Thankful..

I am so very thankful for....

My husband, Jordan

My Dad and Mom and their 29 years of marriage.

My sisters Sidney (left) and Lindsay (right)

My nephew Elias and niece Ariauna

My dog Travis xoxo

Nephew Lathyn and niece Kamryn (sis in law's kids)

My beautiful and loving Grandma

My best friend Marlene for being a great support in my weight loss journey.

*Scentsy for being such an awesome company to work for. I have loved every moment of growing my Scentsy business!

*My health

*Weight Watchers for providing me with the tools and knowledge to lost over 40lbs this year.

*Blogger for letting me create a blog where I can be myself and be candid about this journey I'm on. and for all the wonderful bloggers I've "met" in blogland..such an inspiration!

Friday I DO plan on weighing in at Weight Watchers even though it is a day after Thanksgiving! I'm crossing my fingers that I can meet my goal of LOSING through the holidays! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and don't forget to count your blessings :)

*

Bittersweet

Today is a little bittersweet for me. Today was my due date for my first pregnancy {you can read more about my miscarriages here}. I can't believe {if things would have gone differently} that Jordan and I would have a one year old baby today. When I think about it, I get this little pain and tightness in my chest. I'm certain it's my heart breaking a little bit more.

Mercy Me "Homesick" 

You're in a better place, I've heard a thousand times
And at least a thousand times I've rejoiced for you
But the reason why I'm broken, the reason why I cry
Is how long must I wait to be with you

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
I've never been more homesick than now

Help me Lord cause I don't understand your ways
The reason why I wonder if I'll ever know
But, even if you showed me, the hurt would be the same
Cause I'm still here so far away from home

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
I've never been more homesick than now

In Christ, there are no goodbye
And in Christ, there is no end
So I'll hold onto Jesus with all that I have
To see you again
To see you again

And I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won't you give me strength to make it through somehow

I've never been more homesick than now

Spilling it

Something on my mind..
-Last week at Weight Watchers, we went over Thanksgiving dinner with how many points everything is worth..how to change recipes to lessen points, portion sizes, etc. During the meeting I was so gung-ho about staying on track during Thanksgiving. I was thinking how I really haven't lost any weight in the month of November so this was my chance to show how strong willed I am by not over eating and staying in control during the holiday and hopefully even shed some pounds (how awesome would that be to say you lost weight the week of thanksgiving?!). This week the devil on my shoulder is saying It's freaking Thanksgiving, Allie! Eat what you want!! What the heck. How did my thought process change? That just goes to show that even after 10 months on the program and *almost* 50lbs lost I still don't have it down. Some weeks it "clicks" for me and I'm right on target and some weeks I'm just like "This is life. I like this food. I want to eat such and such. I deserve it." Then the scale doesn't lower and it's a vicious circle!! How tiring!!
How do I fix this train of thought??!!

Weight Watcher weigh in 11-12-10

Sorry I am late posting!
I always get a little behind on the weekends and getting the week started. Anyway! I lost -.2 at Weight Watchers. Whoopty-do...I'm still at it and will be until I see my goal weight on the scale. I'm behind on my monthly goal of averaging one pound a week. I will get there though. I have faith in myself!
I thought I'd share some out takes of me and Jordan's Christmas card photos. My mom ended up taking our pictures in her front yard then I editted them on picnik.com to make them look a little more professional. Then I used my coupon code for 50 free Christmas cards (finished product on last entry) that Shutterfly gave me for posting a blog entry about their Christmas card collection. I ended up spending $7.00 TOTAL on Christmas cards this year. Is that budget savvy or what??

Have a healthy week!!

Christmas Card 2010

Vintage Provence Holiday 2011 Christmas 5x7 folded card

Shop Shutterfly.com for elegant Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Time for a hair change!

