Here I am, having no excuse to write a new post since Ian doesn't get home from work for another hour and a half and I can't justify sitting on the computer without doing SOMETHING productive.
Well, I hope you guys enjoyed my last post for our *first* anniversary. That was so much fun to write. Once I got in a groove I remembered more than I thought! hee hee here's a beautiful picture to remind you of how hot we are. ;)
Anywho, life has been progressively been on the upside as of late. For those who didn't know, Ian was without work from the end of May till about 2 weeks ago. Talk about stressful. I only bring in about $1300/mo by myself, which is not nearly enough for us to be able to pay off all the essentials. Fortunately, we had a pretty nice nest egg in my savings account which has basically supplemented our lost income for the past 6 months. Now, he's a shift manager at Arby's and will be starting a second job at a call center in December. He's also going to school online with BYU-I's Pathway program so that he can work full time and still get his degree. Did I mention with half price tuition? Shyeah I'm a fan; especially since we are paying for mine too, which will be super expensive once I transfer (back) to ASU. What makes it even better is that once we rebuild our savings account I can finally quit my job at State Farm! I have been so grateful for this job, I don't even have the words. But after nearly 2 years, it's starting to take its toll on me; mainly being on the phones and waking up at an ungodly hour. Hopefully *knock on wood* I can just take a much less stressful job at like Target or something. Being a cashier is my dream job! Just check out customer's items that I didn't even have to sell them! They just picked what they wanted, came to me, paid, and left. Of course there will always be *those* customers who insist on giving employees a hard time, but I'm feeling it won't be as intense since it's not regarding their insurance. It's dealing with a broken seal on a bottle of lotion. Mmkay. Yes, there is some sales but nothing like State Farm. Just anything not phone sales would be ideal. haha
Enough on that. School is going great. I feel like I'm going somewhere with my voice/performance/skill. I know I'm improving and it feels good since I've been working so hard at it. Nothing is worse than putting in 110% into something and not getting anywhere. So yeah. OH and I got an honorable mention at my first NATS competition! Basically NATS is where all the voice students (whose teachers are part of the National Association of Teachers of Singing), they prepare certain pieces (this time was musical theater), perform in front of judges and whoever receives the best overall scores in their category get either a prize and/or get to perform in the winner's recital. Honorable mention is when I scored really well and they wanted to recognize me, even though I didn't place. Out of the 3 judges I received an 89, 92, and 97 out of 100. Not too shabby. :) I got a little certificate later. My voice teachers are also comfortable giving me more difficult pieces, even though I'm only in my 2nd semester. For instance, I have Mein Herr Marquis from a German operetta that I have started on this semester to sing for next semester! I didn't think I'd get to sing something like that until I was about ready to transfer (at least a year down the line). Going to school has been one of the hardest and most rewarding thing I've done thus far. (My marriage is obviously the most rewarding thing ever but I don't find it hard to love my husband and want to keep him happy soo...;) haha)
In other news, I am super excited for the holidays and am just riding the wave that is life. Nothing else of significance crosses my mind, so I will let you continue on with your evenings. Good night lovelies!
Ian and Haley McHardy noun. 1. The greatest couple in the history of ever.
One amazing, hard, rewarding, beautiful, busy year as flown by us. I really can't believe we've already hit our first milestone as a married couple. This is exciting stuff, guys! In honor of this momentous occasion, and just because it's my favorite story to tell, I will give you the gift of our love story.
So let's rewind to August of 2012. I had just graduated from Desert Ridge High School and was preparing to move out of the house into my own apartment in Tempe. Ian had just come home from serving a 2 year church mission in Dallas, TX. Almost exactly a week later, on August 9th, was the first rehearsal of the 12-13 season of Resonance Vocal Ensemble (a choir I had started to sing in the year before). For a few weeks until that day, my mom would casually say:
"You know, the McHardy's son Ian comes home from his mission in few weeks."
"He's so sweet and so cute"
"If he asks you on a date, you have to say yes" and so on.
