Why Am I Awake?

Good morning. Today is Sunday, it's 9:08am, and I went out drinking last night. I'm not quite sure why I'm awake right now, to be honest. It's possible that I'm still drunk. Either way, I'm in a good mood, so I decided to write a random blog.

Last night was Rob's birthday shindig at Looney's. First we pregamed at Rick and Jo's house, which was awesome because I got to cuddle with her new puppy! She's actually fostering two puppies right now, but one was really shy and timid. It makes me want another one! But then I remember how much work it is and usually end up changing my mind.

Looney's was fun. It was packed! From the moment we got there until we left, there was so many people. Apparently there was a line out the door that wrapped around the side of the building just to get in! I know it was crowded in the beginning because of hockey, but not so sure why the rest of the night was so popular.

My goal last night was to NOT order any food at Looney's. I really wanted to not eat anything and to just drink. Well, I didn't order anything, but I did end up eating! I was being a scavenger and stealing everyone's food. I had some fries, nachos, and a little bite of a potato skin. Not the worst, but then we went to Ratsie's and got pizza:-( Fail. I don't even remember how many slices I ate. We drunkenly ordered TWO LARGE pizzas for three of us. It was amazing though. I love that place.

I almost got into a fight with some girl last night, it was pretty funny. She bumped into my chair, like really bumped it and I said "Watch where you're walking." and she started talking back to me. I was totally more bitchy than her. I called her a douche when she walked away, haha!:-) She was so little... wouldn't have stood a chance against me!

Also, when we were leaving Ratsie's, we got a cab and as Roch and I were getting in, some random girl comes over and tries to get in the front seat. Charlie was like "No, you get out!" hahaha, it was hilarious. She was so blown. Crazy drunk people!;-) All in all, a good night. We slept over at my parents house which is always entertaining. I actually slept really well, despite being in the same room as 3 birds and a rat. They're kind of like one of those noise machine things that help people fall asleep.

As much as I wanted to sleep in, we had to come back and let Chief out. I'm surprisingly not feeling too bad, but like I said earlier, I could still be drunk. On that note, I'm totally contemplating just going to the gym now. Just getting it over with and then napping after... but I dunno! Such a tough choice. I'm just worried that if I don't do it now, I won't do it later. I MUST workout today. I need to be consistent. Especially after all that pizza! Plus, as you can see up above, December was a TERRIBLE month. The lack of exercise can be explained for the most part. Hurting my knee, being sick, whatever, but in the beginning of the month, I have no clue why there were so many days I skipped! What a slacker:-(

As I'm sitting here on my couch though, all warm and cozy with a blanket on and my rookie book cuddled up next to me, I REALLY could go for a nap. Sighhhh. I need to quit drinking... LOL.
The reason I have my rookie book next to me is because I'm trying to study hardcore for my chapter 3 test. I take it with the Battalion Chief tomorrow! I'm so nervous! I have to pass this, otherwise my Officer is gonna hate me. I'm just so ready to finish this book!

Oh, some good news to report... All the weight I gained in New Orleans is gone! Back to my normal self. Although, after last night, who knows! I'm scared to get on the scale so I'm just going to avoid it. Besides the pizza, I ate AWESOME these 3 days off. I went to Trader Joe's and stocked up which really helps me to eat better. I have so many healthy choices when I look in the fridge now.

Yesterday was so nice out so I finally decided to go for a run! I thought it had only been maybe 2 weeks since I last ran, but I just looked at that calendar and I see now that it was over a MONTH! OMG... how did that happen?? I need to never do that again. I must keep up my running skills. I did 4 miles yesterday and it really wasn't too bad, so hopefully that long break didn't mess me up.

Ok, now I am really sleepy and starting to close my eyes. I started off this blog being so chipper and optimistic and now I'm just blahhh. I guess I'll take a nap and then workout later. Even if I at least do a workout video or run on the treadmill, it's better than nothing!

Alright, time to snooze. Thank you for reading, it really makes me happy!:)

<3
Anna

A Weekend In New Orleans

Jambalaya, Red beans and rice, Gumbo, Sausage

I'm back!! New Orleans was an amazing place and I had a fabulous trip! The best part was getting to spend the weekend with my friends from Children's that I definitely don't get to see as often! It was so nice to hang out with them again. Also, I got to meet some new friends as well!

The food there is fantastic! But definitely fattening. I also didn't hold back one bit on anything I ordered, so that didn't help! The combination of food and super sugary drinks really took a toll on me. I gained 6 lbs. Yes, you heard correct, 6 effing pounds!! WTF? I didn't even know that was possible! I couldn't believe my eyes when I stepped on the scale.

