Kitchens, Stress, and Telstra

I'm still here!! Been a while, sorry. Lots going on...

Firstly, kitchen. Here's what our kitchen looked like BEFORE (well, actually, OH had already started dismantling in this pic, but you get the idea) - a lovely soft pink, with round gold knobs for handles. VERY 80's!
And now... with new rangehood (note, the blue vent thing above rangehood still has the protective plastic on it, it is actually stainless steel underneath!)

We still have no splashbacks, but that will happen in the next few weeks. We're thinking of glass splashbacks - maybe a colour. What do you think of red? We originally planned a silver colour, but we are thinking we need some colour in there.

And I now have a breakfast bar (below), which also means that I can prepare meals AND watch TV through the lounge room at the same time... now we have all the mod-cons! LOL!

Last weekend I went to watch the INBAs in Brissie, and got to cheer on Michaela and Selina. Both girls looked fantatsic, and absolutely shone on stage. Still has not convinced me to get up there myself one day, but never say never I suppose! It was also lovely to catch up with lots of blogger friends, Deb, Jadey, Kerry, Liz and Lindy, and also meet a few other girls for the first time :)

I have felt incredibly stressed this week. I have all these lists of things to finalise for the wedding (less than 3 weeks to go now, OMG!) and I had to organise the hens party too :( Originally I wanted to go into town (in the Valley) to this new club, but a few weeks ago I went to a hens party in the Valley, and while I had a great time, when I was leaving I just decided that a boozy night in town just isn't me anymore. I'm over it, maybe I'm too old for it, I dont know. So I changed my plans at the last minute!!

Instead we are now doing a shopping bus tour next Saturday, which I am really looking forward to! We get to go to all sorts of warehouse outlets (some are not open to the public) and also get a nice buffet lunch on the way. Now if people would only RSVP me so I can organise final numbers!! My maid of honour has a lot on her plate at the moment, so I took on the organising of the hens party too. Maybe not a good move, I have actually lost sleep over this, more so than the wedding!

Anyway, there has been more frustration this week. We had some wild weather through the week, and consequently lots of wind - a tree in our yard broke and snapped our phone line. So I've been without home internet for a few days, and it makes things very difficult. Telstra came out yesterday to fix it, but because it was raining, they refuse to climb ladders in the rain... grrrr... so now I have to wait around for them on Monday when they come back. Lets just hope its not still raining.

I'm using my work laptop, but its not great, as all my IBO work is on my home computer.

Well, thats enough whinging for me for one day. This time in 3 weeks I will be Mrs H !

31 days til I'm a "Mrs"

Not much time for blogging lately, but I am still here!!

Starting to really count down now, 31 days now til I get hitched! My mind is starting to overflow with all the things that are going on, finalising everying, organising wedding rehearsal, meeting the photographer on site to suss out where we'll get photos done, hens party, menu choices, flower colours, decorations at the reception, accommondation, getting final numbers together - the list seems to be endless!

The only thing not organised is the cars. OH is meant to be organising that. But I'm not too stressed about it - worst case scenario, we'll get taxis. No biggie.

So with all the wedding stuff going on, we're also in the middle of some major house renovations, with the kitchen having HALF gone in a week and a half ago. The stone bench tops got measured up, so we're hoping to have the rest done very soon (was hoping for this Friday, but who knows!). So I have bits of MDF & villa board for bench tops at the moment, and no sink. I'm having to run up and down to the laundry sink all the time.

Our dining table has been buried under a mass of kitchen appliances, glasses etc - all waiting for the kitchen and cupboards to be finished. So we've been eating on the lounge in front of the TV every night for the last two weeks - OH is loving it! I just want to get my dining table back.

Oh yeah, we also had another lot of concreting done, this time the front section of our driveway got done, and under the carport, and the back patio too - so nice to be rid of the dirt finally! Still lots more concreting to be done, but its expensive, so we have to do it in stages.

Anyway, thats about what my life consists of at the moment! I'm ready for it all to be over and done with!

Been a while...

Well things are still pretty busy around here, hence the lack of posting I guess!

My foot issues are making me train a little differently, I'm avoiding anything impact. So about the only thing I have done for the last week or so is cycling - on the stationary bike, and in cycle classes. Oh, I have done weights too! Cant forget that!

