Night before the new job!

Well, similar to Friday's post, nothing particularly exciting has happened to me over the weekend to report! Saturday I slept in until 10am then had a cup of coffee in bed... what a great way to start the day. I then hit the gym for most of the afternoon, had to get a good cardio session in for the weekend in case I felt like indulging in something bad for me. I did 13 miles on the bike, 4 miles on the treadmill, and 3 on the elliptical then worked my back and shoulder. As you can expect I was absolutely ravenous by the time this workout was over but I knew Lauren and I would probably do dinner of some sort so I sat staring at my phone waiting for her to wake up as I viciously ate my allotment of 6 almonds and 24 oz of water. In what felt like 42 years, she said she was up and we ordered dinner at Olive Garden. I went and picked up chicken parmesean for the three of us. I had half of my chicken parmesean dinner, some salad.. and dare I say a breadstick. I admit it, I ate a buttery, garlicky breadstick and enjoyed every calorie. I figure 20 miles of cardio more than makes up for it and I will feel no shame!!

After dinner I headed home to watch some tv and go to sleep, such an exciting life I lead. I was looking up pictures and thought also this was funny hehe.

I apologize if I offend any of my audience, just couldn't resist. Today I was extremely lazy, like set the new record for laziness but not leaving my bed except for food and the bathroom until 4:45pm....I kid you not my talent for laying in bed, watching Gilmore Girls is unparalleled. I finally got up and met Olivia at the gym for a nice Sunday evening workout. Much needed after my lazy day, my body was happy to get the blood flowing!!

Stomach getting flatter..thighs are still large, i cannot win that battle!!!

My new sneakers!!! I did about 45 minutes of cardio then a hardcore ab circuit that will ensure I will not be able to sit up tomorrow. Oh well! I got home around 7 to eat some dinner, I actually took a picture this evening, aren't you all so lucky! I had lite italian wedding soup, an orange, and 9 almonds.. delicious.

Lauren, Aaron and Bails came over and hung around while we facetimed the parents for awhile. They left and I sat down to watch Revenge after taking a shower. All my shows are coming back, and it's pathetic to say I am too excited. Gives me something to do at night!! Tomorrow is my first day at work!!!! Orientation starts at 2 and I hope you all will send good vibes my way that all goes well this week and I will start making money by next week!!! Which couldn't happen any sooner because I no longer have bread or eggs or the basic food groups. Need money and to go food shopping haha! I am more lazy then poor, but it will definitely be nice to have an income again! My last picture of the day is another new thing I am going to start each blog, a quote to end on! Miss you all and hope you guys have a great week!

High: Got such a good workout yesterday

Low: Weekends are always a bit lonely

Weather: Getting chillier but still very nice weather!!

Lazy Friday

Hello all! Fair warning, this blog post will be more boring than most. Nothing interesting has happened to me the last two days so it's more just my day to day life. Yesterday I woke up the usual time and hit the gym for a killer workout once again, really feel myself making progress and getting stronger!! Here's a picture of when Bailey was born and again last week. So much difference 10 pounds makes!

Keeps me motivated to keep going on my journey to being fit!! After my workout and delicious protein shake, it was high time for a nap! I have become an incredible napper, its really quite the talent.

Why Steve Carell, I couldn't have said it better myself. I woke up and did my test for school.. got an A of course, killing this online class! Nursing school here I come. After that I headed over to Lauren's to hang out with the Bails while she showered and got ready for work. My little snuggle buddy and I went for a walk of course, got a nice 3 laps in before she started calling the mothership, the sign that she is going to sleep. She is so much like me I love it! We talked to Mimi on the phone for awhile then I headed off to the gym for another cardio session. My trainers at the gym have been trying to get me to do zumba for quite some time now. Zumba, for those of you who do not know, is essentially fast moving dancing for a solid hour with choreographed steps to keep your heart rate up. Well, this girl teaches it, and I have always been intimidated because well, I have no rhythm. These African-American girls, to be PC, know how to shake it! I don't. It was downright sad. They high fived me at the end for even finishing.... A workout I will not be completing again, I will stick with the treadmill!!

