Wonderful weekend!

Oh my goodness!  I had one of the best weekends I've had in a long time!

Friday night Nick and I got to go on a date. We went to Red Lobster and it was delicious!  I just had a little salad, a little baked potato and shrimp scampi.  Mmmmmm!  We were going to go to a movie, but we were really tired so we went home and watched a movie instead.

Saturday I got my hair cut and colored.  It's SUPER dark right now, but I love it!  Here' a picture...

Saturday afternoon, we did our Hollenbaugh Easter gathering.  It was a blast!  Tricia and I filled 300 eggs for a Biggest Loser style easter egg hunt!  We split into teams of 3 and each team had to gather 100 eggs.  The hard part was that you could only gather what you could carry, so you had to bring your eggs back to home base.  We spread the eggs all over a huge area with a big hill, so it was quite a workout.  So fun!!  We had a "salad" dinner where everyone brought their favorite kind of salad to pitch in.  Yummy!!  Then we did a small kid easter egg hunt.  We also did skits!  Each team had 5 minutes to take a bag full of random items and make a 3 minute skit up.  Very cute!

Sunday we went to Nick's family's Easter.  Nick had to work Sunday, so we were only able to stay for a little while.  It was really nice to see everyone.  Here's a picture of Nick with his Mom. 

Sunday evening I went over to my Mom's for the Sutterfield/Aikins Easter and David's birthday celebration.  We had a nice dinner and an Easter egg hunt.  Then we did a fun white elephant game with our easter eggs!  It was a lot of fun and really nice to see everyone together.

Here is a picture of my Mom and I...

Tomorrow morning Nick and I are leaving for sunny Florida with John and Kathy.  I am so excited to have the time off work and to get to go somewhere warm and hopefully sunny.  I think it's rained everyday in April!  Everything is green, but I would love to see the sun!!  I am excited for John to get to play in a hockey tournament with his peers that also love hockey.  It will be a lot of fun to watch him!  I am also hoping to get to go to the BEACH and soak up some rays!!

I know I have said it before, but I am sincerely so thankful for my amazing family and for my wonderful in-laws.  My life is so full and so blessed.  I can't wait to spend some good quality time with John and Kathy.  It will be a great trip!

TGIF!! And stamping!

Happy Friday!  This has been a busy week.  We are leaving for Florida Tuesday and I feel like I have a lot to do!  Work's been busy and I am trying to get caught up before my vacation.  Also, with Easter this weekend, I feel like I am pressed for time.  I am sure I will get done what has to get done and everything else...  Well, we'll see!

I did make Nick's team Easter cards.  I was going to make a lot more and it's one of the things that just didn't get done.  It's not even a matter of procrastinating...  I just haven't had time!

Here is the card he'll give his team.  I also included a few pictures of the work area.  The eyes are a little creepy!  LOL!

This weekend should be a lot of fun.  Nick made arrangements to get off work early tonight, so we are going on a fun date night.  Dinner and a movie and probably some Easter shopping. 
Tomorrow is the Hollenbaugh Easter.  It should be a lot of fun!  We are supposed to meet at a park and do an egg hunt Biggest Loser style.  Then dinner and festivities at Grandma's.  I hope the weather is nice.
Sunday is Easter with my darling in laws and then dinner at Mom's.  I am hoping Nick can join me for dinner with his family.

More good times!

So, Saturday night...  The thing I couldn't talk about was a suprise party for Dave!  We had a suprise party at Great Times for David's birthday.  We had a really good time.  There was cake and video games and an air hockey tournament.  I think everyone enjoyed themselves and I hope David had a great time!
Here are some pictures:

Yesterday was just a super busy day at work.  It was the first day in a while that I was pooped at the end of the day and had NO ENERGY!  Nick and I watched movies all night.  I am feeling reenergized today!  Hoping it will stop raining long enough for us to go for our walk tonight.  It's storming today.  If not, we will do weights and the elliptical.

So much fun!!

Oh my!  We just got home from the Komen Race for the cure and it was AWESOME!!  The rain held off, which was nice.  It ended up being a decent morning!

