My wedding- link up.

Ok, I really don't know how to link up...because I use an iPad to blog on, but Mama, Holly, Hubby Jack, SkinnyMeg, and a few others have linked up today to talk about their wedding.  So, here is my review of my own.

<a href="http://thestanfieldclan.com/"><img src=" http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z468/suit1/new%201/weddinglink_zps6d0abc4e.jpg" alt="button" width="300" height="225" /></a>

When- September 27, 2008 (will be 5 years this September- CRAZY)

Where-  a random church in O'Fallon...if I had a redo I would get married at a winery/outside. We didn't know the pastor, church, or really anything about where and how to plan a wedding. The wedding service was planned, pre scripted, and took about 5 minutes.  (I really wanted to elope...) 

Bridal party- I had 3, he had 3, and we had 2 ushers.  I wouldn't change a thing.  (Unless we would have eloped...) 

Pictures- these were obsessive, and took may too many and too much time.  We had hours between the 5 minute ceremony and awesome reception. My favorite thing during this time was our stop at Smoothie King. Of course that is a must when it is practically across the street from the reception venue. 

The reception- Was wayyyyy too expensive, but we had a blast. It was at a beautiful golf course with an amazing view at sunset. We danced to "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds, and it was so sweet and meaningful for us. If we had to do it again I would have 1/2 the people (or we would have eloped).  Not that I like only 1/2 of the people, but it was so crazy expensive I can't believe my parents agreed to that. Our cake was amazing, and we had so much fun dancing. My parents even surprised us with a photo booth! It was a blast! 

The hubs- was sick....he had found ants in the house the day before and cleaned the house with bleach, and then vinegar....um, don't mix those. It creates a toxic gas, and his lungs were burned. He barely had a voice, and didn't even drink...WHAT? 

After the reception- I ate a sandwich from QT in the hotel hot tub, while the new hubs slept...it was way romantic. Ha! I could not have imagined sharing my wedding day with anyone more special than my hubs, and now we are on the ride of our lives together. 

We followed our wedding with an AMAZING honeymoon in Maui. It was the best time of my life, in the most beautiful place! We always said we would go back for our 5 year anniversary...I suppose we didn't understand what it was like to begin a family and have a 2 year old...not gonna happen. But someday we will return for more adventures and memories to be made...it maybe the perfect place for me to live out my dream of eloping, and renew our wedding vows down the road....::hint hint::

Enjoy the pics! 

It's summer time!

Schools out for summer and I have 2 months to spend with my mini :-) I am busy planning for her birthday next month, I can not believe she will be 2!!! I've decided on cupcakes and chevron....it should be pretty cute! 

We had our house on the market, but realized we were not sure if we really want to loose so much money right now to "move on", so we took it off the market and are going to move all of our "stuff" back home. (We had put a lot of stuff at my brother and sister in laws house about 15 months ago so we could stage our house, and I just want my stuff back, and I'm sure they want their space back).  We are moving on to our plan B for our house situation, and it requires some waiting, so in the mean time I am working on organizing my things and making this house more comfortable to live in with a busy messy toddler.  I am in a much better place mentally, then I was 2 months ago.  

Oh, and I went shopping with my mom recently and I tried on shorts in a size so small neither of us remember me wearing...like ever! Maybe middle school! Woot! My weight loss has been stalled for a while, but I'm lifting heavy and doing some HIIT workouts and noticed a change in my body composition.  Up next is insanity! Wish me luck! I'm not going to do the program in its entirety, but if I can't make it to the gym I figure it is better to try insanity than to sit around during nap time. 

Here are some things I have been loving lately:

Bic Bands- they really keep your hair back and stay in place during a crazy workout, or wile running around after a toddler. I got a skinny sparkle one in gunmetal. http://www.bicbands.com/

Kiki La Rue- Love the styles and reviews of all the clothes and fits, along with the most amazing customer service you will find on online shopping. http://www.kikilarue.com/

Cookie butter- from Trader Joes, tastes like a snicker doodle with a little crunch. So far I have only eaten it with a spoon :-) 

Lara bars- the peanut butter chocolate chip one is A-FREAKING-MAZING!! All natural ingredients, no added chemicals or things you can not pronounce, only 3-4 ingredients per bar. And they use fair trade chocolate- which means it tastes better in my book. http://www.larabar.com/

And of course now my favorite bloggers/keekers to follow- MamaLaughlin, SkinnyMeg, and Becka from Kiki La Rue, Hubby Jack, and Holly. Check 'em out, you won't be disappointed! 

When life's getting you down...blog...

Ha! I have been a very emotional person this week (no I am not pregnant). I am just stressed; at home, at work, with myself, and pretty much with anyone I encounter. This is not like me and I'm not sure how to turn my frown upside down.

