Breast Cancer Awareness Month

A year ago in August, I was scared of something that was much larger than I could even comprehend. It woke me up to a new world of fear that I had never known prior in my life’s history. I battled this battle internally before I spoke about it. I feared that I had IBC (Inflammatory Breast Cancer). For those of you who know me, I’m not one to just come forth with information about my breasts, but I tell you this, because I hope it will spark you to pay attention to your own breast health. In August of 2006, I developed a low grade fever, accompanied by an itchy rash on my right breast. I didn’t think anything of it for a while, and then the rash grew worse, and a pain developed and the skin where the rash was, changed and the rash was hot to the touch. I started doing internet research, and came across a few images that looked like what was going on with my breast. These images were of women who had Inflammatory Breast Cancer. I held my fears in, and finally, told my mother about it, and showed her, and the concern on her face, made me realize that I needed to see a doctor about it ASAP. IBC is an extremely aggressive form of Breast Cancer that usually, when you start showing signs of it, it is generally so far progressed, that it could be too late.

Fortunately for me, it turned out to be an infection of the lining of the blood vessels in the breast tissue. I kept asking the doctor if he was 100% sure! He kept stating yes, and he was proud of me for coming in to get it checked, because a lot of women our age think that they are invincible to breast issues. He said that I had every right to be concerned, and that for an untrained eye, IBC would have been the first thing to think about. He understood my fears, but calmed them by reassuring me that antibiotics should clear it up.

Unfortunately, for a lot of women; their diagnosis is far worse. A diagnosis that antibiotics couldn’t possibly clear up. Breast Cancer!

Did you know that Breast Cancer is the second leading cause of death by cancer in women today? The World Health organization estimates that 1.2 million people will be diagnosed each year with Breast cancer. Early detection is helping the death rates drop, but we all have to do our part in saving our breasts!!

My message for all of you is to DO WHAT’S BEST AND FEEL YOUR BREASTS!!! You know your body far better than anyone else on this planet. Stay in tuned to everything going on! If you have fears, don’t hold off on going to the doctor. I’d rather be known for over reacting on my health, than not. The fear of not knowing was FAR greater than the fear of knowing!!
October may be Breast Cancer Awareness month, but it’s only one month… For your self, Breast Cancer Awareness should be an every month of every year event!
Know your bodies!!!!

Say it in 5!

I have to admit, I have neglected my blog lately. I also confess that while I stroll through various other blogs on the internet, I feel guilty because that is time I could have spent creating a new blog entry of my own. Instead I live vicariously through the lives of others. It is like Reality TV, without all of the fake dramatic effects. It is real lives of real people. So Blogging is my Reality TV through the information superhighway of course.
First update…. I’m still doing Nutri System. I’m still losing….. I was getting sick of the foods for a while, but I have found that I can add certain veggies to things and it makes the meals a little easier on the palate! So I’m still a loser! :-) GO me!

I have failed to update the happenings during the birthday weekend, as well as neglected to update you on S and S’s wedding weekend in Virginia. To get it all in, and with fear of making short stories long, I have created a list of things I wanted to tell about. I’ve chosen the top 5. :-) Aren’t you proud??

Bella and I met with a dog behaviorist in regards to Bella’s being neurotic (yes, I know it’s me too). Turns out, my dog is nothing but fearful. TO be honest though, I think and feel that Bella puts on an act too. She acts like she’s afraid of things, but, the below video of my dog, would make you believe otherwise. $40 to have someone tell me that, and offer her services.. I’m keeping her name in my book, but Bella seems to have gotten better just from one visit.



After a WONDERFUL weekend out at the lake for my birthday, Mom and Dad accepted an offer on my birthday to sell the lake house. That’s right folks. No more of the Lake days. The lake days may be over, but many memories will be here to stay! We’ve got plenty of pictures and plenty of memories associated with that place. We’ll miss it.





