Friday, July 31, 2009

Wedding Flowers and Ceremony

Hubs and I got married on June 10, 2006. We used a light orange, pink, and green as our wedding colors. Hubs actually picked the wedding colors but I loved them. That was the extent of his wedding planning days.
During the ceremony.
The girls and I. We had a pretty large wedding party. From left to right: Erin was my maid of honor. We have been best friends forever. Rachelle is my cousin. She will be a senior in high school this year and is such a beautiful girl on the inside and out. Alicia is also my cousin and will be a junior in high school. Laura was my college roommate and sorority sister. Jeannie is my sister-in-law. She is married to Hub's oldest brother and the have a son named Lucas. Amanda is my cousin and she just graduated from high school this past year. Kirsten is my new sister-in-law. She married my brother on June 27, 2009. Brandi is my good friend from jr. high. We went to separate high schools but stayed friends and went to college together. She got married right after me and now has a beautiful little girl. Stacie is my sister-in-law. She is married to the middle brother and they have 2 kids, Lanie and Eli. Eli was born in March right before we were married.

Hubs with his two brothers; Chuck and Kirk.


Hubs and our 2 jr. groomsmen. The blonde is our nephew Lucas and Jacob has the brown hair. He is my cousin and my favorite little kid in the whole world. He was so upset when I told him I was getting married and even that day he asked me several times why I was. He lives right beside my parents and was sad that I was not going to be living beside him anymore.


Lanie and I. She was our flowergirl.
Even though she was only 3 at the time she did a wonderful job!
I wish i had some pictures of the entire wedding party and the groomsmen together but this was all that I had on my computer. Sorry for the lack of flower pictures also. Anyone that knows me knows that I do not like flowers so we did not spend alot of time or money on them for the wedding.





Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The Ugly Truth is Super Cute

Hubs and I went and saw The Ugly Truth on Sunday after church. After watching the previews for this movie I thought it would be really cute and funny. It did not disappoint. The language was a little "adult" at some points but the actors were really great together. Hubs and I both really enjoyed this movie. The entire theatre was laughing out loud.

And did it hurt my feelings that I got to watch the beautiful Gerald Butler for 2 hours?

Not one single bit. Isn't he darling?


Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Fertility Update

I know that it has been a very long time since I posted anything about our fertility situation on here. As I had told you all before my regular doctor refereed us to a fertility specialist back in the spring.



This is our RE in Charlotte.


Hubs and I have both been twice. One each for individual tests and labs and then we went together on June 15th to discuss those test and lab results. Our RE told us at this appointment that IVF was our only option for getting pregnant. Now of course he said that it could happen on it's own; but our chances of conceiving naturally are very slim. He also wants to see the films from my HSG back in August 2008 because he thinks that I have a abnormal shaped uterus and that before we would do IVF I would need to have surgery to correct it. He said that this abnormal shape would not keep me from getting pregnant through IVF or naturally but if the embryo implanted in certain areas it would eventually run out of room to grow and miscarry. Everything was perfect with Hub's lab work except that his testerone was slightly low so our RE put him on some medication for that. He said it didn't really effect TTC either but the medicine would make Hubs feel better. (Once he said that body builders use it illegally to build muscle mass, Hubs was all for it). It comes in this cute little package that looks exactly like birth control pills. (Its even pink!).

So, now that you know whats going on I'm sure that you want to know what our plans are. Right now, NOTHING! We are waiting on the dr.'s to look at my HSG films and I will go ahead and have that surgery if it is needed and then we are going to keep trying naturally for awhile. IVF is super expensive as I'm sure most of you know and we just keep thinking that we are still so young. I'm sure that it will be something that we look at closer in the future, possibly even the near future, but right now it's just not what we want to do. We are also thinking about adoption. We haven't really discussed that option much but it is something that I am becoming more and more interested in.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We would love to have children and are praying that God will bless us with them in His time. We are really at peace with this now which is a blessing in itself. This time last year this news would have devastated me. In the year that I have been blogging I have seen God work so many miracles in women's lives and I know that my miracle will come whether its through a pregnancy or adoption or whatever His will may be.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Monday Morning Weigh In

Let me introduce you to my friends that I hung out with this week. And we hung out a lot!


