Porch Dining, and My First Giveaway!!

Hello there my lovelies! I've been having a great week so far, and the greatness is not even close to over! Here's why:

1. There's something fun happening at the end of this post....

2. We get to wear jeans to work today (even though it's Thursday)

3. I have my family birthday dinner at my house tonight, with just my smaller, immediate family

4. Tomorrow night is my whole family dinner at my Grandparents house, shared with my Grandmother, because her birthday is just five days before mine! and,

5. Dinner with friends on Saturday night for a small birthday celebration! Hooray! Lots of good things this week.

So first of all, I want to recap my birthday dinner date with my sweet boyfriend from Tuesday night! We decided to splurge a little bit, and try a new restaurant here in town, The Front Porch. And this joint did not disappoint. 

We got there pretty early trying to avoid a crowd, and it seems we had perfect timing. We went right in and sat down immediately. It was a nice night out, so we chose to take advantage and actually sit out on their front porch! And it was so nice out there. It felt great, and it was decorated so beautifully! They have giant, gorgeous chandeliers, but to fit the slightly nautical theme, they're hung by giant boat ropes. And it looks really awesome. 

This is the best the waiter could manage apparently...

We had looked at the menu online the night before, and we had both pretty  much already decided what to get. I got Shrimp & Sausage Strozzapreti. Holy yum people. They make their pasta noodles in-house there, and it was so fresh and yummy. They weren't skimpy with the shrimp on it either, so that made me happy. And it was a huge plate of food. I couldn't even eat it all, so I brought home a cute little to-go box. Jeff got Ashley Farms Chicken Chevre, and his was super yummy too. It was goat cheese-stuff chicken, wrapped in bacon! Soo good. 

And then I wanted dessert to celebrate my birthday (the proper way), so I thought we could share one. But Jeff gave the go ahead for us to both get one! So I got Whoopiemisu - which is espresso-soaked whoopie pies, layered in a little cup with white chocolate mousse and cocao powder. So it was like a jazzed up tiramisu, and this baby was the jam. I ate the entire thing. And Jeff got a giant slice of Peanut Butter & Oreo Ice Cream pie, and his was super delicious too! But he couldn't eat his whole piece. 

Top L: my pasta. Top R: my whoopimisu. Bottom L: Jeff's pie. Bottom R: Jeff's chicken, with potatoes & asaparagus.

So a quick review: we both had super delicious entrees that we both loved, and they were great portion sizes. (Not like most fancy restaurants where you pay a ton of money, for the tiniest bit of food.) We both loved our desserts. The atmosphere was great. Our waiter was super nice. It was all very quick service. This place definitely gets two thumbs up. We will absolutely go back one day. It's not the kind of place we can afford for just any random night, but it's totally worth it for special occasions. 

After the movie, we stopped by Redbox and rented "Moonrise Kingdom." We had already seen it, but we liked it a lot, and wanted to watch it again! It's just such an easy, silly, cute little movie, and it was perfect for a chill birthday night after such a yummy and filling dinner. It was a wonderful way spend my birthday night, with my love!

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And now for the second portion of this blog post... Today I'm finally doing my very first giveaway! (I know, I helped host one a couple of weeks ago, but I'm not counting that one, OK?!) This is in honor of my birthday this week, as well as reaching 300 followers yesterday! I had been thinking about doing one, but wasn't sure. Then all of a sudden yesterday, I just made the decision real quick, and headed to Target! I decided to keep it pretty simple, and I'm just going with a few of my favorite things!

Notepad: I love making lists and notes, so I have about a million of these around my house and work all the time.

Lotion: Always, always keep a baby lotion in my purse. I hate it when my hands get dry!

Washi Tape: Who doesn't love this stuff these days? It's just a super simple way to make something a bit cuter!

Burt's Bees Chapstick: I am seriously, literally addicted to this stuff! I think I currently have 4 tubes of it...

Candle: They make me so happy! I love the way they make a room look, and love the way they smell!

Nail Polish: I just love painting my  nails, and this is a pretty pink, perfect for spring time!

Earrings: My favorite jewelry. I can never have enough. In fact, it's hard to give these away, 'cuz I want them myself!

Moulin Rouge: This is definitely one of my favorite movies. I know every word to every song, and love to sing along!

See? Simple. But I think it's a pretty good little bundle of stuff! :) So here's the deal for the giveaway:

1. You have to be following me. Period.

2. Just leave a little comment on this post! I want to hear something good, so tell me something fun/good/exciting.

3. Leave your email in the comment, so I can contact you if you win.

4. You have until midnight Saturday on night to comment. I'll choose a random winner Sunday, and verify you're following me. And then I'll announce it on Monday. 

5. Duplicate comments will not be counted.

6. United States and Canada only please. (Sorry if I actually have followers elsewhere!)

Guys - I love, love, love having this little blog space of mine. It's grown rapidly, and unexpectedly, and I'm still so amazed at what's been happening around here lately! I'm humbled and grateful and just so excited. Thank you, THANK YOU to all of you lovely followers, readers and friends! Can't wait to see what else this little blog of mine can do, and what else she has to offer! Looking forward to wherever this takes us next :)

Promises - My 30 Before 30 List!!

As of yesterday, I'm officially a quarter-of-a-century old. That's a big deal, right? Maybe, but also maybe not ;) Either way, I'm excited about it! Most of you should know, that for the past six months, I've been working on my list of goals for 25 Before 25, and I've had so much fun! Some were easy, some were hard, some were quick, some took longer, but all were enjoyed. (You can read my final recap in case you want to see how I did on those goals.) One of the things on my previous 25 Before 25 list, was to create a brand new list of 30 Before 30!!

Sent this to a few family members yesterday, just for some fun :)

And of course I've done just that. I haven't written it down and made it look pretty yet like I did with the last one, but I will definitely be doing that soon, so that I can display it as a constant reminder! So without further ado, here's my list of goals for the next five years!

