Hey there!

Hey there!  It's been a hot minute since I posted here, did ya miss me?  I have been super busy but I promise I have some really cool things coming in the next few weeks including a few videos and makeup tutorials.  Until then here is what I have been up to lately in pictures.

#WeAreThankful

This is a time of year that many of us stop and take the time to reflect on the past year.  It is also a great time to reflect on the things that we are thankful for.  I was contacted by Oscar Insurance, a health insurance company that services New York and New Jersey, to participate in their #WeAreThankful campaign and share a few things from this past year I am thankful for.

1.  I am thankful that I did not give up on myself like I have so many times before.  I spent the first six months of 2014 stuck at what I thought was a plateau that would last forever.  However, I didn't want to let myself down again nor all of you so I pushed and made it through it and lost another 20 lbs this year bringing my total weight loss to 50+ lbs.  Hard work and determination really pay off!

2.  I am thankful for all the wonderful people I have met this year via this blog and social media.  Although, I have not met these people face to face, I consider them friends because they encourage me day in and day out and have been so kind to me.  If any of you are reading this please know how dear to me you are.

3.   Last but not least I am eternally thankful for the love of a good man and the opportunity to be a mother to one spunky little girl.  They have loved me through my darkest times and have shown me the meaning of unconditional love.

What are you thankful for?

FOCUS!

So over the last two weeks I have really not been tracking or working out consistently and I really want to be 289.9 by Thanksgiving.  I am at 294.5 right now. So I am taking a page out of Dwayne Johnson's book.

and because he is just so damn sexy (that smile though) I added this one too.

I am going to really focus on tracking and weighing everything and hitting the gym EVERYDAY.   Brent has decided that he is going to join the gym, so we are going to start lifting together during lunch.  I am so excited that he is willing to take this step I will sacrifice anything, even if that means looking ratchet the remainder of the day at work.

I have a really bad habit of doing really well for a week or so and then hit a road bump and get off target.  So hopefully with these changes I will form some long lasting habits.

Balance is the key

I wanted to share a makeup look and outfit that I wore last week that I thought really balanced each other.

First let's examine the outfit.

The outfit is rather plain and neutral. I wore this outfit on a day that I knew I was going to be on my feet a lot at work.    The top and bottoms are both from Lane Bryant, the shoes are Payless.  I kept the accessories simple just my wedding rings, anniversary band, and pearl earrings.  Because the outfit was simple I knew I wanted to create a more dramatic look with my makeup.

Let's take a look at the makeup.

I pulled my hair back in a poofy half up do (because I do not have time for elaborate makeup and hair on the same day).  With my hair pulled back I wanted all the focus to be on my eyes.  So I kept the shadow neutral and rocked a heavy wing.  Lucky for me the wing gods smiled upon me and they came out crisp and even.  I finished the look off with a soft pink blush and a nude pink lip because it was all about the eyes.

For everyday wear your look should be balanced.  If your outfit is simple play up your features with your makeup.  If your outfit is bold I recommend keeping your makeup more neutral so the look isn't screaming "hey everybody look at me" in a negative way. You don't want to look excessive and over done, like you are desperate for attention.  Find a good balance and work it!

Would you wear this look?

Transformation Tuesday

I will let the pictures speak for themselves today.

Left - August 2013/Right - October 2014

Left - August 2013/Right - October 2014

Fitness Friday and Old Navy

So I stepped on the scale this week and the miracle that happened a couple of weeks ago was not a dream, I repeat not a dream people.  I weighed in at 299.6 which means I can officially claim my spot in the 200 club.

However, while I am still celebrating I have really been struggling with consistency.  I have a whole lot of excuses but I will not bore you with them, they are typical excuses.

I really want to be in the 280s by Thanksgiving so I am joining SkinnyMeg's dietbet next week and going to get my butt to the gym 3 times a week to lift following the lifting workout she also shared HERE.  God bless her for helping out us struggling folk!

So now on to the Old Navy part.  Last weekend I stopped in to Old Navy to look for some winter clothes for Madelynn.  While I was there I was curious to see how far I have to go before I can start wearing their clothes again (used to be one of my favorite stores in HS).

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

I CAN FIT INTO XXL TOPS AT OLD NAVY!!!!!!!  The black shirt is a BUTTON down shirt for goodness sake!  There are button down shirts at Lane Bryant that I cannot get to fit right, so you bet your sweet fanny I bought that shirt (clearance $9)!   Oh and I am totally going to get that jacket, I am still trying to decide what color.

So there ya have it, this is my motivation for getting my butt in gear and really hammering it in before the holidays (and through the holidays).  I want Lane Bryant to be a distant memory by January 1.

What is currently motivating you?

Be sure to check out the other ladies linking up for Fitness Friday HERE

Real Talk - Marriage

I will be the first to say that marriage is hard work.  Some days I am so angry at Brent I can't see straight and other days I am gushing with love for him.  We have finally reached a place in our relationship where the happy days far outnumbers the tough days.  If I'm speaking honestly it is because I let go.

After we first got married I had images of what an ideal marriage was and how our lives were going to play out.  First mistake.  I would get all worked up because I would make myself think he had to do certain things to prove his love for me.  I would get angry because he didn't do this or that like I wanted.

Fast forward a few years, we are almost four years in to our marriage and we become parents.  Becoming parents put a significant strain on our relationship.  There was a while where I wasn't sure if we were going to make it.  We lived life always putting Madelynn first and slowly our relationship dwindled.  I became so depressed because I would imagine a love/marriage like in the books I read (I was reading a lot of Nicholas Sparks around that time) or in the movies I watched.

After a couple of years of bumpy roads things started to get better.  Each day we were fighting less, laughing more and genuinely enjoying being together.  Just the other day I found myself thinking about why am I so happy now and how our marriage has become stronger than it has ever been?

This is why...

I let go of the perfect marriage I had built in my head all those years ago.  I let go of the ideal romance that the movies and books shove down our throats.  I stopped comparing my relationship with those around me.  I stopped dwelling on what I felt were his shortcomings and started focusing on the little things he did that made me happy.  I started showing him more appreciation for the daily things he does for our family, even if it is as small as folding a load of towels. I quit harping on him about every little thing I disagreed with or felt he did wrong.  I learned not to sweat the small stuff and let things go.  Once I found myself letting go of the fantasy I became happy.  I became more in love with him and our relationship began to thrive.

Will we still have rough patches?  Probably.  However, those bad days won't seem as bad if I just let go a little bit.

I couldn't imagine life without him being there to make me laugh.