Hakuna Matata

Trying to stay positive on this Tuesday afternoon; keeping the negativity away from me. So everyone knows that I've been on a weight loss journey ever since I got engaged. My goal is to get down to a size 6 or 8 (my size my senior year of high school) by my wedding day.  However, I’m not going to be upset if I’m not that size. My ultimate goal is just to tone up all over and look great in my dress. That’s it. However, I’m finding that there are certain people who I just need to cut off from my world.

This morning my company bought donuts into the office. Not just one box of donuts but four boxes. Seriously Health Stream? I mean it is so tortuous. But I have my self-control. I did not eat a donuts, I had my special K protein shake and an apple this morning and that was it. But this is what has me all fired up. A coworker of mine came up to me and asked why I wasn't eating a donuts. I explained to him that I was on a diet because for my wedding. This person then decides to go off on me because my wedding is two years away from now and that one donuts is not going to kill me. If that’s not rude, they then start to bash the fact that my wedding is two years away and that they believe that my relationship with my fiancé is not going to last because “most people who are engaged for more than a year never follow through.”

As I sit there and listen to what he has to say, I’m thinking in my head “um why are you commenting on my relationship when you do not have a girlfriend or a fiancé, your 30 years old and still live at home with your mom and you don’t even pay her rent. She paid for your brand new Honda accord and makes the monthly payment for you because you can’t make them yourself. Maybe if you would stop spending all your money on damn Xbox 1 and all the video games, maybe I would have a little more respect for you as a person. However, I don’t. And I don’t give damn what you think either.  So do me a favor and never speak to me again, because you are a piece of shit.

To all my future brides out there do not let anyone tell you that your plans or ideas about your wedding, health or even your life affect you. There are always going to be haters out in the world and you just got to let the haters hate. In my situation, I understand why his person hates on me. 

1. I’m awesome 

2. I’m getting married 

3. I live with my mother for now; however, I’m in the process of getting a house of my own by the end of year. 

4. My pay all of my bills on time and do not let my mother pay for anything for me. I could honestly see the conversation with my mom in my head now. “Hey can you pay for my car payment this month? My mom would look at me and laugh in my face “yeah ok.” My mom taught me that if I wanted something I needed to work for it and I needed to be able to live within my means; and not live pay check to pay check. Learn to balance your money out! 

5. I live with mom and sisters but my family is better than yours. 

6. I have to best support system (family and friends) in the world.

7. I do not give a damn what you think.

It just amazes me how petty and low life some people can be. I honestly, hope that some people have the common sense to keep all of their opinions to themselves. Some people just do not want to hear what you have to say, so shut up. I'm only surrounding myself around people who have positive energy and who believe in me. People who encourage me to keep going for goals every day. People who join me by helping me choose better foods and different workouts to do so that I keep continue to reach my goal. All I'm going to say is "Hakuna Matata- it means no worries for the rest of our days." 

Photo Session With Alicia

This past weekend Matt and I went and had a photo shoot with, my old college roommate, Alicia. Alicia is starting up her photography career and needed us for some engagement shots. Matt and I had a great time on Saturday. We met Alicia at 1p.m. in downtown Annapolis to take some great pictures. The weather was absolutely perfect for us; the sun was shining, blue skies everywhere and a little windy. Alicia took the time to make us some props for the photo session as well. She made us a heart with the letter “H” in the middle of it with our wedding colors (wine: burgundy and mint green) and she also made us a sign with our wedding date on it.

Matt and I had a blast shooting pictures with Alicia. I know we were really entertaining for her because we were just laughing and being goof balls the entire time.  I know she had a great time working with us. Alicia was also able to get another contact while we were out. We are really excited and happy for her. We hope she is able to get her photography career off the ground. Below I have attached some of the pictures that Alicia has already sent to us. I cannot wait to see the rest of the pictures once they are finished.

 If anyone wants Alicia’s contact information please let me know and I will shoot her a message for you :)

Love Your Body

At some point in your life, everyone looks in the mirror and doesn't like the person that they see. We all have imperfections. Some of my imperfections is that when I was in the 3rd grade I was diagnosed with ADHD and I have been taking medication since. I have big legs from playing field hockey since middle school. My hair is always uneven. With curly hair you always have to stay on top of getting it cut or you end up with uneven hair lengths, like me. I have scaly dead skin on the bottom of my feet. I bite my finger nails whenever I get nervous about something. Finally, I have golf ball size fibroid sitting at the top of uterus. 

We all have imperfections and we just need to learn to accept what God gave us. He made us in his imagine and in his eyes we are perfect. God put Matt into my life because he knew that he was the perfect person for me. Matt loves every imperfection that I have and all of my flaws. I accept all of Matt's imperfections and flaws. We give each other confidence and balance in our lives to keep each other going every day. That confidence and balance in our lives is love. Love that we have for each other runs so deep between us that we know we will last forever.  

My message to anyone who has ever had low self-esteem, or insecure about anything in their life is "No one is perfect. Love your body. Embrace your imperfections. Accept your flaws. Because you are beautiful, strong and confident."

Keep Going

I've been working out every day (not every day I have a rest day or two) and I can say that I'm starting to see some progress. My jeans are getting loose around the waist line and they aren't super skin tight on me anymore, which is great. But I do have those days when I'm like do I really want to work out? And something gets me into my workout clothes, puts on my headphones and gets me out the door. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but whatever it is I like it. Yesterday, it was beautiful outside and a little windy. I literally walked for almost 2 hours. I just kept finding paths to go down and I finally made it back to my house. Since it was windy, I didn't realize how sweaty I was just from walking. 

