Wow..I'm actually updating my blog. It's amazing!!!
-We are getting ready for the Holiday's. We are going on a cruise in 5 days...yay!!!
-We had a pretty uneventful Thanksgiving. It was nice just hanging out at home. I cleaned while James played football and then we took naps, put up our Christmas decorations. Inside and out, watched movies and made pizza. We missed our families though. It's not the same not being "home."
-We got up at 5:30 and did some shopping. I had no intention of being productive however I was pleasantly surprised. We finished mostly everything. Thank goodness since I work all this week, we leave Friday for 10 days and we only have 4 days when we get home before we leave to go to WV for Christmas. I work those 4 days so it will be work, unpacking (summer clothes) and re-packing (winter clothes). It is going to feel COLD in WV. It has been rather warm here in Florida so far and over our cruise the countries we are visiting it is supposed to be in the 90's. So winter will come with a shock when we head north that next week BRRRRRR!!!!!!!
-I ran almost 13 miles today in preparation for my 1/2 marathon. I did pretty well. Not the best time but good for my first 1/2. I will try and improve a little before the "big day" but if not I will do better the next time....if there is one :) My goal is under 2:05 which should be easy. I would like to be under 2 hours but I'm not going to put that much pressure on me this time since it's my first one.
- We hope everyone has a great Christmas. I probably won't be updating my blog until who knows when unless I get some time while I'm home for Christmas. We hope you have a great time with your friends and family as we celebrate the birth of our Savior. We love this time of year and can't wait to be home with our family to spend time together...and hopefully see some snow !!

I haven't had time to get on here to write anything but finally I decided I need to take a minute to let everyone know what I've been up to. It's nothing exciting but here it is:
*My parents ended up moving back to WV about a month ago. They just didn't like Florida so they are back "home." I loved having them here and wished it would have worked out but I'm glad they are happy to be home in WV. They have lived there all of their lives so Florida was a big change for them. Ironically they moved to the same neighborhood just a block behind their old house so it is very familiar to them!
*We went on a cruise over the fourth of July to the Bahamas. It was just a short cruise but we just wanted to get away for the weekend. It was fun, we had a good time.
*We both still have jobs. That is a plus especially in Florida and especially since James is an engineer and not too many things are being built right now.
*We are frantically getting ready for the Holiday's. We are actually going on a cruise in 2 weeks, for 10 days which we can't wait for. We both SO need a break and just want to get away. This is going to be a long one so I hope we really love cruising. We went on a 7 day in Feb. and loved it so I hope we really love 10 days. We are going to Haiti (they own a private beach there...if it is still intact..we will see if we really stop there. Neither one of us are hopeful) Columbia (in South America...Cartegena to be exact), Panama..we are going through some of the Panama Canal, Costa Rica..which is my favorite stop. I have always wanted to go there. Last is Grand Cayman. So we are really excited. The ship we are going on looks amazing and we can't wait.
*We leave 5 days after we return from the cruise to go home for Christmas. So we have the next 2 weekends to get our shopping done and that's it...a little stressful. Next year we will not plan a cruise so close to the Holiday's :) I hope to see snow this year when we go home. I'm looking forward to seeing family and friends back home. I was there briefly to help my parents move here in May but just for a couple days. Other than that it has been a year since I have spent time there so I'm excited to just "go home"
*I'm running in my first 1/2 marathon as soon as we get back from Christmas. It is Jan 8th. It's the Walt Disney World 1/2 marathon . It actually goes through Cinderella's castle and Epcot so it should be fun...if I survive :) I did a training run last week of 12 miles and I didn't prepare well (eating, drinking enough water etc) and it didn't go well so hopefully I can get it together. I hope it's not too rough. I didn't plan this race well. The cruise you can easily gain a pound a day, going home for the Holiday's...enough said, then having to not have extra weight for running a 1/2 marathon is going to be my December challenge :)
*Last...I have kept my weight off. I have actually lost a couple more pounds. I'm at 125 which I'm excited about and bought my first size 0 jeans...EVER!!! And then bought 3 more :) I was thrilled. Not that size matters but after being a size 18 it felt really good. So I'm still working out 4-5 days a week, training, doing bootcamp, running, and kickboxing..which I love. It's like therapy. A good workout and you get all your aggression out :)

So that's it. Like I said nothing really exciting. I'll put a couple pictures on here from our July cruise. We try every other year or so to do a Christmas letter to let our family and friends know what we have been up to. Sorry to all of you who will be getting a letter. It will be mostly a repeat :) !!! I guess I blew all the excitement of the much anticipated Christmas letter :)!!!

I did it!!!

