Best of What's Around

who has time to blog?

2010-08-01T19:37:00.000-04:00

who has time to blog? apparently not this new mom. the return to work made blogging even more unlikely...

emilee went for her 2 month check up on thursday, and my chunky monkey now weighs 13 lbs, 10 oz and is 23.75 inches long. she's at 97th percentile for weight and at 90-95th percentile for height - craziness!!! i cannot believe how fast she's growing.

she's come down with her first cold and is a snotty mess. now i used to be the girl who was gagging over snot, but oddly enough, when it's your daughter, it doesn't make you sick. i never believe that'd happen, but somehow it did. i'm hoping her cool new penguin humidifier does the trick and lets stinkerbell start breathing better again.

i returned to work on july 12, and while it was an adjustment (that first day was KILLER - i cried like a baby), i'm happy to report that we're in a good groove now. emilee seems to like daycare and i've been pleased so far. my least favorite part is paying them haha...but i knew it was going to be expensive.

the zantac worked wonders and her reflux is almost non-existent these days. the doctor said we'd try to wean her off the meds once she's sitting up good.

as for weight loss, daniel and i are doing decent. the weekends are lacking major motivation. i'm down 47 lbs since giving birth - nowhere close to my goal weight, but at least all the pregnancy weight is gone, plus about 10 more lbs.

so this short and sweet, but it's already 7:30 and em is gonna need a bath shortly, and big brother comes on at 8:00...you know, priorities. hehe.

hope all is well - i hope to get caught up on reading your blogs soon.

1 month, 2 days later

2010-07-01T13:36:00.000-04:00

i suck at the updates. so sorry. i sometimes don't find time to shower, let alone post a blog.

i've lost all my pregnancy weight, plus about 4 lbs. i'm down 42 lbs. i have a long way to go, but was really excited about the jumpstart. i've started following weight watchers again - but most of the weight fell off without even really trying. it's only now that i've stalled and know that weight watchers will have to do the rest.

emilee is doing great. she's up to 11 lbs and 6 oz now, and has grown another inch in length. i'm really proud of her. she's doing decent with her sleeping - she goes down around 9 or 9:30 and then is up about 1:30 to eat and again at 5:30...and usually will go back down til 7:30 or 8. it varies a little. i'm hoping she will continue to sleep longer periods of time, so it'll ease me back into work. speaking of work - i return in 11 days. part of me looks forward to getting out of the house more, but i think it'll be a big adjustment all around.

emilee is a really good baby - but does have about an hour crying spell sometime mid-morning and another one in the evenings before bedtime. she is just starting to coo and i've had a few random smiles - which i'm not sure they're directed at me, but i like to pretend they are. haha. :)

i left emilee with daniel on tuesday night to go out to dinner with manda and we watched the premiere of eclipse. it felt weird leaving her, but i'm really glad i had a night out and glad that daniel and em had some alone time.

that's about all that's going on. now does anyone know how to block mr. chinese man that keeps commenting on my blogs????

emilee's birth

2010-07-01T13:19:00.001-04:00

emilee's birth story probably starts about 2 weeks before her birth. i go to my weekly appointment to find out my blood pressure had taken a jump. the doctors were a little concerned, so they took me off work, and asked me to return two days later. when i return in 2 days, the blood pressure is still high. the doctors decided to take me off work, and kept talking about inducing labor if the blood pressure continued to climb. they asked me to stay off work, and to monitor my blood pressure at home. they also ordered me into their office every 2 days....each appointment i went in not knowing if i was going to be induced or not. finally, at 38 weeks pregnant, i was told i would be induced the following week, at exactly 39 weeks. however, when i returned that monday, i was told the induction was pushed back to friday.

the week before emilee was born i was having contractions all week. it would start in my back and wrap around to my lower abdomen (the low gut, if you will). it was a really weird experience...as i was never sure if this was "it" or not. obviously, it never was! ;)

i was told to call the hospital at 6:30am on friday, may 28, to find out when they would start my induction. if the hospital wasn't busy, i'd come right in...if they were busy, i'd have to wait until beds were available. talk about the longest day ever...i called the hospital at 6:30, at which point they told me to call back at 8:00 because they were busy. so i called at 8:00, then 10:00, then 1:00, then 4:00, then 7:00...and finally at 9:30 they had me come in. at one point in the day the nurse that answered the phone said "just go ahead and do what you were going to do today instead of sitting and waiting on us". oh really? because i was pretty sure what i was going to do was have a baby!!!!!

when i got there, the nurse got me changed and then my doctor came in. he checked me and i was still at barely 1 cm dilated and my cervix hadn't thinned enough, so he decided to start cervadil. not before telling me scary stories of women who were induced and stayed in labor for 4 days first, though. haha. he was trying to scare me...and it kinda worked. however, it had already been the longest day in history and i just wanted to get this thing rolling. jill, manda, and daniel were all there with me...they gave me ambien to help me sleep. haha. no sleeping for this girl. i kept watching my contractions on the screen and watching my blood pressure and watching emilee's heart rate.

at about 2:30 am, i told the girls "i think my water just broke". when the nurse came in, i told her and she used this little strip to swipe the pad under me and said, "no, i don't think so. you probably just peed". i was like um, no really - my water broke, but she wasn't buying it. about 45 mins later, she came back in to help me get to the bathroom and when i stood, my water HAD broken, and proceeded to spill all over the floor and near her feet. kinda like "i told you so". haha.

this part was all very boring, as the cervadil had to be in for 12 hours. after my water broke, my contractions picked up and started to intensify. but 8:30 am they were starting to get really uncomfortable, so the doctor gave me some pain meds to help. at 10:00, they removed the cervadil and and checked me again. at this point, i was 2 centimeters dilated and 80% effaced. they decided to start the cervadil. there was a doctor change at 7:00 am and i was kinda glad, as i liked my female OB better than the other guy.

the rest of the day was pretty eventful. i got my epidural around 1:00 pm, and i seriously just hung out. the biggest fiasco was the inlaws losing manda's pass to get back to labor and delivery. seriously, my labor was so uneventful, and i'd be lying if i said it was hard/bad.

i was checked on and off all day - and finally at 6:00 pm, i was 10 cm dilated. did this mean i got to push? nope. sure didn't. i had to "labor down", as emilee hadn't dropped low enough. at 7:15 (after an hour and 15 mins of sitting there just shaking - be it nerves or the transition phase or whatever, it was weird) - my doctor came in and said she had a c-section scheduled at 8:00pm and did i want to just wait until after she completed that to push. i looked at her like she was crazy. no i did not want to wait any longer. she said she was worried i'd hafta push for 2 hours or so (i guess this is common for overweight gals), but if i wanted to go ahead and try, we could.

a nurse came in and coached me. it was a nurse, my husband, and jill in the room. it all went faster than they expected and the doctor came just in time. i actually had to stop pushing to keep from having emilee without the doctor. 28 minutes of pushing and out popped this baby girl with the chubbiest cheeks known to man. :) it was crazy to me. once her head was out, the next push had her body out and i swear it felt like a little fish swimming out of me. (keep in mind i had an epidural haha).

as soon as she delivered the doctor literally tossed her onto my tummy and i went to pull her closer and got a "wait! the cord is short!!!" and then watched as the doctor talked my hubby through cutting the cord. he handled it all like a champ. i was so proud of him. so, so proud. he didn't think he'd be able to watch any of it, but he did. and fed me ice chips in between contractions, and told me when he could see her hair.

after daniel cut the cord, they pushed her down my gown and my girl laid on my bare chest, covered in blood, and fluid, and white pasty stuff. lol. it didn't even matter. i was just so happy to finally see her.

we both had a fever, and they were worried they'd have to send her over to NICU, but it came down quickly and she was just fine. after i got over to my room, we kept our girl with us for about an hour or so and then let the nursery keep her for the night. we had had very little sleep in 48 hours and were needing it.

i can honestly say i think labor was the easiest part, with recovery being the worst. the absolute worst. this could be because i tore really bad (i don't know exactly how bad, i just know that the nurse apologized while i was pushing because "oh, honey, i'm sorry - you're already tearing" and the doctor said "i need more sutures when stitching me up!).

emilee's birth story is not what i expected. nothing about this was what i expected, but i will say i went in thinking it'd be a LOT worse. :)

Emilee Claire!!!

2010-06-01T11:15:00.000-04:00

just a quick update to let everyone know that i gave birth to miss emilee claire on saturday, may 29 at 7:58 PM. she was a healthy 8 lb, 13 oz and 21 inches long. i promise to update with the full birth story soon, but until then, here's a few pics to hold you over:

2 more days

2010-05-26T14:17:00.000-04:00

i'm being induced on friday. i cannot believe the pregnancy will be over in just 2 days. 2. how did that happen? how did i go from counting down the weeks to finding out the sex to counting down the hours i have left? insanity.

my due date is not officially until next wednesday, but my blood pressure has decided to do a few magic tricks the past 2 weeks. i've seriously been to the doctor every other day for almost 2 weeks now. lol. it'll be high, then normal, then low, then high, then low, then normal. but it's all okay - emilee looks great, i feel okay (minus this headache and some pressure and irregular contractions and other typical "i'm 9 months pregnant" complaints).

i'm really excited about what friday holds, and can't wait to see what my baby girl looks like.

i'll update with pics soon :)

quick update with pics

2010-04-25T12:48:00.002-04:00

i'm horrible. i try to find the time/motivation to update this thing, but most days i fail miserably. things were incredibly hectic the last few weeks of march into the 1st week of april, but have thankfully slowed down quite a bit.

my oldest friend had her baby boy on april 2. we went to wv to be there to welcome mason into the world.

so happy that he's finally here!

looking like a natural!

31w4d pregnant

i had an ultrasound the day after we returned. these are the 3d pics at 31w6d.

i think she looks A LOT like her daddy in these.

everything has basically been about preparing for her arrival lately. we have an insane amount of clothes in her closet, waiting to be worn. manda has been awesome about making bows/headbands to match every cute thing we have. lol.

i had a little scare on april 9 - i was spotting a little. i called the doctor and they had me come in. luckily (or unluckily, depending on how you look at it) it was "just" a yeast infection and UTI. fun, let me tell you. but much better than emilee arriving almost 8 weeks early.

i go tomorrow for my 35 week appointment. 35 weeks - seriously. so we're at just a little over 5 weeks until my due date. i 'm wondering if she'll go to term or if i'll have to be induced. on one hand, an induction would be nice for work purposes, as well as my fam and friends in wv making it up for the delivery. on the other hand, i know that labor can be easier if you're not induced. hoping to get some answers at my appointment tomorrow.

here's a pic from last weekend. i feel like i get more massive by the day. lol.

33w4d

emilee's room

2010-03-27T17:20:00.000-04:00

#100 and all showered up

2010-03-25T15:34:00.002-04:00

huge milestone - this is my 100th post. if i were awesome, i would have planned accordingly and had a cool giveaway. instead you're stuck with an update.

yesterday was my mom's birthday, and i'm finding myself a little lost today. (no, not about LOST, but did anyone else watch tuesday's episode? i love richard!!) i guess i didn't realize that getting pregnant and preparing to be a mom would make me miss my own. there's so many things i wish i could ask her about her pregnancies, and about what to expect, and what to do, and if she liked being pregnant, if she swelled, how much weight she gained, how her blood pressure was, why the insides of my legs cramp like crazy. the list goes on and on. i recently told daniel that all this baby stuff was making me miss her - and i know it's probably hard on him too...his dad isn't here, either. i hate that emilee will only have one grandparent - it's really hard for me to accept, especially given the relationship i have with my own. the more involved daniel's mom gets in the pregnancy and emilee's upcoming arrival, the more i miss my mom. weird, right? i think i'm slightly delusional...lol. i know that my mom was far from perfect in oh, so many ways. but she was still mine. she may not have always gotten the mom thing right, but i do think she would have loved her granddaughter - and it would have been fun to see them interact. i hope i can find a way to point out the positive things about my mom to emilee some day when she's old enough to understand. in some ways, i guess i just wish she could say she was proud of me...

on a more sunny topic, saturday was my baby shower, and it was everything i had hoped for. my friends did an amazing job pulling it off. we got soooooooo much stuff. we got almost everything we need for emilee, and then some. i still need to pick up a few odds and ends, but the stuff we got will go a long way with preparing for her arrival. here are some pics:

me and the bestest friends ever: jill (also pregnant), manda, me, and mandi

my family - sister misty, aunt brenda, mommaw betty, me, aunt angie, cousin rachel

my pretty cake - which was also awesome tasting!!! (sam's club, people. seriously)

the cake table with the diaper cake, made exclusively by manda!

me and the hubby...he needs to shave lol.

seven

2010-03-16T07:12:00.000-04:00

it's been too long since an update. what's new on this end? not much, really. work, work, and more work. i think that's why i struggle with updating this thing - i feel like i never have much to update on. haha.

daniel and i are headed to wv for a long weekend thursday evening. my baby shower is saturday - yay!!! - and then sunday i'm throwing my friend jill's baby shower. i'm pretty excited to see everyone...it's been a long time since i've gotten to visit with most of the people i'll see this weekend.

about the only thing i have going on is the pregnancy. i'm more than seven months pregnant - can you believe that? i hardly can. it's gone by so fast as a whole...though some weeks have seemed longer than others. i did a repeat of the 3 hour glucose test last week, and have been awaiting my results. no news is good news, so i'm hoping i passed. guess we will see. i go back for another checkup tomorrow, so i'm sure i'll find out the results by then at the latest.

emilee has discovered a new trick. she is kicking so hard these days. she and daniel play a game almost every evening now. wherever he puts his hand on my stomach, she'll kick until he moves it. so he'll move it further left or right, and she'll follow him and do it again. they do this for like a 1/2 hour every night. he can't believe it doesn't hurt. it really cracks me up. i do not even know how she knows his hand is there...he's not really pressing hard on my stomach, so i don't know if she just senses the pressure or heat or what. we've also been trying to get her room organized. jill gave me a bunch of baby clothes of madi's, so we've been going through those, and separating everything according to size. i'm trying to stay ahead of the game, but it takes a long time - your washer will hold soooo many baby clothes. :)

my favorite thing about today is a new episode of lost is coming on. i'm seriously addicted. i'm kinda sad it's the final season - and i really just can't figure out what's going on.

okay, i'm done with the randomness. i'll try to update again after this weekend - complete with pictures.

aimsology

2010-03-03T12:31:00.000-05:00

stolen from ang, in an attempt to avoid the work in front of me.

Rules: YOU! Yes, you, reading this. You’re tagged. Now that you know more about me than you ever wanted to know, play the game, it’s fun! Let others know a little more about yourself, repost this as your name followedy by “ology.”

FOODOLOGY:

What is your salad dressing of choice? french or tangy tomato from outback

What is your favorite sit-down restuarant? probably outback, but there's many close seconds

What is your favorite fast food restaurant? wendy's

What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? pizza (or pork chops, according to daniel)

What are your pizza toppings of choice? pepperoni, mushroom, and banana peppers when not pregnant, cheese right now

How many televisions are in your house? one

What color cell phone do you have? black - but it does have a cute pink/purple cover

BIOLOGY:

Are you right-handed or left-handed? right

Have you ever had anything removed from your body? wisdom teeth, tonsils, adnoids

What is the last heavy item you lifted? i have no clue

Have you ever been knocked unconscious? i've been put to sleep...does that count?

Have you ever fainted? nopey

BULLCRAPOLOGY:

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? i don't think so - i'd probably just freak out the whole time
If you could change your name, what would you change it to? i think i'll keep it
How many pairs of flip flops do you own? probably 8 or so - i am so ready to be wearing them

Last person you talked to? manda on im, mandi on the phone

FAVORITOLOGY:

Season? spring

Holiday? birthdays lol

Day of the week? friday or saturday

Month? april-range, typically.

Color? purple

Drink? canned diet pepsi, fountain diet coke, and wallaby darneds...yum.

