Weight Loss Wednesday

Start Date: 12/13/12
Today's Date: 12/19/12
Weight Lost Gained: +0.4

Week Successes:  Unfortunately, I need to look to elsewhere besides weight loss to have some successes for the week.  I took my American Music final last night and only got one question wrong.  I am now one final away from being DONE with my undergrad degree.  I cannot wait!

Week Struggles: I struggled a lot with the weekend.  It was graduation day on Saturday so I was not home for the majority of the day.  But that's no excuse to let my efforts to drink 8 glasses of water fall to the wayside.  Definitely something I need to work on because not only did I let the weekend get away from me I've been letting the poor weekend habits carry over to the week so far.

Lessons Learned: I think the lesson I learned this week is the weekends do matter.  I cannot slack on the weekend and expect to jump right back into it on Monday.  It just doesn't work like that.  And I can't expect it to work like that when right now the bad habits are stronger than the good ones.  I need to push for those good habits to be at the top of the list.

Goals for Next Week: I'm going to continue the goal from last week, drink at least 8 glasses of water every day.  I need to do this.  I feel better when I do this.  I found last week at work I was getting up more to use the bathroom but it actually made my legs and rear end feel better because otherwise I will just sit at my desk for hours.

So, to sum it all up the week was not a success in my opinion when it comes to weight loss.  But to look on the bright side of things, I did only show a gain of 0.4 of a pound, it could have been much worse.

28 Day Challenge Update: Today is day 7 of the 28 day challenge and as evident by the above recap of my week I'm a little bit further from my goal than I would like to be.  If I buckle down this week I think I can get back to where I started, and maybe a little closer to my goal.

Do you struggle with changing bad habits on the weekends?

I'm a Graduate!

Happy Sunday readers.  I hope you all have had an enjoyable weekend.  Can you believe we're already half way through December?!

My weekend was a good, no great, one!  Yesterday I graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point with my bachelors degree in business administration with a concentration in management.

Cody & I

My friend Cody and I were lucky enough to graduate on the same day so we had someone to hang out with the hour before the ceremony started.  There were a total of four of us graduating yesterday from the collaborative degree program (people I have had classes with).  A lot of our fellow classmates graduated in May, including Chelsea.

Holy crow, she did it!

I was lucky enough to be able to attend Chelsea's graduation ceremony so I had an idea of how the ceremony would go yesterday.  It lasted about two hours.  The most boring part was listening to them call names of fellow classmates that you don't know so you just sat there watching them walk across the stage and shake hands.

Unfortunately, it rained all day.  Yeah, it's December in Wisconsin and it's raining something is wrong if you ask me.  Raining means there were no nice outdoor pictures with family.  We did head outdoors under the overhang at the entrance so we didn't get wet but the background looks really dreary, nothing like in Chelsea's pictures.

After pictures were taken my family headed to Chili's for lunch.  As we were waiting for a table I opened gifts from my family.  My parents gave me a Pandora bracelet and three charms.  The top charm in the picture below is a zen charm to remind me to always do what makes me happy.  Next is the ice love, white heart charm which is to remind me of the love my parents have for me.  And the final charm from my parents is the graduation hat to remember the day by.  The next charm, red stepping stones, is from my aunt and uncle.  And the final charm, faith hope and love, is from my grandparents.  This charm has an anchor (hope), a cross (faith), and a heart (love) on it.

We enjoyed an awesome lunch together.  I had the Cajun pasta with grilled shrimp, my favorite item at Chili's.  We followed up with two chocolate lava cakes.  Sooooo good!

My parents and I stopped at the jewelry store on the way home to make sure the size of the bracelet was okay and to learn how to open the bracelet and add charms.  (We couldn't figure it out at Chili's!)

Once home after FaceTiming with Chelsea (sad she couldn't be at my graduation, or even in town for it) I slept all afternoon since I did not get a whole lot of sleep thanks to going out the night before unexpectedly.

Perfect graduation day in my opinion other than the poor weather.

Unfortunately, I am not completely finished with school yet.  I still have three finals to take, which I should have been studying for today but that didn't happen.  I spent my Sunday watching football (Packers beat the Bears!), decorating Christmas cookies (made some green and gold ones even!), and trying to enroll in benefits at my new job.  I ended up needing to email a human resource person because I had questions so that's still not complete.  (Frustrating...)  Being an adult sucks sometimes.

Stars, boots, Christmas trees, snowmen made with cows, and cow bells

Tomorrow marks the beginning of my last part-time work week at my new job.  I'm looking forward to going full-time and next year having PTO time and holiday time.  And hopefully once I really get into my job (I'm doing the very tip of the iceberg of what I'll be doing right now) I will enjoy it so working all day every day won't be a bad thing.  With that said, I'm off to bed to get back into my good sleeping routine!

Have a great night readers.  I'll leave you with some questions.  :)

Do you decorate Christmas cookies?  What kind of decorating tools do you use, colored sugar, or icing with decorating tools?

What was your favorite weekend event?

Weight Loss Wednesday errr Thursday

Just want to do a real quick Weight Loss Wednesday (Thursday) post before I have to finish getting ready for work.  Side note - I am LOVING not starting until 10am.  I can sleep until 7 and still have 2 hours to get ready and not feel rushed.  This lets me pack food and do my hair and stuff, something I used to not have enough time for because I would stay in bed long after I should have gotten up.  Anyways, back to WLW.

Start Date: 12/13/12
Today's Date: 12/13/12 - Day 1 of my 28 Day Challenge with Lex
Weight Lost: 0

Week Successes: I'm going to just focus on Monday through today (Thursday).  I have been successful in getting up when my alarm goes off and not using the snooze button.  This is something I definitely want to continue with, especially once I go full time and all I'm doing is work.  I don't want to be late ever, unless it's for some reason other than over sleeping that isn't really in my control.

