The Competition - Week 6

First I'd like to say this is my 300th post!!!!

Now onto this week.

As a reminder here's where we started:

Chad: 210
Jenn: 178

After week 1:
Chad: 208.5
Jenn: 177

After week 2:
Chad: 207
Jenn: 176.5

After week 3:
Chad: 208
Jenn: 177

Week 4:
Chad: 206.5
Jenn: 176

Week 5:
Chad: 205
Jenn: 175

Week 6:
Chad: 203
Jenn: 173

And percentage of weight lost (weekly):

Chad: 0.98%
Jenn: 1.14%

Which means I've finally won a week... this brings my total weight loss to 5 pounds... it's so exciting to be losing this weight. I'm so proud of both of us!!

Catching up

I haven't posted a "real" blog entry in awhile... so here's a random post...

• Last week I was in LA... it was colder there than it was here in St. Louis.
• The conference I was in LA for went really well... I got thanked more there than I have in quite awhile. It felt really good to hear that I had been doing such a good job. I work really hard and I put a lot of effort into the things I do and I don't always get recognition for it, but last week I definitely did... it was really nice.
• I got to see the ocean last week, we took a trolley down to Manhattan Beach. It's a really nice area and it was really nice seeing the ocean.
• Yesterday I went to StrangeFolk festival in O'Fallon, IL. I didn't get anything, but there was a lot of cool things there. I'm sure that if I was with my mom I probably would have gotten something.
• We watched Hot Tub Time Machine last night... it was really funny... especially for the cast involved and the fact the movie is named Hot Tub Time Machine.
• I'm so happy the new line up for TV... Survivor is back as well as The (regular) Apprentice. I think Chad and I are going to start watching The Amazing Race as well.
• Oh... and football is back on TV... YAY!! And although the Rams aren't winning, they are looking MUCH better than last year.
• Our anniversary dinner was awesome. We went to the Melting Pot again and had a great time. We like it there b/c it's a nice leisurely dinner and wine and company. It was wonderful.
• Chad is working a new schedule these days. He's working Friday through Monday. It's some adjustment, but we have every night together which is more than when he worked nights. He's doing really well at work and it's all a good thing. I just hope they offer him a permanent job real soon.

Well, that's all for now... I'm hoping to start up a more consistent post... so look out for that. It's dinner time!!

NFL Picks - Week 3

San Francisco 49ers vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Detriot Lions vs. Minnesota Vikings

Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots

Atlanta Falcons vs. New Orleans Saints

Tennessee Titans vs. New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns vs. Baltimore Ravens

Dallas Cowboys vs. Houston Texans

Washington Redskins vs. St. Louis Rams

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

Indianapolis Colts vs. Denver Broncos
Oakland Raiders vs. Arizona Cardinals

San Diego Chargers vs. Seattle Seahawks

Miami Dolphins vs. New York Jets

Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears

Chad

Jenn

Both

After Week 2... we are still tied... I was throughly convinced that Chad was in the lead but when i was compiling the scores just now we are actually tied... SCORE!!

Chad: 20-12

Jenn: 20-12

The Competition - Week 5

Even though we weighed ourselves Monday, I was on travel this week and didn't have access to the spreadsheet, so I'm just now getting around to posting.

As a reminder here's where we started:

Chad: 210
Jenn: 178

After week 1:

Chad: 208.5
Jenn: 177

After week 2:

Chad: 207
Jenn: 176.5

After week 3:

Chad: 208
Jenn: 177

Week 4:

Chad: 206.5
Jenn: 176

Week 5:

Chad: 205
Jenn: 175

And percentage of weight lost (weekly):

Chad: 0.73%
Jenn: 0.57%

13/25

My awesome friend Carrie bought me this book at a book fair. She thought she had read it, but turns out she hasn't... but that's just a side note. My second Jodi Picoult book... and I've gotta say I'm starting to become hooked. She just engages you with the characters so well. She tackles these tough topics but does so in a way that it's easy to read. Plus I've noticed with her books you want to know what happens next... or how the heck is this book going to end. I would recommend this book to a friend. I am excited to read more of her books.

On a side note as a posted awhile back, I read My Sister's Keeper. I finally watched the movie last Friday and I couldn't believe how much they changed the story. I know books and movies never match perfectly (pun anyone?? ok, maybe not so much... anywho...) they completely changed the ending and that seems slightly wrong.

Two Wonderful Years

Two years ago today I married my best friend... These two years have been wonderful and I'm so happy he's in my life. I'm so excited to see what our future continues to bring. Chad, I love you more every day. Happy 2nd anniversary!!

NFL Week 2 Picks

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Tennessee Titans
Baltimore Ravens vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Detroit Lions
Arizona Cardinals vs. Atlanta Falcons
Miami Dolphins vs. Minnesota Vikings
Kansas City Cheifs vs. Cleveland Browns
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Carolina Panthers
Buffalo Bills vs. Green Bay Packers
Chicago Bears vs. Dallas Cowboys
Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos
St. Louis Rams vs. Oakland Raiders
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. San Diego Chargers
New England Patriots vs. New York Jets
Houston Texans vs. Washington Redskins
New York Giants vs. Indianapolis Colts
New Orleans Saints vs. San Francisco 49ers

Chad
Jenn
Both

After week 1 we've got a tie!!

Chad: 11-5
Jenn: 11-5

The Competition - Week 4

Can you believe it's been 4 weeks already?!? I'm still having a hard time believing it.

