Photo-A-Day Challenge

Hi All - Sorry I didn't post the Organizing the Korner Post yet.  I haven't uploaded the pictures yet and there are a few more things I want to do before I show you the transformation.  So instead today I am going to tell you about the photo-a-day challenge that I am embarking on.  I am not sure anymore where I found the list, maybe Pinterest, but basically it is a list of thirty pictures one for each day of the month.  I decided to start this challenge in September since when I really got back to blogging it was already the middle to end of August.  I am going to post the list of the pictures that you have to take each day, and then when the month is over I am going to a photo heavy re-cap.  Without further ado here is the list:

Day 1: Self Portrait
Day 2: What I Wore
Day 3: Clouds
Day 4: Favorite Color
Day 5: Someone I Love
Day 6: Childhood Memory
Day 7: Something New
Day 8: Technology
Day 9: Faceless Portrait
Day 10: Something I Made
Day 11: Something Fun
Day 12: Close-Up
Day 13: From a Distance
Day 14: Flowers
Day 15: My Shoes
Day 16: What I Ate
Day 17: On the Shelf
Day 18: In My Bag
Day 19: Where I Slept
Day 20: What I Read
Day 21: Pretty Pattern
Day 22: Tress
Day 23: Sunset
Day 24: A Smile
Day 25: Sunflare
Day 26: Something Old
Day 27: After Dark
Day 28: Daily Routine
Day 29: Purchased
Day 30: In Motion

There is the list please join me, and then in a month we have a big reveal of all of our great photos.  I am trying to be a better photographer, so lately I have been taking lots of pictures to practice.  I am also thinking of taking a photography class.  Does anyone have any suggestions of a good one to take?  That is all for now.  M. Kramlik and I are headed down to the outlet mall today to take advantage of some of the good labor day sales!  I am hoping to find some work pants to keep your fingers crossed.

Favorite Bath and Beauty Products

Ok, so I know that I promised an organizing the korner post, but I haven't gotten to that one yet.  Instead, I am just going to do a quick post today and do the organizing one tomorrow.  Tonight I got my nails done!  :) Gotta to love that!  I go every four weeks or so and have my nails Shellaced (not really sure if that is even a word).  If you haven't tried it you have to, it will change your life.  Ok, maybe not your life, but you will love what it does to your nails.  In honor of my beauty regiment tonight I thought that I would share some of my favorite bath and beauty products with you. 

Up first of course is Shellac for your nails.  Today I had my nails done in the color Wildfire.

I love it!  They look a little pink in the picture but trust me they are bright red! 


Next up on my favorite products list is Equate Cocoa Butter Body Lotion.  I love this stuff, I put it on my legs everyday.  The best part of this lotion is that it is only $.97!  Yup only less than a dollar!

It smells great and it's moisture lasts all day long.

For my favorite perfumes I usually alternate between three:
Victoria Secret Dream Angel Halo
Dolca & Gabbana Light Blue
Jessica Simpson Fancy Love

For make up my favs are:

Equate Ultra Hydrating Beauty Lotion.  This is just like Olay but only half of the price.  This is also the only thing that keeps my face hydrated.

Laura Geller Balance & Brighten Power in Regular.  This really helps to even out my skin tone and doesn't get all flaky with my dry skin.  Plus, I hate using liquid foundation.

For my eyes my favs are:
Clinique Lash Building Primer
Clinique High Impact Mascara
Clinique Cream Shaper for Eyes in Deep Cobalt

For my hair my favorite Hair Spray is Sebastian Re-Shaper.  It is a bit expensive but well worth the money.  When it is so humid here it is the only thing that keeps my hair in check.

My favorite shower gel is Nivea Cream Oil Body Wash.  I like all of the scents that this one comes in.

These are just some of my favorite bath and beauty products. 

Please excuse the bathroom shots.  They were the best place in my house for lighting to take these. 

One other product that I just recently fell in love with doesn't really fall into either of these categories.  It is by Glade, and it is there new Autumn Harvest candle.  I just love how it smells, they describe it as, "smoky, woodsy, mellow".  I will definitely be getting some stock in these for the fall.

I will be back tomorrow with the organizing post and my wish list of Krafty items!