Alcoholic? oh, this is where the wallaby darneds should go

CURRENTOLOGY:

Missing someone? yep

What are you listening to? the boys talk about dogs (and i really don't wanna be hearing it)

What are you watching? my im flashing blue because manda just messaged me about the cheesyburger biscuits

Worrying about? not a lot at the moment, i'm in a hateful mood, so i'm more focused on that ;)

What’s the last movie you saw? Dear John (skip the movie, read the book)

Do you smile often? i think so!

If you could change your eye color what would it be? green

What’s on your wish list for your birthday? wow, that's a long time away - maybe a winter dmb tour
Can you do a chin-up? lol hahahahaha, no

Does the future make you more nervous or excited? nervous, but i'm probably more excited

Have you been in a car wreck? not really - got rearended once, and have been hit by deer many times...yes, they hit me, not the other way around

Have you caused a car wreck? lol i hope not

Do you have an accent? according to everyone here

Last time you cried? yesterday, because daniel had to dig through the trash lol

Plans tonight? watch all my dvr'ed shows from last night

Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? yes...but it worked out for the best
Name three things you bought yesterday? i didn't buy anything yesterday - oh wait...subway sandwich, chips, and a drink

Have you met someone who changed your life? several
For the better or worse? better

How did you bring in the New Year? with the Clines, playing catchphrase! :)
Would you go back in time if you were given the chance? yeah, i'd like to talk to my momma
What songs do you sing in the shower? none
Have you held hands with someone today? not yet

Who was the last person you took a picture of? manda

Are most of the friends in your life new or old? i haven't made any new friends recently, so i'm going with old

Do you like pulpy orange juice? no, that's nasty

Last time you ate peanut butter and jelly? last weekend

What were you doing at 12 a.m. last night? snoring

What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? why do i dream about nonsense?

snow, snow, and more snow

2010-02-11T12:22:00.000-05:00

we got another blizzard - after the one over the weekend. i've only worked 4 hours this week, as my agency keeps cancelling work due to the snow and crappy road conditions. i seriously cannot wait to get out of this apartment...i'm going stir crazy!!!

daniel has been off work, too. he actually drove all the way to work monday morning - which is over an hour commute - only to find out it had been cancelled. he was a lil annoyed, but i was kinda excited because that meant he could take me to my appt! they did a follow-up ultrasound. originally they acted like i'd have to go in every 4 weeks after 20 weeks for ultrasounds to check on baby girl's growth, but she's doing great and they decided they didn't need to do another ultrasound until 32 weeks. yay! she was measuring right on track with everything, and weighed 1 lb and 6 oz. here's a pic...per usual, she didn't wanna give up a good picture, though she was kicking and waving a lot this time.

23 weeks 5 days

emilee's bedding came in and i love it. i'm not a big fan of "themes", so we went with some bold colors/dots/circles designs. it's super cute. i can't wait to get her crib put together and finish decorating her room.

daniel is doing so well with the non-smoking...he's been 7 days without a cigarette now. i hope he continues to do well with it - the chantix is working wonders. i know there's some weird side effects, but so far he hasn't experienced any of those. he said the hardest part is just not knowing what to do when he typically would've smoked. he's chewing gum like crazy. lol. i'm just so glad he's not going through withdrawals.

nothing else going on - praying that the snow stays away from the mid-atlantic area for awhile!!!! ready for spring.

non-dq blizzard and baby preparations

2010-02-05T08:54:00.001-05:00

us lucky people in the DC/Baltimore area are being blessed with another blizzard. seriously. i'm not looking forward to it. we were supposed to head to good ol' wv this weekend for a friend's baby shower, but instead i'm gonna be stuck watching the snow fall with a husband that is attempting to quit smoking by using chantix. sound fun? not so much. no - seriously - i'm just teasing, he's doing really well, and i'm proud of him for quitting.

i hardly ever update, yet i'm finding myself at a loss for words. basically the only thing going on is baby stuff...we did get the crib and changing table/dresser in. we're not putting it together, however, for fear that emilee would end up collapsing on the floor, based on her mom and dad's skills in that department. it'd either end up crooked or we'd end up broken and divorcing. neither seem to be a good scenario.

i have another ultrasound on monday...they didn't get all the measurements they needed at my 20 week ultrasound, so they're doing another one at 24 weeks. and probably another at 28 weeks. since i'm overweight, they like to take extra precaution with her growth. i also will be redoing my glucose screen at my 27 week appt, as well as all the other 28 week labs. in less than 4 months emilee will be here. it's kinda crazy to think about - but exciting at the same time.

i feel like i've ballooned in the past 3 weeks or so. i'm starting to feel her move more, and daniel has felt her move on one occasion, but i really think that was a fluke, since there hasn't been a repeat session. here's a pic of me and daniel from a friend's wedding in january...you can kinda see what i'm talking about with the "ballooning"...

it's gonna be a busy few months...i'm heading back to memphis - oh, yay, bbq city - on february 21 for more work training...i'll only be there a week this time. then it's several trips to wv for birthdays, my baby shower, and the birth of my friend jill's baby boy. i really think this year is flying by, and that kinda scares me.

for all you lost fans - tuesdays are now my favorite night. i cannot wait to see the next episode. this sideways stuff is getting to me.

what does everyone think of biggest loser? i am having trouble getting attached to anyone this season - though i can't stand the red team.

dmb tour dates were announced - and it feels so weird not to be prepping for 6-10 shows this summer. does this mean i'm growing up? i'm not sure. my love for the band hasn't changed - i just don't see how it's possible to go to that many. i really do want to try to go to a show or two. my 1 year anniversary will be july 10, and they are playing a show about 2 hours from the house on july 9, so i'm hoping maybe daniel and i can slip away for that one...aunt manda has offered to babysit - and if something comes up, i'm sure mamaw dee would be willing as well. there's another show like 45 mins from our place later in july, so that one is a possibility as well. i guess i will play it by ear, and see how emilee's doing. while i'm excited about her arrival, there's a part of me that feels really sad about letting such a big part of my life go...i am not sure what else to say about it. but i do have a vision of her sitting on daniel's shoulders at a show singing along to grey street while we dance in the lawn section...so time will tell. :)

i'll end this for now - if i think of anythign interesting to share, i'll pop in. maybe with some ultrasound pics on monday?

no longer an it

2010-01-14T13:40:00.000-05:00

we're having a baby girl! we went to my 20 week ultrasound appt on tuesday, and little miss hughes did not want to open her legs for us...but the ultrasound tech finally announced that it was a girl. i think daniel might've died from happiness - he thought all along we were having girl, so he says. i personally think he was just hoping all along, but whatever...

after the appt daniel and i went to the mall and bought emilee lots of new clothes. i tried really hard to limit what i spent, because i know that a baby shower is coming up, plus my friend jill has tons of little girl stuff she's sending my way. that's gonna come in handy, especially with the $1,000+ per month daycare expense, but that's a complaint for another day.

in other GREAT news, i passed my 3 hour glucose test...so yay - no gestational diabetes right now! :) i was thrilled...after i failed the 1 hour, i was convinced i had it, especially with being overweight. i got that news on tuesday, too, so all in all, it was a good day.

no much else to report on this end. i've been really busy at work. i'm heading to VA to visit with manda this weekend...we're gonna tackle the start of the baby registry. daniel was supposed to make the trip down with me, but he is going to have to work overtime this weekend. he told me to go in so he could get some sleep, since he'll be working midnights. lol. you'd think i was loud or something... ;)

you guys have been all healthy and exercising and stuff. i'm actually looking forward to the day i can go all hardcore on weightloss again.

enjoy the rest of your weekend and the long 3 day weekend (for you federal employees!).

out with the old, in with the new

2010-01-03T17:12:00.000-05:00

the new year that is. 2009 was a pretty big year full of new adventures for me. started the year off moving to a bigger place (in wv) with the then boyfriend, joined ww, got engaged, planned a wedding, got married, went to hawaii, left my 1st "real" job, moved to md, started a new job, got pregnant, and moved again to a bigger place. that's my year in a nutshell, and while all of these things have turned out to be positive choices, it seems like a lot for one person to endure in one year. i'm wondering if 2010 will be full of lots of changes or just the biggest change yet - becoming a mom.

in baby/pregnancy news, last monday i had to go in for my 18 week checkup and they did the glucose tolerance screen a few weeks early since i'm overweight. well, those results came back and i failed it, so i go again this coming friday to do the 3 hour test that will determine if i have gestational diabetes. that means a strict, low carbohydrate diet for this ol' girl.

we should get the results for daniel's cystic fibrosis gene carrier blood screen back tomorrow. can't remember if i mentioned this before, but i was determined to be a cystic fibrosis gene carrier, so daniel had to get tested as well. if his returns negative, then there's no chance baby hughes will have CF. however, if he's positive, there's a 25% chance our baby will have it. i'm trying to think positively, as the odds are in our favor, but it is still kinda scary.

baby stuff seems to be on my mind a lot these days. i think that started with the baby's first movement. i am dying to know if it's boy or girl (9 more days!!!) and to start really prepping for him/her. daycare research is still taking place. i'm hoping to make a decision sometime this month. the expense of it all really freaks me out!!!

hope everyone enjoyed their new year's as much as i enjoyed mine. daniel and i drove down to va to meet up with manda and jay. we had a nice dinner, and then went back to their place to play games (lots of guitar hero, some wii arcade games, and then i introduced them to the awesome catchphrase). it was one of my favorite new year's yet! did anyone else watch the dick clark countdown? we couldn't help but giggle, but wow, i feel bad for him. he sounds so bad...that stroke did a number on him. i think it's good they still let him participate, but still...

okay, i'm outta here. i'm freezing and need to get back under the covers. this -7 windchill is getting old!!!

it's been awhile...

2009-12-30T07:53:00.000-05:00

i realized it's been over a month since my last post. i guess i just haven't had much to say, plus we've been really busy with trips home to WV, moving, and the holidays.

we moved to a bigger apartment earlier this month....3 bedrooms, 2 baths - compared to our 1 bedroom, 1 bath previously. i feel like i moved into a house - lol. we left 900 square feet to move into 1500 square feet....it's been really nice so far. (except for our neighbors upstairs who sound like they're moving furniture at least 10 hours of the day)

we find out what the baby is on jan 12....less than 2 weeks now. the suspense is killing me. i'm ready to know if we're having emilee or evan. we've been trying to prep for the baby - seems like there's a million things to consider and do, but we're slowly getting there...and i'm feeling less overwhelmed the more decisions we make. daycare seems to be the biggie....it's soooooo expensive up here. we're almost halfway through this pregnancy thing - 18 weeks today.

from my 1st prenatal appt, i'm up 7 lbs. i don't love that, but i partially blame the holidays. well, i guess i blame myself, but the holidays were thrown in there.

as for new year's plans, we're getting together with manda and jay - i'm looking forward to it, as we haven't seen them in FOREVER. we'll probably just grab some dinner and then hang out for awhile. i'm really excited for the easy, 3 day weekend. :)

okay, i'll try to make an appearance more often. you guys keep blogging, it keeps me entertained at work!

crazy easy

2009-11-24T07:39:00.001-05:00

i've been at work for about 45 minutes and am already to get out of here. it's a short day, though...i leave here at noon to head to the doctor for my 1st trimester screening (ultrasound) and then i've got about a million things to do before we hit the road to wv later tonight.

i'm really looking forward to going home...i haven't been home since sometime in september, which really surprises me. just had about a million things going on, it seems. we should get to the g'rents at 10 or so tonight, and won't be returning to MD until sunday evening sometime. it's a long break, but i'm a little worried about leaving the boycat that long. d swears he'll be fine, so i'm holding him to it...

no real complaints on this end. surprised, i'm sure. things have been rolling along fairly smooth lately.

in the spirit of thanksgiving...
things i'm thankful for at this moment

my husband, who makes me laugh. (dreams of fried eggs and random voicenotes come to mind)
the dot aka baby hughes
finding jeans that fit last night (this is a biggie, as i've been looking for over a month)
my grandparents for treating me like i'm their daughter
bestie, lovely, and richmond friend time this week!
my in-laws
girl time with my FF, which always involves good talks, good food, and brutal honesty
super mario world on wii and the penguin suit in the ice worlds
bloggers - because they keep me educated, and pass my time at work
dmb - for making the drive to work much more bearable, and for many other things
DVR and TiVo
stephenie meyer for writing one of my favorite stories and leaving me twilight obsessed again this week
good health insurance coverage
my prenatal vitamins for keeping me un-sick so far this year
my iPhone - i can't help it, i'm addicted, and i love it.

four things

2009-11-19T07:55:00.000-05:00

as i'm already bored at work, and i've only been here 45 minutes, i thought i'd do this little survey i found on another's blog from a few years ago. (what can i say, i've been blog stalking)

4 things i did 10 years ago - 1999

recovered from a break-up from my 1st real serious boyfriend. ah, josh colegrove. would say it'd been awhile since i'd thought about him, but he updates on facebook more than i do. hehe
drove to canada with my mom - that was a good night...
started my 1st job - i was 16, working as a cashier at foodland (sidenote: i honestly did love that job, ended up working there until 2005 - through almost all of college - working as an office clerk and later as the evening manager)
scored 64 points during the basketball season...haha. and yes, i was proud of that number.

4 things i did 5 years ago - 2004

skipped A LOT of accounting classes to do things that were more fun: eat out (black bean soup from chilli willi's or cheese wedges at o'charleys or white cheese dip at rio), go shopping or because it flooded
went to walmart at midnight, bought a single rose, some black spray paint, an offensive card, and a lemon meringue pie - and proceeded to leave it on a doorstep...maybe we got caught that night and maybe i peed my pants from laughing so hard, maybe.
officially formed the AAA and dreamed of owning a CPA firm with that same name some day (although i'm kinda glad that dream didn't come true - not sure i'd wanna work at a CPA firm, let alone own one)
went on my 1st cruise (grand cayman islands, cozumel, and key west) and fell in love with cruising and all of key west (i'm a parrothead, what can i say?)

another sidenote: i was married to my 1st husband in 2004 and we went through a LOT of crap that year (my mom had recently passed away, his dad was in iraq) but still my favorite memories are with the girls. wish i'd realized this then....

4 things i did yesterday

watched biggest loser from tuesday night with my hubby and found out that rebecca and daniel are now dating, and am still trying to figure that one out
talked to my poppaw for almost an hour, which included a very detailed description of the cole slaw he made using my grandma's kitchen aid mixer - don't ask.
read a few chapters in breaking dawn
sat at work, bored out of mind, for 9.5 hours

4 shows i love to watch

biggest loser
big brother - when it's on
grey's anatomy
top chef

4 things i love to do

see DMB in concert. i'm kinda having withdrawals, just a lil. i realized this morning when JTR came on my iPod
travel - for fun, not for work
play dr. mario with daniel
see the odometer hit a "milestone" number - 9,999 or 12,000 - anything even or a repeat of the same number

i guess technically i'm supposed to tag people, but i'll let you guys do it if you want, though i think amanda should definitely do it, because she hasn't updated in FOREVER!!!

looooooooong

2009-11-18T15:31:00.000-05:00

today has been the longest day in history. no, really, it has. i should've checked the almanac. wish they could tell me those things - november 18, longest day of your life. on this day, dmb tix will go on sale. on this day, you will be so bored at work that you want to quit. avoid your hubby this day - he will be cranky. i think it'd be very useful.

i'm seriously looking forward to next week's holiday festivities. i am going to enjoy a fabulous 6 days away from work, and will be spending the majority of it in WV - catching up with fam and friends.

that's all i got. i think the longest day dried up some brain cells.

happy birthday, dear seuss....and maybe a bit of a breakdown.

