Sometimes I don't know where to go...

I want to begin the blog by saying that I love my church and my church family with all of my heart. I've grown up with them and I know they all care about me so much, and I care about them. However, lately, I just haven't been feeling my church. I'm not sure exactly what it is. I just can't put my finger on it, but I find myself not wanting to be involved with many things at the church anymore.
Over the past few years, I've been a part of the church choir, I've been a part of our contemporary service band on Wednesday nights, and I've helped out with various other things and events around the church throughout the year.
But lately, I've just wanted a break. Jase has been telling me for a few years now that I need to cut something out of my busy busy schedule. And I keep telling him that I can't just cut something out because everything means so much to me, and it's not that easy. But I'm starting to think he's right.

When I look at my life, I see 4 main things that keep me busy:
1.) Work (duh)- I work anywhere from 35-45 hours a week, which is quite a lot. I work a lot of late nights, and it's hard for me to get up in the morning for Sunday School and church. It's not like a lot of other kids my age that I know that don't go to church because they spend their Saturday nights drinking. I spend my Saturday nights making money so I am able to afford to pay my bills.
2.) Working out- Ever since January, this has been such an important thing for me. I'm trying to make changes about the way I eat and the way I look, and that (sadly) doesn't come easy. It takes a lot of time and effort to cook, eat right, and work out. And unfortunately, one night that I do my Zumba is on Wednesday nights. It hasn't been bad this summer, but now that school is back in session we have choir practice on Wednesday nights, and after labor day, we're going to start the contemporary services again. And I'm just not sure if I want to give up that hour of fun and exercise.
3.) Church- My time spent at church has been cut back a lot in the past few months. A while ago, I used to be at church 3-5 days a week just doing different things. It's not that I don't enjoy doing these things, they just take up a lot of time, where I could be doing something else.
4.) Wedding Planning- This is new to me, and I know won't last forever; however it's probably the 2nd most important thing in my life right now. And boy does it take up a ton of time. I find myself doing things for my wedding instead of doing other things for my church sometime.

I hate the fact that I would rather work out, or plan my wedding instead of do things at church. It makes me look at myself like a bad christian. How could I want to put something of this world and so material in front of honoring Him? It's really been on my heart a lot lately, and I guess I need to pray more about it. But I probably haven't prayed about it because I know what I should do. But then again, I think I do kind of need a break. While I was doing all of the things at church, I was kind of getting burned out on it. I was tired of having to be at every event every week, and help with everything. I don't know how some people (like Ms Joannie and Ms Diane and several several others) do it.

I'm not sure why I'm feeling this way. Maybe it's because I don't feel connected to the church sermons, so I'm not getting my spiritual feel. Maybe it's because I'm just being super selfish. Maybe it's because I'm burned out. I'm not sure what it is, but I don't like it, and I just don't know what to do.

239 Days to go!

Only 239 days until my last name changes to Poag! I can't believe it's almost here! Pretty sure I'll be making a decision on a dress here in the next week. Mom and I are going shopping in Owensboro tomorrow and this will probably be the last dress shop we go to. I'm pretty sure I've found "the dress", but I think mom still wants to do a bit of shopping, and I have to admit, I do too, it's pretty fun. I met with Angel yesterday to talk to her about flowers and center pieces and stuff. Then Jase and I went and met with Third Generation Photography in Mt. Vernon. So I got a few things accomplished for the wedding the other day. Once I get my schedule at work tomorrow, I'm going to make some more appointments to do things next week.

Here's an update on house hunting: We've decided to buy dad's house. We're actually moving in September 16th!!! I've got so much to do until then. I've got to get packed and get this apartment cleaned! It's crazy. We're going to have a few roommates for a little bit to help with the costs, but it should be a good family house when we decide to start having kids

OH! And, my very best friend in the whole wide world is also now engaged! When I was little I always hoped that we'd get to plan our weddings together, and now we actually get to! It's pretty exciting for me, and I can't wait to share in her and her fiance's special day, even if it will be a million degrees outside ;).

Magellan's getting so big. He's eating dry kitten food now instead of the wet canned food. He uses the litter box every time. He's getting along well with the other cats; we can actually leave him running around the apartment instead of having to keep him locked up in my room. He likes to play a whole lot, and his version of playing is scratching and biting the crap out of our hands and faces, but he doesn't know better. We do have a slight problem with fleas right now though. Since he's so little, I can't use any flea medicine on him, and we've tried giving him several baths with Dawn dish soap to stun the fleas so we can pick them off of him and kill them, but obviously we didn't get them all. Hopefully we can get that resolved by the time we move to the new house!

