Day #26!!!

Hi Everyone,

It's been about 9 days since I last blogged... The diet has been going well so far. I'm maintaining my weight loss but really struggling to lose any new weight. I've lost 20 pounds total. I had to finally go on with my 17 minutes of exercise a day. That seems to be helping me to further my weight loss. I'm struggling with getting used to the fact that I can have other new foods on my high calorie days. Things like potatoes and rice are some things that I don't miss but I am so happy that I can have. I'm looking forward to the fact that I will be able in 8 days to have bread and lunch meat! I have a function at the President of my college's house. I have decided that I will have one glass of red wine and allow myself to sparingly enjoy the hor d'oeuvres on Monday. So I will be breaking the diet for one 2-hour period but I will be going right back to it on Tues.

For all those people who have started this, I am so happy that maybe I could have been an inspiration for you to start this diet. For all of you thinking of starting this diet...Please do! The benefits outweigh all the sacrifices that you have to make! Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Dieting!

Day 17!!!!

Whoooooo! I made it... Day #17! Alright so now that I'm done with the first 17 days, I'm really nervous about doing one day on the Activate Cycle (2) and the next day on Accelerate Cycle (2). Then I alternate for the next 17 days. I can now eat shellfish, lean beef, pork chops, and lamb. Plus I can now have potatoes, whole grain oatmeal, and some other natural starches (before 2:00pm). Everything else stays the same. Soy milk can now be added to my drinks of choice.

So now that I'm done describing the second cycle I'm sure you all want to see pictures...Those are coming as soon as I figure out where the cord is to hook my camera up (yea I'm not an avid picture taker like someone else I know).

What am I forgetting...Besides being so excited about joining the world of regular food...Oh I guess you all want to know what my final weight was today, huh? I stepped on the scale and drum roll, please....I weighed 307 pounds!!! That means I lost 17 pounds in 17 days!!! Sorry I'm a little excited.

My clothes fit better, I sleep better and I have energy throughout the whole day! I also have a couple of people that I work with started and they are seeing drastic amounts of weight loss. So it's never too late to get started. I hope that my journey is motivating you guys to get started on your own.

Here's to the next 17 days. I will do my best to do continue to blog but we know how busy I get during the school year. Happy Dieting!

Day 15

Well only 2 more days in this cycle. I weighed myself on Friday and had lost an additional pound. I went into this thinking that this would be a good thing for me to do. After the first 17 days, I am feeling amazing and thinking that I can do anything I put my mind to.

I made some tough decisions over the last week. Part of doing this for me was a way to get rid of some old stresses in my life and to release some of the grudges that I have been holding onto. I'm hoping that saying sorry in one case will really make a huge difference. I think when we are in situations we forget that our feelings aren't always the ones that get hurt. So in an effort to try to mend old wounds I'm gonna say sorry to someone that I once cared a lot about.

I also let go of a relationship that I had been holding onto. I was hoping and praying that I could fix whatever was going on between the 2 of us. But in a moment of clarity I decided that it would be good for the both of us to move on. That was really a hard thing for me to do and in the end I took being called something because I knew that there was a lot of hurt coming from the other person but I knew that it was something that I had to do for me.

The reason why I'm talking about these things in a a couple posts about a diet is for me it was some things that I had to do in order to heal some old wounds so that they wouldn't become substitutes for me to begin emotionally eating again. So although both of those things are causing me tremendous stress I'm going to press on.
I'm sure I've mentioned this in my previous posts but my goal is to lose 100 pounds. For some of you who don't know me...Losing 100 pounds might seem like it's something that I can't accomplish or that I don't need to accomplish. I'm gonna try to stay on this and I only have 89 pounds left to go.

I'm almost out of dark chocolate and decided that I'm not gonna buy any more. I found the Trivia on sale this week at CVS for $2.99...which is practically a steal. So I am doing good but looking forward to adding in more foods. Final weigh in will be on Tuesday with pictures...Give me some direction on how I should take those, please...then off to Cycle 2! Happy Dieting!

Day 11

Hi again! I am so happy that you guys are traveling on this journey with me. I have really tried to give details and what I have been feeling over the last couple days. I am down 4 more pounds to bring it to a grand total of 14 pounds over 3 weeks. Roughly around 10 pounds in 11 days.

Today I tried to do that work out to see how I would feel. I did 17 minutes of a mixed run/walk (one of my fav workouts) and then stretched. Not only did my morning start off with some jump rope and running to demonstrate to one of my athletes what she needed to do but I added in work out time. I wanted to see what would happen if i worked out for the next 6 days.

