Travel with Christy K

I hate goodbyes....but we must say it

2012 has been a great year for me!  There are so many great things that have happened and I can not wait to see what 2013 has in store.  I really hope that I'm not over exciting myself for it but I can't help it! 


This past year I have learned a lot about myself and the person I want to become.  I was so blessed and fortunate to have my surgery that will open a lot of these doors.  I am so close to hitting my first post surgery weight loss goal ( keep a look out for that post :).  I made Sundays my weigh in day and every Sunday is like Christmas morning for me.  I get so excited to step on the scale and see the number less than it was the week before.  I am wearing jeans that are super baggy on me and finally decided it was time to order new ones.  I went ahead and ordered the correct size I'm in now and order some for 2 sizes from now.  Just so I have them when I'm ready for that size.  Hopefully it won't be long :) 

One of my hopes for the new year is new dating :)  I'm getting to where I feel more confident and hopefully that will show to new prospects of dates.  We shall see....

I can't wait to travel in 2013!  I don't know where I'm going but I want to go lol.
There's a few "big" places I want to go but there are places I want to go and things I want to do here in Texas.

2013 is defiantly going to be about making me more happy than I already am :)

When losing weight ever have that one outfit you want to work towards fitting into or that one shirt that you can't wait to wear?

This is currently my shirt that's waiting in the wings to make it's debut :)  My mom bought this for me a year or so ago at Stanton Trade Days.  Of course I couldn't try it on because the ones that do have "fitting" rooms at trade days....I'd be so scared that I'd lose my balance and take the place down with me lol.  So she just bought it instead of me trying it on.  Needless to say, it did not fit lol.  

But not for long.....

Do YOU have a favorite shirt or outfit that you want to get back into?  Leave it in the comments :)

Every locket tells a story.....What's your story?

I have a huge annoucement!  I am no longer with Initial Outfitters.  I am now with a company called Origami Owl.  They specialize in living lockets and their tag is the opening to this blog.  They are AMAZING :)
Every locket is made custom to the customer or person it's being given to.  Here is one that I made for a customer.

Neon Splash Dash ......


One of the goals that I wanted by having the surgery and losing the weight was to be able to participate in a 5k and of course I wanted it to be a fun one :)

The Neon Splash Dash is the wildest & brightest night time running event you’ve ever seen! The starting line will illuminate you under high powered ultra-violet blacklights just to give you a small taste of what’s ahead.These aren’t just any ordinary blacklights- they’re the same ones used in Hollywood & Las Vegas Shows like The Blue Man Group!
You’ll run (or dance!) through 4 different Glow Zones, where each one we’ll spray you with a different color of our Super Intense U.V. Glow Water. We’ll also be blasting pumped up music at each Zone to keep the energy going!

Doesn't that sound like fun?!  March 23rd, Houston, TX.   Now....Who's with me? 

That is one of my all time favorite Christmas songs.  I absolutely LOVE Christmas time.  I love it for what we celebrate, the family traditions, decorations, music, EVERYTHING!


When my sister and the kids were here it happened to be the opening weekend of the Polar Express in Lubbock.  So naturally we had to go and experience it :)



We had so much fun!  My poor sister had caught the stomach bug that morning but was a trooper and still went and participated....on the bumpy train ride and going backwards on the train and all :)  They encourage the kids to wear their Christmas pj's and if you don't know this about me....I don't ever pass up a chance to wear pj's in public...lol.  My mom and Nana even participated!
Once we were on the train the fun began!  The conductor  came by and punched our tickets just like they do in the movie/book and then we were served the BEST hot cocoa I have ever had.  I had pinned (yes....I'm working on the addiction :) the recipe for their hot chocolate before we went and I'm so glad I did!  They also served little sugar cookies to go with it.  Then after all were served one of the "chef's" came up and down the walk way with the book as the narrator read the book to us.  Before we knew it we were at the North Pole!  And we had a visitor visit us on the train....
Ran got excited and started looking at what all was going on, looking for the big guy in the red suit.  Finally Santa came to visit Ranston and Kenner and gave us all silver bells.  It was a really great time and I hope we can do it again next year.

