Belated New Years

This Year I was sick in bed for New Years so I knew I wanted to do something once I made it back to Rexburg as a back to school/new years celebration.  So I decided after the first week of school it would be wonderful to celebrate.  What I didn't realize was how much work it would be and also how much fun it would be.  I had a general idea of what I wanted to do but I didn't really have time to get anything done until Friday afternoon (day of the party).  

One problem is I don't have a car but I do have two perfectly good legs so I decided to use those to walk the two miles to Walmart.  Unfortunately my roommates did not like that so I might have told a small white lie or two and pretended that one who was at school was going to drive me and told another one someone else was driving me and I snuck out.  

The part I didn't realize was that some roommates might see each other and realize what I had done.  So I was gone for about ten minutes before they called me and said they were coming to get me.  They might have also tried to ground me.  I went and found the cutest cups at DI and picked up a bunch of decorations/ food.  Then I hurried home and with the help of my lovely roommates set things up.  

By the time we finished setting up and cooking the food it was 9:00, right when the party started.  I was so nervous that no one would show up but luckily our friends like us and they came!  We just mingled at first and had some delicious food, I ate my first tortilla chip in a year and it was pretty good.  Nothing spectacular but decent.  One delicious item on the menu was a cake full of coins wrapped in tinfoil and there was one loonie wrapped up and whoever won the loonie got a prize.  Unfortunately most americans don't know what a loonie looks like and so one of my dear friends thought she had it ut it was really just a Canadian dime.
  After about an hour though we decided to play a game which had some hilarious results and was much harder than I thought it would be but I think I got kind of good at it after I smacked a few people in the beginning.  

We had a resolution wall where people could redo their new years resolutions.  Some ended up being silly like meet peter pan, or discover buried treasure... twice. but others were more serious like, be more humble, read the scriptures everyday, and lose 50 pounds.

And... we had a photo booth!

Then at midnight we got a teensy bit cray cray.  We had some silly string and confetti poppers and it got quite messy

Thankfully boys stayed and helped us clean.  It got really bad after the cake was thrown, but it was thrown to save me after I was threatened with silly string.  

Overall I am going to say it was the best new years for me in quite a while and I think from now on I will be having a belated new years.  When most people are breaking their resolutions I will just be getting started on mine.

Happy New Years. Bring it on 2013.

Business as usual

The night before classes started I felt so nervous for everything to start again and I felt panicked about some of my classes.  

(me feeling panicked)

But I would just like to say so far they have been amazing!  Yesterday (monday) morning I had oil painting at 8:00 and I got up extremely early for it (6:30 is early for me).  I was scared for this one because I haven't really painted before but my teacher pretty much just said that we were all going to suck and we didn't know anything but we might get better as the semester goes on.  The thing is he is such a fun teacher that I didn't care and I know I am no good at it so he was just being honest.  Then I went to Ceramics which I am so excited for because I am thinking about applying for the BFA in it.  That means I would get my Bachelor of Fine Art instead of just a Bachelor of Art.  

My last class yesterday was one I thought about dropping all day because it makes it so I am in class for 7 hours straight on Mondays and Wednesdays but I decided to go and just see how it went and it went amazing!  The teacher is the most incredible man ever.  We didn't even get to the lesson plan because he went off on other thoughts and answering questions students asked.

Then when I got home my roommate Elizabeth asked if we have any first day of school traditions and we said we didn't so she decided to make us breakfast for dinner and then take first day of school pictures in front of the door with our backpacks on.  It was just such a good day and it made me feel excited for the semester.  Day two hasn't been as great but more on that later once it is figured out.

Lets get to it!

Well I am back in the Burg ready (?) for the semester to start.  

I am a teensy tiny bit nervous for it to all begin.  I have a wonderful apartment and some of my best friends are with me right now!  On the other hand though, I am thinking some of my classes are going to be rough and I just hope I am good enough in my art classes because it can be intimidating sometimes.  I just need to work hard and be confident and  should survive... right?

I also have to get up at 6:30 in the morning which I highly dislike so I should get some shut eye.  Wish me luck for the semester, I have a feeling I will need it.

Happy 2013

New Years is here at last and I am spending this holiday evening on my own.  That is okay though because when I get back to I-dee-hoo I am going to have my own New Years Eve party!  I realized that my friends and my life is in Idaho, and so I shouldn't expect it to be here.  Sometimes we have to go somewhere else to find our place in the world and I have found my place for now.  I miss my family when I am gone but Thompson is not for me.  I hate it because I feel like there is nothing for me here. I am okay with that though because I have so much to look forward to this year.  I am applying to teach English in China for a year which will be amazing if I am accepted. I am also doing the Biggest Winner program this winter, and I am getting close to my goal of 150 pounds lost (well I am 40 away).  If I can do well this semester (I know I can) I will be at least 20 pounds closer and I am just excited for everything.  

(new year's eve photo while hanging out with my cat)

It sounds silly but I feel like it is a new chapter in my life.  Well maybe it is still a transitional chapter but it is getting really good right now.  There are so many things I want to do in the next few years and two years ago I never would have been doing any of the things I do now (have friends, go out, exercise, go for walks, live life, etc.) 

(I am really cool)

I have now made it two years without chocolate and I don't really miss it anymore.  I have also made it one year without chips which seems really weird because I kind of still miss them but that is okay because once I hit two years without them I am sure it won't seem like a big thing.  

