Remembering 9/11

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?

Biggest Loser Challenge take 2!

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.

My game face is on!

5 weekends to go...

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!

Happy Engage-Aversary!

Happy September First!

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!

Hello? Is this thing on?

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...

Wedding = No Life

I am ready to have my life back... I feel like this wedding is all consuming...

The number of days left is ticking down and I feel like my to-do list is only growing. I have so much left to do! I am trying to get work done on some of my DIY projects, and also follow up with some vendors and get some meetings scheduled.

I keep telling myself that this will all be worth all the work, but I am starting to see why people hire wedding coordinators and/or take time off from work to plan their wedding. Neither of which I can do since money is tight right now.

I've had at least half a dozen people ask to bring a date or their boyfriend/girlfriend to the wedding. Some of the inquiries I don't mind, it happens. But some people are just down right RUDE about it. I feel like no one knows etiquette. And it's irritating, It makes me feel terrible, like I am a bad person (read: bridezilla). I've got so much else to focus on that I can't deal with all of this.

Our RSVP date is September 1st, which is 2 days away and I am missing about half of my RSVP's.... That's a lot of phone calls I don't have time to make! Of course, we know that H2B will be helping out with his side.

Honestly, I feel like I don't exist anymore, that it's just all about the wedding, and I really hate that feeling. I half jokingly said to H2B that we should just get married on a cruise, like I wanted to, but we are so far into this now, beyond the point of no return!

A few bright spots, I had my makeup trial last night and it went beautifully, the technician was lovely and very understanding of my wants to have a minimal face for the day. And really, airbrush is the way to go, it barely felt like anything was on my skin, and from what I hear it's sweat and water proof, and lasts for 16 hours. which is incredible! It was a good experience.

What was a GREAT experience was my bachelorette party!! My gal pals took me to Foxwoods! There was 10 of us in total, and so we drove down to Foxwoods, checked in and got ready for dinner at the uber swanky Shrine. The food was delicious and the scorpion punch bowls were the size of my head! We then did some gambling before hitting the club which is in the lower level of Shrine. As my BFF, Kelli put it all the guys looked like they were from the Jersey Shore. Which could very well have been the case, since Irene was in town and they evacuated the Jersey Shore. After a few hours of dancing we went back to the room for some greasy room service and then we all went to bed!

I woke up about quarter to 5 by by roommates who were staring out the window, Irene had finally hit CT. And they were calling for a Tornado watch, which freaked my friends out. Probably my fault, since I have a app on my iPhone that tells me when severe weather is in my area (whoops)! Well we finally managed to get some more sleep, as we were getting ready the next morning, the power went off and on, finally it was on, but it was generator power, so we couldn't blow dry our hair or iron clothes! We had to search around but we finally found a place to eat (buffet!). Before heading out into the weather.

Let me say that CT got it worse than my town in NH. But I do believe that western NH and VT got it just as bad as CT. I was very lucky and fortunate to know that we didn't get impacted too much at my house/work. But I do feel for my friends / blog readers who may be impacted by Irene and the damage she left behind.

In closing, I love my gals, I wish I wanted (or could of had) a big wedding party, it would have been so great. But I don't think I would change anything, I love that my cousin is going to be my MOH and stand up for me on my wedding day, but I also love that all my gal pals have been there to help with the planning and for all the moments in which I needed to vent or get opinions on.

But I still can't WAIT to have my life back, or at least to be on my honeymoon!

The calm before the storm

I remember Hurricane Bob, and the 10-15 foot storm surge... it moved the fish shack and summer cottages off their foundations and moved at least 50 yards away. Bob was 20 years ago. I remember being a kid, and making fistfuls of money shoveling rocks out of peoples driveways and bringing them back over to the beach. The ocean brought over lots of rocks and other items, including telephone poles... now I don't know where these poles came from, but it was impressive that they made it over the sea wall and into the roadway.

For Hurricane Irene they are talking about 20-25 foot storm surge, I can only imagine what that will do for the shoreline.

There is a bride in New Hampshire who is getting married on Saturday, she was planning on getting married on the beach, but wisely moved the ceremony indoors. But she is a true Yankee and still planning on having her wedding and her day, even if Irene will be crashing her wedding.

I am still planning on having a bachelorette party this weekend, my best friend, Kelli has put a lot of work into this weekend and she's got plans. I give her a lot of credit, all of my friends have kept the details and location a secret, and I am sure it hasn't been easy. I can't wait to spend time with my gal pals! I can't wait to see what Kelli has put together. I am sure it will be super fun! Just like Irene won't spoil a wedding, she won't spoil my bachelorette party. The least she could do is buy a round of drinks!

Today, was the calm before the storm, it was a beautiful day, I took part in the NH Sheriffs Associations Golf Tournament. I was on the NHEDA team. It was great to spend a day with some fun dispatchers, just kicking back and having a good time. We golfed at the Pheasant Ridge Country Club in Gilford, NH. Which is a beautiful course overlooking the lakes and mountain region.

If you live in Irene's path, please take appropriate precautions. If you follow my blog, you know that I work in emergency services, and you should heed the warnings. Hurricanes are no jokes, we've gone several years without any real issues. I have a app on my iPhone that sends me severe weather alerts, and it's been going off for the last day of weather alerts, so please stay safe and take care.