Spring-tastic picture fest!

Spring has sprung! It's been so beautiful this week already! I'm loving the change from 30's to 80's! Yay for spring! Of course, we still opened the spring season with 6 inches of snow, but hey, at least it was gone quickly!


The very next day, it was absolutely beautiful and the puppies and I felt we needed outside time!




Having beautiful weather means Jason gets to have fun on the grill. While I didn't get a picture of the actual steak he made, I did take pictures of someone enjoying the leftovers.


Isn't she pathetic?

Today, it's been another lovely day. I've been spending time on the porch making wedding crafts! I've been batting around the idea of those flower pomador thingys, but wasn't sure if I would be successful at making them. I also made a flower girl basket for a sweet friend. It may seem weird to have a basket when there's not a flower girl present, but it was important for me. I'm going to put it on the "In Memory Of" table with her picture, along with pictures of all Jason and I's important family members who couldn't be there either.





And here's Liberty, who was sulking because I wouldn't let her continue to eat my cilantro plant. She was refusing to look at me when I called her name...


Hope the beginning of your spring has been wonderful! Can you believe in two days it will be APRIL? Yikes! :)

Tagged!

Thanks to Maddie, I've been tagged! Well, this post will most likely be the most embarrassing and yet freeing post I've ever written!

Most of you know I've been a big girl for the greatest portion of my life. I've tried diet after diet to no avail. In January of 2008, I made the decision to pursue gastric bypass as a way to help me achieve my goals of healthy living. I'd endured YEARS of ridicule, diets that didn't work, and a stifled self esteem. It was time.

THIS was my before picture. My mom took it the night before my surgery.


If you've seen me lately, you know that I am 140ish pounds lighter than this. But I am still the same person. Just the outer body has changed...but not the heart inside.

Yes, I found the love of my life in this new body. BUT, I still have flaws. You can't lose this much weight without extra skin and folds. I am still ME, regardless of whatever extra stuff is there.

I absolutely celebrate those friends who have been there with me through the whole journey. Those who loved me as a big girl and now love me as a littlish girl. I can NOT fault my fiance because he didn't know me as a big girl. But he has seen me in that light...I don't hide ANY facebook pictures from him. He knows what I have been.

I am so blessed. Thanks to Maddie for having me take a minute to reexamine this part of my life. A part that is so essential to my being, but almost 2 years foreign to me. A weird thought, to be sure.

It's FRIDAY!

I don't have any reason to be overjoyed that it's Friday. Except that I am! My week has really been pretty smooth! I've been on my own this week, but it's been relatively slow. We've done a lot of evaluation of new heart kids, but all in all, things haven't been crazy.

Even though it's been slower at work, I've actually had a lot to do in the evenings. My mom came to town on Friday for a fun weekend of wedding planning and mischief. We actually got SO much accomplished! Saturday morning, we got up and ran some errands. On the way home, we stopped at Market Street. They were having a Bridal show thing and had some displays of what they offered for cakes, flowers, and catering. They also had some door prizes. We sampled, entered the contests, and ended up putting our deposits down on the cake and flowers, which we had already decided to get from there. We went home to relax. Later that afternoon, mom got a phone call telling her she had won the grand prize! She ended up winning $200 off the cake, $200 off the flowers, and $200 off catering! OH MY GOSH! What a fabulous blessing! That allows us to have big chunks paid off for those two things we already placed deposits on and a possibility for catering for the rehearsal dinner! YAY GOD!

Later on in the week, I got another phone call saying I had won the two free cooking classes! Yes, that's right, between the two of us, we won ALL the prizes at that Market Street!

Tuesday night, I ended up going to a dinner meeting for the transplant camp I always attend. It's fun to hang out with the teenagers all weekend, even if they do keep me up WAY past my bedtime!

Wednesday, I met Michael at his law firm in uptown and we headed down to see one of our favorite Irish bands, the Kildares. I "found" an unused St Patty's Day necklace and hat to make up for my obvious lack of green. We had a great time listening to them rock out!

Thursday was Jason's birthday! I made him a cake (with all my mad cooking skills!) and we happily ate mexican food!



Oh, I love him so.

Anyways, I've got some time off coming my way, so I've got a lot of errand running planned. YAY! Or nay. Depends on if you love errands. It depends on what mood I'm in! :)

Hope your weekend is smooth sailing!

"March is a month of considerable frustration - it is so near spring and yet across a great deal of the country the weather is still so violent and changeable that outdoor activity in our yards seems light years away." --- Thalassa Cruso

Isn't that the truth? I seriously can NOT figure out the weather this year! It goes from hot to cold at a moment's notice! Today, it's cool and cloudy. Yesterday, it was warm and sunny! There's just no telling what this weather is going to do! It's hard because my mood really seems to be affected by the outdoors this year! Strange!

My agenda was to clean the house this weekend. I woke up on Sunday morning to 2 inches of water in the entire apartment. Dog bowls were floating across the kitchen floor and there was water shooting out from underneath the kitchen sinks. Turns out, there was some sort of leak. The pipe was fixed soon enough but I've spent the rest of the week dealing with the after effects. I actually didn't get my carpet fixed until Thursday, so walking around on wet soggy carpet was just FABULOUS! I think the smell is finally gone as well. They are supposed to come back and clean the carpets on Monday, we'll see if that actually happens.

Right now, I'm hanging out with Liberty while watching Twilight for the 99th time. I've got laundry in the dryer, but we all know how much I despise folding. I'm certain it will sit on the far corner of my bed for awhile before I actually do something with it.

Wedding plans are going swimmingly. Last weekend, my mom came into town to start some of the big decisions. I ended up finding "THE DRESS" and making some other big decisions. We picked out cake and flowers as well. I was able to show my mom the place we picked out to get married, she loved it! Sunday, Jason and I were scheduled to bowl in a fund raiser for Camp Soar, the teenage transplant camp. Even though I thought the day would be ruined by the minor apartment flood, we were still able to go. Jason brought his kiddos and they had a chance to meet my mother, which she absolutely loved. I know she's excited about instant grandchildren! :) We all bowled together before the tournament began, and mom ended up leaving right before it started to drive back to Houston. I was glad she had an opportunity to meet Jacob and Andrew.

This week is a busy one at work. We're pretty much seeing anyone we can see before my two main transplant doctors go on vacation. I think the other coordinator will be gone too, so it will be me, the new nurse practitioner, and the fellow holding down the fort! We'll be fabulous!

Well, Liberty and I are going to head back to our afternoon of snuggling and Edward Cullen drooling. :) Jason's at work today, so he's having to miss out on this beautiful experience!

Enjoy your day! I know we will!