A Good Weekend

This has been a great weekend! First, we are just 4 weeks ( 20 days) away from the end of the school year. Then, there was a new "opportunity" for me that was a lot of fun! That's all I'm going to share for now but, hopefully, I'll have more to talk about in the future! :-)

Yes, I am THAT blogger . . . .

You know, the one who lets her blog go for months on end with no new posts. And all of the people who read my blog~~Crystal~~are so anxious to hear what is up in my ever so exciting life. So, here is an update:

• Since I last updated, we have had all the major Holidays. I hosted my first Thanksgiving at my house and it was wonderful! Unless you count the fact that one of my chairs broke when my Grams went to sit down in it. And, no, I didn't take a picture of her after I checked to make sure she wasn't hurt. Christmas was good, too. I can't remember a lot about it except that my parents' gift to us was a CRUISE!!! Our family is definitely addicted to cruising! :-)
• We went on an 8 night Mexican Riviera cruise at the end of January/beginning of February. There were 14 of us in all~~and we had adjoining balcony cabins. I had never thought they would be that great. After all, how much time do you actually spend in your cabin? Well, when you have a balcony, the answer is a LOT. We spent so much time just staring out at the water and looking for whales. Finally saw some a couple of days before the end of our cruise.
• I had another birthday. I think I am officially done celebrating birthdays!
• My Neon, which I loved, finally gave up the ghost. :-( I am now the owner of an (almost) new Nissan Altima. All I can say is "what Neon?"
• The school year is winding down. Just 42 more days, but who's counting? I have to say that this is one of the best years I have had, class-wise. They have learned sooo much and we have had so much fun with all of our new technology. However, the whole politics and budget situation has been awful and morale isn't great at all.
• Finally, I am now a lia sophia advisor. I started selling the jewelry in January and am having so much fun with it. If anyone is interested, click on the link to visit my website.

I guess that pretty much sums up the past 6 months. Look for my next update around, I don't know, Christmas ?!?!?!

WVBL Take 2

Well, the kick-off event for West Valley Biggest Loser II was yesterday. The past two months both flew by and went so slowly at the same time. I really missed my friends and, do I dare say it, working out. That is not to say that I worked out on my own! I had great intentions, but I let life and excuses get in the way. Needless to say, with my awesome metabolism, I gained back a few of the pounds I had lost (I guess they weren't toooo lost). I have decided that it is a fresh start and I will not look back and feel guilt.
So, tomorrow evening, I will be back at Boot Camp and it will most likely kick my butt!
I also am going to do the P.F. Chang's 1/2 marathon in January. My goal will be to finish it, not to run it. I KNOW I can do it!!

House Pictures

Here are some pictures I took the weekend I moved in. I have done a little more decorating in the kitchen and have a new coffee table in the living room and some curtains in the master bedroom. Other than that, this is pretty much what my house looks like right now. I am waiting for my homebuyer's rebate to come in and then I will be getting wood blinds on all of my windows to replace my very classy paper blinds.

Master Bath--I still need to add some color in here. I have the shower curtain hung now and I've chosen the paint. Just need to get it on.

Master Bedroom and my awesomely comfortable new bed. I have some brown drapes hung on these windows now.

Dining "room" since I don't know what else you call it.

Bet you can't guess what this is . . . it's my couch!

View from the kitchen into the living room. The TV is no longer with us (RIP) so my little one is there in the meantime.

This is the kitchen. I really wanted dark cabinets and granite counters. I got the dark cabinets! :-)

The front bathroom. It is decorated very similarly to the bathrooms in my last two apartments . . . or should I say identically?

My office. No actual work takes place in here but I like to say I have an office.


The workout room. It is currently equipped with a workout ball, a mat, and some hand weights. Still waiting to get a treadmill in there . . . does it still qualify as a workout room?

Guest bedroom--this, too, is a similar look, since I used my old bedding in here.

I'm Back

I cannot believe that it has been 2 months since I posted. There has been a lot happening during that time.

• I FINALLY moved into my house. I closed/moved in on July 23rd. Everything went smoothly on my end, but between the bank and HOA issues we couldn't close until then. I signed papers on the 17th and the seller agreed that I could paint the house that weekend. Well, I figured if I could paint, there was no reason I couldn't have the carpets cleaned, appliances delivered, have my mom clean the bathrooms and kitchen, and start bringing things over. I got the call that the deed had recorded at about the same time that my last piece of furniture was being delivered . . . good timing. I LOVE my house. I'll try to make a slide show to post with pictures. Thanks to my dad, mom, Les and Dave my house was completely ready to move into. Haley came over with me the evening I moved in and by the following day I had everything unpacked and put away.
• My Grandma passed away on the 19th of July. She went downhill so very quickly and we all knew that it was time. She was miserable. We had her funeral the afternoon of the my moving day and it was a very nice service.
• School started again and I have to say, I love my class!!! This is such a welcome change from last year. We are in a new building with some awesome technology and the kids are loving it! Plus, they are learning sooooo much more than my previous classes. On the one hand, it's sad that kids need a screen in front of them to be interested, but on the other, I say if it works . . .
• Today is the kick-off event for our WVBL II. I haven't been as good over the past two months as I should have, but I figure it's a fresh start. I have missed my workouts, as well as my friends. I am looking forward to getting back on track and getting myself in awesome shape!

