Prescription Popsicles

So I have strep throat - awesome. And it is actually the worst case of it I can remember in my whole life. The glands in my neck were so swollen that is caused physical aches and pains in my entire body because my neck back were so stiff. I woke up feeling bad last Friday and missed work, played a little too hard on Saturday, then laid in bed Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and now Wednesday morning. Antibiotics are working their amazing magic, and I'm feeling better now. But as you can imagine, I've had some time on my hands.

Here is a list of the Top 10 Things I've Done with Strep, in no particular order:

1. Sleep until almost noon, which is extremely rare for me. (Not today, but today is when I took the picture)

2. Read the Food Network magazine - and hello, could there be a more perfect issue for me, and this blog?! I think not...it made me happy :)
3. Play with my new camera - most of the pictures on this post were taken with this camera (except for this one of course...)4. Drink a few too many cups of delicious Keurig coffee 5. Eat popsicles like they're going out of style. Hey, my doctor prescribed them to me along with the Amoxil, so what's a girl to do? A girl is going to eat the dang popsicles! And, they're only 15 calories, and sugar free! So they're still diet friendly :)6. Eat store-bought-gelato like it's going out of style. This was also prescribed, although wayyy doesn't fit into the diet. But it's freaking delicious, obviously - the whole thing's basically gone now. How did I not know this existed before? 7. Watch all three Pirates of the Caribbean movies in the correct order to get ready for On Stranger Tides to come out next Friday! (The photo on the left is the poster of movie #3 on the back of my door :) It was a present from my little seester!)8. Google the release the iPhone 5, and when Verizon will get it. Sadly, probably not till September. The worse news - my current phone will NOT make it another 4 months

9. Wake up at almost noon and still have time to watch three movies in one day.

10. Paint my nails a slightly rediculous (although still pretty dang awsome) shade of blue

There were some other things I did while at home for 4 1/2 days, but these are the best/most interesting, and also the least embarrassing, haha. And although a few of my days off were quite miserable, I have really enjoyed having some rest and free time. This never happens, and it's been nice. (Although it certainly sucks not getting paid for so long!) Oh well. Money isn't everything!! And in case you're wondering, I'm still sick right now, but at least feeling much better. I'm going to work at church this afternoon, and will be back at DoC tomorrow for our big office move to the downtown building. That's gonna be exhausting...pray for that please!

Love to everyone :)

Peppered Popcorn

So it's been a while since I last blogged, and I just realized I actually missed doing it! I'm at work right now, so I don't have access to any of the cute pictures that go along with the upcoming stories - but they're all on Facebook anyways, so you can check them out there if you wish :)

Here is a slightly long list of very random things about my life right now:

1. I am obsessed with country music, and listen to almost nothing else. Well, except Celine Dion's "All the Way: A Decade of Song..."

2. I ordered a new "receiver" for my car, and all the parts are in! Tonight I'm going over to my my friend Robert's house for him to install it for me. Then I will be able play my iPod in my car! And it's even supposed to make my factory speakers sound better too. So I'm real excited for that to happen.

3. We (me, Robert, and his bro Jacob) got Gold season passes to Wild Adventures so that we can go to all the free concerts there this summer!

4. There's a possibility I'm becoming obsessed with getting my clothes tailored. I've already gotten a dress and a skirt done, and I just dropped off 2 more dresses. And on Monday I'll be taking a bathing suit. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm always looking at new or old clothes thinking, "Well this would look awesome if this was taken in, or if this part was shorter..."

5. The entire Department of Corrections is moving office buildings right now, so I've been getting to do different tasks, like packing boxes and labeling furniture, and I actually like it. I don't just have to sit at my computer all day, and I like being able to get up and move around a lot more.

6. I unfortunately did not lose 6 additional pounds by Easter. The three weeks surrounding DNow (which was awesome by the way!), I got crazy busy and almost completely stopped zumba/exercising. I have only lost 2 more since my last post. BUT - that does put me only 1 pound away from losing 30 total. Which is pretty dang awesome, despite my little plateau.

7. I was successful at upholding my Lent goals for the entire 40 days. I had fried chicken for the first time last night at church, and it was delish. Now I've decided to only eat it once a week, to remain healthy, but still allow myself some yummy-ness every once in a while!

8. I love my youth group a ton, and enjoying getting to do all the planning and stuff that has come with my new responsibility! Right now, I'm working on putting together our summer schedule of YESS activities (Youth Extreme Summer Spectacular), and I'm way pumped about it.

