Happy Holidays

Only 10 minutes left of work and then a 4 day weekend shall begin.  We are starting out tonight with some of the hubby’s co-workers at one of my favorite mexican restaurants.  After that I will need to rush home and pack up all my christmas presents.  Tomorrow morning (Christmas Eve) I need to get to the local bakery (Bonbonerie) to buy our holiday dessert (yes I’m lazy and don’t want to make anything).  Then I need to run to the store to buy stuff for the breakfast casserole that I need to bring on Christmas morning to my sisters so that her mother in law couldn’t bring hers!!! (I’ve never made a breakfast casserole!) I’ll rush home, make the casserole, clean myself up and by that time it will probably be time to head up to the hubby’s aunt and uncles house.  We will open presents, eat a great meal, laugh and have a good time then head home for a day full of driving.

I told my sister that we would be to her place by 10 (at the latest) which means that we need to get up by 8:30 to get there by 10. I can’t forget the breakfast casserole (that is something I would do!).  We will drive the 45 minutes to her place.  Watch the triplets open presents. Eat. Drive to the inlaws house for the rest of the evening. 

For the most part the evening will be relaxing but still a lot of driving.  Thanks goodness for a weekend right after all this to crash!

She’ll be coming around the mountain…

HAHA!  I may not be coming around an actual mountain but I’m out of surgery, stitches have been removed, and no weight was gained!!!

It is now official.  There will be no little babies coming from me.  While it was not something I had really planned on doing it still is sad to think that it can not be changed or anything.  So if the hubby and I ever change our minds adoption we will do!  I had my stitches removed this morning (in the dark)!  The power went out in the office and so with several candles lit and a nurse holding a flash light the doctor took out my stitches.  He said I should be good to go now! His exact words were “I charred you pretty good on your insides so you should be good to go!” haha No more periods for me!!!

Since I was out with surgery and discomfort I had to put the working out on hold.  I am happy to say that I have not gained any weight while I’ve been off! What a relief.  I start back up with my trainer the week after Christmas but I plan on trying to get into the gym a few times next week to see how well I can handle everything.

Christmas is right around the corner.  I am pretty much all done with my shopping!  Just need to finalize everything and we will be good to go!  Christmas eve will be heading up to my hubby’s aunt and uncles house then in the morning we will head to Indiana to be with my sister’s family followed by another drive up to my inlaws house!  Lots of driving but well worth it!

New Year’s Eve will be spent at the Herron’s again this year! Always a good time.  Hopefully everyone is on their best behavior this time around haha

Weight loss update

My loving friend Jesy told me it is time to put an update up about my first weigh in, so here goes:

Previous weight: ???

Current weight: 10 pounds less

Previous body fat %: ??

Current body fat %: 18% less

Total body inches lost in 4 weeks: 12 1/2

So pretty amazing results.  Now I hope I can do as well next month.  I am unfortunately having surgery next week so I will be out of commission for a bit but my trainer said just to stick to my diet and I should be okay (fingers crossed) and I’ll try to get myself to the gym for some low impact work outs and I should be okay.

ugh

Is 2009 almost over?  Seriously, this has been the worst year. From mom’s cancer coming back and eventually taking her life to my mother in law being diagnosed with cancer for a second time to me having surgery once and looking like it will happen again before the year is up to having cars stop working right and I’m sure the list goes on.

We are now in a waiting game for more health issues for me and with the holidays it makes it difficult to enjoy them. ugh

 

but…

 

during this Thanksgiving season I am thankful for my family and my extremely supportive friends who have all helped in making 2009 look somewhat bright.

Now to 2010…

January: Jamaica!!!

June: California!!!

August: Keowa Island!!!

 

life changing decision…

Ok, update on the house:

Fence – to be installed on Tuesday/Wednesday

Landscaping – will start after the fence is put in

Bedroom – new bed is purchased and colors decided… will paint soon

Guest Bedroom – finished, with a bed!! (bring on the guests)

Bathrooms – new rugs in the colors we want

Basement – shelves are being finished and the junk put away

Me – joined a gym and purchased a personal trainer for the next year.  I will take off pounds!

Fall has arrived

I love the fall.  The crisp air.  The changing leaves.  The sweatshirts.  Curling up with hot cocoa and a blanket.  The sad thing about this time of year is that my husband hates this cold weather.  He would rather live in the summer all year long so now we struggle on what temperature to keep the house.  He normally will be walking around in his sweatpants, hoodie (with the hood on), and socks and then wrap up in a blanket.  I on the other hand will be sitting around in shorts and a tank top and if I have the blanket over me my toes are sticking out with NO socks on!

 

So an update on the house.  We have had one landscaper come over and give us some GREAT ideas.  I’m sure the price tag on the project will be more then we were wanting but it will at least give us some ideas of what to expect.

