All I Want for Christmas

Hello lovlies!

So now that finals are over it is officially CHRISTMAS for me!  Christmas is my favorite time of the year... is there anyone who doesn't love it?  They suck at life... 

With the wedding taking up most of my free time, energy, and money this year Christmas is definitely going to be on a much smaller scale this year presents wise.  Which is nice, because we instead will be focusing on what it should really be about, spending time with the people we love most in the world and enjoying the blessings we have been given.  I do love to buy and wrap Christmas presents though, so it is hard for me at times to not be spending next months house payment of crazy amounts of gifts, but I am dealing.  I am planning on doing some small gifts to hopefully save some money, and baking Christmas cookies to share with neighbors and co-workers.   

The most challenging part about Christmas this year will be how to best combine our family traditions without cutting anyone out.  In our 8 years together we have never spent Christmas with each other's family.  Usually Ryan would come to my parents after everything was over on Christmas night and we would exchange gifts.  We both just were kind of selfish in not wanting to give up time with our own family. Now, we don't have  choice, so I get the lovely task of arranging our Christmas schedule.  We both are only off on Christmas Eve and Day which means a rushed, exhausting, probably irritable 2 days filled with 4 hours round trip driving... sounds like fun doesn't it?!?!?  Yea, NO!  I am just hoping we can get all the families to cooperate with our cramped schedule!

So, even though we aren't doing much as far as gifts go this year, I still have been a very good girl, and all girls come with a wish list so here it goes

Nook HD

I have the original Nook Color, so I feel like it is time for an upgrade, plus these seem to have a few more tablet-like features rather than just being a reader.   AND it is white, which makes it cuter than mine.

Riding boots

I probably want this item more than anything this year!  I have been wanting boots all year, but with saving for the wedding, I have never been able to justify spending the money.  So I am REALLY hoping for a pair for Christmas.

or  

I'd love to have either a Fit Bit zip or a Garmin to help me track my fitness-ness and help me stay motivated

                                                 

     Not really a want, but a need.  We currently have a crappy little bissel vacuum and with 3 pets, I am emptying that bitch constantly!  

I really want to do something like this on a wall in our living room and over our bed when we redecorate our house this year (that is a WHOLE other series of posts) so I will be needing lost of funky frames in a variety of sizes.

I'm sure I could make this a never ending list, but these are the top focuses for Santa this year!  

What are your top wishes for Christmas?

Weigh in Wednesday.... Thursday??

Hey, what day is it?!?!?  

This will NEVER get old to me!!!

Yea, I know it's Thursday now, but I had this post ready going into finals, but with the craziness of the week, I wasn't able to get this posted yesterday, so let's just pretend mmmmkay?

I have always weighed myself on Wednesdays,  I guess because that is when everyone else weighed in and I was too much of a chicken to weigh in on Mondays.  I am really debating moving this to Monday, to help me stay accountable during the weekends since that is when I am usually more likely to derail.

This is my first official weigh in since getting back on track.  Last week I was at 242.6 lbs (and crying on the floor of my closet when I had to try and dig out my fat scrubs for work.. which I sold in a garage sale)  This week I am at 239.2.  So I am down 3.4 lbs!!!  I will definitely take that

Overall, last week was a win.  I was able to eat clean most days and increased my water drinkage, I did have a couple slips, but we all do, and I was able to get right back on track. For me that is a win.  I did not get back into exercise, and I hate that, but these couple of weeks have been a shit storm of work and finals, so while I am disappointed, I am not completely beating myself up over it.  The semester is officially over, and that gives me time to get back into a workout routine, clean my house, and get my life organized and prepared for success!  I am the type of person who does better in a routine, and the past 6 months have been anything but routine!

How did you guys do this week? 

Wedding Photo Dump

Good morning y'all!!

Today is my last day to cram for my last final of the semseter, which means no time to blog.  Lucky for you, I have prepared a photo dump of some of my favorite wedding photos to share with you all.  Hope you enjoy the only day I have EVER appeared  slightly photogenic!

We had the best bridal party!  Ryan has been friends with these guys for over 15 years.  I had my sister, youngest cousin, and two oldest friends.  

We had a "bouquet building" where all the women at the wedding brought a flower up to my parents at the altar and my dad tied it before coming to walk me down the aisle.  My mom met us halfway, and when she handed it to me I said "wow, that's a big ass bouquet" apparently loud enough for several of the guests to hear.  Nothing but class here folks. 

