Six Months Later, Twenty Pounds Lighter, and A Legend Dies

This weekend marked six months that my family and I have been living here in Pensacola, Florida.  I can hardly believe that 180 days have passed since this new adventure in our lives. 

We've had several exciting things happen to us since our move to the sunshine state.  If you don't mind, I'd like to take a few moments to reflect back on where we've been--

• First we lived in a hotel for five and a half weeks.  Two adults, two pets and a two year old all within close quarters!  It wasn't always pretty but we survived it!   
• Who could forget how I let Kirk color my hair for the first time? 
• Or how about when I thought I locked myself in the hotel bathroom? 
• Then there was the time we brought our baby into a bar for some educational tips and to act as birth control for college students?  Hahahah~ 
• I explored my new community and made new friends. 
• We bought a house and started a new home. 
• Kirk took a trip to the emergency room on New Year's Eve - thank you Miss Daisy!   I took a trip to the ER on March 31st but I haven't written about it yet.
• Vivian started growing a lot of hair.  Now she's becoming even sassier, funnier and well on her way to being potty trained!
• I started a monthly challenge for myself kicking it off with running my first ever 5k race~ 
• I read my first ever classic book, on my terms and without any pushing from an English professor.  (I can't wait to tell you about my thoughts on "To Kill A Mockingbird" either)
• And this doesn't even cover the family visitors we entertained and all the places we've seen since living here either!  

Hmmm, maybe that's why I'm feeling so tired today.  Just thinking about the past six months and my life as the Energizer Bunny is making me weary.... 


I've also reached a personal goal of mine before the end of April 2010, just like I said I would do --  I've lost twenty pounds! 

Yes, one of the first challenges I said (internally to myself) after we moved to Florida is that I wanted to lose weight and be bathing suit ready by summer.  I'm almost there.  I've achieved the pounds lost that I hoped for and now I just want to continue to tone up and feel strong. 

I have worked VERY HARD to lose this weight.  It has not been easy.  I'm no longer 17 years old and I don't have the metabolism of a teenager.  So I began running.  I started doing the Jillian Michaels 30-day shred several times a week.  But most of all, I changed how much I ate and what I ate.  I began cooking from scratch and doubling healthy recipes to freeze and save for later.  When you don't have good, healthy foods on hand, you have a tendency to go out and eat junk.  I've not allowed that to happen.  I keep baked goods and treats on hand, but they are healthier items that I have prepared myself (so I know what ingredients are in them). 


This was me, Fat Mandy, last year (about May 2009).  I was pushing the weight limits for my height and frame:




Here I am now, twenty pounds lighter.  This was taken in my backyard last week:




I'm sorry I don't have better photos to share with you.  Evidently I didn't allow myself to be photographed much last year when I was chubby, because I had a hard time finding a photo of me.  I thought about taking a picture inside of me now, wearing my "fat" jeans so that you can see the weight and inches I've lost; however, our digital camera is temporarily broken until we can have its parts replaced. 

Still, I wanted to share my good news with you!   I set a goal and a deadline for myself and I achieved that goal.  My starting weight was 145 and my weight now is 125.  I hope to never be that much again, unless another pregnancy or baby weight is thrust upon me sometime in the future. 

I'm not embarassed to say, "Hey, I let myself get chubby..."  Because well, it happens to a lot of people.  We let ourselves go.  We get sick.  We have babies.  Our bodies change and we stop looking in the mirror or remembering what we can be.  That's what happened to me.  I made a lot of excuses.  But the fact is that being healthy wasn't a priority of mine until now.  I always found other things to do besides exercise and eat right.  I hope that is now a thing of the past.  I like my life now.  I like who I am and best of all, I don't feel deprived.  After all, I'm not on a diet.  This is now my way of living. 

I will be honest with what I've done to change my routine. If you have questions, ask me.  If I can help others or inspire folks to become healthy and trim down their waistline, I'd love that!  Because I like the strength and energy I feel each day now. If more people felt the way that I do now, just think of what we could accommplish in this world!


Finally, I would like to pay tribute to a lady whom I admire and whose character gave me many laughs, tears and hopes for women everywhere.  Days ago Dixie Carter, the lovely actress who portrayed Julia Sugarbaker on the show "Designing Women" passed away from cancer. 

I loved this show in my college years.  One of my closest dorm room pals and I would often recite lines spoken from the orginal four spunky, outspoken Southern belles.  Julia was my favorite.  She never hesitated to put people in their place yet somehow do it with grace and poise.  She could sing, dance and punch someone's lights out.  When she had her head stuck in the staircase, you laughed and cried along with her.  She was amazing and the kind of life she portrayed is worth remembering. 

I had the pleasure of seeing her sister, Suzanne Sugarbaker, played by actress Delta Burke years ago at a Mardi Gras parade.  She was the grand marshall and threw us cups and trinkets.  My pal Tracy and I caught her attention by yelling, "Sugarbaker!" as she passed by on her float.

I wish I could meet the writer of Julia's rants and speeches from that show.  That person is a true genius with words!  I can only hope and aspire to somehow come close to that writing ability-- to create such a moving, colorful character as she was written for Dixie Carter~!

From one southern belle to another, rest in peace Dixie Carter!  I know that the lights are out in Georgia now with your sweet passing.    Please enjoy these two favorite Julia Sugarbaker scenes of mine....