One thing I do need to take care of though is deciding this years resolution.  I don't know whether I should remove something from my diet/life or add something to my diet/life.  I have thought about going a year without McDonalds but when I am in Rexburg I don't ever go there so it is only a challenge when I am home.  I can't think of anything that is really a struggle to stop eating or to control.  I also can't think of what I could add... Well I could add a sleep rule but that is really hard at school and not as hard here.  I don't know what to do about this so if you have any suggestions please help me out!  

 (This is what I want to look like)

and Happy New Year.

moral is don't shower or you will get a fever.

I despise being sick.  I hate not having all of my senses ad feeling fuzzy all the time.  

Unfortunately, I seem to get sick quite often, a few times a year I get really sick and it is terrible.  I had the flu the week before fall semester started and then again now over the holidays.  A week into the break (christmas eve day) I ended up with a sore throat, a cough, and a fever.  Of course in my town there is the walk in clinic, and the hospital.  At the hospital if you go to emergency they will make you wait for five hours or so, and the walk in clinic is closed for FOUR days for the holidays.  Obviously I would get sick on the first of those days and be stuck lying in bed dying because we don't go to the hospital.  (my mom hates going to the doctors and so we rarely go.)

So I had to stay home and be sick for christmas eve, christmas, and boxing day.  I felt so sick I could not even think straight and I just had crazy brain.  For a while I was convinced that if I took a shower or put a blanket on, it would give me a fever.  It sounds crazy now, but my fever would go away and then I would shower and it would be back afterwards.  Or I would bundle up in some blankets, and SURPRISE! Fever time.

Finally this morning, day five of sickness, we went to the walk in clinic and they only take the first 20 people that come each day.  We were there by 8:25 and it turns out the doctor called in sick so the walk in was cancelled... 

They are closed for four days and then the first day they are open there is only one doctor and they are sick.  

Ridiculous.

Finishing Up

The end of the semester is almost here and I am almost done with everything.  Some things I am happy to be done with but others I am sad to see end.  This semester I did the Biggest Winner Program at school and it was so much fun (but also so much work).

I had an amazing team, and incredible trainers.  

(most of my team and all of my trainers)

I did the program before and it was a huge help to me but my heart wasn't really in it.  I struggled with my commitment and didn't get as far as I had hoped to.  I was so hard on myself last time and I felt the same way at the beginning of this semester.

Within the first few days I decided I didn't want to et any weight goals, and instead work on how I felt and what I could do.  I think I achieved this (plus a good amount of weight loss).  There were times that I felt like I couldn't keep going and that I was going to die doing whatever workout it was but having people supporting me and telling me I can keep going made it so much easier.  

(first photo-last weekend at the closing ceremonies for biggest winner, second photo-is from October 2009)

I still have a hard time recognizing the changes I have made, especially the physical changes, but looking at photos I am finally able to see what I have done. 

Over the past three months I managed to lose 20 pounds which makes it a total of 110 pounds lost in the past two years.  I am so grateful for the changes I have made in my life and for the people that have encouraged and supported me through these changes.  I am completely different now than I was two years ago and I am feel like I am getting ready to start a new chapter in my life and leave my old worries and fears behind.  I know that I can achieve anything I set my mind to and be anyone I want to be.

Thanksgiving and Shopping

For American thanksgiving my roommate Rachel brought me to Utah to her house, since it is too far to go back to Canada (plus it isn't even a holiday there right now).  Her family is amazing and I have loved spending time with them.  One thing I love about Utah (and call me silly if you must) is the shopping.  Growing up in Thompson I just know not to expect to find much shopping there.  You must drive the 8 hours to a real mall in order to find good things.  Once again I chose a town where the shopping is limited.  I suppose you can go to Walmart or K-mart in Rexburg, or drive to Idaho Falls where there is a bit more selection, but Utah... So many malls.  

I have been in desperate need of some new clothes!  My jeans have literally been falling off of me for the past few weeks and it is all because of my hard work (and the help and encouragement from my team, trainers, roommates, family, and friends)(I know that is a lot of people).  I know I sound conceited and self-absorbed, but I am okay with that.  I have worked hard in the gym and in the kitchen trying to make sure I am eating good things and doing all I can to reach my goals.  I know I am not perfect but I have been doing a lot better than in the past.  I am striving for progress, not perfection. 

On wednesday Rachel and I went to the Forever 21 in Orem but they didn't have the plus section at their store.  After that I felt so defeated because I have worked so hard over the past two years but I am still not done.  After that I just wanted to leave the mall and go get some food.  Instead Rachel and I just talked and I realized I have still done so well I just have to keep at it.  

Then yesterday (saturday) we drove down to Salt Lake to do some shopping and driving down was half the fun.  Rachel and I enjoy turing up the music and dancing and singing really loud, sometimes in crazy voices.  At one point we had been dancing but Rachel stopped so it was just me looking like a fool, and as a car drove by us I suddenly stopped so they wouldn't see and Rachel thought it was hilarious. 

The mall in Salt Lake and the forever 21 had amazing deals and all of my sizes!  I found so many good things and I just felt so good.  I also found new jeans at Torrid and I have gone down a jean size.  things like that prove to me that I am making progress because I still have a hard time seeing a difference in myself.  I might have spent quite a bit of money (mom and dad don't look at that sentence) but I feel so good about all that I have done and it just motivates me to keep going.  The whole time Rachel just kept telling me how good I look and telling people at the stores that I had lost so much weight my pants were falling off and I was okay with that.  I love hearing how good I am doing because if I say it too much, well that just gets annoying.  

p.s. pictures of my new clothes will follow soon!