Lindsey's Corner

December

2012-01-09T12:10:00.000-08:00

Well the month of December brought us much joy and a little bit of a backache as well :)

Matt has been wanting to drive an SUV for a while so we went "looking" for cars and really fell in love with a newer version of my 4 runner but it wasn't in the cards. Then when we went back a second time we came upon this gem.

They gave us full blue book value for Matt's nissan, so we got it!

Now Matt has been in a wreck before because a teengaer rear ended his last car and totaled it so I think he must have bad luck because a week after we got this car this happened...

Sitting at a stop light on Northwest hwy the guy behind us decided his light had turned green and slammed right on in to us. Luckily the little car took it like a champ! We got a new bumper out of the deal but had some neck and backaches for a while to go along with it. I hope I'm never in a wreck again, it was kind of scary.

Next December brought us our first married Christmas which was very special. We spent Christmas eve with his family ( I missed my mom's tortilla soup and Emily's queso though) where we all exchanged gifts and had a nice dinner together. I love traditions and I feel it is important that Matt and I incorporate our own in to our new little family so we got stockings and "Santa" filled them with some goodies which we exchanged Christmas morning before going to mom and dad's house. We had fun watching Camp and Ellis rip in to the presents. Ellis picked up pretty quickly on how to open hers which was hilarious to watch. All in all a pretty good day together with the family.

Christmas Eve and Christmas day, and our cute little tree!

My favorite Christmas cards. We have the cutest nieces and nephews I can hardly stand it!

What a great first Christmas we had and enjoyed every minute of it!

Happy New year!

It's the most wonderful time of the, well you know....

2011-12-05T15:59:00.000-08:00

Oh how I love this time of the year! Everything about the Christmas season is just so much fun. Holiday parties to attend, singing and playing Christmas songs with the kiddos at school and getting to celebrate my first MARRIED Christmas!

We just celebrated our first Thanksgiving together and it was so much fun. We went to Matt's grandmother's for lunch and just spent the day lounging and eating and watching Cooper wander all over the place. I surely do love Matt's family and am so blessed that I have amazing in laws!

Christmas has certainly come to the Bourland household, as we all know I'm a little obsessed with Christmas. We have already begun the watching of Christmas movies, playing Christmas music while we eat dinner and getting our shopping done.

Thought I would share a couple of pictures that I took on my phone of our "home" all decorated :)

Our new Tree Skirt, which is enormous!

Tree

Thanksgiving Day

We found this cute little ornament at the Christmas store on the Pier in San Fran. Love it!

Santa can come in through our washing machine hook ups right? :) No need for a chimmney

Merry Christmas!

Life

2011-10-07T10:42:00.000-07:00

Well here I am almost 4 months in to our "I do's" and haven't said much on here!

School is crazy busy, I hardly have time to go use the restroom which that's fine I mean they make adult diapers for a reason right?! Ha just kidding.

Anyway, life is good, school is good, my kiddos are awesome! I love teaching my 6th graders this year. They're amazing in every way and so well behaved it's a total blessing.

Not a whole lot new is going on in life. I'm helping my sweet husband nurse back to health. He pulled his MCL at our softball game Tuesday and it looks like he will be cheering us on from the bench for the rest of the season. BUMMER! But it happens.

Prayers answered though, Matt is full time at his work place and I couldn't be more thrilled for him. He loves working where he is and they sound like a great group of people so I'm so happy about that.

Sept 19th marked one year since Matt got down on one knee and sweet boy surprised me at work with a beautiful bouquet of pink roses and a sweet card. Hey it's still the honeymoon phase right? ha.

I love this time of year where it's starting to get "cooler" outside and we get to begin teaching the fun holiday songs and activities with the kids. 1st semester always goes by soooo quickly, love it!!

Anyway, that's the brief update in to my life. I know you're all tickled pink by it.

YAY 3 day weekend!!

What we did this summer

2011-08-24T12:53:00.000-07:00

I feel like I need to say we instead of I more than usual lately because I've come to find out that WE do quite a bit together! Even though my summer was pretty uneventful after our I do's I will say we did some fun things together and with friends and family so I thought I'd share through pictures.

One of our good couple's friends brought us out for a nice dinner as our wedding gift! It was so much fun!

Celebrated Ellis' 1st birthday (stole pic from Em's blog)

Threw a surprise birthday for Matt!

Matt's 30th birthday we celebrated with his family and then some of our friends.

Hung our wedding pictures! Took a lot of time but I love having them up!

And Finally introduced my new name to my kiddos! Some still call me Ms. Zachry and that's ok!

Bye Summer, so ready for cooler weather and a more steady routine. Looking forward to all the things were doing this year!

Goodbye summer/Our home

2011-08-12T07:54:00.000-07:00

My mom asked me the other day why I haven't blogged lately and I told her it was because I haven't done anything to blog about! I mean I could tell you about my hours of tv watching, book reading, cleaning, etc but that's about it!

I can't believe I have to go back to work on Monday and I can honestly say I'm a little nervous about my schedule this year and battles I'll have to overcome traveling to a new school. But I am excited to see some of my kiddos this year and getting to share my new name with the kids! That should be interesting.

I took some pictures of our little apt to share. When we got back from our honeymoon I was already looking for things to help improve it and make it feel more cozy.

Our enormous bed, takes up the room but so worth it!

We obviously still need a headboard but one thing at a time!

The enormous tv that I love having in there!

A little Sally Taylor Art and our new chair!

Wedding pics are up! Took us 3 hours but so worth it!

I love this chair...its like an old mans jacket all it needs are the brown elbow patches!

I have enjoyed sharing my space with such a clean roommate! I'm so thankful for that! He's been really great about helping keeping it clean and picked up. Since we do have limited space it's easy to mess up quickly!

San Francisco

2011-07-12T12:31:00.000-07:00

I honestly think we picked the best place for a honeymoon. When deciding where we wanted to go we both ruled out a beach. It would be nice for a couple of days but we are both so ADD that we knew we needed to get out and do things. We had so much fun in San Fran, and I cried the day we left.

San Fran We miss you! Can't wait to go back :)

One month

2011-07-12T12:15:00.000-07:00

So yesterday marked our first month of marraige! So hard to believe that this time last month we were on our way to beautiful San Francisco for an amazing honeymoon. I remember when Matt and I got to the airport we got there way early just so we could relax and have lunch together. While we were there I realized how I had left my phone charger in our room (of course it was something!) so Matt called the hotel and he said "my wife" and then looked at me and we both kind of giggled. It was the first time he had said it and it made my heart soar! It's so amazing to me that God had someone so wonderful for me. I wake up each morning and thank him for the people he has put in my life. I can't imagine meeting a more wonderful husband and I love calling him just that!

I love you Matt!

Married Bliss

2011-06-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

Well we did it, we got hitched! The wedding day was such a blur after Matt and I walked out of the church. I was sad I didn't get to see my reception more before I was whisked around the room. But I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures!

Our honeymoon in San Fran was amazing, I am so glad we went there. We did as much as we possibly could and still could have had another week to do all the things we didn't get to! Here are just a few photo ops we took on my phone from the different places we visited.

Matt's first in and out experience! Needless to say he loved it!

No worries mom I didn't eat it all!

This was taken at our favorite little Bakery Called Boudin. We had breakfast here twice during our week.

On the ferry headed to Napa!

Matt at the vineyard where we had a beautiful picnic lunch! The weather was perfect!

Waiting on the F line after Napa, when we got back to San Fran it was COLD!!!

Last day we did an open bus tour to Saulsalito that went over the Golden Gate Bridge!

We look like such tourists in this picture, but it was so cold on the bus tour and then in Saulsalito so we bought the sweatshirts as souviners as well!

All in all we had an amazing week of eating and walking and sightseeing and just getting to know each other that much better. I really have married my best friend and we had an amazing time together. Now were home and settling in to our small yet charming new apartment :)

Birthday Flop

2011-05-22T09:14:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I turned 28, and at the begining of the month I had planned to have dinners go eat with us at Eno's in the bishop arts district. I didn't do anything exciting yesterday, Matt and I organized some things and cleaned and just ran errands. All in all it was a good day, until this happened.....

Warning Scary Pic Below!

We sat down last night ordered a salad and pizza to share and my first bite in to my salad CRUNCH I bit in to the fork wrong and my fake porcelain tooth crumbled in to itty bitty pieces. And all that's left underneath were remnents of my old tooth.....So needless to say there were some tears and a phone call to my parents to track down a dentist since mine doesn't have an emergency phone line OF COURSE!!!

So end of story I have a temporary tooth on that is way more yellow than the rest of my teeth and I have been fitted for a new porcelain tooth. Only bad news is the dentist said it usually takes 3 weeks to get the tooth in so he said he would put a rush on it so I'm selfishly praying that it gets here before our wedding day so I don't have this yellow one in all our wedding pics!!

We did get one good photo in before all this happened which was nice :)

So happy birthday to me! I did cry at my party but by the end of the night we were all just laughing about the big hole in my mouth......reminded me of the hangover movie, I did look pretty close a hill billy!

Here's to never a dull moment!

Blogging

2011-05-06T06:27:00.000-07:00

I have fallen way behind on my blogging and I know all two of my readers are extremly sad about that! I blame it on life :)

I am so excited that it's May which means I only have 4 weeks of school left and this makes me so happy you don't even know. With the month of May comes many a choir performances, field trips and other special activities around school. I know just like the past 8 months this month will also fly by. I'm kind of starting to panic as well since there are now 5 weeks until we get married and I feel like, have we gotten everything done? Did I do everything I was supposed to? I feel like between my mother and I we have done a lot of great things and done what we needed to do. I'm hoping the week of my wedding I will get to enjoy the last few moments of being engaged :)

Last month we took our engagement pictures by the wonderfully talented Elicia Graves. She is my sister's best friend and she and i share the love of Harry Potter. She was so sweet to take them for us and I love all of the pictures! We took them down at the Windspear opera house which if you have never been down there not only is the outside amazing but the theatre is so cool!

I had my first dress fitting this week and it went well. I'm excited to see it all finished and ready for me to walk down the aisle in.

Today ended week 2 of my bootcamp I've been doing at church.....can I say ow? I ran more today then I have in the last 2 years and it was NOT fun. But I know it's a good work out and even though 5 AM comes WAY too early I'm hoping I'll have the results I want by the end of the 4 weeks. Only time will tell :)

Yay FRIDAY! And Happy almost Mother's day to my wonderful mom.

It continues

2011-04-28T08:09:00.001-07:00

44 MORE DAYS!

And 45 more until we are in beautiful San Francisco for a week......

COME ON JUNE 11TH!

Good ol Sylivia

2011-03-29T12:36:00.000-07:00

No that my life was just FULL of hand me downs, but I did get quite a few items from my sister as the years went along and I was always THRILLED to get them from her.....because lets be real, I always thought Emily was the coolest.

Anyway, when I first started learning how to drive, my mom and dad were too terrified to get in the car with me to practice, so who did they put in the car with me, yup Emily. When I turned 16, my dad bought Emily a new/used 4-runner that JM still drives to this day. I then in return got her Jeep Grand Cherokee which she had named, Grandbean. Anyway, I thought it was the coolest car and was just so excited to even have a car of my own it could have been called snot rocket, I still would have driven it. Well I drove that Green Jeep Grand Cherokee all through highschool and it had so MANY problems but it was still awesome.

Well the week after my 18th birthday, I"ll never forget this......

My sister throws open my bedroom door at like 10 in the morning and angrily says "mom and dad need you in the garage." haha I'm laughing as I type this, sorry Em!

So I pull myself out of bed in my pj's walk out to the garage and there sitting in our driveway is a BRAND NEW Silver Toyota 4-runner. I'll never forget that moment, I was torn between being excited and sad (never had the chance to say goodbye to grandbean.)

Well that wonderful present was given to me 9 years ago this coming May and it has been a great car.

I looked down at the dashboard last week and was able to capture this picture.....

That's right, good ol Sylvia officially has more then 100,000 miles on it. Here's hoping to 100,000 more!

Goodbye/Hello

2011-03-25T06:24:00.000-07:00

So I have lived in the same Village apartments for almost 4 years now, which is hard to believe. A couple of weekends ago Matt and I went and put down a deposit on our new "home." It too is in the village.

They're called Westside and they're still fairly new. It's a much smaller complex then the others and it's nice and quiet. Were really excited about it. We will have a small one bedroom, so our first year or so of marraige is really going to be put to the test living in such small quarters, but that's ok!

