Today’s song is brought to you by the Pandora Pop Fitness station.
This time last year was a time of hardship and growth. No really–I gained 12 pounds. But it was also character growth, and so so good.
From there, we went through wedding planning, a wedding, getting a dignosis of ‘hyperthyroidism’ for Tazzerson (our cat), an international reception, helping my brother move, moving ourselves, helping my mom move, planning festivities for my sister’s wedding, and finally–attending her wedding. In between, I’ve been going to school and my husband has been studying for his certifications, our parents have had to take care of our grandparents as they age and needs change. We’ve had a ton of just LIFE things happening and when that happens, some things fall by the wayside. Thankfully, I’ve been able to maintain my weight for the last year–230 on the dot. But what is the point of maintaining when I’d much rather be working towards my ultimate goal weight?
The “life” things have settled down for the moment. Now it’s time to get back to the rhythm of working out, planning meals, and eating right.
Today’s plan is to get in a quick work out, clean the house, and do some cooking for the week ahead. When I buy breakfast at work, it’s a sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich (english muffin). There’s no reason why I can’t make something similar at home and make some healthy substitutions. When I buy lunch at work, it’s usually when they’ve got gyros in from a local restaurant 🙂 I can do that, too.
Now that life has settled down a bit, I expect to be posting much more often. Thanks for sticking with me!
How did I not know about origami owl until recently? I attended a party in late August and had a lot of fun looking at all the cute little charms and picking out ones that would go just so with my sister’s personality. I went all out on the first necklace I made and ended up spending a whopping $76 on it. It was completely worth it, though, to see the look on my sister’s face when she opened it up:
In her locket, I put embellished letters “V” and “M” for her husband and daughter, a rose-gold embellished heart, and a stamped plate that said “always.” There’s a police badge that I’m saving for her, and a few ideas I’ve got up my sleeve to add to her charm collection in the future.
Speaking of my seeeeester…… She got hitched this last weekend!! Now that all of these events that we’ve been anticipating are over, things should settle down a bit and return to less of a crazy pace. Just in time for the end of summer…
I had a great time in the wild blue yonder (aka Canada). The Mister and I drove up there on Thursday and arrived just in time for pizza. We were greeted in the driveway by Auntie Janet… It was just too funny the way she was just sitting there so I rolled down the window, shouted a warning “Flattering photo time!” and snapped the pic:
The shame is that when we were just over 120 miles from our destination, we realized that we completely forgot all of the party decorations for the Canada reception. D’oh!
On Friday, we ran around spending time and money replacing the forgotten items and picking up the rest of the supplies. We were so spend-happy, in fact, that my bank got all uppity on my behalf and locked down my credit card right as we were checking out at the liquor store. Yeah, that $220 bill is just gonna have to wait until I call my bank and verify a list the length of my arm to prove that I am who I say I am.
“Can I tell you about our products and promotions that might help you?”
“No, I’d like to get back to buying the liquor for our WEDDING RECEPTION! kthx.”
The fun thing about having a 2nd party is that you can still be a bridezilla after the wedding 😉 Future brides make note. Hehe..
Friday was also the day that the tents, tables, chairs, and portable washrooms were delivered. Whee!! The shirtless dude seriously needs someone to show him how to swing a sledge, though. He was reducing all of the momentum just before he made contact with the spike–probably because he was afraid of hitting himself. Anyway, he did all the work with his own body instead of letting the hammer do the job. Silly kid. *shakes head*
Once the tent was up, we set to work doing all of the decorating. Omigosh, hahaha! Jeff and I had the hardest time getting the paper poofs and the lanterns to stay on the fishing line. He kept saying “This idea is good on paper..but..it’s just not working.” We must’ve used a quarter roll of tape trying to get the stupid things to stay put.
It eventually worked out, though.
The rest of the night, we hung out and just kept crossing our fingers that there wouldn’t be rain. Don’t rain, don’t rain, don’t rain… What we didn’t count on, though, was Mother Nature’s counter-offer: WIND! AUGH! We had finally gotten the decorations to stay put, but when we went out on Saturday, the wind had made shambles of our efforts, lol. We decided it just wasn’t meant to be “perfect” but that it would be good enough the way it was. No one would even know we didn’t mean for it to be the way it was =P Pssh.
