Hey all! How are you this lovely week?

I got 1 kg last week and managed to lose it and a bit more. I do hope I will reach my goal till the end of the month. There is still 1.5 kg to go till the end of the month.

Good morning Ladies... monday already - yuck!!! It's snowing and raining here, gonna be one heck-of-a Monday!!! Hope you all have a great day!

Cheers to an excellent week ahead!

Good morning, ladies! (Boo to Monday.)

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! Looking over the last bits of the chat from last week, it looks like you did! My 166 stands, back at 166.4 this morning, down to 166.0 yesterday! I'm guessing it's a legit loss, then! WOOHOO!

Saturday at the Colonial Farm was fantastic. It was "volunteer appreciation day", so all of those who volunteer had been asked to come by and join in a little celebration with food and such. Turns out, they were also being roped into the fabrication of a new "waddle fence" (google for pics, it's made of branches woven together). These poor people came to work with prickly cedar trees...oh yea, and we'll feed you! lol I was already scheduled to be there for interpreting and didn't particularly feel like being "celebrated", so I abstained. ;D

I got my fire started beautifully on my first attempt! Quite a big deal, since we don't have unlimited amounts of materials to work with and the wind was coming down the chimney like crazy. We made "collops of beef (small pieces of beef and onion in a gravy)", but turned it more into a stew with veggies that "wintered over" (at Safeway). lol Between the manual labor of carrying water and heavy cast iron pots and limited food (though the stew was delicious!), I think my 0.4 loss made sense!

Bunches of yard work yesterday, so no work out. I'm going to try to squeeze some time in this evening, though. Feral's encouragement of my mini goal has also increased my accountability a bit, so I've got to step it up! May is right around the corner!

Looking forward to a Hunter Pace this weekend and bringing home my babies the following Friday!!!

Good Morning Ladies!

The binging and the eating isn't because I'm sad or anything it's because I look in the mirror and I'm not upset with the way I look... so I'm happy lol...which is how I got fat in the first place... I'm smaller now than I was my freshman year of high school which is crazy... I tried on my dress that I wore once to homecoming... that was TIGHT...its now lose and sadly to say I think my boobs were bigger then....ugh

DC was amazing... we had a really good time however it was a little bit chilly lol...I think were going to head to the spy museum soonish

Here are some pictures... I'll finally share the bf with you guys (I made these smaller and they are still huge so I'm sorry...I suck)

Good Morning girls

Great pics, Haley! The last one is too cute...y'all are crazy! So glad that you had a good time. YAY to being beyond high school weight! Ahh if I only knew then and could have maintained that weight! haha

You'll have to let me know how the Spy Museum is. I hear the ads, but have never gone. We actually had a project some time back, right around the corner on G Street. The old Woodies (Woodward and Lothrop, green) building (historic) has been purchased and converted in to multiple retail spaces, including a West Elm (William Sonoma), a H&M, and government office space up top. There is a bunch of copper at the elevators and stairways that we did, along with the marble floors. The original (historic) flooring was a combination of Tennesee Pink and a Verde (dark dark green) marble in a pattern. The new owners wanted the Verde gone, so they had us rip up this perfectly good HISTORIC marble and replace it with new. Tragedy. They threw the old away, so some of it went home with people who could find use for it. What a waste. Anywho...awesome building to check out.

We are currently at the Thomas Jefferson Building for Library of Congress/Architect of the Capitol. If you get the itch for more sightseeing, it is one gorgeous spot with plenty to see. Stop in and check out our elevators! There is not another pair like them in the world...very unique historic items that are just now being modernized and restored.

Good Morning Rock Stars!!!!!

I promise I read back to everything I missed over the weekend!!!!

Sam - I have to say you aren't a thread killer, the board is considerably dead on the weekends, especially Sunday. It's always been like that on any forum I've ever been a part of.

Serenity - CONGRATS!!!! Keep up the good work!


Jenny - Girl, I feel so bad for you. This snow/rain business needs to go. I wish I could share my weather with you. It's been going from unseasonably (summer) hot (90 degrees) to the 60s and 70s but it's been sunny and I really can't complain. Today is supposed to be 71... which is spring weather. YAY!!!! If it makes you feel any better I went hiking on Saturday and enjoyed the nice weather for you!

Lauren - that sounds like a fun weekend and YES you and I are in this together!!!! We're gonna meet our goal!

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So, the news you've all been waiting for! I kid....

