I feel like an apple just fell on my head...

Today I had an epiphany. I was reading that new blog that I told you about that I'm addicted to and I've *almost* talked myself down off of the calorie counting ledge.

 

I have a handy app on my iphone called my fitness pal. I enter what I eat and the exercise that I do. In order to lose weight I'm supposed to eat 1200 calories/day (according to the app) but I'm given more calories when I burn calories, etc. I *MAY* delete that app today. Yikes!

 

Last week when we went to Disneyland I did not take my scale. I've been weighing myself daily for over a year now. We spend quite a few weekends at Josh's dad's house and I PACK MY SCALE. It's sick. When I was in between jobs and at home all day I would weigh myself every day. When I decided not to pack my scale for the Disneyland trip I had a horrifying though. I can't take the scale to Mexico for our honeymoon. It would be ridiculous to do so. I couldn't even imagine not weighing myself for a whole week. Well, right now I can almost imagine it. I'm right on the brink!

 

I've noticed in the past few weeks as I've been running longer distances that I'm MUCH hungrier. I feel like 1200 calories isn't enough. I think that this starvation feeling is my body telling me something. Lately I've been much less restrictive with my calories. I've been focusing on eating healthy and wholesome foods when I'm hungry instead of counting calories. Being on this vegan diet has made me be really creative and I love the foods that I've been making! I haven't been feeling guilty when I eat 2 snacks between breakfast and lunch because the foods that I'm eating give me energy and making my body happy! Last week I made garbanzo bean quesadillas and last night Josh and I made shrimp tacos. This food is delicious! I don't need processed cheeses, sour cream or meat for food to be good. With the energy that I'm expending in running my body needs the nourishment and my metabolism burns the food really fast!

 

I haven't stopped weighing myself (yet?) so I've noticed the number creeping down on the scale. Fancy that! Eating more wholesome, healthy calories (the calories that my body needs) has been making me healthier.

 

This is kind of rambling-ish but I'm so excited!!!! Instead of counting calories I want to listen to my body! As long as I'm eating foods that make my body happy and are good for me (without binging...which I'm sure will still happen sometimes) and not going overboard I don't need to count calories! I used to think that if one day I had 1205 calories instead of my allotted 1200 I would gain 5 pounds instantly and be fat again and I'm glad I've finally realized that that's just not the case.

 

Plus all of this food experimenting is fun!!!

 

Okay, sorry for that disjointed/bad writing post! I just had to get it out!!

The Thunder Rolls

Ummmm so the wedding coordinator from our venue called today. Now, I LOVE our venue. And we kind of stumbled into it. A few weeks before we got engaged Josh and I went out to dinner and he told me about this place that he'd seen. He was up in Mariposa (his route is up there 2 days/week) and he'd seen the sign for Sierra Meadows Country Club (link). Hmmmmm. At that time I was trying to be mute about wedding stuff so I just kind of went with "That's nice." I'd been looking at quite a few venues around that time but I couldn't find any that had a ceremony site outside and a reception area inside which is what we really wanted (since we were tentatively- since we weren't engaged yet- wanting to get married in the summer).

I had looked at this adorable place, Victorian Gardens of Two Sisters in Kingsburg.

I'd also looked at Wonder Valley Ranch.

And Harris Ranch.

After we got engaged I contacted all of these places. Wonder Valley was having a camp that week and 300 children would be all over the ranch. We crossed them off the list. I still love the Gardens but there's no indoor area there. In June in the central valley it can be pretty hot so they were nixed too. Harris Ranch had a lot of hidden fees that really upped the overall cost.

So we crossed our fingers and went to see Sierra Meadows. It was beautiful, all that we'd been looking for. The coordinator is also absolutely fabulous.

We chose to have our ceremony at the Oak Tree View and our reception in the Manzanita Ballroom (I'm in head-over-heels love with the chairs).