3. My Birthday!!! My birthday was September 24th, and I turned the ripe old age of 28. I can’t say I feel any older. We celebrated my birthday out at the lake (as stated in #2) but on Friday (9/21) I was able to open the BEST gift!!! I FINALLY got a NEW Canon S5 IS camera! I’m in love with this camera! It’s the next step down from a digital SLR, but WOW does it take some AWESOME pictures!!!! I also got some other great gifts from family and friends and I love each of them!!

4. September 29th, I flew up to Washington DC for my friend Stefanie’s wedding. I must have gotten lost about 20 times in that city! I realized upon getting onto the plane in Charlotte, that I managed to remember everything I needed for the wedding…… Minus the shoes.. Those shoes were still sitting downstairs in the den so I wouldn’t forget them, and I walked out and boarded the plane without them. So a. I was lost in a city that I have only visited twice and both times I was under the age of 13. b. I needed to find a shoe store PRONTO or else my sketchers would become my foot attire for the night; and c. Gas station attendants are NO help! I purchased a map, asked the guy at the counter where I was, and got no where! I resulted to sitting in a parking lot of a grocery store and asked the first decent looking lady how to get to where I was going. That lady saved me from an ultimate panic attack! I managed to make it to a huge mall and got a pair of shoes that cost less than $20 (I LOVE payless!!), meet my old roomy Erin and her boyfriend Ernie for lunch and chit chatting. I haven’t seen them in soooo long, that I forgot how much I miss them, and last but not least, I FINALLY made it to my hotel to meet up with Sarah (My other ASU roomy) just in time to get a shower and get dressed to go to the wedding!

Erin and I

Sarah and I

Stef and Shayne’s wedding was BEAUTIFUL!!! It was held at the Thomas Birkby House in Leesburg, Va. Stef is such a beautiful person inside and out, and this wedding fit both of their personalities. We had a great night of dancing, celebrating, and reminiscing on the good ole days. It was wonderful!!!


So that’s my life in a nutshell over the past couple of weeks! I’m trying to remember to post a blog every now and then. Stay tuned for the next time… :-)

Love ya’ll!

Friends are Friends Forever....

I apologize for not updating the blog lately. There has been SO much going on that it’s hard to keep track. I hit a major plateau, which I knew was coming, but I didn’t anticipate it on being as long and drawn out as it has been. I’m finally back on a losing path though. So YAY!!!!
August was a month that tore me apart. One of my close friends, Tina, was murdered by her ex. Tina left behind two children a 4 year old and a 3 year old. She was killed on August 18, 2007. The following is part of a letter that I gave to her parents at her funeral. Tina left behind a family that loved her more than words could ever express. She also left behind friends that loved her unconditionally.

I can’t find words to express how sorry I am that you are going through all of this. Tina was such a dear friend of mine, and even if we did not see each other much or talk much, when we did talk, we picked up where we left off. Not a day or week passes that I don’t think of Tina. Working with her was such a pleasure! It allowed us to develop a friendship that followed even after she left Belk.

She and I used to joke around that we think we were probably meant to be sisters, because we have such similar backgrounds. We both came from very strong Christian backgrounds, and we had “Families that Pray together, Stay Together” as a motto. We both have two sets of parents that still love each other deeply and are still married, which is hard to find in this day in age. We both know how much our parents love us, despite the trials we’ve had in life. We often talked about how similar our parents are in terms of personalities and beliefs. We would laugh at some of the things our parents and grandparents said, because they were often said the same exact way in both families. Her grandfather also said “Great Googelymoogely”, like my granddaddy said.

We both had a love for children. Tina loves both of her children so much! She wanted nothing but the world for them! She was prepared to give that to them. I remember when she had questions or concerns about them, she would call me and I would tell her how I handled situations at the daycare that I worked at. I always told her that if I didn’t have the answer, I would find it for her. We had an outing at Chuck E Cheese with Cameron and Katelyn and I always knew how motherly she was, but seeing her when her children were afraid of some of the sights and sounds, she comforted them and made sure that they understood that these things would not hurt them. She was so proud of her two babies, and she celebrated their accomplishments. She would have done anything and everything to make sure her babies were taken care of.