I'm sure you got the gist from the introductions and this will come as no surprise (I wasn't surprised at all) that I gained this week. By gained I don't mean an ounce or so; try 2.8 lbs. I am officially back to 180.0. UGH! I had finally said goodbye to the 180's; or so I thought. Its my fault though. I ate all of the above (some two or three times) and more! I have three weeks left until school starts back and there is a very slim chance of me losing 10 lbs before then. So I am just going to do my best to at least be down from where I was when school ended. We start volleyball camp this morning so my eating lunches out will dwindle a lot. Back to turkey on wheat for me.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Weekend Review

I was at the beach until Sat. morning with some of the women from my family. I will post some pictures from that trip later. Mom and I drove back Saturday morning since I had to be at a wedding at 3pm. One of Hub's friends from high school was getting married. I had never met her before but she was so sweet. They live close to us so I hope that we will get together with them some.

Hubs and I at the reception. I wish I had gotten a picture of the dress I was wearing. I borrowed it from my best friend and it was super cute.
The bride and groom dancing.

We only got to stay at the reception long enough to see the ritual dances (first dance, mother/groom, father/bride). We had to leave so that we could make it to a graduation party for one of my long time friends who also happens to be my teacher assistant. Before we could go to the party we had to stop and change clothes.
A closeup up of Hubs and I before heading to the graduation party.

My friend Lindsey and I at the graduation party.

Sunday we went to church and then went to the movies (more to come later) and then we had an early supper and some swimming at my parents.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Great Southern Reads

Its no secret that I LOVE to read so I thought that I would share one of my favorite authors with ya'll. Dixie Cash is actually two sisters from Texas that write a extremely funny and definitely southern series. I just finished the fourth book in this series and Hubs kept asking me what was so funny because I was laughing out loud. All of these books are super fast reads and will keep you entertained throughout every page.












Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Photo Tag

Total lack of blog worthy material today...

LOL! This could not have been any better.
This is a picture of my friend Megan and I. We are both teachers at the same high school and are actually at one of the basketball games in this picture. Megan is completely normal (well for the most part). I am not sure why she looked like this. I think she was talking or something when the picture was taken. Afterwards I told her I was going to turn this picture into the yearbook staff so it could be put in the yearbook.

Tag, you're it!
Open your FIRST photo folder.
Now find the TENTH picture.
Post that picture on your blog and then tell us the story of the picture!
The tag FIVE friends and have them do the same!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Staying Busy

I love being a teacher. The students, the hours, the holidays, and of course summer vacation. But I've had enough. I know that this sounds ridiculous but I am not meant to stay at home.

I get so bored! By the time May comes around I am so ready for the last day of school; but after a few weeks of being out I get tired of being at home and am ready to get back to work.


Any other teachers feel this way?


So to try and enjoy whats left of my summer vacation I will be spending my time at the beach again. This was an unscheduled trip but I am really looking forward to it. My mom and I will be going down tomorrow night after traveling to the coaches clinic. (I have to be in Greensboro tomorrow morning by 8am for the Coach's Clinic and then we are having dinner with all the coach's from my school before heading to the beach) My grandma, two aunts, and one of my cousins will be joining us Thursday morning. We will only be staying until Saturday morning since I have a wedding at 3pm on Sat. and then a graduation party Sat. night. Still it will be nice to go and relax on the beach.
Now, I just have to decide which books to take...

Monday, July 20, 2009

Weigh In and Weekend Review

Monday morning weigh in:
Much to disappointment I gained .4 lbs this week. I did really well with working out and even did great watching my points at the first of the week. Then we had dinner with my brother and his wife and a party this weekend so it all went down hill very fast. This week I plan on writing down everything that I eat each day. Maybe keeping a journal of my food intake will help me think twice before I put something in my mouth.

Weekend Review:

This weekend was very low key which was just what I needed. Friday we went to Wild Wok for dinner and then to the $2 theater to see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past with my brother and sister-in-law. I had already seen the movie but what girl in her right mind would miss a chance to look at Matthew McConaughey.


Could he be any cuter?

Saturday we spent the day relaxing at home and then went to a neighbors for a cookout. It ended up being a really late night and we slept till 11:00 Sunday morning. Once we finally made it out of bed we spent the rest of the day laying out at the pool and then having dinner at my parents house.

