It's a Homemade Christmas

The hubby and I always try to make Christmas a thoughtful gift giving and make sure to spend lots of quality time with our families this time of year. (We also spend LOTS of quality time together - driving that is - since my family lives in Central Massachusetts <2.5 hours from us> and his resides in Northeastern Pennsylvania <3 hours in the opposite direction>)

This year we decided to take it a step further and tried our hardest to make as many homemade gifts as we possibly could. As you will see with the following pictures, I crocheted just about everyone on both sides of our families something special while the hubby prepared some pretty awesome cookie and soup mixes in a jar.

My family has already received their presents because we combined "Christmas" with the weekend in which we threw my sister a baby shower. My hubby's family will be receiving their presents on Christmas.


Here are the Choco-cherry cookie jars that my hubby made. He also made Double chocolate peanut butter cookie jars and a mushroom/lentil/pasta soup mix jar. He made a total of 24 jars and they will be/have been handed out to family members, co-workers and close friends. The cookie jars also had some fun Christmas shaped cookie cutters attached.


These are some pot holders that I made to go with some of the jars...mostly co-workers and friends will receive these. How fun right?!


I had no clue what to make for the boys in my life so most of them got some form of warm hat :-) My brother and father are avid hunters so I made them in Pumpkin Orange so they can stand out in the woods. I was going to make them scarves as well until I randomly found a pattern for neck warmers. They are meant to be worn like my father has his on in the picture but they also discovered upside-down might work too since their breath could be caught in the neckwarmer and keep their chins warm....interesting...hope it works!


My sister is modeling her brand-y new baby blanket that I made for herself and her hubby. They are expecting their first bundle of joy at the end of January and we are all ECSTATIC! First grandchild on either side of their families...this kid is going to be CRAZY spoiled! (Side note...yes she is 7.5 months pregnant here and you can't even freakin tell! I hate her! - I only say that because it is guaranteed that I will NOT look like her at all when I get pregnant!)


This is my mom's afghan. I really LOVE how it turned out. I decided to do something fun and join in a "Mystery Crochet-Along" that the Bernat blog sponsored. I started back in October (I think) and the blog gave you a clue each week for squares to make. By early December you had a complete afghan to keep for yourself or give as a present. I started off with the recommended yarn colors from Bernat with the intention of giving the afghan to Mom but the colors were just not her....so I went and bought some yarn in the color "denim" which is much more her style. I love the way it came out. The yarn was a bit thinner than the Bernat yarn so I had to use a smaller hook which made the overall afghan smaller than I would have liked but I am still happy with the result. She loved it! AND I still have the other yarn to make my very own afghan when I have some down time. I can't wait!


My other sister is quite finicky when it comes to homemade presents. I wanted to make her a shawl that she could keep at work in case she got chilly. I had a BEAUTIFUL pattern all picked out. I attempted it about 25 times and enlisted the help of another crocheter...it was not meant to be. I was quite disappointed but I really think the pattern was not correct. Anyways, this is a second pattern that I really liked and I was impressed with the finished product. I bought a really nice pin to go with it so that it would stay wrapped around her. It was a success...she liked it a lot (or she played it up really well so as to not hurt my feelings) :-)


Here's an up close shot of the stitches. The yarn I used went really nicely with the pattern and it was fun to work with.

So that ends my side...on to my hubby's side of things.


This afghan is one of my favorite designs. It is really easy to crochet in a hurry and it is a fun pattern. This particular one is going to a family that is friends with my hubby's fam. It is a single parent household and each year we try to give them a fun family experience where they can enjoy each others company. To go along with this afghan we are going to give them a DVD of one of my all time favorite Christmas movies..."Santa Claus The Movie" - not well known but great flick, popcorn and hot chocolate. I think they will really like it!


My hubby's bro is receiving this hat/scarf set. I think he is really going to like the colors and how warm it is. Making this set led to my making my hubby a set for his birthday and a hat/scarf/mitten set for me. I did not have the ear flaps or pom-poms on mine...purely because making pom-poms is NOT my most favorite activity in the world!


Ooooh this shawl is another one of my favorites! It will be going to my mother in law and I love everything about it! The color, the pattern, how easy it was to crochet. Not gonna lie, I bought some yarn and plan to make one for myself after the Christmas season is past us.


And last but not least here is a shawl for my grandmother in law. I am quite nervous to give this to her! I think out of all the presents, this is my best work...but it has to be...Lola was a life long crocheter until a couple years ago when she encountered some medical issues and no longer able to crochet. It is triangular in shape and super soft and super warm. I really hope she likes it!


Up close shot of the stitches.

So that is what I have been up to lately.

I am still trying to get something finished for my father-in-law but not sure I am going to complete it in time for the holiday. It is the first time I am attempting socks so I'm a bit nervous but socks are really what he would appreciate the most. If they turn into a miserable disaster and don't work out for Christmas - he will definitely get a pair for his birthday (which is early February...so no need to fret on my part...he will understand).

I hope you have enjoyed my pictures. I love looking at all the wonderful projects that have kept me busy since August. I have 3 other projects that I have been working on but I will save those for another post since this one is already a little overwhelming.

Happy Holidays!

So I made some bread...

I have been wanting to use this recipe to make bread for a while but have not had the guts to do it. It comes from a wonderful book called, "Made From Scratch" by Jenna Woginrich. She is definitely pretty awesome in my eyes. She is only in late 20's and already owns her own farm in nearby Washington County and has a great writing career. I'm not going to give detailed instructions but take a look at my journey on making homemade bread from scratch...

Start off with some active dry yeast.


Getting the yeast to activate is probably the most stressful part of the process.


Then you knead and knead.


And knead some more.


When you finally finish kneading, it goes in a buttered bowl and put aside to rise under a damp cloth for an hour and a half.


The anticipation is killing me and it has only been 20 minutes!


It doubled in size!


Then you punch out the air from the dough, knead it a little more, cut it in half and get it into some buttered pans. You have to let it sit in the pans for another hour.


It doubled in size again. It is now ready to go in the oven!


Fresh out of the oven...I can't wait to give it a try!


But it has to cool first...ugh...the anticipation is killing me.



