Weight Watchers Weigh In!!!

I went to weigh in even though I didn't want to step ONE foot on that scale!!!!! I was in total shock to see NO GAIN and NO LOSS!!!! Hallelujah!!!! I don't know how in the world I didn't have a again?!?! You wouldn't believe I didn't have a gain if you only knew where all we ate out at!!!! I was BAD!!! I'm not going to let Mr. "S" corrupt me into eating yummy fried catfish and cold slaw from the Catfish King or the Jack Daniel's Ribs (I could drink the Jack Daniel's sauce it taste good) at T.G.I Friday's on our way home for work!!! We are BAD but not this week!!! I'm even going to do my very BEST to control myself on Super Bowl Sunday!!!

I just want to say "THANKS YALL" for all the support!!! Being on a diet is NOT easy!!!

Well, today is my Friday at work!!! Tomorrow is my day off because of the cut backs!!! It will be nice to sleep in, run into town to take care of our property taxes, change some tax info on our property and organize the spare bedroom!!! I will be a busy bee!!!

Bloggy Carnival?!?!?

Where have I been? Let me tell you where I have been - going 100mph - the gears in my head are on over drive! I've had a million different things going on (cruise, wedding, reception, work, part-time job, diet, etc) that I haven't been in bloggy world lately! Sorry yall - I promise I will get back to my daily reads soon - I'm trying! Just know I'm here and as soon is the wedding, cruise and reception is over I should be back to my normal self!!!

Back to the Bloggy Carnival....
I didn't even realize it was that time of year again?!?! I was over at Laurie's blog yesterday and seen she was hosting a giveaway! This girl is ALWAYS graciously hosting giveaways and she ALWAYS has a fantastic turn-out!!! I think it's because of the WONDERFUL prizes she gives away (the $50 Massage Envy GC is calling my name - we have a location right down the street from my office - I'm a bride in need - lol)!!!! Her contest rules are easy!!! She doesn't tell you to go look at another blog (get lost), shop around (not buy anything) and come back and tell her what your favorite item is (to not find the blog you were on in the first place)?!?!? This is NOT the way Laurie does it!!! La Vie De Laurie just asks you to "Leave a comment telling her your favorite way to pamper yourself" - You get 1 entry for this!!!!! If you want BONUS entries then go for it!!!! Tweet about her contest to @laurie_pooh with a link to her bloggy giveaway for 5 entries (I don't understand what this is...so I don't get these extra bonus entries)!!! You can also stumble her bloggy giveaway post for 5 more entries (still clueless so I won't be getting these bonus points either - oh well - it's all in FUN) and last but not least you can blog about her contest with a link to your post for 10 entries - GIRLS, I'M GAME!!! I can totally BLOG IT!!!!! =)

I just went over to the bloggy giveaway page to grab the link and noticed there are 1233 giveaways!!! HOLY MOLY!!! That totally amazes me!!! I'm in shock that this many people are able to participate in a giveaway with the way our economy is!!!! I think it's soooooooooooooo SWEET and soooooooooooooo WONDERFUL!!!! I'm sad to say I'm going to miss out on the mass majority of the giveaways just because I don't have the time to enter!!!!

CLICK "HERE" TO ENTER LAURIE'S GIVEAWAY!!!!
CLICK "HERE" TO VIEW ALL T HE BLOGGY CARNIVAL GIVEAWAYS!!!!

GOOD LUCK YALL!!!!

PS - Today is weigh in at Weight Watchers!!! I must hold myself accountable before I go to my weigh in!!! I've been BAD!!! We have ate out a lot this past week!!! I know I had a gain!!! I'm back on track as of today!!! No more eating out for me!!! I have chicken breast at home in the fridge marinating - waiting to be grilled tonight!!!

My Dress & Part-Time Job!!!!

Click HERE!

I think the dress pops up in the apple color. If you click on the champagne color (8th color on the top row) you will get more of an idea of what the dress will look like! The dress is on order. They said it could take up until February 24th to get here or it could be here as soon as next week! I'm hoping it will be here next week! Please! I can't imagine waiting till the end of the month. What if I have to have alterations?!?! Yikes! That will be cutting it close to our departure!