I love decorating my house for Christmas!  I had found an idea on Pintrest for hanging big sparkly ornaments from curtain rods in your living room and decided that was something I really wanted to do.  Thank goodness Mike was there to help because I would have gotten it done but it was way faster and way easier for him to just stand there and put them up for me.  The bottom part of that picture is that I decided to use a container on my bookshelf that you see when you first walk into my house, and put ornaments from my childhood in it. At first I couldn't decide how I liked it but it has been really nice to walk by and see it and reminisce. Little bit of trivia...how many people do you know that has 2 baby first Christmas ornaments? Wait...from 2 different years? Lol. I do! I was supposed to be born on December 25th and was 3 days late. They had already purchased an ornament and I got to keep it :)
I also changed the colors of my tree a bit this year.  I have had different shades and textures of browns on it but added teal this year.  It really made the tree so much better!  And yes....I only have a 4 foot tree.  I can't bring myself to get a bigger one quite yet.

 
This is the new wreath that I made....



Last year for my vendor shows I had bought these decorations for my table and ended up putting it where I normally have candles next to my bath tub.  I think it's so cute and really adds something to my house by decorating the bathroom a little bit.








I love coffee mugs and when I posted this picture on Instagram I asked if I was old because of it :)  It's such a cute mug.  Really puts you in the spirit while drinking your coffee or hot cocoa :)






Now it's time for some caroling :)

It's only a facial one but I decided to do it.  I am waiting to do the body comparison until I've lost 100 lbs and that shouldn't be to long!


The picture on the left was taken around Memorial Day and the picture on the right was taken Thanksgiving day.  Everyone tells me they can really tell in my face and now I see it.  I can tell in my clothes and what not so I know (and never doubted that I was) losing weight but i can definatley tell a difference with these 2 pictures.  I can' wait to post a full body picture and it may be soon!  As of today (and the 10 lbs I lost last week can be credited to the stomach bug lol :) I have lost.....

68 lbs!!!!


To my first goal:



Stay tuned for the full body comparison....

This just in.....

The pie was amazing....

I LOVE to cook...

But I have never made a pumpkin pie.  Until tonight!  I love pumpkin pie and I'm limited on the sugar intake I can have so I decided to make a pumpkin pie following Libby's famous pumpkin pie recipe ( It says it's famous on the can so I'm taking her word for it....I mean why would Libby lie to me? ;) and substitute Splenda for the sugar.  Here are the ingredients you need:


3/4 Cup sugar (or splenda)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz) Libby's 100 % pure pumpkin
1 can (12 fl oz) evaporated milk
1 unbaked 9 inch (4 cup volume) deep-dish pie shell

Mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves in a small bowl


Beat eggs in large bowl.  Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture.  Gradually stir in evaporated milk.


Pour into pie shell.  (Now I did not want to over due myself so Pilsbury helped me in the crust department :)



Bake in preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Reduced temperature to 350 degree's.  Bake for 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool on wire rack for 2 hours.  Serve immediately or refrigerate.




I'll let ya know how it tastes tomorrow :)  I hope the Splenda I put instead of sugar doesn't change the taste of the pie to much.  We shall see.....

I am still in shock as to how much I can eat. Yes, I realize that they did remove 3/4 of my stomach but I don't think about it until I eat. Today for lunch I had 2 scrambled eggs and I feel like I ate an entire pizza. I am so full! It's an amazing feeling though. And it has taken some adjustment for sure. Some times I'll just eat 1 string cheese and 3 thin slices of lunch meat and think "Oh this isn't much...". Then I eat it and can barely move!

I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about the holidays and eating but since I'm finally getting how much I can eat I don't think it'll be a problem. My portions will be super small and honestly there's probably only 2 things I'm looking forward to.

Everyday I get more and more excited about the changes ahead. The way my mind, body, and soul are changing is amazing :)

Since my surgery!

