Photo Challenge Day 3

Day 3: A Photo of the cast from your favorite TV show.

.

Okay, I didn’t follow the rules. I couldn’t pick just ONE show! I mean, who really has a favorite show anyway? So, here’s the story. I HAD to put Buffy because, well, I love Buffy. I fell in love with Angel. My mom bought me one of those Irish rings when I was 12 to match the one that Angel gave to Buffy. I STILL wear it. Not totally because of my love for Buffy, but maybe that’s PART of the reason! Later in the series I fell in love with Spike. And my heart broke as Spike struggled with being evil but experiencing true love, for his arch nemesis no less! Yeah, I know. It’s silly. But I can’t help it! I recently watched all 10 seasons on Netflix. It took me about 6 months, but it was worth it.

Gilmore Girls is another one of those shows from my youth that I’ve recently rekindled my love for. I’ve been watching reruns on ABC Family. I just love those sassy girls! I mean, no one really talks like that, but still! Gotta love some witty banter!

And of course I could not ignore Glee! I look forward to it every week and then proceed to upload the new songs to my Grooveshark library so that I can rock out on a regular basis. Good thing I live out in the country. I’m pretty sure neighbors would not approve of said rocking out.

There are others. I could have put American Idol, Dawson’s Creek, Friends, How I Met Your Mother, Grey’s Anatomy, etc… But I didn’t want to go overboard!

So, what about you? What are your current faves and do you have any old favorites that you get a hankering for from time to time?

Now please excuse me while I go sing the Glee version of “Don’t Stop Believing” for the whole world my cat and husband to hear.

~Christy

Photo Challenge: Day 2

Day 2: A photo of you and the person you have been close with the longest.

I have to go with my best friend Hayley. She and I have been friends since we were 7. Yes, that's a long time. 18 years, in fact.

At my wedding. May 30, 2009

Halloween 2004. Last minute costumes....

When I was 7 my family moved to Snellville, GA. The day that we moved in, there were about 10 or so kids playing in my nextdoor neighbor's backyard. I went over and met them all. Hayley was not there that day, but her older sister was. I started hanging out with her sister and my neighbor, who were actually a few years older than me. One day we went down to her sister's house to get something, and there was Hayley! That's where we officially met. Shortly there after, my neighbor had a pool party. Embarrassingly enough, I wore floaties. That's right...those floatation devices that go around your arms--the ones 4-year-olds wear. But I didn't know how to swim, so that was that. Luckily, Hayley did not shun me in my moment of absolute loser-ness. We spent the whole day holding onto the ledge of the pool and talking. {It's funny when you can't swim how much time you spend clawing into the edge of the pool!}

Anyway, we pretty much fell in love at that point and have been best friends ever since. We've never had a petty cat-fight, we've never stolen each other's boyfriends, and we HAVE written a lot of notes to each other! We came to college together and were roommates in a single, traditional-style, dorm room. That's where that Halloween picture was taken. We weren't going to dress up, but we all decided it would be fun to do, for pictures' sake alone. So, I think I was a "lady of the night." That leopard print top was the most scandalous thing I owned (notice the fake money coming out of my top). Side note--I don't think real life prostitutes typically leave money hanging out of their shirts. Hmm... And Hayley wore her Batman t-shirt and made a sign that said "I'm Batman!" Very creative. We know. As for the others in the picture, Chris was a vampire and Raycheal was a....Carona monster....? Anyway, we had some good times! If I had some of our really old pictures on my computer I would have posted those as well, but those were pre-Facebook days.

Hayley & I lived together again in an apartment in 2006, but only for a short time. Ever since then, she has been living in Atlanta while I'm down in South GA. We miss each other like crazy, but still manage to talk frequently and see each other occasionally. I'm super excited that she's moving to Warner Robins in July. She'll still be like 2.5 hours away, but it's closer than she is now! AND she has an ADORABLE little baby boy (only about a week old!) of which I am the unofficial Godmother. Love him! :)

So, that's it folks! Me and the bestie! Close for 18 years and counting!

