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.....