Last weekend I tried to take the dogs for a walk, and because our area is so hilly, it ended up straining my foot tendon again, so even walking seems to be out at the moment. Not good when you're on a mission to be a buff bride, but these things were sent to try us I guess!

Yesterday I spoke to the podiatrist (my hairdressers husband - noice!!) and he is going to organise some orthotics for me (mates rates too - love it!) and has given me some advice on strapping techniques. I've been strapping it in different ways to try to find the way that rips the least amount of skin off. He took one look at how I'd strapped it and said "um... where did you learn to do THAT?".

I said: "ummmm.... the internet?" (bowing head in shame)

I think he actually shook his head in disbelief LOL! Turns out, my feet are crooked. Well I cant remember the technical term, but thats the upshot anyway. They slump inwards. So I'm also nightly going to be treating my feet to 10 minutes each of ice/heat/ice/heat - followed by some massage of the heel and arch. Hopefully all this helps!

Yesterday I went to a 2nd birthday party. I ate a slice of fairy bread. WHY? I dont know. It was there. Its probably been at least 25 years since I last had some. I'm pretty sure it will be another 25 years before I have another.

I also went to my hairdresser, had my pre-wedding trim, and got her to refresh my purple stripe.

We're getting some concreting done tomorrow, and we are also getting our kitchen installed on Friday - HOO-BLOODY-RAY! Give it a few weeks, and I'll show you all a photo.

Yep, its all happening here.

Catcha.

The verdict seems to be...

Plantar fasciitis.

I think I have figured out what my foot pain is. All the symptoms seem to point to this. I will, of course, go to a podiatrist and get it checked out.

I'd heard of the 'plantar fascia' before, but, y'know, I always thought it was something to do with warts (plantar warts)!

So yesterday and today, on the advise of the ever helpful internet (!) I have strapped my feet as shown, and the difference has been amazing. The burning in the arch and heel is still there, but the sharp pain when I walk has stopped. Rest, icing and stretching is also recommended. Running may be off the schedule for a few weeks.

In other news, I spent Saturday and Sunday in Warwick... oh joy. The Datsun Nationals (affectionately known as the "Dat Nats") were on - and LUCKY me got to go. The things we do for our other halves eh? We were only meant to go on Saturday, however the drags got rained out, so OH went home very dissapointed on Saturday night. Sunday dawned all clear in Warwick, so back we went... 2 hours there, 2 hours back. 2 days in a row. Looking at old cars. Bet you're all SOOO jealous! lol!

As far as Easter goes, we kinda forgot. Somebody at work gave me a couple of mini eggs, which have been in the fridge since mid last week. So I ate two. That was the sum total of my Easter chocolate experience. I dont "do" hot cross buns (ick!) so the damage was minimal. I did eat some rubbish in Warwick, but only because it was that or nothing. All in all, not too bad a weekend.

Anyways, today I'll be off to do the groceries, the cupboards are bare!! I'm also going to look at sunglasses - I'm sick of buying cheap ones, I want a really nice new pair of good ones that will last for a while. Will post a pic if I find some!

Enjoy the last day of your long weekend...

My new favourite breakfast

Cottage cheese, onion, tomato and a sprinkling of herbs, on toast, and then grilled... yum! I have been having this a few days a week for breakfast, its a little more time consuming than my regular oats and cottage cheese, but its so worth it... could I be a cottage cheese convert??? I suppose I had to go over to the dark side eventually :)

Training has been going great, had a moment on Wednesday night where I'd had a bad day at work, and was feeling a bit low, so had a glass of wine. Not good behaviour, but something I'm working on. Wednesday was a particularly bad day for some reason, I skipped a training session, had the wine, and only got about 4 hours sleep that night. Followed it up with a fantastic day on Thursday though, smashed it at cycle, and ate clean all day, which on 4 hours sleep was something of an accomplishment!

Last night my maid of honour came around to see my wedding dress, and we got talking about lots of wedding stuff. She's a bit like me in that we're both not "girly" girls - its all a bit alien for both of us actually! So next on the agenda is to get the hens night organised... a night out in the city is in order I think.

Here is what OH has been busy with this morning... we're about to get a new front door...

