My Weight Loss Journey: Post One.

Please know that everything I say in this post is not an over exaggeration, and that my pain comes from the bottom of my heart. All of this is truth. Sorry for some of the profane language. Please, no rude or negative comments. 
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And so it begins. 

So.. Here is a thing that most of you wont know about me. For those who aren't family won't know anyways. 

I've been battling with my weight since I was 17 years old. I am now 21.. Not a long time, I know. But with in that time period I have gained.. hold on one second while I go check the scale. Be right back!....

....

Ok, I've gained 100 lbs! I've been stuck between 230-245 for about a year now. Flip flopping with in that range. I am currently 230.6! What THE heck happened?! A couple years ago, I was 100 lbs lighter. What have I done with myself?! 

Why do I want to this? There are plenty of reasons. 

1. I want to be healthier: That's a must! DUH! Every since I gained weight my immune system went to crap!
2. Back in SHAPE!: My husband is fit, and loves doing things like hikes, and riding bikes on a bike trail. But I can NOT do those things with out feeling like I am going to DIE! We go on a certain hike once a year, and it never gets any easier for me. We won't even make it to the half way mark before I am even out of breathe! How ridiculous is that?! And by the time I we do make it to the car after this hike, I am AMAZED that I made it, but my legs are shaking and fighting to keep my standing up! 
3. To feel and look better: My self esteem is SHIT! I don't feel pretty enough to even have a husband! And whenever we go out to dinner, or a movie, just to have some us time.. I feel as though people are STARING at us trying to figure out why exactly we are together. How sad is all this? A women shouldn't have to feel this way! And have you ever seen some of the military wives walking around your neighborhood? I live in an area with a military base, so I see these women all the time, and most of them are skinny and beautiful! Also, I HATE, HATE, HATE taking pictures! If I'm not the one taking them, then I don't want them taken. I went to a family Halloween party, and I seen the pictures. I look like a big BLOB! UGH! And at that party, I wanted to get up and dance like the rest of the family members, but was way to ashamed because of the way I look. Now, I did do a couple of dances, but they were line dances. Like the Chicken Dance, the Hokey Pokey (yes we did the Hokey Pokey lol!) and also the Macarena.  Those songs didn't have much movement, and they also didn't play those songs until it got dark outside. 

I want to be able to feel good about myself. Not ashamed. Let me give you just an idea of what I'm talking about here. Let me show a picture of when I was 130 and a current picture of me. It's quite ridiculous. 


130 me

230.6 me (dang this is going to slap in the face..) (sorry so small!)

This picture is the MOST current one taken on 10/20/2012

UGH!! I really don't know what to say anymore. I just need to lose weight.

What are my goals you ask? Well I really only have a few..

1. Lose 100 lbs.
2. Be able to do things with my husband with out feeling like i'm going to die!

Told you I only have a few.

Now how am I going to reach these goals?

• EXERCISE! That is something new to me. I hate it. I feel stupid doing it. But maybe I can make it fun, and not feel that way.
• Not eating treats. Maybe having one every once in awhile, but that's it.
• Kick the sodas out the door! Only healthy drinks!
• DRINK MORE WATER! I never do this. I rarely EVER do this!
• Go to bed at a good time.. not really putting my best foot forward on this.. it's almost 1 am as I type this!
• Eat breakfast. I've heard lots of benefits from eating breakfast, but do I do it... NOPE.
• Bring lunch to work. My job basically requires me to sit on my butt all day.. Eating Chinese and Chic-fil-a for lunch during the week is so stupid on my part. 
• Make healthier meals, and portion control.

Food is my weakness. I have a emotion tie to it. I eat when ever I'm happy, sad, bored. There was only one time where I was so depressed that I couldn't eat.. But that's a different story!

As of today.. what is now October 23, 2012, I am going to start losing weight. There need to be a change, and I am the only one who can change it. Please follow me on the journey! I will be doing a weekly weigh in, and I'll also be documenting everything that I put into my mouth. Feel free to give me any tips or advise! I hope I can inspire all of those who would like to start this journey as well!

XOXO

Sammie :)

A weekend at Santee

My husband and I went to Santee Lake last weekend! We were accompanied by some friends. Our friends James, Troy and also our cousin William. I was the only girl! lol!

