Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Virtual Tour of My Life

So, I just learned of the death of a soldier my husband worked with.  While the guy wasn't currently in the army, and not deployed, they had worked together, and he was a good guy.
I didn't know him personally, but I can see the effects of his loss through all my friends and husband.
Anyway, my point for writing about him, is to acknowledge his life, and it's got me in a sad, nostalgic mood. 

Weight loss stuff is going well....I officially dropped lower than the nutritionist's scale, so I started counting again, (but then it went up not quite a pound this morning.)  So, I'm still at 42-43.  (even though iiiiiiiii know its lower than that, but I digress).

I am going to post a few pictures of my animals, and my life. 
Ok, to cheer me up, and to let you learn some more about me, here are some pictures!!

Here are some of my cats.  These are the boys.  (L-R) We have Lucky, Tucker, Hey Cat (orange), and Sooty.  The three on the right we had the longest (about 5 years), and the black and white was our first.


These are the youngest.  The kittens.  All rescued from different bad situations, at different times, but since they've grown up together (the two on the left especially) act like twins. 
We have (L-R) Wiley, Patchy, and Mia.  All girls.  They steal my heart every single day.


These are my puppies.  We have Tinkerbell (we didn't name her, but it fits!!) a rottweiler, Sinsa, a Pit, and Ginger, a beagle.  We got Ginger in 2003, and the other two in 2009.  We had to get a king sized bed so they could all sleep with us, and we still get kicked out of the bed.  Now that the hubby's deployed, they've taken over his side of the bed.  Whoopsie.


Wiley checking out the Christmas tree.  While in years past, with just the older, male cats, our tree survived well enough.  They'd play with ornaments, and some would break, but this year, with the 3 kittens....oy.  As you can see, they had a field day with it.  It was there entirely for their entertainment, so we took it back down.  They may have grown out of it by next Christmas, but I kind of doubt it.  Since hubby will still be deployed, I probably won't bother putting one up at all.


I can't NOT bust out laughing every time I see this picture.  I mean, just look at my hubby's face in the background!!  Mia had a special taste for tootsies, yum!!  Heheheheheheeeee


This winter.....    At any given time I will have at LEAST one animal on my lap.  Usually as many as will physically fit.  It can get annoying, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

The view from my lap.  I have 3 kitties on my lap, one doggie against my lap, two as close as possible, and one kitty on the outskirts.    So cute.


This occurred more in the winter, when everyone would snuggle together to stay warm, but this is what we found one morning!!  I literally cannot move one inch in any direction.  I am completely pinned, and the animals could care less!!


(taken from my cell while driving, so a little blurry).  This is how I travel.  I try to visit my family every other month or so, and since its just me, I take all the animals along.  We've got 6 carriers stacked (two kittens housed together in one), the two big dogs get a big bed of comforters where the seat folds down, and Ginger, the beagle, is in the front seat.   As you can see, I can't bring much else with me.  All my stuff must fit in a single bag on the floor of the front seat!


My cats and dogs all get along great.  There's not a mean bone in the body of THIS pit!!
Patchy giving Sinsa a bath.  <3


We celebrated our anniversary early due to my surgery date and not being able to eat real food conflicting with the actual date.  We went to Outback, and I got to enjoy some last indulgences before the big day! 


While I do not have any kids myself, I do have 4 beautiful nephews.  This is #4, born last month.  He's such a cutie!!   If all goes according to plan, I will get to my goal weight, the PCOS will be reversed, and I will be able to have one of my own in the near-ish future!!

One of my favorite things to do is to scrapbook/make cards/be crafty.  This is my desk.  We have an office/craft room, and my stuff has taken over!!


I made this out of a large wooden stamp block.  I painted the block, decoupaged a picture on, put a rub-on on,  and attached some silk flowers with sparklie brads.  I love how this turned out!!


I made this video of my craft room last year.  It has since changed quite a bit, (I unmounted all my stamps and they're in CD cases now, moved things around, stole the hallway closet to declutter, etc)
But it gives you an idea!!  I may re-do the video the next time the room is clean.









Here are some cards I made for Christmas and this past year.  I make more during make and takes, but I designed all these myself.








Here's a few scrapbook layouts I've done recently.  It's so hard to choose favorites, so I just had to pick a couple!!  This makes me wanna make some more!



And lastly, my very heart and soul.  He's my best friend, and my biggest support.  I love him SO much, and miss him terribly.  He's always accepted me for me, and I've never once felt insecure around him.  He makes me feel sexy, even when I'm at my largest, and cheers me on every step of the way down to my goal!  Thank you my darling!  I love you!!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

NNNNNEW HAIR!!!

I chopped my hair!


This is how I looked Walking into the salon

Immediately after salon

sultry look!

I love this picture!

BACK!!
I will be coloring it sometime this week!!!!
Stay tuned!!!




Dragon Lady

OK, I apologize for not writing in a few days.  Recently uncharacteristic of me. 
It was a combination of not much new to talk about, and not sure IF I should talk about other things.

Well, if you read my Church (Heavy) post http://mandaswljourney.blogspot.com/2011/03/churchheavy.html
you learned of my mother in law "encouraging" me to go back to church.  This proves how naive I truly am.  I knew better than to trust a snake.  But the way she sugar coats everything with compliments and concern, I let my guard down.  I confided information about mine and my husband's personal life that he had worked VERY hard to keep from her.  She KNEW that if she couldn't get information out of him, she could out of me.  And with him deployed, it was her perfect chance.

