Week 12 :: Have you seen my husband?

Great news!

Nate reached his weight loss goal yesterday!

We were kind of lax in our workout routine last week. We spent a few evenings doing yard work instead of doing our usual cardio/weight exercises, which granted, still counts as exercise, but it isn't the rigorous type we're used to. It didn't seem to matter though! I lost two more pounds and Nate lost enough to reach his goal.

I don't think Nate would mind if I announce his results. His current weight is 175. He lost 32 pounds in 11 weeks! He is a lot more muscular (though I thought he was pretty muscular to begin with). His goal now is to build his muscle up a bit more and maintain his weight. It is going to be a huge change for him to go from a 1,600 calorie diet to a 2,600 calorie diet!

I am so proud of him, if you can't tell. :o)

Have you seen him yet?

Nate's reward to himself for reaching his goal was to shave his beard. I normally would attempt to coax him to leave at least the goatee, but this time I let him do it. He shaved his whole face for the first time since some time in 2006. His mom, grandpa and I agreed that he looks about 17. I'll try to post some pictures at some point.

Here's to hoping I reach my goals. At this point, I am set to reach my goal in early July!

:: Laura

Sprouting Plants and St. Patrick

Sprouting Plants

Isn't the beginning of spring grand? See, I told you I love the beginning of every season! I discovered these tulips (and I believe there are also daffodils in there) last spring. They had been planted in front of our house by a previous renter, so I was really excited when I saw the sprouts last spring. I've actually never been into flowers all that much, but being married and having our own home has changed all that.

St. Patrick's Day

Last year, I was too late getting on making a special St. Patrick's Day meal. This year, I researched recipes a week or two prior, and I wasn't impressed. All of the recipes I found were not all that healthy. They were pretty horrible, as far as nutrition facts. I was disappointed. The "traditional" meal is mostly an American custom anyway, and not truly Irish. I do have Irish heritage; however, my father taught me at a young age about Irish history so that I would know about my Irish ancestors.

Most people know the Irish flag looks like this. The green essentially represents the Catholics and the orange stands for the Protestants. To put it briefly in my own words, they fought a lot and eventually found peace, which is seen in the white center of their flag. That's pretty great symbolism for a flag.

The American tradition of wearing "green" and doing everything "green" would be to support the Catholic patron Saint Patrick. I know very little about him, but as I'm not Catholic, it seems sort of silly to me. I like to celebrate holidays, however, even the commercialized versions of holidays, and so I kind of enjoy wearing green on this day. But, my father taught me that our ancestors came from present-day Northern Ireland and were very definitely Protestant Irish. So, he always wore orange on St. Patrick's Day – not out of spite, but since it is an Irish American holiday, it's fun to show that orange also represents Ireland. So, I wore a green t-shirt and an orange sweatshirt. :o) I think it would be even better to wear white some year, though I'm not sure that would help me avoid getting pinched.

So, since Nate had to work late anyway, I decided to forego the unhealthy meal. Instead, we stopped at McDonald's to pick up Shamrock shakes. The employee took our order wrong, and only rang up one shake. The employee who handed us our order gave us a second shake for FREE. That's two shakes for exactly $2, my friends. I love a good bargain, though the 500 calories weren't such a bargain for my diet!

Those who follow me on Twitter/Facebook will probably know that I was not impressed with the cookie (as seen above). It looks so delish in the pictures, but alas, it was not. It was so nice of my coworker to bring in cookies for us all. I generally say no to that sort of thing, but seeing as it was a holiday, I accepted. Ugh. I wouldn't say it was gross, but it was definitely in the "wouldn't eat again" category. They were from a bakery! I was super disappointed. I think next year, I'm making these instead. Maybe that will make up for it.

Job Interview Update

I haven't felt like updating about this because I really have so many things to say about it and don't really know where to begin to say it. I'll put it briefly and maybe I'll update more about it later. First, the interview went well. Second, I don't think I'm going to get the job. Third, I'm totally okay with that. Really and truly fine with it. I don't handle rejection well, which is proof that God's hand is in this. It was a marketing position at the hospital in Coldwater. Basically the job is about 90% stuff I'd need to learn how to do and 10% stuff I already know how to do. Not that I couldn't learn it. It's just so not up my alley. Even if I got a call for a second interview, I would probably turn it down. I still need out of my present position, and deciding exactly how and when that is going to happen is the difficult part. That's all I'll say on it for now.

:: Laura

In Need of Prayer, part 2

Update

I received an invitation to set up an interview. The interview is scheduled for 1 pm tomorrow (Saturday). I would appreciate continued prayer for calm nerves, that God would guide my responses to the interviewer's questions, and for a peace if this is indeed a position he wants me to fill. I am terrible about getting my hopes up about things, especially since I really need to get out of my current position.