2009-11-09T20:55:00.001-05:00

yesterday was my birthday! i love birthdays like you wouldn't believe. love them. would throw a surprise party for everyone every year if possible. :)

the birthday celebrations started saturday with manda and jay. we drove down to their house, ate dinner at outback, and then went to see the capitals hockey game. it was my 1st time on the metro and everything! okay, fine, i was a little proud of that. it was a really good time...i didn't know what to expect at the game, but it was very fast paced, and we all had fun! plus we got the best ice cream ever while we were there. aunt manda and uncle jay bought the baby this:

love it!

anyways, the birthday celebrations continued into yesterday. daniel and i got up early and drove to morgantown to meet jill, janie, and the madi girl. we ate outback - yes, again - and then went shopping. jill was trying to find some maternity clothes, but had no luck. madi is a babbling fool now. she talks soooo much. she's even saying aimee plain as day, and trying to say daniel - it sounds more like dannel. lol. i was really happy to see them, but it made me really want thanksgiving to hurry up and get here so i can see everyone else!!! i have plans made for almost every day that i'm home over thanksgiving. i'm soooo looking forward to the long break.

let's rewind for a second. friday night was a big breakdown by me. huge, even. i think daniel wanted to kill me. i'm trying to decide if it was all pregnancy hormones related...who knows? whatever the case, it was bad. so daniel and i went out to dinner friday night (japanese steakhouse food - yum) and then went to the mall to try and find me some jeans that didn't make me leave them unbuttoned. well, no department store had maternity jeans for plus size gals. none. so i went to lane bryant, and the size i normally wear is too small in the waist....so i try the next size up...too small in the waist, still...but WAY TOO BIG everywhere else. so we left the mall, and I was just not happy, because I had no clue what to do. well, i guess i was being a lil cranky, but i honestly just didn't have anything to say, i was just bummed that nothing fit, and i was mad at myself for being fat. so then we get home, and daniel's all like i don't know why you're so upset, you need to calm down, it's not a big deal. you look just like you've always looked. so i started crying, and just didn't say anything, and continued to cry FOR OVER 2 HOURS. because i couldn't find a fitting pair of jeans. seriously. anyways, i ended up ordering a pair of jeans from old navy in a size bigger and a pair of their maternity xxl jeans. just to see which i need. through tears, mind you. he went to bed like an hour before me, and i was still crying, and finally when i went to bed, he was like are you okay now, and that made me cry harder. i fell asleep crying. my eyes looked so bad saturday morning. the next day we stopped at the motherhood outlet store in leesburg, and they carried plus sizes. i tried on 2 pairs of maternity jeans, which were all way too big. i did buy the bella band thing, though, and i think it's gonna help. funny thing is, when i got up saturday, i weighed and was down 4 lbs, and my jeans fit. lol. all of that over a bloated stomach. nice, huh? (in reality, i think missing my mom might have something to do with it all - my birthday is always hard 'cause it's the last time i spoke to her)

okay, this a long post - especially for me, as of late. nothing else new - going back to the doctor on nov 24 for the 1st trimester screening and there's a *slight* chance we might find out the sex of the baby, and then i go back on the 30th for my 14 week appt.

is anyone else having crazy warm weather? it's almost HOT here!!!!

squirm

2009-11-04T19:58:00.001-05:00

i kinda suck at blogging, huh? i've been SO BAD about updating lately. i'm never, ever, ever on here. it's harder for me to blog from work now that i don't work at massey, so i find that i rarely post anything new.

obviously i made it back from memphis okay. it's GOOD to be back in my own bed. for those wondering, yes, i tried the bbq, but i didn't make it to graceland. the trip could've been much worse - but hey, it could've been better. looks like i'll be going again in february, but it'll only be for a week this time. i think that was part of the problem - 12 days away from home!

i had my 1st doctor's appt for the baby today. daniel took off work to tag along with me. everything checked out exactly as it should. they couldn't pick the heartbeat up with the doppler - the doctor said this is normal at 10 weeks - so we got an ultrasound. we could see it's heart beating away on the screen. the baby kept moving around and i think it looked like a wiggling worm. it's head is way bigger than it's body, too. haha. i'm so glad the appt finally arrived - it made all of this seem a lot more "real". daniel and i were so excited leaving the doctor - i couldn't wait to tell everyone about the baby and about seeing it!

i'm up 4 lbs since getting pregnant...the doctor seemed to think everything looked great, and didn't act like i should be too worried about my weight during the pregnancy, so that was a good thing. they want me to keep my weight gain at around 15 lbs.

i'll try to be bettter about this, but really - no promises. but you guys should blog because i still read the updates!!! :)

bbq city

2009-10-19T21:31:00.000-04:00

if i hear one more time that memphis has the best bbq, i might throw up. i for one am a big buddy's bbq fan - buddy's as in small town, usa - as in huntington, wv buddy's. it rocks. i like them so much they catered my wedding. basically there's 3 things to do in memphis - eat bbq, go to graceland, and drink. i am leaning towards doing 0 out of the 3.

i think it could be kinda fun to be here on a mini-vacation (think trip to see dmb, spend an extra few days), but being stranded with no car is not really my idea of a fun time - not to mention sitting in a classroom setting for hours on end.

on a positive note, i've met some really nice people, and i'm making good money, so i will try to keep my complaining to a minimum.

there's not a lot new with me. i've been kinda absent in the blog scene lately - just don't feel like i have much to add to the party, though i have missed reading you guys' updates. seems like i'm not the only one going mia a lot of the time. nothing new with the pregnancy stuff, either. still tired, little to no nausea, pants feeling a lil less comfy. that's about all i have going on. oh, and that i gave in to my caffeine needs after 3 weeks of no caffeine. i was mad - about what i can't now remember - but i wanted it and i wanted it bad - so i drank it. i guess there's worse things i could have done...haha.

okay, i'm tired, and boring, and tired. so, i'm out. hope you guys are more interesting than me.

no witty titles come to mind

2009-10-06T10:52:00.000-04:00

So, I’m an idiot. I had been sitting here at work all day – bored, as usual – and the lower part of my back kept itching. I could not figure out what it was. Anyways, so when I made my 3rd trip to the bathroom this morning, I finally realized I didn’t remove the sales tag off of the pants I bought over the weekend. Smart, huh?

Doing pretty good with sticking to my “pregnancy points” so far. A few days last week I went over, but I figure flex took care of that. I’m just playing with a few pounds here and there, and will talk to my doctor more about my weight for the pregnancy at my appointment on November 4. I still haven’t told everyone at work that I’m pregnant yet. The people I talk to regularly know, but most people do not. Including my boss. For the record, my face is still a bumpy mess and my heartburn is out of control.

Over the weekend, Daniel and I went to visit Amanda and Jay – the boys watched football while we went shopping, and then came back and ate chili and her “not mountain dew” cake aka as dreamsicle cake. She fit into awesome smaller sizes, so it was a fun shopping trip. We also went into a Babiesrus, and I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown. I didn’t know what half of the stuff was for, and I guess I just didn’t realize how much stuff we were really going to need.  It was so overwhelming – feeling that unprepared. I told Mandi about it yesterday, and she sent me a “necessities” list, so I feel like I have a better idea of what kind of stuff we need to be looking for now.

I’m super excited for Biggest Loser tonight. I think it’s the only show Daniel and I watch consistently on the day it airs. I’m wondering if Tracey will do any crazy nonsense this time…

I leave for Memphis on October 18 for 2 weeks of training for work. I think it’ll be a long two weeks – and possibly boring. But I’ve never been to Memphis, so I’m excited about seeing it. And I’m looking forward to not having anything to do every evening, so I can nap a lot, get caught up on some reading (Amanda let me borrow The Host!), watch some tv, and just relax. A few girls I work with here in MD are going the same time as me, so I figure we’ll check out something fun over the weekend there.

So, yeah…that’s it.

connect the dots

2009-10-01T07:05:00.002-04:00

i have decided that my face looks like a connect the dots puzzle. do you guys remember those? i used to love them...on paper. on my face? not so much. no amount of concealer could cover up these monsters. i thank my raging hormones. in other pregnancy news, i've started to get nauseous. :( seriously almost lost it in wawa's parking lot this morning. there's 13 other people in the room i work in, and i'm afraid they're going to see me losing breakfast or lunch in my manger's trash can at some point in the near future. guess that'd be one way to make the announcement at work. also, my first appointment has been scheduled for november 4. that will make me 10 weeks. seems like a long time to wait to me, but the doctor said that was pretty standard - as did my friends who have had kids.

there's nothing else new around here, but it had been about a week since my last post, so i figured you guys were starting to miss me.

does anyone else think dan takes such good care of shay on biggest loser? they are so sweet. i was rooting for them...and tracey is a crazy person. jillian was so mad...i cracked up when she went off on her and weigh-in and then was like "i'm done".

i've been very good about tracking my food in iwatchr (for you iphone/ww people, it rocks...download it). i'm trying to steadily eat 40 pts per day, which is several more than i was eating before, but converts to about 2,000 calories per day. unfortunately, i was up 2 lbs at weigh-in last monday. ooooh, i am switching to a friday weigh-in though. i like to use my flex over the weekends, and i feel like it results in a slight gain every monday, that is off with a big loss on wednesdays. i don't like the discouragement, so i'm switching to a friday weigh-in. i know, i know - in the big picture, it doesn't matter. but i'm switching anyways. (sidenote: i'm not trying to lose weight right now, for obvious reasons. i'm just trying to eat a healthy amt of calories for me and the baby. didn't want to confuse anyone with my weigh-in, ww counting stuff. i'm just doing it to make sure i don't overeat - not to lose weight. note the increase in points every day! ;) )

back to work - errr, catching up on blogs.

June 2?

2009-09-27T19:24:00.002-04:00

soooo...thursday night i took a pregnancy test and it was positive. 5 pregnancy tests later, i'm still pregnant.

planned? nope.
wanted? in the next few years.
excited? yes.

after the initial shock wore off, and we've told all our friends and family, things are starting to set in. according to the lovely pregnancy calendar, my due date is june 2. daniel was THRILLED. there's no other way to really phrase that. i met him at the door with the news, and he was so excited.

repeat after me - i am not going to eat like a fatty just because i'm pregnant. i'm still going to monitor what i eat. i'm going to consume a healthy calorie diet (and convert that to ww points for easy counting) and track it. i'm going to continue walking. (and yes, i got in my 3 walks for the week - beat the challenge)

lots of changes this year, indeed.

it kinda rocks...

2009-09-23T10:26:00.000-04:00

so, tricia is having an awesome fight fat phobia giveaway...everyone should go check it out.

tricia rocks

peanuuuut, peanut butter....and jelly!

2009-09-22T12:26:00.000-04:00

have you guys heard that song? peanuuuuut, peanut butter...and jelly! we sang it a lot as kids - i dunno where i learned it, but i'm gonna assume it was in elementary school. we sang a lot at my schools.

anyways, it's stuck in my head because i had it for lunch. 5 pt pb&j? yes, please! very tasty.

challenge update: 1/3 workouts completed. have until sunday to get the other 2 in...gonna try to do it tonight and tomorrow, though, because we're going to WV for the weekend.

i'm so bored - and ready to crash. i took a 2 hour nap last night, and then slept for almost 7 hours. i shouldn't be tired today!!!

how's everyone else's week/day/life? update people! i need something to read. :)

not my fav...

2009-09-21T10:46:00.001-04:00

so this weigh-in was not my favorite...

total weight lost as of last monday: -26.4

this week: +0.2, -26.2 total

crazy easy

2009-09-19T21:20:00.000-04:00

i'm having an easy weekend, and i kinda like it.

daniel and i got up early this morning, and i made us some french toast for breakfast. am i the only person that dislikes sugar free syrup? i can't deal with it...tastes, ironically enough, too sweet to me. (mandi - did i use ironic properly in this sentence?) anyways, i ate my french toast and with measured out syrup for 8 pts. good start to a fun day.

we showered, hit up kohl's for picture frames and photo albums, went to see Love Happens, decided the day was too gorgeous to head straight home, and hit up a miniature golf course. daniel beat me this time, so no gloating for me. we considered hitting up the arcade after playing mini-golf, but decided to rent a movie and head home so he could watch the WVU game.

i used some flex points today - quite a few actually. i hope i don't pay for that on monday's weigh-in. how does everyone else handle their flex? all at once, spread out, a lot on a few days? i'm finding that i'm barely eating my flex - and i know that isn't the way to go for me. i always lose better when i eat it all. need to follow my own advice and add some extra points to the day, probably at breakfast and lunch. seems i tend to have 20 or more points left for dinner.

angela and i have a challenge for next week since both of us have been sucking on the exercise side of things. i thought amanda might want to join us - and anyone else is welcome too. we're starting out easy, so it should be a doable challenge for anyone interested. we're making a commitment to exercise at least 3 times this week, for at least 30 mins each time. totally doable. i think we should give bonus points if we get more than 3 days in.

it was gorgeous here in MD today - hope tomorrow brings more of the same...

xoxo

i wanna make a no free food rule at work

2009-09-18T07:42:00.005-04:00

the people at the new place love to bring in food - brownies, cakes, hot chocolate - you name it, they love it. well, that's not entirely true. name anything that's bad in points, and they'll be bringing it in. i think at first they thought i was being rude - so when i was asked for about the 3rd time "aimee, you really don't want anything?" i finally told them all i was doing weight watchers. not that i was hiding it...just hadn't come up in conversation, and no one really noticed, as most of us pack our lunch.

well, yesterday the managers ordered us all pizza - as a surprise - and then this morning, one of the admin people brought in like 4 dozen doughnuts. and i'm not talking the cheap grocery store bakery glazed stuff - this is the good stuff....fillings, icings, sprinkles - all of it. but i sat here with my oatmeal and 24 oz of water and passed on the sugary goodness. for the record, sweets are my favorite breakfast food. and what did i do yesterday for lunch? ate my homemade chicken noodle soup (use the homemade term loosely here - it was canned broth, chicken, and egg noodles, okay?) and diet coke and ignored the cheesey stuff that was in my face.

okay, enough food talk. as you can see, i'm doing well at sticking to the plan this week. like most of you guys, i was loving biggest loser this week - and a few times was all teary-eyed. that show pulls at the heart strings...

i love having all of my tv shows back on! and, get this - comcast had an appt to fix my dvr last night and 1) they showed up on time, 2) it was at the beginning of the time slot, and 3) they actually fixed the problem. there's hope for them yet.

having an easy weekend at home in MD this weekend...will be making the trek to WV next weekend. been awhile since i've seen everyone, so it should be good fun.

TGIF? yes!

boooooooring

2009-09-14T11:07:00.003-04:00

first things first...

weekly weigh-in
total weight lost as of last monday: -23.6
this week: -2.8, -26.4 total

i'm okay with my stats, even if it was showing a 4.5 loss earlier in the week. lol. not sure what happened - but i'll take it. :)

my weekend was okay...nothing major to report. we hit up the outlet malls in hagerstown on saturday since daniel's mom and her boyfriend came to visit. i did catch an awesome deal on a kate spade wallet - $49, regular retail price was $155.

i'm still a cooking machine. i'm so proud of the few times we eat out every week now!

there's nothing exciting going on for this week, either. DMB is going to be on Ellen on wednesday, though...so set your dvr's.

visitors

2009-09-11T22:39:00.000-04:00

i'm sitting here while my mother-in-law talks to my hubby about family happenings back in WV, and my kitty is curled up on my lap. :) nothing too new to report, just figured it was time for an update.

i think we might hit up the outlet malls in hagerstown tomorrow, so that could be big fun.

on the weight watchers front, things are going well. a sneak peak at the scale this morning showed a 4.5 loss so far this week...we will see what monday holds. tomorrow the in-laws want to go to cheesecake factory, so that could be a toughie...i do have some flex left, and i told daniel not to let me order cheesecake no matter how bad i whine. lol.

soooo happy it's the weekend - this getting up at 4:30 stuff is killing me!

weigh-in results

2009-09-07T20:09:00.000-04:00

after one week fully (back) on plan, my results look like this:

total weight lost as of last monday: -17.4
this week: -6.2, -23.6 total

daniel and i have spent our labor day doing a whole lot of nothing. our 2 hour tetris marathon took up most of this evening, but other than that, we've been very boring!

hope yours was more interesting!!!

stay at home weekender

2009-09-06T22:56:00.004-04:00

daniel and i stayed home all weekend. i've cooked, cleaned, watched tv, hung out...it's weird. so unlike me. yet, i love it...i should be at the gorge this weekend, but i'm actually kind of glad i sold my tickets (forgive me, DMB).

tomorrow's weigh-in day...a sneak peak at the scale showed 6.5 lbs down this morning...we'll see what tomorrow says. that first week completely on track really does wonders, huh?