So today my weight was 310! Wooooo! I swear I am loving this more and more. I know that there was a request for pictures and I'll do that on Day 17 so that you can see the dramatic weight loss that I've experienced. My clothes are beginning to look better and I was able to put something on that I hadn't been able to wear since I bought it today.

Things are going well and I'm so excited for the next 17 day cycle where I can add in more foods and really test myself. I have really been avoiding social situations involving food for the last 11 days because I'm not sure that I can continue on with this in that type of setting. Tonight is my first chance at doing that. I'm going to the movies with my roommate. Movie theater filled with lots of popcorn, chocolate, candy and all the things that I love that got me to 324 pounds. I'm hoping that it will be a success! More about that next time! Happy Dieting!

Days 6-10

Hi Everyone! I hope that you are having a great week and had a great weekend.

I made it through a couple more days. I allowed myself to buy some dark chocolate finally. I need it it's definitely PMS time so I can have the dark chocolate, 1 oz of it until I'm no longer craving chocolate. Hoping that this is the last day that I'm craving it.

I have really been doing a good job and am really proud of myself. I actually ventured out into the world of fast food today. I got a spicy chicken caesar salad and dipped my salad in the dressing instead of pouring it all over. I got a compliment on Day 9 about how much smaller I looked. It was the first time that it happened. I've also noticed that if I'm eating something that I shouldn't my stomach sure let's me know.

My food choices haven't really branched out that much. I had some collard greens that I've added in to give myself another option. I have realized how expensive it is to eat healthy but I think that it's a investment that I am willing to take. I've even convinced one of the ladies that works at the college with me to try this diet. I will do a weigh in tomorrow! I am thinking thin and imagining what I will look like a little smaller. My goal weight is 220 lbs. That means that overall I would lose 100 lbs. I think that I can do it, just hoping that once school starts back I will be able to make smart food choices in the cafeteria.

Here's to 6 more days! Then off to Cycle 2: Activate. The first cycle is called Accelerate! I feel my body accelerating to skinny!!

Days 4 & 5

Well I finally broke down today for the sweetness of some chocolate covered almonds. Let me tell you that my stomach was not happy. I have been craving just a little chocolate since I started this diet. I will not be having any more until I have a day off of the diet in 12 more days.

I have been doing pretty good with my food choices. Yesterday I had eggs and strawberries for breakfast. Yogurt x2 was my snack. I missed lunch but had leftover fried Tilapia and steamed broccoli for dinner.

Today, eggs and strawberries again for breakfast. I had 2 yogurts for both of my snacks and had a big delicious salad for lunch. I made turkey burgers with spicy brown mustard and pickles along with another side salad.

I finally discovered Trivia, the suggested sweetener and it made the green tea very delicious. So I will continue to press on. Decided that I will not weigh in again until day 10 since I was behind on the initial weigh in.

Day #3

Well today is day 3 of this lovely diet. I weighed in at 313 pounds. I weighed myself before leaving to go home 2 weeks ago and I weighed in at 324 pounds. So that's down 11 pounds at least this month.

Today was a good day. I got a lot done and got some amazing news from the Boss Man! I love that he values me enough to keep me sane and happy so that I don't go anywhere.

Alright so I'm really getting into a routine with my food choices. I even ventured out to some different veggies than what I normally eat. MMMM...Cucumbers! Taste like tangy water lol.

Breakfast

Activia Yogurt

1/2 Orange

Snack

Activia Yogurt

Lunch

Spinach salad with cheesoning, Fat-free Creamy Italian Dressing, cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots

Dinner

Fried Tilapia (fried in Olive Oil with Cajun Seasoning)

Repeat Spinach salad

I of course had green tea with all my meals and drank all of my water. The hot lemon water was not amazing this morning.. It really made my stomach upset so I only drank half of it. Overall another great food day!

Here's to Day 4

Day #2

Alright so Day 2 started off really well. Today was a day of simple meals. I made it to the doctor's office which I thought I was doing good by being 5 minutes early...turns out that I was 25 minutes late...OOOPS! So I had to reschedule my appointment for Wed. Sucks having to move the appointment. So no weight and I forgot to do it while I was at work today. Thing to do tomorrow...