Things I won't miss about my old apt:
-the fear of waking up with water in my bed during a thunderstorm. When I first moved in to the one where I live now, they patched about 5 leaks, 2 in my bedroom and 3 in the living/dining room area.
-how my bedroom door will mysteriously shut itself every time I walk in and out of there. Pretty sure a ghost must live with me, because it will just slowly close shut all the way.
-the very thin walls, you can't hardly hang anything on them, they will crumble.
-the ghetto sliding glass doors with the flap blinds over there, I HATE THOSE THINGS!
-no ice maker. Having guests over and then realizing I have no ice for glasses really sucked.

*I will miss my old place for it was mine. I moved in all by myself, I bought what I needed, I put a roof over my head. It's very rewarding even though I'm not a house owner yet, to know that I can supply myself with things that I need. And for that I'm truly grateful.

Now on to our new place!
-FRENCH DOORS! (even though only one door opens they look so much nicer)
-Nice fixtures in the bathroom
-a linen closet IN THE BATHROOM! yup my old place my linens were stored under my bed in a plastic container.
-BIG walk in closet. Luckily even though our place will be small we do have a nice sized closet which I know will be quickly filled because this kid has more shoes then I do.
-ICE MAKER! it really is the small things in life that make me happy! I will no longer have to fill those stupid ice treys!
-a microwave that comes with the apt and is above the stove! It will no longer take up half my kitchen
-Full size washer and dryer, no longer will I have to actually dive in to my washer to pull clothes out....stackables were so tiny.
-and finally and cheesily (not a word I know) Matt :) Our new place will have both of us there, every night I know that he or I won't have to make the trek down 635 to go back to our own homes. We will finally be in one spot together. And for that I really am excited about!

So forward march to June!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

2011-03-16T15:23:00.000-07:00

Last Sat Matt and I did our first "running" 5k. We dashed down greenville and while I did quite a bit of running, it was hard. I know 3 miles doesn't seem like a lot but it seemed like FOREVER to me! We did capture a cute photo of us though.

Be sure to wear your green tomorrow!

Forward March

2011-03-03T09:17:00.000-08:00

Well now it's March and then comes April and May then JUNE!

Today there are only 100 more days until Matt and I say I do. Hard to believe we started counting down at 285 and tomorrow we will be in the double digits. I know it's still a ways off but then again it's not!

Feb was a busy month and March will be a busy one as well. And I guess I'll throw in April and May too, to boot. I'm so excited about all the fun things that are coming our way. There's still qutie a bit of planning to do but it's mainly the small details which drive me crazy! I'm way too ADD for details HELLO!

Our spring break starts next Friday, meaning I have that Friday off which is so exciting! I'm ready to get some things done and do some spring cleaning. Lots of things that will not be traveling with me to my ahem our new home......weird.

Matt is planning on helping me move at the end of April to our new apt, and no we don't know where yet. More then likely we will still be in the village until we buy a house in the future. So I'll live in the new place all of May then move home for 2 weeks in June while we move his stuff in. Fun stuff!

So much is happening so fast, I'm excited and nervous for all the changes.

So glad tomorrow is Friday!

It's Feb?!

2011-02-11T05:59:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's already Feb, partly because the first week of the month I was stuck inside my apt for 4 days with no internet, or cable! As I told my sister as we played many games of Words with Friends, I was begining to go crazy. But I did catch up on some much needed rest which is always a plus!

I've been so behind on my blogging, but there isn't enough space I feel to explain everything that's going on!

Last week Matt lost his job, they brought him and 10 others in to their meeting office and said bye, pack up your stuff and leave now. Needless to say I got a very ANGRY phone call from Matt right after that. He and I both know that God does things for a reason, and I'm hoping that something great will come along closer to Dallas so his move will be complete to here. So keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Wedding planning is coming along very nicely, I honestly could not do it without my mother's help. If it weren't for her constant emails, and phone calls, and talking to vendors, Matt and I would be eloping! No joke :) She has made this process very enjoyable and has never once told me what to do. I feel like I have a pretty good hand of what I want at the wedding and things I want to incoporate and she's helped me figure out ways to do so. Who needs a wedding planner with your Mom can do it for you?!

So thank you mom!

One of my oldest and dearest friends, Julia Lemmon is getting married next month in Charlottesville and I'm sad I can't see her walk down the aisle, but she is having a shower and Bachelorette party here in Dallas next weekend so I'm glad I get to partake it some of her wedding festivities!

I'll end on a high note, this past Monday I got to go babysit Camp and Ellis and I usually don't go over there until right before bed time. When Emily opened the door for me Camp came running to me with such excitement. I felt so happy to see how excited he was to see me since I can't get over there as much as I'd like. Then he says this to me, "Let's watch tv aunt Indsey" Apparantly ever time he sees me he associates me with tv watching, because Em lets us watch curious george like 1 time before he went to bed!! Too funny, but that's ok I'll take what I can get ;)

Happy Friday!

This one? How about this one?

2011-01-27T08:39:00.000-08:00

Lots of wedding planning going on and I admit, I am starting to love it a little. I think now that it's getting closer to all the fun stuff I'm enjoying the process much more. This week's topic has been shoes! Who knew there were so many shoes in the world. I am NOT a shoe person, if you'll go back to like March of last year on my blog, I threw out my coach shoes I had for 4 years. I don't like shopping for shoes because to have cute shoes you must have the cute clothes to go with them and lets just say my wardrobe is quite sad right now. Since I'm still in the process of losing weight I don't buy new clothes unless I must and it's usually for a shower or party etc.

Anyway, each night this week I have had a different dream incoporating whatever my last email topic was with my mom. Let's just say there have been a lot of shoe dreams this week. Last night I had a dream about Matt forgetting to book our flight for our honeymoon! Ha. So crazy.

I am excited about all the different decisions that need to be made right now, even though at times it's a little overwhelming I know it will get done. My mom and sister have been very helpful and polite with certain decision makings which I'm truly grateful for. I know once June is over my mom will be a little sad because I know she loves all this planning as well!

June 11th, I can't wait until you're here, but then again I can ;)

Progress

2011-01-13T08:16:00.000-08:00

So this was week 2 of Matt and I's couch to 5k. This week you run for 1.30 and walk a minute. We have been running on treadmills since it's way too cold to run outside obviously! But it's really fun to run next to Matt because we both have the same pained look on our faces when we run! My endurance is good it's just my shins are KILLING me! But I grin and bear it:) Last night we ran and I ended up walking only a total of 5 minutes and ran for 15 which put me at a 1.17 mile which is super SLOW! But hey I ran and felt really good about it. Next week you do 2.00 run and 1.00 of walking. I cheated a little and went ahead and ran 2 minutes at a time last night just to see if I could do it and I can. I'm not trying to run as fast as possible I just want to say, yea I can run 3 miles no problem! Slow and steady wins the race right?

In other news, I found out on Monday that a sweet friend of mine I had the pleasure of getting to know this summer at my SMU course was killed along with her husband in a head on collision Sunday evening. They were on their way back home from church and a truck lost control and ran right in to them. I'm very sad for this loss because she was such a wonderful person. I tried to sit next to her every day of class because she was hilarious and always had a smile on her face. She will most definitely be missed and I pray for her and his families as they are going through what I can't even imagine with losing two wonderful people, and they were both music teachers. So very sad. It's amazing how in two weeks of intimate classes you share so much with someone and now they're gone. I've never really had a close friend die and we did stay in touch after our course so she's been on my mind all week. Laci you will be so missed!

Even though my heart is heavy I love knowing she was a woman of God and she's dancing and singing with the angels :)

Couch to 5k

2011-01-03T15:02:00.000-08:00

Over the break one of our usher's asked Matt if he would like to race him in a the 5k dash on St. Patty's day down by my apt. Matt and I have talked about picking up a healthy habit to do together and this gave us a perfect reason to start! There is a website called couchto5k.com it is a 9 week program teaching you how to build up your endurance to learn how to run a 5k. Matt and I have finished week 1 which wasn't horrible. I of course am a little slow but I did run when I was supposed to for as long as I was supposed to. I heard about this program through my friend lyndsay who said I was helping motivate HER with my blog posts about my toning up which I thought was really neat. She said she did it and lost 15 pounds doing it (even though she was already little ) So Matt and I are starting week 2 which is 1.30 mins of running alternating between 1 minute of walking, so we will see how we do! I will try and track my progress each week, I just want to say I accomplished something I haven't EVER been able to do. I've never run a 5k so I'm pushing myself to do this for me. We will see!!! The winner between Matt and Justin has to pay for a nice steak dinner so I'm hoping Matt wins!

Christmas and New Year's

2011-01-03T14:55:00.000-08:00

I got quite a lot accomplished over my Christmas break which I feel really good about! My family from California was here and I had so much fun getting to spend some time with my niece and nephew whom I don't get to see enough. Here are just a few fun photos I took from our week together!

Christmas Morning

Ellis in her Christmas jammies

Camp's Cowboys get up

Matt and I

All the photos I took of Graham and Paige were blurry but it was so fun to watch them open their presents Christmas morning. Paige kept wanting to pass out every present and would ask "is that for me?" It was funy getting to play "Santa" another year now that Camp and Paige are more aware of who he is. All in all it was a great Christmas Day!

That Monday after Christmas I took Emily, Hilary and my mom to look at bridal gowns and we ended up buying one and also getting their bridesmaids dresses too which they helped convince me to change my colors from purple to grey so grey it is! We will still use purple in other things :)

New year's eve Matt and I went to a friends house where she and her boyfriend hosted a nice sit down dinner, it was a lot of fun!

Happy New year! I'm so blessed with so much!

9 Days!

2010-12-16T09:06:00.000-08:00

Being a school teacher I'm very aware of the Christmas season since we do a lot of fun Christmas (or I'm allowed to say Holiday) songs and acvities in my room right after Thasnkgiving which I love. But yesterday I was sitting outside and realized Christmas is only 9 days away! It's exciting and sad all at the same time because I LOVE this time of year. I've had my tree up (shamefully) since the week after Halloween.......

Anyway I have so much to look forward with my brother and sister in law coming to town with their kiddos next week and watching all the babies open their presents from Santa Christmas morning, I can't wait!

This year has been very rough discipline wise and most days I go home feeling very stressed out and poor Matt gets the butt end of that (sorry) Anyway I teach in a rough area and for the most part the kids are wonderful, it's just always those 6 or 7 that really get under your skin. But then there are the children that do this for you.....

It's called an Elfgram and the kids can buy one for 50 cents and send it out with a candy cane to their friends or teachers.

He wrote this on the back "Ms. Zacher (yup) I wanted to thank you for giving me a recorder. I always want to play recorder my holl life"

Now this Christmas season I've been kind of a Grinch because I'm uber stressed out by many a number of things and am learning how to handle that stress by working out every day :) But when I recieved this precious note from a 4th grade boy it made me realize why I'm a teacher. Sometimes I forget when there are parents breathing down my neck telling me what a horrible person I am and programs that we only have so many weeks in advance to prepare for etc, that I forget to hug my kids and treat them with the patience many of them deserve. So thank you sweet little 4th grade boy for bringing a smile to my face and warming my Grinch like heart. I'm so glad you like to play the recorder even though it hurts my ears ;)

Merry Christmas!

Busy!

2010-12-10T06:40:00.000-08:00

The closer we get to the Christmas break the crazier things get around school for sure! This week I had something after work each night. Last night was the first night I even really got to see Matt, who so graciously offered to cook me dinner for once which was sweet.

Monday night I got to babysit Camp, Emily always thinks its an imposition but little does she know I secretly love it and get so excited when I get to see them even if it's only a few minutes right before they go to bed. Ellis was already in bed by the time I got there but she was so nice to wake up while I was there so I could change a diaper and get some smiles out of her. She's so stinkin cute which I mean duh look at Camp. Love them both. Campbell is so funny, I was giving him his bath and I took his picture and it was like as soon as I pulled out my phone he said "cheese." Love it.

Tuesday night we had our last night of our Fall season for softball and it was cold! We were scheduled to play one game but if we won we played a second game for first place, well we won our first game so we played again! I hit every time but never got on a base they kept catching it. Matt hit a huge hit that ran 3 people in and got him to 3rd I was so proud! It's really neat to watch him in his element since he loves sports so much. Needless to say we did lose the 2nd game putting us in 2nd place but that's stll ok!

Wed. evening mom and I went to my first floral appointment and it was so much fun I'm really excited about the flowers I think I'm going to use. Made me feel very bridal to be picking out my bouquet and he kept going on and on over my dress which made me feel special even if he was lying still made me feel good :) Were going to purchase it the week after Christmas and I can't wait!!! Hopefully we will get bridesmaids picked out by then too and I can stop worrying about what they're going to wear.

