In Pictures

Here is a quick glimpse into my Thanksgiving Break:

My dad and his beloved Bogie. Bogie LOVES to have his photo taken. All I have to do is show him the camera and he immediately stops whatever he's doingto "pose". Soon after this he jumped in the pool and went back to being his usual self.

 

I think what I loved most about our laid back Thanksgiving was taking off my make up and throwing on my stretchy pants and t-shirt before dinner dessert.

 

I went with a friend to pick out this adorable kitten. I'll share her name and more pictures of her out of her prison cell once she gets fixed and officially goes home to her owner tomorrow.

 

My best friend and her husband are having a little boy! His expected arrival is Valentine's Day. Fun, huh!? Today I took a few pictures to have out at her baby shower next weekend. I made them shirts and since her husband likes to fish, hers says, "Daddy's getting a new fishing buddy". This is one of the outtakes, but I think it's super sweet.

 

Happy Sunday!

 

Thankful

I have had a lot to be thankful for lately, so a special day dedicated to just that came at a very appropriate time. I start all my prayers with a 'thank you' and I say "thanks" in my day to day life pretty often. Still, I sometimes feel like that's partly just habit. I also need to remind myself that if I complain about xyz, just as much as I say I'm thankful/blessed/lucky to have abc, then what's the point? So, here's to living the next year with much more positivity! :)

What I've been thankful for recently:

My family. They really are the best. I've already talked about what makes them especially great in previous posts. The other day Steel told me he thought it would be fun to hang out with my family just based on stories that I tell him. He's right. :)

The new job! I would say that I'll shut up about this new job sometime soon, but I probably wont. I'm in love.

Mutt, Bogie, Lucy, Leon  Animals make life better. Everyone knows Mutt, and I have mentioned Bogie and Lucy before. Leon is my parents' cat. I like 'em all. One day I'll show you a picture of Leon...after he gets out of rehab for his catnip addiction.

Friends I have the very best friends. And I'm having much more fun now that I hang out with who I want to because I want to and not because I feel obliagted to. All of my friendships are different, but I cherish each and every one of them. (M, A, M, B, W, D, L, J) <------- Hi favorites! :)

Starbucks I don't know what they give those employees, but they are more than happy to make my iced, grande, skinny, vanilla latte, half decaf. Service with a smile.

I am thankful for so much more. But it would take me hours to list, and you've probably had enough by now! I hope everyone is enjoying their leftovers today!

Busy Bee

Buzzzzzzzzzz...I have been very busy with the new job this week. The holiday season is the craziest time of year for this company, so I jumped in head first. It has been fast paced, intense, very demanding, and I freaking LOVE it. Yes, I know it's only been a couple days, so no need to point that out and go rainin' on my parade just to make yo sun shine brighter. ;)
I'm sure there will be more to tell later on, but one last thing; my office does have a tray ceiling. This is only exciting to me, I'm aware. But, I thought maybe, just maybe I'd find my long lost soul sister who loves a tray ceiling as much as me!



Holly is hosting a little link up to talk about Thanksgiving. I thought I'd join in with my answers to these questions:


1. What do you look forward to more: the food, football or parades? Food (Would have said family if that were an option.

2. What is your favorite non-traditional Thanksgiving Day dish? Only recently have we started breaking tradition and having things like brussel sprouts. I'd choose brussels w/ bacon over that canned green bean casserole thing. (I'm sorry. I have a "thing" about casseroles. And canned green beans. But bring on those crispy little onions that go on top!

3. After dinner, is it football or a nap? It's time for 'Love Actually'.

4. Do you watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? Which is your favorite float? I like it to be on in the house while we're cooking. This is the first year that we are actually planning to eat Thanksgiving dinner at dinner time, but I'll still catch a glimpse while I'm getting ready in the morning.

5. Where do you go to celebrate and eat your big meal? Who is there (family, friends)? 20 minutes away. Lucky me! This year it will just be my mom, dad, and myself. I'm pouting, whining, embracing it.

6. What is your favorite turkey day dessert? stuffing.


Head on over and see how everyone else answered.  Lots of people are answering in the form of Vlogs. Fancy! :)

Permission

The past couple weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster ride. Mostly fun, kind of scary. The last week of October I got a call from a company where I previously had an interview. My first interview was over 6 months ago, and I didn't get that job for various reasons. Long story short, I did get the job this time around.(!!!)  Sometimes I have a hard time accepting, but absolutely do believe that everything happens in God's time.