This entire time I'm thinking "Yeah okay whatever mom I'm gonna marry my missionary jeez think what you want".
On Ian's side, his dad kept telling him about me:
"You know there's this girl at choir, she just graduated high school and she's really cute. You need to ask her out".
He's thinking "Yeah okay whatever dad".
Clearly, we are very opened minded people, ;)
So. The first choir rehearsal arrives. We usually do a little social before we jump into the music, since we take the summers off. I was at the food table (OF COURSE) getting some cake and next thing I know it, a young man is standing beside me talking with me about the cake; which happened to be just Velvet Cake, since the gal who made it did not use red food coloring or cocoa. We're just chatting up a storm, and it was actually refreshing since it was hard to find anyone up until that point to have an intelligent conversation with or at least not have to try so hard to keep a conversation going. After a few minutes, Lorri (the choir director AND Ian's mom) decides to get rehearsal started so we start to part ways to our seats where I say 'I'll talk to you later' and he responds, 'Oh yes, we will definitely be talking later'. *aw snap* According to Ian, he wasn't interested in his dad's dating suggestion until he saw me at rehearsal and thought "Okay! I'm sold".
Time goes on. I was in the middle of a summer fling when I met Ian so I wasn't immediately interested but by the time September hit, I was so ready for him to ask me out. After rehearsal on Sept 6th, he said to me "I want food. Do you want food? I want food". Um, okay? lol Of course I agreed and he took me to Dairy Queen, where he purposefully ordered me a large Blizzard when I said I only wanted a small, just so that it would take me longer to get through it so he could keep me longer. Sly fox.
It became a tradition every Thursday to get Dairy Queen after rehearsal.
Now about a week later we had a 9/11 memorial concert at Tempe Towne Lake and I had mentioned on Facebook a while back that I wanted to go see Les Mis at Gammage for my birthday. Guess who asked me to go to see Les Mes at Gammage for my birthday? This kid. When he asked my reaction was "SHUT UP YOU ARE NOT TAKING ME ARE YOU SERIOUS OKAY I GUESS I'LL GO". So it was a date. That Friday, the 14th, we were to go see a Broadway show .
Fast forward to that Friday. We both got dressed up, had a fancy dinner at Subway, walked around Gammage til the show started. We are seated (the best seats, 2nd level front row), the show starts and I have my hand resting on my knee closest to him, just waiting to be held, but with no avail. He is leaned forward, completely sucked into everything that is a professional performance of Les Miserable. Which was cute, but frustrating at the same time. The show is over (which was FABULOUS) and it's barely 10 PM. The night is still young! We head out to Tempe Marketplace where we chat some more at a picnic table for another hour, and Ian asks me if I've ever gone stargazing. I respond no, but I want to. What do we do? Go out to Bush Highway, sit on the back of his car, look at the stars and talk until 3 AM. No biggie. ;) He drops me off at my apartment and was *this* close to kissing me but leaves instead. I then get a text saying I forgot something. I run down to the parking lot and he's standing next to his car with my ticket. I retrieve it from him, give him a looooonnng hug, his forehead is now pressed against mine, my heart is about to beat right out of my chest.....and he turns back to his car and we say our good byes. The bait has been set.
We see each other again the next night and then on Tuesday night, where we find ourselves back out on Bush Highway, looking at the stars. Here is where he starts to inch closer to me, our faces growing nearer, until our noses are touching and we hardly speaking louder than a whisper. Finally, I simply cannot take this game anymore. I don't play games. Involuntarily, I say "screw this" and I kiss him. What a wonderful kiss that was. What a wonderful last first kiss. It goes pretty quick from there. We started to date officially later that week on birthday, said our "I love you's" 2 weeks later. Here's the kicker. Ian had sworn into the Marine Corps in October and was leaving for 3 months in December. 3. whole. stinking. lonely. months. But we got through it. I may or may not have had a countdown on my phone.
