Baby Zoe!!

OK so one of my bestest friends in the whole wide world, Ericka, is having my little "niece" Zoe. She has a c-section scheduled for October 29th but from the picture I saw last night, Zoe doesn't want to wait that long. She has dropped so much! I'm so excited!!! I can't wait to meet my little bug and love on her. Plus by the time she is old enough to remember, I will be skinny Auntie Water Bug. Don't ask where that name came from haha! I made these letters for her nursery and I have some clothes for her and a picture frame.... Child is already spoiled by Auntie!

Anyway, no weight loss between yesterday and today but I'm still pushing on, I have 4 days to lost my 5.4 pounds, I can do it I know I can!!

I got my closet all organized last night for Lola, that is where she likes to have her puppies for some reason. She has already set up a little nest in the back corner to get ready for them. I have a feeling that Zoe and the puppies will come on the same day or at least in the same week. I'm just hoping that it isn't the weekend I'm out of town.

I am going grocery shopping probably tomorrow after work to embark on my first attempt at a weeks worth of meals and snack for Eric and I for $100 or less. I know I can do it. It's been fun getting everything together to plan meals and find deals. I've almost turned it into a competition between me and the store. I will win!

Anyway that's all for today I have lots of work to do. Thanks for reading!

Lots of Love,
Sara (The Biggest Loser Reject)

Today's verse is about competition. Because I am very competitive and even just said that I was turning my shopping mission into a competition between me and the store.

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it." 
                                    1 Corinthians 9:24
 

It's Hump Day!

Well it's Wednesday, so only half a week left! Ok so I woke up this morning and weighed, as I do every day, and I lost 5.4 pounds between yesterday and today! OMG! That mean's between my weight fluctuation recently, I have 4.2 pounds to go to hit the 20 pound mark, it is so close I can taste it! Literally with the smoothie I'm drinking for breakfast. :)

I asked the other day for y'all to pray for me and boy I need to thank you because whoever did it, I feel it. God has taken the situation and shown me his purpose for it and it is so much cooler than I could have imagined. We have an amazing God and I have always struggled with trusting his reasoning or timing.

Anyway, I am going grocery shopping tomorrow hopefully and have so many recipes we are going to try. I am so excited! Eric made me promise not to tell him what is in it until after he eats it (and likes it.) I have made it my personal mission to shop for the two of us and be able to get personal items and food for 3 meals and 2 snacks a day for each of us for $100 or less a week. I can do this!

We think Lola's puppies will probably come the weekend of October 13th so we'll see. We are selling them and the price will depend on the gender and coloring of the puppies so its hard to say right now. As soon as they are born I will post pictures and prices for each.

I guess that's all for today, I will post again tomorrow and hopefully have more weight loss! Thanks for reading!

Lots of Love,
Sara (The Biggest Loser Reject)

This verse is about remembering to thank God for His blessings.

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."
                                                                                                                    1 Chronicles 16:34

Tuesday Snoozeday

OK so I still can't shake this tiredness. Since Saturday, all I have wanted to do is sleep. Maybe that's my body telling me it wants to go back to the gym. :) So maybe I'll give it what it wants today.

I read this quote yesterday that said "You can feel sore tomorrow, or you can feel sorry tomorrow." I loved it! I need to print that off and put it everywhere because I need to remember it. I am still determined to hit my 20 pound mark this week so I need to get to work.

My female Shih Tzu is pregnant and the puppies will be ready to go to homes the middle of December, so if anyone is looking for a great Christmas present let me know! We have the male also so we know they are full blood Shih Tzu, we have papers on the female. This will be her last litter, we are getting her fixed after this.

I am going to ask that you all pray for me on an issue that I can't get into but God knows what it is. That's all for today, thanks for reading!

Lots of Love,
Sara (The Biggest Loser Reject)

Today's quote is about trusting God's reasoning behind things.

 
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
                                   Jeremiah 29:11

I'M BAAAAACKK!!! Haha in all seriousness, last week was absolutely crazy so I apologize for not blogging. Lets see where to start, I had a test every single day last week including Saturday, I got glasses to hopefully stop my daily headaches, Eric and I were made an offer last night that we would have loved to have taken but it would not have been the responsible thing to do right now. I think that about covers last week.