FINALLY! It is definitely a hearty bread! Turns out I think I kneaded it for a bit too long so I will cut back on that next time. It was totally worth the wait!


Have you made bread from scratch???

Favorite time of year

My hubby and I went on an adventure with some friendly faces. I'm a "Big" for Big Brothers, Big Sisters and my Little and I enjoy going apple picking in the fall. Turns out my hubby has never been apple picking...we needed to change this so he decided to come along this year. Then my Little's mom, her boyfriend, and little brother decided they wanted to join in as well. We all had a GREAT time picking LOTS of yummy apples. I couldn't wait for 2 things to happen after the picking process:

1. APPLE CIDER DONUTS!

2. Making all sorts of yummy deliciousness out of the fresh apples.

This year I decided I was going to challenge myself. I have become an expert in making apple crisp. My hubby has gotten really good at applesauce. I have been trying to build my courage to try making an apple pie. The pie did not happen last year...I chickened out. That was not going to happen again this year. Especially since a co-worker gave me her award winning pie crust recipe. AND the crust was made especially for an "Apple Crisp Pie!!!" Are you kidding?! I make a great crisp and now all I have to do is put it on top of a crust?! I can handle that!

So I attempted it...



(Please disregard my filthy oven...but look at that delicious crust...yum!)

And here is the final product...



It's a little awkward looking on top, but that did not affect the taste. It was excellent! I have a few things that I would tweak for next time but I am happy with the way it turned out.

I love fall for so many reasons....what do you like about it?!

Back on Track

It's always hard to get back into a habit that has fallen by the wayside. I am trying to get back on track with my Medifast diet and it is proving to be a lot harder than I thought. "Special" occasions are popping up everywhere (convenient huh?!), "it's just a bite" comments are easy to justify, and the excuses just continue.

I am really trying to make it a priority though. I am trying to fight through the temptations. For instance, my hubby and I are going to a craft fair tonight (I am super excited!) and we could easily say, "Let's just stop somewhere on our way" but we are not. We have made the conscious effort to make dinner at home and then go to the craft fair. Another example is that this weekend is the first weekend where a local fire company holds its monthly pizza/wings night to raise money for the fire department. My hubby reminded me of this and wondered if we should get ready to order some of the delicious food on Saturday....I said, "No!" So we are going to put that off until at least next month.

It's the small steps that we need to overcome. We are also trying to build in more movement wherever we can. We did the EA Active last night and had a pretty good work out. I love how you can have a partner during the workout. We are hoping to do it tonight too.

The big obstacle we need to work on is Football Sunday's. My hubby roots for a team that doesn't get much play on the tube so we find ourselves having to go to a restaurant/bar to watch the game. I am hoping to limit that as much as possible, but we shall see how that turns out.

I have a few friends that have just started or working on restarting Medifast recently and I am wishing them luck in their endeavors. It is hard but I know we can all do it! I have faith.

What have you been doing lately to be healthy and stay in shape?

EA Sports Active for Wii

I have to say that I am not a fan of working out. Ugh! I hate thinking about it, I hate getting ready to do it, I hate everything about it.

But then I actually start working out and I get into it. A few months ago my hubby and I invested in a Wii. We also purchased the Wii Fit Plus. While I have enjoyed partaking in the activities, I have had little time to actually do so. My job requires me to travel just about every other week so a regular work out schedule has not been developed as of yet. I try to get a short work out in hear or there but nothing consistent. My husband has been having a great time getting workouts in, having friends over for Wii nights (when I am away so that he is entertained), and he purchased the EA Sports Active game for Wii. He has been wanting me to try it out and I just haven't been around long enough or I have been way too exhausted to give it a shot.

The trial finally took place on Sunday. I did a quick, pre-set workout that took all of 8 minutes. It was great. I got a pretty good sweat going. It allowed me to try out many of the different exercises it offers. And it had me burn about 50 calories. I tried it again last night but this time I created my own workout. I set it for 22 minutes and 19 different exercises. It definitely was a workout but it felt good!

I am hoping to make this a regular part of my routine when I am in town and I can't wait to see the results.

I’m baaaaack!

Well, it has been a while since my last post. There have been many reasons for that:

1) I have been traveling like a mad woman for work lately and there just isn’t enough time in the day/week to get everything accomplished. I had to cut certain things out and unfortunately the blog was one of them.
2) I had hit the point in my diet where I am sick of dieting. I told myself that I was not going to allow this to stay a diet…that this time it was going to be a lifestyle change. I want to be successful this time around and I won’t be if I am referring to it as a diet.
3) I have been feeling like I am falling back into my old routine and I am not proud of it so I haven't felt willing to share what has been going on. I guess writing about it would mean that I would have to own up to it and I wasn't ready to do that yet.

But I'm ready now! I have taken about 2 months off. I have not just gone completely off the diet, until this past week. So I am proud of myself that I didn't just throw my hands up or throw in the towel.

A very good friend of mine is getting married at the end of September and I have decided that is a good goal to set. I am planning to lose a little over 20lbs by the time her nuptials roll around. I have an adorable dress that I bought/wore to another wedding this summer and I was not a fan of how I looked in it because I had re-gained some weight. I plan to be less than where I was in June and I plan to look AMAZING in the dress for the wedding.

I have started back on Medifast this morning, I am planning out my meals for the week, my hubby and I are looking at upcoming events and how we can handle the situations, and I am learning how to use our EA Active for our Wii.

Stay tuned for progress updates!

Irony...

I was so excited to get home from my Memorial Day weekend travel to see that my "No Impact Man" paperback book arrived while I was gone. The problem was the packaging!

It is ridiculous that it took this much wrapping to send me the book!

With that being said, I loved the documentary - I am SUPER excited to read the book!

Torture!

This is what sat in front of me ALL DAY today during the training I am doing in Auburn, NY (South-west of Syracuse).

The scent wafting up from the box was DIVINE. The sight was BEAUTIFUL. The taste would have been DELICIOUS. But the after-effects would have been HORRIBLE!

I am proud to announce that after enduring 8 hours of torture....I walked out of that building not having eaten ANY of these donuts. I am sooooo proud of myself.

Walking Challenge

My hubby and I started a new challenge today. We got the idea from my sister and her hubby.

