Back on Track!

Wow, it's been a long time coming! I've been pretty much off of the weight watcher plan and my own plan of any kind for about 1 month. And I've seen a fairly substantial weight gain to boot. In fact, I just went to look for my weight tracker that I always keep in my purse, so I can give an accurate reading of where I was 1 month ago and it's not even in there! That just proves my lack of focus!

But I was 161.2 when I weighed in on November 13th. I think I was 158 about 2 weeks prior to that. And I stepped on the scale to see 165. Now, 165 isn't too horrible but considering I've seen numbers as high as 172 due to sodium retention and lack of water, I got pretty scared! I haven't seen these numbers in months! I do not ever want to go back!

Also, I don't pay right now for weight watchers. As a lifetime member, I go to meetings for free as long as I weigh in once a month within my goal range. My goal is 160 so I have a 2 lb leeway and my upper limit is 162. So I have to lose 3 lbs before I weigh in for December.

My normal meetings are on Saturdays. This Saturday, I will be out of town. I could go to a meeting a different day this week (since they are also rolling out the new plan materials for weight watchers), but I don't want to weigh in and pay. So I'm sucking it up and going the following Saturday, which gives me about 2 weeks to lose around 3 lbs. I think that is completely doable. And if not, I will at least be close and may only have to pay for 1 week.

I have had renewed focus and motivation since last Saturday. I'm actually tracking my foods and working out every day. I'm a little obsessed and worked out twice yesterday. I did a 10k (on my own) for 6.2 mile run in the morning. Then I hung some x-mas lights (thank god I didn't fall off the ladder and kill myself!). Later in the evening since I was just watching tv, I decided to ride my stationary bike for 30 mins. I did some abs on the ball and a few weights for good measure! I think I'm going to try to do 30 mins on the stationary bike every night if possible while watching tv in addition to whatever other exercise I get in that day! I think that should help lose those 3 lbs. Can you tell I'm a little obsessed?? I was scared straight!

My cousin Toni, who also does weight watchers with me, finally posted some pictures of her dad's surprise 50th birthday party back from November 6, 2010. And wow, I think we look great! Here are two pictures. This is actually 3 people that have done weight watchers and we all look so great! My cousin has pictures of us all 3 years ago but never seems to remember to forward them to me!


So, the three of us are proof that weight watchers works. I think the first girl on the left, Kristin, lost about 25-30 lbs. Toni (my cousin) in the center lost about 40 lbs and I've (on the left) lost around 90 lbs. So I'm using these pictures for some inspiration.

But I've done pretty great the last few days. I'm keeping it going today and for the rest of the week. I'm going out of town to spend some time with the boyfriend on his home turf this weekend. I'm not going to count points but I'll try to watch myself. Then, I'm hitting the bricks next week again.

Do you think it's "wrong" for me to not count points this weekend? I want to live my life like I would live it for the rest of my life, and stressing about what I'm eating while with someone I don't see very often seems like a waste of my time and energy. I think just focusing on making as best of decisions as I can seems like a good way to go. What are your opinions?

Picking up the pieces!

I'm trying to pick up the pieces. I'm pretty depressed right now but it's not all about food. The county building screwed up with my taxes and I have a huge tax bill that's due. So I have to pay that until I get a refund. Sucks because it's an error on their part but I'm stuck cleaning it up right now. And I'm not the only one this has happened to.

I got to my parent's house to let their dog out and I did what I always do, bee-lined straight for their fridge. And there is a lot of leftovers to drown out my sorrows: Pecan pie, ice cream, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy! So I went with....green beans! And a roll. That's it. Score one for me! It could have been a major disaster.

Thanksgiving with the family was good though. My dad cooked this year which means everything is made slightly healthier. Here are some pictures of us and the food.


Our turkey made on the grill! Yum!

Our dinner feast. My uncle eating 8 cups of gravy!

My lovely parents!

Me and my cousin Lexy!

I stepped on the scale a few times this week. And all the times, there was bad news! Some of it is sodium, I haven't been drinking my water, but a lot of it is gained weight! I know I'm definitely over my goal by more than the 2 lbs I'm allowed.