Today's Menu:

Breakfast (1,3)

Activia Yogurt

1/2 Orange

Green Tea

Snack 1

1/2 Orange

Snack 2

Activia Yogurt

Lunch (1,3)

Lemon Pepper Chicken

Steamed Broccoli

Green Tea

Dinner (1,3)

Lemon Pepper Chicken

Steamed Broccoli

Green Tea

So I wasn't really adventurous with my meal planning today. I'm gonna try for some variety tomorrow. It will be a big fish day! I picked up some seasoning which I need to double check for carbs. The one thing that I forgot to mention yesterday is that when you wake up in the morning the first thing your supposed to do is have an 8-oz glass of warm water with half of a fresh squeezed lemon to get your fat burning juices going.

I'm gonna be honest green tea is not that delicious with no sugar. I'm trying different varieties to see if they taste better. So far the best is the Lemon & Honey. I'm hoping that I get used to the whole green tea.

Again today, all I've done is go to the potty! But I got my water in and still lacking on the 17 minutes of working out. I am really full after meals and not wanting for anything except sugar, chocolate, and carbs!!!! But I'm gonna fight the wants and just really try to make a lifestyle change. Here's to Day 3!

Day #1

Alright, so I made it through Day 1, barely...

All I've thought about today is chocolate, sugar, coffee, and pop. I have peed roughly 15 times since I woke up this morning (definitely losing water weight). I think I followed the Hunger/Fullness Meter to a T! The one thing that I wasn't expecting was to feel so full after meals and for the couple hours following. No starving myself on this diet.

What did I have to eat today you ask?

Breakfast (1 & 3)

2 eggs with Black Pepper and Cheesoning

1 cup of Strawberries

1 cup of Green Tea

Snack

Activia Vanilla Yogurt

Lunch

Spinach Salad with broccoli, 1 can of tuna, and fat-free Italian

1 cup of Green Tea

Dinner

Lemon Pepper Chicken

Steamed Broccoli

1 cup of Green Tea

Snack

Activia Vanilla Yogurt

So I missed out on my 2nd serving of fruit because it was after 2pm after I tried to eat it. I think that this might work for me. Doctor's appointment tomorrow...dun dun dun! Time to get on the scale. This will be my first time on the scale for almost a month. I will be weighing myself on day 7, day 14 and again on day 17. I will be checking in tomorrow night. Until then Happy Dieting!

17-Day Diet...WHAT!?!

While eating my breakfast this morning I came up with a brilliant idea...I'm going to blog my way through the next 17 days while I am on the 17 day diet. I am going to try to be as candid as possible about my feelings and missteps over the next 17 days.

The 17-day diet book says that I should lose 10-12 pounds over the next 17 days. Wait...10-12 pounds over the next 2 weeks and 3 days? 10-12 pounds in just over 2 weeks...I don't know anyone that could pass on that. How did I get to this idea...My cousin and my aunt were visiting from ATL last week and were on this (it of course got ruined by all the delicious T-Town food). So here I am about ready to embark on this journey.

Here are the basics of this diet:

1. Proteins must be lean (chicken, fish, turkey)

2. 2 eggs/day

3. No fruit after 2:00pm and only 2 servings (NOOOOOOOOOOO! I love fruit especially because it's a way to get sugar...see #4)

4. No sugar, sweets, or refined carbs...

5. Use Hunger/Fullness Meter (2 & 4 are bad!!)

- 1. I'm a little hungry; my stomach feels as hollow as the promises of a politician

- 2. I'm so hungry I could eat the lining of an empty Spam can. My stomach growling so loud it scared off a junkyard dog. I've got to get something to eat and fast.

- 3. I am starting to feel full. I will stop now so that I can save on my grocery bill.

- 4. I'm so stuffed I'll have to waddle over to the couch to collapse.

6. Avoid Alcohol (I can handle this no drinking for 17 days)

7. Drink eight 8-oz glasses of pure water a day (tea and coffee though water based do not count!)

8. Probiotic foods are your friends.

- yogurt, Kefir, Yakult, Breakstone LiveActive cottage cheese

9. Eat as many veggies as you like!

10. Seasonings are allowed. But Fat-free dressings are a must (which are really difficult to find)

So my thought about starting this diet...

I am so excited to have the possibility to see a drastic weight change. One of my hold ups with doing a diet is that I have to eat bland food and miss out on all the good things for an extended period of time before I see any results. So the fact that I can see results in 5 days, 2 weeks, 17 days really appeals to me.