This whole house selling and waterproofing is not going well in my book right now. We have to get the house waterproofed so we can sell it (county inspection regulations) and I am pretty sure it has rained every day....we have had a few showing, and received feedback (which is great) but it is never any info that we can work with. I'm sorry the rooms are too small, the stairs are too steep, the street is too busy, the basement leaks (as of right now). The house is 100 years old, and frankly I love it! It has original stained glass pocket windows, built in book shelves, all brick exterior, and it's just plain cute! I'm totally over having to "stage" the house for a showing...with a toddler who runs around and unstages everything before we can even get out of the house. But, I am going to have to just suck it up and move on...do not spend more time dwelling on something I can not change, and work with what I got.

Some fun things that have been happening lately- Allie is now asking questions "what's that?", and singing entire songs! Abc's and rock a bye baby and itsy bitsy spider and wheels on the bus....it's so freaking cute! We will get in the car and she will ask for "music please". I hope she takes after her father on that one, cause this momma can't carry a tune to save my life. Also, Allie pulled the wagon home from the ice cream shop (.75 miles!), it was crazy cute- she is so strong! And the next day we enjoyed an impromptu parade right down out street! We had an awesome weekend at the 4 Hands Food Truck Festival- every single thing I wanted to try was gone by the time we got there...so I enjoyed the beer instead :-) and we had a great time at the St. Louis Earth Day Festival in Forest Park.

Also, I went to Time For Dinner with some of my girlfriends this week and made meals that are all ready to be cooked. I love it! I kind of fell off my food planning/menu making wagon (hence the stall in weight loss as well). As of now I have 15 meals ready to be heated up for dinners! That's such a good feeling, with the end of the school year getting close things are getting busy! And I weighed in today and am finally back to loosing 1# per week! Hope I can keep it up! This is the lowest I've been since highschool! Only 10-15 more to reach my "ultimate goal" (really my "ultimate goal was 15 pounds ago...but if I am still loosing I can't stop here!) my husband thinks I'll stop when I weigh 7#... But really the end is in sight! I'm working on toning my muscles for the summer, and already bought a swim suit! I also have a goal to try to eat "cleaner"- less foods with sugars and such...we will see how it goes. I'm pretty much a sugar addict. But I am scared to commit to the Whole30 fad right now...maybe when I hit another plateau.

Well I will stop boring you all for now! But make sure to check out some of my favorite bloggers- Mama Laughlin and Skinny Meg- they are totes funny and fit!

Bloggin' 'round...

Hi, it's me again...the girl who blogs once every couple of months. Let me just say these last couple of months have been CRAZY!

Allie is now 21 months old- picking up an average of 100000 words per day, and pretty much knows what you are talking about at all times. She is becoming Ms. Independent and she knows it. I'm ok with it most of the time, but some things she does are just ridiculous- sitting in the parking lot because she wants to walk, and I let her walk if she is holding my hand, but she refuses so she sits down in the parking lot until I pick her little wet noodle body up and carry her...oh and she has bit me 2 times, good thing she enjoys "time out".... But really on a good note she is so funny and cute and says the funniest things. Too smart for her own good ;-)

Our house is back on the market- we were trying to get it waterproofed before we listed it on, but that is taking FOREVER because of the wet weather. Our basement sump pump has been installed, and our floor has been repainted and looks amazing! We are just waiting for the cracks in the wall to be injected and waterproofed, which can only be done when it is not wet and leaking. Then we will paint the walls and be done with it! Well besides moving things around. 1/2 of all of our stuff is either at my brothers house or in storage, I have no idea what I own any more :-/

All this selling and moving is overrated. It sucks...I'm hoping its better on the other side once we sell (God willing someone will buy our house) and find a new house and move in. I'm sure we will be busy but being able to have a messy house once in a while will be delightful.

Scott's grandma has a big birthday coming up! She will be 99 in 21 days! She is one of the oldest people that I have ever met. Unfortunately, she recently had a medical set back and is no longer living at my in-laws. We had a great visit with her today and she was able to see Allie (and us) for a little bit. I'm hoping with all the extra prayers and support she will get better soon!

And lastly Scott and I had our first big trip without Allie! We went to New Orleans, one of our favorite places! We stayed in a room that didn't have a window to the outside, which was great for sleeping! And we ate and drank so much good food! Places we ate at include: Surrey's (stuffed bananas fosters french toast- O.M.G.), Mother's (po-boys- ehh...I wouldn't go back), Yo Momma's (burger with peanut butter and bacon- sounds gross but it was great!), Cafe du Monde (beignets- yummy), Acme Oyster Bar (biggest oysters I've seen in my life, but I had the best po-boy and hush puppies), Central Grocey (best muffuletts ever. And we partied at Razoos and Pat O'breins and a dozen other bars that I don't remember. We need a vacation from our vacation! Whew!

Oh and a few other things to mention about these past few months, we had a HUGE snow storm at the end of March, and we ended up having a snow day on a Monday! It was great then, but I'm paying for it now by trying to catch up with all my evaluations and paper work at work. Scott and his mom celebrated a birthday! We celebrated by going to SugarFire BBQ near us and it is AMAZING! Best BBQ Ive had in a while. Oh, and it was Easter. We celebrated in Troy with an Easter egg hunt and the creepiest Easter bunny around, and then again in O'Fallon with just my mom, dad, grandma, and grandpa- very low key this year.

