A year ago....what a difference!

Last night after I posted the pictures of Ian I remembered I had pictures from last May when my nephew Luke was born so I pulled them up to see if I could tell much of a difference.  For some reason in my mind, the almost 30lbs that I have lost I can't seem to tell much of a difference visually sometimes.  Being able to look back at past pictures and see a difference makes me feel so good!  Tells me that what I am doing is working and I just gotta keep going! 

Feeling confident again

The last picture I didn't want pictures taken of me from the waist/chest down so I rarely had pictures of my full body.  What a difference though.  I'm pretty sure in this last picture I was trying to smile so it didn't make my face look so fat.  Makes me feel so sad for myself that that's how I let myself start to think but it also makes me proud of myself for turning things around and learning to smile again without thinking how I look when I do it.

On a sidenote.....look how big Miss H looks compared to these pictures.  Now THAT makes me wanna cry!  Where's MY baby???

I'm an Aunt....again!!!

My sister and Brother-in-law welcomed their first son this morning!

Ian Joseph - 7lbs 6.5oz 20inches long 

Welcome to the world Ian!!  We are so blessed to have you!!!

Chased by wild animals...literally!

Last night Miss H had soccer practice and I planned to run during her practice at the park since on Monday I was the only parent watching the kids practice.  If other parents are going to use that time as an opportunity to get stuff done well then so am I darn it! 

This is how the night started out.  I pull in the park where soccer practice is and look back and find Miss H like this.  In the 10 minutes it took us to get there she was out....that's when I know she is over tired!  No more staying up till 9pm missy. 

Dropped her off at practice with the coach and I headed out to run on the path around the soccer fields.  I still can't believe how slow I feel when running.  I don't know if it's because I'm alone running and no one pushing me to run faster but I seriously doubt I could go any faster.  Kind of frustrating that I can actually feel I'm going slow and that's never happened before...not that I've ever been fast! 

Well after making it trip #2 around the path the geese at the park decided to come up on the bike bath and not only walk over it but also line up on both sides of the path.  I saw this as I was coming up and I wasn't sure what to do.  I would have to go majorly out of my way to go around them and I had seen someone else walk through them earlier so I figured what the heck so will I.  Well as I just cleared them apparently I ticked one off and it started to chase me.  And a few others decided to follow.  Awesome.  I don't think I've ever been so scared and/or embarrassed in my life.  It literally happened in an open clearing for ALL parents at soccer practice to see it happen.  And yes I saw a few laughing at the incident.  HAHAHA very funny isn't it...not!   Now I can laugh because YES, of course this happens to ME!  Stupid geese! 

And lucky for me I also had another proud moment tonight right after I finished my run and I get back to watch the rest of Miss H's soccer practice I get to see this...

very proud soccer mom moment

That is Miss H just finishing a cartwheel/dance move right in the middle of practice and I think she's supposed to be the goalie here.  HA!  I'm guessing she will NOT be a goalie any time in her soccer career. 

It was a good night though and even though I felt like an idiot for getting chased for wild animals and having my life threatened.....I was out running while all the other parents were sitting in their lawn chairs or in their cars watching practice.  My belly may have been bouncing up and down and I may have been slower than a few walkers but you know what....I was out exercising and working up a sweat! 

On a good note, here is my Friday outfit and even though I was complaining earlier this week about how I have no pants to wear but my tops are fitting better!!!!  This sweater I could never button up and if I did well I had to make sure I had spanks on and it looked like I was stuffing major cotton candy in my shirts too.  Also these are the jeans that I went down in a size from my first picture when I started and THEY are starting to get baggy!!!!  WHOOHOO!!!  Give me a month or 2 and I bet I'm buying a smaller size of jeans again!!! 

Happy Friday everyone!  Have a great weekend!

A different phase, different day

You probably noticed how there for a while I was always running with a buddy, either my BFF or my sister.  And I really enjoyed that....and then something changed in me....