Week Struggles: Right now I would say my struggle is not knowing how to handle lunch at my new job yet.  This is the second day now that I am packing snacks rather than an actual meal for lunch.  I'm definitely going to ask about how they do lunch today so I can plan ahead for next week.

Lessons Learned: Well what I've learned isn't really something new but I'll share it anyways because it is important.  Weight loss doesn't happen on its own!  I can't sit back and expect the pounds to come off while I'm not exercising or watching what I'm eating.  So, starting today that's changing!

Goals for Next Week: My goal for today through Wednesday (12/19/12) is to drink at least 8 glasses of water every day, even weekends (my weakness).  I would also like to see at least half a pound lost.  My first week back in the weight loss game so I'm setting a reasonable goal.  Ultimately my goal for every week will be to lose one pound.

Have a great Thursday peeps!  I'm off to finish getting ready for work and then heading in for my second day!

Weight Loss Wednesday: 28 Day Challenge

Remember when I posted about Holding for the Holidays?  Well, obviously since I left my job I won't be completing the Hold for the Holidays challenge.  Doesn't mean I won't still be working towards my weight loss goal and at least holding for the holidays.

My good friend Lex (who blogs at LifebyLex, check her out!) is trying out this new (I think) thing called Diet Bet where you pay in a set amount of money "betting" that you'll lose 4% of your body weight in 28 days.  She blogged about how she joined a Diet Bet challenge that starts the day after Christmas (read about it here).  I had left a comment wishing her luck and saying I just couldn't justify spending $25 (which is the entry "fee" for that particular challenge) when I've been spending my money a little crazily lately.

Tonight Lex emailed me about a Diet Bet challenge that starts tomorrow for only $10/entry. A much more reasonable price for me with my out of control spending.  But when I really thought about it I decided Diet Bet just isn't for me right now.  Mentally I'm not ready to put money down and have to lose 4% of my body weight in just 28 days.  It's a pretty lofty goal, like 2 pounds per week for me.  Granted, I'm at the start of my weight loss (again, ugh!) so maybe the pounds would fall off pretty quickly if I stuck to eating better and working out but there's just something mentally stopping me.

Luckily Lex is awesome and understands and offered me an alternative.  I'm just going to follow along with the challenge (while she really does it) and try my best to lose that 4% of my body weight in 28 days, starting tomorrow.  So, essentially Lex and I are in our own little game.

Since Chelsea moved to Maryland I've lost my workout buddy so I've been struggling to go to the gym.  Actually, I'll be honest.  I've been struggling for months, even before Chelsea moved.  Which means I've been paying for months of Y membership that I haven't been using.  This needs to stop!  Wasn't I just talking about how I'm out of control with my spending and here I am wasting a monthly membership fee by not even using it?!  Horrible I know.

Tomorrow begins my 28 day challenge with Lex.  Weigh-in tomorrow morning before work.  Healthy food and water to take to work and Friday I'm hitting the Y to get a work out in.

I'm also going to bring back the Weight Loss Wednesday weekly post that I failed at earlier this fall.  Here's the format I'll be following.  If I get the chance tomorrow I'll do an actual post on WLW (even though it will be Thursday).

Start Date:
Today's Date:
Weight Lost:

Week Successes:
Week Struggles:
Lessons Learned:
Goals for Next Week:

Support and encouragement are definitely welcome!

Frustrated with the USPS

October 29th, 6 weeks ago, I mailed a package to Chelsea in a Priority Mail box.  I was told when I picked the box up from the post office that it would only take a few days to arrive at its destination.  6 weeks is not a few days.

I mailed a picture frame with pictures of Chelsea and I inside and a card.  Unfortunately the glass was broken when Chelsea received the package yesterday.  Not the end of the world considering I thought she was never going to receive the package at all.  And other than that the contents were in good condition.

I tried to register a complaint with USPS last night but wouldn't you know it their site was slower than molasses/not working.  Thankfully I was able to register my complaint with them this morning.

Lucky for them they've already responded via email and are looking for additional information to help them research why my package took so long to arrive at its destination.  Once Chelsea is home from work she's going to provide me with the tracking number (internal since I didn't purchase any myself) and then I will be able to respond to them and hopefully get the ball rolling on figuring out what happened.

If only that package could talk...

Have you ever had problems with the USPS?

The End of a Chapter & Divergent

I have been busy busy this last week at work.  Found out Monday morning I would be training someone to take over my job duties (surprise!) so I spent all week training someone while trying to wrap things up before my last day Friday.  I did the best I could and had to just accept that I could not do it all with having to spend most of my day training.

Thursday my department had a food day to celebrate my upcoming graduation from college and to "drown their sorrows that I'm leaving them".  It was a Mexican themed food day so we had salsa chicken, beef taco meat, all the fixings for tacos, and some salsa & cheese dip which I used on my chicken taco.  My second plate was chicken nachos with the salsa & cheese dip since all of the soft shells were gone.  It was at lunch that I was presented with a card with some very sweet messages from my co-workers and a gift, a glass dish full of Jolly Ranchers and an Amazon gift card.

While I'm all set to start my new job tomorrow and I could not be more excited it also felt strange to realize I was walking out of the building I had worked the last 4+ years of my life.  But it is just the ending of a chapter in my life and tomorrow marks the beginning of a new one.  My clothes are picked out for tomorrow, and I have all of the documents necessary to set up direct deposit and prove that I am eligible to work in the United States.  All that's left to do is wait for 9am to roll around so I can hit the road.

Tonight, since I finished my homework already (shocking for me), I wanted to share with you a good book I read recently.  Thursday night I purchased Divergent by Veronica Roth for my Kindle with my Amazon gift card.

www.amazon.com

I decided to download this thanks to Sara who blogs over at The Foodie Diaries.  She had been tweeting about reading it on her way home from Thanksgiving in Florida with her family.  She liked it so much she even re-read it again since then already!

