Stick em UP! #3

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Chanel, what a beautiful name

With a difficult name like mine, its normal to repeat myself over and over. But working at a call center, its not even a question. I'd rather not repeat myself espesh cuz they forget my name after the first minute. So when names like Shannon or Shauntel or Jannel come up, I completely agree with them. "Yup! That's my name"
 
Today, however, was an unusual experience:
Paulie said: Chanel? like the perfume?
Me: YUP! You got it
Paulie: I like that! Thats a really nice name Chanel
 
The phone call was simple, however, he pretty much said my "name" like 5x. 
AND! he asked me what my plans were for the weekend. 

Me: Its my dads bday. The old man is turning 45.
Paulie: That is not old! What are you getting him?
Me: Im planning on getting him a cologne that he really likes
Paulie: You would get that Chanel! Being Chanel and all
 
Oh my! I felt so guilty lying to him. I only hoped that I didn't have to email him in the near future. He'd know my true identity. Unless, of course, I signed my name:

aka Chanel

Beautiful Blog Award

Wow. Really??

I was so excited to get a "Beautiful Blog Award" And knew that I had to share it with the blogs of peoples I think are also beautiful

 






Here are the rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award and insert a link to their blog.
2. Pass on the award to 7 other bloggers who you think have a Beautiful Blog!

3. Contact the other bloggers and let them know they have been chosen for this award.
4. Say 7 things about yourself.

A Big Thank You to....
Gisselle! Thank you for nominating me for this Beautiful Blog Award. I'm glad someone likes it!! I enjoy reading your blog and seeing more of your photography. You really inspire me to be a better person and to do more with my pictures.


Beautiful Blog Award goes to...

Wendy Reves - I really enjoy being able to keep up with Wendy while she's in California. It makes it seem like I'm right there with her. Cant wait til you move to Utah!! and dont worry I'll continue to read your blog

Lindsey  Petersen- This girl is so amazing!! and talented! and beautiful!! She and I were able to work together and I learned all about digi scrapbooking from her. Best.Thing.In.My.Life. lol

Ashley Crapo - What can I not say about Ashley? She is always happy and cheerful and I love reading the new things in her life. Espesh when she got engaged!!

LesLee Cottle - She has the most wonderful creativity that I am so jealous of! I wanna hire her to come decorate my house!! I enjoy seeing her new inventions on her blog and well as hearing about her gorgeous dogs!

Blair - WOW! Where can I begin with Blair. She is AWWWWmazing!! I found her while visiting the blogosphere one December day and I cannot get enough of her. She's funny! witty! and absolutely gorgeous. And did I mention her son is a cutie patootie?!?

Cheryl Bishop - She is so sweet, so kind, and so wonderful. Plus her adorable children are to die for!! I love reading her blog because while she lives in 45 miles away from me, I also feel connected to all her happenings and I know I'll always get a laugh

Sylvia Harper - Oh Sylvia! What a sweetheart. I met her during a Spanish class in HS and let me tell you, she was a better student than me!! I'm so happy that she started a blog and enjoy reading every single post


7 Things About Me:
1. I have an obsession with Twins. And ya, I want some.
2. I really enjoy digital scrapbooking. It gives me time to relax and jus focus on me
3. I wanted to be a cheerleader because I love seeing the flips and somersaults and tumbling. And I regret never trying out because of the cliché of being a cheerleader
4. I think its very healthy to cry. Sometimes you jus need a REALLY good cry
5. Pretty sure I have decided what I wanna do with my life. Something involving teaching... lol
6. Everyday, I look at my hubby and think "he is so HOT!"
7. Cant wait for summer. I love wearing flip flops!!

Happy St Patricks!

St Patricks is beginning to be my favorite holiday. Billys fam is part Irish so they get way into it and I'm loving it!

We decided to have our lil party on Saturday jus because it was more convenient for everyone. Billy helped me clean the house and get it all decorated. I made cake balls (I got the recipe from here) but instead I used white cake and white chocolate, both of which I colored green yay! for food coloring! They were delicious. Very very sugary - but yum! We also made this delicious drink that I got from the Food Network. And then everyone else brought a lil something.

It turned out to be a great hit! Even Aku had fun! (but I wont mention that he had someone to play with ;) Im so glad that everyone was able to make it. It makes me so happy to have people over.

And Ive decided that I really enjoy decorating for events. Sometime I really need to be in the mood and other times its jus fun for me. I should be a party planner lol jk

Post It Note #2

What a Week!!

Before I weighed myself for Week 7, I figured I'd gain a couple of pounds. Especially since I had cake, chips, pepsi, chocolate,  and so much more crap plus it was quite a stressful week - hubs lost his job - and the fact that I only exercised once was a major factor. However, I must admit that I hoped to see the same number lol It wouldnt have felt like a win or a loss. It would have jus been okay. 