I can't believe it's already been that long!  It feels like forever ago that I had it.  I'm healing really good and I am now at the point that I get to start incorporating soft solid foods into my diet.  Which is really exciting because I am so sick of soup lol.  I had my one month follow up on Friday and we just went over my vitamins, protein, and food.  I'm full all the time and when I do eat it's not much.  Only a couple of bites but I feel like I ate the whole thing.  It's an amazing feeling.  I've been pinning (refer to my Pintrest blog below to find out about my addiction lol) vegan recipe's that I want to try so hopefully this weekend I will be able to.  I'm not  by any means turning into a full vegan but if there are recipe's that I find tasty then I'm defiantly going to be using them.  Why not incorporate it if it's tasty right ;)? 

And now to annouce how much I've lost since Sept 22nd.....drum roll please.....


52 lbs!!! I'm so stoked! It's so nice to get on the scale and not worry about it being a plus sign instead of a minus....

Hi my name is Christy and its been 8 hours since my last pin.."hi Christy, glad you're here..."

Pintrest can be so addicting! It starts with one pin here and one pin there and 1400 pins later...you have an amazing closet, fabulous home, and your meals planned out for the next 10 years.

My friends Cristan, Kim, & Analee decided to have a pintrest craft day. We could've done them alone but it's oh so much more fun doing it with friends :). I had decided to do some mason jar drinking cups, Cristan did a Halloween themed hanging sign, Kim did a Christmas wreath, and Analee made a hanging sign for her Grandma for Christmas. There's turned out awesome! Mine on the other hand....not so much lol

Well I decided to paint the sides and when I first decided to do this project I was going to use paint pens. I went against my better judgement and when I got to Hobby Lobby I bought stencils and patio paint (I figured that paint would weather better for washing...lol) instead of the paint pens I originally had thought to purchase. After putting the stencils on and painting it I let it dry. When I felt it was time I pulled the stencils off...and the paint came with it. I even tried with acrylic paint. No luck. I did try with spray paint but didnt like how it turned out.

Even though my craft didn't turn out that great it was still a really fun day! I can't wait until our next one! I'm going to be doing things for decorating my house for Christmas and I will be taking pictures to post with my blog :)

Is not your typical bucket list....

Everyone says "Oh I have that on my bucket list!" but when it comes to a weight loss bucket list the items on that list are totally different.  If you've never been over weight you probably take things for granted and not even think anything about them. 

*NOTE:  As I type this Cross Canadian Ragweed's Sick and Tired is playing....appropriate...I think so...*  A couple of years ago ( I believe it was the first time I auditioned for The Biggest Loser)  I started my weight loss bucket list.  Some of the things on it probably seem silly to some but to me (and others) they are HUGE.  A few things on my particular list are things that I have done before but it's been a really, really, REALLY (like the dramatics of the last really :)  long time since I have even thought about doing them.  Hopefully this summer I will be able to cross a few things off of my list.

The List

Go to 6 flags and ride at least 1 roller coaster.-  Now I have been on a roller coaster before but it's been an extremely long time.  Let me just say it was the Judge Roy Scream.....enough said right lol.

Participate in a 5k- One of the things that by wanting to be on The Biggest Loser had made me really want to do is train and participate in a 5k.  The first one my goal is just to finish.  If I have to walk some of it so be it, but I will finish.  After the first one I might work on my time but I just want to finish and say I did it.  I hope it to be a color run :)

Possibly participate in a Mud Run- Now this will take a little training for...I think it would be so much fun doing the 5k in the mud but the thought of having to use a rope to climb a wall has me having flashes back to the 3rd grade in Miss Rex's P.E. class.....the day almost everyone dreaded lol.

No seatbelt extender-  When I arrive on an airplane not having to stop and as the flight attendent for a stupid extender will be AMAZING....

Purchase an outfit from a "regular"store-  I want to walk into a store that does not even offer plus size clothing and be able to purchase an outfit

Take a hike- literally....I want to be able to take off some afternoon and go hiking

I'm not in a hurry to mark them all off my list at once, but slowly but surly I will :)

My baby sister turned the big 30!!



My sister is the type of person that loves to be in control of situations. It's not a bad thing at all (even though we give her grief about it lol)! But we wanted to surprise her for her birthday and that took ALOT of work.

