Happy Birthday and a pat on the back...

First and foremost, it's my little man's 1st birthday today - Happy Birthday AJ!!  Mommy, daddy and sissy loves you soooo much!  I'll post pics of all of his birthday festivities soon.

Now on to the pat on the back part... that is, my own back because I lost 23 pounds on this 4 month journey!!  I was so excited when I stepped on the scale this morning.  Most women aren't too happy about stepping on the scale, but I couldn't wait to get on it this morning.  I wanted to scream and yell, but Aaron was still asleep, so I went straight to my phone and texted everyone!

It was hard, but doable.  It was manageable.  I don't think I went to any extreme, just a few nights of my belly growling and sore muscles from a few times of working out two times a day. 

Thanks to everyone for all of the support these last 4 months.  I SWEAR that by telling all of you my goal, I was able to do it!  I didn't want to disappoint! 

The journey is not over yet, though.  I would like to lose a little more and tone up.  I will probably take more time to lose the last pounds, but I feel like I've created a a great base for a "lifestyle change."  So now the workouts might be less (not 6 days a week), but the calorie intake will remain somewhat the same.  I feel confident that I can get to my goal weight and not lose my mind doing it!

P.S. To celebrate my weight-loss, and I guess to sabotage it, I'm making beer macaroni and cheese today for lunch and currently enjoying a bloody mary!
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October FUN!

I have a lot to share, so I will try to be brief with words, but abundant with photos!

My first 10K!! 

Octoberfest with my college girls - so much fun!!

AJ's first haircut!

Fun times...

Next up - Aaron's birthday, AJ's first birthday parties and Halloween!!

16 week weightloss update

I have lots of family and friend stuff to blog about, but for now, I'll give a quick 16 week weightloss update.

Today marks the 16th week and that means that I only have one week left!  My total weight loss as of this morning was 19.8 pounds.  I am so darn close to that 20 pound mark, but it's been so slow getting there - uggghhh!

Life has been so much busier in the last month, so my weight has hit some sort of plateau.  I'm still losing, but slowly!

Recently I mentioned that I wanted to lose a total of 25 pounds, instead of 20, by the end of this challenge, but I don't think I can lose 5 pounds in 1 week (at least in a healthy way).  So now I'm hoping to hit the 22 pound mark - wish me luck!

I did, however, run my first 10K and it felt awesome!  I can't wait to do another one!

Talk to you all in a week with the final challenge results!!

Birthdays!!

Just a few weekends ago, Aaron and I packed up the kids to go to Wenatchee to visit family and to wish my niece Kelsee a Happy 18th Birthday!!  I was able to watch her cheer at an Eastmont football game (being there brought back so many fun memories from high school).  I can vividly remember the day she was born and it seems insane that she's already 18.  And she's beautiful!

I also had a great surprise the same weekend.  Aaron and my two sisters planned a special surprise birthday dinner with my family.  It was exciting to see everyone!  They even made a cake with a HORRIBLE picture of me on it.  My sisters gave me a great looking keepsake box decorated with family pictures and filled with letters from my family inside.  I waited to read most of them until our drive home on Sunday - of course I cried!

It was a great weekend!  I love birthdays!!