Let me give you a background on my hair..I was born with white-blonde hair, as I got older..probably around 12-13 years old my hair started to turn darker..the weirdest color..you couldn't consider it brown, but it was too dark to be "blonde" either.
Anyway, around 7th grade I became obsessed with those highlighting kits. You know where you pull strands of hair with a plastic hook? I was really into the "chunky" look (this was circa 2001 ok?!) So one day I decided I wanted all over blonde hair so instead of pulling my hair through the cap I poured the whole mix of bleach on my hair..um yes, think Christina Aguilera WHITE, FRIED hair. o.m.g.
My mom took me to a professional salon and we went through treatments upon treatments to get my hair looking "normal" After that my dad said I could not color my own hair! When I got a job at 16 I started going to my own hair stylist and she started foil weaving my hair to put some blonde back in. She only charged $50 for a full foil weave so I thought I was getting a great deal!! I would go in every 6 weeks to get my roots touched up. And I've been doing that ever since. Now my hair is all blonde. It doesn't have any "depth" to it..just blonde. My husband has been trying to get me to go darker since we've met..just for a change. I made an appointment for Saturday and here is the photo I'm taking to show my new hair dresser the color/style I want:

I know I'm not quite as tan or skinny as Lauren Conrad (she's beautiful!) but I think adding some dark to contrast all the blonde in my hair will look good on me. I looooove her hair color here! I'm scared though..of change of course! Wish me luck. (for my hair change and when I step on the scale tomorrow..I think my Birthday weekend took a toll on me..eek!)

Christmas Cards!

Last year Christmas cards were really important to me because it was my first Christmas as a married woman! It was fun showcasing our wedding photos on our Christmas cards and where else would I order them through? Shutterfly of course. I remember their shipping was super fast and the cards looked expensive, but they were actually very affordable. Shutterfly was also awesome for photo books that I made and gave as gifts to our grandparents for Christmas of our wedding photos. So cute. This year, their Christmas card selection did not disappoint. We are planning on my mom taking a few photos of us outside our home this weekend so they will be perfect for our 2010 Christmas cards.  Here are my top 3:

Shutterfly is giving 50 free Christmas cards to bloggers so head over there and get your FREE prints!!

WW weigh in 11/5/10

So, when I went to Weight Watchers Friday I knew I had gained a little. -.8 to be exact. I wasn't happy with this at all. Last week was an awesome weigh in and this week wasn't what I wanted to see. But what can ya do? Pout a little and keep on truckin', right? 

Saturday was my Birthday! I turned 23 and had an awesome day. I started the day off with watching my niece play in her first basketball game. Four year olds and basketball is too much cuteness for my eyes! Then my grandma invited me to lunch. I was hesitant because I was planning on going to the noon Zumba class, but you can't deny your Grandma! So we went to a mexican restaurant and I just had one chicken enchilada, rice and probably too many chips and salsa. Then I got home and my husband wanted to go have lunch! So, we went to Olive Garden and I just got the salad and breadsticks since I was already really full from just eating 2 hours prior. We went shopping afterwards and I got a few things for my Birthday. Has anyone heard of Biosilk for your hair? Mmm love it!! Then my sister Lindsay was hosting a dinner in my honor so we went over there and ate spaghetti and had cake and icecream. I drank one too many alcoholic beverages and ended up "falling asleep" at my sister's for the evening.

So, basically, I had an awesome birthday, but ate/drank too much?! This is always the case for me. Any "celebrations" like family reunions, BBQ's, birthdays, etc I over eat and end up paying for it later. Why do I do that to myself? And the sad thing is, when I'm over eating I know I'm doing it but the little voice inside my head says "It's your birthday! enjoy!" I think this will just be a process. Will I ever be OK with food during "celebrations?" I know we have Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up..oh and a trip to Las Vegas in December as well. I will really need to buckle down and be strong.

Here's to another week on this weight loss journey! Hope everyone has a great week :)

WW 10-29-10

Happy November!!
It's a new month; a fresh start if October wasn't everything you imagined. October started off slowww in the weight loss catagory for me. I was losing -.6 here, -.2 there and feeling very discouraged, however; I did finish the month off with a -2.6 which I was soooo pleased with! -2.6 and that is with the scale hidden! I didn't focus on the number and just trusted in the Weight Watcher program. It hasn't failed me yet! This loss was a breath of fresh air. I.can.do.this!! I lost -4 in the month of October so I am still in the right direction of meeting my goal of 150lbs by June 2011!

In other news, my sister Sidney was nominated for Homecoming Queen this week. She is a Senior in High School and will be heading off to college this coming summer and leaving her big sissy behind :( I am so proud of her though! Isn't she beautiful? {I did her hair for homecoming} :)

    

I love you sissy!!

Everyone have a great week! Remember, tracking points, calories, whatever WORKS!!