My Weight Watchers Experience

So, this is my Weight Watchers (WW) keyring. I got its bits and pieces as I've completed my program over the past year. Each piece represents goals that I've met along the way, and I thought I would share a bit of it with you.

The brass colored key ring was my first little prize. If you look at it, it looks like the number 10. This represents the first goal I met, losing 10 percent of my starting weight, which was 21 pounds. Yes, that means, I weighed somewhere between 210 and 219 when I started, but I'm not getting anymore specific than that. I reached my 10% on November 7, so I'm at least down to 192.2.

The little gold hands I got on October 17 for completing 16 weeks in the program. For those of you who knew I did WW in high school, you might remember that I didn't complete 16 weeks hen. I was so embarassed to be participating in a weight loss program that I ended it as quickly as I could. Now, I'm very proud of all the time I've put into this adventure!

The steel looking circle has a "25" imprinted on. This represents the first 25 pounds I lost. I received this on December 19, so then I wasn down to 187.8.

The 5K is pretty self explanatory. I ran my first 5K on May 8th and got my 5K award that next week. It was MY FIRST RACE EVER and I ran it in 35:04, my best time ever. It was an awesome experience.

So, now you know a little more about me and my WW experience. I've thought about sharing this for awhile now, and realized I have nothing to hide or be ashamed of- that I have decided to change my life and sharing my experience is part of my journey. So thank you for allowing me a little personal space- I appreciate allyour support more than you know. I'll let you know when I reach my final goal, which is closer than I can even believe.

Drew's Dinner Masterpiece

So, tonight I got home from my run and found out the Drew was gonna make dinner for me. The menu? Spaghetti and toast. We've also started adding frozen veggies to the pot so that it all gets covered in sauce and scarffed up with enjoyment.

With that being said, I told Drew that if he added a cup (meaning ONE CUP) of peas, it would be enough for both of us. What Drew did, however, was a bit off-kilter. He added one cp of PASTA to the BAG OF FROZEN PEAS. And it wasn't just a regular bag of peas. It was a really big bag of organic peas from Costco. So it was massive AND expensive. If he had thrown in a regualr size bag of peas, it might have been different, but no, size matters tomy hubby.

I walked in and he had "the look" on his face. You know, the look that says, "I need to tell you what I did but I'm not quite sure how to tell you." So all he says is "I might have added a few too many peas." A FEW, Baby???

An hour after dinner, I'm still laughing about the whole affair and realize that I am laughing because my husband was WONDERFUL enough to make dinner for me. Thanks Baby for a great laugh and a great meal- they both meant a lot to me!!!!!

Wife Appreciation Day

Today was the first-monthly Wife Appreciation Day. Drew and I decided that this (along with Husband Appreciation Day) would become a regular occurance in our home. Drew had his Appreciation Day on Tuesday so I did all his chores, made sure he got to pick what I made for dinner, and was at his beck and call. So today was my turn.

I woke up to the smell of chocolate chip pancakes with my favorite sugar free syrup. He started my car before work and then invited me to join him for lunch. After lunch I ran an errand for work and got back in my car only to find out that it was COMPLETELY DEAD!!! So I called my sweet husband and he came to my rescue. After 30 minutes of trying to finagle our way around my engine, we left my car, he took me back to work, and he then returned to wait for the tow truck. He got it to the mechanic safely and came back at the end of the day to pick me up. As I approached the car, he got out with a big arrangement of pink roses and white daisies (pictured below) with a card that said "Happy Wife Appreciation Day." He told everyone at work about what he was doing, and all the women wanted him to call their husbands and share his strategies. It was awesome!!!

So, I think this will be a regular monthly holiday celebrated in our household. It's kinda fun to have a day that we make up as we go- it's more personal than Valentine's Day and carries less expectations than an anniversary. you should all try it sometime!!!!

Saturday Market Adventures

Drew and I had a great day at the Saturday Market after my morning race. We got to see all our favorite booths as well as some new ones. We broke in the camera with some fun shots of treasures for sale, and the best part of the morning, the red velvet morning cupcake. We're thrilled to have our camera back and can't wait to put it to the test!!!

Pho-E-Nix

So I just got bake from an AMAZING mini vacation in Phoenix this last weekend. One of my best friends moved down to Arizona in December, and I thought it a great reason to go visit. But with all the sight-seeing I did, I swear I spent the majority of my time there figuring out how to actually spell Phoenix...so let's hope I pull it off. I won't share all my pics, but a few to fill you in on our adventures...

Day #1:
We got up and hiked Camelback Peak in Echo Point Canyon
Did some shopping at Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall
Dinner at Firebird Steak house ( fanastic steak- worth every penny)

Day #2:
Went horseback riding in Tonto National Park
Gat an awesome sunburn
Spent the afternoon by the pool
Had dinner with girlfriend from high school

Day #3:
Was a day of recovery from sunburns and drinking (a lot)
Went to church with Jen's grandparents
Lunch at a fun little mini winery
More time by the pool
Junk food for dinner and chick flicks all night long

Patio Garden

Fred Meyer is very tricky (and smart). Once a year, they run a one day special when you can bring in all your flower pots, but their plants/flowers, and they'll plant them for you with their premium potting soil for free before you leave. We had no idea this deal was going on when we pulled up, but we quickly learned.

So... here's what we got:
Four Strawberry bushes (Ozarks and Sequioas)
A Black Raspberry bush
A Red Raspberry bush
and a Rhubarb plant

I am so excited to have started our own little patio garden. We probably won't get a huge crop this year, but for sure will next season, if not a few in the Fall. Until then, I'll have to get berries from the Farmer's Market to practice my jam making skills until then.

After going to Barnes and Noble to research our garden, I am certain that this adventure will be "fruitful" (sorry, I had to say it)!!! Look forward to Megan's Special Harvest Jam (next season)!!!

Running

So low and behold, I've started running. It started out as a way to do something different in the gym, and has turned into quite the little hobby. I finally decided that I was going to really push myself and signed up to run the Boise Race for teh Cure on May 8th. But now that I've done so, I need to make sure I can actually run that much. On a treadmill, with a canvas belt beneath my feet going a hundred miles an hour (just kidding) I can run 2.5 miles easily (kinda). The 5K (3.1 miles) I've signed up for SHOULDN'T be much harder. With that in mind, Tuesday night was the first challenge I came across. My treadmill has an option on it to do a 5K, so I pushed start, escalated my time frame and started running. Knowing that I could run for 28 minutes (the usual time it takes me to run 2.5 miles) I began my trek. At 28 minutes, I had 1.12 kilometers left to go and I decided I needed to know what was in store for me. So I turned up my music, looked into the distance and kept going. Within 37:27, I was finished. I HAD RAN A 5K!!!! I was sooo excited I started cheering for myself and clapping and I'm sure everyone else in the gym was wondering just what I was doing. I was thrilled. So on Wednesday I tried it again, this time outside on the street (since that's where the race will be). I didn't run 3.1 miles, but I ran the entire time I was outside, about 20 minutes. I came home, still alive, but breathing hard. I felt soo accomplished!! Now, sitting here (yes, at work) I am already looking forward to running tonight once I get home. I never thought I would consider myself a runner, but am excited to see where the road takes me. And if anyone needs a running buddy, let me know...cause I can run!!