The big gaping hole, and our ugly old front door. Spot the cat, looking for an escape route (not likely with Shavez standing guard!)



The new front door... soon to be installed.

We are both so over this house!! For the past few days its been raining, and now we've got saturated carpet again in the downstairs spare bedroom, and we're not sure where its getting in. Oh the joys... Oh how I wish for a house that didn't need to be renovated!

When life gets you down - just put on your big girl panties and deal with it.

I feel like I've got so much going on at the moment, feel like I'm trying to be superwoman!! Wedding stuff is slowly coming together - ordered my invitations last week, so I've been going through address lists, wording options, romantic verses (!!) and FONTS! Who knew that choosing a bloody font could be so difficult?

And just when I've got it narrowed down to a few options, OH finally decides to have a say, and dislikes my choices... grrrrr!

Is it just me, or do most males think that you can just "wing it" with weddings? I think mine has decided that all he has to do is turn up... lol!

I'm making great progress with training though, absolutely smashed it this week. Only managed 2 weights sessions, but did 7 cardio sessions. Sprint update: did interval sprints on Tuesday morning - kept it at 14km/hour but increased the duration slightly... need to increase it more next week.

Feeling pretty good, weight is finally shifting a little, food has been pretty clean all week - and counting down - 11 weeks to go!

12 weeks to go

I've had so much stuff that I wanted to blog about this week, but I haven't had much spare time on the computer this week, so I've forgotten most of it!!

The most exciting news is that there is now only 12 weeks until I become a "Mrs"! OMG I still have so much to do! So effectively that gives me 11 weeks to get into "buff bride" shape - I say 11 weeks because I intend to have the entire week off training before the wedding - I want to look rested and refreshed, without dark circles under my eyes.

I dont really have far to go, about 3kg. Its just that I keep losing and gaining the same 1kg every week, and I'm a little bit over it. Weekends are my downfall, I'm usually really good and consistent through the week, but then come Saturday its sleeping in, egg white omelette on toast for breakfast (which are still fine, but I find them so much more filling than my regular oats and cottage cheese, consequently I forget to eat meal 2)... , forgetting to drink enough water, a few glasses of wine on Saturday night, takeaway for dinner... you know the story.

Enough is enough. I'm in countdown mode now. Putting together my plan this weekend, watch this space!

This week I was so motivated, it felt great. On Tuesday I challenged myself to beat my previous best sprinting speed of 13.1 km/hour. Got to 14.5km/hour - 1 minute intervals. Woohoo!! Felt amazing, my intervals were 6km/hour, 9km/hour, 14.5km/hour - kept that up for 10 minutes. Then I slowed to my next walking interval, and got struck down with the most horrendous period pain... I wasn't sure if I wanted to vomit, or run to the toilet, or collapse on the floor. So I had to pack up and get the hell out of there - went home, took 3 panadeine, and laid on the floor for 20 minutes until it passed.

Next morning I was determined to do it again, so after weights I did a 10 minute jog, and then another 10 minutes of intervals - this time I got to 15km/hour! The treadmill started to make a noise at that speed (the suspension starts to rattle), to the point where people were turning around to stare at me... oops! (perhaps it was my gasping noises that drew their attention?!) Shattered after that!

Its nice to be able to challenge myself like that - each week I want to either increase the speed, or increase the length of the intervals. Next week I will aim for longer duration, and the following week will go for speed.

Wedding: have ordered the invitations, paid the deposit for the venue, booked our accommodation for a few nights after the wedding, booked my flowers, and shortlisted some photographers. Surprisingly most wedding suppliers seem to be free on my date, every single photographer that I have contacted is available... who says you need a year or more to organise a wedding!!?

So I'm starting to feel more organised!

Have a fabulous weekend!

I know I'm in my own little world, but it's ok. They know me here...

Its been an up and down week. A few emotional moments, a few big days driving (had to go to Gympie and back on Thursday - 3 hours there, 3 hours in Gympie, 3 hours home= knackered) and I've been a bit in my own little world.

On Thursday it was mine and OH's 10 year anniversary... T.E.N. Years! Wow. We didn't do anything much, OH wanted to get takeaway for dinner so I didn't have to cook, but I decided to cook anyway. I had chicken breast marinated in pesto, and then pan fried, with a nice clean salad, and OH had his favourite steak. We followed that up with a celebratory drink - white wine for me, bourbon for him. Happy Anniversary!