  1. Buy a DSLR for myself, and really learn how to use it
  2. Bake homemade bread, all from scratch
  3. Visit Bridget, wherever she happens to be living at the time!
  4. Read and watch "Gone with the Wind"
  5. Take a cooking class or a painting class - or maybe both!
  6. Get married! (October 5, 2013!!!)
  7. See another Broadway play, or go to any Cirque du Soleil performance
  8. Meet a blog friend IRL (in real life) DONE 5.9.13 with Angie
  9. Complete a 5K (Did The Color Run on 9/7/13)
10. Be healthy! (Hesitant to set specifics, but I'm thinking I want to weigh 150...)
11. Host a dinner party at my own house, cooked all by myself
12. Watch at least 50 of AFI's top 100 films, from 2007 list. (At time of posting, I've already seen 21)
13. Fly on a plane again! (October 6, 2013 - to Cancun on the honeymoon!)
14. Read at least 50 books
15. Visit a state I've never been to before
16. Be in a job or career that I love
17. Eat something I've never had before - maybe something a little bit weird and different?!
18. Travel outside of the country (October 6, 2013 - to Cancun on the honeymoon!)
19. Triple my blog followers, blog posts & number of page views (Today: 298 followers, 262 posts & 19740 views)
20. Completely pay off my student loans
21. Be a part of a flash mob
22. Learn how to drive a stick shift, flawlessly and without stalling
23. Live in my own place (with my husband maybe?!) and decorate it just the way I want it
24. Attend a renaissance fair
25. Go back to New York City again
26. Go to the Epcot Food & Wine Festival to taste all the yummy foreign foods!
27. Have a pet of my own (adopted Primrose 11/9/13)
28. Figure out how to start putting away money for retirement, and do it
29. Go on a spontaneous weekend trip/vacation, without pre-planning anything!
30. Celebrate my 30th birthday in style!!

So, a few of these things are very similar or exact repeats of my 25 Before 25 list, and that's because I didn't do them before, but I would still really like to accomplish, i.e. complete a 5K. But for the most part, I tried to dream bigger and broader than I did with my first list, because now I have five full years to complete these, instead of only six short months.

I really believe that these are things that I will enjoy doing, as well as actually be able to accomplish. However, I will say this: I have no idea where in my life I'll be in two or three or four and half years - so if some of these need to be tweaked or re-worked or deleted with new add-ins, then I'm giving myself permission up front to do that. I mean hello? Five years is kind of a long way off to plan for. So I'm just going to be flexible on these if need be. Because honestly, I'm the only one truly worrying if these are all accomplished anyways!

And besides, the main purpose of this kind of list for me is simply to experience more, travel more, expose myself to more, love more, learn more, treat myself more... LIVE more. And that's exactly what I plan on doing. I plan on living a great life, and enjoying every day that God blesses me with! And while doing that, I plan on doing some awesome things over the next five years :)

Have y'all made any lists like this before? What kinds goals and dreams are on your lists? I'd love to hear more ideas!

Oh, and P.S. - Here's my super short Weigh In Wednesday -- I only lost a pound this last week, putting me at 204 today. I'm blaming that on the very untimely woman issues and some extra bloating because of that... ugh.

Pre-Teen Obsessions - First Things First edition

Hello there again lovelies, for my second post of the day! This post is for week #4 of our First Things First link-up, with my good blog-friend Hallie at Life: Oceanside! Every week we have specific "first" topics that we share with y'all, and we want to hear your answers as well. So read our posts, write your own, grab our button, then come link up your post with us! This weeks "Firsts" are:

First Concert, First Celebrity Crush & First Best Friend!

First Concert

I think I went to about a thousand concerts when I was growing up, because my family loved those Gospel groups like The Gaither Vocal Band and The Cathedral Quartet. So we went to those at churches in and all around our town growing up. Seriously, a ton of these kinds of concerts. And honestly, my sister and I loved them :) 

But I actually consider my first "real" concert to be when I was 13 or 14, in 8th grade. I won tickets off of the radio for a Jo Dee Messina concert! And Rascal Flatts was actually opening for her! I was definitely a Jo Dee fan back then, but I was really thrilled to see Rascal Flatts. That was right after their debut album, and they weren't even very popular yet. We had the album though, and we absolutely loved it. And I absolutely loved the concert!

(Two side notes: I didn't realize until I just looked her up, but apparently Jo Dee is still out there making music and touring! Good for her. And, I've been to two more Rascal Flatts concerts since then, and they're absolutely amazing every time!! They're probably my all-time favorite band.)

First Celebrity Crush

Like most young girls during the height of the TV show, "Home Improvement," I was quite obsessed with my man, JTT. Jonathan Taylor Thomas. What a little hunk, am I right?! He was just so cute and so dreamy, and I was sure he needed to be my boyfriend. I remember talking about him with friends, and ogling over him in those trashy awesome teen magazines. He was just the cutest! And hello - check out those overalls, and his shirtless baby chest, and that killer peace sign necklace. Studly.

First Best Friend

My very first best friend was way back in kindergarten. Her name was Shaughnessy. Interesting/cool name right? It's Native American, I believe. Anyways, we were seated alphabetically in class back then, and we ended up close to each other. We quickly became friends (because I was [and still am]a chatter box), and then we were friends for a couple years! 

We had lots of sleepovers at her house, and I have a very vivid memory of peeing in my 6-or-7-year-old-pants while playing hide-and-seek out on their giant property in the country, because I knew I wouldn't be able to make it all the way back to her house in time. Good times right?! 

Do you remember your first concert, celebrity crush and best friend? If so, write a post about it, and then come back here to link up to both of our blogs!  And if you want to get read for next week, those topics will be:

1. First trip out of the country

2. First major purchase on your own

3. First thing you learned to cook

Oh, and share this on Twitter in order to spread the word of our link up!

