THE TIME HAS FINALLY COME!!!!!

The time has finally come ladies and gentlemen! In just two months, I will officially be a college graduate!

After 6 years of hard work and after changing my major 5 times, I will have my Bachelor's in Public Affairs and Emergency Management! I will be done... finished...caput... YAY!!! I don't think words can describe how insanely happy I am and how thrilled I was when I finally received my invitation for graduation in the mail yesterday!!!

I feel like one of the sole reasons that we were suppose to move to NYC was so that I could finally make up my mind and graduate. These last 8 months have been grueling, as I have put in 16 credit semesters and studied endlessly to get good grades. I am glad I will be done and I cannot wait to go back to NYC to walk the stage at graduation!!!

A visit from the family

A few weeks back my Mom, Melyssa and niece Beckym came to visit! Josh and I hadn't seen Mel or B in 2 years. They were just here for a few days and it was nice to get to see them.

Beckym immediately fell in love with her Uncle Josh and anytime I tried to play with her or be near her she would cry and run to him. All the same, we did get to share a few minutes here and there together and she is one of the sweetest baby girls ever!

We cannot wait until we can see them again!!

Smooches with Uncle Josh!

Me setting a not so great example during church, but hey, I will take what I can get!

I know I've been slacking...

I know I have been slacking on this whole blogging thing, but I have a good excuse. Back in February, I found out I was no longer going to be working. With the end of school in sight we decided to use this chance to go ahead and move back to Kansas City.

I searched and searched and found a great job and so we decided to go ahead and just move. I cleared it with school to make sure I could still graduate in time and I can!! I am able to do my last four courses independently via email... Thank goodness!

We got back to Kansas City about 3 weeks ago and are still trying to get our footing. Things have started off a little shaking with renting, but we are excited for the new adventures that we face.

Now that we are slowly getting settled I promise I will try to be better!

Here is my final NYC pics from our lives out there!

I will miss it dearly, but new adventures await!

Montauk for the night!

This past week I have had a lot of time off so Josh and I decided to take a drive and spend the night in Montauk. It was gorgeous and quiet and so nice to be out of town, even if it was just for the night! Enjoy the pictures!

Our hotel from a distance.

The view from our room.

Lighthouse!

The next morning we got up and decided to drive through the Hamptons.

This house was the nicest one we saw!

It was so nice to get away for the night and especially to go somewhere quiet!

Dear Mr. Budget Truck

So last night as I was riding home on my bicycle, a budget truck hit me and took off. I am fine...totally fine. Here is the rest of the story for those of you wondering.

I was heading home from work about 7 (I was on a road that is about as busy as 291 hwy going through Lee's Summit for my KC friends). I went through a traffic light that turned red as I was in through the intersection. I could hear a truck speeding up behind me. The truck came through the light and hit my handle bar. I fell into a car and then into the road. Thank goodness that the light had just turned red because had there been cars coming I would have been run over.

I was so irritated and annoyed. I wasn't seriously hurt. I just took a hard landing on my hip, but not too hard. I was fine enough to keep riding so I kept on. I caught up to the driver a few lights up and tried to flag him down. His window was cracked and I was yelling at him to pull over... No such luck though. He took off through the traffic, cutting people off and driving crazily.

I made it home and called the precinct just down the street from where the accident happened. The lady said that I needed to go back to the scene and call 9-1-1. So that is what I did. 

I told the dispatcher I didn't need an ambulance and within 5 minutes there were 3. I told them I was fine but they still insisted on checking me out. They took my vitals and looked at my hip etc. They suggested I go to the hospital, however, it was already after 8:30 and I just wanted to get home and eat and go to bed. 

I answered what felt like a million questions and then they said I could go. We finally got home and ate dinner at about 9:30. My hip is still a little sore but not too bad. I was able to ride to work today without too much pain.

I hope they catch the guy. They asked if I would prosecute and I said possibly, but honestly I don't know. I am not seriously hurt and there was no real damage other than a scratch and a broken light on my bike. Should I press charges? I would hate for someone to go to jail because of this minor incident. I more or less want an apology and for him to replace my broken light. 