Friday Night Crazy

HI Friends.  Last night as I told you I went to German Fest with some friends.  While we didn't have as much fun there as I had hoped, we had lots of fun before and after the fest.  On the way home I stuck my head out the window and was screaming, "Only Three Years Until I am 30!!"  I have no idea what got into me. (at this point of the evening I only had a Diet Pepsi and a Root Beer)

To start the evening we met at my house since I am the closest one to downtown where German Fest is.  We of course chatted for awhile and then headed out for our night on the big town. 

We went to Panera for dinner, it is always so good.  I had my normal entree when I eat there, which is the Grilled Chicken Cesar salad.  Love it!

I think that Amanda had the same thing that I did, Aly had soup and sandwich, and Kate had the cobb salad with avocados.  She was quite excited about how large the avocados were in the salad and that there was lots of them.  Oh, she also got a free Mango smoothie and she was so happy about it that when they called her name to go get it she danced all the way up there.  This is why I love Kate!

Then we were off to German Fest.  When we got there we headed right for the beer tent and the polka music.  Aly got a beer and I had a rootbeer!  Big drinkers!

We found a picnic table and listened to some country style polka.  Yikers!  Good thing their set was just about over when we got there.  When the next band started they played some seriously good polka.  Aly, Kate, and I decided that it was time to get our polka on.  Of course we picked the never ending polka.  It is quite a work out to polka.  I was surprised that the there was so many older people out on the floor.  It made me think that I was a loser when the three of us gave up. 

After we got our polka on, we headed back to my house for more chit chat and some shots.  One palinka and one of this bison grass flavored vodka from Poland that M.Kramlik likes.  Needless to say after those two shots plus the half of a white russian that I drank I was finished.  Yup, lightweight right over here.  I think that it was about 12:30 when they left.  I went right up to bed and slept until 8:30!  I felt like I had been hit by a truck.  I guess I don't get out enough. 

We decided that we can't let it be another 8 months before we got together again. 

Ladies here is to more fun nights, preferably with out me hanging my head out the window! 

No blog post tomorrow as I am working on the post that I am going to be sharing with you on Monday.  The re-organizing of the Korner.  I will give you a sneak peak though....

There was a lot of cleaning out and organizing going on.  I love how these are organized by color now.

She tried to help me, but decided that sleeping was the better option.

I made a Hobby Lobby run too.  I did good.

New paper cutter, cardstock, Smash Book dater for a new project, and some new markers.

Stay tuned.....

Trip Re-Kap - The Wedding

The wedding was on the weekend right before we were coming home. We (meaning M.Kramlik) of course needed to be there for the bachelor party as well, which was the weekend before. Since the wedding was in another city the groom's family rented a coach bus for us to take from the village to the wedding.

 

 

Let’s just say that the Hungarians know how to throw a great party. We all had to meet at the Groom’s parents’ house at 10 am for pre-wedding celebrations and to get on the bus. We ate some cookies, drank some shots, and then packed onto the bus. Where the partying continued!

 

 

The wedding was divided into three parts. First we went to the hotel where the reception would be for a pre-church service meal. Appetizers were served along with drinks. This gave all of the guests a chance to mingle. Which for me meant a chance to take lots of group photos!

 

 

 

 

 

Then we walked over to the church which was literally right outside the hotel's door.

 

They had a traditional Catholic service which lasted about an hour. I tried paying attention but I was so overwhelmed by the beautiful church. It was one of the prettiest churches I have ever seen.

 

 

 

Tamas and Linda looked beautiful and I of course cried when they said their vows. Even though I couldn’t understand all of it, I knew what they were promising to one another and it made me think of my own wedding. After the service it was time to eat and party!  We ate like Kings and danced like fools.  Ok, I danced like a fool and M.Kramlik drank it up. 

 

A good time was had by all.  This next morning however, was a bit rough for some of us.  I think by the time that we walked back to where we were staying it was about 5AM!!

 

 

 

 

Yikers M.Kramlik...looking real rough.  And because nothing says "Good Morning" like a shot of warm palinka...bottoms up!

I have no idea how he managed to do that shot, I would have thrown up!  After this it was time to say good-bye to our friends and get back on the bus and head for home.

Little did we know that we were in for a really big surprise when we got to the airport the next day!  

