Best news ever!!!

Life: Okay, so this week I decided I just needed to suck it up and take my car in to get the air conditioner fixed.  I called my dad and left a message asking him where I should take my car.  He texted back saying we'd talk about it when I got home later.  So later that evening when we were taking our dogs out my dad asked me what exactly I need to fix in my car.  So I told him and then he replied with this, "Well, as you know we got your sister a car for graduation.  We've also put some money into your car.  Here's my idea, you can either trade in your car and we'll give you $8,000 toward a new one, or you can keep your car and we'll give you $8,000.  Well.... I chose the second option.  I'm using some of the money to get my car all fixed up and then I get to do whatever I want with the rest!  While most of it will go into savings, I'm using about $2,000 to buy myself a Canon Rebel T3i along with a standard zoom lens and a macro lens.  I'm soooooo excited!!!!! I've wanted this camera for about a year now and I've wanted a nice camera for as long as I've been taking pictures!  I cannot wait until December when I get the rest of the money and I can buy the camera!  I'm so incredibly grateful to my parents. :) I love them so much! Ahhh!!! I'm just so excited!

How gorgeous is this camera?!!

Okay, so as far as school goes: I just checked my grade for the first history test and I got an A! :)  So for the first round of tests I got 3 A's and a B.  I'm quite pleased about this.  I wrote a paper today and turned in a paper on Thursday so when I get the grades for those I'll post them. 

Friday, I got to hang out with Kyle for a bit and then met up with a group of friends for some delicious Chinese food.

Yesterday, my mom decided that we had not spend enough time together lately, and took me on a lunch date. :) It was wonderful.  We went to Red Robin and chatted about life.  We also finally got to talk about the wedding and that was so much fun.  The only downside to yesterday, was that it was day one of a cold...I felt awful toward the end of the day and today I don't feel much better... Hopefully this will be a short-lived cold because I have a lot to do this week!

Wedding:  So, this past week my mom surprised me with tickets for myself, herself, and my sister to go to the Bridal Bazaar on October 28th! :) I'm so excited for that!  Hopefully we'll get lots of great ideas as well as the names of a bunch of bridal stores in the area.  Oh! And my mom also gave me the song that she would like played at the wedding. :)  I'm really happy that things are finally starting to happen.

Weight: Okay, I was doing really well this week until Friday night/Saturday when I started to get sick.  I was in no condition to go on my walk yesterday and also, did not feel like eating a bunch of healthy foods.  I didn't gain much, and what I did gain I am going to blame on the pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream I ate last night because that was the only thing that made my throat feel better... :) 

I did get a chance to go on two 5 mile walks this week though, so that was good.  And up until Friday I was doing really well as far as healthy eating went.

Starting weight: 144.4 lbs

October 7th, 2012: 143.9 lbs (+0.3 lbs from last week)

I think I shall spend the rest of the day on Pinterest getting wedding ideas, while snuggled up in bed trying to recover from this cold...

Teeny tiny pity party...which isn't so teeny tiny

Life: So school is school.  My classes are not interesting at all and I'm just counting the days until I'm done.  I got one of my tests back from the last week and I got an 86%.  I'm happy with that considering I did not know what to focus on while I was studying and thought I failed the test!  I get my Developmental Pscyh test back on Tuesday and then sometime next week or the week after get my essay exam back for History of Ideas. 

So this week I've really been missing Colorado.  I want to move back there so much.  I'm considering talking to Kyle about moving right after I'm done with school, but I don't know if either of us is ready for that.  I'd be really sad to leave all of my friends and family behind, but I just can't stay here anymore.  California never felt like my home, just a place I was staying until I could get back to Colorado.  I miss fall and the changing leaves, the crisp air, snow, spring when all the flowers would come out again, and summers that aren't 100 degrees.  

The remodel will be officially moving indoors this week, so that should be interesting.  We'll have to find places to move the furniture and I might be spending a few nights at Kyle's while my room gets worked on.  I'm most excited about the kitchen.  I can't wait to see what the finished product will look like. :)

Oh, on Friday Kyle and I had a date night. :)  We went to Black Angus (which was sooooo good!) and then to the movies to see Looper.  It was a little too violent for me.  I couldn't watch a bunch of the scenes.  Overall, though it was a nice evening, especially since I hadn't seen Kyle since the previous Friday.

Excited for a delicious dinner at Black Angus!

Meet Ricky Rico, the adorable frog Katrina rescued and then we released back into the wild!

