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Whew… this week kind of flew by for me. It’s nice to get it out of the way because my whole family has been sick off and on the last 2 weeks… “Get out of my house sick!” Anywho… it’s Thirsty Thursday time and I had a lot to say this week. Check out my video and give me some feedback. What are your thoughts about makeup? Is too much, really too much? Are you going to be settling down on your makeup purchases this year (a resolution & goals for 2014 will be posted soon). What was your drink of choice today? (my Thirsty Thursday video is embedded below).
Also – I wanted to share a little Throwback with all of you.
The photo above was taken in 1997 or 1998 (I think in the early part of 1998, before I graduated from High School). My husband (then boyfriend) and I were at a party and someone took this photo of us. Contrary to my smile (or lack thereof), I was a pretty happy lady. Oi – look at those brows – lmao. I was always more of a natural brow type of person, even now… I mostly set it with a brow gel if I can get away with it. lol
5 Things you may not know about me or this photo…
I loved Aaliyah’s style – and had a thing for baggy pants and plaid/flannel. I still love her style and would rock out Timbalands and baggy overalls any day – lol. I wish that style came back… totally love the 90s.
I was rocking out side bangs in this photo. I flat ironed it so it would lay nicely and kind of sprayed it in place. Because of my naturally curly hair, if I didn’t do so – I would have looked like a poodle. It was not by choice that I had this hairstyle… someone just wanted to butcher my hair. lol
I married this very handsome, sexy man in this photo – we have 3 beautiful kids together and believe it or not… I chased after him for 4 years before we started dating… but that’s another story. lol
I am super tan in this photo because those were the days I surfed a lot and you could find me at the beach almost everyday. Now – I just don’t have the passion for it – so I have since lightened up quite a bit. lol
I have kept my brows this shape for years (the same as in the photo) and have not changed them up ever. I have been pretty lucky to have full and nice brows in my lifetime. 🙂
Hope you guys had an awesome Thursday – I’m hoping to get mine wrapped up and settled down! Have a wonderful rest of your week. Don’t forget to watch Thirsty Thursday’s video below.
Last night we had the pleasure of attending a baby party to celebrate a little guy’s one year old birthday. It was fun, festive and the boys absolutely…
I am not going to lie… Life has its way of kind of catching you by surprise and swallowing up your insides making it feel like all is lost and difficult. I went through that on more occasions than I would like to remember… or count – but the last few years, well… they have really shown me a side of life that I am so happy to share with all of you.
A few years ago I had made friends with people who lived to make my life miserable… and because of it, I had forgotten how awesome my life truly was. From an awesome and supportive (did I mention hawt?) husband and 3 beautiful sons, sometimes the things we love so much, we tend to disregard as the “constants” in our life and forget how important they truly are. Don’t get me wrong… it’s not that we forget about them, but forget about how they often make us feel… happy, loved, supported and the butterflies that flutter around in our stomachs when we think of them – that’s all real feelings that we tend to cast aside from time to time. Last year, I made every possible effort to move forward from those terrible people that worked so hard to make me miserable and just cast them aside… leaving me to concentrate on all the things that made me happy. And, you know what I realized? I absolutely LOVE MY LIFE! How many people can say that? How many people can say that their life is so wonderful (regardless of all the downs and challenges) that they love to live it – so much so that they are “In Love” with their life? Well, I will admit that the road here was a challenge. Not necessarily because I hated my life but because I didn’t focus on the things that were so awesome and there is so much greatness in my life right now and there always has been.
So – this post, while long winded has a purpose. This year – now 2014, I am going to remind myself how awesome life is, how great of a support system I have and how much I love everything beautiful and I know it will make for an awesome year. (hmmm… I think I need a thesaurus… a little too much Awesome in this post. lol) Each time you think of a struggle that has you down, think about all the things that make you smile. When times are tough and you feel like you have hit rock bottom, remember… there are people out there that love you unconditionally. There is always a positive to any negative and smile to a frown. Together – let’s make 2014 AWESOME. So, like Jack Kerouac says… “Be in Love with Your Life, Every minute of it!” and make the best of 2014 and every single day of your existence. While times are tough, God would never give us anything we cannot handle!
Wishing you all a wonderful 2014 filled with Happiness,Prosperity and Love. It’s going to be an awesome year – no exceptions!
Last month or the month before I had the awesome opportunity to join my fellow POPSUGAR Select Beauties in a fun campaign. As a thank you for completing…
I have really been enjoying my Thirsty Thursday Segments with all of you. Check out what I talk about this week… online shopping at Sephora and updates to…
November was an awesome month filled with all kinds of fun and the Thanksgiving Holiday. I absolutely love November because the Winter Holidays are my favorite and Thanksgiving…
In May of this year – I decided it was time that I really kick it into high gear and work at being healthier. I’ll be honest, it hasn’t been the easiest decision but it always makes it so much more of an accomplishment when you can see how far you have come. Let’s be honest, I’m not going on a crash diet… my goals include really just trying to eat more (since I often times do not eat during the day) and incorporate exercise or at least walking into my routine. I have been a bit behind on my walking over the last couple of weeks, but while I do enjoy my naughty foods, everything is in moderation. I do not eat bad actually – don’t get me wrong, I’m not vegan… I love my meat and fish, but I consume in moderation.
I went through some old photos on Facebook that I had from before I was pregnant with the twins and came across these (below). They say that a picture is worth a thousand words and while this is only photos of my face, that is the place I slim down first. The photos to the left were taken in 2008 (before I had the twins). While I had been fairly slim most of my life, after the birth of my eldest child (he’ll be 10 in January), I put on most of my weight after giving birth. So I look at the photos and compare to those I took the other day (right) and you can certainly see a difference in my face. My cheeks and hollows of my cheeks have definition and you can see my chin and neck separately.
In 2008 when I was working in Corporate America, I was approximately 268 lbs – 270lbs. I was not happy though I tried to be positive but working 12-16 hour days didn’t allow me to really pay attention to what I looked like let alone how I felt about myself. The photo taken just 2 days ago in 2013 – I weighed in at 245.5 lbs.
Hmmm… so some will argue that everyone loses weight in their face first so I decided I would try and find a photo of me full body taken previously in the last couple of years. The photo above on the left was taken in 2011 when we went to Washington, DC. I weighed about 258 – 260 lbs. I wasn’t very happy with myself, but after giving birth to my twins, I really didn’t have much time to give it a second thought. From postpartum depression to just being super busy – I never really took into consideration that I wasn’t really taking care of myself. The photo on the right was taken last week, I weighed in at 245.5 lbs and you can significantly tell the difference. While the scarf is covering up my belly and I do still have a belly – it is not hanging over my pants as bad as it was in 2011. In general – I am feeling much more confident in myself.
Now – it’s always a work in progress. I’m a busy mom, run my blog and YouTube channel and the house. Like I mention in my weight loss journey updates on YouTube, my biggest challenge is finding time to eat. This morning I had cereal and coconut milk, which is great – because I don’t normally find the time to eat anything but dinner. Exercise is definitely something I need to add to my list of things to do consistently. I enjoy walking with my boys and need to keep up with that as well. But, I’m still proud of myself and the accomplishments I have made thus far. My ideal is to get below 200 lbs. It’s been years in the making but it’s my goal and I can do it. It’s a journey – not a diet. Stay tuned because I’ll continue to update my progress as much as I can. Thanks for reading. 😉
