BYOC -- Bring Your Own Crazy

It has been a heck of a long time since I've done one of these. I missed it last week because I was out of town and away from my computer, but not this week! 

(copied from It's just Me, Drazil, & Sheniqua, who you should go and read because she's hilarious!)

It’s Friiiiidddaayyy! That means it’s time for BYOC – Bring Your Own Crazy! A little ditty you can participate in on Fridays to get to know your fellow blogger better and to give your blogging brain a break. Copy and paste to your own blog and ENJOY!!

1. Do you have a favorite traditional “birthday meal”? If yes – what is it and what is the meaning behind it?
No, I don't really have a traditional meal on my birthday, though it is tradition in my family that the birthday girl/guy gets to pick the meal (obviously). Whether it be home-made or we go out. I do have favorite birthday desserts though... Growing up my Oma (grandmother) always made me cheesecake because it's my favorite. Since I'm not usually home anymore for my birthday, I settle for store-bought ice cream cake. Mm all this talk of desserts is making my stomach growl...

2. If you’ve lost weight, has your style changed since you lost weight? Or what's your dream purchase when you do lose weight/hit goal?
I think my style has evolved, but I'm not sure if it's because of weight loss. I haven't lost enough to constitute a whole new wardrobe yet (everything mostly still fits) so I still wear all of my old clothing. I think I've gotten better at layering as the years have progressed (due to my gain of weight) so maybe once I lose weight I won't have to do that so much (although I have to say I like that look anyways, so we'll see..).

3. Pick one question of the following two to answer: Who is your favorite Muppet and why? Or who is your favorite Smurf and why?
Umm I never watched the Muppets and although I watched the Smurfs I don't remember loving any of them. Although, as a child if there was ever a female in a show/movie, they were always my favorite by default because boys suck and I knew this, even at a young age. So whoever the girl smurf was, she was my favorite.

4. When you buy a lotion or after bath spray or body spray or candle (not perfume) – what’s the “flavor” you always find yourself loving the most?
For candles (or in my case Scentsy), I tend to go for fruity/tropical smells, but I also like some warm cinnamon-y or sugary smells. As far as perfume goes, I don't have a particular genre. I use about 5-6 different scents and just rotate based on my mood. Husband's favorite is "Pure Seduction" by Victoria's Secret so I wear that when we go on dates. For all other occasions, I rotate between "Velvet Tuberose", "Twilight Woods" (both by Bath & Body Works), and "Wild Scarlet" and "Endless Love" (both by Victoria's Secret).

5. Repeat question. Summarize your week in real life and in blogland.
Real life is amazing. I did great on the diet/exercise this week and lost another 3.4 lbs (down a total of 8.2 from January 2). I had a great appointment with my new ob/gyn yesterday (which I'll post about ASAP) and things are finally starting to fall into place in the baby-making aspect (again, more to come soon!). I got to hang out with my BIL and future SIL last night and get to see my best friend and her boyfriend tonight. I'm just trying to make the most of the last weekend before school starts. I feel like I'm in a good place to get started again!

Blogland has been equally amazing. I cut out A LOT of blogs from my list, so now it doesn't seem so overwhelming and I can keep up with the ones I actually enjoy and want to keep up with. It's so nice to sit back and read up on everyone again. I was missing that for a long time, and it just feels good to have it back. Oh, and I got one new follower today, so that's always exciting!

A Day in Leia's Life

Luke: *chew, chew, chew*

Leia: Wha's 'at? 

Luke: *chew, chew, chew*

Leia: Bone? 

Luke: *chew, chew, chew*

Leia: Um... Brudder? 

Luke: *chew, chew, chew*

Leia: Tha' looks soooooo good. 

Luke: *chew, chew, chew*

Leia: Hm... 

Luke: *chew, chew, chew*

Leia: ... M-m-maybe if I jus' scoot in a wittle cwoser... 

Luke: *chew, chew, chew*

Leia: M-m-maybe jus' a wittle touch?

Luke: *chew, chew, chew*

Leia: Mmm.. I can smell it on ya bref!

Luke: *chew, chew, chew*

Leia: I can taste it on ya teef! 

Luke: *chew, chew, chew*

Leia: Can I has one, momma?

Luke: *chew, chew, chew*

Leia: BOOOOOONE!

Luke: *chew, chew, chew*

Leia: *chew, chew, chew*

 

And they lived happily ever after.

