A Look Back...

2011 has come and gone... it has been an exciting year full of new family and journeys. i have been very blessed in  my life with love, health, and happiness and i hope it continues into 2012.

Best of 2011:

Bringing in 2011 with family.

Celebrating the marriage of my younger brother and gaining another wonderful sister who is expecting twins in just a couple of months.

turning the big 3-0 and being thrown a surprise party by family and friends

traveling to mexico with tim to celebrate our one year anniversary.

Learning the importance of friendship through sickness and health.

winning the best couples contest by dressing up as a treasure map... ARRRRR!

finding out we were expecting a little odgers.
(picture coming in may)
looking forward to many new and exciting memories in 2012.

wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year!

drink up.

now that my life is focused on this little guy/girl growing in my belly, my focus on food has increased just a little bit more. when i was trying to eat healthy, my food consisted of sweetners. i never in a million years thought i would ever drink calories...but now being pregnant i refuse to drink any diet drinks... i also stopped drinking caffeine in my diet. so that leaves me drinking the following:

1. water- and LOTS of it
2. milk- we have been going through a GALLON a week!
3. ginger ale- for that party treat
4. grapefruit juice- my "go to" drink when i am taking those horse pill vitamins

i have noticed something getting rid of those sugar substitute drinks in my diet. i am no longer craving sweet things.  i no longer want something sweet to finish off a meal. or a piece of chocolate randomly throughout the day. tim thinks this really strange... in fact, he misses me wanting a dessert with him at the end of the night.

maybe it just a pregnancy thing (i am new at this)... or maybe it is the fact that i am getting sugar in different ways and my body doesn't crave it as much as it does normally...

now salty items, that is a whole other blog post...

Big News!

I was waiting to post until January 1st... but i happen to jump on my blog today and think... "i miss it."

i've been quiet on this blog because i am no longer able to lose and maintain weight... at least for the next five months!

my husband and i are expecting our first little baby in may. it took us both by surprise but we are so excited and counting down the days until we meet our little one!

so many thoughts are going through my head... most good thoughts but there are some i try to push out and think "theresa, you can't control it." i don't want to be that girl freaking out over every pound gained with this baby but let me tell you,  i start to feel very panicky as i inch closer and closer to 170. i have never seen that number in my life and it frightens me... but then i remember... "there is a reason why" and after this baby is born and in my arms, i will be determined to get  back to a healthy weight for my family... i want to feel good about myself being a mother and a wife, and what better way than to love and take care of myself after the baby comes.

so for now, i will try not to worry about the weight gain and enjoy every second of the this miracle growing inside of me.

oh. and enjoy every second of wearing those amazing comfortable maternity jeans!!!!!!

Where am I?

I am sitting on the couch eating handful after handful of sour cream and onion chips... Herrs potato chips.

I am sharing a bowl of Touchdown Ice Cream with my husband on the couch while watching Xfactor.

I am at Coppa 82 Restaurant eating a plateful of spaghetti with red sauce with my mom and dad.

I am sitting in the faculty room eating a plateful of chicken nuggets (gross, I know) dipped in bbq sauce.

I am walking around the mall with a peanut butter blizzard in my hand.

I am digging my hands in a bowl full of halloween candy.

I am at Kohls buying fat pants. i just couldn't take the pain of my tight pants anymore.

I am jumping in my sweatpants the minute i get home from work for comfort..

I am stepping on the scale and watching the number ever so slowly increase.

I am waiting for the moment when i realize i need to start taking care of myself again... and eating healthy.

vet visit.

this morning i had to get my sasha's face checked at the vet. just a quick update. during our moving process, sasha got extremely worked up in her carrier and cut her face. it really began to heal until she decided to start licking, scratching, and nuzzling it on everything around her. before i knew it, her face was coming off!

 i, of course, panicked and took her to vet two weeks ago. she was given an antibiotic and looks MUCH better today. 

when we arrived home, tim thought he would try a new smoothie flavor. he went to work and concocted an awesome berry smoothie.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1/2 cup frozen strawberries

1 cup milk

1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt

1 tbspn honey

Directions:

Blend these ingredients in a blender and you get a delicious smoothie... for TWO! 

heading out to dinner tonight with some good friends we don't see as often as we like to... looking forward to spending time with them... and hopefully watching the phillies' pull out a win!