They both wear pedometers, which keeps track of the amount of steps a person takes in a day. At the end of the day they see who has walked the most steps and that person is declared the daily winner.

My hubby and I need to get better about the exercising aspect of our weight loss journey. We are both rather competitive (scratch that - I am horribly competitive!) and we thought it would be fun to try.

Here's the difference. My sister and her hubby do it for bragging rights. My hubby wants prizes (groan!). So we are going to keep track of our daily step totals. Whomever walks the most steps each day wins the day. At the end of the month, the person with the most days won, wins a reward. I am not sure what my hubby wants if he wins, but mine will consist of a manicure or pedicure usually. If I am really feeling confident I am going to take 2 months of winning and get a massage or something like that.

It should be a good time. Gotta go...I have been sitting at this computer for far too long!

Traveling + Medifast Continued

The previous post was getting too long, so I figured I would post the results of the day in a new quick post.

The end of the training came and went. I began to feel MUCH better after we were headed back to the hotel. My co-worker decided she wanted to try the infamous restaurant "Juniors." They are famously known for their cheesecake. My co-worker was great and said that she would order something "to go" if I needed her too. And she would let me have only a BITE of her cheesecake so I could try a bite but nothing more.

I did decide to eat dinner with her at the restaurant. (I know, some of you might be cringing right now thinking I caved, but that really wasn't the case...trust me!) I had gotten back to my hotel room to change before we walked over and I ate a few pieces of my chicken that I had brought for my dinner that night. I wanted to take care of the hunger pains so I wouldn't go crazy when looking at the menu. We swiftly walked to the restaurant to burn some of the calories we were about to eat. I took a long time looking at the menu. I immediately said I would not get a chicken sandwich. It came with fries - I cannot resist fries. I was going to get a turkey sandwich, but it really wasn't speaking to me. What was speaking to me was a BBQ chicken salad with Southwestern Ranch on the side. That is what I ordered and it was delicious! Yes the BBQ wasn't awesome for the diet. I did put a little salad dressing on - I regret those wasted calories now because I would have been fine without the dressing. And I did eat a dinner roll (oops!).

As we were waiting for our entree's we saw a waiter walk by with 2 of the BIGGEST slices of cheesecake we had ever seen! Our eyes BUGGED out! We couldn't believe the monstrosities that were being served as dessert at this place! A staff member saw our reactions from a distance and started to giggle. We asked if those were normal size pieces and she shook her head yes. (No wonder why America is as fat as we are!) Right then and there we decided to split a piece of cheesecake.

It was delicious! Probably the best cheesecake I have ever eaten or will ever eat!

So yes, I ate off plan that night. You may think I caved under pressure but I really, truly did not. I felt good about the decisions I made. I do not regret anything except using the salad dressing. I am happy with how I acted.

I need to take these learning experiences and build from them. I am slowly learning how to handle myself in different situations when it comes to food - and I am proud of how I am making decisions.

Traveling + Medifast

I wrote this entry while on the road last week when I had little internet service. While it did happen last week, I thought it would still be good to share. And I can give you an update with what happened.

I travel for work. Sometimes a little, lately it's a lot. I find myself between a rock & a hard place when it comes to being on the road and staying true to the diet. When I go somewhere I like to go exploring. I like to see local treasures, sight see, try new restaurants, take advantage of everything. Right now I don't trust myself in a restaurant. I usually have a plan of ordering something good for me or planning to eat only a certain amount of things on the plate. But things never seem to go as planned.

I am in Brooklyn this week for work. I am not 100% sure but I think Brooklyn is known for their bagels & their cheesecake. Ugh! I am trying to be good. I brought every single meal with me for the trip. It is easy to do that on this plan as long as their is a fridge at the hotel. I am proud of myself for that. It is getting hard though. It is my 3rd and final night here and I want to treat myself. I will say that I am being pushed to the limit. Because of scheduling conflicts, we are training for 9 hours today. Yesterday it was 5 hours, tomorrow will be 5-6 hours. So being in the training room for this long is a challenge. Whenever I am not up training the group or preparing for the next time I have to speak, my mind wanders. Most of the time it wanders directly to food. It also doesn't help when the trainee's bring bags of wonderfully, delicious looking potato chips to share with the rest of the group. I have been "hankering" for some Frito's and here comes 3 snack bags of Frito's, a couple more Lay's Potato Chips (also a favorite), and some Doritio's (3rd favorite). It was so hard to resist the chips. I even considered asking one of the trainee's if I could have ONE of their Frito's - just to experience the taste. My co-worker helped by yelling at me. She gave me a hard time about wanting to cave. I needed some tough love at that point.

I have to learn to resist these feelings and these temptations because I am going to be on the road a LOT the next few weeks. This is week 1 of 7 weeks of travel in a row. Tough right?!

I mentioned a few posts ago that I had met my challenge of losing 30 pounds in my "Race to 30." I don't think I have given an update but I conveniently forgot one of the major rules of the race. Turns out I now have to maintain my weight loss for one month. I totally get it, I completely understand the purpose of this rule - but I am not a fan right now. I have had two bad eating weekends in a row. Last week I was able to stay completely on plan from Monday - Friday morning so I was able to lose all the weight that I had gained over the weekend. I had the same plan for this week too but the temptations are getting to be too strong. I am really trying to resist the temptations but I don't know how much longer I can do it.

I also usually eat dinner around 5:30 or 6pm. The training goes until 6pm, we have to pack up, drive to the hotel, get a meal for my co-worker and then head back to the hotel to eat. That seems like FOREVER from now.

I usually can pull myself back in by saying, "You want to win. You can do this." I don't know if I can do it today. And this frustrates me! I feel like I haven't changed at all during this weight-loss journey. I am starting to doubt my abilities to keep these 65 pounds off. I have to learn to fight past these cravings.

I hope I can make it through today's cravings. I hope I can blog tomorrow to let you know I was successful, that I didn't cave.

This is a toughy.........

So there you have it. This was a day that I really struggle with last week. It is a long enough post so I will post another quick one to let you know how it turned out.