The Upcoming Events Post

Breakfast: 4 egg whites w/onion; yogurt
Lunch: chicken w/leeks, onions, mushrooms, and roasted red bell peppers
Exercise: 30 minutes on treadmill, 10 minutes on stationary bike, 25 minute upper and lower body workout w/Cybex weight-lifting machines
Dinner: 2 turkey burgers w/fat free American cheese, 1 tbsp reduced sugar ketchup, and 3/4 tbsp fat free mayo; broccoli stir fry
Snack: TBA

Just so ya know, this is what I'm dealing with:

A ridiculously cute (and malicious) canine whose only goal in life is to distract me from all things productive (like writing a post, cleaning my house, updating my resume, or studying for upcoming certification tests).

Oh wait... 

There's two of them!! 

I don't know how anything gets done around here, to be honest. 

_____________________________________________________________

I apologize, I got slightly distracted.

Weigh-in for week 1 of Biggest Loser is tomorrow! I'm really excited, even though I know it's going to be a tough week for me to see a big number, after having already lost close to 5 lbs last week. At this point, I'm grateful for any downward movement, after having only seen the numbers go up for the past several months (by my own fault, of course). I could have gone to the gym more this week (I didn't go yesterday or the day before), which will probably come back to haunt me. It's so weird... I enjoy and push myself once I'm there, but getting there is the problem. My DVR list seems so much more enticing, to be honest. But I have to shake that mentality.. Especially with school starting up again next week. I'm going to have to use every spare minute between studying, interning, and traveling to/from classes to focus on my health. Which should be a given, right? Ha! 

Ah! I knew there was something else coming up I wanted to talk about! I recently shared here and here about Husband and I trying to have a baby and not having success so far due to my lack of menstruation/ovulation. Shortly after writing the second post I made an appointment with a new ob/gyn to hopefully figure out what the issue is. The appointment is tomorrow afternoon. If it is solely due to not having a cycle (which was birth control-induced) then there's a possibility I can get a prescription to jumpstart that again. If it's something else, well, we'll just have to cross that bridge when we get there. I'm hoping menstruation is the issue and some medications will fix it and we can be on our merry procreating way, but if not, I know that God will help us through whatever it is. 

I'll keep y'all updating as we learn more. Pray for us tomorrow, please! 

'Night y'all!

The Get Real Post

Breakfast: None
Lunch: chicken w/onion, leeks, roasted red pepper, and mushrooms
Snack: 2 cutie clementines and a cameo apple w/PB2 powdered peanut butter
Dinner:chicken w/onion, leeks, roasted red pepper, and mushrooms; side salad w/tomatoes, dried cranberries, feta, and raspberry vinaigrette
Exercise: taking down all inside Christmas decorations and cleaning house

Okay, so now it's time to get real.

I posted pictures every 50 days last year to show my progress. Many of you called me brave for doing so, but now that I look back... I wasn't really being truthful. Even wearing shorts and a sports bra, things can be covered. Not only that, but I mistakenly only took pictures from two angles, which doesn't show everything.

I've decided that this year, I'm going to be 100% forthcoming. I'm not going to hold anything back or try to sugar coat where I'm at. It only hurts me, in the end, because I'm not being honest with myself in return. I took two pictures to illustrate my point. This is what today's picture would be if I was still hiding the problem:

Oh, and anybody spot my fitbit? It's the black strip on my bra =]

Not good but not too horribly bad, right?

Well, that's because I'm covering up what needs to be lost. This year, I'm not doing that anymore. It's not pretty, and I apologize if you don't like seeing fat. But this is what it is:

Hello, belly.

 

Well, now that that's done, I don't know much else to say. I think I should feel disgusted, but really I feel relief. Of course I'm unhappy with where I'm at.. But I'm so much closer to being healthy today than I was yesterday, and how can I be unhappy with that?

At this point, I'm just excited to see where I'm at the next time I take these pictures. And then the next time. And the next. This year I want to take pictures each month. Hopefully each month will be better than the last. 

The First Measurements Post

Breakfast: 4 egg whites w/onion and mushrooms; two strips turkey bacon; yogurt
Lunch: eggplant parmesan
Snack: 3 cutie clementines
Dinner: 6 oz crusted honey mustard chicken and side salad w/raspberry vinaigrette
Snack: cameo apple w/PB2 powdered peanut butter

Our first nutrition challenge for Biggest Loser this round is to take our body measurements so we can compare later at the end of the competition and see how far we've come. I did mine today:

Bust: 46
Chest: 40
Waist: 40.5
Hips: 53
Thighs: 31.5
Calves: 18.75
Upper arm: 15.75
Forearm: 12.5

I probably should have feelings one way or another about those numbers, but I don't know what's considered "normal" so I can't get a grasp on how far off I am. ha. Don't know if that's good or bad, but I am excited to see how many inches I lose in the next 8 weeks!