I had started my new job at State Farm by the time he was 2/3 of the way done so it went by kind of quicker when I started to work. Finally, his boot camp graduation was here and my parents drove me to San Diego to attend his graduation and take him home for his 10 day boot leave. What a good day. :)
The first Sunday he's home, his family planned an open house for people who wanted to see him. I thought that was perfectly acceptable and normal idea. What fun! Everybody is over at his parent's house, a total of maybe about 60 ish people are there; both my sister and his sister in law Allora have their cameras taking pictures. Me? I'm thinking about how nice it is they brought their cameras so people could take a picture with Ian in his dress blues. After a bit, Taylor, Ian's best friend, shouts "SPEECH!". Everyone agrees, so he starts to talk about what he learned at boot camp and his experiences. I'm sitting off to the side of him, with his little cousin Mailani sitting in my lap. I'm thinking this entire time, WOW he is so good at public speaking he's so eloquent blah blah blah and finally Mailani goes somewhere, and next thing I know it, after his beautiful little speech he's on one knee in front of me, in front of friend and family, asking me to be his forever. I think you all know what my answer was. ;)
It was a wonderful week to follow, my sister took our engagements (WWII themed) that turned out simply beautiful!
it was great, except for the part where Ian had to leave me for another 6 months to finish up his MOS school. That was the hardest goodbye ever. We had our last date until he came home in late August. It was the longest summer of my entire life. It was good that he wasn't there physically during our engagement because I don't know if we would have been able to wait that long, if you know what I mean. lol but I was able to get wedding planning done and all Ian needed to worry about was showing up. I had been planning his arrival for Saturday August 24th. I even took part of my shift off of work so I could pick him up from the airport. THIS TURD knowing what an impulsive planner I am showed up at my doorstep 3 days early! haha As bad as it was, I had my schedule set and he messed it up. ;) I got over it quickly. 2 weeks later, on September 7th 2013, we were sealed in the Mesa AZ temple for time and all eternity, and let me tell you what a perfect day that was.
Hello again! I apologize for neglecting at least posting ONCE during the summer; and you would have thought I had all the time in the world due to my schedule but Netflix was higher on the priority list. #sorrynotsorry
I don't really have a topic of choice today but I guess I'll just do the same old updates I always do because I am just *that* exciting where I don't have much else to blog about.
Work!
I have started my new schedule at State Farm, which is M/W/F 3:30am-9:30am, Sat 7am-1pm. Frankly, it's harder to go to bed at 8-8:30 than it is to wake up at 2:15. I am less groggy driving in to work than I was driving at 4:30. It was scary driving with my old schedule because I had to do everything in my power NOT to fall asleep! I would blast cold air in my face, sing along to the radio, but it was a constant and frightening battle. Here I am though, leaving for work around 2:40am and I am wide awake. Then again, I generally go in and out of being half asleep during majority of my shift (nobody calls about insurance at 5am) so I guess that counteracts that. At the same time, I would way rather be half out of it at my desk than going 70 mph down a very empty freeway where no one would find me till someone happened to get on the freeway like 3 hours later if I happened to crash. Yikes.
School!
School has officially started back up this week. It's been an adjustment since I am used to just bumming it all day after work. It's a good adjustment though; I was quite bored and ready to pull my hair out all summer from running out of things to do (because heaven knows we had/have no money to go on any type of vacation). I think it's going to be a good semester, and I really only have 1 demanding class which happens to be music theory. The only thing "demanding" about it is that I will consistently have homework to do and the rest of my classes don't. Even my psychology class doesn't require much. Therefore, I will have time to actually get in all of my required practice time for voice lessons and still give my cub scouts my 100%. Unfortunately though, that will have to be my limit. I can't do Resonance this semester *wahh* and will have to miss my favorite season of music--Christmas! It'll be okay. It's better to hang tight until I can actually put in the required time and effort.
BABIES.
Now don't get your panties in a bunch I am not preggers. BUT there have been soooooo maaannnnyyyy baaaaabbbiieeeess. They are everywhere. There is no escape.
But really. It's become a thing and it's kind of intense. My sister in law Allora delivered her first back in the beginning of June, which just happens to be one of the most beautiful babies I have ever laid eyes on.