So, a thought has been in my head. Want to know what that thought is?? DIET! That's right! I've been contemplating dieting! And I don't consider it a diet when I'm just following weight watchers. But I'm seriously thinking about eating salad every day and soup every day just to lose weight.

How in the world can someone who has done weight watchers successfully for over 3 years fall apart so quickly!

So as much as I'm thinking about doing a DIET, I probably won't really be on one. Yes, I didn't eat much today, but I'm not starving either. And I'm trying to still get the required amount of veggies/fruit, dairy, water, etc. that you are supposed to have on WW. So maybe I'm just gaining control back instead of dieting.

In other news, I did a turkey trot today with Nick. This run last year was his first run ever. So we really wanted to be that time. And we also wanted to beat his personal record set in October.

And we did! Go Nick! 2009 5k turkey trot he did it in 37:49 (first ever run). His personal best in October was about 34:04. And this year? Nick did it in 32:34! Woohoo! Go Nick, Go Nick! And here is a wonderful picture of us before the run.



So that's it for me. I'm here, struggling, but trying to climb back up to the top.

Holiday Time

It's that time of year again. The Holidays! I vowed this week to track, track, track. Starting yesterday (Monday). There are approximately 6-7 weeks left before the New Year. That's plenty of time to keep things under control.

And I did great! For the first 3/4 of the day at least. Then at night, bread, bread and more bread! Ok. Today will be different, right?

Until I came in and found dozens of cookies. And without even thinking, grabbed several of them and ate them at my desk. Ok, here is my plan now. I'm tracking 15 points for them. I get 22 today. I'm also going to earn about 6 at the gym later. So after the 15 points deducted, I've got about 13 left for the day. I'm going to try to stick as close to that number as possible. If I use 15 instead of 13, that's ok. The important thing is that I would have tracked all of my food. I Well, I did eat a banana this morning so that's 2 points less. Now I've got 11 pts to use. I have my lunch prepared, a baked potato and chicken, which I weighed yesterday. My lunch rings in at 5 pts. I can make this work.

But that brings me to my topic at hand. Holidays. How do you prepare for the unexpected treats that are just laying around? Do you just have this fantastic willpower that you just say "no" and walk away?

Sometimes I get mad that I have to be so careful and refuse something when other people just walk around and eat without thinking! It just seems kind of unfair, you know?

So does anyone have any suggestions for me? My downfall is at work. I don't buy this stuff and keep it at my house. And I'm not even talking about all the wonderful Holiday food that you eat on the actual Holiday itself.

I should be posting tomorrow, but if not, hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Progress vs. Perfection

Thank you all for your words of encouragement over my last post regarding getting back to eating healthy.

I'm sure the question on your minds is...did I succeed? Yes and no. I started out that day great and lost it at the end. But I did succeed in that I started again the next day, and also today. I'm trying to work on Progress over Perfection!

I don't think I've ever met a perfect person. Have you? But what makes life great is that you can always strive for being better. There are always things you want to change or fix or improve on. It's how you handle those things that make you better. It's how you handle adversity that makes you stronger.

So, I'm starting...yet again. That's ok. There are 7 weeks left before the New Year. 7 weeks is a long time to get back on track. And yes, there are some holidays thrown in, or an occasional trip to see the out-of-state boyfriend, but that doesn't mean that I can't stay on track. And remember, it's not about perfection. So if on Thanksgiving, I eat a little too much mashed potatoes, that's ok. It's not what I do THAT day that defines who I am or how I'm doing, it's all the days surrounding it that count. That one day won't make or break me.

And another bit of news. I was notified that my blog (along with many others you may or may not read) was featured in an article from Nursing Schools. The title is 60 Amazing Blogs for Weight Watchers Support. My blog is located on number 41 on the list. The list is set up nicely because it separates the blogs based off of what information they provide. Are you a newcomer, trying to maintain after hitting goal, need new recipes? It lists a ton of good blogs for you to look at. Check out the article here. Kind of cool actually! And I'm looking forward to checking out some of those other blogs listed on there!

Starting Now!

I've been really struggling lately with my food. I can make excuses but that's all it would be...excuses.

Excuses
Been Sick
Emotional Eating
Just don't care sometimes
No good food in the house
Bad choices at restaurants
Etc.

