California Love

 Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Patrick and I have officially been residents of California for over a week now and we wanted to share with you our journey so far.

About a week and a half ago Thursday, we left at 4am. Earlier in the week we said goodbye to our families and friends. To my credit, I only cried twice. Once on the car ride home from seeing Elise and twice when I had to say goodbye to my nephews. I mean, I cried other times that week (I am a human), but only those times in front of people. Also, I really held it together the morning we left my parents' house. But I attribute that to the fact that it was 4am.

Anyway, we packed up the car Wednesday night and we were packed TO THE GILLS, people. We had a S-Cargo carrier on top of the car that was full (and questionably attached to the top of the car by Patrick, Lee, and my dad). And the back portion of my car had literally no space and, one time, a muffin tin fell on Memphis.

So Thursday morning, I slept through most of Iowa. Patrick was a real trooper and did that leg pretty much on his own. Well, he drove the whole thing, but that part was without my moral support. I woke up for the tail end of Iowa and then the front part of Nebraska.

Now. No disrespect to Nebraska, everyone, but it is, like, the WORST state to drive through. And we didn't drive through part of it. We drove straight through the exact middle, which takes about 8 hours. And it's 8 hours of flatness. And 8 hours of being unsure when we'd find the next gas station (although that was Nevada too).

So I fell asleep in the afternoon of Thursday too. I pretty much sucked as a driving buddy on Thursday.   We got to Laramie, Wyoming (yes, like Fort Laramie from the Oregon Trail!) around 7:30 the first night. But it was 8:30 for us because we were then in Mountain Time, so we went back in time. So Patrick drove 16 and a half hours.

When we woke up Friday morning (at 6:30am), we found that it had, like, iced/snowed overnight.

And because we figured we were going to California, we didn't pack our ice scrapers. And the gas station didn't have any in stock yet. But they did have this random ice spray? And that helped. But that Friday morning drive was just a little treacherous. I stayed awake as moral support for Patrick that morning until I deemed it safe enough to take a nap. But then I only napped for like a half hour. I promise I'm not the worst wife ever!

Also, at this point, I should mention little Memphis poochie puppy, who was the real trooper. Poor boy is a very active doggy by nature and I think this trip was pure torture to him. But he mostly slept and laid. At first he wasn't really drinking any water either (we think because he was unsure of when rest stops would be), but then we tricked him by giving him ice. For those of you who don't know, our dog treats ice like treats. It was like Christmas for Memphis on parts of this trip.

                  

Anyway, After Wyoming came Utah, which was probably the prettiest state we drove through.

Also, it was downright enjoyable because we were in Utah for about 4 hours.

 Then came Nevada. And Nevada was okay, but it was also very long. It was cool around Reno, though.

And finally, Friday night, we made it into California! We stayed an hour outside of San Mateo since we couldn't get our keys until 9am anyway. So that night, we stayed in Vacaville (which in spanish means "cowville"...fitting for us Wisconsinites!). We got in at 8pm that night, but again, we had gone back in time (official Pacific timers now!), so Patrick drove 14 hours that day. I am a lucky, lucky gal! To show my appreciation (and because I wanted some), I introduced Patrick to In 'n Out burger.

He approved.

Saturday morning, we drove across the Bay Bridge into the city! And it was a beautiful day and it was kind of surreal that this is going to be our stomping grounds for the next few years!

We couldn't believe we made it and that the S-Cargo actually stayed on the whole trip! Like, seriously guys, there was duct tape and random things tied and zip ties and the thing made weird noises the whole time.

We got our keys and all the boxes arrived so we set to work unpacking!

With the priority being (obviously) the kitchen, I set my goal to get most of it unpacked Saturday night. I did pretty well Saturday. So well, that we got our first grocery shop Saturday night. This is where we learned our first California rule: Bring your own bags to the grocery store.

Now. We usually have our own bags anyway. But we JUST got here and the bagging boy looked at us like we grew up under a rock. I mean we had to buy EVERYTHING at the grocery store because so much couldn't be packed. So this was a fairly large grocery shop. So you get charged 10 cents per bag and there is NO plastic bags at all. Very environmentally friendly. But one, even if our reusable bags came out here with us, there's no way they got unpacked that day. And two, I actually use plastic grocery bags for the gigantic Memphis excrement that usually doesn't fit in those small dog bags you find at parks.

ANYway. The guy looks at us like we are cavepeople "Didn't you know that?" he asks. "No," Patrick says, "We just moved here today from Wisconsin where we give people bags for free". The checkout girl then gave us all of our bags for free and told us not to worry about it. But I've been again and I can tell you I have brought my bags each time to avoid ridicule. Lesson learned.

