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Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Falling Into Fall Swap

Good morning! I'm saying it's a good morning despite my overuse of the snooze button {definitely wasn't my plan, thanks a lot Chelsee} and the general feeling of not wanting to get up because I'm finally going to reveal what I got from Ricci {Ricci Explains It All} in my Falling Into Fall swap package!

It was like Christmas morning in October when I found the package waiting for me. I could not wait to open it and see what was inside.


After pulling that top layer of purple tissue paper off I could not believe my eyes. There waiting for me was a whole bag of Milky Way Midnight bite size bars. I absolutely love them and could not wait to get to unwrapping them and popping them in my mouth.

Thankfully I have some restraint and I kept looking because the rest of my swap package did not disappoint.



Ricci took my last minute mention of my love obsession with colored pens to heart and found seriously the best pens around. I use them every day at work and am afraid to leave them there because I've heard more than one threat from coworkers that they want to steal them. They're that awesome.

The scarf is beautiful and is exactly what I would have picked out for myself had I gone shopping for one. I've only worn it once so far but I plan to wear it many many more times. You may have seen the scarf already when I posted a picture on my Instagram.

Two can koozies in your purse is not enough so I added one more to my collection. This one is a little sassy and I love it. It says, "Sorry I've got class."

The magnetic someecards note pad is awesome. I'm afraid to hang it on the fridge here at home though so I'm waiting until I move into my own place {no timeline on that yet} so I know that I'll be the one to use these awesome pieces of paper.

And sticking with the paper theme Ricci also gave me a cute little notebook with some gold polka dots. I haven't used it yet but I think I have big plans for this little notebook. Maybe using it as a physical journal of my monthly goals and the updates for each week of the month? I definitely think I am going to be joining the lovely Miss Jenn from Party of One for her 5 for Five link up she hosts every Monday so be on the look out for that and the cute notebook in the future around here!

And last but not least Ricci sent me a cinnamon spice candle. I burned it Sunday while I was home chilling all day and it filled the living room with the scent of fall. I absolutely love candles and love the smell of cinnamon and other scents like it.



If you want to see what I sent Ricci be sure to head over to her blog.  I'm a little late to the reveal party because I put the pro in procrastination but better late than never, right?

This was my first ever swap and I can't wait to do another. It's so much fun to be paired up with another blogger and learn more about them. And shopping is so much fun, especially at Target, am I right ladies? So a huge thank you to all of the lovely hosts of this one {Allie, Allison, Rebekah, and Ricci} for doing all of the hard work so the rest of us can have fun!

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Monday, October 28, 2013

Grey's Anatomy: Map of You

It's after 9pm on Monday and I am finally sitting down to blog about Grey's Anatomy from Thursday. To say I had a bad case of the Mondays is an understatement. It started with not wanting to get out of bed {which is extra toasty warm thanks to my flannel sheets} and went right into a crazy work day thanks to it being Monday and having technical issues with our computer system. What got me through the day was knowing that I could come home and relax by watching Dancing With The Stars. {MNF actually won most of the evening but I did see the group dances at the end and the shocking goodbye to Snooki which meant Bill stayed. Say what?!} And it only got better from there knowing that I could blog about another show I love, Grey's Anatomy.

As I mentioned before I didn't want to get out of bed but when I finally did all I could think about was the fact that I still had not watched Grey's from Thursday.
So enough of my babble about my Monday...let's get to the good stuff shall we?

Ross
I'm waiting for the confession to end all confessions from Ross right now. They've been playing up his guilt in every episode since Brooks died and I'm just waiting for it to be too much for Ross to handle. The fact that he told Shepard that he didn't want to work with him any more is just the tip of the iceberg. Like c'mon man just talk to someone about it already! But while he's dealing with all of this guilt he's getting brownie points with Cristina so I guess it's not all bad for Ross right now.