Once I'm off track for a while, it's really hard to get back on track. Then I start feeling sluggish, depressed, guilty...the list just goes on and on. I hate this feeling and know as soon as I start eating right, I'll feel 10x better!

So why can't I start? Every day I say "this is the day!" And every morning I blow it at work and say "Maybe tomorrow." It's a never ending cycle.

So to try to get out of my eating funk, I'm starting RIGHT NOW! This morning I did my usual "This is the day" then I blew it and said "Maybe Tomorrow" but I know that will never happen. So what am I going to do? I'm confessing to all of you, right here, right now! I'm confessing to my morning sins, I'm writing it down and moving on for the rest of the day! This is the only way I will get back on track!

Morning 11/17/10
2 bananas (2 different times of the day) = 4 pts
1 regular bagel = 5 pts
part of a small taffy apple = 2 pts

So at 11:00 am, I have already consumed 11 pts. This is half of my day worth of points. I'm going to my "losing" points which is less than "maintenance" points. I get 22 pts.

I have my lunch planned already since I brought it from home. I'm having chicken and baked potato. I have to estimate the points since I didn't weigh anything. Better to estimate then to not count it.

Lunch 11/17/10
3 oz. baked chicken = 3 pts
3 oz. baked potato = 3 pts

Grand total after lunch will be 17 pts used.

I'm not going to the gym tonight. I've been pushing myself to hard trying to work out when I've been sick and that's hindering me getting better.

So instead, I need to run to the store and thought I might run to the grocery store for a few items too. Just to get myself back on track. I need basics such as milk, cheese, lettuce and a few other items.

And I'm confessing that I never changed my weight from 158 after my last weigh in. I gained 3.2 lbs from the last two weeks which puts me at 161.2. That, luckily, is still within my healthy weight range for weight watchers (162 is the high end for me). So I'm changing my weight in my stats too. Might as well confess all the way!

So that's me confessing. Today is a new day. I'm starting today. You guys are my witnesses!

Turkey Trot

I had the Tinley Park Turkey Trot scheduled for this past Sunday morning. I was going to run it solo because I wanted to see what time I could get for a 5k. It's been forever (few years) since I ran a 5k by myself. My times before used to be between 32-35 mins! I really wanted to try for under 30 mins.

Unfortunately, I've been sick since last Monday. It's just one of those colds that won't go away. I was debating on whether I should even do this run. But, because I'm crazy and can't shy away from a run, I decided to do it.

I started close to the front. I usually start in the middle but I was going for time and decided to start near the beginning.

Because of this, I started out too fast. And with not feeling well, I felt it within one minute! I was sucking cold air into my lungs and I couldn't breathe properly. After realizing I wouldn't make it if I kept this running pace, I slowed it up a little. I'd rather finish and be a little slower, then not finish at all!

This run actually ran past my house twice! The website doesn't have the official results up yet (really guys!?!), so I don't know officially what my time was yet. But I do know that I finished it right about 28 mins. I think it might be a little less, around 27 mins 50+ seconds. That's my guess, so I'm very happy with that. Maybe I could have run it in less time if I wasn't sick and if it wasn't 30 degrees outside, but I have a personal best now for a 5k if I ever decide to run another one by myself.

**(UPDATE: times are now listed. I finished with a time for this 5k of 27:55 mins which comes to an average pace per mile of 9.01 mins/mile! This is a personal best ever!)

I'm also really having a hard time getting my eating under control. I mean, I don't eat bad meals necessarily, I'm just not paying attention to everything else I'm eating. I'm sure I'm eat more points than I should be. And I haven't been working out as much (which I'm trying to get back into the rhythm of), so it's a something I need to start focusing more on.

Other than that, my weekend was pretty boring. I did a lot of laundry. Nothing else really, since my energy was pretty zapped. I went to lunch with my cousins (Mr. Anonymous Nick and Jessie and their baby Elise). I have fabulous cousins!!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

I'M ALIVE!!!

Kind of off topic blog reporting to follow.

I've been totally MIA the last few days. In fact, my life has just been all turned around. My eating, sleeping, work day routine. It's been all thrown out the window.

Why? Well, you know why. That guy Matt came in from Nebraska. I filled you in a little the other day. I'll only fill you in a little today too. I will tell you that I have had the best time in a long time! My days are normally filled with normal, every day boring routines. Work, workout, tv, sleep. That's mostly the way my life is.