The next night we headed to the airport.  We purposely booked these tickets because 1- they were cheap and 2- we could leave at night which just about never happens.  It is always in the morning.  We arrive to the airport with plenty of time, wait in line forever, and finally make it to the ticket counter.  It turned out that because our flights on the way over were screwed up, it affected our return flights.  They couldn't find us in the computer system and I swear the lady at the counter made six different phone calls and then with just about no time to spare handed us our tickets.  We were the last two on the plane with seats at the back! 

Now the lady at the ticket counter was only able to issue us our boarding passes from Budapest to Helsinki and Helsinki to Manchester.  She told us that when we got to Helsinki that they should be able to get us the last one from Manchester to Chicago.  When we arrived in Helsinki it was 10:45pm, so needless to say no one was around to help us out!  Ok, we will find our place to camp out for the night and talk to someone in the morning. 

We started out in these lounge chairs, but M.Kramlik couldn't get comfortable.  So we moved over to these rows of chairs.

In this large section of the airport it was only M.Kramlik, myself and one other person.  I slept as best as I could be every little noise would wake me up and I wasn't warm enough either.  We were going to try to find a hotel room, but we got turned around in the airport and couldn't find it.  The next morning we both had agreed that we were glad we didn't spend the money.

When we got up the next morning we headed out to find someone who could help us get our tickets.  We found the American Airlines agent who proceeded to tell us that they can't issue our tickets.  When we get to Manchester they will have to do it there.  Alright, so off to find some breakfast.  We found this little cafe.  I showed you the pictures of us earlier but here is one of the cafe itself.

 

 

We got on the plane and headed to Manchester.  When we arrived there we go through security and headed to the American Airlines desk again for our boarding passes.  This time they tell me that there is a group of passengers who are in the same position as us and they will help us directly at the boarding gate.  Alright, so off we go.  When we got to the boarding gate, they tell us that we are not listed on the flight manifest and the flight is full.  Ok, first of all this is not something that you tell someone who has just spent the last 9 hours "trying" to sleep on airport chairs.  I tried to stay calm at this point, but I think that the steward helping us is realizing quickly that I am losing all of my patients.  He told us that he is going to speak to one of his colleagues and would be back for us in a little while if we could just have a seat and wait.  So back to waiting, it seems like all of the other passengers that were in the same boat as us, are all going through and boarding the plane.  Oh, did I forget to mention that detail.  Yup, this was all happening while our flight was boarding!   The steward finally came back and told us that they found seats for us but that they aren't together..ok felt a little better but who wants to sit next to a stranger for 7 hours when they could be sitting next to M.Kramlik! 

So we went and visited Terry ( I should have known that only good things were going to happen at this point).  He asked us if his colleague had us in a panic, M.Kramlik replies with something like, "Yeah, she was freaking out."  To which Terry replied, "Imagine being married to that guy....not that I am."  At which point I knew that we were in good hands.  Terry made a phone to Helen and says, "Helen darling, I have two love birds on honeymoon can I take seats something and something (I don't remember the numbers and letters anymore).  He hung up and says no worries I am getting you on the flight!  I think I cried a little bit in relief.  He issued us our tickets and of course M.Kramlik has to go to the bathroom.  We walked across the way and M.Kramlik goes in and I sit down to wait for him.  While I am waiting Terry came over and says to me, "I need to take the tickets from you, but trust me you don't want to say no to this.  Because I am going to give you two First class tickets, they only bad thing is that you can't sit next to one another."  My response was something along the lines of "Who cares it's First Class!"  M.Kramlik came out of the bathroom and I tell him what happened with our tickets.  Terry came back over with our new tickets and told M.Kramlik that he owes me diamonds.  M.Kramlik told him that he will get him one too!

Terry then proceeded to board the plane with us and asked the guy sitting in M.Kramlik's seat if he would switch with him so that we could sit next to one another. 

While all of this was happening I was seriously thinking that I would never fly American Airlines again, but Terry really came to their rescue.  He so went the extra mile for us on everything. 

So there we were living it up in First Class.  We drank, ate, and got to lay down completely.  Living the high life!

There you have a little glimpse into our trip home.  Some highs and some lows.  But hey anytime I can fly First Class for free I am a happy camper!

Just a heads up no blog post tomorrow as I am going to the local German Fest with some friends, but I will be back on Saturday for a post all about it. 

Keep checking back here friends for all of the exciting posts I have planned.  Really I do, I promise.  Maybe if my hands aren't to tired from this post, I will quick post one of posts to come.

