#operationredbikini

So, this morning- I did my first weigh in of the year. I lost 4 pounds this week :)

I'm pretty excited. I absolutely love knowing the weight is starting to come off, I was getting a tad nervous.

Definitely encouraged to keep it going especially because now I need to lose 86 pounds to be done (until I get pregnant). A lot of people have asked why I am aiming towards such a big number.

Let me answer that question as honestly as possible.

#1) I have struggled with weight since I was 11. I had a pretty unhealthy relationship with food in that I used it to hide my feelings or struggles in high school. I didn't have the best experience in high school, was bullied throughout middle school and some of high school. So, now I am changing my outlook on food and how many portions I have.

#2) I've seen the number on the scale & while I don't let it define who I am because its just a number; it does have a say in the sense of what size I am currently wearing AS OPPOSED TO the size I am aiming for-- size 8/9 :)

#3) As much as I would love to take a few months off & be on Biggest Loser-- I don't have the paid time off or the means to live on a ranch with Jillian Michaels. She'd be a bit too much to deal with 24/7.

So there you have it- I'm working my tush off to lose 86 more pounds because I need to be fit & healthy :)

& in other news...

-Usually I'm an overachiever with hw for school but trying to drum up motivation for my final paper wasn't there. However, I had to be at work 2 hours early today so I was able to get 4 pages done. YAY for being a month ahead.

-Tonight my husband & I had an impromptu date night. Nice to talk to him w/ great food & not w/ our two dogs watching/begging for food. Just saying, it was nice to shake things up.

-I met with my host after work today. We talked about the show next Saturday & I'm pretty psyched. I love being a Pampered Chef consultant. :)

Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend! Here's to another great wk towards #operationredbikini :)

Fab Friday

Today I want to talk about these fab things....
-It's Friday, Friday! Sorry I got the annoying Rebecca Black song in my head tonight. After a week off for the holidays, this week dragged on but I made it to FRIDAY/PAYDAY!! :) -Textbroker is a website that  gives the chance for aspiring writers (like ME!) to be paid/get published.  I wrote an article & it was accepted, so I'm on my way!
-I graduate with my Master's in 3 1/2 months. This lady is THRILLED. -I have been working out steadily for 2.5 weeks & can already see a difference. I used to haaaate drinking water & now I crave it all the time.  -I've rediscovered my love of Skinny Cow. Perfect way to enjoy chocolate at 110 calories. -Next weekend I have 3 weeks in a row of Pampered Chef parties so I'm thrilled. I love doing these parties! -Tomorrow is my 2 year milestone of having my current job; glad my raise kicks in soon. Hope you have a great weekend! -Jessica

Happy 2013!

Happy 2013! Hope you enjoyed celebrating the end of 2012 while bringing in the start of 2013. I chilled at home with my dogs and my husband.  We watched 'Ugly Betty', thank youuuu Hulu for most of the night. We caught the ball dropping in Times Square on TV which is my husband's big tradition. We had our kiss at midnight, toasted with Martenelli's Sparkling cider (by far the best) & hit the hay. My neighbors on the left partied a bit too much until after 1AM (they had the cops called on them by someone in our neighborhood-- thank you to whoever you were).

My parents showed up last night and treated us to dinner at Boston Market. So delish and nice to have an unexpected dinner. Moments after getting back, my best friend and her new fiance showed up. They got engaged Sunday and I was so excited to see her ring & her & him. They're so cute. Can't wait for our double dinner date next weekend! :)

Now that January 1st is here- I am really motivated to get the weight loss goin'. I may have over celebrated today with truffles but I am ready to get my 'Biggest Loser' weight loss back on track. I took a short break for the holidays and I feel so gross. Time to get back on track. So excited. In preparation of being a size 8, I started a wish list of items I'd like to get clothes wise. For a years now, my parents have gifted me at Christmas and Birthdays for new (work) clothes. This fall, I will be taking advantage of those past gifts from my parents. I've reminded my mom a few times and she already can't wait. Neither can I.

Never been one to think politics all the time but I just realized that my first paycheck of 2013 is a lot smaller than I thought. Stupid fiscal cliff has taken more out of my paycheck & caused our budget to be cut more. Ugh. Not thrilled.

