Day 177: It’s Really Happening!

Hey Ladies! Hope you’re all having fabulous weekends and that your weather is significantly less crappy than the weather here in the ATL. OMG – pretty (i.e. not raining) all week and all hell breaks loose Friday…. And today…. blah. Before getting into yesterday – I wanted to tell you all THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. You just don’t know how much I appreciate you guys putting up the highs and lows of my house hunting hell, AND for being so supportive in the process. It honestly brightens my day to read your supportive comments. This blog has been such an outlet for me and it’s nice to get great feedback from great girls, so thanks SO MUCH!! Mushy fest aside (:)) Here’s how yesterday played out…

First of all, I woke up weighing 113 – oh yeah! As some of you may remember, my original goal was 115. Then I realized I would need to go ‘a little lower’ to maintain my 115. Enter 113. And I got there! (note – I’m already up to 114 today) but STILL I got there damn it. hehe K – onward and out. I headed to work, stayed slammed all morning, and went to the gym at lunch to walk 3.5 miles with Stacy – FUN! Before we left the office me and Austin placed an offer on the stucco one. We decided to see what happened with it BEFORE the brick one, since we know the brick owner is such an unmotivated a-hole, I mean seller. So… we placed the offer. We also got the disclosure and HOA forms and signed and returned them…. Around 4 p.m. Amanda texts and says she heard from the seller’s agent who said the seller would counter but only had one change, we were hear back “at sixish” then said “we can so get this deal done!!” OMG when I got the text I literally ran to Stacy’s cube and made her read it!!!!! And called Austin! And Amanda called so we could squeal together and decipher her email and speculate on what the “one thing” would be. I went back to work (so hard to do, peeps) and when it hit 5 p.m. I headed out – had 2.5 more miles to do to get in my 84 for the month! Yes, I’m a freak about these things. I headed to my other gym and did my 2.5 miles. I was supposed to do legs and abs too but I was just TOO anxious to get home and talk to Austin. Apparently 6ish means 7:10 p.m. because that’s when we heard back… Here’s the deaio:

We asked for $15,000 off his price, and we asked that he pay $6,000 in closing costs, repair the carpet in the bonus room, tighten the loose banister and fix this loose wall (hard to explain – not a big deal but we noted it). And of course – it was all pending the stucco inspection (which is Wednesday). He came back and agreed to pay the closing costs and repair the carpet, but wanted more explanation on the banister and said the wall was too much trouble for him to fix and explained why (he’s right – we probably won’t even have it done ourselves). Then his “one change” was he came up $5,000 in price. YAY a reasonable counter offer. So now we’re deciding: should we accept his counter? Should we counter back at $2,500 to “meet in the middle”? Should we wait and start our due diligence period AFTER the stucco inspection? Decisions, decisions. We told Amanda we’d call her around lunch today with our decision!!

While that was all super exciting – it was time to get FUBARed to celebrate Mary T’s birthday!!! We hopped in showers and raced over to her BF Scott’s house in the highland’s for a little pre-party (i.e. drinking games). Then it was off to Cavern to dance like fools to Britney Spears and my request: Master P’s 1997 favorite “bourbon and lacs.” Ah. A simpler time. We had a blast, closed it down at 1:30 a.m. and made it home to our happy pupper (in a cab of course- safety first, peeps) by 2 a.m. Fabulous day of work and play!

So what did I eat? Breakfast brought me a potato/egg/MS sausage burrito and yogurt, followed by a snack of pretzels and a granola bar…. Gym at 1 p.m. followed by a half serving of chicken and white bean chili and a toasted turkey/roast beef/FF swiss sandwich. Back to gym followed by pita pizzas for dinner. Then 3 SF Red bulls + grape vodka, 1 miller lite, and 2 ponies (little baby beers that come in a bucket at cavern – presh). That ended up being 1,348 calories, 183 carbs and 27 fat grams, which is a little low when you factor in the 6 miles (approximately 296 calories for 90 minutes of walking at 4mph) BUT I’ll be honest, I was on sheer adrenaline all day and woke up STARVING today – especially since I passed on Austin’s 2 a.m. bagel bite offer. Once you factor in my alcohol I ended up at 1,888 calories, 191 carbs and 27 fat grams – not too shabby for a wonderful evening out! Here’s what I ate. K – off to make a decision on what our next move will be with this stucco house. Thanks again for being such fabulous bloggie friends!!! HAPPY SATURDAY!

Day 176: Today in a Nutshell and yes, another House Update

Ahhhh today. I woke up feeling great, and had a list of to-dos and crossed them off one by one! Yay! During lunch I walked 4 miles and planned to go back after work but lots happened… lets start at the beginning…

1. Had a small serving of honey nut cheerios/milk and got to work!
2. Had an egg/bacon/cheese muffin around 10:30.
3. Things got BUSY with work (trying to get proof to external proofer and things kept cropping up!).
4. My friend Monica (whose Bachelorette party is next weekend!) came over to scan photos for her wedding slideshow.
5. Ended up not getting to go out until after 1 p.m. for lunch - headed down for 4 miles.... BUT... I couldn't find the swipe card to get in the gym. I call Austin (he had it last night when he went down to print out the offer on yesterday's house). He has no idea where it is. I tear through the house cursing him... it's true... then finally i'm like DANG I have to drive to the other gym. I get all my stuff together and go to leave and when I open the door an envelope falls on the ground. It contains our swipe card. Austin had left it in the office. Sigh. So I walk back in and set down my purse and leave and get on the treadmill and DANG - I headphones are in my purse. ARGH. So I rigged up the treadmill and read more of my How to Be Popular book!
6. Stayed busy all afternoon. Ate Tomato Basil Pasta Bake. Ate chips ahoy thin crisps.
7. At 4:30 we get the email from Amanda: the house is now under contract - they accepted someone else's offer. Sigh. We're now 0 for 2. Ate string cheese.
8. Around 5:45 I stop working and start laundry, unload the dishwasher and start thinking.... I make a decision... let's place offers on the other two houses! Let's place a 'final offer' on the first house that turned us down and a 'first offer' on the house that we're still waiting to get the stucco report back on. Let's just throw them out there and see what happens so we'll KNOW if they should even be in our consideration set. Ate goldfish.
9. Austin comes home. He resists my plan.... then he's like eff it - let's do it. So we crunch our numbers, double-check the comparables and email Amanda the offers for both houses.... then I cooked dinner (Red Curry Chicken) and now i'm folding clothes, playing with Reuben, blogging and wondering.... will both accept? Will neither accept? Will one accept - if so, which one? Oh my... i'm going to have to let Nyquil put me to sleep tonight! Ate oreo cakesters. :)

For a quick refresher: this is the first house (back story: we saw it, liked it, but worried that the stucco was installed poorly leading to moisture in the windows. We walked away. But Amanda stayed on it and the owner is like no, it's great stucco blah blah lots of info blah blah and offers to have a treatment done on the windows to remove the moisture - says it not caused by stucco - and offers to pay for a stuco inspector... so far the windows were treated today, and the inspector is scheduled for Wednesday.... this will be our FIRST offer so we'll see - and of course if the inspection comes back and there's issues it's out).

Here is the second house (back story: we put an offer on it, the guy dropped his price some, but not enough. We put another offer on it and the guy said no... this time we're offering signifcantly more and just seeing what happens. It's our FINAL offer so he can take it or leave it).

