My Royal Wedding Part 2

Well, after a crazy morning, my dear son has decided to take one heck of a nap! I should have followed suit after cleaning our entire house from top to bottom, but I didn't think he would be out for this long!

So, where did I leave off... oh yes, the Johnson-Barr Wedding. You know we had to ask the protocol on that one. B comes before J but does the bride's last name always go first? The answer is yes! Now, I have some issues with putting Johnson on my wedding invite. The first being that it technically belongs to my ex husband ....which is why I have to laugh when people ask me these 2 questions: 1. Is the baby going to have your last name? and 2. Are you keeping your last name? The answers to both: HECK NO!!!!! Both of my children have their father's last name (not my ex's!) and there is no way in hell I am keeping my ex husband's last name if I am married to someone else, particularly my childrens' dad!

Which led me to wedding consideration #1.... invitations! I tossed around a few ideas. I spent some time on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/ the home made craft website that is the mother of all websites (LOVE IT!) but didn't see anything particularly striking for my "theme" (I will get to the theme later!). I looked at Target, and actually did buy some DIY invites, but had issues with these as a) I did DIY with my first wedding and although they were cute, they weren't WOW. I looked at Michael's. I looked at many a wedding blog, and even considered paying top dollar for letterpress invites from http://www.aerialistpress.com/ located in Emeryville. But after looking high and low and not seeing anything that really wow-ed me, my friend/photographer/fellow NACE board member Barbara asked me why on earth I had not yet asked Mimi, another board member, and owner of Creative Designs by Mimi http://www.creativedesignsbymimi.com/ . Truth be told, I hadn't asked Mimi because I didn't think that custom invites were in my price range. And to be honest, they aren't (my paper good budget about doubled) but Mimi was able to work some magic pricing around and is now creating an amazing invitiation suite for me along with escort cards, table names, programs, you name it! WELL WORTH IT! And I will tell you why:

For all of you DIYers out there, I commend you. And a few people have said "Oh you're not working, that's perfect you can plan your wedding"! What these people forget is that I have 2 small children whose daily care is WAYYY more time consuming than a 9-5 job. So although DIY saves a lot of money, it a) takes time and energy and b) takes patience. I have neither! Plus all I do is give the names and info to Mimi and WHAM! Gorgeous custom paper-goods! I get my first proofs today and I am so excited to see them! So excited that I had to blog about it! haha. Plus I am way behind as according to my EZ-wedding planner website, I am way behind... these puppies should have gone out a week ago! Oops. Thank goodness for Save the Dates, even if they were electronic!

But before the invites came our amazing venue!!!! From someone who was used to giving site tours, it sure was fun to be going on them! I started with Hiddenbrooke Golf Course because I know the Director of Catering there (Hi Sandy! if you are reading this, I love you! xoxo). I figured, golf course, nice, and Sandy can hook it up! But... the catch is that is in Vallejo. That's a good 45 minutes from SF, which is where the majority of the guests will be staying. Sandy was able to work some MAJOR price magic, and their clubhouse is nice but my issue was the geographic location and the ceremony site. Since it is a golf course, golfers can essentially walk righ tby your ceremony. And the patch of grass was on the 1st tee. I worked at Harding Park, so I am very familiar with this, but Hiddenbrooke does wayyyy more weddings so I thought the ceremony site would be better. So.... we had to cross it off the list :( Then I realized how important ceremony site was so I thought of Jason (pres of NACE who manages a home in Vallejo that does private events) because he had posted pics of a new "Sunset Terrace" that was gorgeous... perfect ceremony site! Went to visit the estate and the site rental alone was over $100 per person. Ummm that didn't even include food or drink. Cross that off the list.

So, Vallejo was out in general. Time to reel it in! I didn't ever think I would have a hotel wedding, but the more I thought about it, the more I warmed up to the idea. The question was just which hotel? My first thought was Hotel Shattuck, in Berkeley. GORGEOUS renovation, and I had attended a NACE event last November and the food was to-die-for. Like seriously, put restaurants to shame, which is unheard of for banquet food! They focus on sustainable foods, seasonal, etc. The space was perfect size, but the ceremony site was a little tight.

Here is the ceremony courtyard: and here is my entourage in the lobby: check out that super cool wallpaper!!

