high school together, but our families just happened to be in the same place at the same time for vacation one year. He saw me at the pool and the rest is history.

7. What would be the first thing I bought if I hit the lotto tonight? I would pay off the house, my car, Brandon's truck, and anything else we owed. I would donate to foster kids, women's shelter's and animal shelters. I would pay off Brandon's parents house and vehicles(after everything they've done for us, it's the least we could do) Then we would probably buy land and build. I would also love to foster dogs. 

8. What is my dream car? I don't really have one. Cars aren't really my thing, I just need something practical with good gas mileage. I mean, I wouldn't turn down a Bentley or BMW though:)

9. What would be my dream place to live? I wouldn't mind staying in Ga I guess, but I want somewhere with land. I don't want to be too far away from civilization, but I love the quiet and the privacy. 

10. If I could get plastic surgery today, what would I get? A boob job. I'm waiting until we get done having kids, and then I am getting one.

11. Where is my favorite place on earth? Honestly, probably my home. It's my safe zone, the place where I have great memories, plus I love who I share it with. I guess I was supposed to say the beach or something, but oh well.

Ok so here is who I nominate:

1. Anna at http://justnormalthinking.blogspot.com/

2. Elizabeth at http://mylifeaslizwifeandsahm.blogspot.com/

3. Christine at http://inspire-to-create.blogspot.com/

4. Amanda at http://justtakeonebiteplease.blogspot.com/
5. Kristen at http://kristenplusjswifts.blogspot.com/
6. Mommy2Izzy at http://mommy2izzy.blogspot.com/
7.MommaSachs at http://mommasachs.blogspot.com
8. Mommy RiRI at http://thatgoesdouble.blogspot.com/
9. Amy at http://threeoclockcrazy.blogspot.com/
10. Christina at: http://twoboysandarucksack.blogspot.com/
11.Michelle at http://ourlifeontheoutside.blogspot.com/

And here are my eleven questions:

1. Who is your favorite author?
2. What is your ideal job?
3. What is the best concert you've ever attended?
4. What is your favorite movie?
5. What is your favorite thing to cook?
6. What is your earliest memory in life?
7. What is one thing on your bucket list?
8. What is your favorite tv show?
9. Do you collect anything?
10. Why did you start blogging?
11. What is your guilty pleasure? TV show, book, movie, anything like that.

Ok, that took forever, but I'm done!

First week weigh in.

Today was my first weekly weigh in. I'm happy to report that I am down 4 lbs even. Nothing spectacular, but to see the numbers go down is a great motivator:)

It's much easier to eat healthy when its just me and Miss E. Throw my husband in the mix and that is where it gets tricky. But I've been doing great not eating the things I'm not supposed to even though I'm having to fix them for Brandon. Last night I did indulge in a piece of cake for my FIL's birthday, but I came home and did double time on the elliptical too. 

So there it is, my first week back on the wagon and I feel good about it. I knew it wasn't going to come off easily, but I'm working everyday at it:)

Me vs the Elliptical

I won!

I started back on it today for the first time in too long. I have bad knees and they started giving me problems (no cartilage) and swelling really badly. I started taking glucosamine to try to build the cartilage back up and took a break from the elliptical. I was nervous to get back on it tonight and had really low expectations. I gave myself a goal of 15 mins (low, but better than nothing, and I don't want to hurt my knees) and wound up doing 30! It feels great to be back on it and the best part is I have NO pain in my knees! I know I'm going to have to build myself back up to what I was doing, but I'm so proud of myself for taking the first step and getting back on it. I love the energized and accomplished feeling of when I'm done. And yes, I had those jeans draped over my elliptical the whole time as a reminder of why I'm doing it:)

Change of subject now, I got Miss E's Christmas pictures back yesterday and they turned out amazing! The same girl that did our family pics back in August did them and I must say that I just love her. If you're looking for a great photographer, I HIGHLY recommend her, here is her FB page:https://www.facebook.com/mmcphotographyy?fref=ts.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Ok, so that was more than a few, but I think my kid is adorable:) The third one just shows her personality perfectly, always dancing and twirling. We took her to her dance studio's holiday show on Sunday and the look on her face as she watched the dancers was just priceless. It was a great experience for her. 

It has taken me about an hour to write this post (had to stop for a tea party then to put Miss E to bed). So I think I'm done for the night, goodnight!

Motivation

Today I finally found my motivation for weight loss.

I lost 28lbs last year, got lazy and have since gained 10 of those back. Boo. That is what happens when you're just not motivated. Should I be motivated? Sure. But I haven't been. I'm healthy as can be(I had to have tests done at the GI specialist and my blood pressure and cholesterol and all that jazz is perfect). People don't treat me differently because of my weight (I'e been on both ends of the weight spectrum, from too thin to well, overweight). I have a freaking amazing husband who has never said anything negative about my appearance, which has changed drastically over the past 11 years. I was a blonde size 0 when we started dating and now, well, I'm not either of those things. I have some self esteem issues, but they aren't that bad, I don't think I'm horrendous or anything. So basically, I just haven't cared too much about it.

That changed today.

I was looking through the back of my closet for something and there they were. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. THE pair of jeans that looked freaking amazing on me 7 years ago. The ones that even if I felt horrible and wore no makeup, I could put them on and they made me feel like I looked like a million bucks. Those jeans. I don't remember the last time I wore them or even saw them to be honest. I pulled them out and that's when it hit me. I want to wear those jeans again. I started digging further and pulled out a few more pairs(they started going up in sizes) and I realized that if I went up these sizes, I can go back down. It's sure as heck not going to be as much fun as eating whatever I want and such, but it will be worth it to finally be able to put on those jeans. They are the smallest pair in my closet (all of my tiny anorexic clothes are long gone, I'm not dumb enough to think I will be a 0 again, nor do I want to be). So I'm going to start working my way back down my old jean pile until eventually I get to that one pair. They are currently hanging over my elliptical so they are constantly in my sight.

Any inspirational stories are welcomed and greatly appreciate as I start this journey. Most people send me FB messages after reading my posts because they don't like putting their personal stuff out there. One request, don't bother with the "I took this and lost 20lbs in a week" crap. I've never tried weight loss pills or fast fixes before and that is not what I'm interested in. Last year I did it on mostly diet alone, throwing in walks around my hilly neighborhood and using my elliptical. I just like reading real success stories from people doing it the old fashioned way and having that inspiration. You can also follow me on myfitnesspal.com. I've been on there for almost 2 years and set it to where I'm starting with today's weight so I can work my way back up.

This time, I'm going the distance. I'm GOING to wear those jeans again.