Weigh-In Wednesday

On Thursday again... sorry! I weighed yesterday but didn't get around to posting it. : ( I was also a little sad to see that I had gained almost half a pound. BUT, I also measured (thanks to the advice of Heidi over at Grin & Bear It) and was super pleased to find that I lost the following inches last week:

Chest: -1

Waist: -0.5

Hips: -0.5

Yay! : ) Matt wasn't too thrilled about the inch off my chest (insert eye roll here) but I explained that it included back fat too. Ha, haaa, ha...

I also weighed this week at Curves, which is done monthly. Per them, I hadn't lost that much weight, but my body fat % went down 1.1%. So I was kind of excited about that. Maybe that means I'm losing fat but gaining muscle... and that's why my weight hasn't gone down much. But I know I still have a long way to go. I didn't reach my goal of working out every day last week, so I'll keep that goal for this week. It may be hard though with my family coming into town and staying with me plus my birthday party this weekend. But I'll try! : )

This week: +0.4

Total: -6.6

Total weeks: 7

Avg. per week: -1.06

And the winner is...

Time to announce the winner of my "Spring Has Sprung" giveaway! : ) Thank you to all who entered! I had 15 entries this time... much better than the 2 for my first giveaway. ; ) So without further ado...

(Sorry for the lines... I think it's the lighting at work)

And the winner is:



Yay! Congrats to Allison over at A Few Sprinkles Short of a Sundae!! Now you won't have to fight Michelle for the owl tin! : ) Ha, ha...

If you would please email me your address at april.a.payne@gmail.com, I'll hopefully get your goodies in the mail tomorrow. Thanks again everyone!

The Rolling Stones Got It Right...

Nope, you can't always get what you want... (That song's totally stuck in my head now. How about yours?)

But in the end, you get what you need, right?? Well.......... My hubby, Matt, has been looking for another job for a little while now, and pickings are slim in Montgomery. So, he'd applied for a few out of town & out of state jobs. A few weeks ago, he got a call back on a job in Nashville, TN, wanting him to do a phone interview in a few days. Well, I got kind of excited at the prospect of moving to Nashville. It's such a cool city... Plus the idea of moving some place new and it just being the two of us seemed sort of adventurous for me. We've both always been surrounded by family, so going where we didn't really know a soul was a little scary but exciting at the same time.

BUT he ended up not getting that job. : (  Matt's trying to get his foot in the door as an officer, and they had another applicant who was already an officer, so... But we had prayed a lot about it, so we knew that God just didn't want us there.

Anyway, that night we were discussing if he should keep applying for out of state jobs, or if we wanted to stay in the Montgomery area. We didn't really come to a conclusion, and as I got up to do something else, I said another little prayer asking for God's guidance. Well, not five minutes later the phone rang, and it was my Dad. He never calls me, so I was a little worried at first, but it turned out that his Admin. Assistant was being transferred to Florida, and he had called to offer me a job... WHAT??!! When he said that I just kind of sat there for a minute, shocked. Hadn't I just been praying about that?? But wait, I wasn't the one looking for a job... Matt was!

I told Dad I'd have to talk to Matt about it and call him back. So I walked back into the living room, still pretty stunned, and told Matt about the job, and Matt's response was, "You know, I really didn't want to leave this area..." (Not sure why he didn't just tell me that in the first place, but...) So he's now excited about the prospect of me working for Dad because A) It's right across the street from Matt's office, B) It's over 20 miles closer to our house than my current job, and C) My paycheck will increase significantly.

So, I'm now excited to tell you that as of next Monday, I will have a brand new job working for my Daddy. : ) I admit I was a little sad at first though, because I totally LOVE working at Southern Apparel... The thought of getting another job had never even crossed my mind during my time here. Yeah, it's way out in the boonies, but the scenery is gorgeous, so that was sort of a plus (minus gas prices). And I love what I do here... I'm not sure what to expect with my new job, but I'm sure I'll grow to love it too. : ).