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Popcorn Must be Eaten at the Theater

Today is my 25th birthday!!! Hooray! For some reason, I've always really loved my own birthday. I know some people tend to shy away to avoid the spotlight or extra attention, but I tend to bask in it. I don't know if that's "selfish" or not, but honestly, I don't really care - because celebrating my birthday is just always so much fun! And I mean, come on, it IS your special day after all! So why not take joy in it?! I know I always do! :)

Tonight my dear boyfriend will be taking me to try a semi-fancy, new restaurant here in town, The Front Porch, and I'm so dang excited! Chef Rego is apparently really famous for his multitude of restaurants in Atlanta and in the Northeast. But probably more notably, he has won two different episodes of "Chopped" on the Food Network! How awesome is that?! So yeah, I'm pumped :)

And so for today, in honor of my 25th birthday, I'm sharing 25 random facts that I'm guessing most of you don't know about me. Unless you're one of my real life besties, my boyfriend, my sister or my Mama, because they probably do know most of these things. I tried to keep it interesting and only add the "good ones" that probably wouldn't ever come up on my blog naturally. Hope you enjoy!

25 Random Facts about me!

  1. I can't be in the car and NOT sing along with whatever's playing
  2. Popcorn must be eaten when at the movie theater
  3. My bedroom is bright teal. I chose the color when I was 19, and I actually still love it!
  4. I was 18 years old before I ever rode on an airplane
  5. When I drive in the summer, I strategically position my armpits in front of my car vents
  6. I own tons of books that I haven't read yet, but still continue to buy more all the time
  7. I will cry at the drop of a hat, and I am not one of those girls who is a "cute crier." It's downright ugly folks
  8. I'm pretty obsessed with musicals and Broadways and movies about them
  9. Suspensful and scary movies are some of my favorites. Just not the gruesome, nasty ones...
10. When I was little, I wanted to be "a ballerina and a band." Apparently I wanted to be both, at the same time
11. I had 11 different roommates throughout my four years of college
12. I don't wear makeup everyday, and I'm OK without it. However, I don't like pictures of me without makeup
13. I own every season of "Friends" and "Gilmore Girls"
14. When my sheets and comforter and clean, freshly made and pulled tight, that makes me super happy
15. In my house/bedroom, I much prefer lamps or candles instead of overhead lighting
16. I have never lived outside of Florida - and only in two cities: Tallahassee and St. Augustine
17. I am a serial list-maker. I mean, for everything. I've even been known to make lists of lists
18. There are white twinkle lights up in my my room year-round
19. Yummy smelling candles are one of my favorite things
20. I like my own handwriting, a lot
21. I hate repeating myself, so listen up, because I'll usually be annoyed if I have to say it again...
22. I actually really like driving. And on long road trips and stuff, I'll always volunteer to take the wheel for a bit!
23. I tend to be pretty adventurous with food, and love trying new and different things!
24. I used to steal collect menus in high school. I've slowed down on that, but still grab one occasionally.
25. Watermelon is my favorite fruit. I could probably eat a whole one by myself out by the pool in July.

My "little" sister and I at lunch this past Sunday.

Yay for random facts, and yay for birthdays!! I'm lucky again this year, because I get to celebrate my birthday multiple times. Tonight is just Jeff and I; Thursday is my immediate family; Friday is my whole family at my Grandparent's house; and Saturday will be with a few friends! I am indeed a lucky girl :)

For those of you who are older than 25, what did you do to celebrate? For those of you who are younger than 25, do you have an plans or ideas already? Cheers to 25!

Oh, and tomorrow I will be sharing my 30 Before 30 list! And I'm so psyched about it!!

Post-Pledge: The Final Recap

As of this morning, I'm considering my 25 Before 25 Pledge list officially over. Tomorrow I will be 25 years old, and it's time to move on! I have created a new list of 30 Before 30, which is full of all sorts of things. Some are small, some are quite huge, but I'm excited about them all. (Those will be posted later this week.) But for this post, I want to do a recap of how things went for my 25 Before 25 goals!

Puzzling Letters

The One Where all of my letters end in a random question...

Dear Week: I'm glad you're coming to an end in just a few more hours. Why do four-day work weeks always end up feeling incredibly long? I don't get it...?

Dear Exercise: I did pretty awesome again this last week. In the past four days I: hiked on Monday, did an at-home training circuit & weights on Tuesday, did the 30-Day Shred on Wednesday, and went to zumba on Thursday. Four days in a row again. I'm taking today off I think, but I'll be sure to do something Saturday and Sunday still! Should I attempt a short run in the morning, maybe?

Dear Boyfriend: After four longs weeks of bed rest, on Monday, you go back for your last post-surgery appointment! And you will hopefully get an air boot/walking boot thingy to wear for a couple of weeks. If so, that means we can start going out and about a little more often! I so hope this happens, and that you're foot is healing up just perfectly! Are you officially stir crazy yet? 

Dear Bedroom: The sheets are freshly washed and made up, the twinkle lights are put back up again after falling down, the yummiest vanilla cappuccino candle has been burning every night, and you have just felt so nice and cozy this week. It's been lovely reading in there every night before bed, even if it's freezing and I have to add an extra blanket and a robe on top of me :) Although, I wonder how much it would cost to get custom-made blinds to replace those kind of awful pink ones?

Dear Veronica Roth: I read your first two books in about 7 days total. And now the third one's not even out yet, so I have to wait forever until it's finally finished and released. I'm not sure I can be patient enough! I mean, you left us with kind of a big cliffhanger, and I'm so so curious to see where this takes us in the final book of the trilogy! How long are you going to make me wait??

Dear Fringe: You are crazy, but you are awesome. It's just so weird and entertaining and we are loving it! We're just a couple of episodes into the second season now, but I'm sure we'll get a chance to watch quite a few more episodes over the weekend! I'm wondering though, with the series finale being tonight, why am I just now watching this for the first time?

