101 Way to Waste an Entire Sunday...

Or rather just one incredibly boring, miserable, depressing, and obnoxious way. Defensive driving.

My car insurance policy just renewed and my car insurance jumped more than $20/month. I said WTF!? Called my agent up, priced different policies and basically realized I'm just screwed. In November of 2009 I had a car accident where I hydroplaned into an oncoming car and the insurance paid out about $20,000 for my injuries, Alyse's injuries, the injuries to the lady I hit, and then the property damage... SCREWED! So really there is nothing cheaper for me out there.

So in a move that I'm not sure if it was genius or stupid, I said the my bff Rachel, instead of going out to breakfast Sunday morning why don't we do that online defensive driving course? Rachel has a driving record that rivals DMX's arrest history- so I know she could use it too. 

So Rachel got to the house around 8 o'clock this morning. It's 12:57 and we still have A LOT of material left to cover. This stupid program makes you click a button like every minute and a half and you can't go onto the next slide until a certain amount of time has passed. Not a good situation for two people who are certified speed readers.

 

This picture about sums up our excitement. 

So.. In weight loss news.. I'm down 105 pounds. Crazy right? I'm wearing mostly 12's on bottom and XL on top... Even have a L or two thrown in there thanks to Alyse.

Alyse and I went shopping yesterday and I got a lot of dresses. I'm so into dresses this summer.  For how cold I was all winter long I didn't think I would be so hot this summer. So the dresses are a nice way to keep cool. 

I'm going to a fish fry tonight for my uncles birthday. Hopefully Adam gets out of work in time and he can make it. I haven't seen him since Wednesday and I miss him. Young love and all that nonsense... Except it really doesn't feel like nonsense!

In happy news, I've aced this semester and am expecting to maintain my stellar GPA.

I find myself sort of struggling lately with food choices. It's not that I crave unhealthy food or need it or anything. I just feel sort of bored with all the things I've spent the last seven months chewing. I'm craving a bigger variety but lack the funds and the know how to spice it up beyond what I have. 

And for someone who never craved candy, I sure have been keeping frozen peanut M&Ms on hand. I only have 3-5 at a time, but I know it's not a good thing to do. 

And munching. The munching monster has returned. I've tried to make it healthy munching, grapes, cherries, baby carrots... But the other day at work I brought tuna for lunch and dang it all, cool ranch Doritos and tuna have always been one of my favorites and I just had to have some with the tuna... So I did.

I feel like reaching the 100 pounds lost has totally sort of made me not as focused anymore. I have about 45 pounds to go to reach my original personal goal of 160 pounds. And I totally think I will do that before my surgiversary December 5th. could maybe even do it by my birthday (10/30) if I really buckled down, ate right, and started exercising agian.

And exercise... Ugh. Pretty much since I started dating Adam it went out the window. I was already so stressed and busy and throwing in another thing just didn't work and I had to let something go. The gym it was. I don't regret it either. I've still lost twenty pounds in the two months we've been dating and I'm happy about that. There is a small part of me that wonders "Hey, if you had kept at the gym would it be 30 pounds by now?" But hey- live and learn.

Now that the semester is over though I will make an effort to get to the gym at least twice a week. I'm not liking the sound my arm makes when it makes contact with my side when I'm fresh out of the shower. Makes me want to vomit, so I need to tighten them up some. 

Well, that's about it for now. 

Back to defensive driving... Blech.

 

I've gone and done it.....

I don't care who says it's too soon or happened to fast....

I am totally, completely, and utterly in love with this man! 

 

And for some reason I am totally blessed that he loves me too!

Thank you VSG for giving me the confidence to start dating again!

First post-op beach trip

Last weekend I celebrated by good friend Nikki's birthday with a day trip to the Jersey Shore. I freaked out a bit at the thought of a bathing suite.

I pulled out last years swim wear to discover I could get away with wearing the top to the tankini but there was no way the bottoms wouldn't swim away. I didn't feel like spending much money on a new suite, so a $5 pair of yoga shorts from Walmart did the trick. I'm actually going to post a picture for all to see of me in a bathing suite!!

After the beach we cleaned up and headed to the boardwalk where we took some old fashioned photos and had a ton of fun posing in the dressing room.

Once we were photo'd up we walked the boardwalk and got something to eat. I did the best I could for being on a boardwalk and for a calzone and ate the cheese out of it. However, my down fall came with the frozen custard..... I indulged and it was worth every freaking calorie!!

I had a blast and am truly blessed with some amazing friends in my life. I hope you all enjoyed your weekend as much as I enjoyed mine!

Turkey Avocado BLT

As many of my friends know I have fallen madly in love with Panera's Turkey Avocado BLT. I usually will order a you pick 2 and get a half BBQ chopped chicken salad and there I've got lunch and dinner. Well, I'm on vacation this week and I don't live near a Panera.

So I decided to make my own. Found a bread that is only 35 calories a slice, purchased chicken bacon (which is surprisingly tasty!) and made it myself at home. It's healthier than Paneras version and just as yummy.