My life for the past 4 years was mainly focused on my getting healthy and feeling better about myself. So much so, that I neglect other areas of my life. Such as dating. And along with neglecting it, you start to fear it. You start to fear change.

So considering I just threw caution to the wind for almost the entire last week was so interesting for me! I thought this morning that I have no idea what's going on in the world because I haven't even watched the news, haven't checked to see what my DVR is recording or not recording, haven't done any laundry, haven't gone grocery shopping, haven't counted points, haven't watched my fruit/veggie, water, dairy intake, haven't worked out much, had fries several days, ordered an actual cheeseburger yesterday!

And even though I have no clean clothes, no fresh food, and may have gained 5 lbs (not sure), it was ALL SO WORTH IT! I think you have to change your life sometimes. You become dull and boring. You forget that life is short and you need to have fun while you can.

Am I completely over my normal boring life? No way! I can't wait to do laundry, can't wait to go grocery shopping, and definitely can't wait to workout!

But after a roller coaster week for me, I have to get on with it. Matt left this morning to go back to Nebraska. I was so sad. He tried harder than anyone to get my to drive back with him and call in the rest of the week and even though it was so tempting, I'm a responsible person and can't do that. We will just have to wait it out for a few weeks when I can visit him in Nebraska.

We had the best two days Tuesday and Wednesday. I called in sick, which is ironic because I kind of am sick. Wednesday we just went downtown with almost no plans, walked around Navy Pier, walked around Millennium Park, people watched, sat down, walked around, ate dinner. It was so nice not to have any plans. Just spent the whole day strolling. I don't think I've EVER done that. So peaceful and relaxing. I really needed that.

Now I need to get back to "normal" life. Work now. Running later, watch some of my recorded shows that I've forgotten all about. I really need to get back into a normal eating routine too.

Oh and bad news for my other guy Ken. I broke it off with him. It was irrespective of Matt. I was going to do it anyway. Ken took it good but not good. He really liked me. Doesn't want to be friends, only if it may lead to something more. I know that's not going to happen so that's his decision.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings. It's just what's on my mind right now.

I do have the Turkey Trot 5k this weekend. I'm running it because I never run a 5k on my own anymore and want to see what my time could be.

Weekend Run Update and More

I had the Hot Chocolate 15k on Saturday. It's 9.3 miles. That's a long way! Yes, I've run half marathons, but usually only 1 time a year. Other than that, it's usually between 3-6 miles that I run at a time.

It was going to be cold on Saturday. And it was when I hit the road, maybe around 30 degrees! I didn't want to go, I didn't want to be there. I wanted to stay sleeping. But a runner has to do what a runner has to do!

I felt pretty good the whole run. Sure, I was tired and really wanted to quit between mile 3-5, but it's all mental. If you physically feel good, you have to push through mentally.

I was giving myself one rest break. I figured I would walk for 2 mins about mile 6. When I got to mile 6, I was making pretty good time and thought that I would wait and walk at mile 7. However, at mile 7, still feeling pretty ok and still making good time, I thought that there is only 2 miles left, I might as well finish. I didn't need to walk at all! Whoa! That's pretty incredible for me! I usually have to walk some time during long runs!

It also stopped being cold around mile 3! Beautiful day to run! So glad I went.

My goal for this run since I had never run this distance in a timed run before was 1 hour 40 mins. I just wanted to be under that time! I decided to set a harder goal (and one I really didn't think I would achieve) at 1 hour 35 mins. I figured for the distance, that would be hard to achieve.

I kept a pretty good pace of under 10 mins/mile for about the first 4-5 miles! That's incredible for me! And the last maybe 4 miles, I kept a pretty consistent 10 min/mile pace! I don't have one of those fancy watches that tell me this, but I use the clocks they have at every mile marker to determine how fast/slow that mile was.

So when I crossed the finish line, I knew that I made it in around 1:30-1:31! WHOA? Really? I killed the times I set for myself! I was so happy with that!

The official time is 1:30:15 with an average pace per mile of 9.41 mins/mile! For me, this is huge! I only compete with myself on time and I've never run a run of ANY distance with a pace faster than 10+ mins/mile! And to run a personal best with a distance of 9.3 miles? I'm speechless!