In this situation, God was definitely saying, "Not yet", and now I can say I'm thankful for the delay. In the words of Steel, "You(I) used to be kind of a mess.".  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm still a bit of a mess, but I'm on the mend. It has been a long time since I have given myself permission to believe that I honestly deserve all the good stuff in life. Still, I can't believe that I am getting this opportunity, but I DO believe I deserve it. Finally.

I did not find my dream job when I first got out of school. Congratufuckinlations to all of you who did. Bitter? Who, me? Kidding! I made my bed, and I laid. For a year and a half. Actually, I was pretty excited about my first "Big girl" job. I am grateful for the experience, but it just wasn't fulfilling enough for the long haul.

Of course, I never had any of these "tantrums".

 

I drove A LOT for my job. I kept telling myself that I would have a new job before I hit 50,000 miles on my car, and at 48,497 it happened! Sadly, that means that I won't be taking nearly as many pictures that look like this: 



The end of the car headshot era.

 

I am So, SO happy, blessed, lucky and overwhelmed by the new adventure I'm about to take. I am also very thankful to have so many people in my life that are happy for me.

 

Something I sincerely plan to do.

The Devil Made Me Do It

I had been saving this photo to post on Halloween, but alas, I wasn't able to.
So, go grab a candy bar if that's what you need to get back in the Halloween spirit, and check out Mutt in all her Halloween glory. She has quite a "personality", so the lil' devil costume was fitting. Embrace your inner cat lady and enjoy!

Oh happy day!

Blogger has finally decided to play nice and allow me to upload some pictures! I apologize in advance for the photo overload you will be experiencing in the next few posts. From now on, my "progress pics" will look like this:

 



If I can remember to stand in the same spot and find the same skin tight tank in the mess that I call my closet, I think it will help me and you(if there are any "you's" out there reading) track my progress a bit better. I lost nearly 5 pounds last week. (4.4 to be exact) I feel like I am finally making a dent in the GIANT number that haunts me and that feels good! I am especially proud since I consumed quite a few hundred gummy bears and pixie sticks last week in honor of Halloween.

Now that I am looking at the above pictures, I actually think I might look bigger in the more recent one. Hmm... I'm going to choose to trust the scale today, though.
I told Steel that I'd like to lose the weight in my boobs and belly, but he seems to think he can't control where the weight loss happens. Damn. Yes, I know that you can firm/tone/lose small amounts of weight when you focus on a particular area of your body. However, let's be honest. I'm not even close to that aspect of weight loss yet. I do lots of strength training so that when all this weight does magically (And by magically, I mean by busting my ass) fall off, I will have less to deal with when it comes to loose skin and such.

Anyway, Halloween was a great time! I always have grand ideas for costumes. I really wanted to be a Smurfette a couple years ago, but that plan fell through when it turns out I look like a drag queen when I wear a bright yellow/blonde wig. That went from cute to tragic real quick, and so now I focus on just being comfortable and having fun. Don't get me wrong, one year I plan to totally slut it up on Halloween when I'm hot and skinny. And I think it's super awesome that some people of the not-so-skinny variety rock the skimpy costumes, but that's just not me.

So this year, my Halloween-hating friend and I went as hippies!

You may be wondering, who hates Halloween? And my answer is that I have no idea. I've told her that she should seek help and figure out what childhood trauma caused this "issue", but since she's getting her Masters in Psychology, I guess I should just let her handle it.

Hippies smoked a lot of pot, because making your own clothes is a little stressful. I tie-dyed(Really fun!), I made a cute headband(Still fun!), I made bell bottoms(Not fun!) BUT, they turned out pretty cute, so it was well worth the hot glue gun burns. Oh, you thought I sewed them? No way, dude. I managed three stitches before I threw out the thread and got out the hot glue gun. Our group of friends really puts on a show for Halloween and the host and hostess of our party this year really went above and beyond. It was so much fun and really a great way to kick off the holiday season with a bang!

Speaking of holiday fun, Kassie over at Southern Girl Gets Fit is hosting a swag swap. I was matched up with a girl after my own heart who loves camo and hot pink. I'm super excited to pick out some fun things for her. I'll be sure to post all of her goodies over here once I'm sure she has received her package. Ta-ta for now!