the day that I fell in love in barre3...

...well, maybe it wasn't that easy.

2 years ago I walked into barre3 Vancouver for the first time. In my memory it was "love at first sight" but my husband has other views. His views are probably more accurate. He says that I did enjoy it but I was sore for DAYS, worried about how much it costs, and just wasn't ready. I know all of that but boy, am I glad that those thoughts didn't stick.

 

It took me just about 4 months to go back to barre3. In between when I first went and April 2012 I had lost about 20 pounds, worked out with my trainer a lot, and was in a better place mentally. There was some "community free" classes which means they were free, so that was an added bonus. From then on...I was hooked!!!

Today, I am not going to barre3. I am at home resting and prepping for shoulder surgery 2.0 which is in 2 days. I went yesterday and will go tomorrow and both of those classes will be taught my owner {and one of my very favorite instructors} Carrie!

Tomorrow will be my 180th class. It will be about 14 hours before my second shoulder surgery and 208 days since my last one. It will be almost 800 days since my tipping point and will mark another 6 week set that I won't be able to go to a studio class.

Tomorrow will be emotional for many reasons but mostly because I am proud of what I have accomplished.

Fingers crossed {that my love for barre3 never dies}!!!

Viva Las Vegas!

{warning: long post} enjoy!

It wasn't until I was 2 days into my Vegas trip that I learned what "Viva" meant! Live Las Vegas. While we did not live Las Vegas in the typical sense (drunk & ridiculous) we did have a very, very good time!!! Not only will I be telling you about our trip...but what we ate! While it definitely wasn't "all healthy" we never intended it to be. We tried to make smarter choices and I'm very proud of how we did.

The reason we headed to Vegas was because my Father in Law was getting married to his girl friend of 14 years...Penny! They made the meaningful date of 11.14.13. They got married at 14:00, on the 14th, of the month they met 14 years ago.

We headed out on Wednesday night after work and got into Vegas at about 10pm which was about 3 hours later than we were supposed to be there! It was fun flying in at night!

 

Wolfgang Puck at the MGM Grand. The only restaurant open at 11pm.

THE FOOD: We split a pizza, each had a salad, and one beer.

 

Bright and early Thursday morning I took a taxi to the most magical place on earth ;-) Before class I had an apple. Then when we pulled in I saw that Whole Foods was right in the parking lot so I headed over and got some grilled veggies & eggs before class.

 

 

barre3 Henderson!!!

Jackie, barre3 Henerson's owner, and myself!

I took a class by Meredith and she taught a really fun class.

THE FOOD:Eating my Whole Foods salad in the window of our room at the MGM.

 

barre3 Henderson is in the same parking lot as a whole foods! Amazing!! I headed over before class and got two big salads for lunch before the wedding, apples, and a few other healthy treats!

A little barre3 in the background!

barre3 ball plank!

 

Thursday afternoon Penny and Mike got married!! Jason was the best man.

 

All the Eeds!!

The whole group that came down for the wedding!

 

I wore this tight dress without Spanx!! NON SCALE VICTORY!!!

I did wear tights but they were a size to big!

 

After the wedding we headed back to our hotel changed and headed back to the Bellagio to do our one day of gambling & drinking before their wedding dinner. I don't have any pictures from inside the casinos because I was told we couldn't take pictures (by someone) and I didn't want to get in trouble! Though, I can now officially say I understand how people can get "the Hangover" drunk in Vegas!! We sat at a video Roulette table and made a bunch of "safe" bets and drank way too much wine. Then we headed into dinner where we ate WWAAYY too much. We had a salad, this amazing chicken & potato entrée, and then cake of dessert. I was SO full I couldn't even finish dessert which is pretty much unheard of! I figure, if we only did that for one night in Vegas we aren't doing too bad!

Jason's first time seeing the Bellagio Fountains!

 

Friday morning we decided to head out to see the Hoover Dam! Jason, Matt, Chris & Alex had never been. I had been once but it was 2 months after 9/11 so we couldn't go on a tour.

 

For breakfast I honestly can't even remember what we had! Heehee. We were busy trying to get the rental car!

 

Jason looks pumped to drive us hooligans to the dam Dam!

Ps. I had to have heard over 50 DAM jokes that day. UG!

barre3 at the Hoover Dam!

 

There was water in that tunnel. I was scared.

We don't use the "leak" word here. We use the "seep" word. Same different. The rocks were wet!

The turbines.

That's a L O N G way down!

US <3

Hoover Dam from the lookout on the new bridge!

 

This wasn't here when I went in 2001 so it was fun to see it from a new vantage point.

THE FOOD: We had sandwiches, apples, almonds, and water for a picnic lunch by the dam.

barre3 core ball warrior 3

 

Once we got back from the Hoover Dam we headed up to Fremont Street to see what that was all about!