After zumba I had a delicious dinner of 3oz of chicken and some green beans and almonds! Yum, I love eating healthy all the time... Anyways I watched Grey's Anatomy premiere till 11pm, way past my bedtime but it is my favorite show! Got up this morning and hit the gym where I felt like dying. Not an awesome workout, but I sweated buckets I'm pretty sure. I am not an attractive person when I workout.

That's why we wear black to the gym.. its a funeral for our fat!! Haha, got home from the gym and had a protein shake, I'm trying to hold out buying frozen fruit for my smoothies till my parents get here and go grocery shopping for me.. so the shakes are looking pretty skimpy these days... Thank goodness I found out I start training on Monday so I will be able to afford all the fruit I want soon!! The manager said they want me to be completely trained by the end of next week, so excited!!!! The rest of the day I am just hanging out, probably will go to the gym again later tonight, other than that just living the quiet life. Hope you all are having a great day and this blog wasn't a waste of 5 minutes of your life to read!! 

High: Finding out I start training monday!

Low: Being tired at my workout this morning

Weather: Chilly when I went to work out this morning!

Everything is falling into place

My huge audience, please forgive the lack of blog for the last week, as I have been busy making moves and getting everything into place! I shall begin last week about my journey to the great land of JMU! I arrived Thursday around 2:30pm to some very excited friends. I am not sure if they were excited I was there or because I brought 6 dozen chocolate chip cookies with me... either way it was so good to see them!! I relaxed with everyone before going out to dinner at our favorite mexican restaurant el charros for some tacos & margaritas! ay ay! You know you've found great friends when all the time apart doesn't change a single thing. We then bopped around to everyone's houses seeing people and enjoying the evening. Friday was day one of the "Days of the Slugs". What are the "Days of Slugs" you ask? Well, similar to cave mode, Days of Slugs: noun, [ daahz uf slooguz] are when a group of young people gather in one dark room, with many movies, junk food, and have no intention from moving from one spot for at least 10 hours at a time. We woke up early to begin Day 1, complete with breakfast and a plethora of movies to keep us entertained for the duration of the day. Fast forward to around 4pm, my friend Corrin called me and asked if I wanted to do a hot yoga class with her. Since I had been the definition of a slug all day, I said sure why not let's give it a try.... Fast forward 90 minutes of sitting in the Sahara desert with 1 water bottle and too much exercise, I am drenched. Like it looks like I took a shower with all my clothes on drenched. However, it was a neat experience, doing yoga in a room that was between 108-113 degrees for 90 minutes. Below is a picture of how I felt except substitute cupcakes for iHop breakfast, eek! My cheat weekend had just begun.

After hot yoga it was time to get ready for the big party of the evening. It was bid celebration for my favorite fraternity, lambda chi, and it was a mixer with my sorority so we all were excited to go. We got ready and all gathered to head over together. Fast forward to later that night I am making bad decisions by eating 2 pieces of pizza without a care in the world. Shaaaaameeee.

Saturday, cue Day of the Slugs, round 2. Except this time it was with Mcdonald's and a marathon of tv for the entire day. Like.. the whole day from 8am till 9pm. That is pure talent right there, it's hard to be in one position that long, but hey some people just have a gift. That was my first day not doing any type of exercise in over 2 weeks, oh well! We didn't really wanna go out on Saturday night, but my friends told me to stop being old and get it together. I did.. for about an hour then Alyssa and I went home to resume Day of the Slugs until we fell asleep in front of the tv. 

Sunday was my last day at JMU and I hung out with everyone there until around 2pm before heading home to my beloved house in Greenville. I have really grown to enjoy my little routine and missed my gym friends and actually feeling like a productive human being. BUT THEN. I got an email on my phone that Longhorn Steakhouse had an open server position and wanted to interview me... SCOREEEE. I planned on calling the next day feeling incredibly encouraged that I could possibly have a job in the next couple days. I got home in about 4 hours and 15 minutes and started some laundry, ate some food then went straight to bed. Monday I got home and planned on going to the gym at night because I wanted a good night sleep after my crazy weekend. I called Longhorn and they scheduled an interview for 3pm. D DAY! I wore a cute dress and did my hair and headed to my interview. THEY LOVED ME ! WOOO GOT THE JOBBBB!!!!!!! They offered it to me on the spot, and I start orientation this week, I AM SO EXCITED.