I had also heard about the book from Cely at Running of the Reeses.  If you want to see her thoughts on the book you can read it here (#3).

The book did not disappoint!  Here's the book description from Amazon.

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent).  On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives.  For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both.  So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made.  Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences.  as initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen.  but Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death.  And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves...or it might destroy her. 

 It reminded me of The Hunger Games a lot but yet was not The Hunger Games (if that makes sense).  I truly enjoyed the book and once I had the chance to really dive into it I could not put it down.  I finished it this morning.

Thanks to the gift card I purchased and downloaded Insurgent, the second book in the trilogy, right after finishing Divergent this morning.  I held off on getting too far into the book as I had to complete a final version of a paper I have been working on all semester to submit for peer reviews.  But now that homework is done I'm going to start reading while I watch the Packers take on the Lions in Sunday Night Football.

If you've read Divergent, what did you think?

Exciting News!

Good evening readers!  Hope everyone has made it through the first half of the week in alright shape following the holiday weekend.

I actually have some great and pretty exciting news to share tonight so we'll get right to it.

When I returned to my regular part-time position in late August/early September following the completion of my summer internship my boss told me that they would not be able to take me on full-time following graduation in December.  I knew then I needed to either apply for a transfer within the company I work for or I needed to apply outside the company for a full-time job.

I finally made the commitment at the end of October and applied for three different positions outside the company.

I wasn't hearing anything from any of the applications I submitted and was just beginning to think that it was time to follow up with those companies and to take another gander at the job listings.  (Side note: I used indeed.com to search for openings to apply for.)

Before I had a chance to seriously look into following up I received a phone call while I was at work from a area number that I wasn't familiar with.  Normally I wouldn't answer a phone call like that but because I may be getting called about one of those applications I submitted I decided to answer.  Turns out it was one of the companies I applied with!

I set up a time to talk with them on Friday (it was a Tuesday I got the call) since I wasn't able to talk while at work.  That phone conversation was a pre-screening with an HR assistant.  I was told it would probably be 2-3 weeks before I would hear back from them if a manager liked me and wanted to go further with the process.

So imagine my surprise when I received a call that very next week asking to set up an interview!  I made the interview for the following Tuesday after I was done with my classes for the day.

The interview went well, nothing out of the ordinary happened or was asked.  I left feeling pretty confident about the interview and excited about the company because they have a casual work environment (jeans Monday-Friday are acceptable), a 22% discount with AT&T is one of their benefits (currently I only get a 12% discount through work), and you start with a very nice chunk of PTO + 4 additional days called "floating holidays".

The interview took place last week which included Thanksgiving so I wasn't expecting to hear back from them right away but once again I was surprised to receive a phone call on Monday offering me the position.  Immediately after I got off the phone with HR I called my mom and told her all of the good news.  But then panic set in as I realized I needed to hand in my two weeks notice before I left work for the day because they wanted me to start in two weeks already.

I managed to calm myself to type up a two weeks notice, and meet with my boss.  She actually knew it was coming because she was called as a reference earlier in the day.  I signed the offer letter I was emailed when I got home and scanned it over to my new employer right away that night.

Yesterday my boss called a meeting with the department and let them know I would be leaving.  While it is incredibly exciting for me it is incredibly stressful for the department I am leaving as they are already down three people (they were let go a few weeks earlier), and  will be down another person when she goes on maternity leave at the beginning January.  The work load didn't get any smaller due to the shrinking size of the department so everyone left is overwhelmed with work and is working 5 hours of overtime.

I went in for my drug test yesterday afternoon which I am sure I will pass with flying colors. If I don't there is something seriously wrong! :)

So, that's my exciting news!  I've accepted a new job where I will be receiving an increase in pay which will definitely help pay down these student loans that I will have to start paying back soon since I am graduating in two weeks.  I will be starting Monday December 10th part-time (20hrs/week) by working on Mondays and Thursdays 10a-6p and Fridays 3-7p.  I start full-time (40hrs/week) on Monday December 24th and will be working 10a-6p Monday through Friday.

I feel extremely lucky to have been given this opportunity as I know there are people struggling to find jobs.  Really, I have felt pretty fortunate throughout my career as I have always been able to pretty easily find a job.  This will only be my third job ever.

Did you find full-time employment after graduation pretty easily or was it a struggle for you?

What's one tip you would offer someone in the job hunt following graduation?

Dress Up

My family has a Gordon Setter named Bo.  He's just over a year and six months old now.

Yesterday I decided to try putting a t-shirt on him.  Living in the country and having worked on the farm I decided to use on of my brother's International Havester shirts.  Surprisingly, Bo didn't seem to mind other than it was a big big on him so his back feet would get caught up in the back of the shirt that would hang to the ground.

But enough of my talking I'm sure you want to see pictures!

Maybe you don't need 2XL Bo ;)

Cute stuff!

Do you have pets?

Have you ever dressed your pets up in clothes?  Were they tolerant of it?

Where has November gone?

Eeek it's been a bit since I've posted.  Sorry about that peeps!  It was just the middle of November and now we're beginning the last week of the month already.  Where has the time gone?

So, what have I been up to you might ask?  Well,  there were two lunch dates with Jodi at Polito's, the best pizza by the slice place in town.

politospizza.com

A Saturday of errands with my mom and aunt Pam where I picked up a new book which I read in two days.  It's the first in a series so I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the books.

I also got a hair cut.

Can you guess what store I'm in the parking lot of?

A job interview for a full time position following graduation that I am super excited about thanks to the casual dress code and some of the benefits offered.

My outfit

A Thanksgiving lunch with my mom's side of the family where there was way too much good food.  Sorry, no photos from Thanksgiving.