I hope to post more frequently...but until then here are a few pics for you to enjoy!

Update on me!! ;-)

Recently was looking back at some pictures and thought wow...

Then I thought:

1) I look pretty good now
2) How did I get like I was before (insert chocolate chip cookies here)
3) I'm sad I did that to myself
4) I'm sad that I've had to spend the time and effort to get healthy
5) I'm so glad I have had so much support the past 7 months
6) 26# is a lot of weight!!
7) I'm at my lowest weight since beginning college
8) Only 7.5 more # until my high school weight!!
9) I can do it!!
10) I am worth it!!!

One day I just decided I was going to start working out and eating better- I had, had it and I wanted to look and feel better- and something just clicked. I was at the weight I had been when I got pregnant but I didn't feel good, I had a weird crease in my back (yes- back fat...) and it was uncomfortable to sleep on my side. I didn't fit into any clothes I wanted to wear and I was beginning to not be able to shop at the "regular" stores I liked anymore. It made me sad- I was a new mom (ok so I had a 13 month old... But I had just stopped nursing) I should be cute and go out with my baby and feel good about meeting new mom friends! But instead I could barely find something to wear...

With the help of the Lose It! app for my first 11 pounds and My Fitness Pal for the next 15, as well as all my friends and family I did it!! Slowly but steadily. I've ranged about 1 pound a week loss (the holidays were hard but totally worth it) I still go out and eat, go to happy hours, and drink- I just make sure not to do that everyday. I keep a close eye on my calories- I try to keep close to 1500 a day but usually hover around 1700. I workout about 5-6 days a week at my AWESOME gym! This is a lifestyle change- I'm not trying to drop a lot of weight quick (which really sounds awesome), but instead I'm trying to slowly drop the weight while building muscle to help burn more calories over time.

My pool workouts are awesome! I'm using swimming splits I used in high school and having no problem meeting them!! I'm upping my step mill workout ever so slightly- I started at 75 flights of stairs in 30 minutes, now I'm at 115!!!! And my ultimate goal is 200 flights in 45 min (the best I've done is 185). I leg press 300# easily now, and I am working on increase reps. I hope to just keep going to get stronger and slimmer, and to be healthy an active for my baby girl. So, today I am 26 pounds lighter then when I got pregnant. I hope to never see that weight again- ever (even if I ever get pregnant).

Here is my "before" from July 2012 and my "after" from February 2013. It's not a staged before and after photo. I never thought if myself as a "before" person, but now I am totally an "after" ;-) Maybe I should take a picture now just to see what happens in the next 6 months!

Fancy restaurants

For lack of a better place to keep this "list" I'm writing a blog so I can remember all the places we have went for anniversaries and Valentines days.

Valentines Day-
'06- Monarch
'07- Copia
'08- Millennium
'09- Harvest
'10- Niché
'11- Trattoria Marcella
'12- Sidney Street
'13- Dewey's Pizza- can you tell we have a toddler ?!

Anniversaries-
'09- Grafton, IL
'10- Copia (it burned down in '07 and was rebuilt in '10
'11- Bristols
'12- Farm Haus

Happy February!

The first month of 2013 has come and gone- and what a busy month is has been!

Allie is just about 19 months old, and talking up a storm. She is becoming more independent and not wanting to be held too much any more. She is a little sponge and soaking up everything we do/say these days, and LOVING choo-choos! This past week was tough because she had the stomach flu, so she was a little under the weather most of the week. On my days off she was able to get caught up on sleep and get better. We attended a busy bag swap last weekend where we swapped 23 bags of activities to keep little hands busy. The bags are so awesome! I can't wait for Allie to understand more of them, but until then we will play with the ones she understands :-) We also had a play date on Friday with some local mommas and their adorable kiddos- Allie has a great time playing with other kiddos and it is so fun to see her interact with them!

As far as my New Years Resolutions- I have continued to drop weight, about a pound a week, and I have taken 2 NEW (to me) exercise classes so far! Kettle ball- which I really loved after I saw how sore I was a few days after- I've been using a few of the moves in my everyday workouts. I also tried a new studio called Barre3- it is a mix between Pilates, yoga, and Ballet. It was a free class, so I couldn't pass something like that up! I'm glad I did it, but I will probably not be going back- I wasn't sore enough the next day ;-)

On a more solemn note my aunts brother passed away this month. He was a great guy and touched so many lives. Our deepest thoughts are with his family at this difficult time. Also, one of our favorite child care workers from the J passed away this past weekend. She was in charge of the Kid Zone and made sure all the kids were always well cared for. She had been battling a series of illnesses recently, and we were looking forward to her coming back soon...she will be missed by many. Rest In Peace.....