Girls on Stage Make it Rain

Cheers to the freakin weekend! So I totally suck because I didn’t make it to Zumba last night. I was so excited! However R's cousin who I was going with cancelled and rather than put on my big girl panties I stayed home. I know... lame but {football and the hubs were calling my name} I will do it next Tuesday. Maybe in the mean time I can work on my coordination {god help me} at home by trying to dance along with some Zumba videos.

Did you know?? It’s FRIDAY!!!! I’m stoked after such a short week last week, this week feels like it drags on for-eve-aaaa you know? I’m also pretty stoked because tonight we are going to see Dom Kennedy. I know most of you won’t know who that is and I'm pretty gansta {not really} because I listen to some ghetto rap lol. But let me tell you rap shows are the best place to decide never to have children people watch. I mean some of these little girls {stripper gear} outfits, really?? But I'll try to get some pictures of the best offenders.

Here’s one of my favorite Dom Kennedy songs...

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=dom+kennedy+my+type+of+party&view=detail&mid=7CFD3B598DB2F5186BA17CFD3B598DB2F5186BA1&first=0

Okay two...

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=dom+kennedy+girls+on+stage&view=detail&mid=2F397B711276BD6A08C52F397B711276BD6A08C5&first=0

 

Don't you feel so hood now?! Granted maybe the stripper clothing comes from song influence, the second song does say “girls on stage make it rain.” But come-on people!

I'm also super stoked that tomorrow we are going to get our Christmas tree and put up xmas lights. I’m sure if you follow me on instagram you will probably want to delete me from picture over load but I love the holidays. Like little kid full heartedly love them. I make R do the whole thing: coffee, Christmas music and drive up the mountain to cut our own tree. It’s my favorite and I’m pretty sure it’s one of the many reasons R wants to strangle me loves me. I hope you all have an awesome weekend can’t wait to hear all about them!!

Its Britney B*****

Okay so love her or hate her.. But I still love her even if she is a bit weird now. I'm loving this new Britney video/song. Im just not too crazy about the "See the boys in the club...they wotchin' us. Everybody in the club...oll eyes on us." I think that part sounds weird but Im still gonna add it to the running play list! What do you guys think?

http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/video-gaga/britney-spears-sounds-little-different-video-scream-shout-181847461.html

Zum-What?!

 

I'm a bit nervous! I agreed to sign-up with R's cousin for a zubma class. I had never really been interested in it before now, however after listening to so many people rant and rave about it I figured why not give it a shot. So tonight’s the night. Let me tell you I L-O-V-E to dance and booty-pop but I’m not sure I'll be able to keep up with these girls! Actually having steps and an order and a particular rhythm scares the crap out of me (probably because a guy in high school told me I was cute because I had my OWN rhythm, AKA I sucked.)  But I figure everyone has to start somewhere and I'll just laugh at myself until I get it right. Plus I’m really just hoping to be all-over sore and to burn like 3,000,000 calories totally do-able right J So wish me luck! How about you girls? Ever done Zumba?

 

I'm Back For The Hump

Good Morning!!

