My Top 7

Today is a big day. You know why? Because I'm going to share with you my top 7 all time FAVORITE movies ever! I had a top 5, but that wasn't working for me so now it's the odd #7 :) That's just how I roll. (and of course this doesn't count Christmas movies! Lord knows that's a whole other list...)

It's taken me awhile to choose my Top 7 because they have to be perfect and I have to absolutely LOVE the movie for it to be on my favorites list! Although, I only have 2 requirements:
1. I could watch it over and over without getting sick of it.
2. I could watch it over and over and find something new about it that I love every time!
(oddly enough in all of my picks there are scenes that make me laugh really hard and scenes that make me cry, with the exception of #7. I like that.)

#7
Alice in Wonderland

The Disney one! Although, I do love the Tim Burton version as well! The Disney version just has a special place in my heart! It's so fun, crazy and silly that I could just watch it over and over! I don't know why, but I just have this fascination with all things Alice in Wonderland! I just like that none of it makes sense and that's ok!
My favorite scene? The singing flowers! "All in the golden afternoon!"

#6
The Family Stone

This movie is so funny! I love it so much! Their family is so dysfunctional, which means it's pretty darn close to real life! I don't like that they're mean to Meredith, but I do like the fact that they are very protective of one another.
My favorite scene? When Meredith gives everyone their Christmas present on Christmas morning! I cry every time!! It's a sweet moment and I think I might steal the idea :)

#5
Country Strong

I love me some country music and I love me some Garrett Hedlund!! I think this is Gwyneth Paltrow's best movies ever! She's amazing in Country Strong! I love this story, I love the music and did I mention I love Garrett Hedlund?! I don't love the ending, but the fact that Beau and Chiles get back together makes everything ok!
My favorite scene? When Beau and Chiles sing their duet that she wrote "Timing is Everything"!

#4
The Family Man

I've loved this movie for years! I love it because it's message is that the wealthiest man is the one who works a crappy 8-5 job, married with kids, in a bowling league, walks the dog at night in the snow and whose wife is a pro bono lawyer! It's the simple life and it's precious moments that make it so rich.
My favorite scene? When Kate and Jack fight over the last piece of chocolate cake! Now, that's real life!

#3
Down with Love

One of my best friends introduced me to this movie in high school. I came to love Ewan McGregor! He and Renee' Zellweger are so cute in this movie! It's a super fun 60's movie that is seriously so funny! Sarah Paulson is fabulous as well!
My favorite scene? When Barbara and Catcher are in his fake apartment and they kiss for the first time! Then she grabs the tiramisu and leaves!

#2
The Breakfast Club

Breakfast Club is seriously the best! I mean, it just doesn't get any better than this! It's funny and it's real! I love that by the end of the movie they were all friends and had shared about their own screwed up lives.
My favorite scene? Are you kidding me? The end of course!!!
"Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it is we did wrong, but we think you're crazy for making us write an essay telling you who we think we are.
You see us as you want to see us, in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out, is that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basketcase, a princess, and a criminal.
Does that answer your question?
Sincerely yours,
The Breakfast Club.

and last but not least..... DRUMROLL PLEASE........
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#1
You've Got Mail

There's really no words. Every single line is absolute genius. This movie holds a special place in my heart. It makes me want to own a children's bookstore! It makes me want to drink cappuccinos! It reminds me of my family. My whole family loves it as much as I do and we love watching it together! Although, if you've never seen it before you might not want to watch it with us! You won't hear a word... Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks absolutely make this movie! They are fabulous! And a little Dave Chappelle, Steve Zahn, Parker Posey and Heather Burns don't hurt either! This movie is home to me and honestly, it doesn't get any better than that.
 My favorite scene? Gosh, I have so many that it's hard to choose, but I think I'll have to go with the dinner party where Kathleen finds out that Joe's last name is Fox... then Patricia and Frank walk over... it's great.
"You know what's always fascinated me about Julius and Ethel Rosenberg is how old they looked when they were really just our age!"

What didn't make my list that are SO close to being "a favorite"?
-Sound of Music
-Wild Hearts Can't be Broken
-Step Brothers (I know. It's all Matt's fault.)
-While You Were Sleeping
-The Proposal
-Just Friends
-Best in Show

I could go on and on for days! I love movies! If you haven't seen any of these movies please, I beg you!! See all of them!! They're so wonderful! And I will do a post about my favorite Christmas movies soon because that's a whole other list...

with love,

Scratch That: Two Teeth!!

Less than a week after finding Ryan's first tooth I found his 2nd one right next to it!

I'll admit, I teared up a little when I found it! He's growing up so fast and it's breaking my heart! I love that crazy boy!!

got his remote and recliner! he's all set!

oh how his mood can change so quickly :) although, that little pirate sweater does make me melt!!

 We had our annual Chili Cookoff at our church this past Sunday and Matt and I were judges again! It's always a fun night at church! Here's a few pics:

with aunt aimee

with the trophies!

with my baby!

