The month of December flew by and so is January. We have been extremely busy the past month and now that all the "excitement" is over I don't know what to do with myself!! Here is a run down of our past month.
-Right after Thanksgiving we did all of our shopping in preparation for our cruise. We knew that when we got back we would only have 4 days before leaving to go home to WV for Christmas, so shopping needed to be finished. Planning a trip right before Christmas probably wasn't the best idea we have had :)!!
-We went on a 10 day cruise to South America, Panama, Costa Rica and the Carribean. We had a blast. 10 days was a little long on a boat so I was glad to see and be on land again however it was great having that long to just relax.
-When we got home on Monday we unpacked and repacked for our trip to WV to visit family for Christmas. We had a great time at home playing games and just hanging out with all of our family for the Holiday. My brothers were in and all of James family but 1 brother live in WV so we were able to see pretty much everyone. It was really nice since we only get home about once a year.
-WE HAD SNOW. There was snow on the ground from the day we got there until the day we left. So we had a white Christmas. We actually had to postpone our trip home by a day due to the huge snowstorm they had in the northeast. Through the mountains of WV where we were going to be driving they had about a foot of snow the day we were planning on leaving...so we thought it would be best to wait an extra day so they could clear the roads.
-This whole time I knew we had a race coming up the first of January so I was running on the cruise and trying to run in WV. That was interesting with all the ice and snow on the roads. I'm lucky I didn't break my neck :)
-We got home in time for New Year's and just kinda hung out at home playing the Wii and we went to see a movie. It was nice. I got Mario Brother's for the Wii for Christmas (I still love getting toys for Christmas!!)
-This past weekend I ran in my first 1/2 Marathon. It was the Walt Disney World Marathon in Orlando. It was awesome. I felt really good which I usually don't when I'm running so that was a pleasant surprise!! I wanted to finish between 2 hours and 2:05 and I finished in 1:57 so I am THRILLED with my time. It was so fun running with so many people. They had around 27,000 people running. It was awesome to get to run through the Disney Parks and see all the characters. It made the time go by so much faster.
-So this craziness is finally over. I ended all my "stuff" yesterday with surgery on my knee. It's the veins that go behind my knee from my upper leg to my calf. They ended up having to remove a vein and do some other "repair" work. I have had the appt for months but wanted to do it after the race so it didn't interfere with my training. So I'm just recovering and can't wait until Wed to take these first set of bandages off so I can bend my knee!! The rest have to stay on for another week after that but at least I'll be able to bend my leg :)

So that is my story of the past month or so. BUSY!! I'm actually sad everything is over because now I don't know what to do with myself :) I'm sure something will come up.
I have to go to Baltimore for work Feb 16th for a few days. Our whole office is going so that will be fun since we lived there for 6 years. It's always nice to go back, and since my brothers both live there it will be nice to see them.
I am going to start (in 2 weeks when I'm allowed to run again) training for a FULL marathon in either April or June. I think we are looking at doing the Utah Valley Marathon through the Provo Canyon out in Utah in mid June. The other race is in Nashville in April so I don't know if I can be ready by then. I was going to wait until October and do the St. George Marathon but it is VERY difficult to train here in Florida through the summer and I figured I'm already half way right now I might as well finish training and do it. If I wait to do a race in Oct I'll slack off for the next few months. I really want to say I've finished a Marathon!!! So that is the next thing for me

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!!

Okay....so I haven't been on here forever. We just got back from WV where we spent 10 days at home with our families for Christmas. We had a great time and even got to see some snow..FINALLY..while we were there. We miss seeing it, but don't want to live in it. We woke up the first morning to snow and then about 1 day later James and I decided we had seen enough. We had a great Christmas with our families and are now back in Florida and back to the everyday tasks. At least it's warm though :) !!! We are getting ready for a cruise in about 5 weeks. It's my trip for FINALLY reaching my goal weight..actually I'm 10 lbs under it. James promised me a trip when I began on my weight loss journey 2 years ago..if I ever got to my goal. I am proud to say I have passed it months ago and have set a new goal for myself of about 7-10 more lbs...and then I will be finished FINALLY. So, I hate flying so we decided a cruise would be best. I'm really excited. We got our passports in the mail last week and we are more than ready!! Other than that nothing new. We are looking forward to family coming to visit. James parents will be here in a few weeks for the winter and my parents are coming for the month of February. We are looking forward to spending time with them!! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

My dad just came to visit for the week. We had a great time. I'm sad that he left this morning but we will be in WV for my brothers wedding in a month. We had so much fun now I'm bored :) !! We took a ferry to Caladesi Island just north of Clearwater Beach where they had amazing shells. We went to Siesta Key Beach, in Sarasota for sunset, Lido Beach in Sarasota during one of the days he was here and we went shopping at St. Armands Circle. We went to Fort Desoto Beach and walked around. Went to ride airboats and got to see some alligators and had lunch at Downtown Disney. We took my dad to a lot of different resaurants and got to do and see a lot of things. We had fun and I'll miss him!!!