In other news: I had that big family party on Saturday evening. I was going to meet that guy Matt from Nebraska. I decided to swing by my cousin's house on Friday night to meet him and get any awkwardness out of the way before the party on Saturday. It worked! I was super nervous on Friday and it was kind of awkward, but was much better on Saturday.

I will tell you, he is cuter than I expected from his pictures on facebook. Also, at the family party, we spent much of the evening together. Well, that threw my family for a loop! They were cornering me and questioning me.

Who is this guy you are talking to? Why are you talking to him? Why are you eating with him? Maybe you should move to another table and not eat with him (what? seriously guys??)? Why are you talking to him if he is from Nebraska? It was funny at times but pretty ridiculous at other times! The funny questioning ones were ok. The judgmental, "you shouldn't be talking to him" comments really kind of pissed me off. I thought those comments were rude and inappropriate. But I know they are my family. They NEVER see me talking to any guys. I NEVER bring guys around them EVER! (This may be the reason for that!). But I know they have my best interests at heart.

Want a picture from that night? This is NOT the best picture of us, but it was the first one that was taken and the only one my cousin has made available to me right now. I'm in my "closed off/awkward/arms crossed/who's taking my picture" kind of mode right now. But as you can see, I was cold and he got his jacket for me to wear. Awww, chivalry is not dead! lol If I get my hands on a better picture, I will post it.


And we spent all day on Sunday together. Half of it was with my cousin and her family so it was normal stuff. The other half, we ditched them and saw half of a really bad movie (do NOT see Hereafter), went out to eat and tried to find something else to occupy our time but couldn't since my cousin lives in the middle of nowhere.

Today, he is coming to my area, checking out my house for a minute (minus the rooms that are not clean), then going to eat at my parent's restaurant. We will probably try to find something else cheap and easy to do afterward.

I'm going to be sick from work on Tuesday and possibly Wednesday. Well...Matt leaves on Thursday and he did drive 7.5 hours, so it's the least I could do! So that's that.

No, you aren't getting juicy or not-juicy details! lol. And at Thanksgiving and a family baby shower later this month and in December, I'm KNOW I'm going to be cornered by my family again with LOTS of questions! They are so nosey!

And my eating? Well, I threw it all out the window this weekend. So even though I still may not be 100% perfect this week, I'm going to be more conscience of the choices I make. And NO CANDY! I know I have gained several pounds. The scale will not be happy!

A Post With No Title

Not feeling creative with the title for today's post!

What can I say, I stepped on the scale this morning and the number was not pretty! It's not my normal weigh in day but no one wants to see a number 5 pounds above the last one! Ouch!

I haven't been tracking AT ALL. I haven't even been trying to track. I'm in one of those "I don't care" moods. Needless to say, Halloween Candy has not been helping in the least! So, goal for today is NO HALLOWEEN CANDY (even though it was just refilled by evil office coworkers!).

I was determined to make this week better than last week. My mood a few days last week was grumpy! This week, I vowed to have a happy week regardless of issues at work/home, etc.

And it worked! The power of positive thinking! Now to get my eating under control. Also, I haven't been able to work out nearly as much as usual. No wonder the scale wasn't happy. So this morning, I got up early, rode the stationary bike in my living room for 25 mins, did another 5 mins of weights and then got on with my day. I'm going to try to do that a few extra times next week too since I think I won't have enough time with a certain friend coming into town from Nebraska this weekend and not leaving until Thursday!

I got my hair cut yesterday. It's still the same cut, short on an angle. I trimmed up my bangs. I almost think they are a teeny tiny bit too short but they grow so fast that it shouldn't matter.

I have the Hot Chocolate 15k this weekend (Saturday). Oh my goodness, it's going to be cold out there. SOOOO not looking forward to that! But I'm going to do my best.

Here are my goals for the run. I would like to, at a minimum, finish under 1 hour 40 mins. And to make me really happy, I would like to finish at about 1.35. I've never run just a 15k before so I'm not exactly sure what my time will be. If it's as cold as I think it is, I may be running faster just to finish as quickly as possible! Brrrrrr!!!!! Cold running is not my thing!