I was reading through the book and after reading a section in the book where it talks about feeling more sexy and becoming more dateable this really appealed to me. I haven't had the best luck in the dating category over the last couple years and I've said more over the last couple months I wonder what would happen if I weighed 200 lbs.

Another portion is that you need to visualize what you would look like thin...Insert here fantasy of being able to wear a bikini and shopping where ever I want...hmm...

So here I go... I invite you to take this journey with me if you are so inclined. I would love to have people to keep me accountable and for me to help accountable as I go through the next 17 days! Today is Day 1, more on that to come!

2011

Wow... a new year, already! 2010 seemed to go by so fast. Who would have thought that this year would be one of the most challenging in my life. But now I look to 2011 for a brand new start. This year for me is going to be about personal growth. You really learn a lot about yourself from the people that are in your life and ultimately the people you seem to lose touch with as time goes by.

My New Year's Resolution is really something that I really debated about. Everyone looks at this as a way to keep yourself motivated throughout the whole year, when in reality it really just keeps you motivated until February or March for those of us who are true die hards. So what is/are my resolution(s), you ask...

1. Continue to work out at least 3 days/week.

2. Begin saving money for rainy days/vacations/miscellaneous.

3. Pay down some debt so that I can really work towards family and homeownership.

4.Take the time so that the people that are in my life that mean a lot to me, know that they do.

5. Value the friendships that I have, both old and new.

Now the key is going to be to remain accountable. So I ask my friends out there in blog land to really help me. For those of you that are struggling with any resolutions that you might have I will be more than happy to be that source of accountability for you as well.

Here's to a great year!

Live Laugh Love ♥

The Big Apple+ Women’s Sports Foundation=Amazing!!! Pt. 1

Although I'm not normally a blogger I thought that it would be appropriate to become one on this occasion. One of my student-athletes, Sherrita Hall, and I had the luxury of being selected to attend the Women's Sports Foundation dinner in NYC on October 12, 2010. This awesome honor was bestowed upon us by Bennington, VT Businessman Richard Ader and SVC President Karen Gross. So after weeks of planning yesterday we were off!

This was a number of firsts for me…I've never been on a train, other than a subway (in France & Chicago), for an extended trip. So we left Southern Vermont's Campus at about 8 in the morning to begin our day long journey to the Big Apple! We hit some snafus first thing in the morning. Neither one of us ever having traveled by train before were a little lost as to the process of boarding, whether to check bags or not, and just where to sit. Our train was delayed 30-40 minutes to begin with. I think we were both getting very anxious. Finally came our time to board the train… We made our way and found two seats and settled in for what would be a 2.5 hour train ride to the city. Along the way we made many stops along the route, they included; Poughkeepsie, Hudson, Younkers and many others. The scenery was absolutely beautiful as we traveled along what I believe was the Hudson River. As we could see the city we had to wait for another train to clear the tracks…after another 15 minute delay, we were soon making our way into the city.

Nothing is more thrilling than walking out of NY Penn Station and seeing and immediately feeling the buzz of the city! Not to mention that when we walked out of the station we were immediately greeted by Madison Square Garden…yes I said Madison Square Garden!!! Not did we see MSG, but right across the street is one of the biggest Post Offices that I've ever seen in my life. Sherrita and I made a plan to go and see if our room was ready in the infamous New Yorker Hotel, then grab lunch, and explore. Our room was unfortunately not quite ready so we left our bags with the concierge and made our way to lunch.

Sherrita was really excited to go to TGIFriday's so that was one of the first places that we saw and so that was our destination. We decided over lunch that we would try in the short time we had to see as much of the famous NYC sites as we could. It was a good thing that we had on our walking shoes! We walked from 8^th St to 2^nd St and then from W. 35^th St to W. 42^nd. We started off walking to see all of the shops and find the Macy's. Let me tell you that we walked into the cosmetics and perfume floor of the Gigantic Macy's and all I could think was how overwhelmed I was.

Sherrita and I made it through most of that first floor before we decided that it would be a good idea to continue our journey. You know how you expect something to look way different than it actually does…that was the way that we felt about the Empire State Building. Matter of fact, we almost walked right by it. I just happened to be looking at the signs on the street and spotted the sign. So we checked that off of our list.

