Farewell 2010!!

So. It's that time of the year when everyone starts reflecting over what they did or didn't accomplish in the last year. Successes, failures, heartbreaks, victories, etc. And I'm going to be no different.

I thought about how to tackle this...life, fitness, career or monthly. It's been a full year of all sorts of things so this could very well be quite rambling!! Shocker, eh? ;)

Let's start with the biggest, most significant event in a woman's life. Marriage. I was blessed enough to marry a man that God sent my way a bit over 4 years ago after my Mom died. I was content to be Carrie Bradshaw. Then just out of no where, here comes this GQ looking guy. Little did I know that day when he stopped at my house (while I was landscaping & dirty) that 2010 would be the year I'd get to commit the rest of my life to him in front of our family & close friends. Even making it more special, we said "I do" on my parent's wedding anniversary. Febuary 27, 2010 will go down in history ;)

A month later, we celebrated locally with my ginormous family, Kevin's small family & all of our nutty friends. It was so fun & again...a night we'll never forget. (March 27)

Not a week later, we headed off to Indianapolis for the NCAA Final Four!!!! What a amazing event to witness. And with local boys, the Butler Bulldogs, making it to the final game against Duke. They lost but wow it was close. Now that guy that missed the shot that could've tied it up is playing in the NBA. (April)

I think we coasted through May & June but come July we headed to Kansas City to celebrate our nieces first birthday. She's the little firecracker baby ;) So much fun! And then we had my cousin's wedding in mid-July in Illinois.

August welcomed another wedding which happened to be the third & final wedding with our group of friends (we were #2.) And the pregnancies are happening in reverse order as that bride is already knocked up. By order, I should be next!

September came & went...

Next up was our Halloween Honeymoon!!! We headed to Orlando to visit Disney & the main event..Halloween Horror Nights at Universal. Yes, I took a lot of pictures & no, I have not shared them yet. They are still on the camera. I should do that soon, eh? It was a blast! And we decided to start trying for a little B.

Cue the holidays....Thanksgiving & Christmas were different this year. They are usually spent with all of Kevin's family at his parent's house (along with my Dad & his girlfriend.) But a baby on the way (his sister) & my SIL having her family to their house. It was just us, Dad & Linda & his parents for Thanksgiving. Then we headed to his brother's house for Christmas.

And we welcomed Sophia Loretta into the world on December 27 (my SIL wanted to make the tax break...lol.)

So that sums up our year personally.

Fitness wise? GREAT things happened. I lost weight, gained weight & decided in July to re-locate my happy place. I'm there today & have a dear friend to thank for that. In 6 months, I've lost 20 pounds (was more..thank you PMS) & dropped 19.25 inches!!!!! AND I'm wearing a dress I got for 2008 NYE & it's loose!!! I have to add a strapless bra so it won't fall down!!! Should I mention that I'm a bit heavier than I was then AND I was contest dieting at that time? No diets here kids, I ate what I wanted within reason. NOTHING was off-limits & I look better than ever. A friend a couple weeks ago kept saying how ripped my arms look! haha

I'm still doing my Savage workouts & keeping that cardio going too! Still working on the WW job front but able to incorporate their new program in with Savage style eating along with how I prefer to eat. It's all a perfect balance & I feel great.

I turn 39 on Saturday & fully intend to rock 2011 like it's my job. I want to continue to progress physically until I get pregnant (God willing) & when that happens focus on a healthy pregnancy.

Kevin & I are headed to Indianapolis tonight & will ring in the New Year with just us. I think it's a perfectly fitting way to end this amazing year that we've had!

Who's ready for 2011? Do you have your goals set? If you aren't planning, you are failing! Are you with me??????

Wishing you all the blessing that 2011 has to offer. Thanks for keeping up with this little adventure that I call life! It's been great to have you along for the ride!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!

I just wanted to wish you Merry Christmas & what better way to do that than with one of my FAVE Christmas songs! I mean who doesn't like the Trans Siberian Orchestra?!? They are SO powerful & super fun with the light show too!!!



Or the Chipmunks?!? Plus they are cute!



Or the fun version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman/We Three Kings with Barenaked Ladies & Sarah Mclachlan. We did this in church last Sunday & Dad loved it :)



Wishing you & your famiiles blessings for the Christmas holiday. And while I'm at it, thanks for following along with this crazy thing I call life!!!

God Bless!

There's something about.....