But I wanted to love it. Had the price been right, we would have booked it. But God works in mysterious ways! The price wasn't right, so we had to keep on looking.....

At the beginning of April I attended a NACE board meeting and announced my upcoming nuptuals. I also brought up the issue of venue and a few people suggested the Hotel Adagio in downtown SF. A fellow (now former) board member, Krystal, was the Catering Manager there and the space is gorgeous. I had never been, but called anyway. Heck, at this point I was desperate! I also called a few other locations in SF.... smaller hotels that I thought might be flexible with pricing. Both Roger and I didn't even consider a SF wedding at first because we just assumed it would be out of our price range entirely. Well, I started calling around with our new adjusted budget (lower than the Shattuck, but higher than the original number) and couldn't believe that certain properties were willing to work with me on it! HOLY MOLY! Also, I had originally started with a Sunday wedding date because I figured that we could get better pricing.... 3 monthts out and a Sunday should be an easy deal maker, right?

Well, I walked into the Adagio and FELL. IN. LOVE!!!! I (lobby) immediately knew that it was the place for our wedding reception. It has this old SF vibe, but it is also renovated, chic, hip, everything I like to think I am LOL! Yeah right, but still, it just felt perfect for us! Back in our hey-day Roger and I used to go out downtown quite a bit, so it felt like we were coming full circle in a weird way.... way more than a golf course, estate, or Berkeley could. He actually called me while I was there and I told him "THIS IS IT!". And after sitting down with Krystal to talk about pricing, and the fact that we could have our event on a Saturday, rather than a Sunday.... omg HEAVEN!!! I don't know their website, but google "Hotel Adagio SF" and you can check out the hotel. I don't want to post event space pics because I do want the guests to be a tad bit surprised at how everything gets spruced up.

Sadly, Krystal is no longer with the hotel, but she totally hooked us up. Intimate Dream wedding in downtown SF, black tie optional, complimentary hotel suite for us (SCORE!) and $9 parking for our guests. I'm sorry, did you say $9?!!!!! YES I DID!!! (for out of towners, avg "discount" weekend parking downtown is like $20/car). In addition, our wedding "package" includes WAY more than I could have dreamed. So Krystal, cheers to you and your future adventures, and THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!!

But, the catch with the Hotel Adagio is that it is a boutique hotel, and event space is at a minimum. We are using their entire upstairs suite area for cocktail and reception (along with an outdoor deck, imagine this skyline at night....SCORE!), but that left us with the dilemma of where to have our ceremony. The first option was St. Gabriel, my parent's parish church, where I attended grammar school, where are children are baptized, land of the free home of the brave... you get the idea. Let me insert a pic of St. Gabe's for reference and bc who likes looking at an all word blog?

Uncles @ Benji's Baptism.

I mean, it's fine. It's not "pretty" per se, but it does have sentimental value. But Roger was raised Mormon, and although he was not opposed to our kids being baptized Catholic, he really didn't want to get married in a Catholic church as a "Sacrament". I was ok with that. let's be honest, moreso because a) the church size & decor, and b) the location of the church. St. Gabe's is about a 2 minute drive from my parents' house and a 40 minute drive from downtown on a busy Saturday! That is WAY.TOO. FAR! Well way too far to trust people to get to in time for cocktail hour. So we kept looking.

I looked at other prettier Catholic churches who like to charge over $1000 for their use and force you to use their florist, musicians, etc. I looked at historical landmarks like the Presidio chapel, etc. I looked into Golden Gate Park, but outdoor anything in SF freaks me out, so I said forget that idea. And then one day I was facebooking and mentioned my ceremony dilemma to my friend Aimee! She saved the day!

Her church is the 1st Congregational Church of SF and just so happens to be located about 5 minutes from our reception location!!! Also, the fab part is that since she is on their board, we got a killer price, and the church is very pretty inside. All pluses in my book! Roger was skeptical because it doesn't really look like a church from the outside, but when we did the walk through he was impressed. Plus, their website kinda doesn't do it justice (google 1st congregational church SF). Ceremony problem SOLVED!!!!

Whew, even this post was exhausting, but ironically in the midst of writing it, I got my proofs from Mimi and LOVE THEM! YAY! Plus I have a needy almost 2 year old who wants to play now, so alas, this is to be continued YET AGAIN!

