Early Friday

Happy Thursday yinz!!!

This is my Friday and I could not be having a better day!!

I am meeting up with some new friends and some old friends tonight to hang out at a place that means a lot to me.  I used to go there all the time in early recovery and then they closed the meeting. Well, now a new meeting in starting there and I could not be more excited!!!

 Also, my second first date last night was wonderful. Hard to explain but he and I had dated before and lets just say the timing was off.  We went to a relaxed dinner at TGIFriday's and the night just flew by! I cannot wait to spend time with him again!!!! Here's hoping this time ends happier!!

And, as I said, today is my Friday!!!! I took a vacation day tomorrow to go to a Conference out of state in West Virginia with a close friend of mine! I will have lots of pics from our weekend fun for sure!!! And updates to the blog through out the weekend I promise!!!

Happy early Friday!!! Let me know what your exciting plans are this weekend? Or are you just chilling?!?!?

Thanks for reading!

Weigh in Wednesday - Week 1 2015

Weigh-In Wednesday - Week 1 of 2015

I am so excited to join in on a new link-up for 2015!!

If you are looking for new friends...come along - I cannot wait to meet new people with similar fitness goals!!

Just be sure to follow the hosts (Heather, Ash, & Erin) and hop around to the other blogs that linked up...I already follow all three and they are some pretty amazing women!!!!

I have had bad luck with men so I am dropping out of the relationship race and just having dinner here and there - LOL!  With that, I have lots of time to focus on my healthy lifestyle and the changes I want to make in this new year!

So for this Wednesday (176.6)....

Pounds lost this week: -1.4 lbs.

Pounds lost in 2015: -1.4 lbs.

Pounds lost overall (326 at my heaviest around 1996): -149.4 lbs.

 

You can check out my healthy lifestyle starting point here...It has been slow losses over a few years but I am hoping that since I have lost it the healthy way, it will stay off forever!!!

Last night I tripled out at the gym since I have a dinner date tonight and will not be working out at all! I did 45 minutes of express BodyPump, then 1 hour of Zumba and finished with 1 hour of Yoga! It all felt amazing!!!

I try to switch up my workouts a lot so I do not get bored and also so that my body never knows whats coming!!!

Now it is time for me to see all your weigh ins! Can't wait to meet you all!!!!!!!!

Here's to a happy and healthy 2015!!!

He's Just not that into you/Refocus

Okay - update time already!!

What an a$$!! I do not swear on this blog but the NEW and CRAPPY man and I have officially called it quits.

Why don't men just understand that being honest is so much easier on someone. If you want to be done, just say it. Don't act like you want to keep seeing them...it is childish and trust me, most women prefer an ending to begin strung along.

So after we decided to see if this can work without all the drama we had in the beginning...here is what it came down to.

He had no time to see me for the past three days and when I texted to see if I would see him on Monday here is what I got back...LOL! (Mind you - the blacked out portion at the top is his name and the blacked out portion of the message is his sons name so you can insert "kid" there....LOL!

I responded that I was going to workout and that is it - we're done. Does anyone else get the vibe that he is "just not into me"?  Anyway its over and I have no words for how unhealthy and pitiful this man is. If your EVERY evening is completely consumed with feeding pets and taking pets to poop then there is something really wrong with you! LOL! It is clear it was over and he just did not have the "man parts" to end it himself. IDIOT!!!

On that note - I will tell you that my blog will now re-focus on what is truly important to me and that is Fitness!

I lost another two pounds this week and am closing in on my high school weight! YEA!!! I should be able to get to my goal weight with in the next two months!

I re-joined LA Fitness for the Winter since my little family-owned gym has a lot of snow days and I do not want to miss out on a workout because a gym is closed all day. I was so excited to spin!! I have not spun for months and it felt great!!!! Awesome!!! Since it was the first class of the new year, there was an amazing line at 8AM to get into class!!! LOL! I was fourth in line from the front!!!!

 
I got to pull out these trusty little shoes from my sister!! Still in love with these shoes - they are the best!!! They are so comfy and clip in and out very easily! You can click here to purchase the exact ones!

And I will leave you with this...

It was amazingly beautiful to see the sun shining in through my window at work yesterday! How quickly things change!!! Today in Pittsburgh, it is freezing and it was our first official snow day...not fun on the roads already!!!

In comments - I would be interested to hear your thoughts on being dumped and what was the crappiest way you have been dumped...misery loves company....Thanks bloggy friends!

New Years/Weekending recap

New Years/Weekending recap...