This also has caused me to worry about my Pampered Chef biz. I just started in October and with these new cuts in my budget, I am just trying to stay positive. I'm aiming to keep it open based on more hosts for parties. My one year anniversary as a consultant is next Halloween, and I know I have a wedding shower booked this fall for my best friend :) YAY. I'm also a bridesmaid in her wedding this fall, so that's definitely EXTRA motivation for me to lose ALL my weight this year. I'm already 32 lbs down. I'll be sharing pics as I lose the weight to keep my momentum going.

For those who are thinking about losing some weight- feel free to consider these ideas:
1) Use MyFitnessPal on your phone/computer to track your food. My mom gave me this idea. I didn't do it before but I've used it since April '12 when I wanted to be more serious about weight loss. It's been instrumental in my first 32 lbs of weight loss. It's free and so easy. Good to have accountability.

2) Drink more water. I've held myself to a new standard this time. I only let myself drink water during the week and if I need flavor- I add a squirt or two of Mio, water enhancer. I drink about 4-5 cups a day & it truly helps me glow.

3) Rotate your workout regimen. My big goal is to stay active whether continuing to master Zumba, Just Dance 4, (3 or 2). Cleaning. Walking my dogs. Starting to bring a pedometer by walking/jogging w/ my pups. & hopefully soon--running.

My goal is to lose all the weight by October 2013. It would be great to lose the weight before my 28th birthday on 10/3 but if not, its okay.

By losing this weight will give me a chance to wear a size, I've never been.

Apt 9/Kohl's jeans.

Love this bathing suit from Apt 9/Kohl's.    

New Years Prep

This whole week I've been blessed to have off work, which I needed a few days to sleep in without an alarm set and no plans to just relax & have time to work out.

Now, its Saturday and I am enjoying more time to make my house pretty. Last night @ 12am- it was discovered this pretty face had peed on our bed & we had to do emergency laundry with our sheets/blankets.

Don't be fooled by her big brown eyes

But I wanted to take a moment to recap on 2012 since celebrating New Years is in 3 days! 

Celebrated 1 year at my job & moved into our first house on 1/1/12.

Celebrated my mom's 50th birthday by throwing her a surprise party with family/friends.  

She doesn't look a day over 28.

With my momma & the homemade birthday cake I made her.

With my sister in law & my beautiful mama.

Celebrated my husband's bday. His gift: Ron Swanson (Parks & Rec) bobblehead in Mar.

Happy Birthday! Loves 4Rivers BBQ to celebrate with.

Spent time with my in-laws over their spring break/enjoyed Disney Vacation club villa. 

Celebrated one of my good friends birthdays.

Helped my husband when he had his wisdom teeth surgery done. 

Celebrated first year of marriage, yay us! 

6.18.11 

Celebrated 4th of July by flying out to Missouri to spend time w/ my husband's family for the holiday. Got to reminisce with him about his childhood, go to fave places of his that he grew up at and spend time with family.

Another celebration by then was that I had lost 30 lbs by this time!  YAY :)

Celebrated my dad's birthday.

Celebrated my birthday on our first cruise to the Bahamas! I also signed on as a Pampered Chef consultant on Halloween.

First night of dinner.

Elegant night for dinner.

Celebrated our first Thanksgiving in our house. Stayed behind and enjoyed a dinner at Boston Market.

Celebrated our first Christmas in our house. Put our tree up and enjoyed the day with my fam.

Our Christmas Tree

Work Christmas party 12.16.12.

W/ my mom at our Christmas party. 12.16.12

Now we're about to bring in 2013 & I couldn't be more excited. Here's a list of things I'm determined to do: 

1) Will be running 2 races w/ family: Winter Park 10k & OUC Half Marathon. :)

2) Will be working hard to lose my Biggest Loser weight. 

3)  Spending more time being active.

4) Taking more time to keep our house looking great.

5) Giving my Pampered Chef biz my full focus.

Have a very Happy New Year! See you in 2013 :) -Jessica

Fab Friday

                                        Today I want to talk about these fab things...

-Yesterday my husband & I took down Christmas, putting our ornaments, tree back in the boxes, and it made me a little sad. I love Christmas, and decorating my house. But now I can focus making my wreaths for different seasons to come- new traditions- like Valentine's Day, Easter, 4th of July, Fall & Christmas. Pinterest really gave me some good ideas about these, so excited to try them out.

