Carli's Latest Blog Entry
This weekend was jam-packed! On Thursday evening, my little sister graduated from High School. She graduated with honors and made us all so proud.
The Graduate with her sisters
The Graduate and her parents
On Friday night I went out with my friend to a new bistro called “Desserts on the Boulevard.” To my surprise I didn’t have any dessert, just enjoyed the live music with my friends. I just realized that I haven’t given you guys an update on The Gentlemen, the guy I’m dating. We had our 3rd date. He lives about an hour away, so he drove to St. Louis and we spent the day together. We shopped at the farmer’s market and I loaded up on fresh fruits and veggies. Then I gave him a tour of St. Louis. We went downtown near Busch Stadium where the Cardinals play baseball, then we went to Forest Park, drove through the Central West End and lastly we went to the U City Loop. I was supposed to cook dinner, but we were both pretty tired after the tour of the town. He said I didn’t “have” to cook and we went to the Golden Corral restaurant instead. Later, one of my guy friends told me I failed the test, and that the gentleman was just trying to see if I really wanted to cook for him. Well, I flunked with flying colors, if you tell me I don’t have to do something that I really don’t want to do anyway, you should know I’m probably not going to do it. After the date, we watched TV for a little while and then he went back home. When I asked him what he thought about our day, he said “not bad.” Not bad??!! But the ironic part is that I felt the same way. I was so excited about him because he’s an engineer, with no kids and goals for the future. But we just don’t have much in common beyond that. I was hoping to find that spark while we spent the day together, but while we were at dinner, all I could think about what was, what’s going to happen next in my Hunger Games
book. *Sigh* We’ve talked on the phone once since then, and briefly mentioned a 4th date. My friends said give him time to warm up, I’m definitely not opposed to it, so we will see what’s next….
Anyway, back to my weekend. My niece turned 4, can you believe it? It seems like just the other day, she had us all stressed out and living at the hospital when she was born nearly 4 months early, weighing less than 2 pounds.
But she is a survivor and she loves horses. My sister had a horse and a pony come to the house. All the little kids had a blast.
That evening, my old co-worker friend was in town and we did our favorite past time and went to the movies to see “The Avengers.” It was fun to see all the characters in one movie. Sunday morning I got up and went church. I’m not sure if I told you guys or not, but I feel like I’ve outgrown my family church. Each week, for the past couple of months I’ve visited a new church. It’s so nice to expand my definition of “church.” After service my sister had a graduation dinner party. It was decorated so cute! She had an after-party for her friends, even though I’m “old” I was invited. But, because I’m old, I was exhausted from the party filled weekend and I went home and fell asleep on the couch.
Graduation party with her friend
Wow, what a weekend! My Big Little Sister and I went to Houston, Texas for a mini vacation. I’m going to try not to make this post too long, especially since it’s not about healthy eating or working out. Y’all know I’m a night person; I was packing and doing laundry until after 1 AM the night before my our flight. My sister sent me the cutest pic of niece. She said she wanted to go on the airplane with us and got in the suitcase so she could go too.
I dropped off Nyah at her grandparent’s house and picked up my other little sister to take us to the airport. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6 AM, and I simply can’t move quickly at that time of morning, especially after a few hours sleep. It was totally my fault that we were running late, and we literally had to run through the airport to avoid missing our flight. Half-way to the gate, the automatic walkway broke and stopped rolling right before we got on. I was mad at myself for not being more in shape as I ran full speed through the airport. We were both sweating by the time we sat down on the plane 5 minutes before takeoff. “I can smell your deodorant” my Sis said… “yeah because it’s really working I told her.”
We had a nice flight and I had the funniest voicemail from my Special Friend when we landed. He was pretending to cry and begging me not to go to Texas. It was a full 2 minute message of nothing but outrageous wailing and sobs; it reminded me of a goofy Saturday night live skit. I laughed so hard, he cracks me up.
We picked up our rental car and used my navigation system to get to my friend’s house where we stayed. Technically she’s my ex-ex-ex-boyfriend’s sister, but that’s a long story.
Her house was so nice, and she had housekeepers cleaning when we arrived. I was like geez, friend, you didn’t tell me you were rich!
We went apartment hunting on Friday during the day. My sister thinks she is moving to Texas with my niece (I’m in denial.) On Friday night, I went out with my friend, and my sis went out with a guy she met on Facebook. I told her he could be the Facebook Killer, you know, just like the Craigslist Killer movie on Lifetime? Good thing he wasn’t, he was just a nice normal guy.