No wedding ceremony of mine would be right without me ugly crying over the last line of my vows, and then saying "shit" once the tears started flowing.

Some of my AMAZING family!

 Cutting the most delicious cakes EVER made!!  And they FINALLY let the fat girl eat!

 During our first dance, we actually talked about how the song I chose was too fast, that we maybe should have taken dancing lessons or at least practiced something other than booty dancing in our kitchen.  Me and my dad basically stood there on the dance floor and cried.  He had chosen a song (There Goes My Life, by Kenny Chesney) and my mom said no way, that was not an appropriate song. FYI- I was neither a teen pregnancy nor an unwanted pregnancy, my mother would want you to know that.   I played it anyways, and he effing lost it.  For the record, it is impossible to see your dad cry and not burst into the ultimate ugly cry yourself.  I couldn't have my mom feeling left out, so I had the DJ surprise her with her favorite song.  We had joked about a mother/daughter dance since we are amazing choreographers... you know in Napoleon Dynamite when they have the signing club? they were inspired by my mom and I, you are welcome.

Just some of our AMAZING decorations!  My grandpa made our cake stand and all the wood for centerpieces.... like the engineer overachiever that he is, it was beyond perfect and way more than I had asked for.  I made the wookie cookies and those sad little things that resemble C3PO.  The C3POs later made a sad robot graveyard in the trash can.... apparently they were too ugly to eat.  Joke's on you, bitches... they were mega stuffed oreos dipped in chocolate.... YUM!  We had an ice cream sundae bar and candy table complete with Yankee Candle Car Jars... they were a hit. 

 So these may need some explanation....  From the top right.  I obviously can't dance without looking at someone else feet.  light sabers for the win. Wrecking Ball is our JAM.  I apparently thought I could snort the cake like a pile of coke.  White people can't dance... What you don't dance with your grandmother while holding a beer?  

 Starting with the big picture.... again, light sabers were the best money spent on this wedding.  What does the fox say? Yes, we have horrible tastes in music... don't you dare judge me. We still line up to dance like in middle school.  And the bouquet toss!!  I accidentally cropped her out of the first pic where she is putting her back in preparation. 

And this guy.... his girlfriend caught the bouquet!! And yes, twerking is our move... again, white people.  Just be happy we weren't licking things. 

So, basically now you were at my wedding!  And if you think you were overwhelmed with pics, just know there were 1,000 so it could have been worse for you.  Thanks for looking at them! 

love,

Jenn

Monday Musings

It's Monday folks!

It may just be me and my crazy work schedule, but the days of the week don't really seem to mean as much as the used to.  Mondays used to mean the end of fun, sitting in class and studying all week, and weekends used to rock.. bonfires, dinner with friends, shopping.... the kind where you actually get to buy shit, staying up past 11, and actually taking off your sweat pants.  Now weekends have kind of just turned into the rest of the week.... damn you adulthood with your full time job, bills, responsibilities, lack of time for naps, and decreased alcohol tolerance!

Story of my life

Speaking of which, How was your weekend?

Mine started off with a bang.  I had to work Friday night, where I was reminded of several things.  Firstly, I was reminded of why I do what I do.  Yes, I do complain about my job a lot, I got into nursing for the medicine aspect, I never claimed to be a big lover of people who know more than I do because they Googled something, whining about how you are "thirsting to death" because you can't have water (even though you just had a massive surgery that saved your life) and other various silly complaints about how we are all trying to destroy you, giving bed baths or cleaning up shit that is literally dripping off the end of the bed (this is real life people).  But when I do actually participate in truly saving a life, my job can't be beat.  Yes, it was a long night.  I literally did not leave my patient's room for over 8 hours (even though I had to pee before I even got to work... damn you water!),  I wanted to yell at people, I didn't eat the entire shift, and I had to report off the the bitchiest nitpicking nurse possible (Hello, bitch, the patient was dead! So what if I forgot to add a new allergy that I discovered to the chart).  But at the end of the night,  a man who would have died without my care (along with some rockin' docs and other nurses) LIVED so that his wife could come sit by him and hold his hand and tell him to keep fighting because she can't be without him.  That is why I do what I do, and why I love it!  It also reminded me to hug everyone just a little tighter, you never know when it will be your last chance/

EXACTLY!

I didn't get my overtime shift on Saturday, so I got to have a low-key evening with the hubs.  YAY!!! We don't even get to talk to each other during my work stretches so entire evenings together are wonderful.