Okay friends - I know - stop talking about houses so much! I'm sorry! It's absolutely consuming my life right now and I realize this - eek! Today I ended up at 1,655 calories, 222 carbs and 33 fat grams - not bad! Here's what I ate. Now i'm off to watch Ugly Betty and hopefully sleep soundly for this weekend!! No house hunting, but we do have a birthday party Friday night for Miss Mary - yay!! And Saturday we have a Fat Tuesday party - not sure if we'll make it but we'll see. Other than that - I think i'm going to start packing. Yes, I do. :)

Days 174 and 175: Movie Review, Product Review, House Update & Deep Thoughts on Commuting

Yesterday was a great day! I got up early (not in the best mood… cute, sweet baby Reuben didn’t sleep through the night again – so weird!), got ready and moved out! Work was busy – good busy – it’s been great lately! I was able to walk with Stacy during lunch – 3 miles – woot! The afternoon flew by and before I knew it it was time to head back to the gym for a quick 2 miles and abs then home for a quick dinner with Austin (Mustard chicken pasta!), then over to Phipps to meet my mom and sis for Shopaholic. SO FREAKING CUTE! I just love Isla Fisher – she MADE the movie. It was pretty silly, but she was so charming and endearing that I was really able to compartmentalize the over-the-topness and just enjoy it for what it was, a cute fun movie perfect to see with your closest and brighten your mood. In other words – I recommend! I got home at 9:30 or so and spent time with Reuben, watched Gilmore Girls (I’m so addicted) and read your fabulous blogs! Austin got here at 10:30 from poker and we hung out before crashing out. Forgot to add – swung into my FAVORITE store, Hue – got 4 pairs of underwear (SO CUTE) on sale and an adorable pair of tights half off!

As far as eats, I started the day with a yummy bacon/egg/cheese muffin, and a yogurt. For lunch I had the white bean chicken chili with saltines, followed by 100-calorie chips ahoy air crisps (still not as good as my Kashi cookie dang it!). Around 3 it was time for another snack – 7 triscuits and 4 little laughing cow cheese cubes – YUM! Then it got to be 4:30 and I was hungry… I was worried I would be too hungry to not eat before the gym. Enter Stacy to the rescue with pretzels!! They more than carried me over to my mustard chicken pasta dinner with Austin, and then my slimfast yummy chocolate bar during the movies. That’s all folks! I ended up at 1,714 calories, 239 carbs and 35 fat grams – not bad, especially since I was able to walk 5 miles. Here’s what I ate.

Today was a great day, too! I woke up tired (again – blah!) but ready for the day! I wore my new tights with a skirt that used to be tight and was so excited! I even busted out a pair of low heels – highest I’ve worn since all of my foot problems started in September. It wasn’t bad at all! For breakfast I had a yummy breakfast burrito (potato/egg/MS sausage) and yogurt (my new favorite thing in the world). Then I had 3 milk chocolate dove promises…. Hehe…. I wanted a treat. I had every intention of going to the gym, I even ate my pre-gym snack of RF cheez-its but alas… it was a cold one and me and the girls (Stacy & Melissa) decided to not work out but to instead go out for a nice lunch and catch up – yay! We went to Chequers seafood grills – FAB- and I got salmon, mashed potatoes and mushrooms. For some reason this time the mushrooms were floating in so much oil. I moved them out of it and kind of tapped them off before eating. I hate when restaurants do that! I also had the famous biscuit before lunch – so good and of course worth it for the great time with my great co-workers/friends. When I got back from lunch I was stuffed. Like not good stuffed – ugh! I definitely didn’t eat anymore, and definitely did go to the gym for a quick 3.5 miles after work before heading to meet Austin and Amanda at a house.



Yes…. Austin found a foreclosure today, Amanda moved on it, we set up a meeting time of 7 p.m., met there at 7 p.m., walked through it and… it’s awesome and we decided to put an offer on it. Yes, right then and there. We followed each other back home each talking to our moms, got here and made the black bean chicken tacos (I did what my notes said and only had one in the tortilla and the other in a bowl – awesome), and got on the computer. Amanda had sent the offer over! We printed it, signed it, scanned it and emailed it back. Yes – we saw it at 7 p.m. and had an offer signed sealed and delivered by 11 p.m. Now we’ll just see what happens. SO MANY things could happen. We could get in a bidding war and get priced out (foreclosures are toughies from what I understand) OR it could work out. Who knows? Lord knows we’ve done our due diligence so maybe this will work.

My hopes are not up so we’ll see, AND I’ve made a list of things I didn’t like so if it doesn’t work out I’ll have that to console me (like $5,000 a year in taxes… missing that “opportunity” won’t be sad). Anyway – crazy day/night. So glad to be back home with Reuben blogging… and eating a new yogurt (Yoplait Light Very Cherry flavor – very good, especially seeing as how the only thing cherry I’ve ever liked before is jolly ranchers)!! At the end of this hectic day I had 1,729 calories, 201 carbs and 43 fat grams. Here’s what I ate. Off to sleep now! Oh wait -one more piece of news... the highway that i'll be taking to get to the houses we're looking at is notoriously crowded (like most in ATL rush hour). I used to make this trek in 2006 when I was interning with my company. I remember the commute well... I made it 5 months before moving to Buckhead and haven't looked back at the suburbs again... Anyway, I had decided that it was okay, I was over it, I work different hours now and go the gym after, etc. - I would make it work. Well tonight I left the gym at 6:30 p.m. to the house at 7 p.m. and there was NO TRAFFIC. None. And it was RAINING. I think it was the additional lane they added... anyway - GREAT NEWS, PEEPS. Even if this house doesn't work out, it definitely made me feel better, but mostly made Austin feels better. He's well aware of how inpatient I can be and how, much as I try not to, he gets the brunt of it sometimes - eek!! How long is too long for you to commute? How long is your current commute? Happy Hump Days - visiting you all soon! :)

Day 173: New Recipe & Product Review

Yesterday I woke up tired – blah – but ready to start the work week, and still wary about the house situation. :( I made MS sausage and egg muffins and headed out to work! I had a super productive morning but had this weird twinge in my lower back. I think I slept funny? I dunno – but it felt funny and so I used it as an excuse to not go walking during lunch. Hehe Instead I headed over to Target, Wal-Mart and World Mart to look for stuff for the house. I’ve decided Target is where my guest room sheets are at, and I found a lamp I want in World Mart. I also decided that Wal-Mart just isn’t for me. It wasn’t significantly cheaper than Target but the stuff was much less nice. (I was looking at bedding and lamps). When I got back to work I ate my yummy chicken friend rice – so good on the reheat, then got back to work and stayed busy all afternoon. The day seriously flew by! Instead of going to the gym, I decided to go straight from work, to the grocery story, then home. I just didn’t have it in me. :(

The store was smooth (so empty in fact that they even unloaded my cart) and when I got home I made 4 servings of potato/egg/sausage burritos, 6 servings of egg/bacon/cheese patties, 3 servings of White Bean Chicken Chili, and peeled/cut sweet potato fries. Yay! By then Austin was home, so we made rice and heated up the new recipe - Cashew Chicken Curry, adapted from a recipe on Kitchen Parade – my favorite! It’s like a very thick curry sauce, almost like a chili… SO good and very filling. Here’s how to make it:

· 1 small onion, diced
· .5 tbsp minced garlic
· .5 tbsp ground ginger
· 1 tbsp curry powder
· ½ teaspoon cumin
· ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· ½ pound chicken breasts
· 10 ounces canned diced tomato
· 4 ounces sliced mushrooms
· .5 tbsp dried cilantro
· 1/2 cup nonfat yogurt
· 1/4 cup light coconut milk

Heat a pan on medium high. Add onion, garlic and ginger and cook until soft. Stir in the curry powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and kosher salt. Add chicken and cook it through. Add tomato, mushroom and cilantro. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in yogurt and coconut milk and heat through for 5 minutes (do not boil). Serve over white rice. It makes 2 servings, and then I put it over two servings of ¾ cup white rice. Nutritional Information (including rice): 492 calories, 4 fat grams and 75 carbs. So high on the carbs but great on fat grams! I think I’m eventually going to classify my meals as high carb vs. low carb so I can do a low carb lunch with high carb dinner or vice versa to make sure my carbs don’t get too high for a day. Just a fleeting thought! I still haven’t even had time to get my recipe book together – boo. :( This month is just flying by!!

After dinner we did some house talk and looked at some more numbers, then Austin watched some Southpark and I did biceps and shoulders with free weights in front of Secret Life of the American Teenager. Hehe Then I had some yogurt… my first time trying Yoplait Light Fat free Strawberry Shortcake… it was SO GOOD. Very creamy and addictive. I will have this one again – I can’t believe I’m becoming such a yogurt peep! In the end I had 1,565calories, 220 carbs and 27 fat grams. I felt super full – so I think that’s a success. Do I wish I’d gone to the gym? Yes – but at least I got in some ST at home – better than nothing, right?! Here’s what I ate. Hope you guys had great Mondays!

Day 171 & 172: New Recipe, House Hunting and Meal Plans

Saturday I woke up earlier than I wanted to – love Reuben but DANG! He waited for me to get up… as soon as I opened my eyes he was staring at me and his tail started thumping the bed – PLAYTIME! Haha oh well. I weighed 115 (again) - seems to be a comfortable weight. Austin heated up some potato/egg/MS sausage burritos and I played around on the Internet until it was time to shower and get ready to meet Amanda! We made sandwiches, put some clothes on Reuben and headed out. Long story short: we found ONE. Yes, only one house that worked for us. Sigh. When we finished up we called his parents to see if they wanted to come over and see it the next day, and they said the wanted to come see it and the one we had put an offer on (that fell through because the seller won’t negotiate much). So I called my mom/sis and we made plans to all meet up at the house at noon on Sunday. When we got home we were STARVING but I’ve been dying to make Chicken Enchiladas so I whipped them up… they were AMAZING! Here is the recipe adapted from Chandra.

Ingredients
4 Mission carb balance taco size tortillas
8 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped into small pieces
1 cup green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup Old El Paso enchilada sauce
2 tbsp Fat Free Sour Cream
.5 cup Fat Free Cheddar Cheese, grated
.5 cup Delmonte diced tomatoes
.75 tsp cumin
.75 tsp chili powder
.75 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Set a medium sized pan over medium heat. Spray it with PAM, and drop peppers in for 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes to peppers and stir for 2 minutes. Add chicken, cumin, chili powder and salt to pan. Stir until chicken is cooked. While chicken cooks, line a baking pan with foil, spray it with PAM and place ½ cup of enchilada sauce in bottom of pan. Once chicken is done, fill tortillas with chicken/peppers/tomato mixture, roll and place in sauce/pan. Top with the other ½ cup of enchilada sauce and cheese. Bake for 25 minutes. Nutritional Information: 486 calories, 55 carbs, 8 fat grams and 46 protein grams. Makes 2 servings. YUM!

After chowing down I took a nap... a long 2-hour nap… when I woke up we contemplated getting together with friends, but honestly the day had worn on us and we really wanted to be 100% the next day for what we hoped would be our final day of househunting and for spending time with our families. So instead, we vegged out, downloaded pics of the house, talked to our parents, shared pics, watched movies, Gilmore Girls, etc. GREAT night. We were in bed by midnight – awesome. I ended up at 1,547 calories, 206 carbs and 32 fat grams. Not bad – no cardio though – boo! Here’s what I ate.

Sunday I got up early feeling pretty great! I took my time getting up and finally made MS sausage, egg and FF cheese muffins – so good! More houses were listed and two were promising, so Austin got with Amanda and added them to the list taking it to 4 (the original one we put the offer on, the new one we found yesterday and the two brand new ones we had not seen in person). I bummed around on the internet, got ready, then made sandwiches for our voyage out. I also got Reuben ready - he LOVES house hunting and getting dressed in his little collared shirts for the occasion. My mom and sister got to our place at 11:30 and the four of us headed out to house hunt. Long story short: first house (one from yesterday) we all loved.. but we found stucco damage… which led to water moisture which was leading to wood rotting. In another words – EXPENSIVE to fix and scary to get involved with… SAD – I really did love that house… really did. Next two houses (ones we hadn’t seen) were AWFUL for different reasons. One was just filled with heinous personal choices that would have been expensive to fix, and one was a foreclosure and you guys – they took EVERYTHING that wasn’t nailed down – everything from fans and light fixtures to cabinet hardware and toilets. Crazy, crazy. So I got home, made pita pizzas and wallowed in bed, depressed because now we were down to one house – the one we made the offer on. The one with the non-motivated seller who won’t negotiate. SIGH. We have a lot to think about and I’m pretty down about it but know that it will all work out. I really do think that. Hopefully sooner rather than later. :) So around 7 I finally scraped myself out of bed to be productive. I got my work clothes/gym clothes/etc. ready for Monday, then I made a new recipe for Monday’s dinner (cashew curry chicken), chicken fried rice for Monday’s lunch, eggs for Monday’s breakfast, tomato basil pasta bake for Tuesday’s lunch, Mustard chicken pasta for Tuesday’s dinner and blackened chicken pasta for later in the week. I also got our grocery list together with Austin so I can cook everything else tomorrow night – very productive. After cooking, I got in bed and realized I never ate dinner and was HUNGRY – so I had some cereal – yum – and watched Ugly Betty online. At the end of the day I had 1,544 calories, 198 carbs and 44 fat grams – great day! Here’s what I ate.