I am right around 5 pounds away from hitting the 20 pound mark so I'm hoping to do that this week! OMG I would be so excited, I don't remember ever losing 20 pounds before!

We started working out at Anytime Fitness and both loved it. We were both so sore the next couple days. I can't wait till the day that we aren't sore and actually look forward to working out.

This will be a short post despite everything that has happened, but this is a weight loss journey blog and not much has happened in that category. That's all for today thanks for reading!

Lots of Love,
Sara (The Biggest Loser Reject)

I'm going to start posting bible verses about things that I need to hear instead of just a random verse. Hopefully they will help some of you too. Right now I need to be patient and wait for God's timing. 

"For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay." 
                                                                                          Habakkuk 2:3

Go Rangers!

Ok well we had a great weekend. Friday, I went with my mom to see my grandfather who was in the hospital and my cousin who had her first baby. OMG he is precious! He has red hair just like his momma and was so sweet. It honestly, made me sad though, I am so happy for her and her husband, but it still makes me wonder why God chose the path he did for Eric and I to become parents. That being said, we really would prefer to do a private adoption. So if any of you reading this find yourself or someone you know or hear of in the situation of being pregnant and not being able to or wanting to take care of the baby, please keep us in mind. We want nothing more than to give a loving home to a baby that we would make the center of our world. We have set up a fund raising page, not because we don't want to have to pay for adoption, but because it can get so expensive, we are just asking for anything that you can give even non monetary such as thoughts and prayers. The link is http://www.gofundme.com/16dyyk 

We went to the Rangers/Marlins game for Eric's birthday. Despite the 1.5 hour rain delay and that fact that it never completely stop raining the whole time and got kind of cold, we had a blast. They won, 2-1 so that was fun. There was a Casey Donahew Band concert after the game on the field so we stayed and watched a little of that then went to In-N-Out Burger. I had never been to one in Texas before and Eric had never been to one at all. OMG it was so good! Eric is a new fan and said that after we move to Denton, we will be going to one frequently lol.

My self transformation is still going great. I posted two pictures yesterday that I think you can see a huge difference in my face. I am going to make an appointment today with a personal trainer so she can get me on a routine at the gym that will help me achieve my goals. I can't wait to get started and start seeing the pounds and inches fall off. Yay!!!

That's all for today, thanks for reading!

Lots of Love,
Sara (The Biggest Loser Reject)

"And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will complete it."
                                                                                                                          Philippians 1:6

Finally!!

OK so Eric and I signed up at Anytime Fitness yesterday YAY!!!!! We didn't have time to work out and Eric wasn't feeling great but we signed up and walked through the facility. We are both so excited! I'm going to try to call today and set up my appointment with the trainer to get started. I saw Johanna (Blogger on a Diet) who looks even better in person than in her pictures! I didn't get to talk to her but I saw her there!

We had a change of plans. Eric's dad has been sick so we aren't going to stay with them Saturday night. We are just going to go up Sunday morning to the game then come back Sunday night after. It will be a long day but we will have fun.

My sweet cousin Rebekah and her husband Josh had their precious baby last night. Jace was born a little after Midnight last night. 6lbs 11 oz. with red hair like his momma. He's precious! I'm going with my mom to see him today. I love babies! I'm getting my nails done today and I'm so excited! Then I have to come home and start studying because I have several tests this next week. :( Oh well it had to come sometime. If I can just make it to December I'll be OK.

This will be a short post because it's my short day at work. I lost another 0.2 pounds! Yay!!! Well as always thanks for reading!

Lots of Love,
Sara (The Biggest Loser Reject)

“The Lord says, ‘I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.  I will advise you and watch over you’.”
                          Psalm 32:8

YAY!!!

So my mom and I went in together and got Eric amazing seats for the Rangers game on his birthday! I'm so excited! I've only sat in seats this good one other time. I think I might be more excited than he is. We will have to take a picture and compare it to the picture we took at the last Rangers game we went to. So thanks Mom for the birthday present you gave Eric. :) I finished painting my Rangers shoes last night and OMG are they cute! I've even had a couple people say they would pay me to make them some! I would love that side business!