9. Popcorn is my absolute favorite right now. It's always been in my top 3 snacks (with pretzels and goldfish), but right now it's the only snack I eat. And lately I've discovered that it's even better with a ton of pepper on it. I usually don't salt my food at all, but I put pepper on almost everything. So I thought why not popcorn too? I'm sad I didn't think of this before now actually. Peppered popcorn....mmmm :)

10. I miss all my St. Augustine friends a ton, and I am very much in need of a weekend there at the beach with yall.

11. Moving out may actually be a possibility soon, because I might have found a roommate! It's a girl my sister works with, Emily, and she seems real cool. We met and hung out a little at the Garnet & Gold game a few weeks ago. And we're meeting again next week to discuss, and start looking for a new place. So maybe in a month or so this will become a reality!!

I'll try to not stay away for so long next time. Much love to all my friends and family and any other readers...

Please buy me this?

So, one day in a land not-so-far away, my best friend Jenni Double moved into my precious little Vista Cove apartment. Not only did she bring her incredible humor, excellent styling capabilities and love of books - but she also introduced me to other things as well. She brought with her tons of cute little treasures that I loved, and made my house even cuter than before.

My favorite item was her crane lamp. I fell in love with that thing, and was always sitting under it on our new, super comfy (incredibly heavy to get up the stairs) couch. Doing homework. Painting my nails. Looking at a magazine. Falling alseep. Reading a book. Whatever. I loved that lamp. Then sadly, she pulled the plug on our amazing roomie situation when she had to move to Orlando. And she took the lamp with her.

So for almost two years now, I've been looking for one to buy for myself. And I CANNOT find one! I've never seen one in a store, and the ones online are rediculously expensive. Like this one. That one is for sure my favorite one I've seen, but hello?! That price is out of control. (Anyone who can actually afford this - feel free to purchase it for me.)

But, I found a cheaper one on Ikea's website! Now, I've never even been to Ikea before (I know, I know. Everyone always freaks out when I say this), but I feel like a little trip is coming up in the very near future. Cuz I'm gonna need this lamp. Who wants to road trip to Orlando with me?! Or Tampa - whatever. I just need to get myself to Ikea...

Pounds are GONE!

So remember at the beginning of Lent, I had a final six pounds to lose before I reached my goal? Well, found out today that I'VE REACHED IT! Around the start of the New Year I made a list of goals, and published them for 'the world' to see, and one of the goals was to be under a certain weight. Then at Lent, I changed my diet even a little more with this post, in order to reach that goal quicker. And it happened today!!

So wanna know some total poundage lost? I though so. Since Lent began on March 9, I've lost 7 pounds. Since my New Year's post in January, I've lost 16 pounds. And since I first started doing Zumba and working out, I've lost a total of 27 pounds!!

Ladies and Gentlemen - this is a HUGE deal for me. And I'm really excited about it. And I'm actually very proud of myself for being so determined about it!

A tiny celebration will be had this weekend, because let's be honest, I am very seriously craving some delicious chocolate cake or something. I'm not going to break my Lent diet still, but I AM going to enjoy something a little 'off limits' on Saturday night. So those of you who I'm hanging with on Saturday, be prepared for something delicious!

Oh, and my new goal? Another 6 pounds by Easter, since the first 6 went away so quickly :)

Thanks to all you who've kept motivating me, and supporting me. I love all of yall so much!

Pushing Towards the Final 6

So today is Ash Wednesday. The first day of Lent. And I don't always give stuff up, but this year I am going to. For those of you who read my New Year's Resolution post, there was a certain weight I want to be under. Right now, I'm only 6 pounds away! I feel great, and I'm so excited about it. I don't know if others around me can tell, but I certainly can, and I'm loving it.

Lately I've started pushing myself even harder than I was before, and it's going pretty well. So I'm kickin it up another notch. So for Lent, I started a new diet today, and here's happening:

1. Only snacks that are 100-calorie packs

2. No fried food (except for Chick-fil-A. Is that ok? It's just too delicious...)

3. And then just in general trying to make healthier food choices

So by Easter, I will absolutely be rid of these 6 more pounds! (And then I'll share how much total I've lost, cuz I'm pretty dang excited about it.) And then after that, a new goal will be set for summer time fun :) So friends - if I ever eat with you, call me out on it!

Love yall. Happy Lent.