Week 10 :: Progress Pictures

Weight Loss Progress Pictures

We're calling these our "progress" pictures, not to be confused with "after" pictures. If you've been following our Facebook/Twitter updates, you know we've been on the path to healthier lifestyles for the past 10 weeks. We posted some rather hideous "before" pictures here. Now we've decided it's time to show pictures of two months' progress. As I've mentioned before, Nate is currently 4 lbs. away from his goal weight, and he said when he reaches his goal, he is going to celebrate by shaving his beard. He was planning on shaving it come spring anyway, but now he'll probably shave it next week. I am about 1/3 of the way to my goal weight, but I'm excited to show my progress anyway. Without further ado:

Just to give you some perspective, the white jacket and the scrubs-type pants didn't used to fit. The jacket is a small and the pants are a medium!

Nate's dress pants (upper right) are a size 38. He can't even wear them with a belt. They're way too big! My fit man's lookin' hot! *blush* :o)

My Pick for Best Dressed at the Oscars

I'm not that into watching the Oscars. We don't watch TV really, period. Nate likes watching some sports, but what we can't get with the antenna, he can watch over at his grandpa's. Mostly we can't justify spending $30-60+ for a service we'd rarely use. So, we watch lots of movies instead.

However, when I saw this post about the Oscars, I was intrigued. I like looking at pretty, fancy dresses, but when I've seen Oscar dresses in the past, they usually are just so weird. And UGLY. This year, there were some weird ones, but overall, I thought most of them were pretty nice. This one, however, was hands-down my favorite.

This is Anna Kendrick. I'd never even heard of her until I saw the aforementioned post. She's beautiful! And so is the dress! The dress is such a soft pink, and so feminine! I love the detailing, such as the lace edging on the slit and the buttons up the back. I like her accessories too.

Visit the blog I mentioned to see lots more dresses and vote on your favorite. Last I checked, this one was winning. Yay. :o)

Our Tax Time Party

Probably like many others, Nate and I have been putting off doing our taxes. It's just such a dull, dismal chore, that oftentimes just means having to pay an extra bill. Since we've been planning all week to sit down and do them tonight, I wanted to do something extra special to make the job a little less daunting.

I've been inspired by some other blogs, especially this one, with ideas for decorating, crafting, and adding joy to everyday life. The blogger I mentioned, Melissa, has so many examples of her creativity on her blog, and she has even found a way to make even leftovers exciting for her family, with very little added effort.

Inspired, I decided to incorporate our supper into the project, so we could eat while we worked. Our big meal of the day had been lunch, as we ate Mexican with Nate's Aunt Sharon and Kirk. So, our supper could be lighter than usual. I wanted mostly finger foods, easy for munching and grazing while keeping within the constraints of our new diet. I loaded up the silver tray, introduced in my previous post, with various goodies I happened to have on hand. I actually took pictures of the setup, but I accidentally saved them on my camera (rather than memory card) and can't get them off! I'll just have to describe them now. Hopefully someday I will be able to get them off my camera and can add them to this post.

I started with some pepper jack string cheese and low fat mozzarella string cheese and sliced them into squares. I arranged them on a small plate with toothpicks. I rolled some ham deli meat and placed them on the plate with the cheese. We also had some 1/3 fat strawberry cream cheese to use up. I wouldn't normally serve two (make that three) types of cheeses at the same meal, but I knew we hadn't come close to our dairy quota for the day and could handle it. I sliced an apple and arranged the slices around the small custard cup size bowl of cream cheese. I added a strawberry as garnish for the cream cheese. I wanted to have crackers with the cream cheese as well, but we only had graham crackers. As I feel like graham crackers are more of a dessert cracker than what I was going for, I reached for the container of multi-grain tortilla chips I bought yesterday. I tried one in the cream cheese and was pleasantly surprised. The combination was a hit with Nate, too.

I had decluttered the living room a bit earlier, so Nate and I got our tax folders and settled down around the ottoman in the living room, with the silver tray of goodies between us. With teacup in (my) hand, we got to work. The job flew by. Before we knew it, we had all of the paperwork and forms filled out and the food was completely gone! We're waiting to actually submit the files, but the task itself is finished. Munching on those goodies really made it a stress-free, almost relaxing job. Next year, I might even meal plan specifically for our next tax time party. I imagine shrimp and cocktail sauce, veggies and low-cal dressing, olives, chunks of ham, etc. would have made it even more party-like. All of those foods are diet approved, too, so we wouldn't sacrifice healthy for convenient.