Lauren came over with Bails later that night to get some dinner to celebrate my new found job-ness. We hung out for a little and Bails was so good the whole time, let us eat our whole dinner just sitting in her seat playing with her feet! Ha I rhymed. She's such a cutie I missed her and my sister while I was away, happy to be back with them! Yesterday I woke up at my normal 6:25am time and hit the gym! Had a great workout, got all my school work done, then Lauren picked me up to run some errands around town. I bought stuff for my work uniform, dark blue jeans, black belt, and a black button down shirt. I am sure it was incredibly entertaining for those around Lauren and I to figure out what size in men's dress shirts I am to buy for work. Dumb and dumber status, but we figured it out! 15, 32-33 fits, whatever that means hahah. We ran a bunch more errands before Bails and I were ready to just chill so we went back to my house to watch tv and let Bails take a snooze. We got some dinner then I promptly got in bed for the night. It's been an exciting few days!!

Missed this nugget!! Today I hit the gym like usual this morning and now just cleaning the house a bit waiting for the call about when I start orientation. Hope you all have had a great week!!

High: GETTING A JOB!!!

Low: nothing can bring down the high of getting a job

Weather: Finally cooled off, its been beautiful

One Month Check In

This is going to be a short post, because I am packing for JMU this weekend wooo! Just wanted to update you all on my weight loss progress and show you some photos from today and exactly 1 month ago. I am proud of how far I have come and can't wait to see how far I can go!! 12 pounds down, many more to go. But I have to say I am happier and healthier than I have ever been and I can conquer the world! Well, maybe not the world, but at least Greenville!!

First off is a pic of Bails and I today because she was just too cute not to share..

and what you all have been waiting for!!!! This is my front, 1 month ago and today!!!

and this is my back, 1 month ago and today!!

I am so proud!! Couldn't do it with all of you guys support, love to you all!

High: Seeing this picture and making my hard work count!

Low: Nothing!

Weather: Absolutely gorgeous again high 70's

Jen ≠ a mom

As I write this blog post, I am sitting in my bed in my pj's at 3 in the afternoon. Why, you ask? Because my precious little baby niece decided last night was going to turn into the exorcist for the majority of last night. Never in my life have I met someone with the stamina and lungs to continue at that decibel for as long as she did. I applaud you, Bailey Rane, you may have set new Guinness World Records last night. Now that I have set the tone for what my night was last night I shall start at the beginning. 

I should have known from the start when I took this picture on our nightly walk that this was not going to be a normal night. As you see in the picture above, Bailey is already starting her transformation into Wailey, her evil twin. Now normally, Wailey, does not make an appearance until around 7pm each night, but since Auntie J was babysitting for the night, Wailey made an exception. We made it 4 times around the neighborhood before I was incredibly hot, and Wailey was cranky. I went inside and put her in the swing to take a breather and calm herself down. She morphed into Bailey instantly and went to sleep. I breathed a sigh of relief and sat down and did some school work. My happiness was shortlived. About 20 minutes later, 6:45pm EST, Wailey appeared and was there to stay. From 6:45pm EST, until approximately 9:21pm EST the events could be rated R because of frightening noises and migrane inducing screams. 

The images below are dramatizations of what occurred on Monday September 16, 2013. Real photos were not taken for everyone's safety.

