Thursday, November 24, 2011

Week 16

Week 16 weigh in day brings me to 227 on the nose! That's a 2.8 lb loss from last week, 37.4 lbs since surgery and 51 lbs from my highest ever back in summer of 2010. Now there's something to be thankful for!

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

xoxo

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Thanksgiving! and a NSV

It's officially Thanksgiving break and I plan to take full advantage of it. I'm going to use the time to catch up on all of your blogs, do some school work, hang out with my family. Because I work taking care of the elderly, my company can't close for holidays. I picked up a shift tomorrow and my family's going to have Thanksgiving dinner at my brother's house on Sunday. I'll be cooking, he'll just be hosting. It works out, because both he and my sister-in-law are nurses, and my dad works for the airlines, so we all have jobs that don't close for holidays. I'm so excited to cook for everyone. Love feeding people.

I'm going to pick up my mom today and she's going to stay with us for a few days and help me get everything prepared for our Thanksgiving dinner and I think we might do some Christmas shopping, too. She's excited, I think. She always seems to think that she's going to get in our way and I have to keep reminding her that she's my mom and I've lived with her before. She definitely got in my way more when I was 15 and in the "My Mother's Ruining My Life" stage.

Speaking of moms, the visit with Ben's mom on Sunday went well. She's still going to be in the hospital for a few more days, but she seems to be doing alright. She was happy to see us. And you know something? I can't even tell you how happy I am that we don't have the type of mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship that is frequently portrayed in sitcoms. I genuinely like her and she likes me too and that makes me happy.

I'm in such a good mood today. I'm sorry I'm kind of bouncing around, but I just love the holidays and Thanksgiving is my favorite. I always reflect about the good things around this time, which is nice because in general, I'm a rather pessimistic person. I've actually been down on myself a lot lately because I feel like my weight loss isn't good enough. But, that makes a good segue to my NSV! Before surgery, I went to a thrift store and picked up a pair of size 20 jeans (they're a small size 20, I think) and at the time of purchase, there was a good six inches or so to button them. I tried them on again about 2 weeks ago and there was still a gap. Yesterday, I tried them on to see how much I had to go til they fit, and to my surprise, the suckers actually buttoned!!!! Not only did they button, but they feel good on. I'm so excited because I was seriously considering living in sweat pants forever. Lots of body issues lately. It's no good.

But, I've set a mini goal for myself, which is to be down to 220 by the end of the year. I think that's pretty reasonable and it'll definitely keep me accountable through the holiday season. One thing I'm definitely thankful for this year is the opportunity to have had this surgery, the support of family and friends, and the encouragement of this awesome blogging community.

I hope you all have a very happy and safe Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for this year?

xoxo

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Week 15

I'm so terribly sorry for my two week absence. There's been a lot going on...get to that in a minute. I hope everyone's doing well though. I'm not going to lie, I haven't even had time to read your blogs, so I've got a lot of catching up to do.
Weigh in today was 229.8! Pretty excited to be out of the 230s. Hit a bit of a plateau there, but as long as I'm going in the downward direction, I'm happy.
The reason for my not posting last Friday like I said I would is because my friend Mary had her baby and Ben and I had to go welcome her to the world. So, between that, studying for my Praxis II test, and all my other school work, I haven't had time for much of anything.
I did notice that I'm up to 62 followers now. This is amazing! I'm so glad to have the support of all you wonderful people and if I'm not already following you, certainly leave me a comment with your URL.
So, I took my Praxis test on Saturday when we went down to visit Ben's brother and sister-in-law. We had a good time. Hopefully I passed--won't find out til December 6.
Ben's mom is in the hospital, so we've been a bit pre-occupied with that. It's just been a weird past couple of weeks.

On a happier note, Lolli nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award :)

Versatile: ver-sa-tile [vur-suh-tl] or, especially British, [vur-suh-tahyl]: capable of, or adapted for, turning easily from one to another various tasks, fields of endeavor, etc.: a versatile writer.


Word information source: www.dictionary.com


Here is how the award works:


1. You thank the person who presented you with the award.


2. You tell 7 things about yourself.


3. You award 15 other newly discovered bloggers.


Thanks so much, Lolli :) That made my day when I saw that (even though it was two weeks ago...sorry!)

As for seven things about me?

1. I'm a procrastinator and I'm usually late when going places. I'm working on it though and I'm getting better with it. A couple weeks ago my brother organized a family dinner at Outback Steakhouse and told everyone to be there at 5:15, but told me to be there at 5:00. Well, I get there early and wonder where the crap everyone is and when they finally get there, brother says "It's the Jackie Rule. Even people outside the family know about the Jackie Rule." Jerk.

2. I love my grandma very much. She's freaking sweet. I was born the day before her birthday, so she always called me her birthday present. She's the only grandparent I've ever known because the others passed away before I was born, so she's extra special to me.

3. I used to bowl on my high school bowling team. I really kind of miss bowling. A lot.

4. Since having had surgery, I'm very much enjoying spicy foods. I never really cared for them before, so it's a little strange, but I really like it.

5. I'm getting sick of doing observations for school. I've already done my 30 hour field experience class, but this semester I need to observe for 15 more hours. My last day of it is tomorrow. I think I'll need to do another 15 next semester. Lame.

6. I can't wait til my niece or nephew is born. I'm going to crochet so much stuff for it. And I'm going to snuggle it and love it and spoil it like crazy :)

7. I have a friend named Alicia Kozakiewicz. Almost 11 years ago, when we were 13, she was abducted and enslaved by an online predator. He took her across state lines and tortured and raped her. The FBI found her and now she's taking a stand against internet predators, pedophilia, and child trafficking. Click here to check out the Alicia Project's Facebook page. Her story is amazing.

Here are some people I'd like to nominate for this award. Don't know if I'll make it to 15, but I'll try.

1. Samantha at *My Weightloss Surgery Journey*

2. Lani at ...Watch This Space...

3. Robin at A Wine Girl's Way to Thin

4. Rachel at Fat Fish in a Skinny Sea (I just love feeding her fish!)

5. PurseQueen at From Fat to Fabulous...

7. Samantha at I'm with the Band

8. Kelly at Life of a Banded Army Wife

9. Melissa at My Journey to Band Land

10. CeCe at Banded for Boots

If I went any farther, I'd be getting into people who've already been awarded, which is unnecessary. So, sorry for not reaching the full 15, but hey, life goes on.

I'm going to wrap it up here for now. Another busy weekend ahead--Work thing for Ben tomorrow after observing, cleaning Saturday, and visiting Ben's mom Sunday.

Have a great weekend, all.

xoxo

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Week 13

Weigh in: 230.5 :) loss of 1.6 from last week. Running late for school. Long post tomorrow for 3 month bandiversary!

xoxo