Weigh In Wednesday

It's my first Weigh In Wednesday in about a month, and I've been dreading today since I decided to "take a break" from my diet so I could "enjoy August". I wanted to have fun with Joe before orientation started and, of course, during orientation and the first couple weeks of school. Since I still have a warped relationship with food, I couldn't imagine that fun could be had without food (and alcohol).

But a few things happened lately that made me want to get back to work at weight loss. The biggest one was my response to Joe not wanting to go to the graduate gala this month.

I LOVE any excuse to dress fancy and would normally be super excited that there was a gala coming up. But when Joe told me about it last week, my first thought was, 'Oh my gosh. Not so soon! I haven't had a chance to lose weight for it. How am I going to find a dress that will look good?!' Joe then said he thought it was too expensive and he'd rather us not go unless I really wanted to. Instead of being disappointed in missing out on the fun, I was relieved. Joe was probably impressed that I was willing to forgo the gala to save $$$, but honestly it's because I would have been stressed about it and embarrassed. How sad is that?! The dental school hosts its own gala in December, and I refuse to miss that one because I feel like I am too fat. So it's a perfect motivator! 

There have been other instances lately where the first thing I think is, "I'm too fat for that." I am so sick and tired of thinking that way. And during our weekly dates I've been wanting to take pictures to document what we are doing, but it ends up making me super depressed because I always look SO huge in the pictures. Poor Joe has to take at least 20 of me before I find one that I can live with. Way to take yourselves out of the moment, Kate.

So Sunday I decided that I'd start my weight loss journey again. I've been doing great since, but was still petrified to see the damage when I stepped on the scale the first time after the binge-fest that was August.

Somehow, though, when I stepped on the scale this morning this is what I saw:

Uh. What? If you recall, at my last Weigh In Wednesday on 7/31 I weighed 199.8. So I am actually LESS than my last WIW post? (okay, only 0.2 - but less). I do know that I got down to 198 the morning I decided to postpone my diet, so I did gain some weight- but only 1.6 pounds. Not sure HOW the damage was so little, but I am so relieved. I didn't even get back in the 200's!!!!

I have some theories why it wasn't worse (the main one being that chasing a 4 and 5 year old around burns serious calories haha), but whatever it is I am seriously happy. 

That said, had I not gone off the wagon, I would probably be close to (or even in) the 180's. So next time I want to go off the wagon for an extended period of time, I'm going to consider the weight I would have lost too. Otherwise this could be a dangerous precedent.

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So THIS is What Dental School is Really Like...

Not only does Joe now have scrubs and fake teeth, but tomorrow he has his first dental school exam. That means I've pretty much only seen him for meals and Breaking Bad since Sunday morning. ***Side Note*** O.M.G. THAT SHOW!!!! ***End of Side Note***

Although tests are always unenjoyable and usually scary, there's a certain happiness that comes from this one. After such a LONG road to get here, we feel so blessed that he even has the opportunity to take a dental school test at all. While I never doubted the day would come, I did have fears it wouldn't be here yet (it's not uncommon to have to apply to dental school more than once- Joe was very VERY fortunate to get his top choice his first year). So this is actually really exciting!

But that doesn't mean it doesn't suck. After having Joe off of school for over a year, it's weird to not have him to myself (and Buster, of course) at nights. I'm finding myself getting bored of all my "me time" already, which probably isn't a good sign. I have officially taken on the burden of cooking, laundry, and cleaning - which does help keep me occupied to an extent-  but there's only so much that can be done (and I hate all 3 of those things, so there's only so much that WILL be done haha).

I'm trying hard to embrace being a dental school wife, but I have a feeling it'll take a while to adjust. I'll definitely need some hobbies. ***Side Note*** Hey! Maybe I can finally practice using my fancy camera! *** End of Side Note*** 

Until then, I'll just have to take full advantage of any time I do get to spend with Joe. For this week's date, we are going to the driving range! Should be an awesome mini-escape (and hitting the balls will be a great stress reliever haha).

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I Wasn't Chased By Zombies Today...

But I DID do my 5k training.

***Side Note*** Fooled ya, didn't I? Thought I bailed after one day? As if ;) ***End of Side Note***

Contrary to its name Zombies, Run - apparently this app doesn't always give you zombies. There was a (brief) storyline today, but not a single walker. In the story, I have just arrived at a settlement and am training to be a supply runner.

You know, kind of like Glenn from Walking Dead:

I started out with a 10 minute walk, then did 10 drills of 1 minute walking and 15 seconds of running, and finished up with 10 minutes of "free form run" (which basically is just do whatever speed you want.) The head doctor of the settlement would encourage me every now and then and remind me that I need to practice my running before I can face the zombies.

