Cheesecake Factory

We got very good news yesterday so we decided that a meal of chicken and beans while watching tv on the couch wouldn't do. Nope. So we went to The Cheesecake Factory. Great decision.

I'm being purposely vague about our good news...definitely not expecting a little bambino though.


I know a lot of people think this about their husbands/life partners but mine is pretty incredible.

Top 10 Monday

I'm not so good about cleaning out my old text messages. Here's my ten favorite that are still in my phone:

10. Your word of the day is opiniatry. It means mental obstinacy or inflexibility.
I got roped into a cell phone scam. I had taken an IQ test online where I had to give my cell phone number to get my results. Nothing good came out of it. I found out that I'm not so smart and they send me multiple text messages a day to boost my IQ. It costs $10 a month. I don't know how to remove it.

9. Yeah!!!

8. Man, you're right. These are exceptionally good apples.

7. Part of Mare in my family is being played by NatNat...Nicole is being a little obnoxious. She comes to me does something bad and goes back to Nat who giggles.

6. How old is the queso in the fridge?

5. Don't like to-makes me feel sad so I say talk to u later.
This was texted to me after I had texted to this person that they never say good bye when we're finished talking.

4. Back at ya Boo Face!!!

3. Can't find the Doritos.

2. What do you say to me picking up some dinner?
My answer to this question is always,"I like it."

1. You were my friend when no one else wanted to be.
This one makes me cry.

Opposite of Wedding Weekend

Last weekend was the three days worth of wedding related activities for our friends. Great times but we decided to have an extremely relaxing weekend. Here's a little taste of it...

Saturday is our "calorie day". We started our day at the grocery store so we could get our supplies.

After this picture was taken I told John that someone should tell them (the deli people) that the bell peppers in the display should be replaced. They weren't looking so good.


I most likely told them myself. I have a volume control issue. My fancy shirt you see says, "Where my Peeps At?"

After the deli section we hit the donuts. We almost bought an icecream cake too but we didn't want to be too crazy. We did get our mochas though. Mmmmmmm mochas.

Hope you all are enjoying your weekends. Yesterday we watched Dr. T and the Women. You can skip it if you haven't seen it. John thought it would be better if it were Mr. T and the Women. I agree.

Cute Kid Quote

Yesterday I was doing my fabulous lunch duty at school where I monitor the 4th graders at recess. I sometimes do this holding an umbrella. Since it hardly ever rains here, the umbrella is to shield me from the sun.

A little girl who I always call "Kiddo" wanted to hold my umbrella.

After I gave it to her she said,"I'm Mrs. M." I said,"Hello, Mrs. M." She said,"Hello, Kiddo."

I thought that was funny and really cute. She made me laugh.

So it's the weekend and I'm really happy about that. Our big plans are NOTHING and I couldn't be happier. Last weekend was great but a weekend of movie watching and napping sounds pretty great too. I may throw in a little reading.

Just because I think it's funny...



So my friends, cousin(s), sister and mom, I hope you have a fabulous weekend and that it's starting out as active or chilled out as you want. Mine definitely is. I see a mocha in my future...a big one.

Fit Friday

My cousin suggested that I do a weekly blog about diet/fitness and maintenance tips. I thought that would be fun and it could be my Friday topic...Fitness Friday. So now my Mondays and Fridays are both themed. How exciting.

So here's my first tip which works for weight loss and maintenance:
(This is from an article I read on the Biggest Loser Club website...I think)

Today's Tip(In my own words)
If you've ever tried to lose weight or maintain weight loss before and you weren't able to sustain your efforts, figure out what went wrong then work out solutions to the problem.

When I read this I thought,"If I knew what the problem was then there wouldn't be a problem." I thought about it anyway and I actually was able to pinpoint two reasons why I was unsuccessful in the past.

#1 I would start to let other things become more important than exercising.
Old solution: I'll exercise tomorrow.

New solution: Exercise is now my number one priority of the day (well, six days a week-Sunday is my rest day).

#2 We would buy a bunch of healthy food and eat it all up until "uh oh" there's nothing to eat.
Old solution:Order pizza and we'll be "good" tomorrow.

New solution: Making sure we have healthful food for today and tomorrow is my second highest priority of the day.

I hope some day that eating well and exercising will be as natural for me as brushing my teeth but until then I'll take in all the advice I can get on the topic. I like living this way...I want to always live this way.

So please leave your tips on what has worked for you on keeping you on the wagon or funny stories about what hasn't worked in the past. A few years ago to keep me motivated I went to Target and bought myself a whole bunch of presents then asked John to hide them from me. Every time I exercised I'd get something I liked. That worked out pretty well until I ran out of stuff...

One year of maintenance mode down...

April officially marks for me one year of maintaining a healthy weight(Dec/Jan was my healthy lifestyle anniversary).

I know that I finished losing weight in the end of March of last year but I don't know the actual date. So that's why I made April my anniversary since I know it was all gone by then.

I thought to commemorate my maintenance mode anniversary I'd take you down a picture walk.

Before I start I want to say that my goal to lose weight was always about being healthy. I felt good about the way I looked. I just knew that the habits John and I had would lead to a lot of trouble down the road.

Christmas 2007 (-6 pounds)...



New Year's 2008 (-8 pounds)...



February 2008 (-14 pounds)



Beginning of March 2008 (-19 pounds)



End of March 2008 (goal met)



Last year as I got closer to my goal weight I actually got very nervous. I had been reading about maintenance tips and "they" said that maintaining weight loss was actually harder than losing it because the big goal would be gone.

Well, it's been a year now and I've maintained a healthy weight. Yay.



This is not the most form flattering outfit but I look very excited in this picture.

Out on a Tuesday Night

It was our friend's birthday last night so we went out with him (Carlos) and his wife Alicia to celebrate. He's very old (34) so we did what he wanted to do.

First we ate some barbecue at Famous Dave's. Very good stuff. It was our first time there.



We wanted to embarrass Carlos so before they got there we told our waitress it was his birthday. They don't embarrass people. They bring out ice cream with a very exciting candle (Carlos wouldn't put his finger in the flame as I had suggested)and they take your picture. They email it to you later. That's pretty cool.



After dinner Carlos wanted to go to this outdoorsy shop in the same shopping center. It was amazing. John and I felt like we were in Disney Land except there weren't rides. There were some pretty fun things to do there though. Carlos and John seemed to enjoy the shooting game the best.



We had a really fun time but I was very tired on the way home. So I did what anyone would do and I snapped a picture of myself "sleeping".