Our Wedding by the Sea

As of Friday, I'm down 17.2 pounds!!  SO freaking excited & proud of myself.  I tried on the bridesmaid dress I wore back in May, which is an Alfred Angelo size 8 (street size 6).  This is what it looked like.

Now it's so loose that I can clip quite a bit of material behind me.  I love measurable progress!!!

Keep it coming, strong body!

I went bridesmaid dress shopping for Kyle & Veronica's wedding.  They're getting married two weeks before Chris & I (on the 8th) and both of us are in the wedding.  She wanted each of us to choose a satin Alfred Angelo dress.  She wants black and it can be short, tea length, or cocktail length.  So we went to the store last night & I started to try on dresses.  Most of the samples are 8, 10, or 12.  I wore a size 8 in the wedding I was in in May, and when I tried on an 8 last night it was too big!  So exciting!!  I will probably order my dress in a 6 :)

Then today I went to (finally) get my fingerprints done.  I registered & paid for them back in August.  So today I go and the guy pulls up my registration number and asks me to confirm all the information I had entered.  And I saw that my weight was entered as 160 (!!!)  Let's just say I don't weigh 160 anymore... I've lost almost 20 pounds since then and am still losing :D  Seeing that was just crazy to me... Big success is simply the result of lots of little efforts.

I start training for my half marathon next week and I can't wait.  I took this week off to rest and I really can't wait to be up and running again next week.

Sent out my save the dates on Valentine's Day and I'm getting lots of positive feedback about them, so that's a good happiness too :)

My mum made an appointment to try on the dress she wants to buy for the wedding.  She's going next Wednesday.  I LOVE the dress she picked out and hope she does too when she sees it in person :) She wants it in navy, which I think will be beautiful.

Morgan went to try on her dress in Georgia the other night too and loves it.  That settles it then: that's the dress we're going with.  All the girls like it in aquamarine, too, so I'll have a lovely blue bridal party.

I love how things are just coming along <3

I deleted this entry, because- after thinking about it- I'm just not ready...

So far, I've lost 10 pounds.  Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.  I've also added the goal of being able to do my splits.  I started working on them tonight and I was actually surprised by how low I could really go down.  I'm working on my front splits (sides will come later).  With my left foot leading, there was about 18 inches between myself and the ground.  With my right foot front though, there was only a foot!  Increasing my flexibility will make me feel so much better about myself and give me a goal that I can actually measure and take control of.  I desperately need something healthy to take control of.

I've been working hard to exercise and eat better, but I still feel like I could really push myself harder at the gym.  I've just gotten so... soft.  I used to spend 6 hours EVERY DAY in the gym.  I know, that's not healthy.  I wasn't healthy at the time.  I worked out obsessively.  It was gross.  I had no self-confidence, and it's been a really long, hard battle trying to love me for me.

I'm proud that I've lost this weight.  That I'm proud that the numbers on the scale keep getting lower- however slowly- instead of higher.  And that even though I might be super jealous of my sister who has lost A LOT of weight since this time next year and just keeps dropping lower and lower, that I'm super proud that I am startin

Last Monday, Chris signed both of us up for the gym.  I was super excited because I've been trying to get him to join the gym with me for years now.  It keeps both of us motivated to go, and it's nice because we can still spend time together after work.

We've only gone three times since then because both of us had sinus infections, but now that we're (hopefully) over that, we can go more regularly.  It's great, too, because his best man, Kyle, and Kyle's fiancee, Veronica, are both members there, too.  So if I want to do a class, I can do it with Veronica.  Kyle & Veronica are getting marred two weeks before Chris & I (the 8th), so she's just as motivated as I am to look amazing for next September.

Tonight I did a boot camp class and I can already feel it.  I have that wiggly feeling (I really don't know how to describe it- shaky, maybe?) that you get the night before you wake up and all your muscles hurt.  I love waking up to that feeling.

I'm also eating much better (and on more of a schedule since I'm full-time at the preschool now).  I feel like I have so much more energy over-all and can NOT wait to see my hard work starting to pay off.  I hope to lose at least 30- if not 40- pounds before the wedding.  Here's hoping!

I feel like I've gotten so much done this last week.  I haven't, but it feels like I have.

NWR: I started my internship as a preschool teacher.  I LOVE it.  My kids are amazing and I can't wait to see what every single week for the next 15 weeks is going to bring.  I love their little faces and their little voices and all the little things they do.  Ahh- I'm SO in the right job for me.

Now, back to the wedding...

I have been researching photographers like crazy.  My top three priorities for this wedding are:
1. Has to be at the beach (check!)
2. Need to have amazing, photojournalistic photography (working on)
3. Want to dance ALL NIGHT LONG and want my guests dancing, too! (next on my list!)

So now that we have our venue and I know we'll be saying "we do" with our toes in the sand, I have started seriously researching photographers.  My heart was broken when the photographer I was dead set on sent me her updated price list.  Her new price for the package we wanted was $2,400.  When your wedding budget is only $10,000, $2,400 for photography is ridiculous.  So I started the search again and I think I've found the one!

The package is super cheap and includes photography from 9am to 11pm, a CD of images for the Internet, a DVD of images for printing (and all rights to print), photo retouching, online gallery for one year, one 11x14 print, one 8x10 print, and 100 4x6 prints.  We are going to go meet with her sometime within the next month and I cannot WAIT to book her if she's right for us.  I talked to her on the phone last night and she was super friendly- I feel like we'll "click" well.

So yes, there's my big update!  I'm so excited.

Operation: Hot Bride is well under way.  Today is day 4 of level 1 and I feel great.  I haven't lost any weight yet, but I can do more and more of the workout without needing to stop so I know I'm progressing.  I didn't work out on Wednesday because I had my internship in the morning and then went to work right away and closed there.  So I didn't really have any time :(  But that's okay- you need to give your muscles time to rest, so that was it for this week.

I just finished my first 30 Day Shred workout and man oh man did it kick my ass.  Royally.  I knew I was out of shape, but I didn't think I was THAT out of shape.  After that workout though, I am thoroughly invested.  Jillian is ridiculously motivating and her "no excuses" attitude is so refreshing.  I'm going to stick with this- probably beyond thirty days- and see where it takes me.  It can only get better.

Today I bought pants in a size I swore I'd never wear.  Only one pair because I need them for my internship- I don't want to buy more than one because that's giving in!  I want to be able to wear my old pants ASAP

So here's to level 1, day 1... and here's to looking amazing on my honeymoon <3