Alex & Jo
Alex has been avoiding Jo which has Jo worried he's seeing someone else. Turns out he has just been going to a dive bar to watch his dad play who he knows is his dad thanks to Jo. {Anyone else find this kind of ironic?} I kept waiting for the news to drop that Alex's dad isn't really his dad buuut that would mean something was wrong with the paternity test so I knew it wouldn't really happen. But that whole second family thing threw me for a loop. I was expecting Alex's dad to pull out a picture of Alex as a kid. Of course Alex punched him right in the face...which lead to maybe a flicker of realization in his dad's eyes. Hopefully this leads to the end of this whole secret "I know you're my dad" thing going on. And I really hope that this isn't the end to Alex and Jo but it wouldn't surprise me with Jo's past for her to say screw you to Alex for being so angry, angry enough to throw a glass against the wall in front of her.

Meredith & Derek/Cristina
Being the amazing Doctor McDreamy that he is, Derek finds a solution to the problem he and Meredith have been having about being doctors and parents. He'll cut back on his surgeries and focus more on the research he's been doing with Callie which will give him more time to be with the kids allowing Meredith to focus on being a rock star surgeon and her research. Meredith is taking her mother's unfinished research idea in a new direction and is super focused when Cristina comes to talk to her about the kiss she witnessed between Owen and his new lady friend Emma after she spilled the beans to Emma about being Owen's ex-wife. Surprise surprise, Meredith is still ticked at Cristina from the last episode when Cristina let her have it about being not as great of a surgeon as she is because she decided to be a mom. So far they've been pretty civilized conversations despite the harsh words in my opinion so I'm not quite sure if this is just two best friends being brutally honest with each other or if this is leading to the end of Meredith and Cristina...

Leah & Arizona
Apparently Leah and Arizona had a make out session and I missed it?! Not sure if I'm just not interested in this story line right now which leads to me not really paying attention to these two or what. So Leah falls hard and fast for Arizona while Arizona is not on the same page at all. Or is she? We end the episode with her essentially booty calling Leah with a text while she's laying in bed. By the way, didn't know Leah was gay but according to her it's a sliding scale, like what? I'm kind of lost in this whole thing.

Crazy
A patient who comes in for a broken ankle turns out to have an inoperable tumor on his heart. Or at least it was inoperable until he came to the Sloan Grey Memorial Hospital. {that's the name now, right?} Like I mentioned before Ross is earning brownie points with Cristina and comes up with the idea to glue the tumor to prevent it from growing and eventually killing the patient. Sad news for the patient and his wife though since they were counting on his life insurance money to pay for all of the debt they're racking up living out the rest of their lives together. Moral of the story, see the best of the best before deciding to live wild and free and expect the life insurance money to pay for it all later.

Do you think you would ever come to terms with dying and decide to just go out and live your life despite the cost because you have a life insurance policy that will cover it all?
Greys
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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Weigh In Wednesday 10/23/13

I know I pretty much suck a blogging lately so for that I apologize.  But to try and stay accountable I just had to pop in quick to share my Weigh In Wednesday results.

Last week I posted an awesome loss of 2.4 pounds.  This week I gained a little.  Which is definitely to be expected considering the weekend got the best of me and I had no plan going into this week.

It's pretty safe to say that planning my meals for the week ahead plays a huge part in whether I'm successful or not.  Let's be honest, waking up every morning and having no clue what you're going to eat for lunch at work that day just leads to poor decisions.  You grab what's quick and easy which isn't always healthy for you.

I have some plans again this weekend so in order to meal plan I'm going to have to really commit to sitting down and making a plan because more than likely I will once again feel like doing absolutely nothing when I'm home.

And since I'm thinking as I type this on the fly I think I just realized something.  At this point going out isn't helpful to my healthy living lifestyle.  But to be honest I don't want to cut out the social situations just to live a healthier lifestyle.  {Like that would be healthy either...}  So what I need to work on is finding a way to do both, be social and be healthy.  As Nike says, Just Do It!  Right?  Regardless of how I feel over the weekend I just need to suck it up and make a plan because I regret it during the week when I don't.