My Royal Wedding :P part

I had promised to write this post and never quite gotten around to it, but now that William and Kate have tied the knot, I figured I can ride on their wedding excitement coat tails and share some info about the joys and sorrows of wedding planning... or in particular MY wedding planning!

For those of you who aren't familiar, my career is in hospitality/catering sales. What this means is that for about 5 years I was a pseudo "wedding planner" for a golf course, and 2 different hotels. I didn't put together the timelines or order the flowers or cakes, but I did convince brides to "imagine" fabulous ceremonies and receptions at my venues. I am also involved in the National Assn of Catering Executives, where REAL wedding planners belong!!! lol. And when I say "real" I mean the ones who handle all of the craziness I am faced with right now.

Let me back up and explain how Roger and I ended up "engaged" to begin with. This July it'll be 5 years ago that we started dating. Surprise #1, Aidan. Move in together. Split. Move back in. Surprise #2, Benjamin! Live, live, live. Split. ALLLLMOST move out, and now engaged. Roger and I have been through a whole lot but I am really happy that we managed to work through it all and commit to each other and our children!

Just a quick recap of how we met: We met in 2006 at Harding Park Golf Course. I was applying for a Beverage Cart position and he was the Food and Beverage Director. I distinctly remember the first time I met him (he was in a chef coat and black pants) and I remember my interview (which we have laughed about many times since that day!). I got the job, and quickly realized that Bev Cart was really not as glamorous as I had hoped, and in addition I was FREEZING! San Francisco Sunset District is freaking cold about 10 months out of the year, so I would cruise around in khakis, a ski coat, and a baseball cap. Hardly sexy! About a month or so into the job I started socializing with a few people from work (including Roger) and about a month after that, we realized that we liked hanging out with each other one on one.... around that time a position became open for the golf course's Catering Director and Roger asked if I would be interested because he thought I would be good at it. I jumped at the chance, and so not only can I think HP for a career path, I can also thank them for a soon to be husband and 2 kids! Here is what we looked like back in the good ol days of dirty martinis and downtown San Francisco:

New Years Eve, 2006

And then came Aidan Evelyn Barr the following November:

And Benjamin Kenneth Barr came 21 months after that in July 2009:

Our little family, October 2009:

and most recently, this Easter:

It's been a long road, but look at the gorgeous family I have to show for it!

Now our "engagement" wasn't that of fairytales. It was more of a decision that 2 adults came to that resulted in me getting a gorgeous diamond ring, and him getting a $50 titanium band :P Oh the joys of being a woman! Hey, after birthing 2 kids, it's about darn time I got some fancy bling! My rings however, are being custom made, so I don't want to post a picture just yet, but let's just say they are VERY sparkly!

Our original plan was to elope in Hawaii, just the 2 of us. In fact I had contacted wedding planners out there and gotten quotes on everything. It was pretty darn expensive for "just the two of us" I must say, but little did I know, it was NOTHING compared to our "small intimate wedding" that we are having now! ACK!

Well, part of our decision was also not to have a long engagement, which makes things really fun right now with planning. It is really a catch 22 with engagements... if you plan for a long engagement, chances are the venue, services, etc will be available on your said date.... and you have a long time to save up and pay for this massive shin-dig. BUUUUUTTTT it really is a long wait for such an exciting event! By having a short engagement you have to plan quickly, book quickly, and pay quickly.... but oh how exciting! I also think that if we had a long engagement Roger would probably kill me. Sorry, but I didn't realize how fun planning my own wedding would be!

My first purchase after our rings was my dress! I found it at a small bridal shop in Castro Valley that I had made a sales call to while working at Hilton. I tried on a bunch of dresses and nothing really screamed "THIS IS IT!" but my aunt noticed a small room in the back with a lot of gowns.... apparently it was the shop's Clearance section... dresses you buy off the rack, as is, that are samples and most likely past season. Me + Clearance = Love. Always. Anyone who has ever been shopping with me knows I do not pay full price for anything. Even groceries. I have been known to send Roger to the store for something like strawberries and then get mad at him for buying them because they weren't on sale. Crazy, but I just hate not getting a deal! So, low and behold, I have a clearance wedding dress that I LOVE LOVE LOVE! It is gorgeous. And I cannot post a picture because what if Mr. Roger sees?! Oh the horror! He told me he saw my dress the other day and I burst into tears so he said he was kidding and I sure hope he was because to me, the moment of the groom seeing the bride is so emotional and exciting... how could he ruin that?!