On Saturday, my blog friend, Tex NY Queen gave us a whole list of stuff to do in her hometown. We ate at Empire Café, saw the beautiful meditation statues and went shopping. I ate way too much on Saturday, and topped it all off with a pina colada at a local Mexican restaurant.
Sunday was my big day. I didn’t come for the apartments, the food or the shopping. I came to go to Lakewood Church, where Joel Osteen is the pastor. Oh my GOD! I was so excited I squealed as we drove past the front. My sister was convinced I would pass out and faint when I saw him, and had the video camera in hand. I was so nervous and excited, that I had to go the bathroom. My mom told me I would probably be a little speck in the stadium seating sanctuary that holds over 16,000 people, so I didn’t expect to be close. I don’t know what my sister told the greeter, but she ushered us right to the front and center. She unhooked the velvet rope, and told us to sit in the middle of the 4th row! The 4th row?! “What did you tell her when I was in the bathroom?!” I asked. She just smiled. I started to feel that faint/tears feeling come over me. But I didn’t. Especially since we were almost an hour early and service hadn’t begun yet.
Finally, after meeting some really nice members sitting behind us, service opened with praise and worship singers I’d seen on TV. I was so freakin’ excited I almost forgot I was at church and not a music concert. One song really touched me, and made me cry tears of joy, reflecting on God’s grace. I got a new job, my building rehab is complete, I’m writing my 1st book. Since the church was just over half full, I figured something must be wrong. It was always full on TV. Maybe Pastor Joel was not going to preach at the early service? I was still happy just to be in the place that gives me strength and encouragement every week on TV. Then my sister said, “Look, there he is!” We were so close, OMG he was there, and he looked just like he looked on TV. When he made eye contact with me, I almost died. I can scratch Lakewood and meeting Joel Osteen off my bucket list.
He delivered an awesome sermon as usual, discussing the importance of having a vision for your life. However, towards the end of service, I started to get antsy. Church in real life was a lot longer than the quick sermon on TV, and I feared we would miss our flight. As if he saw me and my sister squirming, Joel pleaded, “just give me 5 more minutes.” We definitely couldn’t get up and leave after that. We stayed until the end, and tried to maneuver through the crowd. But, we ended up running through the airport again. But, this time we weren’t so lucky. The ramp was pulling away from the plane as we approached our departure gate. We missed our flight home! Luckily we were able to fly stand by, and get a seat on what turned out to be an otherwise completely full plane. All in all it was a great weekend. My sister survived the potential Facebook killer, we reconnected with old friends, and I got to meet one of my idols. I’m sure the scale will reflect all the hamburgers, Mexican food, and my signature peach cobbler that I baked as a parting gift for my friend. But, I ready to accept it, and get back on track.
I’ve got exciting news! First, I’m so super excited that Me and my Big Little Sister are going to Houston, Texas next month for vacation. We have friends and family there, and I’m going to go to Lakewood Church. Do you know what Lakewood church is? It’s the biggest church in the whole country. And, do you know who the pastor is? JOEL OSTEEN! If you read my blog then you know I’m like a Joel Osteen groupie. Okay, maybe “groupie” is bad choice of words, I don’t want to go back stage and….ummm well…let me stop while I’m still ahead lol…. Let’s just say I’m a super fan, yeah that sounds better. On so many occasions Pastor Joel has brought me out of funk and inspired me to be a better person. Even recently, it was his sermon that helped get me through my first week of Weight Watchers. I constantly tell myself all day long, “I weigh what I should weigh, I’m Healthy, I’m Active, I’m Disciplined, I’m Focused and I have what it takes.” My sister thinks I’ll faint before the sermon as soon as I see him and, I probably will.
And in other exciting news I got braces today! Yes I’m a 30-year-old with braces. I had them in college and swore after 2 years of torture that I would always wear my retainer. Well, like most people, I didn’t wear it, and my teeth spread back out. I couldn’t stand to look at them all spaced out anymore. Although over the years, I’ve gotten really good at hiding my teeth when I talk and even better at taking pictures. See Exhibit A, Me and Big Little Sister on Christmas.
I found this cute little cosmetic dentist’s office. The dental assistants cater to you like Hooter’s girls and walk around in high heels with their scrubs. They have flat screen TV’s at every station and fresh-baked cookies on your way out the door. The dentist is young and kinda hot too…I had to ask myself am I really checking him out? Lol I’m sure I’m paying for all of this extra stuff, but they treat you so good! It’s nothing like the kid’s baseball themed orthodontist office I went to years ago. And, get this, the dentist is part of the 6 month smile program. My braces are clear, and they will be off in 3 or 4 months, not years. When I’m all done he’s installing permanent retainers so I don’t ever have to worry about them spacing out again. I’m so excited! Now for the “Before” pic, See Exhibit B, the scary real deal. (I can’t believe I’m posting this.)