Friday I went on my job interview at Lowe's! The interview process went GREAT! I got the part-time job! I'm sooooooooooooo excited! They really liked me! Everyone I interviewed with seems so nice! I will start the training and orientation process the first week in February!

Weight Watchers Weigh In!!!

Yesterday was my weigh in! I hit my goal!

I lost 4 pounds!

Way to go "ME"! I'm proud of myself!

I have to admit I've stopped the detox and the cleansing kit as of last night! Call me a quitter - I can't help it at least I'm being honest here! My body has been in total shock! I couldn't help it! I've had KILLER headaches for the past 3 days! I was eating Tylenol like candy and that wasn't helping. Last night as I was eating my fish, pinto beans and salad my headache went away - vanished in thin air! I guess you can call me an addict! I'm an addict for real food! I need meat! The fruit and veggie detox was good but I needed meat! Even my weight watchers leader told me she thought I was having protein headaches (?) - she said she gets these if she does not eat meat! So that is what I'm writing it off as! I've never felt so low on energy as I did the past three days! I feel like I've failed but at the same time I feel sooooooooooooo much better today health wise just getting some real solid food inside me!

I will continue to watch what I eat, drink lots and lots of water, track my points for weight watchers, eat as many fruits and veggies as possible in a day, eat grilled and baked food, do my very best to stay away from processed foods and fried foods!

Today I'm going to Olive Garden to have lunch with a friend! I will be good! I've already promised myself! Salad only with Olive Garden fat free salad dressing on the side, no cheese, no croutons, extra veggies please!

Detox, Part-Time Job & Dresses!!!

Detox day two! Not much to say about it or the cleansing! The scale was showing I've gained a pound (WHAT?)! That is total bull-hockey! Yall I'm eating WAY LESS than I have ever eaten before! Plus the Cleanse doesn't seen to be working! I haven't even really used the bathroom much at all. So how is it cleansing me? Mr. "S" feels the same way about his cleanse! He has a very sensitive stomach and the cleansing kit has done NOTHING for him! He gets more results when I cook spaghetti with whole grain pasta or if he eats a fiber bar! We will see what progress I have made when I go to weight watchers at lunch for my weigh in today!!!!

Mr. "S" Menu
DETOX DAY 2
Breakfast:
Plain Oatmeal with FF Milk, Cinnamon and Splenda
Lunch:
Mixed Veggies & Free Yogurt
Snack:
Banana
Dinner:
Egg Beaters with mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, cilantro, topped with salsa
Snack:
Yogurt and a few Detox Baked Sweet Potato Fries

My Menu
DETOX DAY 2
Breakfast:
Nothing - I felt like I was going to throw up - so no food for me!
Lunch:
Purple Hull Peas with Brown Rice
Snack:
Yogurt
Dinner:
Egg Beaters with mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, cilantro, topped with salsa
Snack:
Yogurt and a few Detox Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Now on to the part-time job!
I went online to Lowe's website Monday and filled out the online application! I got a call from Lowe's yesterday to come in on Friday for an interview. I was SHOCKED to get a call so soon! This Friday is my scheduled day off for the week at my normal job! So we set up the interview for Friday at 10am! Wish me luck! I don't expect to get rich it's just a part-time job but every little bit will help especially right now with the wedding/cruise and reception!


Dress talk!
When I finish with the interview on Friday morning Danielle and I are going dress shopping! I've picked out a few that I really like from David's Bridal!!! Let me know what you think! This time I will number them because last time I didn't really get what dresses some of the comments were talking about!!!

DRESS # 1 - $155

DRESS # 2 - $155

DRESS #3 - $170

DRESS # 4 - $170

DRESS #5 - $99.99



DRESS #6 - $135
Click HERE!

DRESS #7 - $59.99
Click HERE!



Also check out the two dresses I bought from Macy's.com!!! This will be perfect for the cruise!!!I bought them both in black.

Click HERE - This dress was $134 - I bought it for $36.18
Click HERE - This dress was $119 - I bought it for $34.80

The best part is the price!
Fingers crossed that they fit me when they come in!

