October!

So sorry I have been MIA... AGAIN!

I recently changed positions at work, and things have been a little crazy with me having to train and get adjusted to my new digs. The change was one I requested and one that will hopefully lead to bigger and better things for me over the course of the next few years. I have already learned a lot in a short period of time, and I'm looking forward to having an impact on the students in a much different way. Although I was sad to leave my friends in my old office, change is good and I'm excited to be moving on. Hopefully this will the last time for a while, though! I'm tired of moving my things all around the building!!!!

On another note, it's OCTOBER!!!! I can't believe it. Fall is here, & Halloween time is a favorite for our family. The kids get such a kick out of all things Halloween, and Jay & I love to revel in their excitement. Over the next few weekends we will be decorating the house, pumpkin picking, choosing costumes, and carving jack-o-lanterns. There is never a shortage of things for us to do in October! We have a family tradition of going pumpkin picking with our best friends and their two little ones, and I can't wait to do it again this year.

October also marks 1 year since I met my goal weight after having baby M. It took me 11 months to lose roughly 60 pounds, and I can proudly say that I have kept that weight off for 1 year!!! 

December 2011     December 2012

May 2012          May 2013

Last year after I hit goal, I had to give myself something else to focus on as to not gain the weight right back, so I started leaning towards becoming more fit and toned. Of course it hasn't gone exactly as I planned, or as well as I had hoped, but I'm going with the saying "progress not perfection". I set a goal for myself to be able to fit back into shorts that I wore on our honeymoon by this past summer, and I was able to successfully meet that goal. Then I gave them away to good will because those babies were way too short for a mommy of 5! 

 July 2010              July 2013

I have fluctuated 3-5 pounds most of the last year, but that's probably because I'm a little looser with my eating than I probably should or could be. In spite of that, I am now 6 pounds under my goal, which gives me a total weight loss of 66 pounds since November 2011. I think that is mostly because I have amped up the exercise and as many of you know, I took up running this past spring. I was always the last one to finish the mile for the physical fitness test in school because I walked the whole thing. I never in my life imagined I could run a whole mile, let alone 3 or more! I will run my very first 5K at the end of this month, and I couldn't be more excited. I'm doing the Marianne Volpe 5K and Pumpkin Fun Run in honor of my beautiful cousin Marianne, who died 2 years ago after a long battle with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. If you'd like to donate to this worthy cause, check out here.

One of my biggest inspirations and favorite bloggers, Mama Laughlin, has been blogging a lot about how she threw away her scale. While I don't quite trust myself enough to do that just yet, I am going with that concept. For now it will be more about how I feel in my clothes and how my body looks than what the scale says. My new focus is on building and toning my muscle, and hopefully getting rid of some of the cottage cheese! GROSS! I am determined to have this be my last ride on the roller coaster of weight loss. My life has changed so drastically over the past 5 years, and I now have so many reasons to be and stay healthy & fit. 

As we get ready for November, which is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, I will be walking with my entire family on Sunday, October 13 at the Lustgarten Foundation's Pancreatic Cancer Walk in honor of my beautiful mother who passed away in 1998 after a 7 month battle with this horrific disease. This cause is very near and dear to my heart, not only because this disease took my mother from us far too young, but because it is one of the deadly forms of cancer with the smallest amount of funding for research. We need to find better treatments and ultimately, a cure. If you would like to join my family and I in the fight against pancreatic cancer, please click here.

Me & Beautiful Mommy ~ May 1998