 

Trip Re-Kap

I think that most of you know that M.Kramlik and I recently went on a trip back to the homeland (Hungary).  Friends of ours were getting married and we wanted to be there.  We left the day before the 4th of July out of Chicago as we usually do.  However, this time since my parents were already overseas waiting for us to get there, we had to take the coach bus service to O'Hare.  We got on at the first stop that the bus picks up at.  Only problem was that it was late by about 20 minutes.  I think that we had about 6 other stops along the way before finally getting to O'Hare about 45 minutes behind schedule.  We checked in, ran through security and quickly grabbed a bite to eat.  While we waited for them to call us to board I thought we better have some photos taken.

M.Kramlik waving Bon Voyage!


 

 

When we were finally called to board and got on the plane we were told that we were going to be sitting in the row where the oxygen was stored.  This meant no overhead bin room, but ample leg room as the overhead compartments are bigger and so the seats are larger too.  AWESOME!!!  What happened next, not so awesome...we were just about to take off and the Captain came over the loudspeaker and said that there was a problem with one of our hydraulic cylinders and we had to go back to the gate.  Then a steward came over the loudspeaker to tell us that we have seven hydraulic cylinders on the plane and really only need one to fly it is required by the FAA that we have it checked out.  They weren't sure how long the fix was going to take but that the ground crew was already at the gate waiting for us.  It wasn't long after arriving at the gate that we were back under way and ready to take off for round 2.  Little did we know that we were going to get called back again by that pesky hydraulic cylinder.  This time we stayed at the gate what seemed like forever!  We had just about neared the two hour mark of sitting on the plane at the gate when we were finally good to go.  Ok, we take off.  Then I realized that we weren't going to make our connecting flight in London to Helsinki.  (NOTE: We purchased tickets from Chicago to London, London to Helsinki, Helsinki to Budapest and then the reverse coming home.  Only because summer is the peak time and this was what we could afford.)  So there we are flying along somewhere over the Atlantic when I start panicking over what we are going to do.  Know I very well knew that we weren't the only ones who were going to have this issue.  But, those of you that know me, I tend to panic when things are going just right.  :)  It is just one of my downfalls.  

 

Fast forward, eight hours later and we are going to land in London.  The steward comes back over the loudspeaker and tells us that we have to check in with the ground staff in London about our connecting flights and they can help us with what to do next.  This surprisingly worked out really well.  There were three people waiting for us with lists of the connecting flights that were missed and explained exactly what we needed to do.   This ended up working to our advantage.  They had a direct flight that was going to Budapest in about 4 hours so we were going to go directly there instead of to Helsinki first.  This sounded fantastic to me as I hate flying!  We got our new boarding passes and set off in search of a bathroom and some food.  This is where I got some sweet Olympic gear and a Starbucks Iced Grande Mocha.  They of course called it something else, now I don't remember what...I wished I would have written it down.  Then we paid the most ridiculous amount of money to call M.Kramlik's Mom and Dad so they and my parents knew what was going on.  I am told that they were all trying to track our flights and figure out where we were but it was a nightmare.

 

We made our connection no problem and were to Hungary a whole 20 minutes early!  We were both so happy to finally be there.

The street sign for the road that my In-Laws live on.

 



I know that M.Kramlik was just so happy to be home, but I was so happy because this was the first time that my parents have been back in Hungary since our wedding there 4 years ago! We ate, drank, ate some more and of course drank some more too!  I guess that is what happens when 1- you go on vacation and 2- when your in-laws own a bar!

 

 

 

This picture is one of my absolute favorites of the whole trip.  My three favorite guys (minus my brother...mmm maybe I will have to figure out how to Photoshop him in there!)

Oh I almost forgot we did a lot this too....

I swear this swing is a miracle worker!  You can be have a rough day or stressing about something and this swing takes away all of your worries and cares.  We actually fight over who is going to sit in it.  It also is an excellent place to take naps!  I have taken many in it.  Especially when it is raining because there is a roof over the porch.

Ipolyvece has the cutest train station.  I am not sure if anyone mans it but after going to the village for over 11 years now, this trip was the first time that I saw it.  Isn't it just so cute?

It reminds me of something you would see in a movie, doesn't it??