Detox & Work

Mr. "S" and I made it through day one for Detox! Wow, it's a lot harder than I thought it would be! We are also doing THIS complete body cleanse which I'm sure is a double whammy!!!! Oh and to top it off I'm doing weight watchers!!!! Can yall tell I really want to drop some pounds before our wedding and cruise!!! All of nothing go BIG or go HOME!!! I might regret this after the 7 day cleanse and 9 day detox but I'm hoping I will drop at least 8 pounds!!! Last week when I weighed in at Weight Watchers I lost 1.8 pounds!!! I have my next weight in tomorrow!!! I will update my weight in the morning!!!

I would just like to thank Jennifer for helping me with the 9 Day Detox program!!! She has been like my own personal diet consultant!!! She has emailed me the program, tips and recipes!!! Thank you Jennifer!!!

As I was saying, Mr. "S" and I made it through day one of Detox!!! It was ROUGH but we did it!!! I think we were BOTH about to have a melt down in Wal-Mart last night smelling all the yummy fried food in the deli - note to self: eat before going grocery shopping !!! I think the hardest part for Mr. "S" is no coffee!!!

Mr. "S" Menu
DETOX DAY 1
Breakfast:
Plain Oatmeal with FF Milk, Cinnamon and Splenda
Lunch:
Brown Rice and Steamed Mixed Veggies
Fat Free Yogurt
Snack:
Banana & Detox Oatmeal Cookies
Dinner:
Egg Beaters with mushroom, onion, tomatoes and soy cheese topped off with salsa
Snack:
Yogurt & FF Milk


My Menu
DETOX DAY 1
Breakfast:
Apple and 1/2 Grapefruit
Lunch:
Brown Rice and Steamed Mixed Veggies
Snack:
Baby Carrots
Snack:
Orange
Dinner:
Egg Beaters with mushroom, onion, tomatoes and soy cheese topped off with salsa
Snack:
Yogurt

Yall this is NOT easy! I was craving crackers sooooooooooooooo BAD - which is so weird - I don't even eat crackers very often!!!! Mr. "S" said he was craving a cheeseburger!!!!

The cleansing program went very well!!! It doesn't seem to be a very harsh program!!! It's nice to say that we DID NOT spend the day in the bathroom!!!

Now on to my work!!!
We were given some bad news yesterday!!! I knew it was coming!!! It's totally obvious!!! We are sooooooooooooo slow in the office!!! They cut us back from 5 days a week (40 hours) to 4 days a week (32 hours)!!! This came at a horrible time for me!!! We have so much stuff to pay for before the cruise, wedding and reception!!! My boss was very apologetic and said if we pick back up then we would go back to our 40 hours!!! The positive out of this - I still have a job and I still have all my insurance benefits!!! Also, my co-workers/friends still have their job!!! Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!!! I've worked here for almost 12 years - my co-workers are like family to me!!!

Dress Shopping!

The first place we went to was a FLOP! They were RUDE and I would NEVER shop there again if they were the last store on earth! I would resort into all natural wear like Tarzan and Jane!!!

First Store:

We walk in and start looking around!

Angie and Amy start pulling dresses off the rack and we head to a dressing room! The sales lady ask do you have an appointment? I was like "NO" I didn't know you had to have an appointment! No where in this store does it say CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT! The store is in the mall. Wouldn't you think they just get walk-ins? There was NO ONE ever in the store shopping or trying on dresses! She gives me a form to fill out with my info and wedding date. We head to the dressing room where Angie has to assist me and Amy hung the dresses up! They were BOTH pissed thinking someone in the store should be helping us! I think I might just call management today! It was a TOTAL joke - 5 dresses later we were walking out there door! And to think this store came highly recommended to me from a really good friend!!! I wonder if she had to have an appointment? If so she didn't mention it to me!

Second Store: Alfred Angelo

We walk in and start looking around!

A lady came up to me and ask if I had been helped and I said "no". Then we started talking "dresses"! I told her we were having a beach wedding. She pulls the new catalog and I start picking things out that I like. She told me to look around that she would start pulling dresses and that she would be back shortly! She came back to get me and I walk in a HUGE dressing room filled with dresses. I was in total shock! This store was nice and helpful the sales lady was a total peach!!!! Two hours later I found what I thought would be "THE DRESS"!