We called Coach Quinn, Women's Basketball Coach at SVC, to find out where exactly all the other sites we needed to see were. He gave us instructions on how to get to all the other things that we were looking for. So we started walking. Me being the great tour guide that I am, I may or may not have had us walking almost all the way to Queens…Oops! But again Coach Quinn was our savior and gave us directions to get us unlost. So we decided that whatever we could find would be the next landmark we stopped at. Finally Grand Central Station appeared in front of us.

Wow what an amazing building from the outside, we had no idea that the inside would be just as spectacular. The ceiling was absolutely amazing. Painted up there were the constellations in gold paint.

Not only that but it was awesome to see all the shops and all the places that movies have depicted so many times. So after spending some quick time in there we made our way out and headed toward Time Square.

We could feel the electricity of Times Square as we headed toward it. Not only the electricity in the air but the increase in the amount of people that were on the streets. As we got closer we noticed that we could walk right down the middle of the street and not have a problem so we did and immediately began taking pictures of all the things that we saw.

On our list of places to go was the Toys'R'Us in Times Square. It is at least 3 floors and has a normal sized ferris wheel inside the store. There were special sections for everything: Wonka, electronics, video games, leggos! Really an awesome place to take kids. We even saw Spidey!

So after exploring the store we decided to make our way back out to the street where we would take in more of Times Square. We saw the famed Minskoff Theatre, where Lion King was playing. (One of my favorite Broadway shows.)

As it was getting late in the day we decided to make our way back to the Hotel to check-in and start to get ready for our night out on the town. But before we left we got to see another one of the NYC/Times Square Icons…The Naked Cowboy!!

On the way back we walked down Rogers and Hammerstein Boulevard and checked out all the musicals that were playing. Heather...thought that this sign would work for you even though we couldn't go see it!

We finally made it back to the hotel after our day of walking…To Be Continued….

Try Again

After speaking with my friend, Heather, who has the most amazing blog ever with a lot of followers, (check her out here) I thought I would try this blogging thing again.

More to come soon!!

New Adventure

After many years of trying to decide if my health was important enough for me to do something about it, I have decided to join people at work in a "Biggest Loser" type competition.

This was really brought on by a conversation that I had during my Dallas Weekend. I had an amazing talk with Heather about dating, my weight, and my dreams of having a family one day. It really prompted me to be proactive about myself (Thanks, Heather). Don't get me wrong, it's not because I don't love myself the way that I am...because I do. I have accomplished so much in my life. I have a Master's degree, a great job, tons of great friends, and I think I'm attractive and funny.

So I began last week and lost 14 lbs and 3 inches in one week! Can you believe that!!!!??? I held down my excitement but all I wanted to do was jump up and down and yell! So I got back to work this week, or I'm at least trying. It's hard when you are back home with nowhere to work out!

If you are interested in joining in with us let me know and I will make sure to include you. If nothing else but to make yourselves more healthy! Look forward to post more about my time at home and my upcoming trip!!

Back to the Grind

I don't know how many of you know what my job exactly entails. I work at a Division 3 school in Southwestern Vermont. Yes...Vermont. It is a really small school, so small that many of the students call it SVC High School.

Anyway, I spend my days listening to my SAs talk about their crazy adventures and trying to keep them healthy. I spend most of the morning trying to catch up on paperwork that I have acquired throughout the afternoons and evenings. I schedule doctor's appointments, set-up meetings with physicians and sales reps, and get kids to come in for rehab to get them back from injuries. I spend at least 12 hours a day here:

So I returned to work after much needed days off and many hours of sleeping. It has been pretty hit the ground running around here. The semester is winding down and there is about 10 days left of work for me. I will be attempting to go home during finals week and spend extra time with my family before heading to the ATL for Christmas...

If you send me questions about myself or about my job I will do my best to answer them over the next couple posts. Also anything else you would like to learn about I can post with regards to athletic training.

Visit Home

Well I made the 9.5 hour trek to Toledo, Ohio the great city of my birth, to see my mom, trade cars and pick up some of my things that I couldn't take out to Vermont on the move in August. You see I have been driving this amazingly nice 2007 Saturn Vue...

So I had to return the nice SUV for my little 2003 Chrysler Sebring...

The trip was super boring and there was a ton of traffic. Because my birthday was on Tuesday and I didn't get to celebrate it with my family I got presents on Thanksgiving and over the next couple days from my family.

Thanksgiving dinner was super tasty, and I contributed potato salad to the meal. My mom did an amazing job with the turkey and all the fixings. Of course because I come from a family of cooks they made fun of how "crunchy" my potatoes were in my salad, but everyone said that the flavor of it was great. After dinner we settled in the front room of my grandma's house and enjoyed each other's company.