MIA lately

I have been MIA lately and I don't like it. I started a loooong stretch of traveling for work and I ended up staying in a semi "schmancy" hotel that feels the need to charge for WiFi in your room...I hate that! I had all these grand plans of catching up on internet related stuff while I had the time in the evenings, but thanks to my frugal mentality, I wasn't about to pay $14.95 for the internet/long distance calling package (who makes long distance phone calls from hotel phones anymore?!)....so I am playing catch up right now. I am on the road for the next 6 weeks as well...I better not run into this problem again!

Anyways, I have had an entry in draft form for over a week now and I had another one running through my head while at my training this week, so I decided to write it out on paper and then I would copy it onto the blog when I got the chance. I am hoping that chance is tomorrow.

Sorry I have been MIA but a lot has been going on. I will play "catch up," I swear!

Awesome find

I have been spending a lot of time lately thinking about "going greener," how I can save the world a little more, and how to reduce my "stuff."

I have also been finding some really great blogs that I like to read (someday I will take the time to figure out how to get a blog roll going on my blog so you can check out these awesome blogs too).
Anyways, I was reading the most recent blog entry from The Good Human and it was talking about, "On A Budget? Make a Big Eco-Difference With Only A Few Bucks." There were a few products I had heard about, some I really could have lived without knowing, and then my #1 find of the day! They are called "Flip & Tumble Reusable Produce Bags!"
I knew they had to exist, I just hadn't found them yet. They are mesh bags to use when purchasing produce bags!! I have worked hard to bring at least one reusable shopping bag on every shopping excursion, but I always feel guilty when I need to use a plastic bag for my produce.

I am thinking a new purchase may be happening soon enough to change this old habit though! That makes me happy!

Have you heard of these or something like them? What are your thoughts??

D-U-N...DUN!

YAY! This morning is turning out to be a great start to a great weekend!

Not gonna lie, I woke up with no confidence about meeting my weight loss goal for the day. I felt bloated and yucky. I was down and out and not wanting to get on the scale. But I did because I had to. I have been weighing myself every Monday and Friday since I started Medifast in mid-December...no matter what the outcome was. I was ready for a let down.

I got on the scale and not only did I lose the necessary 3 pounds to win my race...I lost 3.4 pounds!!!!!

I really wanted to win this week because at 12:01am, Saturday May 8, 2010 I am no longer able to be considered a "twenty-something" :-( (It's funny that I am not having AS hard of a time as I thought I would be. I guess when you are surrounded by lots of people already over that hump, you really don't get any sympathy when you start to your little "freak out" session.) Anyways, my birthday plans are set to include some good ol' wholesome munching and I am not going to feel the least bit guilty! I don't plan to go extravagant and eat until the cows come home but I am most certainly not staying on plan this weekend.....hey, you only turn 30 once!

So, YAY! I met my goal. I have won the Race to 30 (pounds) and the age I guess. I am very proud of myself. And it is going to be a GREAT weekend!

"Radical Homemakers"

I am reading a fantastic book right now. I recently joined a book club and this is our 2nd book to read. I am so glad that it entered my life and I am only on page 67...can you imagine how I am going to feel getting further into it?!

It is written by a woman named Shannon Hayes. Shannon lives on a small farm with her family just south of Cobleskill (in upstate NY). To sum the book up, here is a bit of the write up on the back of the book, "Radical Homemakers is about men and women across the U.S. who focus on home and hearth as a political and ecological act; who center their lives around family and community for personal fulfillment and cultural change."

She goes around the U.S. to interview fellow Radical Homemakers to learn how they live their lives. What they consider important. How they are working to conserve the earth. How they focus on their family and community rather than material things. This "clip" from the book really spoke to me and I am hoping that it is true...

"The majority of Americans feel that as a society, we are too focused on working and earning money and not focused enough on family and community. Americans worry about our materialistic culture and fear it has negative consequences for our society, environment, and world. A large majority of Americans claim a willingness to take personal actions to reduce their consumption and materialism."

While I love working right now, I have always dreamed of being a "Stay at home mom." I am not sure how many children my hubby and I plan to have or when these children will come into our lives but someday I want a house full of activity (please refrain from asking us when that time will be because they are not coming ANY time soon!)!

For those that don't know, I work in the world of foster care and it has become a passion of mine. Even before I entered this field I always wondered why more people didn't adopt children...there are so many wonderful children and youth out there that need happy, loving homes. I learned early on in our relationship that my hubby was completely open to fostering/adopting children when the time came (I really did find a great catch!).

I grew up with a "stay at home mom" and I appreciated everything she did for us. She allowed us to try any sport/activity/group we were interested in. Our house always had 4-5 extra kids in it. And our friends liked being at our place. We didn't have a gorgeous home. We didn't have the latest gaming system. Heck we didn't even have cable! (And they still don't to this day) But you could tell it was a comfortable atmosphere with lots of love and laughter. It was a great place to grow up.

My hubby and I have done a lot of cleansing over the past few years. It started when we were moving in together. Taking a look at all of our belongings, we knew that it wasn't all going to fit into our new place...so we started to purge. We sold some stuff, we donated a TON, and we trashed what needed to be trashed. We still go through an occasional purge because we have realized that we don't need "stuff." This isn't what defines us. This isn't what brings joy into our lives. We are happy because we have each other. We are happy because we have amazing friends, family and loved ones in our lives. They are what make us happy.

So I am thinking that I am no longer striving to be a "Stay at home mom"....I have a new title....I plan to be a radical homemaker! I want to create a supportive, loving environment for my future family. I want to play a role in saving this planet. I want to only take in what I need. I want to live a simpler life.

Like I said in the beginning of this long-winded post....I am so happy this book, "Radical Homemakers" has come into my life and I just had to share!

Goals, goals, goals

I have a big goal that I want to reach this week. I joined a race called, "Race to 30" a while back. The deal was that everyone put $30 in the pot and the first person to lose 30 pounds wins the pot of money. I have fortunately been leading the race most of the time. I am so close to winning that I can taste it! My goal is to meet the goal and win the race by this Friday. I have been hovering for the past 3 weeks but this week I am going to do it!

How might you ask?

Well, I plan on eating "on plan" all week (yes I had a slip up or 2 yesterday...but today is a new day!). I will drink all of my water plus some. I will attend Zumba this afternoon. And I hope to get a few good walks in this week.

