Wedding Weekend

Usually you'll find us lounging around doing little things around the house or at the farmer's market on the weekends; we like to spend our down time just being together as a family enjoying each other. This weekend we got to be a part of something even better, celebrating the marriage of my cousin, Hannah, and her new husband, John.

The boys have been waiting weeks to step out in their fancy clothes and carry out their very important job. I was skeptical as to how things would go (they are 2 and 3 year old boys, you never know when a nose might get picked, or a dirt fight might ensue). But, they made this mama proud. Boogers and dirt stayed where they belong. They walked with my sister Avery, who was the flower girl, and made lots of people smile. Who can resist two blonde boys in suspenders and bow ties, honestly? 

(Best picture I have of both of them in their "fancy clothes" is from a few weeks ago when we tried them on, I still can't get over the cuteness..)

Jonah said "hi mom" and "hi nan" as they were walking to their spot and Jack just looked around aimlessly (so "Jack" of him). Jonah took a seat with daddy during the rest of the ceremony, standing still and being quiet isn't really his thing. After the ceremony, the whole wedding party lined up to greet the guests and shake their hands. In true Jack style, he opted to give everyone a high five instead. 

Hannah and John decided to have the ceremony and reception at Hannah's dad's house. Such a gorgeous place. They live on top of a hill that overlooks all of our hometown in Southern Ohio. The view is amazing from that deck we're all standing on in the first photo. It was such a good day, everything went so smoothly. Hannah was absolutely gorgeous, she and John were all googlely-eyed and each other the entire time. You know, the kind of love that's contagious and you can't help but smile. I loved it, I just love seeing her so happy. She so deserves that.

(One of my favorite photos of them. If you are around Chillicothe, Ohio and in need of a photog, Nancy Harris did a wonderful job)

My sweet husband and I. I can't believe we've been married almost FIVE years. My, how time flies.

Hannah and John,

I wish you all the happiness in the world. Marriage is such a big adventure. There will be times you will want to rip each others' heads off. Totally normal. I've always though arguing with your mate is totally fine, as long as you arguing to move towards a solution. My advice to you would be to never stop learning about each other, surprise each other often, and always remember your wedding day and how you felt that day.

(: 

Eat Healthy. Be Healthy.

This cute, little graphic is the lock screen on my phone. Every time I look at it, it makes me happy. It's a constant reminder of the journey I'm on to a better me. I want to be healthy, and something as simple as this little slice of watermelon is helping me get there.

I decided on May 12th (Mother's Day) of this year that I was done being lazy, overweight, and sick all the time. I didn't really tell anyone about my decision because I was nervous about failing and everyone knowing about it. I told my husband and I told my friend Nicole.. and that was about it.

Since then I've been eating better, way better. (Although anything would have been an improvement from my previous diet, that's for sure. The first month was the hardest. It was so easy to fall back into bad habits. In the past I have used food for comfort, so naturally in those first few weeks when I would get upset about something I would immediately look to food (mostly carbs, my weakness) to "cheer me up." After a few times of that, and then waking up the next morning feeling like crap (both physically and mentally), I started to turn to other things to cheer me up instead. Like the gym, playing with my boys, reading, etc. My biggest obstacle so far with my diet is my craving for late night snacks. I always want BAD food right before bed. It's probably just out of habit, but man... so tempting. I've allowed myself popcorn before bed if I'm still really hungry (YOLO, haha, but that's even slowly being cut out. My most favorite part of my changing diet has been adding in a protein shake after my morning workout. I like to use chocolate protein and mix it with unsweetened almond milk, YUM. Tastes a lot like chocolate milk, just better for you.

I have learned to love my "me" time at the gym in the morning. I usually do 30-45 minutes on the elliptical while listening to music, usually my 90's station. The Price is Right is usually on one of the TVs while I'm in there, so I also like to mentally tell the contestants how wrong they are between my high intervals. I have good memories of watching "Come on down" (what I called it as a child) with my grandma while my parents were at work. Every day, she would bring me an oatmeal cream pie, mmmm. Funny that now, 20 years later, I'm watching the show from an elliptical burning off 300 calories rather than eating them. 

After cardio, I do weights/strength training. I know a lot of girls that don't like weight training, they are afraid it will make them "buff." I like the way I feel after lifting. Stronger, healthier, it rocks. I like seeing the changes in my muscles. I like becoming stronger, being able to lift more weight every week or hold it for longer. I know if I cut out the weight training and just did cardio for 90 minutes every day, the pounds would drop way faster. But, I'm not in this just to get skinny, I'm doing this to get fit, strong, and healthy. 

Today, I'm at 27 pounds down. Still, a very long way to go, but sometimes we need to be reminded of how far we've come already (especially on weight loss journeys). 

That picture on the left is so hard for me to look at. That wasn't even my highest weight either. I'm not ready to reveal what my starting weight was back in May, but it was my highest weight ever and I'm never going back there. For now I can tell you that my ultimate goal is to lose a total of 100 pounds. I can also tell you that my first "big" goal is to be below 200 pounds and I'm still not there yet, almost though (: When I do get there I will be rewarding myself with a new tattoo. 

The jeans I'm wearing on the right are two sizes smaller than I wore 3 months ago, and yes.. maybe I was showing off my new boots (: