Hello World

Gastroenteritis - that is what I had starting Friday morning at 1:30am and continuing into Saturday. Luckily for me the vomiting stopped around 12:30pm on Friday and I was able to keep clear liquids down. I had a lot of ice, water, and Diet 7Up. There is a GIANT misconception about this being the flu. It is not the flu. It is a stomach bug. It could have been something I ate, it could have been someone I work with, who knows. I was just unlucky enough to get it. I was MISERABLE. This is a sickness I do not wish on my worst enemy. Nobody should have to puke from both ends of their body.... just saying. Haha.
While I was sick I had some guardians watching over me:

Mom and dad had the dogs since I couldn't take them outside and Andrew was working. Therefore, it was up to the cats to make sure I was well taken care of. Aren't they sweet?

Enough about that disgusting-ness that was my weekend.
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Blog Giveaway Winner:

ANNA! You win my dear. I will need your address to send you your goodie.
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Saturday Weigh In:
This is going to crack all of you up. Remember, stomach virus all day Friday....

Weigh In: -11.1
Total Lost: 11.5
Pounds to Lose: 89.5

Yeah, gastroenteritis... the new detox diet.

This coming Saturday should be interesting when I go weigh in. It will most likely be a gain. This last weigh in I did at home because I did not want to infect anybody with what I had. Thank God my husband did not get it.
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Other WeightWatchers Stuff:

So, my eating and tracking is going great so far. Again, because of my inability to eat much food and it only being mostly carbs. I incorporated some vegetables yesterday and regretted it immediately. I'll get there soon but my body isn't ready for them just yet apparently.

I am back at work today and I packed a Progresso Chicken Soup for lunch today and we will see how that sits on my stomach. I have that and saltine crackers. I also have a pudding cup and a couple of cheese sticks. That is the extent of my food adventures today. For dinner tonight I think I might swing by a Chinese place and just get a giant thing of steamed rice. I'm obsessed with steamed white rice right now.
Whatever my body wants....
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I really don't have anything else to update. It isn't like I did anything exciting over the weekend. I didn't try any new recipes and I didn't go for any winter time runs. Haha. I was a sloth this weekend. A sick sloth.

And I am still exhausted and cannot wait to go home and go to bed.

It's Friday, Friday.... ♫♪♫♪

Good morning! There are many reasons I am happy this morning:

1. It's Friday!
2. I get Jimmy John's for lunch today. That always makes it a good day. 
3. I leave for Iowa after work and get to see my best friend! 
4. I had my husband kidnap my violin from my in-laws so I could take it to Iowa with me.*
5. I meet my new therapist today and I am really looking forward to seeing what she can do for me.
6. Did I mention it is Friday?
7. I get to bring grandma back home to celebrate Thanksgiving. Fun!
8. I put up all of my Christmas decorations yesterday and the entire apartment smells like Pine. 
9. IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!
10. It's Friday!
11. SYDNEY! 
12. Ok, now I'm being obnoxious. 

*Back story:

Sydney and I met in orchestra in Jr. High School. We have both been playing for a very long time and she is now an amazingly talented player and orchestra teacher in West Des Moines, IA. I had purchased a violin off of ShopGoodwill.com that was a Stradivarius Copy made in Germany in the 1930's. It was beat to hell and I had it restored by an amazing violin maker in Macomb, IL. He did a fantastic job and the violin has the most beautiful, rich sound. I am so happy I purchased the violin and put the money into it to have it taken care of. Sydney and I will get a chance to play together this weekend which is something we haven't done since we were 13 or 14 years old! 

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WeightWatchers & Stuff:

Yesterday went VERY well. No binge eating and the only thing I went over my points on was a vodka tonic (made with diet tonic) that I had while watching American Horror Story from Wednesday night. I spent majority of my evening putting up the Christmas stuff and cleaning the apartment and it kept me out of the kitchen and out of binge mode. That is basically all I have to do at night is keep super busy doing something. However, we all know there are some nights where you just plop down and don't want to do ANYTHING. Those are the nights that get me into the most trouble. 

Oh! And I earned 4 APs yesterday from all the decorating I did! 

Menu for today:

B: 3 pancakes, coffee, milk (7P+)

S: String Cheese (3P+)

L: Jimmy John's #6 Vegetarian with no mayo, thinny chips (19P+) <-- totally worth it.

S: Carrot Sticks (0P+)

D: TBD - I'll be on the road so it'll have to be something clever... I'll have 11P+ to use and IF I need them I have my WPs.

Activity: None - driving! Iowa! SYDNEY! 

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Beauty Products of the Day:

I bought these little gems at CVS the other night. It was in this little gift package for $4.99. It came with another cream that I keep on my nightstand. I LOVE the chapstick. (I know, I'm obsessed with chaptstick. Get off me) The lotion has a really nice consistency and doesn't make my hands feel slick or greasy. Just makes them super soft and I love the smell. It is not overwhelming at all. For $4.99 I think it was a nice little treat.

