I'm loving the temperature, but the showers... I can do without! I'd really love a clear and sunny wedding day! I know everyone says it's good luck if it rains on your wedding day, but I really wanted some nice pictures outside with all the fall colors and leaves.
Ah, le sigh, this is the one thing I cannot control, so no use in fretting about it or getting bent out of shape. I've got lots of other stuff to focus on.
Most of my DIY-ing is done. I just have a few paper projects to finish up, thankfully, I think I am going to be ok. (Famous last words?)
I've got some pampering scheduled for this coming week and I get to go to the airport on Thursday and pick up my brother and his lovely wife! It'll sure be great having a lot of the family come together!
Wait, what? Posting my weigh in on the day that I weigh in... I think the planets have aligned or something...
Well, I weighed in at 312.8. So I am down another 2 pounds from last week. That wasn't the case on Monday when I weighed in, I was at NASCAR last weekend and I was having some fun. Still tried to make good decisions, and listen to my body when I was hungry/full. But I still managed to indulge in some of the usual items that are around that weekend.
My starting weight is 318.8 so I've lost 6 pounds in 3 weeks. Which seems like a lot of weight to me, but when you are actively loosing weight, the studies suggest that 1-2 pounds a week is sustainable. So I am a little on the high end of the range, I am sure I will be slowing down here.
Other than that, I had my final fitting for my dress on Monday, and everything is good to go! So excited. It really is making things more real, when you start saying final meeting or final fitting.... seesh! 10 days to go!
Hey, at least this is a BIT more timely right? (it's only Thursday!)
Well my weight yesterday was 314.4, down again this week, which I will happily take!
Again, I am not really focused on my weight loss efforts, I think my loss is more so to do with my stress level and I haven't been hungry as much. Often I am forgetting to eat, which I know isn't a great way to loose weight. But I have been making smarter choices, when I am on the go, choosing a bagel rather than going into McDonald's... hey, at least it's a start!
I've been starting to get that itch to get back into the gym! I am so not going to fight that urge!
Well, Ben and I went to town hall and got our marriage certificate! One step closer to our license and one step closer to our wedding day. Not going to lie, it was pretty anti-climatic.
Not sure why, but all these appointments and finalizing of details, it's making things more real for me. We've had the final meeting with our minister, to go over the ceremony details, we've had final appointments for our cake and flowers, and our DJ as well.
It's crazy to think that we've been planning this wedding for a little over a year. In the beginning it was a rush to get a lot of the major tasks accomplished and then there was the dreaded "in-between" time where you couldn't really get too much done. The big things were done, but it was too early to work on the smaller details.
The all of sudden, as if I didn't know when my wedding was, everything just has started snowballing! I've got so many DIY tasks to complete as well as some other details. Now granted a lot of the DIY tasks are simple details that I would love to incorporate. My parents aren't really sold on the sign idea.... but honestly, if I don't get everything done, it will still be a lovely day. So I am trying not to get stressed out about things.
My family and friends have been awesome, with their offers to help.... I love them all. It's great to have some amazing people in my life. Makes me feel great about my wedding, like they support me and my new chapter in my life.
A loss of 3 pounds in the first week! This makes me feel very "happy of myself" (cute video, you should watch it)! I'll take it. With the upcoming wedding and all the stress surrounding it, I have not been able to focus on my weight loss. People have been asking me if I am nervous about the wedding, no... I am not nervous about marrying the love of my life! I am nervous/stressed about ensuring that all the little pieces and components come together for the day.
I have some wonderful vendors and some amazing friends who are willing to help me ensure that I have the best possible day. And I can never say thank you enough to them all.
I am hoping after the wedding that I can get back on track and focus on the weight loss, that doesn't mean I am going to let loose and kick back now. But I am acknowledging that right now, I can't simply focus all of my attention on my weight loss.
Thankfully this challenge is a 3 month challenge and I have some time to catch up and kick butt!
Today (Saturday) is my parents 17th wedding anniversary. My parents being my dad and stepmom. They are such an example to me of how I think a lasting relationship should be.
So I was recently asked to be the MOH for my friend's upcoming wedding next year, and I obviously accepted, she is amazing, and it's going to be a blast helping her plan her perfect day.
Her and I had recently gone to a bridal show, I wasn't impressed with the show so much. One vendor that we were talking to, after they introduced themselves to my friend, she introduced me as a fellow bride and her maid of honor. They then asked me when my wedding date was, to which I replied next month and they said, that will make you the matron of honor.
Baww!!! Matron... oh.my.god. that makes me feel so OLD.
So as we are getting closer to our wedding date something that I've sought advice on is a prenup. With over 50% of marriages ending in divorce, a statistic which by itself is staggering, but also to know that the percentage is probably higher amongst the fire service.