Yesterday we took our choir kids to Northpark to perform and shop. I love walking around the mall with them they get so excited to go in stores. My group was really good and didnt' do anything to make me nervous. Even though our pianist didn't show up to play our music for us the kids did a great job and I was very happy with their performance.

Tonight we have our school Chrismas party which will be fun and tomorrow night we have another one to go to as well so it will be a busy weekend!

Today was our last weigh in for the biggest loser, I've lost 16 pounds and gained muscle which I can tell! On tuesday when we were playing softball I was running faster then I ever had before and my legs weren't aching by the time I hit the base! I feel so good about myself right now, I've finally done something for me and not becasue I was being constantly reminded of my weight gain. I am going to keep it up but will not be blogging about it anymore :)

Happy Friday!

Holiday Fun

2010-12-02T08:33:00.000-08:00

My blogs have come few and far in between becuause I don't have time! But I do want to mention some things I'm thankful for :)

My sister

Now I know Emily and I may have our differences and that's what makes us originals. But I know that she loves me very much and has always been supportive of my efforts. She has never made a negative comment about my weight gain and just smiles and says good job when I succeed in any area. To me that's what makes a great sister. Plus this picture is hilarious with ellis strapped on to the front of her :) Love you Em!

This is Matt and his nephew Cooper who is exactly a week younger then Ellis. I'm thankful for Matt and the joy he brings me. I have loved getting to know him this past year and a half and can't wait for many more years of our journey together.

I'm thankful for all my beautiful nieces and nephews. Both my brother and sister have made some very cute children that I love to love on!

I'm thankful for my entire family and the support they've me shown over the years. I'm also thankful that I get to wake up every morning to a job that provides me with food and shelter and that I actually enjoy it (on most days) I have so much to be thankful for. Thank you Lord for giving me so much to be thankful for!

Only 12 more school days until Christmas break, now that I am VERY VERY thankful for ;)

Another post

2010-11-19T06:16:00.000-08:00

This week was a crazy one I hardly had time to blink it was so busy. We had our first program of the year yesterday, it was for our 3rd graders and they did a program called the colorless Kingdom and it was so cute! We've been working on it in class since right after Labor day so they were so proud of themselves yesterday which they should be because they did such an amazing job! There was instrument parts ( up to 4 at a time) dancing, singing and acting! So proud of them and SO glad it's over. Lots of stress this past week with my co-worker. Love him but he gets UBER stressed and it really stresses me out too. SO I'm thankful today we can just enjoy the day!

No weight gained and none lost this week but that's ok! I've lost inches more then weight honestly. I'm toning up more and hopefully once that continues I'll see the scale move a little bit more. But I feel really good about myself :) SO THERE!

We had a friend of a friend take some pictures for us for our Save the Date magnets were doing. He did a really nice job I thought for not ever doing it before :) This is a picture we are not using, but we were happy to have someone take a few pretty pictures of us since we haven't really taken too many pictures over our year and a half of dating!

204 More Days :) Love him.

Happy Friday!

Getting There

2010-11-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

So this weekend Matt and I found and designed our cake for our wedding which I'm really excited about. Then Yesterday I put on a regular sized pair of jeans that I had in my closet (not plus size have to order big girl size online jeans) Jeans you can find in an actual store......I've dropped two pant sizes and a shirt size.....Needless to say I'm pretty proud of myself and thought I'd share this photo. I obviously still have some tummy work to do but I'm getting there! I was just so excited I could fit back in to these jeans!

Two more sizes to go!

Another Friday!

2010-11-12T06:10:00.000-08:00

Yay for Friday's! I love Friday's, I only teach 4 classes on this day so it's a nice little break from the hectic week I have with very few breaks. I am actually teaching more classes this year then the head teacher over here which is a first but it keeps me busy :)

Tomorrow Matt and I are having our first cake testing and then next Sat we will have another one. I have a pretty good idea of what I want so I'm looking forward to seeing what we can all come up with.

Next week we have our first program which will be with our 3rd graders and I'm looking forward to it and it being OVER! haha programs are so much work. I feel like we have so much more going on this year becasue our program requirement has been bumped up so everytime I turn around were looking for something new to do with a different grade level. Let's just say I'm so ready for a BREAK!

We had our weigh in today and I lost 3 pounds this week which is exciting :) It's coming off slowly but surely. I have an app on my phone that helps me count my calories and it says by May 31st I will have reached my goal weight so lets hope so!

Have a great weekend!

Only 213 more days....

2010-11-10T09:01:00.000-08:00

Where Matt asked me to marry him:)

Friday

2010-11-05T05:48:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how quickly the weeks have been flying by and here we are another first week in November has come and gone. I am looking forward to Daylight savings this weekend for driving in the dark in the mornings is really no fun.

I have had severe back pain since Tuesday morning. Not real sure what I did. I worked out really hard on Monday and did some funky push ups so I"m wondering if I pulled something or have a pinched nerve. Needless to say I haven't slept much this week for lying down is quite uncomfortable. I've decided that I can't take it anymore and will be going to the Dr next week. So my work outs for the rest of the week had to consist of walks which aren't enough when you're trying to see big numbers, so I've maintained haven't lost. But it's better then GAINING! I'm really mad because I had decided to up my work outs big time from 45 mins to an hour and 15 mins. I have only 218 more days to be a thinner (not too skinny) version of myself :) So let's kick this back pain in the butt and move on!

I feel like my blogs are quite boring so you will probably see fewer of them until I have more exciting things to tell. Wedding plans are coming along nicely were looking for a cake place right now so that should be fun to go and see and try. Other then that it seems all under control :)

Happy Birthday to my dad on Sunday!

Continuing on

2010-10-29T06:16:00.000-07:00

First things first, this is for my mother who if I dont' post it here will ask me in an email, so no no, weight lost or gained this week. I maintained what I did last week which I'm pleased with.

Now moving on to more important things :)

I went dress shopping last weekend with some of my gf's and I'm pretty darn sure I found the dress. I'm really excited about it! So come on June 11th!

This week has been anothe crazy week, mom and I met with a caterer on Monday and figured out some food options for the reception which I'm fine with. I had friends over for dinner last night and had fun with them but didn't enjoy watching the Rangers lose!

I got my flu shot today so I'm thankful we get those for free!

Something I'm looking forward to which is kind of dorky but I don't care, the month of Nov and Decemeber is when KVIL plays non stop Christmas music and I can't wait!

This weekend will be a nice relaxing one because there is not much going on. Mattt and I have been apt hunting the past month and I think we've decided on a place but we will see.

I ran in to my sister and Campbell and Ellis at Supertarget yesterday and Campbell could hardly wait to yell out "BOOTS" to me, because he was wearing his cowboy boots and hat which I thought was hilarious. Wish I had taken a picture. Ellis gave me a smile too which warmed my heart. Love those 3!

Here's a great verse I found for myself this week....

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding with guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
phillipians 4:6-7

Have a great weekend!

Short week

2010-10-15T07:37:00.000-07:00

This week was short but filled with lots of school things we had to do so I've been busy! I'm so glad it's Friday again, the days keep flying by!

Last Sunday Matt and I attended the Rangers game which was disappointing but then they won on Tuesday so that's excting for them! On Halloween evening were going to our first Cowboys game. One of his friends won tickets and passed them out amongst his friends which is really cool we get to go :)

Rangers game :)

We had our second and 3rd softball game this week. We lost our first then won our 2nd. I think we've finally found our groove which is exciting. I love playing it's such great exercise and I ran a lot! I also had an awesome hit at the end but the guy caught it was it was pretty sweet!

Can't believe in only 239 days (yup still counting) I'll be Mrs. Matthew Craig Bourland :) Pretty exciting. This weekend were apt hunting again in Dallas (which I'm secretly rooting that's where we'll be) But I know we will find somewhere that's comfortable for both of us. So weird after 4 years of living on my own I'll have a roommate! That should be interesting :)

Oh and ps we didn't have a weigh in today because our nurse is out but I went ahead and did my own weigh in this morning. The scale is looking nicer and nicer these days.

Have a great weekend!

Accomplishments

2010-10-08T06:39:00.000-07:00

Things I've accomplished this week....

Lost this week in our biggest loser challenge, Check!
Learned how to put on a baby bjorn successfully without harming the baby, Check!
Made my first bundt cake and didn't have it crumble to pieces, Check!
Finished writing out my entire guest list putting them in particular catergories, all by hand, Check!
Ran further then my last run, Check!
Gone down an entire size in pants, CHECK!

We also had our first Fall softball game this week which we lost but that's ok we had a lot of fun playing! Some of the other teams are really serious but our team were ok with just having fun. I hit every single time and got on base but the last time up to bat! Which unfortunatly I struck out and was the 3rd out making us not get anymore runs to win but OH WELL!

I also got to spend some quality time with campbell and Ellis on Tuesday which always makes me happy. I asked Campbell if he loved me and he said "yep". I then asked Ellis the same thing and she cried so I'll continue working on her!

Have a great weekend!

Good times

2010-10-01T07:16:00.000-07:00

Well I've lost 10 pounds this month and I'm very pleased with myself. I've worked very hard eating right and exercising 6 ouf of the 7 days. Now it's time to step up my game a little. Matt and I will be doing the Jililan 30 day shred together which I'm excited that he's wanting to do it too. So here we come lean, mean future Mr and Mrs Bourland!

I can't believe it's already October! I know these next few months are going to fly by so I'm trying to enjoy every minute of it!

I was having a hard time deciding on colors for bridesmaids, which will be my sister and sister in law and I'm really happy about that! I thought for a long time about all the wonderful friends I have and whose weddings I've been in but am happy and pleased to say that were all really excited about being in the house party! So I think having Emily and Hilary is really special and I'm excited. Anyway I have been looking at the knot.com searching for colors that just popped out at me and I came across this picture....

And I just knew that purple was going to be my color! I may even go a hint lighter on the bridesmaids dresses but I love the color of the dresses on here they're so pretty. Plus I think Emily and Hilary will look really pretty in purple.

This weekend we have a fun line up with friends which of course will involve watching the Tx?Ou game, you know how much I love watching football....(not) but I'm trying!

Here's to 253 more days (yes go ahead and roll your eyes I DO know how many more days till my wedding) of planning, spending time with family and friends and enjoying having a fiance :) Life is good!

Were engaged!

2010-09-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

So Matt proposed on Sunday at white rock lake where we met for the first time 16 months ago and we are just beyond excited! We feel very blessed with so many wonderful friends and family who are making this engagement week so special for us.

Last night my bouje group had us over for dessert and tonight I have a gf taking me to a nice dinner and so many other things to look forward to with friends this week. I think Matt and I haven't really gotten a moment of our own to really just let it all sink in but it's so much fun to share the news with everyone!

The ring

Looking forward to the year ahead!

Another Friday

2010-09-17T06:08:00.000-07:00

I always try to just sum up my week on Friday's so here it goes. We had our 3rd weigh in today and I lost 2 pounds this week, which gives me a total of 8 pounds I've lost ( I had lost 2 before we started the weigh ins) So I was really excited about that! I know it will get harder once I've lost the excess blubber I've been carrying around the past year and a half and I get back down to a "normal" weight for myself but I'm really excited to wear designer jeans, boots that don't have extra calf room, sweaters and cute dresses for the winter and in to the spring time. Every time I walk in to anthropologie my FAVORITE store, I think I can't wait until I can fit in their tops again. I got online and browsed through their sales items and saw a dress that I have, but in blue, which is really cute and it was on sale for 20 bucks and the only size left they had was an 8. Well since a size 8 is my goal I ordered it for next spring and can't wait to reward myself by wearing it!

In other news, we've had our 3rd lock down of the year all within two weeks of each other. According to the newspaper this is the 2nd highest crime rated area in Dallas! Crazy to think that because the neighborhood where we are is so nice! Hopefully we won't have to go on anymore of those because were not allowed to leave or move from our rooms so sometimes you end up with children in your room longer then you're supposed to! Never a dull moment over here :)

Matt and I have signed up for another season of softball which starts sept 28th so were pretty excited about that! Most of our team is returning which is awesome since we won the championship for the summer so I'm hoping for another Victory in the fall. It will be nice to play in cooler weather too.

Have a great Weekend!

TGIF

2010-09-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

This short week has felt like a 6 day week! So glad for it to finally be Friday. I'm behind on blogging but at the moment I don't have a whole of fascinating things going on :) We had our weigh in today and I only lost a pound this week but that's ok, better then gaining a pound. Hoping next week will bring me better news!