Wailey sang me the song of her people for 3 hours before Auntie J gave up and put her in the crib and hoped for the best. Miraculously the beast fell asleep and my blood pressure fell 50 points simulataneously. Though she did not eat before bed so I assumed that she would be up in the next couple hours to eat. I was wrong, she did not rise again until 1:45am EST. I warmed her bottle and slowly approached, letting her know my prescence was there hoping not to upset Wailey. I was not successful. She cried until I figured out she did not want the rewarmed bottle from earlier but a fresh bottle. I warmed another and she chugged it down like a champion. Then went right back to record breaking screams that would make anyone's ears bleed. But I was determined to get her back to sleep, so I plopped that little angel on her stomach and sternly told her it was time to go back to sleep, and she listened! WOO PROGRESS FOR ALL MANKIND. I finally fell asleep and awoke with a start at 5am when she stirred again. I don't think I've ever fallen asleep that hard in my life. I played the same game I did at 2am, and put her right back to sleep. Proud of myself that I got a baby back to sleep, I hit the hay again. Lauren woke me up at 7:30 as I my bleary red eyes shot up because I feared I hadn't woken up for Bails. Red eyes because oh yea Jen forgot to take an allergy pill and slept with the cats. It was that kinda night. I sat around and chatted and right before I left, the baby woke up, BAILEY NOT WAILEY was all smiles for my dear sister. She is going to be a trouble maker when she's older because one of those cute smiles and my night of no sleep was soon forgotten. She is just TOO cute. I hit the road and got a good workout in before falling asleep for a few hours. I woke up around 2 and cleaned the house a little and now I am relaxing before getting a second gym session in tonight. I hope that you all have enjoyed this chapter of the Adventures of Auntie J and Bails and until next time, bye bye!

High: Bails finally falling asleep

Low: Bails waking up lol!

Weather: gorgeous, low 60's when I woke up this morning, gotta love fall weather!

Sunday Funday

Good evening everyone! I'm writing to you all all snuggled up in my bed in the cave ready for sleep! Today wasn't anything to "blog" home about, was lazy most of the day. I hit the gym this afternoon and did some leg machines to hopefully make them longer and leaner... eventually! Then I headed to Lauren and Aaron's to babysit the Bails! She was in high spirits this evening and we had quite the timing playing before she got a tad cranky. I strapped her on me, still getting used to having another human strapped to me, and we hit the neighborhood. We walked a total of 12 laps around (probably about .50 - .75 miles around) and listened to the entire new Luke Bryan album almost twice before Aaron got home. She loves being outside! And I got some exercise in with 12.6 extra pounds strapped to my front! The neighbors have started to recognize me, and definitely by lap #12 they stopped waving and started nodding. I left their house around 7:45, hit the gym again, ran a quick 2 miles then came home to hit the showers! Here I am now relaxing after my fun filled relaxing day. 

Here's some photos of the adventures of Bails and Auntie J!

she was tired after lap #10 or so haha

High: Spending time with my girl Bails!

Low: Did not eat very well today

Weather: Gorgeous again, around 80

A Saturday Night Delight

Hello all! Sorry for the lack of post yesterday it was quite the busy day. Woke up early to find out that our poor Bails had the sniffles, so I headed to the doctors with Lauren to make sure everything checked out alright. She's fine just her very first cold! Then hung out at Lauren's till Aaron got home. Finally I made my way back home and lounged about had some lunch, 5 chicken nuggets, 12 almonds and an apple with cinnamon! Delicious and nutritious. After that I proceeded to apply to every job in the city limits of Greenville. 3 jobs at the hospital, 3 different Starbucks locations, at a grocery store, Barnes and Noble, and another restaurant. It was exhausting but I had to get a good workout in to combat the Mac N Cheese I was craving later that night. I intended on doing an hour of cardio then calling it quits. However since I missed morning workout, my trainer, Marc, had other plans for me. He had me whipping this big heavy rope up and down 20 times then 10 pushups then 20 times then 50 crunches. OVER AND OVER. Cue jello arms. I limped back to my treadmill after 30 minutes of torture to get a quick run in before retreating back to my cave. Though, college educated, smart girl that I am decided oh no I'll just run to Walmart and get food for the week since I'm already out. Walmart... on a Friday night..before a huge football game... My college education clearly did not teach me the ways of the South and their Walmart on a Friday night. I walk in to a state of shear chaos. I stop for a moment at the gates nearly mowed down by a large woman in a bright purple leotard with ECU written on the rear. I kid you not. I am not in my natural habitat down here and slowly proceed with caution through the store. I get all of my necessary fruits, veggies, and protein and head to the check out. Imagine your wait at the end of the month to get your car inspected at the DMV... but worse. There are actual police directing people to lines, you just cannot make this stuff up. Rookie mistake on my part going at that time but 20 minutes later I finally check out and walk 10 miles to my car to head home. After the disturbing time spent in Walmart, I had to lie down before making dinner. Also never in my life have I been asked so many times if "I'm going to the game on Saturday" and when I say no, they give me a look of shear disgust and bewilderment as to what could possibly be more important than "the game, ya know on Saturday." No I am sorry, I am not attending the beer drinking function where football is played on Saturday, I apologize. I ended up going to bed early last night because all this South has gone right to my head.