But I had so much fun! We went on a hike and a bunch of fishing. There was also A LOT of football playing.

Daren and Troy

 Not only in the road or in the field, but also on the xbox. Of course I didn't take pictures of that because thats pretty boring. HA! It's a good thing the guys don't care about the camera being out. Daren minds from time to time, but during football he just doesn't care. He's more focused on the game. Daren and Troy absolutely love football!

James and William

But the guys had a lot of fun! I'm glad they did! We all deserved a little bit of fun and relaxation. We've all been working real hard.

Troy and William

We also went on a nice nature walk. It wasn't to long but it was still nice. I was expecting to see more wild life in the woods. But I guess they were all hiding. Speaking of wildlife there were A LOT of squirrels! I haven't seen squirrels in a while since we don't have very many trees around our house. We also seen snails and deer. Actually tomorrow Daren and I are going to the wildlife refuge. I will be taking pictures there also. Troy is also coming, he will be bringing his girlfriend. 

I had SO much fun the past weekend, and I really hope we are able to do something like this again soon!

I will more than likely be posting about tomorrow at the refuge with pictures! I hope all of you had a good week, and having an awesome weekend! 

XOXO,
Sammie

Say hi to the new family member!

Saturday night after work my husband and our friend Troy came to pick me up. The first thing my husband says to me is, "Lets go to Petco!" Of course I said yes at first because I LOVE Petco! But then he said, "I want a bird." And then I said "noooooooo". I don't like birds! lol! 

But since he let me have Pinky, I decided why not? 

We walked over to the bird section and seen the the parakeets and we decided we would get one of those since the rest of the birds were expensive. I seen one that I liked instantly. It was spotted black on the top, and  his belly was purple. I told Daren I thought it was pretty, but it was his choice. Than I seen a second one, who had a gray top, and a pale blue belly.

We decided to get the second one I seen. Daren really liked her! When we brought her home it literally took all three of to put her cage together! Quite sad I know. lol. We debated back and forth on names, and even though it's my husbands pet I did give him my opinion on the names. The first one he thought of was Azul. (Spanish word for blue.) Him and Troy then thought of Zelda. I kind of liked Zelda more than Azul to be honest. After looking at her, looking at names, and debating on the name Gracie (which I liked) we decided to agree on the name Sky.

Now, I really don't care for birds, but I do like Sky.

Just a quick update. More to come soon!

Update: Autumn, are you here yet?

Hey Everyone!

Wanted to do an update since I haven't updated in a long time! Nothing eventful is happening. Same old, same old. Daren has gotten his surgery, and  man has that been giving him some problems. Just last week he went to his doctor who did the surgery because he had a very high fever, also his lower back and surgery wound was hurting. It hurt so much that it hurt for him to do anything. He hated to sit, and he didn't like laying on his back. The doctor said there was nothing wrong with him, and gave him pain meds and sent him on his way. Well, a couple days later (last Saturday to be EXACT) Daren's grandmother and I brought him to the emergency room around 10:30-11:00pm because it was a couple of days after he seen the last doctor and he still had a high fever.

After spending maybe an hour or two waiting for the ER doctor to see him the conclusion was, the surgery wound was indeed infected! Then after that, the doctor got him strapped up to an IV to put antibiotics into his system, and also some pain medication to keep his lower back region from hurting so much. We left the hospital around 3:30am. Man, oh man. I almost fell asleep in the chair I was sitting in at the hospital! 

But other than that.. things are perfect. Daren is doing well, and he has a check up this following week.

But in other.... news? 

I'm so ready for autumn to come. This hot summer heat is KILLING me! I hate summer! Now autumn and winter are my favorite seasons! I can't wait to lay on my couch with my windows wide open, letting the cool breeze flow through my house. While the smell of a pumpkin spice candle fills the entire home and the wind chimes make a delightful sound in the background. If only it could be like that all year round. Sigh.... I cant wait any longer!

Autumn, please come faster!!!

Oh My Goodness Ya'll!!

So I can't believe it's been since April since I last typed up a blog! The time flew right by, I am so sorry! There is SO much to catch you all up on!