I also remember, when I had broken my foot two years ago, Tina was so helpful!!! Prior to breaking my foot; Every Morning, she and I would go up and get breakfast and I would get Coffee from the cafeteria here at Belk. When I could not walk without the crutches, or without pain, Tina got my coffee… without asking sometimes, and always put the right amount of sugar, and the right amount of cream in it. She would go out of her way to help me out if I couldn’t do something that required using my foot. She was always like that. She was always willing to help everyone around her, no matter if it meant going out of the way for herself. She was a true, genuine, amazing friend, that I am so lucky to have been blessed to have.

She was so proud to be your daughter, and she was so proud to be her brothers Big Sister! I also have a little brother, and she and I used to joke that our baby brothers were like our Big Brothers because they are always wanting to protect us from being hurt. We laughed because they are our “Big Little Brothers”. She loves her family and cherishes you all so much! She often said that she didn’t know what she would do if she didn’t have you all there. She is a blessed woman to have such an amazing family!!

I also have to mention her abounding love of the Lord! Her faith is and always has been what has kept her grounded and strong. I find comfort in the fact that she is up in the Heavens with our Lord and just as she was an angel down here on earth, she earned her wings and is flying high with God. She will forever look after her children and her family and friends.

We will see her again! We may not see her while we’re here on this earth, but I know she will always be with us. Looking out for us, and protecting us because that is what she did best. She loved with her whole heart!


We miss Tina so much. It has been 1 month to the day that we laid her in the ground and said our goodbyes to her. It is never easy to lose a friend, especially when their lives were taken from them at such a young age by someone else’s hand that pulls a trigger. She will NEVER be forgotten!
I have been thinking of ways to memorialize Tina and to raise money for her children. I have started making bracelets to sell either through Ebay or craigslist. I want her children to know how much their mother wanted for them, and I know she wanted them to go to college and get the best education they could. So I want to start a college fund for both of them. I want to make sure that they don’t have to worry about affording college in the future.

I know that was depressing, however, I cannot NOT post a blog about Tina… In other news….

I turn 28 on Monday! YIKES! Susan turned 30 on August 10th! Brian and Lauren moved from Wilmington back to Greenville. Mom and Dad are doing great! Mom’s knees are healing much quicker than anyone had anticipated. We are all so proud of her progress! Bella.. my oh so sweet, yet freakishly crazy dog had a visit with a behaviorist on September 12, 2007. It was determined that the reason she has the reactions that she does is because she is afraid of everything. I have narrowed it down to a few of my life events that never really helped her in the fear area. So… I have committed myself to socializing Bella as if she were a puppy again. I’m going to treat her as if she were a puppy again. Hopefully, she’ll overcome her fearful ways, and we’ll all live happily ever after!
In terms of Nutri System. I have stayed on plan… however, on the weekends.. it is difficult to do so, especially when traveling, going to get togethers, parties..etc… It’s hard to isolate my food choices, and so that could be part of my plateau. After this weekend… I’m back on plan 100% and will continue to update the blog. It is a great support outlet and I should have never stopped blogging. So I will keep it up from here on out.

Oh yeah… One more thing.. The lake house is officially on the market :-( We hate to see it go, but understand Mom and Dad’s reasons for selling it. We all agree that it’s not a bad idea. So… this weekend out at the lake could be our last hoorah out there. :-) What a better way to go out in style than to have my birthday party out there.. :-) WOOHOO!!!

Love to you all!!!!
-Christie

Keep Smilin', Keep Shinin' Knowing you can always count on me...

“A smile happens in a flash, but its memory can last a lifetime.”