The next day was Black Friday and of course in my family it is a tradition for myself and my aunt DeMeeta and whoever else to come along for the excursion, this year because my aunt remained in Atlanta I was left to fend for myself with all the crazy people. I met 2 nice ladies in the line at Target...I was up and in line by 4:30. Yes I said 4:30...and made it in and out of there by 5:30, I was truly on a mission. I decided to run to Walmart before returning to bed. I made it in the store for 10 minutes and had a lady block my way because she didn't want to let anyone else through. So I decided that instead of fighting all the crazy people to go home and return later.

The highlight of my trip was spending the day with my mom at my favorite store, that I've never been too, IKEA. It was like an out of body experience for me. Many square feet of everything that I could possibly want...Instead of getting all the things that I wanted I had to settle for curtains, wine glasses, measuring cups, drawer organizers and amazing cinnamon buns. I will definitely be making a trip to the store again in the near future to purchase the bedroom set that I want...

I will be returning to Vermont tomorrow to return to work and unpack all my goodies that I am bringing back with me...

Dallas- Sunday

I'm trying to learn the properness of blogging...I realize that it's almost a week later and I'm blogging about last weekend still...but anyway...Onward to Sunday. After having a fitful sleep, I'm totally blaming it on the meat...We went down to say good bye to John and Alyssa as they would be the first to leave. Because we were all hungry we decided to take a ride over to McDonald's and grab some food. There we said goodbye to John, Alyssa, and (not so) Little R. I did an amazing job holding back the tears!

We went back to the hotel and talked about keeping in touch better, planning for the wedding and really just spending the last couple hours together. There were lots of jokes and torture going on. From there we all checked out of the hotel and made our way to a park for Sassy and Little A to expend some energy before their family headed back to Kansas and before we met Nicole and Bastian at Joe's Crab Shack!

We arrived at Joe's and waited patiently for Nicole, Bastian, Brandon, and Jaimie to show up. The girls took in the pond and we went inside to wait. Because I only had a couple hours left with them I was really trying to get in as much time with the girls as possible. They are my nieces and I love them to death. So finally the other half of our crew arrived and we sat ate and drank and attempted to watch as much football as we could. It was getting close to time to leave and so I snuck away to the bathroom...Upon my return I noticed the waitress had this shark on a stick. So of course because I was turning 25 on Tuesday they told the waitress and I had to ride around the restaurant on this thing. Of course I couldn't just ride in peace I had to say, "Yee-Haw, it's my birthday!" After that we all proceeded to say our goodbyes and depart to our final destinations...

Let's just say I was doing good until Sassy asked why I wasn't going with them to Kansas...I about lost it in the restaurant and had to tell her I would be seeing her soon...After leaving the restaurant I realized that I only had 35 minutes to get to the airport before my flight left. I of course was crying the entire way to the airport because I was sad to be leaving my friends and Brandon of course comforted me for the first 5 minutes and then fell asleep. As it turns out we were cutting it extremely close. My flight left in 35 minutes and I was nervous that I wasn't gonna make it. Luckily for me I made it, checked in, and went through security with all of 5 minutes to spare.

I got on the plane and made a new friend. We talked about all kinds of things and about how our lives were and all the injustices of student loans. I eventually touched down in Manchester, NH and had to make the 2.5 hour trek back to Bennington. Luckily for me this time there was less fog and no rain...

It was a great weekend with friends and now the next step is to figure out a way to get to Germany for the German official wedding...

Dallas-Saturday

After the long night of talking, we reconvened in the lobby...our makeshift hangout place for the weekend. We were late getting down to breakfast because some person in my room took an extremely long time to get ready and so we were 15 minutes late...that's neither here nor there.

We decided to walk to breakfast because it was right around the corner. Off we went...We ended up at a little diner-like place called the Oasis Restaurant and proceeded to have a fantastic breakfast. I of course opted for the usual fanfare (pancakes, bacon, hashbrowns) while some of my other counterparts took in some spicy eggs and breakfast burritos. We finished breakfast without any major catastrophes from the kids and set off to go back to the hotel. We decided from there to go to Heather's and my favorite store Target and see what the Dallas one had to offer. We of course drug Brandon along with us, with promises of movies or shoes or something...None the less we had a successful trip at Target plus me making Sassy cry...I really didn't do anything to her...I promise! We stopped to make sure we had enough to proceed with our "game faces" and returned to the hotel to get dressed for the big ceremony.

