Hey everyone!  Sorry, but there's no FFF today because I'M DRIVING TO VIRGINIA TODAY!  See y'all next week.

Welcome to another installment of Project 10. This project seems to be one of the only things motivating me to write blog posts lately. Not that that's a bad thing, because it means I'm busy. Being busy is a good, means I'm not sitting on my arse. :)

• Water. I need to get my average up to 4 cups a day. I am still failing at this. On days I really kick my butt, I'm really good about it but otherwise I fail. I need to do this. I need a reward system. Gold stars, anyone?
• Get to bed by 11 pm every night. I know its the summer, but the boys still wake up early. Totally failing at this. Midnight is a much nicer number. Hell, right now its 12:32. Eff. I'm setting an alarm tomorrow so that I don't sleep so late. 
• Preventative measures. Wear my braces. No questions. Just do it. My knees will eventually thank me. I forgot to wear my braces on Wednesday and my knees did ok, but messing around and hip-checking my mom tonight garnered me some pain in my right knee. Go figure. Obv, there's still room for improvement. 
• Run. Run. Run. Run. Get back on track with my Nike+ goal. I did two runs so far this week, which puts me at 5 more runs before my goal is up. Maybe I'll be able to make this. I'm hoping to get a run in on Sunday and then again on Monday and Wednesday. 
• Add the weights! Tone up those arms and torso. Still failing, but I'm doing more targeted exercises on my arms and torso. I should do weights when I hit the gym though. There's no reason not to. I'm there, aren't I? 
• Get to the gym more. Its easy to take the easy road when I work out at home. The gym pushes me. I went to the gym twice this week, which was nice, but I didn't do any weights and the runs I did log weren't terrific. They weren't bad, but I can do better. I  need to allot more time before my classes to get my exercises done. 
• Utilize pool time with the kids better. When its adult only swim, I need to swim laps. 15 minutes of laps. I did 5 minutes of laps. At least I used the time somewhat well. To my credit though our pool time was significantly cut  down this week, because Small Fry decided that he needed to add some stitches to his attire. We weren't able to hit the pool until today, but I could have used my time better. 

Here's my warrior. Morning after our ER trip. He was such a trooper though. Slept through the stitches. Wish I could do that.

• Try out turbo kick at the gym. I've taken it once and it scares me. I should give it a decent 3 tries before saying that its not for me. I did not make it to Turbo Kick this week. I did hit an extra Zumba class, which was great, but I really should try to make it on to Turbo. Next week is another week and another chance. 
• Do more yoga/pilates. I need to stretch and improve my flexibility. Everything hurts and the stretching would feel good. The only stretching that got done was at the end of class. I failed at this and I need to get better about it. My back has been killing me and while part of it is because of my chair and how I sit when I sew the other  part is probably from working so hard. 
• Be 225 by the time school starts in September. That's another 25 pounds in 10 weeks. I know I can do this. This morning, I weighed in at 244. That's another two pounds down from last week. Yay! I managed to do ok at a wedding this past weekend and stay really good about my eating and exercise. I can't wait to keep knocking off the pounds. I was looking at myself today in the morning and decided that  while I've earned my 'baby pouch' I'm not in love with it, but what I dislike more are the smallish love handles. I want to get rid of those. So I'm going to focus more on my abs and obliques. 

So here's my new dress! The wedding was at a winery and the seersucker fabric was wonderfully comfortable while sitting out in the heat of the afternoon sun. Do you guys like my duct tape shoes? I'm going to be  sharing a how-to on Straight Stitches next week on them. :)  Oh you can also see just how short-waisted I am. The belt is actually sitting right at my waist. As my grandfather used to always tell me - I've got legs up to my shoulders.

So yesterday, I showed off some new shorts. What are new shorts without a new shirt?

This is Simplicity 1805.

There are a couple of shirt options and they're all cute, but obviously I went with the flirty one. None of my t-shirts are fitting since I've lost so much weight so I figured a cute knit top would do the trick. I think I should have made it a size smaller, because the XL that I made is kind of big. Hence the belt. I do love that it's long though. I don't like shirts that barely cover your midriff. Even though I've been working on shrinking the damage done by children and  not taking care of myself, I still don't  want to show it off. Length is a good thing (sometimes).