Magellan, My Little Explorer

So, as most of you know by now, I have a new man in my life. His name is Magellan and I love him to pieces. We met in the Wal*Mart parking lot on Monday afternoon around 3:00. I picked him up and we went back to my place where I gave him so much love and attention. We've been together for 4 days now, and I'm so happy! He's probably the cutest thing I've ever met!
INTRODUCING... MAGELLAN!!!!



Can you believe this cute little guy was crawling around by himself in the Wal*Mart parking lot? I was about to go home and thank God I saw him! I whipped into a parking spot and picked him up and put him in my lap. I called Jase to tell him what I had found. I thought he was going to be mad, but he said he couldn't blame me. I brought him back to my apartment and put a towel down in the bathtub for him to lay on. Katie-Bug came over and saw him and gave him the awesome name of Magellan. We've had a pretty good 4 days so far. I took him to the vet yesterday to get him checked out. He's pretty good except for some fleas, which I knew about. She also gave me some medicine for the goopy green stuff in his eyes. And she gave me some general "How to take care of a kitten" guidelines. He's been a pretty good kitty so far. He sleeps a lot, pees and poops on Jase (haha), and he's starting to eat kitten canned food instead of drinking from a bottle (HOORAY!). The other cats are starting to get along with him too which is so exciting!! So yes, you can call me the "Crazy cat lady" but at least I've got a "Crazy cat fiance" to go with me! :)

Speaking of fiances, my wedding is in almost NINE months!!!! I can't believe it!!! I need to really start buckling down on making some decisions. I still need a photographer, a cake, a videographer, a dress, bridesmaids dresses, flowers, etc.... But I am WAY too excited!! Katie-Bug, Gabrielle, Angel and I went dress shopping the other day, and I think I've got my decision narrowed down to 2 dresses! AHH!!! I can't believe in the next couple months I'll be making my decisions!

Life is going pretty great right now all around. Along with the new kitty and the wedding planning we are also house hunting. We've looked at a mobile home for sale for about $25,000 but my dad also wants us to buy his house from him for $100,000. We're going to look at that tomorrow. It's crazy to think we'll be making such a big decision, but that's what happens when you grow up!

May Update!

So a few weeks ago the Biggest Loser competition I was competing in finished, and I won! I lost a total of 23.4 pounds which was a total of 11.48%! Not only did I lose 23 pounds, but I will gain about 300 dollars. Not everyone has paid, but I plan on sending out an email soon to those who haven't. I've got some pretty big plans for that money. I'm going to buy an iPod touch and then put the rest either into rent or I'm going to look into a calories burner counter. I'm pretty excited.

I'm still doing Zumba and loving it! I'm so excited for this summer because it opens up some of my nights that I usually don't get to Zumba. Went to Zumba at St. Anthony's today, and that place has no air. It was so hot, and that's the most I've sweated in years! I felt like I was going to get sick a few times from the heat. But I felt good. And Janey announced that we are starting an "inches lost" competition, and since we braved the heat we already got a 1 inch lead over everyone else! I had her measure me today so I can compete in the competition. Here's my measurements lost so far.

.............................................3/29.......... 4/18.......... 5/14.......... 5/29 (start of inches lost competition)
Left Arm........ 12.5............ 11.5.......... 11.5.......... 11.5.............. 11.5
Right Arm...... 12.5............. 12............. 12........... 11.25............. 11.5
Chest............... 45.............. 43.5......... 43.5........... 45.................. 43
Under............ 39.5............. 37.5......... 37.5.......... 37.25............. 37.5
Waist............... 39.............. 36.5.......... 36.............. 36................ 35.5
Gut................. 42.5............ 40.5....... 40.25........... 40................. 40
Hips................. 45.............. 43.5.......... 42............ 42.75.............. 43
Left Leg.......... 25.............. 24.5........ 24.5............. 24............... 23.25
Right Leg........ 25.............. 24.5........ 24.5............ 24.5............... 23

So so far I've lost about 17.75 inches! And that's from March-ish till now.

It is starting to get tougher though. I'm not being as strict on myself about not eating what's not good for me or making sure I exercise every day. But I think this competition will help me get back into it. The winner gets 2 cards (which are used for Zumba work outs and is valued at 70 dollars, and a shirt of our choice off the Zumba web site.