I guess Wed was an interesting day here in Dallas. We had our first tornado in like forever. Campbell and I were really enjoying his choir class at church when they evacuated us all in to Fellowship hall, where what else went on, but a full on hymn singalong of course! Were not cliche or anything at PCBC :) Tornado touched down a couple miles from church but didn't stay on the ground long so we weren't confined for too long. Wish I could have seen it but I don't think Emily would have been too thrilled with me storm chasing with her son!

I got to babysit Ellis and Campbell last weekend, where as I learned that Ellis has some strong lungs :) Here are a couple of really cute pictures I took with my new iphone! I was up for an upgrade so I went ahead and got the new one. The camera on it is way better then my old one and has a flash and zoom. It's better then my digital camera!

Camp sporting the new hair cut

Baby Ellis

Both the cuties together

It's happening

2010-09-03T06:09:00.000-07:00

I've finally found something that works and that I'm really excited about! This morning was our second weigh in and I've lost 3 pounds since last Friday. It's not a lot of weight but to me it's the begining of many more pounds I'm hoping to shed! I've walked every day, and done 3 days of weights and cardio classes after school with my co-workers. I watch everything I eat and eat much smaller portions and dont' feel hungry at all. I put on some shorts I've been fearing to wear because I'm so self concious right now, but I put them on this morning and they're actually baggy and I"m not about to rip through them! I'm so glad were doing the biggest loser at my school because it's such an incentive to not have to pay those 2 dollars when you weigh in.

Today is Friday and I have a fun long weekend to look forward to :)

Happy Labor day weekend!

Biggest Loser or Winner?

2010-08-27T06:47:00.000-07:00

So this year my school is doing the biggest loser challenge on our campus. It's a 10 dollar pay in fee and our wonderful school nurses weigh us every Friday (keeping our weight a secret). If you gain weight you pay 2 dollars if you maintain the same weight you pay a 1. On Tuesday's our Art teacher who is a certified Yoga instructor is leading a Yoga class right after school then on Thursday my team teacher Matt Byrd is leading the cardio class.

The pot right now is at 200 bucks and can continue to grow, the challenge is over on Dec 16th. I weighed in this morning, I already knew my weight since I weigh myself every day so I wasn't suprised to see the number :)

I think as I continue on with this challenge I'll try and post pics of myself so for those of you and really myself can see the changes I'm hoping will happen this semester. I"m really glad my school is doing this because it's going to be so much more motivating for me to work out with other positive people then to do it on my own :) I don't expect to drop 50 pounds in 16 weeks but I'm leaning towards the 25 pound mark!

So here we go folks!

Here we go!

2010-08-20T09:52:00.000-07:00

Well this week was teacher work week and at the begining of the week we had lots of meetings to attend! But today and yesterday have been work days in our rooms and I can say I've gone above and beyond with my cutting, taping, stapling, word clip arts, and laminating skills to last me a lifetime! I love my room this year and I think back on my very first year where I literally had like 3 little pathetic posters up because no one gave me any guidance on things to put up! But every wall in my room is covered and I'm very pleased :) I'm hoping I'm over prepared for the year so as things hit me later in the year I can be like "I already got it."

This weekend Heather is in town. She Matt and my friend Haley all share the exact same birthday, so Matt and I and some friends are taking her out tomorrow night which will be fun. I only see her about every 6 months so I'm happy to spend some time with her before school starts back up and things are CRAZY!!! So many extra things to do this year but it's my job! Just wish we got paid over time ;)

Happy Friday!

Random Pictures

2010-08-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

I just figured I would post some pictures from my summer, as quickly as it's gone by!

My best friend and old college roommate Haley got married!

Pretty Bride

bridesmaids and new sweet friends!

My main Squeeze

In June my friend Heather and I went to Arkansas to stay with her aunt and uncle who live in Mena. They had chickens, ducks, dogs, cats, catfish, and we even ran across a snake! We shot guns, went to Walmart endless amounts of times, swam in their pool, and mainly just enjoyed each other's company :)

The rest of the summer was quite a blur! I took a two week music class at SMU that put my teaching to the test! Then Ellis Jane Kretz was born on July 15th. I was so excited to see her, that mom and I got up and waited all morning to meet her. I didn't have my real camera to take pictures of her so this picture was taken the day after her birthday. I bought her that onesie:)

Precious Angel

This was taken at Baylor's baby gift shop. We were walking around the store and turned around and Campbell had found a babydoll and was rocking her. Too cute!

Paige and Clay came and visited and Camp and her loved to bang on my piano!

Matt also became an uncle. Cooper Jameson Bourland was born on July 21st!

I'm sad to see my summer go, but I'm also looking forward to the new school year, (not the 6am wake up call though) But I have great co-workers and the other music teacher and I are a great team and get along really well! It will be great to see what all is in store for me this year! Bye summer, see you again in 9 months!

No, No I won't go!

2010-07-28T15:32:00.000-07:00

I've had an extremly busy summer considering I didn't work at all this summer which is the first time I haven't worked since I was like 13!

Last week my brother and niece paige came to visit and meet baby Ellis. I don't know why I call her baby Ellis but now whenever I'm around her that's what I call her. Maybe it's because Campbell calls her his baby. We had lots of fun all playing together and spending some good family time :)

I can't believe that two weeks from Friday I'll be returning back to school for another full year of teaching! The anxiety has already set in along with the sleepless nights. The images of choir concerts, lesson planning, field trips and so much more have got my mind racing each night. Most people aka my mom, would say all you can do is take one day at a time. Well when you're a teacher then that's not possible. There is always something to do and always something more to be added on to. I should count my blessings though that I work in a school where there are two music teachers for we really do a great job of helping each other out.

I'm grateful for another year of teaching and I have a feeling it's going to be a busy one at that! This will be my 4th full year of teaching. Before I blink again 10 years will have passed and I'll hopefully be a pro by then!

Here's to two more weeks of sleeping until 9, eating cereal on my couch in my pajamas until 10, working out at my leisure and being able to help out with Camp and Ellis. I know Matt is greatful for my time off as well because I'm not near as tired or grumpy when we eat dinner together during the week. Which reminds me, Matt became an Uncle last week for the first time and he's so excited! He really is great with kids and it's fun watching him with Campbell. I know he will be the best uncle Matt around!

Here's to hoping the school nightmares stop and I can enjoy my last two weeks of freedom!

It's july?

2010-07-07T12:07:00.000-07:00

So my first month "off" I put in quotes because I hardly had a time to breathe it feels like during June. When I started my music course at SMU I was in class for 9 hours then would go home and do homework for 2 sometimes more! I can say that I learned a lot in my class and am really excited to get back in August to teach my kiddos some really cool things.

Now that my course is over I don't have a whole lot going on. I've started back at the gym in the mornings which is really great to get done first thing so I can have the rest of my day to do pretty much nothing. I haven't visited my pool but once this summer, but I havent' have much of an inkling to lay out really. I'd rather spend my afternoons in the air conditioning reading a good book, which I'm on my 3rd of the summer!

Last weekend Matt and I spent with friends which was so much fun. I really appreciate the close knit group of friends we've accumulated over the past year. We've really enjoyed doing things with them.

Yesterday Matt and I had our first softball game with a Dallas league we joined with one of my teacher friends from school and her husband. I asked to be put in outfield thinking I wouldn't have to really do much, but silly me forgetting were playing with men not boys and every ball hit I was running every which way to catch it. Oh well I need the extra cardio! Matt caught two fly balls and made it to home twice, I struck out both times but made a good effort:)

Next week Ellis Jane Kretz will be here, my second niece and I'll get to be an Aunt for the 4th time. Babies everywhere I feel! Matt's sister in law is also due next week and I'm praying those two kids don't share the same birthday! I can't wait to meet Ellis as I know everyone else in my family is excited as well.

Much family time together in my future I can tell which is fine with me :) I babysat my nephew Campbell yesterday while my sister went to the store at her Liege to get some things. I took this picture with my camera and a new app I found which makes all your photos turn out pretty cool I think. You can shake it and get it to change colors. He looks so tall in this picture!

I now have 5 weeks of summer left so I'm hoping it goes by SLOWLY!!

Summer so far

2010-06-21T16:14:00.000-07:00

My summer so far has been extremly busy which is why I'm behind on my blogging, not that I have too much to share!

My first week off, I celebrated a year of dating with Matt who is an amazing man and so much more then I deserve:) Then I left for Mena Arkansas with one of my best gf's from college. Her aunt and uncle live out there up on a mountain and we chased ducks, chickens, fed catfish, shot off some guns and saw a snake! It was a fun girl's trip and nice to be out of dallas for a while.

My second week off I cleaned, cooked some new things, worked out and hung out with my family a little.

Today I started my class at SMU. It's a two week "workshop" class from 8-430. I can honestly say I'm exhausted but in a fun and good way! We danced, we sung, we did partner songs with people who I've never met before. I think if I had taken this class before my first year of teaching I wouldn't have been so apt to have just jumped in to my inner music major dorkiness which I kept very quiet in college. I didn't care and everyone else that was there was the same way! We had recorder class, pedagogy class, game class, and a movement/dance class. At the end of the day today we did an hours worth of line dances and there were about 150 very sweaty people that left the building at 430! I can honestly say I'm really going to learn some great things from all these wonderful teachers we have that are flown in from, Colorado, nebraska, Conneticut, Minneapoplis, and new Mexico. Just today I have a huge packet of fun new things to teach in my classroom and I can't wait!!!

So yay for 9 more days of bonding time with other fellow music nerds and yay for putting myself out there in order to be a better teacher for my kiddos, even if it does mean I have to do some homework every night :)

Summer Time

2010-06-03T06:07:00.000-07:00

Today is the last day with kids at school and I'm SO excited! I can't believe how quickly this year has gone by and just like that it's June again. What a crazy year it's been but honestly such a a good one! I'm looking forward to some time off this summer to chill and hang with friends and love on my new niece and nephew as well. I'm traveling with a gf to Arkansas next week and while it's not an ideal vacation spot I'm looking forward to seeing her and spending some time doing nothing but reading a book!

I'm also looking forward to the summer to spend some time on myself. I'm going to be attending classes at my gym and working out really hard in hopes to lose about 20 pounds before school begins again. I've been doing well with weight watchers but don't always have the time to hop to the gym when I'd like to, but have done a lot of walking!

This weekend I'm going to buy new tires to put on my car, fun stuff and on Sunday Matt and I are going to see Wicked!! So excited about that :)

As I'm writing this I'm listening to the morning announcements one last time this school year, WOOHOO!!!!

HAPPY SUMMER!!

Birthday weekend

2010-05-24T06:02:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful weekend celebrating my birth with friends! Friday night six of us went to Nick and Sam's Grill which was really good but very noisey and dark. Not a talking atmosphere at all, we were pretty much shouting at one another all night long. Matt already gave me my birthday gift which were Wicked tickets last month, but he also suprised me with a sweet card and roses. Sunday we went and had brunch after church with some of my closest friends from highschool at our favorite brunch place, Penne Pamadoro which was wonderful, then matt and I lounged out by the pool for the rest of the afternoon. All in all I'd say it was a successful birthday.

My sister sent me the best video of Campbell blowing me kisses and telling me happy birthday. I wanted to put it on here but I can't figure out how. Also my almost 3 year old neice called me and whispered happy birthday, but I think she got phone shy because I didn't get anything else from her. Still made my day!

Here's a shot of me and Matt before dinner Friday. Some day were going to take a photo where someone else is taking it for us!

I was lucky to spend my day with such a wonderful guy, family and friends! Thank you everyone for making it a special day.

Recipes

2010-05-19T06:26:00.000-07:00

My best friend Heather sent me a link to one of her friend's blog's who's also doing WW's. I've cooked a lot in this past month because honestly, it's not healthy to eat out at all, and you might say well DUH Lindsey, but I've checked the point value for fast food and restaurant chains and even salads are not healthy to eat out. Anyway, if you ever want to cook a WW meal just click on this link. She plans her meals out for the entire week which is great.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1486770/recipes/this%20week%27s%20recipe.pdf

Today were taking our 6th graders to see the Opera Madame Butterfly which is the opera I saw when I was in the 6th grade. I'm hoping and praying that they behave!

Happy Wednesday!

Birthday week

2010-05-18T09:52:00.000-07:00

So this Friday I turn 27, which honestly is a little hard for even myself to believe. When I started teaching I was only 23 :) How quickly time flies! Alot has happened during my 26th year. My nephew Graham was born. My sister got pregnant with a little baby girl who will grace us with her pressence on July 15th. I met Matt, who has been so wonderful to me. I've enjoyed many a weekends with wonderful friends. I feel extremly blessed to have gotten where I am at this point in my life. This August will mark my 3rd year of living on my own ,paying my own bills, and cooking for myself :) I've come a long way in that department as well!