This is what I tried on - I couldn't remember all of them:

Mental Note:

I looked NOTHING like these bridal models! =(

On the way home Amy and I were talking and I've come to the conclusion that all the above dresses will be TO MUCH DRESS for a beach wedding!!! A long train is just not necessary! I think it would be more of an inconvenience than anything! I'm now looking at the following brides maid dresses that I can get in ivory/white!

Well, what do you think? Couldn't you see me in something like this for a beach wedding rather than a big huge bulky wedding dress!

Saturday was great and tiring all at the same time! I'm so very thankful that I have friends in my life like Angie and Amy that were able to take time out of their busy life to make this day special for me! We had a total blast!

What dresses would you pick for a beach wedding?

I'm just SICK to my stomach!!!!

There is talk around our office today of a layoff!!! Yall it just makes me SICK to my stomach!!! I've been here 11 1/2 years!!! I can't even imagine having to start over!!! Please pray for me and my job security!!! I never thought I would be talking about a layoff!!! This is sooooooooooooooo scary!!! I just wished something positive would come of our economy so we the American people could feel a little more at ease!!!

Changing the subject!
I'm going dress shopping tomorrow with two of my girlfriends!!! YIPPEE!!! I hope I find the perfect dress!!!

I hope yall have a GREAT weekend!!!

Another Valentine's Day Swap!!!

Yall know me and yall know I love me a good bloggy swap!!! It's been a GREAT way for me to meet new bloggy friends!!!!

Last year I joined THIS same swap and had a total blast!!! I'm still friends with my swap partner Stacy at Vader's Mom to this day!!! We are both follow Texans which is cool!!!

I would like to THANK An Island Life for hosting the Valentine's Day Goody Swap again this year!!!

Questionnaire:

What is your idea of a romantic Valentine’s Day?
I would LOVE to go to dinner at The Melting Pot!!! I've never been and I hear it's a great!!! I just wouldn't want to fight the crowd!!! So, I'm guess I would save this for another night!!! Hey, Mr. "S" maybe we can go for my birthday!!!

In reality, what is your Valentine’s Day really like?
Well, it was like THIS last year!!! I love doing a romantic dinner at home!!! I should do this more often...not just on Valentine's Day!!! This year I'm sure we will do the same thing!!! I can't see going out to dinner on Valentine's Day and fighting the crowds!!!

If you could have a lifetime supply of your favorite sweet indulgence, what would it be?
Snickers!!! I love Snickers!!! Which is totally off limits!!! I'm guessing I could eat the Mini Snickers and limit my daily intake!!! Is that even possible?!?! =)

Is there any sweet treat you absolutely do not like?
I don't like cinnamon!!!

If you fell into a pool of chocolate, how would you get out?
I would swim for my life!!! This is so NOT in my diet plan!!!

Click HERE to see my Questionnaire from last years swap!!! See how much I've changed!!!

Valentine's Day Swap!!!

I'm all about a FUN swap! I love getting mail! Love it! I also love sending it!

So if you are like me and LOVE a FUN swap! Click HERE to join in Life of a Southern Belle's Valentine's Day Swap!!!!

Deadline to join is - Friday, January 16th!

Weight Watchers!!!

Last Wednesday I signed up for Weight Watchers! My goal for this week was 2 pounds! I will go weigh in at lunch today! I hope I hit my goal!

This coming weeks goal is 4 pounds - so next Wednesday 1/21/09 when I weigh in I want to be down at least a total of 6 pounds for the two weeks! I know this is stretching it but I figured I would give it a shot!!! I also figured after I try on wedding dresses Saturday this will put me over the edge to want to lose the weight! I can't even imagine what I'm going to look like! I'm so mad I let myself get back to this weight! I did weight watchers a little over six years ago and I lost a total of 40 pounds! It is an amazing program and I know it works! That is why I resorted back to it!!!

When I signed up last Wednesday 1/7 I set a short term goal:
7 weeks - 20 pounds!
I want to drop 20 pounds before we go on our cruise!

Wish me luck! I will update this post after my weigh in today!

