I'm Alive!

Wow, how three months can fly.

In May, I had my bachelorette party...

The following weekend, I PRed the Geist Half Marathon...

In June, Ryan and I got married!

Immediately following the wedding, we took our honeymoon in Mexico...

 We returned from our honeymoon in July, and only a week later, we bought a house...

Two days after that, I told my work that I want to go part-time. I'm going to use the extra time to focus on my growing photography business...

Overall, It's been a whirlwind of a summer to say the least.

Oh... but you want me to talk about triathlons, don't you?! Well, I haven't done any. In fact... I haven't even been training much. I did my first swim last week, and did my first bike ride today. I have my first race, the Chicago Triathlon, at the end of August. Thankfully, I'm doing to sprint, and not the Olympic (which almost killed me last year).

My weight is holding steady for now. I gained (no joke) 8 pounds during our wedding and honeymoon. Ouch! But I lost a few when we returned, and now I'm back on the Weight Watchers wagon... aiming for that elusive 140. I only have 11 pounds to go.

Hopefully I'll be back soon! I'm still reading everyone elses' blogs religiously!

Two Month Photos and other Stuff

I hit my 15-pound weight loss mark today, and now my mom is bugging me to see photos. I took these on Saturday, which was officially 2 months into Weight Watchers.

First up is the face picture. Sorry I suck and wore my hair up the first time. That makes it hard to tell the difference...

But now onto the good stuff. Here is the side of me. Check out that stomach!

Lastly, is the front picture. Bulge-be-gone!


I totally wore the wrong shorts too... but I'm sure you can get the gist of it. Overall, I'm feeling great about myself. Yes, I miss gorging on pizza, pasta, and ice cream... but I'm loving how I look. All my work pants are literally falling off me. When all this is over, I'm going to need to do some serious shopping. I'll need all new pants and bras.

I'm halfway to my goal weight of 140. I don't think I'll reach that before the wedding (June 25th)... which might mean a slight set-back (there's no way I'm dieting on our honeymoon!). But I plan on reaching it eventually.

Training

On the training front, I've been pretty bad. I'm basically just working out once a week now. (Ouch.) I thought it was all fine and dandy until I saw my BuckeyeOutdoors account today, and noticed that this time last year, I was already full-swing into half-marathon training.

Eep! I need to get a move on it.

So training officially starts this weekend. Crappy weather or not.

Other

I've been so busy recently. Wedding planning has turned into invitation printing... which we are doing completely by hand...


And I've been putting a lot of thought into what I want to do with my life (isn't that something you're supposed to figure out in college?!). So there may be a career-change in the future.

I hope everyone's doing well. And fear not! Just because I'm not writing much doesn't mean I'm not reading all your blogs!

Bad Blogger!

Shame on me! It's been almost 2 whole months since my last post.

Here's what I've been up to...

• Planning our wedding (less than a year away!)
• Training
• Trying (unsuccessfully, of course) to lose the extra 20 lbs I've managed to pack on
• Winning a photography contest
• Freaking out over my upcoming triathlon
• Turning 25
• Receiving (and then learning to use) a Garmin Forerunner 305
• Buying my first triathlon outfit

So there you have it. A short list of poor excuses. But I vow, over the next week or two, to turn that list into new posts. I also have a race report from last week's sprint triathlon.

Valued readers, I will disappoint you no longer! Stay tuned...

He Proposed

Well, how can I leave anyone in suspense with a title like that?

Ryan and I are engaged. He proposed Saturday afternoon... dropped down to one knee right in the middle of our shopping trip at IKEA!

I totally thought he was joking. a) I had NO idea this was coming. I mean... I knew EVENTUALLY, but not any time soon. And b) it was IKEA!

I thought maybe he had found someone's ring on the floor, and picked it up jokingly like "marry me!" or something. It took me at least a full minute to realize he was serious.

Right after I said "yes".

What's funny is when I see that picture, all I see is the fact that I haven't showered. He and I had just spent 4 hours in the car driving from Indiana to my parents' house in Illinois. When we finally got there, I said, "Wow, I'm gross. I think I smell." Ryan said, "Well, maybe you should go shower." And I replied, "Nah... I'll shower before church... after we get back from IKEA."

D'OH!

Oh well... he tried. And the smelly girlfriend became the smelly fiance.


He totally ruined our shopping trip. We were on a major roll and had a list of things to buy for our new place, but after the proposal, my brain stopped working. I was just wandering the store in shock. I even left our list of what to buy back at where he had asked (right in the middle of the Marketplace, in case you're wondering!).

Here are some pictures of the ring for all you ladies out there (guys... go get a snack or something)...




We went to church Saturday evening, followed by dinner with my mom. Then back home to make phone calls and go to bed early (not like anyone could sleep after something like that!).

On Sunday, a bunch of my family came over for Easter. We had a big dinner and a big easter egg hunt (even though there was only one child under the age of 21).


The first thing everyone asks is "have you set a date?" No we haven't set a date! We just got engaged TWO days ago! Plus, before we can set a date, we first need to figure out what state we'll have it in.