I think that I am going to have to break the trip re-cap into two posts.  I honestly didn't think that I was going to be this long winded.  The next post I will do will be about the wedding and our travels home.  If you thought me getting there was something else, just wait for the return to the USA story!  Let's just say that Sarah was a very unhappy traveler!


I will leave you with two more quick pictures.  The first one was taken at M.Kramlik's other Grandparents house in a village about 30 minutes away.  We went there one day for lunch. 

The second picture is my favorite one of M.Kramlik by himself at the bar.  This is his "traditional" bar pose and I think that on it he looks so happy, relaxed and just his natural self.

Diet Breakdown

Now that I am back!  :) I thought that I would do a quick post on my diet.  First I need to give a major shout out to my Mom!  With out her none of this weight loss would have been possible! 

Since everyone likes stats here they are:

Start: February 6, 2012
End: ? So far it has been 29 weeks. I don't think that there really is an end.  You always hear people saying that you really shouldn't diet, that it should be more of a lifestyle change.  I am proud to say that I do believe that I have succeeded and my lifestyle has changed.  I will continue to eat better and lose the last remaining pounds that I want, but then it will be about maintaining.  Maintaining I think is the hardest part, but I have made it this far so I refuse to let the weight bring me down again.

As of today, this moment, I am down 40 pounds!  It is a wonderful feeling, not to mention how much fun I am having buying clothes. 

Everyone loves a good before and after picture so I am going to share mine.  Please be gentle, I was aware that I was on the hefty side!

This picture was last Christmas, it is hard to believe that my Gram is gone now.  I hate that this is the way that I looked but I can't change it.  It think she was part of the reason that I wanted to really buckle down and lose the weight.  This picture was taken just short of two months before I started my diet.  My Gram passed away on January 23, 2012, and my diet started on February 6th.  I think from above she gave me the kicks in the pants I needed.

This picture was taken just last month when I was in Hungary.  We were in Budapest for the day and I just had to have a Starbucks date with my Husband and Father-in-Law.  I am pretty sure that there is a law somewhere that says that when you see a Starbucks in another country you must stop. (I think that this was my first full blown Starbucks - whip cream and full fat milk...it was heaven!) I also visited the one in the Heathrow Airport on our way to Hungary.  The trip was so much fun and I have so many photos to share so I am pretty sure that will be a blog post soon too.

This picture has nothing to do with the diet at all or really anything, but I just love this picture of Teddy.  It is so freakin' cute!  Teddy was my Gram's dog, but when she passed away my parents took him.  They bought him for her last February, when he was just a baby.  She loved him so much even though he is quite the trouble maker! 

I am going to leave you with his incredibly ridiculously cute face.  Until tomorrow.....

Get Ready - Cause Here I Come!

Get ready blog friends because a change is a comin' to the korner.  That's right friends, more blog posts are in our very near future.  I changed the look of the blog to give a fresh start, a few more updates are yet to come. I promise you won't be disappointed.  So strap in and hang on because this spot is about to get used a lot!

This is what we looked like after being up for 9 hours in the Helisinki Airport on our way home from our vacation in July.  Pretty awesome if you ask me.  Well honestly, I think that I look pretty good, M.Kramlik on the other hand looks a little rough.  Still dreamy and handsome but a little rough.

 P.S. That drink in my hand was the best Mocha Latte I have ever had...and the biggest too!

141 Days to Go - Diet Day 10

4:30 AM, not a time that I enjoy. That is when I was up this morning to go and workout. *I picked my mom up and we were at the gym by 5. I would have thought that the gym would have been busy but it really wasn't that bad. We did the treadmill, 30 minutes workout area, and the stationary bike. I was pretty proud of myself I rode 2 miles in 10 minutes. By 6:10 I was back home and posting Monday's blog post. (Sorry I haven't been on top of my game with these. I am going to try to do better.) Then it was time to get ready for work. *I was hungry this whole time. Waking up early really throws your eating schedule off. I was so happy when 10 o'clock came around today. I think I had to really think about pacing myself to drink my shake slow and not swallow it down in one gulp. Lunch went ok too, Slim Fast, applesauce, a sandwich round (since I was out of rice cakes) and mushrooms. The afternoon seemed to drag so it was great when 3:30 came and I could eat my pudding.
I left work and went to Wal-Mart so that I could get some more rice cakes, pudding and some string cheese. I also had to get Puffs Kleenex with Vicks because I have come down with a cold. Perfect timing right!
For dinner I had a Smart Ones Spaghetti with a sandwich round and string cheese. I put a small amount of garlic salt on the sandwich round to make it like garlic bread. My total pts for the day are 16 pts out of 25. I think now it has something to do with my cold and I am not to hungry since I can't really taste. I am working on laundry now too because I only have three sports bras to wear. It will be an early night for me because tomorrow is another early workout day. So goodnight for now. Until tomorrow.