 

Back to my recent phone call. Apparently the country club was hit really hard by the snowstorm last week. They were without power for a week. They are still doing clean up. And here's the kicker. THE oak tree that makes the Oak Tree View special.....is down. Completely down. Luckily the coordinators are on the ball and looking for new sites on the grounds. We're going to go look at the different options on Sunday. I guess it's better that this happened now, 2 months out, so we can change the plan!!!

The Great BBB!!

Otherwise known as the Before Baby Bucket List!! Ignore the fact that the L isn't included in this post title, it's not important haha (plus it just didn't work, whatev).

Since lately I've had the baby rabies (catchy, huh?), which is partly due to adorable pictures and videos like these...

AWWWWWWWWWW

I have decided to combat that with making a bucket list for before we have babies!!! This will give me things to focus on so that I don't get too caught up in that "waiting" slump like I did while I was waiting for Josh to propose. I have a feeling that after the wedding that could very well happen!! But not to this girl!

This is what I have so far...

-Travel to Hawaii and take a helicopter ride (that sounds so cliche but I dont care!!)

-Go on a mission trip (I really want to do this...not sure where or when lol)

-Complete a 1 month challenge of cooking at least one new recipe every day, "Julia and Julia" status!

-Run a half marathon (Am I crazy? I think yes.)

-Go to Sea World (sometimes I am a 5 year old)

-Babysit Claire for a whole weekend

-Take Josh to Europe

-Save enough money for me to feel comfortable being a stay at home mom (We could already survive on Josh's income alone but I'll feel a lot better about it if we have a sturdy cushion,,,just in case)

-Save enough money for a down payment on a new house (We will NOT be raising children in Merced. Ew.)

-Visit New York (also cliche)

Any more suggestions??? I plan to keep adding to this list and start on it after we get back from our honeymoon! We have about 2 years to complete it so we'll have to get cracking!

Musings...

I like how we both have a "signature color." All your posts are in pink, mine are in purple!


Also, I hope people (if and when we get more followers!) don't think that picture of our London Radisson and...what was the other girls name....impressions is serious.


We need to take a better picture together for our blog! Perhaps at the bridesmaid photo shoot?!? Did you talk to your photographer about it??? Are we going to do it?? 


I apologize for having such boring posts. I always write about school, but you have wonderful and lovely things to write about: YOUR WEDDING!!! I promise that this summer my life will be at least a tad more exciting...well, I hope it will be....


I'm in the library once again. I have SO much work to do, but *stupid* me volunteered to read an article and give a presentation on it this Friday on top of everything. I think I sort of just jumped into it because I want to get  as many assignments out of the way as possible. For my Homeric Greek class (Homer had a dialect all his own--Yay Homer...you are making me re-learn Greek, I am just sooo impressed. NOT.), we have to give two presentations. I did one like the 3rd week of school and I have one more to do--which will be on Friday. 


Did I tell you that Marina is coming to visit me?? Well, she is coming to visit the school because she got accepted into the Masters in Theology program and thinks she wants to come here. She is coming next Thursday, the 7th, I believe. My big oral exam is on Tuesday and her thesis defense is on Wednesday, so it is perfect timing. We are both taking the weekend off and I will finally be able to go to the BEACH! 

6 Week (12 week? 18 week?....) 6 pack!

First of all, I tried the roasted chickpeas using ranch dressing mix and oh. my. gosh. They are amazing. I also made taco seasoning ones and they were delicious too but the ranch ones are definitely my favorite! When you let them get a little crunchy they taste like corn nuts!!! I still highly recommend them.

 

I actually ran last night!!! I hadn't run since last Thursday because Friday we left for Disneyland, we were there Saturday and Sunday and on Monday Josh and I went to sleep at 6:30pm because we hadn't gotten home until 3am that morning!! I did 6 miles last night...it was pretty tough, the last 2 miles were the worst. I feel a lot better that I did it though! I'm planning on running 6 more tonight, 4 tomorrow morning, 6 on Friday and 5 on Saturday morning. That'll put me at 110 miles completed as of Saturday. Yay! I can't wait to cross that 100 mile mark.