My husband agreed that this little extra something made doing our taxes so much better. It was almost like a date. Almost. (I should hope we haven't already reached the stage in our marriage where those type of dates are the only type we have time for!) I hope the next time we have a dreaded task ahead of us, we can think up a creative way to make it an enjoyable memory!

Spring and Weekend Inspirations

Spring is Coming!

I really don't have a favorite season. I adore the beginning of every season when things look fresh and new. I dread the drab ending of every season. Just now, I am really getting so excited for spring, despite the mud and nasty piles of brown snow scattered about our yard that remind me that it is indeed still winter.

I have yet to begin any real spring cleaning, but as Easter begins to draw nearer each week, I know I need to put that on my to-do list. Nate's mom is planning a garage sale at Grandpa's (next door to us), and I'm looking forward to sorting and getting rid of things we've already accumulated in our two short years of marriage that we don't need. I am not sure how much it'll amount to, but the extra cash will be quite welcome! I love organizing, but since we have next to zero storage space in our house, I can't seem to get the motivation to do so in the winter.

Weekend Inspirations

This weekend gave me plenty of opportunity to relax and be inspired. On Fridays, I only have to work until 3, so I occasionally take the opportunity to stop at the antique stores in Allen for a leisurely stroll while I wait for Nate to get off of work. The photo collage above showcases some of my finds! Click on the picture to see the details.

I found this glass container (with glass stopper, not pictured) marked down to $1 and filled it with yellow daisies to remind us to look forward to spring! The yellow daisies were a thank you gift from my employer, to commemorate a year of service. (They've lasted for almost three weeks!)

I've been looking for an antique (at least in style) dresser set to display on my dresser. Bonus if I could find one that wasn't necessarily an antique so that I could use the brush and/or mirror. When I found this one at Hog Creek Antique Mall (in Allen), I was thrilled, but afraid it would be well out of my price range. I've seen sets like this on Etsy for $36-$45! Imagine my excitement when this set was only $12! If this set is really antique, it's been painted and shabby chic'd, which ideally updates the look but unfortunately lessens the value. From the looks of the comb (it's missing a few teeth), the set is at least vintage. The plastic part separates from the metal edge, so the functional comb could probably be replaced. The brush is plastic, and after I thoroughly cleaned it, I used it. I love it. It works wonderfully, and to be honest, it makes the ordinary, mundane task of brushing my now very long tresses a joy, sort of soothing and relaxing. I won't mind leaving them out on my dresser (rather than putting them away in the drawer, where they belong) as they are so nice to look at. Score! Bonus for form AND functionality!

The silver tray holding the vase and my cup of Lady Grey tea was another find, though not one from the antique stores. Nate's paternal grandfather passed away rather suddenly last year, and his aunt has inherited the task of going through the house, sorting and keeping or getting rid of everything. We spent the late morning at his house going through things we wanted to keep. I found this silver tray and immediately loved it. It's in fantastic condition, and while it's probably from the 70s, it's so antique-y and fancy. I came away with a few random kitchen items that I may use or just display in my kitchen, like a flour sifter and cheese grater. Nate is inheriting a lot of tools from his grandpa. They'll have to go into storage for now, but I know he can't wait for the day he'll be able to use them in his own workshop.

Also, notice my teacup. I have an entire set of china in that pattern that my mom and I picked up from Goodwill a few years ago. I like it because it's white, gray, and silver, so it will go with pretty much anything and I can use it at any season. The flowers are pretty but not overkill. I have yet to use it much yet, but I do like to use the teacups for a personal cup of tea now and then. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

In Need of Prayer

I just applied for a job that I just heard about today. It would be such a fabulous opportunity. Please pray that God's will would be done in this situation.

Healthy Eating

I'm really not very picky, when it comes to food. It seems my mama raised me that way.

"What? You're full? You need to eat 8 more bites of your [insert green, cooked vegetable here] before you can get up from the table."

*groan* "Ok, mom."

We had to eat as many bites as the years we were old. Of course, when I say we, I mean my older, not-picky brother and me. My younger brother only had to eat 2 bites of whatever it was, even when he was 10. I guess it's a rule or something - the baby always get spoiled somehow. I'm actually not bitter about that at all. Nope. Hehe, I love you, Jonathan. ;o)

Anyway, I think it was a good rule. My brother and I grew up to have varied tastes in food. Even now, I will at least try any food. However, there are certain foods I just can't bring myself to like. The more I try to like them, the less I do. The food on this includes but is not limited to: bacon, bell peppers, oranges, Swiss cheese, licorice, and root beer. Ok, I know root beer isn't a food, but it seems there is at least one thing in each food group that I don't like.

