The Venue

So, we officially have a church, a venue and a wedding party.  Woo hoo!  We will be getting married on October 6th, 2012 (plenty of time to be wedding dress ready and lose weight).  We are thrilled that we got the church of our dreams and that everyone we asked to be a part of the wedding said yes!  

This is the front of our venue.

This is the entrance to the ballroom as seen from inside the ballroom.

I hate the carpet in this venue, but when all the tables are up you wont see it too much.

This is where the head table will be set up.  Outside the windows is a veranda

that people can go out on during the reception.

This is the whole length of the ballroom.

This is where we will set up our escort cards and welcome table.

Stairs leading up to the bridal suite.

Front door area.

Door area leaving the cocktail room going towards the main entrance.

Large cocktail area.  Through the doors is another cocktail area that has huge picture windows that overlook the beautiful golf course.

So, moving on from wedding stuff for now and onto the new and exciting things coming to my blog!!!  I decided to discontinue Saturday Sessions because it just seems like I am focusing too much on the short term and not enough on bigger goals.  I am going to start doing a monthly session on the first day of every month rather than something every Saturday.  My hope is that this will mean that I make bigger goals and have longer time to accomplish them. It seems like when I was making goals for SS before they were so short term and I was finding that it wasn't having the lasting impact that I hoped it would have.  So the new thing will be called Monthly Sessions and I am starting it today!  I am one day late, so I apologize for that!


Goals of the month are...


1. Lose 10 pounds. 
This may seem slightly aggressive and it might be.  I feel like I need to kick it in and really set a high goal.  I want to lose 10 pounds a month leading up to my wedding, which is a little over 2 pounds a week, so we will see how it goes!
2. Donate my over-sized clothes
I don't want to keep my fat clothes as a crutch.  When they don't fit they are going to be donated.  I just can't have them sitting around telling me that it is okay when my jeans don't fit and encouraging me to grab the fat jeans and then when they dont fit going a size up and a size up.  It is a slippery slope.  A slope that I have slipped on before and I WON'T do it again!
3. Take a group fitness class at Lifetime 20 of the 28 days of the month.

The group fitness classes really help me lose weight. I push myself harder and go for longer.  I sweat more and I actually enjoy it!  I am not saying that I am taking the other 8 days off, but I am going to go to the gym and take a group class 20 days this month and I am very excited about it!  I promise to post my sweat proof this time so that you don't think I am all talk! :)

I weighed in last Sunday and I was down 2.6 pounds.  A loss is a loss and I am not complaining about it.  I am just aware that I have a timeline that I would like to get to my goal and I can't wait to finally get there.  I am starting to be able to imagine what my thin and helthy life will be like!  This week I weighed in down 1.2 pounds only.  I know this is because I didn't make the best choices, but after grocery shopping today for all healthy items and getting everything cleaned and cut up I feel ready to tackle the week being healthy.

Monday Session

Happy Monday Everyone!  Does anyone else have a hard time falling asleep on Sunday's?  I think I slept 30 minutes last night.  I don't like that.


I made healthy banana things this weekend.  I will post some pictures later, but I am at work and without my camera.  Thank you to Tim over at Fat Boy Thin for giving me a really great recipe!    

Goals

1. Take a picture of myself sweaty from working out every day this week.

Fail.  Mostly because I forgot my camera three days in a row and then when I finally remembered I tried to turn it on and it was dead.  So, guess what?  Back on the list.  I am about accomplishing things and making progress.  No sense in taking it off my list if I didn't do what I set out to do. 

1. Sign up for my first 5k.

Can I just say that I had NO IDEA there were so many races of all lengths in the Twin Cities.  How amazing?  I decided that I am going to sign up for the Challenge Obesity 5k that was recommended to me by Sarah over at the amazing blog Fat Little Legs.  I am very excited and nervous and I know that I really need to kick it into high gear until then.  The race is in April.

