I Know It's Been FOREVER....BUT I'M ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!

IT HAPPENED! I am soon to be a married woman! So much has gone on since I last updated this thing. The week before spring break at school was pretty much horrendous and I could NOT wait to get out of there and away. We left that Thursday night to come home. Easter came and went and we had a nice time visiting my family. Church, dinner, egg dying, and cooking. The usual holiday business.

Be still my beating heart...look at these adorable fuzzies. 

Pittsburgh Pirates VS Altoona Curve baseball game! This is my pseudo-child.

(Don't worry, the major league team lost. #piratessuckbutilovethemanyway)

Chillin out max n' relaxin all cool.

Easter Eggs! Yes, I'm 25 and still dye them. Don't care.

A beauteous photo at Easter dinner. And yes, we did go out this year. 

So after spending time with my family in PA, we headed on up to the O-H to see Chad's parents. We stayed with his dad and had a nice time!  That Thursday, April 4, 2013, we went to dinner with my sister, her BF and one of our BFFs. (Wasn't that a riveting tale? kidding.) 

We went to Hofbrahaus, a german restaurant of beer-hall delight. I had a freakin awesome schnitzel and a liter of beer. Oh, and as for food....I was bad and did not track one damn day or give one shit (kind of) what I ate. I treated myself, but tried to stay in moderation. I gained 1.6 lbs this week, but I know I will be fine and continue. Sometimes life happens.  

We did a shot ski. It was delicious. (I'm on the far left...and looking mighty unflattering here. But I did look better when my mouth wasn't surrounding a shot glass)

After we said out boozy goodbyes, Chad suggested we head up to Mt. Washington, up the incline to spend some romantic time together looking at the beautiful Pittsburgh skyline. I thought nothing of it. We had been wanting to do this for a long time, but never have. It's always been so cold! But that night the weather was perfect. We paid our monies for a round trip ticket and headed up. 

Along the walk, there are look-out balconies overlooking the river and skyline. It was a beautiful night.

I got this picture only a few minutes before the big moment. I love it. 

Standing up there he told me beautiful things and pulled me close and said he loved me. And I said, "I love you too". "Is this your favorite view?" he asked me...."Yeah, I love this one you can see the skyline perfectly".  "You're right it is perfect...."  And there began my waterfall of tears as he bent on one knee in front of me. I thought he was lying. Joking. Kidding.... and then he pulled a box from his pocket and I could barely see the beautiful ring through all of my crying and hyperventilating. It was perfect for us. The city where we met and fell in love. Dinner at our first date restaurant. It was an out of body experience. I didn't even say YESS for a good 30 seconds as he stayed put on his knee. I was in complete shock. So. Perfect.

As you can see from my eyeliner and mascara stained face, I was incredibly happy and incredibly crying a lot.  When I finally was able to see my ring, I was so shocked at how beautiful it was. It was perfect and more than I could have asked for.

I am so happy, and so in love with my new fiance. I am excited and nervous and stressed out about wedding planning.Today is one week since our engagement. And amidst all the excitement, I am so motivated to get back on the weight-loss wagon more tightly and re-do this bullshit cheat week. It wasnt all that worth it. I pretty much felt like shit after day 2. However, I did go to cardio class with my mom and get my ass kicked. WOW. That sucked for an hour and 15 minutes, and I was sore for 3 days. I feel pressure to make my goal before next summer (which is when I feel we will tie the knot). I want to be a beautiful, confident bride. It's not just what people think about me. It's how I'm going to feel about MYSELF. I don't want to look back at my pictures thinking how much I hate my fat face, my jiggly fat arms, or anything else. I want to enjoy every second and be the me I can be. For us. 

XOXOXOXO

Weigh in Wednesday and Wedding Stupidity

Well this week has been fun.

First of all, we are out of all the types of foods I need to eat, mainly yogurt and fresh fruits and veg. I have zero motivation to go to the store and so therefore, I am surviving on oranges and turkey until I get motivated.

Sunday night I started feeling like shiiiiitttttttttttt. Sore throat, jello legs, weakness, blah. Monday at work my head felt like it had spinny birds jumping around it. Yesterday, I felt like major shitballs. I was so weak, jello-y, and sore throaty. I went to work anyways, sat in my room, and debated going home...the light headedness and nausea were just too much. I called in sick and went home to sleep it off. I snuggled with Addie and had some soup for dinner when Chad got home.