That night, we ate Chinese food in style. My sister Erin started me on this tradition, but I wholeheartedly embrace it. The first night in a new place, one should eat Chinese food out of the container. We also drank some champagne my parents' friends gave us.

The rest of the week, I unpacked and organized our new little living situation. Here's a small picture. Mind you, those will not be the chairs for that area (those are chairs for the table). We need new chairs. But you get the idea. And! We have a fireplace!

Monday, Patrick had his first day at Google. So he set out to work in his new gear:

What a handsome guy! And, in between unpacking and organizing, I have since set to applying for jobs and getting my RN license transferred. Definitely the "not fun" part of this whole thing. 

This weekend, though, we did a little exploring. Friday night, we went into Downtown San Mateo (it's a small quaint downtown. I like it) and had dinner and saw Bad Grandpa (so funny and so disgusting). 

Saturday we hit up a pumpkin patch in Fremont

And Saturday night we took the Caltrain into the city and had dinner at a restaurant called Town Hall. And it was so so delicious. I forgot my phone otherwise I'd have pictures. They had really great Old Fashioneds (holy grail to Wisconsinites) But the best part was dessert! We had pumpkin bread pudding with an almond brittle on top. Oh my gosh, we ate the whole thing. I can't even describe how delicious it was. It was cinnamon-y and pumpkin-y and gooey and crunchy. It was Fall dancing on my taste buds.  I'm definitely going to experiment for Thanksgiving!

So that has been our first week or so out here in the Golden State! Now that we're unpacked and everything, I'll be cooking again and can share some more fun healthy recipes! While I'm definitely not going to be as strict diet-wise, I want to work out regularly and eat well. I found that it was pretty easy to do so, so might as well stay on track! Plus. The holidays are coming up and it's way more fun to hog out when you've been working hard up until then.

Hope everyone else has a great week! We miss everyone so so much! Especially these little guys:

Mr. and Mrs!

Hey, everyone!

Well. We did it! We tied the knot! And the evening was so wonderful (if not a little bit wet) and I wish that we could relieve October 4th-13th forever and ever.

The week before was just a touch rough. But honestly not too bad. I had heard wedding week horror stories, but I think Patrick and I prepared ourselves pretty well. We had some last minute things to do. And we had one kinda big fight. And I ate vanilla wafers with Nutella on them once.

My mother and father are dears and helped me with some last minute DIY things...

And then Patrick's mom Beth helped me stamp everyone's place card with little winecup and grape stamps. And then my mom and I went to Victoria's to tie green raffia around about 400 napkins.

And then it was finally Friday night and our rehearsal and rehearsal dinner was great and we got to see a few people the night before and talk and laugh about the fact that the date was just HERE now! We'd been waiting so long and then it just showed up!

I didn't sleep a wink Friday night. I take that back. I think I slept somewhere between the hours of 5:00am and 7:30am because I had a strange dream in which the brakes of my car didn't work and I backed into a woman's car in a grocery store parking lot. Weird.

At 8:00 all the ladies got their hairs done and a few got makeup and before I knew it, it was 11:15 and I was heading to the church with my sisters. I had a very Old Hollywood Glam looking going for the wedding which was fun and I had a fun birdcage veil that I wore....and it drove. me. so. nuts during the ceremony that I took it off immediately afterwards. But I had a very complete "look" during the ceremony.

And then during the ceremony I cried. But so did Patrick. So it's okay. But it was really beautiful and wonderful and I would do it all over again and in the exact same way.

Afterwards we took pictures in the 3rd Ward with our awesome photographer and then we made our way to the Edelweiss boats to have some fun on the river. It was then that the Heavens decided to open up and DOWNPOUR just as we were making our way onto the boats. They say it's good luck/means many blessings to have rain on your wedding day. If that's the case, we will be just fine for life because it was like sheets of rain for about 20 minutes. Everyone (well. Everyone except me because I think I had two umbrellas and about 5 people holding up my dress...) got soaked to the bone.

But after all that downpour, it was actually a beautiful day. Then we went to the Marcus Center for Performing Arts and ate a little bit of food (it's true what they say. The bride and groom don't eat a whole lot) and got to talk to all of our fabulous and wonderful guests who braved the weather to be with us. We were just so thankful everyone came and we had such a great time!