It was fun to see the giant ceiling TV in person! Fremont Street definitely wasn't our thing.

 

BURGR by David Ramsey. AMAZING!!!

 

We headed back to the strip before we made our way to see "O"! We happened upon the restaurant BURGR and it was SO worth the wait!!

 

Burgers at BURGR!

 

THE FOOD: We each had a burger (DUH) and split the fries. We also each had to 2 beers. This was definitely our one night to go all out, well, maybe there was the wedding dinner too ;-) I wish I could go back there tonight!

 

The "O" curtain! This show was definitely worth the money!!

 

Saturday started out with sleeping in followed by lunch! We ate at a Japanese restaurant in our hotel and each had some kind of rice meal! Then...

 

sunshine & beer!!! It was about 75 degrees and we needed a little Vitamin D!

Side Note: We make a quick mess of hotel rooms. It's quite humorous!

 

Saturday night we were hanging out with Jason's brothers, Alex, and their friend Ethan. We had a BLAST at the Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas. I'd definitely recommend you go there if you like lots of beer! Mine was so big I couldn't even finish it!

Jason in beer heaven.

 

It was a 2 hander!!!

The group minus Alex!

THE FOOD: Beer, bread, brats.

Where'd I go?!?!

 

Then we went to something I wish I hadn't paid $60 to go see - Tournament of Kings. The boys all wanted to go and they had a good time but the whole time all I could think of was "Where is the GD silverware" and "Horse poop is going to fly into my food".

Last night. Exhausted.

I'd say we did a lot of walking!!!

Monday after Vegas. Gym time at 6:00 am.

 

All in all we had a great trip but I would have been okay with it being 2 or 3 nights, not 4! I gained about 2 pounds while there but lost it within a week so I determined that is also a success!

 

Fingers crossed {that our next vacation is to the beach}!!!

shoulder surgery 2.0

...and NOT happy about it.

It's officially official. I am having another shoulder surgery. It's scheduled for December 31st but if I can have it earlier I will. My DR is recommending I be out of work for an extended period of time (well over 2 months) so I'm trying to figure that out...between L&I pay, sick days, and cutting back spending now {during Christmas - haha}...we will make it but it will be stressful.

Stressful. But, as I've been reminded, this is most certainly not the worst thing I could be going through. While I am no where near happy about this, I must remember that.

This time will be a bit different. He'll have to go through scar tissue which won't be fun but what will be most noticeable...it is a different season! I'm trying to focus on figuring out how it will be in the winter.

-- I know I won't be able to drive as much because of the weather - in the summer the roads were always dry but that won't be the case now. It isn't safe for myself or the other people for me to be driving while in the sling.

-- Getting a coat on is going to be near impossible. Good thing I have nice barre3 friends! One of my barre3 friends name Regan {of Cardigans and Couture} has nicely lent me a Nike poncho. It might not be the most stylish thing but for those moments when I can't get my coat on and run to the store because I am by myself it is going to be priceless!

-- Pull On Jeans. Yes, you read that right. Turns out...they're actually a thing. In the summer I just wore yoga pants and hiking pants when we went out. I won't have the torque in my shoulder for months to button jeans! I was joking with my Mom that I needed to buy maternity pants so that I can pull up my own pants and she had an even more stylish suggestion. Jag Jeans have come to the rescue! I have to say...after surgery I might have to own a pair that are my right size. Currently, I own a size 8 because I can get them up with one hand BUT the 6's definitely make my butt look better. But since the sling is stylish enough no one will be looking at my booty ;-)

-- I already know what to expect - both good and bad. I know the pain but I also now know how GOOD being healed can feel. I had 2 glorious weeks before the injury that I could do anything I wanted and I am CRAVING that feeling again!!

Fingers crossed {that version 2.0 goes as smoothly as version 1.0}...

i've been MIA...

...but only in the blogging world.

After my {self} record breaking 30 days of blogging about my 30 thoughts of my weight loss journey I think my brain & my fingers needed a break! But really...only my fingers got a break because I feel like I've been as busy as ever!

After I hit the 2 year mark I decided to stop tracking my weight with Weight Watchers. I started out 2 years ago following the plan, tracking food & weight, and learning SO MUCH from their website. As time has gone on I have proved to myself that I can handle the planning, choosing, and eating on my own. I am very grateful for the WW program and I know it will always be there should I need it again...but I don't plan on it!

Here's a recap of what I've been up to the last few weeks...

Halloween MRI

DinoAnnie

Rainbow Annie at bus duty!

Dressed up in Vegas {whole post on that to come}

Detoxing from Vegas!

Lemon Meringue Pie!!

Being an honorary Lincoln!!

Cupping.

Hot cocoa & fire!

Christmas Tree of 2013

Shoulder surgery approved.

 

That's not all...but that's the jist!

Fingers crossed {this next month is WAY less stressful than the last}...