I don’t think I ever really paid attention to that phrase while reading it in numerous places throughout my lifetime. Until today, I don’t think I was ever compelled by it. For those of you who know me, I smile…. A LOT! That is who I am, and it is genuine. I smile at people passing by because I am pleased to see a new face. I smile when I am paying for a purchase at a retail store, because I am pleased to be finally paying for my purchases.
When I first started working where I work, I used to visit the Cafeteria for lunch on a daily basis. The lady that always made my turkey wrap, always seemed indifferent; as if I was just another person coming through the line that she had to mechanically ask “How can I help you?” to. I always smiled at her and told her what I would like, and always said, “Thank you, Have a good one!” upon receiving my completed order.
I always remembered her, because I encountered this one woman daily for one specific task. She was my “Wrap Maker” to Seinfeld’s “Soup Nazi”. I never thought she’d remember me, because she encountered hundreds of people daily while performing the task that these people wanted her to complete for them.
I stopped going to the cafeteria upon realizing that I was spending more money on a wrap that I could get for a few bucks cheaper at a well established yellowed sub shop less than a mile down the road. Eventually, I just stopped eating lunch because I just got too busy to think about it, and then the Nutri System came, so I didn’t have to venture too far away for lunch.
Today I was a little on the sluggish side, and decided to go to the cafeteria and get a cup of hot coffee to wake my mind up. I went to pay for the coffee, and there is my “Wrap Maker” as the cashier. Apparently, they were now cross training everyone so that their jobs would be more fulfilling. However, when I walked up to her, I smiled and said “Good Morning!”; not expecting her to recognize me in the least. Well, to my surprise, she got a HUGE smile on her face and said “MY, MY sweetheart you have LOST weight!! You look GOOD, Lady!!” (caps were used as emphasis on for those words) She said how good it was to see me again, and that she hadn’t seen me in about a year. She kept wondering if I’d gotten another job or something. She said she probably would not have recognized me had it not been for “That pretty smile on your face!”. She told me how she always looked forward to me being in line because of my smile, she said it gave her a break from the complainers, and unpleasantness that comes with her job. I thanked her for the kind comments, and told her that I’d come up there every now and then for a cup of coffee or fruit, but that I couldn’t order any more wraps due to the diet. She smiled back at me and said “Thank You! Have a good one!”. As I walked away I said “Thanks, and You Too!”.
I am now fully aware of what a smile does. I know how it made me feel when someone smiles at me, but I never focused on how my smile would make someone else feel; and now I know.
I know this wasn’t really diet related, however, I felt the need to blog about it, because I was so happy that my “Wrap Maker” remembered who I was. Here I am, thinking that I was just another person in her line. I guess I got proved wrong. :-)

I hope you all have a beautiful rest of the week!! Keep Smiling!!

Talan's Smile

Susan's Smile

Erin's Smile

Grandmama's Smile

My Smile

Steps on how to smile: published by WikiPedia

1. Practice good hygiene. If you've got bits of food stuck in your brown teeth, people may indeed say you have an infectious smile, but they might be talking about actual infections. It should go without saying, but regularly brushing your teeth and making sure your breath is fresh are prerequisites to a good smile. If your teeth are stained, visit the dentist for a polishing or use a whitening product, and take care of your lips to prevent chapping. When you smile people will inevitably look at your mouth, so following these considerations will help you make a better impression, and, more importantly, a healthy mouth will make you feel more confident about smiling.

2. Get comfortable with smiling. Many people are a little nervous about smiling. They don't think their smile looks good, or they think that smiling makes them look unprofessional or vulnerable. It's true that a smile does show a little vulnerability, but that's part of what makes it so powerful. No matter how professional, intelligent, or in control you think a serious face (or worse, a frown) makes you appear, people almost always respond better to a smile.
Think happy thoughts. The easiest way to a great smile is to be happy. You can't be happy all the time, of course, but you can think happy thoughts. Think about something or someone that you care about, or think about a joke that you just find hilarious. Remarkably, when you're feeling down, smiling can help cheer you up, even if you have to coax a smile out at first.
Smile with your eyes. When we think of smiling, we think of the mouth, but the eyes may actually be more essential to a warm, genuine smile. Smiling with your eyes is difficult to describe--in general your cheekbones lift slightly and your eyebrows dip a little--but when you see it, you know it: it's that look of your eyes "lighting up" or "twinkling." To get a feel for how to make your eyes smile, get in front of a mirror and practice smiling, but concentrate only on your eyes. You may find it helpful to cover the lower part of your face with a piece of paper. Play around with it a bit, and you'll find that you can make your mouth smile when your eyes aren't smiling, and you can also smile only with your eyes. When your eyes do smile, remember how it feels, which muscles are working and how. With practice, you'll be able to smile with your eyes at will.