This shirt went together in about 2 hours after getting it cut out. I love how easy it was and really the only thing I'd change is the facing on the sleeve. You see  where the sleeve is cut open to expose your shoulder, well there's a 1" facing on either side of that. Its not stitched down or secured in any way except at the top, and when you first put on the shirt it requires some adjustment. Other than that small nuisance, the top is terrific.

So there's my new outfit. Next week I'll be back with some cute new dresses that I made myself, plus a quick and easy fix to a shoe problem I had. :)

I thought I didn't have anything to post, but low and behold I never posted up the shorts and shirt I made myself a few weeks ago. I'm such a bubble head sometimes.

Right now I'm only going to focus on the shorts. Tomorrow I'll share the shirt. I apologize for the pictures. I am horrible at taking pictures of myself.

So it all started with Simplicity 3768 (which is now out of print)
I liked the details on  these shorts, and since I haven't worn 'shorts' for quite some time I figured the length would ease me back into wearing shorter shorts.

I had some peach linen (with some stretch in it!) lying around, so after I washed it up I whipped up some shorts. :)

The length of these is nice, and I like the pocket and hem detail, but my biggest problem is the hook closure. I feel like a button (or two) would add a lot to the waistband area. I cut out these shorts at a 22 and the waist is quite baggy. They're not as sleek as I had hoped they would be, but they are super comfortable.



So there are my new shorts, and as you can see in some of the pictures; the shirt I'm wearing with it is the shirt I'm going to show off tomorrow. I love that these shorts are comfortable, but I think for my next pair of shorts, I'm going to go with something a little sleeker.

Well its been another week, and I'm feeling pretty good about my progress this last week. I've copied and pasted my goals from the last two weeks and have added commentary to them. I think this week, I'm going to be changing up these goals. Variety is the spice of life, right?