 

Now for the bad....6 week 6 pack has fallen into the dust in our house. :(

We are lame people. I've been trying to put more time into running and we have such limited time together on weeknights after you factor in running time and making/eating dinner time that it's hard for us to take the time to do that workout too. Especially since we've been right at the wire for a lot of wedding projects and we've been trying to get those done (*cough* Invitations have to go out by this Saturday *cough*) during these past few weeks. Hopefully we can get back into it but we haven't been making it a priority lately. *Hangs head in shame*

 

Tomorrow our friends Chris and Sarah are coming for dinner and I'm going to be making salmon patty pita bread sandwiches (I made it up, can you tell? I need to come up with a cooler name...) and asparagus with wild rice and fruit salad. Sarah's birthday was yesterday so I'm searching for a vegan dessert recipe right now! Here are some of the options:

-Vegan Chocolate Cake

-Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

-Almond vanilla cupcakes with salted caramel frosting (the same kind that I made for our engagement shoot)

-Some kind of vegan cookie...

 

What's your vote??

From the desk of...

me. In Latin Prose Composition class. Wooo Hooo.


We are discussing our final paper--a composition in Latin...I have to write a PAPER in Latin. Thank goodness he doesn't expect it to be long. This class has been an entire semester of composing things in Latin. It is challenging, but also rewarding. I guess that's how most things in life are...


which brings me to exercise! Running is definitely challenging, yet rewarding. I ran about three miles yesterday. The weather yesterday gave us a premature taste of a Floridan summer. I woke up to a black sky and then about 10 minutes later it was pouring. I had to walk to class in that. I think they should just postpone classes when it is raining like that. It is ridiculous. By the time we arrive at class, we are soaked, cold, and miserable. This is a regular occurrence if you have afternoon classes between the months of August to about November.


The dresses are supposed to arrive tomorrow!! I am really anxious to see them!


My professor keeps calling on me, so I think my typing "notes" when he really isn't saying anything that we should write down is making him suspicious.

Flowers and Fairy-like Complexions

"Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made, and forgot to put a soul into." ~Henry Beecher

Our flowers were a fairly easy decision to make. Since my parents teach pre-marital classes at church they are in contact with brides all of the time and two of their brides were married in December, right before we got engaged. Mom made sure to get all of their vendors' information from them and ordered me to call them all! Once I got to the point of picking a florist I was tired. Tired of calling a billion venues to set up appointments, tired from dress shopping, tired from picking out save the dates and deciding on a photographer. So I decided to put it off. It was in the back of my mind all of the time but I just did not want to deal with it. Now there's another girl at work who is getting married in September of this year and she is really on the ball with everything. One day she told me that she hired a florist, I got her name, met with her and booked her right away. Ta da! So our florist is Mariah from Simply Flowers.

When I met with her I had no idea what I wanted for flowers so she showed me some options and I fell in LOVE with calla lilies. Look at these beauties...

 

"With skin white as the snow..."

 

I'm having problems!!! All of my life I've wanted to look like the perfect bride. In my mind that bride is tan. Like these brides....

Lately there have been so many paler women embracing this on their wedding day....and they look beautiful!! 

 

And there are so many celebrities to use as makeup inspiration for this kind of look. My personal favorite is Zooey Deschanel. I think that she is stunning!! I also love ScarJo's look.

I think that I'm going to tan through April so that I'm tan for the bridal shower in May but I'm not going to overdo it. I'm going to tan 2, maximum 3, days a week and see how it goes. I know that I definitely don't want to look like this...

 

I don't know what to do for the wedding!!!! Part of me is also thinking that since I have a "milky" complexion naturally and our honeymoon will be spent on the beach in Mexico it would probably be smart to at least have a good base tan before heading south of the border so I don't come back looking like a lobster.

 

Decisions, decisions....what do you think??