I just wanted to let you all know that have been following my blog about my weight loss that I'm finished...FINALLY!!! About a week ago I reached my goal weight of 127. I can't believe it and now I don't know what to do with myself. It will be 3 years in October so it has taken a long time but I have worked very hard at it and with all that hard work it reminds me that I never want to do it again. Maybe that will be motivation for me to keep it off :) !! Now I am trying to make the transition to maintaining instead of losing. I thought this would be easy all along but I'm finding it's not as easy as I thought. I'm allowing myself to have a few "bad" things every now and then where I didn't do that hardly ever before. I'm finding though that a few treats here and there leads to a lot of treats throughout the week so I have to be careful with that. I'm also trying to cut back my time at the gym. Instead of 2 hours 5 days a week I'm trying to cut back to 1 hour 4 days a week for now. It's hard!! I have become so used to being there I feel so guilty when I don't go. It's not as easy as I thought but it will just take time to figure out I guess. For 3 years I have been in lose weight mode and now I'm not so it's very strange for me. I can't believe that I finally did it though. I never thought when I started that I would be at the weight I am now. My goal back when I started was only 145 so I can't believe that I'm 18 lbs under that. I'm going to post some "final" pictures of myself :) !!!
...also the month of May has been so busy for us. I've been on a work trip to Chicago and I got to go to Baltimore and visit my brothers and go home to WV to see the house I lived in for the last time. My parents sold their house in WV and moved to Florida. I love having them here. They have been here a week now and they live about 6 miles from us. It is so nice after 12 years to have them close by and get to do things with them again. We are loving it!! I hope they like Florida and don't miss the snow too much. I told them at least they are breaking themselves in fast to the Florida weather. It's already miserably hot and hurricane season started this past week so they are jumping right in :)!!! We are glad they are here and all moved in. They have a beautiful house and I'm looking forward to spending lots of time with them!!

My weight loss story :)