This is my first day OFFICIALLY back to work after the holidays and I cannot even think of what all has gone down! It has been an emotionally charged New Year in sooooo many ways.

Let me try to recap...

Leading up to the New Years, I began dating a really great guy! Like a REALLY great guy! Then he got really sick...long story short he was so sick that I had to twice answer a call in the middle of the night to maybe or maybe not drive him to the hospital. So, really sick. A few days before New Years I double-checked with him that he would feel well enough to go out on New Years. (It is a thing for me, I hate to be alone on New Years!) He said yes...what I now know is that he does not remember this and did not know for sure what I was talking about.

So the day before New Years Eve, I was talking with him and said "So what are we doing, just hanging out? And he says, "I did not know we were doing anything - I have to find out what the kids are doing and be there for them". So I lost it. I had to get off the phone, I burst out crying and was so hurt. So, I just cried and got madder and madder, not even considering that he was in a medicated haze and still felt crappy. I called my sister and went to celebrate with her family in another state for three days.

I texted him and told him that we were done. That he had no consideration and this was not what I wanted - that he has the kids and he obviously does not have time for me at all. Lovely, right? Dramatic, at all?

So...here is that celebration...in no particular order - LOL!!!

 This is a picture of my niece and I banging pots and pans on the front step. Not sure if everyone does this but it is a Pittsburgh tradition....along with the New Years pretzel, and jumping a chair while shaking change in your pocket. Yes, really! I will be interested to hear what your traditions are. Anyway, we were laughing so hard my niece could not stand up! True belly laughs which is what I really needed so badly!!!!!!!

This is my niece and I  watching Pitbull on cable TV!

This is a great game my niece came up with to kill the time until midnight and keep all the kids awake...it is Pin the Cherry on the Pretzel...so cute!

Here are the girls playing with their hamsters the next day. They got the hamsters from Aunts and Uncles for Christmas this year. They are named seashell and Peppermint.

This is a group selfie!!!!!!!!!!

 And my niece at one point pre-midnight...she was getting sleepy and cranky...we called her the party pooper...it was so hard for the kids to make it to midnight but they did it!!!!!

Then I returned home to Pittsburgh and finished taking down Christmas at my home. I began talking to The Man and we are trying to work things out. I just need to be able to see him more and he is going to try to be more available. Time will tell. He is a sweet, smart, funny, attractive, employed, honest guy and I think the whole operation/sickness thing just was not a good start to a new relationship. Again, time will tell. I want to date a man that I can see and spend time with not just see at meetings and talk to on the phone. I am truly hoping for the best as I think I really like this guy already!

Happy New Year to you all and I will keep you posted.

Merry Christmas

This post is a little late...I just rescued it from my draft folder!

My New Years resolution is be a better blogger - HA!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!

 and the back

I hope you all had an amazing holiday season filled with lots of love!

Banned from Exercise

Let me first apologize for my absence! I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off! Holiday planning, wrapping, shopping, etc. have had me in a tizzy! I have been really good with my workout routines and losing at a healthy and steady pace! Yea me!!!! Down another jeans size also - whoopie!!!!

And then...of course...life throws a glitch! HA  I woke up unable to turn my head on Wednesday morning...Boo Hoo! Major pain, literally!!! I went into work at 5:30AM and returned home by 7AM to schedule an appointment to get to my chiropractor ASAP.

He xrayed, scanned and tweeked me and sent me home to ice with instructions for NO exercise except walking! That will throw a glitch in your workout plans. Serious though, I could not even walk...the pain was really bad and soooo annoying everytime I moved at all.

I went home and finished out the day working at home and then set in for a relaxing night with myself. (My new boyfriend was busy with a dinner out for his daughter so he was unavailable to hang with me :-(  - more on him later ;-)

So, this was my night! I tried out the GlamGlow mask I got from Birchbox last month....loved it!!!!! Sexy right, in my little chipmunk PJ's!!??

And I spent the evening with this little girl watching over me...

And her little brother snuggling up with me!!!!

All the while...this pot of deliciousness was cooking in the awesome All-Clad Crock Pot that I got from my besty Jenna!!! I made this Chicken recipe HERE - I found it on Pinterest and it truly was amazing! I took it into a luncheon we had at work today and everyone loved it!! YUMMO!!!

I saw this on Pinterest...it totally sums me up right now. I only like to winter when I have someone to hug and snuggle with - my cats work but a real man is so much nicer sometimes...and their attention span for movies is much longer!