Dear New Blog Followers: Welcome! This baby is growing rapidly lately, and I can hardly stand it I'm just so excited! It makes me humbled and happy to know that y'all actually like what I write and want to keep coming back here! Seriously, so glad to have each and every one of y'all here now. So sit back and stay a while, won't you?

Dear "Old" Blog Followers: Thanks for sticking around with me. The friendships I'm forming with some of y'all are so fun and awesome, and it's my favorite part of blogging. It's just amazing to see where our blogging community can take us! I'm having a blast with all of this lately :) What's your favorite part of this blog-world?

Happy Friday to everyone! I am looking forward to another chill, but fun weekend spent with friends, boyfriend and family. I hope y'all have a great weekend too! What plans do y'all have for this weekend?

P.S. - Bonus point to anyone who gets the reference in my first statement up there in italics ;)

Providing the Facts of Halie

On Tuesday, Whitney at I Wore Yoga Pants posted a fun link-up for us to join. I however already had two posts for Tuesday (a weekend recap & First Things First week 3) and a weigh in post yesterday, so I've been waiting for today to come, so I could finally participate as well! There are about a zillion other bloggers who have already joined in, but I just had to jump on the bandwagon too. And hey - I've gotten a ton of new followers over the last week and a half, so I'm sure y'all are dying to learn more about me. So today, I'll be Providing the Facts of Halie. So, here we go!
I'm gonna start out with a few obvious ones. I tend to not mention these three in my usual "about me" kinds of stuff because it seems so much like, "Duh, Halie! We know that already," but I'm just feelin' it today...mmmkay?
I am quite literally obsessed with penguins - obviously since it's in my blog name! I honestly really wish that I could own one as a pet. I just think they're the cutest, fluffiest, wanna-sqeeze-em-so-tightest little fellas in all the land. But since I can't have a real one, I own countless penguin-related things at home like: books, stuffed animals, earrings, movies, pillows, pillow pets and goodness knows what else...
Also, I like pasta a whole dang lot too. It is seriously my favorite food ever. I'm not even sure what it is about the stuff that I love so much, but I just do! And I'll eat it in just about any form or flavor: creamy or saucy; long noodles or short noodles; red sauce or white sauce; veggies only or meat added; stuffed and filled, and definitely cheesy...oh man I just love it. But of course my love for pasta is an issue when I'm trying to diet and eat right...
And then lastly, I think polka dots are just the cutest. They're easy to throw on just about anything, and it's instantly cuter and more girly, and just better. And they seem to make me happy, so I tend to gravitate towards those cute little round spots. And I think we could all use a little more polka dots in our lives, right?

And here are a few other random things things, that may or may not end up being classified as "TMI"...

Positive Weigh In Results

Last week, after I posted my super long weight loss journey in it's entirety, and I got such amazing responses back from all of you. One response told me about a weekly "Weigh In Wednesday" link up, and so I checked it out. It's other ladies like myself, who are all struggling with this weight issue too. I checked out a lot of their blogs, found some I really connected with, and was inspired by a few others as well. So I will be linking up with Erin & Alex this week, to share how I've been doing on my health and fitness goals from the past week.

So, here are the official stats for the week:

Initial starting weight: 227

January starting weight: 217

Last Wednesday: 210

Today: 205

Please ignore the dog hair...it's unavoidable in our house ;)

Pajamas & Pets - First Things First edition

Hello there my lovelies! Here comes my second post of the day (which is kind of unheard of around here), but it's to welcome you back for week three of our First Things First link up series with myself, and Hallie from Life: Oceanside! We've loved reading y'all's posts over the last couple of weeks, and we're looking forward to reading more about this round of topics as well! So this week is: First cell phone, First thing I do when I get home from work, and first pet! 

First cell phone:

So guys - I've racked my brain for information about my first cell phone, and I can't for the life of me figure out what it was! I remember how it looked and everything, but I have no idea what kind it was. I've tried to Google a couple of things I thought might be helpful, but couldn't come up with anything still. It was black, and kinda chunky, and it was technically a flip phone. I say "technically" because the flip part was just a thin piece that flipped up and down to cover the keypad. Fancy right?

I do remember though, I was in 8th grade, and I got my Mama's old hand-me-down phone. She put 60 minutes of talk-time on that bad boy, and I had to prove I could be responsible with the phone itself, and the amount of minutes I had. And those 60 minutes lasted me like two or three months. Bam. I was totally responsible. So then I got put on a real plan, and could use it a little more often! It didn't text or have any games or anything, but it did make me feel a bit like one of the cool kids back then. 

First thing I do when I get home from work: 

Definitely change into some comfy clothes. Sometimes it's the occasional jeans and a t-shirt look to actually go do something, but usually it's just some pajama's or "work out" pants. (Those pants are totally multifunctional ) Either way, I'm gettin' comfy people. I wear a dress to work everyday, and heels pretty often, so once 5 o'clock rolls around, I'm usually more than ready to just wear something a bit more comfy. So that's definitely the first thing I do when I get home from work or a work out!

L: Onsie from college and the source of many pranks/jokes. R: Christmas night 2010 - me & sis in new PJ's! :)

First pet:

Here's a weird story - I have some very vivid memory of owning a bunny when I was younger. A little floppy-eared thing that had a cage under the front window in the living room, who would hop around the house while I played with him. Funny thing about this story - apparently it never happened. My Mama says we never owned a bunny. But I seriously have this "memory" in my head of a pet I apparently never owned...