Here is our Meal Plan for This Week

Monday: sausage/egg/cheese muffin; Chicken fried rice; cashew chicken curry (new!)
Tuesday: potato/egg/sausage burrito; tomato basil pasta bake; mustard chicken pasta
Wednesday: egg/bacon/cheese sandwich; white bean chicken chili; chicken parmesan
Thursday: potato/egg/sausage burrito; red curry chicken; black bean chicken tacos
Friday: egg/bacon/cheese muffin; ½ white bean chicken chili & ½ hot turkey and swiss sandwich; blackened chicken pasta
Saturday: eggsadilla; swiss tuna melt + chips; Spiced Yogurt Chicken Pasta
Sunday: Tomato/Feta/Onion omelet; Pizza Pitas; Sweet Potato Fries + Chicken Tenders; GO TO STORE

Yay – I’m excited about this week’s food!! I hope you all had awesome weekends! I’m worried my weekends won’t be super fun until we have this house thing over with. What a mini nightmare! :(

Day 169 & 170: Productivity, When Sweets Attack, New Club, Product Review & Pupper Reuben

Thursday was a great day as Thursdays almost always are because it’s my work from home day – woo! I got up, weighed 114, showered and felt fabulous and well-rested (yay!). I got to work and had a successful day getting things knocked off my to-do list. The sweet, sweet feeling of productivity. Awesome. During lunch I walked 4 miles, then I walked another 2 after work. I was supposed to do some strength training, but just never got around to it! So now I have lots to do Friday and Saturday – but that’s okay –just glad I got caught up on my cardio!! As far as eats, I had a morningstar sausage/egg/English muffin for breakfast, a smart ones for lunch, a sandwich/chips/granola bar for snacks then dinner was buffalo chicken sandwiches and sweet potato fries. I couldn’t eat the whole sandwich – so filling… but later I had oreo cakesters again. Then I got really hungry at like 10 and had some cheez its! Argh! Hello, Self Control, it’s me, Kelly. We used to tight. Where ARE YOU? I ended up at 1,697 calories, 222 carbs and 49 fat grams. Great day! Definitely on the high side of my new limit but I was hungry! Again with the crap. I feel a need to eat the crap in the house though, but plan to get more strategic with my snacks so I can eat healthier. I’m thinking the warmer weather would help – I so don’t crave fruit when it’s 36 degrees. :( (Excuses much?) Here’s what I ate.

Friday was a great day too! Woke up well rested again and had a successful, productive day at work. Yay! I heart feeling like a worthwhile contributor! During lunch I walked 3.5 miles (alone – boo – Stacy couldn’t make it), but I was able to get about 50 pages of How to Be Popular read- so cute so far. The afternoon kept me busy and then before I knew it it was 5 p.m. – time to hit the gym again! This time I only did another mile, taking me to 4.5 for the day, but I did legs, abs, chest and triceps afterwards – GREAT workout. At 6:45 I raced home – time to shower and get ready for dinner with friends at Brick Store in Decatur. Tyson (awesome friend from high school!) and his fiancé Meri (awesome girl from Boston) picked us up at 8 and we headed over to meet some of Meri’s friends I hadn’t met yet, but had heard lots about. They were super sweet girls and we had a great time there!! Afterwards, the 4 of us were heading back to Buckhead thinking we’d go to one of our normal spots (East Andrews, Stout, Chruchill’s, 5 Paces, Poolhall, Tin Lizzy’s, etc.) but as we were crossing over Lenox to that cluster we saw all of these peeps partying outside on this balcony then Meri, who works right there, remembered that this cool place she eats lunch at turns into a total club!

We spit a U and parked in her work parking deck (clutch!) and the 4 of us headed in to Aja. It was $10 cover, but Meri said we were “looking for our friends” and the guy let us in for free (yes – so far free parking and no cover) then we took it all in and Meri immediately found us a waitress (instead of going to the bar) we could order drinks from. Have I told you that this girl is SERIOULSY on top of her game?! Awesome. The place was most definitely out of my element but that’s what made it super fun and we had a blast! Rolled in at 2, passed out by 2:30 – good to go! (BTW - took that photo at the club!)

As far as eats, I started out yesterday with a MS sausage/egg/potato burrito and a yogurt, followed by a new contraption I’ll call Chinese Chicken and Broccoli – basically I made .75 cups rice, 4 oz. chicken and 1 cup broccoli. I cooked the chicken in garlic salt and used two tbsp of Kikkoman Stirfry Sauce (LOVE IT), and added a little salt and soy sauce for effect. Yum, yum! After lunch I had M&Ms (I know – I have no self control) and a chocolate chip cookie (the break room was LOADED with treats… I couldn’t resist)… after work/work out I had pita pizzas… so not bad… but then I went out… 2 SF red bulls, vodka, flavored vodka, a glass of wine and a beer and a few swigs of Austin’s… and hummus/pita… there’s another 500 – DANG! I ended up at 2,127 calories, 256 carbs and 46 fat grams – clearly out-of-bounds! Haha That’s what high days are for though and I had a great time with great friends. The end! Here’s what I ate.

So I’m laying in bed with Reuben, just finished another fabulous MS sausage, egg and potato breakfast wrap and have ALREADY had a sweet treat – quaker’s 100 calorie peanut butter granola bar. Sigh. I’m serious: which one of you used to have an intense craving for sweets after each meal, only to find one day you woke up and it was gone? Don’t be alarmed: I have possession of it now and will gladly return it upon request… K – off to get ready for, you guessed it, another day of house hunting. Wish me luck (assuming you’re not tired of doing that) – hopefully I’ll have fabulous news to report tomorrow. Or I’ll have a pile of ash that used to be a pool table. We’ll see! Oh and BTW – I’m SO SORE. My chest/triceps are on fire… like I’m not going to be able to hold pupper today!! Speaking of pupper, here is what he's doing RIGHT NOW. :)

Reuben Sleeping

Reuben when he wakes up (is woken up) from Sleeping and his beard is all squished hehe... don't tell him I posted this...

Hope you're all having fabulous weekends!! Talk to you tomorrow!

Spring Shopping Beckons...

So the amazing prettyface tagged me and now I must share my spring palette per "What's on Your Spring Pallette?"! Since I firmly decided to give all.... most... of my money to the house, home décor, etc., this was hard for me! So I decided to only include items on-the-cheap, or items from stores that are notorious for sales (love a loop-hole), or Macy’s, the mother ship who sends me coupons upon coupons. I’m talking – “come in and spend $50 and we’ll give you $30” and scratch off mystery money. Holds the keys to my heart. Anyway, proceeding now…


As always, click to make larger!

Odd color choices, no? I just kept pulling and found myself going from a peasant/white/orange/burlap feel with distressed jeans, to a royal blue, gray, black feel. I think it kind of flows over from casual/day to out/at night. This stuff was pretty cheap too! From top left clockwise:

• Rust Forever 21 Dress $20
• Patterned Urban Outfitters Dress $88
• Black Urban Outfitters Peep Toes $88
• Solid Forever 21 orange shirt $5
• Color Block Forever 21 Dress $23
• Black Forever 21 Shirt $25
• Gray Forever 21 Twill pants $20
• Royal Forever 21 tiered top $13
• Color Block Urban Outfitters Dress $88 (center, right)
• Black Urban Outfitters Sandals $28
• Distressed Forever 21 Jeans $28
• Blue spaghetti strap pocket Forever 21 shirt $10
• Gray Forever 21 dress $30
• Rust Forever 21 Jacket $16
• Brown Urban outfitters gladiators $50
• White Forever 21 babydoll dress $20

I LOVE color block and these colors are really speaking to me! Yay - thanks for helping me get a headstart on spring fashion, prettyface!

I now tag:

Becoming
Dailygoods
Neesha
Inmytummy

Have fun!

Day 168: Updated Measurements, Product Review & House Hunting Update

Thank you guys so much for your thoughts and advice on my decision to up my calories. I REALLY appreciate it and feel so much better about moving forward having that in my back pocket!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

So believe it or not, yesterday I finally got around to measuring! Here is the chart. Not much has changed so that’s good – I heart maintaining. And honestly, I’m fine with these measurements, I just want to tone up a bit more. And I wouldn’t cry if my thigh measurement went down (or my bust measurement went up hehe). Click to make larger!



