My Birthday and my 25-before-25 list

Well, today is the day! Not only is it my 24^th birthday, it’s also the start of my 25 before 25 list. Essentially I picked 25 things that I want to complete before I turn ¼ of a century old. Some of the list is complied of ideas I got from other peoples lists and some of these are unique to me. Some are simple, some are more challenging, but I have 365 days to complete them and of course write about them to share with you! I’ve been working on compiling the list for a while now (just over a month) and I’m really excited to complete it.

1. Throw a fancy dinner party

2. Get a grown up bed set

3. Try one new recipe a month

4. Spend one whole day doing nothing

5. Do something spontaneous

6. Lay in the grass and watch the stars

7. Eat a decadent dessert and be in control

8. Reconnect with an old camp friend

9. Buy $100 grocery gift card and leave it with the cashier for someone

10. Donate blood

11. Go fishing

12. Find out my credit score

13. Pick a movie series and watch them back to back

14. Go garage sailing

15. Start a retirement savings plan

16. This one is personal ;)

17. Get my belly button pierced

18. Not use my credit card for one month

19. Start, and finish editing my wedding video

20. Play in the rain

21. Go berry picking

22. Get in the car and drive with no destination planned

23. Not buy house cleaner for one year (with the exception of dish soap)

24. Pay off 100% of our debt

25. Get back to my goal weight

Today Sean made me pancakes for breakfast at my request:

That’s peanut butter and raspberry jam on them, with. They were so good! Then for lunch I had a salad, and Sean came to meet me because he has to work tonight.

After work I am going to get my hair cut, rent a movie, and then my sister is coming over for quesedillas and a home spa night (because going to a real spa is just not in the budget!).  I am quite looking forward to it!

I plan on ending the evening with a cup of tea, a mint smoothie (my favourite chocolate ever that I bought on the weekend to have on my birthday) and snuggles with my little Levi <3.

From the past week...

I wrote this over the course of the week and kept meaning to post it, so here it is:

Well, after my not so healthy weekend, Monday was good…then
Valentine’s day. I thought it would be no problem because I
didn’t really have anything to worry about, until a co-worker
brought in my favourite chocolates in the whole world. I was counting
honestly…for a while. Then I lost count and gave in all together. SO, I
guess I didn’t even make it to Tuesday before I was not tracking
everything I ate. But I’m not going to give up. There is still hope
for me! In my old department where I worked they knew not to bring me
chocolate of any kind, but in my new area, and since I have not been
very disciplined the past few months year, they don’t know that.

On Tuesday I had a session with my trainer but something came up and he
wasn’t able to make it. We had pasta with veggies for dinner and then
took Levi to his second last dog training class. I felt like a terrible
person because we had to teach them two new tricks over the last week,
but life just got in the way and that didn’t happen. All of the other
dogs showed off their tricks while Levi was just a spectator. But he did
manage to do one trick that he didn’t know before, so I didn’t feel
quite so bad. After that Sean and I went home and watched Homes on Homes
and snacked on chips…I feel like the theme for this blog should possibly
be weight gain, not weight loss since I have clearly fallen off the
beaten path. 

I have let the stress of life take over and have not made any time for
me or my health. My parents are a big help right now because they are
going to be helping me with the busiest part of my business so that I
can try to take some time to focus on getting going again. I really
appreciate that they are helping me, because I just keep going deeper
and deeper - the wrong way!

On Wednesday I did my 3km run – in training for this half marathon
Nicole and I are doing in October. Sean and Levi came with me, and we
finished the whole thing without stopping, but I did go pretty slow.
When we were finishing up the last part of the run I was thinking about
how much I actually hate running. Really – I can’t stand it. I like
the idea of running, but anything long distance is not for me. I enjoy
100m sprints but that is about it. So I thought, why am I doing
something I hate so much? I texted Nicole and told her that I am not
going to do the half marathon and she understood. Now I just need to
find a new activity/sport that I could possibly compete in. Any ideas?