Training has been going well this week. I powered through all my sessions, but slept in again for Friday step - oops! Got up at 6 this morning and took the dogs for a walk, and then went for a run around the neighbourhood. I did a few intervals of jogging, and then, inspired by the Biggest Loser last night where they had to run around Royal Randwick racecourse... decided to change it to sprint intervals - woohoo!! (kept picturing Nathan sprinting along like he did - that man is a machine) Felt great! Well, when I could catch my breath I felt great, I was gasping for breath most of the time :-)

Tonight we are having a BBQ here, with about 10 friends. So we've decided to have a table tennis tournament! I'm really looking forward to this, should be a great laugh. I've decided to go and get a prize for the winner too - cant wait!

Oh, before I forget too - here's a few pics of my wedding shoes... (and the corner of my wedding dress!)

Devolution

The devolution of my footwear choices... through the ages...

Shoe number 1: My favourite Sachi heels. Soooo high, soooo pointy toed. I am so in love with these shoes. These are the kind of shoes, that every time I put them on, I think "God I love these shoes".

Too much time spent in these shoes has been my undoing though. I used to wear them all day, every day. And then. In the last year or two - mega painful arches... *sob*

These shoes and I only get together very rarely these days.

Which lead to my next stage of footwear:

Shoe number 2... the slightly more sensible heel, complete with sturdy ankle strap. These are super comfy, until I take them off. Then I pay for it for the next week, with arches and heels screaming at me.

My chiropracter used to laugh at me, whenever I would say "look! I'm wearing my sensible shoes!" Then he would torture my feet, trying to loosen them up so that I could walk without hobbling.

Damn you, Shoe number 1!

And look what I have resorted to... *sniffle*

Shoe number 3 - Nanna shoes from hell.

I got these a few weeks ago. I refused to buy the rounded toe ones, they're just not me. I also refused to go completely flat, no doubt that will be the next step. Luckily I wear my work trousers quite long, so they are mostly unseen. They are so ugly!

boohoo.

You should see my wedding shoes. Strappy, sparkly silver heels, which I think are higher than shoe number 1. Yep, after wearing them for the wedding day, I'm sure I'm gonna be a cripple!

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In other news, today I did sprint intervals on the treadmill at 13.1 km/hr (yes the "0.1" IS important!) That is a record for me on the treadmill, and its still not really that fast is it! I'm aiming to work on that each week, and see how fast I can go :)

Good morning Hamstrings!!...

Thats what I was saying to myself this morning at gym...

Got up, went to gym, did my first shoulder session since my traps locked up a few weeks ago - its all good. Followed up with some incline treadmill and some jogging - its all good. Got down on the floor to stretch before going home...? HELLLLLOOOOO hamstrings!

What the hell happened? My hamstrings started cramping the minute I started to stretch. I've never had a hamstring cramp before, and I tell ya, I dont want another one! I could barely touch my toes - WTF? I stretched them out for longer than normal, but I was seriously grimmacing - it HURT.

Now every time I bend over, they continue to pull and cramp. I have always been able to bend over to touch my toes with my palms flat to the floor and knees straight. Right now, I cannot get the tips of my fingernails to touch the floor... ?

Tomorrow I'm doing an hour cardio, so after I'm nice and warm I will do lots more stretching. Will put some tiger balm on tonight too before bed.

We had a very uneventful weekend, the highlight was a trip to Victoria Point, a game of pinball and lunch (half of which I gave to the birds that swarmed in on us) by the bay - nice :)

Wedding planning

Last week I ended up having most of the week off training. I had a really really awful day last Tuesday, and ended up taking the day off work, mostly for emotional reasons!! I'm now going to have to get some minor surgery done in the next few months, which is really upsetting me. Its nothing life-threatening, but its upsetting all the same.

So last week I sulked, big time. But this week I've decided to "suck it up, princess!" and just get on with it. So I'm back training hard and eating clean. And I feel a lot better, except this morning I was just too shattered to get up and do step. I will take the dogs for a walk this arvy and then go for a powerwalk instead.