 

Newish Goals

 

1. Take a picture of myself sweaty from all of my work outs this week.

So, as I said before this one is making it on here again.  Not much explanation needed.  Not only do I want to have proof of my hard work at the gym, but I need to add some pictures to spice up life.

 

2. Try two new fruits and vegtables.

This is one of my old goals and I am bringing it back because certainly I can eat more than lettuce, apples, bananas and carrots in the fruit and vegetable department.

 

I am going to conclude this post as is, but I will be adding a post later on that is more of a wedding related post.  I know that this is a weight loss blog, but a huge part of my life right now is planning a wedding and getting in shape for a wedding.  I know that many of you have been down this road, so your advice in weight loss and weddings is important to me!  So, I hope you don't mind my occassional wedding post.  If you do, stick around for the next weight loss one! :)

Saturday Session... I know, I know it is Tuesday

I know.  I never seem to get this post on the right date.  Saturday is just always so busy.  I know that it is an excuse, but this weekend was wedding planning madness and we were just very overwhelmed and busy.  Ron and I looked at two venues that we are very interested in and are trying to make a decision between the two of them. 


Is anyone else planning a wedding?  If not, those of you who have planned wedding's what was the best part of the wedding planning?  What was the best part of the wedding?  What did you do that you could have skipped or what do you wish you would have done?  I need some ideas/suggestions from those of you who have been here before or are here now!


Okay, onto the purpose of the post.  Life is moving along quickly.  January used to be a month that I hated because it was so long and dreary.  It is still cold and dreary, but there is so much going on that to me it feels like it is flying by.  This week I did very well with my eating, and okay with my working out.  I need to get more activity in there.  I am down 3 pounds.   Woo hoo, going in the right direction!!


I am going to change the layout of the blog soon because I need a change.  I want something light and refreshing. Maybe this is because I already have Spring fever?  I am counting down the days to my trip to Florida in March with Ron's family.  So excited for another family trip and so thankful that they are being generous enough to take us on a trip!! :)   

Goals...

1. Take two new classes at the gym.

FAIL.  I did go to the gym a lot, but I took classes that I always took mostly because I am scared of change?  What am I so afraid of?  Looking foolish I suppose.  I know this doesn't make a ton of sense, but I just don't want to look like a dummy not knowing what I am doing.  This logic is really stupid because every class I have gone to before I have been new and I have loved it, so I think I need to just suck it up.  I am sure you will all tell me that.  You are all right!

2. Try 3 new healthy recipes.

Done, done and done.  I will be posting some of the pictures along with links to the cookbook sites this week.  They were all super delicious, fiance approved, healthy meals.  We loved them all and can't wait to try more!  I won't post the recipes for the ones in the cookbook, because you should buy the books because they are that good!!!

New Goals...

1. Take a picture of myself sweaty from working out every day this week.

I am using this as my motivation to go to the gym each day this week (hopefully to a new class) and posting it so that you can all see that I am re-committed to this weight loss thing.  I just really want to get back into my workout groove.  I want to commit to going everyday and soemtimes twice a day like I was in October and November.

1. Sign up for my first 5k.

I am very excited about this one, but also nervous!  I am going to sign up for a 5k this week that will be in a few months so that I have enough time to get ready to rock the 5k.  I know for some of you this may seem like no big deal, but for me it is stepping out of my comfort zone to do some new activity!

Satunday Sessions

Hello everyone?  Hope that you're having a great weekend!  I am busy, busy, busy but wanted to get a SS post in before the weekend was gone.


Last weeks goals were my New Year's year long goals, so I am going to recap my goals from two weeks ago.

1. Track my food all week. 

I did okay with this.  I am still not back to how diligent I was in October.  I need to make this more of a priority and I know it.  I need to know that when I am not tracking I am probably choosing something that is not the best and trying to fly under the radar. I know that I need to get this under control and hopefully this will be the week!

2. Set some major goals and challenges for the New Year.

I posted all of my goals for the New Year last week for you to all see and I got a lot of positive feedback, so that makes me even more excited to make 2011 the healthiest year that it can be!  I think I set some realistic and some challenging goals and I am excited to tackle them all!