Saturday I had the luxury of sleeping in, but of course woke up at 7 because my body is so used to it now. I lounged about then fell back asleep till about 10:30, made myself a cup of coffee and some fruit and sat my fat butt on the couch and watched television all morning. No shame. I finally got moving a little after noon and went to the gym. I ran 3 miles at 11minute pace, so proud of myself! I'm making progress even with my running so I am pretty happy about that. I met a lady who was also from the North and we were talking about all the Northern food that we love so much more than down here. DOWN WITH THE BARBEQUE GIVE ME SOME PASTA AND BAGELS. And real pizza. And subs. Mmmm carb lover over here! But she was nice to chat with while I did some lifting. 

After that I talked to my parents and grandparents, so happy to know my Poppop's surgery went well and all are well in the fam. I spent the rest of the afternoon leisurely getting ready for dinner tonight because yes, I ACTUALLY WENT OUT. Shocking, I know, I went somewhere other than the gym, Lauren's, or Walmart. A banner night for me, I went to Sappari, a Japanese restaurant with Lauren and her friend Amber. It was so nice to actually get out and have some human contact with someone other than people at the gym. I had steak and shrimp for dinner with tons of leftovers to enjoy tomorrow, yum!  Got home around 10:15pm and it felt way past my bedtime! But I am sitting here watching tv getting ready to hit the hay. Love to you all!

High: Going out to dinner!

Low: Still traumatized from Walmart yesterday

Weather: Absolutely gorgeous about 80 degrees

Bit Out of Sorts today

Hello again, here to fill you in on my thrilling day in Greenville, North Carolina. Per usual, my alarm went off at 6:25am, per usual, I groaned and dragged my sorry butt out of bed. I made my protein shake, which consisted of 1 1/2 cups of frozen strawberries, 10 oz of water, and 2 scoops of protein powder, for your idle curiosity. Please sit down before you read this next statement. Sitting? Okay great, then I turned on CNN to see what was going on in the world while I drank my shake. I am trying to make this a habit to further educate myself on the big world out there of which I have no idea what's going on. Watching for about 10 minutes, enough to put me back to sleep, I trudged out the door to the gym. I ran a few miles on the treadmill, biked 6 miles, then sat down to stretch out my legs. My legs are starting to look like legs instead of large tree trunks, so I think the workouts are helping! WOO! Every morning at 8:30, along with 3 other women, I begin my weightlifting/cardio class. My trainer, Marc, whoops our behinds every day for a half hour. He combines lifting with plyometrics to keep our heart rates nice and high for the full thirty minutes. Today was Thursday, aka Leg and Chest day. I HATE LEG AND CHEST DAY. So many jump squats I thought my butt was actually going to fall off, thats one way to lose weight I guess? But I digress, we did stations today just using our own body weight to work out with things such as pull-ups, squats on a boss ball (hard surface on one side, half an inflatable ball on the other to promote balance and increase leg strength through stability) and pushups. I am happy to say I can finally do a real pushup! I don't think the Army would look twice at me with how it looks but hey! I did it! After the class I came home, had a piece of whole grain bread with peanut butter,  a cup of watermelon (mm my favorite) and a bottle of water. 