My very first pet however, was probably a stray cat my dad brought home one time. But he was the only one who liked cats, so it didn't last long. I would consider my first to be our Golden Retriever, Chief. He was the best dog, and we loved him so so much. We had a huge backyard for him to run around in, and we loved to go outside and play with him. I think this was around when I was probably 9 and my sister was 6. We loved that dog so much, and to this day, when my sister sees a Golden, she gets a little nostalgic for our old Chief. And she definitely wants to own one again sometime in her life :)

Write your own post sometime this week on the topics above, and come back to link up with us! And then while you're at it, get ready for next week, because we're taking it back to our middle school days! Get your posts for next weeks First Things First link up, and tell us about your:

1. First best friend

2. First concert

3. First celebrity crush

The super easy "rules" for our link up -- Follow both myself and Hallie. Write your own posts for this weeks topics. Grab the button below and put it either on your post or somewhere on your blog. Link up with one of us & it will show up on both of our blogs. Then tweet it below to spread the word! Then of course visit some others and make some new friends :)

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Papaya, Park Hike & Publix again!

Good morning dear blog friends! I don't know if y'all had a three-day weekend like I did, but mine was great! And I'm in a great mood this morning :) Feels good to start off not only the day, but the entire week the right way! Here's some quick recaps of my weekend activities, accompanied by a few pictures, of course!

Friday night I couldn't think of anything "special" for the boyfriend and I to do at home. But that ended up being OK, because he wanted to try to venture out of the house anyways! So we got crazy and went to Costco and Target. Of course at both stores he had to ride in his old lady cart, but it was good to get out of the house. I got "Insurgent" at Target, and I'm over halfway through it already. It's going to be hard to wait until the third book comes out sometime later this year! Oh, and his mom made delicious vegetable soup for us on the Daniel Fast, so I ate two bowls for dinner after shopping. Yum-o.

Saturday morning I went shopping with my Mama and Grandmother to look for dresses for them for my sister's wedding and some showers. We only ended up with one dress for my Mama, but it's so pretty, and I feel special because I'm the one that picked it out! :) Then I went over to Jeff's house for the afternoon, and we just hung out and started watching the first season of "Fringe" on his Roku. And that show is crazy awesome people! If you like sci-fy stuff, you should definitely check it out.

Sunday morning I helped my parents teach their 3rd grade Sunday school class. And it was a good thing I was there because they had to combine the 1st graders in, because their teacher was out - and those kids were crazy! Cute, but still crazy. But it was fun. Then we went to big church, and lunch, and then home. Later I went to Jeff's house and surprise! we watched some more of "Fringe" and just took it easy for the day. 

Productive Things, Fun Things & Exercise Things

Dear Weight Loss: It's still going great, and I'm feeling awesome. Today I'm down another 1.5 pounds, which means I'm weighing in at 208.5 pounds now! And I gotta still keep pushing. So I'm not going to take the weekend off like I did last week. The goal is to exercise twice over the three-day weekend. Which leads me to....

Dear Bicycle: I miss you! I haven't ridden you since our crazy epic Talloween alley cat back in mid-October! This weekend though, I think it's time to get you back in gear. Maybe a ride with Sarah sometime this weekend?

Dear New Followers: Holy stinkin' moly there are a lot of you guys! So glad you're here now! I'm assuming 95% of you probably came from the awesome FitBit One giveaway, and I know I got a few from the Weigh-in Wednesday link-up. No matter how you got here,  I'm really hoping you'll stick around and get to know me, so that I can get to know you!! And in case you want to read more about me, check out a few of these past blog posts you've missed: 

currently, hello 2013, inspiring, weight loss journey, 25 Before 25, about me and my beliefs.

Dear Florida Weather: You are seriously bi-polar. Earlier this week it was 81 degrees and quite lovely. Today however, it was 43 when I left my house, and the high is only 63. That's kind of a drastic change in just three short days, don't ya think, Florida?!

Dear Fellow Bookworms: If any of you liked "The Hunger Games," then you should probably read "Divergent" by Veronica Roth. I finished this nearly-500 page book in just four days! Yes, there are some similarities between the two series, but Divergent is still really good, and so entertaining. I am going to rush to Target immediately after work to get book number two, "Insurgent." Y'all have any book suggestions for me after that? I'm in need of some new ideas here peeps!

P.S. - This is book number six I've read since writing my 25 Before 25, so that's another thing I get to cross off my list! With just a week and a half to go, I gotta squeeze in all I can!

Dear Boyfriend: Since you're still on bed-rest, I'm trying to plan us some sort of fun/different/unique at-home date night for tonight, but haven't really come up with much yet... I'll figure something out though, don't you worry! Any ideas girls?!

This has been a pretty awesome week for me guys. And I'm still so glad I laid everything out there and shared my entire weight loss journey, because the response I've gotten from it has been incredible! I am of course looking forward to a fun three-day weekend, and will try to spend it doing productive things, as well as fun things, and also some exercise things. Maybe I should also try a craft or a new recipe? I haven't shared one of those kinds of posts in a while....so, yes! I think it's time I do a craft or cook something new! I'll jump on that :) 

I hope y'all have a great weekend too! What are some of your plans? Anything exciting? Anything I'll be jealous of?! Can't wait to hear all about it! Happy Friday, my friends!

Prophet's Fasting Plan

So yesterday, I shared a super long honest post about my entire weight loss journey. And let me tell y'all something, I was terrified to put all of that out there. I mean, it's one thing to mention you want to lose weight and exercise and blah, blah, blah. But it's something entirely different to list out your actual weight and all the ups and downs you've seen on the scale. But you know what? I got amazing feedback from that post!! I mean for real - the highest number of views on any post in one day, the highest number of page views for my blog in general in a day, and the most comments on any post ever. I also got texts and emails and Facebook messages all supporting, encouraging and congratulating me. I got tips from people, stories of their own or of their family members, invites to run together - a huge outpouring love and support for me in my crazy weight loss journey.

And today I feel more encouraged and motivated than ever.

So first of all, Thank You to all of you friends, family members, old high school friends, strangers, and bloggers who reached out to me yesterday. You guys are all seriously the best! You made me feel so great, and made me so very very glad I decided to share my whole story. And now I can cross off another thing on my 25 Before 25 list, because "blog my weight loss journey, honestly," was one of my goals :) And just in time too, since my birthday is in a little less than two weeks! 