Now to the "Long Sleeved Story" part of the dress buying... I bought a size 14 dress! YAY! And it zipped, etc etc. I plan to lose at least another 20 lbs before the wedding (thank you Zumba and my sleeve!) so I hope that it still fits, but so far I am 10lbs down from when I bought it, and I went to visit it and try it on and it fits very well (it was very tight when originally purchased since I knew I'd be losing). Although I'd love to be down 20lbs, I am not looking forward to paying for alterations so I am secretly hoping my boobs stay big and my belly and thighs miraculously are the only things that shrink between now and July 30!

During my dress excursion my aunt who is like a second mom to me, and is the godmother of our children started talking about how she feels like she should be at the wedding because she and her husband have been through so much with Roger and I (that is an UNDERSTATEMENT!!!!) and she mentioned how the kids would have memories of it, and then my Grandma could come, etc. I started thinking about it, because Roger and I had talked about having a reception in SF for family here, and then I realized... it'll pretty much be the same amount of money... why shouldn't we incorporate all of our friends and family who have shared our ups and downs and all arounds?! He agreed, and low and behold, we are now the proud "Johnson/Barr Wedding".

To be continued....

Random thoughts on why I love my sleeve

Easter was a big jackpot to my self esteem this year. I am down 57 lbs as of today and I feel absolutely fantastic! This Easter I wasn't looking in my closet at all of the stuff that doesn't fit but that I would love to wear... instead I busted out with a new dress ($7 steal at TJ MAXX!) that I had been dying to wear, and felt like $1mil!

When I got to church, my aunt said that she didn't even recognize me! When I got to my Grandma's house for lunch, she just kept pointing out how much weight I have lost, and saying "Ay ya yay!" (those of you who know my Grandma know that the inflection in the ay ya yay determines what she is trying to say!), and even looked at Roger expectantly like..."I hope you see how hot she is getting!", my uncle in Cincinnati told me I look like a model (laying it on thick, but God Bless him!), and even my mother, who is not free flowing with compliments acknowledged that a) my dress was beautiful and b) I looked great! So YAY!

But this post is actually inspired by my visit to the gym tonight, and I am so inspired that although it is 10:30pm and I still have to shower and go to bed before the kids start calling in the middle of the night, I am writing this post.

Reasons I love my sleeve:

1. The most obvious reason: WEIGHT LOSS! I have shed 57lbs in not quite 4 months. Yes it has been challenging at times, but more often than not, it's fairly simple... eat slowly, and not so much!

2. The sleeve has given me a new found love for exercise. As a 245lb person, it is very hard to move. I'd go 5 minutes on the elliptical and want to die. I'd give up 15 mins in and say, "eh, I'll start another day". I'd look in the mirror and be disgusted with what I saw. And I would know that unless I was super strict on diet, my sweaty, hard, workout would do nothing for me as far as weightloss. With the sleeve, I work out moderately for 30-45 mins and I am down a pound the next morning! Talk about gratifying!!!! Also, because I have been able to drop over 50 lbs, I LIKE what I see in the mirror (for the most part!) and I am able to exert myself much more then previously. I actually look forward to Zumba, look forward to the elliptical, and I have a yearning to go to the gym, even after a long day with the kids. Never ever did I think I would say "I LIKE WORKING OUT!".

3. a) The sleeve not only transforms your body, it transforms your mind. This is a two-fold thing. The first is that my mind is now changing about myself. My self confidence is up. My enthusiasm for life is stronger. I am excited. I am generally happier as a person. All thanks to my sleeve and what is has done for me.
b) the sleeve has transformed my mind and how I view food and portion sizes. I am no longer afraid to throw food away like I used to be. I can eat something and if I know that I am full (which the sleeve will BLATANTLY tell me!) and I keep picking at it, I will just take it and throw the entire thing in the trash. Wham, done. This horrifies certain members of my family, which reinforces my food issues to begin with (and not that they are intentionally harmful ideas, it's just been passed down). How many times was I encouraged to be a part of the "clean platers club" or "don't waste that!". Well the clean platers club got me to almost 250lbs, and I am NEVER EVER going back there! I even made a comment to a family member who said how I was wasting food that "That's why we're fat". Oops, but it's true! It is important to know your true hunger levels.