New Goals...

1. Take two new classes at the gym.

To avoid a gym rut coming on.... who am I kidding?  I am in a gym rut.  I go to the same classes over and over and I barely sweat because I am used to them.  I need to step up my workout schedule and this week is the week for total kick-butt cardio at the gym to hopefully shed some serious pounds.

2. Try 3 new healthy recipes.

I have several cookbooks with delicious and healthy meals in them and I have not tried many of the recipes.  I need to try out some new food, some new recipes and get out of making the same stuff all the time because it leads to cravings of missed fattening and sodium packed foods that I don't want to eat.

Some other things that will be changing about the blog, but that aren't necessarily goals are...

1. Posting more recipes

2. Posting my weigh in every week no matter what 

3. Posting more pictures with each post because let's be honest they are more fun.

4. Updating my progress photos

Saturday Session is once again tardy

So my two goals from last week were pretty simple.  They were...

1. Stay on track, keep my eye on the prize.

I did a decent enough job with this one.  I didn't see a gain this week, but I also didn't see a loss.  I maintained, which is okay with me for this week because I already told all of you that I ate more than usual and had a few glasses of wine.  I didn't really track this last week, which was probably why I didn't see the big deal in eating just one small oreo truffle.  I am going to carry over the tracking piece into next week's SS because I think I have somehow told myself that I can do this without tracking and I think that is a mistake.

2. Relax.

I actually did pretty well with this one.  I know some of you may be thinking, how hard can it be to just relax?  Well for me it can be a big problem. I tend to over-plan and over-think everything and then I just stress myself out.  I can honestly say that this is one of the first holiday's in awhile that I have just enjoyed and not thought about making everything perfect.

New Goals...

1. Track my food all week. 

This means every morsel.  I want to get back on the tracking wagon because I really, really think that it helps me and I know that I eat more than I should when I am not diligent about writing everything that I eat down.  So, having said that I am going to be a tracking machine this week and see if my weigh-in proves that this method is indeed neccesary for me.

2. Set some major goals and challenges for the New Year.

This upcoming SS happens to land on the first day of the New Year, so to kick off the New Year with a big bang I am going to reveal my major goals for the year, some challenges that I am kind of afraid of, but willing to tackle and some of my hopes and aspirations for this journey in the new year.  I hope you all will take some time to reflect on your journey so far and take some notes on where you would like to be in the New Year.  Let's make 2011 healthier and happier than ever!! :)

Posts that are yet to come this week include: the Hate-Loss challenge, a fashion related post, a post about the website Etsy, a review of the game Just Dance 2 for the Wii and a new SS post!  Make it a great week everyone!

Satunday Session

I hope everyone had a happy holiday weekend.  Over here in Minnesota we were snow free (yea!) this weekend and we made it to almost all of our holiday events. On friday Ron and I braved Mall of America to finish our Christmas shopping (we only have two people left) out of probably 20 people so we did pretty good.


Yesterday we had our family Christmas party with my extended family on my mom's side.  I love this holiday party. It includes about 40-50 of us getting together at my cousins house and we have an appetizer and dessert contest.  It is so much fun and everyone really tries to make a fabulous dish.  This year I made.... 


To Die For Dip:
2 - 8 oz. Pkgs. Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 – Can (~15oz.) Whole Corn (drained)
1 – Can (~4 oz.) Chopped Olives
1 – Packet of Dry Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning & Salad Dressing Mix
Chopped Pickled Jalapenos to your tolerance
1 red pepper chopped
1 can black beans


Mix all ingredients together and serve cold or warm in a crock pot with fritos or tortilla chips.


AND...


Double Chocolate Kiss Cookies

I added chocolate chips to the dough and made my own vanilla buttercream frosting.


So, how did it go?  I WON 1st place for the cookies!!!  People loved them.  I have to admit, I didn't eat one.  I didn't eat much besides fruit and veggies at the party and one meatball and a little dip.  It went pretty well considering how much temptation was there.