OK, moving on now! Today I want to explain a little bit about the Daniel Fast I'm currently doing. I've mentioned it a couple of times, and some of you have been interested in hearing more about it and what it is exactly. So here is the Prophet's Fasting plan, in a nutshell - I'm only eating fruits, veggies and whole grains; no meat, dairy, chemicals or additives/preservatives. Things like olive oil, sesame oil and natural nut butters are fine. And I'm drinking nothing but water; no coffee, tea, milk or anything else. Basically, super clean eating, and essentially vegan, with even more restrictions. Seriously - fruits, veggies and whole grains. And that's it.

Pursuing a Healthier Me

This is going to be a hard post for me to write, I can feel it already. Not because I don’t know what to say, but because I’m going to be completely raw and honest and open about my weight loss journey and struggle. I've shared on my blog plenty of times my goals for exercising and eating. I've shared when I've felt both defeats and victories along the way. But through it all, I've been kind of ambiguous of actual numbers and goals and specifics. Today that changes, because today I want to bare it all! So here comes the full story of my weight loss journey. And I do mean full story. So grab a seat, and a glass of water, and maybe a snack, and get comfy...

I think I was pretty “normal-sized” up until middle school probably. And then I was just a little chubby. In high school, I was still gaining a little bit, but wasn't too bad yet. I was a cheerleader from 8th-12th grades, and so I was always really physical and active with that. I don’t know exactly how much I weighed, but my guess somewhere between 175 throughout most of those four years, and maybe 190 or so by graduation.

June 2006, right after high school grad. Prob around 190 or so.

Planes, Jobs and CDs - First Things First edition

Today is Round 2 of our new link up, "First Things First," with myself and Hallie from Life: Oceanside! Last week we got a good amount of participation, but we're definitely looking to grow and expand some more this week! Thank you to those of y'all who joined us last week, and welcome to those who are new! We look forward to reading y'alls posts, and getting to learn more about some of your firsts! 

This week is: 1. First thing I wanted to be when I grew up, 2. First time I flew on a plane, and 3. First CD I owned.

First thing I wanted to be when I grew up: 

The first thing I remember really wanting to be was a Crime Scene Investigator. It was in 9th grade and the show was just starting, and I was enthralled. I bought a couple books about it, and tried to learn whatever I could. I even did a report on it once for a class that year! However, my mom tells me that quite a while before that, my first dream was to "be a ballerina and a band." Apparently I not only wanted a ballerina, but I also wanted to be a whole entire band, all on my own. I was ambitious.

First time I flew on a plane:

The first time I ever flew on a plane was January 2006, when I was 18 years old, and on my senior trip in high school! We flew to Denver, Colorado, and then drove about two hours in charter buses to Winter Park, Colorado, where we stayed for a week. Actually, I posted a ton of pictures from that trip back here if you want to check it out :)

Obligatory picture of the wing, clearly this is some great quality photography from my 17-year-old self...

First CD I owned: 

Well, I might have owned other ones before this, but the first one I remember actually being mine was probably Britney Spears, "...Baby One More Time." Classic right? I think I was in 4th grade when this gem came out. I still remember the little flower on the disc, and thinking I was so cool because I had my very own CD. I could practically start my very own CD collection now! Oh the things you think when you're 10...

If you would like to join us for this link up, simply write your own post talking about these specific firsts, put our button on your post, and come back to link up with us and your link will show up on both of our blogs! And then, get ready for next week, with these three questions: 
1. First thing I do when I get home from work
2. First pet
3. First cell phone. 

Oh, and we would appreciate it if you would share this as well on Twitter, in order to spread the word! 

Tweet

<center> <a href="http://penguinspastapolkadots.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="First Things First" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjteygO8RgBjBIiD3kgY5Q1VUsMDHI8cGslMFcdSI0qfUACqIPeQGCIYV4ieEgTatZ9IMWp5EtnjY3hgMqoFK8WKXemF4EeWoWrIA8O85KqRrhpZwuIkQEVta16Ar2zAOO9kCZGQR1eATx/s1600/firstthingsfirstbutton.jpg"/></a></center>

Pedometer On Steroids

Ladies! Today I'm posting my very first giveaway on this blog, as a contributor for an awesome prize. However, now that I'm reading more about this special little gadget, I'm wishing I wouldn't have contributed, so that I could enter to win instead, because this looks so dang awesome! Was one of your new years resolutions to lose some weight or just be healthier?  Could you use a little help making sure you actually stick to this resolution?

Well then we have a giveaway for you! This gadget is at is most basic, a pedometer - but it can do soooo much more than that, it's more like a Pedometer on Steroids!

If you want to turn fitness into a lifestyle, the One™ is for you. For starters, it never rests. During the day, it tracks your steps, distance, calories burned, and stairs climbed. Come nightfall, it measures your sleep cycle, helps you learn how to sleep better, and wakes you in the morning. The One™ motivates you to reach your goals by bringing greater fitness into your life – seamlessly, socially, 24 hours a day.

This little guy will sync wirelessly to your phone, computer or tablet.  It tracks the steps you've taken, the stairs you've climbed, the calories burned, the distance traveled, the amount of sleep you've gotten and the quality of the sleep you've gotten!  

I'm teaming up with these wonderful ladies to give one of these to one lucky winner!

1//Kristyn    2//Amber
3//Lauren    4//Halie
5//Melissa    6//Natalie

This will definitely be my next purchase.  But you can win one now!  

You'll get:

The One™ tracker 

Silicone and metal clip

Wireless USB dongle

Charging cord

Sleep wrist band

Free Fitbit.com membership – includes ability to log and track activity, food, sleep, water, body mass, weight, and more

The giveaway will run from Tuesday, January 15, 2013 until Monday, January 21, 2013 at midnight.  We will announce the winner on Tuesday, January 22, 2013.