But who am I kidding??

I really need to work harder. I say that I want to lose weight and fit better in my clothes. But after a week of eating crap, how can I expect to lose any pounds. 

So yes. the two pound gain was no surprise. I'm back up to 176.3. Jus 3 pounds away from my starting point. 


What have these last few months taught me? Have they even been worth it??
YES! I know I can control my cravings. Its hard! but I can do it.  I can take one piece of chocolate and be fine for a couple of days. I can say NO to coke (sigh) and I can exercise, and sometimes its a GREAT exercise!!


What do I need to work on?
I need to work on making healthier choices. I read that nutrition is 70% of your diet. No matter how hard I work out, go to the gym, bust out those crunches- I wont see results if I dont eat right. And especially because I dont have a fast metabolism like Billy (hate him). So, I need to work on this. I need to do seek out what is healthy and why. And frankly, I need to cook so that I'm not running to the closest fast food.

Ima keep the same goals for Week 7, because I am determined to complete them:
1. Workout 5 times
2. Drink Water

Here's a review of my goals, plus some more:
1. Final weight to be 140
2. Work out at least 3x a week
3. Healthy Choices
4. Cook more / Learn to cook
5. Measure pounds PLUS inches 

Post It Notes

Post It Note Tuesday, hosted by Supah Mommy. Click below button:

Slacking will NEVER pay off

even if it was two weeks ago slacking.

I sincerely thought I had a good week and I was a lil excited to see my new weight. I worked out 3 times instead of 5 and I could have drank more water each day. So I guess that might have been my downfall. . . Today the scale read 174.8 - up two pounds

But seriously? Hows does this whole dieting/eating/exercising work? Week 4 was horrible and I lost one pound. Yet Week 5 was pretty good and I gain 2 pounds. How does that make sense? If anyone can shed some light, please do!! Maybe I should start factoring inches to help balance out the numbers I dont like lol I gotta be honest, I really wanted to quit after seeing pounds added. Definitely further from my 140 goal. But again, that's whom I am: when things get tough, I try and find the easy way out. So, I really tried to not let it get to me. I knew beforehand that my weight loss journey was gonna be a slow process, but a healthy process. And that is my ultimate goal: Being healthy and fit. I read Blair's post from Heir to Blair and other McFatty Mondays like this to take my mind off my weight gain and give me more motivation to keep going. And it worked!

It also helped getting compliments sporting this gorgeous bridesmaids dress


Goals for Week 6:
1. Workout 5 times
2. Drink Water

A New Decade

My friend Gisselle wrote about her past decade which I thought was really cool and fun. So I finally decided to do mine :) It doesnt seem like 10 years has even gone by. But then I realized how hard it was to think of memories from forever ago.

2000: I was a lil 7th grader. I remember being so nervous in a big school

2001: I didnt hear about 9/11 until I walked in late to my 1st period English class (8th grade). We spent the entire time watching the news

2002: I was getting ready for my quinceañera in October and my Shaeder was born

2003: Walked in the DMV to get my very own drivers license. The guy who attended us name was Tony, he had served a mission in Guatemala, and so he let me take 3 driver license pictures and I picked my favorite

2004: Tried out for the High School soccer team. 4 months later had the greatest tan and the nicest legs ;)

2005: Got my first real job at Coldstone - best job EVA! Also, turned 18 and thought it would be so cool to move out ... ya that didnt happen

2006: I graduated high school on 666!!!!

2007: Started a new job in late Jan and met Billy at work. Oh, he was sooooo dreamy ;D

2008: Got engaged, married Billy in the Salt Lake Temple and we bought our lil condo

2009: Our roommate moved out; Billy and I finally got to experience married life and EVERYTHING that comes with it. And we celebrated our first year anniversary

Arts & Crafts

What I love about my in laws is that they LOVE doing arts & crafts. It seems like we get together every 2 or 3 months to do a craft that Joyce (MIL) hosts. Its so much fun and it gets our creative brains thinking. For St Patricks Day we did Lucky Blocks. We just used Scrapbook paper, Mod Podge and L-U-C-K-Y letters. We also had glitter or stickers to add on, but I thought mine were jus simply perfect without all the extra stuff. But they all turned out super cute!!

Surprised much?

One pound down: 172.8

Wow. I really did HORRIBLE this week (exercising + eating). And was planning to work hard core this week, espesh since I was convinced I'd gain a couple of pounds. Guess I can slack off this week too. lol jk

I wasnt able to go tanning, so Ima jus bring out the ol' nylons ;)

Ok, Ima work out FIVE times this week. And pretty sure my playlist has some good beats to keep me moving. And if not, I can always make a new one :) I wasnt able to find a Week 1 Before picture so I took week 4 pictures. They are such good ones. Great motivation to NEVER see it again lol



Goals for Week 5:
1. Workout 5 times
2. Drink. Lotsa. Water.