Have a wonderful weekend!

a crumb.

i love when i get close to the bottom of a bag of chips or box of crackers. there is something special about those crumbs sitting at the bottom... they have been in the bag for the longest soaking in the flavors of their friends that sat above them.

some people choose to just trash these delicious crumbs... but i choose to embrace them. i pour them into a snack bag and finish them off... or i pour them onto a plate, lick my finger and dab away at them.  this seems to be the cleanest method... as the crumbs that tend to miss my mouth get caught on the plate and not on my clothes or even worse... the floor!

and the "best tasting crumbs at the bottom of a bag" award goes to...

THE DORITO CRUMB!

Thank goodness those are gone... moving on to healthier and better things... 

What crumb would you give the award to?

terrible tuesday.

i hate tuesdays.... three years ago i hated a sunday. i dreaded sunday evening around 4 and that feel of dread lasted until i went to sleep...

i now get that same feeling for a tuesday. having to get up at 6:00... teaching all day. and then heading to class.  and then dragging my tired butt through the door around 9:30. and then showering. and then i go to bed only to get up and start the routine all over again on a wednesday... luckily with no class in the schedule. tired and exhausted are the only two words that come to mind blogging about this and i am already dreading next tuesday.

tonight after class, i met a dear friend for dinner. we ate at one of my favorite restaurants... Cosi. we chatted about things happening in our lives and just enjoyed each others company. i ate a Chicken TBM. seriously one of the BEST sandwiches ever made.

my pants are feeling super snug... i am debating whether i should just bite the bullet and buy "fat" pants to  get me through until i lose some pounds. i should buy pants that fit me when i am twenty pounds up and twenty pounds down... there may be a shopping trip in the near future...

what is your least favorite day of the week? why?

step away from the dorito bag.

today i walked in the door famished from the school day. we had some doritos leftover from our little football party we had yesterday during the Eagles game. i thought about those doritos the whole car ride home.

i couldn't wait to grab the bag from the closet. i couldn't wait to pull out a cheesy chip. and i couldn't wait to eat it. and i loved every crunch.

(woo hooo for bananas in the background!)

we have a lot of "JUNK" in our snack closet. i am not sure how it happened but it did. i need to get rid of all junk food... and in my head, what better way to get rid of it, than to EAT IT! yikes.

weighed in this morning. new number is 156.6. i'll take it! it's a starting point!

dear blog. i need you.

i can sit here and say that i haven't been blogging because i have been super busy with school and work. but that would be a lie. the real reason is because i have completely lost all motivation to continue eating healthy. i have bought lunch twice this past week. maybe three times. i had mcdonald's once. and ice cream three times. and that is just the beginning...

i have continued to weigh myself every monday and i have been posting up my weight updates on My Journey page. i am surprised to see that number go down... especially since i haven't been working too hard. 

here's hoping that i start fresh tomorrow. monday morning. eating healthy. with just a few treats in between.

i promise to start updating this blog daily again. i need it. and i missed it! 

Weigh day tomorrow!

the little things in life.

i arrived home today exhausted and barely able to keep my eyes open... nap was the only thing on my mind. and nap is what i did. i snoozed for about an hour and was awaken by president obama giving his speech on the television. i was tempted to take my heavy and barely able to function body up the stairs and to bed around 7 tonight...but then my stomach sunk and i realized i have work to do. lots of classwork. 

i just don't understand being a teacher and going to graduate school. teaching all day is super exhausting and the idea of having a ton of work to do for a class on top of planning and grading in the evening hours just boggles my mind. taking summer classes works out just fine... but taking a class during the school year is tough. all i keep picturing in my head is my professor (who is a nun) telling the class that we may need to consider dropping the course if we can't keep up with the course load and class time. really, sister? 

so i print off the eight articles that need to be read by tomorrow... grab my handy dandy highlighter and go to town. the good news is that i am learning oodles about school reform and curriculum! woot! woot!!