The winner's entry requirements will be VERIFIED and I will choose another winner if the person choosen did not do everything they say they did.

So what are you waiting for?  Enter below

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Publix Was the Highlight

Guys, this was another super chill weekend. I guess that's just how it's going to be as long as Jeff is still in recovery mode from his broken foot and surgery. He is finally getting better, but we still have two more weeks of bed rest and foot propping...And then after that, he'll be in a walking boot, so we'll still have to take it pretty easy. He does seem to be getting better though, so at least he's not in constant pain anymore. One small step at a time!

Friday night we just hung out at his house - obviously. Our friend Josh came over for a little bit to visit, and that was good for Jeff to get some guy time in :) And then we watched a "Hope Springs," which was quite an awkward movie. We fast forwarded through a couple scenes, and then when it got real slow, we just skipped to the end to see what happened. Good ending I guess, but not worth it - we wouldn't recommend this one...

Saturday morning I spent hours cleaning my room and doing laundry. It was seriously out of control and ridiculous. Even after three or so hours cleaning, I wasn't done, but I was done for the day. I ran errands for a couple of hours picking up some things I needed and returning a few ill-fitting Christmas presents.

Then went to Jeff's house. I painted my fingers and toes, he took a shower, and then we were able to get out of the house for a little bit, to go over to our friend Lacey's house for dinner! Jeff of course loved getting to go out, and we had a good time just hanging out with a couple friends. 

Then on the way home, he decided he wanted a snack, so he begged and pleaded to go to Publix, so he could "see more people and more places." I finally gave in, and he ended up roaming the store in one of those electric scooters with the basket on the front! That was absolutely the highlight of the weekend, and he had a blast :) We went back home and snuggled up to watch "The Grey," which was a pretty good movie! 

Purple Polka Dots

Dear Friday: Seriously - WHAT took you so long to get here? That was just ridiculous. This week has felt all weird and long and I hardly ever knew what day it actually was. That was just unacceptable. Please be faster next week, OK? Great, thanks.

Dear Boyfriend: I'm so glad you finally got your stitches out of your foot! However, we still have at least two more weeks to go of wearing the splint and propping up your foot, and basically not doing anything. Sheesh. Redbox, here I come again! But at least you're starting to feel a little bit better :)

Dear Erin: I love my new blog design! You rocked it, and you were so easy to work with. Thanks for all you did! I'm loving my Purple Polka Dots and the pretty flowers everywhere and my new header!

Dear Ghengis Grill: You are delicious. Glad I could make Daniel-Fast appropriate choices at lunch today, while still eating out with my friends. Oh, and my friends enjoyed your food too :)

Dear Fellow Bookworms: In the last three weeks, I've read "Room" and "Gone Girl" and thoroughly enjoyed both of them! I would definitely recommend both of them if you're looking for a new book to read. But I need more suggestions too! What have y'all be reading recently? Is it good? What would you recommend?

Dear Exercising: I kicked your butt this week! I did zumba twice, and the 30-Day Shred twice, and I plans to do the 30-Day Shred again today after work. (That is if my cramps will just chill the crap out already...) When in the world was the last time I exercised FIVE days in a row?! Probably high school, when I was still cheering. Sooo, it's been a while, to say the least...

Dear Mother Nature: Why must you be so cruel? I get that it has to happen, but why does it have to be painful? Are you with me, girls??

Anywho...I think that's enough random letters for the day. I for one am so glad that it's not only Friday, but more importantly that my work day is almost over! Over about two more hours to go, and then I'm bustin' out of here faster than ..... well I don't even know what. Just fast. I hope y'all have a great weekend, and I am already looking forward to blogging again on Monday with weekend recaps and updates, and reading about y'alls as well!

Happy Weekend Friends :)

Preparing, Procrastinating & Planning

Haven't done a "Currently" post in quite some time, and since it's usually so fun & easy, I'm going for it today!

Listening to: the sound of my own clicking keyboard, and not much else in the super quiet office today...
Craving: Surprisingly nothing, food-wise. But I could definitely stand to go for a bike ride!
Working on: This blog post, duh
Loving: That I've worked out three days this week, and I'm going again tonight! Welcome back motivation!
Reading: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. It is so good! I've got about 50 pages left, and I can't wait to see how it ends!
Writing: My super honest, super long weight-loss journey for the blog. Coming next week.
Feeling: Chilly. Even with a sweater on and blanket worn under my desk, it's still so dang cold in here!
Wearing: New sandals for the first time, that Jeff got me for Christmas, and trying to break them in!
Smelling: My yummy Versace perfume :)
Ignoring: The fact that I do have some actual work I could be doing right now...Eh, I'll get to it soon...
Anticipating: My new blog design from Erin! I've seen the rough draft she's started, and I'm excited!
Watching: Well, not right this minute, but we're working on the latest seasons of Big Bang Theory and New Girl
Thankful: That Jeff is started to recover a bit finally! Still a long road to go, but he's slowly getting there
Wishing: It was Friday already! This has been such super long week, today and tomorrow need to just fly by!
Missing: The sunshine! It's been rainy and dreary here for too long, and I need some sun in my life.
Preparing: To cook this Cool CousCous Salad recipe this weekend, sans chicken, as a part of my Daniel Fast
Procrastinating: Cleaning my room. It's seriously looks like the path of a hurricane, but I can't bear to clean it...
Planning: For my little sister's wedding shower!

And this pic has nothing to do with anything, I just didn't want to not have a picture for this random post...

Presented With an Award!

