Weight loss

Ok starting now I am going to update every Monday with my weight and measurements and I'm going to try to get in here daily with what I ate and what exercises I have done
Here are my stats and goals:
5'2
163 pounds
Somewhere between an apple and an hourglass shape (my chest is big, but I also have hips and butt)
I want to focus on losing weight in my upper body (from the waist up) and doing more toning in my lower half.
My goal weight is between 130-140 pounds
I plan on going to the gym at least 3 times a week and going to my dance class once a week
Carbs are my weakness, and I know I need to cut back n those in order to see a difference. I know weight loss is like 80% diet, and 20% exercise
I'm also going to try to boost my metabolism by eating 5-6 small meals a day

Here are my measurements (5/1/12):
weight-163
chest-41
right bicep-12.5
left bicep-12.5
ribcage (I have back fat, I'm trying to get rid of)-34.5
natural waist-32
pooch (under belly button)-34
hips-41
left thigh (around biggest part)-25.5
right thigh (around biggest part)-26
UGH!!!!!!! I really want to lose in my upper body (stomach, chest, back, and arms)

Today I haven't done well so far on my eating because I did not cook today
I ate a turkey sub on wheat bread from subway, with chips and a soda
tonight I plan on eating a salad
I also have my dance class tonight so that's a 1 hour 45 minute workout
So that's it for today!

Shopping

Ive bought ALOT of stuff within these last few weeks. mostly make-up cause I'm trying to get my daily routine down.
Lately Ive bought:
Some slacks from banana republic (black, khaki, dark brown, and grey)
gym clothes (4 pairs of sweat pants in black, navy blue, grey and purple)
a pink Adidas sports bra
Mac Fresh Brew lipstick
Mac Viva Glam II ( I think this is the Lady Gaga lipstick)
Mac oak lip liner
nyx mocha and cinnamon blush
nyx lipstick in darling
Mary Kay lip gloss in au natural and sweet raisin
Mary Kay mineral pressed powder compact
maybelline mascara (lash stiletto)
ulta eye crayons (pretty in pink and toasted)
ulta lipstick 226 ( a pretty nude shade)
ulta blush in flush
2 ulta eyeshadow quads (bone, mystique, espresso, gold dust, stardust, sun-kissed, canyon, and mocha)
ulta voluptuous volume mascara
ulta liquid eyeliner in forest green
a few brushes from ulta
Revlon nail polishes (clear, cotton candy, creme brulee, charismatic, minted, dreamer, charming)
NYC nail polish in sidewalkers
I also ordered a nice haul of stuff from ELF today which should be here by Wednesday so I'll talk about that once I get it.
I subscribed to birchbox so I'll do a review on them when I get my box sometime this month.

So as you see, I've spent some money these past few weeks. When I go on my shopping trip with the girls in a couple of weeks, I have a few clothing items I'm trying to buy:
I want some pumps in black, brown, and nude
Some more jeans in black, dark blue, and grey
some sneakers
some fitted blazers
cute fitted tees (with embellishment) to go under those blazers
some springy dresses and skirts.
basically I need more cute date night stuff.
And then I'll be done I swear! lol
I'll probably edit this post with some pics later tonight

Im Back!

Whew! I feel like I have been gone from this blog forever!
I have alot going on, but I have a few specific things I want to blog about:
   God. I am definitely working on my relationship with God. But I have a long way to go. I'm not really gonna elaborate more on that, because that's more personal than I'm ready to get into yet.
   Shopping! I have been buying some really nice stuff for spring these last few months. I'm also going on a shopping trip at the end of this month, so I'm getting together my list of things I want to look for on that trip.
   Exercise. I fell off my exercise regimen after the show, but luckily I have another show coming up in June so I'm back to work getting ready for that.
   Getting my house in order. I think I have found my groove as far as my cooking schedule, but I'm still working on my cleaning, and I'm also gearing up to get my spring cleaning done and hopefully it will be easier to maintain after that.
   Finances. Much, much better! We have paid down some debt and consolidated some loans. Now we are just getting my hubby's student loans back on track and getting his credit score back up. Mine has improved alot, so now we are trying to get things in order so that we can buy a house next year.
   Relationship. Boy what can I say about that. We have had some rocky times in the last month and a half, but I think we are finally starting to come out of it, and have a better understanding of each others feelings and where we want our marriage to go. We are also trying to do date nights/ days on the weekends that he is not working, when we can squeeze in the time.

So that's it in a nutshell. I'm going to be elaborating on each of these in separate blog post. I don't want this one to be too long! I'm also going to make a conscious effort to blog more. I wont promise a post a day, but I will try to get in a few a week.

My gifts

I had an amazing Christmas this year!
From hubby:
My upgraded wedding set counts as a part of my Christmas gift
a rose gold big face watch
he also wants to add on to his gift and have me come along and get a massage also

from Mom:
a set of dark wood eating trays for my house. Hubby and I love to eat in front of the tv so we can catch up on the shows we like to watch together. (i'm slowly turning him into a reality tv junky. lol)
some Mary Kay facial cleansers and make-up (she's a consultant)
 perfume (Femme, by Roche)
Victoria's Secret pure seduction lotion, body wash and spray
2 pairs of fuzzy socks
a really cute huge yellow leather purse
a gift card for a mani and pedi
$100 cash

from lil sis and nephew:
a make-up carrying case
a gift card for another Brazilian wax

from dad: he paid to get my work laptop fixed (I had a virus) and had more memory added to it, so it works much better now.