Thoughts and opinions would be great!

Well that is my story. See everyone, I am fine! Now you all can stop worrying!!

Christmas Bucket List

So this year being our first year in NYC, there are several things I want to do!! Here is our bucket list for this year's holiday season.


-Cut down our own tree (we are doing this next weekend in Connecticut)
- See the Storefront Christmas lights
-See the light display in Dyker Heights (suppose to be amazing)
-Go ice skating in Central Park
-Go to Rockefeller Center
-Go to Herald Square (Macys that is in Miracle on 34th st.)
-Go to the Union Square and Grand Central Holiday fair (we are doing this this weekend)
-Watch It's a Wonderful Life

and last but not least

Not to gain any weight!!

I am so excited for this holiday season!!! I am ready for it to get the show on the road though!

Weight Loss Competition

So my friend did a weight loss competition that just ended a couple of days ago. I, having gained a lot of weight since Josh and I got married, decided, heck why not. It was 12 weeks long and $50 to join and then the prizes were broken down dependent on how many participants there were. 

1st prize-$700

2nd-$200

3rd-$100

There were a hefty list of rules we had to follow (ie. no medical intervention etc). I was set for the challenge. From the beginning I was determined to win. One girl kicked everyone's trash from the beginning and lost almost 12 pounds the first week... WTH???

I learned a lot of new things about my body. I am super sensitive to sodium. If I have anything super salty one day, then the day after I will weigh at least a pound more due to water retention. My body is also very sensitive to foods that have fat in it... (you are thinking duh) I mean, if I have more than 10 grams of fat a day I'm screwed... Carbs, however, were my best friend. If I ate a lot of carbs one day then the next day I was always down.

This competition was a great experience for me. There were some weeks where it was difficult, but overall it was not as hard as I thought it would be.

My meal plan usually resembled something like this:

Breakfast: Flat Belly Smoothie (Kale, pineapple, frozen blueberries, greek yogurt and coconut water)

Lunch: Chicken Salad (Romaine, Broiled chicken, salad toppings (by McCormick), and fat-free Balsamic Vinaigrette and a Banana.

Dinner: Whole grain pasta with sauce and then either broccoli, corn, or baked potato

Dessert: Yes I had dessert almost every night still. I am a big sweet-a-holic. If I would have cut out dessert I am sure I would have ended up binging and failing at this. I would typically have one scoop of Vanilla (no sugar added type) and then a light Cookies n Cream. There is also this awesome mug cake from the paleo diet that I would have on the nights I was really craving something chocolate.

So as you can see, overall my diet was fairly simple and I still got to eat yummy foods!!! There were obviously nights where I had something other than this for dinner, however, the carbs/fat/sodium counts were generally about the same. Then there were nights where we went out with friends and I ate good food but just had the condiments on the side and ate about 1/3 of the plate. One rule I always followed was to start with the veggies first. Eat the most healthy and then eat the rest that way I was filling up on the good stuff.

It was pretty easy to follow this and I am very proud of myself. I did not win, however I did come in 3rd place! 3rd out of 20 women!!!!! Pretty awesome if you ask me!

Here are my stats:

Start-

Weight-186.2

Waist-41.5

Finish-

Weight-157.0

Waist-33

I lost 29.8 pounds and 8.5 inches! I am so proud of myself. I did very well! I am glad it is over. 12 weeks is about as long as I could go without going crazy. I exercised a lot. Everyday I ride my bike to work and home and then on the weekends I would ride along the shore for about an hour. I think that was also a big factor in my success!

And now the moment you all have been "weighting" for! (did you catch the pun?? I came up with that on my own ;) )

My before and afters!!!

 

My friend is also organizing a turbo challenge to do for the 3 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is only so we don't gain. It is $20 to enter and as long as you don't gain anything you get your money back. If you are interested let me know and I can hook you up with more details! After the first of the year we are doing another 12 weeker and I will definitely be doing that to keep the motivation to shed the last 17-20 pounds! If you want more info let me know!