I love sports, football is my favorite, but baseball is a VERY close second and I definitely love me some Rangers. I love the fact that they are such a close knit team and most of them very outwardly Christians.

I think it's important, if someone is in a position of being that public and a role model for so many people, that if they are a Christian to put it out there for people to see. Young people now days need God so much. So many of Americans these days don't believe and that is so sad. I'll just take a moment and say that if you are are reading this and don't believe or aren't sure please message me and we can talk. OK enough of that because I'm not going to use this blog to pound the Bible and God into people's heads.

I weighed this morning and stayed the same. That is OK with me! I'd rather stay the same than gain any day. I remember the last game we went to was so hard to not pig out and eat a hotdog or nachos and a beer or huge Coke. I will have to be good this time too. Maybe I'll just save up some calories Sunday and then I can have some nachos. :)

I am so proud of myself. Its been two months exactly since I started this journey and I'm still going strong. I have all my readers, my family, and my friends to thank. Y'all have been an amazing support system for me. Especially Johanna my Blogger on A Diet friend. Who by the way is looking amazing!

I will post again tomorrow and then it's off for the weekend for Lab on Saturday and my hubby's birthday and the Rangers game on Sunday! Thanks for reading!

Lots of Love,
Sara (The Biggest Loser Reject)

"For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."
                                                                                                                      John 3:16-17

Who Am I?

OK so I think my body knows when I don't blog. I don't post on the weekends and I forgot to post Monday, guess what, I gained weight. I posted yesterday and then today guess what, I lost .8 pounds! OK so I'm sure it's just a coincidence but it's still funny.

OK so today I figured I would play off of a quote I took from a friend and fellow blogger. The link to her blog is http://blogonadiet.blogspot.com/ seriously go check it out. She is amazing! She's lost 55 pounds so far and is kind of like my motivation and inspiration for this process.

Anyway, one day in her blog she said, "I don't remember not being fat- it is who I am. Who am I if I am skinny? Losing my fat is like losing part of my identity." "I know who I am as a fat girl but I don't know who I am as a skinny girl and that for some reason is scary." This really hit me. I didn't realize how much I felt the same way. I haven't always viewed myself as fat but I've always been bigger than my friends. "Losing my fat is like losing part of my identity." Wow, seriously, this girl is good. I don't know who I am as a skinny girl. I look back at pictures, and I think I was like 14ish the last time I think I looked skinny. I had a few skinny spurts in high school but I'm sure I didn't get there healthily.

So from 14-24, that's 10 years. How much does a person grow into themselves and become themselves over that specific time span. Seriously, junior high, high school, college, moving out on your own. For me, I also had the death of my daddy, my aunt's first breast cancer diagnosis soon after that, the loss of my boyfriend and best friend of 6 years suddenly soon after that, then after that I got married and we all know marriage packs on the pounds. Now, during our marriage, I have had my own health issues to deal with that have totally changed the path of life that Eric and I thought we would be traveling.

I'm not saying all this to get sympathy from any of my readers, I'm saying this to prove my point that, through all this, I have grown, I have gained new "step" family, I have become a wife and comfortable with myself and my new role. This is who I am, now I am throwing a rock in that spinning gear and jamming it all up.

I am on this journey to become healthy so my husband can have a wife and so my future children can have a mother. But mostly, I'm on this journey to be honestly and truly happy with myself. I think I have inwardly struggled with my weight for most of my life but now I'm being honest with myself and everyone else and doing something about it.

Yes, I am so excited and can't wait to get to the finish line, but at the same time, I think I might start crawling toward the finish line when I start rounding the last turn. It's scary to think I will be a whole new 150 pound lighter person. Who knows what will happen in life during now and then. I will have to figure out who Sara Smith the skinny person is along the way. I am scared, excited, thrilled, worried, confused, determined, timid, everything, but I will do this. I will become Sara the skinny girl not Sara the girl who acts happy on the outside.

I will no longer be the Sara who while still in high school has to shop in the women's department because the clothes all my friends are wearing won't fit me. I will no longer be the Sara who feels inferior to most of the women in my family because they are all "skinnier" and "prettier" than me. I will have the pretty body to go with the pretty face I've always been told I have. Most importantly I will be me. The me God intended for me to be. The me that feels worthy of the husband I have and the children I will have.