Last night I had another Christmas party to go to and I went to it and there was another table of food and tons of libations and I only ate two things.  Success in my eyes.  I also worked out on Saturday for the first time (biking) and my ankle did really well.  I am so excited to get back into my routine though.


Today, I had a holiday concert to go to but was unable to go due to a family emergency.  Everything is fine now, but I am happy that I was able to be there for my family.


The rest of my week goes, something like this...


Sunday- Finish wrapping presents, clean my house, finish making truffles
Monday- Work, Ornament exchange at lunch, working out, preparing house for Girl's Night Christmas 
Tuesday- Work, Girl's Night Christmas with ornament exchange
Wednesday- Work, Work Holiday party, get ankle checked out, work out
Thursday- Work, finish last minute holiday stuff
Friday- Christmas Eve (my favorite day of the year!!) go to church, dinner with family, open presents, go to sleep and wait for Santa :)
Saturday-Christmas breakfast with Ron, open presents, go to Ron's mom's house for dinner/presents
Sunday-Stay in Pajama's all day and watch movies and relax (probably work out)


I am kind of tired just looking at this list.  That is a lot of things to get done, but it will be worth it to spend time with family!


SS Update...

1. Attend an hour long fitness class 6 days this week.

So, my sprained ankle slowed me down, but it didn't completely deter me from getting any activity in (thanks to everyone who gave me ideas about other activities I could do), but I definitely didn't get this accomplished they way I thought I would.  Does that mean I am going to quit and just consider it a loss?  No way!  I am determined to keep going.  I know that I have a long way to go still and this was just a small bump in the road. 

2. Get all of my holiday decorations out and Christmas presents wrapped.

This is a work in progress.  I still have wrapping to do, but my decorating is pretty much done, so it isn't like I have been totally slacking :)

New Goals... 

1. Stay on track, keep my eye on the prize.

Keep tracking my food, keep up on my activity, stay away from the holiday food.  Should be easy, right? :)

2. Relax.

This is often a struggle for me.  I am a go, go, go type of person.  I know that I stress out too much, it is something that I really need to work on.  I need to just relax and enjoy this season and my time with my family and friends.  Sometimes things don't go EXACTLY as planned, but usually everything turns out in the end.  I am going to really try to master the art of letting things be and just enjoying my life and living in the moment with the people I love.

Saturday Session

I am writing to you from a place that just got 18 inches of snow dumped on it.  A place that is known to be frigid and snowy.  A place that is very close to Canada, but today feels like it is bordering the North Pole or Antarctica.  I have lived here my entire life.  I love it here.  There is nowhere else I would rather be (except Italy <3)  I love having four full seasons to enjoy.  I am someone who hates weather when it is super hot and muggy.  I like being bundled up in the cold weather.  I am someone who strongly believes that you are only allowed to complain about one season.  You either like the heat or you like it when it is cooler.  I must say, I prefer a cool crisp autumn day to most any other day. As I said before (and I promise this will be the last time) I hate being hot! So if one must choose between being hot or cold I choose to be cold.  Having said that, this next statement is going to contradict everything that I just said, but here it goes... I HATE this bitterly cold, blizzard filled, snowed in day I wish that the blizzard didn't come today and ruin my three very fun plans that I had this weekend.

Okay, I feel much better and more prepared to move on with what this post is actually supposed to be about, which is not complaining about the weather (but seriously if you looked outside and what you were feasting your eyes on had ruined your wonderful and fabulous weekend filled with family, friends and cookie baking you may be upset too).  Just sayin'.


Last time I had a Saturday Session post it was about the topics listed below.

