I nearly fell out of my chair as I started looking through Adam & Ally's wedding images. I'm completely in love with them.
I have dozens of favorites, but you'll have to wait for the full blog post to enjoy them!
During my first year of marraige I gained at least 15 pounds. It snuck up on me slowly and I didn't realize it until one day I looked in the mirror and realized my clothes no longer fit and my body and face had lost their definition. When I was in high school I was in amazing shape. I ran every day and did weight training a few times a week. But I never really ate well. I was pretty healthy, but with unhealthy habits. Fast forward into marriage, abandoning my daily exercise routine, and continuing to eat poorly and its no wonder I gained the weight.
Once I realized how it happened, I started watching what and how much I ate and made sure that I exercised somewhat regularly. It helped, I lost the extra weight and felt better. But I still had unhealthy habits that I hadn't broken, and for a few years I yo-yo'd between eating really healthy and eating very poorly.
A couple months ago I decided it was time to really focus on living healthier. I'm not overweight and don't have a specific goal weight in mind. But I could feel that my body was weighed down, sluggish, and not where it should be. Additionally, a number of bad health things run in my family (like heart disease, breast cancer, osteoperosis, high blood pressure, etc). I set a goal to live healthier. I figured I can do my best to improve my chances of not having serious health problems by eating right and exercising. Plus it comes with the benefit of feeling better, being alert, and having more energy on a day-to-day basis.
The two main parts of my goal are to eat better and exercise regularly. Everyone knows that we should try to do these things, but we have so many excuses and its easy to ignore.
Food: I've been focusing on eating more veggies and fruits each day, and cutting back on the amount of carbs and sweets I eat (because I was eating almost completely carbs). My biggest motivator is reminding myself that food is fuel and trying to pick things that will fuel my body in a good way.
Exercise: I used to run all the time, but I injured my knee this past year and it hasn't fully recovered yet. Instead, I've been doing interval and circuit training at the gym. It was easy for me to fit into my schedule because Jeff normally goes to the gym after work, so I started going after work as well. And I've been consistent! I even made the top 10 users list for June!!
Progress so far: After almost 2-3 months of eating healthier and exercising consistently, I feel great - physically and mentally. I'm determined to keep it up. I've been roping friends into it so that I'm not alone in my quest to be healthier ;] I'm not on a diet or a exercise fad. I'm working towards a healthier lifestyle. One that is maintainable and enjoyable.
I would love for you to join me!
If you have any recipes you want to share or ideas on how to prevent giving up on your goals, please share them in the comments below! What are your biggest challenge related to food and exercise?
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Dave and Esther and I had ourselves a fun little adventure for their engagement session this past week.
Here's a sneak peek!
Isn't Esther just stunning?
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Last week our really close friends Akiya & Jessica visited from Kentucky. We were heartbroken when they moved across the country a couple years ago. Our families were really close, hanging out almost every day. We've kept in touch through skype and phone calls, but it definately did not compare to getting to hang out with them again! We did an impromptu photoshoot in their parent's backyard while they were here. I can't wait to develop all of their pictures, but here's an especialy cute one of Jess.
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Five years ago today, Jeff and I got hitched. FIVE!!! It feels like yesterday I was walking down the aisle, but here I am five years later, more mature, better at cooking, and more in love with my husband than ever.
Our wedding was beautiful. It was a warm August afternoon, with friends and family lining the quaint little park in Genoa. My dad cried, I cried, and Jeff’s mother bawled. We kissed, everyone cheered, and Jeff & I walked down the aisle as husband and wife amidst a delicate stream of bubbles blown by our guests.
The reception is somewhat of a blur. We greeted our guests, ate some food, cut the cake and listened to toasts. Our first dance was an absolute disaster. I put the wrong song on our playlist, having only listened to the first ten seconds of the song. Had I listened a few seconds longer, I would have heard the song change into a fast-paced duel between two guitars. Unfortunately this was learned as Jeff and I moved from a slow dance into a quick jumpy waltz, all the while trying to signal our wedding party to fade out the song. But they were busy laughing hysterically.
When the reception ended, we snuck out to our car and took off. It was still light out when we arrived at our apartment, and I didn’t want the entire complex watch us climb out of our Ford Escort and head into our aparment decked in a wedding dress and white tux, so we parked across the street and waited until our neighbors had all gone inside. Then we dashed up into our apartment and flopped down on the couch. And for many minutes we just sat there quietly, enjoying being newlyweds, relaxing in the stillness of the moment, glad to be done with the excitement of the day’s events.
The next morning we were off to Cancun for our honeymoon. We were adjusting to the hot mugginess when a short Mexican man grabbed our luggage and ran off. We trailed behind him, and finally realized he was trying to help us get to our taxi, not stealing our luggage. At the hotel, they greeted us as Mr. and Mrs. B. I had booked our flights and hotels using my maiden name. It was an awkward situation, choosing to explain the misunderstanding to each and every employee that greeted us, or grin and bear it.
The trip was fantastic. Our room was exotic and beautiful, overlooking the ocean. The water and sand were warm and the sun was always shining. The resort was all-inclusive so we ate wherever and whenever we wanted. My favorites were tortilla soup (room service), tres leches cake (also room service), and fried banana with coconut ice-cream served by our favorite waiter, Reynaldo (whose name we later copied for our first pet goldfish). We spent days on the beach, in the pool, or exploring the flea markets. In the evenings we had romantic dinners, watched different performances at the hotel, and walked on the beach.
It’s hard to believe that five years have passed. We’ve moved, I’ve graduated, Jeff switched jobs, and we got a dog! We’ve traveled, stayed home, and enjoyed our lives together. We’ve argued, we’ve apologized, and we’ve grown. I am so blessed to call myself Jeff’s wife. And I am so thankful that he is such an amazing husband to me. He provides and cares for me. He respects me and loves me deeply. All I can hope is that our next five years, and the five after that and so on, continue to be as wonderful as these past five have been.
Happy anniversary my love. I am honored to call you my husband and best friend.
And because every blog is better with pictures, here are some images from our wedding (courtesy Lighted Path Photography) and honeymoon.
Over the course of this wedding we braved the blazing hot sun, extreme wind, a rainstorm with fat raindrops, and then a perfectly calm evening. I had the pleasure to second shoot with Emily Clark Photography again. The wedding was beautiful down to the detail of the small vintage table placecards.
Here's one of my favorites from the day.