So here are the stats...
Starting Weight {highest weight recorded}: 207.7
Last Week's Weigh In, Oct. 16: 205.3
Today's Weigh In, Oct. 23: 205.9
Gain: 0.6
Overall Loss: 1.8

How do you handle balancing going out and living a healthier life?

Weigh In Wedneday
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Monday, October 21, 2013

Grey's Anatomy: I Bet It Stung

I'm writing this Sunday night and I already have a bad case of the Mondays.  Hopefully the day goes better than I feel like it will.

I'm going to be real honest with you guys, this episode did nothing for me.  Maybe I was distracted by things on my mind while I was watching but nothing grabbed my attention.  Hopefully Thursday's new episode is better.

Alex & Jo
This story line has to be my favorite right now.  I'm pretty sure I say that every week, or I at least think that to myself.  This week there was quite a bit of tension between my favorite couple thanks to Alex's dad being in the hospital.  With Jo's background she's really pushing for Alex to make amends with his dad while Alex is pushing back saying he was a crappy father.  I think this will be the last we see of Alex's dad...

Cristina & Meredith
I imagined this would be a bit bigger of a blow out than it turned out to be.  Turns out Cristina just spoke her mind about where Meredith is at with her life.  She said everything I would expect a best friend to say in that situation.  In my opinion I thought you could tell that Meredith could see where Cristina was coming from with everything that she said.  Which is why Meredith then was angry with Derek...

Derek & Meredith
These two will forever be my all time favorite Grey's Anatomy couple but in this episode they have me worried.  Meredith is taking her frustration out on Derek and is blaming him.  But Derek hit the nail on the head, he didn't ask her to choose between being a great mom and a great surgeon.  I definitely think this conflict is going to carry over into the upcoming episodes.

Avery's Mom
Ugh. I love to hate Avery's mom.  I think she can be a total bitch but at the same time I get that she's just looking out for the people she cares about.  But then again sometimes I think she's too high and mighty about the Avery name.  Props to Stephanie this week for talking to her at the bar and smoothing things over with her.  And I loved that Avery was concerned when he first saw Stephanie and his mom together at Joe's.  Way to be a good boyfriend Avery!

What did you think of the Cristina/Meredith scene where Cristina told it like it is?
Greys
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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Weigh In Wednesday: So it works?!

Woohoo it's hump day!  I am so excited that we are halfway through the week.  Yesterday was horrible at work thanks to some system issues so I'm not really looking forward to going in today.

But something I am really excited about is that it's Weigh In Wednesday. Last week I skipped out because I was hiding from the scale knowing I wasn't going to see a loss or even the same.  Today I knew I needed to step on the scale just to see where I was at. Amazingly I saw a 2.4lbs loss!

If that loss is the result of tracking my food for 2 days and 1 day of drinking 80oz of water then I can't wait to see what next week brings me!

I have to say a huge thank you to those of you that commented in my last Weigh In Wednesday post. All of those comments pointed me in the right direction and have been my inspiration and motivation to get back on the skinny train. Thank you, thank you, thank you!  I cannot say that enough.  I love that blogging has put me in touch with people I would have never met otherwise. And that those people who really don't know me are willing to offer me words of wisdom and cheer me on.

I'm posting this from my phone so I will have to edit this later to add my stats and the button for the link up.

And I haven't forgotten about sharing my Falling Into Fall swap package with you. I just put the pro in procrastination.  Oops! But be on the look out for that!

Monday, October 14, 2013

Grey's Anatomy: Puttin' on the Ritz {200th Episode}

Thursday's episode of Grey's Anatomy was a doozy.  And not for the drama with the characters in my opinion.  The gala event the hospital put on to raise money was pretty crazy.  But let's hit the highlights of what happened with everyone.

10 Percent
None of the board members really wanted to be at the gala event schmoozing for money.  Until Jackson told them the one that raised the most money would get 10% for their department.  Derek and Meredith were competing with each other since that's their thing now that they're both on leave for the new baby.  Cristina told Owen it would be good practice for him so he can meet someone new.  Callie was telling people that Arizona died and was pulling money in with the sympathy vote while Arizona was in a closet being upset.  We didn't actually find out who raised the most money but it wouldn't surprise me if it was Cristina since she was schmoozing like no body's business.