My mom also gave us back a portion of her gift which was some money that she gave to us a few years back as a gift that we wanted to repay her for, which she was not expecting at all. So we are about $1000 richer.
We also have a $100 visa gift card, and a $50 longhorn gift card from hubby's job. so that's pretty awesome.
I gifted myself before Christmas: some Vikki's secret, and 2 pretty wool scarves and a wool hat. Oh and my Brazilian wax, which was just as much for hubby as it was for me.

So all in all I have had a wonderful Christmas!
Besides the gifts, I got to spend some time with my family. Which has been good and bad. We had some fun with SOME family members, but hubby and I have pretty much decided that we plan on being out of town next year for Christmas. more on that later. lol

But we are very happy and very blessed. There have been some talks about expanding our family (nothing serious, just giving our opinion on certain situations if we had a family, and we have been talking about buying a house, and things like that) So we will see what 2012 holds. Im no longer overly optimistic, just watching and waiting.

I'm working on my goals for 2012 now, so I promise to be back with a post about that BEFORE the New year lol. tootles!

12 Days of Christmas

Merry Christmas!
I never posted what I did for my hubby for the 12 days of Christmas. It started on December 14th and ended today. i got him a gift for each day, and he liked it so much that he says that he is going to do the same for me next year.
This is a list of the things I got him starting with the 14th. They were all things he loved or has been mentioning that he wanted to get, or needed more of:
3 pralines
a gift card to krispy kreme
I assembled this motorized tie rack that hes had for like 2 years and never put together. then I organized his ties by color
a pair of pajama pants
boxers
house slippers
3 silk handkerchiefs (white, black, and grey)
a bow tie (black, white, and grey)
a pair of leather gloves
a pair of cuff links
a car vacuum
and for Christmas day, I gave him a gift card for a deep tissue massage at a local spa

as a bonus he also got to reap the benefits of my first Brazilian wax! (that might have been his favorite gift. lol)
The results are awesome and I am definitely going to keep getting them, but the pain that I experienced had me questioning my sanity! lol. I was told that the more I get them, the less it will hurt, so I have an appointment to go back in 4 weeks. I think I will take hubby with me this time.

Christmas Decor

Like I said in my previous post, I'm going to forgo putting up a Christmas tree and lights, to try to ease hubby into Christmas decorations. lol
So I'm thinking of simple cheap stuff that will look cute and not thrown together. These are my ideas so far:

• Mistletoe, over our bedroom door (cute and cheesy right!? lol)
• adding a fake sprig of holly around the white cloth napkins on the dining room table. There are also green decorative plates on that table
• taking the green apples out of the bowl on the dining room table and putting Christmas balls in there.
• lining the bar with tea light candles
• draping garland on the wall and ceiling over the bar area
• hanging a stocking for hubby on the bar (for 12 days of Christmas)
• a bowl of Christmas ornaments on the coffee table
• Christmas towels in the guest bathroom
• shower curtain in the guest bathroom

The rest of this is not Christmas stuff, but stuff I want to do around the house

• hang picture frames
• hang mirror (with decal)
• hang canvas picture
• get grey sheets for bedroom
• get white comforter cleaned
• get white curtains for bedroom and living room
• get green curtains for dining room

I'm going to concentrate on the Christmas decor first, and the stuff that I already have. I'll probably start looking into getting this stuff starting next week.
I'm not 100% sure of the color scheme yet. I'm thinking golds and creams or I could go totally bold and do purple, blue, and green. oooooorrr I could match my house colors and do grey/silver and green. I'm still thinking on that.

Happy December!

Hi everyone!
Yes, I know, I know. I haven't been on here in forever!
I've been sooooo busy preparing for the show and now, It's this Sunday! I'm excited and very nervous all at the same time. so here's my update:

• Still working at home. Still hating it. My plan is to find another job before the end of the year, but we will see what God has to say about that.
• I've lost about 6 pounds so far. which is really good for me seeing as how it's been about 6 weeks since i really started. I'm going to keep it up so that i can be where I want to be for our vacation next year
• Speaking of which, that's another reason I have to find another job, my current job has nooooo days available for vacation next year. Isn't that crazy! we are planning a trip to Orlando with another couple that we are friends with for a week.
• my hair is growing pretty well. I know i could get better growth out of it, if I took better care of it though. idk the last time i deep conditioned my hair, or baggied overnight. I've been wearing my wig sporadically and moisturizing when I think about it. lol. I'm gonna do better for December. lol
• I really want to dye my hair again. I want the bottom to be a chocolate brown and the top to be like a honey brown color or a copper color. something warm and rich.
• Finances ugh!.......well hubby is getting a bonus in a few weeks, so we will use that to pay off some stuff and get back on even ground.
• my house is a mess. I really wanted to decorate for Christmas, but hubby comes from a family that doesn't really make a big deal out of holidays, so he doesn't understand why I want to decorate for just the two of us. Maybe I will ease into it by just doing small decorations this year, and then a tree and lights outside next year. lol we'll see, I'll be posting about my Christmas ideas in another post.
• I'm also trying to decide what to get the hubby for Christmas and what I want for Christmas this year. I'm pretty sure I;m going to get him a massage and do the 12 days of Christmas for him (more about that in another post), and I'm still thinking of what to get other family members.
• what I really want for Christmas is to be pregnant, but umm I doubt that's gonna happen.
• I'm already planning our 5 year anniversary also. I want to go somewhere like Hawaii or someplace else we have never been. somewhere we have to fly to get to. I gotta start planning now, so we can start budgeting now.

this was really just a rambling random post, so I have a few more detailed posts coming up (maybe today), about Christmas decor, Christmas presents, vacations, and i need to document what I have going on for the rest of the week so I don't forget anything. see you soon!