Summer Goal

I have been doing WW on and off since last November.  With that (mostly) and some other diets, I am down 23 pounds. 

By the time school starts (Aug 13th) I am hoping to be down to my halfway point- 30 pounds.  Between now and then I have trip to Chattanooga to see my bff, Chelsea, a cruise, a cheerleading camp to coach, the Irish Picnic (which is a fundraiser for the school I teach at, they cook thousands and thousands of pounds of BBQ and there is a whole lot of drinking), and a cookie dough fundraiser delivery.  Just your every day obstacles to hurdle.

Here is how I am going to do it:

• Track WW Points Daily
• Zumba 2+ times a week (since it have been in the upper 90's-100's the past week or two, I have not gone running outside, I am saving that for the fall)
• Lots more fruits and veggies, which are zero points on WW
• Bigger lunches later in the day
• Smaller dinners
• Drink a whole lot of water

If I make this goal, I am going to purchase what I have in my shopping cart at Swell Caroline.  This lovely necklace and bracelet is what I currently have in it.  Pretty good incentive :)

Eat Your Heart Out.

I am so excited that I am going to be cruising to the Bahamas in 19 days!  And to make sure I look ahhh-mazing on the boat, I have decided to try this seven day "diet" or "cleanse" that has been all over Pinterest.  After reading through it, it seems like a relatively healthy cleanse compared to some that I have seen.

If you haven't seen it, here it it is...

You can click on it to go to the original blog post about it.  This woman's blog has been blowing up since it has hit Pinterest and she has added a FAQ section that answered a lot of my questions.  Now I plan on following it pretty closely.  However, day 5- you will not see me eating tomatoes.  I have decided to go with a natural tomato soup.

This diet aka "Satan's Diet" say lose 10+ pounds in a week....Now I am a little skeptical of that.  Am I going to gain it all right back when I stop?  I think it might push me in the right direction to incorporating more fruits and veggies into my daily diet.

After all, this is honestly a healthier weeks worth of food than I have been eating.  My doctor is in the process of switching me from two different medicines and I have felt nothing but nauseous and awful.  I have had crackers and a bowl of soup about once a day for the past 3 days.  So eating fresh veggies and fruit for a couple of days seems kind of refreshing.

I will keep yall updated on my progress and what exactly I am eating each day!  

Stuck

So since my awesome 3lb weight loss two weeks ago, I feel like I have plateaued.  The numbers on the scale are not budging.  I am wondering if I should be going back to weight watchers.  Blah.  It is so frustrating. 

I have been using the Couch to 5K training app on my phone and I love it.  I am eating 1,200 calories a day and I am on the 3rd week of the 5K training which ends up to be about 2-2.5 miles/running and walking about 4 days a week.

So, what am I doing wrong!?!?

This is what I am going to try and see if it works any...

Don't eat 3 hours before bed (Something Dr. Oz said...)

Continue the Couch to 5K

Ab Ripper X Routine from P90X

Keep up the 1,200 calories

Eight glasses of water a day.

Any suggestions are welcome!!

Here is a link to the 300 Ultimate Ab Workout :)

Life Catch Up!

I have been a really bad blogger lately but I do have an excuse! I have been so busy with end of the school year stuff including....

• Report Cards
• Assessments
• Individualized Education Plan Meetings
• Planning and putting on an end of the year program for parents
• Cleaning and organizing EVERYTHING in my classroom
• Doing inventory in my classroom

BORING, I know.

But, I have completed my first year of teaching successfully.  And sometime next week, I am going back to school to sign my contract for next year.

I have also decided that I am going to get my Masters of Science in Instruction and Curriculum.  I am getting it from the University of Tennessee at Martin that has this wonderful program for teachers who are working full time.  So I have to STUDY FOR MY GRE! DUH, DUH, DUHHHH.  I am really scared about taking it. Seriously.

With all of this not so fun stuff, I have also been busy doing fun stuff!  I was so lucky to get to go to the Miranda Lambert concert in Nashville a couple of weekends ago.  It was the best concert I have ever been to.  I love Miranda and everything she stands for.  She was amazing live.  And the best part- her super hot husband, Blake Shelton, came out and they sang Honey Bee together.

Love her!

Souvenir koozie from the concert.

My sister and I before the show.

In our seats.

Miranda!

Blake and Miranda. Presh.

Pistol Annies aka Bad Asses.

Blake taking a picture of the whole crew during the finally.

I also had an awesome Memorial Day weekend.  All of my friends and sorority sisters were able to meet up at Norris Lake at my friend Brandi's lake house. There was some amazing food, lots of drinks, and tons of time on the lake. They also surprised me and Chelsea with some belated birthday cupcakes that were DELICIOUS! I love my friends and I am so thankful we were all able to get together.