Sharky
Shane and Stephanie were left to run the ER while everyone was at the party.  Before leaving April told them to call a grown up if they felt like they were over their head.  Stephanie wanted to at times but Shane talked her out of it and they ended up being rock stars of the ER that night.  Shane and Cristina had a moment in the operating room where Cristina praised Shane for being a shark.  What he did in the ER did remind me of something Cristina would have done as an intern so maybe we'll see a new relationship form here with Cristina as Shane's mentor?

Weber
I was once again not very happy with Richard Weber this episode.  Seriously, what is his problem?!  I thought it was genius of Bailey to put Weber together with the man who has cancer and treating it is no longer an option.  Hopefully Weber sticks with his treatment so he gets better and he can stop being a grump.

Owen
Thanks to Cristina's pushing he talked up a pretty doctor from another hospital in Seattle.  Owen wasn't really up for meeting new people but warmed up pretty quickly once he met the pretty doctor lady.  Cristina on the other hand talked tough but when she saw that Owen was actually doing what she wanted you could tell she was jealous.  Especially when the new lady friend showed up at the hospital after Cristina had asked Owen to Joe's for a drink.  This should be an interesting story line.  Will there be a love triangle in the future?

"He's your dad."
At the beginning of the episode three men came into the ER because they were high as kites and crashed their car into a tree.  One of the men in particular caught Alex's eye and you could tell just seemed to get under Alex's skin.  I knew there was more to the story.  Turns out after doing a paternity test that the guy is Alex's dad.  The worst part about it is Alex said he didn't want to know the results at the same time that Jo told him about his dad.  I'm really hoping this doesn't mean trouble in paradise for my second favorite couple.

I'm really not into this Arizona story line at all.  She was in the closest all night with April drinking champagne April stole from the gala.  Sure they had a heart to heart and what not but overall it was a snooze fest for me.

That's all I've got for ya this fine Columbus Day morning.  I'm anxious for Thursday's episode because it looks like things are going down between Cristina and Meredith which is sure to be full of drama.  And I'm really looking forward to the rest of this Alex and Jo story line with a little bit of Alex's dad thrown in.
Greys
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Thursday, October 10, 2013

Influenster: The Good Life VoxBox

A while back I received my first ever VoxBox from Influenster.  I was really excited about receiving my first ever but then procrastination got the best of me and I ended up not really doing much with it until now.

So, what did I get in The Good Life VoxBox?

New-Skin® Liquid Bandage: Cover. Protect. Prevent. New-Skin® Liquid Bandage dries rapidly to form a tough protective cover that is antiseptic, flexible, waterproof, and lets skin breath.


ZonePerfect® Greek Yogurt Bars: Protein to help keep you in your zone and flavor to keep you happy while you're there.  Now made with the creaminess of Greek yogurt.


UrgentRx® Fast Powders: Credit card-sized packets of fast-acting flavored powder medication. No Water. Now Waiting. Just Right-Now Relief.


the Vitamin Shoppe Garcinia Cambogia: Check out the weight management product that's been getting all the buzz lately. Garcinia Cambogia is a fruit native to Southeast Asia, India, and West Africa, and may support appetite control.

Nonni's THINaddictives: This chewy crunchy cookie loaded with cranberries and almonds is a satisfying treat you can feel good about. At only 100 calories, these 3 count packs fir the bill for any snacking occasion.






And what did I think of the products?

The liquid bandage was great.  I had some cuts on my heels from some new shoes I wore and sprayed the liquid bandage over them and felt like I had to worry less about those cuts because I had a barrier between the open skin and the world around me.  I wish I had read the packaging first though because the stinging that occurred was quite the surprise!

The Greek yogurt bar did nothing for me.  I have tried Greek yogurt in the past and it doesn't agree with my taste buds.  I gave this bar a shot anyways and wasn't impressed with the taste.  I like the idea of the bar but I won't eat something for that reason alone.