I made arrangements to have a party at her friend Gina's house while Mike got me the invite list. We decided to do an outdoor movie with a concession stand that had hot dogs, nachos, candy, etc. Angela, my mom, & I flew out on her actual birthday to be there when she got there. We helped finish getting everything together and then something I ,for one, had not planned for.....rain. Since it had rained we moved the party inside. All the guests waited on the porch out front for Cymbre to arrive. We stayed in the back so she got her big surprise :). When she got back there she was really shocked to find us! After the surprise everyone (except me lol :) had hot dogs, cake, and all the other fun stuff that we had. She opened her presents and was really shocked to see that my dad had got her a uv light & I had gotten her shellac polish so she could do her own Shellac at home. Then she was surprised by a beautiful necklace with emeralds from my mom & Craig along with a one if a kind cookbook from my mom that we waited for years for (she said we had to wait until we were 30 to receive one lol...we did our time finally :).

We spent the next 2 days hanging out and relaxing with my sister, brother in law, & the kids. It was a great getaway that I always hate coming back from, but it'll be nice to have a couple days to relax at home :)

I got this recipe off of Pintrest last week.  And I am so glad I did!! I made a little change by omitting 1 cup of finely diced celery and 1 cup of finely diced carrots.  I left those out since I am not able to have those.  If you choose to add it to your soup, add it with the first step.  It made exactly 12 cups so I portioned them out into 1 cup increments and put into freezer/microwaveable glad ware.  It'll be so nice on a busy day to just pull one out of the freezer and pop in the microwave.  There won't be any worrying about what I can eat in a pinch :)  Here are the nutrition facts for this:

We all have "those" kind of recipe's :)

After I moved out of my townhouse with my sister and moved into my own apartment there were days between pay day that I just looked in my fridge & said "What can I do with this?" Lol. We've all been there! Well I came up with this recipe and I still love it to this day!

Today I really wanted something that was familiar to me so I started racking my brain as to what I could make that I could eat. I just got to add a few things to my eating & the soup popped in my head! As much as I want to move away from processed foods more than likely it will still be a part of my life a little bit. I had to alter my recipe a little bit but it tasted just the same.

Poor Girl Cheese Soup(original version)

3 Cups water
1 chicken breast
1-2 potato's
1/2 lb velveeta
Pinch of salt
1/2 tbsp black pepper

Put water into a pot & begin heating to boil. As the water is warming cube chicken breast & potato's & add to the water. Also add salt & pepper. When chicken is done and potato's are tender, cube Velveeta and add to the water with the chicken & potato's. Once the Velveeta is melted, taste to make sure you don't need any more of that or salt/pepper. Let simmer for 15 minutes and then serve :)

Now the version I made tonight is the exact same except no chicken & instead of 3 cups of water I used 2 cups of chicken broth & 1 cup of water.

It was so nice having something familiar to eat. I'm not sure I should've had the potato's but I made sure they were super soft before I ate them. This recipe is fast and great on a cold day when you're in a hurry :)

31!

Since September 22nd ( my last appointment before the big surgery) I have lost 31 pounds!! 1 week post surgery I have lost 13.  I am so excited!! 

I went for my 1 week follow up to have my staples out and I was kinda sad cause that was pretty much the whole appointment.  I did get to chat with the practitioner that was doing my appointment and from the sounds of things I'm doing everything right :)  I got to move to cream soups yesterday......I know...exciting right ;)?  Nan went with me to my appointment and afterwards we went to Souper Salad and I wasn't sure what exactly I wanted to eat so I got a bowl of chicken enchilada and a bowl of potato.  The chicken enchilada is the one that sounded really good to me so I tried that one first.  I took a couple of bites and oh my gosh...I started feeling nauseous.  I took a drink of my water and tried the potato.  I had a much better reaction to it and it was really good!  There were a few chunks of potato in it but I just ate around them.  This was also the first time I had been in a restaurant since September 22nd.  I did very well and I was very proud of myself. 

This weekend I plan on making some really healthy soups in my crock pot to put into containers to freeze so I can just pull them out and warm them up.  I've found a few recipe's I'm wanting to try but I may have to make a few adjustments to some of them.  I'll post pictures and recipe's when I'm finished.


