Updates

I was planning on blogging more often this week. Right up until I weighed in.

I've been putting off this post due to embarrassment, but then I realized that there is absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. You see, I messed up and gained... A lot. But the important thing that I focused on was the fact that I went to my meeting even though I knew I was going to gain.

It was not an easy thing to see. In fact, my eyes may have filled with tears while I talked to the receptionist about why I self-sabotage (we didn't make any progress). I text my best friend and my husband. I began to realize that part of it is because I'm afraid that when I lose weight and get to goal I won't think any differently about my body and another part is that I'm afraid of seeing success and then gaining it all back again.

A 5 pound gain. Whoops! And I haven't turned it around yet.. I get 31 points a day and Tuesday I used 79 points, yesterday I used 39 and today I'm up to 61. But I'm okay with that. You see, I'm tracking. Everything. It may not be pretty, but it's going to be okay. It's a step in the right direction.

There's another thing keeping me going. I may be at a grand total lost of 0.6 after 10 weeks of paying for Weight Watchers, but I've lost inches and I'm really happy about that progress.

 

Original measurements taken 7/2:

Bust: 40"

Waist: 34.5"

Hips: 44"

Left thigh: 24.5"

Right thigh: 24.25"

Left arm: 12.5"

Right arm: 13"

 

Measurements taken 7/29:

Bust: 39.5" (-0.5)

Waist: 33.5" (-1)

Hips: 43.5" (-0.5)

Left thigh: 24.75" (+.25)

Right thigh: 24.5" (+.25)

Left arm: 12.5"

Right arm: 13"

 

Progress! You see, there are plenty of ways to track the improvements you are making and even though you may not see progress in one area you could still see it in another area.

 

I have also filled out my training plan for August. I am really excited to work my way through the month and make some physical improvements in my running and to get in some strength training. I bought a stationary bike earlier this month and I am really looking forward to doing some cross training as well. It seems pretty full, however every day has "walk dog" and Monday-Friday have "walk @ work" which have both become a part of my daily routine. I think it just helps to have them on there to track my progress.

I need a win right now, so I tried to make the calendar something that I could stick to. We shall see how the month goes before I commit to anything else. I can track and I can workout. I can make better food choices from this point on. I can be nicer to myself. Well, I can try.

 

In the meantime, I have quite a lot of other happier things going on in my life.

 

Isabel starts swim lessons on Saturday. She was finally promoted to the next level and I cannot wait to see her back in the water. She has improved tremendously this summer and I love watching her learn new things and then excel in them.

 

Patrick has inventory coming up at the end of next month. Although it means he will be at work more than he will be at home, that's okay because it also means overtime. He's also done well in every inventory he's been a part of and I have a feeling this time will be no different. I cannot begin to express how proud I am of him and everything that he has accomplished since being promoted.

 

The cat and dog are getting along better than I could have ever expected or wanted and I cannot wait to see their relationship progress. Getting Camper was a wonderful decision and Patrick and I couldn't be happier with our growing family.

 

The house is coming along. I will be posting an update tomorrow with pictures of our bedroom (my favorite room in the house). I just need to take the "after" pictures and make a post with them. Then I'll only have the living room, kitchen, laundry room and kids bathroom to update. And the yards/back garden and garage once those are completed (but those won't be done for awhile).

 

 

I do need to start blogging again more regularly. Whether it's a workout update, a mileage update, a weight loss update or just a post to get out some thoughts about how things are going or so that I can focus on something else other than the negative thoughts. I know that it helps to talk about it and get it out. I can't keep bottling it in because that's when I start to believe it.

 

So for now I can just look at what needs to happen tonight, that's as far as I need to go. And tonight's agenda is: taking Camper for a walk with Isabel, watering the plants and some chores around the house. I can commit to those things.

 

I'm going to be okay. At 185 or at 165. I know that because I know that I am me and nothing is going to change no matter how much I gain or lose. The important part is being happy with who I am in the body that I have now.

Home Update- Isabel's Room Before/After

The theme for Isabel's room was by far the easiest of all of the bedrooms. The rest of the rooms went off of a color, Isabel's room is based on a movie.

Since seeing Frozen shortly after it came out in theater's last year, Isabel has been obsessed.

Obsessed may be an understatement...

For awhile there she was watching the movie multiple times a day as well as reading books and the script of the movie. She always wanted her hair in a braid (either one on the side to be Elsa or two on either side to be Anna). The CD was on repeat in my car and we would both sing along to each of the songs, always waiting until the song was over before turning the car off.

It was difficult to really decorate Isabel's bedroom in the apartment the way we really wanted to. She wanted all of her Frozen stuff up, but sharing a room with Kaleb and Leah made it difficult. They weren't with us all the time, but enough that I didn't want them to have to spend their time in a kid's room. I wanted it to feel like their room too.