Hopefully I don't have to practice TOO long before some zombies come. At this rate, the app isn't much more exciting than C25K. I read the preview of the next workout and it said that I'll still be practicing with the doctor, but I "might have some company."

Please, oh please have that company be a zombie!

You are only supposed to do the training every other day, so I won't find out until Thursday (I have to work all day on Wednesdays, so am going to use those as my recovery days). And, despite my disappointment with my zombie-free work out, I do think this will be a fun way to train.

Just please hurry up and get EXCITING!

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I Joined a Gym!

Almost two months ago I wrote a post proclaiming that I was going to join a gym. I never did. (Which, given the fact I took the entire month of August off from trying to lose weight, was the right financial decision I guess.)

Now that I can't justify another second of being in "celebration mode," I decided that I was going to get serious again about losing weight as of today.

***Side Note*** I originally pressed pause because I wanted to feel like I could go to the social events that were happening during orientation and the beginning of dental school. Now that Joe is fully in the swing of things (he has his first test Wednesday and will likely be studying for it all day today), it's time that I start trying to lose weight again. Plus, moving forward, my 11ish hour a day job will now have a 5 hour break because the girls will be at school. With that break in my day, I have no excuse NOT to use it to exercise ***End of Side Note***

Now that I have FINALLY lived up to the promise that I was joining a gym, I figure I can also start working toward the promise I made in my 50th blog post. That promise is one that scares me a lot: I am going to run in the Philly Oral Cancer Walk and 5k this April.

I hate running. Like, seriously hate it. But it plays such a huge role in so many of the successful weight loss stories I see, that I know I need to suck it up and try. I've started C25K a couple times and quit once I had to run more than 5 minutes in a row. While I know that program is very popular and successful, I feel like I need to start fresh with a different program.

So, since I've always said that the only reason I'd run is if I was being chased by someone wanting to kill me (and even then - let's be real - I'd just be running to the nearest hiding place), I found the most appropriate app to help me train: Zombies, Run 5k.

After all, even though Walking Dead's #1 rule for survival is, "DON'T DEAD OPEN INSIDE" ;)

Zombieland taught us that the #1 rule for survival is CARDIO!

So why not use the threat of imaginary zombies chasing me down to try to motivate me to run? It's definitely a creative take on training for a 5k.

Plus, I found this 5k last month and am dying to participate next summer (no pun intended hahaha).

Today I just did the introduction, which allowed me to go at whatever speed I wanted. Once I start the program, I think it's going to have specific times where I need to pick up the pace or else I may get eaten.

Stay tuned to see if I survive!

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Sports Date

Joe and I just completed our weekly date and now he is off watching the Notre Dame game with some new friends (go Irish!). I'd go too, if I wasn't still recovering from last night (boy do I feel old). So, instead, I'll do a re-cap of our date :)

If you recall, Joe pulled another yellow date from its jar this week. The instructions were to watch a sports movie and eat foods that you'd find in a stadium for dinner. Joe was excited because he loves sports, but I was a little bummed because I was hoping for something more active after our two previous dates involved eating and watching a movie (though having created the dates for the date jars, I only have myself to blame haha).

Despite not being as excited as I have been previous weeks, I still spent the week wondering what super classic sports flick we'd wind up watching. I was hoping Netflix would have options like Rudy, Field of Dreams, A League of Their Own, Invincible, or even Space Jam ;). Unfortunately, we were disappointed today to find that instant streaming had some pretty pathetic options in the sports category.

Oh, well.

Since we were underwhelmed by the options on Netflix (and Hulu), we decided that we would FINALLY start Friday Night Lights. I've heard forever what a great show it is, and we have talked about starting it for months and just haven't.

Not only did we start it, but we blasted through 4 episodes. I guess you could call us fans already :)

For the food portion of the evening, I made hot dogs and nachos. We also had sunflower seeds and peanuts on hand. Joe was in heaven.

We both dressed in Cardinal garb, and I wanted a pic of us but my camera won't focus right when we do the self-timer (note to self... need a remote!) and we aren't too good at selfies.

Of course, I figured out a solution when Joe was getting ready to go out. Oh, well, next time we'll know to use a mirror.

Overall, it was a fun evening. Here's to hoping our next date gets us out of the house, though :)

Hope you are all having a fun weekend!

Frat Party

So last night Joe and I did something I never did when I was in college: we went to a frat party.

The idea that there are dental fraternities surprised me, I always thought frats were an undergraduate thing. But there are, and Joe is joining one. Thankfully, they don't force you to rush ;)

The party was really fun! They had a ton of free alcohol, the place was packed, and they had beer pong set-up. I LOVE me some beer pong.

