I can not believe that it has been so long since I have written on here.  Time has flown by so fast. I can not believe that we are already in August.  We have been doing a lot of traveling with trips to Mexico, Key West, Memphis, Las Vegas, and Boston.  Some were with family and some were with friends.  All of the trips were a blast.  Cameron and I have been watching our new obsessions Dexter and Sons of Anarchy.  Now to the new adventure.

Let me start from the beginning. 

Not long after Cameron and I had been dating we were already planning for the future. We knew on our first date that there was something special between us and we knew there was a long future for us.  My parents also saw this instantly the first time that they saw us together.  

The fall after we started dating (it had only been 4 months) my dad pulled Cameron aside and told him that he was going to by an investment property up in Raleigh for us to eventually build our dream house.  He told Cameron that if something happened and we did not ended up getting married or staying together it was fine that this would be a good piece of investment property and if he did build the house then there were a few stipulations about it.  Eventually, Cameron and I had the plans drawn up to build but did not build right away.  We ended up moving into the house we are in now in June of 2009.

A couple of days after closing on the lot.

The day we closed on our first house.

After dad died in December 2009, I never thought that I would laugh again or smile again.  I never thought that my life would be "normal" again.  As you take a day at a time things get easier.   As each day went by I knew that my dad would want me to live my life smiling and laughing.  I knew that he would want me to keep pursuing every dream he had for me. 

Realizing that things are not the same as they were 2 years ago I knew I wanted my mom to have place up here in Raleigh.  She was spending more time up here and bringing Papaw and her three dogs with her. I know mom did not want to move up here  but I wanted to here to have a place that was hers when she does visit. After mom warmed up to the idea it was house hunting we went.

Long story short WE are the ones moving!

It has been a bitter sweet and whirlwind couple of weeks.  This is truly our dream home. The house that we bought is almost the exact floor plan that we had planned with my dad.  It has been a little tough being able to live this dream without him. I know that day we looked at the house he had some part in us finding this house. We are only a mile down the road from where we are now and my in laws are 2 miles down the road and Cameron's grandmother is less than a mile away.  Oh and did I forget to mention that Mom is moving into our house.  It was what she wanted all along.  She loves our neighbors and our neighborhood. 

I could not be happier that I Cameron and I are doing what my dad had planned for us.   Now that mom is staying at our house we will be able to see what we did to this house grow.  This was our first house we got together when we were married and we have so many memories in it.  We are ready to create new memories in our dream house and begin this new adventure.

Our dream house.

So I did not get to post on Monday updating my weight loss.   Last week was not a very good week for us because we were in Greensboro, NC.  We went there for the ACC Tournament. We had a blast but we were exhausted when we got back.  Sunday was Cameron's birthday. I was really glad Duke won or that would have been a really long ride back home.  What better birthday gift could Cameron get? Duke beating Carolina was the best gift ever.  We are ready to get back on the healthy train this week.

Here are some pictures from our trip. Enjoy!

At the ACC Hall of Champions

I might be a Duke fan but I am still a Wolfpack Girl at heart!

At one of the Duke games at the ACC Tournament

We Won!

It has been awhile since I blogged.  It is Mcfatty Monday.  I do have to say that my 6 week journey has been a success. I have lost 13 pounds and 13 inches off of my body.  I lost 4 inches off of my waist and 3 off of my hips.  I can not remember all of the other numbers but I know it was a total of 13 inches. 

I was so excited on Friday when I got the results.  I have an awesome trainer, Nicki, at O2 fitness.  I work out with her 3 days a week and I have stuck to a 1200 calorie diet.  I have been bad about going to do cardio on my off days. I am determined to get into the gym on the days that I do not work out with Nicki.

I know the 1200 calorie diet does not sound like a lot but I do get in 3 good meals a day.  It helps that I have cookbooks that help me stick to this. Here are couple of my favorite ones:

I hope to hit the gym hard and stick to the diet this week and I will let you know how I do next week.

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

So it is Monday again...