And this is just from today! I bought him these Carthartt's at a garage sale back in August and they finally fit! I think he looks so cute! It just reminds me that one day he'll be leaving me to go hunting with Matt in a bigger pair of Carthartt's!

he's a nut!

Until next time...
Oh yea, and I'm down 2 lbs. from my last update which makes a total of 44 lbs! I'll post on that later! 

with love,

Diet Diary: My Workouts

I'm back with more of my Diet Diary! I'm going to try and post as often as I can! I feel like I have a lot to talk about though because I got a great response from my previous post! Lots of comments and messages on FB asking about the shakes and wanting more info! I will write some posts that go into more detail about the GNC shakes very soon!

Last week was a pretty good week, I worked out 4 times: I went running twice and I got on the elliptical twice, not bad! It's hard to squeeze in a good workout once you've got a 8 month old!

It seemed like my last post sparked a lot of interest and questions, so I thought I'd post about some of the things I like to do for excercise!

Elliptical
We were very fortunate to be given an elliptical a few years ago from my former boss. He didn't want it so he gave it to us! I really like it and have gotten a lot of use out of it! You burn a lot of calories in a very short amount of time and it's a lot easier on your joints! Please do your research and find out for yourself how effective the elliptical is in burning calories by moving both your arms and legs!

Zumba
I have the Zumba game for my Wii and I love it! Time passes so quickly because it doesn't feel like a workout! Ryan thinks it's funny to watch and he dances along with me! It has tutorials that teach you every move and it has different levels and timed workouts as well! You can choose to do a quick 20 minute workout or a 45 minute one if you've got time! I like them all and have used the heck out of this game since buying it a few years ago!

Running
I've started running outside and I really enjoy it! I love being outside, having my earphones in and getting a little alone time! Although, my knee has really been hurting so I think I need new shoes. I have the Nike's in the pic above and I really like them and I've only had them a year, but I guess they're worn out! I want these!

 Zuzkalight.com
 A co-worker introduced me to this site and she's really great! She posts hundreds of free workouts to her website that don't require any equipment! Zuzana is insanely ripped so she obviously knows what she's doing! Click here to see her site! Nevermind her boobs...

Well, I hope this helps! So far this week I've done Zumba and Zuzana! I hope to run at least twice this weekend! Good luck!


with love,

Quick Pics

Not much to talk about today- we had a pretty relaxing weekend of hunting, movies, pizza, two baby showers, church and family time!

cuddling with my baby!

calling in those ducks like daddy!

don't bother me, mom!

 
with love,

Alert the Media!!

Ryan officially has a tooth!!!! I found it last week and it's killing me everytime I see that lil white speck!! Let me tell you, that thing is sharp!!

Baby shark tooth!

Oh my goodness, he is growing up so much everyday! I guess we've now got a teething son in the house! Lord help us...

with love,

My Angel Baby is 8 Months Old!

I don't think I can handle it.

with love,

New Series: Diet Diary

I've decided to start a new series on my blog about my weight loss journey after having Ryan. I've lost what I gained with him plus more, but I still have more to lose. This is a journey, a lifestyle, a huge change and a constant battle so I'd like to share it to try and help anyone else on their journey!
I haven't decided how often that I'll post yet. It might be weekly, it might be monthly. But, today I'm going to start the series by catching up and sharing how I've lost the 42 lbs. so far!

I gained 30 lbs while pregnant with Ryan. Here I am the day before I had Ryan:

5/13/12 (+ 30 lbs.)

I assumed that when I left the hospital and got on my scale at home that I would have at least lost about 15 lbs... WRONG! I maybe lost about 10 lbs at best! I was shocked, depressed, discouraged and just plain mad that I had lost so little after birth! Here I am the day after giving birth:

5/15/12 (maybe -10 lbs.)

If you're a mom, then you know that coming home and adjusting is an absolute whirlwind! Your main focus, of course, is your newborn. Matt and I were busy learning to take care of Ryan and set some sort of crazy schedule! On top of all of this, your body is trying to heal! Although I was thinking and stressing about it, my last priority was weight loss. The first few weeks were very hard for me both physically and emotionally. Here's a picture of me when Ryan was 6 days old. You can tell I'm very swollen, tired and an exhausted new mom! I wasn't tracking my weight at this point, but I'm almost positive I gained some weight in the first 2 weeks. I never swelled up during the pregnancy, but for some reason I was swollen really bad after I delivered Ryan! Ugh it was so frustrating!

5/20/12 (-7 lbs)

I nursed Ryan for 7 weeks, so I naturally lost weight during those weeks. I don't know how much I lost because I wasn't keeping up with it at this point. I maybe lost another 5 lbs. or so. Here's a picture of me about 3 weeks later. At this point I was feeling and looking much better. My emotions had finally (somewhat) calmed down, my swelling had gone down, my body had healed, nursing was in full swing and going well, Matt went back to work and a new job, we were going out in public often and had just generally gotten back into the swing of things which felt so good!