Unfortunately, I am grossly out of practice and one of our competitors was a beer pong god! He sunk almost every single shot, explaining he is good because he analyzes the X and Y axis (or something like that... I was lost after I realized he was speaking math. Darn these Ivy League smarties). This means our playing time was sadly short and we had to drink a lot of beer (apparently losers have to drink whatever beer the winners have left. So for us... that was all but three of the cups. Yum. That went well with my vodka drink and gin jello shot. Not.)

After our round, we did some mingling and I finally met a dental fiancee and wife! Yay! It was so loud in that house that we couldn't really hear each other, but at least I finally got to meet some other ladies like me. Hopefully we can hang out again and actually have a conversation that doesn't include shouting and saying "what?" dozens of times.

Toward the end of the night I had to go to the bathroom. I set my iPhone next to the sink and it promptly slid between the vanity and the wall. I couldn't reach it for the life of me and started freaking out. I ran to find Joe and shouted to him "Emergency! Emergency!" (yes, the vodka, gin, and beer had fully hit by this point). He came running after me (Lord knows what he thought was going on) and I pulled him in the bathroom and explained the predicament. He tried everything he could think to get the phone out, but nothing worked. Then I remembered that I had a tape measure in my purse (don't ask - my purse is a bottomless pit) and we used that to hook the phone and pull it. Success!

My excitement of having my phone back was short-lived, as I realized we had shut and locked the door and I could start to hear voices from outside. Fearing people were thinking Joe and I were getting it on expressing our marital love in the bathroom (after all, there were lots of yells of "its not working," "almost there," "come on come on," and even a "ya! it's coming!"), I turned off the light and bolted out of the bathroom past a line of people. Pretty sure that just made the whole thing even more suspicious.

Oh, well. People were so drunk I doubt they'll remember. Either that, or Joe will get some high fives on Monday.

We left around midnight and promptly passed out. This morning, I woke up feeling like a truck hit me. Luckily I am starting to feel better, because Joe and I have our date jar night tonight! The date he pulled is sports-themed. We are going to watch a sports movie (or two) and eat food that people eat at sporting events.

I better enjoy stuffing my face today, since tomorrow I am finally going to get back on the wagon with eating right and exercising. I am petrified that this last month of celebrating Joe starting school will have reversed all the good I did in July. If it did, I certainly deserve it...

Apartment Tour

Three months.

That's how long Joe and I have called Philly home. That's also how long it has taken for me to feel like our apartment is "ready" to have pictures taken of it for the blog.

***Side Note*** To be fully honest, nothing has changed about the apartment in at least a month, it's just been messy and I finally had a chance to do some much needed tidying up since I had the day off today ***End of Side Note***

I keep thinking that there is more that I need to do (eg: hang some curtains, get some throw pillows) before giving ya'll an apartment tour, but where I live is always a work in progress. I'm sure the day we move to our next apartment/home I'll feel like I never *finished* this one.

That said, the apartment definitely looks more complete than the last time I posted pics (from Joe's tour in April).

So, without further ado, La Casa de Brier:

***Side Note*** I clearly have NOT figured out how to use my fancy camera. Apologies in advance for the lighting issues. Adjusting the white balance would have done a world of good haha ***End of Side Note***

Kitchen/Living Room/Dining Room:

Notice my LOVE picture from this post? Also, I got that rug in the clearance section at Crate and Barrel for just $20!

Couches were found at thrift stores. The red stools were white stools that I bought on Craigslist and painted.

You can tell from this picture that we love our wine ;) and we also like to cook. Way too many gadgets to fit in the cupboards.

This is Buster's favorite spot on the couch. We call it his kitty position.

Entry:
 

I am proud of the entry because I hung that purse hanger thingy on the wall all by myself! I also painted chevron on two canvases to add a little color to the entry.

Bathroom:

Not much to say about a bathroom. But now you see where my dreaded scale is.

I love rubber duckies

Further proof

Joe's Office:

The room I've lost my hubby to. He loves having his own space. See his white coat!?

Have to have some dental stuff here. I found that pillow at Ikea and Joe painted the tooth on a canvas.

This is where you'll find Buster any time I am at work and Joe is studying

Bedroom:

See! I also have my own space :) I haven't done nearly enough crafts yet to warrant a craft area, so I'll need to step it up :)

Notice Buster's hoodie in the upper left corner? Just wait until I get some pics of him in it this winter :)

Yay! A TV in our room! We didn't have one in our last place, and we don't have cable connected now, but it is still nice for watching movies

And there you have it. Our home sweet home :)