OH MY GOSH! I can't believe I forgot to tell you about this. You should totally use Christina's kitchen and make some of these. They are super easy, you can just put them in the oven while you guys run!!!!

 

They are my new favorite snack. I'm going to make a few batches of them tonight so that I can snack on them throughout the week.

 

Roasted Chickpeas

• 1 (12 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
• 2 tablespoons olive oil 
• salt (optional) - I used it!!
• garlic salt (optional) - I used this also
• cayenne pepper (optional) - I substituted black pepper for this

1.     Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).

2.     Blot chickpeas with a paper towel to dry them. In a bowl, toss chickpeas with olive oil, and season to taste with salt, garlic salt, and cayenne pepper, if using. Spread on a baking sheet, and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until browned and crunchy. Watch carefully the last few minutes to avoid burning.

     I cooked these for 30 minutes exactly and they were perfect. I think that you could change it up pretty easily too! I thought about maybe using a little ranch dressing mix on the beans or maybe even taco seasoning to make different flavors. I'll try them out tonight and let you know how it goes!

In the middle!!!

Of the wedding tables that is!!

 

So centerpieces drove me crazy for a long time. For a while I wanted something like this...

 

 

Then I saw some gorgeous other ideas! Like these....

 

 

 

 

And I changed my mind about what I wanted every.single.day. Since the main color that we are working with is black a lot of the centerpieces that I found seemed a little too bright. I also didn't want the centerpieces to block people seeing other people at their table so the big tall beautiful centerpieces were out. And after I got a quote from my florist the flower centerpieces are out (I actually considered doing my own flowers for a while after I got that quote).

 

This is what I finally decided on!! We are going to have lanterns. There are going to be candles inside of the lanterns and around the bottoms of the candles in the lanterns we will have alternating pearls and yellow flower petals!!

 

This is the lantern...

 

LOVE 

 

And I will take a picture of it with the things inside when I get home. I LOVE them and we have assembled all of the lanterns that we need so those are taken care of. Setting them up won't be difficult either so that's another plus!!!!

Back to the grind....

Disneyland was absolutely magical!!! I felt like such a corny person at Disneyland though haha. I really can "feel" the magic as soon as I walk in the park. Maybe it's just the extra wedding emotions but I even teared up a few times (during the fireworks show, walking through the castle, anytime anyone mentions anything about dreams coming true, in the gift shop looking at princess sketches hahahaha). I love that I feel that way though. I really want our kids to have that same feeling. I'm determined to keep the dream alive for them! I absolutely cannot wait for our kids' first trip to Disneyland!

I didn't run Friday, Saturday or Sunday. There was no gym in the hotel. I was planning on going for a run when we got there, I pulled out the hotel guide thingy and there was no gym on the map. I was devastated. So I ate away my devastation by going to the Denny's right by the hotel with Josh and his aunt and cousins and ate some pancake puppies. If you have never tried that marvelous creation you have to get to a Denny's RIGHT AWAY. They are Heaven. See pictures below for proof!!!

I'm at 83 miles completed so my goal is to be over 100 by the end of the week! Halfway!!! How exciting!! I'm loving running, especially as my distances get longer. It's so relaxing too! I look forward to it all day.

I've decided to share some of my wedding projects on our blog too so you can see what's going on!! I want you to see all that we have been doing!! Is that okay with you? I'm going to keep up with the exercise/health motivation too, just with little pieces of wedding sprinkled here and there :)

I'll write a post in a minute to catch you up on the projects so far!!!!

Another day, another dollar...poorer

Ha. So yes, I have spent waaaaay too much money online shopping as of late. My bank account looks sad. I feel sad when I look at my bank account. Once all the dresses come this week, I will be able to see which one I like, and then return the others....so, then the situation will improve slightly. It is no fun not having a real job. I can't wait to be a college graduate!!! I am most definitely getting a better job when I'm in grad school.