I started yesterday at 114.5, and a sausage/egg/potato burrito – YUM! I coupled that with dannon fat-free strawberry yogurt. Glorious! For lunch I had a hot turkey/roast beef/swiss sandwich, kettle chips and a mini snickers. For dinner I had FABULOUS chicken fajitas, yum, yum, yum. So this is all fine and good, but I had some other snacks woven in – 2 fun size m&m packs…. Wheat thins/4 laughing cow cubes… and a new product that I’m a fan of: Oreo Cakes! Sound kinda gross, no? Well I went to get my Kashi cookies because Austin “couldn’t find them” when he went to the store. I love him, but thought it was his error, not Kroger’s. So I went and this time they didn’t have them, but they DID have a sign saying they were recalled. What?! OMG! So I grabbed these new snacks to attempt to replace my favorite Kashi oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They pale in comparison, but are STILL a fabulous yummy sweet treat that I enjoyed, especially because there were three so I really felt like I was getting a big treat!

As far as exercise, me and Stacy got in 3.5 miles at lunch (despite the NASTY Atlanta weather yesterday), then I went back and did 2 miles and abs. I had every intention of doing my chest/tricep dumbbells at home, but it didn’t happen. Instead, Austin went to poker and I got in bed and watched Biggest Loser Couples while reading blogs. Lovely! I ended up at 1,666 calories, 222 carbs and 54 fat grams – not bad, but not the best, again those crap snacks added up and got me! Here’s what I ate.

Oh – quick house update: we’re seeing 12 houses with Amanda on Saturday at noon. Wish us luck!! Cross your fingers for an extra 14’x18’ room on the main for the pool table! Hehe And here is an updated board I’ve been working on for one of the guest rooms – it’s REALLY coming together – I’m so excited! Hope you all had great Hump Days - ttyt!! Click to make larger!

Day 166 & 167: I’ve Been Married for a Year, Book Review and Calorie Change-Up

So yesterday’s post was just filled with eeks because I’m off my blogging game! (eek!) haha Anyway, I forgot to measure (again) but am going to try to do it tomorrow morning. I will say that I weighed 116 today (eek!) which means that my ramen + pizza-packed weekend with no cardio + TOM is ‘weighing’ on me. Oh well – I was able to squeeze out 5 miles yesterday after work and since Austin knew I wasn’t feeling well we didn’t go out to eat and instead ate spiced yogurt chicken at home. Love him. I realize this probably wasn’t the way you’re “supposed” to spend your first anniversary but you know what I got to thinking, we enjoyed ourselves, we have many more to come and we’re going to try to do a nice dinner Friday. That’s how we roll when our anniversary falls on a Monday during house hunting hell! Haha So on Monday I ended up at 1,782 calories, 239 carbs and 47 fat grams – high…. Again! That’s like every day this month! (although this day had 548 calories of crap snacks… man they add up). Here’s what I ate.

So I forgot to tell you – I finished A Body to Die For – SO good. I just love those Kate White books. I describe them as cute murder mysteries. I love the main character and this one, to me, had lots of twists and turns making it super fun to follow her as she tried to figure out whodoneit. Props, props! Tomorrow I’m going to start Meg Cabot’s How to be Popular. Her books make me smile. My mom actually just finished reading Meg’s Avalon High that I read last month and she liked it too, such a cute fun read! Anyway – great book peeps!

So today I had a ‘working lunch’ – BOO. I didn’t get to eat my sweet & sour chicken yesterday but I decided to eat it during the lunch instead of rising roll chicken salad – good decision. However, I ate the mini snickers, andes mint AND chocolate chip cookie that came with the Rising Roll. Dang! Which one of you stole my willpower? Top that with a snack this morning, a snack this afternoon, greek feta chicken for dinner and a sweet treat after that and I ended up with 1,641 calories, 240 carbs and 35 fat grams. I DID go with Stacy after work and walk for 4 miles. And you should know executive decision: I’ve decided to up my calories. In all honesty – I’ve been at 1,250 – 1,550 calories since I started. And I’ve typically been at the high end (1,450 – 1,550). I’ve decided to make my limit 1,450 to 1,700 IF I do cardio. If I don’t do cardio, I’ll stay between 1,250 to 1,550. What do you think? Smart? Or am I getting lazy? Seriously – I won’t be offended! :) Anyway, here’s what I ate today. Help me find my willpower! Did stress take it? Or lack of sleep? Or TOM or all 3? Frown. Off to watch Secret Life of an American Teenager on Tivo...

Days 163, 164, and 165: Awesome Weekend doing Exactly What I Wanted

Friday was pretty blah at work – I was just SO TIRED. I did walk during lunch which was great and towards the end of work I was feeling energized! Me and Stacy got to talking and decided to do drinks/games that night – gotta love impromptu gatherings! I left work and raced to the gym, then home to get ready, eat dinner and get in a few pool games with Austin. Stacy and her BF Shane came over and we had SO much fun! Just played games and talked, talked talked – they didn’t leave until 3 a.m. but time flew by – awesome! I did drink a lot though… and I ate saltines! Lots! During games. Hehe I ended up at 2,002 calories (eek!), 39 fat grams and 195 carbs. Here’s what I ate.

Saturday I couldn’t sleep. I woke up SO EARLY with cramps then couldn’t get back to sleep. Argh. Stupid TOM. Aside from pain, I woke up with a MAJOR house bug and spent almost the whole day working on room-by-room inspiration boards, searching my favorite store’s sites for deals and searching décor and renovation blogs – awesome day you guys. Austin played xBox – we SO needed the rest/chill/do nothing day and we got it. It was a weird eating day though between TOM and just being tired. I had yogurt and a tomato/feta/onion omelet… then sandwich/chips…. Then cereal… then a kashi cookie… then ramen noodles (hehe)… then another snack. It was like the day ‘o carbs. I ended up at 1,529 calories, 197 carbs and 50 fat grams. Not awful – but not good either – eek! Here’s what I ate.

Sunday I woke up feeling better and ready to go house hunting! But it was 8 a.m. so I instead walked over to the kitchen and started cooking! I first made Austin’s coffee eggsadillas for breakfast – YUM! Then I prepped lunch (baked potatoes & chili) and made buffalo chicken sandwiches, sweet potato fries, 4 bacon/egg/cheese mixtures for wraps, sweet & sour chicken for Monday’s lunch, prepped for chicken fajitas, made greek feta chicken, spiced yogurt chicken and that was it for me for now – needed more ingredients! After cooking, we showered and got to work on collaborating and organizing all of the houses we had each found. In the end, we had found 23 houses we were interested in. Instead of meeting with Amanda and going to each one, we instead mapped the route and rode it out so we could ditch some based on location, neighborhood, etc. Although the prep work SUCKED, we were glad we did it and were able to visit all 23 houses (and even two open houses) in 3 hours. Woo! In the end we found 8 houses we would like to go see with Amanda and 10 neighborhoods we like! That’s what I like to call progress – yay! However, around house #10 I started feeling awful – my TOM was killing me and my cold/throat thing was back and it was like BOOM – awful cramping/headache/achy/tired/etc. Instead of going home to the dinner I prepared, I told Austin my TOM wanted pizza and it wanted it NOW. We called ahead to our old favorite place (that I haven’t eaten at since I started the blog – OMG) and I got a slice of cheese and a slice of mushroom. I got home, got in PJs and ate in front of a movie. Then I started organizing all of the house stuff (into sections – house we like/don’t like; neighborhoods we like/don’t like) and felt bad again. I finished up, crawled in bed and passed out. Blah – why can’t I get over this weird sickness?! TOM isn’t helping but STILL, I shouldn’t feel this bad! Needless to say, the gym didn’t happen. Sad. In the end I had 1,517 calories, 210 carbs and 46 fat grams. I had to TOTALLY guess on the pizza – it was thin crust 12” but I didn’t know so I overestimated and said I had 3.25 slices (hehe) instead of 2 (what I had). We’ll see. In retrospect I should have weighed it… oh well – just wasn’t feeling it. shocked I still came in under but I guess that was my only falter and I didn’t have much else! Here’s what I ate.