The only problem that is reoccurring is about 5 pm I want to go grab something for dinner or I start thinking about different foods.  And it's not that I'm hungry at all, it's just habit I assume.  Today when I got off work (yep went back today :) I wanted to go grab something but I didn't for obvious reasons.  When I got to my house I got a Popsicle and ate it and that helped a lot.  I waited about an hour and then fixed me a tomato soup I had in the cabinet.  I know it will get easier in time and I just need to be patient.  Which I am :)

Challenge: Won!

Today was kind of a difficult day. Not in the body healing aspect but more of in the mind healing aspect.

I've been pretty strong since the very beginning & continued to be strong through the surgery. Today was tough. I am still off work and I'm loving being able to have a couple of days to adjust, but I have got to keep busy. I was watching tv earlier this morning and started having cravings. Cravings for peanut butter. I am obsessed with peanut butter lol. I love pb by itself with a big glass of milk, pb crackers, pb milkshakes, pb & j sandwiches...I just LOVE pb! So I had gotten through that craving and have figured a way to incorporate it in my protein shakes. But then tonight my cravings moved to cheeseburgers & Italian food. If I saw one more Wendy's or Olive Garden commercial I feel like I could have turned into a binge eater. It looked so good! But luckily I had self control for the fact I could have done MAJOR damage to my stomach and all that I have worked for to have the surgery.

So when I started to feel like I really wanted one if those things I would get a water & focus on getting in my fluids for the day. That helped so much! I have always loved water by itself, but I love Crystal Light Raspberry Ice so I've been adding that in the mix as well. I also have found at my favorite grocery store HEB their version of CL but it being raspberry green tea and it is awesome! When I purchased it I only hit one box because I didn't want a bunch left over if I didn't like it. I need to go get more :)

I knew there were going to be days like this and I'm so thankful God has made me strong to resist & see the signs that I need to get up and do something to preoccupy my mind.

It's all about one day at a time and I'm so glad today is done and pray for a better tomorrow :)

It's defiantly been a ride since my last blog....


On my 1 day until surgery day was a great one.  One of my friends put together a really neat thing for me.  He had messages sent to a lot of my friends to flood my Facebook page with love.  Leaving a comment or a picture of them with the number 1.  I was overwhelmed with the response!  Another neat thing was the people that didn't even get messaged about it jumping on board :)  After working that day and all the fun pictures/posts, it was time for me to go to MAF and get on a plane and fly to Dallas.

The day of the surgery was good.  I did start to get a little nervous lol.  My mom's response to me when I said that was "Finally!".  We had to be at the hospital at 6 am and then I went through all the preop fun stuff.  I said my name, birthday, and what kind of surgery I was having probably about 30 times.  And answered the same sets of questions about the same amount.  My surgeon was running late and when they finally came to take me back that was that.  I remember them putting the fun stuff in my IV in the pre op room, once in recovery, and then waking up for a second in my room.  They gave me some great stuff! lol.  I could not stay awake that day.  I fell asleep on a lot of people that came in the talk to me lol.  I feel bad but I could not keep my eyes open.  I took so many naps that day and the next.  Finally by the 3rd day I was more awake.  I'm not sure if it was the anaesthesia or what it was but I seriously couldn't keep my eyes open!  Back to the first day, I got sick about 3 times.  Nothing came up because I didn't have anything on my stomach to throw up.  It was just dry heaves and well know how much fun those are when we haven't had our stomach just operated on lol.  Sorry for the that gross part but hey, it's part of the process :).  A couple of people that I had talked to that have had the sleeve or the bypass said to get up and walk as soon as possible.  And they are so right.  It makes the soreness go away and it helps brake up the gas that they had to pump in you for the surgery go away.  I didn't walk much but I did get up and walk up and down the hallway once at least every hour.  Sometimes twice.  And also when they say to take sips....take sips!  It's the weirdest feeling because you can feel it going down your throat and hitting your stomach.  If you do take a big gulp because you forgot (speaking from experience lol)  it's hurts as if it went down the wrong way.  You defiantly are more conscious of this as the days go on.  We got to fly home on Friday and let me tell you.  That was an experience.  Not for the surgery part at all but we put my medicines I was prescribed on the plane with us with a couple of bottles of protein water that had not been opened.  One would think the narcotics I had would be a red flag....oh no...the protein water cause such a controversy.  I told them I didn't want it, throw it away, it was just stupid protein water from the hospital and the supervisor said that I was now flagged as well.  I went and sat down and this really nice security woman came over and was chatting and I started crying cause I was so mad lol.  So after checking it out  for about 10 minutes I was able to leave for the gate.  It was pretty ridiculous.  I stayed at my mom's that night and went straight to bed.  I was exhausted.  The next day I felt way better and decided to come home.  Nothing feels better than your own bed :)  I have decided that I don't need to sit on my couch for a week or two.  It hurts to get up after sitting on it.  Kinda like a staple is pinching me on my stomach.  So I shall sit on a dining room chair until then. 