This past week has been pretty good running wise. Christina ran with me every day and it has been soooo gorgeous. We take turn pushing Emilia in her stroller because it seriously makes it so much harder to run. She weighs like 18 lbs. I think, plus the stroller weight, plus the wind....it is always windy when we run in the evening...


ONE WEEK TIL DOOMS DAY!!! I have been studying like a mad woman and I am feeling pretty darn proud of myself. I have not felt this studious in a while. I got so much done this weekend and I am planning to stay caffeinated up all week with tons of tea in order to continue my crazy study schedule. Tea has been my best friend lately (well, not best-er than you, of course!). Caffeine is a miracle drug. I don't know how I did not discover this until my last semester of college...guess I'm not too bright. At least I can say I learned something in my four years here.


My only exercise goal this week is to run everyday. It is quite minimal. My shortest run is usually 3 miles, so I think I will keep it that. I have been totally slacking on the Six Week Six Pack workout :( I miss it! How are you and Josh doing with it? 


Well, it is not 1 past midnight, so I guess this counts as my Monday post! haha 


Have a lovely week!!!


My new obsession


I loooove their music. I bought their CD yesterday and have been listening to it on repeat literally all day long! I just put it on my MP3 player so I can fall asleep to it too.

Time for a post!! Finally, right???

 

This week has been PHENOMENAL running wise for me!!! I've caught up!!! Last night I caught up to Andrea in our running challenge, yay! This week so far I've run 22 miles. I'm still going to run at least 4 miles tonight and 3 tomorrow morning because I won't have the chance to run this weekend. I'm not sure if I told you or not but we're going to DISNEYLAND!!! And I am so excited I cannot even contain myself. It's been forever since we've been there and we have park hopper tickets so we can go to D-Land AND CA Adventures. I actually can't believe I haven't told you because I've been counting down for weeks.

 

I've also really upped (word? now it is) my mileage per run. This week I've had one 5 mile runs, one 6 mile run, one 7 mile run and one 4 mile run. Once I run 3 miles it just feels like it's just one more to 4 miles and then it feels pointless to stop when 5 is so close!!!

 

I've also been cooking vegan for us!! Here's a vegan recipe for your eating pleasure, yum!!!

 

Quick Quesadillas
Makes 8 quesadillas

• 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (chick peas)
• 1/2 cup water-packed roasted red pepper
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 8 corn tortillas
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1/2 to 1 cup salsa

Drain the beans and place in a food processor or blender with the next five ingredients. Process until very smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.

Spread a tortilla with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the garbanzo mixture and place in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle with chopped onions and salsa.

Top with a second tortilla and cook until the bottom tortilla is warm and soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip and cook the second side for 1 minute. Remove from the pan and cut in half. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Dresses!

Well, in lieu of studying, I have been online shopping. I pretty much take a break every 10 minutes and look at dresses. Not so productive...


I need a dress for the graduation gala and for the actual ceremony.


The gala is a dinner and dance the night before with all the other graduates and their families.


I found this dress at Macy's but they don't have my size :( I thought it would be good for the gala.


Sooo if you have any time to kill, maybe you can help me look around online to see if I can find a size small?


Here it is


What do you think of the dress? I'm not completely sold just because its white. I might need to go with something more colorful.


I like it because its sort of casual and dressy all at once. I'm still looking for other options though. I don't really know what I'm looking for--just something cute! haha

Hi, My name is Andrea, and I'm a gum-aholic

Okay, so I have this strange addiction to Dubble Bubble bubble gum. I buy a 1 lb. bag at Wal-mart and I just pop those things in my mouth one after another. As soon as one loses flavor (which takes only a few minutes), I get another. It is so sad. My entire mouth is dyed pink and my trash can fills with ABC gum and their wrappers....I continue to chew despite my tired and aching jaw...I don't want to know how much sugar I consume in chewing all of this. I bought the bag on Friday and I only have a few pieces left....


I need a support group.