I want to run by myself




huh???  Yeah I know you were thinkin' it too right, but for reals, right now I'm preferring to run by myself.  I ran with my sister on Monday morning and I was still feeling tight, no idea why or what the deal was but since then I haven't asked anyone to run with me.  Not that if they asked I wouldn't say no but for some reason right now for the past 2 days I have actually enjoyed just being out there by myself. 

I get to listen to my music and go at my pace and not feel like I need to go fast because I'm with someone.  Plus I think it's kind of good for me and makes ME push myself harder and farther.  I have actually yelled at myself this week OUT LOUD while I was running.  No one was around me so don't worry! 

It's kind of crazy and funny at the same time....like I always say about Miss H....I'm now going through a phase.  And I'll be honest, it's a nice phase and I'm glad to see myself doing it.  I have no idea how far I run but I'm typically gone 25-30 minutes and I just run.  I don't have a path I follow and know the distance (though I would love to know) I just turn when I want to turn and go wherever I want to go. 

So that's what I'm doing so far....and it's nice. 

Here's my outfit today, picture quality isn't that great we were getting ready to run out the door and I was like WAIT....I look cute todayI should take a picture!  ha!  So here is it! 

The capri's I have on here are only 1 of 2 pairs of pants/capri's/shorts that actually fit me and aren't hanging on me....I can't wait till everything for the beginning of school is paid for and I can go on a guilt free shopping spree for myself! 

Have a terrific Thursday!

Feeling the stress of it all...how I keep it together

As I mentioned yesterday we have 2 weeks today from when school starts and I am already starting to feel the pressure of the beginning of the school year.  I'm ready for the school year to start but I am not ready for the millions of places I'm going to have to be and all the money that is going to have to be paid out for everything. 

Rarely as a single mom do I feel like I "need" a spouse or wish I had a spouse that could help me out but during the month of August and even part of September is when I kind of wish I did. 

Just last night I got emails upon emails about things coming up for Miss H. 

School Open House
PTO meetings (which I'm on the board for....why did I say I would do that????)
Soccer practices AND games
Soccer picture schedule
School Supply Shopping
Girl Scout meetings

And to top it off...I'm not just a mom who works and comes home and that's it.  I have a jewelry business too that I do shows for about 2-3 times a month, plus a monthly training.  OH and I'm trying to lose weight and gotta find time to run in there.   And then there's also just stuff around the house that everyone has...laundry, cleaning, making food.  The list just doesn't end!!! 

My saving grace

Call me crazy but I have 2 calendars that keep my life sane....one that I keep in my purse and one that is on the front of my fridge.  Between these 2 things I constantly know what I am supposed to be doing and where I'm going. 

I have come to a point within the last year that I literally almost can't remember anything and trying to remember it all just adds way too much stress.  Days and weeks get confused and next thing I know I've missed something or am behind.  Once Miss H is in school I'll probably even some how add her homework stuff to my calendars just so I don't forget anything. 

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! 

Breathe Sarah....Breathe.....It'll all work out......right???  YES!  Yes it will...it has to!!

Another thing I do...and yes I am a type-A person...I've learned to be....I am a list maker or again, I'll forget something or miss something. 

When things get crazy and I want to make sure everything gets done...a To Do List is a MUST!  Keeps me on track and I don't forget anything.  Frees up my mind so I can focus on getting things done rather than remembering what needs done and making sure I'm not forgetting anything in the process. 

Am I feeling the stress of school starting....oh...my...gosh...YES!!!!  However...I know that after tonight and me having a free evening of getting things organized and checked off my to do list it's going to be a lot better! 

And if it's not....well I'll be out running at 9pm again like I did last night running off the stress!  And maybe enjoying some of this that my co-worker put on my desk this morning

It must be obvious I'm stressed!

Are you stressing over the beginning of the school year?  Do you have a way you keep things organized? 

Keeping things real,

Mama Sarah

I'm Baaaack!!!

We are back from vacation and I have very good news!!! 

Somehow over the last 2 weeks I have lost 3.8lbs making my total weight loss so far 29.5lbs!!!! 