As some of you know we spent the last week in sunny California visiting my family! We had such a great time !! The first day I had taken R site seeing (although if you’ve ever been to Redding California you know there’s not shit much to see.) Then we drove a hour to my dad’s new house and visited with him and my grandma for a couple of hours. It was so great to see both of them together. I have really missed my dad and if you are a regular reader you know I have a very up and down relationship with him. So it was great to spend some time with together and have him really get to know R. In the 3 years R and I have been together he has only met my dad once when we went to dinner with all of my family 2 years ago. So it’s hard knowing that my dad doesn’t really know the man that I am about to marry. So it warmed my heart to see them interact and get to know each other better. We soon returned to my mom’s house for dinner and drinks. Thanksgiving morning my little sister MM took us shooting (remember I told you there wasn’t much to do in Redding!) However we really had a good time, there’s nothing cooler than feeling powerful by shooting guns (I suggest you try it!) After shooting we went mudding in my sister new truck. Sometimes I find it hard to think of my little sister as an adult. Sure she’s 21, however I only see her a couple times of year so in my mind she’s still just a little girl. It was really great to see her as a woman and enjoying teaching me things about the things she loves to do. After mudding and shooting we came home to eat a fest with family.  The next morning we went to Macys to get a necklace I had wanted (our only black shopping this year) We got in I grabbed it, paid and got out of there. After a bit more site seeing we went back to moms house and napped hungout for a  bit before having people over that evening. We had many family members over on Friday night and we did a lot of drinking catching up. Over all the whole trip was a success, I not only got to see all of the family I hoped to, but we ate good food and relaxed and I enjoyed every moment.
Now that I’m back to reality I’m ready to work-out and lose the 4lbs I may have or may not have gained during the trip. I let myself off the hook to enjoy whatever I wanted for just over a week and while usually I would be so mad at myself I think it was just what I needed. I feel surprisingly good, especially for not working out once during the vacation. I had packed all my running clothes with best intentions of getting a couple runs in however Im a slacker  family time was more important to me this trip. So now I have to get back on the horse and get my butt in gear only 5 ½ months until we get married and I live in my swimsuit on the honeymoon without any fears or worries of how I feel I look in a Bikini. So I thought I’d leave you all with some pictures of my trip and if you follow me on instagram I’m sorry for the duplicates & picture overload.

Happy hump day ya’ll!!

My Boys on the Road Trip

 Me at the Shasta Dam

 R at Shasta Dam

Us Site Seeing at the Shasta Dam

 Visiting my Dad

Thanksgiving Shooting

 Me & My Sister

R & My Sister

 Mudding in the truck

 

 R, Me & Mom

 Sis, Me & Mom

Sister & Me

 R & I @ the Sundial Bridge

 R & My Sister

My Cousin D, his daughter & Me

Checking Out

Good Morning!! Its Friday, its Friday ohhh it’s Friday!!  Okay not really but it is for me! This lucky bitch lady scored rest of the week off to go home to California for Turkey Day! I can’t wait to get off work pack the car and hit the road. It’s only an 8.5 hour drive but it’s going to be a blast. R and I got some horrible snack food, good music and comfy clothes and were ready to go.  The only problem is the snow advisory but I’m sure we’ll be all good, cross your fingers just in case!

I thought I would do the link up with Holly & Erin this week for Thanksgiving. I didn’t have time to do my hair or make up today so I’m just gonna blog it not vlog it and scar you for life. So here it goes..

1.       What do you look forward to more: the food, football or parades? I think I’m the only girl so far to have this answer but... FOOTBALL!!! (Does this mean I’m getting over the inner fat girl ? or just cheating)

2.       What is your favorite non-traditional Thanksgiving Day dish? We are pretty traditional except the year I didn’t go home when I was 19 and had friends over but made them bring their favorite fast food to share.. I believe I had “brought” Taco Bell. Damn I miss Taco Bell! {Oh there’s the inner fat girl}

3.       After dinner, is it football or a nap? See Question 1 J And helping clean up because Im OCD {yes even in other people’s homes}

4.       Do you watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? Which is your favorite float? I don’t think I have ever watched it. I’m totally with Holly on this one. It’s totally weird to go stand in the cold with a bunch of strangers and look at big moving flower things with people throwing crap at you. Not my idea of a good time.

5.       Where do you go to celebrate and eat your big meal? Who is there (family, friends)? Every Year is different since mine and my hubs family live in different states. But this year it’s just going to be small at my mom’s house, Mom, Sis, Grams, R and Me. (What a lucky man PH)

6.       What is your favorite turkey day dessert? Any kind of pie but pumpkin. I never really eat pie because R doesn’t like them so it’s the one day I get it J

Thanks again Holly and Erin! Such a good idea!!!! Happy Thanksgiving!!

I'd like to stay... but I Must-ache {Dash}

Good Morning! I hope you all had a great weekend, I sure did!! After work on Friday the soon-to-be hubs and I had a date night! We went to Sushi and frozen yogurt then to the movies  we may have or may not have seen the new breaking dawn. Okay why I lie, I was excited to see it. I had read all the books before it was the big to-do so I was stoked to see an ending I knew nothing about. I loved every minute of it.

 Our Movie theather is the best! They have recliners

 R taking a nap before the show :)

Haha He loves how much I love to take pictures HP.