We bought a new bedroom set.  We have upgraded to a king size bed!  It will be here Saturday and I cannot wait!  Hopefully the husband doesn’t try to take over my whole area (like he currently does).  So now we will be able to complete our guest room.  Next on the inside stuff is to finish my closet stuff so that it is more organized.  We also have bought a new painting for our living room which helps us finalize the colors of our living room.  So now we need to build the entertainment center and decide which walls to paint and get the room set up.

Now we have a leak in our roof.  With all the rain we have been dealing with no one has been able to come over to our place to really get a good look at the problem.  Hopefully that won’t be a big expense. 

 

That’s the updates for now… more later.

so many decisions to be made…

The joys of home ownership…

1. leak in the ceiling of our bedroom

2. putting in a privacy fence

3. landscaping the backyard

4. painting the living room/bedroom/dining room/bathrooms… might as well say the whole house!

5. buying a new bed

6. buying my closet

and on top of all that we are trying to plan a vacation! (it will definitely be needed after fixing up the house)

The husband took a stress management course for work and he calculated our stress level at 490 (I believe he said normal was around 200).  Clearly we need a break from reality for awhile.

Cafe Bella

Amazing!  Delicious! Outstanding! Tasty!

Those are only a few words that described our meal last night.  The Cincinnati Taste Casting group went to Cafe Bella in Mason, Ohio and had the honor of meeting Bella herself.  We also met the chef and tried several of the new items on the menu.

 

For starters we had traditional hummus with pita, and a scallop on top of saute leeks, mushroom and a corn bisque.  I have never had a scallop before so I was admittedly a little nervous.  It was delicious and full of flavor, especially if you took the bite with the other ingredients.  The hummus was good.  I’m not a fan of hummus but the other people at the table said it was one of the best they have ever had.

Look at the beautiful presentation of the hummus!

 

Next we had a fennel salad with mushrooms, parmesan cheese and a citrus basil vinegarette.  The dressing was very light but helped tone down the strong flavor of licorice that fennel sometimes has.

Now for the best part.  This amazing pistachio crusted salmon with  meditteranean couscous.  The salmon was cooked to perfection and the couscous added a nice kick with heat at the end.

Next we had a sampling of steak with red potato and a red pepper couli.  Though not my favorite dish it was still very well cooked and the sauce was not too hot but not mild.  If you enjoy the flavor of black pepper you would love this dish.

And what meal is not complete without dessert.  Get ready to be blown away by the amazing homemade tiramisu.  This was made with lady fingers soaked in dark rum.  And I mean SOAKED!  Absolutely divine! I could have eatten three helpings of this desert.

I can’t wait to go back and have a full portion of the scallops, salmon, and tiramisu.  If you live anywhere around Mason stop and try Cafe Bella!

something new

So, I’m trying something new in my life… I’m going to relax!  I know that sounds silly but I really need to just relax and not let myself get so worked up or annoyed about such little things.

 

So, I’m starting over… Yes I’m still fat and Yes I’m still somewhat happy but I need to make myself even happier and today is the day….

 

For starters my goal is to:

 shed 15 pounds by January

eat better

love more

try new things

be happy

and most importantly…. RELAX!

 

Wish me luck on my new adventure!

another day, another dollar…

Happy Monday!

I felt so good getting up this morning and feeling ready to start my day.  I knew coming into work that I was going to be all by myself until 3pm but oh how quiet it is.  One lady is on vacation, two are out sick, some are working from home, and others are just off. So that leaves me to answer the phones and play receptionist (which is not my job)!  I don’t mind helping out the rest of the team but seriously based on where I sit it looks like I’m a receptionist.  I’m the “staffing coordinator”! Oh well.

This weekend was fun.  Friday we went up to our friends house for her birthday.  It was nice to sit out on the deck and catch up with friends and family.  On our way home we had the unfortunate event of a flat tire! It was 10:30 at night on the highway. Luckily, we have AAA and a nice police officer came and sat behind us until AAA came.  It wouldn’t have been so bad if there wasn’t so much traffic but there was more then I wanted to deal with and I sure wasn’t going to let the husband get out and try to change it.  Thankfully, we had a full size spare so I can still get around for a bit before I have to cave and spend money on new tires.

Saturday our friend that we hadn’t seen in awhile came down to visit.  We went to lunch, then she and I went and had our nails done.  We met up with the husband and went and saw “500 Days of Summer”.  It was an alright movie but I was struggling to stay awake.  After the movie we went to dinner.  I felt that I had eatten so much already that day that I got a bowl of soup and some brocolli! Crazy but delicious.  We went home and I ended up crashing around 10pm. 

Sunday is my day of relaxation but I was also very productive.  I mowed the lawn, vacuumed the house, did some dishes, made dinner and even cleaned up while the husband watched a movie, bought a movie, got his car washed, and went to the grocery store! He has done his fair share though too.

Tonight I have physical therapy and then home for some quality time with the hubby.  Hopefully tomorrow people decide to show up to work so I’m not all alone…