Birthday Week!

What a fabulous week full of good times, good friends and lots of birthday celebrations!! To say that I was spoiled this year for my 34th birthday would be a severe understatement.

It started Saturday with breakfast at Whispering Canyon Cafe with the Rockin' Rockwells. Cynthia's birthday is right after mine so we thought a little joint celebration was in order!!



What I didn't know while we were breakfasting that the Rockwells along with my husband and many of my friends were all in cahoots to throw me a fabulous birthday party on Sunday!! How exciting to have a bunch of my close friends here to hang out, eat and just have a good time together. I was really blown away by everyone who came and those who helped Mike pull the surprise together!





The party was the tip of the iceberg as far as Mike was concerned cause he always bought me a fabulous new camera - so you'll be seeing lots and lots of pictures here of some of the fun I've been having with my new baby! Mike also got us tickets to see Jay & Silent Bob at Hard Rock Live!! I have to wait until March for the show but I'm totally excited about it!


Thursday was a little birthday celebration at work! Cake and Ice Cream YAY!! Work has been amazing, busy, non-stop sometimes, fun, creative and full of really great people I could gush all day but suffice it to say I'm very happy there!


Thursday night I took a little break from celebrating my birthday we went to dinner to celebrate Dave's birthday! We had a fabulous dinner at Columbia with Monika and Dave and it gave me a chance to walk around Celebration taking pictures!


Friday was my annual birthday outing with Ruthy! We started the day with a character breakfast at Animal Kingdom, we had VIP seats for the Festival of the Lion King, we rode rides, walked around, won prizes and then headed to Epcot for more fun and then came home and had pizza and played Wii!



See just like I said I was totally spoiled this birthday but after a week I think it's time to end the celebrations and get back on the diet bandwagon and work out regularly and focus!! So until next year's birthday adventure...

LOADing Up

February 1st I will begin my third Layout a Day run by the super fabulous Lain Ehmann! (Have I mentioned how much I love her?)

Layout a Day or LOAD as we call it has truly been a life changer so I am super excited to start another round. But this time around I'm also a little nervous because this will be my first time doing LOAD with a job! I am trying to take what I've learned in previous go rounds in order to put together a game plan for February's LOAD. So here are a few things I'm trying to do in order to prepare.

• Think about photos I want to use and stories I want to tell - I don't print these in advance because I'm never sure what size photo I want to use but knowing what photos I want to use helps.
  
• Keeping my craft room clean and organized - this has been a challenge for me in the past but I'm happy to say that lately I've been doing a good job at cleaning up after myself.
  
• Stocking up - I stock up on adhesive and cardstock these are the only two items I will run out of during LOAD
• Throw out the idea of perfection - totally a mental thing but possibly the most important. Not every layout will be perfect, not every layout will turn out the way I thought it would but every layout will be one more I've completed, one more story I've told and that's good enough for me.
  
• Don't over plan - I do the basic prep for LOAD because I like to use Lain's prompts, I keep an open mind and allow myself to be guided on the journey!
  

Hopefully these tips will help you prepare for your LOAD journey! Let me know if you are joining the adventure and what you do to prepare! One thing I'm super excited about for this LOAD - my mom is joining in the fun as well - hopefully she loves it as much as I do. I think it will be super fun for us to do this together, a nice way to connect even though we live far apart.

Ready to read more about LOAD? Follow some of my LOAD family for a little blog hop:

Lain www.layoutaday.com
Danielle H. scrappindanielle.blogspot.com
Margie www.xnomads.typepad.com
S snapsandsnippets.blogspot.com
Lisa lisahausmann.blogspot.com
Laura www.mom2nick.typepad.com
Rosann brooklyngirlnextdoor.blogspot.com
Gayle lifeonlilypadlane.blogspot.com
Jennifer atthebluebarn.blogspot.com
Heather www.heathersdragonsden.blogspot.com
Tere terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com
Niki thepaperpeddler.blogspot.com
Janet www.khashabfamilymusings.blogspot.com
Lee thelinarstudio.typepad.com/embracelife
Junelle www.yes-and-amen.com
Julie www.juleshollis.com

2011 Wish List

Ok so I'm a little late posting these but every New Year's Eve Mike and I sit down and write our wish list for the year ahead and by sit down, I mean I force Mike to write this list and stare at him until he writes something!

So here you go the 11 things we each wish for in 2011:

Danielle

1. Lose more weight
2. Go on a cruise
3. Finish rough draft of novel
4. Create, create, create
5. Take better photos
6. Keep in better touch with family and friends
7. Run a 5K
8. Succeed at work
9. Read more, play on Facebook less
10. Be Happy
11. Finally get pregnant


Mike

1. Cruise
2. New Car
3. Make progeny progress
4. Promotion
5. Get organized
6. Start Blog
7. Online Photo Store
8. Finish Harry Potter Audio Books
9. Get off soda - again
10. Start Working Out
11. Not be killed by wife (I can only assume this last was because of the glares he was getting!)

There you have it! I will be sure to keep you posted on how we are doing through the year - wish us luck!!

Weight Loss Check In

I will be perfectly honest and tell you that during this holiday season I have not eaten as well as I should have, not only was I not counting my Weight Watcher points but i was not following the doctor's diet either and I've paid the price believe me. But throughout the season I have continued to workout and have some super healthy eating days and as of tomorrow I will be back to 100% strict dieting! I did want to take some time to show off my progress a little bit.

In August the doctor scared me and I started dieting, changed my eating habits, drank much less coffee, steered clear of white foods and started Weight Watchers. I had a long way to go and wasn't sure I could do it.

By September I had already taken off several pounds and was noticing differences in how my clothes felt and how I felt - more energy, more motivation, more stamina. I was pushing myself in my workouts and finding new and creative ways to make meals.




In December (the 31st be exact) I weighed in to find I am down 39.7 pounds from the day I saw the doctor! I need new clothes, I have SO much energy, I can do lunges without my knees hurting, I can run longer, I can walk farther. Overall I feel great! I still have a ways to go but I am proud of the start I've made!!


*note* In all three photos I'm wearing the same type of shirt and pants - they are the same brand and size just different colors.