 We ate at Firehouse (bad bad girl) and watched Auburn beat Mizzou and secure a place in the National Championship (with a little help from Michigan St of course).  So here's to hoping for a 5th consecutive National Championship for the STATE of Alabama.  So here's a big War Eagle from this Bama fan! 

 We went to Best Buy where I was hoping to get some realistic Christmas ideas for my husband... he is a big techie/gamer/geek type and I have no clue this year.  Instead I got mixed signals about an Xbox One that I can neither find nor afford, and something about a video card (like I know what that is). What are some good man Christmas ideas for a low budget???  I did find some things to add to my wish list though.... too bad we are so poor this year, thanks wedding!

Then we went home, because we were never going to be able top a trip to Best Buy, so why even bother?  We sat on the couch and watched everyone's favorite Christmas movie.... Love Actually.  Idk why we all have declared this a Christmas movie. It was probably men so that they would only fall incredibly short of these amazing guys once a year (cue swooning over Hugh Grant and Colin Firth).  While You Were Sleeping is the same way.  I just love this movie!  I didn't realize how old it is until last night though, and it is always weird seeing other characters I love out of their element.  You know that guy that is in love with his best friend's wife?  That is Rick from the Walking Dead.  And Betty Draper (Mad Men) is one of those slutty girls in the bar, the porn star stand in guy is Bilbo Baggins, and the guy who cheats on his wife with his secretary is Professor Snape!!  My little mind was blown.  Anyways, I LOVE this movie, and it never fails to make me smile... and hate Ryan a little on the inside for not being romantic enough

I could probably quote every cheesy line in this movie... GAH!

Game of Thrones is my absolute FAVORITE show EVER, so I had to throw this in there

I also made our Christmas Card, but douche bag Walmart won't let me save the image to the desktop even after I pay for it.  I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to use their website and edit my card.  Our card is really cute and I was able to upgrade to a higher quality of paper, and was still about 50% less than on Shutterfly after using their 50% off coupon.  A dolla make me holla, y'all!

Sunday was filled with studying, meal planning, cleaning, prepping for the upcoming crazy week, and being an all around boring, rainy day... except for the hour that I spent catching up on Scandal..... HOLY SHIT!   I work my usual 3 nights, have a final on Tuesday, a possible overtime shift, a planned date night, and a Christmas lunch with my gal pals.  I'm going to try and cram some exercise in there, but I'm not going to kill myself if I don't make it happen.  This is my last week of school so there is plenty of time to get my life back on track in the next month!

So that was my exciting (said with a dripping side of sarcasm) weekend.  Coming up this week I've got my first weekly weigh in, a merging the holiday's crisis post, a wedding photo dump post, and I'll share my Christmas list with you!!

love always
~ jenn

Plan of Attack

Happy Thursday!

Lucky for most of you, it is almost the weekend.  Sadly, I am just starting my work week and headed into finals week.... BOO HISS. And I convinced myself that signing up for overtime on Saturday was a good idea, so I have that game of Russian Roulette to look forward to (pray for low census, you don't have to know what it is, just do it!).  It is also the SEC Championship weekend, which means the end of colllege football season in Alabama. I KIDD I KIDD, I actually hope Auburn beats Mizzou and we can keep that shit in the state.

Don't worry frat boy, this is how we all felt

So I am on legit day 3 of getting back on track, and I have to say, I feel pretty good.  I fully expected to feel like crap without all my junk that I have been living on lately.  I am really hoping that my excitement and motivation carry me through this first week, I am sure the withdrawals will hit me soon enough.

Like I mentioned yesterday, my plan is pretty simple... eat mostly clean and exercise.  When I originally started down the road to  fit town, I didn't know what I was doing so I used MFP to track my calories and basically ate Progresso Soup and Lean Cuisines.  As far as exercise, I started with a Biggest Loser DVD and Zumba on the Wii.  I then moved on to C25k and fell in love with running.... even if I was am incredibly slow, I was running and felt better than I ever had before.  I loved the me time, and the fresh air to be honest. I also started, but never completed the 30DS, I just got bored... maybe I will find the will to actually get through it, don't get your hopes up though. 

All of these things worked AMAZINGLY for me, and I was seeing PROGRESS in my clothes and the scale.  I eventually cleaned up my eating, and started meal prepping.  Everything went great until it didn't anymore.  

I went to the gates of hell also know as walmart yesterday and restocked my fridge with clean foods and did some meal prepping for the week, so I have no excuse not to grab the healthy choices and go! Meal Planning is KEY for me so I will be making an effort to consistently sit down and plan... don't worry I will share my incredibly boring plans with you too.

