Frozen Yogurt Date

Semi-untitled

I do not miss Facebook at all.  It has almost been a week since I deactivated my account, and I have hardly thought about all those "friends" I have.  The most important friends I have are the ones I still communicate with outside of FB.  I will say that I do think I miss the pictures.  Pictures of my nieces and nephews and other people.  That was the main thing I used to do on FB anyway: picture stalking.  I may activate my account one day just to get the pictures on my account to print out.  We will see.

In the world outside of FB, I have started a tumblr.com account.  Those interested in it can view it here.  I'm very surprised that I was never interested in tumblr before.  I think I now spend more time on tumblr than I do on all my social websites combined.  & although I'm on tumblr more, I'm not as easily sucked into it as I was by FB.  Tumblr is easier to navigate & post findings as opposed to Blogger.  I actually moved my Plagiarist blog from here to there.  I thought about moving this blog to tumblr also, but I'm too lazy to do so.  Plus, if I did that I wouldn't have access to other Blogger accounts!  So here this blog will stay.

School is moving along nicely this semester.  I find all of my classes to be interesting, and I haven't yet been bogged down too heavily with assignments.  Alas, there have only been two weeks of class.  I thought I would go crazy with having four classes a day, three days a week, but I think I actually prefer it to last semester's schedule.

My workout routine is still going strong.  I haven't lost any more weight since the 5 lbs. I lost the first week, but I think I am ok with that since I have been working out almost every day and am slowly starting to see changes in my body.  I had a great workout at the gym this morning-- I ran the mile in 9:20!  Still not my best time, but definitely a major improvement from when I started working out three weeks ago.  Since I've actually put my mind to it & got my lazy ass out of the house to start working harder to become fit & healthy, I now wish that I had not given away all those clothes last year that I couldn't fit into.  I guess this means that when I reach my goal weight I will have a rewarding shopping day =)  The day I reach my goal weight is going to be a fabulous one.

Speaking of shopping spree, I was putting away laundry today when I thought to myself that I need some new workout clothes.  Hopefully I won't go with that thought and splurge too much.  Ya never know.... =)

I love how much better I feel about life.  Physically & mentally.  I know I've asked this before, but why did I ever stop working out in the first place?  I still haven't been able to incorporate a yoga routine into my schedule, but I hope I will be able to soon.  I want to be more fit & flexible again!

Yesterday

I deactivated my FB account again.  It was sort of an impulse decision, but I think a lot of my decision was based on the fact that I started a tumblr account a few weeks ago & I am completely addicted to it.  I was checking it more and posting on it more than I was on FB, so I just decided that FB isn't for me right now.  I don't know how long this deactivation will last, but I hope to gain something-- no matter how small-- from it.

I worked out at the gym with one of my friends and had a good workout.  I've been consistently working out for almost a month now and I've lost 5 lbs. and ran the mile yesterday in 10:16!  That's not my best mile time, but it's much better than when I first started working out three weeks ago.  I'm really proud of myself.  Only 10 lbs. to go & I'll be back down to this size!:

2009

 Mom & dad's 29th anniversary.  Almost three decades.  WOW.

My parents- May 2010

 I hung out with three of my best friends from high school.  It's kind of our once-a-year tradition now, since we all live in separate towns and don't see each other often.  It was nice to catch up again.  I miss them a lot.

me, Jessica, Scott, Roberta

 I drove with the hellion & my best friend and her son to visit one of our good friends, Brandi, who just had her first child last Wednesday.  Kinzie is so precious!  I'm so happy for Brandi.

Well, there's a little insight into my busy, hectic, and fun day yesterday.  I'm off to bed with the hellion.  We both have to rise & shine early tomorrow for school!

Before, During, After

I'm posting these pictures to help inspire me to keep working out.  I FINALLY bought another gym membership last Tuesday, and I today I finished my 6th workout since purchasing said membership.

These first two photos are the only ones I could find of a "bigger" me, before I started working out regularly.  I can see how low my self-confidence was back then because these are only face shots, not full-body photos.

2006

2007 (6 months postpartum)

2008-2009 I started working out regularly.  This is the physical state I would like to get back to:

2008

2008

2009

In 2010 I quit going to the gym as much, partly due to personal reasons, partly due to my gym closing to undergo remodeling (& I didn't want to get another gym membership elsewhere).

2010

I had completely quit going to the gym by 2011, which brings me to my current physical state:

2011

I know that most people would consider me "skinny."  But I definitely do not feel skinny & I don't feel like I look skinny (at least compared to the above pictures from 2008).  I guess what I mean is that I want to be fit & toned & healthy again.  Like in the above 2008-2009 pictures.

Hopefully this expensive, year-long membership will help me keep the weight off and get me back into the shape that made me so confident about my body, not only for this year, but for the rest of my life.

