Pool Party

Last week, or maybe it was the week before - busyness kills the brain, some friends had a pool party & invited some other friends over. Basically, it was a "girls sit on the steps in the shallow end & watch the guys jump & flip & twist off the diving board in an attempt to catch a ball" party. But it was fun, so it's okay. :) Because I bring my camera everywhere I go now a day, I was able to get some humerus faces from said guys jumping off of said diving board trying to catch said ball.

Wanna seee?

Whaaat a night!

#sheddingsixtyeight

Alright, guys. I'm going all in this time. Are you with me? ;)

I need accountability which I feel like I'll get here. Even if no one ever reads these, it's still out there & I still think people are waiting to watch me fail. I can't tell you how many times I've started dieting & going to the gym regularly. How many Monday's I've woken up motivated just long enough to get downstairs & have a pop-tart. How many "I'll start tomorrow!" or "I'll start Monday!"s that have come out of my mouth. Well, I'm tired of it & I'm ready to take this seriously.

So! I'm not making crazy goals that there's no way I'll be able to meet. I'm not promising to only eat fresh fruits and veggies & work out twice a day every day. That's called setting yourself up for failure & I'm not really into that. I will have goals, but only two to begin with.

1) Only water. I'm soooo bad about drinking that. I'll go weeks without a drop of water going in my mouth. I'll drink sweet tea for days, but never ever ever water. It's disgusting! I live with a headache that won't go away. I'm always tired & am usually ready for bed by nine. Last year while on vacation, I bought a case of water bottles & drank only that. By the time I got home, I felt great! I wasn't tired & I was staying up late like everyone else my age! Then I somehow got into the funk of only drinking sweet tea & here we are again. So that's my first goal - if you see me with anything else in hand, I give you full permission to slap me across the face. Gently. ;)

2) Exercise atleast three times a week. I'd really like to get into the habit of going to the gym every night after work, but I don't want to get discouraged if it doesn't happen right away. When I first got my gym membership, I went every day for two weeks straight. I was feeling fantastic. Then I got sick & never got back into the swing of things. So, I want to exercise regularly.

Food wise, I'm going to watch my portions, but I'm not cutting anything out right now. I've literally done that too many times & always end up binge eating & ruining all of the efforts.

Baby steps! It's what I think will work for me.

And if we're being honest -- which I'm really actually okay with not being honest, but I think it cooould help me -- I'm 228 right now & my goal weight is 160. So today, I have 68 pounds that I need to lose.

Alright, and we're off! If you want to follow me on instagram, my username is hannahgrace0417 & my hashtag for this journey is #sheddingsixtyeight. I'm ready!

It's Beautiful

Sometimes, I think dark, gloomy, rainy days filled with bright flashes of lightning & loud rolls of thunder can be more beautiful than sunny & 75. I'm not sure why. I used to be terrified of storms. But just in time, God gave me a peace & caused me to see the beauty in them. Isn't that just like our Lord? Just before I started working full-time watching kids, I began enjoying what I had hated for so long. So that when the inevitable summer storms came around, I didn't have to be the baby curled up in a closet somewhere, I could be the one who could confidently say, "It's all gonna be okay! Really!".

I know it sounds silly, but it's really a big deal for me. When babysitting for date nights, I've literally had to take someone (Sebastian - boyfriend, Katie - bestfriend, Lydia - sister) with me because of me not wanting to be alone during a thunder storm. Obviously, I can't be bringing someone to work with me everyday just incase, but now I don't even worry about it! Such a huge blessing.

Right now, I'm sitting on the couch, watching the sky light up, & listening to the thunder roll - coffee in hand. I was watching The Parent Trap, but the internet connection kept going in and out causing waaay too much buffering. Both kids are fast asleep after a tiring day spent at the park & I keep forgetting there's a dog snoozing right next to my feet.

& it's beautiful.

Sunset Love

For a few weeks now, Sebastian and I have been seeing each other maaaybe an hour a day during the week & a few extra hours on the weekends. To some people, that's pretty normal. To us, not super normal. Before June 16th, I didn't have a job & was home all day & before June 9th, Sebastian worked at Chick-fil-A during the day then had every night off. So he would go home, shower, and come to my house until it was time to go back home, sleep, and do it all over again.

Now, Sebastian is working two jobs & I'm working full-time & our schedules completely overlap. He goes to work at 5:30, I go to work at 8:30, he gets off at 2:30, I get off at 5:30, he goes to work at 6:30 & gets off at 9:30 or 10. Since I'm working forty-five minutes away from home, there's not usually time to see each other between jobs - maybe 5 minutes if we're lucky. But! The good news is that he has off from FedEx every Saturday & Monday night & has off of Chick-fil-A every Sunday. And I'm off those times, too. :) So Saturday & Monday are always hopeful date nights.

This past Monday, we went to our favorite Chinese take-out then grabbed a blanket & went to the beach. Going to the beach with Sebastian is always a big deal for me because he absolutely hates sand. There's not much he wouldn't do in place of having to deal with sand. But he surprised me & off we went.

On our way there, we drove over a bridge just in time to see the perfect neon pink sun starting to set over the water. Of course the photographer in me cried at the thought of missing out on such a sunset, so Sebastian put his foot on the pedal & got me to the beach pronto (don't worry mom, he was very safe. ;)). We got out of the car & I ran up the sand hill and back down & across the beach to get to the shore line. I'm sure everyone around me thought I'd never seen the sky before, but that's okay. It was worth it. ;)

 

^ I have no idea why we're all glowy. That's probably something I should figure out, though. Haha ^

We sat, we talked, we ate, we walked, we held hands, & I was smitten. Maybe we'll make this Monday night beach walking thing an every week gig. There's just something about the sound of crashing waves that gets to me. And in case you were wondering, that purple thing is my lanyard with me keys on it. He wears it well, yeah?

Thanks for loving me, babe. You're my absolute favorite. :)