Getting back on track...slowly...

Funny how winter really does mean hibernation. It gets so cold and bitter outside that the thought of going for a run in the park almost sounds like torture. Just as I was getting better at running and actually liking it, it gets cold!! And also with this weather, comes the laziness and desire to just lay around all day and sleep. Eat. Sleep some more. Wake up. Eat dinner. Watch TV. Go to bed. I know it's the weather that is doing this to me because I am sooo not the type to sit around on my butt all day, but lately that's all I want to do. Yesterday was a beautiful day and felt great outside and what do you know? I got a lot accomplished in that day. I have been walking Buddi twice a day, doing LOTS of crunches, going walking in the park, and I went to the gym today and got in a GREAT arm workout. Tomorrow I plan on going to the park in the AM and then doing some strength training tomorrow after I get off if I'm not starving.

So onto more exciting news...in my opinion...I have a game plan for my drive to Jacksonville. I don't remember if I already put it on here. I plan on waking up at the buttcrack of dawn and driving all day until I reach Conyers, Georgia. It's about 30 minutes outside of Atlanta (east of Atlanta, so closer to my destination). I think leaving early will make it easier to say goodbye...everyone will be asleep so it will be a quick goodbye. I know I'll probably cry off and on after that, but with just getting the initial "breaking away" done I believe the quicker, the easier. This will definitely be the hardest thing I have had to do in my life...I hate that being with Derek means taking me halfway across the country from my family. That's life in the military I guess. I have good friends who will help me get used to it and I have Derek of course who is always there for me.

This will be Derek's and my first Christmas living together...I don't really know what to get him, but I want it to be good. I think I'll wait to buy his gift until after I get there. I think I wanna get us a little mini tree to put in the living room. I'm getting there like 4 days before Christmas day so I think it is a waste to buy a tree...and we can't afford a fake one right now. I want to do some sort of decorating for Christmas though!

Anywho...So my blog posts aren't the most intellectual, but they are about what's going on in my life, and that's sufficient, right? So now I'm off to research prices of mini Christmas trees! Joy!

One week!

A week from this very moment I will have been driving for about 13 hours headed to North Carolina and will probably be stopped at my hotel for the night. A lot has been going on since I graduated the 5th. Crazy, crazy past week! The good thing about it is all the intense wedding planning is done, my dress is getting altered, measurements of the tables are done for the reception, we have the place for the rehearsal dinner, and know what we want for food, drinks, and flowers. I am so stoked! The crappy part about the week being over is that my parents went to Cabo yesterday until the 18th and I leave the 19th :(. I have a TON of sorting and packing I need to get started on, but just looking at my mound of stuff makes me frustrated. It sucks. I feel like the weather has been making me lack motivation lately. I have been exercising, just not intensely as I usually do. I neeeed to get a good all over strength training work out done because I haven't felt my muscles be sore in about a week. Lame. Hopefully this next week I will feel the boost I needed.

I start my new job the 21st! I can't wait! It's going to be so weird just working and not juggling it with school. I am definitely not sad about that part.

So nutritionally speaking for today, it went alright...not great not bad.

I walked Buddi twice at about 20 minutes each walk.

Breakfast- 2 pieces whole wheat toast with one light Laughing Cow cheese and some strawberry rhubarb. Drank water

Lunch- half order of cheese pizza at work. It was healthy pizza. I work at a gym.

Snack- I had about 6 or 7 mini cream puff balls...bad I know, but hey they were good lol.

One slice of whole wheat bread with some homemade chicken salad on top, ate about a handful of crumbs from the Baked Lays.

Dinner- about 5 oz breaded chicken with gravy/sauce. Left over's from Thursday night. Great stuff.

Been drinking quite a bit of water today. Drinking Jasmine tea...and that's bout it!

Crunches and push ups tonight for sure!!!

Oh and at work I did 4 sets of lunges- up and down the basketball court. Woot!

*PS- Derek is no longer going to Afghanistan :)* I am sooooooo happy! We finally get to start our lives TOGETHER in 8 days!!!! I can't believe it!

Back on track

Today was so productive! I got a great night's sleep and woke up around 9:30 ready to go. I cleaned up a little as I am moving out of my apartment this weekend and do not want to be charged any stupid housekeeping fees. Then I started packing some things around my room and took a shower and watched tv...you know the usual, lol. I took a test, went and got my paper revised for the fourth and final time at the Undergraduate Writing Center and then came home to finish off my FINAL research paper of my entire life and pretty much finish packing.