It's Over :-(

If you would have told me back in January that I would grow to love being a part of the West Valley Biggest Losers I would have laughed in your face. What a difference 6 months makes. Last night was our finale event. Although it was actually a contest with only one winner (which wasn't me, by the way) I don't think any of us were focused on the material prize. Here is my Top Ten List of what I "won" by being a loser.

10. I lost 31.5 pounds and over 50 inches (not sure of the exact number)
9 . I learned what a healthy eating plan looks like.
8. I found a dentist who is awesome and I highly recommend.
7. I learned to enjoy exercise.
6. I finished three 5K races and one 5K walk to benefit MDA. I may not have had the fastest time, but I finished!
5. I gained a brighter outlook on my life. I feel better about myself, I'm sleeping better (so long as you don't count the past couple of weeks) and have so much more energy.
4. I learned that I am capable of so much more than I ever gave myself credit. Back in January I could do 7 pushups, only 1/4 crunches, had a 16:24 mile and 1:41 wall sit. Now, I can do 47 pushups, 27 REAL sit-ups (shocked myself even), run a 11:48 mile and do a 20:39 wall sit.
3. I found out that a personal trainer can be tough and kind at the same time. Our coach, Stephanie Fogelson, has been so wonderful. At our first workout, I expected us to ease our way into things, but Steph had other ideas. She had us RUNNING over a bridge and back several times. She made us push ourselves at every workout but was right there encouraging us all the time. The workouts were never "easy" but you always felt a sense of accomplishment when you were done.
2. I learned to swim--you know, really swim, not get in and splash around. A couple of weeks ago I swam 1050 meters in 45 minutes.

And, most importantly,

1. I made some wonderful friends. The people in our group are some of the most amazing people I have ever known. Like I said earlier, this was not about the prize. Everyone was so supportive and encouraging of one another. Going into it, I was extrememly self-conscious and intimidated by those who were much more fit than I was. However, there was never an ugly word or action from anyone. If you thought you couldn't do it, someone would be there to encourage you and work alongside you. We laughed together, cried together, sweated together (a lot!!!!) and even partied together.

I know for a fact that I would not have survived, and even enjoyed, the past 6 months without Stephanie and the rest of the "Losers". Most of us have signed up to continue on with a "Fit To Fab" program starting in September. I don't know what I'll do until then . . . this past week I have been lost during the evenings without going to workouts.

My goal is to continue with my workouts on my own to build up my endurance and, hopefully, lose another 10 pounds before we start back up again in September.

Randomness

This is going to be a very random post. I have so many things going through my mind, so my blog reader is going to be treated to a brain purge.

• I HATE banks—at least as they relate to home buying. I have heard that we will have final approval in “the next couple of days” for close to a month now. The two *#$%^ banks are arguing over $2000 so they won’t sign off on the contract. I have all of my paperwork in order for my loan, the appraisal was scheduled (then cancelled) and , literally, everything on my end is done. I signed an addendum that close of escrow will occur on or before July 29. I have to be out of my apartment by August 2 (which is a whole ‘nother story). Add into that the fact that I am moving into a new classroom at school which is not even finished being built yet. Oh yeah, did I mention that we have Meet the Teacher Night on August 4???? So, yeah, I have a little bit of anxiety that thing are not going to happen as they should.
  
• My grandma, who is my mom’s mother, is in the hospital. She has congestive heart failure and was having trouble breathing on Saturday. She had a heart attack here in the hospital on Saturday night and, as it turns out, she has had at least three previously. Three of the main arteries (?) to her heart have blockage and she is not a candidate for surgery. So, she will be treated with medication. They are also working on getting all of her other systems under control since CHF affects the whole body. My gramps had CHF, also, so it is a bit of deja-vu being here again. Although Gramps had other issues, as well, it is bittersweet to be going through it all again and I have really been missing Gramps this week.
  
• I had my first experience with dental work this week. I haven’t been to the dentist since I had my braces off, which is 20 years! I know, very bad. However, I only had 4 cavities. I went back to get them filled yesterday. I was prepared for the worst but I watched The Wedding Singer and they did their thing. I didn’t realize how numb I would be for the afternoon and my mouth is a little tender today but, overall, it was painless. I love the dental office I go to—doesn’t hurt that you get paraffin hand dips, aromatherapy, and movies while you are there.
  
• We only have a few more workouts before WVBL is done!!! I have been really faithful to my daily workouts at home and journaling everything I eat. For the next round, which starts on September 15, I will be doing the Fit-To-Fab program. I have to maintain what I am doing now during our hiatus but I am so committed this time that I know I will succeed. I am going to turn one of my bedrooms ( you know, in the house that isn’t mine yet) into a workout room so that I will have no excuses.
• My hair doesn’t like humidity. Enough said!
• I am lonely. I would love to have someone to share my life with. I know, I need to go out there and make it happen, but it is easier said that done. I don’t have a lot of criteria—basically a good person with a job who wants a family J Anyone know of anyone?
• Finally, Blogger isn't the easiest when it comes to formatting. Therefore, I have extra spaces between some of my bullet points and if you are OCD like me it will bother you to no end!