Then we woke up super early for my first 5K. I was super nervous. I haven’t been able to run in over a week due to the weather and getting dark so early. 

 Ready to head out..

My awesome Mustache tank!

R was super supportive even when I was being a bitch because I was nervous.  

 Me and my Mustache :)

One of my BFF's Caprice (Who found this race!! :)

 I completely surprised myself. I had set a goal of completing the run in 40 minutes since it was my first. So I started steady and really watched my breathing. I fell into a good groove and didn’t really get tired until after the second mile I had to walk for 30 seconds then get back to it. I also really wanted to stop at the end but kept pushing myself all the way through and I ran over that finish line so completely proud of myself the tears started to form in my eyes. I caught my breath for a minute then hugged R and my best friend and her fiancé. Then we went over to the time station to see what I officially did and here’s what I saw…





 

That’s right folks 31:39 (A pace of 10:13/M) I couldn’t be any happier with that time. I was faster than 880 people and I did even better than the adv. speed of 34:24!! To think it was my very first one and  I had never ran a mile in my life! So thanks to all of you for the supportive words of encouragement!

 Me & The Girls!

 My #1 Supporter always!

Yesterday was I was brought back to reality. My day was spent cleaning, packing and errands. Nothing exciting. But I did take time to register for the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving and I can’t wait to see how well I can do! Happy Monday!! And Whoo Hooo Short Week!!

50 Shades of Friday!!

Good Morning!! I’m so happy its Friday!! But who isn’t right?! R told me last night that he has another date night planned for tonight, yes folks that two (yes 2) Friday nights in a row?! God I love that man. Not to mention, tomorrow am is my first 5K whoo hoo!!

So every once and a while, when there’s no new blogs to stalk I go to the stir webpage and read their current stories. Today one of their writer’s was talking about a movie trailer for the 50 Shades of Grey. I watched the trailer and really liked it only to find out it was fan made and not the official one. But I have to say it looked interesting. I am not a huge fan of reading the books that everyone gets so excited about nor did I really want to read mommy porn because trust me our sex life is hot enough : ) but now I’m a bit curious about it. Has anyone else read the books and if so what specifically did you like about it and if not why not? I’m debating reading the first one.  

I did however just finish a fun read. It’s called I Do, Now What? It’s by Giuliana and Bill Rancic. I’m not sure why but I completely love them. I feel like they are a very real couple and we could be very good couple friends with them if we had a ton of cash and could afford to do all the crap they do.  Much of the book was common sense and things you already know but it was a good refresher.  I really enjoyed it. I’m also starting a book called What they don’t tell the bride. Being that I’m getting married 6 months from tomorrow, does anyone have any good advice for me?

Well last but not least... What I’m Thankful for…

The day before yesterday I had a long phone conversation with my dad. My dad and I have had a very touch-and-go relationship my whole life. So to say the least we are not very close. So today I am thankful that I have a second shot at a father-daughter relationship with my soon to be father-in-law.  He is an incredible man who works hard to provide for his family. He is also very loving and makes sure that everyone he knows is taken care. Ever since R and I started dated he showed me love and support any way that he could. I am thankful that he raised both of his sons the way he did and that R will be like him when we have kids.

Have a great weekend ya'll!! And good luck to all the runners this weekend!!

Hairy Situations..

Hi Ya'll... I’ve received a couple emails about my hair so here’s a rundown of what I use :)

I only wash my hair every other. I typically use biolage shampoo for damaged hair. Even though mines not really damaged I like that it strengthens it.

 
After shampooing, I use Miracle 10 daily conditioner (I only condition the ends never the scalp.) I put the conditioner in and then I finish showering and shave my legs then rinse.



However once a week I use this miracle 10 hair mask instead of the daily conditioner and leave it in for about 10 minutes before rinsing. I love the hair mask but if you use it too often it will make your hair really greasy.

 
After I get out of the shower I towel dry my hair and run my fingers though my hair. Then I put about a dime size drop of thermal protection in my palms and rub it together and then run it through my hair. Then I spray the CHI 44 iron guard through my hair and then round brush blow dry.