I ate overall well today. I haven't had much of an appetite and have been trying to conserve what's left in our fridge and pantry. For breakfast I drank a couple cups of hot Oolong tea with Splenda and I ate one of my homemade *healthy* pancakes (I froze some so that we could eat them later). In the middle of the day I was starving and it was too late for lunch and too early for dinner so I had some of this soup that my roommate made, it's basically pasta and tomato sauce, they call it sopa for "soup" (she is Hispanic). I really love it! Then dinner I had a piece of boneless chicken breast and mixed veggies that my roommate made. I went walking for about an hour and 10 minutes at a fast pace. I did some lunges and butt exercises earlier and I plan on doing more later and also some crunches, lol.

I didn't eat much today, but that's alright because I'm trying to make my stomach shrink again..I think Thanksgiving made it stretch out a bit...oh well, it was worth it!!!

Tomorrow I am turning my paper in, taking my tution rebate form to the Dean's office, dropping off my library book, and going to the gym! Tomorrow is my last day of school!!!!!! Ahh!!

Okay I suck at life!

I haven't updated in almost a month! I knew I was bound for blog failure sooner or later. Anyway, I am definitely going to try my hardest to stick with this the next couple weeks, but I am going to be extremely busy, so I cannot promise anything. I think my life is going to be a whirlwind. So much has happened since my last update!

First things first, the ball was amazing. Derek and I were a hot couple! Also, while I was out in North Carolina I found a job! It's at Pier 1 and I would be a Sales Leader, it's a position above Sales Associate and right under Assistant Manager. I am reallllly excited about it! The only downfall is that I am moving to North Carolina December 20th....so that means I have to miss Christmas with my family :( and I will be in North Carolina alone for Christmas because Derek will be in Afghanistan. Lame. Oh well I know I will make the best of it.

This week is my last week of class. Tomorrow I have a test in my business law class and Thursday I have a paper due. Here is my list of everything I need to accomplish during the next week....brace yourself.

Tomorrow- LEB test, take research paper to undergraduate writing center to be revised one final time
Thursday- Turn in final draft of history research paper (all 15 pages!)
Friday- Mom, Harlan, and Whitney get into town
Saturday- Dad's family gets into town and I have my graduation ceremony at 6:00 PM
Sunday- Move back home
Monday- Go get a CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday- Lunch with Kathy and her mom, go get my wedding dress altered
Wednesday- Meet with florist about finalizing flowers for wedding
Thursday- Go to location of wedding to take measurements of tables
Friday- Parents go out of town for a week and I am babysitting my sisters
December 20th- Begin the long 20 hour journey to the East Coast.
And somewhere in between all of this I have to pack all my stuff and get ready to leave!!!!

I have lived my entire life in Texas....all 21 years and 10 months of my life have been on Texas soil. Before I met Derek never had I ever imagined I would live anywhere besides Texas, and I REALLY never thought I would be with someone in the military. I though I would be single and have fun until later in my 20's and then settle down and get married by 26 or so....Boy does life throw curve balls. Here I am not even 22 years old, engaged, and getting married in less than 6 months. I am graduating and then 15 days later leaving the nest my parents built for me and getting out on my own. As an adult. I have so many emotions going on in my head right now it's insane. I am so excited to move to where Derek is, but I am also scared, nervous, sad, nostalgic, and anxious. The hardest thing I will have to do so far in my life will be to get in my car and leave my family...but I'm not just leaving them...I am leaving my life at home to begin my life with my future husband and this is something everyone ends up doing...I just can't believe my time has already come. I am trying not to cry as I write this, call me a baby, lol. As much as I wish I could spend Christmas at home, I am kind of glad to get it over with before so I can begin the detachment process as soon as possible.

As far as my diet has been, it's been really great considering we just finished Thanksgiving. Today I went to the gym and did strength training, but it was too cold outside for me to do my cardio I wanted to do. I did walk a lot around campus so I did what I could with what I had. The weather was really bad. I want to lose 3 more pounds by New Years. That will put me at 130 pounds!

I am off to sleep now and give my brain a rest. It's been in overdrive today with all the planning and other crap I have had to do today. Bleh!

I hate when I forget to post

So this is for Saturday and Sunday. Both days I worked and got a lotttt of walking in. Saturday I burned about 813 calories. Sunday about 400-ish...........for the total week last week I burned 4065 calories. Yesterday was a pretty bad day...it was one of those bad days in a movie where the girl gets splashed on with water by passing cars while it's raining...yeah that was me. It sucked, but it ended alright. I got some great sleep and Derek is going to meet with the leasing agent and look at a couple of units available at the apartment complex we are wanting to live at. I am hoping he signs the lease sometime this week or next week before I get there Wednesday. That would mean we can stay at our apartment together while I'm there!! :)

I found a recipe for homemade pancakes, so I did a healthier twist on them and added an extra ingredient. Here is my attempt at making food look "pretty".


