Weight Watcher Wednesday- The Anniversary!!!

ITS BEEN A YEAR!!

Its actually been little over a year since I started Weight Watchers so its my 

1st Weight Watcher Wednesday Anniversary!!

As I look back at this past year and this journey, the first thing I realize is just how fast it has gone by. So I must have had some fun, right? I honestly did.

On one hand, it was a journey full of adjustments, frustrations, and disappointments at times.

 On the other hand, it was full of hope, learned control, proud moments and looser clothes!!

YAY!!!

 
I have to say I am very proud at what I have accomplished over this last year. More than losing the weight I have proven to myself that anything is possible if I put my mind to it.

 I have been dealing with my weight since I was a little girl, and before this year, I just kind of figured I would have to deal with being a plus size woman the rest of my life because losing weight was just so out of my reach. Its hard to do, but I did it!!

I DID IT!!!

My total loss for the year is 38 lbs

and

I have lost almost 4 pant sizes!!! (O.M.G!)

I could say soo much more, but I think I've taken you through my journey
 enough to know the ins and outs of my experience, but I want to share some pictures instead.

These pictures on the left are pictures from my 40th B-day party (one year ago this Friday).

 Thinking back, I couldn't wait to wear this dress..I loved it, and still do!

So, I figured the best way for me to see my change was to put the same dress on again last night,

  and have my son take a few pictures of me and compare them.

 

 

Ok, so there is a difference,
and it makes me happy to see it, but I also feel the difference in many ways. 

Not just in my clothes, but my spirit, and my energy!

But for me, I have so much more to go.
This process is NOT over!

My next goal is to reach WW Lifetime status and although I have some work to get there, 

 it is definitely attainable. I have to get there so I can keep those resources available to me

that will help me through those tough times and moments of weakness in the future.

In the meantime, I want to Thank all of you that took the time to stop by and read my WW Wednesday updates throughout the year.  I appreciate it more than you'll ever know and have felt your love and support through your comments. I've also been told by a few of you that I have inspired you to either join WW or to at least make a change in your lives. That's soo awesome!
Part of my goal in sharing these updates was to hopefully do just that,
so I am truly flattered and grateful.

As for the future of my updates, I will probably update on occasion but probably not as often as I have. And I hope to update whether its good or bad. Wish me luck!

Happy Weight Watcher Wednesday!

From my corner to yours...

Monday Motivations - Born to Create!

Its my birthday week, so I thought it'd be appropriate to celebrate early with this inspiring poster:

As I get older, I am learning to appreciate what my purpose in life might be. 

And this is a beautiful reminder of what that is.

As a woman I have created:

love

life

a family 

friendships

laughter

 memories

knowledge
crafts
 pictures

words
 footprints

a legend

My goal is to continue to create:

more love

my boys to men

lifelong friendships

understanding

tolerance

beauty

courage

life skills

self esteem 

strength

confidence

ME!!

 What have you created in your life and how has that created who you are today?

From my corner to yours... may you take this week to ponder that thought.

Have a lovely week!

Foto Friday ~ Emotion

Its Foto Friday, and the theme for this week is...

 "Emotion" 

I've been wanting to share some pictures that fit this theme perfectly, but I didn't know how to share them until now...

One of the first projects I worked on this year was a scrapbook for some dear friends named, Lisa &  Alex and their baby boy, Asa. I haven't shared the pictures of the scrapbook yet because we wanted to give her the album first to avoid spoiling the surprise. The scrapbook is a very delayed baby gift my friend, Jen Counter, and I promised Lisa last year! Jen is this fantastic photographer (she's awesome), and she took some beautiful pictures at Lisa and Alex's baby shower and some of Lisa during her pregnancy.  My part of the gift was to put those amazing pictures into a scrapbook, and unfortunately it took me almost a year to get that done for her (Asa turns 1 in a couple of months!) . The great thing was that we gave it to Lisa last week when she least expected it, and her reactions were just great! So I happen to take some shots of her as she flipped through the book.

They exude Emotion!

First off I I have to say it that it makes such a difference to scrapbook with beautiful pictures, so I want to share a few pages in the book so you can see what she is reacting to...

