Crazy days and crazy nights

Lots has happened lately so here's just a life update......

• Weighed in yesterday.... 2 lb gain :( But that's okay as I knew it was a bad week for me so I was prepared for it. The cool thing though is my clothes are really fitting looser and looser anyways. Some of the gain may have actually been muscle. That's my story and I'm sticking to it LOL.
  
  
• Centerpieces are done..... HOORAY!!!!! The single thing that was causing me the most stress about the wedding is taken care of. Vince and I went to a huge dollar store to look around and see what we could put together for centerpieces (I know this is most guys' idea of hell so kudos to Vince for putting up with a shopping trip like that LOL). We ended up buying a few different things to build various "prototype centerpieces" at home. We got home and tried a few things out and we both quickly agreed on the combination that we like the best. So the next day Vince went out and bought enough of the items at the same store to make 19 centerpieces (the max number of tables we'll need if everyone we invite decides to come). We can't put them together until the day of the wedding so until that day comes the centerpieces are officially done :) Thanks to those who gave centerpiece suggestions... I really liked the fighting fish idea (the ashtrays and duct tape idea not quite as much LOL) but unfortunately I read them AFTER the prototype shopping trip.
  
  
• Last night was a PZW wrestling show. It was a good show but unfortunately it ended with Vince (who is one of the referees) getting a concussion. Long story short, a wrestler kicked him in the head in a particularly vulnerable spot which caused him to black out for a while. When he came to the paramedics took care of him and determined that he had a concussion. Many people believe that professional wrestling is all fake but the injuries can be all too real. Luckily Vince will be okay and since he is on vacation right now he can take the time he needs to rest and recover completely before going back to work.

I think that's all my news right now. Thanks for reading :)

All the big things are done.....

Today Vince & I met with the marriage commissioner (formerly known as Justice of the Peace) who will be performing our wedding ceremony in May. Having booked her for the big day we are now officially done with the big stuff LOL. We have the hall booked, my dress is bought, the invitations are printed (although it's too early to send them out yet), the rings have been purchased, the DJ is booked, and we have the major decorations decided on and some already bought. The rest is just details. :)

With one big exception that is going to single handedly put me in the nut house.....

The table centerpieces!!!! I have a general idea of what I want but it's proving impossible to actually make a real decision and bring it to life. I want to incorporate flowers and candles but in both an attractive and safe way. Also keep in mind that the wedding colours are maroon and white with touches of black and silver... as soon as I add any greenery it looks like Christmas so I need to be careful of the amount of green in the decorations but especially the centerpieces as they will be seen close up.

I'm leaning toward hurricane lamp candles with flowers around the base but I really can't decide if that's what I want or even if I can afford that. With tables seating only 8 guests that means we will need at least 12 and possibly as many as 19 centerpieces depending on the number of people who RSVP in the affirmative. If anyone has any nice centerpiece ideas that I can put together relatively quickly and in large quantities without having to remortgage my house and that are still nice enough to give away and don't look like Christmas.... please, let me know :)

My man is a very very bad man LOL

Vince told me the rings would be delayed for at least a week and for a second I wondered if he was fooling me. But he sounded so disappointed when I talked to him on the phone that I thought there's no way he could be lying...... WRONG!

Vince is a very good actor as he had my engagement ring the whole time and I never knew it. He came home from work and right away said he was going to get changed to go out for supper. But after a second or two he called me into the bedroom. When I walked in he had a yellow rose (my favorite colour) and the ring... and he was down on one knee. He fooled me but he did it right so I'll forgive him :)

Soooooooooooo Close!

I wieghed in today for a loss of 0.4 lbs which means I'm just 0.4 lbs away from my goal for the CKOC show (in 2 weeks). Do-able? Absolutely! I hoped to get there today but I'll just be happy if I make that goal at all. That weight will mean that I have lost 10% of my body weight since I joined Weight Watchers back in August. That'll be freakin' cool! LOL. I'll get a keychain from WW (big deal LOL) but the feeling of pride & accomplishment are what I'm really looking forward to.

In spite of not yet reaching my CKOC goal, the weigh in today was actually cause for celebration.... even though the loss was a small one, it was enough to set a record. I am currently at my lowest weight EVER since I gained it all about 8 years ago after I quit smoking. I lost a bunch of weight a while back and at my lowest I was 0.2 lbs higher than I am today... that was 18 months ago. I have been battling to get the weight off again all that time. But now I'm officially breaking new ground as my weight drops even lower.