On Friday a little shopping with my aunt Maureen before going to see Breaking Dawn - Part 2 and then eating dinner at the wonderful Khamchanh's for some Chinese food.

And an Angelo's pizza lunch yesterday to celebrate my brother's 20th birthday.

angelospizzawausau.com

And a lot of relaxation sprinkled throughout these last 1+ weeks.

Now today while I'm sure there will be a lot of relaxation I need to bring that down a notch so I can get some homework done for my last three classes of my undergraduate degree (!!!) and some much needed cleaning of my room.

The Packers play the Giants tonight on Sunday Night Football so I will for sure be watching that tonight.  Go Pack Go!

Who is your favorite football team?

What's your favorite memory from November? Any fun plans upcoming in this last week of November?

I'll See You When I See You...

It's been just about a month since my best friend moved from Wisconsin to Maryland with her husband Dan so I thought it would be a good time to reflect on our friendship.

During the Spring semester of the 2010-2011 school year I first became aware of Chelsea when I had a math class with her.  But she had her best friend Alie in the class with her so we never really talked.  I also had an accounting class with her but we sat on opposite sides of the room and never talked.  I decided to request her as a friend on Facebook, which she accepted.

It was in the Fall semester of the 2011-2012 school year that we actually started talking when we were in the same class for our business program.  We were bonding over missing a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game over Facebook before the first class and decided to sit by each other.  We've been pretty much inseparable since.

We had our first date as we like to call it at Buffalo Wild Wings after class one evening and we had a pretty serious discussion about a situation in her life at the time.  I found this kind of surprising considering we had only been hanging out during class prior to this.  But I went with it and decided maybe I wasn't crazy for feeling so comfortable with her and wanting to just tell her everything and anything.  Sometimes when you know, you just know.

Her boyfriend Dan, a Marine, came home for leave for Christmas and actually proposed on Christmas Eve.  I was one of the first calls she made to share the news.

Surprisingly, Chelsea asked (well told me was more like it ;) ) that I be one of her bridesmaids in her wedding.

We were able to finish the 2011-2012 school year with the same classes so we were together a lot for school but we also were getting together outside of school quite a bit.

I set it up with her fiance Dan before he had to leave again that we would go to see Brantley Gilbert and Eric Church in Madison on January 26th as his birthday gift to her.  He sadly had to go back to Japan and would not be able to go with her so he hired me to stand in.  

Waiting for the concert to start!

I took her out on her 22nd birthday to Chica Night (2-for-1 for the ladies) at a bar called Chicos.  The very next day we were going wedding dress shopping and let's just say that Ms. Chelsea was not feeling very well following a rough ride home with her friend Alie.  Let's just say Chelsea had her mom's car and felt the need to offer to wash it for her mom.  We also were going out on Friday nights frequently   Basically, like I said earlier we were inseparable.  If she was there more than likely so was I.

Chelsea & I @ Homestead

It also seemed as though we were best friends for a lot longer than a few short months.  We shared the same thoughts about a lot of things and one of us would say something and the other would say "I was just thinking that too!"

We were together a lot throughout the summer.  I went to multiple softball tournaments with Chelsea, some out of town weekend trips.  We made a lot of memories together.

Chelsea & Amy collage :)

Or as Jason Aldean sings, "we laid a lot of memories, like tattoos on this town!"

Then it came time to hand her off to her husband Dan.  I had a blast at her wedding at the end of September.

The bride & the bridesmaids

Not even two weeks later we were having our one last big outing together with Dan and my friend Tammy in tow to see Kip Moore, Justin Moore, and Eric Church in Green Bay.  But that story is for another time.

It was exactly a week later that Chelsea and Dan began their cross country road trip to their new home in Maryland (where Dan is now stationed).  The year flew by and it felt like we had been friends forever.  We keep in touch on a daily basis through text messaging and now that I have an iPhone Facetime.  The miles that separate us do not mean anything because we both are looking forward to many years to come of being each others best friend!

I'll end this post with the lyrics to another Jason Aldean song that I used as my status the day Chelsea left for Maryland and the part of the song I posted to her wall.

"Let's don't say goodbye I hate the way it sounds so if you don't mind let's just say for now see you when I see you another place some other time if I ever get down your way or you're up around mine we'll laugh about the old days and catch up on the new yeah I'll see you when I see you and I hope it's some day soon!"

"I'll see you when I see you Till then my prayers are with you And I hope it's some day soon..."

Questions for you
Have you ever had a best friend move a long distance from you?  How did you handle it?
Do you use music to express how you feel? Sometimes I just feel that lyrics to a song can perfectly describe how I am feeling better than any attempt at words that I could make.

Holding for the Holidays

Hi there readers!  I once again took a break from blogging without really meaning to and for that I apologize.  I know it is no fun for you to find a blog with a writer that does not publish posts on a regular basis.  I am hoping to change that along with a few other things in my life.

One of the reasons I wanted to get back to blogging is to track what is going on in my life.  One of those things being a program through my employer called Hold for the Holidays.  Hold for the Holidays is an 8-week program that is designed to help me (and my team members) prevent the typical weight gained during the holiday season.

I am on a team, the Skinny Bees, with three other women (two from my department and one from another department).  There is also a second team within my department made up of four other women, the Skinny Clauses.

The goal of the 8-week program is to maintain or gain no more than 2 pounds.  Of course, losing weight is acceptable and for many of us the ultimate goal (myself included).  But to spice things up the the two teams I mentioned earlier are having a little friendly competition to see which team loses the most weight in these next eight weeks.  The team that loses the most weight gets lunch on the other team.

Today marked day one of the program and also weigh in day.  This program is not very strict on the rules for what you can and cannot wear for weigh in on day one and whether you have to wear the same for the weigh in at the end of the eight weeks so I chose to wear my shoes and sweatshirt in addition to my other clothes rather than taking them off.  The plan is I would not wear the shoes and sweatshirt at the end.