So cheers to being 27 and not being afraid to grow another year older, but being thankful I get to do so!

6 Down

2010-05-13T07:24:00.000-07:00

I've lost 6 pounds since starting weight watchers and I was actually told I'm losing too quickly, umm so?! Ha, no more then 2 is usually the healthy weightloss so I'm a pound over. Oh well I'm sure I'll slow down here when I get closer to my goal weight. It really hasn't been too hard honestly to change my eating habits, I haven't had anything fried in 3 weeks now which honestly I haven't missed. Last Thursday my parents took me to picasso's dinner after my kids choir concert and mom sat there with french fries while I enjoyed my fruit and it didn't bother me at all. I've also got Matt eating healthy with me which is great as well. I'm not expecting to be a size 6 again anytime soon but I can see that my goal is attainable for sure. I just gotta keep focused.

I can still have my cake and eat it too, it just now costs me 8 points.........;)

Oh the Joys

2010-05-06T07:12:00.000-07:00

Oh the joys of being a music teacher in May. With 4 programs on my to do list, a trip to Sandy lake, the Opera (which I'm really looking forward to) Buddy Fun day celebration on my birthday and a wedding to throw in the mix in Oklahoma! I can't tell you how stressed and exhasusted I've been the past two weeks and now these next three are going to be about the same! I've hardly had time to clean, and do laundry and go to the grocery store. I guess maybe that's a tease of mommyhood someday I don't know, but I'm looking forward to June 4th! I will have two weeks off before I start my SMU orff Level I class. I'm looking forward to the class but not the hours, 8-5 every day and it comes with homework, but it will be fun to learn in a classroom again!

I've lost 2 pounds this week which feels excellent. I still have a long journey in front of me and as I get discouraged I remind myself of the outcome. It's not going to all happen at once but it's going to happen :) Last night I made 8 point taco salad in honor of Cinco de Mayo. It was good. I had 90/10 ground beef, low fat sour cream, ice berg lettuce, weight watchers cheese, and baked tostatoe chips. It was yummy! And I even had a point left over for the day. No the points don't roll over you can't save them but I just like thinking that I do so well with my points system that I have some left over!

Looking forward to the weekend even though Friday I have to be up at Richardson highschool at 730 to watch 3 of my 5th grade girls audition for All District Elementary choir......lets just say Saturday is MY DAY! Can't wait!

How's it going

2010-05-04T09:10:00.000-07:00

It's going pretty well to answer my own question. I've already logged my points for the day because I know exactly what I'm eating for all 3 meals and my snack. I'm pretty hungry right now but I think that's to be expected. I have 27 points a day and right now I'm at 10 which includes breakfast, snack and my lunch I packed.

Did I mention that this week is teacher appreciation week? Yesterday there was a chocolate fountain in our lounge.....I ate a strawberry and no chocolate and it was sooooo hard!!! Today they served us breakfast, bagels cream cheese fruit etc.....I stuck with my granola bar. Tomorrow theyre cooking burgers and hot dogs for us for lunch......I requested a turkey burger and I'm bringing my own 2 point chips and fruit to go with it......

This will prove hard at times but the more I get used to being cautious as to what I eat the better I think it will be and the less my cravings are. I am allowed to drink diet coke because it's 0 points so I do have one of those occasionally to reduce my sugar cravings!

Last night I made Matt and I 6 point chicken enchiladas! They were pretty darn good if I say so myself. I paired them with green beans which are 0 points as well so that was good! I even ate 5 yes 5 M&M's to satisfy my sweet tooth. I even had 2 points left over from the day!

I CAN DO THIS!

Weight Watchers

2010-05-03T07:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm back on weight watchers. Got my points total I can eat every day, go some new recipes to choose from and found my activity points for my Jillian Michael's video. I've already tracked my points for the morning which were only two since I made myself stove top oatmeal which is so good with a smidge of promise low fat , low cholesterol butter and a pinch of sugar. I've found some new recipes that Matt and I can try and cook together so we can both eat healthy. I'm still doing my Jillian Michael's video 4 times a week which is great. I've found some meetings I can attend during the week and I can weigh myself each week there as well.......so I'm ready.

30 extra pounds, I'll see you later.

Success

2010-04-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

Been doing Jillian michaels video for two weeks now and I'm an inch down in the waist and thighs, go me! I've gone down a complete dress size as well. I can't tell much difference but I feel good and that's all that matters right?! Love that video, best thing I've found in a long time! No pain no gain!

This weekend I'll be traveling to Oklahoma for one of my best friend's shower/bachelorette weekends. Can't wait! I haven't been to Oklahoma in a year so it will be nice to be out of Dallas for a little bit and enjoy some quality time with friends :)

Happy Monday!

No one mourns the wicked!

2010-04-22T05:58:00.000-07:00

If you've ever seen the musical Wicked you know exactly which song I'm talking about. I have been wanting to go see Wicked since I knew they were coming to Dallas last Fall! So the other day I was talking about ordering tickets and Matt told me not to and I was like why not? SPOILER ALERT! I can't be suprised with anything apparantly because I question too much, so he spilled the beans. He got us two tickets for my birthday for us to go see it in June. I'm so excited! I saw it about 5 years ago when they were last here and sat up in the nosebleeds and he got us orchestra seating so I'm super pumped. So I've been listening to my wicked soundtrack I have on my phone, hoping that I'll be so close to the stage they'll be able to hear me sing along with the actors and they'll want me to join them on their tour next year.......stranger things have happened right?

Happy Earth Day!

Jillian MIchaels

2010-04-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

So if you've ever seen the Biggest loser you know that I'm talking about one of the tough trainers on the show. Well last night I was walking around Target and I wandered over to the work out section. A few days ago my co worker told me about the 30 day 20 pounds lost shred video Jillian Micahels had put out. Well as I was looking at the videos I noticed that particular one was on sale for 9 dollars so I bought it. I went home and kind of starred at it for a while, then put my gym shoes on and turned it on.

WOW, was it amazing! I'm in love with this video. It's about 30 mins of just intense work out. She goes from circuit to circuit of abs, strengnth training and cardio. I didn't rest the entire time. I can honestly say that I'm sore this morning in my legs (squats) but it feels so good. I hate going to the gym and walking on the treadmill for 30 mins and then lifting weights on a machine its so monotonous to me. This way I can work out in my home. (sorry to my neighbor below me!) It has three different levels and I started on level one which was pretty hard but I can honestly say I kept up pretty darn well. I kept thinking if those enormous people on biggest loser can do this so can I. I'm honestly excited about going home and doing it again tonight even though I'm sore. It was just so fun and so quick and she keeps you motivated where as in a gym I've got no one. I'm excited and proud of myself. I would suggest this to anyone who needs the inspiration and motivation to get up and moving. I'm looking forward to seeing some changes even if they are small :) Or large changes who knows!!

I decided I didn't want this blog to be just about weight because I get too much empahsis about my weight quite a bit and I want this blog to be about just personal journeys that I go on in life and being able to live it the best way I can! But I felt like sharing this video with everyone who's looking to tone and get some weight off in a fun and quick way!

In other news, my nephews birthday is Saturday, I can't beleive he's turning 2! I took this picture a couple of weeks ago when I was babysitting, I know a lot of my pics are bath pics but that's the only time i can get him to stay still long enough, he's super busy. Oh and he also requested I put the clippy in his hair. He is so beautfiul and I love that sweet face and can't wait to meet his baby sister in July!!

And Happy Birthday to my mom today!

Spring break etc.

2010-03-26T05:56:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged lately but that's because there's not a whole lot going on. Last week for my spring break I got to spend every waking moment with family that was in town and it was a lot of fun! I enjoyed playing with my niece Paige who is almost 3 and loads of fun! This was the first time I'd been around her where she was ok with me picking her up and loving on her and playing games with her. My brother and I tried playing hide and seek with her but she kep popping out of her hiding place saying, "Come and get me!" Too cute. And even though Graham is only 2 months I enjoyed snuggling with him :) Campbell my other nephew of course was fun as always, I loved watching him and Paige play. I babysat him the other night and I said, Campbell where's Paige? And he looked at me and said Paige? And looked around and kind of shrugged, like he couldn't find her. TOO CUTE! I got a couple of cute shots of my lovely niece and nephews with my phone. They're a little blurry but still cute.

Here's Campbell at one of our many park visits

Sleeping Graham

A little blurry because she wouldn't stand still, but still cute!

We had so much fun while they were all here. It went by too fast!! Love all the precious angels I get to love on :)

Bye Bye Coach shoes

2010-03-11T07:31:00.000-08:00

I've never really been a huge shoe person. Would I love a pair of Tory Burch ballet flats? Yes. But I decided to save my money and continue wearing the black flats I already have. My mom gave me her black coach flats that she never wore when I was a jr in college. I loved those shoes so much! They have been my favorite pair of working shoes since I've been teaching. Well this winter I decided they probably need to be retired so alas, after spring break when it's closer to official sandal weather season, my little coach shoes will be put in the trash. I'm sure I'll probably dig them out and hide them in the depths of my closet yet I know, it's their time to go. Maybe next fall/winter I'll buy myself a cute pair of black flats, but I just couldn't depart with them yet. I even went to shoe stores in search of a new pair, but felt like I was cheating on my coach shoes. They've been with me for 3 years of teaching now, and it will be hard to say goodbye. Here are some pictures below of my beloved coach shoes.

The white things are holes

Yet another giant hole

Goodbye old friends! You have been so nice to my feet the past 5 years!

Marching along

2010-03-05T07:42:00.000-08:00

Not a whole lot of new news to report! Just trucking along. Been another busy and stressful week. We have 3 weeks to get an entire 4th grade music program put together and let's just say I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with the process. We only see the kids twice a week and my 4th grade class is awesome I love them but they come on Thursdays and friday's and when we miss school next friday that means one lesson they don't get to review! So I'm doing everything in my power to pack in more then a lessons worth of music with them during their 45 minute session wtih me :) You can tell all the kids are ready for a break there has been a lot of craziness going on around here the past couple of weeks! Only 5 more days until Spring break woohoo!!! Then only two more full months of school.

I'm amazed at how quickly my life keeps passing me by. I will be a 4th year teacher next year?! I can't beleive that. How far I have come with my classroom manangement and just how much faster I get stuff when teaching. I'm learning to just put all that I have in to what I do because there is always speculation as to what elementary music teachers are actually teaching their kiddos before they go off to jr and highschool. I'm teaching my kiddos to LOVE music! And that it's everywhere in our personal lives! I'm so ADD as you can probably tell by my posts that I'm all over the place, but my job really is perfect for me. If you were a fly on the wall you would have seen me gallop around the room like a horse with 1st grade and "hunt" for leprechauns with Kindergarten. It keeps me busy and I'm exhausted by the end of the day but it's so worth it!

I love my job!

Have a happy weekend!

It's March?!

2010-03-01T07:16:00.000-08:00

How quickly this semester is flying by and I can't say I'm sad to see it go. This weekend was a wonderful one! I got to see a sweet friend from HS Saturday night as Matt and I attended the Espree show (my old show choir) which was really cute. I also tried on a dress that's a size smaller then I used to be and it fit! Whatever I'm doing is working and I couldn't be more proud of myself. It's nice when others can be proud of you but I'm like really proud of myself. I still have 3 full months to lose the rest of it before my friend's wedding and I think I'm going to succeed! Just like the little engine that could ;) Just gotta keep going.

This week is yet another busy one at school, we have Meet the Teacher night Thursday which means another 12 hour day. Last semester when we had it I had a good group that came down and saw me so we shall see. Only 9 more days until spring break! WOOHOO!!!!

Love this boy

2010-02-22T07:35:00.000-08:00

So last night I got to babysit my nephew Campbell and he is just so awesome! Even though we only got to play for an hour we had lots of fun!

I can tell Campbell loves bath time because everytime I say, "Ok camp time to get out." his response is always no. And luckily for Emily's last post I had a diaper on hand that we just popped right on after he got out. Below are some pictures of him being silly in the tub!

He was saying Cheese in this one.

He loved that hair piece for some reason!

After bath we read two books and he talked with me a little. He's so funny because whatever you say he will say back. He repeated as best he could I love you back to me which was oh so sweet. We always worked a little on Lindsey, I've been saying Li-Li for now and it always comes out with him saying meme so we'll continue working on Lindsey! And when you say give me a kiss he smacks his lips together or he plants a big wet one of you! And of course my favorite is right before bed we said our prayers and rocked a little before I put him in his bed. Love this little boy and can't wait to meet baby sister in July!