PS--I *may* do another post, non-challenge related, later today. If you're lucky! ;)

Until then,
~Christy

30 Day Photo Challenge: Day 1

So, I stole this idea from Wendi's Facebook, but I thought it would make a good blog series. :) Here's the challenge:

 Hope you can read all that! Okay, so Day 1 is a picture of myself and 15 facts. Here's goes!

This is me on the way to our double date with some lovely friends from church.
We went to Holiday's for dinner and then to see a show at the Georgia Southern PAC.
October 2010

1. I am in love with Jesus Christ and He is my Lord and Savior.

2. Karaoke is my drug of choice. My favorite songs to rock out to are Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me." Interesting choices--I know.

3. I dream in color--really vibrant, bright colors. I remember red most vividly.

4. I like my coffee like I like my cats--Black. (reference Zoe Cat) 

5. If you play the Wicked soundtrack, I will BELT "Defying Gravity" at the top of my lungs even if I'm way off-key and my voice cracks. {Now I must listen to it. If you care to find me...look to the Western sky!}

6. My husband is my favorite person. Ever. Period. The end.

7. My ears are uneven. Notice the sunglasses in the picture are a *tiny* bit crooked...

8. If I'm at home, I'm wearing slippers. I even take them traveling with me. What can I say? My feet get cold and I don't care much for socks.

9. My eyes are my favorite physical attribute. You can't see them in this picture (silly me!), but trust me, they're pretty fabulous.

10. My childhood was perfect. Okay, not really. My parents fought like crazy, I wasn't popular in school, and all that jazz. But I lived in a neighborhood full of my friends and we hung out constantly and those were probably the happiest moments of my life. (Other than all the moments with the husband. Of course.)

11. My husband and I make up words and phrases and  use them like everyone knows what we're talking about. I.e: Bala, cat-magoo (as a noun and a verb), Tivis, wivis, and Gleevis (basically adding "vis" to things we watch), likadees, balaikus, etc.. You think it's weird. Correction: it's adorable!

12. My hair is thick. way.too.thick.

13. I floss everyday.  My dental hygenist LOVES me.

14. Most of the blogs I follow are people I don't even know. Does that make me a total creeper?

15. I hate showering, doing my hair, putting on makeup, picking out clothes. Basically anything that involves getting ready. Why can't we just wake up looking fabulous?

So, that's it for Day 1. I don't think the rest of the days will be quite so extensive. And don't worry, I will keep the other blog posts coming! :)

Any questions/comments about my 15 facts? I'd LOVE to hear them. Seriously. Comment. Do it. Please.? Ok. Done sounding desparate. The End.

~Christy

Pieces of Me

Lately my identity and sense of self has been revolving around my schedule. Every role that I play and identity that I claim seems to be overwhelming marked by events lately. Lately opportunities to take a breath have been few and far between, much less time to just be.

Most of you know me pretty well. You know who I am and what my roles and responsibilities are. For those of you who may not know me as well, I'll take this time to share. Take a breath now--you may not find much time for one once you start reading this!

First and foremost, I am a Christian. This always should be, and usually is, evidenced by my loving, gracious, and giving nature that shows through all that I do and in every role I fulfill. But for scheduling's sake, we can say it's evidenced by going to church every Sunday, working in Konnection Kids at least once a month, attending couples small group once a week, and spending 30 minutes first thing every morning praying and studying the Word.

Engagement Picture Dec. 2008

Another Engagement Picture Dec. 08

I am a wife, as evidenced by regular household chores (which we share) such as cleaning, cooking, managing money, etc... I also require quality time with my husband in the evenings and weekends. Second to my relationship with God, this is the part of my identity that I value the most. Honestly, spending time with Scott is just as good (or even better) than that "just being me" time.

I am a student, which means I spend 11 hours a week in class, and many more hours studying and completing assignments, papers, and projects.

I am a Grad. Assistant in Continuing Education, which means I work 20 hours a week on campus, and sometimes more depending on the events we have scheduled.

I am a daughter, meaning I talk to my parents periodically and I try to visit them at least once every few months. I would LOVE to visit them more often, but (as you'll notice) I don't always have the time, especially since my dad lives 3.5 hours away and my mom lives 5 hours away. To visit each of them would be at least 2 separate weekend trips.