The past few days my hands have been really cracked and dry since when
Nicole left she took her Herbal Aloe Hand Cream with her, so this
morning on the way out the door I grabbed my tube of Herbal Aloe Hand
Cream to stash in my desk and put some on when I got to work. What a
difference it makes! It’s not greasy at all, and with one application
my hands stay soft all day. Everyone could smell it and asked for some,
which of course I shared since you only need a tiny amount (size of a
dime) to do both hands.

You can find it by going to the following link:

Canadians: https://mygreatshapetoday.com/kelly_12/product/ca-skin-care-and-fragrances/ca-herbal-aloe-hand-and-body-cream-200ml

Americans: https://mygreatshapetoday.com/kelly_12/product/personal-care/us-herbal-aloe-hand-and-body-cream

Ahh, speaking of hands. It’s time to admit something that I am REALLY
not proud of. I can not longer wear my wedding rings because they are
too small; with the weight that I have put on my fingers have also
gotten bigger so my small rings were blocking blood flow. It was a major
struggle to get them off, and saddened me very much - but maybe it will
motivate me to get my butt into gear (since I think it is really
important to wear my wedding rings + I love them). My husband just told
me that I should just get them made a size bigger, but clearly as a man
he doesn’t understand… that is just as crappy of a feeling as buying a
pair of pants in the next size up. When I got my engagement ring I was
heavy, and I had to get it sized smaller about 4 times. And when we
bought my wedding band, it fit right off the shelf (which made me so
happy because they keep them small and hope that you will nee
d it a bigger size).  Anyways, now my fingers feel bare and I hope to change
that soon.

On the depressing topic of what doesn’t fit, I will also point out
that my winter coat is a struggle to do up every day and I have NO idea
how the zipper hasn’t ripped out of it by now! I bought it at the end
of the season last year and it fit great…but this year, not so much. Of
course I was too cheap and too proud to buy another winter coat this
year (thinking I was going to lose the weight and fit into it), so I
have been wearing my good one either not done up, or wearing my rain
jacket which has no insulation at all. Being cold is kind of a cruel
punishment to me since I don’t fit into my good coat.

This post is starting to become very depressing so I am going to finish
up with this note. Even though over the last year and a half I have been
going in the wrong direction on the scale I WILL NOT GIVE UP. I worked
far too hard to lose all that weight and there is no way I am going to
just give in and put it all back on.  I will take this time my parents
are giving me, and focus completely on my health, and get myself back on
track and going the right direction. I know how to do it - I just need
to be able to put it into motion. So join me on my journey of getting
healthy! (Again!)

Alive?

I went to work today, barely alive. I was still not feeling much better, but didn't feel it necessary to go to the doctors (you need a doctors note if you are off for 3+ days). I had an optometrist appointment before work so I was up even earlier than normal...

I got my eyes checked out (they are fine, same as 4 years ago). Went to work hoping that I would just be able to do some catch up and take it slower. As the day progressed I actually started feeling much better, aside from the headache and the sore shoulder muscles. But all in all I am feeling much better.

Tonight, aside from calls, I am babysitting Sammy, who is quite possibly cutest, more fun, and most well behaved baby I've ever met. His smile just melts your heart!

Thankfully I don't have any late calls and should be able to be in bed around 9:30 tonight (fingers crossed). I am having a day where I really really need chocolate. Anything chocolate. Ladies, you know where I am coming from...right? At least tonight's dinner is good...Greek pitas! Yum.

Tomorrow night is Nicole's farewell dinner. She is moving to another unit in our organization and she will be dearly missed. Although I have really only known her a short time (since July 2011) I have gotten pretty close with her, and will miss working beside her all day long. Although with my music and the slurp of my Worthers, I don't think she'll miss me ;) We will be going to Tony Roma's to eat, and I have already chosen a really yummy salad that I plan on having. I'll be bringing my own dressing to save the added fat and calories!

Anyways, that's all I have time for now...talk to you soon (hopefully I will be able to fight off my chocolate need!)