Toby loves to pick up things and carry them around...in his mouth of course. I usually find him with as much as he can stuff in walking around the house. Well a couple weeks ago I was cleaning and he likes to take off our socks when we get home. I don't know why but ever since he was a puppy he has liked socks. So by the end of the week we have an accumulation of socks around the house it seems. So I picked them up and put them in the laundry basket and came back out into the kitchen to do some cleaning. A few minutes later what do I see... he had gathered up all of those socks and his toy(the yellow things...it's a duck)and a treat...which you can't see but believe me it's in there too and brought them all back out. He is SO cute!!!!

I know it has been forever since I have wrote on here. I just can't seem to find the time between facebook, email, going to the gym, work, etc, etc, etc. So since July let's see....what have we been doing??? Well, for our 11 year anniversary James took me to St. Augustine on the Atlantic side of Florida just south of Jacksonville. We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast which I've always wanted to do but have always been hesitant about. I LOVED IT!!! It was amazing. The city is very old and has lot's of little streets with shops and restaurants tucked away everywhere. The B&B was just amazing. I'll post a few pictures. The innkeepers were so friendly and we sat on the porch overlooking the water every morning for breakfast and it was just wonderful.
August so far has been busy but pretty uneventful. We had a water leak in our new house which is always fun. It spread into another bedroom and surrounding closets, so they had to come and repair a bunch of stuff this whole month. But, finally after A LOT of headache, that is fixed as of yesterday and everything is back together.
The most exciting thing this month is that as of this Wednesday I'm off for about 9-10 days and my dad is coming to visit from WV. I pick him up from the airport this Thursday. I'm SO excited. We have lived down here for 2 1/2 years and this will be his first visit. My mom came in May so it will be nice to take my dad around and do some things. He will be here for about a week. The only bad thing is my mom had great weather in May and my dad...well this time of year from July until September is just HOT!!!!!
That is all that is going on with the Fike's :) We are looking forward to going home in October. My brother Matt is getting married. This is the first time since we have been married that we haven't been home since Christmas. That is the only hard thing about living in Flordia. I wish we were closer to family. When we were in Baltimore we at least went home 4-5 maybe 6 times a year. Now it's seems 2 maybe 3 if there are weddings. Last year we went home for Jason's wedding and this year Matt's. I can't believe we are all married...well soon to be, and we all have been married in birth order. First me , then Jason and now Matt. I thought that was interesting. How time flies!!!

Our Baltimore trip

We just flew back this morning from visiting friends and family in Baltimore for the past several days. We had a great time. It was nice to go back to where we lived for 6 years and see our friends and see how things have changed. We haven't been back for 2 years since we sold our house there so it was nice to see everyone. We got to stay with my best friend Michelle and her husband at their house on the Eastern Shore for a couple days. They live right on the water and James was able to go out and get crabs. We miss Maryland crabs so they took us to a great place to eat and we got crabs and ate at their house. We always wanted to go to St. Michaels so we went there for the day and went to the cute shops around that town. It was fun. We also went back to Ocean City with them which was a lot of fun. We got Fishers popcorn to take home and all the good food we miss from Ocean City. Including UTZ chips...I brought a bag home...YUM!! We had a great time sitting outside on their deck by the water and just hanging out. The weather was PERFECT!!! We miss them a ton!! We also got to eat lunch with my brother and his wife at our favorite crab place in Baltimore.Then went up to Pennsylvania to stay with our other friends. We had a great time there too. We got to go to see our old house that we lived in which was kinda sad. We had the house built and didn't live their very long. It looks really nice though. We also got to go to my favorite orchard market there and get "treats" They set off fireworks the night of the 4th and it was a lot of fun. We had a great time hanging out with them and their kids. We miss them a lot!! And last we got to see my other brother and his soon to be wife our last night there. We stayed with them to be close to the airport this morning to fly home. It was great going back and reliving memories and visiting with everyone. We miss everyone and had a great time. We got to pick up Toby today from "Doggie Camp" He did well and had fun. It's nice to have him home!!