PROOF:
It's a bit ridiculous. And then I have two dear friends who are in their 3rd trimester of their first pregnancies, one of whom could go into labor any time. AND THEN ANOTHER FRIEND WHO LITERALLY SPAWNED OFFSPRING LIKE 2 DAYS AGO.
I can't handle it.
I CAN FEEL IT COMING.
That baby smell, ladies and gentlemen,
is perhaps one of the most wonderful scents
mother nature has ever created.
So of course I get my fill of baby snuggles and I feel better about myself and come to my senses about producing any offspring in the near future. The idea of me birthing anything anytime soon is ridiculous. Not yet anyway.
Other than that, my life consists of day dreaming over beautiful dresses that I could never possibly wear and deciding what dress to order for that freakin Marine Corps Ball in about 2 months.
I'll let you all get back to your wonderful and much more exciting lives. But be prepared! First anniversary blog post coming next week so hang tight!
Hello again! It's been like nearly 4 months since my last entry. Whoops. I guess that happens when you wake up for a long day of work and school every day for 4 months. You tend to not have too much time aside from all the bloody practicing and homework. Blegh. Any who I'll give out a nice little recap of the past semester:
Overall I have absolutely LOVED school. Yes, my days were long and I was running on very little energy, but I managed to keep a good attitude and have fun. No joke. I haven't been this happy with myself as an individual or felt this accomplished in WAY too long. I have also been kind of deprived of any real social interaction after getting married and then just working and staying home. I haven't been forced to talk to people outside of my coworkers and family. I actually made friends! Isn't that crazy?
Anyway, I'll just say a couple things about each class I took and then move on.
Biology: Oh. My. Gosh. Never. Again.
Communications: I thoroughly enjoyed this class. My professor was simply amazing and my classmates were really great people. I actually miss those personalities and seeing them every day. I also enjoyed the material, I just found it overall a great class.
CGCC Singers (Concert Choir): SO much fun. I haven't sung in that large of a choir in 3 years, and it was refreshing. Don't get me wrong, I love singing in a smaller group because there are things you can't do with a large choir but can in a small one. It also goes the same way. I loved having both. And Marc Denton, the director, is an amazing director and our pianist Mary Ellen Loose is simply phenomenal. Don't even get me started with all the talent that is there. I am so excited to learn more here.
Aural Perception: First of all, my teacher Vance Acker is probably the coolest guy I've ever met. Hands down. It was also a cool class that pushed me to really listen (music people, that phrase will make sense to you).
Piano 1: It was such an easy class. I didn't learn a whole lot just because it was the very first piano class and I had to take it, but it was an easy A and I don't mind that.
Private Voice Lessons: Gee whiz I haven't actually practiced so much in my entire life. Both of my voice teachers (Kaarin and Alexis) pushed me to do better and it was really satisfying when I worked hard for it and improved. I love both of them as teachers and as people.
That's about it. Oh, and I got all A's. I think that's a pretty good accomplishment as well. :)
Other than that, the only other exciting thing I have done is lost my hair virginity and dyed my hair....RED!
I am so in love with it. I have never dyed my hair before so I'll admit I was a little nervous scheduling my appointment at the salon, but my stylist could not have done a better job.
It looks more brown-ish in the picture, but trust me, it's pretty red. It makes my blue eyes pop!
Alright, now I come to my original reason for this post.
I have a problem.
I can't stop looking at pretty dresses. I can't. I get caught up in all the colors and fabrics.
