Great Day- Listening to Music

As I sit here, I am unwinding and listening to music after a long, busy, fun, Easter day. The house is quiet minus me and my headphones on my head listening to music so I don't wake Marty sleeping in the other room.  Music soothes and  calms me.  I am sitting here listening to one of my favorite songs from Paramore.  I really enjoyed seeing them in concert last summer and looking forward to when they tour again. I disregard all the rumors about the Farro brothers leaving and what was said negatively about the lead singer Hayley and I honestly just enjoy the music and I love her voice...period.  I am anxious to hear the new material with Hayley, Taylor, and Jeremy and see how things/sound will change.  But I am sitting here listening to an oldie but goodie and this band will always be one of my favorites.

Two shots from last years show at the Delaware State Fair 2010.

Hope all my friends/family had a great holiday weekend and yay Spring is finally here.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous today...around 80 degrees and it was nice to be able to finally wear my dress and for Easter!

Goodnight all....till another entry.

Happy Easter Weekend

As I sit here writing this tonight and still have to go to work on Good Friday, I hope all my friends and family have a fun and safe holiday weekend.

I am looking forward to a great weekend with family and getting to eat some good food on Sunday all thanks to my sister for her cooking...also first official holiday feast since I didn't have to be Gluten Free anymore.  That is such a relief!  I can enjoy the meal and others do not have to worry about what I can and can't eat.  I was told last month I didn't have to eat that way anymore from my GI doctor because we were testing a theory however, that failed so back to normal eating...yay! I am also excited to see family kids...maybe twins girls that are granddaughters of a close family friend and I get to definitely see my niece...that's always a blast and she just turned 4.  We are celebrating her birthday when we get together this weekend.

Well till another time......

Talent and Remembering

So as all my friends know I sing, have sang since I was young, would sing with a hairbrush in my hand in front of mirrors. I was always chosen when I was little to have solo's in church productions and always thought "why me?".  I guess the adults like what they heard.  I enjoy singing, I loved choir when I was in middle school to high school, auditioned for All State Choir my senior year and got accepted.

After high school graduation,   I traveled to Europe for three weeks with the American Music Abroad all thanks to my high school choir director who nominated those from All State Choir.  My parents and I saw this as a golden opportunity and didn't pass it up.  It was my graduation present from my family.  Best experience of my young life, be with other people who shared my passion of music, rehearsals, sing all genre's of songs, and the best part, to view the sights of Europe while singing.  The tour started in Germany, then got to stay in Holland for four days with a host family.  I loved Holland, it was beautiful, the family was so nice, and the windmills were amazing! Some of the major places were France, Switzerland (absolutely gorgeous room we had with the Alps in the background, I will never forget that place and for it's chocolate!!), and Austria (Home of The Sound of Music).  It was an amazing trip, one I never forget to this day nineteen years later.  We toured for three weeks.  I am still keep in touch with my roommate Jen who was on the tour and from my high school, we were the only two that went so we roomed together and someone I met on the trip Brian, who is living an amazing career doing what he loves, music.  We stay in touch via Facebook and it is so nice.  Now that this has triggered me pulling out the scrapbook I started with the photos and have yet to finish.  ( I so need to finish).  I also found room lists.  Maybe I will see if I can find some other old friends.  I posted some pictures below of the trip from 1992 and some views.  Again, what a fun, amazing, musical, time!

 Eiffel Tower, view as I walked towards it.  We got to climb as far up as we could because we didn't know the top of the Tower was shut down for Bastille Day.  A French holiday on the 14th of July where they shoot off Fireworks from the Tower.  It was nice to view that as an added bonus that night, but some of my tour friends got hit with fireworks, because a lot of locals were firing their own down on the grounds as we were leaving...not very safe...we walked fast to get out of there...overall though a very nice visit and I can say I have been to the Eiffel Tower in my lifetime.

Beautiful Fountain in the center square of Salzburg, Austria.  This city is Mozart's birthplace as well as where the Sound of Music is shot.  I believe in the Sound of Music you can see this fountain in the film.

Friends I made on the trip that I hung around with the most.  The guy center in the lime jacket is Brian who I still talk to and to his right in the red with the red headband is my roommate on the trip, Jen.

This is the whole gang I hung out with sitting down to eat lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in Paris, France.  Can you find me?  LOL  I am on the right front and center in the blue and white shirt.

A picture that I took, this is not a postcard.  We were standing on the street and this was the view looking up at Mad Ludwigs Castle in Neuschwanstein, Germany.  We got to tour inside however because of all the murals on his walls there are no camera's allowed.  Many people travel to this destination to see his castle. More information on him: http://www.german-way.com/ludwig.html

 This is another group of friends I hung out with as well.  We were enjoying a break in the mountains of Austria.