Now some of you might be thinking that is unfair and I'm cheating myself.  While it might be true that it is unfair if the other team I am competing against doesn't do the same but when you have a team member like my boss who becomes extra competitive and would not be a happy camper if she lost I'm willing to risk being labeled as a "cheat".  And there is not anyone stopping the other team from doing the exact same thing.  As far as cheating myself, that's not the case since I will be weighing myself in much less and lighter clothing Wednesday morning on my regular weigh in day.

So wish me luck readers and I hope you follow along the next eight weeks to see how my team and I do at Holding for the Holidays!

Questions for you
1) Does your employer offer programs to encourage weight loss?
2) Do you have a plan to maintain or lose weight through the holiday season?

Getting Back To It

Boy do I ever stink at updating my blog on a regular basis.  Goes hand-in-hand with my consistent workouts unfortunately.  I'm working on both though!

Last Monday I did the first workout of Spark's 8-week Rooking Running Program.  Sadly, I let myself down by not working out again the rest of the week.  I had every intention of working out on Thursday but when my poor morning routine led me to not actually getting up until 7:45, 15 minutes before I need to be at work, I had no time to put together a gym bag.  Shame on me for not having this done the night before.  Thanks for that procrastination.

I have very little ambition to workout at home so even though I have plenty of space to do so I didn't.  Something else I need to work on!

This morning was the exact opposite of last Thursday which I am stoked about because it felt amazing to have time to prepare breakfast, lunch and two snacks, eat breakfast, log all of the food I planned to eat up until dinner, flip the laundry from the washer to the dryer, get myself ready for work, and still have time to watch a 30-minute episode of something on the DVR before needing to leave at my regular time.  (< Longest sentence ever because I got so much accomplished this morning before work?  I'll take it!)

Oh yeah!  I forgot to say I packed my gym bag.  I'll be hitting the gym after work for another workout from week 1 of my rookie running plan.  Since it's been a week since that first workout I'm just going to start over with day one and work my butt off to get the three running workouts in this week that I need to actually move on to week two.

I definitely need to do a better post about this training program I'm doing and what I'm training for.  I also have some other things I need to blog about; concerts, friends moving to the East Coast, weight loss, and how my last semester of school is going.  So, be on the look-out for those posts!  I'm going to do my best to update this a little more regularly.

One Step Closer to Graduation

For those of you who read my last post about my presentation jitters (hey Lex!) you'll know that I completed the final piece of my summer internship last Thursday.  I found out my grade earlier this week (B+ I'll take it!) and am now officially 9 credits away from graduation in December!

I didn't blog much at all about my internship really so here's a recap of what I learned this summer from my internship.

Don't intern at the company you work for regularly UNLESS the company has an actual internship program and/or the "internship" is better planned by management.  I found out the hard way that taking an internship making an internship out of convenience doesn't always result in the greatest learning experience and can lead to frustration with employees of the company that you WILL see again on a daily basis.

I'm really good a following step-by-step directions and as a result can catch on quickly.  No joke I had a co-worker tell me this to my face like it was a compliment.  I bit my tongue and held back the "no shit thanks.  Any chimp can do this!" and smiled and said thank you. Of course I went home and vented to my mom who sympathized with me so that I could come back the next day and try not to be a B to the woman who said this to me.

I like to feel included in the group and not forgotten.  I'm pretty sure a lot of people would agree with me on this one.  Referring back to not interning at the company you regularly work for - it was because I did this that it was easy for the department I was interning with to not worry about me being downstairs away from their group and forgot to let me know about department lunches (missed 2 of them) and fun food days like Dilly Bars from DQ.  I also had an employee (same one that thinks I'm awesomely as smart as a chimp) tell me to my face they forgot about me.  Yeah.  Awesome right?

Procrastination is my middle name.  Nothing really new here.  I knew this going in, thought about how I should avoid procrastinating on putting together the materials to hand in and the presentation I had to give, and discovered once again that I truly dislike feeling unprepared and could avoid it all if I didn't love to procrastinate like it's my job.

It might sound like I'm ungrateful that the company I work for allowed me to complete my internship with them this summer based on all the complaining I just did but trust me I'm not!  It was because I wanted to be able to go back to my awesome flexible job that I wanted to intern at the company during the summer.  Let's face it, it would have been awkward to intern outside the company and then say "oh by the way can I come back Sept-Dec so I can work awesome flexible hours until I graduate and find a different job?"  They jumped at the chance to help me in any way that they could to get me the 3 credits for the internship.  Hindsight is always 20/20...I know now what to ask for/make sure I get if I ever had to do this experience over again.

And did the department I intern for provide me with everything I needed from them for my internship paperwork and materials to hand in at the end of the summer?  Yes!  Because of that Yes! I earned 3 credits toward graduating in December.  3 credits I'm not sure how I would have earned in time otherwise.  (I'm sure there would have been a way but my advisor made it sound differently so I went with it.)

So, overall was the summer internship a success?  Yeah, earning the credits I need (the MOST important part to me) definitely happened but learning about accounting, meh not so much.

Presentation Jitters

Hi friends!  It's been a while since I've posted, sorry about that!

Since my last post a month ago I've celebrated some birthdays (mom's and aunt's), gone on vacation to Chicagoland Speedway (this past weekend actually!), and cranked out a PowerPoint presentation in the last 48 hours that I will present tonight.

The PowerPoint presentation is about the internship I completed this summer.  Probably not my finest work I'm sure because I am procrastination at its finest.  Not only did I complete my internship at the end of August so I have had three weeks prior to this one to put together the presentation but I also wasted away a day at home to work on it by doing anything but! (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterst, TV, etc...)