Brandon, Bastian, Alyssa, John, and I all made it to the beautiful house where the ceremony was to take place. We ate and drank while we waited for everyone else to join us. Soon it was time for the ceremony to start. Because Bastian and Nicole aren't traditional people, we did not know what to expect from the ceremony. But it was fast and we all got to take a part in it. Here are some pictures taken by Brandon because I got to weld Heather's camera because she was the "surprise Best Man":

The 3 beautiful ladies pre-ceremony

In the midst of vows/promises...Not kidding this was the fastest ceremony ever. Only took about 5 minutes just the way they wanted.

Heather doing her "Best Man" duties.

Finally the kiss!!!

After the Teary Toasts...which if you don't know this about me, I cry about everything. Someone could tell me that a dog died on the side of the road and start cry and therefore so would I...Anyway...after everyone cried and ate delicious cake. We proceeded out to the front yard where there was a "special surprise" for all of us...

Sassy was the first to have a go at it and she was really excited!!

Then it was Nicole's turn to "Beat her Groom"

After all the excitement we piled into cars and headed to dinner...I don't know how many of you have heard of a Brazilian Steakhouse but it might have been one...well the best meal of my life.

I'll fill you in on the concept...#1 begin with a salad bar full of marinaded mushrooms (eww fungus), asparagus as big as a banana and other assorted salads. #2 they come to your table with 16 different meat choices, yes I said 16 and yes i probably ate at least 10 of them. #3 Save room for desert because you will be having that as well...By the way, I forgot to mention that all of this is as much as you can eat. So if you eat 20 lbs of meat so be it. After eating all of this food we proceded back to the hotel, although we wanted to hang out and talk some more we just were too tired after the food and the long day...

I apologize for the length...more to come about Sunday

Dallas- Friday

I traveled to Dallas this weekend for a wedding of one of my best friends from college, Bastian. We all (Heather, Brandon, Bastian, and I) met when I worked football at Iowa State. And we became fast friends, pretty much inseparable for the next 3 years. During this time we all became close with each other's families and eventually spread out across the country and world. Myself to Vermont, Brandon to San Diego, Heather to Wichita, and Bastian back to Germany. Which takes us to this weekend...

The "Dallas wedding" was to take place on Saturday. This was a substitute wedding for those people who meant a lot to Bastian and Nicole who might not be able to make it to Germany in April when the official ceremony would be taking place. I began my travels on Friday morning at 2:30 am, driving through the mountains and fog of Vermont and New Hampshire.

I even saw 3 or 4 of these. Really!! Moose Crossings?!?! But I eventually after 2.5 hours of driving up and down made it to Manchester, NH to fly down to Dallas. After arriving, I was greeted by a huge guy running at me! It scared me but then I realized it was my friend Bastian. After grabbing a quick lunch we returned to the airport to meet up with Brandon who had just arrived from San Diego. Wow what a California boy he has become...

After picking him up we headed to the hotel to check in and meet up with the Kansas crew (Heather, Tyler, her parents and the kids) and everyone else. We hung out at the hotel and got settled in our rooms, had preliminary catch-ups. Off to dinner we went!

We went to a cool little place called Gordon Biersch for the "Rehersal Dinnner". It was a new restaurant to the Dallas area. After eating and drinking a bunch of food and commenting on the abundance of garlic in their fries...we returned to the the "Suite of fun" to enjoy each other's company!

Many of us applied our "game faces" and enjoyed the talking, laughing, and having "adult conversations." John and Alyssa joined us at the hotel with their little guy. John is another one of my football player friends. Alyssa has been adopted into our group because of being married to John. After much discussion we decided that we should begin to have get togethers every year in different locations so that we can see each other more. It began to get late so we decided to go to bed and get ready for the ceremony the next day!

To be continued....

Day of Reflection...

I thought that I would start a blog like everyone else in my life! Today is my birthday and although I have lots of depressing thoughts about turning 25, I guess I should be happy that I made it this far in my life and have accomplished most things that I have wanted to...

I made it to 25 with a Bachelor's Degree, a Master's Degree, and a great job that I love coming to everyday.

I have great friends and family, that have been there for me through all the tough times in my life. To all those that have been a part of the last 25 years...thank you and I am so blessed to have you in my life. I am so lucky compared to others that I know...

Happy Birthday to me! I look forward to seeing what this day brings me!