Okay everyone...I am horrible about keeping this up to date, however I have had SO many people asking me lately about what I have done to lose weight, what has kept me motivated for 2 1/2 years to do it, etc. So, I thought I would write about the changes I have made to my life over the past couple years and my weight loss story. I love talking to people about it because so many of us struggle with losing weight and feel like it's a never ending battle...been there!! I have watched tons of shows, listened to tons of people, and read a pile of fitness magazines over the years..oh yes and have bought many "exercise devices" to try and get a grip on my weight. I love telling people my story because it's coming from me...a person who has done it, and is still doing it...for real. No gimics or wondering hmmm is that person telling the truth, does that really work?? I have been there and done it, and am still doing it. Believe me if I can do it..anyone can. It took me 10 years to motivate myself to do something about my weight and I'm finally doing it!! So here it is...in detail
About 2 1/2 years ago..when we moved to Florida, I woke up, tried on some clothes which I was wearing at the time a size 16-18 (a tight 16-18) and decided I felt horrible about myself and I HAD to do something. When I would drive or ride in the car my arms couldn't fit against my sides because of my huge fat roll. It felt disgusting to me and I wanted it gone. I couldn't even hardly bend over to tie my shoes. I thought, enough I have to do something. I was mad at myself for letting this happen. I was always pretty thin throughout school. Once I got married I gained most of my weight in the next 2 years. I went from a size 6 to around a size 12-14..in just 2 years!!
I knew that I couldn't be responsible for managing my portion sizes. I know this sounds ridiculous because we are all responsible for what we do but I know myself and I had tried "eating better" in the past and it never worked. I also tried every kind of workout. That would always last for a few days or weeks maybe and that was it. So, I went to Jenny Craig. I needed something where it took the guess work and the mistakes that I had made for the past 10 years out of it. I was working 45 minutes from our house and I didn't have time by the time I got home from work to cook a healthy meal. I knew I would be too tired and just eat whatever was easy. So, I knew Jenny Craig would be the best for me. The center was right by my work, I didn't have to prepare ANY food, and my portion sizes would be controlled for me. So, after a lot of thinking about it and talking with my husband we decided that would be the best option for me. It wasn't cheap so it was about a month or two from my initial consultation with them to when I actually went in to "sign up." I weighed in for my first day at 210 pounds. I was shocked!! They set a goal with me of 145 lbs. which I thought I would never get to. That seemed so far off for me at the time, but I was really willing to work at it.
Finally I was doing something about it. The food was actually good, I loved not having to think about what to make or how much I should eat. Now the fun part of exercising came into my life :)!! I have NEVER liked working out. However, I knew that in order to do this I had to start exercising. So, I started running uggggh!!! I started with just about a 1/2 mile and it took me every bit of 30 minutes at first to do that. I remember starting and thinking I looked ridiculous. Here is this BIG girl running around our neighborhood at a snails pace..if that, but I continued doing it almost everyday. I didn't do much else at first but run. Every 2 weeks I would try and run a little more...and a little faster. This was my routine for about a year. Jenny Craig food and running. I never ran more than a couple miles maybe 3 in that first year. That first year I lost about 40 pound, and I did a 5K race around Thanksgiving time and finished just under 30 minutes. I was really excited that I accomplished that.
After the first year I took almost a year off. I still ate Jenny Craig food most of the time but I really didn't do too much exercise. I did run occasionally but I had really slacked off. I was able to maintain what I had lost which was a new accomplishment for me. However, towards August of 2009 I decided I really needed to finish this. I had by this time gained about 10 lbs back and was disappointed in myself that I hadn't finished by now and I had started gaining weight back. One of my friends at work was also wanting to lose weight and we heard about a boot camp this lady was doing outside at the football field where her child played every night. She was a personal trainer with a local gym here and we thought for the price it would be great to start doing something. So we started doing bootcamp with her 3 days a week. It was brutal!! When I started she made us do pushups and on my knees I might have been able to do 3. We were really getting into it and I felt like finally I am doing something and she quit showing up. My friend and I were like great we finally got started on a routine and now it's over...now what. I didn't want to stop because I knew I would lose my motivation and it might be another year before I decided to do something else so, the gym where she used to be a trainer was pretty close to our work so we went there to check it out and joined that gym. I completely committed myself to finishing losing this weight. I had tried multiple times in the past and NEVER finished. I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it but I told myself I was going to try my hardest to do it.
My friend and I met with Jake a personal trainer at the gym and started training with him 2 days a week and going to the gym 5 days a week. Joining the gym and training with him is what has finally helped me to reach my goal. When I first met with him I weighed 167 so I had lost a lot of weight but he set a goal with me of 135. I thought he was crazy. I thought that would take forever and I would never get there. I didn't even remember the last time I weighed that. So, I said okay, completely not believing that I would ever make it to that. So everyday other than Wednesday's and Sunday's I was at the gym for about 2 hours a day. I had also stopped eating Jenny Craig altogether by this point. It did really help me lose weight but I was so tired of eating the same things for the past year + so I was actually making my own food or my new favorite thing for dinner was a protein shake after the gym. I took classes, started really running again, and training with Jake. I ran a 5K about a month ago and finished right around 25 minutes and I just finished a 15 K a few weeks ago and finished in 1 hour 25 minutes. I NEVER thought I would be able to run that far. I run pretty much every day with at least a 6-9 mile run one day a week. I still can't believe running is so much easier for me now. I'm not saying I enjoy it because I don't. Some people that run love it....I don't. I do it because I know it's one of the best ways to burn calories. I do however like doing races I've found. There is just something about running in a race that is exciting. So, I'm training now for a half marathon. I actually did 6 miles of sprint running today :)!!
I'm now down to 134, I've lost 33 lbs since I've started training, which is just under my goal but my trainer and I have set a new goal of around 125-127 so a few more lbs to go. I'm a size 2 (sometimes a 4 depending on the cut of pants ) and I do get a little discouraged because the weight doesn't come off as fast as it did but I will get there...eventually. I've lost 76 lbs as of right now which is AMAZING to me. I see people on the Biggest Loser or on the Jenny Craig commercials that have lost 40 lbs or so and I think wow I've lost that much and more. I am proud of myself and I continue working out 5 days a week about 2 hours a day. I train 1-2 days a week and do several classes. Eating is my struggle. I always like sweets and hamburgers and fries, etc. That has never changed so I just have them in moderation. 1 day a week for 1 meal only I allow myself to eat whatever food I want plus dessert. I am thankful that I started Jenny Craig and along with my consultant there, it helped me in the beginning to lose over 40 lbs, I'm glad that I started a boot camp...even though she quit showing up..at least it gave me motivation to get re-started exercising. Thanks to my husband who puts up with me being gone from home 5 nights a week until around 8:00-8:30 pm since September '09. I know he would rather me be home but I'm thankful he allows me to work hard towards my goal. I'm grateful for having a workout partner at work where we push each other to go to the gym everyday, and when I want to eat something bad I tell her, and she says NO :) !!! I'm very thankful that I have an awesome trainer who as many times as I complain and get down about my weight or don't want to be at the gym..which is often, always keeps me motivated and always lets me know that he knows that I can and will finish. I appreciate him helping me get to my goal.
So, this is my story. It is a daily battle for me. I really try and take it 1 day at a time, and not look where I want to be months from now. I do set future goals but I try hard to work on just today..when it comes to diet and exercise anyway :)!! Everyday when I get up I think..okay today I'm going to eat good ALL day, I'm not going to have any junk, and I'm going to go to the gym after work. Believe me it doesn't always happen and I do get discouraged. Life..and those of you who know me well... cake... gets in the way but I really try and make it happen everyday. I have a busy schedule but I try very hard not to let anything interfere with my workout time unless it has to be done. I know if I let that happen too many times I will become very lazy about working out and once I get off track it's hard to get myself back on. It has been a long struggle and a long journey. It's not over yet. It never will be. Once I reach my goal then I have to maintain it for the rest of my life. I never want to allow myself to be in that position again and that alone keeps me motivated. I am really proud of myself. I am thankful for everyone's interest and nice comments. I can't believe I've lost that much weight. For awhile when I looked in the mirror I didn't recognize myself. It's been a long 2 1/2 years but I'm so happy with what I've accomplished and I can't wait until I'm finished!!