Finally, some pictures I took of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.  Forgive me as they are old, but I took a shot of the front of the Cathedral and the Altar inside.  Camera's were discouraged and I could only get a shot of the Altar.  They have beautiful paintings lining the walls all the way up to the altar, but flashes age the paintings so I didn't get any.  The choir got to sing in here and that is a highlight of the trip I will always remember.It's soooo nice to have this blog to share my past experiences and what I have done.

On to another topic and what got this blog going.  I was listening to Adele this morning on YouTube.  I have such a great appreciation for raw talent that I am really liking Adele's music.  She is a 23 year old British singer that doesn't fit the "cookie cutter" mold.  Her voice is beautiful, raspy, jazzy, and just rare.  There isn't anything out there like her right now and she is so refreshing.  Here are two songs of her's that I love and listen to.  

 I have to work on getting her album.  I love when the music industry puts out good talent, especially singers who can sing live!

Liking this song

Every time I am in the car and hear this song I turn it up and dance or bop my head...lol.  I am not a huge Britney fan but I do like the beat of this song and the pump it up feel/vibe.

Also, I have decided to lay low on the posting of my weight for a while and just keep it on loseit.com until a major loss has come along.  I feel like I am bombarding my friends with all the details and honestly it's making me feel a little self conscious.  I like the lose it site because there others are on the same track as me or journey I should say and I can share my feelings, ups and downs, and goals there.  That's just the way I am feeling, it may not be what is going on in their minds, but it is just how I feel.  So until I hit a big milestone, lets say another 15 pds down, I am just going to enjoy the privacy of my journey with my boyfriend, my loseit friends, my family, and best friends. Two of them are on the same journey I am.  So that's how I am feeling tonight.  I disconnected loseit from Facebook and will stop posting pics on here for a while until I get to my goals.  Till then, it will just have to be a request from someone or until they see me in person :)


Now signing off and leaving you with the song....

Progress

As I sit here now and view the lighting and feel the thunder as it shakes my house on this rainy Saturday, I thought it would a perfect time to update my progress on this journey.  As of yesterday I am now down a total of 11pds and weigh in at 178. (started at 189).  I am happy with myself and people are congratulating me however I know the discipline/lifestyle change it will take to get to my final goal weight.  Should I be estatic over this, not really, happy, you bet since I can see a difference in my body! Am I determined to lose more???, OH YEA! I still have 38pds left to go before I get to my final goal.

Here are some photos of me at as of yesterday and today (4/15/11 and 4/16/11). 

Now I haven't really put up full side photos, so if you have any comments, be kind :)

On a different subject, was planning to do some house work that is needed today.  I had borrowed a steam cleaner from a friend and we had planned to use it today on the carpets downstairs (upstairs is all hardwood) but with the damp rain, we chose not to because it would take quite a while for the carpet to dry.  So that has been put off for yet another weekend /sigh...I wish the weather would just get warm already!! I also wanted to start priming the walls for painting in the bathroom but with the gloom again, no go.  :(  So that leaves me just to relax today, do housechores, or whatever else I want to do.  We did manage to get to the gym this morning.  I have to say, if I stay sedentary for too long, my body WANTS to exercise and go!  I almost have to force myself to learn to relax all over again.

I am looking forward to next weekend, Easter.  I want to get down to my home church for Easter service, spend time with family, and see friends of the family that are like family.  Easter is one of my favorite holidays along with Christmas.  It's going to be a good time.




 Isn't this bunny so cute!! I saw the Build A Bear commerical to build your own bunny and I would like to go do that and get one! Well maybe for my niece ;)






Well not much else here today, so till another time and I leave you with a song from my favorite band, Paramore.

Inspirational Lyrics

So I am really liking songs with a positive message.  Heard this one on the way home from work tonight...very catchy.  We are all beautiful!!!

                                                    Selena Gomez: Who Says

I wouldn't want to be anybody else


You made me insecure
Told me I wasn't good enough
But who are you to judge
When you're a diamond in the rough
I'm sure you got some things
You'd like to change about yourself
But when it comes to me
I wouldn't want to be anybody else

La na na
La na na

I'm no beauty queen
I'm just beautiful me

La na na na na na na na na!
La na na na na na na na na!

You've got every right
To a beautiful life


Who says
Who says you're not perfect
Who says you're not worth it
Who says you're the only one that's hurting
Trust me
That's the price of beauty
Who says you're not pretty
Who says you're not beautiful
Who says


It's such a funny thing
How nothing's funny when it's you
You tell 'em what you mean
But they keep whiting out the truth

It's like a work of art
That never gets to see the light
Keep you beneath the stars
Won't let you touch the sky


La na na na na na na na na!
La na na na na na na na na!

