A few pictures I managed to get up!..

 

My sweet Meaglet... she met me at the KC concert... in shorts.. crazy girl!

 

Miss this girl.. even if you have seen this pic!

Me, J Biggy and the photo bomb- Chuck! This was just the start of the photo shoot of the concert!

 

Me and Josh... ps it was raining during this musical fest!

 

This boy is the LOVE of my life!  He calls me Aunt Jenny and I love it!

 

One of my sweet kids wrote this about me!  I was touched!

 

PS don't forget sweet ol' Sarah.... love this girl! and her saran wrap too!

The wonders never cease to amaze me....

First let me apologize I really wish I was better at keeping up with this, but a girl's gotta have a life and well I do teach 24 pretty awesome kids every day who depend on me a whole lot!

So a little re-cap... last week was hectic, crazy, stressful and just one of those I was tired of by about Wednesday morning... I did manage to get up and be at the gym at 5:30 Friday morning, which was something I never thought I'd do.  Weigh in Friday night- 1 lb down...... It wasn't exactly my happy face, but I knew this week had been out to get me... especially the stress but honestly I won... beacuse I still lost a pound! Yay me! 

Friday night I met my parents for dinner and didn't do much else... it was nice to have some Saturday time to myself to do a few errands and gather items for Mother's Day and the ma's birthday on Monday! She loves to double wham me!

Saturday afternoon I told Samanthat we were gonna tear up the roads... and we did! Let me brag on that girl for a minute... she stuck it out the whole time... she ran when I told her to run and she NEVER quit on me and that was one long freaking walk/run.... 5.6 miles to be exact! I was so proud of both of us!

Sunday I got to spend the day with a lot of my family which really was nice... oh Enoree!  We took family pics and seeing them made me super ecstatic! Can't wait to post them and print them!  I'd post them here, but this thing is being ridiculous when I try to do that.... so until later!

Sunday me and Sarah and Andrea went for a walk....

No need to go into the rest but just know this... I have struggled this week with feeling pretty crappy... but I've still got my workouts in.  And today... 3 of them.. I started with 30 mins of cardio around 5:45 am, walked and did weights at school with J Biggy and then met my awesome GRIT team for this new 12 weeks of GRIT.  Let me tell you something.. that was some tough shit.. excuse my language please...but it was HARD!  During that one track with all those clean and presses.. I hit every single one of them.. and every time that I did I got chills.. and I even started to cry one time...
Don't get me wrong I'm not sad about that at all, but you don't understand what it's like for a girl like me to come from where I have and be able to do stuff like that... It's empowering, it's moving.. it's amazing!

I am stil a little scared of those jumps on and off the step.. but I'm coming after those things... soon!  I did feel like I was gonna toss my cookies tonight, but I managed to keep it going! I was surrounded.. literally by my amazing team.. I was seriously in the middle of them and I could feel their energy and know we all work so well together.  It's really one of the greatest feelings EVER!  I can't thank Marie, Libba, Tracy, Stephanie, Andrea, Lauren, Joan, and Samantha enough.. and our amazing leader BRIE makes me find that inner push EVERY SINGLE TIME!  I love them and they have changed my life in a way I can never explain....

This IS THE WEEK!... Stay tuned for a weekend update for something EXCITING!

Love you peeps!

"The struggle is part of the story...."

I found this quote so fitting for how I was feeling today. You know how sometimes they say some days you're the windshield and some days you're the bug.... I am totally feeling like the bug today.  Nothing I really care to get into, just my feeling today.

I did manage to accomplish a few things today though and J Biggy even came with me to the Y to try out a few things.  We decided to start doing out workouts at school for a while and making our own gym there ha!  I hope that's more motivating for both of us.