And, uh...lastly...my new friend from Nebraska is coming into town this weekend. Yes, Matt, the one that I have endless conversations on the phone with for the last two weeks. Whoa, can't believe this day is finally here! I'm really excited! I mean...really excited! But I'll be really nervous by about 3 pm today. I'm heading over to meet him at my cousin's house tonight around 7 pm. He should be getting there around 6 pm.

He told me he is bringing me a surprise. A gift that should make me laugh. Now why do people go and tell you they have a surprise! Kind of defeats the purpose of a surprise, doesn't it?? Uh! And it just makes me want to know what the heck it is! I was talking to him yesterday and he said he "got my surprise and was putting it together." What??? So curious! lol

Oh and lastly, had a date again with the first guy Ken the other day. I hadn't been out with him since I had started talking to Matt, so I really wanted to see what I thought about being out with Ken again. We went bowling and to eat. It was fine. I really love bowling! But yeah, no sparks with Ken at all. I kept looking at him and thinking..."Well? Maybe?? Anything??" But no, can't really find anything there. And I kept thinking about Matt the whole time too. That's never good when you are on a date with someone! And I always want the date to end early. So I think it may be time to cut Ken loose. And not because of Matt, just because of my lack of feelings for Ken.

So that's the details so far of my personal dating life. Definitely will be more to tell after this weekend! I'm seeing Matt for a few hours tonight, then tomorrow at the HUGE family party. I am spending the night at my cousins....which was planned LONG BEFORE Matt was coming and spending the night at my cousins (that was such a set up!). And my cousin, Matt and I will all be spending the day on Sunday together. If things are going well, I'll be taking off of work on Tuesday to hang out with Matt more before he has to leave on Thursday. If things don't go well, I'll be working that day! lol

I won't be posting until next week, maybe Monday. I hope you all have a great weekend! If you have anything exciting planned, please share!

Blog Giveaway News:
Run, Courtney, Run is currently having two giveaways! One is from Family Fan Club and the other is from Allied Steel for a Medal Hanger. Pretty cool items! Be sure to stop over at Courtney's blog and check it out!

Personal Best!

I needed to work out yesterday incredibly bad! I didn't work out Monday or Tuesday. I have been eating WAY too much Halloween candy at work. But I also feel really busy!

I decided to head to the gym in the City near my work yesterday so as not to make any excuses. I wasn't going to run because I have the Hot Chocolate 15k this Saturday and I don't like to run too close to any big runs. Instead of a rest "day", I like a rest "week".

But after eating nearly 223 pieces of candy yesterday (really!), I needed to kick my butt at the gym. So the best way to do that is to run. I decided to do run intervals on the treadmill. I don't normally like running on the treadmill. I find it boring and actually harder for me than running outside. I think that's contradictory to what some other people think but it's always been that way for me.

Anyway, I decided to do intervals on the treadmill. This is easier to do on the treadmill than outside because you can control the speed.

I decided to do a 2 minute interval on 6.2 speed (9.40 min/mile) and a 1 minute interval on 7.2 speed (8.19 min/mile). I was handling this speed well until about 10 minutes in. I started to get tired. I had scheduled 50 minutes on the treadmill because then I had to catch my train. To make sure I was able to complete the entire 50 minute run, I decided that around 25 mins, I would walk for two minutes.

And I did. But after that 2 minute walk, I decided to reduce my speed so I will be able to finish. I did intervals on 6.0 and 7.0. Even though I was tired, I felt pretty good and was able to finish all 50 mins.

I did 5 miles in 47.23 minutes! Wow! This is the fastest I've ever run a distance of 5 miles! I was pretty proud of myself. The closest thing I have to compare is the Shamrock Shuffle every March/April. It is 5 miles and the last two years, I've completed this in 50.27 minutes.

Yes, you heard me right. The last two times I've ran this run, I finished with the EXACT same time! Wow, talk about consistency! I was actually pretty angry that I tied my last time this year instead of beating it. I only wanted to beat it by 1 second! Oh well.

So next year, I would like to beat it. And if I can even shave off 30 seconds, I will be so happy!

I will spare you details of my love life for now. You can thank me later!

Do you prefer to run on the treadmill or outside?

Baby News!!

No! Not Me! Wow, that would be something huh??