This November, I get to be the lovely date of my handsome husband to the Marine Corps Birthday Ball. This is a black tie event. The most formal of formal events. The high-ups and all the Marines are on their best behavior. It's pretty dang exciting stuff. Ian already bought our tickets since they were cheaper in advance. I would have gone this last year, but being the protective and caring person he is, Ian went by himself to scope it out and spare me from any embarrassing drunk Marines. Fortunately, that behavior never exhibited itself at the ball (perhaps afterwards, but we don't care about afterwards). So this year, and the years to come I WILL BE ATTENDING THIS MARVELOUS EVENT. This is a big deal to me. Buying a pretty dress and "painting the town red" and going to a BALL FOR CRYING OUT LOUD is a huge deal to me. I never went to my Junior and Senior proms (because all the boys at my high school sucked and I found no point to spend a bunch of money partying with girls because I could do that for FREE at home. Call me old-fashioned but yeah). The idea of feeling pretty if just once a year will be a nice change. Any who this means that I need to find a pretty, classy dress for this event. Now as pretty and inexpensive prom dresses can be, they are a little young for me now. Not saying they aren't gorgeous dresses, I just don't want to look like his little sister tagging along with him instead of his wife. Initially I had found THE dress I wanted to wear:
It's so perfect and so pretty and I am in love. The only thing I'd do is add some black lace on the back, and wear my black half-tee underneath to cover my G's and it's done. If you know me at all, you know I'm all for online dress shopping. This beautiful dress would easily be $300 at Dillard's. Instead, I could order it off of JJ's House (which I've ordered from before, they're great) and have it custom fit for literally half that. Simply wonderful right? Of course, it would look so great with my long, beautiful golden locks. But that cascading waterfall of gold is now been replaced with ravishing red. Yes, it would look pretty but jewel-tones would look SO much better to really make my new hair color pop.
The search has once again began. And since it's so hard to find not-matronly formal dresses that are still modest, I have resulted to looking under "Mother of the Bride" dresses. Because let's be honest, I will NEVER look that good by the time my children get married:
(actual dress description: Trumpet/Mermaid Sweetheart Floor-Length Charmeuse Lace Mother of the Bride Dress With Ruffle)
Seriously people? Only in my wildest dreams. I don't even look that good NOW. Anyway, you get my point. But here are the options I have come to. These first dresses are for in case I don't get into the shape I plan on being by the end of the summer:
(imagine this a pretty Jade color)
(Maybe Jade or Emerald)
These are if I get into the awesome shape I hope (Knock on wood) I am in.
THIS JUST THIS I LOVE UGH
(imagine this not brown, probably black)
You get the idea. I may be a tidge too excited, but JUDGE ME I am having fun. So there. And if all else fails, I can get this gem of an ensemble ;)
I can't believe that one costs like $150. lawlz
Anywho, my musings are over now. Have a beautiful day my lovelies.
So I have been home from school for about the past 3 hours, and though I know that I need to have the rest of the apartment packed for moving day on Friday morning, I can't seem to get myself to finish the last two rooms. Seriously, it would take a total of an hour or two and I'd be done. Instead I shall share my ambitions and dreams of decorating this house!
So, when you first walk in, you have the front-sitting-area-living room. My thinks I will go with vintage garden/nature/ lively colors here especially since I already have cute birdie wall hangings to start it off with. For example:
Imagine this, but a brighter blue, and matching sofa and arm chair.
And you can get the sense of the room with the following:
I think you get the idea.
And then to tie into the family room that's just through an entry way, nature influence and same colors, just richer colors (honeysuckle vs sunshine yellow, forest green vs grass green, etc):
Also THIS COUCH. Its wonderful.
And then the kitchen also using the richer colors. Tuscan feel to match the nice serving plates we got from the wedding:
The last part (since the loft isn't really something I will take the time to really decorate--future kids' play area), is the bedroom! We can afford to upgrade to a king size bed so there'll be a different color scheme for our room than it is now, making the guest room our current color scheme (purples and grays).
I AM SO EXCITED.
Take the gorgeous metal detailing/overall design of this bed
And make it this color and add the storage underneath of this one
And that's the bed we are getting at the amazing American Furniture Warehouse off of Power and 202 San Tan. Seriously. The best place to buy furniture because it's all wholesale pricing. Yeah, this bed we're getting is less expensive than the mattress at around $690. It's the best place ever.