-Only a few more weeks left in my current class, spent this week off work getting as far ahead as possible. Then starting in Feb '13, one LAST class to do (& its a snooze) but then I will have my Master's at the end of April '13! YAY, finally!

- I've been back on track with losing weight for over a week now & I really love it. Back to working out like a beast (especially since my husband got me Zumba for Christmas! That will be kicking my butt in a good way.) & drinking only water during the week.

-I am all about remembering special dates for my family. I know when my dogs' birthdays are, first milestones and on 12/30- is 1 year since we bought our first home. That will be a much easier/relaxing day than when it happened! I love my house and making it look good. 

- My Pampered Chef business has really taken off, I have 3 parties scheduled for January and praying for more bookings. (If anyone is interested, feel free to contact me: jessica.pchef@hotmail.com) 

This was my first FAB Friday post & I'm gonna make sure its an every week post now. 

Your turn! What's FAB in your world lately? 

-

Update.

So, for some odd reason, I love the word 'update.' I think it's so refreshing when used in a good way with close friends like tonight. I just got back from having coffee & time with two good gals. It was nice to catch up after Christmas & having a fairly productive day myself.  These two girls can easily get my spirits up and vice versa. Plus, my friend got me Christmas gifts that I wasn't planning on getting-- and I gave them some homemade cookies.

But like anyone knows, I LOVE Target. Like love, and according to my MIL- I remind her of that crazy, fanatic shopper from last year's Black Friday commercials with the over the top outfits, as seen below.

I mean to be fair, if I could-- I would LOVE to run through Target in a classy red tracksuit. That is how much I absolutely LOVE TARGET. I mean, I get excited when I shop there with my RedCard to save my 5%, errm, yeah. Moving on.

My Christmas was amazing and I feel like this year in light of all that happened @ Sandy Hook, I really appreciated it even more. I kissed my cute nephew as much as possible and just hugged my family members all day long. I cannot imagine how hard waking up to ppen presents were for the families who lost their family because of that monster. My heart was praying and keeping them close in my heart.

So- another part of my year was that I became a Pampered Chef consultant on Halloween. I'm off to a grrreat start and have 4 shows booked for January. Hopefully I will get a few more from each and be on my way as I am still prayerfully wondering how long that will be a part of my life. So, we'll see in 2013.

Another few things I am looking forward to in 2013 is losing all my weight. I'm down to 90 lbs to go and I am dedicating '13 to losing the weight.  I also will have my Master's in April so I am really psyched to have that done.

I really also want to get back into blogging daily or more than I have. But tomorrow is my last day off before going back to work for 4 hrs Monday. At least its a short week ahead :)  Happy Friday'/weekend!! :)

It's OK, Thursday.

It's OK...

.. when I wake up, my FAVORITE day has arrived: Friday! Love them paired with a pay day but hey, I'll take it...

... to feel encouraged. One of my hosts (I'm a Pampered Chef consultant) is up to $375 in her show(s). I was a little nervous but thankfully the orders are coming in. Plus because of her party, I booked another party!

...to feel thrilled. A week from last night, I will be enjoying vacation/Thanksgiving &  even better- making new traditions for Turkey Day since we became homeowners last Dec.

... to feel relieved. I found GREAT Christmas deals for most of my family. After tomorrow- I will have my sister, dad, nephew and mom all done. This just leaves my husband's plethora and my sis in law and its not even Black Friday yet! 

,,, to feel nervous. On 11/25 I will be doing my own FIRST cooking show since joining Pampered Chef as a consultant on 10/31. Never done this kind of thing before where I talk about the products while I make the food. So this will be interested. BUT- the ladies coming- all know me for the most part, so I'm reassuring that Jesus will not let me fail but will give my mom & I great success. She's hosting me :)

..to feel creative. I've decided I want to join the crafty women in my family who can serve others by sewing, crocheting. All I know how to do thus far in a crafty sense is scrap-booking  a tiny bit of knitting and baking deliciousness. (All of which my mama taught me).

& that's a wrap. A wonderful weekend ahead :)