Anyway, if you’re wondering about the food and activity side of things, me and my Little Sister danced and sweated with the Kinect last night and I’m down a total of 7.6 pounds just in case you didn’t see my post on my Facebook Page. Man, it feels good to be in control.
I had an awesome week! I’ve been going to the gym and eating healthy. (My internet has been down, sorry I haven’t gotten a chance to blog about it.) Friday, I went to lunch with my Big Little Sister at my favorite Mexican restaurant and I did not touch the fresh hot tortilla chips. I ordered a salad instead of my regular deep fried burrito… After years of my father begging me to read the The South Beach Diet Book
, I finally did. I decided to give the diet an honest try. If you want to know more about the South Beach Diet, you can check out my Video Book Review. My Dad has done a good job of maintaing his weight loss and adopting the diet as a lifestyle change. Someone asked me what’s the status with Weight Watchers? I still love Weight Watchers, but I wasn’t working the program like I should. I was simply tired of keeping points. I learned from my hypnosis CD that’s it’s okay to change diet plans every few months or so. You don’t have to stick with one plan forever. This week I’ve eaten delicious omelets, and great snacks like celery dipped in garlic-flavored hummus. Who knew I would like that?
I realized that I have 2 choices; I can track my food and eat everything in proportion, or only eat certain food (High protein, low carb, low fat) and not track. I actually just remembered that Weight Watchers has a “Core” plan that I never thought to try because I thought restricting food was too ridiculous. But, I’m giving South Beach an honest try to see which I like more. Once the carb cravings died down after a couple days, it wasn’t so bad.
I mentioned before that I’m helping my church with a walk-a-thon. Last week there were six of us at my 7 AM group training session. However, this week, most of last week’s participants were out of town or unavailable. But, I dragged myself out of bed, actually hoping it was raining, or that no one would show up. I despise mornings…I was standing there alone at 7:05, and I was ready to head back to my car, until I saw my sister’s car, speeding toward the History Museum where we planned to meet. There was no turning back now, because she hates mornings as much as I do. She said she only had a few hours of sleep, but came anyway to support me. Then I got a text from one of the girls at the church who was also on her way. Once she arrived, I told them, I would take them on a scenic walk off the regular path. Unbeknownst to me, we stumbled upon the 9/11 memorial. It was so amazing, they had flags representing those that were lost in the tragedy 10 years ago. Each flag had a brief description of a person that lost their life that day. It was quite a site to see. We took some pics and shared “Where were you when the plane hit the tower stories.”
I didn’t have my iPod tracker thingy
on, but my guess is that we walked about 2 miles. After our walk, I came home and made a broccoli cheese omelet with turkey bacon. It was yummy. I did some laundry and dozed off and I was almost late for my orientation boot camp class. I got a Groupon for 10 Classes for $30. The class started with awkward endurance/flexibility tests, which reminded me of elementary school gym class. Finally we got to work out, in a quick mini version of the class. After doing the “Spiderman” on the floor and jumping jacks for the warm up, it was hard to imagine how difficult a real class will be. Then, we did interval training as we rotated stations doing squats, planks, and pull ups with resistance bands dangling from the wall. I think it boot camp class will be a big challenge, but I’m ready! Tonight my old co-worker friend is having a Fight watch party for Mayweather v. Ortiz. Now that’s what I call a Super Saturday!
I went to church this morning. My mother and another member of the board asked me to assist with the church walk-a-thon. Of course you know that’s right up my ally. I had about 20 people to sign up after church. I even scheduled two group training sessions before the walk on September 24. That’s not really enough time to train, but I’m working with the date they chose. After church, I went to the gym, but I went pretty late. My 10K training schedule indicated that I should complete 3.5 miles today. However, I was only able to complete about 2.7 miles on the treadmill before the gym closed. I was reading The South Beach Diet book as I walked on the treadmill. It’s a very easy read, and I almost read the whole book in one day. I actually learned a lot, and I’m going to do a video book review soon. I walked until the security guard came and put me out because the gym was closed. I was going to walk the last mile or so outside the gym, but I got lazy, and there was this weird old guy sort of following me around. He got beside me on the treadmill, and told me to have a happy holiday, at least 3 times in 5 minutes. Is Labor Day even a real holiday? … Then he was following right behind me as I walked outside. I realize now that he might be kind of “special,” but I felt more comfortable just going home.