I'm no beauty queen
I'm just beautiful me

La na na na na na na na na!
La na na na na na na na na!


You've got every right
To a beautiful life
C'mon


Who says
Who says you're not perfect
Who says you're not worth it
Who says you're the only one that's hurting
Trust me
That's the price of beauty
Who says you're not pretty
Who says you're not beautiful

Who says
Who says you're not star potential
Who says you're not presidential
Who says you can't be in movies
Listen to me, listen to me
Who says you don't pass the test
Who says you can't be the best
Who said, who said
Won't you tell me who said that
( Yeah, WHO SAID!? )

Who says
Who says you're not perfect
Who says you're not worth it
Who says you're the only one that's hurting
Trust me
That's the price of beauty
Who says you're not pretty
Who says you're not beautiful
Who says(x2)

Good week

What a great past week I have had.  Marty and I hit the gym hard this week and it's very motivating having him with me as we work out together.  He also found some great exercises on the weights that I can do to help me build muscle and burn fat along with throwing in some cardio and it's really starting to show since I am finally out of the first weight bracket of 180 and down to 179.2 as of this morning.  When I started this journey I was the heaviest I have been up to 189, so as you can see I am almost almost to my first 10 pds lost and I am VERY excited to say the least.  On the website www.loseit.com, my first goal I set for myself was 170 pds and I am halfway there.  I will be setting up other goals once I hit the first one.   Between Zumba, the gym, and food portion control, I am getting this done.  It's a lifestyle change and I have to say I feel very blessed I have Marty in my life, he has been motivating me, been very supportive in the food we make/eat, and also sometime I can talk to about anything, laugh with, vent to, and end the day with.  It's amazing how great life can be with you find your other half, a half that makes you better, lets you be you,  and loves you dearly unconditionally.  I feel again, so blessed.

So a little back soreness today, so did some stretching and got out to run errands.  I invested in a Heart Rate Monitor to make sure on the lose it site when I log my exercises I am accurately counting the calories that I burn.  I used that today while out walking/doing errands, ha ha.  Since I didn't feel  too great with the back being sore, I had to get my exercise in somewhere! Tomorrow is Zumba so it's all good I will be working it out! ;)

Not much else is going on, can't believe my 2 weeks vacation is approaching next month...starts 5/27/11 and goes till 6/13/11.  I am looking forward to alot of things on that time off, small trips, home repairs, and enjoying some down time.  I do wish I was going somewhere tropical like below, but for now, pictures will do.  Possibly next year we will.

Also, if my friends/family read this, keep me in prayer, just heard more rounds of layoffs coming by Sept at my job.  I am hoping it will not affect me, but none the less, still wouldn't mind a few prayers. 

Till next time....

Chunky

So, sad day in Zumba class on Wednesday.  My favorite warm up song Big and Chunky (which is from Madagascar 2) will be swapped out soon for another song.  The girls and I from work that go on Wednesday nights so love this song and it will be missed :(

In it's honor, here is a Zumba class (this isn't my class, but still fun to watch so you can get an idea what Zumba class is like) doing the song.   I really enjoy the class because not only do we do Latin songs, we also do Bollywood style, as well as Hip Hop and R&B.





In other news, down another 1.6 pds according to the scale as of this morning. 


I also have written down my measurements and will be doing them on Sunday.  I took them last Sunday and will post if anything has changed.


Till another time....

So Close to 10

When I started on this new lifestyle change (decided not to call it a diet, because they don't work) I didn't take any before pictures.  I did look over some older pictures from last summer and they are when I was at my heaviest so I think they will work as my before photos as I start on this journey.   I am very close to getting to 10 pds lost, but I know with how slow my body takes off the weight, it won't be probably for another 2 weeks or so and honestly, that's okay.  I worked out hard this week and the scale went in the right direction today (down) and starting next week I am also going to keep track of inches lost.  Marty has been a great help in the gym, keeping me motivated, and training me as I do some toning on the weight machines.  He has that background from the Army, he helped train others.  So here goes my first entry of before photos and I am going to put some after ones up as well.  I am officially down 8 pds as of this morning.  I know that is not a big number, but after 5 weeks, for me with my slow metabolism due to my thyroid disease (hypo) it is such an accomplishment.  I also don't want the number to drop quickly because as my best friend tells me, slow and steady wins the race (to quote Katie)  lol.


Before photos  -  June &  Dec 2010

In Progress (8pds down) March 31,2011 and as of tonight April 1, 2011

There is a great song that keeps me motivated every time I hear it on the radio that is so motivating.  Our Zumba instructor also plays it for a cool down after our session to remind us that we all are amazing.  I liked the song before that but it has a new meaning now.  I have added it to listen to as a reminder to myself and maybe you as well, whoever reads this, knows just how amazing you are!