Karaoke super stars.

Why are we so pretty?

Christina, Chelsea, and I

Birthday cupcakes! Totally shocked!

Boozin and cruzin!

Epic tubing fail.

Part of the crew.

Captain Sue. Frat.

Loves.

Almost everybody!

I hope this has caught you up a little on my crazy life! Now school is out and I am back to the blogging world!  Happy summer, y'all!

Motivate Me Monday

I am in DESPERATE need of some motivation today.  I feel like I have a hangover (which I don't) and today has been rough.  Here is my motivation this Monday..

Me 5 years ago, before being diagnosed with a thyroid disease.

This May is Mine

I know that a lot of people are using the month of May to maybe workout more, stay motivated, etc.  Well I am too. I am calling it ME May.  But other than working out, eating healthy, I am trying to make everything in my life more positive.  I am going to surround myself with positively and reflect it to others.  This is what I am planning to do...

• Have patience!  In everything.  In God's timing, at work, in the progress I make on my goals of becoming more healthy, with other people, in traffic, basically in EVERYTHING!
• Stick to my goals.  I am trying to do an intense workout 3 days away (Zumba 2 days and a run the other).  Also stick to my lesson plans! It is really easy for me (and any teacher, I imagine) to get lazy when it comes this close to the end of the year.  I have already covered all of my standards but that does not mean that my kids can have the next two weeks off, and neither can I.
• Realize that I cannot control others but I can control how they affect me.  There will always be people in my life who annoy the crap out of me rub me the wrong way.  But I can choose to not to let their negativity affect me.  I am surrounded by so many hateful and selfish people.  But it is their choice to be like that.  I just cannot let it bother me.
• Pray about it.  "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your heart and mind as you live in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:6-7  I am searching for that peace. I am on a mission to find it.

I welcome any advice you have to make this ME May a successful one.  Also try to make your month a ME May.  I realize I will not always have just me to worry about- some day I will have a family and I will not be able to focus on me.

Motivation for Monday

I am kicking it into high gear! Ready to get back to eating healthy and working out every day.  I went through my Health board on Pinterest for a little inspiration and motivation.  Here are the favorite things I found. . .

23 is MY Year

Today is my birthday... and let me tell you, it has been wonderful.

I'm not going to lie, I was a little bummed that this was the first birthday I was spending away from my close friends.  Think about it- I have been in school for the past 19 or something birthdays and was always surrounded by my friends on this day.  Now, I am living with my grandparents and aunt on the commune (we jokingly call it that..it seems like everyone in my family has at least lived in this house at least once!) working a big girl job as a teacher! So there's no more coming in to a decorated locker, like in high school, and there is no going out to the bars tonight, like in college.  I was not sure just how this birthday was going to go...I was pleasantly surprised :)

I woke up, got ready for work, and came in to have breakfast with my Grandmother.  There sitting on the table was a grapefruit (I always have a grapefruit for breakfast) decorated for my birthday.  I seriously laughed out loud.  I knew my loving, creative, and eccentric aunt was up to that.  It was so cute!  And then I was called into the living room by my Grandpa, who is in a hospital bed in there, so he could sing happy birthday to me.  I don't know how many birthdays of mine he will see so I really cherished this.  I had already been so surprised and I hadn't even left for work yet!

My birthday grapefruit!

When I got to work, all my great co-workers came in to tell me happy birthday.  And then my boss came in and said she would order lunch for me!  Anything I wanted (well, in my town that means Dairy Queen, Subway, or the local Mexican Restaurant)!  So I had a great subway lunch on her.

During lunch, the secretary came in and delivered flowers my dad had sent to me.  He sent me a dozen tulips- because tulips always remind him of me because they were blooming outside the hospital the day I was born.  Best Dad EVER!  I will post a picture of the flowers as soon as they bloom!

Throughout the day, I got probably 100 "Happy birthday, Miss Farmer!"s.  The fifth grade even came and sang to me!  And my sweet 1st grade religion class all made me birthday cards.

When I got home from work, I was so surprised.  There were birthday balloons tied to the mailbox and onto a big pot of flowers half way up the driveway.  I was so excited I pulled over and took pictures of both!  And this may seem strange but my driveway is a quarter mile long, so there were lots of places to put balloons.

Balloons on the mailbox!

And more halfway down the driveway!

And when I came in, my Grandmother and Aunt had the table decorated for my birthday and a Mexican feast in the works.  And more balloons inside too :)  There even was a chocolate cake...my favorite!  The food was amazing and the cake...to die for!  I think I might even go get another piece.