TJ - note the cooking part of this blog. i might get crazy and even try one of your recipes. :)

love updating again! i kinda missed you guys. i was in need of a change, note the new layout.

don't drink the water

2009-09-04T09:30:00.004-04:00

everyone's pregnant! no, not me. but just about everyone else. everywhere i look, there's pregnant bellies passing by. a few weeks ago, i found out my friend jill is expecting her 2nd. before that, a former coworker. several people from high school. and just last night, tia called me to say she was pregnant!!! she was so excited - it was cute.

as for us newlyweds, things are going well. we're really starting to like living in MD, and so far the new job is going well. i like my coworkers and LOVE my new schedule. home by 4 everyday? yes, please!

you will all be pleased to know that i am down 4.5 lbs this week. finally, finally, finally am back on track. it looks something like this:

july 10: -35 lbs
aug 31: +17.6, -17.4 total
today: -21.8

mondays will be my official weigh-in day. i'm just soooo glad i'm getting back there. hate that i gained so much back, but ice cream, pizza, pf changs, movie theater popcorn, fried foods - basically, my choices - got me there. i didn't switch back to regular pop, but so that's good, but my eating was far from good.

i'm looking forward to a long holiday weekend! :)

WW bound

2009-08-20T14:40:00.000-04:00

i'm joining a WW meeting in MD this saturday and i'm really excited about it. i need that stability. wish me luck!

in the mean time, if you know anyone interested in buying my bodybugg, let me know! the price is negotiable!!!

still here dancing with the groogrux king...

2009-08-19T11:13:00.004-04:00

as of monday morning, i was down 2 lbs from my 5 days of being on the challenge. i don't feel great about some of my choices this week, though. i'm really thinking i want to go back to weight watchers meetings - i liked it better. and frederick has the monthly pass thingy.

i only have 'til friday left working for massey. it seems weird, but i'm excited about the job change.

today is my poppaw's birthday, and also the anniversary of the death of one of DMB's founding members, LeRoi Moore. been thinking about my favorite saxophonist all day.

okay, that's all i've got.

EDIT: my hubby sent me flowers today, just because. he's kinda awesome like that.

Husband Survey

2009-08-17T13:17:00.002-04:00

as stolen from julia and ang

1. When is your "engagement" anniversary: February 28, 2009

2. When is your "marriage" anniversary: July 10, 2009

3. How long have you known your spouse: 1 year and 1 day. but we did a lot of texting for about 6 weeks prior to that

4. How long did you date/court before you were engaged: 6 months

5. Where did you meet your spouse for the first time? We met on the internet, and I drove out to Jefferson City, MO to meet him for the first time because that's where he was working at the time. Yes, a 10 hour drive. Yes, I'm probably crazy.

6. What is your spouse's full name: Daniel Lee

7. Do you have any children: Not yet. Who knows what the next year holds, though! :)

8. How many - boys/girls: I'd like one of each, but he wants all girls.

9. Do you have any house pets: Yes, MAP. Also known as Parker the boycat.

10. Do you own a house or rent: rent, rent, rent. We are always renting. We hope to look to buy in the next 6 months - 1 year.

11. Do you live in the country or town/city: town, now!

12. What is one of your favorite activities together: cuddle up on the couch and watch tv. boring, huh? But both of us like to travel. Luckily, he feeds my DMB addiction.

13. Do you have a favorite vacation spot: I think the Elizabeth City, NC will always be special.

14. When did you first kiss? 1st day we met. I kissed him. Ha!

15. What church do you attend? We don't have a home church yet...hope to find one we like in Frederick.

16. Is this the church you were married in: Nope, married outside.

17. What town is your current address at: Frederick, MD

18. Do you work or stay at home: work (i work too much, i drink too much, i eat too much...ooh, sorry...)

19. Where did you go on your honeymoon: Oahu...stayed on Waikiki Beach.

20.What was the funniest gift you gave when dating? I bought him a pig that snores so he could listen to it at night and think i was there with him.

21.How long have you been together? yesterday was 1 year

22. How long did you know each other before you started dating? um, we didn't really - i'd say we were officially dating when i drove out there, even though we'd never really met 'til that day.

23. Who asked who out? he asked me if i'd want to come out there that weekend, so i guess him - but i planted the idea the previous weekend

24. How old are each of you? we're both 26 - i'm 2 months older than him.

25.Where do you each work or go to school? he works for FEMA and currently work for a coal company in WV

26. Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? long-distance relationship almost the entire time we've been together - but that's all coming to an end! :)

27. Did you go to the same school? nopey

28. Are you from the same home town? nope

29. Who is smarter? i think we're both smarter in different areas, so i think we're pretty even. :)

30. Who is more sensitive? we both are to an extent...but i think he's more tender-hearted than i am.

31.Where do you eat out most as a couple? chipotle, recently...as a whole? outback.

32. Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? hawaii!

33.Who has the craziest exes? i don't think either of us have crazy exes...

34. Who has the worse temper? he does, but i can get pretty mouthy

35. Who does the cooking? neither at the moment...but i'm working on it, right, manda?

36. Who is more social? definitely me

37. Who is the neat-freak? him more than me

38. Who is more stubborn? again, me

39. Who hogs the bed? all me

40. Who wakes up earlier? he does for the time being

41. Where was your first date? we ate at a steakhouse that i can not remember the name of, then drove around Jefferson City, and then went back to his apartment and watched napoleon dynamite and drank slushees from sonic.

42.Who had more boyfriends/girlfriends? probably me

43. Do you get flowers often? once!

44. How do you spend the holidays? last year we split them between the fams - i figure it'll be more of the same

45. Who is more jealous? me - why am i always the one with the negatives?

46. How long did it take to get serious? not long. lol.

47. Who eats more? probably pretty even

48. Who does the laundry? both of us

49. Who’s better with the computer? him. he's a dork. :)

50. Leave a piece of advice for the other couples - make your marriage a priority, talk to each other, be friends

getting back into the groove..

2009-08-12T13:37:00.002-04:00

nothing major to report - just wanted to check in on the challenge and let everyone know that i kicked day 1's butt...and day 2 is going nicely.

challenge update:
day 1
target: 35 points
flex balance: 35
actual points consumed: 39
new flex balance 31

random question for everyone. how do you pronounce chipotle?
is it chipotlay or chipoltay?
i pronounce it with a "lay" on the end, but most of the guys i know put a "tay" on the end.
help me out!

...and enough was enough

2009-08-11T12:36:00.008-04:00

guess what today is? lose-the-weight-you-gained-start-over-day. is that a good title for it? not sure. but somewhere between leesburg and richmond this morning, i decided it was time to rededicate. i have sucked since the honeymoon - and some days weren't as bad as others, but thinking about the coconut cream pie and spaghetti from last night, i know the time for change is now. that just felt very political...but what i'm trying to say is i'm starting over. i have set a small challenge for myself - 10 days without eating over points.

points, you ask? yes, points. i love the bugg - i do. but i do better with weight watchers. and i know it works. trying to decide if i should try to sell the bugg or use it to monitor the calories burned during my workouts. any suggestions? as for my challenge, if anyone would like to join me, feel free. it's only 10 days! surely we can do that.

okay, so as promised, here's a few pics of the new place.

i love the red furniture!

mr. bear looks pretty awesome on the new bedding!

these were one of my wedding gifts from ang. super nice, huh?

i'm trying to decide if i have anything else to catch up on. the last month seriously has been a whirlwind. between the wedding and honeymoon, work travel to richmond, packing up our place in cross lanes, moving to maryland - it's just been one thing after another. i'm happy to report that everything is put away, except a few boxes in the den (aka the computer room). my closet took some major organizing...4 hours of work, to be exact.

i took yesterday as a personal day to finish putting stuff away. daniel was excited i got to "play wife" for the day, and actually be home when he got home from work. haha. i explained that i no longer "play wife" as i am the wife, but we had fun with it. in honor of being married a month yesterday, he even left a card hidden in some papers for me. this is what he wrote in it:

he's cute. :)

okay, i guess i have to get back to work. i'm pleased with my food choices so far - and have a plan for dinner. 10 days. i can do that. i want this...

suckage

2009-08-10T14:30:00.003-04:00

I HATE COMCAST.

i just needed to say that.

i hope to update more later - complete with pics of the new place.

and in case anyone was wondering, i get to start my new job on august 31. no more richmond travel, no more nights away from the hubby.

big yays on that.

flogger stalker

2009-07-28T16:06:00.002-04:00

so...my friend amanda created a blog. yes, you should read it because:

i like her
she's awesome
she reads yours.

since she is now admitting to her stalker status, i do think she should be invited to the Flogger event. now, since she's not an actual Flogger, i vote we upgrade her to Flogger Stalker status, and give her an honorary invite.

thank you, thank you.

slacker girl

2009-07-28T08:25:00.004-04:00

i've been slacking - big time on the blog front.

this is just gonna be a quick update - as i really don't have much to report.

i've lost 7 of my 13 honeymoon pounds without really trying. i'm half-assing the entire attempt at the moment, which means i don't go completely overboard, but i'm not really trying that hard either. i miss my drive behind it...

on a positive note, daniel and i did find a place to live in frederick. on a negative note, i still don't know when i'll be starting work. haha.

this coming weekend is another dmb weekend...my last of the year. i decided to play the responsible card and bail on the trip to the gorge, though it completely made me the giddiest girl just a few months ago. but the expense of moving and of all the awesome things i wanna buy for the new place make me think that spending another $700 on flights to see a band i'll have seen 40 times after this weekend is probably not the smartest thing to do.

i also think this weekend will be the last time i see angela for who knows how long. her new job starts monday, and i'll still be down here in crapmond, so i'm not sure what that means. our little audit family sure is changing...

married life is happy life, though.

i haven't been sleeping well. i used to be the girl that could lay down and would be snoring loudly in about 45 seconds. no joke. i now toss and turn, and look at the clock for at least one hour every night, and a lot of times, i'll fall asleep, but then be wide awake and stare at the clock for close to 2 hours during the night. anyone else do this? or any idea why it suddenly happened? i blamed it on hawaii first...but i've been back for over a week now. and i don't feel like i haven't adjusted back to the time change, so i dunno. stress? all the change? who knows?

EDIT: ang asked me if i wanted to attend the blogger meet up thingy in cleveland with her. i figure that could only be answered with a yes.

i'm baaaaaaaaack!

2009-07-21T12:03:00.004-04:00

did you guys miss me? silly question - of course you did. i'm so excited to read everyone's updates...i'm way behind.

okay, 1st things 1st. the wedding went really well. we had a bit of a rain scare, i hated my hair, things weren't going super easy, but in the end it all fell into place, and i think the wedding turned out super nice. the setting was really pretty. i'm anxiously awaiting our professional pics and to see more wedding pics in general - i've just seen a few snapshots that people took.

the honeymoon was perfect. i loved hawaii. we stayed at the marriott at waikiki beach and the hotel was super nice, and the staff really attentive. that was one of our favorite beaches. i was so proud of daniel for getting into the ocean, too! he doesn't really know how to swim, so the water typically makes him a little nervous, but he did really well. i showed him some floating techniques, and we played in the water a lot. we really enjoyed that. we took a lot of things in - the dole plantation, a luau at the polynesian cultural center, the north shore, the windward side of the island. the thing you guys should be proud of is our hike up diamond head. it was CRAZY. i was so disgusting at the end - but i'm really proud of us for sticking to it.

we got in late yesterday evening, and switching back to eastern time has been killer.

as for the weight gain, i weighed in this morning 13 lbs heavier than i did on my wedding day. yes, 13. can you believe that? ughhhh. but it's back on track today. we ate A LOT of good food while we were gone, and had ice cream almost every day. i was anticipating a bad gain.

okay, so i'm obsessed with big brother, and watched the 5 episodes that have aired so far last night when i got in. does anyone else watch it?

okay, i'm off to read the updates - it'll take me a few hours, i'm sure.

i'll leave you with some pics! and if you're interested, you can view all of my honeymoon pics here: pictures and more pictures and a few wedding pics here.

just a few more hours...

2009-07-08T08:25:00.001-04:00

can you believe the wedding is in 2 days? i can't.

i also can't believe that i'm sick...yuck. it's this sore throat-earache-coughing-stuffy-fever funk. dunno what it is, just know that it sucks. i left work at 6 last night, headed to the hotel, fell asleep at 6:30, ate a baked potato at 8, back to sleep at 9, and slept until 6:30. insane. my meds are helping a little.

basically anything that could've gone wrong with the wedding plans has gone wrong this week. i think we've got everything sorted out now - just hope it doesn't fall apart on friday.

i've eaten healthily this week - hope i don't gain too much while i'm on my honeymoon.

not sure when i'll get to update again - it may be after the honeymoon! i'll get some awesome pics to share with ya, though!!!

leaving work in 3 hours - and i won't be returning until the 22nd! woo hoo!

ms cranky pants

2009-07-05T21:34:00.004-04:00

i'm cranky and stressed. i have nothing nice to say, but i did want to share a few pics from the weekend. i was less cranky and stressed then.

we were looking super cute in our red, white, and blue on the 4th

poppaw was a grilling machine

i'm working on the bad mood.

in weight loss news, i was down 1.5 this past week. not bad considering the junk food i ate at camp (think smores).

wedding's in 4 days - one ray of light in this craptastic day!

hope you're all feeling happier than i!

more of the same

2009-06-30T14:49:00.007-04:00

i do not blog as often as i should. sorry - i seem to be lacking in stuff to talk about. which is SO unlike me.

in weight loss news, i lost 3.8 lbs last week (5 days were spent wearing the bugg). i kinda love the bugg. this got me down to a new middle number. :) grand total of weight lost since february 1? 31.2 lbs. i'm proud of it, but frustrated with myself because the last 6-8 weeks i've been about the same place. i had a breakthrough this week, though, and got lower than i've been this time around. i remember on april 9 i was down 25 lbs exactly, so i guess in 2.5 months i've lost like 6 lbs. nothing to complain about, at least it's going down. but i know i could definitely be lower if i had not let the weekends get in my way.

i like calorie counting. and as a loyal weight watcher gal, it's hard for me to say that. i like it a lot, though. as for the bugg, i'm a big fan, like i said. however, their online program? it sucks. i use dailyplate for calorie logging. i just use the display to tell me what i'm burning, and show my deficits on dailyplate instead of on their online program. if anyone has any questions about the bodybugg and/or program, just let me know. i'd be happy to share it with you!

so the wedding is 10 days away. ready to be a mrs. :) and ready to be laying out on waikiki beach!

my bridesmaids (bestie and jill) had me a dinner at outback this past weekend. got some nice gifts and got to spend time with my favs. it was big fun. here's a few pics:

me and the besties - mandi and baby madison

me and madi m - not the best pic of me, but she's smiling! :)

i look good with a baby, right? the boy wants one early next year, so we'll see!

some of the work crew!

me with the most thoughtful gift ever! mandi bought me a snowglobe music box that has me and daniel's names and our wedding inscribed on it!

me, jill, and madi g - the lovelies!

madi girl - she said aimee for the 1st time this weekend!

and that's all i've got...looking forward to the 3 day weekend! what's everyone doing for the 4th?

bugged and challenged

2009-06-24T17:00:00.008-04:00

i got the bodybugg and i love it so far. like love it. i am forever watching my calories burned, doing little things to get the number to creep up, checking my steps, etc. it's a slight obsession, and i hope the calorie deficit thing holds true. i've been good at meeting my targets so far.

i'm supposed to be working really hard at the moment, so this will be short and sweet, but i'll keep you up-to-date on the buggy stuff.

i joined jack sh*t's kick ass, half ass, half a pound challenge today. since i'm in the challenge, i'm allowed to display this on my blog. tah-dah!

and just so everyone knows, my sole motivation for joining this challenge is seeing MY name make one of his poems.

that's all i got. more to come? maybe.

wait! and i was down 2.5 lbs last week, so that's something. :)

sidenote: my title isn't a dmb lyric for once.

i was there when the bear ate his head...