....birthdays.

....getting older.

....getting bored with your hairstyle.

So what happens when you are creeping (okay speeding) towards a HUGE birthday. You know, the last one in your 30's. You decide you are bored with your long hair. Yep, that's what I've done.

I have an appointment with my fabulous friend, Katy, tomorrow to chop off some of my hair. After a FB conversation, with a few friends interjecting...one saying NO & the other saying it's only hair. AND Katy asking me if I needed to be talked off a ledge, she agreed to cut it. Katy LOVES my long hair but understands that I need something spicy.

That said, I'm not going uber short & still need to be able to pull it out of my face (hello gym rat) so we are talking shoulder-ish length. I won't lie. It's been a LONG time since my hair hasn't been half way down my back so I'm a little nervous but equally excited. I've been googling "celebrity shoulder length hairstyles" until I'm green & the best reference I can give you is Kelly Ripa. Still long-ish but can be pulled back & is stylish/fun.

Perhaps I'll share once I do the deed tomorrow ;)

Have you done anything somewhat drastic before a big birthday? Chopped off all your hair, changed colors, moved to another continent? lol

I said BRRRRRRR, it's cold in here.....

......come on Bring It On fans..you know the rest ;)

My neighbor's snow drift (it was taller than their daughter!)

All kidding aside, it's been HORRIBLE here in terms of weather. Living in the lovely lake effect snow belt is fun....sometimes. Between Saturday night & Tuesday afternoon, we got around a foot of snow & it was insanely windy. We are talking 40 mph winds! Today the temperature is barely out of the single digits. And even with that it was below zero until the last hour & it's even sunny outside.

I'll prepare the guest room for those wanting to come visit. Bah!

Nothing super duper exciting going on here other than the weather. We are getting excited to spend Christmas with hubby's brother. The B family is split up this year due to the very soon to happen arrival of my SIL's new sweet little girl who should be joining us December 27th BUT Auntie Heather is hopeful that she'll hold out until New Year's Day so she shares my b-day. AND she'll have a holiday birthday like her sister who was born on the Fourth of July!!! Just don't tell my SIL that I said that...she might kill me! LOL

Anything new with you guys? Working on your goals to end 2010 with a bang?

A HUGE CONGRATS to my friend, Dotsie, who will graduate this week from her graduate program!!!! She's worked hard & I know it was not easy but you did it girl!!!!

Have a great week all!

Goals & Groceries.

I wanted to introduce you to my second home. Well, that's not the one here but you get the idea. Yes, I feel like I LIVE in the Meijer store. It's right by my office & super convenient. I do love grocery shopping & in the winter it's perfect since I can leave everything in the truck instead of lugging perishables up to the office fridge.

I'm at the store at least 3 times a week for produce, meat, etc. I used to stock up once a week but produce spoils fast & I got screwed with bad meat a couple times so that stopped. Now I get what I need when I need it..especially from the meat department. I get tired of going actually & have somehow turned into my Dad's personal shopper too! When I'm going, he'll ask me to grab milk or something for him but I got him back yesterday when I had him pick me up some bananas so I didn't have to go just for that.

Do you spend a lot of time in the store? Do you buy things you don't need? I am good about not doing that lately but sometimes seasonal items "fall" into the cart ;)

What about goals??? The end of the year is just weeks away...as is my 39th birthday but we won' talk about that ;)

How are you doing with your goals that you set for the year? Are you almost there? Cutting it close? Gave up months ago?

In July, I set out to drop the extra fluff & get back to my Weight Watchers goal. I'm 4 pounds away from that now & while I'm not sure I'll get there, I'm going to come damn close. I will at least have reclaimed my non-paying Lifetime status by then so that is good in my book! AND I should report (with the biggest cheesiest grin EVA) that I rocked my skinny jeans the other night. You know....the ones that fit PERFECT when Kevin & I started dating then got too big with contest prep then wouldn't go over my knees after the rebound. Yea, those. Rocked them again the other night & looked pretty damn good if I don't say so myself.

And once again, I'm in contact with a magazine about my transformation. This time I won't chicken out ;) More on that another time.

Sooooooo. Fill me in, how are you doing with your goals?

Droooooooooool....................

You MUST check THIS out!
(picture borrowed from Jessica @ How Sweet It Is)

Seriously? Cake Batter Chocolate Bark? Have I died & gone to heaven? I WILL be making this soon......