My cousin Angel and her husband Brent adopted a baby girl! They have been married since 2000 and have been trying to get pregnant for at least 5 years or more. They decided to try the adoption process.

Things were not going well for them and they were discouraged. They decided to go through an attorney that my Aunt knows. Well, I'm not sure on the details but I do know a teenager was giving birth on Saturday and on Friday, they were informed they could adopt this unborn baby! So they took her home yesterday!

Her name is Elise Marie and she weighed 6 lbs 1 oz. I'm so happy for them! Here are some pictures I pulled off their facebook!



This is now the second baby cousin I have that was born this year that was named Elise! They are from different sides of my family. The first was Elise Claire which was born in April and was posted in her kitty costume in yesterday's post. She is about the cutest baby EVER!

Now I have Elise Marie born Oct. 30th. She is currently the cutest newborn baby cousin I have right now! I don't play favorites! They are ALL my favorites!

And in all my excitement, I have forgotten to post my weigh in results from last Saturday. I lost 1.2 lbs! So excited! Especially because I haven't been working the plan as good as I want to and this week I won't be able to exercise as much as normal. Need to make sure I gain control of my eating before things get out of control.

Weekend Recap and More!

How was everyone's Halloween? Do you even celebrate Halloween?

As you all saw from my previous post, my Halloween party was last weekend. Remember...


I've actually gotten a lot of comments on this photo! Including a "Damn girl! F'ing Gorgeous!" lol. Wow! Thanks! Must be the drunk smurf next to me!

This weekend, I had a party at my cousin's house for a house warming party. She is the one married to Mr. Anonymous Nick (aka my running partner) that frequents my blog. It turned out nice! Good food, good family/friends! They received some nice gifts (made me jealous!). I might have to borrow some of their new gadgets!

Some pictures. They are blurry. That's what happens when you take them fast with your phone! So sorry but it's all I have!

Me & Elise (Nick and Jessie's baby girl). She is so cute. I think I might keep her!


Me & Jessie at their new home!

After I left Jessie's house, I went to buy new gym shoes. While at the store, my cousin Toni calls me and begs me to go out with her. I said no, but then decided to NOT be an old lady and stay in on a Saturday night, so I went.

She wanted to go to the gambling boats in Indiana. I've been twice over 10 years ago. I'm cheap with my money and don't like to waste it. So after losing $20, I was done! Toni, however, run over $800 on a quarter slot machine!

After spending some of it gambling and giving me a total of $70 to spend throughout the night, she ended up with between $300-$500 winnings! Go Toni! And she was the one buying the drinks that night for us! lol!

Sunday was Halloween. Our trick or treat hours were 2-6. I wanted to go for a long run to prepare for the upcoming 15k this coming weekend. My plan was 7 miles. I didn't get home the night before until 2:30, so I set my alarm for 10 am and headed out.

It was slightly rough. After 3 miles, I really wanted to be done. I was going to cut the run short at 6 miles! But after 6 miles, I decided to stretch it out to the 7 miles I had planned. At 6 miles, I felt better than the whole run!

Ran some errands, then came home to pass out candy. I want to pass out candy because I remember when I was a kid, I wanted people to be home to give me candy! I'm returning the favor.

My cousin Jessie and baby Elise walked over for a bit!


I ran out of candy at 5:15 and decided NOT to go buy more. I was done. I put a sign on the door and left the house!

I went clothes shopping but didn't buy anything. I have the WORST shopper ever! I desperately need new clothes too. I'm trying again tonight! lol

I also lost my drivers license. I noticed it missing on Saturday. I never took it out of my purse that I can remember. I don't know the last time I had it!

My outside sensor light on the house is also permanently on since Sunday! I don't have a switch that I can find so I have no idea how to turn it off!! I have to figure it out before I get a huge electric bill! The problems with being a single woman homeowner! I have no idea what I'm doing.

And my doorbell doesn't work. How does one even figure out the problem for that? Sigh!

Going out with Ken tomorrow bowling.

Matt is coming in to town on Friday and staying until Thursday. I'm going to go to my cousins to meet him Friday night after work. Get the weird awkwardness out of the way before the weekend.

Hope you all had a great weekend. Anything on the agenda for the coming week?