Since my VSG I have become obsessed with Avocados. They are so yummy! And I like how they satisfy my fat cravings in a healthy way. It's amazing how my body and tastes have changed.

I'm so thankful for my VSG. It has truly changed my life.

Wanna hear something I find funny in an ironic sort of way? (my friends find it funny too...) I'm dating a chef. Not talking Ruby Tuesday chef I'm talking graduated prestigious culinary school chef... I guess what little I do eat is about to get lots tastier!

Taking Chance

Yesterday my mother, sister and I watched a fantastic movie called Taking Chance. Kevin Bacon plays a Marine escorting home the remains of a fallen soldier. At first when we read the little blurp the movie sounded boring and dull. However, I was quickly reaching for a tissue and just in awe.

This movie is playing a lot this weekend on HBO if you happen to have HBO and are able to check it out it is a movie totally worthy and appropriate of this weekend.

Thank you to all of our military men and women for what they do not only for our country but also in hopes of making other countries safe as well.

Well, tomorrow is my father's birthday. He will be 54. My grandmother is spending the weekend at our house to celebrate with him. Talk about mixed feelings. Since both of my mother's parents passed away in 2003 I really had thought of myself as grandparent-less.

When I was barely 11 my dad's mother had a stroke. Shortly after that she moved to Colorado to live with one of her daughters. We never really heard from her once she got there and our calls were never really returned. Before long my family (mostly my father) stopped trying all together. As I posted in a previous post it turn out fathers evil sister (mwahahahaha) had basically taken advantage of my grandmother and in a matter of speaking had her brainwashed that we didn't want anything to do with her and kept messages and letters sent from her.

Well, now she is back. In a whirlwind two week period my father's twin sister scraped together the money to fly out to Colorado and basically hijacked my Nana back to NY. Dad and I picked them up from the airport and I had mixed feelings the whole day. As a matter of fact that day was the day that got me smoking again :( Not that I'm blaming anyone else, I decided to handle my stress in that way and it is my own fault. I thought I was done with that battle for good, but it turns out otherwise. Nana is staying with Aunt D in a town about an hour away. Last weekend I took Daddy there for Mother's Day and yesterday I came home from work and there was Nana sitting on the couch.

Jessica and I bunked up in her bed so Nana didn't have to sleep on the couch. Needless to say, even without the 2am phone call from the latest love interest I didn't sleep well. Surprisingly enough I woke up refreshed enough.

We made breakfast and then headed off to the Cupcake Festival taking place locally. Now, anyone who knows me knows that my entire life I have hated cake. I don't like the feel of it in my mouth and it just doesn't do anything for me. Well, Nana insisted on buying everyone a cupcake and so not to make her feel bad I picked out one called "Devilishly Almond Joy" or something to the effect. I got it to go and currently it is sitting on the kitchen counter with the others. I'm hoping I can sneak it to the dogs without her noticing.

So far it has been sort of a challenge keeping my WLS a secret from her. I don't know why I'm so adamant that she not know about it but I am. So far we've kinda played it off that I'm doing an Atkins Diet sort of thing. So far so good?

So, it's been awhile since I've updated. Mr. Motorcycle is out of the picture and that's okay. It was an amicable thing all along and he really didn't fit into the future I have in mind for myself and it is what it is. The latest one is much younger than me, at 23. Well, not much younger but in my mind it seems like it could be a big deal. We haven't actually met yet as it started as an online thing, but our big date is planned for Monday if all goes well. I'm probably mentioning this prematurely but I'm excited and happy about it and since I'm not talking about it IRL I figure I'm safe to do so here. (And Alyse, since you're the only one who reads this Shhhh!)

I really wanted to hit 100 pounds lost by my 6 month surgiversary. June 6 would be the date to do that by and I still have 11 pounds to go. I'm thinking it probably won't happen and that is okay. It will have been the most amazing 6 months of my life and I'm okay with how things are. Currenlty I'm wearing size 14s and those are getting pretty baggy. I actually bought a pair of 12s at a yard sale from Charlotte Russe today. They don't fit yet (I can suck it all in and not breath, but no way will I wear them out of the house yet.) I also bought size 12 shorts from NY & Co and a yard sale last weekend. I bought them with the thought they would eventually fit. I came home and tried them on for haha's.

I wish my belly would stop looking like a person who has had WLS and is in the losing phase. Soon enough I guess.

Noel and I have started making our plans for the Vegas Meet and Greet 2013. I'm totally excited for it!

And just for the fun of it, here is a picture of me wearing a size L dress from Fashion Bug. A few months back Jessica and I popped into a Fashion Bug in NJ and all of the clearance items were on sale for $5. This dress was originally $75!!

Time to start working on a tan!!

Let the photo whoring begin!

ALYSE IS HOME!!!!!!

