Okay I give.

Here's a few shots from our engagement sitting. If you are on my Facebook page, you can view the slideshow. If I know you well enough (aka comments often, we email back & forth, etc,) I'd be happy to add you so you can see.

Lucky in Love

Life has finally settled a bit for the meantime. It was a whirlwind weekend with lots of family & friends around for the shower. And it continued just yesterday as we finally were able to have our portrait sitting for our engagement pics (will save a sneak peek of those for another day.) If you are on my Facebook page, you'll see them.

Where to begin??? How about with the theme?


Yes, they went with a Vegas theme. Fitting don't you think? Especially since in just 4 months (from yesterday) we will be married! The cake by the way was a super yummy banana with italian buttercreme frosting! The BEST cakes in the area!!!!

I started the day off pretty well with a great workout then busted out the pinot grigio while I got ready. It's never too early you know ;) lol

We did a little quiz where Kevin had answered questions (prior to the shower) that were sent to him by my best friend. You'll be proud to know that I got almost every single question right :) And my favorite one was "was there a defining moment when you knew Heather was the one." Kevin's response "not just one thing stands out but the more I got to know her & the more time we spent together, the more I fell in love with her." Sigh. Tear. I adore that answer :) I feel the same about him!

Everyone went around & talked about how they know me..it became tearful as you would imagine. I was very overwhelmed most of the day but it was a good feeling. Steph prayed over lunch (even more tearful) feeling that she needed to remind us all that my Mom was watching over. My Aunt Pam said she was in BIG trouble! lol

We ate, laughed some more & it was time for me to cut the cake.


Hahahaha! So me! What you need to know, however, is that the cake cutter was originally used by Kevin's grandparents (who are both deceased), his parents, his sister-in-law & his sister. All successful unions! We will use it at our wedding as well. I love traditions!

From there we moved on to opening presents. I have pictures of that if you really want to see but I didn't save them to the computer. I was really humbled by the generosity! We received all of the appliances (except the coffeemaker) along with alot of the kitchen stuff I wanted. Kevin was happy to have received a wall cabinet he wanted, the decor for the downstairs bathroom & a belgium waffle maker (that was a total want..not need.) Can't wait to try that out. My fun cousins were responsible for getting me some fun nighties from Victoria's Secret. And another fun gift was a really nice spice set from Penzey's. Can't wait to tap into that stuff too! Kevin's Mom also bought us the Dyson that we registered for! Only 2 duplicates were received & have been returned. All monetary gifts were used to purchase our bedding :)

Here's some pics you need to see...

My Dad & I


My Dad, Me, Paige (Kevin's niece) & Kevin (I like to call this me with my men & Kevin with his women)


My hostesses
Julie (Kevin's sister-in-law), Me, Stephanie (my matron of honor & BFF), Kelly (Kevin's sister) & Wilma (his Mom)


These ladies did such a fantastic job with my shower. I am truly blessed & humbled by the whole day. It's hard to believe it's over & now my only focus is on the wedding! It's just 4 months from yesterday that I become Mrs. B. I cannot wait. Things are falling into place & I just am so excited!!!!

Just a few more pics that are a little random but worth sharing!

Baby Emma with her "Vegas Baby" onsie


Granny & Emma


I probably left out something but if you want to know just ask. It was an amazing day & I was very touched by how the day went!!!!

Distracted.

Morning! I keep apologizing for not blogging as much but sometimes life just puts distractions in your way! I'm just a couple days away from my bridal shower & have been CONSUMED by anxiety! First though, isn't that cake the cutest? lol I've had some fun looking a different cakes online..both good, bad & downright sad!

I'm so so excited my shower & cannot believe I'll be married in a little over 4 months! But with that comes the fact that I'm facing this very exciting time in my life without my Mom. What woman dreams of her wedding & thinks "well, Mom might not be alive." Not to sound cold but it's true. I'm so anxious about how the day will go or really how I'll do without her there that it's driving me nuts. I'm not eating like I should be (not junk..just not enough) and I have a really hard time falling asleep. I don't mean to sound negative & take away from the fact that so many people that I care about will be there for me that day. It is hard though to think of the people that cannot make it. First & foremost is my Mom but also an aunt that I'm close with just isn't able to make it (she tried soooo hard too!) along with a few others.

I fully intend to have a glass of wine while I'm getting ready and that will happen after we get in a run or a good workout that morning! It's a necessary!!!! Kevin's Mom has also having wine served! LOL!! I'm not going to be crocked but the wine will help calm my nerves. Girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do right?!?