In other news. I've got a fairly big week ahead of me. Tonight we're playing sand volleyball with the Hacienda crew. Tomorrow Jase and I are going to Holiday World with Katie bug and her boyfriend and a few of their friends. Then Tuesday Jase and I are going to look at apartments and then we both work. Then on Wednesday we're hopefully going to meet with my parents to talk about wedding things. I also work all week (except tomorrow) so I'll probably pull another 40+ hour week like I did this week.

"Couch-to-5K"

So a couple weeks ago my friend Megan Day told me about a running plan called "Couch-to-5k". She told me that she had started it and had actually not hated it.
So tonight I looked it up online and decided to start the plan. It seems pretty easy. For the first week you do a 5 minute brisk walk for a warm up, then you jog for 60 seconds and then walk for 90 seconds, then jog for 60 seconds, then walk for 90 seconds... and so on and so forth until you reach 20 minutes. You do this 3 times for the first week, then in the 2nd week you step it up to a 90 second jog to a 2 minute walk. And each week the jog gets longer, and sometimes the walks get shorter and sometimes they get longer.
Tonight was my first time doing the "Couch-to-5K" and I actually really liked it. The 60 seconds didn't seen to long, and the 90 seconds didn't seem too short. After the 20 minutes (then a 5 minute walk cool down I added myself) I was super sweaty and felt like I had gotten a good work out in.
I can't wait to see the progress I make each week. Looks like I need to look for a race to run in about 2 months when this program finishes!

Weight Loss Update

So since I started my weight loss journey in January, I've lost a significant amount of weight. I went from being 205 pounds to now 181.4 pounds! I've lost almost 24 pounds in 3 months! And I've lost a total of 13 inches off my body.

Old Measurements-New Measurements= Inches lost

Left Arm: 12.5-11.5= 1
Right Arm: 12.5-12= .5
Chest: 45-43.5= 1.5
Under: 39.5-37.5= 2
Waist: 39.0-36.5= 2.5
Gut: 42.5-40.5= 2
Hips: 45-43.5= 1.5
Left Leg: 25-24.5= .5
Right Leg: 25-24.5= .5

Everybody keeps asking me "How are you doing it?" and it feels great to tell them "The old fashioned way: diet and exercise." I've been working out more than I have ever worked out in my entire life. And I've been cooking meals at home more than I have ever cooked in my entire life. I take my lunch with me to work every day that way I don't eat whatever I want. Calories are ridiculous whenever you go out to eat, and it sucks because most people don't even know it. And if I do go out to eat, I be sure to plan it before hand and look at their nutrition information before leaving the house.

It's very time consuming and it kind of sucks to have to plan every meal of your day at the beginning of your day, but like a quote I got off of my Biggest Loser game "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". This quote has kept me going through a lot of it.

As far as exercising goes, I've been going to Zumba with Janey Albin at least once a week at CFC for an hour, sometimes I go to other Zumba classes, but most of the time I don't. I also walk/jog on the treadmill at Jase's house and after that I'll do a bit of weight lifting. If I don't go to Zumba or I'm not at Jase's, I'll do my Biggest Loser for the XBOX Kinect and/or dancing on the XBOX Kinect with Dance Central. And if I don't do any of that, I'll go on a walk with either Katie Bug or Jase downtown.

Speaking of Katie Bug, I took her to Zumba with me weeks ago, and I've gotten her hooked. She's also been working out and eating right and she's lost about 25 pounds. It's so nice to have someone to work out with and keep me motivated, and that's exactly what Katie Bug does, and I absolutely love her! :)

I've still got a long way to go, but instead of sitting here and typing about it, I think I'm going to get off my butt and get to working out!

Mini Pizzas

Made a recipe out of my new Hungry Girl cookbook and I absolutely LOVED it! I'm going to share the recipe in case anyone else wants to try it.

Ingredients:
-1 light English muffin
-1/4 cup shredded fat-free mozzarella cheese
-8 pieces (about 1/2 ounce) turkey pepperoni
-2 tablespoons canned tomato sauce
-Optional: salt, black pepper, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, etc.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Season tomato sauce, to taste, with any of the optional ingredients. Split English muffin in half and spread sauce on both halves.

Evenly sprinkle cheese over the 2 halves and then top with pepperoni. Place muffin halves on a baking pan sprayed lightly with nonstick spray and cook for 12-14 minutes.

Season as you would a regular slice of pie.

Each serving (2 mini pizzas) is only 190 calories, 3g fat, 25g carbs, 6.5 fiber, and 20g protein.

I also include a 1/2 cup of steam veggies with "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" spray for an additional 20 calories. So my whole meal was only 210 calories, and I am full. Not stuffed, but full.

I'm so excited to be eating healthier and exercising regularly, and making a healthier me!