Yesterday, I was surprised with an exciting Twitter notification, saying I had been tagged by my blog-friend, Ricci, at A Beautiful Mess. So I head over to the Tweet, and simply saw this:

{Inspiring} bit.ly/VIiIL1 @allisondiane16 @rollwithit176 @nbellediaries @halierenee88 @jkthomas87 @saradbverde @heleneinbetween
— ricci (@riccialexis) January 8, 2013

And then when I followed her link to her blog, I discovered that not only had she been given an award, I had been Presented With an Award as well - the "Very Inspiring Blogger Award!" How awesome is that?! So that's now my second blog award (I was given the Liebster a while back), and I can hardly believe it. I went for a long time without anyone in blog-land knowing I existed - just my family and a few friends read my blog. And now I'm finally starting to grow and branch out, and I absolutely love it! I've definitely made some more friends through this blog, and I just love pretty much everything about blogging! So, thank you so much to all of you who read and comment and email, you really do mean so much to me! And thank you again to Ricci, for recognizing me!

So, here are the "rules" that go along with this award:
1. Display the award on your blog to be seen!
2. Announce your win with a post, and a link back to who presented you with the award
3. Present the award to seven other bloggers, with links in your post, and let them know!
4. List seven interesting facts about "the girl behind the blog"

And here are seven super random, "interesting" facts about me:
1. I am currently doing the Daniel Fast, which basically equals fruits, veggies, water and whole grain
2. I avoided the Lord of the Rings movies since they came out, but recently watched all of them, and loved it!
3. I am OCD about random things, but not all things
4. I have a small obsession with cute and pretty lamps. I'd rather not even have to use overhead lighting!
5. I have never lived anywhere but Florida
6. I always, always, always have my toenails painted
7. I am not a huge fan of shaving my legs, and usually stretch it out as long as possible

And here's a super random picture of me, from last week sometime...

Seven bloggers who inspire me:
1. Erin at Love, Fun & Football
2. Lauren at The Crazy Life of LT
3. Aunie at AunieSauce
4. Kerrie at The Williams Post
5. Beka at A Blog by B
6. Ryan at Loved & Lovely
7. Alyssa at All Things Beautiful

I tried to pick bloggers that truly do inspire me. I picked each of these ladies for a reason - they either inspire me in my personal life, or they inspire me in my blog life. Either way, these are some truly amazing ladies I follow, and y'all should definitely check them out.

Thanks again to Ricci for this! And thanks again to y'all as well! I really do love this little space here on the internet that's all my own, and I love the friendships I'm making here. Thanks for being a part of my silly adventures on this life journey!

Pumped About Sharing our Firsts!

Hello lovelies! I'm so excited this morning, because today is finally the day mine and Hallie's link-up starts! We've been talking about it since the middle of December or so, and I've been pumped ever since then! So here's the deal - and it's an easy deal, so don't be worried: every Tuesday for a couple of weeks or so, we're going to do a First Things First link-up!

We'll do different "firsts" every week, and we want y'all to write posts about that week's "firsts", and then link-up with us, obviously! (Your links will appear on both of our blogs.) All we ask is that you follow both of our blogs, add our button to your post or blog somewhere, and visit some other blogs from the link-up to share some love! We're looking forward to meeting new friends and reading y'alls posts. This should be fun!

This week is: First Job, First Car and First Date!

Plain Jane Weekend

I wish I could start writing a post of all the amazing, fun, awesome things I did this weekend, however, it just isn't so. It just wasn't one of those weekends! I mean don't get me wrong, it was still a good weekend, it was just really chill and simple. It was kinda one of those Plain Jane Weekends -- but those are usually the most relaxing and enjoyable :)

Friday night I went to my friend Lacey's house for a simple girls night, with just three of us. We made homemade pizza, and just talked - a lot. Then I went over to Jeff's house, and we probably watched a movie, although now I can't remember which one, then I went home... And if you want our famous pizza recipe, I blogged it before, back here.

Pizza Hut & Redbox & Letters

Dear 2013: So glad to have you here! Thanks for coming :)  I'd say we're off to a good start already. Now let's just make sure we stay wonderful all year, and be good to me, OK?! And also be good to my boyfriend, friends and family while we're at it. I've got a lot of goals and plans for the year, and I'm excited about all of them. Help me keep up my motivation and determination to make a great life for myself this year!

Dear Bubble Necklace: This is my first time ever wearing you, so I hope I don't look ridiculous. I'm not usually even a necklace girl at all, so it just feels weird to be wearing one, much less a big huge one!But so far, I think I love you!

Dear Zumba: Thanks for welcoming me back with open arms yesterday. I was nervous since I had neglected you for approximately six months or so, but I made it through the whole class, and actually felt great afterwards! I'm excited to get back in the habit of going twice a week, and to keep working on my fitness :)

Dear Erin: I'm so freaking excited you're going to do my blog design for me!! I am seriously freaking out a little bit here, and just can hardly wait. I think it's finally time I pay for a lovely design, now that I've been blogging for almost 2.5 years! And I think you're just the one to do my first paid blog design :)

Dear RedBox: Thanks for sending me a list of your favorite movies of 2012. I rented five of them this week for my bum-foot-boyfriend and I, and we've liked all of them! Might need to look into getting a few more for the weekend :) And in case you're wondering, the five we've watched this week were: Lawless, The Amazing Spiderman, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Savages, and The Words. All very good. Check them out if you're in need of some cuddling and movie rest time!

Edit: "The Words" is not actually that good. When I first wrote this, we still had about 30-40 minutes left in the movie. What I didn't see coming was a horrible ending. It made the whole movie not worth, so stay away from this one. It's just no good...

Dear Sister: I'm quite excited to do some cake tasting with you tomorrow! I mean, it's not so good for my diet, but I'm sure it's going to be delicious anyways! Yum!

Dear Hallie: I'm glad our link-up collaboration is finally going to happen next week! I'm real excited about this, and about working with you! So get ready folks, for a link up that's fun and easy next week with myself, and Life: Oceanside.

Dear Weekend: I'm glad you're here! Because even though I only worked four days this week, it's just been so long and drawn out, and I'm over it. Let's speed on through the day 'til 5 pm, so I can go make dinner with some girlfriends tonight, and then watch another movie or two this weekend with my bed-rested boyfriend :)