Valentine's weekend

2010-02-15T07:11:00.000-08:00

I'd say this weekend was a pretty successful one. I loved having the snow and while it was pretty I wasn't too sad to see it melt away since it caused so much destruction to trees everywhere around Dallas. The village looked like it had a tornado go through it with all the branches down. But I did enjoy my snow day and am even happier that we won't have to make it up since it was already a student Holiday and our staff development, so yay!

Thursday was the kids Valentine's day parties and I got lots of hugs and a few goodies from my adoring fans. As a specials teacher I always think I'm extra special if a child brings me a gift since they don't see me on such a regular basis. Here are a few goodies below that I received, and that doesn't cound the endless hugs and I love you's I got as well :)

On Saturday I got to visit witth my mom and play with Campbell who was very entertaining! I think he played the piano for a good 20 minutes while I was there. Maybe he'll be the next Rachmaninoff! Then later that evening, Matt came and picked me up for our date evening which he suprised me with flowers and dinner and a movie. It was fun since we don't go see a lot of movies because they're kind of expensive. We saw Valentine's day which was cute but a litte long :)

My Valentine this year :)

All in all it was a great weekend and now it's back to another busy week!

It's snowing!

2010-02-11T06:07:00.000-08:00

It's beautiful outside today so I have all my windows (6) blinds pulled up so I can watch the snow fall while I teach today. I'm hoping that we will get to leave right after school today because I hear it's only supposed to get worse. Tomorrow we have staff development and I'm wishfully hoping that it gets canceled and I can just sleep in. I'm getting a cold and starting to lose my voice so I'd really love an extra day of rest.

I had a kindergartner throw up in my classroom yesterday and no he did not make it to the trashcan. Then all the other children started gagging and I felt like I was in the episode of the office where Pam has morning sickeness and throws up in a trashcan then everyone else starts throwing up everywhere!! Sounds gross but one of the best opening scenes to that show! So funny. Needless to say the little boy finally walked down to the nurse and I distracted the children from the gross signt in the back by reading a Valentine's book :) All in a days work!

Today is a busy day of teaching which is good because it makes the day go by quickly! And I know all the children are having their Valentine's day parties today so it's going to be a crazy one as well!

Matt and I aren't doing anything exciting for Valentine's day which is fine by me. I've been wanting to see the movie Valentine's day ever since they started showing previews for it back in December so I think were going to go see that.

And in other good news I've officially lost an inch off my waist and other areas so that makes me happy. It's been hard but I gotta keep going :)

Happy Valentine's day weekend!

Rainy Days

2010-02-08T06:05:00.000-08:00

The weather has been really dreary for the past week and it's supposed to be the same way this week. So Saturday Matt and I went to Barnes and Noble and I got a couple of books that I'm excited to read.

"The Charming Man" by Marian Keyes

"The Shoe addict" I can't remember the author.

You can tell they're real deep meaningful reads :)

Last night Matt and I attended a superbowl party with a couple of his friends. It was fun and I was glad that it wasn't over real late! Today starts a new week which I have a feeling will go by quickly. My old roommate and her husband are coming to town this weeekend so matt and I are having dinner with them Friday so I'm super excited about that! I haven't seen her since she got married last October.

Have a great Monday!

Things I've noticed...

2010-02-05T05:58:00.000-08:00

Middle button on my coat jacket is not near as tight when I button it.

I've had to put my watch on the next hole in order for it to fit correctly.

I'm starting to see my waist again :)

Just the little things can make you happy right?

And here's to (and praying for) a nice weekend of rest and relaxation!

Updates

2010-02-02T09:10:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since my last blog, so my apologies!

I was super sick this weekend with a virus and it put me out of commission for a good two days. Let's just say I will not be eating Chinese food again for a very long time.

Nothing exciting to report really. With the help of the bug I lost 5 pounds but I'm sure I'll gain it back. Still haven't really felt the need to eat a lot of food which I'm ok with. I've been watching my portions and today will be back at the gym to do a little cardio.

Groundhog Phil saw his shadow so I guess that means six more weeks of winter!

Happy Groundhog day!

Swim suit season

2010-01-25T08:10:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm already thinking about this summer. Now even though I'll be busy this summer there will definitely be time made for a little pool lounging! So I've gone ahead and orderd the swim suit below in order to motivate me for the next four months. The picture of the model is posted on my fridge at home so everytime I get the munchies I see her and think.....hmmm a piece of fruit please!

Time Flies

2010-01-22T07:20:00.000-08:00

This year has gone by soooooooooooooooo fast!!! (school year) I can't believe were already nearing the end of January. After Febuary I'm not real sure where the time goes because it's May before I know it! I can't say that I'm not anticipating summer already. As much as I love winter I'm over it once Christmas is over. Especially since we are having such spring like weather right now it's hard to not think about the warmer season!

In other good news or news, 7lbs is the total weight loss I've had. I'm pretty excited. I can already tell a difference when I put on my jeans which is great! It's been a hard journey I'm not going to lie, temptation is all around me but I'm getting there. Hopefully by May I'll look like a new person! Or just feel like one :)

Then sings my soul

2010-01-21T06:00:00.000-08:00

I don't always like to unload my feelings and what not on here or on anyone else but I feel the need to do it this once. With my 3 1/2 years of teaching I have never gone home and cried about the days events. Well yesterday I did. I don't know if' it's because I'm tired or if the children really are just as mean as they seem to be but I lost it. I have never been yelled at, talked back to, cursed at, or laughed at as much as I have this year of teaching. I love my job and I love teaching what I teach, but this year has posted some obstacles I haven't had in the past years. As a teacher I'm learning you can't take everything so personally and while I usually don't it wears on me that some of my students are so cruel and uncaring to not just teachers but to people in general. I feel very torn with feelings of sadness to anger on how to react with certain circumstances I've dealt with this year. I'm a person too, I have feelings. Maybe I love and care too much I don't know, but it saddens my heart to see such young children go down such a rocky road.

Matt and I went to a bible study at church last night and even though I could barely keep my eyes open, due to my fatigue of the days events, it was comforting to hear that we have such an All mighty Lord. I know I have to show my love for him through these children and that there will be some people I can't reach but that doesn't mean I won't try. I live a great and blessed life and I'm richer then any person with lots of money.

I leave you with one of my most favorite hymns. It's the last verse and the chorus and everytime I sing it, it makes me want to fall on my knees and cry. Some days you just need to be humbled right?

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,

And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Week Happenings

2010-01-11T07:21:00.000-08:00

This week is filled with excitement and anticipation for baby boy zachry, who I think is supposed to make his appearance this Thursday or Friday. I can't wait to see pictures of what I know is going to be a very handsome little man since Paige is a beautiful little girl. I know Clay and Hilary are both excited for his arrival! Can't wait to meet him!

I've decided it's crunch time because I know how spring semester always goes. It's May before you know it and I refuse for May to come along and I've accomplished nothing. So my meals look like this......

Breakfast: Yoplait smoothie, it's 60 calories per glass and all you add is milk and it's sooooo good! I pair it with a string cheese which is also 60 calories.

Midmorning snack: String cheese again or 100 calorie snack of some sort

Lunch; Turkey, peice of cheese, 100 calorie pack of cookies and apple sauce no sugar added

afternoon snack: fruit or 100 calorie pack

Dinner: grilled chicken, salad, green beans or brown rice.

I'm trying to stay away from too many carbs and eat more fruit veggies and dairy. And cheese is NOT bad if you eat it in moderation.

Gym: 1 hour of cardio four times a week.

Cheat day: Friday or saturday. Weight watchers ALWAYS tells you to include a cheat day whether it be for a meal or some snack or desert food you love. They say to never deprive yourself because that just makes ou over indulge.

I know my body will adapt to the fewer calories but it needs to be on less calories and I definitely need to up the cardio. I'm excited to see the results I know will come of all this even in one week. I am the maid of honor for a friend's wedding in May and I want that dress to be enormous when it comes to me to be altered! That is my motivation right now!

Happy Monday!

Vegetables? Gross...

2010-01-08T07:16:00.000-08:00

I've never been a fan of veggies and even as I've grown up as my mother would say, I still dislike a lot of them. Certain textures of food can really creep me out. Well the number one thing with weight watchers is most fruit and all vegetables are 0 points so you're supposed to eat more of those then anything else. Well I found an alternative. V8 fruit and vegetable juice. Yup, you heard right. NOt only is the banana strawberry my favorite but you're literally getting your fruit and vegetable requirements for the entire day! I drink it first thing in the morning as I'm getting ready. I can already notice a difference in my skin as well. I've also started taking a multivitamin and vitamin C. I haven't taken vitamins in a long time.

Random tidbit for ya!

Went to the gym this week even though it was miserable getting out in the weather. I've decided to up my cardio to an hour a day. It's the fastest way to lose weight and if I can do that I'm pretty sure I can do anything. I switch between the treadmill where I walk quickly on an incline to the eliptical which works my arms as well. Soon I'm hoping to up my difficulty level on both.

I watched the Biggest Loser from this week and they have the biggest person ever who I think weighed in at 546 pounds and he's only 30 years old!!! Of course I bawl my eyes out everytime I watch that show just thinking of all the pain and heartache they've gone through and even though I'm not that big I can relate in some way. We all had those beautiful bodies at one time and then one day you wake up 50 pounds or 400 pounds heavier and wonder who you are anymore. But how amazing to watch these people go from 400 to 200! That is just so much motivation for me. I think 30 pounds is a lot but 100 would be a lot worse and they did it so I'm pretty sure I can do 30!!

The first 5 have come off which is nice, so we will see how the next month treats me. I only weigh myself at the gym because having a scale at my home is like having a bag of pooh lying around. I don't like it. I want to be able to work out and then get on that scale and see where I am for the day. It also helps motivate me to get to the gym to see those pounds fall :)

Have a great weekend!

Favorite Dish

2010-01-07T05:41:00.000-08:00

I have a new favorite dish so I thought I would share it. It's so easy to make and it's sooooo good!!

Poppyseed Chicken Casserole

1 can of cream of chicken soup (I buy lite in everything listed)
1 can of cream of mushroom
3 chicken breasts cooked then cut in to smaller pieces
poppyseeds which I use at my own discretion
1 16oz of lite sour cream
ritz reduced fat crackers
1 stick of butter but I use 1/2

Mix all ingredients together except for butter and ritz crackers
crush crackers and mix with butter then sprinkle on top of casserole
Put in the oven and bake for 25 minutes at 350
Enjoy!

Back to Reality

2010-01-03T14:33:00.000-08:00

Well tomorrow it's back to school for this teacher and I can't say I'm super excited about it! This break was such a great one spending so much time with wonderful friends and family! Made me realize how truly blessed I am with SO much!

Here are just a couple of pics from the break. I'll blog more when I'm back in the grind. This week I plan on working out 3 times this week, which is up from my 2 times. I've researched a lot and how when you've been out of the work out scene for a while you ease yourself back in to it. My goal is by the end of the month to 5 days!

Happy New year!

White Christmas

Campbell in his Christmas Jammies

New Years Eve

Tomato, Tohmahto?

2009-12-17T07:21:00.001-08:00

Obviously that's not how you spell Tomato but I was referring to the song with that particular line. Growing up with a mother who calls a washing machine a warshing machine I don't usually think i'm prounouncing things wrong but i got put in my place the other day by another teacher. I asked her children to bring their crayons (me pronouncing them crowns) to music class and she laughed and told me it was Crayolas. I never thought I was saying the world incorrectly and to be honest with you I like my version much better but have been pronouncing them crayons ever since which just sounds silly to me! I wonder what else I say that's weird.....makes you really listen to yourself speak. I knew I'd really like Matt when he pronounced always, aways like I do......funny quirk.

In other news, I went to the gym yesterday and ran my booty patooty off! It felt incredible and I can't wait to do it again. I'm honestly going to look in to seeing how much the personal trainers are just to lean down, no bulking up here. But I guess we will see. I walked a 17 minute mile which is slow I know but it was on a 5.0 incline! lets just say no one wanted to be on the treadmill next to me because of my sweat puddles but I don't care! It feels good knowing you're doing something about a situtation you've put yourself in. As much criticism I've taken from family about my current weight I can now proudly say, I'm working on it ;) Just knowing my heart is thanking me for it is enough for me! I even wore pants to work today and am feeling good. Can't wait to see those numbers drop! I thought yesterday, this is my body, why wouldn't i want to take care of it? It's amazing to me how you can just go on auto pilot and not think about certain consequences!