Last week notes:
I watched what I ate but I did NOT journal my food intake! My opinion is tracking your points is the key to weight loss success with Weight Watchers! You really get a visual for what you eat when you write it down! You MUST chart your points and your food intake! It makes me ask myself "DO I REALLY WANT THIS? - AM I REALLY HUNGRY?"!!! I don't think I bad this week but I don't think I did great either! I ate a lot of soup and salad, I ate smaller portions, I drank NOTHING but WATER alllllllllllllllll week long!!! No sweet tea (which is my TOTAL favorite), no beer and no soda!!! That is a TOTAL positive for my first week!!!

I'll be back after lunch with an update!

MY WEIGH IN UPDATE
I lost 1.8 pounds!

I'm so mad at myself! I didn't realize that I had left my hoodie (warm-up jacket) on! So I'm counting that as .2 pounds! With that being said I would have hit my goal of 2 pounds! HA!

Next week's goal is 4 pounds!
I'm going to do it! I'm going to track my food intake this week! I was BAD last week! Also, I'm starting a DETOX thanks to Jennifer!!! I'm going to to wait till Monday!

DETOX INFO
The rules of detox are simple, you can eat the following foods. You don't have to eat ALL of the foods in the list, these are just the limits:

All fruits in any quantity
All veggies in any quantity, except:
NO white potatoes
NO avocados
2 cups of cooked BROWN rice
2 cups of low fat, skim, or soy milk
1 cup of oatmeal
All herbs and spices
6 oz low-fat yogurt (2 times per day)
4 egg whites (or the equivalent amount of egg beaters)
2 cups of herbal tea

These are the foods that are NOT ALLOWED:
White rice
Meat
Fish
Cheese
Bread - all types
Cereal
Raisins
Nuts
Dried or preserved fruits
Candy / popcorn / chips
Ice cream
Alcohol
Juice
Soda - regular or diet
Coffee
Sports drinks
Whole eggs or yolks

The list seems pretty restricted but detox is only 9 days long. After the 9 days you move to Phase 2 and you are allowed to eat some of the foods you were previously not allowed to have (like meats, fish, cereal, and cheese). After that you move on to Phase 3 (breads come back!), and then finally you enter Phase 4 (a lifetime program) which has no limits on the kinds of foods you can eat just the overall amounts. If you mess up and fall off the wagon during any of the phases, you simply go back to detox for a couple of days to fix any damage you may have done. SIMPLE!

I have soooooooo much to blog about....

Each day I get a little more behind trying to organize my holiday pictures and thoughts!!! I figured today I would start with blogging our Ohio trip!!! Which is totally out of order but oh well!!!

December 26th - Our first day in Ohio!

The flight was great! Getting up at 3:00am was NOT fun! We arrived in Ohio around 10:30am! We jumped in our rental car to meet up with the family at a local pizzeria! After we ate lunch we headed over to Mr. "S" mom's house so Lil Miss "H" could open her Christmas gifts!

Some of Lil Miss "H" Christmas Gifts

We bought Lil Miss "H" Hannah Montana luggage!

Hannah Montana book! She LOVES Hannah Montana!

Barbie car!

It's make-up time!

Hannah Montana Outfit!

A box of Hannah Montana goodies!

After we opened Christmas gifts we headed into town to check out the Christmas Lights at Christmas Wonderland!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Cute little Christmas Train

Our trip to Kalahari Resorts - Dec 27th & 28th

Driving up to the resort! It's HUGE!

This was one small area where the kids played!

It's America’s largest indoor waterpark (larger than 3½ football fields)

Hey look at me!

I bought this HUGE drink for Mr. "S" mom! It was YUMMY!

We played at the water park for a few hours after we arrived!!! It was now time to go back to the room and get ready for dinner! We stayed at the resort for dinner they had several different restaurants to choose from!

We picked:

"US"

Lil Miss "H" and her dad

Waiting to be seated for dinner!

Walking around the resort

Lil Miss "H" posing in front of the elephant!

The shopping area! There was a coffee shop adult souvenir shop, a kids souvenir shop, ice cream shop and a candy store!

We finally got seated inside the restaurant!

All of us at dinner!!! I think there was 19 total! No wonder it took 1 1/2 hours to be seated!

Bree-Bree dancing on stage!