Then our bedding and room will be teal and burnt orange. Not the in your face versions of the colors, just a tad more subdued, like so:
Mainly the teal color with accents of the orange, as well as grey and white
Any whom. This is definitely something that will happen over the course of the semester because there is no way I can put this together all at once while I'm going to school. But it will be an exciting adventure nonetheless. :)
HELLO LOVELIES. It's me again. Boy is there a need to be catchin' up on this crazy cat's life. I'll try to keep things short and sweet so I can get to my main point.
November:
McHardy-Davis Thanksgiving was a success (unless you count Gregor forgetting 2 of the siblings in the prayer...twice. haha) Good company, games, and LOTS of yummy food, including Ian and I's deep pit roasted turkey! Seriously. There is no other way to cook the turkey anymore. We paid $20 for the scouts in our ward to cook our turkey for us overnight in a deep pit underground, all we had to do was prepare it. I didn't do too shabby of a job if I do say so myself. ;) BUT OH that turkey was good. And I am not much of a turkey person at all. Every piece of meat was literally falling of the bone. When it was time to cut up the turkeys, we just went in there and scooped it out. Even the white meat was as juicy and flavorful as the dark meat. Best of both worlds, babe. I salivate just thinking about it...
Oh and that weekend, for funsies, Ian and I went with my mom, who doubles as an amazing realtor, to look at the houses we were considering. First house was alright, nice and open, majority of it being tile, kind of a fixer upper since the previous tenants never finished their DYI home improvement projects. It was a 7 out of 10. Ian on the other hand absolutely loved it. That was his firs pick right up front. Clearly, we are not agreeing as quickly as I thought we would. Second house, I AM IN LOVE. No vaulted ceilings like the first one, but it came with a finished back yard/pool, awesome upgrades in the kitchen and outside, the front door was red, it was great. Ian of course wasn't on the same page. Third house was better than the first, but running second to the one we had just looked at. Not pretty in the front. Literally looked like a dollhouse made out of a cardboard box. A big square. Nice and open on the first floor, finished backyard. The only weird thing was that there was carpet in the bathroom...? Wut. After that we were about to call it quits for the day but decided to look at one final house. Pull up and it's darling out front. Has a castle-esque feeling to it. Walk inside and it was pretty much everything Ian and I loved in our respective houses we had look at earlier. Vaulted ceilings, open kitchen into living room, loft, finished backyard WITH A GARDEN. 3 different citrus trees, lots of peppers, herbs, and a pomegranate tree. Custom patio. Not too big, a good $20,000 under our budget, and it was screaming our names. We knew this would go fast if we didn't jump on it. We both just instantly felt so good about it, we had to go for it. So we did. :) Everything has been falling into place since we put in the offer. It's been the most gentle of a rollercoaster that home-buying is. We are to close next week on the 7th. It's kind of surreal how everything has worked out for us just so. How many people can say they bought a house exactly 4 months after getting married? This is big kid stuff, guys. We are also fortunate to have over a month between closing and the apartment's lease being up at the end of February, so we can take our time moving in. We are both so excited to be in our space that we'll be in for the next decade at least. Oh, and it's out in San Tan Valley. Yes. Clear the heck out there, but the houses are new, big, and cheap. JUDGE ME.
December:
Now December has hit. Resonance concerts are in full swing. SO MUCH FUN. Such good music, such talented people, you all should be totes jellin' right now. There was the Messiah Sing-Along as well, where there was Jordan-Freaking-Bluth as the tenor and my super amazing father in-law as the bass. Good night all around. Also, our best friends Taylor Kerby and Jadyn Hicks got married on the 13th. Best day ever. Jadyn was absolutely STUNNING and Taylor was looking pretty sharp too. Those two deserve the best and the day was so beautiful; from the sealing to the reception, everything was perfect. Those two are kind of our favorite people. Fo sho.