I'm adding this to my Lenten sacrifices- no more Dubble Bubble!!! 

No, I'm not dead...

You are definitely not a liar! You have kept up with this more than I have! I am drowning in a sea of homework, senior exams, translations, and papers...trying to keep afloat, but not become too buoyant (i.e. FAT! haha). Don't you just love my corny jokes? 


Anyway, as of right now, I have no idea where I am in the 200 mile challenge. I'm sure if I sat down I could figure it out. I'm still probably going to have to do most of it in between graduation and your wedding, though. It is difficult to find time to exercise right now just because I have my senior oral exam in TWO WEEKS!! My profs set the day--April 5! I am terrified! I have exactly two weeks to buckle down and pretty much ignore everything else in life. 


During finals weeks or other stressful times like this in the past, I would stop exercising...partly because I felt like I didn't have the time, and partly because I was so sleep-deprived I could hardly move my body anyway. BUT this time, I am determined to keep exercising. It seriously affects how productive I am, and just my mood in general (You are right, Elle Woods!). I have resolved to run at least 2 or 3 miles a day. It's so frustrating because my legs always want MORE but I just don't have the time to run much farther. 


There is a 5K this weekend that I was planning on doing, but I'm still debating whether or not I should. It is at 7:30am which means I have to  be up at 5am on a Saturday. Usually, I just do it, but this weekend I need to study all day and on weekends when I do 5Ks I'm usually exhausted from getting up early and exerting a lot of energy for the race! I might just do it and take it as a leisurely run so that I am not too tired later in the day.


It is called the "Beach Bum 5K" and we run on the beach...in sand...not so fun! Last time I did it though, we ran right up by the water and there were dolphin swimming and jumping out in the water really close to the shore. It was so much fun! Some of the people run barefoot or in their swimsuits...I'm not sure I'm comfortable enough for that! haha:)


On a totally unrelated note, I am currently searching for the perfect dress for graduation!! If you see anything that catches your eye, let me know or send me a link to it or something! 


Since I hear it's been raining a lot over there, here is a little something to brighten up your day!


A Little Monday Happiness for You


This music video makes me so sad that I forgot my jean jacket at home! haha

Updates updates updates!

Wow so I'm a liar. I have obviously not been keeping up with this! It seems like in the past week a bunch of wedding things and work craziness just caught me off guard!! So I am going to update now.

 

Alright, since I last posted I've been doing MUCH better keeping up with my running. In week 1 of our challenge I ran a total of 10 miles. I also ran 10 miles in week 2. Last week (week 3) I ran 20 miles! Yay!!! I kept pretty consistent throughout the week and it felt so much better! This week I didn't run Sunday or Monday but I ran 5 miles last night. I plan on doing another 5 tonight, 4 tomorrow, 4 Friday and hopefully 3 on Saturday. On Saturday we will be at Josh's dad's house and I really like running outside there because there is a great loop that's a little over 2 miles. I'm going to try to make it around that loop twice!!! I haven't done that before so we'll see how it goes!

 

With the 6 week 6 pack workout Josh and I have been doing it AT LEAST 3 days a week. Last week I did it 4 and so far this week we've done it twice so we'll see how the rest of the week goes!

 

On Monday night Andrea came over and had dinner with us. We all did the 6 week 6 pack together and then after dinner Andrea also showed me some of her new Zumba moves!!! It was actually a really good work out! I got really sweaty really fast!

 

On the diet side of things....Team Vegan is going strong on day 2!!!! I've been eating a lot of fruit and vegetables and beans! Anddddd I've lost 2 pounds! Crazy! It's been pretty easy so far but yesterday I was driving home and I heard a commercial for "Buffalo Wild Wings" and my mouth was definitely watering. I never have cravings for meat! Andrea said that she was driving past In N' Out and started drooling over the smell of hamburger hahaha.I'm sure that eventually the cravings will subside (at least I hope so)!!!