So we prayed for Matt to get another job, and I end up with one... God definitely has a sense of humor. Matt has a few more applications he's waiting to hear back on, plus an interview next week, so hopefully he'll be getting a new job soon too. But either way, it looks like Alabama is still our home. : )

Weigh-In Wednesday

Yes, I know it's Thursday. ; )  I weighed yesterday morning but didn't get around to posting about it... Busy day. And when I got home from church, I just crashed.

AND I just realized I didn't do a Weigh-In Wednesday last week. To be honest, I don't even think I ever weighed in. Wednesday afternoon, a realtor called and asked to show our house (that's been on the market over a year!!!) the next day, so the rest of my day was spent making the house spotless... or close to it, anyway. So, I have no idea how I did last week, but this week I lost 4.4 pounds. Yay! : )

This week: -4.4

Total: -7

Total weeks: 6

Avg. per week: -1.17

I still haven't been working out every day like I'd prefer, but I've really enjoyed the Wii Zumba when I've done it. I always get a good sweat going, and it's a lot of fun! (Even though I look like a big goober doing it, I'm sure...) Plus I've been trying not to snack throughout the day, so I'm sure that's helped.

My goal for this week is to work out EVERY DAY and lose as much as possible (in a healthy way) before my big party next weekend!! I'm going shopping with my sis Anna this coming Monday to find a dress for the party, so hopefully that'll be a fun experience and not a depressing one... ; )

Spring Has Sprung Giveaway!!

So right after that last post, I looked to see that I already had 25 followers... How did that happen?! So I whipped up some goodies for a little "Spring Has Sprung" giveaway. One of you lovely readers will win the following:



A cute make-up bag



Bookmark, stamp set, and mini notebook



4 glittery notecards w/ envelopes

 

An adorable owl tin

Two sets of spring time stickers

 

A cupcake magnet list pad



A pretty-in-pink necklace


Sorry the pictures suck... I had to use my camera phone and it doesn't have a flash. And yes, that cute make-up bag is from the new Clinique Bonus, but I just purchased a new make-up bag so I thought I'd share. : )

And so, if you'd like to enter this giveaway, all you have to do is be a follower of my blog and leave a comment. AND if you'd like extra entries, here you go:



(please leave a separate comment for each of these)

1. One extra entry for blogging about this giveaway

2. One extra entry for following me on twitter (@angellarae)

3. One extra entry for tweeting about this giveaway

And that's it! I'll close the giveaway a week from today, March 29, and draw the winner on Wednesday the 30th. Good luck! ; )

Beauty is... an award?!

Wow... I was about to do a new post and noticed this "draft" from back in January. Totally forgot about it... sorry Sarah!! Better late than never, right?! ; )

So anyway, I have been given my very 1st blog award. Yay! : ) Thank you so much to Sarah over at Overthinking Mama for this lovely award. Go check her out if you haven't already...

Since this is my very first award, please excuse me if I screw this up... but this is what it says I should do:

1. First thank and link back to the person (s) that gave the Award
2. Answer the 10 survey questions
3. Pass the Award along to other bloggers whom you think are fantastic
4. Contact the bloggers you have chosen to let them know about the Award


So, here goes...

1. If you blog anonymously, are you happy doing this? If you aren't anonymous, do you wish you started out anonymously, so that you could be anonymous now?


I never really thought about blogging anonymously. I guess it would have it's ups and downs, but I like just being me... : )


2. Describe an incident that shows your inner stubborn side.


Hmmm... I can definitely be stubborn when I think I'm right. An incident that comes to mind is once when my hubby, a friend of ours, and I were talking about random things, and the question, "What was the first video played on MTV" was asked. Well, I said it was "Video Killed the Radio Star" and they both swore it was some Rod Stewart video. We argued back and forth for a minute but then dropped it. But I thought about it all day, and when we finally got home, the first thing I did was look it up and show Matt that I was right. ; )




3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?


Usually everything I hate about myself... But if I try to stay positive, I see one of God's wonderful creations. : )

4. What is your favorite summer cold drink?


Lemonade... or cherry limeade maybe

5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?


Usually watch tv or read... maybe go shopping every once in a while
6. Is there something that you still want to accomplish in your life?


