It's just like MAGIC!!!

Just a quick follow up on my post from yesterday. No sooner than I post Vermont and Montana's plates on the blog, I saw BOTH today! A miracle I tell you! A miracle!

Let's try this again...

It's really difficult to find...ALASKA!

It's really difficult to find... RHODE ISLAND!

It's really difficult to find...a million dollars under your pillow!

Alright Blog - do your magic!

Fifty Nifty United States

I would like to digress briefly from the subject of Ryan and my weight losses and bring you all a little piece of nostalgia. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Ryan and I went to New Mexico about 3 weeks ago. On this car ride, Ryan revealed to me that she had seen a license plate for Alaska a couple of days earlier and had the idea to start playing the license plate game.

You all know this roadtrip classic. Rules are simple:


(1) The game isn't over until you've seen all 50 license plates. The person who finds them first wins;


(2) Semi's and any other large shipping trucks do not count. Civilian vehicles only;



(3) You cannot intentionally go out of your way searching for plates i.e. I can't go driving an entire parking garage in search of plates. They must be discovered in your normal course of life.






There you have it. Ryan is down to 6 states left. I have about 13 (I got South Carolina and Maryland today). Ryan has the money plate of Alaska and I have Hawaii. It's going to be interesting to see who can get some of the other tough ones first - Montana, Vermont, Rhode Island. Ironically we both have Washington D.C. already so let's call it 50 states and 1 district. We have recruited other friends into our mix and the race is on. I encourage all of you to join it and play, but I will warn you, it can be an impairment to your driving, so please play with caution.

Enjoy!

ALABAMA * ALASKA * ARIZONA * ARKANSAS * CALIFORNIA * COLORADO * CONNECTICUT * DELAWARE * FLORIDA * GEORGIA * HAWAII * IDAHO * ILLINOIS * INDIANA * IOWA * KANSAS * KENTUCKY * LOUISIANA * MAINE * MARYLAND * MASSACHUSETTS * MICHIGAN * MINNESOTA * MISSISSIPPI * MISSOURI * MONTANA * NEBRASKA * NEVADA * NEW HAMPSHIRE * NEW JERSEY * NEW MEXICO * NEW YORK * NORTH CAROLINA * NORTH DAKOTA * OHIO * OKLAHOMA * OREGON * PENNSYLVANIA * RHODE ISLAND * SOUTH CAROLINA * SOUTH DAKOTA * TENNESSEE * TEXAS * UTAH * VERMONT * VIRGINIA * WASHINGTON * WEST VIRGINIA * WISCONSIN * WYOMING

Better Late than Never!

I weighed in this week at work, and while it is 20 days late, I have hit my 26 lbs. goal! Additionally, I'm only about 10 lbs away from my healthy height/weight range.

I know this is a short post, but I'm racing off to the horse races tonight. Much love my friends and I will be back soon!

And... I just couldn't resist this pic. You're welcome!

You will thank me!

Briefly, wanted to plug a new (delicious) discovery. I don't know about you guys, but I am a chocoholic. I have a serious sweet tooth and some times I just need some chocolately goodness. This whole diet bit has made that a little bit more difficult for me, but do not fret, for I have a new solution to share with you all. Drum roll please....

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-dat!

No Pudge Brownies!

These little guys are chocolate heaven and only 2 Weight Watchers points each! They come in a pink box and I found them at Kroger. You combine the mix with non-fat vanilla yogurt, follow the baking instructions on the box and voila! You have a perfect, moist, fudgy brownie. You can make them individually in the microwave or, like me, make the whole batch at one time. I made them in cupcake wrappers so they would be portioned out perfectly and stuck the majority of them in the freezer so I could just grab one at a time, pop it in the microwave and 30 seconds later I have tasty treat. Highly recommended to you all. I think they will even pass Courtney Scarborough Fowler's test! Let me know Scar!

I'm sorry...

So sorry blog family. I have been seriously neglectful and have a ton to catch you up on. It's been several weeks since I last blogged and I'll try to be as brief, yet thorough as I can be.

Since I last blogged I have stopped working out with JR. I felt it was time to go out on my own like a lamb leaving the shepherd. I needed to prove that I can change my life for real and do this with out something (or someone) else motivating me. I am on this journey for me and I need to be able to continue my new life practices without the motivation of not wanting to let people down. It's a time to be selfish and I need to allow myself to do that. Much love to JR for everything and if anyone needs a wonderful trainer, let me know because I've got his digits!

And I digress...after our last workout, my roommate and I moved out of our apartment of three years into a duplex. You don't think you have that much stuff, but it is amazing how things accumulate. I spent every night for a week in 90 degree weather moving a car load at a time into the new duplex and then had movers come on Friday for the big stuff. We got it all moved, cleaned and with a fair amount of the inherent problems that come with moving, we were situated. I wasn't really able to get to the gym that week, but, lo and behold, I lost 1.8 pounds anyway (that's what sweating your butt off hauling boxes will do to you. I don't think I will be making that my regular routine, no matter how effective it was).

First day at the gym by myself was a little bit scary. I'm in a new environment with machines I'm vaguely familiar with but they look way different than what I'm used to. There are also a WHOLE lot more people around to embarrass myself in front of. Awesome. Every day gets better as I get more familiar with the equipment and now I'm starting to be a 6 am regular. I even say "hello" to my buddies who are also there at the same time every day. My goal is to not only be a face recognition person, but also be on a first name basis with my gymmates. Besides, who doesn't love gym friends?!?

Subsequently, Ryan and I trekked on off to Ruidoso, NM on vacation over the 4th of July weekend and my birthday. It was a wonderful trip - great friends, good food, excellent shopping and some fun activities. Surprise surprise I came back 1.2 pounds heavier! Boo! My first gain of this process and boy was that depressing! Not only did I have to deal with gaining weight, but I also missed my 26 x 26 goal by 2 pounds. I'm sitting right at 24 pounds rights now and I'm just mad at myself for not hitting my goal. I know it was my birthday and everyone deserves a break here and there, but I wish I had at least just maintained. So now I have that much further to go.

To add insult to injury, an event I couldn't avoid participating in was the Bar Golf Invitational celebrating my roommate and my birthday's this past weekend. We had a blast and if you have never played bar golf, I highly recommend it. If you would like to know the rules, let me know and I will be happy to share the particulars with you. Short explanation is that it is a pub crawl in golf attire. Considering the copious amounts of alcohol you consume while playing, I'll just say this weekend was not my best, but I had a super time!!! Thanks to all my sweet friends who came out to play. You made my birthday celebration wonderful! I leave you all with this picture from the event. Take care friends and I'll be back soon!