2009-06-17T20:26:00.007-04:00

in case there was any doubt about what an unbelievably caring boyfriend/soon-to-be-husband i have, rest assured, the doubt is gone. i had just gotten back from my dinner with ang and bdab, and was getting ready to work out when i noticed a flashing light on my hotel room's phone. i listened to my message and was told i had a package waiting downstairs. i was like "wtf? i didn't order anything". so i go downstairs and it's a delivery from ftd.com. so, i go to ang's room to open it and it's a build-a-bear! i've never had one and i kinda love him! :) do you want to see pics? of course you do.

mr. bear
please note the awesome new pedicured toes and tanning bed legs.

and the card! (which is totally white, not orange, by the way. way to rock the camera skills, aims)

it makes me really happy that daniel does stuff like this. the distance is hard on us, especially with the wedding so close. i CANNOT wait until we don't have to live in separate states. and to think this all came from internet dating....wow.

so my cool new workout shoes are not so cool. my feet were still on fire. what gives? am i doing something wrong? what am i missing? i went to the runner's store here and they picked out the shoes for my feet, so i really am floored now. the balls of my feet burn when i work out and my toes go numb. i just don't understand. i thought maybe i wasn't wearing the right size or something, but the nice sales lady checked them for me. (i seriously felt like a 5 year old.) i'm so going back to the store. $95? no thanks - shoes didn't work. any advice? anyone?

still going strong on weight watchers this week.

am anxiously awaiting the dmb shows this weekend. fun times to be had in the 'burgh.

storm went right on by...

2009-06-16T13:21:00.005-04:00

my boss drives me crazy sometimes. he had me near tears right before lunch today. but, alas, i have nothing but a NSV to report.

i was upset and did not turn to food. that'd be the victory part. :)

on lunch, the crew and i went to carytown and i bought some new workout shoes. goodbye $135 nike shox, hello $95 saucony. my feet better thank me tonight. also - i got an awesome deal on a vera bradley duffel bag....well, 2 of 'em. 50% off, fools. :) needed some weekend bags - all of my luggage got lost in the divorce.

wait! that's not all. check this out:

what is that? aims journaling her food?! YES!

this is the bulk of my lunch. a big ol' salad (i even added carrots to my usual "just lettuce") with FF italian dressing and a turkey sandwich. please note that i removed the turkey and cheese from the high calorie bread the cafeteria served and put it on my "2 slices for 1 pt" bread. i kept 1/2 a slice of cheese on it, and tossed the rest out with that other bread. the bread on the back of the container is what i tossed out.

i call today a success and it's not even 2:00. :)

dinner is planned and within my points. happy day!

shake me like a monkey

2009-06-15T21:02:00.005-04:00

double post. can you believe it? i go weeks with barely posting, then i decide to do 2 in one day. shaking things up.

okay, so first of all, i have to let everyone know that i spent an hour and a half laughing hysterically at work today. "why?" you may ask. i was reading tricia's blog. that girl is hilarious - and i hate that i've been such a blog slacker lately and was so far behind on her life's tales. so if you don't read it - go over there, read it, laugh, and feel like your life has gained a little more purpose.

i exercised. i'm trying to decide if it's more shocking that i updated (twice!) or exercised. either way, i'm proud that i stayed true to my word. AND this girl is working weight watchers. yep. new aims. finally.

i'm saying "i do" in 25 day. i can't wait to post pics of my pretty, pretty dress for you guys. i really don't want daniel to see it, so you'll have to wait awhile longer.

does anyone watch so you think you can dance? i need to know who everyone's favorites are.

okay. that's all i've got. kinda boring for a 2nd post, huh?

EDIT: i updated my profile pic in honor of father's day coming up. that's my poppaw. THE best man i know.

quickie

2009-06-15T16:46:00.003-04:00

weekly weigh in:

-1.5 from last week. down 27 lbs total.

up 3 from the lowest i've been on weight watchers this time around.

but hey, i updated, so that's progress.

sidenote: feeling a lil better about life in general. decisions = calmer aims.

and if nothing can be done...

2009-06-12T08:14:00.005-04:00

i guess it's been forever since i've updated. i haven't even been updating my weight. i'm such a slacker - but i promise i've just been SWAMPED. so here it goes:

weight loss
i'm back on track with weight watchers. it's been a really good week. i had been struggling with the whole "gotta eat everything in sight on the weeekends" syndrome, but i think i'm pulling past it.

i am definitely going to update my weight loss this weekend. hoping for a nice loss. i was up a few pounds from my lowest as of last week, so we'll see what monday morning holds for me.

i went shopping last night and bought the cutest stuff at LB...thank God for real women dollars. haha. anyways, i got to buy everything in a 18/20, so that's a plus. :) down from a 24 in a lot of things from earlier this winter.

i cleaned out my closet a few weeks ago and got rid of everything in my "fatter" size. i got rid of 7 (!!!) bags of clothes. how crazy is that? who has that many clothes? obviously i'm working on replenishing it though. hehe.

wedding - i'm getting married 4 weeks from today! yay! and my wedding dress still fits. :) that's definitely a positive. all my plans have come together and i'm so ready to go to HI.

work - it sucks. enough said. no details on the new job - guess they're still working on my security clearance. the good news is daniel's new job is workign out nicely. he comes home on the weekends, and it really isn't too bad on us. i think he's realizing there's not a lot to do in cumberland, and he gets a little bored, but he really enjoys the work. i'm so glad he likes his job. i think it's so much easier to get out of bed in the morning when you don't hate your job!

family - daniel and i have gotten hit with some tough news. i don't want to go into all of that, just please keep us in your thoughts. lots of big decisions are coming our way, and i'm hoping and praying that we find the right path for us and our future. it's scary when you don't know what the right thing to do is...but i'm sure we'll figure something out.

dmb - i'm in love with the band's new album. if you don't have it, go buy it. :) promise you will not be disappointed. i'm going to see the boys next weekend in burgettstown (near pittsburgh). and it's daniel's first show!

friends - while i'm not sure what the future is holding for me and the boy, i have spent a lot of time thinking about how hard it'll be on my friendships when i move to maryland. it's tough - the girls pulled me through a lot of tough times. and when i say pulled, i literally mean PULLED. some times with me kicking and screaming and fighting them every step of the way. am i a better person because of it? you betcha. in light of that, it makes me hesitant to move on...because i'm afraid it won't be the same. no more on this, because i don't wanna be crying at work. haha.

okay. is that everything? yeah? i think so. okay. i PROMISE to update my weight loss stats on monday morning. and i will try try try try to be better about updating. if work gives me time to breathe, it makes that task a little easier.

i hate being busy!

2009-06-08T08:29:00.002-04:00

i feel like i have no time to blog.

i'm still on the "diet all week, eat bad on the weekends". it's making me maintain. i'm not happy with that, and need to get back on track...

i hope to update more soon. :(

i'm here...

2009-05-29T11:26:00.000-04:00

i haven't completely disappeared. promises.

i'm doing well on weight watchers somedays, horrible on others. it's hit and miss. i did well monday and tuesday...then wednesday and thursday were bad, but today's been well.

i'm swamped at work, and still stressed about life in general.

but the boy's coming home this weekend, and i'm looking forward to that.

maybe i'll have something to update soon...we'll see.

highlights of the week:
keith urban concert
madi madison and bestie time
LOST ---> i'm obsessed.

yep, that's it. :)

fraudulent

2009-05-18T10:44:00.003-04:00

i feel like such a fraud for posting this, but it is what it is.

week 15: -4, -30 total

i feel fraud-y because i ate bad this weekend. but yet that's what the scale said. i did have a good week, though...the weekend was just typical. i have got to get a handle on them. stupid evaroni's pizza. ("in all the world there is only one evaroni's", and i'm telling you people that are not near huntington, wv that you should be glad!)

in wedding news, daniel and i applied for our marriage license today. awwww. and i got fingerprinted for the new job. :) hoping everything goes well with all of that - especially since i spent over 3 hours on a form the other night. haha. i've also almost finished everything for the wedidng. the bridesmaids have their dresses picked out. decorations are all taken care of. we need to order tux rentals and buy my wedding band and we're good to go!

i'm boring. so that is all for today.

you might die trying

2009-05-14T08:14:00.002-04:00

"if you give, you begin to live". sorry, dmb = stuck in my head. plus the lyrics kinda fit today.

i've kinda been sucking. wait, make that i've really been sucking. i can't stay on track. i do great during the week - for the most part - then the weekend comes and everything i know about ww and weightloss and healthy food choices go out the window. it's like, holy crap, it's the weekend! eat! you may never eat again!!! grrrr. i've been playing with the same 5 lbs or so for the past month. it's frustrating. why do i do this to myself, when i know how to work the program?

since i suck ww this week, i am late in reporting my weekly update. but here it is.

week 14: -1.6, -26 lbs total

in case you're counting, that's less than 2 lbs per week. thanks to the suckage.

STRESS. did i mention that i am under an insane amount of stress? i'm letting myself stress over everything. guess who gets the moodies, and crankies, and smart comments due to the stress? daniel. i feel bad for him! he has about 4 weeks home before starting the new job, with only 1.5 weeks remaining, and i've been not so nice the majority of the time. he's wonderful for putting up with me and for trying to talk to me about what's bothering me and trying to calm me down.

um, since we're in such a negative place this morning thus far, let's talk about something optimistic....i got a job offer!!! :) pending my security clearance (which stresses me for some unknown reason), i'll be kissing my current position goodbye and working in the DC area. AND my FF works there, too! :) it seems like everything's falling into place for me and daniel, which is great.

so why the bad mood again?

dash the hopes of those who hate me

2009-05-07T21:25:00.009-04:00

okay, couple things...(in my best papa price voice)

1. TJ at TJ's Test Kitchen and Ugly Girl with a Beautiful Heart @ The Long Road Out of Hell awarded me the Super Blogger Award.

Here are the rules:

Pass it along to 5 fellow super bloggers, and comment on their blog to let them know how lucky they are today!When you present your Super Blogger awards, link back to the super blogger who gave it to you.Ya gotta love being a favorite of a fellow blogger and the hardest part is picking 5 people to pass this SUPER BLOGGER AWARD on to. This one has made it's rounds, so I tried to pick bloggers who hadn't been picked yet! Here are my picks for this SUPER BLOGGER AWARD:

Mandi @ Family First: she's my bestie, and a new mom. she balances work, family, and her friends - and shares my love of DMB and weightwatchers. we've been through soooo much together, and laughs are never far behind us.
Angela @ Angela's Grand Adventures: WW partner, fellow Richmond-ian (for now), and another Lane Bryant fan.
Learning to Be Less: funny, motivator, and a Biggest Loser fan. Love her!
Slackey @ One twenty-something's journey to get fit: has lost an amazing amount of weight and is getting ready to start WVU Law School.
Lynn @ The Hungry Little Caterpillar: i follow her blog, even though i'm terrified of caterpillars! :) she's always out moving - wii fit, walking, etc...and she's a twitter gal!

2. it's my 50th post!!! :) in honor of this, i'd like to try my hand at a little giveaway. how do you cats feel about no pudge brownies?!? well, the winner of the giveaway will get all 3 flavors available in my area - chocolate, mint, and cappucino! you know the drill - leave a comment on this post and blog with a reference to this giveaway and i'll randomly choose someone as the winner on the 15th. good luck! :)

3. the title of this blog is from DMB's new song, beachball. love this song and loooooove that line!

slacker 2.0 - the blog version

2009-05-06T12:36:00.003-04:00

i'm slacking - but only with blogging. i've been so on track this week. makes me feel good. let me preface that by saying that i gained 4 lbs last week...dang. the ice cream from cold stone creamery did not help, nor did the olive garden celebration with the g'rents. good news is the 4 lbs is already gone, and hopefully some more will be off before monday's weigh in.

week 13: +4, -24.4 (ugh - wrong direction much?)

anyways...bad weekend, but excellent start to this week.

randoms:

i've been swamped at work.
i had a phone interview this morning that looks sooooo promising. *fingers crossed* she told me if i hadn't been given an offer in 2 weeks, to call her back.
we're having a mother's day cookout on sunday, and i am kinda excited about Hughes family time.
big fight with my sister = the return of the boycat. kinda happy to have parker back at home with me and daniel.

that's all i've got. boring, huh?

moody mooday

2009-05-01T09:22:00.003-04:00

i'm moody. i think it's that TOM - or will be soon. i've been cranky to everyone, and i really shouldn't be. plus, i'm tired.

okay, so i haven't been journaling. i feel like i'm not doing well, though i'm not necessarily eating bad, i just can't say with certainty that i've been in points, because i haven't journaled a single thing. i've stuck to healthy choices (except on wednesday, when i ate PF Chang's with the boys - i KNOW that food is high points - though i didn't eat my entire dish, which helped), got my water in, and exercised daily. i even took walks on my lunch in addition to working out in the evenings.

i've been so pissed off at my mom this week, too. :( had a bit of a breakdown about it last night. it makes me so mad that she won't be at my wedding. oh, sorry, daughter - my pain pills are more important than your future. grrrr. i think i'm just a little sad that she won't be there - to see me happy, and to be proud of me. a lot of days i just want to know that she'd be proud of where/how i have ended up. and i feel like i can't do a unity candle at the wedding because i don't have a "mom" to light my half before the ceremony. which is fine - because really, i hate when they blow out, and it probably would because it's an outdoor ceremony. but still.

i am beyond stressed with everything going on. a lot of big changes are taking place, and while i'm happy about all of them, it's a tad overwhelming. trying to find a job, daniel starting a new job, him moving to MD, me hopefully moving to MD soon, planning the wedding, getting married, finding him a place to live until i can move, paying two rents, etc, etc, etc.

i know, i know - i'm whining about things that i have been wanting. i think jill said it best when she said "it's okay to whine about this. so what if you're whining over things you wanted? you never said you wanted it all at the same time!" haha.

that being said, i'm extremely thankful that daniel got placed in MD...and that, even if i don't find a job up that way in the immediate future, we will still get lots of together time, because cumberland is a short drive away from charleston...and weekend trips will be much more doable.

i guess all of this stress has lead to the lack of journaling. i don't want to lose control over the weight loss, too. i've come too far.

i will face the scale this weekend, and hopefully still have a loss to report. with or without the loss, my goals for next week are:

exercise daily
stay within my points target and weeklies
journal my points
work on wedding plans
finish gathering addresses for my invitations

okay, enough rambling from me. sorry for the moody post. here's to a better weekend!

mustard sammiches

2009-04-28T12:13:00.004-04:00

why does subway feel the need to pile the mustard on my sandwich there? i talked the boys (aka the crew i'm working with in richmond) into walking the 6 blocks or so down to subway at lunch today...subway club = yum. anyways, i always get 12 inch subway club on wheat, with no cheese, with mustard, pickles, and lettuce. they always decide to give me enough mustard for 3 sandwiches. hehe. i grabbed extra napkins, and scraped off what i didn't need and am now enjoying the sandwich.

i think i forgot to mention that daniel met me in bowling green on sunday. this was on my trip home from nashville. i hooked him up with the new dmb tee i bought him in nashville - 2xl, looking so good on my boy!!!! - and we ordered pizza and hung out. it was so nice getting to spend some time together.

my new garmin kinda rocks. it's a lot nicer than i expected. it speaks all street names, tells me how fast i'm going on the main screen, tells me the speed limit of the road i'm on, and puts what side of the road my turn is in the mile countdown. i kinda love it.

i'm going shopping tonight. i'm in desperate need of some spring/summer work clothes. mandi's momma gave me a lane bryant gift card for christmas, plus i have an exchange, plus another gift card, so i think i can go in, buy a decent amount of clothes, and not spend a huge sum of money. that's huge, because typically i spend wayyyyyy too much in there.

i worked out last night...felt so good. hated that i could tell a big difference in where i am now from where i was last time i worked out. started the jogging program again, but had to back up a week on it. hoping to see a big improvement over the next week or so, though.

it's biggest loser night! :) why does this excite me so much? i think it helps keep me motivated....oooh, and alison sweeney said in a tweet this morning that it's an excellent episode. fingers crossed for tara in the final four! bye, bye ron!

sitting, weighting, wishing

2009-04-27T15:51:00.007-04:00

i want to be out of my current "middle number". i'm sick of it. (one of these days i'm gonna get brave and put my actual weight in this blog, btw...just not today.)

week 12: -1.4; -28.4 total

i'm a lil frustrated because i was down about twice that amount on friday, and then today it's back to this. lol. but i did consume some alcohol this weekend, and i must have been dehydrated. i think i had about 20 oz of water all weekend, so that didn't help matters.

i'm very happy to be back in richmond...well, for the working out, at least. the work sucks, and living out of a hotel sucks, but i'm glad to be back in my "aimee time" routine.

had a fun time in nashville...i'd like to go back another weekend. and i got to take the bluegrass parkway on my trip down, and i loved the scenery. i totally want to see that castle...does anyone know if that's something you can visit?

other fun things on the drive (but forgive the poor quality, taken with my camera phone while driving):

this is a sign i saw while driving on the parkway. i busted out laughing. there's literally nothing around this sign...talk about random.

i loved this. reminded me of my rawr shirt. and kinda i wanna go to dino world now!!!

hope everyone else enjoyed their weekend. this girl broke out capris for this week! :)

oh, and did i mention i heard blue water for the 1st time ever? no more dmb until june 19, but it's bound to be a goodie!