I haven't actually tried the fast powders simply because I haven't had a headache and that was the one I received.  I love the concept of being able to take something for a headache without water.  This seems really convenient to have in your purse.

I didn't try the diet supplement either.  When I read that I needed to take it 30 minutes before I eat I wrote it off.  I do not eat on a set schedule and some times it's very spur of the moment so trying to take something 30 minutes before hand is just inconvenient and unlikely.  And to be honest, whether I'm "dieting" or not I'm not hungry between meals provided I eat enough at said meals.

And finally the THINaddictives are again a great idea but not for me.  I'm not a huge fan of cranberries or almonds so the taste didn't thrill me.  I would be willing to try other flavors though so if I found something my taste buds loved I would like the product more.

I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

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Monday, October 7, 2013

Grey's Anatomy: "Everybody's Crying Mercy"

I'm a little late to the game this morning so I apologize.  But I hope y'all will understand that when my BFF is in town for a short while and I only get certain days to see her everything else in my mind goes blank.  Thankfully I didn't stay up half the night reading again so I was able to get my butt up early enough for a revelation in bed that I hadn't even watched Grey's Anatomy yet for this link up that I am co-hosting with the amazing Kelley from One Hot Southern Mess.  So let's get right to the Grey's Anatomy talk shall we?!

I have to say my favorite story line right now is the Alex and Jo relationship.  I mean first there's Alex and how far he has come as a person through the seasons.  He's no longer evil spawn for crying out loud!  And Jo is just awesome.  So awesome that I want to be her friend.  The fact that neither of them would make a move was cute to me and I was so happy to see her finally say something at the end of the episode.  I laughed when she said "Thank God" as Alex was carrying her upstairs over his shoulder.  I hope this works out for them!

Cristina and Owen's relationship is about the exact opposite of Alex and Jo's and it breaks my heart.  They so obviously want each other but yet they won't work.  Honestly it breaks my heart that those two can't be together.  I love Owen a lot more than I liked Burke when he was on the show.  It sucks that Cristina can never seem to have who she wants.

And staying with Owen...as being chief of surgery he is the doctors' boss but at the same time the board, who is made up of doctors, is his boss.  That's one tough hat to wear.  Even though Owen is a doctor and the chief there isn't as much conflict between the two roles.  The board members on the other hand are definitely first and foremost doctors.  Being board members in addition to doctors is beyond difficult.  Way to go Owen for finding a way to play on them being doctors to finally get them together to sit down and discuss the problems the hospital is facing.  I'm anxious to see this event they put on to get money for the hospital.

And holy crap!  I cannot believe what went down between Richard Weber and Meredith.  I'm pretty sure my jaw hit the floor when Weber said this to Meredith,  "I didn't call you my family. I'm not your father. I chose you because I thought you could put emotions out of it and make the right call, Bailey was too weak, but I thought I could trust you to not let them operate on me when I was all but dead. Not to bring me back to life. Where I have to get my meals from a tube. I thought you wouldn't be sentimental. I was wrong. I chose the wrong person."  I'll be honest, I'm kind of pissed at Weber for what he did.  If that's why he chose Meredith he should have talked to her about it.  She didn't even know she would be in charge of his care should he not be able to answer for himself until the accident happened.  How is it fair to expect something out of someone if they didn't even know what was expected of them?  And besides Meredith not knowing, there are times in the past the Weber has been like a father figure to Meredith.  She definitely knows where she stands now though after that slap to the face.

These four story lines are the ones that stuck out to me the most during this episode.  It seemed like Jackson and April's has cooled down for the time being.  And there is Callie and Arizona's relationship that had a moment this week but it didn't grab my attention.  What did grab my attention was Murphy having to deal with whether or not to tell the husband that the patient cheated on him with his brother.  Obviously this takes us back to Callie and Arizona's relationship as Callie changed her mind about whether Murphy should tell the husband by butting in when Murphy was about to and just telling the husband simply that his wife loved him.