I normally get nervous for presentations, even when I'm prepared in advance, so the fact that I waited until last night to actually make the PowerPoint has only added to my nervousness.  I had a hard time getting to sleep, it was past 2am when I finally did.  And then I woke up this morning and after making sure everything printed (it hadn't) and running through my checklist of things I needed to have done I was already feeling sick.

I am at work today for 8 hours but I have two fifteen minute breaks and I'm sure I'll use some of my lunch break (30 minutes) to run through the presentation at my desk.  But we all know running through it in your head is totally different than actually having practiced what you're going to say out loud.  I can't change the past so I'm going to have to run with what I've got and hope for the best.

Wish me luck friends!!

Questions for you...
Do you get nervous when you need to speak in front of a group?  How do you handle the nervousness?  Any tips for me?

Do you procrastinate or are you on top of your game with things you need to do?  Any tips from former procrastinators on how to procrastinate less?

Catching Up

Happy Friday readers!!  This week seemed to fly by for me which this summer has been an unusual thing to happen.  It's been over a week since my last blog post but Wednesday through Sunday I was in the land of minimal cell phone reception, no WiFi, and honestly hanging out with friends, enjoying some beverages, and seeing country music artists perform took more importance over updating my blog.  I had a blast with Chelsea and some other friends that I met up with there.  I took hardly any pictures so doing a recap would be kind of boring so I'll skip that and just let you know I had a blast.

Thanks to the craziness that was last week this week has been catch up for me.  I'm still not on a great sleep schedule.  Sunday through Tuesday every night I was waking up between 2 and 3 am which is not a normal thing for me.  I guess my body adjusted to the late night bed times and was trying to tell me I was trying to sleep too early?  I've been able to make it to work on time this week though so I'd say I'm handling it pretty well.

Oh!  I just remembered that I took my business law final (online summer course that started July 16th) on Wednesday last week and found out Friday night (I think?) that I got an A- in the class!!!  Now the only thing left to do to finish up my summer semester is prepare and present my internship presentation on either the 20th or 21st of September.  It has to be 10 minutes long which is a bit daunting to me because I'm not a great public speaker.  I haven't begun working on it yet so I need to really get the ball rolling on that one if I want to prepare it ahead of time and be able to practice it and get the timing right on it.

The only thing I'm bummed about because of not blogging since last Tuesday is that I missed two Weight Loss Wednesday posts that I was supposed to do.  It's a double edged sword with that one.  I haven't been focusing on weight loss at all, like haven't even stepped on a scale in I don't know how long, so what would I really be able to post about anyways?  But at the same time I committed to posting about it once a week (that's not that hard) and now I haven't followed through.  There's always next week though!

So that's a quick recap of what's been going on with me in the last week and a half.

Tonight I'm going out to dinner with my parents, another couple, our neighbor, and another woman so I won't be home much.  I WILL be getting laundry started though as I haven't done that since the weekend before last so I'm running out of clean clothes to wear which is not a good thing.  Tomorrow I need to set up for Chelsea's bridal shower, attend the shower, and then the bachelorette party later that evening which we are doing a wine tasting, dinner, and then drinks.  I bought a dress yesterday for the day so I will be sure to post pictures once I'm all done up and ready for the day.  Sunday my mom is hosting a Miche bag party so I will have that to go to in the early afternoon but other than that Sunday is my relaxed day.  It will feel good to finally sit still and get caught up on everything (laundry, blogging, etc...)

I hope everyone has been having a great week!  Hope to see you leave some comments now that I'm getting back into the swing of things.

Liebster Blog Award

Thanks Laurie at Love, Laugh, Laurie for nominating me for the Liebster Award.

Thanks Laurie!!  The rules are simple:  Tell 11 facts about yourself, answer the questions posed by person who nominated you, make up 11 questions of your own, and nominate 11 people.

11 Facts:

1. I am a bridesmaid in my best friend Chelsea's upcoming wedding on September 30th.  We are wearing brown "slouchy" cowboy boots with short red dresses.
2. September 14th through the 17th I will be in Joliet, IL at Chicagoland Speedway for my 4th NASCAR race where I will be able to meet my favorite driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. (!!!)
3. I was a member of 4-H and showed dairy cattle at the Wisconsin Valley Fair for 4 years.
4. I drink raw cow's milk 99% of the time.  Rarely will I drink milk from a store.
5. I needed to have a baby tooth pulled when I was 18 in order to have an implant put in because I lacked an adult tooth.  I also do not have wisdom teeth, or my bottom 12-year-old molars.
6.  I am completing a summer internship for 3 credits that will allow me to graduate in December of 2012 (4 months!!).
7.  I played softball from 2004 until 2009 (I think).  I ended my high school softball career as the starting varsity pitcher.
8.  I am an animal lover.  I am both a dog and cat person as well as other furry animals.
9.  I got to look at puppies on my 21st birthday (2011).  It was also the day that we picked Bo out from a litter of 9.
10.  I absolutely love my Kindle that I received as a birthday gift from my parents for my 21st birthday.  I have over 100 items in my "read" folder since receiving it just over a year ago.  I love to read period though so I still read actual books in addition to what I download to my Kindle.
11.  This was hard for me to do!  I want the facts to be interesting but struggle to come up with what I think people would find interesting.  Maybe I need to do some more reflecting on myself so the next time I need to come up with facts about myself it won't be so hard to do?

Laurie's questions to me:

1. What is your favorite Olympic event to watch? I enjoy watching gymnastics and swimming.  Prior to this year's summer Olympics I LOVED to watch softball but as many of you know they removed softball from the summer Olympics.  Don't even get me started on the "sports" that are part of the Olympics instead of softball.

2. What event would you participate in if you had unlimited talent?  If softball were still an option I would definitely want to be a Team USA softball team member.  Of the current events I think I would participate in gymnastics, swimming, or diving.