It was totally worth it though. I got to experience real New Orleans food and I loved it. I also had a constant buzz or was totally drunk the entire weekend, so mission accomplished. While it was an amazing trip, I'm glad to be back so I can start working out again and trying to eat healthier.

Duck with Gnocchi

 While in NOLA, we ate at Acme Oyster House, Domenica, Ruby Red Slipper, Praline Connection, Ruby Red Slipper (again), and randomly, Arby's hahaha. We also had some gross street pizza that, at the time, tasted like gourmet zza! Of course everything tastes better when you're drunk!

At Domenica I got to try duck for the first time. Can't say I'm a huge fan now or anything. It wasn't bad, I just didn't think it was memorable. Kind of tasted like turkey! But the meal was good and it was a nice place.

At Acme Oyster House we had chargrilled oysters and craw pups for appetizers. I loved the oysters! They taste so much better grilled and these had some type of cheese melted on top of them which made them taste amazing! I'm definitely a fan now. The craw pups were pretty good too. I had a variety platter for dinner, so I got to try a little bit of everything. The Jambalaya was definitely my favorite! I loved that stuff and I could eat a ton of it!

Eggs Blackstone

Saturday morning for breakfast, we went to Ruby Red Slipper which I loved. It was a cute little place with old wooden tables that were kind of rickety, and neat pictures on the wall. The menu was really interesting and everything on it looked great so it was really hard to choose. I went for the Eggs Blackstone. WOW! Biscuits with tomato, bacon, poached eggs, and hollandaise sauce on top. Frickin delicious! It was so good that I got it again the next morning when we went back!:-)

It probably wasn't the healthiest meal, but like I said earlier, no holding back! We also got Bellinis and Mimosas! Had to start early on the alcohol;-) I loved that place and if I ever go back to NOLA it will be at the top of my list to visit again.

Pretty much every day there consisted of waking up, getting ready, eating breakfast and immediately finding the closest spot to get a drink. Around there, hand grenades and frozen drinks are really popular. They have all these bars that all they sell is frozen drinks. There's a whole line of these frozen drink machines with about 10 flavors or more. I got a lot of those because they were easy to find and easy to drink! I had Mango, Peach Colada, Margarita, and "The Jester" which was some green flavor lol.

Taste of Soul Platter

Saturday night we went kind of far from our hotel to a place called "Praline Connection" which was legit soul food! It was crazy. I sorta felt like I was on an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. We had fried pickle chips and gator sausage for appetizers. The fried pickles were amazing! I think we all ate too many! I liked the gator. It tasted pretty similar to regular pork sausage.

Of course I ordered the "Taste of Soul Platter" because I wanted to try everything! It came with Jambalaya, Ribs, Gumbo, Red Beans and Rice, Fried Chicken, Fried Catfish, and Bread Pudding!! Not everything is in that picture! Haha. I'm so fat!! But man, it was awesome. I really liked the catfish and the bread pudding was soooo good!

We all felt soooo fat and stuffed after that meal that we had to go back to the hotel and digest for a little before making our next venture out to go drink. It was the kind of meal that made you just want to take a nap afterwards, but alas, we had to continue to partayyyy!

One night we had a VIP table with bottle service, that was epic! We also went to a place called "Cat's Meow" both nights and that place was fun! It's a karaoke bar and they'll let pretty much anyone get on stage and dance! Me and a bunch of the other girls definitely ended up there a few times!:-)

We also got to experience throwing beads off a balcony which was fun but also a little scary! It's definitely not a good idea to literally THROW beads at people! They don't like that. Also, some people just want to flash you and it's not a pretty sight! But you gotta give them beads anyways, they still deserve the credit! Haha!

New Orleans was filled with tons of interesting people and lots of cool shops. The buildings were unique and pretty to look at. Some things were just different around there than they are here in MD. Locks on the door, for example. A lot of them were just little buttons next to the door knob that you push in. I had never seen that!

It was an awesome place that I'm so glad I got to experience. It was also only my second time flying ever and I think I did pretty well! Going there was fine, but coming back we went through a storm and it was so shaky! I definitely felt like I was going to puke a few times:-( But I survived and now I can't wait for the next trip!

I could go on and on about the things we did in NOLA, but I can't disclose all of that information on this blog!;-) I'm also going to make an album on facebook soon with more pictures. I just have to figure out which ones are safe to post, haha:-)

Oh, I forgot to mention that I went to the gym last night. First time since December 30th!!:-( But I was there for hours and worked my butt off and am happy to say that 3 of those 6 vacation pounds are already gone! Phew! Hopefully I can get it all off ASAP and work on getting down to my goal weight! I'm soooo ready!! Speaking of working out, I have to go! I'm meeting up with Lt. Bussing at station 30 and we're gonna have a hardcore workout! I'm a little scared, but I know it'll be worth it in the end!