Friday morning is the official weigh-in day. Keep your fingers crossed and help me to "Think Thin!"

Introducing Doctor Bednarczyk!

I have to make mention to you, to the world, to whomever will listen - how proud I am of my husband. He has been working his tail off the entire time I have known him. He had goals and those goals have officially been met.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010 he successfully defended his Doctoral Dissertation.

He now has a PhD in Infectious Disease Epidemiology! What is that you might ask? Well it is the study of diseases in populations. A good example of what he studies....do you remember H1N1 aka "Swine Flu"?? Well he spent countless hours working at the New York State Health Department on response teams, conference calls, running numbers, writing reports, etc.

I knew nothing about the field until I met my hubby. Let me tell you, I have learned a lot about it in the past 5 years. It is a pretty interesting field. His dissertation dealt with Pap Smears in developing countries and HPV vaccination practices on college campuses...so if you ever want to know anything about it....give him a call. I'm sure he would be more than happy to discuss it with you.

YAY for Dr. Bob!

Medifast and Cosmo's....now that's a BAD idea!

I was in a celebrating type of mood on Sunday. It's not everyday that your sister gets married, you see an old friend, and you are all dolled up in a cute new dress. That was my Sunday evening this past Sunday.

I had a great plan of how I was going to stick to the diet. I was going to show some great will-power. I was not going to cave to temptation. It was going to be GREAT. I was going to be so proud of myself.

I was caught in the motions of the day at first....getting my sister ready for the ceremony. Putting on my really cute new dress. Getting all kinds of pictures taken. And sitting through the ceremony itself. Well that determination flew out the window when I was catching up with an old buddy of mine after the ceremony. I hadn't seen him in what seemed like forever. We were reminiscing of the good ol' days. The trouble we got into. The people we hung out with. You know the feeling. Then we decided to find the bar to relieve some of the typical stress that comes about during a family wedding. I figured, "Okay, I'll just have one for old times sake." I couldn't think of what to order so he suggested a Cosmo...it sounded fabulous at the time....so that is what I got.

Here is how I got to enjoy it....We were able to sit outside of the resort in northern New Hampshire and watch the craziness of the amazingly patient professional photographer set the Bride & Groom up in a great pose, take a few pictures, and then have to wait until my mom and the Groom's father got enough of the same shots.

I also need to mention the view that we had included this:Yup, that is the very amazing Mt. Washington in the distance covered in snow and glowing. The Bride and Groom are avid hikers, bikers, skiers, kayakers, etc. You name an outdoor activity - they love it. I have lost track of how many times they have hiked Washington, so it was fitting that it was the back drop for their nuptials.

Okay back to the disaster that was my bad decision. By the time we headed to the reception portion of the evening I was feeling a bit tipsy. I had only drank maybe half of the cosmo and I was having issues walking down the stairs to the wine cellar where the dinner was to take place. My lips had gone numb when I sat down for the meal. My buddy made a comment of how he wished he had my tolerance. I chalked it up to not having had a drink since early January. I knew I was in trouble so I was no longer going to be able to stick to my original plan of staying on the diet all evening. I was going to need some good old hearty food and I was going to need it fast. Yup and then I ordered a 2nd cosmo halfway through the meal - what is wrong with me?!

It was a great rest of the evening. I was so happy for my sister and her new hubby. He has been in the family for a while now, but as of Sunday - he was officially in the family. It really was a great time.

Then the after-effects started happening. I guzzled tons of water before I went to bed. I almost had to keep a foot on the ground as I slept just to make the room stop spinning. I woke up with a splitting headache that wouldn't go away. And I had to drive home by myself for 4 hours. Ugh! I had plenty of time to reflect on the past events while driving almost the entire length of Vermont on I-91 so I decided to figure out why I was so hung over. And here is what I came up with:

~ I have not had a single drink since early January
~ I drank 2 cosmo's that night and both were filled with top shelf Vodka
~ I have lost over 60 pounds (most of it since the last time I had a drink)
~ I am usually functioning on less than 1,000 calories a day.

DUH! This is why you got sooooo drunk sooooo fast and were sooooooo hungover the next day. Trust me, I am going to think long and hard the next time I contemplate drinking that much again. My husband was happy to hear that I have become such a cheap date. (Side note in case you were wondering, the hubby was unable to attend the nuptials because he was defending his doctoral dissertation 2 days later and needed to stay in town to work on the presentation, make edits to his final document, and mentally prepare for what laid ahead.)

But I was determined to get right back on the horse. That is the great thing about Medifast. You can be off plan one meal, one day, one week - and the minute you make the decision - you can get right back on plan again. I went through the entire day wishing for fast food, a slice of pizza from a gas station, anything with grease to help with the hangover....but I wasn't going to let that happen. I did this to myself and I needed to experience the torture so that I remembered it the next time I was tempted.

I did survive. I do regret some of my decisions that day. I am not dwelling on those bad decisions. And I am proud of myself for getting right back on track. But note to self - Medifast and Cosmo's = BAD IDEA!

To Transition or not to transition....that is the question.

I guess you could say I'm at a Crossroads of sorts. I have been pretty undecided lately. Like I have mentioned before, I am at the point in a diet when I am starting to get bored with the whole dieting concept. This is usually the time when I decide to give in and go back to my old eating habits hoping that I don't gain any of the weight back...even though I am going back to my old eating habits that got me big in the past. (Somehow the concept has always worked in my head - yet I have never been successful with it, go figure.)

This time I want it to be different. It has to be different. I need to make this work. I weighed in this morning and I can now officially say that I have lost 60 pounds since September. That is a MAJOR accomplishment. That is something to be very proud of! And I am. Don't get me wrong. I am very proud of myself. I am just looking at the future and doubting my ability to keep it off. I have failed every other time so what is going to be different about this time?! I have a problem with long term commitment when it comes to losing weight. I am really pretty good at taking it off, I just have a problem with keeping it off.

I have been weighing my options lately and I can't decide if I want to go off the plan because I have been experiencing a lot of stress and I am an emotional eater that uses food as a crutch or is it that I have reached the moment in my diet when it is time to transition. Do I begin transition to see if I am ready?