Today is my one-year anniversary – WOO! One year – wow. It’s just so weird how sometimes it seems like it’s been many years and sometimes it seems like I got married a couple of months ago! Anyway, I also realized that it’s past the 15th and I forgot to measure – eek – I’ll do that for tomorrow’s post! I hope you guys had great weekends and great Valentine’s Days!! Talk to you tomorrow!

P.S. Sorry no pictures! Eek! I've got to start updating more regularly so these posts aren't so lengthy and overwhelming! :) Forgive me! hehe

Happy Valentine's Day!

hehe I love someecards! Hope you all have fabulous days!

Day 161 & 162: Sick again (or still), Catching up on Cardio & a New Recipe

Before I get into this semi-depressing post I want to THANK YOU all for you support with this disaster that has become my house hunting experience. BLAH. I really do appreciate it though and hopefully the next one will be the one for us... (hint: we didn't get it - BOO for loser sellers)... on to regular programming!

So yesterday was BLAH. I had to leave early to go get my computer and it’s fixed – kind of…. I headed from DSG (desktop support group) to training and was in there until 11:30 when she gave us an hour and 15 minute lunch. I raced up 400 to the house we’re looking at to meet Austin, his mom and Amanda. We saw the house again – but then I had to leave and go back to training. Sigh. Training was good, really, but I was so preoccupied you know? Austin placed the offer that afternoon, and after work I headed over to sign it, then he drove over to pay the earnest money. That was it. As of 5:30 p.m. we had made an offer on a home. We were EXHAUSTED and I was feeling sick again (same crud in my throat again – blah). Austin’s mom came over and we all sat and talked and hung out, then she wanted to take us to dinner so we went to Lobster Bar. The salads hadn’t even come yet (around 8) when our agent called to tell us that the seller is not motivated after all and basically wasn’t even willing to counter our offer on paper. He did verbally counter, but no where near where we’re willing to pay (or what the house is worth in our opinion – especially in this economy). So… we decided to walk away. We ate dinner but I was just so sick and so tired and so disappointed that when we got home I just showered, took my cough syrup and passed out… SAD. On top of it all I went over – 1,634 calories, 192 carbs and 40 fat grams. Blah. With no gym. Big boo on today all around. Here’s what I ate.

I woke up today feeling much more well-rested and just better – what an up and down week – geez! Me and Austin also talked about maybe putting in another offer – and decided what it would be if we did. Austin headed to work and I got to work here at home with Reuben. I stayed busy all day – but did have a few construction interruptions. Boo. For Breakfast I had honey nut cheerios/yogurt, then a buffalo kettle chips snack – yum! I went down for 4 miles during lunch – yay! And when I got back Austin let me know he put in another counter offer… we’ll see. After lunch I went into the fridge for a sandwich and saw leftover pizza… Austin’s mom had brought up her California Pizza Kitchen. Man! Just a couple slices… but I ate ‘em! I worked through the afternoon then headed to the gym for shoulders, biceps and abs… but had the energy so I did 3 more miles – yay! Seven miles today worked up a hunger though – so I raced home, showered and made a new recipe – Kitchen Parade’s Mustard Chicken. Here is the recipe for 2 servings:

2 4 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt & pepper
1 cup Sliced mushrooms
6 oz. barilla angel hair noodles
2 tsp olive oil
Sauce: 1/8 cup swanson fat-free chicken broth, 1/8 cup fat-free sour cream, 1 tbsp fat-free honey mustard sauce

Set a pot of water to boil. Spray pan set to medium with PAM and drop in 1 tsp olive oil. Between two sheets of waxed paper, pound the chicken breasts with a rolling pin until about a half-inch thick. Season one side with salt and pepper, transfer to the skillet seasoned-side down (the meat should sizzle), then season the top side. Put noodles in water for 4-5 minutes. Cook chicken for 4 minutes on one side, then 3 – 4 minutes on the other side. Transfer to warm plates and cover with foil. Add mushrooms to skillet, stir 1 – 2 minutes until warm. Add sauce over mushrooms and stir for 1-2 minutes while it slightly thickens. Place noodles on plate, and pour sauce/mushrooms over chicken. Done!

We really liked it! It’s a little on the high size though - 503 calories, 71 carbs, 8 fat grams and 39 grams of protein. However, next time I will use less noodles (5 oz. total) but double the sauce (1/4 cup chicken broth, ¼ cup sour cream, 2 tbsp honey mustard). I think that will make it even better. So here is the modified ingredient list:

2 4 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt & pepper
1 cup Sliced mushrooms
5 oz. barilla angel hair noodles
2 tsp olive oil
Sauce: ¼ cup swanson fat-free chicken broth, ¼ cup fat-free sour cream, 2 tbsp fat-free honey mustard sauce

That’s it! :) We REALLY liked it – but we’re mushroom lovers! Hope you guys try it/like it as much as us! Of course, I followed the meal with a Kashi cookie – I’m so addicted. Now I’m DONE – just going to make buffalo chicken sandwiches for tomorrow’s dinner – yum! And it’s 9 p.m. and our realtor hasn’t heard from the listing agent – blah. I truly don’t think he’ll come down at all – loser. I wish he just hadn’t listed his house! Dang! Anyway – I’m going to bed now – but I’m going to read your blogs first!! I hope you’re all having great weeks and are super excited about your weekends! I can’t WAIT! At the end of the day I had 1,687 calories, 227 carbs and 46 fat grams. So I guess it was a high day – but I needed the food to fuel my 7 miles! I’m okay with it being a little high! Here’s what I ate. One less snack (i.e. kashi cookie) and I would have been good – eek!

P.S. I'm happy to report that throughout this all I have not gained weight - YAY- was 114 today!
P.S. S. As I was posting this our realtor called – the guy won’t even counter. He’s holding on his stupidly high offer and so we’re walking. Back to the drawing board girls. Have I told you how glad I’ll be when I’m settled in a house and this is over? OMG But... whatever... here is a sweet pic of pupper I just took with my phone!