Saturday night, we stayed in our honeymoon suite about 5 hours. We got up at 5:30 am to get to the airport to fly to Jamaica at 7:40. We hit Montego Bay right around 4 pm and the trip was so awesome. We literally laid on the beach and ate and drank to our little hearts' content. And the honeymoon is why brides torture themselves and it makes it all worth it!

We drank champagne almost every night, ate appetizers with almost every meal, and usually had dessert as well. Not gonna lie, I felt like a beached whale by the end of the week in my swimsuit, but I really didn't care all that much. I felt like all my hard work and dieting paid off because I felt great. 

Our last night, Patrick surprised me with dinner on the beach which was really romantic and fun 

And then Sunday morning we left. I highly highly recommend an all-inclusive resort and I highly highly recommend Jamaica. Everyone was incredibly nice and kind to us and we just had a blast! We were pretty sad to leave paradise, but also excited for everything we have to look forward to! 

Now it's our last week in Wisconsin and I'm packing up the car with the last of the wedding gifts and mapping our 31-hour drive to San Mateo. 

We'll keep you posted with our lives in The Golden State and we're pretty sure we won't find the cows to be happier ;) 

So We've Got Big News...

Hey everyone! We've got huge news!

No, we're not pregnant....

We're moving to California! Some of our friends and family know this already, but we couldn't tell everyone until Patrick made things official at work. So now we can tell everyone that as of October 17th, we will be moving West! Patrick accepted a position at Google (I'm so proud of him!) and we will be living in San Mateo, about a half hour outside of San Francisco, which is just so exciting because I LOVE San Francisco.

We found our place Labor Day weekend when we took a little house-hunting trip. Don't worry, little Memphis poochie dog is coming and he's pretty excited to become a California hippy/surf dog. Most of you who know him, he already has the right mindset....

Needless to say, this has added just a LITTLE stress before the wedding. Patrick's place gets packed up tomorrow and Tuesday and he has to be out by Wednesday. And, if I want my stuff packed too, then my stuff needs to be AT his place. This also means I need to be packed for about 3 weeks of life (and life before a wedding) and then also be packed for the honeymoon about 2 weeks before I'm going to go on it. So. All of this is a lot fun. And only a touch stressful.

 Like today, I found myself on the ground of Patrick's wondering where my WEDDING SHOES were. As in the shoes I will walk down the aisle in. And as tears rolled down my face, I started to freak out (and not quietly).

Then I remembered I wore them for my dress fitting two weeks ago and, trying to be so smart, I kept them in my car so they would never be in a place of being packed up. SO SMART.

And then there's making sure passports, our marriage license, and other odds and ends we need to get married are in the right place of NOT going to California on Tuesday. So, if you encounter me in the next few days, I might be a touch frazzled.

Once it's all said and done, though, we're going to miss everyone SO SO much, but we're ecstatic to embark on this adventure together.

We'll be sure to keep you informed of these last few days leading up to the wedding and let you know how it goes out in Californ-I-A! Wish us luck!

Waiting to Say I Do: Tying up Loose Ends

Hey guys! We are getting so close to the wedding, it's crazy! Next week is the week before our wedding! Scary.

This week has been a little crazy as we try to tie up loose ends, finish up everything, and get everyone on the same page. Oh, also I've been fighting, like, a three week long bought of bronchitis. No joke, it just won't go away. I have a feeling it just might be from being a touch stressed, but I'm not sure.

Needless to say, the workouts have been rough and a little half-assed. But I still do them, and that's gotta count for something, right?

Anyway. This week, we worked on our church programs, something I never ever would have thought would take so much effort. But it does. They're expensive if you have someone else make them, so I took on the challenge. And was pleasantly surprised with the results. Then my sister Erin and I tirelessly tied them together with tiny little ribbons. There might be some parts missing, but overall I think they're cute and I'm proud of my sister and myself.

I also worked on some finishing touches for the centerpieces which involved wine bottles, lots of hot water, and Goo Gone. I'm very excited for them and I can't wait to see how the whole look turns out! This week, we also got our final headcount and tracked down the last of the RSVPs.

This weekend, Patrick goes on his bachelor party. I think the stories will be interesting and I'm...intrigued to hear about them when he gets back! I know he's going to have a blast.

Next week, I have my last days at work and then I am the best man in my friend Brad's wedding! So excited for him and his wife, and we're excited to have a very fun last horrah!

Waiting To Say I Do: One Month To Go!

So it's been a long time since we've posted again, but I think these last two months before the wedding have been like a whirlwind! It feels like just yesterday it was July and I could put some things for the wedding off until "next week".