The kids had a total blast at dinner!!! The stage was the place to be for the kids!! They had a mini dance off, hola hoop, the limbo just to name a few! Each kid that went up on stage to participate received a free round of golf for the family!

Lil "B" getting low in the limbo! Lil Miss "H" right behind her ready to go!

Mr. "S" Lil Sis Nikki and her baby boy Lil "G" and Mr. "S" mom!

After dinner Lil Miss "H" had to go get a tattoo because all the other kids did this before dinner!!! She felt left out!!!

Lil Miss "H" getting her tattoo!!!

She wanted to be just like her dad so she got the skull!!! YIKES!!! lol Thank goodness it washed off!!!

The Skull - I was in shock she picked this! She is such a girlie-girl!

After Lil Miss "H's" tattoo session she took us for a game of golf with the FREE passes she won from getting on stage doing the limbo!

This was her first time to play miniature golf!

Getting started at hole 1!

She made it through all 9 holes! She did really good! We were very proud of her!

After the kids were in bed it was time for us to go out and play!

At 11pm the restaurant we ate dinner at turns into a bar! Me, Mr. "S" and Nick went back to hang out!

Nick look like he has had one to many!

Thanks for the bunny ears Nick! I feel so elementary! =)

Mr. "S" and his funny faces! I could probably do a blog post of all the funny faces he makes when I try to take his picture! =)

Nick got up and did the Cha Cha Slide! I would have NEVER thought!!!!

Nick totally cracked me up!

Sunday morning we woke up not feling our very best and I don't know why? =) We went for breakfast (which was the BEST breakfast buffet I've ever been to - I'm telling you this resort ROCKED - we can't wait to go back) and then back to the water park we went! This time around we just let the kids play! We had to be checked out by 11am! It wasn't like we could go back to our room and take a shower and get ready before the hour long ride home! So we just let the kids play (and Nick too)!

Brennan having a blast!

Lil Miss "H" getting ready to take the tube out!

Nick kicking water on Bree

Nikki (Mr. "S" little sister - which is also Nick's wife) and Lil "G" (the new addition)

They were loving the wave pool!

Mr. "S" throwing a peace sign!

Before we went to breakfast the Resort had the baby Tiger and baby Kangaroo set up! You could pay $30 to pet the tiger or kangaroo and have your picture taken! I just observed from a distance!

I love this picture! I took this while some kids were paying to have a petting/picture session with the tiger! I just cropped them out! HA!

The baby kangaroo just chilling in it's sack!

This tiger was so sweet, playful and pretty!

Being lazy!

After we left the waterpark and resort we took a ride up to Lake Erie! It was totally cold out! I was the only one that got out of the car and it was just to take pictures of the ice on the water!!! It was crazy - something I had never seen before!!!

I can NOT stress how cold it was! The wind was blowing so hard!

Lake Erie is HUGE!

The sheets of ice were the size of a small car!!! It was sooooooooooooooooooo unreal to me!!

Looking across the cove to Cedar Point which is on Lake Erie! I'm hoping to check out this place this coming summer! Cedar Point is the home to three of the top 10 steel roller coasters in the world!!! That ROCKS!!!

Wow! That was a long post! I feel the need to tell yall it took me forever! =) I just wanted to make sure I documented all our memories and fun!!!

I still have more on the Ohio trip such as New Year's Eve - Party, Party, Party!!!

WEDDING UPDATE:
I have a ticker at the bottom of my blog!
Today it shows:
1 month, 2 weeks & 5 days till our beach wedding!!!
Where does the time go? It will be here before we know it!!!

Saturday I'm going dress shopping with 2 of my girlfriends (Angie & Amy)!!! I'm soooooooooo EXCITED!!! I will take my camera and take pictures!!! I think we also have a date to go see the new wedding movie BRIDE WARS!!!

I'm working on our "PARTY" invite list!!! We are going to send out "JUST MARRIED" photo cards when we get back with a invite to our "NOT YOUR TYPICAL WEDDING RECEPTION"!!! =) Maybe some of you can help me out with the wording!!! I know a lot of you are really GREAT writers unlike myself!!! Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated!!!

The "AFTER WEDDING PARTY" is April 4th just in case you were wondering!!!