As a reminder here's where we started:

Chad: 210
Jenn: 178

After week 1:

Chad: 208.5
Jenn: 177

After week 2:

Chad: 207
Jenn: 176.5

After week 3:

Chad: 208
Jenn: 177

Week 4:

Chad: 206.5
Jenn: 176

And percentage of weight lost (weekly):

Chad: 0.72%
Jenn: 0.56%

This brings us to our monthly competition and the winner for the first month is (drum roll please)......................................... Chad!!

Chad: 1.67%
Jenn: 1.12%

I am pretty proud we are both losing weight, but even more so than that we are making a lot of great lifestyle changes. I have cut out all soda and we haven't been eating out. I'm very happy with these changes and although we haven't lost a ton of weight we are doing things to better our lives.

NFL Week 1 Picks

It's that time of year again!!

Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints
Oakland Raiders vs. Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers vs. New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans
Denver Broncos vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Atlanta Falcons vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Miami Dolphins vs. Buffalo Bills
Detroit Lions vs. Chicago Bears
Cincinnati Bengals vs. New England Patriots
Cleveland Browns vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks
Green Bay Packers vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Arizona Cardinals vs. St. Louis Rams
Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins
Baltimore Ravens vs. New York Jets
San Diego Chargers vs. Kansas City Cheifs

Chad
Jenn
Both

Labor Day Weekend

Well, it was quite the Labor Day weekend. Since my normal off day fell on Labor Day it got pushed to Tuesday. I returned home from Atlanta on Thursday and decided that going back to work on Friday would totally and completely suck. So I took some time off... it was about the best decision I could have made.

With being out of the office in Atlanta last week and then this fabulous five day weekend it really helped me de-stress and get away from the drama of the office. Right now I'm feeling quite rejuvenated... I don't think I realized how much I just needed a break... I love my job and I love my co-workers but sometimes it's nice to just get away for awhile.

So you may be asking exactly what did I do with my 5 day weekend... and that would be a good question...

On Friday, I just lazied around the house. I went and got a card for a wedding and did a little grocery shopping (getting delicious strawberries!!) I tried to go to the mall, but I just wasn't in the mood to shop. (one of these days the shopping bug is going to bite... but it hasn't yet...) Friday night Chad and I just spent the night together. I like having a low-key Friday night and with being out of town all week it's always nice to spend time the two of us.

On Saturday we had a wedding of a friend to attend. How amazing was the weather on Saturday? Perfect day for a wedding. The ceremony was outdoors at the World's Fair Pavilion in Forest Park. There was quite a strong breeze... kinda interesting when the ceremony finally got underway. The ceremony started about 25 minutes late... and I'm blaming that on the fact it was unbelievable weather and everyone in St. Louis wanted to be at the park.

After the ceremony we headed up to O'Leary's with some friends to kill some time. I haven't been there forever and I think I'd like to go back soon. They even have fried pickles like we made in our cooking class. After we killed a little more time we headed up to the reception. It was a lot of fun. Drinking and dancing with friends. I always have such a good time at weddings. I wish more of our friends would take the plunge.

Sunday involved some surprisingly fast recovery on my part... but that was only a small part of the day. I got to do something I haven't done in quite awhile - hang out with my family. My mom, brother and I visited my grandma. We went out to eat at Mimi's Cafe in Chesterfield. It was quite delicious. I also got to see my aunt, uncle and cousin.

After visiting with grandma, we headed back but ended up at my mom's house. I had an idea for some more art for my house (stay tuned for that.) I also got to see my little sister. We all played Picturecka... it was a pretty fun game. I really enjoyed just having a casual day with my family... I'd love to do it more often.

Chad and I had another somewhat relaxing day on Monday. We slept in and made breakfast together. We did some housework and then went on a grocery shopping trip. We first went by Petsmart and then onto Schnucks. We haven't had a grocery trip like that in quite awhile. Thankfully we spent way less than we were expecting but we still got a lot of food and we didn't get any sweets... go us. We wrapped up Chad's Labor Day weekend with pasta and garlic bread for dinner... yum-o

Today I've had another day to myself. I've gotten laundry done and vacuuming and dusting... I'm not sure what I'll do this afternoon but I hear Chad is going to make special cheese burgers... I, for one, am excited.

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!!

The Competition - Week 3

This was a bad bad week... with me on travel and then labor day weekend it went to hell in a hand basket... but in full disclosure I bring you this week's weigh in.

As a reminder here's where we started:

Chad: 210
Jenn: 178

After week 1:

Chad: 208.5
Jenn: 177

After week 2:

Chad: 207
Jenn: 176.5

After week 3:

Chad: 208
Jenn: 177

And percentage of weight lost (weekly):

Chad: -0.48%
Jenn: -0.28%

Since we both gained weight neither of us won... we are back on the wagon... or off the wagon or whatever means we'll be better this week.

12/25

I'm really starting to wonder if I'm going to reach my goal... but I'm happy I'm trudging forward.

Upon the recommendation of my good friend Carrie. This book came out in the mid-70s I believe... I had never heard of it but Carrie claims it's a classic. Overall I enjoyed the book but it was really strange and weird at times. It's about 4 kids locked in an attic together. It's interesting to see how their relationships change as well as how the cope with never getting to leave the attic. I think this book is part of a series and I'm hoping to read the other ones. I have a couple of books in my queue.

The Competition - Week 2

I know I'm late on posting this but I was in Atlanta all week... we weighed in on Sunday night since I left on Monday morning.

We've completed an entire week and thankfully both of our numbers actually went down... yay!!

As a reminder here's where we started:

Chad: 210
Jenn: 178

After week 1:

Chad: 208.5
Jenn: 177

After week 2:

Chad: 207
Jenn: 176.5

And percentage of weight lost (weekly):

Chad: 0.72%
Jenn: 0.28%

Which means Chad has won again this week...