 Today's day is 5 for me and I feel like I'm drinking more normal and will be able to get the required about of fluids in.  On day 1 it did not seem possible.  I'm defiantly not hungry at all and I think my taste buds have changed.  I LOVE coffee....or I should say I DID love coffee.  I had a cup at the hospital and it was disgusting lol.  BUT...it was probably decaf (yuck) and all I had was splenda to put in it.  Now I'm a true coffee drinker where I don't have to have the fancy coffee's from the coffee shops.  When I'm at home I have my Folgers medium roast and put 2 tbsp of french vanilla creamer in it.  No sweetener or any other creamers.  So this morning when I made my cup like I normally do, I kinda got nauseous.  It was over by the time the coffee was made though and I sipped it and it was pretty good :).  I changed to sugar free french vanilla creamer right now.  The only problem I have with it that it's powder...lol I know I'm stupid.  

I have off until about Wednesday or Thursday depending on when I can get my staples out.  I'm looking forward to my mini vacation lol.  I'll be able to heal a little more before going back.  Can't wait to be farther in this process and be able to have at least Greek yogurt.  Love me some Greek yogurt :) 

Well until tomorrow or something else fabulous happens today....

As of right now I have 1 day left...

Today was kinda hard. At least not until tonight. I worked at the salon until about 8:30 & the old me wanted to go get a burger or chicken from next door lol. Even though the chicken is sometimes gross it smelt good today lol. But I resisted. I got in my car and went & did the things I needed to do before going home. Once I got home I kept myself preoccupied. I am so proud of myself because I still have not cheated once! Not even a taste of something.

Everyone keeps asking if I'm nervous or scared. And I would love to say no, but every once in a while I catch myself getting nervous. I'm just really ready to have it over with so I can stop preparing and start living. I'm ready to be in my new routine.

Well...one more day of work then were Dallas bound....

I'm going ahead and blog about 3....

It was a really great day!  Still did great on my liquid diet!  I went to Odessa to try to find some of the vitamins I need and went to HEB to grab a few things I need for when I get back from Dallas.  I forgot how much I like chicken broth lol.  I had 2 cups for dinner :)

I almost have my house in order.  Finishing up laundry....I'm so boring today...lol sorry....

I conquered day 4 :)

I can really tell how much I am mentally ready for this by yesterday.  One of my best friends threw her husband (who is also one of my best friends) a surprise birthday party/shrimp boil and I survived without cheating once!! On top of the initial shrimp boil there was jalapeno poppers (my absolute favorite thing), cake, chips and dip, etc.  I stayed outside alot lol, but I also had a protein shake before I went and I also had a big cup of coffee at the party.  So all in all it was great! Really wish I had more to report but before that it was a really lazy day :)  A much needed lazy day lol

Thank you God.....