speaking of WOOT! i was greeted at my door this afternoon with a package. and in the package were three items that are much needed in our new home. items we never even considered owning at our old place. simply because we never really had company... Check out our new additions to our kitchen! Welcome salt and pepper shakers, butter boy (corn is going to taste amazing) and a BUTTER DISH!! (no more sticking opened butter on a plate in the fridge!) thank you Jackie and Todd!  it really is the little things in life!

now we are really set for company! who's next!

ps. i totally am procrastinating reading my articles by typing this blog post...

leftovers.

i walked in the door tonight soaking wet and freezing from the rain. i drove in the rain all day today. i drove to work in the rain. i drove from work to class in the rain. i drove from class back home... in the rain. i am over this rain. it was one of those days that i just wanted to stay in pjs, sit on my couch and drink hot tea.

as i was changing into warm, dry clothes, tim began making dinner. he used last nights leftovers and made a WHOLE new meal. he made teriyaki steak with sauteed zuchini and onions. it tasted like i was eating dinner at the habachi!

i realized today after being tired and miserable how wonderful it is to have a husband that cooks. i was so exhausted walking in the door tonight... if it wasn't for tim, i would have ate a bowl of cereal and called it a night.

i am so thankful for chef tim.

trying to get myself back into a routine with eating. packing my lunch again... tomorrow i will post about a typical breakfast, snack and lunch during a normal work day!

looking to get back in the 150s this week...

a little get together.

labor day weekend has come to an end. and so has my eating fest. i ate every day this weekend like it was my last meal. true story. 

we ended our weekend with our very FIRST get together as a married couple. tim and i never had much company in our apartment. it was very small... and tim thought it would be hard to make people feel comfortable in such a tight place. so we were excited to invite my parents and our friends over for a little barbecue.

tim grilled steaks and vegetables and he added a homemade potato salad on the side. we also had some juicy corn to go with it! (which i boiled and made!!! woot! woot!!) 

and for dessert, my friend jackie made an ice cream cake... decorated with reese's cups, cookies and sprinkles. it was amazing.

time to share my weigh-in news. it is rough...but not surprising. the number i am about to share is the number that i usually need to see to make me realize that i need to stop eating what i have been eating. the new number is 160.8...that is an 18.2 pound gain since may. back to counting calories tomorrow. back to making smarter choices. back on the road to lose twenty again... 

because i ALWAYS have twenty pounds to go...

next weigh-in: Monday, September 12th.

the "ewwww" point.

i am at that point where i have gained at least fifteen pounds in about three months. i have only one pair of shorts that fit me comfortably. and a couple tops... i am at my "ewwww " point.

things that make me go "ewwww!"

this is the point when i try on all my clothes and nothing looks good over these hips. this is the point when  my clothes begin to get disorganized because i am trying on ten different outfits and tossing them on the bed and floor.

 this is the point when i notice that i have gained weight and i assume that EVERYONE around me notices and thinks it too. this is the point when i look at myself in the mirror and go "ewwww!"

usually when i get to this point, it kicks me into gear to start getting focused on eating healthy again. i HATE that i need to get to my "ewwww" point before i start eating healthy... why can't  i just learn to maintain and never get to this point.

it's a learning process... and a very frustrating one at that!

do you have an "ewwww" point? and how do you handle it?

a lot can happen in ten days.

September... are we already in september? i have been neglecting my blog lately due to being overwhelmingly busy... i have had so many new and exciting thing happen over the past two weeks... so i will try to wrap them all up in a saturday morning post.

tim and i spent the end of last week packing up our apartment and getting ready for the big move...

i began to stress out BIG time on Thursday when I realized that a hurricane was heading towards us on our moving day. just our luck! we worked our tails off to get everything ready for the move so we wouldn't get caught in the rain moving our couches!

we had a fantastic moving team arrive on saturday morning. we were able to load and unload the truck in three and a half hours... as we were moving the last car load, the rain began... PERFECT timing.

thanks to the hurricane, i had a hurricane day on monday and the first day of school was postponed until tuesday... another gift. i was given another day to unpack, sleep and get organized before school started.

