Where did summer go?!

Once again, it's been almost three months since I posted last, and I have no idea where summer went!

The weather has been beautiful; sunny and dry since probably May. And we have definitely enjoyed relaxing a bit since the wedding. Seems like we had a little stress there in the begining of our 'wedded bliss', but we're past that and all is well.

I went straight from 'wedding mode' to 'baby mode' and I think that threw us into a spiral! I was almost panicked about getting old and was convinced that we didn't really have time to wait before trying to get pregnant.

The Saga continues! Here's what happened next, and what I'll likely report back on from time to time...

I knew I had some 'pre-existing issues' that may or may not require surgery before trying to conceive. So, I decided to go to the specialist my OBGYN referred me to, just to get more information and know what's really going on. Of course, this freaked Pete out big time. In the 5 years that he's been with his company, he's NEVER met the deductible on his health insurance. In two months, I met it all by myself! And thank God for Flex Spending!

Ok, so moving on, I went to the specialist and she confirmed that she did think I would need surgery before I can carry a baby. Of course, I had to go back a second time for more costly tests, to confirm that (which I really think was just another way to get more $$$ out of us). Here's the kicker... Because of all the crazies out here and the 'lawsuit mania', risk is a very important discussion for medical providers. And since I'm overweight, they won't do my surgery until I've lost a whopping 58 pounds in total!

Yes, I know I've gained some serious pounds. Stress, poor eating decisions and basic laziness will do that to ya. And I know I need to lose, so that's not a huge surprise. But to have to lose nearly 60 pounds just in order to have something as pleasant as surgery (the fact that it's outpatient surgery is beside the point here!), is kind of a kick in the groin, if ya know what I mean. And a HUGE goal. I've done my share of losing and gaining but never this much.

So, immediately after leaving the doctor's office on June 16, I started researching gyms, and started writing down everything I ate. And I do mean EVERYTHING. It was an eyeopener, but it also helped me see that calorie-wise, I wasn't in that bad of shape. I don't eat alot. I was just eating less than ideal foods, high in sodium, etc., blah, blah, blah. I was able to turn things around pretty quickly. In the week between my first and second doctor's appointments, I lost 8 pounds. That seemed kind of crazy, but it's true. Of course, then it started leveling off and it's taken lots of work, but I'm down 20 pounds as of last Tuesday morning.

I joined a gym that has locations near my house in San Jose, as well as near my hotel in Brea, so I should be covered when I travel for work. And I've managed to work out about 6 days a week. I also still track my calories pretty closely.

So, it seems I'm on the right track. But I get discouraged from time to time because I've still got a long way to go. 40 more pounds, to be exact! I was hoping to meet my goal by the end of the year, but I think that's a bit audacious with the holidays and all. I will press on and keep doing what I'm doing. It's a little intimidating though and I feel as though there's a black cloud hanging over me.

As you may guess, I get A-LOT of advice. Everyone around me is suddenly a doctor, nutritionist and personal trainer all in one! Lucky me, right? So, I've got one friend telling me that going Vegan is the only way to go. I don't agree and like meat way too much to enteratin that. Another friend gave me some really high impact aerobic workouts to do and doesn't think I'm going to succeed unless I do that everyday. Thanks to trying that, I twisted my already screwed up ankle and was actually out of commission for a few days. And an actual trainer at my gym always tells me not to focus on the pounds, think about how my clothes fit and how I look, not so much the numbers. Easy for her to say! My doctor put this goal on me and EVERYTHING I'm doing is based on the total goal of pounds lost. How can I not focus on the numbers?

Everytime I hit a plateau, I switch up my workout. Workout longer, lift heavier weights, challenge myself and make a constant goal of eating right. Bottom line is, it's hard. Really, really hard. And I've fallen off the wagon a couple of times now. Not usually for more than a day, but still. I'm travling twice a month, which forces me to try and find healthy options eating out. Not too bad here in Crazy-Healthy-California. But expensive. I want potato chips today. Lays Salt and Vinegar, to be exact. I L-O-V-E pizza. And that's a big No-No.

I'm ok with this being hard. Good things come to those who work hard. But I tend to be the most impatient with myself. 20 pounds is good. It's been 2 1/2 months. But I wanted to lose 10 pounds a month, so I feel like I'm behind. Always my own worst critic.

So, more than likely, this is what I'm going to be posting on, for a while. I'm adding my weight loss ticker so everyone can keep track of me (like you guys have the time or inclination to keep track of me!)

Other than my personal progress, Pete and I have been doing well. We enjoy having our cookouts with friends, we found a few places to fish and Pete's going to dust off the RC airplane and hopefully start flying it again. Life is good.

Thanks for reading!
Easily Distracted

Mrs. Donatelli?!! WHAAAT?