It was a ton of fun to just hang out with extended family and friends from Jeff’s side of the family. We couldn’t have asked for a better day. I think one of the funnest details was the candy buffet that our friends Anne and Errol gifted to us:
It was Mario-Themed and everything!
We couldn’t believe it. The guests all loved it, too! If you’re in the Winnipeg area, I highly suggest that you check out http://www.landonssweets.com
On Sunday, we took a (much-needed) day of rest. I think I was still in and out of sleep until at least 3pm @_@;
Today we made the long trek home and we’re happy to be here 🙂
AH! I still sort of have ‘wedding brain.’ I go home at night and still feel like we should be planning a wedding. If you’re interested in mini updates and food photos then you can subscribe to follow me at http://megsfitnessphototracker.wordpress.com. I upload pics of my daily eats and lately I’ve been updating on the day’s goings on too. I still intend to update here, but I feel like I owe you better content and right now I just don’t have it. You deserve better!! So, if you’d like to wait for better, I’ll have it soonish. If you’d like to settle for good-enough, check out my alt blog where I just update from my phone and call it good.
From MegsFitnessPhotoTracker: “I found a sammich in my fridge thus morning and decided it was breakfast. Nom nom nom.. Oh! And my plan of eating when I’m hungry and stopping when I’m full works.. I weighed in at 217 this morning. I’m pretty sure it was a fluke.”
Jeff and I got married last weekend!! Today was my first day back at work and it was really really weird to get back into the routine while having people refer to me as “Mrs. [Jeff’s last name]” That is going to take some getting used to!!
The week really started last Tuesday when my best friend, Corine, came to town from Michigan. She was the first to arrive and Jeff actually brought her to work so I could get hugs as soon as possible 🙂
Unfortunately, she was plagued with allergies and feeling like crud the first few days, so things were pretty low key. We spent a lot of time hanging out, playing games, watching Netflix, and working on wedding favors. That’s one of the great things about Corine – we can just hang. We don’t need to really be DOING anything to have a good time.
The rehearsal dinner was held at Grandma’s house and it was a really just.. super wet weekend. It was raining off and on a majority of the time which was a real bummer. We easily fit into my grandma’s house, though, so it was alright. I spent the night chatting with our officiant and visiting with my aunt and my niece. Jeff spent time with the guys and mingled with everyone else who was there.
We had the best groomsmen gifts 🙂 Jeff found these awesome pocket watches that have all of the mechanics exposed from both sides when you open them up. He had the front engraved with each guy’s name and he had the back engraved with something personal for each guy.
For the ladies, I bought earrings that I thought reflected each woman’s taste. I got engraved necklaces for my friends that had a quote about the value of friendship, and for my sister, I got her something more personal. It turned pretty entertaining on the day of the wedding because the necklaces were in the shape of hearts, except, Stephanie’s kept turning upside down. “Well, sometimes my heart is a butt.” Hahaha.. Love her.
Saturday was a day of primping and prepping for the wedding. Legs were shaved, eyebrows waxed, nails manicured, and feet pedicured. My MOH/Sister was so awesome–she had the salon open a little early and reserved all the chairs for our wedding party. Here, my niece is in the foreground getting her nails all done up. Steph is beside her in blue, then in the back row (getting pedicures) are Gloria, Mom, Me, Lori, Bridget (My sister), and Grandma. After the salon treatment, mom and Bridget went to the tasting for her own wedding (coming up in September) and the rest of us met up with the guys for a movie.
If you haven’t seen Star Trek: Into Darkness, then you’re definitely missing out. I had a few *wolf whistle* moments during that movie, especially for Benedict Cumberbatch 😉
Not pictured: My sister, Bridget, and Jeff’s brother, Rob
Saturday night was when the bachelor/ette parties were hosted. I hear Jeff had a grand old time gallivanting from the casino, to the strip club, to the hotel. The guys did a great job showing him a good time, lol… I heard rumors of gummy-boobs stuck all over the hotel to a blow-up doll stuck in his bed. Hahaha…
Us ladies were more refined… we had a Pure Romance party at the apartment and watched Pitch Perfect.
