new pencils

I've got my new pencils, new shoes, new dress and it's my first day of school tomorrow as a teacher...Lord, be with me. 

Passport take 1!

On June 26th, Nathan and I headed off to Wingate, NC with 15 youth and 4 other chaperones for Passport choices. We were both excited...me more so than Nathan. Passport is such a huge part of my life and has had such a profound impact on my life. I find my experiences with Passport very difficult to communicate to other people. I was so ready for Nathan to experience Passport and get to hang out with our super awesome youth group.

The week did not disappoint. The theme really connected with our group. They loved their choices and their leaders. The group got a lot closer and really experienced God in different ways. And Nathan experienced Passport and a part of me. We all rocked it out at the dance!! It was just a breathtaking week!! And exhausting. 

And as far as weight watchers and camp, I found a balance. I brought breakfast bagels and spray butter. Stocked up on fruit. Skipped the fruit snacks and cookies at lunch. For dinner, I was completely at the mercy of the cafeteria. And often very hungry. I would try to eat the main item (chicken fingers, pizza, chicken quesadilla,etc.) and then chow down on fruit. I ran one morning. Other than that, I would just sweat the pounds off (thank you, dance with no air conditioning). So after a 3 quesadilla night, trip to Cookout, and Cheerwine sherbet, I came out about even, if not down a little bit!!

All in all, a fabulous and successful week!!

Thanks for the fun Passport!!

June 16, 2011

Today has been a fun day...It is exactly a year until our wedding day!!  Woot woot!!  I'm so ready I could burst.  To celebrate today, Nathan and I went and met with a realtor and a mortgage person to discuss the possibility of buying our first house together (my first house! aaahhh!!!).  Both meetings went well and we are going to start seriously looking at the end of 2011.  A great way to celebrate our negative one year wedding anniversary.  The upcoming year is going to be absolutely crazy but I am excited.  A new job, wedding planning, house hunting, general life living...much excitement and much happiness :)

Half Marathon

This past weekend included a trip to Nashville.  Melissa and Betsey tackled a half marathon!! Along with about 30,000 other people.

Poor Melissa was sick as a dog but she made it 13.1 miles!!!

 Don't they look happy!?  Happy and tired!!  Our little runners :)

After the running, we all went home and rested.  Then we headed out to Satco which was fabulous as always. 

We headed downtown and got there right as a concert was getting out...so it was nuts!!  We found one place downtown that wasn't as packed.  

The Second Fiddle was not packed but I really enjoyed it.  We also met up with Lindsey :)

Very successful trip to Nashville...if only I hadn't come home sick :(

Wedding Website

Only advantage to being sick in bed all day on a Monday?  Getting a great start on a wedding website :) 

meredithandnathan.brides.com

Accomplishment

Today marks a big ol' accomplishment for me.  I had to stay home sick today (blah) but am starting to feel better after resting.  I did go out at 4 for my Weight Watchers weigh in....and boy am I glad I did.  I lost 3.8 pounds this week (a shock after being out of town) which was so exciting!!

I have also now lost a total of 50.8!  50.8!!  I absolutely cannot believe it!  I'm in my healthy weight range finally!!  Such an exciting weigh in day for me!  I wouldn't be surprised if I gained a bit next week after such a big loss but I am still excited!  

50 pounds!  So very exciting...I am still disappointed that I had 50 pounds that I needed to lose, but I'm proud of myself for getting back on track.  I'm healthier than I've ever been.  I work out about 5 times a week and am eating what I want but on a much healthier way.  I'm thankful for all the support I've gotten from my friends, family and fiancee!  

Life lately....

Life lately is fun.  Very fun!  My days consist of work which is fun and exhausting and overwhelming and exhilarating all at the same time!!  In the evenings, I spend time with friends, family or fiance.  I've been going to the gym 4-5 times a week which I'm loving!  I love going to classes: weight lifting, zumba and even kickboxing!!  I've also started training for a 5K.  I don't have a specific race in mind yet.  Weight Watchers is doing a Walk-It Challenge where they are encouraging members to train to walk 5K.  I can already walk 5K so I'm challenging myself to run/jog 5K.   I'm one week into it.  So far so good.  I'm using the Couch to 5K plan which I'm hoping will get me to where I need to be while not killing me!!  I also started taking a Spanish class...3 classes in and I'm still at "hola" but I'm practicing and understanding so far...lots of practice left!!

My days also consist of planning...planning for a wedding!!  We set a date: June 16, 2012.  Nathan and I are ready to begin our life as a married couple but this date will give us plenty of time to plan and relax.  Here's hoping that I'll have a teaching job for next year so I don't want to overwhelm myself with wedding planning, wedding and school year!  Whew.  I'm enjoying gathering information and reading several books to begin preparations.  Only 423 days left!!!