In an effort to distract myself, I've tried to throw myself into wedding planning. I have now FINALLY booked the venue for the ceremony and reception/party - and Saturday the 13th of June is the day! Then I started stressing because that is only about 4 months away, and I've pretty much done nothing except book the celebrant, get my dress and shoes, and order my ring.

SO! I've got lists galore! There are so many details to think about - and we wanted a simple wedding remember?? Ugh! You still have to think about what song to walk down the aisle to, what sort of cake to get, will we have cars or not, what will we do for music at the party/reception, what sort of invitations, the WORDING on the invitations... my list is endless!

We're having a cocktail style party for the reception, so we dont have to worry about sit down menus or seating arrangements, or bonbonniere, or table decorations etc so thats something I guess.

Last night I stayed up late researching DIY wedding invitiations on the internet. So then I went to bed and couldn't get to sleep, too busy thinking about everything I needed to do... I think wedding planning is bad for your health!

And all the guy has to do is turn up!

I will sleep anywhere, and in any position mum, as long as its on your lap

Taken over the course of a few days...

Oh, the life of a cat!

This is comfy, mum...

This isn't very comfy, but I'll sleep in this position anyway...



This is ridiculous, how do you expect me to sleep like this?! Oh but I'll sleep here anyway...

I went for a massage on the weekend, and she says my whole left rotator cuff group of muscles is inflamed. After the massage it still feels like I have rocks in my traps, I have to go back for another massage next weekend. I constantly stink of Tiger Balm, actually I think my skin is starting to peel from over-use!

Went to attempt a shoulder/bi's/tri's workout this morning, but once I got to gym I elected to skip the shoulder part completely - still too sore. Mind you, all of the exercises made it hurt. Stupid body.

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

This week I have...

• felt so sad hearing the terrible stories with the bushfires down south
  
• had an awesome shoulder workout on Monday
  
• pulled a muscle in my left trapezius (refer to above comment) which is making me stink from Tiger Balm
  
• sweltered through a 37 degree humid day in our office with broken air conditioning
  
• discovered that I really like Earl Grey tea
  
• damaged my car!!  Tuesday morning 5.30am, still half asleep, trying to park my car in the gym carpark, and scraped the front bumper against a concrete pillar.  aaarrrghh!  Its a company car, so dont have to pay for it though!
  
• started to feel my clothes get a bit looser.

 

Sunburn

Firstly, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for their support and words of wisdom re my last blog post, very much appreciated! You are all beautiful people!

The rest of the week was much less dramatic :) and everyone is friends again, which is good. I dont sleep well when I'm not friends with people LOL! OH and I are both stubborn and we are both the youngest in our families, so we're used to getting our own way! I have to just accept that people want to help and have input in a wedding, and that I cant do it all myself.

This weekend was very sedate. I spent most of Saturday weeding our gravel driveway. I was bent over, yanking out those big "spider" weeds because the ground was still moist from the recent rain. Consequently I got sunburned in a strip accross my lower back (think brickies-bum!!) which is the most stupid, painful spot to get sunburned! It is absolutely roasted, and right where the back of my pants sit. It wasn't even sunny, it was quite overcast and a bit drizzly all day, go figure. I also can now barely walk because my hamstrings are so sore, from bending at the waist all day. It is most strange to have sore hammies, and perfectly fine quads!

After all that weeding, I filled the wheelbarrow 5 times. And then I look at the driveway and think "it barely looks like I've touched it" - gah! there are so many weeds! Ohhhh I would love a concrete or bitumen driveway!

Not much else going on, I'm getting into a really good routine now with training and nutrition, although I'm really struggling to get to gym for opening time in the mornings. I used to be there before they open (5.30am), but now I'm regularly 15 minutes late... tut tut!

I've been seeing a nice, slow downward trend on the scales too lately, which I'm loving. Had a roast dinner at the in-laws last night though, which caused a nasty spike this morning.

I'm excited that The Biggest Loser and So You Think You Can Dance are back on too - both TV shows that make me really conscious about what I'm eating... especially with all those hot bodies in SYTYCD! I dont watch a huge amount of TV, but I make exceptions in this case :)

Better go start dinner... TTFN.

Back online, and dramas

Internet is back on, turns out we had a broken cable. You really dont realise how much you use the internet and email, until you're without it for a week! Withdrawals!!!

