Pictures of the weekend :-)

Once again, we had another FANTASTIC Memorial Day Party out on Lake Tillery! Thank you to ALL who came out and joined in the fun! We’ll be doing it again next year! So be ready! We had a great mix of good friends and family who all mixed really well with each other. We had rafts galore in the water, and food coming out of our ears, and beer/drinks coming out of numerous coolers. :-)
My cousin Jordan and his girlfriend Lauren made the trek up from Georgia to come up to the party! We were so happy to have them up here! They are both graduating from college next May, and I think it would be AWESOME if they decided to move up to the Carolinas! :-) *HINT HINT JORDAN AND LAUREN*. We LOVED having them up here, and I hope they come back more often!!
Stef and Shane came from Winston Salem to hang out. It was AWESOME to see them! Stef is my old roommate (for a summer) up at ASU. We had great times… and still to this day can pick up where we leave off. I value you that so much in our friendship! We also realized that the Lake place was a GREAT half way point for both of us to meet up! So we’ll probably be seeing each other more! :-) YAY!
Nif and Jeremy brought Annabel Teagan out to the Lake. They drove from Hillsborough, NC. This was the first time I have seen their precious baby girl (She’ll be 3 months on June 6)! Nif and I have been friends since our Senior year in High School. Her name is Jennifer, but in high school, I had 5 friends with that name, so I broke them up into sections. Yes, I had a Jenn, a “Nif”, and a “Fer”. Actually “Nif” came to Providence having already received that nickname from her friends in Tennessee. Okay, back to the story.. So Nif and her husband and their daughter Annabel joined us. Nif and I have made plans to go to a Wine Festival the weekend after next, and we’ll be meeting up with Stef! I can’t wait!
I think in all we had close to 36 this year. Last year it was closer to 50 people. This year seemed so much easier to handle than the 50. There were also two dogs. Joey (a 5 year old Golden Retriever who is OBSESSED with tennis balls) and Buck (a 2.5 year old Mastiff/bulldog mix who is the SWEETEST dog!!). Everyone was comfortable, and I think we all had a great time! Of course I cheated this weekend. I’m not too proud of it, because the scale moved up a little, but I kept it all in perspective. I actually feel guilty for cheating, however, I had planned for that since I started Nutri System, so I can’t feel too guilty for it. I can honestly say…… It was ALL good, but I think my next cheat day will be in September, for my birthday/and Stef and Shane’s wedding. I’m drinking up lots of the water, and staying on course! Next week is BEACH week, so I need to stay on target! :-) I will… I have faith in myself!

I need to end the blog for today. I hope that you all had a WONDERFUL Memorial Day weekend!!! I hope you all stayed safe and were able to remember the true meaning of Memorial Day! Bless the soldiers that have fought for everything this country stands for!

I’m leaving you with a few pictures from this weekend!

I had to save the cutest for last :-) Annabel!

I think my face has gone down some....

Okay, so some of you have requested a face shot of beautiful Moi down 32 lbs! :-) So I took this while sitting at my desk today. I apologize for the image quality. I’m not working with high tech instruments here! I’m also including a picture of my two bears sitting side by side on my monitor. WOOOHOOO…
These past few days have been a little stressful, but I haven’t been tempted to cheat! It’s associate appreciation week this week here, and yesterday was when the vendors came and gave out a bunch of goodies… Well, all of the hotels that were there, gave out some cookies… I had been craving a cookie, but I just entered my name in the drawings, and went about my merry way…. Cookie free.. :-) We got tons of free junk, and they were doing drawings for one night stays at the hotels, drawings for gift baskets, drawings for spa treatments..etc…….
Well, sure enough, We get the email with all of the winner info… and the first number posted, was my number :-) I won a 1 night stay at the Hyatt here in Charlotte! Want to talk about awesome!!!!???? I need to make a plan to treat myself and stay there for a night.


I have to use it before August 31st, so we’ll see what happens between now and then. Well, without further ado, here are my photos…. I hope you all have a WONDERFUL rest of the week, and a very safe memorial day weekend…

Please ignore the inbox/papers/folders/card basket that is by my head. We stay busy around here!