With that being said, in the 2 weeks that I've had this gym membership, I've lost 3 pounds!  I'm so proud of myself & love the feeling of seeing my hard work pay off.  It's going to be a good feeling when I finally reach my goal weight.

I've been drinking life

Before I  began working out again, a friend told me that it's harder to get back into a routine once you've fallen out of the routine.  Oh, boy, was he right.  I am so happy to be exercising every day again.  It's nice to be more conscious of what I'm eating and to not feel like I'm going to vomit from being gluttonous when I do eat.  It's also rewarding to see my hard work pay off; I've been working out and eating healthier for a little over a week now and I've already lost 2 lbs!  That, to me, is an achievement.  13 lbs. left to lose, and then I'll continue to work out to build muscle mass and stay toned.  My friend Lacretia said something the other day that had never really registered to me:  "When people who work out their arms stop working out their arms the muscle doesn't turn to fat, but it makes their arms look fat."  I realized that I was one of those people.  I'm going to remedy that asap.  After all, I always told myself I would never have fat arms.  Moving right along....

Spring semester starts on Wednesday, and the nerd in me is very excited about another semester of learning.  I'm not, however, excited that all four of my classes are on MWF.  I was ready to kill someone last semester; hopefully, I won't pull through with those thoughts by the end of this semester.  I relaxed much more than normal during this winter break, so much that I only read two books during the month I've been out of school.  Weird, I know.  I'm a little disappointed in myself about that because I know reading the books on my shelves during the semester will probably not be feasible.  This makes me sad.  Yes, I know I'm a nerd.

The skiing/snowboarding trip I had been planning with Lacretia during spring break has now turned into a 7 day cruise to the Bahamas when she graduates in August.  I'm excited about the cruise, but sad that we won't be going to CO.  Oh well.  There's always next year when I graduate =)

I took the hellion to see The Adventures of TinTin tonight.  He loved it.  Alas, it is bedtime for him, and for me.  Goodnight, all!

P.S.  It's funny how a little exercise can completely alter your view of life.

Day 1, 2012

I'm sitting alone in my house.  It is a little chilly in the house, but everything is quiet.  I'm snuggled in my robe wondering what task I shall tackle first when I finish this blog.  I may just lay in bed in the dark and quiet for a while.  Take a nap.  This is nice. 

I had a good time last night ringing in the new year with friends old and new.  I only wish that I had the energy of my four-year-old hellion to help me stay awake past 8:00 P.M.  It was definitely a challenge for me to stay awake last night; by 10:30 I was ready for bed.  I'm so old!  Haha!  BUT I persevered and made it and didn't get home until 12:45.  Hey, at least I made it to midnight.

I'm enjoying the start of 2012.

My favorite aunt and her two daughters came into town from FL for New Years.  I haven't seen them in 4 years.  It was so weird to see my cousins all grown up;  I remember when they were born!  Bobbee, the oldest, is graduating high school this year.  Talk about feeling old!  & Dot, the youngest, is still so shy but also sweet.  My niece Jaela resembles her a lot.  We had a delicious breakfast this morning at IHOP with one of my sisters and her family and also with my cousin and her husband.  It was nice to talk and laugh and reminisce together.

I ate a ham & cheese egg melt at IHOP, what I normally get when I eat there, and I couldn't finish my food!  Exclamation points are necessary because, to me, this is a sign of improvement, considering that nine times out of ten I finish my entire meal.  I was full-- not full to the point of becoming a glutton, mind you-- that I didn't even get a carry out box.  This is another sign of improvement.

I was talking with friends about some of the common New Year traditions, superstitions, etc. I had never heard of these things before (keep $1 in your wallet so you will have money throughout the year, no washing laundry because you will wash someone from your family away, black eyed peas for good luck, etc.).  My family never practiced any of these traditions, so to me they seem kinda silly.  So I decided to make some of my own New Year traditions/superstitions:

• New, fresh pair of contacts so I can see the world more clearly this year.
• Working out at the gym today so I will keep it up all year long, and then some.
• Finishing the book I am currently reading, Villa Incognito by Tom Robbins, so I can start a book challenge and finish reading books on said challenge.
• BCBC

Those are pretty much the only things that I can think of at the moment.  I don't think it sounds too bad though =)

Also, I know on my previous post I said that I was going to try to refrain from making a New Years Resolutions list, but I did come up with one small, but challenging resolution:  To practice sitting/walking/standing with a straight back.  I'm horrible about slumping.  (To be honest, before I started typing this paragraph I realized I was slumping!  Eek!)  Wish me luck!

I'm ready for this year.  I'm more determined to change the path of my life than I have ever been before, I think.  Maybe it's the New Year optimism speaking out, maybe not, but I like this feeling.  I'm off to enjoy the rest of the rare peace and quiet of my house.  Happy New Year, all!