So, my GRIT team is taking a break until the kick off of the next session next week.  Brie sent out an invite though for a GRIT fun run tonight at the regular GRIT time.  Marie encouraged me to go and so although I was quite nervous... I decided I might as well go!  It had started to rain a little, but didn't last.. We started with a run through the trails in the woods behind the Y.  Majorly slippery slopes I might say.. so slippery that I had a minor fall down into the mud... no worries I survived and Libba pretty much never got too far ahead of me and I felt better just knowing she was close.  Finally getting out of the woods was a relief and I was majorly huffing.... we ran around the back of the Y at which point I began to realize just how much I struggled with this running thing....
I had gotten pretty far behind the team and I was starting to get down on myself for always being last, when out of the corner of my eye I see Marie's son Ethan coming around the corner- who I also have the joy of teaching coming back for me.  He had been running with us through the trail.  This moved me to tears to see him come back and run with me, knowing how much I was struggling and I will forever be grateful.
We started farther up the road and I was just really struggling.  I had to take a few breaks to walk and at the time when I was running or walking alone I felt like I would never make it.  I honestly thought it would just be easier on me and the team of us running if I just went back.  But then I started thinking just how far I had come and the obstacles I have passed through.  I could see the GRIT shirts ahead of me and although I was frustrated with being behind... I knew I was better than the old me who would have stayed on the couch instead of run with anybody. 

Our run went towards West Main and down the Forest, then up and down that winding road back to the Y and once I started running towards the end of Sunset I never stopped until we got back to the Y parking lot.  I NEVER once stopped moving and having Brie come back to run with me was amazing.  It really helped me not to quit and just keep moving and give me the motivation I needed.  When we rounded the corner to the Y I could see the rest of the team on the steps, and I could hear them cheering and even right now I am crying just thinking about how much it meant to me.  Something about that team of people who I know without a shadow of a doubt support my decision to change my life makes me push ten times harder.  I knew I couldn't let them down and I had to finish this run for myself. 

No, this wasn't some amazing 5 mile run or anything even close and I could seriously care less.  But this was a major accomplishment for me in my book.  I ran almost the entire way and it wasn't flat land for once.  I promise I will NEVER EVER go back to that person I was before.  I cheated myself out of too much and I can't and won't do it. 

I can never ever let you know how much it meant to me to be a part of your team tonight- Brie, Marie, Libba, Stephanie and Ethan.... you make a major difference in my life and I can't ever thank you enough for your encouragement tonight... love you guys!

Today.. my struggle is a major part of my story.... which continues

I know soon we'll be together......

Don't get worried by reading the title... I'm not bummed about being away from someone or about to post anything sappy-- not today anyways lol!  That's part of the lyrics from one of my FAVORITE songs by Zac Brown Band.  Last night me, Jessica, Chuck and Josh went to an amazing concert at Williams Brice featuring some of my favs--- Zac Brown Band, Eli Young Band, Kasey Musgraves (sp) and Kenny Chesney... I haven't seen Kenny since I was in high school and could afford it when he was at the Bi-Lo Center.  We celebrated my graduation and Josh's birthday... and a few other awesome things like the fact that I've officially lost 48 lbs.

Exactly 4 months ago to the day, yesterday I started my journey with Aaron and the choice to change my life and the rest of it to come!  I met with him yesterday morning and after the lean diet week, I had lost 6 lbs.  I was STOKED and ecsatic to be at a total of 48. 

I can remember thinking to myself just how happy I'd be with my self if I could just get 50 pounds off.  I couldn't imagine what I'd even look like.  And I tell you now, I feel amazing and I am starting to look good.. and I know it. 

I've gone through a whirlwind of changes since January 4th and I'm not even close to the old girl I was and I for sure don't want to go back... EVER! If you're reading this right now... you have my permission to keep me accountable for keeping this weight off for the rest of my life.  My real goal is to lose 70 lbs.  And I have lost over half of that and I know that I will get there. 

If you follow me on Instagram or facebook I'm sure you've seen a lot of pictures lately and I am so happy with my life and the way I look and feel I want everyone to know it, see it and know it's possible if they have the same struggles too!  I enjoy taking pictures and much more now that I know I look 10x better.  It's nice to get some positive attention for your looks and here geuine words from people about how you look or inspire them.

I've gotten a lot of comments lately from people who are important to me, but also from people who I barely even know about inspiring them and motivating them to make a change and that makes me feel amazeballs!

On another note- I went shopping this weekend in hopes of finding something fabulous for the concert- Little did I know it was going to be winter weather and rainy... anyways I was ecsatic to be able to wear and fit into some clothes from a boutique and even bought a medium in a shirt from Francescas... and a new bra ;)

I'm having trouble uploading pics.. but stay tuned for some new awesome pics of me and my fabulous peeps!