Meet the Purple Bear!!!! Respectively called "20", sitting next to "10".. Woohoo!!!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Loserhood..... :-)

I apologize for not blogging much lately. I’ve been a pretty busy gal these days! PRETTY BUSY LOSING!!!!!!!!!!!! I hit the 31 lbs mark!!!! I have officially lost 31 lbs on NS. I can hardly believe it. I’ve managed to cheat here and there, but I’m afraid to mess this loss up. I did cheat at Ben and Kristen’s wedding, and then I cheated again when I went out Friday night with Alex. I had a few Mich Ultras. (the low carb beer..haha) I’m a few weeks ahead of my goal of losing 30 before I go to Ormond Beach with the family!! So now I’m hoping to have lost a little more than 30 before I head to the beach!!! Keep your fingers crossed… :-) I’m aiming for the 35 lb mark for two weeks from now. That’s about 2.5 lbs a week. I think I can handle that! Hey.. whatever makes me look better for that Reunion coming up in June!!! I’ll be thinner AND I’ll have a tan! What more could one ask for??
I also got my second bear!!!! I accidentally left the bear at the house this morning when I was leaving for work. But it is my 20 lb bear!!!! :-) It will be making the visit to work tomorrow to sit proudly next to the 10 lb bear! The 20 lb bear is a nice royal purple bear that has a white 20 proudly displayed over it’s heart… Okay.. it is a stuffed bear, it doesn’t have a heart… but it’s the message that matters.
What is even more amazing than my losing the weight, is that I’m not alone in this whole journey. Not only has my dad lost weight on with me on this diet, but Mom has lost weight as well. My co workers are slowly but surely making their way down the downward sliding scales path, and we’re all in it together. Everyone is doing their own thing to lose weight, but the important thing is that we’re all losing. I feel like we should be on Oprah discussing our weight loss as a team. Haha.. That would be pretty interesting.
One thing that has helped me when I start feeling a little low with blood sugar are the 100 calorie packs. I keep a couple of them at my desk and when I start feeling the low, I just get one of those packs out and that is a good snack that is perfect, without having to worry about calorie consumption. So far my favorites of these have been the 100 Calorie Oreos, 100 Calorie Planters Peanut Cookies, and the 100 calorie POPCORN!! (YUM). I would like to try the 100 calorie Doritos, but I’m afraid that I may want more than just one. Those may be good to have though on Saturday at the Lake.

In other news… :-)
We were out at the Lake this past weekend getting everything ready for the P-A-R-T-Y!!! My cousin Jordan and his girlfriend are coming up from Georgia to participate in the festivities. It should be a blast!!! Alex got a chance to see the lake house for the first time on Saturday. I’m so glad he got a chance to see it. We took him out on the boat, and when we got back, we all sat around drinking a few beers (well, I had green tea.. but the others had the beer). I then got some amazing photos of the sunset. Alex left to go back to Salem, Va. and later that night as a wedding party was going on, Venus and the moon aligned. I got a few photos of that as well. It’s pretty fascinating when you look at things through the lens of your camera.
My main goal that I am working for (other than my health) is to get the Canon Rebel SLR Digital camera. It’s a step closer to a professional camera. I’m hoping that by the end of the year, I’ll be able to get that. :-) I’d better start saving now. Haha. So watch out world… Christie is going to take on the photography world! Okay.. well… Christie will take on MORE of the photography world!!! :-)

Well, I’m going to end the blog for today. I’m completely ecstatic about losing 31 LBS!!!!!! MAN I LOVE BEING A LOSER!!!!! The world better accept the baggy clothes for a while! :-) WOOOHOOOO!!!!! GOAL HERE I COME!!!!! I’m including some of those images down below. I hope you enjoy!!!!

Love to you all!!!
-Your Loser Gal
Christie

Congrats Ben and Kristen!! 5/12/2007 Wilmington, NC

Sorry for the shaky image. The following is of Venus and the Moon Aligning.

Derby Day, Birthdays, and Baby Days

I just realized that I haven’t blogged in a long time!! *YIKES* How dare I?!?!?