I was talking to a co-worker yesterday and I said that I have done really well at secluding myself from food situations so that I could be successful in taking the weight off. But now is the time that I have to work on my will-power. I have to start putting myself in situations where I will be tempted to see if I how I handle the pressure. Over the past 4+ months, every time I was put in a stressful situation, I always caved and ate things. Maybe I didn't eat horribly and I was able to show some sort of resistance, but I still ate more than I had planned to.

I don't think I am going to come to an answer right away. I am going to need to be patient. Usually I am a VERY patient person....except when it comes to weight loss.

Wish me luck and I would love any advice you have for me blog world!

Happy Friday!

Hissy Fits

Remember the days when you didn't get your way so you rolled around on the floor kicking and screaming?! Most people are under the age of 10 right?! Well, I had one of those nights last night! I am not proud to admit it but I feel as though I should share.

It has been a rough week in the "B" household. We have some major things going on. We had company last weekend, the same company is coming back again this weekend (my brother - trust me I'm not complaining...but it can be added stress when anyone comes to visit), had to make a day trip to Syracuse yesterday for work (more on that in a bit), my sister is getting married this weekend...so I have to head to NH on Sunday for that, my hubby is (fingers crossed) defending his dissertation on Tuesday (April 27), and we are preparing for a TON of upcoming activities over the next month or two.

I am an emotional/stress eater. Any emotions, any amount of stress = Erin eats and she eats good (well bad really)! I have been resisting the urge for a couple days now...but it all came to a head yesterday. Like I mentioned, I had to go to Syracuse for a meeting. The drive out was fine. I got to my location an hour early - great. Most of the people showed up on time = awesome. Then the person that was supposed to give us a tour never showed! We were in the right place. We waited for a half hour. We went looking for them. Turns out we were supposed to be in a specific room in order to start off the tour. Grrrrrr. I would have been fine and my typical laid back self but a person from the State decided that this was going to be her first meeting she decided to attend and didn't tell me ahead of time! Double Grrrrr. I have met her twice and I haven't figured out what type of person she is. Can I relate to her? Is she going to like my typical personality or am I going to have to be all business around her? Is she going to attend every single freakin meeting? Give me the info, I need to know! It all worked out in the end which is great. But then I ran into every single stupid driver that doesn't know how to drive and should probably stay off I-90 forever. So I was put in a bad mood again. I was trying to shake off the bad mood before I got home because I didn't want to add any extra stress to my hubby because he can't handle anymore right now.

Just as I am approaching home base, my gas light goes on....I decided to wait until tomorrow when my paycheck was deposited in my account. Okay so I had to return a RedBox movie before I got charged for a 2nd day. I asked my hubby to start making my dinner (he's the cook of the family) while I returned the video because I was STARVING. I got to the RedBox location and for some reason it wouldn't let me return my stupid movie. Grrrrrr. Price Chopper Customer Service couldn't help because RedBox just rents the space....they have nothing to do with the company. A woman said she thinks there is a RedBox at Hannaford up the road. I drove up to Hannaford and couldn't find the stupid thing. I didn't want to ask anyone because I pitied the fool that tried to talk to me at that point. I was unsuccessful in returning the DVD. I returned home to a delicious dinner....which helped a little.

I quickly checked my work email to see if I missed anything major. I got an email from a stupid lady from a stupid agency. It put me over the edge....stick a fork in me....I WAS DONE! The scene unfolded with me running to the kitchen to find something to munch on...ANYTHING! But we have done such a good job in weeding out all the non-essentials that we had NOTHING to satisfy my cravings. I just wanted a cookie, a bagel bite, chocolate syrup...SOMETHING! My hubby was great. He was trying to help me calm down. He was trying to give me suggestions of how to eat something extra but still stay on plan. I was kicking a wall (and I missed the first time because my legs are so stubby short), I was swinging my arms, I was whining, I was jumping around. I realized that I was having no luck in the kitchen and I needed to get out of the room so I went back and sat on the couch to continue my hissy fit. I proceeded to lay down on the couch and continue to flail my arms and legs and grunt and yell. Again, my hubby was great.....he was laughing at me the whole time....but he was great. He was reminding me of how well I have done, what it has taken to get me to that point, how upset I would be with myself if I just relented, etc. But I wanted to wring his neck because he was laughing at me!

Long story......LONG! I survived the night. I ended up eating a Sugar Free Popsicle to help me get through the hard time...which helped a little. I am happy that I didn't go out and ruin my progress. And I am proud of myself for making it through another battle of emotional eating.

To give you a bit of an update...I checked for RedBox locations on their website and found that there actually is one in the Hannaford that I went to last night. I still couldn't find it, so I asked this time. It was hiding in a corner (not a good location from a sales standpoint). I also called RedBox to log a complaint. I wasn't looking for anything special. I wasn't going to be an obnoxiously mean customer. I just wanted to make them aware of the problem. The guy was very nice. He was appreciative of me making him aware of the other RedBox refusing returns and he ended up crediting my account since I was getting charged for a 2nd day.

I hope you got a laugh out of this. I am soon going to be at the point where I can laugh about it myself...just not yet. :-)

I love to Crochet

I don't think I have talked about it much in my new location...but I love to crochet! It relaxes me, it keeps my hands busy while watching TV, and most importantly...it relaxes me ;-)

I know I have mentioned this a couple posts ago, but I happen to be a Professional Wedding Attender. My hubby and I have attended 24 weddings in the past 5 years (with 6 more coming in the next few months). Many good friends have "tied the knot" and I have wanted to help them celebrate by giving them a special gift. So I make these special friends what I like to call "Sweethearts blankets." They are actually afghans that I crochet. I make one huge "Granny Square." And when I say huge...I mean fits over a king size bed huge! They are so much fun to make. Lots of hard work, love, and even prayer goes into each and every one of these afghans. I have been super busy making these afghans in preparation for this year. I am going to end up making 5 of these for 6 of the upcoming weddings. I currently have 3 completed. But I can't show you pictures just yet, because some of these fabulous friends follow this blog and I don't want to ruin any surprises.