Sunday was the big day, but I want to wait to do a recap of that until I have more photos 🙂 Be patient!! It’ll be worth it.
I am supposed to be on my way to the Chiropractor, however, I realized that when I posted about my food this morning on my tracker blog, I also posted a mini-update. I’m a bridezilla. It started at 3pm on Monday, lasted through the day yesterday, and today I work up like a snarling bear.
This morning I’m actually a pretty happy person–my fiance is amazing and I have a great life–so hopefully the crabby goes away quickly.
The ‘zillaing was due to my coordinator just being scatterbrained and me being annoyed by it. I went over the details for the ceremony and reception venue and noticed things were missing. When I would bring it up to the coordinator (via e-mail) she would “Oh, I didn’t have THAT in my notes, it’ll be an extra $x/person!” It’s like, your JOB is to have these details in your notes!! AUGH!
People kept telling me I should let her see the face of the bridezilla and my reply to them is that I don’t want to burn the bridge I’m still walking on.
It worked out (for now) and things are going ahead as planned. My workout for the next couple days is going to be continuing to clean/organize so that there’s enough room for all of our guests to stay with us ❤
Would you believe me if I told you I didn’t plan this? I just got a new purse and wallet at target, and it just HAPPENS to match the fall jacket I’ve had for years. Guess I know my fave colors when I see ’em. Happy May!! The wedding count down is officially on. 18 days.
I visited the cemetery today. It’s so vast that we needed a map to find the right spot.
We found it, though, and… I don’t know how to explain it, I just felt at peace. My granddad finally got to meet the man of my life. And, we got to invite him to the wedding. It’s been ten years since his passing but when I called my Grandma, she was happy, and rsvp’d on his behalf, said he’d be there. He’d be happy to be there.
So, we’re really heading into “crunch time” for the wedding and things are heating up at work, too. There are 7 weeks left until the wedding and a lot of loose ends are getting wrapped up. Jeff’s parents came to visit over the weekend recently and we had a wedding shower (hosted by my lovely sister and my equally awesome Grandma) to celebrate.
There are lots of pics I WISH I could’ve taken, but I did not have my camera and the available photos are mostly focused on myself and Jeff. We did get a few great shots, though, thanks for my friend and bridesmaid Gloria, and Jeff’s Mom Sarah:
We got our invitations mailed out weeks ago and I think people have had a chance to appreciate their beauty before we posted them online… check ’em out:
The damask pattern was really pretty and doing the printing in black ink really helped us save on costs. It’s a delight to check the mail these days in the hopes of receiving another RSVP.
We’re using Google Drive to manage our guest list, vendors, gifts, and everything. It’s been really handy to have everything in one spot online–I was able to make a new tab and move folks over to that tab and share it with my sister so that she could get the invites out for the shower.
I just took a look at the spreadsheet and realized that so far we’ve got
125 unknown
92 accepted
32 declined
If you’re planning a big event and coordinating with people that may not be local, I highly suggest using a data system such as Google Drive to keep it organized. My sister liked the idea so much that she has her guest list imported now, too. Since she moved out of state, this will be a great way for us to keep in touch and coordinate about all the goings-on.
I’ve also been wrapping up a lot of the other details for the wedding, like crafting these adorable bookmarks and getting the vendors all squared away as far as a payment plan goes:
I had one of my last dress fittings before the wedding on Friday and it’s going to be pretty close. I need to drop at LEAST five pounds before the wedding, more if at all humanly possible. That means any and all stress eating needs to go out the window.
Maybe I’ll de-stress by gaming instead, now that I’ve got my rig back up and running… If you play GW2, look me up 🙂 I’m in JQ and my sn is Aminarra Westin.
Jeff’s mom and dad are visiting from Canada and it’s just a great feeling. I don’t think Jeff realized how much he missed them until they got here. Out was a lot of fun to show Sarah all of the things that have come together since we saw each other last. She got goose bumps and almost cried when I showed her my dress.. Then Taz tried to eat my veil and there was no time for tears. Sneaky bugger. Now, I’m on my wary to see my sister to work on some of the details for HER wedding that’s coming up on September 1st. She loves everything that I’ve done for mine and Jeff’s wedding so far, so I hope we can get some lovely details for her, too.
MegsFitness 