The weekend was REALLY cool. I need to start off by saying Richmond is a really cool town. Of course, I didn't grow up there, so it's new and fun to me, but it's actually a neat area. The hotel experience was MUCH better than the stupid hotel LAST month.... the only thing that was messed up was the issue of which credit card was getting charged. I reserved the room on my card, but Mike go there first and they had to put a hold on his... then the charge was showing on his account but not mine so it was like pulling teeth to figure out what was happening and who was going to pay who for the half. We called it a draw to wait and see what would happen today with the charges. Of course NOW it shows up on my account, but only for the room and not for the valet for the cars so I'm sure that's going to be fun trying to figure that out.

So now that all of the CRAP is out of the way... seriously, if that's the worst part of the weekend I think we're doing pretty good. So Mike is pretty effin rad, which I knew already, it was just weird being in a room together after not having seen each other for so long. Friday night we went out to dinner at this tapas bar which has AMAZING food. Then we went back to the hotel room and watched tv, snuggled and were asleep pretty early,

Saturday morning we went for breakfast at Einstein Bros. - which is an awesome bagel place for those of you that have never heard of it - and also happens to be Mike's fav place.

We went for a hike around the James River and we probably walked/hiked at least 4 miles. It was a really neat area (special thanks to ALANA for helping out with that info!!!!).

Then we decided to go bowling. I have an iphone so I punched bowling into the google maps.... and the closest place was Duckpin bowling. I thought Duckpin was the name of the bowling alley? Yeah no, you can imagine my surprise (for those of you that have no idea what it is either) when we found that it was little tiny bowling pins and little tiny balls that resemble skee ball.


Needless to say I had my butt handed to me but we had a LOT of really great laughs. Regular bowling is a lot easier!!!

We decided to go to the same place we had eaten the night before for dinner. They had these AMAZING crab stuffed shrimp wrapped with bacon... OMG. Serious, serious food porn. I had 2 beers (Miller Lite) with dinner the night before, skipped the dessert. I had a glass of reisling with dinner and allowed myself some tiramasu. OMG. AMAZING!!!! And I only ate half.

We went back to the hotel and watched some stuff on his computer and then... there may have been a make out session. Lemme tell you - he's a realllly great kisser!

Sunday we woke up, went back to Einsteins and then went our separate ways.

It was a really great time and he's really awesome company. Of course, I'm a girl so I'm like... LJWELRKJALSJKR WHAT NOW?! He made several comments about us seeing each other again. Stuff like "I bet there's a bed and breakfast around here somewhere, that'd probably be cheaper for next time." And he was saying that he may have to go ahead and get his GPS/DVD player installed in the dash sooner than he though if he was going to be making trips to see me. But, like I said, I have ovaries so I'm over analyzing and whatever.... so I guess we'll see.

I stepped on the scale this morning. I was a LITTLE scared at first, but over all my eating was REALLY good this weekend. Much better than it has been on any trip I've taken over the past few months. My only real splurge was the tiramasu and he and I split an order of shrimp ravioli so it was like 3 all together. 186.4. Not too bad if I say so myself AND I ate a lot of salty stuff yesterday so I know there was a little bit of water retention if nothing else!

So here is to a FABULOUS on plan week!!!!

FOR THOSE OF YOU PARTICIPATING: The 60 MINUTE WORK OUT CHALLENGE IS TOMORROW!!!! You can do ANYTHING you would like, you can even split it up, but the challenge is to work out for ONE HOUR at some point tomorrow.

Also the 3 WEEK EXERCISE CHALLENGE starts TODAY!

I managed to lose a pound even though I've been flat on my back all weekend. Puzzling, but I'm not complaining. Maybe all my new muscles atrophied. LOL.

Lauren, I'm planning to take the kids to DC over Thanksgiving break- They are 4 and 7, so I know a lot will be lost on them, but I know my son will love the Smithsonian.

So sad about them ripping up the floors!! Do you work in historic preservation? We live in the historic district down here in our city and it is such a battle to keep people from destroying it all. Our Alcohol Beverage Commission quietly bought a whole block of 30's bungalows in our neighborhood and tore them down to build a warehouse and parking lot. UGH. No one would think to do something like that at the riverfront, but since our neighborhood isn't, ahem, "gentrified," shall we say, they can just rip up all that history and put in cement. It's so sad.

Nakedhousewife (love it!) - Our firm does both commercial and historic surface restoration, but approx. 90% of our work is historic in nature. We work often for the federal government, due to proximity to so many great locations here in the DC metro region, but we say that our territory is the Eastern Seaboard, though we have done projects as far as Ohio to the west.

