Hi everyone!

I know I've been MIA due to no time to get online and force myself to write, but I'm changing my ways. I have to stay in here because you all have helped in so many ways and I am intending on changing my ways before I get too old and it will be more difficult.

My goal is prior to my friend(s) Sarah and Ashley's weddings in September, I intend to lose 20 lbs, or close to it. I'm starting fresh at a new gym and hubby and I are going to start running starting next week. I am changing the way I eat, too, eating less, eating more spacious meals throughout the day, drinking more water, and exercising much more. I am considering joining WW also.

For those of you who don't know me, I live in FL(which I dislike) and just recently got married to the love of my life whom I have been with for four and a half years. We went to Alaska for our honeymoon and now are struggling to get back on our feet and get back on track with our lives. We will also be moving into a bigger place soon, too. So excited. I work as a preschool teacher and hope to be jr high or high school teacher in the full, if the world turns that direction for me. As of right now, I am extremely frustrated with that entire situation and long story!!!

Anyway, wish me luck, I'll be posting more often and taking time to post in everyone's journals as well. Feels good to be back.

Melinda :D

DIET:
Mon-breakfast: bowl of whole grain cereal, 23 oz water
Lunch: chicken salad with red wine dressing, snack pack of carrots, 8 oz yogurt(Yoplait Carb Monitor), 1 c mixed berries and banana, 64 oz water
DINNER: 1 serving size of tuna helper, 23 oz water

TUES: BK_bowl of whole grain cereal, 23 oz water
lunch: leftover slice of pizza from Sunday night, snack pack of carrots, 8 oz yogurt, mix of berries, 64 oz water
dinner: grilled chicken with honey mustard, 23 oz water

WED: BK-bowl of whole grain cereal, 23 oz water
Lunch: chicken salad with Italien dressing, 8 oz yogurt, snack pack of carrots, mixed berries with banana, 64 oz water
Dinner: chicken sandwich on sourdough bread,(small 6" bun), with dijon mustard, 1 c chicken noodle soup, 23 oz water.

Hi, Melinda, congratulations and best wishes on your wedding. Rikki shared pictures with us you know. You were a lovely bride.

And your new plan of action regarding weight loss sounds fine and dandy. Just take it a day at a time, and keep smiling.

WELCOME BACK !!!!!!!!!!! :D

Beth :dance:

Hi Mel,
i am so happy to see you back posting again. I agree with Jo, you were a beautiful bride. thats awesome that you and hubby are going to start running together..it sure is working for Rikki...the pounds are melting off the girl!
I will keep checking in with you my friend. Congrats on your wedding. i hope you had a lovely day.
hugs bell :)

Melinda girl!!!

I've missed you! I'm glad to see ya back at DT. Did you have a good time in Alaska?

I am in Wyo, so I'm not able to do much DTing. Hope to get back into it!

Sure do miss ya. My mom and sis are both doing WW. My mom has lost 14 lbs in 3 weeks, and my sis has lost 9. It's cool! I went WW shopping with them the other day. It seems pretty easy to eat the right foods!

Love ya tons. Hope to check in a bit later! :D

Welcome back, and congrats on the wedding.

You're looking for a teaching job? Hang in there; it can be tough to find something. It's crap that there's a teacher shortage. Funny that you're in Florida; all we hear in the Midwest is how Florida is so hard-up for teachers that they'll pay signing bonuses and moving expenses to boot. I've been teaching for two years, although they were at a less-than-ideal school, where I taught many things that were not in my field of expertise, nor with my ideal age group. Finally, going into my third year, I found a job that I think I'm really going to like (ahhh, high schoolers...). Hang in there, and let me know how the search goes for you.

yay! Welcome back, babe! :cheer:

So you're an honest woman now, eh? COngratulations.

Corinna

Hiya, Mel!! I was just in your neck of the woods (a very quick week with the whole fam) and thought of you often!

Congrats on all the fun new stuff and the new attitude! WW didn't work for me, but I only gave it 8 weeks...so...eh, whatever.

good to see ya back!

Awr! Thanks everyone for the warm welcome! I really appreciate it! I wish I had posted earlier in the week but I haven't had time. DH and I are moving into a bigger house so all we've been focussed on is getting things situated for the move and on top of that I've been dealing with changing my name. I think I changed everything. So now worries! BUT I won't have DSL back up and running until Wednesday and I have to run the Sarasota today on top of moving to take two of my "kids" to the vet. One for first round shots and the other for a skin problem. She keeps licking and now she has all these patches of muscle and skin showing. It's really gross.

Anyway, DH and I start running Monday. Getting geared up for that. I am also thinking about joining the Y souly because they have a great program and they have a nice pool, which is something I want to get back into. I love swimming!!

Anyway, other than that, things have been going well. I have an interview on Monday morning so hopefully that goes well.

I'm not even posting my food this week because 1/2 of it is mainly junk. I ate so horrible this week because we have nothing in our house and my lunches were good. But we had to get rid of all the sweet things in our house. So DH and I polished most of those off.

THANKS EVERYONE for stopping in!! I missed you all!!! And thanks for the nice compliments on my wedding. It was everything I imagined it and it went by so fast. I can't believe it's over!!!

Melinda :D

Hi, Mel!! :wave: Really appreciated your visit to my journal today!!! Thanks.

Looks like you are really on a great roll in your life with the wedding and all the changes and are gearin' up for a wonderful round o' fitness activities ... new gym, running, as well as lookin' forward to the future in your career.

Hope your "kids" have a good vet visit!!!

I hope this cats do well at the vet.. Poor itchy kitty. I hope you like your new home, too. :)

Corinna

Hey! Welcome back. Congrats on the marriage and best wishes with the interview. Good luck with your new plan. :)

Hi, Melinda, thanks for stopping in at my journal. And you did that right in the middle of what must be a very busy time for you. Moving from one place to another can be such a stressful time. Lots and lots of work is involved.

My sympathies to your poor itchy kitty. Our animals become such an important part of our lives that we always suffer a bit when they are hurting. At least I do. May your kitty recover speedily.

Keep smiling -

Hey girl,
Still thinkin of ya here in Wyo. Next week, my sisters will be here, and we're going BACK to Denver to go to Six Flags.

You wedding was just beautiful. You were such a beautiful bride, and the wedding chapel was awesome. Very pretty. I loved your dress.

Have fun with all the name changing stuff! I had to do credit cards, SSN, driver's licence...The whole shabang!

I am SO coming to visit you! :D I wanna lay on the beach! Hope your babies are doing good. I sure miss mine. Have fun moving. Miss ya!