• Food. I'm already watching calories and what I put into my body and I'm going to keep at it. I use My Fitness Pal to track my calories and exercise during the day. I recently lowered my caloric intake from 1800 a day to 1730 a day. I'm nervous about this, but I know I can stay at or under my goal.  I'm still doing well with this goal, so I think its become habit  now. I'm going to remove this as a goal  for this week.
• Water. DRINK MORE OF IT! Seriously, were coffee water I'd be golden. Its not and that makes me sad. I should drink 8 cups. I average about 3. I want to get at least 4 cups of water a day in me.  I did pretty well on this goal this week. We brought a  case of water with us camping and I drank that mostly, except for all the alcohol. :) I'm still going to have this as a goal, because I can still improve. Today I had  5 cups of water. I've replaced one of my afternoon coffees with a glass of water so that's helped. Not to mention the heat wave and all the time spent at the pool. If I bring water with me, I'll drink it. 
• Stress. We all deal with it. There's a lot going on for us right now, but I want to do my best to manage it better. Its interfering with my sleep, and that's not good for anyone in this house. I'm still stressing, but I'm managing it by taking it out on my boxing routine. I'm going to remove this goal this week and work towards something else. 
• Sleep. I should not stay up until midnight or later every night. I need my sleep, especially with my increased activity during the day. I'm going to bed by 11. That needs to happen.  I need to get better about this. Now that summer is here and I don't have to be up by 7, I've been slacking. This is going to stay a goal. 
• Guilt. I do not need to feel guilty about not tracking my calories one day, and I don't need to feel guilty about enjoying a glass of wine or 3 with my friends. I have educated myself enough to where I should feel comfortable having a treat every so often. I don't binge and I don't eat like crap, one treat will not undo all that I've done.  I feel like I'm not ever going to completely get rid of my guilt, but I'm managing it better. So this goal is biting the dust.       
• Fear. A healthy dose of fear is not bad for anyone. I wish Small Fry knew this. A healthy respect of fear would do him a world of good. However; my fear is causing me stress. I'm terrified of putting back on the weight I've lost. Its stressing me out. This is counter-productive. Stress makes me want to eat. I don't want to eat, think of the calories, so I have a cup of coffee instead. I need to not be afraid that the weight will come back. I am not going back to my old ways so the weight shouldn't come back, but I'm a worrier. I need to stop fretting.  I'm still dealing with this, but I don't feel like this is something that I'll ever get over. I just need to accept that it is part of who I am and keep moving forward. I'm taking this goal off the list. 
• Injuries. My left knee is acting up again. Of course it is. Its terrific weather outside and I want to run so why wouldn't it act up? I need to wear my brace whether I like it or not. My knee is not going to heal or be 100% but I can get it close. I just need to wear my damn brace.  Oh dear Lord. I remembered my braces. Yes, I said braces. My knees seriously hate me. They've now recruited my left hip into their shenanigans. I ran yesterday morning, and made sure to wear my little brace on my left knee. After 1.5 miles my knee is calling me all sorts of nasty, inappropriate names. By the time 2 miles is done, the other knee has joined the chorus. I get home and put the 'big' brace on the left knee, the 'little' brace on the right knee and then head off to Zumba. We jumped a lot in class today. There were also lunges. My knees hate me, so does the hip. I will have to keep wearing my braces and I may have to wear the 'big' brace next time I run. 
• Running. Get. Back. To. It. Even if I have to walk/jog, I need to get back to running. I enjoy it, but I do not need to push myself so hard again. Remember those knees of yours? Even if I get in one run a week, I will be happy.  I kind of failed on this. I did not get another run in last week, but I did go running yesterday and the run was amazing, even with the knees (remember the above commentary). The first mile was awesome. 11:40. 2 seconds slower than my fastest mile to date. Not to shabby. Overall I had a 12:49 pace, which I'm not displeased with. I need to run twice more this week to get back into good standing for my Nike+ goal. 
• Weights. Add more of them. I'm a wimp. I like 2 pound weights. They're easy. I need to increase what I lift so that I can tone up my muscle more. No More Wimp!  I didn't do any weights this week, so that's a big fat failure on this goal. I need to improve.  It also doesn't help that I hurt my hand this last week. 
• 10 pounds. Lose.It. I weighed myself yesterday and I was 252 even. Wow. 2 pounds from that humongous milestone of 250. I'm in disbelief that I'm actually there. I just cut out three patterns for myself at a size 22 (for non-sewers that's like an XL in retail sizes). Did you know that last summer I was making stuff in a size 26 (2XL)? Scary what 45 pounds does for you. Imagine what 55 pounds lost will look like. :)  So I didn't lose another  5 pounds this week. I did lose another pound though, but considering everything I ate during camping, I'll take another pound. So that's 6 pounds total. Hopefully I can get those last 4 pounds gone this week!

So its time for new goals. Setting new goals is actually somewhat difficult. Its like trying to pick out what you want for Christmas at New Year's, but here I go. 

• Water. I need to get my average up to 4 cups a day.
• Get to bed by 11 pm every night. I know its the summer, but the boys still wake up early. 
• Preventative measures. Wear my braces. No questions. Just do it. My knees will eventually thank me.
• Run. Run. Run. Run. Get back on track with my Nike+ goal. 
• Add the weights! Tone up those arms and torso.
• Get to the gym more. Its easy to take the easy road when I work out at home. The gym pushes me. 
• Utilize pool time with the kids better. When its adult only swim, I need to swim laps. 15 minutes of laps.
• Try out turbo kick at the gym. I've taken it once and it scares me. I should give it a decent 3 tries before saying that its not for me. 
• Do more yoga/pilates. I need to stretch and improve my flexibility. Everything hurts and the stretching would feel good. 
• Be 225 by the time school starts in September. That's another 25 pounds in 10 weeks. I know I can do this. 

I may have to apologize before you read any further into this post. I went bra shopping today and it did not go well. Here's a good synopsis of how it went.
Now I want to apologize to any and all people who read this little 'ole blog who have known or experienced the loss of a loved one due to suicide, but seriously bra shopping has to top swim suit shopping in regards to killing any self esteem you may have.