 

Then after blow drying I either use my new straightner the Babyliss Pro Nano. (I love it!! So much better than CHI.) Or curl it with either my hot tools curing iron or revlon ceramic curling iron.

My sister is a hair stylist so she lets me know of any other new stuff that I should try and she gets me a deal on all of these items, but Im sure you could find them online or at a local beauty shop.



 
Hope this helps! Happy Thursday :)

We're almost there...

I’m not sure about you, but to me... this has been a really l-o-n-g week. I’m not sure if it’s because of the excitement/scary realization that I will come face to face with one of my goals this weekend or if it’s the excitement that will happen next week, but either way this week has dragged on for what feels like years!!

Speaking of the 5K, I have some amazing friends and family in my life. After the last few days and feeling so down on myself (see previous posting) about the upcoming run many of those special people in my life stepped up and really touched me. They all gave me such support and inspiring words that I really feel touched to do it not only for myself but for them as well. I no longer feel the pressure to push myself to the point of tears. They have shown me that I should be proud of myself regardless. If I looked back to a year ago from today I wouldn’t have even been able to walk a mile nor run 5 steps. Now I can walk 15 miles and I can run 2 without stopping. That is something to be proud of and no matter how I do this weekend I have to be proud of myself and that’s all that matters. I am very excited for Saturday it’s really going to be a lot of fun! It’s called the Mustache Dash. The run is to promote men’s health with an emphasis on prostate cancer. 

 

 

 

So me being the lover of balls that I am, this is the perfect cause for me to support and break my 5K cherry. So the men are supposed to grown a mustache for Movember and the women and children are supposed to wear fake mustaches.  I have purchased a super cute Mustache tank top to wear over my running shirt and I got a pack of fake mustaches to pick from! I can’t wait!!



 

Also, I have been slacking on my Thankful for’s.. So today I am VERY thankful that I get to make it home for Thanksgiving. As some of you know my family lives in California and we live in Washington. So I often get very home sick. I know I’m 26 but it’s true I do sue me. I am very very close to my mom, sister and grandma. My mom (M) has always been the most amazing mother you could ever ask for. She is very loving, supportive and accepting. She understands what it’s like to be young (since she had me at 19) and never judges or makes me feel bad about my decisions. She is not only my mom but she is one of my best friends. I love that I can talk to her about absolutely anything and it’s not weird. She did such a great job always making sure we had food on the table, a roof over our heads and cool clothes even though she was a single mom with no help or family close by. She’s my role model and I hope to one day be half the mother she was to us.

 My Mom & Sister

 My Pretty Mom

I also have a younger sister (M). When we were little we were best friends since we had gone through a lot together and no one else would ever know what exactly it all felt like (our parents divorced when we were pretty young.) Then as I was a teenage we grew to hate each other like a lot of sisters do. But now that were both in our 20’s we have begun to grow a lot closer again. I just love her to death, she is one of the most funny, outgoing, says whatever bat shit crazy stuff that comes to mind type of girl and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m sure as more childhood story’s get presented on this blog you’ll grown to love her as well! (See the P.S to this post below)

 Me & My Sis

 

 

Lastly is my grandma. I call her Grams (she is not an M, she’s my dad’s mom. My mom’s the one that was obsessed with M names J)  My grams had my dad when she was only 16 years old. So when you do the math her 16 + my dad had me at 20 I have a very young family. Most of the time people actually think my grams is my mom when we are out in public because she is so young.  My grams and I have had some rough times in the past but we have grown an amazing friendship out of it. She is one of my best friends. I can tell her anything just like my mom and I will never feel judged or stupid. I’m so incredibly lucky to have this type of relationship with her. While many people speak to their grandma’s once or twice a year I speak to mine once or twice a week (Usually Tuesdays when I stuck in god awful traffic.) She has been so supportive, loving and understanding. She is one tough cookie and I hope to be a lot like her!

 

 My Grams is Hott!!



So you see with 3 of my favorite people in the world in California I often get home sick. So this year I asked R if we could visit my family for Thanksgiving. R of course was instantly on board (He loves all of them all most as much as I do.) I was a little surprised because we have been saving for our wedding and thought he might not think it was a good idea but instead he told me “Yes we’ll go, and well make it all happen one way or another.” (God I love that man) So I’m stoked!!  I also found out there is a little 2 mile race on Thanksgiving in the town my mom lives in so I’m seriously thinking about signing up. It would probably be a good idea to offset the food coma I’m sure I will be in later that day.