SOOO I have a job. I started it April 5th, and it takes up all of my time. I'm full time customer service. 8 hours a day, talking on a phone. I can't tell you enough how much I miss training!! I'm on the "floor" now. What that means is that I'm taking phone calls all by myself. It was SO much easier when I had a person with experience sitting next to me telling me what I needed to say and what to do. I'm getting better at my job, pretty quickly too. My call handle percentage goal is supposed to be 276%. It was in the 330%-360% range. It's now at 299%! And my customer surveys are GREAT. Yes.. I believe my ego IS showing. lol I also figured out that the associates ranking is 1-400. I am #134! WHAAATTT! lol! 


But the bad side about this job is that I absolutely despise it! I'm not one to stay on the phones. I'm definitely not one to sit on the phone AND listen to people complain for 8 hours straight. I don't want to be at this job, but I make good money, and if I'm doing as well as I am now or better, I may get promoted soon and get off of the telephones which would be AMAZING!! I would love that! lol!


But more news.. Exciting news!


MY HUSBAND IS HOME!!! YAY!!


He came home on the 5th of June. If you didn't read my last blog, let me catch you up in the simplest way possible.. He wasn't supposed to come home until July because he had to go through surgery. But luckily, they let him come home on the month he was originally supposed to come home. He surprised me also! I took the day off of work to get the house all nice and cleaned and organized, because he told me he wasn't going to come home until 8pm.


LIAR!


He showed up around the house at 1:30 in the afternoon! His mom showed up at my doorstep when I was cleaning the dishes. She told me that his plane landed early and we had to hurry up and pick him up. I was all frustrated because my house was NO where near the way I wanted it to look. So I told her I'd be outside soon and to let me get dressed. Well while I walked to the back of the house to turn on the lights, he came through the front door. Not only did my house not look nice, I looked like A MESS! lol!


He's been home for awhile now, and I'm so happy to have him home!


Well, that's really all for now ya'll. Not much more to update on. But I do promise to write more blogs soon, and more often. I'm shocked that I havent wrote one in forever!


XOXO
Sam :)

Probably having to wait another month

So I found out that my husband might have to stay in Florida for a little longer. 


What happened

When Daren was born he was born with a small cyst above his tail bone. 22 years later my husband goes to BMT (Basic Military Training), and all the exercising irritated the cyst, and after my husband graduated BMT and went to technical school it decided to rupture. I don't know what made it finally rupture. I would think it would have ruptured while he was at BMT, but luckily, it waited lol! But he does have to get surgery done.


Coming home soon?
I'm not sure what the plan is right now. What I do know is that during the surgery we have to see how big, and how deep the cyst was to figure out whether he'll have to stay there another month. He'll have to stay there until he is completely recovered from the surgery. He was supposed to come home the 5th of June. Now he probably won't come home until July. We'll have to see what happens.


The advice I can give for times like these
Try not to stay too bummed. I know it sucks. All those days that you finally counted down, just came back. You'll probably want to cry, and sit with some Ben and Jerry's. I've been told by other military wives, that you have to learn to go with the flow. Your husband/fiance/boyfriend/girlfriend/wife is trying their BEST to get home to you and the rest of the family. Try not to think about the extra time apart. It's hard. I've noticed that I've been taking it a little easier then some other new military wives have. The only time I cry is when I leave him. When we dropped him off at the airport when he left for BMT, and I cried for a couple days after that. When we were leaving Texas after his graduation weekend was over I cried a couple hours after hugging him goodbye. And after he left my hotel room when I went to see him in Florida, I cried that night and the next day on the way back home. I also cried during Christmas and my birthday. But that's about it.


I will update when I find out more!


XOXO
Sam :)

Monsieur Pinkerton

• More commonly known as: Pinky
• Got his name from one of my favorite TV shows as a child, Pinky and the Brain
• My husband and I gave him the nickname Monsieur Pinkerton lol
• He is a Roborovski hamster
• Who just CANNOT be tamed
• Have been trying to tame him for over a year now
• Got him in February 2010
• He can get cranky very easily
• He has his bad days where he just wakes up cranky
• His favorite thing to do is sleep
• He likes to climb
• He likes to tip his food bowl over
• His favorite treats are yogurt dipped timothy hay, and Honey Nut Cheerios
• He LOVES cabbage, bananas, and apples
• He likes straight from the garden green beans
• He doesn't really care for carrots or strawberries
• When he is in his ball, he likes to chase the dogs and especially the cats