Ingredients:

1 cup flour - I used whole wheat flour from Whole Foods :)
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp oil - You can substitute with applesauce...I forgot to :(
3 tbsp sugar - I used Splenda for baking and about 1 tsp real sugar
1 egg
Sprink salt
My extra ingredient was 2 tbsp baking cocoa :)

I went for a walk after breakfast for an hour and 10 minutes....my stupid HR monitor wasn't working for some reason so I didn't get to gauge my calories...oh well. My roommate and I are going again this evening. I'm also going to the gym to do some strength training after class.

Saturday I really don't remember what I had to eat. Breakfast I know was oatmeal with raisins and a splash of milk....snacked on some dried fruit, whole wheat chips, 1 natural flavor and real fruit popsicle, drank a lot of water and for dinner had ground turkey with sliced tomato, and onion with red rice (made with white rice, olive oil, and tomato sauce)

Sunday I had cereal for breakfast, lamb stew for lunch (brown rice, lamb, and this really great sauce), and Whataburger (I had a Whata Jr. meal!!! That means I had a small fry, small diet coke, and a small burger! Better than getting the regular one lol) and drank lots of water and tea.

Today so far has been my homemade pancakes 2 for breakfast and 1 for lunch, tea, and an hour and 10 minute walk. Lol. This post has been entirely unorganized, but I guess that reflects my thoughts....I am soooo stressed lately!

Dinner was spaghetti, followed by an hour and 15 minute walk.

Found out Derek may possibly volunteer to deploy to Afghanistan for 60 days starting next month. F*ck my life.

Day 19

What a day!
I got my grad pic taken...this one obviously isn't the real one, but the photographer was taking some practice shots and said I could do whatever...so I did! Lol!

After that I walked a little past 24th street (probably 25th) all the way down to 5th and Lamar to the AT&T store to get a new phone and a new number! Derek and I are on the same plan. How romantic, huh?

I didn't get to track how many calories I did walking to and from the store...I know it was over 30 minutes of walking each way. On the way back I also stopped at Starbucks and got a venti iced green tea with no water, light on the ice and 4 Splenda. So refreshing on such a great day!

Breakfast- bowl of Wal-Mart brand Cinnamon Toast Crunch...definitely doesn't take like the brand name, but still good! A little 1% milk...trying to conserve it!

Lunch- 3 waffles, light on both butter and syrup...craving that lately for some reason!!?

Dinner- GREAT homemade pizza...small amount of cheese, banana peppers, jalapenos, celery, onion, and small amount of the marinara sauce...heart healthy Prego with no added sugars!

Went walking after dinner and did about 400 calories. My HR monitor was acting up and it REALLY irritated me. So 400 is probably and underestimate, but I don't want to overestimate.

I'm willing to bet I burned between 8-900 calories today. I am about to do crunches and push ups in a bit, also.

Days 17 and 18

I'm feeling pretty accomplished today. I have one more test in my Anthropology class which is next week and then I'm done with it because it's self-paced. I am finishing up my research paper rough draft tonight/tomorrow. I had an individual meeting about my paper with my professor and she was all around excited about it, which is great because she specializes in the subject of which I am writing about: Domestic Violence in Early Modern England. She is from England, too!I made shrimp salad and home-made BAKED french fries tonight for dinner. Bout to go on a walk....it's the weekend....life couldn't be better. OH! And it's the FINAL COUNTDOWN TO GRADUATION! That's right! I graduate a month from today, December 5th! Craziness.

Yesterday from what I recall:

Breakfast- Frosted wheaties

Lunch- Tuna salad, 2 cherry tomatoes, 2 celery sticks, 4 saltine crackers

Dinner- Ranch chicken (3-4 oz. chicken, some cheese, ranch dressing marinated into the chicken), salad, 1 c. mac n' cheese with 1% milk and no butter!

Got hungry after dinner and had 3 waffles SMALL amt of butter and about 4 tbsp (5 max) of syrup.

Water- about 8-9 cups

Calories 980 calories - morning walk, walked to work (not back though), and then a walk with the roommie

Today (day 18)

Breakfast- not really hungry for some reason...had a few bites of frosted wheaties...no more than 6 or 7 pieces, 5 or 6 oz apple juice

Lunch- Balance Bar, 2 fresco bean burritos from Taco Bell...mmmm

Dinner- Shrimp salad! 2 small pieces of bread and about 1/4 c. of the salad on each slice. Shrimp, tomato, lettuce, basil, and about 3 or 5 tbsp mayo in the entire salad so I probably had about a tbsp or 1 and a half tbsp of mayo. I'm about to have a few of my home made baked fries too!

Walked to and from work- 300 calories? Probably more, but I didn't wear my HR monitor so I will underestimate it.

415 calories from my walk....so 715 total!


**just got an e-mail from the leasing agent saying they have an apartment available next week and that she will also e-mail me again next week to see what's available for end of this month/December. I am soooo praying that something will be open for our time frame!! Next week is a few weeks too early unfortunately :( **