Thanks for stopping by and reading about how fat I was this weekend:-) Check back for healthier updates!!

Anna

2 Years

Hey there, dedicated blog readers. First, let me apologize for slacking towards the end of the year. I have a few reasons why. Things were going great... I was exercising every day, eating decently. Then it was Thanksgiving, of course that sucked as far as eating goes. In the beginning of December, I hurt myself at work and had to take a little break from exercising, so that wasn't cool. And my latest excuse, being sick. There were tons of parties during the month of December so it's been difficult to eat healthy. There's also been a ton of drinking. I think the combination of that, and lack of sleep, finally got to me.

I worked Christmas Eve and it was crazy busy! I got one hour of sleep and felt terrible when I got off work in the morning. I had to go to my parents house to do presents and breakfast. When I finally got back home, it was noon. I slept until 5pm and when I got up, I knew I was sick! It started off small, just a sore throat and runny nose. But now? It has transformed into some kind of never ending super cold. It has officially been 2 weeks straight that I've been sick. I'm wondering when it's going to go away. I'm past the point of no return for going to the doctor's. I refuse! Yes, I'm stubborn like that.

So, needless to say, I have NOT been working out these past two weeks. I did go to the gym one day when I was feeling decent, but it most likely just set me back in my recovery, so now I'm waiting till I'm fully better... Which sucks!! I'm dying not being able to work out!:-(

Anyways, the original reason I wanted to write this blog is because tomorrow is my 2 year anniversary of starting my weight loss journey. I work tomorrow though, so I had to write this today. I can't believe that it's already been 2 years! Time went by even faster in 2012, than it did in 2011. In 2011, it was all about losing as much weight as I could. I worked out like crazy, ran tons of races, and had the best eating habits I'd ever had in my life. After a year of losing weight, I had reached my goal, and even gotten to my lowest weight of 149.2 in February 2012. I felt amazing! I was in my prime. I felt strong and fast! I was probably in the best shape of my life in the beginning of March 2012, right before the academy started. I explained in my blog "Coming Clean" back in September 2012, how the academy life actually caused me to GAIN weight, rather than lose it, like I thought I would.

By the end of the academy in June, I had reached 172 pounds. So depressing! No one wants to gain weight EVER, after losing as much weight as I did. I decided to finally take control and do something about it. Luckily I got down to 157.2! Still heavier than my lowest weight, but I'm just happy to be back in the 150's. Now I realize what people are talking about when they say it's harder to maintain than it is to lose weight. I suppose that in the end, gaining 8 pounds over a year of maintaining isn't TOO bad. And I plan to lose that, and more, ASAP! I just need this sickness to go away! It's really holding me back. I also want to work on my eating habits. I used to be really, really good at eating well. I HAVE to get back in that mindset! I just need to get serious about this and stop half-assing it!

Besides weight, a lot of other things changed throughout the year. I'm a totally different person than I was just last January. Getting hired, going through the academy, and getting assigned to 32 has changed a lot of things. It's all been for the better. I couldn't be happier with my career! I love my job, my crew, my schedule, everything! Every shift I learn something new. I get to experience some of the most fun stuff ever! Being a firefighter now makes me wish that I had been doing it all along when I was a volunteer. It is SO FUN!

My priorities in life have changed as well. When I was working at Children's, all I wanted to do was get married, have kids ASAP, and be content with life. I didn't care about being healthy or active. I didn't even think about progressing in life past where I was. I never had goals or dreams. I just settled. Now that I have shown myself that I CAN change, things are totally different! I have set goals and surpassed them! My idea of having kids is on hold because I want to focus on ME and become the best person that I can be. I continue to make new goals for myself all the time because it keeps me motivated and gives me something to work towards. I will never just settle for "good enough" anymore.

Anyways, I figured I'd put up some comparison pics to show how I've changed (or not) in the past year. I'm still pretty happy with the way I look, but I'll never be fully satisfied. That may or may not be a good thing!

2011

2012

2011

2012

Old job 2011

New job 2012

Well, I'm hoping that soon I can start doing my weekly weigh ins again. My current goal is to get down to 140. I know I can do it. I just have to be dedicated!

Here's to another year of losing the bad stuff and gaining the good stuff! Check back soon for a new blog. I plan to start fresh and keep up with it like I used to! Thanks again to my loyal readers:-) Love you guys!

xoxoxo

Anna