Days 159 & 160: Ill, Healed & Ready to be a Home Owner

Yesterday I woke up feeling AWFUL. I was exhausted, worn down and my throat hurt so bad it was awful. Like – my FACE hurt. I was slow going and didn’t even bother with make up – knew I’d have to rub my eyes. I took some Sudafed and sprayed some rhinocourt and headed out with cough drops and throat spray. I got in and had SO much to do which sucked since I felt so bad. Instead of working out during lunch, I took it easy and just headed to the mall. Time to get new pants- can’t put it off anymore. I got some cheap jeans, two pairs of dress pants and a shirt at Forever 21. Awesome to get all of that for $83! (and a free nail polish for spending more than $50…choices were hot pink or lavender… I chose lavender… hehe) If I maintain this size (which of course I hope to do) I’ll splurge and get some Ann Taylor slacks but in the meantime, this will work! I got back to work and stayed busy, then headed straight home at 5 p.m. I haven’t gone straight home on a Monday in so long I couldn’t remember. I got home by 5:30, changed into PJs and got in bed. OMG so glad to be back. Austin came home and made Greek Feta Chicken and brought it to me in bed. Around 8 he headed out to poker, and I got my second wind and made white bean chicken chili, egg/bacon/cheese muffins, the mix for a new recipe – mustard chicken, and sweet & sour chicken. At 9:30 I could do no more, got in bed and watched Secret Life of the American Teenager. Barely made it through…. Went to bed in a hydrocodine cough syrup blur…In the end I had 1,518 calories, 224 carbs and 22 fat grams. Here’s what I ate.

Today I woke up feeling SO much better – more well rested and my throat hurt less. We had a great morning and took off with our breakfasts, snacks and lunches in tow – and with Reuben! He was off to a day at the groomer! I got in and got work done – although my computer dock was STILL broken so I was on the laptop again. Blah. I powered through the morning then me and Stacy headed over to the gym for four miles – great workout! She also gave me lots of invaluable information on getting her floor tiled – VERY helpful!! (we want to have the kitchen/mud room retiled at some point… assuming we get the house). Anyway – great workout and then back to work! I stayed busy all afternoon until 4:30 when my keyboard stopped working. Like – if I pressed f it showed up as RXL. It was crazy. I called desktop support and dropped the computer off with them, raced over to the vet and then over to meet Amanda. We had a GREAT meeting with her, going over the contract, signing the brokerage agreement, etc. We feel SO GOOD about placing the offer tomorrow and are excited to move forward – yay! We got home, cooked shrimp scampi, started laundry and got everything ready for tomorrow. Now I’m updating the blog (on Austin’s computer) and he’s going over the contract one final time before we send it to his parents for review and then sign it tomorrow! So while I’m still kind of exhausted I’m SO EXCITED about the house stuff. In the end, I had 1,540 calories, 222 carbs and 28 fat grams – good day! Especially with the 4 miles factored in! Here’s what I ate.

Hope you all had great Tuesdays – I can’t believe it’s only Tuesday – wow! Tomorrow morning I have to be at my training class at 8:30 a.m. in a different building – but I have to get my computer at 8 a.m. first – blah. So I need to leave here pretty early to be on time. Austin’s mom is coming over to see the house during lunch (but I can’t go because of the class) but we’ll likely go out to eat with her for dinner – I’m not sure though. Either way – I probably won’t get online tomorrow until late, if at all, but hopefully I’ll come back with good news and MAJOR house updates since Amanda thinks we should get a counter back pretty quick – WOW! Anyway – I’m out – “see” you all tomorrow or Thursday.

Days 155, 156, 157 & 158: Hectic Weekend, Major House News & More Progress Pics

WOW girls – I’ve been BUSY! Let’s backtrack!!

Thursday: Ah. My work from home day – always a good day! I got up and got TONS done – had weird eating habits though. Like didn’t get hungry until later in the day, and just kind of ate weird stuff all day. I did go down and walk 4 miles at lunch – so that was good. I ended up getting super motivated around 8 and got more work done, did laundry and cooked a bunch! Great, productive day. I had 1,517 calories, 39 fat grams and 211 carbs. So not bad in numbers… but I ate crap! Lots of it! Here’s what I ate.

Friday: Work was pretty hectic but I was SO GLAD it was Friday! I worked hard, walked 4 miles at lunch with Stacy and then headed to the gym after work for another 1.5 miles, back, biceps and abs. Great workout! I got home in a fabulous mood with lots of energy. Austin was in a great mood too so we showered, ate pita pizzas and called Scott and Mary. They were going out – yay! So we headed over to their place for card games and a fun, bar night. I think me and Mary sang and danced to every song they played – good times! Awesome alcoholic times tend to lead to high calories though - I had 1,967 calories, 181 carbs and 40 fat grams. Eek – high day! But with my 5.5 miles factored in it’s not too bad, right?! Here’s what I ate.

Saturday: After progress pictures (and on very little sleep) we headed over to Amanda’s at 10 a.m. with Reuben in tow! When we got there she was still printing out some stuff so we played with the helium tank. I almost passed out. Good times. The house hunting commenced – long story short: We saw lots of houses. I liked one. I loved another. The rest weren’t for us. We got home and were just so wired about that house. Like OMG – what should we offer? What should we do? Amanda called after having talked to the seller’s agent and it looked promising that he was motivated. OMG yay! We decided that the one we loved needed to be seen again, along with the old one we liked, so we scheduled a visit with Amanda for Sunday at 4 p.m. So we cleaned up some, showered and then had our buddies Andy & Mon over for game night/drinking/catching up. We had a BLAST! Time flew by and before we knew it I was about to pass out at 3 – eek! Good times with great friends though – can’t beat it. I ended up at 1,853 calories, 201 carbs and 29 fat grams. Not bad! I went over from drinking again – imagine that! Here’s what I ate. Oh here's some pics! Most of my jeans are too big - boo - I cringe when I think of the $ spent on AGs, Rock & Republics, People's Liberation, Hudson's, etc. What are you going to do though? I'm going to try eBay! :)

More comparison pics...

Sunday: Today was CRAZY! I got up at 9 a.m. for no reason which left me with 6 hours of sleep – DANG! I was just so nervous and excited about the houses that I couldn’t STAND it! So I cooked a few different recipes, made Austin’s coffee and made our breakfast. I had to be at Pottery Barn at 11 a.m. for the class with mom and sister so before I knew it it was time to go! I raced across the street to the mall and found out that the class was at 10 a.m. not 11 a.m. What? The invite said 11 a.m. The girl who ‘took my reservation’ told me 11 a.m. Sigh. Uncool. We decided to stay and shop around and found great deals! I mean – WOW deals – I got three huge frames (each for $8), 3 probably 16” rectangular vases (each for $3 – I’m not kidding), a linen/burlap runner with trim for $8, bags of natural pinecones (each for $3) and all kinds of stuff – AWESOME! Mom and Sis are awesome – I saved so much $ it’s not even funny! After PB Sis had to run to meet her husband for a photography session so me and mom ran to my place, unloaded the car, I cooked lime chicken, made my grocery list and we headed out to Target (bought nothing), Pier 1 (bought one lamp) and Marshall’s (bought 1 picture frame). Then Sis was dropped off with us and we picked up Austin and headed up to Ballard Designs before meeting Amanda, and Austin’s aunt and uncle at House #2. Everyone loved house #2 and we did a great assessment. Then we headed to house #1 and no one liked it nearly as much as house #2 (or at all, really) and so we went back to house #2 to look again, make final notes, and discuss next steps. We left there around 6 and went straight to Kroger… then Trader Joe’s… then cooked pita pizzas while unloading the groceries. After dinner we got together the final house stuff (stipulations, notes on disclosure, etc.) and are now in bed like WHOA – where did our weekend go? I’m so very excited and hope that we hear from our lender ASAP and are able to put an offer down tomorrow…. WOW. I could be out of here next month – amazing. Anywho – off to bed now! Today I ended up at 1,288 calories, 161 carbs and 32 fat grams – think it was on the low side since I was high the other two days. And I just wasn’t hungry – ran on adrenaline all day!! Here’s what I ate.