 

Also did I mention, my parents are divorced and my grams (dad’s mom) will be coming to my mom’s house for Thanksgiving?! How cool is that! I’m so excited that over the past few years my mom and grams have put aside their differences and really like each other now. It makes it so nice for my sister and me to have both of our favorite women in one spot at the same time and actually get along! So you see I’m super excited for Thanksgiving this year!! What about you? Any fun plans?

Me, My Mom & Sis

 P.s. I thought I’d share a little MM Story I know this this shit storm of a post wasnt long enough. So my little sis was swinging on a swing-set at a family BBQ. There were probably about 20 people there when my sweet little sister jumps of the swing and starts freaking out. She yells “Mom, my ring. My ring.” My mom asks MM what she’s talking about and MM says “Mom I lost my ring it flew off my finger.” So instantly a large group of adults and children all begin looking for MMs ring under the swing set. After about 5-10 minutes MM announces “Oh Mom, It’s on my finger.” So you see my sister is VERY blonde. While most people would look at their finger first before announcing that they lost a ring, not my sister. She does things a little differently. So to this day we ask her where her rings are.

Life's Tough.. Get a Helmet

Yesterday was rough…  It all started with my miserable co-worker. She hates her life so she finds it necessary to be rude to everyone and make everyone just as miserable as she is. Typically I can ignore her for the most part (even though we share an office.) I’m actually rather good at it. However, yesterday I gave in and couldn’t handle it. I don’t know why some people feel such a need to be so rude and disrespectful to everyone people. So after enough of her attitude I decided to go work on one of my job sites.  While on my drive to the job site (an hour away) I began to think about this 5K that I have been so excited about. I thought about how I haven’t been able to run in about a week due to the cold weather (cramping) our schedules and many other excuses things. I really began to let doubt in. I thought about how my co-worked dropped a bomb on me told last week that she had signed up for the same run and was bringing some of my guy co-workers along as well. So all I could see is her and her athlete buddies all watching and talking as I ended up walking part of the 5K. Feeling all of this pressure really made me cry. I’m not sure why I’m letting all of this affect me so much. I should just be proud that I have only been running 5 weeks now and can run 2 miles without stopping. But instead I’m focusing on the fact that I may not do as well as other people and that I am letting them control me so much that I even care what they think. But I am very hard on myself and when I set big goals I want to obtain them I’m not a settler. I don’t want to settle for walking part of the run. I also have told so many people my goal of running the whole thing, so I don’t want to have to tell them that I walked it when asked about it. I also have an amazing best friend and her fiancé who took the day off work to watch me run my first 5K. So I don’t want to disappoint them, I don’t want to disappoint R after I have talked so much about this for the last month and most of all I don’t want to disappoint myself.  I’m not sure what to do. Part of me wants to just give up and not even go on Saturday. The other part of me doesn’t want to give up on the goal and thinks I need to just push myself. With both of these feelings swirling around in my head it’s really stressing me out. Hopefully I’ll figure it out soon since the run is on Saturday.

High Five Friday!!

Today I am thankful that I have a job that pays the bills. Sadly, there are a lot of unemployed or people whom don’t make enough to pay their bills. I am one of the lucky few that actually does have a good job and is actually pretty well taken care of. Yes, I definitely have one of those rude co-workers that you wish would drop off the face of the planet (2 in fact) and my job has very difficult moments, however most of my co-workers are rather amazing. I also have a great boss who’s very understanding and good guy to work for. So today I am very thankful for my job. However it is very early and that could still change today.

Yesterday was weigh- in Thursday and I realized I had forgotten to post about it.

So drum roll please…. I’m down -1.5 lbs. for the week.

While this number may not seem like much to most, I am very happy with it. It seems to me that the more weight I lose the harder it is to lose it. My first 20lbs came off with a just barely a sneeze and now I can eat right, workout daily and barely lose a pound. I think my body is holding on as strong as possible and that’s okay. It just makes me that more impressed with myself when I lose it. Even if I have to lose the last 13.5 lbs. 1lb/one week at a time I will get there and I’m honestly okay with that.