My mom & her husband Mike

Daddy & my niece Kyli
Checkin' out the news
Christmas 2010
PS--that's Emily (Kyli's mom) & her husband Kevin in the background.
Notice the baby bump. They now have another little girl! Keirra Bushey!

I am a daughter-in-law, so I also try to visit my in-laws at least once every few months. Again, they live 3.5 hours away--it's a weekend trip.

Me with Scott's family. Easter 2010

I am a sister & sister-in-law, I have a step-brother, a step-sister, a sister, a brother, and a sister-in-law. None of them live together or even close to one another. None of them live closer than 3.5 hours away from me. Go ahead and schedule a few more weekend trips....

Me and my sister Alora. Summer 2010

Me and my brother Brett. October 2010

Me and the sibs at my wedding. Love them!
May 2009

Me and best friends Hayley & Kaitin
Friends since we were little!
December 2010

Me and my friend April
She and I worked together,
had classes together,
and basically love each other
because we're both so
amazing. The end.

I am a friend to many. You can see this recently as in the past month I've been invited to 2 baby showers, 2 bridal showers, 1 engagement party, 1 house warming party, 1 girls' night out, 2 graduation parties, and 1 going away party--most of which I attended or plan to attend. Some of which are on the SAME weekends but about 4 hours away from each other.

I am an aunt. My niece lives 4 hours away from me, and at least 1 hour away from any other relative that I would visit/spend the weekend with. I only see her a few times a year which is heartbreaking. Her 2nd birthday party is coming up and it's on the same weekend as my sister-in-law's graduation in which all of her family will be staying at my house...4 hours away from my niece's party. So, I'll either skip town and do an 8-hour day-trip to Atlanta, or I'll miss her party.

Me and Kyli--the most amazing and beautiful niece a girl could ask for!
Christmas 2010. Playing in the snow. :)

I am a granddaughter, cousin, niece, etc... and b/c of all my other roles, I usually only see these extended family members around Christmas...and only for a very short time b/c I'm busy running around creation trying to see everyone in a week's time.

And of course with all these roles and relationships also comes birthdays, anniversaries, Mother's & Father's Days, vacations, and other holiday celebrations. I often feel like my all my time is spent fulfilling these roles, scheduling every minute of my life (and certainly every weekend) to accommodate the plans and desires of SO MANY people. Don't get me wrong, I love it. I really do. I'm SO blessed to have all these people in my life and I wouldn't trade it for all the "me time" in the world. But sometimes, every now and then, I would like a weekend or at least a day to just SIT. To just BE. To read, watch Gilmore Girls or other pointless TV shows, to watch several movies in a row with my husband, to nap, to daydream, to write/journal, to sing, to dance, to workout without feeling like I'm in a time crunch.... It's hard b/c as much as I want those things, I also want to be with my family and friends and be there for them in their celebrations and times of need. I get so sad thinking about how much I miss my family and friends. It seems like I must see them all the time, but the truth is, there are so many of them that even though I'm seeing PEOPLE all the time, I only see each person every now and then.

So, that's my dilema these days.... I have so much going on, part of me wishes I had time for even more, and then I also wish that I could stop the time altogether and just focus on being me--apart from all the rest. But then again, I guess "all the rest" is what really makes me who I am anyway.

Zoe Cat. Can't forget about her!
I'm also Mom Cat.
Doesn't take too much time.
But still.
Worth mentioning...

Here's to hoping for rest in Christ and enjoying all the moments of my life (no matter how busy!)...

~Christy

Good Friday

Tomorrow is Good Friday, and I am SO excited! :) While I have been completely SWAMPED with school and work lately, and while this weekend will be a lot of running around and very little rest, I am still thrilled because nothing is going to get in the way of worshipping God and getting filled to the brim with The Spirit!! :)

Tomorrow we are working half days and then heading up to Alpharetta for the Good Friday Concert with Chris Tomlin, Christy Nockles, Kristian Stanfill, and Louie Giglio. We went last year as well and it was INCREDIBLE. It's so awesome to worship God in such a huge crowd. All that energy is consuming, and God is so present you can literally feel the Spirit coursing through you. Plus, I always love worshipping outside. I feel more connected to God when I'm standing in His beautiful creation. I'm also really excited because this year Scott's parents are going with us. I can't wait to share it with them! I really hope God uses it to reach them in a special way.