Reason I say the last 2 weeks is because the week prior to vacation I ran almost every morning and always forgot to weigh myself when I got up and I also really just didn't care.  I think I kind of have been over doing it on the running end by the way my body is acting (more on that below) and so I just backed off some on caring.  Then vacation came and I didn't have access to a scale until I got back which really made me think about what I was putting in my mouth.  I didn't go crazy watching what I eat because we were on vacation and I wanted to give myself a little bit of a break but I also was scared to death of coming back and gaining 10lbs and having to start all over again in a spot I didn't want to be. 

Vacation was great, not exactly relaxing having 2 kids and 2 adults along but it was fun and it had its moments of relaxation and I did cme back with a tan so overall it was a good trip.  Here's a few pictures from the trip.

Out on my 1 run I did during vacation.  Only did about 1 mile - 1.5 miles..way to humid for me!

Almost everyone morning or evening me and Miss H went on a walk on the beach searching for sea shells.  We didn't find as many as we did 2 years ago on our trip to Cancun but it was still fun to walk along the beach with Miss H.  Miss H also loved the ocean this time, 2 years ago in Cancun I was lucky to get her to put her feet in the water but this tim she was a fish in it.  Constantly running up and down the beach, jumping the waves and playing in the sand.  It was a good trip to finish out the summer on.  Which I can't believe the summer is almost over...2 1/2 weeks school starts and I am not ready! 

We left earlier than we planned for home which ended up working out great and gave us extra time at home to get caught up on sleep and laundry.  Finally come Saturday morning I was able to get my first run in after vacation and it was rough.  I went our usual 2 mile path and I had to walk some of it.  Not sure what is going on with me.  The Friday before we left for vacation when my sister and I was running my legs felt SOOOO tight!  I mean I was going sloooooow and I have no idea what caused it.  I wasn't this bad on Saturday but I could feel my legs tightening up at times. 

exhuasted after my Saturday run

Come Monday morning I ran with my sister agan at 5am and again I just felt tight, my foot was hurting me and it normally never does when I run, just overall I felt like crap, we ran around 1 mile and that's it.  WHAT the heck is HAPPENING????  I was able to do 2-2.5 miles before vacation and now 1 mile is pushing it????  I don't know if I over did it the week I ran 4 out of the 5 mornings or what but you would have thought that being on vacation for a week and only running once then would be enough rest time.  I don't know if anyone has any words of widom I'd love to hear it.

Good thing is the scale went down and I didn't gain over vacation! 

Goals before I turn 30

So....the whole turning 30 soon thing really has what made me wake up and to start doing something about the stuff that I've always wanted to do or be.  And so I'm going to throw it all out there!  Here they are!  Help hold me to them! 

By the end of April 2013...

- I want to have lost 90lbs. 
        This means I'm going to have to really focus on what I'm eating and keep on exercising!  I need to lose 7lbs a month!  Yikes, ok maybe be at least really really close to my 90lb goal. 

- I want to be a runner.  I want to feel like a runner.

- This fall I want to run BIG RACES! 
           Just 5ks for now but I want to experience a big race.  You know the whole expo thing, pick up your packet the night before hand, corrals (ok they probably dont' do corrals for 5ks but you know what I mean!), number pinned to your shirt and all that jazz.  I want it all!   (If you have any suggestions on races...please let me know!!)

- I'd love to run these races with my sister and my best friend.  My running buddies. 

- I want Miss H to see me run a race. 
            I want to show her what I can do and I want to make her proud. 

- I am going to join a gym for a few months this winter so I can keep running through the winter if it gets too cold/snowy for me to continue. 
          I am NOT losing what I have gained so far.  (Can you believe I've never ran on a treadmill???)

- Here's a biggy.....For my 30th birthday...

I want to run a half marathon or a longer distance race (15k). 

                                (ok.....let's be honest...I want a 13.1 or 15k window sticker for my car.)

There we have it.  Those are my goals for the next 9 months.  Crazy but exciting!