 Here are her some of her reactions... Enjoy!

 

Don't you love it!
You can feel her excitement and her surprise as she flips through each page.
She was so cute!

To be honest, I wish the quality of the pictures had been better, but the lighting was bad in the coffee shop, and it affected the look a little bit. However, I wouldn't trade them for the world as long as I can remember her reactions like this.

It was a wonderful morning for all of us! Jen and I gave this too her with a lot of love, and we were soo happy to see how happy it made Lisa. She told us it was the best gift she had ever received. Awww...soo sweet!

Lisa and Alex, we hope you enjoy it always!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Foto Friday from my corner to yours...

Linking up at...

      

      

February Photo A Day Challenge Pictures... (Day 15 - 21)

Ok, so this week was a disaster!! I feel like I'm losing steam...I didn't shoot the themes on the right days, they were a hit and miss, and my strategy of having my pictures planned out...yeah, well not soo much!!

The only thing I did do this week that I hadn't done much of lately, was take the majority of my pics with my SLR. So I got some practice in with that camera and that felt really good.

Otherwise, I am going to share the picture themes as they came to me in random order...

 Technology

 This little gadget of technology is what I have been depending on to complete this photo challenge. It helps me get my pictures from my phone to my computer to this blog. I love it because its compact and it recoils on itself so its easy to keep handy. Technology is amazing!

Long Exposure (320sec)

Ok, so this was one that totally stumped me. So as I am still learning, I really didn't know what a long exposure was until I looked it up, and from the examples I saw I needed a Ferris wheel, a fountain, waterfall or a traffic jam to get a good shot. I had none of those available to me! So I came up with this in my kitchen sink (good grief!!) I honestly would love some constructive criticism on this one, and some tips on how to even set up a "real" long exposure shot. I would appreciate any help...Thank you in advance!!

 Silhouette

Its been kind of gloomy this last week so as soon as the sun came out I tried to take advantage and got this shot. I thought it was actually kind of cool! Reminded me kind of an 80's Band record cover, but its just Danny, Mikey and lil' ol me in the middle.

Something Orange

This was easy!! My hubby gave me this beautiful orange coat for Christmas and I'll admit that at first I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to enjoy it since it looks quite bright. However, orange seems to be in at the moment, and the more I wear it, the more I love it! Its unique and different and I've been able to coordinate a few outfits with it. I can dress it up or down. LOVE IT!!

To nicely organized in here

Everything that was stuffed in here

Something I bought
We went to IKEA this weekend and this is another store I love just stepping into. There are just soo many cool little things you can get for dirt cheap and feel like you've rearranged your life. So one of the things they had this time were these cool blue compartment boxes. It was $3.99 and I didn't even know what I wanted it for, but I just knew I wanted one! Silly I know, but it was so cute! So I quickly remembered that I needed to organize my sewing stuff  which was all shoved in to the little box on the left, and sure enough it was a perfect solution..

  My Shoes or (My Boots rather)

"These boots were made for walkin'..." Oh, Hi!  Lol! Anyway, I usually have a really hard time buying boots because of my darnbigcalves, but having found these, they have become my 'go-to' shoe this winter. Do you have a favorite pair??

Bokeh

Defined as the quality, amount and SHAPE of the blur in out-of-focus areas of an image. Another skill I am glad to have a chance to practice. I got these 2 shots in that I was happy with. Maybe my favorite shots of the week. 

A Faceless Self-Portrait

I'll be honest, I took this about a week ago, but I didn't need to use it, so I'm using it now!

You know what?...This random recap format was a lot more comfortable for me. Not having the pressure of doing the exact daily theme on the exact day felt more natural.  I feel like sometimes the themes just don't work on a specified day, so I think I will keep going this route. I will keep with the list for the week, but as it comes naturally and fluidly for me.

So on to the last week or so of this challenge. How have you been doing?? Let me know.

Thanks for checking in!

From my corner to yours...

Monday Motivations- Week 8

There is no right way to be creative....

 

This is honestly more of a motivational reminder to myself!! I am feeling a bit of a creative block this week, and a bit of pressure of sorts (pressure I am putting on myself), so I need to remember that I can't ever go wrong if I at least try!