i had a wonderful first week of school with my students. what a great group i have... they are so adorable and sweet! :)

and to end the week, tim and i had our new furniture delivered... we LOVE it.  i felt old when we were looking at our furniture... i have had "kid" furniture for thirty years... and didn't realize what it felt like to have grown up furniture!

we picked up sasha last night from my parents house so now our family is back together... for the first time since july 26th!

as far as eating goes... it has been a nightmare. not going to lie. tim and i went to the store yesterday and bought healthy foods only for next week. i will weigh in on monday... and hopefully (fingers crossed) get myself back on the band wagon. so thankful for getting a routine back in my life!

Leaving you with some pictures of our new home. we love it and are looking forward to making new and wonderful memories. 

our new living room.

master bedroom.

(this room makes me feel like a grown up!)

morning room. 

(i love those love birds!)

guest room

(come on over and visit!)

Sasha's room. 

(she is so spoiled... how many cats do you know have their own room!)

Tim's first grill job!

speaking of wonderful memories... we had VERY exciting news happen in our family this past week... Dan and Amanda are expecting TWINS in the beginning of march. i can't even begin to explain how happy and excited i am to have TWO babies to hold and love in our family! 

"There's never any time."

one thing i have realized over the past few days is that my days are going super fast... between starting the school year and moving, my days are flying by!

all i keep connecting this feeling to is jessie spano. "No time! There's never any time! I don't have time to study! I'll never get into Stanford! I'll let everyone down! I'm so confused!"

i keep thinking... "No time! There's never any time! I don't have time to lesson plan! I'll never get settled in this new home! I'll pick the wrong players for fantasy football! I'm so disorganized!"

Now we all know how Jessie solved her "no time" problem... not a super great idea! (click here if you forget!)

i am solving my "no time" problem the best way i know how. eating. yep. i had wendy's for dinner after unloading a car full of boxes into our new place. it was really fast and super easy. i can't wait until i have time...

time to start grocery shopping. and time to cook meals. okay. who am i kidding? i don't cook. but time for tim to start cooking meals again!

shaking it up...

today was my first day back at school... we had some time to work in our classrooms in the morning... and in the afternoon we had our faculty meeting to inform all of us on the upcoming events occurring at our school... in the middle of the meeting, i was beginning to feel a little dizzy and nauseous...i watched the chair next to me move. and i saw the carpet moving around. THANKFULLY the teacher next to me said she felt the shaking too! i wasn't going nuts or getting ready to pass out!

our principal let us out of the meeting a little early to go home... and home i went! i called my mom and she hurried over to my apartment, and together we packed up the kitchen.

she left me around 6:30 with boxes stacked and ready to be moved into our new place. after she left, i heated up last nights dinner, a slice of pizza, and drizzled it with hot sauce and ranch dressing... i know, i know... not a smart choice... but it was the only thing we had in our fridge... well except for a bottle of ketchup and a jar of olives.

whoops! packed away the plates!

now off to bed... yep. at 8:00. i am exhausted... i missed my afternoon nap today... ahhh... summer naps...i will miss you. but i know you will be back again in a short 182 school days. the wonderful life of a teacher. :)

did you feel the earthquake today? where were you when you felt it?

summer is over.

this was my last day of summer vacation... i go back to work bright and early tomorrow morning.

i started off my day getting a nice pedicure this morning. and ended my day packing and moving boxes into our new place. which caused my newly polished toenails to chip. oh well... at least they looked good for a few hours!

this packing thing is for the birds.

just a quick weigh in update. 154.8 gain of .2 pounds. that is a gain of 12 pounds over the summer. yikes. holy moly. jeepers creepers. that is an average 4 pounds a month. if i keep this rate up, my pants definitely won't fit me come october. they are probably already a tight squeeze now. remember "the ring"? not the scary movie... but it is scary enough! it is back in full swing!

next weigh-in: Monday, August 29th.

missing in action. for 3 days!

wow! i CAN'T believe it is Sunday already. i have been super busy over the past few days... so busy that i haven't been getting home until super late... and i have been too tired to blog... hopefully that will all change when life settles down.

i have been busy getting my classroom ready for the upcoming school year, preparing for our big move next saturday, and of course drafting for fantasy football leagues... i am in FIVE!