Well. Now the wedding practically IS next week!

The invitations are out and the RSVPs are rolllllling in. We've been pretty lucky so far in that we haven't had to hunt too many people down! And one was a mailing error. So there's that. Otherwise, all the little ducks are falling in a row (so far).

I do feel like, at any given moment, there is something wedding-related on my mind. So I constantly apologize to all my friends and sisters for becoming "that bride" who can only talk about her wedding...sigh. But from finalizing when we can get in to set up our reception to picking out the EXACT right entrance song to deciding how we will indicate on place cards who has chicken or steak, there are a million little decisions that, like I said, we cannot put off anymore. Good thing they're all pretty fun decisions and I'm getting better and being a person who makes decisions.

This past week, Patrick and I were able to take a few breaks. We went to Mumford and Sons with a couple of friends, which was soooo great! We really just had a blast and the music was phenomenal! It kind of felt like a close to the summer.

Later in the week, I had my dress fitting, and I have to say friends, all this working out and no carbs made me so, so happy at my dress fitting. Did I feel uber skinny like I've always wanted to? Nope. But I feel really tight and lean...and pretty fantastic. I can't wait to wear the dress again!

However. I am not allowed to lose anymore weight as the seamstress shot me a look of death saying, "now you're all done with this dieting business, RIGHT?"

Trust me,  it's not hard for me to NOT lose weight as I'd been doing that for some time before all this. I just figure I'll keep doing what I'm doing, seeing as I haven't dropped a ton of weight.

But, oh my gosh, what if I become someone who just "can't keep weight on"? I will die laughing at myself.

I continue to work out 6 days a week mixing it up with Spin class, P90X, Jillian Michaels, and running. This past week I have also included a 30 day squat challenge and 30 day abs to my repertoire because, now, we're in crunch time (get it?!). I mean, the bathing suit I have to squeeze into in the middle of fall is just as important as the wedding dress, am I right? And as I'm doing the squats that suck so bad, I think of all the frozen, calorie-laden umbrella drinks I'm going to drink in Jamaica. 

Finally, this weekend, we had a wedding for our dear friends in Ohio. It was so fun and also surreal being at a wedding knowing we're going to be doing the same thing so soon! The bride looked beautiful and the groom so handsome. The whole day was just full of love and was just such a special day. 

Also, the bride faked a garter toss and threw the groom an Aaron Rodgers signed football! Nothing wrong with that! Go Pack Go! 

Hope everyone has a great week! Look at this great white dog! 

Get it right, Get it tight!

Happy Monday to everyone!

Patrick and I are at the point of our wedding planning where there is never an idle moment. There's always a thank you note to write (gotta get those out before they pile up, that's for sure!), a check to write (definitely less fun to write than thank you notes), or something to check up on. To be sure, we are in NO way complaining, these are #firstworldproblems.

Last week, we got our invitations out, settled on our ceremony, and we got to try some food for our rehearsal dinner, which was super fun! I gazed longily at Patrick and his mother's glasses of wine and sipped happily on my water while we talked logistics.

Afterwards, we walked over to the PAC to check out where the reception will take place in SO SOON. Officially? 54 days. But who's counting.  Can you tell I'm getting just so excited. I am.

Friday, I got to meet up with my mom and Victoria and talk about the rest of the decorations for the reception. Again, all this talk gets me super super excited. I wish we were getting married NEXT WEEK! I did treat myself to a glass of wine over lunch as Friday was my cheat day. I can't pass up anything Victoria makes, so I feel like I planned cheat day well this week. She made a beautiful salad with cantaloupe and avocado and some crab crakes. Yum.

So all this stuff is super fun stuff and stuff I really like doing! The only thing that gets hard is doing all of this AND finding time 6 days a week to work out. So far, I have been quite successful in this endeavor...but it's been sooooo difficult. To those who do this on a regular basis, I definitely salute you.

As I've told you all, we've been trying to mix it up a bit, dabbling in a few different things. This past week, we did P90X a few days. Well Patrick did it with me on Friday, I did it on my own Monday. Tony Horton said some really weird stuff to us as we sweat into Patrick's living room carpet and Memphis looked at us like we're crazy people. It was awesome. The thing about P90X is that I can definitely feel a difference in how things fit even though I haven't seen much change on the scales.