In other news.... my engagement ring was supposed to arrive today after being sized for the last 2 weeks. Well, I guess they have a huge backlog to deal with (due to the Christmas season maybe?) and the ring won't be here for at least another week. So I'll keep wearing my "training ring" and hoping it arrives soon. One week from today will be the one month anniversary of our first date so maybe it's not a bad thing if it's a little delayed.

My new frilly frock

I'm so excited. Yesterday I bought my wedding dress. Oh yeah, for those of you that don't know, I'm getting married :D

So my cousin Sarah and I went to a bridal shop in Lethbridge to look at dresses and, as I suspected, the wedding dresses were far more flouncy & frilly than I was comfortable with. I'm just not a flouncy/frilly kind of girl LOL.

So I pointed to a bridesmaid picture on the wall and told the saleslady that I wanted something like that (far simpler than the wedding dresses) but in white. So she started bringing me bridesmaid dresses and immediately I knew we were on the right track. But it was actually Sarah that found the perfect dress. I was trying on what the salesladies were bringing me but Sarah brought one back to the change room and when I put it on and looked in the mirror I knew it was the right dress for me. I still tried on a couple of others but then went back to the one Sarah found and again knew that it was perfect :) Sometimes you just know when it's right ;)

The funny thing is, Sarah's husband Todd was the one to find a new purse for me. We were all in Sears and I desperately needed a new purse. I was wandering all around the purse section looking for something I liked when Todd pulls one out and says "how about this one?". I looked it over, thought it was perfect, and bought it!

Also, Todd & Sarah were with me when I bought my current vehicle. I looked at a few but they helped me make the right purchase. I'll have to make sure Todd & Sarah are with me for all future major purchases as they always help me :)

Weighing in has never meant so much

I'm really trying to lose weight and tone my muscles so I'll look awesome LOL. Vince says I look hot already (what a sweetie, eh?) but I want to look even better. So today when I weighed in and saw that I had lost 3.4 lbs this week I was THRILLED. I know I shouldn't put too much stock in what the scale says but I do anyways and I LOVE it when it reflects the effort that I have put in to losing weight :)

As of today I am exactly 0.2 lbs higher than my lowest weight in years (that was 18 months ago) so I'm thrilled! My CKOC goal is only one pound less than I am now and I have 2 weeks to reach it. I'm SOOOOOO hoping for success as that will for sure be my lowest weight since I quit smoking and gained it all to begin with. Stay tuned :) http://members.shaw.ca/vicky.bennett/weight_loss.htm

Playing catch up

WOW... over a week has passed since I last posted to my blog. I apologize to all my regular readers and commentors out there :)

So what has happened this past week? Well, my awesome boyfriend and I moved in together. I know, I know... it's VERY fast. But when it's right, it's right :) It has been an adjustment for this "independant woman" and her "confirmed bachelor" boyfriend... but it actually hasn't been as much of an adjustment as I would have thought. It's actually been a lot of fun setting things up and buying stuff for OUR house. :)

I got Mercedes back from the US on Tuesday. I'm so happy to have her home again. The boys (Elton & Gilly) love her and she's also charming Vince. We are becoming quite the happy family :)

Wednesday I weighed in for a slight gain but still under my "Red Deer goal" so I can check that one off as success :) I have about 5 lbs to lose for my "CKOC goal" (Dec 6th). That should be do-able if I can just stay away from cheesecake LOL.

Wednesday I also got to see Vince in action as he refereed the professional wrestling matches for PZW (Power Zone Wrestling) in Lethbridge. He is so the man ;)

Christmas is coming soon which means lots of fun shopping but lots of not-so-fun crowds. My tip... shop online when you can. When you can't, try to hit the stores weekday mornings before the crowds build up. It's worth taking a few hours off work to reduce the stress level, IMHO :)

Now you know... the rest of the story :)

Sorry Weeza, Anonymous, and Kelly, as much as I love all of you, none of you are the subject of my previous blog entry LOL. His name is Vince and he's just great :) He wasn't scared to meet the 15 members of my family that descended on my house last night... and if that doesn't speak volumes I don't know what would LOL.

In more good news..... I had a dramatic loss of 7.8 lbs last week! I have now exceeded my weight loss goal for Red Deer a week ahead of schedule!!!! The chart is funny... it's starting to look like a slinky walking down stairs LOL. You can check it out here..... http://members.shaw.ca/vicky.bennett/weight_loss.htm

In other news.....

I have some news to share but I don't have time to post right now. It's about a certain person who has come in to my life and made me feel so happy and content in so many ways. More about that later.

Just wanted to post quickly about my weekly wiegh in today. I will be weighing in on the way out of town for my uncle's funeral so I won't be able to update my blog or website about it until tomorrow. I have high hopes... which is never a good sign but I'll be shocked if I'm not down at least a bit :)