6/3/12 (-12 lbs.)

I didn't start dieting until I was done nursing. It's important to eat enough calories while nursing, so I didn't bother starting anything until after those 7 weeks. Although, immediately after Matt and I did start on the Body by Vi program. You can check out that program for yourself, but overall I was happy with the program and we both lost weight on it. (note: you can buy the exact same shakes at GNC for cheaper plus they have more protein! Comment if you'd like more info and I can tell you which ones to buy and when! I wish I had known this back in July! I switched to GNC as soon as I checked out their prices for myself!) At this point I was starting to stress over my weight because my cousins were getting married on July 14th and I was in the wedding! (No pressure, right?!) So, I started the shakes and it was hard! I had been eating whatever I wanted for the past 10 months! It took me a little while to get going so my weight loss was pretty slow on the program. I also wasn't working out at this point either (besides the occasional zumba or walk around the neighborhood). Unfortunately, when it was time to go out of town for the wedding I wasn't where I wanted to be. Of course, Ryan was only 8 weeks but I was so impatient! Here's a picture of me at one of the wedding rehearsals and it's very obvious that I still hadn't lost any more weight.

7/13/12 (-12 lbs.)

The program was very slow and steady for me, but I stuck with it for about 5 months and lost about 20 lbs. I can't complain about that at all! But, it just seemed like a very long process to me and everyday was still a struggle. I did start working out during this period. I was using the elliptical a few times a week and trying to walk outside on the weekends. Each week varied and some weeks were better than others! During this time, I also started using the iPhone app My Fitness Pal.  I love this app! Try it out and see if it works for you. But, I love it (and still use it) because it tells you how many calories you need to eat everyday to obtain your goals. From July- present I'm eating no more than 1200 calories a day. Of course, I definitely have cheat days and sometime cheat weeks! (See Thanksgiving and Christmas) But, this app is so wonderful because it helps hold you accountable to what you're eating, how much you're working out and how much you weigh. I highly recommend this app for anyone trying to lose weight and stay on track with their caloric intake.

Sorry for the big jump in time, but here's a picture of me at Thanksgiving. Not much to report from August, September or October. I was just chugging along with the shakes, elliptical and Fitness Pal, nothing exciting!

11/23/12 (-30 lbs.)

 You can definitely tell the difference between the two photos, which is encouraging. (You can tell Matt is losing weight as well. He's lost about 8 lbs since this picture!) And I was encouraged because I had finally lost all that I gained during my pregnancy. But, I still had a lot of work to do! Once we got home from Thanksgiving in Mississippi I hit the diet hard! I ate awful that week and was ready to kick it in gear! I started doing the 3 Day Military Diet for a few weeks. You can research this on your own and make a decision for yourself, but it worked for me. I've done it off and on ever since and have seen significant progress. I lost 4 lbs. in the first week! When I'm not on the 3 Day Diet I try and eat as best as I can. I take some of the meals from that diet and make them into my own. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas I lost another 10 lbs! I was trying to workout a lot more (mostly get outside to walk/run) and being more strict about my food habits! Here's a picture from Christmas:

12/25/12 (-40 lbs.)

Like Thanksgiving, Christmas was a "cheat week" haha! We were snowed in for 5 days and food options were limited so the diet was completely out the window! But, once we got power and everything was back to normal I got back into my routine. I've started running as much as I can on the weekends (I have more time and Matt can watch Ryan) and I really enjoy getting outside and having time to myself! Since Christmas I've lost another 2 lbs and the only thing I'm doing different is eating a LOT of eggs! I have 1-2 eggs for breakfast every morning with a slice of cheddar cheese (I also mix in a little skim milk and pepper). I've started to occasionally have oatmeal (mixed in skim milk, honey and a little cinnamon) as well for some variety. For lunch I make tuna a lot and like to add a hard-boiled egg to that as well. Still running a couple times on the weekend. Here's a picture of me from 2 weeks ago:

1/4/13 (-42 lbs)

And that brings us to today! By the grace of the good Lord above, I've lost 42 lbs! It feels great but I'm not done! Follow me as I continue on this journey to a healthier life!

with love,

Bieber Showed Up

Well folks, Bieber showed up that's for sure! Emma and I had so much fun at his concert last week!

Ready to go!

We got bored waiting!

Justin himself... yea we had pretty crappy seats haha

 Here's a video of his entrance! You can hear how loud it was in there! All the girls were going crazy!



He really put on a great show and we had an awesome time together!

The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxed- we hung out with both of our families, went out to eat, did a little shopping and watched lots of movies!

Ryan stole daddy's hat!

There's lots more exciting posts coming soon! I'm starting a new series of posts today... wait and see :)

with love,