I decided that I was going to be an actual slug today. Actually not even a slug, because they move, more like a potted plant. I set myself up in my bed with an old favorite show, Gilmore Girls, a cup of tea, and went into cave mode. What is cave mode you ask?! Cave mode: noun. A state in which one lays in an extremely dark room and doesn't leave the same spot unless absolutely necessary. My dear Dad knew I was having a long week, what with my unemployment status and having no friends to the point where I have full conversations with Bails even though she doesn't respond, just poops. I figured its her way of agreeing with me. He sent me beautiful flowers and a teddy bear cause he knew that it would cheer me up. I have the best parents!!

 I succesfully completed my cave mode for the duration of the day until dinner time where I rose to nuke 5 chicken nuggets, get 9 almonds, and 1 cup of strawberries for my dinner. DELICIOSO! This does not sound like alot to you all but I am now eating 6 200-300 calorie meals a day so I am nutritional sound, fear not. I had an apple with some cinnamon on it early as well as a 100 calorie bag of pop corn. Eating these small meals keeps my metabolism up all day, and makes me over eat so much less than before because I am never starvin like marvin. I am now watching the Hunger Games on netflix and prepared to go right back to sleep in my cloud of a bed cause why not?! Its somtimes really hard not to be back at JMU with all my friends, but I know that I have to grow up and living the party life is not my life anymore! I am however thrilled that I am going back next weekend to see everyone. I am so lucky to have such great friends there. Anyways time for me to hit the hay here's a pic of Bailey and I from yesterday, love to you all!

High: Getting flowers!!

Low: Just feeling out of sorts about the lack of job

Weather: 90 and sunny, HOT!

The beginning

           Whelp here I am again in a foreign country, of sorts that is. Everywhere I turn is unfamiliar territory of Southern drawls and Sweet Tea that will make you diabetic after 3 1/2 sips. Yes, you are correct, I am a new resident of Greenville, North Carolina! As many of you guys know I am on my fourth week down here, and while it won't be as exciting as my Semestre de Espana, I hope you'll all appreciate my semi frequent musings of a Northern girl living in the land of the fried chicken and collard greens. My typical days start off at 6:30am with a protein shake then hit the gym till about 9:15am. Senior year pizza and beers were none too kind to my body. But I am making progress 9 lbs down so far! Far off my goal, but I feel so much better and it's really given me a complete lifestyle change. I've been focusing on eating healthy and making the right decisions. Another step in the right direction of growing up, also to my mom's delight I know how to separate darks and colors, how to mop the floor, and provide myself with sustenance, I'm sure she is so proud.

        My current main struggle is finding a job, the problem is I find myself with so many skills, none of which have anything to do with generating income. Womp! I may be able to make a mean strawberry-blueberry protein shake, and am strangely good at folding tee shirts but alas my days at Surf City are done and no one down here wants to hire me. I got some advice from my dear Poppop tonight to start networking in unexpected places like finding a church, and going out and making more friends. He's right opportunities come out of unexpected places. I just hope they come soon, or I may move into my sisters for food purposes. But I have faith something must surface soon!

        I am currently taking an online class, Nutrition, as a prerequisite to the Nursing Program which I will begin next fall. The class is easy and I get pretty much all of my work done the first day it comes out. I took so many classes similar to this at JMU, so it is all a review to me. It was frustrating to learn that I had to retake a class because they wouldn't transfer my credit but ya gotta do what you gotta do! It will be over the first week in December, so not a very long class. I'm chuggin along!

       I have really enjoyed the time I have gotten to spend with my beautiful niece Bailey. It is so amazing watching this little baby grow into a bigger baby with quite the set of lungs. I had to applaud her stamina the other day when she managed to scream from Raleigh alllllll the way back to Greenville (about an hour and a half). I think she's getting to know me and I have a great time playing with her and know it will only get better as she gets older! The beautiful thing about having a niece is you get all the wonderful benefits of playing with a baby, and you get to give her back when those end ;) She likes to ride in the baby carrier strapped to me and hold my fingers, then prompting falls asleep and poops. I seem to make her poop every time I hold her. A natural laxative I guess I am, oh well! I will post pictures as I take them to keep you guys up on the Adventures of Auntie J and Bails.

I figured I would bring back high/lows and the weather, if any of you care to know!

High: Shopping with Bailey and Lauren today!

Low:Being sore from the gym

Weather: 88 and very sunny