Not because I am biased or anything, I just set them up. ;) HA just kidding. I merely introduced them--they did the rest. :)
And of course you can't forget Christmas!!! Since majority of my siblings are now married, we rotate through who gets us for Christmas. This year, I was with my mom. We still did a gift exchange/Christmas with my in-laws right the Monday before. That's where by wonderful thoughtful husband decided to give me a gift that will keep on giving. As I believe I had mentioned before, I played the French Horn in Jr High/HS, and I was actually quite good. Top band starting freshman year and so on. Since then, I have started to really miss playing, and I talk about it a lot. Apparently, that sounded like the perfect gift, so what does he do? Buys me a brand spanking new Horn, with a fancy case, playing gloves, a polishing rag, valve oil, and tuner.
WHAAAAT WHHHHHAAAAAATTTT I kinda died right then when I saw FRENCH HORN on the side of the massive box. It's now my baby. And now I feel like I need to make Ian's birthday EXTRA special. Just you wait, honey! You're in for it. ;)
Another wonderful surprise, my dad drove all the way from Utah to come spend the weekend before Christmas with my brother and I. We went out to dinner, had our own gift exchange and then the next day spend the day at the mall and saw the Hobbit at the theater. Great two days to spend with my dad. Meant a lot to me for him to come down for such a short time. :)
And of course there was the actual Christmas festivities at my mom's. We have a Christmas Eve tradition where we go out for Chinese food and then come back and watch Christmas Vacation. This year was the luxurious China Super Buffet! Fa ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra! It was actually pretty good. I couldn't complain. Since we had all of my siblings there, that included 6 of my nieces and nephews, so Christmas and Santa was much bigger deal than it has been in a long time. Meaning we woke up at 6 AM to open presents. Too early in my opinion for Christmas, but hey those kids were just so excited, it was worth it. Love those little chillin's.
For me, it was a well deserved 3 day break from work where I could relax, eat good food, read my books, and escape for a little while.
New Years Eve was an adventure as well, as a bunch of friends gathered at the Kerby's for night filled with games, food, and a Cola drinking contest that resulted in vomit, laughs, and fireworks. We have the coolest friends I swear. If you want a glimpse into our night, enjoy this music video by Ylvis.
2014!!!!!
Now that it's officially the new year, everyone comes out with their short-lived resolutions to last them until Valentines Day. I know I am definitely one of those people are determined to lose weight, get a bikini ready body, and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Then of course I got a party or something and my progress gets thrown out the window. BUT THIS TIME I AM SERIOUS. I've done fad diets like HCG and South Beach, I've done pounding out workouts for hours every day, and I am tired of watching myself slip and fall back into what I have tried so hard to claw my way out of. I worked so hard to look good for my wedding, and though I did lose about 8-10 pounds, I wasn't close to where I wanted to be. Then the weight I lost came creeping back after I got married, and THEN some after the holidays. I've never been super overweight or anything but I've always had that extra around my middle that I have never been able to get rid of. It's been a real struggle for me since I can remember. I am done being self-conscious and I am done trying and failing. Based on what has worked for lots of people and combining what I know will work for me, I have created an action plan:
1) I have ordered Shaun T's Rockin Body Workout, which I will faithfully do 5 days a week. Ian will join me most days so I don't have to do it alone. I don't want to kill myself doing Insanity or P90X, but I still want a work out that will challenge me and one that I won't dread doing. What better way to do that than to combine intensity with dancing? The only way I'll stay motivated to work out is if I'm having fun.
2) Shakeology. I've heard lots of great reviews about it and it's made up completely of herbs, protein blends, vegetables and digestive enzymes. They have nutrition label online and there aren't any weird ingredients in it. A meal replacement shake only supposed to be used ONCE a day, not however much you want. It's supposed to help with portion control, digestive health, as well as curb cravings. If I combine that with making a weekly meal plan that's made with good ingredients, I think I will succeed.
3) Buy GOOD food. All the meals I make will be made as healthy as possible (what my budget will allow). This also means that all snacks will be good for me too. No more vending machines for me!
I know this will take time because it's not supposed to be fast. My goal is by Spring Break to be within 5 pounds of my goal weight when Ian and I got on a short trip to Cali. That gives me at least 8 weeks to get majority of the way there.
Here goes nothing guys.
Good luck to all who are making changes for the better! :)