We have also totally fell in love with our Wednesday night Spin class at the WAC. We've had one cameo appearance of Gregger one night as well. We get all fat-kid sweaty (I am allowed to say that as a former fat child) and our legs are all shaky after we finish. I have to tell you, it might sound weird, but a shower after Spin class is, like, the best feeling. You've sweat so much junk out of you and then you get all clean. I'm thinking of trying a STEAM sometime! But I'm not sure, because I don't do well just sitting in hot weather. We'll see.

And then we keep up with our running routine. However, sad news, we are no longer doing the Lake Country Half Marathon. We've had a couple of things come up (more on that later) where it's going to be too much that weekend. Which is kind of nice because some of our running days, we really only have 30 minutes.

BUT this weekend, we did the Color Run which was SO FUN! I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to try out a fun 5k. This one is totally chill and you get splashed with color along the way and you look like a rainbow warrior at the end. The only beef I would have would be if you're trying to get a semi-workout out of the Color Run, get to the start line early so you don't have quite so many walkers to dodge. Nothing wrong at all with walking a 5k, but it does get hard to bob and weave the huge crowds. And it was a HUGE crowd. The run was definitely sold out, and I think there was something like 13,000 people or something.

So all that is well and good and fun and working out feels great. We hope we can keep up the good work!

We're BAAAAAAAACK!

Hello, everyone!

We apologize for our very long time away from our blog. Very long. The truth is, we get VERY bogged down in wedding preparations and have been incredibly busy!

A quick update on what we're doing! Fitness and health-wise, we've embarked on a "no-white-carbs-no-white-sugar" adventure. We get one cheat day a week (we're not SO crazy!) while working out for AT LEAST 30 minutes 6 days a week.

The working out has been the difficult part, BUT we've discovered some new things to keep us happy. We did a bootcamp last Tuesday and a Spin class last Wednesday with intentions of going back for BOTH this week! We've also been lent some P90X videos, so we have been trying those out as well. We're also still running a few days a week.

 I'm not sure if it's okay to not do the P90X workouts in order, but I can tell you that they're difficult and I enjoy them immensely. For those of you who are familiar with P90X and Tony Horton...you know what I'm talking about with his oddball personality that I somehow really enjoy.

For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you know that the carb thing hasn't been a huge issue. We've had stuffed peppers, stuffed chicken, lettuce tacos and many sweet potatoes. So far, I've found that I have a lot more energy and while I haven't seen a huge weight loss yet, I feel...firm and tight.

The last thing we'll update you on is the fact we won't be weighing in on the blog anymore. Patrick and I discussed it and, if I'm so honest (which I am), it was reallllllly stressing me out. And making this not fun. So! Be ready for our blog to come back in a different way!

We'll be sure to post some of our workouts and meals these next coming weeks! The countdown is officially ON for the wedding!! We've been putting the final touches on everything and are excited for the big day! 67 days to go!

Maybe We Were Born to Run? FINISHED!

Hello, everyone! So sorry we haven't posted in awhile. The past few weeks have been....hectic.

BUT! We felt we had to post about our wonderful RUNNING weekend getaway to Door County, WI. We trained and trained for the Half Marathon on Saturday and.....we had so much fun.

It was nice to be able to get away and the weather was perfect! We got in late Friday night and carbo crammed at The Wild Tomato in Fish Creek. Patrick and I stuffed our faces with spaghetti marinara and some garlic bread.

A quick note. We did not track ANY points from Friday night on. This was the first weekend we've had together since December! Oddly enough, we went to Door County back in December as well. We've had a thing for the peninsula this year ;)

Saturday morning, I had a minor crisis. As I was getting out all my running gear, I realized I was missing a pretty essential...item. My sports bra. Really!  I mean, those who know me... I cannot run without a sports bra. There'd be stretching and hurting and... no. My work week had been a touch stressful, so tears started flowing. A startled but calm Patrick called the Race Helpline. The man who answered was out MARKING THE COURSE but assured us that the vendors from packet pick up should be at the race start and should have sports bras. PRAISE THE LORD! I then forced Patrick to get on the first trolley to the race where I purchased a very expensive sports bra. The man at the North Face booth pretty much laughed at me, but it was okay because he was my savior.

                                                                                     Crisis averted. 

 The weather was beautiful. We waited with my cousin and his girlfriend for the race to start at 10am. I was verrrrry nervous. I had heard that the Door County Half Marathon was very hilly, and we didn't train with a ton of hills.

