finding my way back

hello everyone... i can't believe it's been almost two weeks since i posted - between my vacation and coming back to an extremely busy office, i haven't had a chance to sit down... i also haven't caught-up on any blogs so i apologize for that, and hoped i haven't missed anything too exciting... since i don't want to bore you guys with too many details, i'll just give you a brief recap of what i've been up too and share some pics... :)

• we haven't made any progress on the wedding besides i bought 2 books (the green bride and planning a green wedding), bought 2 magazines at the store this morning, and signed up for a new blog... when it's set-up and running - i'll share it with you, of course... i also need to get my ring re-sized and have to call a few places this week - i just don't want to part with it! :(
  
  
• the depeche mode concert was awesome! it was my first time having lawn seats and we could see and hear perfectly... the best part of the night was buying 2 soft pretzels and 2 beers for $35... awesome...
  
  
• my vacation to NC (with mom) was good - it was really hot and i got a bit too much sun on the first day so i tried to lay low for the rest of the trip... at one point, we were standing in the ocean and my mom said, "you aren't wearing your ring, are you?"... i just had to laugh... the best part of the trip - besides playing w/her dog that was half great dane and basset hound - was going to the shrimp man and buying fresh seafood off the boat for $4/pound... these things were massive!

• work has been extremely busy - my coworker took her vacation this past week and all the stuff that she didn't finish, fell into my lap... i don't think i got to what i was suppsed to be working on until thursday afternoon and there's more to do tomorrow - i just hope it calms down soon...
  

• this weekend has been VERY busy - friday night i went to happy hour with some old coworkers... saturday, we did a lot of yard work, got my haircut, did some cleaning, laundry, and then we took the bike up to see my brother... today, we went to the nats game and had a great time! we drank, we ate, and it was VERY hot - just glad to be home in the a/c finally...
  

• sadly, i've exercised once since coming back from vacation and as for eating, well - let's just say it hasn't been perfect... i don't think i've gained much but i've certainly haven't lost anything either... on a good note - the fridge is full of healthy stuff and i'm happy to be going back to the green monster tomorrow...:)

guess that's all i have for now - hope you're all doing well and i promise to get caught-up soon... enjoy the pics! :)

depeche mode still rocks...



me on a giant sand-turtle...



my first soft-shell crab samich...



our first nats game and they won!



and my first half-smoke from ben's chili bowl...



the national cathedral - so beautiful...

it's been a while

warning: tmi
about a month ago, i had my IUD removed (which my insurance did not cover!) and was told it could take anywhere from 2-12 weeks til i got my period... well, saturday morning eric and i went to a few moving sales (that pretty much sucked) and my back started to hurt and then the cramps started... for someone that hasn't had a period in 4 years, let's just say i knew what it was - and thought, "what a great way to start the weekend!" i didn't feel PMS'y or anything, thank-god, but was really tired/blah and achy for most of the day - advil didn't seem to help so i need to find something a tad stronger i guess... as spoiled as i was for 4 years - i'm glad my body is getting back to normal again and stays that way... :)

as for the rest of the weekend - eric and i decided on paint colors for the dining room and the two bedrooms... my thought is that it will be easier to paint BEFORE i move-in, since there's less stuff to move around... his thought is, "what's the hurry, why do everything now" - must be a male/female thing... from my perspective - i'd feel better knowing the house was semi-ready when i got there compared too 'still in progress' come april 1... we didn't organize/go-thru any closets, like i had hoped, but i did make some space in the laundry room for some boxes - guess any progress, is good progress right? i also ordered a new light fixture for the dining room - the current lighting in there is circa 1984 so i feel this is a VAST improvement... :)

on saturday - we tried a new restaurant (new to us anyway) called qdobo mexican grill - it reminded me a lot of chipotle but with a few more options... i decided that most of my flex points would have to be used and combined lunch/dinner into one meal - it was pretty good though i have to say baja fresh has MUCH better salsas... yesterday, i met a girlfriend for lunch and we had planned on doing mediterranean but the place was closed - we opted for sushi instead... good choice, i thought... for dinner - eric grilled some marinated chicken and we had that with pesto pasta and a nice salad... it's rare that i eat-out twice in one week so i'm hoping this doesn't affect wednesday's weigh-in... :(

as for exercise - i wasn't feeling like it on saturday but since it was close to 70 degrees yesterday, i went for an hour-long jog/walk... it felt great to be outside so i'm glad i waited... hope this weather lasts but i know it won't... :(

happy monday...

weigh-in

forgive me for complaining about NOT gaining weight this week but i certainly don't think i deserve a 0.6 pound loss... after my weight-workout last week, i was unable to walk without wincing in pain til at least sunday so yesterday was my first day back to the gym... i was also out of town this weekend at my sister's and we all know how that goes - between a pantry full of chips and cookies, and my mom decided to make bread pudding one night... holy moly... anyway, at least the scale is moving in the the right direction and getting me closer to my goal... :o)

speaking of goals - how many of you are 5-10 pounds away and find yourself pretty happy/content where you are right now? would losing 5 more pounds make that much of a difference in your clothes? or is getting to that ideal number more important to you? i've found myself struggling w/this as of late because even though i'm still exercising - my diet has not been 100% perfect since before the holidays and i'm still in the same range... i feel good and i think i look pretty good so when does a person say, "when"... just throwing that out there for discussion, really haven't decided anything yet... :o)

work has been busy and my weekends have been busy, went to see my sister and dad this past weekend because i had monday off... it was ZERO degrees there on sunday night and cold is not the word for it! holy cow, it was freezing! i got to spend some time w/my nieces and we all shared some good laughs, including going through my old fisher-price stuff that my sister has been storing for me... my dad is doing okay, no worse and no better, so at least i got to spend a few hours with him... :o)

i still haven't taken my christmas decorations down but that will be happening this weekend... it makes me sad just to think about it but i think i've overstayed my holiday welcome, so to speak... i will miss the tree lights for sure... :o(

oh, a quick note - eric was over on friday night and i wanted to watch 'how to look good naked' so he watched it with me... not only did we watch an episode but we watched TWO of them - he actually said, "this is a really good show" and i agree... even though it's still a bit high on the cheese-level, it's helping women think about the positive things instead of all the negative things about their body... just thought i'd share - it's not just women that think it's a good show... :o)

happy hump day...