DC is fantastic for all ages...it's never too early to start a child's interest is the sciences and history. The Smithsonian, as an institution, is excellent. All of the museums seem to be created such that you can go repeatedly and always see something new. Many also cater to younger crowds...the Freer Gallery or Hirshorn, would put them to sleep, for example, while the Natural History or Air and Space have TONS to see and much to touch.

As a plug for the Colonial Farm, we're geared for kids and operate as a very hands-on living history museum. The time around Thanksgiving has lots of events relating to the harvest, so you may want to check us out! If you were in the heart of downtown, you could be to the farm in 15-20 mins. Very close to the beltway. There is also the Children's Farm in Oxon Hill, MD...literally right off the beltway, that is really fun. (Regular farm, not history related).

Feral - So glad you had such a fantabulous time in Richmond with the boy! I am now starving, having read your food porn report. Thanks for that! lol Hopefully this was one of MANY great trips to come!

Thanks for all the ideas, Lauren!! We like places where we can touch stuff. LOL.

UGH. I had this whole long thing typed up then I hit the wrong key.

I'm glad all of you had a good weekend! And congrats on the losses.

Friday - I had my massage then got Chinese food (chicken and steamed veggies and brown rice) while I tried to watch the hockey game that my Comcast doesn't carry.

Saturday - got up early, worked out, drove to NJ, went to a baby shower, drove back to MD

Sunday - got up early, worked out, hiked 16 miles, had chicken fingers, went to bed.

I am sore. Its not the 16 miles, I've done 14 before with no problem. Its all the coffee I had. I am officially off coffee until the hike (with the exception of Tuesday/Wednesday because I'm out until 11pm and I need the caffeine). I was just so dehydrated yesterday, and in so much pain, its not worth it. I'm going to do my best to eat clean for the next two weeks. Although CB was joking yesterday that he'll pick me up at the end of the hike with the new KFC double down sandwich. I was like that's fine, the theme of the hike IS "Go big or go home."

Today is most definately a rest day - I'm really starting off this 3 week exercise challenge well

Feral- sounds like you had a great weekend!
My day is off to a good start after taking last week easy on exercise because of my sore ankle I stated 30ds again this morning doing low impact and it feels great to be back at it. I have a month to get in bathing suit shape so i'm not mortified to go to the beach with all my skinny friends for a girls trip. Still excited about buying size 12 pants woohoo
And a pic from this weekend with my little furry man

Oh yeah... I forgot it was monday lol!

Jazz - It was a good dinner, I just used way too much habanero sauce and crushed red pepper LOL. I mean, I love spicy, but not THAT much. And my weigh-in proved to be successful I think spinning on Sundays is going to be SUCH a big help to put my body in a new groove to break the funk it's been in. And I know, my height is still mind blowing to me! I'm still short, yet... I'm in the average height category now. And I did re-do my BMI stats, yay now 174 is the overweight category - 10lbs earlier than it would have been 2 inches ago!

NakedHousewife - Get better soon!

Serenity - Congrats on the loss!

Lauren - Yay for 166! And it sounds like a really cool weekend

Haley - I totally understand, I'm smaller than I've ever been in my adult life so sometimes I feel like it'll be ok to go out 6 nights a week. I've pledged to not binge at all this month. You look like you guys had a great time in DC, you're so cute!!!

Feral - Awww yaaaaay!!!! That sounds like a really awesome weekend! Don't over analyze, just breathe lol! Oops, I already started the 3 week challenge hahahaha.

Stella - Wooo, you are awesome! 16 miles? That's awesome. I hope you feel better soon

Skinny - Awww, you and your dog are so cute!

I've been MIA!! With the new job and such but I'm settled in now and tax season is over so I'm back in business. Dropping pounds since starting the new job which is nice!

Haley- You look so great!!! Did you go to the spy museum!? I was dissapointed with it.

Feral - I'm glad you had a good weekend. I overanalyze everything too so I can sympathize. Have you heard from him since? I don't think he'd hint about meeting up at another time if he didn't plan on it or didn't want to!

Glad to see everyone else is doing good as well. So not ready for summer but SO over this cold weather!

Haley: great pictures! I loved the last one! goofy ones like that always make me smile!

Misplaced: hooray for the weight loss sticking!! good job!

Feral: My butt is in gear for the challenge tomorrow! I'm ready for it!!!

So I just stood on the scale, 144.4...I have been bouncing back and forth from 144 and 143.6, so I'll take it especially after the weekend I had. I just got into gym clothes and I'm ready to own that gym!

ANNNDDD I got an 89% on that huge psycholinguistics take home test that I was crying about. With senioritis in full swing, I'll take it!

Have a great day ladies!