So we had a lovely Australia Day weekend, especially Sunday - we went and had breakfast/brunch with a group of friends, and then went and had a game of beach cricket and worked off all the food we'd just eaten! Lots of fun.

I had trouble with food this weekend - its just been too hot to eat. It has been sooo humid, the air is really thick and just completely saps your strength. For me, it also removes any appetite. I had to force myself to eat. Even then, I managed about 3 meals each day - not good. OH only ate once on Monday! I did manage to have a bit of a "whoosh" on the scales last week though prior to this extreme humidity, which I'm quite pleased about. :-)

Wedding stuff - we had major, major dramas on Monday, with regards to our wedding. I spent most of Australia Day in tears over it. Weddings seem to bring out the worst in people, and everyone gets so sensitive. I'm not going to go into details, but the end result is that we're postponing our wedding until (probably) June... oh well at least it gives me a bit more time to get stuff organised. I'm still trying to take deep deep breaths over this and calm down.

Its my birthday today (boo) so I'm planning on splashing out and enjoying some thai food tonight, chicken and cashew sounds like the go - yum!

Broken: one telephone line

Excuse my absence, my home telephone connection and ADSL is broken. :-(

 

The phone company came out but couldn't fix it from the outside (I was in Toowoomba at the time) so they're coming back on Saturday morning so they can test the line into the house, and also the connection in the house.

 

OH is having internet withdrawals... and its making it a bit complicated to do my IBO work.

 

Fingers crossed its fixed soon!

Silly Rabbit

So last night, before I decided to go to bed, I made the dumb-arse decision to flick through my copy of "Cosmo Bride"... I ended up reading a few articles and getting a few ideas for our big day.

But then I decided to go to bed, and because I was all stupidly excited about wedding plans, and had a million-and-one ideas buzzing through my brain, I couldn't sleep!!! I looked at the clock every hour, and for each hour in between I worked feverishly to get my brain to SHUT UP! LOL! Eventually managed about 4 hours of shut-eye.

So to quote O-Ren Ishii (played by Lucy Liu in Kill Bill) - "Silly Rabbit"

Today I'm having trouble raising my arms above shoulder height - my chest is super sore, I mean I can poke myself under the collar bones and I'm like, ouch.

After my silly rabbit moment last night and a lack of sleep, I skipped gym this morning. I made up for it this afternoon though by taking the dogs for a walk, and then doing a bloody awful/amazing circuit type workout in the rumpus room - it was a crazy combination of pop squats, high knees, barbell squats, good mornings, and jump lunges - I gave myself about 15-20 seconds rest between 45 second rounds, and I was GASPING for air!! Ugh I felt unfit. It was a good makeshift workout though.

Anyway, enough ramblings, I'm off to start making dinner!

Reality Beckons

So I'm now at the end of my holiday... (sob, sigh) I'm going back to work on Monday.

This week has gone so fast though, but its been good. I've organised a few more things for the wedding - got my shoes... absolutely gorgeous strappy silver heels - they're a lot higher than I'm used to though, so I've been walking around the house trying to practise. Dont want to be stumbling down the aisle now, do we!!?

We've also chosen my wedding ring, but not ordered it yet. Because my fingers are so skeletal, I have to have it custom made, as its not possible to resize down more than a few sizes, and my finger is a size H.

I keep thinking to myself: I’m getting all organized with everything, but we’ve neglected to actually SET A DATE yet!! I keep getting bogged down in the nitty gritty, like choosing the invitation designs, or looking at jewelry, we’ve even talked to the people where we’re thinking of having a short 3 or 4 day honeymoon, and keep forgetting that we actually don’t have a date yet. D’oh!

Anyway!

This week we had a brief getaway to our favourtie spot in Australia, Montville. We stayed at these beautiful new cottages, which are very modern and stylish. Each cottage even has a coffee machine, everything was presented beautifully, and all really good quality stuff - huge king size bed, Weber Q bbq on the deck, beautiful bed linen, even the crockery and cutlery was good quality!

The view from the deck, overlooking rainforest. It was so relaxing and peaceful, I didn't want to leave! The only sound was birds chirping, and the wind in the trees...