2009-04-24T15:55:00.001-04:00

I'm spending this gorgeous day driving. I'm Nashville bound for another DMB show - my last until June.

I stopped in KY for gas and for a potty break. On impulse, i bought a diet coke and some peanut m&m's. I started driving, and popped a few m&m's in my mouth and was like "what the crap are you doing?!". I checked the points and decided it wasnt worth 6 points, rolled down the window, and tossed the rest out. No worries, I kept the bag, so no littering! ;)

Weekend tally - Aimee 1, Food 0

double poster

2009-04-22T16:49:00.011-04:00

posting again...don't kill me.

wanted to share a few lovely things from the weekend. sidenote: can you believe i'm just now blogging about the weekend? geesh. this a/p audit might kill me. i mean, don't they know that being busy at work is cutting into my blogging time? hehe. anyways...

when starting my weight watchers journey this time around, i was wearing size 22s that were extremely tight, and, although i hate to admit it, i was also wearing some 24s. all from lane bryant. this is me in size 20 jeans from old navy...and a shirt in their normal girl sizes. by normal girl, i mean i didn't order it from the plus size "online only" section of old navy. didn't buy the jeans, just pumped that they fit. did buy the shirt - bonus? it was on sale!

this is my happy fat face at the 2nd DMB show from the weekend. it's been my happy place since 2005. this was show #32. love the band, love the music, love the venue, love the crowd, love the experience. as lynda from ljmsart says, i love all things dave. (try to ignore the blurriness...taken on my phone)

this is me taking a pic of myself in the mirror. do you love my rawr shirt?!? daniel sent me that. cute story. anytime one of us is being cranky on bbm (for you non-blackberry users, that's blackberry messenger) we say RAWR to the other one. weird inside joke, ya know? anyways, i get in the mail and find a package. i open it and lo and behold it's my very own rawr shirt...there's a footnote that says "rawr means i love you in dinosaur". awwww. :) as an added bonus, he ordered the shirt in an XL - not a 2x! :) and it fits...it may be slightly snug, but dangit, it fits! :)

so, the online only weight watchers seems to be going well so far. i'm a scale peaker, can't help it. i'm down 2 lbs since monday. hope that trend continues. i am, however, still sucking at exercise. unless you count me cleaning like a madwoman and folding 10 loads of laundry. haha. it's back to richmond next week, so hopefully i'll be exercising again.

thank you for forgiving the doublepost. hopefully the muffin top in the cute size 20 jeans don't scare you off.

flowers! :)

2009-04-22T14:21:00.006-04:00

daniel sent me flowers at work today because he "was thinking about me and wished he was home with me".

i just had to share. :)

EDIT: does anyone ever have trouble with posting comments on others' blogs? the other day, i was trying to comment on tj's blog, and it opened up like 1,000 internet explorers....ang just tried to comment on this blog, and it did the same thing. what's the deal? spam? virus? i wish i was computer savvy... :/

quick update

2009-04-20T11:22:00.004-04:00

i've been mia....busy!

i'm good on points, bad on exercise. i think i'm switching to WW online only...i'm down 3 lbs from last week as of this morning. hope to continue that trend.

week 11: -3; -27 total

it was a hectic weekend, lots of DMB-ness going on. loved both of my shows, especially saturday night.

i'm behind on wedding stuff. i have got to get on the ball.

that's all. hope to be better about updating this week.

chicken

2009-04-15T12:31:00.005-04:00

i've eaten a lot of chicken the past few days. seriously...it's like all i've been eating. it's just so easy to stay in points that way, and i actually enjoy grilled chicken. this is the 3rd day in a row i've had it for lunch, plus i had it for dinner last night, too. i'm mixing it up just a little, though. i had a1 on it one day, and last night i baked it in the oven with ff italian dressing as the marinade. tasty!

got some good news and bad news on the weight watchers front. the good news is i've stayed at my target points everyday. the bad news is i haven't been working out. things have been so hectic, it seems. i've had so much to do, and get caught up on. no excuses, though..i totally could've been working out while i watched american idol and biggest loser last night. (sidenote: i love tara).

baby madison has been so happy to have some time with her aunt aims... :) well, and aunt aims has been loving it, too. here's a bestie pic:

how wee is my newest niece? love them both!

and now for the best news...daniel got a position with fema that will allow him to stop traveling!!! :) i'm so happy about it. it will involve him moving to cumberland, md, but i'll take it. i am looking for work up that way (if you have any leads, let me know!!!), but for the meantime, it'll work out nicely, because it's only about 3 hours from home, and when i'm in richmond, it's only 4 hours from there. i'm so happy about it. more than anything, i wanted us to actually be able to spend our marriage together...and it looks like it's working out. i was so happy yesterday. it was a big day - he got that news, then i got the copy of dmb's newest single (free download - my boys rock!).

did i mention i'm going to charlottesville friday and saturday for my 1st 2 dmb shows of the year? pumped. seriously.

xoxo

junk food overload

2009-04-13T12:38:00.006-04:00

okay. i ate badly all weekend. when i say badly, i'm not sure you understand to what extent. let me list it out for you. i did not count points, but i'm fully aware of what i ate between friday after weigh-in and sunday night.

in no particular order:
6 oz filet from logan's roadhouse
baked potato with sour cream only
32 peanuts (the kind in the shell-i didn't eat the shell, though...haha)
2 rolls, no butter
house salad with french dressing
6 reese cup peanut butter eggs (the 2 pts each kind)
2 reese cup peanut butter eggs (the 5 pts each kind)
4 caramel cadbury eggs (5 pts each)
homewrecker with beef from moe's
6 chips and queso dip from moe's
1/4 dish of sesame chicken from asian bistro
1/4 dish of chicken fried rice from asian bistro
3 potstickers from asian bistro
mcdonald's doublecheeseburger
1/4 of a large fry from mcdonald's
1 med sprite from wendy's
double cheeseburger from wendy's (yes, with mayo)
1/2 med fry from wendy's
3/4 bag of nerd's bumpy jelly beans
1/2 of the signature selection dinner for two at the melting pot, plus 1/2 the original chocolate fondue with dippers

i think that's it. as if that's not enough. geesh. i dunno what i was thinking. i do know that i felt like ABSOLUTE CRAP all day yesterday, and spent entirely too much time in the bathroom. i was so sick to my stomach. and my chest is all broke out. :(

anyways...i can't undo any of that...soooo, today i'm back on track. it's been a good day so far.

i've had:
instant oatmeal
chicken breast
green beans
salad with light italian dressing
grapes

i still have about 17 points left for dinner. that's a lot. i'm going to stay at my target the rest of the week, and workout every evening. i'm trying not to beat myself up over this. i haven't had a slip up like this since i started weight watchers...and honestly, i cannot believe i ate so much food.

in other news, i had an amazing time with daniel this weekend. friday night had to be one of the best times we've ever had together. i get so sick of the travel back and forth, but seeing him waiting on me as i pull into the hotel parking lot always brings the biggest smile to my face. here's a pic of us overlooking delmar blvd in university city, mo. it's on the outskirts of st. louis, and it was such a fun, little place. it was a nice day and the streets were crowded with people - playing music, sitting and talking. it reminded me of "my" city...aka nyc.

AND i stopped to see ms. madison on my way home last night...she's adorable. tiny. absolutely precious. cannot wait to see her again this evening. (and her mom's not too shabby either!! hehe) i'm gonna take some pics of madison and her aunt aims tonight.

lack of sleep and a little giggling, dribbling baby girl

2009-04-11T11:59:00.005-04:00

it's been a whirlwind of a few days. here's the updates:

1) we get a little break from the richmond audit. i am so happy to be home for a few weeks. the work is probably gonna suck, but it's a nice break from all that travel. i think i might miss working out on the elliptical/treadmill, though. i was pretty pumped about my jogging program. i'll do my watp 'til then...and get back on it as soon as i return.

2) my bestie is a mom! baby madison arrived a few weeks early. mandi's blood pressure went too high for her health and for madison's health...so they induced her labor, and after about 31 hours of laying in a hospital bed, she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl at about 11:30 thursday night. i headed straight to the hospital when i left richmond on thursday, and stayed with mandi and fam until 2:30 am or so.

3) i rolled into bed at 3:30 saturday morning, and rolled right back out at 8 so i could pack for illinois and make my weigh in 1 day early. the results: gained 1 lb. :( i wasn't happy about it, but i wasn't overly surprised, as my dinner consisted of pizza really late thursday night. plus, with the huge results last week, i wasn't expecting much of a loss anyways. right now, i'm back to -24 lbs, but i'm hanging in there. nothing i can't drop back off next week.

4) i headed to the hospital after weigh in to check on my girls, and both are doing well! they might even let madison come home tomorrow with mandi. we thought she'd be in NICU for about a week, but the little nudger is showing remarkable strength.

5) after my visit, i hit the road to illinois, and ran into horrible storms throughout kentucky. it was NOT fun. i was in a horrible mood...i'm pretty sure it was the lack of sleep catching up with me. i can't believe daniel actually put up with smartass comments. all ended well when i finally reached his hotel at 8:30 cst. i was so excited to see him. we exchanged easter baskets (dorks that we are) and i was pumped to find a little candy and an iTunes gift card! i've been eating on my nerds bumpy jelly beans, and i had a cadbury caramel easter egg. :0 those things are too good. seriously. we went to a place called asian bistro that served the most expensive chinese food ever. think pf chang's prices, but not the pf chang's taste. it was good...but i did really well. i'm sure i went over my points for the day, but i ate maybe 1/4 of my dish. my goal this weekend is to make better choices, but i will, without a doubt, be over points. our "hawt date" is tonight, and we're going to the melting pot. i'm sticking to lean meats, and trying to eat the cheese fondue and chocolate fondue in extremely small portions.

6) i finally feel rested! :) daniel had to work this morning, so i slept in...really in. hehe. i am pretty sure i kept him up most of the night with my snoring. seriously...i'm lucky he puts up with me. ha!

happy easter, everyone! hope the bunny was good to ya!

EDIT: i know not everyone is as big of a dmb fan as i am, but this article and the video really touched me. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/dave-matthews-band-s-big-whiskey-is-a-toast-1003961236.story. i cannot WAIT until april 17 when i get to see these boys again!

a time to run - week 3

2009-04-08T09:08:00.005-04:00

i started a walking ---> jogging/running program. i found it online at http://www.ab-core-and-stomach-exercises.com/beginner-treadmill-workout.html. with all the exercise i've been doing, i started with week 3 of the program. i was really proud of me for doing it! i know it doesn't sound like a lot, but i'm amazed about how you progress with exercise...how much easier things become.

Week 3: Walk for 4 minutes between 3.0 and 4.0 mph then jog between 4.5 and 5.0 mph for 1 minute. Repeat 6 times until you've completed 30 minutes.

for me personally, i walked at a 3.5 mph pace, then jogged at 4.8 mph. i'm going to try to keep going with this program. i'm pretty excited about it.

nothing else new on this end...tomorrow i work half a day in richmond, then get to head to Illinois to spend Easter weekend with my boy. :)

new 'dos

2009-04-07T09:39:00.011-04:00

i got a haircut...it's so much shorter!!! i like it...and at first i thought my face was looking a little thinner, but no, i think it looks chunky in these. lol. this is me pretending to be hard at work.

speaking of haircuts, i convinced daniel to get one that last time i was out there to see him. i'm so proud of him. he's lost so much. check out this comparison. the top pic was taken on our cruise in mid-december. the 2nd pic is from a week and a half ago...and doesn't the haircut look so nice???

i'm back in richmond, of course. i want to say it was a nice weekend with my fam, but it was actually kinda stressful. i love my brother and sister dearly, but seriously, sometimes it's a bit much. here we all are at christmas, and then again from this past weekend.

shew, i'm a picture posting fool today.

i'm trying out weight watchers etools. so far, my favorite part is being able to journal and look up points easily on my blackberry. i'm considering keeping it, just hate to spend $60/mo on weight watchers. ang and i have toyed around with quitting the meetings, and just doing weight watchers online...but i worry that i won't be accountable. decisions, decisions.

is it thursday yet? 3 day weekend for this girl!

metaled! :)

2009-04-04T13:56:00.000-04:00

week 9: -6.5; -25 lbs total

guess who got her 25 lb metal this morning? this girl! i was SHOCKED to learn of my 6.5 lb weight loss this week. crazy what writing everything down, and being entirely consistent will do for a girl's weight loss.

it's been a crazy busy day already. i went to weigh in, then i picked up mcdonald's for my bro and his friend (who are staying with me this weekend...nice to have a visit!), and grabbed myself a diet coke and a fruit 'n yogurt parfait. mandi (and pregnant belly!) met me at the house and we got my wedding cake picked out, and then headed to a floral shop and ordered my flowers for the wedding.

last night i bought my wedding gown in a...dun dun dun...size 20! :) i was so happy about it. i started weight watchers in a 22/24, and i'm really hoping i'll have to have the dress altered down.

it was a bit of a strange week at work. they announced 10% paycuts across the board and a decrease in benefits on thursday. thursday was a tough day, but dinner with manda eased my worries a bit. we laughed a lot...it was nice to forget about all the problems for awhile. i'm surprised daniel didn't kill me. i was crunching numbers like crazy, trying to figure out if i needed to adjust wedding plans or cancel my trip to the gorge. *tear*. very stressful. friday, we learned that the paycut was lightened to 3%. i felt like i had been given a 7% raise! it still sucks, but 3% is a little more doable.

that's about all that's new on this end. xoxo

my 1st blog award

2009-04-01T08:22:00.005-04:00

yay! Slackey gave me my 1st blog award, and i was so excited that i had to follow the rules! :)

With this award, you're supposed to name 7 things you LOVE, and then pass it along to 7 others.

i love:

Dave Matthews Band!
milestone numbers on an odometer...99,999 into 100,000 being my absolute fav. (you get 2 milestones back-to-back!)
old friends reruns...particularly "the one where ross got high"
my iPod...i'm mad that i didn't get one before now...i love adding new songs (and older stuff - think the murder remix of J.Lo songs) to it!
my weight watchers leader...she's so cute. and she's always so encouraging. the weeks that i go see daniel and just go for a weigh in, not a meeting, i always miss her.
listening to my grandpa tell me the same ol' stories from when i was younger. i love hearing about how "seuss" (his nickname for me) rode in the floor board of the car all of the way to GA. safe, g'rents? prolly not. but cute just the same that he loves telling the story.
NYC. i miss that city. i want to go to times square and see the cup o' noodles.

my seven picks are:

truth be told i'm lying

2009-03-30T22:08:00.004-04:00

i'm back in richmond. i feel really fat today. not sure why. it's weird...i go through these spells sometimes where i feel like i look HORRIBLE in everything i put on, and i feel like i'm back at day 1. it's not really like me to be down on myself, but it does happen from time to time.