I do not hide the fact that my parents divorced and then in turn I am the product of a broken home. However, I would not change anything about how my life was lived. I think that I was a pretty well rounded kid and in turn, a pretty decent adult/human being.
I am thankful and hopeful that true love does exist, in that both of my parents found their eventual soulmate. I love both my stepmother and my mom's partner.
When Ben and I started getting serious about our relationship and eventually when we got engaged, we had discussed having a prenup, and we are still both very for it.
Our reasoning is that we are getting married later in life (I am 29 and he is 33), we both have established independent lives. By that, I mean we have retirement accounts that we want to preserve, in the event that things don't work out. We decided that it would be better to formally acknowledge this, in the form of a prenup, now, while we are still sane and even minded, rather than if we are going through a break-up and divorce, that we aren't so even minded. Let's face it, people can be really mean and nasty at certain times. NOT that I think this will ever happen, we are both committed to our relationship and making things work. We don't see a prenup as an easy way out of things, rather takes certain things (our retirement accounts) out of the equation.
I think it's a good sign of our great communication skills that we've been able to have this conversation and be smart about things. If we can talk about difficult and uncomfortable topics, it should prove that we have a good, solid relationship and we both have faith in our relationship. Talking about a prenup, has also led to conversations about what we would do to ensure that our relationship remains intact and strong. It's actually been quite reassuring to know that he and I are on the same page.
We can acknowledge that people and relationships change and if that
happens we want to be able to grow emotionally and spiritually through
the process, focusing on what is best for us (and hopefully our children). During
that time of stress, we don’t want to have to worry about our
financial well-being.
Some of my friends and family do not see our side of the situation. And to be honest, they don't need to, this is a decision that Ben and I have made as a couple. Pulled right in along side with what type of cake do you want for the wedding. Ben and I are both confident that we are willing to do whatever it takes to make our marriage work, and we are hopeful that this prenup is just a waste of money and never gets used.
In a time where prenups have a bad connotation, perhaps it's time to re-evaluate their usefulness. They aren't just for celebrities anymore.
I'll leave this with
an analogy I read somewhere: you don’t plan to get into a car accident
but you’d still wear a seatbelt, right? Just like you don’t plan to get
divorce but sometimes bad things happen and you want to be protected for
the unexpected.
It's amazing to think that it's been 10 years since 9/11. Just the numbers sends shivers down my spine and takes me right back to where I was on 9/11/2001.
I was a sophomore in college at UNH, I was living in a single in Stoke Hall, one of the larger/taller dorms on campus. I was getting ready for my economics class, when I got an IM (when was the last time I logged in to AIM!) from one of my friends, simply stating, turn on the news... and when I turned on the news and saw what was happening, I thought at first that it was a hoax, or that the news people had the story wrong, but then I watched as the second plane flew into the tower. And I just collapsed on my bed. I can't believe that history was happening on live tv, right in front of my very eyes.
Side note, it made me think of what it would have been like to watch the Challenger disaster. Christa McAuliffe was a teacher from New Hampshire and many schools in the state were watching the shuttle launch live in their classrooms. I could only imagine what that was like.
My friend, Liane knocked on my door, her and I were in the same economics class, and she was coming to get me so we could walk together. I was just sitting on my bed, she said "let's go to class" I said "I really don't want to" she said, "You can't do anything about it right now". So we went to class, only to find out class had been cancelled due to what was happening. I rushed back to my dorm and stayed glued to my tv for the better part of the day.
At one point they were discussing evacuating some of the dorms, like Stoke, that were tall and housed many students. But once all the planes had been accounted for, that stress alleviated.
My first thoughts were to the public servants, the firefighters, EMTs, police officers, etc. who would be rushing to the scene to help those affected. And I prayed for their safety.
That night there was a candlelight vigil to pray for those that had died and praying that survivors would be found.
In the coming days, we learned that there was a UNH connection involved, a professor was on one of the planes, there were several alumni working in towers, or on the planes, several people from the seacoast of New Hampshire were killed all as a result of this terrorist act. Innocent people, who had nothing to do with anything that these terrorists were "fighting" for. What cowards would kill innocent people. It seems as though every aspect of my life was touched by 9/11.
In the days, months and years following, 9/11 always remains on my mind. Especially now with my profession as an emergency dispatcher. My father retired as a captain 6 years ago, so I've always been a member of the fire department family. Thinking about the children who have been orphaned because of this tragedy sickens me. I never would want that life for anyone.
It's nice to see that the families are finding their own ways to memorialize their loved ones. Awareness is still needed, as many of the volunteers and workers who were working at the recovery site are now getting sick from breathing in the toxic air.
What amazes me is that there are children who are now 10 years old who don't even know what happened or why the world is the way that it is now.