On Saturday, we are heading to Snellville to visit Hayley and Julian and their new baby Leland! :) I've seen pictures, and from what I can tell, he is absolutely perfect! I can't wait to meet him. It's so crazy that out of my close-knit group of friends from childhood, one of us already has a baby! And two of us are married and the other 2 are engaged! Crazy! We're all growing up so fast.

THEN we are heading back home to Portal on Saturday night b/c we are both scheduled to work at church on Sunday. Last week was our first service meeting in the new location of Statesboro High School's auditorium. I admit that Scott & I were both hesitant about moving to this location and growing so much so quickly. But the service was so powerful, and all that energy from having 700 people together worshipping God, was overwhelming in the best possible way! This will be my first time serving at this location. The bad thing is we have to get there an hour and a half early to help set up everything. But I'm looking forward to seeing what it's like working with Konnection Kids with this new layout and format. I'm a little bummed that I won't get to attend the service for Easter, but I'm still happy to be at my church home for the holiday. This will be the first year that I actually get to go to my own church for Easter. And even though I won't be in the service, I know I'm part of what's happening there and that's exciting.

I'm trying to get as much done today as possible so that this weekend will not be tainted with worry about school work. Nothing is getting in the way of my abundant joy and thankfulness for Christ this weekend! :) And I wish you all a spiritual and joyful Easter weekend! Remember the reason--I don't think any bunnies have died to save you recently. Just sayin'.

~Christy

Friday, Friday, Gotta Get Down on Friday!

It's Friday, Friday!! You've heard this song, right? Rebecca Black, Friday.  Listen to it. It's hilarious. 


I apologize for not posting in a while. If you read my last post, you understand why. Busy, busy, busy! In fact, I'm posting now in between cleaning the house and working on a paper. Scott's is currently interviewing for grad. school. I'm sure he'll get accepted because he's...well...amazing. :) He's actually doing the same program that I'm in. I'm looking forward to sharing this with him. We're going to try not to take any classes at the same time. Unless they're online. But I'm curious to see how he likes the classes that I've already taken. 


Let's see...last weekend was crazy busy, but good. Scott's family was in town for Erin's thesis defense (she passed! WOOHOO!), and I took a trip up to Atlanta and back on Saturday for Hayley's baby shower. Scott's dad got in a motorcycle accident, but (praise God!) he was not badly hurt. He broke his wrist, but other than that, he is fine and his bike is fine. 


I haven't been doing so hot on the weight loss thing. Honestly, right now is a really tough time to focus on that. I'm not trying to make excuses. It's just that I'm so busy with school right now that I almost feel guilty for taking time to work out. And there have been so many special occasions (and many more coming up!) that include unhealthy food. But the truth is, it's my own lack of self-control. It's much easier to lose weight when I have a decent amount of free time and am in control of the food that it's front of me. But take away that extra time, and put a plate of brownies in front of me, and I'm doomed! I actually ended up gaining a pound (gasp!). That, combined with a couple weeks of no change whatsoever, led me to move my deadline back. I changed it to 2 months from last week. At least, that was what I meant to do. Today I weighed myself (lost .4 pound...yippie!) and the Wii told me that I need to gain 9 pounds to meet my goal. Umm? Turns out when I changed my goal last week, I made it +10 pounds in 2 months, instead of -10. Oops! So, I had to change it again. So, now it's 2 months from today! The good news about that is it will give me more time after the semester ends to catch up. 


I've decided not to worry too much about it right now. I'm not completely abandoning the idea, but just not stressing about trying to lose the weight and finding time to work out. I want to get the next 3 weeks behind me first. And as long as I don't gain several pounds in that time, I'll be pleased. After school is out, I'll have much more free time to work out, and most of the special events will be over and I can go back to being health-conscious all the time. I'm looking forward to that day b/c all this not working out and the occasional cheat meal is making me feel squishy! And that makes me feel like a loser. Seriously, my morale goes down and my body feels sluggish. And it's not just about being "fat." It's about not feeling healthy and energized. I think that's really the best part about this whole challenge.