I hope to see all of the Grey's Anatomy fans linking up their thoughts about this episode.  The link up will be open for a week so you have plenty of time to get caught up and to write your post.

*EDIT* If you need to grab the button head on over to Kelley's blog. My grab box wasn't working. :(

Greys
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Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Weigh In Wednesday: A Kick in the Pants


It's Hump Day, Duck Dynasty night, Nashville night, AND my BFF is coming home tonight!  It's just a terrific day all around.

Well until I stepped on the scale this morning.  It is Weigh In Wednesday after all.

I shouldn't be surprised by the scale though.  I've been doing nothing to better my life.  I eat whatever I find and don't really care if it is good or bad.  I drink at least 1 bottle of Mountain Dew a day.  I have been the laziest person alive and done nothing but go to work and the come home to watch TV on the couch or in bed.

Getting going is the hardest part for me.  And I just haven't gotten going yet.  And it sucks!

I'll be honest, I don't know when I'll get going either.  How disappointing is that?  Kinda sounds like I don't want to make these changes badly enough... I think I'm going to need to do some reflecting and put together a list of reasons why I want it.  It will be a step in the right direction at least.

So here we go, the stats...
Starting weight {highest weight recorded}: 206.8 207.7
Last week's weigh in, Sept. 25: 206.8
Today's weigh in, Oct. 2: 207.7
Gain: 0.9
I am really rather sick of seeing my highest weight creep up on the scale.  Enough is enough. Now to just get started again.  I must start pressing the accelerator if I want to go any where.

Questions for you...
How do you get going with making changes to your lifestyle?
If you were to start with one thing, food or fitness, which would you begin changing first? Or which is more important?
Weigh In Wedneday
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Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Calling all Grey's Anatomy fans!

Happy Tuesday peeps!  I have to say I hope Tuesday treats me better than Monday did because yesterday was not fun.  Work was kind of hellish for 3 hours and I was about ready to lose it!  Fingers crossed I'm not assigned to files again this week because after yesterday I need a break.  But moving on...

Fall is my favorite season for a couple reasons.  The big reasons being the cooler temperatures and TV season premieres.  There is nothing more perfect than being able to wear a hoodie, jeans, and a pair of flip flops and not roast my ass off or freeze my tootsies off.  And then to be able to come home at night and actually have something to watch on TV and to be excited about it, it's perfect.


It seems everyone is doing a fall TV lineup post of the shows that they're watching...I may need to jump on that bandwagon.  But maybe I won't because if I told you how many TV series I'm into you might think I'm cray cray.

However, there is one show I'm more than okay with spilling my love for here on the blog and that's Grey's Anatomy.  Believe it or not, I don't think I actually watched it from the beginning on TV.  I joined in late in the first or even second season.  Don't worry, I own seasons 1 through ?? {not even sure how many seasons I have. I need help!} on DVD so I have watched it all from the beginning.  In fact I'm doing that right now and am in season 3 currently.


I distinctly remember watching season 3 as it was on TV because when that fairy boat disaster happened I was telling my mom during every commercial break that Meredith couldn't die because the show was called Grey's Anatomy and how could they have a show without the namesake actually in it?  Well my reasoning was right because she didn't die and we're now on season 10.


Which brings me to the point of this post.  The wonderful Kelley from One Hot Southern Mess blogged about last week's season premiere and had the genius idea to start a link up all about Grey's Anatomy for all of you Grey's lovers out there.  Being the Grey's lover that I am I jumped at the chance to co-host this link up with her.

So here I am, letting y'all know that on Monday October 7th the Grey's Anatomy link up with Kelley and I will go live for you to post about Grey's Anatomy and link up with us!  Kelley had the genius idea to make Monday our link up day so everyone has a chance to watch the latest episode.  I know I don't always watch the latest episode the night of any more thanks to my DVR.

I hope I see all of you Grey's Anatomy fans linking up with us and sharing what you thought of the latest episode.  I may even take notes so I don't miss anything.

Greys

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