Wedding: Okay, so I know that I am always going to be the one who is most excited about the wedding, but I wish my family would at least sometimes acknowledge that they're aware I'm getting married.  I know life is crazy for my parents right now with the remodel and that has their focus, but I would really love to start doing wedding related things.  For instance, I want to go wedding dress shopping so very badly!!  I see so many beautiful gowns and I just want to see what they would look like on me so I can figure out the exact style I'm looking for.  I also really want my family and Kyle's family to meet, but that seems to be impossible to arrange.  They never seem to be available at the same time.  It's so frustrating.  ..... I just keep waiting for things to feel real.  With nothing happening it still just feels like before when Kyle and I were dating and would talk about our wedding day.  I also really wish my parents would actually tell me what my budget is.  Saying, "find out what things cost and we'll figure it out" is NOT helpful!! I can't work with that.  I really, really appreciate that they are paying for the wedding, but it's almost more frustrating because I can't make any decisions since they're never available/want to talk about the wedding.  Each day, I'm more and more inclined to just take a weekend trip with Kyle somewhere and get married.  I just wish my family was more excited about this..... Okay, end rant.

Weight:
I lost again this week!! I'm so excited!  Went on two more 5 mile walks and they both felt so good!  Tomorrow, Katrina and I are going to a Zumba class and then I plan on going on three walks this week.  Hopefully that will result in more weight lost!  I calculated it out and if I lose a pound a week I'll reach my weight goal by my goal date.  (130 lbs by January 1st, 2013).  If not though, I won't be heartbroken.  A pound a week is kind of a tall order.  As long as I'm my goal weight by my final dress fitting, I'll be good. (Of course, at this rate, that won't be until like a month before the wedding)  Oh! I also lost a little in inches, so that's good. :)  So here are the stats for this week:

Starting weight: 144.4 lbs

September 30th, 2012: 143.6 lbs (-0.4 lbs from last week)

waist: 26.25 in (-0.25 in from last month)
thigh: 23.50 in (+0.25 in)
bicep: 11.00 in (-0.25 in)
hips: 35.00 in (-0.75 in)
chest: 34.00 in (-0.25 in)

Success! in school and weight loss

Life:
School is getting crazy!! So happy that it's close to being over. I did get an A on my first paper and test this semester.  I'll let you know what I got on the test I took on Sunday and the test today when I get the scores.  And the test I'm taking tomorrow.

Oh, we're doing a remodel at our house and everything is crazy!  We redid our deck attached to our house, are going to redo the deck by our pool, our kitchen, and our family room (adding a wet bar and wine fridge).  We are also painting the whole house, inside and out, adding wood floors and tile where we currently have carpet, and replacing all the windows and sliding glass doors...

Wedding:
This past friday marked 1 year until the wedding!  It's exciting, but before this point I kept saying "I have over a year to do ____" Not anymore!  It's slightly stressful.  There are moments when I just feel like eloping and forgoing the craziness of planning a wedding.  I'm sure my parents would be happy about that. ; )

So aside from picking colors, a date, and location, I haven't done any planning.  Because of the remodel at our house, my parents are so preoccupied that I feel bad bringing up the wedding (yet another expense they'd have to think about).  Hopefully I'll be able to get some planning done soon...

Weight:
Yay! Lost that pesky weight that I gained the other week!  I finally started exercising that it felt really good!  One of my good friends Katrina got me going on walks again! I've gone on two 5 mile walks so far and I'm hoping to make it a tri-weekly thing.  I'm thinking Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  With Zumba classes on Mondays.  Sadly, I'm out of commission for the rest of this week because I have a blister on my foot, but as soon as that is healed I will be back out there!  So, so happy to have my motivation back!

Starting weight: 144.4 lbs
September 23rd, 2012: 144.0 lbs (-2.3 lbs from last week!)

1 year from today...

In exactly 1 year Kyle and I will be getting married!!!! I cannot wait to call him "husband." : )

I love him so much.

Nothing much

Life:

So school all of a sudden got crazy! I had a paper due this past Sunday (which I got an A on!), I had a test today, I have an online test on Sunday, a test on Monday, and a test on Tuesday.  And I’m sure I have another paper due soon that I’m forgetting about.  So glad it is my last semester!

Kyle and I have been apartment hunting lately, but haven’t fallen in love with any place yet.  Not to mention that housing is so expensive here!  Just one more reason I want to move!

Wedding:

Not much has happened.  I think next week some time we are going to meet with a travel agent to discuss options for our honeymoon.  Otherwise, nothing new.  Wedding decisions have been put on the back burner for a bit while I’m in school.  Although, one thing I want to start doing soon is looking for a dress.

Weight:

Okay, so I don’t know what happened the other week, but that 3 pounds I gained hasn’t gone away.  I don’t know what I did differently, but I’m not happy about it.

Start weight: 144.4 lbs
September 16, 2012: 146.3 lbs (-0.2 lbs) <I think I’ll keep that feature around, adding how much I’ve gained or loss during the week, not just what I weight.

I was trying to find a fun picture to add to this post and stumbled across this one. I really miss my short, red hair!!!