 

I know this is an extremely boring post but I promise to update tomorrow with some yummy vegan recipes!! I found a recipe for vegan apple turnovers that I'll be making tonight to take to girls night tomorrow night! I'll try to remember to take pictures so that you can see!!

Raindrops and Roses and Whiskers on Kittens...

 

This post is about my favorite things about working out!! I'm hoping it will help with my motivation as I get back into the working out loop this week.

 

Doe- I LOVE how I feel after I work out. Sure, I'm usually exhausted but I'm also content and so proud of myself. I always cut Jillian off at the end of the DVD when she's talking about thinking about how you've just taken time for yourself, blah blah blah (the DVD is never on past that point so I have no idea what else she says haha) but it really is true. That feeling is awesome.

 

Ray- The feeling of calm that working out brings me. I am the queen of stress. I hyperventilate and freak out about something almost daily, especially since we only have 110 DAYS LEFT UNTIL THE WEDDING!! That is not very long at all, it's absolutely terrifying. My heart rate peaks just thinking about it, seriously. After I run or do the ab workout though it doesn't bother me as much. Things just roll of my back instead of sitting on top of my shoulders like bricks.

 

Me- The motivation that it gives me to eat healthy things. After I work out it feels so stupid to drink chocolate milk or to eat fries for lunch or to make bread with dinner instead of veggies. It feels like I'm just cheating myself. If I've been working out I'd much rather eat salad or steamed veggies or salmon. Yum!

 

Fa- The confidence that I have when I know I look good. When I don't work out I can feel fat oozing into my body and my muscles losing tone. It does not make me happy. I don't put as much effort into my hair or makeup because I already feel BLAH and it feels like there is no point. When I work out and feel healthy I feel amazing. I feel thin, strong and confident. It really affects the way I look, the amount of effort that I put into it and my whole attitude.

 

So- The pride in what I'm doing. In the past I have not had self control and I hate that. Sometimes I still fall into those ruts (see last post lol) but most of the time I do much better now. I can't believe that I used to eat what I ate, I could never do that now. It's so disgusting to me now. I love feeling like I have control over myself and my cravings. I love being able to stick to what I plan on eating instead of caving to 7 billion pieces of chocolate for lunch. I had a bad moment last Sunday. We were at lunch (in the midst of that amazing dessert sampler previously mentioned) and Justin casually says "I don't think girls have the self control to ever diet." I put down my fork and stared him down. I was very angry. Then he made it worse. He said, "I mean, not all girls. YOU just love sweets too much to do it." And that's when I almost jumped across the table and killed him. I was soooooooo angry. Because of how I used to be in the past my self control is a huge hot button for me. Sometimes I feel like I don't have any and it's something that I'm VERY insecure about. I don't want people around me to see me as a pig who eats everything in sight. I'm always worried that people see me that way. At nights when I eat 2 servings of dinner instead of one I'm always worried that even Josh will think that I have no self control. *For the record, Josh never thinks that. He, in fact, doesn't want me to ever lose more weight. He thinks I'm perfect. Awwww.* I had an emotional breakdown when we got in the car. Thank God that Josh is amazing and knows how to deal with me when things like that happen. I recovered (to go eat cheesecake bites haha ugh) but it really was a wake up call that I need to be different.

 

La- I sleep like a baby. I'm sure it's because of all of the energy I'm using in my workouts. I lay down and I am practically dead to the world within seconds. I love being able to sleep deeply without lying awake for hours.

 

Tea- Shopping!!!!!!!! Working out=being in good shape=fitting into cute clothes=owning cute clothes=being cute all the time!!

 

Doe- How it helps me bond with people! I bond with you over keeping each other accountable, I bond with Andrea over running especially and working out, I bond with Josh over our ab soreness, I bond with Justin over his attempts to do the ab workout after we stuffed him with cookies and pizza, I bond with Jacob over his sitting on the couch with an ice cream bar critiquing my plank (evil).

