How time flies!

At least it hasn't been 3 months since I blogged last! It's hard to believe that it's Christmas time, and 2011 is almost over. I swear I was just making New Years Resolutions...

Things have been really busy with life, work, and weight loss! Sometimes I feel like I'm overbooking myself...it feels like forever since I've had a stay-at-home weekend all to myself, but I' really love it all the same :) Here are a few fun things I've been up to!

• Shawn and I visited Las Vegas in October. We saw/walked most of the Strip, visited the Hoover Dam, and saw some shows. Our favorite was the Cirque du Soleil Ka performance. We had 2nd row center seats, and the performers were close enough to touch! It was one of the coolest things we've ever seen. If you ever have a chance to see one of their shows, I definitely recommend it!

• After the trip to Vegas, my friends and I got together to celebrate Janna and Heather's birthday at Vino 100 in Round Rock. Even though I spoiled the surprise by peeking around the corner prematurely, a great time was had by all. I count myself lucky every day to have made such wonderful friends!

Back row: Stacey, Janna, Me, Carol. Front row: Heather, Kelly

• Stacey, Janna and I bought a cool Living Social coupon for a local place called Ceramic Lodge. It made me miss my friend Aimee and wish I had the talent she did. I'm picking up my pieces today (the Ceramic Lodge fires them once you're done, and you pick them up a week later)...hope they turned out well, I'll post pictures later!

• A group of us friends went to the Domain (a local outdoor shopping mall) to see the Christmas Tree being lit. It was a balmy 75 degrees...not very Christmas-like, but we all still had a great time. After the lighting, we had a chance to get our picture taken with Santa Clause and eat a delicious dinner at Maggiano's. Thank goodness it was a cheat day (On Saturday's I don't have to workout or stick to my diet plan), because the food was delicious!

Back row: Janna, Heather, Santa, Stacey, Me. Front row: Kelly

• My friend Stacey was generous enough to open her home to friends for Thanksgiving. Shawn was a good sport (he ended up being the only guy in a group of 5 other women)...I know Football and delicious food helped make it more bearable. I made a Turkey (using this recipe), rolls, gravy, and corn, and everything turned out deliciously! Here are a few pictures I "borrowed" from Janna:

Stacey set up a beautiful Thanksgiving Dinner table! She had a name tag with a sweet message at each of our plates

The delicious spread...just thinking about it makes me hungry for more!

"I am thankful for Amy because...she has a beautiful heart & soul. She is a friend I can turn to for comfort, reassurance, & without judgement Always."

"I am thankful for Shawn because...he is a good man to one of the most beautiful and strongest women I have had the pleasure of meeting. Thank you Shawn."

Shawn and his football = true love

Bailey and Me...he doesn't understand what it means to look at the camera :)

• My weight loss is going well too. I'm now down 64.5lbs since I began this journey on June 22nd (as of November18th, didn't weigh in the week of Thanksgiving). I feel so amazing, and more capable than I have in years. It won't be much longer before I'm down to a weight I haven't been since 2004, and that makes me so incredibly happy! There are plenty of temptations to indulge in delicious food and skip out on workouts, but I am working hard to keep my focus and stay on track. I'd rather sacrifice a little now to obtain my goals :)

Wow!!

Has it really been 3 1/2 months since I updated my blog?! I'll admit to slacking off in the blogosphere, but my life has been quite busy and fulfilled as of late. Here are a few highlights from the last few months:

• I survived "Credit File Assement". This was an extreme project deadline that was moved up on us and took blood, sweat, and tears to complete. No really there was blood...those files can give you a gnarly papercut!
• I turned 29. *sigh*. It was a wonderful celebration despite the age number. My sweet group of friends threw me a joint surprise birthday party, and my dear friend Janna and Shawn conspired to get me a surprise gift together!
• and.....
• Perhaps the biggest highlight since my last post is my weight loss. My friend Stacey (that I met through bookclub) has been acting as my personal trainer and nutritionist. In the last 15 weeks since we began working together, I have lost 46lbs!! I use the bodybugg (my surprise gift from Janna & Shawn) to track my calorie intake every day. Stacey and I work out 5 days a week, and the bodybugg tracks how many calories I burn. It's been very enlightening for me, as I've struggled with my weight for a number of years. I see things much more mathematically and logically, and I've had some pretty awesome success so far!

All in all, it's been a great couple of months. I'm feeling better than I've felt in years, and really enjoying all my blessings :) I promise to be better about blogging, even if it's just short little boring snippets.

Till next time...

"The Help"

I wish I had a gift for writing so I could do justice to my opinion of the movie :)

It was awesome. We had a great turn out from Book Club and there were no problems getting everyone into their seats. I think I had tears in my eyes (and trickling down my face, but that's beside the point) for the majority of the movie. Sometimes they were happy tears, and sometimes they were tears of heartache. I can't remember the last time I have felt so impacted by a movie. The actors chosen to portray the women I loved (and hated!) in the movie were phenomenal, and the flow of the movie was spot on. There were a few changes and things left out, but that's a given in any book to movie scenario.

I loved the movie, loved the book and look forward to seeing the movie again in a few months. If you haven't read the book yet I highly recommend it!

Only Two More Sleeps!

Wednesday Evening, 7:30 pm, I'll be watching a free screening of "The Help" (based on the novel of the same name) with members from my bookclub. I seriously am so excited! I loved this book, and hope the movie does it justice. I'll report asap with my thoughts :)

M.I.A.!

I realize I've been somewhat MIA in the blogosphere lately! There's been a lot going on the last month, including:

1. Moving (just a local move)
2. Having a sick puppy (he swallowed some chicken bones)
3. Worrying about my Grandma Blackham (she fell and cracked her pelvis)
4. Worrying about my Grandpa Blake (he's recently had surgery)
5. A conflict with my previous land lord, which took a week to resolve (water damage)
6. Worrying about my brother Matthew (wisdom teeth removal)
7. Worrying about my new friend Nancy (recently diagnosed with breast cancer)
8. Having a more involved role in the planning of our book club (due to #7)
9. Being super busy at work, partially due to taking days off because of 1-8 :)

But here I am, alive and well! In between all of those things, I've done a fair amount of reading which makes me unbelievably happy. I also bought myself an early birthday present:

I'm also in L-O-V-E with this new cup I bought. I've been eyeing one ever since Shawn bought one for himself a few months ago. He of course got a sports team (SF 49'ers), but I got a beautiful girly one!! It keeps my drinks cold for a long time, and I only need to get more ice twice a day (instead of like 4-5x)

So anyway...I'm still here, and according to Texas it's summertime! Hope all of you are doing well, and staying cool :)