1. Attend an hour long fitness class 6 days this week.

I made these goals the Saturday after Thanksgiving and I actually rocked at this the entire next week.  After that I got engaged, had an interview and got stuck in a blizzard.  All excuses?  You betcha.  Do I need to work harder at this?  Definitely.  This week working out was not high on my priority list.  I am not even going to try and make more excuses than the ones that were previously listed.  I disappointed myself and I need to do better, so this will be another goal for me for two straight weeks, with an added twist.  I must attend will attend an hour long workout class 6 days a week for two consecutive weeks and I will also take a Spin class and the Mixx at least once each.  Why is this a big deal?  Because I have made plans to go to these classes at least 5 times before and when I get there I see very fit skinny people who look extremely coordinated and more capable of completing this class than me and I run away to my comfortable elliptical and watch music videos of fit celebrities and kick myself for being such a baby.  That may have been the longest run-on sentence.

2. Get all of my holiday decorations out and Christmas presents wrapped.

I realize now that I am looking at this goal that this may have been me taking the easy way out and posting something that brings me immense joy and not really something that is a goal that I was working towards.  However, I was very successful with this goal and my house is beautifully decorated and lovely. 

My festive wine rack withe the stockings hung.

Ron carefully decorating the tree.

Our tree!

New goals...

1. Attend a one hour workout class 12 times in the next 14 days.  Also attend a Spin class and the MIXX at least once.

This scares me.  I hope I can succeed at this.  I will feel amazing if I am able to accomplish this.

2. Get back on track.  

What I mean by this is I kind of stopped tracking my food.  I did alright most days, but then one day I ate two handfuls of M&M's.  It was a slippery slope and I am not falling for it anymore.  Tracking every day is essential for me and is something that I need to get back into.

I will post blizzard pictures tomorrow after we reconcile from our fight.  Have a great evening everyone. Hope you're staying on track with all of the holiday temptations.  It is hard, but it will be worth it when we are well ahead of the game when everyone just begins to make their new year's resolutions. :)

Week Long Absence= A lot of Catching Up

Happy Sunday everyone!  How was everyone's Thanksgiving?  If you didn't have Thanksgiving how was your weekend?  At any rate did people stay on track with their weight loss goals and not over-indulge too much?  I am proud to say that I stayed on track very well while I was at home with my Mom for almost a week!  I have not been home that long since I lived at home in high school.

I have to say though... I really missed blogging, reading blogs and having access to a computer.  My mom doesn't have a computer or wi-fi which meant only checking things on my phone which meant no blogging for almost a week.  So, I missed everyone a lot and am going to try to fill you in on my crazy week all in one re-cap post rather than a bunch of smaller ones, so I hope you have a nice warm beverage and are ready to get the details.

Thanksgiving

I missed Fashion Friday and Saturday Sessions this week and I intend to do a mini version of each of them, but first I am going to tell you all about my time at home with my lovely mother.  We had 50 people at my Mom's house for Thanksgiving, which meant that we cooked, baked, cleaned, decorated and organized our little tushes off.  It was so much fun!  It was a lot a lot of work, but well worth it.  My parents recently got divorced and it has been really hard for my mom and my family because of how messy it was.  It was nice to have a holiday that was drama free and "normal" after having several years of bad holidays.  My mom cried during Grace before we ate dinner and was so thankful that so many people from the family came to celebrate Thanksgiving and to support her.  I had to fight back tears.  It was great to see my family and spend so much time together.  I forgot to take pictures, because we were so busy, but I did get one shot of two people that I love so much.

This is my wonderful GG and our family dog Gabi.

They are basically best friends as my mom drops Gabi off at GG's for "daycare" every morning while she is at work.

Every year before we eat we play a family game of football outside.  This year the crowd was smaller because it was 14 degrees outside with negative 10 degree windchill.  Brrrr.  My family played a heated Girls Vs. Boys game of Trivial Pursuit after dinner.  The boys won for the fifth year in a row.  Shoot!  It was a really close game though and we almost pulled out a win.

My mom and I also took the time to go through her extensive Christmas collection and get the house decorated.  My mom collects Santas and she has hundreds of them.  I am sad that I didn't take pictures, but I will and then I will show you how fabulous they are. She also has a lot of Santa Bears that our dog Gabi really enjoyed :)

Gabi and the Santa Bear collection.