Nick and I got downtown a little before 7 am and I am sure glad we did!  It was already filling up and parking was scarce!  Luckily, we were able to find a spot on campus only a couple of blocks from our meeting place.  There was a ton of stuff!  There were so many peole and a ton of booths and a stage and holy cow, the survivor's parade was awesome!  SO inspirational!!  It blew my mind to see how many people came to support this awesome cause!  Nick and I will definately do it again!!  The walk itself was really nice.  My good friend Louanna and I got brave and we ran the last leg of the race.  I TOTALLY didn't think I was going to make it, but I crossed the finish line still jogging!  It was so fun to the the race with her and with Nick and some other good friends from work.  There were about 25 Allstaters there and it was the best turnout we've ever had!
Here are a few pictures:

We really did have a great time!

Also fun...  last night I went on a shopping adventure.  I REALLY needed some new work clothes.  I went to Fashion Bug and got some fun stuff.  Most exciting...  I got 2x shirts, (still in 20 pants) AND I got 2 pairs of size 9.5 shoes!  I was buying 11 this time last year!  I got a pair of MaryJane heals and MaryJane wedges.  Very fun!  I got a couple of body suites (or tummy-sucker-iners since I am all about technical terms) a couple pairs of dress slacks, 4 shirts, some business socks (flight of the concords!! LOL) and some shoes.  I had some coupons and got some good deals, so I have clothes and didn't break the bank!

I also got my new laptop!! I ordered a new Dell laptop for school.  It's a 14 inch screen and weighs under 5 pounds.  It's bigger than a netbook, but a small laptop.  I love it!!! 

Tonight is that thing I couldn't talk about yesterday and still can't mention, but I hope it will be a lot of fun and the the weather will hold out! 

Have a fun Saturday!!  I'm off to stretch!!

Getting excited

I am pumped about the walk tomorrow!  We are planning on getting downtown about 7 am and watching the survivor's parade.  I am sure there will be a lot going on with festivities and such.  I've heard so much good stuff about it!  I am excited to be a part of it.  I will try to get some good pictures!

I am also pumped because I've been "officially" accepted to school and I completed my registration today!  Yay!  :-)  I am still jittery about the whole thing, but I am excited, too! 

There's some other fun stuff going on this weekend, but I can't talk about it just yet in case certain people are reading this and aren't supposed to know things.  (Love the suspense, hu??)  Fun stuff!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!

I did it again!

We did another 3 mile walk last night and it was AWESOME!  We talked for the whole walk and it made the time go so much faster.  Neither of us felt it at all.  (the first walk we listened to music)  We maintained  a 20 minute mile pace, so that was pretty good.  Not super fast, but we will build up speed.  Neither of us were winded or sore last night and I felt like I could have kept walking.  I am so ready for the walk Saturday!  I told Nick that our next step is to start jogging!  I would LOVE to be able to go for a jog.  I've literally had dreams about it!  I would like to be able to jog our 3 mile stretch by the end of the year. 

I also want to share some recent photos from yeserday of Nick and I.  I will be 5 months out on Sunday and I am down 80 pounds since surgery and 112 total!  I'm still avaraging 16 pounds a month.  I think I've mentioned before that my goal is to be at 200 lbs by the end of July.  I am still on track!  I think I'll actually scream when I get under 200 lbs! 

Here's Nick.   He looks so awesome and I can see so much change in him.  Physically, certainly, but in his confidence too.  I love it!! He's the best and I really do adore him.

And here's me.  This is one of my 2x shirts.  My pants are too big and it's not a great photo.  I will get more.

I am so proud of myself!

I am feeling very proud of myself today.  I had a good weekend.  I did a lot of reading with the windows open!  Love it!! I've almost finished Breaking Dawn already!  LOL!

I am proud of myself for a few reasons.  I applied for school today.  I've been talking about it forever and I finally did it!  I'll be going to Indiana Wesleyan and I'll be doing the LEAP program.  It's an accelerated adult program.  I will go to class for 4 hours a week and it will be the equivalent of full time school.  I am a little intimidated, but I am excited, too!  My classes will be Tuesday nights from 6-10!  Wowzers!  My graduation for my associates will be Dec 14, 2013!!  That seems so far away!!  It'll be good, though.

I am also proud of myself because Nick and I went for a 3 mile walk on Saturday.  We will go again tonight and again Wednesday night.  The Komen 5K is Saturday.  It felt wonderful.  I was trying to keep a good pace and we did the 3 miles in 1 hour and 5 min.  I thought that was pretty good for our first 3 mile walk.  We were walking about a 20 minute mile.  I would like to finish the walk Saturday in just at (or UNDER) an hour! 