What makes this awful experience worse was the sales girl who was helping Mom and I. Yes, I went bra shopping with my mom. She did just enough to be considered helpful, but only just. So sales girl 'measures' me. 38 around the torso (yay!) and a DD around the girls. Um? Ok, you're the one holding the tape measure.

So we grab 4 bras (gotta love buy 2 get 2 free sales) and I say as I'm about to put on the first bra - Wow this is really small. The cups are tiny. I had no idea how right I was. T.I.N.Y.

The girls produced a better mushroom than Pennsylvania. So I ask Mom to go get some 38DDD's. Still no dice. Mom please go back out there and ask if they have a 38F. Mom says are you sure you don't want to try a 40. No, I don't want to try a 40 because I've been wearing 40's and 42's and they don't fit well. Please go find a 38F.

Mom comes back and says that the sales girl says they don't make a 38F, so she hands me a 40DD and a 40DDD. Neither fit. I mean they fit around me, but not as well as the 38 and the girls do not fit in them. Sigh.

Mom goes back out and asks the sales girl  if there's anything in the store that will fit my girls. The ever-so-helpful sales girl says no. Then low and behold Mom comes back with a 38F and a 40F. I thought they didn't make them that big. Mom says, "I just found one. So I don't know." We try the 38 on and again the band fits great, but the cup is almost there. I try on the 40F and it fits. Its a little loose in the band, but the girls fit. Hallelujah!

So I find 4 bras that fit and we go on our merry way - $115 later. WTF? The convertible bra I bought (for a wedding this weekend) costs $70. WTF? Sheesh. Sigh. Again, on our merry way. On the way out, what do I spy? A 38G. SERIOUSLY! A G would fit me and the band will fit better than the 40.

Guess what I'm doing before Saturday. Yep, going back to Lane Bryant and trying on that 38G and if it fits better than my 40F's guess what's getting exchanged.

Yay for customer service.

Now, I know that a 40F and a 38G are basically the same damn bra, but 38 is a much nicer number than 40. I've been a 40. I've been a 40DDD and it was in 2007. I'd like to be smaller than that, considering I weigh less now than I did then and I certainly don't want to spend $115 on bras only to not have them fit in about 3 wearings because the elastic has been broken in. Grumble.

So its been a week (and a day) into Project 10 and I think I did pretty well. The hubs has stepped up his getting healthy trek in a big way and I feel like I'm almost hanging on to keep up with him. It also helps {or doesn't help} that the both of us are super competitive so we have to work on not being competitive with each other. That's mostly easy for us. This July will mark 10 years together. I think we've gotten used to each others quirks. At least I hope we have. ;-)  So here's my week in recap and some more goals.


Here are today's pictures!



 I'm afraid I do not have a future in self-portraiture, but you get the idea. Still working on that baby pouch, I know I won't get rid of it, but it doesn't have to be quite as prominent and really I just want to slim down everywhere some more. :)

Today I weigh 247.6. That's about 49 pounds lighter than when I started this journey.

I am in shock. Only a little bit of shock. I mean 50 pounds is a lot. That's 5/6 the weight of my big guy. That's almost one of my dogs. I can't believe that I've come so far.

You know when something amazingly awesome happens to you and you just can't believe your good fortune? That's kind if where I'm at today. It's not like this was unexpected. I've been working for this, towards this. To actually have this day here though is incredible.

I guess it's kind of ironic that today I do not feel like working out though. I have 800 million things to do around the house and I have to get them done.

At least doing the chores around the house will be a light exercise. So I took pictures of myself and I'm going to post them but they're on my computer and I'm on my phone.

Maybe they'll get posted this weekend. :-)

I'm working on Harrison's 1st year scrapbook. I know he'll be turning 3 in October. I'm only a little behind. :)

So while I was going through pictures and getting ideas and trying to organize photos, I came across the photos from our vacation last summer to OBX.

I found this picture of the boys.