It’s been really busy these past few weeks! But not too busy to lose 27 LBS!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m officially down 27 LBS as of this morning!!!! WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!! I never realized that I would actually lose weight on NS, but I am! I’m not going to question it at all! Haha… I’m afraid if I do, then I’ll gain a pound or five back. :-)

So… the updates… Let’s see here…
May 5, 2007 Susan and I went to a Kentucky Derby Party. I had purchased a cute skirt to wear with a pink shirt… but realized last minute that it was a little on the frumpy side. I’ve lost weight darnit, and I want to show off! So… With about 10-15 minutes before I’m supposed to leave, I decided to try on a dress that I had purchased on Ebay a while ago. (this is not the same dress that I want to fit in before reunion time, this is a different one). Well, wouldn’t you know it… the dress that I had tucked away when I moved is now out and hanging in the closet because IT FITS!!!!! I was able to wear this to the party, and it matched my hat and everything! *GO ME*!!!! I must admit, I did look pretty good! Haha…
My Sister In Law had a Birthday on May 6!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR LAUREN….. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!! :-) We’ll celebrate this weekend :-)
This past week has been our Month End at work, which, if any of you have ever been around me during this time, you know it’s CRAZY!!! So that’s why I haven’t written in a while.
So… Today.. the big news of the day is……….
I’m an “Auntie” for the second time around. Chris (one of my best friends) and Jesse welcomed Maya Michelle into the world. Maya was born at 8:02 am weighing in a 6 lbs 7 oz. 19 inches long. She is BEAUTIFUL!!!! Konrad is a big brother!! YAY!! I am not their real AUNT... Konrad has just always called me Auntie Christie and it stuck… :-)

Well, I’m going to finish this blog up for today.. I’ll post more with pictures next time.. Ben and Kristen are getting married tomorrow :-) I’ll be heading out to Wilmington tomorrow for the wedding.. :-) I can’t wait to see everyone!!! Especially my Brother and Sister In Law!!! I feel like I haven’t seen them in forever!

Love to you all!!!

Weekend, weight loss, and Reesie.. :-)

So I can’t help it.. I have to write this blog today! I am down… drum roll please…… 24 LBS!!!!!!!!!!! I can hardly believe it!!! My clothes are huge now, but I’m holding off on getting a bunch of new clothes.. I’ll just have to look sloppy for a while. I am almost to my goal of 30 lbs by Ormond Beach Time!!! I can’t wait!!!!
This past weekend was quite a busy one. Susan and I took Bella to Bark in the Park on Saturday. We’ve been doing this since I first got the pups in 2005. We load up on free stuff, i.e., food, magnets, treats, leashes, toys, books, water bottles, poop bags…etc… It was GREAT!!! I was sooo afraid that Bella was going to act up and start barking at all of the other dogs, but she did wonderfully!!! She was sooo well behaved, and listened to Susan and I! It was GREAT!! Now I know that I can take her out in public without having to worry about her stressing out! :-)
Sunday, Susan called me pretty early and asked if I wanted to bring Bella and we’d all go to the new White Water Park here in Charlotte. We met up with Ed and Katy and her dog Madison, as well as Robyn and her dog Patsy. Again, Bella did PHENOMENAL with the other dogs. She and Patsy became good buddies!!! Bella even let Patsy clean her face. I think it is because Patsy was so small, she may have reminded Bella of Reesie. Knowing that Bella is going to be okay around other dogs is a huge weight off of my shoulders. She is still fearful of huge dogs, but not so much so anymore. She stood right next to us at Bark in the Park when we were asking about a 216 lb Great Dane!!! She didn’t flinch! YAY!!!
Saturday was a sad anniversary for me. April 28, 2006, Reesie passed away unexpectedly. Saturday marked the 1 year mark of being without this sweet dog. It makes me think of how much things change in one full year. It also just seems like it happened yesterday. Reese was such an amazing tiny dog that had so much to offer. She wasn’t the prettiest of dogs, but as far as personality goes, she was the diva of them all. She was also the most loyal companion and I feel sooo lucky that I was able to be her owner for the 15 months that I was.

So, in closing of this blog, I am enclosing a few images of my Sweet Reesie. :-)