She started calling daily and I'd get 7-10 long emails from her a day as well.  I'd told her my counselor of over 3 years was Lutheran, and boy did that just make (my counselor) the devil.  She MUST be giving me bad councel because she's not a member of the TRUE church. (and then proceeded looooong lectures on the subject).
My mother in law's horridness is probably not going to come through this blog very well, because I don't want to get into it, just believe me when I say, she is VERY manipulative.  THRIVES on controlling people, and has been doing it ALL of my husband's life. 
The fact that I "ALLOW" my husband to be who he is and let him be, just angers her to no end, because it is the exact opposite of her. 

So....yesterday, let's just say.....shit hit the fan.
My husband has told me repeatedly he would tell her to leave me alone, and after I told him about her latest plot, he'd had enough.  He wrote her a harsh email (harsh but deserved) about how she is now OUT of our lives.  She'd been warned over and over and over to butt out, and she just couldn't. 
She plays mind games, and lays on guilt trips HEAVILY.   
So, as SOON as she got it, I got over a dozen phone calls on my cell and home phone.  I was expecting them, and did not answer any. 
So, I started getting voice mails, pleading, asking what I said (or someone else said) to anger my hubby so.  Then I got emails saying how she doesn't hate me, only tried to be my friend, why is he sooo angry with her?????  (she's good, she's REALLY good).

Needless to say, all this drama, and KNOWING how this had to be effecting my hubby, I was getting stressed out.  I KNEW he wasn't sleeping, cuz I know him.
Everytime she'd call or email or whatever, my nerves would go haywire, and I'd get riled up again.
Well.....its probably not a huge surprise, but I am a stress eater.
I ate a bunch (well for me) of spicy doritos, followed by a mini dove.  Wow, talk about a stomach ache.
Later that night, I had ice cream.  (this is all leftover food from my hubby).  MORE stomach ache.  I threw it out, but took a few bites.
Depression, and over all ichiness kicked in.  It was just not a good thing.  Nothing filled that void of helplessness I was feeling. 
Thanks to a friend, I was able to process some, and didn't do too much damage, but I'm disappointed in myself none-the-less.

Today, my husband got online, sent me the 5 LONG emails she'd sent him throughout the night.
I sent him mine, and we discussed the situation.
I told him how I felt responsible, because I'd told him about her in the first place, and he emphasized it wasn't my fault, its been a long time coming. 
She is to be OUT of our lives.  She has burned her bridge.  This is a good thing.
So, I feel better, knowing how he feels about it all.

Okay, no more talk on evil things. 
I bought a mini treadmill the other day.  It needs a new fuse, so I got it super cheap, but for now it works as a manual operated one.  And I found a place for it in the living room! Haha!!
I've been working out a lot.  I have the stamina to last a full hour or longer now.  I'm quite shocked.
I bought the Pussycat Dolls workout, tried it out on my own, then again with my friend. 
It's really fun.  Teaches you how to get your sexy on, and is a decent cardio workout.

Yesterday, I went thrift store shopping, and found a bunch of VHS workout videos.  No clue if they work, but we'll see.  I'm gonna try the Tae Bo today.  Last time (years ago) I tried it, it kicked my butt, but was a heck of a workout!

I don't know if I mentioned my dilemma with the scale-  my nutritionist's expensive scale was lower than my home scale, so I didn't know which to go by.  I obviously wanted the lower one, but it threw off following my home one.  So, I am letting myself catch up.  I've probably lost another pound or two, but now the home scale says what the nutritionist scale did, so I'll just go with it.  Simpler. 

OK, I know this has been long, so I'll go for now.  I may write again later.
As for going to church tomorrow, I'm just not sure if I can do it. 
I am trying to go get my hair cut though!

Here's what I want!!!

 

BYE!!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Picture Progress

Hello All!
Today was very busy but rewarding.  I worked out with my friend again, this time at my house.  We did cardio equipment, and then a workout video.  About an hour total, and very fun!
Even though I was sore for the rest of the day, for some reason I said yes, when another friend invited me to go to Zumba with her.  I'd never been, and was nervous I couldn't keep up, and that my foot would give out.  Well, I was pleasantly surprised!  I kept up pretty well, and just altered a few things, like the quick steps and hops, and squats to what I could handle. 
I lasted the whole hour too!!  Its a lot of fun and a heck of a workout!

This morning I went to my Weight Loss Surgery support group.  The scale there (which costs like $1000 and is crazy accurate), said I weighed less than my home scale does.  So I'm gonna go by that scale!
So I am now -42 lbs!!!!!!!!!  
I don't know how I'm gonna handle weighing again on my home scale though, cuz it's above what I'm basing it off.  Who knows.

I tried on all the clothes I have saved away from different seasons, but more from my different weights.
I tried on a ton, and I am 100% in the next size down!!
Its funny.....last time I lost weight (-55) I had to buy all new summer clothes, cuz I was 50 lbs less than I was the year before.  Well, the year after that, I'd gained, so they didn't fit.  And NOW....THEY fit again!  And perfect timing too, it's starting to get warm!!!!!

Ok, so here are some before and after/progress pictures I thought y'all'd (yes its a word) enjoy.
Facebook peeps, I know you've already seen em, so just bare with me!!!!




Pre Surgery, Highest Weight







2 weeks after surgery, -20 lbs
















6 weeks post op, -32 lbs
 





   



2 months out, -42 lbs






I am still not getting the hang of getting these pictures to cooperate.
Hope you can see a change, I can.  My butts shrunk significantly!!!
Night!