The 4th afghan is going to be a little different than my normal wedding afghan. It is for a couple that that my hubby and I are mentoring through our Church parish. We have really only gotten to know them because of their impending nuptials. So while I thought it would be nice to give them an afghan that they can cuddle up with each other under it, I didn't necessarily want to give them a "Sweethearts Blanket." The next best thing - my "Scrap Wrap afghan." This pattern is awesome! And I have made 2 in the past (another one being a wedding present for my hubby's colleague.

Here is a pic from the catalog of what the finished product should look like:It is so fun to make, organize, and assemble. I did a lot of organizing last night so that I could begin the assembly process and I wanted to share a bit of the process. First you make a ton of tiny "granny squares" (I made 1,184 for this particular project). Then you begin to lay them out on a flat surface in 26 rows of 36 "motifs" aka granny squares. I decided to make this particular afghan a little bigger than normal so I made 28 rows of 40 motifs. This pic is about halfway done:And after a couple of hours of hard work, here is the final lay-out:Now I need to find a way to put this away until I can crochet them all together...because my hubby would be pretty upset if he didn't get to sleep in our bed due to a crochet project. So I take a long piece of yarn, one row of motifs and string them together. I label the first motif of the row so I know what order the squares go in and here is the finished product (for now):Now all I have to do is crochet them together vertically and horizontally and then finish it off with a great border around the whole afghan. Stay tuned, I will post pics when I am done.

Ta Da....The Big Reveal!

Well, Saturday was the big day....I got my first (and most likely only) tattoo. I went to Lark Tattoo on Lark Street in Albany and Kara was my tattoo artist. My friend has gotten many a tattoo done by Kara and she came highly recommended.

My brother came out from MA for the big day. About a year ago he and I made a deal....he would wait to get his 2nd tattoo until I met my weight loss goal. Things weren't looking too great for a while (meaning I wasn't losing any weight) so he upped the anti. He said he would only wait until summer 2010 for me and then he was going to do it without me. Like I mentioned in the past, things turned around when I started Medifast. He was actually surprise at how quickly I lost the weight and met the goal.

I am a self-proclaimed pansy when it comes to pain. For those that know me, I would do just about anything to help a person in need. I volunteer my time, energy, and talents. I help friends move, paint, clean. I am a Big for Big Brothers, Big Sisters. The list could go on...but the one thing I can't bring myself to do - Donate Blood. I feel horrible whenever I see a Blood Drive advertised, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I hate needles. I hate pain. I hate everything about it. So how the heck was I going to manage getting a tattoo. Here's how:I wouldn't let go of Bri's hand the whole time. I squeezed pretty tightly at significant points during the process. And my hubby kept the conversation going as a distraction. I couldn't bare to watch Kara do her thing...thank goodness the hubby also got plenty of pics for me to check out after the fact:The entire thing took about 20 minutes TOPS and Kara was really great. Here is the finished product....What do you think??

I love it!

It is the Constellation Orion...lots of family meaning and symbolism. Orion's belt depicts 2 very special family members surrounding me and the color of each star represents our birth stones.

I never thought I would get a tattoo but I am soooooo happy I did. I love it. I am constantly checking it out, making sure it's still there (even though I know it is going to be there forever), and admiring it. I couldn't be happier (I can't say the same for some of my family members though - they aren't big fans of tattoos....but oh well, I am not going to let them get me down!)

And here are some pics of my brother getting his tattoo. This is the before pic:
A little background on his...he has a tattoo on his left shoulder blade of a Celtic Shamrock and "The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit" written in Gaelic.So he got a Celtic Cross for his other shoulder blade. Doesn't it look awesome?! I told you Kara does nice work!

There you have it. This was our Saturday adventure. I am so glad it is over (I was a nervous wreck up to the point in which it was over), I am so glad I did it, and I am so glad my brother and I were able to do it together!

It's Tattoo Time!

I am getting my very first tattoo tomorrow....AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I am such a pansy when it comes to pain yet I am about to inflict a large amount of pain on myself intentionally. What is wrong with me??

Alright so one big thing I learned from Weight Watchers (one of the numerous times that I went through the program) was that you need to reward your successes. Usually people that are any amount of overweight will often think to reward themselves by treating themselves to a night out at a favorite restaurant or ordering some yummy food from a local take out place. If weight loss is your end result, this reward system won't work. We need to think of ways to reward our hard work things other than with food.

I want this time to be the last time that I go on a massive diet and have a ton of weight to lose. I spent a lot of time really reflecting on what I wanted as my rewards and here is what I came up with:
~ My husband told me that when I lost 25 lbs, he would buy me a nice antique charm bracelet. We have been given charms from our childhood and I would like to get one where we can start to build it as our relationship grows and we achieve certain accomplishments.
~ I said that when I went under the 200 lb mark, I was going to get myself a tattoo.
~ And together my hubby and I decided that when we hit our goal weights, we would plan a trip to visit friends in Phoenix, AZ. We have been trying to figure out when and how to get out there so now we were making it our goal to go on that trip!

Okay so now let's check on the status of each of these goals. I earned my charm bracelet a while ago, but I have not found the right one yet. I am still looking. It is hard to do because this is something that I want to look at in person, try it on, fiddle with it - but most jewelry stores don't carry these types anymore thanks to Pandora charm bracelets.

I earned my tattoo about a month ago but the tattoo artist at Lark Tattoo was not available on a Saturday until tomorrow. (YIKES! Have I mentioned that I am so nervous about the pain??) It's going to be exciting though because this is something my brother and I are doing together. He has wanted to get a tattoo for a while now and I told him to wait for me. Meeting that goal wasn't looking promising for a long time so he gave me until summer or else he was going to get one without me. Medifast helped me meet this goal. I picked a design with a lot of family meaning and memories behind it. I plan to get it on the top of my right foot. And while I am nervous and afraid, I am also very excited. I worked hard for this tattoo. I earned it. I am proud of myself.

I am working hard for the Phoenix trip. I have a goal in mind but it is a range rather than one set number. At most, I have 36 lbs until I meet that goal. I am hoping to stay focused and meet that final goal by the beginning of summer time. I would like to take the summer to maintenance off of the program.

