Mmmm--PASTA!

Look! It's "ITALPASTA!"

"IMPORTED"--sounds fancy!

Look! Instructions, and "ISTRUZIONI"--the instructions are in English AND Italian!

And it came all the way from... Wait--Ontario?

So Thankful--Day 2

Today, I'm going to talk about my Mommee. Yup. That's how you spell her name!

Mommee is the best! I love that she'll talk to me on IM while she's at work, and that I can call her and chat almost any time and about anything. If I'm having a bad day, a good day, or just a day, Mommee is there. Even when my honey is in class and he's not available, I can at least tell Mommee "Hi!"

My Mommee is so supportive! When something bad happens, she's there for me. Even though she's in Utah and I'm in California, she's still there for me. (Hooray for instantaneous communication technologies!)

She's been there for me as I worked on losing weight and showed me a website where I could find nutritional information for just about any recipe! She cheered with me whenever I'd hit a milestone, and took me shopping for some new "skinny" clothes the last time I visited!

She also always makes sure that when I come to visit, I have everything I need (and more!). She feeds me and washes my clothes and EVEN IRONS MY SHIRTS for me! (I know--AMAZING!)

I love you, Mommee! Thank you for everything you do for me!

Thanksgiving Week

My sister started a thing on her blog where she's talking about something she's thankful for every day this week. I'm a copy-cat, so I'm going to do the same thing. She can just deal with me stealing her ideas! (Love you, girl!)

Today, I am thankful for my little sister, who sends me tissues in the mail, makes me jealous of her cuteness, and sometimes gives me a hard time. She came to visit me earlier this year, and I loved it--even if it meant I got to be a taxi service part of the time! She's adorably cute and very intelligent, as well as a hard worker. She is the one I can get fashion advice from, because she always seems to know what's "in."

For my birthday, she sent me a CD of relaxing songs. (I guess she thinks I'm always stressed out or something? lol) I love it, and if I wake up in the middle of the night and can't sleep, I put on my iPod and listen to the music.

I also love how she'll call me sometimes just to chat or to sing "Happy Birthday" or to ask me a cooking question. Every time she calls to ask me something, it makes me feel special!

Love you, girl! When I visit in January, we should go shopping! I still need to work on my wardrobe!

Allergies...

So, I've been having some issues with allergies--mostly congestion--lately. As in, there are days I can't breathe through my nose type allergies. Since I didn't have as many allergy issues in Utah, I'm guessing it may be mold. Ah, the joys of humidity.

So, I talked to my doctor about it when I had my annual physical this last week. She gave me a prescription for Allegra-D (which has no generic), but the insurance won't cover the prescription and it would cost me over $140 for 30 pills. Insane. So, I tried Claritin-D (the generic version of it, at least) which is supposed to be similar in the way it works. I haven't noticed much of a difference. I guess my nose is a little less stuffy and a little more runny, but I don't know.

So, I guess I'm going to have to contact the doctor again and try to figure out what I should do next. I'm really tired of being stuffy all the time--and it makes people think I'm sick, which I'm not. (I've had it for about a month--no cold lasts that long!)

Hubby <3

My husband is amazing. One of the things he does is he'll look at me and just smile, then say "I love you. You're beautiful." I love it! He gets this look in his eyes that lets me know he really thinks it, too.

He also takes care of me and frets over me. Once, when I wasn't feeling well (turned out I was dehydrated and hypothermic from a walk we'd done in 90+ degree weather--long story), he paced the living room waiting for his dad to come and help him give me a blessing. He couldn't sit still and kept pacing to the window to see if his dad had gotten there yet, then coming back to where I was sitting on the couch... Even though I felt terrible, I thought it was adorable!

He loves being near me and just touching me. He'll sit next to me on the couch and put his arm around me while he plays a computer game, or play with my hair as I lay with my head on his lap.

When I worked in retail and was on my feet all day, there were a couple of times when I'd come home and just crashed. He would come over and take my shoes off, then start rubbing my gross, sweaty feet--if that's not love, I don't know what is!