I put the pink in football!

on friday, a friend and i took a trip out to collegeville, pa. i was DYING to show her Charming Charlies.

afterwards, we walked next door to grab lunch. i ate a greek salad with a cup of tomato soup.

after our lunch, i learned something new. i learned how to drive a STICK! it was wicked hard... but i pulled through... even when there was a mack truck behind me while i was sitting at a stop sign on a hill! HOLY MOLY! talk about stress!

to end the night we went to an indian restaurant...i ordered a creamy tomato dish... soo not healthy! but sooo good!

My new flower headband from Charming Charlies!

my eating has been a mess... creeping up the scale every week. craving routine. can't wait to get settled in our new place and for school to start.

weigh day tomorrow. yikes!

wonderful time of the year.

Yesterday, tim and i made final decisions at the furniture store. we purchased a new bedroom set. a couch. and a little coffee table. we really had a blast deciding on the furniture together!

and the best part was the little cup of ice cream we received as we were walking out the door!

Back to School.

it's the most wonderful time of the YEAR!! you know that staples commercial... when all the kiddos head back to school along with their teachers. i do love the beginning of the year... getting my classroom set up... putting in place some ideas i came up with last year, but didn't get the chance to do and start. and getting back into a routine!

getting my classroom together is a lot of work and makes me really hungry! a few teachers and i ordered a large pizza pie to split for lunch...

Look! This pizza has a Barbie Table in the middle!

today, a fellow teacher and i spent some time creating an economy wheel for our classroom. we had a blast and i wanted to share it for any other teachers out there who do some kind of classroom economy!

off to meet some friends and watch the game... GO EAGLES!!

a fat cat.

this morning, sasha had her annual vet appointment. she was a great patient... however she gained 1.6 pounds in a year. now if i only gained 1.6 pounds in a year, i would be doing cartwheels in the doctor's office... but this vet made it clear that 1.6 pounds gained on a cat in a year is like 37 pounds gained on a human in a year. holy moly!

since i am terrified of her getting sick, we started her diet the second we got home from the vet... but i really think she looks perfect just the way she is..

After the vet, i took a road trip to visit a friend. she lives in middleburg, pa so we decided to meet halfway... which happened to be Hershey! We ate lunch at Red Robin. i had a bbq chicken wrap... not the healthiest choice but it was delicious!

After lunch, we sat outside and caught up with each other. we sat and chatted as the sound of roller coasters and screams were going on around us from hershey park.

for dinner, i tried to make myself something from the food in the cabinet. i tried to make a pasta dish with red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese. i failed miserably. it tasted HORRIBLE! i had a few bites and tossed the rest in the trash. i still need a lot more practice with this cooking thing.

weighed in this morning. new number is 154.6. up another pound. jeepers creepers.

i need to put myself on the same diet as my cat.

next weigh-in: Monday August 22nd.

have you ever failed miserably at cooking dinner?

furniture shopping.

tim and i have been very busy getting ready for our new place. we have decided to buy a new bedroom set for our new bedroom. that decision was made when i kindly explained that my bedroom set that i had since i was 3 years old just wouldn't look right in a big master bedroom.

yesterday, we drove over to Raymour and Flanigan and browsed around their store... Dolly, the sales lady, was kind of enough to follow our every move and offer us water due to the dry air in the store. tim and i sat on every bed and opened every drawer in the dressers.

we also decided to check out some couches... we found a favorite that we are also strongly considering to buy!

today, i had a fantastic lunch at my brother's place in honeybrook. my two brothers and i enjoyed each others company as i chowed down on a veggie wrap.

tonight, tim and i are heading out to look at more furniture... it has been so much fun looking and discussing how to decorate a room but also make it COMFORTABLE for the both of us. final furniture decision will be posted once we make up our minds.

and last but not least. i forgot today was monday so i didn't even think to weigh in this morning. i will be hopping on the scale first thing tomorrow... check back for an update!

do sales people, like dolly, overwhelm you sometimes?