What else? Oh, I finished What the Birds See. Please don't ever read it. I usually don't like to encourage people NOT to read something because people have different tastes. But this book was really not good. The writing wasn't so bad, but the plot was boring and meaningless. And the ending was really crazy, random, and weird. I felt like there was supposed to be a deeper meaning that maybe I was missing...then I decided it was just a stupid ending! Now I'm reading Long Lost by Harlan Coben. It's a mystery novel. Every now and then I like to get wrapped up in a book like that. It's exciting and makes me feel like a detective! :)


This weekend should be fun. Tomorrow is Ryann's bridal shower and the Connector Orientation at church. Then Sunday is our first church service at the new location--Statesboro High School's auditorium. I'm interested to see how it all plays out! And we're having a lunch afterwards. I'm sure I'll indulge in some terrible-for-you-but-oh-so-tasty food. Eh. What are ya gonna do? 


Thunderstorms tomorrow, which I'm super excited about! I LOVE rain! When I'm indoors, at least. I hope it doesn't make traveling to my events difficult. But I'm looking forward to laying on the couch and watching a movie with Scott, while the rain sprinkles a lullaby outside our open windows... :) I would have liked to have our windows open all week, but our neighbor fertilized his cotton field and WOW...I've never smelled something so awful! Our whole property smelled like manure. But the good news is that the wind is bringing in the rainstorm and today the smell had subsided enough for me to open up my windows and enjoy the cool breeze while I cleaned. Oh, the simple joys in life! :) 


Well, better get to my paper so I can get as much done as possible before the hubz gets home. 


Enjoy your weekend and your rainstorm lullaby....
~Christy

Crazy Town!

There is so much coming up! It's crazy! Here--take a peek into my upcoming life!

~April 6th--paper due in Admin. & Leadership
~April 7th--Erin, Joe, and Scott's parents come to our house for the weekend
~April 9th--Hayley's baby shower
~April 12th--paper due in Contemporary College Student
~April 15th--Scott's interview for grad school
~April 16th--Ryann's bridal shower, Connector Orientation @ Connection Church
~April 17th--Palm Sunday--first Sunday meeting at Statesboro High for church
~April 19th--leading group session in Group Counseling class
~April 20th--paper due in Admin & Leadership
~April 22nd--Good Friday--Chris Tomlin concert in Alpharetta
~April 24th--Easter
~April 25th--final group project due in Contemporary College Student
~April 26th--paper due in Group Counseling
~April 29-30th--Relay for Life
~May 3rd--final group project due in Group Counseling
~May 4th--final group project presentation due in Admin & Leadership
~May 5th--Hayley's baby is due
~May 7th--Eric & Jess's engagement party
~May 8th--Emily's baby is due
~May 9th--Cont. College Student Final Exam
~May 10th--Group Counseling Final Exam
~May 11th--Final paper due in Admin & Leadership
~May 12th--Erin, Joe, Scott's parents, and Scott's Grandma come to our house for Erin's graduation/Kyli's 2nd birthday
~May 13th--Erin's graduation/party
~May 22nd--Alora's birthday
~May 23rd--Summer classes start
~May 30th--Memorial Day/Our Anniversary/Disney World Vacation Begins!!! :)

Now that's just through the end of May! June has lots of birthdays including Scott's, my mom's, and his mom's. And July is our week-long family vacation to St. George Island with Scott's family.

Fun, fun, fun!! So, you can see...lots of exciting things, and lots of SCHOOL! I'm doing some serious praying to keep me from going INSANE during this time!

Anyone else have a schedule that will send them straight to Crazy Town?

~Christy

Fun Times

I had a great weekend! Lots of fun updates to share!