Gosh, I love me an effing list!

 I also plan on getting back into running, maybe this morning even. I won't be starting c25k completely over again, because I can still run SOME distance without stopping so there's really no need. Most excitingly, I am going to be starting CROSSFIT in January!!!!!  I did CrossFit once before and I absolutely LOVED it, but sadly I fell off that train and never got back on.  I am super pumped to be starting again.  The lady who runs the box I will be going to seems fantastic, and assured me that it is okay that I am a catastrophe waiting to happen  and will probably fall down, puke, or cry every day.  So I will be spending the next month getting as prepared as possible for my first class, and enjoying actually getting to sit on the toilet.

I guarantee you this will be me

                                           

So that is basically how I plan to shed the Stay Puffed Man that is my body, but more importantly get healthy for all that I have in store for myself in the coming years.  I will be doing weekly weigh in posts on the blog, take an annoying amount of selfies and pictures of every meal I eat, and post some of my favorite workouts a la Pinterest. 

Here's one that I LOVE to HATE.  It is the Carrie Underwood leg routine.  It is a BITCH, but if it will make my legs look like this

                 

then I'll do it!  Why the eff wouldn't you?!?!?

          

Welp, I hope you ladies enjoy your day while I'm sleeping and procrastinating taking my last quiz... meh.

Til next time-

Jenfro

I'm Back!!

Hey Y'all

For those of you actually reading this ( 2 of you I believe) I'm Jenn, and I used to blog over at Just Jenn.  A lot has changed since I was on that blog so I thought it best fitting to re-enter the blog world with a fresh start.  I had lost almost 65lbs in 2012 and most of 2013, but shit hit the fan and I fell off the wagon.  As a result I gained back about 25lbs of what I worked so hard to lose.  I lost focus, got overconfident in my lifestyle, got caught up in life, etc.  But those are all just EXCUSES, and I don't have room for those anymore.  So this is the next chapter in my journey to being the best version of myself.  I will share all of my journey with you guys, the good, the bad, and the ugly.... maybe even with pics along the way once I get brave enough.  I promise it won't be pretty, but it will be real.

However, there is more to life than just weight loss, and I will share all the randomness that is my life also, so get ready!!  Here's a little "get to know me" for those of you sweet enough to join me on this hot mess of a blog.

A month ago, I married my best friend, Ryan.  We have been together for 8 years and become "adults" together.  It was the most perfect day ever, and I would love to share all the pictures with you guys. Actually I might, because it's my blog and I do what I want.

Okay, I won't force you to look at them all at once, but just know more are coming!  Planning the wedding was a blast, but it took WAYYY more than I expected!

I also started grad school this semester... WTF was I thinking?!?!  Seriously, I should have waited a few months, not fun while wedding planning. I am fortunate enough to work for a hospital that is paying for a large majority of my degree so DUH!   I am working towards my Masters in Nursing so that I can be a Nurse Practitioner and hopefully work for a transplant team someday!  Until that day, August 2015 to be exact,  I will be working at the bedside.... on nightshift.... meh.

I have 2 furbabies, Ali and Brick who I absolutely ADORE! Oh, and the cat..... meh.  They are my 4 legged babies and spoiled rotten. 

If you can make me laugh I will love you forever. I love TV... so much that we cancelled cable and only have Netflix and Hulu, because I could literally kill a whole day watching garbage and wasn't getting shit done. I cuss more than I should, who doesn't? I LOVE Miley Cyrus and all the crazy shit she is doing.  I have the world's worst grammar.  Gummy bears, Mexican, Riesling, and Yuengling never fail to make me feel at least a little bit better.  Shaved legs and fresh sheets = the BEST thing EVER.  I am terrified of snakes.... irrationally so.  I have never been camping, but really want to.  I have a sarcastic personality, and sometimes can be a little morbid.  I'm always that person who says that thing that everyone was thinking, but didn't want to say. Luckily, I am southern, and no matter how mean the things I say are if they are said in a sweet tone or followed by "bless their heart" it's okay.  Enough about me, tell me about you :)

As I mentioned before, this is a new chapter.  I am fully committed to making the changes to living a healthy life.  I plan on eating MOSTLY clean for now, and exercising regularly.  Running is my favorite, but I am joining a CrossFit box as soon as someone calls me back (HINT HINT jerks). 

Are you tired of reading yet?  I'm tired of typing.  Come back for more shenanigans :) you know you want to!

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