Nate, on the other hand, isn't a huge fan of trying new foods. But now that we're eating healthy food, he's been awesome. I cook salmon, perch, shrimp, chicken, brown rice, couscous, artichoke; make salads and wraps; and he's great about eating all of it. He actually loves like 90% of what we eat. The food he has to "force down" includes berries and shrimp. He has an extremely weak sense of smell, which, as we were taught in elementary school, affects your sense of taste. Anything tart or sour tastes like just that - tart and sour. He doesn't get to taste the yummy sweetness of strawberries. He even refuses to eat sour gummy worms! I guess I can't say I blame him.

Probably the weirdest combination on this diet that we've come across was ricotta cheese with strawberries. I was like, "ooh, it'll be like a fruit and yogurt parfait!" I pulled it out of my lunch box and got all ready to eat it but, after one bite, ugh, it was gross! I made myself finish it because I knew it was good for me, but never again. Ricotta cheese in lasagna is great, but it is not a substitute for yogurt. It's not sweet. It's more like cottage cheese in flavor, but the texture is more solid. If you've never had it, picture firm yogurt that you could eat with a fork. I was not a fan at all! Nate actually really liked it though!

Week 9

It seems every two weeks, we add/alter our diet and exercise routine. This week, the beginning of week 9, is no different.

Week 1: Calculating our calories, 30 minutes exercise (the Biggest Loser Cardio Max DVD 5-6 days per week). :: I added the personal challenge of exercising 30 days in a row.

Week 3: Calculating calories, 40 minutes exercise.

Week 5: Calculating calories, 50 minutes exercise.

After some limited success, we still felt we could do more. Nate discovered an article in Ladies' Home Journal, of all places. Hey, he was bored at open gym at the camp... ;o) The magazine had a Biggest Loser article, a 7-day diet plan. It was a schedule for 3 meals and 2 snacks a day. Of course, we decided to attempt what proved to be a major undertaking.

Week 7: Calculating calories, 50 minutes of exercise, 3 healthy meals and 2 healthy snacks.

Trust me, that first grocery bill wasn't much fun as our fridge was void of all the fresh fruit and vegetables required by the plan. For a couple who rarely ate breakfast (unless it was a bowl of cereal), threw together a sandwich, chips, and maybe an apple for lunch (on the days we didn't eat at the camp or eat out), and didn't have a regular dinner schedule, this was a huge undertaking. It took me literally hours to even come up with a grocery list!

That week was definitely the hardest week of the 8 so far. We spent more time in the kitchen than ever. Days that we worked late (Mondays or Wednesdays due to Nate's open gym schedule) were torture. Ok, they still are. We get up early, eat breakfast, get dressed, work out, prepare and pack our dinner and snacks, get dressed AGAIN and ready for work, prepare and eat lunch (at like 10:00 am), and get out of the house by 11 am. I'm not even sure how we do it. We get home at 10 pm, if we're lucky. Not that I'm complaining. I know it will become natural and will get easier. It already has.

Oh, but before it gets too easy, let's add on something else! This weekend we bought the Biggest Loser Power Sculpt DVD. Enter today's workout.

Week 9: Still calculating calories, still eating those healthy 3 meals and 2 snacks. However, today we swapped the 50 minutes of cardio with 30 minutes of weight lifting.

I am not hugely excited about weight lifting. It's not my favorite past time. at. all. But it was actually fun! I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish it would have been longer. My arms and probably my whole body will be killing me tomorrow, but it's great. I want this flab gone. Now.

Ok, I know that's not realistic. But I'm so excited to see what happens in the next 8 weeks. I thought it would become a drag, but it's not. I don't so much enjoy getting up early every day, but the way I feel when I look at myself in the mirror makes it worth it. And the food we get to eat!

Oh. my. gosh. That could and probably will be a post all on its own. I will have to take pictures and post them. Just wait till I get started on artichoke! I could rave about it all day.

I don't know what week 11 will bring. It seems we add to this newfound healthy lifestyle every two weeks or so. I know that once warm weather hits, Nate can't wait to start running outside.

I promise every blog post won't be about our diet and exercise habits, but as that is what is in the forefront of our minds right now, that's what I'll write about. And if someone else reads and is somehow amused by it, all the better.

:: Laura

^ The Header ^

Ok, so I just spent an unreal amount of time on my blog header. I'm not at all ashamed to admit this though, because design is what I DO! I love it. At this point, I am like 90% happy with the way it turned out. I'll probably tweak it a bit more down the road, but for now it makes me so excited to share the blog!