3. Develop your smile. Don't particularly care for your smile? It's a common complaint, and while it's true that any smile is better than a frown, it's also true that some smiles look better than others. What's your best smile? One way to find out is to look through pictures of yourself. Many people who consider themselves unphotogenic are plagued by bad smiles in front of the camera, but just about everybody has at least one picture in which they just look great, with a perfectly natural, contagious smile. Find that picture and focus on what your face is doing. Then practice in front of a mirror until you get it just right. Keep practicing, and pay attention to how that great smile feels, so that you'll be able to replicate it without looking in a mirror. Soon it will become second nature, and you'll likely find that you'll look more photogenic in your next batch of pictures.


If you want to improve your smile, look at pictures of smiles that you believe are beautiful. Also, think good thoughts and remember that you are beautiful (inside and out). Your smile is bound to look better if you feel good about yourself!

Ohhhh.. I'm a Happy Girl!!!!

Alright… Here is another entry into the life of me as a “Looser”. First and foremost, I want to welcome to the world Little Ms. Dannan Olivia. She is the newest member of my family and the first Great Grand Daughter. Meema already has five great grandsons and is proud of each and everyone of them. Dannan Olivia was born on Sunday July 8, 2007 weighing in at a whopping 7 lbs and is 19 inches long. I think she looks like a good mix between her two older brothers and her parents Jeff and Heather. I think she’s a keeper!! :-) I can’t wait to meet her!!

Next on the topic of weight loss. I hopped on the scale this morning and I’m now down a full and complete 45 lbs. I thought I had lost more than that, just because my pants and everything are becoming TOO big to wear. I was making do with what I had until I could not possibly wear them anymore, and I think I’ve hit that point. I can still wear my stretchy stuff… but for some reason I don’t think I can wear work out attire to the office. I like to consider myself a business professional, and my yoga pants don’t quite cut it in the form of appropriate attire.
I am starting to get a little sick of some of the Nutri-System meals that I’ve been eating. They do tend to become repetitive, however, if it’s making me be a loser, it can be repetitive all it wants to. I feel healthier than I have in a LONG time, I’m not AS exhausted at the end of the day, and I feel more relaxed with myself. I’m a pretty relaxed person and always have been, however, now I have a better “Sense” of myself, I guess is the right word to use.
I’m even singing more now!! I’ve almost convinced myself that I want to do “Give me the Mike Charlotte” next year. I’ll let you know how that pans out. If I stink… I’ll chalk it up to a great experience. I don’t want to regret having never tried it. Susan and I have also thought about getting into martial arts… We both think it would be pretty cool to say we have a black belt in something. *haha* Watch out for the “James Sisters” we’ll be like Charlie’s angels… Or something along those lines.

In other news, Mom continues to do AWESOME!!! She is still in a fair amount of pain, but she is putting on a brave face. We are all seeing such an improvement with her already. I know she is getting frustrated with not being able to go and do as much as she wants to. That will all come with time though. She got her knees to a 90 degree angle so that’s a HUGE improvement over where she was. Each day is better than the previous day.
Well, I wrote this while on my lunch break and now it’s back to work. It has been EXTREMELY busy around here. There just aren’t enough hours in the day to get done what I need to get done at the office. So on that note.. I hope you all enjoyed this week’s blog from the loser. :-)

Love to you all!!