Cameron and I were pretty good this week as we tried to battle the bulge.  Unfortunately, we had the Emerald Society Ball on Saturday so the diet was blown and then Sunday we just did not feel like doing any cooking or at least I did not feel like it. 

We are back on the wagon again today. I woke up and went and worked out with Nicki. Then I went and had lunch with a friend.  I made sure to make a good decision at Jason's Deli. I had soup and a turkey wrap.

Here are the menus for the week:

Monday:
Roast with Caramelized Onions
Veggies

Tuesday:
Potato Bacon Corn Chowder
Chicken Chili

Wednesday:
Hawaiian Turkey Burgers
Potato
Veggies

Cameron and I had a low key Friday.  We took Rocky around the lake Friday morning. I thought I would never make it around the lake due to my legs being in so much pain from working out with my trainer the day before.  I went and got my hair cut and colored that afternoon and then we went to Target for a few items. We came back and I started cooking. We had Chicken Lasagna and it was PHENOMENAL.  While we ate dinner we started watching season 7 of 24. We absolutely love this show. We sat down and watch 4 episodes.

24 is a must watch show

On Saturday, I had a massage and then I came home and we chilled out. We had the Emerald Society Ball in Downtown Raleigh and wanted to rest up for that.  We watched a couple of more episodes of 24, took a nap, watched the Duke game, and then got ready for the evening.



































There we are at the Sheraton Downtown.  We had a blast with some of Cameron's squad members and their wives.  Our whole table won a door prize. We won tickets to The Producers, $50 to Solas and a nights stay in the Presidential Suite at the Sheraton.

All in all we had a great weekend! Hope you did too!

I am joining the bandwagon officially by calling today McFatty Monday. Heir to Blair has done a great job to blog about her weight struggles and everything that she has been through this past year.  If you are not reading her blog you need to. 

Everything that I went through this past year my body took the brunt of it.  I gained 25-30 pounds due to all of the stress.  I have been on so many medicines. I have had to change doses to figure out what is going to be best for me.  I have been able to cut down most of them to smaller doses but if I eat one cupcake I feel like I gain 5 pounds.

Cameron and I are both determined to lose the weight.  I have gained before and lost. I have done diets before, but the best one that has worked out is counting calories. We have been doing it for 2 weeks and I have lost 8 pounds.  I have an awesome personal trainer Nicki, who I work out with 3 days a week.  The other days I am going to do cardio.

Along with exercise I am also eating right.  I have sticking to a 1200 calorie diet and a 1300-1400 on the days that I work out with Nicki.

Here is our menu for the week ( I promise these are all low calorie):

Sunday (one of Cameron's friends came over for dinner):
      Chicken Fajitas
      Beef Tacos
      Guacamole

Monday:
        Blueberry Pancake
        Sausage
        Eggs (Egg Beaters for me)

Tuesday:
        Honey Mustard Pork Chops
        Peas
        Corn on the Cob
        Salad
        Green Beans

Wednesday:
        Salad
        Chicken Lasagna

Once I try all of these recipes out I will post if they are worth making again.  Every Monday I will try and give you an update on how I am doing.

My short term goal is to be down 25 pounds by Mexico in  April.  Here's to McFatty Monday.

Family Picture in the snow the day after Christmas

So far 2011 has been great and COLD.  I am sitting on the couch by the roaring fire and cuddling with Rocky. The husband is out working today and told me not to go outside due to the ice. I figured today would be best day to tell you my goals for 2011.

 My 2011 Goals:

1. Lose 40-50 Pounds, I gained a lot due to all of my medicines that I was on this past year.  I am off to a great start so far
2. Help Mom with the Dennis H. Jones Center for Life Transitions
3. To lose 25 Pounds by our Mexico trip in April
4. Go to the ACC Tournament in March (Tickets are bought =) )
5. Go to Vegas with the family
6. Read More
7. Exercise 6 days a week
8. Cook more healthy meals
9. Find a church and start going to church on a regular basis
10. Have more dinner parties
11. Be more social with other couples
12. Be the best daughter, granddaughter, daughter-in law, friend and wife that I can be