I start back to school a week from today, and I have to admit that I don't know how I feel about it. On the one hand, I am so ready to start my LAST semester of school (ever. EVEREVEREVER). But on the other hand, this break has been very nice and I finally feel like I'm relaxing after kind of eventful holidays. BUT I think the excitement of almost being finished is definitely going to win this time. I'm just a little anxious about all the projects and tests ahead... I hope this semester isn't as hard as I'm imagining it to be.

Tomorrow I'll be posting my "Before" pictures from Biggest Loser, along with some other shots. I plan on taking photos each month (as opposed to every 50 days like I did last year) to show progress. I will explain more tomorrow about what to expect from the pictures. Kind of nervous about posting them, because they're a little bit more "revealing" than last year's (and I don't mean less clothes). But it needs to be done. Come back tomorrow to see what I mean. =]

'Night y'all!

The Starting Weight Post

The first weigh-in for Biggest Loser was this past Friday. As I posted before, my starting weight on Monday, January 2nd (when we started the diet) was 262.2 lbs. By Friday, when I weighed in with BL, I had dropped 4.8 lbs, bringing me to 257.4!

I was really excited to make such great progress in only a few days. I'm even more excited to see where I'll be this coming Friday! I worked out at the gym three times last week and stayed active for most of this weekend getting ready for and cleaning up after the shower. I did not put pressure on myself to go to extra mile (pun intended) and do workouts there because I'd done so well at the gym during the week. I took that time to enjoy with my family and friends, and it was wonderful. I fought temptations to eat cake and ice cream on Saturday at the shower and again fought temptation to eat pie and ice cream on Sunday after lunch. I was really proud of that, and hope to continue making those good choices. I know one day I will be able to have a slice of pie or a piece of cake, but right now I'm just not ready for that.

Although I will admit that Husband and I did enjoy splitting a piece of Christmas chocolate when I got home. It was delicious and I enjoyed every bit of that single bite of chocolate. Of course I wanted more, but that's just not an option right now, and I need to learn to live with that! Slowly but surely!

I'm ready to experience more small victories in the weeks and months ahead!

Soon, I will be posting my body measurements and also my week one pictures. I'm going to try to take better pictures this year. Hold me accountable, friends!

'Night y'all!

The Unexpected Fortune Post

Breakfast: 4 egg whites w/onion, mushrooms, turkey, and sweet 'n' hot relish; turkey sausage link; yogurt
Lunch: chicken and vegetables
Snack: orange
Exercise: TBA (We're going to the YMCA after I'm finished this post)
Dinner: TBA (We're going out to eat tonight... I will make good choices, I promise)
Snack: popcorn

I had a great weekend! I left on Thursday night to go back to my hometown. My mom and I hosted a baby shower for a close friend of our family's on Saturday and it went great!

Zoey, Stacy, and Carol (three generations!) ... Oh, and baby Jaxon's in there, too =]

 

I'd post more pictures, but my mom and I took 50-60 pictures total, and I can't choose between the rest. This was by far the best picture, anyway. So much love right there! It was a great party with wonderful women. Jaxon is blessed already by so much love and we haven't even gotten to meet him yet! Can't wait to meet the little fella (my pick for the baby pool was January 11th... So only two more days, Jax!). 

While I was home, I also got to visit with a good friend from high school and her family. Gosh, it's crazy how grown we are! I know we still have our whole lives ahead of us, but spending time with her made me realize how long we have been friends. I didn't realize I had old friends. Most of mine I've only had 4-5 years. Heck, I've only known Braylen for 3-4 years! Nikki (the friend I visited with yesterday) and I have been friends since the 7th grade. I've known her since elementary school, but we really didn't start hanging out and being inseparable until junior high. Her house was like my home away from home in junior high. Her family felt like my family and vise versa. I was there when her now-husband asked her to be his girlfriend (or rather, when I asked her for him, ha). 7+ years and 2 babies later, they're still so much in love. It was incredible to get to meet, play with, and love on her two little ones yesterday. They are so precious. 

Holding up her oldest, who happens to also be named Braylen, as he sits on my dad's horse

I am so happy with this time in my life. I may not have reached all (or even most) of my goals, but right now I have incredible friends and family, amazing opportunities through school, two of the sweetest pooches in Oklahoma, a husband who treats me so well I sometimes have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming, and I'm finally living my life as healthy as possible. God has blessed Braylen and me with so much, and I'm so thankful. 

Just another reminder why I named this blog "Unexpected Fortune". When I least expect it, God shows me just how fortunate and blessed I truly am.