Size change!

I did some shopping today and was pleasantly surprised to find that my size had changed! I am now down 2 pants sizes and 1 shirt size! Woohoo! I only bought a shirt today but I can't wait to buy new pants. I am selling some of my bigger stuff to help the budget so I can get new (to me) clothes. There is a yard sale group for plus size clothes on Facebook. I'm hoping to not need the group for too long as my big goal is to wear misses sizes instead of plus size! :) It can be done.

Not sure what my weight loss is this week just yet. I will weigh in at church in the morning. I'm hoping for at least close to 2 lbs or over 2 lbs. I'm 2 lbs away from 15 lbs gone!! So ready to get to that 15 lbs.

Still running. Got in 2 runs this week along with a Slim in 6 workout and 1 night of Zumba. Will run tomorrow afternoon to get back in the groove. My body is sore from my last run. I had done the Slim in 6 workout earlier that day. Trying to keep my workouts different so my body doesn't get too used to anything. So far so good. 6 weeks til my first 5K race!

Countdowns

Seems to be countdowns lately for me. Corgan will register for Kindergarten is just 2 weeks. I can't believe I will have a Kindergartener this year. I won't have to be a referee all day when the boys fight. I know Keelan will miss his big brother but it'll be so good for the both of them. Corgan still has a lot of work to be ready for school...but we're working on it. His main thing he needs to learn is writing. He's just not interested in it so I need to find a way to make it fun.

Another countdown is to my 5K race. It is just less than 8 weeks away! I am trying to figure out the best ways to get prepared for it. I need to add cross-training to my week between runs.

Can't forget the countdown to my birthday either! Just 3 months from yesterday I will be turning 30. I need to get a move on my 30x30 list! :)

Snap out of it!

That's what I'm saying to myself. I have every reason to have good excuses as to why I didn't get my runs in this week like I needed to. However instead of dwelling on them I choose to shake it off and get back on board! I have 8 weeks til my 5K and it's still my goal to run the entire thing. I can do it!

I have made progress in losing weight. I believe I am down 11.2 lbs since the beginning of the year. Will be weighing in tomorrow for our Biggest Loser contest at church. I was able to lose over 4 lbs last week and 2.4 the week before. I'm quite proud to see the numbers going down. I need to come up with a reward for 15 lbs since I'm so close to it. Still working out my rewards along the way to keep me going. :)

Well, I need to get in the bed. If it's not raining I will doing a walk/jog 5K with our group at church in the morning before weigh-in. If it's raining, I think we'll do Zumba on the Wii or something inside.

It's February!

This is the last month of Groupon sessions. It's been a long busy year. If I can just make it through this month I plan to take a break with the exception of maybe an Easter session with a friend. Course now that I am offering boudoir there has been a bit more contacts. So maybe a week or so break may be all I get. I'm definitely not complaining about being busy. It's just been a bit rough. I've learned a lot about myself and business over the last year. I feel like I've grown big time in both areas. I hope I can continue to grow. I love my job and making people feel good about themselves!

February also means getting taxes done for us. We make it a date to get out just the 2 of us. We go out to eat after. I guess I need to save that as my cheat day cause I'm pretty sure italian isn't quite healthy. :) I look forward to it for sure still. I could go for some good alfredo and bread right about now. Yum. :)

I'm on the hunt for some cute things to do with the boys for Valentine's Day. They love to paint so I'm sure it'll include that for sure. :) Will share their beautiful artwork whatever we decide to do. Will see what we can find on Pinterest for sure.

Pinterest

I absolutely love Pinterest. You can find just about anything on there. I am going to try a green monster smoothie soon and share it with the boys. I'm interested to see how they like smoothies. If they like it I will be searching for more so I can get fruits and veggies in them. :) I need to try some of the recipes I have pinned on there as well. Maybe I need to make a special week of just Pinterest recipes. :) Share your favorite thing you've found on Pinterest! Maybe someone will share something you don't have pinned.

While you're at it... Follow Me. :)

Running

I am using the Couch25K program on my phone to train for my first 5K. I have picked the date for my race (April 14th). Now I just need to register. I am 5 weeks into the C25K program. Week 4 got increasingly hard for me. Today's run was a bit challenging. I ended up doing it inside on the treadmill since my husband was out with friends. I pushed right through it. I am trying to find a different location than my neighborhood for my next run to see if it changes anything. Maybe I'll try a track.

I recently joined a group of others in a Biggest Loser challenge at church. Each week before we weigh in, we will have the option to do a 5K or a boot camp workout. I won't always be able to make the weigh ins at the usual time so I will be doing several of mine on Sunday mornings instead of Saturdays. However this Saturday I plan to give the 5K a shot. I'd love to see where I am in my training and run most of it if I can. I will update how I do as well as how each week's weigh in is. It is an 11 week program and will end the week after my 5K.

I am also doing a program through our state as well called Scale Back Alabama. There are challenges to win cash prizes. Our group is the Skinny Girls in Fat Suits. hehe We need to lose at least 10 lbs to be eligible for grand prizes. It is a 10 week program...ending the week of my 5K. I will update on Mondays how I do with this.