4. And on that note, my sleeve has made me stop and identify "head hunger" or careless eating. I now focus on everything I eat. No, not all of it is good for me still, but I have a constant monitor about how much protein I am consuming and if I am drinking water, etc. Before, I didn't give a hollyhey about how many carbs I was consuming.... I thought Atkins was for the birds. Well folks, it sucks, but it WORKS! And thanks to my sleeve, I can stick with the plan to the best of my ability because I feel FULL, and I see RESULTS!!!

5. My sleeve gave me my relationship back. Granted, we have had some major issues the past years, both my fault and his, but a big chunk of our issues stemmed from me being overweight and unhappy with myself. How can you be a happy mom or partner when you hate how you look and feel each day? Each day I lose more weight and gain wattage to my smile... I have a whole new lease on life and on my little family. So much so that we are tying the knot July 30, 2011.

I am sure that I can think of 100 other reasons of why I am so glad and grateful that I was able to have my surgery. I am part of online groups of other weight loss surgery survivors who feel the same as me, and I would STRONGLY encourage anyone who has a BMI over 40 to look into it. There are so many things we struggle with in life, why not take one off the list and alleviate the fight against genetics and food addiction if we can?? Roger said it best when he mentioned that medical science is a real life "miracle". God has created tools for us to USE! Don't fear the unknown, embrace it, and that's exactly what I am doing. Embracing this new, thin, fantastic life that I am so lucky to have. :)

Can you tell I am really frickin HAPPY tonight?!!!!!

The busiest unemployment ever!

Whew! It has been awhile since I have been on here I tell ya. Not sure if I announced that I am no longer at the Hilton, but I am not, and it feels amazing! I am a full time mom to Mr. Benjamin, and Miss Aidan is in school full time, which really is for the best. I haven't mastered watching both kids at the same time every day so in order to ensure that she is stimulated and entertained and I am sane, we decided to keep her in school.

Now mind you, it's been about 3 weeks since my last day there and I have been so busy with kids, NACE, and wedding planning that the time has just flown right by! I promised myself I wouldn't talk about wedding stuff in this post, so pretend I didn't say that... that is its own post later on :) I also promised myself to post some pictures since blogs are way more interesting that way. So... let's start with this one: This handsome little man is my companion these days. He is too cute for words, and doesn't say too many that most people understand (including his dad!) but I speak his language and am so happy that I get plenty of one on one time with him now. I was home with Aidan at this age and got to enjoy her, so it is nice to have a chance with Benji. He is definitely a mama's boy, but he does get super excited when Daddy comes home for the day.

We have also been spending massive amounts of time with his "Nina" (godmother), my auntie Bev. She was watching him full time when I was working, and so we visit her multiple times a week. He calls her "mama" also which I think is an ode to "Grandma" but I am Mommy, she is Mama and he loves with when he can have both of us! Here they are at Panera (he was crazy this trip!) but in general he knows Mama means business (way more than Mommy does :P)

Speaking of Miss Aidan, she is as stubborn as they come and I now feel my mother's pain when I was growing up. From what I understand she is just Alexis #2! AHHHHH! Somebody save me! In all seriousness, she is absolutely brilliant and so creative! She loves to draw, read, write, and pretend. But a few things we have let go far too long and we finally got our butts in gear. Case in point: pacifiers. Aidan had her pacifier at home and at night up until last week. Ridiculous, right? YES! There is absolutely NO REASON for a 3.5yr old to have a pacifier. And the fact that she was calling for us in the night to say 'I can't find my "bobo"!" is even MORE ridiculous! OMG. I finally had enough and she is now bobo free! WOOHOO!

The second case in point is this one... this is a picture of Aidan, kicking back at Tina's house on a Sunday afternoon..... IN HER DIAPER! Yes, my 3.5 yr old still wears diapers. Now, I wouldn't feel so bad about this if I knew that she "wasn't ready yet". But Aidan will ask me "Mommy, do you have the wipes?" meaning: I know you need wipes because I have to take a dump but I will just hold it till we get home if you don't have them with you. Say WHAT?!!! She holds her pee and poop accordingly and can certainly be potty trained. She is just extremely stubborn.