Tomorrow is Friday and I couldn't be more excited about it! Two weeks of freedom from children will be glorious, and Campbell doesn't count because I could be with him all day every day and be ok with it! We went walking on monday which was incredibly difficult with Taylor pulling and sophie being dragged and pushing campers, I now understand why my sister is so incredibly tiny because it's a great work out! My shins hurt the next day! But it was funny because I decided to jog a little just to see if I could and Campbell laughed and giggled and kept saying GO!! It was fun!

Have a great Thursday!

You can do it!

2009-12-14T08:18:00.000-08:00

My weight loss has started off to a rocky start I'll be the first admit, I don't need anyone pointing that out to me. But it's starting slowing and surely I promise I'm doing what I need to do. I have 2 friends who call, text, or email me everyday asking me how I'm doing. While my family is wonderful I needed to call in re-enforcemetns.

So I called 2 of my best friends last week and we talked over a plan of action or POA for those who only like to read abbreviated words ;) They too have struggled with weight in their adult years and were all ready but have tried and failed many times so were hoping this time it will be it! I'm not looking to be a size 2 I'm just ready to fit in to regular clothes again and to feel good about myself. I know this will all come once the pounds shed away but anyone who's been where I am right now know how difficult it is to start, but sometimes you've just got to jump.

I know I've said all these things before, but somethings clicked. Whether it be now being the girl who hates having her picture taken or the girl who refuses to look in the mirror, something has happened and I know I have to do this.

So here's to early New Years resolutions and not waiting until TOMORROW to start. Here's to my future jeans that will be sizes smaller and here's to that Girl who loves to look at herself in the mirror. Cheers!

Domestic

2009-12-07T11:55:00.000-08:00

I have realized over this past year how much I love being domestic. I'm hosting a Christmas party for some of my closest friends and I can't wait! I'm already picturing how I want things set up and what not all else. I think next year for Christmas I'm going to ask for these reindeer plates from Pottery Barn because they have been a favorite of mine for the past few years, just never really thought I'd use them. It will be interesting to sit 7 people behind my kitchen table but I think it will work!

Random updates

2009-12-04T07:04:00.000-08:00

So this week has been literally a whirlwind of activity. I think I've only seen my apt when I was falling in to bed and hearing my alarm go off in the mornings. We had our choir concert last night and the kids did a very nice job, they missed a couple of things we worked really hard on but that's ok! All in all for my first concert I thought it went pretty well. We can only learn from our mistakes right?

In other news Matt and I have become Scrabble nerds. There is a new app on the iphone called words with Friends and it's literally a scrabble game you play with other iphone users and it's so much fun! So we went out and bought a scrabble board and we can't get enough of it!

As you might have guessed I did lose but only by 20 points!

I did put my tree up last Wednesday, and while Clay called it my Charlie Brown Christmas tree, I think it's cute.

And here Matt and I are in front of the Galleria's Christmas tree, where we did a little Christmas shopping :)

Happy Friday!

Back to school

2009-11-30T09:44:00.000-08:00

Well back to school today! I had a hard time getting up since my body wouldn't let me fall asleep until about 1 last night. Oh well!

I had a great Thanksgiving day with matt and his family. It was pretty much exactly how I would have spent it with my own, very laid back and chill. I am now looking forward to Christmas!

This week is a very busy week, we have our choir concert this Thursday in the gym at 530 and then right after I get to stay until 8 for craft night. Woohoo! All week were practicing with our choir after school to get them ready, I'm a little nervous since this will be the first time I've conducted any pieces since college! But I think the kids will do a great job and hopefully we will have a good turn out of parents that will attend.

Next Thursday were taking them to Northpark where they will sing outside of Dillards at 10 that morning, then after we get to take them shopping around the mall and eat lunch at the foodcourt.....should be an interesting day.

Have a great week!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-20T06:27:00.000-08:00

As I was getting ready for school this morning I was thinking how this will be my first Thanksgiving without any of my family. It's interesting to me that were all spending the holiday with other loved ones this year. I feel very fortunate though that Matt's family has graciously offered to have me over to spend the day with them. They are a sweet family and I enjoy thier company very much. I've had many awkward boyfriend family encounters, I can't even begin to tell stories. But I've spent a lot of time with Matt's family and even though different then my own they make me feel right at home.

I willl be happy to spend christmas with my family though and my sweet nephew Campers who I'm sure will make it an exciting one. Last night I went to my parents house and he walked upstairs with me to do something and crawled right up in my lap. I like to think he knows who I am and that I love him very much. We enjoyed a few moments of saying, ball, popz, button, doggie, mama, and li-li. I'm still working on the aunt li-li thing, maybe it will catch on but who knows. After he got out of his bath he ran out and gave me a big hug and kiss night night. It was precious and I cherish these times right now when I can still pick him up and have him sit in my laugh. I think this age where he is right now is my favorite.

And I can't wait to meet my new nephew in Jan! Even ithough he lives in LA I'll still love him with all my heart just like I do with Paige!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Come on Week!

2009-11-19T05:54:00.000-08:00

So I feel like this week has dragged on forever and I've gotten nothing really accomplished. Last night Matt and I got free tickets from one of his friends to see the Mavs play and it was so much fun! I hate the San Antonio Spurs, so it was fun to get to watch them play and we had great seats too! I was 12 rows back from the court, and Dirk is defnitly a huge dude!

This weekend I'm going to San Antonio for a teacher friends wedding, and I'm pretty excited about getting away from Dallas for a couple of days. Then next week is Thanksgiving break and I'm definitely looking forward to that.

I guess this is where I say what I'm thankful for?

I'll make a list for all 2 of you (mom and occasionally Emily) who read my blog.

1. My family
2. My niece and nephew (soon to be nephews)
3. Matt
4. Heather and Haley whom I talk to everyday on the phone.
5. My scotties
6. My job
7. My home
8. My students
9. Music, my life would be extremly boring without it.
10. My health.

I'd say I have quite a few things to be thankful for. God has blessed me with many wonderful things!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

First sickness

2009-11-16T09:41:00.000-08:00

Well I feel pretty lucky to have made it this far without getting sick, but yet here I am feeling like pooh. I woke up this morning all congested and my head feels like it's about to explode and I'm pretty sure I could sleep till Friday and only get up to eat something and use the bathroom. Looks like my couch is going to be my friend for the new few days!

Hopefully the grouchiness will not continue all week, I'm feeling a little short tempered today.......

But in GOOD news, next week is Thanksgiving break and I'm looking forward to spending it with my two favorite scotties (besides sophie!!) at mom and dads. Even if that does mean no sleeping in for my break.....ahem....... :)

Happy Monday!

2009-11-06T06:18:00.001-08:00

Oh and Happy Birthday to my Dad tomorrow!! Love you!

A few of my Favorite things

2009-11-06T05:51:00.000-08:00

This Holiday season is rapidly approaching and I love it!

Here are a couple of my absolute favorite things about this holiday season.

Christmas Trees! I will be putting my Christmas tree up in my apt again this year. I love coming home to it and turning it on.

And of course the Peppermint Hot Chocolate at starbucks is a must. I get it with skim milk and no whip cream and it's just as wonderful! Of course this holiday treat can add up so I only treat myself every now and then. Today is my first cup and it's just amazing!

Cheers to the Holiday Season of 2009! May it be a wonderful one!

FInally Friday

2009-10-30T05:47:00.000-07:00

It's finally Friday!

Last night I got to babysit campers and here are some pictures of things we did last night.

Eating Dinner, Aunt Lindsey forgot to take my shirt off so as I was eating my sweet potatoes I stuck my shirt in my mouth, but no worries Mom Aunt Lindsey sprayed it and left it on the dryer for you!

This was the look he decided to give me after I took his milk away from him. I wasn't being mean he kept throwing it and when I asked if he wanted it back and put his hand out to stop me. But this is what I like to call the Stink Eye!

And then finally here we are trying on Aunt Lindsey's Ugg boots. It was hilarious to watch him walk around in them!

After all this we took a bath then brushed our teeth, then my favorite part. He climbed in my lap and layed his head on my chest as we read "Mouse Goes to School" then we rocked and off to bed he went!

Thanks Campers for being such an awesome nephew, I love you with all my heart!

Don't forget to push the clockes back an hour tomorrow evening!!

Almost Friday

2009-10-29T07:29:00.000-07:00

Today is Thursday, meaning tomorrow is Friday! I get to babysit my sweetest nephew in the whole entire world tonight! I know he's going through his wild man stage right now, but last time I got to babysit him we sat in his rocking chair and he just put his head on my shoulder and we just sat. He didn't fall asleep, we just enjoyed the rocking motion together. It was very sweet and I'm so thankful I have him and Paige, my niece in my life. I adore them both to the ends of the earth. I just wish they would stay little for longer!

I'm ready for colder weather, I hate this in between stuff. I'm wishfully looking outside right now as I type this watching the wind wisk through the trees and hoping it's like 20 degrees cooler when I leave here at 4!

Have a great Thursday!

I did it!

2009-10-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

I finally figured out how to change my background and found one that I think is very cute. I don't stick with something for very long so more then likely it will change!

A new week

2009-10-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a busy one but overall a good one. Sunday, Matt and I went with some friends to the new Village church that opened here in Dallas. It was an interesting experience to say the least. I haven't fully decided if I'm really just a big traditional girl at heart or I'm not opening my eyes towards new things. The music there was awesome, but the sermon felt impersonal for we watched the preacher on a big screen. He also preached about women being submissive and I wasn't too thrilled with how he portrayed it all. Sometimes I wonder if I allow my hot head to not let my heart fully hear the Lords word, but something about the way he spoke yesterday did not agree with me. Matt kind of felt the same way, and we may go back and try it again but we shall see. I do know that we will be attending PCBC again for the holiday season because I can't miss the beautiful music in the traditional service! Music to me is my worship, and if that's tacky I apologize, but it's where I hear God the most. The thing I did like about the village was all the young single adults that were there. They were all so friendly and around our age. I guess we will see where the Lord leads me in my church quest.

Friday night we went with our same couple friends to see Jim Gaffigan perform at the Majestic downtown. He's a really funny comedian and I'm glad I got to go. He was real clean but oh so hilarious! We had a good time.

Now on to a busy week, can I just say I'm tired of doing Halloween songs?! I'm ready to move on to Super Turkey, and other Christmas music. I can't beleive the holiday season is approaching us, but I can't say that I'm not looking forward to it either!

And for those of you who want to come see my darling choir kids sing at Northpark it's on Dec 10th sometime in the morning. I'll send an email when I know for sure.

Bragging rights

2009-10-23T05:38:00.001-07:00

I'm real quiet about my relationships. I won't usually talk about my boyfriends unless you ask me something about them. Well today I decided to do a little bragging on Matt. He had text me yesterday saying he would like to cook dinner for me which is nice, but when I went over there he had these beautiful pink roses sitting in a vase for me. It was, "Just because" flowers. I thought it was very sweet. The last time he bought me flowers was about two weeks after we had been dating, I was getting a movie from the redbox and he wandered off, only to come back with flowers in hand. He really is a great guy and I'm very happy to have met him.

In other news this week has been crazy!! I honestly don't have much time to do anything. I have just felt on the go all the time, but luckily this weekend even though it's still busy I don't have too much I have to do. I try and get all my cleaning and laundry out of the way during the week so I can really fully enjoy my weekend.

I can't beleive October is almost over, I will be honest in saying I'm already listening to Christmas music a little at work. Pandora is a free radio and you just type in the genre of music and it makes up this wonderful playlist for you. I think it's been around for a long time but I had forgotten about it. So when I get to work in the mornings I check my school mail and listen to some Christmas music, it puts me in a good mood! Were taking our choir kiddos to Northpark to sing in Dec. and I'm really excited about it. This is the first year I've had anything to do with choir and honestly I'm the one teaching them their songs! Matt does the warm ups with them then I teach them the actual music. It's cool to hear them sing something and think, wow I taught you guys that? Still blows me away sometimes that I'm molding children's mind in some way! Not that I plan on ever winning teacher of the year but I really do love what I do.

All right, hope you guys have a happy friday!

Jean Friday

2009-10-16T05:52:00.000-07:00

So the words "Jean Friday" have been freaking me out for the past 6 weeks because I haven't been able to put my jeans on and I was refusing to buy a bigger size so I left them to motivate me. Well today was the day, I got up this morning and zipped up my jeans!!! So yay me! And yes I did wear them to school and I'm feeling good :)

Have a lovely weekend!

Help

2009-10-09T06:57:00.000-07:00

I still don't know much about the whole blogging thing and feel my blogging page is inadequate amongst the others out there. I don't know how to change the layout to other then what they offer and how to show who I'm following on the sides? Any advice would be helpful thanks!