We started out the race with 2:15 pacer group but soon got past them. Miles 1-4 were beautiful (read: flat) and we chatted as we clipped along on the paved trail along beautiful Lake Michigan. Quickly into mile 4, we started heading vertically. Some of the hills were gradual, but some were not. Like, very much not gradual. Like, up, up, and away. So that was a majority of miles 4-8.5. At 8.5, one of the course volunteers yelled, "This is the last incline! You can do it!" And we DID! The nice part about going up for so long was that the last part of the race was mainly downhill and then flat! My legs were like little jelly legs, though, and during mile 11, I thought I was going to fall over. But Patrick kept me going! True love, right? I believe I glared and scowled at him with so much love in my eyes.

Now, I don't know if it was the sports bra, the weather, or the course (it was definitely not the course), but I had my best race time to date!  We finished that race at 2:07, which is just under 10 min/mile. I was flabbergasted. The first 4 miles felt good and we were trucking along. Our 6.5 split was just over an hour, so we definitely slowed down after that. I wouldn't be surprised if it took me 15 minutes to run the last 1.1 mile because I felt like crap.

But. All those feelings of crapiness and soreness and wanting to fall over and die quickly dissipated as we made our way past the finish line, received our medals, and sat down with our gatorade. It is the best feeling in the world to finish any race, but after a Half Marathon (and I'm sure moreso after a Full!) you just are on top of the world. There are so many people around congratulating you and you're sweaty and gross but who cares because you ran 13.1 miles! And you put on your medal of participation and think "I can't believe I just did that".

We treated ourselves to Mexican food and Margaritas that night. We still didn't track points. I mean, really, how could we? We had just burned about 1800 calories. There was no way I was checking how much my strawberry margarita was.

The rest of the weekend, we wobbled around (very sore legs) Door County, went mini golfing, and did a wine tasting at Stone's Throw Winery. We had such a great time! And we're doing it again next year!

Oh, and did I tell you guys we signed up for another Half Marathon at the end of the summer? Oy.

Happy Monday!

Waiting to Say I Do: DIY Projects

Happy Sunday, everyone! I had a really fun weekend this weekend becaaaaaauuuusse I got to start making the centerpieces for the wedding! 

With the wedding 167 days away (but, really, who's counting), it's exciting to start doing some of the more "fun" stuff.  I feel like, since we made our big decisions last fall (date, venue, DJ, photographer, and church), we haven't been doing much in the way of wedding planning. A couple weeks ago, we wielded the "zappy gun" while we registered and last week, we worked on sending out our Save the Dates! 

But yesterday has been the most fun so far. I really wish Patrick could have helped out, but he lacks some of the finer motor skills that we used yesterday (sorry, Patrick!) 

My mom's friend, Victoria, owns a farm in Adelle, Wisconsin and she very kindly offered to help me make centerpieces for my big day. My sisters, my mom, my second mom Pam, Patrick's mom Beth, and a family friend Sue trekked out to the farm. I'm not entirely sure everyone exactly knew what they were in for...

First, let me tell you a little bit about Victoria. She is, in a word: cool. Patrick jokes that she's my girl crush (not untrue). I won't go into her entire history, but she used to be a florist in Downtown Milwaukee and she and her wonderful husband Tom chose to move out to the country. They built their gorgeous farm home from and old barn and Victoria grows flowers and different assortments of vegetables (right now she has lots of garlic bulbs going). Among a lot of other talents, she makes a lot of her own food from scratch and still makes beautiful floral arrangements for a large hotel in the area. She's going to be hosting a multitude of classes in her shack this summer if anyone is interested in coming with me! Also, she'll be launching her very own blog soon and everyone should check. It. Out! I'll be sure to keep you posted! 

Her house is absolutely gorgeous and every inch, beam, and corner of the house speaks to Tom and Victoria. I would post pictures of the house, but maybe that would be creepy? Tom actually felled the trees to make their hardwood floor!  And, from her beautiful antique trunk collection around the house to her shiny copper pots and pans that hang in her kitchen, their house is so uniquely theirs. Honestly, I want to move in, and maybe one day Victoria will find me just hiding up in their loft amongst all of her dad's old books. 

She's so wonderful and she came up with the centerpiece idea and just ran with it. When I met her back in February, she just started sketching some ideas and it grew from there! Unfortunately, I'm not very creative, but I told her that I know what I like and I can take direction very well. So far, that has worked out very well because I have liked everything she has come up with. As many of you know, decision-making is not my strong suit, but I made some decisions as it came to this project! Go me! 