Well Mom and Dad got a wake up call. She has been having some issues at school with regression because she is so much older than all of the new kids in her class (most just turned 2). All of her friends are potty trained and have since been moved up a class but Aidan refuses. I think there are a few issues. 1. She is VERY attached to the 2 lovely teachers in her class. They are her absolute favorites so she doesn't want to move up. 2. she doesn't want to be potty trained because she is stubborn and/or lazy. Both I think. But the director of the school basically told us that she needs to be potty trained by June to stay in the school. At this point Aidan is choosing not to be and we need to make that decision for her. I agree 100%. She NEEDS to be potty trained. This is getting ridiculous!

Now another thing we are dealing with at age 3.5 is the need to pick out her own outfits and shoes, and just be consistently independent. My only issue with this is that if it was up to Aidan, she would be wearing party dresses and princess shoes EVERY DAY. I have to force her to wear play clothes and sneakers to school. She gets up, and if I don't catch her fast enough, she is all dressed by herself (thumbs up!) but in a fancy dress and Lord knows what else (thumbs down!). So we go through the routine every morning of me explaining the weather and what is appropriate to wear. Now, even when we are just home, she insists on about 3-4 wardrobe changes in an evening. I have washed her Easter dress about 10x. It was intended to be worn once or maybe twice, so at least I can't complain about it not getting good use, but geez!

The other day I was upset with the way the day was going and came upstairs to our loft/computer area and was on here looking at the www.shitmykidsruined.com website. Just to cheer myself up, giggle, turn my frown upside down. I had told myself that if she got into something, oh well, I would die if I didn't ignore because all day was a battle about this or that. She comes upstairs and says something to me and I turn and see this: This is Aidan, all decked out in her 2010 easter dress (a size too small) with an ENTIRE pack of tortillas. She was eating them all together like a sandwich! I had to laugh! And oh the irony of what I was reading at the time!!!!

So aside from the woes of the terrible threes, Mr. Almost 2 and I have been keeping busy as best as we can and in line with my desperate need to be a thin and gorgeous bride, have been as active as possible! I have started to FINALLY take advantage of having an amazing trail at the end of our culdesac (about 20 yards from my front door) that is ON THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY. Yeah, I know, lucky right???? Super lucky and I am a fool for not enjoying this more before. So, Benji and I will go for walks and check out the birds, the stream, the airplanes that go by. He loves it!

Ididn't say we get dressed for the occastion! Here was his outfit this morning :P Pajamas with a fleece, some crocs, and his sister's princess sippy! But he is handsome in whatever he wears! Now for some reason lately he has been making me carry him for the majority of the walk which I suppose is ok, but I'd like him to get some exercise in too. So, here we are, him going for a ride, me for a walk:

I also have rekindled my love affair with Zumba! My cousin Angie was staying with my aunt in Oakland and she and I made Zumba dates! It was great to meet someone for the class and hold myself accountable. Needless to say, last week was a flop, but I fully intend to keep up with exercising and the amazing thing is that with the sleeve, my body doesn't require massive amounts of exercise to lose weight!!! Literally 30 moderate minutes a day helps me shed a pound. Freaking AMAZING!!!! I am down approx 10lbs since I lost my job, which again makes me happy to not be at the Hilton!

It also makes me nervous about wedding dress alterations but again... no wedding tidbits quite yet ; )

Long overdue!