I love to make things and work with my hands. Even though he doesn't really share those interests, he loves to see what I've made and admires them. He even likes to show them off to people and brag about them, which I can be too shy to do!

When he heard this song on the radio, he loved it. I think it describes the way he feels about me perfectly!

30 Pounds

In January, I realized I needed to lose weight. At 5'4" and nearly 170 pounds, I was overweight and bordering on obese. I was at risk for Type II diabetes, and wasn't happy with how I looked or felt. So, things needed to change.

I started eating more carefully--watching my carbohydrate intake, eating more vegetables, and having smaller portions. At first, I hated it. I was hungry, and CRAVED sugars and other carbohydrates. It was hard. I also started walking more, aiming for around 10,000 steps a day (which I sometimes got higher, other times lower, and measured by borrowing my hubby's pedometer).

But, I soon started seeing the numbers on the scale go down. Two pounds one week, nearly five pounds another. Then, one day, I pulled on a pair of size 12 pants and noticed that they were so loose I could pull them off without unbuttoning them! To celebrate (and because I knew I wasn't done yet), I went down to Goodwill and got a pair of size 10 jeans--the first I'd owned in a couple of years! Then, one day, I went in to Goodwill and tried on a pair of size 8s--and they FIT. AMAZING!! I couldn't remember when I last wore size 8 pants--probably in High School or the beginning of college!

In six months, I lost 30 pounds--which is HUGE! I was so thrilled! I have now steadied my calorie intake and such so that I am not losing anymore. I still watch my weight and weigh myself often. I'll sometimes gain a pound or two, then I watch what I eat more carefully and go for more walks.

I look at pictures from when I was in Utah in January, then look at my reflection in the mirror, and there is such a huge difference, in my face as well as the rest of me!

I have a growing pile of clothes that I don't fit in anymore, but haven't gotten rid of yet. I'm thinking I'll see if I can sell them to Plato's Closet or something, then donate the rest to Goodwill or see if somebody in my ward wants them. I should do that soon, as part of the weight-loss mind-change process--I don't need those clothes anymore, because I will never be that big again.

I like to look at myself in the mirror more than I did before--my closet doors are mirrored, and I used to avoid it. Now I'll look and say "Wow! I'm skinny!"

Yesterday, I was at Walmart and saw some khakis, and thought "I wonder..." So I grabbed a size 6 and went into the dressing room. I pulled them on... and they fit! I was thrilled! The last time I remember wearing a size 6 was when I was in middle school! Of course, I had to buy them. And all day long, I kept telling my husband "I'm skinny!"

The one thing I'm having trouble with is remembering that I'm so much smaller. I sometimes look in the mirror and go "Is that what I look like?" because, in a part of my mind, I'm still a size 12. I go places and will think something about my weight--then remember, that's not me anymore. People aren't going to look at me and think I'm fat. People won't even make note of what size I am, really. I do, however, get a little bit of a high when looking at clothes, then pushing past the size 12s and saying to myself "I'm smaller than that. I'm not that size anymore."

Homeward Bound--My Walk Pt. 2

I started walking home along the beach, and saw a lot of neat things. The waves were coming in and creating mist, and there were very few people--and the people there were tended to be jogging.

I love how this paw-print looks like it's coming out instead of being an imprint in the sand (which it was).

We recently had some rain, which came with rain and high waves (some people even were swept out to sea--sadly, one woman died.) This is a kelp holdfast that was washed ashore! Pretty impressive--it's hard to tell the size from the photo, but it was maybe as long as my arm.

I was even lucky enough to find some shells! This one was the largest. I brought them home with me. :)

I saw several of these sad little dead sunfish--I remember they told us at the aquarium once that their fins are one of the few parts of their bodies that predators can eat, so they'll end up dying fin-less. The ones I saw were actually small, as sunfish go--maybe a foot long.

I also found many jellyfish--the first time I've ever seen them washed ashore. They really do look like jelly!

I nudged a couple with my foot (which actually gave me the willies!), then texted my husband to tell him I'd done so. He said "If there's no pictures, it didn't happen." So I had to find some more to nudge.

And I even took some video! Pretty good proof, I think!