142 Days to Go - Diet Day 9

Happy Valentine's Day!
I was really tired this morning. I didn't want to get out of bed. I am ready for the weekend, and it is only Tuesday. I am off to the gym again tonight, except tonight we are going closer to 6 rather than 9. The morning was ok today I was busy so I didn't have my shake until 10:30 which I was sort of surprised about because I seemed hungry this morning, but I must have forgotten about it when I got busy. For lunch I had a Slim Fast, 2 rice cakes, mushrooms and a hard boiled egg white. I forgot my applesauce so that was missing but over all it was a very filling lunch. The rest of the day went by slower than I could imagine. Sometimes time doesn't go by very fast when you are constantly watching the the clock.
I left work and took my taxes in. I got home changed my clothes and went and picked up my mom to go and workout. It was busy but not as bad as I thought it was going to be. We did the treadmill, 30 minute workout area, and rode on the stationary bikes. It was great and perfectly timed too. I wanted to be home in to watch glee and I was. I ate dinner after that so around 8sih. I had a Smart Ones Creamy Rigatoni with broccoli and chicken and a salad with dressing. Then after I showered I treated myself to a Smart Ones Cookie Dough Sundae. My total pts were 19 out of 25. So not bad, a little bit better than the last couple of nights. Well I am off to bed for a reason you will see on tomorrows post.

143 Days to Go – Diet Day 8 *Weigh In Day*

I was so nervous when I stepped on the scale, but I lost 2.4 pounds last week! Yea! I am so proud of myself. I am very happy with the amount that I lost my 1st week. Tonight I start the gym with my mom so that should be interesting! Since my goal for this week is to maximize my
points I changed up lunch a little bit. I still had the usual Slim Fast, rice cakes, and baby carrots, but I added the applesauce with lunch and brought a Jell-O pudding as a snack. I had almost forgotten how much I love that pudding. It was a great 3:30 snack. For dinner I ate an egg salad sandwich that was 4 pts. 2 pts for the egg, 1 pt for the sandwich round, and 1 pt for the light mayo. Then I made a big salad with spinach, mixed spring leaf lettuce, grape tomatoes, snap peas, broccoli and mushrooms. This salad was zero points! I did have some light salad dressing as I didn’t have fat free in the house and it was 2 pts for 2 tablespoons, which is
a lot of dressing. I never realized how much that was until I measured it out. So with all of that yummy food my total pts were still low 16 out of 25. I am now down 1 point because of the weight that I lost. The more weight that you lose the less points you are given, the lowest amount of points that can have though is 18. The point target that I am looking to hit though is 22 points. If I can make it down to 21 points that would be great too.
I think that so far week #2 is going well. I know that it is only day 1 but I am not feeling as hungry all the time and I am really focusing on the food choices that I make. Now when I look for a snack I try to find fruit or veggies to have instead of candy or chips.

Well I am back from the gym now. Boy was that an experience. My mom was a hoot. We were suppose to leave at 8 because my parents had some things going on, but we didn’t end up leaving until 9. We did 15 minutes on the treadmill where it confirmed to both me and my mom that I am very out of shape. Then we did the 30 minute workout area. This was very similar to what we did at Curves so it wasn’t too hard for us. Only a few machines posed a challenge for us. Then it was back on the treadmill for a 15 minute cool down. Now I better shower and get ready for bed since it is almost 11. Until tomorrow.