He defiantly has given me the strength through the past couple of days.  It's been really weird.  I have only wanted to actually eat something twice and it didn't last very long after that.  I've only been having protein shakes, carnation instant breakfast, coffee, and juice.  I hope that I am doing that right too lol.  I did have soup yesterday for lunch and I probably will have it for lunch again today.  I am really in the right mind frame for this journey and it makes me oh so happy :) 

One of the reason's for the liquid diet before hand is to shrink your liver.  I thought that was amazing when I heard that because I would have thought that liquids would make it bigger but I was wrong lol.  They need to shrink your liver in order to move it and get to your stomach.  If you don't follow this diet then your surgery will take an hour longer than it originally was supposed to be.  I don't know about anyone else having the surgery but I want to be in and out in a matter of time.  My doctor said it should only take 30-45 minutes for the actual surgery.  So I want to make sure that is all the time it takes :) 

Today starts day 4 of the liquid diet and I think it's going to be a good day as well.  I was supposed to have a garage sale with my Nana, but do to the weather we decided to post pone it.  I had take the day off at the salon for it and just kept it off so I could get my house in order.  I want to have it put together before I leave Tuesday so I don't have to do anything when I get back.  I'm also going through cabinets and my fridge/freezer getting stuff out of my house and giving it to someone else lol.  There are a few things that I am keeping just in case I have a get together and need to make snacks or something for others.  And one day there are a few things in my cabinet I will be able to have again so I'm keeping those. 

Here's to day 4 and staying on the right path!

That's a wrap for day 2 :)

Did really well today! Had carnation instant breakfast for breakfast, experimented with a protein shake (that I will never make again lol), & got all of my water in. I did however not have anything for "dinner". I went to the salon early and moved a customer up so I thought I'd have time to make something....nope lol. Ended up picking up a walk in. Oh well. I wasn't hungry so as long as I wasn't hungry I think I'll be ok. My stomach has started to growl about 4 pm everyday. Which can be weird when it's silent in your office & your with a customer lol. I'm going to try to have soup tomorrow & finally make this pumpkin pie smoothie I found on pintrest.

Speaking of pintrest....

I am going to have to stay off if there until after my surgery. Everyone posting recipe's makes a girl start wanting to pin & cook lol. I think I'll be ok after my surgery because I'm supposed to not be hungry. We shall see....

Yesterday was my first day of my liquid diet....

And it went soooo good!! My stomach didn't really growl and I didn't notice about not eating anything till about 6 pm. I had protein shakes for breakfast, lunch, & dinner & some juice in between. I think today will be a little but smoother. Yesterday I was wrapped up in "what if I have the wrong thing" but I think I did good lol. This morning I made me a sugar free carnation breakfast and I have to say, it's just as good as the regular carnation breakfast :). Here's to day 2, of no food, wish me luck :)

I don't like you! Hugs & Kisses, Christy

I am trying my hardest to stop completely for my surgery. It's way easier said than done.

That is all.....

It's getting so close!! I'm so excited still! Getting a tiny bit nervous about my new life though. Or it could just be anxiousness..

I decided to go ahead and announce on my Facebook what the countdown was for. I was overwhelmed by the response!! I thought I'd get at least one "Why the hell are you doing that?" but nope! Not a one! I feel silly to admit it but half way through the "likes" and comments I got emotional. It was really nice to see people caring. I know people care about me but when you spend a majority of your time alone you tend to forget. Everyone had such nice and positive things to say! I even found out that one of my friends is in the same process I am! She had to wait a little longer for hers but she won't be far behind me. I am on a message board group for weight loss and have now moved to the wls (weight loss surgery) side of it, and even though I chat with people there it is really nice actually knowing the person going through the same things as me. We'll be able to share stories, recipes, and our ups & downs along the way. I can't wait...

As of today I have 15 more days....FIFTEEN!!

Get your champagne, confetti, & noise makers ready....

Well that didn't taste good...at all...