 

Here's to a healthy week!!!!!!!!!!

 

P.S. I don't have any idea why I spelt some of those notes the way that I did. I just went with how I felt. Whatever, I do what I want. LOL

Good News and Bad News.

 

 

Good News #1: I stuck to my eating plan for the days that I posted!!! No cheating AT ALL! How exciting!!

 

Bad News #1: Saturday and Sunday were eating disasters. Haha! On Saturday Josh and I slept in. For breakfast we had eggs, fried potatoes, sausage and blueberry muffins. Luckily since we had breakfast at around lunch time we didn't eat lunch but for dinner we went out with Josh's dad and brothers and Andrea. We went to an amazing mexican place at Bullard and West called Rosa Linda's. Yum!!! Every time we go somewhere that has tortilla chips and salsa I eat so much that it is grotesque! So I had tortilla chips and salsa (obviously), an enchilada, a taco and some beans and rice. When we got back to Josh's dad's house I had some peanut butter torte (ahhhh-mazing). I felt like I was going to explode.

 

I know what you're thinking....diet disaster?? That doesn't sound so bad! Well Sunday is where it gets U-G-L-Y. We got up early to go to church at 9 because we have pre-marital classes now during the time we normally go to church (10:40) and Josh's dad got donuts for breakfast. I ate a boston creme and decided I was going to stop. Then I proceeded to eat a little round blueberry type one and 2 donut holes. Ugh. For lunch we went to Elephant Bar. It started out innocent enough. Andrea and I split a french dip (which in total is only a little less than 600 cals which is pretty good for Elephant Bar). It was delicious. Then we ordered the dessert sampler. It includes....(wait for it)....a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting, a wonton sunday with hot fudge, a delicious brownie with whip cream anddddddd a few scoops of ice cream with chocolate fudge. All of us shared this but I really feel like I took down most of it myself. I just couldn't stop!!! On Sunday evening Chris and Sarah hosted an Oscar party. We dressed up and headed over!!! Andrea and Justin came too. Well Sarah cooks things from Heaven. We had teryaki chicken on skewers, mini egg salad sandwiches, cinnamon popcorn (a true gift from God), caprese salad and truffles. Mint truffles, espresso truffles and cheesecake bites. I stopped counting how many of the cheesecake bites I ate!!

 

Good News #2: On Monday morning I weighed myself and I gained NO weight over the weekend. It was an absolute miracles. I still felt like a blob but no weight gain! Woohoo!!!

 

Bad News #2: I didn't work out all weekend. Friday-Sunday no working out happened. I still have this gosh darn cold and it was at it's worst over the weekend and I had no energy.

 

Good News #3: I'm back on the bandwagon!! Yesterday I didn't cheat eat at all. I ran 2 miles before I got horrible stupid PMS cramps too. Yay!

 

Bad News #3: I have a lot of catching up to do!!!! I'm embarrassed to say it but, including last night's run, I have so far completed 12 miles of the challenge. *Hangs head in shame*  We're going camping this weekend but this week I am going to catch up!! I'm going to run 3 miles tonight, 5 tomorrow (probably 3 in the morning before work and 2 in the evening) 3 on Thursday morning and 3 on Friday morning. That will put me at 16 miles for the week and 26 miles total. I am determined!!!

 

Good News #4: I have new motivation. The new Victoria's Secret swimsuit catalog came in the mail on Friday and there are about 5 swimsuits that I feel like are necessary to my life. So now I have to make sure they look good!!

 

Bad News #4: VS swimsuits are ridiculously expensive. Kill me. I'm going to have to order them a little at a time. A top here, a bottom there.....

 

Good News #5: Josh and I will be working on our 6 packs tonight!! I can't wait to get us back in that groove!!

 

I hope that your midterms week is going fabulously!!!!

 

Oh...

 

Good News #6: I have a renewed dedication to our blog!! I solemnly swear that I will not be as neglectful as I have been for this past week ever again!!!!