New Suits

The suits at Men's Warehouse ended up being WAY more expensive than we expected. We kind of rushed into picking a suit because I wanted to get it done while Jake was home in March. Luckily, Travis found a similar suit at JCPenny and was able to get a great deal while it was on sale.

So, here is the updated suit:


Stafford® Performance Gray Stripe 3 Button Coat & Pleated Pant

They each got the full suit, as well as a light blue shirt for less than $200!

FYI: 32 days until the wedding and 20 days until Jake and my sister are home!

Shred Update

I'm still going strong with the 30 Day Shred! I still haven't skipped any days. When I work out today after lunch, that will be day 10!

I wasn't planning to weigh until day 30, but that just seems like overkill, so I weighed today, and I'll plan to weight again at day 20, then day 30. I'm pretty happy with the results! With the weight loss, I was really hoping for a big number, but realistically, the amount I lost is great! The inches I lost though, seem AMAZING! I was so excited when I measured my waist!

Here are the stats:
Before ---> Now
arm: 12 in ---> 11.5 in
thigh: 22 in ---> 21.5 in
bust: 35 in ---> 35 in
waist: 30 in ---> 28 in!!!!!
tummy: 37 in ---> 35 in
hips: 36 in ---> 36 in

weight: 150.5 lbs ---> 147.5 lbs

3 lbs and 5 total inches lost!

The difference in the waist is amazing! I would have thought that would have been one of the hardest spots to lose. Let's hope my tummy keeps shrinking!

I'm unsure about my arm and thigh. It's hard to know if I measured at the same spot I did the last time I measured. I tried to hit about halfway for both, but who knows if it's accurate.

I have not mixed in the extra cardio yet, so if I can just get myself to the gym, that should help speed up the weight loss too.

The Shred

So, I have less than 6 weeks until the wedding, and haven't lost any of the 15 pounds I planned to lose a year ago. Woops! I should have known I would put it off until last minute!

On Sunday, I started on The 30 Day Shred DVD. It is REALLY hard! Seriously! I'm sore...but not sore enough to skip a day, I've done all three days so far. And with only 38 days left before the wedding, I'm definitely motivated to do the video every day, no skipping, and I may just do extra when the 30 days is up. Typical results are to lose 5-10 pounds, and I'm planning to do extra cardio at the gym every other day, which will hopefully put me closer to losing about 10 pounds. But, I'm realistic, I know that even if I don't drop that many pounds, at least I will be much more toned!

I also got another DVD called No More Trouble Zones for specific areas like arms and belly, but I'm not going to start on that until my initial Shred soreness goes away. Ideally, by next week I'll have a nice schedule of Shred DVD everyday, with gym cardio and Zone DVD alternating days. And I'll get back into Beginning Yoga class on Mondays, and if I start feeling buff, maybe the harder Thursday Yoga class also.

I also gave up soda. I give up soda every few months, but I always end up giving myself "exceptions" like if I'm at a restaraunt that happens to serve Pepsi products, I would order one, or if I had to stay after school with a student, I would get one from the vending machine, or if I had to drive to Union or St. Louis, I would get one to drink in the car. But, now NO EXCEPTIONS! Absolutely NO SODA! So, I'm drinking a lot of tea, but unsweetened. I need to get more water in, all the caffeine is really messing up my sleep schedule, which you can see with the time I am posting this.

Well, to keep track of my progress, I weighed and measured myself on Sunday, and I'm going to TRY to not weigh myself until 30 days into the program. I have the scale right next to my shower, so I usually check it EVERY morning before stepping in the shower, but I need to go tuck the scale away in the laundry room so I'm not tempted to check. (OK, just did it, it's now under the drying rack, so I would have to make an effort to pull it out to step on it)

Here are the "before" stats: (I also took a swimsuit before photo but am NOT sharing that online!)
arm: 12 in
thigh: 22 in
bust: 35 in
waist: 30 in
tummy (the pooch): 37
hips: 36
weight: 150.5 lbs

I've always considered my thighs un-proportionally large compared to the rest of my body, so I'm used to them by now. I assume that building muscle will only make them bigger, so my thighs are really not a priority.

What I am really ashamed about is that my tummy pooch is larger than my hips! Seriously! The tummy is what I want to lose the most, and hopefully should be the easiest to lose.

Alright, if you read this whole thing, you now have to keep me accountable. Ask me if I'm doing the shred everyday, keep me in check! You have my permission to get mean if I start to slip.

By the way: 38 days until the wedding and 26 days until I see Jake & my sister & brother-in-law (they all get to Missouri on the same day!)

Blue Suede Shoes

Last year I bought some shoes to wear under my gown. Here is my original post about the shoes.

When the shoes arrived, I tried to wear them around my apartment, I even planned to wear them on New Year's Eve to break them in. Well, the shoes were definitely worth what I paid for them! They cost $17, and they were horrible quality! They fit right, but they slipped right off my heels. I guess I should have expected bad quality for how cheap they were.

So...I bought new shoes and they are so nice! I've been wearing them around the apartment to break them in and I haven't had any blisters or pain at all! And Jake says he loves the color!
By the way: 42 days until Jake is here & 54 days until the wedding!

Getting Hairy!

As the wedding date gets closer and closer, I have been moving alot of things from my "DIY list" to my "To Buy list!"

I'm starting to realize that I just don't have the time or patience to DIY as many things as I originally hoped to! Especially the things that I can actually buy for cheaper than it would cost me to make, such as a hairpiece.

I found great ones at etsy.com, seriously my FAVORITE website!

I got sunflowers for our nieces, who will be the flowergirls/ring bearess/program hander-outer.


I also found a great one for my hair from etsy.com.


The original hairdo photo that I have keep during this whole year of planning actually has this exact hairpiece! When I saw the photo on the etsy website, I realized that this hairdo that I have been wanting all year is a photo of a manequin! Seriously, fake hair! But...I still like the hairdo!

Goodbye Invites!

I took my invites to the post office on Friday. It was more complicated than I expected. We had some flash flooding that day and the first 5 routes I took had water flowing over the road. I finally made it there, by going to the neighboring town and coming from the opposite direction.

Check it out: 100 invites!


Once I finally made it to the post office, I said goodbye to the invites. I expect most people will get theirs today or tomorrow. I can't wait to start getting RSVPs back!

Invitation Design

I originally designed this invite last summer. I loved the idea of having a big bright sunflower somewhere on the invite, and by just using part of the sunflower, I think it makes the invite look really modern. My design has changed a little bit. I found a prettier sunflower a few weeks ago, but the yellow was just a little too light, so I had the printer darken it just a little, too make it more of a golden yellow.

Here is my final design, if it looks a little funky (especially the map) it's because I took out all last names, city names, and highway numbers to be internet safe.