Looking out at the water this weekend

Ahh, the perfect start to Sunday after a painful (car-sick) trip home is.. sleeping in! Matt and I tried to watch the re-run of SNL last night but only made it until around midnight before we conked out! I woke up at 9am, refreshed and ready to start the day… with blogging, that is :)

Being gone Friday and Saturday I missed out on updates from some of my favorite bloggers so while I caught up on blogging, I also reviewed our photos from the weekend and played with a few very briefly in photoshop. So much fun!

A little Sepia lovin'

Ocean in the Evening

But now I’ve “relaxed” enough for today and I’ve got stuff to do! On my list for today?

-Work out (we did SO much walking in Carmel yesterday that my knee was so bad last night! Let’s hope it doesn’t give me trouble today!)
-Yard work in the back yard!
-Laundry
-Vaccuum
-Clean master bathroom
-Make cupcakes for a party we’re going to tonight (and not eat a single one!)

What is on your agenda for today?

P.S. GO ENTER THE ELEMENT BAR GIVEAWAY if you haven’t already!

P.P.S. I brought someone a gift from Monterey. Wanna win it? Comment on this post here!

P.P.P.S. It’s Top 5 Commenter Contest month so rack up those comments so you can win something awesome!

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Who is Stronger?

Since reading my goals post and putting my date on the calendar, I’ve decided I am going to take my weight loss mission very seriously. And guess what? Matt has decided to join in. Cute, right? A couple getting health together. Yeah, not cute as much as it is A CHALLENGE. Yep, to add to the hard work it takes to lose the extra weight while remaining health conscious and becoming active, we’ve decided to make a bet with one another.

We are torn between what the loser has to do, but we’ve decided it will work like this:

• Weigh-in’s are right after we wake up on Friday mornings (although the initial weigh-in is tomorrow morning, and then again on Friday morning)
• The challenge goes week to week: whoever loses the most pounds in one week is the winner and the challenge continues for months
• The difference between the winner’s pounds lost and the loser’s pounds lost equate to minutes. Example: If Matt loses 4 pounds and I lose 2 pounds, I owe him 20 minutes of something, because 1 pound is 10 minutes. (We just haven’t decided what the minutes will go to. Massages? Chores? TBD)
• Three meals a day are a must, snacks are optional and up to the individual. You guys know Immabe snackin’ still!
• Each week there is a winner but the big goal is the first to get to 25 pounds lost.

Wish me luck :) I’m excited but I am also nervous. I think I really need to use this time to enjoy my workouts, challenge myself when I work out, and really put my will power to the test! If it was easy, everyone would do it! ;)

And to get the ball rollin’, here are the “15 Best Diet Tips Ever” from WebMD. I agree with all of them! They are actually just good lifestyle tips more than diet tips.. and NO, we are not actually on a diet per say, we are just really watching the AMOUNT and TYPE of food we eat for a while to get back on track. Not a diet! ;) Let’s make that clear. A lifestyle change with a jumpstart!

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Gifts are nice.

Today is amazing because I have been able to indulge my materialistic side a little :) I know, not a great trait, but nice every once in a while!

Not only is today my 2 year wedding anniversary but I also got to go out to lunch with my favorite co-workers AND I came home to 3 packages waiting for me! Woo!

First, the food, of course.

This morning I had a Chocolate Brownie Clif Bar for breakfast, along with two cups of coffee and two bottles of Tejava Iced Tea.

For lunch we went across the street to a place called Lamppost Pizza and got the lunch special: salad bar & pizza bar. I had a big green salad with cucumbers, green bell pepper, kidney beans, pepperoncinis, pineapple, raisins, and more.

Salad Madness (taken with my Cell Phone!)

I also had a slice of pepperoni pizza covered with salad bar veggies and one slice of ham & pineapple. Good!

Added those veggies!

It was a fattening lunch, I felt slightly guilty, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I also enjoyed an apple with one tablespoon PB and an iced coffee in the afternoon. A great energizing pick me up!

I came home from work to find that I received a special envelope of goodies from Voskos Greek Yogurt (my favorite brand), a package from my plastic surgeon to say Thank You for choosing them (how nice is that!?), and my new Diet Minder from Amazon, to track all my intakes and outputs to get back on track. (You like that “intakes” and “outputs”? Yeah, I’m cool making up stuff like that ;))

Diet Minder!

So today is awesome :) And it’s our anniversary and since I went for a walk and took a bike ride after work, I need to go hop in the shower before our dinner and date tonight!

Hope everyone had a fun Monday :)

P.S. The Clif Crunch Granola Bar 4-Box Giveaway ENDS tomorrow at 8pm so GO ENTER if you haven’t yet! :)

Day 41.

Day 42.

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First Night in Vegas for Our Wedding Trip!

Today is our wedding anniversary; Matt and I have been married TWO YEARS!

In the past, I’ve briefly touched on how Matt and I met and got together, but because today is our anniversary, I thought I’d talk about our relationship a little and share some photos of us over the years with you guys :)

Matt and I went on our first date on November 17, 2005 and we became boyfriend and girlfriend on November 20, 2005. It only took three days for us to hang out non-stop to realize that we both felt something that we had never felt before.

2005

Previously Matt had been in a somewhat serious on-and-off again relationship for a few years and I had just gotten out of a short, not serious, relationship. We both previously had a few serious relationships, a bunch of casual relationships, and we few awful ones, too. When we met, neither of us were looking to really meet someone and get into a serious relationship. He had just broken up with his previous girlfriend not too long before we met, and I had just broken up with a total jerk. We had declared to ourselves and our friends that we wanted to enjoy college, party, and have fun. Sometimes having fun in college means being unattached. But as cheesy as it is, the saying is really true: you find the person you’re looking for when you’re not looking.