Last night, I really took a moment to think about my journey. I have been on my mission to get healthy just a little more than a year now and I have lost a total of 71.5lbs. Just think about it 71.5lbs is the weight of a 10 year old girl! I have lost a whole person. While in the beginning I was so disappointed that I had let myself get to the point of complete obese I have learned that I have amazing drive and now know I can do anything I put my mind to. I am so impressed with my will-power, strength and drive. I think that this whole experience has made me such a better person inside and out. This journey has not only been about losing weight, it has been about changing my life.  I wanted to be healthy mentally and physically. I wanted to be a person that I would want to meet; I wanted to be a person that would inspire my future children. I wanted to be a strong wife for my soon-to-be husband and I wanted to be the best me I could be. While I still have my moments, I have made so many of these changes throughout my journey so far.  My self-confidence has changed in such a big way. I feel like I am pretty girl not just a pretty face.  I feel like for once in my life I really want to live and I want to go out and try new things. I want to meet new people and I want to live every day to the fullest. Today I am proud of who I am.

Happy Friday and I hope everyone has a great weekend!! High Five :)

Too Fast, Too Young?

Thankful

Today I am thankful that we have a roof over our heads. There are so many people out there that don’t have a place to come home to and sometimes I get on my high horse about things that are not important but in all actually I am very lucky. Not only do we have a very nice house, we also own our house and in this economy many people will never get to experience what that is like. In hand with being thankful for my house, I am thankful for the hardworking man that helps makes that possible. R continuously works hard at his job and is the type of man that constantly makes you proud to be his other half. I’m thankful for this life we have made together.

Completely unrelated… I wanted to take a moment to get some thoughts and opinions on something we were discussing this morning at work. Recently I came across an article about two very young girls that compete in endurance runs. The girls are 10 and 12 years old which brings up some concerns about running such long distances when your body is not fully grown and/or developed. Some people at work argued that you should let your kids do what they want to do and it helps them stay in shape. Others think it’s wrong because they believe it could affect the growth of the child. I’m not a parent nor am I a child developemental expert, but I think that those runs may be a bit too much for the small girls. I believe running is very hard on your body and I believe as an adult you typically know when to listen to your body and what it needs. So if you are sore or something is wrong we typically know and slow ourselves down. I would fear that children may not know their bodies as well and something serious could affect them for the rest of their lives if not handled correctly. Please note I’m not talking about just a 5K or fun run. I believe children should be included in those and taught to take care of themselves but I’m not sure I agree with the much longer runs. What do you parents think? I’m very open minded and like to know what you would do if your child wanted to run?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/sports/too-fast-too-soon-young-endurance-runners-draw-cheers-and-concerns.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Happy Thursday!!!

Seriously Thank Good~ness

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching I thought I would do a daily post about what I am thankful for this year...  

This morning, I am thankful that the election is over. I’m sorry if I offend anyone but I am soooo tired of hearing all of the whom you should vote for, do your homework, horrible things about the opposing candidates and all of the other cap that comes with it. Granted, I think if you feel strongly about the person you want to run your county I do believe you should vote. Hey even tell your friends who you voted for if you want. But don’t go around screaming it like a crazy person and posting on FB about it every 5 minutes. This does nothing more than make other people think you look ridiculous smart.  I am so thankful that I live in a county that has freedom of speech and that everyone has the right to vote but I wish more people would respect the fact that not everyone has the same beliefs.  Okay, enough of all of that because I’m sure you’re all tired of my rant for the day…

I also want to note that I’m thankful for a very small treasure, red cup season. For those of you from the Pacific Northwest I don’t need to explain. However for the rest of the world, little red cup season starts the first week of November and ends after New Year’s.  It’s the official beginning of the holiday season because Starbucks switches to red cups and makes all of the high calorie packed delicious drinks for the holiday season, which includes my all-time favorite, the gingerbread latte... If you haven’t had one I insist you try it, it’s a little slice of heaven in a cup. You can thank me later! (and I know third world problems that I’m thankful for a Starbucks drink) But it was needed this morning! Hope you all have a great day!