I received a message on facebook mentioning my blog and I realized that I haven't posted in awhile! Things are all over the place around here. I got fired on Friday. After 6 months at a place where I got along with everyone... except my boss. And in the end, that's who mattered!!! But alas, I feel very relieved to be out of there. It was so irritating to have to play her little games and watch her dote on the new girls who were size 0s (the only reason I mention this is because my boss would CONSTANTLY talk about how tiny they are @@). I was making my sales goals and EXCEEDING THEM! Which just goes to show 2 things in my opinion: Some times living in a no fault state really sucks and playing the game is just as important as performance. I am not good at being fake to people so sometimes I really suck at the whole game thing!!! I wasn't rude, but I wasn't constantly complimenting her and brining in baked goodies like the other 2 gals. Shoot, I am not supposed even be near baked goodies right now!!! haha I feel confident that God has a plan for me, and the Hilton was good for what it was (afterall their insurance helped me get my surgery!!!) but just as a temporary thing. I am resuming my attempt to get a CA state teaching credential which was put on hold a few times because I needed a job, and then I had surgery, etc etc etc. So I start my classes April 4. It's one class a month so that should be fine. Also, staying home is actually BETTER for weightloss!!!! I can go to the gym during the day and Benji does ok in the daycare... I am only there for an hour max, so that works out well. Also, chasing him around is much better than sitting at a desk all day. And I am able to clean my house in bits and pieces. So All is well. I have already lost 3 lbs putting me at 196. I had gone down to 197 and then back up again and I have been hovering around 198-199 for a week or two and I tell ya, it's irritating!!! So glad to have broken the stall with some good old fashioned exercise. Another amazing thing is how much easier exercise is when you aren't 250lbs. I did the elliptical for 30 minutes without even really sweating. Yes I was going as fast as I should have, but it wasn't the "i'm gonna die" feelign that I used to have when I was heavier. It is definitely true what they say about losing weight motivating you and also making exercise more enjoyable. It's a lot more enjoyable to feel a little physical challenge as opposed to panting and thinking you're gonna die!!! I wanted to go back yesterday but it wasn't in the cards so instead I made it a point to clean clean clean. We have a 2 story house so I went up the stairs a ton and vaccuumed,c hanged linens, etc. Basically anything I could do to keep me moving! The house is big so I created a little goal for myself of one room a day, although the kitchen and living room are every day projects that overwhelm me. The living room in particular.. aka toy central!!! Also, after nearly 5 years, hundreds of arguments and back and forths, breaking up, etc etc etc.... Roger and I are talking about getting married. HOLY WOWZA right?! As I told Roger, the only sucky part is people's reaction of "Are you sure you want to do this?" as opposed to "CONGRATULATIONS!!!!" but as my aunt says "Better a happy ending than a sad one!". A few friends have asked me how this all came to be and my best answer is to watch the movie "Fireproof"... that storyline is how it came to be and on day 43 I got flowers and a card saying that he wasn't giving up. The challenge was supposed to end on day 40. We have a lot of work to do but I am optimistic and despite the fact that we are both crazy, I do love him. So... if we make it to the altar it'll be in July and there actually probably won't be an altar... it'll be outdoors. With a fab Hawaiian honeymoon to follow in August.. that part I am already planning of course! You all know me and my love affair with Hawaii! So as I started out, this update was long overdue. Lots of change, lots of excitement. Tears of joy, tears of sorrow, stress, anxiety, happiness, etc etc etc. The kids are great, I am loving spending more time with Benjamin (although I swear he is a boy through and through... Aidan never climbed and got into things like he does!) and thanks to my sleeve, I will be the beautiful, blushing, (insert THIN!) bride that I have always wanted to be!!!

Holy Guac!

Holy Guacamole! My body is not cooperating, but I suppose neither is my mind. I have been playing with the same 2 lbs for about 2 weeks now. I can attribute that to a few things.... my period for one, me not following as strict a diet, and possibly stress. But no matter what I choose to blame it on, the fact is, I am STUCK!!! AHHHHHH! So irritating!

I am dying to get under 200lbs. Like 2lbs away dying. I know the difference between 199 and 200 is nearly nothing, but to any weightloss surgery patient, it is enormous psychologically. And I want to be able to say "I did it!".

I also realize that I need to really address my food addiction. The more I think about it (and realize that this surgery is a tool, not a fix) the more I see how simple carbs are everywhere and exactly what I look for when bored, stressed, sad, happy, etc. It's crazy. Last night we went to sushi, and I ate really well. More than my sleeve should have allowed (I had 3 slices of sashimi and 2 pieces of a spicy tuna roll w/ seaweed salad on the outside) which is also scary, but that is another post...... But basically 90% of what went in my mouth was protein, and lucky for me this particular restaurant doesn't use a lot of rice on their sushi rolls. So I come home and from the time dinner ended until the time I went to bed was about 2 hours..... in that 2 hours I contemplated eating one of my new favorite snacks... a square of cheddar and 2 saltines (I break the cheddar to fit the cracker and enjoy). But I literally sat there and thought to myself "this is head hunger, you JUST ATE DINNER! You don't need crackers for goodness sakes! STOP IT!!!!". Thankfully my sanity ruled out my food addiction and I went to bed without eating more. But I am fully aware that this is how to cheat the system and how to waste $10000 and surgery that can save my life. It's really scary to think about!