As every year, the fire department I work on, we will hold a memorial event to remember our fallen brothers and sisters. It is still the greatest single event LODD (line of duty death) on record. A record that I hope is NEVER broken.
Do you remember where you were when 9/11 happened?
We loved the first one so much, we decided to do another! Today is the starting date and my weigh in video:
318.8... wow, that's my heaviest. But it's a starting point right? If everyone who has expressed an interest in our group joins in the challenge, there is some big prize money to win! And the challenge ends December 7th, so that would make for a nice Christmas or a nice addition to the house fund!
I am setting my goal for the next 3 months to be under 300. It's time to get serious, I've been saying that my goal is to get under 300 for a long time now, and I was once there last year. I want to get back there. And lose the weight for good.
So you'll be seeing me back on My Fitness Pal! Please find me and add me as a friend, I need some accountability (and cheerleaders).
I will also be weighing in and at least posting my weight here, I'd like to try and also do more videos, but I may not be able to.
Ben and I had a nice long Labor Day weekend. Normally, we spend the week before and Labor Day weekend in Bar Harbor on vacation, but with the wedding and honeymoon coming up, we opted to forgo the annual vacation.
Instead Ben and I spent some time with friends, drinking wine and being silly, but in general enjoying the company of friends. We accomplished some wedding related tasks, we picked up or wedding bands, as well as I did some practice DIY-ing for the candles. I spent the better part of the day at the salon on Friday, getting pampered. We did a trial up-do for the wedding, as well has having my nails done and a facial. It felt nice to get pampered. And to hear that all in all, my face/skin is looking pretty good! Just need to be better about moisturizing. I also got all my wedding appointments figured out so hopefully everything will be set as far as hair & makeup are concerned!
Yesterday, Ben and I were talking about some upcoming appointments, when we realized that we only have 5 more weekends before the wedding! holy cow! More concerning was that Labor Day weekend was our last free weekend, as every other weekend coming up we have something scheduled, and mostly wedding related tasks. Ugh, I am looking forward to being on vacation and our honeymoon.
Lots going on around here. Can't believe we are so close now!
Exactly one year ago today, on top of Cadillac Mountain in Bar Harbor, Maine, at sunrise my H2B better known as Ben, dropped on one knee and asked me to marry him! Really? Was all I could get out at first, but of course I accepted!
This past year has been a whirlwind and in 5 short weeks, we will be married. And on our way to Hawaii!
I'm not going to lie, planning a wedding is tough work, and really is tough on your relationship, thankfully, Ben and I are great together and we can work through anything. Ben has been an important part in planning our special day. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him.
Today also happens to be the RSVP date. I am still missing at least 35 RSVP's.... argh....
As mentioned in a previous post, the other issue I am having is with my "single" friends wanting to bring a date/SO/random to my wedding. It's hard to have to keep telling people that my numbers are tight and I just really can't allow it. I feel like a bitch, but at the same time, I have to be. This is definitely way out of my comfort zone. I feel like those people are putting guilt trips on me about it, but really, a fair amount of the "singles" who want to bring a date, I've never been formally introduced to their date. Why would I want a random at my wedding? Am I being a bridezilla on this?
Now granted there is one friend who I made a horrible mistake on, she actually is living with her boyfriend, and has been for quite some time, I wasn't aware of that, and when we made our guest list last fall, I didn't include her boyfriend. A total faux pas on my part. IF any extra guests are allowed, she is the FIRST one to bring her boyfriend.
Stressed is just desserts spelled backwards, right!? Pass the wedding cake!
Ok, I know I usually blog about healthy living and my weight loss journey, I know that with my wedding drawing near, that I've focused more on that, and my healthy living has been pushed to the back burner... not even the mid-burner as Steve put it.
That being said, I will be joining for another round of the biggest loser competition, this time it's for a longer duration. And right now, more people are involved. As of right now, the first place person would take home over $700 in cash. That is a hefty incentive!
This round goes from September 7th to December 8th, pretty excited! Not only do I have to make it through my wedding, but also my honeymoon and at least ONE eating holiday (Thanksgiving) this should be interesting. And it will most likely be the last round I can actively participate in. (read: family planning). Wow, that's scary to write that in a post. It's always been part of the plan, that soon after we got married we start to try and have a family. I just can only imagine where this blog will go. But I started this blog to keep track of my weight loss, and to track my feelings, and emotions. I think that this blog has severed me well, and I've met some wonderful people as a result of this blog and my journey. I can only imagine where my journey will lead next. But I am sure I will keep blogging about it all.
So I am sorry, if you are one of my readers who likes to read about my weight loss, that probably for the next month or so, my blog will be very much a wedding blog, because like my last blog post says, I have no life anymore it's just all about the wedding...
