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!