Make a wish!

After dinner, I walked to the mailbox to get the mail and cut down my birthday balloons.  Inside I found a great card from my best friend, Chelsea (btw..if you don't follow her, you are missing out)!  It is friends like her I miss the most on days like today.  But I know we will be reunited in Chattanooga soon for lots of karaoke and drinks!  She wrote this blog post for me today.  Almost made me cry at work!  Check it out.

These guys all came over to wish me a happy birthday on my walk back to the house.  I am pretty sure they thought I would feed them, but I'll pretend they were singing happy birthday when they were mooing.  I'm telling y'all, I live in the sticks!

"Happppppy birthday to Mooooooo!"

So with wonderful friends, family, co-workers, and students, I have had an amazing birthday.  This birthday has far exceeded my expectations.  I am so blessed.  More to come about my celebration in Nashville with Mom and Dad this weekend.

So What Wednesday!

• So what if just at a honey bun for my snack..it's my birthday!
• So what if I am going to have pre-made margaritas at home with my grandmother on my 23rd birthday night...I have plans for a big birthday weekend!
• So what if I spent $125 at a monogram party two days ago...it was for a good cause :)
• So what if I didn't shave my legs today!

What are you saying So What to!?

Get Fit

I have been "dieting" for about 4 months and have lost around 25 pounds.  I was doing weight watchers online and to help out with my budget, I canceled my subscription.  There was nothing wrong with the WW way, I just dropped it to save about 20$ a month.  I lost 20 pounds with WW and I highly recommend it.

Since I was trying to be frugal, I decided to look around for a free calorie tracker that I could use with my iPhone.  A friend told me about My Fitness Pal and I am LOVING it!

Basically, you enter all of your information and it sets a daily calorie goal for you based on how much you want to lose.  Mine was set at 1,200 calories which seems about right for weight loss.  Then, each day you log what you eat.  The great thing about this is that you can do it on your phone OR online!  Mine is set up for both.  So if I'm out and about, I will use my iPhone.  But if I'm working I will log on on my computer.

You can also add friends who are using it online!  You can send each other messages and see how everyone is doing.  So if any of you have a username let me know and we will friend on that!

The greatest thing about this program is they have EVERYTHING in their database of food!  I have yet to enter something that I was not able to find.  And a really cool feature is that you can scan a bar code on something and it automatically enters it for you.  I LOVE TECHNOLOGY!

I really, really am trying to get back into the diet thing.  I kind of fell of the wagon when things started getting so busy in my life.  But I am committed to hoping back onto that horse..... Cruise to the Bahamas in two months is my motivation!

Also, I am really want to get going back to Zumba.  If you have never tried it, you must!  I loved going when I used to and it is an AMAZING workout.  I would usually burn about 600 calories in the hour class.  It is fun and upbeat.  And a lot of instructors use songs that you hear on the radio and they really pump you up.  I have 20 days of school left and I will be back in that dance studio Zumba-ing my butt off by then!  I have the set of DVDs at home but they're not as good.  It is so much easier to wuss out half way through and quit when you are doing it by yourself.

Do y'all have any suggestion how to get back moving and in the swing of things?  I am in desperate need of thin-spiration!

Wordless Wednesday

I survived Catholic school uniforms for 13 years.

So What! Wednesday

I am linking up with "So What Wednesday" over at "Life After I Dew!" This week I am saying so what to:

• My shoes being all over my bedroom floor!
• That I am still not back in the full swing of my "diet."
• That my classroom looks like a hot mess half the time.. "Sorry for the mess, we are learning."
• I took a 2 hour nap after work the last two days... I don't feel too good.

So what!

What are y'all saying so what to this week?

My Weekend in Instagrams

This weekend, I traveled to Jackson, TN for my best friend's wedding.  You can find her blog here- The Life and Whereabouts of Chelsea.  Here is my weekend via Instagram :)

My go to comfy shoes. Love them!

Painting I did that Chelsea had put in front of the church.

Melissa, me, and Sue out at the Jackson Tavern after the rehearsal dinner.

Bridesmaid dress hanging on my gift from the Bride.

Breakfast in bed the morning of the wedding!

Takes a lot to get ready for a wedding!

Chelsea's bouquet.  It has a piece of her Sigma Kappa initiation dress wrapped around it and she used my badge as her "something borrowed." I am most definitely doing this when I get married!

Myself and the beautiful bride. I love her to death!

Probably my favorite picture from the day.

All of my sisters! Sisterhood lasts forever <3

It was such a wonderful weekend.  I can't wait to share some more pictures our wonderful photogropher took!

Happy Monday, yall!