Matt and I have our first 5k coming up in a few weeks and I know that I'm not going to be able to run the entire 5k my first time around. I'm going to try to push myself to run as much as I can. But I'm going to be happy with whatever I do. I'm doing this 5k to challenge myself. If I can run most of the 5k then I think it’s going to give me the motivation to truly start believing in myself and giving me the hope that I will eventually get back down to the size I want to be in 2 years for my big day. 

This morning I received a quote of the day and it really spoke to me. The quote is "I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'"-Muhammad Ali.

Even, when I feel like giving up and just throwing in the towel on dieting and working out, I guess somewhere inside of me is a champion fighting for me. Telling me to keep going; never give up and eventually you will get your goal. I'm making a promise to myself that I’m not quitting until my final fitting.

Scandal

I can finally say that I'm addicted to Scandal. I've been trying to get into a TV series that was interesting and always kept me guessing on what was going to happen next. So my sisters suggested Scandal to me. This past Monday we got hit with about 10 inches of snow, and my office was closed for the day; so I watched one episode of Scandal and now I'm hooked. 

This TV series has politics, corruption, crime, lawyers, police, betrayal, love, lust, friendship and trusting your gut. Being a Criminal Justice major in college, this show is right up my ally. I love this show. I'm already on season two on Netflix. The addiction has gotten pretty bad. I watch the show while I'm on the elliptical at the gym, I stay up late to watch the show and come into work so tired from being up so late but I don't mind it. I'm hoping to start season 3 by late this week and early next week. I love this show. The cast of the show is amazing! Kerry Washington, Columbus Short, Darby Stanchfield, Katie Lowes, Gullermo Diaz, Tony Goldwyn and the rest of the cast is just AMAZING! 

I promise if your looking for a good show to get addicted too. This is that show. You will be hooked as soon as the first episode is over. 

40 Promises For Marriage

When Matt and I went down to South Carolina to visit one of our best friends, Anthony. We went to Hyman's Seafood Restaurant and Anthony got this card titled "40 Promises for Marriage" for us. I look at this card everyday because I think that it has some powerful messages that are such a good reminder to anyone who is engaged, married or having troubles in their marriage. The 40 Promises for Marriage are: 

1. Start each day with a kiss
2. Wear your wedding day at all times
3. Date once a week
4. Accept differences
5. Be polite
6. Give gifts
7. Smile often
8. Touch
9. Give back rubs
10. Laugh together
11. Send a card for no reason
12. Do what the other person wants before he or she asks
13. Listen
14. Encourage
15. Know his or her needs
16. Fix the other person's breakfast
17. Compliment twice a day
18. Call during the day
19. Slow down
20. Hold hands
21. Cuddle
22. Ask for other's opinion
23. Show respect
24. Look your best
25. Celebrate birthdays in a big way
26. Apologize 
27. Forgive
28. Set up a romantic getaway
29. Be positive
30. Be kind
31. Be vulnerable 
32. Respond quickly to the other person's request
33. Reminisce about your favorite times together
34. Treat each other's friends and relatives with courtesy
35. Send flowers eve Valentine's Day and anniversary
36. Admit when wrong
37. Be sensitive to each other's sexual desires
38. Pray for each other daily
39. Say "I love you" frequently
40. Seek outside help when needed. 

This is such a wonderful reminder on why we love our significant other. I am a lucky girl to have such a wonderful fiancé in my life. I hope everyone finds that special person in their lives and cherishes each day with them. 

Snow Day

Since we got a few inches of snow last night, my work was closed and I was able to work from home for a few hours and catch up on some of my TV shows that I have missed last week, and to share some exciting news. 

First, I'm currently catching up with my TV shows. I just finished the Big Bang Theory and Two and Half Men, now I'm watching the Voice and I'm going to watch the Bachelor (I love this show because I can yell at all the girls who are so ratchet and out of control on the show.) But now on to the good news! So Friday, Matt and I went out for drinks with an old high school friend of ours, who introduced us. We had a falling out during college but I guess everyone wanted to make amends and move forward. She gave Matt and I one of the greatest engagement gifts that we could ask for. She gave us her father's DJ card and said that if we use him for our DJ at our wedding, that her family would pay for it. So it would be free for us. Which is a wonderful and thoughtful gift. We will definitely be looking into this. 

On Saturday, Matt and I went to check out a vendor that we were looking for our reception area. We went to Chartwell Golf and Country Club to look at the grounds and to meet our coordinator, Cati. After seeing the ballroom and some of the grounds, we were hooked. Matt and I looked at each other and we just knew that we had to book or at least try to get our name down on the date that we wanted. Cati was able to pencil us down for our date. We are penciled in for September 17, 2016. Which is super exciting!! I thought it was so funny because Matt was involved in the entire time and he was asking Cati if we could have the tables set up this way and if we could all this stuff. Matt should have been a wedding planner because he is just so involved right now. He keeps sending me table number ideas, save the dates, and wedding invitation ideas that we could use. We are both really exciting to get started on this wedding journey.

On Sunday morning, Matt and I went to get order his tux for his brother's wedding and while we are in there Matt found a gray tux that he fell in love with. I'm thinking Matt might buy that tux for our wedding. He is so funny. We then went to Arundel Mills Mall to walk around and check out some of the stores. We had fun just spending time together. Its always great to just be in each other's company. Then I sent my pastor a message on Facebook, so we could get some information on what we will need to do before booking our wedding at the church. I was surprised to know that the only thing we need to do is the premarital classes which can take between 5-6 weeks. I'm excited but I'm nervous at the same time because I don't know what to expect in these classes. Its kind of like trying to figuring out what to expect in your first college class. You just don't know what to expect. I wish there was an agenda that I could look at so I could prepare myself for these classes. Ahhhh!!!!!!! Excitment! Confusion! Stress!