Friday afternoon I went shopping for baby shower gifts for my best friend Hayley and bridal shower gifts for my friend Ryann. I had a lot of fun picking stuff out. I love buying gifts and giving to others. I always wish I could do more, though. The one sad part of my shopping excursion was overhearing a lady cussing out her 3-year old like it was no big deal. She was saying the most horrible things to him. She was obviously angry with her significant other (husband? Boyfriend?) b/c she was telling her son to stop b-ing at her b/c his daddy already f-ing b-ed to her all morning. Okay, this doesn't work so well with the abbreviations. But I would not be able to bring myself to use the language she was using. She was dropping F-bombs and GD's like it was no big deal. And she didn't even care that people could hear her. There was no shame there at all. I was so sad for her and especially for her little boy who will have to grow up in that environment. I had to stop and pray for her and spent a good 5-10 minutes praying about it when I got home, too. It made me so angry and sad at the same time. I just wished there was something I could do. But I gave it to God and that's the best thing to do.

Friday night Scott and I got CPR Certified through church for working with Konnection Kids (our children's ministry). That was as fun as a certification process can be. We watched a First Aid video that was corny at times, and we had some good laughs when the infant dummies' heads wouldn't stay on when we were giving them CPR. Later that night we attempted to watch Winter's Bone but couldn't stay awake. It was late, and that movie isn't particularly thrilling. Mostly I just wanted to see it b/c the lead actress is the girl who was picked to play Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games movies that are coming out next March. I wanted to see what this girl was all about. I was pleased to see she is actually a good actress. Though she doesn't look like the character as I envisioned her, she roughs up pretty good which is necessary to play Katniss.

Saturday we slept in until 11:30 which was FABULOUS! I felt sleep deprived all week long, so it was nice to catch up a little. I didn't even feel like a zombie when I woke up. After breakfast and showering, we spent an hour or so just listening to music, singing, and Scott played along with the songs with either his guitar or trumpet. By the time we were done with that, we had just enough time to eat a late lunch and then start heading to Pooler where we had dinner and hung out with our friends April and Waring Harvey. We love hanging out with them. We don't have to do really do anything, and it's always a good time...just sitting around talking and catching up. They are so funny! I miss April so much, and it's great to get to spend time with them.

Sunday was especially eventful! We woke up early and went to church. When we arrived we were asked to help with Communion at the end of the service. Scott does this as an usher/greeter, but I had never helped with it before. I served the bread: "The body of Christ, broken for you." It was a really awesome experience. I really felt the Holy Spirit moving through me, and it was wonderful getting to serve in that way. It was such a literal and concrete example of God using me to share His love. I loved it!

After church, we did our usual grocery shopping and lunch. Then we had to power clean our house because we found out only the night before that our good friend Drady, who moved back up to Atlanta after graduation, would be visiting as well as Scott's parents!! We somehow managed to clean both bathrooms, the kitchen, dust the important furniture, vacuum/sweep the floors, and spot-mop...all in about 40 minutes! It was insane! But we had about 5 minutes to spare before Drady showed up. Once everyone arrived, we just hung out at the house, talking and catching up. It's nice to chill and spend time with family and friends. Then we went to Mellow Mushroom for dinner. We were going to go to La Berry afterwards, but the line was almost out the door, so we passed. Poor Drady drove all the way back to Atlanta after leaving our house at 8 pm! Scott's parents spent the night, but were planning to leave this morning after we left for work. I assume they have already left.

So, that was my big-super-fun weekend! :) This week I have LOTS to look forward to (as well as DREAD!). Hopefully another awesome workout in about 10 minutes, couples group tonight, Erin (Scott's sister) coming up on Thursday to defend her thesis, Scott's parents coming back down to celebrate Erin passing her thesis this weekend, going up to Atlanta Saturday for Hayley's baby shower, and hopefully other fun things along the way! The dreaded stuff....school, SCHOOL, and more SCHOOL!! But that's okay. Only a few more weeks left...if you can believe it! I hardly can! That also means not much time left to finish all my many assignments and projects! But I know God will provide His wisdom and guidance to help me complete them all as He sees fit. It's amazing the difference it makes approaching school work through the Holy Spirit rather than my flesh. I'm so much more calm and I don't procrastinate nearly as much. I'm so thankful for that! :)

Well, I hope you all had a great weekend, too! Any good stories? I would love to hear! Leave comments! :)
And have a GREAT week!
~Christy

Weight...weight...weight...

