Shower recap!

I cannot believe I forgot to tell you "all" about my bridal shower!  Let me just come out and say, I was NERVOUS.  I never realized that showers were so "secretive," and I was NOT a fan.  The bride, in my opinion, has every right to share her opinion on food, location, games, etc.  With some work, I was able to (mostly) get my voice heard, and it turned out wonderfully!  Thanks to my bridesmaids and mother, the food was good, we had it where I wanted it, and it had the most adorable decorations!  

Also, in general, I feel like showers are awkward.  Tons of women in a room, playing "games" that no one wants to play.  Who came up with this?!  BUT!  Mine was better, I think.  Don't get me wrong, there were women I literally didn't know...like when they walked in, there was NO WAY I could tell you their names...but I guess maybe that happens when you marry into some families.  Overall, though, the room was filled with my favorite women, and I felt SO much love.   There were lots of hugs and laughter, and it seemed like for the most part, everyone enjoyed the games.  I also got some amazing gifts, which was really exciting.  We can't wait for the wedding to get more ;)  oh...and to just be married!

my gorgeous friends (and flower girl) that helped make the day perfect!

best flower girl ever :)  love her more than anything!

Events like this always make me so grateful.  I seriously have the BEST people in my life.  My family took time out of their lives to drive to Blono to spend a few hours with me.  I had friends drive 3 hours for a 2 hour shower!  My bridesmaids and 2 other close friends spent HOURS preparing for the shower.  (Who says you don't make life-long friends in high school?!  I know I sure did!)  It is humbling to know that so many people care that much.  I really don't know what I did to deserve so much love, but I will take it!

these ladies have been so amazing throughout the planning process :)
can't wait to have them stand up with me as I marry my guy!

With the shower over, the wedding is getting closer and closer!  We picked out our cake, we finalized our reception layout, and I had my first fitting for my dress!  People...I cannot tell you how excited I am to see that thing 6+ inches shorter.  I may cry...which is justified because it is seriously the PERFECT dress for me.  I can't wait to wear it when I marry Dan...I know I will feel more beautiful that day than I ever have :)

The bachelorette party is coming up, too!  We are going to spend the afternoon drinking wine at this amazing winery in Grafton, then we will have dinner and continue to drink at Ragin Cajun, this awesome dueling piano bar in Alton.  It's only going to be the best par-tay every!

68 days until I get to marry my best friend :)

Getting my sweat on...

When I was in HS, like many other girls around the world, I thought I was overweight.  I would have given anything to lose weight...besides eating better and working out!  Throughout HS, I fluctuated around 110lbs, give or take.  Now, let's remember that I am 4'10...on a tall day...so I don't carry extra weight very well.  There really isn't anywhere for it to go!  I never really let feeling "big" affect me, but I was definitely conscious of what I wore, and I had very little confidence.  Again, I was a pretty typical HS girl...which is a little sad, but that's a pet peeve for another time.

This June, on my wedding day, it will be 6 years since we have graduated HS. 6 YEARS?!  Not a clue where those years went, but they definitely came and went...and left roughly 20 extra pounds on me.  Yep, you read that right.  20 lbs.  People, I am 4'10!  20 extra pounds did not look good on me!  I officially had a FAT face, double chin and all.  My stomach is/was way too big for my proportions.  The whole deal.  I would look back at pictures from HS, and I couldn't believe I thought I was BIG at 110.  I mean, really?!

Well, when I got engaged a year ago (in 9 days), I decided I was NOT going to weight my heaviest on my wedding day.  I was going to do ANYTHING besides eat better and work out for HOURS a day.  I did pretty well.  I was working out at least 4 days a week from March - Sept(ish).  The scale BARELY moved.  It was incredibly frustrating, school started, and I pretty much gave up.  Don't get me wrong, I still wanted to look better for pictures, so I kept doing some physical activity...maybe 8 days a MONTH...pathetic.  Surprisingly, I didn't see any changes.  I probably gained a lot of weight, actually.  So in January my friend and I decided enough was enough.  She is getting married a few weeks after me, which has been super exciting from the get go, but having her as a partner in crime during the last home stretch of the current journey has been great!