I know this was a lot today but it was important to me. Thanks for reading.

Sara (The Biggest Loser Reject)

This verse couldn't be more fitting for today. :)

"Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely."
                                                                                       1 Corinthians 13:12

Monday/Tuesday

Ah!! I missed posting yesterday! I'm so sorry to all my readers! That just means I'll have to post double today.

Eric and I had a good non productive weekend. Then yesterday I did some recon work for his birthday and surprised him with amazing seats at the Rangers game Sunday. He is excited because we are going up Saturday night and spending the night with his parents so he will get to see his parents on his birthday. We will go to the game which starts at 2:05 Sunday and then there is a post game concert. Then we will swing back by his parents house and then head home. I hope it will be a great weekend. I keep teasing him that he will be halfway to 50 after Sunday. :) But he keeps reminding me that he will be saving us money since his car insurance will drop. YAY!

I'm still stuck in this weight plateau but I'm working on it. I'm not getting discouraged. I knew it would happen and it will happen many more times on this journey but I will fight through them all just like I'm fighting through this one. I will reach my goal eventually. I am working on making smaller goals for myself through the week. I am very goal driven so I think this will help me. I have a challenge going with Eric by the end of the month which I am so close to winning. So he will owe me dinner at the end of the month. :) I'm trying to work up the courage to venture out and try new healthier foods. I've always been a super picky eater so me trying new foods is a big deal. 

School is still going well. It is getting busy now that we are actually into the semester. All my first tests start next week. YIKES!! I can do this! I have to focus on May when I will walk across that stage! 8 more months. I can do this!

I got the most amazing review from a mother of the bride from a wedding I did recently. It so made my day/week. I love hearing that clients are pleased with my work and a referral is the biggest compliment someone can give me about my business. I pride myself that my business is run mostly off of referrals and word of mouth. I love that my clients are happy enough with their photos that they want to tell other people about me. I hope to have more shoots scheduled in the near future.

Well I guess that's all. Thanks for reading and sorry I missed yesterday!

Lots of Love,

Sara (The Biggest Loser Reject)


"And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him."
                                                                                       1 John 5:14-15

Friday Friday Friday!!

OK so its finally finally Friday! I'm so glad this week is over! I have so much cleaning to do at my house this weekend and I have some homework to finish up today. Good thing I get off at 11 today :). Not sure what my weight is doing but I'm gaining again which is totally not cool. I must figure out what to do about that.

I really don't have much to write about today but I didn't want to leave you all hanging. Teacher friends, do you think I would get enough hours substitute teaching to have a decent income while I'm finishing my bachelors and doing my student teaching? I'm stressing about how I will get income and be able to student teach. Thats really all for today.

I'm so sorry this is so short just not really anything worth writing about. Have a great day and a great weekend and thanks for reading!

Lots of Love,
Sara (The Biggest Loser Reject)

"For I know the plans I have for you, 'declares the LORD,' plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

                                                                                Jeremiah 29:11

Almost Friday!!

Well we've almost made it through another week. Yay!! I am in a great mood this morning if you couldn't tell. :) Eric and I had a great night last night, we went to eat at Big Pines, which for those of you who don't know is this amazing restaurant on Caddo Lake. I got a letter yesterday from a very special person in my life that totally made my day. :)

Still stuck in this plateau but I'm OK. I'm pushing on. I have had a lot of people ask me what I'm doing. I'm not doing a diet, I'm living life. I don't deprive myself of anything I want. I eat everything that I have always eaten I just don't eat as much as I would have used to eat. I hate the word diet, I hate diets. I don't think they work for me. I'm not saying they don't work, they just don't for me. I don't stick to them, I'm grumpy on them, they just don't work for me. I still have around 150 pounds to go but I'm getting there. I have never lost this much weight and kept it off this long and that fact is so motivating. I can do this and I will do this!

Side advertising note, I am scheduling photo sessions for Christmas card pictures so if any of you are interested let me know! Well I guess that's all for today, thanks for reading!

Lots of Love,
Sara (The Biggest Loser Reject)

"Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."
                                Colossians 4:6