So I obviously have enough to keep me busy to get this weight off! :) I am keeping track of water intake (at least 8 glasses a day!), calories, and exercise. It's already paying off. People are noticing that I'm looking slimmer. I believe I am down 8.2 lbs in the last 3 weeks. Not a bad start! So keep me on my toes and keep me accountable. I want this so bad I can taste it! Skinny is coming!!! :)

30 by 30

I am hoping to get back into blogging again. Mainly because I have made a 30 by 30 list (30 things to do/complete before I turn 30 which is on May 20th). I've been posting stuff on Facebook but I want to write more about it so I will be blogging about it. Plus I've adding blogging to my 30 by 30 list. :)

Here's the list so far. I still need to add to it cause I'm not up to 30 yet. These can be found at Pinterest.

1. Read Bible all the way through

2. Book 5 new weddings

3. Go to the batting cages

4. Start Disney fund

5. Go to drive-in movie

6. View each day as a gift

7. Use 10 ways to love

8. Get rid of clutter

9. Make magnetic goal/dream board and put it up

10. Go on a hike

11. Go to a restaurant that has been on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives - DONE! (1/7/12)

12. Get a tattoo

13. Clean entire house

14. Win a free cruise for first kidless vacation

15. Date night every month

16. Have a family photo shoot

17. Buy a mini-van (this is a maybe on the list because it's not financially possible right now)

18. Become bone marrow donor

19. Catch a fish - DONE! (1/20/12)

20. Have boudoir shoot done - DONE! (1/19/12)

21. Read "The Five Love Languages: The Secret To Love That Lasts" - DONE! (1/11/12)

22. Eat more fruits and veggies; try new ones

23. Take a "Spirited Art" class - scheduled for 2/3/12

24. Learn to crochet

25. Photo scavenger hunt

26. Lose 30 lbs

27. Run first 5K

28. Blog more

I need to add 3 more because the mini-van one is a filler. I will blog more about each one. I just wanted a post with just the list. :)

Busyness

I wish I could say that I haven't blogged because there hasn't been anything to write about but that is so far from the truth. It's simply because I've been SOOOOOO busy!! Between photo sessions, editing said photo sessions, working out, and everything with my kids, I am just so busy. So this will be a hodgepodge blog post of everything. So bare with me. :)

Business is still extremely busy from my Groupon deal. With only 4 months left to use the deal I'm sure it's only going to get even busier. I have plenty of pictures from the shoots to finally update my website though...so I'm excited! (http://www.daniellesmithphotography.com) I've met some of the sweetest people doing this. I hope they're loving their images as much as I am taking them.

I have been working out for the last two months at a local fitness studio. I've been taking Zumba classes along with Bodysculpt classes. I've loved how I feel after working out even if sometimes I feel like I'm going to die during. haha I've had lots of comments about my body slimming down....which I LOVE! I've met friends who have encouraged me to push myself even more. The instructors are awesome too! Now I just need to do better at eating better and drinking more water. I know I'll see even more results once we do that.

The boys are getting so big. They're just about wearing the same size. They're only a few pounds and inches apart. They're both getting good with their letters and counting. I can't believe Corgan will start school next year. I'm excited for him though. This will be a good experience for him. He does great listening to someone other than Mommy and Daddy....so I'm sure he'll do great! Keelan sure will miss him. He loves his big brother and tries to do everything that he does. Keelan is a bright little guy. He's been counting almost to 10 since before he even turned 2 in August.

The house isn't really coming along any more as far as decorating. We didn't finish painting. Need to get that done. We haven't bought a rug or table for the foyer just yet. That's on our to do list for sure. We got our new furniture and we love it! It looks so good with the paint color we chose. Need to get some electrical work done and we can put the TV on top of the mantle and free up the TV stand/dresser we're using now. That will probably go in the boys' playroom so they can play games in there. I have so many ideas but not sure when or if they'll ever happen. It'll probably happen just slowly. That's ok with me. :)

Marshall and I are trying to have date nights more often as we can with the budget. We've been using gift cards and coupons to help take out the high costs. I'm hoping we can do it consistently. We really need the time alone. Seems like we don't get to get out just the two of us nearly enough. I would love to have a weekend getaway with just my husband. Hope one day we can do that.

Well, if you've survived my hodgepodge post, thank you! Hope I can get better at this. I know I say it all the time, but I mean it. :)

We're in!

After almost a month of moving around we finally closed on our house and moved in. We've been in a week now and things are livable now. Not perfect, but livable. :) It's been crazy not only for us personally but for my business as well. I didn't have access to pictures to edit for almost 3 weeks or more! It was horrible!!! Trying to get things back to normal now.

Making a house a home...

We are almost to moving day. It was supposed to be the past Friday but due to circumstances it was pushed back to this week. We are waiting on last bits of stuff being put together and hope to get a closing date soon! I am so ready to be moved in. We packed up probably at least 85% of our stuff before we found out we wouldn't be closing Friday last week. We've still been able to have fun as a family. My favorite has been the snuggling up on our bed (which is just our mattress and boxspring on the floor - frame is packed on the truck!) and snacking while watching Netflix on my laptop. We've enjoy our share of kids movies with the kids as well as our own movies at night (scary flicks for him and chick flicks for me...hehe). Soon we'll go from small cramped spaces to having plenty of room for everyone. So my next few blogs will be about turning house into a home. Right now the house is very neutral. Carpet is beige as are the walls and ceilings. I can't wait to add color to it. To give it our special family touch. To make it ours. Forever. Or until we move. Not sure I'll ever want to do this again. haha