I'm having a "Go Me" day!  YAY me!!

Glorious Friday!

Ah, the end of another work week!  My favorite! LOL!  This weekend should be fairly laid back.  Tonight, dinner with DH, DMIL and DFIL.  Mmmm Texas Roadhouse.  Chicken for us, but so yummy! 
Tomorrow - no plans!  Love it!  Hanging out and spending a spontanious day with my hubby.  Sunday - family dinner at my Mom's and probably some laundy.  I love weekends like that.  I normally book myself solid, so spontaious laid back weekends are wonderful!  It's supposed to be nice this weekend, too.  Can you picture me with the windows open in my jammies re-reading Breaking Dawn all day Saturday?  I hope it works out!  :-)

Generally Great

Hello and Happy Thursday!  This week has been a good week so far.  I am doing generally great.  MUCH better than last week.  I am feeling more like myself this week and my energy is picking back up. 
Something I have been thinking about today... 
How many times a day are you asked how you are?  I would venture to say I'm asked about 80 times a day.  (I work in a big office).  Now, I would say about 80% of the time, it's more just a greeting than a question.  I know I am guilty of that.  "Hi!  How are you?" Followed by, "I'm good. How are you"?  And we proceed with our walking in different directions.  Do you always respond with an, "I'm good"?  Do you pause and ponder and think, how am I?  The other 20% of the time are friends or loved ones who may actually be interested in a thoughtful, non-automatic response.  But even then, do they really want to know?  If I launch into a gripe fest about how my inner thighs look like a turkey neck and I ran out of toothpaste, so don't stand too close, is that sharing way TMI?  The days that you are "good", can you just say "I'm good"?  The days that are blue, can you say, "Eh, having a rough day" without having to explain why or risk raining on someone else's parade? 
I am pretty sure that I could say, "I'm generally great" and it would always be a pretty honest answer.  Maybe I'll just go with that.
If there is anyone still reading (really - why would you be?) I appreciate you letting me clear my head of this... :-) 

Hump Day

Happy Wednesday! Yesterday was Mary Helen's (Nick's Grandma) birthday, so John, Kathy, Nick and I went to visit her for a bit.  She was in good spirits and she looks great.  She had a stroke a few years ago and lives in a memory care unit at a nursing home.  It was nice to see her.  After that, we ran some errands and cancelled our Cardinal membership.  With the elliptical and the weights we bought, it didn't seem worth it to keep the membership.  It's so much nicer to work out at home. 
Last night was also the Biggest Loser and it was a great episode.  I am really enjoying this season and the people on that show are so inspiring!  They have lost so much weight in 14 weeks and they look awesome!
Not much else happening today.  Just a busy day at work, but it sure does make the time fly!

Shiny happy Tuesday!!

Yay!  The sun's out today!  It's supposed to warm up this week!  Hooray! 

Last night we had dinner and watched the NCAA Men's championship game with Matt and Trina.  Butler is a local team and it was very exciting that they made it to the end again this year.  They suffered a disappointing loss, but it was still a fun night with great friends.

Nick and I are just running some errands tonight.  Simple, lovely, sun-shiny day! 

Nice weekend...

Yesterday was a BEAUTIFUL day!  The sun was out and it was in the 70's.  I had the house open all day and we slept with the windows open last night.  Today - thunderstorms.  Booo.  Oh well.  If it makes my grass green, I'll take it!  It's supposed to be pretty nice most of this week and I am SO GLAD!
We had a nice weekend.  We went over to Jake and Jenny's for dinner and the Butler game on Saturday.  We did some shopping on Saturday and I got a few things for summer.  Some shirts and some capris.  Our Florida trip is in three weeks and I CAN'T WAIT!  I am really looking forward to going on a road trip and visiting sunny FLORIDA!
So...  While shopping I had some successes.  All the pants I got were 20s!  Yay!  That's down from the 28/30s I was wearing!  I also got a 2x and some 3x shirts!  That's down from a 5x IF I could wear that!!  I also lost 3.8 pounds last week!  I am at 238.4!  Yay!  Saturday Nick and I did a great workout at home.  I did several weight exercises on my arms and worked on the elliptical.  Felt GREAT!  My arms were sore yesterday, but not too bad. 
Hoping this will be a better week than last week... I'm cautiously optimistic!