So there you have it. Those are the goals I have set for myself and the progress that I have made on those goals. I do have to say that since I was going to have a month lag time in earning and getting the tattoo, I did treat myself to a manicure and pedicure as soon as I met the goal. Those are always a great reward!

I am thinking that I need to set up another small goal in between now and the final goal. I have been pondering a massage or another mani/pedi. I think I like the massage idea. Okay, I will buy myself a massage when I am halfway between earning the tattoo and the absolute smallest number I have set for myself. YAY! Now I am VERY excited.

I will make a side note that I do plan on eating off plan once this weekend. Since my brother is coming into town and we are getting our tattoo on Lark St. we have to introduce brother to Bomber's Burrito Bar! That is just a must! I plan to take a look at the menu and see if I could order a smaller size meal (maybe they have a kids menu) just so that I can get the taste of Bomber's but not ruin my entire progress!

Stay tuned for pictures of the tattoo!

Shopping....success!

Well my shopping trip was a success! I found a great dress to wear to the wedding next week. Wanna take a look?? Here it is. I also got a cute pair of white sandals and a white cardigan to go with it. I am excited to wear it.

The best part about this wedding is that I was originally going to be in the wedding and we were all instructed to buy a particular bridesmaid dress. This all took place back in August/September when I was FAT, so I had to order a Size 22 for the dress from David's Bridal. Back in January I got the idea to see if I could trade in the dress for a smaller size since I had lost some weight. They actually said that I could! Woo-hoo. I ordered a size 14. The woman looked at me (I was fitting into Size 16 pants at that point and we all know that dress sizes run smaller than typical clothes) with doubt. She said, "Do you want to try that size on before you order the dress to make sure it fits? Because if the dress comes in and it is too small - you are not able to return it." I understood where she was coming from but I knew I had this under control. So the "new" dress arrived and it has been a form of measurement for me. I try it on every so often to see if I can zip it up all the way. I haven't tried it on in a couple of weeks but I am getting closer and closer to the goal.

Long story, long...ha ha. I no longer have to wear the bridesmaid dress to the wedding! YAY. It has turned into a very small, immediate family only affair and we can wear whatever we want. I will try the formal bridesmaid dress on just before the wedding to see if I met my goal. But I was able to go out and buy a size 14 dress...so in one aspect, I already met the goal!

The shopping excursion was also fun because I was able to look at whatever clothes I wanted to check out. I am no longer restricted to the "Fat Girl Stores" or "Fat Girl Sections." I can wander wherever my little heart desires and check out clothes that more fashionable and hip (basically anything that doesn't make me look much older than I actually am).

Now here's the deal. I have become a "Professional Wedding Attender!" In the past 5 years, the hubby and I have attended 24 weddings!!! Can you believe it?! This is why we do not own a house yet, we can't afford the mortgage! Ha ha. And we have 6 upcoming weddings between next week and the end of September! 30 weddings in just over 5 years...there has to be some sort of record for that! So I mean it when I say that we are "Professional Wedding Attenders." Do you think I could add that to my resume?! Hmm, I will have to look into that. I have gotten into the habit of buying one or two wedding appropriate dresses per year and wear them to each....you invest in the wedding enough (showers, bachelorettes, wedding presents, travel, etc) that I am not about to buy a new dress for every wedding we attend. I like to recycle! So you might see a repeat in outfits over the next few months.

Ta ta for now!

Shopping

In years past, shopping has been the bane of my existence. I do it only out of necessity. My hubby actually loves to shop, so funny enough, he usually picks out a lot of my outfits.

Because of my big weight loss, I have had to do a lot more shopping recently (my wallet has not enjoyed it). And to be honest, it has gotten a little easier. I have been able to say "Adios!" to the stores that I not so lovingly refer to as the "Fat Girl Stores" or the "Fat Girl Sections." I have been able to re-enter stores that I have missed for many, many years. Shopping has actually become somewhat fun again.

Tonight is going to take me to the limits though. I have to buy a dress for an upcoming wedding. Again, there are PLENTY of other activities that I would rather be doing than shopping....laundry, cleaning my apartment, plucking my eyebrows....but I am thinking positively this time.

I have enlisted the help of my "fashion guru" and we are set to go tonight after work. ( Ha ha...fashion guru....I just named her that. Let's see if she notices ;-) )I will have to let you know how I made out...wish me luck!

It's a struggle...

I have been struggling the past few days with my diet.

I have learned I am initially really good at losing weight. I can usually hang in there for about 3 months and then I hit a wall. I get bored with watching what I eat, I hate keeping track of things, I feel like I have been doing it forever, and/or I just get lazy. I have been on my current diet (Medifast) for 4 months now and I am just shy of losing a total of 50 pounds! That is UNBELIEVABLE to me! I am very proud of my successes and I feel GREAT! I almost think I feel too great...if you can believe that. I am enjoying being the size that I am and I have started to lose the motivation or will to continue.

Trust me, I don't plan on dieting like this forever! I am not going to try and get to a ridiculously low number because I would just look sick! But I do have another 15-40 pounds left in this weight loss journey. I came up with this number while talking to my doctor about it. She brought up a good point - my body will tell me when I am done shedding the weight - I will just stop losing. This is how I will know I am done.

So I took a few days off my diet. I tried not to be horrible on those days off, but I guess I kind of needed the reprieve. I am still not feeling 100% but I do feel a lot better than yesterday. I stuck to the plan today, I did my weekly Zumba class, I am looking to schedule some good walking time this week, I am re-evaluating upcoming activities that will tempt me to "cheat," and I am trying to get my head back in the game.

I will get through this. I will be victorious.

Welcome!

Hi Friends,
Well I have officially settled on a new location. I originally started blogging a couple of weeks ago because I wanted to write about my weight loss journey that I started back in December 2009...but it turns out that I had so much more to talk about that the original name of the blog didn't fit the purpose anymore. So hopefully this new one will work out better. I plan to continue writing about my weight loss - trials, tribulations, and successes while also talking about favorite pastimes, goings on in my neck of the woods, and anything else. It will most likely be an all encompassing blog. I hope you enjoy it and visit often!

P.S. Feel free to check out old posts at thatshowigotfat.blogspot.com for recipes, inspirations, etc.