This cheeky Kookaburra came and stole a sausage from OH's breakfast plate yesterday morning! While I was sitting right there! Scared the absolute crap out of me, I thought it was going to attack me, but no, it just wanted one of his sausages! They are very well fed, and not at all scared of people.

Well I'd better start thinking about going back to work I guess. Training has been a little hit and miss this week, what with going away. We did have a bush walk, and a very energetic game of tennis while we were there, so that has to count for something, right?! Back into it fully as of now though.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Wedding Dress... tick!

Yep, after just one day of wedding dress shopping, I am now the proud owner of one couture gown.

I think we went to every single bridal shop in the Queen Street Mall! I actually found it a very strange experience. I've never been one of those girls who dream of getting married, never wanted a big white wedding, never wanted to be a princess for a day etc. So standing in a change room, while the sales girl helped me on with my first gown was a little surreal! I actually stood there thinking "Shit - I'm actually trying on a wedding dress Oh my god!!"

There were some good sales on, and lots of bargains. I was actually surprised at how inexpensive some of them were. Of course, there were plenty that were $2000 - $3000, but they were all a little, um... over the top for me.

I was going for something simple, elegant, but plain. No "flouncy" skirt, no elaborate beading. I wanted to look like the bride, but not be... how do I explain this... too BRIDEY. Does that make sense?

I had the good sense to wear a strapless bra, but the bad sense to wear black undies. Dumb.

Anyway, after hours and hours, I thought we were going to go home empty handed. And then the very last place on my list, we found it. I walked out of the change room and mum went "THATS THE ONE!! We've found it!"

It was off the rack, and on sale. And mum bought it for me - cant get any better than that!

****************************

Last Friday I did a bit of a circuit type training session at home, it involved lots of pop squats, jump lunges, deadlifts, barbell squats, high knees etc. I just used light weights, and oh-my-god my legs, glutes and hammies are screaming at me now! I'd had 2 weeks off weight training, and I'm so surprised at how sore my lower body is.

This morning I went back to gym too - although I'm still on holidays so I didn't get there until 6.30am. Man, was that tough getting out of bed at 6 this morning!! I'll have to ease back into my 5am starts I think. Anyway, I did shoulders, bi's and tri's this morning, plus interval cardio - felt good.

My goal for the next 3 months is to be a buff bride. I have about 4kgs to shed - and the last 4 or 5kgs are always the toughest, so I'm really cleaning up my act with my nutrition. Its going to be a fantastic year!

Christmas, New Year, and everything in between

I love being on holidays... all this sleeping in til 7am is heaven!!


We've had a great week. Christmas day was lovely, and fairly quiet too I have to say. I didn't eat too much rubbish actually, so I felt kinda good about that. I think I made up for it in the days that followed though! Thankfully nobody gave me any chocolate this year, and I didn't buy any. The worst damage was caused by the home-made rum balls that mum gave me to take home. OH doesn't like them, so I ate them all myself! Oh well, its only once I year I suppose.


The trouble with being on holidays is that we tend to go shopping! OH bought himself another pair of sunglasses, and I scored myself some absolute bargains at Lorna Jane, and a Guess handbag and matching purse in the sales. Goes well with the Guess watch that OH gave me for Christmas :)


On Friday I am going shopping with mum, this time for a wedding dress. Yes you read that correctly, we're finally going to get hitched! I suppose after almost 10 years together, and almost 2 years of being engaged, its high time we got around to it.


So far we have nothing booked, but we're thinking of having a mid-week wedding, sometime in the first half of 2009. It will be fairly low-key, and we're only going to have family to the ceremony. Then a week or two later we're just going to throw a big "wedding celebration" and have a party! This suits us to a tee, as we both dont want the whole white-wedding thing.


So I have lots of stuff to organise now!


With all that in mind, I have a new goal to be a buff bride. I had last week off training completely, which was nice, but I'm back into doing cardio and some light weight training this week from home. Next week I'll be back into it full throttle - its so great to have a fitness goal again!


Tonight for New Years celebrations we're just going to a friends house, I think we're getting old, because our last couple of New Years have been very sedate! OH is driving, so I'll aiming to just have a few glasses of wine - there is nothing worse than one of us being hung over and the other one isn't!


So Happy New Year everyone! I hope that 2009 is everything that you hope for!