Back to the grind!

Hello! Sorry I missed Motivational Monday. I was sitting in an airport or on a plane for half the morning yesterday! I had an absolutely wonderful time in St. Louis! It's always nice to be able to leave reality behind and enjoy the company of friends that aren't a part of my daily life! I wish a lot of my "long distance" friends were closer. Although technology has made us instantly available to one another it's the physical contact that I miss. How often have I wished a friend were just a car ride away? How often have I wished I could phone a friend and ask what they're doing tonight and if they want to get together without having to get on a plane or plan weeks in advance to get together? I have such dear friends all over the world and I would embrace the opportunity to be closer to them! That's why I'm always traveling!! I have so many opportunities to revisit familiar places and see my dearest friends that I'd be crazy not to! This weekend was just another opportunity to do that. Not to mention that it's dirt cheap to fly to St. Louis and back!! If only it were so inexpensive to fly to West Palm Beach, New Orleans, New York, Toronto and about a dozen other cities more often...but I digress. I had an awesome weekend. Now I'm still in "recovery" mode. Again I have to remind myself that I'm getting too old to party like a rock star on these weekend excursions! :/ Keep your heads up though, people! I may be headed to your neck of the woods soon! Still waiting to drop the next 8 pounds so I can make my reservations for that flight to West Palm and show off my new and improved bikini bottom! As drained as I was yesterday I did make it to the gym!! The thought of sitting on the beach is a real motivator!!

Since I'm on the topic of travel, here are some photos of my favorite places and the faces I miss so much!!

Toronto, ON 2007

St. Louis, MO 2007

New Orleans, LA 2006

Nashville, TN 2007

West Palm Beach, FL 2008

New York, NY 2007

Leaving on a jet plane.

In 9 hours I'll be boarding a plane for St. Louis, Missouri. Why am I still awake? Because I procrastinate. That's why. I decided I wanted to wear a particular shirt which I conveniently found in the bottom of the laundry basket just waiting to be washed. Oh well...not like I was going to bed any time soon anyway. I'm preparing myself for late nights and lots of fun. Who needs sleep? As one of my favorite sayings go: Sleep when you're dead.


Louis and Clark Discover the west but nobody mentioned that dog!


St. Louis has managed to successfully blend the old with the new.


Strolling under the Arch.

Over the hill.

This may seem crazy but I stood on the scale this morning for entertainment purposes and I was down another pound! Holy Moley! :)

I've wasted way too many years of my life feeling defeated by fat. Sometimes I think I should pinch myself because not only can't I believe I'm finally losing the weight but I'm actually ENJOYING MYSELF IN THE PROCESS! This is probably the most rewarding thing I have done for myself so far in this lifetime...

I can't wait to wear some of my "new" clothes when I go out of town this weekend! It's a truly wonderful feeling to be able to fit into every item of clothing in my closet! It's even better to be able to give bags of clothing that are TOO BIG to someone who appreciates them.

This picture has nothing to do with this topic but since I've completely run out of inspiration for today I will leave you with a picture of the cutest cat on Earth! :) Lucky Boots...

Milestones!

Today I weighed in at a whopping -25 pounds! This is HUGE, People! I have not been this weight since at least 1995! I'm so excited I can't stand myself! :D

Today was the best day EVER!

We had a staff meeting and to conclude the meeting we played a game of Mad Gab! If you've never heard of it Google it because it's completely impossible to explain this game! Our team blew away the competition and the three of us won $25 gift cards to Target! Wheeeee! That's the most fun I've had at work in a LONG time! :) Now the question remains: what shall I spend my gift card on? I usually save gift cards for purchases on things I would normally be too cheap to buy. Since I finally broke down and purchased a mouse for my laptop last week *after 3 years of wishing I had one* I guess this card will have to burn a hole in my wallet for a while. *sniff sniff* Perhaps I'll use it to purchase some fitness equipment? Say a water bottle or wrist weights? Which reminds me of the next reason why today was the best day EVER: I fought some evil temptation and went to the gym! No big surprise there but I reaaaally was looking for any excuse to not go today. I guess my will-power is stronger than I am!

Can I get a WOO WHOO?

Today was an awesome day! After work Kim and I headed to the gym. I worked it HARD! Drenched in sweat we decided we'd had enough~ but not. We went to a local park and took off for a mile walk! We probably would've stayed for another mile but it was getting dark and the park was clearing out. I love starting the week off on the right foot!

Starting the week off right!

Yesterday my roommate and I took the dog for a walk. We ended up going 3.3 miles! Poor Bailey is all tuckered out! I think my roommate was too! I loved every step of it! I'm hitting the gym HARD this week. Drinking lots of water and going to pay close attention to what I'm eating! Gearing up for the fun weekend ahead!