for example, i decided today that the hams aren't really any smaller. "hams?", you ask. yes. hams. my mom told me when i was about 14 that my thighs look like hams. from that point on, i've always referred to them as hams. i think i've done this to make myself feel better. every problem area on my body has a nickname. shelf? where my butt and back meet...you know, it looks like a shelf that you could rest something on because my butt sticks out so far. equator? the dividing line between the upper and lower guts. fat arms? enough said.

my grandma once told me i should consider gastric bypass surgery. now, i have no problem with gastric bypass surgery, if it's what you and your doctor feel comfortable with. i understand that it may be the best fit for some people. but that is one of the few times my mommaw has hurt my feelings. just made me feel like a) she thought i needed to lose weight (which i did, but that's beside the point!) and b) that she thought i wasn't capable of dieting in the 1st place.

since i'm on a roll with embarrassing stories, here's one that very few people know....i'm not even sure i told the bestie or the boy this one. in summer 2003, my aunt angie took all of us to cedar point to celebrate my sister's high school graduation. i weighed around 260 at this time. (not as much as i do now, but not missing it by that much...) we were waiting in line to ride the top thrill dragster. i got on the ride...and the seatbelt wouldn't buckle. i have never been so embarrassed. i was so disgusted with myself...and i honestly didn't understand. i mean, i had just been to cedar point the previous summer and had ridden everything there! how did that happen? i exited the ride's area in tears. i spent the rest of the day doing the ripcord...wasn't a weight limit there, and that couple of seconds pause in the air right before you drop back down made me feel a whole lot lighter.

you know how some people have a warped image of themselves and see themselves as bigger than they are? i think i have the reverse problem. i never realize how big i've gotten until a pair of pants no longer fit or i see a picture of myself.

did any of these scenarios push me to lose weight? maybe temporarily. i think after the cedar point incident was the 1st time i tried weight watchers online. i stuck with it for about 6 weeks, lost about 20 lbs. but we all know how it ended. because here i am. i think the reason it didn't motivate me to lose is because it would've been for someone else - my mom, my grandma, the cedar point roller coaster designer. lol. it's true that your desire to lose weight and adopt a healthy lifestyle have to come from within yourself. i don't know where my desire came from this time around. daniel and i had tossed around the idea of losing weight for months, but i never really stuck with anything. then i just decided it was time. that was 55 days ago. and i'm proud that i'm still going strong. have i had bad meals? yes. have there been days that i've questioned this? yes. but i'm so glad i'm putting forth the effort. and overall my decisions have been complete 180s from what they would've been 3 months ago. mandi texted me the other day and was like "i dunno what to eat for lunch. i think i'm going to have to get mcdonald's. any suggestions?" i quickly replied, "double cheeseburger, no pickle, no onion, large fry, large coke...and that's why i'm now on weight watchers". without hesitation, that's what i would've ordered before. so i'm proud of the progress that's being made...even on days when i go over by 3 or 4 points. because i promise you, it's a lot better than it was before.

all of this crap from the past are the memories that i pull out on days when i don't feel like all of this sacrifice is worth the outcome. i am worth this. it's just going to take some time to get me there. i want a body i can be proud of.

sidenote: the title of this blog is in reference to my song of the week - "gives you hell". didn't want anyone to think this entire post was a lie! haha.

weighing in

2009-03-28T20:20:00.002-04:00

week 8: -1; -18.5 total

so, i weighed in friday night, and was down another 1 lb. i was hoping for a bigger loss, but what can you expect after eating the melting pot for dinner one night?

i'm in the mil aka marion, IL with the boy right now. i left the house at about 6:30 this morning, and didn't really have any "on the go" breakfast items. i found a subway along the way that was open 24 hours, and totally ate a 6 inch sub for breakfast. 6 pt sub > 10 pt mcdonald's sausage biscuit. i was so proud of me...

more to come on monday...
xoxo

did you say moe's?

2009-03-27T08:32:00.002-04:00

i love moe's southwest grill. i didn't know i did, but i do. ang and i tried it for the 1st time yesterday. it was 16 points of goodness. :)

i ran on the treadmill last night. by running, i mean i ran at a 5.0 mph pace for 1 minute. but i ran. first time since i can remember. i walked at a super brisk pace for the rest of the workout. needed a break from the elliptical, so the treadmill was welcoming.

the weekend's going to be a busy one. jill and i are going to check out more wedding dresses this evening - which could be interesting with the madi girl - but before that, i'm going to go to weigh-in one day early. i usually weigh-in saturday mornings, with no food in me, so friday evening weigh-ins scare me, but i figure it'll all even out in the end. i'm leaving early in the morning to make the drive to IL to see daniel. i'm so excited to see him. this is the longest we've gone without seeing each other. crazy.

3 more hours and i'm outta richmond. weigh-in results to come!

bbgirl

2009-03-25T09:13:00.003-04:00

the only time i'm not on my blackberry is during my workouts.

i'm hopelessly addicted to my phone. and in love with it.

dat ees all.

¡Feliz cumpleaños a tí!

2009-03-24T08:48:00.004-04:00

i'd give anything to be celebrating over some mexican food today.

on the upside, i guess i don't have to count the points for it...ha.

updates all around

2009-03-23T21:35:00.007-04:00

1st things 1st:

week 7 weigh in results: -1.0; -17.5 total

i was a little disappointed in my weight loss this week. i was hoping for a really big number. i guess i thought all of the working out i was doing would turn into a huge number, but i try to remind myself that, even though i'm making reasonably good choices, i'm still eating out every meal, and that makes it hard as i don't know the exact calories in the food from the nicer restaurants. places like subway seem to be easier to track, but at the sit-down restaurants, i just have to make an educated guess. not that i'm making excuses - i'm not. i know that eating at kona grill (amazing, btw) was not the healthiest thing to do. do i regret it? no. because it'd be crazy to think i wouldn't eat potstickers ever again.

for anyone that is lacking motivation or wonders where to pull their motivation, this is a link to one of my favorite blog posts in history. http://hlcaterpillar.blogspot.com/2009/03/motivation-scmotivation.html

saturday was mandi's shower for friends, family, and coworkers in the charleston area. it was really fun! angela, sarah, and i threw it for her, and i'm glad everyone got together. we laughed a lot, and she seemed to get a lot of useful stuff - and some really cute stuff, too.

i had some lovely time saturday evening. jill and madi and i grabbed dinner and spent a few hours laughing and talking. madi is getting to be the biggest girl ever - she was loving on her aunt aims! she was cracking me up because she decided she needed to wave at everyone that passed her in outback. she's definitely got her daddy's personality when it comes to not knowing a stranger. spending time with madi makes me realize i could do that whole mother thing one day.

sunday was wedding planning day. mandi and i went to david's bridal and i tried on gowns...and found one i love! i want nothing more than to post a pic of my dress here - even though it doesn't do it justice - but i know daniel will be reading this as soon as i hit publish, so everyone will just hafta wait until the big day. hehe. we also ran down to the rose garden to pick a spot within the garden to hold the wedding and i think we decided on having buddy's bbq cater for us. seems like things are coming together....shouldn't be too much left to do, really. flowers, decorations, and invitations - i know what i want...just need to get to ordering.

daniel booked our honeymoon flights last night, too. :) i squealed. i was so excited. our hotel is on waikiki beach - and it looks really nice. thank goodness for marriott rewards points. i can't wait to go to hawaii. i hope i can find a cute tankini before we go!

back in richmond again today...woo. i do love our hotel, though. it's a lot nicer than the other hotels we had been staying in.

tomorrow is my mom's 44th birthday - well, would be. this is usually such a hard day for me, but i'm really going to attempt to remember the positives and not dwell on the pain that's been caused over the years. in an effort to do this, i'm going to focus on my favorite "mom" memories...the vultures at pizza hut...singing reo speedwagon while prom dress shopping...eating chi chi's...posing at myrtle beach...walking the beagle club loop...my high school graduation day...her and misty singing the bsb on the way to elkins...sometimes i forget about these, and i think it's important to find a way to focus on them.

it's part of that changing me thing, ya know?

omg, i did what?

2009-03-18T20:39:00.004-04:00

i'm in awe. i just worked out for 1 hour. yes, 1 hour. i did 1/2 hour on the elliptical and 1/2 hour on the treadmill...burned 655 calories and went a total of 4.65 miles. what...the...crap? is this the same girl that 6 weeks ago was worn out after 10 minutes on the treadmill and had to make herself do a speed of 3.5 in 5 min increments???

i'm just so proud of myself. feel silly gloating, but i really am proud. totally announcing it at my WW meeting, too. i want my bravo sticker, dangit!!! :)

i've been working out a lot more this week...well, still every night after dinner, but for longer periods of time. i've been eating some of my activity points, but i'm hoping for a big loss this week. i know, i know...any loss is a good thing, but i really would like to hit my 20 lb mark this week.

can anyone out there clear something up for me? is there a limit of how many activity points you earn a week? just curious. i'm not even close to eating all that i've earned - just dying to know for curiosity's sake.

a young guy came into the workout room while ang and i were in there. talk about motivation! no, no, not for why you're thinking - i wasn't attracted to him or anything. but he ran on the treadmill in increments. i kept sneaking a peak at his speeds...8 mph, 8.5 mph, 9 mph. wow. i'm just in awe of him.

"but i believe in whatever you do, and i'll do anything to see it through" - line from Taylor Swift's "Change". it was added to my workout music tonight. it's funny...i tend to find a line in a song that makes me push through for those last 20 calories burned or another 10 mins. for that, i want to thank daniel for giving me his iPod...wait, i want to thank myself for buying my boy a new iPod, allowing him to give me his old one. tonight's workout music went something like this:

cortez the killer - dmb
dancing nancies - dmb, central park version
don't drink the water- dmb, central park version
believe - yellowcard
only one - yellowcard
view from heaven - yellowcard
change - taylor swift
my life would suck without you - kelly clarkson
believe - yellowcard
believe - yellowcard

lol. yes, some repeats. yes, a weird combination. whatever works.

off to see who's going home on idol.

have i mentioned i adore my camelbak bottle?

PS: i can't WAIT for march 28. seriously.

camelbak

2009-03-17T11:20:00.005-04:00

i'm a tired girl these days. the good news is i'm just about over my sickness. i woke up feeling lots better this morning!!!

i did the most driving ever this weekend. on friday, i drove home from richmond. i went to my weigh-in friday night instead of the usual saturday morning, and was down 2 more lbs for a grand total of 16.5 lbs in 6 weeks. i'm attaching a picture of me with my weight loss chart:

anyways, after the meeting, misty and the girls came to my house. misty decided to "adopt" parker for me while daniel is away at work and i'm working in richmond. i cried like a big baby. it was a tough night...no daniel, and no parker.

on saturday, i got my lazy self out of bed by 6:30 and hit the road for marion, il. daniel and i spent the weekend laughing and resting. it was so great to spend some time with him. we did really good, and saved all of tears for the end of the weekend when i was leaving. i drove home sunday evening, and rolled in around midnight.

yesterday morning i had an eye appt, so i got contacts and new glasses ordered. i drove down to richmond yesterday afternoon. joined the crew for some outback dinner, then headed back to the hotel to enjoy a workout. 45 mins on the elliptical...i went for 3.2 miles and burned 530 calories. i'm really proud of myself for sticking to this workout stuff. and proud of ang for kicking the treadmill's butt. angela was pretty awesome and ordered me a camelbak water bottle...i'm in love with it!!! it's a bright fuschia color, and has worked well at reminding me to drink my water.

i know this post is kinda rambly - and basically just a play-by-play of the weekend's happenings. nothing too new around here. i think me and mandi are going to david's bridal this weekend so i can try on some wedding gowns. that might make this whole "planning a wedding" stuff seem a little more real.

CONFIRMED!!!!

2009-03-12T22:42:00.002-04:00

this girl is confirmed for all of her summer dmb shows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

10 shows between april 17 and september 6! :)

and a wedding along the way!!!!!!

gg ---> hg!

(in daniel talk, that's "grumpy girl turned happy girl")

some days...

2009-03-12T21:05:00.004-04:00

i get so sick of dieting. i get frustrated with myself. get mad because i let myself get to this weight...that i hafta count points every day, and watch every little thing i put into my mouth. i know, i know. but i'm losing weight! it's a good thing. and something i'm going to have to do every day of my life. but today i am FRUS-TRA-RATED.

i made myself go work out, even though i didn't really feel like it, and even though i really wanted to go to coldstone creamery and eat a strawberry, white chocolate chip, and graham cracker ice cream waffle bowl. instead i worked out. and i'm glad i did. i decided to change up the workout music, and listened to some yellowcard instead of the usual dmb-ness. "believe" lyrics caught my attention:

wanna make a change or two right now
wanna live a life like you somehow
wanna make your sacrifice worthwhile

yes, i want to make my sacrifice worthwhile. what's the point in changing my eating habits and my life priorities if i'm going to blow my hard work on some stupid ice cream that isn't even worth it?

i think i was just feeling sorry for myself tonight. i hate richmond, i miss daniel, i'm missing my mom a lot - it's march and i just got engaged -, i'm worrying about parker, i'm super worried about my grandma, did i mention i miss daniel?

anyways, enough of my pity party. i worked out, may have eaten a little worse than i should have this week, but i'm hoping the scale will be kind because i did work out and stayed in points if you count activity points. i'm going to sit here and enjoy another bottle of water and grey's anatomy/private practice.

xoxo

you want some buns with that meat?

2009-03-11T15:35:00.005-04:00

Audit Storytime

we had bratwurst for lunch. rick asked delores for a brat, then goes back to flossie and asks for a bun. "hey, floss, how bout you let me put my sausage in one of your buns?" rick heads back down to delores. delores offers him some mashed potatoes, to which rick replies "you have mashed potatoes?" delores, in return, snarls "no, i'm just offering them to you for no reason." in the meantime, greg and brett are making miss floss real mad. flossie goes to the back to get buns for rick's sausage, and then hands it over with a smile, and a loving "here's a bun for your ugly sausage". brett decides he wants to put his meat on a bun, too...so flossie dutifully heads back to the back, and returns with another bun and another smile. upon her arrival, greg announces he wants a bun for his meat, too. flossie has had enough. "i'm going to smack you both." she's had enough audit meat for one day.

as rick so eloquently put it, "if flossie ain't there, then all come scared - you'll hafta eat delores for lunch."

bumpy jelly beans

2009-03-11T10:36:00.004-04:00

this is going to be full of randoms:

daniel got a call from FEMA yesterday. he's driving to illinois today, and will be working there indefinitely.
my throat hurts...badly. i've been taking tylenol allergy (because i thought this was an allergy problem), but i think i may have to go get some other meds.
i'm in love with nerds bumpy jelly beans. 23 are 3 pts. and worth every single one of them.
we're getting married on july 10 at 7:30 pm at the rose garden in ritter park.
i need to order the pictures i have on my digital camera. after discounts and promotions, it'd cost $110 to order them on snapfish.
i am so thirsty today.
daniel leaving is scary.
my mom's birthday is in 13 days.
my mom-maw has alzheimers. that's even scarier.
they were out of special k with red berries at the hotel this morning. it threw off my entire breakfast routine.
i worked out on the elliptical last night. only 30 mins this time - as idol was coming on. burned 374 calories, though.
i'm torn about what to do for my meeting ww this week. i hate to miss it. but i really want to go see daniel since we didn't get to say goodbye before he left for work. it's a 7 hour drive to marion. just can't decide what to do.
our office is consistently 80 degrees.
i want to carry roses and daisies in my bouquet on our wedding day.
i kinda wanna look at wedding dresses in the near future.
i'm excited for my camelback water bottle to come in.
i went to lane bryant last night and only spent $57.21. that must be a record.
tia would be happy to know that i enjoyed chipotle last night.

okay, that's it for now.

xoxo

sweating to the dmb

2009-03-10T13:25:00.002-04:00

i stole daniel's iPod. i had to use the generic fm transmitter thingy to listen to it in my car, because the toyota elcheapo i drive does not have the auxillary jack in it. anyways, for the workout last night, i listened to the iPod...i put it on all DMB songs, and skipped a song if it was too slow.

i'm very proud of my workout, by the way. when i walked into the workout room, both treadmills were taken, so i did 15 mins on the elliptical, then did another 30 mins on the treadmill. i ended up burning 445 calories in 45 mins of working out. now i know that doesn't sound like a lot. but coming from a girl that couldn't walk for more than 10 mins on the treadmill without tiring, i'm really excited.

i think i'll do the elliptical again tonight! going to shoot for 30 mins this time!!! :)

speaking of being healthy, i lost 2 lbs at this week's weigh-in! down 14.5 lbs in 5 weeks. very excited about it.

in other news, i will not be a beautiful bride marrying on a sandy beach in hawaii. sigh.

i'm bored. i'm kinda sick. my head hurts. and i really don't enjoy my work anymore. that's my whining fest for the day.

xoxo

normund gentle, baby showers, and family time

2009-03-08T12:38:00.000-04:00

I dream cheated on Daniel last night. Jodi, Ang, and I were working in Richmond, which looked like San Fran, and Jodi came into my hotel room and caught me and Normund Gentle kissing. Lol. She was furious with me. What a strange dream!