This also caught my eye on Pinterest!  I have started dating someone who will remain nameless for now. Lets just call him MH for Mr. Handsome! He is really so handsome and such a great Dad to his two kids, one girl 17 and one boy 15. He works really hard at a good job (in the same line of work as I am) and I have known him for about 8 years now. We have been friends in a common affiliation for years now and he is such a good, sweet, caring and loving guy on top of, did I mention, handsome?!?! Only drawback is that I am a very impatient person and he is a very busy single Dad that puts his kids first (and that is how it should be!) and he is trying to step in for an ex-wife that has really pretty much checked out of life at this point! And again, I am just very impatient. I LOVE that he protects, loves and takes amazing care of his children!  We have not had a lot of time together at all and it is wayyyyy too early to meet the kids so I have to be patient and enjoy the little bits of time we get at this point. As the relationship develops, we can have more time together both with and without the kids but this initial stage is really tough for a person that wants what SHE wants when SHE wants it! HA! HA! The good Lord above is teaching me daily lessons in patience and I have NO DOUBT that this man is worth waiting for so we are taking it really slow right now and I cannot wait to see what develops.

I have to say that I love that new relationship feeling - every time I see him my heart skips a little faster and the butterflies start. He is the worlds BEST hugger! He is tall and strong and when he hugs it feels like nothing bad could ever happen!! We had our first kiss in the parking lot of Pizazz Pizza a few weeks ago and I am sure that, just from that first kiss feeling, this is the start of something amazing. The best part: I trust him with my life already...just from what I know of him as friends, etc. I honestly thought it would be FOREVER after my last two men that I would ever trust another guy but I do with all my heart! I only wish I could share with you the amazing feeling I get when we are together - I love this stage of a new relationship!!! Tingly from head to toes!!!

As I went to bed last night I noticed my beautiful blue crayfish Charlie that was supposed to live in harmony with my tetras is not doing so....

 He is eating them...see the top fish that has no back tail :-(
It is making me horribly sad thinking of how much pain he is probably in too :-(
Sorry to leave you on this sad note...such is nature I guess :-(

On that lovely note:  I hope you are all ready and excited for this Holiday Season!!!  I will keep you posted on all aspects as time and censoring  allow...hee hee!!!!

Happy holidays yinz!!!!!!!!!!

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Cystic Fibrosis 65 Roses Sports Auction

Hi all my bloggy buddies! I hope everyone is having an amazing week! Mine is great! Work is slowing down for year end and after this week it is all parties and luncheons and cookie exchanges! How can that be bad?!??!?

I wanted to show you all the amazing event I got to attend the other evening. It is a little pricey but it is so worth the money. First of all, the money paid to attend the event and the monies raised at the event all go to Cystic Fibrosis!  Its a terrible disease and every penny helps!

The event is called the 65 Roses Sports Auction and it is usually held in December in Pittsburgh, PA. We paid $200 dollars for our ticket. That money includes a football, dinner and admission to the auction portion. You then take your football around and have it signed by the Steelers players that are in attendance (you never know which ones will be there but there are usually ten total). 

Sports Auction due to the fact that we have the most amazing sports teams on the planet here in Pittsburgh - hee hee! No disrespect but I love my teams!!!

 So here we are: Jenna and I waiting to enter the event!

Here are the cookies that were waiting for us at our table!  The event is hosted by Brett Keisel from the Steelers and he is known for growing his beard - hence the beard at the bottom of the cookie!!
These are made at a local chain of family restaurant called Eat n Park  they are know for their smiley cookies and for this they just added the beard!!!!

 Here is Jenna scratching off about 20 lottery tickets. They had a fun game at the auction...you paid $50 and then picked a football from a wall. Each football had a number on the back that coincided with a gift basket on a table. Jenna got $50 worth of scratch off lottery tickets! HA! In the end, she had $8 and about 7 free tickets...not too good :-(

I, on the other hand,  got lucky and got a Hines Ward authentic jersey!!! Can't beat that!! Love it! Only wish it were signed!

Here is our table....soooo cute!

And here is the highlight of my night! The Steelers that ended up signing the balls this night were they were Brett Keisel, Cameron Heyward, Mike Adams, Big Ben, Heath Miller, Cam Thomas, Joe Kruger, David DeCastro, and Ethan Hemer. Yes, you saw right, Ben Roethlisberger! It was great - loved all the players - they were so great and funny too!

And then the auction part of the evening started. This is Brett Keisel with the Pittsburgh Steelers hosting everything...

Another shot of Brett...

All in all, it was an amazing evening!

I cant wait to go again next year!!!!

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