The Feast

Another Thanksgiving tradition that I take part in every year is called the Feast.  It is a friendsgiving that we have had for 8 years.  My high school friends and I get together at my friend Hilary's house the Saturday after Thanksgiving every year to make a meal together and have some fun.  It is something that I look forward to every year and would be lost without it.  It is pretty rare for people to get together with high school friends for the same event every year, but we all try to make it a priority.

This year was our smallest attendance to date with only 10 people attending (we are usually close to 20) but it was still a lot of fun.  We have a strict no significant others can come unless you are engaged or married.  Some people don't like it, but rules are rules and they are not to be broken.  Ron was not allowed to come since we are not engaged or married, but that is okay with me because we see each other all the time and we don't want to break the rules.

My group of girl friends from high school minus Brooke.

Jen, Hilary, me, Stacie and Kelsey.

Our Feast of food. All of the usual Thanksgiving goodness.

10 Feasters ready for some food and fun.

Expressing our thanks for one another, our families and having health and happiness.

Fashion Friday: A Black Friday Fashion Finds Feature

Alright, so I may have gone black friday shopping this year for the second year in a row and loved it.  We didn't go at 3 am, but we did go when we woke up and we did get a lot of good deals. My wonderful boyfriend accompanied me even though we wasn't exactly thrilled with the thought.  So, what did I get you might ask.  Well I got some toys for my nephews and niece, some things for Ron, my Mom, my siblings, my GG and well maybe a couple of things for me :)

I was going to organize it all to show you, but for the sake of time I am just showing you the massive pile that I now get to wrap!

Hello purple my favorite color.  Hello beautiful zipper detail.  Hello flats that are cute and comfortable. I am in love. Kenneth Cole Slip My Mind CK in Passion.

Another view of my new flats and also a peek at my new We Love Colors tights in Maroon.  If you know me you know that I love tights.  I love this pop of color (maybe not with the purple shoes) and these tights come in like 29 colors and are very affordable.  I will say that I am an apple shape meaning that I am bigger in my middle and I have relatively smaller legs and thighs.  I would probably have ordered these a size or two smaller because they kind of gather at points on my legs because there is too much fabric.  If you are bigger in the legs you should probably just follow the guidelines listed on their website. 

Next Up... Hello lover.  My obsession when it comes to shoes it wedges.  I love these slate grey wedges.  They are super comfortable and inexpensive.  They look great with skinny jeans or with We Love Colors tights. They are from Target and are the brand Merona and called Myka.

Hello holiday hotness. You need to get these wedges from Target.

Saturday Sessions

I am once again a day late with this post, my apologies.  This is going to be a very quick, abbreviated version of the SS.  

1. Make it a holiDAY and not a holi-week or longer.
SUCCESS!!  I made it a holiday and not anything more than that.  I made a plan and stuck to it and it paid off.  I didn't over-indulge and I only ate items that I get once a year.  I had one glass of wine which was my first drink in almost 8 weeks and it was wonderful.  I am going to really buckle down for the rest of the year to get some optimal results by New Year's.
2. Start keeping track of my mood more often. 
I did okay with this, but definitely room for improvement.  I need to keep better track of this whether it is mentally or physically on a piece of paper. I stopped myself from buying a candy bar when I was really hungry at the grocery store and realized that I was just really hungry and didn't really want a candy bar.

New Goals

1. Attend an hour long fitness class 6 days this week.

I have mentally said to myself that I was going to do this for the past few weeks, but I have fell short, so I am saying it out loud to all of you in hopes that I keep up with my promise.  I have all of the schedules printed out I just need to make going a HIGH priority.

2. Get all of my holiday decorations out and Christmas presents wrapped.

Not every goal needs to be weight loss/fitness related.  This is something that is important to me this week and I know that my month is jam packed, so getting all of this done sooner than later will be best.