Fall

Today is voting day! I hope that we get a major change for this country, for the good. Everybody in office, just needs to be voted out (unless they are Republican, haha!).

I have now lost 34 pounds. I am very excited about this. I hope that I am down 40 pounds by the end of next week. That is a nice round number. Last night, for something different to eat, because I am so limited, I chopped up my ground beef (96% lean) and cooked it and then diced my tomato and put it in the pan and cooked it up with the beef and added salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic and a little crushed red pepper.. It was really good! It was kind of like a little chili. I will definitly try it again sometime.

This past weekend was Halloween and Savannah had a big time. Friday she went on a hayride and went trick-or-treating with her school. She was dressed as Super-Girl. Saturday we took her to a trunk or treat and then over to Derek's to trick or treat up and down his road. Derek and Haley did a cook-out and everyone came. Savannah and Cade had more fun handing out candy and drinks than they did trick-or-treating. They ended up with over 300 trick-or-treaters. Jackson was so cute, dressed as a cheeseburger.

Fall is definitly upon us, with the leaves on the ground and the nights getting to the 30's. Winter will be here before we know it.

Dreams?

Do you ever just want to have a pity party? I have so many things that I do have to be thankful for, including my amazing weight loss (now at 27 pounds), but I wish so badly that I could be a stay-at-home wife and mother. My daughter is growing up right before my eyes and I feel like someone else is raising her and the time that I have with her is what is "left over". I know that this isn't what God intends and it really upsets me. I wish that I could find a way to make it without having to work outside the home so much. And I do so hope that this is not a dream.

Family, Friends, and a Wedding

This past weekend was so great! My brother and his wife and girls came up Friday night, because we have a friend that we grew up with getting married Saturday morning. They got there at about 9pm and Savannah and Madison went wild. Savannah is almost 5 and Madison is 6, so they love to play together. Audrey is a 8 and a little calmer. But everyone was excited nonetheless and no one got to sleep until after 11:00.

The wedding was at 10am, so we had to rise and shine quite early and get everyone ready. We had no idea the wedding was outdoors and did not really dress accordingly. We still had a nice time though and it did warm up. The wedding was really nice and David looked so happy. His wife Beth seems to be really nice and it appears that they have a lot in common. I wish them all the happiness in the world!

At the reception we caught up with friends that we haven't seen in forever! I haven't seen Phil and Jeri since their wedding day 12 years ago! I hadn't seen Daniel and Zane in five years and it had been the same with David. With the exception of David and Beth, because according to David he had some "business" :) to attend to, we (me, Savannah, Ken, Rondi, Audrey, Madison, Daniel, Trish, Phil, Jeri, and Zane) went to Cheddar's for lunch. We had such a great time visiting.

Speaking of Cheddars for lunch. . . I knew that this would probably happen, so I had taken my meat in a container and I ate it on the way to the restaurant. Then at the restaurant, I ordered a tomato and an orange. I told the waiter that I was on a medically restricted diet and he was so accomadating. He didn't even charge me! I tipped him really well. I am just glad that I survived my first restuarant outing with such success! Especially at one of my favorite spots. IT CAN BE DONE! And I had it in me!

I went to my diet doctor yesterday. Officially three weeks and I am down 25 pounds! I am so excited. It is always nice to have a second person at a different scale confirm what your scales at home say. Look out people, you won't recognize me this time next year!

Success

Two weeks and a day in and I am down twenty pounds! And I am not hungry. I got hungry the first week a little bit, but now I get hungry at lunch and at dinner. When I am supposed to eat. In my whole life, I have never been so succesful at weight loss. I would love to fast forward to this time next year and see where I am at.

I have a fellow co-worker who is also doing this with me. She started her low calorie diet today. It will be exciting to do this with someone else. I hope that she has as much success as I have!

My Journey Begins. . . with Pneumonia

It was explained to me that the first two days that I injected with hcg, I would eat anything and everything that I could. They are called loading days. It is encouraged to eat as much fat and sugar that you can possible hold. I know! What a way to start a diet! As I said, I don't know exactly the science behind this but I was sure willing to give it a try. So, with much anticipation, I awoke Sunday morning, with a sore throat I might add, and gave myself my first injection. We had plans to meet my mother-in-law for breakfast at Cracker Barrel, where I intended to eat to great capacity. By the time we left the restaurant, I new that I had a bad sinus infection, and by that afternoon I was flat on my back. And on a day that I was supposed to be focused on eating! I tried to force myself as much as I could. The next day, I felt even worse, still trying to eat, and I had to go to work. By then end of the day, I told my boss that I would not be there the following day, that I had to go to the doctor.