3. What is your favorite quote?   I have two favorite quotes.  "Don't be afraid to go after what you want to do, and what you want to be.  But don't be afraid to be willing to pay the price." ~ Lane Frost (10/12/63 - 7/30/89) and "You've got to really want it all the way to the end... If you runt oo hard you lose interest or you lose focus and you've had enough before it's over.  You've got to pace yourself so that the entire season is just as important from start to finish." ~ Dale Earnhardt Jr.

4. What is your favorite way to work out?  With someone!  Chelsea and I were working out regularly together during the Spring semester.  It was great to have someone to hold me accountable to getting to the gym and someone to talk to while working out.

5. Have you seen The Dark Knight Rises, and is it not the best movie ever?  <– I really want to know if you feel this way  I have not seen the movie.  Fun fact though, Dale Jr. won his first race in 4 years with a paint scheme with The Dark Knight Rises on his car.

6. Best movie you’ve seen recently?  This Means War is at the top of my list.  It has some great lines in it and it was enjoyable beginning to end.

7. What is your favorite memory?  I have a few but I'm going to go with helping my softball team in high school win its first game in over 2 years by hitting a triple but being awarded home plate because the opposing team threw the ball into the 3rd base line dugout.

8. What are you currently reading?  Pretty Little Liars, book #1 in the series.  The ABC Family show is based on the books by Sara Shepard.

9. If you are married, what were your wedding colors, and if you aren’t — what colors do you think they will be?  I imagine my wedding colors would include red as it is my favorite color.  Possibly other fall colors.  Haven't really thought much about it.

10. Favorite movie trilogy?  Honestly, I don't think I have a favorite movie trilogy.  I can't seem to think of any movies I've seen that are a trilogy.  Is that bad?  I am looking forward to the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy being made into movies even though I was kind of disappointed with the ending of the books.

11. Favorite beverage?  Mountain Dew - it's a tough habit to kick!  If we're talking alcoholic beverages I would say Cherry Dr. + Mountain Dew, aka Dr. Dew.

11 Questions for the Nominees:

1. Favorite food?

2. How long have you been blogging?

3. Favorite hobby?

4. What is one book that you would recommend someone to read right now?

5. Right or left handed?

6. Favorite place?

7. One place you would like to visit in your lifetime?

8. Biggest pet peeve?

9. Favorite month and why?

10. Current favorite movie?

11.  Current favorite song?

Now, I nominate:

Lex @ Life by Lexis

Becca @ I Heart Eggs

Hollie @ Fueled by Lolz

Claire @ Navigating North

Nikki @ Antos Does Life

Tessa @ Amazing Asset

Alyssa @ Life of Blyss

Amy @ Life as a Lazy Girl

Rather than forcing another 3 nominees out I'm just going to stop at 8.  I would rather have 8 good ones than 8 good ones and 3 not so good ones (because I don't follow their blogs regularly).

Liebster Blog Award

Thanks Laurie at Love, Laugh, Laurie for nominating me for the Liebster Award.

Thanks Laurie!!  The rules are simple:  Tell 11 facts about yourself, answer the questions posed by person who nominated you, make up 11 questions of your own, and nominate 11 people.

11 Facts:

1. I am a bridesmaid in my best friend Chelsea's upcoming wedding on September 30th.  We are wearing brown "slouchy" cowboy boots with short red dresses.
2. September 14th through the 17th I will be in Joliet, IL at Chicagoland Speedway for my 4th NASCAR race where I will be able to meet my favorite driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. (!!!)
3. I was a member of 4-H and showed dairy cattle at the Wisconsin Valley Fair for 4 years.
4. I drink raw cow's milk 99% of the time.  Rarely will I drink milk from a store.
5. I needed to have a baby tooth pulled when I was 18 in order to have an implant put in because I lacked an adult tooth.  I also do not have wisdom teeth, or my bottom 12-year-old molars.
6.  I am completing a summer internship for 3 credits that will allow me to graduate in December of 2012 (4 months!!).
7.  I played softball from 2004 until 2009 (I think).  I ended my high school softball career as the starting varsity pitcher.
8.  I am an animal lover.  I am both a dog and cat person as well as other furry animals.
9.  I got to look at puppies on my 21st birthday (2011).  It was also the day that we picked Bo out from a litter of 9.
10.  I absolutely love my Kindle that I received as a birthday gift from my parents for my 21st birthday.  I have over 100 items in my "read" folder since receiving it just over a year ago.  I love to read period though so I still read actual books in addition to what I download to my Kindle.
11.  This was hard for me to do!  I want the facts to be interesting but struggle to come up with what I think people would find interesting.  Maybe I need to do some more reflecting on myself so the next time I need to come up with facts about myself it won't be so hard to do?

Laurie's questions to me:

1. What is your favorite Olympic event to watch? I enjoy watching gymnastics and swimming.  Prior to this year's summer Olympics I LOVED to watch softball but as many of you know they removed softball from the summer Olympics.  Don't even get me started on the "sports" that are part of the Olympics instead of softball.

2. What event would you participate in if you had unlimited talent?  If softball were still an option I would definitely want to be a Team USA softball team member.  Of the current events I think I would participate in gymnastics, swimming, or diving.

3. What is your favorite quote?   I have two favorite quotes.  "Don't be afraid to go after what you want to do, and what you want to be.  But don't be afraid to be willing to pay the price." ~ Lane Frost (10/12/63 - 7/30/89) and "You've got to really want it all the way to the end... If you runt oo hard you lose interest or you lose focus and you've had enough before it's over.  You've got to pace yourself so that the entire season is just as important from start to finish." ~ Dale Earnhardt Jr.

4. What is your favorite way to work out?  With someone!  Chelsea and I were working out regularly together during the Spring semester.  It was great to have someone to hold me accountable to getting to the gym and someone to talk to while working out.