Yesterday was Mandi's baby shower in Man. It was fun to see the fam and I'm so 'cited that she finally got to see the DMB onesie I made for Madison. It says "I heart DMB just like mommy!". I adore it. Jill and Madi girl tagged along with me. Madi was so good and was her Aunt Aims' girl all day.

Sundays have been our family day for the past few weeks. Daniel and I are on our way to meet the g'rents at Famous Dave's. I'm attempting my 1st blog post on my BlackBerry. It's not as easy as I want it to be. Anyways, after food, we are going to see Dee, David, and the chickens. I really like that Daniel and I do this kind of stuff together. Seems so simple, but it doesn't go unnoticed by me.

Happy day!
Xoxo

it's flooded!

2009-03-05T12:36:00.002-05:00

yikes. the boyfriend discovered a leak in the house today. he called scott (our maintenance man) and i guess the sprinkler system is what is leaking - a plumber is on his way.

i think the hawaiian wedding may be a go! i've been looking at a bunch of different websites, trying to decide on which wedding coordinator/photographer/location to go with. it's really nice - a lot of the companies have package deals that basically include everything you need for one set price. we're going to be staying at a marriott on waikiki beach...thank goodness for work travel, hotel points, and free hotel stays. i think we're going to fly down to hawaii on august 28, fly from honolulu to seattle on september 4, and then home on september 7. i'm so excited. marrying him, hawaii, and dmb at the gorge all in one week - what more can a girl ask for?!?

work's gone by really fast this week, i guess because i called in sick one day. i'm so ready to head home.

need to try to actually get a work out in tonight. i bailed the last two nights from the stomach funk i've been in. not sure what the scale will show at weigh-in this week.

i was really disappointed with the idol results last night. i loved felicia. :( she didn't even make it in as a wildcard. tonight's show will be interesting, for sure.

nothing else new to report. i'll be going to man on saturday for the showering of madison by the aunts. kind of excited to see them all...it's been awhile.

xoxo

rumbly tumbly

2009-03-04T08:24:00.004-05:00

i've been so sick. i slept literally all day yesterday. angela was pretty awesome and brought me food from o'charley's. i ate two rolls, and dipped them in my soup, then i ate some grapes. i think i had about 13 points total yesterday. needless to say, i just did not feel like eating any more than that. i didn't get my workout in last night - unless you count the trips to the bathroom. makes me feel a little guilty, but i was just not up to it.

i cannot believe i slept that much. i got up at about 6, and stayed up long enough to watch idol, then it was right back to sleeping...i had a dream that the reason i was sick was because daniel didn't let me get enough rest on the sims. speaking of idol, i really liked felicia last night...and she has awesome hair!!! i can't help it, i also like nathaniel...he's such a little drama queen. vote for the worst's pick is alex, and i really enjoyed him, too. hehe.

i'm feeling a bit better today...my tummy's a little rumbly tumbly, but i haven't been in the bathroom in about 12 hours, so that's good. also, the massive headache is long gone, thankfully.

i've been trying to work on some wedding plans, but can't seem to make any decisions. haha. we still want to go to hawaii on our honeymoon, and a huge part of me wants to just get married while we're there, and then maybe have a dinner for our family and friends when we return. i'm sure we'll come up with something.

can i just say i'm sick of work?!?

...to you i will be true

2009-03-01T20:42:00.005-05:00

Daniel and I are getting married!

yesterday we were on our way to madi's birthday party. it'd been a really nice day...i had a 2.5 lb loss at weigh in, we'd hung out, took a nap, just enjoyed spending the day together. anyways...we were out driving around, just killing time before the birthday party. daniel reached up and turned the radio down - of course i'd been singing - and said "i love you". i told him i loved him too and looked up at him, and tears were streaming down his face.

"babe, are you okay?!?"
"yes...yes, i am. i have lots i want to say......i'm not going to get it all out. i want to marry you."
"i want to marry you, too."
"will you marry me?"
"YES!"

he had the most gorgeous engagement ring for me. it fits perfectly. i had looked at rings a few weekends ago, and had a couple picked out. we've been talking about marriage a lot lately, so i was hoping we could get to planning our day soon, but i didn't expect the proposal right when it happened.

i love my ring. but more than that, i love everything that it stands for. i love what we are, how we are, and what we will be. i love our future, and i love our "right now". i cannot remember being happier.

i think daniel was really worried about me being disappointed with his proposal. i think he assumed i wanted a big production - a big story to have. i told him i didn't think i could have planned it any better. it was sweet, simple, and sincere. just like our love.

we are playing around with a few different dates in august. we don't want a big wedding, but we do want something we can share with our family and close friends. i'm considering getting married at my grandparents' and i'm going to call ritter park to check on the rose garden's availability. we'll see how it goes.

my family was excited for us, but i must say i feel like dee (daniel's mom) was thrilled. we went out to breakfast with dee and david (her boyfriend) this morning. she asked daniel why he was grinning like that, so he told her we have something to tell you. she feared we were pregnant, but sounded so excited about us getting married. she hugged me tight and told me she loved me, she was very happy, and to be good to her baby. i told her i wouldn't have it any other way, because he's so very good to me. she then told me she wanted a baby girl. lol. i think we'll wait a few years on that one.

i'll leave you with a pic of my pretties, but it doesn't come close to doing it justice.

...and i love these boys

2009-02-27T08:26:00.003-05:00

DMB's New Album Title: Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King
Posted by Jake Vigliotti in Album News on Thursday, Feb 26th, 2009 at http://www.antsmarching.org/.

The long-anticipated 2009 Dave Matthews Band album has a name - Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King. Before you say, "What the...?" the title does have some meaning to it. Groogux was a nickname applied to LeRoi Moore by his friends; Rashawn mentioned that on his Myspace page after the saxophonist's passing. Also for reference you can hear Carter call LeRoi by Grux in the How We Have Fun Before The Show video by Stefan at about 3:10. We got a little hint to the album title from Dave on Sunday; "...still here dancing with the Groo Grux King. We'll be drinking big whiskey while we dance and sing. When I get to the end, I'm gonna end.."The announcement of the album name from The Warehouse also re-confirmed the release date of June 2. So it appears everything is still on schedule for that date. Long Live the Groogrux King.

82 degrees

2009-02-26T16:05:00.002-05:00

it's 82 degrees in the office i'm working in. it's yucky. we've got a fan blowing on high, but i think all it's really doing is circulating the hot air. goodness.

today has been a busy day, but i'm so thankful it's the last full day in richmond for this week. i don't think i can take much more of m.g.t. or the crap i'm working on. ha.

i loved idol last night. i thought it was so much better than last week's. i'm still a huge danny fan, but i really enjoyed normund, kris, allison, and adam last night. for some crazy reason, i really want normund to go through. mainly because i know vftw loves him, but also because i laughed so hard. *karate kick*

the crew's going to outback tonight. i'm so excited to eat some broccoli! lol. i love it there. weigh in is in 2 days, and i'm anxious to see what the scale holds for all of us. i talked to oj a few mins ago and it sounds like he's doing okay, but taking advantage of his flex with snacky food. i kinda like using mine for real food. i realized today that eating a bigger lunch really does help me more. i had soup with my usual sandwich and chips today and it really did stick with me so much longer.

diet coke has been in my cup all day long. that's probably not a good thing, but i don't mind too much. i've drank almost 2 liters of water, too, so i guess it's okay.

did i mention that i'm so glad tomorrow's friday?

i found an awesome deal on the iPod touch the boy's been wanting on ebay last night. i'm 'cited to play with it. guess i'll be the new owner of his old one - too bad my generic car doesn't have an auxillary jack. blah. i guess i'll use one of the fm transmitters (i think that's what they're called).

we've been listening to dmb all day and it's got me so for my shows that are coming up. less than 2 months!!!!

quote of the day

2009-02-24T15:50:00.000-05:00

"you know i'm a bum now. sittin' on the couch, eating manwich, and watching pimp my ride."

i love my boyfriend.

blue ribbons

2009-02-23T21:28:00.002-05:00

saturday's weigh-in brought a 3 lb loss and my 10 lb ribbon! :) i was so excited. i cannot believe how nervous i was going into the meeting. i think i just desperately wanted my hard work to pay off.

my weekend was fairly uneventful. friday was full of daniel time, saturday was full of girlie time, and sunday was birthday shopping for the madi girl and packing for richmond. i did get caught up on all of my tv. wasn't feeling the best yesterday, so really didn't get into much.

my sis has asked if daniel and i want to join in for game night with her and david on friday, so i'm kinda excited about that.

tia, angela, and i worked out this evening. i'm so proud of us! we are doing so well. i cannot believe how much easier things are this time around. today makes 3 weeks that i've been following the plan religiously and i decided this morning that i am a fan of diet coke. it no longer creates an after taste in my mouth, so i'm thankful for that, too. coke is probably the thing i miss most...but i cannot see spending 3 points on 1 can.

driving to work was a bit crazy this morning, with snow covered lanes in beckley. taylor swift got me here. i cried during the mom song again, which led to a "let's think about mom" session that lasted a little while.

work was also a little on the stressful side today. i'm looking forward to a day when work no longer is something i dread. not sure if it's the assignments or lack of guidance or a combination of the two that's driving me crazy.

in case i haven't mentioned it lately, i'm very thankful for daniel's presence in my life. we had such wonderful discussions this weekend, and i'm so proud of him for so many things. i love that we communicate. it's an ongoing joke with my work crew that i'm on my blackberry wayyyyy too much. and while that's true, i can't even begin to apologize for it. the boy and i message each other back and forth most of the day, and that constant contact is something i really enjoy. so if it's a picture of my dinner or a random "hey, what was your favorite pencil in elementary school?" message, i'm glad that i have someone i can communicate with freely.

it's another week in richmond, full of eating out - but i got my ww partner here with me, and m.g.t. here to workout with us.

did i mention that i'm addicted to the sims again?

xoxo

love doesn't always come in convenient packages...

2009-02-20T09:02:00.002-05:00

i've been reading the partially completed midnight sun that stephenie meyers posted on her website. for anyone that doesn't know, it's edward's version of twilight. the draft leaked on the internet, so it may never be finished. that makes me sad, because i love it just about as much as i loved twilight.

this line stood out to me:
love doesn't always come in convenient packages.

i adore it. and can relate. and some of the people i care most about should be able to relate, as i can see it fitting their circumstances.

George, Washington (and i don't mean the president...)

2009-02-19T12:44:00.005-05:00

DMB announced their summer tour dates yesterday, and this girl was E-X-C-I-T-E-D. i did a lil squeal and probably looked like an uncoordinated cheerleader as i continued to go on and on about my excitement to daniel, who was dying laughing at me.

i think my ww partner in crime is going to head to our favorite venues with me: burgettstown and noblesville. and my loving boyfriend as agreed to make the 3,000 mile trip to washington state to see the boys at the gorge on labor day weekend. i'm soooooo excited - though i vaguely remember saying last year that i would stop going to 10 shows per year. i must've meant 10 shows per tour...hehe. looks like i have 3 shows in april, 2 in june, 2 in august, and 3 in september. i do love that band.

daniel came down to richmond and spent the night with me. we had a really nice dinner at outback - and oddly enough, i was craving their broccoli. i'm convinced that whoever did that study that said it takes 21 days to form a habit is absolutely right. this is day 18 for me, and it's almost completely second nature at this point. i avoid even looking at the food that will tempt me. (sorry, ricky, that's why we aren't eating at pf chang's tonight)

i'm still super anxious about my weigh in on saturday. i better have lost!!! i've been really proud of all of us - and i can't thank tia enough for working out with me every night. it makes it easier to get in there every night, knowing that she's waiting on me. i think next week i might even attempt to break out the bathing suit and do some "swimming". this will be more of a cool-down tactic than anything, because i'm no swimmer. i do a lot of splashing and that's about it.

random thoughts:

i was pleased with the american idol results. i love my boy danny!
the rice at lunch was actually good today.
i'm very proud of my sister for buying a car.
i can't wait to watch biggest loser this weekend.
angela being in richmond will be a lovely thing.
greg is one of the funniest people i know.
i can't believe madi will be a year old next week.
i can't wait until august.
vftw is still one of my favorite websites.
i'm addicted to the 100+ lbs to lose board on the ww message boards.
i have a game plan in effect to avoid the hunger crankies that occurred last friday.

enough rambling for today.

xoxo

16 days

2009-02-17T11:49:00.003-05:00

i've been choosing a healthier lifestyle for 16 days now. it's getting easier. last night it felt good to exercise, and i wasn't about to die, so that's definite progress. i resisted bloomin' onion at outback last night, too. :) baby steps. i'm in richmond for the long haul, so eating out is a daily occurence. i've been able to make healthy food choices so far. i love mydailyplate. i don't think i could do this without it.

i'm very anxious for the weigh in this weekend. i'm hoping for a loss.

i'm very proud of daniel. he's doing extremely well with his healthy eating, too. he's even cooking healthy meals in the evenings while i'm down here instead of eating out! he keeps me in line, too.

work sucks, but at least changing my eating habits is getting easier.

a;ldjkaposdfmasdfij

2009-02-17T11:47:00.002-05:00

bet you love the title of this blog...

that's how i feel about work right now.

hater

2009-02-16T14:00:00.003-05:00

things i hate today
-the drive to richmond
-being away from Daniel while he's actually home
-richmond lunches
-richmond in general
-the lack of weight loss reflected on the scale saturday
-inconsistency in management
-GIMs
-the new britney spears song
-getting up at 4:45 am
-bbm

that is all.

mmm...water!

2009-02-12T08:26:00.003-05:00

it's day 11 without coke. i hadn't missed it too bad until this morning. i would kill for a coke right now - and while it's only 3 pts, i just can't justify drinking it. so i'll continue to drink this poland spring water the richmond office has so gratiously provided me and move on.

yeah, i'm in richmond and yeah, i hate it...but i did get a workout in last night and stayed in my points at firebirds. i wanted to eat my usual, but discovering the peanut butter pie is 32 points was a good wakeup call. tia and brett didn't try to get me to poorly, so all is well. we even did a lil shopping last night - it was nice to have someone to talk to and laugh with. tia even joined me in my workout next door!

i want to say something witty, but i'm feeling especially boring, so maybe later!

dr. mario and tetris

2009-02-10T10:28:00.003-05:00

i like dr. mario better than tetris. and i really miss q-bert.

daniel and i have been playing tetris almost every evening...we downloaded it on our wii. he SUCKS at dr. mario. it kinda makes me laugh.

nintendo and super nintendo rocked. i miss them. (guess who won a super nintendo in 6th grade for having the most accelerated reader points?!? ME! gotta love the babysitters club)

does this mean i'm getting boring? i finished reading the twilight saga, and now all i do in the evening is make dinner, walk away the pounds, watch my tivo'ed shows, and play tetris.

i should be studying...