Children's Miracle Network

Have you ever known a family who has a sick child? What about a family that has to travel to get care for that sick child? An hour of travel time could mean the difference between life and death. That's one of the many reasons I support the Children's Miracle Network.

Yesterday and today there has been a CMN radioathon on Lite, and it really is one of my favorite times of the year. The stories they put to music are heartbreaking. Can you imagine a doctor or nurse telling you they don't know if you're child is going to live? They live because of the community's support of Children's Miracle Network. I encourage everyone to support their local children's miracle network. Even if you don't have children or grandchildren in the area, someone else somewhere else is supporting the Children's Miracle Network where your child or grandchild lives and making sure they get care if they ever need it, so you can do the same for children locally. It could mean the difference between life and death for a child. Or imagine a child born 8 weeks early weighing just 2 pounds, your donation could help that child grow and have a chance to see the world.

Just a little bit can go a long way! So I encourage you to support the local Children's Miracle Network!

25 days until the trip of a lifetime!!

Ok so maybe it's not that great, but I need a vacation so I'll take anything I can get right now. 25 days seems like forever, but in reality it'll be here before I know it. I can't believe March will be over next week. Where did February and March go? It's flown by. So yes Las Vegas is only 25 days away. I'm looking forward to the visit, the sightseeing, spending time with my boyfriend (that probably tops it all) and even the flight. I'm getting excited just thinking about it. I'm not a flyer. I don't like heights or flying, but it's exciting!! Just to get away from here, if nothing else.

I'm kind of funny when it comes to vacations. I'm a planner (just ask my boyfriend) I'm crazy when it comes to planning things. I've already started a list of things I need to pack and started a list of things we need to do while out there and started to break it down by days. I'm just so excited about everything! I can't wait.

So I'm sure I will occassionaly update you as the time comes closer.

I lost another 2 pounds last week, so up to 32.6 pounds. Some people can't believe I've lost that much...others mention it and say I inspire them, while that's good, but to do it you really have to want to do it. I'm hoping by my Vegas trip I'm close to 40 pounds...see I take it week by week, or set short-term goals that are reachable, you can't think of everything you have to lose because then you'll just get frustrated. If I thought at the beginning that I needed to lose 80 pounds (which is what I wanted to lose) then it would just seem so far off, and not reachable. I've also run into people who tell me to keep the clothes I grow out of. My question is why? So many people say they want to have fat clothes and skinny clothes. I don't want to give myself any reason to go back up to that weight. I feel better about myself. It's getting easier for me, and I love the compliments I get from people. I said no to chocolate cake last week, and the cupcakes here at work don't look good to me this week, so it's getting easier. I even tried on a dress, YES A DRESS! I don't do dresses, but it didn't look awful on me. I might actually buy a dress at somepoint! I'm loving it! So I'm doing well. Between my mom and me we've lost a total of 66 pounds! Can you believe it? We're doing great! :)

But the bottom line is, I need my vacation! LOL

Cookies, Cake, Candy

It's everywhere! You can't escape it! It chases you down and makes you eat it!

Ok maybe it's not that bad, but as a person who loves sweets, it is awfully hard to say no to all the temptations around. That's why I wonder if when I get down to my goal weight (only 48 pounds to go!) I will be able to stay there. They say it takes about a year to completely change your eating habits. My problem is...if it's there, I eat it. Had halfmoons this week, a canoli, two slices of cake...I'm a sucker. I have to get back on track for next week. I'm really trying, but it is SOOOOO hard lately. People also talk about emotional eating, and I Can see that. If you're stressed, you eat, if you're sad, you eat, if you're tired, you eat...I think that's how I got where I did because I am an emotional eater. It's time to shake that habit. Sweets make me feel better for some reason. Maybe if I could eliminate some of these bad emotions I'm having it would help too. That's hard to do though. Stress is an inevitable for me, sadness is too right now unfortunately, tiredness I've gotten used to going to bed if I'm tired...not going to grab an ice cream or something.

I've been proud of my 30 pound loss so far, so I can't slip up now. After all that hard work I'm moving forward. I will reach my goal (hopefully) by the end of this year! It'll be hard, but I can't live like I used to. I wasn't happy with myself. I'm feeling better and loving it. Now if only some other things in my life would change for the better, it would be a wonderful feeling!

Stress rears its ugly head

I guess the title pretty much says it all. I have been beyond stressed lately. So much to do at work, never getting to hang out with my friends, hardly ever seeing my boyfriend all adds up to one stressed woman.

I went to the doctors last week. It was just a physical, but I had them look at my wrist since I sprained that about 3 weeks ago. I also mentioned to them that I have been getting chest pains. Chest pains are usually not good...so I have a stress test set for next week. I really don't think it's heart related, which is what a stress test looks for. I'm young and relatively healthy, so I think it's all in conjunction with the stress I've been under lately. I also exercise on a daily basis now and think that may have started it too. I used to get panic attacks when I was really stressed or really upset, but that seemed to stop after I left the job I had at that time. I hope those aren't starting up again. These don't feel like panic attacks, just chest pains. So we'll just have to wait and see what happens with the stress test I guess.

As I mentioned, work is beyond hectic. Every time I think I'm getting caught up more things come to me and people want them ASAP and it's hard to prioritize. I'm good on deadlines and I do things that need to be done, but when it's all at once I have to do the ones that are most pressing first. We are working on two publications at once now and I think that's causing a lot of the stress too. One of them is almost done, but everything seems to be neverending. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel though as my vacation is (hopefully) going to be set for April soon. I need time away from everything!

So I hope you like the new look of my blog and the new title! I will be checking in again soon!