As we got to the house yesterday, Victoria had a beautiful spread for lunch: two types of salad, Ceasar and a tomato artichoke, a carrot soup that was to DIE for, some spinach-stuffed chicken breasts with a lemon aioli, and delicious bread. To drink, lemonade with rosemary-infused ice cubes. Very fun and very delicious. Once we had filled our bellies, we decided to take a little walk around the farm. We saw the shack where Victoria will hold her classes this summer that she has also made into a very quaint guest home and met her chickens. Most notably, Mo'nique, for whom Kalee had a certain fondness.

Afterwards, Elise and I took a ride in the 4-wheeler back up to the house with Farmer Tom (just because) where we started our project. Elise joked that the truck looked like an orange Pope-mobile.

I don't want to share too many pictures because I don't want to give away the centerpieces before the wedding! BUT! I will tell you that they are awesome. We toiled for about 2 or 3 hours making these centerpieces, just clucking our little gal talk, just like Victoria's other chicks! At the end of it all, we were able to make a mock-up of a table centerpiece, and I'm super psyched for everyone to see them. 

I'm so thankful for my sisters, family, extended family, and NEW family for helping out yesterday! I hope everyone had as much fun as I did! And now we get to all look at the centerpieces with a particular fondness and pride. 

See you all on Tuesday! 

Weigh In: Week 15

Margaret
Current weight: 150.8 lbs
Chest: 36D
Waist: 34.5"
Hips: 37"
Weight Loss: GAIN 0.4
Total weight loss: 10 lbs

Patrick
Current weight: 199.9 lbs
Chest: 41"
Waist: 38.5"
Hips: 38.5"
Neck: 15.75"
Loss: 6.1
Total weight loss: 22.6 lbs

First. Let me say that I am SO proud of Patrick! He worked really hard this week! He worked out a lot and even ordered fruit as a side when we got burgers Friday night. He's such a great shrinking hungry pal. He's wasting away! People who haven't seen him in awhile always comment on how great he looks. And he does! I personally love the way he looks all the time, but I'm sure he'd say the same about me and then we wouldn't be bloggin about it! 

Now onto me. 

Ugh. So I knew I would gain this week, and I'm not going to lie, I'm very bummed about it. I feel like I've been sitting around the same weight for the past month and it's not that much fun. I think I need to make a vow like Patrick did. I WILL be under 150 by next week. With some really really hard work and discipline, I can get there. I'm not going to pretend like I don't know how this happened. Like, Oh poor me! I try so hard and the weight won't come off! I DO try hard. But I also have been cheating. Full disclosure! I have. And this blog is about me being honest, so all of you should know. 

Let me tell you about last week. Last week I worked. A LOT. I had one day off, Friday. So I wanted to indulge....so we got Stack'd. For those of you who don't know what Stack'd is, it's a burger place in the 5th Ward with very yummy burgers (...but still not as good as Sobelman's...sorry). 

BUT What make's Stack'd so scrumptious, though, is it's array of options when you BYOB (Build Your Own Burger). You can choose from turkey meat, bison, 100% grassfed beef, or a bean burger. THEN you can put toppings on (cheese! mushrooms! jalapenos!) and THEN you can choose your bun. You can make your burger naked (wrapped in lettuce) or on a regular bun or a pretzel bun or garlic toast! Fun, no? Then they top the whole thing with a Frickle. That's a fried pickle and, if you've never had one, you must. You really must. That's all I will say on that. 

Afterwards, we went to a going away part for two of Patrick's work buddies who are moving out of Milwaukee. We went to Flannery's and, while I drank my Dirty Shirley's with Diet Sprite, I don't think it helped much. 

And that's the gist of my week. So where did I overeat or maybe not count all my points (Besides the obvious colossal burger I ate)? Well, I'd have to say probably on nights I got home from work at 11:30 or 12:00 and felt so STARVING I could eat a horse and then probably ate the equivalent of a horse in, say, Krunchers potato chips. I believe that was Tuesday night. You all know by now that I seriously lack a "stop eating" button. I can really have ZERO self control at times. I don't know. When I got home, I wasn't thinking "Wow, I could really use some carrots right now". 

So that's what I'm working on this week. Self control. Truthfully, I work out enough! And I'm not hungry all the time. But I eat when I'm bored and when I'm stressed.  The healthy habits really are starting to stick, but every now and then, I just....I don't know, I indulge. And too much! So I've come to the conclusion that I probably don't need to eat anything when I get home at 11:30 at night since I usually go right to bed anyway.