How adorable is that pose? We were on a dolphin cruise and Harrison just came up behind Devlin and they stayed in this pose for several minutes. Steve was quick with the camera and snapped several of these photos.

So I picked my favorite shot, and printed it out on some 4x6 photo paper I had lying around. Then I had to find a frame for it. Nothing like planning this out!

After locating an 8x10 frame that I had hidden (between fabric totes), I cleaned it up and then tried to figure how the best way to showcase this photo. Enter poster board and my 1974 dictionary.

I cut out a mat from my poster board, and arranged the photo in a museum gallery kind of way. Then pulled out the dictionary and went straight for the b's. I found the entry for brothers and ripped the page out. Then I laid the page out the way I wanted, I had to rip out another page (found the beach page) to finish covering my mat. With Mod Podge in hand I glued the dictionary pages down and folded the edges over the edge of the poster board. After I got the picture taped to the poster board. I took a sharpie and added some arrows and things to the definitions I wanted people to notice.

Then I centered my picture in the opening and put my picture together. I hung this picture up in our gallery wall on the stairs.

So there's my favorite photo from our vacation last year and the boys have a nice spot together on our gallery wall. Not bad for a 5 minute project.

Have you guys ever had a lot of projects and not enough time to document them all? Yea, me too.

So this dress has been done for little over a week, and I'm just now getting around to sharing it with you guys. I'm bad, I know. I'm sure I'll console myself with this cup of coffee I found. :)

So anyways, our grandmother's 50th wedding anniversary is coming up, and while I'm sure Dana  had grand plans for what she was going to wear; I had different plans. I called her up and told her that I was making her something for said fun event, and then realized how that sounded and asked if she had a dress, to which she replied yes, but I still informed her I was making this dress. :)

Enter Simplicity 1913.
Cute dress, right?

Well I had this lovely tangerine fabric just lying around. Its a sportswear type (gabardine or twill or something) and completely washable, and I knew that it'd look awesome on my baby sister. Her coloring and mine are very similar and oranges just look lovely on us. Not to mention orange is happy! So I got busy on making this dress for Dae.

The construction of the dress is nice, and I like most of it. I love the details though!
 There are 8 buttons on this dress and not a single one does anything but look pretty. :) The belt material is just some sheer fabric I had lying around. You'll be seeing it again soon. :)


 This is the only part of this pattern that I dislike. There should not be exposed seam selvage on the dress. I tried doing this up like a proper collar and enclosing it inside the collar, but the  curve on the color is just to great to accommodate it. My grandmother said to hide the seams with a bias tape made out of the material, and I may still do that, but there are other things to sew up. One thing I did really like about this pattern is the fully lined bodice. It creates a nice edge on the neckline and arm holes. The bodice lining also encases the seam between the skirt and bodice. Looks so nice!

So there's the the dress for my sister. I hope she likes  it!



Linking up to:

I stepped on the scale this morning and 249 is what she flashed across her screen!!!!!!

Hell yes!!!!!!!!

I have 800 things going on lately, and all of them are self-induced. I really couldn't be happier. The only problem? Not enough time, and that's what this post was going to be about. Juggling. What am I juggling? Blogging time. 

It feels like its been forever since I've written anything, but I know in reality that it hasn't been that long.

Anyways, I have new measurements. I know, right? Its so soon. I just took new measurements like 2 or 3 weeks ago. Well they've changed again.  Yay!!!!

	September 8, 2011	October 29, 2011	March 18, 2012	May 13, 2012	May 31, 2012
Bust	49.5"	48"	47.5"	47"	45.5"
Waist	40.5"	40"	39.5"	39"	38"
Hips	54.5"	53.5"	52"	52"	51"
Upper Arm	16.5"	15.5"	15"	15"	14"

So in almost 9 months I've lost a total of 4" off the boob area, 2.5" off my waist, 3.5" from my saddlebag hips and 2.5" of turkey neck flab from my arms! WAHOOOOOO!!!!!

Pleased does not describe the elation I'm feeling. :)

I guess watching what I eat and caring about what I put into my body does help. :)

Ok back to Saturday shenanigans! :)