Soooooooooooooooooo. How about Biggest Loser? I will be completely honest. I'm just not feeling this season. I cannot pinpoint why but I'm not into it like I've been in the past. The players I'm most interested in are Shay (I feel for her with having lost her Mom & being fearful of repeating that fate), Abby (who lost her entire family) & Daniel (he's fighting for his life!) Otherwise, the rest are just lukewarm to me. Tracy? Meh, I guess she keeps things humorous! lol

My own progress continues! I ended up dropping another pound for my "actual" weekly check-in (Saturday) & have now dropped 8 pounds since the start of TBL. It may not sound like much but I didn't have a great deal to lose anyway. I'm VERY happy with my results & am feeling really good. Though tired this week for obvious reasons.

How is everyone doing? Spill it :)

And I promise for a proper shower recap & pictures sometime next week!

Take care!!!

ps...

10 days until my shower!

136 days until my wedding!

Huh?

That was pretty much the look on the faces of me & my friend last night when we realized what way the Biggest Loser vote was going to swing. Suffice it to say that we were floored.

Can we talk about Crazy Tracy for a second? What is the deal with that girl???? 1) How does she keep getting control? 2) Why is she so awful & mean? 3) Does she really think the others actually like her? 4) Has she had botox (discussion in my future SIL's FB page) 4) Perhaps she has some mental illness (diagnosed by my BFF.) Okay, I'll be nice now but something is really not right with her.

I can certainly understand the team realizing it's a game & doing what's necessary to stay in it. BUT really? I'm morphing into not nice again...stopping! lol

I'm not sure how I feel about this season to be honest. I'm not "feeling" it like I have in seasons past. Not sure why but I will certainly keep watching to see what happens! Aside from the Tracy drama, it was pretty uneventful again.

How was YOUR week? Are you meeting your goals? You set goals right?

I'm still right on track. I was the same on the scale as of Saturday (my check-in day with my coaches) but as of this morning I had another pound drop. Do you ever notice a pattern on the scale for you? My shifts occur on Saturdays & Wednesdays. Weird, huh? And typically I only loose every other week as well. That's been my pattern since I started working with Cathy Savage back in 2007!

So it's been a month since The Biggest Loser started. How have you done? I really do love hearing how everyone's doing each week! It's motivating for me to hear successes!

My month? I'm down 6 pounds since the start of the show! Realistically I'd love to drop 17 before the wedding but am NOT killing myself to get there! I'm checking in weekly with my coaches & utilizing the feedback they give me! I'm spot on with training & cardio but my eats are a bit off. Why? Because I'm not super hungry!

In the past, I'd stuff myself to the gills when I was stressed but when my Mom died, that shifted somehow & now when I'm stressed I just don't eat. Andi (one of my coaches) encouraged me to eat even if it's just a few bites. I know that it's best to eat smaller meals to keep the "fires burning." BUT if I'm not hungry, I'm not forcing food down the hatch. What I've been doing is having bigger meals as a result. I don't want my system to backfire as a result of not getting enough food especially when my activity level remains high (4 days of training & 5 days of cardio.) So.......

That's my story! Feeling good, pressing on. Trying to find rambles so that I can blog more!

I will be posting a "public service announcement" for Cathy Savage Fitness once I get the information. Cathy typcially sets up a summer shape-up program but this year is doing an holiday program as well for $99! You can email me for details (or leave a comment) & I'll forward the info (also will post it) once it comes! Cathy knows her stuff & you see many of her girls in the magazines! Lori Harder, Lindsey Messina, etc. Heck she got me to the stage too!!!

Have a GREAT day everyone!

Drive by!

Yea, I'm slacking hardcore. Well, just with the blogging. Life is going well :)

How about a little summary?

*TBL was not anything extraordinary to me this week. Tracy is icky & I'm not surprised Julio is gone. I do like that they covered the "eating out" thing but was floored that they acted like they had NO idea what was healthy!!!

*My own progress continues. I was actually down another pound this past week & am VERY happy with that since it was TOM. Good times! I have a goal in mind for my shower. It's nothing over the top but I'd like to drop 1 pound a week (that includes this week.) We'll see. No biggie if I dont meet it though since I'm on track!

*It's UBER cold here now. Summer is officially over. Fall is here & it's actually going to feel like winter this weekend with temps dropping into the upper 30's overnight!

*Chicago marathon is on Sunday. It gives me an itch when it comes. I feel like I want to still be out there but then I wake up :) lol My body doesnt like it anymore. But perhaps a half will be in our future ;)

That's all.

Short & sweet. I want to blog more but lately there's not been anything pressing that I MUST say. Heck I can't even keep up with all the blogs I love to read anymore. Bums me out but honestly there's just too many sometimes! lol

Have a FAB week & dont forget to tell me how YOU are doing :) I still want to know!