Contagious pneumonia, the diagnosis is. And with a warning not to go back to work for the rest of the week and for goodness sake, don't give it to your daughter. Meanwhile, I am supposed to be preparing these very specific meals that I don't even feel like eating because I felt that bad. I may have never been that sick in my life. Scott helped me out immensly. Not only was he Savannah's only caregiver for the week, he prepared food for me and just did everything that needed to be done. And keeping Savannah out of my room was a chore in itself. Especially at bedtime, because she always wants me at bedtime. But, she survived, Scott survived and so did I. It took about a week and I am feeling much better.

Meanwhile though, as my body was at work, in that week while diligently giving myself my shots, I lost 14 pounds. In a week! And the doctor tells me that it is not water, it is fat. Visceral fat, which is the unwanted unneeded fat, not structural fat that we need. I am taking his word for it, but I am thrilled. I hope that at the end of forty days I will be down fifty pounds. That is my hope. All I can do is everything that I have been told, and we will see where I wind up.

And so, I continue on my journey, feeling much better now. I am changing my life and hopefully those around me as I go.

New Lease on Life

My life will be changing for the better soon. I am taking major action with my health. I have to make drastic changes, as I am now 150 pounds overweight. I have been for a long time and I am so over it. I will be blogging about my journey for my own sake. Others may join me for the ride!

About six weeks ago, one of my friends came into the bank and I had noticed that she had lost a lot of weight and I wanted to know how she had done it. She told me that she had been seeing a doctor that was giving her hcg shots (the pregnancy hormone) and eating organically. My friend, is also a filmmaker and she suddenly tilted her head and looked at me and asked me if I would be interested in being a case study in her documentary that she was making about the diet. All expenses paid.

Can I just say that at that moment, I felt as though God had handed me a gift straight from heaven. I immediatley said yes. I didn't have to think about it. I have to give myself shots everyday, but I don't even care. I need drastic intervention to take care of my health.

So, Tuesday I met my friend at the diet Doctor (Dr. Rodgers) and had my first consultation. He is so nice, and so are everyone that works at the office. They gave me the first month of medicene and injectors and explained the diet to me and everything that I needed to know and do/don't . I could hardly wipe the smile off of my face when I was leaving the office. I feel as though I have been handed a second chance at life. I start my first shot on Sunday the 26th. I can't wait.

Family Vacation

Tuesday, September 7 our family, plus Nana, left for our trip to Myrtle Beach. We were all very excited, as you might expect. Having lived there, we know our way around and have lots of friends that we were excited to see. We arrived at the Coral Beach Resort at about 3pm and checked in. After unloading, we went to Wal-Mart to buy some groceries and got settled in for the week.
Wednesday, Scott went to see his friends that he used to work with and Savannah and I went to see mine. My friend Rebecca was coming to meet us at the hotel to spend the afternoon on the beach with us and go to dinner. We had a great afternoon on the beach with her, even though I got a tad sunburned. Savannah had a blast in the ocean and playing with other kids. That night we got ready and went to eat at Joe's Crab Shack which was great as always and then went to Build-A-Bear Workshop, where we waited in line FOREVER! Finally we left with the ICarly bear, stuffed and loved and dressed in an ICarly outfit, to the tune of $40.00. Oh well, what is vacation for?!
Later that evening, Judy, Savannah and I were on the balcony listening to karaoke when Savannah decided to go inside. She didn't realized that the sliding glass door was closed and she slammed into it hard! I thought she had broken her nose. Anyway she fell back and was crying and I carried her to bed and she seemed to be okay. The next morning she woke up crying and saying that her foot hurt. It was swollen and she wouldn't step on if for anything. We ended up in urgent care and spent most of the day, with the end result being that she was in a boot and a wheelchair and couldn't stand on her foot until we got back home to see a specialist. But at least it wasn't broken! Thank God!
So, we set about making the most of our time. She actually was quite patient and really enjoyed the attention she got. She was able to get in the pool several times, and she rode the rides at the carnival. And boy has she enjoyed that wheelchair. She wants to go everywhere in it! Even to the bathroom.
Friday night, Scott and I had date night and we went to Crabby Mike's for crab legs. It was wonderful. Haven't been there for three years and I thouroughly enjoyed it. After we ate, we went to visit Missy and Damon and there little girl Hallie, who we hadn't seen in three years as well. It was great catching up with them.
Saturday was a really full day, as it was our last. We swam, and then went to visit Kevin, Candy and Talon. Afterward we visited with MaryLou and Chris for a few minutes. Then we went to Broadway and shopped around for a little bit and let Savannah ride the carnival rides. Afterward she went on a shopping spree at the Disney store and spent almost all of her vacation money that she had saved. After eating at Cheeseburger in Paradise we called it a night.
Sunday we came home and boy was I glad to be home. This has been our most challenging vacation ever, but we still made the best of it. It is still my favorite time of the year!