I got my Avon delivery yesterday and got these lip crayons. They were $3.95 each (on sale) and I have never used lip crayons before so I thought I would give them a try. The top one is Mauve Model and the Bottom one is Nude. I really like them. The nude one shows up a little darker than what you see on the bottom of the packaging but I still like it a lot. The Mauve color is really pretty with a sheer gloss over the top. It is what I used this morning. 

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Random Things:

You know how when you're on Facebook and you just start clicking and browsing? Well, that happens to me and my cousin's wife just uploaded a ton of pictures she has taken throughout 2013 and I was looking at them. Apparently my cousin Mat is in a Toyota commercial and I have been trying to find it on YouTube or somewhere on the internet all morning! My cousin and his wife live in LA and he has been in acting school the past 3 years. He has been in a few independent films and I wish him all the luck in the world! 

If you have seen this commercial or know where it is on line then send me the link! 

I leave you with Hobbs. His life is hard. Like. Ridiculously hard. Don't judge him.

Happy Friday!

Good morning, blogger world! It is FRIDAY! You know what that means? It is FRIDAY! Haha. I am looking forward to spending the weekend with my husband. We really do not see each other much during the week so I really cherish our time on the weekends. In fact, I feel like I haven't really talked to my husband much at all this week. He's been working like crazy and I've been working and our shifts are so different.... I just miss him. I guess with this schedule we will never get tired of each other!

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WeightWatchers & Stuff:
Yesterday went really well. I stayed 100% on program and ate such wonderful, tasty, filling foods. My dinner was the highlight of my day.

A very lean cut of meat (I honestly did not see ANY fat on it when I bought it), half a sweet potato and some asparagus. Yum! I didn't eat all of the asparagus because I got really full. It was so good though and I wasn't hungry at all the rest of the night. 

I didn't eat my lunch yesterday until after 3:00pm!!! That has never happened to me before. Usually I'm starving by or before noon. Not yesterday. I was set. I love Simply Filling. Have I said that yet? 

I don't know when I am going to weigh in. If I run the race Sunday I will weigh in tomorrow. If I am foregoing the race I will weigh in at my normal meeting on Sunday morning. I'm still way too wheezy when I wake up in the morning. I'm hoping it is partially allergies too. I am going to see how I feel tomorrow morning and decide then. 

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Random Things:

You know what's awesome? Not having any credit card debt. We are credit debt free. We owe less than $5,000 on my car and the rest is school. I love it. I absolutely love it. I mean, I hate having school loans, don't get me wrong, but not having any credit debt and not having any more credit cards is so liberating. 

I went to PetsMart yesterday to pick up some Cat Attract litter for the cats, a scratching post, some science diet food and some other odds and ends and got Caesar this magical costume for the Halloween party we are going to next weekend:

AHHHHHHH!!!! It is funny because I call him "Caesar Monkey". It is so hilarious when I put it on him. I think this may be his costume the rest of his life. 

I also got Caesar a new collar, which is adorable, a new place mat for his food and water dish and some dingo chew bones that he likes. But he's not spoiled.... not at all..... 

The cats aren't spoiled either.... nope. 

See, I don't want children. I just want to be surrounded by pets the rest of my life. 

Weekend Recap & Other News

Happy Monday, everyone! Let us start off the blog with this. I changed my Weigh In Day at WeightWatchers. I was going Wednesday afternoon at 12:00 but I was so rushed because I was doing that on my lunch break. I decided I wanted to be able to go to the meeting and really relax and enjoy it instead of checking my watch constantly thinking I have to get back to work. I went on Sunday because they have a 9:00 meeting that is smaller and those are the ones I like.

Sunday Weigh In:
Weigh In: -0.4
Total Lost: 1.6
Pounds to Lose: 101.6

I think a 0.4 pound loss in 4 days is pretty good. Considering my weekend was full of pizza and doughnuts. My weekend was also full of ridiculous activity. Our apartment complex was having a community yard sale and we could sell from our garages. I decided the day of that I was going to do it so I was running around like a crazy person trying to get together everything I wanted to sell. After I got it all set out I just let people come and browse as they pleased. Andrew and I ended up making $115 in 3 hours! We had a lot of old cell phones, game consoles and furniture to get rid of. What we didn't sell went to Salvation Army. We split our earnings in half and bought some things we had been wanting. Andrew wanted new jeans and some shoes and an Amazon gift card. I wanted a new book shelf, new lamp shades for the bedroom lamps and some storage bins. I didn't end up finding any storage bins I liked so I just got a new bookshelf and my lamp shades. Of course, you know what a new bookshelf means right? The entire living room had to be rearranged, pictures hung and carpets shampooed. Andrew and I have lived in our apartment almost a year and I never hung any pictures!!! AH! So, I decided it was time to make the apartment more "homey" since we are going to be there at least 1 more year.