So, as you know, I started my second weight loss goal a couple weeks back. I am hoping to lose another 10 pounds in 2 months. Actually, I never lost the first 10 pounds in 2 months. I was 1 pound shy of meeting my goal. After that I took a week off...it was Spring Break and I didn't want to have to worry about finding time to work out or having to turn down meals while I was visiting family in Florida. The following week was so crazy busy that I wasn't able to work out on my usual days. I still ate pretty well, though. Well, after 2 weeks I hadn't lost a thing. BUT I also didn't gain anything. This was encouraging because I hadn't really been doing anything to lose weight anyway. I was just glad to see that I wasn't suddenly gaining all my weight back. It was good to see that I could pretty much go about my normal day, eating the things that have become a regular part of my diet, and maintain my weight. But I also realized that my diet change alone was no longer causing weight loss. I think my body has dropped all it can from that change. Unless I cut back even more on calories and fats, I don't think the diet change will do much for meeting my goal. This means I'll need to work even harder when I exercise. I think these next pounds will be more difficult to lose, unfortunately.

This week I got back on my exercise schedule. Monday's workout was okay. I was really tired, so my cardio was weak. I power walked on the treadmill, on the highest incline, for 30 minutes. It was good for the muscles, but didn't do much for my heart rate. Yesterday's workout was AMAZING! I starting jogging on the treadmill and decided I would just jog until I couldn't anymore...or until I reached 30 minutes. I jogged the entire 30 minutes! I know that's not that big a deal for some people. Granted, my pace wasn't that quick. I only ran 2 miles in that time. 15 minute miles are fairly slow...I could probably power walk to that pace. BUT I was actually jogging! I never jog for more than 5 minutes TOPS at a time. If it's not because I'm out of breath, it's because my ankles and shins are killing me. But yesterday I never felt too out of breath, and my ankles didn't even hurt that bad. I think the treadmill works really well for me. It helps me keep my feet in line better, which I think helps the ankle situation. And it helps me maintain a pace. I think when I run outside I tend to speed up to the point that I tire quickly. As much as I try to jog and take it slow, I always feel like I need to be running faster. But on a treadmill, I'm just going along with the speed of the belt. And I'm really comfortable on the treadmill, well...that is, after the first 5-10 minutes being weary of flying off the back (which would be most unpleasant...mainly b/c everyone would gasp, stare, and come to check on injuries. That would be far worse than the injuries themselves). After my jog, I proceeded to my usual free weights, crunches, and other ab work, and stretching. All in all, it was one of the best workouts as of late.

Unfortunately I was not so awesome about what I ate this week. I've indulged in really bad things like El Som (including queso), ice cream, oreo balls, cookies, wine, and lots of cheese and bread!!! So, despite my awesome workout, I gained a pound this week. :( This is my first time gaining any weight since I started this challenge over a month ago. I realize it's only 1 pound and my body can fluctuate that much just during one day, but it was still a little disheartening. I was really hoping the Wii Fit would pop back and say April Fools! But alas, it did not.

So, now...(after eating a piece of pound cake at the office today...rats!) I need to get back on track if I want to at least come close to meeting this goal. No more ice cream and cookies!! And more jogging! I'm really excited to see how much I can improve in this area. I used to run around the block in my neighborhood growing up. I think that was right at a mile. It always helped me lose weight and maintain a healthy body. I think it will really help me reach my goal. And it's something I've always wished I could excel in. But I'm really proud of myself for jogging for 2 miles. I'm pretty sure that's the furthest I've ever ran. Not sure if I want to gradually pick up the pace or gradually jog for longer. Maybe a little of both. But I want to take it slowly. No sense getting ahead of myself and then getting discouraged.

Anyway, that's what's new with me and my weight! I am fitting into my clothes much better, and I constantly get complimented on my weight loss and how thin I look. I'm really pleased with it myself. :) My midsection still needs the most work. My arms and legs are looking better and better, but that booty of mine never ceases! If I can cut back on that and tone up the belly some, I will be satisfied! And despite the weight gain this week, the great workout yesterday has motivated me to get back on track and keep it up!

Hope you are all enjoying your April Fool's Day! Partake in some good pranks for me! :)
~Christy