The inner thoughts of a bus rider

Something awful happened on Friday, well two something awful's, but only one of them directly affected us.  Friday started off with my sister texting me that our apartment building that we used to live in had burned down.  We moved out 3 months ago when we bought our house, but we lived there for 2 years and loved our time there.  It was our first house together.  We had many, many "firsts" there and it is just so strange to think that it burned down.  Not only is our building gone, but the heaviest damage was done on our floor, on our wing and to be exact in the apartment directly next door to where we lived.  It was a surreal feeling to think that if we had not made the decision to buy a house this year we would have been homeless.  I got to thinking about our neighbors and how they must feel.  I decided that I would try to do what I can to help our old neighbors in their great time of need.  I made some calls and I felt better about it, at least for the interim.

The something awful that happened that directly affected us happened on Friday night.  My mom was coming down to the cities to stay with my two nephews, so I decided to go over there after work and have dinner and hang out.  Ron was coming by later on to play with the boys, but he was taking longer than usual.  The boys were looking out the windows for him and decided that when they saw him we would all hide and wait for him to find us.  He drove up to the house and we all hid in the pantry. After waiting for like 5 minutes we emerged and yelled, SURPRISE, but there was no one there.  I went outside and found him and he was inspecting his car.  He had just been in an accident and his car was leaking oil.  We knew that it wasn't good and we decided to have it towed.  The guy at the repair shop called and said, "I just want you to know that you were VERY, VERY lucky."  He went on to say, "if this piece of metal that flew off of a car and hit the underneath of your car would have hit 2 cm's away from where it hit the car would have likely imploded on impact and you would not be here right now."  Wow!  Scary stuff.  Two bad events in one day.  It felt like someone was really watching over us!

Oil leaking out of the car.

Hauling the car away!

We still have to pay to fix the car, we have been a one car househould instead of two and we know that we will be tight on money for a little while until we can put back from our savings what we have spent on repairs.  We are alive though and very thankful for that!  The rest of the struggles are managable compared to the alternative in either scenario.  It got me thinking this morning that life is so, so precious.  Make sure you tell someone you love them today and make sure you're doing what you can to make the best "you" that you can.  For me this meant starting to ride the bus (which saves money and means more walking) and saying "NO" to the cookies in the breakroom this morning.  It means going home and working out rather than plopping on the couch and making a dinner that Jillian Michaels would approve of! (I have started this new thing where I pretend that Jillian Michaels COULD potentially walk into my house at anytime and if she did would she be okay with what I was putting in my mouth?  If not then I just can't take the risk :)

TGIF and Dressing for your Size

It is finally here!  That little thing called Friday that we chase after all week!  I honestly couldn't be happier.  It has been a looooong week!

On Wednesday I went to Mall of America with my older sister Claire to help her find clothes for an upcoming weekend in Chicago with my other older sister.  She wanted to find something to wear to a play and the other girls who were going were wearing fun, trendy and dressy outfits.  Claire is a stay at home mom who takes very good care of her two boys, her house and her husband, but she doesn't really take the time to do stuff for herself. 

Claire usually wears Old Navy jeans and solid color t-shirts from Target, so she wanted to feel comfortable in what she was wearing and still look fashionable.  The other issue that Claire was having is that her body is different than it used to be and she isn't used to dressing for the body that she has.  She was afradi to shop at the, "fat girl stores".  Now, I don't love that phrase.  I think she uses it because she is embaressed about her body, but I think the most important thing that someone can do is to do, "dress for the body that you have!" This may be one of the most important things that I have ever learned.  If you are overweight you can still look nice if you dress for your body shape.  I know that we aren't all comfortable with our bodies where they are at, but I know that I personally feel better putting on jeans that fit and a nice shirt rather than baggy clothing that makes look and feel larger than I am.

So, I took Claire to Forever 21 Plus and she got a few pairs of really cute skinny jeans.  We then ventured to Torrid and she proceeded to try on the entire store.  It was a good chance for her to see what looks good on her body.  She hadn't really tried on clothing in her new size before and she was slowly starting to gain soem confidence as I and the lady from the store told her how great she looked.  She really did look great in all of the clothes and I got to thinking about how we are all comfortable or uncomfortable at different sizes.  For example Claire was wearing size 14-16.  I thought to myself, "I would be THRILLED to be wearing a 14-16!"  She was clearly having a hard time adjusting to it.  I could see that she was skeptical about wearing skinny jeans or leggings and some of the more form fitting tops.  I knew that if I looked like she did in some of the clothing that I would be strutting my stuff all around town.

It is hard to be uncomfortable in your own skin no matter what size you are.  It is important for me to know that everyone's comfort size is different and all that matter is that I get to mine.  I know that I will lose this weight and be more and more comfortable in my own skin.  My sister even said I can borrow the clothes she bought as soon as I am that size.  It is just another thing to look forward to.  I have never been able to share clothes with anyone in my life, so getting to swap clothes with anyone would feel amazing.  So, long story short is work towards getting to your comfortable size, but until you do dress what you have and feel great in your own skin!  :)

P.S.  I am also down 2.2 pounds this week and I am wearing a dress that used to be too tight today without Spanx because I don't need to suck in my gut that is slowly starting to disappear!  Oh, the small things in life :)

This is my new dress from shopping. It is super flattering and a whole size smaller!