Happy Friday!

Almost Friday

2009-10-08T05:51:00.001-07:00

I had a 3 day week this week, because Monday was our fair day and Tuesday was staff development. So it's nice knowing that it's already almost Friday!

I feel like the craziness of my life may never cease for a while, but that's ok! I can't say that my life right now isn't wonderful. I feel like I've found good friends to be with, a wonderful boyfriend and a loving family. Can't as for more then that.

I've officially lost 8 pounds. Its not as much as I would like to lose but in all honesty, I've learned to pick my battles. In college when I wanted to fit in to a dress in a month I starved myself and ran everyday then immediatly put the weight back on. I feel like I'm doing it the right way this time. Exercising, I eat two low calorie snacks in the midmorning and afternoon and a sensible breakfast lunch and dinner. I eat out once a week now where as I was doing that all the time and it's helped a lot! Even if it takes a full year for me to get my figure back I think I'll be better because I learned good eating habits. I try and not eat after 8 because that way is supposed to help your food fully digest!

I try not to focus on the weight issue as to just making smarter choices. Life is too short for us to compare our body's to other's, because God made each of us beautifully. I know I can do it and will continue on with my journey!

Kowloon Salad

2009-09-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

Here is that salad at baker brothers that was so yummy!

Kowloon...Oriental salad with mixed greens, roasted chicken, crunchy rice noodles, red, yellow and green bell peppers, topped with mandarin oranges and toasted almonds.

Sorry

2009-09-29T09:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry that I haven't blogged lately, I know so many of you are anxious to hear what I have to say ;) I don't have a working computer at home so school is the only time I really can get on one and I've been so stinkin busy!

Let's see, I had a pretty relaxing weekend, yesterday I went on a nice long walk because it was beautiful outside. Today I feel like pooh, my body is tired and my throat hurts so I better not be getting something!! Although October and March/April are usually the two times I get sick a year so I'm due I guess.

I'm still working out and eating healthy, this weekend Matt and I went and ate at Baker brothers and I ordered a salad with dressing on the side! I know right?? It was really good and i figured out I could make it at home, it was called their Kowloo or something like that salad. It was an asian dressing with little crunchies in it, red peppers and chicken. It was really good!

Things that keep me motivated are as followed:
1. Fitting in to dresses for weddings
2. Watching the biggest loser, I bawl my eyes out everytime and those people are HUGE and losing weight like nobody's business, it's so inspirational!
3. Knowing I can fit in to my winter pants again this winter :) I haven't worn pants in a long time because I'm too self concious about my thighs and waist so Pants HERE I COME!

Happy Tuesday!

Losing a Pet

2009-09-24T06:05:00.001-07:00

Matt called me last night to tell me his families beloved dog peanut had died of kidney failure. She was 14. I had met Peanut and she was never very pleasant with me, but she was a cute dog. She was no bigger then a football and when I would come have dinner with matt and his family she would come running out barking nipping at my feet, it was actually pretty funny.

I remember when we had to put our first family pet down, Sheba. She knew it was her time to go and it was a really sad day, and then very sad when we came home for the first time and she wasn't out there to greet us at the back fence. I'll never forget the sadness that comes with losing a pet. I know Matt is sad today but he knows she's in a better place.

Peanut you'll be missed!

On a brighter note, my sister found the dress I had posted on a previous post on sale for 100 dollars! I was excited to go and get it after school and it's now hanging proudly in my closet ready to be worn in Novemeber when I've reached my goal weight then :) Thanks Em!

Busy

2009-09-21T05:42:00.000-07:00

This school year has proven itself to be vastly different then the years before it. I don't think I stop once I get to school, I'm constantly teaching or copying, or learning a new lesson etc. It's been great though and I'm thankful to be at a school where I have so many friends and great coworkers.

Still working out, still watching what I eat. We went to eat Mexican food this weekend and I think I had two chips, which are my favorite thing. I'm learning that if I'm going somewhere kind of fattening for dinner I eat a little snack beforehand so I don't indulge as much, so I had a handful of almonds before I left for dinner, it kept my chip eating to a minimum! But the soup and quesadillas were totally worth my points!!

Football season has begun and I'm not much of a fan for college football because I didn't have a team at OBU but watching the Cowboys last night in their new stadium, while disappointing is so much more fun for me!

The week ahead is a busy one, but it should be a great one!

Weighing in

2009-09-14T11:52:00.000-07:00

I have weighed myself and by some crazy miracle I have officially lost 4 pounds. I'm not gonna lie when I say I'm not going to miss those four pounds. According to my weight watchers tracker that's too much weight to lose in one week they like for us to stick to 2 pounds but hey this week may only be 2 pounds you just never know! I hate getting on the scale I don't like it. But I keep telling myself it's motivating me to see those numbers going down, even if it's only a little at a time.

I found out this weekend I have another wedding to attend in Oct. for one of Matt's good guy friends. So that pushes me more to really keep it up so I can find something pretty to wear! Even though there are days that are hard I gotta keep focused on the goal at hand. I HATE making my weight be a central focus right now which is why I'm trying not so much to focus on the weight loss as I am on the getting healthy part and making healtheir choices.

I'm looking in to getting a personal trainer once a week at my gym, I'm thinking it would be really good for me and I could use those workouts on the days I am not being trained and that will also help keep me in line with my weight goals if someone is watching me! I guess we shall see.

As for dinner tonight, some grilled chicken with bbq sauce, brown rice, and green beans! Yum!

9/11

2009-09-11T06:14:00.000-07:00

8 years ago today I was sitting in my Aquatic Science class (yes that's as far as my science went!!) Watching the towers on fire, then falling to the ground only moments later. I cried, surrounded by classmates of whom none I was friends with, Aquatic sci wasn't really where all the smart or cool kids were ;) I let tears roll down my face. I know that I'm a sensitive person, I hate watching Animal movies because more then likely an animal is going to get hurt or die and I can't deal with that. Anyway, watching the events unfold all day you couldn't hear a pin drop in that school. The only sound you heard was the tv's going in each room. It is a day I'll never forget.

I remember I came home that day and continued to watch it. That evening as I was laying in bed I kept thinking I was hearing airplanes flying over us even though planes were grounded, and I went and crawled in bed with Emily.

We each have our own story of where we were, and what we were doing when we heard the news. It's amazing how we each have such strong opinions about politics and what leaders aren't doing what etc, but when a tragedy like this happens, how quickly we are as Americans to come together and be there for each other, and that's something I'll never forget.

"God Bless the USA"

Wedding Season

2009-09-09T05:53:00.000-07:00

In the month of November I have 3 weddings to go to. They're all on a different weekend and all with different people. My goal is to be able to fit in to this dress from Anthropologie. I haven't shopped there in a long time because I can't fit in to their clothes right now and that's depressing! I love that store even if it's expensive. Anyway I love this dress and have had my eye on it for about a month now. I'm hoping it will be in their sale items soon, but I figure I'll buy it in a smaller size and have that as my goal for November. I'm the kind of person that wants to change over night, but let's face it Rome wasn't built in a day. I'm working hard and eating better then I have and I can tell I have much more energy during the day. I don't focus on the end result, if you ever go to a weight watchers meeting they tell you to focus on today's goal, which mine is, eat healthy and move around a lot!

Even on days I can't get to the gym I feel ok because I teach 6 classes straight 4 days out of 5 and I'm constantly on my feet, teaching dances, walking around the room, beating an instrument etc. Plus I walk around our school building all the time, I hardly have a second to myself. I love going to the gym though and walking on the treadmill and lifting my weights. I know that as I'm tracking my points and activity points I can include the times when I'm up acting like a crazy person in front of my kiddos!

All right, well have a happy Wed!

Four Day week!

2009-09-08T08:58:00.000-07:00

Four day weeks are great, three day are even better! My long weekend was anything but restful. I helped Matt move in to his new apt all weekend and then helped him unpack and set things up. While I love putting my organizational skills to work I came home last night just pooped!! But I'm rested now and feeling good. This week should fly by and before I know it, it will be Friday again and hopefully this weekend I can catch up on some zzz's :)

Matt started his new job this morning, he text me at 845 exclaiming his excitement and nervousness! I know he'll be great!

After school we have an area team meeting then its off to the gym! I'm sore from moving heavy boxes up and down stairs all day Sunday and yesterday but in all honesty I wasn't too badly outta shape so that was a great feeling!!! If I were a mover I'd lose 20 pounds in two weeks from the heat we moved in this weekend! It was good exercise though :)

Happy Tuesday!

Going Vegetarian

2009-09-04T05:49:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I was at school until 6, then I run home changed clothes and met a gf for dinner. Got home about 830 last night and was just exhausted. So I got ready for bed and watched some tv. While flipping through channels I came across a very disturbing sight on one of my many mexican channels. It's now embedded in to my brain and I can't stop thinking about it. I will not ever tell anyone what I saw because it was so horrifying, needless to say I will not be eating meat anytime soon. So in that regards I have decided to become a vegetarian. I have looked at weight watchers online and they do have many weight watcher recipes for vegetarians, I just have to learn how to eat beans and other veggies that are good for protein. I may sneak in the occasional chicken but never beef again!

I'm looking forward to the long weekend! I kind of hope that it does rain in the evenings because we need it and I just love the rain. I'll be helping Matt move in to his new apt so that's exciting for him. It's always fun on 3 day weekends when Sunday is not your last day to get stuff done before the week starts!

Happy Laboring!

Meet the Teacher

2009-09-03T05:50:00.000-07:00

So tonight is meet the teacher night at our school, meaning I'll probably sit in my room till 630 with a few friends bringing their parents down but not many.

I work in a very spanish speaking school, so I've thought about learning a little more spanish. I have an all spanish speaking Kindergarten class and while they are just absolutely adorable they don't always understand me so when disciplining it's a little frustrating. I have a friend who used Spanish in your car while she drove around so she's going to let me borrow that, so we'll see if my spanish gets any better!!

As of right now I know how to say, No running, please sing, bathroom, walking feet and their names, oh and bubble in your mouth please! While it's good for them to learn English as well I'd feel better about teaching them if they understood me a little bit!

Busy day today! Then get to meet a gf for dinner. My social has never been so full as it was this week. Usually during the school year I like to lay low on school nights but I've enjoyed being out and about spending time with good friends :)

Notice anything Different?

2009-09-01T09:03:00.001-07:00

So I took the plunge yesterday and decided to cut off 10 inches of my hair! I didn't even have a second to think about it before she snipped it away. I feel lighter already even though it's just hair! Took me about 10 minutes this morning to dry and style it with my flat iron.

Breakfast is always a challening meal for me because I leave my apt by about 700 and get to school at 715. Leaving me about 5 hours between lunch and breakfast with no breaks for a snack. So I've finally found something I love eating that keeps me pretty full until about 1130!

Eggo whole grain waffles. They are yummy! Two of them is 160 calories which is about 2 points I think for weight watchers then I put a little peanut butter on the top of each and go! It's really yum and very fast and easy. Bananas are also good filler foods but I have yet to get to the grocery store to get any fruit.

I made myself a really good meal last night. I found this burger recipe off of weight watchers and the burger is about 4 points then with cheese and a bun it made it about 7 which is awesome then I baked some green beans to go with and it was delicious!

1 spray(s) cooking spray

1 pound(s) uncooked lean ground beef (with 7% fat)
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
4 item(s) reduced-calorie hamburger roll(s)

Healthy Eating

2009-08-31T09:40:00.001-07:00

For about the past year and a half I have struggled with weight gain. When I first moved out on my own I was happy, healthy and active! Then I lost my job, had to study, was in a stressful relationship and my happiness and activity decreased. I got in a rut of not taking care of myself as well as I should have. Family members began to comment on my weight which only made me feel worse about myself. It was a constant battle between having to feel like I needed to impress them or feeling of despair with myself. I tend to be really hard on myself and I'm learning to make small changes. I won't change over night, but if I just tell myself each morning that I can do it I know that I'll eventually get to my goal. (which I'm keeping to myself at this point)

I've done the whole weight watchers thing before and it works for a little bit but you feel constrained after a while and I get bored very easily. So I'm taking things I learned on weight watchers and from what I've learned from friends and combining it all in to one big awesome plan. I don't like the word "diet", it's a scary word and it really should just disappear from the English language. I have been tracking my points online with the weight watchers online tool which really is great and it's got lots of great recipes on it.

I'm excited about this process and I know it will benefit everything about me in the future. There will be days of frustration and tiredness from work, but I know I can do it and that's all that matters. Carpe Diem, Seize the day. Always make this day better then the one before!

If you ever want advice for Healthy easy recipes go to Weightwatchers.com