Can't wait to go read your blogs! I hope you all had great weekends! :)

Update on Progress Pics!

Sorry, friends. I've been a bad, bad blogger! Just busy, busy over here (aren't we all?) Anyway, all excuses aside, I DO need to write Thursday's and Friday's update... but in the meantime I need to meet our realtor in about 20 minutes. So...me and my Red Bull/Vodka hangover got up early today to take progress pictures to make up for the fact that i've been MIA! hehe I don't have time to post them all - but here is a preview - and i'll update EVERYTHING later! Please note - these are me as of 2/7 at 114.5. Hope you're all having fabulous weekends! Off to house hunt- wish me luck!!




I can't tell a HUGE difference, but really - we're talking August, to December to February (today!). I can tell more in some i'll post when I return. :)

Day 153 & 154: New Recipe, House Update and Food Pics

So yesterday’s after work work-out went well! I walked 2 miles, did abs and legs and went back for my last half mile to get to my 5.5 but there was a line 10 deep. BOO – I left. :( When I got home we had chicken parmesan for dinner and then settled in for a yummy dinner and some 30 Rock. After dinner I got online and saw that we had gotten a quote from the contractor. Basically, long story short, it was going to be $14,000 in basement renovations to fit the pool table and get it up to par. At the end of the day, we just simply cannot justify spending $14,000 out of pocket to fit a pool table. So we had a long…. LONG… talk and have decided after much deliberation to put this house in a bubble and let it go. I passed out – EXHAUSTED after all the back and forth and slept GREAT! I ended up at 1,536 calories, 217 carbs and 28 fat grams. Here’s what I ate.

Today I woke up feeling fabulous about our decision and ready to get to work, get on the day and get back to Amanda (realtor). I also decided today would be the day to start taking pictures of what I eat. I’ve tried before and am seriously impressed with all of you girls who do it each day – it’s so much responsibility!! Really – I always forget. So for breakfast I had a potato egg Morningstar sausage burrito. Then I called Amanda and discussed our decision and of course she understood and we came up with a new plan: she’s going to send us more listings, we’re going to narrow them down, and she’s going to call the listing agents to see if there is a 14’x18’ room to fit the pool table. If so – is there another room comparable in size for the den? If so – we go look at it. If not, it’s not for us. Hopefully this will work – I’m so excited!

I stayed busy all after and did have a granola bar around 11 then it was time for lunch and even though I brought chili I TOTALLY forgot we had a working lunch catered by Boneheads. Clearly, I couldn’t take pics of what I ate, but I had a small serving of rice, a shrimp/salmon skewer, two chicken skewers (they were TINY), a few spoonfuls of salad and a plastic spoonful of sauce (less than a tbsp I think). I found the calorie information for most of it on Daily Plate – then I just overestimated a bit on the rice and guessed on the chicken (probably high though – I mean these skewers were little guys!)

Anyway – it worked out – but no pic! At the very end of the meeting I couldn’t help it – I had an oatmeal/raisin cookie – yum!! When I got back to my desk I stayed busy all afternoon – and had 4 hershey’s kisses. Hehe I can’t wait until the girl who just moved in next to me runs out of chocolate – eek! Since the meeting was during lunch I couldn’t do cardio – but I did head to the gym and knock out 4 miles of cardio, then raced home for Pepperoni Pita Pizzas with Austin. These were amazing. I know I say that a lot, but I made these last night and put them in the fridge and they just congealed so well with the olive oil and sauce that they REALLY tasted like pizza!! Here’s how we made them:

3 Trader Joe’s white pitas (small)
6 tbsp Muir Glen tomato sauce
45 g of fat-free shredded mozzarella cheese
45 g of fat-free feta cheese, chopped
24 turkey pepperonis, chopped
3 tsp olive oil
Garlic Salt and Red Pepper Flakes to Taste.
*Each serving is 1.5 pitas so for two people, make three pitas

Spray PAM in a deep baking pan, and place three pitas in it. Coat each pita with 1 tsp olive oil. Then cover each with 2 tbsp tomato sauce, red pepper flakes and garlic salt, 15 grams of mozzarella, 15 grams of feta and 8 chopped up pieces of pepperoni. Cover with foil and put in refrigerator overnight. When you’re ready to eat, set the oven to broil and remove the pan from the refrigerator. After 10 minutes, remove the foil and place the pan in the oven for 7 minutes. Cut and serve! Each serving (1.5 pitas) had 384 calories, 45 carbs and 10 fat grams. If you want to cut calories/carbs – I’d take the olive oil back to .5 or .75 tsp on each pita. I wouldn’t reduce the cheese or pepperonis! Click on pic to make it larger!

During dinner we watched a 30 Rock then Austin headed out to poker leaving me to chill with Reuben baby and watch 90210, Secret Life of the American Teenager and Lost! I’ve just been bumming around, cooking a few meals for later in the week, dustbusting Reuben’s litter (he loves to play with it, i.e. getting it all over the floor), and reading your blogs! I did have another snack – Kettle chips – yum! I had a lot of crap snacks today – eek! At the end of the day I was VERY close to my ceiling – at 1,547 calories, 179 carbs and 52 fat grams. Here’s what I ate. K - i'm going to finish reading your blogs and pass out - i'm SO TIRED. Blah. Hope you all had happy Hump Days!

My Wedding... in a Nutshell

So, my first anniversary is coming up quick (February 16... still can't believe it even though I talked about it YESTERDAY). We had every intention to go to Mexico and had it all worked out, but there was a work event I couldn’t miss so we had to forgo the trip. Then house stuff sprung up, and now here we are, less than 2 weeks out, and we’re like “I love you but I’d rather put that 3 G’s toward the house instead of the anniversary.” I myself am more than okay with this and figure we can go back our regular plan of skiing in December and our new plan of going “somewhere tropical” every February starting in 2010 when we’re all settled and cozy in our house and aren’t worrying about it in the back of our minds. That being said, we’re thinking we’ll just go out to a nice dinner to celebrate the first one, and let our house be our anniversary gift to each other. Damn good gift if you ask me! So, in celebration of my pending anniversary with Austin (who it must be said I’ve been dating since we met on the stairs at our apartment complex at Auburn University in September 2001 when we were 19 and 21... we're now 26 & 28...), I’ve decided to post some of my FAVORITE pics from my wedding day, taken by my awesome and talented brother-in-law/photographer Zach Porter. Hope you enjoy! We just LOVED it… all of it was amazing.

Sigh. Loved our wedding... hope you enjoyed it in a nutshell. :) And i'm sorry if you're thinking I suck at picking my "favorites." hehe I swear I narrowd it down from a million! Here's Zach's site if you want to see more of his stuff - I just love it.

I'll be back to my regular programming tomorrow with today's food, etc. Hope you all have great Wednesdays!!