Oh, lots of things... The main one being to become a mommy. : ) I'm working on a 101 in 1001 list, so you can find out even more of my goals when I finish it!

7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever, the shy person or always ditching?


I'd say a mix of the 1st three... definitely not a ditcher. I was a good student! : )  I was also voted Most Original of my Senior class. Woot, woot!! Although I guess that just meant I was the weirdest... Ha, ha!

8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment in your life, what would you see?


Hmmm... I guess I'd say the day I got married. I was just so excited and nervous and anxious and happy... just all of these different emotions, all at the same time!

9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog, or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people and events?


I've always been better at expressing myself through writing than speaking, so I'd say it's easier to share about myself than other people. Plus I'd never want to offend anyone, so I may hold back when discussing other people...

10. If you had the choice to sit down and read a book or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?


Oh, DEFINITELY read a book... I am soooo not a phone person. Never have been... I think it runs in my family though. We hardly ever call each other, which sucks but is just how it is.

 Alrighty... it doesn't say to how many people I should forward this award, but Sarah gave it to 4 so I'll do that. And I assume I shouldn't give it back to the person who gave it to me, right? So the award goes to:

Letters, She Wrote

One Crafty Fox

Gracie Bella Butterfly

Grin & Bear It

I chose these blogs because they always make me smile when I read them... so it's fitting that they should be given the "Life Is Good" award! : ) Go check them out!!!! It's sure to brighten your day.

On another note, I'm just 1 follower away from Giveaway Time! I have a few things already, but I'm thinking of doing a themed giveaway this time. Stay tuned to enter... Hope you have a great evening! : )

The Adjustment Bureau

Grade: B

Profanity: A handful... including a couple F-bombs

Graphic content (sex, murder,etc.): One sex scene but short w/ no nudity

*** WARNING: THIS REVIEW IS SEMI-SPOILER-ISH ***

I really didn't know what to expect with this movie, but I thought the previews looked pretty good. I had gathered from the previews that there was some sort of agency that went around adjusting people's minds in order to keep them on an appointed life path, and that Matt Damon's character accidentally became aware of this fact and went on the run w/ his girlfriend from the "adjusters."

I assumed the agency was controlled by the government, so I was pretty surprised when it turned out to have more of a spiritual aspect. I won't go into too many details about that, so as to not totally ruin it for you. I will say that it was a pretty interesting concept if you looked at it from a secular point of view. It focused too much on the idea of pure chance in my opinion to be considered a Christian perspective. But looking at it as  strictly fictional, which is the point, as a Christian I wasn't offended or anything...

I thought Emily Blunt, Damon's love interest, did an outstanding job. Not sure if that was really her dancing (think it was) but I loved those scenes. She and Damon had a great connection, which was good since the movie ultimately turned out to be more of a love story than anything else. And as a romantic, I'm always up for a love story. : )

Weigh-In Wednesday

So, I totally forgot to post this last week! Sorry... I'm a slacker, I know. But I did weigh in then. I was very sad to find that I gained 3 more pounds. I was actually really surprised because I worked out hard that week. So to keep my spirits up, I've convinced myself that the gain was due to muscles growing.

So on to this week. I slacked on going to the gym this past week, but I did get a lot of cardio over the weekend at B.O.W. I'll post about that later... And although I didn't go into full-on junk mode, I didn't eat as healthy this week. : (  So... I lost 1 pound. It's better than gaining though!

This week: -1

Total: -2.6 (sucks!!)

Total weeks: 4

Avg. per week: -0.65

Well, that kind of blows... In a month, I've only lost 2.6 pounds. : (  Well, I guess that should just motivate me to do better this next month! Right now my motivation is to lose as much weight as I can before my big birthday party coming up. I'm turning the big 3-0, and I'm having an Alice In Wonderland themed tea party. Fun!! : )

I think I'm going to give up some things for Lent that should aid me in my weight-loss goals as well, but I'll post about that tomorrow. Right now, I'm going to go burn some calories with Wii Zumba. Later! ; )