Because of this weird-ass whatever is wrong with me, I have not got my ass out to exercise one day this week...Saturday was the last time I did something. I feel like shit about it. But my legs are aching and woozy after taking the dog out and around the hood. I hope I'm feeling 100% tomorrow, cause I am slacking and sick and not into it.

Regardless, I think my hard work from last week made the scale a happy place today. I initially weighed in at 180.8. Then I wasn't sure about that because of the scale craziness last week. I weighed again at 181. Then again at 180.6 and 180. UMMMMM ANNOYING. I just chalked it up to 181 and with that, lost 2.4 lbs this week! YAY! 17 lbs. down since I started in January.

I talked to my mom about the fact that sometimes, even though the numbers go down, your body doesn't quite show that. She said it's normal and happens to everyone. I've never TRIED to lose weight before, so I'm eager to see what I want in the mirror. I think part of me is still seeing that fat girl and can't see the changes occurring. Some days I wake up and feel no different than I did 17 lbs ago. Some days I feel great and like I'm making progress. It's weird, this business of losing weight.

 I feel like Chad might pop the question soon....today is National Proposal Day. (not for this bitch) but I feel like it might might miiiiiggghhhttt be over break when we are home with our families?!?! Who knows. I would like to get this show on the road. All I do is love him. I want to get married here (below) at Bedford Springs Resort. Its frickin gorgeous. My dad took me there on a motorcycle ride and we walked around like mega-creepers. (That's one thing Big Steve excels at). I leave you with my dream wedding venue and hopefully me getting in my 2 miles and crunches tomorrow.

70 and SUNNY!

The weather is so beautiful today! We got up early and went for a 2 mile family walk. Chad slowed me down a little and I didn't jog like I usually would have, but that's alright - it was nice to spend some time together and enjoy the sunshine. I wore a T SHIRT. That is monumental for me, considering I am always cold. It's snowing in PA today, so I'm really happy to be living here at the moment. :)  I still got in my miles and did my 100 crunches when we got back. I can check off working out 4 days this week! Tomorrow will be 5 and I will have made my goal! WOMP.

I also got my new Brady Bands! I picked some cute, fun colors. Their sale for March is 4 for $20! I'm trying not to buy more, but it's kind of hard. Let's be honest I will probably give in at some point.

Go outside and blow the stink off if you have some sunshine today! Look, even Addie is SMILING! haha her teeth look so funny in this picture.

Weigh in Wednesday (even though it's Thursday)

Well this weigh-in was confusing...when I stepped on the scale half awake, I saw a terribly large number, but I recognized it was an old weigh-in weight. So I stepped again. I lost 2 lbs! Ummmm.. yeah. My scale was WACKED OUT yesterday. I weighed everywhere from 183 - 185.7. I did get 183.4 more than once, so I put that I lost .4 lbs this week into my weight tracker. I googled what the problem could be, and a lot of people said with digitial scales, you need to stand up straight and not look down or bend forward to see your weight. I do that all the time, and I think that was definitely part of the issue. Bending forward applies more, unnecessary pressure on the scale, causing your weight to go up 2-3lbs!

To double check, I weighed myself again this morning, standing up straight. I came in at 183.6 two times in a row, which I believe those .2 are water weight, and I'm not worried about it. I'm just glad to have a decently accurate reading.

I've been kicking ass with exercise. Addie and I have walk-jogged at least 2 miles everyday this week, and I continue to do crunches at home while poodle-head sleeps on the couch. I was really sore yesterday, so tonight will be a day off. I'm definitely going to reach my 5 days a week goal, so that's awesome!

I'm so ready for Friday. These chillun are giving me gray hairs.

Crafty Crafts!

Fun new decor! We have a circle theme going through our apartment...our curtains and throw pillows on the couch go with this theme and match our painting! I love these crafts...only about $20 for everything from AC Moore. I used wood, ribbon, acrylic paint, and a glue gun. yay! Something fun and cute to take up space on that nasty white wall. I was debating painting the rim of the mirror, but I'm not sure. I got the black square picture frames from AC Moore for $10 each and the painting from Kohls, on sale for 50% off! It was a good deal, and really makes the flow of each area groove. It also adds some cute pops of color. I have lime, yellow, and red throw pillows to match. I plan on adding turquoise runners for the coffee and side tables, but am having a hard time finding some cute ones anywhere...I've checked Kohls, Target, BB&B...nothing. I'm still on the hunt. But in the meantime, I am loving this stuff!