Next weekend will be slam packed again so it was so nice to not have a full plate this weekend.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Facebook Fever


Can I just say that I am officially addicted to Facebook?

Yes, I am the person that logs on no less than 3 times a day. I change my status each day so that everyone and their brother will know exactly what I am doing. I would rather send someone a Facebook message then call them on the phone (not that I wouldn't rather send a text message then talk to someone either). Hubs and I have had entire conversations through Facebook chat while being in the same room. I am constantly uploading photos (I take a lot of pictures). I love that I can talk to my cousin's in Vegas, California, Florida, and even Iraq (yes, the soldiers can get on Facebook. Is that not crazy?) without the outrageous phone bills. But the real reason I love Facebook is because you can keep up with people that you normally wouldn't. And by this I mean you can be super nosey. I love looking at the people I went to high school or college with that I didn't really keep track of afterwards. Also it has been a great tool for letting people know about high school reunions. (BTW, Hub's 10 year is coming up in September. Don't worry there will be lots of posting on that). As coach's we also use it to let our players know about camps or practices. It sure beats having to call all of them.


I used to love MySpace but I never log on anymore. For some reason I really like Facebook better. One thing that I do have to worry about is being a teacher and being on Facebook or MySpace or any other website for that matter. I don't allow a lot of students to be my friend, usually it is only some of the girls that I coach. I don't put up pictures of me drinking or smoking (which I don't do anyways, so if you ever see a photo of me smoking it has defiantly been Photo shopped).

Is anyone else as addicted as I am?

Come on, don't be scared to admit it?

Saturday, July 18, 2009

My new favorite things

Let me introduce you to some of my new favorite things:

Diet Cherry 7-Up with antioxidants.
This is so good when its frozen. And obviously it's good for you with all those antioxidants.
Right?


Oats and Honey granola bars.
I have raved about the Fiber One bars on here before and while I still love them I decided it was time to switch it up a bit and try something new. So I picked these up at Sam's Club last week and love them. They are hard though so if you like chewy granola then these are not for you. Each pack comes with 2 bars in it for a total of 4 WW points but I only eat 1 bar at a time and put the other in a small Ziploc bag so it's only 2 pts.

And my new personal favorite. Arnold's Sandwich Thins. These are great for sandwich's and last week Hubs and I used them as hamburger buns and they were perfect. Plus on WW they are only 1 pt for the entire thing.


Have you tried anything recently that you loved?

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Working my way towards success...

I have been following Weight Watchers since the first of 2009 ( I actually started on January 4th). It has been the best decision I ever made and one of the easiest to follow through. By following the plan (btw, I do not attend the meetings) and joining the YMCA; I have managed to go from 217 lbs and a size 18 to 177 lbs and a size 14. That is 40 lbs in 7 months. I can tell a huge difference in the way I look and more importantly feel. So I have decided to share this journey through pictures.


November 2008. Around 210 here.

December 2009... my biggest EVER! 217 lbs!

January 2009... the weekend before I started WW.

March 2009 (Sorry for no Feb. picture) down approx. 15 lbs.

April 2009. Won the Biggest Loser Challenge at work by losing 27 lbs.

May 2009. Stuck in the 180's

June 2009... trying to get it the 170's. Can't seem to get past 180.

177.2! Finally said goodbye to the 180's and not going back.
This is only the first part of the weight loss journey. I am hoping to get down to 145-150 which requires me to lose another 30 lbs. I know that this will take a lot longer than the first 40 lbs did. I plan on setting small goals for myself and working on reaching them too help keep myself motivated. My next small goal is to be in the 160's before I go back to work on August 17th. Right now that is giving me 4 weeks to lose 7.3 lbs. I know that I can do it through exercise and keeping up with my points. I would love to hear about others success with Weight Watchers or another diet plan. I know that their of lots of great plans out their and it is all about finding what works for you.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

What were they thinking?