5. Have you seen The Dark Knight Rises, and is it not the best movie ever?  <– I really want to know if you feel this way  I have not seen the movie.  Fun fact though, Dale Jr. won his first race in 4 years with a paint scheme with The Dark Knight Rises on his car.

6. Best movie you’ve seen recently?  This Means War is at the top of my list.  It has some great lines in it and it was enjoyable beginning to end.

7. What is your favorite memory?  I have a few but I'm going to go with helping my softball team in high school win its first game in over 2 years by hitting a triple but being awarded home plate because the opposing team threw the ball into the 3rd base line dugout.

8. What are you currently reading?  Pretty Little Liars, book #1 in the series.  The ABC Family show is based on the books by Sara Shepard.

9. If you are married, what were your wedding colors, and if you aren’t — what colors do you think they will be?  I imagine my wedding colors would include red as it is my favorite color.  Possibly other fall colors.  Haven't really thought much about it.

10. Favorite movie trilogy?  Honestly, I don't think I have a favorite movie trilogy.  I can't seem to think of any movies I've seen that are a trilogy.  Is that bad?  I am looking forward to the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy being made into movies even though I was kind of disappointed with the ending of the books.

11. Favorite beverage?  Mountain Dew - it's a tough habit to kick!  If we're talking alcoholic beverages I would say Cherry Dr. + Mountain Dew, aka Dr. Dew.

11 Questions for the Nominees:

1. Favorite food?

2. How long have you been blogging?

3. Favorite hobby?

4. What is one book that you would recommend someone to read right now?

5. Right or left handed?

6. Favorite place?

7. One place you would like to visit in your lifetime?

8. Biggest pet peeve?

9. Favorite month and why?

10. Current favorite movie?

11.  Current favorite song?

Now, I nominate:

Lex @ Life by Lexis

Becca @ I Heart Eggs

Hollie @ Fueled by Lolz

Claire @ Navigating North

Nikki @ Antos Does Life

Tessa @ Amazing Asset

Alyssa @ Life of Blyss

Amy @ Life as a Lazy Girl

Rather than forcing another 3 nominees out I'm just going to stop at 8.  I would rather have 8 good ones than 8 good ones and 3 not so good ones (because I don't follow their blogs regularly).

Weekend Recap - Part 2

Happy Monday morning readers!  Is there such a thing as a happy Monday morning??  Guess it depends on what you have going on for the day and how you look at things.  Today I'm going to finish off my weekend recap with what I did yesterday.  This post has pictures so hopefully it won't be as boring to read!

Sunday

I woke up at 8am but stayed in bed watching NCIS season 4 until 9am, enjoying a lazy Sunday morning.  Muffins were on the table by that time so I ate (alone because everyone else ate earlier) then spent some time with Bo before jumping in the shower.  My parents and I went to Green Bay to eat at Red Lobster (soooo good!!), and do a little shopping.

Our first stop after lunch was Lambeau Field to look around in the Packers Pro Shop.  I finally for the first time in years have a piece of Packers clothing that is my own!  Thanks mom :)  It's a long sleeved, but light, t shirt with a hood.  I can't wait to wear it so hopefully it cools off soon!

I was in the market for some shoes I could wear on an every day basis so I can keep the shoes I use to work out in nice so DSW was our next stop.  My old fitness/everyday shoes are pretty beat up so I was happy to find some shoes in a women's size that fit and I liked.  Having big feet is a challenge when it comes to finding shoes that look good on them.

I also had a $10 off coupon for American Eagle but was disappointed when I didn't find anything I liked, especially because the jeans were on sale.  I have until the end of September to use the coupon so I might look online to see what I can find.

We hit up Yankee Candle even though the store in our own mall is bigger than this one.  I bought myself a candle in my favorite scent, Pumpkin Buttercream.  We had fun smelling the "man scents" and making my dad smell them.  He's not into candles like I am but he was a good sport and went along with it.  It was actually amazing how much some of the stuff smelled like what it was named after; 2x4, mowed grass, etc.

Once we walked around the mall and didn't find any other stores to go into we jumped in the car to do a little driving around.  We ended up finding a Dairy Queen and stopped for ice cream.  I had the blizzard of the month, M&Ms Brownie.  It was good but I couldn't finish it all.  Those brownie pieces filled me up more than my usual cookie dough does.

Our last stop was Wal-Mart.  Great place to go while you're out of town when you have one where you live, right?  We needed new shower liners and as I was getting ready in the morning I had found a $40 gift card from my boss at work from Christmas that I hadn't used yet.  I went in hoping to find Gossip Girl season 4 on DVD but sadly they didn't have any of the Gossip Girl seasons.  I walked out with just some Post-it stickies.  Thanks again mom!

After getting home I fired up the laptop to look online for Gossip Girl season 4.  I found it for only $14.95!  I ordered it along with books #8 and #9 in the Pretty Little Liars series, all for less than $40 so my gift card covered everything.  Successful online shopping makes me happy.


Because I ordered books #8 and #9 in the series I started reading Pretty Little Liars (#1) after dinner.  I've read books #1 through #6 once already but it's been a while so I wanted to get them all fresh in my mind again and try to read them back to back.  I own book #7 but have not read it yet.  Chelsea has been borrowing the books and powering through them and is almost to book #7 so finding the gift card for Wal-Mart came at the right time for me to order the next two books.  There are 12 books total in the series.

Reading before bed has always been something I enjoy doing but NCIS was calling to me so I ended the night with Gibbs, Tony, Zeva, McGee, and Abby instead of more reading.  Maybe not the smartest move considering NCIS can be action packed and make you think but oh well you only live once, right? :)


Questions for you...
Ever read books that a TV series is based on, like Pretty Little Liars?


Do you ever buy TV series on DVD?