The next thing Patrick and I are adding to our journey is more strength exercise with a serious goal in mind. Patrick and I are participating in a weight loss challenge for the summer through Ellipse Fitness in the Third Ward. My measurements are going to become EXTREMELY accurate because we will weigh in, get measured and have our BODY FAT PERCENTAGE recorded once a week. We can take any classes we want throughout the summer. And, if our team (Patrick, Dave and I) loses the most weight and body fat, we win some moneys! And we need moneys. We're scrimping all our coins and dollars for the wedding! Wait til you guys see the team shirts I'm going to make for us. They will be so gloriously wonderful. 

This week we run the dreaded 12 miler. At least from here on out we get to taper, horray! I'll be running my 12 miles on Friday. I've mapped out a very nice tour of Milwaukee which will take me through the Third Ward, along the LakeFront, through the East Side and many, many side streets. 

Speaking of running, we'd like to have take a little moment for everyone at the Boston Marathon yesterday. Training for a big race ourselves, we really felt for everyone who trained for such a pivotal moment in their lives to have the day turn in the blink of an eye. I think, ultimately, the Marathon still did what any big race or event sets out to do: instill a sense of camaraderie and of victory. What happened was horrific; but racers, emergency responders, and spectators all did their part to help. That type of selflessness and courage should should maintain our faith in humanity in the face of such cruelty and ugliness.  We send out our love and our prayers to Boston. 

Hungry Hungry Pal: Weigh In: Week 14

Week 14: A little bit of this and a little bit of that..... 

Hello loyal readers, this week was not a banner week for us from a weight stand point!  We had a great week, extremely fun, and very enjoyable week together, which usually means that we had a rough week on the points end of the spectrum.  On Friday we took in an Admirals game with the Professor G-Force and David the Admiral.  The tickets to the game were a gift from Marge and I to G for his birthday.  Given this special occasion we decided to celebrate his birthday in style with some sauce and bar food.  Dave, G, and I taught Marge the intricacies of the sophisticated drinking game known as Hockey.  G and I got absolutely crushed by Dave and Marge, which led to G and I getting over-served.  Overall, we all had a great time, and it was great to make G feel special for a night. 

On Saturday as a way to say thank you to Marge for putting up with my act all through my busy season, I planned a date day for her and I.  First we ran 10 miles (which is not all that fun), but we had a nice time outside together with Memphis. Memphis can only go 6 miles, but he has fun on those six miles to be sure.  After our run, we ate the Original Pancake House on Downer.  Marge had the Western Omelet with a side of pancakes, and I had a Bacon Waffle with a Chocolate Chip pancake, Bacon, and Ham Steak.  After that hearty breakfast, we went back to my place to clean up.  After we showered, and got ready for the rest of the day we went and got massages on the East side of Milwaukee.  We then went and got our God on at Old St. Mary's.  After we prayed for everyone in our lives, we went and had dinner at Bosley on Brady, where we had Green Bean Tempura for starters, I had a steak for my entree, and Marge had the Seafood Symphony.  We of course had to split a bottle of wine with dinner, which was delicious as well.  We ended the night with a painting class at Splash Studios where we learned how to paint a motorcycle, which was a blast.  Marge's painting was very good and spot on with the instructors painting. Mine was more of the abstract variety, but still good in its own right.  Ohh and we had a bottle of wine during our class as well...starting to see a theme here? 

On Sunday we went and registered for our wedding which was fun, but there is just too much to choose from! I mean how may different types of plates, forks, knives, and glasses are there in the world? We ended the weekend by having dinner with Elise and Mitch the Muffin.  Marge cooked up some Stove Top Macaroni and Cheese (6 pts), which was up to Marge's normally high standards, with a bottle of wine on the side.  Marge also made some French Onion Soup (4 pts) to eat during the week, which was great as well.  

When you add all of that up, and sprinkle in a Brewer game during the week which featured cheese fries, brats, and hot dogs, we did a little bit of this and a little bit of that, which adds up to me GAINING 3 lbs and Marge GAINING 0.4 lbs.  I am going to put this on the blog to hold myself to it.  Next week I will be part of the 100 club, in other words, I will be sub 200.  Mark that down, and check in next week with the Gal to see my progress.  I hope you all have a great week, God Bless and I'll talk to you in a month. 

Margaret
Current weight: 150.4 lbs
Chest: 36D
Waist: 34.5"
Hips: 37"
Weight Loss: GAIN 0.4
Total weight loss: 10.4 lbs

Patrick
Current weight: 206 lbs
Chest: 41"
Waist: 38.5"
Hips: 38.5"
Neck: 15.75"
Loss: GAIN  3 lbs
Total weight loss: 16.6 lbs