Since January, I have lost 10lbs.  Yes, it has taken me 12 weeks, but I currently weigh right around 119.5lbs, and I am SO proud of that.  I finally decided that maybe I need to look at my diet.  My mantra has always been "I refuse to give that up!"  Guess what?!  I am sticking to it!  But guess what else?!  I CAN'T EAT ICE CREAM EVERY NIGHT AND BE UPSET I AM NOT LOSING WEIGHT!  I can count on one hand the amount of times I have had ice cream since January, and ice cream is my FAVORITE treat.  For the first time, though, I have decided that as much as I love ice cream, I hate my body more.  It isn't just ice cream.  It's candy sitting in my closet, it's buttery mashed potatoes, it's pasta...or anything delicious for that matter.  I refuse to tell myself that I can't have it.  I refuse to give up any of the things I love because I don't want to give up all those favorites to hit a magic number on a scale, only to gain all my weight back when I feel like I can start eating it all again.  HOWEVER...I eat a lot less of all of those things.  I am not eating pasta every night.  I have only touched the M&Ms and Laffy Taffy in the closet a few times (in 3 months, people!).  Ground turkey is taking over the role of ground beef.  Little changes, slow progress, big results.

On top of my food, I am working out consistently.  I aim for 5 days a week, and it doesn't always happen, but it does a lot!  We got a treadmill in January that has really helped...on THAT treadmill, I have ran OVER 50 miles in 3 months.  That is probably more miles than I have ran in my ENTIRE life.  It is amazing to me that in January, I could barely run a fourth of a mile without dying, and to date, the furthest I have gone non-stop is 1.5 miles.  Typically, I will get in a little over 2 miles, but I do a lot of intervals b/c this lady cannot RUN that far (yet).  Also, I am incorporating more strength training into my workouts.  This lady wants smoking "wedding arms" and a toned back for my strapless dress!

Feb 3 and Mar 16 :)

I still have a long way to go before I will be completely pleased, but hopefully I will get there eventually.  It is incredible to notice some changes so far!  My face looks thinner, in my opinion.  I don't notice the double chin as often.  Also starting to rock some biceps, which is AWESOME!

91 days!

Until I am a married lady!  I can't believe how quickly it is all coming up :)  A week from today, I get to have my bridal shower, and I am so excited!  My bridesmaids have been pretty amazing planning it all for me, and I feel so spoiled.  :)  A lot of lovely ladies will be attending, so it will be nice to see everyone!  I also get to do some cake-tasting next week at home...you people have no idea how excited I am for this!  Butterfinger, chocolate chip cookie dough, dark chocolate raspberry, banana, and strawberry! oh my ;)  (I may go over my calorie count that day!)  Also on the agenda is going to ISU to finalize our layout.  I met with catering, and we have our menu figured out...Dan is super excited about the Shafley beer (sp?) we are getting a keg of...while I am stoked they are getting some moscato for me ;)

Also. Also. Invites are in the works!  (so much work...)  I have been stamping our return addresses, putting stamps on, printing address labels, etc.  Hopefully they will look good, but more importantly, I sure hope they get the point across and people show up to this shin dig ;)

I'm not really sure what else is going on...I suck at updating this thing.  We are on Spring Break this week, which means I get a few days to make up some much needed hours at prac.  woo!  A few weeks ago I was in Seattle at a conference for the National Association of School Psychs.  It was nice, and I learned SO much!

OH!  We found out that Justin and Lauren are having a little lady!  Brenna Claire will be joining our family in July.  I can't wait for a new little one to snuggle and love ;)  I may have already ordered her something today...I swear, email coupons will be the death of me.  I will definitely have plenty of gifts by July at this rate ;)

So many exciting things in the works!