Whole dining area view

Monogram Close Up

Painting and Pictures

Hooray for pretty rooms!

Spring Forward...More Like Everyone be a Zombie at Work

So my goal for this week was to calm down on using my extra points on the weekends. I did ok...Not my best, but still an improvement! I've only used 8 reserve points this entire week! This is really good for me, especially after the last couple of weekends...(mexi splurge and DC weekend)

Friday we had fish at this lovely old people restaurant...I had broiled whitefish and shrimp and a sweet potato. Yum! Saturday night we went to Olive Garden. I had the Venetian Apricot chicken (only 10pp!), salad, and I just really couldn't help sharing the lemon cream cake with boyfriend. It was 2 for $25, and it was either dessert or fried/carb-laden bullshit appetizer. I figured at least the lightness of the cake would be better than fried cheese in mah mouth. Sunday we ate at home, having some yum homemade low-fat pizzas and salad.  So that's my weekend food in a nutshell. The usual fruit, eggs, whole wheat toast, etc for breakfast.

Now, exercise. Addie and I did our two miles on Thursday and then tonight I did about 2.3. That makes my exercising about 3 times per week. I want to get 5 this week and am determined to do that. I've also added proper crunches into my workout mix. I do 100 each day I walk. I need to get the jiggles out of my Pillsbury doughboy gut. I feel good when it's done and am finding that I've stopped dreading my mileage after work. I attribute 60% of this to Addie's new leash. We got her a new pink (of course) flexi leash....aka God's gift to all 40lb+ puppy owners. No more yanking makes for a much more enjoyable walk for all of us. Saturday I was going to walk, but we went to Sam's Club AND Wal-Mart because we are stupid and I think all that walking and crazy people diverting was enough. Plus sleeping in won out. Sunday I went to see Jesus and was extra tired from the time change. Plus I had stupid work to do and that is never motivating.

We also snapped some candid family photos while playing around with the MacBook. 

The above was take one. Clearly very special.

Take two. Normal, but not as fun.

I also am working on some art/craft/decorating projects! I'll be putting up some pictures soon of my handiwork and Boyfriend's wall hammering skills. GO TEAM.

Today at work, my beautiful life-saving colleague asked me "Have you lost weight? I can tell!" That was gratifying. The first time someone other than myself, Boyfriend, or my poodle has noticed. I haven't seen her regularly since Christmas, so that was really nice to hear. Motivation to keep it up and not give it up. 

Happy Monday, it's Teen Mom night! WOMP. 

Mexican Splurge = New Goal

Since I've been feeling extra fat the past 2 weeks, (that weekend at my sister's really threw me off) I've decided to try and only eat my allotted points per day and not use any reserve / weekly points. I want to see if it makes a difference and helps me lose a little more this week. That's going to be really hard for me. I almost always use a few throughout the weekend. But I am determined to do this.

This new goal is also in part due to my splurge last Friday at Dos Arcos, a delicious hole in the wall Mexican place with orgasmic food. I ate my weight in tortilla chips and queso. I don't even know what the hell was wrong with me, it was like I had ZERO self control. I had an enchilada (chicken) and a chile relleno (I did pull off most of the breading) also. It was just overload. I felt like shit afterwards, but now that I've had my restaurant splurge out of my system, I feel much more motivated to make better choices. It's strange how that works.

I honestly feel like if you are dreaming, craving, wanting so badly for a month, SOMETHING, just go eat the damn thing. Track it. Be honest. Just get it out of your system. It really really helps to re-motivate you. Weight loss doesn't work if you always feel like you're depriving yourself. Give in once in awhile. It probably won't taste as good as you remember anyways. And you might just feel like shit and say, "well that wasn't worth it." But that's how we learn. That nasty splurge has jump started my diet commitment again. And sometimes thats what it takes. If I deprive myself long enough, I find that I "cheat" more (I don't ever eat things and not track them. But I will go ahead and use those extra points for stupid shit like a piece of candy I don't need) and have extra this and that throughout the week. That one splurge day fixes all that bull throughout the week.  Nothing is easy about losing weight. That's why we splurge on Mexican food sometimes. But I'm, back on the wagon. And that's what matters.