Oh, hi. Remember me?

Hey you guys! It has been FOREVER since my last blog, I know. There are a lot of reasons why, but the main one is I have not been working as hard as I need to be! It is not called a weight loss straight shot; it is a weight loss journey. I veered off the path a bit, but I'm back on track.

It all started with my trip to Lubbock a couple of weeks ago. I had SO much fun. I got to see my cousin get married, hang out with my aunt and uncle that I consider to be a second set of parents, see my sweet Granny, got to spend time with my best friend, and I got to meet her new twins!! It was an amazing weekend, and I was sad to see it end (kind of). I learned that it is HARD (for me for sure) to eat well/healthy in Lubbock unless you cook all of your meals at home. Yeah, you can get a salad when you go out, but it has iceberg lettuce. No thank you. I'm sure I could have made healthy choices, but all of my favorite restaurants (read: Taco Villa and Rosas) don't have super healthy options, or at least the things I order are not healthy, ha! I had an off weekend when it came to food, but my visit was wonderful. I love and miss my friends and family in Lubbock, but I'm thankful to live in Austin. It is just easier to be healthy here. I don't know if it is all of the food options we have, or that so many people here try to be healthy. I'm not sure, but it is good for me. Time for pics!

Aren't they all beautiful?! So happy for my cousin, Bryce, and his new wife Jana. I just love them.

Here are some pics of my best friend, Ginger's, kids. We got to see Hunter play baseball while hanging out with Miss Harper. And finally, there are the new sweet little twins, Hudson, and then Hagan! I got to hold and feed them. It was so special. Love Ginger and her family.

Hudson

Hagan

The day we got back into town, Jimmy's sister, Julie, and her husband, Ben, were in town from New York City and asked us to come over to Ben's parent's house for dinner. It seems like every time Julie comes in town she has us over and cooks for us. She is an AMAZING cook, and I'm always blown away watching the things she makes. The food is always delicious. Through her I've tried quinoa, lamb, and couscous, and I've really like all 3. Julie calls our dogs the kids, and we refer to Ben and Julie as their Aunt and Uncle. Since none of us have any children, I think that is totally acceptable. Here a pic of our brother and sister-in-law. Love them!!

After that things just seemed to be so busy. We went to Chris' going away party, we had a farewell dinner with him and his friends, and then he stayed with us the night before he left to head to Peru on his first stop of his year long trip around the world. I'm really excited and happy for him since he made a lifelong dream come true, but after dropping him off at the airport, I was pretty bummed for the rest of the day. Miss him already. Stay safe, friend!

So the day Chris left also happened to be my 31st birthday! I'm OLD!!!!! Jimmy and I went and got cupcakes and had coffee on South Congress to hang out and people watch. Then we went to happy hour with a close group of friends pictured below. [Not pictured is +Jimmy Ho  because he took the picture, Rob because Jimmy is not a great panoramic photographer, and Brad, Nicole, and Raye since they had already left.]

I had a wonderful birthday. Thanks to all my sweet friends who came to celebrate. And no, I had not had too much to drink in the picture directly above. HA. I didn't drive!

Jimmy and I have resumed our cooking at home! The last week or so we have embraced Asian foods! We made spring rolls and vermicelli bowls. Jimmy did most of the work on these. I just helped put things together. They were surprisingly pretty easy to make, and very good. We'll probably be making these things more frequently. They were fresh and healthy other than the noodles.. but moderation is key. Check it out.

This past Sunday, I got back out there and walked a mile and a half. It was HARD. It insane how long it takes to get strong, but how quickly you can lose it. I was pretty afterward, but I was glad I did it. One step in front of the other, and one small step at a time is the way I'll get through this. Sunday was such a beautiful day I decided to use the +Vitamix to make some real fruit margaritas! The Vitamix blended it so well! I was really impressed at the consistency. The orange I used was a little large, so the color looks a little orange. Next time I think I'll use half an orange and another lime.

Random, but in one of my hanging plants, a bird built a nest. In the pic below you can see some of the fuzz used. That fuzz is from Bentley and Lily's toys they have destroyed in the backyard. I left it alone, and there are now 4 (I think) little baby birds in the nest! I took a secret pic.

Tonight I went back to Camp Gladiator! The last time I was there (which was a little over a week ago), I hurt myself!! I was doing bicycles, and I hurt what my trainer called a hip flexer. It is where your hip and leg meet. It hurt SO bad I could barely get into my car because I could not bend my leg at the hip. I know this is crazy, but I kind of felt cool for having an injury from working out rather than just falling down like I usually do. Whud up.

Tonight Camp Gladiator KICKED MY BUTT. We had to run so much! I have made a friend at Camp Gladiator, Jen, and she really pushes me. I don't run full laps when we have to run because the trainer told me run a shorter distance due to being slow and it being hard on me (he didn't say that, but that's why). But today, Jen made me run the full distance each time we had to run. It SUUUUUCKED. But, when I got home I felt like I had nothing left to give, and that felt awesome. Jen also invited me to go to Zumba with her so I may start doing that.

I'm feeling motivated again because of some pics I looked at today. People on Instagram always put up transformation photos. I get a lot of inspiration from pictures I see on there. I decided to compare pictures of myself. I took a picture from last April, around 4/20/12 when Jimmy and I saw The Black Keys (amazing!!) and this year around 4/12/13. Below, the picture on the left is last year, and the picture on the right is this year. CHECK ME OUT! I know I still have a long way to go, but seeing these small changes is going to keep me going.

So that's my story for the last few weeks. I'm back!!! Heart all of your faces.