May we all be open to creative mistakes and what those can lead to.

Have a wonderful week! 

From my corner to yours...

February Photo A Day Challenge Pictures... (Day 8 - 14)

Hello all!  Week 2 of this challenge was even a bit more difficult for me as I kept forgetting what my daily theme was, and finding something inspiring to shoot, but I tried my best. 

I did however, find a way to get in an opportunity to use my DSLR camera to take a few shots this weekend, as suggested by a guest comment. So thank you for that!

Day 8- A bad habit (list A) & Your sky (list B)        I am confessing one of my worst habits with this picture and that is that I bite my cuticles to the core!!! It is a gawd-awful habit and I'm totally embarrassed to show this, but maybe it might help me stop it...Maybe! Next to that mess, is the beautiful shot of my sky that day outside of my back door. The interesting thing I noticed was that the palm tree actually looks like a cute little giraffe hanging out! Do you see it?

Day 9- Somebody I Love (list A) & My Daily Routine (list B)

A)This is my hubby, Jerry, and I honestly got lucky enough to get this shot. He is camera shy and he was just back from a long day at work and winding down, so he was gracious enough to give me a sweet smile. Love you Babe!    B) I was not going to put everybody through a picture dump of my daily routine...it was too much even for me. So I am posting the one picture that holds true for me everyday. One of the many things I do in the morning is wash dishes. I HAVE to have the dishes done before I can do anything else, and the thing I love about that is that my Danny (& Mikey sometimes) is usually outside playing already and I just love watching them play outside while I wash dishes.  It just brings me comfort.


Day 10-  A Childhood Memory

I didn't even know I had this picture of myself until a few years ago when it was given to me by one of my best friends, Jessica. I love this picture, and I was in 4th grade so I must have been about 10? I love it. It just brings back soo many warm memories of my Catholic school days...St. Roberts, the uniforms, my friends (you know who you are ;]) Honestly, some of the best times of my life! I also remember how self conscious I was back then, and I just wish i could go back and tell that little girl soo many things about herself and how she was going to turn out to be...JUST FINE!








Day 11- A Close Up  
I had to switch the theme for this day with Day 12, as I forgot what I had to shoot for the day. But since I did take a whole bunch of pictures at my friend, Bethany's wedding shower with my DSLR, I will take the chance to share some of those now.  It was beautiful and very nicely decorated, and I shot every possible detail I could and some are actually closeups.

 



Day 12-Something Blue (List A)-  

Blue is one of my absolutely favorite colors. I just gravitate to it.  

This is one of my favorite blue vases up close. I love that dark tone.

 
Day 13- Me and 13 things in purse. (List A & B)

This theme wasn't hard to combine as I usually have more than just 13 things in my purse. Its usually a mess, but I had just cleaned it out so this picture is showing the minimum of what I usually carry.
I have my usual makeup, receipts hanging out of my wallet, and the RARE sight of a $5 bill hanging around (I rarely have cash on me). I am also loving these decorative flowers I have been finding to add as an accessory to my outfits or in this case my purse.

Day 14- EYES 

I had other plans for this picture but I went ahead and used the only eyes I had access to...my own!
I actually really like the way this came out. I realize how vulnerable I feel when I look at my eyes close up. The wrinkles that are showing up, the bags under my eyes, and the crows feet that I know I have give me such a reality check. However, having said that, I also realize that as much as these are signs of my "aging," they are also telling lines of what my life has been like. They are signs of all the crying I've done through the hard times in my life. They are happy wrinkles of all the laughing I have done, and those that know me know that I am no stranger to laughing out loud at almost anything! And the bags under my eyes are just witness to being the Mom that I am and all that entails including sleepless nights and long hours doing everything I need to do to keep my family running.

~~~~~~~~~~

So this is the end of Week 2, and again I am working hard to keep this going. This week I learned that preparation is probably key to this process. Knowing what picture themes are coming up will help me either get ready or think ahead of what inspirations I may want to look for instead of scrounging or stressing that same day to find what to shoot. So I will have my lists readily available and will try this strategy to see if this works for me.

I hope you enjoyed this week's pics and I will see you next week. Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you all a

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

from my corner to yours...