Today I was good... protein shake, grande non-fat latte,... and then I had some bites of pizza. I swear this office is going to be the death of me. If it's not pizza, it is candy, donuts, cookies, you name it. And as I am able to eat more, the more I have to learn to make a conscious decision to say NO. And it is a lot harder than I thought. Before I had surgery I was told that when they cut out the stretchy part of the stomach, they remove the ghrelin gland that produces the hunger hormone. Well yeah, I think mine must be located elsewhere because I certainly feel hungry a lot! And I was warned by the nurse right before surgery that not everyone stops feeling hungry... I guess I was a lucky one :(

And like weight watchers teaches you, get rid of the bad stuff!!!! Roger had bought some cookie dough and there was a little left over (in a plastic tub) so I will go in the fridge and have a spoonful. Ok yes, I am not eating half a tube like I would have previously, but I am fully aware that cookie dough is not going to help me lose the next 60lbs. So why do I do it?? I don't know. The only answer I can think of is that I am addicted to food. And sadly, unlike drugs or alcohol, it can't be removed from my life completely so I have to learn to manage my triggers and learn how to say no, life is ok without it. Right after surgery I was doing so very well, and to this day, I still make choices to make sure I am getting proteins, liquids, etc in. It just gets harder as I can eat more.

So, alas, I am just trying to stay positive, know that these 2lbs will indeed come off, and I WILL succeed in losing the weight I intend to lose. I think my first step is going to be ordering a Zumba dvd. I tried Taebo the other day but I swear it was the janky version with bad music and the people in the background messing up!!!! LOL. Zumba at least has good music and I can shake what my mama (actually I think it came from my Puerto Rican dad to be honest!) gave me!

Pictures, Pizza & Patience!

Well, I finally took some current pictures, albeit via iphone. But, alas, with a mile marker of 41lbs down, it needed to be done! I have saved my size 18W dress pants that I lived in at work to remind myself just how big I had let myself get. But you better believe that I was the first person in line to pack up and ship out all of my clothes that miraculously have gotten WAY TOO BIG!!!!! Like falling off too big! And thank goodness that I went through the plastic bin of clothes that I had deemed too small... half of them are already too BIG now!

And so, here is me, as of today, March 8, 2011 (wearing control top pantyhose though!!! lol):

Now as for the patience... although this surgery causes rapid weightloss, there is still a lot of weight to be lost! And a common occurence is stalls. Basically I stop losing weight, my body recalibrates its composition, I lose inches (which is exciting!) but that darn scale just gets stuck. I feel like that is what is going on right now. I have been stuck in the 205-207 range for about 10 days or so. AHHHH! This is after hitting 204 one day and then it jumping back up. Boys close your eyes, but ladies I am blaming my period and water retention on this one! This morning I stood on the scale and it was back to 204. Only 4lbs to go until I get back in the 100s. What a sweet day that will be! If I start screaming, crying, jumping up and down, don't be alarmed. I haven't been in the 100s since I had Aidan in 2007.

I have also discovered an awesome protein bar that I think should be mentioned. Muscle Milk Light, Chocolate Peanut Caramel. I swear to you, it tastes like a snickers bar and has the consistency of a really awesome caramel candy from sees! That thick, harder caramel, OMG. I LOVE THEM!!!! They are my current afternoon snack when I am craving junk and know I need to get some protein in. They have 170 calories which is slightly high, but lower than the average "protein bar" which is normally around 250. It has 15g of protein (yay!) when again, the avg protein bar has 6-8. And it only has 9g of sugar. Look on a power bar and tell me how much sugar is in it! A LOT!!!!! So anyhow, that is my current recommendation for proteiners everywhere :)

Now on the flip side, the other day I was on a crappy eating binge and attempted to eat a piece of pizza. I have to say it was pretty funny how much I could get down without feeling ABSOLUTELY STUFFED! Picture a full pizza wedge....... and now check this out:

Yeah that's about 3-4 bites. Stuffed. Completely stuffed. I love my sleeve! It reminds me not to eat the stuff I shouldn't be. And it reminds me WHY I needed it. Previously I would have downed the entire piece in about a minute and been looking for more! And no, I should NOT have been attempting a piece of pizza.

So all in all the past few months have been up and down and all around physically and emotionally but I would not take back the surgery even for a brief second. I am so grateful that I was able to have it done!