Now, that doesn't even scratch the surface of what I did this weekend but I am really pleased with how the new bookshelf looks with the wedding stuff put out. Our unity candle had been in a box in our storage unit/garage since we got married. It needed to have a place! Now, the wedding picture above the couch really needs a frame but lazy 'ol me hasn't gotten around to that either. So, right now it is being held up with tape. Yeah, I know. Classy huh? I'll get there eventually. I really want to wall mount the TV too.

So, after shampooing the carpets, having a yard sale, moving furniture, hanging pictures, shopping, cleaning, renting a UHaul, donating stuff, delivering chairs (from my parent's house to his parent's house), grocery shopping, kitchen cleaning, desk/computer moving, table moving, etc...... I earned 10 APs over the weekend. Haha! I was very proud of that!

Here was my food and Activity yesterday: 
Breakfast: 2 Slices of Wheat Toast with 1 Egg and 1 Slice of WW American Singles (7P+)
Snack: Tall, Nonfat, No Whip, Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks (5P+)
Lunch: (2) 4 oz 96% 4% beef patties cooked on the grill and covered with homemade salsa, 1 oz Pop Chips, Cauliflower (10P+)
Snack: NONE - I was entirely too busy to eat
Dinner: 9 oz Wild Atlantic Salmon cooked on the grill, 1/2 Sweet Potato, Cooked Baby Carrots (11P+)
Activity Points Earned: 3

I still had 7P+ left when I went to bed last night and I was going to have some ice cream but I wasn't hungry. I was very proud of myself that I didn't eat the ice cream even though I was full. Normally I go straight for the dessert after I finish dinner but yesterday I did the dishes and then got comfortable on the couch. I didn't think about food the rest of the night. Go me!

Random Pet Picture of the Day:

"I can haz your burger?"


She sat on his lap the entire time he ate lunch. It was cute. Every time he would lift the burger to his mouth she'd tilt her head like she was going to get a bite. That one there is a beggar. She loves all kinds of human food which cracks me up. Usually cats could care less.

Should've seen them after I cooked the salmon.
Kitty craziness.

The Weekend Comes to a Close

A weekend recap:

Friday I was sent home from work at noon because we were DEAD. I went to the bank to take out some cash for the weekend and then I went to pick up Jimmy John's for Andrew and I for lunch. I had the #6 Vegetarian with no mayo and a giant pickle. Yum!

The rest of the day/afternoon was spent lounging around, cleaning and drinking some wine. I ended up drinking a little too much wine and made a bad food decision. It happened though and I didn't beat myself up for it. The only problem was weigh in on Saturday morning. Not purdy.

Saturday Weigh In: 
WI: +4.7
Total Lost: 0
Pounds to Lose: 105.9

My choices on Friday night definitely affected my weigh in on Saturday morning. Obviously. However, it is what it is and I am moving on. I have done really well the rest of the weekend. Here were today's meals:

Breakfast Takeout (YUM!)

Breakfast was so filling I had this small lunch at 3:00

Dinner! Sometimes, you just have to have hot dogs! Those are only 1 P+ each and the buns are 4P+ for two of them. I really enjoyed my dinner. 

To use up my remaining 8 points of the day I had air popped popcorn with Kernel's Seasoning on it (just butter flavored) and then I ate an ice cream sandwich. I still have 1 point left over but I am very satisfied and don't think I would even have room for anything other than water! 

So, Friday afternoon I went to PetsMart and got a harness and a leash for Hobbs, our cat. Why? Because that cat honestly cries to go outside. If he wants to go out, then he definitely has to be leashed since we live in an apartment. 

He LOVES it. He doesn't fight me at all when I put the harness on him and the minute I open the door he dashes out to go explore/walk. It is the funniest thing. He would stay out there all day if I would let him. 

I love that cat so much. He is my snuggle buddy. I don't know what I would do without him! 

I did not exercise at all this weekend. It has been SO HOT. I have a gym membership, did I go? No. :( When it is that hot outside the only thing I can get motivated to do is either swim or sit in the air conditioning. Haha. I plan on doing Week 1 Day 3 of C25K tomorrow. It is going to be 90 degrees and storming so I am definitely doing in on a treadmill. Ha! 

Anyway, I just wanted to do a quick weekend update.  The only other news I have is that last night Andrew and I went out to dinner with some friends and then went to the drive in theater to see Despicable Me 2. It was adorable and I loved it! 

I need to go pack my lunch for tomorrow now and then take a shower. Not looking forward to the work week but I must make money!