Dum Dum, Du Dum! That was supposed to be the wedding march :).

YES, we are officially Mr. and Mrs. Donatelli!! It's so surreal to me. And everytime people call me Mrs. Donatelli, it sounds funny :).

The wedding was perfect! I really couldn't believe how perfect it was. Everything turned out exactly how I hoped it would. The weather was gorgeous and everyone had a wonderful time. Other than the anxiety I had immediately beforehand, everything was smooth! The weather on our wedding day was spectacular. Clear, sunny and breezy, but not too cold. And there was a full moon, which I think has to be good luck!

After the wedding, we had another day with our families and then started getting ready for our trip to Hawaii. We stayed up late cleaning house the night before, since Pete's dad and stepmother were staying there while we were gone.

Maui was absolute Paradise! Regardless of Pete telling me he wanted to relax, after being there about a day, he started with the 'What do you want to do?' and wanted to be doing something all the time. So, he took a surf lesson, which he really enjoyed. We went on two different snorkeling trips, which were both great. The water there was warm and super clear! We saw some cool fish, coral and Pacific Green Sea Turtles, which was a real treat :). We explored the Molokini Crater and Lanai.

The hotel was beautiful and the people there were all friendly. It was a whole different world. Not that we don't like California, but there was very little traffic in Hawaii, no road rage at all and we didn't see anyone who was mad, which is pretty common here on the Golden Coast.

We went to a Luau at our hotel, which was fun. We met a couple from Chicago and actually went out to dinner later in the week with them. I feel very blessed to have been able to take a trip like that. Unfortunately, I had to use all of my vacation time for this year, all for the wedding and honeymoon. But thankfully, I've got some flexibility at work and I can probably adjust some time here and there if I need to.

All in all, it was a busy, but perfect time for us. I couldn't have asked for anything better. Now we're back in our work routines, which is good too and I'm back in Brea until Saturday morning.

Now we can relax and enjoy the summer together! For the first time in two years, I'll be able to spend the summer holidays with Pete. Cheers!

As Always,
Easily Distracted

February?! Where's the time gone?!

Ok, it has to be said that I can NOT believe that I've not blogged since November. So, I'll give a short update from November-February :)

We spent the holidays here in San Jose and it was definitely a different experience. Usually, it's all hustle and bustle, running around to make sure we can spend time with everyone. But with just the two of us, we didn't have that this year. And I have mixed feelings about it. I missed my family very much over the hoildays, but valued the time Pete and I got to spend together. I'm thinking that if we can't be with family next year, maybe we should take a little trip over the holidays, to add a little excitement. We'll see.

My job also took a new spin on me. I was told when I went back to WV in the beginning of November, that that would be my last trip to that office for work. Talk about panic! So, I worked feverishly on cleaning out my apartment, painting, etc. And I just got the itemized list of deductions my apartment complex would need to make from my security deposit. So, I paid $605 for the initial deposit, $35 for the washer/dryer deposit, $350 for the cat deposit and $50 for the utilities deposit, to total $1040. Yes, folks, I paid over $1000 in deposits to CZS Development! After living there for about 3 years, there was normal wear and tear on the carpet. It was actually really cheap carpet and looked like crap when I moved out. But, again, it was cheap carpet. Other than that, there were no major issues with anything and guess how much I'm set to get back? $70!! When I called to argue about the deductions they were making, I was basically told 'Take it or leave it.' They hadn't included the $350 for my cat deposit, and when I asked I was told that that was a nonrefundable charge that I paid for the priveledge of having a cat. BULLSHIT! Sorry, but it is. I also spent a good deal of time painting the apartment and they are charging me $350 to re-paint stating that I did a crappy job. Awesome, right? Word to the wise, do NOT sign a lease with CZS Development unless you are only planning to stay there for a year or less and have a deposit that you don't care to get back.

Moving on! Now that all of my stuff has been shipped out to our house in CA, we've been working gradually on getting things situated. And let me tell ya, it could take years to get everything situated.

I keep telling myself that it'll be easier after the wedding is over. We can actually save money and have it stay in the savings account. At this point, I'm saving money to pay for our wedding stuff. Which, is a pretty cool thing actually. I'm proud that I can do that. But constantly worrying about money and obsessing over the price of ground meat or coffee as far as our budget is concerned isn't fun.

There's no doubt that this year has been and will continue to be challenging. Our first full year of living together again, after a few years living separately + moving across the country from our friends and families + planning and paying for a wedding + buying and moving into a new house (new to us anyway :)) = a fair amount of stress for a couple to deal with. Luckily I think we're doing just fine :).

I will definitely try not to get so distracted and keep blogging as we get closer to the Big Day :)

Thanks for reading!