144 Days to Go - Diet Day 7

The day for me began at 10 o'clock! Yup you heard it , 10 am! I was up way to late during the week and it finally must have caught up with me on Saturday night. So of course when I woke up I was hungry, so I had a Slim Fast right away. By 11 I was at my Gram's helping my mom and dad. I didn't get home until 2:30. I had Mate pick me up from their so that then we could go to Wal-Mart. I wanted to buy a digital scale. If I am truly going to do this diet thing properly I need to have a decent scale. Mate told me that it was my Valentine's gift. I also did get the next Twilight movie, and I know you are all wondering and I did make Mate watch it with me! That was his punishment for making me watch The Simpsons and Family Guy. For dinner we went to my parents house where my mom made lots of yummy food but I brought my own food because I am not quite ready to eat "real people" food yet. I had a Smart Ones Thai Chicken and Rice Noodles, snap peas, sandwich round, applesauce, and cauliflower. It was excellent, very yummy! My total points for the day was low again but my goal is make it better starting tomorrow. Total points 14 out of 26, I am nervous about weighing in tomorrow, but I am hoping for the best and I am very proud of myself for the food choices that I have made this week. So bring on the scale I am ready for it.

145 Days to Go - Diet Day 6

Today was the day of my stamp class that I went to with my cousin. I knew that she was going to want to stop for coffee so I already had that figured into my points for the day. I ate a breakfast of 1.5 cups of strawberries and a tall mocha no-fat, no whip of course. Then it was time to go to our class. When we came home it was a little after 1pm and we ate lunch. I had a Slim Fast and a cup of snap peas. Then it was off to my Gram's. When I got back home I curled up in my chair and watched some tv. My parents brought the dogs over so that I could babysit them. Boy are those two a treat. After getting over the fact that they were at my house, they settled down very nicely on my lap. We watched Top Gun and I crocheted. We ate dinner late again, I had a Smart Ones Slow Roasted Turkey with mashed potatoes, and applesauce cup, and a sandwich round with butter. My total points for the day were a disaster again. Only 15 pts. out of 26. I really need to try to maximize my points. That is going to be my goal for the upcoming week.

146 Days to Go - Diet Day 5

The Power to Resist. I totally had this today! One of our vendors brought donuts to work today for us. I was proud of myself for resisting. I love a good chocolate donut. I had my chocolate Slim Fast instead around 10:20. Lunch was at 12:40, shake, rice cakes and carrots.
My car got fixed, it was expensive but not as much as I had originally thought. Which I guess is good.
This morning when I was home my Mom called me on her way to work. She asked me if "we" were joining Planet Fitness. (Remember in Tuesday night's post I think that I said I was going to go sign up for a gym membership - ok well I hadn't yet) Anyway, I told her that if she would join then I would join too. So tonight after work I went to her house and we went over to the gym together. A girl took us around to show us all of the amenities and the equipment, they sure do have a lot of stuff in there. It also looked like my Mom and I were the oldest ones in there! We got all signed up and received a free t-shirt! As we were leaving my Mom said to me that she doesn't even know how to use the machines in there, I told her not to worry that we can buddy up with my brother and his friend that go there.
We got done at the gym and I went home where Mate was waiting for me to go to the grocery store with him. I got strawberries, snap peas and grapes as snacks to have. The strawberries are 1 point for 1.5 cups, the snap peas are 0 points for 1 cup and the grapes are 1 point for 1 cup. I also bought Jell-O pudding cups in chocolate. They too are only 1 point. Pick'n'Save had Smart Ones on sale so I got a few more of those too. By the time we were done at the grocery store it was 9:20! I still hadn't eaten dinner yet and I was hungry and my head was hurting. So I had Mate stop at Starbucks so I could get a coffee. I had a tall non-fat, no whip mocha, which is only 3 points. Considering that the last couple days I have left 20 points on the table I decided that it was ok to splurge on this. Especially since I knew that it was going to help my headache. It is now 10:59 and I am still not even done drinking it! I am such a slow coffee drinker.
So when we got home I was hungry but not hungry so I made a Healthy Choice Sesame Glazed Chicken Steamer, boy was that a mistake. It was awful, I didn't like it at all. The sauce that was on it was too sweet or something. I couldn't even finish it. The point total for today is 18 out of 26. I am getting better but only by 2 points!
I have another stamping event tomorrow so it will be interesting to see what I eat, but I am sticking with my diet and I am trying really hard not to stray. I have decided too that since I am doing all of this hard work that I am going to deserve a new dress for the wedding that we are going to in July. So be on the look out as I am going to post some pictures of dresses that I like and then you can give me some feedback. Until tomorrow, I leave you with my coffee cup from Starbucks and my blogging journal cover that I made last night.I LOVE this cup!!!And this journal cover!