Ipod PlayList

Here's my playlist that will help me get in the groove at the gym. The beats will keep me moving so, the time will pass by oh so QUICK!

Single ladies (Put A Ring On It) {Beyoncé}

Pump It {Black Eyed Peas}
Womanizer {Britney Spears}
Hailie's Song {Eminem}
Lose Yourself {Eminem}
American Boy {Estelle ft Kanye West}
Battlefield {Jordin Sparks}
Stronger {Kanye West}
Waking Up In Vegas {Katy Perry}
Hot N Cold {Katy Perry}
Since U Been Gone {Kelly Clarkson}
Knock You Down {Keri Hilson ft Kanye West & Ne-Yo}
Because Of You {Ne-Yo}
Promiscuous {Nelly Furtado}
According to You {Orianthi}
So What {P!nk}
Break it Off {Rihanna ft Sean Paul}
Disturbia {Rihanna}
Shut Up and Drive {Rihanna}
Drop It Like It's Hot {Snoop Dogg ft Pharell}
Live Your Life {T.I ft Rihanna}
Untouched {The Veronicas}

Oh Photoshop, how you amaze me

A couple of weeks ago, work was extremely slow and so I decided to Photoshop. I played around with a few gadgets and filters when I made this:

14 Days of Valentines

Last year I had read a cute story here where a couple celebrated Valentines for 14 days. I really liked that idea especially because I feel that Valentine's Day should be about love, friendship, romance, family. I really do not like the idea of "SAD". Valentines should be fun whether or not you're single. You can have a night with your girlfriends or spend it with family. It's about love and the people you care about.

So after I read the blog about 14 Days of Valentine's, I was determined to spend the 14 days leading up to Valentines Day with love, romance, and whitz. And it so happened that Cher from Love, Actually Blog was on my side :)

I created a Valentine Heart Calendar (with the help of my little brother, Shaed) and used some of Cher's ideas as well as my own. It made me really happy how into it Billy was. He was curious to find out what I was going to do for the day and he was counting down the minutes 'til he did his. And of course, I was also very curious.

Examples of our 14 Days of Valentines:

1. We told each other "I Love You" in different languages. My favorite was in ASL and Billy's was Irish.

2. We watched a Romantic Movie, Billy's pick

3. We told each other a memory from our dating days. Billys was when he was planning to propose to me and mine was when he finally proposed

4. HEART ATTACK!! Billy surprised me with Heart Confetti all over the floor

5. Date Night! Billy picked the activity and I made dinner

6. Danced to our Wedding Song. This totally brought me back to our first dance as Husband & Wife

7. Reminisced on the fun times while we looked through old pictures

8. Kissed each other XX times

9. Sent romantic texts to each other

10. Surprised Billy with his favorite candy

11. Made a Valentine Card and gave it to Billy

12. He made me a Valentine Card

13. Hug and Hug and Hug each other

14. Romantic Bubble Bath, ooo la la

I really really enjoyed our 14 Days of Valentines. There was so much more love in the air and I cant wait to do it next year!

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times,
and always with the same person

- Mignon McLaughlin

Week 4

Here we are again. Lets start with the good news, shall we? We Shall!

Totally did awesome with my goals this week. Goal 1: I bought my scale from Costco (Thank you Emily!) and today when I woke up, I weighed myself. 173.6 Woot Woot. Down 2 pounds. Oh, how I love you scale. We jus might be good friends.

So you know when you buy a phone and it has a lil fake screen with numbers and apps? Below is a picture of my scale with a fake sticker.

 

I was thinking that once I reach my goal of 140, maybe I'll work on getting to 126.4, just because. It's not official yet, still deciding. Goal 2. I worked out 4 times this week!! And member my laundry from last week? I folded it ALL and put it ALL away! Up and down the stairs again, another workout for this week :) Goal 3. Posting my results right now!


I am getting really excited about exercising and eating healthy. I'm finally seeing feasible results. As McDonalds would say: I'm loving it! To add more motivation, I think Ima start adding Before and After pictures like Blair from Heir to Blair. Reading her blog gives me motivation and just looking at her pictures is giving me so much hope. I think it will be 10x better if I see my own Before and After pictures. I would have to start this week since I dont think I have any pictures from Week 1, but I will check.

My jeans are still very loose, but on to the bad news: I will be starting my cycle this week. Hopefully I dont get as bloated. Yuck-O

Goals:
1. Workout at least 3 times
2. Go tanning!! (I am a bridesmaid for a wedding next week, gotta have a lil color on my legs)
3. Post a Before picture
4. Get a playlist together for my Ipod

I'm not gonna lie. I'm SO excited for this week!