Friday night I just was not tired. I went to my friend Janell's house and got sucked into watching the first three episodes of the vampire diaries, had a blast chatting with her, and YES, eating popcorn, LOL. When I got home it was around midnight and my intentions really were to go to bed.

Well, 4:30 a.m. rolls around and I decide that even though I'm still really not tired I should at least TRY to sleep. So that's what I did. I'm not sure exactly when I fell asleep, but I know I was up by 8:30. I rolled over and was getting ready to fall asleep again when I realized how light it was outside and then I was AWAKE because Alyse was coming home! On the phone with Rachel like 10 minutes later and we chatted away like little kids about Alyse getting in, what time her plane lands, how tired we think she will be and yada, yada, yada.

Rachel and Alyse's mom had to rent a car to go to JFK with and we were hoping she would end up with a mini-van so there would be enough room for me to take the ride. Alas, no dice. So I waited around all day long attempting to read my Norton Anthology of Neoclassical Literature. (Yeah, if it sounds like a mouthful try reading it!)

At 3:30 in the afternoon I get a text from Alyse saying she had arrived. It has been four very LONG months since I had a message from "Alyse" pop up on my cell phone. Well, if I thought waiting around all day long for her to land was annoying, waiting for them to make the trek from NYC to New Paltz was even more anticipation filled. I cooked dinner, took a bubble bath, did some makeup.. And finally I said to Jessica I couldn't wait anymore and we were heading to New Paltz. This was around 6:00 p.m.

We got to their house and they weren't there yet so we waited outside for awhile because it was so nice outside.

After a while I was like "let's go get gas". They got home before we were back from the gas station. Alyse was in her room starting to unpack a bit when I walked in and like moth to a flame I was hugging her! Her hair has gotten so long and curly! I'm so mad that I didn't somehow manage to take pictures or film or something of it. I really felt like "Ahhh, my baby sister is home at last!"

Alyse brought me back this amazing, beautiful, and totally my shade of pink Venetian mask she got while at Carnival. It's gorgeous and so finely hand made. I want to get a shadow box and turn it into artwork on my wall.

We stayed at her house for a few hours and in no time at all the four of us were razzing on each other and fist bumping across the table as one sister would crack a joke on another. I've missed the four of us being together. We're all crazy busy this week so we probably won't see each other again until next weekend I imagine but we're all gonna go do breakfast at Denny's next Sunday and be us in public! Heaven help them!

So, major announcement to make. She's home. She's seen me. The photo whoring is totally about to go down! haha, I know with the montage I sorta already started but even then there has been a part of me trying to tone it down until Alyse got home. No more!

Here I am at the gym, sweating like a pig on the treadmill. Five minutes later Mr. Indian Point walks in. *GASP* Once done on the treadmill I sort of ran into the locker room to hide, regrouped, and emerged. He was on the elliptical right in front of the locker rooms. He saw me come out and waved me over. Asked how I was doing, commented on how great I am looking, my hair looks really nice (I've had highlights and a two haircuts since he last saw me), and just general chit chat. It was an easy conversation that reminded me that first and foremost he was my friend and a part of me has missed him. So I get up on the elliptical next to him and we chatted some more. After ten minutes though I was done. Ellipticals and I are not great friends just yet.

This is me last weekend after I got my hair cut. It's been falling out so bad and thinning out as a result. I needed something new and fun for summer. I love it. It was totally inspired by Katie Sagal's character on Sons of Anarchy. She always have such great hair at Gemma Teller. I just wish I could get my hairstylist away from such extreme flat ironing. I always just let her do her thing because I always end up loving it, but these curls fell out within a half hour because of being flat ironed first.

Speaking of my hairstylist, she has re-thought lapband and now is getting sleeve. WOOHOO!!! She and I may be going to the support groups together for her office. I'm excited as I sort of would like to do the support groups, it's just that my surgeon is so far away. She also took off my hands the bag of clothes I'd had in my trunk waiting for me to drop off at a Salvation Army, Goodwill, or donation box. I hope she gets use out of some of that stuff!

Size large pjs bottoms and an XL top. Old Navy. Later this night I bought my first pair of 14s at American Eagle. They were not only my first pair of 14s that I actually purchased, they're SKINNY JEANS!!!

 Last week my uncle was in the hospital having a arterial bypass and getting stents put in for dialysis. I got to babysit my nieces and nephews while their moms went to visit their dad. Victorialyn is missing her tooth, Joe is in the back with his cute dimple showing and Ginger is in pink. We had fun watching Hop, eating popcorn, and taking our pictures. I have such a blast with these kids! Baby Josh was on my lap too but to hold the camera, balance three kids on my lap, and make sure the Joe was in the picture... It just didn't happen! Ginger is actually the spit out of my mouth when I was little, except I have dark hair and she's a red head.

See what I mean? 

Alas, that's enough photos for now. Actually, one more and I swear that's it for now!

This stuff is heaven on a spoon! Not something we'd want to have all the time, but two spoonfuls I was satisfied and oh so happy!