Now that they have their own rooms, I am able to go with the Frozen theme and I really like how it turned out..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to Patrick, we overdid the Frozen a bit. According to Isabel, she loves it and wants more. I'm really happy with how it all turned out, and she's keeping it picked up and clean. Considering how their room looked at the apartment after she played I am quite surprised and pleased with the way we are both keeping our promise to keep the house neat and organized.

It definitely helps to have a larger space and a place for everything to go.

I was walking through the house last night and I just couldn't help but smile to myself. I feel so incredibly lucky that this is our home. I love what we have done to make it our own and I am looking forward to many more weekend projects to continue the improvements. It's going to feel strange when we have completed our to do lists and can actually have our house warming party.

We are very grateful to have a small get together at our house this weekend and I am so excited to be able to show our house off to Patrick's family. His cousin is in town and there will be about 20 or so people here for dinner Saturday night. It will be so much fun to get to host a small party and spend some time with his family. I really lucked out when I married Patrick, in so many ways.

For a final before/after picture..

 

The baby birds have hatched! They seem to be doing well. Momma bird is doing a fabulous job at taking care of them and it is amazing to watch her from the kitchen window. More often than not she is sitting on them, but I love watching her feed them. I was watering a couple of plants in the backyard and she flew off of the nest and you could see their little heads bobbing around looking for her and for food. It is amazing to watch.

Home Update- Bathroom Before/After

Another room is finally finished! Well, almost. 

Other than a light above the medicine cabinet (which has been purchased and will be installed very soon) the main bathroom is finished and I couldn't be happier with the results.

I wanted a happy color for our bathroom, something light but inviting. A color that I could do a lot with in regards to decor. Since Patrick nixed the idea of using a light yellow in our bedroom I decided to use that for the bathroom and I think he was right, it does look really good in a smaller space. 

I went a little shop happy as soon as we knew the house was ours and waited for escrow to close. My mom and I found a lot of fantastic stuff at swap meets and thrift stores to cut down on costs and I really lucked out with so many items. One in particular was a cabinet I wanted to use in the bathroom. 

When I bought it, I bought it somewhat blind, meaning I wasn't sure if it was going to fit where I wanted it to go. I just decided it was too good of an opportunity to pass up and if it didn't for there then I would find some place for it to go. 

It fit perfectly and I am so happy that I decided to just get it. 

The other decor came easily and most were odds and ends that didn't quite match in the rooms they were intended for, but I think it works well where it is now and am overall happy. I may be partial, but I love the frames about the cabinet and am glad my choice of pictures works. I took those pictures my first semester of photography in college and have been hoping to find ways to incorporate my pictures in the house.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of the house is coming along and there are very few things that need to be done to finish the rest of the rooms. It feels very strange to have the front yard on it's way to being done along with the rest of the rooms. The living room is awaiting chair railing, Isabel's room is awaiting pictures to be hung on her walls and our bedroom is awaiting a few frames on the walls. Nothing crazy am nothing that should take too much time.

And then there is the garage...

As of right now it is a staging ground for the things we have decided to sell at the garage sale as well as what we intend to us in the art room, workout area and man cave. The problem is 1. Finding the time 2. Finding the money and 3. Actually deciding on what we want to do/how we want to set it up. It will get done, but it's on the bottom of the to-do list right now.

The main focus before we have people over for a house-warming of sorts is the house, the front yard (almost done), the back area and the back garden. 

I'm sure we'll be working on the house for as long as we live there because that's what happens when you buy a house. There will always be improvements that need to be done. For now we are just thrilled with what we have already done. It's amazing to continuously fall in love with your home. Best decision we have made as a married couple!

House Update- It's the Little Things

There are days where I am sitting in the living room, or laying in bed, or out on my porch where I will look around and can't help but smile at the things I am thankful for. This house is a huge part of my happiness right now and I can't believe that we are lucky enough to have such an amazing place to call our home...

Other days, I look around and see all of the things that we still have to do and I get overwhelmed. Granted, we do have a lot od time to get these things done, but at the same time there are things that are a must to get done before we can throw our house warming party and I'd like to do that sooner rather than later. It may be time to make a list of the must do's and the like to do's so that we have a better idea of what needs to be done next.

We've been making a lot of progress with our home, however since completing the kids room we have yet to actually "complete" another room. Most of the rooms are presentable and I wouldn't mind having people at our house, but I can't really post before and after's if the after isn't quite ready yet.

So instead, I'll share the little things that have made me smile recently about this house. This is not a complete list but rather a few pictures that were taken over the last few days.

We (well, more Patrick) have been doing a lot of planting in the front garden. It is looking fantastic, however I forgot to take before pictures. I will definitely share the after's though once we're finished.

With that I will leave you with the hope that you have a happy and safe 4th of July with your family and friends (or whomever you may be spending the day with).