Loserville and Kneetown! :-)

Okay, so I have been pressured to give an update on weight loss, Mom, and everything else.. :-) So I’ll do my best to do a recap without over doing it on the length of this blog. So my weight loss, I received both my 30 lb bear and my 40 lb bear in my shipment last Monday. Things have just been too busy for me to write about them. So yes.. I have officially lost 41 lbs since starting Nutri System! Yes, My clothes are getting MUCH bigger on me! Last week, I wore my Old Navy pants that I purchased about a month ago, and they swamped me… but I didn’t have anything else to wear. When I got to work, I had to resort to using office supplies to keep my pants up! I used BINDER clips!! Hey, it worked! I didn’t moon anyone so that was a good thing. With Mom in the hospital, I haven’t really “tried” at losing weight and being on plan. One, because it’s difficult to find a convenient place to heat food up and to get all the things you need to get in you, just takes too long, and two, My mind really wasn’t with the diet. HOWEVER, I am Back on plan, and Back into the swing of being a loser again! I’ve been back 100% on plan for this week. I haven’t weighed myself this week, but I will probably Monday morning, and I’ll get back to weighing in every day.
Update on Mom…
Let’s see here… She is HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!! We’ve got her home now, which is more comfortable for Mom and Dad Both! She is using the walker, and is able to sit and stand and walk around a little bit. This morning, she used the walker to get into the kitchen and get her medicines herself. We’re trying to get her to practice standing up straight and getting those knees bent. She had been walking differently for so long, that she is basically learning to walk all over again. I hope she sees how big of an improvement we’ve all seen in just under 2 weeks post op. The incisions are healing very nicely, and every day they look better and better. It is still quite painful for her to get around, but she’s a trooper, and she definitely keeps up with it.
After seeing all that the physical therapist has done with Mom, it’s made me start thinking that it may be something I would want to pursue in the future. It’s working with people to help heal them and get them to a better place in their lives. I’ll probably do research on what it takes to get into a program here in Charlotte. I may even ask the PT what they suggest. I’m just afraid of screwing someone up! *YIKES*
Well, I think that is about all for now. I’m introducing “30 Bear”(light blue) and “40 Bear” (green) in the photos below. Pretty soon, I’m going to need a whole shelf to house these darn beanie bears! :-) I’m so proud of those things though. So I display them at work on my desk top to remind me how far I’ve come! :-)
I’ve got to get back to being a loser so I’m off to loserhood! Love to you all!!!

Meet the newest Members "30" and "40"!

The Whole Pound Gang

My 10 Yr High School Reunion!

Well… My 10 Year High School Reunion has come and gone, and I am SO glad that I went. I must admit, I was a little hesitant about it, but once I got dressed and once Alex picked me up, I was ready! Alex took me to a WONDERFUL dinner at Capital Grill. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted a steak so flavorful as the one I had there. We also enjoyed a wine that was out of this world. For those of you who know me, I’m not the greatest fan of red wines but Barringer Alluvium Meritage is a wonderful blend of grapes that may smell strong, but the taste is not strong. It is hard to describe the taste of it, other than WOW!
So after Diner, Alex and I went to Rock Bottoms and had a beer and saw a few of our classmates there doing the same thing. From there, we went on over to the Levine Museum of the New South, and we were greeted with a wonderful reception. It was great to see everyone that we graduated with. You can’t help but feel nostalgic when you walk into a room full of people you haven’t seen in ten years. The turnout was great for the event! Thank you to the organizers of the reunion! You all did a phenomenal job in orchestrating such a wonderful event! The after party was at the Ally Cat and everyone seemed to have a blast there. We danced, talked, hung out, and with some it felt like time had not passed. Everyone looked great and all the ladies wore beautiful dresses and outfits. It turned out very well.
I just wanted to share with you all some of the photos from the evening. I will post an update on Mom and weight loss at a later date. For now, enjoy the pictures from the PHS 97 ten year class reunion!