Christmas 2005

After three months of dating, we knew we wanted to get engaged. Matt had planned on surprising me and getting me a ring and doing the whole proposal, but given the situation (3 months of dating and then getting engaged!) we decided to go another route. We broke the engagement news to Matt’s sister first, then I told my Mom, and then we told Matt’s parents and our friends. Everyone was pretty shocked. We got a lot of “are you sure?” and “you’re too young” from a lot of people. And I mean a lot. We couldn’t fault them–we had only just met and marriage is the most serious thing two people can do, aside from children. But we knew.

Acting Goofy (Like We Usually Do)

We bought my engagement ring together–I picked out a princess cut ring with three diamonds in the setting and 6 diamonds on the band. We chose a beautiful ring that was not too expensive but just right. And then just a week or so later, Matt moved out of the dorms, I moved out of my parent’s house, and we got our first apartment together. We merged our bank accounts and settled in.

Yosemite 2007

Looking back, we both kind of say “what were we thinking?!” because merging your bank accounts is serious. More serious than a ring. But we wouldn’t do it any differently because it changed us and made us the strong, passionate, and close couple that we are today.

Shopping Trip

Moving in together made us get our acts together–set goals for our near and far futures–and grow up. After being engaged for almost 3 years, I decided I wanted to make it official. We were planning our marriage to take place after Matt graduated from college but I got impatient out of nowhere, stamped my feet, and said I couldn’t wait. Matt, being the easy-going and laid back guy that he is, said that was fine with him. So we planned our wedding and finally tied the knot.

We already lived together for a few years before we got married so there weren’t any post-marriage surprises. We weren’t saving ourselves so again, no surprises ;) But the feeling of being officially married was (and is) so amazing. It’s just a piece of paper but somehow it feels like so much more.

Matt's College Graduation

Over the years, Matt has made me a better person. I have become more patient, I have a better attitude, I have discovered that I am capable of more than I thought, I have realized I am stubborn, and he has taught me how to relax and enjoy life.

College!

I have found out that real love is much more than butterflies in your stomach. It is patience when I’m being a butt, carrying things for me when I don’t want to, listening to me tell the same story over and over, watching the movies I like, discovering new things together, feeling like I am safe no matter what, knowing that he always has my back, not feeling self-conscious in front of him, having him always have my best interest at heart, holding my hair when I am sick, giving me sponge baths when I had surgery, putting up with my attitude and all my begging for things I maybe don’t need, and always being there for me–emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually–no matter what. Love goes beyond material gifts and physical attraction, and ours knows has no limitations. :)

Starbucks Date :)

We are excited to plan our future, happy to look back at our past, and content in enjoying our present. Not everyday is easy and we have had our fair share of disagreements, but he never lets us go to bed mad and we always come together, stronger and happier. I never thought that I would have this type of relationship but I really love him more and more each day and, through it all, I feel beyond lucky to be married to Matt.

Olive Garden Date :)

Happy Anniversary to us! I love you Matt Stidham! :)

On Our Wedding Night :)

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Gold's Gym Stridetrainer 595 Elliptical

Sorry I have been M.I.A. from the blogosphere today; Matt and I spent the day doing house work and cleaning up the garage. Fun stuff, I know! Actually, it’s exciting stuff because we are cleaning out the garage to 1. have a garage sale (yay for getting rid of junk!) 2. lay our new interlocking floor mats down on the floor and 3. to set up our little home gym! I am seriously stoked about this you guys!

Last week we got our elliptical that we ordered, but our garage wasn’t ready for it! So today was spent diligently organizing tools, vacumming the garage floors, moving stuff to the side yard, running to Costco for more floor mats, and moving stuff around. A lot of work (and tomorrow we still have to lay the other half of tiles, assemble the elliptical and organize the rest of the stuff that’s coming back into the garage!) but definitely well worth it. I’m really excited for the end result! It will be so nice to come downstairs in the morning and have all my workout equipment at my fingertips! No more driving to the gym or paying a monthly fee. Woot!

We even managed to get in a short bike ride, after our day of workin’ it out cleaning-style in the garage. Hooray for us. :)

After all our work we treated ourselves to some light Frappucinos from Starbucks:

Matt waiting for the drinks ;)

Matt's Drink: Light Caramel Frappucino, My Drink: Light Mocha Frappucino.. So good!

Aside from the Starbucks, I ate a lot of good (and beautiful!) food today but we were so on the go that I didn’t take any pictures. Boo, me :( But I’ll make it up to everyone by eating NEW stuff tomorrow and taking A LOT of pictures! (I think that’s more a gift for myself, getting to eat new stuff, haha!)

Now that we’re run around and spent the day hard at work, we are treating ourselves to a movie!

Our Movie Theatre.. Very close to our house!

We are seeing the late showing of The Switch, the new Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman comedy. I hope it’s good; Jennifer Aniston is so beautiful and Jason Bateman is growing on me as an actor! I will definitely let you guys know if it’s any good!

Oh and as we were leaving for Starbucks, Leon tried to run out the door to come with us. When we told him to sit in the recliner because he was not invited, this is how he reacted:

Dramatic Sadness

He was devastated. And yes, my dog has the world’s biggest under-bite. At first it’s hideous and then it’s adorable and endearing. Trust me :)

Anyway, I apologize again for disappearing today and I hope everyone had a great Saturday and is having a great Saturday night!

I think missing a day of blogging is okay as long as you’re doing something good; like putting a home gym together ;)

Day 39. (Beware.)

Day 40.

P.S. Don’t forget to enter the CLIF CRUNCH GRANOLA BAR 4-BOX GIVEAWAY! :)

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