While on vacation I read My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. This was the first book of hers that I had read and I LOVED it! I plan on reading as many of her books as I can get my hands on. Anyways the book was great. I laughed and cried in the same sitting which we all know is a true sign of a really great book. Then I made the mistake of going to see the movie while I was on vacation. The movie was horrible after reading the book. I don't want to spoil it for anyone but the book and the movie are totally different. I was extremely disappointed in the movie. What surprised me was that it was done by the same people that did The Notebook; which is the only time I have enjoyed the movie version better than a book.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Weigh In and Weekend Review

I am tyring to get back in the swing of things, starting with my Monday morning weigh in. Last Monday morning I weighed in for the first time in three weeks. Since the weigh 3 weeks before I had gained 2 lbs. Which wasn't bad for being on vacation for 2 weeks and getting ready for my lovely monthly visitor. When I weighed this morning I was back down those same 2 lbs. The scale showed 177.2 lbs. I have 5 weeks before I go back to work and I have a goal of being in the 160's by then. Which means I hope to lose at least 7.2 lbs in the next 5 weeks. It will be hard but it is doable.

Now onto WEEKEND REVIEW:

Friday night we met my parents and Jeff and Kirs and went to eat fish. When I walked in my parents house my mom started laughing and asked me what I was wearing. We both had on blue jean Capri's and white tops. We laughed and I told her I hope she wasn't wearing her gold sandals like the ones that I was wearing. 5 minutes later Jeff and Kirs walk in and mom and I burst out laughing. See picture below to find out why:


Kirs also had on a white top (almost identical too mine) and blue jean capris.

And yes, she even had on gold sandals.

Hubs and I before dinner. Isn't he so handsome?

After dinner we came back to my parents and watched Madea Goes to Jail. It was hilarious!

Saturday afternoon we had a wedding for one of our friends. Josh and I were really good friends
in high school and he played the piano at our wedding. He is super talented. He played God Bless the Broken Road during the ceremony for his new bride. It was so sweet.


Hubs and I at the wedding reception.

My friend Megan and I. We also went to high school together and now work at our Alma mater together. Megan is a history teacher.

Megan and her boyfriend Ben. This was the first time we had gotten to meet Ben and he is super nice.

Josh and Crystal's first dance as husband and wife.
Sunday we went to church and then laid out at the pool for the rest of the afternoon. We also watched Confessions of a Shopaholic which was a really cute movie.
Last night we had a 50th surprise birthday party for my uncle. I didn't get any pictures but it was a lot of fun.
How was your weekend?

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Beach Bums

Now that I have finished posting about the wedding festivities
I can finally post about our vacation.
I had been in Charleston since June 22nd and Hubs came down on the 25th. Sunday after the wedding we had breakfast and said our goodbyes to everyone (even though half of them were meeting us at Myrtle Beach, SC later that day). Hubs and I had lunch with his parents and a great aunt and uncle before we left.

Here we are outside of Vickery's in Charleston before lunch.
Then we made the 1 and 1/2 hour trip from Charleston to Myrtle Beach. Our friends, Lindsey and Tommy, were planning on staying an extra night to hang out with us. We went to dinner at River City Cafe which has the best hamburgers ever.

The 4 of us after dinner.

Lindsey and I. We teach at the same high school.

The house across the street from ours that my aunt, uncle, and cousins were staying in.

Monday we laid out at the beach and then went to dinner at a Mongolian Grill. It was delicious. You go through and choose all your vegetables, meats, and noodles and then they cook it for you on a huge turntable. Here is daddy and my cousin Donavon waiting to go to dinner.

Hubs and I before dinner.
And of course mom and I. You can see all the sun I had gotten from laying out by the ocean all day.
The rest of the week we hung out with family and just relaxed. We went and saw The Hangover finally and it was hilarious. We did karaoke one night and had a blast.
On Thursday we headed to North Myrtle Beach to stay with Hub's family at their condo in Barefoot Landing. (Our families always go down around the 4th of July which is great because we can always split the week between and them and spend time with both families)

Hubs and I at the marina for dinner on Thursday.
While staying with his family we hung out at the pool, went to see My Sister's Keeper, and did some shopping at the outlets.

On the 4th we went down to the marina and watched the fireworks.

Closeup.

I loved the flag blowing in the wind.
And at last the fireworks.
We had such a good time on vacation but it is always nice to be home.
Especially after being gone for so long.