After I auditioned for Biggest Loser Season 13, gone through call backs, and didn't receive anything after that I was a bit bitter.  With a hurt heart I started watching season 13 just like the rest of America did.  Then when I saw how ungrateful they were I just couldn't bare to watch. So I took it off series recording and went along on my merry little way.  It wasn't until I heard that BL was coming back for a 14th season and had decided to audition again that I decided to pick it up again. I'm not saying that I liked the cast of season 13 but I did start watching again.  Now, I'll admit I was never the faithful watcher. If another show needed to record but could because of BL I'd always take it off and put the new show on. I would however catch up through Netflix or buying them on iTunes.  On July 20th I traveled to Dallas to audition again for BL. I was more prepared this time than last. I got a new outfit that screamed "Pick me! I'm fun & fashionable!" for the audition and then a "Cute, amazing,well put together gal and I look good on camera"  outfit for the call back I just knew I was going to get. long story short with that audition is that I didn't get that call back. All the arrows pointed to yes but when it came down to it, it was really a mis print on the sign & should've said no.  When I realized I hadn't gotten a call back I think my friends with me were waiting on me to crack. I didn't. I think I was more in shock. When I got home & called my mom again is when I had my little break down. I was crushed.  A few days later I made a huge decision that I had been going back & forth with for some time.

I decided to have the gastric sleeve done.  I had talked to a guy that lives here in Andrews a few months before that had the procedure done & had amazing results. He was so happy with his decision.  I looked up his doctors website again & this time I noticed that he had opened an office in Lubbock. I called scheduled my 1st appointment & made the first step to my new beginning. I have never been one for a quick fix or a quick fix diet. I have always been against it. I know some people view this as a quick fix and they couldn't be more wrong. I am having the oppritunity to start over. Receive basically a new stomach. I want to be that person that eats organic. I want to be that person that is able to go run when it cools off in the evening. I want to be that person that can walk into a department store & not be limited to what I can try on let alone purchase. I am being given the oppritunity to start over and have the weight come off faster so that I won't get discouraged or bored. By the time I get to the number month that it usually starts happening for that I will probably will have lost 120 lbs as compared to the 60 I would normally have lost & be getting restless. My surgery date is October 3rd and I absolutely can not wait. It's been a long time coming.

Even though after the audition this year I took another bite if the bitter pie I have finally got the taste out of my mouth. I want to thank Biggest Loser. By getting caught up it has taught me different things that I can do differently the 2nd time around and has made me want to become the athlete that I want to be or hope to be. In the spring I will enter my first 5k and by the summer I will enter my first mud run. I want to inspire people and since I won't be doing it through The Biggest Loser, I hope that through my blog & everyday life I can help someone get the bitter taste out of their mouths and start eating the sweet pie of life.

It is always amazing to me how music plays such a huge part of my life and there are people that aren't phased by music at all. For most songs I can tell you at least one memory that I have tagged to it, whether it's that it reminds me of someone or where I was in my life. Aw...songs that remind you of people. Different songs remind me of different people. And even though some may not be in your life for one reason or another (good or bad), if you hear that song or artist that reminds you of them, you begin to reminisce. I can not have thought or gave a care of the world towards that person in years and the minute I hear certain Gary Allan songs I'm right back to being that heartbroken foolish 20 year old. And it's not that I miss them now just maybe the person they were then.

HOPE (happy over pounds eliminated) 2012 has begun!  I started a weight loss group and it's been pretty awesome so far :)  I know I can do this on my own but I really like having a group and accountability and I hear so many people who say the same thing so I thought why not just start it myself! Plus if it's at my house I have to stay on track lol.  We meet at my house every Sunday at 3 pm and we weigh in.  We just started 2 weeks so we haven't got to do everything that I want but for every 5 lbs a person loses they'll get recognition in the meeting and Facebook page.  I'm also giving a little book marker for them to keep and look at.  It's not much but when you start getting a sticker for each 5 lb's loss it becomes an awesome reminder of how much you've accomplished.  I'm also going to put together a little discussion topic and questions.  This coming Sunday it's about motivation.  I'm super excited about that.  I think I found some good questions and statements to provide.  We shall see :) 

I know I say I'm going to blog more but I really mean it this time lol! (Or I hope so anyways lol)  For Christmas I got a Visa gift card and I was due for an upgrade so I took the plunge and ordered me an iPhone 4s.  It's supposed to be delivered today and I can hardly contain myself!!! Is it bad that at lunch I kinda drove around looking for the Fed Ex van?  lol Ya I didn't think so.  I'm so excited to have a phone that actually takes good pictures again, that I can video chat anywhere, AND I can play my games more frequently lol!  Ok, so I'll end this silly short post now.  Hopefully the Fed Ex van will pull up any minute....